ADULT DOLLS UNDER THE BED

Terrific friends and neighbors are those who share their secrets with you. Meet Ron and Suzy, conventional people. Both have their own business. We went to visit Suzy’s open house for her Beauty Control  Spa.
We sipped wine and nibbled and talked and looked at her stuff. While visiting we discovered the unusual, both Ron and Suzy own a blow-up doll kept  hidden under the bed. Suzy pulled her “friend” Ward out, blew him up.

What do you do with a blow-up doll?

He can’t even sit up by himself on a chair.

One of their goldens  got very upset when she teasingly hugged the doll. The cat was very curious and took a swipe at him.
Suzy received Ward from her girlfriends at a bachelorette party when she and Ron married. Ron recieved his from an uncle when he divorced his first wife many years ago. Now we know what people do with them. Haul them out now and then for a few laughs.
However, Japanese men take their dolls seriously. I blogged them previously if you want to have a look back at the following link:
http://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/girlfriend-dolls-yup/

WINTERIZING WITH FRIEND JOE.

Before the rain came, I hired an indispensable neighbor, Joe, to help me get ready for winter. He cleaned my gutters, cleaned and wrapped my swamp coolers and washed outside windows. All in half a day.  I took out one particularly long cord that I use for the leaf blower and untangled it, apologizing for the mess the cord was in. My son always manages to fold a cord easily and neatly so that it never tangles, I told him, but once I undo it, it never goes back in a neat circle. Before Joe left for the day, he called me outside to look at my cord.

Joe undid some of the cord and showed me how it is done.  I took this picture as a reminder.
Yesterday, Jim scanned about 130 photos for me from my youngest daughter’s memory book and I spent a greater portion of the day putting them through Piccasa editing for captions and damage repair. Old color photos fade miserably.  Digitized, they retain their best qualities.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

For years, our government has condemned countries like China and Iran for their clampdown on Internet use.  Right now, Congress is debating a law that would give them the power to censor the world’s Internet — creating a blacklist that could target YouTube, WikiLeaks and even groups like Avaaz and individuals with “suspect” content.  Not good.  No internet company should have the power to censor me or any group they don’t happen to like for whatever reason.  It is far too tempting to censor stuff they personally don’t like that has nothing to do with terrorism or copyright infringement. . We already have copyright laws in place. The FBI monitors for terrorist related content. If a problem exists,  it can be settled in the courts. This broad-based law is over-kill.
Nor should internet companies be expected to police me. Let me give you a taste of the type of censorship we deal with because we blog for the San Francisco Chronicle, one of the most liberal, (supposedly), newspapers in the country.  If I misspell Peninsula, as Penisula, which I did one time, My blog could not be published for using the word Penis. I used the phrase tit-for-tat.  Oh, no! Bad word body part. And, honky tonk. Oops. Honky is a racial slur. And if you mention selling short your fellow-man, or that you saw something for sale that was silly, you are not allowed to advertise and sell in your blog content.  Obviously a broad mechanical censorship of the internet is frought with problems. Nor do I want a two dollar an hour employee from India, who doesn’t understand our culture, or a ten dollar an hour U.S. employee of an internet company to decide if what I say is suspect.
Why should the government  be leaning on corporations to police websites and arbitrarily close them down for “reasons unknown to us”?
To help keep the bill from passing, click on the following link and sign against this horrible bill and let congress know they’ve overstepped on our freedom of speech:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet_us_a/?vl 
AVAAZ accepts no corporate or government donations. They are a citizens advocacy group.

AIR CONDITIONED CARS

There was a time when air conditioned cars were an expensive add on from the dealer. We thoroughly enjoyed our 1972 Pontiac Convertible and didn’t get an air conditioned car until 1976.  In fact, in Southern California, you could buy a car from the dealer without a heater, which we did, once.  Who needed it?
A Bay Area friend of ours bought a brand new 1961, (I believe it was a Chrysler) with an  air conditioning unit, to take a trip from California to Boston. The device was a square container of ice mounted on the hump over the drive shaft with a fan attached to the cigarette lighter. The fan blew air over the ice to cool the air. It worked until the ice melted.  Every couple of hours, our friends had to stop and buy a new block of ice.  It was a  hoot and convinced us air conditioning would never be a standard part of a car. Now, I can’t imagine being without it. Which, in a round about way, is where I’m going this morning, to have my air conditioning repaired. A hose is plugged and condensed water wets the carpet on the passenger side when the air conditioning is running.
And carpet in cars?  Don’t get me started.
Yesterday, I experimented  with pictures around my yard to see what I could come up with and I can’t say that the following close-up has much appeal…

…when the leaf itself is so pretty.

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However, I liked this close-up shot of a gold pan.
Maybe because a gold pan wasn’t meant to be as pretty as a leaf.

The cables on Jim’s bike made an interesting shot. Kind of reminds me of when we were kids. Pageant magazine had a  monthly photo that required you to guess what the original object was from the close up. The answer was in the following issue, always a month away. No one in the family ever guessed an object correctly, but we loved trying.
The weather will soon turn wet and cold. We’ve enjoyed these sunny fall days.

LENS OBSERVATIONS

Yesterday, I had appointments and shopping to do. As a blogger I’ve become more observant of everything I do and thus  enjoy using my camera for slice-of-life shots or curiosities like  this hand decorated car parked next to mine at the eye doctor. Not sure what Stay down wit da clown means?
At the grocery store, I was attracted by the bright red hair and the affectionate pose.

I visited a friend who was recently hospitalized.

His life has been shortened by an insect bite that led to multiple problems from flesh-eating bacteria;  a weakened heart and other maladies.  I enjoy visiting him every time I return home because he always has a smile,  a quip and a twinkle in his eyes.

When I returned to the house, I saw something…

I zoomed out to this…

And zoomed out again…

…to here.  My upstairs neighbor was bringing this picture to the thrift store.  I was trying for the affect my grandson described in the book, Zoom. Not exactly an impressive set of photos. I quickly realized what  a difficult method reverse zoom can be. One must find the perfect situation to make it work. Maybe next time.
But, if you notice the rusted gold pan in the above photo leaning against the garage wall?

Would you have recognized it from this close-up?

HOSPITAL VISIT

In every life comes a visit to a hospital. Minimizing those visits is my goal and I’m pleased to say my “injury” will not result in surgery, something I had dreaded.  I learned it pays to eat properly and exercise. It has once again held me in good stead. While visiting the hospital for a test, I saw for the first time this sign:
Two of them, in fact. One in English and another in Spanish.  I knew that safe surrender has been advertised in the news, and radio, perhaps on television. I knew that  fire departments and hospitals encourage safe surrender of babies, if, as a new mother, without resources, or for any reason, you wish to give up your newborn. I had never seen a safe surrender sign before.
Unfortunately, in some states, it is still a crime to abandon your infant.  It usually begins with a young person, scared to tell her parents she is pregnant.  She doesn’t know what to do, or where to turn. She is completely incapable of taking care of a child or supporting it. Poverty is often a factor for her and her family, and the father.  The good news is that mother’s no longer need to abandon babies in a locker, or a dumpster, or on someone’s doorstep. Horrific tales of abandoned babies dying by being attacked by feral dogs, or smothered in plastic bags occurred for many years. Now, in most states,  there is a safe haven. Estimates indicate that over 600 children a year are abandoned in the United States.
I’m curious to know if our high schools provide  safe haven information for teens, the young girls most likely to find themselves in a situation with an unwanted pregnancy and the terrifying prospect of limited choices.   It doesn’t have to happen – it is heart breaking.  Abandoning a newborn to the elements is  almost sure death for the infant and a crime.
A Safe Haven facility in California is: Any Hospital, Staffed 24/7 Fire Rescue Station, or Staffed 24/7 Emergency Medical Service Station, with no questions asked, totally anonymous, free from fear of prosecution…… A compassionate approach that saves lives.
Safe haven laws in all states that have them are essentially the same.  They offer safe havens for newborns, and they offer:

• Privacy No one will ask your name.
• Legal You will not be breaking any laws.
• Safe Your baby will be given medical care and placed in a good home.
• Supportive You will be offered medical care and counseling.

I was glad to see the sign and hopefully, the word is out to every teen or young mother faced with the uncertainty of an unwanted pregnancy.
While waiting for my test, someone considered the soothing effect of an aquarium.  It is endlessly fascinating to watch fish swim about and temporarily remove troubling thoughts.

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Life is good.

BUDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

Grandson, Theo, was requesting a monopoly game, a game I dislike.  He settled for a “camera assignment.” I asked him to choose from three colors, blue, red and yellow and go outside and take pictures of (he chose red), red items  on his short street.

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He is nine years old and did very well. I always learn something from my Grandson’s. He had read a library book  called Zoom, in which a photo is reversed from close up to far away, showing for example  a roosters comb, then the rooster, then the barn where the rooster lived, people looking in the barn, the magazine the picture of the barn etc. was on, a person reading the magazine, the chair he was sitting in and so on. Hmmm. Intriguing and challenging.
So he took this photo:
which is part of his:

slip on Croc.
Later in the day we visited my sister’s grandson, Jeff and great grandson, CJ.

And, I forgot my camera and had to steal this photo from facebook.
We did manage games after dinner. We settled on  Bananagrams and Quiddler instead, both  fast moving and can reasonably be played by all ages. But, now I know I have to try a “zoom” assignment.

BIASED I AM.

I’ve been accused of being biased and I know it’s true.   I know  two of the cutest kids on the planet and, they are all mine to spoil for another day before I head for home.

Owen spent a day with a friend while Theo stayed close to my elbow explaining how to play plants vs. zombies on a DS, an electronic toy. His parents limit their time on electronic devices, which is a good thing for a parent to do,  but Theo claimed he would like to have enough  time to play to an advanced enough stage where he can earn enough coin (fake coin) t0 buy another version of the game. So, of course, I made sure he had a leisurely day of lying around and playing DS as much as he wanted for a whole day. Ahhh!  It’s so fun to be a grandma.

He did his chores, put the chickens to bed, fed and played with the cats, and we both enjoyed the day.

Then we enjoyed the neighbor’s fire on his driveway, (a curiosity), from  distance.

CORPORATE ARROGANCE

It appears to me that revolution, mild it might be, is at hand. The Occupy Wall Street movement has taken on multiple issues and at least some parts of Corporate America are shaking in their boots. I was emailed several videos of people trying to close their accounts at Bank of America, 700,000 of them according to this source.  In the 1940′s the cops would have sided with the business owner. Not, now!  They have been enlightened. And it made me happy to see it. The video’s are quite amazing and can be seen at this address:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/11/1035479/-Ten-stories-of-people-moving-their-money,-despite-bank-efforts-to-stopthem?
I have my own weird story of Bank of America and why I won’t bank with them. In the 1980′s I had a grocery store. B of A was located 9 miles from my business. We had no bank in Murphys at the time. I went to the Bank for change as soon as their drive up window opened because the Clampers were in town and I figured I needed  more change. I was refused  because the drive-up window was not allowed to give me $100 in change. They gave me change for a twenty. Anything bigger, I was told to come back when the main door of the bank opened, which would be after my business opened. They were unrelenting.
I closed my account with B of A.  The second incident involved a tenant in the mid 1990′s.  At the time I had a low-cost rental, $500 a month. I kept collection boxes in several Arnold businesses to take in Christmas cards after the holidays which I then delivered to St. Judes Ranch for Abused Children once a year.  My renter had given me a check,  she was a customer of B of A, had  never bounced a check nor ever paid her rent late, not once in five years. Since I was picking up cards, I cashed  my check from her while I was in the bank.  After all, my tenant was  their customer, why wouldn’t they?  The second time I went to pick up cards, they wanted my fingerprint. I was aghast. “You want my fingerprint to cash a check from your customer who has an account at this branch?”  That was correct. I then asked, “What possible good would my fingerprint do you?  Are you going to have my fingerprint analyzed before you give me the cash?” I was told no. Me:  “Then why take my fingerprint?  I will be gone with the cash and now what do you do if your customer does not have cash to cover it? What possible use would my fingerprint be to you?”
They simply repeated that it was policy and when I asked for the manager, they claimed she wasn’t available. I knew her and I knew she was in her office. Guess what? I ripped up the check and handed it to the teller. I told my tenant from then on, she was required to pay me in cash. Which she did. I have a short fuse for stupidity. I’m grateful we have Credit Unions and independent banks. The big banks are worse than thieves and insurance companies.

SHOPPING ARTISTICALLY

We all have to shop. I’m one of those who hates shopping, for anything. But, when I’m with my grandkids, I love shopping because I can spoil them rotten. They never ask, but I prompt them, wouldn’t you like some ice cream? Maybe we should rent a movie?  I let Owen be my GPS and guide me to their favorite market, The Nugget. If you must shop, and if the place is artistic, all the better in my opinion.

Very few grocery stores have statues along the roof line carrying bowls of fruit on their heads. Gorgeous. Costly.

Instead of ugly plastic bins for recycling, an artist was commissioned to provide a cover-up, highly attractive and valuable as a work of art. I loved it. I should have thought to take pictures inside the store as well. People were relaxing, drinking a coffee at an in-store Starbucks and enjoying a pastry. I could easily see myself moving in with my easy chair and a book and staying for  the day watching people  and snacking periodically. Oh, yea!  If you must shop, do it at The Nugget style. They had stuff I had never heard of.

We tarried outside to listen to the street musicians. Owen knows the ropes. “Do you have some change Grandma?”  He put the money in the hat.
Then, I got GPSed all the way home. “Straight ahead. Slow for next intersection. Signal now…” Such a deal. Owen learning to drive by sight.

After dinner, Theo continued teaching his mother how to play Yugio, a complicated game of cards that  she struggles to learn. This was  her third lesson and she is slowly getting it,  a game the boys play swiftly with their friends all the time. I was glad it was her and not me. I remember when I realized my kids were smarter than me. Payback time is at hand.
My trip involved an appointment with  orthopedic surgeon Meehan,  in Sacramento. Good news, no surgery needed, but about six months for my hip to heal so I can go back to hiking, walking and biking. Right now, I’m limping but slowly getting better. Life is good.