No On Arden Arcade Cityhood

[AyatollahGondola]

So here's some video of Day 5 tour so you can gauge the traffic pattern and exposure. Just click on the picture below:

[AyatollahGondola]

Day 6 was a little more of an interesting tour:


I started out the day by removing the letters on one side because the moisture from the rain, coupled with the heat from the sun stated to make them stick to the sign too much. this put me a little late into the lunchtime crowd, but still within the frame.
My first effort was concentrated around the southern end of Watt, which is always plenty trafficky. I stopped on the street just before Fair Oaks, and started to study the map and mark my previously hit spots. After about ten minutes, a guy from the house in front of me backed out of his driveway and parked in front of me to the point he partially blocked his own driveway, and made it so close to the truck I'd have to back up to leave. Don't know what was bothering him.






Next, I took a drive through American River Drive from Watt to Arden. There's quite a few apartments there, but traffic is pretty quiet during the daytime, so I headed up Arden to find another uncharted spot.
I ended up on Whitney and Eastern, where a 4-way stop and school getting out provided some captive viewers for a while:








Next, Went back and parked at the intersection of Auburn and Winding Way again to catch the three o'clock traffic coming off the 80 freeway at Auburn and heading down Winding towards the proposed incorporation area:








Next, I moved farther down Winding to take advantage of the curve in the road which would make the sign more visible in front of them:










Guess who's coming to dinner:

[AyatollahGondola]

Next, I moved up to the 4-way stop sign ahead, and found this neat little spot just perfect to fit the sign. The house was a recent eviction, and the papers were still in the window:











The traffic at that location was fairly good, and everyone had to stop which gave them time to stare at the sign. After about 40 minutes, I moved ahead and found this rather excellent spot at Engle and Eastern. When I say excellent spot, I mean a constant parade of cars inching their way past because of the stop sign:








I felt so good about this location that I got out again and stood with the sign and passed out fliers. I got a lot of honks and thumbs up here. the most ever in one spot in a short time. I say short time, but it was about an hour and a half. I stayed until dark there. I only had two or three detractors here, with one older fellow actually flipping me the finger
It always surprises me when some middle aged or pre-geezer person uses such a pedestrian and vulgar form of sign language.

I took quite a few minutes of video here so you can gauge the impact of this effort, but I believe it is a valuable combination to use the sign to beckon people in to actual persons with fliers.
Later, some neighbor kids joined in and chanted "No on D" with me as the cars came by us at crawl speed:





I hope to have some video up before nighty-night time, and I'm sure you will all have your spirits lifted by it.
At the end of the evening on my way home, I caught a glimpse of a news media cameraman walking up toward El Camino and Eastern to photograph the chain link fence which is now completely covered by campaign signs. As I passed him and he caught a glimpse of the sign, he swung his camera towards the trailer and tried to catch the billboard. I decided to give him a second showing and pulled a U-turn, then left on El Camino, and then U-Turn again. I caught him at a perfect time too, as the light had me stopped right at the intersection as he took video of the fence. As I prepared to turn left again I gave him a honk and he spun around and got some pretty good footage. I hope it makes it on the news!

[AyatollahGondola]

OK, so here's one video of No on Measure D Campaign day 6:


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jtf1mzSsfYk"]YouTube - No on D Campaign day 6[/ame]


And here's another video of this particular spot:


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyxaH9XuwF0"]YouTube - No on D Campaign Day 6 video 2[/ame]


I took videos of the other spots too, but this one was the best

[AyatollahGondola]

Here are some pictures of the No on D billboard campaign day 7. This was kind of boring compared to yesterday, but we still have to go out and work the boring areas.

I started out the day by driving through several large volumne parking lots on Watt ave such as Macy's, HomeTown Buffet, Raley's, and others. Got some support in all of those. Then I parked for about an hour in the Walmart lot. Although it wasn't the best exposure to the El camino traffic, there was still a lot of gawkers who were shopping. I spoke with the security person in the lot for about 20 minutes. He wanted a flier and info. A lot of people stared at the sign as they loaded up their goods.









Next, I found a spot in a closed gas station at Marconi and Watt. Good exposure there for a while, and got some thumbs up too.










Next, I worked the area up by Howe and Marconi. The spot I parked in got us good exposure to Marconi traffic going both directions, and a little on one direction on Howe. A lot of traffic exiting the freeway and heading towards Arden Arcade neighborhood was our target.














I think we may have to call this the brain dead area, as there was almost no support. Maybe it's important that we gain exposure here, but I don't know if this section of commuters doesn't care, doesn't know, or doesn't vote, but I got a lot of stares, but no honks or thumbs up. One guy stopped and spoke with me for over an hour, and seemed receptive to our message. During the course of this, another guy stopped and challenged me to a debate about the measure. He appeared to be quite active in the Yes on D campaign, and was very knowledgeable, but unconvincing. I think his name was Woody?






I stayed here for a few hours because we haven't worked this area enough, and then I cleared out at 6:00
Next I tried to take advantage of the commute shoppers picking up groceries at the Save Mart on Marconi. I got several thumbs up, and drove through several times.
After that, I made a few passes through the Bingo parking lot on Marconi. there were lots of cars in the lot, and this might be a good area to work another time.

I wanted to work the southern area of fulton a little more to try and catch the apartment dwellers coming home from work, so I went back to the Eggies parking lot on Fulton accross from Pier One imports. Not much support, but once again, we may have to pound them with our message for a bit before they pay attention

[AyatollahGondola]

Day 8 of the No on D billboard campaign,

I moved around quite often in the early part of the day, driving through, but not stopping in many shopping center parking lots to catch the friday shoppers. I got some, but not a lot of support. Later, I settled in at the Wyda way entrance to Target just off Alta Arden, where I caught the shoppers going in, and coming out of the lot, as well as the traffic from those apartment complexes on Wyda way. That stop sign causes another captive audience as they try to turn left or right on Wyda, and the traffic backs up a bit there. Plus, we got the one directional traffic down Alta Arden, which could see the sign. In addition, all the people coming out the door of Target, and parking in the lot had an excellent view of the sign.

























Once again, I got out and interacted with the traffic and the shoppers as they passed. I got some support, and one couple gave me the finger, but there was a lot of apathy, and most of it from the apartment dwellers. There's lots of foreigners in those apartments whom I'd guess do not vote, and maybe better not be.
I'd say the support quotient on this section of town is less than what we observed on the center of the proposed city, but that's where we should try and influence people.


I'll try and put up some video before I get out there again today, but mostly it just shows people driving by, although I did video tape the cretins who gave me the finger just for the purposes of scientific study


After dark, I drove to the haunted house event at the park near the end of San Ysidro, and parked their directly across from the entrance. I got some support, but the numbers of people attending was not enough to justify another tour there.

[AyatollahGondola]

No on measure D campaign day 9:

Had a pretty positive day on Saturday. Started out in the southern Fulton area to catch some of those apartment/townhome dwellers in the gated communities.

Next, spent a little time with the Krueger's in the SaveMart parking lot at Loehmans Plaza:















Note the fliers attached to the billboard for people to grab







After about an hour, I drove through several other busy Saturday shopping areas such as Safeway on Watt, Raley's on Marconi, Sam's club on Watt, Macys on El Camino and Watt, Made several passes through the hometown buffet area, and then settled in for several hours on Howe ave across from Home Depot:











This location proved to be prett good for exposure going both directions on Howe ave, and people turning in and out of the Home Depot. Got lots of honks from passer's-by, and one woman even turned in and stopped by the truck and gave me a big thumbs up.
I was parked illegally sort of, but no one was in that building this weekend, so no one complained.
A person stopped by and stated he was from univision (mexican media) and wanted to speak with someone from the No on D side, so I passed along the phone number. Lot's of cars drove by so I stayed several hours here

After that, I again drove slowly through several more busy parking lots to catch shoppers eyes in the later afternoon/evening. As I passed through the lot directly in front of Trader Joe's on Marconi, one guy asked me to stop so he could take a picture of the sign. He said he already voted no
In each lot I got a little support. The center of the proposed town seems to generate the most support overall.

[AyatollahGondola]

To cap off the day, I went back to Watt and settled in to another building under-used on Saturdays:







After dark, I headed back towards Howe to make my way to meet my wife for dinner, and took a drive through Safeway, and then the Beverage and More lot. On the way out of the Bev More lot, I ran into another haunted house right there that dwarfed the one I had been to last night, but alas! there was no parking...too many cars already to even drive through. wish I would have known of this one earlier!

[AyatollahGondola]

Hey everyone!

An interesting day for day 9 of the billboard tour.

Started out the day by driving through the Save Mart at Loehman's a few times. Next, moved up to this spot on Fulton for awhile, across from the Pier One or Cost Plus there close to Arden.











Had a younger girl stop over and speak with me about the measure, but then the conversation turned to some services some of her friends supplied for parties...something about dancing, and other entertainment. I told her I was poor, and my wife generally frowned upon this sort of thing

So then I drove farther up Fulton ave, and drove through the Town and Country center, even stopping in the lot for some shopping at Trader Joe's. The lot was pretty active, and we got lots of looks.

Next, I drove farther up to catch people near the beginning of Fulton, and noticed I had picked up a tail back at Trader Joe's. I pulled into one of the few empty car lots and prepared to set in for awhile, when I noticed my tail getting out and heading my way. Ya' never know, but I thought he might be wanting a flier, so I fumbled for one and grabbed a handful of granola from Trader Joes and awaited my interaction. Turns out he wasn't a happy camper, but rather a goon from the Yes on D side. Here's a quick video of our competition:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zTYyCIufZg"]YouTube - Measure D vigilante.wmv[/ame]



So I hung out at this location for a while

[AyatollahGondola]

Afterwards, I headed out to Watt, and down to Marconi. I drove through the raley's at Marconi to give the full parking lot a good view of the sign, and as I drove past the front door, I saw our competition set up at the entrance. Caught 'em by surprise too. Soon as one of 'em read the sign he quickly signaled the others and one gave the thumbs down. But alas! it was for naught, because several people in the lot walking to their cars signaled their approval of our sign











Next. I headed down Marconi and settled in to a few spots that I haven't worked very much.






After that, I drove over to Eastern and hung out right at the entrance to Whole Foods. Several people came over and debated with me about the measure, but all had already made up their minds to vote it down already.







I filled out the day by setting up on Arden at the Bank of America corner lot. I got out again and stood with the sign and fliers in hand. I got so caught up in beckoning new people over that I didn't even recognize Sandy when she gave me one of the many thumbs up from the turn lane on Arden.

All in all, it was a very positive day, with lots of supporting honks and thumbs up.


Here's a little video medley to give you an idea of the traffic from some of the day:


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrWTcPtpuCI"]YouTube - No on D campaign day 9.wmv[/ame]

[AyatollahGondola]

OK, so here we are on Day 11 of the billboard campaign for No on D, and I guess I lost track of which day we were on earlier, but in any case, it's the day before the election and we tried to work even harder today.

I spent the earlier part of the day patrolling Howe avenue, cruising slowly through many parking lots, and the busier intersections. Last week I suggested we might want to set up for a longer visit to those apartment complexes on Ethan way by the Alta Arden expressway. As I cruised past there today around 11:00 am, there were lots of those apartment dwellers out and around the area in front, and the whole area wreaked of marijauna. The truck still smelled of it after two blocks, and I didn't even stop there; just drove through. I'm not sure anyone in there is interested in anything except prop 19

I got support today around Home Depot on Howe and Marshall's on Howe. I cruised around on Arden, Marconi, El Camino, and Eastern, but focused on the Howe corridor quite a bit because there was lots of traffic driving slow due to some road construction.

Later, I set up for a bit on a vacant lot on Howe, and traffic drove by me slow for an hour:












Then I cruised some more, up Arden to Eastern, and back down Marconi to Watt, and then Watt to Fair Oaks to catch the main thrust of the traffic.

Later I set in for a while at Eastern and Engle where the four-way stop sign was to catch all the parents picking up kids from school and going home. Here's a few video clips put together from that area:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfteMvmepYE"]YouTube - No on D campaign day 11.wmv[/ame]



After that traffic died down, I headed to Watt ave and San Ysidro, which was just picking up steam for the 3:00 thickening. I stayed until dark at this location and again stood with the sign and fliers in hand for up close and personal interaction. I'll have some good video up in a little bit from that area

[AyatollahGondola]

Here's some video from Watt ave at commute time:


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MOpZoj_Nek"]YouTube - No on D campaign day 11 #2.wmv[/ame]


And another towards the end of the day


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YXqGyTpwZc"]YouTube - No on D campaign day 11 #3.wmv[/ame]

[AyatollahGondola]

Election Day is here!

We headed out earlier today for a last minute push with the billboard, and to support our dedicated troops on the street corners on this cold morning:


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrCEjHmXv3E"]YouTube - No on D campaign day 12.wmv[/ame]


I tried my best to drive by every one of our activists who were sacrificing this morning for a good cause. I noticed that the firefighters had provided more personnel for this day too, and it became important to counter their effort.

The sign the the firefighters paid probably a few thousand for was illegal. It violated the state outdoor advertising act, the Sac county code, and the California vehicle code. The latter is the worst offense. The vehicle code prohibits the use of lighted signs that flash and show the colors Red, green or yellow at intersections, and for obvious reasons...they are a distraction. Their sign placement was directly behind the signals and at the same height.

Anyway, they cheated badly

I passed several firefighters with signs on Watt near Butano, and although they were plugging their side, they gave us the thumbs up and smiles just for our billboard size.
Gotta admit; it was probably demoralizing to some of the opposition's sign wavers to have that billboard pass in front of them this morning

After the major portion of the traffic passed, I decided to get some food at a restaurant. I was on El Camino and saw that Waffle house up towards Fulton, so I parked in the lot where there was plenty of room, and went inside. I ordered up a $10.00 plate, which is pretty unusual for me, and then went to wash my hands. After I got back and sat down, the owner came over and said he didn't want the billboard on the parking lot because he liked to stay nuetral on these issues, and said I might be able to park it in a neighboring lot. I sat there slightly baffled as he hovered over me waiting my reply. I told him they better halt my order, which didn't hesitate for second to do, and then I gathered up my stuff and walked out. On the way out, just outside near the door I saw he was not exactly neutral on the issue, for their was a sign, smaller, but noticable, that supported some of the incorporation proponents and candidates.
I've carried many a message on the billboard that has offended quite a few people over the past few years, but nobody...not a single one...ever refused to service me like that. That man is an idiot. For a few moments of self-aggrandizement he has lost a customer for life.

So after that, I drove over to Eggies, and ate there. No problems at all.

For the next three hours I drove slowly through every major shopping center parking lot at slow speed. Macy's, Safeway, Raley's, Sam's Club, Walmart, Save Mart, Home Depot, and on and on. I got lots of support today...lots of it

I stayed on several stations for 30 minutes or more Like Watt ave and Eastern, Watt and San Ysidro again, and up north by the Howe and El Camino. I stayed out until 6:00 so we could remind everyone who may have forgotten that today is voting day!

[essayyweb1]

Nice shot!!! Cool pictures seems beautiful place..