Observations

[larryJ]

I received this one from a cousin........

OBSERVATIONS ON GROWING OLDER..........

Your kids are becoming you......and you don't like them......but your grandchildren are perfect.
Going out is good.........coming home is better.
When people say you look "great"...........they add "for your age."
When you needed the discount, you paid full price.  Now you get discounts on everything...movies, hotels, flights, but you are too tired to use them.
You forget names.....but it's OK because other people forgot they even knew you!
The 5 pounds you wanted to lose is now 15 and you have a better chance of losing your keys than the 15 pounds.
You realize you're never going to be really good at anything..............especially golf.
Your spouse is counting on you to remember things you don't remember.
The things you used to care to do, you no longer care to do, but you really do care that you don't care to do them anymore.
Your husband sleeps better on a lounge chair with the TV blaring that he does in bed.  It's called his "pre-sleep."
Remember when your mother said, "Wear clean underwear in case you GET in an accident."  Now you bring clean underwear in case you HAVE an accident.
You used to say, "I hope my kids GET married......Now, "I hope they STAY married."
You miss the days when everything worked with just an "ON" and "OFF" switch.
When GOOGLE, ipod, email, modem......were unheard of and a mouse was something that made you climb the table.
You used to use more 4 letter words........"What?........When?...........
Now that you can afford expensive jewelry, it's not safe to wear it anywhere.
Your husband has a night out with the guys, but he's home by 9:00 P.M.  Next week it will be 8:30 P.M.
You read 100 pages in a book before you realize you've read it.
Notice everything they sell in stores is "sleeveless."
What used to be freckles are now liver spots.
Everybody whispers.
Now that your husband has retired............you'd give anything if he'd find a job!
You have 3 sizes of clothes in your closet.........2 of which you will never wear.

BUT OLD IS GOOD IN SOME THINGS:  OLD SONGS, OLD MOVIES AND BEST OF ALL OLD FRIENDS.

Larryj

[larryJ]

Maybe JPMorgan Chase Bank should have taken this advice!!

Investment Advice:

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you would have $49.00 today!

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you would have $33.00 today.

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you would have $0.00 today.

But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for the recycling refund, you would have received $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle.

It is called the 401-Keg.

And as a bonus...

A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year. Another study found that on average Americans drink 22 gallons of alcohol a year. That means that the average American gets about 41 miles to the gallon!

Makes you damned proud to be an American!

Larryj

[larryJ]

As I was lying in bed pondering the problems of the world, and I rapidly realized that I don't really give a hoot. It's the tortoise life for me!

1. If walking is good for your health, the postman would be immortal.
2. A whale swims all day, only eats fish, only drinks water, and is fat.
3. A rabbit only eats vegetables, runs and hops all day long, and only lives 5 years.
4. A tortoise doesn't run and does nothing energetic, yet it lives for 450 years.
And you tell me to exercise!

I don't think so.

I'm retired, go around me.

Larryj

[larryJ]

As I mentioned on the "What are doing for excitement?" thread, we spent part of the day at Olvera Street in Los Angeles.  When we arrived, we were able to park in the lot across the street.  ($9).  We entered the plaza area only to find we had just missed some singers who were performing on the plaza.  However, there were some guys playing American Indian flutes and pipes, with a guitarist and a saxophone player playing music to a karaoke machine in another part of the area.  They did more modern songs.  In Los Angeles we have a lot of "street people" and one old man wearing a cowboy hat and a pair of Nikes was standing on the concrete area in front of the musicians and just dancing his heart out.  He was the only one doing that.  We watched them for a while and then headed for the walkway down the street itself.  There were all the usual trinkets, "chachi stuff" my wife calls it, hats both baseball caps, sombreros, flags, toys for kids, tee shirts (one in particular said, "I didn't ask to be born Mexican, I just got lucky") and several eateries.  We walked the length of one side with a quick look at the oldest house in Los Angeles, the Avila Adobe.  It had been restored some years back and was quite interesting to see how the Avila family lived in those days.  The house was built in 1818.  On down to the end and then back down the other side where the more permanent buildings stood.  About halfway down, we came to the La Golondrina Restaurant.  There was inside seating and a patio bordering the street with some tables.  As we decided to eat there, I noticed one of the outside tables was empty and hadn't been cleaned yet.  I asked the hostess if we could have that table as it would be more accessible for my wife and her cousin, neither of whom negotiate stairs very well.  To eat inside meant going down some steps.  We were able to get the table and sat where we could watch all the people strolling along the street, looking at the vendor's kiosks. 

My wife and her cousin opted to share a lunch and I went for my favorite, Huevos Rancheros.  I also splurged and had a Tequila Sunrise as I was not driving.  When we first entered the street, I noticed two different Mariachi Bands strolling around.  Once we were in the restaurant, one of the bands came in and were walking around asking for requests or if you just wanted to hear a song.  They work for tips.  This group had made their way down to our end of the restaurant and were singing to the table across from us. 

Now..............many years ago, I had come into ownership of a mariachi record album which had the song, "Malaguena Salarosa," not to be confused with the song, "Malaguena" from the opera Andalucia.  Malaguena Salarosa is a really difficult song to sing.  It has low notes and falsetto notes and at one point the singer has to hit a high note and hold it as long as he can.  Over the years I have requested this song from Mariachi Bands and some were really good at singing it and I even had one band refuse to sing it as it was too hard for them to do.  This has become a "thing" with me and my wife thinks its hilarious to watch.  So yesterday, when the group got to our end of the area, they asked us for requests.  I wasn't going to ask this time, but my wife asked them to sing it.  So I laid a $20 bill on the table, my standard tip for such a difficult song. ($20)  Their eyes went wide and they took a deep breath and belted out one of the better versions of the song that I have heard, although the singer did not hold the one high note as long as I have heard before.  Because of the huge tip, they threw in another request which I asked them to sing, "Guadalajara."  They did that one pretty good also. Lunch came to $49.50 and a tip of $10.  ($59.50)

To wrap up a long bit of nothing...........I love the Mexican music, the Mexican food, just the whole culture in general.  Being in downtown on Olvera Street is more like the way Mexican lifestyle is, rather than the gangs of East L.A. and other areas.  More of a high class kind of a feeling.  So a nice day enjoying and taking in the essence of a wonderful culture with good food, a great Tequila Sunrise and "La Musica", it was a very nice day.

As we were leaving, some American Indian dancers with rather fanciful headdresses were dancing in the plaza.  We watched them until they stopped, about thirty minutes worth.  I put a $2 tip in one of their tip baskets that they set out.  ($2).

In roughly four hours or so, I enjoyed a wonderful culture with good food, good drink, good entertainment, accompanied by two beautiful ladies all for $90.50.  Well worth in it, IMHO!

Larryj

[Diane Amberg]

What a wonderful day! I love that kind of thing too.Thank you for sharing it.

[larryJ]

Having chosen to spend our Fourth of July at our friend's house rather than going to the parade our granddaughter was in, I have made the following observation.

In recent times (months, maybe years) whenever we are going somewhere that we have never been to, we tend to get lost.  Or, as Daniel Boone reportedly said, "I never get lost, only confused."  When we do arrive, fashionably late, our hosts or others ask, "What happened?" or "Where have you been?" or (not out loud) what a couple of idiots.  If our children are present they are aware that we do often get "confused."  When I am asked, "What happened, or, where have you been"  I generally say that we got lost or couldn't find the place.  And then their response is usually, "Didn't you follow the directions I gave you" or "Doesn't your cell phone have GPS?"

Yesterday, we did leave a little late and did have some problems finding the house.  In all the years we have lived here we have never been to that part of the county.  Their house is located in the hills above Yorba Linda, not far from the Nixon library.  Afterwards, when we left after dark, we made a wrong turn and were headed south instead of north like we were supposed to.  We did manage after only a few minutes to find a familiar freeway and head for home.  We only lost about twenty minutes.

So I have decided to use the term......."You live in (or this is such a beautiful area) that we wanted to make a quick trip around just to admire the sights.  Then the response from them is, "That is great that you like where we have chosen to live, or, this is a nice area and we are glad you appreciate it."

I call this..............taking the scenic route.  Of course, our children are well aware of this and only laugh when we say we took the "scenic route."

Makes sense to me.

Larryj

[Wilma]

We used to do that quite often, get lost and take the scenic route.  Got to see some things that we would never have gone out of our way to look at.  On the other hand, going out of our way to look at something has gotten us lost.  We spent half an hour in Tulsa one day trying to find the highway that we had left to get a closer look at a church.  Finally found it when we decided to turn around and try going back.  As we were setting in the driveway of a lot, preparing to pull out onto the street, there to our wondering eyes there appeared:  the highway sign.  We had been on it and didn't know it.

[larryJ]

Actually, not my observation, but my wife's cousin's observation.  A native of Illinois, she is amazed at our California weather.  We have mostly cloudless skies this time of the year.  When we are all sitting outside with the grandkids, she constantly makes the remark, "There are no clouds.  Where are the clouds?"  That's why we live here.........no clouds in the summertime.

However, today, she was out and about and made the following observation.  While waiting at a stoplight, she saw a man pulling what appeared to be a perch on wheels and a huge parrot on the perch.........no cage.........just the perch on wheels.  The guy was taking his parrot for an outing. 

Only in SoCal!

Larryj

[larryJ]

My daughter-in-law is currently on a trip to China to attend a memorial for her grandmother.  She will be gone for six days.

Observation:  After day one, my son has realized what it is like to be solely in charge of a 21-month-old child.  He has also realized that it takes more time than he thought.  He is also discovering things about his daughter, i.e., her habits, her needs, what her facial expressions really mean, etc.  He has become, in the last 24 hours, much more appreciative of his wife than he was.  That's not to say he isn't a good husband and father.  It's just when he has to do all the work that she normally does, it's a tough job.

Lesson well learned.  One that all husbands learn at some point in their lives.

Yesterday, we were "invited" to his place for our advice on some projects that he wants to do.  They are currently living in her mother's condo while Mom is gone to China for the summer.  First and foremost was the dishwasher.  When it drained it flooded the kitchen.  Tightening down on the hose clamp did no good.  Secondly, the water heater is stored in a cabinet in an enclosure on the wall of the condo outside on the patio.  The door to this enclosure is pretty much fallen apart.  Thirdly, the fence and gate leading from the pation into a grassy area is not very stable and looks the worse for wear.

Off we went to the local hardware store.  We bought a replacement outlet for the hose from the dishwasher and some wood.  On arriving home, we replaced the somewhat worn connector on the drain hose from the dishwasher.  We ran the dishwasher and nothing leaked.  HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!...................Wait, the dishwasher didn't drain..............hmm......

We had measured the water heater door and bought the wood.  We decided to wait until next weekend to cut the wood and make a new door. 

AT 4:30 THIS MORNING, IN MY DROWSY MIND, IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT WHEN THE DISPOSAL WAS INSTALLED, THE PERSON WHO INSTALLED IT MAY HAVE NOT REMOVED THE PLUG FROM THE INLET.  THIS IS THE PLUG YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO REMOVE WHEN INSTALLING. 

I got up a little later and immediately e-mailed my son with a detailed message on the subject of that plug and how to remove it.  I then sent him a text to tell him to read his e-mail.  (That's how you have to do it these days with the younger generation.)  He just texted back and said he had removed the hose and checked and the plug was still there. 

DESPITE MY ADVICE ON HOW TO REMOVE THE PLUG, HE HAS INFORMED ME THAT HE IS GOING ONLINE FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO REMOVE THE PLUG..............Okay, that's fine.  Whatever works.

Observation:  I am getting too old when I can't remember things like that and that anything you want to know is online and you don't "need" dad's advice...............well, he is a grown man and needs to experience these problems for himself just like I did at that age.  On one hand, he is lucky he has a dad to help him (my father died when I was three) and he is also lucky that he can go online for instructions on how to do things, just in case the "old man" can't remember.

DUH!!

Larryj

[larryJ]

Here in our town we have a "downtown area" which is about four blocks long and the city's leaders strive to keep it looking like it did in the past.  Oh, there are improvements but the overall look is from earlier years.  There are, maybe, two or three empty store spaces but they won't be for long as there is a lineup of merchants wanting to move in there.  There is a great variety of stores which include several restaurants ranging from French food to Mexican food (3), Italian food, etc.  There are two bookstores, three antique stores, a Starbucks coffee and one or two fast food places ,etc.  Where am I going with this?

Recently, in the local paper, I read that the city fathers were trying to decide to okay yet another restaurant/bar, mostly bar, in the downtown area.  They were concerned about being overrun with food places as well as dealing with the food place owners already in place who feel another restaurant/bar, mostly bar, is not needed.

Now, when I drive around town to go to the different malls or grocery stores, I usually try not to drive through the downtown area.  It is crowded and parking is hard to find on the street.  There is plenty of parking behind the stores.  I've seen it a thousand times and I can get where I'm going without going through there.  Today, however, on my way home from the grocery store, I thought I would cruise the downtown just to see it.  I observed............

That the city fathers have approved a new restaurant/bar, mostly bar, in downtown.  It is decorated very nice of the front and fits in with the theme of the area.  I did do a double take at the name, though.

(Are you ready?)

It's called...........

The 21st Amendment.

Isn't that a great name or what?!

Larryj