Nobody 839

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Nobody # 839

Nobody Asked Me But:

Congratulations to our granddaughter, Emily, who is a freshman at Nogales High School and runs varsity cross-country. Yesterday, in Phoenix, her team won the state championship! YOU GO GIRL!<<<

LORD OF THE RING

While in Cambria, last week, we stopped by the jewelry store where we bought our wedding rings to have them cleaned. I waited in the car while Barbara went in. Removing the ring from my finger was very difficult. It was also a mistake, because, while she was inside, a group of three women tried to get into my car. I have no idea what their intentions were, but you can be sure they were not honorable. My theory is they saw that I was without a wedding ring and assumed I was available.

My wife quickly set them straight, as she rushed out of the store yelling "Wrong car!" (Or was it wrong man?) Anyway, the ladies quickly apologized, saying that my car looked exactly like theirs. Likely story.

Barbara says never again. From now on the ring gets cleaned on my finger.<<<

We had an excellent three-day mini-vacation at this fine small coastal town, although it started with a disappointment. Our first stop was to be at Doc Bernstein’s in Arroyo Grande for arguably California’s best ice cream. But we arrived to find it closed for three days for their annual floor cleaning. Alas, no marble-fudge for my wife nor bittersweet chocolate for me. Not all was lost however. The lady who was supervising promised to deep-freeze some so that Barbara’s plan to bring some home could be realized.

Sure enough. Wednesday we stopped, our coolers ready with dry ice, and loaded 6 half-gallons. They arrived home safe and firm, and the lady even threw in a dozen sugar cones, so Barbara can lick hers to her heart’s content.

We had our first cone (marble-fudge) Friday evening. Delicious!<<<

A tale of two restaurants: Barb and I each have a favorite Cambria restaurant. I prefer The Sow’s Ear with its legendary chicken fried steak, while she favors The Hamlet At Moonstone Garden for its fried shrimp and ocean view. Two nights = both of us being fully satisfied. My cf steak was as good as ever. But, to my surprise, our dinners at Moonstone Gardens were even better. We started by splitting a Caesar salad with Louie dressing and bay shrimp added. Each of our halves was larger than a regular dinner salad and excellent. Barbara’s fried shrimp was everything she hoped and more and my scampi was equally wonderful.<<<

For me, almost every trip has a “let go of it all”* moment when even expectations give way to the magic now. This time my moment was when we sat on a bench, the white-capped waves in front of us, a good book in hand.

(*From the poem “Let Go Of It All, and see where it takes you,” by James Kavanaugh.)

And lest I forget, the other magic moment for me was our visit to the Jockey underwear outlet store in Pismo Beach. Yes, at times I am easily thrilled.

Why I travel:

For magic moments

To escape the monotony of the same

To make new memories and revisit old ones<<<

WOULDA-SHOULDA-COULDA

Four players from the 2008 UCLA basketball team are playing in the NBA, all of them starting (Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, Darren Collison and Luc Richard Mba a Moute). I cannot think of a good reason why we didn’t come home from San Antonio that year with a national championship.<<<

On sodium chloride – at the same time that we are being told that too much salt is bad, we are deluged with delicious (sea) salty concoctions such as sea salt Virginia redskin peanuts, sea salt caramels and caramel ice cream, sea salt cookies from Cayucos at Brown Butter Cookie Company that we, by chance, passed coming home from Cambria, after Barbara, also by chance, read about them a few days before in Daily Candy. (They were quite good – especially the mocha ones.)<<<

Here’s a quote from an LA Times entertainment writer - Ben Stiller has made a career of playing lovable losers. Here’s a reaction from jt – Losers, yes. Lovable, nooo.<<<

THE ELECTION 2010

This was much the same as the congressional election of 2006 and the presidential election of2008. Americans feel desperate. They don’t like the way they are being governed and, at every opportunity, they vote for change. In my opinion, it was not wise to re-empower the rascals who created our current economic problems, but voting is frequently an exercise in emotion rather than reason.<<<

All Republican voters should be required to affirm the following statement: I know that my party will always vote for the best interests of the wealthy class.<<<

No, I haven’t forgotten all the bad, and there was plenty of it, but in this he is a class act – “I don't think it's good for a former president to be out there opining on every darned issue. He's got a plenty tough job. Trust me. And there's gonna be plenty of critics and he doesn't need me criticizing him." -Former President George W. Bush

“I believe that the health care bill that was enacted by the current Congress will kill jobs in America, ruin the best health-care system in the world and bankrupt our country,” John Boehner. Is Boehner a liar or just an illiterate who spends too much time under a tanning lamp? There is not a rating system in the world that places our medical care anywhere within sight of number one – except perhaps one operated by our private, for-profit health insurance companies.<<<

FOX NEWS DOUBLETALK

Trace Gallagher, reporting on the Senate race in California, said: "The numbers appear to favor the incumbent, Barbara Boxer, the three-term senator, but the mood here in California, John, really seems to be going toward Carly Fiorina's way."<<<

PALIN-TOLOGY

Did you see Sarah Palin's new pat-on-the-back election video – the part where she says, "This is our morning in America," as an apparent orange sunrise is shown behind the Statue of Liberty? Well the picture behind her is a for sale stock photo called - drum roll please - "Time Lapse--Sunset behind Statue of Liberty."

It’s like this Sarah. Sunset is in the evening, not the morning. Or could she have meant that the Republican victory brings on evening in America?<<<

And SP lists this vile tweet from Ann Coulter on her favorite’s list: The tweet showed a picture of a sign outside “The Blood of Jesus ATLAH World Missionary Church” in New York. The sign read: “The blood of Jesus against Obama history made 4 Nov 2008 a Taliban Muslim illegally elected president USA: Hussein.”<<<

This from Mitch “I get a little confused sometime” McConnell: “Administration officials bailed out automakers that should have been allowed to reorganize or fail. And it shouldn't be lost on anybody, by the way, that the only one that refused a bailout, Ford, is the one that's doing best today."

Mitch baby – You voted yes on that bail-out.<<<

Ending with a smile - During World War II, Germany experimented with pulse jet tubes by attaching them to the bodies of pilots to fly them over minefields, but the project never got far off the ground.<<<

Picture note: The two sunset pictures were taken at Moonstone Gardens. The wooden walk leads from our hotel to the beach.