Ron's Log: March 2022 Archives

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March 28, 2022

Hidden Valley

These were all shot in Hidden Valley in Joshua Tree National Park earlier this month using Agfa Copes Rapid film.

Filed under Photography | permalink | March 28, 2022 at 06:17 PM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2022

Mission Creek Preserve Today

Brittlebush In Mission Creek Preserve (2227)
The brittlebush is looking good!

Filed under Coachella Valley,Photography | permalink | March 27, 2022 at 09:30 PM | Comments (0)

March 26, 2022

Health Department Inspections in the Coachella Valley

From the Press-Enterprise:

China King Restaurant, 295 N. Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs

Closed: March 18
Grade: 68/C, failing
Reason: Cockroach infestation. The inspector visited in response to a complaint and found five or six roaches on a wall behind hanging utensils and another one on the floor. There were three critical violations: An employee killed a roach with bare hands and then touched diced bell peppers without washing. Food was also contaminated when an employee placed a trash bag on food at the prep table, and because raw chicken and beef were touching in overfilled containers. Additionally, shelled and pooled eggs were at unsafe temperatures, and tapioca balls and hoisin sauce that required refrigeration had been left out for two to three days. Among the 15 other violations, an employee said utensils are washed only once a day (at least every four hours is required), weed killer was stored next to the meat grinder, cooked pork wasn’t being cooled down safely and the facility needed cleaning. This was the restaurant’s second failed inspection since 2019.

Wang’s in the Desert, 424 S. Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs

Closed: March 18
Grade: Not graded
Reason: Rodent infestation. An inspector visited in response to a complaint that someone saw multiple rats. The owner was aware of the problem and said they’d been working with pest control. The inspector found droppings throughout the facility, including inside containers of clean dishes, on shelves holding clean dishes and open containers of food, below prep tables and cooking equipment, on shelving at the food pickup window, in the customer dining area and in the employee break room. There were also gnaw marks and droppings on a package of salt.
Reopened: March 23 after pest control visited twice and affected areas were cleaned. The inspector did find a few old droppings on the floor behind some cardboard.
New grade: 92/A, passing

Sammy G’s, at 265 S. Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, was inspected March 18 in response to a foodborne illness complaint and received a failing grade of 81/B with one critical violation. Several items were at unsafe temperatures in the walk-in dairy refrigerator, which was impounded for not keeping cold. Among the 11 other violations, cooked chicken and pasta had been left at room temperature to cool, there was biofilm in the ice machine, knives had been put away dirty, there were a few flies, the inspector found two old rodent droppings in an unapproved food storage area that wasn’t properly vermin-proofed, and the restaurant needed cleaning. This was the restaurant’s second failed inspection since 2019.

To Go Sushi, at 40101 Monterey Ave. Suite G2 in Rancho Mirage, was inspected March 16 in response to a foodborne illness complaint and received a failing grade of 80/B with one critical violation. The sushi chef didn’t wash hands after using a dirty towel. Among the 11 other violations, raw tuna and imitation crab were at unsafe temperatures in two coolers, one of which was impounded for not keeping cold; other prepared food wasn’t being cooled down safely; and utensils weren’t being sanitized properly.

Filed under Coachella Valley,Food and Drink,Health | permalink | March 26, 2022 at 08:08 AM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2022

PBR Comes To Desert Hot Springs

"Pabst Labs, a cannabis beverage company, unveiled its brand new manufacturing facility and distribution center in Desert Hot Springs." "Pabst Labs produces Pabst Blue Ribbon’s 10mg High Seltzer, Not Your Father’s Cannabis-Infused Root Beer, as well as ST IDES Cannabis product lines, including its 100mg infused 4oz shots."

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that High Seltzer will be available for sale anywhere in the Coachella Valley. Their website lists dispensaries and delivery services up and down California, but nothing out here in the desert. How demoralizing!

Filed under Coachella Valley,Desert Hot Springs,Food and Drink,Marijuana | permalink | March 25, 2022 at 03:03 PM | Comments (0)

"Californians Explain Why They Left For Texas"

The Onion.

Filed under California | permalink | March 25, 2022 at 11:35 AM | Comments (0)

March 24, 2022

Four On Agfa Copex Rapid Film

All of these were shot on Agfa Copex Rapid film at ISO 64. The film is also known as Rollei Copex Rapid. Interestingly, there is no information about the film on either the Agfa or Rollei websites.

History Of Suspended Time by Gonzalo Lebrija (8)
"History of Suspended Time" by Gonzalo Lebrija across from the Palm Springs Museum.

Isabelle (5)
"Isabelle" by Julian Voss-Andreae.

Working On Our Desert Glow
A storefront on Palm Canyon Drive.

Filed under Coachella Valley,Photography | permalink | March 24, 2022 at 07:01 PM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2022

When Egypt Welcomed The Glorious Mr. Putin

Filed under Music,Politics | permalink | March 23, 2022 at 06:54 PM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2022

Republican Candidate For California Secretary of State

California GOP Secretary of State candidate Rachel Hamm said today that she decided to run for office after her son found Jesus inside a closet in their home, and Jesus handed him a scroll telling her to declare her candidacy. pic.twitter.com/LdDLX1j8vS
— Hemant Mehta (@hemantmehta) March 18, 2022

“I’ve been a prophetic dreamer so I had spent a lot of 2019 and 20 having a lot of political dreams that I was in office,” said Hamm. “And because our youngest son Ezekiel is a seer I went and got him and I said, ‘Hey, can you look around and see what you’re seeing?’
“Because I just really, I get a kick out of hearing him describe, you know, what he sees? And then he goes into the closet – which is where I had been when I was praying – and he said, ‘Whoa,’ and his eyes got like, big as saucers.

“And he kind of like started backing away, and then started bending down and he said, ‘You’ve got a really big guy in your closet, and his power is pushing me to the ground,’ and we had never had … he’d never had that reaction ever, to an angel.

“And so I’m like, is he’s for us, not against us, right? ‘He’s full of light, I can’t even see his face.’ And then he said, ‘and he has a scroll in his hand.’

“And so I was like, then he came with a message, what is the message, and the message was a commissioning. So at the very end, I asked him what his name was. ‘What angel is this?’ you know?

“And he said, ‘Immanuel,’ That wasn’t an angel. It wasn’t an angel that was Jesus himself. And so that’s why I’m running for secretary of state.”

Hamm has been endorsed by Michael Flynn and Mike Lindell.

Filed under California,Politics,Religion | permalink | March 21, 2022 at 07:27 AM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2022

Masshole Cop

I never bicycled on Route 9 in Massachusetts, nor would I. There are plenty of parallel routes that are safer and much more pleasant for cycling. Neverethless, it is legal to ride on Route 9, and this guy does it all legally. Cop makes the stupid assertion that you can't ride a bicycle on state highways! I'd like to see them try to enforce that.

I recall one year when I was bicycling across New Jersey. I had done this before, but the way the land lies in NJ, there are no straight east-west routes from NYC to Delaware Water Gap except for I-80. Following the usual 2-lane roads that one would bicycle on requires you to angle north and then south as one moves west, expending a lot of time and calories that one would rather conserve. Then I discovered that a cyclist could get a permit from the New Jersey DOT to ride on the shoulder of I-80 between Delaware Water Gap and somewhere west of the George Washington Bridge. I don't recall exactly where that eastern cutoff was, but it made perfect sense because the interchanges further east from that point became too huge and complex for a cyclist to safely negotiate.

So I got that permit one year and got on I-80 west of the George Washington Bridge and had a great ride! To my surprise, it was nicer and felt safer than a lot of 2-lane roads I had ridden. There was less debris on the shoulder of I-80 than I would normally encounter on a 2-lane road; I could ride further away from the motor vehicle traffic on I-80; and the rumble strip separating the travel lanes from the shoulder meant I didn't have to keep a constant eye over my shoulder for idiot drivers who might try to pick me off.

Everything went fine for quite a while, until I heard a voice from out of nowhere. Looking around I saw that a NJ state trooper had stopped way over on the left shoulder of the westbound lanes and was using his loudspeaker to yell at me. I was impressed that it was loud enough so I could understand him, despite the three lanes of traffic between us. He told me to "go back down" the entrance ramp I had just passed. That would normally be a fairly dangerous action, since motorists coming up the entrance would not expect to come face to face with a wrong-way cyclist. So I walked my bike down the entrance ramp - and waited. I thought the cop would come to me to cite me or talk to me, but he never showed up. So I got back on I-80 and rode to the net exit, thinking he might be waiting there, but he was not. I decided to continue on all the way to Delaware Water Gap and never encountered another cop on the way.

Filed under Cycling | permalink | March 19, 2022 at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)

Carniceria Rancho Grande

From Riverside County Department of Health inspections reported in the Press-Enterprise.

Carniceria Rancho Grande, at 13313 Palm Drive in Desert Hot Springs, was inspected March 16 and received a failing grade of 81/B with one critical violation. Multiple items of food were at unsafe temperatures, including a container of cooked tomatoes sitting on the floor and a container of pickled carrots that had been at room temperature since it was delivered a week before. Among the 11 other violations, there were many flies in the facility, with some landing on the cutting boards, as well as some other small bugs on a wall and a dead cockroach in a hole in the wall; an employee kept wiping his hands on his dirty apron; dishes were being washed but not sanitized; and several areas needed cleaning or repair. This was the market’s second failed inspection in less than two years so it now faces an administrative hearing.

Wilma & Frieda’s, at 155 S. Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, was inspected March 16 and received a failing grade of 80/B with two critical violations. Food was at unsafe temperatures in three coolers that were impounded for not keeping cold. A dishwasher also was impounded for not dispensing sanitizer. Among the nine other violations, there was an empty cockroach trap next to food in one of the nonfunctional coolers, cooked chicken wasn’t being cooled down fast enough and several areas needed cleaning.

Rick’s Restaurant, at 1973 N. Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, was inspected March 15 and received a failing grade of 80/B with two critical violations. Some food was at unsafe temperatures in a refrigerator that wasn’t keeping cold. Also, a fly landed on biscuit dough on a prep table. Among the eight other violations, there were old rodent droppings in a food storage area (but no evidence of live rodents) and the facility needed cleaning.

Filed under Coachella Valley,Desert Hot Springs,Food and Drink,Health | permalink | March 19, 2022 at 09:59 AM | Comments (0)