National Hot Dog Day
With all the goings on here in Alameda, I did not have enough column inches to cover a very important day of recognition in last week’s report. I remedy that injustice with this report. July 16 was National Hot Dog Day, and I “relished” the thought of heading down to Alameda’s iconic purveyor of this American standard. (Yep, I intended that pun without any shame.) Me and my HC (human companion) headed down to the corner of Park Street and Central Avenue where we ordered our celebratory dogs. One all beef for me and one veggie for him. The all-beef wiener was delicious and I passed on the non-meat version.
The Pampered Pup has been a culinary fixture on Park Street since 1967 when the Alexander Family opened the doors, serving up all-beef classic old fashioned hot dogs. After a long tenure of serving up a variety of tasty variations, Tony Yu took over “the pup” in 2015, carrying on the legacy. In addition to the classic dog served with mustard, relish, onions, and tomato, the Chicago Dog is also very popular. Check out the ingredients in that puppy. What the heck is neon relish? I plan on trying that one next National Hot Dog Day, unless the opportunity comes up earlier.
While I was on Park Street, I saw the most unusual work vehicle. It was one of those Tesla Cybertrucks, which by itself is not all that unusual anymore. However, what caught my eye was the mosaic green paint job. The fact that it was a work truck with a trailer attached to the back only increased my intrigue with this vehicle. According to Car and Driver magazine, the 2025 model can cost anywhere from $72K up to over $100K. I wonder if that upper price includes the tow hitch?
If you happen to be shopping at the Marketplace, be sure to check out the 3D Cubist “Songcatcher” vessel project exhibit covering the entire wall at the parking lot entrance. The students over at Alameda Studio Time put it together. A look at the website shows that Miss Patrice and her crew are doing a lot of wonderful projects for the developing youth artist. If you are interested in having your child explore their artistic side, check out their website for a complete list of classes.
As a canine reporter, things like spelling, grammar, and punctuation are not my strong suit, and I need to rely on my publisher HC. Unfortunately, he isn’t much better. One thing that has always bugged me was the “BEWARE OF DOG” signs. You know, the ones that forget to put in the “THE.” Well, I was overjoyed to finally find a sign that got it right. One needs to “Beware of ‘THE’ dog.”
Under the heading of “Fool Me Once,” I was really embarrassed to find out I was barking at a decal of a dog with its head supposedly hanging out the window. My HC got a big kick out of my mistake and almost blew the signal.
For those of you who were as curious as I was about the little blue car I reported on last week, a number of readers passed on links to articles about the Th!ink City car. This little guy was the result of a Norwegian-American micro-electric car transatlantic partnership between Pivco—who made the all-electric PIV4—and the Ford Motor Company way back in 1999. After motoring down some very rocky financial roads and Ford exiting from the production, the company declared bankruptcy in 2011. The history is far more convoluted than my summary, so if you are interested in knowing more about the Pivco, check out this article in The Drive.
I am pretty sure there is never a good time to have a traffic sign run over, but I think it’s especially not a good look to have a pedestrian crossing sign mowed over and left on the sidewalk. Time for a See-Click-Fix entry. On the other hand, it could also send a strong message about how everyone needs to be careful regardless of your mode of transportation.
This past week saw very little sun on any of my walks, and my HC was not in a good mood. In hopes of brightening his spirits a bit, I dragged him over to a really pretty orange flower. Hope this image makes your day a bit brighter as well.
Mouf, Roving Reporter
Bear’s-Eye View of Alameda
Mouf and his human companion can be reached via [email protected]. Their stories are collected at AlamedaPost.com/Jeff-Cambra/. All photos and videos by Jeff Cambra.
