Train Whistle

TRAIN WHISTLE… As Squid was oozing briskly down the Rec Trail near Cannery Row in Monterey, getting some cardio, Squid was shocked to see something happening at the old red caboose because nothing ever appears to happen there besides some tourist photo ops. The “something” was just a piece of paper taped up, but it’s a pretty interesting piece of paper: a March 10 directive from the City of Monterey demanding the property’s current tenant pay a year’s worth of back rent or give up the ground lease under the old railcar.

Squid remembers way back when the Rec Trail was a rail line, serving the canneries. Squid doesn’t remember exactly when the caboose was parked in its current spot, but it feels like it has been there forever. (Squid later oozed around the shop inside the old landmark, owned by the late local author Randy Reinstedt and his wife, Debbie Reinstedt.)

Since Dec. 1, 2018, Pebble Beach real estate broker Ed Ciliberti has been the name on the lease, according to the city’s notice. Squid’s colleague reached out to ask if he intends to come up with the $6,755.88 he reportedly owes – and why he wants a stationary caboose, anyway – but got no response. It seems this train is falling off the tracks.

TALK TO THE BOT… Squid believes in supporting local businesses, so Squid makes an effort to support brick-and-mortar mom-and-pops. It gives Squid a chance to ooze around town and take Squid’s beloved bulldog, Rosco P. Coltrane, on walks to run errands. It also helps with customer service – have you tried asking for sizing help online if one of 10 sleeves is too long for an appendage?

Clothes shopping is not easy for cephalopods, and online shopping is futile, with customer service that leads to one chatbot after another. None of them understand what it means to have eight arms and two longer tentacles.

So Squid was surprised to see local governments getting in on the chatbot game. The County of Monterey announced on March 24 that it had launched Monty the chatbot as the result of a pilot project. Monty speaks 70 languages, which is cool. But Squid tried asking a question about county records and Monty just suggested what Squid knew Squid should have done all along: Call the helpful humans instead.

Was the County just copying Salinas? As announced on March 15, “The City of Salinas is bringing a new member to the team – a chatbot!” (Yay, exclamation mark added to emphasize that you’ll be happy when you’re replaced by a robot!)

City officials were urging people to vote for a preferred name for this new robot assistant, with a few options: Sal, Scout, Sali or Veci. Squid tried to vote (anything except Rosco is OK), but the online survey was not working. Squid will complain to Sal.