signs: Jesus Saves

Jesus Saves

Just off International on Havenscourt is this combo cell tower and sign. I'd never noticed it before, but on my way back from the Habitat construction site (by bike, naturally) I saw it. You really do notice a lot more by bike or on foot.

Car Free Challenge

It's not (yet) too late to sign up for the Car Free Challenge. Today is the last day to sign up; it costs $45 which may be too much for people in this economy, but it is a fundraiser for TransForm which does good work. So far Becks from Living in the O, VSmoothe from A Better Oakland, DC from Fragmentary Evidence, Eric from Transbay Blog, and of course yours truly have joined the event along with people from all over the country.

If $45 is too steep, you can take part for free and let the rest of us know, or you can support me or one of the other Blogoaksphere participants for some amount less.

I've been working towards car-free the last several years, but I don't know if I'll ever get there 100% like many of the participants. I can for this week (I hope), but doing it permanently isn't probably going to happen any time soon. The main thing is to get people driving by themselves less.

It's getting easier for me these days, as the addition and remodel are pretty much done (so not so many trips to the lumber yard or Home Depot), I'm not attending and doing media for a church in Dublin any more (though I still visit occasionally -- great contemporary service), and well, I'm not employed (so no commute). Should be easy, right?

Well, there's still grocery shopping, volunteering at the Habitat worksite in East Oakland a couple of times a month, church on Sunday, and getting to appointments and the like. Fortunately I've done all these trips by bike or transit before. Unfortunately, I haven't done them all in one week before, which is what my 0 miles in a car goal for the Car Free Challenge will require.

So far, so good, though: a trip to Kaiser and Trader Joe's on the way home yesterday, and a trip to Kaiser again today, all by bike. The bad news is that the second trip was necessary because I misremembered the date of my appointment -- d'oh! But it was good exercise, even with the e-bike to help me up the hills (especially with groceries yesterday.) I rode down Moraga, but back via the longer-but-less-trafficky way past Lake Temescal both days. And had breakfast at Mama's Royal Cafe yesterday as a treat (and to console myself for having ridden down there on the wrong day.)

signs: Talco's

Talco's

I'm not sure what the design motif for this sign on Talco's Bar is. From a distance it's almost a "rustic log cabin" look, but that doesn't fit with the style of the building itself. Then again, it would hardly be the first drinking establishment with a seemingly random theme. The lone review on Yelp doesn't make it sound very inviting, and I'm usually going past in the afternoon so I haven't tried it myself.

Cora "Mom" Green

Mom Green

Last night at their 9th annual Dinner Dance and Awards, Oakland Firefighters Random Acts honored Cora "Mom" Green with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Mom Green is one of those people that makes you feel better about humanity. She's been doing good with OF Random Acts for a long time. She's been doing good things for Oakland for a long time before that, 40 years all told. It was mayor Lionel Wilson that gave her the name "Mom", because she was a mom to everyone in Oakland. Cancer and age have slowed her down some, but she's still going. Lots of firefighters were there to thank mom for her service, and her daughter flew in from North Carolina to surprise her. I had the privilege of putting together a brief slideshow of photos of her helping people in the community and her with various firefighters, police and others she's worked with over the years.

There's a nice article in the Tribune about Mom. I heard that KTVU (Rita Williams of KTVU news was the MC) did a piece on her the other night, but I haven't seen it yet.

Also honored with a Community Hero award was the East Bay Boxing Association, which despite the name does a lot more for kids in East Oakland than teaching them to box. They have programs for gardening, food distribution, tutoring, leadership and more. Executive Director Liz Kendall was on hand to receive the ward.

Bike to Market Day

Fresh on the (w)heels of Bike to Work Day is Bike to Market Day, tomorrow, May 22nd. Numerous markets like Farmer Joe's, Whole Foods, Berkeley Bowl, and Grocery Outlet are offering discounts and other goodies for cyclists. Get the complete list at the East Bay Bike Coalition page, and check out the nice Google Map they've done showing locations:

View Bike to Market Day in a larger map

Most of the discounts are around 10% and require you to have your cycling helmet in hand. Riding with a helmet is a very good idea, as I can personally attest. I took a corner too fast the other month and wiped out, cracking my helmet but not my head.

The page mentions farmers markets, too, but didn't give much in the way of particulars. K and I rode to our local farmers market in Montclair last Sunday. She rode the e-bike, and I took a mountain bike. Getting there was easy, of course. Riding back we both worked, but me more than her. These days I get a little tired riding the e-bike back from the Village depending on the load, but it's not too bad. I more fully appreciate how much work the e-bike is doing now.