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MAY 5, 2017
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small talk jean gillette
Riding the rails
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own here in San Diego, we mock how driving to or from anywhere on the 405 Freeway is a traffic jam crap shoot, and the house usually wins. I rolled the dice a few weeks ago, drove up 405 on a Wednesday early afternoon, and it was a predictable 2.5-hour drive in crowded, but moving, traffic. Then I had the audacity to drive home on a Friday afternoon. That was unwise. The 2.5-hour route became a 4.5-hour slog-athon. I vowed then and there, the next trip I would take the train. Now, until a month ago, I didn’t even realize there were two separate train lines. Now I know that “taking the train” means simple and generally reliable Amtrak, with occasional ocean views, for $56 round trip — or you can have more frequent stops at inland stations on Metrolink for $16. Well, who can resist a bargain? I then learned the two lines never speak to one another. In this age of email and such, and because passengers use both lines from the same station, would it be such a stretch to expect that each might be apprised of the others idiosyncrasies? But if you foolishly go in the Oceanside Amtrak ticket office and so much as breathe the word Metrolink, you will get “the hand,” and a curt, “This is Amtrak. I don’t know anything about Metrolink!” Like when the tracks are closed from Oceanside to Laguna Niguel — both ways, all weekend — for maintenance. The closure affected both lines, but each was ignorant of the other’s methods to address the general confusion. But wait. There’s more. You cannot buy Metrolink tickets on TURN TO SMALL TALK ON B15
MUSTANG RISING San Dieguito High School Academy’s Metal Mustang is back on the road. With an amazing collaboration between the San Dieguito Alumni Association, The San Dieguito Academy Foundation, the San Dieguito Unified High School District Board Trustees and Encinitas City Council members, the 80-year-old public high school celebrated the return of this iconic piece of student art at an April 26 unveiling ceremony. Photo courtesy Leslie Talley
From left: Scott Runner, Carlsbad City Council Member Mark Packard, Carlsbad Education Foundation CEO Michelle Ginn, LEGOLAND Education Manager Lynn Crockett, longtime Carlsbad resident Carlton Lund, and Carlsbad City Council Member Cori Schumacher celebrate the Carlsbad sign. Photo by Adam Sullivan
Carlsbad sign gets immortalized in LEGO By Adam Sullivan
CARLSBAD — On the afternoon of April 29, the city of Carlsbad joined an elite list that includes the Statue of Liberty, the Golden Gate Bridge and Darth Vader. It was given “The LEGO Treatment.” LEGOLAND Senior Media Relations Manager
Julie Estrada said that the sign came about as a way to celebrate Carlsbad Day, as well as benefit the Carlsbad Educational Foundation. “Our goal was to create an experience ticket that Carlsbad residents couldn’t get anywhere else,” she said. “Invite them to enjoy musical performances from the talented students
The immortality of having the Carlsbad sign (LEGO’ed) — it’s special for the kids, and special for the parents.” Carlton Lund Carlsbad Sign Founder
of Carlsbad, and encourage them to celebrate our Carlsbad community.” At the unveiling, Carlton Lund, a Carlsbad resident since 1972, presented the Carlsbad Education Foundation with a check for $20,000. “What’s neat is for me is it’s a personal TURN TO LEGO ON B15