Around Fremont

You know all those flowery plants around the parking lots in pacific commons? Does anyone know what they're called?

Thanks

what the protest at Kaiser was (I happened to drive by), here it is:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157353.php
("Fremont Patients, Public Health Endangered By Kaiser Cutbacks In Urgent Services")

We went to the fair yesterday, what a crazy day.

Every year, Robert (my honey) and I go to the Alameda County Fair, we watch the horseraces, walk around and just look at things, eat really bad food :)

This year was no different, we got there for the first race, won a little, enough to keep it fun, I picked up a program which had Russell Baze's autograph in it :)

We walked around, went to look at the ride from 'Neverland' took a few pics, ate BBQ and got rained on, looked at the farm animals (my fave), then went to the commercial exhibitor hall and it got 'weird'.

We went to the hall, walked around trying stuff, bought some lipstick that supposedly stays on, got some other stuff, when I got to this corner with this girl selling hair stuff. The product she was selling are the " bump its, so anyways, I have some of these, which I bought at Walgreens for 9.99, this girl was selling them for $30.00.

I sat in her chair, she had these other hair ties, and I wanted to try them, they made me look like an old lady so I declined to buy them. While I was sitting in the chair, these young girls came in and were looking at the bump its. I sat there and listened to them talk about them and ask questions to the girl, who acted really rude and was downright trying to cheat them.

I told the young girls that they could get them at Walgreens for 9.99, very politely, then walked out of her little area and down the way to look at other stuff when this psychotic bitch followed me. She started yelling at me for sharing that information with the girls, in her strong ass middle eastern accent. I really coudn't understand her completely, but she told me I wasted her time, I was a big ass?, and that I shouldnt have bothered her if I wasn't going to buy her products (which sell at Walgreens) HELLO? I was amused but at the same time, I told her to get out of my face and go back to her area. She started to call me names, I just walked away. She was obviously, unstable mentally.

I walked around, found Robert and told him, then saw the girls who I had shared the information with and told them, they were in shock too. Before walking out tho, I passed by her little corner and saw that a lady was in there, I said very loud "Hey, you can get the same bump its for 9.99 at Walgreens" haha it was irresistible.

Then it got even more psycho. The girl went nuts, and started shoving me, telling me I couldn't say that and to get out. She freaked the hell out. I then told her she was really crazy and the security guard came in who was obviously on my side, I kept saying, "wow you are really insane" and before I walked out, she screamed at the top of her lungs "YES I AM CRAZY" I had to leave then I was laughing so hard.

I am tempted to call the fair, speak to their office, and tell them one of the vendors physically assaulted me, and verbally assaulted me.

I got a recommendation for Dr. Bentham at Central Vet from the lady at Family Pet Store out on Fremont Avenue.  Does anyone here have reptiles, and have you taken your reptiles to this doctor?  How was the care?  Did the doctor seem knowledgeable about your reptile?

I had a poor experience with All About Pets; I'm pretty sure the "exotics specialist" there knew nothing about how to care for lizards, let alone treat them.  His recommendation for my bearded dragon wasn't to treat her. In fact he barely looked at her, and then said, "Don't bother."  In those words.  And charged me $50.  I would hesitate to even recommend anyone take their dog or cat to that guy, from the way I was treated.

I guess I just want reassurance that taking my snake to Central isn't  going to be a waste of time, money and effort like it was for that All About Pets Place.  My girl means a lot to me, and I want her to have the best possible care.

Anyone?

We have two indoor only cats, we are looking for a local vet to handle basic care/shots. Suggestions?

A little background on Taiwan's tea renaissance, including Ten Ren, the company that has a shop in Fremont (in Little Taipei--I think they may also own Tea Station, but I'm not sure): Taiwan creates a Napa Valley of teas

- It's more of a sandwich-and-fancy-coffee place, not a sit-down restaurant. With so many places called "cafe" these days, it's hard to guess what's an actual cafe, but this is.
- Prices were $2 higher than in the article, so the chicken panini was $7.50, although it was filling and included a salad as mentioned. But it was good, and the chicken was real chicken breast and not the Sysco Spongy Soylent Special you get most places.
- The banana wraps enough to share at $3.50, which was a nice surprise--there were several small ones, but the chocolate mentioned in the article did not make an appearance.
- The "dessert espresso" menu is expensive but fantastic. Just remember it's like having your cake and your coffee in one thing, haha. I had the Dark Voodoo which involves coconut milk. Wow, it was great. It's my new favorite coffee drink. It's funny because I was just complaining to someone about how my old coffeehouse in college in Arkansas had better-made and more creative drinks than anything I can find in Fremont (and I don't want to drive to Caffe del Doge all the time, come on). But this was great! My husband had the Deth Chocolate which involves...balsamic vinegar (it's good too). There's no detailed description for these drinks (there is for the sandwiches if you ask) but the guy who was there was more than happy to tell us about all of them.

They're having an invitation-only grand opening party tomorrow; you can get invited by going to their website. Warning: autoplay music, gah.
http://cyclocafe.net/
(their website also appears to not be findable in Google, yikes--somebody talk to them about this!)

Haven't been here yet, though it sounds good:

Cyclo Cafe brings panini and flower tea to Fremont. (I think we already had both, but whatever.)

"Panini sandwiches on fresh bread are prevalent on the menu, as are salads and side dishes such as egg rolls, sweet potato fries, eggplant fries and a banana wrap (bananas wrapped in rice paper, deep fried and served with chocolate sauce). " They've got my attention.

Witnessed a high speed chase involving a huge pickup truck and a handful of cop cars while waiting to turn left on to Lafayette from Mission at around 7:30 pm tonight.

Tried to google any news for it, as I don't subscribe to cable, but didn't find any information.

Anyone know anything about it?

It's not ci.fremont.ca.us or whatever anymore--it's fremont.gov.

http://www.fremont.gov/

The "How Do I..." section seems like a good idea, at least.

Okay, now that Navlet's is gone, where do you buy ladybugs?

(Gardeners know what I mean...)

EDIT: Answered, thanks!

News is still breaking; here are links..

CHP advises avoiding 580 between 205 interchange and I-5 due to smoke.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/twitter/topics/contributor?q=abc7newsbayarea

Anyone else renewed their registration online with the Fremont DMV and not gotten their tags in the mail?

I guess I should have known better--I was just so excited to not have to smog my car FOR ONCE that I thought I'd try it.

They never sent me the tags, and I was so busy the last couple of weeks (out of town guests, medical appointments, blah blah) that I forgot to follow up. So guess who just got a pile of (fix-it) tickets form the Sunnyvale police? :/

I'll go to the DMV on Monday, but ... yeah, I'm pretty unhappy.

You may have read about the plan to close almost all state parks and beaches. If not, you can read about it here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/30/MNJO17TG6U.DTL
and look up your favorite parks and beaches here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/05/30/stateparks.DTL
The Tri-City area's parks are part of EB Parks, etc., and aren't (currently) under threat, but many popular escapes would be closed under this plan, such as pretty much everything you can get to when you drive over to Half-Moon Bay and go south, the various redwood parks, etc., including Ano Nuevo, Big Basin, Gray Whale Cove, Half Moon Bay Beach, Natural Bridges, Henry Coe, Moss Landing, etc. Only a small number of NorCal spots would escape closure under the plan.

If you are interested in trying to find a way to do something to prevent this, despite the budget problems, you can visit
http://www.savestateparks.org/
Here's their statement about a current budget conference committee attempt to save the parks.

The Fremont/Alameda County Library has not just the typical summer reading programs for children and teens, but also one for adults--read Bay Area-related books and enter to win prizes. Nifty.

Of course, there are other summer events at the library, too.

Until recently I've been getting my hair cut at a local barber shop. On my last visit, I learned that the barber was a big fan of Proposition 8.

I'd rather give my business to a barber shop more in line with my personal beliefs. Any chance anyone here knows of a barber shop around Fremont which is a bit less discriminatory?

watch this:



( Like free music/shows? Check out the ego trippers this week! )

June 13, 2009 is WWKIP day. The Fremont Ravelry knitters group will be meeting at Panera Bread on Mowry and Paseo Padre at about 2:00pm. Feel free to stop by and knit with us, ask questions, or just stop by and say hello. If you can't stop by, please remember to go out and knit somewhere besides home!

City Council votes on FY 09/10 budget and budget cuts – tomorrow, June 9 At 7pm, June 9, the Fremont City Council and Redevelopment Agency will hold second hearings on and adopt the following: the City’s FY 09/10 Operating Budget, the City’s 5-year Capital Improvement Plan, and the Redevelopment Agency’s FY 09/10 budget. City Council Agenda: pdf | RDA Agenda: pdf

Got this from the Chamber of Commerce weekly ezine.
 

I'm pretty sure the answer to this is no, but:

Does anyone know a repair place that has a 17" screen IN STOCK for an Alienware laptop (m9700, I think) and could do a repair ASAP for an out-of-town friend? It has to be done ASAP because he's leaving Monday afternoon. We checked with our regular guys and another place, and it'd take 3 days to get the screen in. :/

Figured it was worth a shot...