It is very wet out this morning and overcast...was it raining? Good for gardens...my husband planted veggies yesterday. We have had warm days the last week or so. On Saturday Jackie, Hailey, and I went over to Borrego Springs with a stop at the Santa Ysabel mission. Jackie's daughter, Jocelyn, wouldn't come with. Typical teenager. My car said the temp was 80 degrees. Not bad for the desert. It wa hotter here the next day. We had breakfast at the Mall...nice restaurant and great food. Then we went to the Visitor's Center at the Park. Lots of people there...not too many photo ops. We drove into town and then out Borrego Springs road to see the metal sculptures.
I hadn't seen these before...they seem new as they are not so rusted. It was great to get some photos before that happens. I had read about these. They were commissioned by the land owner and created by an artist in Perris California. The work is similar to what is done down in Mexico...though there they are recycling the metal. And the works are much smaller. We drove around and I took several photos of the different sculptures.
It is very wet out this morning and overcast...was it raining? Good for gardens...my husband planted veggies yesterday. We have had warm days the last week or so.
On Saturday Jackie, Hailey, and I went over to Borrego Springs with a stop at the Santa Ysabel mission. Jackie's daughter, Jocelyn, wouldn't come with. Typical teenager. My car said the temp was 80 degrees. Not bad for the desert. It wa hotter here the next day.
We had breakfast at the Mall...nice restaurant and great food. Then we went to the Visitor's Center at the Park. Lots of people there...not too many photo ops. We drove into town and then out Borrego Springs road to see the metal sculptures. I hadn't seen these before...they seem new as they are not so rusted. It was great to get some photos before that happens. I had read about these. They were commissioned by the land owner and created by an artist in Perris California. The work is similar to what is done down in Mexico...though there they are recycling the metal. And the works are much smaller. We drove around and I took several photos of the different sculptures.
Am back from driving Hailey and Jocelyn to school. Got the paper and see that wild flowers in Borrego feature on the front page...going back over this weekend for sure.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Posted: 02/26/09 15:24:54
No photos but enjoyed watching the egret visiting our woodpiles. Actually hunting lizards and he got several before flying away. The kestrals flew over too and the humming birds are flying back and forth to the feeder. Would think it was spring all ready. Our trip to Borrego is planned for Saturday morning. I love it over there and always planned to move to the desert when retired. Now am here in Eucalyptus Hills and it is not so bad.
Yesterday I planted five roses. Planted in pots so they can be moved around...know that sounds silly but the only way to get them close to the house. I got started planting roses in pots when I lived at the mini storage. There was nothing but concrete and blacktop surround the place. I brought them all up here when Hailey and I moved. I sometimes get depressed and I let them go for a couple of years. I may not get bored often but I can get really depressed. Part of the reason was my daughter moved back from Colorado with her children. Was supposed to be temporary so bought her a travel trailer to stay in until she found a job and place to live. She left lots of boxes around the trailer and I couldn't water my roses without getting her stuff wet. Then she moved into my little house where ER and Dave lived. They had been renting from my stepmom and were here when I bought the place from the estate. So ER and Dave moved out of the little house and Elizabeth moved in. That meant lots of changes for Hailey and me. Lots of stress. I went back on Prozac. Elizabeth's daughter went back to Oklahoma to live with her father. I miss her but she was not happy here. I love my daughter but she would sometimes stress Megan so much over nonsense that I was glad to see Megan leave. My daughter reminds me a lot of my own mother personality wise.
David is a sweet kind person, but he also is a paranoid schizophrenic. That makes things difficult at times. I admire Hailey so much because she loves and understands her Uncle Dave. It might be hard for some teens to deal with. She just takes it in stride. Anyway I am looking forward to seeing the new roses grow and bloom.
Yesterday I planted five roses. Planted in pots so they can be moved around...know that sounds silly but the only way to get them close to the house. I got started planting roses in pots when I lived at the mini storage. There was nothing but concrete and blacktop surround the place. I brought them all up here when Hailey and I moved. I sometimes get depressed and I let them go for a couple of years. I may not get bored often but I can get really depressed. Part of the reason was my daughter moved back from Colorado with her children. Was supposed to be temporary so bought her a travel trailer to stay in until she found a job and place to live. She left lots of boxes around the trailer and I couldn't water my roses without getting her stuff wet. Then she moved into my little house where ER and Dave lived. They had been renting from my stepmom and were here when I bought the place from the estate. So ER and Dave moved out of the little house and Elizabeth moved in. That meant lots of changes for Hailey and me. Lots of stress. I went back on Prozac. Elizabeth's daughter went back to Oklahoma to live with her father. I miss her but she was not happy here. I love my daughter but she would sometimes stress Megan so much over nonsense that I was glad to see Megan leave. My daughter reminds me a lot of my own mother personality wise.
David is a sweet kind person, but he also is a paranoid schizophrenic. That makes things difficult at times. I admire Hailey so much because she loves and understands her Uncle Dave. It might be hard for some teens to deal with. She just takes it in stride. Anyway I am looking forward to seeing the new roses grow and bloom.
Posted: 02/24/09 19:25:58
Made it to class on Thursday night and Sunday morning. I did miss a lot missing the two classes in Flashworks. Will probably take the class again if I can. I did learn about remote flash. And I got a Wein remote for an old Olympus discontinued flash...a flash that doesn't work for my current camera. What fun. I've also ordered a new flash that has built in remote and I have my smaller flash too. If I get a Wein for it will have three remotes. More fun. I want to go over to the wild flowers this weekend. From what I've seen on the net they are blooming early. Hopefully I will get over there the next weekend too. I never get tired of seeing the wild flowers in Borrego. Well they don't last long enough to get tired of anyway. I used to be able to hike and now am taking a good long look at my weight and thinking I really better do something about it! When I was young my mom would organize a trip to Borrego Springs at least once every spring. Usually Easter Sunday. That is a little late for the seeing the good flowers. We would hike up to the palms in Palm Canyon and enjoy the flowing water. It was like a desert oasis. Over the years it got crowded and not so much fun. Then they had a fire and the palms were fragile...also they had to be roped off to keep the ground from being trampled and the earth packed hard. Bad for the palms. I took a wonderful b/w photo of the palms when I was in highschool. I printed it very large while in my Photography Class at Grossmont. Then matted it for display. I haven't seen that photo is so many years I probably remember it better than it really was. At first I loved the photography class. My mother had taken photography at Grossmont when she went to highschool there. The students had to take turns in the darkroom waiting for the timer to go off so the film could be moved from one tank to another. One of the boys in the class came into the dark room and made a pass at me. At first it was just talk and I told him to leave. He wouldn't! Then he tried to find me to touch me. So I left. I tried to watch who came back to class but too many kids were wondering back and forth. The room with the enlargers was between the classroom and the darkroom. Someone told the teacher I was not in the darkroom. Probably him! So the teacher told me to go back in. I was too embarassed to tell him why I'd left. Then after a few minutes the boy came back into the darkroom. He wouldn't tell me who he was...though I had a pretty good idea...I couldn't say for sure. Anyway I left again and this time I told the teacher and I would never go back in that dark room again. And I never liked being in that class anymore either. Thank goodness it didn't put me off wanting to take pictures.
Posted: 02/18/09 00:21:47
The roses from Valentine's Day are history. Someone on another forum said that they were sick and tired of seeing flower photos. I bet they are younger than I am and I am not tired of seeing flowers or photos of flowers. I've said that I seldom get bored. And it is true. So when people say that they are bored with taking or seeing photos of flowers or landscapes or whatever I feel sad for them. We can find ourselves in boring situations. I sure have...but never taking photos or painting or seeing what there is to see. Being creative is not being bored. Seeing what other people create is not being bored. Maybe some things are less and some more, but that is a judgement made by ourselves or by others. Some criticism can help us grow. Some criticism can kill our souls. We need to know the difference. We look for approval, but in reality we don't need it. Art is like a kaleidoscope that changes and reinvents and keeps on changing. All we need to do is see and we can own the light.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Posted: 02/14/09 11:02:54
White roses for Valentine's day. Feeling a lot better today I went out to take some photos. I set the vase on our brick wall and was happily snapping away when Tuxie came to see what I was doing. She spilled everything. They fell onto a wooded glider. The vase didn't break but three of the roses were broken. They are now floating in a plate.
My mother's younger half brother was born on Valentine's Day. He was named Valentine because his parents argued over what to name him. We called him Uncle Tiny, but he went by Val to his friends. His father was Italian from the old country and married my grandmother when she was a divorcee with three daughters. That didn't turn out to be a happy marriage. My grandmother died when she was 41, and Uncle Tiny joined the Merchant Marine.
He was sixteen. He was on a ship in Dutch Harbor when they were bombed. Over the years of his life he was in several auto accidents and mostly never got a scratch. My mother called him accident prone. Uncle Tiny died in a construction accident when he was 39. He was running a scraper building Interestate 5, and was run over by the back wheels when he fell off the earth mover. The radio called him Valentino when they reported the accident. My aunt was pg with her fourth boy. My husband and I adopted the baby. I always feel a little sad on Valentine's Day.
My mother's younger half brother was born on Valentine's Day. He was named Valentine because his parents argued over what to name him. We called him Uncle Tiny, but he went by Val to his friends. His father was Italian from the old country and married my grandmother when she was a divorcee with three daughters. That didn't turn out to be a happy marriage. My grandmother died when she was 41, and Uncle Tiny joined the Merchant Marine.
He was sixteen. He was on a ship in Dutch Harbor when they were bombed. Over the years of his life he was in several auto accidents and mostly never got a scratch. My mother called him accident prone. Uncle Tiny died in a construction accident when he was 39. He was running a scraper building Interestate 5, and was run over by the back wheels when he fell off the earth mover. The radio called him Valentino when they reported the accident. My aunt was pg with her fourth boy. My husband and I adopted the baby. I always feel a little sad on Valentine's Day.
Posted: 02/10/09 20:20:07
Hailey turned 15 and my daughter got a year older since my last post. We did the last day of the black and white class at the Wild Animal Park. Lots of walking and I was having a hard time keeping up. So on the way out I took my time. I sat and watched the gorillas for awhile and got a couple of pretty good photos of them. I enjoyed my slow walk back to the entrance. Some taking photos and some just sitting and enjoying the surroundings. By the time I got back to the entrance I was feeling good. I need to do more walking. Sunday we started a new class...Flashworks. I really don't like using flash very much so I have a learning curve ahead. I have an external flash for my camera. Actually I bought it for my last camera. I haven't used it more than once or twice. I dug it out and checked it out and realized that it needed batteries...duh! Anyway it wasn't needed on Sunday. We used the popup flash. I don't use that much either. Though I did use it for the black and white Hailey photos. I have a dreadful cold. It wasn't just the cold day on Sunday...I was already coming down sick. So now I don't think I will make the Wednesday night class for flash. Darn. Maybe I will feel better tomorrow...
Thursday, July 17, 2008
La Jolla Seals and Shores
Jackie and her daughter Jocelyn and Hailey and my other granddaughter Megan went to see the seals at the children's pool in La Jolla. They are so cute. But people in La Jolla want the children's pool returned to the children. The pool was made when a breakwater was built in the early 1930s. The money to build the breakwater was donated by the newspaper heiress Ellen Browning Scripps. There was a natural shallow beach from rocks that partially enclosed the area. The seawall was built over the rocks. This web site tells the story:
http://www.lajollaseals.com/history.html
Jackie drove us there. She parked by the Cove and we asked where the children's pool was from there. About a ten minute walk we were told. So the three girls walking in front, we set off toward the seals. It took us more like 20 minutes to get there then we walked the breakwater to get a really good look at the seals. If the latest court decision stands the seals will be removed and sand dredged out of the pool area to turn it back into a pool instead of a haul out area for the seals. The seals bask in the sun and have their babies there.
I took photos of the seals. The day was overcast.Then we drove into La Jolla to find a place to eat. We ate at a coffee house. I had delicious clam chowder and the girls each had a large slice of pizza. I don't remember what Jackie had. After lunch we drove to the Shores. The girls and I found a place on the beach while Jackie parked the car. The girls walked to the water and got their legs wet, turned around walked back and flopped down on their towels. By the time Jackie got there the girls wanted to leave. I told them that Jackie deserved some time relaxing on the beach after driving around finding a parking place. Here is a link to the photos I took: http://www.dotcombs.net/show/seals1.html
We enjoyed our time at the beach. The sound of the surf is soothing. I wore a hat and I didn't mind too much that the sun was hidden by clouds.
There are a lot of beaches in San Diego. So La Jolla wasn't one we often visited. I didn't know much about the area. I grew up in Lakeside. In the early 1960s I went to San Diego State. Didn't graduate. Lots of reasons for that. One was my family had some problems. When my younger sister decided to go to State my father and stepmom moved into a house in the College area. My father had a swimming pool put in and the house was really nice.
Then I was let go from my job at Liberty Mutual Insurance Company because I was asthmatic. No company could get away with a thing like that now. Anyway I had taken the entrance exam for State...my sister's idea and passed. I had decided not to go to college. I would have stayed at my job. Fortunately the end of my job came just in time for me to apply for college. I only had a few days. So I moved into the new Bixel Street house too. Looking back I don't think that made my sister happy. Going to college was a good thing. We joined a soroity and I made a life long friend there.
Barbara had a boyfriend named Don. I remember Don's sister bringing her little girl to swim in our pool at Bixel Street. Don's sister put a float vest on her and let her jump off the diving board. That little girl would paddle to the edge of the pool, get out, and run back to the diving board to jump off again. She loved it and had a great time.
When my father and stepmom started having marital problems, my stepmom moved out. One day my dad sat my sister and I down and told us that he decided to keep the marriage together and he was moving back to Lakeside with Marlise. He said later that a divorce would have cost him too much money. When they were both old he told me that he was very glad that they stayed together. They really were best friends.
We had to find a new place to live. We found a two bedroom apartment on University Ave. and got two roommates. I shared my room with a girl named Sally.
Barbara and Don broke up before our move to the apartment. My sister went out a lot and I didn't. I was tall and very thin and not very good looking. I also had a lot of problems with self image. One evening when I was alone at the apartment, Don showed up looking for Barb. When I told him she wasn't there he asked me to go down to the beach. Meaning find a bar in the area for drinks. I let him talk me into it. He said it was only as friends and I believed him. Don was shorter than me...Barb had a lot of short boyfriends because she was only 5'1" tall. We were so different. I was tall with blue eyes and thin as a rail, and Barb was short with big brown eyes, pretty with a good figure. Not the same at all. Later we found out that we had different birth fathers.
Anyway after Don and I drank a few beers and talked we seemed to be having a good time. I always was a happy drunk. He drove us to the children's pool at La Jolla. It was dark night and the surf was crashing against the sea wall. We walked out on the seawall and couldn't see anything. I held on to the railing and said that this wasn't a good idea and I wanted to go back. Don wanted to stay there. He picked me up and held me over the railing. I hung on to him for dear life. He seemed to loosen his grip and I really thought he wanted to drop me into the surf. I would have died and I knew it. Finally he pulled me back across the railing and shaken I talked him into going back to our apartment. I guess I let him think I would sleep with him. I did kiss him. When we got home, I tried to say good bye at the door but he came in and sat down on our sofa. I got him a beer and he asked me to sit down next to him. I did sit on the sofa but kept some distance. He asked if anyone was home. I said no. I didn't know our room mate, Sally was sleeping in the bedroom. Don told me to take off my shirt and I said, "No!" When he got it through his head that I wasn't interested he left. I never saw him again.
This whole incident seems harmless enough. Several years later I married E.R. Combs. E.R. worked at Rohr. One day E.R. came home from work and asked me about a boyfriend named Don. I told him that I never had a boyfriend named Don. I never thought about that again for years. E.R. and I had a lot of problems. He was angry at me a lot for no reason. We went through years of that. We had three children and adoped our nephew. In the early 1980s when our marriage was finally to the point of no return E.R. asked me again about Don. This time he told me Don's last name which clicked in my head and I finally remembered who he was.
I remembered that Barb had a boyfriend named Don...not me. It seems that when E.R. told the guys he worked with at Rohr that he had married Dorothy Toston, Don bragged that he slept with me and that I was his girlfriend. All lies. Later I asked Barb about Don an she also never slept with him. Why he lied, I don't know, but the lie caused me a lot of heartache for a lot of years. Now all this is not why E.R. and I broke up. The breakup was more about the fact that something like this could upset E.R. and cause him to make my life miserable. Sometimes I wish I believed in Karma...what comes around goes around. Maybe life would not be all that kind to Don.
So while going to La Jolla Children's Pool to see the seals was fun it did bring back some bad memories.
http://www.lajollaseals.com/history.html
Jackie drove us there. She parked by the Cove and we asked where the children's pool was from there. About a ten minute walk we were told. So the three girls walking in front, we set off toward the seals. It took us more like 20 minutes to get there then we walked the breakwater to get a really good look at the seals. If the latest court decision stands the seals will be removed and sand dredged out of the pool area to turn it back into a pool instead of a haul out area for the seals. The seals bask in the sun and have their babies there.
I took photos of the seals. The day was overcast.Then we drove into La Jolla to find a place to eat. We ate at a coffee house. I had delicious clam chowder and the girls each had a large slice of pizza. I don't remember what Jackie had. After lunch we drove to the Shores. The girls and I found a place on the beach while Jackie parked the car. The girls walked to the water and got their legs wet, turned around walked back and flopped down on their towels. By the time Jackie got there the girls wanted to leave. I told them that Jackie deserved some time relaxing on the beach after driving around finding a parking place. Here is a link to the photos I took: http://www.dotcombs.net/show/seals1.html
We enjoyed our time at the beach. The sound of the surf is soothing. I wore a hat and I didn't mind too much that the sun was hidden by clouds.
There are a lot of beaches in San Diego. So La Jolla wasn't one we often visited. I didn't know much about the area. I grew up in Lakeside. In the early 1960s I went to San Diego State. Didn't graduate. Lots of reasons for that. One was my family had some problems. When my younger sister decided to go to State my father and stepmom moved into a house in the College area. My father had a swimming pool put in and the house was really nice.
Then I was let go from my job at Liberty Mutual Insurance Company because I was asthmatic. No company could get away with a thing like that now. Anyway I had taken the entrance exam for State...my sister's idea and passed. I had decided not to go to college. I would have stayed at my job. Fortunately the end of my job came just in time for me to apply for college. I only had a few days. So I moved into the new Bixel Street house too. Looking back I don't think that made my sister happy. Going to college was a good thing. We joined a soroity and I made a life long friend there.
Barbara had a boyfriend named Don. I remember Don's sister bringing her little girl to swim in our pool at Bixel Street. Don's sister put a float vest on her and let her jump off the diving board. That little girl would paddle to the edge of the pool, get out, and run back to the diving board to jump off again. She loved it and had a great time.
When my father and stepmom started having marital problems, my stepmom moved out. One day my dad sat my sister and I down and told us that he decided to keep the marriage together and he was moving back to Lakeside with Marlise. He said later that a divorce would have cost him too much money. When they were both old he told me that he was very glad that they stayed together. They really were best friends.
We had to find a new place to live. We found a two bedroom apartment on University Ave. and got two roommates. I shared my room with a girl named Sally.
Barbara and Don broke up before our move to the apartment. My sister went out a lot and I didn't. I was tall and very thin and not very good looking. I also had a lot of problems with self image. One evening when I was alone at the apartment, Don showed up looking for Barb. When I told him she wasn't there he asked me to go down to the beach. Meaning find a bar in the area for drinks. I let him talk me into it. He said it was only as friends and I believed him. Don was shorter than me...Barb had a lot of short boyfriends because she was only 5'1" tall. We were so different. I was tall with blue eyes and thin as a rail, and Barb was short with big brown eyes, pretty with a good figure. Not the same at all. Later we found out that we had different birth fathers.
Anyway after Don and I drank a few beers and talked we seemed to be having a good time. I always was a happy drunk. He drove us to the children's pool at La Jolla. It was dark night and the surf was crashing against the sea wall. We walked out on the seawall and couldn't see anything. I held on to the railing and said that this wasn't a good idea and I wanted to go back. Don wanted to stay there. He picked me up and held me over the railing. I hung on to him for dear life. He seemed to loosen his grip and I really thought he wanted to drop me into the surf. I would have died and I knew it. Finally he pulled me back across the railing and shaken I talked him into going back to our apartment. I guess I let him think I would sleep with him. I did kiss him. When we got home, I tried to say good bye at the door but he came in and sat down on our sofa. I got him a beer and he asked me to sit down next to him. I did sit on the sofa but kept some distance. He asked if anyone was home. I said no. I didn't know our room mate, Sally was sleeping in the bedroom. Don told me to take off my shirt and I said, "No!" When he got it through his head that I wasn't interested he left. I never saw him again.
This whole incident seems harmless enough. Several years later I married E.R. Combs. E.R. worked at Rohr. One day E.R. came home from work and asked me about a boyfriend named Don. I told him that I never had a boyfriend named Don. I never thought about that again for years. E.R. and I had a lot of problems. He was angry at me a lot for no reason. We went through years of that. We had three children and adoped our nephew. In the early 1980s when our marriage was finally to the point of no return E.R. asked me again about Don. This time he told me Don's last name which clicked in my head and I finally remembered who he was.
I remembered that Barb had a boyfriend named Don...not me. It seems that when E.R. told the guys he worked with at Rohr that he had married Dorothy Toston, Don bragged that he slept with me and that I was his girlfriend. All lies. Later I asked Barb about Don an she also never slept with him. Why he lied, I don't know, but the lie caused me a lot of heartache for a lot of years. Now all this is not why E.R. and I broke up. The breakup was more about the fact that something like this could upset E.R. and cause him to make my life miserable. Sometimes I wish I believed in Karma...what comes around goes around. Maybe life would not be all that kind to Don.
So while going to La Jolla Children's Pool to see the seals was fun it did bring back some bad memories.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Waiting for the peacocks
Update on Tuxie. After being gone two weeks she came home. She was on top of our garage building at the back of the property. She walked accross the roof and jumped down on the open door and then down on Elizabeth's old van and then to the ground and walked up to me like she'd never been gone. We worried that she may take off again but has been staying close to the house and sleeping in at night.
Hailey was home most of the week with a cold. She went to school Monday only to have me come and pick her up from the nurses office. She had a slight fever and probably a light case of flu. She went back to school today. There usually isn't a lot of traffic on the roads up here in Eucalyptus Hills. Today a white van at the corner started to back up saw my car and drove on pretty fast. I made the stop and then followed. Around a curve there was an old man with a cane and a black standard poodle on a leash standing in the middle of the road. He totally stopped and waved us ahead. He looked confused. I waited for him to cross. The white van must have whizzed right by him. Probably why he was standing in the road. After he walked passed I stopped next to him and rolled down my window and told him he had a nice dog. He said thank you back. We see many people out walking in the mornings and most of them have dogs. I watch out for them because the roads are narrow and sometimes the dogs and the people too walk out on the pavement.
Dropped off Hailey at school and then I decided to swing past Jack in the Box on the way home for some coffee. At the corner of the building a man on a tall stepladder was replacing the metal flange that edges the roof. Must have been met with a motorhome driving too close. They just take down the damaged piece of metal and replace with a new one from the truck. Must happen a lot.
On the way up the hill I drove back Valle Vista and saw that Valle Vista was blocked off with a detour just past the fire station. That doesn't change my path because I always turn at the fire station to take Pinehurst to Manzanita Road. About half way to Manzanita two peacocks were crossing the road. I totally stopped. They stopped too and turned back the way they came. So I waited. Then when they finally got off the road I saw that another vehicle was coming up behind me. I took off for home.
I bought a Garmin GPS and when checking it out found that the little voice can't say Valle Vista. Old timers here pronounce it Val Vista. Newer folks say Valley Vista. I sure don't know what that little voice says but it is not an understandable utterance.
I got the GPS because we plan to take a trip up to Washington state and it will be so much easier finding where we want to go than a road map. It has been fourty years since I've been up there. E.R. has made several trips up over the years. As a child we went up there many summers with our mom. Her family is all from there. E.R. has a lot of family there too though they were from Kentucky originally.
My cousin Valerie and I have kept in touch all these years and haven't seen her since she made a trip down here in the mid ninties to stay with my sister. We talk on the phone often though.
My photoshopping board is having another challenge. This one is turning out quite interesting. We have two photos of Hailey that I posted and we are changing and editing the photos. So far some really nice work. For the photo sections the theme is pets or animals.
I've cut down on the spam bots registering on my board by banning most of the free email servers. That has helped a lot. Most people have an isp address that they can join up from. If they don't I will help them get on the board. Spam bots suck and it is surprising how many free email servers let the spam bots use their servers to sign up on forums and boards. Hotmail and gmail are two that a person would think would have some screening to prevent the spam bots from signing up.
Hailey was home most of the week with a cold. She went to school Monday only to have me come and pick her up from the nurses office. She had a slight fever and probably a light case of flu. She went back to school today. There usually isn't a lot of traffic on the roads up here in Eucalyptus Hills. Today a white van at the corner started to back up saw my car and drove on pretty fast. I made the stop and then followed. Around a curve there was an old man with a cane and a black standard poodle on a leash standing in the middle of the road. He totally stopped and waved us ahead. He looked confused. I waited for him to cross. The white van must have whizzed right by him. Probably why he was standing in the road. After he walked passed I stopped next to him and rolled down my window and told him he had a nice dog. He said thank you back. We see many people out walking in the mornings and most of them have dogs. I watch out for them because the roads are narrow and sometimes the dogs and the people too walk out on the pavement.
Dropped off Hailey at school and then I decided to swing past Jack in the Box on the way home for some coffee. At the corner of the building a man on a tall stepladder was replacing the metal flange that edges the roof. Must have been met with a motorhome driving too close. They just take down the damaged piece of metal and replace with a new one from the truck. Must happen a lot.
On the way up the hill I drove back Valle Vista and saw that Valle Vista was blocked off with a detour just past the fire station. That doesn't change my path because I always turn at the fire station to take Pinehurst to Manzanita Road. About half way to Manzanita two peacocks were crossing the road. I totally stopped. They stopped too and turned back the way they came. So I waited. Then when they finally got off the road I saw that another vehicle was coming up behind me. I took off for home.
I bought a Garmin GPS and when checking it out found that the little voice can't say Valle Vista. Old timers here pronounce it Val Vista. Newer folks say Valley Vista. I sure don't know what that little voice says but it is not an understandable utterance.
I got the GPS because we plan to take a trip up to Washington state and it will be so much easier finding where we want to go than a road map. It has been fourty years since I've been up there. E.R. has made several trips up over the years. As a child we went up there many summers with our mom. Her family is all from there. E.R. has a lot of family there too though they were from Kentucky originally.
My cousin Valerie and I have kept in touch all these years and haven't seen her since she made a trip down here in the mid ninties to stay with my sister. We talk on the phone often though.
My photoshopping board is having another challenge. This one is turning out quite interesting. We have two photos of Hailey that I posted and we are changing and editing the photos. So far some really nice work. For the photo sections the theme is pets or animals.
I've cut down on the spam bots registering on my board by banning most of the free email servers. That has helped a lot. Most people have an isp address that they can join up from. If they don't I will help them get on the board. Spam bots suck and it is surprising how many free email servers let the spam bots use their servers to sign up on forums and boards. Hotmail and gmail are two that a person would think would have some screening to prevent the spam bots from signing up.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Things Change
Our cat Tuxie is missing. She took off a week ago Saturday. She has been seen twice but wouldn't come when called. So we will just have to wait and see if she ever comes back.
It looks like we will have to pay for our wonderful spring while much of the country was still having storms and snow. Now we are having 100 plus days and it looks like a long hot summer on the way. The only nice time is evening when it starts to cool off. It is nice sitting outside then.
I can remember what summer was like when I was growing up. No air conditioning. San Diego would still have been built up along the coast, but inland where we are would never have developed like it has without air conditioning. It would be a different world. I liked it like it used to be. We had to drive to El Cajon to go to stores. Lakeside did have a store grandly called a department store but it had old stuff to buy and sometimes we had to blow off the dust. Everything smelled old.
My mother built a concrete brick house on the foundation when I was in high school. It had tiled floors...no carpets. I remember laying on that concrete floor for coolness with a cold wash rag on my forehead. We grew up in the little concrete block house next door. The old foundation was poured first and then left for lack of money.
My last stepfather got the place when my mother died and then later when he died his current wife got it. By then they had borrowed money on it to buy a new place. She called me and told me a sad story about her financial condition. That was years and years after my mother died and I couldn't talk to her. I think she was worried that I would put in a claim on the estate or something. I hadn't talked to her in all those years or my stepfather either.
Things change. One day someone is part of your family and then they are not.
My forum for Photoshoppers is getting a lot of fake members...ones that sign up with a robot. They call them spam bots but they are not the e-mail type bots. The join forums and then post ads. Some are innocent enough but then there are the drug pushers...Viagra and such and the porn pushers. I've fixed my forum so new members have to be activated by me. That has stopped the posts but not the fake members signing up. Yesterday I had a legitimate site sign up for my forum using a bot. What is with that. I looked up their site and filled out a mail form and told them what I thought of them. Maybe they will get the message. I can't believe that legitimate sites would use spam bots in that way. What is the matter with them. It sure doesn't make for good will.
It looks like we will have to pay for our wonderful spring while much of the country was still having storms and snow. Now we are having 100 plus days and it looks like a long hot summer on the way. The only nice time is evening when it starts to cool off. It is nice sitting outside then.
I can remember what summer was like when I was growing up. No air conditioning. San Diego would still have been built up along the coast, but inland where we are would never have developed like it has without air conditioning. It would be a different world. I liked it like it used to be. We had to drive to El Cajon to go to stores. Lakeside did have a store grandly called a department store but it had old stuff to buy and sometimes we had to blow off the dust. Everything smelled old.
My mother built a concrete brick house on the foundation when I was in high school. It had tiled floors...no carpets. I remember laying on that concrete floor for coolness with a cold wash rag on my forehead. We grew up in the little concrete block house next door. The old foundation was poured first and then left for lack of money.
My last stepfather got the place when my mother died and then later when he died his current wife got it. By then they had borrowed money on it to buy a new place. She called me and told me a sad story about her financial condition. That was years and years after my mother died and I couldn't talk to her. I think she was worried that I would put in a claim on the estate or something. I hadn't talked to her in all those years or my stepfather either.
Things change. One day someone is part of your family and then they are not.
My forum for Photoshoppers is getting a lot of fake members...ones that sign up with a robot. They call them spam bots but they are not the e-mail type bots. The join forums and then post ads. Some are innocent enough but then there are the drug pushers...Viagra and such and the porn pushers. I've fixed my forum so new members have to be activated by me. That has stopped the posts but not the fake members signing up. Yesterday I had a legitimate site sign up for my forum using a bot. What is with that. I looked up their site and filled out a mail form and told them what I thought of them. Maybe they will get the message. I can't believe that legitimate sites would use spam bots in that way. What is the matter with them. It sure doesn't make for good will.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Another Week Gone By
Moved my computer into my room, and E.R. has his set up in the dining room where mine used to be. His new computer is really nice and fast. He is happy with it and can play games on MSN like Spades.
The new challenge on my Photoshopping Board is going pretty well. Some really nice entries. I haven't done anything yet and may not...we will see.
Our weather that was so nice the last few weeks has been cloudy and cool. It is the marine layer that comes in from the ocean. They call it May Gray...in June they call it June Gloom. We seem to have weeks of it every spring. We did have rain a few days ago too. It got very wet but no one would call it rain unless they lived here. My cats stayed in that day...all day.
The new challenge on my Photoshopping Board is going pretty well. Some really nice entries. I haven't done anything yet and may not...we will see.
Our weather that was so nice the last few weeks has been cloudy and cool. It is the marine layer that comes in from the ocean. They call it May Gray...in June they call it June Gloom. We seem to have weeks of it every spring. We did have rain a few days ago too. It got very wet but no one would call it rain unless they lived here. My cats stayed in that day...all day.
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