Christmas Fashion YES

Oh the joy of giving. It's everywhere! Look around as you stroll through IKEA or return that pair of jean that were one size too small. Everyone is looking good huh? All those new Christmas fashions are out in full force. Anyone who received a new outfit for Christmas is definitely wearing it today.

Recycle your Holiday Tree for FREE!

Holiday tree recycling program

You can recycle your tree for free at one of Sacramento County’s six drop off locations. Recycling your holiday tree is a lot easier then dumping it in an alley or trying to stuff it in your green waste recycling bin at home. You can even score free ground cover and do some weekend landscaping with the mulch made from your tree.

Here is how it works. You can take your tree to any of the six locations and the tree will be recycled typically in two different ways. One way is making mulch. The tree is pushed through a grinder and comes out the other side as woodchips. Those woodchips can be given back to you on request or the facility will use if for ground cover for other county projects.

The second method of recycling commonly used is burning the trees. The burning process has proven to be very beneficial because of the energy created from the green tree.

“Holiday trees have a high lever of BTU (British thermal unit) and when burned they produce a large amount of energy, which can later be used to make electricity,” said the recycling coordinator with Sacramento County’s Department of Waste Management and Recycling(WM&R) Doug Eubanks.

Although energy can be created from recycling holiday trees the department of WM&R strongly encourages people to buy live trees and plant them after the holiday season. This cut back on the cutting down of trees and adds to the tree population, which is always a good thing for the environment.

Apparently the two recycling methods above are not the only ones every used by the department of WM&R. Unique recycling requests have been made and carried out by the department.

“Years ago a man who was in charge of natural habitat at the Nimbus Damn wanted a large number of trees that were going to be recycled. He strung the trees together and dropped them in the lake to create fish habitats. This request was defiantly s first for me,” Eubanks said.

The six different drop-off locations are:
In Sacramento:
Elder Creek Recovery & Transfer Station
8642 Elder Creek Road (Jackson Hwy, south on Florin Perkins Road, left on Elder Creek Road)
8 am - 3 pm, Dec. 29 and Jan. 5
Also accepting trees Dec. 26 - Jan 31, Monday - Friday, 6 am—5 pm; Saturday 6 am - 3 pm; closed Sundays
Kiefer Landfill
12701 Kiefer Blvd (Jackson Hwy, north on Grant Line Road, right on Kiefer Blvd)
8 am - 4 pm, Dec. 29 and Jan. 5
North Area Recovery Station
4450 Roseville Road (Hwy 80, north on Watt Ave, left on Roseville Road, inside Recovery Station)
8 am - 4 pm, Dec. 29 and Jan. 5
SMUD Corporation Yard
1708 59th Street (just off Hwy 50)
8 am - 3:30 pm, Jan. 5 only
Sacramento Recycling and Transfer Station
8491 Fruitridge Road (Jackson Hwy., south Florin Perkins Road, right on Fruitridge Road)
8 am - 5 pm, Dec. 29 and Jan. 5
Also accepting trees Dec. 26 - Jan. 31, Monday - Saturday, 8 am - 5 pm; closed Sundays
In Folsom:
Dan Russell Rodeo Arena
Folsom City Park (corner of Natoma and Stafford Streets)
8 am - 4 pm, Dec. 29, Dec. 30 and Jan. 5

The free dates are only on December 29th and January 5th, but the fee is small on all other dates.

TRS

Therapeutic Recreation Services (TRS) is a service provided by Sacramento County that provides award-winning opportunities, for children, teens and adults with developmental and physical disabilities, mental and sensory impairments and special needs, to explore learn and have fun through recreation. The programs and events that are offered provide training in leisure, social, community and independent skills. This program was started in 1975 and is still growing with an annual attendance of more then 15,000 people.

TRS’ goal is for their participants to acquire the highest level of independence possible through leisure activities and community action. Events and activities teach cooking, sports, movies, kite flying, exploring the city by bus and confidence building through fun.

The TRS center is located on Florin road, but for people outside of that area additional services are provided at community centers, schools, parks and community sites.
Programs and services include:
• Social Clubs
• Travel Excursions
• Sports, Fitness, & Outdoor Adventures
• Vocational Training
• Classes -cooking, drafts, drama and more
• Special Events
• Community Outreach
• Therapeutic Recreation Internships
• Information & Referral

By attending activities and events TRS participants learn skills such as: communication, decision making, organization of time, money management, and community resources. This program is inexpensive and kept to the minimum amount of money needed for each event.
Recent events included a night at the drive in, second Saturday art walk, Elk Grove giant pumpkin harvest festival, jewelry making workshop, weekend trip to Santa Cruz and a cooking class.

TRS also has a Special Olympics team named The Chargers and have participated for over 20 years in the Special Olympics. The sports that are included are swimming, track and field, floor hockey, soccer and basketball. Practice for each sport is once per week to prepare athletes for qualifiers and tournaments.

Dances are also on the entertainment list of things to do. The dances are held at La Sierra Community Center and at the North Highlands Community Center and are an important part of the socializing and communications skill building. These dances also provide a comfortable environment for TRS participants to cut loose and enjoy the company of each other.

TRS is staffed by therapeutic recreation specialists, recreation leaders, support staff and many volunteers who assist in all aspect of recreational adventures and camaraderie with participants. TRS is another example of a great service Sacramento County has to offer. To learn more about TRS visit the county website www.sacparks.net/therapeutic-services/index.html.

YouTube "A Vision of Students Today"

After watching the video “A vision of Students Today” on youtube I wanted to make a video of my own by taking a survey of Sac State student and find out what type of lives the student at my school are living. Overall, this student made video had a dramatic impact on my and put a spotlight on a problem I have. The problem is the system. I knew it was there, but I accepted it for the way things are suppose to be.

This vision these students have is one of change. By making this video they are questioning the system in which they are being educated and not following the group of sheeple around them. Sheeple are sheep people. People that live their life content with other people making decisions for them even if it causes a problem that is directly related to their everyday well being.

I think one of the main problems with Universities today is the transformation that was made years ago from being an educational facility, with the student’s education in mind, to a business, with the students’ money in mind. Today, I do believe that professors are on the side of the student, but sometimes they are forced to conform to the business ethics of the higher-ups within the University system. Classes are cut, expensive books are assigned and short-cuts are taken for the best interest of the financial gain of the university.

The students that made the video on you tube are taking a step toward changing the current system. They are reaching thousands of students everyday with their video and causing a wave of reactions, agreements, disagreement, blogs and obviously homework assignments. This is called awareness of the problem. This awareness can stem change; I’m not saying it will but the potential is there.

The most shocking part of the video, which was also the part that I could relate to, was when the students held up signs saying, “I get an average of seven hours of sleep per night” or “I talk on my cell phone three hours per day”. Those are the type of thought I have everyday. I’m always busy calculating how much time I have to do a certain homework assignment or walk from point A to point B in order to be somewhere on time. When they actually calculated the average persons time schedule it equaled 26.5 hours. WHAT!!! There is only 24 hours in a day.

What does that mean. To me this means students is being forced to spread themselves too thin. They are, as the video said, “Multi-taskers, because we have to be.” I multi-task too much. I think my multi-tasking is resulting is bad health. I don’t think it is healthy to eat on the run, literally…everyday! I don’t think it is healthy to sleep on average five hours per night. I don’t think a healthy idea of exercise is running to classes or work everyday. Plus all of the above adds stress to a stressful life.

I don’t have a solution, but this video made me think…is there one?

The Three Sisters

If you have been wondering, superb margaritas do exist on Folsom Blvd, and they can be found at the Three Sisters Restaurant located on the corner of 51st and Folsom Blvd. The tropical margarita can be ordered in multiple flavors such as raspberry, peach and mango, to name a few. The peach is highly recommended.

The margaritas are so high-quality it is hard to leave without ordering more then one. For the price, the margaritas could have been bigger, but that is a minor detail compared to flavor, and the margaritas are a hit in the flavor department. They have just the right amount of whatever it is bartenders put in margaritas, and after the first sip they tend to magically disappear. They even come with a lime wedge on the edge of the glass, but you will most likely end up squirting it over your chips because the margarita does not need the extra zest.

The atmosphere of the restaurant is complimentary to the traditional style margaritas. From the sidewalk to the multi-colored chairs, the Three Sister’s has a genuine look and feel. The small arched windows, bright colors and bamboo ceilings give the illusion of, at the very least, an effort toward authenticity.

This restaurant was empty on a Monday night, but by the number of tables filling the room anyone could come to the conclusion that it must get really busy at times. If you enjoy quite places to eat you should visit on a Monday or Tuesday, but if you like the lively scene Thursday, Friday or Saturday would be more up your alley.

All the expected items were brought to the table immediately and the waitress was accommodating to late arrivals and separate checks at the end of the meal. The menu was a long list of items served and was void of bolded headings. Unfortunately, they do not serve tortilla soup, or any soup, but they were accommodating to vegetarians and a few meatless options.

Once the food came out it was accented with beautiful plates and a traditional presentation. The food was above average but I wouldn’t say it was anything extra special. The chief did step outside traditional boundaries by making the rice plain and a chipotle cream sauce. The sauce was refreshingly different but the rice would have been enjoyed more if it was made in a more traditional Mexican style. The rice might not have been the right flavor but it was cooked properly and the sauce had enough flavor to make up for what the rice was lacking.

The Three Sister’s restaurant gets three and-a-half stars, and would be great for almost any type of casual event. This is a good place to stop in and have some chips and salsa and a couple of margaritas. Especially if you call East Sacramento your home this is THE Mexican food place to go to in your neighborhood.

Keeping culture and tradition alive

The County of Sacramento has made an effort to create a family environment for the people of Sacramento County. The County has thought of events, built facilities and offered activities that make everyone’s family-fun-day a blast.

On Oct. 6th the county’s Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Ancil Hoffman Park had an annual performance that attracts floods of people to Sacramento to watch traditional Maidu dancers, basket weaving and cooking with acorns. Maidu Indian Day happens at the nature center once or twice a month, which is an educational, fun workshop for children to learn about the Maidu people by making traditional jewelry and toys.

The Maidu Indians were native to the Sacramento area and uses the rivers as a source of survival and the county of Sacramento wants to keep their culture alive.

The nature center also has activities such as nature walks, beaver hikes were you can see beavers building a damn and owls of October, were you learn about owls and owl pellets. The facility has resident animals, a nature preserve, native plant landscaping, a discovery shop and a discovery room wildlife exhibit.

All of these wonderful offerings to the public might be owned and maintained by the county now, but the idea for the center came from the founder, Effie Yeaw herself. Yeaw promoted appreciation for plant and animal life and was a leader in the movement for protecting Sacramento’s natural environment.

The nature centers goal is “to create a greater awareness, understanding and appreciation of the natural and cultural resources of the Sacramento region, the need to conserve these resources, and their interrelationships and interdependences within in the Earth’s ecosystem.”

The message the county is trying to spread is a positive lifesaving message that everyone should take the time to learn. Even if the nature center had the smallest effect on one child and encourages them to pick up litter or preserve nature in any way then one less person will be working against the natural workings of the Earth in the future. The Earth is one of the only things humans truly need to survive yet most of us treat it like it owes us something.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Summer is over and the rain has officially come down this year. It might even rain all this week. Rainy weather can be hard to get used to when you’ve been in the sun all summer long. Rain can also be unpredictable and could start drizzling at any time, but eventually the sun will come out and the clouds will move on. Another thing for Sacramento residents to think about is the flood factor in Sacramento. Knowing when it will rain and how much rain we are getting in the area might prove to be very helpful information.

Sacramento County has something that might help with all your weather and flooding information needs. A County website called Storm Ready can be located at http://www.msa.saccounty.net/waterresources/floodready/default.asp.

The County’s Department of Water Resources maintains and operates the website. Sections of the website are updated daily to maintain an accurate weather forecast.

This website is good for checking more then the weather. You can also check the stream levels to see if there is a chance of flooding in the near future, a picture of the water is also included, and the date and time of when the water level was last recorded.

A weather sensor page tells the viewer all about wind speeds, humidity, temperature and precipitation. This page is also broken down into regional areas so you will be able to locate the weather conditions in your immediate area. This can be really helpful if you would like to plan a day trip in a near-by region and want to know what the weather will be like. This information can also be extremely helpful for an expert kite flyer.

The chances of parts of Sacramento flooding are out there, so the County has set up sandbag sites. Explanations for where the sites will be located and the procedures of getting sandbags are also included. There are nine County sandbag sites and 10 non-county listed on the webpage. Information about what to do before, during and after a flood is also included.

This site is so helpful it goes as far as to provide a disaster relief plan for your home. The plan has four steps that are easy to follow. The first suggestion given is to call local authorities and find out what type of damage may occur in the area you live in. You may find out that your community has warning systems or that there are programs to help the disabled.

Creating a disaster plan is the next step. The site suggests sitting down with everyone that lives in the house and coming up with meeting places and escape plans in the event of emergency evacuation. It is important that everyone in the house knows how to turn off the utilities and practices the plan on occasion.

The site is full of important information and is another great example of information provided by the county. The county is using its website to maximize the amount of important, related information to conveniently deliver to the public. It’s brilliant.