Listen, I am a pro-union person.  I believe that working people usually benefit from having a collective bargaining unit that pits them against management.  Because if anyone thinks that management is keeping the best interests of workers in mind, they are absolutely delusional.

But.

I think that Disney hotel workers and their Unite Here Local 11 are asking for an awful lot in some pretty lean times.  Very few people in this country are getting free healthcare, and I’m not understanding why they think they should, too. 

 My husband is being “asked” to take furlough days, and our healthcare costs (such as co-pays and prescription benefits) have recently risen.  However, we’re thankful that he even has a job, and excellent healthcare benefits to go with it.

I think a hunger strike is a bit drastic, and it hurts me to say it, but Local 11 needs to stop having their members working without a contract and sign up for the same benefits that all other Disney employees have.

Are you on Twitter yet??  If not, now might be a good time to make an account, and if you are, you need to follow @Disneyland.  Not only do they let you know about deals around the resort and provide fun facts now and again, but at 12pm today they will be having their “first ticket giveaway” on Twitter!  I take “first ticket giveaway” to mean there will be others too.  So hurry up and add them and check in around noon for your chance to win.  I know I will cause my Annual Pass expires this month!

So hurry, cause it’s FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

It seems that Orange County beaches are being overrun by giant squid.

Chthulu would be proud?

Ok, maybe I just wrote this post because I couldn’t resist the title.

Dear Local Target Store,

Have I mentioned that I really do love you?  And that it hurts me to write this?

I was standing in line with my items that started out as a small list and ballooned (as always) to about a bazillion things.  I was tired and impatient, I’ll be honest. 

I get to the checkout line, and I take a gander at the checkout person.  She looks as if she is about to die.  You know how people look when they are really sick and should be in bed, but instead for some reason showed up to work?  Well, that was her. 

She croaks, “Hello” at me and then COUGHS ONTO HER HAND. I repeat ONTO HER HAND.  My first grader knows by now that you DO NOT COUGH INTO YOUR HAND you cough into the crook of your elbow.  He does it, I’ve seen him do it.  But for whatever reason, this chick decided it was too much effort. She then casually, or perhaps very slowly because she had a horrible illness residing within her that has rendered her limbs practically useless,  pumps a couple of drops of hand sanitizer onto her hands, rubs for about two seconds, and then PLACES HER GERMY HANDS ALL OVER MY STUFF.

Did they not just come out with a study that showed hand sanitizers do not in any way kill 99.9% of germs?  Why yes, they did.

What should I have done?  Should I have switched lines, even though she had already started on my things?  The thought crossed my mind, but it was too late. 

So thanks a lot, sick Target employee.  I have a three month old with an immature immune system at home, the last thing I need is an onslaught of your germs.

And Target, I don’t know if your policies encourage sick employees to show up to work or not.  I hope they don’t. And you might want to give your employees a refresher course in proper hygiene.  Especially in the time of, you know, that little thing called swine flu.

Thanks bunches,

Gina

The ZOMG is actually more in reference to the giddiness I would feel at being able to hop on a train/monorail/whatever the hell they come up with and be in SF in something under three hours.

2.5 billion sounds impressive until you hear the figure the entire project is supposed to cost, which is somewhere in the realm of 42 billion.  Even if California matches dollar for dollar the federal money they receive, it’s still a paltry amount compared to the final total.  And uh, last time I checked, the state has a pretty gnarly deficit.

We’ve got a long way to go, apparently.

I see Dave and I had a similar idea for a post although his post is more serious. I think my before and after photos only stress the importance of how quickly things can change.

During my daily – OK, almost daily – walk along the San Creek Juan Trail, last Tuesday the 12th, I took this photo of the flood control channel in anticipation of the rain that all of the local meteorologist were predicting.

The following is a photo I took yesterday afternoon, January 21, from roughly the same location. As you can see it’s quite a dramatic change.

More after the jump.

Read more

Cleanin' up for a good time.

OK, well, actually Supercross came back 2 weeks ago for the first race of the season.  But as they have for the last several years, they will be running 3 separate weekends out of Anaheim Stadium.  This Saturday is A2 (Anaheim 2), and it is sure to be a MESSY race!  With record rainfall this last week, the dirt in the stadium will be saturated to the core, meaning the mud will be flying.  It may be terrible conditions for the riders, but it doesn’t get any better for the fans!

If you’ve never been to a Supercross race before, it is a great time.  Check out my post from last year’s Supercross event for pictures and a quick rundown of what goes on.  Tickets are still available for A2 this weekend and A3 in 3 weeks.

Doooooooo iiiiiiiiitttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!! (I know, I’m lame.)

For some reason, EVERY TIME we have enough rain to make the flood channels actually flow, at least one person decides to take a swim or something, causing your local fire fighters to get out the swiftwater rescue gear and get ready to get wet.

I ventured out after the big storms passed through to get some pictures of the flood channels FROM A SAFE DISTANCE when I noticed a fire engine on the Chapman Ave bridge over the Santa Ana River.  When I looked north, I could see flashing lights from other engines across all the bridges visible from that spot.  I found out later that 2 young teenage boys were playing in the water when they were swept away.  One boy was plucked out of the water just minutes later, but the other boy was not found.  He’s not expected to be found alive.

More information and pictures after the jump. Read more

Other than the rain, of course. Everyone kept saying how epic these storms were going to be, and perhaps they are indeed epic somewhere else, but not where I am. We had some very cool lightning and thunder, but other than that, meh.

So, in the last four months I’ve given birth to a daughter, sold my home, went through Christmas, and packed and moved to a new home. Yes, I am certifiably crazy.

But, I’m back. You can’t get rid of me that easily, Orange County.

The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado Warning for parts of Orange County until 2:00 p.m. The areas included are: Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Westminster, Tustin Foothills, Tustin, Stanton, Seal Beach, Santa Ana, Irvine, Huntington Beach and Fullerton. Stay safe!

Update: 2:00 p.m.

The NWS has issued a new Tornado Warning that now includes San Clemente and parts of  Northern San Diego County until 2:30 p.m.

As I was walking into Target (at the Spectrum) this afternoon I noticed a sign announcing “This Location Closed” in front of Kiddie Kandids (located next door to Target and JoS. A. Bank) I also noticed two pieces of paper taped to the window, so I walked over to take a closer look.

I was surprised. It seems, to me anyway, that it was a pretty busy store. I always saw kids dressed up for photos and saw the flash going off. Well, maybe this location was busy, but not others around the nation.

One of the signs posted is from the staff of the Irvine Spectrum store. Based on the verbiage, they were not expecting the shutdown. There is a contact e-mail – lindsaywiser@gmail.com – if you have photos that need to be picked up. It seems like they are going to really try and accommodate their customers.  The other is similar to what the Kiddie Kandids website is showing.

Good luck to all of you that have photos that need to be picked up. Let us know if you were able to get them.

You can read both signs/letters below and they get larger by clicking on them.

Letter to customers of Irvine Spectrum Kiddie Kandids store. Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge.

Did anyone else get stuck in this mess this morning? It took me an hour and five minutes to go about 15 miles (Dana Point to Fashion Island). Needless to say I was 45 minutes late for my dentist appointment. If you need to travel on PCH you may want to check to see if the police have reopened the road.

Update 7:05 p.m.: Sorry if this came across as crass, totally not my intent. I was trying to be informative about the length of delay and to give those of you who may have needed to be on PCH earlier this afternoon a heads up. Obviously this was a very serious situation and I’m glad no innocent bystanders were injured.

Hi gang, here’s a little promotion for a friend of mine.  This Tuesday, my friend George, a.k.a. DJ Vytal, will be spinning Top 40, Hip Hop and House music at Proof Bar in the Santa Ana Arts District.  I have been the last 2 nights and it is a LOT of fun!  And the best part, there’s NO COVER! (In Orange County, this is a big deal).

DJ Vytal doing his thing.

So if you have no plans Tuesday night (and you don’t have to be up early Wednesday) come down and hang out with me and my friend George!  And don’t worry about coming to an empty, awkward bar.  This place gets full and is TONS of fun.

Alright kiddies.  Today officially marks the end of the holiday festivities at the Disneyland Resort.  It’s now officially safe to go back to the park.  Oh sure, it’s a little chilly out (yes I consider 75 degrees chilly), and no there won’t be any pretty decorations.  But the next 2 months will be the best possible time to go have some fun at the parks.  January and February mark the 2 months where the park is EMPTY!  I mean, get there at 10am, ride all the rides in both parks and leave by 4pm, empty.  It’s the greatest!!!  All the tourists are back home shoveling snow so their kids can get back to school.  Monday through Friday, all the local kids with annual passes are back in school also.

Over the last few years, Disney has utilized this time for their “two-fer” deal as a way to get locals to go to the park in such an abandoned time.  And it does work.  The parks are definitely more full then they used to be at this time.  But if you can avoid weekends, you’re set.  Sure, there may be some rides that are closed for rehab and some of the shows and parades won’t be running, but I promise it will be worth it.

*Notice- If Disney does have the two-fer deal again this year, be sure to avoid the parks for those last 3 or so weekends before the deal expires.  I remember the first time Calif. Adventure reached park capacity was the last weekend the first “two-fer” took place.  And that was because Disneyland had already reached capacity earlier in the day.  All the people who wait until the last minute to use their second ticket rush to the parks before it expires.

*Also-It’s confirmed Captain EO will be returning in February sometime.  I’m sure we’ll have more information to give you later, but I would be weary of the park at that time as I’m sure it will be packed.  But of course I’ll be there with bells on to see it all over again! :-)