Just wondering….

Once again provincial San Jose (Ca) interests are trying to convince people that up is down and right is left. The latest example

As usual, the Mercury News takes their San Jose-is-the-center-of-the-universe-approach in their editorial published on January 5, 2006.

After giving some basic background information:

But a key question will be answered over the next year: How should the trains enter the Bay Area from the Central Valley? Should they cross the Diablo Range near Pacheco Pass and head north through Gilroy and San Jose? Or should they turn east near Tracy and come over the Altamont Pass?

This is definitely the key question. Since 1999, San Jose interests have been trying to stop any sort of serious study of the Altamont Pass (I-580) corridor. Unfortunately, for them in 2004 the Bay Area passed RM2. Among other things RM2’s project list included:

Provide planning funds for integrated regional rail study pursuant to Section 30914.5 (f). Includes up to $2.5 million for Caltrain and/or BART to study ways to improve Bay Area access to the high-speed rail system. Up to $0.5 million for Caltrain and/or BART to study the feasibility and construction of an intermodal transfer hub at Niles Junction.

For more details about the regional rail plan, go to the Regional Rail website.

So that was that. Altamont was to be studied. Unfortunately for all hoping for a definitive unbiased study, Carl Guardino got himself appointed to the MTC Advisory Committee, turning what was supposed to be an independent advisory committee into a political committee.

Now back to the SJ Mercury editorial. They jump immediately to conclusions without bothering to do the fact checking. Or waiting for the Regional Rail study to be complete.

The answer should be Pacheco Pass. It’s the only way to serve Silicon Valley and San Francisco tech and tourism industries efficiently enough to be practical.

Why the Pacheco Pass? The only towns anywhere along this route are Los Banos and Gilroy, whose population is considerable less than Fremont, CA alone. But Fremont, is followed by Pleasanton, Livermore, Tracy, Stockton, and other areas that would get much improved commuter  train service and some long-distance High-Speed Rail service.

They go on:

Folks in Sacramento and the East Bay, along with some environmental groups, favor the Altamont Pass. South Bay leaders and some transit experts insist that the Pacheco/Gilroy route is the only way to ensure statewide high-speed rail success.

But based on logic — just look at a map — the route to San Jose makes the most sense. From San Jose, trains would continue in two directions — north along the Caltrain corridor to San Francisco or northeast to Oakland.

How about the logic of building the route where people are so they have a reason to ride the train? Or the logic of not building a route that has parallel sets of tracks thereby increasing construction and maintenance costs?

Using the Altamont Pass, trains from the south would stop in the Fremont-Union City area and then send spurs in three directions to San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland. That makes no sense. The line would end up being nothing more than a very expensive commuter option for folks in the Central Valley. Rail options already exist for this.

Oh gee, so people might be able to use the infrastructure in their day-to-day lives. So may be they might vote for it to be built? Isn’t that kind of important too? and it would be cheaper as well because of fewer total system miles.

$5 of $9 value. Skip the theatre … see it on DVD. The series is improving but I am still waiting for the Harry Potter to show some sign of being a good wizard. He has always seemed to me to be a C-student who have some friends that are A- and B- students that always seem to pull him out of trouble. Think about the Triwizard Tournament - did Harry actually do any research, or performed any deed that really resulted in him deserving the win?

• Dragons - Ron and Hermonie gave warning and solution (There is that usual bit of flying around on broomsticks that HP did on his own - I guess all those Quidditch matches that end up in half-destroyed buildings paid off)
• Mermaids - Our helpful villian planted the clue and the solution.
• Maze - The villian helped HP find the cup.

Lets talk about the whole rigging of the TriWizard Tournament just to get HP to a certain location. Can anyone explain why the villian simply just didn’t hand HP any object magicked up as a portal key? Why go through all this overwrought rigging and drama?

This ‘fame’ within the movies that he has always seem to be overdone and grating. “Oh are you the famous Harry Potter?” Yes, yes I know he is supposed to be famous because he survived Lord Voldemort. But quick - name anybody in the real world who has fame for surviving something that lasts more than 5 minutes. Fame based on something other than deeds has a half-life measured in minutes, but yet Harry Potter’s fame has lasted over 15 years. May be there is something in the books that can explain it but certainly the movies don’t.

Fortunately the totally worthless aunt, uncle and cousin story line is completely gone. Hopefully permanently.

As a parent, one of the things you have to think about is how to punish a kid who is misbehaving or running away in a store. My mom was trying to deal with a 5 year-old more interested in running away then staying with everyone powershopping. My mom was trying to put the grandchild in ‘time-out’ in C&B - thus the idea for ‘Kid Gel’. Just like Museum Gel, you take a little ball of gel and stick it under the item that you want to secure to the surface. For Museum Gel it is crystal, for Kid Gel it would be for kids. Just slap a little bit under their shoes and stick them to the floor. When they are done with time out - peel them off the floor!