Blond Boys Can’t Jump

Jonesie and Kaci

Jonesie is seven months old now. He seems normal in every way, but we’ve begun to notice that he doesn’t jump up on things the way cats usually do. I know that when our other cats were his age, they were jumping up on the counter in the kitchen and any other place to snoop. Jonesie does not jump up on the kitchen counters! I don’t know if it’s because he hasn’t gotten the idea yet, or if he doesn’t think he can do it.

I think he’s fine physically. We do notice that he moves around, investigating things and instead of standing, he immediately lays down. It doesn’t look like there’s anything wrong. He walks around like a little tiger. It’s become so common that although we notice it, we think it’s just so amusing to watch.

He chases Jason or Kaci, jumps on them, wrestles with them, but when Jason wants to get away from him, he jumps up to the top of the entertainment center. Jonesie hasn’t shown any curiosity about it yet. He does come in the kitchen for his nightly snack though. If I’m taking too long for him, he tries to climb up the drawers. Of course he can’t do that.

We’ll keep an eye on him and we may regret that one day when we come in the kitchen, we’ll find him on the counter.

The only other cat who could not jump was Rowdy. He had a good physical reason though. When we got him from the animal shelter, he had ear mites. Back in those days (1989), we had to put medication in his ears for two weeks, take him back to the vet for examination, then two more weeks of medication. In Rowdy’s case, his ear mites were so bad, we had to give him an extra two weeks of medication. He just hated that. When we took him in, the vet looked in his ear and found that the mites were so severe, his ear drum had burst in one ear. That made his equilibrium off balance.

When he walked along the back of the couch, he would fumble, like he was going to fall over. We used to laugh, but it was because he was off balance. When he got older, he didn’t like heights. Unusual for a cat, but Rowdy was special. We never had to worry about him getting up on things we didn’t want him to be on.

We compare the jumping with Taz. He jumped and floated down like a feather.

I don’t think Jonesie has a physical problem. He should be able to jump up on things the normal way that cats do. As long as I know he is healthy, I won’t worry if he doesn’t get on our kitchen counters.

More later.............

Grief is not something you get over. It is something you walk through and learn how to manage and live with.

Since we are planning on taking an RV trip across the country in May, we took the RV to our specialist to have maintenance and any repairs done, if needed. Last year we put it through these preparations with a tuneup, new tires, etc. But, then we didn’t make the trip.

So this time, we got the tuneup, fan in the bathroom replaced, brakes on the back wheels, and other minor stuff done. We went to pick it up this morning.

The RV Specialists are located not far from Miramar Road. Their street ends in a cul-de-sac. Just through the cul-de-sac and down a long, winding road to the bottom of the hill is the San Diego Pet Memorial Park. This is where our Chelsi, Grady and Taz were cremated.

I actually discovered the park in 1993 when I worked at a construction company near here. It was probably one of the worse jobs I’d ever gotten myself into (I quit after only two weeks). It was my first job here when we moved from Pennsylvania to San Diego.

It was too far to drive home for lunch, so usually I’d go out and look for shopping centers or drive around, just to get out of the office and explore the area. One day I was driving down Miramar Road and saw the sign for the San Diego Pet Memorial Park. I followed the signs there. It was a very peaceful place. Even though we didn’t have a pet buried there, I walked around and looked at some of the graves. The park has been there since 1962.

"A Tribute to God's Creatures"
Opening of the park, 1962
(all pictures come from the park's website)

This morning when I dropped Charlie off at the RV place, I drove on down the hill to the Park. We had taken Taz there last October when he died. It was the last time I saw Taz and I just wanted to go there and walk around and remember him, as well as our other ones.

No one else was in the cemetery. I walked through, looking at the stones, the names, dates, words of love and remembrance (“We’ll meet again at the Rainbow Bridge”). The markers are all flat, but they are not all the same. Some have pictures of the dog or cat. I even found a bunny, “Boing”, someone’s little pet who lived to be 11 years old. I didn’t think rabbits lived more than five or six years.

I didn’t realize that the park was so large. I kept walking and then I came to the end. In the corner, under a tree there was a bench. I thought it would be nice just to sit for awhile and be alone. As I was walking to the bench, I noticed two graves and the markers indicated that horses were buried there. One was a national champion.

It was overcast, but not cold. I sat and looked around the grounds. People had put flowers on their pets’ graves. Some of the flowers needed to be picked up and thrown away, but I’m sure the park has people who do that. There were little stuffed toys lying around too. These were all indications that people still came to visit their pets’ grave. Some had been buried here for years.

There was a wind chime hanging from the limb of the tree over the bench where I sat. All of a sudden a breeze came up and the wind chime started moving and making its pretty sound. The park was full of birds chirping. I was overwhelmed just sitting there in that peaceful place, thinking of all of the pets here who were so loved by their owners. Of course, I had started crying when I first arrived while walking through, looking at the graves. I didn’t think to bring a kleenex (and no, I didn’t use my sleeve, although it came to mind!).

I finally felt ready to leave. When I got back to my car, I noticed some dried up plants at the edge of the trees. These were obviously from the graves. There was a little evergreen tree, the kind you see in the stores at Christmas time. I picked it up and felt of its leaves. They were still fairly supple. Maybe it was still alive. I brought it home and I’m going to plant it in memory of all of our babies who have left us: Rowdy, Calvin, Chelsi, Mo, Grady and Taz. I hope it lives.

Oh, and when I was driving home I thought, 'Well, I went to the pet memorial park to remember Taz and the other babies and I had a good cry. Charlie had a good cry while driving the RV home.........after he paid the bill!'

More later.........

Have no fear, Miss Ellie is here!

Jezibel and the three kittens who stayed with us
Lexi, Grady and Ellie 3 months old

This afternoon I was sitting in the livingroom reading a magazine. The house was quiet, I had the radio playing low. Then I heard Ellie coughing and gagging upstairs. I went up to check on her. About an hour earlier we had given her one of her asthma pills. She had been wheezing really loud. The pill was starting to break up the congestion in her chest and it always sounds like she’s going to drown in the run off down her throat.

I brought her downstairs with me and held her on my lap. Sitting there, petting and soothing her, I thought of how we had taken care of her when she was born. She was the smallest of the kittens that Jezibel had, but she was the feistiest. Just plain fearless.

Ellie with Chelsi at 5 weeks old

When we were bottle feeding the kittens, Ellie was always a ravenous drinker. She would suck from the bottle, her little eyes would water and her ears moved back and forth with each swallow. Just watching her, you knew she was just loving that milk.

When Ellie was five or six weeks old, we made a pen in the family room for the kittens so anyone who came over to look at them would be able to see them in the open. Ellie was the first of the kittens to climb the fence and escape. She struggled all the way to the top, went over and dropped to the floor. She had set her sights on Charlie and ran across the room to where he was sitting on the couch. Of course, it wasn’t long before the others learned the trick of climbing the fence and then none of them stayed in one area.

Ellie at 8 weeks old

Ellie also used to be close to her mother, Jezibel. They would sleep together and wash each other. Then when Ellie got older, Jezibel no longer wanted to be near her and they drifted apart.

Ellie’s back legs started getting weak a few years ago and she is wobbly now. Even so, she is still fearless. She doesn’t like Jason (or any of the other cats for that matter). She used to stay in Charlie’s office with him, but then decided that she wanted to be in the middle room which has the day bed. There’s a set of steps so she can climb up to the bed if she wants to.

Jason and Kaci like to come in that room and sit in the cat tree to look out the window. I was in there putting some blankets in the closet the other day. I heard a scuffle behind me. I turned around in time to see Ellie “running” down the steps from the bed and “rushing” at Jason. Ellie loses her balance when she tries to run fast and she’s unsteady, but she does move. It always seems to take Jason by surprise when Ellie confronts him. He’s always the loser. I have to give him credit, he does not fight back. He somehow knows that he will lose against Ellie. We rush to break it up when we hear the loud growls. Usually we find Ellie with Jason backed into a corner or up against a wall. She is all puffed up and about to attack. Jason is wide-eyed and hoping someone will come and rescue him from her.

Since Ellie has asthma, we try to keep her from getting too stressed out. We used to allow her to have the run of the upstairs rooms, but she got to where she would sit just inside one of the rooms and wait for Jason to come upstairs. Then she would attack him. Charlie refers to her as “building her spider web” near the door like a black widow spider. Now we put a gate up and keep her in one of the rooms. The other cats usually don’t bother her either.

For awhile she ignored Jonesie, but he’s no longer safe from her. She’s attacked him a couple of times. He doesn’t know what to do since he’s so young. But, our biggest worry is that Ellie will have an asthma attack from all of the activity. Jonesie forgets about it pretty quick and is on to something else.

Ellie is breathing pretty easy now and will probably sleep well tonight. She was 11 years old last month. When we hear her gasping and wheezing we know that each time she goes through these attacks, she gets weaker. With the physical problems she has, like her weak back legs and asthma, she doesn’t let that stop her. She is still fierce and inside she is still that fearless little kitten we remember.

Ellie

More later..........

You don't marry someone you can live with, you marry the person you cannot live without.

False Point - La Jolla

Patti and I have known each other since sometime in 1993. We worked together. I was working as a government contractor and she was a federal employee.

At the time we met, I was working in the NISE WEST (now SPAWAR) San Diego office which consisted of a few people (all guys) who had come down to set up an office, ahead of the bigger move which was to take place in a year or so. Mare Island, which was a base up near Vallejo, CA would be closing and this division would be moving to San Diego. Patti came down to San Diego to help set up the office which she would eventually be working in when she moved down in a year or so.

She and I became friends right away. She was single at the time, but was open to meeting someone, if the right person came along. Since Charlie was a naval officer, she jokingly encouraged me to get Charlie to “set her up” with an admiral. Since Charlie is not the match making kind, the request fell on deaf ears.

One Saturday morning, not long after Patti moved to San Diego, she was sitting at the counter having breakfast at a restaurant near work. Next to her was a man who was reading the paper. His “pick up” line was something about the new 100 dollar bill which was being revised to foil counterfeiters. It worked. He and Patti started talking. They exchanged phone numbers. A few days later Bob called and made a date. That’s how they met.

Completely unrelated, my computer crashed on March 1. It took a couple of weeks, but I finally got a new computer and my files were all backed up. The other day I was going through my files to see if I could organize them better. I came across the following story which was written by Bob, describing his marriage proposal to Patti. I had forgotten that I had a copy of it, which Patti had sent to me.

With Bob’s permission, I am putting it in my blog:

FALSE POINT - TRUE LOVE
By Robert Kruger

In the north, the promontory, known as False Point, serves as the beginning of high cliffs that, over a distance of two miles, lessen from one hundred feet in height down to beach level. This section of California coast provides a stretch of mostly wide and sandy beach. Towards the Point, the last one-fourth mile becomes rocky. Along this beach, my first permanent lasting memories began.

It was July 1948, when I first saw the Pacific Ocean. I can recall the newness, the blue sky blending into the horizon of the ocean, the steady cool breeze coming straight from the west, the smell of the salt air --- sensations all new to and exciting to me. The portion of bluff I was standing on was only about 50 feet high, but the panoramic view gave it the appearance, or I should say, the feeling, of a much greater height. Maybe it was the slight build of an eleven-year-old versus the grandeur of nature. All I know is that I can still remember the excitement I felt that day --- even after all those many years since then.

The spot in which I stood was a small longitudinal-sized park not more than 40 feet wide and 300 feet long. Its restroom and path to the beach, beside the view, were the main reasons for its existence. It was located in Pacific Beach, a community of San Diego. As I looked north, or to the right, since I probably didn’t know my directions that well at the time, I noticed that there appeared to be some sort of buildings and a tall tower-like structure on top of the Point. I wondered what it was. That was the first time that I ever saw False Point.

My family had just arrived from Wayne, Pennsylvania. All during the trip out west, my two older brothers, Teddy and Marty, and myself, peppered our dad with questions (Joe and Pete were too little to have any useful opinions). We didn’t know what to expect about California. To me, it was as intriguing as a foreign country. Dad didn’t help much, because he always said “Yeah, sure”. When we asked him specific questions like: are there cowboys and Indians? “Yeah, sure”, as he frantically tried to pass a semi on a two-lane highway. Horses? “Yeah, sure”, etc., etc. The only thing that I had to go on was the movies and my imaginations, limited as it was.

So we drove up to our new house in Pacific Beach, went in, looked around and cut out to the beach....to this ocean we’d heard so much about. We found it two blocks due West. Boy, was that big, big, ocean neat! And little did I know that for the next ten years, basically, it would be my home away from home.

For whatever reasons, Teddy and Marty, after an initial couple of months of interest, sort of drifted away on to other interests, probably girls. I didn’t. I was fortunate to become friends with Andy, Dickie and Damon. Andy was the prototype outdoorsman. He knew everything about fishing, hunting, diving---everything. Because of these pals, I got to learn to experience and to love the ocean and all the neat things associated with it.

From my house, to reach the beach, you crossed Mission Boulevard and went down the path through Tourmaline Canyon to the beach. Or you could walk south to the Palisades Park on Law Street and get to the beach from there. Tourmaline Canyon had rattlesnakes, so.... we always went that way. Our days were filled with swimming, bodysurfing, fishing, surfboarding, abalone diving, spear fishing, lobstering (at night) or beach combing. Wow! What a life for a young kid! Remember, this was in the 40's and early 50's - so, no people on the whole north end of that long stretch of beach.

I don’t know exactly when we first explored False Point, but I think my brothers and I ventured up that way soon after we noticed it. To reach it, we had to walk along the beach over high mounds of kelp and seaweed brought in by the tides and piled against the foot of the cliff, which defined the north end of the beach. In front of the kelp were large rocks, that you hopped from one to the other if you wanted to go along the shoreline without stomping through the fly-infested kelp mounds.

On this particular day, when we reached the foot of the Point, we saw barbed wire fences all around the base. Great concrete slabs also littered the rocks. We found a path that went to the top and climbed up. It was really interesting, many concrete buildings, sunken concrete rooms that had small windows with metal flaps looking towards the sea and, of course, the tower. After climbing the four-story tower, which had no railing or walls, just floor areas, we realized this whole area had been an Army fort (actually a coastal artillery emplacement). What we had discovered was the first line of defense against a Japanese invasion. Looking to the Northeast, we saw other gun emplacements on the hills of Bird Rock. At any rate, with World War II still fresh in my mind, this became the perfect place for John Wayne to re-fight the war. We played for days at the old fort, but with so much to do, the days of make believe ended. False Point remained a large part of my life, though, from that time forward.

The Point became a place where my buddies and I hung out. One time Andy and I rowed his homemade ten-foot skiff all the way out to the kelp beds, then north to La Jolla Shores, about ten miles distance. We then called Andy’s older brother to come and get us in his old pickup truck.

As I grew into my teens, I used to walk on the rocks from Tourmaline Canyon north to the Point, pondering why life was so unfair at times and why my folks didn’t understand me. Eventually, I started walking up there with girls - holy mackerel - where have you gone, John Wayne! The old fort became a lover’s lane, because a road eventually found its way there. It was demolished and became a subdivision. But, the Point never changed from the seaside. It always was there no matter where I was in my life.

As I grew into adulthood, married and fathered two beautiful daughters, I had another chance to go back to my childhood through my children. I would show them how to jump rock to rock as we worked our way towards my past. It didn’t work. I suppose that girls and wives don’t think and feel the same as boys and fathers about certain places and things. Sitting on the rocks, skimming stones and trying to explain how it was for me, at that spot, just didn’t sell. Time moved on like it was supposed to, I got older and my girls married and started their own memories. And, in time, I forgot most of mine.

Recently, however, I got the chance to re-visit the place of so many of my early life’s experience. I had retired relatively young and was dating this lovely lady and decided to ask her to marry me. What better place to start my life over again than where I had begun my formative years? So, after obtaining all the necessary ingredients, I hatched my plan.

On our 19th month anniversary of dating (how’s that for a nice round number?), I asked Patti to take a walk with me on the beach toward False Point. As we strolled along the beach, I slyly deposited a wax-sealed bottle into the surf. Knowing women’s natural curiosity, I mention that there appeared to be something in the waves. Patti looked just as the water took the bottle out and away from us. She asked that, if I could get it without too much trouble, please do so. Just then a large wave saved my bottle and washed it right up to my feet. Patti, by this time, had swallowed the hook. I handed her the bottle. By now she was excited because this amber-colored bottle looked old and the wax seal was protecting something paper-like inside.

As Patti broke the seal she exclaimed, “There’s a note inside!” I said that is was just probably one of those deals that happen when you’re on a cruise ship and when you finish your wine, you seal a note in the empty bottle and toss it into the ocean. “What does it say?”, I asked. She started reading........

‘Hi Beachcomber, I was captured in this bottle many years until a nice man found it and freed me. I gave him three wishes. He chose serenity, happiness and love. I gave him the first two wishes, but, I told him that love took time to develop.

So, I told him to put this note back into the bottle and to cast it into the sea of time and that someday his true love would find it and he was then to ask her a question-

Patti, will you marry me?
If she says yes, then my third wish has been delivered.
What say yee, Beachcomber, won t you help an old genie out?’

I should have video taped her reaction. It was classic!

What, what -- do you mean it?, crying and experiencing a sudden shortness of breath. Are you serious? (Like I never had a serious thought before!)?

How’s this for serious? And I produced a ring box; opening it and showing her a solitaire diamond engagement ring.

I then said that she still had not answered my question. For once in her life, Patti was semi-speechless, but with gentle prodding, she responded with a squeaky “Yes”.

My day was won. I had found that spark to regenerate the excitement I had first felt on that July day so long ago. I had also come to realize something very important - no matter how beautiful God’s Nature is, no matter how awesome His wonders on this earth, it’s always more fulfilling to enjoy it with that special someone you love.

False Point probably will never change, but the one constant in life is change; and for me that change, once again, is for the good.........

Patti and Bob
Palm Springs 2004

Patti retired in 2002. She and Bob have been living in Palm Springs for the past several years. They just celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary last month. I wish them many more. We are going to meet them in Temecula for lunch next month. Temecula is about an hour’s drive and the half way point for both of us.

Oh, and I couldn't resist posting this picture of Taz. After all, it is still his blog. I'm just managing it for him.

"....and then, I called him a name and.....he's behind me, isn't he?"

More later.........

Cats may learn to become independent, but they also crave human company. They just don’t want everyone to know their little secret!

Jonesie, with the Mom who adores him

Jonesie, our newest addition to the cat family, will be 7 months old on Friday. It seems like we’ve always had him. From the time I brought him home, he belonged. Even the other cats who don’t like each other, much less little strangers, seem mystified by his affect on them.

We were always amazed at the twins, Jason and Kaci, when they played or wrestled with each other. Sometimes early in the morning they’d wake us up, tumbling with each other at the foot of the bed. They never made a sound. If it had been Jezibel or any of the other cats, they would have been screaming as if they were being killed. Of course, they don’t play with each other like that at all and never have.

Jezibel, trying to intimidate Kaci
(it worked)

Jonesie is the same as the twins. He’ll find one of the twins asleep and just pounce and start the wrestling match. Neither one make a sound. You’d never know what was going on unless the tumbling was going on near you.

Kaci and Jonesie in a wrestling match

This morning I was sitting on the couch talking on the phone to my brother. I was trying to listen to what he was saying. Jason was sitting on the floor looking out the sliding glass doors onto the enclosed cat patio. As I watched him, Lexi came up from behind and jumped on his back. She’s pretty big and since it caught him off guard, he fell over. He sat up and just looked at Lexi. I think that surprised her more than anything because when she does that to Jezibel, you can hear Jezibel’s scream a mile away. We always come running to break up the mother/daughter skuffle. I got up and opened the door and Lexi sauntered out onto the patio.

Lexi, looking down on everyone from her perch

Then Kaci came up on the couch next to me and immediately wanted to burrow in the blanket which covered the couch. That was okay, I allowed it since she’s a burrower. Then Jonesie, who had seen her go under the blanket, came up and got under the blanket too. Soon they were tumbling and it looked like two little pigs under the blanket. No noise, but lots of movement, which was distracting me. I reached under the blanket and felt for Jonesie. He came out. He was not done yet though. He started attacking Kaci from the back of the couch by jumping on top of her.

I still managed to listen and contribute to the phone conversation while this was going on. Then Sheila, who thinks that she should be involved in everything the cats do, came over and wanted to join the wrestling cats on the couch behind me. I pushed her away from the couch, but she only became more insistent. Finally, I held her back with my bare foot. She didn’t know what to think of that so she started licking my bare leg. That was it for me. I finally was forced to retreat from the couch and let the cats and Sheila have it.

I walked into the family room to try to finish my phone call. Sure enough, when I turned around, there were the twins, Jonesie and Sheila. All had followed me.

Soon they settled in and took their morning naps.

Jason and Jonesie after a wash-fest

I have always talked for them and what they say is true I guess:

“Mom, we are your reason for living!”

You haven’t lived until your mornings start off like this.

More later...........

Some of life’s happiest delights: A letter from an old friend, the antics of a kitten, the rainbow after a storm........

Today started out pretty well. We slept a little later than usual, but we were up late last night. The alarm when off at 6:20am and I just turned it off and went back to sleep. I woke up at 7:30am thinking ‘how can it be so late?’ Since it was overcast outside, the room stayed darker.

The cats were in their usual spots on our bed, all curled up. When Kaci (Little Girl) noticed that I was awake, she did what she normally does. She came up to me and curled up next to me and waited to be petted. I obediently complied.

"Sometimes I feel like someone is watching me"
Jezibel

I had to run a few errands later so I got ready and left the house around noon. I dropped off some old strings of Christmas lights, batteries, and light bulbs at the waste center. After a couple of more errands in town, I decided to stop at Vons grocery store and pick up some things before going home.

After shopping I headed home. I was only about 10 minutes from the house. When I drove up and parked, I noticed that my purse was not in the car. Instantly I knew that I had left it in the shopping cart. I had parked next to the shopping cart corral in the parking lot. When I put my groceries in the car, I remember pushing the cart into the corral.

I panicked to think that my purse was left in the shopping cart. It contained my life! All of my credit cards, my driver’s license, my military ID, my cell phone, and other things that weren’t that important, but I didn’t want to lose anyway.

I raced (and I mean RACED) back to the store to see if the purse was still there. Every driver who couldn’t go faster than 10 miles an hour got in my path. I was yelling “Get out of my way!”, in between praying to God that he not let this happen to me.

When I finally got back to the store parking lot, of course the purse was not there. I went into the store to see if it had been turned in. The girl looked in the safe and there was no purse. I can’t even tell you how much I was shaking. All kinds of things were running through my mind by this time.

We are leaving on vacation on May 10 and I would have to stop all of my credit cards, get new ones; get a new driver’s license; new military ID; new auto club card, and on and on. It just about took my breath away. This was my nightmare come true.

When I came out of the store I noticed that the man who had been putting his groceries in his car when I was putting my in, was still parked there. I walked over and said “Excuse me sir, but did you see anyone taking a purse from the carts over there?” He looked over and said “No”. He was listening to the ball game on the radio. Maybe he couldn’t do that at home. Anyway, I said that I had left my purse in the basket and he seemed sympathetic, but sincere and I went back to my car.

My next strategy was to ‘fly’ home and immediately go online and phone to stop all my cards. The same 10 mile an hour drivers were in my path. It only made me more frenzied.

When I finally got home, I ran into the house, yelling for Charlie, which is normal when I come home from shopping. He knows I want him to help bring stuff in from the car. He was upstairs in his computer room. He came out and pointed to the cell phone at his ear. I went straight up to my computer and started pulling up my first card on my list of credit cards.

Then the phone rang. For an instant I thought, “Maybe someone is calling about my purse”. I answered and it was from my doctor’s office. She said, “This is Claudia. We received your check and.....this has never happened to me.......but I thought the envelope was empty so I put it in the shredder. I shredded your check.......” At this point I’m frantic. This is what she's calling about? She shredded my check? I’ve lost my purse-- with my freaking life in it-- and she shredded my freaking check? Really? All I could think of was ‘I’ll write her another check, but I’ll use my other account.....’ All of these things were rushing through my head because I knew that my checking account....both of my checking accounts....... were compromised.....I told her that I had just lost my purse-- and she gasped. I knew she felt the horror I was feeling. We connected.

Then Charlie came in. He was still on the phone, probably on hold now. He said “Did you lose your purse?” I said “Yes!” He said, “There's a message on the phone. Someone called before you got home, but I was on the phone and couldn't pick up. Listen to the voice mail. I think someone found it”. I told Claudia I would send a check and she said “Don’t worry. Do whatever you have to do. Bye.” I ran downstairs and listened to the message.

“Hello, this is Darla Patterson. I’m calling to try to return your purse. It was left in a shopping cart at Vons and I’d like to get it back to you. I know how important it is to you. My number is...........” I barely heard the number, but somehow dialed it back and got her. I was so excited to hear that she had my purse, my life. I got her address and said I’d be right there.

Charlie went with me to get my purse. We drove up to the house. I parked, got out and locked the doors. As I was getting out of the car I noticed that my back windows were down. I got back in and turned the key to put the windows up. Then Darla, her husband and daughter came out of the house. I closed the car door and went over to her. They said that they had stopped at Vons just to pick up a couple of things. As they were getting in the car, they noticed something brown in the shopping cart. It was my purse.

I only had $23 in my wallet and I offered them $20. They refused to take it. I was so relieved that such honest people found my purse and called me. It could have been picked up by someone who wasn’t as honest and I’d never see it again. I had expected the worse and it had turned out for the best.

I told Darla that if I saw her in Vons sometime, I would pay for her groceries and I meant it.

They went back into the house as Charlie and I walked to the car. I couldn't find the keys. Charlie looked in and said "The keys are in the ignition and the doors are locked". This was nothing compared to what I had been through already. But, I had not had the chance to roll the back windows up, so we were able to open the back door and unlock the doors. All was well again.

As Charlie and I were driving home, after my adrenaline stopped pumping, we could laugh about it. We decided that if we saw Darla and her family in Vons and they had a basketful of steaks, we’d go down another isle before they saw us. But then, looking back on it, we decided that we wouldn’t mind paying for a basketful of steaks. It was nothing compared to what they did for me today!

Thank goodness, Mom got her purse back!

More later............

Spending time with a friend

I was driving home from Thousand Oaks on Saturday. I had my radio on and found KRTH-101 to listen to. I recognized the voice of the DJ, Charlie Tuna. I had listened to him on KHJ-AM when I first came to Los Angeles. He was the drive to work guy then. Here he was on an “oldies” station. Then I listened to a song which was from the ‘80's! Now that is considered oldies music. Wow. I remember when KRTH played music from the 50's that seemed old to me. In fact I didn’t listen to KRTH much back then....it’s one of the oldest FM stations left. The 80's don’t seem that old, but this is 2011.

I had spent a few days with my friend, Jan, who I met in 1980 or 1981. I was working at Pepperdine University in Malibu when she came to work there. At first I didn’t much like her because she was such a morning person. She got on my nerves. She was usually at her desk when I arrived for work. We both shared an office. She was perky and wanted to talk. I didn’t really want to talk until I had been at work an hour or two. I guess I grunted at her or just didn’t say much when she talked to me with that lilt in her voice.

She likes to tell the story of the morning that I finally said to her, “Jan, I think you and I could be friends if you didn’t talk to me until 10:00 am”. She took the “hint”. After that, when I arrived for work, she pretended to be busy at work until I got settled. I’m sure it was hard for her, but she didn’t say anything to me until I looked at her and she could tell that it was okay. We became friends after that.

Our office was located in the center of the building and we thought that since two of the three doors were always closed, the A/C was making our office very cold. The thermostats were not locked and if someone got too hot, they turned the air up and then when someone else got cold, they turned it down. Usually when no one was looking. So we were always complaining about being too hot or too cold. I guess I was one of the biggest complainers.

I went on vacation for a week. When I came back, I noticed that a thermostat was installed next to the door by my desk. Jan told me that while I was gone, the A/C guys had come in and since there were so many complaints from our office, they decided to give us our own thermostat. I thought that was great.

By that time, we had another person, Patricia, in our office. One day Jan asked if anyone was too warm. Patricia piped up that she was warm. I said that it was a little warm. Since I was closest to the thermostat, they asked if I could turn it down some. I turned it down.

We sat there awhile and then Jan asked if it seemed cooler. I looked up from my work and said “I think it is cooler”.

A couple of days went by and everyone was warm or cool and I was adjusting the thermostat daily. Finally one day, I said “It’s cold in here”. Patricia and Jan said “Well, turn the thermostat up”. I turned it up.

A few minutes later Jan said, “Do you feel warmer?” I said “Yes, I feel better”. Then Jan and Patricia started laughing. I said “What?”
They couldn’t keep the secret any longer. While I was gone on vacation, the A/C guy had changed out the thermostat in the other office, which controlled our area. They asked him to mount the thermostat case on my wall. It was not attached to anything. When I had turned it up and down, it didn’t do anything. Patricia and Jan got the biggest kick out of me thinking I was controlling it! Jan loves to tell that story.

More later..........