Strobridge Interchange Questions

The new interchange from Eastbound I-580 to Strobridge Avenue appears to be nearing completion. Most barricades have been removed, and crews appear to be in cleanup mode. Still, four questions remain in Your Boulevardier's mind about the project. They are, in no particular order:

How will the odd patch of earth between the freeway and the onramp be maintained? One finds it hard to believe that a crew will get way up there regularly with a lawnmower to tend the narrow strip. Your Boulevardier is no fan of pavement, but it would make sense in this case to not make the area a haven for unwanted vegation.

Will CalTrans remove the fences that run along both sides of Strobridge Avenue under the freeway? It can't be argued that the fence on the west side keeps anyone out, since it stops abruptly on the south side of the underpass with no gate or structure to close the end. For now, all the fence does is collect trash, and it's very rarely cleaned out.

What will happen to the CalTrans corporation yard on the north side of the underpass? Like the aforementioned fence, the yard is an unmaintained haven for trash. Illegal dumping occurs regularly, and many piles of construction materials and debris remain there as well.

What is the purpose of the metal box at the top of the onramp? Will it be relocated, and if so will the temporary barricades and sand barrels around it be removed?

Maintenance of this offramp has long been neglected by CalTrans. Indeed, one of Your Boulevardier's neighbors left the Baywood District because (among other things) he felt the area gave a slumlike first impression, what with the litter and ill-kept homes along Strobridge Avenue. (And, perhaps ironically, this person drove a garbage truck.)

Ox Versus Crab

It may be the Year of the Ox, but in Castro Valley it's the Season of the Crab.

Three posters were spotted in the window of the Village Barbershop today for crab feeds put on by the Soroptimists, Transfiguration Church, and Redwood Christian Schools. And several others are slated over the next few weeks.

Your Boulevardier has only attended a couple of crab feeds. They were rather hard-core affairs, with long lines and sticky hands and lots of red wine and some diners bringing their own butter melting contraptions. Not Your Boulevardier's style of dining.

One wonders about the history of crab feeds as a fundraiser. (Some information about logistics can be found at the website for Pacific Seafood Group.) Any ideas?

CV in Verse

Your Boulevardier does not believe that much serious poetry is written featuring Castro Valley, but he learned about a poem entitled "Cull Canyon" by Rebecca Guyon, a bay area poet now living in France. Locals will recognize the place and the events, and perhaps the emotions. The poem is published at the online poetry journal Strange Machine. Please follow the link to read it.

Humble Thanks

Your Boulevardier is grateful for the outpouring of support and kindness he has received from you, the readers, over the untimely passing of the Trusty BoulevarDog. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences. Some more photos of her will be posted here in the coming weeks, beginning with this one; she's relaxing with her friend, the Subcompact Loaner, last summer. It's amusing to note which dog took the big bed and which took the small.



Her departure does not mean the end of this blog. Indeed, a goodly amount of material has been collected for future postings, and more regular installments should begin appearing soon.

Put a Fork In It

Your Boulevardier is amused by the signs hawking the lunch special at Tam's Kitchen on Castro Valley Boulevard. Why, you ask? Because knives and forks are used to secure the posterboard to its stake. (But the question is raised: wouldn't chopsticks be more appropriate?)

The food at Tam's Kitchen has not been sampled by Your Boulevardier, but Yelpers' opinions are mixed about it.

Trusty BoulevarDog - RIP

Yesterday afternoon the Trusty BoulevarDog took ill again. The circumstances were almost identical to the problems she had exactly six weeks ago: she looked tired and weak and uncomfortable, almost in the blink of an eye. Dr. Schuchman's office was called, and an early appointment was made for today (Saturday, January 17, 2009).

Your Boulevardier spent most of Friday evening on the floor with the dog, stroking her ears and talking to her. She looked confused and unhappy, but not in pain. She drank a little water but didn't move any more than necessary. She was moved into the bedroom around 11:00 p.m. -- literally slid along the floor using the blanket on which she rested -- and lay very still overnight. (She stood a couple of times but did not walk more than a few feet.) Your Boulevardier slept fitfully and had a strange dream about her, the content of which will remain private.

Mon Petit Chou arrived this morning and helped to transport the Trusty BoulevarDog to Boulevard Pet Hospital. She was brought immediately into a treatment room, then transferred to a different room with an ultrasound machine. A look inside revealed large tumor had grown, and subsequently ruptured, in her abdomen. Dr. Schuchman said a recurrence this rapid indicated that her quality of life would not be improved with further treatment; he advised that she be euthanized, and we agreed. She lay on her side; I knelt at her face and looked into her eyes as the drugs were administered. Mon Petit Chou and a kind vet tech stood at her back; all of us stroked and comforted her as she slipped away. All of us wept.

She was a fine dog, a good companion, faithful, much loved. She preferred people to dogs, but became fast friends with a few other canines, including Mon Petit Chou's Cavachon, codenamed Subcompact Loaner. She was not without her faults: she was a prolific shedder, and incapable of fetching.

Walks on the Boulevard without her will not be the same.

Below is a video of the Trusty BoulevarDog playing with the Subcompact Loaner a few months ago. Be sure to watch to the end.

Scammer at work in Castro Valley?

Your Boulevardier received the following email from a neighbor. Names have been obscured for privacy reasons.

Yesterday, around 4:00 p.m., a woman came to Julia Roberts's door, said she was Ann Margaret's daughter, and had locked herself out of her mother's house. Julia asked questions and found out that this woman was referring to Ann Bancroft. The woman said she grew up in this neighborhood and the reason she hasn't been around is that she was in the military. Julia knew that Ann Bancroft's daughter lives over the hill and the Roberts children went to school with the daughter. Lots didn't make sense to Julia. The woman wanted to use Julia's phone to call her sister and a locksmith. Julia let her. When she called the locksmith, she found out the cost for coming out was $69 and then she said she would drive to the locksmith?????

Julia has a older woman friend in CV that recently got the same scenerio from a different woman .. but she cried and ended up with $100 from the older woman!

So...heads up! Julia is calling Ann Bancroft to check the story and she will call the Sheriff and report the incident.

There you go ... another very good reason to have our neighborhood group on watch!!

Please be alert to similar scams in your neighborhood.

More Chinese Food Coming to CV

A stroll through Castro Village today revealed that Chef's Express will open in the former Peking Garden site. From the logo, Your Boulevardier surmises that this will be a branch of the Chef's Experience China Bistro (Yelp link) on Foothill Boulevard in Hayward.

It's a near-certainty that the Wilson Ave Guy will want to chime in on this breaking news due to his careful tracking of the Asian Cuisine scene in Castro Valley.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

When Kris Noceda interviewed Your Boulevardier for his flattering article in The Daily Review, he started with a few general statements: "You blog about Castro Valley, you have a dog, you drink a lot of coffee ..."

The third comment took Your Boulevardier back at first, but he must admit that it is so. Coffee spots do hold a certain appeal, and make regular appearances in these pages. They're good spots to people-watch, and they hold sentimental value: The Trusty BoulevarDog was a regular habitue of Java Bob's when Hanna Carbone owned it, and her photo was taped up next to the cash register. Your Boulevardier remet Mon Petit Chou at Peet's a little over a year ago. An April 2007 post on the topic of unleashed dogs that garnered a bit of debate began with a visit to Valley Java.

But one digresses. Coffee is on the mind today because Your Boulevardier saw yet another article about the effects of coffee on the human body.

If your cup of joe starts talking to you, chances are you're a caffeine addict. People who drink a lot of coffee or other caffeinated beverages are more likely to report hearing voices or having out-of-body experiences than those who go easy on the strong stuff, according to a new study.

Perhaps the colorful characters Your Boulevardier encounters on the streets of the City of Lite are merely hallucinations.

The Trusty BoulevarDog is Back!

The Trusty BoulevarDog, accompanied by Your Boulevardier, walked all the way to Castro Valley Boulevard and back today, a distance of about 2 miles. A stop at the Post Office was made, and a social call was paid to the Boulevard Pet Hospital. She did pause for a breather in the sun at Starbucks while Your Boulevardier checked email on the wireless Internet connection.

Those who were out today know that we are in a spate of unusual weather. By the appearance of things, today should have been cold: the sun was low, the skies were blue and clear, and the trees were barren. But, in fact, a warm wind gusted from the east, making the air quite temperate. Your Boulevardier began the walk wearing a light jacket and long-sleeved shirt, and shed a layer by the stroll's end. A blue-grey Volkswagen Beetle cruised the Boulevard with its convertible top down. Roofers working on the Citibank building took advantage of the dryness. And perhaps most emblematic of the day, a couple was encountered on the walk: she wearing a light-blue parka, he a t-shirt and short pants.

Lady in Green

Your Boulevardier chatted ever so briefly with a charming young woman in front of Liberty Tax Service on Castro Valley Boulevard yesterday afternoon. She's a tax preparer by trade but had been drafted by her employer to don Lady Liberty's green robes and headdress and wave at passing vehicles. In lieu of a flaming torch, she held a festive red cup from Starbucks.

Wearing a big smile, she told Your Boulevardier: "I didn't expect so many people to smile and honk!"

A photo was surreptitiously snapped later on the walk, from the far side of the street. Kindly forgive the poor quality of the image.

Whac-a-Pole

The bright yellow posts between Pet Food Express and Chipotle are built to be hit by cars and trucks that do not quite make the turn into the adjacent driveway. They seem to have done their job once again. Your Boulevardier noticed that the canary columns were all akimbo this afternoon, the asphalt at their bases cracking and lifting. Closer inspection showed that the poles, rooted in and filled with concrete, are set in position to protect the pipes hidden in the shrubbery behind them (and visible near the leftmost pillar in the picture; remember, readers, that you can click on any photo for a larger view). The sacrificial stakes served this purpose ably, and now resemble a Roman Numeral IX. Better nine than eighty-six.

That Seeping Feeling

The strange little building at 2659 Castro Valley Boulevard has long mystified Your Boulevardier. For a while it seemed to be a construction firm that built decks and fences of plastic, but as of late it seems to just be another un- or under-utilized business shack. (Castro Valley has many, a fact that will be documented someday when time permits.)

Yesterday on a stroll along the West End, it was noticed that the ground on either side of the building seems to be oozing water. It's not known if there's a broken pipe underground, or if the water is simply natural percolation or seepage from the hill to the site's south. But regardless of the source, it looks somewhat unsafe for the structure -- and the sidewalk, with a bit of algae building up, is becoming slippery. Below are two views of the property, from the east and west respectively.


Is there a geologist in the house? Can anyone tell what's going on here?

Neon Delight

The Chabot Theater is one of the true treasures of Castro Valley. In order to support our local movie house, Your Boulevardier endeavors to see all films that show there -- even when they don't exactly pique his interest. The prices are good, and the staff is friendly. Parking is a problem until one learns about the Bank of America lot behind Jack in the Box. (Of course, it's best to walk to the show.)

Inside, the theater is a funky mix of old and new, with plenty of good seating (particularly so for the first row of the balcony), a serviceable but tiny snack bar, and odd-sized bathrooms (one urinal in the men's room seems to run 24 hours a day). The real joy at the Chabot is outside, though, where its refurbished neon marquee beckons. Your Boulevardier shot this brief video of the sign on January 6, 2009.



Your Boulevardier is not alone in loving the Chabot. Yelpers give it 4.5 stars. Interesting historical information and links can be found in the comments at Cinema Treasures. And a photo of the marquee can be found here (part of pbo31's Flikr photostream that includes several other lovely Castro Valley shots).

CV Sanitary District's 2009 Calendar

Your Boulevardier has long cast an admiring eye on the Castro Valley Sanitary District's annual calendar. Arriving in the mail this time of year, it's an efficient bit of communication: a calendar, the district's annual report, and a showcase for the winners of its annual recycled art contest, all in one.

Normally, the latter item -- the contest winners -- are a bit of a letdown. Making art from trash is a great idea, but the execution thereof can easily be disappointing. However, in the 2009 calendar, Your Boulevardier is thoroughly impressed with several of the pieces, including the garbage truck by Luke Luebker, the Shoes by Lucas Chang, and the Crochet Plastic Bag Purse by Merle Gee.

But most marvelous is Café Kimono -- what appears to be a full-sized garment made of used coffee filters by Tami Lundberg. The range of hues and patterns created by the filters is lovely and organic. Ms. Lundberg clearly took a great deal of time to clean and sort the filters by tone and piece together the kimono in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Well done!

Images of the current winners (beautifully photographed by Castro Valley High School students, it should be noted) are not yet posted online. A stack of the calendars is at the post office, should readers be interested in getting a copy.

Hipster Night at Trader Joe's

Your Boulevardier popped into the Castro Valley Trader Joe's on Monday evening at around 8:00 p.m. It appears to have been Hipster Night at the store -- the place was chock-a-block with young, attractive couples. Most of the pairs fit a theme: she in studious glasses, long straight hair in a ponytail, and cute jeans; he in two days' growth of beard, a fitted logo ballcap (some, but not all, worn backwards), and saggy jeans with holes in one knee. Boys and girls alike sported elaborate winter scarves and (probably expensive) sneakers, and all couples seemed thoroughly, and happily, engaged in their food shopping. They would not have been out of place in Berkeley or San Francisco's Mission District.

Carry Outee ... of Business

As foretold by a commenter not long ago, Carry Outee -- the tiny Chinese takeout place on Castro Valley Boulevard -- closed with the end of 2008. Your Boulevardier only ate food from there once; fact is, he couldn't get past the name, which for some unknown reason evokes the 1970s-era MAD Magazines with which he grew up. But it's clear that the place had a devoted following.

It's in one of three shack-sized businesses all on one large lot on the north side of the Boulevard, just west of El Rancho Steak House. Two are now vacant; Your Boulevardier noted a gentleman on the phone in the third, looking busy, but those buildings do not seem to attract long-term tenants. An electric-bike shop and a trading card company have come and gone in the last few years, along with others that can't be recalled today.

If the climate for commercial real estate were different, Your Boulevardier would suspect that the three shacks would be demolished and one larger structure erected. But the timing for such a move would be poor, and the newish building just to the west of the three shacks -- which has housed a title company, an Indian clothing store, and now a tax-preparation business, along with a Sylvan Learning Center -- testifies to the fact that finding and retaining tenants is not easy these days.