Happy to be fostering a vision-impaired dog, Bonnie, who was in the HSNB shelter for about a year. Those who know me know I have a soft spot for blind dogs like the two I recently lost among the five that tragic day. Bonnie seems to have accepted me into her fold and her love of other dogs will hopefully soon be reciprocated by Snoopy, who is clear on his boundaries, but who is also more than tolerating her!
There was a short Smoking Ordinance Workshop for Retailer “education.” It was presented by City Attorney’s Office of the City of Vallejo on the forthcoming Tobacco Retail License (“TRL”).
It’s important to me to document the activism being done in fighting for tobacco control in my city. This is a video and presentation intended for tobacco retailers in Vallejo about the forthcoming TRL our coalition has been fighting for. For the record no tobacco retailers showed up (there are well over 100 in our city of 125,000. There were two callers on Zoom, but I believe they were both members of our coalition.
At the end of this presentation, you will hear me ask a question about the criminal enforcement portion of this proposed TRL. For the record, I object to the criminalization of clerks in these situations and intend to make that point to City Council when this is first read, among other things where I feel the TRL falls short. I also feel strongly that the city MUST mandate at least one yearly check for all tobacco retailers for this ordinance to have any teeth, regardless of their possibly having to get creative to hire a non-profit organization or someone to assist with it if the staffing is inadequate in certain years. Furthermore, I believe a yearly report of what was and what was not done must be presented publicly to City Council so that there is accountability regardless of where this ordinance goes.
Here is the slide deck:
A foster home was secured for this little lovebug brindle Frenchie with the blue-green eyes. I named her Freckles. There was no microchip (until the one put in today) nor identifying collar. The collar she had on was getting too tight anyway, as she’s still growing. I’m sure she will get great care, a consistent diet, and be highly sought after. I fear she was stolen from someone and may have been rejected for breeding due to her deformed ear, but who knows? I’m glad I got to spend a few days with her until I was able to put her cute little pudgy body into the safe arms of a staff member at HSNB. She gives great kisses and will hopefully have a very long life. I’m just glad she’s not in the street and at risk of getting harmed anymore. She’s such a tender puppy and trusts everyone. In some of these pictures, you can see her on the backyard “hillside” behind Snoopy and me.
We had a hybrid meeting in Fairfield, California the day I moved into my rental (so I was exhausted), but this was important for me to attend in person. My introduction of the keynote speakers starts at 00:21:45. I was happy to have a hand in suggesting that we do this as a “End Game” theme. The awards are given at 2:29:00.
These are the lovely awards I got:
Snoopy and I got approved to rent a house nearby in the Westpointe development of Glen Cove neighborhood in Vallejo starting next week. I’m glad I got approved, but of course it’s bittersweet under the circumstances. Having just become president of the community association for a second term, it made sense that I stay in the neighborhood, and my own home will be accessible for me to tend to the garden. I can also check mail with a modest bike ride. Thank you for all of the support my communities have given me. There is a lot to rebuild, but I feel weird asking for things. Last night I got a whole seven hours of sleep for the first time in two weeks since this nightmare began.
This e-card from fellow tobacco control activists really blew me away with its sweetness. It’s certainly nice to get such warm kudos for something one loves doing in otherwise dark times in one’s life. I’m so lucky to have found these volunteering opportunities here in the Bay Area and Solano County given that fighting Big Tobacco has been a passion of mine for decades.
Good job and good publicity for the upcoming Betty White fundraiser for HSNB in today’s Vallejo Times-Herald. Nice to get our picture in the paper from last year’s dinner.
For our neighborhood quarterly newsletter, I write the President’s Letter article these days. This quarter I actually wrote a few articles in this issue about what the GCCA volunteer Board does for our neighborhood. I’m proud of how professional our team delivers this online periodical each time. Check out the dynamic slide-show version of our newsletter here!
Below is the PDF version which is less interactive. For years of archives, check out the GCCA newsletter archive.
This morning my colleague at Glen Cove Community Association, Nancy, and I gave out prizes to the top three Christmas Light contest winners in our neighborhood of Vallejo. I was not one of the judges, but had the honor of handing out the prizes as President of GCCA. It turns out Shando and I knew Andy and Carlton who won the first prize, nominated by their development representative Dina (who joined us for the photo). Only at the 11th hour did Shando and I even realize we knew the first prize winners. Such a small world. They moved into their home a few weeks before we did in 2020. All the prize winners were wonderful and warm. We thank them for their spirit and spending a few minutes with us on Christmas Eve.
For the first time, Shando and I attended the Grand Victorian Homes Tour, although there are some exceptions to that specific style among the fabulous houses and structures on the tour. The Naval Chapel on Mare Island was one of them, and there were a few mixtures of Craftsman and Mid-Century Modern which were very appropriately included. It was great hanging out with friends who had a similar interest and who were willing to walk the downtown area to see more than a half-dozen of the homes participating. We ended up at the wine tasting place on Mare Island where the last two structures were located. Regrettably, due to it being so close to the winter solstice, it got dark after the first few hours, so we did not take in the full view of many of the homes, but knowing the city better now, I can imagine what some of the views would be on a regular basis, including the amazing sunsets from many vantage points. As with the Garden Tour that happens each May, I loved getting decorating ideas and talking about utilitarian things with other geeks of that nature.
I’m also glad that the funds for this event go to a good cause, and furthering cultural awareness in Vallejo.
Here are some of the details that we loved. In the mid-century modern house, there was an Audrey Hepburn room and a Marilyn Monroe room with their own xmas trees. The Audrey one has her costume for Breakfast at Tiffany’s if you look closely.:
