I am not usually out on the freeway after dark.  No, I am not a day vampire, just a parent whose kids have an early bedtime.  However, I do have a class one evening a week, and am traveling south on I-5 after 9 PM those nights.

If you haven’t seen the night work on the stretch between Downtown and Elk Grove, you are missing out.  I am amazed at the complexity of shutting down a lane and setting up spotlights to work alongside the madness that is the late-PM driver.  The spotlights and heavy machinery always remind me of some sort of space station–Houston, we HAVE landed.  …They’re here….

Last night, the CHP was investigating an accident Southbound that happened inside the lane closure.  Flashing red lights, blue lights, and white lights.  Several vehicles were involved, and of course, everyone had to slow down for the cones, as well as to see what all the cops were doing.

Somebody lost their entire front end.  Maybe next time they’ll “slow for the cone zone”.

I’d been trying to get into Mulvaney’s for dinner for a month, and things kept popping up. The first time, I couldn’t get the right time. Then I became deathly ill with the flu after getting a sweet 7pm Friday reservation. Finally, this past week I smoooooooothed on in with a 7pm Saturday. Score!

And then I got tickets for Doubt at the B Street under a 2-for-1 offer for their 8pm show. I called Mulvaney’s back, and they told me I was AGN* for 6, although they could get me in at 5. A tad early. A couple hours later, I gave another ring and the perky young woman on the other side of the line said I had called at the “Exact right time!” and she could squeeze me in at 6pm. Double score!!

We parked a block away, and moseyed over to the ex-firehouse. We were greeted by Alterna-hostess, looking very stylish in an LBD**, black-frame glasses, and vinyl boots. Impressive, and we were seated immediately after she thanked us for letting them know we’d be about five minutes late.

The room is extremely open. Dining area blends into four-stool bar blends into food-prep area, although… (more…)

Who doesn’t love time-wasting search tools? I know I love ‘em.  Check out this baby name finder that gives you the top names for specific hospitals.  Have fun checking to see if your stereotypes of particular names and cities bear out.

Girls at popular local baby birthing pad Sutter, here in town, rank as follows:

1. Mia
2. Madelyn
3. Madeline
4. Sophia
5. Alyssa
6. Emma
7. Abigail
8. Kayla
9. Destiny
10. Addison

Girls at Mercy Folsom include some of the names I’d have predicted for the area:

1. Emily
2. Hailey
3. Julia
4. Anna
5. Katelynn
6. Megan
7. Cheyenne
8. Eleanor
9. Maggie
10. Elyse

Consider this post a public-service for our expectant readers. Make sure your kid won’t be doomed to last-initial-dom by being the 18th Emily in her class.

You hardly need me to point it out, but there have been some changes around here. We’ve got more renovations than a Saturday afternoon TLC marathon block of Flip That House.  We invite you to poke around and kick the tires a bit. There are some new features here and some more on the way. Some stuff works and some stuff still has kinks to work out. Leave us a comment and let us know what you think of the new layout and if you happen to find anything broken.  (Tip: we do know that some archives pages are throwing up 404s and we’re on it - but if you see other stuff, let us know!)

 Thanks for reading!

 P.S. to leave comments you’ll need to register. It takes just a few seconds and won’t result in spam or anything ugly like that. We love your input so please do take the time to register.