It shows how little I get out these days (thanks 18 month old who hates driving in the car!) that when driving to Huntington Beach via the 55, I noticed that for all intents and purposes, the entire carpool lane is now what I will dub an “In N’ Out.”  I’m sure there is some official name for them, but I attempted to Google it and am too lazy to research for more than five minutes.  If you have a lot of time on your hands, feel free to find out and let me know in the comments!

So instead of those nasty double yellow lines we’ve got dotted white ones pretty much all the way through. 

I love being able to go around the 87 year old set of grandparents (bless their hearts) who are going 62 mph on cruise control, instead of having to fume behind them for a couple of miles.

Everybody wins!

Now if only all of the HOV lanes could be like that. 

I mean, Arizona has In N’ Out carpool lanes, for chrissakes.  And when Arizona has managed to one-up us, then we know we are way behind the times.

Easter’s on its way…

I’ll be spending it primarily in Huntington Beach, where we will all probably freeze our asses off.

Last night we took our eight year old son to a flashlight egg hunt in Yorba Linda.

I iz old, because we certainly did not have these back in my days as a young ‘un.

My husband thinks it is a bit pathetic for 12 year olds to be still hunting for eggs (the age limit for the event went up to 14) but they actually had iPods as prizes.

As my dad said, HE would go egg hunting if it meant he might win an iPod.

So, Happy Easter to those who celebrate, and happy spring day to those who don’t!

OK, well it seems that the demise of Metblogs was greatly exaggerated.

One day I get an email saying that Metblogs is no longer, and a few days later, another email saying that there are plans to spin some sites off into their own domains, as blogging.la has done.

Now, is Orange County on the list of spinoffs?

I have no idea.

Until then, I guess I will keep on posting here until notified otherwise.

Sorry for the back and forth, I can only relay the news as I hear it.  As you can tell, there is quite a bit of behind the scenes fomenting that has been occurring and I’m fortunately not privy to all of that. 

So, let’s see if perhaps we can get back on track somehow?

Let’s start by begging Jon if he will come back.  I don’t know about you, but I think that Jon is one of the bestest writers ever on the OC Metblogs.

Hey, they say flattery will get you everywhere.

I just got an email that Metblogs as we know it is no longer. 

The sites are going offline, and I just wanted to pop something in your feed reader before the site went poof.

I have really enjoyed writing here at Metblogs, the last year or so notwithstanding.  I met some wonderful and not-so-wonderful people, but that is life, is it not?

If you have stuck with us so far, many thanks.  My personal blog can be found here, if you are so inclined.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

This post comes courtesy of former OC Metblogger Mike at Mike’s Daily Lockup.  Enjoy!

Electric cars have come a long way, but one company still leads the pack when it comes to pure electric vehicles. That company is Tesla Motors.

Today, I had the opportunity to visit one of Tesla’s newest stores inNewport Beach. In a place like Orange County, where we don’t have to worry about 12 inches of snow, most of our worries are over traffic and where we left our sunglasses. Newport Beach is a great location for Tesla to have a store, right on the water, not far from Fashion Island, and close to the innovative companies headquartered nearby in Irvine. Tesla doesn’t call them dealerships, but uses the term stores, as they are more then just a place to purchase a car. They welcome the public to come and visit and to learn more about electric vehicles. Walking in to the store, you’re greeted by a clean and crisp showroom with the Tesla Roadster 2.5 and the Roadster Sport 2.5 presented in the middle. The maintenance bays are surrounded by glass and are visible from all angles (missing the noticeable stains of grease and oil that one would find in a high school auto shop). If you treat your roadster right the only time it will ever see these bays is for the once yearly check and every ten to replace the battery pack. In addition to the services at the dealer, for those of us who live busy lives, Tesla will come to you for servicing of your roadster and will work with your electric company to install a high-power wall charger (similar to a high power outlet for a dryer) for you to “top-off” your roadster with electricity.

Since one of my favorite shows is Top Gear, let’s talk numbers. The Tesla Roadster 2.5 and the Tesla Roadster Sport 2.5 both only have 12 moving parts. That’s right 12, that last line was not a typo (you can even fact check it here). I can say from a test drive that 12 moving parts was more then enough to fling my athletically-average American male body down the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), slingshot it through Laguna Canyon, and then back up PCH, but more on that later. Both of the Roadsters are a marvel of modern engineering, but the third generation on display today is even better.

Right, so you want numbers, the motor kicks out the gasoline equivalent of 248 horsepower and 276 foot-pounds of torque, which powers the rear wheels via a single-speed direct-drive transmission. The Roadster Sport has 288 horsepower and 295 foot-pounds of torque. All of this equals a 0-60 time of 3.9 seconds in the Roadster and 3.7 seconds in the Roadster Sport. Trust me, it was more then enough to beat a gas-powered Lotus off the light near Fashion Island, but more on the test drive in a bit.

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And damn, is it cold.

I for one, although I do love me our OC shopping malls, tend to avoid shopping on Black Friday.

I have never, ever slept outside in a tent or lined up at 4AM to be among the first to get into a store.

It just isn’t that important to me. 

I think this year everyone (except the kids)  is going to get my homemade scones.  Everyone I know has pretty much everything they need, so why wrack my brain to buy them something they never knew they wanted?

I think the only time I’m going to hit a mall between now and Christmas is when I take the baby to see Santa.  Which is either going to be a lot of fun, or end up with someone in tears.  Knowing my daughter, that will most likely be Santa.

Sweet jeebus just when I think that the lowest thing could happen in the battle for equal rights and protection under the law something new happens. The reaction and advisement of the responding officer to seeing the noose attached to the door of the Equality California (EQCA) office was callous at best. “Sometimes you just have to live with being a victim” and then convinced the staff no hate crime was committed.

Mel Distel of the EQCA office put her own recap of the incident on Facebook Here. Clearly in the wake of the suicides of troubled gay youths in recent weeks this isn’t exactly “no hate crime committed”. In fact can someone explain to me how this is any different than if it were attached to a black man’s home? Or a nice local Temple? The actions of the police officers would have been quite different, of that I am certain.  Riding with my own local PD I know they would have treated for what it was, a hate crime.

Clearly this was meant as a way to intimidate the staff at EQCA.  So I ask you OC, did the officer act appropriately?  What should have been done differently under these circumstances?

You know, one of the few perks of being a blogger is the fact that sometimes, you get some fantastic swag, and even though many people wouldn’t necessarily consider tickets to Disneyland swag, I do. I’d take an experience at Disneyland over cereal or detergent samples any day, even if I got free cereal or detergent every month.

I was lucky enough to be invited to Mickey’s Halloween Party, this year happening at Disneyland proper rather than California Adventure, where it has been held for the past few years.

Being the traditionalist that I am, I was very happy to be at Disneyland. One of my very favorite rides at this time of year is of course the Haunted Mansion, all done up Jack Skellington style. Seriously, I could go on that ride ten times in a row and not get tired of it, or probably see everything.

I’m sure you’re thinking, but is there candy? Why yes, Virginia, there is candy! Good candy, too. Throughout the park they have trick or treating “trails” where you are able to pick up mucho sugar at stations placed about fifty or so feet apart. I have to say I preferred this to stations scattered around the park, because then you had a lot more flexibility in manuvering around. And I’m all about the manuvering, you know.

Then it was on to view the fireworks show, which has Jack Skellington, Zero, and Disney villains. It’s one of the best I’ve seen from Disney, and I’ve seen an ungodly amount of firework shows there. Although note to lady holding your (admittedly cool) balloon- don’t be surprised when someone asks you to lower it during the show, as we are all looking up to see the fireworks, not your (admittedly cool) balloon. And don’t act all put out about it, either. Sheesh.

I don’t know what it is about Disneyland and the holidays. My inner Martha Stewart, which is usually quite repressed, takes such joy in the decorations. She certainly doesn’t have anything to be impressed about at home, so she has to get her fix in at Disney.

A big hit with the men the particular night we were there were these very cool skull necklaces. When you are in the dark, it looks like a huge disembodied, talking skull is coming at you. They are only fifteen bucks, use regular batteries, and can also be used as a window decoration. Win! And of course, I bought one.

My family had a wonderful time at Mickey’s Halloween Party. You will too. I promise.

And if you happen to be a person who does not like Disney, then stay home, drink your haterade, and leave the fun to the rest of us.

Did anyone else brave the crowds and head to the beach for the Labor Day weekend? We did, but thankfully we were not stuck in the car. We rode our bicycles, but even that was not without issue … the husband broke his chain on the way home. The weather, at the coast, was actually warm and sunny for a change. For those of you that stayed home this is what you avoided.

Labor Day weekend crowds at Doheny State Beach on Saturday

It sure looks like the economic meltdown, that put so many homeowners into foreclosure, has also hit the mariners of Orange County pretty hard. If you’re in the market for a used yacht or  boat – you can learn the difference here – one only has to walk around Dana Point Harbor. There are tons of sea-going vessels with for sale signs attached to the bow, stern, port or starboard of the boat/yacht.

Several of the many boats for sale

As you can see this boat is for sale ...

... it's even staged

How’s that for a combination, eh?

If you don’t already know, the Orange Street Fair is happening at the Circle, and as always, it’s hotter than hell so I refuse to go.  The OC Register has the lowdown on some of the food stands.

I like the idea of the fair a LOT, but my big beef is that there are not enough places to sit.  I am someone who enjoys sitting and noshing on my food, not standing up.   It’s been a few years since I’ve gone, so maybe they’ve addressed that issue, but I doubt it.

As for the ole OC Metblogs, I ask myself, what to do?

I’m sure if you are a subscriber or loyal reader, you’ve noticed a steep and ugly decline in the amount of posts on here lately.  We were going strong there for a while, but it seems that everyone has lost their steam.  I haven’t exactly lost mine, but my ten month old is a hell of a lot of work, and I find myself with little to no time to blog here, as I have other (read:paying) blog obligations elsewhere.  So obviously, the stuff I do for free is going to suffer.

The whole “are we or aren’t we going to even survive” thing doesn’t help either, to be sure.  Try recruiting writers to write for free for a publication that may or may not be around in a few months. For that matter, try mustering up the enthusiasm to write for a publication that may or may not be around in a few months.  It’s a bit hard, to be sure.  The LA Metblogs is going strong, but they’ve always had mucho participation, and I’ve noticed they moved to a different URL so that they can keep going if Metblogs fails.

Not exactly reassuring. Or a vote of confidence.  Commuinication from HQ has been spotty at best, so I’m guessing the end might be nigh.

So, I don’t know exactly what’s happening, but as the captain of this ship, dammit if I’m not going to go down with it.  Despite there not even being a crew to mutiny against me or anything.

Posts will probably be few and far between, but I hope you’ll stick with me as long as it lasts.

I am sad to say I am leaving the OC Metblog.  While it is for a happy reason (I finally got a job as a nurse), I have moved to Long Beach….therefore making me an OC resident no more.  But you best believe I’ll be all over the comment threads just as I was before I became an author.

On this note, if any of you out there would like to be an author for our site, step up and let us know!!  Due to moves out of the area (fejsez, oc maria, myself) our crew is fading fast.  Please speak up and tell us about your OC experiences, tips, whatever!

So with this being my last post for OC Metblogs, I’d like to say thanks for all the memories and can’t wait to read what happens next!

This Saturday August 18, The Honda Center (The Pond) will be hosting the first ever OC Foodie Fest.  There will be 50 (yes!  50!!!) food trucks from all over in attendance!!  Tickets are cheap and selling out fast.  All the trucks will be featuring cheaper-than-normal tasting menus.  If you want to avoid the crowds a bit and get some perks, VIP passes can be purchased for $50.  If this will be anything like the LA Food Fest I attempted to attend last year, it will be bedlam.  They are capping ticket sales at 8,000.  BUT…..it should be tasty.

On a sad/wtf note:  Kogi BBQ and Grilled Cheese Truck will not be in attendance.  Oh well.

Orange County, for some reason, gets a lot of flack for being “homogenous.”

As in, lots of white people.

Well, I visited my son’s second grade classroom today and I saw faces that reflected Asian, Middle-Eastern, African, Latino, and European ancestry.

Are there “white” kids?

Of course, but the kids that I saw were in no way homoegenous, and I think that is pretty true of Orange County as a whole.  I don’t want my children growing up in a world where everyone looks exactly like them, and for all that the producers of Real Housewives of OC would like you to think, the population is far from being all fair-haired and light-skinned.

The pockets of paranoid white folks are certainly there, but I’m predicting they will be going the way of the dodo sooner rather than later.