Creepy

Call me anything you want, but am I the only one in the world that thinks the fact that 84 year old Hugh Hefner is engaged to 24 year old Crystal Harris is creepy.

Facebook

Facebook is a weird thing. You create a profile and let people look at it and you look at other profiles and you all decide if you want to be friends. It feels kind of like being on the playground in grammer school and waiting to be picked for a team in kickball. I have been thinking about dropping off of Facebook cause I just didn't see the point.

You find or are found by people you have not seen in a long time or people you see every day become a more intimate part of your daily life.

Some people feel the need to put every detail of their day out there. Do I really need to know that you are hitting the floor running with a cup of coffee this morning or you are not hitting the floor this morning due to an influx of mucus in your life?

Sometimes you are sent back into your past to places you might not want to go. I am Facebook friends with someone that I was friends with a long time ago. The first year of high school is hard for anyone. I grew up on a small island and went from the first day of kindergarten to the graduation ceremony of eighth grade with the same core group of kids. I knew every single person in my class and my parents knew their parents. When it was time for high school we were bussed to the mainland to a school most of us did not know existed. I can only imagine now after the gift of time how difficult it must have been for Marge to enter that school, that island, that life.

She just kind of showed up. I am not even really sure how we met. Our mothers were friends, perhaps they put us together like a blind date. All I knew was that I thought she was cool. She was goth before there was a name for it. She came to live with her mother and her mother's second husband and their children. I probably never even asked her how hard that must have been or what her life was like before she came to our little town. Where did she come from? How come she was here? She spent the night at my house, but I don't remember staying at hers. Our mothers drove us to Providence one night to see my first concert. Jethro Tull. I think we had a good time? Then one day she was gone. I'm not sure she even finished the school year and sadly I am not sure I even asked where she went. I think that says an awful lot about me and it is not very complimentary.

Well, one day close to forty years later she friends me on facebook and truthfully I am not sure why. I don't think I was a very good friend then, why would she want to find out if I was going to be any better now?

After trading a few pleasantries we did what most facebook friends do, we exist. We read postings, we look at pictures, we say nice things. This all changed a few days ago when her postings changed to vague things about how horrible this Christmas season was going to be. Other friends, that seem to be geographically and emotionally closer were comforting her with words that contained no information for me. All I really knew what that someone she loved had died from suicide.

So I did what I might not have done if it were not for Facebook, I asked. At first I felt as if I might be intruding where I really was not wanted or had any right to be, because in truth I am a stranger to this grown woman and her life.

Her oldest son had been missing for over two years, his body had been found hanging from a tree by two strangers out hunting. Her pain is evident in her words, in the posting of songs she has put up on her page, to the lack of postings of her daily life which I had come to enjoy reading about.

So I reach out and ask questions. I say a little about my experience with suicide and hope they help. But, what I really want is just for her to talk to me. To tell me about her son. To help in the little way I can.

So maybe this Facebook think is not as lame as as I thought. Maybe this Facebook thing might just catch on.

580 Rant

OK, this it today's highway rant.

I have never noticed before how many people read on the highway. I don't mean the passenger in the car either. This week I have seen three people driving their cars and reading. Yes, reading. One girl was reading a magazine, one guy was reading a newspaper and the third person was reading a printed document of some kind.

Now we have a hands free law for cell phones (which nobody pays attention to) one would think people might make the natural progression that driving while reading, might just be fucking dangerous!!!

Me? I'm going to start looking for that luxury CLS550 being driven by someone in a really nice suit reading the newspaper and then I am going to get in front of them and step on my brakes.

I won Publishers Clearing House

I won $350K in Publishers Clearing House. At least that is what I was told Saturday morning in a phone call from Richard at the U.S. Treasury Department. That's right. The U.S. Treasury called me to tell me that this was my last chance to collect the money I had won or it would be donated to charity. All I had to do was to call a number to arrange with the UPS Delivery Service for a time to deliver this windfall!!!

So, being so excited I called the number supplied and spoke to another very nice man who told me that I needed to arrange for the delivery of my new found wealth. First I needed to give them a time today that I would be home to receive this wonderful surprise. OK, 2:00 pm would work. Next I needed to provide the name of a beneficiary of my check. Why? In case I die between now and four hours from now? Well, yes. Do I have a checking account? Why? Well, because you will need to have a check ready for the delivery fee. Delivery fee? Oh dear, didn't the Treasury Dept. guy mention this fee? Um no. Oh my, well there is a $360 delivery fee payable to, do you have a pen handy? Payable to David Cook of ???, New York.

Hmmm, a delivery fee for an unexpected sweepstakes winning? Why yes, of course. A delivery fee is necessary to cover the expenses of getting this check to you.

Let me tell you something, I say. If you or anyone else shows up at my house with or without a check at 2:00 o'clock today the police will be here waiting for you.

The response? Click......

I will admit that when the initial phone caller told me I had won Publishers Clearing House I was very excited for a minute or so. I knew is was a scam from about the first moment, but I will say I was sure hoping it was real.

580

Did everyone forget how to drive over the weekend? I know that it rained on Sunday and rain really throws California drivers for a loop, but today was crazy.

Big accidents on every road I had to be on. Stupid people not paying attention to anything other than what song was playing on the radio.

Pay attention!

580

Bumper sticker:

I am a proud member of the East Bay Pet Sitters Association.

Who knew? Is this one of those only in California things?

A Nightmare come true

I have written before about my phobia of mattresses on the highway. That I just know that that damn mattress you have tied with thread onto the roof of your car is going to come flying off and slam into me. So imagine my delight when we pulled up behind this on the way to the airport in Albuquerque. All I could think of was how many freaking people will this kill when those straps let loose?

And here for a close up. Where do you suppose these old things came from? Where are they going? I sure hope they got to where they were going without incident.

Just a thought

Why is that every time I am at one of these conferences I sit next to or in back of the smartest person in the room? You know the ones I mean. The ones that obviously don't need to be there because they are so fucking smart they don't need to pay any attention to what is going on.

The guy next to me in two sessions today with his new IPad that he spent the entire time fiddling with. Or the woman in front of me that had her laptop open and on the wireless checking her email and instant chatting with I don't know who.

Now, maybe these people are so smart they don't need to pay attention or perhaps they are so important at work that they can't be away from their email for 90 minutes at at shot. I don't really know, but what I do know is that if you are so fucking smart perhaps you are wasting your firms money going to these things and if you are so important perhaps you need to stay home?

Just a thought.

Spell it - Say it

Albuquerque - who thought that spelling up?

Sitting at the Tamaya Resort right outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. From the room is a beautiful view of the mountains. The wind has kicked up and it has turned cold.

I am at a conference and tonight was the worst part of it for me. The networking, meet new people part.

I hate that.

Tomorrow will be better I am sure.

But is sure is beautiful here, I could stay for a while.

Beloved come down and meet me?

Eating in Sante Fe

OK, so I am going to let all of my tens of thousands of readers in on a little secret. If you are ever in Sante Fe go to the Chocolate Maven for breakfast. It is a bakery that also serves breakfast/brunch on the weekends, not sure about during the week. They open at 9:00 get there early, there will be a line. Don't let the location scare you off and ask for a table downstairs where you can watch the bakers in action. We sat right next to the window and watched the baker make almond croissants and pain au chocolate.

I had the tofu scramble with veggie sausage and my travelling companion had the breakfast burrito. It was fantastic!

In fact it was so good that we went back the next morning for a follow up visit. Just as yummy!!

Saturday in Santa Fe

I am in Santa Fe, New Mexico this weekend. I have to be at a conference for work in Albuquerque next week and decided to come here for the weekend. I am travelling with a friend from work and this morning we went on a hike. We spent a while looking for the Dale Bass trails, but could not find them, so we pulled over and hiked the Chamisa Trail, about 5 miles round trip and about 7500 feet. First few minutes were hard, the altitude really does a number on me.

We were passed by a young couple on our way up, didn't think too much of it except they were young and in much better shape than me. When we got to the intersection to come back down the canyon, this couple was there. He was taking her picture and she was standing with her left hand displayed. I immediately thought engagement? And of course asked. Yes, he had just proposed to her and she was beyond happy. So I took a picture of them together and then said oh let me take one for my blog. I asked when they were going to get married and she said soon!!! I told her I better not see her on Bridezilla. I will post a picture if I can get my camera to cooperate.

After our hike, we went to the historical section of Santa Fe, the little town square. So cute and so full of turquoise jewelery. Walked around for a couple of hours and then came back to the hotel for a while.

THEN we went to dinner at a place called Body!!! Had basil hummus with sweet potato chips, tomato tortilla soup and a tempheh taco. All vegan and all glutton free. It was delicious!

580 Ride

On my ride home tonight I felt like I was stuck in a loop of some kind.

It seemed that every time I looked into my rear view mirror I saw the uni-bomber.

He seemed to be in every car.

It was weird.

580 Ride

On 580 they are building new sound walls thru Oakland and San Leandro. Big giant walls of concrete block and in some places big walls of glass. During the building process they have covered everything they build with black plastic - kind of like a Christo installation, but not even pretty.

It is to protect it all from graffiti, that's right. As soon as they get a bit built it gets tagged, so they cover it up.

Which leads me to the question. Will they just leave the plastic up forever or once they get finished they don't really care if it gets tagged?

I will admit that the building of these walls does make me feel a bit like a hamster in a habitrail.

Today's bumper sticker: Remember who you always wanted to be

Red, White and BLUE

This weekend is Fleet Week here in the Bay Area. I spent yesterday in the city and had high hopes of catching the air show which features my favorite tax expenditure - The Blue Angels.

With my beloved out of town on business, I ended up at Annesky and Suzettsky's house in the backyard while the Angels flew overhead and I mean OVERHEAD!!!! I was standing on a bench on their back deck when one flew right over me! I really think if I had had my arms up in the air I could have touched it or if I was a couple of inches taller I would have been sucked up into the jet engine. I screamed with joy.

When I came home and got on facebook I came across this posting by my Rhode Island sister about Marines. While I wish with all my heart that a military is not necessary, I realize that it is and I agree with RI sister that proud does not describe how I feel about my brother, the Colonel, and his service to our country. Now our nephew is going to college on a MROTC scholarship and will come out the other end as a Marine in a few years, the pride will continue for many more years to come.

This posting from my sister sings about the "Devil Dogs" a Marine nickname. This past summer my nephew and I took a trip to France and the one place he wanted to visit was Belleau Wood, about an hour outside of Paris. This area was the location of the battles during WWI where the Marines earned this nickname from the Germans because they just would not give up. To see a field covered in barley that during these battles was covered in bodies brought tears to my eyes. Seeing my nephew so interested in this history brought joy to me for his interest in this history. Knowing that in a few years he may be putting his life on the line in a field somewhere brought tears and fear to my very soul.

580 Ride

Bumper Sticker:

Using your blinker is NOT giving information to the enemy!

580 always full of profound information.

Memories

On the way home the other day I was behind a van and I thought I was seeing things. It looked like the rear window wiper had been taken off, but the part that holds the wiper was still there. The little part that holds the wiper blade moved back and forth, like the wiper was still there cleaning the window. Then it happened again and again.

It made me smile. It reminded me of a trip to Glendale for New Years with Annesky and Suzettesky. We were going to visit friends and see the Rose Parade - which everyone should do once.

Anyway, we borrowed a van for the drive and about an hour into the drive somehow the rear windshield wiper got turned on and we could not figure out how to turn it off. We drove all the way to Glendale with that damn wiper going.

To travel or not?

Would a travel alert stop me from travelling?

The government has released a travel alert about terror risks at major historic sites around Europe. I am looking at a report from in front of the Eiffel Tower right now, she has be shut down twice in the last couple of weeks because of threats.

If terrorist are going to strike, they are going to strike and not travelling is not going to stop them. I believe that if we all stop doing things due to fear of terrorist, they win.

I won't buy into that. I will continue to travel as often as I can and the Eiffel Tower will always be on my list of favorite places to visit.

Speed

OK, so I admit it. I was speeding Sunday morning and got popped for it. The CHP officer was just doing his job when he clocked me going 83 in a 65!

I looked up and saw him in my rear view mirror and slowed down, but too late. He followed me for a little bit with no lights on, I think they do that to make you nervous. Then the lights came on and I pulled over into the breakdown lane and I hear over the loud speaker - blah blah blah. So I roll down my window to hear = "do not stop in the breakdown lane. Pull out and exit at the next exit. Do not just pull out into traffic, build up your speed in the breakdown then pull out." So I do what he tells me and get off the highway at the next exit and pull over.

The nice officer comes up and asks if I knew I was speeding. My answer was well, I looked down and realized how fast I was going and slowed down and then I looked up and saw you in my rear view mirror. So, yes I know I was speeding.

So, license, registration and proof of insurance, please and thank you. He hands me the ticket to sign - not admitting guilt just that I received the ticket. Dropping the speed from 83 to 75. Then I will admit he said a bunch of stuff to me that sounded like the teacher in the Charlie Brown tv specials and he ended with "you can get back on the highway right there. Drive safely and have a good day."

My response "thank you officer". What else could I say? I was speeding, not his fault.

So I decided to drive with my cruise control on. I get back on the highway and set it at 64. You know what? NOBODY and I mean NOBODY drives the speed limit. Doing 64 I have to drive in the very right lane, people pass me like I am standing still. About the only people going slower than me are the ones talking on their cell phones.

weird

I'm just wondering has anyone else noticed the resemblance between the California Lt. Governer and Eddie Munster?

Or the one between that messed up paster that wants to burn the Quran and Paul Sr. at Orange Country Choppers?

Raccoon Roulette

Do raccoons come out at night and head for the highway? It seems that over the last couple of days I have seen at least five dead on the side of the road. Do you think they get to the side of the road and wonder about their chances to cross to the other side? What do they think cars are? What happens when they get to the jersey barrier? Do they think "shit, now what?"

I find it very sad that their poor little bodies sit on the side of the road for days before getting picked up, who do you call?

Capture a Moment

Need some photos taken in the Boston area?

Check out this link and give Kim a call.

La Vie Jolie Photography

A sea of sari's

Is there anything more beautiful than a woman in a sari? My beloved and I were invited to celebrate the one year birthday of our neighbor's twins. The party was held at the mom's parents house. They have a large veranda with a fountain in the middle. There were tables set up all around and lots of people. The twins and their older sister were as cute as they always are and we were very blessed to be invited to share in this celebration.

The crowd was full of women in sari's and I was in awe of them all. I felt at one point that I was in the middle of a flower garden surrounded by every color of the rainbow. From the deep red and gold sari of the proud grandmother to the turquoise of the auntie sitting next to me they all moved as if floating.

I am not sure why they all seem so graceful because I know if I was wearing one I would feel like the least graceful thing on the planet, but they all moved as if being moved by a gentle wind. I half expected the sound of bells or wind chimes when they moved across the veranda.

The Obits

Sunday is obit day. I read them and wonder about the people, but if you have read this blog more than once, you already know that.

I have been busted more than once for using a person's full name when blogging about them. Relatives have called me on being insensitive because all they wrote in a man's blog was that he has something like 17 children, 125 grandchildren and 100 great grandchildren and that was all they could say. The man in question was about 94 years old and I don't think it was a surprise that he was eventually going to die and maybe one of those numerous off spring could have taken some time during the man's very long life and asked him what he would like people to remember about him.

I cannot imagine anything worse than losing your child and in Sunday's paper was the obit for a beautiful young girl, just past her 12th birthday. Yes, her 12th birthday and her family was able to share what people would remember about her. Miranda Bosley lost her battle with cancer last week and according to her family she loved art, dance and music.

Her obit reads that she waged a brave and unwavering battle against cancer. I have lost two of my oldest friends to cancer. Martha and Jolie were sisters and I just wish I could understand where their strength and faith and bravery came from when they were sick. They were both surrounded by people that loved them and maybe that helps you be brave? It seems Miss Miranda also had lots of family around her, surrounding her with love while fighting her battle and I am sure they all gave her comfort.

Her picture is fantastic, not many people can carry off looking fabulous in a hat and her smile is contagious. I know that her family will never forget her, but through their thoughtful words about her short life, I think I'll remember her for a little while and hope that she is dancing and making art wherever she is now.

How sad

So today I find out the my eye doctor's sister lives in Paris. I can only imagine having a sibling living in Paris, the city I love. I would be there every chance I found a cheap air fare.

Not, my doctor. She tells me that they went last year for the first time in years.

Just don't get it.

Oh well, if everyone loved it as much as I do, there would be too many people there.

But still, your sister.

When to walk away

To avoid a confrontation a man ran out the back door while his ex-girlfriend was putting a ladder up against his house. He left and she took the chimney cap off and jumped in.

Now me, I might have called the cops. Crazy lady on my roof, please come and get her.

But he just left. Two days later the cleaning lady shows up and notices something dripping out of the chimney. Imagine everyone's surprise when they find the ex-girlfriend dead in the chimney. Well yeah, I guess she would be dead if she was stuck in a chimney and fluids were dripping out of her, huh?

What was so special about this guy that this woman, who was a doctor, so I don't think she was a stupid kid, would get in a chimney to try and see him when he would not open the door?

Or, what was so wrong with Dr. Chimney lady?

Want some salmonella with those eggs?

I try very hard to lead a vegan life. It is not for everyone and everyone needs to make their own choices, however....

Have you read the results of inspections of those egg factories in Iowa. You know the ones that had to recall millions of eggs due to salmonella issues.

Eight foot high piles of manure. Liquid manure running out of the doors. Rodents all over the place. Dead flies and maggots too numerous to count. Then to find out the final practice of egg production is to dip the eggs in a chlorine bleach mixture makes me cringe.

So, I think I can honestly say that I will never eat another egg in this country again.

Bark and Bake

A new bakery opened in our little town. I noticed last week and thought great. Then I noticed it was right next to a new dog grooming business.

Just can't get beyond the thought of dog hair and baked goods somehow getting together.

Probably not going to be going in.

Commute

You really ought to have to pass a test to drive on the roads. Oh, that's right, you do have to take a test to drive. Did everyone on the highway this morning not take that test and were they driving illegally?

My beloved drives the highways everyday and has little tolerance for people that cut her off or follow too closely or just drive like idiots. When I drive with her I am usually telling her that the other people on the highway are not worth getting so worked up about.

Well, today I totally got it. I felt like every single idiot was out there trying to just piss me off. There was the old lady driving a brand new car doing about 40 on 580, when I was finally able to get around her she was dialing her phone. There should be a law against that, oh there is.

Then there are those poor people that could not afford blinkers on their fucking BMW's. I feel so sorry for them as they zoom down the highway cutting in between cars and not being able to signal that they are doing such an asshole move. Not even giving me a sign so I can actually slow down so that they can fit their shiny car in that space between me and the person in front of me.

And those poor lost souls. You know the ones. They ride in the high speed lane until they get two car lengths from their exit and then they put on their blinkers, cause they want you to know what they are doing, and just move to the right not really caring if you are there or whether you are going to let them in. They have to get off, they don't fool me. They travel this road every day and just realize where their exit is? Fucking move over sooner.

Then there is the person that must have put a "HIT ME" sign on my car this morning. It seemed as if everyone else on the road was aiming for me. I had to avoid what seemed like 100 cars this morning. By the time I got to work I felt as if I had already put in a full days work just getting there. I also thought it was a good thing that my state has a waiting period to buy a gun.

Goats

I think I mentioned it before, but I will again.

THE GOATS ARE BACK!!!

I don't know why, but they just make me happy.

I see them every morning and evening over by the Oakland Zoo just being goats.

Happy goats, happy girl.

Sometimes stupid hits home

My beloved and I went out to dinner tonight. A beautiful night in our little town. We sat outside at a Mediterranean place. We both had salads, my beloved had a Greek salad and I ordered this:

Octopadi salad: olives, hearts of romain, lettuce, lemon and lemon vinegrette.

Now I ask you - does it say octopus anywhere in that description?

Not to me it did not. Imagine my surprise when my salad came with a big plop of octopus on top of it!

I really thought octopadi was just the same of the salad, not an ingredient!

I guess I need to ask more questions when I eat out.

Today at lunch I could hear people talking. Not that I don't hear people talking all the time and not that I am above listening to other people's conversations. But today was different, I really can't explain it other than to say it just seemed like I was supposed to be listening to them.

The first person was a man who sat at the table to the right of me and back a little bit. I could not see his face, just hear his voice. He was calling someone that answered an ad he had placed on Craigslist. I thought cool and wondered what the ad was for. Well, it was boring, he was looking for a roomate. The guy on the other end of the phone was an engineer from southern California, who had moved here for love.

I then moved outside for a few minutes of sitting in the sun before returning to my office. There were two men sitting at the table to the left of me and two women sitting to the right of me.

I could not tell you what the men were talking about, I can only tell you that one of them had best voice. I believe he had and English accent and it was deep and he spoke very slowly and forcefully. I liked it.

To my right the women were talking, neither had a great voice. I did learn that one of them has a large husband - he can't fit into a booth at restaurants. The other is a surfer who has lots of dogs and cats that must shed because she said everything in the house was covered with blankets and sheets to protect them from the animals.

It was just a weird day.

Right to marry - why do we want it?

OK all you haters out there, stop trying to convince the world that domestic partnership gives us all the same rights as you get being married. It does not.

For instance:

Friends of mine that have been together for close to twenty years recently had a death in their family. They work together at a large company that delivers packages and they do not drive brown trucks. I will call them Driver A and Driver B for this story.

Driver A's father has been ill for a long time and sadly he died last Tuesday. Driver A was given bereavement leave to go home to bury her father. Driver B was told she was not entitled to any leave at all.

Driver B called the human resource department of said package delivery company and was told that as only a domestic partner she was not entitled to any leave at all. If she was married then the father of her partner of nearly twenty years would be considered family and she would be entitled to leave or if she lived in San Francisco and worked for the company there she would be entitled to mourn the death of this man.

Turns out Driver B had to beg and plead for the delivery company to get someone to cover her shift on Friday so that she could get up at the crack of dawn and drive for hours to attend the funeral of the father of her partner.

So tell me again how domestic partnership gives us all the rights we need.

Don't get it.

There are some things in life I just don't understand.

The CEO of HP quits under a cloud of sexual harassment and an inappropriate relationship with a consultant. That is not the part I don't understand, well actually he probably should have been fired rather than be allowed to quit. No, the part I don't understand is the fact that he will get an 8 figure severance package.

So you are the big honcho at a huge company, you mess up royally and they pay you to quit. They pay you a lot of money to quit.

I am just about ready to buy a bunch of new servers for work, I can just see the price of them going up right now to help pay for this mess.

Another thing I don't understand.

People in a divorce that are fighting over custody of their children cause they don't want the other parent to have them. If a parent is a bad parent, a child abuser, a criminal - ok maybe you fight so the parent can't see or live with the child.

But what is so bad about the parent of your child that you would kill the child or children so that the other parent can't have them? Is our justice system really so bad that people would hurt their children because they fear what the other parent will do to the kids and they can't prove it in court? Or perhaps is our mental health system so bad that unstable people have children. I guess what I don't get about this is, that you have children, you profess to love these children and yet you snuff out their little lives to prevent their other parent from being a part of those lives?

Don't get it. Never will. I don't care how horrible the other parent might be, there is never a reason to kill your children to stop the other parent from being around. There has got to be other ways. Run away and hide with those children. Kill the other parent instead of the kids.

I don't have all the answers, but I do have the answer to this one. If you feel like the better way out of anything is to kill your kids, walk out the door and go directly to the nearest police station and tell them you are contemplating killing your children. The kids would be a lot better off anywhere without you, cause at least they would be alive.

CHP to the rescue

Today the CHP caught the worst criminal on the road. The officer had pulled over an old pickup truck that had mattresses piled up in the bed. Well, in the bed, over the bed, piled up so they towered over the the cab of the truck.

It was like a mobile princess and the pea story.

I could just picture that truck rolling down 580 the only strap holding them snapping off and the fucking mattresses flying off the back of the truck. Brakes screeching, smoke obscuring the drivers sight as they tried to control their vehicles as they bounced off the jersey barrier, plowed into each other and careened into the bushes on the side of the freeway. I saw blood and bodies everywhere, it was horrible.

Then I remembered my worst nightmare had just be avoided.

So thank you CHP officer, you helped avoid the worst traffic accident in recorded history.

Save a date.

So Hate has not won. A federal judge has stuck down prop 8, he has not said if he will allow us to marry yet, because you know it will be appealed.

I am not a lawyer, but I have been told that the decision is very well written and does not give the haters much room to appeal.

We can only hope and register at Macy's.

The future

I was just in a parking lot and parked next to a private security patrol car. It started me thinking about the layoff's happening across the bay area and probably around the country.

Firefighters laid off in San Jose.

Police officers in Oakland laid off - Oakland for Christ's sake.

Police departments for entire towns are being disbanded and the towns relying on far away sheriff's departments for help.

Towns going bankrupt.

Is the future that we all (those that can afford it) live in guarded communities that have their own private police and fire departments? Will there be entire towns, jobs, grocery stores, schools, churches all behind tall walls that block out the rest of the world and are patrolled by armed guards? Sort of like a walled medieval city, protected from the outside world until the outside world decides it wants what is inside?

Will outside these small walled oasis be the apocalyptic world of mad max movies?

The thoughts do not give me warm fuzzies. How about you?

Bummer

So in order to save money Texas A&M will no longer supply the dorms with toilet paper.

The city of Newark, New Jersey will also no longer be supplying tp in public buildings.

Does this include the airport?

Yuck - keep this in mind when shaking hands.

The one piece thing

Everything old becomes new again.

It seems that the one piece thing is back in style. You know what I mean. It is a one piece item of clothing that women wear. It is gathered around the waist and it has many different options.

I saw it with shorts, capris and long pants.

I saw it with sleeves, no sleeves, one sleeve, spaghetti straps and no straps at all. That last one was fighting gravity all the way, I was constantly wondering how they stayed up.

I just don't understand, if something in fashion was ugly and didn't really work out the first time around who brings it back?

Does some young girl find a little flowered, one sleeve, short thingy in her mothers closet and just think it is the best thing ever and starts wearing it and other girls see it and so on and so on?

Another thing, if you are going to wear something that shows your bra - the straps, the back, part of the front -WEAR A NICE LOOKING BRA. Do not wear the bra you have had for two years and has been washed 50 times, has lost all the color, the elastic is shot and the lace is ripped.

For peets sake girls.

Home again

Why oh why do airports have the most uncomfortable seats around?

I mean sometimes you spend a lot of time in airports and you would think they would have comfortable seats.

If I ruled the world!!!!

As you may have guessed, I am on the way home from Paris. I am sitting in the Charlotte airport waiting for my flight in about three hours. I successfully made the pass of the nephew to his father, I think he had a good time. I know I did and I will be posting pictures and stories later.

You know you are friends....

You know you are friends forever when you best friend comes to visit with her family and on the last day it is just you and her.

You are going to go do a little shopping, have lunch, just have some fun. The two of you.

You both get up and take showers and get dressed and come out into the dining room and look at each other and laugh because you are wearing the same exact shirt.

580 Ride

Yesterday I was behind a beautiful blue truck on 580.

On the tailgate was some writing and I read it

Our business is based on Satan.

Or at least that was what I thought it said.

When I looked again, it actually said

Our business is based on Service.

I guess that is better.

Happy Birthday to me

Today was my birthday. My beloved and I spent it in San Francisco with friends, not too many better ways to spend it.

Oh, there was this little parade. About, some estimates say, a million people at this little parade, some dykes on bikes, women in uniform, drag queens that look better than I do in heels, lots and lots of stuff to look at.

But the best part? Just being surrounded by people that love me.

Of course, there was my beloved.

Chief Matron-Mare-son, friend without end.

Irene, need to see more of you.

Spouse A & Spouse B visiting from North Carolina.

Joyce & Candice, always a pleasure and never often enough.

Susan & Anne, friends forever, especially since Susan made that vegan cake! Yum.

Putting those ugly shoes to work

Today my beloved I take a ride to Yosemite, one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Tomorrow is my big hike for the LLS to find a cure for blood cancers.

Thanks to everyone that donated to this cause.

Hopefully I'll post some pictures when we get back.

Now I am pissed off

OK, I get spam from every dating site on the internet and I have blogged before about getting mail from:

Meet other Young Christians

or

Meet other black singles

or

Meet other Jewish singles

I am none of the above, but now I am really pissed off with this one:

Meet other big beautiful singles!!

Now you have crossed the line - leave me alone.

Small

As millions of of gallons pour out of that well in the Gulf Coast some people are actually suggesting that a "small" nuclear explosion be used to seal the well. A "small" nuclear explosion?

A "small" nuclear explosion?

Somehow the words small and nuclear just don't seem to go together to me.

Money, money,money

Just watching the news and a report on the election coming up next week. There are three people running in the GOP senate race. All three have raised about the same amount of money, around 2.5 million dollars. One of them has stopped his advertising in the week before the election, some feel due to a lack of funds. It seems that one of the candidates has pumped 5.5 million dollars of her own money into her campaign.

In the race for the GOP nomination for governor both candidates have poured millions of their own dollars into the race. I think one of them is out about 5 million and the other a lot more.

Now this race is just to get the nomination to run in November. How much of their own money will they come up with when they run against somebody from the other party for the actual job.

It just makes me think that a candidate should not be able to use their own money to finance their campaign. They should have to raise every dime from the people they want to represent. I just think that eventually only the rich will hold public office if this continues. Oh, am I too late in this concern?

5/22 hike

I did not hike last weekend.

My stomach was just not sure what it was doing and I knew that I did not want to be out on the trail with a tummy that might become even more upset then it was.

So no pictures or stories, just a little remorse at missing my first hike.

580 Crazy

A 580 story

Driving home last night on 580 East and was just coming up on Seminary Road exit when I see a red SUV stopped in the break down lane. Not unusual, not at all. What was unusual enough about this for me to call 911?

A woman walking away from it. Still not that strange, right.

How about a woman with two toddlers and a baby in a stroller!

I thought how fucking stupid can you be? All it will take is a second for one of those kids to dart out into traffic or someone taking their eyes off the road to change the radio station and plow right into all of you!

I hope they got off the highway safely.

Riddle me this.

Nicolaus Copernicus has been reburied. When the guy died out of favor with the all powerful Catholic church he was buried in an unmarked grave in a church that nobody really was certain of where is was. Which leads me to ask, how did they know who to dig up and move?

Another Hike in the beautiful East Bay

Last Saturday's hike was at Briones Regional Park in Orinda. I gotta to
admit, this is not one of my favorite hikes so far. It was pretty, but
just not as pretty as some others, I guess.

In this park the cows were back on the trail. At one point my hiking
buddy Susan had to shoo them off the path. They moved, but they really
looked like they did it because they wanted to, not because of her.

One part of the trail was The Ivan Dickson Memorial Loop Trail. As I
passed the little signs I could not help but wonder who was Ivan
Dickson? So I took to my favorite research tool, the internet, to find
out.

Ivan Dickson was a lifelong member of the Berkeley Hiking Club and was
one of their first presidents in the 1920s. Ivan was a hiker - he hiked
well into his 80's and averaged about 10 - 20 miles a day, mostly in the
East Bay Regional Park District. He did not need any special equipment;
he hiked in his wing tips or loafers and would have a nutritious
breakfast of doughnuts before starting out. Lived in the same house for
70 years and had a watch repair shop on Shattuck Avenue. He did not own
a car, or TV or even a refrigerator. The people that knew him thought
him an eccentric poor person. However, when he died in 1993 at the age
of 95 he left a ton of cash to the East Bay Regional Park District to
"take good care of the trails". Thank you Ivan.

About the only wild flowers left are the ever present poppies and
lupine. Still beautiful, but I fear they will be gone soon.

Next week Muir Woods. Stay tuned.

Muir Beach Hike

So last weeks hike was at Muir Beach. It was a beautiful crystal clear day and we started up

Along the trail we saw this little things that looked like what I thought aspargus would look like.

We went up and I saw these steps, lots of steps that went up the side of the mountain and for a minute I thought - no, we are not going that way - then we turned a corner and walked right at them and then went up them. Steps are hard!

This is looking down at the beach at Tennessee Valley, our very first hike. I can remember looking up at the hills on that hike and being happy we were not going up there. Well, those days are gone, if there is a hill we climb it.
This hike took us thru the Green Gulch Buddhist Zen Center. I can walk thru their gardens on the way back to the beach. The gardens are really beautiful and full of very quite people and they have a really nice bathroom.

We needed to ask directions at one point and imagine someone whispering to you and then make it softer. "go down the path, open the gate, make sure to close the gate behind you, then walk thru the gardens to another gate. go out that gate and make sure to close it behind you. then go thru the horse pasture, making sure to close the gates behind you and you will be at the beach"

This was a beautiful hike, the sky was extremely blue, it was difficult to tell where the sky ended and the water began. I did keep the map to this one, I'll be doing it again.

Riddle me this.

Just saw Iron Man 2. It was good, but left me with the question....

Will Mickey Rouke ever be in a movies again without those tragic hair extensions?

Mt. Diablo

This weeks hike was Mount Diablo and it is the Devil's Mountain! It was six and half hours of mostly torture, yes torture. It started out just beautifully, look at this picture from the top - yes top of the mountain. We started at the top and went down, down, down

We made it to a place called Rock City for lunch. It is a collection of sandstone rocks that pop out of the ground in one location in the park. There were stairs

There was a fountain, well maybe not a fountain, but it would be a nice one, huh?

There was one formation that looked like Half Dome and I tried to convince my hiking partners that we should go there and take pictures, it has steps and cables and maybe we could convince those not in the know that we had in fact climbed Half Dome. They thought about it for a minute, but decided honesty is the best policy.

The wildflowers were just at their peak. California poppies covered the hillsides along with lupin, daisies and a beautiful ground cover that had beautiful little coral flowers mixed in with small green leaves. It was beautiful, really beautiful.

And then we looked back from where we had come and I realized I gotta go back up that?

And I did! For almost four hours! Up and up and up. Every time I made it to the top of one segment I wondered if I could do it. Our nature guy told us at the begining of the hike that there were rattle snakes on the mountain, but don't worry because you won't die from a bite, you will be a bit uncomfortable for awhile, but you would live. I thought of this on the way up and decided I would rather be bit by a rattle snake then go one step further. At least then I could sit down and wait for a ride. But I kept going and going and going and did finally make it to the top.

For all my previous hikes I have kept the maps because I plan to go back and do them again. This map? I gave it to a runner who was lost cause there is no way I will ever do this particular hike again, so I don't need the damn map.

I look at Mt. Diablo every day, it looks beautiful from a distance and I think that is about as close as I will get for awhile.

Montara Mountain

Just did not make time to publish about last weeks hike, so here it is. We did a six hour hike of Montara Mountain down in Pacifica. The short story?

Up the mountain, visit the south peak, visit the north peak, visit the south peak, partway down the other side of the mountain, back up what we just went down and then back down the other side to the starting point. The longer story...

This is a beautiful tree in the parking area. There are picnic tables and lots of wildflowers.

This was part of the trail. We went up and came back down placing one foot in front of the other. Those that were blessed with longer legs could straddle this, me not so much.

I wish my camera got better pictures of the wildflowers. There were beautiful wild iris' all over the mountain.

This was one of two rusted old cars we saw on the trail. I wondered how they got there and more interesting to me was why could they then not go back down.

Sounds pretty cool, huh? Well, it was! It was a very clear day and you could see up and down the coast for miles. I could pick out the little airport in Moss Beach and tearily wished I was at the Moss Beach Distillery curled up with a nice thick blanket and a cup of something warm watching the whales go by.

But no, I was on top of a mountain! Who would have ever thought it? Come on admit it, you are surprised.

All in all this was was a wonderful hike and I would do it again.

Taxes, taxes, taxes

I am so steamed. What about this time you ask. Taxes!!! Well who is not at this time of year, right?

I was told last year that I underpaid the Feds and the State of California.

I set up plans to pay them.

OK, I will admit I ignored them until I could not ignore them any longer and I am now paying them.

Last night on the news they talked about the top 250 delinquent tax evaders in the state. My ears perked up a little, thinking wow I can relate.

Well, I can't relate. The founder of CNET and his wife owe over 13 million dollars. Yes 13 MILLION to the state of California. Now I have to imagine that they are receiving letters every day telling them to pay up or else. I owed way less than this, I mean way less and I got scared when I got those letters and called and did something about it.

What is the state doing to collect this? I would think for this kind of money they would send someone in person to start some kind of collection process. How do you ignore this kind of debt?

I couldn't ignore mine, what am I missing?

Soooo....

You adopt a young child from a far away place. You bring them here to your own country. You have them for around six months and for whatever reason

YOU HAVE YOUR MOTHER TAKE THEM TO AN AIRPORT FAR AWAY AND PUT THEM ON A PLANE BACK TO THE COUNTRY THEY CAME FROM ALL ALONE WITH NO ONE TO MEET THEM ON THE OTHER END!!!!!!

Now I would think that anyone that adopts any child other than a little baby might just think there will be problems. Add into the mix a child that does not speak your language and has been in an orphanage for years and you might just expect some problems. So you just give up after a few months and send them back to what????

I don't know all the details - but I do know she adopted this little boy - she agreed to take him in and love him and when he did not turn out the way she dreamed about, she dumped him.

Falls, puppies and wonderland

Team hike number seven was an amazing!!! The Cataract Falls are part of the Marin Headlands Watershed. You travel up a very windy road past the Mount Tamalpais Inn, where you can get a good meal, a cold drink and a fantastic view. You eventually come to the trailhead and follow the Cataract trail. Coming in from this end you go down hill for quite some time and knowing that what goes down, comes back up I enjoyed every step down without thinking too much about the coming back up. I like it when the trail welcomes you like this:

It has been a pretty wet spring and the water level is really high. We hiked thru some nice woods, it was a little wet and it was very quite. Each and every week I am stunned at the beauty that surrounds us here in the Bay Area. If there is only one hike you ever do in this area, do the Cataract Falls in the spring you will enjoy it.

We hiked for about an hour when we came to the first falls, if you have seen the falls of Yosemite or Niagra Falls you might not be impressed. I have seen them both and while they both are spectacular this little fall took my breath away. I could hear it before I could see it and the water flowed over the rocks covered in moss. The water was clear and the air was crisp and it all made me so glad to have seen it.
The largest fall had about seven levels and was worth the two and a half hours it took to get to it. We met up with the big dogs, the A-level hikers, the ones that go really fast and longer than the rest of us. Me, I am not a big dog. I am a puppy, I hike slow and steady and am usually in the last group in, so to say they were surprised to see us is an understatement. Of course, they were on their way back up and we were on the way down. We got the evil eye from the team captain because we had been told not to come down this trail, but all us puppies were really glad we did.

I can see why this is the favorite hike of so many in my hike group. The hike back did not take us as long as we thought, even with all the stairs, yes stairs, we got back early because we missed a trail so we turned around and hiked back down the trail for half and hour and then back up for half and hour.

So I'm coming back up the trail and see something that I think is a deer jumping across the trail. I point it out to the person hiking with me and we stop and watch for a minute. Another flash of fur out in the field and back across the trail, then some running thru the woods on the side of the trail, then it runs across the trail again and doubles back and comes right at us down the trail! That is when I think am I in Alice in Wonderland? There sitting on the trail looking right at me is a huge..... jack rabbit! The ears were about two feet tall and were pointing straight up in the air. It sat there looking at us for a few seconds, I swear it tilted its head to the side like it was wondering what we might be and what we were doing there and then it did a little jump up into the air and in the middle of the jump changed direction and took off across the field. Crazy!!

Until next week....

Bumper Stickers

The past couple of days I have seen some very interesting bumper stickers - most of them on the same car. I tried to get a picture of the car, but driving and holding my phone and trying to stay behind the car proved to be too much, so I can only tell you about it.

One of the stickers said:

WTFWJD

Love them anyway

Another had the words Catholic Bashing and a big red X thru it

Then there was the fish thing - two little fishes facing each kissing and one of them had a little red heart in it.

Then yesterday I was behind a car that had that fish thing that I guess signifies you are a Christian. This one was the fish symbol with the words N Chips inside of it.

That one if for you Jeanne.

Buddy Hike

Augustin Bernal Park in Pleasanton is quickly becoming my favorite place to hike. Last Saturday was a glorious day and we spent four hours exploring this 237 acre gem just a few minutes from my front door. Saturday was a buddy hike, this means that you hike with a smaller group of people that live around you. My group was very small, me, my mentor and one other woman and I'll tell you the conversations on the trail are quite different in such a small group than in the bigger group of other hikes. This fabulous place is part of the Pleasanton Ridge and you get to it via a guarded gate. Thats right, you pull up to a little guard house at the foot of a gated community of very large, very expensive homes. You give the guard your name and they take down your license plate and then they direct you to the left and up the hill. You pass by lots of big houses that prove that just because you have lots of money does not mean you have any taste. And then you arrive here

The trail starts out as a steep dirt path up and up, then we hit a narrow path thru the trees and we came out up on top of the ridge. This cow gate is open which led me to believe that we would not have to worry about any cows, which made my mentor pretty happy.

There are lots of trees down all over the ridge. This one seemed to have been down for a while. I am not sure if with all the rain trees are just falling over cause the ground is so wet or if it is just the natural way of trees.

While looking out over the hills you really believe that you are out in the wilderness, miles away from civilization. I think we only saw six other people during our hike until we were on our way back down when we met more people starting their hikes a little later than we did. There were so many different greens this day that I did not even have names for all of them. One of the most beautiful was a tree that had fallen down over a stream and was totally covered in emerald green moss, it looked like velvet.

Another road less traveled, this beautiful path lead to a dreadful downward part of the hike and I have learned that when you go down you have to come back up, but we actually were able to go around and up the other side that was not as steep.
Then there was the water. You could hear it long before you saw it and once we saw it, it was beautiful. After all the rain we have had this season the streams are full and musical.

This is looking back from where we came. If you look closely you can see my wet footprints on the rocks. I learned some valuable lessons, don't put both feet on the same rock. This can only lead to bad things and I realized it as soon as the rock started rocking back and forth. Then I learned the next lesson - place your trekking poles solidly in the stream to help keep your balance. Thank you Theresa and Janice for the instructions because of them I did not fall into the stream.
This journey has been difficult, I really did not think that hiking would be this hard, but wow do these places make it all worthwhile.

The weather yesterday could not have been much better for hiking. It was a little chilly in the morning when we started, but quickly warmed up. We hiked the Sunol Regional Wilderness. There it is wilderness again, within 15 minutes of my home. Just amazing!

Here is the view coming down into a little valley. There was a water tower and windmill and a wonderful barn. Right past here the ground on either side of the trail was covered in ground squirrels. Hundreds of them, they blend right into the colors of the ground and at first you don't really see them, but once you do you notice them everywhere. They are most cute when they jump in their little holes and then poke their heads out and watch you walk by.

There was a part of the trail that looked like this. This part is flat and was not to difficult, until it started going up and I started noticing the pretty extreme drop off down the hill.

In case you thought the narrowness of this trail was due to some camera trick this is my boot on the trail. I could not even put both feet side by side at this point. This really was just a short portion of the trail, most of it was wide and welcoming.

And here we have the ever present cows. I like that they don't pay much attention to us as we hike by.

I am constantly amazed by the trees. The come in all shapes and sizes and seem to take one shapes that trees should not be able to do.

So today's hike was a five hour butt kicker. I did about 8 miles in total. In addition to the cows and ground squirrels I saw hawks and turkeys. One big old tom with his tail all spread out to the admiring glances of the girl turkeys. The wild flowers are starting to bloom and I think next week after the rains forecast for this week they should be popping out during next weeks hike. One would think this should be getting easier and in some ways it is. At least I can move on Sundays now, unlike the first couple of weeks where moving on a Sunday required great thought and lots of aspirin. In other ways it is getting harder, the hikes are getting more difficult to prepare us for the end result - the big hike we choose. I keep telling myself I can do this and I will. I want to keep hiking after my big hike, it just might not be 5 hours or 8 miles every Saturday morning.

YUCK!!

Lost two of my toenails due to my poor choice of my first pair of hiking boots. Just thought I would share with you my horror at the thought of flip flops this summer.

Cat food

Just a quick post before I forget what I wanted to say.

I was feeding Marska (our cat) this morning and as I opened the can of savory trout flakes I wondered who decided that cats like fish? Did someone in the cat food industry take a survey? Did they observe a bunch of cats on a fishing trip or something. To my mind wouldn't cat food made from stuff that cats (our cat anyway) has a real chance of eating in the wild might be better. I mean a filet of mouse or little birdie parts? Marska has chased the occasional mouse and bird, but I have never seen her grab a fishing pole and head to the nearest fishing hole.

Hike 7

What a beautiful day yesterday was for hike number 7. This was a buddy hike, meaning you hike with the people that live around you. My team hiked with a couple of other teams and we started out in Danville on the other side of Las Trampas Regional Wilderness where our last buddy hike was. We started by walking up, up and up on Prospect Avenue it was about a mile and up 900 feet when we came to this.

This was a monument right before we got to the trailhead, it was to a PFC Green who died in England in 1950. Now you can see there are fresh flowers at the site and I wondered who brings them? It has been sixty years since PFC Green died, who is left to bring flowers or who will be left in a few years to bring flowers? What will happen then. Once past here we came upon the retreat center of San Damiano where they were having a silent retreat. So we quietly made our way up, up, up.

We hiked up to the ridge at 1888 feet. Now when you get up there you think "wow, I made it". Obviously I must be new at this, cause I don't think "geez, now I have to go down." Well, I think now I'll be thinking that, cause the way down was really steep. I am so glad I got trekking poles cause they saved me from falling on my butt quite a few times on the way down.

This tree looked like a ghost tree to me, everything else was green and this tree stuck out white against the hills. It was beautiful.

I got a feeling that someone hit their head, what do you think?

We came down off the ridge at the Eugene O'Neill House. It seems Mr. O'Neill and his wife lived in this big beautiful house in the 30's & 40s and it seemed to inspire him since he wrote The Iceman Cometh, Long Day's Journey Into Night and A Moon for the Misbegotten. I tried to imagine how remote this location must have been then.

Then it was a short 2 miles down the Iron Horse Trail to the starting point. Eight miles, 4.5 hours and all my water.

I think I might be starting to like this hiking stuff, since today when I was driving along 680 I kept looking up at the hills and wondering if you can get up there.