Screenshot from my Google homepage.

Here is the latest! Don’t put your dog and baby in the car trunk!!!

…EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PDT THIS EVENING…

THIS EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IS BEING ISSUED UTILIZING THE NEW HEAT HEALTH WARNING SYSTEM. IT IS SPECIFIC TO THE AREAS INCLUDED IN THIS HEAT WARNING. IT IS TARGETED AT THE ELDERLY OR INFIRMED…WHO MIGHT BE MUCH MORE SENSITIVE TO HEAT AND THUS AT GREATER RISK. INDIVIDUALS WHO FALL INTO THIS CATEGORY SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY CAREFUL BY DRINKING PLENTY OF WATER AND SEEKING A COOLER LOCATION FOR THE DAY IF NO AIR CONDITIONING IS AVAILABLE. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT FRIENDS OR RELATIVES CHECK FREQUENTLY ON THOSE WHO MIGHT BE PRONE TO HEAT SENSITIVITY.

ALSO…NEVER LEAVE CHILDREN…ELDERLY OR PETS UNATTENDED IN ENCLOSED VEHICLES…EVEN FOR A SHORT TIME. TEMPERATURES QUICKLY RISE TO LIFE- THREATENING LEVELS EVEN WHEN THE WINDOWS ARE PARTIALLY OPENED.

Yesterday (April 23rd) was my 30th birthday. While some people fear this occasion, I was not particularly dreading it. I had a small gathering with some friends at the Dovre Club on Valencia Street in San Francisco. My friend Rob thought to bring a piñata, which is becoming a tradition for him.

Foods Co., Rob’s normal source for piñatas, was out of stock (Foods Co. is a discount grocery store where you can get a box of faux-Mexican cookies for that will feed desert to 60 people for $2.99 and you can get great deals on nearly-expired bread) so he had to go elsewhere and purshase a Sesame Street Piñata with streamers. This was fine, because I like streamers, and the candy tastes the same either way.

We couldn’t find anywhere to safely hang it inside the bar, so Rob rigged it up to the street-crossing sign out front, which happened to be in front of a very photogenic mini-backhoe. I managed to bust the piñata open after about four whacks, and everyone (by everyone, I mean my friend Andy while everyone else stood at the side and stared at the filthy sidewalk) rushed in and took their pickings from the selection of suckers and chocolate. Despite the razor-sharp staples that were protruding out of the sides of the piñata (watch out kids!) a good time was had by all- even though I am now officially “old.”

More photos here, if you dare.

View from the 20th and Church Muni stop, at about 3pm.

The Sisters threw another fantastic Easter Celebration in Dolores Park this weekend, featuring an Easter egg hunt for kids, a bonnet contest and the ever-popular Hunky Jesus Competition. I think one of the finalists was the same guy that won last year, or else he purchased the life-size cross from last year’s winner on Craigslist.

Everyone seemed to be having a good time, except for those waiting in line to go to the bathroom. I really need to start thinking about ideas for my Hunky Jesus costume next year.

Mountain Lion/Rattlesnake warning at Mt. Tamalpais State Park

When venturing into the outdoors, there is always a certain amount of risk involved. I think people used to take that for granted. The State of California (probably because they don’t want to be held liable) recognized that people probably aren’t as savy as they used to be, and therefore has posted signs about every dangerous animal you could possible encounter on your adventures into the wilderness.

Mountain lions and rattlesnakes are, to some small degree, avoidable while hiking. Especially rattlesnakes- at least if you are aware of them you can watch where you step and take precautionary measures. The sign about mountain lions at least tells you to wave your arms over your head and try to scare it away. I really don’t understand this sign:

Shark warning at Stinson Beach

“A shark attack occurred here in six feet of water.” Oh great. Something tells me waving your arms in the air isn’t going to do the trick if an 18 foot long great white thinks you are a seal.

Finally, my favorite sign from the Montreal Bioshpere:

Don’t touch the otters!

A winter storm at Sierra-at-Tahoe

Perhaps you’ve read the book or watched the movie called “Alive”? If you haven’t, it’s about a group of football (soccer) players. Their plane crashed in the Andes Mountains and they had to survive in the snow for a long period of time until they were rescued. They ended up eating some of the dead because they had no other food.

The same thing almost happened to me this weekend. I went snowboarding at Sierra-at-Tahoe on the Bay Area Ski Bus in the middle of a fierce winter storm. The conditions were great, but during the course of the day the weather became so bad that avalanche control had to close Highway 50, preventing us from making a return to civilization. Our rations were running low (see photo) and morale was sinking. The bar at the resort ran our of Sierra Nevada beer and happy hour was drawing to a close.

Luckily, the road reopened and we were able to get out of the mountains and home by 11pm.

It has been a long time since I ran a “Craigslist Pet of the Day” feature. In fact, the last time I did it was when I wrote about the Black and White Tegu, and that has turned out to be one of the biggest draws to Markasaurus… people everywhere want to learn about the Tegu.

I have a newfound interest in horses, since I went horseback riding last weekend. I don’t have the pictures of it on my computer yet, so you’ll have to wait. To make a long story short, I rode a horse (very slowly) for the first time ever last weekend. Natasha and I went to a ranch in Marin County and took an hour ride on Saturday morning through the woods at Pt. Reyes National Seashore. My fear of horses has been throughly eradicated.

Now that I no longer fear horses, I was fascinated by this horse ad on Craigslist. Would you believe that there are a number of different miniature horses up for adoption in the San Francisco Bay Area? This was my favorite:

miniature horse - $1500 (gilroy)

Reply to: sale-576438545@craigslist.org

Date: 2008-02-16, 3:51PM PST

this is a cute live horse for your pleasure or kids. four year old pinto gelding. others available
408-309-0209

Um, maybe I’m reading too much into this, but isn’t the first line a bit weird? To be honest, it completely creeps me out.  I especially like how the seller included the word “live”. I have a feeling “this is a cute dead horse for your pleasure or kids” wouldn’t have been a very convincing sell.

On Saturday, Natasha and I drove to Truckee, CA to see the snow and go snowshoeing. I didn’t realize that it was going to be nearly 50 degrees outside, which is approximately the same temperature as our kitchen in the morning. Needless to say, it wasn’t a very “wintery” experience, but was fun nonetheless.

We rented snowshoes at a place called “The Backcountry” and then headed to the other side of the I-80 to Donner Memorial State Park. The park has a small museum, camping, and cross-country ski trails in the winter. It is located at the spot where most of the Donner Party spent the infamous winter of 1846-1847.

The trail takes you to the edge of Donner Lake, along the shore, and then back to the museum. I think it is about a 2.5 mile walk. It is flat, and would have been pretty easy had we not been snowshoeing through heavy slush.

After our expedition in the wilderness, we headed to Truckee where we ate some “food” at a place called “Coffee And.” If you are a vegetarian, you might want to consider other options. It’s a pretty classic small diner-style restaurant where you get eight ounces of Italian dressing on a handful of iceberg lettuce and a cup of coffee in a questionably clean mug. They did have veggie burgers though, so I have to give them some credit.

It was a snowy day at Sugarbowl yesterday when Markasuarus went skiing with the Bay Area Ski Bus. Not that I didn’t enjoy it. While everyone else was complaining about how it was snowing and cold and huddling in the lodge, I was out enjoying the winter weather. I did manage to slightly injure myself, but I shouldn’t have been trying to slide a rail on my third run of the day after not snowboarding for a year and a half.

My favorite sight of the day was not out on the slopes, despite the beauty of the snowy mountains. It was inside the door of the lodge. For some reason this is the only snowboard that was inside the entire lodge, even though it is expressly forbidden to bring your skis or snowboard inside: