So another year and what did I learn?

As I look at the last year I have learned so much. So many gifts have come our way from wonderful family, good friends old and new, good health, new paths to follow in the quest to try to leave this planet better than when we arrived. So in the end what tenets helped me the most? I'd have to say that "the four agreements" taken from the Toltec ancestors of a shaman really resonate with me: Be impeccable with your word. Don't take anything personally. Don't make assumptions. Always do your best. All basic things we were taught early in life but are so hard to carry out day in and day out.
Also practicing every day to be a better listener and remembering that listening is not a competition, and one must listen first to understand then to be understood.

Temps in the 70s!!

Reports are that it's pretty warm in many parts of the country after freezing temperatures and lots and lots of snow everywhere. Today it was forecast to be in the 70s but it only reached the mid 60s at the beach. T and I went for a walk along the beach. It was a particularly low, low tide after what appears to be a particularly high, high tide. There were so many people walking the beach and the beach was so clean today. We saw a number of different vehicles including 4-wheeled recumbent beach bikes and these beach segways. We saw 4 of them, three had wider "beach" type tires and the 4th had regular ones. We watched them trying to do dune riding and wiping out. There weren't many waves but you could walk out a long way.

A great outreach to our soldiers

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/story/570524.html The lady in this article lives in Cypress Ridge. I spoke with her today and she went into more detail about how she got started and how the packages get mailed. She and her husband, I think, are the biggest donors of funds to mail the packages. She asks for donors to send checks made out to the USPS and to her P.O. box. She gets those mailer boxes for $9.80 and puts the hair products in the boxes. The address is on the website: info@sistersoldierproject.com

Snow?

This is the way to do snow! One of our neighbors has "snow" trucked in every Christmas eve for their kids to play on Christmas morning. It's a very popular destination for the kids in the neighborhood. The boy playing on the snow doesn't live at the house, but he told me he loves to play on the "snow". It did getting pretty cold the last few nights with forecasts of frost both nights. We covered the more vulnerable plants and prayed for the best. I'm told that a couple of years ago they had a real hard freeze and many plants died. There were some hardier plants that did make a comeback but you can still see evidence of that freeze around the neighborhood.

Christmas

Christmas day we met at P and S's again. It's the SLO tradition. Actually they may have met at Aunt L's house in the past but with her failing health the gatherings have been across the street at P and S's. The usual list of suspects were there. We provided hors d'oeurves including bacon wrapped marinated scallops and eggplant bruschetta - both apparent crowd pleasers. P had deboned a turkey and son, K, stuffed it with a delicious cornbread/regular bread sausage stuffing. The accoutrements included mashed potatoes, slow baked cauliflower with bacon, Chinese greenbeans with bamboo shoots, salad and a cranberry walnut bread made by our neighbor, D. Everything was delicious. D made her delicious lemon meringue and pecan pies. She is the supreme pie maker. The Meyer lemons really make all the difference.

After dinner we dived into the "white elephant" gift exchange we started last year with many items T and I had brought with us but questioned why. This year we had a smattering of these items but I supplemented them with numerous worthy items from the thrift store. I think my entire expenditure was under $10 for the "gifts". I think the little reversible wheely MacDonalds cars vied with a game of Taboo as the most "coveted" (read least desirable) gifts. Although some folks really seemed pleased with the gift they ended up with.

Christmas Eve

The younger cousins (children of P and K) made yesterday's dinner with contributions from the parents. M organized the team to make potstickers. She made the fillings (pork and shrimp) and the dough. Then she and cousin P rolled the dough and K stuffed the potstickers. They were excellent. K also contributed 2 Chinese vegetable dishes. She picked up the vegetables in San Jose at the 99 grocery store when they drove up to pick up #2 daughter,L, when she was diverted there (instead of Monterey) the other night. San Jose has the closest real Chinese restaurants and grocery stores on the coast. Unfortunately the deli section was closed so they couldn't pick up any roast duck, roast pork or chickens. They did pick up some cha-siu bao which were yummy! We contributed a caramel frosted chocolate chip cake for dessert.

D and I played guitar for a wonderful evening of Christmas carols. I made up booklets with a couple of dozen carols. I had emailed D the guitar music a few months ago. She had forgotten her guitar but C had brought down his old guitar so we had a spare. S has wanted to sing carols for years and she got her wish. Aunt L was in better shape than I had seen her in many weeks. She got into the singing. It was wonderful to see everyone enjoying themselves. A great time was had by all!

Making a list and checking it twice

Yesterday we had a movable feast! We had invited the cousins and families to our house for dinner - prime rib and all the trimmings. As the day progressed the travel plans got messier. We had one coming from Rotterdam whose flight was delayed for 4 hours in Amsterdam due to weather in Chicago. She missed her connection and wasn't sure when she would be on the west coast. One was coming from Rochester, MN and coming through Chicago and he missed his flight connection in Chicago. There were two coming from Washington DC and United was trying to change their flight from a direct to LA to a stop in Chicago so we weren't sure when they would arrive. With all the anxiety and unknown arrival times it made sense to move the dinner to SLO so folks wouldn't be trying to play flight controller away from home base and the arrivals wouldn't have to trek another 35 minutes south after getting to SLO. So I cooked the beast to just below rare, fixed the mashed potatoes, prepped the green beans, fixed the appetizers - sausage bread (a big hit) and veggies with curry dip (copied from daughter K but all soy product)plus a cookies and cream cake and we bundled it all up and drove it to SLO.

Thank goodness everything worked out well and everyone made it home. The prime rib held up very well and the extra cooking of the sausage bread was just what it needed to turn out great!

Hearst Castle

On Sunday evening T and I met Ed, our realtor and his wife, Barb for dinner in Cambria right along the shore. It was a beautiful sunset on Moonstone Bay Drive. We went to the Hearst Castle for their Christmas evening tour and boy was it spectacular. Fortunately for us it was a fairly warm evening even though we were prepared for it too be very cold. The place was decorated in the fashion it would have been when William Randolph Hearst was there. There were characters dressed in period costumes strolling or sitting reading, playing cards, knitting etc. We have been on Tour 1 twice but have never been on the night tour. We got to see many rooms and levels of the castle that we had not visited before. The ride up and back to the mountaintop were actually less "scary" because it was dark when we arrived. It was decidedly spooky on the way down as it had started to rain and the interior of the bus was dark, and the windows fogged up very quickly. It was a terrific place to get us in the Christmas spirit!

Fire, fire, oh my

This morning as I was heading out to the fitness center I heard fire engine sirens. The County Fire Department is not far from us. As I looked up the street I saw a huge plume of very black smoke coming from the club house area. I called to T to tell him what I was seeing and he was hearing a local TV update about a fire on the mesa with a reported fully engulfed house. The house was at the on of the street across from the entrance to the golf course! I have walked by the house many times but could never see it as it was behind a huge fence. It was reportedly an 8,000 square foot house. No report yet on the cause. There are no fire hydrants in that area so they had to truck water in tankers. I am really glad we have a hydrant at the end of our driveway! The lack of a running source of water hampered the firemen.

On emergency food

There is an emergency food pantry started by a number of local churches and run by Christian women from the area. I am not sure why they need a separate food pantry when there is a local food bank in Grover Beach. I will have to investigate the roots of this organization. The group puts together food baskets at Christmas time for families in need made up of all the things needed to make a wonderful Christmas meal. They put together a list of items that they put into the baskets - including a turkey or chicken, dressing, mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, yams, onions, celery, oil, flour, sugar, eggs, jello, fruit, olives, nuts, bread, margarine, cake mix, frosting, pumpkin, and evaporated milk. My friend, DH, from the neighborhood, and I each took a list and went shopping together. We each bought all the ingredients and the total came to about $30! Sounded pretty reasonable.

I delivered all the items to the food pantry. It is operated out of a private home in AG. The woman's house looks like a typical ranch on a quiet street. Behind her house she has a 2 room casitta. She has donated the use of it to the food pantry for storage. It was well organized with many projects in the works. They have a roster of volunteers who come to sort. They had boxes sorted by type of food and stacked and labeled neatly. The Christmas project was going on in the front room and the back room had the ongoing food pantry.

A new view of fall

This is our second fall/winter in Arroyo Grande. We have developed a different view of fall from our New England memories. In New England leaves started turning, some as early as the end of August and started to fall in September. Most were down by Thanksgiving. We have memories of raking lots and lots of leaves and sometimes racing the first snowfall. There was a time that the leaf trucks were the same as the snow trucks and if it snowed too soon, the trucks had to be converted to plows and the leaves would remain on the roads until spring.

In Arroyo Grande and other places along the central coast, many of the trees don't lose their leaves. This is a tree in a neighbors yard that will remain green through the winter.

There are trees that lose their leaves. There is a tree called liquid amber that is plentiful around here. I think it is popular because the leaves turn a reddish color as they start to fall and reminds folks who are used to the changing colors of the leaves of the maple trees. Here's a picture of one I took today on my walk. Many trees are already bare and this one is in full change. There are still a number that are fully green.

The roses around here bloom all year around. This bush is particularly beautiful at the moment. Our camellias are started to bloom and they should last through April. Unlike roses they don't bloom all year around.

Weather, weather, weather

Wow! The weather forecast for the entire country is in mega-screaming mode. Record snow in Las Vegas, huge storm heading to Chicago and then to the east coast. Here in California there is snow in them thar hills and mountains. It is unusually cool here even for our area. Lows in the 30s and highs only in the 50s - pretty unusual. Snow down to 1,000 feet - we are at about 330 feet on the mesa - yikes! We've had a few days of much needed rain with a break today. The rain here was snow over the mountains in Fresno and Bakersfield down to Los Angeles and San Diego! They had to close I-5 the main north south highway in the state. This means that the traffic was shifted over to Route 101, the north south interstate closer to the shore. It is only a 4 lane highway and not built for heavy traffic. The traffic is very heavy with big time delays and rush hour traffic that we haven't seen since leaving the east coast.

In preparation for the more "wintry" weather, the golf course has been very busy trimming the cypress trees. Last winter we lost over 60 trees with the storm in January and the high winds. Here is a picture of some of the trimmings they collected so far. They collect it all and chip it and use the chippings for mulch.

New security system

Our development is about 8 years old and its security system for the gates is no longer being made. It has been fully depreciated and the association decided to replace it and avoid an emergency situation. The association has a reserve fund for depreciating assets and the new system has been fully funded. It was installed over the last week and today the association distributed new "clickers" to home owners. There are 3 ways to exchange them. We could exchange our old ones today at the guard house by the front gate from 4PM to 7PM or go to the management companies office in SLO or mail our old ones to the main office of the management company in Sacramento.

The exchange line was very organized and fast with people tracking numbers on new "clickers" and making sure old ones were returned. I chatted with other home owners - some I already knew and some I met for the first time.

On tree trimming

Yesterday T and I went to a tree trimming party at P & S's. It was a festive occasion with their kids, D and K, Aunt L and companion, neighbors with their daughter's family (including a 2 year old), another neighbor and a friend of D's. They have a tradition from the days when their children were young of having a party with neighbors and their children to trim the tree. The kids are now grown but the next generation has started to attend. There is nothing like a little kid to make it feel more like Christmas. Interestingly the family who came is Jewish. I volunteered to bring hors d'oeurves as some else had volunteered for dessert. I asked if the neighbors kept kosher and was assured that no one had any particular food prohibitions. I made drunken wieners, bacon wrapped scallops and spinach and feta pinwheels. The little boy was such a joy. He actually got into hanging a number of ornaments on the tree after he got his second wind. He eventually zeroed in on a strand of gold beaded trim that he dragged all around the house, using it to tether himself to various family members and leading them all around with him. The dinner was delicious and the tree trimming was entertaining and helped get us in the spirit.

Are we spending less?

Today I went to our local Marshall's to look for Christmas stocking hangers. I haven't shopped much at all this year and after all the hoopla in the news about the non-spending consumer, I was surprised to see the masses of people with masses of purchases. Granted, almost everything in the store was discounted but the check out line was wrapped around the stanchions and down the clothing aisles. I found a couple of stocking hangers - our mantle is tile/stucco so there is no where to "hang" them. I also picked up an artificial wreath for the front gate. Everything was already at least 50% off!

We are still trying to stick with our "1 thing in 1 thing out rule". Fortunately we threw out a number of items when we unpacked our Christmas ornaments - another one of those "why did we bring this?" moments. We brought our old tree lights which were on their last legs, and a number of ornaments that either didn't make it through the trip or had seen better days having been stored in the attic in WH. I think we are actually even again!

The economy and the thrift shop

The news today is full of stories of the failed bail out plan for the car companies, the very week consumer, perhaps the worst holiday spending season ever and the impact of all this around the world, bad weather across the nation with unusual snow in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Today was my day to work at the Thrift Store. Our usual Friday afternoon manager is 82 and is also the head of the thrift store. She has recently been having some health problems but has always worked through it all. Now she has a pinched nerve and has been told to stay home. So there are many substitutes filling in. The thrift store was hopping today with things flying off the shelves as fast as we could price them. We had stored away 15 huge boxes of Christmas items donated throughout the year. Since Halloween we must have received the equivalent of another 5 boxes. We've sorted and priced all the stuff and most of it has been purchased. I'm beginning to recognize the regular shoppers and they really know the stock as they must come in many times during the month. Today I priced and stocked the shelves and did some cashiering. People were buying lots of items that may be Christmas presents. Time flies by when things are busy. We had a $300 day!

After a beautiful day

Today's weather was a great reminder of why we moved to central California. It was in the 70s and sunny and dry. I wore shorts and a short sleeved shirt for my walk this afternoon and my grocery shopping rounds after that. We've had a few days of very mild warm weather due to off shore winds. Much of the east from Texas to New England are dealing with a huge storm with snow falling in parts of Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana! I just heard that many highways in the south are closed due to icy roads. The airports up and down the east coast are experiencing long delays. Our beautiful weather is forecast to be changing drastically starting this weekend with some snow in the higher elevations (down to 3,000 feet). That is in the hills and mountains around us but not here, hopefully. The temperatures may drop to the 30s at night and only warm to the 50s during the day for the next week with some much needed rain forecasted. Let's hope anyway.

Another phenomenon is the beginning of earlier sunsets at this time of the year. The shortest day of the year is usually the first day of winter. We will lose overall daylight until then however in most areas we are beginning to have more daylight at the end of the day starting right around now! We are still losing daylight at the beginning of the day.

Feeling good

Today, DH (a new friend from the area) and I went out to lunch and then did some shopping. We both belong to a group called Womenade here in SLO. The organization is a direct charity which uses money collected at periodic pot luck dinners, to help people in need in the county. The money is used to pay for children's dental appointments (not covered by Medi-Cal) and many other financial needs. The organizer does all the coordinating and is connected with the many social agencies in the county. There are also many situations where Womenade hears of special family need situations.

One of these families is not a real family but more of a foster care situation. A nurse and her family over the last 25 to 30 years, have taken into their home, very sick children who have no one else to take care of them. With all the red tape often the family has difficulty getting assistance from the state, county or city.

DH was able to get a list of needs the family has at this time. She and I went shopping to fulfill the list for the children - mostly pajamas, a few toys and CDs. We had a great time shopping together and looking for toys and feeling good about the shopping. We also shopped for groceries on a list put together by St. Barnabas and the Christian Women's organization of the Five Cities area for holiday meal fixings this Christmas.

We delivered all the "foster family's" things to Womenade in SLO.

One year ago....

A year ago today we took delivery of our things and finally were able to settle into our house. I can't believe how quickly the year has flown. We have been reminded of the anniversary by the many renewal notices we've received: home and auto insurance, health club memberships, and association dues renewal. Arroyo Grande has been a great new home for us and here are a few pictures of our town. This is the swinging footbridge over the Arroyo Grande. It was rebuilt in 1995 after the original bridge was destroyed in a storm.

The downtown area has a real western feel to it. There are many independent store fronts. Like West Hartford center there are many restaurants and hair salons. There is a bandstand sponsored by the local Rotary club just behind the center.


This is the Halcyon Temple In Arroyo Grande California. The beautiful and interesting "Halcyon Temple for the People" was built in 1923-1925 for a small local religious sect. It is also known as the "Blue Star Memorial Temple". Dimensions of the building are based on the numbers 7, 3, 4 and 12 (3+4=7, 3x4=12). There are 3 sides. Inside dimensions of the rounded-triangle building are 49 feet across (=7x7). The temple still holds services today.

Christmas tree and flu shots

The Christmas tree T bought looks great. Today we made a run to Costco to stock up on items we were running out out of. T made the Home Depot side trip and found the long lasting garage opener light bulbs. We discovered these in WH when the ones in the garage door openers kept burning out. Lo and behold they make special bulbs that don't do that! Ours have burned out and hopefully these bulbs will last longer like they did in WH. T has been searching for a new star to put atop our tree. We haven't had one for a number of years when the last one bit the dust. We made do with various alternatives but they were never very satisfactory. When he was at Home Depot he spied an LED lighted star which now sits perfectly atop the tree - YAY! He trimmed it with tinsel garland and we plan to decorate the rest after dinner.

While we were at Costco, I noticed they were giving flu shots. We have been debating whether we should have the shot. Last year's vaccine was a complete failure. The person administering the shots said this year's vaccine seems to be spot on with 6 different flu viruses covered. So T and I both rolled up our sleeves and got a flu shot.

West Side Story and a new Christmas tree

Last night T and I ushered at the Clark Center. The Nipomo High School put on their winter production and it was an ambitious effort. I have never seen West Side Story live and the kids did a fabulous job. The female lead is only 14 years old and she has a marvelous voice. There was another female student who starred in last year's Aida performance. She was terrific and we thought how were they going to find such talent again and they did! We were truly impressed.

Today T searched the sales flyers for a new artificial Christmas tree. We gave ours to Agi in CT and hopefully it is still going strong. We did not have a tree last year as we were in the throes of unpacking etc. There are zillions of places selling trees and they come pre-lit in both clear and colored lights. T has always had colored lights. He went on a quest stopping at Walmart, which was an absolute zoo and did not have on display an actual sample of the tree he wanted. He continued searching and found just what he wanted at Kmart. It is 7 1/2 feet and has over 800 lights. It is perfect and we found a great spot right beside my desk and the dining room table. Tomorrow we will decorate it and the rest of the house. It should be interesting to see what things survived the move.

Our very own geek squad

K has become a geek squad type person by self training and educating. She knows all the latest computer configurations and can create, fix, repair etc. computer problems of all sorts. She brought a number of programs on a memory stick to check out our computers while she was here. She cleaned all three computers up, loaded different browsers, tidied up hard drives and loaded lots of immunizing software to protect them all better. I am not as regular about cleaning up my hard drive, emptying cache and cleaning up registries as T. But he surfs around more than I do. She dumped many many gigs of items from my drive. Great having an expert in the family!

She called just now to say that clothing we bought while she was here and mailed out on Thursday arrived this afternoon in Chicago!

K's visit

After much drama on Monday K arrived. With many flights in Chicago canceled, she was lucky to get out. She was lucky again to catch her connection in LAX with only 20 minutes left between flights with flight delays etc. We decided to wait in AG until we heard that she was at the gate in LAX and we left when she got there and knew she was getting on. We arrived at Santa Barbara airport about 15 minutes after she arrived so all in all things worked out well. The trip back to AG was a bit harrowing with very heavy fog in the Gaviota pass and the valleys along the way.

Tuesday we had brunch at the Rock and Roll diner, a favorite of ours, then we visited the Monarch Butterfly grove in Grover Beach. There were 17,000 butterflies that morning. The numbers are at a low point but the chart seems to indicated that the numbers vacillate quite a bit over the years.

From there we headed for Pismo Beach and walked along the waterfront and down the pier. While we were on the pier there were a couple of very friendly pelicans. They were carefully eyeing the many fishermen on the pier. We watched one fisherman catch a fish and after he unhooked it he threw it to one of the pelicans which set off a feeding frenzy between said pelican and the many other seagulls on the pier at the time.

Our next stop was Morro Bay. It was a beautiful clear day and we walked up and down the Embarcadero. There was another friendly pelican which followed us around our walk for a while. The seals were there in smaller numbers than on some of our visits, but they do a good job of showing themselves and performing. We returned in time to pick up some turkey parts and all the other fixings for a Thanksgiving meal. None of us had turkey this Thanksgiving so we were all hankering for a bit of the traditional meal.

Wednesday K and I headed to the Pismo Outlet Stores and picked up many pieces of clothing for her winter wardrobe. In the afternoon we headed for SLO and walked around the city. We looked at yarn and decided on one for me to make an afghan for her condo to cover her new beautiful white chair. Then we headed to P&S's for dinner. S made a delicious dinner of ribs, wings, noodles, cauliflower, salad with lemon squares and apple cake that I contributed. We had a great time with P&S and K getting acquainted. Aunt L was very tired and begged off. P actually went to check on her and she was really zonked out.

Thursday we headed for Paso Robles. It was a glorious day and great for walking around. We have been meaning to go there since we arrived but never got there. We enjoyed the opportunity to visit. We had a light lunch (actually only I had lunch since K and T had just eaten before we left). We stopped at a new Kennedy gym in Paso for T to take a look at it. In the evening we headed back to Morro Bay so K could experience the wonderful fish that the Great American Fish Company serves. She read so much about it in my blog that she wanted to experience it as well.

Today K headed back to the deep freeze. Her send of day was fabulous with temps in the 70s. The drive down to Santa Barbara was great and the airport is very quaint. She is on the ground now in Denver and it looks like her flight to Chicago is on time. We hope to hear from her soon.

Overall the time went so fast and we only saw a fraction of what there is to do and see. More leftover for future visits. We all had a terrific time.

Many afflictions

December 1 was the first anniversary of T and my arrival in California. A year ago we were renting a house in Shell Beach just a block from the ocean. We did not know anyone other than cousin P and S and our realtor. We have met many people through the two gyms we belong to and through the association here at CR.

I guess it is a sign of our age but almost everyone we've met has some sort of health problem. The most common seems to be breast cancer survivors. There are many other afflictions: cancer of the thyroid, prostate cancer, heart attacks, strokes, swallowing disorders, tintinitis (war related), PTSD, and of course the myriad of more common disorders like ligament tears, hip and knee problems, back pain, arthritis, etc.

At the moment I am feeling really blessed to be enjoying good health and reflecting on all that has happened in the past year. We have totally enjoyed a year of moderate central California coast weather and although we miss our east coast friends, we are enjoying the many new friends we have made.

The Pacific Decadal Oscillation

Here's a new weather phenomenon for me. From the local SLO Tribune, apparently during strong El Niño events, when eastern Pacific seawater temperatures are warmer than normal, the central California coast has historically experienced above-normal rainfall. During weak El Niño events there doesn't seem to be much effect on our total rainfall.

The last two strong El Niño events along the Central Coast occurred in 1982-83 and 1997-98. Water temps reached 62.5 degrees in September '83 and an all time record of 63.6 degrees in October of '97

The seasonal rainfall in San Luis Obispo averages about 25 inches. During the 1983 rain season, over 47 inches of rain were recorded in San Luis Obispo, and over 44 inches were tallied in 1997.

On the flip side of El Niño is a La Niña — below normal seawater temperatures in the eastern Pacific. La Niña tends to bring below-normal rainfall amounts, but during a La Niña cycle in 1995, over 8.5 inches of rain fell in less than 24 hours on March 9 and 10. This caused significant flooding throughout San Luis Obispo County. So the truth is, sometimes we really don’t know what is going to happen.

Over the last two rain seasons we’ve experienced below-normal rainfall, which seems to correspond with below-normal seawater temperatures. This April, the mean ocean temperature was 49.5 degrees off Diablo Canyon, which was the coldest on record.

The cool waters along the Central Coast right now are part of a larger climate phenomenon known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Unlike La Niña and El Niño, which last only a year or so, the PDO only changes once every five to 20 years. This cool phase of the oscillation often produces below-normal rainfall.

Looks like the drought continues!

Awaiting K

We just heard from K that she is boarding her plane from Chicago to LA. She had a dust up with both Travelocity and United because although they showed a seat assignment on her itinerary, when she checked yesterday, she did not have a seat. After much trial and tribulation and threats of lawsuits, BBB reports etc., she got them to give her a seat. The weather in Chicago is pretty iffy and she doesn't have much time in LA before her flight to Santa Barbara. We have to leave before she lands in LAX. Her flight is scheduled to leave about 30 minutes late but the most recent flight info says she is due to arrive only a few minutes late.

She is staying till Friday around 1 so we have a lot to squeeze into a short amount of time. We are looking forward to her first visit.

Thanksgiving and such

Wednesday evening St. Barnabas hosted the community Thanksgiving service with a gathering of 5 churches - St. Peter's (Catholic), United Methodist, St. John's Lutheran, Grace Korean Church and St. Barnabas. I volunteered to help with the reception - setting up, accepting food contributions, replenishing and clean-up. There were over 200 people at the service (fewer than in past years because it was raining). It was great to hear the different clergy give short homilies on a scripture reading and to hear their different styles.

Thursday T and I went to SLO to spend Thanksgiving with cousin K and C and Aunt L and caregiver. K deboned and stuffed a duck. There were lots of vegetables, Chinese noodles, sticky rice stuffing and a carrot souffle (recipe I got from a new friend who got the recipe from a famous New Orleans restaurant. She's from New Orleans). I made a pumpkin and chocolate chip cake with pecans and a maple syrup frosting.

Today was a typical Friday. The weather has cleared and it was a beautifully warm and sunny day. T and I got right back into our workout routines and then I went to work at the Thrift store. Many customers loaded up on Christmas items that are in the store. It was "bag day" where the shop rotates its stock on the last Friday of the month. All clothing can be bought for $4 a bag. It's a popular day. After we close on that Friday we pack everything up and send it to a thrift store in Santa Maria. The racks are restocked Saturday morning with new inventory. It was a pretty big day for a bag day with over $300 in sales. Many people came in after they hit the Walmarts, Kmarts etc.

What's happening

Yesterday was T's birthday. P&S and Aunt L and her caregiver came for a dinner. T asked for leg of lamb so we had a roast leg of lamb, with garlic potatoes, snap peas with ham and almonds, salad and a sour cream mocha cake. Yum. We all had a great time.

It started raining around noon yesterday. We really need the rain. I think it has stopped at this point and we may have gotten just over an inch of rain. The sad thing is that the fires in Santa Barbara that started 10 days ago have left the land pretty barren and very susceptible to mud slides. So the people who were evacuated from their homes because of the fires were asked to leave again because of the threat of mudslides.

Yesterday the gym held a potluck pre-Thanksgiving party. We were all asked to wear our favorite apron and we exercised before the party. There were some really delicious dishes. I contributed my low-fat, low-sugar Tiramisu. Everyone seemed to like it and asked for the recipe. I'm hoping to get some new recipes to add to my repetoire.

Beautiful flowers

It was another beautiful day, a little cooler than yesterday (in the 60s) with a light breeze. On my walk a passed this very beautiful bush of bouganvilla. Our bouganvilla bushes on the side of our house are doing very well but these were really stunning.

Thankful that we moved

Today is one of those days where we are so thankful we made the decision to move west. We heard this morning of many places east of the Mississippi having broken low temps - Gainsville, FL at 25, Atlanta, GA at 18, Memphis, TN at 15 and so on. Here it was a beautiful warm day in the 70s with a slight breeze. T and I went in search of the coast line in Shell Beach. There are areas where houses are right on the bluff and you can't walk along the beach. Some of the cliffs are eroding quite badly. If I lived on the cliffs I think I would worry that the house might fall into the ocean! We found a section we had not walked on before. There are beautiful views and parks along the cliffs. We found a park bench overlooking the water and took yet another sunset picture.

We are so glad that we are not worrying about the furnace and the cold weather.

Latest local news

They just discovered a new fault about 3 miles off the coast just west of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. The anti-nuclear power folks are all over this one.

The California State University system may have to turn down 21,000 students next year due to the economic downturn.

The plans to expand the SLO airport and build a parking garage have been scaled way back saving about half the expense.

California's unemployment rate has jumped to 8.2%.

One of the local recycling plants has shut down because the countries that were buying the materials are also experiencing a downturn and there is too much supply and not enough demand.

Price of gas since last Sunday dropped from $2.43 tp $2.24 and the news says it's fallen even more across the country.

The weather report has been very unseasonably warm with lots of sundowner winds and Santa Ana winds but now they are talking about possible rain - which we really need. The downside is that the areas that have burned over the last few years run the risk of major mudslides. On the upside, the weather was beautiful with a summery day everywhere today.

They have started to plant vegetation on the Oceano Dunes to help prevent erosion. It's a real battle - they permit vehicles on the Dunes but are still very concerned about the erosion and potential loss of the Dunes. These are the only dunes in California (and possibly the west coast) that permit vehicles.

Let the spending begin

We went to our first big sale event at the local department store - Gottshalks (like the old G. Fox in Hartford). Periodically the store runs special sales on a Tuesday where if you have one of the store charge cards, plus it's a special 55+ card you get an additional 15% off all your purchases if you use the store credit card. Then on these special sale days they run deep discounts 40% to 50% off and they send you those scratch off cards in the mail for 10% to 100% off your final purchase over a certain period of time. The 55+ crowd is very attuned to these sales. We thought it would be fun to see what all the fuss is about. The parking lot was jammed and cars were circling looking for a space. There were long lines at all the cashiers. We went looking for new pillows. I read somewhere that you should change your pillows every year! So we found these $20 pillows which were on sale for 50% off plus we got the 15% off for using the 55+ credit card and stood in line for them to scratch of our card for an additional 15%! Almost free! Less than $15 after tax for 2 new pillows. It was quite an adventure and you'd never guess there is a recession on with the way those seniors were spending money.

Board of Directors meeting

Last night was the monthly board meeting for our development. It is a volunteer board and it's a typically thankless job. By and large they do a great job dealing with some pretty significant issues: sewer ownership, water price increases, new security system and streakers! I brought up 2 issues to add to their list of woes, one they can fix and the other they chose to ignore. The first issue is the pedestrian gate at the end of our street is often left open by people. The second is about cars parked in driveways. They just sent out a package with the association's policies, one of them about cars parked in the driveways. I noted that on any morning there are over 150 cars parked in driveways. My sense is the board doesn't want to confront the homeowners, so they have chosen to turn a blind eye and not enforce the parking policies. The interesting thing is that all homeowners know the policies before moving in. Many have rented one or more storage units off site to warehouse their overflow. It really doesn't matter to us as we don't have any overflow and our cars are always in the garage. But there are a number of residents who are spending large amounts to rent storage space so their cars can be parked in the garages.

So the streaker was a young adult wearing a red hat and white sneakers and streaking down the 6th fairway. The guy was caught and given a warning. He and a couple of other people rent a house on the course. They think it was a dare.... I guess they told him and the home owner that the next incident will be reported to the sheriff.

Stunning sunsets

T and I were discussing some of the things we love about our area. One of the things that is so amazing is the beautiful sunsets (and sunrises for that matter). On beautiful warm and clear days, like today we love to go to different spots along the coast and watch the sunsets. Today we went to Avila. On the way we stopped at the Avila Barn famous for its homemade baked goods. It has lots of locally grown produce, numerous gift stores, a sundae parlor and a zoo of sorts with goats, ponies, donkeys, peacocks, chickens, ducks, sheep, cows, horses, horses and others I don't remember. This was the sunset this evening.

Another beautiful thing is the brilliance of the stars at night because it's so dark at night without much light pollution.

Fires

It's November and we are experiencing more aberrant weather - another of those climate times when people tell us "this never happens!" In this case, it never gets this warm on the central coast in November. It has been wonderfully summery the last few days with temps in the 70s and very low humidity. The reason for the warm weather are the winds blowing in from the northeast. Here they call them offshore winds. In Santa Barbara they become sundowner winds as the sun goes down and the winds blow through the canyons. The winds this week whipped up to over 70 mph when the "Tea" fire started in Montecieto, the Riviera of the central coast. They have been warning that the area was "due" for a big fire as it hasn't burned in a long time. Many mansions burned (over 100 so far).

Then yesterday afternoon a fire started in San Luis Obispo. One woman in SLO said that she was watching the fires in Santa Barbara on TV and looked up out her back window and saw the hills on fire right behind her house. They managed to get that one under control very quickly. These winds moved down to Orange and LA counties overnight. They call them Santa Ana winds there. Fires have started in both counties and the winds are whipping up the flames. So far since this morning over 500 mobile homes have burned down.

We are pretty far away from the fires in any of these area. There were a number of houses spared because the owners did a good job of keeping the vegetation around their houses cut way back. Every year the residents on the central coast are asked to trim back the vegetation to within 100 feet around the house. We are fortunate in that the 100 foot boundary of our house is open space maintained by the golf course as part of the Audubon Signature Preserve.

art show

Many of the residents in Cypress Ridge are very talented. The other day one of the residents had a show of her sculptures and her jewelry. Another resident makes very high end cushions ($200 to $500 per cushion!)and she had some of her creations on display as well.

I received an invitation via email to come and see the artwork and that it was taking place in the lobby of the fitness center. I conferred with T about whether he thought I should dress up for the showing. I was dressed for my afternoon walk and thought I'd stop in on my way home. T thought that since it was taking place at the fitness center that lots of people would be there to work out so I should be fine. I guess there is a lot of pent up need to get dressed up. This was a fancy do with everyone dressed up with bling and make-up and fancy duds. So I was the only one who didn't figure it out. I haven't figured out the west coast dress code yet. I may never figure it out. The artist was very welcoming and made me feel comfortable. Here is a link to her website: http://www.designsbypeggee.com/Peggees_web/welcome.html

A Hand Up mammoth deliveries on Saturday

Christine, one of A Hand Up's board members, organized a mammoth delivery schedule for this past Saturday. She lined up 4 deliveries for one day. She and a colleague of hers spent part of Friday afternoon getting household furniture sorted and staged for packing the truck on Saturday. She had 2 teams - one for the morning and one for the afternoon. Fortunately she had enough members on each team as there were volunteer snafu's on both teams. In between deliveries one of the groups also managed to squeeze in a pick-up. They were able to leave those items on the truck and deliver them for the afternoon deliveries. The new truck was jam packed for both shifts. What an accomplishment!

I have done 3 deliveries on one day but never 4. I can tell you this really took a lot of organization, dedication, sweat and tears. There were 4 very happy clients who were delighted with their new homes. Most of the clients were living with very little until Christine and the volunteers showed up.

Dinner with the cousins

Last night T and I went to P and S's for dinner. K and C came down from Monterey to do some banking for Aunt L and were staying overnight. There were 10 of us inclduing Aunt L, her companion Wendy, and their friends, one who is a Chinese trained physician and acupuncturist and the other is a retired Cal Poly professor. The Chinese doctor was trained at St. John's in China and the hospital in China where Uncle FC trained. She and her father knew Uncle FC. It's a small world. She is the person who is coordinating all the round the clock caretakers for Aunt L. Great meal and conversation.

Theater, crafts and Chinese food

T and I ushered at the Clark Center for a performance of Guys and Dolls. It was put on by Chameleon, a local community theater. We were amazed that they had more than a dozen men who could sing and dance! It was fun and entertaining and for us free!

The little Halcyon Post Office at the foot of the mesa had an arts and crafts fair over the weekend. We checked it out on Sunday afternoon. It was a lot bigger than we thought it was going to be. There were the usual craft booths with sewn items, soaps, arts and crafts of all kinds. There were also booths with psychic readers, plants, rugs and carpets, and jewelry.

Last night we went to our local Chinese restaurant, Mei's. Our favorite server was not on, and we were wondering what happened to her. We didn't want to appear too nosy but were interested as she had been one of Aunt L's care givers. We talked to the new server who told us she was substituting for the other server. Turns out she is the Mei who started the restaurant. She says she is retired but is restless and helps out every now and then. Since she sold the restaurant, she has been back to Taiwan twice for a total of 4 months. She still owns the building. She sold the recipes and the restaurants reputation. Her 3 children have all left the area, 2 are on the east coast and one is in college in San Francisco. Mei told us that the other server has gone to China for 2 months. We found 3 dishes that we especially like: a curried beef dish, a chicken and walnut dish and a crispy fried noodle dish with char sui.Yum!

Where did the day go!

I can't believe how quickly the day flew by today. I managed to get in an early morning spin class and went for a 1 1/2 hour "bluetooth" walk with JA. I think we spent the entire walk talking about the election. So much of the population up here is Republican that it was great to be able to let it all hang out with a fellow liberal.

I spent the afternoon at the Thrift store. The manager, who is 82, has not been well for the last two weeks. She has been suffering from back pain and perhaps more importantly, worrying about an aortic aneurysm diagnosed about 6 months ago. A recent test showed that the aneurysm is stable and doesn't require surgery at this time. She still is orchestrating all the shifts and getting subs for all her shifts.

Tomorrow the A Hand Up team is trying to pull off 4 deliveries in a day! Pretty impressive. One of the board members is organizing and orchestrating the entire day. She's got a leader for the morning team and she will lead the afternoon team. In between the 2 groups, the morning team will also do at least one pick-up. Having done this role before I give her big props for trying to pull it off. It is a lot of work and everything has to work perfectly.

Another beautiful day!

Today was a beautiful almost summer day with temperatures in the mid 70s even on the mesa! There was an offshore wind which brought in the warmer temps and the skies were bright blue and the hills and shoreline were clear and sparkling.

Thursday is grocery shopping day for me. The local Albertsons has many specials on Thursdays and sometimes has 8 hour sales on key items from noon to 8PM only. Things like chicken breasts and hamburger for 99 cents a pound. Cheeses deeply discounted as well as the usual ice cream, cake mixes etc. Today they had little live basil plants for 99 cents. When I was in Chicago, K had a new plant on her windowsill and used some fresh basil for her insalata caprese - yum! So I thought I'd try my black thumb once again. We'll see.

On my way to grocery shopping I swung by St. Barnabas and dropped off the many
toiletry items for the toiletry kits for the homeless that are put together every couple of months. The Dollar Store website had toothbrushes and nailclippers in bulk. I ordered nail clippers and toothbrushes. I had picked up deodorant and toothpaste on our last trip to Costco. The toiletries are put into cloth bags. I picked up some pre-cut bags to sew for the project. I used to make toiletry baskets by the hundreds twice a year when I was in CT.

T and I walked around the golf course, did some bird watching and watched a beautiful sunset as we headed west down our street on the way to our house.

Back to normal - sort of

While I was in Chicago, I tried to stay on west coast time. As it happened, daylight savings time ended while I was away, so I gained another hour (I think) while I was there, but I didn't know it because I was on California time. Then I returned and this morning I woke up at the new west coast normal time so I think I'm on the right time, but I'm not entirely sure! I made it to the 7:15 spin class. The spin classes have been really full since the beginning of October. They tell me it gets busy from now until just after the new year and then it gets less busy again. There are only 7 bikes. The rule is that when it's busy you have to sign up for class. If you're not there by 5 minutes before the class, someone else can take your bike. Haven't been bumped so far.

Today I held the November A Hand Up board meeting. I've held 10 telephone board meetings (I attended 2 in person)since we moved to the west coast. It seems to work pretty well. Accomplished a lot in an hour and a half.

At the same time there was a meeting held by the California Public Utility Commission regarding the water and sewer charges for the mesa. There have been repeated increases in fees for both and residents on the mesa were up in arms. There is another application for another increase which prompted the CPUC meeting to provide information to residents and to hear concerns. There were many people in attendance. T attended for us and was able to give me the scoop. The CPUC got an earful and will take all the information back and add it to their analysis before writing their report. Water and sewer are our highest utility bill by 3 fold!

Successful trip

Well, I'm back from the windy city after an overnight delay. Fortunately, I got back in time to vote. Sunday, I had an "uryurp" for dim sum. K and her friends had discovered a new place in Evanston called Lulu's dim sum. It's a pan Asian place with a twist on dim sum. They had a special where you could pretty much order as much as you wanted of anything on the menu (with the exception of 4 seafood dimsums). Some of the items were pretty traditional (pot stickers), spring rolls, and some of the items were very original. Here's a link to their menu: http://www.lulusdimsum.com/02-menu-food.html. It was very tasty. After dim sum, we walked around Evanston and checked out furniture stores and checked out many of the huge changes in Evanston. How that city has grown! We drove back via the Vogue fabric store. This store has been in Evanston for decades. It is a magnet for designers and sewers of all skills and levels. Here's a link to their website: http://www.voguefabricsstore.com/store/catalog/index.html If you're any kind of sewer, you would love this store. We looked around for silver/grey silk weight fabric for eventual curtains for K's bedroom. There were SO many choices that when she gets ready to buy fabric, there should be no lack of choices. We intended to look for yarn for me to make an afghan for her new white chair but the traffic heading toward the yarn store was mighty heavy - and imagine it was a Sunday. So we returned to her condo and hung up a number of wall decorations.

For a real treat, K prepared a very nice dinner of stuffed roughy, pasta and an insalata caprese. It was quite a treat to have her cook for me. It was the first time! We talked and watched a dvd before retiring.

Monday we made the most of the time we had together. We first went to the bank to add me to a savings account. Nowadays in order to have a joint account all parties have to be present. We've always had a joint account but our current one is in Connecticut and with neither of us living there we are opening one at the BOA which is in both IL and CA and closing the one in CT. The bank business took over an hour! Can't say I was impressed with the customer service, only in that they didn't have enough staff. We then went in search of a couple of fedoras and knives. Chicago being one of those place where it's cold and windy in the winter requires wearing winter hats. She found a couple she liked. We then went to a Marshall's and found a few good kitchen knives to replace the dull steak knives she was using to prepare her meals.

K drove me to a blue line L station which was only 4 stops from the airport. Instead of her driving out to the airport, I was at the airport in much less time than it would have taken her to drive me. My flight to Phoenix was smooth and arrived early. Then the fun began. The flight to SLO was a full one and the weather in SLO was calling for heavy rain. The plane was one of the larger planes they have recently put on. This is fine unless the weather is questionable. Then the weight becomes an issue for landing at the small/short runway. So they bumped 40 of the passengers, yours truly being one. They gave us a choice of taking a flight to Santa Barbara and being bussed up to SLO or to stay over and take the 11 AM flight today. I first tried to get on the flight to Santa Barbara. I made it and made my way on board only to find there were no more seats available. I think I was really not intended to take that flight - who knows why, but perhaps one day I will find out why. Anyway, I got a free ticket to anywhere in the US and a free night at the Sheraton with complimentary continental breakfast and a safe on time flight this morning.

T met me at the airport and we returned and immediately went to vote before coming home. The polling place is in the development. There was no line and we were done in minutes.

Chicago

I left yesterday morning from San Luis Obispo for Chicago. T took me and our next door neighbors at 5 AM to the airport. The neighbors were heading to Cabo San Lucas and were on the same plane as I was. As we boarded it started to sprinkle but there was no effect on our take off. We landed early in Phoenix and I had no trouble making my connection which was supposed to be a 45 minute layover. The flight to Chicago left on time and we arrived early in Chicago. K met me at the airport and we dropped off my bag and a computer box she picked up at the office and headed out for the Golden Nugget (a diner). After being fortified with a delicious omelette, we headed to Gethsymene to buy a couple of small plants for her condo. Then she dropped me offa at P and K's. We had reservations for 7PM at the China Chef. AJ&J met us there for a delicious dinner with beef and Chinese broccoli on chow mein, shrimp with walnuts, Mongolian beef, crispywhole chicken, steamed fish and soup and egg rolls. Yum. We reconvened at P&K's for dessert and coffee. Kay came to pick me up, had some leftovers from dinner and dessert and we headed back to her condo. Great evening!

Parties

Yesterday was a party day. The fitness center held a costume optional exercise class with a pot luck party after the morning B-fit (trampoline aerobics) class. I was very surprised to see nearly 20 people all older than 50 dressed in costumes and really enjoying themselves. I found a pair of wings (D and R will remember them) at the Thrift store. They were being thrown out by the time I got them. I made some adjustments and wore the wings over a green shirt and put a ring of stars in my hair and went as Tinkerbell or just an angel. There were a few witches, batwoman, a clown, a fat lady, a pumpkin, a pirate, a hippie, a prisoner complete with a ball and chain, a devil, a dancer and a number of others. The pot luck was full of healthy salads and other treats.

In the evening three of my friends and I went to SLO to attend our first pot-luck dinner with Womenade, a direct charity, started by a retired teacher. There were about 20 women at the event. It was great to meet so many other like minded women and to learn what our contributions have gone to fund these past 2 months. Since the last pot luck Womenade collected $2,254 dollars and this is what it accomplished:
August 2008: Dental exam, x-rays, and cleaning for nine-year-old in pain. Referral: Dr. Kaplan ($110)

August 2008: Dental surgery for 5-year-old son of single mom. Referral: Cecelia, CDHP ($50)

August 2008: Dental surgery for 7-year-old with no parents. Referral: Cecelia, CDHP ($140)

August 2008: Dental surgery for homeless 4-year-old girl. Referral: Cecelia, CDHP ($100)

August 2008: Dental surgery for homeless 4-year-old boy. Referral: Cecelia, CDHP ($50)

August 2008: Dental surgery for daughter of single mom. Referral: Cecelia, CDHP ($50)

August 2008: Dental surgery for 3-year-old girl in family struggling with alcoholism. Referral: Cecelia, CDHP ($50)

August 2008: Bassinet for teen mom’s baby. Referral: Bridgette, PHN ($23.15) with trade credit from Mia’s

August 2008: Partial rent for young mother of 3-week-old; other agencies are short on money to help. Referral: Angie, PHN ($384)

August 2008: Clothes for toddler boy. Referral: Bridgette, PHN ($5.71) with trade credit from Merry-Go-Round

August 2008: Stroller for new baby of teen mom. Referral: Angie, PHN ($37.71) with special consideration from Merry-Go-Round


August 2008: Two sisters live with their parents in San Luis. One sister has a 13-year-old daughter who is profoundly deaf; she learned American Sign Language (ASL) and reads and writes in English. When her
parents tried to learn ASL, it was only taught in English, so they are limited to a very few signs. The second sister has a 2-year-old daughter who was born with a rare birth defect that prevents her from moving her jaw. She has speech therapy, and is being taught ASL signs as well as attempts to verbalize. The whole family needs to learn ASL in Spanish so they can communicate with their children. A Cal Poly intern who is trilingual (English, Spanish and ASL!) found an ASL instruction manual that is translated into Spanish, and has been working with the family. The family needs this book, so they can continue to learn after the intern moves on. With this book as a resource, the 13-year-old can teach her family. Referral: Melissa Lovitt-Adair, PHN ($43.43) from Judy Riener and Kathy Hannula

September 2008: College math text book for abused mom getting her life back. Referral: Laurie Morgan, Abused Children’s Treatment Program ($132.91)

September 2008: Infant seat for new baby. Referral: Bridgette, PHN ($8.66) with trade credit and special consideration from Merry-Go-Round
September 2008: Swing for baby of struggling single teen mom. Referral: Bridgette, PHN ($32.33)

September 2008: Car payment for mom whose husband left her; if she loses her car, she’ll lose her job. Referral: Crystal, PHN ($194.97)

September 2008: High chair for 2-year-old with a disability. Referral: Bridgette, PHN ($48.49)

September 2008: High chair for 2-year-old boy. Referral: Bridgette, PHN ($16.16)

September 2008: Booster seat for toddler of single mom. Referral: Bridgette, PHN ($21.54)

September 2008: Car seat for child of single mom. Referral: Bridgette, PHN ($48.27)

October 2008: Eye glasses for young child in Victim Witness program. Referral: Karla Robles, SAFE ($94)

October 2008: Rent for 20-year-old Mom whose newborn had to be transferred to Stanford; mom and baby’s father had to stop working. Referral: Bridgette, PHN ($300)

October 2008: Dental procedure for young daughter whose dad has been laid off. Referral: Cecelia, CDHP ($85)

October 2008: Dental surgery for toddler girl. Referral: Cecelia, CDHP ($55)

October 2008: Dental surgery for toddler boy who dad was severely burned. Referral: Cecelia, CDHP ($50)

October 2008: Gas for young family to take toddler to and from Children’s Hospital in UCLA. Referral: Barbie, PHN ($90)

October 2008: Double stroller for young family that must walk as means of transportation. Referral: Barbie, PHN ($25)

The nut man

Yesterday we went looking for our favorite nut man. We have found the most delicious locally grown almonds. They come from Hanford, California. The grower sells them at many of the local farmers' markets but none on the South County markets. The closest one is in Los Osos, where we rented the first winter we came to California. That's where we discovered him. He has many varieties of nuts but we find the best ones are the smokehouse and the honey roasted almonds. If you buy $20 of nuts he always throws in a 1/2 lb of local walnuts. Yum. Bought a couple of bags to take to Chicago.

Clouds

Well, today there were some real clouds in the sky. We haven't had real clouds for months. We may have had a couple of days with a solitary small cloud but not real clouds. We have had lots of marine layer but these were real clouds. When we were in New England we wouldn't have given cloudy skies a second thought, but it's a pretty big deal around here. We are heading into the "rainy season" and are all praying for rain. Even in a good rainy season we don't get that much rain so it's really important to get as much as we can. So YAY for the clouds.

Halloween parade

One of the neat things about living in this community is the coordinated events that the events committe organizes. Yesterday on my walk I came upon the Halloween parade. There were close to 50 kids and their parents dressed up in their Halloween costumes walking behind a golf cart which was decked out in Halloween splendor blaring spooky music. The hobgloblins were followed by another decked out golf cart that kept everyone together. The parade made it's way up Cypress Ridge Road to the park at the top of the hill. There were games, entertainment and food waiting the large crowd. Everyone was very festive and the little ones were very excited. It's great that they had more than one opportunity to wear their costume.

Rocket launch

When we moved into our house they told us we could actually view the rocket launches that leave from Vandenberg Air Force base right from our back yard. There have been a few launches but they take place in the middle of the night and we have missed all of them. Yesterday they had one that left at 7:28 PM. T and I went out and awaited it and almost missed it.
T went in to get a jacket and I turned my back for a second to close the screen in my bedroom door when out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a brightening in the sky to the south. I called T out quickly and we watched as the southern night sky got brighter and we watched the flames beneath the rocket push it into the sky. It's just like in the film clips. We had the added interesting physics effect of the sound getting to us quite a bit later than the light.

This rocket is the third spacecraft carrying Italy's home-grown Earth observing system, a constellation of radar satellites built for civil and military reconnaissance. The launch had a split second launch opportunity to get this satellite in a proper placement with the other 2 sister satellites in an orbiting network.

This launch marked the 84th straight successful launch at of delta rockets from Vandenberg.

Here's what the news said about the launch:
"The two stages and four side-mounted boosters of the 12-story rocket did their jobs during the hour-long ascent that extended half-way around the globe, ultimately deploying the 4,200-pound payload into a 335-nautical mile orbit.

Developed by Thales Alenia Space Italia for the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Ministry of Defence, the COSMO-SkyMed system is a flagship program with a 1 billion euro price tag. "

The next launch will occur from the West Coast, too. The rocket will begin on-pad assembly in early December for a planned February 4 liftoff carrying a civilian weather satellite for the U.S. government.

What shut down the nuclear power plant?

A swarm of nearly 1,000 jellyfish floated into the cooling water cove at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant Tuesday evening. This forced the shutdown of one reactor and the reduction to half power of the second.

These moon jellyfish have been washing ashore for weeks. They say this is a sign that population is booming. The mass of moon jellies clogged the plant’s cooling water intake screens, impairing the ability of pumps to circulate enough cooling water through the system. The bar racks and rolling screens prevent kelp and other large debris from entering the circulation pipes, but these systems can be overwhelmed with a large influx of organic matter. The nuclear plant circulates billions of gallons of seawater daily through its cooling system in order to condense steam that has powered the plant’s two huge electrical generators.

Other plants that use ocean water for cooling have had problems with jellyfish, but this is the first time jellies have caused a shutdown at Diablo Canyon, which dates to the mid-1980s.

Two high school musicals

T and I volunteered at the Clark Center twice in the last week for the two local high school early fall musical productions. We were surprised that both public high schools were able to produce a musical just 6 weeks into the school year.

Arroyo Grande High School put on "Zombie Prom" (a High School Musical with ghoulish overtones) for 2 nights with a large cast and a fairly large set. Nipomo High School put on "You're a Good Man Charilie Brown" with a cast of 7. Nipomo High School started in 2002 with 9th and 10th grade and by 2004/5 had all four years. It has close to 1300 students. All the students would have attended Arroyo Grande High School before it split off. Arroyo Grande High School still has nearly 2300 students.

T directed and acted in "YAGMCB" over 30 years ago and he had many nostalgic moments and lots of critiques. All in all both shows were well done for high school shows and amazing given the short amount of time they had to cast, produce, rehearse and put on. Each high school puts on 4 musicals a year plus a number of straight plays as well - can you tell we're in California!

What's happening on the central coast?

It's interesting to take a birds eye view of the headlines in the local paper.
Today the various headlines were:
San Luis Obispo man arrested on suspicion of robbery
Chalk Fire UpdateLocal
SLO County employers preparing for baby boomer retirements
SLO Regional Rideshare kicks off carpool week
Central Coast popular with European travelers
Biz Buzz: Paso’s wine country exposed

I guess the way to get away from the constant droning of the elections and the state of the economy and the war is to read your local paper!

A CAbi party

I went to a CAbi party today. I'm not sure if this is a true California experience but it sure was a first for me. CAbi stands for "Carol Anderson by invitation". It's a direct marketing sale of a designer's clothing line. Carol Anderson used to market her things through Norstroms and Neiman's. She has a fall/winter and a spring/summer line each year. This was a little like a Pampered Chef and a little like the real Filene's Basement. There was a party aspect in that the hostess had a wonderful spread of wines and foods. I didn't know this was the practice and the party was at 1:30 so I ate before! Who knew. After some socializing with the other guests, most of whom I didn't know, we got down to the show. Everyone was encouraged to model clothing from the racks. The consultant had a variety of sizes of the pieces in the fall/winter collection for folks to try on. After some initial modesty, women got a lot more comfortable just swapping pieces and ohing and ahing over what others had on. I "modeled" a pair of casual pants and a reversible vest. The pants were very comfortable and flattering so the technique worked. I probably wouldn't have bought them if I hadn't tried them on. So now I have to find something to throw out once the new pants arrive. We are still trying to stick to the one thing in, one thing out rule.

I couldn't believe how much people were ordering. I guess I'm just not the right type of consumer. The designs are very flattering on. One of the other guests was also a "color me beautiful" graduate and she cornered me and asked for my opinion on colors. She already knew what she should wear but others were telling her how great things looked on her and she trusted another cmb's opinion. Often the color wasn't right - she's a spring and many of the colors were for winters so they just didn't look good on her and wouldn't have fit in her wardrobe. She did end up buying quite a few items that were in her palatte.

Tough economic times hit the central coast

The economists are not ready to claim that we are in a recession but I think the consumer decided that awhile ago. In this morning's paper there was an announcement that two stores were closing in San Luis Obispo. Mervyns is a department store chain in that in between retail market between the K-marts and the Lord and Taylor world. The Mervyns in SLO opened 25 years ago. Mervyns is closing all of its stores. The second store to announce its closing is the Linens and Things at one of the new malls in SLO. SLO doesn't have a official mall. The closest one is in Santa Maria. The LNTs store opened about a year ago when the mall opened. The consumers came at the beginning but with the economic downturn, business has dried up.

There was another article about the current economic impact on the wineries in the area. They are seeing a decline in sales in both the tasting rooms and in the broader market but it's not as marked as one would expect. I guess people will keep drinking through a recession.

Dinner with friends

Last night one of the neighbors hosted a big dinner party at the Pavillion that is part of the development. There were 16 people in all. I had met everyone before and enjoyed the chance to get to know a few people a little better. There golf course has a small restaurant at the pro shop but it closes at 6. There is no separate restaurant in Cypress Ridge. The chef at the Pavillion (which is a conference/event place) loves to cook and wishes more of the residents would use his services. It was like a very private party at a resort area. The hostess picked a salmon and a steak choice, both of which were prepared very well. There was a cocktail hour before and a delicious chocolate flourless torte for dessert plus after dinner drinks. Terrific evening with new friends.

Back to the routine

D and R came, saw and went! We had a great visit with them. They arrived Monday evening in time for dessert. I had made a half cake each of a sour cream mocha chocolate cake and carrot cake plus a pumpkin bread for breakfasts. We stayed up and caught up with each other Monday evening. Tuesday was a full morning of exercise. D & R braved the fitness center and took both the B-fit class (aerobics on a mini trampoline) plus my T'ai Chi class. They did exceptionally well in both. We then went for a 5 mile walk. After a tasty lunch of wrap sandwiches, we took off for San Luis Obispo and the mission. We took the long way to SLO traveling over See Canyon Road to see the beautiful vistas from the mountain top of the SLO valley and the coastline from Montano de Oro to Guadalupe. Although the mission was closed we were able to check out the grounds, the gardens and the gift shop. We strolled about the center of town before heading off to Morro Bay. After a brief walk around the center of town we went to dinner at the Great American Fish Company for a terrific meal. Thank you D&R! On Wednesday after a spinning class at the fitness center, we headed off for the beach and visited the monarch butterfly grove. The butterflies are beginning to return. We returned via the beach and visited the St. Barnabas Thrift shop, then off for a quick tour of Arroyo Grande and lunch at the Rock and Roll Diner. We had a great visit - all too fast, but lots of fun.

Waiting for company

It's another beautiful day in central California. We are eagerly awaiting D and R's arrival. They called to say they would be here in time for dessert but not dinner. They called around 2:30 from Santa Ana and were being re-routed due to the fires in the LA area. We expect them around 7. Can't wait!

Keeping busy

T and I ushered for a show called Follies Thursday evening. It was a dance recital by senior citizens! The dancers are all between 50 and 85 and they primarily tap dance. There had some local singers and a local children's dance troupe with them. Now I know what happens to all those little girls who loved to dance when they were younger but were not good enough to continue. The group raises money for Parkinson's research. Over the years they have raised over $200,000.

I worked at the thrift store yesterday afternoon and we had a $400 day! It was crazy busy. The place was hopping with shoppers and donations. Interestingly there was a story on the news last night reporting on the slow down in donations at thrift stores and the slow down in shoppers. You could have fooled me. I think we are getting more and more people who normally shop in retail stores. We even had dumpster divers fishing for things that we deemed not good enough to sell in the store.

Last night it turned significantly cooler with temperatures dropping into the 40s overnight. It warmed up into the 60s but the wind persisted all day. They are calling for another round of Santa Ana winds starting Monday, just in time for a visit from D and R from Connecticut. We are looking forward to their visit.

Hace mucho calor

Yesterday the Santa Ana winds kicked up their heels and blew into the area. They say that the winds let you know that fall has come. Along with the winds comes the high temperatures from the valley. It was 100 and up in many central coast communities and only in the 80s in traditionally warmer areas like Paso Robles and Atascadero. The town of Arroyo Grande made it to 96 degrees but it only made it to 89 at our house. We had a party to celebrate my birthday last night and P & S and Aunt L and her companion all came for a dinner of t-pang, noodles, green beans with black beans, home made pot stickers, cucumber salad and chocolate mocha cake for dessert. The temperature cooled down as the sun set and it was in the high 60s by the time they left. Today it was milder but warmer than it has been. A really beautiful late summer day.

Here is a picture and a video from the Bonnie Raitt concert the other day. T emailed them to me.

Turkey anyone?

M & O live in Wellfleet in the summer. They've been reporting sightings of wild turkeys on Route 6 on the way to Provincetown holding up traffic as they cross. I remember the time I came across a flock of turkeys on the way to Providence when I was visiting K for one of her orchestra concerts at Brown. Of course no one believed me when I told them that this huge flock of turkeys blocked the road, and the traffic all stopped and patiently waited for them to cross. Well, M&O had proof of wild turkey sightings right outside their new living room slider!

Bonnie Raitt at Avila Beach

Yesterday we went to see Bonnie Raitt live in concert at the Avila Beach Golf Club, the same place we went to the San Luis Obispo Pops concert on Labor Day. http://www.avilabeachresort.com/events/upcomingevents.php The venue doesn't allow food or alcoholic beverages or opened bottles of water. T discovered this when he went online to check out the show. We went with our realtor and his wife, my cousin P & S, and another couple. The man in the other couple works as a stock broker with Waichovia Securities and the wife is a family counselor who writes a column for the local newspaper. The stockbroker was pretty down given the news about his company and the stock market.

When our realtor first organized this outing he invited everyone to bring food for a potluck meal that we could share at the venue. Of course we had to change plans. Our realtor is a member of the Avila Bay Yacht Club and he was able to arrange for us to use the premises for our pot luck indoor picnic and we could watch the boat races at the same time.

The lunch was terrific and we enjoyed meeting another couple from the area. They live on some acerage in the Edna valley near San Luis Obispo. The concert was also terrific. Bonnie Raitt is a very talented musician and her music spans from country to mostly jazz and R&B. We had a really good time watching the crowd. People were dancing all over the place and with more and more wine and beer, more and more people were dancing. I think folks looked a lot better doing the same dances 30 to 40 years ago than they do now doing the same dances but we were all having a great time.

Rain?

This morning we experience the first measurable rain since April although it was pretty meager. Various towns received between .1 to .2 of an inch. Because we are in a drought, any prospect of rain is hailed with great excitement. T painted the exterior door frames in the back of the house. He wanted to do it before the rain. When we had the door leaks repaired last spring we had a tarp taped up over one of the doors to prevent the water from coming in during the rainy season. Then when they tested the door for leaks they used more tape to hold up more tarps. The tape pulled off some of the paint on the moldings around the doors. He did an excellent job.

It really smelled fresh after the rain. It's amazing what washes off houses and other structures when it hasn't rained for 6 months. The run off was pretty dirty. The roads were rather slick and the snails were out in full force. There were ribbons of snails trying to cross the roads all around the neighborhood. The rain was the talk of the neighborhood with most everyone thrilled to see it.

San Francisco Comedy Competition

Last night T and I ushered at the final regional competition for the San Francisco Comedy Competition which took place at the Clark Center in Arroyo Grande. http://www.sanfranciscocomedycompetition.com/Pages/History.html We'd never been to a Comedy Club type of venue. There were 5 comedians who each had 20 minutes to do a set. There were judges in the audience and about 450 people in the audience. Many in the audience were very into the performances. There was an MC who was also a comedian. He started by warming up the audience and explaining the applause meter and what might work to help identify a winner. The comedians were all men. The first guy was totally over my head and therefore I didn't find him funny at all. He got a good ovation but being first it was hard to judge audience approval rating. It appears that the funniest topics are section, size of men's body parts, other bodily noises, marriage and of course more sex, ethnic centered humor based on the ethnicity of the comic, families, and children. I thought 2 of the 5 were pretty funny and Steve White (who's black) one last night's performance and will go onto the finals.

Another friend passes

I heard that another of my colleagues from my bleaker days in my career passed away late last month. Jim Bungerz (http://obit.grayfuneralhomes.com/obit_display.cgi?id=586239&listing=Current&clientid=grayfuneralhomes) joined the investment arm that was called Time Square Capital Management. They were the outside investing arm for CIGNA in the late 90s. During the time when it seemed everything in my life was in disarray - my parents were failing and then died, my in-laws were failing and then died, my sister-in-law was failing and then died, my career was changed as part of a reorganization and I started working for "evil" people and with poor leadership. As a portfolio manager for inside assets I needed all the help I could get. As you can imagine, TSCM was not keen on spending much time supporting us as we didn't bring in any revenue for them. Jim was the exception and always spent quality time providing top class research and service for me and my portfolios. He also had a great sense of humor and was an outstanding human being. Jim died from ALS. He kept a positive attitude right til the end. What a terrible disease! I will miss him.

What's the buzz?

I find it interesting to listen to what is on people's minds. The fitness center is a great place to listen in on the topics of the day. This morning the talk was about a number of people's tales of recent vacations, how much money various people have lost in the recent turbulent times, the failed bail out plan,the vice-presidential debate, Sunday night's Desparate Housewives season opener and Dancing with the Stars. Everywhere I go I find people are a lot more willing to share things about themselves than I would ever be. At social gatherings people share details about portfolio losses, hygiene habits, political persuasions, details of the children's lives and choices in everything from food to movies. It's fun to throw out a topic and listen to what people want to contribute. Most of the area is pretty liberal and democrat but there are pockets of conservative, Christian right wing folks mixed in. There is a new group of liberal women who are meeting monthly because they say they feel uncomfortable espousing their liberal views.

There is a California wide vote on disallowing gay marriage. The lines are drawn and there doesn't appear to be a middle ground.

Turbulent times

In my old working life I spent a number of years giving investment advice to pension plan sponsors and later to individuals. These turbulent times we are experiencing are like no others I ever experienced when I was in the business. People are very skiddish and some are on the verge of panic. I believe that if you can ride out the storm (and it is a big one) that you do that and when the market recovers, you should re-examine your risk tolerance. I think many people get overexposed to equities - the let it ride mentality and portfolios get out of balance. This is a real test of whether one has too much invested in risky assets!

I've always been a proponent of setting an asset allocation strategy first and utilizing lower cost index funds which automatic rebalancing. It doesn't help much if you've got too much risk than what you're comfortable with which leads back to having the right asset allocation strategy.

Anyway, people all over the world are in a similar boat. We'll have to stay tuned for the next episode.