Irvine Anecdotes

R

roundcorners

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Violins

I was walking the baby by Woodbury Elementary this morning during drop-offs. I counted more than 20 kids carrying violins, one little girl drag a huge cello behind her, various flutes about 3-4, and about 4-5 trumpet players. Go trumpets! Must be band/orchestra day at WBE. I'm assuming the piano/keyboard players have their instruments at the school. I'm also assuming the pressure to learn a musical instrument is still running strong among elementary kids these days.
 
SC License Frames

I was walking around Woodbury Court and there happens to be three cars parked next to each other with USC license frames. The first car was a BMW 3 series from the Business School. The next was a Hyundai from the School of Social Work, and lastly a Toyota from the Music School. I guess stereotypes are indeed true.
 
Woodbury Court Alcoholics

I walk the baby early in mornings and greet the maintenance workers everyday. For the past few months; someone/some people in the middle of the night has been throwing up, and leaving vomit beneath the hedges in the same leasing office visitor's parking spot. I can always tell the irritating look on the workers face when discovering the mess as they rush to hose down the stain.
 
Good ones RC! The car one is so true- I have observed it many times as well. Another one: Walk closer to a big tech company's parking lot and you will notice mostly Lexus/ Acura or Honda/ Toyota.
An architecture company's parking lot will have used BMW/ Merc and lots of Audis.
 
[quote author="jumpcut"]roundcorners, thank you for these. And thank you for making it safe to enter the Watercooler again.[/quote]

Right on, let's dump the drama.

Love the new avatar, Jumpcut. For some reason I see that and it reminds me that I need to head over to Target to pick up some lightbulbs, or maybe take the daugther to Yorgurtland this weekend. Is that an Irvine anecdote that I see your avatar and it reminds me of mundane daily routine around Irvine?

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Sleepless in Irvine

We believe our single male neighbor upstairs has insomnia. The ceiling is so thin; we can hear everything he does. We can hear him slam down the toilet seat, the TV, his footsteps, his washing machine, dish washer and stereo. He isn't necessary a loud or rude neighbor, although we have spoken to him about some noise three times now. We figure we can't complain too much as he also hears the baby crying. Well, he does laundry, watches TV and must have some form of UTI all hours in the night. He does seem to have a regular work schedule but doesn't seem to sleep.
 
Pregnant no more

There is this young couple in our building that we casually say hello and goodbye to sometimes. They were expecting a new baby and we saw them buying and preparing the apartment for the baby once. Recently my wife saw the couple at a distance and the wife is no longer pregnant; but there is no sign of the baby anywhere. They were neatly dressed and look very well rested. They also look like they are in no rush or hurry unlike most new parents. There are also no signs of baby, such as strollers, car seat or diaper bags. We're not comfortable enough to ask what happened.
 
[quote author="roundcorners"]Pregnant no more

There is this young couple in our building that we casually say hello and goodbye to sometimes. They were expecting a new baby and we saw them buying and preparing the apartment for the baby once. Recently my wife saw the couple at a distance and the wife is no longer pregnant; but there is no sign of the baby anywhere. They were neatly dressed and look very well rested. They also look like they are in no rush or hurry unlike most new parents. There are also no signs of baby, such as strollers, car seat or diaper bags. We're not comfortable enough to ask what happened.[/quote]

I hear a fresh baby sells for a pretty penny on the black market. This is a tough economy. <!-- s:cool: -->:cool:<!-- s:cool: --> ....... :-X ....... <!-- s:p -->:p<!-- s:p -->
 
EVERY DAY! I nearly smash into somebody who is a foreign driver who is being completely stupid with their driving. This is Irvine... i'll give you three guesses as that foreign driver's nationality....

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-bix
 
Duck Xing

This must have been March or April, this past spring. I was driving south down Barranca in Woodbridge, just past Lake; when all of a sudden the traffic comes to a standstill. There was a pile of cars; I was just almost under the bridge. What was all the commotion? An accident, a pedestrian? My lane, the very right lane started to move again. I came up to a stopped Lexus on the left lane next to mine, and a lady was out of her car, walking around the road, back and forth doing something weird with her hands. Turns out upon looking carefully, she had stopped traffic so she could escort a mother duck and her ducklings across Barranca; she even stopped the on-coming traffic on the other side of the street so the duck family could safely get to the other side and onto South Lake.
 
[quote author="roundcorners"]SC License Frames

I was walking around Woodbury Court and there happens to be three cars parked next to each other with USC license frames. The first car was a BMW 3 series from the Business School. The next was a Hyundai from the School of Social Work, and lastly a Toyota from the Music School. I guess stereotypes are indeed true.[/quote]
Hey wait, are you trying to tell me not to buy and put one of those USC license plate frames on my 3 series BMW? Would it be better if it is a USC Marshall School of Business license plate frame? <!-- s:cool: -->:cool:<!-- s:cool: -->
 
Woodbury

Things about Woodbury that I thought about today. Mostly everyone while walking would say hello to you, say almost 85% the 15% that doesn't, usually look like they got up on the wrong side of bed, and don't even make eye contact. Aside from the Commons tot-lot; it is rare to see kids play anywhere else in the neighborhood parks. Some of the cement columns that hold up the park gazebos are cracking in half. Woodbury would be a fantastic place to live in about 10 years, when all the recession babies start to really play outside.
 
[quote author="roundcorners"]Woodbury

Things about Woodbury that I thought about today. Mostly everyone while walking would say hello to you, say almost 85% the 15% that doesn't, usually look like they got up on the wrong side of bed, and don't even make eye contact. Aside from the Commons tot-lot; it is rare to see kids play anywhere else in the neighborhood parks. Some of the cement columns that hold up the park gazebos are cracking in half. Woodbury would be a fantastic place to live in about 10 years, when all the recession babies start to really play outside.[/quote]

I agree with the friendliness of WB. When walking most people do say hello as opposed to NYC--where eye contact is a no no.

As for 10 years from now...it may be nice as long as all the families with kids who are underwater or stretched with option arms aren't kicked out of their homes.
 
I just drove by Woodbridge High School on Alton, there were what looked like 60 Kids jogging along the Sidewalk..

The teacher was with them, He was riding a Bicycle in the Bike Lane alongside them, the probem was, he was riding the wrong way towards Traffic with No Helmet.

OK, a Helmet is a personal choice so I won't go into that but He was setting a bad example for the Kids, but riding (or Jogging/walking) the wrong way, towards Traffic in a Bike Lane is a deffinate no-no and Illegal...

Why? Because when Drivers pull out of Intersections or Driveways they (me included) always look left for any Traffic, they we are not expecting anything to come from the right.

If a Cyclist is doing the correct thing by riding the correct direction in a Bike Lane then he has 3 choices, pull out into a Traffic lane, ride towards the Curb or hit the Cyclist head-on.

BTW, it's legal in the City of Irvine to ride on the Sidewalk, so the Teacher could have ridden behind them...

If you ever ride on the Sidewalk try and go on the side of the Road that is with instead of against the direction of Traffic...People pulling out of Driveways still don't expect anyone coming from the right even in Residential areas...
 
what is the protocol if a pedestrian and guy on a bike are heading towards each other on the side walk? should the bike ride on the grass or should the pedestrian move to the grass and let the bike pass by? Just curious. I always just walk on the grass and let the bike ride by, but it gets annoying after awhile. My preference would be for bikes to be illegal on sidewalks.
 
[quote author="qwerty"]what is the protocol if a pedestrian and guy on a bike are heading towards each other on the side walk? should the bike ride on the grass or should the pedestrian move to the grass and let the bike pass by? Just curious. I always just walk on the grass and let the bike ride by, but it gets annoying after awhile. My preference would be for bikes to be illegal on sidewalks.[/quote]

Well, both should move right to allow each other to pass, as the Rider approaches a Pedestrian He should slow down as He/She approaches to walking speed and prepare to stop immediately.

You will never see a Lycra clad Roadbiker on the Sidewalk because they ride faster than traffic anyway when it's busy in most cases in the correct place, the Bike Lane...

You will pretty much only see Teens on Beach Cruiser type Bikes and older Folks cruising along on the Sidewalk, mainly those who don't feel safe on the Road...I think there should be an 8mph limit for Bikes on the Sidewalk anyway...
 
[quote author="peteruk"]I just drove by Woodbridge High School on Alton, there were what looked like 60 Kids jogging along the Sidewalk..

The teacher was with them, He was riding a Bicycle in the Bike Lane alongside them, the probem was, he was riding the wrong way towards Traffic with No Helmet.

OK, a Helmet is a personal choice so I won't go into that but He was setting a bad example for the Kids, but riding (or Jogging/walking) the wrong way, towards Traffic in a Bike Lane is a deffinate no-no and Illegal...

Why? Because when Drivers pull out of Intersections or Driveways they (me included) always look left for any Traffic, they we are not expecting anything to come from the right.

If a Cyclist is doing the correct thing by riding the correct direction in a Bike Lane then he has 3 choices, pull out into a Traffic lane, ride towards the Curb or hit the Cyclist head-on.

BTW, it's legal in the City of Irvine to ride on the Sidewalk, so the Teacher could have ridden behind them...

If you ever ride on the Sidewalk try and go on the side of the Road that is with instead of against the direction of Traffic...People pulling out of Driveways still don't expect anyone coming from the right even in Residential areas...

[/quote]

Sounds like it was the running coach for the school. Probably didn't know the rules for bikes (i.e. absence of helmet and wrong-way driving) but to be fair, I believe runners are supposed to oppose traffic. They need to be able to see the cars that may be coming into their running lane.

-IR2
 
405 Time Trial

I have been timing myself how long it takes to drive from Woodbury to the 405. I'm trying to compare taking Sand Canyon to other surface streets such as Jeffrey versus taking the 133 (non-toll road part). I start the stop watch on Sand Canyon and Townsgate to the Sand Canyon free entrance. Maybe I should start from the time I get into the car to the time it takes to get on the 405. But my best time is 4:51 on the 133; so far on average I'm about 2 minutes faster taking the 5?South-133-405n combo versus Sand Canyon. In true Top Gear fashion, let me know what times you get, but be sure to stay safe.
 
Cold Calling

I worked as a copier sales representative years ago and part of my territory was Irvine. This must have been late 90s or early 2000, definitely before 9-11. I am so glad I don't have that job anymore because it requires enormous amounts of cold-calling. I don't exactly remember where I was but I must have walked into what looks and feels like a church. I picked up a business card and said hello to the receptionist. Wanting to be a little more personable, I tried to read the business card to see if there are any names I can use. The first name that popped up was Beth Jacob in big print. I asked, are you Beth? No, she said; that is the name of our Jewish Synagogue. I must have thanked her and immediately left afterward.
 
Irvine Fa?ade

I'm walking around Woodbury and I'm really noticed how they are putting up these new stucco boxes. The exterior window sill molding for the La Casella homes are what looks like foam that the workers trim and glue to the walls before the final stucco and paint. It's just weird to see them drill and again glue the iconic faux Tuscan window shutters on either side of the windows; and for the final touch, the also iconic useless Irvine faux bird perch at top of the faux attic.
 
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