Bear’s-Eye View of Alameda for October 8, 2023
This week’s walks saw a horde of Halloween decorations popping up around town. Lots of the usual households set up their displays this week, which brought back many fond memories of past Halloweens.
I was so pleased to see the T-Rex popping out of the pumpkin inflatable. Yes, I know that it’s very simple, and some of you may think it’s silly, but it just hits me in a way I cannot explain.
Also reappearing this year is the projection of the spider web with the folk dancing spiders. OK. Enough nostalgia. On to the new decorations.
There is a talking gravedigger on Santa Clara Avenue that is impressive. Great use of AI.
Pumpkins are back in full force—as are the scary masks—and of course a cat.
This one was unique in that it was not black.
I was invited to the Blessing of the Animals at the First Congregational Church of Alameda on Central Avenue at Chestnut Street today. I walked by, just to see what was going on, and the first thing I saw was another dog right at the entrance. So, I had to pass on this event, but it was a good opportunity for desensitizing me to reacting to other dogs. The treats were definitely great, very high value. I hope I will actually be able to attend next year.
There were other things going on here in Alameda I should mention. Work continues to be performed on the Encinal Avenue project. This week, a company came and made a bunch of saw cuts in the newly paved road. Then they shoved wire into the trench and filled it in. I think they were installing inductive loop sensors that are a type of demand-actuated triggers that will maximize efficiency of the traffic lights.
The pedestrian crosswalk striping is now complete. Last week I asked if it was a mistake that some crosswalks are painted yellow, and others are painted white. I learned that the crosswalks near schools are painted yellow for extra visibility. All the others are white. My human companion still needs to get the video of the striping edited so I can post it. It’s already been a few weeks since it happened, and at this rate, I will be covering the next renovation ten years from now before he’s done.
Finally, there appears to be some confusion regarding parking fees that the City is charging for parking in the Park Street area, as well as the options available. My human companion was parked before 9 a.m., when metering starts, and had to “feed the meter” since I was still in my training session. When he came back, he was visibly frustrated. Apparently, some meters only take coins while others only take cards. Of course, he parked at a meter which only took cards, and—you guessed it—he only had coins, because he is old.
After some additional investigation, it appears that the minimum credit card charge varies as well. Some meters are set at $1.00 and others are $1.50. Since this is the minimum to make the meter work, residents are required to pay for an hour of parking time even if they only need to run a quick errand—simply because they are using a credit card. Now that is just as scary as any of the Halloween decorations that I saw this week.
Look out for more Halloween decoration coverage next week, and don’t forget to send me the addresses of houses in Alameda—and especially on Bay Farm—that have Halloween decorations up.
From the dog mat sitting on the floor of the Bear’s-Eye View of Alameda office, this is Mouf, being very thankful for the end of the hot weather. 90°+ is just too much.
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 video by Jeff Cambra.
