Not the best day

How many things can go wrong today?

It started when I woke up and got up to get some coffee and discovered that somehow during the night I had swept most of the pieces of the puzzle we are working onto the floor.  I don't know how I did it, but I had a big pile of puzzle pieces t o put back on the table and re-work. 

Then after Kelly and Mark at 9:15, I came in to the computer and go through what I go through every day. I use either my cell phone or my desk top to access the internet and every time, the desk top insisted I have to sign in, including getting a code sent to my cell phone to prove it's me...and I  always have my cell phone in the other room and have to get up and get it.

Googles wants proof I'm me, Amazon wants proof I'm me, Blogger wants proof I'm me.  It drives me crazy.  And every time I post something to Facebook, I get a message saying that Bev Sykes has posted something to Facebook.  I don't know why.

Then I decided to get serious about the pile of letters waiting to be answered.  I got the first one answered, but it wouldn't print.  Turns out I needed an ink cartridge.  I thought I had an extra ink cartridge, but it turns out it was for the wrong printer, so I had  to order a cartridge (because we no longer have a stationery store here in Davis).  I got it from Amazon, but it won't be delivered until Friday, the day we are driving to Santa Barbara for the weekend, so I won't be able to print anything until we get back on Monday.  So no letter answering.

And then I am getting ready to meet a Postcrossing friend tomorrow so we can sit in front of a store and write postcards for World Postcard day.  I was very clever and made up a list of all the people I plan to send postcards to, but of course it's in WordPerfect and can't be printed, so I had to address all the postcards to take with me in the morning.

As I write this it is only 2:30 in the afternoon.  Who knows what else is going to go wrong before the end of the day?

(Looking on the bright side, I have several Compassion letters to answer, and those get answered thru Compassion's email server, so I can at least get those done.)

Death

I was lying on the couch trying to go to sleep last night and all I could think about was death.  I look across the room from where I was trying to sleep and there is the shelf Ned set up, where we have memories of all of the loved ones who have died.

On another shelf is a big figure of Gilbert Russak as Jack Point, and pictures of Paul and David.

And I'm thinking of death because of a friend who is battling cancer right now.  I can't seem to do anything but stare off into space and worry.  

I have a big pile of letters to be answered and I can't seem to get to them.

Somehow writing pen pal letters just doesn't seem to work when you are worried about a friend's health.

Sunday Stealing

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves.

1. What do you want to be remembered for?
I'd like to be remembered for being compassionate, for helping other people

2. If you were put in solitary confinement for a year, what would you do to stay sane?
Do they let you have books?

3. If you could have video of any one event in your life, what event would you choose?
Our pumpkin pie tossing video

4. What are the top 3 things you want to accomplish before you die?  Have you accomplished them?
* have children
* write a book
* travel internationally
and yes, I have done all 3

5. If you were forced to live one 10-minute block of your life again and again, what 10 minutes of your life would you choose.
I think I would get bored with any 10 minute block of time if I had to live it over and over again, no matter how wonderful it was.

6. Have you ever saved someone’s life?
No.

7. What are you addicted to?
Block Puzzle Jewel

8. What keeps you up at night?
Life, I guess.  I sleep in 2-3 hour chunks, then am up for an hour or so and then back to sleep

9. What do you regret not doing?
Graduating from college

10. What gives your life meaning?
My family

11. What are you most insecure about?
speaking in public

12. What’s the most illegal thing you’ve done?
I used to steal chocolates from the corner grocer when I was a kid.  In my younger days, I used to speed a lot (fortunately never got caught)

13. What’s the most surprising self-realization you’ve had?
That I was able to write a book.

14. If you could make one rule that everyone had to follow, what would it be?
Be kind to everyone; take care of people in need.

15. In what situation or place would you feel most out of place? 
Any outdoor situation where I had to survive...like Survivor
And at a Trump rally (shudder)  

  

Saturday 9

 Welcome to Saturday 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Saturday 9: Cool Night (1981)

Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Paul Davis invites his old girlfriend to "come on over tonight." Have you more recently extended or received an invitation?
We have an invitation to attend Walt's brother-in-law's 70th birthday party in Santa Barbara next week.

2) He tells her she doesn't have to commit to any plans. Do you like having a schedule ahead of you with things to do delineated? Or do you prefer to see how your days naturally unfold?
My day is pretty normal, doing the same thing every day.

3) He wants them to cuddle by the fire. Will tonight be a cool night where you are?
It's in the 90s now (mid afternoon) but will cool down to the 60s, probably, tonight.

4) A quiet night in front of the fireplace is likely how Paul Davis spent many evenings. When he died in 2008, his best friend remembered him as a quiet man, "a homebody" who liked staying up late into the night enjoying conversation and music with friends. Describe your perfect evening.
Sitting in my recliner watching TV.

5) Mr. Davis also enjoyed playing pool and golf. Do you have a liking for either of those games?
I've never played golf, but I used to play pool a lot in college.  The last time I played it was right before Jeri's wedding.  If I had access to a pool table, I'd play it often.

6) When he retired from music, Paul Davis returned to Meridian, MS, the town where he was born and grew up. Since we Americans can be a nomadic lot, let's find out: Is the town where you were born the same place where you spent most of your growing up years?
I was born and raised in San Francisco and lived  there until I graduated from high school, then moved across the bay to Berkeley to start college. I have not lived in San Francisco since, though I still consider it "home."

7) In 1981, when Paul Davis was a hit, so were The Rolling Stones with "Start Me Up." What's your favorite Rolling Stones' song?
I don't know Rolling Stones songs.

8) Also in 1981, Snoopy was all the rage, with kids and adults alike. You could buy Snoopy magnets, pencils, pencil sharpeners, note pads ... even a Snoopy bulletin board. If today we went shopping for office supplies, what would you pick up?
Well, I don't really need anything, but I'm always looking for interesting stationery.

9) Random question: In a biopic of your life, who would play your mom and dad?
Oh lord.  When I was in grammar school, I wanted my mother to give me up for adoption so Judy Garland could adopt me.  I was lucky that she didn't.  As for my father, anybody who was not a rage-a-holic.

I've been shot

Walt and I went to Kaiser yesterday to get our flu and COVID vaccines.

My new pajama bottoms, which I love  don't really look like pajamas, so I was able to wear them and not feel like people would think I was wearing my pajamas. 

The last time we went for shots, there was a line of people getting them, but we were behind only one person yesterday, so we were in and out in no time at all.

The thing about shots these days is that for some reason they are using needles that are so thin that you can't even feel them when they shoot you.  I've never been afraid of shots anyway, but these days it's hard to tell when you get a shot because it is so painless.

Jeri chose our new book, which is another book by Kristin Hannah, who wrote the last book we read.  I know it's going to be a good book.  I haven't quite finished the autobiography of Miriam Margolyes yet, so I'm reading both books at the same time.  Margolyes is into her more recent life and is using a bit more of the ribald language I expected.  She has also mentioned a couple of performers whose name I recognize, which is nice.

I'm wondering if she will talk about her TV program with Alan Cumming.  Probably not because when that program started, her partner (of 54 years) Heather had died, and she is still alive in this autobiography. 

Book Club

 

Jeri and I finished our most recent book and she suggested we read "Twenty Thirty," a book by Albert Brooks, which she had read and thought I would like.  She read it several years ago.  It's set in 2026, entirely too close to today and I found it difficult to read, so she suggested we find a different book.

I sent her a list of all the books I currently have on my Kindle and when she has time she will see which she can get in the library.

But in the meantime, I'm reading the autobiography of Miriam Margolyes. I have been watching her travel show with Alan Cumming (Miriam and Alan Lost in Scotland) and when I learned she had written a book, I ordered it.  It’s not quite what I expected (not as ribald as I expected) but still very good and I’m enjoying it. 

I suspect that I would enjoy it a lot more if I were British.  She names ?hundreds? of fellow actors she has met in her 80 years and  think I could count on one hand the names I'm familiar with -- and I'm a theater person.  

I'm currently reading her experiences doing voice overs and it's fun learning how voice overs are made...plus you can check out several of them on You Tube.

Relatives

Walt's sister shared a picture the other day,

This is Walt's cousin and his wife, another cousin and kids with spouses (whom I don't recognize).  It got me thinking about relatives.

My mother was the 8th in a family of 10 and they were all close.  My sister and I weren't as close to the aunts and uncles as others were because my father didn't like my mother's family, whom he felt were "country bumpkins," but I did grow up knowing my aunts and uncles and many of my 32 cousins.  I loved getting together with my aunts and playing cards and I spent every summer with one of my cousins, 2 weeks at her house, 2 weeks at our house.  And, of course, for many years, my two cousins and I spent overnights with my mother, playing cards--our "Cousins Day."

But now my parents are both dead, my sister is dead, the cousins I knew the best are dead and of course all of my aunts and uncles are dead.  Essentially I have no relatives any more.

I'm fortunate that I have always been close to Walt's family and when I think of family I think of these people in the picture, as well as his sister and brother and their spouses, who live in California.  But I don't share their background and there is nobody in my life who shares mine.

It makes me feel very sad.

Internet friends

 I watch Sunday Morning every Sunday and think of the guy...was he on Compuserve?...that I used to write to who one day said "I think you'd like this show."  I don't remember his name now, but he was from Maine and he was gay and we wrote to each other frequently, until he developed cancer and committed suicide.  That was -- oh lord -- how many years ago?  Long before Facebook.

It got me thinking about the friends I have made on the internet, many of whom have been friends for decades, people who are not part of my daily real life life, many of whom are no longer in my internet life.

There was ...was his name Bob? ... whom I met on CompuServe.  A group of us were good internet friends, but his wife considered us "imaginary people" and after awhile he left our group.  I wonder what he's doing now and what his wife is doing?

There was the journalist -- we started our journals at about the same time -- who became a good friend.  When I was losing weight, he decided to lose weight too and he became athletic.  He always wrote to me on the anniversary of my journal each year.  He was doing a triathlon one year and had a heart attack and died.  I think about him every year on my anniversary, since he was the only one who remembered it.

I remember Schuyler, and the months before she was born and how concerned her father was that he would not be a good father.  Schuyler was born and ultimately they feared that she couldn't speak.  They had her tested and discovered she was not able to speak recognizable words.  I was part of a group that donated money so they could buy her first "speaking machine."  I've followed her through her troubles in school.  I sent her birthday gifts when she was in love with dinosaurs.  I celebrated when she graduated from high school and now she's in her 20s and working.  She still doesn't speak.  Her father wrote a book, "Schuyler's Monster" when she was young and it became a best seller.  The strange thing about Schuyler is that in all these years her father has never once communicated with me.  He doesn't answer messages.  She recently had a serious problem which he posted about but said he didn't want to talk about it on line and if you wanted to know, to write  to him.  I did, but he didn't answer.  I don't have a clue why he doesn't like me, but I've been in his life for more than 20 years.

A group of women became friends on CompuServe.  We were friends for years and then one year decided we should meet, so we all met in Colorado.  The weekend was such fun that we started having yearly meetings.  Our last meeting was on 9/11.  We were in a hotel in London when the plane flew into the buildings in New York. I guess 5 of us are still part of the group (3 have died), two in England and the other 3 of us here in the US.  We visit each other one on one and follow each other on Facebook.

There was Cathy, in a bad marriage.  We supported her and were with her when she left her husband (which was why we had that meeting in Colorado, to give her something to think about other than leaving her husband) and when she decided to move across the country.  She has disappeared now.  She's in her 80s or 90s so she may be dead.  I don't know.

Before I met Peggy face to face, we were email friends.  Our friend Olivia introduced us on line.  We were both big animal fans. Every day we both logged into Africam, she at night in Australia, me in the morning in California and we chatted about the animals we were seeing.  

I was friends with David Gerrold (who wrote Star Trek's "The Trouble with Tribbles") for years before I knew his real name.  He used a different name on CompuServe.  Now it seems like we have been friends forever.  I followed him during his search for a child to adopt (the boy is now 40, married and father of 2). When Paul died, he came to Davis to perform the graveside service since the priest who did it for David was so horrible.

I "met" Steve Schalchlin through a group of his friends, talking about his show, "The Last Session."  Steve and I exchanged some emails and I made arrangements to meet him.  We have since become very good friends and I acted as his publicity person for awhile.  He lives in New York now and I will probably never see him again in person, but we are still good friends.

Now I'm making friends through Facebook, though I don't get as involved as I did when I was in CompuServe, but there are friends who have sent me amazing things, mostly involving squirrels. I have sent gifts to people that are having emotional problems.

It is amazing to me how many friends I've made through the internet, some of whom I have never (and probably will never) meet in person, but whom I consider good friends.

It is so sad to me that my friend Gilbert Russak, from The Lamplighters, died before  the internet was a possibility.  How he would have loved it.

Sunday Stealing

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves.

1. What popular TV show do you refuse to watch?
Any of the mating and dating shows.

2. What pets did you have while growing up?
My sister had allergies, so we had no pets.  As soon as she left home and got her own place, she got a dog.

3. What is the luckiest thing that has happened to you?
So many lucky things, but probably the one I am most pleased about was the opportunity to volunteer with The Lamplighters in San Francisco, which changed my life.

4. What are some small things that make your day better?
squirrels, NCIS marathons, pen pal letters, Bubba jumping into my lap, waking up to brewed coffee.

5. What’s your favorite piece of clothing you own/owned?
I just got these pajama bottoms.  I love them.

6. What’s the most annoying habit other people have?
Talking while chewing.

7. What game or movie universe would you most like to live in?
I would like to live in the Meet Me in St. Louis world.

8. What’s the most impressive thing you know how to do?
make frosting roses.

9. What was the best book or series you’ve read?
The Walter Farley Black Stallion books as a kid.  As an adult, I love Steinbeck books, especially "East of Eden."

10. What state or country do you never want to go back to?
We've been to 25 different countries.  Of those, I'm not eager to return to Mexico.  Russia would be a close second, especially now.

11. Where do you usually go when you have time off?
I'm retired...all of my time is "time off."

12. What amazing thing did you do that no one was around to see?
Cleaned up my friend Gilbert's house after he died, to be ready for his family arriving.

13. What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives?
Get to know someone from a different country/culture.  Ideally try to learn their language.  We've hosted 70 people from 14 different countries over a 10 year period of time.

14. What’s something you’ve been meaning to try but just haven’t gotten around to it?
Writing the story of our Pinata Group.

15. What is something most people consider a luxury but you don’t think you could live without?
My bidet!

Saturday 9

Welcome to Saturday 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Saturday 9: Drive to You (2006)

Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Jewel sings that she can't sleep and is staring at the ceiling. Did you fall asleep easily last night?
I was watching Rachel Maddow's "From Russia with Lev" and got sleepy halfway through, so yes, I fell asleep easily...o fcourse, I woke up 2 hours later, but that's another story.

2) She concludes that the only thing to do is drive to her lover's side. Last time you got behind the wheel, where were you headed?
The last time I drove our car I was driving home from Kaiser.  Ned was following me in his car and when we got home, he told me I was no longer a safe driver, so I have not driven in about 3 years.

3) Jewel grew up in Alaska. Have you ever visited our largest state?
Yes.  we had friends living in Palmer. Jeri spent the summer with them and we went up to bring her home at the end of the summer.  Had a great time at the state fair.

4) She once performed at the Sydney Opera House, which is more than 7,300 miles away from Anchorage. There are no direct commercial flights between those two cities. Given your choice, would you rather spend less on travel but have to change flights, or spend more and fly non-stop to your destination?
Definitely fly non-stop.

5) Actor Sean Penn developed a crush on Jewel after seeing her perform on TV and attended many of her concerts during her 1995 tour. What's the best concert you ever saw?
Judy Garland's Carnegie Hall concert, which she performed in San Francisco in 1961.

6) She married Ty Murray, a successful rodeo cowboy. Have you ever attended a rodeo?|
Yes.  I was so excited to go until I realized that most of the events consisted in hurting animals, and I never wanted to go again.

7) In 2006, the year "Drive to You" was released, Al Lewis died. He was best known as Grandpa on The Munsters. It's time for you to declare where you stand on this issue: do you prefer The Munsters of The Addams Family?
I enjoyed both.  I have no preference.

8) 2006 was a very good one for tennis pro Roger Federer. He reached the finals in all four Grand Slam tournaments, and won three. What's the last game you won? (Yes, Wordle counts.)
Glad Wordle counts.  My current streak is 65.

9) Random question: Using one word, how would you describe 2024 so far? 
Scary!!!!

New Hosts

 When Alex Trebek died, there was lots of speculation about who would take over as host of Jeopardy.  There were lots of temporary hosts trying out for the job, but the clear winner (for me) was Ken Jennings.  Ken was a former contestant and a friend of Alex's and after all the "testing" of others was done, he was chosen, first as temporary host, and now as permanent host.

It is amazing to me how often I see long diatribes from lots of people complaining about Ken.  I find him as easy to watch as Alex Trebek, and as a former contestant, he has a better relationship with the current contestants.  I enjoy their banter.

This week, Ryan Seacrest has taken over as host of Wheel of Fortune, following the retirement of Pat Sajak.  I find Seacrest enjoyable and while he's still learning the ropes, I enjoy him as host.  But, like with Ken Jennings, there are lots of people on Facebook who think he's terrible and there is a move to fire him (after one week?) and replace him with Vanna White.  I don't know if those people saw Vanna take over for Sajak once.  She was OK, but definitely not good.  Seacrest has so much more experience hosting shows and I think he's wonderful. Vanna is better looking beautiful and turning letters.

Then yesterday I saw a long discussion about how Kelly Ripa is no longer the star of Kelly and Mark now that her husband has joined the team, talking about how he takes over everything she says.  I no longer watch the whole show because I don't know the newer celebrities, but I always watch the first 15 minutes because I enjoy the banter between Kelly and Mark and maybe I'm missing something, but I certainly don't see Mark taking over for her and I love getting a feel for how their marriage is (whether this is true or not)

Perhaps I don't watch television properly, but I'm glad I don't.  I enjoy these shows and hate to think of spending time complaining about them.  We will never get Alex Trebek or Pat Sajak back and I'm just so glad that I am enjoying their replacements.

ouch!

 So I fell yesterday.

I don't know what happened but I was starting to toast an English muffin and somehow my feet went out from under and I fell backwards, hitting my head on the cupboards.  No serious injury, but when I am on the floor, I can't get up.  My knees hurt so I can't get on my knees.  Ned and Marta can lift me, but Ned was in Sacramento and Marta was on a meeting upstairs.

I fell once, before Ned and Marta moved in, when I couldn't get up.  I'm too heavy to move myself anywhere and can't roll over, so then I called 911 because Walt and I definitely couldn't get me up.  I found out they have a "lift" service.  You call and they send out a car and a fire engine!  They come in, ask questions and in seconds  they have you on your feet.

So I called 911 and they sent out their crew.  I sent the above photo to Ned, who didn't get it until after he came home.  I've been very uneasy walking since the fall but I'm otherwise OK.  I woke up this morning feeling like I'd run a marathon...everything aches.

Sad news

 Had sad news about a friend today.  Definitely don't feel like writing.

How I love NCIS

I don't know for how many more ?years ?months there will be NCIS marathons, but at least two stations have marathons all day, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on different days.  I know all the shows, so I don't need to actually watch the shows, but I have the show on if I'm in the family room.

This is particularly good on days like today when I had difficulty falling asleep at night (didn't fall asleep until about 4 a.m.) so need a good nap.  I turn on NCIS, and within minutes I'm asleep.  Today I slept 2-1/2 hours. 

I enjoy Criminal Minds too, but I end up watching that...and I prefer NCIS because there is less violence.  Not a lot of gun shooting.  I don't need to worry about missing a plot because if I fall asleep, I know how the episode ends and if I wake up in the middle of an episode, I know how it started.

I prefer the episodes when Ziva is in the cast and I actually stopped watching new episodes when Mark Harmon left the show, but lately I've been watching the newer episodes and catching up.  I have to watch the shows on regular TV because Netflix now only has Season 12 and beyond.

Sunday Stealing

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves.

1. What takes up too much of your time?
Watching TV or writing letters

2. What do you wish you knew more about?
History

3. What’s the best way to start the day?
Ned makes coffee before I wake up and I start my day drinking coffee and watching the morning TV shows until 9.

4. What mystery do you wish you knew the answer to?
How exactly my son died.

5. What’s your favorite genre of book or movie?
I love crime dramas.  Harlan Coben is my favorite author at the moment.

6. What’s the farthest you’ve ever been from home?
I spent 6 weeks in Perth (Australia), 1,972 miles from California

7. Where is the most interesting place you’ve been?
The Pinnacles in Western Australia.

8. When was the last time you climbed a tree for fun?
The day before Jeri was born, in 1966.

9. What do you consider to be your best find?
Peets coffee.

10. What’s special about the place where you grew up?
Pretty much everything is special about San Francisco.

11. What age do you wish you could permanently be?
Physically somewhere between 35 and 40, but with all my children already born.

12. What fictional place would you most like to go?
Oz

13. Where is the most relaxing place you’ve ever been?
In my recliner, watching the squirrels in our back yard.

14. What’s the most interesting piece of art you’ve seen?
The piece that got me the most was a statue in St. George Chapel in Windsor Castle.  I was so amazed by how realistic the figures were that I fell in love with sculpture and loved going to see statues all in other museums in London.

15. Who has impressed you the most with what they have accomplished?
Whenever I see a question like this, my mind immediately thinks of Jane Goodall.

Saturday 9

Welcome to Saturday 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Saturday 9: Minute by Minute (1979)

Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here. 

1) It's easier to keep track of the minutes if your timepiece has a second hand. As you answer these questions, are you wearing a watch or can you see a clock that has a second hand?
I don't war a watch and if I want to know the time, I check the computer.

2) In this song, Michael McDonald admits he knows his girl has lied to him. Do you suspect any one of your friends/family has fibbed to you recently?
Not that I know of.

3) McDonald's big break came in 1973 when he joined Steely Dan's touring band. What do you consider your first professional success?
"Professional"?  Uh...I guess the publication of the history of The Lamplighters Music Theater in 1977.

4) In 1975 he joined The Doobie Brothers. He was originally supposed to be a temporary replacement for Tom Johnston, but he ended up working with the band uninterrupted for seven years. Tell us about something that's happened to you that turned out better than you anticipated.
See question 3.  I answered an ad for people who wanted to help put together the 25 year history and it ended up with my becoming a regular volunteer for t he company, making my best friends there, and writing a second book 10 years later.  It's still the best 10 years of my life.

5) In 1986 he guest starred on an episode of The Young and The Restless. Have you ever been hooked on a daytime drama?
In the 1960s I was a big fan of 3 soap operas and then at one point all three of them had plots I didn't like so I stopped watching and haven't watched since.

6) Michael and wife Amy raised their family near Nashville, where they had their own pond and a garden they lovingly tended. Do you enjoy yard work?
No.  And if I did, I wouldn't be able to do it now anyway.

7) In 1979, when "Minute by Minute" was popular, movie star John Wayne died. In 2004, the US Postal Service honored him with a stamp. What was in the last envelope you stamped and dropped in a mailbox?
Today.  I have lots of pen pals and usually have at least one letter to mail every day.

8) In 1979, the most popular new car was the Oldsmobile Cutlass. Ads promised drivers the Cutlass could make it easy to get in and out of tight parking spots. Are you good at parallel parking?
I used to be great at it.  Before my father let me get my driver's license, I had to be able to parallel park on our steep hill.  But I don't drive any more.

9) Random question: Did you know your great-grandparents?
I met my grandmother's mother once, when I was about 4.

New Yorker

 

Hatred

 

What has Donald Trump done to this country?  Where is all the hate coming from?  In response  to all the continued false statements about Haitian immigrants eating dogs and cats ... and geese from the parks ...there were bomb threats yesterday and they had to close city hall, the DMV and two schools to prevent Haitians (and others) being blown up.  Apparently nobody believes the people in Springfield who say there is no evidence that anybody is eating anybody's pets.

I read something the other day.  In a segment on Sunday Morning they interviewed Trump supporters, who said that no, they didn't like his lifestyle, realized he was a convicted felon, but were still going to vote for him.  People are wearing "voting for the felon" shirts.  Someone on Facebook pointed out that what supporters like about Trump is that they both hate the same people.  trump has given them permission to hate openly.

One would think that Harris would be the obvious choice, but the polls are close everywhere and all the pundits say it's going to be a very close race.

If he wins, I'm an 81 year old hermit and whatever he does probably will not directly affect me...but what kind of world will Brianna and Lacie see?

* * * *

There are 15,000 Haitians in Springfield--legally--and Trump says if elected he will deport them all.

Not much to say

I haven't written entries in several days, mostly because there's not much to say.  I was going to write about the debate,  but everybody has written about the debate (yay, Kamala!),  I was going to write about Lacie running 5K in Disneyland...but that's all the information I have about that (I'd love to know what the route is for a 5K run).

Mainly I've been answering letters and doing swaps, either through SwapBot or Postcrossing (I sent a postcard to Macau this week!)

Jeri and I are on our third book, "The Things We Do for Love" by Kristin Hannah, which is significantly better than "Annie's Rainbow," which we didn't finish.  Jeri has to return the book to the library, so we are trying to read it fast, so I'm spending time reading and not typing.

It is difficult to keep a daily journal when all you do during the day is answer letters, read, and watch TV!

Difficult letter

 I have lots of pen pals and I love hearing from them.  I especially love hearing from them when they tell me what they are doing in their lives and respond to whatever I wrote.

But I received a 4 page letter yesterday from someone who went to a dinner.  Three pages were about what she ate at the dinner and one page about doing her laundry.

How do you answer a letter like that?

Even the Compassion kids, who write pretty much the same thing all the time, tell me more than this writer did!

Sunday Stealing

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves.

1. What shows are you into?
NCIS, Criminal Minds, Jeopardy, Stephen Colbert

2. What’s your claim to fame? 
I am co-author of two books about The Lamplighters Music Theater.

3. How often do you play sports?
Never

4. Are you early or late?
pretty much always early

5. What quirks do you have?
I have ~50 pen pals

6. How often do you people watch?
Whenever I'm out in public

7. What’s your favorite drink?
Water

8. What do you hope never changes?
the closeness of our family.

9. What’s your dream car?
Any car that has air conditioning and a CD player

10.  Where would you rather be from?
San Francisco -- where I am from

11. What songs have you completely memorized?
So many you can't believe it.  I especially knew all the popular music of the 30s and  40s that my father played, any song that Judy Garland or John Denver recorded.  Lots of music from musicals (movies or stage shows), etc., etc., etc.

12. What would you rate 10/10
cheesecake, views of San Francisco, the smell of the ocean

13. What job would you be terrible at?
Bookkeeper

14. What skill would you like to master?
sign language

15. What movie title best describes your life?
101 Dalmatians (except they wouldn't be dalmatians)

Saturday 9

Welcome to Saturday 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Saturday 9: Summer in the City (1966)

Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here. 

1) Now that Labor Day has passed and kids have returned to school, summer is unofficially over. Looking back, share a highlight from Summer 2024.
Our weekend in Santa Barbara, celebrating our son's 54th birthday.

2) Though this week's song is about summer, it was recorded in the spring, March to be exact. What's your favorite season?
While I love spring because of all the blossoms, I prefer fall because summer heat is fading and the next season is winter, which I love.

3) Lovin' Spoonful lead singer John Sebastian sings that he's going to meet his lover on the rooftop. When were you last on the roof of your building?
never

4) The lyrics refer to sidewalks that are "hotter than a match head." What's the last thing you lit with a match?
A couple of months ago we had swiss fondue and I lit the flame with a match.

5) The Lovin' Spoonful was founded by John B. Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky. When the band broke up, Zal opened a restaurant. Tell us about the restaurant you most recently dined at.
We recently went to Burgers and Brew because I was longing for their mushroom burger.  It was delicious.  It was hot and we had to sit outside, but they had sprinkles, so it wasn't too uncomfortable.

6) John went on to have a solo career. His biggest hit was "Welcome Back," the theme to a popular 70's sitcom. The first line: "Welcome back, your dreams were your ticket out ...". Do you recall what show used "Welcome Back" as its theme?
Welcome Back, Kotter.

7) In 1964, when "Summer in the City" was popular, Americans were tuned in to Bewitched. The show centered around Samantha, a witch married to a mortal. Among her supernatural powers were flight, time travel and telekinesis (being able to move objects by twitching her nose). If you could have one of those powers, which would you choose?
time travel.  So many back years I'd like to revisit.

8) In 1964, AJ Foyt earned the second of his four Indy 500 victories. Do you watch car racing?
No.

9) Random question: Is your big toe your longest toe?
Yes

chickens

 I received a wonderful letter from James, in Kenya, who is 19 and not one of the kids I sponsor, but he is someone I write to.  A few months back he told me that their chicken farm had been devastated because disease in the region killed their chickens and they had no more chickens, so I sent him a donation so he could replace the chickens.  

Today he wrote, I am writing to express my heartfelt gratitude for the wonderful gift you recent sent me. It has made a significant difference in my poultry farm as I used the money to buy some chicks and some schooling items.  I am deeply appreciative of your kindness.  Your support means a great deal to me. Your contribution is not only appreciated but also inspires me to continue working hard and making the most of  the opportunities I have.

(I love this picture!)

Our book club

Jeri and I finished "The Elephant Keeper" and are now reading "Annie's Rainbow" by Fern Michaels.  I told Jeri  I'd read a Fern Michaels book and it was really good, so I  thought I'd get another?  I just checked my book reports and it wasn't Fern Michaels, it was Freida McFadden, which may explain why we're having such a problem with this book.  We haven't decided if we are going to finish it or not.

Here is a bit of a summary of the things we're having problems with.  Two friends in Boston are going to move to North Carolina to start a business.  In Boston, they take a walk around the grounds of Boston College...which has no grounds to walk around (Jeri tells me).  

Before they move, there is a bank robbery of half a million dollars in small bills that can't be traced, all stuck in a satchel which nobody can find after  the robbery.  Then Annie finds the satchel on the floor of her car and hides it, deciding to keep it.  The money will help her start her new business...though she never uses it for that, but she spends years concerned that she has this money and trying to figure out how to send it back.

The start their business, which consists of a stand where they sell tuna sandwiches and coffee and it is so successful that within months they are rolling in money and ready to open a second shop. Now...how good are these tuna sandwiches and are people eating them every day?

Annie gets a dog who, while she is napping, find the bag with the bank money in it and chews up about $20,000 worth (that's a lot of chewing!)  Annie was going to send the money back, but can't now until she can replace the $20,000 that her dog ate.

Before she can send the money back, she wants to wash it to remove all traces of her fingerprints.  She puts it in a sack in her washing machine, but it stops the machine from working and she has to find all sorts of excuses why people can't help her fix it.  Somehow she manages to get the money washed 3 times.

In the meantime, she flies to Hawaii to meet with a guy who sells coffee and can give her a good price. . She falls in love with him the second she meets him and by the second day they are planning their wedding until she finds out how he treats his sisters and is so angry with him she refuses to speak to him, cancels their engagement and flies home again.

I haven't gotten any further in to the book, but everything is so ridiculous.  We had our first book discussion on Monday and will have another discussion tomorrow, when we decide if we want to continue reading the book or not.  

Amazon says it's "a thrilling tale of love and justice" and explains, "just as Annie’s life seems complete, the dark history of the money returns to haunt her. Someone is determined to solve the mystery of a ten-year-old bank robbery, and an enraged thief who has served his time is coming to reclaim his loot. Suddenly, Annie is plunged into a deadly chase, using her wits to keep her world from unraveling and to protect the one thing she values most—the priceless gift of love."

John Steinbeck

Why I love John Steinbeck....

John Steinbeck on San Francisco:

“When I was a child growing up in Salinas we called San Francisco “the City”. Of course it was the only city we knew, but I still think of it as the City, and so does everyone else who has ever associated with it. A strange and exclusive work is “city”. Besides San Francisco, only small sections of London and Rome stay in the mind as the City. New Yorkers say they are going to town. Paris has no title but Paris. Mexico City is the Capital.

Once I knew the City very well, spent my attic days there, while others were being a lost generation in Paris. I fledged in San Francisco, climbed its hills, slept in its parks, worked on its docks, marched and shouted in its revolts. In a way I felt I owned the City as much as it owned me.

San Francisco put on a show for me. I saw her across the bay, from the great road that bypasses Sausalito and enters the Golden Gate Bridge. The afternoon sun painted her white and gold---rising on her hills like a noble city in a happy dream. A city on hills has it over flat-land places. New York makes its own hills with craning buildings, but this gold and white acropolis rising wave on wave against the blue of the Pacific sky was a stunning thing, a painted thing like a picture of a medieval Italian city which can never have existed. I stopped in a parking place to look at her and the necklace bridge over the entrance from the sea that led to her. Over the green higher hills to the south, the evening fog rolled like herds of sheep coming to cote in the golden city. I’ve never seen her more lovely. When I was a child and we were going to the City, I couldn’t sleep for several nights before, out of busting excitement. She leaves a mark.”

A Busy Day

 Sunday is a busy day, for a day when there is no mail delivered or picked up.

It's the day when I answer the letters that have come from Compassion students (I am able to write email letters).  I try to answer the letters the week that they arrive.  I have 20 kids that I either sponsor or write to, so there are usually 2 or 3 letters to answer.

Also Sunday is the day when Letters Against Isolation posts the list of organizations that need letters.  I usually write 4 letters to people who are receiving meals on wheels, or who are in nursing homes.  I have to admit that thinking about these "old people," I often wonder how many of them are younger than I am!  (I am so lucky to have Ned living with us!)

Today I learned of www.postpals.co.uk, where you can send cards and post cards to sick kids in the UK.  A Postcrossing partner mentioned it in her bio and I checked it out and really like it.  With all these postcards I have this is a great way to share them with someone that can be made happy by seeing one.

One Sunday a month, I create four or more new Sunday Stealing pages.  I like to have at least two ahead of this week's date in case something happens.  Today's Sunday Stealing is the last of the ones I have made, so I'll be making new ones today,

Today there are two SwapBot swaps that I have to do and four incoming letters to answer (though I can do those tomorrow, since there is no mail delivery tomorrow either)

Sunday Stealing

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves.

Stolen from Swap Bot

1. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
It depends.  I like toasted pecan but I also love anything with chunks of chocolate (preferably chocolate with peanut butter) in it.

2. If you could invent a new flavor of ice cream, what would it be?
Raspberry fudge

3. Who do you like to eat ice cream with?
I'll eat it with anybody, but I have fun going out for ice cream with Jeri

4. If you were a flavor of ice cream, what flavor would you be?
Plain vanilla.

5. Does your family eat ice cream regularly, or just for a special treat?
Walt and Ned each have ice cream in the freezer, which they eat regularly.  I don't get ice cream because I'm not supposed to eat it.

6. What is your favorite treat from the ice cream truck?
I can't remember what was in an ice cream truck, but probably something on a stick.

7. Does frozen yogurt taste different than ice cream?
Somewhat.  It's been so long since I've had frozen yogurt, I can't remember.

8. If you could make a super sundae, what would it have?
Vanilla ice cream, lots of real fudge, strawberries, toasted almonds, and loads of whipped cream.

9. Can ice cream make a bad day better?
Sure.

10. Have you ever had homemade ice cream?
When the kids were little, we made home made ice cream in a hand crank bucket.  Now we have an electric ice cream maker (but haven't used it in awhile)

11. When is your favorite time to eat ice cream?
Heck--any time I can get it!

12. What is the best kind of ice cream you ever had?
I can't say exactly, but probably some gelato in Italy

13. Do you prefer your ice cream in a cone or in a bowl?
A bowl.

14. Is there such a thing as a bad flavor of ice cream?
Of course.  The ice cream store near our house when I was a kid gave away licorice ice cream on Halloween (also pumpkin) to kids who came in costume.  Licorice ice cream -- yuck.

15. They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away. What does an ice cream a day do?
puts on pounds

16. Is ice cream better when it’s fresh or slightly melted?
I prefer it slightly melted

17, What is the craziest flavor of ice cream you’ve ever seen?
Purple yam, cantaloupe, avocado, garlic