Everyone thinks summer is the best time of year in San Diego, but I'm here to tell you otherwise. Actually let me back up. Everyone thinks that San Diego is 75 degrees and sunny year round. While it comes close, I can tell you that's not the case. I might even go so far as to say there are seasons here.

Having grown up in New England, I can attest to the fact that the seasons here are quite different than what many people are used to, but still, we have seasons. Summer goes from May to mid September, then some fall weather kicks in until November or December, then a month or two of moderately chilly nights and cool days with some rain, then spring for another month or two, then summer. Summer is hot and dry, so everything turns brown, and winter is the green season. So ok, not what most people would consider seasons. (Note: the weather here varies considerable as you move away from the coast. Coastal weather has less variation, during the day it's not as hot and at night it doesn't drop as much. As you move inland the nighttime temps go lower and the daytime temps go higher. It is not abnormal for the high/low temps during the summer at the beach to be 75/71 and then just 10 miles from the coast to be 100/65.)

Anyway, this time of year, October and November, are the absolute best! The heat of summer is finally gone, as are the tourists, the air clears up (and there are finally wispy fall clouds!), and the nights cool down. Instead of the dog days of summer where it's 75 degrees in the middle of the night and sleeping is uncomfortable only wake up and have the mercury well into the 80s by 8AM, we now have 75 degree days and once the sun goes down the it cools off enough to even pull out the long sleeves and sweatshirts. And that cool breeze that comes in overnight and actually makes the extra blankets appealing!

There is just something in the air this time of year (and during spring as well). The breeze is cool and refreshing instead of hot, and the sunsets without the summer haze and fog are just amazing. Even though I always talk about wanting to get out of San Diego, this time of year is what makes it for me. And the best part? Don't let anyone hear me say this, but maybe it will rain soon... The last actual rain storm that I can remember was probably six months ago.

Labels: random, San Diego

I'm not sure how to feel about this whole water conservation effort here in San Diego. I've seen quite a few glaring contradictions lately that would seem to indicate to me that although they are telling us how to use our water, they aren't doing the same at the public level. Of course San Diego is a big city, and I can't expect them to know how every public water user is managing their water, but I would hope they would make their best effort to do so, being that they are running ads with the slogan "Waste no Water".

A few weeks ago, the ball park at the Rec Center near my house was watering at 11:30 AM, which is prohibited under the new water usage restrictions which prohibit outdoor watering between 10AM and 6PM. Maybe it's just me, but being that the rec centers are run by the city, I would expect them to be following their own rules. So I went ahead and called the hotline that allows you to report those abusing the waternig restrictions. When I told the woman that the rec center was watering, I think I caught a chuckle from her, hopefully she saw the irony.

Then the other morning after a run, I saw different sprinklers at the same rec center that were shooting water all over the sidewalk, which I don't believe is technically against the new rules, but again, I would expect the city to be practicing what they are preaching to the public. In fact this exact scenario is one of the things they are pushing in their "Waste No Water" campaigns. In fairness, this time the watering was at least happening in the early morning, so maybe they at least adjusted the schedules.

Also, although I don't believe that the city has any jurisdiction over CalTrans, everyone knows they are a huge water user (4th largest), and it's been well documented that they excessively water the freeway shoulders, even in the rain. And still after the water cuts, just last month I saw them watering at 9:30 AM. Granted, this is not technically prohibited, but I still take issue with this because especially lately, by 9:30 it's already over 80 degrees and rising, so I'm pretty sure a lot of this water will get wasted.

So what do I have to say? I say come on San Diego, get it together. Though I did hear that city water usage is down 20% from last year, which is great, I think we can be doing better. Start by watching what's going on in the city around you. While I do applaud your efforts to educate the people, I think there could be even better results if you focused your efforts on the big users, which are businesses, the city itself, and also the contractors you have working for you. Would it be impossible to work with CalTrans to put in native freeway shoulders instead of iceplant and change the watering schedules? Then another nice step would be to stop planting grass everywhere, since almost everyone knows San Diego is not really tropical, stop pretending it is and start planing native gardens instead of lush grasses at public buildings.


Related Links:
http://www.idealistcafe.com/2009/01/water-conservation-letter-to-city.html

Labels: conservation, San Diego, water

Main plaza in Tecate MexicoToday we decided to take a day trip down to Tecate, Mexico. Though it is a border city, it is a much smaller and better representation of Mexico than Tijuana. It's also within an hour of San Diego. I had been once before, but today I went down with my girlfriend. We drove to the border, parked, walked across, and within 15 minutes we were sitting in the central plaza sipping beers and eating chips.

Prior to my first trip there, I had heard that it was a nice place to visit, but I wanted to check it out for myself. At the time I couldn't find much consistent information about it online, but if you're interested in visiting, it's a simple day trip. No border lines, no stress, and not even much walking.

As it turns out, you can park on the US side, there are side roads where it is fine to just pull over on the side and park for free. As you approach the border, turn left (east), and you will where there are other cars parked, just pull up and make sure you're off the road. The border is less than a 5 minute walk, and once you enter Mexico, just go straight for a few blocks and you will see the main plaza. It seems that this is where most things happen, as the park is filled with locals just relaxing. Today, a Sunday afternoon, there were very few tourists.

It's a great day trip, there is very little stress involved, and crossing the border is about as easy as it gets.

It doesn't seem that there is much to do in Tecate other than hang out in the plaza, but isn't that ok?


Related Links:
Memorial Day Weekend in Punto San Jacinto, Mexico

Labels: mexico, San Diego, travel

Photo Credit: Sean Haffey, Union TribI don't live in Ocean Beach anymore, but when I did I lived near Dog Beach and the San Diego River. Actually, many people don't even know that there is a river in San Diego, but there is. So anyway, when I lived there, I always used to jog along the river on the bike path, (yes the linked map is the actual path of the river, only the first few miles were paved at the time I lived there) and once when I was trying to avoid getting in my car I tried to follow the path on my bike into Mission Valley to make a run to Borders to look for a guide book for my trip to Spain.

Of course during that attempted ride is when I realized that the path didn't actually follow the river that far, or at least if it did it wasn't obvious to me. In typical San Diego "you can only get there in a car" style, it just stopped near the freeway where the there was really nothing but a perfect place for a homeless camp. And actually, I'm pretty sure there were some camps right near by, since I've heard plenty of stories. None the less, I made it to Borders in once piece (though I was quite out of place in the sea of cars) and got my book, but not without having to carry my bike up a hill, across the end of a freeway ramp, and even over the dry river bed on some railroad tracks that had there been a train coming I would have been killed. Oh yea, then I had to brave an actual road, which is no minor task around here since most people who are driving are usually doing something besides driving.

So when I saw this article, I can't tell you how excited I was to read that the bike path is being extended to actually go all the way into Mission Valley, eventually all the way to Julian. If it actually gets completed, I'll certainly make use of part of it which could connect me to the beach without ever really having to ride on a main road. And the other more noble goal of the path is to make people realize that yes, there actually is a river there!


Related Links:
San Diego River Conservancy
San Diego River Coalition
San River Park Foundation

Labels: biking, conservation, ocean beach, San Diego

Please tell me Oh City of San Diego, it's no secret that you have been having financial problems, so why are you redoing the sidewalks in my neighborhood that were just fine, with private contractors, of all things?

As we know, there were last fall's budget cuts, there is the pension crisis, and there are potholes so big that they are damaging cars, so why has the sidewalk on every corner of my neighborhood been dug up when there were no apparent problems. I jog the neighborhood several times per week and with a few exceptions have seen no breaks in the sidewalk or any real reason they weren't good enough.

What it looks like is that each corner is being replaced with a handicap accessible ramp. So ok, I get it, but still it doesn't seem to me enough to warrant the time and resources of hiring a private company to do this work. And I'm sorry, but for any wheelchairs that need to get up on the sidewalk, there is a driveway at least every 20 feet, so is it really necessary to put a ramp on every corner? In lieu of all the budget cuts and layoffs, I would think there are many other more pressing issues that could make use of this money. And why not use city workers that are on the payroll instead of hiring outside contractors to do the work?

Perhaps this is something that was approved years ago, or maybe it's cheaper to contract it than to use city workers? Beats me.

San Diego and California, just let it be noted that you're not winning any supporters. Without your great weather you would be lost.


Related Links:
A letter to the City of San Diego
Water Conservation - A letter to the city

Labels: budget, San Diego

Image credit: Letz DesignI figured I'd share interesting article about drought tolerant landscaping, known as Xeriscaping, that I found via my Ode Magazine Newsletter. It's especially relevant since I live in San Diego at a house with a lawn that uses irrigation. It's not very detailed about specific plants that can be used for making changes, but it is definitely food for thought.


View article here: Yanking out lawns saves water and money

Interesting side note: I started thinking about writing this post the other day while at work. Ironically, as I was pondering drought tolerant landscapes and the water shortages and new water rationing rules here in San Diego, I looked out the window into Petco Park to see them watering the dirt in preparation for the night's baseball game. My office is located in such a position that we can see down into the ball field, and I think based on what we see it's safe to say that they are one of the biggest water wasters around. Even next to the ball park is a public park, my guess under the same management, and it is watered so frequently that you sometimes can't even walk in the grass because it's so squishy from over watering. Nice job city of San Diego.

Related Links:
Succulents, perennials make a colorful drought-tolerant team
How the neighbors are coping

Labels: conservation, interesting, San Diego, water

Photo credit: clobsSometimes life just gets too busy. Work, eat, bills, sleep, exercise, relax (for a moment) work, run errands. It just seems to go on and on. Even for someone like me who tries to keep their life simple, it doesn't always work. When I am home I seem to keep myself too busy, and fall behind on all the things I want to do. Making an hour to just sit with a book never seems to happen, no matter how little is on my plate.

Quite honestly, as my girlfriend has correctly pointed out to me, I think a lot of my time disappears into the Internets. Keeping up with my RSS feeds, following Tweeters, checking the news, the weather, brainstorming ideas for my website, following links that follow links... You get the idea. In fairness though, I enjoy it, and I do also find time for other things like working in the garden, doing yoga, and watching a little guilty pleasure TV. And also, all that time spent online does keep me up to date with the world, as I seem to just devour all types of media, from blogs to news to real paper publications, but have found myself all to often starting sentences with "I read this article the other day" or "This guy whose blog I follow" and it makes me feel a little too dorky.

So when your time just seems to disappear and you can't seem to find time for the simple things, what better than a weekend camping in the mountains?


Photo credit: °FlorianSure, more than one night would be great, but when you're on a tight schedule, taking 24 hours away from the distractions of home can be a miracle cure. Just this weekend I drove out to the mountains east of San Diego on Saturday afternoon, and returned Sunday afternoon, and getting away like that worked great. The relaxation factor is much higher than if the same time had been spent at home. There are no temptations from the computer, none from the TV, and best of all there are no bills to look over and no cleaning to be done. Only the most simple tasks need to be tended to; setting up camp and preparing food. And when you drive back into town already you notice how the pace of life is moving too fast.

After a simple night like that spent relaxing -- having a few cocktails by the fire, sleeping under the stars, and reading a book -- you can return home recharged and feel like you escaped life for just a bit.

Related Links:
How to find the job you love
Simplify and De-clutter

Labels: camping, how-to, lifestyle, outdoors, random, San Diego, simple living, tips

Most everyone has heard of La Jolla, the community of San Diego, also known as the Jewel By the Sea. Well there is a place along the coast in La Jolla called the Children's Pool, and what brings a lot of people to see this area (besides of the beauty of the coast itself) is the 50 or so seals that can be seen laying on the beach here. As most people know, there is not very much of the Southern California coast that has not been taken over by people, so for many this sort of place to see wildlife is quite a novelty.

The reason this area has attracted the seals is that a big sea wall was built many years ago to shelter this part of the beach, which is what makes it desirable for the seals. Well, the problem is that this sea wall was initially built and funded by Ellen Browning Scripps in the early 30s to create a protected place for children to play in the area, since a large part of this area is rocky and has strong currents. Thus the name Children's Pool.

So the problem now is that a Superior Court judge has ruled that this should be given back to the children, for it's original purpose. So now the seals have to go. This has been an issue for many years and has worked its way through the court system, only to have this ruling just the other day.

See this article here http://www.10news.com/news/19581131/detail.html.

My problem with all this is that humans have everything, we have swimming pools and the majority of the rest of the coast. Not to mention how many other cases there are everywhere every day of animals getting screwed by human development. Why are we wasting our time kicking seals off of our beaches? Sure, the "pool" was created with other intentions, but it is one of the few places in a city this size that people, both tourists and locals, young and old, can come see a bit of nature. I say let the seals stay.

Labels: environment, news, San Diego, seals

Sunrise, San Diego, California, January 19, 2009

Sunrise, San Diego, California, January 19, 2009This morning my cat was being crazy and woke me up a few times. I eventually got up to try to let her out and noticed a orange-ish red light that seemed to be glowing outside. I looked out and had to grab my camera to capture the sunrise that greeted me. Not only has it been near 80 degrees for the past week, in January, but also I get this beautiful sight. Enjoy this San Diego sunrise photo.

Labels: photos, San Diego, sunrise

A few weeks ago, while driving into work in the rain, I noticed that the sprinklers on the side of the freeway were on. Not only is this ridiculous, but it is especially ridiculous being that San Diego is basically a desert with very little of its own water supplies, and the city has recently said that unless water usage is decreased soon we will have mandatory water rationing. So I decided to write a little letter to the mayor's office. Here is is:

Hello Mayor Sanders,

I have read in the past months of your efforts at promoting water conservation in the city. Also, I had seen that you declared a water shortage emergency this past summer which called for residents to voluntarily cut back there usage or face mandatory cutbacks later on.

I am writing because I would like to see the city take further initiative not only to make more positive changes, but to also use itself as an example. One of the basic water saving tips that most anyone is aware of is to water lawns and plants early morning or late evening, however I often see sprinklers on city property running all hours of the day. Not only in parks but also on the sides of the freeway. This morning (Dec 15, 2008) I was on my way into work, and it was raining heavily, and I was appalled to see the sprinklers along the side of the 163 freeway running. To me this seems absurd, especially given the nature of the water issues in San Diego, and even more so considering the city and the mayor's office are attempting to promote water conservation. Changing the sprinkler schedules and disabling them during rain is a simple way to make a real difference.

On another note, I work near Petco Park and often see the park workers watering the grass all day long, to the point of over saturation on a daily basis. I am pretty certain this is not city property however, and understand that any water usage enforcement in this case would be impossible.

Soon after writing this letter, I did read something that says that these sprinklers along the freeway are not managed by the city, but by CalTrans instead. Of course this does not make it forgivable, but it does take this out of hte city's hands. Though I also saw an article that says CalTrans is the 4th largest water user in the city. Though if you look at that article, the biggest water user is the city itself.


Related Links:
Another Wayward CalTrans Sprinkler
With Water Cuts Near, Freeways Still Get Showered
Who uses the most water?
A letter to the city of San Diego

Labels: conservation, environment, San Diego, water

During my recent trip to Spain, I had seen some pretty cool graffiti that I had previously posted. In keeping with that theme, here is some right around the corner from where I live in Ocean Beach, San Diego. Both of these are located on Bacon St, I believe on the Seedless Clothing office. On the second one, you can see the artist's name next to the woman if you look closely. Also, notice the electrical box next to the car, hehehe... I'm not sure who the artist is, but the whole thing is pretty cool.

Update 5/8/2009: The artist's name is Caleb Aero. Check out his Myspace and Facebook.

Update 6/18/2009: I've been getting a lot of traffic on this post lately. I think people might be Googling for info about the graffiti in OB of the vandalism type? Not sure. I don't actually live in Ocean Beach anymore so I can't say for sure, but I've been following the graffiti debate over at the OB Rag (more articles here and here). Regardless, I have to say this graffiti I am showing below is a bit more tasteful and I think actually is good for neighborhoods, I think it adds positive character to communities. Of course, vandalism is no good... If what I saw in Spain was any indication, graffiti done properly can be definitely positive. In fact, in the OB Rag article I referenced above, one of the suggestions for the graffiti problem was to get real artists in to create murals and the like.

Btw, please don't steal my photos. If you want to use these photos, read this.

Sexy Woman Graffiti, Ocean Beach, San Diego

Sexy Woman Graffiti, Ocean Beach, San Diego

Seedless graffiti, Ocean Beach, San Diego

Seedless graffiti, Ocean Beach, San Diego


See my other graffiti posts here, or if you're interested in my travel photos, wander over this way.


Related Links:
Graffiti - Granada, Spain
Graffiti - Barcelona, Spain

Labels: graffiti, ocean beach, photos, San Diego

It just came out in local news here in San Diego that Mayor Jerry Sanders is proposing some serious budget cuts. Among some of the cuts are the following:

• Four of seven deputy chief operating officers will lose their jobs
• Operations suspended at nine recreation centers, seven libraries and all six of the city's customer service centers
• The number of civilians in the SDPD's admin staff and community service officers will be reduced by 37
• The number of fire companies active on any given day will decrease from 60 to 58

On the bright side, they claim that all cuts are in the office, and that the number of police officers and fire fighters won't be affected.

I realize times are tough and you have to do what you have to do, but to me Rec Centers and libraries are what make communities ... well, uh, communities. So I went ahead and wrote a letter to the mayor and my councilman. Here is what I wrote:

I am writing in regards to the recently proposed budget cuts. I understand the financial crisis and I understand doing what needs to be done. While difficult, I respect you doing what is best for the city. However, as a resident of San Diego for eight years, I have really enjoyed the community feel of the local libraries and feel that they are an important service for the people. I've always thought it was so great that every community has their own library. That said, I can understand the need to cut back, and also can certainly see that for the amount spent to maintain these services that they might not be deemed worthwhile. And of course I realize that there is a much broader impact here than just losing some libraries. I know that this extends far beyond the library closures, and that many other city services are affected. However, as a resident of Ocean Beach and a frequent library user, it saddens me to know that our local library may be closing.

I know that not many people in this day and age use the free services that the libraries offer, but the reality is that there are still many that do. When I saw that Ocean Beach was one of the branches proposed to be closed I was shocked. Each time I've gone in there it seems to be bouncing with activity and I find it hard to believe that this is one of the least used branches. I would imagine that especially in "OB" the services offered at the library would be absolutely essential. People, both young and old, and both high and low income, live in OB, and having access to free internet and reading materials is critical for many of these people, especially those without private transportation. (Which I know there are a lot of in my neighborhood.) I would urge you to reconsider these closures, as I believe local libraries (as well as Rec Centers) are an essential part of each of the unique communities of San Diego, as well as critical resources for many of our residents.

Related Links:

OB Rag discusses budget cuts and library closures
Voice of San Diego discussing budget cuts and library closures

Labels: budget cuts, library, news, politics, San Diego