Cut Loose on a Saturday Afternoon

(re-run) “I like the way you dance,” he said to me last Saturday afternoon. Margo and I had gone to Vino Godfather, a cool little winery in an old Victorian house on Mare Island in Vallejo. The island used to be a naval base, judging from the abandoned barracks on the way to the winery.… Continue reading Cut Loose on a Saturday Afternoon

Be Careful Who You Hike With

(re-run) First of all, the title should be Be Careful with Whom You Hike, but I figured only English teachers would read the post if I did it that way. An old bf asked me to go on a hike with him. I said yes a little too quickly. Looking back, Bob (not his real… Continue reading Be Careful Who You Hike With

Lovely Rita, Meter Maid

(re-run) Yesterday I spent most of the day in overly-metered Walnut Creek.  The town of walnut orchards has turned into a buzzing destination for shoppers.  It boasts a Nordstrom’s, Neiman Marcus (Needless Mark-up), Tiffany, Apple, Macy’s, Gap, Coach, Tesla, Pottery Barn, and every high-end store and chain store one can think of. People come from… Continue reading Lovely Rita, Meter Maid

Queen Victoria, the Cat

(re-run) Renee already had three cats. She wasn’t looking for another. So when her daughter-in-law called and said, “Mom, you need to adopt this cat,” Renee was thinking, No way, Renee. But then she heard the kitty’s story, and she had to reconsider. Renee’s son Brian and his wife were moving to Tennessee from California… Continue reading Queen Victoria, the Cat

X is for DEXA X-ray

X-ray seems like a cop-out for the letter x. There aren’t many words that start with x – Xenia, X marks the spot, and xenophobia. None of that moved me. So I am writing about the old standby – x-ray. I really did have an x-ray this week, yesterday actually. It was a bone density… Continue reading X is for DEXA X-ray

Y is for YORYKO (you only remodel your kitchen once)

Today the contractor finished my kitchen. It’s been eleven weeks since he started. He said six weeks but to add two. I didn’t say anything when he took off two days to go to the dentist, one day for the tree trimmer guys, one day for the DMV, two days for some shower liner workshop,… Continue reading Y is for YORYKO (you only remodel your kitchen once)

The Classy Meet-up Dancing Bar

There’s an outdoor dancing venue behind an Italian restaurant in downtown Pleasanton, a city which sits near a major crossroads of two freeways, north/south 680 and east /west 580, a few dozen miles east of San Francisco. The people come from all over on Thursday nights from 6:00 to 10:00 in the summer for live… Continue reading The Classy Meet-up Dancing Bar

Hold the Crunch

(re-run) Jim earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He took a job with Proctor and Gamble in Cincinnati, which had just started buying up food brands, like cake mixes and peanut butter. Jim’s job was to put the crunch in the new peanut butter, Jif. One machine chopped the peanuts into… Continue reading Hold the Crunch