Globemaster's Travel Blog

Where is the July 16 and 17 405 closure information on the Caltrans web site?

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 17:22:22 -0700

Where is the July 16 and 17 405 closure information on the Caltrans web site?
http://www.dot.ca.gov/
I though it would be easy to find but have not been able to find anything on the main site.

I finally did find the link on the district 7 page (Los Angeles County Caltrans). Here it is:
http://www.metro.net/projects/I-405/
It is hosted by the LA Metro web site. This is confusing. I thought it was a Caltrans project since it involves these items:

Add a 10-mile HOV lane on the northbound I-405 between the I-10 and US-101 Freeways
Remove and replace the Skirball Center Dr, Sunset Bl and Mulholland Dr bridges
Realign 27 on and off-ramps
Widen 13 existing underpasses and structures
Construct approximately 18 miles of retaining wall and sound wall

confusing

What is a SigAlert? SigAlert this, SigAlert that … SigAlert in progress SigAlert canceled … too many SigAlerts

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:56:09 -0800

From the CHP (California Highway Patrol) official site:
The official Highway Patrol definition of a Sigalert is any unplanned event that causes the closing of one lane of traffic for 30 minutes or more, as opposed to a planned event like road construction, which is planned separately.

It is also a Commonly Used Abbreviation by the California Highway Patrol:
SIG ALERT = SPECIAL WARNING FOR TRAFFIC TIE UP OF 30+ MINUTES
SIGLRT = SIG ALERT

Where did the name come from … not from Signal Alerts .. Official DMV FAQ page has it as :
“Sig-Alerts” are unique to Southern California. They came about in the 1940s when the L.A.P.D. got in the habit of alerting a local radio reporter, Loyd Sigmon, of bad car wrecks on city streets. These notifications became known as “Sig-Alerts.” Later Mr. Sigmon developed an electronic device that authorities could use to alert the media of disasters. Caltrans latched on to the term “Sig-Alert” and it has come to be known as any traffic incident that will tie up two or more lanes of a freeway for two or more hours.

And here is a list of current SigAlerts

This is the CHP Traffic Incident Information Page with all kinds of accidents listed.

more info here than needed

Yeah. No thanks …

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 22:44:50 -0800

I walked into a local eatery last week to order a sandwich. No one was at the counter. As I tried to see if anyone would be available to take my order I noticed two men working a plumbing snake near the kitchen preparation area. They noticed me after a brief while. They called out to someone to help me. It was after 2pm and the lunch crowd had subsided and probably their staff as well. The man operating the plumbing snake then came up and asked for my order. He did not wash his hands or anything. I just said no thank you and walked out. It just felt gross.

Urth Caffe … Mmmmm good

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 17:56:09 -0700

Stopped by very briefly to pick up a large coffee, a chocolate chip cookie and a pound of their Manhattan Mudd coffee (from their site: Our most popular organic coffee blend-dark roasted, highly aromatic, strong with an incredibly rich, complex flavor yet exceptionally smooth. ) … So yummy. Devoured the cookie with its large chocolate chunks in mere seconds. Savored the coffee while I drove home .. and now for the next few days will enjoy the home brew Manhattan Mudd … I should do this more often … I went to this one :
Urth Caff� - West Hollywood
Located at 8565 Melrose Avenue, (310) 659-0628, between Robertson and La Cienega, in the design district of Los Angeles.

Which is proper : Caf� or Caff� or perhaps Coffee Shop

Sun, 24 Oct 2010 18:02:22 -0700

As it turns out with questions like this one .. they are all proper … It all depends on which language you are trying to replicate or imitate for that matter.

Caf� is the French word for a caf�,
Caff� is the Italian word for a caff�
and
Coffee Shop is English though it never sounds as cool as the other two …

How to make a perfect cup of tea.

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:36:53 -0700

I ran across this article from The Guardian, circa 2003. It provides quite the explanation how to make a perfect cup of tea. After reading it, I am sure you will get a craving to make some immediately. I did …

here

and now a true story about tea …

A friend of our family grew up in India. She was taught from a young age how to make the perfect cup of tea. Taste was not the only thing that mattered. The way it was prepared was as important, as was the way it was served and consumed. She remembers many a scolding after an improper move .. fast forward to today … She makes the best cup of tea anywhere. I hesitated for a long time to ask her about her secret but finally inquired about the process. Her response was too simple. Take a tea bag, place in a cup with hot (just boiled) water, cover and leave in three minutes (not a second more). Add some skim milk, sugar and enjoy. Then the final question came about. Which type of tea produces this magic? It was regular Lipton tea. What?!? Yes, that was her secret. I have since then become a connoisseur of regular Lipton tea, prepared as she had instructed me. I enjoy it on a daily basis. Thank You!

Bristol Farms chocolate chip cookie - yum

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:58:46 -0700

Bristol Farms are a chain of higher end supermarkets with stores in Southern California. Well, they have very good chocolate chip cookies. Rich in taste and texture, nicely sized, mostly soft with a slightly crunchy edges. I have them often. They are sold by weight and usually come out around a dollar (or a bit more) per cookie. It’s a tasty small treat … or if you buy a pound then it’s a big treat.

No earthquake. Rumors going around about an earhtquake today 9/30/2010 in Los Angeles

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:32:15 -0700

There are rumors going around about an earthquake to strike today 9/30/2010 in Los Angeles. It is coming from a web site titled Quake Prediction run by a single person calculating probability based on their own formula. There is also an awards part of that page - which does not function. I was interested in reading about the awards … Anyways, it’s a pretty standard day so far in LA, sunny and breezy … USGS has even issued a statement disputing this mentioning that any reliable scientific method for predicting specific time frames for earthquakes does not yet exist.

Quite the sight : Close encounters with blue whales in the South Bay

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 12:03:02 -0700

The Beach Reporter (local newspaper for the South Bay area of Los Angeles) has an amazing photo on its cover this week. A paddle boarder paddling within feet of a blue whale. According to the article the whales are taking advantage of unusually cold water temperatures off the California coast to feed before heading back to the waters off Mexico and Costa Rica where they breed. .. Check it out on their home page or the brief article directly here

Iced Green Tea Lemonade no ice. My Starbucks drink of choice on hot days.

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:14:03 -0700

They don’t always have it listed on their menu, but all of the stores do have it. Just ask for Iced Green Tea Lemonade. I always get it with no ice since it’s cold already and you get more liquid that way … and I tend to drink it before it has a change to cool down … hmmm .. It’s a hot day today ..