Ron's Log

Another Demolition in Desert Hot Springs

Over three days last week a rundown house in my neighborhood, abandoned by its owners, home to a couple of drug-snarfing squatters, was demolished at the behest of code enforcement. And I got photos. My thanks to the police, code enforcement and city staff for their patient work to get this done, and to Councilmember Karl Baker for keeping his eye on things.

Before.

After.

Woulda been nice if they could've knocked down that tamarisk tree while they were tearing things out.

To secure their equipment overnight the demo crew removed its wheels!

More photos of the demolition here. And here is the complete set of photos of the house, including some interior photos that I got before I ran into the squatters.

The Desert Sun Does Asters (sorta)

Just when you begin to think the Desert Sun has achieved the nadir of idiocy, they go and outdo themselves. Here we have a nicely informative article about desert asters, and to help you identify them they include a black & white photo. TYVM. Perhaps the editors at the Desert Sun have lost all their cones and rely solely on rods for vision. For the few of us still able to see in color, here is what desert asters look like.

A Mecca Aster

A Borrego Aster

The Boston Globe Does Desert Hot Springs!

Amazing, the farthest afield a Boston Globe travel writer usually gets is Atlantic City. This reporter must have been here for the spa tour. She gets things almost perfectly accurate, except the Sidewinder Grill is somehow teleported to the outskirts of town. She got a much better photo of the Spring Resort than I did.

As growth and development spun off Interstate 10 along Route 111 south, the town was left in the dust. There is a sense that you could drop off the map here and nobody would notice. For years this town of some 25,000 had been one of the poorest and most crime-ridden in the desert, a haven for gangs, and at one point, home to 65 percent of all parolees in the Coachella Valley, despite having just 5 percent of the valley's population.

A new city manager, Rick Daniels, a newly elected Town [sic] Council, and a concerted law enforcement crackdown on gangs, drugs, and violence called Operation Falling Sun has made a dramatic difference in the past few years. Despite the flagging economy and the state's dire financial straits, Daniels secured a multimillion dollar redevelopment bond to be used for upgrading the town's infrastructure, building facades, and streetscaping.

Permit System For Half Dome

Yosemite National Park will impose a limit of 400 visitors per day to Half Dome on summer weekends and holidays. A permit to hike can be had by internet or phone, but you have to reserve it at least a week in advance. The good news is that the permit requirement applies only to those who climb UP the cable route. If you can get yourself to the top of Half Dome by some other route (a couple of days climbing the face, para-sailing from an airplane, levitation, whatever) then you are allowed to climb DOWN the cable route without a permit, saving yourself $1.50. Don't say the NPS isn't benevolent.

Downtown Streetscape and Facade Work

More photos of downtown Desert Hot Springs here.

Miss Beverly Hills Stumped

Turns out she can't quote any part of Leviticus, so she falls back on "the wages of sin are death," which means, of course, we are all sinners and we all die. Then the TV interviewer (who is probably a world famous philosopher) totally stumps her by asking "If they get to know Jesus, can they remain gay?" Watch closely and I think you can see smoke rising from her scalp as she reboots. Finally, she said she has moved from Pasadena to somewhere a little north of Beverly Hills. That would be Los Angeles, but maybe she forgot the name. I'm confused as to why she hasn't been pushed into running for a statewide-position on the Republican ballot.

I-10 Interchanges Groundbreaking

Yesterday I went to the groundbreaking ceremony for the I-10 interchange projects. Yes, there was free food...unless you consider listening to everybody's little speech to be a price to pay.

Southerly view from the top level of the parking structure at the Agua Caliente Casino. No interchange here, this area is to be developed.

Agua Calienta Casino.

Details on the Bob Hope interchange will incorporate Cahuilla basket weaving designs.

Richard Milanovich, Chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahilla Indians.

State Senator Ducheny. We could imagine she was singing the National Anthem in this photo, but she wasn't.

Supervisor Marion Ashley.

Members of the PR firm that are handling all the public information for the projects are a lot of very fun, exciting people, but they had a tendency to forget to get themselves out of the photo ops.

This late arrival seemed to come hiking in from the desert. I assume she's got her Ten Essentials in that bag.

The photo op for the Desert Hot Springs City Council, plus Rick Daniels and Jonathan Hoy, as well as Supervisor Ashley.

View to the west.

Assemblyman Manuel Perez.

Simplified map of the Palm Drive/Gene Autry interchange.

Desert Hot Springs Public Works Director Jonathan Hoy, City Manager Rick Daniels.

No shortage of shaded parking.

Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet.

The baleful eye of the press.

Dunno who. They just kept the dignitaries shuttling in and out of photo ops like a busy subway station.

California Highway Patrol.

More photos from the groundbreaking event here.

Mata Ortiz at Cabot's

Cynthia has a few photos and a report from last weekend's Mata Ortiz pottery event at Cabot's Pueblo Museum.

Chilean 8.8 Quake

This is the USGS-provided map showing the 8.8 and its 27 aftershocks during the subsequent 8 hours. The smallest quake shown is 5.0. There are several 6.-somethings. Here's the current USGS map of the area. Google map.

It's got a WikiPedia page. Today's quake was epicentered only 20 km from the epicenter of the 9.5 Valdivia quake that occurred in 1960. That was the biggest measured quake ever.

Here's a Lens For You

You can buy this used lens at B&H. 1200 mm. But if that's not enough you can put on teleconverters, although you will lose autofocus. Minimum focus distance 46 feet. Weighs 36 pounds. They've even got a video showing you its features. Watch for the bit showing how you put a filter on it. The drawback with a lens this size is it's only worthwhile if you've got a clear view of an endlessly fascinating subject some great distance away - like New York City where you can stand on one side of a river and shoot details on the other side.

Price: $120,000 - that's what caught my eye.