Category: Culture

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 19, 20238:55 pm

Ho, Ho, Ho, Huh?

This is April, right? I ask because of the Featured Image, captured today using Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. Seasonally, in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights, Christmas decorations are light compared to the crazed Halloween extravaganza. So it’s shocking to see something still hanging from December. Ghouls and pumpkins wouldn’t be a stretch, any time of year.

On the other hand, from the perspective of appearance and character, the Grinch is a lot more suited to the grim reaper’s holiday than the celebration of Christ’s birth. What does the Dr. Seuss character reveal about the person who hung the sign? You tell me.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 18, 20239:20 pm

Bike Boxes?

In the category of meaningless, but intriguing, you get the bicycle storage lockers that I happened upon today. Bikes are among the most stolen items in and around San Diego; homeless gangs grab the two-wheelers—and with no punishment or other consequence. The bicycle equivalent of a chop shop pops up suddenly; frames are stripped and equipment recombined.

Because thieves are less likely to take what they can’t see, the lockers offer some protection from prying eyes and grubby fingers. Are these boxes a novelty? An archaic solution? Progressive response to preventing bicycle theft? You tell me.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 17, 202311:07 pm

The San Diego Housing Boom is Bust

About two weeks ago, Reventure Consulting posted a YouTube short spotlighting a house for sale in my neighborhood: “$1 Million Listing in San Diego that has no buyers“. I wanted to snag a photo and write something sooner, but our daughter’s medical crisis and recovery consumed my time.

At the time that Reventure Consulting CEO and Founder Nicholas Gerli released the 53-second clip, the University Heights home listed for $1,099,000, following several price reductions. Recent history: For sale at $1,222,000 on Dec. 15, 2022. Less than a month later, January 12, price dropped to $1,192,000 and to $1,162,000 thirteen days later. That led to a pending sale for the lower list price on February 21, which quickly collapsed, and the home returned for sale at $1,162,000 on February 24. Sellers dropped the price, again, on March 1 to $1,135,000 and to $1,099,000 on the 23rd.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 7, 202310:32 pm

For the Survivors

While driving through Escondido, Calif., I came upon the most unusual sight: A vast garden of kids’ windmills—pinwheels, if you prefer—planted upon a grassy enclave. Later, I walked over to the intersection, where they were: Citracado Parkway and Autopark Way.

What were they for? I wondered. The answer is on the sign that is more readable in the second photo: “April is child abuse prevention & sexual assault awareness month. These pinwheels represent each survivor Palomar Health served last year”.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 26, 20239:24 pm

‘How Does This Neighborhood Exist?’

The title of this post is the question I kept asking myself while walking along the streets nearby the hospital where our daughter recuperates. Charming. Quaint. Throwback. All are appropriate. Many of the houses are older, with bountiful yards teaming with plants, trees, and wildlife (mostly birds and butterflies). The smells and sounds are so idyllic.

I saw nothing but single-family homes, at a time when across San Diego County so-called Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) pop up in backyards faster than and as abundantly as mushrooms after the rain. Buildings are leveled to make way for multi-resident housing. Renovations turn homes with character into caricatures.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 25, 202310:34 pm

The Last Days of Mask Mandates are Now

I feel suffocated by the face mask that California requires me to wear in the hospital where our daughter recuperates. The rule applies to healthcare facilities of every ilk. But count the days. Starting April 3, 2023, face coverings will no longer be required. Related: The mandate demanding that healthcare workers to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 also ends.

Across San Diego, significantly noticeable number of residents continue to wear masks. Meanwhile, I see more and more of them discarded, each and every day, like the Featured Image. The mask presented for photographing, inside IKEA, on March 1, 2023.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 23, 202310:04 pm

‘I am Strong!’

For relatives, or anyone else interested, here is another update about our daughter, who has spent 22 days in the hospital—twelve on a ventilator. As she progresses—and more rapidly than anyone on staff would have guessed even a week ago—indications of stroke are obvious. While she can speak, her speech sounds nothing like herself; mumbled and stilted. She is jittery but by no means invalid. Cognition is good, but processes and motor functions are sluggish. That’s not a negative report. She recovers well, and briskly, without an intensive rehabilitation regime.

But that could change soon. Last night, around 8 p.m. PDT, the physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor called, and we spoke for about 54 minutes. He sees our daughter as being a very good candidate for entering an acute care program followed up by more out-patient rehab (which is fairly intensive). So that’s the tentative plan, depending on one of the facilities accepting her as a patient and insurance authorizing treatment.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 19, 20239:01 pm

This New Nostalgic Photography Trend is Scary

When is really bad good? Let the Featured Image and companion answer. I never imagined that Millennial-generation nostalgia would make blurry photography a thing. Newfound fondness for pics produced by naught-decade point-and-shoot digital cameras focuses (honestly, no pun intended) on imperfections they produce.

Well, hell, I am a master photographer now. Sign me up for the big bonus payout from the Instagram gallery of art and artifacts, because I got a boatload (figuratively) of blurry, grainy, flawed photos languishing to be seen and cooed over.

Leica by Joe WilcoxJan 28, 20239:09 pm

Don’t You Believe It

I will never be a fan of that narcistic cesspool called social media. The last light of hopefully meaningful online interaction extinguished with the shuttering of Google+ over April Fools 2019. That said, Elon Musk’s buying and revamping Twitter—and releasing through journalists the so-called “Twitter Files”—brings some hope that a bastion of free speech and reasonably intelligent commonsense dialogue can survive and thrive on the Internet; oh, and have room enough for narcissists and the rest of us.

As such, I now spend some time each day on Twitter. I joined during the early days, in late December 2006. Long time, I know. But until a week or so ago, I also had been mostly inactive. This morning, I had a good object lesson in the kind of misinformation that spreads across any social media platform—and in the most innocuous, likely unintentional, but worrisome way.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 23, 20239:20 pm

Don’t Be Humpty Dumpty

How rude is that? In the midst of a massive shortage, one of my neighbors flaunts that he has a source of eggs. Just kidding, of course. You could raise chickens, too. If someone can keep them in San Diego, where houses pack tightly together with limited outdoor space, you could do as much with a little ingenuity. Then when online and TV commentators rail about bird flu cracking the egg supply chain, you won’t be Humpty Dumpty all broken up because store shelves are empty.

Returning to the topic of my neighbor’s chickens, if they were mine, I would watch them carefully when pecking about the lawn. Because of the so-called egg apocalypse, some passerby might decide to pluck one of the birds. What’s worse than a porch pirate purloining your Amazon delivery? Someone stealing your birds. Don’t expect them to escape the chase or cluck for help. They are an emotional and financial investment that you don’t want to risk losing.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 19, 20236:50 pm

Don’t Be Slave to Hysteria

My wife and I set out for Costco Business Center to stock up foodstuffs, today. Our car is going into the shop for a short stint, and we wanted to grab grub from stores that are too far away to walk. But the entrance ramp onto HR-163 was inexplicitly closed, compelling us to abort. Trader Joe’s was nearby, eggs were on our list, and the grocery sells a dozen for the same price as the warehouse.

But would there be any in stock? For weeks, we’ve watched countless commentators warn about a shortage of eggs and skyrocketing prices (like seven bucks a dozen). Bird flu is blamed. If I learned nothing else from all the SARS-CoV-2(severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 insanity, fear is the virus—and, whoa, is it contagious. My advice to you: Don’t be afraid. Judge by what you see, not by what you hear someone say.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 14, 20239:22 pm

Soon to be as Popular as Grand Ole Opry?

Today, I did an In-N-Out drive-by while other cars were ridiculously stuck in the drive-thru. What’s up with all this vehicular laziness? Park. Go inside and order. Your food will come faster. Shall we time it so you can see, or is your butt so planted you would never consider the freedom and ease found at the counter?

But I digress. The Featured Image, quickly taken from inside my Honda using Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, is shared solely to illustrate this post—and opportunity to snark vomit all over the fast-foodery’s homeland. This week, In-N-Out announced plans to open its farthest east location(s). In Tennessee. Why the Volunteer State, you might ask. The company doesn’t really answer, but you don’t need more sense than the drive-thru nutters to rightly reason. That’s where the customers are—meaning California expats and refugees. And you thought they all flocked to Idaho and Texas (yes, where many did flee).