Monday, January 31, 2022

GOOD BYE!!!! January…

GOOD BYE!!!! January…

 

I am happy to say GOOD BYE to January… it has been a terrible month.  4 people have died.  Cancer, heart, and two covid. What a hellish way to start the year. After the past two years…2020 and 2021, you would think it would lighten up some.  But I think the old saying that things come in 3’s must be in play here.

So as I think about  the coming of the rest of the year.. my mind goes to Simon and Garfunkel’s words.. 

 Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobble stones
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy”

And hope that by the end of the year… I am with the rest of the world.. feeling groovy. But with the rest of the world in turmoil.. the Russians playing Russian roulette at the border and who knows what else is coming down..  groovey just doesn’t seem to be the right thing.

But I do have the option, personally to slow down.. And I have this winter… that is when I am not shoving snow.   But some way I have having trouble with this slow down bit.  You know the old saying.. if you don’t use it….. you will lose it?  Well, I feel that way now.  I don’t have the strength I had last year.  I can do spurts, but nothing like in the past..   Yes, I give myself credit that I am knocking on the door of 82..but still.. if you keep active, things should be good. 

And that is the problem.. not staying active for the past 2 weeks. The snow has stopped, except for a dusting yesterday..  But being so dang cold out, can’t do much. I have been kind of busy in the house. Oh there is so much more I could be doing.. like cleaning out my files some more..   But my ambition is at a low.. Don’t have the humph to want to do anything. So been reading a lot and watching too much dumb television..  because my partner in crime watches the dead man channels … and a hand full of movies. 

My main thing is to keep moving. Do something, even if it is wrong as the old saying goes. But SOMETHING..  So I am moving slowly.. but I think I put it in compound low.. lol.. instead of 2nd gear.  

Got to get it going.. Maybe I should be finding my old songs of work. Like the Village People…. IN THE NAVY… or Chuck Berry  anything..  something to speed up the heart and soul… 

Well, I sure hope you had a better January and we did… so onward and upward to FEBRUARY.

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

MEMORIES OF A GREAT FRIENDSHIP

MEMORIES OF A GREAT FRIENDSHIP

This is a repeat… I posted it actual one year ago..  actually January 4, 2021….  Wow…   you see this is my friend Judy… who passed away January 9, 2022…. Her daughter called me last week.. we talked for a hour or so..  remembering so many things about a wonderful gal who we only had a 2 year close friendship,(before we drifted apart as our lives got busy) that lasted 60 years… as you can see by this post from last year… 

 

MEET ME AT BEANIES…..

Or maybe I should have titled it, the things we do when we are young. I am kind of surprised I didn’t write about this before. As I have told the story many times…to friends and family. As I always thought our adventure was funny.

This goes back to 1959, I was working with a gal name Judy at a place in San Diego, called Ratner’s Manufacture. Both of us were single.  We worked in the payroll dept. Our job was to total up daily and then weekly tabs from the workers in the factory that sewed the suits that Ratner’s made.  The tabs kept count of the pieces they did.

That is where I found out, how silly it is for a person who buys at Sears or Montgomery Ward, or J. C. Penny’s to argue that their suits were better made than the other companies. Because we made men’s suits and sports jackets for all 3 companies.   The only difference was the label… with their name on it. The suit itself was the same.

Anyway.. Once a month, it was Judy and my job to work on a Saturday. We were to strip the front page off of all the sheets with the tabs on them. The front sheet had the total of the weeks labor plus the wage for it, and total for that person wages for the week. The rest went into a barrel to be thrown away or burnt, not sure which. And the front pages were stapled together.

One week, Judy and I were doing our stripping of the sheets. There was just the two of us and the janitor.  He was to do some work and then lock up after we left.  We decided to head to the bathroom before we left that day.  The janitor did not see us go in there, did not yell or check, Just left, figuring we were gone. And locked up.

Judy and I came out, headed for the door and found it locked. That was in the days that they locked with a key.. Which he had.  So what do we do now?  Before cell phones..  and we didn’t want to call the police to have them open it or find someone… so we decided to look around before we would have to do that. Found out that when he left, he did NOT flip the switch for the alarms on the windows.   So we decided to climb out the window… got up on a chair and climbed thru..  Me standing on a chair and Judy boosting me thru…Judy next, as she was  taller one. I lowered myself down, then she came out..

Now you have to understand ..these windows were about 4 feet wide by maybe 3 feet tall.  AND we were dressed in the latest fad clothes. They were toreador pants. TIGHT pants.. called spandex now days. Hers was yellow with black scribble down the sides.. and mine was white (why I ever bought white is beyond me) with the same scribble down the side.  She… Judy is 6 feet tall, and me being 5’2” .. yes the Mutt and Jeff of friends. For those not old enough… Mutt and Jeff were cartoon friends .. one really tall the other short.

We shut the window and headed down town.. We came up with the idea to go to the EL CORTEZ Hotel.. This hotel was pretty special and it had a restaurant at the top. We figured after all the work we did, we deserved it.  Which you got there by elevator which was glassed and on the outside of the building.  Pretty fancy in its day. (now days it is just a small hotel, as San Diego has gigantic tall buildings that makes the El Cortez look really small.

We got to the hotel, and was passing a store near by when I got a glance of myself… And then I looked at Judy. And started to laugh.  I told her… that if I looked anything like what she looked like, there was no way I was going in to that hotel.  We both looked into the window and at each other and laughed.  Our white pants and yellow pants were so dirty from climbing thru the window, plus our hair was ashrew and dirty with some maybe cob webs in them.  Why we had not looked at ourselves as we were walking, I don’t have a clue.

We left the area at a very fast pace before someone recognized us.

Working with Judy was a hoot. We always found things to do and hung out at work as well.  After we would walk down to the Plaza and catch our buses to go home.. She lived on the beach and I lived in Claremont area.  One time we went to this fudge store.. that had excellent fudge.   Judy thought I was right behind her. So  she turn and said.. “do you want to go to the nut house?”  That was the name of the fudge place. Only trouble it wasn’t me, it was an elderly lady who glared at her, horrified… and her trying to explain to her, it was a store and Judy, came over to me and glared at me.. and said..DON’T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!! I’m laughing.. asking her what…  she explain what happen..  I asked her, why that was my fault… she said because you should have kept up with me..  .

Near the end both of us had gotten married and were pregnant. And we would go for lunch around the corner from the factory, to a Mexican restaurant that we loved.  I grossed her out as I would have for desert… vanilla ice cream and SALSA over the top of it..

First time I did it… I was so enjoying it.. and went to say something .. only to see Judy with a wide open mouth, saying WHAT THE HELL?

Over time we drifted away, as I had moved to Washington state. Later years, my second husband and I had gone down to visit my aunt.  I called Judy… I said to her when she answered.. Hey want to go to Beanies?   She yelled CIS!!! We didn’t get to go, but did go have coffee.  The next time I came to San Diego, Judy was busy… so we didn’t get to meet up.. But the phase, HEY YOU WANT TO MEET ME AT BEANIES? Was always remembered.

Beanies was a bar.. and we went by it every day as we headed to the bus stop.  Neither one of us was 21. She was 20 and I was 19.  So we weren’t  legal.. but we always said some day we were going to go in there just to see what it looked like.  The bar front had a large 4 foot or more… sign with its name in sequins on the sign.. and the rest was blue, the building was blue.. and we suspected it was a dive.

Over the years Judy and I kept in touch with Christmas cards and birthday cards… and then the birthday cards faded away.. But still kept up with Christmas cards…  Last year 2019, she lost her beloved Steve. And her daughter sent out the card explaining..  Even though Judy and I haven’t work together for 60 years.. and haven’t seen each other for at least 49 years.. I still keep in touch.   Judy was some one who was a kick in the pants funny… with the kindest heart.. and a friend who you could really depend on.   Some day, one of our daughters will have to notify the other, of the passing of one of us.. But to me Judy is top notch.

As you read above…. That call came last week from her daughter.. Broke my heart… and filled with “WHY THE HELL DIDN’T YOU CALL HER?”  going thru my mind.    So if you have a friend you have not been in contact with.. CALL.. you know the phone goes both ways..  but for some reason.. we never exchanged phone numbers…  don’t have a clue why…  SO  call that friend. We are not going to be around forever..

 

 

Monday, January 24, 2022

DEATH, BE NOT PROUD….

DEATH, BE NOT PROUD….

This has been a hellish month… if this month is an example of the rest of the year…..  count me out. 

We have had 4 people pass away in our circle… some related, some friends.. 

2 are due to covid… a niece and a friend.. both 58 years old. Way too early…   and two due to age and health issues that are NOT caused by covid.  One was cancer.. the other is age and stroke.  

I know when you get old.. it is normal to lose many in your circle.. is is due to the lay of the land of life..   But even so.. 4 in just 22 days.. of the month.. we still have a week to go yet.

It is hard to get emotional over worldly turmoil, when parts of your life is falling away..  Because every time you lose someone… it is a piece of you.   Some times huge, some times tiny… yet a piece. Be it family, friends or even entertainers you enjoyed in your youth.  Betty White, Louis Anderson (comedian) Meat Loaf (Rocker) and a few others.

Chips by chips taken away.


Maybe I should look at my heel on my foot…  to see if the expiration date is showing yet. 

 

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

I am no body and that is ok… with me…

I am no body and that is ok… with me…

See, I am not a rich person..  I am not a famous person.

I have not done anything of great significant.  And when I pass, there won’t be a lot of people who will say, I knew her. My circle is small, in the ream of the world. 

I don’t think I was ever one who wanted to be famous. Important to the world..  so I guess I never had great expectations.  Which is good.. can’t be disappointed if you don’t set the bar really high.

I was too busy, on my knees scrubbing floors, or changing diapers to be come part of the women’s revolution.  But I sure did champion them in my mind.  And ever since, I have encourage woman and even girls to be what they want to be. Told my own daughters, that they could do and be what they wanted to be.. If they didn’t … it was because they didn’t want it bad enough.   Some times that bad enough, you lose ground before you gain ground.  The first woman Astronaut..YAHOO… the first woman,  Vice president…good for you… the first woman CEO.. good on you… the first woman firewoman, or policewoman..  great going!!

But me?  Nope, pass my time..  pass my time to protest… as I was again, scrubbing floors and changing diapers… By the time came around.. to make a difference, I was a widow, 46, and trying to find a job after not being in the work force for 25+ years.  Which looking back … is excuses.

So my line was to cheer other women on, telling them.. they can do it. They are great.. keep going… The only one note of difference, is I use to smash cars with my second husband. I stood tall on top of smash cars to line up the next one. I smashed cars while he was gone one time.. and got a load ready for him, when he got back. So he could take it in. But I became a nobody…. And that is ok with me. 

See I did measure up in my own private life, my small circle.. I AM A MOTHER… a pretty good one according to my kids.. or at least most of them.  Ha ha … 

I AM A GRANDMOTHER… and that one I rate even higher.

AND I AM A GREAT GRANDMOTHER.. and my rating is pretty high there too.

I have been and am again..  A WIFE… rating pretty good there, according to the husbands…  well, two out of 3 is not bad. 

And I think.. I rate pretty good as a FRIEND… been one to be there when needed and not needed… kept my mouth shut on their problems.. and only to them individually about them. Not telling them what to do, but what their options were. Being honest when talking to them.. And most of all, being there when I could. 

The older I get, the less friends I have.. out lived many… less family… out lived many… so when the bugle blows.. there will be fewer to shed a tear.  After all, I am a nobody and I am okay with that. Really, I am. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, January 17, 2022

Some things that were funny, and not so much now

Some things that were funny, and not so much now

When I was working in the nursing home for so many years, I smiled as some of our old gals, who had kept their tissues in their sweater sleeve…   at the age of 81… I, now understand.  I thought a pocket would have been better, but found that a sleeve is closer…

Saw a picture many years ago… of an old man who was riding a bicycle, peddling as slow as he could… it was labeled… “life as you age”…  It had the front wheel a roll of toilet paper.. which was labeled LIFE which was unrolling quickly. I was about 30, so I thought that was funny…….  At the age of 81.. not so funny anymore.. because it does seem like the closer you get the middle of roll, the faster it goes..

Saw a sign that said..  “WHEN I WAS LITTLE, I LAUGHED WHEN MY MOM CROSSED HER LEGS WHEN SHE SNEEZED….  I NO LONGER FIND THAT FUNNY..”

This is true…no only is it true.. but a side story makes it even more not funny…  One time as I was walking across the room, I stopped to cross my legs as I was coughing… My husband laughed at me… and I told him, wait until he has a coughing fit, then he will know what it is like. THEN he told me..!!! MEN DO NOT HAVE THAT PROBLEM!!   WHAT???at the age of 81, I did not know that…  NOPE… well…………. FIRST IT WAS CHILD BIRTH AND NOW THIS?  God has a wicked sense of humor… 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

One side note of the weather….

One side note of the weather….

With us indated with snow.. up to our yahoo’s

With West coast line of Washington flooding.

Floods and fires else where…

Mid West is getting our freezing temps we had last week

And the East Coast is getting our first big storm. .(this one is yet to get there..)

The one side note is… 

All has been quiet on the western front of nastiness…

We aren’t hearing about how the nation is going down the tubes and even though the covid stories are alive and well on the news…the word in the street is about THE WEATHER.  Kind of nice change….  

 

 

Monday, January 10, 2022

Still hanging in there .... after all these years..

Still hanging on in there…. 

For the past week… we have been pushing, snowblowing, shoveling… SNOW..  WAY TOO MUCH SNOW..

We all woke up Friday morning to 11 inches or more new snow…. I say new snow, because before I went to bed, I had cleared the whole deck.. completely and it was NOT SNOWING.

I woke to this… 





No, school of course, some employees could not make it into their jobs.

And this, by the way, is the day after we paid $80 to have snow shoveled off of our lean to roofs… 

And in stead of singing “achy breaky heart….  We are singing achy breaky backs… and leg muscles and arm muscle..  Even the hot tub did not relieve.  But did dull it some.

Saturday brought some thaw… but when you have over 4 foot of snow in your yard, some how that is not much relief.

Our 4 foot fence in the front yard is sticking out about 6 inches now.

And believe it or not… the sound of THUD, THUD, THUD is a welcome sound.. meaning snow is sliding off the roof.

The King has been pulling the ice edging off as best as he can with the snow rake.  But some of the roof is hanging on to it, like blanket in a cold winter night.  

We have had a lot of new people moving in from California, Neveda, and Texas… wonder how they are feeling about the snow..  The first couple of snows, around Christmas, they were oh, and ahing… about the beauty of it all… 

But I am sure that the neighbors telling them, they better get the snow off of the roof (that is now 4 or more feet high) before it collapses… isn’t exactly what they want to hear. Especially when they hiring some of the local boys at the tune of $35 and hour and up.  And some how shoveling hasn’t improved their attitude towards the beauty of the snow.

 

And to add to this?  Well, the passes to our area, are all closed.  Snowqualie between us and Seattle,  Lookout Pass between us and Montana are all CLOSED… not only closed but closed for DAYS…  what does that mean?  No shipments of products to stores… so the shelves are empting…  No car parts for the cars who crashed in the snow.  Groceries are starting to show bare shelves..

But by Monday we should be getting semi’s coming from Seattle..  bet there are over 100 on the West side of the pass.

Tuesday, January 04, 2022

Another day, another downer...

 Well, this isn't working out well...  got more snow yesterday am.. got 2 and half inches, then I shoveled it off, at 8:30am.. then again at noon and once more at 5pm. each time 2 to 3 inches... and it has stopped snowing.. sure hope this is the end of it...  

As my cold is getting worse....  was dry cough and slight runny nose... now it is runny more and hacking cough... so I headed to bed early ... so far this am.. I am fair to midland...     


So all of you out there.... take good care of yourself. keep the vit. C, D and zinc going..  

Hoping next week I will  be better...   

Monday, January 03, 2022

HELLO 2022

 YEP, HELLO 2022... RIGHT ON SCHEDULE... 

1. SNOW

2. ICE

3. COLDS... 


Yep, right on schedule...  

Saturday, January 01, 2022

hello 2022

 HAPPY

2022   

NEW YEAR....