Hello again.  Were you all able to survive the mid-January storms?  Strange weather, but we do need the water. 

Which brings up two items I found floating off my dock and the oil spills that attached themselves to the rocks.  If you are doing this or see your neighbor’s changing their car oil or just dumping oils from cooking PLEASE explain that some of the drains are not sewers but street water overflow that then drains directly into the lagoons.  For the oil that collected on my rocks under my dock I was told to sprinkle a bit of Dawn dish soap and it would break up all that mess.  I tried it and it truly worked.  But the best thing is just do not put anything down those drains in the first place. 

Next, I found a large wine-bottle called Ande’ Strawberry Fresa.  It still had all  the paper opening warnings on it.  I like a good wine, but I am at a complete loss on this one with Government health warnings,  opening instructions, eye injuries, etc.  Anyway, here it was caught on some rocks with cracking sounds.  I was able to get it out of the water before it broke, but had it broken our wildlife could have tried to eat it or been cut by it. 

The last thing I found made me cry. It was a small white rat, obviously a pet, that had drown.  I do not know to whom it belonged, if it managed to get outside somehow, or if it was deliberately thrown into the water.  If you find you can no longer care for your pet it can be taken to the Coyote Point Humane Society for adoption.  That is certainly the most humane thing you can do, not only for yourself but also for your pet. 

Now back to the basic calls — again driver consideration being the most re-quested with the top comments being the lack of signal use and speeding.   I want to add in here that if your DMV license needs renewing soon you might want to have your eyes tested  before you have to take your test.  Something I saw the other day really frightened me.  I was in the middle lane just starting to cross over the freeway from RWS into Holly Street when this medium size car that had been in the fast lane just simply cut over to exit to the south bound freeway lane.  No signal, nothing, just simply cut over when there truly was no room.   Everyone managed to get out of the way, but there were a lot of red brake lights suddenly on. If you have forgotten or are new to the area, one does not cross over solid lines — they are meant for you to stay in your own lane and it is important for a driver to be aware of where they are and to know what exits to take.

Another major problem is at the west side of Holly coming to the Industrial intersection down from the overpass.  The lanes change there and many drivers are not paying attention the  lane markers.  If one is on the right side of Holly they try to continue straight ahead, cutting off someone on the left side that is entering their lane. 

Lastly, if you find that you are always trying to make up for lost time, try setting your clocks a few minutes head, this will give you a little extra time to decide where you are going and to think about your route there.  The last train accident was because someone wasn’t paying attention to where they wanted to go and simply drove onto the tracks.  “Extra/spare” time will allow you to relax — somewhat — and not be pushing it as to your reactions. 

Maybe now that a goodly part of our storms are over we can look for some nice warm February weather and a Happy Valentines Day!  See you in March.

— Pat Dixon, the Swan Lady