Inflation Disarms The Bomb

I learned something about cost-creep today that hopefully will benefit you. Don Miguel The Bomb Spicy Red Hot Beef & Bean Burrito is a favorite of mine—available in lots of 12 at my local Costco Business Center. When I first found them, some years ago, a case could be bought for $18.99 or $1.58 per 14-ounce burrito. Later, the price rose to $19.99 before quickly going up to $20.99 and finally $21.99 during the tightest SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 lockdowns. That’s $1.67, $1.75, and $1.83 per package, respectively.

After nearly exhausting a somewhat stocked supply, I returned with my wife to the warehouse store for more. My mistake: I did not closely inspect the box. Price is higher now: $22.49 for that dozen-filled case. But that 50 cents more is for less. The Bomb now is 12 ounces, a decrease of 14 percent in size for a burrito costing $1.87—15 cents per ounce versus 13 cents previously or 11 cents from what I paid about three years ago; maybe four, I don’t rightly recall.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 9, 20228:42 pm

The Humiliation Games

On the same day the 2022 Olympics opened, February 4, I passed by something appropriate and timely: discarded pair of thirtytwo brand snowboarding boots. Their abandonment, along the North Avenue alley in San Diego’s University Heights neighborhood, could be a metaphor for what’s being chucked away in Beijing right now: fair competitive spirit, human dignity, and truthfulness. It’s all humiliating.

Let me count the ways: Humiliating that, because of surveillance, athletes were instructed to bring burner phones to China—and, for their own safety, not to publicly criticize the host nation. Humiliating that China presented as propaganda a token Uyghur during the opening ceremony; what genocide? Humiliating that Russian President Vladimir Putin joined Chinese President Xi Jinping, while Western nations, including the United States, chose not to send diplomatic delegations. Humiliating that Chinese officials dragged away a Dutch reporter during a live broadcast. Humiliating that athletes quarantined for positive SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 are mentally and physically impaired by poor food quality and living conditions. Humiliating, and convenient, that some foreign gold medal contenders test Coronavirus positive and can’t compete. Humiliating that most NBC Sports commentators and hosts are broadcasting from the United States rather than China.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 8, 20228:49 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Dragon Claws

Our four-hundred-sixtieth profile, since the series started in October 2016, is the eighty-fourth from Alabama Street between boundaries Adams and Lincoln. Lilly lives on the same block. My wife and I met Dragon Claws leashed and walking with his owner on Jan. 27, 2022. His sister, whose name I didn’t get, doesn’t demand, or enjoy, these outings as much.

I used iPhone 13 Pro to capture the Featured Image, with difficulty. Dragon Claws explored everything and often turned away as I shot. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/176 sec, 77mm; 4:18 p.m. PST.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 7, 20229:40 pm

The Pool Player

I feel off this evening and must delay my planned treatise about the 2022 Olympic Games for another day. For now, I present a portrait of a friend behind the cue stick. He is a […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 6, 20229:27 pm

The Teardown

The massive redevelopment of my San Diego locale advances so briskly that today’s cute business or residence is tomorrow’s demolition. In December 2021, while walking along the University Heights side of Park Blvd, I saw that vintage clothier Frock You! had closed. Strangely. On the door was an eviction notice from the county sheriff, while clothes and debris littered the business’ (uncharacteristically exposed) outdoor shopping area, which had attracted a cadre of the homeless. The adjacent businesses were shuttered, too, suggesting a soon-to-be teardown before the build up of something new.

Fast forward to this afternoon and my first venture that way in more than six weeks. A fence cordons off the former strip of shops and what had been a beautiful home converted into several residences—the Featured Image and companion. The exposed kitchen appliances piqued my interest enough to pull out iPhone 13 Pro and point it through one of the spaces among the chain-links.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 5, 20228:50 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Tucker

Our Caturday story begins in summer 2021, when my wife learned about two felines that frequented a property that wasn’t their home. The all-black, Loki, joined the series in July. We wouldn’t first see the other until October 17, when I used iPhone 13 Pro to shoot the long-delayed Featured Image. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/22 sec, 77mm; 10:40 a.m. PST. I regrettably resisted adding the newcomer sooner because no name, and I couldn’t be sure there wasn’t a mix up and this kitty was Loki. Everything changed yesterday, when Annie and I chatted with another neighbor who identified the second cat as Tucker. Whew.

That introduction brings us to the drama. Tucker occasionally appeared during the end of last year but made a startling entrance on Jan. 2, 2022. As we approached the property where he is somewhat an interloper, I spotted the black and white on a fence and pointed him out to Annie. She observed what I missed. “He has feathers in his mouth”, she exclaimed.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 4, 20229:07 pm

The Painted Garden

Around University Heights and adjacent San Diego neighborhoods, I see more murals like this one: Painted on personal property, not necessarily a business. They add magnificent charm and character—and individualized flare that pops compared to nearby houses.

I feel for the homeowners, who deserve to stake out some semblance of freedom and peace. The mural faces the forever commercial construction site across the alley separating Georgia Street and Park Blvd at Monroe. In June 2015, a house sitting on that corner at Park sold for $525,000. The worksite has existed for so long that I can’t recall dates when. But using Google Maps Street View snapshots over time, I see that demolition and early construction commenced no later than June 2016—for a lumbering, three-and-a-half story mixed-use business and residential building far from finished.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 3, 20229:02 pm

The Urban Jungle Gym

What qualifies as a park in one of San Diego’s supposedly trendier neighborhoods? Answer: North Park Mini Park—and, yes, that’s the name of the community seen in the Featured Image. When I think of a park, particularly in a coastal region with three Summer seasons (Early, Mid, and Late), lush space with grass, greenery, and trees comes to mind. Apparently, not in North Park, where cement rules.

Say, can some stereotypical, anti-carbon emissions, stop climate change citizen living there explain the environmental benefits of building another edifice that absorbs heat and in the process quite likely also contributes to global warming? Wouldn’t heat-reducing, carbon-dioxide absorbing, oxygen-producing plants, shrubs, and trees make more environmental sense and be more interesting a refuge for residents?

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 2, 20228:03 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Saunter

The backlog of unpublished kitties is so long that I stopped taking every photographic opportunity. Hopefully, regrets won’t follow that decision. We resume with a longhair that my wife and I assumed was feral on first sighting: Alley separating Louisiana and Texas, on Jan. 13, 2022. The animal posed for some time before passing into a property facing Texas.

The Featured Image captures that moment. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/145 sec, 77mm; 11:58 a.m. PST. We next saw the feline along Louisiana, but on the other side of Meade, three days later. Because of location, I assumed we had come upon a different cat, but Annie correctly identified the two sightings as the same beastie.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 1, 20227:38 pm

Be Mine

The menacing palm that you met in April 2021 dresses in holiday-appropriate attire, like Uncle Sam garb for Fourth of July. Now he’s ready for Valentine’s Day in 13 days and has been at least since I captured the Featured Image on Jan. 4, 2022. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/4, ISO 100, 1/640 sec, 28mm; 2:04 p.m. PST.

Composed as shot, the moment comes from Leica Q2. If you live in, or visit, San Diego’s University Heights neighborhood, you can see this terrifying tree on North Avenue between Meade and Monroe.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 31, 20229:10 pm

The Future of Transportation?

As part of its strategy to reduce so-called carbon emissions, San Diego is building bikeways through various close-in neighborhoods. The one starting at Georgia in University Heights and ending at Fairmont in City Heights is complete. My wife and I drove the length along Meade Avenue on Jan. 29, 2022 to attend the free-admission Lunar New Year celebration sponsored by the Little Saigon Foundation. However, Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park and the surrounding area was so packed, and parking so scare, we did a drive-by only.

A series of traffic circles and speed bumps has greatly reduced vehicular traffic along Meade—not that a marked increase in bikers is apparent. What I do see, and this is something that should trouble city planners and their long-term goals: An alarmingly greater number of motor-powered bicycles. Everywhere. Some are pedaled, too, and most are battery-electric. But not all.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 30, 20229:07 pm

Lost and Found

Late this afternoon, my wife informed me that she lost a wrap-around bracelet while we walked earlier. I couldn’t have that and insisted on going out searching for the accoutrement, starting by retracing our route in reverse. About 10 minutes later, I found the lost item on the sidewalk below where she pressed the button to cross Florida Street along El Cajon Blvd. A brewery sits at the corner, and people mulled all about. I was surprised that no one had whisked away the pretty little thing.

I snatched up the bracelet in a smooth motion as I gleefully strutted one shoe after another. With all the turmoil going on around us during the post-pandemic and early economic crisis era, moments where I feel sense of control of something are rewarding.