A Visit with Maureen

My college friend, Maureen, drove down from Seattle to visit her family last week. I got to sneak in a little visit on Sunday. She is just the dearest person. We can be separated for months and it still feels like we haven't missed a beat. Who else knows all the history of the intervening 40 years? Who else can laugh when I say that Reg is finally helping to support me with his Social Security payments? Who else will send a special message to Adrian when I'm showing her how I can take movies with my still camera? She is, after all, the Maureen that Adrian named our dog after when he was little. She was such a big part of his life.

Maureen was staying at Katie's house. Katie is Mo's sister and I haven't seen her for years. Gosh, it was good to see her, too. She's the only one still working. Maureen is still playing in the stock market. Not playing. She is a very serious investor. Sorry we can't see each other today when the market is bouncing back after its heavy drop last week. I don't know if she missed her moment to buy Proctor and Gamble. She's driving home today, so I'll have to see if she bought anything later in the week.

I can see that when I move up to Albany, I'll be making a lot of trips north and I hope that she can visit me more often there.

Finished Game Change on the way to Covina to see Maureen. Poor Mo. It was too much on my mind because of that. The Dreadful Edwardses, the foul-mouthed McCain, the muddled Palin, the over-confident and flawed Clintons, the brash upstart Obama. It was all good reading. As always, the person who comes off best is Michelle. That could just be my bias. It becomes easier to see how the Reps (and Dems) could be wary of Bill Clinton lurking in the background. Tom recommended this as a good read and I agree. Remember, nothing you ever read is gospel, which is why you must read a lot. It might as well be enjoyable while you do it.

What a Weekend!

Karen drove down from Albany on Friday night. I don't have overnight visitors because I have no place for them to lie down. She is very resourceful and brought a mat and a futon etc. etc. etc. Good she drove. We needed to be up early so we could visit my farmers' market before going to UCLA for the beginning of the LAT extravaganza of books. I noticed that Google has a listing of all blogs that include the full and complete name of the event. I'm not usually shy, but those other guys write really well. So I'll just drop parts of the name as I type. The Times does have its own blog of the event.

Our first panel at the Festival was called Pageturners. It had four mystery writers that neither of us had heard about. I made a mistake getting these tickets. It should have been Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, and T. Jefferson Parker, but I goofed. We decided this was a good thing because we would learn about new authors. In this case David Ellis, Andrew Gross, Gregg Hurwitz, and Karin Slaughter. Thoroughly enjoyable. We were both not impressed with Ellis' latest book that we crammed into our pre-event reading, but it was fun to find that he is a Chicago lawyer who helped prosecute Illinois' old governor. Andrew Gross used to write for James Patterson and seemed to have left out of dismay at the formulaic plotting. So that was a plus. Karin Slaughter writes about children in peril, something neither of us care much for, but I may try one of her series to see if it can be read. Gregg Hurwitz told of a plot twist that he just had to include in a book - man drinking coffee on a quiet morning when he is snatched from his balcony by a Black Hawk helicopter crew. In other words, totally believable plotting.

The second and third panels of the day were held in Korn Convocation Center. The room had flags from all over the world on one wall. Neither of us knew what country was represented by the one above. Any ideas?

We saw Dave Eggers who had just won a Book Prize for Zeitoun the night before. You may recall that I read almost the whole thing. He is a very interesting man. He founded McSweeney which publishes a quarterly magazine of the unusual. And he is involved with an organization that tutors reading in school. Must check that out.

Finally, we saw Yann Martel who has a new book coming out about the holocaust. The story is retold through a fable about two dead animals, Beatrice and Virgil. He also wrote Life of Pi. The reviews in the New York Times and the Washington Post are scathing. Karen and I were considering that this might be worth a try. We'll see. Anything is possible.

Did you know it? Saudi Arabia.

Sunday we just had two panels. Karen selected both of them and they were great. First was Does the American Economy have a Future? This was with Jon Wiener, Joyce Appleby, Roger Farmer, Steven Hill and Matt Miller. I know, I'd never heard of any of them either. But it was fascinating. There is hope, but we must stop doing the same thing over and over. After seeing how hard it is to get change in health care, I'm not too sure how successful we will be in changing our financial practices. Keep your fingers crossed. Each of these folks have written books that sound interesting. I've passed the list on to Adrian, because he loves to read about the economy. I may actually buy a couple of these.

The final panel of the weekend was called Unstoppable Voices. We had five women for a change. That was very refreshing. They talked about how they find the voice for their books. The women were Jane Smiley, Marianne Wiggins, Susan Straight, Mona Simpson and Maile Meloy. I've read books by the first two and will keep an eye out of the last two. As for Ms. Straight. I now own a book with a short story of hers in it.

Karen met a guy in line for the Eggers panel who showed her a great book he'd just bought, Los Angeles Noir. The Noir books take place in cities all over the world and include short mystery stories. We looked it up Saturday night and learned that there are three books - LA Noir, L.A. Noir and Los Angeles Noir. I drove Karen crazy that night saying "remember Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, not LA in any form." Then we both forgot. So now we have L.A. Noir, a book that Adrian had heard about and would like to read, AND Los Angeles Noir. One of the stories in the latter book is by Susan Straight. Small city.

After the last panel we rushed down the hill so we could hear John's band playing. Murphy's Flaw has played at the FOB for several years. You may recall that I went to a coffee house to hear them a couple of months back. They are still good.

We ended the day at Tanino's in Westwood Village. Not very good overpriced food. Is it overpriced if it is really good? The company was good - John, Tom, Jim, and Karen.

It's Raining, It's POURING

Surely everyone has heard that it is raining in California. People are worried about the third of our seasons - fire, rain, mudslide, drought. I don't worry because I live on a very little incline and haven't had a fire in some time. However. the weather gods found a way to trifle with me.

First, a huge branch from a tree two apartments up hill from me fell down last night. Once again, fate was kind to me and the branch missed my car. They are sawing it into bits in front of our garages just below my apartment. You can't really see in the picture above, but they taped off the street on the other side of the power pole. One of the wires is down. It doesn't affect my electricity, thank goodness. The men worked on it last night until about 1:00. See just below my window. They had flashing lights and very loud tools going all night. Thank heavens for sleeping pills.

Had lunch with Per and Tom yesterday at The Times in that sad, deserted building. But the company was great. Laughing and talking, just like old times. Then I left so they could go back to work. The elevator got stuck just before the 4th floor. I didn't panic! In fact, I calmly called for help and it came in about 5 minutes. It was an old friend! I told him that I stopped the elevator just so I could see him. Man, I miss that place and all my friends, both there and gone. The funny thing is that I kinda miss BAH in Northern Virginia. Nice to have friends everywhere.

It's Autumn!

It must be autumn. It is in the 50's, the trees finally have a reason to change color and drop leaves. It is so hard to be a tree in Southern California, you never know what you should be doing.

I finally know what I'm doing. I went to the tree trimming party on Monday with several dozens of cookies. Everyone liked them, so that was good. I baked one batch this week of fresh ginger cookies with cocoa and chocolate hunks. I threw in macadamia nuts because I had them and had lost the recipe that uses them. Punt.

Dined with a few friends during the week, Dan and his wife Karen on Thursday, then breakfast with Maggie on Friday. Man, I've gotten to be such an old lady. Adrian and I eat dinner early, about 5:30 - 6:00. Dan wanted dinner at 8:00 on Thursday. Somehow I brought out my young self and survived. The cookies I baked on Thursday were for Maggie and Ernie. I'm not sure if Ernie got any. I know Adrian's friend Emily didn't get any. Those I didn't give Maggie were consumed in no time. Which makes me think I should probably stop baking for a while.

It started raining late Friday and continued through the farmers' market on Saturday morning. For once I got to sleep in late because I knew the parking lot wouldn't be jammed an hour before opening. It was worth going. Dungeness crab is in season. I bought a big one and some salmon. And I made sure to thank every vendor as I shopped. It would have been horrible to show up and have them all tucked in their beds. One vendor and I marveled at the abundance of the market. We still have grapes, berries and tomatoes. I think the tomatoes are grown hydroponically, so it isn't really weather centered. We are very lucky to live near this wonderful market. This book, Madness Under the Royal Palms, is about people who think they are lucky to live in Palm Beach, Florida. Boy, what a hive of sickies. Or maybe it was the author who brought the sickness. Leamer is famous for his books about the Kennedys. I get the feeling that he is fascinated with wealth. The folks in Palm Beach have it. They don't like poor folk, they don't like Jews, they don't like gay couples. They do like young women if they are old men, they do like gay men to escort divorced older women, they do like to leave a huge carbon footprint.

I like South Pasadena.
Let The Great World Spin is mostly about the time when that French guy walked a wire between the World Trade Center towers. It tells a series of stories about an Irish priest-like person and his brother, a prostitute and her daughter, a judge and his wife, among other stories. They weave together with the story of the wire walker. This book won the National Book Award for fiction this year. I liked it. I always like stories that interlink in interesting ways. It was also very evocative of that time when the man walked, a war raged and a president resigned. It's a good book.

Reading and Visiting

So many books to read. So many friends to visit. Unfortunately, not everyone. I had lunch with my friend Rachelle on Monday. The company was great, the food, not so much. I'm happy to learn that she and her husband Jack are well and happy. What more could you want for your friends? I missed seeing her the last time I was home, so it's been about a year. I like friendships that resume where you left them, even after long absences.

I'm still a bit sad about not seeing my family at Thanksgiving. This was my decision, so I have nobody to fault but myself. Basically, I am happy to not be on the road during this most traveled time. And I will be happy to see everyone when people aren't being pulled to visit other family members. And Adrian and I are very thankful to be here is our little apartment, eating our hearts out. I have finally finished Out of Mao's Shadow. The author writes/wrote for the Washington Post as their China correspondent. Lots of stories about how autocratic the Chinese are with their new capitalistic economy. Sadly, it's hard to get all up in arms about their actions when we do many of the same things. Some wealthy people are getting preferential treatment while increasing their wealth and devastating the peasants. This is hard reading. He writes well, that's not the issue. What is the issue is that some people are never going to get a fair shake. Sad. But as I was explaining to Adrian about the Chinese government taking peoples property in Beijing, he reminded me that the same thing happened in Connecticut. Well, it wasn't exactly the same, but the similarities are there. And Pan explains very clearly what Mao did with his Cultural Revolution and other programs which undermined the intellectuals and business people. Silly, sad man. Poor country.

That was interespersed with two entertaining mysteries, Rough Country and Through a Glass Darkly. Rough Country is about murders in Minnesota. Cute male detective. Lots of lesbians. I guess there is something for everyone. Cute detective is standard for Sanford as is Minnesota. Lesbians are not. It wasn't bad. Made me consider wearing lipstick more often, though.

Through a Glass Darkly is about poisoning the canals of Venice with the leftovers from blowing glass. I'm sensing a theme with Ms. Leon. She is very ecologically minded. Yokay. As long as we know what we are getting into when we pick up a book. I like her detective and his family. They are very loving, intelligent and care a lot about each other and the earth. Not bad.

With a Bang

I am back in California. For good. For very good. Lots of reasons for coming home, some reasons for coming home so abruptly and they were all about me. Love Eric. Love Cindy and her family. Love Virginia. Loved working at Booz Allen. And overjoyed to be home.

My last day on the East Coast was the trip to New York. Now, why didn't I do that earlier? Took the bus both ways. Very pleasant. Listened to books and podcasts on my new iPod Touch all the way there and back. I like the size of my old iPod better. It fit in my bra so I didn't have to always have pockets. This one is the size of an iPhone. My bra is not that big. Still, the books play just the same. Did I mention that I washed the old iPod the day before the trip? It was in the pocket of my pants. Damn.

Got to the theater in plenty of time. Eric, Cindy and I were meeting at the theater to see A Steady Rain. Oh my, it was wonderful. Just Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman, sitting and roaming around the stage. There was minimal scenery, just a scrim behind them on which some scenes of the city were displayed. It was all about them, these two Chicago cops. So good. The British and Aussie accents were gone. Jackman turned into a clueless racist and Craig was his cop best friend. So good. One of the best parts was that Eric could understand almost every word. It's hard for him to hear most plays we've been to. Sometimes that isn't so bad. I'm glad this is the one he could hear.

Afterwards we said our final goodbyes and I went around the huge mob waiting for the stars to leave the stage door and found Tom. He forgot that our proposed meeting spot was right next to the stage door. That just added to the fun. He's so tall it was easy to see him. We had a pitcher of beer at his favorite NY bar. I'm not sure if they serve any food there. It was a perfect NY dive. Then we went to have dinner close to the bus stop and talked endlessly about The Times and the Book Awards and fun times we'd had in the past.

What a perfect day.

Then I threw my final couple of things into the car and started a four day drive. Piece of cake. Like a mantra. 66 to 81 to 40 to 15 to 210. And to my door. Still putting stuff away and cleaning. This will take a while. In the interim, I'm getting paperwork together so I can get Reg's Social Security. But that's another story.

Growing Things

Cindy has a wonderful eye for creating "beauty spots" all around the house. For example, there are new sliding doors in the dining area that lead out to the back porch. As you look through the sliding doors, you see this hanging basket, filled with petunias and sweet potatoes. Yes, sweet potatoes; because they have pretty dangling vines, they are perfect for this arrangement. I didn't know that. And I never would have thought about creating this pretty eye catcher.

Remember those "helicopter" maple seeds. They don't just land everywhere in the yard, they also fill up the gutters. Eric had removed the covers to the gutters for a reason I didn't understand. Today he had to climb this very long ladder to remove the new maple trees from all the gutters. It was heart stopping for those who were watching. Me. See the long drop to the ground in the picture that follows. I know, you can't see the ground, but is is one story below the porch level. I'm glad he made it down. I told him that I didn't want to delete these pictures because they were the last taken of him before his tragic fall.

Do you remember that my friend Teena was pregnant when I went to India for the last time? That was a year ago last November. Here she is with little Nihal. Too cute. He looks just like his dad. Teena tells me that her friends call him Little Shini after his dad. I'm very happy for her.

Not so happy that Clif and Lynda were asked to leave The Times last Wednesday. Yes, one more layoff. Can you cut your way to happiness? I hope those two are happy. The Times is much poorer for them leaving. I'll just keep looking at little Nihal and remember that life goes on.

Spring Approaches

I have been working sporadically in the garden, mostly raking the leaves that are still left from the Fall. Spring is just a few days away and I am trying to get rid of the old before the new arrives. On the left you can see the new that is starting to pop up. Cindy planted hundreds or thousands of red tulips in this part of the walkway. Okay, not a thousand, but lots. They are just starting to poke their noses through the soil. The ratty looking plants around the edges will have white flowers. It will be beautiful. When they are here in full, it will really be Spring. For now, we have the pretty purple crocus growing up in the lawn. What a pleasant surprise. It is their pretty faces that prompted me to go out to clean the garden. Little bulbs are starting to poke up everywhere. I have to be careful as I rake not to step on something trying very hard to make its presence known.
This is not a dry season. I decided to read Love in a Dry Season because I liked the way Shelby Foote wrote about the Civil War. He's a champion story teller, his characters are well formed. This is true in this book as well as in the other books. Actually, this reminded me a lot of Elmer Gantry. fI just checked, it isn't read by the same person, so it must be the writing. And the main male characters are equally into themselves. Once again, Foote has written about interesting characters and places. My goodness, I think I really like novels. I had no idea.
My blast from the past is of Cynthia and Teena. I love going through my pictures to see the people who have made me smile. I've been promised pictures of Teena's little boy and have never seen one. Oh well. I tried to call Cynthia a few days ago and got voice mail. I'll try again and will actually leave a message.

A Short Stop in California

One of the reasons that I flew out of Virginia on inauguration day was because I wanted to visit with my friends at their monthly confab. I used to be a part of this group, but it is too difficult to visit when you are a continent away.  I wanted to surprise them and just show up, but I did let Tom and John know. They Gchat with me, so it was easier to let this slip. They were meeting at Phillipe's, one of my favorite dives. The waiter took this picture. Let me tell you who they are. Jackson is at the left rear. He left The Times when he was 75. Still doing well. He travels to Japan twice a year for over a month each time. Go Jackson. Next is me, then Jim, who was a supervisor of the Helpdesk with me at one time . Tom is next to him.  I saw Tom 3 times on this trip. I also went to The Times twice to visit with friends and have lunch. Russ is next. His wife, Toni, is front left. He worked for Jim, then me and left to get a job at Long Beach State. John is on the far right. Banjo man. He gave us a concert in the parking lot after dinner, using Russ's banjo. Idalia is in front with her husband Guillermo. It was great fun.

It took no time at all to get my car registered. The DMV was very efficient, my total time in the office must have been 45 minutes max. That means that the rest of the time was spent visiting. Marilyn, Peggy and I met at The Farmer's Market. While we were getting our lunch, Marilyn was telling us about this fabulous doughnut place, Bob's. She said "everything in the world revolves around Bob's" quoting a favorite TV personality. It just happens that Bob was standing next to us at the time. He was getting his lunch too.  What a sweetie. He treated us to coffee and doughnuts to go with our lunch. So, if you are ever by the Farmer's Market next to The Grove, stop by to get something from Bob.  And think about the benefit of always saying nice things.

Later in the week I ate with Peggy again. This time we had breakfast with Maggie. I call us the Margaret Derivitives. Maggie and I would have breakfast every now and then before I left for Virginia this spring. She is one of my many conservative friends. Our last talk before I left was how the conservatives were left without a dog in the current fight. Obviously that was before Sarie was selected as veep candidate. Now that was a dog.

Adrian and I drove up to Albany for the, hopefully, annual German Potato Salad festival. We stayed with Karen and Peter. Peter has been building their back deck for some time. Talk about an adventure fraught with inspectors and unforeseen issues. It is coming along very well. Karen doesn't just add support by eating her lunch while Peter slaves. In fact, this is a rare moment of quiet for her.

I got no pictures of the event at Natalie and Kevin's. Besides the salad, we had a wonderful time. Almost everyone was there, including Jeff and Sandi. That was a treat. The ham and salad dinner used to always follow Thanksgiving. This year, people celebrated Tday all over the U.S. I'm glad the Northern Cal group decided to move the second get-together of that holiday to a later date. It was a beautiful day, we had a ton of food and got to celebrate the togetherness of our family.

The next day we celebrated the togetherness of the National and American Football Leagues. That was an exciting game. Maggie came over dressed as a cheerleader, but during the very long game switched to bride. Go team.

Zip - Indiana

The most exciting part about our hour drive through Indiana was getting on the road. When I took my car to the public car park in Chicago, the guy asked me when I'd be leaving. I told him Friday. It was Monday at the time. He did remember me when I returned. But then, he'd been looking at that car for some time. Then he flooded it. I guess sitting for four days, full of low grade gas and ethanol didn't do the car any good.

It just wouldn't start, so I called AAA. The nice man on the other end of the phone walked me through a lot of stuff. Then he asked me if I had a preferred garage. Oh shit. I tried to start the car one more time and it finally turned over. Peter was behind the car, rearranging our luggage or the deck chairs. Poor thing was blasted by all the bad crude that had been building up over the four days. The guy on the phone was as happy as I was. He asked if there was anything else he could do for me, because that's what all Customer Service people do. I told him my hair was looking pretty yucky at the moment; maybe if he suggested going to a salon it would miraculously shape up. But no.

Our drive through Indiana must have taken all of 1.5 hours. It's hard to tell because we were on a lovely freeway and we were in Michigan before we thought to think about it. What I have been thinking about, not just in Indiana or Michigan is the awful things that are happening at my dear old Times.

Doom on Spring Street

Mr. Zell and his minions of idiots announced that they would be reducing the staff by 250 people. 150 would come from Editorial. The other 100 would come from departments that Editorial never notices. We now know that one of those people was the Publisher, David Hiller. It was announced that he decided to leave. The reality was, of course, that he was asked to leave. Welcome to The Times, David. I hope he knew this was hazardous duty when he agreed to take on this step-child of the tribune company.

The 150 from Editorial have been announced. After looking at the list, you can guess who was asked to leave and who raised his hand high over his head and shouted "me, me, me." If you are of a certain age or have another job lined up, the offer is very generous. If you are young and putting kids through school, you would prefer to hold on to the job you've got. I send my far away best wishes to both groups.

My dear friends in IT are now messing with their re-org and disposition of their employment. This is dreadful. Everything I have is crossed, wishing all my friends well. It's just not a happy times at The Times.

The Ramblers + 1

The Lap

We had been on the Road East for two weeks when we arrived in Chicago. Okay, it hasn't been hell by any stretch of the imagination. But I spent that week on the boat being spoiled - remember? And every Motel 6 has been a challenge. So, Chicago. Now that was a totally different story. I love Chicago. There is so much to do. The architecture is fabulous. The food is outstanding. Peter flew in on Monday and will be joining us for the rest of the trip.

So, what did I do? First, let me show you the place where we were staying: The Flemish House. I have stayed there before. I loved it before. It is in the Gold Coast area of Chicago, right across from Oak Street Beach on Lake Michigan. We had the first floor. I was in the studio in the back. Karen and Peter were in the front with a sitting room and bedroom. The studio was the best. I didn't know that, but if you ever stay in this place, you should save money and stay in the back.

I found a grocery store down the street, so I bought groceries so I could cook. Karen and Peter (K&P) came over every morning for breakfast. We ate two dinners in my room. I know. Chicago is filled with fabulous restaurants. We did eat at Bistro Zinc, around the corner from the house. It was okay, but not fabulous. The closest I came to fabulous was a lunch at The Big Bowl on our street. I had a Vietnamese spring roll and a bowl of Thai soup. Num. Just like home.

K&P went out every day and explored the city. They had never been there before and had a wonderful time. I spent most of my time inside my room, but did go out to visit with friends at the tribune. Yes, I have a couple of friends in that dreadful building. I had lunch with Laura. I'd been in India with her and we had been working with helpdesk issues before and after that trip. After a really good lunch at Bandara we met with Erik in the cafeteria. Erik was responsible for IT Security at The Times and moved back to Chicago where he came from to be closer to the action. He's having a wonderful time with the new Zell management. No sarcasm this time. He is the only person I know who has landed in a good spot with that group. The only person. I've just spell-checked this and Zell is not a word. Well, it is a word, just not one I want to put in this blog.

The last night we went to see the taping of the NPR program "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me." This is a favorite for the three of us. Our favorite panelists were not on, but we had a good time anyway. One of the panelist, Charlie Pierce, reminds me of my old pal, Dean, from the HelpDesk. He laughs at everyone's jokes and sounds a lot like Dean. Tom Bodett, who leaves the light on for us whenever we stay at Motel 6, was also on the panel. We all like his understated humor.

It was raining cats and dogs that night. The weather has been amazing on this trip. It is usually temperate. When it gets too hot, it rains. Fun. Anyway, this was the icing on the cake for us. We had a wonderful time, each of us in our own way. And we certainly enjoyed our four days in the lap of luxury.

The Ramblers + 1

O ma gosh e

The weather was amazing today. I've been admiring the beautiful Jacaranda that I can see when I sit in my rocker with my laptop on my . . . lap. I love this time of year because Pasadena and South Pasadena are filled with these beautiful purple clouds.

Then, all of sudden, massive thunder ripped through the apartment. Ripped. It was so loud and sustained that the lightening must have hit close by. We had a little mini-flood pouring down the alley beyond the last apartment. Crazyness. I was so lucky to be in my rocker and not at work. The guys without window offices had no idea of the cool things happening outside.

And in seconds, the rain was gone. Or gonish enough for me to drive to a restaurant by the office to have dinner with my friends. This was a tempura Omakase. Omakase, as I understand it, means the chef cooks what he wants and what is fresh that day. And you just have to sit there and eat it. Sigh. It was wonderful. We had: sashimi of tuna, halibut and yellowtail with delicious greens; asparagus tempura; squid; oyster tempura with salmon caviar; kobacha squash; mackeral; sole with salad; soup; pickles; rice; okra tempura (yuck); broccoli; lotus root; a crab claw; non-tempura'ed grapes and cantaloupe and green tea ice cream. And lots of green tea. The chef prepares a different batter for each dish. We could use the regular tempura dipping sauce or lemon and a green tea salt. It was fantastaic to have the chef focused on just the four of us.

Here we are. Cary, Per, Peg and Alexander. It was an amazing dinner with amazing guys. They are so entertaining. Honestly, we were all talking all over each other about everything in the world. Everything. Thank you, guys. This was absolutely the best good-bye ever. The best.

Visiting Friends

I've been spending the last couple of weeks visiting with people who I probably will never see again. Probably. As my adventure looms closer, I realize that the path ahead is filled with uncertainty. So maybe I will see them again.

I visited with my friends, The Margaret Derivatives. We were supposed to have dinner together - Peggy, Maggie and Peggy - but the Maggie part was sick. Peggy and I had a great time together. She has been suffering through my stupid humor since I first hounded her for using WordPerfect in a Word world. I'd always find that blue screen up when I was visiting her boss, the VP of HR. Who cares that she liked that program better. Standards are standards, at least in the IT world. Peggy also "worked the buses" with Karen and me at the Book Awards. She's a lovely woman and I will miss her.

I did get to have lunch with Maggie the following week. What a lot of fun. First, she is seriously goofy; second, she is sooooooo Republican. And she thinks about why she is. It isn't just 'because' all her friends are. When we are not with Peggy, we talk politics. Surprisingly, we agree on a few things. On other things, we are a world apart. She sees no dog for her in this current fight, er election. MacCain is too liberal and the other guys ! ! ! I would be okay with any of the three although MacCain would be my last choice. I no longer trust Republicans to do anything right. This flag is for her. I won't wear it on my lapel. Heck, I don't have lapels.


Then, on the other side of the spectrum, I cooked dinner for my old boss Bill and his wife, Jaine. The meal was successful and the company was wonderful. I knew that I would like Jaine a lot when I sat next to her at the book club. We are two women who read obscure books about language. She read the French one and I read the English one. What a lot of fun that evening was. And they are considerably more liberal than Ms. Maggie. It's all interesting, left and right. Everyone I've talked to is looking forward to getting someone new into The White House.

Sunday was supposed to be a final meeting with the confabees of retirees from IT. I planned the event for Sunday evening at a place that was sort of mid-way for the group. That was Long Beach. This Sunday, was, unbeknownst to anyone, Pride Day in Long Beach. Not a word about this in The Times, yesterday or today. I know that Jackson and I could not get close to the restaurant I'd chosen. I eventually turned around and had dinner with another friend, Bob's Big Boy.


Bob's has turned into Noodle World. I never noticed before that his statue is against the far wall. Sorry for how tiny this picture is, but I love the old Bob's look in a room full of Asians. I was for sure the only white woman in the room. I'd never thought about that before. Adrian and I go there periodically. Not every week, but sometimes. The guy at the front recognized me and seated me immediately in this very crowded room. Funny. If you can't dine with friends, dine at a friend's house.

Now THIS is Light, Summer Reading

Some of us know how to do light summer reading. One dear niece is reading every depressing book in the library. I am reading lightness itself. What could be more fun than winning the lottery? Lottery is about a barely not retarded young man who wins the lottery. It's like every person's fantasy. You don't really need the money because your expectations about what life will give you are pretty low. It's not that you don't deserve the moon, but you can't see how it will fit into your room.

It was great. The fat girl barrista is the most beautiful girl in the world. The old Agent Oranged 'Nam vet is a font of wisdom and security. This is the prototype for light, enjoyable summer reading. It allows you to dream about "what if" while allowing you to be perfectly happy that you don't have to decide what to do with all this new found wealth. Very satisfying.

I thought I'd written about David Rosenfelt's book, Open and Shut. But I guess not. Now I've read his second book in the series, First Degree. More light summer reading. These books are read with a wry, distainful voice. The protagonist is a New Jersey lawyer. In the first book, he comes into money, solves an old crime, showers love on his dog and friends. The mystery is resolved in an interesting way and that's all you can really ask for in a book like this. I liked it. I think I may have already read the third book a while ago, so I'll probably lay off these for a while. It was kind of interesting to learn how he got his money and who they guy is with the dog rescue shelter. These books explain all that. Maybe if you want a real mystery, you should read the third book first.

I had a last lunch with my friends at The Times today. Per said that I did the unforgiveable for a blogger - my camera's battery was dead. No pictures of all these good friends and no chance to see them again. The battery is charging so I will be able to get shots of the retirees who will be attending this Sunday's last (for me) confab. More pictures to remember faces and places that are already burned into my memory. Overkill.

Friends

My college room mate, Maureen, was down from Seattle this week, visiting her sister. We've known each other for so long and it is always years between visits. I've always thought that we just leave off where we were before and it's like we've never been apart. But that isn't true. So many things have gone on in our separate lives that is silly to think that. Maureen's husband, Jim, died a few years ago. Since then she has had to sell their business, their old house and move to a new home.

She has gone through a lot of changes on the surface of her life, but I did find that she is just the same person. So, I guess it's like we've never been apart. Which is a good thing, because I will be visiting with her for a many days in June. She is at the fulcrum of my move East. Eric and I will be traveling north to Vancouver and then Karen and I will be traveling east from Seattle. Maureen and I will either get to recount all that has happened in the past few years, or enjoy each other's company now. I bet it will be the latter.

Clif and I went to visit our stock broker on Friday. You won't believe all the stuff that will happen in December when I finally cut all ties to The Times. Forms to fill out, checks flying through the mail. Winnie has helped many former Times employees through this transition. I keep doing stupid things with my money, but she keeps this ship upright. She even knew about a bit of money that I would be getting that I'd completely forgotten about. So there is The Times' pension, which she will never see because it is an annuity. Then we had an ESOP at one point. She'll get that to invest. Once upon a time, I think before 401K's, we had PSI, Past Service Insentive. Who knew? Who remembers this stuff? That money will go to Winnie. And finally is our new Zellishous Cash Balance plan. I can't believe I have money in that.

His folks decided that they would no longer put anything into our 401K's, no matching at all. Instead, they would put money into the Cash Balance Plan. This is all on paper stuff, I'm sure. No real money leaves their pockets. I guess I got some last year as I was leaving. Zell bought the tribune company the day I left. Pretty coincidental, if you ask me. I don't think I could stand all their shinannagans.

I wonder what my old pal, H.L. Mencken, would say about all that. He was a pretty pro-business guy. Not much for the common man. I'd enjoyed the other Mencken book, so I decided to learn more by reading Disturber of the Peace by William Manchester. That was pretty dumb. The woman who wrote the other book used this book as a reference. And I do mean used. I knew all the stories. Nothing new was revealed. Boy, that was really stupid. What I should have read was something that Mencken wrote. He did a 3 part autobiography, but I bet she used those as references, too. Manchester probably did as well. I guess my Mencken days are over. One interesting note is that The Baltimore Sun still uses a type face called Mencken. Per told me that. Our friend, Manny, has to recreate the typeface so it can be put into the consolidated news editing system. Cool.

Bye, Bill

My last boss at The Times is leaving for good today. Bill was a great boss. He left me alone, listened to what I had to say and told me quietly when I got out of line. Mostly, he was supportive. The remains of our team went to lunch today. That's Bill on the left, then Dianne, me, Idalia and Clif. Dianne, Idalia and Clif have absorbed all of Bill's old job and my old job. Lucky them. I used to love to visit Bill because his office looked on demolition across Broadway. They stopped when everything was out of the space and the ground was clear. I guess he decided to leave because there was nothing interesting to look at. Or it could be that his job was extremely stressful. I vote for the vacant lot.

Soon

They are all gathering in San Francisco for the wedding of the year. I've heard from my sister that her daughter and family have arrived. I just spoke with my sister-in-law that they are there from Virginia, as are her family from Kansas and Oregon. Adrian and I will be driving up tomorrow. All this because my eldest nephew, Mark, is marrying Trina on Saturday. Hurray. Pictures to come.

On Wednesday I went in to The Times (I really want to say that I went to work, but that is so not true anymore.) 10 of my friends are leaving IT because of a recent buyout offer. They had a party for the 10 before my lunch with Per and Tom. The picture on the right is of my cohort in most of my crimes, Dianne - supervisor of the group we worked closely with, Tech Support; Kristina is taking the buyout - manager of the IT Advertising group; and Bob is our CIO/Vice President. Bob gave a brief talk, mentioning everybody and wishing them good luck. He said they should come back to visit from time to time. After all, Peggy comes back almost weekly, maybe than can come by now and then. :)

Pinaki pointed out that we never got a picture together when we were together on Sunday. Therefore, the picture on the left. It was good to see everyone and have lunch with my friends.

I finished two mystery/thrillers. I couldn't get a picture of one. It is Tooth and Nail by Ian Rankin. I'd heard a couple of podcasts at the end of last year with mystery writers talking about how happy they were that Rankin has a new book out. I'm not sure why I thought this was his new book. It was a little out of date for something set in current times. I think it was the fact they didn't use cell phones as well as they should. Seemed like they were new. I didn't realize this was ten years old until I looked for the picture. It's a good mystery of this policeman genre. I like Rebus. He's very human. But I thought the book deserved a picture. I'd saved this picture from an article about the 10 best bakeries in Paris. I think it was Paris. If so, 10 best boulangaries is probably more like it. I can almost smell that bread.

I also read the book on the left, Bad Luck and Trouble. This is a series I don't think I've read before. Jack Reacher is the protagonist. He is an old special ops kind of guy who has gone totally off the grid. He is pulled back into an event with his old team. And really, that's it. Being off the grid is the most fun thing. Don't get me wrong. It's well written. I loved listening to it. His life and interaction with his old friends is the most fun. They are pulled into an event, which gives them lots to do and stuff to resolve. I'll look for other Jack Reacher books. I'm sure he's been involved with a lot of other events.

News

I talked (gchat) with my friend Teena this weekend and she said I should do a better job of keeping up my blog. If you know her, you know she never would have said that. I was telling her that I was preparing for a move to Northern California next month. Karen and Peter's apartment that I want to live in comes available at the end of March. It seemed logical to move. Adrian will move with me and keep the home fires burning when I travel to the East Coast.

Man, I was really moving. I hired the moving company and bought boxes. I've started packing. I've been going through the garage and transporting old stuff we will never use to Goodwill. And the trash can is getting things that nobody would ever want. Ms efficiency here. But I really failed to consider completely my son's wishes. Teena asked about his friend Emily. I'd thought about Emily and about leaving all my friends, but I thought that this moving business is tough. I don't want to leave DC in a couple of years and come back here to do this packing and schlepping. Yuck. Who knows how old I'll feel then? But I kept thinking about what Teena said and asked Adrian if he would rather stay. Well, duh.

So, Teena, thanks to you, we are staying here. But I will continue to clean out the garage and move things to Goodwill. The move has become Spring Cleaning and now Adrian is helping me. For some reason, he did not want to help with the move. When I get back from DC, we will have far less to do. At least, that's the plan for the moment.

Teena didn't write to help me decide about moving North. She had news of her own. She and Shinil are expecting. By my calculations, this all started after Teena got her first massage ever at the Leelah Palace. I could be wrong. :) But don't these two look happy? I'm happy. Congratulations to both of you. I'll be expecting pictures in September.

Do Not Seek HIDE

What do you follow a really good novel with? A pretty mediocre mystery, of course. I understand Lisa Gardner is a writer of good mysteries, but this series doesn't appear to be up to her best work. Please don't read this if the thought of harm to children upsets you. You don't actually read about the dark deeds, but if you have a good imagination, you don't need to read the details.

The story is about a father who appears to have protected his daughter against an unknown evil when she was a child. Now the father is dead and the daughter is caught up in the results of this protection. The plot line is a little shaky, the characters are sort of interesting (faint praise if I ever heard it,) the resolution is hurried and jumbled. It's understandable, but hurried.

What this book is particularly good for is keeping you entertained while starting a new jigsaw puzzle. This puzzle is not as hard as the last one. There is lots of color and activity. I'm actually very good at this, seeing where the pieces go. This is a comfort as Alzheimer worries lessen every time I see where a piece goes.

I had dinner with Dan and Karen on Friday. Okay, dinner and beer. Dan left the Helpdesk a couple of years ago. He just got a job with the Unemployment Office as one of their Veteran helpers. He helps veterans find work. He was full of good job hunting information. This would have been very helpful to me if I was looking really hard for a job. I've been out of work for two months. I have ten more months of pay before I have to start bringing in some extra money. My friend Tom, from the Book Awards, is now the "oldest temp in New York." He just finished with a part in a play. It sounded like fun. Tom's even older than I am, as amazing as that seems. He's started a whole new life in New York after leaving The Times last year. Way to go Dan and Tom. You give hope for this old lady.