San Onofre (SONGS)

[Rennhack]

San Onofre! San Diego is a sometimes a tough animal to deal with. Expensive at times. The Internet has eased the process yet it's sometimes nice to have a general idea of the area.

Like many locations nationwide, there are many private homeowners who may rent a portion of there abode. This may suit some, at the same time, one may desire greater privacy.

Rental property in Oceanside, Vista and Carlsbad (North San Diego County) are generally priced lower than the San Clemente and Laguna Nigel area locations North of the San Onofre Generating Station.

There are nice apartment units throughout the area and there are some nice units at the Oceanside Harbor, Dana Point and Carsbad Ocean Front areas.

Plan well in advance to secure a reasonable rate. There are some decent trailer parks in Oceanside on the main drag of Hill Street.
Try Meadowlark Apartments West, 949-492-1831. They rent one bedroom apartments by the month that are furnished.

[Rennhack]

Don't forget to vote.  Keep your comments civil.

[Rennhack]

Talk About: San Onofre

[mahalo50]

Don't forget to vote.  Keep your comments civil.

Haven't been there in years but loved it,  

[Lamont]

Got a job there when I was 18 out of High School. Worked there 7 years. Got married and divorced and now live in Texas. Working for the V.P.'s old company.

Loved it there, learned alot there. Everyone I worked with there was GREAT...Contract and House. Ex-wife may still work there. hmmm

Missed the beach, mountains and weather. It is hard to surf in Texas.

[turbine cowboy]

With all the wonderful positions being posted by SCE, Has anybody ever gotten a reply or Thank You for you interest note from the HR Dept. out there?  Just my pet Peeve.

[HydroDave63]

With all the wonderful positions being posted by SCE, Has anybody ever gotten a reply or Thank You for you interest note from the HR Dept. out there?  Just my pet Peeve.

that is a sore subject...basically, HR only notices you if your resume made it through the all-knowing Resumix software screening, even if the hiring manager has read your resume and wants to interview you. Also, the bias is towards degree-and light experience vs. lots of experience-no degree.

One should also consider that the cost of living has gone up considerably in southern Calif over the past decade, and the commutes havent gotten any shorter. Still, the plant is in great shape, and good people to work with. Keep trying!  

[vikingfan]

Worked out ar SONGS from about 1990- 1992. met a lot of great people out there, Moke,mark star,to name a few. worked as a decon tech working on the spent fuel rerack job. enjoyed the evenings bay the ocean. all in all the plant was agreat place to start and a great learning experience.

         James Jablonski " JJ "

[felchie]

Just finished working an outage there and I must say it is really going downhill.  The coord (*****)
is worthless! Only got paid 11.5 hours for 12
(unpaid lunch) but if you figure the 15 minute walk in each day then traffic you are really away from home 13-14 hrs a day.  Cost of living is way high,pay is now 21 and 90 (working 5 days a week)
it is hard to bank any money there.  Oh yeah, had
a few of us get the old today notice, try to get
a refund on rent in Cal sometime!
Good luck trying to staff this Fall

[duke99301]

I worked there in 88 for PSESI was a great place and had lots of fun. I miss thoses days and the people there. it was the last time I seen George winery what ever happend to him??

[UncaBuffalo]

SONGS is almost D.O.E.-like in its propensity for saying "That's just the way we do it here" when you point out potential improvements in their programs...AND there is plenty of room for improvements!

Aside from that, it's fairly nice people & decent weather, so if you can afford to just go down to get out of the snow (don't plan on saving any money!), there are worse places to spend a winter.

[bikerdad]

Besides the beautiful view of the ocean the remainder leaves a lot to ponder. The hours the cafeteria runs are humorus at best, the prices and food are utterly terrible, the walk from the parking area to the plant is beyond belief and unreasonable. The shuttle is ok...if the lady doesn't want her break at 5:45am when everyone is coming in. Going through security there is at a snails pace with most setting off something or stepping to close to the person in front of you. Prices in the area are laughable for a road tech. And those people can't even drive when it rains.

[Roll Tide]

Keep it clean! No personal attacks on open areas. THANKS

[randyman56]

San Onofre, WOW I really do miss that place.  I was there for 2 years working the Decommission of unit one and working the outages.  House people treated me with great respect.  So did the site coordinator.  when I was there we contractors still treated each other like family. (i know that's hard to believe) but we did.  Remember this my friends "don't sh_t in my kitchen".  When you go to a site you are in there kitchen.  if you help them keep a clean kitchen they won't feed you sh_t.

randyman56

[Brigrat]

Has anybody heard any information about a model aircraft equiped with a camera crashing near San Onofre?  If this is true, let me know!

[Lamont]

Who was the Site coordinator?
I worked there from 89 to 96 and I thought they always had their puppet type coordinator there.

Sorry to hear it was bad for you. I started there and it holds alot of wonderful memories for me.

[harleygirl]

Hey randyman I miss it there with you also....

Yes it was 11.5 for 12 but then you also got to play cards at lunch unlike places that pay you 12 for 12 and do not allow any stress relieving downtime.

If you are a loner the rent will kill you financially IT IS CALIFORNIA....try sharing a place.

I still have plenty of friends working back there and most of the house techs are great people and treat you right if you do your work!!!

Really miss the volleyball on the beach after a days work...

[UncaBuffalo]

Yes it was 11.5 for 12 but then you also got to play cards at lunch unlike places that pay you 12 for 12 and do not allow any stress relieving downtime.

Of course, just up the coast, you get to play cards any time you aren't in Containment AND they pay you 12.5 for 12 (plus a meal!), but... 

[Camella Black]

If anyone has a favorite hang out, place to shop, or local information for this area please post it here.

[harleygirl]

Of course, just up the coast, you get to play cards any time you aren't in Containment AND they pay you 12.5 for 12 (plus a meal!), but... 

But not all plants are Diablo either.... or VC summer for that matter where the techs hang out in the bull pen playing cards or reading until the phone rang or your in time came up...at least that is how it used to be.....

[HydroDave63]

plus San Onofre is a much shorter drive to good sushi! 

[harleygirl]

The food on the pier in San Clemente was really good too....

[moke]

San Onofre to me means two things; Dolly Parton and Great Surf.

San Onofre Beach (Old Mans) is a very special place to me since I was born to be a surfer. We shared a lot of great memories at such a great Beach and many of the staff from the Radiation Protection division participated in a Thursday Pot Luck that was awesome. This was a platform for many to socialize and where many of us excel.

Some of the names I remember are: Rick Shoenig, Glenn Henderson, Judie Posik, Robert and Micky Goodrich, Al Gray and his Family (Ryan?), Mike Hoy, Dan Gallion, Todd and Kyle Adler, Motaz Amin, Bob Corbett, Dave Corbett, Kathy Corbett, Pat Liddy, Steve Eichenberger, Rob Snyder, Dan Pritchett, Jim Hallgren, Bob Wood, Joe Christowski, Mack Grove, Bob DeGlopper, Dave Gill, (someone help me out here). 

At the plant, life was great. Much of what we did was done professionally yet we always found time to amuze one another. A Trojan Hard Hat to the infamous Hard Hat sinage and decor the Unit control points saw many an interesting conversation and laughs! At Unit 1, the intensity level would elevate regularly.

Southern California Edison did much to pioneer the Hot Particle subject matter and they along with Battelle PNNL staff helped solved many of the identification and detection techniques that allowed us to get a good handle on the jobs we would supervise. I my case, I spent lots of time with Zone III Hot Particle work & around 20,000 R/hr ICI s or Resin Transfers with Rob from PAC NUC! T

The planning office and such did a great job too, and San Onofre was the first to computerize their access control, planning and work request systems.

We were a pioneer at Spent Fuel Transshipment and wrote the book regarding hot particle detection and associated control measures that many use today. Dr. Eric Golden, Richard Warnock, Terry Cooper, Tosh and other staff were ICRP 106! Fegetaboutit!

I miss Pedros Tacos in San Clemente and Juanita's in Leucadia. The Swamis Surf Spot is one of the best in the world and North San Diego county was great. I don't miss the I-5 traffic yet the Southern California weather is hard to beat!

Spent many great moments with many folks there and some of the finest in our business have walked through those turnstyles!

Have an Awesome Week!

Moke

[felchie]

The bottom line is still net income after the outage (to me anyway) perhaps I was out of line with the coord comment, I just don't like to sugar-coat things.
The work wasn't that bad, typical outage stuff and they have their way of doing things......
However, unless the pay/diem goes up, hours go to 6-12's (not 11.5 for 12) it just doesn't make good
fiscal sense to go there vs better paying/higher net
takehome after all expenses are paid.
I will miss the area, a lot of fun....beach, TJ, perfect 10 women in Ralph's grocery wearing very little

[HydroDave63]

ok.....who left the elephant trunk in the S/G before startup?!!?

[Already Gone]

I see that Unit 3 was still down yesterday.  Is that what happened?  You gotta love a nuke plant that schedules 20 days worth of work for 45 days, tries to impress themselves by getting it done in 35, and usually takes 50.

I really missed the place this time around.  Even though the money sucked big time, it was still better than unemployment, which is usually the only other option during a SONGS outage.  The weather is okay considering the season, the scenery (including at Ralphs) is prime, and there are a lot of things to do with all that time off you get.

I would never have gone there if there had been a paying job happening at the same time, but It was still worth the trip.

[sparkler]

Guicho's Eatery Is a great little italian resturaunt. Its mostly take out, but its VERY good. Its a great place to get food on your way to work. I'd suggest calling ahead though, that way your order is ready when you get there. Its only open for lunch and dinner though.

1110 S El Camino Real # B
(949) 481-1070 


Fat Burger is another good one if your on your way to work. I'm not sure what time they open in the morning, but depending on what time you have to work you might be able to pick up breakfast. Its a great stop for a quick dinner on your way to work. Again though i'd suggest calling ahead if your in a hurry.

1017 S El Camino Real
(949) 492-9182 

[usetobe]

Is "Surfin' Chcken" still around?  It used to be in the Ralph's shopping center back in the 80's.  Good Stuff.

[sparkler]

There isn't a ralphs there anymore, that closed quite a few years back. In fact the whole shopping center has changed, but the surfin chicken is still there. They've expanded there menu too. There is ALOT of different types of food there, but they still have the same chicken.

[AtomsApple]

I have not been there for a long time.  Wow, Ralphs is gone?  That is odd!  They are still huge in LA and Ventura counties.  The first time that I came to California, I was driving into San Clemente, it was night-time and there was this huge sign in the air for a grocery store called Alpha Beta.  I thought to myself "Now this is indeed a nuclear town!"  Alpha Beta got bought by Vons, so that experience is gone for 1st time NukeWorkers.  Too bad.

I can't remember the name of the restaraunt, but is was on the South side of El Camino Real, on the right.  It was a Japanese restaraunt.  They had this killer seafood soup, served in an iron bowl.  It was quite delicious!  Their other dishes were also quite excellent.  We used to eat there all of the time.

Near Surfin Chicken was a place called Stuft Crust Pizza that was great and also the best camera store that I have ever walked into.  I can't remember it's name though.  If you are into photography and that store is still there, check it out.