Black Friday

Recently I'd heard of a "Buy Nothing Day" for Black Friday, the day that merchandisers all over the world anxiously await. Buy nothing? Sure, not a problem for me but maybe less to joining the BND group and more that I can't stand the crowds. The last time I braved the masses was maybe 25 years ago and said a silent vow to never do that again. There is usually nothing I want that bad to wait hours in line for.

Our small family reduced it's Christmas buying habit a long time ago by drawing names at Thanksgiving and purchasing a gift for just one person. We started when my father was ill and wanted to take the pressure off his wife and just kept it as a tradition. I like it a lot. Christmas is less about presents and more about being together. Plus, you find out you need less and less as you get older. I'm trying to reduce the size of my "stuff."

Less time on present buying means more time for a wonderful, gourmet Christmas dinner and it's always quite tasty. I'm sure this year will be no different. We all meet in Palm Desert with our darling step-mother and laugh, play cards, eat and catch up. It's very relaxing and I look forward to this time more than any in the year.

If shopping is your family tradition then make this the best Black Friday it can be--we all know the economy can use it.

This time of year is always bus and this year is no different. Our Thankful day was last week so I won't need to get up tomorrow and cook a bird but I am planning to get a turkey smoked before the end of the year. I'm just itching to try it. The wind has to stop though because that cools my smoker down too much and makes for inconsistent temps.

Our friend Di's visit was short but fun with a trip to the beach and a little sitting in the sun. She resides in the Seattle area and rain is a big feature this time of year so she visits us and her family for this holiday event. Even with the wind Southern California is a much better choice. She still thinks of herself as a S Californian which I understand fully.

Taking her to her family yesterday required a few of the regular and not so regular stops. Tito's, Surfas and a new stop in Silver Lake; Intelligentsia Coffee. Little, very busy, coffee house in a transition area. The area can't make up it's mind whether to be hip or not but it's trying. Cute shops (she bought a fantastic leather shoulder bag) coffee bars and restaurants with whips and leather shops. Not completely gentrified--yet.

Since I don't have to cook a bird in the morning I whipped up a batch of Posole and am planning to head to the Christmas Tree lot for lunch but, shhhh, don't tell my sister, it's a surprise.

Thanks for the memories

Our dinner with my sister and bro-in-law might be the last until Christmas. They'll be busy at their assignment, hawking pine trees in Valencia. We did laugh at the stories they told about last years gig. Anytime you work with the public you will be challenged and selling Christmas trees is no different.

Our time together has been fun and we've laugh and ate and cooked together. Shared a sad time, the passing of their dear Buddy-cat, and had fun with friends. Our Thanksgiving was small but delightful last Sunday with big and lil bird and Doodles and Mr Doodles. How can something so simple as cooking a meal be filled with so many wonderful memories?

Doodle and I watched the princess for a few hours while her mom went to the beauty parlor. Just using that phrase dates me much older than I am but my grandmother used that term. She also called a women of less than adequate morals a "strumpet" so I have a useless albeit colorful antiquated vocabulary floating around in my brain.

Most times the princess is a tiny mass of near two-year-old energy but when she can "color" she sits quietly for a long time. We sat at the kitchen table with her while she, with her crayons, drew in her color books. What I did find interesting is she knew the difference between a ball and a circle. At this age you can almost see them learn and being with her reminds me so of my own sweet daughter.

The past few months have been good times to remember for a long while.

A sad passing

My sister's darling Buddy-cat has passed away. I'll let you read about him but he will leave a whole in their heart for sure. We loved you, Buddy.

Mangia!

After a larger dinner party last night with family, extended family, family of the extended family all the way from Canada, and friends; my hips are screaming this morning. Thanks to the help of my darling sister and all our pre-planning, it was a success.

What did we serve? A fantastic antipasti, pasta with artichoke tomato cream sauce, and sausages. Barb supplied a great bottle of wine from Arizona. Yes, Arizona. Coronado Vineyards 2004 Meritage. I'll let my wine-snob friend Tina comment on the wine but it was very tasty--dry and spicy--perfect for the sausage and garlicky pasta.

We had a double-long table and a darling friend summed it up. This is like a typical Italian meal. Big table, lots of food, people coming and going, and many conversations at the same time. Maybe the wine had something to do with it but we had a wonderful time. My hips will feel better tomorrow but I'll remember the fun we had much, much longer.

Time out

It isn't because I've been bad or I'm not well or my beloved isn't well, it's just because I need to be able to spend more time with my darling husband. I'm giving myself a bit of a time out. I truly love being a docent at the Getty Center but for the next six months I'll not be there every week. I'll work as a substitute probably once a month. I'm hoping 2010 will be the year of travel and exploration.

We make fun

We attacked Los Angeles yesterday morning. Arriving at Union Station on the Metrolink we hit the ground running, literally; I had to find a rest room. The usually clean facility on the train had passed the "use by" date and a dash through the train station looking for another relief station wasn't of much help. Standing in line for a marginally clean stall I decided we'd catch a Dash Bus to our first stop and I'd turn off that section of my brain.

After a few false starts we found the correct bus and headed to Clifton's Cafeteria for a quick bite of breakfast and a bit of reminiscing. Sister Doodles had eaten there when she was enrolled in Beauty College a few blocks away but this was my first visit to this location. Both of us, as kids, often were taken to the Clifton's on Crenshaw. It was a Friday night ritual and we laughed and speculated that maybe the food wasn't as good as we thought. Our breakfast was just a snack to hold us for lunch and finally; whew, a clean restroom.

Back on the bus and over to the Garment District, an area selling fabrics, notions, and beads. Doodles was bitten by the necklace making bug after our own Lil Bird reintroduced us to this area. You see, our mom, Lorna had frequented these streets when she had a bridal shop. She made custom bridal/formal wear and since she didn't drive, I accompanied her downtown. We'd also drag the poor lil bird and when Doodles was in town, she'd come, too. These trips were always a treat and full of laughs and lunch.

It was like necklace making heaven and bought enough supplies to keep my sister busy all winter. She has a very good "eye" when it comes to colors and design so I bought some stones and handed them over to her. I'll get a necklace or two back. Nothing like custom made anything.

We were getting a bit hungry and had pretty much run through all our money so it was back on the Dash Bus to an ATM and then the Metro for a trip to Langer's Deli for lunch. I love the public transportation in Los Angeles. After the ATM it was down stairs to the Red Line and over one stop to 7th and Alverado. I did get a bit turned around in the Metro Center Station, we entered from a different area, but some nice gentlemen pointed us in the right direction and we were on our way.

Langer's was everything we wanted or needed. The #44 is a Hot Pastrami on rye with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and Russian dressing on the side. We shared this as they are huge sandwiches. The waitress gave us two pickles, what a doll. After this fantastic lunch, and a discussion about how to pronounce "Philippe's" with the table next to us, we were back on the train and headed for Little Tokyo.

Our trip to the Japanese section of LA was short. We were both running out of steam and felt heading back towards Union Station to be our best bet. Plus we'd been dragging bags of merchandise all this time. When purchased who knew how heavy twelve long-sleeved t-shirts would get. We HAD to stop at Olvera Street and, though we couldn't eat another bite, darling Doodles bought some sweets from a vendor; I enjoyed my Alfajor this morning with my coffee.

Union Station is a short five minute walk across the street from the Calle and we sat in the beautiful waiting area for a few minutes. We are both marveled by the architecture. On to the platform and the hour-long train ride home. Love the Metrolink for it's comfort and cleanliness and at 5:20 pm we pulled into Simi Station. A lovely day and we really laughed a lot. Can't ask for much more than that.

Like a big asprin for traffic woes

My beloved need some traffic info because he was making the big trek, to Culver City, and didn't want to be stuck in traffic, again. I found a few sites for up to the minute traffic problems but I liked this one the best. Sigalert

The site also has a button for "Routes." You can select your start and destination and it gives you a suggestion for alternate routes, how long it should take, and the number of miles. If I traveled the freeways a lot this would be the best reason for an IPhone. If you don't have such a device it's also good to check before you head out.

Baseball and meteors

After looking every night we gave up on seeing many meteors from the Orionids. Oh, we'd see one but that was it. Yawn, let's go back to sleep. Well, this morning, and a long way from Wednesday morning, we saw about ten--that was only in about an hour. It was at 4:30, one of our favorite times to get in the spa, and though it wasn't amazing it was better than we've ever seen them.

Like I said, a world full of ups and downs.
Dodgers; down
Angels; up
Meteor viewing; up

Seems like there are more ups this week.

Showers tonight

Grab your towel and run outside tonight for a cool fall shower. The Orionids meteor shower should be quite visible for the next few nights. Wednesday the 21s is the peak but we saw about three or four this morning.

Get somewhere dark and look towards the constellation Orion. Don't worry if Orion isn't visible when you are viewing just scan the whole sky. Most of the ones we saw this morning were higher in the sky.

What's the towel for? To lay on the ground and get a good view. You didn't expect to get naked and get moon dust on you, did you? Oh, glad I said something, then. Just have fun!

Life has ups and downs

After a fun time at the Pumpkin Patch, darling Mr and Mrs Doodles hosted a get together for all the small people; friends and family, we came home to watch the Dodgers explode all over Philadelphia. I'll just keep looking at these smiling faces rather than the box scores. Better for my psyche. Oh yeah, much better.

As seen on a t-shirt

This reminds me of a co-worker that spent hours taking the wrinkles out of her employee photo; hours.

Oh Crap!

Well, that's what I said when walking on the treadmill I snagged my ear bud cord and flung my Ipod on the belt when I think proceeded to kick it off onto the floor. I wish I could say it was in slow motion but it happened in a heartbeat; literally. I slapped the STOP button, which I might just add doesn't really stop it quickly, and pickup the Ipod. It paused its self so I thought it was broken but no, I changed selections, it started and I went merrily on my way.

Thanks you Apple, for making something to withstand that trauma.

The dishwashing saga continues

Sears agreed to replace the dishwasher but, because my dishwasher model would cost about $400 more, I was expected to pick up the difference. This was not acceptable. I'd entered into a contract with them that basically states, I'll pay for your dishwasher and an extended warranty and you'll make sure my dishwasher or something of equal value will continue to work until that time period is up. No where does it say just because my dishwasher is four-year-old does it diminish the value to me. It's just that simple.

Armed with my original manual and the feeling I had right on my side I went back to the store where the salesman, a very helpful employee of Sear; one of the few I might add, found a model comparable to mine and called the Service Contract division and informed them this was the only model I needed and it was $400 over what they offered. They reevaluated my claim and before I knew it we had a schedule for the delivery of my new unit.

So what did we learn here? It was way to difficult to get this far and I'm sure there are people who just give up and don't complain. Don't give up if you think you are right and have the proof. The first store and sales person told me I'd have to pay the difference because the dishwasher was old. Four years is old? I'd expect it to last as long as the extended warranty. I went to a different store and someone who knew what they were selling.

What made me stay with Sears after all the problems? The fact that they did fix it, and it has a decent warranty period and I like the dishwasher I had for four years. Now, we just have to wait for Thursday and the deliver of the new dishwasher and hopefully, no problems. I'm hopeful but my beloved is a bit more skeptical. Good or bad, I'm sure I'll post about it.

It's their prize to give

In his will Alfred Nobel wrote:
… portion of the award to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity among nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.

The "most or the best work." After the last eight years I think they gave the Nobel Peace Prize because he wasn't George Bush and the subtext of the award, it goes to the American people for electing Obama. He reached out to the world to assure them he was different and hopefully brought some honor back to our country as a nation of the world. We, though some don't like it, are a part of this ever shrinking neighborhood.

To critics: have you all forgotten what Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz, and Rumsfeld accomplished? They were damn lucky no one tried them as war criminals.

Happy Anniversary, to me

This is an anniversary I share with no one. My baby blog is four years old today. Four years. Which means it is four years since I moved back from Bakersfield and four years since we remodeled the house. We're almost finished but more on that later.

How I discovered blogging is tied to the horrible Katrina events of 2005. While surfing the 'net to find out just how those poor souls were doing I ran into, a new-to-me, bit of information; a blog. There was a small business in downtown New Orleans and they owners/employees were lucky to be on floors about the flooding but unlucky to be trapped. As I remember, they were all young adults and the business had something to do with electronics. At first, the posts were sporadic due to the lack of power but as I read each gripping update I felt I was there with them. They talked candidly of their fears and the best part, they were showing photos from their offices on the top floor of the events at street level. Amazing. Just normal folk getting the word out.

Coming back to my home after being away for two years and starting two new things, the remodel and retirement were important to me. I need to keep a diary and what better way, a blog. I also found I could "vent" a bit about other important things going on. It was the Bush Years and there was much to vent about. I didn't do much to market my blog because I really don't care who reads it or if it's ever read. It's the writing of it that make be turn on the computer in the morning and sometimes not turn it off until late at night.

My daughter had been blogging for a few months so I was happy to join up. It wasn't long before we had my sister up and running. They were planning to become Gypsies and blogging would be a great way to keep track of their coming and going. It wasn't until March '06 that we came up with Peanut Butter Etouffeé, the food blog. The food blog has become our bastard child and doesn't get the attention it once did or deserves. We all seem to cook less but I still enjoy writing for it from time to time.

It gives me much joy to blog and if someone else reads it and is pleased, well then that's good too. It did give me a chance to meet a distant relative. This year I've been writing down some family tales, Kitchen Stories, and more specific to me, Growing Up. Out of the blue I received a comment and e-mail from a branch of the family tree. He had most of the genealogy done but wanted to add the "extras" to the family history. I was quite pleased that these stories might get passed down a few more generations.

Thanks to anyone who's wandered in and maybe enjoyed a post or two. My tracking software says I have a few visitors that stay and read more than one page. And a big thanks to anyone who comments, bad or good, I accept all forms of communications. Finally, if you like to write think of starting a blog yourself. I did talk a friend into blogging and she kept a journal of her travels last this year. It's fun to go back and see what you were thinking or doing.

Looking back to October of 2005, here are a few of my favorite posts.

• Syntax: Something the religious right would die for
• Integrity: you can get it on Craig's List
• From the mouths of old babes

Sears: The only lemon I don't want

My bout with the flu was thankfully short and though I never felt horrible, just crummy, I am feeling better today. Just in time for my semi-annual visit from the Sears repair man to fix my dishwasher, yet again and my ongoing battle to have them replace this lemon.

My dishwasher is not new as in, "this is the first month I've had it" but it's not old, as in, "sorry they haven't made parts for this since Nixon administration". The dishwasher came to us on the tidal wave of our 2005 Remodel, or as I like to call it, "It's gonna cost how much?"

When you are replacing all of the three majors in the kitchen it's easier to go to one store and purchase them and since Sears had the refrigerator I wanted they were the lucky recipient of my business. I also paid extra for the extended warranty for all three and glad I did because just a short year after we finished the GE refrigerator crapped out to the tune of 900 bucks. Not actually a tune more like a friggin' opera. This, you might ask; but sorry after you do, is the lemon I'm referring to? Oh no, I have a much larger problem with the dishwasher.

It started last year with a broken door hinge. Scenario: Call to Sears, they apologize for the inconvenience and send their best to fix it. Wait for the repair man; if lucky you get a four-hour window. He orders the part and reschedules an appointment to fix it. The part comes in the mail, the repair man fixes it and we are once again, in business. Until a month later when something else happens.

Return to Scenario, and do it three more times. It has cost Sears over 900 bucks in parts and labor. Not me because I got the extended warranty but someone had to pay it. Granted, they would charge me more than what it actually cost them, hey, someone has got to make some money here. It has cost me time and aggravation. It has given the repair guys a job, wait that isn't so bad but it has made me lose hope in Sears.

After arguing with "customer service" for near an hour they agreed to have the tech evaluate the dishwasher to see if it qualifies as a lemon and give me a new one. Jeeeze, I'm not sure I want another Sears product but what I finally told them is "… just saying your sorry about my inconvenience is NOT customer service; doing something is."

Ah, and the warranty? It doesn't expire until October 2010. Imagine how much more money I could rack up in another year.

Update after the lying MAMF repair moron was here:

The tech was supposed to evaluate the problem and call his main office. I gave him my case number and the name and phone number of the customer service person on the case. I stepped out of the room to answer the phone and when I returned he said, "They said to order the part and fix it." Can't get much plainer than that. I was not happy and when he left called the number myself and he had never called them. After 30 minutes of going over my problems, why ever do they give you a case number, the rep said he would forward this on to the committee to decided if I have a lemon and it should be replaced and, hey, gave me a new case number. Sure.

So while they decide I'm looking a very lovely looking dishwasher that doesn't work and causes me aggravation. Sears will sell you the extended warranty but just give you so much grief it makes you want to NOT SHOP AT SEARS EVER AGAIN!

When life gives you lemons

My lemon tree is feeling the brunt of the drought. With water restrictions we are not watering as much and our darling lemon tree is going dormant. It never goes dormant so I'm hoping that is what it has decided to do and not the alternative; dying and I just can't think of that right now. It's a good old tree and in '07 it had some problems but came back to us after a severe trimming so I hope it will be resurrected, yet again.

This solid old tree has given us lemons year round for the thirty-six years we've lived here. The track, built in 1965, could very well have been built on an existing lemon grove. The parcel of land east of us, now a large apartment complex and huge grocery chain store, once had citrus groves. When we moved here developers were in the process of removing the trees to build these two project. So much of the valley was walnuts or citrus so this tree could be much older than the track itself.

Life without this dear old friend would be sad indeed for it's supplied many memories. Every year we make lemonade for 4th of July and, in it's hay day, supplied neighbors and friends with bags full of lemons. Our spring brings the most blossoms and on a warm day the scent from the tree can be almost overpowering but comforting in a way. Spring has a way of doing that, reminding us everything will continue on it's cycle again. I hope the old lemon tree has not forgotten that promise and next spring will bring forth the bounty of years past.

Mi Doyers: poor Joe

The Dodgers acquired John Garland in a trade with the Diamondbacks for "a player to be named later." For a while I hoped that player would be John Garland but he actually pitched a decent game in Pittsburgh last night. Now if only the other players could have helped. Two errors led to three unearned runs and a loss.

The Pirates record: seventeen consecutive losing seasons and the Dodgers can't beat them? Poor Joe, he just shakes his head. He must sleep with a bottle of Maalox. Not only are his players being dumb during the game one of his star pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, is out with a shoulder separation. And, how did he injure himself? Ran into a fence at practice. He's a pitcher for god's sake. What's he doing running around in the outfield?

Nothing better to do than annoy the cats

Some bizarre pong game. Even has sound effects.