Observations

[larryJ]

Why is it that grandchildren seem to grow two inches and gain 10 pounds over the course of a week?  When I picked my son up at the airport, #3 came running to me and I picked her and she really was hugging me tight.  I could swear she was heavier than last week and taller, too.  This month will see her second birthday and there is a big celebration planned.  The best thing is that everyone returned home safe.

As it seems to be airport week, my wife's cousin is off to Sedona, Arizona, for a week with a friend from Chicago who has a time share there.  Normally, this is no big deal.  But, as mentioned, the other grandparents are off to Hawaii for two weeks and we will have #1 and #2 every day for two weeks.  This is where the cousin comes in handy as she loves the kids and likes to play games with them, etc.  I took her to the airport on Saturday and will pick her up next week.

Upon returning Thursday night, the big push is on, now, for my son and family to move back to their beach house for the off-season.  Friday morning, our daughter-in-law came over with #3 and borrowed my van.  #3 stayed all day and spent the night and then again on Saturday and Saturday night.  Today, we will head down to Newport to help where we can and have lunch at the Legion. 

Observation:  You spend a great deal of time in your life to raise your kids.  They grow up, marry, move on and then there is grandkids who require a great deal of time.  It never ends.  I wouldn't trade this for anything in the world.

Second observation:  I wonder if either of my children will know it is National Grandparents Day.  Doubtful........well, at least until I tell them.  I know.  When we get to the Legion, I will raise a toast to Grandparents Day and watch the look on their faces!   

Larryj

[larryJ]

We are experiencing a strange and rare phenomena.  #3 granddaughter went home at about 1 PM today.  The car that I had been keeping in my driveway has been removed to its beach headquarters.  The wife's cousin is on vacation.  The strangeness?  There is a total of 19 hours here that involves no relatives, no grandkids, no plans........nothing.

As far our "grandparents day" the surprise was blown by my son's best friend who posted a message on FB wishing us a happy Grandparent's day.  I answered thank you and that I had hoped it would be a surprise.  His response was to never doubt my children.
As it turns out, we did not go to the beach today.  Our son and daughter-in-law looked pretty tired and they still have a lot to do.  Going to the beach and having lunch with them would use up precious time and they really did look beat.  While they were here picking up #3, our other granddaughters called to wish us a happy Grandparents Day.  As this conversation was on a speaker phone, all in the room heard it and it was a big surprise to our son and his wife.  I have a feeling that perhaps our daughter might have seen the FB posting and had the girls call.  Or maybe, our son's friend might have texted her to give her a heads-up. 

Observation:  Every day is a new day.  Every day something happens to change our lives.  Or, maybe there is a day where it is time to stop and rest and take a deep breath and prepare for the week ahead.  You know.......stop and smell the roses.

Larryj

[larryJ]

One of the benefits.....highlights..........happenings of living in SoCal is the high speed chase.  There are many that occur, but of course the public only sees the ones that happen during the news hours.  If you wish to be in a high speed chase and want notoriety, do it between 4 PM and 7 PM.  I had not seen one in a while and then BAM! two in a row.

Now most of these chases end up with the guy stopping either by a lack of gas or some other reason that the car can't go on.  The driver gives up and is taken away.  I believe the figure is close to about 99%.  On occasion one will get away.  I have seen chases where a spike strip is used to flatten the tires and guys drives until the rubber comes off and the rims start sparking and maybe catch the car on fire.  I have seen chases with speeds over 100 MPH and chases where the speeds are at a normal limit.  A lot of chases involve collisions.  There have many cases of civilians getting killed by these idiots.

So, on Monday, there was a high speed chase in Arleta area of LA County.  At one point the guy stopped and a woman got out of the car and he continued on.  Later, he stopped again and a high school kid got out and he drove off.  After a while he pulled into a dead end alley and began jumping fences and from the news helo view it looked like he hid in a big tree.  But later on the news, they said that he had gotten away.  The police said that it was a drug deal gone bad.

Okay, well, that was it.  Oh wait..................we are having another one.  This guy is driving along like he is trying to find some address or something.  Six LA Police cars trailing him, two LAPD choppers flying over him and five different media choppers following along.  This one started about 6 PM.  (A little late dude, the news channels sign off around 6:30 to go to national news.)  However, this one is more serious.  He is driving a stolen car, and according to the owner, it has a full tank of gas.  He is suspected of committing a murder and supposedly is armed with some heavy firepower.  Bad news is that the news channel funneling the overhead pictures went to a commercial and when they came back, the chase was over and I heard that the guy crashed into another car and came out shooting.  The cops shot back and didn't seem to be in a hurry to get an ambulance to the scene.  The paramedics were there though.

Only in L.A............

Larryj

[larryJ]

Seems to be an epicemic!  Arriving home from picking up #1 from school, there was a news report of another chase that began in the San Fernando Valley and ended up in South L.A.  These guys robbed a bank and once they got to South L.A. began tossing wads of cash out the window.  Of course, people began running into the streets, in and around the police cars, to pick up the cash.  They got boxed in some traffic and surrendered. 

The guy that shot it out with the police yesterday did not die, but was shot.

Now I hear that there was another one than began in nearby Arcadia and headed east on the 210 freeway to San Bernardino.  This one ended badly as the guy lost control of the Corvette he was driving and hit a pillar, destroying the car and catching it on fire.  He didn't make it.

So that is four chases in three days.  It's an epidemic.

Larryj

[larryJ]

Well, let's see........nope, no car chases today, at least, not on TV.  So change the channel and what is next........Oh yeah...........
brush fires.  Three of them today, one of which is close to the Bel-Air and Beverly Hills area, the places with the multimillion dollar homes.  Amazing how fast the choppers and the Super Scoopers got on that one.  Almost out now and only burned about 40-50 acres.
Our canyon fire last week burned almost 4,000 acres and I never saw the Super Scoopers.  That doesn't mean they weren't there, but I never saw them nor did I hear they were being used. The local news concentrated on this fire with little mention of the other two.  This is because (a) it was close to the choppers base, or (b) it was in an affluent area, or (c) both of the above.

Many people from other parts of the country comment that Southern California doesn't have seasons, you know, winter, summer, spring and fall.  We have our own unique seasons............we call them, brush fires, mudslides, earthquakes, etc.

Today we were into triple digits with the heat and will be for the next few days.  So, a trip to Newport to visit our son and his family is in order on Sunday.  Nothing like sitting on the patio of the AL Post sipping a drink and watching the ships that go sailing.....sounds like a song.

My wife's cousin returns from her vacation tomorrow and that will be a great help with watching the granddaughters.  Having them here for five full days has been a test and there is still another week to go.  I love, dearly love, my granddaughters, but they can be a handful sometimes. 

Larryj

[larryJ]

As I mentioned above, I love my granddaughters...........I adore my granddaughters............nobody has better granddaughters.....

They, however, are testing Papa's patience.  We have two more days until the other grandparents return from their vacation........
can't wait.  The oldest has told us twice this last week that she wasn't given homework...........she was.  When mommy gets home, she has to fix dinner and then help the kid with her homework.  Not acceptable.  The homework is supposed to be done after she gets home from school.  Need to work on that.  The youngest has been learning to use the computer and asked today to use the laptop.  I know she is not that savvy with the computer, but she seems to know what she wants to play and gets by without much help from me.  Today, however, while sitting in my recliner with the laptop on her lap, she leaned forward and BOOM! the laptop hit the floor.  Fortunately, there is a rug in place so no damage.  Both of them seem to able to talk at the same time with the older one having the tendency to answer any questions directed at her sister. 

I think after this week I need a vacation.

Bright spot though...........#3 will turn two on Friday and the party is at the beach on Saturday.  So I get to spend a day at the beach with my family having a good time.

We have new neighbors a block away and they have two teenage twin daughters who have the responsiblity to walk their horse, er dog every afternoon.  The wife has asked them to walk R.A.M.B.O and they are happy to do so..........for a fee.  R.A.M.B.O is happy with it.  Sir Charles goes nuts not having R.A.M.B.O. around.  Amazing how strong this cocker spaniel is.  He can almost jerk you off your feet when he hits the end of the leash.  He doesn't get to go for the walk until he has had a little more leash training.

I have observed that I can actually sit here and type about things which don't mean much!

Larryj

[larryJ]

I have mentioned before about life changing with each day and/or I have seen just about everything to see in SoCal.  Then my morning paper comes out with this.  Life is never dull in this town.

__________________________________________

COVINA
Seniors offered dating service.

Inter Valley Health Plan will host an event on dating as a senior, covering a variety of topics including online dating, from 9 A.M. to Noon on Tuesday. 

"To Love Again -- Finding the Love of Your Life & the Life You Love," will be held at the Covina Joslyn Center. (address and phone number for information included.)

_________________________________________________

The Joslyn Center is a senior center which features a dining area for lunch, card tables for those who play cards and pool tables as well as some big screen TVs.  Membership has a price although I can't remember right now how much.  Included is a membership card that allows a senior living in the town to get a cab ride anywhere in the city limits for fifty cents, or at least that what it was a few years ago.  My father-in-law used to go there until he decided the food wasn't that good and he didn't make any friends. 

Life must be good.

Larryj

[larryJ]

Alright, I am all ready for the big day.........the space shuttle Endeavour is going to do a fly by over the area.  It's going to to fly by JPL in Pasadena..............gotta go right over my house............sometime around 11:30 AM.....

I am in the front yard waiting...........and waiting.........and waiting..........  I have an app for the local news channel on my phone and I am checking it every minute.  It was seen over Los Angeles............it's over Dodger stadium......."I just saw it over by the Hollywood sign".............John 3:16............It has been hijacked and is headed for Mexico.........(well, you know, we have all kinds here.)

Dang it! It's 12:15, gotta go to the preschool and get #2.  

As it turns out it never really got close to my house, but it was great to watch it land at LAX, on TV.  Now for the crazy part.

Everybody, including the mayor of LA and some city leaders, even the former governor's wife were there to commemorate the occasion right there on the tarmac next to this montrous 747 with the shuttle on its back.  Yep, right there on the tarmac giving speeches at one of the world's busiest airports.  ("I would like to thank all those................rooooooar............people who worked on this............rooooooar............shuttle program.")  I mean, what idiot decided to have this get together out there on the tarmac instead of inside a building where someone could actually hear what they are saying!  Somewhere tonight there is a staffer who put this party together that didn't realize planes were going to be taking off and landing.

Only in LA.

Larryj

[larryJ]

Okay, short story long.......

When my son was born 35 years ago, I really was into baseball.  By the time he was four, he wanted to play baseball.  So we signed him up for the local city T-ball league.  This is the kind of league where there are no definitive positions other than the catcher and maybe someone on the bases.  There might be 20 kids out there trying to get the ball.......well, some of them.  Others are just sitting on the ground trying to figure out what they are doing there. 

However, he progressed into organized Little League and played three years in high school.  In his senior year, his car was stolen along with his baseball equipment, including the expensive size 13 cleats.  He became disgruntled and didn't play that year.  But, he never lost interest in the sport and and is a huge Dodger fan even going in with three friends one year to buy season tickets.  His goal in life is to visit all the major league stadiums.  He has been to a lot of them.  His first year of college was in Rhode Island and he managed to go to several of them back east and to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Now.......after graduation and becoming a CPA, he worked for a firm locally and made friends with another guy who was just as big of a fan.  His friend's wife had a brother who was a minor league pitcher and we had a few opportunities to see him play when his team was close by.  Then the brother got sent to AA Little Rock.  My son and I have, in the past, gone on "spur of the moment" trips.  In 2002 he decided we should drive to Little Rock to see this guy play.  So we did.  We went to the game and watched as the Little Rock team fielded 24 of the 25 roster players.  Guess who didn't play.  He was a relief pitcher and never got into the game.  But we did talk to him for a while after the game.  On our return trip we stopped in Howard and then Topeka to see relatives and then Denver where we attended a Dodgers/Rockies game.  We wore our Dodger shirts, but the Rockies fans accepted us and made us feel welcome.

His fascination with the sport is what is leading up to this post.  Tonight he was talking to his mother and told her that he was leaving to fly to Dayton, Ohio, to meet up with his old co-worker and they will go to Cleveland for a game and then to Pittsburgh for a game.  What an obsession! 

The observation?  Probably if I were in better health, I would be flying to Dayton tonight also.  Not real sure that I would want to go.

Larryj

[larryJ]

Now for the cat saga........

Last year when the cousin moved in, there was a feral/strange/unclaimed male cat that started coming around.  I told her, "DO NOT FEED THAT CAT!  IT WILL MOVE ON!"  So she started feeding the cat.  He was very loud in the morning wanting to be fed and became known as "Crybaby."  Her plan was to gain the confidence of said cat and take it to a no-kill shelter.  Then a friend of hers in Chicago was injured and she went back to stay with her until she was healed.  So, now we have a cat that calls this place home.  He is a really nice cat, even lets the granddaughters pet him.  My wife decided that we might as well keep him so she took him to a vet and had him fixed and got him shots.  He is now a regular fixture around the outside of the house.  (We do have an indoor cat who has been with us eleven years.)

Recently, after the cousin came home, another female cat showed up and she began feeding her despite my repeated pleas, "DO NOT FEED THAT CAT!"  She became pregnant, maybe by Crybaby before his operation, and had (we think) four kittens.  She and the kittens were living under a neighbor's house two doors down.  The cousin would put out hot dogs for her and she would take them back to the kittens once they were old enough.  This cat, however, is not friendly and won't come near anyone.  My wife decided she did not want a whole neighborhood of cats coming by for breakfast and called the local county humane society.  They put her name on the list for a trap...........two months ago.  She finally went out and bought her own trap.  At this point, the kittens would come with her, one at a time, to eat.  Two days ago, the first kitten was caught in the trap and transported to the shelter.  That night a second one was trapped and transported to the shelter.  Last night, a third was caught and is awaiting transportation to the shelter.  We have revised our estimate of the number of kittens down to three.  The last step will be to get the cousin from feeding the cat in the morning and only put food in the trap so we can catch her.  This cat is smart having seen her babies go for the trap so it will be difficult to catch her.........but not as difficult to convince the cousin to stop feeding her. 

Sheesh.

Whoops............#3 is awake and rearing to go.......literally.....if you get my drift!

Larryj