Wunderlich County Park

I have three main criteria for a great local hiking park: interesting enough to warrant multiple visits, reasonably quick to drive to, and no entry/parking fee. A number of parks along the 280 meet these criteria, but three stand out…

Best of Mountain View 2007

Everyone loves rankings, so here is the 2007 ranking of the best services in Mountain View. I think in general this list is very good, but of course we could quibble–our favorite burritos are from Bueno Bueno; we think Garden…

California Legislature’s Nanny-ism and the Scientific Method of Legislating

There are brewing concerns about the intrusiveness of the proposals floating around in the California legislature, sparked most visibly by the proposal to ban parental spanking of children. Some critics are calling some of these proposals “Nanny Bills” because they…

California Out-Migration Exceeds In-Migration

For many years, California has seen more in-migration instead of out-migration except in periods of economic downturn. But recently, California has seen net out-migration despite relatively good economic times. See the Mercury News story. There are a variety of possible…

“It’s Balmier in Buffalo”

Californians are wimps when it comes to weather. Low temperatures are dipping into the 30s at night (which is unseasonably cold), and this produces lead stories in the local paper that “It’s Balmier in Buffalo.” I’m still able to remember…

Bob’s Pumpkin Farm, Half Moon Bay

Half Moon Bay is our local pumpkin-picking capital. There are at least a dozen pumpkin farms in the area, most of them straddling Highway 92 as it heads west towards the ocean. These farms range from no-frills pick-your-own farmstands to…

Squirrel Attack

It seems like there were 1,001 disclosures made in our disclosure package when we bought our house, and yet not one of them mentioned the risk of squirrel attacks. (Cuesta Park is less than a mile from our house). UPDATE:…

WaPo on Silicon Valley Ethics

By Eric Goldman The Washington Post runs an article entitled Silicon Valley’s Golden Past Tarnished by Latest Probes, a retrospective/catch-up on the evolution of Silicon Valley ethics, with quick stops in round-tripping, stock option backdating and the HP scandal. As…

Santa Clara Women’s Soccer Team

It turns out that Santa Clara University has a strong women’s soccer team. The San Jose Mercury News ran a lengthy story on its successes–the women’s soccer team “has reached the national semifinals 10 times, won an NCAA title, visited…

Ferry Building Farmer’s Market

Lisa and I took a quick 18 hour get-a-way to San Francisco this weekend. This finally gave us time to check out the Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Building, reputed to be one of the best in the country. It…