gridlore: Doug looking off camera with a grin (Default)
Douglas Berry ([personal profile] gridlore) wrote2002-08-12 03:02 pm
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We're from the Government...

.. we're here to confuse you.

I'm trying to do some research on Foster City in preparation for my interview with them on the 23rd. Their website is a bloody mess. Even the simplest of things is hard to find, like the name of the mayor. Admittedly, it is full of things that residents might be interested in, but for outsiders not curious about the permits needed to add a skylight to their home, the site is frustrating.

Along with that, the person I spoke with on the phone assured me that I could file my application online. So far, I haven't found that option.

Grrr.

In other news, My trip to Oregon for Orycon is looking more solid. I'll be taking Greyhound up to save money. 16 hours on a bus. Whee
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[identity profile] todkaninchen.livejournal.com 2002-08-12 04:18 pm (UTC)(link)
2 stupid questions...

1. Foster City, California, right?

2. Did you find this yet:

http://www.fostercity.org/employment/

[identity profile] todkaninchen.livejournal.com 2002-08-12 04:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay... That could be interpreted as rude or condensending in tone.

Sorry...

I have a habit of presuming I'm wrong or confused until proven otherwise...

[identity profile] gridlore.livejournal.com 2002-08-12 04:55 pm (UTC)(link)
1. Yep. I live about 20 miles from it and know it well from my days with SuperShuttle.

2. That isn't the problem. The problem is at oral boards they ask things like "what do you know about the city?" "Do you know who the police chief is?" "When was the city incorporated?" I'm trying to do that research.

Re:

[identity profile] todkaninchen.livejournal.com 2002-08-12 05:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Do you have/have you tried the Copernic 2001(2002?) program?

Basically, it's a search engine for search engines and goes through 10 or 15 of the others to find stuff and sort it out for you...

Sometimes it turns up some jems...

(Not my PC, so this one doesn't have it...)

Local newspaper?

Sometimes local papers have that sort of info published in like a "almanac" format...

Another stupid suggestion is calling a local library in Foster City for ideas on sources.

[identity profile] todkaninchen.livejournal.com 2002-08-12 05:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Semi-useless:

Foster City Municipal Codes:

http://www.ordlink.com/codes/foster/index.htm

Off this page of: "Contact Groups"

http://www.fostercity.org/contact-groups.cfm?cid='15'&ie=E&id=15

(Does 202-456-1111 really get the POTUS's Office?)

(Lots of San Mateo County sites... not much Foster City specific though.)

Contact Info for a local paper:

http://www.fostercity.org/contactdetail.cfm?id=203&nm=Media%20Resources

(Includes a phone number...)

???

http://www.fostercity.org/contactdetail.cfm?id=173&nm=City/District%20Manager

Police contact info...

http://www.fostercity.org/contact-groups.cfm?cid='6'&ie=I&id=6

...including the Police Chief's e-mail address...


[identity profile] todkaninchen.livejournal.com 2002-08-12 05:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Sorry, one last post...

The police chief is Randy J. Sonnenberg...

...a goofy looking guy.

( http://www.fostercity.org/city_hall/depts/Police-Department-Information.cfm )

From:

http://www.fostercity.org/Services/safety/police/index.cfm

[identity profile] figmo.livejournal.com 2002-08-13 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
Re: getting to Orycon, you might want to see if someone local is driving up, then offer to help with gas. It'd probably be faster, cheaper, and more pleasant than Greyhound.

[identity profile] gridlore.livejournal.com 2002-08-13 08:46 am (UTC)(link)
I was considering that, but I'll be going up a few days early to visit a friend in Canby. She's taking me up to Mt. St. Helens so we can rock-geek together.

I don't mind Overbred Nervous Dog Lines. On the trip up, I'll be riding in daylight and get to see all the little towns along the way. My biggest problem will be getting ahold of a laptop or something to keep journal entries on.

[identity profile] figmo.livejournal.com 2002-08-14 12:08 am (UTC)(link)
Fry's was selling reconditioned Visor Prisms for $79 when I was there this afternoon.

(Anonymous) 2002-08-14 06:23 am (UTC)(link)
16 hours on a Greyhound bus isn't too bad (at least not to someone who rode Greyhound 48 hours each way to BayCon 2000... ;-).

Enjoy the con, Doug. You deserve it. (Of course, I've always believed that nearly _everybody_ deserves a con or two every once in a while....)

SFC Groth
Interrogator At Large
Hero to Minions
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