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fail_feedIn any relationship, learning when to speak up and when to keep your thoughts to yourself is key. Silence can be incredibly powerful. But on the other hand, yapping constantly is a fun impulse to give in to. These people have learned that not everything needs to be shared in a marriage or relationship.
Sometimes, we learn this the hard way. Relationships are a delicate ecosystem. For example, maybe you've pointed out something your spouse does that you think is cute, but they're self-conscious about, and just like that, they never do that thing again. Instead of singing while cooking dinner, they're so self-conscious that they cook in silence.
A lot of folks are just straight-up keeping secrets from their S.O.'s, though. Some secrets may seem fairly obvious, but they cannot ever leave that person's lips — like if you tell your BF that he's acting like his mother, he's going to be soooo annoyed at you in the moment. And in the long run, he's never going to forget that you think that way about him. Or if you let it slip to your GF that you actually despise her whole family, she might agree with you… or she might get really upset that you view her loved ones that way. It totally depends on the relationship, and as these people below will tell you, there are some secrets that you have to take to the grave with you, lest your babe discover it and walk out of your life.
Next up, read the 8-part saga of a woman versus her most insane neighbor: "I repeated that this was my home and she couldn't walk in whenever she wanted."
Mountain View fines Google for cutting down 800-plus trees
Sep. 17th, 2025 07:00 pmsanjosespotlight2_feedAfter Google chopped down more than 800 trees in Mountain View to make way for an office project that it later abandoned, the tech behemoth has now agreed to pay up to $703,000 to plant hundreds of new trees throughout the city.
The Mountain View City Council unanimously approved a tree mitigation agreement with Google on Sept. 9, providing some closure to long-running concerns about the status of an excavated site at 2001 Landings Drive in North Bayshore.
“Google has worked to make the location safe and have some habitat value until it’s finally developed,” Councilmember Pat Showalter said at the meeting. “They’ve cleaned it up and put in grasses.”
Google has agreed to plant a number of trees at the site, although the bulk of the plantings, 678, will be at locations other than Landings Drive. Per the agreement, Google will pay the city between $533,500 and $703,000, depending on the number of replacement trees selected by the city, according to the council report.
Google has also already planted roughly 1,344 replacement trees at Charleston Park, Shoreline Boulevard, Gatehouse and along the Stevens Creek Trail, the report said.
Five years ago, the city council approved Google’s plan to massively expand its presence in North Bayshore with an 800,000-square-foot office development near U.S. Highway 101 between Rengstorff Avenue and Permanente Creek.
Dubbed “Google Landings,” the proposed development planned for a series of cascading, five-story office buildings on a 41-acre site. The project also included a four-level garage on a separate site between Alta and Huff avenues that has since been built.
In 2022, Google started clearing a roughly 15-acre site at Landings Drive to prepare for the construction of an office building and underground parking garage. Google excavated the site and partially built the garage before abruptly terminating the entire office project last year, saying it was taking a “measured approach” to its real estate investments.
In its wake, Google left a razed construction site that had been cleared of 847 trees, including 316 heritage trees.
Since then, Google has demolished the partially built underground garage, backfilled the excavation and graded the site to its pre-development condition, according to the council report. It also has seeded the area with native grasses to help stabilize the soil.
In July, Google and the city identified more ways to improve the appearance of the Landings site, including planting new trees, the report said. Per the agreement, Google will install 14 street trees along Landings Drive and 67 box trees to screen the property from Highway 101. Google will maintain the trees until the city issues a permit for the site to be redeveloped for a future project.
The tech giant also has agreed to give the city 678 new trees to plant in locations throughout Mountain View. The city has the right to select which trees are suitable for planting and will receive $250 for each tree that it does not select, an amount that will then go towards the purchase of another tree from a third-party nursery.
Google’s $533,500 to $703,000 payment will offset the cost of installing and maintaining the trees, including $25,000 for a consulting arborist to help with the plantings.
The city council passed the tree mitigation agreement as a consent item, with only Showalter providing comment. She described the agreement as a positive step forward for the city.
“These trees collectively will contribute to increasing our tree canopy as a community, which is one of the things that provides much needed shade and helps cool our city,” she said.
The post Mountain View fines Google for cutting down 800-plus trees appeared first on San José Spotlight.
Book review: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Sep. 17th, 2025 12:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rocky41_7 posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
booknookTitle: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Author: Becky Chambers
Genre: Sci-fi
Last night I finished Becky Chambers' The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, a sci-fi book about a motley crew of spacefarers who "drill" wormholes to enable rapid travel across space for the diverse galactic alliance known as the GC. At the start of the book, they are offered a bid on a particularly difficult, lucrative job, and can't resist taking the bait.
This should be (another) lesson to me in not going all-in on a creator because I've enjoyed one of their works. I loved Chambers' To Be Taught, if Fortunate, and I've heard plenty of internet praise for The Long Way, so when I saw it at the bookstore recently, I dropped $20 on it readily. If I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have bothered finishing it.
First - if you picked up this book looking for the femslash, it's barely there, and it's a lot more friends-with-benefits than romance. The other two romances in the book get a lot more attention. This isn't a complaint from me, but if what you really want is F/F romance, it's not really here.
This is a character-driven book with barely a plot, which wouldn't be a problem if the characters were interesting. As it is, they are functionally interchangeable: a crew of people who are all optimistic, friendly, emotionally open, painstakingly polite, and obsessively well-intentioned (except for the one guy who's a Jerk, who exists to be a jerk whenever the scene calls for someone who needs to be less-than-fanatically-polite or there's a chance for Chambers to squeeze in another instance of his being a jerk, even when he's technically right). There is no character growth to speak of; none of these characters changes at all between the start of the book and the end. There's no complexity to anyone.
( Read more... )
Author: Becky Chambers
Genre: Sci-fi
Last night I finished Becky Chambers' The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, a sci-fi book about a motley crew of spacefarers who "drill" wormholes to enable rapid travel across space for the diverse galactic alliance known as the GC. At the start of the book, they are offered a bid on a particularly difficult, lucrative job, and can't resist taking the bait.
This should be (another) lesson to me in not going all-in on a creator because I've enjoyed one of their works. I loved Chambers' To Be Taught, if Fortunate, and I've heard plenty of internet praise for The Long Way, so when I saw it at the bookstore recently, I dropped $20 on it readily. If I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have bothered finishing it.
First - if you picked up this book looking for the femslash, it's barely there, and it's a lot more friends-with-benefits than romance. The other two romances in the book get a lot more attention. This isn't a complaint from me, but if what you really want is F/F romance, it's not really here.
This is a character-driven book with barely a plot, which wouldn't be a problem if the characters were interesting. As it is, they are functionally interchangeable: a crew of people who are all optimistic, friendly, emotionally open, painstakingly polite, and obsessively well-intentioned (except for the one guy who's a Jerk, who exists to be a jerk whenever the scene calls for someone who needs to be less-than-fanatically-polite or there's a chance for Chambers to squeeze in another instance of his being a jerk, even when he's technically right). There is no character growth to speak of; none of these characters changes at all between the start of the book and the end. There's no complexity to anyone.
( Read more... )
Recent Reading: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Sep. 17th, 2025 12:15 pmrocky41_7 posting in booksLast night I finished Becky Chambers' The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, a sci-fi book about a motley crew of spacefarers who "drill" wormholes to enable rapid travel across space for the diverse galactic alliance known as the GC. At the start of the book, they are offered a bid on a particularly difficult, lucrative job, and can't resist taking the bait.
This should be (another) lesson to me in not going all-in on a creator because I've enjoyed one of their works. I loved Chambers' To Be Taught, if Fortunate, and I've heard plenty of internet praise for The Long Way, so when I saw it at the bookstore recently, I dropped $20 on it readily. If I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have bothered finishing it.
First - if you picked up this book looking for the femslash, it's barely there, and it's a lot more friends-with-benefits than romance. The other two romances in the book get a lot more attention. This isn't a complaint from me, but if what you really want is F/F romance, it's not really here.
This is a character-driven book with barely a plot, which wouldn't be a problem if the characters were interesting. As it is, they are functionally interchangeable: a crew of people who are all optimistic, friendly, emotionally open, painstakingly polite, and obsessively well-intentioned (except for the one guy who's a Jerk, who exists to be a jerk whenever the scene calls for someone who needs to be less-than-fanatically-polite or there's a chance for Chambers to squeeze in another instance of his being a jerk, even when he's technically right). There is no character growth to speak of; none of these characters changes at all between the start of the book and the end. There's no complexity to anyone.
( Read more... )
This should be (another) lesson to me in not going all-in on a creator because I've enjoyed one of their works. I loved Chambers' To Be Taught, if Fortunate, and I've heard plenty of internet praise for The Long Way, so when I saw it at the bookstore recently, I dropped $20 on it readily. If I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have bothered finishing it.
First - if you picked up this book looking for the femslash, it's barely there, and it's a lot more friends-with-benefits than romance. The other two romances in the book get a lot more attention. This isn't a complaint from me, but if what you really want is F/F romance, it's not really here.
This is a character-driven book with barely a plot, which wouldn't be a problem if the characters were interesting. As it is, they are functionally interchangeable: a crew of people who are all optimistic, friendly, emotionally open, painstakingly polite, and obsessively well-intentioned (except for the one guy who's a Jerk, who exists to be a jerk whenever the scene calls for someone who needs to be less-than-fanatically-polite or there's a chance for Chambers to squeeze in another instance of his being a jerk, even when he's technically right). There is no character growth to speak of; none of these characters changes at all between the start of the book and the end. There's no complexity to anyone.
( Read more... )
fail_feedSometimes, the only way to prove to your shift leader that they are out of line is to ruin their day. After all, if this is the kind of individual who goes out of their way to consistently ruin your day, why not give them a taste of their own medicine? This fast food worker and their coworker knew exactly how to drive "Linda," their unkind and frequently difficult manager, absolutely crazy.
"Linda" was the type of leader who needed to feel her superiority at all times. Naturally, that brand of "main character energy" inevitably leads to making more enemies in the workplace than compatriots. Linda didn't seem to care. As long as she was able to cling to those temporary feelings of heightened status, she was content with everyone not liking her. Unfortunately, she did not necessarily anticipate that making enemies can cost you big time… even if you're in charge of everyone else. When the back is against your wall, they might not have your back.
This author and their coworker knew that the best way to enrage and infuriate dear old Linda was to mess with the food she prepared for her upcoming break. It was supposedly against the rules to use your shift time to make yourself a lunch order, something that Linda herself probably enforced time and time again. So when the author noticed that Linda had done precisely what she usually tells everyone else not to do, they couldn't stop themselves from sabotaging her precious cheeseburger. Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the best reactions from several members of the online community!
Movies: Kraven, Wicked Part 1, Flight Risk
Sep. 17th, 2025 09:13 pmslippery_fishKraven: I hoped for some entertaining trash when I chose to watch this movie. Unfortunately, it was mostly boring. Yes, there was the chance to ogle a half-naked, nicely-muscled guy a few times but I need a bit more than that. :D I hoped that the relationship between the brothers would get me on board but even with them, I needed a little bit more.
Wicked Part 1: This was fun. I loved the sets and the world building, the singing worked for me (but I'm not overly picky when it comes to stuff like this). I really liked Ariana in this, her acting and singing both were surprisingly good.
The relationship between Glinda and Elphaba was fun and I actually liked the men's places in this. I don't really see the Elphaba/Fiyero thing, but whatever. I never read the book or the musical so I'm curious to see how all things go to hell in the second part.
Flight Risk: Solid action movie with a likeable set of protags. Winston is fun, Madolyn is kinda stiff, and together they work pretty well. I also liked the chemistry between Madolyn and Hassan. Sure, Hassan played it up to calm her down but the actors sold it well.
But then, we have our villain: Darryl. Very one-note and Mark Wahlberg only managed to sell him until his identity was revealed. After that, he was just such a bland character.
It was pretty exiting at times and I think the pacing worked pretty well. It also didn't try to be unnecessarily clever. It didn't try to draw things out, it used its confrontations as effective punches. So yeah, it worked for me for the most part .
Wicked Part 1: This was fun. I loved the sets and the world building, the singing worked for me (but I'm not overly picky when it comes to stuff like this). I really liked Ariana in this, her acting and singing both were surprisingly good.
The relationship between Glinda and Elphaba was fun and I actually liked the men's places in this. I don't really see the Elphaba/Fiyero thing, but whatever. I never read the book or the musical so I'm curious to see how all things go to hell in the second part.
Flight Risk: Solid action movie with a likeable set of protags. Winston is fun, Madolyn is kinda stiff, and together they work pretty well. I also liked the chemistry between Madolyn and Hassan. Sure, Hassan played it up to calm her down but the actors sold it well.
But then, we have our villain: Darryl. Very one-note and Mark Wahlberg only managed to sell him until his identity was revealed. After that, he was just such a bland character.
It was pretty exiting at times and I think the pacing worked pretty well. It also didn't try to be unnecessarily clever. It didn't try to draw things out, it used its confrontations as effective punches. So yeah, it worked for me for the most part .
Nominations are closed
Sep. 17th, 2025 07:49 pmparanoidangel posting in tardis_festivitiesNominations are now closed. You can see the tag set at https://archiveofourown.org/tag_sets/17014. We have 426 characters/relationships in 23 fandoms, with Classic Who narrowly edging out New Who with 113 characters/relationships to 109
If there are any problems with it (eg typos, duplicates) then comment here. Also if you want to nominate but have missed the deadline, you can also comment here and I will add it, as long as it's before sign ups open.
Sign ups open on Sunday at 12pm UTC.
If there are any problems with it (eg typos, duplicates) then comment here. Also if you want to nominate but have missed the deadline, you can also comment here and I will add it, as long as it's before sign ups open.
Sign ups open on Sunday at 12pm UTC.
Water Update
Sep. 17th, 2025 09:33 amranunculusThis morning the tanks were half full, which is respectable for this time of year. However, the water at the house was still trickling out of the faucet indicating there was virtually no pressure. I opened the faucet at the base of Tank Hill, which is about 40 vertical feet below the tanks. The water ran out with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. Water flow was even more anemic at the faucet on the hillside. The faucet at the garden, which is lower than the one at the base of Tank Hill, ran reasonably freely, but not the way it should have. I got out the new hatchet and hammered open the valve for the 2 inch Fire Hose pipe. A LOT of water poured out. The flow from the garden faucet increased. After a minute or so I hammered closed the 2 inch valve, closed all the faucets, got a bale of hay from the Iris Barn and came back to the house. Low and behold water comes flowing easily out of the faucets. I'm still not entirely happy with the pressure, but further "blowing out" of the water pipes can wait till the tanks are full and the garden is watered. For now I can at least take a shower! My guess is that dirt has accumulated in the bottom of tank 1 and partially blocked the flow of water down the hill. This is a real problem because there is no effective AND safe way to clean the tanks. It is possible to climb into the tanks and bucket out dirt (dirty water) but doing that requires a supplied air source. No one installed a "cleanout" valve for the tanks so there isn't any way to drain them and clean them. On top of all of that there is no way to isolate one tank from the others so cleaning can be done without draining everything. If I drain everything there will be no water for a couple of days while the tanks refill. So it has been about 20 years since the tanks were cleaned last. Plenty of dirt and tiny stones get washed down from the springs despite my best efforts. As soon as I've finished paying for the new stove I'll hire someone to help re-plumb the tanks and fix this issue. Maybe next spring when the springs are running fast and the tanks aren't doubling as a source for water in case of a fire.
Amazing Spider-Man #113
Sep. 17th, 2025 06:48 pmiamrman posting in scans_dailyWriter: Gerry Conway
Pencils and inks: John Romita, Sr.
If Doctor Octopus is on one side of the gang war, then which exciting new super-villain is his opposition?
( Read more... )
fail_feedHow much unpaid work do you think you provided for all the companies you interviewed for?
The last time I was looking for a job, the assignment a company I was interviewing for gave me was to come up with ideas for their social media accounts. I came up with really funny ideas, if I do say so myself, so I was not surprised when they told me we were moving forward with the hiring process.
I was surprised when I looked at their social media account before the final interview and saw they used my idea and made it into a post. At first, I thought it was a good sign, an indication that I would get the job, but when they eventually told me they were going with another candidate, I was actually quite annoyed. Not only did they use my ideas, but they didn't even hire me. They took what they needed from me and tossed me aside, and I wish I had confronted them about it.
Similarly to what the job candidate in the story below did.
Wednesday reading
Sep. 17th, 2025 06:24 pmqueen_ypolitaFinished since the last reading post
Finished Kadonnut perintö, in which Björk attempts to help a woman whose father appears to have been a victim of a fortune-hunter before his death, and finds a much larger network.
In Search of Berlin by John Kampfner, which I'd bought on a whim. It told me some things I hadn't really known or appreciated before, but for someone who's never been to Berlin, it was rather hard to follow.
The Map of Bones by Kate Mosse, the fourth and final part of the Joubert series, was a engaging and easy-to-read book for a travel day with lots of turns in the story to keep you entertained.
Currently reading
Started reading Beyond the Door of No Return (La Porte du voyage sans retour) by David Diop in Sam Taylor's English translation. No progress with anything else
Reading next
No idea
Finished Kadonnut perintö, in which Björk attempts to help a woman whose father appears to have been a victim of a fortune-hunter before his death, and finds a much larger network.
In Search of Berlin by John Kampfner, which I'd bought on a whim. It told me some things I hadn't really known or appreciated before, but for someone who's never been to Berlin, it was rather hard to follow.
The Map of Bones by Kate Mosse, the fourth and final part of the Joubert series, was a engaging and easy-to-read book for a travel day with lots of turns in the story to keep you entertained.
Currently reading
Started reading Beyond the Door of No Return (La Porte du voyage sans retour) by David Diop in Sam Taylor's English translation. No progress with anything else
Reading next
No idea
fail_feedIs HOA our best friend or worst enemy? Well, in this case, it's too busy hanging up Christmas decorations to have time to be either…So when this condo owner notices their building's entrance to the wheelchair ramp is blocked off by an obnoxiously shiny Christmas structure, he is no longer feeling in the Christmas spirit! So he decides to file a complaint against the HOA to the fire marshal for 'potential safety risk.' The decorations were taken down the following week, and let's just say, this owner was no longer the HOA's most beloved resident!
They preach, 'Community Spirit!', whilst happily making their disabled home-owners/renters feel isolated from the rest of the community. There is plenty of space to hang bell decorations and plant pine trees. So while doing so, try to avoid putting stress or strain on other equally important residents, so everyone can enjoy the holidays together. Even if that means getting a few pouting faces from members of the board.
20+ Ride share trips that drove people crazy: 'Driver [is] texting at 75 MPH'
Sep. 17th, 2025 08:00 amfail_feedWhat's the biggest problem you ever had with a ride-share app?
It seems like it happens every 10 or 15 rides: after having a bunch of perfectly fine rides, you have an irritating one. Sometimes, for me, this happens when the driver keeps talking like a LOT about topics I don't care to chat about. I usually just don't respond very much when they ask personal questions or start to get overly animated about something they're talking about. I'm always happy to talk with them, because I understand it can be a lonesome job. It's interesting when they tell me about their lives or families. But it's surprising to me how often drivers will ask things like "Are you going home?" or "How long have you lived in this area?" or other questions I wouldn't answer if a stranger asked them to me.
Plus, sometimes drivers just accept your rides and then… just don't show up. They play games with the customer, waiting for them to cancel the ride, because if the driver cancels they won't gain any money from it. That can be really irritating, too.
I'm not a big fan of Tesla cars, either. Distracted driving is a huge problem, and although I have nothing against Teslas themselves, the entire operating system works on a giant iPad in the middle of the front dashboard. This means that I, the customer, am sweating it out while the driver plays on their big car iPad for like, 45 seconds out of every minute. Please, I'm begging you, just look at the road so we don't crash!
The people below have had some distressing rides recently — speaking of distracted drivers, one rider found that their driver was watching TV and on her phone while driving! Another person shared that their "rough neighborhood" scares away driver after driver, leaving them struggling to get a ride at all.
Up next, check out the customer questions that retail workers are really tired of answering, like "Can I get a discount? I know it's already 90% off, but is there another discount I can get?"
What I am reading Wednesday
Sep. 17th, 2025 06:02 pmparanoidangelWhat I Just Finished Reading
One Minute Away by Mark Watson. I knew he had a new book out and hadn't intended to read it because I couldn't decide if I liked the previous two that I'd read. But then it was (the only one) that was in the library ebooks so I borrowed it. And I think I liked this one.
What I'm Currently Reading
A whole lot of fanfic. This covers all three categories. I've had a lot of stuff on my marked for later list for ages. Sometimes I get it down a bit but by reading the shorter fics. As a result there are some longer ones on there that have been there for over a year. So I put them on my ebook reader and am working through them. Hopefully getting the list down will make it easier to keep it down.
What I'm Reading Next
No idea, but I have a lot of books on my to read list, so whichever of them takes my fancy. I am purposely avoiding the Kobo website because I do not need any more books, even 99p ones.
Mirrored from my blog.
BtVS Double Drabble: Dusted
Sep. 17th, 2025 05:52 pmbadly_knittedTitle: Dusted
Fandom: BtVS
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Buffy.
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Setting: Early Season 2.
Summary: Vampire dust goes everywhere.
Written For: Challenge 483: Amnesty 80 at
fan_flashworks, using Challenge 439: Dust.Disclaimer: I don’t own BtVS, or the characters.
A/N: Double drabble.
( Dusted... )
FAKE Drabble: Rolling The Dice
Sep. 17th, 2025 05:41 pmbadly_knittedTitle: Rolling The Dice
Fandom: FAKE
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Dee, Ryo.
Rating: PG
Setting: After the manga.
Summary: Ryo had been handed an undercover assignment.
Written For: Challenge 460: Amnesty at
100words, using Challenge 459: Dice.Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
Tags:
Double Drabble: Potential Home
Sep. 17th, 2025 05:33 pmbadly_knittedTitle: Potential Home
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Ianto, Jack.
Rating: PG
Written For: Challenge 883: Home at
torchwood100.Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Jack and Ianto go house hunting on another world.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
A/N: Double drabble. Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘Verse.
twinkle twinkle little star, i'll just wait
Sep. 17th, 2025 12:00 amdinosaur_comics_feed| archive - contact - sexy exciting merchandise - search - about |
| ← previous | September 17th, 2025 | next |
September 17th, 2025: In the other part of my life (writing comics for Star Trek and Marvel and DC Comics) I have four (four!) new books out today! If you head down to your local comic shoppe, be sure to check out KRYPTO: THE LAST DOG OF KRYPTON #4, and/or FANTASTIC FOUR #3, and/or STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS: SECOND CONTACT (the collection of my new run on the book!) AND/OR Deadpool/Batman #1, for a li'l 3-page backup story that brings back something I am really excited to see return! Thus concludes the pitch for Ryan's books here on Ryan's Webzone. :0 – Ryan | ||
I have had the call
Sep. 17th, 2025 05:17 pmrmc28Or rather the text message to book my covid & flu vaccinations. "For 75+ and immunosuppressed". I just double-checked and "have had a blood cancer" is still top of the NHS list of qualifying conditions, so that's my armour when the GP surgery gatekeepers are like, you're too young and you might be DEPRIVING someone of this vaccine who NEEDS it. (This has been the conversation the last three times I got invited to get vaccinated, sigh, and then they get a manager to look at my medical record, and then they grudgingly admit that maybe I can has jabs.)
Date is the Saturday when all the Cambridge undergraduates arrive, so just in time. I'll mostly be avoiding students for the first couple weeks of term to let the freshers flu play out, but I will be playing ice hockey so not entirely. Also getting in and out of the city centre that day may be entertaining, probably best done on foot.
San Jose safe sleeping site temporarily closes
Sep. 17th, 2025 03:30 pmsanjosespotlight2_feedSan Jose’s first safe sleeping site for homeless residents has temporarily shut down due to electrical issues just days after opening.
A housing department spokesperson said the city closed the Taylor Street tent village on Friday and moved nearly a dozen homeless people living there to other temporary housing sites. The electrical issues stem from a generator, which caused air conditioning problems inside a trailer used as an office by HomeFirst, the nonprofit managing the site. The air conditioning wasn’t blowing cold enough air, and also tripped the circuit breaker. It’s unclear when the site — which opened Sept. 8 and faced months of delays in coming online — will open again.
“The city is awaiting a replacement generator for the RV office and a technician appointment to review the trailer’s electrical system,” spokesperson Sarah Fields told San José Spotlight. “Safe and consistent site operations are our priority.”
The site has 56 tents, with eight being ADA accessible, and is meant to serve as a navigation center to connect homeless people with resources and move them into housing within a month. There are 6,503 homeless residents in San Jose, according to a point-in-time count conducted in January. More than 3,500 people are unsheltered.
San Jose funneled homeless people living in Columbus Park to the safe sleeping site. Last month, the city started sweeping the area, where roughly 370 people lived in tents, vehicles and makeshift shelters. A city news release on Tuesday said 198 people from the park have moved into shelter. Three of four recently opened temporary housing sites — Casa Linda, Fontaine Inn and Alura Hotel — are at capacity. In the near future, the city will move homeless residents from other camps to Bristol Hotel, which will serve families and single women. A fifth site is scheduled to open in mid-October, Fields said.
San Jose cleared out the last of the tents in Columbus Park Monday, and Fields said anyone left at the park had to leave the area. A video viewed by San José Spotlight showed workers sweeping tents marked with “Do not tow or abate” tags, indicating the residents had signed up for housing. Kevin Richardson, a manager with the city parks department conducting the sweep, said the tags only gave homeless people protection until Sept. 5.
“We worked as much with (the housing department) as we could,” Richardson told San José Spotlight. “We’re going to secure this and it’s going to become a construction site.”
San Jose plans to transform the dilapidated park with a 9.4-acre redesign that will feature synthetic soccer fields, courts for horseshoe, futsal, basketball and pickleball, picnic areas and a play area for children.
Some people have been left behind in the city’s sweep of Columbus Park, such as Jose Diaz, who said he was told he didn’t qualify for housing. Diaz said he was a contributing member of society before he became homeless.
“If I had the opportunity, I would help other people. Why wouldn’t they help me?” Diaz told San José Spotlight.
Contact Joyce Chu at joyce@sanjosespotlight.com or @joyce_speaks on X.
The post San Jose safe sleeping site temporarily closes appeared first on San José Spotlight.
The Brownstone Scrabble Championships (Elementary)
Sep. 17th, 2025 08:51 amsanguinityA few of you may remember "Score: Q to 12," in which Sherlock refuses to confine himself to the Scrabble Official Club and Tournament Word List, and Joan refuses to spend any more time trying to make him. (Elementary, Joan & Sherlock, 453 words)
At the prompting of a friend, now there is a sequel, "Score: i√2 to 𓅧," in which the game has continued to evolve. (Elementary, Outsider POV, 221b ficlet)
While I was posting last night, I also archived the DVD commentary I did for "Score: Q to 12" back in 2014. Last month,mific in fan_writers was bemoaning the death of the DVD commentary on AO3. And I thought: I've written a bunch, they're just not on AO3; they're all on tumblr and DW. I usually link the main story to them, but I haven't been actually archiving them on the archive site, as I haven't wanted to clutter up the main story with a bunch of extraneous material. But based on that fan_writers convo, I thought I'd pull this one over as an experiment. Depending on how it goes, I might pull over the rest of my "DVD extras" -- commentaries, deleted scenes -- for other stories, too.
At the prompting of a friend, now there is a sequel, "Score: i√2 to 𓅧," in which the game has continued to evolve. (Elementary, Outsider POV, 221b ficlet)
While I was posting last night, I also archived the DVD commentary I did for "Score: Q to 12" back in 2014. Last month,
mific in fan_writers was bemoaning the death of the DVD commentary on AO3. And I thought: I've written a bunch, they're just not on AO3; they're all on tumblr and DW. I usually link the main story to them, but I haven't been actually archiving them on the archive site, as I haven't wanted to clutter up the main story with a bunch of extraneous material. But based on that fan_writers convo, I thought I'd pull this one over as an experiment. Depending on how it goes, I might pull over the rest of my "DVD extras" -- commentaries, deleted scenes -- for other stories, too.