Monday Morning Meanderings

Basking in his newfound fame, Your Boulevardier took to the streets this morning sans chien. (She will come home this afternoon.) The usual haunts were visited: Peet's, where a skeleton crew scrambled to keep up with orders; and the Post Office, where a line of impatient patrons stretched out the door at 9:30 a.m. and parking had begun to get, shall we say, creative.

Around town, a few bits of weekend randomness were noticed. The corner of the curved awning at XOTek Windows (at the intersection of Castro Valley Boulevard at Nunes Avenue) had, apparently, been struck by a tall vehicle; stucco lay in chunks on the sidewalk below, and scrapes were visible in the fascia. Across the street, the large concrete refuse container by the Blockbuster Video bus stop had been pushed from its moorings to a random location. (For what it is worth, the container on Redwood Road in front of Safeway, near to Peet's, was shoved from its appointed spot months ago and has never been relocated.)

Your Boulevardier walked up Castro Valley Boulevard, then turned north on Lake Chabot Road a piece. He noticed that the former professional office buildings across from Eden Hospital are being deconstructed from the inside out. While Sazio's Italian Restaurant, Sushi-Ya, and Theadora's Salon seem to cling to existence (though Yelp describes Sushi-Ya as closed), the establishments surrounding them are vacant and stripped to the studs, while the exterior remains largely unaffected. (Gutted like a fish, a sushi-eater might say.) A peek along the culvert behind the buildings finds that the structures' innards have, for now, been tossed out back; from the street, the parking lot looks clean and tidy. This demolition strategy confuses Your Boulevardier, since the debris will need to be hauled back through the buildings before it can be trucked away -- unless, of course, the buildings themselves will be demolished, in which case heavy equipment can be used to scoop up everything. But if that's the case, why bother with the interior demolition in the first place? Why not do as was done at McDonald's -- simply crush the buildings and pick the valuables out of the rubble?