In and Out Burger opens in San Leandro

Nov 4. San Leandro, CA. Stopped by the new In and Out Burger over on Lleweling Dr. (Just off Hesperian/880) and there were around 20 cars in line. At least this one is 4 miles closer than the one out in Union Landing in Union City.

I saw a lot of construction going on next door at the old Target Store, so I asked the guy who was taking orders outside what was happening. Told me that it's going to be a new Wal-Mart. 'Wow' I replied. Just what we need, another Wal-Mart. 4 miles closer than the one in Union City. Whoopie do. Hardly ever go there anyways.

So then just before I gave my order, I told him "Well, you'll never have to worry about losing your job over here." He said "Oh Yah." This In and Out Burger is already getting quite a bit of business and is at a prime intersection. With Wal-Mart coming....wow. Actually, They should call this one "In and Down and around Burger" because it's going to be difficult getting back onto Hesperian.

The burgers here are well worth the price and are pretty good. We have two other great burger places in Hayward. Val's is top of the line and is located at 2115 Kelly St Hayward, CA 94541. (510) 889-8257. Here's a link to their menu.

And of course, another good place is Sams Quarter Pound Burgers on Hesperian and is actually located in San Lorenzo. 18401 Hesperian Blvd(between Bockman Rd & Hacienda Ave)San Lorenzo, CA 94580(510) 278-6339. Drive-thru and burgers freshly made. Good milkshakes.

Inhaling Helium (balloons)

Please check our website for more info, comments, etc.

I have noticed that there are is a huge number of people doing google searches on this topic and coming to this blog to read up on it. I have an entry back on June 10 that goes into detail over this. Inhaling small quantities is probably okay, but if you do it to an extreme it may be very dangerous. Here is an update. For more information, click on the June 10 link above. When we were selling at the Hercules Cultural Festival, there was a man located across from us filling up balloons with helium and I saw dozens upon dozens of kids opening up the balloons and inhaling the helium and having fun talking like Donald Duck. And they kept on going back for more. I recalled that I read something about this being dangerous and did some research. I know that this is a lot of fun for the kids and we adults did it when we were younger also.

Although the vocal effect of inhaling helium may be amusing, it can be dangerous if done to excess. The reason is not due to toxicity or any property of helium but simply due to it displacing oxygen needed for normal respiration. One must be aware that in mammals (with the notable exception of seals) the breathing reflex is not triggered by insufficient oxygen but rather excess of carbon dioxide. Unconsciousness, brain damage in and even asphyxiation followed by death may result in extreme cases. Also, if helium is inhaled directly from pressurized cylinders the high flow rate can fatally rupture lung tissue.Neutral helium at standard conditions is non-toxic, plays no biological role and is found in trace amounts in human blood. At high pressures, a mixture of helium and oxygen can lead to high pressure nervous syndrome; a small proportion of nitrogen can alleviate the problem

So, if you don't believe me, then go ASK ALICE.

Up and coming events

Here's a listing of events that we will be particpating in over the coming weeks. Please come out and show your support. The name of our business is DandL CREATIONS.

Nov 7-9 Antioch Holiday Craft Fair, Fairgrounds, Antioch, CA
Nov 14 Kennedy High School, Fremont, CA
Nov 21-22 Noel Notion Christmas Bazaar, Mount Carmel School Auditorium, Mill Valley, CA
Dec 6 DeAnza College (contingent upon the weather...rained out yesterday)

Come on out and support your community and of course, ENJOY YOURSELF. The weather is looking great. At least so far!!!

Support Your Community Events!!!

Earlier this afternoon I was in the vicinity, so I drove by the Orinda Holiday Bazaar. There were only 4 booths in front of the building. Last year the entire area was filled up with vendors especially in the area off to the right and along the walkway in front. I realize a number of vendors must have located inside due to the rain. I didn't go inside, but I could tell that the total number of vendors had to be down considerably. I noticed perhaps 20-25 people departing the events and they were carrying no bags. (purchases)

The promoters of this event always do a wonderful job and are to be commended for their efforts. The local community must support this event and not be just going there and socializing. You have a number of smaller vendors that do just a couple shows a year selling their hand-made jewelry, etc. and they are satisfied with just making a small profit. However, you do have vendors who need sales to exist and if they don't do decently, they do not return the following year. And of course, that is what happened here.

The show loses money from these vendors' booth fees and that 'income' would be divided amongst various community organizations.

People, this pertains to all of these community type events. You need to support these shows by purchasing from the vendors, etc., that are offering their goods. Excellent time to start your Christmas shopping. We all are playing a huge part in the total success of events such as this one. There were vendors out there last year who made virtually no sales in really beautiful weather. The economy was better back then, but no excuses.

Please read what I had to say regarding last years' event here and I would probably say the same this year also.

Store Fixtures

If you are a vendor or store owner, I am providing you with a number of businesses that sell store fixtures.....i.e. grids, shelves, display cases and much, much more. I've been to all of these over the years and those are the places where I have picked up things for our booth and store (that we once had).

Nearly New Store Fixtures, 3950 Norwood Ave, Sacramento, CA - (916) 920-3003 (this is a big warehouse up in Sacramento that has used fixtures they picked up from store liquidations. Interesting. You could browse here for hours.

These other three sell new fixtures:
Visual Merchandising Systems, 2260 Paragon Dr, San Jose, CA 95131 408-436-1307
Grand & Benedicts Fixtures, 2368 Tripaldi Way, Hayward, CA (510) 782-1988
Union Store Supplies & Fixtures 22128 Mission Blvd, Hayward,. CA - (510) 881-2845

Cowrie Shell Chokers

I am your 'blogmaster' and this is not any kind of spam. I wish to show you some of the beautiful cowrie shell chokers that we hand-make and sell on our website: http://www.dandlcreations.com/

These are of excellent quality and I am sure that you would proudly wear one of these. On-line secure ordering and payment through Authorize.net. Shipping within a couple days as it does take time to make these. Here are some samples:

Shows, Festivals and Events

If you are a vendor, I'd like to find out how you did/are doing this weekend. Especially if you are at the Orinda Holiday Bazaar. I was rained out at DeAnza today and the rain was widespread throughout Northern California.

Did anybody else drop by the Orinda event today? Kind of curious. Large crowd. Small crowd. Spending. Not spending. Wet crowd, Dry crowd. Either comment in this blog or send me an email at StarvingVendors@aol.com Drop by Starving Vendors and read what I have to say about many events and other things Loads and loads of stuff to read. You will love it. Great reading on a cold, rainy evening, ya know?

Anybody out there participate in any other events? Or visit anything else?

You can order shell necklaces, cowrie chokers and a whole lot more at our main website: www.dandlcreations.com

Mervyn's is closing

I guess that we all have heard that Mervyn's is closing ALL it's stores...something like 170? I heard a while back they were just going to close around 40 of them with just a few in the bay area. However, things changed, I guess. They are bankrupt.

I drove near there today and the parking lot was packed full right outside the Mervyn's in Southland Mall (Hayward). Went down Winton Avenue and their were a couple guys waving huge signs 'MERVYN'S GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE."
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DO YOU CHRISTMAS SHOPPING AT www.DandLCREATIONS.com for great buys on shell necklaces, cowrie shell chokers, wrap skirts, shoulder sling bags and a lot more We are always open morning, noon and night...come on down.
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I find that very hard to comprehend. They've been around for years and now they are biting the dust. They still have a JC Penney's and Macy's at Southland, but Mervyn's was one of their 'anchor stores.'. You've got Ross over there and you know the type of crowd that brings into the mall as it has been going downhill for several years now. There are a good number of stores closed over there and it's not going to get any better.

De Anza College Flea Market

RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN

Going to rain like hell on Saturday, so that shoots my plans for DeAnza College. Will probably try again on December 6. Looks like bad weather for the Orinda Holiday Bazaar also, which we did last year and hardly anybody bought from any of the vendors.

We will be at the Antioch Holiday Arts & Crafts Show at the fairgrounds over there. Indoors, space A28. Looks like more rain and I think that we are going to have a very wet winter. Snowing up in the Sierras tonight.

Show info - reviews and much more

Hi. Check out Starving Vendors to see many reviews of shows we have done this year....Paso Robles EOS Winery, Monterey Columbus Day Festival, Richmond Homefront on the Bay, Hayward Zucchini, Oregon County Fairs (Coos, Deschutes and Douglas County), Manteca Crossroads Street Fair, Marysville Bok Kai Parade and Festival, Arroyo Grande Strawberry Festival, San Mateo Fiesta Italiana and loads of other shows and locations.

Many resources available. Read about Tales of Woe and Flying canopies; repairs to canopies; where to get fixtures such as grids, hooks, stands, etc. Get the lowdown on devious unconcerned promoters.

Get info on Arts and Crafts Guides. Links to motels, gas prices, etc.

COSTCO GAS PRICES

Even though my tank was half-full, I decided to drive over to COSTCO in San Leandro (off Davis St) and get some gas. I was surprised to see it at $2.43 per gallon. Wow. The Chevron Station over at Southland was $3.07 and some of the other stations had gas in the $2.90's. But I haven't even seen anything close to COSTCO prices. Maybe they are trying to draw people to shop there.

So, if you deduct the 2 percent rebate you get, then the gas was $2.38 per gallon. Maybe it'll start going up after election, you never know.