Hi All,

I thought I'd share this little story about a long inconvenience and let those who read here know that I don't only pick on scientists. Last week it was David Glass, the Mayor of Petaluma.

Late last summer they moved our office to a brand new building in downtown Petaluma from the tranquil outer burbs. Since then it has been a matter of dodging every piece of construction equipment imaginable while on foot, 8 months of enduring dirty cars, scratches on our cars and dirty shoes to boot. One poor woman fell in the street and broke her arm and then they decided we needed escorts to walk us to and from this miniscule parking lot a little more than a block from the office.

Last week I told the Mayor, enough is enough. This place looks like Little Beirut on the Turning Basin. I suggested secure some parking passes for us in a neighboring shopping center, but he said it was a no go and suggested we park six blocks away in a parking garage which has a past history of rape and vandalism. I told him that would not work for me either. So while I received a full history of where the trail of money led, I got diddly in return.

While the City of Petaluma may be revitalizing I think everyone in the area went on total meltdown about two weeks ago. It got ugly. So far the best day we've had was a few months ago when the picketers brought in a blow up rat that stood about two stories tall. Thank goodness for a little laughter along the way. Can you imagine, making room for picketers in the melange of everything else.

This morning as I made my way to the office again flanked by many pieces of equipment I got sandwiched in between a parked truck, a truck coming up behind me and a guy to my right with an armload of metal poles and I'm saying, "Where's my escort!"

Tomorrow it's back to the Mayor again and this time I'm gonna pull rank on him. So don't feel left our guys, I leave nothing undisturbed in my wake.

Rear Admiral Petra

• Press Democrat