Wednesday September 9, 2020: Mostly Curtis Park.
Very friendly family in the apartments near Highway 99 and 2nd Ave. Tried to sledgehammer my way to killing off repeat cases on X Avenue, 28th St., and 2nd Avenue. Cambodian family. Tried to kill off 2333. Stopped for ice cream at Gunthers.
Tuesday September 8, 2020: Some Curtis Park and Cases Near Elk Grove.
Got haircut at Norm's this afternoon. Good to lose the shaggy look. Two interviews near Elk Grove - friendly people there, but a few neurotic people too. Surprised to find an AirBNB near where the Nelsons used to live. Hitting too many people who say they've submitted their census forms already online.
Monday September 7, 2020: Labor Day. Some Curtis Park and Cases Near Elk Grove.
Blundering around a new neighborhood, right near Elk Grove. One interview with Belizean family.
Sunday September 6, 2020: South Oak Park and Farther East
Too many houses in Oak Park have tall metal fences and impenetrable gates. Wasted too much time there. Young man on MLK Blvd., and a young family near Highway 99. Two interviews SE of Oak Park - mixed-race family, and a Spanish-speaking family..
Saturday September 5, 2020:
Friday September 4, 2020:
Thursday September 3, 2020: Two Clusters near Sacramento Executive Airport, and South MLK Blvd.
Cleared several hard-to-get apartments on 41st Avenue. Hard work, with some proxy work. Two guys at one apartment who didn't cooperate, and seemed very cynical. Another nice young family in another apartment.
Cleared a long-standing, hard-to-get house on MLK. Fellow had been very hard on other workers, but he opened up to me. Sweet! Still having trouble with other sites on south MLK, though. Time-consuming.
Met my supervisor mid-afternoon. He handed me supplies and told me cryptic news. His favorite worker on his team is a fellow named Eric. Apparently he's awesome. I need to be more like Eric. Supervisor urged me to use more proxies, which I use only sparingly (I think people need to be given the full opportunity to enter their own data.) Apparently some slow workers are being laid off, but I've made the cut to continue for awhile.
Interviewed two mostly-Spanish-speaking families. Solemn and a bit formal, but that seems to be my style, and theirs. I'm not supposed to use anyone younger than 15 as a translator, but a solemn 13-year-old girl did just fine.
Had to go home to charge phone. Lost momentum. Mystified by what may have been a group home.
Knocked on one door. No one was home, but a voice spoke. The homeowner was in a distant city planning a funeral, but could observe me through a camera. Technology! She tried to interview, but it didn't work. On April 1st, she had had 14 people in her house, and there just too many complicated names and birthdays to make the process efficient. She'll try to finish online.
Wednesday September 2, 2020: One Cluster near Sacramento Executive Airport, South MLK Blvd., and an Apartment Complex off 47th Ave. East of Highway 99
South City Farms, right under the glide path for landings at Sac Exec Airport. A descanso for Preston Smith: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article244330037.html
Had a very pleasant conversation with an elder in a family of nine. She'll fill out form online. Also, a very pleasant interview with a Mexican-American woman. Good start to the day.
Spoke with a man and his sister (?). They both spoke almost exclusively Spanish. He was digging out a sewer line. Really hard work. Long, formal Spanish names. Tried to get family relations right.
Afterwards, I entered a compound out back of the house that had a big gate with a 'beware of dog' sign. Expected a Baskerville hound - instead, surprised a small terrier and a bunch of puppies.
Went to a place east of Highway 99 and was surprised to find a fellow worker named Marco already there. We met previously a couple of weeks ago at the luxury apartments. He arrived first, and spoke better Spanish, so I let him take the lead here.
And people help. I was trying to get into a gated area, and even though her brother chastised her for talking to strangers, an 8-year-old girl directed me to a gate and warned me about slipping in the mud. Seemed very concerned that I do what I needed to do.
Later, headed to a former motel on 47th just east of Highway 99 that was just crammed with what seemed like single mothers and tons of kids. A toddler began to attach herself to me, and I swear she was trying to give me, clearly a stranger, some guidance. Crazy place! Upon leaving, looking at the arrangement of concrete tables and benches on the grass, I realized I had been here before, for a birthday party a decade ago.
Arrived too late at an apartment complex on 47th Avenue. Tried to cram in interviews. Twin Cambodian young women. A young family. The father worried about his son's privacy, so his son was described as 'Person 3' in the record. And apartment dweller was suspicious. Another tried to hide his flask, and seemed amiable. Another family hesitated to interview.
Not enough time to get it all done.
A lot of good interviews, though. I'm getting better at this!
Tuesday September 1, 2020: Two Clusters near Sacramento Executive Airport
A few interviews today. Several people with roots in Mexico, including one fellow who seemed eager for conversation. One house was labeled as Covid quarantine, and I didn't try to interview there. A Fijian whose last name is coincidentally the same as a Native American language. A woman eager to to do the census. Frustrated by the residents at an apartment complex. I greatly-enjoyed doing an interview for a couple whom previous enumerators had classified as just impossible. It was easy, actually.
Monday August 31, 2020: Two Clusters - Oak Park and Alder Grove
Two clusters, like a barbell: east and west. Started with the east one. Talked with a family up on X Street. Interviewed a mother and her kid, also on X Street. Struck by her accent - seems to be associated with people born around 1990. Used a police woman who specializes in building entry as a proxy for a vacant apartment.
The Alder Grove cluster was harder. Just a few interviews: a woman with two small children. At the end, a woman and her son - they are Miwok/Washoe. Tried to find a proxy for a group of in-movers, but they just seemed too young to care. A woman who lives in the Arden area saw me and asked me to interview her, because she's been missing the local enumerators, so I did. At the end of the day, I bought a snack from a local vendor, who seemed frightened of me. I wondered if he was a migrant with document issues.
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