Oh Joy. A Move Is In My Future.

I just found out there was a reason there was a person walking around our bay at work from facilities yesterday. They were scouting space. I just found out that sometime before the end of the month I’ll need to move my office to the southern end of the building. They don’t know which office yet. Gee, I hope they tell me .

I don’t like moving. I moved into my present office (A3/2023A) shortly before A1 was torn down, back in 2009. Before that, I had 3 different offices in the lifespan of our department in A1 (we moved to A1 in 1990). Had only one office when our department was in A8.

Oh well. Time to start ordering boxes, packing books, and deciding what to throw away…

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

(Click Here to Comment)

Mapping the LA Election

While eating lunch, I’ve been staring and playing with this really neat map of yesterday’s election published by the LA Times. Here are some of my observations on this map:

• It is interesting to note how the electorate split this election, and how it differs from past elections. If you switch to the precinct winner view, you’ll see a very clear split of support: the valley predominantly went for Greuel, the main part of the city went for Garcetti, and south-central went for Perry. Now look at past elections, and you’ll see a very different split: as opposed to Valley/City, the split is East/West (which if you know the city, is a more hispanic/non-hispanic split).
• In all of the past primaries, including this one, South-Central tends to support a candidate different than the rest of the city.
• Kevin James was the only avowed Republican running in the race, and if you look at the level of his support throughout the city, you can see why Republicans in general are having trouble in Los Angeles. There are only select pockets in the city where there is Republican strength. It would be interesting if the Times map went back further — in particular, to the election of Richard Riordan — to see how the pockets of Republican strength have changed.
• The results demonstrate the power of one vote — in this case, mine. At the last minute, I changed my vote from Perry to Garcetti, because I didn’t like Perry’s stance on the subway in Beverly Hills. Look at the vote totals in my precinct, #9006270A. This is the green precinct surrounded by blue (on the N and W) and magenta (on the S and E) in the northern SF valley (near Lassen and Wilbur, if you know streets). The totals were: 64 Garcetti, 63 Greuel, and 62 James. This means, had I supported James instead (as Don W wanted), it would have been a tie for the top three in our district. Even if I had done as originally planned and gone for Perry, it would have been a tie between Garcetti and Greuel. Wow.
• Turnout in the election was piss-poor, on the order of 16%. C’mon folks — if you want the right to complain about your government, you need to exercise your right to put better people in office. Don’t carp without doing something about it. (Steve Lopez at the LA Times expresses a similar opinion). Oh, and those of you who are apathetic about elections and couldn’t be bothered to vote: do you really want the extremists — on either side — to be dictating your political future? Shouldn’t you be out there making sure your voice is heard? Mark Lacter, over at LA Observed, has some interesting opinions of his own regarding why people didn’t turn out. One of them is that transit should have played a larger role in the discussion. In support of that, here’s another neat interactive map: Average Commute Times in Southern California.

Music: Bark! The Musical (Original Cast): “Dirty Filthy Old Flea Bag”

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

(Click Here to Comment)

Something to Chew On

In addition to looking at the election results over lunch, I’ve been thinking about food. Specifically, I’m thinking about the collection of food related articles I’ve got on my “News Chum” bookmark just waiting for some discussion:

• Phil O’Fish. We’re getting into that Lenten time of year, so what better than an origin story about the Filet O’Fish sandwich. It seems that it was invented by a early franchisee in Ohio, and won a competition against the McHulu sandwich, made of a grilled pineapple slice on a bun.
• Coca-Cola and Consistency. No, we’re not talking the chemical consistency of the cola (ooo, alliteration), but consistency of Coke’s Orange Juice products. It appears that intense science and mathematics are behind coming up with an orange juice product that is consistent across the year. If you ever want to learn what really goes into your fresh orange juice, this is the article for you.
• What Goes Into a Can Of Coke. Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a can of Coke? Wonder no longer. This is a fascinating read, if only for its different way of looking at things.
• Disease or Fad. An interesting piece in USA Today looks at the “gluten-free” craze of late, asking whether it is a lifestyle or a diet. As I’m married to someone who is Celiac, I’m glad to see more GF products out there, but I also fear that this diet-fad will crash, making things harder to get one day. How often do you see Atkins stuff these days?
• Aged Foods. We’ve all heard of aged wines and aged cheeses and aged beef. Here’s a new one one me: aged canned goods. Specifically, some folks are advocating aging canned goods — well past their best buy dates — to create new and unusual flavors. I’m not so sure about this one. I don’t think I’d have the guts to try it. In other disgusting news, the Daily Cal has a report on whether you can eat your own poop.

On that note, I think I better go finish my lunch before I lose it.

Music: The Best of Chet Atkins (Chet Atkins): “Limelight”

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

(Click Here to Comment)