Tag Archives: Arizona

What’s on my mind?

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View from the corner of our street, looking back at our house.

Here are four random things racing around my brain:

Mail Mix Up

A package arrived and it was in a locker at the community mailboxes. When we get packages, the mailman puts a key in our mailbox to a large locker. My key was for locker #3, but I noticed that locker already had a key in it. The locker was empty.

The key stuck in locker #3 was for a different locker.

I pulled out the key and discovered the lock was broken. Whoever used the wrong key to open up locker #3 forced it open and took my package! I used their key to open up the correct locker and there was a package inside that wasn’t mine. I took a picture of the name and address on that package and once home called their number in our directory.

He said, yes he had my package and wanted to know where his was. I told him it was in locker #4. I found it odd that he jammed open the wrong locker, took my package by mistake, but never bothered to return it, until I called.

CLEAR

In California, there is a proposal to ban CLEAR, a service that I use.

A new bill, the first of its kind in the U.S., would ban security screening company Clear from operating at California airports as lawmakers take aim at companies that let consumers pay to pass through security ahead of other travelers. 

Sen. Josh Newman, a California Democrat and the sponsor of the legislation, said Clear effectively lets wealthier people skip in front of passengers who have been waiting to be screened by Transportation Security Administration agents.  CBS News

I signed up for CLEAR a couple years ago after a visit with Mom in Seattle. At SeaTac airport, which has huge security lines, I was approached by a CLEAR salesperson. He asked if I wanted to try out the service. I agreed and I had my eyes scanned and was fingerprinted. I was able to register four people, which worked out perfectly for our family of four—pre son’s marriage to Buff. I was walked up to the front of the security line to wait to put my stuff in bins and walk into the machine with my arms raised above my head. I thought, this is pretty cool. By the time I got home, I got an email from LifeLock that CLEAR had accessed a background check on me. The cost was $189 for four people for one year. I think someone who flies all the time for work would find it worthwhile.

Reggie got his trophy back

LOS ANGELES — After nearly 14 years apart, Reggie Bush is reunited with his Heisman Trophy, ending a nearly two-decade saga that became a touchpoint for public opinion about how college athletes should benefit from their stardom.

The Heisman Trust reinstated Bush’s 2005 Heisman Trophy on Wednesday in a seismic moment for a player who was the face of a golden era for USC football. The career of Bush, who forfeited his Heisman in 2010 after the NCAA deemed he received impermissible benefits, forced fans — and now the sport’s long-established institutions — to reckon with whether NCAA penalties could actually taint a player’s on-field legacy.

“We are thrilled to welcome Reggie Bush back to the Heisman family in recognition of his collegiate accomplishments,” said Michael Comerford, President of The Heisman Trophy Trust. “We considered the enormous changes in college athletics over the last several years in deciding that now is the right time to reinstate the Trophy for Reggie. We are so happy to welcome him back.” The Athletic

This makes me happy, because I was a Reggie fan and I don’t think he should have lost the Heisman in the first place. With NIL rules changed, I think it’s time Reggie is a Heisman awardee again.

What I saw walking

In the development next to ours, the homes are huge, 5,000 to 7,500 square feet, but they are so close to together. I don’t get it.

Then I saw this:

If you couldn’t get the mail locker open, would you stop and check the tag on the key to see if you were at the correct locker?

Do you think it’s okay to pay for a service to jump ahead in line? How about paying Southwest a fee to board at the front of the line?

Any thoughts on Reggie Bush?

Spring is in the air

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Walking around our yard yesterday, I noticed that flowers are peeking out around me. We’ve had a super wet winter with thundershowers most evenings. I haven’t been outside to appreciate that the rain has brought us tiny blooms. Spring is in the air!

Beautiful colors add to my daily joy.

I need to learn the names of my plants. I think these are aloes?

Sometimes it’s just a single blossom, but it still adds a pop of color.

Another favorite of mine is the beautiful Cardinal couple who hang out daily in our yard. I think they like my Birdbuddy bird feeder. I’ve learned to appreciate their chirps and beautiful songs.

This is the female Cardinal. Her husband is below.

What signs do you have that Spring is in the air?

Time change

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Saguaro
Saguaro during a morning hike this week.

In Arizona, we don’t change time with the rest of the nation. At first, I was thrilled with this. But in reality, if the rest of the country changes time, we aren’t standing still.

For example, my husband starts work an hour earlier. The TV doesn’t stop changing times of shows. Everything is on an hour earlier.

It is confusing. It takes a little time for me to adjust to our new schedule.

I like the idea of not changing time, but time does not stay still.

In California, they voted to end time changes in 2018:

Didn’t Californians vote on this issue? Yes, sort of, but it isn’t quite that simple. 

In November 2018, voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 7. But the measure only allowed the Legislature to change daylight saving time, either by establishing it year-round or abolishing it. 

A change still requires a two-thirds majority of both the state Assembly and Senate and the governor’s signature. Permanently keeping daylight saving time also requires congressional action — and that hasn’t happened.  

California doesn’t have to wait on Congress to use standard time, which is what Hawaii and most of Arizona do. 

So this year Republican Sen. Roger Niello of Roseville introduced legislation to do away with daylight saving time for good and establish standard time year-round. (Westminster Republican Tri Ta is carrying a twin bill in the Assembly.) 

Arguing that standard time makes “the most sense,” Niello says his bill has the backing of the California Medical Association. A large portion of the medical and sleep expert communities also agree that standard time coincides better with people’s natural clocks. 

This story originally appeared in Calmatters.
The post Why daylight saving time is starting again in California amid debates, legislative hurdles appeared first on Local News Matters.

This reminds me of a song by Simon and Garfunkel that beings with “Time, time, time, see what’s become of me.”

What are your thoughts about the time change?

Would you prefer not changing time? If so, would you like standard time or daylight savings?

Is crime an issue in the election?

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Underwood typewriter
My Underwood typewriter given to me by PR, my former PR boss in the 80s and 90s.

There’s an editor of a newspaper called The Deseret who follows my blog. She’s called me a few times to interview me. Her name is Jennifer Graham. She is the Ideas and Culture editor of the Deseret News.

It’s been a few years since I’ve heard from her, but she emailed me this week to ask if she could link to my blog for an article she’s working on about crime.

Here’s an excerpt from her article:

Regardless of what the numbers say, many Americans don’t feel safe, and fear — not statistics — is what they’ll take with them into the voting booth. According to Gallup, “More than three-quarters of Americans, 77%, believe there is more crime in the U.S. than a year ago, and a majority, 55%, say the same about crime in their local area.”

Significantly, the number of Americans reporting that someone in their household has been a victim of crime edged up last year. Again, per Gallup, “Overall, a combined 28% say they or someone in their household has been victimized in the past year by one of seven different crimes asked about in the survey, including vandalism, car theft, burglary, robbery, armed robbery, sexual assault and battery. The composite figure is up from 23% when the question was last asked in 2021 and from 20% — the low point in the trend — in 2020.”

Elizabeth Wickham, a blogger in Arizona, recently wrote that she knows two people who were mugged within two weeks. “If I know two people mugged in a short amount of time, this must be happening frequently,” she wrote.

https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2024/03/06/new-york-city-national-guard-subways-democrats-crime/

Graham said she thinks that it doesn’t matter what the actual statistics are, if Americans don’t feel safe, this is a problem for whatever party is in power. 

Here’s a link to an article that she wrote about parents hiring parenting coaches in 2018:

Why are parents hiring coaches — for themselves?

What are your thoughts about crime where you live?

Has it gotten worse, better or stayed the same?

Uptick in dinnertime burglaries

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Looking out our front door.

I noticed a helicopter circling our backyard after our guests left Friday night. That was odd. When we moved here a little over three years ago, I felt so safe. We went to bed without locking our doors. Our doors were unlocked when we went shopping or on walks.

Now I make sure the doors are locked even while we’re home in the daytime.

That’s because there’s an organized crime ring, using high tech gadgets to scramble WiFi and cameras, breaking into homes.

From the AZ Central:

Thieves responsible for a series of dinnertime burglaries in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley have targeted homes when residents were away and under the cloak of darkness. Jewelry, cash and precious metals stolen from homes have been sold on the black market.

Scottsdale police said a total of 33 burglaries were confirmed in the city; 131 cases have been throughout the Valley since the first trend of burglaries started in 2019.

The Tuesday meeting focused on what law enforcement describes as crime tourists, typically originating from South America, and the high-tech, dedicated means the criminals used to elude arrest.

Lt. Jeffery Hawkins, Scottsdale’s expert on the topic, worked on recent surveillance operations that saw the burglars in action. He said crime tourists were believed to be exploiting a visa-less entry into the U.S. through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization program. The waives a visa for tourists and businesspeople like bankers who are entering the country for a short time.

“We don’t know who they are. We don’t know their family. We don’t know where and if they’ve done any criminal activity in their native country like Chile, we don’t have access to that information.” said Hawkins. “It’s a blank slate that we have to start putting together,” added Hawkins.

Hawkins said the crime tourists often ship stolen items to South America or to be sold in larger black-market rings on the West and East coasts.

“This crew is fast, elusive and professional,” said Hawkins, who described the burglars as “ghosts.”

Hawkins also added that police have found the group using Wi-Fi and cellular signal jammers, which can disable the signal to a home’s security system. The device, which consists of a green plastic brick with dozens of black antennae exiting the top, can invade a signal from 30 to 50 feet away.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/scottsdale-breaking/2024/02/28/metro-phoenix-crime-tourist-dinner-time-burglaries-continue/72774952007/

When we lived downtown Palm Springs, we had a homeless guy living in our yard. I had my bicycle stolen and we had two break-ins. One of the things I liked best moving to Arizona was the sense of safety. I’m so disappointed that I feel afraid in my own home, have my doors locked and watch helicopters circling overhead.

Have you heard about dinnertime burglaries or crime tourists?

What do you do to feel safe in your home?

Saturday Lake Views

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A lake 15 miles from our house. Our guest took this photo on her bike ride.

When we have guests, we like to take them to the lake. It’s a beautiful drive through Tonto National Forest and so surprising to see water in the middle of the desert. The lake was created by a dam and thankfully the lake was as full as I’ve seen it thanks to a ton of rain. Also I heard that Arizona is building up the dam to hold more water.

My friend who is visiting is an avid cyclist and Saturdays are her days for a major ride. I told her about the lake and that I’ve seen lots of cyclists make the trek with huge hills. It was a 40-mile bike ride. We followed by car with her husband and puppy, to make sure she was safe.

Here are more photos:

This is where we like to go in the summer to cool off with a dip in the lake.

There were people camping and fishing.

A photo taken by my cycling guest during her ride to the lake.

Our friend’s four-month old puppy Karenina.

We also managed to get in a hike.

How do you like to entertain your guests? Where do you take them in your area?

Worrisome news

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Cloudy sky during our walk
We took a long walk, bundled up, between rainy days.

We were supposed to get together with our friends this weekend. I’m talking about the couple who moved from our old hometown to one mile away from us in Arizona. We were out for our walk when I got a phone call from them.

It turns out my friend was headed to UCSF — the same hospital where my DIL is receiving treatment for cancer. One of her daughters was mugged by a gang of teens to 20-year-olds during her lunch hour. They punched her so hard she has a torn esophagus. This was a gang from Oakland. She was mugged in San Francisco.

Less than two weeks ago, my DIL’s sister was mugged in Oakland. They stole her iPhone. Because it has tracking on it, the police were able to arrest the mob of teens to 20-year-olds and return her phone. She was punched in the face, but didn’t need hospitalization. The police told her that this is an ongoing problem and they were thankful for her help to catch the thugs.

I wonder if it’s the same gang that attacked my friend’s daughter and if they were released to mug more people within two weeks?

If I know two people mugged in a short amount of time, this must be happening frequently. My kids, my DIL and siblings and my friend’s kids are the only people I know who live in the Bay Area — besides a few bloggers I follow.

In my neck of the desert, there is an outbreak of burglaries. So far none in my neighborhood, but in the surrounding area. According to the Sheriff, it’s a crime ring from South America who hide in the washes behind houses and break in once the lights go out.

I have felt so safe here that we rarely lock our doors. I do now.

Do you feel safe where you live or have you noticed an increase in crime?

How odd do you think it is for me to know two people mugged in the same city within two weeks?