(re-run) Yesterday, at my bi-monthly massage at the chiropractor’s, Curtis the masseur asked me lots of questions to help the 55 minute session go by. I was chatting away as he rubbed the kinks out of my neck, shoulder and lower back, telling him this and that, until he came around to the big question,… Continue reading Do Nerds Laugh?
Butt Dials and Other My-Bads
(re-run) I had lunch with my son today. We were trying to figure out why I’d used up all my storage on my cell phone. He took a look, handed back my phone, and watched me put it in my pocket. “You need to hit the button on the side and turn off your screen,”… Continue reading Butt Dials and Other My-Bads
Do You Want a Cookie, Little Girl?
She ran a personal ad in the Contra Costa Times: Single white female looking for single Asian man. Her two previous boyfriends had been Asian. James called and left a message with his phone number on a Friday night. The next morning Pam checked her phone messages. She liked his voice as she listened to… Continue reading Do You Want a Cookie, Little Girl?
Oh No, Not the Warriors!
(re-run) Last week I took Sis to the hospital for a Barium Swallow test. We had just settled into the waiting room when an elderly woman with a cane came in the door. She had to go around Sis’s wheelchair to get to the check-in window. “Am I at the right place?” she asked no… Continue reading Oh No, Not the Warriors!
More Machu Picchu
(part two) Christy and I finished our breakfast at the hotel up at the top and looked into the fog. The buses wouldn’t start arriving until noon. “Let’s hike up the big mountain,” she said. “Okay,” I said. My lost and found tennis shoes were too small, but I had cut out the toes so… Continue reading More Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu Before It Was a Thing
(re-run) It was 1977. I was finishing up ten weeks of student teaching in an American oil school in Caracas, Venezuela. My roommate, Christy, wanted to travel for two weeks before we went home to the states. She wanted to visit Machu Picchu in Peru. I’d never heard of it. “It’s the lost city of… Continue reading Machu Picchu Before It Was a Thing
Queen Victoria, the Cat
Renee, the artist, 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… Continue reading Queen Victoria, the Cat
The Great Tree Limb Debacle
It started with a red-headed woodpecker, drilling lines of holes in a tall tree limb of my coastal oak down in Monterey County. My brother-in-law said the limb was dead. I asked my handy woman to saw it down. She brought her electric chain saw and a pole. After the better part of an hour,… Continue reading The Great Tree Limb Debacle
Introvert or Extrovert?
Most people don’t know it they are an introvert or an extrovert for the first ten or so years of their lives. By the time they get to college, they have figured it out. Is your ideal weekend spent with or without people? Are you an introvert or an extrovert or a combination of both?… Continue reading Introvert or Extrovert?
How Rustic Is It?
I have an old house two blocks from the Pacific Ocean in Monterey County. It’s a long story, but let’s just say that I had a really good divorce lawyer. At any rate, I rent it to friends only, not friends of friends. Here’s why: “What do you mean you have no WIFI?” “There is… Continue reading How Rustic Is It?
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 