Saturday Afternoon in Coronado

We visited Coronado near the ferry landing. A beautiful view of San Diego across the bay. The day was a little hazy, still I got some pretty photos.

We were in Coronado with the Landscape Class. I wondered what story this bike told. Later I watched the owner park his bike over the short wall separating the sand from the pavement. Then he went back to the water and dragged a yellow kayak up to the parking lot. He fastened a small set of wheels to the end of the kayak and then tied the other end of the kayak to his bike. I wonder if the truth of it was as good as my imagination...or better than....

Sunday at the Park

Spent today at Balboa Park. Gail and I walked through the Botanical Gardens and had lunch at the Prado. Was a lovely time and an enjoyable visit catching up. We also viewed the photo exhibit at the San Diego Natural History Museum.

Photoshop

A few months ago I bought PS CS4. One big thing upgrading Photoshop is moving all my plug-ins...and, other than Bridge, I haven't used PS very much lately. So I was stalling on installing. Today I took Hailey to Barnes and Noble...she likes to read and needed something new. So while she was looking through the teen books section I wandered toward the art books...I really don't need any more of those and then I saw the graphics section. There were several books on CS4 so checked them out. I found one I liked and so now I have hunted up my unused copy of CS4 and put it on my computer. There were some things about CS3 that I totally didn't like so hoping those things have been overcome.

I'm looking forward to getting back to Photoshop.

Back to School

Hailey is back at school...she is going to a school at Chaparral in El Cajon. It is not hard to get there...further but really an easier drive. Though I have to drive through the construction zone on Hwy 67. El Cap traffic is a nightmare.

Hailey has a lot to make up. She is a smart kid but angry I think at her dad. He was gone so much of her life. Last year when he came back he treated her like she was a little girl not the fourteen year old she was. Now she is fifteen and he still can't seem to see that things need to be different. He gets angry and she is angry at him. He thinks she is too quiet. Hailey is a nice quiet girl and a little shy. She is who she is. He thinks that she needs to be a more in your face type of personality. He teases her in public and she gets embarrassed.

Since he didn't see her grow up he thinks that I held her back somehow to make her the quiet girl she is. Hailey was in counseling though middle school and turned her grades around. She was failing sixth grade. She was in choir, dance, and then in Show Choir. She enjoyed performing but was happiest in the back row. I tried to get her to try out for choir at El Cap but she wouldn't. It might have made a difference. Now she has a whole year of credits to catch up with. Hopefully she can do that at Chap and go back to El Cap in a couple of years to graduate with her class.

Some people do well under pressure. Hailey isn't one of them. I think her time at the new school will help her a lot. The students get a lot of help and progress at their own speed. I sure had a difficult time getting her transferred. I had to sign her out of El Cap in early July, and they sent her records to Chap. Then nothing happened. So I called them last month. They told me that the counselors there would have to decide if she could go there or not. That I would get a call. Didn't happen. As it was getting close to the start of school, I called them again. Her file was lost on some one's desk. After a couple of calls and making it very clear that Hailey needed to be there, I told them that if something wasn't done she would quit school when she was sixteen in February. They agreed that she could go there. The day we went to sign her in we sat for two hours waiting for a counselor. Part of that time was they were looking for her file again! URF

They get a lot of kids that get expelled from other district schools at Chap...and kids on court supervision and stuff. And that is another problem for John. He doesn't want Hailey at Chap. I would like her to not be there too but I don't want her failing out of school either. And I have a lot more faith in Hailey's character than her father does.

So far she likes it there...she did meet a girl that she went to middle school with...the girl has face piercings. Wonder why people think things hanging out of their faces make them look good. I've seen some at restaurants and had to avoid looking at them or barf my dinner!

Clouds

While taking some photos of my roses the other day looked up and saw this strange cloud.

Hailey in the Pool

What Are They Thinking?

People are using less energy...electricity. That is what the article says. So they say the cost of electricity will drop. Truly? Years ago we had a severe water shortage in California. We were asked to cut back on water usage. I lived in Santee at the time and the water district there found that when they sold less water they took in less money. Yet it costs about the same to keep the district running. There was one way to keep the amount of cash money coming into the district, and that was raise the price of water.

Can the electric companies run on less money? Because if they sell less electricity to the public they will have less money coming in. Where does that mean a drop in the actual cost of electricity? I just don't see how it will be possible.

Rip Offs

Something I did brought me to the attention of two bogus companies...which seem to be the same outfit. They got my name and credit card information and signed me up for memberships in HomePlay and Value Plus at just about the same time. These companies charge a monthly fee to send you discount coupons and percent off gift cards. My credit card company accepted one charge and then rejected the second charge and called me. Thank goodness! I had never heard of either company.

My card number was changed. That cost me $10.00 though. And I still have one bogus charge to deal with...though my credit card company said it would be removed. Looking through some junk mail before discarding it I found letters from each of these companies welcoming me to membership. URF! The coupons and discounts are with well known companies. Included in each letter was discount coupons to several car rental agencys. The problem with that is I'm not going to rent a car! Coupons are only worth while if you need the service or product.

I've always been one of those people that can't stand coupons and have said in the past that I would gladly pay not to have to deal with them. Remember when housewives would claim that they saved hundreds of dollars by using coupons? That was only if the stores would take more than one coupon for a single item...they were not supposed to do it then and now they are not allowed to do it. If they don't sell one item for each coupon it is fraud. The owners of a local run down market made tons of money by getting coupons from news papers and magazines. They didn't sell the products to anyone. They turned the coupons in to finance new stores. They did get caught and had to pay fines but they are still in business and quite well off.

So I would never pay some bogus company every month just to get coupons and discounts that are out there for free. They picked the wrong person. I sure would like to start a class action against these companies for all the people that were charged fees and didn't find out until they had paid and paid and paid for something they didn't want.

Anyway I used the contact form on each of their web sites to ask to be paid back for what they charged me and for the money it cost me to have my card numbers changed. I won't hold my breath until the checks come in the mail!

Swimmingly

Just spent two hours floating in the pool with my daughter Elizabeth. Considering it is been very hot here I feel great right now. Hope it lasts awhile. It was 106 here again yesterday.

I went to the pool supply store to get a couple of floaties...wanted swim rings but they were totally sold out. The man said that the company would probably send a new supply in a couple of months when no one wants them! I was planning on swimming when I got back but it was just too hot. Headache hot! So thought I would wait until it cooled off some but then it was so late.

And I don't want to go in the pool alone...I never learned to actually swim. When I was young all I did was sink. I didn't know it then but I have heavy bones and then I was always very thin. I've probably mentioned this before...I weighed 105 when I got married...I'm almost 5'8". No one talked about anorexia back then...

When I was nine we spent the summer in Washington state. We went to swimming classes at a lake. My cousin Joanne could back float like a cork. She won a back floating contest. They had us face float for the count of ten, and I managed to do that. Then back float and I sank...when water covered my nose I knew it was a lost cause. The other kids were dog paddling all over the place and I was sinking. So my time in the water over the years usually included an inner tube. A couple of years later our moms let Joanne, Barb, and me row a boat out into the lake...I still couldn't swim!

Later when we were teens my dad got two big tractor tires and we floated in Mission Bay. That was before it was developed into what it is now. Not many people went there back then and it was a lot of fun.

When my children were young I joined a backyard swim class for mothers. I learned to dive into the deep end of the pool, and to face float accross to the other side. My back floating was better because after having three children I had a bit more fat on me. Still actually swimming was still hard. The instructor was from the Y and she was a great teacher with lots of patients. During one lesson she had us line up along the edge of the pool to practice treading water. Then she told us to let go of the side. I started to sink, but kept at it. I was up to my nose when she grabbed my arm and lifted me up. She said I was doing everything right too. After a couple of more attempts she said I wasn't going to be able to tread water.

My sister could tread water and smoke a cigarette. She passed through all the steps back in those swimming lessons at that lake in Washington state. Anyway I realized that it wasn't all my fault that I couldn't swim like a fish. My granddaughter swims like a fish. I sometimes call her our little dolphin.

Standing in the Rain

During his brother's campaign for president, Ted Kennedy came to San Diego State to speak. It was a rainy day and the speech was to be in the open quad. There was a delay getting started. It was decided to move to a near by classroom. We got inside but the room was very over crowded and more students were waiting out side. The speech was moved back to the quad. Many of the students left during this second delay. They may have had classes to go to or just didn't want to stand in the rain. I was one who stayed. After all these years I can't remember exactly what Ted Kennedy said other than praise for John and that his brother would make a great president. Ted Kennedy looked so young. Among the students that stood in the rain that day there was so much hope for the future.

We couldn't know the tragedy ahead. That John Kennedy would be dead in a few short years and Bobby Kennedy would die on the day I voted for him in California's primary. And that another death would scar Ted's chances to ever run for president of the United States.

Ted Kennedy had a good run in congress. He also got a slap on the wrist for the death of Mary Jo. It really is about Power Privilege and Justice...

Dominick Dunne is also gone from the scene. He wanted to be among the rich and famous, and his hard work and talent made him famous. He knew all about the difference power and privilege makes when it comes to justice.

People forgive the unforgivable if a person is looked on as someone special.

Middle of the Night

Well actually about 3am. What am I doing up? Anyway, yesterday, Hailey and I drove to a wonderful place out on old Hwy 80 called Summer's Past. We met Glenda there to take some photos together. We didn't know before hand but there was a memorial service there at the same time. It is a big place so we did take photos and sat awhile at the tables too. We stayed about an hour.

This photo looks so bright...it hasn't been edited other than sizing for the web. It is just the way it came from the camera.

I have my camera set to take both RAW and JPG versions of each photo. This is the even brighter jpg with the camera set to Vivid and the Contrast, Sharpness, and Saturation set to High. Setting the camera for both JPG and RAW gives me more choices and it is even better when shooting in B/W as I also have a color version of the photograph.

Hailey doesn't go anywhere without her cell and iPod. So she can listen to music and text anywhere! Typical teen of the new millennium.

Sunday at the Park

Spent the day at Balboa Park. Because of an event it was not easy to find a parking spot so drove around until I found a little parking lot behind some buildings. It is next to a canyon. On the way back to my car got these two photos. They are the same scene using a different focus for each.



Taken in the Zoro Garden.

I took these in the Botanical Garden. The Botanical Garden is at one end of the lily pond, and is a very large lath building with many plants. You can read all about it here: https://www.sandiegohistory.org/bpbuildings/botanical.htm



I took several shots of this flower to get this one.

This one shows the lathe of the Botanical Garden Building

The lily pond is also home to these carp and to some cute little turtles. Two turtles were sunning them selves on the concrete edge of the lily pond. Before I could take a photo a man walked up to some friends and scared one of them back in to the pond. Another man with the group told him to be careful. The children had been enjoying seeing the turtles. The man then reached down and picked up the remaining turtle and dropped it back in the pond. URF!

Dorothy

Sunday Morning

...and it is still dark out. Soon the cats will be waiting out front for their breadfast and I will be sitting there feeding them and hopefully enjoying a cup of coffee. Every thing is quiet next door and so think the drama is over. I have enough drama in my life with David.

In spring, summer, and fall the nicest times of the day are out on our front patio in the mornings and evenings.

Restraining Orders and Other Things

Dennis trashed Elizabeth's things. One was a big glass dolphin that she has had for years and loved...not something he had anything to do with. He broke her printer and her plotter. Today she went to court for the restraining order.

Then so he would have his truck and personal things she packed it all up, and put it in his truck. E.R. and John loaded up his tools and even the big tool box that sits across the bed of his truck that E.R. had given to him. They hooked up his boat and John drove it to Dennis' sister's place. E.R. and Elizabeth followed with Ashley as she had to go too. Not that we wanted her to. Hailey went along for support too. Ashley cried all the way there.

Dennis has more things here...a big screen TV, his computer and big computer desk, and other furniture. Elizabeth will see to it that he gets it all and just the way he left it. We don't trash other people's stuff.

The sister and ex wife are talking trash about my daughter. That is hurtful when all she did was give her time and money and love to Dennis and his children. What is wrong with people?

Hailey, Rose, and Reflections

Dorothy

A Minor Tragedy

Everything seemed to be going so well. Elizabeth and John have not gotten along for years, but they have been cordial to each other. I told each of them that the other one is my child and I love them both.

John is staying in the travel trailer. John was in an auto accident last winter. His back was wrenched and now he has a pinched disk. He needs an operation and today he is going to see a specialist and find out about an operation. John was working and trying to get his life back together when this happened. He took himself off state disability...not that they have paid him anything...so he could go back to work. He is in constant pain. In the past he has had problems with drug abuse. It cost him time with Hailey and a big part of his life. He is staying clean and determined to make things right.

Elizabeth has been living in my guest house with her boyfriend, Dennis, and his daughter, Ashley. Things for Dennis have been pretty good considering he is out of work. He had a place for him and Ashley to stay...and a nice place for his younger children to visit. He had a woman that not only loved him but cares about his children and she works! He did work hard getting our swimming pool patched up. Then E.R. Elizabeth and even the children helped with the pool. Dennis has beautiful intelligent children. They call me grandma. I haven’t met his oldest. It has to be hard for Dennis to be out of work when just a few months ago he was a working architect.

People let things get to them. Then they start drinking. Alcohol has ruined so many families. Dennis is spending a few days as a guest of the county now. After Elizabeth came over here and called 911, I got the two younger children and took them home to their mom. Dennis was going to drive away with them but was still in Elizabeth’s house breaking up her stuff. It took some convincing to get the children to go with me. Hailey went with us. I have a long palm lined drive to the road. I didn’t get out the drive way soon enough. Two sheriff’s officers were parked on the road and they talked to the children before we left. The boy had seen the fight and told the officer what happened. Dennis tried to drive out but my car was blocking the way and an officer stood in his way...then when I drove out the other officer drove into the drive way. His truck was blocked in. At least the children didn’t see their dad get arrested. The little girl cried all the way home. She loves us and was afraid that she would never see us again. Hailey hugged her and tried to reassure them both that we would see them again.

On the way back we picked up Ashley from soccer practice. She was in tears. Her dad had already yelled at her on the way to drop her off at soccer practice earlier and now this happened. From talking to Ashley’s mom when I dropped off the kids...Ashley can stay with us for awhile. They don’t get along. Until things get sorted. Hailey hugged Ashley on the way back and tried to reassure her that things would be all right and that she had a place to live.. Ashley was blaming herself. Once we were back in the house Hailey went to her room and cried. So it was time for her to get some hugs. Elizabeth said that Ashley has her room there and can stay.

I was going to take photos of Hailey yesterday...late afternoon...Hailey had agreed to pose. YAY! Sometimes things don’t work out the way you want them too. There is always today and hopefully tomorrow.

The Lily Pond at Balboa Park

While waiting for class to start, I spent a lovely time at the lily pond. The lilies are beautiful so couldn't resist taking photos. Most were straight on pretty shots.

Started to paint with a lens...trying to make the photo look more like an impressionist painting. Met a lovely lady while doing this. She asked what I was doing and wanted to see my photos. She told me her name was Carmin and that she worked at the Senior Center. She was on a break so we talked until she had to return. She takes care of her seven year old grandson during the week and I told her about Hailey.

This is my favorite from the lily pond.

Making Choices

My family grew up and left home. I managed and lived at a mini storage. A few years before that my husband and I broke up and he moved away. So I was often alone at the storage...sometimes one of my children would move back for awhile...

Then Hailey came to live with me. She was about 18 months old. Before she came to live with me I used to enjoy a glass of wine or two but quit. I was Hailey's sole caretaker and I needed to have my wits about me. If I had to drive us somewhere I sure didn't want to have any alcohol on board.

My mother's uncle...my Great Uncle Burt was an alcoholic. He went for several years not drinking but when he did fall off the wagon he would not drive. Many times he walked over five miles to get home. Then when he sobered up he would get someone to take him to where ever he left his truck. After I learned to drive I took hum to get his truck a couple of times.

Now we read in the news about two moms that caused deaths by drinking and driving. They have killed their own children. No matter how drunk a person is they can make the choice to drive or not. They can choose to not drink if they need to stay sober to protect the lives of others and themselves. So many families have been touched by drunk drivers. My own cousin was killed by a drunk driver that ran a red light and slammed into the driver's side of my cousin's car.

When I think about drunk drivers I remember my Uncle Burt walking home all those miles because no matter how drunk he was he was not going to kill someone by driving drunk.

Almost Full Moon