Posts Tagged: el cerrito
Neighborhood Nights: Three Sisters
El Cerrito CA. August 2016
Neighborhood Nights: House with Orange Window and Topiary
El Cerrito CA. August 2016
Greeks Everywhere
Greek Tombstone (click image to view large)
Last Veteran’s Day, which was 11-11-11 by the way, Theo’s Cub Scout pack went up to Sunset View Cemetery in El Cerrito to place flags on the graves of veterans. It was not long before I came across this interesting tombstone. I never expect to come across any Greeks out this far west this early in the 20th century. I don’t know why, I just don’t. I figure that, like my father, they get stuck on the east coast. I wonder how old this fellow was when he died.
Ace Lincoln, El Cerrito, CA. © Neo Serafimidis
Procrastination. Mine knows no bounds. Sometimes it kicks in at the metalevel wherein I put off doing a task that I only began in order to avoid what I really ought to be doing in the first place. This could be a virtuous chain if I could bend it back around to the thing that started it off.
Tonight, I seem to avoiding finishing my taxes and doing the work I brought home on Friday, among numerous other things. And why would one bring work home unnecessarily unless there was something else waiting that one was avoiding at all costs. To be honest, I did manage to send off a couple emails, shuffle some papers, and by golly these photos are not going to process themselves, you know. So, I’m getting something accomplished. Maybe after this I’ll go bury the dead pet mouse stored in the freezer. Dang, why didn’t I think of that while it was still light out?
Continental Divide
Lincoln Continental
One might suppose that on the day before I start a new job I would be focused on preparing myself. Such leisure would have been most welcome. Instead, it was a crazy day of non-stop errands too numerous to list here, but ending at midnight with the completion of the dessert item for the international potluck in Theo’s second grade class tomorrow. Somehow, I managed to get this shot of the Continental in between taking my mom back home and getting parts at the hardware store. So, all that running around was good for something after all.
Retrograde Commute part 1
El Cerrito Plaza Station, El Cerrito CA.
I catch the BART in El Cerrito. Often, but completely accidentally, I find myself on the Fremont train to downtown Oakland. I say accidentally because it could just as easily be the San Francisco/Milbrae train. When it is the Fremont train, it waits at Macarthur Station for the SF train on the other line, so that people can transfer. And it waits to allow that train to pull out first. That leaves me with the views pictured below, which I am intrigued by. I’ve playing around with some different processing approaches. These are the full frame versions. The next post will present the square crop versions.
El Cerrito Plaza Station, El Cerrito CA.
Macarthur Station, Oakland CA.
Macarthur Station, Oakland CA.
Alternative Trailer
Travel Trailer © neo serafimidis 2011
I have been walking by this trailer twice a day for a few months now. Every single time I walk by I say to myself, “photograph that thing before its gone.” It is parked out in the back 40 at El Cerrito Plaza. I can’t quite tell if someone is living in it or not. I’m a little surprised that it is still there, because the Plaza security is, or used to be, quite vigilant about people parking in the Plaza when not actually shopping there, for example, while catching the BART to work for the day. Maybe the bad economy solved that problem and so no one’s watching anymore. Or maybe the owner is paying to park it there. Still I wish I had shot it when I first saw it, because at that time, it was all alone out there. Lately, there have been a few other motor homes and trailers parked around it, too. And often this little guy is sandwiched between a couple larger ones. So, when I saw it open on one side, I decided I better go for it. As it was, I had to get in close at 16mm because there was a blue Fiero or something parked nearby in front, and a big motorhome right behind it. Getting close and crouching down, I managed to get it to look lonely again. I’ll keep an eye on it, and hope for better light, maybe in the morning hours, one of these day. This is my second try at post-processing. Here is my first attempt at a fake lomo film kind of look.
Traffic Court 2
So to return to the saga of the two moving violations, while I was still waiting to hear back from the court regarding my written case over the first ticket, I had gone over to Mod Lang in El Cerrito to get a couple CDs for Sarah for her birthday (You guys are wonderful, by the way!). It’s not all that far, but I drove because I was running various errands, and I parked right on Fairmont Ave, right near the shop.
When I was leaving I wanted to go back the way I came to go back home and to avoid having to go down to busy San Pablo. Now, a you can see, Fairmont is not a big street. It’s small, about the same size as my very own street. And there were no cars anywhere in either direction. So, almost reflexively, I pulled away from the curb and made a u-turn. The problem is that Fairmont is striped. Double-yellow. Just as I got the car turned around, a bicycle cop rode up and got all in my face, looking like I had personally insulted him, and waived me to the curb. I dutifully pulled over. I felt myself going numb with disbelief. When he came to window, he asked me, “Do you know why I stopped you?” I’m pretty sure my response was a silent and curious mixture of autistic vacancy and “what-the-fuck-kind-of-question-is-that” irritation. He asks for my proof of insurance. I don’t have the latest slip in the car, only the previous one which had expired about three weeks previously. The ticket is written for both the illegal u-turn and the lack of proof of insurance.
Eventually, the courtesy notice comes. I quickly read it over and put it aside. I want to find out what the outcome of the pending case is before I even think about this one. The first ticket is sustained. It makes no sense to fight this one, because I straightforwardly broke the rules. I did it unintentionally, but I did it. So, I’ll pay and be done with it. But I’m going to wait until after Christmas.
Finally, a couple weeks ago I started thinking about paying the fine. I saw that I could do it online, thank god. The only glitch was that I have not heard back from the first court about going to driving school. And the check has not been cashed yet. So, I don’t know whether to pay for traffic school for the second ticket or not. So, I start calling to find out about where my paperwork is for that.
I call several times over the course of two weeks and talk to a few different people. Despite having sent my check for the traffic school in mid-December, there is no record of it at the court. Someone offers to go look the through the backlog on the desk of the person who’s supposed to process those, but is out sick this week. Nothing. The next day, nothing. The next Monday, nothing. Finally, yesterday, the day before the due date for paying the fine of the second ticket, I call again and still there’s no trace of my check. So, I decide to pay again with the second fine.
But then, when I actually tried to do it, I discovered that I could not do it online because I had to show proof of insurance IN PERSON. No scans or PDFs or anything. So, today, the very absolute last day before I’m delinquent and thereafter considered a hardened criminal, I head out to the Superior Court in lovely Richmond CA, checkbook and insurance slip in hand.
I park on the street a block or so away because parking lot and street are totally impacted. The court building is mid-century Soviet. Recent security measures have been deployed to limit access to one entrance/exit with the usual x-ray machine and metal detector. The first thing that happens is that as I go through the detector, the deputy very rudely barks at me, “Is this your bag? Get rid of the camera,” and boots me out. So, now I’m standing there wondering what to do. Go all the way back home? Or leave my fairly expensive camera and lens in the car, on the street, in a highly questionable neighborhood. Never mind that, as you’ll see, there’s already 200 people with cell phone cameras inside the building.
I go back to the car, get in, start to drive, and turn around back towards the building. A car in front of pulls away, so pull into the curb spot. 2 hour parking limit. I take my camera out and try to put it under the seat, but it won’t fit. So I kind of jam it in a bit and pull the child’s car seat and some paper debris over the top. I tell myself, “it’ll be fine here next to the court house for the 15 minutes I’ll be in there.”
I go back in and through the security check, and swing around to the hallway where the traffic court is. Holy shit! Only 9 am and the line is already the whole length of the long corridor and doubling back on itself. In the first 10 minutes, I don’t move at all. Not. One. Bit. At first, I think I am not going to make it. I’ll be at least two or three hours in this line. But finally, it starts to move. Meanwhile everyone in line is getting to know each other. There’s lots of talk of single motherhood, job situations, etc. Kinda sweet actually. Then there’s this black guy going on about some kind of Jewish conspiracy going all the way back to the Lincoln assassination. Really. Lots of historical detail in play. I gotta remember to look that one up.
Finally, almost exactly one hour after getting inline, I reach a window. The person on the other side was pretty nice and we exchanged some gallows humor. She’s already ready for a drink at 10 am. $304 later, I’m out of there and heading to my car.
Thankfully, the car is intact, camera and all. And I got this swell picture of a tree out of the deal.
You must be logged in to post a comment.