While I’m still getting over the disappointment of not being able to tryout for the Tahitian group, I have been busy getting the rest of my life in order. I have the leadership program beginning in late August. It’s our first chance to see who is in the program locally and meet our coaches. Coming up next week I have the first seminar of a series on sex and intimacy. Everyone’s favorite topic. It should be a very interesting seminar if only to see how everyone else reacts to the topic. I have to make time for dance practice and especially conditioning. I never work as hard on my own as I do in class. I suppose everyone is like that. I certainly like the results from just three hours of conditioning and practice–trimmer arms, tigher abs.

The other part of my life to get in order is work, of course, but also dating. I put that on hold over the summer while my son was here. It’s not easy to meet someone new while he’s here, and I would rather spend most of my free time with my son. Actually, I don’t like the dating part…the meeting, the wasted time. It can be fun to get to know someone, but you have to go through so much effort to find one worthwhile.

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.

For those of you out-of-towners, I hope you made plans early. This Saturday is the Pride Parade. However, if you not into Pride but into all things sexy, check out this article by Violet Blue. She has all the can’t miss spots in SF. She has definitely done her homework.

If you do get your freak on, don’t end up like this South Carolina couple.

Reminder:  God is watching… No, this is for real. The Vatican released driving commandments. Even I had to double check because it sounded like an article from The Onion. They actually recommend reciting the rosary while driving. Apparently it isn’t distracting. Hmm. Not sure about that, but I’m not going to test it out. The SF Chronicle is giving readers an opportunity to submit their own commandments. I didn’t see anything about swearing at other drivers while driving.