End of the Year

Remember when you were a kid and you struggled to stay awake until Midnight to welcome in the New Year.? Or when you were a twenty-something and you spent all day getting ready for the big party?  I guess I am just a boring old lady, because I am looking forward to doing NOTHING on New Year's Eve- well, by nothing, I mean I am looking forward to a quiet night on the couch with my husband and a movie.  Nothing nicer, at this stage of the game than having nothing but to do but that.  The holidays can be a mad whirl with too much to do and not enough time. New Year's Eve is a time to reflect and to look forward, isn't it?  Are you making resolutions?  I never much saw the point, but I usually resolve to have one new volunteer experience in the new year.  I will see where that takes me.  In the past, I have volunteered for Operation Gratitude ( still do that when I can)  the LA Marathon ( this will be our TENTH year out there, want to join me?) McGroarty Arts Center ( I'm on the Board, so you know how that one worked out!)  I also do a lot of volunteer stuff related to my job at LAPL.  I don't think I am supposed to do that, but it's MY time if I wish to show up on a Saturday and help out where I am needed.  The WORST experience I have ever had was with the Burbank Rose Parade float people.  They treated their volunteers horribly, it was almost like something out of Dickens, with some of us working on a very dusty project while those in charge stood around eating snacks and yelling at us for drinking WATER near the worktable.  You NEVER yell at volunteers, in my book.  It is the one place I will never go back to. Their behavior was elitist and quite rude, as if they were doing US a favor, by allowing us to work on their precious float.  Someday, I would like to work on a float again, but need to look into the "how" of it.  The rules can be confusing.  If you don't work before the end of the month, they won't accept you during the last week.  Makes sense I suppose, they don't have time to train you during "crush week".  Maybe next year I will look into it, just NOT Burbank.  The dust and the people left a bad taste in my mouth.

Happy New Year!  May we see better days in 2013!

Women's rights and other rants

I have been thinking about two news stories and I have to say something.  First, the horrific rape and murder in India.  Apparently this sort of crud happens a lot there and the response is that women should not leave their home or wear clothing that provokes attack.  WHAT?  This was the same lame excuse used by that dentist in the Midwest, whose mid-life crisis fantasies cost his assistant her job- one she had held for TEN YEARS.  Really? His wife found out he was "lusting in his heart" for the woman and demanded she be fired.  Nice.  Blaming the victim is popular in many cultures.  I can't tell you how many times I was told "you made me do that" as if this person had no free will of his own.  Are men SO weak that mere clothing forces them to behave like knuckle dragging Neanderthals?  There is a new movement afoot; one that focuses on teaching boys how to behave, not teaching girls how to avoid assault.  I doubt it will do much good, but I can always hope.  I have the same feeling about gun control.  I don't think this is the answer to problems like the one at Sandy Hook.  Attention to mental health issues might have done more good here.  They are yelling about the mother having guns in the house.  Do you really for one minute think that she would have kept them if she thought the boy would use them to kill her?  Who is to say they were not locked away, but he got to them anyway?  She paid the price along with the rest of the innocent victims.  It is probably not a popular thing to say, but she didn't deserve to die either. The kid had major mental health issues.  I wonder how much of his problems were being swept under the rug.  Guns in the schools won't solve the problem either.  Remember Virginia Tech?  They had their own police force.  Ft Hood was a military base, for crying out loud.  It is easy to say that these tragedies could have been prevented if everyone was packing, or if no one was packing.  But where do you draw the line?  Timothy McVeigh blew up a building using , among other things, fertilizer.  My point is that the crazy person will always be able to come up with something to cause mayhem. We need to figure out how to help them BEFORE they get to that point.

Friday morning musings

I was up earlier than usual this morning.  I kept having the same nightmare and got tired of falling back into it when I fell back to sleep, so I got up and petered around the kitchen.  I have taken a small "hiatus" from blogging, but am going to try to get back into writing SOMETHING every day.  Ray Bradbury wrote 1000 words every day.  I don't think I have THAT kind of drive.  I don't think in stories and I wonder how that is done?  I know I enjoy the act of putting something down on paper ( or in this case , on the screen) but I wonder how to start writing something that is fictional.  I was listening to a writer whose book I just finished listening to, talk about her approach to the creative process.  She said she doesn't know where the story will take her, she begins with a character and an incident and goes from there.  I might give that a try.  By nature, I am a "planner" and those who know me know that I try to see all the pitfalls that might occur before I set out on a project and plan accordingly.  It's probably not the best way to approach a creative project and I will need to learn to "go with the flow" more than I do.   I am probably a better manager than an artist, although I do enjoy the creative process it has been a long time since I have done anything I wanted to share ( other than these rather self-indulgent blogs, that is!)  So, my artistic friends,  how do YOU approach the creative process, do you think, or just feel and go?

So, this is Christmas

Of all the Christmas Carols running thru my head today, the John and Yoko Christmas song keeps replaying.  Not your traditional carol or even the novelty songs we sing sometimes.  I wonder why THAT song is ear-worming me this morning.

What does Christmas mean to me, I am wondering.  When you are a kid, it's presents and Santa and time off from school.  As an adult, I consider the holiday to be more about remembering friendships that have made the year better and a time for thanking people who are in my life.  It's certainly not about presents, and since I don't have a small child anymore, it's not about Santa.  The Winter holiday season is about reflecting on your blessings and letting people know you appreciate them.

The whole "Jesus is the reason for the season" thing drives me crazy.  Jesus is ONE reason for the season, not the only one.  I identify as Christian, but there ARE other holidays at this time.  I think that traditionally, Winter was a time when people slow down and had more time to reflect on things and gather together to celebrate life and the year that had passed.

This is Christmas Eve.  When I was a child, we would open our presents on Christmas eve.  My fatehr worked at  a restaurant and usually left for work around 11 pm.  When we were really little, my mom would put us to bed around 7 and scramble to get the presents under the tree and then wake us up telling us Santa had come.  That way, my Dad got to see us open the presents.  Christmas Day the house was opened for friends to stop by and visit.  When we got older,we would open them up around 8 pm.  It was hard to wait!  When I got married and had a child, my then-husband INSISTED we adhere to HIS family tradition of Christmas morning.  It never was the same for me.  I missed the Christmas Eve family time  The "Open one present" thing never worked for me either,  I want to open EVERYTHING Christmas eve.  I still find it hard to wait!

Now with my family scattered all over and unable to get together for one reason or another, this Christmas was a little blue.  I miss my folks.  I baked my mom's anise bells this year for the first time since she passed on.  I made her fruitcake ( she always made it without nuts for me when I became allergic as an adult).  I am looking forward to Christmas dinner with some dear old friends and some brand new ones.  I am making the traditional dish of the Myers family - Lasagna!

Here's another "Christmas Song" lyric that resonates   Greg Lake's "I believe in Father Christmas" ( in which he decries the commercialism of Christmas)

 I wish you a hopeful Christmas
I wish you a brave New Year
All anguish, pain and sadness
Leave your heart and let your road be clear.
They said "There'll be snow at Christmas"
They said "There'll be peace on Earth"
Hallelujah, Noel!
Be it Heaven or Hell
The Christmas we get we deserve.

So, if you are reading this, thank you for being in my life.  We may not talk every day, except online, but I am blessed to have so many people I can call my friends. May YOU get the Christmas you deserve, and I mean that not in a mean way but may you get all the joy of the season and none of the sorrow.

Merry Christmas!

Falling down on the job

Sigh.  I had meant to do this every day, and I TRIED, really I did, but some mornings I was just too fuzzy from lack of sleep and some mornings, I put my hands on the keyboards and.. nothing. 

So , today was supposed to be the "End of the World"  but that appears not to have happened.  It should have started yesterday anyway in Australia, right?  I always said they just ran out of room on the stone.  So much for the Mayan Apocalypse. 


I have been reading a lot about the Kennedy Administration lately.  I got the book and the recordings Jackie and Arthur Schlesinger Jr made in the months after the assassination.   Listening to her was like stepping back in time.  She had a cultured voice, her tone carefully measured.  I wondered how much she was holding back in those conversations.  At times she sounded tired, sometimes laughing, sometimes you can hear her straining to remember something.  Fascinating and quite brave to talk about things that were, to preserve them for future generations.  It could not have been an easy task.   There are some surprises in in, I had to rewind when she said she loathed the French.  I am sure she meant the French leaders, not the French people.  It's funny really, as in my mind I closely align her with things French, but she was more concerned with American history, although as a woman of the 50's she was not educated in that way.  I get the sense that women of her background were taught things they would need to host dinner parties and to run a household, not to discuss politics  or even to exercise critical thinking.  The fact that she went back to school after her marriage to Jack Kennedy speaks loudly to the type of woman she was and the type of marriage they had. You get a glimpse of that classic 50's mindset when she talks about NOT asking her husband about  his day and creating a perfect place for him to relax. Such a different time.  I don't think I could have done that, but then I was educated in a different manner. I am also trying to read "Death of a President"  which was the authorized book on the event. It is well written, but a difficult read right now.  A bit heavy for the holiday season. I remember exactly where I was when I heard about it; in  the back of my parents' green Pontiac at the corner of Bartee and Van Nuys.  My mom pulled the car to the curb and wept.  I was five.  I did not understand but she kept wailing about "that young man" and his children. 

Anyone want a fruitcake?   I seem to have one extra.  The first person reading this and responding can have it!  I love the fruitcake, but I have too many of them. I forgot to take it to a party I was going to, I took something else.  Chris and I shouldn't eat everything I bake.  We are almost done with the cookies. I gave most of them away or sold them at the McGroarty bakesale last weekend.  THAT was a great success, I think.  The place was packed with happy chili eating shoppers.  I sold the baked goods out- just about.  I was exhausted afterward and in a lot of pain.  It does my arthritis NO good to be standing in the cold for 8 hours.  The things we do for love, right?  I love the work we do in the Community, so this is part of my gift to them. 

Reality TV, Part 2

I was up late last night, baking.  I baked 6 1/2 dozen anise Silver bells.  I made  1/1/2 dozen haystacks.   SO I was watching tv in the livng room with my husband while I rolled out the cookies.  Last night was the big "build off" on that motorcycle show - actually I think there are three shows that do that sort of thing, they all look the same after a while.  No big shocks at the outcome.  Junior won ( again) I really was not enjoying what a HUGE GIT Jesse James is.  I keep thinking, "is he for real?"  He went so far as to insult the organizers of the competition, even after they bent over backward to give him extra time and make sure he could compete.  His bike was not all that special looking anyway.  He lost, but I am sure this morning he is blaming everyone else for it.  News flash, Jesse, being a "Bad boy" is one thing.  Being a complete a-hole is another.  You are not edgy, you're unlikeable.  Unrelenting ego with no redeeming qualities like compassion or even a sense of humor is not attractive.  I wonder what Sandra Bullock saw in this moron?

So, Dave Hester is claiming "Storage Wars" is staged.  Really!  What a shock!  Duh.  Hester is another one of those guys who was hired to play the "heavy" and when he loses the "game" takes his toys and goes home.  They "fired" him.  My husband loves that show, but not having to see his smirking face and hear him yell "YUUUUUP" when he bids is going to be a relief.  Maybe he's just a really good actor and he's rally a nice guy underneath it all.            Naw.


I will be baking my final round of cookies this evening.  The Silver bells set up nicely and I was thrilled with the results.  My cookies aren't magazine pretty, but they are baked with a lot of love. 

Christmas Traditions

I have begun my Christmas  baking, something my mother did every year.  It's hard to squeeze in the holiday baking along with long days at work and still being sick.  I saw my new doctor on Friday.  I like her ( whew!)  She talked to me about what is going on and she want to run more tests.  She gave me a new medication.  It is giving me very vivid nightmares.  UGH. I don't want to go back to sleep after one of them, so today might be interesting ( Coffee, work your magic)

My mom used to decorate the house at the first hint of December.   Me, not so much, and I really am having trouble getting into the holiday spirit.  Yesterday, I baked about 8 dozen chocolate chip cookies, five dozen oatmeal and four small fruit cakes.  I sugared the cranberries and will be baking cranberry bread this evening.  Maybe some more cookies.  I don't know how my mom did it all.  I wish she were here to ask.  The holidays are less bright without her, you know?

Still, I try my best to remember our traditions and bake and welcome our friends into our home.  I am looking forward to Christmas Day and dinner with friends.  I have to have Chris dig out MY favorite animated holiday special "A Wish for Wings that Work"  It's  Bloom County or Bill and Opus, but the message is good.  Opus wishes for wings that work, but finds that he alone has a special talent which will help to save Christmas.  Irreverent and sweet.  I enjoy it!  I have already seen "It's a Wonderful Life" too many times this year. The TV stations started showing it in the "One Movie Marathon"  I was talking about around Thanksgiving.  It makes it SO much less special when you run it into the ground that way.

Still, I hope the act of baking- if not the smell, as my sense of smell is on the fritz right now- will give me the Holiday spirit.  I am getting ready for the McGroarty Holiday Boutique this weekend.  Come on up and check it out. I usually work the bakesale.

John Lennon

I have been reading posts mourning the murder, 32 years ago, of John Lennon.  It doesn't seem that long ago, does it?  The most moving post was a plea from Julian not to make him too sad today.  I cannot imagine what it must be like to have the pain of this loss tossed in your face every year.  Most of the people posting, I am fairly certain, never knew or even met John Lennon.  We knew his music, not him.  When I think about John Lennon, which I sometimes do when I hear some of his music, I try to remember not how he died, but how he lived.  How his music touched and moved a generation. How his words and his melodies will continue to resonate, long after all of us are gone as well.  His music makes us dance, laugh sing and dream.  We think about the themes of anger and hope that carry through his work and the promise of the work he was beginning again in 1980;the thoughtful man he had become from the brash young "mop top" of our youth.  We miss the public John, the witty public face he presented.  There is a line from a poem about JFK  "What he was, he was.  What he is fated to become depends on us.  Remembering his death, how we choose to live will decide it's meaning."  Wise words when anyone dies, but especially poignant in the death of someone with so much more to do.  So for today, do not mourn John, celebrate him.  Sing dance and laugh. Listen to some good music. Rejoice.

Friday musings

A lot on my mind this morning...

Pearl Harbor Day.  I am thinking about my dad and about his brother, a man I never met.  My father's brother was at Pearl Harbor.  He witnessed the attack but like so many who were there could do nothing.  It must have been the most helpless feeling in the world.  Terrifying to be in the middle of that attack.  My dad said his brother was never "right" after that. Today we would call it PTSD, back then they were just told to deal with it.  I think that this in part lead to the falling out between the brothers; although Dad always said his brother had a different mindset and work ethic than he did.  I never met my Dad's brother, nor his children, although I know about them and I know their names.  Living out here in California, I don't really know any of my cousins, except the ones I talk to via Facebook.  Strange.

I am interviewing another doctor today and hope it will go well.  This last bout of asthma was the last straw with my former doctor.  I went to him in JULY to talk about my asthma and ask to be put back on the meds.  Now, Kaiser will "roll a pill " at just about anything, but he refused.  Wouldn't listen!  I have been asthmatic for about 15 years.  I know the warning signs.  I was having trouble.  This doctor just gave me a rescue inhaler and told me to use it.  I hate that.  The rescue inhaler just makes me feel spacy, breathing but spacy.  The maintenance meds keep me on an even keel.  So, it is with great hope I go to find a doctor I can trust.  Admittedly, this last guy gave me an inkling of what he would be like by having his nurse call me after I made an appointment to admonish me to "be on time.  Doctor hates it when patients are late"  EXCUSE ME?  I haven't even seen him yet and he assumes I am going to be late?  WTF?  I thought that was incredibly rude.

I got my car back.  I hope they put the oil in it.  Maybe I should check before I drive it.  The tow company brought it back to the house yesterday.  I hope my little car is ok!

St Nicholas Tag and cars.

It's St Nicholas Tag ( or St Nicholas Day) a children's holiday and the official start in my mind of the Christmas Holiday season.  On this day, children who have left a shoe out find a small gift inside the shoe.  I no longer have any children in the house,and I didn't have a chance to get anything anyway.  I've been super busy.  Am I ready for the holidays?  Nope.  I am thinking about baking this weekend, planning to do a bunch of it.  We will see.  My energy is zippo.  I have been running so hard ( not literally, but you know)  I have burned out.  I am trying to recharge my batteries.  Maybe getting into the holiday spirit will help.  I don't have time for the usual holiday courtesies at work.  I find myself WAY behind in where I want to be with my workload, so no parties for me. It's ok, really.  Like I said, I am having trouble finding my Merry this Christmas.

My car is still in the shop.  The starter was fixed ( whew) but the tow company damaged the transmission oil pan so they have it and are repairing it.  I hope they do a good job!  I will probably have someone I trust check out the work to make sure it's ok.  I was NOT happy that they did that, nor was I happy that the girl I spoke with at the tow yard tried to give me attitude about it.  TRIED.  I was NOT having any of it.  She intimated that WE had caused the problem!  Hello??   I was UNDER the car trying to find the starter so we could replace it. I would have been covered in transmission fluid if it had been leaking before they towed it.  I certainly didn't crack the part.  I hope I get my little car back today.  I miss it.

Serendipity

I am very interested in tracing my family tree. It turns out, my father's family had a pretty interesting American background.  One part came over with William Penn, and the Myers line served in the Revolutionary War.  My dad's great-grandfather was a prosperous mill owner, so much so that there is a school named after him in Cheltenham PA.  Pretty cool.  I have been looking for information about him and his wife, Jane, to no avail.  Yesterday, on a whim, I googled the school to see if I could find a picture of the front of the school to add to my FB page.  No luck but what I DID find was the site "Find-a- grave"  I went there and Lo and behold found someone had posted a small bio of Benjamin and Jane MCCABE Myers.  Wow.  I had been looking for her maiden name for ages and just tripped across her.  One more piece of the puzzle fitted!  Now I have to find Charles Parvin's wife Elizabeth and I will have gotten all of that side complete in my mind.  It's pretty cool to think of all of these people and what their lives were like.  I love history when it is not dry facts but the story of people.  I suppose I could use this information to file for membership in the DAR, an organization my mom thought was great, but I am not so sure.  Funny, I don't think she ever knew about my dad's family history, I don't think he knew all that much either although he did tell me about the William Penn connection once in passing.  I think if she had known, she might have encouraged me to apply.  I don't know at this point if I should.  Maybe I need to look into the organization to see if there  is any compelling reason for me to pursue it.

Getting too old for this

I swear, we have been at Kaiser so many times the last few weeks, the front counter people greet us like we work there.  This is getting old.- maybe this IS getting old, if you read me right.  In any case, it is not how I want to spend my days.

I have been so tired and on edge lately..  The other day, someone I have known for a long time thought it was appropriate to YELL at me, first via a nastygram email - then on the phone.  Someone I have worked with for a long time, on and off for years.  I stood my ground on the phone, but after I hung up , I struggled not to cry.  I felt like if I started I would not stop.  I hate crying.  I feel like I am weak, just some weepy girl.  NOT a good feeling.  I think it's because I am tired.  Still fighting off the asthma, I ran out of the Qvar and have been wheezing and coughing for two days.  YUCK.

Well, it's December 1 and we are in the last month of the year.  I am not even ready for Christmas, Just thinking about the ornaments and the decorations at this point.   Maybe tomorrow.  I need to find my Christmas spirit.  Given some of the events of the past few weeks, I may have some trouble finding it.

Wasting time

I seem to have begun wasting a lot of time playing games on Facebook.  I know.  It's hard not to play, even though it's almost pointless.  Those games that require you to recruit friends in order to advance.  Really?  It reminds me of pyramid schemes in the 80's.  You drag your friends in with promise of riches and they may or may not get screwed, based on where in the scheme you bring them in.  The only way to win is not to play.

I have been reading Sally Bedell Smith's HUGE book on Queen Elizabeth.  It's slightly gossipy, with a great deal of admiration for the woman and the work she does.  You may argue that she doesn't do anything much and maybe you are right.  As an American I have no clue what she really does in relation to English government. The woman is a walking PR campaign for England.  She IS the public face of the nation.  I loved how this summer she "broke character" as it were and did that skit with Daniel Craig for the Olympics.  She always seemed to have NO sense of humor at all ala Queen Victoria.  The book asserts that her mother and her grandmother taught her that smiling in public is bad form.  Poor thing.  The book is well written, but so big I am struggling with it.  It does not help that those pesky Facebook games are getting in the way.

Televison

Is it me or is television getting worse?  I remember the song with the line "57 channels and nothing on"  Now we have hundreds of them and they offer the same dreck on most of them.  Reality TV.  BLEH.  I keep meaning to watch TV shows I hear are good, but by the time I get to them, the networks have yanked them in favor of rerunning some crud that wasn't good the first time around.   Unlike some leftovers, the flavors don't improve the next day.  There is also a new trend, the one film marathon.  They keep showing the same movie over and over. Don't they have anything quality they can show you?  I LOVE the Wizard of Oz, but I think it ran for 24 hour straight over Thanksgiving. It reminds me of going to the movies when I was a kid.  They would sell you a ticket and you could go in and watch the movie, it just kept playing over and over.  They didn't clear the theater, you'd just wait until you got to the point you came in and then leave.  My Dad used to say "This is where we came in at"  now I see that kid from Two and a half men is telling people not to watch the show.  Want to bet it's a marketing ploy to get viewership?  Sounds like it.  I am not belittling his beliefs, if that is what the true cause of this is, but why doesn't he just quit if the show is so contrary to his beliefs?  By doing this, he is bringing more attention to the show, which I never really watched anyway.  I am not going to start now, just to see what this latest tempest in the teacup is all about.

Switching gears.  I don't think I finished my "Thankfuls, so I will be posting a few more:

Medical coverage- I have been to Kaiser so many times in the last month it's not funny.  Thank goodness for the coverage that allows me and Chris to be treated.
Leftovers- Turkey, enough said
Good neighbors- I may have posted that one, but when you have had terrible neighbors, you learn to appreciate the good ones.


I just looked out my window.  The clouds were catching the rays of the sun and are this beautiful cotton candy pink in an impossibly blue sky.  My daughter tells me I don't see color right, maybe I don't see color the same way other people do, red often looks orange for instance.  I appreciate the colors I do see and the way they lift my heart.

San Diego and the Zoo

Chris and I had been given two free passes to the Zoo when we bought tires for his car.  What better time to use them than on our anniversary trip to one of my favorite cities, San Diego?

We used Hotwire to get a hotel room and got a good deal at the Best Western in Hotel Circle.  It's really retro outside.  It reminded me of places we would stay when we were kids.  Inside,the decor was supposed to be tropical, but it was pure cheese.  The bed was comfortable and the bathroom was clean.  They had coffee; weak tea-like coffee but coffee nonetheless.  Free WiFi  I don't require much so this was good.  We DID have two problems.  The first thing happened when they needed a deposit on the credit card, so I handed them one I had just cleared a decent amount on.  Declined?  hmm, I gave her a different card, because I did not want to hassle with it and that one was accepted.  When I got back to the room I brought up the account and found  that the amount had cleared  and was being held on this card AND the second one as well.  I am glad I had simply cleared the cards and not been counting on them to pay for the vacation.  It would have taken a serious bite out of the fun.  The second thing is really a bit of advice.  NEVER ask a twenty-something for good places to eat.  She waxed rhapsodic about the Cheesecake Factory.  Nothing wrong with the Cheesecake Factory, but I was looking for some good local cuisine.  I know Anthony's, but Chris isn't big on seafood. They gave us a coupon for the cafe in the hotel and as it had been a long day and a long drive AND we had started the trip with an outstanding meal at Yuca's on Hollywood, we opted for diner at the hotel.  It was pretty good and relatively inexpensive.   They had a bar connected to it so I ordered not one but TWO drinks.  They were quite potent and tasty.  Service was good.

Breakfast at the hotel  was not as good.  I think the food was mostly microwaved, but the waitress was a sweetheart. She kept us laughing  I just don't like nuclear fried bacon.  The coffee wasn't any better than what they had in the rooms.  

We decided against taking the proffered shuttle to the Zoo ( the girl at the front desk told me parking was "like $15 at the zoo- it was free)  The shuttle left the hotel at 8:30 and came back at 5.  Too long a day for us, so we decided even if parking WERE 15 bucks it would be worth it  to have the car right there if we wanted to leave.  The passes included bus tours and the Sky Way. It was a perfect day to be outdoors, not too warm and not too cold. There was no wind!  We decided to take the bus that you can get on on off to see the animals, rather than the guided tour. We opted out of the Sky Way.  One of the things I remember about the guided tour is that people will get up and lean over you if the animal they guide is featuring is on the other side of the bus.  It sucks having some stranger hang over you to try to take a photo of an animal that you can barely see as the bus slides by the exhibit.  We looked on the map and decided which animals we really wanted to see.  LA has a pretty good Zoo and we went to the one in San Francisco when we were there. I love giraffes, and the San Diego Zoo has a feed the giraffe event. It was fun to watch the kids feed to giraffes. We saw the pandas and just past the pandas they had a sake tasting area!  Lovely if you enjoy cold sake, which I do.  There are sake's made to be enjoyed cold and I had had a few of these before.  We saw the polar bear exhibit, which was great, but the bears were not playful and ignored the keeper attempt to get them interested in playing.  One bear looked at the ball that was tossed with a distinct "you threw it YOU get it" look.

We were pretty tired when we left the Zoo and went back to the room to rest and regroup.  I have already talked about the restaurant we found on Yelp, Pomegranate.  I am already talking to friends about going back for a day trip!

We checked  out of the hotel and went to a local place in Hotel Circle for breakfast.  The food was unremarkable and the coffee was weak.  I need to find a decent place for coffee down there!  We cashed in some two dollar lottery winners at a local liquor store and had a lot of fun going back in about five times as we won a dollar of two with each new ticket.  I don't know if the counter man at the liquor store was amused or annoyed.  The rain was just starting to come in as we drove home.  We ended our trip where it began, at Yuca's on Hollywood.  I needed a burrito, and a decent cup of coffee.

Happy Thanksgiving

I posted this as a "status" on my Facebook page:

"Thanksgiving is no longer really about the myth of the Pilgrims, it's a day to remember our blessings or what we are most thankful for. I am thankful for the love of my family and friends. I am truly one of the luckiest people in that regard and I appreciate it every day, NOT just the fourth Thursday in November."

 

It has become popular of late to disparage the holiday as celebrating Imperialism and to bemoan the fact that the Pilgrims were not nice to the Native people.   Well, you cannot change the past and as we move forward, the meaning of the holiday has certainly changed.  For me, it is the calm before the storm, a time to celebrate friends, food and family.  For merchants it is the day before ( or in some really icky cases the day OF) the start of the Christmas Frenzy season.  Christmas too has lost it's meaning.  It seems to be more about shopping and getting presents than the original intent of the season.  No matter what your religion, the Winter Holidays are about taking time to reflect on the year and to honor what good has come, also to mourn the losses.  But today is Thanksgiving.  I am thankful to be able to invite friends into our home to share a meal, to talk to people all over the country and all over the world to let them know I am thinking about them.  Happy Thanksgiving , everybody!

Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart

I wrote this "Story" a while back, but like most of what I write, I was not accepted for publication .  Re-reading it, I suppose I can see why but I am not adding to it just now.


I knew the day I met him that I wanted to marry Chris.  He told me he had never been married and was not going to get married, so when he proposed, I was stunned and thrilled.  We began to plan a small March wedding, but in October, my father’s illness became worse and he let me know that he probably would not be around to walk me down the aisle in March.  After I dried my tears, I sprung into action.  “We are getting married NOW” I told my stunned fiancé, grabbing my date book.  I called my friend who had promised to officiate who agreed to the new date. I called the park where I already had a deposit to rent a “shelter” area and they agreed to change the date. NOW we were both in business and in trouble.  We did not have the money to have the wedding we had planned.  We agreed the only thing that mattered was having both our parents there and marrying each other.  The rest was “gravy” .  We began calling people to tell them about the change in plans.  Our friends, knowing our situation, offered to help us in any way possible.  Several friends offered to buy the food, another bought the cake, another provided the flowers and a few more did all the decorations.  I let go of any control, trusting my dear friends. Their gifts would make the wedding we had planned possible.

The day arrived; a beautiful clear November day that only the California desert can enjoy.  It was just warm enough for the outdoor wedding we had planed .  I was relaxed and relieved.  Just before I was going to leave my father’s house for the wedding, my cell phone rang.  It was Chris, as upset as I had ever heard him.  Chris is a musician and he had spent three days getting together all the music for the wedding.  I had been assured by the park staff that the outlets in the “shelter” worked.   “There’s no electricity” he said flatly. “We won’t have any music”  We talked for a few minutes trying to come up with alternatives.  Although a lot of our friends are musicians,  but we had told them to leave their instruments at home- a three hour drive for most of them. We wanted them to be guests and not performers. “We just won’t have any music”  I said.  We reminded each other that the only important thing was that we were going to be married.

When I got to the park, my daughter who was my maid-of-honor  came up to me, eyes wide. “There’s NO music”  she said  “what do I do?”  “Just walk, and walk SLOWLY because I have Opa (our name for my father)with me”    We were ready and we started down the sidewalk that would serve as the aisle.  I felt the tears at the back of my eyes  ‘Don’t CRY’ I reminded myself  ‘Your makeup will run and you’ll look like a raccoon.’   I looked down the aisle at Chris.  “YES” my heart said “YES” 

I took a step and then I heard them.  Our crazy, loving friends were giving us one more gift.  They were SINGING the wedding march; including two of my crazier friends who were actually doing the trumpet flairs. Perfect, I thought. My father and I started laughing.  We laughed all the way down the aisle.



I Love you, Christopher Myers.  Happy 3rd anniversary.

Asthma cures

I have adult onset asthma.  It sucks, literally and figuratively.  Last Friday, instead of doing things to get ready for our vacation, Chris and I were at Kaiser, trying to get some relief for my constant coughing and not breathing routine.  I  kept insisting on a breathing treatment which helped for a day or so but yesterday it was back to the same old wheeze.I am exhausted.  I missed seeing my friend, the talented Cindy Alexander last Thursday because I was too wiped out to move.  This cannot continue.  I am tired of being over medicated, just to function.  The one thing that seems to help is to get into the car and turn the AC on full blast.  MY car doesn't have AC - it's been out for a long time and I can usually deal with the heat better than Chris.   I have been looking for alternative medicines, more natural remedies, but frankly they sound to far fetched to work.  My personal favorite advised heating a banana over a gas flame and coating it with black pepper.  That sounds worse than not being able to breathe,( well, not really)  I wonder if there are any testimonials about that.  The post was from one person, who sounded a little bit nuts IMHO.  I have been drinking hot tea with honey to soothe my throat and to tamp down the tickle.  I am on antibiotics; apparently it has defaulted to asthmatic bronchitis, although the doctor didn't inform me of that, I had to read her diagnosis on my email from Kaiser.  On our vacation, I did a lot of sleeping.  NOT the way I had my time off planned, but I guess I needed it.   I am lucky to have a caring husband.  We did some of the things we had planned, but had to scale way back, as I was just in no shape to do much of anything.  More on San Diego tomorrow.

Great meal!

It's our anniversary,sort of, so I wanted to go someplace off the beaten track for our celebration meal.  We are in San Diego so we looked on Yelp for places that fit the following:  Not to terribly expensive, casual attire  and NOT a chain.  We found it in ""Pomegranate"  advertised as Eastern European /Russian.  I had had Russian food before, but Chris did not know what to expect.

We arrived at the little restaurant which is next to a bar in the College section of town.  The decor was eclectic; bench seating at marble tabletops which were braced on rough-hewn logs.  The person who seated us was apparently one of the owners. We asked about beer.  They have 67 types I think he said,  We described what we were looking for and he brought us a perfect match.  For those of you who know me, I don't usually drink beer, but this type of food calls for it.  We ordered an appetizer of a meat pastry that came with a delicious yogurt dill sauce.  So far so good!  They brought us two kinds of bread, a light flaky roll and some very dark, almost wet rye bread.  Yummy.  Then the food came!  Chris got a barbecued lamb skewer and I got a house specialty, a chicken dish called ( I believe) Georgian Eagle.  Both dishes were large and very satisfying. The lamb had a sweet glaze and my chicken was smothered in all kinds of veggies with LOADS of garlic.  I love garlic.  It was heavenly.

We were stuffed but I had to try the dessert.  The waitress recommended the honey cake.  She was right! It was like a cheesecake but MUCH lighter.  Chris at first declined but I made him try a bite.  We did not intend to, but we finished the whole plate.  WOW

This is a place to check out, the price was modest for what we got, the service was great. I am both glad and upset that it's not closer to us. I would probably eat there far too often if it weren't a three hour drive.

Hotel rooms

When I go on vacation, I don't need anything fancy- just like the old Motel 6 commercials I simply require a "clean comfortable room"  Free WiFi is nice.    I often look at the sign posted in the room to see what they SAY the cost of the room is  THIS room is 75 bucks a night!  Now, mind you I am not paying that much and for 75 bucks, there had better be more than two rough towels in the bathroom and a miniscule container of shampoo/conditioner ( which by the way NEVER works all that well)  I am not complaining well maybe just a bit- but  I do wonder why they elevate the cost of the room so much.  This room is nice and clean and the bed was comfortable and except for  a late night WWF grudge match that went on next door it is quiet ( it sounded like kids bouncing each other off the walls, not a "film at eleven opportunity)

Up early and drinking in room coffee ( another nice perk, you know how I can be without my java)  Thinking about breakfast and a long anticipated trip to the Zoo.

No Whining, Part 3

It's my first day of "real" vacation- yesterday I WAS off, but working for my Union.  I am the current election chair.  I am disappointed that only HALF of those eligible  to vote cast a ballot.  Yet, these people will whine, moan and complain that "THEIR" Union isn't doing anything for them.  uh..  HELLO?????  YOU ARE the Union.  If you don't participate in the process, then you are letting someone else make your decisions for you.  We will be having another election regarding affiliation in December.  I am going to be working on a GOTV on this.  My angle is simple.  Inform yourself.  Vote the way that works best for you.  Someone told me that as a Steward, it's my place to tell our member how to vote.  I humbly disagree.  We are a Union of educated professionals.  My responsibility, as I see it, is to guide them to the information and LET THEM MAKE THEIR OWN CHOICE!   We are grown ups ( well, most of us)

So.. what am I doing today?  That's RIGHT- I am off to Kaiser.  I give up.  The asthma is winning and I need bigger ammo to beat it  down.  I am going to DEMAND a breathing treatment.  Chris and I are celebrating our 3rd anniversary with a real, honest to goodness weekend of time alone!  Asthma would just be a third wheel here.

Just in case you think I forgot, here are my" thankfuls " for today

Medical care
Vacation Days
Rain
My neighbors ( one of whom came over this morning to DEMAND I go to the doctor!  She said she was worried about me)

Trying not to whine, Part II

I will say this to start with , I do not enjoy political discussions with people who resort to name calling and then slyly deny they meant anything by it.  I guess I am not cut out for politics.  There is only one person who does this and I have blocked him ( yeah I had to resort to that) so he probably won't be reading the blog.  Those of you with whom I have had "friendly" disagreements with, I treasure our friendship.  But on to the thankful portion of my day

I am thankful for:
My family
Libraries ( yeah I know I work in one, but don't they just make life BETTER?)
The internet- I have found friends and family and music and LOVE via the internet
People with a sense of humor
Memories of my father and my mother and some of the things they would always say to me.  I find myself  "channeling' them both, more and more these days.


I know that is only 5 but I am going to be late if I don't stop this for now.   I am doing some work for my Union this morning, before I begin my much needed vacation- HEY   I am thankful for VACATIONS!

Whining- and trying not to whine.

Lately, all I seem to be doing and all I seem to be hearing is whining and complaining.  The elections are over and people are acting like it's the End Of the World.  All those States petitioning to secede?   Because your guy lost?  Whatever happened to making this a better Nation and contributing? How Kindergarten is it to "take your toys and go home"  I would like to think the Democrats would not have reacted this way, but I honestly don't know.  My own blogs seem to point more toward complaint than resolution.  So... 

It's almost Thanksgiving and I am not doing that thing on Facebook where you post once a day  what you are thankful for.  Maybe I will try to come up with a list of thirty and see how it stacks up.  For today, I am thankful for:


My husband
Coffee
Friends
Work that means something
Beautiful clear crisp November days
Food in my kitchen
a good night's sleep
Music
Books
My apartment and the fact that I have a place to call home


There.  That's ten.  More tomorrow, I think.

Long Overdue performance review

Pardon how long it took for me to make these remarks, as the show came in the middle of all those trips back and forth to Twenty-nine Palms and the return of the Asthma Monster.  Between that and the elections, well I just plain FORGOT I hadn't written anything.

A few months ago, my friend from Australia sent me a link to the band "Winter People"  They have a unique sound including two violinists. The rhythms are vaguely "tribal'   by that I mean closer to the land and to the sounds of the earth; somewhat Celtic ( MY tribe) and at once soothing and jarring.  Interesting.  I was Thrilled to learn that they would be playing two nights here in Los Angels, though NOT thrilled at the timing as it was SMACK in the middle of my driving days.  Ah well...

We went to see them at Witzend, a new little place on Lincoln Blvd in Venice. The club itself is charming and the owner greets EVERYONE.  Very friendly.  His waitress seemed a bit harried- the band  who were on when we walked in had PACKED the house and I think she was the only server.  The don't carry Bushmill's.  Jamieson's will do in a pinch but I prefer Bushmill's.  Nice place and we will probably go back, maybe see about dinner there as well.

I don't know where the name of the band comes from, but I remember reading a book with that title years ago, about a girl who marries into a family whom she dubs "The Winter People"  Pale in complexion and cold of heart, if I remember the story.  NOT the case here! 


Winter People played an abbreviated set, due to some mechanical difficulties, they were a bit behind in starting.  What a wonderful sound they have.  I had received JUST THAT MORNING a copy of the CD "A Year at Sea"  and had listened to a few tunes at work.  I really like the song "Top of the World"  but the whole CD is pretty darn good.  Live, they were wonderful to watch.  They had a substitute bass player who was taking cues from the drummer and doing a pretty fair job of keeping up.  The interaction between the band members, the fun they were having, made for a pretty good show.  I enjoyed them so much I wish I had been able to see them the second night, but I was leaving town in the morning.  I hope they come back to the States SOON!

I will review the CD as soon as I can get it loaded to my MP3 player and can listen uninterrupted on the subway.  They have a Facebook page.  Go there and check out the music.  You won't be disappointed.

Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day.  It used to be called Armistice Day.  The Official end of World War I- The War to End All Wars" or "The Great War" depending on which side of the pond you are-was on the Eleventh month, on the eleventh day at the eleventh hour.  World War II kind of put that notion, one of no more war, to rest.  But today I pause to sat, THANK YOU, to those brave souls who put themselves in harm's way to protect my freedom.  Recently, with all this nastiness surrounding the election, it has been suggested that those of us who voted the Democratic ticket are less than patriotic.  I have to take exception to that.  I would be willing to bet there are actually Service members, both past and present who may have voted for the Democrats.  I was raised by a WWII vet.  My family has served in every major conflict since the Revolutionary War.  I get a lump in my throat when I am at a parade and the flag comes by.  I sing the National Anthem, not just mouth it but give it all I've got, when it is sung at an event I am attending.  I vote in EVERY single election I can. Yes I vote mostly on the side of political causes that I believe in which lean toward the liberal,but here's my point.  The whole point of freedom is the right to say what you feel and to try to participate in the process of making things better.  If we all just nodded and let one side have their say and one side have all the power without a give and take between the ideological differences, wouldn't that be...Totalitarianism?  We have the right- no the DUTY- to make our disagreement with policies or laws known and move forward, together, to make a change.  I was brought up with the credo "I may not agree with what you say but I defend to the death your right to say it." Isn't that what the last few wars have been about?

Thank you, Veterans and those who are currently serving, who protect my rights and my freedoms.  I am forever in your debt.

"Unmentionables"

Isn't THAT an old-fashioned word?  I love it.  Yesterday , I trotted over to my local Victoria's Secret to buy new Unmentionables.  I am, let's face it, voluptuous!  I want good garments.  BUT VS seems to think that only smaller, less "blessed", girls deserve cute sexy things.  NOT!  Every time I go into a store, the well meaning sales clerks, including guys, steer my aged body toward granny panties and what I call Kevlar bras.  I want a BRA, not a bullet proof vest., I an not expecting an assassination attempt.  Sheesh.  Women of my size and age want to feel sexy- well I do.  I may be over-sharing here, but like the mother in the comic 9 Chickweed Lane who wears jungle themed undergarments, I think it's nice to be comfortable AND sexy under your clothes. Is it too much to ask?  Apparently.  I told the girl yesterday I did not NEED any extra padding in my bras and she sadly said they didn't carry anything else in my size.  Thankfully, the website did, but I think the stores are missing the point.  The sales people work on a partial commission.  Who has more money to spend?  THAT'S RIGHT!   Women "of a certain age"  and size!  I have given up going into their stores, which is sad, because I actually enjoy shopping.  Well, sometimes.  But I am not buying perfume or lotions from a website on the off chance I like it, and I am less likely to see new products there while I am looking for something.  I have less "browsing" patience when I am home looking for a specific item than I would in a brick and mortar store.  I wonder if that's just me, or if everyone feels that way?

Doctors

A sort rant on how, since medical care and Pharmaceuticals have become BIG business, patient care has declined.

I am asthmatic; adult onset means I will NOT"grow out of it"  I am stuck with it.  Lately, my asthma has been raging out of control.  My doctor took me OFF the maintenance med I had been taking and just gave me the "rescue" inhaler.  I know that  if I have to use it more than twice a week, the asthma is going bonkers.  I was using the darn thing twice a DAY.  It makes me spacy ( well spacier than usual) so I went back to Kaiser and saw a different doctor ( my doctor is so busy he didn't have any time to see me.)  This doc put me back on the meds, but with half the dosage. Then I caught a cold. That and the lack of sleep lately combined to make the asthma ROAR back.  Can't breathe.  BACK to the doctor.  My doctor is overloaded with patients, apparently.  I HAD a doctor I loved, one who took the time to really listen to me and to treat the WHOLE me, not just the symptom. He was always backed up with patients , so they reassigned him to have NO regular patients.  I was NOT happy, let me tell you!  My current doctor barely makes it into the room when he is thinking of the next patient.  It's a sad state of affairs when you know your doctor is just trying to figure out what it will take to get you out of the office quickly so he can "hit his mark" and see all the patients he has for the day. I want to cure the problem, not just mask the symptoms.  Medical care these days seems to want to roll a pill at something and shove you out of the office.  I feel like a car on the assembly line.  NEXT!  This doctor tried to put me on Prednizone.  I hate that.  It makes me edgy and irritable.  I don't need meds for that   I am ALREADY edgy and irritable. I told him no thank you.

Over the next few weeks, I am going to buckle down and see what I can do to manage my asthma with LESS medication.  The present solution is to double up on the meds until it stabilizes.  I hate that.  Sometimes, I think Big Pharma is more the problem than the solution, that we have become so dependent on pharmaceutical, we forget that our bodies may just  need more water and more sleep, or are reacting to something we are eating.  Don't know, but for now, I am breathing, not wheezing.

Election ramblings

Now that the election is over, I will be glad to move forward and not be bombarded with political ads and my mailbox will not be full of slick mailers ( which I do not read, they go right into the bin).  I will NOT be getting phone calls, asking me who I am voting for.  I never tell anyone who calls.  The ballots are SECRET for a reason, I figure.  My friends who are on the other side of the political arena and I can get back to talking about things that really matter- like music and children and how they are doing health-wise.  Now is the time to heal.  I think we should all remain a part of the political process as we try to make our country strong again.  Lincoln said "A house divided against itself cannot stand"  We need to come TOGETHER to figure out how to fix the problems, not argue about who caused the mess, but work to get it fixed.  We waste time and energy blaming one another.  What is, IS.  What we need to do is to try to use our intellect to make a change in what is.  Both parties need to look at what is best for America, not just one group of American, but for all of us.  It is not going to be easy and not without pain, but we can do it if we work together.  Now that Obama is in his last term, maybe those whose stated objective was to see him fail will shelve that and begin to look to the future of this county.  There are larger issues here than whose party is in "power".  ONLY by working together can we repair this country and move forward.

Rest In Peace Maggie Costa

I woke up this morning, fully intending to talk about the importance of casting a ballot.  The first post I read was from my friend Janice, telling us that Maggie has crossed over.  She had hoped to make it to the New Year.  I am stunned.  She went so quickly.   My heart grieves for her family.  Life is just not fair and this is just another reminder of that.  So today, I will think about her and try to remember to be a little more patient.  I will try to remember that Maggie is in a place where she is free of pain and worry.  We never got the chance to meet in person, but I considered her a friend.  She fiercely loved the 49ers and the band America, which was our bond.  Maggie, in the words of the song whose title was your screen name "I'm gonna miss you, yes I will."   I wish we had been able to enjoy a beer and a concert together.  You will be in my heart.

Baking

Guess what I found at the store yesterday?  DATE BREAD MIX.  You know what that means, right? No.  Not date bread-  FRUITCAKE!  Now I know what you are thinking. YUCK!This is my mom's fruitcake recipe, and scoff though you may, I will tell you it's irresistible.  I made it last year and was invited to a last minute party.  I brought the fruitcake to share, cut in bite size squares, because fruitcake has a bad reputation.  When I went back to get some. IT WAS GONE!  I picked up the empty tin and the hostess said "did you bring that?  where did you get it? everyone loved it"  I told her "I made it" I think she didn't believe me.

Holiday baking has been a tradition since I was a small child.  My mother loved Christmas and would spend what seemed to me weeks of baking cookies to give to friends and neighbors.  I one baked- no lie- 90 dozen cookies to give away at Christmas.  That was when I was married the first time.  My ex husband had quite a sweet tooth and I think I only baked that many to be sure I would have some to give away!  Once, when we were newlyweds, I came home from work to bake cookies for a bakesale fundraiser for school.  I baked 7 1/2 dozen sugar cookies and went off to bed.  He asked me if he could have a few cookies.  I said sure.  To be fair, who can resist a warm sugar cookie and the smell was filling the small apartment.  I got up in the morning to package the cookies.  Remember I said there were 7 1/2 dozen?  On the cooling rack on the table there were TWO DOZEN left.   Yes.  He ATE 5/12 dozen cookies.  In one night.  I still can't believe it and it's been well over 30 years.

I will be gathering the ingredients to bake some of my mom's Christmas classics.  I think I want to make her Santa face cookies, but I will see if I have the patience. Her Anise bells.  Maybe Lebcuchen , but I have to find a good substitute for the almonds, as I cannot even handle them, I am so allergic.  We'll see.  This won't happen, of course, until early December.  I need to block out time on the calendar to bake.  It's a lot of work, but it is something that makes me feel close to my Mom.  I miss her terribly and the holidays without her are sad in some ways.  Baking cookies and some fruitcake helps.

The Internet

The Internet is a wonderful thing.  Information and amusement at your fingertips 24 hours a day.  You can connect with people you will never meet and find friends from long ago and reconnect.  Sometimes, people in your past are better left there, I fear.  Sometimes, you connect with someone you remember fondly, only to find that they and you have grown in such a way as to be diametrically opposed in thought.  Some of these people you can still connect with, if they agree to have rational discussions with you.  In some cases, you can almost see the foam on their mouths as they attack you personally when you DARE to disagree that the world is flat ( well maybe not that the world is flat , but you know what I mean.)  So what to do about that?  We have been cyber friends for a while, but this election seems to be bringing out the worst in people. In one case, I have hidden a person's postings until after the election, but they come and rant on mine.  I don't post too many political things, but I DO and when I do it is because I believe in what is being said.  Some people can twist your words around and you wind up defending an assault that comes at you from all angles.  I keep remembering the computer's words in "War Games"  ( probably not an exact quote but) "Strange game.  The only way to win is not to play."  Someone said, and it IS true, that on Wednesday morning half the country is going to be pissed off.  I just hope there are no shenanigans like the Bush/Gore election.   Redonkculous.  I think I will just be playing Gardens of Time and Words with Friends until then.

On My Mind

I've been away for a few days, taking care of some family business.  I am happy to say it all went VERY well.  I came down with the cold that has been going around my office- all this travel and worry over the last few weeks wore me down.  I am planning on spending MOST of the day in bed, after I go to the store and replenish the larder.

I give credit to books on cd for getting me to and from.  I have put over 1,200 miles on the car in the last week and a half ( probably time for an oil change) and at some points the ONLY thing keeping me awake enough to drive was the book I was listening to.  I am more tired than I can remember being. Ever. I cannot find the spark of energy that I usually have.  I am going to TRY to sleep all day today, but the kids in the apartment complex I live in probably have other ideas.  Our bedroom fronts on the courtyard where the kids play sometimes.  It can get noisy.  I can't complain.  They are CHILDREN after all and they need a safe place to play.  The  front of the building is no good.  People drive down the street like they are qualifying. 

Customer Service- part 2.  I called to make my Gas Co payment yesterday.  For some reason, I can't get the online system to work for me, so I enrolled in their "pay by phone" several years ago.  Yesterday's encounter with the automated system gave me fits.  I got in and it asked me the amount I wished to pay  I said. "total bill"  it heard "$10.02"  and would NOT let me change it.  My bill was a BIT more than $10.02 and I wanted to pay the whole thing, so it transferred me to a live person who went "hmmmm" and transferred me back ( after telling me she would). Here's where the fun starts.  The system let me get ALL THE WAY in, and when it came time to confirm my payment, it said - and I am NOT making this up- "It seems someone has already made a payment on this account today.  If you need to make a payment today, call back tomorrow. "  WHAT???   Someone has been learning double-speak.  I called and talked to TWO more people who were just as confounded with that statement as I was.  I suggested to the supervisor that they get someone to change the message.  It will just result in really angry people.  She agreed with me.  I realize it will be rare that this happens, but what kind of system can only handle one payment and shouldn't there be some way for live employees to override it?  Gotta love technology.  I think the people who create some of the programs don't think like the rest of us and never figure in human input.  I am not saying human error, but that's what I mean.  When a person gets involved in the works, there is always a little room for problems to occur.  The Gas Company people were nice enough, but due to the changes in the system could not help me.  Thankfully I was able to get in this morning and pay the bill.  Geez.

Happy Samhain

Happy Samhain,everyone.  Yes I know what you are thinking.  It's HALLOWEEN, but really Halloween is just a sanitized and commercialized version of a Pagan ( yes PAGAN) holiday, which honors the dead.  As I remember, this is the time of year when the veil between the dead and the living is at it's thinnest point and communication may pass between the two worlds.  Some say the door between the two worlds is opened and all manner of fairies and other "other-worldly" spirits may come into the land of the living.  Food was offered and people hid their true identities behind masks to avoid trouble. Parts of the holiday were assimilated into the Christian rituals that we associate with Halloween, when it became All Hallows Eve, the night before All Saints Day.  I may be getting this wrong, but that's MY story and I'm sticking to it.

When the kids come to the door and yell "Trick or Treat!"  I smile and say "trick"   they don't get it.  The thing about the phrase is that the kids are mock threatening to play a trick on you if you don't give them a treat.  Kids theses days don't understand that.  They just think it means they get candy.  Sigh.  We used to carry soap slivers and put soap on the windows of homes that did not participate.  Don't tell anyone!  Do you suppose the statute of limitations has expired after more than 40 years?  I hope so!

Customer Service

I don't know, but maybe I am too old fashioned.  I believe in customer service.  Not " the customer is always right" but that the customer deserves for you to listen and try to help them.  I do not shop at Ralph's for this reason.  They seem to have - along with MUCH higher prices- an elitist attitude, something akin to Gelsons market.  It's "if you can't find it yourself, you shouldn't shop here"  Recently, I went to Ralph's to buy a Tap card. That's a bus pass.  I asked if they sold them, at the CUSTOMER SERVICE DESK.  "yes" the woman said, looking in the drawer where they kept them.  "Go to any checker"  She waves me away, then walks away from me, leaving me standing there.  I call out after her"Do you reload passes"  Only seniors, she yells over her shoulder.  Ok, then.  I get in one line, only to be told this checker has NO idea what I am talking about. I get into ANOTHER line.  The guy tells me they only load SET amounts AND the card will cost me TWO dollars ( which is one more than if I buy it at the subway station.)  Nope.  Not doing it.  Whenever I go to any Ralph's they don't want to tell you where anything is, just wave their arm in an arching gesture toward the general vicinity of the item in question with an "over there" answer.  No wonder I shop at Vons.

Back when I worke d in branch libraries, we were not supposed to answer patrons questions.  I could see not doing reference, but when I was shelving in the cookbooks and a patron asked me where the cookbooks are, it seemed silly to send them to the librarian and have them both troop back to where I was standing.  I would get that "lazy woker!" vibe from the patron, so I began saying "if I were standing in front of the books "generally, they are here ( making a sweeping gesture) but if you need something specific, please ask the librarian"  Also if they had a call number, I would help them find it.  It was better than acting as if I didn't KNOW where stuff was.  As a messenger-clerk ( that's what we call shelvers) I often knew the collection better than the librarian ( a sub or a part timer).  Heck I had my hands in it every day.

I know it's a different working world these days, but whatever happened to common courtesy? Not so common anymore I guess.

Off track

Well, I am off track for posting my promised writing due to a very busy week, where I traveled almost 1,000 miles.  YUCK.  I don't want to be in the car again for a long time, but I will be making the trek AGAIN this week to make one last round. 

I am thinking about Hurricane Sandy and all those in her path. The storm is massive.  I have never been in a hurricane, but what I am seeing here makes Katrina look like a picnic.  This is going to be bad.  I know that the President has already begun to make plans for emergency relief and help for those Americans caught in harms way.  You can prepare as much as you think you should, but sometimes the force of nature is much rougher than you anticipate.  The Republicans will probably attack Obama for his actions- whatever they are, they are going to whine about him being wrong.  Either he will have responded to quickly, or too slowly, or with too much aid or not enough aid. Watch.  As my father used to say "you can't win for losing" There will be very little pulling together in a time of crisis.  National disasters should unite us, not divide us.  Send prayers and good thoughts to those who are riding the storm out.  May they be safe from harm.

Elections and angry people

I can hardly wait for this election to be over.  I am tired of people calling me names or implying I am an idiot or will be sorry if I don't vote the way they do.  Whatever happened to civil discourse, the RIGHT to disagree?  Thomas Payne said "I may not agree with what you say, but I defend to the death your right to say it."  I TRY my best to remain civil, but some people just manage to push my buttons and no matter how I try to deflect the discussion, they seem to want to press their case.  So, finally and for the record- I am voting for President Obama.  No nastygram, no email , no blog, no posted meme is going to change that. So STOP.  I have a right to vote my convictions and will exercise that right on November 6.  I am certain you will do the same.  I hope you vote.  We have a precious gift in this country; we are able to go to the polls and vote.  We are able to openly disagree with the direction of our government and to make our opinions known, both in Community forums and in the poling place.  We do not live in fear of being hauled off to jail- except if you advocate killing someone in public office as a means of getting rid of them.  So vote.  Just don't try to tell me what to think.  If you know me, you know that's not going to get you very far.

Coffee and relief

 It's early on Saturday morning and I am home again, sitting at my computer drinking a strong cup of Joe and thinking about this last week. Those of you who know me know I have been worried sick about my daughter, Kate and the fact that she was facing surgery.  I am pleased to report, that after a two  hour surgical procedure, she is home and ( hopefully) resting comfortably.  The surgeon, bless his heart, tried to show me some of what he did.  I was interested, sure, but the cutting was too much for me.  I could not divorce myself from the fact that this was my baby girl I was looking at.  She will be ok thought and that's the main thing. It was a heck of a trek.  I made three complete trips to 29 Palms- a 150 each way.  I love my daughter.  We have had our ups and downs, but I never ever stopped loving her.  I need to make two more trips to complete this medical journey with her.

Missing days

The last few days, I have been in the car for way too many hours.  I am about to embark on the last phase of this journey.  The results will be fine.  But I am late leaving already.  Sigh.

Last night we went out to see a band from Sydney who were playing in Venice.  The name of the band is Winter People.  Check them out on Facebook, or if you are in the Silverlake area tonight at the Satellite at 9 pm.  If you are in the area - GO!  They have a unique sound I really enjoyed.  They put on a great show.

I will post my thoughts on my current situation more when I land in 29- or not.  I am so tired it's hard to think about what lies ahead. LOTS more driving, that's for sure.

"Reading" while driving across the Desert

I really don't like driving across the desert at night, but that is exactly what I was doing last night, listening to a book on cd.  I am two cd's into it and STILL don't know if there is a plot.  The book is"The Unbearable Lightness of scones" is an Alexander McCall Smith book.  I just know there are a few people I don't like.  I guess I listen to too many murder mysteries.  I keep waiting for the shallow bride to get whacked.  I am hoping "The Hobbit" on cd will be in when I get back to work tomorrow.  I have read the Hobbit, but that was  years ago when I was a teenager.  It was ok, but someone told me there is a subtle humor in the book.  I am sure as a teen I missed that.  I am looking forward to hearing it.

I am driving back and forth to 29 Palms over the next few days.  My husband thoughfully made me a cd of music to help me stay awake when I am on a solo drive.  It's three complete trips back and forth.  Crazy, but at least it's autumn and not like driving across the surface of the sun.  October is nice out here, like April is nice out here.  Those are the only months where the temps are not so extreme, in my mind.  Too hot in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter.  It can be beautiful, last night the sky was filled with stars.  I KNOW the stars are always there, but we do not see them in the city.  People do not realize how COLD it gets out here.  There is sometimes snow in the higher elevations.  IT even snowed here once.  When my parents first moved here, they got snow the first winter.  I remember my mom being fit to be tied.  They had moved from New York to escape the snow.  She called me, just beside herself.  When I could get her to slow down she said "he moved me out to the g. d. desert and it's g.d. snowing!"    We get snow sometimes up where I live too, but it's a rarity rather than the norm.

If the book I am "reading" ever really gets  a plot, I'll let you know.

Monday, Monday....

Once again, I am up early making something to eat for dinner- yea, spaghetti and meatballs are in the slow cooker.  It's going to be a long few days and I wanted to leave Chris some decent food as I head out to 29 tonight - then BACK to LA Wednesday then out to 29 Thursday.  I am tired JUST thinking about it.    But I love my daughter, so these things must be done.  Coffee and 5-hour energy is my new best friend.

I got into an argument with someone that George McGovern would have been a supporter of Romney/Ryan based SOLELY on the throw-away remark that he wished he had understood how business works before going to DC.  HUH?  Newsflash!  The man was a LIBERAL, a label conservatives use as a curse- as if caring about others is a BAD thing.   Since Senator McGovern is dead, he can't refute those who are trying to co-opt him as one of their own.  Sheesh.  I am not saying all conservatives are not passionate about the environment, or the public good, but the ultra-right seems to think that if you don't pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, you are lazy.  I had to LAUGH when I read that Romney's folks had a GOVERNMENT HANDOUT upon their return to the US.  His mom did an interview where she talked about how it helped them get back on their feet.  THAT is what it's supposed to do- help you through a rough patch.  It's just that her son seems to have forgotten THAT part of the family history.  I will say this again.  I will be glad when the election is over and all the nastiness associated with it can settle down some.  I like my conservative friends.  Having a difference of opinion is one of our basic rights.  I don't like it when it defaults to name calling.  Did you miss that part of debate class?  Discuss, add facts with passion, but name calling only looks bad on YOU.

McGroarty Arts Center

I am up at o-dark hundred, baking a quiche to make it up to my fellow Facilites Committee Members at the McGroarty Arts Center for an early Sunday morning meeting.  Through a series of miscommunications, we are meeting on Sunday, as it is required in our by-laws that we meet quarterly.  We are going to discuss, among other things, replacing the chainlink fence on the porch.  Not only is it really UGLY, it's not really doing it's job of keeping people from falling.  Last year at the Holiday Boutique, Willow and I kept slipping through the gap between the fence and the edge of the porch- well Willow more than me, as I am a good sized girl.  Willow is a mere slip of a girl!  The question will be, how much will it cost to replace it with a nicer fence that will add to the house and how quickly can we raise the funds to do it.

If you have never been to McGroarty House ( and why NOT)  You really should check it out.  It's this wonderful old home in the Tujunga foothills, that is the home to our local Community Arts Center.  We have some terrific classes; not JUST  a world class ceramics program, but something for everyone.  I have yet to find time for a class( belly dancing looks like fun!).  I was drawn to it by a number of factors, not the least of which is our Mission "Affordable Art education for everyone" 
We are getting ready for this year's Holiday Boutique on December 15.  Mark your calendars!  The Boutique will feature a number of local vendors selling their wares ( vendor approval is still pending as I write this) the opportunity to purchase some student art AND the BEST PART of the event a chili bowl and bake sale.  The chili bowl sale works like this.  You purchase a one-of - a kind HANDMADE bowl, created at the center by our very talented group of students and faculty.  for a mere ten dollars you get a wonderful bowl you can keep AND fill with some outstanding chili.  That's right  HOME MADE chili!  Afterward, save room for dessert, as the overflowing baked goods table is not to be missed.  Do I have your attention yet?  Good. 

Check out the Center.  They have some very cool classes and programs throughout the year.  Get on the mailing list (or, to be cliche "like us on Facebook)

Late in the evening

It's late in the evening, most people who know me know I should be in bed by now.  I have a meeting in the early morning, but sleep has been elusive lately. 

What's running through my head ?  As Mel Brooks says in "History of the World, Part 1"  Politics, Politics Politics"  I am looking at the malarkey ( my Dad used to use that word a lot!) being tossed about by local politicians and those behind the Propositions.  I am sick to death of lies, lies lies ( isn't that a song from the 80s'?)  Prop 32 says it will prevent  Unions from taking money from automatic deductions on employees paychecks and will prevent them from contributing to causes employees don't believe in.  What they DON'T tell you is who is behind it.  That's right, all the people who are EXEMPT from the law.  The Koch brothers .Those guys who were behind the  changes to worker's rights in Wisconsin  So often the word "Union" is demonized, as if they were evil and run by people who's only interest is contrary to serving the public good.  UNIONS are made up of WORKERS which apparently  scares the crap out of big business.  The ads out there about how unions are stealing from workers would be laughable if people didn't believe it.  We need unions, to protect the worker from Big Business.  The Koch Brothers are living proof that the plight of the American worker is precarious, protected only by unions who will continue to fight to keep a safe workplace.  Look at who is behind the Propositions and READ them before you believe the hype.  No on 32!

Friday morning- nothing much in my head!

I usually look at the news first thing, but I haven't even gotten there.  To say the least, I am distracted this morning.  Too much on my plate.  I need to learn to slow down, to just breathe.  It's hard these days.  Things are flying at me so fast, I feel like I am playing dodgeball.  I need to remember my mantra "Just do what comes next."  People who are happiest seem to be able to live in the moment.  I need to slow it down and remember how to do that!

I am looking forward to the weekend, but WHO ordered the weather this week?  Hot as heck one day, rainy and humid the next.  I don't know how to dress.  The other day I left the house and went back for my raincoat.  THEN it got sunny.... Oh my.

I woke up this morning, for some reason, thinking about the very first Rock show I went to, James Taylor.  The Section opened for them, in what I seem to recall was their very first public performance.  I remember Danny Kortchmar saying he had been throwing up backstage ( there's a HUGE case of TMI) and thinking "I hope that doesn't continue ONSTAGE. "  I was thirteen.  It was wonderful and magical and very exciting!  I still get a thrill, going to concerts, over 40 years later.  I love when the houselights go out and the band ambles onto the stage.  For bands I know, I try to guess what the opening song will be.  It's still fun!

Interesting Days

I always say "The Fun never stops at the Fun Factory"  when I am at work. Yesterday was case in point. I never know what is going to be going on and answering the phone can be an adventure.  First thing out of the box yesterday was a call from a branch where a large glass wall has shattered into a zillion pieces.  This was an interior divider, it went floor to ceiling, about 12 feet high and four feet wide. It was about two inches thick. It was all over the place.  We have no clue as to what happened ( well, I have my suspicions, but nothing concrete).  The day moved on to it's usual round of stopped up toilets, non working air conditioning, Lizards in the water cooler- HUH?  Yep.  One of our branches had a ten inch alligator lizard trapped in the water cooler.  ( Yes I was singing  "Alligator lizard in the branch" I got into on the America Fans web page a few years ago, with someone who INSISTED that there was NO SUCH THING as an Alligator lizard and the song refereed to pieces of tire flying in the air.  uh-huh...) My final "official" phone call of the day went something like this.  Hi , I am looking over your A&I requests and about your garbage disposal..."  (Staff reply)  Pause...  " a garbage disposal is a machine you put under the sink that gets rid of..."  ( Me)  I KNOW what a garbage disposal is, I wanted to see if you had tried to reset it, or if it's really dead.  It's not an A&I anyway"   (Staff) "oh"  ( she had been working WAY too hard!)  Unofficially, my last phone calls of the day were taken in my kitchen as we tried to get someone out to work on a broken lock at one of the branches.  This was about 9:30 last night.  We got it done.

I have an interesting job.

A sad message from a friend

Yesterday, we received a message from a friend on Facebook.  I have "known" this woman for many years, but like a lot of my cyber-friends, we have never met in person.  She had been absent from the cyber world, and I knew that she had been in the hospital , awaiting treatment for lymphoma.  She had been looking at a stem cell transplant.  I thought that she was off-line because of the treatment.  Yesterday's email gave us the sad news that she is losing her battle.  Her message was full of love and courage.  She is making plans for her final days with determination.  She said she hopes she makes it to the New Year.  I pray she does. 

I was thinking about the screen name she used in the chat-room where we met.  We are all fans of the band America.  She chose the song "To each his own"  The lyric running through my head right now is "I'm gonna miss you, yes I will. No matter who you are I love you still"

Please send love, prayers or just good thoughts out to my friend Maggie and her family.

Riordan's pension plan

Former LA Mayor Richard Riordan has come up with a new plan to screw City workers.  He wants to create a new pension system.  I have been working for the City of Los Angeles for 36 years.  I didn't take the "sweet deal" and retire because I wasn't old enough.  Now I am thinking I will NEVER be able to retire, as the City starts looking to correct their fiscal mistakes by changing the pension fund.   Let me clarify a few misconceptions here.  I have been paying into the City pension fund since I became a full time Civil service employee in 1983.  I have been paying 6%, which I believe is the current rate people pay into Social Security.  I have n\been working for the City since I was eighteen, I NEVER paid into Social Security, so I don't have that to fall back on. I ONLY have the pension I have been paying into for almost 30 years.  This year, They upped my contribution to 11%, to pay for the fiasco of the "early retirement" deal that was supposed to help stabilize the budget and save a ton of money.  What it DID was throw departments into chaos as places lost a substantial amount of the workforce it could not replace.  There was a job freeze.  I lost THREE supervisors.  There was NO ONE in charge in my division.  How that helps, I am flummoxed to know.  I currently also pay FIVE percent toward my medical benefits ( not FOUR as the current Mayor is saying in the papers).  I also have a 40 hour furlough requirement to fulfill.  I am the only person in my department who does what I do.  When I am not there, my already overworked colleagues try to take up the slack, but some things just don't get done till I get back.   I was reading how they are fussing about banked vacation and other overtime and how we should take it.  A vacation is so you can relax, right?  How can I relax   Knowing there will be a mountain of work awaiting me upon my return?  Some of my colleagues try to read their email when they are on vacation, just to keep it at bay.  We are not supposed to do that, but people do.

One of the things in the plan that REALLY ticks me off is the uneven structure of contributions.  DWP - who are ALREADY paid substantially more than  I am for the same type of work, will pay 6 % while mine will go up to 14?  Nice.  Their pension fund is different than mine and maybe the City didn't screw theirs up as badly.  Still , they should be paying the same amount, since a larger percent of a larger salary equals more money in the kitty.

The article I read said it will cost MILLIONS to get the pension reform on the ballot.  I have a crazy idea.  Hey DICK RIORDAN, why not just contribute the money to the City to get them out of the fiscal hole they are in.  The contributions and reforms that are already in the works were supposed to fix the problems politicians like you created for us.

Extended Hours

If you live in Los Angeles, you should know that today begins longer operating hours at the library.  we will be open until 8 four nights a week and all day on Fridays now.  Due to a series of unforeseen problems, we DON'T have the permanent people in place yet and our folks will do what they always do- make do!  I am hopeful that the staffing level situation will be resolved quickly, as it puts quite a strain on our regular people.  I had a disturbing conversation though with a person who works on my floor.  THIS person, I MUST point out, is NOT in a position of authority ( thankfully).  This person said  that they were not concerned with the staffing issue, as THEIR office was fully staffed and as such the problem did not effect them.  WHAT?  This person obvious fails to understand that we all work for the same department and what impacts a part of the staff eventually impacts us all.  I found this person's callous disregard for their fellow employees to be the most distressing of all.  Now, I know that to some people a job is a job and you show up, do your thing, and get a paycheck.  I don't get that.  You work alongside other human beings and you don't care about them?  I guess I was raised differently.  Maybe it makes me "weak" in the eyes of those whose only motivation is a larger paycheck.  If I wanted more money, I probably would not be doing what I do.  I enjoy my job.  I think the Library makes a difference in peoples lives.  I like my co-workers ( for the most part, as you will always find one  or two people in a group this size that you can only tolerate).
So think a good thought today.  Drop by your local library and tell them how glad you are that they are there.  I just hope the lights don't turn off at 6 pm!

Sunday

Shouldn't Sunday be a day of rest?  No rest for the wicked, as they say.  I find myself super busy this Sunday- SO busy in fact it is Noon- almost 1 and I am just now sitting down at the computer to think about things.  Making granola and doing laundry. The housework fairies must be on strike. 

We did not go down to Expo Park last night to see the Shuttle.  GOOD thing, as of 9:30 this morning it was still on the street.  Typical LA traffic!  No wonder people leave Dodger games early.  We all decided to wait until it gets settled in then go down to see it.  Probably in about six months.  We wound up watching a movie-Pythagoras-last night.  Weird movie.  Plot holes so big you could drive a semi through them. It looks like the beginning of a new "series" of films, it links to the "Alien" and "Predator" films- it's the prequel.    I never was a big fan of slimy monsters, but the cinematography was interesting.  I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how they did certain effects.

Yesterday afternoon, we were treated to an hour of Hawaiian (and other) music with Shawn Ishimoto.  We love Shawn and it was nice to hear him in the "intimate" setting of the Pacoima Branch Library.  I used to work there, in the old building.  It was fun to be in the branch and NOT be working.

I got an email about a band that is worth checking out "Winter People".  They are from Australia and will be in Silverlake on October 25.  UNFORTUNATELY I will not be able to go that night.  I have something to do that cannot be changed.   Sigh. I REALLY wanted to go. Check them out. They have a Facebook page.

Sleep

I think sleep is wildly unappreciated. I know I used to take it for granted that I would tuck up under the blanket and fall fast asleep and not wake up until morning.  Not the case anymore, sad to say.  I have been trying to figure out the cause, so I can get a decent night's rest.  Nothing is worse than having the alarm go off and feeling like I haven't slept at all. Sometimes I think I am more tired than if I hadn't been to bed at all and wonder if I should not just have stayed up all night doing something productive.  The cycle of  asleep-awake- asleep-awake is more tiring than no sleep at all sometimes.  I am Miss Cranky Pants when I am tired.  I like sleep.  I love a nap in the afternoon, or getting under the covers on a cold night and feeling the warm drowsy feeling take over me.  I saw a t-shirt that said something like "I want to take all the naps I missed as a toddler"  I don't think I missed any naps.  I think I got an "A " in nap.  My dad said that I would take myself off to bed when I was tired no matter what was going on- unlike my sister who would stay up as long as humanly possible.

So why is it so hard to sleep when you reach a "certain vintage'?  Menopause?  Stress?   Worry?  In my case, probably all of the above coupled with a recent vehement return of my asthma issues.  Shoot. I am working on it.  Back on qvar and last night I FINALLY got a full night's rest.  Ready to go out and have some fun today!   If you are in the neighborhood, drop by the Pacoima Library  13605 Van Nuys Bl (at  Haddon)  at 1 pm to hear my friend Shawn Ishimoto perform.  He's an amazing one-man show.  There MAY be some hula dancers as well.  See you there.

Friday musings

I have to admit, my asthma is raging out of control and I need to get back to the doctor.  Ugh.  I hate going to the doctor.  My current one is leaving before he gets into the room.  The problem with Kaiser is that it is now a business that needs to make money so the doctors are on a schedule.  You get maybe 10 minutes to talk to your doctor, if you are lucky.  It has this whole assembly line feel to it.  I guess I have to go, though.  This guy took me OFF my maintenance meds and just gave me the rescue inhaler.   yeah that's working.  I wake up gasping for air and in the morning am more tired than if I hadn't slept at all.

Re the Vice presidential debates-people are lining up strongly along party lines on this one so I will just say, I am a Democrat.  I was pleased to hear the lively back and forth on this and it WAS a much better debate than the first presidential one.  I think Joe Biden was a revelation.  His showing was so much better than the lackluster debate he had with Palin four years ago.  I know my Republican friends are going to comment, but  he did EXACTLY what Romney did, including the facial expressions.  Romney made faces ( as much as his face seems to be able to move) during the first debate.  Romney's supporters called what he did "aggressive"  I thought it was "rude" .  Now the shoe is on the other foot.  People are going to spin this anyway they like, and say Ryan won the debate.  I don't think he did.

Space Shuttle Endeavor moves to her new home tomorrow.  We are going to try to get down there for the festivities.  Going to take the red line and the expo line to do it.  Sound like madness but it should be a good time!