Bart Strikes and "going back in time"~~~

Hello Sweet Things,

Well it is a good thing I didn't have to go into work today, I had been planning on using BART but they are now on strike, so I'll have to make other arrangements and at least AC Transit is post-poning their strike for 7 days.

I did have a chance to talk to work and much of what I can do I can tele-communte, but I feel sorry for those who relied on BART as their only means of getting around.   This strike is going to hurt economically, and I really do not have any sympathy for this Union.  There is a point where one can become too greedy.

And I think they have, it is far more than their alleged "safety issues", I sincerly wish that someone at the State Capitol would come up with a law like they have in New York where public transportation cannot strike, but remain at the bargaining table, with a mediator making the final decision.

They have really shot themselves in the foot.

Joe and I are planning on going back to the Pirates of Emerson Haunted house event this weekend, but tonight there is a Vintage Fashion Fair, and Joe is going with me, it should be fun.

We may travel in vintage clothing in one of the vintage cars, at least we can arrive in style, I wonder if it will be foggy where we're going?  What 'ghosts' will show up, drifting like lost souls through lost locals, wandering in the night.

Of late I've taken up writing and I've been going to a creative writing class, but it seems that each assignment that the teacher gives I always seem to write it like it was a noir novel.  Joe teases me and says that I am "out of time, out of sync"  that I really belong in the fog filled nights of 30's-40's San Francisco.

He's right, I've noticed that most of my clothing has changed to reflect that period, I've even been wearing hats, nylons and such even to go shopping or to the movies or running errands, I've taken to driving one of the old cars more than my modern car.  Most of our DVD's are old Film Noirs, but Joe likes them as well.

He went to a police auction where old office equipment is being sold and he bidded on and won an old oak desk that has a file drawer on one side and on the other you bring out a flat top on a hinge and have mounted a manuel typewriter, it also had a drawer for pens, paperclips and such.   He's going to have it re-finished and we're going to this place that sells refurbished typewriters, he wants to buy a Royal.

Our housing situation just may work out,  we've found a house not far from my place, and it has a wonderful view of the City from the upstairs bedroom windows, plenty of space, I could convert one of the bedrooms to my home office and Joe would have his man cave as well, plenty of room for guests.  My current home is paid for now, I could rent it out for more than enough for taxes and up-keep. 

We've gone over the numbers, even had a financial analyst go over it as well just so we didn't have star-dust in our eyes to be sure, and it looks solid.   Another big step.

Now I must go, Heather is here and I promised her we'd go to the store to buy candy for Halloween and have coffee, she's got big decisions to make as well.

Kisses Sweet Things.

I'm still on the prowl~~~~

Hello Sweet Things,

Oh yes, I'm still on the prowl, although marriage has taken up some of my time, it has not completely domesticated me.   Oh no.

After our little mini-vacation in the Santa Cruz mountains with the coyotes, (so very interesting), work has been keeping me very busy, even though now I'm a free lance contractor, but things have not been dull, other people with children taking vacations, a crisis here and there, the idiotic BART strike and now the possible threat of one.

Its enough to tick me off, and my Joe knows exactly what I need to do to let off steam, just shoot 500 rounds or so at a target or two or three and I'm back to my ususal loveable self.

In the next couple of weeks we're planning to take a trip up north to the wine country as well as a side trip to my country place, to check on things, make sure its ready for the winter,  I didn't have a chance to go there at all this Summer so I missed out on a number of things up there, but my caretakers and the historical society group have been keeping me posted,  I intend to be gone for 3 weeks just enjoying the delights that Fall can bring.

That's not to say that I've not been enjoying myself around here, I have, Mom and Dad came up for a couple of weeks and stayed at our house, taking the bus and being tourists, Joe was their guide while I was at work, and we'd get together for dinner in the evenings, even having fun playing Mexican Train Dominos,  Mom is deadly at that,  took them to the local Flea Markets and antique shops Mom of course was the big buyer and Dad looking Dapper in his Fedora and period tie and clothes, he has totally gotten into the Retro thing,  I asked him about his co-workers what do they think of it and he said that it has inspired a few of them to do Gatsby parties and dances,  seems to make the work place happier.

I know Sweet Things, how domestic, but its FUN and that is what is important.

No Joe and I have not given up on the Gun Shows but if some idiotic law makers have their way the Gun Shows may disappear if that bill passes in Sacramento.

But we did go to one this last weekend,  Joe spotted a well-balanced .38 police speical, antique, but in beautiful shape and I made arrangements to purchase a 1905 Smith and Wesson, .38 nickle plating, engraved, genuine pearl handle with a serious history provenance.  The ammo lines were unbeliveably long, and I do mean long going down one of the corridors,  at first I thought it was the food line but that only had 3 people,   so the food line would cross the ammon line and everyone knew which was which.

We were laughing at the Zombie ammo boxes and bought a couple of t-shirts that declared we were Zombie hunters, well if one can't laugh at one's self who can you laugh at.

Joe spotted something that he felt we needed on the fireplace mantel, a clock, hand made in wood, with a special secret compartment.  He bought it, I like it.  And we bought one for Mom and Dad to take down to them at Christmas.

Mom and Sis are coming back the middle of this week and are planning to go to the Vintage Expo in the City I'll be going with them, we're going both days, and Joe will join us on the 2nd day,  Then Tuesday we'll see them off to go home, they are taking the train which I think is good for Mom and Dad.

Joe is still working on one of the vintage cars but he's making arrangements with a friend of his to buy a building to store the cars in, I know which one it is, it has living arrangements upstairs so his friend can live up there, I asked Joe what sort of mis-chief is he getting into and it seems they will buy old cars, restore them and then sell them, a hobby that will pay for itself.  And he acknowledged that we really don't have enough room for what we want to do.  I said as long as the building is fire safe I have no objections.

We've joined a few organizations like the ART Deco Society, the Film Noir Society and we're looking into other things that we can enjoy our Retro-ness, we still play pool, Joe would also like to join SASS, but I fear that the things we enjoy will force us out of my home because of space constraints and I do not wish to lose my San Francisco view.   I've talked this over with Joe and he agrees, even he enjoys the view and doesn't want to lose it, so we'll also be doing a bit of house hunting, but I'm not going to give up my home here, I may rent it out for more income.   But I told Joe if he's buying a building and we eventually decided to buy another house we'll have to look into our fiances to make sure we're not setting ourselves up for a fiancial problem and he agrees to that as well.

I still enjoy my streets of San Francisco, but I do wish the rains would come to wash them down.  The Fog is returning and I'll be happier when these things they referr to as racing yachts leave the Bay.

I've been over the new bridge and although the ride is smoother I look over at the old bridge and feel a certain nostalgia for it, its grittiness, its workman looks,  they say that pieces of the old bridge will be sold as momentoes and I want a piece of it.  Joe has gone on the walkway of the new bridge and taken pictures of the old one for memories, its like an old, old friend who will eventually fade away, parts of its original use have disappeared over the years, and in a way I mourn its end, the new bridge is too sleek for me, too space age, its over all design reflects the Western span and the Golden Gate, but its not the same, I don't feel a connectedness to it.   It doesn't fit my Noir feelings.

I guess I can't explain it any better than that.

Now I need to go,  and take the Transbay bus to work,  I'm working till late tonight, fortunately Joe will pick me up so I don't have to risk the streets, Joe says there are too many crazy people loose now, maybe they are the Zombies that people are worried about.

Kisses Sweet Things

Hot in the Country, cold in the city

Hello Sweet Things,

Once again it's Friday the 13th OOOOooooooo (scary sound), and I can happily say that nothing so far (knock on wood) bad has happened.

I made use of my long weekend off and went to check my country property and it is fine, but everything around the property is dry, dry, very dry.  My caretakers and I did a lot of brush clearing to make sure there would be defensible space and I am so glad I had the underground sprinkler system installed, it will help keep the grounds wet enough.  

But with a determined fire even that may not be enough to hold anything off.  The goats have been very helpful in keeping a lot of undergrowth under control, and all the milk they produced too.  My caretakers are also small holding farmers, in exchange for living on the property and taking care of it they can raise and sell crops and small farm animals and they are working in conjuction with a 4 H program and our local historical society working together to show what and how an old fashion farm works.

I was surprised to see a cow added to the stable as well as two horses, they told me that some of the fields are plowed using the horses when they do demonstrations.  There was something very comforting to see these two horses, Billy Jo and Bobby Jo  in the corral.  Buddy the dog goes right up to them and sometimes will fall asleep right in either one or the other's stall and they seem to like his company.

Fortunately I do not have to pay for any of their vet bills my caretakers are taking care of that.

But I went over with my caregivers a plan of evacuation in case there is a serious fire.

It has been very warm at the country place and I am so glad that the fire near Colfax is far, far away. 

Waking up in the morning to a rooster crowing, then having breakfast in the kitchen while a hen comes wandering in from outside looking for bits of bread crumbs, not being content with the feed and bugs she might find outside.

Sunday we went to the store and bought boxes of jars for canning, not that I'll be around to do the canning but my caretaker's wife is going to be doing it along with a number of the 4 H youngsters,  but then again I just might run up here just to get involved.

And now for this last week I've been back at work, a heavy marine layer has been making San Francisco the coldest city during the Summer, in a way I don't mind it, having two places to stay helps me balance my mind and my energies.  

I went in early to work today, just blasting through the paperwork,  taking the ferry home, now at this computer relaxing.   Joe will be off duty in a little while if he's not overloaded with paperwork, and I don't feel like cooking, hmmmm I guess it will be take out tonight and a fireplace burning to keep warm, unless it's a spare the air night, I'll have to check.

I've not had a chance to do much traveling so far this year, work and things have kept me home mostly, the family is doing well, so I hope to be able to go down and see them in a month or two,  and I'll take the train, my favorite mode of travel.

Hmmm I thought I was going to be wicked, devilish and instead I've become a homebody,  maybe.   Maybe it's time to see about going through the streets of San Francisco, in search of the elusive black bird, maybe it's something else,  I think I'm restless again.  I shall have to do something about that.

Do you like the picture,  sometimes Buddy the Dog can be like that.

Kisses Sweet Things

Shootings and "Occupy"

 Well Sweet Things, although it’s been a while since I’ve last posted things have been extremely busy for me, so busy that it has been hard to even make the time to post.

But last week I had a hard time getting to sleep.

I received a phone call very early in the evening; usually I’m not home before 6 p.m. unless I go into work early and I had one of those days, when I got home there was a message on my answering machine.  

A friend of mine, Liz who lives several blocks away asked if she could spend the night at my place, she was frightened by an event that happened and couldn’t talk clearly on the phone.  I called her back right away and asked her what happened and she told me that there had been a shooting just a few doors away from her home.

A Shooting??  In my quiet little Town???!!!  In a way that explained Joe’s earlier message on my cell to call him ASAP, I had assured him that I was fine and he said that a situation had happened not too far from my place and he wanted to be sure I was O.K.

I drove to Liz’s home but could not get close to her place, the area had been cordoned off, I even had to show my I.D. and explain why I was there.

Liz had packed a bag with what she would need, and locked her home, in the fading light I saw as we walked back to my car the apartment building that had bullet holes in the wall.  

I put an order in for dinner to be delivered and calmed her down with a cup of chamomile tea as she told me what had happened.

She had put in a half day of work taking the afternoon off for a dental appointment, and came directly home, she doesn’t do dentists very well, at about 5 p.m. she heard a car screech up and someone yell out a name of a person, then after a moment a series of shots rang out, and the sound of car tires squealing away.  She looked out her window and people were coming out of their homes, she came out and eventually found out that someone in a car had targeted someone in the 2^nd floor apartment building, had called their name and that person came to the window, the next thing is about 10 or so shots rang out all aimed at the person but no one was hurt.  The car with the shooter then sped away. 

I said with 10 rounds, a clear target and still they could barely hit the side of the building and miss???  I guess the way I said it struck her as funny as she began to laugh, we were making jokes like ‘I guess the guy is not going to get his security and cleaning deposit’ and other things.  Although a very serious situation, laughter helped relieved the stress of fear that she was experiencing, but still it was not something to take lightly.

The sad thing is when I’ve gone to visit Liz, I’ve always seen Asian family members at that building, so I was concerned with the idea of Asian gang violence coming over from our near by city.   Someone was obviously targeted.  It was a miracle that no one was hurt or very poor shooting.   The police were all over the place and a helicopter had been circling over head, Liz gave her statement to the police but she felt nervous and alone, her room mate was out of town for a sisters wedding and Liz didn’t want to be alone.

So with a hot dinner, watching Season 2 of “Castle” followed by rocky road ice cream, Liz relaxed and fell asleep on the couch, I called Joe, left him a message on his phone and told him of our overnight visitor.

It was only briefly mentioned on the radio and nothing on Television although I was sorry to see that Lloyd LaQuesta from our local T.V. station was retiring but I’d have to say after 36 years of hard news reporting, he has more than earned his retirement.

Liz took the next day off from work and Joe took her home, I’ve called her to see how she’s doing and she felt better, except for the holes that she has seen in the stucco in the walls of the apartment building, but she’s feeling that this was an exception not the rule in our town, things like this happen, but happen rarely.  Joe was going to listen for any “buzz” on this, but our feeling is that there will be few clues on this, especially if the potential victim doesn’t want to give up any information.

But we shall see Sweet Things, we shall see.  Although I love my little town certain elements have been creeping in like an insidious cancer, tagging for one thing is cropping up, and there are more break in’s.  A change in attitude by the public both as pedestrians and as drivers is creating a more dangerous living situation, both walking and driving, its like people don’t care anymore; this does have me concerned, so much so that I’ve been changing my driving and shopping habits to avoid as much of this “anger” as possible, it’s like seeing mice in an overcrowded condition that is so bad that they start to kill and eat each other.  That is what I’m feeling at this point. 

On another front, Occupy Oakland and Occupy San Francisco plan to disrupt things again tomorrow May 1, the minute I heard about it on Sunday, I called my assistant, talked to her and her grandparents and advised that she pack a bag for 3 days and we’ll stay at a hotel that I know near our building, she and I will share a room, then on Wednesday we can go home after work.  Her grandparents felt better that she would be safe with me and not lose any work time.   The hotel has a nice little spa so I told her we’d have a little treat and it’s on my dime.  The dear thing is looking forward to it and I want to brain-storm with her about things at work. 

Frankly the “Occupy” groups are more of a nuisance than a benefit, they plan to block the bridges and that is a federal offence, frankly if they do, I’d like to see the book thrown at them.  If you want to change things do it the right way, there are channels.   To me they are like little children throwing temper tantrums for not getting their own way, rules are there to prevent chaos, but if you don’t like the rules see if there is a legal way to make it better, don’t harm the 99% that have to get to work to pay the bills, the mortgage, put food on the table, shoes on the children’s feet, because that is what you are doing…you are not hurting the 1 % because you are not tackling the problem correctly.

If anything the “Occupy” groups are adding to the problem, look at the increased expenses that the S.F. and Oakland groups have caused and who is paying for that??? The 99%....so what are they doing?  NOTHING.

A friend of mine said that because their home is underwater and because they don’t meet all  the rules for re-financing they have asked the bank to go ahead and sell their house, to go ahead and foreclose on it, even if it means damage to their credit rating.  They’ve looked at their income and the situation they are facing and in the end it was the only result, they and several other friends of mine have found it to be a relief and have been able to start fresh, and a lot wiser.

Another who managed to pay her home mortgage on time all the time, but knew her credit rating was not very good was approached by her bank that holds the mortgage on her home about refinancing, she said she wasn’t sure if she would meet the requirements, her bank said all she had to do was answer a number of questions and they would know if qualified or not, the worse that would happen is that she would stay at the same rate and nothing would change.  So she thought she had nothing to lose, she qualified and was able to lower her monthly payment drastically, the entire process was done within 3 weeks, all by e-mail, fed-ex, a couple of phone calls and her lawyer’s notary.  And no fee, 30 year, fix rate.

But what about the others who are being foreclosed, we don’t know the full story, many claim the bank is unreasonable, when in truth they didn’t qualify for one reason or another or didn’t fill out the paper work correctly.  Then there are others who were victims by scams, who didn’t understand the process.   I’ve always said go to a legitimate financial institution such as those banks that everyone says are the guilty parties like Wells Fargo which seems to be helping a lot of people in need; B of A I would not trust if my life depended upon it, if need be go to a credit union and see what they can offer, find a real-estate lawyer who comes highly recommended they maybe able to stop the whole process and get you on the right path.

But does the “Occupy” groups offer that?  I certainly have not seen that happening with them.  In some cases they have made the situation worse, have criminalized their situation, the protestors can walk away, but not the former owner of the home and they maybe worse off than before.

Any solutions?  All I know is that I have to plan my commute very carefully if I want to get to work and cover my responsibilities that I need to maintain.

“Occupy” be damned!

Until later Sweet Things.  Kisses.

A Short Comment on Obama or "The Cow and the Ice Cream"~~~~

Hello Sweet Things,

I do love flash drives, small, discreet, very portable, lots of memory, I wrote this up Tuesday night, came to work early again this morning, things are quiet right now so no problem to quickly down load this. Then a meeting at 9 a.m, I just “love” Wednesday morning meetings, coffee, bagels, fruit, pastries; our boss “foots” the bill. Big believer in staff moral, which is pretty good around here.

Well it was a good thing that I got an early morning start to work on Monday, with Lillian dropping me off at the Ferry and the Ferry being crowded it was a good choice. After getting to work I found that much of my colleagues were able to keep things going for me, but I did have a bit of ‘catch up’ to do.

Which wasn’t too bad really, it was good to see everyone, and they treated me to lunch at our favorite place; Fortunately when I asked for the days that I wanted for vacation it was not a problem, especially since I would be in the office before and over New Years, and with WiFi and everything I can keep in touch with the office.

Unfortunately I had to take BART and Bus back home, I called Lillian to explain. Bless her she ordered ‘delivery’ from our favorite Chinese place, so she had the fun of me explaining to her all the woes of commuting with the Bay Bridge being closed. Hmmm it felt like New York during Rush Hour.

I have to admit, taking public transportation is really a good thing in the City, unless you have to ride one of the City’s Muni Busses. Especially into one of the more crowded ethic parts of the city, but I’ve such a short walk to the BART station from work, it’s not so bad. Thank Goodness for tennis shoes, so much better on the feet when you have to walk, although I’ve gotten fond of Sketchers, no Crocs for me, they are so ugly.

It was a good thing that Lillian ordered dinner, I was so tired, but I know it will get better once I’m into the swing of it again.

We got word that the bridge is finally open but it will close again in a few months for any additional repair. Well I’ll be prepared with alternatives. Just let us know in advance is all I can say.

But I still don’t trust the repairs that have been made, not that it’s CAL Trans fault, its an old bridge and until they can be sure it will be safe for a longer period of time then I’m going to have to take the San Mateo Bridge to get to the City on Saturday---Another Gun Show at the Cow Palace---Yippee!! I just know I’m not going to get lucky as I did the last time, but its wise to never say never.

Of course it will take a long time to get over the bridge even for a Saturday, however with the Bay Bridge being open and functioning for a few days it might make it easier, from what I’m hearing they are going to make sure it is fixed and fixed right---Well I hope so!! The persons in those three cars were lucky to not be injured, the next time it might be worse.

Patience that is what one needs right now, patience.

I’ve been keeping quiet on President Obama for many reasons, the first being that I wanted to see how his administration is going to start out.

But recently Rush Limbaugh in an interview said that Obama (and I’m paraphrasing) is the most dangerous person to the freedom and liberty of the American people.

Although the White House spokesperson said that Limbaugh is just an entertainer, from the rumblings that I have been hearing among my colleagues, Limbaugh may not be off the mark.

It’s a question of “The Cow and the Ice Cream”.

A teacher wanted to show to her 3^rd graders how politics and elections work, so she had her class select two candidates Joe and Olivia, both were excellent students, and both had their parents support. When it came time for them to give their speeches as to why each should be elected Joe gave an excellent speech about how he would improve the class room and how he would go about doing it.

Olivia stood up and said “If I’m elected I will give everyone ice cream” and sat down, when asked how would the ice cream be given, where would the money for the ice cream come from, and where was the source for the ice cream, or where was the “Cash Cow” to handle all of this, the reply was “I don’t know”.

Olivia was elected, because all that her class mates could see and hear was “Ice Cream”

And that is how a number of my colleagues view the Obama Presidency.

It is a frightening thought.

And now I must get back to work. Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho.

Until Later Sweet Things, Kisses

A Grey Day in S.F.

Hello Sweet Things,

Well it is once again overcast, grey and dreary here in the S.F. Bay Area, I'm at work right now and taking a very well-deserved coffee break.

It's a little eerie being here in the office with only just a few people, not all of the lights are turned on, but within 15 minutes it will become buzzing again. I came in early to sweep away a far amount of back log and be totally caught up, it also gives me a chance to see what the markets on the East Coast are doing and how the Continent has fared.

I'm not going to comment on the state of affairs it's too much of a muddle for me to even properly articulate.

The San Francisco Bay Bridge is once again open, and they were only two hours late, originally they thought they would be one whole day late, but it only goes to show what a "can do" effort can pull off.

I'm glad that they found that crack in the beam, as they say it must have happened a year ago, so what might have been a nuisance has been a blessing.

Because of the commute difficulties I had changed my tactics getting to and from work, I usually take the W trans bay commuter bus as it is closest to my home, and depending upon how long I'm at work take the same line home or alter to the more common O trans bay bus, or if I feel reckless Catch BART then transfer to the homely 51 and walk the 4 or so blocks to my home, tennis shoes a necessity and a good exercise.

But last Thursday I did something a bit different, I took the Ferry home, and with Lillian picking me up it felt just wonderful. The transition over the Bay through the waters, watching the city recede into the distance as the Ferry travelled closer and closer to home felt so relaxing and meditative and the travel time was less than taking any of the other means.

But the Ferry is not cheap. And it has to be timed just right to catch the bus away from the Ferry terminal if I do not have someone to pick me up.

But I'm adding it to my means of transportation.

This is "over-the Hump Day" Wednesday and anything I get done or set up today will put me further ahead in my job. I love Wednesdays, I use this day to work longer to be in a better position for things. Of course it means that Dinner is left overs, but frankly who cares, I use the evening to make my shopping list, plan my meals for the following week and go over my "to-do" list---Thursdays are for bill paying and laundry---I get home early, balance the check book, pay the bills, mail them off.

Of course it does mean that those two days I don't go to the gym, just some exercises at home.

So why am I "talking" about those things? I really don't know, it's just that looking out my office window it's a grey, dreary, some what foggy day here in San Francisco, not even a bit of mysterious glamour on the streets.

Where are you Sam Spade? In your hat and trench coat looking for the 'Black Bird', where are you? You seem to be eluding me this day, no sign at all.

Except for the smell of fresh coffee.

Must go, a co-worker has brought me a fresh cup of coffee to lift my spirits. And a devious smile on her face, something is up---I wonder if a "message from Sam Spade has arrived".

Until Later Sweet Things---Kisses.