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They were right. Vacaville was a much smaller town back then, with lots of open spaces, orchards, fields and creeks to play in. We were lucky in that the families on either side of our house had kids our age to play with and we spent many days exploring the town, riding our bikes, getting into a bit of trouble – nothing too serious, mainly tearing holes in our school clothes or picking fruit off the trees in the orchards around town without permission.
School for us was Alamo Elementary, then Willis Jepson and Vaca High. That was followed for me by a stint at Solano Community College. SCC’s rural location and laid back vibe reminded me of Vacaville the year we moved to California.
After Solano College I went to broadcasting school in San Francisco, and then took a job at a radio station in Reno, Nevada. I wasn’t there too long before realizing how much I missed Solano County and so I applied for a job at the local radio station here, KUIC. I was hired to do the morning show and went on the air as Dave Paris in the Morning in 1986. The next ten years were a blast on the air, as I got to know many of the people and institutions that make Solano County so unique. Interviewing newsmakers, helping with public service campaigns and talking to listeners – many of them young families new to Vacaville as my family once was – broadened my appreciation of this close-knit community.
My wife and I made a home here in Vacaville. We raised two kids here and as they grew so did Vacaville. Ryan and Rachel attended Vacaville public schools and have since graduated and moved out of the house but the lure of their hometown still draws them back often.
A new career at Partnership HealthPlan of California (PHC) has given me the honor of getting to know a large number of people in Solano County who I may not have met otherwise. PHC manages health benefits for low income residents in the county, and as the Community Liaison, it’s been a privilege for me to be part of a large network of individuals who serve those in need in our community. It truly is inspiring to see agencies and volunteers band together in Solano County to meet the needs of the aged, disabled and underprivileged.
Over the years Solano County (and Vacaville in particular) have grown a great deal. Still the smalltown feel remains. Many of the orchards are gone, and the bikes have been replaced by skateboards, but neighbors still reach out to each other, kids play, parents volunteer and folks go to work.
Long story short, that scared seven-year-old is now a grown man with permanent roots in Vacaville. I’m home.
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( 2.9 / 24 )A strange thing happened while I was driving yesterday from Fairfield to Dixon: I noticed that my neck wasn't hurting. I was lightly holding the wheel instead of using my usual deathgrip. I was actually looking directly ahead and not at the pavement right in front of my car.
What a difference a simple road repaving makes. My only question: Why the hell did it take so long to do this?
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( 2.9 / 35 )Geez, what a weird two weeks it's been! I got into an accident on Rockville Road on Friday May 29th on my way home from work. No one was hurt, thank goodness, but the car was a wreck. Still, I had hope that the insurance company wouldn't total it. No such luck. (So much for hope).
Then last week my wife was driving on I-80 near Davis Street when some speeding, lane-weaving maniac tried to pass her and clipped off her driver's side mirror.
But the piece de resistance was Saturday morning. I was on my way to the rental car agency to return the car I had been renting since MY accident when this 16-year-old pulls out of the McDonald's parking lot on Hamburger Hill without looking and slams right into me. Of course he didn't have a license (why would I even expect him to?), and to top it off, he had a two-year-old kid in the car with him. The teen was scared half to death and asked me to wait until his dad got to the scene before I called the police so he could tell the cops his FATHER was driving. I am sympathetic, but I ain't stupid. So the police got the true story, and the teen and his dad are both in a world of trouble. Again, no one was hurt. When I think about what could have happened to that two-year-old, I shudder.
I'm told walking is good exercise. Perhaps I'll give it a try ...
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( 3.1 / 33 )But then I didn't have to tell you that. Each morning at 5:00 a.m. I go through that intersection on my way to my radio job downtown. Or rather, STOP at that intersection. And wait ... And wait ... Due to the new construction, the sensors at the traffic signals have been turned off and switched to timers, which means that we early morning motorists have to wait through the whole rotating cycle, even though there is rarely another car on the road. A pain in one respect, but on the other hand it forces me to get up earlier and not rely on a lead foot to get me to the office on time.
Speaking of the construction in that area, it's causing a real inconvenience for the good folks at Green Beans World Cafe on the corner. A large chunk of their parking lot is cordoned off or torn up, and that's hurting business. Do the owners a favor: if you can navigate the maze, stop in for a little something. Good coffee, free wi-fi, and a friendly staff that takes the construction mess with good humor.
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( 3 / 83 )It wasn't as bad as the New Year's storm a few years back, but it was still pretty darned inconvenient.
I went in to work Friday morning as usual, only to find that the power at the office was out. My co-workers were in a partying mood -- who wouldn't be happy to get out of work? -- but I was behind in my daily slog and in no mood to share in the revelry. So I took off for Pure Grain Bakery in Vacaville where I could get a cup of coffee and an Internet connection.
Of course with the servers at work down, I still couldn't get anything done because I couldn't log on remotely. (Sigh). Then my wife called with the news that the power was out at our house. I invited her to join me -- it's been months since we had breakfast together during the week. That was nice, but when we went home a few hours later, the power was still out. So we sat in the near darkness, trying to read by candlelight, until we dozed off.
We weren't able to sleep for long because the house was getting colder by the hour. Even wearing socks and my warmest slippers plus a blanket over my feet, my toes were freezing.
Now five hours into the outrage, my wife says I should call PG&E. Naw, I said, I'm sure the neighbors have already called. Then we flashed on the same thought -- What if all the neighbors were thinking the same thing? A quick call to the power company brought a recorded message. "We are aware of the outage in your area," it said. "There is no estimated time of restoral." Restoral? Is that even a word?
Another quck call to my brother and his wife, who we were going to have over for dinner that night. With no working stove or oven, that wasn't gonna happen.
Finally the cold got the best of us and we headed over to my in-laws ,where they had nice things like heat and TV and lights. After a tasty dinner and a movie, we headed back home ... to a dark house.
Long story short, we had "restoral" at 11:05 p.m. -- 14 hours after the power went out.
Don't mean to complain, and I know that many people had it worse than us. So how was YOUR weekend?
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