#FunWithFacts Archives – THE PAGE TURNS

March 31, 2026March 31, 2026

You Are Here (Castro Valley)

Fast Facts

Castro Valley, California
Long/Lat: 37.41 N/ 122.05 W
Population: ~66,000
Size: 17 sq mi
Avg temp in April: 66 F / 18.9 C
Median income: $145,000
Ethnicity: 33% White/33% Asian/20% Latino
Main industries: Healthcare (big hospital) / Bedroom community

If we’re going to learn about small countries in our A to Z Challenge which starts tomorrow, April 1st, then we need some context. I know we need to know Where, but we need a little bit more. There’s no value in learning names, dates and places by themselves, no Who, When, or Where without learning Why and What? Geography is useful in comparison. I thought that one logical way to provide that context was to start with my home town. Then, I can tell you how many Castro Valleys there are in … well, you’ll see.

Alameda County is the middle of the Bay, Castro Valley is kinda middle of Alameda county. Drawing by Arkyan.

Castro Valley is a small enclave nestled in the East Bay Hills of Northern California, not the coastal range, but the second range of rounded, golden hills. It’s halfway between Berkeley and Fremont, partway between the Bay and the Tri-Valley region, about equidistant from San Francisco and from San Jose. We’re that little town people pass on their way to somewhere else. However, it’s the 4th largest unincorporated town in California and in the Top 30 across the U.S. We don’t want to be incorporated. We’ve voted on it twice; we don’t want a mayor or a police force, thanks, very much, just a really good library.

March 14, 2025March 20, 2025

A Disjointed Post

Rendered by Google AI, this Frankenstein robot drawing is the only creative AI used here

Surgery is the topic of today’s post, namely because I had shoulder arthroplasty last Tuesday. The technique was reverse shoulder replacement and, as you ask, what is that? be assured that I will get there. We have to cover a little anatomy, anthropology, Popular Mechanics, history (of course), and technology along the way.

Fish Gotta Swim, Horses Gotta Run, Humans Gotta Throw Spears

Let’s talk about joints, specifically shoulders, ball-and-socket joints, and the term synovial. I had originally thought that fish had no ball-and-socket joints, and I was going to claim that it was the reptiles, crocodiles crawling out of the water, who began to develop those movable arm and leg joints rather than fins. But it turns out that, even at the beginning, fish had some types of ball-and-socket joints in their jaws, in their vertebrae, and even in their fins.

Synovial=(Greek) put together+egg=the shape of certain joints

The word synovial is important here because it means that within rigid bones, there is a hollow part and a bumpy part that fit together. Even with fish, there were hollow/bumps that fit together in fins and jaws which allowed for more flexibility and rapid movement. When reptiles developed the ability to walk on land and swim in the water, those fins turned into longer bones with multiple places for movable joints.

September 25, 2024September 25, 2024

La Serenissima II: Venetian Troubles, Venetian Dreams

Part One of my tourist musings on Venice addressed its creation story: the refugees building the lagoon, then constructing their legends about St. Mark and his winged lion. Story upon story upon story.

Venice rose in wealth, trading, fighting, and conquering, both infidels and allies. The Crusades increased their wealth, until they mounted a Crusade of their own that turned into atrocity. They covered their deeds with art, religion, and parties, even as the money dried up and their status as a maritime power was eclipsed. Once the facade peeled, they invested in attracting visitors to view their beautiful, decaying things. Even that has now become part of the problem.