(re-run) Jim’s job was to put the crunch in the new peanut butter, Jif. One machine chopped the peanuts into slivers, and another machine used pistons to plug the slivers into the creamy product. Jim also had to taste test peanut butter that had been sitting on a shelf for three months in 100 degree… Continue reading Hold the Crunch
Category: relationships
Behind Closed Doors
I read a great memoir about a girl’s tough childhood, with violence, danger, and an abusive older brother. I recommended it to Facebook friends online. A friend said she didn’t like it because she didn’t think the book rang true. “The Mormon part or the survivalist part?” I asked her. “Neither.” She didn’t think anyone… Continue reading Behind Closed Doors
Daisy Strikes Again
(re-run) After a five mile hike, my legs ached and wanted to go to bed. I turned off the news at 10:15, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and then headed down the hall to the main bathroom with the doggy door. Both dogs were outside barking. I turned around and went to the kitchen… Continue reading Daisy Strikes Again
Almost Toast
(re-run) Marlene and her friend Beth came out to California from New Hampshire after college to work for Bank of America. They each made a new friend, and each new friend brought another friend to the party (plus one more) until they were a group of seven recent college graduates, living in the city of… Continue reading Almost Toast
Second Time Around
(re-run) Suzanne needed a date for her Alpha Delta Phi sorority party that was being held off campus at one of the sister’s parents’ house. She invited a guy from her old high school, Mark. When they got there, Mark knew the physician dad, because they’d been on ski patrol together one winter in Tahoe.… Continue reading Second Time Around
Marathon Man
(re-run) She’d tried them all — Match, eharmony, Our Time, Chemistry, Zoosk, Okay Cupid, and Coffee Meets Bagel. She’d had her share of weirdos and had learned to use a fake name, fake town, and a fake place of work. She had been stalked in the past. Now she knew how to do it and… Continue reading Marathon Man
Sneaking into the Pool
(re-run) While student teaching in Venezuela, we learned how to have fun with not much money. One of the American teachers had stolen a couple of striped beach towels from an upscale hotel, and she had been sneaking into the hotel pool for years. “Just carry the towel and act like you belong,” Linda said.… Continue reading Sneaking into the Pool
Escape
(re-run) Long before dating sites and the personal computer were invented, Scott answered a personal ad in the Contra Costa Times for a woman looking for a date. Remember newspapers? They were ink-on-paper affairs that folded in half, but not shiny like a magazine. A magazine was a booklet of ads, stories, and photographs with… Continue reading Escape
Daydreaming on a Dog Walk
(re-run) I get some of my best writing ideas while walking my dogs. My brain is free to think while my body is exercising. I am not listening to music or staring into my phone. I am enjoying the view. Today I walked Pepper, my almost four-year-old lab, while Daisy stayed home where she feels… Continue reading Daydreaming on a Dog Walk
To Flirt or Not to Flirt
(re-run) They found each other on Match. They had both lost their spouses. Don said he was looking for a good Catholic widow. He was involved with the arch diocese in Oakland. Sue was a recovering Catholic but thought maybe he was a solid guy. She agreed to meet him for coffee. He was good-looking… Continue reading To Flirt or Not to Flirt
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 