Trying to break diet soda habit

I have been addicted to diet soda for years. I know it is not good for you. I have rationalized with the thought that there are no calories so it is better than regular soda. For the record, I hate milk and it has always been hard to drink enough water.

As I get older, it is time to stop fooling myself and quite drinking 1-3 cans of diet soda a day (okay, sometimes more). I will replace it with water.

This is day three and I have a splitting headache. I know it is caffeine withdrawal. I am going to push through, I just hope the headache is gone by the time we leave for Las Vegas on Sunday.

Blue Chip Stamps

Remember licking Blue Chip or S & W Green Stamps and putting them in books? We would pour over the merchandise catalog trying to find toys that cost no more than the number of completed books.

These stamps were found in my great aunt's home after she had died.

According to Wikipedia, "Blue Chip had 1970 sales of $126 million as about 60 billion of"stamps were licked by savers, pasted into books, and taken to Blue Chip redemption stores.Sales dropped to $19.4 million in 1980 and $1.5 million in 1990. In 2006, revenues came in at $25,920."

I wonder if other people remember the excitement of going to the redemption center to get their 'free' merchandise.

Jeff is going to play in the WORLD SERIES OF POKER!

Our son, Jeff called his dad for father's day - just like thousands of other sons did yesterday. What was unexpected was Jeff telling us he won an entry into the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas on July 4th weekend. Huh???

I have worried so much about his poker playing in college. He plays online and also in card rooms and casinos. As a mom, there are just too many negative outcomes to that lifestyle. I worried he would drop out of college - he graduated with his BS in mechanical engineering a couple of weeks ago. I worried he would become addicted and use tuition, rent, food money. He didn't and even supported himself playing.

Now I am in an interesting place. I still worry, and don't think playing poker should be a career choice. Certainly the odds are stacked against players and they will all eventually lose.

On the other hand, I am so excited for him to get to that level. What an opportunity to play with the 'big boys" and have a once in a lifetime experience. He is young, single and only responsible for himself, why not go for it? There will never be a better time.

So, next week, we are going to go to Las Vegas (in the middle of summer!) to support our son. Happy Father's Day, Jim.

Save trees and sanity

Credit card offers and catalogs fill the mailbox daily. We were successful in stopping the junk mail prior to our move. So I forgotten how much paper the mail carrier delivers.

Today, I took the time to register to remove our new adress from direct mail lists here.
It can be confusing as there are so many Internet sites that say they will stop the junk mail - most for a fee. You should never have to pay a fee for having your address removed from mailing lists.

I am glad it is done. While we won't see results overnight, gradually, we will see a decrease in mail. I know we have saved time, wasted landfill space and a couple for trees in the process!

Dirty Car Art

My last blog was pictures of tractors made out of bales of hay. This morning I see Dirty Car Art on a web site.. Scott Wade's pictures are protected by copyright so I am unable to post them, but click here to go directly to his site. He describes how the art changes as the car is driven and more dust collects. It must be sad when it rains and washes away the beautiful images.

Slow down for scenery

In this day of hectic schedules it is hard to enjoy the little things in life. One of the things I enjoy about being retired is our flexibility. We are able to slow down and even turn around if we see something interesting.

Such was the case on Saturday going to Dixon on I-80. There was a recently harvested field of hay with two tractors sitting at the end of the road. One green, the other red, I was trying to figure out what was weird about them. Then it dawned on me, they were made out of hay bales! I am yelling at Jim to look but at freeway speeds, we were past before he could see them.

I really wanted to get a closer look and Jim agreed to stop on the return trip home. However, there was more resistance to the idea later in the day. I had to point out the off-ramp, several times, while he drove past.

A mile down the freeway, I am telling Jim the next exit is coming up and yes, I do want to go back. Bless his heart, he finally got the message and took the off ramp - only to discover there was no frontage road. We had to get back ON the freeway and exit again to find the correct road. Then we see the tractors on the opposite side of the field. We needed to turn down a private road. Jim was not thrilled about going down this dirt road and initially passed it- but he gave in and turned around.

In my mind, we we had gone that far, we shouldn't stop there. Plus, I figured who ever put that much work into the unusual project would appreciate someone enjoying their work and taking these pictures to share.

For the love of running

Lure Coursing is an opportunity for Whippets (and other sight hounds) to enjoy their natural instinct of chasing rabbits. In this case, the "rabbits" were white plastic bags tied to a remote controlled pulley system.

I finally got to see Lure Coursing yesterday, when Dennie brought her whippet, Zetta, down to Dixon. At a fenced school yard, a course of 900 yards was laid out where the hounds could run as fast (or slow) as they desired. They chased the white plastic bag on a zig zag course.

When the the bag stopped, they would touch it with their nose. Then the handler would put a lease back on and lead the smiling dog off the course.

Jm clocked the whippets at 45 MPH. I had trouble taking pictures of them as they were so fast by the time my camera clicked, I got a lot of pictures of just grass.

Little Zetta loves to run. Abby, my previous whippet, would do anything to have a safe place to run off leash. Bailey, on the other hand, doesn't care that much for running, she would rather just stay by me. So, we sat under a tree and watched the sight hounds enjoying the natural activity of chasing "pry."

Not sure if a web site is trustworthy?

The Internet is my Television. I know people that have the TV on all day. I am just as much of a computer addict. My little Eee PC is on from morning to night. It even fits in my purse and goes with me.

Since I do a lot of on-line shopping and research, I use many new-to-me websites. It is often hard to tell if they are reliable or trustworthy.

When in doubt -I log out.

Enter WOT service. It stands for Web of Trust. It is a FREE service to download at http://www.mywot.com/. This service puts a green dot on websites you can trust and a red dot on those with poor reputations and yes, there is even the cautionary yellow dot.

I have used this service for the last 2 weeks and it is non-obtrusive and effective. For example, when I did a Google search of "Free ecards" the first one that came up in the sponsored links had a red dot next to it. I know not to even click on that site. If I get to a site by accident that is questionable, there is a warning that pops up. This happened when I entered www.wot. com INSTEAD of www.mywot.com. It was interesting to read why the poor feedback, (annoying pop ups, virus, privacy, etc.)

Sometimes good things really are free - like another tool to help us make good choices.

Next step robot repair technicans

What would break on a new refrigerator before the summer months? Of course, the ice maker.

We noticed for a couple of days there was less and less ice in the maker. I thought we were just using a lot. But then came the day the glass under the shuddering spout remained empty. It was not spitting out a single ice cube.

The call to the 800 service number was, not surprisingly, answered by an automated voice system.

If you are calling for a repair, press 1.
If you are calling from the number where the appliance is located press 2.
If your address is ------------- press 1.
If you are calling for blah, blah, blah, blah, press 1,2,3,4, a refrigerator, press 5 (Oh, thank God. Have I mentioned I have trouble using phones and dealing with frustration?)
If you are calling for the repair of an ice maker press 1 - (hmm, ice makers must go out the most).
We can schedule a technician to come. Press 1 for Monday; 2 for Tuesday; etc.
I press 2. OK, on Tuesday we have available appointment between 8-noon (press 1) or 1:00 to 5:00 press 2. Again, I press 2. Thank you, a technician will be out on TUESDAY between 1PM and 5P M. To confirm this appointment press 1 - Finally!

Monday night we get an automated call. This is the service center, we have an appointment scheduled for you between 1PM and 5PM. TUESDAY. If this is correct press 1. To cancel this appointment, press 2; to reschedule this appointment, press 3.

Tuesday afternoon another automated call. Our service technician is leaving the prior call, his anticipated arrival will be in 30 minutes. If someone is home and this is okay, press 1. To cancel press 2; to reschedule press 3.

I was expecting R2D2 to appear at the door. But the technician was friendly and most important, human. In less than 15 minutes he had diagnosed the problem and replaced the ice maker. He carried a rugged laptop with an antenna, and a five inch printer attached. He pressed keys on the laptop explaining he was going to order a 'mother board' in case we had trouble with the new ice maker after the warranty expired. It would be delivered to our house.

My unfiltered brain wanted to ask him what the hell we were suppose to do with the MOTHER- - but I have been working on filtering thoughts from my brain -so they don't just pop out of my mouth, and I was sucessful in holding my tongue - this time.

The tech then completes a few more keystrokes and our service order and receipt are printed. The last thing he did was tap a key which started the automated voice mail calling the next customer.

I know computers and many electronics now diagnose problems and walk the humans through the repairs, so I have to wonder, how long before we have service robots show up at the door? Or will we go straight to replacing our own mother boards?

Today''s blessings

Some days it is hard to stay positive with constant pain and frustrations. Today isn't one of those days. I am feeling very fortunate and so blessed.

Today's list includes:

A good night's sleep
clean windows
new friends
an ice maker under warrenty and repaired without hassle
Finding a Tai Chi class for arthritis that not only can I do, I really enjoy.
my backyard retreat
weather that allows me to enjoy outside
Baily
And above all, my family and friends

Whitestrip Diet

For a number of weeks I have been having trouble sleeping. The worst part about not sleeping is getting bored and hungry in the wee hours of the night. This is less than healthy as you can well imagine.

This morning I was due for my fasting lab work. That meant I could not eat anything after 7:00 PM. Not a problem IF I could go to sleep by 11:oo and STAY asleep - but I was a little worried about the hours between midnight and 6:00 AM. Enter the Crest Whitestrips. The instructions say to use twice a day -or one could use two 30 minutes each, back to back. The taste remains in the mouth so I had no desire to get something to eat. A couple of times during the night and next thing I knew it was time for the blood draw.

It may not be a solution to insomnia, but at least I am not wandering in the kitchen and I have whiter teeth.

Do you think it will catch on as the next silly diet craze?

How inspiring - Common Sense

I am very excited about the nomination of Judge Sotomayor. Not because she is a woman, not because she is a minority, and not because she is a liberal (or Conservative).

No, I am thrilled because while I like the experiences she brings to the bench, the most important characteristic is she appears to have is COMMON SENSE. She does not rule by party line, gender or ethnicity. There was piece in the Washington Post about her record and the cases they examined. The conclusion was "Taken together, the cases defy depictions of her record as falling neatly into either a liberal or conservative category".

I got into a discussion with my niece about Judge Sotomayor. She feels the judge is racist and pointed to the well publicized speech at Berkeley. I understood that Judge Sotomayor delivered that speech in a class ABOUT Diversity - so of course she would discuss ethnicity.

However, according to the Washington post , "In a less-publicized 2001 interview, Sotomayor said she tries to separate her Puerto Rican heritage from her judging. "It is very important when you judge to recognize that you have to stay impartial," she said in a video for a program on Latinos and the law. "I have to unhook myself from my emotional responses and try to stay within my unemotional objective persona. That process can be very weighty at times."

Wow, a well qualified candidate that uses common sense, the law, and the individual facts when deciding a case instead of 'sticking with party lines."

I think we need her on the bench.

Sutter's Fort closure

Sutter's Fort in Sacramento is on the budget chopping block along with over 200 other California State Parks.




Among the ones in Northern California are
Ahjumawi Lava Springs SP
Anderson Marsh SHP
Bidwell Mansion SHP
Bidwell-Sacramento River SP
Castle Crags SP
Colusa-Sacramento River SRA
McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial SP
Shasta SHP
Weaverville Joss House SHP
William B. Ide Adobe SHP
Woodson Bridge SRA

I am not sure how it is that I have lived in Northern California since age twelve and have never been to Sutter's Fort. So we figured we better go before it is closed (rumored to be this August).

Today, we went to Sutter's Fort; honestly, I don't see why it can't operate as a public/private partnership. We saw one staff person and the rest were docents. They were the ones that made history come alive for the many school children crowding the Fort.

I hope communities, statewide, step up to the plate and form alliances, foundations and nonprofits to keep the doors open of these important sites.

Motorcycle Helmets

Here are some interesting pictures of motorcycle helmets I Stumbled on. I feel sorry for the little boy. He finality gets to go with dad for a ride and has to wear a watermelon helmet!

Things my children don't remember

A conversation about products or icons of our childhood made me think that my children have never heard of so many of these things. Some products may still be sold.

How many of these to you remember?

Brill Cream - a little dab will do 'ya

Prell shampoo
Helms bakery truck
Bosco chocolate syrup
Malto meal

Nichols candies

Sugar Daddy suckers - great for the movies as they lasted forever.
Toni Hair Perms

Bobbie pins
pink hair tape - to hold down bangs or make a curl

Comedy albums
Bill Cosby - remember God instructing Noah to build an Ark?
First family

Wishing wells in front lawn

Tiki patio decor

split rail fences

Metracal for weight control

oh, what were the tlittle square carmal candy ones you ate with a hot beverage before a meal?

Sour apple candy
Armour Star Canned meats - do they even make them anymore?
Diet-Rite Cola

Bubble-UP

Tab-opening aluminum cans - collected tabs made great chains for bedroom decor
Cremora
Maxim (freeze-dried instant coffee) Postum
Shake 'n Bake
Tang
Chase & Sanborn Instant Coffee

What else?

Public Art

It is amazing how public art can change the entire feel of a ordinary place.

This was the store entrance to Macy's in Newport Beach. The Bells were as tall as the three story building and were gently ringing in the light breeze. Beautiful.

It only took one cookie

The other night, I rushed in Trader's Joe's to get fresh produce, milk and bread. My intentions were good - honest they were.

After coming home from vacation I had been eating healthy. (I refused to say I am on a diet). A Lifetime of experience has shown me diets don't work.


In Trader's Joe's, I pick up extra fruit and veggies. I didn't go up and down all the isles as I knew there is too much temptation. I was a woman on a mission.

An employee approached me and ask, "Are you finding everything alright?" Yes, I replied, trying to decide on which kind of apple to buy. He smiled broadly and said, "you should try these cookies, they are killer!" They were plain looking boxed cookies, except shaped like a maple leaf. He handed me a sample from the tray.


I took a bite. Like an alcoholic, taking the first sip, it is a slippery slope for me to have a little. I wasn't going to stop at one sample cookie. He was right, they were really good. I bought a box - just so Jim can try them, I kidded myself. Jim tries one and is not impressed. He can have a few and stop.

The cookies continue to call to me throughout the evening. I went to bed at 10:00. At midnight, I am still awake and give into the insistent call from the kitchen. At 2:00 AM, I think heck, I've blown it now, what's a few more.

Thank God the box is now empty.

Tired sense of humor

Does your sense of humor change as you age? I am not talking about aging from teenager to adult. I think my sense of humor must have changed through the last two decades.

This comes up in a when I am having trouble sleeping. I have been watching Jay Leno's last week on the Tonight Show - a program I used to enjoy. While it is still the best of the late night shows, I hardly ever crack a smile - and who are those guests?

I can't imagine the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brian. He is so immature and his humor is just dumb. Did people feel this way when Jay Leno took over from Johnny Carson?

After the Tonight Show, there is Late Night then Late, Late Night, or whatever it is called. Unrecognizable hosts do a lot of physical comedy, jump around on stage during the 'monologue' and seem to continue the monologue instead of interviewing whoever it is sitting in the chair.

I need to get some sleep - I am feeling way too old and grumpy.

I need this book - seriously, sleeping should not be hard.

Falling asleep is not an issue. It's staying asleep that is difficult.

Maybe there should be an insomniac group on Facebook.

I am not ready to give in

For the last couple of months I have been struggling with the decision about not coloring my hair any longer. I know it would be better not to put chemicals on my hair. The picture to the left is the top of my colored head.

My grandmother had such beautiful white hair, it would love it to be like that. But I don't think I am quite there yet with the ratio of white hair as the middle picture shows.

I have let it go several weeks past the time I should have colored it. The temples are are definitely white, but white enough? I don't think so yet.

I love the way Jamie Lee Curtis' hair looks on this cover of AARP. Of course, it is not just her hair which gives her that confident look.

The decision is made. I an not ready to look 10-15 years older. Tomorrow I am going to the store and getting some hair color. Or maybe I should go get my hair trimmed and she how it looks after cutting off a an inch of color. My hair is only several inches long anyway.

Help! why is this such a big decision for me?