G.O.G.* Strikes Again

*Good Ol' Google 

 

 We received an email this week regarding our "Google Album Archive" with the following slightly alarming (but at the same time, kind of vague) notification:

 

 "You’re receiving this email because you’ve viewed Album Archive recently or you may have some content that is visible in Album Archive. Starting on July 19, 2023, Album Archive will no longer be available. Some content that’s only available in Album Archive will be deleted starting July 19. If you would like to access this data please make a copy of this data using Google Takeout."

 

 Album Archive? What the heck is that and how did my "content" get there? "Google Takeout"? Never heard of it. Does this mean all the photos in my posts are going to disappear? The big G did something like this before when they killed off Picasa and the associated web album interface. If this is anything like that, there's a bunch of "content" that's going to show up as blank space or broken link icons. As our avatar caption says, inquiring minds wanted to know. 

 

 After several hours of fruitless googling (ha! the irony!) we finally came across a just-posted answer of sorts in a community support forum. It assuaged our fears somewhat, but just to make sure we used the aforementioned Google Takeout and downloaded what was there to copy. And here are the images in time lapse form...things you might have seen on TSG:

More Words To Live By

 Yes, this is certainly one of those bits o' bric-à-brac you'll see in just about any American tourist town shoppe. But it caught our eye as we were walking by and plus it looks good posted on the (fake) brick wall. 

 

Late edit: the author of this witticism obviously isn't a fan of Mojo Nixon. Because, as those of us who happen to be hip to his oeuvre know, Elvis is everywhere as well.

The 2-Meter Gopher(?) Of Los Gatos Creek

TSG recently came across a social media post mentioning the "Los Gatos Creek Trail Gopher" accompanied by a photo of a large statue of a rodent-ish creature. Since we ride the trail on a regular basis, our curiosity was piqued and a mental note was made to be on the lookout for the oversized "gopher". 

As it happened, we spotted it a few days later while waiting at the traffic light at the Camden/San Tomas Expwy Highway 17 off ramp. From afar, it looked more like a bear than a gopher to us.

 Unable to find any kind of online documentation of the thing, we resolved to return to the scene to investigate and get a closer look. 

 

Up close, this did not appear to be a gopher. (Gophers have a "rounder" face)  More likely it was a stylized ground squirrel, which is very common on the trail. Or maybe it might be someone's idea of a meerkat, in it's oft-depicted surveillance stance, keeping a watchful eye over the scene from the top of the knoll. 

 

Whatever the species, it's cool to come across a heretofore undiscovered bit of public art here in the former Valley of Heart's Delight.