The Cats of University Heights: Grape

Strangely, feline sightings along Shirley Ann Place are rare. I have only ever seen two kitties outdoors, and you will meet both consecutively as the series resumes pace after a deliberate slowdown. The first earns nickname Triumph—chosen for posture and demeanor. Our first encounter was Sept. 24, 2018, sitting atop a recycle can. The Featured Image, from Leica Q, was captured the next day. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/60 sec, 28mm, 5:42 p.m. PDT.

I shot the companion portrait, during the first meeting, using Google Pixel 2 XL. Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 50, 1/289 sec, 4.459 mm; 8:30 a.m. The kitty has triumphantly presented several times since, but these two humble photos are the best ones so far.

Apple by Joe WilcoxNov 15, 201811:52 pm

My Google Store Travail

Google Store’s bureaucratic ineptitude is beyond belief. My recent, unresolved customer crisis is an experience in artificial unintelligence. For a parent company whose core competency is supposed to be indexing, crunching, and disseminating information, it’s inconceivable that something so simple as fixing a single order error could escalate into a tragically comic Catch-22. I should have abandoned all efforts long before reaching the point of penning this post and looking back to the Apple Way.

To summarize: I received the wrong Pixel phone nearly a month ago. Google Store struggled to process a return authorization, because the device in hand didn’t match the one in the order. I eventually agreed to keep the thang, so long as the retailer could transfer the extended warranty—so-called “Preferred Care”—that I had paid for. But the process proved to be complicated, then necessity, after I unexpectedly needed to file a damage claim. You’ll have to read on for the sordid punchline, but suffice to say it all ends in a comedy of compounding errors.

Problems resolved! Please see: “Thank-you, Google Store”

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 6, 20185:42 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Sentinel

As I write, it’s anyone’s educated guess whether there will be a blue wave or red tide tonight—or neither. The midterm elections are here, and, yes, we voted. On the way to the polling place, my wife spotted a feline in wait along Park Blvd. between Monroe and Madison. In more than 11 years living in this neighborhood and 26 months profiling its kitties, never have I seen even one of the beasties along this stretch of road. Of all nights! Foot and vehicular traffic were busier than usual, surely enough to frighten off any animal.

The cat wouldn’t come close enough for a reading of its pink tag. I asked Annie for nickname, and she suggested Sentinel, which is perfect for posture, location, and timing. I captured the Featured Image, at 4:33 p.m. PST—or 20 minutes before sunset—using Google Pixel 3 XL. Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 55, 1/60 sec, 4.44mm.

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 4, 20188:26 pm

The Cats of University Heights: maow maow

Along Florida, between Madison and Monroe, I encountered a demur Calico on Oct. 18, 2018. She earns nickname Pumpkin-Patch for her seasonal orange and black coloration, which I enhanced in Google Snapseed by applying the Accentuate filter, which adds HDR-pop. I captured the Featured Image, at 8:52 a.m. PDT, using Google Pixel 2 XL. Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 58, 1/4673 sec, 4.459mm.

A day earlier, I received the Pixel 3 XL “Just Black”, which was supposed to be a Pixel 3 “Clearly White” for my wife. Nearly three weeks later, and more than 10 hours of phone calls endured, Google Store has not fully resolved the ordering mishap, which since has become a disaster. That story is forthcoming, along with photos shot using the phone. Stay tuned!

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 4, 20189:29 am

The Book of Our Times

It’s catch-up time for things I meant to post but put aside, temporarily. Family drama! Perhaps you will read about it in the future, but likely not. Now to the main course: On Oct. 21, 2018—the day after reading that San Diegans spend more on alcoholic beverages than residents of any other city in the United States—I spotted something surprising on a table outside LeStat’s on Park. Did someone forget the book? Was it purposefully left behind—seemingly appropriate commentary about America’s “booziest city”?

For sure, breweries are commonplace, and most eateries serve alcoholic beverages, which also are sold everywhere—not predominantly in liquor stores but from pharmacies, supermarkets, warehouse stores (e.g. Costco), and more.

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 31, 20189:54 am

Happy Halloween 2018!

I am mummified by how many apartments, condos, and homes in the neighborhood are dressed up for Trick-or-Treat day. Many of the decorations are elaborate, and about all are playful. Our Featured Image presents the front lawn inflatable that the owner of Bruce—one of the furballs from my “Cats of University Heights” series—put up; hehe, she paid five bucks for the thing 13 years ago during an after-Halloween sale.

The longhair tiger tabby is deliberately soft-focused, in this portrait captured on Oct. 17, 2018 at 6:29 p.m. PDT., or about 15 minutes after sunset, using low-light trooper Leica Q. Vitals, aperture and shutter manually set: f/1.7, ISO 1600, 1/125 sec, 28mm.

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 29, 20181:06 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Bashful

We celebrate National Cat Day with a feline that I nickname Bashful, for cautiously approaching me during our first meeting but pulling back because of passing cars; good thing for saving any (or all) of the nine lives. I captured the Featured Image, using Google Pixel 2 XL during our first encounter on Oct. 1, 2018. Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 52, 1/1017 sec, 4.459mm; 4:17 p.m. PDT. The companion portrait is second-to-last photo—the other of the same animal—taken with Leica M10. I since sold the camera, which fate will be explained in another post. Vitals: f/4.8, ISO 200, 1/350 sec, 50mm; 4:14 p.m.

Bashful lives in the same cottage complex as Friends, but along another corridor. I have seen the kitty several times since, often in the same vicinity.

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 21, 20183:16 pm

The Cats of University Heights: SID

For six months, I have looked in the area of the Point for ginger tabby SID. Today, we briefly regarded one another after he trotted across Madison near Rhode Island. He posed for three quick portraits, captured with Google Pixel 2 XL. Vitals for the Featured Image: f/1.8, ISO 50, 1/1114 sec, 4.459mm; 9:30 a.m. SID is sister to STAR, who this series profiled in mid-April 2018 a few days before she vanished. She is missing still, so I understand.

BTW, the series passed its 2-year milestone on August 17. Perplexing family matters distracted me from posting to celebrate 4 days ago. This is two-hundred twenty-fifth profile so far. Tip: New photos are rarely added to existing posts, but I do regularly refresh the companion Flickr album with new pics of the kitties. Please take a peek.

Mobility by Joe WilcoxOct 17, 20189:35 pm

Google’s Newest Pixel Phone Color: Not White

Perhaps you know that the newest Google Phones come in “Not Pink”, as a third color choice. I discovered a fourth today when receiving a Pixel 3 XL “Just Black” instead of the smaller Pixel 3 “Clearly White”. Three support calls—spanning more than two hours—later, Google Store specialists struggled to resolve the order error. In their database, my “Not White” XL shows up as a retail model, based on the IMEI, which in no way resembles the number for the device supposedly shipped (and, of course, wasn’t). I did receive Pixel Stand, as expected, so that’s something right.

There is an absurdity about Google making me prove the error by providing photos of the shipping label, phone, and product box because they’re “vital for our investigation”. I obliged about the label, because the correct order number is on it. Request for phone pic came later, and to that I balked. The IMEI should identify model and color, but the image is necessary to truly confirm color is black—or in Joe’s new parlance “Not White”—a store shipping specialist explained. That’s not my problem. Truth will be confirmed when the phone is received, right? Wrong.

Living by Joe WilcoxOct 16, 20189:14 pm

I Quit Nextdoor Today

More than a year after first hearing locals rave about Nextdoor, I joined the social network, on Aug. 29, 2017. Late this afternoon, I deactivated my account. In principle, the concept is well-conceived: Build community among people living close to one another rather than interact across the far reaches of the InterWebs on the likes of Facebook. In practice, my experience is something else: Busy-bodies spend too much time complaining about their neighbors. I liked University Heights more when knowing less about the people living here—or the amount of hit-and-run accidents, package thefts, and other so-called crimes or problems amplified by hundreds of virtual megaphones. My sense of safety and well-being has greatly diminished from using Nextdoor. So no more!

No single incident precipitated my exit. Little things accumulated—like last week’s Cookies with the Cops meeting, where one police officer explained that if a so-called incident isn’t documented, “it didn’t happen”. He referred to the Get It Done app as the go-to place for non-emergency interaction with San Diego’s finest. He likened anything else to phone chains of old, where gossiping along a line of calls turned one thing into a hundred.

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 9, 201812:42 pm

James

For as long as we have been in San Diego’s University Heights neighborhood—11 years next week—a homeless man lived near the top of Texas Street before it passes the Valero gas station at Madison. James was a fixture, seen day or night, every day, regardless of weather. If absent from his chair for any length of time, there would be chatter across social networks—in recent years NextDoor—asking where he was. Sickness or even police harassment were the more likely reasons for his absences.

Near the end of September, James vanished again, raising roarous concerns on NextDoor, until someone stated—and later was confirmed—that this homeless man had passed away. I didn’t know James, but some of my neighbors engaged him. “Friendly” and “kind” are two words used to describe him among many NextDoor posts and comments. I just took James for granted. He was as much a part of the scenery as the palm trees. As I would drive up Texas, or walk across the Adams Ave. bridge, he was an expected sight—and refreshing one, too. Something about his presence, and neighbors embracing his homelessness, was a triumph of humanity and dignity.

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 6, 20186:56 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Alfredo

Some felines living around the neighborhood’s canyons have more than nine lives. Some survivors look like they have used them all but linger onward. Such is the case of Alfredo, a feral residing along the ravine at the Adams Ave. overlook—for an estimated 15 years. He was captured ages ago, neutered, and released. This afternoon, I encountered him for the first time since starting the series (two years ago this month) searching for food where E.T. usually eats. I snapped a dozen or so photos, using Leica Q, approaching closer and closer; someone occasionally spoke to the kitty as he meowed grovingly outside a security door.

The gent eventually came out with canned cat food, which despite hunger, Alfredo resisted. If you think the Featured Image portrays a sickly beast, you are right. Alfredo’s caretaker, who grew up in the house, believes the kitty has cancerous lesions around its nose and mouth—malady he has seen before among white furballs. The homeowner hopes to trap Alfredo. The technique is to put food inside the contraption that the cat can eat, then walk away. The food is pushed further inside each feeding until the cage door triggers. But he described Alfredo, no matter how famished, as “wily”—perhaps being cautious having been trapped and released as a youngster.