Celebrating National TV Dinner Day Locally

Plus: An LV Lego Gateway Sign Option, Upcoming Community Event, Busy Football Weekend in LV, Councilmember Campillo Office Hours Schedule, Community Potluck Held, and LV Moments of Hesitation

Steve and I love to celebrate holidays.  Especially obscure ones.  We check the internet every day to see what national days are being observed so we don’t miss any of the more interesting ones. Recently, we noticed that National TV Dinner Day is held every September 10^th. You remember those classic TV dinners, right? Wonderful TV dinners which had their debut in the 1950’s (had to wait until there was television before you could have TV dinners).  I recall Swanson TV dinners, especially their turkey dinners.  This, of course, was before microwave ovens, so the TV dinners came in an aluminum tray with several little compartments (usually three, then they started putting dessert in the tray so that made four).  My mother thought they were the neatest thing until she started buying them.  First, they took a very long time to cook and secondly, the vegetables, especially peas, always seemed to burn.  My mother always ate everyone’s peas saying how much she loved burnt peas (mothers, what can I say).  So, how to celebrate National TV Dinner Day?

The Lazy Dog in Mission Valley

Recently we were eating at The Lazy Dog restaurant in Mission Valley and I noticed they had an advertisement for old fashioned Frozen TV Dinners – the kind in aluminum trays.  We started talking with people about them and not surprising, young people didn’t even know what they were and couldn’t remember a time when there were no microwave ovens. Others (older) remember them in various ways.  So, a thought started germinating in my mind.  I figured a way we could celebrate National TV Dinner day and get an article for the Update.

So, back to The Lazy Dog.  They had a deal that if you bought 5 frozen TV dinners, you would get the 6^th free, plus a free freezer bag.  What a good deal, we thought.  They come with different entrees including pasta, lemon chicken, chicken pot pie, fried chicken, chicken parmesan, turkey dinner, and enchiladas.  Unfortunately, the enchilada was the only one that did not have meat (have I mentioned we don’t eat meat?), so the carnivore sidekick lucked out.  I bought six, kept the enchiladas, and gifted him the chicken pot pie, parm chicken and turkey.  You can see from the photo below that they resemble the old time frozen TV dinners.  Unfortunately you still have to cook them in the oven since they are in aluminum trays.  Secondly, they still take about 45 minutes to heat up from frozen.  Still, if you have several people for dinner, you can give them all different entrees without having to cook anything.  These dinners even include dessert. 

Chicken Parmesan Dinner

The enchilada dinner was very large consisting of two enchiladas, black beans, Mexican rice, and a cake.  It has a lot of calories and I think it can easily serve two people As luck would have it, Steve had come into a Padres ticket for that evening, so I had to eat by myself. I only ate about half, although I ate all the dessert, so I put half away for Steve to have for lunch the next day.  We like the food at the Lazy Dog, so I thought their TV dinner would be good and it was.  The enchilada was very cheesy, and the rice was tender.  The black beans were black beans – what more can you say.    I warmed up the other half for Steve’s lunch and he thought it was very good.  Since it served both of us, I think the $8.33 was a good deal.

Carnivore Sidekick tried the Chicken Potpie. He said it was good and absolutely worth the cost. He didn’t say awesome but did say it was filling. The Sidekick’s sidekick tried the Chicken Parm and liked it very much. Lots of chicken, cheese, marinara sauce and veggies, and a nutella brownie. Yum. She shared that with Carnivore. “It tasted homemade,” they said.

All in all this was a good deal. I hope they come up with more meatless entrees. Give them a try. Get some in your freezer while the special is on. And don’t forget, National TV Dinner Day is this Sunday.

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Commentary

A Cost Effective LV Gateway Sign Option

In previous issues of the Linda Vista Update we have opined on the merits of having a Linda Vista gateway sign hanging over Linda Vista Road, greeting residents and commuters, much like how other communities in the San Diego area (i.e., Hillcrest, North Park, and Civita) have their respective signs. Such signs contribute to a sense of pride and help cultivate a positive identity for the community. They also make for great photo opportunities. Just think of how many locals and tourists would step out of their cars and take selfies against the backdrop of a colorful Linda Vista gateway sign.  It would just be a matter of time before everyone’s relatives living in the Midwest or perhaps even the country of Moldavia knew about the community of Linda Vista.    

Yes, our previous articles did conclude that construction of a Linda Vista gateway sign would be prohibitively expensive—about $500,000.00. That’s a lot of fundraising on the part of private citizens!  How many pancake breakfasts and Linda Vista fundraising cotillion balls would have to be conducted to raise that kind of money?  And though our neighbors in Kearny Mesa somehow got taxpayer funding for a Convoy District sign recently approved by the City Council (Check out an artist’s rendition of the planned sign below), several of our readers have commented they would rather see such money go to fixing Linda Vista infrastructure problems instead of such a gateway sign.  But put aside your worries, Linda Vista residents, because I have come up with a gateway sign solution for LV that involve far less money, doesn’t involve taxpayer funds, and may even allow us to develop a valuable corporate sponsorship of benefit to the entire community.  I say we construct a Linda Vista gateway sign made up entirely of Legos.

Artist rendition of planned Convoy sign

Now, I would like to say that this brilliant idea came about as a result of a divine source of inspiration—and I am still not totally ruling that out—but I can tell you that I first started thinking of a Legos solution while perusing the book shelves of the Linda Vista library. While there, I came across a flyer advertising a children’s Legos class. A few days later I coincidentally happened to enter the Legos store at the Fashion Valley Mall. And then I took another look at the plans for the Convoy District gateway sign.  The creative side of my mind began to feverishly imagine how we could enlist Linda Vista residents of all ages to use Lego blocks to start construction of a colorful gateway sign. Of course, some money would have to be spent on buying a considerable amount of Lego blocks, but I am sure that many Linda Vista families with grown up children have boxes of old Lego blocks sitting in their garages. We could put out the word for everyone to donate these Legos and then immediately start working on the construction of the gateway sign, which would no doubt be the most unique gateway sign in all of San Diego County.

I assure you this is not too outlandish an idea. I once read that Lego fans have built an actual size Ferrari from Legos building blocks, and Legos/Star Wars fans have built a full scale replica of a Star Wars starfighter using over 5 million Lego blocks.

Could we get enough volunteers to complete the construction of this project?  I know most adults would say “I don’t have the time” or “My back hurts”, but I could foresee duping eager children and their parents into helping with construction. “Come out and spend some quality time with your kids while playing with Legos and completing a civic pride project” is the angle we would sell to local families.

The only drawback to this Lego gateway idea that I can see is that we would probably have to periodically dismantle the sign in anticipation of Santa Ana wind conditions and perhaps another once-in-a lifetime Hurricane like the one we saw a couple weeks ago. And of course, we would probably have to talk to the City about getting earthquake proof certification, but perhaps they would “ignore” such certification requirements, as they did asbestos requirements for the building at 101 Ash Street, especially if we could talk to the right people and make the right kind of “offer” or “political donation.”  In any event, I am a “big idea” kind of guy and I like to leave little details like earthquake certification to other people, so I am not going to worry about such distractions.

I think once the Lego gateway sign goes up we could work out a corporate sponsorship deal with the Lego Group based in Denmark. Perhaps they could pay for the sign’s upkeep, providing the funding for any missing Legos, or paying for the paint and brushes we would use to paint over the inevitable LV gang graffiti.  And maybe they would even pay out a whole lot of corporate money to have the sign read --Lego Vista—for one week out of the year.  

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Upcoming Community Event

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Community Event

Farmers Market Discount Coupons

The Love, Linda Vista Farmers Market will operate today September 7 from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Linda Vista Plaza Shopping Center.

If you attend the Farmers Market, make sure you ask for a $5.00 discount coupon (you must spend at least $10.00). A limited number of coupons will be available beginning at 3:30 pm at the Farmers Market booth (first come, first serve). The coupons can be used at any Farmers Market vendors booth.

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Goodbye to Our Summer Intern

We enjoyed having our summer intern—Olivia Teates from Francis Parker School—writing for the Linda Vista Update these past few weeks. She did a great job! Our readers enjoyed her articles, and in the process she learned quite a bit about the Linda Vista community. With Francis Parker beginning the new school year this week, she ended her intern tenure with us. She is looking forward to writing for her school’s publications, but we hope she finds time during the school year to submit the occasional article to this newsletter.

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Sports

Busy Football Weekend in Linda Vista

Kearny High cheerleaders at recent football game

If you are a football fan, this should be a very entertaining weekend here in the Linda Vista area. There are several football games being played at different levels of competition.

First of all, the undefeated Kearny High Komets will play a home game tonight September 7, against Maranatha Christian. Kick-off is at 7:00 pm. The Komets are currently 3-0 and sport an exciting passing game as well as a tough defense.

On Saturday afternoon, September 9, the University of San Diego Toreros will play Colorado Mesa University at Torero Stadium on the USD campus. Kick-off time is at 1:00 pm. The Toreros are coming off a tough 27-10 defeat to the Cal Poly Mustangs.

And later that day, the San Diego State University Aztecs football team plays the UCLA Bruins at Snapdragon Stadium. The Aztecs are 2-0. Kick-off is at 4:30 pm

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Civic Event

Councilmember Campillo Office Hours in September

Councilmember Raul Campillo’s Community Office Hours provide opportunities for District 7 residents to meet directly with him and ask questions or share concerns.

This month’s Office Hours will be held Wednesday September 27 from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm at the Linda Vista Library.:

If you would like to talk with the Councilmember, please email his office at CherylW@@sandiego.gov to make an appointment.

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Community Event After-Action Report

Local Resident Sponsors Community Potluck

Recent Potluck and Balloon Toss at Linda Vista Community Park

Linda Vista resident and realtor Bree Partington sponsored a community potluck and balloon toss on Saturday August 28. The event, which was open to the public, was held at the Linda Vista Community Park. Ms Partington held the event with the intent of helping local families get to know one another.

During the past year she has sponsored similar family events for Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and Easter. She has plans for upcoming events which we hope to help advertise here in this newsletter.

We commend her for consistently displaying such great community spirit!

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More Commentary

LV Moments of Hesitation

I can usually conduct my business here in Linda Vista in a straightforward manner. Like many other local residents, I rely on my daily or weekly routines to aim at leading a tranquil, easy-going, and drama-free life.  In other words, I know what to expect from living here in Linda Vista and I end up going with the flow.  But every once in a while, I am forced to stop and momentarily ponder before taking my next step. I call these instances my “Linda Vista moments of hesitation.”  When these moments occur, my mind pauses for a second or two to reconsider a choice that life here in Linda Vista has tossed at me.  These choices can sometimes pose ethical, inner moral/ physical character, or loyalty dilemmas. You probably experience these same types of LV moments of hesitation and don’t even realize them, which is why I want to tell you about mine.  Hopefully, after reviewing my examples, you too will be aware of your unique moments and what they say about the real you.

The first “LV moment of hesitation” I want to bring to your attention has to do with riding the Trolley. It never seems to fail…whenever I attempt to ride the trolley at the Fashion Valley, Tecolote Canyon, Hazard Center, or Morena station, I find myself approaching the platform just as a trolley is on the verge of departing.  Though I have yet to purchase a ticket or validate my Pronto card on one of the validation scan machines located on the platform, I suddenly realize I have no patience for waiting for the next trolley to arrive, and I prefer to adopt the philosophy that claims “Waiting is for chumps.”  It’s frustrating to know that taking the time to buy a ticket or get my Pronto card validated will probably make me miss this soon to depart trolley, especially if there is a line of commuters waiting to buy a ticket and the machines aren’t function properly. This is when I pause for a moment and consider whether to just jump on the trolley, risking the chance of having a Trolley official catch me without a purchased fare (and running the accompanying risk of considering myself a worthless scofflaw). Or take the time to do the ethically right thing of making the purchase and then suffer through waiting for the next trolley. It’s never an easy choice.

Intersection at Friars Road and Fashion Valley Road

I often encounter a similar “LV moment of hesitation” when stopping for a red light at the corner of Fashion Valley Road and Friars Road.  When waiting to make a right turn on to Friars Road, I find myself pausing to think “I know the sign says that I’m not allowed to make a right turn on red, but I don’t see any police cars around, and there’s no traffic traveling eastward on Friars Road, so what harm would it do to make a right turn on a red light?”  Those “LV moments of hesitation” are sometimes so ethically provoking!  Perhaps the thought of an undercover cop jumping out of the bushes to write out a $300.00 traffic ticket is the only thing stopping me from making that turn.   

Another “LV moment of hesitation” occurs when I exercise and walk from my residence, down Ulric  Street, and into Mission Valley.  Of course, walking into the Valley requires me to inevitably walk back up Ulric Street—a steep climb indeed.  Accordingly, on my return trip back to my residence, I can’t help but experience one of those “LV moments of hesitation” each time I arrive at the corner of Friars Road  and Ulric Street—that’s when I stop and think…”Isn’t there an easier way to get back home?  Shouldn’t I just call my wife and have her pick me up and thus avoid all the painful physical exertion required from walking up the steep incline?  Or should I do the right thing for my long term physical fitness and character development and trudge up the hill?”  I always decide to trudge up that hill, but I’m afraid that one day I will hesitate a moment too long and make the easier choice.  

Finally, my other type of “LV moment of hesitation” usually occurs on Sunday mornings in the fall. On these mornings I will find myself inevitably stopping for a moment to conjure up the following question…”Who are the Chargers  playing today and will they win?”  This moment, however, is immediately followed by another moment in which I think “Wait. As a result of their move to Los Angeles, I am no longer a Chargers fan, and so I really don’t care who they are playing, or whether they win.”  I know in my heart that is the proper response—the one they deserve.  

So, go ahead my fellow LV residents…think about your own LV moments of hesitation and the choices they present. May you always make the right choice             

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The Linda Vista Update is a weekly digital newsletter that publishes informative, interesting and fun news about Linda Vista and its neighboring communities. Readers can go back and read all previous issues of the Linda Vista Update by going to the newsletter archive here.