Happy Halloween!

Halloween 1990. Deb, Ruby and me at work-

Just a quick post to say Happy Halloween to all!

This photo was taken 15 years ago at work.

Traditionally, we had no parties in the workplace, not because it was prohibited, but due to the fact that the workforce had been mostly male in the past. Without beer and strippers, my male counterparts didn't have a clue as to how to put together a party.

Then along came Deb (pictured above.) She came from a clerical department and fully expected a party. She chose the pirates theme, and delegated responsibilities.

Our male counterparts chose not to come in costume, but did bring the paper plates, cups and other items assigned. They were fully aware that if they didn't, they wouldn't be eating!

The day of the party we were totally surprised that they'd not forgotten anything. More important was the fact they had all gotten their heads together and each purchased and worn identical Pittsburgh Pirates tee shirts, their own unique way of being in costume!

We weren't allowed to drink alcohol on the job of course, but there might have been some spilled into the punch.

Sometimes I really miss my co-workers!

The Games People Play

My great-grandfather and his sister

When I bought my very first computer, I quickly found (and became addicted to) both Solitaire and Free Cell.

Next came Mah Jong, and then Poker.

More recently I've found I need my daily dose of
Cryptoquote, as well as Zuma.

My most recent addiction is to the game of Text Twist.

I'm aware blogging takes up a lot of time in our lives, but I know you all are playing games too! For example, Cheesecakey has an affinity for Poker, both online and in real life.

So what computer games are you playing?

After Midnight

a color altered sunset

During bouts with insomnia, some people read. Some people stay in bed and try to force themself to sleep, as my husband does. I watch TV.

If I could be viewed while watching late night/early morning TV, you'd most likely see me rolling my eyes in disgust. Literally.

During the day, I hate hearing the phone ring... probably caused by years of ringing telephones at work. At night there's a commercial for some technical institute which drives me crazy. It's set up to look like a telethon, and while one of their supposed former students is 'interviewed' about his wonderful life since graduating, there are phones constantly ringing in the background. I'm quite fast with the mute button lately.

There's the Lamisil ad, which has cartoon charactors lifting up a toenail so they can destroy nail fungus... ick.

And why are there fast food commercials in the middle of the night? Our nearest Burger King is about an hour away, and I don't even know if they're open all night. I'm certainly not willing to dodge deer and possible drunk drivers to get a late night snack! Speaking of Burger King, those "Wake up with the King" ads are just plain freaky...

Then there are the the ads for local talk lines, where beautiful (hot) singles are shown chatting, and sometimes meeting up. Yeah, right!

Of course I have to mention the "Girls Gone Wild" video pitches. People must be buying the product, but I don't see the fun in watching girls flashing their boobage. I'd rather watch porn. At least there's an attempt at a plot.

I can now work the remote with both the right and left hand, laying down and sitting up. But believe me when I say I'm most definitely asking for TiVo this Christmas!

More Antics From The Grandson

Doing "The Rock" impression-

I swear this child's going to be metro-sexual!

He actually spent time going through his backpack, creating a matching outfit for our visit to the local market! (Socks too.)

He was distressed to find that due to our pump troubles he couldn't take his usual "acuzzi" the evening he was here.

He critiqued my clothing choice, asking me to change a top I was wearing. Actually he was right...

He asked if we were poor, since we don't have jobs. When I explained we lived off investments we'd made, he wanted to know just how much money we had invested!

He told grandpa he needed a haircut, and needed to trim his moustache. Quite true.

When he noticed I was running around barefoot, he advised me I would get ugly feet.

The morning he was leaving, he told me he had a secret to share. "Grandma" he said, "I have a boob fetish!"

We're all going to have to watch this child.

Money's Just Flyin' Out My Butt

The K.C. Pumps Truck

The past week and a half or so we'd been noticing a marked decrease in water pressure, and had set up an appointment with our local "pump guy."

We carefully conserved water, as the next available appointment was one week from today.

Saturday, the pump pressure decreased to zero, which meant we scrambled and shut down both the pump and the water heater. Of course this occured in the middle of a shower...

We don't drink the well water, although we could, so we were OK for drinking water.

Full out showers could wait (sort of) since we can sponge-bathe.

I went out and bought paper plates, plastic utensils, and foods we could BBQ, since we can't wash the dishes. I bought ice, because there's no water to the ice-maker.

The houseplants had just been watered, and we had a recent rain shower.

So far, so good.

Except we can't flush the toilets!

I called K.C. yesterday, and he was here today thank goodness.

The upside is we'll be back in business tomorrow, or Thursday at the latest. The downside is this will cost about $2,500.

When we first purchased this home, we were elated to find there would be no monthly water bill. Yeah, right!

A Short Post On A Busy Friday

Movie Poster-

This was a short, and fun project I stumbled across yesterday at:
this place

Hope you all have a nice weekend!

Oh My Gawd!

photo borrowed from website

My ex-husband's family was devoutly Catholic, almost like The Kennedys without either the political clout or trust funds.

His parents were wonderful people, and went so far as to periodically take their children and their spouses on vacations!

One such vacation was to Medjugorje Yugoslavia to view the children who claimed to see the apparations of The Virgin Mary.

The ex and I didn't travel with them at that time, partly due to vacation scheduling, and partly due to the fact we were the heathens of the family. (We did, however, get sent to Mazatlan Mexico when our vacation came about!)

The in-laws traveled a lot, usually bringing back religious souvenirs for all.

One such gift was a bottle of Holy Water from Lourdes, much like the one shown above.

We kept our bottle on display with other knick-knacks, and after several years noticed the water was evaporating.

One Sunday, after work, I arrived home to find the ex and his best friend had been partying. We opened another bottle of wine and I joined in- but they were well ahead of me, drunkwise.

I've learned over the years that being less inebriated than your friends can either be distasteful or downright funny...

These two guys created a scenario which included a little of both.

They decided it was time to drink the Lourdes water.

I advised them that diseased people bathed in the waters... yet they polished off that little bottle.

Neither of them caught anything, nor did they rise to Heaven like drunken angels.

All I know is that I'd sooner eat the little worm at the bottom of a Tequila bottle than take a chance like that!

The Professor Who Taught Too Well

The rapt student-

Within a year or two after this photo was taken, one of my best friends moved away from next door and a new neighbor moved in.

My mother was quite impressed with this man, who I'll call Dr. Smith (simply because that was his name.)

He taught oceanography at our local Jr. College, was recently divorced, and quiet (at first.)

Dr. Smith was young and reasonably good looking. I'm pretty sure the Dr. affixed to his name didn't hurt his chances with the ladies.

He began holding study classes at his home, mostly populated by his young female students.

One abnormally sunny day in our foggy neighborhood seemed to beckon my little brother to stay inside and play in his room. This was a boy who'd would normally play outdoors in any weather.

I walked into his room to find him peeking out the window which overlooked Dr. Smith's side yard. He shushed me, piquing my interest, so of course I went to the window.

Dr. Smith was ummmm tutoring one of his young students in a way which would ensure her a most excellent grade!

We ran and told Mom, after studying this phenomenon a few more minutes.

I don't remember whether she (or Dad) had a talk with him, but I do remember the shade in that room was firmly tacked down for quite a long time afterwards.

But if you looked real close you could see that shade became a little stretched looking, right about the height of my little brother's nose.

Some er Interesting Neighbors!

My son at the Fremont house-

When my husband and I bought our first home together we'd each survived a divorce, and therefore had about half our assets intact.

We both worked in Fremont California, which is somewhat between Oakland and San Jose, and decided to buy a home there. We chose a small home in an area called Niles, which as you can see is nestled against some hills, affording us a little bit of country in suburbia.

One day, my little criminal daughter and her blackmailing friend (look here) told me about the great new neighbors who were moving in! We'll just call them The Ho's, and you'll see just why.

The Ho's home was modest, as was the rest of the neighborhood, yet they had much nicer cars. You never saw them outside, ever!

Soon after their move, the Ho's began paying the little criminal girls $20. apiece to pull their little dogs around the block in that red wagon mentioned in the other posting.

When Halloween arrived, the Ho's were the hit of the neighborhood. Although they didn't appear to be home, they'd left the porch light on, and several cases of 1 lb. boxes of chocolate covered macadamia nuts outside!

We soon learned just how ahem Mr. and Mrs. Ho were able to be so generous.

The local police began a major crackdown on our local Massage Parlour, and when the case was about to go to trial, the Ho's moved out in the middle of the night.

Goodbye $20. dog pulls and goodbye chocolate covered macadamia nuts.

If you're trick-or-treating this year and find cases of quality candies on someone's doorstep, you'd better act quick, because they'll most likely be moving on before next Halloween.

October!

October Sunset

The first year of my retirement I spent an ungodly amount of time watching TV.

I actually got to stay up late and watch all those things I never was able to see when I had a predetermined bedtime!

I also discovered HGTV, and literally burned myself out viewing both the home and garden programming.

Once I was able to get it out of my system, I went back to mainly watching news, Discovery, The History Channel and of course HBO.

But now that October is here, I'll be back to watching me some HGTV for their upcoming Holiday shows! I'm not very creative, but I'm real good with copying ideas.

I'm really excited about Halloween night! Living out here in the country means we have absolutely no trick-or-treaters. I can finally watch spooky movies all evening without getting up to answer the door every few minutes!

Yes, we'll keep the porch light on, and some quarters but not candy around, but are planning on a nice quiet night.

I'll miss seeing all the little costumed children, but not that much!

It's A Little Too Quiet Here

Heading up the driveway- 

PJ went home last night, leaving this grandma's house awfully quiet!

While he was here, we Blogged, watched Sponge Bob and several movies, we played with toys and we hiked.

Whenever we walk around the property, we take along what we call our "Mountain Lion Sticks." The fact that lions generally attack from behind isn't important, we just feel more secure carrying them. One of our cats almost got skewered by grandma when it approached from the rear proved to grandpa that my hearing is still good.

The picture above shows PJ carrying his little stick, which he assured me would kill anything from a rattlesnake to a mountain lion.

Heading up our driveway we noticed the deer have taken to pooping in the middle of the road about every 20 feet or so.

PJ's "Mountain Lion Stick" became a poop dissection tool.

As we headed further, we found some unknown excrement. Upon examination, we found the animal had been eating berries which might have meant it was bear poop, a fact which delighted my grandson but not me...

During our hike we talked about everything under the sun. We heard what sounded like a car crash down on the main road, so PJ asked if I'd ever been in an accident.

I told him about the time I was sitting at a stop light, and the driver behind me wasn't paying attention and crashed into me.

In all seriousness, he looked up at me and asked "Did you get killed grandma?"

Like I said, it's a little too quiet here right now.

Guest Host Post!

PJ in his Halloween costume, Dash from The Incredibles-

Today's posting is guest hosted by my three year old grandson PJ.

He chose which photo he wanted posted, because grandma already has six of them.

Here is his creative writing:

54xZ .
aaaaassfdt4553695trqrrrrrrryyyyyyyyo0=``087777yyyyhyhfdddsaw
3q2w22d ;ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo999999999999
pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp
ppppppppppjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj