Where's the Potty!?

indirectly Potty related

2012-01-08T18:17:00.000-08:00

I was talking to my mom today and she was telling me about a biking/hiking trail in the city of Pgh that goes from downtown to the east suburbs of Blawknox, Verona, Oakmont. She then started telling me about a vacation she took to her Uncle Louis's when she was 12, in 1938. Uncle Louis was a bartender/waiter, the only real job Italian immigrants could get long ago. He also did work painting fake wood grain on woodwork in big new homes on the North Side of Pgh. Anyway, back to the vacation. She went swimming with the kids in the neighborhood, maybe her cousins. She didn't say. They swam in the river, Allegheny. She said there was a little beach along the river and the kids were all excited about getting to go swimming. She said it was full of sewage. There were big pipes and it would come out periodically in big smelly swooshes. She got out of the water and didn't swim anymore. The other kids swam in it all the time, they didn't know any better. I cannot imagine swimming in water that was so polluted you could smell it and see it coming into the water from pipes.

Uncle Louis's name was Louis Presari. He was her mom's brother. He lived until I was a teenager. He spent the last year or so of his life with Aunt Louise. He had been hit by a taxi going home from work at the hotel where he was a waiter/bartender. He got gangrene in his leg and died. We used to take him home after the family reunions and picnics, to his room in a rooming house. He had several wives, but didn't stay married long. Aunt Louise, Aunt Kate and Grandma, and Aunt Laura would make us ride in the back seat with him- they refused to ride with him cause he always tried to get fresh with them. His own nieces!!

Stealing my thunder

2011-10-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

On Yahoo, of all places, this article appeared. My thanks to Yahoo for traveling around and finding good potties. With good photos.

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-40857604

Art A Fair

2011-08-21T18:06:00.000-07:00

There is an artist who has supplied the ladies restroom with fresh flowers every season for 17 years. She brings in the vases, the flowers and takes care of them. Pretty nice gesture. She said she would do the men's room as well, but the men steal her flowers to give to their girlfriends or wives.

new potty

2011-08-16T20:57:00.000-07:00

Whew- out of the house for a couple dinners and a trip to San Diego. This economy has caused me to cut back on most of any extra curricular fun. But I did go to eat at an Olamendi's in Monarch Beach this past week. They took over a Japanese restaurant. The walls were covered in all kinds of Mexican art, ceramics, plaques, etc. The bathroom was actually subdued, with two somber paintings of women. But over the toilet there was a neat little painting of some skeletons.

PAST

2011-08-07T17:17:00.000-07:00

It's been a while. So. I was driving to the Art a Fair this afternoon and thinking about a man at work who is Argentinian and who was going on about his favorite foods. He said he could eat salami, cheese and bread for a meal any day of the year. He said here are lots of Italians in Argentina and they eat Italian. I told him that my grandfather ate salami, blue cheese and Italian bread with beer for his lunch every day that I remember. He was very healthy. His first name was Carlo. Not Carlos, either. But then I thought of the first potty that I ever experienced after leaving the potty chair. It was an out house. Yep, we used an out house until our family moved to a suburb and a new house. Only a few families had plumbing. Not us.

pottty

2011-06-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

I hope this post stays hidden from the Art a Fair posts. I tried to hide it, but I am not computer genius type. Anyway, yesterday, I worked at the AAF grounds. It was hard work, mopping the cement floor to clean up the muck left behind by floods this winter. My reward for showing up early so I could get a parking space. I used the potty and they were serenely clean and well appointed with soap, paper, etc. I didn't see any goats up on the hillside above the AAF. I was told the restaurant in the AAF grounds- Tivoli, Too http://tivoli-too.com/ had weddings scheduled non stop over the summer. On the weekends. That is nice, but ugly rumors persist that the guests of the weddings tend to be sticky fingered.

somewhat

2011-01-19T21:33:00.000-08:00

My poor Mom. She's not progressing very well on her rehab. She refused to go to therapy today. Too tired. She only started doing steps this week. They plan to boot her out soon- probably next week and she can't go home. My brother has been looking into some sort of intermediate care place, but she maintains she is going to my Uncle Jim's for a few days then home. Does Jim know about her plans? My brother is going to find out tomorrow. I thought I'd go back home for a month and help her. But she's pretty stubborn and cantankerous. She'd send me to the store for some bread and then go up the stairs to check out her bathroom. Or worse, downstairs to check out her collection of plastic bags. Moms. So the potty connection has to do with her rehab setting. Her roommate has some sort of disorder that required the rehab staff to give my mom a potty chair to use. They don't want her "catching" what the roommate has in the shared bathroom. The roomie is taking antibiotics as of today.

not a potty story

2011-01-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

Usually I comment on a potty. But I was reminiscing about a summer ritual and one of my children said I should write it down, since she didn't remember the ritual. For several summers, two of my children were on a swim team. Both my husband and I worked. So getting them to and from swim team was an exercise in coordination. One or two summers, we carpooled with a local family. They also both worked (Parents) and so the deal was mainly on us. Their kids were enrolled in the after swim team recreation program, and I am guessing my two also did that during this particular summer. Other summers, they didn't do the recreation program. BUT, whether carpooling or not, this was the ritual, early in the morning, (7 am??) I took my husband's Miata to the bus stop at a local shopping center, parked it and left the keys under the seat. He took the van with our 2 and picked up the 2 other kids. Then he dropped them off at the swim team at - oh, probably 7-7:30 am. Then he came back to the center, left the van there and took his Miata to work. How my kids got home, I am guessing, my son was enlisted to go and retrieve them with the other vehicle, a Jeep. I am not sure. But it all came back to me when one of the women at work was lamenting car pooling and taking her ONE (?)(!)child to some sports event. I suddenly remembered this whole ritual. So here it is.

Nothing

2010-12-11T18:18:00.000-08:00

I actually do have a potty to talk about, its the bathrooms at the local Youth Center. They are clean, well lit, always supplied, hand dryers, mirror, the best. I go to Jazzercise right after work, in the building and I do my changing in the bathrooms. Then I jog about half an hour and then go to exercise. Jazzercise is fun. It's a nice break from running. Over all work out. But, I have to say the music is awful. And that is because the music now a days is awful. Not much to do about that. The instructors do boxing moves to the rap music. Funny. But darn, that boxing stuff is hard. Who can high kick while standing on one foot--not me. OH, and then the dance moves- she just yells out "Kick ball change" and the other women all SEEM to know what the hell she means. I stand there and concentrate on what she's doing for a few seconds, then I actually do what an ape does. I completely mimic her moves without thinking. So, I just GET it, then she changes the move!!!! I'm glad there are no mirrors. And I know why I never did any dance as a child. I literally cannot move my arms and legs in different directions.

sort of potty related

2010-10-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

Talked to my mom today. She's all distraught. Her toilet on the second floor overflowed tHURSDAY NIGHT at 3 am when she went to use the potty, she had to clean it all up- go get a mop, towels, etc. Then when she went downstairs in the morning to make breakfast, there was toilet overflow water in her kitchen cupboards- in the cups, dishes everything. Poor Mom. And it happened twice. So she has quit using her upstairs toilet and now she has to go down to the basement in the middle of the night to potty and she tinkles about every 30 minutes.

By the way, her bathroom is very retro. From the 30's. Buff colored ceramic tile on the walls and tub surround. Buff colored tub, little square buff and black ceramic tile on the floor. The sconces are 30's- kind of art deco. It is a good looking bathroom, small by California standards, but nice looking.

potty woes

2010-09-05T14:14:00.000-07:00

The main potty- the potty in my abode is on the fritz. We have a "slab leak" A pipe under the ground has sprung a leak. A common happening in the areas where pipes are run underground and earth quakes are common. So for 3 weeks we have been turning the main water supply on and off as needed, using minimal water and vacuuming up the seepage. It doesn't really spurt out, just oozes out of the concrete floor. We had to pull up the carpet. So both potties are affected. Plumber arrives Tuesday and as luck would have it I'll be in another state, far far away. dang. Too bad. The plumbing King will have to handle the mess and the plumbers hisself.

vacation week

2010-08-21T19:10:00.000-07:00

We also went to the beach and both of us got sunburned. Yikes, me of the tan year round and her of the same genetic predisposition, except she's been under a rock in Wisconsin for a few years. SO we were both bright red. Live and learn. We drove down to San Diego and visited Old Town with my other daughter. Love Old TOwn. We found a cheap $5 parking lot behind a church, had a great time shopping and ate at a pretty fantastic restaurant. Mexican, yes. We also went to the Sawdust and Art A fair, shopped for clothes, and went to hear her former viola teacher perform at an Irish bar in Costa Mesa- The Harp Inn. Great Celtic music. Her teacher looked fantastic. She had her students there and they also performed Irish music. LOOVE Irish music.
Back to Chicago for her to present at a conference and then to Wisc. She has had a busy 2 weeks. She's a very good traveler.
By the way, my other daughter and her bf were treated to a trip to Las Vegas by her employer. Not bad. She took some great photos and seemed to like it. It is hot there.Her pix were really nice.

new place

2010-08-12T10:09:00.000-07:00

My daughter and I traveled up to LA to visit what we could squeeze in during an afternoon. We managed to visit FIDM Museum, the"fashion district" and stop for lunch. Fidm museum was smaller than either of us had anticipated. Only a few displays. But it was the Alice In Wonder land movie costume display and the costumes were interesting...incredibly detailed with beads, sequins, ribbons, etc that I have to wonder if anyone even sees the detail in a movie. Most of the focus in movies is on the character's face, not the sequins on the gowns. But there were also other displays- a few TV series and movies. I'd have to say the Fidm museum is a good stop when you're in LA. And the school building itself is pretty neat. We couldn't go upstairs but we walked around the first floor and the bookstore, as well as the gift store. If you are into ornament and truly unique creative beautiful things, you gotta go. We stopped at the scholarship store and it was pretty neat. They had mannequins for sale- $40 for women, $60 for men. Even when they're fake, men get more money than women....they had some wedding gowns for sale- used once. Marked down from $3,000 to $300 and on sale for $165!!!! After a false start in the wrong direction (my fault) we found the "fashion district". I put it in quotation marks because it wasn't what I'd call "fashion" but it was something. It was store after store of fabric and bolts of fabric. Lots of sewing supplies. But the fabric was all chintzy- day glo fake fur, cheezy synthetics, etc. Lots of sari type stuff for $1.99 a yard- buy the bolt, of course. If I ever need to make a gazillion costumes for a thousand kids, I know where to go. It was kind of like The Stip Dist in Pgh only all fabric. Then we wanted to eat and we chanced upon Tiara Cafe- http://www.tiara-cafe-la.com/home.html A really neat little cafe, beautiful decor and the food was terrific. Then we headed home. I did take a pic of the bathroom at Tiara, but I have to load it up. I also used the bathroom at FIDM and it was pretty nice as well. It was tucked away at the end of the museum traffic path and I had to go through the entire exhibit, use the potty, then walk back throught the exhibit again to find my daughter. Weird.

http://www.tiara-cafe-la.com/home.html

AAF potties

2010-07-31T09:07:00.000-07:00

The bathrooms are surprisingly nice and clean. One of the security and maintenance duties is re stocking and picking up in the bathrooms. So they are pretty nice. Naturally, I spend a lot of time checking them out. There are mice who like to visit once in a while. The handicapped stall has a small air vent that is covered by a wire grid. The vent opens right out onto the main entrance of the AAF. So while you're in the stall, you can hear incoming people and the turn stile. I imagine they could hear the toilet flushing if it were very quiet in the front. Which it isn't. I told the girls working there about the vent and they had seen the vent, but didn't know it led to the potties.

??

2010-07-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

hit "next blog" on my blog and ran through a series of gardening related blogs. I don't even mention gardening on my blog very often. I actually kill everything I plant. Makes life interesting. But, it finally hit me. My blog is named "where's the POTTY?" So duh, I guess ro-bo-computers in their sweet way, lumped my potty blog with gardeners who POT and re-Pot.

Great day at the beach- Potties were a disaster due to the 4th revelers. There was garbage everywhere. Anyway, there were 8 ft plus waves and many surfers. It was cool, breezy and drizzly. Awesome, no sun.

jog

2010-07-03T09:14:00.000-07:00

Jogged yesterday at Salt Creek. Little people all over- like ants. Lifeguard school. They make them jog up and down the beach. They're like ants on wings, dammit. Like a flock of them or a herd or whatever ants on wings are called. Anyway, they blew past me in both directions. Then they make them lay down in the sand and do sit ups and push ups and leg lifts and all kinds of awful things. And these kids are still buzzing around like dizzy bees. It's outrageous. Darn kids.

Ah- 4 day weekend- what can be better? It would be nice to have a cook out with my brother and mom. See his kids and grand kids. My aunt and uncle. My brother's grand kids are growing so fast and I actually saw them for the first time when my dad died. I never really wanted to be one of those relatives who lives in California. Wasn't my goal. Now I am. AND, I could have flown home for a visit, but did I make plans--nooooo. So it's my own fault.

I missed it!

2010-06-17T22:44:00.000-07:00

Last night some young guy came to the door to try to sell me house painting. He was about 20, lanky, multi racial. Kind of goofy. He handed me a brochure, I handed him an Art A Fair brochure. He was delighted. Tonight, while driving down to the Marina to jog, I saw the kid hustling down the street near our house. He was looking over his shoulder at a middle aged well built man on a 20 inch bicycle who was pedaling furiously down the middle of the street and shouting "Stop!" at the kid. The kid then took off fast toward the little park in the tract. The bikeguy kept chasing him down and yelling "STOP!. So what ever happened, I didn't figure out and I went on down to jog. I jogged maybe 40 minutes, as it was hot. Used the bathrooms near the vintage vessels. They are always clean and sometimes even have soap. So I turn into the bible tract on Josiah or Jeremiah, one of them streets, and there are TWO (2) helicopters overhead circling the bible streets. Right over my house. I turn the bend to turn into my street and there are three (3_) sheriff cars and two (2) motorcycle cops and a slew of cops and people. Well, I dunno what happened, but I missed it. The blonds were all in the circle, but they were all huddled together, like the wagon trains used to do and I figured, best to not try to get the dirt from them. So I have to wait for it to hit the papers. Pretty scary, here in the bible tract.

Lucky kid

2010-05-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

One of my kids is going to be going to Las Vegas in August for her job. Lucky- staying at the Bellagio. It's worth the trip for that. I have to admit, I never checked out the bathrooms there...my oversight. Maybe the kid will check it out for me! I did find a photo of the glass ceiling- awesome.

The indoor mall is pretty neat and so is the canal with the gondolas. The fountains at Bellagio are stupendous, too.

The thing is getting over the 8 year old boy fantasy- video games, booze, everywhere, scantily clad girls dancing on tables everywhere, etc. Once you get past that, you can enjoy the wretched excess. It is not a bicycle friendly place, though.

busy busy

2010-05-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

I've been busy getting things ready for an art festival in June through August. I know I am out of my mind. I don't know why I chose to do it. But, I did, so I am now bound to see it through. I have been jogging and checking out the potties, but they are the same old potties. Nothing new lately, since I go to work and come home. Run in be tween. I promise I will write when something different happens....actually, about 2 weeks ago, I went to a meeting regarding the Art A Fair in Mission Viejo. I did use the bathroom and they wer pretty spiffy. The meeting was in the Senior Citizen's Center. My past exposure to Sr Citz Ctrs is that t hey are small, dingy buildings or bungalows with a nice dirt parking lot. Hey, I come from Appalachia. But this one was beautiful, huge, decorated, fountains, plants, etc. I did take a few photos, but I will upload them eventually. The bathroom was very accommodating, large, clean, decorated in the latest style. Natch. It actually made me wish I lived in MV rather than the beach city. The beach city is very touristy, and that is it. No conveniences, only hotels, restaurants, a marina. PFFF. But the school here is excellent and my kids did very well by transferring here in their last years of HS. They may not agree, but compared to the kids they left behind in the Appalachia, they are doing very well. So all is not bad here.

Hotel potty

2010-03-12T07:39:00.000-08:00

We were walking in /San Diego and had to find a restroom. We walked into a hotel...dang, I'll have to dig up the name. The women's restrooms had the neatest sinks. A stainless steel trough with a heavy thick sheet of pebbled glass along the outer wall, placed at a slant That was the sink. No bowl, no sunken bowl. It was nifty. Automatic flushy, of course. And walls in the soft green that is everywhere.

fashion potty

2010-03-12T07:29:00.001-08:00

It's not often that I get a chance to see my family. So when I had the opportunity to pick up a cousin and see my daughter both, in the same day, I was thrilled to death. I have always been a family person and living here on the edge of the continent is awful for me, as far as family. That is another post. So I picked up my cousin at the cruise ship pier then we headed to my daughter's job so we could see her and her fantastic job at a design and merchandising college. My cousin was interested in daughter's job as cousin was a home ec teacher all her life and she was into home decorating, fabrics, design, clothing, etc. The school is fantastic, gorgeous inside, and looks right out into a major league baseball stadium. There is even a balcony where the students can sit outside and watch the game...zowie. Cousin and I visited the bathrooms which were tres chic. Daughter looked fabulous in a cute black short dress that had a balloon poufy skirt, tights and super red heels that she told me what/whose they were, but I forgot.

Then we walked around downtown for an hour or so. Then headed up to another city to meet up with cousin's sister in law.And that was another bathroom experience. The Stone Brewery bathrooms. Surely someone has blogged about them. With the hops behind glass, the river rock walss, the heavy metal doors on the stalls.

Tsunami

2010-02-27T21:02:00.000-08:00

Hm, the marina where I run sits on the Pacific Ocean. Today, the tsunami watch was active in the area. The County sheriffs had closed the road that leads to the island right out behind the big wave break. So cars weren't being allowed out there. But they weren't stopping pedestrians, so I jogged over. The ocean was pretty swirly and there were white caps. Usually, the color is a deep aquamarine. Today, the area near the shore was blue, but farther out, it was a thick dense muddy color and it looked like total mud. I jogged around one point and headed down the other direction. about half an hour later- maybe less- I came back to the initial point. The entire visible ocean was the muddy color. All the muck from the bottom had been churned up due to the tsunami action. I'm glad it wasn't one of the tsunamis that produce 20 foot waves on the surface.

weather

2010-02-12T11:56:00.000-08:00

Snow is nice, but going to jog in the sunshine at 9 am and being too warm for a jacket is nice too. So is finishing the jog, then putting down the top on the car....

Regular jog around the marina, did more than usual to try to up the distance. The bathrooms were super clean- the crews were still making the rounds!!

Someday I'll drag my camera along to take a pix or two.

2/7/2010

2010-02-07T16:36:00.000-08:00

I don't like typing 2010. It's a pain to have the numbers on the ends of the number bar. I just don't like it. Man, the Super bowl ads are terrible. They get worse every year.
SO, after all the rains, the beaches are full of rocks. Sharp rocks, too. The water washed all the sand off the rocks that lie beneath. I haven't been able to run on the beach for a few weeks. I have been running at the Marina. Today we tried the beach. Rocks and all. The potties were dirty, as usual. there was a crew of "offenders" cleaning up the mudslides. On the other hand, the sun was bright and beautiful and there were fluffy clouds in the sky. A good day for photos.
We stopped to get coffee and there were LOTS of dogs out. I guess the rain was hard on them dogs and their owners. One of the dogs had blue eyes and it wasn't a Husky/malamute. It looked like some kind of sheep herding dog. Unusual eyes.

potty sighting

2010-01-25T19:06:00.000-08:00

Frequent celebrity sightings around here. No one pays much attention to them. I was at Strands using the brand new restrooms that are pretty clean and decent. There were two slim, teen aged Afican american boys goofing around outside the restrooms, locking each other in and throwing water, etc. One of them looked just like what I remember Magic Johnson looking like. But, I thought , Nah. Well, Magic was on the news tonight with Obama and dang, if those kids weren't his kids. I've seen Cookie quite a few times walking. Never have seen Magic, though. Neighbors say he uses the 24 hour fitness every Sunday. Dunno.
The beach haqs been dramatically changed due to the storms. Our wide, sandy, flat beach is now solid rock and full of kelp. Where did all the sand go? It will come back, but it may take a few weeks. Some of the big boulders the developer put along the edges actually rolled out and onto the breach. Pretty scary.

new potty

2010-01-10T19:10:00.000-08:00

So a year ago, the city/county closed the beach stairs and forced everyone to hike a long set of ramps and stairs at the further (south) end of the beach. This was so the developer could build new beach stairs, a funicular and a fancy new sidewalk with a tres chic view. One year later, the new stairs are finally open and the fancy sidewalk with a view is finally open. Most importantly, the bathroom at the foot of the alternate (south end) stairs is finally open. It is pretty nice. Actually a private bathroom, not a series of open stalls. Skylight and lighting, a sink, well stocked. And there are two rooms. All in all, good. Except today, first day I used it, one of the toilets didn't flush. Oops. At the north end, at e the terminus of the funicular is another set of bathrooms and a nifty shower. All in all, much improved over the previous (none) set of bathrooms. And the new tres chic sidewalk has some also nifty decorations set into the concrete. Looks like it might be small pieces of glass in wave patterns of deep to light blues and greens. Then there are fish in mosaic set in. And there is also a third set of stairs leading to the beach which meanders through the 17 million dollar homes. And the developer has set down some nice tables and chairs on the landings--wonder how long those will last. Teens can be so destructive and it is mostly teens who use the beach during the week and after school. We shall see. Photos to follow

cold weather runs

2009-12-09T18:06:00.000-08:00

haha- I mean runs as in jogging, not runs as in potty runs...ha ha. I make myself laugh. Potty humor, think I would have outgrown it by now.
So last night I take a run around the Marina and it is frigging cold. I don't take my jacket off until the last bit of the route. There is a bizarre installation along the sidewalk facing the ocean. Someone has spent countless hours arranging rocks in apparently significant order-pyramids, stacked, on end, etc. The guy who does this must be unemployed. Anyway, I was jogging past it and the local firetruck drove past and about 4 firemen got out and went in to the DP Sheriff's station on the Marina. Must be giving out donuts. Anyway the straggler calls to me and asks about the rocks. I told him about the guy and how he must be unemployed. I also added he's always surrounded by women when he's down there. He takes photos of the rocks against a sunset or sunrise, mounts the photo on a card and sells them to the tourists or locals. And the women do cluster around him. I said "It must be his pick up line" and the fireman got a big kick out of that and he replied "You mean, like a puppy?" I laughed again and took off jogging, but it was humorous. As I ran past the site of the rock piles, I saw that the winds and rains had totally knockec most of them down. Oh boy, he'll be set for a couple days putting it all back together.

relatives

2009-11-14T16:26:00.000-08:00

This is not a potty post per se....my orchid painting really does look great in the bathroom however. I hung it high right under a skylight and it catches the sun. It changes as the light moves. If I find a photo of it on my computer, I will post. Actually, it was my icon for a while. Might still be. Yep, it is. So now the origianl is hung high up the wall in my bathroom. GOes great with my black and purple towels.
Anyway, to the post at hand. My father died recently and my mom has been adjusting. She lives way out in the middle of nowhere on 4 acres of perfectly maintained yard. My dad did all the work. It still looks pretty good, but I fear the maintenance will be way too much for my mom and my brother who is very conscientious and has been down helping her two days a week. The most recent phone call I made to her was so funny, I have to post it. She has been relying on her tenant, a guy in his late 30's who lives in her little bungalow and my brother for transportation to the grocery and wherever she needs to go. The tenant has a pick up. Old. kind of junker-ish. He had just spent $1200 on it to get it running and inspected. So the first time he offered to take her shopping, he picks her up and she gets in and she says to him--You spent $1200 on this truck? Poor guy. But he has been taking her out every weekend and bringing her a paper on Sundays. Gotta give him credit. Last time he took her out to go to her church and buy Masses for her friend who also just passed away- Mildred. Mildred was an atheist, so only mom knows why she'd make a big deal about buying a Mass for her. Anyway, he takes her down to church and then to the grocery. When they start home, he drives west away from her house and his, out to the new toll road all the way back towards their house and through the airport area (?) then back to their house. She was all- Why is he driving all this way out of the way? I said Maybe he was looking for a place to dump you, mom! She actually laughed at that. Anyway, I figure the guy just wanted to take a ride. Guys like to drive around.

Man in the house

2009-10-31T14:41:00.000-07:00

I read a column in the LA Times every weekend. It's Chris Erskine's Man of the House. I tried to find it online, but all they had online was his Sports column and it was a different column. This one today was about his 6 year old son and how the 6 year old's mind works(it doesn't). Really funny. Apparently Mr. Erskine is a kids' soccer coach and he was taking about the trials of a kids' soccer coach. At one point, he said he thinks eventually, the leagues will begin soccer for kids "in utero" and the lining up of the pregnant moms, etc was a good funny read. So this am at the Marina, along with the Italian man event, the table on the other side of us had a bunch of little kids, a 5-6 month old baby, a couple moms and grandmas. Then they all got up to leave and the mom with the 5-6 month old says "We've got to get going, we have a soccer game to get to" And I'm like---OMG it has already started, as she hoisted babykins up into her arms. Wow, what prescience Mr Erskine has.

Are you Italian

2009-10-31T14:33:00.000-07:00

Overheard at the coffee shop this am after jogging the 3.2 miles Marina route. We were sitting at a table drinking coffee and the table beside us had two younger women seated at it. One was clearly Hispanic and the other was sort of Germanic- blond. Both were in their 40's, I'd say and they looked like single women who worked all day and didn't exercise much and liked to eat (hint, hint). So this guy walks up the the table and says to the Hispanic one "Are you Italian?" And she says no she's Spanish. He then goes on and on about how Italian she looks and how since he came here, he can't find Italian people. He grew up in Pgh, PA and there were Italians everywhere. I booted hubby under the table and he was already listening. The guy goes on and on, the woman doesn't discourage him. He sits down. 5 minutes later they are exchanging phone numbers. Then after about 10 minutes, he gets up and leaves. WELLL!! The two begin to discuss how totally weird the event was. Then the Germanic one (who was somewhat more attractive than the Hispanic one) lets loose with what a kook he was and totally weird and he mentioned 7 different professions he had while he was sitting there and she just dumped on him. It was clear that she was so pissed that he didn't even look at her twice and she was ticked. The Hispanic was in agreement, he was strange, but not a total psycho like Blondie was making him out to be. anyway, the exchange between the 2 women was just as strange as the exchange between Italian man and the woman. Just had to share.

Fiestaware Outlet, Newell WV

2009-10-18T15:35:00.000-07:00

What is a trip to Western PA without a trip to Newell, WV for some Fiesta ware?? We were too early for the tent sale-DARN- but we picked up a few pieces that life would be unbearable without. The place is only about 45 minutes down the road from my mom's, so we got there around 4-ish and they closed at 5. The place was not empty. I was standing next to one of the huge bins and the woman beside me came to Newell from Mississippi. Another one was from Florida. So you get an idea of what the special nature of the place is...I mean, Fiesta ware, need I say anything more??? I picked up a baby sized creamer in vanilla. Also a parrot green deep dish pie plate with scallops around the outside, a small oval serving dish- parrot green and a couple other items. Hubby wanted a black coffee mug. We all wanted a large white platter with a skull in bas relief on it. It was $15, but way too big to carry in luggage. Bummer. One woman and her hubby were buying about 20 plates in brown and 20 in white and then about 20 of the creamers and sugars in brown and white. I figured they had a camp or bed and breakfast or something. They had three plastic milk crates full of other items all in brown and white. I was jealous. Apparently, these dishes are heavy and my husband keeps making comments, like, "Heavy" and "Heavy" and so on. He's just jealous.

Potty pix attached, and the Fiesta ware garden out front of the outlet. Also attached is the roadside sign we pass at one of the retail outlets on the way to Newell, they sell far wood, apparently some variation of fire wood.

Ciao's in Carnegie

2009-10-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

Potty update on a great hidden gem in Carnegie, PA. My son thought it was a dive bar, but my brother offered to buy several of us dinner down there . So we piled into the little place and found a table all set up. We were greeted by the co-owner Nick who took our beer/drink orders. I was amazed that the place had some tasty beers on tap. I'm not much of a beer drinker, but my son is the King of Beer, so I am aware that some beers are knock down terrific and others are so-so. I got a dark stout.Super good. Some one got an Amstel, my son got the stout. Not sure what my bro got, his date got a mixed drink. Then we were treated to Nick reciting the specials of the night and it was something we should all experience. He recited beginning with the highest price at 22, then 20, then 18 then 16. I think the 22 was Chilean sea bass, crusted and baked(?) with steamed vegetables or taters. At 20 was bay scallops and pasta, I am pretty sure. At 18 was gnocchi with sausage and red sauce. My son and I got the gnocchi, his wife got the bay scallops and bro and his date got the sea bass. The food was amazing -- verry good. The owner's wife does the menus and the cooking. This place is well worth the trip to Carnegie, PA.
By the way, the bathroom was a treat unto itself. I have attached photos. The light switch was just ---words escape me.

Delta Airlines

2009-10-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

I paid for this trip- it wasn't a standby or a freebie- I paid. IT was my worst night mare- well, the worst would have been the plane turned around and went back to the airport after taking off. so not quite worst.

I had a trip planned for Friday, 10/16 leave Pgh at 5:20 pm. via Delta Airlines from Pgh to Atlanta and then to OC. My son took me to the airport around 3:00. I went to the kiosk to check in and the kiosk couldn't complete my boarding pass, sent me to the agent. I go to the agent, she gives me ticket with the words--Seat Request--on it. I am not fully boarded. She takes my luggage and charges me for that. My booking is also indicated as "not confirmed'. She says the person at the gate will take care of it. I go through security smoothly. Naive me, I haul myself to the gate. I get in line, the gate lady says "I'm not even working this flight, Wait til you see another person working here" She leaves the boarding pass as it is. About half an hour later, I go back, there are two people working the flight. The guy says the flight from Cincinnati is delayed, my flight is delayed. It was to leave at 5:20, now leaving at 6:20. My connecting flight from atlanta to OC leaves at 8:35 or so at night. It can't be made now. Option 2- Flight that goes to Atlanta at 7:40 pm, Option 3 Flight to LAX at 8:30 from Atlanta, Option 4- flight on Saturday at 8:35 am form Atlanta, requiring an overnight hotel stay in Atlanta. Now this is a 1 hour and 20 minute flight to Atlanta from PGh. Well, we all (two planes of people who are delayed by two planes coming from Cincinnati and all their connections) at around 7:30 or 7:45 we realized we missed the two planes that night out west. Finally, get on a plane to Atlanta at 7:45 or so and arrive in Atlanta Airport at 9:15 or later, as we sat on the tarmack for 20 minutes in Atlanta. Pilots said the gates "were a mess" People were told by the attendants to call a toll free Delta number to set up their own flights. Cause Delta ain't doing it. Well, any flights into OC are not going to happen due to their curfew and I missed the one to LAX -- the Customer service woman said their doors were closed, even though they weren't taking off til 9:40 and it was 9:20. Besides we'd have to go from concourse B to Concourse T. After traipsing through the Atlanta airport which is huge, I get to the main desk of customer service and she gives me a bunch of vouchers for food, overnight stay and the flight tomorrow (which is "Not confirmed) again.I get to the shuttle pick up. There are about 15 people all delayed, waiting for the shuttles to the hotel I was given. Now the people in front of me at Customer Service got Hyatt and Westin, I got Comfort Suites. So did these 15 poor people. Two of the 15 were in wheel chairs, older ladies. It was raining and 40 degrees and they had been here for 45 minutes. No Comfort Suites shuttle. One of the women was on the phone yelling- her inner Caroline-- and one of the shuttle drivers overheard- he was from La Quinta-- and he offered to drives us to Comfort Suites for tips. So we go with this guy to Comfort Suites. I get there at 10:30. Check in, go to the room. There is a Margarita bar and Karaoke and the restaurant closes at 11:00. My voucher is only good til 11:00. I go in and order some hot wings. She tells me the kitchen is closed, but he will make me wings. I tell her not too hot. She says "I put the sauce on the side "Come back in 20 minutes". SO I do. Wings are there, I go back to my first floor room - around the corner from the karaoke and open the wings. No sauce at all, just wings, ketchup and a packet of ranch dressing. Sigh. I eat them in bed at 11:00. I know I will suffer the next day.The room is kind of smelly, not cigarette smoke, sweaty. The wash rag in the bathroom is already wet and not from me using it...sigh. I figure, well, I'll make a cup of hot tea. The little coffee pot lights up, but doesn't work. sigh. I set the alarm clock for 5:30 am and I figure, it probably doesn't work. So I leave the bathroom lights on and try to set myself to sleep light. Which isn't too hard to do, the room is not COMFORTABLE. 5:30 comes and goes, the alarm clock doesn't work. I was awake at 5:00 anyway. I wash up, no toothbrush, no medicine, no cosmetics. All are in my checked bag. Same clothes, why bother? I have to get the shuttle again, but it arrives on time. Get to the airport, Get to the kiosk, run the boarding pass under the thingy. The kiosk shows a different flight and seat for me. Different gate. I gt to the Agent, she says, they moved me. She gives me another boarding pass. I have to go through security again. So far so good, head for the tram that carries me one stop and then becomes "disabled". Nonfunctional, I have to walk from one concourse (T) to mine (B). It's a hike. Get to my gate, make sure all is OK, go get a coffee. With my voucher, I decide on Seattle's' Best. and a bottle of OJ. Kinda full still from the wings. Seattle's Worst gives me heartburn. I put the OJ in my bag. Hmm, boarding on time. I asked for an aisle seat, I got window. Boarded at 8:20 or so, at 9:00 am still on the ground. what gives, no explanation until about 9:05 the pilot comes on and says the issues is with one of their systems. I can believe it. Their auto throttle system, have to re-set it. Ready for take off at 9:10 am (8:35 flight) I still have the heartburn and now a head ache. I dig out my Tylenol and hold them until I can get a drink from the attendants. At 9:15 the plane takes off. The flight attendant makes an announcement and he is Indian or Pakistani- (WTF? Delta has outsourced its flight attendants???) I can't under stand a word he says "booola booolas and enjoy your fright today". But we get off the ground. Around 9:40 am the pilot comes on to say, they have to shut down the computer network (they have wifi in the air for internet) for some reason. This little computer screen on the back of the seat in front of me goes through all the dos stuff- like when you re-boot, or are about to re configure everything-- unsettling, to say the least.At 9:50 still no beverages, I swallow the Tylenol. Plane lands about 30 minutes late. But I fully expected it to turn around at some point and go back to Atlanta, like some huge octopus magnet that would suck us back in.

By the way- the airport restrooms were clean and tidy. The bathroom in the Comfort Suites was definitely sketchy. I touched nothing in there.

Fullerton

2009-10-03T21:33:00.000-07:00

Drove up to Fullerton State University this afternoon with my daughter who is taking her master's classes through the State system online, but has to get her ID at Fullerton. Long story. We arrived and parked on the street as the lots were all permit only. And on a Saturday, parking was easy. We had no clue where the Library was- this is where she had to get her photo ID. Anyway, we started walking around. The campus was deserted pretty much. There were high school kids trying out for some performance. They didn't know where the Library was. While I was asking people, the daughter waltzed on ahead of me and of course, she has a honing device implanted to help her sniff out Libraries and she found it. And you know, it smelled like a Library as we walked in. She got her photo, we walked around looking for Special Collections -the Library is 2 (two) buildings--and it was locked up. THen we used the bathrooms, which were nice, fairly clean. Very 70-80's looking. But not too bad. The State has zero money, so all in all, the buildings were in pretty good shape. Headed back home. 90 miles total. Then she went home and hubby and I headed to Pizza Port for dinnah. (She had a group meeting to go to further south.) I had half of a chicken Caesar salad with no dressing and hubby had most of a Solana pizza. And two Doheney double IPAs. They were pretty tasty. THere were two women next to us and they were drinking wine. Why go toPizza Port and drink wine? Dunno. The bathroom there is --sticky and kinda dirty. Well, they have kids working there.

Marina walk

2009-09-19T15:20:00.001-07:00

Hot this am. We walked last evening at the Marina. I ran today. Potties remain the same. We passed a man mopping the deck on his (BIG) boat. The boat is named "Xylocaine" which led to our discussing the meaning of the word. I thought it meant some kind of heart medication. Hubby thought it was an tranquilizer--a "downer". Either way, we figured the dude was a physician. He looked about 55, his wife was young-ish looking, but probably 55 as well. She called him "Sol" and we were pretty sure then that he was a physician. After all, the boat was BIG. When we got home he looked up the drug. Neither of us were right- it's an anesthetic. Not actually a tranquilizer. This am, we made our circuit. I made it around the 3.2 miles or so in about 40 minutes. Which for me is fast. We stopped for our coffee refills at the Coffee Importers. I waited on a bench and I was talking fishing with some little boys. Super cute and active. About 3 minutes of that and the mom comes rushing over to take her little boys away from "the Stranger". Man, what a shame we have to be so cautious and paranoid. But I understand. I had kids.

Sharp Edge Creek House potty

2009-09-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

On the vacation to back home, we spent some time at the Crafton Sharp Edge Creek House. Awesome restaurant/beer pub. And my son is the beer king there. You have to go. If I knew how to post a map, I would. As it is, I can do a link, I think. It has a restaurant in a former home. One of those old turn of the century (1800 to 1900) houses, and a great deck for outdoor dining. His rehearsal dinner was held on the deck. The food is stupendous. The beer is out of this world and I'm not a beer drinker. And the potty is OK. Not terrific, but clean and convenient. No photo available. Sorry. And apparently the link didn't work. Try www.sharpedgebeer.com

stupid computer

2009-09-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

I just made a new entry for the Bistro beer tasting in Sewickley, at the Sharp Edge and added 2 photos. and then this crazy blogger website, although I saved it twice, lost it. So, again- Beer at the Sharp Edge. Don't remember what kind, Wit something or other and an IPA. Just ask Hart of the Sharp Edge for the names. Here are the photos of the excellent potty.

baking

2009-09-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

I found a recipe for peach crumb pie and I'm baking it. Hope it turns out.

Ran at the marina yesterday and today. Bathrooms were foul. It is so hot and the sanitation was completely lax down there. I didn't use them.

Hot hot hot, 83 at 9 am today.

heard on the sand

2009-08-23T16:28:00.000-07:00

A pregnant woman and her kids, and the kids' grandmother apparently, were sitting on a blanket and I overheard the mother say to the grandmother--" So and so saw Kylie (maybe?) in October and she said 'Oh my gawd, it's Octobah and look at her colah!' The woman and the grandma both had super heavy New York accents. The grandmother then replied "What's wrong with hah? Kylie (or whoever) is Italian!!" It made me laugh. I guess little Kylie gets a good tan, but it stays with "hah" through the Fall, cause she's Italian. With the olive oil running through her veins. Good for Kylie.

the paint

2009-08-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

This is paint that husband went into the garage and dug out from whatever hiding place he stashed it before. I sure couldn't find any cans of paint in there...I painted walls yesterday...Now the paint is dry. As I was painting, I didn't notice that the paint was "shiny". As it dried, I told husband "It's shiny". He argued- no no it's just wet. So today, it's still shiny. This happened before with the ceilings. He painted the edges and the lights' trim with a gray shiny paint. I said, you will not be happy with shiny paint on the ceiling in all these rooms. So he went out and bought ceiling white- nice and white and flat finish. Now, he gave me this paint to use on the walls. It's the same color as the walls in the living room, but it's shiny. The painters who did the living room obviously bought it to do the door trims and such. But they didn't use it. So now, I have shiny walls. Husband had gone over the trim and doors edges before but with the "peachskin" finish paint which I can't seem to even find now. I vow to never let him near the paint again. It used to be he was not permitted to paint in our old houses. I thought I could trust him. grrrr. The worst thing is, the walls are shiny, so I will have to paint the doors, trim and the hall cupboards with this paint and there isn't enough in the can, so I have to get more... BUT, the painters were Iraqi or Iranian, and guess what?? They put the name of the color on the top of the can in F---King FARSI. So who knows what it is??? Very pretty flowery writing.

no potty news, well maybe

2009-08-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

I took two days off work and painted the ceiling our kitchen, family room and hallway. Today I painted the walls of the family room and part of the hall. I can only finish part of the hall because husband began replacing he woodwork in February 2009 and he hasn't gotten around to finishing it yet. He is on unemployment. He is home 24-7 and he is on the couch 24-7 with a computer in his lap. What gives?? I plan on painting the bathrooms, but I need a high gloss paint for the kitchen and bathrooms. Besides, I think he said something about "finishing" the woodwork in those rooms.

Speaking of which, I have two nice bathrooms. One is large with a shower, sink and closet. The other is smaller with a tub and a nice sink. Both, of course have the obligatory toilet. The only thing is, the bigger bathroom has no door on it. It is open to our bedroom. The toilet and shower are in a separate room with a door, but the closet and sink are wide open to the bedroom. I will never understand the reason anyone would do this to their house. It makes no sense to have bathroom open to the bedroom. Yet, all around here, the bathrooms in the master bedroom are the same. I find it totally gross. When I mentioned it to people I work with, they were -"Oh yeah, there isn't a door, is there?" They had not paid any attention to it> I will never understand this place.

potty memories

2009-08-12T19:35:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, I close my eyes and I can hear the wooden doors slamming shut in the restrooms at White Swan Park. Man, I spent a of time at that park as a kid. With my own kids, we rarely went there. We always had some ball game or dance recital to go to. Too bad. I worked my first job there. Marge Kleeman used to call me into the ticket booth and hand me an envelope full of cash. I was --what-- 12 years old? and of course, not old enough to actually be employed, just helping out on the rides. I helped my older cousin Janet on the Kiddie cars first. It was my job to chase down the wandering or slow toddlers and push them around the track to the end. The silly little cars would upset and I'd have to run and set them up on the tracks again. Then Janet and I did the airplanes and the Merry-go-round. When we were both older, I was actually employed- goodness how many summers did I work there- age 12 to 16 or 17, I'm sure. But we ran the helicopters and the tractors, too. Uncle Roy ran the Mad Mouse and the Ferris Wheel, the big slide. He also ran the train- I don't know how he ran all those rides at one time??/ He was magic I guess. Aunt Kate and my mom worked in the concession stand. My dad probably ran the train and the Mad Mouse, too. My brother probably worked on the tractors and the other jobs the males did. When he first opened the park, Roy had pony rides. Janet, Marlene and Kathy and me used to have the job of riding the horses around the park before it opened. What fun. Maybe Kathy wasn't with us all the time. We made her cry.

housework

2009-08-09T14:35:00.000-07:00

Who can discover new potties when there's all this housework to do?? YOI. Cleaning, scouring, squeegee-ing, wiping, weeding, cutting, getting cut, getting pinched, getting bitten. ICK. Why oh why did I ever buy a house??

folks

2009-07-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

Went to a folksy get together at Dawn and Allen's in Long Beach last night. It was good fun. She has a teeny house and a teeny bathroom. Everything is decorated with either ducks or flamingos. Makes for tons of amusement. Allen is the duck collection and Dawn the flamingo. He has ducks from all over the world. He used to travel regularly to Asia, Europe, etc and has ducks to show. Ducks carved from ivory, marble, you name it. and wazzah- a duck bathrobe. Dawn made a Mexican meal- not bad. Pretty good. We had to play croquette for amusement and my husband won. The prize was a lot of paper plates, napkins and a grilling brush witht he stipulation that he has to sponsor the next partay. OMG, so now we will have to- no, HE will have to do an event in the near future. haha. Cant wait. Oh, and in this group there were 3 men, 3 women. None of the men are employed. Only the women.

San Clemente Ocean Feastival

2009-07-19T13:07:00.000-07:00

Fun fun fun for everyone!! We went down to get some pancakes at the Lifeguard Pancake Breakfast. There they were, cooking up sausages and pancakes at 7:30 am. On the sand. OJ, coffee and anything ese compatible with pancakes. They were terrific. And I don't eat pancakes!! I ate half of three and gave half of those three to hubby. He asked "Is this an all-you-can-eat?" Well, if he paid another $4 (yes, cannyou believe it, only $4 a person) he could eat more. Anyway, was good. We talked to some fellow from Huntington Beach who was a Philosophy professor all his life and is now apparently retired and participates in senior swimming events. He was down for the Body Surfing. Now, I watched the old guys body surfing, I can't see what it's all about. But, I guess it's a sport. There were tons of booths, with all the cable companies, blood pressure tests, etc you could imagine. We took a stroll down the pier to see the Woodies. They were so nice. I forgot my camera as usual. On the pier in addition to the woodies there was a fishing competition and we saw a little kid about 8 years old running up to the judging/measuring booth to get his perch measured. Boy, he was intent. The fish was still alive and the guy told the kid to throw him back in. But the kid just turned and ran way back down the pier. He didn't want to toss his fish!!The restrooms were OK. They are old and sort of "beachy" and they smell. The stalls' walls only go up to your neck or so, so people can see you in the stall. I guess that's good for making sure there aren't any weirdos hanging out in the stalls. Dunno. We walked through the art exhibit. People were really putting on a hard sell to move the arts and crafts. I think the economy is having a toll on artists and craftsmen. There were considerably less exhibitors than in the past. Then we walked down the beach a little to see the sand castle competition. There were some nice sculptures, but they were just getting a start at about 10:00 am. So it was getting hot and we headed back to the car.

today's beach action

2009-07-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

ran on the beach, but didn't stop by the potties- they've been pretty overused and under cleaned lately. But, there were a couple mentally challenged, not completely autistic, but had some autistic behaviors, young men with a person taking care of them. They were in trunks on the sand and they looked totally blissfully happy- grinning from ear to ear and hopping up and down in the sand. The girl handling them was young, 20's, in a 2 piece and very pretty. No wonder these guys were totally blissed out. All I could think of as I jogged past was the fellow who lived in the State psychiatric institution that I worked in right after I graduated from college...Dixmont. I used to park my car near the locked wards which were on the top floors- 3rd floors-- of the buildings. There were these poor guys who used to hang out in the area known as the day room. They'd wait for the young chicks to arrive and then they'd yell out the windows--"Jump on her! Jump on her! Oh boy, look at her!" This was the poor guys only amusement. So I could see these guys on the beach-- silently yelling to themselves--"Jump on her".

marina

2009-07-05T17:55:00.000-07:00

went to the marina to run since I didn't get out until 12:30 and the beach is super hot once the sun gets up. Marina was good, swarming with people. Bathrooms were trashed, natch. Par for the County's course.

I saw some really cute dogs, and some scary big ones. I do feel for the big dogs. I figure they live in teeny houses or condos with about zero yard space and spend most of their time indoors or in a patio. Not good for those of the animal persuasion. After all, they are made to run and hunt and be all dirty and smelly things. Not live in a condo and prance around the marina all clean and scented. But that's my opinion. Inhumane to me, these are the same people who insist their cows or chickens be "free range" or who join PETA and yet keep their dog in a condo or worse, caged.

tv

2009-07-04T14:23:00.000-07:00

We have a habit of going through the channels on the TV to find anything worth watching without ads. Usually, we get the public stations or the old movie stuff. There are occasionally pay per view movies visible on our set that we didn't pay for or order. We figured somehow we can watch what our neighbors are watching. It's random and sometimes, they pause the show while they attend to some task or other. Sometimes they just up and turn the show off for no apparent reason- just didn't like it.
Last night, I was at a loss for anything worth watching on regular TV, so I decided to view the random pay per view channels up in the 70's numbers/ I got to a Rene Zelleweger movie where she is all fashionista and high heels and working in NYC, maybe? Then she gets sent to Minnesota for a job/trip, etc. There is a section where she is being grilled by a local Minnesota woman- waitress, taxi driver, something. The local say "Well, have you found Jesus?" and Rene's character replies "I didn't know he was missing". JUST LIKE THAT, my neighbor switched the movie off. I was laughing at the line and the neighbor turns it off. They don't call it the Bible Tract for nothing. Boo.

beach

2009-07-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

3rd of July. Lots of kids - life guard training- it starts at about age 8, it seems. There were about 200 kids on the beach for classes. cute little things. I go to the restroom to use it and - of course, not a bit of toilet paper in the stalls. This is early- 9 am, so it wouldn't be possible for the kiddos to use it all by now. They arrived with us. No one re-filled the paper for the day and here were all these kids and people, it being the day before the 4th. Tons of people, actually. The floor was gross, I can't begin to tell you what was on it. And I hadn't worn sandals or shoes. It was high tide and the tide coming in ruins my running shoes. I had left the slip- on shoes down at the bottom of the stairs, so I was barefoot. Bad idea. I managed to catch up with hubby who lent me his sandals to use one of the other restrooms. Also very low on paper.

You know, I can understand the state and county running out of money- but toilet paper....come on.

One of the the things the kids did was run up and down the beach like lightning. Then they do exercises. And then to the water. When I was walking to the restroom, a jet sea ran up in the surf- pretty far out. The kids are cheered. I thought it was because he had gone through some wake or something. Turns out, he's part of the training. He takes the kiddos out and drags them around for a good 5 minutes on the back of the jet ski. The kids are hanging onto their skim boards which must be fastened to the jet ski's rear. The driver doesn't make any attempt to treat them gently. He drives like a lunatic out there. The kids apparently are very good at hanging on for dear life.

wringer washer

2009-06-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

Well, if I don't write it down, my kids will forget this story and then that will be one lost bit of history. So, here goes. Back in the 50's, my mother and all her sisters had wringer washers--(google it). My Aunt Kate had hers in the basement. So did my mom and her other sisters. My mom's worked very well and it took her all day to wash clothes - there was no spin dry, no cycles, so to speak. There was a big basin with an agitator and two wringers on top. The moms controlled all the washes, rinses, etc and then they wrung the water out with the two wringers. Feeding the clothes through these rolling thing- like 2 rolling pins. Anyway, it took all day at least and was hard work. My aunt had one outlet in her basement and she ran an extension cord across the floor and up to the ceiling light fixture where the outlet was. Some of the cord lay in the pool of water that ran across the floor from these old washers. Natch, you know what came next. My cousins and I had a regular contest to see who could leap across the pool of water without getting shocked by the cord lying in the pool of water. None of us ever made it across the pool. We all got a good healthy shock when we splashed down in the water. It was horrible and great fun at the same time. My aunt just laughed, she thought it was just desserts for us. She had all kinds of Italian swear words for us.
This particular aunt had an outhouse, natch, it was the 50s. And she had a bathroom. It was blue, and a flush toilet. I don't recall a tub. Just a sink and toilet. No shower or tub. where did we all wash?? No idea. My uncle, her hubby, owned an amusement park and I was lucky enough to get sent to my aunt's house for weeks at a time all summer to go and hang out at the park with my cousins. Great fun.

new stairs

2009-06-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

The new stairs are finally open at the Salt Creek Beach. People are counting them. So far, I've heard 152, 166, 163. Still any one of those numbers is a lot of stairs. The thing that is like an incline isn't open yet. Bets are it's very slow and only the aged and infirm will have the patience to wait around for it. And the bathrooms (yes, finally new bathrooms) are open and shazam, they are great. Each one is private and lit by a skylight. Super nice and clean.
In front of me going down the stairs was a skinny woman, about my age, who was so darn skinny there was about room for an entire fist between her thighs. She did not have thunder thighs, like some of us. Her legs were so far apart she looked like she was riding an invisible horse.
And at work today, one of the women came across a case of an 18 year old boy who was born in a Siberian prison and raised in a Siberian prison orphanage. Apparently, if you are born in a prison over there, you go right to the prison orphanage if your parents pass away. How awful must that be? So he went through 2 failed adoptions in this country and is currently being adopted by two men in Long Beach, CA. This poor kid.
And then I get a call from a man who lost his job last year. His father is in an assisted living home and the son/man had taken out his 401K at significant losses to pay his dad's rent in the home. Then that money ran out, so he has been paying his dad's rent with his credit cards and now they are maxed out. He was calling to see if I could help him. (No). The reason it was urgent was because this am the sheriffs were at the home evicting the father. He hasn't paid rent in May, June. So they were going to throw this old paralyzed man into the street. But then he threw a food tray at the sheriffs and apparently the eviction took on an urgent tone. I told the guy there wasn't anything I could do. I told him to try to apply for welfare, it might help but not immediately. Takes time.

hot days

2009-06-17T21:44:00.000-07:00

TO me, 88 degrees is hot and trying to do the daily run in the heat is punishing. But I did it. I didn't do the whole trip twice, only 1 1/3 about. When it gets hot, I slow down. I have tried increasing my stride and speed but I notice that I run slow because I favor my left leg and knee. I had injured my left leg and knee about 4 years ago and it still bothers me. So I notice when I run faster with a bigger stride, my knee gives me twinges and I automatically slow down. I hadn't noticed that before. I did get my stride longer, but had to drop back down when my knee started to twang. Old age.And I actually didn't use the bathroom except to grab some tissues for my face!! Zowie.

Car cruise

2009-06-14T13:17:00.000-07:00

We went down to San Clemente for their 14th annual car crise. It was pretty nice, good weather, lots of people. We parked on one of the streets behind Pizza Port, and walked a few steps right to Del Mar. I have to say, I was disappointd in the number of American 60's muscle cars that were all soooop'ed up and painted garish colors. Then the older more interesting cars were also all customized. There were a very few non-customized older cars. Somthing about taking a 1930's era car and painting it school bus yellow or fire engine red and putting in chrome engines and so on, just ain't right. But it was neat. I took some photos. I will post.
Bathrooms- portapotties- need I say any more?

hockey state

2009-06-13T12:59:00.000-07:00

California is not a hockey state, nor even remotely hockey leaning. I'd say most people don't even know hockey exists. There is a team- actually 2 - Kings and Ducks, but sheesh. So I will have to print up the Pens victory photos and hang them in my office window so to "bump" the minds of my co-workers. Yes, there is a hockey sport and yes, my hometown team defeated Deetroit in Deetroit's arena. Sweet.
Oh, I did run this am. I got all ready to go down and was putting my shoesies on a 9:30 am. Hubby looks at me, grabs his coffee cup and newspaper and heads for the bathroom. I'm thinking- What ? So I went down without him. Dunno what he was planning, but I have to run when the energy hits me. The longer I wait the hotter it gets. So there was an entire middle school track team down there again. They run like deer. Bathrooms were crowded since it was early and cool and lots of people were exercising.

regatta

2009-06-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

Ran today at the Marina since the tide was gong to be high at 10:00 am or so. There was a regatta going on, parking was tough. But I managed. It got super hot after about the first 45 minutes. So I only ran 1 hour 20 minutes. Whew. Bathrooms were all spruced up for the Regatta. People had the tables all staked out with picnic hampers and balloons. Very pretty.

qwork

2009-06-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

argh- work today, such a shock. I always planned to work about 15 -20 years once my kids were old enough to leave at home and be done with working by age 60. And I had a good start on it, I had a job that would have enabled me to do that. But did I stick with my plan---noooo, I fell for some hairbrained scheme to move across the f--ing country and live in California and work until I am 90 years old--which wasn't in the original plans, but now that the economy has tanked and husband is out of work, so you see the way the story goes.
Went to Pizza port - apparently for my 35th anniversary dinner. I don't know why it should be such a disappointment. After all, I was married about a month when the husband got laid off the first time and it's been a constant for 35 years. Bitter, I really should have known better 35 years ago.

The bathroom works!!

2009-05-31T19:38:00.000-07:00

We went to Macaroni Grill for dinnah. Pre-Anniversary dinner, courtesy of my brother who gave us a gifts card (2 actually) for Xmas. So we ate very well. I had the salmon and broccoli with asparagus, some of the shrimp/scallops/mussel appetizer--no cheese, all floating in tomato sauce with chunks of tomato, also. A glass of white Pinot Grigio from Trentino, Italy. Arghh-- the bread was the downfall. Whatever is in their bread is addictive. And of course they give you olive oil to smoosh it around in. But, what are you gonna do? Anyway, the table next to us had a little boy and his grandmother eating their meal. As they get up to leave, the waiter stopped by and the little boy yells "The bathroom works, the bathroom works" repeatedly. I look at him, because if the bathroom ain't workin', I ain't eatin or drinkin'. But Grandma says "I tell him the bathroom isn't working, because otherwise, we'd be back and forth and back and forth the whole time" It was funny. I never thought of that when my kid were little...the bathrooms was very nice, bright red, clean, lots of paper towels. Those fellows who work at Macaroni Grill are so darn cute and super fast and speedy with the food and drinks, etc. They are terrific.

Sandyeggo

2009-05-23T20:55:00.000-07:00

Drove down to see my daughter today. Gorgeous day, the weather was actually cool. She has a neat bungalow, a Craftsman bungalow, actually. It is totally neat and cute, very fixed up. Great kitchen, bath, back yard, woodwork, everything and it is in a super nice area. Her bathroom is all white and clean. The toilet site in a little corner behind the door, so when you walk in you can't see the toilet- and you're like "What the? Where's the toilet, " But when you close the door, there it is, like a pop-up toilet!!!
she has two black cats, one is a bit neurotic. But they are good, no spraying, no scratching of furniture etc. A super nice day.

We went to a local Mexican place and had $0.99 fish tacos. Awesome. She had potato and soy tacos. woo hooo. What could be better?

And the bathroom at the restaurant was like chrome yellow- like being inside an egg yolk. It was clean and well supplied...

Mothers day gift???

2009-05-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

Later the same day, hubby and I traveled to the Forum in Inglewood for a "dead" concert. Historically something to see, apparently. I'm not that into the Dead music at all. I like the tunes they sell on albums, but their concerts are awful. Same old music over and over, no "tunes". And Jimmy Buffet does a better job with Scarlet Begonias than the dead. BUT, the high point of the evening was my trip to the can. The forum is pretty big and the ladies room was pretty cool. First there was a line outside, all the cute little 20 year olds dressed up in their hippie costumes. and they were little, as in skinny and petite. Geesh. So then you move fairly quickly into the hall to the restrooms which turns out to be a staircase, going downstairs to a basement like area..around a corner and so on, like a bomb shelter (how 60's!!!). Then the actual ladies room opens before you in stupendous purple Formica stalls- what a color. and very clean. With an attendant who moves everyone along to the next opens tall with ultimate politeness and she also mops up spills etc. My first thought when I saw the line and the hordes of hippie wannabees was "What will I pick up in this ladies room tonight?" But after I experienced the ladies room, I fell that it is one of the cleaner, nicer certainly colorful ladies rooms I've been in at a dead concert.....The crowd was a mix of frat boys with beer and joints at a biker bar and a bus load of geriatrics who were hauled out for the evening--seriously, we saw a tour bus of old people outside on the way home. All geriatric. California is different, I guess. Where else do they load up the geriatrics and take them to a "dead" concert. And it's true, white people can't dance. I don't know why they stand up and wiggle around and sway their arms in the air, like those sea creatures looking for food and think they are dancing.. Beats me.. Lots of dope in the air. When I was standing in line behind the hippie wannabe 20 yer old who was very pretty, I could smell a bad smell- kind of skunky, I at first thought, whew- why didn't she wash her hair, but upon inspection, it was clean and shiny. I finally deciphered the skunky smell- marijuana. Revolting smell and they were all smoking and tossing butts around on the floor. Where we were sitting- last row at the tip top of the building, there was a bunch of tarps or blankets on the floor over some wiring. I kept smelling the smoke and thinking--OK, a butt lands on the tarps and then sets the place on fire and the wiring goes too....anyway the tarps were all over the place between the seats. When I first got to the seat, I thought the tarp was a big black Labrador sleeping on the floor, or some dude sleeping in a sleeping bag. They were BIG tarps. Sigh, no photos, however.

ooops

2009-05-10T11:23:00.000-07:00

I titled the previous post Todd and Erin, but they aren't mentioned in it. Ha- just checking to see if anyone reads this stuff. So same walk, later on the beach, we see a weddin. Complete with chairs, speakers, photographers, everything for the perfect weddin. and their names were Todd and Erin. Todd managed to get his vows sputtered in a nice firm, "Ireallymeanit" voice. But Erin weither was hysterical with laughter or crying her heart out. Hard to tell as we couldn't sneak upon them. Only hear from the speakers. Photo below. Pretty colors- teal and brown. Beachy.

todd and erin

2009-05-10T11:20:00.000-07:00

Walking on the beach in the am--there were a busload of kidds from Mission Viejo middle school with back packs and running along the beach. Track exercise? Anyway, while they were running, the squirrels were checking out the lunches. They were munching away at the lunchbags and back packs. There must have been some good smelling stuff in those bags.

trees at work

2009-05-07T22:41:00.000-07:00

Off thepotty topic for a bit. The landlord of the building I work in took out ome trees in the parking lot and re-planted with these (photo ) They are beautiful and are rumored to grow to 50 feet and remain covered in blooms a very long time. I recalled seeing these at Chapman University a few years ago and no one I asked knew what they were. Well, our secretary told me they are Hong Kong Orchids trees.

and there's more

2009-05-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

The interior of the Station Square restaurant was a little hard to photograph. I will bet there is a website for the place, but here are my pix anyway.

late post

2009-05-02T15:57:00.000-07:00

One other spectacular ladies room seen in Spurgh was at Station Square on the South Side of Pgh. The place is a former railroad station converted to shops and a restaurant. The restaurant is the former main lobby and station. What a space. To think that corporations were so different that they created this incredibly beautiful space for their customers to pass through on the way to a train. Times have changed. Now corporations are only thinking of their own personal space- forge the customers. So I will attach a couple photos. If you are ever in Spurgh, try to visit the Station Square Restaurant and the ladies rooms.

Bistro ladies room

2009-04-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

Sadly, while in Pgh, I used the ladies room at the Bistro in Sewickley, but I can't remember it. That right there indicates how fabulous the beer is at the Sharp Edge Bistro. The restaurant is beautiful, very nice interior. Service is fabulous. Great beer, spectacular food. You need to go.

new potty!!

2009-04-29T17:56:00.000-07:00

So I visited the Spurgh last week- Pittsburgh, to the rest of the world. While there, I sampled several new restrooms. First off, the Church Brewery in Pittsburgh, on Liberty Ave. This is now a brewery, formerly a Catholic Church-St. John the Baptist, actually. The entire interior is much as it was while it was a church. Apparently, the church was de-sanctified before being converted to beer worship. It is a spectacular space, beautiful with much of the period details intact. Stained glass windows abound, as do handcrafted woodwork and some murals. The Confessional is a mini-bar. The large vats are in the sanctuary. There are pews in use. The ladies room was very hushed and had the feeling of another Catholic space I am familiar with- the San Juan Mission. I have attached photos of the ladies room. and also the windows. You will be awestruck. The beer and food weren't too bad either!!

promises

2009-04-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

I promises to write something tomorrow. Tonight I just got home from a family vacation, so I am sleepy and I have to drive all the way back to the airport to pick up hubby who came out on a different flight.

and again

2009-04-19T13:00:00.000-07:00

I increased my run a little this am. It's about 5.0 miles, I think. I ran the 3.2 or so then ran about 2/3 of the distance twice. So I figure it's a conservative 5 miles. Getting hot on the beaches. SO, I am on the second trip down the beach and who do I get razzed by? The terrific looking old geezer. He actually stopped his run and said "Here she is again- are you a glutton for punishment?'" And he just kept on lingering and talking. I swear he was going to stop running and just chat with me. I was like--just go and run, fellow, I am too hot and sweaty to be friendly and I waved him off saying "you go and do your run" Then this awesome looking guy with gorgeous blue eyes (and about 30) walks up to me from the surf and asks me what I'm trying to do. I told him I ran for my health, not to lose weight or compete or anything. He said he was a personal trainer and he has been watching me and I'm doing great. He said that twice. So I guess I'm doing pretty good. He didn't try to sell me on his services. I am always suspicious of men who say they are personal trainers--what are they training you for?? So, young grils who need to scout out some gorgeous guys in great shape--put on some skimpy tops, a pair of running shorts and take tot he beach on a run. It's the age old thing--Man sees woman, woman run on beach man want woman, catch woman, drag into cave....etc.

dang

2009-04-18T16:46:00.001-07:00

So we went down to Salt Creek to run, hubby to walk. It was gorgeous. They were planting all kinds of new trees along the road, so parking was only possible way down by the park parking lots. About halfway down the beach as far as distance, so it was the equivalent of walking half the beach. Anyway, I huff and puff my way down to the rocks and back. Make a couple bathroom stops- two cups of coffee. arg. I am up to about 4.6 miles. I was on the last bit of the beach and this old guy (probably younger than me) pulls up beside me to say "Hey young lady (!!!) keep it up. It looks like you're having trouble running, but keep it up" Well, that didn't sit well with me, after all I was about 25 pounds heavier than him and besides, I have a slow running pace. AND I had just finished most of my run and it was about 73 degrees or so. So he runs on past. I get to the end of the beach and head for the stairs and this guy runs up to me again. So I figure, may as well be polite. He goes on again about how hard it looks like it is for me and to keep on running. I tell him he looks great for his age (!) and ask him how much he runs. "Oh, only about 5-6 miles when I do run nowadays). Well, this guy looked pretty dang goood for only running about 5-6 miles once in a while. Men, He was all muscular, no gut, very trim for an old geezer. Men. Then he called me Young Lady and took off running up the stairs. I said something like "See ya' young man" Couldn't resist and turned to wait for hubby. Who was all laughing. I said for pick up lines, the guy wasn't doing very well. last summer some guy in his 30's kept commenting to me as I ran and he'd wait by the water fountain and start conversations. I figured he was some kid looking for a rich chick - no matter the age- to become her boy toy. So I told my buddy at work about him -- she is always looking for a boy toy. She's 40-ish and only dates men in their 30's. This guy was drop dead gorgeous, but way too young for my tastes. Besides, men that good looking are usually gay.

running distance

2009-04-05T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I managed to increase my distance. I am now completing 4.5 or 4.6 miles in an hour. I don't know how, I guess just built up my endurance some. Who knows. Anyway, the idea is to try to lose a few more pounds. But so far, I am still blessed by a robust physique. Not much new on the potty front. There was a surfing event at the Salt Creek Beach. Two day eent. The beach was super crowded. Lots of people. Blankets, umbrellas, etc. Kids, babies.

2009-03-29T18:15:00.000-07:00

2009-03-29T18:14:00.001-07:00

squirrel

2009-03-29T18:10:00.001-07:00

While walking today, I saw a squirrel, a few surfers, used the potty and also I saw some wild flowers. So I thought I'd add them to the blog. Pretty minimal, I know. But it's a stab.

void of course

2009-03-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

Well, today is a day off and I would normally run at this time, but it's high tide. Poor running on the beach. Water every crap where. Crap is my new swear word, as per Facebook. Maybe I will take my trusty camera and photograph h the beach bathrooms. Liven up the old blog. So news from my old hometown. Buddies passing on...very sad.

san clemente

2009-03-13T20:22:00.000-07:00

We ran down tot he Nixon Whitehouse again. I ran, hubby walked. There was a CBS news truck on the road above the beach at the railway bridge. The camera man was filming a kid in a wet suit on the beach. We ran down the beach and all the way back- about 1 1/2 hours. And the news truck was till thee. I figured there would be a beached shark or whale. Or some other major event on the sand, but no the guy was up in his trucky putting cables away. He was still there when we drove away. And wow, the weather was awesome. What a day. Gorgeous weather, water was clear and clean.
So later this evening, I put on the 9 news and there was San Clemente--the guy was interviewing and filming a kid about 12 who was a junior lifeguard named "rocket". He had save two women who had been puled out by the rip tide one day recently. He was super cute. I can't find the interview on the computer channel 9 website. But that is what was going on today on the beach.

100 book thinger

2009-03-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

I thought I was a pretty all round good reader, until I took this little exercise. 51 out of 100. Hardly prolific.
"The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?"

Instructions:
Copy, paste, put an 'x' after those you have read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen - X
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien -X
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte- X
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling X
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible -X
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte - X
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell -X
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman -
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens - X
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott - X
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy -X
13 Catch 22 - Joseph HellerX
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier -X
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien X
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger X
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell X
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald X
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy X
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams -
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky -X
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck-X
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll - X
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame -X
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy X
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens -X
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis -
34 Emma - Jane Austen -
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis -
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne - X
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell -X
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown -
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez -X
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving-X
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery -X
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy -X
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding -X
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert-X
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen - X
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens - X
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley- X
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez -X
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck -X
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov -X
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas -
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac -X
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy -X
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville -
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens -X
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett - -X
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce X
76 The Inferno - Dante X
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray -
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens - X
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert -X
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White - X
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - X
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad -X
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery -X
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams -X
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare - X
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl -
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

dye bath

2009-03-07T12:44:00.000-08:00

These scarves all came out of the same lilac dyebath. Pretty neat.

dana point

2009-03-07T12:34:00.000-08:00

So today was the Festival of the Whales Parade. We have gone to see it in the past. Usually, it's a few decorated vehicles and lots of fire trucks and police cars. Some elementary school kids with banners, etc. Never a big deal. Today, all I wanted to do was my run on the beach, but we got stuck in the parade staging area (conveniently located on the public beach parking lot). Well, there must be a new sheriff of the parade, cause there were lots of vintage cars, floats, giant whale inflatables, kids, trucks, etc. It looked pretty neat. But we were only trying to park so we could get to he beach. Eventually, park we did. And I parked my car in one swing (parallel, indeed). Good run. I saw a real live starfish in the sand. Very pretty. And the place was deserted, probably since no one wanted to get stuck in the parade staging area. hee hee.

2009-03-07T08:46:00.001-08:00

san clemente

2009-03-01T18:36:00.000-08:00

High tide was at the optimum running time--between 10 and 11 am. So we opted to go down to SC to walk/run. Gorgeous day. People in swimsuits, blankets on the sand, beach chairs. Terrific weather. So i ran all the way down to Nixon's white House and back. Hubby walked most of the distance. Great day. Bathrooms were at the apex of beach cleanliness...plenty of TP, clean, doors worked, awesome.
I took aphoto of the White House and attempted to send it to myself, but my phone and I don't work together. Alas.

beach observations

2009-02-22T20:14:00.000-08:00

After we ran on the beach, well, I ran, hubby walked, I was sitting in my car waiting for Hubby to come up the stairs and this surfer guy was changing his clothes in the back of his pick up. He managed to take off his wetsuit and get his clothes on without exposing himself at all. But, i wondered why, given that he had a pick up, he was standing in the back of the pick up--on an elevated sort of stage. He could have sat down in the back and squirmed his way in and out of his clothes, he even could have knelt and done it. But, no, he stood as if to show as much as possible as he could. Men.
There were tons of exposed rocks on the beach. The rocks are always there, but the sand covers them most of the time. They were huge.

my friend

2009-02-17T20:04:00.000-08:00

My friend Sandy has been living out in Riverside County for about 6 months. She doesn't have a job, but she's been looking. Her husband is working. So I went out to visit with her. We went to eat at Miguel's, Mexican. Really good. Sandy's bathroom was super nice. Terra cotta colored tile, warm and cozy. She said there was a crack in the foundation of the house and the bathtub would probably go sliding down two feet when she gets into sometime. There was a pretty big gap between the tub and the floor tile. They are renting the house, so it isn't their problem. The owner's can't sell the house because of the foundation crack.
On another note, it's been raining her for days. Cold and dreary, but I did manage to squeeze in a run on the beach this afternoon. It was good.
When I got home, we made dinner and then I was browsing the Internet and I came across an old college friend. So I sent her an email. I wonder if she will even open the email? Wait n see.v

rain rain

2009-02-07T09:33:00.000-08:00

It's been raining here two or three days. Pouring, indeed. So, even though it cleared enough to run last night, it's not looking too good for today. So, my potty break last night was uneventful, except for the elderly lady who scared the pants off me in the restroom at the Marina. She came in and was waiting outside the stall I was using. I had my headphones on and didn't hear her come in. So when I opened the door and she was standing there, I jumped a mile, two.
So this am, I ate some low fat, plain yogurt with flax seed (ground) and a sprinkly of granola. Hubby ate an entire cheese danish from Costco. I ate a smidgeon- I cut about 1/2 square inch of his and ate it-- pretty damn good. So how about the Octuplets? Anyone heard about them?r

restaurant

2009-01-29T19:12:00.000-08:00

For our unit lunch today we went to Avila's El Ranchito in Lake Forest, CA. Food is awesome. Decor is knock down incredible. Bathrooms are staggeringly unique. I think I described them once before- full length surfer girl on the inside door of the ladies room, hand painted stuff all over. Awesome. I had the Azteca Salad--pretty incredible. Most people had some salad and for Mexican restaurant the salads were good. Fantastic place.

this time around

2009-01-27T21:13:00.000-08:00

Well, walking around the same route means hitting the same potties. So I decided to dredge up some potties of note from times past. One is the bathroom at the famous Madonna Inn up along the Pacific Coast. It's bathrooms are well known for their eccentric design. One- the men's main bathroom has a real waterfall over the urinals. I think one of the bathrooms had a swing...maybe not. And the ladies was totally pink. Pretty cool place. Also up along the 5 freeway is the Harris Ranch. Their restaurants have some nice bathrooms. Western theme- steer stuff and farm things. But tasteful.

marina walk

2009-01-24T18:12:00.000-08:00

Walked around the marina last night- long walk, over 90 minutes.. It was so cold and damp. My joints started to hurt and they have hurt all day. So I didn't run today. It rained all night. The electric company turned off the electricity at 10 pm last night and it was pitch dark . So I went to bed - the electricity came back on around 3.

about a year ago

2009-01-19T18:49:00.000-08:00

About a year ago, my good friend from Pittsburgh emailed me with some dread about her birthday which was coming up in February. My birthday was also close upon the horizon in January. We would both be turning 60. Neither of us were in a celebratory mood, to say the least. But one thing she did say, was one of her other friends had come across either a book or some self- help person who used the phrase "20 good years" referring to the time after 60. Apparently, to some people the years between 60 and 80 can be good ones. Hard for me to see that far into the future and my immediate future is not so optimistic as it was last year, even. My good friend passed away from pancreatic cancer in October, 2008. She was diagnosed on February 4, 2008 and her 60th birthday was Feb 8, 2008.
My grandparents who were from Europe always said "If I can make it through February, I'll make it all year". It must be the winter fust that has assailed me. I am dreading this month and next. I hope all my friends and family make it through the two months. I hope I do, also.

day off

2009-01-19T13:49:00.000-08:00

Yet another MLK Holiday. Makes my work week a 4 day week. That has to be good. Ran on the beach this am. Great day- 76, clear and sunny. No potty stops. There were lots of people here today and yesterday. Some were even staking out beach turf, like they do on Labor Day. There are more people sunbathing down at the end of the Stands than ever, since that is where the new set of stairs dumps everyone. This is month three of hubby being unemployed. No sign of a new job.

penal colony

2009-01-15T19:43:00.000-08:00

So, I walked around the Marina tonight. No jogging, tired. There is a colonial era ship at anchor in the harbor. It is there as an educational tool and an exhibit. Every night, there is a crapload of kids, ages 10-12 on board the ship. And every night, the ship staff take these kids out onto the water in boats and teach them sailin songs and make them row across the harbor and all around, chanting and singing and generally having a great time making slaves of the kids. It is the highlight of my walks. I call it the Childrens Penal Colony. There is nothing like the sound of young voices chanting in reply to a heart "HEAVE" the answering "HO". Ah, music to mine ears. What a great concept. This has been going on since we moved here- 8 years ago, so I imagine it is an ingrained cultural habit. Not unlike Easter rabbits and Santa and elves. Enslaved pre-teens.
I didn't use the potty - lordy, lordy, what could be wrong. But it was a fabulous night. The sunset was just so colorful and the air super clear. Catalina was very visible and so was San Clemente Island.

Pizza night!!

2009-01-12T18:12:00.000-08:00

We went down to San Clemente for Pizza last night and we ate and drank at Pizza Port. Awesome Pizza- the pizza San Clemente. Vegetarian. I had some kind of chicken Caesar salad. Very tasty. There was beer of course, Sierra Nevada IPA (?) and oi- what was the other beer>??? Can't remember, but it was dark and totally tasty. Bathrooms, -- I missed them this time around. But they are pretty good and handy to the dining area. The place was crowded with a gang of kindergartners at two picnic tables apparently having a birthday partay. They were well behaved, drinking some kind of milk or soda. If I can remember what the beer was, I will add it. Pizza Port, San Clemente, a great place to eat and drink and incredible beer. Last time, hubby had Pliny the Elder on draft. This time it wasn't on the menu, but there were all kinds of other good stuff. But my brain can't retrieve the names. So sorry.

rancho's

2009-01-12T18:04:00.000-08:00

myohmy, it's been a week or more. Went down to San Diego to sight see with my daughter's college roommate visiting from Wisconsin. We walked all over Balboa Park, and tried out the potties. They were convenient and not at all shabby. I was afraid I'd be stuck with port a potties, but nope, we got lucky. The gardens there are so nice-- both the cactus garden and the plants in the quasi-indoor structure. We looked at some artwork, saw some tropical birds, listened to a fellow play a didgeridoo. We saw the pretty empty pool where there had been about a 100 Koi fish of pretty remarkable heritage. Then one night, someone left the public water flow into the pond and it killed the majestic, old Koi. Now there are about a dozen, small and healthy.We walked around the Spanish Artist's Village and finally we got tired. We met at Rancho's in North Park for dinnah- and it was tanfastic. I had some kind of salad, the others had veggie burritos, tacos, and something with mole sauce on it. It was terrific food. On my trip to the bathroom, I was cut off by an elderly woman with a walker, so I let her go first (I am such a push over for elderly women in walkers, I tell you, I need to work on that) When she was out, I went in--woweeee, what a bathroom. Sponge painted HOT PINK walls. Zowie. It was terrific.

Marina

2009-01-02T19:31:00.000-08:00

Ran around the Marina yesterday, 3.5 or 5K. The temp was in the 50's so it was great running weather. My daughter ran but she ran about twice as much distance, we both ran about 60 minutes. The plan is she will run a 10 K Saturday in SD. We drove her down to SD to drop her off with my other daughter. Both are running the 10K.
The Marina was crowded- Holiday people. Then later in the day, we drove up to Crystal Cove, Newport Beach and walked up there about an hour. It was so foggy, couldn't see anything.

12/28

2008-12-28T18:30:00.000-08:00

It finally warmed up around here- got up to high 50's, low 60's. We ran on the beach this morning. I ran the usual 3.5 miles, hubby walked and my daughter ran a lot- 65 minutes, I think. She wants to do a 10 K this weekend in San Diego. Then we came home and ante scrambled eggs, stuffed cabbage and ham. Well, I had one of the vegetarian stuffed cabbages and ham. No eggs. Vegetarian stuffed cabbages are pretty good. Then daughter and I went shopping- looking--really. Not much shopping.
It was actually warmer in the East than here. How is that for disgusting? The sand on the beach was pretty washed away. The ramps leading down to the beach from the sidewalks were suspended in the air--no ground under them. Winter storms.

no potty news

2008-12-27T16:16:00.000-08:00

Instead of running and hiking the beach, we took the cover off the spa and YUCK- it was orange. Rusty, stained orange.
Well, we took the entire day and drained the spa, cleaned it with acid, polished it with wax, filled it, bought a new filter cartridge and now have turned it on to see it bubble. We even turned the heat on. The spa was orange-rusty orange. We thought it was a-goner, but it cleaned up with the acid. The waxing helped too. Turns out ht e filter cartridge was so gunked up, it was the source of the orange. We thought it was the heater, but fortunately not. The spa cover is all ripped and was full of rain water when we tried to lift it. We drained it and it is less heavy. We will need a new spa cover within the next few months. They are all about $299. Sigh.

Dec 20

2008-12-19T18:23:00.000-08:00

It was pretty cold today. 40 in the morning and only about 53 in the mid-day. Beach was cold, good running weather. Bathroom was clean!! Parking was a breeze- no one was on the beach. Pretty nice.

sugar beet

2008-12-14T21:47:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZR6qg33yI0

One of those old sesame street songs that is burned into your brain. I had a daughter that loved this song and I even nick named her Sugar Beet after it, cause she also loved beets.

the daily run

2008-12-11T21:26:00.000-08:00

I left work early to go and do some shopping and walk. I did the shopping then went to walk. I was so glad- the beach was deserted except for one elderly woman- 80 yrs at least, shhesh, maybe 90. Well, she was only slightly ahead of me on the ramps going down to the shore, but once she hit the sand, she took off. I never did catch up to her, she was hobbling along faster than I could huff and puff behind her. My ankle is hurting, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Didn't have to use the potty, either!!

I am watching this insane show--Destroyed in Seconds- totally insane. But strangely appealing. OK, now they have this tank going on the freeways in San Diego, CA. Before this, they showed some chick driving her SUV down a mountain side the likes of Mt Everest or something. What's the one in Yosemite--Halfdome? That's the one. NOw it's explosions in Albania--what a show.

yesterday

2008-12-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

Went to Salt Creek to run. I must have turned my ankle because I have a lot of pain and my ankle is swollen. I ran, but I had to come home and ice the area. It was OK all day, throbbed at night, today it's swollen again and very painful. The only thing I can remember doing is standing all day on Thanksgiving to cook. That is when it started to really hurt.

sound!

2008-12-05T16:58:00.000-08:00

Now I've gotz sound...there was one driver which I didn't download because it didn't sound at all familiar and it was not on any of the websites as one that my computer would use. BUT it was on the Dell website, so I figured what the f---k, may as well try it, I've tried aobut 6 so far. All lined up on my desk top,,,so pretty with the hammer and all that . Anyway, as the computer signed off to re-start, it made that windows noise--the chord. or what ever noise they call it. So, now I might try re installing Itunes. Itunes was on my computer a year or so ago. But it was on the drive that was crammed to the hilt, so my daughter moved it to the other drive. And it stopped working. Wasn't in C drive and it wasn't in D drive- was somewhere in limbo. Maybe now, I can fully download it. I hate technology. I had thought it would be really neat to have a chip installed that would be like a computer right on your fore arm or your forehead, just press the chip and all this internet and technology is right in your head. NOW, I don't think so. The technology sucks and there you'd be stuck between two programs in the middle of braking on a hill or something.
Actually, I ran at the Marina last night and I made it all the way around 3.2 miles, no potty stop. How cool is that?

Computer fixed

2008-12-04T21:42:00.000-08:00

Kind of. No sound. Something about drivers and audio cards or whatever. Who needs sound on a computer anyway? Fucking technology.