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I don’t know what is going on with the property next door to you, but as I have been documenting since December of 2004, there has been a new housing development going on next to me. As you can imagine, I have been just thrilled.
Yes, from that first morning that I awoke to the destructive sounds of the Cat 973 tearing down the four existing single story homes to make way for the eight monstrosities that sit there now, it has been a true carnival.
Unfortunately for the property owners and the realtors, they didn’t have a functioning crystal ball. They couldn’t see the coming cooling off of the real estate market. So now after the completion of these cheesy oversized cracker boxes every one of them sits empty waiting for their prices to go down.
That of course makes me extremely happy because as the prices go down so does the quality of the potential buyers. I’m sure it won’t be a problem though, a couple of families will probably band together, pool their money and be living there in no time.
Unfortunately the neighbors of the property at the corner of Rosemead Boulevard and Las Tunas Drive can only dream of the pleasures that await them in the months that come. In case you are unaware of what is heading their way, please let me enlighten you. There is an entire “luxury” complex, “The Piazza”, complete with restaurants and condos about to be built there.
The development looked like it was on the fast track, but for some reason it has come to a screeching halt, with nothing being done for weeks now. The only thing that has been accomplished so far is to reduce the existing building to a large dusty lot, which I’m sure has been a boon to the local car washes. Those people shouldn’t worry though, within a few years the dust will be replaced with traffic and the shade of the condos.
I don’t particularly care for unwanted changes, which the “Piazza” without a movie theatre was for me, but now that it is a done deal, get on with it. The sooner you get that thing built the sooner people will stop bitching about it, including me. So whatever your present malfunction is, correct it and get moving.
The other place that needs to get moving is Sam’s Club. I’m talking about the store at the corner of Lower Azusa Road and Santa Anita Avenue. I don’t know if you are aware of it or not, but that particular Sam’s Club is poised and read to undergo a major transformation. It is going to expand into the length of the existing buildings adjacent to it, making it more akin to a Costco, hopefully not just in size.
By that I mean that they need to adopt a couple of things that Costco does that makes going there less frustrating than going to Sam’s. First, put products in one spot and leave them there. Second, expand the number of products they carry and keep them in stock.
They have been gearing up for this expansion for a year and the only thing that has happened so far is the fencing off of the neighboring buildings, well that and the constant moving of products around the store and the depletion of products in stock. All I can say to them is again, knock
off the uncreative interim merchandising and get on with the renovation.
There are times though when an unwanted change blossoms into a good thing. Not very often, but it does happen. When it does, it is like getting that gift that you thought you weren’t going to get on your birthday.
For example, ever since my hairstylist Shirley moved further and further away I was forced to make changes as to where I got my hair cut. At first I thought I had solved my problem when I found a salon very close to my house. There was a stylist there by the name of Chris and he began cutting my hair as well as my son Alex. Life was good.
Then Chris changed salons. He moved further away but still within range. Then out of the blue, Chris decided to make changes in his life and stopped cutting hair. My son and I went into mourning and back to the old salon. We hoped to strike gold twice at the same place.
We rolled the dice and one of us won, which would be Alex. He hooked up with Kim whom he developed an immediate rapport. Because we generally went together and we were always in a hurry I went with the owner of the salon, who never quite got how I liked to have my hair cut. But we never had to make an appointment and the place was very close. These factors fit well into our lifestyle.
Then came the day that I walked in, sans Alex, and noticed that the stations that Kim and her friend Peggy occupied were empty. The owner told me that they had left, a fact that I wish she had told me before she embarked on giving me yet another bad haircut.
As soon as the butchering was done, I called Kim’s cell phone to find out where she had gone. She told me that she and Peggy had left to start their own salon. I held my breath as I waited for her to tell me where, thinking somewhere geographically undesirable like Orange County or worse yet Monterey Park. Which in driving time would be about the same.
Then came the good news, San Gabriel! Not only the city right next to ours, but the Eastern portion of the city, which made it even closer. So I made an appointment for Alex, not knowing what to expect aesthetically as far as the salon went. The place that they were at before was definitely nothing to scream about, it had the same vibe as a Supercuts or Fantastic Sams.
When I walked in I was pleasantly surprised to find that Kim and Peggy’s artistic abilities weren’t limited to hair styling. The place was immaculately decorated complete with a large plasma TV in the waiting area. Despite the plush furnishings the prices don’t reflect it.
A couple of months later, after my last disastrous cut had grown out, I decided to give Kim a try for myself. She cut my hair better than it had been cut in a quite a while and did it with confidence and flair. I hadn’t felt so comfortable and at home since the days of going to Shirley.
The name of their place is “Beauty Code”. Alex wasn’t too crazy about the name, so we just refer to it as going to see Kim. It’s located at 1008 E. Las Tunas Drive, Unit C. If you are looking to move up to a better stylist or are looking for a place that stays up on all of the latest techniques give them a call at 626-614-8527.
While I don’t want them to get so busy that it becomes a problem for me to get in there, I do want them to succeed so they stay right where they are. That may sound selfish but now that I feel at home I don’t want to change.
I did mention I didn’t like unwanted changes didn’t I?
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