A 3 Day Weekend and~~~~

And Sweet Things, I am putting together all the things that must be done to do my income tax return.

But all was not lost, Joe insisted that we go for a little while out of town, where to? To a Gun shop where I saw a lovely .38 Smith & Wesson 5 shot Body Guard with laser and hammerless.

Joe was insistent that it be purchased. And why, I ask him.

One always needs a back up he said and I came across the gun safe of my dreams, can it be delivered? I ask. For a small fee yes, well considering that gas is now over $4 a gallon that's understandable.

They did have a .38 special by Charter Arms, as well---in Pink! with a sign next to it saying "Yes! It's Pink!" Several ladies were admiring it and I think one of them will buy it.

I have GOT to get to a Gun Show! I'm missing the smell of cordite in the morning.

So a new gun, which I'll pick up in a few weeks and a new gun safe that will be delivered tomorrow and I have the perfect spot for it. And it is extremely fire-resistant---very important.

Joe is now grilling two lovely steaks on the outdoor grill, we'll have a little wine, the salad is made, I asked him if he wanted me to prepare a vegetable but he's grilling peppers, tomatoes and something else. He said he wanted to do something that passes for normal after all the insanity that he's been going through and for him to have this time off is precious to both of us.

Tomorrow he's going to work on the Ford while I do the mundane things.

But tonight it's going to be ice cream and popcorn over at Lillian's to watch of all things "Munster Go Home" on Svengoolie, with Lillian and Heather and the little Beast.

I feel like a kid again, enjoying a childhood that I never really had, not that I begrudge my parents on that, but it seems right to enjoy childhood things. I want to go on Merry-go-rounds and Ferris Wheels, Drive the bumper cars, and eat cotton candy that's so sweet it makes one's teeth ache.

Joe is not perfect, we have our arguments, but we never go to sleep mad, we try to find out why we argued. Joe has said he's never tried that before, trying to search for the "why" of things.

I can only agree, why yesterday I had a "hissy-fit" at one of our people, she always gets on a "high-horse" about something or other and wastes time complaining about it.

Yesterday I and my Assistant had bought several boxes of Girl Scout Cookies, and I know people have issues about that, but it has become a tradition for me and Joe loves the Shortbread ones.

So do several other people on the staff, when Miss High-Horse started complaining about all the unhealthy things in Girl Scout Cookies, and that they were made in China, when on the box it says Kentucky.

Finally I had had enough and said "If you are not happy with the cookies, write a letter of complaint to the National Office of the Girl Scouts and complain to them, do not waste my time, other peoples time or create an uncomfortable atmosphere in this office. With the time that you wasted complaining you could have looked up the address, wrote it out on an envelop and started drafting a letter of complaint----Those that want to, do so----Those that just want to take up air, complain---and it seems to me that you are doing the latter, so do something or be quiet and let us enjoy these so-called unhealthy cookies once a year."

And with that I took a bite of one of the Samoas and thoroughly enjoyed eating it right in front of her. I am happy to say so did the rest of the staff, while she went back to her desk.

I documented the situation and sent it on to H.R. this person has more than once created an uncomfortable situation by her belligerent attitude, and I am hoping that she will get a "side-ways" promotion. Which more than likely will happen.

Fortunately the feed back I received from the rest of the floor was positive on this situation so right now Girl Scout Cookies rule. On Tuesday I'm going to buy a box of Thin Mints.

And now the steaks are ready and Joe has poured the wine, and he's put on my favorite Dean Martin CD. Hmmmm I wonder what he's up to.

Kisses Sweet Things.

Yoshi, Lillian, Hoppy and Me~~~~~~

Hello Sweet Things,

Another Sunday morning has come and gone, and a lovely Sunday morning too. I dawned sunny, clear, cold and a bit crisp. Fall is fully upon us.

I have been a bit of a busy bee this whole last week, went in taking Bus and BART on a coldish, drizzly, rainy, Friday morning, at least it was casual Friday. The crowds were back to being their usual self. Worked till 1 p.m.

Met with my friend Yoshi for lunch near Union Square, and with her driving in the crowded Streets of San Francisco on a rainy, drizzly day (an adventure in itself) we went to this Antique/Collectible shop that had been recommended to me.

And it was not a wasted effort, I found a wooden 4 drawer filing cabinet in excellent condition, that matched my desk, however no luck on a 2 drawer cabinet, I was not upset about that. I just have to be on the watch for it.

So I made arrangements to have it delivered to my home Saturday evening, and it now sits in my home office waiting for all the files that I plan to put into it.

After our little excursion, Yoshi and I went to do some Grocery shopping, I decided to hold off on perishable dairy goods, until I got back home. Yoshi asked if I wanted to come over for dinner at her aunts’ house in Oakland, but feeling tired from the day and the week, I had to beg off.

So she dropped me off at my home before going to her aunts’, she, like Lillian, is such a good friend. Friends always need to be cherished, especially when they are there to support you in your time of need.

The Gun Show yesterday was fun, a lot of people, a lot of guns, a lot of collectibles, and a lot of items to buy for security and self defense. The NRA was out in force, outside and inside; out side they were signing up people and having people sign petitions to repeal the ammo limitation sales, as well as signing letters of support to Assemblyman Hager for amending his bill to repeal that idiotic law.

Inside the NRA had an information booth about the current gun law status, who to write to, and information on gun ranges in the greater SFBay Area. People were taking the Gun Safety course and test, and other were taking the conceal weapons carry permit course.

Frank wasn’t working detail for the show but I saw and said “Hi” to some of his friends, they asked about my health, getting better and stronger of course.

The members of the Sunnyvale Cowboy re-enactment group were there, we had a nice chat and they inquired about my previous purchase, I told them I hadn’t gone through the gun yet and cleaned it, nor fired it because of my health problem from earlier and when I was feeling better I didn’t want to do it in front of Mom, although I’m sure she would understand, I just didn’t want to upset her while she was staying with me.

Of course every one of them offered to help, and I know their offer is sincere but the day I can’t clean a gun is a day when it’s time for me to retire. But I’m not foolish, if I see something that I feel requires a gunsmith, I will do that. I never attempt my own repairs, I don’t have that level of expertise.

I did have a chance to see a few 1^st and 2^nd generation colts, a matched pair of 1^st generation colts, with sequential numbers, fully restored by Doug Turnbull, with ivory grips, asking price a mere $7,500 although I think they could go for more. I longed to hold even one of them in my hand, but with ivory grips, I didn’t want my hand oil to do any further discoloration.

After a couple of hours looking and admiring, I felt hungry and at all stadiums, the prices were high for a hot dog and coffee, but an Italian Sausage Dog, worth the price, coffee was Starbucks and very strong, no fancy lattes here, just a lot of dry dairy creamer and sugar (lots of it) I’m sure my calorie intake went off the chart.

I shared a table with several gentlemen from out of town, they were visiting from Seattle, a business weekend for them, I just said I worked as a “secretary”, avoiding what my real job is. One never knows what sort of tidbit of information one can get in a conversational chat. (slight “James Bond” theme here).

I love James Bond movies, even the sexiest Shawn Connery ones.

But I digress, I did get a bit of information from them that I mentally filed away and asked them for their business cards, it always pays to get business cards. We chatted about guns, the laws in California and about the Fort Hood Shooter, everything is now alleged at this time, like he might not have worked alone, that he might have 9/11 connections. We all agreed that we’ll have to see how this plays out.

It turns out that my “Koffee Klatch Friends” are also Cowboy reenactors from up North as well and we talked about that.

But then it was time to move on, and with ‘friendly goodbye’s’ and ‘nice talkin’ to ya’s’ we went our ways.

I never go to one of these shows with any expectations, which is good because one doesn’t get disappointed. But sometimes something shows up which I call a “Gotta Have”, and there it sat, no fanfare, just sitting there. Not a gun either.

It was an original picture of Hopalong Cassidy (portrayed by William Boyd) in an original Hopalong Cassidy picture frame from the time Boyd took the Hopalong movies to T.V. in the 1950’s. It was in very, very good condition only slight wear, in fact I was amazed that it held up this long, the price was a steal.

I looked at it, took out my money, the man came along looked at me, I pointed to the picture, he smiled and said “The guys from the Sunnyvale Cowboy group are going to be upset, a couple of them came looked and said ‘I’ll be back’, one of them said I need to get some cash from the wife, I hate to see their faces”. I grinned as he carefully bagged the photo and frame.

And yes Sweet Things, I had to ‘gloat’. I went over to the group and said “hi’ again and said “Look what I found!” Showed Hoppy, their faces just were priceless, one turned to his wife and said “See!! I told ya!” She could only just shrug her shoulders in that “Oh Well” movement. But I told them that Hoppy would have a good home.

A couple of the police officers that work the show came by and saw what I had purchased, and one said “I just looked at it 20 minutes ago, I shoulda moved on that!”

And now Hoppy has a good home in my home office, I’ve made sure that he’s not in an area where he’ll get faded from the sun, but where I can also see him. I never saw the Hopalong Cassidy show, it ran many years before my time, but at a western film revival they showed some of the films that were filed in historic Jamestown and Columbia back in 1935 before Columbia became a state historic park. And I got hooked and watched first for the Tapes then DVD’s for the films.

Of course I also love Roy and Gene, and the Lone Ranger, but for some reason Hoppy has staying power, his image is still on Producers Milk, which is what my Mother buys even now.

Now after a busy weekend gun shows, finishing grocery shopping, antique shopping, I thought I would stay in on Sunday, but Lillian had a different idea, so off we went to Niles, she has a friend that was showing some of her works at a small art gallery in Town and she wanted to see what her friend had produced. After looking at everything for nearly an hour, Lillian and I came out of the small gallery and as we walked towards Bronco Billy’s Pizza Parlor for coffee and a salad she proclaimed “I can do better.”

I don’t argue with Lillian.

We sat at the only table at the window of the place; I had no idea why she wanted to go there except that one has an excellent view of the street, and both Lillian and I love to people watch. There was a fellow dressed as a cowboy all in black and his wife, she looked a little ill and she was wearing a high plains drifter hat, but wore red cloth gloves and a warm jacket, they were sitting at the counter, drinking coffee and quietly talking, I heard him say “You’re only out of the hospital less that 4 weeks, it takes time to get better from surgery, I don’t want you to push it” she was using a cane to assist in walking.

After a bit they left, the cowboy husband carefully watching his wife and they joined a group of cowboys near this passenger railroad car and they went in. Lillian remarked it must be for some sort of meeting. I was thinking "Why am I running into cowboys?"

I was looking out at the area that the Niles township is working on, the new plaza, with it’s old fashioned passenger and freight railroad depot. Lillian told me that she was trying to get tickets for the Christmas lights train that runs from Sunol to Niles and back, but the dates she wanted were sold out, just at the time her family would be visiting.

I’ve ridden the Niles Canyon Railway several times for fun and have eaten at Bosco’s Bones and Brew in Sunol, I’ll have to plan on riding the Christmas lights train sometime.

I suggested that we go to the Dicken’s Fair on one of the weekends, so we’ll make plans for that.

Before we left Niles, we went through some of the antique shops, and I saw a pair of art Deco type brass and onyx bookends in the shape of Falcons. I thought that they would be perfect to hold my hardcopy address book and my calendar book. The price was right and a 20% discount on top of that. No argument from me. How could one be so lucky in one weekend I thought, but sometimes fate works that way.

We left early, I was feeling tired, Lillian asked if I would drop her off at a Friends house who was expecting her, so while in town as we were driving past this warehouse being renovated I saw it, a very large Falcon, I’d seen him the day before, and there he was again, I have no idea as to what breed of Falcon, I’ll have to look it up. Lillian spotted him too and remarked that she had seen him several times, so there must be a nest or something nearby, it appears to be his territory. How remarkable I thought, and how wonderful.

Now I’m finishing typing my weekend adventures, not much in the grand scheme of things, but fun. I have some wonderful War Won Ton Soup ready to heat, that I purchased yesterday and never had a chance to eat it. Then I’ll spread out the newspapers and catch up on things.

I wonder what is on “Retro Night” on KOFY T.V. something interesting I hope, if not I’ll put on a James Bond movie, or maybe watch William Powell and Myrna Loy exchange banter as they solve a “Thin Man” mystery. And then to Bed…It has been a busy weekend for me.

Until Later Sweet Things, Kisses.

Gun Shows~~~An American Freedom~~~

Hello Sweet Things,

I love flash drives, I can type up something and then save it to down load later, which is one of these times, I’m typing this opening paragraph from work, because I’m waiting for a meeting to start which has been delayed for the next 20 minutes. It is very cool and over cast here in the city, which is not unusual because it is now Fall but for what our weather people are saying and sometime I think they really don’t know what the weather is going to be.

Once again our weather people here in California are saying that we are having a heat wave.

We are, but it is a strange one. The more you go inland, the closer to triple digits you get, but here on the coast it is like a mild, cool summer and here it is the Fall Equinox! Such paradoxes for this area.

I want to do a brief mention of Fram’s blog “The Great American Gun Show”. I have to agree, gun shows are as American as God, Mom, Apple Pie and your dog. It is the only place were I have been able to see antique’s, collectables, security devices, classes in training for self defense, the latest in camping equipment, Rod and Gun Clubs, and survival equipment, (which is a bit different from just camping equipment).

Let me explain----you go to a County Fair, also an American institution, and you see the latest wizzy things to make one’s life easier, more fun, things for the home, places to go to, unusual exhibits like the six legged cow, little strange collectable bric-a-brac, and foods that you never find in the usual fast food joint’s like funnel cakes, frozen bananas’ and Big Bad Bubba’s Bar-B-Que with turkey drumsticks that could choke the Hound of the Baskervilles.

(By the way did I ever tell you that I love an old-fashioned county fair?)

A Gun Show is much the same thing, equivalent to a Boat and Camping show, an Antiques Show, a Harvest Festival (have you tried the Teriyaki jerky?), a Gem-Mineral-Jewelry Show, a Military Collectibles Show, a Coin and Knife Show; it is all of these all rolled up into one big ball, the only thing missing is the “All Alaskan Pig Races” (and you will have to Google that one just to find out what that is).

But there is an advantage, that it is under one very large roof. You meet the nicest, friendliest, politest people, who are more than willing to share their opinions based on their experiences. For example I was at a gun show in Antioch, I took a lunch break and enjoying one of spiciest hot dogs I’ve ever come across, seating was tight, but a few nice gentlemen scooted over to give me a seat. As I was about to bite into my dog the man next to me saw the ring I was wearing, an old Navajo ring that I knew to be at least 50 years old.

He asked me where I had purchased it and I told him the history behind the ring. He said that he found one exactly the same style in the bottom of an old junk box at an estate sale. He was fixing to cut it and use it as a concho on his holster, but after seeing mine changed his mind and instead will keep it as is. It’s moments like that that can make life so interesting. I seldom have it at the more traditional, very upscale antique shows, where people are more interested in showing off that they can afford to buy such expensive things, but at a Gun Show everyone is more down to earth, and especially with the old timers, who strongly believe in the “Code of the West”.

Gun Shows should be preserved; with the exception of an old-fashion county fair it is one of the few places where it is a great equalizer, where everyone is on the same level, based upon their experience, and where one is willing to learn more. I love them and am working hard to preserve them, because the minute we become a too pacifist society, that is the moment we, as a society lose our freedom and to quote Charlton Heston as he held up his rifle “From my cold dead hand” for that is only when I will give up my guns and my 2nd Amendment rights.

Ruger Vaqueros---Mmmmmm Sweet~~~~

Hello this Morning Sweet Things,

It's turning warm, and I have to do some house keeping things today, but I have to up date you.

The first thing is that our Charity Poker Night raised nearly 3,000 for Breast Cancer, and yes Sweet Things it was a long night, but fun. I came in 5th in the earnings but it was so much fun! We were playing Texas Hold 'Em by the way, but Frank and Joe want me to practice 5 card stud poker as a back up.

Frank is getting into SASS the Single Action Shooting Society organization, seems a number of his and Joe's police officer friends are getting into it and they are nugging me into that direction, especially after what I told them what happened at the Gun Show yesterday.

There are also other organizations for Fast Draw competition and Mounted Shooting, as well as Cowboy re-enactment. I find that I'm slowly being drawn in that direction, Hmmmm can you picture me in a bustle and Victorian dress with a pair of .38's or .45's on my hips? Or maybe looking like Jane Russell in "Pale Face" with a buscadero rig hugging me? Hmmmm food for thought.

What prompted that encouragement from my friends is at the Gun Show at the Cow Palace I was walking along and I stopped at this one table just casually looking at the revolvers when all of a sudden one of "them" just "sang out" to me.

I looked her over, loved the heft, the action was very good, tested some snap rounds in it so I wouldn't hurt her dry firing. Ahhhhhhh I fell in love with her.

And "Her" is an older Ruger Vaquero .45 cal 4 5/8 barrel Cold Case Harden/Blue frame. The dealer lowered the price since I was going to pay cash, by 60 dollars, that way the tax and paperwork could be included. I can hardly wait to pick her up but as always, there is a 10 day waiting period and a drive to Ronnert Park on Hywy 101, but wait I must.

I happened to walk over afterwards (with an internal good feeling on my purchase), towards the Sunnyvale Rod and Gun club table that was sponsored by the local SASS group and talked to them about my purchase, two of them asked if they could go back with me to look at my Ruger.

When we did and they looked her over they immediately offered to buy her off of me after I completed the transaction. I said that I wanted to keep her for a while and have fun with her. So they told me how such a gun like her was highly desirable for many different reasons and that if I went to a SASS shoot as a visiting competitor that a number of people would offer to buy or trade for her.

When we walked back to their table they told their friends what I had bought and there was a round of "Polite" cussing on what they had missed out. My escorts offered to buy me lunch at the Cow Palace and we had a nice chat about Guns and SASS.

Now with Frank and Joe encouraging me, I think I just might join, there are a couple of groups near by in Richmond, Sunnyvale and San Jose, so I'm going to see what it might entail. I am a pretty fair shot myself so I need to see what they do in their "stages" and what it would totally entail.

I have a fair idea but I like to have a full picture, some how in some way I feel like things are guiding me in a new direction, and I like to get an idea of what I maybe getting into. But for some reason I have a feeling it's going to be fun.

And isn't that what life is all about? We have to do the necessary things, and we have to do the responsible things, but in all of that it is important to have fun.

I heard or read some where "That the more complex the Society, the greater the need for play" evidently Play is a great stress reliever, and I can understand that.

I also can understand why some people will suddenly just stop what they are doing and do a complete change in life style and outlook, they get an epiphany that their spiritual and family needs are far greater than material wealth.

Now if the rest of Society and the Government would understand that then maybe we can get this country back on track. Ahh don't get me talking about politics, that will just get me "rilled up".

So instead I will take care of the house hold chores, and enjoy the outside world.

Until later Sweet Things,

Kisses

Of Trees, Guns and DNA~~~

Well Sweet Things,

I've been a busy little girl.

I lined up a repair person to fix my sliding glass door, and now I can see out instead of a huge board, had to get some inexpensive drapes for privacy. Yoshi, Lillian and I cleaned every inch of the room and still found glass in places that one would not think glass could be found, both the couch and the chair are going to have to be redone.

My neighbor of the errant tree branch came by and I gave him copies of the bills of the work done so far, and so far he seems agreeable to everything. He told me that the tree has to be completely removed, it seems it was diseased, so the good news is that at least the entire tree didn't visit my living room. Of course the bad news is that part of it did.

I'm going to have to post later about the book sale and the gun show, I wish all of you could have seen Lillian at the Gun Show, what a trooper and she took no prisoners either.

Right now I am so angry, the fool idiot of a Mayor of Oakland, Ron Dellums aka Dum, Dum, is proposing of laying off 140 police officers, after having buried 4 of their finest, this is what he is proposing for budget cuts, as if that was a slap in the face.

And another story that ran in the paper, it seems that the monster that murdered those same 4 police officers, Lovell Moxin, was a serial rapist, only 8 hours before he robbed and raped two women and only a few weeks before he killed the officers he raped a 12 year old girl who had been afraid to come forward about it. There is also evidence that he was involved in a strong arm robbery a few months before that which is how he may have gotten the gun and also involved in other rapes, there is more than enough DNA evidence to tie him to those events.

And his sister had the nerve to say on T.V. "He was a good boy, just mis-understood" mis-understood my eye!! At that rate there's a bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you.

And this same sister only a few weeks later was arrested on non-related warrants! So I guess she is mis-understood??!! It makes me want to spit!! And that is very strong language for me to even write.

At least with this DNA evidence it proves once and for all what a monster this person was.

Growl!!! I need to seriously calm down. My friend Yoshi said that since I have to do some serious work in the living room that now maybe a good time to re-decorate and improve the "Fung Shui" energy----I think she maybe right----either that or go to the range on Saturday to vent my anger.

On second thought I'm going to the range, I'll take "Baby" with me---that's my 9mm Beretta Cougar, I think 8 boxes of ammo should do it. Then I can get into Zen mode cleaning her. I'm going to love the smell of cordite in the morning, right after a good cup of coffee.

More later Sweet Things.

My Trip Diary--Day 1

Well Sweet things, I’m back,

I arrived by train late last Wednesday, and back to work on Thursday, so much to catch up with, but all done and now we are having a mini-heat wave, yesterday was very nice so I filled up my panty, washing, dusting, bill paying (such a bore).

Today I drove to Antioch for the Gun show there at the fair grounds, it’s a small show, what I saw was nice, however nothing really leaped out at me, but very nice people, good food and conversation and right next door a flea market, well that made my day, because I never know what I will find at a flea market. But it was getting very warm, even with the breeze off of Suisun Bay, so I drove home in the afternoon but even here it was warm, very warm. A sign of things to come for the Summer I'm afraid.

But now it's a little cooler and in the next few minutes, Lillian is coming by for Coffee ice cream and she’s bringing Mission Impossible season 5, so we must indulge.

While I’m waiting for her I’ll tell you about visiting my parents for Easter; it was a bit new, strange and exciting; so much has happened that I’ll have to post it in bits and pieces.
~~~~~~~~~

Traveling home by train on Wednesday was for me, a treat, to not have to worry about driving especially with the rain that we had, just enjoying the scenery, has left me “Diva Spoiled”. (purr) But if one wants to look glamorous, then I recommend soft silk slacks, a silk blouse and a cashmere sweater as the way to go, and go light on the makeup.

I am all for supporting railroads, such less trouble than flying, unless you really need to get somewhere in a hurry, but for me getting there is part of the fun.

And it helps to have someone there to pick you up; the only thing that had me concerned was how late I would be arriving. But it turned out to not be a worry, baby sis and her “boy friend” (well they are not an item but are friends—hmmm but who knows) picked me up, with the Parents in tow.

Baby sis was such a joy to see, the smile on her face made me feel so happy and there was her ‘gentleman friend’ Ted, so handsome and with an open face that you knew was friendly and---well ---honest. My impression was they seemed well suited to each other, that somehow I knew that they would be together for a long, long time.

But the first thing that surprised me was how Mother had changed, her hair was no longer in braids wrapped in a bun behind her head but cut short with soft curls, and a 50’s style hat that flattered her face, and a soft pink lipstick, and a touch of blush on her cheeks, she still was dressed in the old fashioned style but this time instead of the dark drab colors she was wearing a soft sage green suit with darker sage trim, I knew it was from one of her patterns but what a difference the color made. She looked younger, happier, livelier and beautiful.

And for the first time I smelled her wearing perfume I recognized as ‘Chantilly Lace’. She had never worn perfume, but this was just---Wonderful! But where did she get ‘Chantilly Lace’?

And to hug her, really hug her felt so wonderful and welcoming!

Then I turned and looked at Father, he was dressed the same but there was a slight smile on his face, and his eyes held a soft light that I had never seen before, he took my hand in both of his and said “It’s good to see you again, I’m glad you came. Are you all well from the Flu?” (I had recovered from the flu) and I said that I was, although I still had that slight dry cough which seems to plague people. Father said that it had been going around his office as well, “I bought bags of cough drops in different flavors to help the staff, the cough can be very tiring, and I have a bag here if you need it.” Which I did.

I looked at Father and saw that his face didn’t look hard or forbidding at all, but thoughtful, softer, and I saw that there was more gray in his hair, he still stood ramrod straight, but I felt that he could now be yielding. I also noticed that he was wearing an old fashioned silk tie of red and cream pattern. Such a change from his usual black and dark blue ones, I said “That tie is new, I like it, it looks good on you” Father laughed, I’ve never heard Father laugh, it was so different and his face just lighted up with the laughter and he said “Oh that’s your sister’s fault, but I think a good one, she should tell you how that happened.”

We got my luggage and got into Ted’s car, a Dodge caravan. very practical and comfortable. Father and Ted sat in the front with Mother, baby sis and I sat in the back, well Mother and I sat in the middle seats and baby sis behind us

Everyone was asking me about riding on the train, what I liked about it and what I saw, Father said that perhaps one day he and Mother would take the train to visit me and see San Francisco, maybe even go as far as Seattle, Washington. He said he still didn’t trust airplanes, and now with all the security checks, it just didn’t’ make sense to him to fly if getting there by train was more comfortable. We discussed the pro’s and con’s of train and plane travel and then we arrived at my Parents house, and here even in the late evening I was seeing a change, the whole house had been painted a new color; instead of the dull mustard color and tan window frames it gleamed with white paint, sage green trim and a deep maroon accents, the whole look of it was very refreshing and uplifting

My mind was spinning at all the changes I was seeing, Mother, Father, baby sis, the house. What miracle had happened? I was glad I brought my lap top so I could document all this, even if it is in bits and pieces.

Ted took my luggage upstairs to the bedroom while we went into the living room and as I walked in I had to stop and make sure I was walking into the same house. Such a difference, everything my sister told and written to me about was true, all these little changes had made the house warm and cozy, friendly and welcoming. Granted it was still the same old furniture, but such changes. But on top of that was one more; next to Father’s chair was a wicker dog bed.

I pointed to it and asked, “Who does that belong too?” “Oh” said baby sis, “that’s Trixie’s” and she went into the kitchen and opened the swinging door and out trotted a fox terrier mix, that came up to me and started barking.

Father said “Trixie, enough, sit” which the dog did, “Shake hands” and the dog held out her paw and I took it and said “Hello Trixie”. “Good Girl” said Father and the little dog went to her dog bed and sat down.

Mother and baby sis went to make tea, while Father and I sat down and I saw him pet Trixie’s head. Father told me how Trixie came to be part of the family it seems back in late January, he went out to catch the bus to go to work and found the dog on the porch, dirty, exhausted, starved, and cold with cut paws, he said that when he approached it, it cringed and shivered from fear, “It’s one of God’s creatures, I took pity on it, but in the back of my mind I was saying to myself it’s a mistake, now I can see it wasn’t.”

He called work and told them he had an emergency. He and Mother took the dog to the vet, and except for it being hungry, sore paws and dirty it was in good shape, gave it shots, brought it home with some medicine for the paws, bathed it, followed what the Vet said to feed it, took it back a few days later for a follow up, bought a collar and leash, then checked to see if it had an i.d. chip, which the dog didn’t.

They bought papers to see if it was listed in the lost pets, checked with the animal shelters, “Nothing” said Father “So it looked like we had adopted a dog, we didn’t know what to name it until I said ‘well that’s going to be tricky’ and the little thing responded to ‘tricky’ so I said Trixie and the little thing came right up to me, then she started sleeping next to my chair, I thought it would not be right for her to be sleeping on the rug, it can get hard and…well… she also has a sleeping bed under the kitchen table, but I’ve caught her sleeping on the rug on my side of the bed, not all the time but some times, for some reason I didn’t have the heart to scold her. She’s well house broken, and for some reason seems to like being around me.”

I looked at Father and smiled, “I think she likes you”, Father just smiled at me, sat back in his chair and said “You’re going to find a few changes around here, I hope you like them. When we can get some time alone I’d like to talk to you privately, there’s some things I’ve been thinking about, not to worry, but I’d like your thoughts on some things”

I nodded and said that would be fine. Mother and baby sis brought in the tea and home-made lemon cookies, Ted joined us, and for the first time I felt that this house was beginning to become a home. We chatted some more then Mother saw that I was beginning to droop and asked me how long had I been up and I confessed since 6 a.m. I thought I could nap on the train but seeing the scenery change kept me so interested, that I didn’t take a nap.

With that Mother took charge and said I had to get to bed, which Father agreed, that it was late. I said my good bys to Ted and I followed Mother up to my old bed room while baby sis, Ted and Father remained down stairs, Mother told me that I might see something different in the Bed room. And she was right, the room was brighter with new chenille bedspreads and pillows, some lovely framed landscape prints on the walls, and new drapes and curtains. Mother told me that the bedspreads and some other things were ordered from the “Vermont Country Store Catalogue”, baby sis found it on line at the college.

Mother told me that what I had done last Christmas at the Church caused something to make Father take a good look at himself and things; she didn’t know all of what had happened but his sitting down with her and baby sis has caused a lot of changes. “But” she said “We can’t change everything, I have to respect your Father’s feelings and wishes as well and I’ve grown use to many things so it’s not a problem for me to accept what he would like to keep the same, but do talk to him tomorrow, your sister and I are going out tomorrow morning to look for patterns and your father has taken a few days off from work to be here with you and all of us, so talk to him, find out what is really going on with him.”

She told me that although she was enjoying the new changes she was also afraid too, it was something she couldn’t put a finger on but all seemed very sudden, “And it’s made me a bit breathless, help me to understand what is going on in your Father’s mind.”

I promised her I would and she hugged me again, I felt I was seeing her in a new light, and that lightness had come into the house, but I remembered to “go slow and take it one step at a time” I couldn’t change a life time of habits and thoughts, but now I could understand them and work with them.

She went down stairs and I started to unpack and put away things, then I heard a light tic, tic, tic, turned and saw Trixie at the door, then I heard Father’s voice say “Trixie you know the rules”, and she turned to the sound of his voice and Father came to the door. “Sorry, I guess she had to check on you, she’s let us know more than once if a stranger has come around, so this is new to her.” Then he said to the dog “O.K. now go to bed” and the dog quickly went down the stairs “She’s smart too, never had a dog, this one maybe my one and only”

“A lot of changes, Father” I said. He looked at me and said “Yes, a lot of changes, I can’t make all of them. I have to use a computer at work, I don’t like it, but if I think of it as a sort of fancy typewriter it works, push this and push that, it’s a different world now, more for younger people.”

I sat on my bed and he sat on the vanity seat, I said to him “But it’s the older people who know how things use to work and there are a lot of people who want to learn all of that, some people want to preserve a lot of the old technology, like typewriters and rotary phones. But technology forces us to move faster than many people can handle, it’s become a 24/7 world. What happens in China or the Middle East affects us within a few hours, many people are not happy with that.”

Father asked me how do I deal with it, all the new things “Very carefully” I said “And I try to learn as much as I can about it, there are some things I really don’t need, but it’s easy to become enamored with the latest gadget or technology, so I focus on what I need to make my work easier and better, it’s not easy and one can still get burned.”

Father nodded then he stood up “You better get some sleep, if I know your Mother and sister they have a very busy time planned for you.”

I agreed but said “They’ll be out tomorrow doing things, will you be home?” And he said yes, so we made plans to have our chat tomorrow and went off to bed.

I finished getting ready for bed and typed all this into my lap top and just now baby sis came up and asked me what I thought of the changes in our old bedroom, I could only agree that they looked great and that I was happy with what I’ve seen.

The next day when Mother and baby sis went out to shop, Father and I had a very long talk, and I found out that what I had said at his church last Christmas was the final jolt that he needed upon something that was already happening to him internally.

~~~~~~~
But Lillian is here and Coffee ice cream waits for no one. I'll post more in the next few days, and Fram I am giving serious consideration about what attracted me to firearms, and I will do a post, but as you said, when I'm in the mood.


Until later Sweet things.

The Diary continues---recovery just around the corner

Hello my Sweet yummy things, I am getting better, I feel better, still a little weak but much better. (little purr)

My appetite is slowly coming back but I don’t want to push it, the fever has broke (Thank Goodness), so now it’s just getting back up to par.

And as you said Fram, guns first, one of the first things I’m going to do when I have the first bit of free time, is practice with my new ‘baby’ get the feel of her, but for now I’ve had to call the dealer and tell him that I won’t be able to pick it up for a week, he understood, his wife’s been ill too. I can understand the preference for automatics, but it seems I’m being drawn towards revolvers at this time, maybe it’s the hidden cowgirl in me. I have no idea who the fellow is next to me, does anyone have an idea?

I watched one of Lillian’s DVD’s that she loaned me “Pale Rider” with Clint Eastwood, (I can’t seem to get away from that man) I was very interested in his Remington and how he changed the cylinders as he approached the villain John Russell who I understand was a member of the NRA. Have you seen that movie?

Lillian has been so sweet to me, I owe her a lot, I think she enjoys fussing over me, her children have all grown and have moved away where their jobs take them, but there is something about her that I trust. And I’m going to be watching her as well, especially for her children’s sake.

Yes I agree, it is always good to have friends to help out and I enjoy helping them as well. I have been blessed and I cherish each friendship. It is one of the treasures that all Divas should guard carefully.

And yes, I do love my pink fuzzy-wuzzy slippers, thank you Chic Geek, they may not be glamorous but there is something so comfy about them. (as I wiggle my toes in them)

I’m going to have to go back to work on Monday, fortunately Yoshi and Dan have been watching my clients for me and all is well. I am a bit surprised to read that the stock market is making a little climb and hearing that the housing market in, of all places, San Francisco is going on the upswing.

I am incline to be very cautious on the optimism, too many people are out of work and there are not enough jobs. I had an interesting comment sent to me from “Mean Kitty”. Her husband is disabled because of congestive heart failure and so he needs to be on Medi-care and Medi-cal, since her HMO won’t take him even if he is a family member because of what they call a preexisting medical condition (which I think that HMO is being ridiculous). But it was her observations while she was at the Social Services agency that I found interesting, so I suggested that she post it on her blog.

But I feel that it does point out what we are really facing. We are in a depression; there is no way to explain this economic situation but that we Are in a depression. Of course I cannot tell my clients that, but I do have the feeling that there is going to be a turn around, but what I always caution my clients are to be prepared for the long haul.

I keep thinking of this image that I’ve seen of a crowd of men in heavy overcoats and hats almost all except one is facing in the same direction except for this one old man, holding a metal cup or something and his face has this look of “How did this happen?”

I’ve seen it on a number of people, the ones I feel very sorry for are the one’s who were swindled by the Maldoff-Ponzi con and Maldoff pleads guilty, takes the fall and that way the FBI cannot investigate his family, they get off free. No, there should be some sort of recompense to the investors, at least what they initially invested, no one should get away with what they’ve done, that also includes banks that have done fraudulent loans to people who could barely afford them.

And now Capital One and Chase with their credit cards are putting the squeeze on their customers by raising the rates, no, No, NO!! Not a good thing, if anyone has seen the news it’s because in 2010 bank credit cards will not be able to do things like that so they are raising the rates now to extract as much profit from their customer base, what it will do is force people to close their credit cards at the old rates, and then if they are smart they will look for means to pay off those cards and instead create debit cards to hold the money needed for transactions, just put the money into those debit cards and forget about it only use it when you need that extra bit.

As you can see I am getting better but now my eyes are beginning to burn, and I’m getting tired again. So it’s best I rest.

I need get out for a bit tomorrow if the weather is warm as it has been this last week, right now I have the late afternoon sun flooding my living room and bedroom, just making it naturally warm but once again I am getting sleepy.

I’m sorry Fram, I tried to read Ambrose Bierce, especially “Incident at Owl Creek” but I kept falling asleep, maybe when my mind is more alert, but the book is safely on my bookshelf for another day. I won’t give up on him, and I have a two volume set of the complete works of Mark Twain, and the complete stories of Sherlock Holmes, but my eyes just won’t stay on the words, even typing becomes hard.

At least the headaches are gone, now I just have a bit of a dry cough. Lillian has threatened me with hot toddy’s made with Jack Daniels, honey, lemon and hot water. She swears by Jack Daniels, maybe that is why she made it to 93. (chuckle)

With all the warmth I’m going to take another nap on my couch, sleep keeps demanding my attention.

Stay well and healthy Sweet Things. More Later

The Diary continues---slowly getting better

March 12, 2009 10 p.m.

Dear Sweet Fram, Chic Geek, Mean Kitty and others, I know that you are right. It’s possible that my Father has had an epiphany or wake up call. For him to sit down with Mother and baby sis and listen, really listen to what they had to say, to work with them and do compromises is a major concession on his part. Baby sis sounded so happy and not guarded either, that was a revelation.

But as several of you have said it would be best for me to ‘go slow’ when I visit them during Easter, just take it a moment at a time that would be wise.

Well Sweet Things, I spent all of Wednesday and most of Thursday in bed, sleeping, sweating, and only getting up for food and liquids, Lillian has been so good making sure I have something to eat.

Joe called me Wednesday night to ask what I would need food wise and Lillian took the call, so the two of them put together a grocery list, while I just feebly nodded yes or no and explained some of my preferences, it was so hard to concentrate with that awful headache.

Today (Thursday) he and Frank came by and Lillian was fiercely guarding the door, trying to prevent them from coming in but I asked Lillian to give way and they saw me at my worst, red nose, red eyes and no makeup, I’m thankful that I managed to get into the shower this morning and at least make myself presentable in a velour workout suit, (not that I work out in it, its just nice and comfortable on cold evenings around the house), of course they teased me about my pink fuzzy-wuzzy slippers. Well even Divas have to have something fuzzy-wuzzy.

Fortunately they could see I was not much for long visits but they took Lillian grocery shopping for her and for me. And once again my shelves are stocked. They stayed for just a little while and said they were going to the practice range in South San Francisco, a special fund raising competition was coming up and they needed to practice, even in my feeble state I could sense a friendly rivalry.

I told them about my purchase of a hammerless Smith and Weston .38 special “air light” they knew right away I was buying it for my eventual CCW permit. Frank told me that some of the detectives sometimes use it as a back up weapon, mixed opinions on it. I’d told them I’d let them know my opinion on it when I’m up and feeling better. I found myself getting drowsy and Lillian shooed them out, but with promises to call.

I hate getting sick, it’s a miserable feeling, the headaches, the runny nose, the chills, then the feverish sweats, the achy body, the lack of appetite and if you do eat something it decides to not stay down, earlier this evening the fever finally broke, and I found myself just drenched, but it was a good thing, and so far the fever has not come back and I felt like more soup, now my body is pulling me to either sleep or stay awake. Sleep is best.

Lillian managed to get a friend of hers to take her to see “Singing in the Rain” with Gene Kelly, I had never seen that film in its entirety, only that segment of Kelly dancing in the rain, I’ll have to rent it. But before Lillian left to go to the movies, she reminded me that I have to get better because the Art Deco Society of San Francisco is having their vintage show in two weeks and she’s hinted that she wants to go, (chuckle) I was planning to go anyway but it will be nice to go with someone.

And now my bed with fresh clean sheets is giving the siren call of sleeeeep, sleeeeep and I cannot resist.

So all of you Sweet Things stay well and be healthy, more later.

Santa Cruz~~~ A spiritual Place?

Hello my sweet, yummy things,

I've been asked if I am from Santa Cruz since I've referred to it several times, Mmmmm no my darlings, I never lived in Santa Cruz, but there is something about it that makes me wish I could live there or have a place on the beach near there.

It just draws me, if there is a need to get away for a few days, and the timing is right, I will go there. A mixture of old fashioned, glitz, earth, sea, sand, Beach Boys, spirit, just something that feels right about it.

But then I think would it be viable to live there? Considering the horrendousness of driving Hyway 17 although Hyway 9 is good but only on good days, not in the rain or fog.

I found my Smith and Wesson at the Gun Show, .38 special. So now I have to wait 10 Looong days before it will be mine all mine.

But I need to go for now, I promised Lillian to drop over for a late dinner, it's just a short walk, I think she's feeling a little lonely tonight. I must cheer her up.

I'll talk more about the Gun Show later---sooooo much fun!

Until later my sweet things

Morning Coffee and Birds~~~~

Oh sweet things, I have awaken early this morning, enjoying my morning coffee, looking at the play of sunshine on the trees and water outside my window, viewing the city as it’s hills and canyons are outlined in light and shadow.

My attention is grabbed by movement closer to me and I find myself watching the small birds quickly pecking and nibbling at the emerging blossoms on my neighbors fruit tree, looking for tiny insects, hopping from branch to branch, each chirping to the other in their ‘bird gossip’ way.

I found myself thinking about these birds’ life. We make the mistake of thinking that birds have it so easy, but they don’t when one thinks upon it. Their lives are focused on the basic needs of life, food, shelter, procreation and survival. Yes, my sweet things, those are the four basic needs of life.

And it is not easy for them, yet they do survive, some sacrificing their lives so other can continue the species; mating, raising their “children”, giving them the basic tools for their lives, pushing them out of the nest, and doing it all over again. Are we so much different? Not really, the only difference is we are more complicated, we clutter our lives up with material things, thinking that material things are important when they are not.

Lillian told me last night about the Oakland Firestorm that occurred in October 1992; she said that she had strangely been prepared. “More for Earthquakes than a fire, but it’s all the same”. Her home was up in the hills, where she had lived with her late husband for almost 50 years, he had died 5 years before and she continued to live there, but when she saw the fire, her sense of premonition took over and she quickly gathered all the albums, important papers, her purse, pills and her small suitcase and threw them into her car and drove before anyone even thought of evacuating.

She wasn’t sure where to go, but thought that Alameda would be best since it was separated by the estuary from the rest of the bay area. And there was a ‘back door’ escape route towards the Oakland airport, eventually she stayed at one of the hotels that was near the airport, and contacted her family that she was safe and where she was.

“I watched it from the T.V., I knew that my house was gone. 25 people died in that fire, a miracle it wasn’t more.” And this was only a few years after the Loma Prieta earthquake, her house had come through fine in that earthquake, but the fire “melted everything, reduced it to ashes, ash was floating everywhere, even a burn page from a cookbook found its way to San Francisco, the wind carried it, that was the problem, the winds and everything so dry.”

And now watching the birds I find myself reminded about the basics of life and its resilience.

Lillian said that I should bring everyone up to date on my “Web log” (that is how we got the word ‘blog’—computer speak) she said that everyone would wonder what it was that I said in that church, what was the aftermath how do I feel now that I had done it. And she is right; a chapter, all of life is chapters, like Shakespeare’s 7 ages of man.

All the worlds a stage and all the men and women upon it merely players---to paraphrase him.

I will do it this evening, I’ve nothing special planned, and more rain is coming, it will be purrrrfect.

To Fram---it is wonderful to have remarkable neighbors to admire and to be amused by, such an energetic woman, good for her, and those boys, how enterprising, maybe Daddy has too much stuff in the garage and needs to have a serious garage sale. (Merowl)

To BLUEx PRiiNTZ---as I said in response to your comment earlier, it is difficult for me to engage in a “talk” on line, I am busy and have demands upon my life and time, but feel free to ask me questions and I will respond here. (mew)

About “pistol whipping” some of the characters---I have found that, with only a few exceptions, it’s better to laugh at them, with how their minds work, laughter seems to disorient them, it is not what they expect. With those exceptions, I call the police, although I most likely would prefer to “blow away” those 51/50’s, less DNA in the gene pool and less stress on the budget, but that would not be “politically correct”.

And speaking about the ‘gene pool” the Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, is expecting a baby, not him, his wife. Oh bother! (Growl) just what we need another PC weenie idiot, who thinks we should eat grass and not defend ourselves.(Snarl)

I need to get into my car and drive to the range and release my anger----Hmmmm I think I’ll do that, it’s been a while.

Until this evening, my sweet, luscious, yummy things, until this evening. (Growl)

Valentine's Day and Gun Shows~~~

Hello sweet things, Valentine’s Day had dawned cold, crisp and with a wet afterglow from the heavy storms that swept though the night before, washing the air clean, there was even a smattering of snow in the Santa Cruz Mountains just south of here which made for a very cold night.

Friday night was a very nice and relaxing evening, Yoshi and I having dinner at the Silver Dragon and laughing over the situation that had happened at work the day before, so luscious and ludicrous as one of our team members was in ‘a pickle’. “Dan” (not his real name) discovered a problem in a deal that was being worked on and if it was not resolved by Friday it would result having a few heads on the chopping block. And Dan discovered it late Thursday afternoon, he worked on it but all the information did not seem to ‘jell’ so he asked me to help and bring a fresh eye into it, Yoshi joined us as she had expertise in this field.

So here we are and all the information was coming together, then Dan started to grab his coat with the words “I need to go”, I stood up, blocking his way with hands on hips and said “Go where?” it seems that his in-laws were coming over for dinner and he had to be there. I told him that was not going to happen.

I don’t like making threats but I did, in which it could have jeopardized his job. You see my sweet yummy things one does not have to throw knives or toss people over their shoulder like Ziva on NCIS or even do a good judo kick like Emma Peel of “The Avengers” (think Diana Rigg in her younger days), to be able to “drop kick” a person.

Dan called me a name and I said “Yes, I am a Babe In Total Control of Herself” Just take the first capitalized letters and you’ll know what I mean. Then I called his wife and explained the situation to her, she was not pleased but since I’m senior to Dan I knew I could pull rank on him. I turned the phone over to Dan for him to give his apologies and with Yoshi in the background yelling for Dan to come here she found another error (Yoshi knows how to play this game very well Mmmmmm) Dan had to say “I’m sorry” and hang up grumbling.

What Dan didn’t know after he went back to his desk is I followed up with another call to a 24 hour service to send a bouquet of red roses and a box of expensive candies and champagne (they are very full service) to his house to his wife with a note from Dan with love and apologies. She received it that evening.

When we were ready to leave work I told Dan to ask his wife when he got home, if she received her gifts as an apology for disappointing her and did she like them, he looked at me blankly and I said to him “Go with the flow, kiss and hug her and be very apologetic and loving, and for Valentines day take her to a jewelry store and buy her some diamond ear studs. You can afford it.”

Oooooh sweet things the look on his face was just priceless, Mmmmm just soooo yummy.

By this time we had found the problem and we knew that we had to present it the next day to “Fearless Leader” but by uncovering it we prevented a very bad investment situation and although “Fearless Leader” would not be happy it was a far better situation than what could have happened if it had been overlooked.

So on Friday with our findings in hand, “Fearless Leader” looked it over and knowing that it was not good news it was better than bad news and he in turned presented it to our “Head Honcho”. Word came back that the “Head Honcho” was very pleased with our findings and new analysis, and our personal stock went up. Dan also thanked me for sending the gifts to his wife, she was very romantic when he came home, when he told his wife about taking her to a jewelry store to select a special gift, (and saying this in front of his in-laws) his mother-in-law (whom he can barely stand) said that it was the sweetest thing ever done, and that maybe her daughter did find a good husband after all. Poor Dan, he really can’t stand his mother-in-law, but he can deal with them.

Yoshi and I had a good laugh over it at dinner. She said she also felt better that her husband was coming home from his two week visit to his elderly parents in Taiwan, on Sunday, so their Valentine’s day was going to be late but at least he’ll be home, unfortunately those are those family things that has to be dealt with and she was as worried as her husband about his parents, the only good thing is that his younger brother lives with them and would not leave them.

She told me her husband was looking into arrangements to have his parents and brother brought over here on a compassionate type of visa. She didn’t know all the legal ins and outs but they have a lawyer working on it and so far it was looking good, and they thought the best way was to bring them over on board a ship, less stress on them and better for them to ship as much of their belongings over. Her Mother was going to help them with housing, so with hugs and well wishes I dropped her off at her house and came home.

On Valentine’s Day, having grabbed a coffee from one of the ubiquitous Starbuck’s shops, I drove the 30 miles or so to the Vallejo fair grounds to the Gun Show. There was a brisk breeze in the air, and I could see the storm clouds moving and bunching up like invisible cowboys were herding them. As I was going over the flyway to connect to 880 I had the only patch of sunshine following me; to the east were dark clouds moving away over the Bay Area Hills and into the coastal valley, I could see over S.F. were more coming and coming quickly, I knew that the possibility of rain might happen on the way but fortunately the rain held off until later.

I arrived just after 10 a.m. to the Fair Grounds, and looking across at the 6 Flags Discovery Park I could see that the rides, usually packed with screaming teens and adults, were shut down and the park closed, in this weather all the rides would be dangerous to be on, I briefly thought of Santa Cruz and imagined that it might be the same situation.

Pulling into the parking lot, I paid my parking fee to a freezing woman, who had two coats on to keep warm, I felt sorry for her just knowing that she was in jeopardy of catching a cold. I drove on towards the main building, the mud and gravel lot was pocked marked with mud puddles, it was impossible to prevent mud from splashing up on the car, ‘Oh, well’ I thought, ‘a quick hose down if possible, then detailing when we have dry weather.’

As I walked to the ticket booth I saw that the NRA stand was doing a very brisk business of signing up new members, despite the cold weather. One volunteer member said that the signups were more than the last time they were here and it’s happening all over. A lot of gun owners don’t trust Obama’s administration, and I don’t blame them.

I could not believe it, the hall was jam packed to almost over-flowing, this was not just men looking over guns, it was women of all ages with a number of elderly ones using the four wheel walkers, there were a few men and women using wheel chairs, some powered, some not, and whole families, more than once I saw Fathers carrying babies in their arms with their wives along side, looking over a handgun or rifle while the seller was extolling the virtues of it and answering questions, more than once I’d hear the wife asking a question.

I had never seen this many people before, and I was wondering what it would be like at the Gun Show at the Cow Palace in S.F. I had read that at the last Cow Palace Gun Show the NRA had record sign ups, was this a continuing trend?

There were two companies selling gun safes from the smallest to one of the hugest I’d ever seen, more than 7 feet wide, I smiled as I saw a little girl sit inside one and say “This is a good one Daddy, it’s big” and Mommy standing by with a baby in one of those baby kangaroo carry pouches, reading the brochure.

At another booth there were calendars being sold by one of the “Girls of Guns” magazine, she was signing her picture on the calendar to buyers. A DVD was playing on a continuous loop showing the pictures and advertising the magazine, you could also sign up for a subscription. One woman bought one and gave it to her husband and said “Happy Valentine’s Day, Honey” Mmmmm I have to say considering the poses, guns do sell.

There were books, antique guns, modern handguns, rifles, scopes, ammo, knives, tasers (yes, personal tasers), military collectibles, jewelry both gold and native american, old west items, saddles, scabbards, holsters, ammo vests, flack vests ( I have no idea where they got those), conceal carry purses for women, conceal carry organizers for men, leather vests, members from SASS (Single Action Shooting Society) encouraging people to join the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting, every known type of concealed weapon from small knives in lipstick tubes to pepper spray in what passes for a purse size perfume spray bottle, books and videos on guns and gun safety, taking care of your gun or rifle, even a two volume set called “The Poor Man’s James Bond” or “everything you wanted to know to blow up your nasty neighbor” and many more; things seemed to overwhelm me, I had never had that type of experience before, and again I was sensing that this was the wave of the future.

Oh sweet things, business was very, very brisk, even the concession stands were selling hot clam chowder soup with biscuits, and chili with corn bread, hot coffee and tea, and hot chocolate, forget the hot dogs and nachos with cheese and soft drinks, although available, it was the hot soup and chili that were the biggest hits, it was so cold outside.

The hall at the fair grounds is old, left over from the 1950’s and never is the temperature right, either too hot in summer or too cold in winter and the heaters were struggling, but it wasn’t too bad with all the people that were there. The women’s bathroom as always immaculate but old, and as you pass the door to the men’s, well lets say that when you go past there is always a smell that has never gone away.

There were people there taking tests for their gun safely cards so they could purchase a gun, women watching video’s showing women how to shoot a gun safely, many of them asking questions as to where they can get training. Many asking where they can get a conceal carry permit.
If the politico’s really want to get a pulse on society they should come to one of these shows in the morning and see what society is really all about sweet things. It would be a real eye opener, and these were not red necks, or rabid gun owners, many were professional people, as well as your average working American, seeking to protect themselves and keep their 2nd amendment rights. And what I was surprised to see is that there was hardly an African-American face in the crowd maybe one or two at the most, a number of Hispanic with their wives and family, a few Asian, but mostly predominantly white.

I decided when I go to the Cow Palace show to take a mental inventory of the people who attend that one, and see if the location affects the demographics.

There were people coming in from the parking lot bringing in guns to sell to any interested private parties or to dealers, and outside the gun show room were people looking to see what was coming in, I saw several times men stopping people who were carrying in their guns to sell and asking questions about them, then they would go into the show room and over into one corner to discuss the deal and then approach a licensed dealer to complete the sale transfer.

I was also overhearing some of them complaining about the increase in price on the so-called assault weapons, far beyond their worth.

The Sheriff’s department was a presence there to lock the guns coming in for private sale, patrol the room, the outside area and parking lot and sign off on those items that were antique or collectibles that didn’t need a transfer. They also over saw the area set aside to conduct private sales, and check off on the transfer situation.

There were dealers from Nevada, Mokulume Hill, Stockton, Sacramento, San Diego, Jamestown, Oregon, and places I’d never heard of.

I had the happy pleasure of running into my date for the evening, a friend of mine Joe, from the San Francisco police department, he was happy to see me and we confirmed our meeting that evening for dinner and entertainment. He said that a number of off-duty officers from different police departments were there buying guns, equipment, ammo; it was amusing seeing cases of ammo being hauled off by the cart load.

Joe and I had a cup of coffee at the concession stand and talked about what we were seeing, he told me that quite a number of police officers do not like who Obama has picked for Attorney General and are going to be doing a letter writing campaign voicing their objections and possibly seeing about having him removed. I wished him well on that, but said it would be best for the police union to work with the NRA and throw their weight in with them. He said he was going to bring it up at the next union meeting.

We talked about the BART shooting, he informed me that it was rumored that Meserliegh had gone through police training but had low grades and therefore didn’t qualify for the S.F. police dept. so he went to BART that was in need of officers.

He felt that it was an accident, that not all the cell phone videos that showed the incident had been posted on YouTube, there were others that clearly showed that Oscar Grant was struggling and attempted to kick the other officer. Joe said that it appeared that Grant was on the road to being a career criminal. But what Messerleigh did was a huge mistake, based on insufficient training. That sweet things, was my opinion as well, but only with everything being brought out in a trial will we know the full story. But there is also a question of what the Oscar Grant team will try to suppress.

My friend said to me “Why is it, that when a white person is shot, everyone is sorry and that there will be an investigation, but when a black or Hispanic person is shot, not only is their going to be an investigation but people yell that the police are to blame, that person was a good guy (not) and the police officers involved should be arrested and brought to trial and everything associated with that. And that people either will demonstrate or hold candle light vigils for the criminals but not for a dead police officer”

I looked at my friend and said “It is because people think that all police are corrupt, that the government is corrupt and that they are working hand in hand with “The Man’” (who every he may be, possibly a hold over shadow from their slave days)

We both knew that in any police force there are good cops and bad cops and the bad cops make the ones who put themselves in harms way, look bad as well. He said “It’s going to come down to the people, one day the cops are not going to help them, it’s happening in Oakland already, there are areas that the Oakland cops won’t go into because of snipers in abandoned apartment buildings and they can’t do anything to get rid of them, because of absentee owners, and the people in the neighborhoods won’t help. If they get a call to go into that area they won’t go, because the calls are 90% false, but that 10% that needs help, they won’t go because of what that community has created because they think we work hand in hand with ‘The Man’.”

He was right, Mayor Dellums won’t do anything or get anything activated to do that, maybe because Dellums is trying to prove that he’s not an “Oreo cookie”. But he is also one of the most ineffectual Mayors since Jerry Brown or what some people refer to as ex-governor Moonbeam.

And I was seeing the results right there at the Gun Show, people taking “the law” as far as they can legally go to protect themselves. Hmmmm and you know what my sweet luscious things? I found myself 100% behind them. (Growl)

He continued “On top of that we have city attorneys, mayors and overly PC city council members that won’t do anything to help eradicate this problem, the Oakland city attorney won’t even investigate or charge a criminal if he assaults a police officer; buying guns back doesn’t do it, it never fails people bring in junk guns, too busted up to have ever worked properly, out of the hundreds of guns that have been brought in from the buy back program we may have 20 in good working condition or the wives of the late owners had no idea how to get rid of them.

And those guns are run though to see if they were ever used in a crime, those that are, are set aside for evidence, those that weren’t, they go out for bid among the officers, not that there are many of them, they’re not but I’ve seen some antiques and collectibles, and those are sold at auction and the money goes into the police retirement fund or those funds to pay for the education of the children of officers killed in action. The good that comes out is small because the program is being taken for a ride---no thanks to soon to be ex-Senator Don Perata.”

I groaned when I heard that name, Don Perata, now up for investigation, for years he’d been given a conceal/carry permit but the last time he didn’t pass the exam, he demanded to have the permit anyway, but that Sheriff stood his ground, so Perata went the other way and became anti-gun---such a child! (Snarl) He’s done more to hurt the police service and legal gun ownership than help.

Then for his own personal use vehicle he is given a red Dodge Charger (his request) with fancy rims and later is in a known criminal area (Hmmmm I wonder why?) and gets car-jacked, by the same man who later attempted to hold up a gas station and shoots a young boy who was taking a piano lesson in a near by school; the bullet (a cop-killer type) goes though the paper thin walls, hits the boy and paralyzes the child (the child is making a recovery and a fund has been set up to off-set his medical and therapy fees). The criminal was caught (by the way he was African-American, the boy Hispanic)

Of course people are screaming to hang the criminal because of the boy, but they are also screaming why is Perata driving such a fancy car in a high crime neighborhood?

Joe pointed out to me several dealers that had bins of junk guns at $10.00 a ‘pop’, “Now”, he says “They are legally selling them for either parts or displays, nothing wrong with that, but some people will by 5 or 10 of them at a time, hold on to them and wait for the next ‘buy-back’ program and make a 1000% profit, but what burns me is being in the program and seeing some guys that you know are dopers getting the money to buy drugs that are being sold on the next block, I’ve seen it, I’ve seen it and what burns me more is I know I can’t do anything about it, because there maybe undercover cops waiting to catch the ‘Big Fish’.”

Ooooh sweet things, he was right, but the only way to avoid that is instead of money, give them vouchers to only receive groceries and not for beer or snack food, but healthy food, and make them non-transferable. The ‘buy-back’ program is a joke.

We continued to walk through the show and I looooved looking at what was offered, the original Colt 1911’s in good condition was going for anywhere between 2,000 to 3,000 dollars! Now that opened my eyes.

I did come across a wonderful hammerless Smith and Wesson, but it was in the process of being sold to another person, but with their permission I looked it over and asked questions about it, and took the business card of the dealer, he promised to e-mail me when he had another in stock, he even asked if I posed for the “Girls with Guns” calendar, I had to say no, and the buyer asked “Why Not?” I only laughed and thought “Yes, why not?” and thanked them for the compliment, even Joe was laughing, he said he could see me ‘crooning’ over a .357 magnum with a Harry Callahan look-a-like, I said “Why not have the real thing, get Clint Eastwood involved, fix up his hair, and have the profits of the calendar sales go to some police charity.”

Mmmmmm sweet things I had the pleasure of seeing his eyes light up---why not Chuck Norris of Walker Texas Ranger fame, Eddie Murphy of “48 Hours”, That lovely lady who plays Calli Ducane on CSI Miami, the actors from NCIS, or Criminal Minds, with that he kissed me right in the middle of the show room, and everyone cheered, but it was for giving him a wonderful idea for fund raising.

Hmmmm my Valentine’s present to him. It was getting late in the day, and I wanted to change into sometime different for our get together tonight, but I found myself a bit hungery and I knew we wouldn’t be eating until late so we drove in our own cars, back along Fairground Parkway to that guaranteed road side restaurant Denny’s, and had our “Grand Slam” breakfasts. I always know that unless there was something wrong in the kitchen that there are no surprises at Denny’s. And I knew I’d have to work it off at the gym the next day.

We made our final arrangements for that evening and drove away. Now sweet things about the evening, well I can tell you that at Georgi’s the food was good, the Music just wonderful and the comic very, very funny. We had met in our own separate cars, because he didn’t know if he was going to be called on duty, some bug was going around, we passed up the alcohol, after all we were driving.

As we were leaving he thanked me for helping him get pass Valentine’s Day, he lost his wife to cancer 6 months before, she was a good friend from my college days, like Yoshi and I liked whom she had chosen for a husband, a good man, and he was still in love with her, so he has buried himself in his work, no children, but nieces and nephews. I told him he needed to get back into the saddle, his wife would not want him mourning forever, he knew what I meant, but a cop’s life is not easy and a woman married to a cop has a tremendous amount of worry and fear, it takes a special woman for that he said, and his wife was one in a million. I could only agree, thinking on our friendship and how she helped me get settled up here, and with that we parted feeling good and a little sad but better for it.

Now this Sunday morning has dawned gray and overcast, rains had poured in during the night, the air freezing, it’s even taking longer for my home to heat up, I worked out at the gym early this morning, and then inspired, have written this up.

For me writing my postings is more not so much of being inspired but having the time, being busy with work, commitments and friends and it’s not an easy thing, I admire those early writers who kept journals or diaries, now with Blogspot, My Space, Face Book, You Tube you find tons of desperate people living desperate lives, but I think among all of that you also find those that share the same thinking process, the same feelings, up and downs and all the vicissitudes of life and it makes you feel less alone.

Many people have busy active lives, and there are those who by accident, personality, or nature’s design live cut off from being able to interact with other people, but with those outlets hopefully my sweet, yummy things, it lessens their loneliness, and makes them hopeful or be a leaning experience and gives them courage to go out and do and be a part of life, to seek help or just hang in there until the weather improves, and prevents them from being depressed.

I’ve found I’m having fun, by learning how to add things to my Blog, eventually I will be able to post pictures of my surroundings so you can have a better idea of what I’m seeing, even links to places I’ve been, oh it won’t happen all the time but enough, I guess I’m going to have to invest in a digital camera to make it easier. Just like that sweet little 4 ½ year old girl who takes a picture of her fish ‘Dorothy’ and sends it to her parents. So simple a child can do it. (purr) Yes my sweet things I’m laughing at the idea.

And yes my sweet things I’m sharing my experiences with you, so that some day you too will be able to get out there and enjoy and live life with a zest and gusto that you feel may have been denied to you as it was denied to me for so long, and I’m making up for time.

Ooooh this post is long, so I will end for now, I think later this evening I will finally write up about the repressive church that so adversely affected me, I can go down that dark path now and bring up that memory.

But for now, even with the chilly rains I have to do things, I may have tomorrow off but knowing my work, I may be called in. (Merowl) Such is life my darlings, such is life but my sweet, luscious, yummy things, enjoy it!!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day~~~

Mmmmmm to all you sweet luscious, yummy things~~~~

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and although it's going to be cold and very rainy I've got my day planned out. First I'm going to a Gun Show and see what wonderful delights catch my eye. You never can tell what one might find (Merowl).

Then in the evening a dear, sweet friend of mine is treating me to dinner at a wonderful little spot we know that has the most wonderful music from the 30's and 40's excellent singer and musicians and they are going to have a comedian that I've enjoyed in the past. (purrr)
And it's going to be a wonderfully long weekend, but I don't feel like traveling anywhere, an excellent time to catch up on things. Hmmmm?

I've been having some fun reading the newspapers, but it's much of the same news, are they any closer to voting either at the State Capital or in Washington? No. The politicians are dragging their knuckles in the dirt as usual and 10's of thousands of people suffer from their "pig-headedness".

Does "Da Arnold" think he can whip the State congress into passing a budget by laying off 0ver ten thousand state employees? That won't matter to the politicians, they could care less, but the one's who get hurt are the rank and file. (Snarl)

I can guarantee that many of them will be voted out of office and don't count on "Da Arnold" getting voted back in.

And S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom, "testing the waters" to see about running for Governor of our bankrupt state? He can't even run San Francisco. He caved into the Unions when they demanded raises, huge raises, and he gave them the money knowing that it would put the city into serious financial trouble, much like Mayor Dellums of Oakland, he who really has the office run by his virago of a wife. (Growl)

And then wimp Mayor Newsom asks for the money back, sorry Gavi-boy not if you got down on your knees and shaved your hair off. And he wants to run for Governor? If it wasn't for the fact that I have an excellent job and good friends I'd move to Deadwood, South Dakota. Hmmmmm maybe sweet things I just might in the future.

In the mean time my friend Yoshi and I are going to treat ourselves to our favorite Chinese Restaurant to celebrate a happy completion to a worrisome situation.

And to you sweet, luscious, yummy things Many Kisses to you for Valentines Day.

One last thought before bed~~~

To Fram~~~

Before I fall asleep.

Yes I do want you to be on here, that is why I’ve added that “gadget” I have a few who do follow this blog, some ask not to post their comments, and some I felt were too “private” or immoderate in their comments, and some like Mean Kitty are just right there.

If you look you will see that I have added a link to your blog (yes an ugly word) so others can find it. I enjoy your thoughts.

I’ve been reading your postings, your thoughts, there are other ways of being cut off from the world than by nature, but I think nature does it because “she’ has to, it doesn’t make it any less acceptable, but that is when it is good to think re-group, and re-asses things.

The half time silliness of the Super Bowl? I thank the powers above that I always deliberately miss it. I think it was George Carlin who said (and I’m paraphrasing) that football was an act of war, the act of stealing land, something that we (I believe he meant the government and robber barons) are ‘pretty good at’. And I would never attempt word games with that man, even a Contessa knows her match.

Drive 250 miles to a gun show? I would do that in a heart beat, damn the gasoline costs, no one but no one denies me my right to use, pack, shoot, and own a gun, not by rising costs, distance or idiotic legislature. (Snarl)

I like what Charlton Heston said, although a bit melodramatic, “From My Cold Dead Hand.”

Hmmmmm riding a ship over moonlit waves, do you know ships are always referred to as “she”? I’m sure you do. I love the description Mmmmmmm I can picture it.

I too sometimes feel the need to up and leave, go someplace else, but until I find another place that has that ‘special feel’ that San Francisco does, I shall stay here as home.

Now back to bed and sleep to unravel the cares of the day, Sweet dreams you luscious, yummy, sweet thing. (puuurrrrrr)

Walking along Blogging Lane, back from a mini-vacation~~~

Well sweet things, it’s so nice to see you again on Blogging Lane, especially a certain sweet, yummy thing. Mmmmmm

I’ve been busy as usual with work and things, but not as intense as last week, I even had a chance to take in a mini-vacation. They didn’t expect me or some of my colleges to get back until today, it seems that some of them had tickets to the Super Bowl and were doing their usual male testosterone Hoo Rahs.

Which reminded me that my neighbors, although nice people, tend to have very noisy boisterous parties, which starts long before game time and continues long after, and last year I had decided to spend a Day in the City, but it wasn’t long enough for me. ***pouting***

Last year they still were going at it when I got home, with a few extra guests courtesy of the local police department; no sweet things I didn’t call our local gendarmes, someone else did, but Mmmmm I do love seeing men in uniform. One of those luscious yummy things came over and asked if I had seen what had happen, I told him and we exchanged business cards. We still have dinner from time to time when his schedule permits, a nice little arrangement (Purrrr).

So this last weekend was cold and clear, I awoke early finding myself feeling restless, and knowing I had to make plans in regards to this Super Bowl Sunday. Getting up early is something I do when I’ve had a restful night’s sleep and I did have one, but on this morning I wanted to go somewhere and driving in the early morning hours just before the sun crests the skyline I find something sooo otherworldly about that hour.

I remember that towards evening just past sundown but before night descends there is a time that the French refer to as “L’Heure Bleue” or the Blue Hour, when the sky can be so Maxfield Parrish perfect, a perfect time for reflection. But this is that hour in reverse when the blue can give way to rose, pink and gold and awakens the mind in preparation for the day.

Not being sure what or where my restlessness would take me I tossed an overnight bag with several changes into the trunk of my car, just in case; called my girl friend to see if she could pickup my mail and newspapers (she could, the sweet thing, I owe her one), stopped long enough at a vendor making coffee which I partake of; coffee that early in the morning has a special aroma and taste, and takes the chill off, it makes me want to stretch and prowl (Merrowl).

Now I find I’m feeling very restless and no sweet things it’s not because of the caffeine; at first I turned my thoughts to San Francisco, returning to my car, I start up the engine but as I’m going over the Bay Bridge I suddenly decide to go to Santa Cruz, its early enough, I knew I could be there in over an hour, and popping in a CD I listened to Vivaldi’s 4 Seasons as my car ate up the road.

The only draw back is that I hate the drive up the mountains on Highway 17, people drive like maniacs on that road irregardless of the dangerousness of it. (Growl) So I decide to take Highway 9, the back door as some people call it. It’s a road you have to focus on with all its twists and turns, but I found myself enjoying the little trip, seeing the blue of the night fading as I’m traveling.

Slowly the sun crests’ into day, but there is a sort of foggy haze among the coastal redwoods on Highway 9, and on occasion I see deer near the roadside. I’m beginning to feel the pangs of hunger as I approach the Brookdale Lodge, just 5 miles north of Felton. I remember that they have a very nice little café and friendly wait staff, as if left over from the 1950’s where they still “dear and honey” you. Sooo very precious and relaxing. But I decided to only have toast and coffee just to cut the hunger.

I was told that the Lodge is now under new management and is upgrading things, I stayed there two years ago on what turned out to be the hottest, wildest, wackiest, wooonderful weekend of the entire year, and the use of that pool was a blessing. The dinner at the Lodge, fantastic! With a real brook running through it, how 1920’s!

Mmmmm recalling that memory at first I think I might stay there, but no I decide that I will go all the way to Santa Cruz.

As I’m pondering “where will I stay” and finishing my coffee, my eyes stray to an ad in the travelers’ magazine, what a quaint name “The Sea and Sand Inn”, Oooh how luscious! And how ridiculous, and yet it intrigued me, the location sounded good but if it didn’t please me there was always another hotel.

I cut through the town of Felton to connect to Highway 17 for the last leg of my journey, Hmmmm I remember they have some quiet amusements here that I’m going to have to check out when I want to get away from things and have my mind relax.

You know sweet things, it does pay to check to see what is in your own “backyard”, and I have no idea why people feel that they haven’t taken a vacation unless they’ve traveled to Paris or Istanbul or Cabo San Lucas, unless you have to take the “kids” to Disneyworld.

There is nothing wrong with that, but in these economic times why spend money over seas when there are some wonderful places to see here and there are tons of them, beautiful, relaxing, funny, strange, quaint, old-fashioned, child oriented, adult oriented, you have to look sweet things, it can be such a yummy bit of research. Unless one is in the ice-locked states, then a trip to Florida or Palm Springs just might do the trick.

I remember when I saw the grand, expansive beauty of the Grand Canyon, it took my breath away, Nature or God (take your pick) carving out its own majesty. (Think sweet things, the Grand Canyon Suite by Grofe for a musical interpretation) I remember hearing some children of the obnoxious ages of 10 and 12 saying to their Father, with awe in their voices “Dad, thank you for bringing us here, it’s like Wow!” Even I had a secret smile on my face at their reactions….remember it you young sweet things and keep it in your hearts.

The Inn did have a room available, I was very pleased with it, all the nice amenities, but the parking was a bit tight. Just a short walk from the beach, the wharf, dinning and not far from the old Boardwalk. Hmmmm It seems I can’t get away from “Harry Callahan”, if I remember right Clint Eastwood filmed one of the “Dirty Harry” films here. Hmmmm maybe I should have a framed photograph of him in my living room, he seems to be following me everywhere.

It seems there were not too many guests this weekend so a drop-in guest such a Moi was very welcomed. The place is right out of the 1950’s but with some modern upgrades, I had a nice spa in my room and the baloney had an ocean view. The only drawback is that I couldn’t check in until after 3 p.m., the policy with most hotels but for security they locked up my bag and laptop.

While making arrangements I made the acquaintance of an elderly couple Mr. & Mrs. G… who were visiting their Grandson and his friends. Their Grandson attends the nearby University and they were in the same situation as I, having just arrived. As we had a few hours to “kill’ they invited me, a stranger, with them to meet their grandson and his friends at Gilda’s for breakfast, on the wharf.

Oh sweet things, I do love the Wharf, all that tangy salt air, early morning fishermen, fresh fish, the smells that can get your stomach to demand food. The downside is you have to watch for fish innards and scales, but that is part of the ‘charm’, earthy and real; the other downside is that they have these shops which cater to tourists with all their ‘kitschy’ things to clutter up one’s home. But they have to bring in an income to keep it running.

Taking a table, waiting for their Grandson and drinking coffee, Mr. & Mrs. G were telling me about their memories of Santa Cruz, they honeymooned there many years ago, pointing out to me all the changes, some for the better and some they felt, for the worst. I love old things and I had to agree with them in part but I said to them “Isn’t it better to try and preserve something, but bring into it something that the young people will be attracted to, to create interest so it can continue to exist?” They had to agree, time stops for no one.

Mr. G said a quote to me, about “the moving finger writes, and having written moves on. Not all thy piety nor all thy wit can cancel half a line of it” (Omar Khayyam), it felt a little sad to me, especially when I looked at them in this honest morning light, in their early 70’s, time fleeing by, but still with a certain gusto for life.

Mrs. G said when she was young she couldn’t understand why the “old timers” didn’t like things to change, “now we are the old timers and we find that we hate change”, not change in attitudes like equality and liberty, a lot of that is for the better, but familiar things that by their familiarity is comforting when struck by tragedy, a compass point of steadiness in a fast moving world that they are afraid of being destroyed.

That idea struck me at being so true, the idea of a “compass point of steadiness”, but lose that and what could happen? Depression, desolation, loss, fear, even terror, a general sense of giving up? I found it food for thought to ponder on further, and what was my compass point?

Just then their grandson Joe showed up with his friend Dan. Since I was a guest, the conversation revolved around Mr. and Mrs. G catching up with their Grandson’s life; every now and then I would ask questions about the classes he was taking and his career goals. I offered him and his friend Dan, my business cards since they were going for the same degree; I felt that it would be a good thing to help network them.

I made some suggestions to them as to how they could go about looking for jobs, and that I would be happy to help them with some leads but that for them to get the job it had to be on their merit, I did recommend that they continue with school but see if they could take on internship programs where they could learn and still go to school. It would look good on their resume. They agreed that right now it would be best to stay in school and do internships’, getting experience and using that to network.

I felt that they were ‘hungry’, they had a ‘fire’ in them, they said seeing how the economy was going they want to learn from the mistakes, and get a better idea on people’s thinking. Hmmmmm I thought these luscious young men would bear watching and we exchanged e-mail addresses, even if I’m further up the ladder than they it always pays to network, who knows where it may lead.

After breakfast they all got into their car to go some place else that was on their plans and I thanked them for such a wonderful morning.

Oh sweet things I had soooo much fun, I checked out the Wharf and the Boardwalk, only a few of the rides were running which was fine given the time of year and the Casino was open; I had fun at the arcade games, I gave my tickets to two little sisters who were just short of winning a particular prize they wanted and I had enough to help them get it, they hugged me, Hmmm simple random acts of kindness.

I checked out the Miniature Golf in the Neptune Plunge, and even rode the Carousel, no matter what age you are when you’re near a Carousel you can become, for a short while a child again, to grab that brass ring and toss it into the Clown’s mouth.

In the evening I sat back and relaxed in my spa drinking my glass of wine from a small sample bottle that I bought and watched the night ocean, it was such a fun day that I found myself just stretching like a satisfied cat. Merowl.

I spent Sunday going through town and found some very interesting and creative shops, and made notes of places that I would like to go back and see at another time. Later I walked along the Boardwalk and the Wharf just taking in the place at my own pace, the exercise did me good. Mmmmmm it felt good, the fresh crisp salt air, hearing and seeing the ocean waves, it was so relaxing.

I wasn’t planning on leaving until Monday morning but after the worse of the commute rush, and then checking in at the office to see if any ‘disasters’ had happen.

Mr. and Mrs. G and I had breakfast together Monday morning at Gilda’s and we talked further about our interests. I was happy to discover that they were members of the Single Action Shooting Society, Ohhh that was so sweet and yummy to discover that.

It seems that Mr. G favors the Ruger Vaqueros and saves his Colts as back up guns, he stays with .38 cal but has to use cowboy loads that have a lower grain count, shooting at metal targets it would be very bad to have anything ricochet, thus the lower loads. We talked about upcoming gun shows, so there is a possibility we might meet again, we exchanged addresses and e-mails, and they said they would let me know about upcoming meets. We had a wonderful time, Hmmmm I would say it was so serendipitous.

There is something that I constantly discover….going some place is always a discovery, and up to a point coming home is fine… until you reach a certain area of familiarity on the road and then all the old tensions come back, the dream is over and reality begins, pooh!

There are times I wish I could just jump into my car and drive, drive, drive, seeing where the road takes me, finding what I can around the next turn, some people when they retire decide to live in an R.V. but I don’t want all that responsibility…no matter what it’s still repairs and insurances that you have to drag around. To be so unencumbered seems to be a free way to live.

But you still have to come back to some sort of nest to do doctor and dental appointments, having the car maintained, doing taxes, and it takes money, you can’t carry all that money with you, so you have to use a debit card and you need to maintain a certain balance within it.

Oh Growl!!! Sometimes I feel like I’m caged up! Constantly pacing the same 4 walls!
There are times when I feel I could claw things to shreds!!!!

“Be happy in your work” my father would say…not if you feel like you have a choke collar on you! (Snarl)

Hmmmmm I think I’m going to have to find a way to balance all of this out.

I’ve been having fun looking at the news reports, Louis Uchitelle’s column in the New York Times Jan 31 caught my eye; I found it interesting in regards to the Economic situation. I devoured the Saturday business section; everything is going to need to be watched very carefully we are a long, long way to even start getting out of the woods and things are still tumbling down. Macy’s, another one to “bite the dust”.

I find it interesting that the GOP elected Michael Steele as the new party chairman, an African American. Is the GOP trying to put a new face to their party Hmmmmm? Are they going to prime him up for the next election? An Obama clone?

And now some utility companies in California are putting smiley faces on their bills if their customers are good about conserving--- (Snarl) Grow UP!! We are not infants!! What a waste of money to add to the bill printing system.

And that woman having 8 babies! 8 of them!!! And she already has 6 and all by in vitro fertilization, not married, living with her parents, Ohhh sweet things you know that this is going to be a welfare Mom and all because she “likes” having babies.

I thought that one of the reasons women got the vote and finally a bill for equal pay for equal work was to be emancipated from being baby machines and this one wants to be one??!! (Snarl) This is one mentally ill woman, and yes, there should be some sort of ethics about this, this is too extreme, just watch my sweet things some new legislation is going to come about because of this.

I don’t mean the one child policy that China has, which is upsetting their racial balance, all things in moderation. 14 children! 14 Children!!! And no father in sight! Well if one thinks in terms of 2 children per family that takes care of 7 families. And this woman has a public relations manager and is being offered book and television deals???!!!----what she needs is a psychiatrist!!!!! (Rowl!!! Snarl!!!)

And in Japan the government is pleading with their people to have children, while in Africa children are dying from wars and starvation. In Europe they are worried about the Christian population being out numbered by the Muslim population. Well sweet things you better get started and be baby machines! (Growl, Roar!)

I for one will not! I think it’s because I don’t have a maternal bone in my body and I admit it!

Ohhh darlings I’d never harm a child and I would never put one in danger, but I do not feel the urge to be a mother. And I am not alone.

Maybe it’s because when I was young I had to take care of baby sis. Changing diapers, feeding, bathing and burping her, washing her diapers and they were cloth diapers too and no diaper service, Oh I won’t go into that, it would put anyone off.

I had to do it because Mother was “always sick” as my Father would say, he didn’t find all the bottles that I did. Then Mother was gone for three months, and it was during the summer too, could I go out and have fun? Would Dad allow someone to come in and help me? Give me a few hours of freedom?? No, someone had to watch baby sis while Daddy was at work and Mother was at the hospital drying out, and as Daddy said I had to learn responsibility---Oh Dad that was a lesson learned very well!

It did get a little better when Mother came back and starting to take care of things, but she wasn’t the same as before, poor thing, she hardly spoke and never went against Dad, behaving just like a whipped dog and they say their marriage is a partnership---In whose eyes?

I still was restricted, only at the Library could I be free at least in my mind, I’d do my homework which I brought home and Father would check it and made me do it over, even when I had the right answers, and it wasn’t because it was messy, I had messiness disciplined out of me. No, he was afraid of any free thoughts my mind might conjure up or any thoughts of freedom; Dad, you never knew how I had carefully planned my escape, that is why you still regard me as the “black sheep” but frankly…Mmmmmm I look good in black.

No sweet things no children for me, I feel that it takes a very special person to willingly give up their personal life to have and raise children and I admit I’m too selfish. I don’t feel the need to listen to my ‘biological clock’.

But I do understand the Grandparent thing, we have several women here, who within months of each other became Grandmothers, it was nice seeing them all happy, and with pictures of their little grandbabies. They even ask me if I plan to get married and have children and I said “No, there are not enough Aunties in the world and children need Aunties who are career women to get an idea of the other side of life. Besides, Aunties are one’s you call on in an emergency; we are the aids to the Super moms.”

Were they shocked? No sweet things, they agreed, Aunties are important.

Hmmmmmm now this has been a very long post. I’ll have to save my opinions on other things for another time.

For now I’ll comfortably curl up on my couch in my red satin pajama’s, listening to Frank Sinatra and putting together my list of other lovely, quaint places to go to when the restlessness is upon me and I need to feel the power of the car engine and thrum of the road.
Mmmmmmm Rowllllll.