Palomar Mountain

We drove up the mountain yesterday to meet the photo group. Hailey went with me. It was a beautiful day. Since I got the time wrong we had to wait a while. So took these photos in the parking lot.

We walked around the area a bit taking photos and the group went on while Hailey and I waited for them I took these photos of her.

Then we drove down to a place called Doan's Pond. It is very small but we saw people fishing and actually catching some.

Leaving the mountain.

Dream or Nightmare?

Someone says let me tell you about the dream I had last night and I think Urf...save me! I woke up after a dreadful little dream...it reminded me of some I had as a child...missing and then running after the school bus...being chased by a black leopard only to have it find every hiding place...being lost and not being able to find my way home...stuff like that. In this dream we were getting ready for a trip to the beach and I couldn't find my camera...I looked everywhere and I just couldn't find it. They were yelling at me to get in the car and I was saying I couldn't go without my camera...

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!