I am by this time an old timer

Cool! .

 

Ha! I was long gone by 1994. Coulda been one of my academy classmates, though ...

I'm the tall, good lookin', dark haired guy standing in the middle, circa 1979.

 

Very nice!

 

We can get more than 15 inches in a day in the wet season. There's lots of bananas now but the town was founded on sugar cane farming. They used to cut it by hand with machetes. Australians had no real knowledge of harvesting by hand like that but Italians did, so a lot migrated here to show us how it's done. The statue on the local cane cutter monument is still called Mario by everyone.

There's still a lot of acres under cane, but not like it was even when I first moved here 25 years ago. Then there was nothing but cane from here to Cairns an hour and a half's drive away. I used to hate it. It's not a pretty crop- it's a giant grass after all- but now I like watching the cane season. It's like watching the rhythm of life, I suppose, somehow comforting and reassuring. And the little cane trains are cute. The air smells of molasses at crushing time if you're near one of the mills.

 

Why thank ya, Ma'am. I was 24 at the time. The hair is all still there, but it isn't brown anymore .....

 

I would show some landmarks from my town, but I wouldn't want to give away where I live, so I won't. A girl can't be too careful on the internet!

 

People ignore don't feed the bird signs. We have signs up begging people not to feed the cassowaries because they are dangerous when they have chicks- very dangerous. But people keep feeding them.

 

Not to mention, the crap that people feed them is no good for them in a lot of cases. Like bread. Bread is terrible for most animals. They probably have terrible tummy aches after eating that stuff.

 

'abdominal spasms'!

 

That might be why they get angry and cut peoples bellies open with a kick.

 

Show me a pic of a 'truck stop' in the Bay area where out-of-state truckers can park before & after delivering loads to service that area....oh wait, there are none!

They want the goodies that trucks bring in but not those large, disgusting trucks and their drivers! Usually had to park in W. Sacramento or Tracy (60-80 miles away)

Long-haul truckers hate that 'squeaky clean' area (many exits off the main freeways say "No Trucks" also)...drove it for years.....and plz stop CA residents from escaping by moving to my home state of AZ and bringing their 'liberalness' with them. Enjoy the Bay Area...

 

I looked up attacks by those birds and one video mentions a 16 year old boy having his neck slashed and he died. I saw one chase a grown man. Glad you mentioned them.

 

Is the truck stop at San Leandro on Davis St. shut down? When my brother drove trucks, he parked there.

 

And those are not small birds. If they only attack when they have chicks, at least it leaves time they won't attack or are less likely to. I hear that bread clogs up birds intestines.

 

What we have shown does not mean you can come to the front door. LOL

 

When my parents were alive, they lived about 5 to 6 hrs north of me. If I was in a mad rush, it was 5 hrs. It rained around 85 inches per year. That area was well known for being redwood tree country. But 15 inches per day? I did notice in their area when it rained real hard, the ground sucked the water into the soil very fast. But they did have a few major floods on the Eel River that knocked down some bridges and stranded some of them till the waters receded.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=25896

They did not live there for the 1955 flood or the 1964 flooding. But they were around the 1200 ft elevation so where they lived, they got no flooding.

The link shows a tiny community called Weott. I have driven through there but of course never when it is raining hard.

If the Eel floods again, I suspect my sister will be flooded out of her home.

 

Most areas around the Bay are specifically zoned so as not to allow truck stops or may allow temp parking for locals. (No over night)

Example is in Vallejo, where an old former truck stop is not allowed to be called a 'truck stop' anymore but trucks can park for up to 4 hrs for $..!

I remember the CA of the 50's & 60's, the place to live, and CA99 before I5 was the scene for middle class families---Bakersfield to Modesto where there are still a multitude of truck stops....and why S. CA (L.A.) and N.CA (S.F.) dislike each other as almost 2 different countries---I prefer L.A. and the Inland Empire area when going to CA

 

BTW, the Hayward fault goes thru Fremont and is more 'over due' than the next big San Andreas, which are tied together---good luck!

 

A note on the citation. I believe I got it on Cox Ave headed to Saratoga Ave. I had finished an appraisal and got on the throttle pretty hard. I saw the patrol car parked too late. My defense in court that worked somewhat was it was safe to drive that fast due to low traffic. I had photos of the area the Judge took into account. He could have really slammed me but the fine was modest.

 

That is true. I sold a 13 acre site that has the fault bordering the property. The city required us to not build closer than 50 feet to the fault line. That fault moves all the time only very slowly. It could take another thousand years to go off.

One thing, the San Andreas is well over the SF Bay and runs along highway 280 which is quite a few miles away from us.

Fremont building codes are designed for earthquakes. In 1989 I felt the Loma Prieta quake and guessed to be a 7. It was a bit of a scare but the damage done to Oakland sure shocked me. We did not see damage in Fremont at all.

 

Remember the 89 one while watching a MLB game being played at Candlestick Park.

How much of Fremont is 'new' building with new codes? If the San Andrea goes and Hayward doesnt, your land value shud go up with 'new' ocean front property...

 

I just used the truck stop checker and the one my brother once used is no longer there. I am less partial to the South of course and know precisely what you mean by the state divided. We up here get some flack so we can ship water to the Los Angeles area. We then have some of the cities getting worse water from the Delta system.

The forests of CA are not generally in the South. I know of the truck stop at Ripon. The Flying J seems to be a good place for drivers. A thing I noticed when my brother was alive. Girls hung out at those truck stops looking for action. This may be one reason some cities don't care to have them there.

 

I get a kick out of that myth.

We expected more danger to the brick buildings here in town. Very few of them are standing. But those standing were forced to get bolted together. Even masonry buildings had to be bolted and cross bolted. They ran very long steel bolts up high. Most of the city dates from 1956 forward and even then they took quakes into account. Frame homes fare better than homes made of brick.

As to the joke about ocean front property. The two quake zones are slip faults. They move but north to south. They do not pull the state apart. But some still think part of CA would slide into the ocean. But the pressures never would allow that since the land is shoved against land rather than pulling it apart. All these hills give you an idea of what actually happens.

 

Yeah, Bakersfield has 3 truck stops where 'lot lizards' will knock on trucker's doors while truckers are trying to get some sleep!

The national truck stops for over night parking with full 'conveniences' (food, shower, etc.) needed are as you mentioned the Flying J (also known to truckers as the 'flying hook'), TA (where lot lizards arent generally discouraged), the Pilot, etc.

But in fact, the national chains arent called truck stops any more, but 'Travel Centers,' as they draw in '4-wheelers,' aka civilians or non-truckers for much of their income!

 

According to Disc et al, L.A is suppose to move north and 'join' S.F......think in 10,000 yrs....oh the shame...