Coyotes!

The number of lost pet signs in our neighborhood has increased a lot in recent months. This sign appeared a couple of weeks ago on a corner where I have often seen both coyotes and the rabbits they hunt. (On the other side of the fence is a large expanse of undeveloped land.) Coyotes are not new here, but I suspect they have become bolder over time. And a lot of people somehow manage to remain oblivious. Folks who don't live here seem amazed when I tell them that in this heavily populated suburban area we have skunks, possums, raccoons, rabbits and coyotes, and that I wouldn't be greatly surprised if one day a mountain lion wandered in. I've had conversations with people from other areas who adamantly insist they they don't have coyotes, that there is no habitat nearby - until one day one jumps a fence and a neighbor's cat or dog is killed. I've faced individual coyotes on the street here and elsewhere. Wisely, they tend to treat humans with caution, but that isn't the same as fear. They are used to us. Our domestic pets are delicious, and easier to catch than the wild rodents they should be hunting.

Death in the Gulf

Yes, I know, this isn't in the Valley. But everyone should see this.

House Finches

A male house finch stuffs himself at the feeder.

Goldfinches

Goldfinches enjoy the feeder in my garden.

Why I Won't Be Serving on the Redistricting Commission

I now completely understand why so many qualified individuals never get involved in public service.

Having passed the preliminary screening (along with over 25,000 other Californians), I've learned what is required to continue applying to be on the new redistricting commission. I could certainly write answers to the essay questions and provide a resume. They want to know all about me, which is understandable. But they also want me to include information about my parents, siblings and children. I wouldn't want my relatives providing information about me, so why should I be willing to provide it about them? And if I become a finalist, I have to make a detailed financial disclosure, which would affect not just me as an individual, but my husband, and, by extension, his business partner, and which will become part of the public record. Anyone with a normal sense of privacy and respect for others would not want to do this.

I've carefully read the job description and the list of qualifications, and I believe I'm highly qualified to do this. I realize that it involves being "in the spotlight" because it is controversial, requires public hearings, etc. I don't have a problem with that. But I do have a problem with exposing people who aren't applying for the job to undue loss of privacy. Perhaps all this information is legitimately needed to avoid any conflict of interest or wrongdoing. But at the same time, this is why only a certain type of person (whether they are good, bad, or mediocre) will do public work. And I believe that is why we have the kinds of problems we have.

What the #&*! is CSUN Thinking?

Today I was on the Cal State Northridge campus to take a test. One of the administrators proudly pointed out that the classroom was filled with lovely, newly-purchased desks. Every single one of them was a RIGHT-HANDED desk!

There is absolutely no excuse for this. Two-sided desks have been available for decades. Other schools purchase them. Why in the 21st century would a public institution be permitted to continue discriminating against 15% of the population? This is simply unbelievable.

CSUN's Oviatt Library Discriminates Against Lefties

Last week I attended a class in the Cal State Northridge Library. I moved the mouse to the left-hand side and then attempted to reverse the mouse buttons. Normally I simply use control Panel to change the mouse settings. But Control Panel was not visible on the library’s computer. There was an “Accessibility” menu, but none of the things listed there had anything to do with making the computer accessible to lefties. I asked the librarian in charge of the class how to switch the mouse buttons. She didn’t know how and went to get someone else. She came back with a guy who told me that there was no way to switch the buttons because Control Panel had been disabled for security reasons. He claimed that I was the first person who had ever asked for this. I told him I wouldn’t be the last. He said it would probably be another twelve years before that happened. Wow! My right handed friends agreed with me that his response was inappropriate. And, seriously, if we were talking about accessibility for people who speak Japanese (which was available on that computer) would it matter how many or how often? Would the library refuse to meet the needs of all the various ethnic and religious groups, deaf people, or people with disabilities who are on campus, simply because they haven’t often made these requests? I don’t think so.

Reversing the mouse button is a simple thing that has been easy to do on PCs for many, many years. Not every lefty reverses the mouse buttons, but many do. In fact, even some righties do this, so they can use the mouse in the left hand while taking notes with the right. The point is, those of us who need to use the mouse in this perfectly normal way should not be placed at a disadvantage.

So here’s my request. Whether or not you are left-handed, and whether or not you prefer to switch the mouse buttons, if you are a CSUN student (or anyone who has business on campus) please go to the library and ask for help reversing the mouse buttons for left-handed use. Be polite but firm. In your conversation with the librarian, make sure you use the word “accessible”. For example, “It’s hard to use the library when the computers aren’t accessible.” Or, “How do you plan to address this accessibility problem?” You might also want to use the word “discrimination”, as in, “I’m very surprised to find this kind of discrimination going on here.”

Still Here

I have been on "hiatus" for a while, but will return to blogging when things settle down a little.

How Old is Old?

It's amazing, the things you can learn just browsing through a university catalog. Our own Cal State Northridge offers a minor in gerontology. One of the required courses is, of course, "Introduction to Gerontology". It covers some of the things you might expect: issues of health, economics, social roles, etc. Among other things, students have the opportunity to engage in volunteer work at "agencies for persons over 55". I'm almost certain that isn't a typo. Fifty-five. Quite seriously, I would have expected people to be at least 70 before falling into this category. But maybe I had gerontology confused with geriatrics. Geriatrics is an area of medicine dealing with elderly patients. I've always expected that to mean people older than 70. (And a lot of people in their 70's will tell you they aren't elderly yet.) Gerontology is the study of the aging process, and includes more than just medicine. Let's face it, we are all aging all the time. Even so, in this era when we are told that "50 is the new 30", I don't think there are very many fifty-five-year-olds who are eager to find junior gerontologists following them around and taking notes.

What's Happening the the Valley

Gerald Fecht is the president of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley and a tireless blogger. While some of us struggle to post once or twice a week, Jerry sometimes posts several articles in a single day. He is well-versed in history and also seems to know everything that's happening right now. He posts photos from the museum's archives, as well as recently-snapped pics of public art, landscapes, buildings and people.

The museum's blog is a great place to find out about upcoming events as well as volunteer opportunities. I'm especially interested in the occasional walking tours, and hope to join one in the near future.

Take a look at http://museumsanfernandovalley.blogspot.com.

Will They Be Towed At Last?

A long stretch of Topanga Canyon Boulevard has received temporary no parking signs so that some kind of road work can be done. One section in particular has become notorious for the illegal signs that the city allows to park here. This morning, most of the signs had been removed. Someone had placed the no-parking signs prominently on the two that remained, probably hoping that the city really will enforce regulations and tow them away. We'll see what happens.

When I stopped to photograph them, I noticed that the license plates had been removed from both the trailers. Photographs taken in December reveal that these trailers did have license plates at one time. Without the plates, it will be difficult to identify the owners when -- or rather if -- the trailers are towed to make way for the road work. One can only hope that this will represent a meaningful financial loss to the scofflaws who put them here.

Yes, I photographed these same signs in December, six months ago. Despite repeated complaints by local residents to both Parking Enforcement and the Bureau of Street Services, the city will not do anything about this ever-worsening problem. Here you can see the weeds that have grown up around the anchor of one of the trailers, and one of the spider webs that is decorating the other one.

  

By the way, Carmen Trutanich, who claimed to oppose illegal signs and promised to enforce regulations against them as part of his campaign for city attorney, was sworn into office July first. It will be interesting to see if anything will actually change.