About a man named Dusty… Nope, not Jed. This man–a real one–lives on a horse ranch with his foreman Gus and ranch hands Jake and Duke. Now…is it possible to get any more like a country western movie? It’s surreal. Place? Northern California near the mountain range west of Tahoe. Would you believe near the town named after my gold rush greatgrandfather? Time? Present day. No, not 100 years ago or longer. Other minor players include two small boys, coyotes, mountain lions and rattlesnakes. Yep, rattlesnakes. Although this rancher has a computer.

It’s too funny. I could create a whole story just based on these few little facts. Hilarious. It would have drama, a little romance (can’t have the lone cowboy be completely alone) and suspense.

After reading the headlines for something interesting, I’m beginning to think there are quite a few sickos and perverts around. The one that most caught my attention is the warning in Marin County (quite posh, if you’re not aware) about dogs being poisoned. These dogs may not have gotten poisoned in their backyards though. It appears that they got sick after walking in the park. All three dogs. Two different owners. All three died. Unfortunately, they were with a dog walker. Poor woman who walked those dogs.

We also have a story about a boy who died from injuries and starvation. The mother has been charged with “torture.”

My biggest problems are my back (pain just doesn’t want to let up) and being sore from dance class. Boy do I wish my body would recover quicker after a workout. I almost prefer my bubble to the news. But, of course, most news is negative. The old adage “if it bleeds, it leads” is too true. On to happier thoughts…

Well the trip to the salon took forever as usual. It was quite busy for a Monday. I think it’s one of the few salons open on Mondays. I’m particular about where I get my hair done. Very few places know how to treat curly hair. They don’t completely know at this salon, but they are far better than most.There weren’t too many characters there, but the owner is one. She recently got back from New York City and that is all she talked about.

So all that talk about NYC? Mildly interesting. I went there a long itme ago. Enjoyed it, but I wouldn’t want to live there. She thought the food was better out here. It probably is because everything is fresher. Since most vegetables and fruit are grown here, it takes awhile to get to NYC and of course, they aren’t as fresh. Really, an attempt to compare San Francisco to NYC is pointless. They are very different cities. The 2006 estimated population for NYC is 19,306,183, while it is only 744,041 for San Francisco. Let’s also look at the land area:  NYC is 47,213.79 square miles and SF is 46.69. This leads to the population density figures:  401.9 persons in NYC per square mile and 9,999.9 persons per square mile in SF.

So exclaming that there are so many people in NYC and tourists (let’s not forget all those tourists) is really pretty silly. My guess at NYC’s population was 10 million, and the real figure is twice that. Yeah, that is a lot of people.

You don’t want to argue with my hair dresser. She’s always right. Even if you disagree or could show evidence, she’s still right. I’m sure everyone knows someone like that.

Several moms were there with their children. At least two of the kids were old enough to behave for the two hours they were there. One mom had her 4-year-old daughter’s nails painted. Crazy. The little girl was a bit bratty if she wasn’t getting her way. When she did, she was good though. I can see her being a pampered prissy princess when she grows up.

I think my mother painted my nails for me on occasion. It wasn’t a regular thing. My mother wasn’t one of those high maintenance types…manicure, pedicure, full hair, etc. Not into spas. I never picked up the behavior. I have manicures, pedicures, etc. done on occasion, but it’s something I can do myself and save some money. I can’t stand anything that requires extra time to maintain. I have better things to do. I actually end up resenting being watchful of my nails after they have been done. I was gettng spray tanned for a little while, but it’s just too much upkeep to do on a regular basis.

While reading blogs this morning, I came across this story by Kristin on her life in France. (If you like interesting stories or France, I highly recommend this site.) Her story about the roofing guy who did his work in a Speedo made me wish that there were more characters in my neighborhood to right about. It has been extremely quiet this summer. Not even teenagers walking down the middle of the street or doing the things they normally do when school is in session.

My neighbors were making quite a bit of noise this weekend next to our fence. It was making the dog crazy for about 20 minutes each morning. For some reason they are digging up the rocks and plants next to the fence. Perhaps they are going to put concrete next to the fence–extend their sidewalk that is already there. I didn’t get a chance to ask.

Is it possible to create characters in a neighborhood? In spite of the heat here, the contractors don’t work in Speedos. In fact, hardly anyone wears them in public (the traditional bikini) except Europeans. Speedo makes large swim shorts for men as well. I’m also reminded of porn stars, but I don’t know where that association with Speedos comes from.

I’m off to the hair salon today. It’s a Monday, so it won’t be busy. There could be a few characters there though.

I wish I had a photo. Someone defaced a Starbucks billboard with the new slogan “Let’s meet at Starbucks.” So what did they do? They removed just enough of the “B” to make it an “F.” I was in tears laughing while driving. My son thought I lost my  mind, until he saw it on the way back. You can find this sign between San Mateo and Redwood City going north on 101. I couldn’t have said it better. But then I’m not a coffee drinker.

I have been avoiding fish ever since the mercury contamination levels have been made public. I don’t trust the government agencies to tell me the truth about acceptable mercury levels in my body or in fish. While I am skeptic, I am also a chemist, so I know how bad that mercury can be. Some of the mercury gets converted to methylmercury, which is deadly.

I mention all this because an article in the SF Chronicle about the clean up of the bay provided some rather startling information–at least to me. I’m not a native of California, and although I have been here now for nearly six years, I had no idea that there are two closed mercury mines in this area. One mine, the New Almaden Mine, is located in a Santa Clara County Park. This mine is somewhere in my area, since I live in Santa Clara Country. It also happens to have been world’s largest mercury mine. It is now a park. I may avoid the park. The second mine is in San Benito County. Both mines have leaked mercury into the San Francisco Bay.

I don’t know how many people fish the Bay for fun or sport, but I wouldn’t eat those fish. California is going to clean up the Bay, but it will take 70 years before the fish can be eaten. Seventy years! I won’t live to see edible fish from the San Francisco Bay. Very few of us will.

The contaminated fish don’t just harm people. They also harm birds who eat them. Currently 1,200 kilograms of mercury each year reaches the bay. The plan will remove 500 kilograms a year. How much mercury do you think is in this bird?

This beautiful body of water contains too much mercury. I know sailors who talk about how they won’t go in the water. they don’t even want to go into the water in a thermal wet suit, which is the only way to survive the frigid temperature of the water for more than 10 minutes. I knew the water was polluted, but I had no idea it was this bad. I know people fish the bay and eat those fish.

Those mercury mines aren’t the only polluters. Fifty sewage treament plants drain into the bay, as well as storm water from 76 cities and 15 industrial wastewater plants.

I still want to know why it will take 70 years. Government is notoriously slow when it comes to cleaning up pollution. Just check out the Superfund sites–some have not been cleaned up yet. Surely we have the capability of reducing the clean up time. It seems rather slow, or perhaps the Bay is incredibly polluted.

Apparently, environmental groups had to fight to get the clean up time reduced from over 100 years. Yet another reason to hate the oil companies:  they are very reluctant to provide information about their emissions and waste.

I think I’ve actually driven by this house once. I wish I could say I had been in it. Early this morning, this historical landmark was destroyed by a fire. The house was once the home of a survivor of the Donner Party–the group who survived being trapped in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the mid-1800s by cannabalism. The house was built in 1881 and is one of the oldest Victorian homes in San Jose. It’s always sad to see great historical architecture go.

Here’s what the Houghton Donner house used to look like.

Here’s what it looks like now. (photo from NBC11.com in San Jose)

Here’s to the best use of “varmint” in a news article. Funny how it’s on the front page, but not in the article itself. I was sure I would never here “varmint” again once I left Nebraska and Missouri. Last time I heard the word, I must have been 14 years old and it was in reference to either skunks or badgers creeping up close to the house. It is unfortunate that two dogs were attacked by coyotes in Golden State Park…apparently attached by leashes to their walker. Poor dog walker! I don’t think I would go to the park again.

What are you plans? Both the San Jose and San Francisco papers have some hints for enjoying fireworks with the crowds and without dealing with crowds. My son hates fireworks. And I mean absolutely HATES them. He doesn’t much like concerts either. Both are too loud according to him. He hasn’t quite lost his hearing the way adults have. I know that a lot of people grill food and use any holiday as an excuse to pig out, but that doesn’t work for either of us. Hmm. May just have to drag him along to wherever. That should be fun.

Mr. Fab made a comment on my PG rating, calling me a goody-goody. This, of course, reminded me of the Adam Ant song that my fellow students in junior high used to sing at me. Oh, the torture of junior high! If that is the case, then so be it.
I’m not sure that most people I know in real life would call me that now. However, I do try to keep this blog fairly clean (nothing graphic, hardly any swearing)–although the rating is a bit misleading. I prefer to be more creative in my word choice rather than use the common swear word.

Thanks go out to Jackson over at SFGate for linking to me. I noticed an increase in traffic. Hopefully some who read here will return. As the Bay Area livens up expect some commentary.

I missed the craziness over the iPhone. I had seen one (Apple employee) long before they were available. It can’t be anywhere near the craziness that still surrounds obtaining a Nintendo Wii. I scored one several months ago, but stores are still out. If you hang out at any electronics store or department, you will overhear at least two people asking about them within about five minutes.