Tuesday, November 25, 2008

When the rain comes...

Jay Littleton Ball Park, Ontario.

My driveway drains downhill to my garage, so this is an annual routine.

A thing of beauty

$1.939 at Central and Mission in Montclair.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Slinky et al

A full-size metal Slinky, and other stuff, at the Macy's in Montclair Plaza.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Rubio's, south Upland

We've been eating at Rubio's so much I might as well feature it.

This one's in Upland, on Mountain north of 8th.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Branching out from meth labs into tattoo love

David Allen links to an E Online page that embeds a YouTube video a seemingly professional woman from Ontario, California who appeared via video on Oprah, starting by praising Pitt on his relationship, then detouring into some detailed questions about Brad Pitt's tattoos.

Pitt was speechless.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

I knew Jack Benny was in Cucamonga

David Allen blogged about a Jack Benny visit to Etiwanda in 1966 or 1967. But in case you didn't realize why a Jack Benny visit to Etiwanda was significant, Allen explained the importance of this:

Jack Benny's radio show made Cucamonga famous as part of the train station announcer's cry, "Train leaving on Track 5 for Anaheim, Azusa and Cuuuucamonga!" Supposedly -- according to an article on an Anaheim history website -- this line was first heard on his Jan. 7, 1945 broadcast and it became a running gag, continuing when Benny transitioned to TV.

Allen knows of no Benny visit to Cucamonga, but he received information about a visit to nearby Etiwanda:

The accompanying photo [in Allen's blog] was taken in either 1966 or 1967 at the Regina Winery. Gino Filippi, who sent it to me, said it was given to him by Mr. C. Boesen of Alta Loma. "The white-haired man opposite Mr. Benny is Tip Brown, GM of the Regina Grape Products Company. I think the event was a promotional event for the grand opening of the Regina Winery Restaurant, 'California's first winery restaurant.' "

Of course, anyone who has ever seen a professional baseball game in Rancho Cucamonga knows that Jack Benny is ALWAYS there.

The [Jack Benny] skit helped put this sleepy winery town, along Foothill Boulevard (Route 66) just west of San Bernardino, on the map. In tribute, when they built [the Epicenter] ballpark just off Interstate 15, it landed at the corner of Jack Benny Boulevard and Rochester Avenue, and they placed a statue of Benny and his violin in the foyer. (The park’s stated capacity of 6615 might pay tribute to the highway numbers, or it might be coincidental.)

It should be noted that the "Rochester" in Rochester Avenue existed long before Benny did his radio and television shows; the Rochester Water Company was incorporated in 1889 by at least one of the Smith Brothers:


View Larger Map


Rochester, Pennsylvania


The Smith Brothers, from Rochester, Pennsylvania, came to the Cucamonga area and began purchasing land in 1886. The property was in the area of what is now Rochester and Eighth Street. A hotel, land office, general store, and post office were established all in one building. They hoped to build a dream city and many acres were sold to settlers from the East. A school was constructed inn 1891.

Although successful for a couple of years, the town of Rochester became involved in litigation with the Etiwanda Water Company over water sources. In 1894 they lost their suit in court. The colony died after a severe drought in 1898-1899. People began to leave the area, and by 1911 the post office was closed. The Rochester Water Company moved its headquarters to Los Angeles that year.


When the Rochester Water Company moved out of the Etiwanda area, Eddie Anderson was only 6 years old.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Upland Vons, Wandering Wifi, and PDAs

I happened to be using my PDA just before I had to go to the Vons in Upland, so I brought it with me to test the "Wandering Wifi" service.

My browser displayed terms of service, and a Login button. I clicked the button and got...a blank screen.

Apparently Wandering Wifi's login process is incompatible with my PDA's browser.

So much for that...

BBSes in the (old) 909 area code

Before the Internet had widespread use, a bunch of people (including myself) would dial into bulletin board systems (BBSes). I was somewhat active on a few BBSes in the early 1990s, and I recently found a site that lists bulletin board systems - most, if not all, of which are not defunct.

Checking the list for the 909 area code (which at the time also included the present 951 area code), I found listings for a few of the BBSes I frequented at the time. Reminder: these BBSes have long since gone away, so don't bother to call the numbers...if you even have a modem any more.

909-923-1031
ONTARIO, CA DBUG, Diamond Bar, DIAMOND BAR BBS, The Diamond Bar BBS
(1988-1994) Johnathan Hart, Jonathan Rothsc PCBoard

909-947-7478
ONTARIO, CA DIAMOND BAR HUB, ONTARIO HUB, Ontario/Cucamonga HUB, Pomona Valley Net, SAN DIMAS, The Diamond Bar BBS, UPLAND HUB
(1991-1995)


A comment is in order here. Frankly, I'm not sure which of these two BBSes I frequented; all I remember is that it was the Diamond Bar BBS, and that it was in Ontario. (If you check the list, you'll find several listings for the Diamond Bar BBS.)

Back to excerpts from the list:

909-931-7395
UPLAND, CA Dyson's Sphere [ASV/GSA]
(1993)

909-949-2144
UPLAND, CA Deep Thought, Deep Thought RCP/M
(1989-1994)

909-987-0580
CUCAMONGA, CA Grotto
(1993-1994)


The Grotto (and I believe Dyson's Sphere) ran WWIV software - not the leading BBS software at the time, but it certainly had its adherents. See the Wikipedia article.

Interestingly enough, I also ran across this BBS:

909-460-0433
Ontario, CA Parallel BBS, The Parallel
(1997-2002) Matt Munson


Matt is now blogging at Inland Utopia.

Monday, November 17, 2008

State Route 142 is still closed

So Carbon Canyon Village in Chino Hills is still inaccessible (unless they're letting residents in).

Fire?

When I'm involved in a theater production, just about everything else goes out of my head - especially when I have a cold at the same time. So on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday last week, I was either onstage or doing nothing.

It wasn't until late Saturday afternoon, when I was driving from Ontario back to the theater, that I started hearing about the full ramifications of the various southern California fires, including the fires on the borders of the Inland Empire.

Part of the reason that the fires passed me by was because they had minimal effects in the Ontario and Claremont areas. It wasn't until Sunday morning that I could even smell smoke, and it wasn't until Sunday afternoon that the smoke was heavy enough to obscure the mountains from view. The freeway closures were all outside of the immediate area, and I didn't even see any fire damage until I drove by Tonner Canyon in Orange County on Monday morning.

And I wasn't the only one who wasn't really affected by the situation. Life in Claremont went on rather normally on Sunday:

Temps are in the upper 80s and low 90s this weekend, and the fires are burning all around, but it's pretty calm and clear here in Claremont. We are in desperate need of rain here.

And, for the local blogs that I monitor, that was that about the fire until early Monday morning, when the Claremont Insider provided an update about a two-acre fire in San Bernardino.

So who WAS blogging about the Chino Hills fire?

bbyelle:

GUYS GUYS THEREES A FREAKEN FIRE EVERYWHERE ._.
AND ITS LIKE SURROUNDING CHINO HILLS AND HALF OF MY HOMIES GOT EVACUATED.
SMOKE AND ASHES COVER MY HOUSE. WHAT A SAD DAY.


Carbon Canyon blogger Paul:

Like many Carbon Canyon residents, I have been evacuated and remain away from my house about 36 hours now as the Triangle Complex fire has roared through the Chino Hills range and vicinity in Corona, Anaheim Hills, Yorba Linda, Brea and Chino Hills....

On the Chino Hills side, the flames reached to within probably 150 yards or so of our house, having descended the ridge separating Carbon from Soquel canyons and charred a portion of the property of friends of ours. The fire also reached the perimeter of other neighborhoods on both sides of the canyon and affected outlying areas such as the Vellano and Pinehurst areas of Chino Hills to the east and the sections north of Lambert Road and State College Boulevard, east of Brea Boulevard/Brea Canyon Road and up into Diamond Bar on the Brea side.


Long Beach blogger Jose Franco:

Julie and I went to see our nieces play soccer in Chino Hills on Saturday morning. The smoke filled sky behind these little children playing was surreal. The drive home took about two hours.

Anaheim blogger Karen:

[B]y the time we got to Chino, we discovered that the closure of one freeway had affected others. And a second freeway was shut down. The two closed freeways (the 91 and the 57) are my options for getting home to Anaheim.

But I persisted.

After spending two hours going so slowly that my mph couldn't be measured on the speedometer, I finally got a bit of a break. Then there was a major accident. Then there were just a lot of people. It took me three hours to get from Chino to Anaheim, which normally only takes about 30 minutes.


Loud & Obnoxious Vince:

Our friends in the Manahan family had to be evacuated from their home in Chino Hills and from what I've heard, they're still not able to go back to their house yet.

And there are probably others, but this first person account from John Lendl is worthy of note:

we saw glimpses of the sylmar fire when were in la but came home surprised to find a fire over in corona....by the time i got home, the fire got bigger and was over in yorba linda and anaheim hills. had lunch at lucille's for izzy's birthday. it was really nice to see my cousins and their families. i'm glad that a lucille's is now conveniently located two miles from my house. good food as always with a food coma as usual. another tko courtesy of lucille's bbq.

when i woke up, it was dark outside and the fire was even bigger. at this point...i really didn't think it would reach chino hills, let alone my neighborhood, so i went out....i came home around 11pm to find out on the news that the fire is getting more serious and it was making its way through carbon canyon. minutes later...my family realizes the fire is in chino hills state park (which we live near the entrance of) but not yet in our city boundaries. i decide to stay up while my parents sleep.

around 2:30am...i decide to step out of the house and see what's going on with the fire, only to be shocked at the sight of the fire slowly but surely engulfing the hills by our neighborhood. at this point...i knew we weren't safe anymore and we had to leave asap. i immediately woke up my parents and we rushed to pack up our cars with essentials. while i maintained a calm mood...i was definitely nervous and scared....


Read the rest here.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Automated CalTrans number for highway information

Now that the "High School Musical" stage production is done, I'm paying attention to local news again - particularly to a series of fires stretching from Brea to Anaheim Hills. Because of road closures, these fires could affect my return to work on Monday.

CalTrans has an automated number - 1 800 427 7623 - to provide road closure information. As of now the 57 and 142 are closed, but the 91 is open.

The auto-voice cannot say "Brea" properly; you'd think it was a type of cheese.

Another way to torment my co-worker - Vader's Fist on November 19

We have a co-worker who hates everything Star Wars and Star Trek - so naturally, we've started a fund to buy him a red shirt.

Peggy at Around Yucaipa shared something that my co-worker would want to avoid - an appearance by the 501st Legion in the Inland Empire.

...The Legion is a volunteer club formed for the express purpose of bringing together costume enthusiasts and giving them a collective identity within which to operate. The Legion's aims are to celebrate the Star Wars movies through the wearing of costumes, to promote the quality and improvement of costumes and props, and most importantly to contribute to the local community through charity and volunteer work...

And as part of that charity and volunteer work, they will appear at a Book Fair Family Night at Chapman Heights Elementary on November 19 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

I'm used to Zappa, but...

...I've never seen Homer and Marge backstage at Bridges before.

(By the way, due to copyright issues, I won't post any pictures of you-know-what.)

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Continuing the "taking things for granted" theme

Outside the Kohl's in north Upland, California.

I used to take pictures of trash cans. Perhaps I'll take pictures of palm trees instead.

Friday, November 7, 2008

In which I muse about palm trees

I do not work in the Inland Empire. (That's probably a subject for a blog post in and of itself.) Because I do not work in the IE, I have to commute, either via freeway or through Carbon Canyon.

This morning I was driving on the freeway, got sick of the traffic, and took surface streets the rest of the way to work. Taking a shortcut through Placentia, I happened to notice the row of palm trees lining the street. (I subsequently realized that the street upon which I was driving was named Palm Drive.)



As you can see, I didn't take the picture myself, but luckily Google took one for me.

Obviously we have our own palm trees, and we take those for granted too. I knew a homeowner in Ontario who planted a palm tree in his front yard and subsequently regretted it because of all of the required upkeep.

On the other hand, some relatives of mine came to southern California once and were looking for the palm trees that they assumed would be everywhere. They were disappointed to see that the palms were relatively few and far between.

But they're there if you look for them. Or, sometimes they're there, sometimes they're not.

First, a word about selling or giving away your palm tree.

Huh?

There are many species of palms grown in the Inland Empire. Their value to a landscaper depends upon one primary factor: their ability to sell the palm tree and make a profit.

Yes, it's just like any part of the economy: if someone wants something, you can sell it. Who buys palm trees?

"I haul lots of trees to Vegas. Vegas always grows. A new casino wants huge trees" explains [Don] Walker [owner of Don Walker Trucking Inc. in Camarillo], who charges $1,000 for a typical haul from Camarillo to Las Vegas for six hours travel one way, plus unloading. Years of experience and a true love for trees insure that his tree loads arrive safely, without getting wind damaged or losing their leaves. "Palm trees are fragile. They'll break in the middle. You need to know where to brace them. Sometimes you only get one or two trees on a truck" says Walker, who carries $50,000 cargo insurance, just in case.

So some people are selling them, and some people (like the Ontario homeowner I knew) would just like to get rid of them:

[T]here's a new awareness of the hazards of palm trees, particularly fan palms. In various Inland Empire cities, there's talk now of phasing out the palm trees due to the fire hazard.

The writer above, Alma Jill Dizon, then asks:

What will southern California be like without palm trees?

But Alma points something out:

[C]onsidering that most of these palms are not native to the area and were only planted in the last century, we might not be saying good-bye to a truly California landscape.

Yes, folks, the image that we have of palm-filled southern California is yet another fiction, just like the movies we produce.

Unless, of course, you live south of Palm Springs:

Centuries ago, ancestors of the Agua Caliente Cahuilla (pronounced Kaw-we-ah) Indians settled in the Palm Springs area and developed extensive and complex communities in Palm, Murray, Andreas, Tahquitz and Chino Canyons. Abundant water and hundreds of plants and animals found throughout the area ensured stable living conditions. Crops of melons, squash, beans and corn were grown, animals were hunted, and plants and seeds were gathered for food, medicines, basketweaving etc. Many traces of these communities exist in the canyons today, including rock art, house pits and foundations, irrigation ditches, dams, reservoirs, trails, and food processing areas....

Fifteen miles long, Palm Canyon is one of the great beauty spots in Western North America. Its indigenous flora and fauna, which the Cahuilla peoples so expertly used, and its abundant Washingtonia filifera (California Fan palm trees), are breathtaking contrasts to the stark, rocky gorges and barren desert lands beyond. A moderately graded, paved foot path winds down into the canyon for picnicking near the stream, meditating, exploring, hiking or horseback riding.


Yes, a place where you can just get away and enjoy stuff. Maybe.

While in Palm Canyon, visit the Trading Post for hiking maps, refreshments, Indian art and artifacts, books, jewelry, pottery, baskets, weavings and conversational cultural lore.

Just don't try to buy a palm tree to take back to Minnesota with you. Don't laugh:

I grow several palms here in Minneapolis! Chamaedorea cataractarum, Livistona chinensis, Raevena palm. All go outside when there is no danger of frost and get sunk to their rims in the garden beds. They like the dapled shade of the maple but the Raevena rivularis will take wuite a bit of sun with acclimation. before frost in the fall I take them back into the 3 season porch for about another month and then they go up to the 2nd story plant room. Benn doing this now for 3 years.

The whole idea of brining the tree indoors for winter is a little odd, but if you love your palm tree, that's what you gotta do.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Statewide results, Wednesday 12:30 pm

We STILL haven't counted all the ballots, but we're getting closer.

First, the propositions:

96.8% ( 24,625 of 25,423 ) precincts partially
or fully reporting as of Nov. 5, 2008, at 12:19 p.m.

State Ballot Measures


1A - Safe, Reliable High-Speed Train Bond Act
YES: 4,977,377 52.3%
NO: 4,551,388 47.7%
02 - Standards for Confining Farm Animals
YES: 6,135,270 63.3%
NO: 3,569,365 36.7%
03 - Children's Hospital Bond Act. Grant Program.
YES: 5,197,224 54.8%
NO: 4,291,905 45.2%
04 - Parent Notif. Before Terminating Minor's Pregnancy
YES: 4,635,460 47.7%
NO: 5,071,449 52.3%
05 - Nonviolent Drug Offense. Sentencing, Parole, Rehab
YES: 3,836,811 40.1%
NO: 5,708,968 59.9%
06 - Police, Law Enforcement Funding. Criminal Laws.
YES: 2,851,278 30.6%
NO: 6,453,861 69.4%
07 - Renewable Energy Generation
YES: 3,340,238 35.1%
NO: 6,174,080 64.9%
08 - Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry
YES: 5,240,930 52.2%
NO: 4,806,595 47.8%
09 - Criminal Justice System. Victims' Rights. Parole.
YES: 4,972,076 53.3%
NO: 4,357,052 46.7%
10 - Altern. Fuel Vehicles and Renewable Energy Bonds
YES: 3,798,456 40.2%
NO: 5,643,235 59.8%
11 - Redistricting
YES: 4,561,736 50.6%
NO: 4,469,284 49.4%
12 - Veterans' Bond
YES: 5,864,227 63.5%
NO: 3,380,672 36.5%


And here are some Congressional results:

District 26
Candidate Votes %
Russell Warner
74,444 40.4%
David Dreier
97,613 53.0%
Ted Brown
12,206 6.6%

District 38
Candidate Votes %
Grace F. Napolitano
109,938 81.9%
Christopher M. Agrella
24,370 18.1%

District 41
Candidate Votes %
Tim Prince
55,716 38.7%
Jerry Lewis
88,186 61.3%

District 42
Candidate Votes %
Edwin "Ed" Chau
75,478 39.3%
Gary G. Miller
116,444 60.7%

District 43
Candidate Votes %
Joe Baca
62,735 68.1%
John Roberts
29,413 31.9%

District 44
Candidate Votes %
Bill Hedrick
73,601 48.0%
Ken Calvert
79,666 52.0%

District 45
Candidate Votes %
Julie Bornstein
63,974 44.0%
Mary Bono Mack
81,302 56.0%

District 49
Candidate Votes %
Robert Hamilton
58,489 37.1%
Darrell E. Issa
92,557 58.9%
Lars R. Grossmith
6,303 4.0%

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Statewide results, Tuesday 11:30 pm

The excitement may have died down a bit now, so let's see what results I can grab from the Secretary of State's website.

Actually, it's still taking forever to load, so this may be a partial result again.

Propositions:

State Ballot Measures 44.2% ( 11248 of 25423 ) precincts
reporting as of Nov. 4, 2008, at 11:38 p.m.

Statewide Results
Name Yes Votes % No Votes %
1A Y Safe, Reliable High-Speed Train Bond Act 2,568,349 51.2% 2,455,053 48.8%
2 Y Standards for Confining Farm Animals 3,206,326 62.4% 1,939,703 37.6%
3 Y Children's Hospital Bond Act. Grant Program. 2,601,736 51.7% 2,439,382 48.3%
4 N Parent Notif. Before Terminating Minor's Pregnancy 2,479,862 48.2% 2,659,922 51.8%
5 N Nonviolent Drug Offense. Sentencing, Parole, Rehab 1,959,455 38.6% 3,109,518 61.4%
6 N Police, Law Enforcement Funding. Criminal Laws. 1,504,654 30.3% 3,449,262 69.7%
7 N Renewable Energy Generation 1,728,642 34.1% 3,338,358 65.9%
8 Y Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry 2,831,351 53.3% 2,482,161 46.7%
9 Y Criminal Justice System. Victims' Rights. Parole. 2,673,364 53.9% 2,294,093 46.1%
10 N Altern. Fuel Vehicles and Renewable Energy Bonds 1,912,788 38.4% 3,065,080 61.6%
11 Y Redistricting 2,507,124 52.0% 2,320,337 48.0%
12 Y Veterans' Bond 3,086,809 62.5% 1,852,589 37.5%


With less than 45% of the vote, some of these (including MSNBC's hot buttons, 4 and 8) are probably too close to call. But some of these are probably pretty well decided.

2: It looks like farm animals will roam free...until they go to the slaughterhouse.

5: No change for non-violent drug offenses.

6: No dedicated police/law enforcement funding.

7/10: We ain't gonna do the government green thingie.

12: Veterans are cool.

I got some statewide results!

I finally got through to a specific link at the California Secretary of State website. http://vote.sos.ca.gov/Returns/props/59.htm is a direct link to the propositions. Here's where they currently stand, statewide:

State Ballot Measures 22.4% ( 5706 of 25429 ) precincts
reporting as of Nov. 4, 2008, at 9:33 p.m.

Statewide Results
Name Yes
Votes % No
Votes %
1A N Safe, Reliable High-Speed Train Bond Act 1,489,236 48.5% 1,578,868 51.5% Map

2 Y Standards for Confining Farm Animals 1,959,649 62.1% 1,199,254 37.9% Map

3 N Children's Hospital Bond Act. Grant Program. 1,499,862 48.4% 1,598,304 51.6% Map

4 N Parent Notif. Before Terminating Minor's Pregnancy 1,565,518 49.7% 1,582,677 50.3% Map

5 N Nonviolent Drug Offense. Sentencing, Parole, Rehab 1,129,236 36.2% 1,987,451 63.8% Map

6 N Police, Law Enforcement Funding. Criminal Laws. 942,673 30.8% 2,112,462 69.2% Map

7 N Renewable Energy Generation 1,055,436 33.7% 2,067,541 66.3% Map

8 Y Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry 1,691,250 54.6% 1,411,329 45.4% Map

9 Y Criminal Justice System. Victims' Rights. Parole. 1,707,659 55.5% 1,370,023 44.5%


Oops...I only got part of the results.

Inland Empire Results, Tuesday 9:30 pm

After a brief break to drive to Claremont and back (I heard Obama's speech on the radio), I'm back at the computer. I haven't successfully loaded the California Secretary of State's website yet, but I did discover that the Daily Bulletin page http://www.dailybulletin.com/electionresults is showing results from Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.

The 44th U.S. Congressional District is interesting:

United States Representative, 44th District
96/356 26.97%
Vote Count Percent
DEM - BILL HEDRICK 16,936 51.55%
REP - KEN CALVERT 15,917 48.45%
Total 32,853 100.00%


The San Bernardino results haven't updated since my last post, and the website claims that they won't have another updated for an hour and a half (11:00 pm PST).

I checked the Pomona mayor's race, but they haven't had an update since 8:06 pm. Here is Los Angeles County's preliminary (again, 8:06) votes on the propositions:

As of Date: 11/04/2008 Time: 20:06 Votes Percent

STATE MEASURES

1A - PASSENGER TRAIN BOND ACT - YES 172,838 50.53
(MAJORITY OF VOTES CAST) - NO 169,181 49.47

2 - FARM ANIMALS INITIATIVE - YES 231,991 66.93
(MAJORITY OF VOTES CAST) - NO 114,636 33.07

3 - CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL BOND - YES 176,787 52.46
(MAJORITY OF VOTES CAST) - NO 160,239 47.54

4 - PREGNANCY OF MINORS - YES 161,839 47.46
(MAJORITY OF VOTES CAST) - NO 179,166 52.54

5 - NONVIOLENT DRUG OFFENSES - YES 123,522 36.35
(MAJORITY OF VOTES CAST) - NO 216,257 63.65

6 - POLICE/LAW ENFORCEMENT - YES 108,020 32.70
(MAJORITY OF VOTES CAST) - NO 222,301 67.30

7 - RENEWABLE ENERGY - YES 113,554 33.47
(MAJORITY OF VOTES CAST) - NO 225,718 66.53

8 - SAME-SEX INITIATIVE - YES 190,390 52.91
(MAJORITY OF VOTES CAST) - NO 169,468 47.09

9 - CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM - YES 182,537 55.16
(MAJORITY OF VOTES CAST) - NO 148,380 44.84

10 - ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLES - YES 139,757 41.23
(MAJORITY OF VOTES CAST) - NO 199,244 58.77

11 - REDISTRICTING INITIATIVE - YES 168,224 51.84
(MAJORITY OF VOTES CAST) - NO 156,308 48.16

12 - VETERANS' BOND ACT 2008 - YES 209,279 62.93
(MAJORITY OF VOTES CAST) - NO 123,274 37.07

TOTAL PRECINCTS 4,883 PRECINCTS REPORTING 489 10.01
REGISTRATION 4,111,642


But this could be a long night in California, especially if the Secretary of State's website is down for a while.

Let's focus inward

Now that the national election has been called for Obama, we can focus in on events locally.

The San Bernardino County election results site at the http://www.sbcounty.gov/rovelectionresults/ is getting some preliminary results. Here are some of them:

PRESIDENT & VICE PRESIDENT
Vote For 1 258 of 1391 Precincts Reporting
CANDIDATE VOTES PERCENT
REP - JOHN MCCAIN AND SARAH PALIN 78232 52.28%
DEM - BARACK OBAMA AND JOE BIDEN 67916 45.39%
PF - RALPH NADER AND MATT GONZALEZ 1506 1.01%
LIB - BOB BARR AND WAYNE A. ROOT 832 0.56%
AI - ALAN KEYES AND WILEY S. DRAKE, SR. 737 0.49%
GRN - CYNTHIA MCKINNEY AND ROSA CLEMENTE 406 0.27%

CONGRESS 43RD
Vote For 1 50 of 360 Precincts Reporting
CANDIDATE VOTES PERCENT
DEM - JOE BACA 19157 60.02%
REP - JOHN ROBERTS 12762 39.98%

STATE ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 61
Vote For 1 23 of 147 Precincts Reporting
CANDIDATE VOTES PERCENT
DEM - NORMA J. TORRES 7504 49.04%
REP - WENDY A. MAIER 7055 46.10%
LIB - MICHAEL MENDEZ 744 4.86%

MEMBER, CITY COUNCIL ONTARIO
Vote For 2 6 of 69 Precincts Reporting
CANDIDATE VOTES PERCENT
SHEILA MAUTZ 3090 22.92%
JASON ANDERSON 2798 20.76%
DEBRA PORADA 2484 18.43%
PAUL VINCENT AVILA 2070 15.35%
KEN WHITE 1741 12.91%
JACK CUNNINGHAM 1066 7.91%
HOSSEIN NIKYAR 232 1.72%

MAYOR UPLAND
Vote For 1 5 of 47 Precincts Reporting
CANDIDATE VOTES PERCENT
JOHN ''JP'' POMIERSKI 4079 54.34%
RAY M. MUSSER 3427 45.66%

CHAFFEY JOINT UNION HIGH SCHOOL
Vote For 2 19 of 201 Precincts Reporting
CANDIDATE VOTES PERCENT
SHARI MEGAW 14355 37.78%
SUE OVITT 13756 36.20%
MIKE EDWARDS 5392 14.19%
ANDREA WOORE 2149 5.66%
FRED A CORRAL 1459 3.84%
LIONEL T. STEPHENS 886 2.33%

ONTARIO-MONTCLAIR ELEMENTARY
Vote For 2 6 of 65 Precincts Reporting
CANDIDATE VOTES PERCENT
SAMUEL CROWE 2390 20.87%
MAUREEN ''MOE'' MENDOZA 2251 19.65%
JAMES B. DOWNS 2081 18.17%
DAVID CAMPIO 1677 14.64%
GABRIEL ''GABE'' CHAVEZ 1331 11.62%
MARYANNE MARGARET AVILA 1140 9.95%
MARIO SOLIS JR. 583 5.09%

PROPOSITION 8
Vote For 1 258 of 1391 Precincts Reporting
VOTES PERCENT
YES 104356 68.70%
NO 47537 31.30%


Remember that these are only results from San Bernardino County, and they are very early results.

MSNBC Election Results Widget



H/T the Eastvale Housing blog. It's configurable - I've configured this to show California results by county.

I voted. What's next? (Empoprise-IE)

[Note: this is a rare cross-post between the mrontemp and Empoprise-IE blogs.]

I went to my polling place in Ontario this morning. Although it was more crowded than I have ever seen it, I'm really comparing apples and oranges, since I usually vote at 7:00 am but voted at 7:35 am this year. They handed out ballots by last name, and luckily the A-F last name line was very short.

I then went on to Starbucks after voting and got my free tall coffee. Thanks to Franklin Avenue for the tip.

As my long-time readers know, my blogs tend to go in spurts depending upon what is happening in my life at the moment. They get really techy around Oracle OpenWorld time, they'll get really theatrical next week, but today they'll obviously be political. So here's how things will probably divvy up as the day, and evening, progresses:

So there you have it. Stay tuned. And if you're American, vote. (I truly believe that a vote cast in the wrong way is better than a vote that is not cast at all.)

P.S. Because I voted, I was late coming to work and heard a bit of Rush Limbaugh in the car. I'll grant him one good line; he claimed that it took Obama 15 minutes to vote because he was looking for the place where he could vote "Present."

In case you forgot.

Monday, November 3, 2008

In which I tell you where to go on Election Day

You'll recall that back on October 15, I provided links to election results pages for Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.

But before we have results, you have to vote. Here are some resources that may or may not apply to you:

State of California online Voter Information Guide (including both principal and supplemental information) - the page includes the ability to download voter information in English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese

San Bernardino County list of candidates

San Bernardino County local measures

San Bernardino County polling place lookup

The statewide results web site, incidentally, will not be available until after 6:00 pm tomorrow, with no results until after 8:00 pm tomorrow. Access this site (once created) via http://vote.sos.ca.gov/. (And would someone please tell the Secretary of State that "SOS" may not be the best acronym to use?)

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Free wi-fi at the Upland Vons

Don't know if this is available at other Vons (or Safeway) stores, but it's available at Euclid and Foothill.

If you bring your laptop to a grocery store...