Wheeling Into A New Paradigm

Well, I did it. Finally. I have a bicycle. And I even ride it. For those of you who don't know, Mark has been a bicycle berserker since he had a "cardiac event" 7 years ago. Now, I'm not complaining about it. I'm so happy he took the warning seriously and is much healthier. But he is a berserker because he now owns FIVE bikes (2 custom-made), subscribes to AT LEAST 1 bicycle magazine, owns a DRAWER full of "bike garb", listens to EVERY bike podcast made, and avidly follows ALL bike discussion groups on line. We often discuss the deaths of cyclists in Iowa or Nevada over dinner and how it was something stupid either the cyclist or driver did and how this city or that is voting to put in bike lanes which have PROVEN to be bad according to studies and opinion and why do we continue to support infrastructure for cars SO HEAVILY and not for bikes which are better for the environment.... you get the picture. Mark has participated in AIDS vaccine research fund-raising rides that cover over 400 miles and last days. He rides to work.... and did so in the old neighborhood.... even when there was snow and ice on the roads and it was in the single digits. So you can see what I was up against. I had to work REALLY HARD to be a lazy fat slug that refused to give up my comfy car to get to the grocery store five blocks away. I did TRY bike riding back East. I rode one of Mark's bikes. He said we would "just go around the block"..... right......!! The block was AT LEAST 5 miles and ALL UP HILL BOTH WAYS. I ended up walking his bike part of the way. And my butt bones HURT on that VERY LITTLE leather seat of his. So much for riding in New England. But I must admit... Mark never nagged or begged or coerced. He just kept talking.... and that was enough. So now that it is FLAT and NOT FROZEN and the streets are WIDE and things ARE CLOSE, I have no more excuses. We went bike shopping and found a cute iridescent pink girl's bike (no high bar to get caught on) and a BIG SQUISHY seat. So I rode it around the parking lot and it felt OK. But you can't JUST get a bike when you are married to BikeMan. I had to get a helmet, lock, basket, lights.... you get the picture. I tried on Girl helmets... too small. So I tried on Boy helmets.... but no cute colors or patterns. And of course, I want to be fashion-forward when I am tooling around town. So the very nice and VERY YOUNG sales woman suggested a shiny black one - after all, black goes with everything and you can dress it up with jewelry for an evening look.... VOILA! Then the 30 lbs. of lock stuff you need as bike theft is common in parts of town (and where do you KEEP all this metal when not locked up??). Got that covered too. So now a "Little Old Lady" style basket to put stuff in. Mark uses a panier system (that's new bikespeak for saddle bags). He started pulling several styles out for me to test. But I wasn't happy with that. After all, as a girl with a purse, I would then have a wallet in the purse in the panier. Talk about being a bag lady! So we decided to wait and do more research... ONLINE of course. We squished my new bike into the car (it fit!) and as soon as we got home, Mark was online checking out baskets. "Come here honey and look at this one!" We found a wire one that comes in pairs and fits on either side of the back wheel attached to a rack. AND they collapse when not being used to cut down on the drag (very important when you are a little old lady cruising around!). They and the front/rear light system are on their way... I have even gone for a bike ride and..... I hate to admit it...... I REALLY enjoyed it.

Entertaining NoCal Style

Tomorrow we will have our first guests over for dinner. My normal routine would be to clean for a whole day and then spend the next day shopping and cooking and then the day of the dinner, set the table etc. But here it is a bit different...... Because I am still on the hunt for THE grocery store, I spent ALL day yesterday shopping. I went to FIVE stores trying to find food and table stuff. First, the hunt for brass candlesticks..... Yes, I know. I own LOTS of candlesticks and some are brass...... but they are somewhere in the myriad of boxes buried in the garage. And then I wanted some bittersweet or other attractive fall foliage to put on the Star Wars-esque tablecloth I purchased/made (that was the day before when I went to the fabric store after looking in TWO stores for a table cloth which I know I own a million of but they TOO are packed in a box in the garage so I had to buy fabric and hem it). I looked in THREE stores just for those things and decided to Hell with it and got a frog-pokey-thing for fresh flowers. Then off to find food. I might as well be wearing a skin loincloth I've become such a hunter/gatherer! I had to program Garmin Nuvi to find the place. I forgot I had changed the settings (it's so much fun to have Garmin speak with a British accent as Daniel from BBC America) and so instead of the FASTEST route, he sent me on the SHORTEST route which was through neighborhoods - a bit disorientating. But I arrived at FoodMaxx at last. Again I found myself wandering back and forth around the produce section (which was HUGE and VERY well priced - mangos $.48/each, pineapple $2.98/each) as I tried to find everything on my list. Oh, did I mention that for our first dinner guests am I making something simple that I have made MANY times before? Of Course Not! I am making the Julia Child Beef Bourguignon! And here in THIS grocery is every possible Mexican ingredient you could find including a BIN of dried pinto beans and 12 different kinds of fresh chiles..... go figure. This store, as most stores in the area, has a huge amount of Mexican products. Where we would have 3 feet of produce space for parsley and herbs, here it is cilantro. And shelves and shelves of GIANT bags of tortillas - 50 to 100/bag! This gringa gets overwhelmed by it all (I have to get a Mexican cookbook/dictionary just to figure out all the cheeses). Unfortunately, the 'We're not in Kansas anymore" phenomenon happened...... no watermelon rind pickle(for a delicious appetizer - wrap small pieces in bacon, broil and eat with a toothpick - quick and exotic). Drat! I should realize that I can't really sit at home and plan a menu that uses exotic other-life-type ingredients when I am shopping in NoCal. So with a few items still to get, I asked Garmin/Daniel to get me to Whole Foods. Now, we have a Whole Foods in the old neighborhood. It is new and large and spacious and has LOTS of great stuff (even if it is expensive). Not so with THIS Whole Foods. Out of 10 aisles, 4 were for health/beauty/vitamin type stuff, 1 for cleaning products/pets and the rest for human edibles. So I wandered around again and ....... no watermelon rind. On to plan B...... cheese and crackers and to HELL with them! My shopping took all day yesterday. So today, I'll clean the house (1 hour) and cook (LOTS of hours) and walk to the library in the sun shine and blue sky and winter cold (55). I sure do waste alot of energy and time on this eating thing.

FInding My Way Out of the South Bay

We live near an airport. I mean NEAR. I can watch the planes coming in for a landing and often wave to the passengers as they eagerly stare out the window.... well, maybe not QUITE that close. But, in my efforts to shift my paradigm, I decided to take public transportation to catch my flight to Oregon. So I walked to the VTA light rail. I passed roses, bougainvillea in bloom, green grass..... and, with a small carry-on-type rollie, easily made it to the station. I purchased the $2 ticket and waited about 5 minutes before a train arrived. I rolled aboard - the train lines up with the platform so there are no steps - and found a seat in the almost empty car. We rode a few stops and I got off. Across the street is the bus which takes you right to the Departures section of the airport for FREE. Again, the bus was at the stop as I arrived and left 10 minutes after I boarded. So from my house - to the airport - through check-in was 45 minutes. And no hassle with cars to park and expensive parking fees. Very civilized... the flight was easy too. Horizon gives its passengers who are over 21 complimentary beer and wine of the month. AND snacks - again FOR FREE. Oregon winter weather had begun so it was cool, misty/rainy, gray skies.... a nice change from SUN SUN SUN! And I enjoyed wearing a heavy sweater..... and a raincoat.... and avoiding puddles because I didn't have rubber boots on. But seeing my "kids" was great. This was the first time I had ever stayed with them. That was interesting. I tried hard to be a good guest and not a picky mother/mother-in-law. That can be tricky at times..... Like staying out of their disagreements and not being too high-maintenance about meals (WHAT???? No hazelnut coffee???) and saying "Sure I can stay up until midnight while you finish this quest on World of Warcraft son" (I was sleeping in the living room RIGHT next to the computer). But everyone gave a little and it was really fun. We went to a baby shower for the Lump(my first grandchild) and her parents on Saturday. It was a bit strange.... knowing that when people look at me and see the graying hair and a FEW wrinkles they can easily see "grandmother-to-be". But looking out from MY side, I see it all as if I was maybe..... 40ish? I suppose that this is pretty normal. But it's my first time and it does feel a bit weird. Sunday my son and I went to Portland to hear/see an Oregon Symphony performance of "Video Games Live". This is a production created and performed by Jack Wall and Tommy Tallarico. Wall is the conductor and Tallarico is the host and composer of many video game scores. Now, I must admit, my knowledge of video games was small..... I remember when Roo got Nintendo's Mario Brothers for Christmas 25+ years ago. That catchy little tune (do,do,do,do,do DODADO) drove me crazy. But I never thought of it as a serious MUSICAL COMPOSITION. Boy, was I wrong. This show featured the Oregon Symphony, the Pacific Youth Choir, 3 GIANT screens for video display and lights (strobe, swirling/flashing/blinding lights). While the orchestra/chorus performed music from video games, the games were projected on the screens behind them. It was AMAZING!!! To see the evolution from the simple Lego-like characters and basic moves of the early games to the highly sophisticated complex graphics of today's games was inspiring. Many are based in fantasy or the future and have very complicated stories and characters. Roo has played War Craft since it started. On the drive home, I asked him to explain the game to me. He talked ANIMATEDLY for 2 hours about the history, the characters, the strategy, the technical aspects...... it was quite an eye opener. And at the concert - the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall was PACKED. I think I was the oldest person in the place. And every time a new piece of music started, the audience would shriek and yell out the name of the game and jump up and down and go wild. Where have I been all this time????? There are 11 million people in the world playing War Craft alone!!!! And 2 of the members in Roo's guild are a husband-wife team stationed at Ft Hood. Roo knew more about the Ft. Hood shooting before it was even on the news. Whoever thought that gaming would be a powerful tool of information dissemination. I know that Twitter has become a new way to learn about events in the world, but gaming? And then when we got home, Roo had to get online and finish a quest and sell stuff at the War Craft auction - stuff he found or won in previous quests like silver and gold and purple lotus.... you know, important stuff! I was watching over his shoulder asking questions and making comments.... and it was getting late..... and poor tired mama-to-be finally said she was going to bed..... and Clint and I - with eyes glued to the screen because he was in the middle of killing THREE scorpions that had attacked him and if he killed them all he would move up a level and it was very tense - mumbled something about see you in the morning.... and then I realized...... I could be a gamer too when I got home...... Hmmm.........

A Little Help from Some New Friends

I have been trying to find replacements for many of the aspects of the New England life. For example, a grocery store, dry cleaners, eye doctor, hair cutter...... you get the idea. In my effort to move into the 21st C and do things differently, I have been using the Internet to find some of these things rather than the yellow pages, my old favorite. Through this new method, I found Erin who cut my hair. She had great reviews, the store was in downtown and easily reached on light rail (another part of changing - less driving, more public transportation/walking) and she could fit me in soon. Not only that, but she has LOTS of cool tattoos and the most beautiful shade of teal in her hair. She did a great job of trimming me up (it was that or a flea collar and leash!). Then I went to pay........ Toto, we aren't in New England anymore! THAT part of city life I could do without. Mark and I will be out of town in December and I need to find the South Bay version of Happy Cats (a great place to board your cat back in New England). While I am willing to test out a new place I find on the Internet (after all, hair WILL grow back), I was less comfortable finding a place for Daisy that way. So I have been putting it off. Then yesterday I went to a meeting of a Quilting group at a local community center. Julie (wife of person who works with Mark and hostess of the first dinner at someone's home event) had invited me to join her. She said you don't have to quilt to come. And she asked if I would bring some of my felting as several people in the group had expressed an interest in that. So I dug through the boxes in the garage, found a few pieces, programmed Garmin Nuvi and off I went. This was the first real outing on my own where I would have to interact with REAL Californians. Would they talk funny or have a different sense of humor? Of course I got there before Julie and felt a bit awkward. But a very friendly person came right up to me, introduced herself and got me settled in. As more people arrived, they signed in, found a seat at the table and pulled out some handwork - quilts, cross stitch, knitting, crewel work..... When everyone had arrived, one member quieted the group and started the "sharing". They go around the table and share what they are working on getting feedback, comments and questions. Some of the work was truly inspiring. It's interesting to be the new person in a group. Because I didn't know anyone (except Julie), I could observe the group dynamics. There is the Organizer - the person who comes early, sets up the refreshments, puts out the sign-up sheets, reminds people of upcoming dates.... And there is the Gatekeeper - if you share too long, she cuts you off and says brusquely "We have alot of people and we have to keep moving!". There is the Harmonizer who wants to keep everyone happy. It all went very smoothly and all had a good time. And I found out lots of good stuff..... like the name of someone who is very gentle and will come to the mouse house to catsit Daisy. Hearing a real person describe the cat sitter and recommend her was comforting - not something easily felt by reading a list online. It's good to get a little help from new friends...

Spelunking in NoCal

Mark has found a new hobby - spelunking. Now I'm sure you have this image in your mind of mysterious caves with incredible formations of stalagtites and stalagmites and dripping water..... but in NoCal, we spelunk a bit differently.... We do it in our toilet. In the South Bay, the water is VERY hard. So hard that when you pop open the soap dispenser in the dishwasher, you will find a stony crust around the edges. And the underside of the sink faucets have a stony beige-and-grey crust on them that you have to CHIP off to remove. When we got here, the toilet did not flush very well.... well? It barely flushed at all. And you had such a cute burbly symphony of water sounds as it feebly tried to empty. There was a ??stain in the very bottom that would not go away with the normal toilet brush scrubbing and cleaners. And with TWO Virgos in the house, THIS WOULD NOT DO!! So Mark began to investigate. First, we tried the store solution that was made for slow toilets..... nothing after half a bottle. Then we tried a Lime-Away-type product to open up the drain..... a BIT better. But still not the powerful gush with a flush that Mark was looking for. So he began to do research on the computer..... after hours (well, maybe not HOURS), he discovered that mineral deposits were building up in the toilet. So he took the toilet OFF the seal on the floor and tried to remove the deposits...... with a BIT more luck. So now we had a better gush-and-flush, but you had to hold the handle down for a LONG time to get it to do this. So back to the computer for more research. And then Mark discovered the answer......COCA COLA. We bought a liter of it and some white vinegar and Mark got to work..... He also found out that the little hole in the very bottom of the bowl (you will never see it unless you can fit your head into the little space and look back towards the front of the toilet) has to SQUIRT water into the bowl to get the syphon going or something like that.... To be honest, I wasn't paying too close attention to the physics of toilet flushing because I was so intrigued with Mark's animated VISUAL display of how it was supposed to work (hands waving and whooshing and pointing and flushing... you get the picture). And then Mark said he needed a mirror so he could SEE the small holes UNDER the rim of the toilet (Did you even KNOW that there were holes there??). The only mirror I could find was in a compact of blush... so I reluctantly gave it to him (wet toilet blush.....). He got his spelunking equipment together - QTips, white vinegar, coat hanger, mirror - and entered into the dark........ I left. Well, the bathroom IS small and this kind of spelunking is best done alone. A while later, he emerged, damp and grinning. "Well honey. Want to see it flush?" So we both eagerly stood shoulder to shoulder (the only way we can both fit in the bathroom) around the bowl as Mark pushed the handle........ and GUSH!!! The water raced out of the space in the bottom and disappeared to..... who-knows-where. Mark was grinning from ear to ear. "You should see all the gunk I chipped out!" he proudly announced. Thank Heavens I was spared this view. Then he said that he wanted to "tighten up" the handle a bit so it wouldn't have as much play in it ( a playful toilet handle is a bad thing I guess). I went into the office to pay bills and soon heard a quiet "Oh Damn". Yes, the playful handle parts had playfully broken. So we had to ask Garmin Nuvi (remember? She/he has a GPS brain?) to find us a hardware store open on Sunday that sold toilet tank repair parts...... To make a long story a bit shorter, the new parts also broke. But the determined engineer I live with was not giving up. Using a coat hanger, he jury rigged the lever inside the toilet and got it to work. So now our toilet GUSHES and flushes and you only have to hold the handle down for a FEW seconds to get it to work. Progress!

Halloween NoCal Style

We were invited to a home for pumpkin carving Friday night. The guy works with Mark and has 2 children. When we arrived, the driveway was full of small people busily carving and lots of parents assisting. Apparently, this is an annual event and there are prizes for the carved pumpkins. The home is in a cut neighborhood where many of the houses on the street are Craftsman-style with front porches, single story, multi-paned front windows.... you get the picture. Charming. And as we shook LOTS of hands and heard (or not) LOTS of names, I noticed that the driveway went from the house - literally cement RIGHT UP to the building - to the neighbor's fence. And it was only about 11' wide. So I wandered into the front yard and looked at the other side of the house..... maybe 5' to the neighbor's fence and then about another 5' to the house next door. PHEW! That's close, I thought as I fondly remembered the gullies on either side of the New England house full of trees and light and space. So as I watched the party evolve (more watching than chatting on my part as it was very noisy and hard for me to hear), I noticed that the driveway is used as living space, not parking space. In the back by the 1-car garage (full of kid stuff and no car), there were planters and chairs. Kids could play in the strip by the house and out in front. Cars are on the street. The backyard (about the size of a large patio) was full of a hammock, rope swing, BIG tree with steps for climbing, small garden and compost area.... in other words, every space is used. It made me realize how easily I took for granted all the room I had outdoors in New England. But best of all were the outdoors fires...... Because there is little space outside and all the space has to be multipurpose, there is no place for a fire pit or other place to have a permanent outside fire. So..... the portable fire pit! It comes in many styles - the large rectangle that simply holds a fire of small logs about 3' off the ground and is open on all sides so lots of people can pull up chairs and sit around DRINKING WINE OF COURSE and enjoy a fire outside at night. Or there is the Mexican-style fire planter. It's not really a planter, but it is often made of red adobe clay and it IS sold in the garden center part of Target and other stores. It is a round belly-like container with an opening on one side and a chimney attached to direct smoke up and away from the smaller number of people pulled up in chairs sitting around AND DRINKING WINE. When I asked people at the party about the two different styles, many preferred the chimney-style as you didn't get smoke in you face, hair and clothes (Yew! Smelling like you had been OUTDOORS and CAMPING). Again, it sits up off the ground and is portable. So you have your fire in the evening.... and then pack the thing away in the morning! VOILA! Reusable space! Needless to say, Mark and I have started shopping for one..... We are thinking about the chimney-style...... smoke smell, you know.
Now, in NoCal, you can't be too organized and carve your pumpkin the weekend before...... it will rot in 4 days. So we had to carve a new pumpkin..... no, I had to carve (Mark didn't do his ahead....) my pumpkin Saturday. Of course I couldn't simply make a face.... as you can see..... We decided to use Mark's bicycle lights in them. Mark used the red tail light (VERY BRIGHT!!) and had it flashing while I used the tamer white one. Then we opened up the 2 LARGE bags of candy (some of my favorite kinds) and put on our costumes (Thing 1 and Thing 2 to follow up my pumpkin motif)and waited...... At 6:30, the first trick-or-treater came. And he wouldn't come up on the porch because he was scared of Mark's pumpkin! His dad was pushing him up and his mom kept saying, "Oh Look Dear! The Cat In The Hat!!". I was eagerly hanging out the door shouting, "Happy Halloween!!" and waving the BIG bowl of GREAT candy at him. He finally saw the candy, reluctantly came up, grabbed a piece and ran away. So much for our first time. We ended up with 32 trick-or-treaters (we counted to get a better idea of candy quantity for next year) with the last about 9pm. Most were little.... so, Mark.....NO SCARY PUMPKINS next year. It was great to hear PARENTS not kids say, "Oh look - Thing 1 and Thing 2. You know Johnny - from Dr Seuss!" and Johnny is dressed as a Transformer or the murderer from Scary Movie or Spiderman......Hmmm...... Lots of cute babies dressed up with Mom and Dad collecting the loot. Some parents had brought cameras - Moms usually photographed my pumpkin, Dads took pictures of Mark's. And then it was finished and Mark and I as Thing 1 and Thing 2 could sit in front of our Big Screen TV watching murder and mayhem and stuff ourselves on all the leftover candy..... Halloween is such a great holiday!

Finding a Granny Pantie Grocery

So I went to ANOTHER grocery store yesterday in search of just the right one. And yes, I broke down and went to a Safeway. I have to explain to those of you who might be wondering why I would be so anti-Safeway..... It reminds me of Shaw's in New England. I don't like the idea of having all my purchases tracked by a SAFEWAY CARD just to get decent prices. So, now that I've whined, I'll get on with it..... I was wandering around the store feeling a bit ..... well, MORE than a bit - annoyed. Every aisle including produce was full of HUGE carts being used by employees for restocking. The rabbit warren of a produce department had most of the aisles blocked. I know, I know. If I didn't have a chip on my shoulder to start off, I wouldn't have been so frustrated. Anyway, I'm weaving down an aisle FULL of empty boxes tossed on the floor by a woman restocking when my phone rings/vibrates. It's my New England daughter whining (it IS genetic) about an exam she has to take.... Instead of being sympathetic, I start barking at her to get over it. "Woah, Mom. I was just commenting..." "Oh, sorry dear. It's just that I'm shopping in Safeway...." "OH" she says in a knowing voice. Then, all of a sudden, I wonder.... why am I SOOOO obsessed with finding the PERFECT grocery store???? After all, food is food and it's not like Mark and I are starving or have no choices or CAN'T ADAPT??!! But as I think about how much I enjoyed going to Hannaford's, I realize that it's alot like wearing comfortable undies. You know, the "granny panties" that don't ride up, pinch your waist and thighs and feel so good. You put them on and then forget about them all day. I walked into Hannaford's and knew I would find all the ingredients for any recipe I wanted and I even knew where to find it. No thinking.... no stressing out if it wasn't there..... no wedgies..... The Shaws and Safeways are like the thongs of life for me - not enough there and always rubbing me the wrong way. I am looking for San Jose's tidy whitey grocery. I think I'm a flexible enlightened person..... but maybe when it comes to grocery stores, I'm not. I must say that my hunt has led me into many interesting stores. Living in the South Bay, we have several Asian grocery stores. Mark and I stopped in one after dinner out. I found the cutest little plastic bottles shaped as fish with little red screw tops. Mark said they were for soy sauce in children's school lunches. Next to them were the cutest little sets of chop sticks in pastel colors with little bears and rabbits on them and little plastic cases to store them.... also for children's lunches. And then in Mi Pueblo, the Hispanic market they have Pan de Muerto (Day of the Dead bread). I will go out today and get some. So it isn't all bad in my searching...... and who knows? Next week, I'll have stories about Halloween NoCal style.

Hard Lessons in Downsizing or How the Elderly Learn Slowly

Before I forget, let me inform all of you non-Californians that, according to a local, Winter has arrived. How do the NoCals know? We have "Weather"....... That means that we have something OTHER than sun and 70's. The "Weather" that we are having is..... get this.....WIND. Yes, I know, I know. For those of us used to the Antarctica winters of New England WIND isn't weather. But here when it is quite breezy with gusts UP TO 45 MPH.... that is "Weather". Mark even wore his long bike pants in today because it was cold..... low 50's!!! What can I say?
So now the next chapter in Downsizing. It is hard to break old habits. As I mentioned, I ordered coffee so I wouldn't have to give up my New England fru-fru Hazelnut Eight O'Clock brand (not found out here). And yes, I did go over a bit...... well, a 23 lb package might be more than A BIT. But I'm learning after all. But at breakfast this morning I was trying to explain to Mark why I thought grocery shopping only once/week was a good idea - I would be forced to be creative with what I had in the house and not end up with big hunks of frost-bitten mystery food in the rather small freezer (not to mention millions of little bits of things in jars in the refrigerator). Mark didn't get it. And then he kindly pointed out that I really didn't NEED to get that second GALLON of milk LAST week when we still had more than half a gallon left. And I kindly pointed out that the reason I had to stay home today was to sign for ANOTHER shipment of wine....... And just so you don't think that I am being picky and spiteful, let me SHOW you another area where my geekman hasn't quite learned to downsize........ remotes. Yes, check out the attached pic and COUNT the remotes.... there are 7. And that is just the ones we NEED for our system. The ones we don't need were packed up and returned to the garage. So I rest my case. We both have more to learn about downsizing. Habits that have been carefully cultivated over many years are hard to break. So I will do laundry (yes, I have to battle the Miele monster again), plant seeds (yes, we can still plant cool weather crops) and wait for our excesses to arrive....... then I'll go to the grocery store for the second time this week. Oh well......

Weekend Warriors

Another sunny weekend in SJ.... It was actually in the 80's Saturday. With Mark home, we were able to get alot of the BIG projects done..... like put up the antenna. Mark has decided that we will not have cable (fine by me). So we have high-speed internet, a TIVO box, purchased programs that we can't get any other way (like Top Chef) and an antenna. Now those of you in New England may wonder how in the world you could get ANYTHING with an antenna. But when you live in a relatively flat place with short trees and LOTS of people (after all, we ARE in Silicon Valley - capital of Geekland), you can get HD with an antenna - in fact you can get 63 channels of HD with an antenna. There is just one small complication...... the antenna has to be mounted on a very high place like a roof. So Mark gets all the pieces out of the box and has them laid out on the deck and begins assembling them. I look out an hour later and he is still assembling.... but now he is reading the directions. It seems that having several courses during your Electrical Engineering program in Antenna Theory does NOT help in putting an antenna together..... the directions are much better. So he has the thing all attached to a VERY LONG POLE and he is staggering with it to the back of the garage where he has placed a VERY TALL LADDER. I'm waiting for the call...... (for those of you that don't know it, Mark HATES heights!)........ and then I hear.....Honey..... can you come out and help me for a minute? I'm ready to assist. Mark asks me to hold the ladder (balanced in 12" of "gorilla hair" - what our landlord calls redwood bark shavings and not very stable) while he manfully climbs WAY UP to the top dragging the pole and antenna along. It is very sunny and getting hot and Mark is sweating and looking very nervous..... But he gets the antenna onto the roof where it is left lying. He then makes a brief attempt to lift it up and place it in the bracket he has all ready put up. He starts swaying, the ladder is wiggling, and the antenna...... well, the antenna looks like a flag of surrender being frantically waved in the bright blue sky. And where am I, you might ask, as my husband is about to plunge to his death? Why, I'm at the bottom of the ladder trying to take pictures and laughing my head off of course! Ok, Ok. I know that seems a bit harsh..... So I offer to make the supreme sacrifice. I tell Mark to come down and I'LL go up ON THE ROOF ITSELF and lift the antenna up into the bracket so he can anchor it. He gratefully agrees and VERY QUICKLY climbs down the ladder. So up I go..... Now remember, I have less than 100% balance abilities because of my ear issue. And there is a satellite dish all ready on the roof impeding my ease of getting up and into position. So I get on the roof and try to lift the antenna realizing that it is VERY HEAVY and I AM FACING THE WRONG WAY! So I carefully put the antenna down and hope it doesn't slide off the roof as I try to turn around maneuvering my feet around and in between the satellite dish. Finally I am in position..... but I have to reach BEHIND me to get the VERY HEAVY antenna and raise it up (just like the flag at Iwo Jima!) and slide it into the bracket and HOLD IT THERE while Mark tightens the bolts. But we did it and we now have more TV channels than we could ever possibly watch in HD no less.

I'm Singing the Miele Dryer Blues...

Well, last week it was the washer..... this week it was the dryer. And in case you think that I am exaggerating or making things up, I have included the proof! Yesterday was "Finish the master clothes closet organization" (also known as the second bedroom) and "Clean the house" (a 1 hour job) and "Do the laundry"....... I sorted the clothes early as I knew that it would take me all day to finish the few loads I had. Then I loaded the machine and got ready to add the soap et. al. I think I have figured it out.... you build a dam with the powdered Borax near the BACK of the cup BEFORE you pour in the liquid detergent. And you get the detergent all ready (measured into the little cup/lid), pour it BEHIND the Borax and QUICK slide the dispenser drawer almost all the way in. Then you VERY QUICKLY pour in the softener in the VERY SMALL SPACE at the back of the dispenser drawer and slam the drawer shut BEFORE you start the water part of the cycle. PHEW!!! No soap on the floor this week. So now it's the dryer...... take a look at the control panel and tell me this - WHAT IS TURBO????? The dryer takes off at super speed and goes....... And then there is - "Normal" and "Normal+". Your clothes dry normally and then...... MORE normally???? And what does a "rotary iron" look like?? I have looked inside that thing and in the lint trap and all over and I don't see anything that even BEGINS to look like an iron. Maybe it happens when the door is shut and it is all dark and warm and whirling around inside..... Kinky! I just wanted dry jeans and tee shirts. And I love the little rain drops ON A DRYER. I obviously don't think like a European when it comes to doing laundry. And it DID take all day to get the laundry done - especially when the washer fits 1 set of queen sized sheets in a load.
Ok - now to rag on the stove again. I know, I know. I am a spoiled brat. And yes, after 12 years of cooking on Olaf the Viking stove I have forgotten what the rest of the world knows as normal. On the Viking, things cook FAST as you have LOTS of BTU's pouring out of each burner. On this 1950's O'Keefe and Merritt, the burner might light..... and then it might get warm...... and then your food might cook....... and then it is time to go to bed and you are eating semi-raw food because you have NO PATIENCE. I sit around reading my good book (The Alienist loaned to me by my sister-in-law) until just before Mark comes home and THEN I start dinner. WRONG!! We have been eating 90 minutes after he gets home because I have misjudged how long it will take to COOK the dinner. So it means less reading time and more cooking time (I know, I know.....wah, wah, wah). But at least no more burns (my war wound is still blistery but healing).
Today I am ready for an adventure! I will go the the San Jose Public Library to get my library card. The two most important memberships I like to get in a new place are library cards and a museum membership. I will get a book on gardening in CA today and spend some time this weekend figuring out what veg I can plant this time of year (eat your hearts out you New Englanders!) and what flowers are seasonally appropriate. I want to clean up the flower beds next week as the inside will be mostly organized. I may also look for a bird book to try and figure out who is singing the most interesting song in the early morning. The only problem is that with no directional hearing, I have yet to figure out where the bird is or what he looks like. A small dilemma. Mark will be putting up the antenna this weekend. So I will have great stories and pictures on Monday of the adventure. Wait til you see the remote DRAWER (it takes a whole drawer to hold them all!). But, after all, we are in the capital of the Geek World.

How to Fit 3000 lbs into a 500 lb house

So the unpacking continues...... I was ruthless as I weeded out shoes. When I made piles by color, I thought "Honestly! Who needs 5 pair of black shoes when you only have 1 pair of feet! BE RUTHLESS!" (the new motto). So off some went into bags for Goodwill or whatever they have out here - that is another project. I did read that you can recycle textiles. So the really ratty stuff doesn't have to go in the bottom of the Good Will bag (hoping that they won't notice until you have driven away...) but can be recycled. The master dressing room now has piles on the floor and couch and everywhere (remember, that is the original master bedroom but the closet door which opens into the middle of the room doesn't allow for a bed anywhere but in the corner - and we put a fold out couch in there for guests who will feel like they are sleeping in a walk-in closet which they are!). So I am going to deal with all that today. And then the front room/office which is even worse. You see, as I unpack boxes and I come across something I don't know where to put...... into the office it goes. One other aspect about recycling here - in San Francisco they have started sorting all garbage into three groups - trash, recyclables and organic wet food-type stuff (including meat, bones etc.). We will get a compost bin (probably online - our new favorite place to shop) and start our own 3 grouping as soon as the dust settles a bit more.
My car came yesterday. So now all our stuff is here..... well, that is all BUT Mark's darkroom and workshop stuff which he ran off and left to be packed....????? It feels good to have my car here - a bit of home from away. My grandmother used to say that her car was like her cup of coffee. She liked the way the seat and steering wheel and mirrors were JUST RIGHT. And she liked the familiar sounds and feels and smells when she got in and started it up. I can now appreciate those small joys. I tried a new grocery shopping experience - Target and Trader Joe's combo. Hmmmmm......... Target has all the paper/cleaning type stuff and even some food stuff (crackers, milk, yogurt, cereal). But is still lacking. And Trader Joe's has lots of wine (EVERY store - even Target - has LOTS of wine) and nuts and interesting entrees - both fresh and frozen. But the produce all comes in packages - just microwave in the bag! - and it also lacks stuff (like no cole slaw). AND it is expensive. So next week I'll try another store.
Other cute things about this house and neighborhood: our mail is dropped through a slot in the front door and goes "Plop!" on the floor when it arrives. To have a letter picked up, just leave it hanging in the slot and it magically disappears. And the gardener who cares for the lawn next door comes on Thursdays at 7:30am. I can hear the edger and mower going. We are developing a routine - Mark gets up at 6am and I wait until he is out of the bathroom before I get up as there is only room for 1 in the bathroom at a time. We have breakfast and he leaves by 7am. Then I blog/note and sometimes sneak back into bed to read a bit and then start organizing more stuff. Daisy the cat likes the back-to-bed part best. Today is laundry day. And while I can clean this place in an hour, the laundry will take AT LEAST all day. The washer is so small that I can't even fit 1 set of towels in it. So yes, you only use a gallon of water..... BUT you do three times the loads. Well, the machine is done so I best get busy or it will be dinner time and I'll only have done 2 loads!

Still settling in.....

Yesterday was "Unpack and Organize the Kitchen Day". After loading the garage so full of boxes Monday that there was no room for Mark's new bike rack and barely room to tuck his bikes in, Mark was feeling pretty discouraged by all the STUFF. So I brought in all the boxes marked KITCHEN and began unpacking. It's amazing how much stuff you can cram into lots of tiny spaces. And how much redundancy we have. We have 6 pieces of equipment to make coffee and 1 more to store it once it's made. We have 3 small round pyrex glass baking dishes WITH lids, we have 13 pyrex ramekins..... I could go on and on. And the sad part is that we did do some cleaning out before we moved. HELP! But I got it all in and now we are beginning to see the blue tarp on the floor of the garage. I am trying to be more aware of old habits and ideas and then think about changing them. For example, trash...... here the city provides a recycle bin and a garbage can that the truck can come by and automagically empty with a big gripper-thing that lifts and tips. The garbage can is about as big as a tall kitchen garbage can. And the recycling bin is HUGE. So, in the house, I have my tall kitchen garbage can and a small recycling bin under the sink. The goal is to ONLY have 1 bag of garbage/week and empty the recycling bin daily. I went online to read about what I could recycle. And it is alot. So now, I carefully read and sort.
The other habit I notice that Mark and I both have is going out to shop for more STUFF. Now, I have to be a bit easy on us as there does seem to be certain stuff that one needs when one moves into a new place - toilet plunger for one as we left both of ours behind (no pun intended). And of course - bucket, mops and brooms (we are BOTH Virgos after all). But I am trying hard to THINK before I BUY. Do I really NEED that thing-a-ma-bobber...... or do I just WANT it because I THINK I need it..... We went to Costco the other day looking for a wine refrigerator (more on that later). At first, I thought it would be great to have a membership. Then I looked around and most of the shoppers were parents with many children hanging off their baskets. And where would I put 12 rolls of toilet paper??? So when we didn't find a wine refrigerator, we left and felt very righteous that we didn't get the membership. But old habits are hard to break.... after all, when I couldn't find Eight O'Clock coffee anywhere here, I just went online and ORDERED some..... well, not some...... more like 23 lbs!! WHAT WAS I THINKING????? I hope our mouse house freezer can hold it all. And we are now on first name basis with our Fed Ex, Post Office and UPS drivers as Mark has gotten bike parts, a bike trailer, antenna for the TV....... We have to stop all this at some point. Now, saying that, let me explain about the wine refrigerator...... Because we have no real basement (the 5x5' bomb shelter under the house HARDLY counts as a basement), we have no good place to keep wine. And in this part of the world, you HAVE to keep wine. I think many people brush their teeth with wine. Wine is sold in EVERY store - even Target. So we decided to look for one of those wine cooler/refrigerators. I started reading about them online and so did Mark. One blog said to get a bigger one than you first planned on. So I thought - 45 bottles seemed good..... Then Mark said, "But that's not even 4 cases!". He was thinking along the lines of 84 bottles..... OMG!! And they make some that look like furniture so we wouldn't have a big stainless steel cabinet in the middle of the living room - just off to the side of it in the "dining space". So, as you can see, that old habit needs LOTS of work. Oh, and the quarter-sized burn on my hand from the stove-from-Hell is getting better. I did make a very necessary purchase and bought 2 oven mitts with gripper strips on the hands that go up to the middle of my forearms. HA HA you killer stove!!!

Do You Know the Way to Half Moon Bay?

Our first full weekend in NoCal was spent visiting Half Moon Bay for the Pumpkin and Arts Festival. When you stand on our street and look to the East, you see the "brown mountains" (locals call it GOLDEN). If you look to the West, you see the "green mountains". We took one of the windy roads over the green mountains toward the coast. I think everybody in the Bay Area had the same idea. It was bumper-to-bumper traffic . But very pretty and nice to just be a vegetable in the back seat.... Well, I suppose it would have been more polite to engage my hostess in polite adult conversation (and yes - VERY SEXIST - girls in back, boys in front). But I was pretty wiped and not very chatty. So every now and then, I would turn to her and say, "So ...... what do you like to do?" And then after her answer and a long pause....... I'd say, "So..... what do you like to do? Oh, sorry. I just asked that." I wasn't really that bad, but close. We got to the Festival after admiring wide open vistas of ocean and beach - unlike New England, most of the coast in the West is public. The festival took up all of Main St. and was full of people. Small booths of arts and crafts, lots of live music and food and beer..... and lots of people. Did I say that there were lots of people? Oh, and the sun was shining. I know I sound like a wet blanket, but I was tired..... tired of being admired..... oh, wait a minute!! Wrong movie! I didn't want to buy anything - NO ROOM IN THE MOUSE HOUSE. So just looked. The town (which was hard to really see) was very cute - lots of pretty Victorians and Craftsman-style houses on Main St. Mark and I will go back when it isn't a festival. After a really nice time with our hosts, we headed back to the Bay Area to have dinner at their house. And then it happened...... I did the most rude thing I have ever done with someone I just met..... I fell asleep and I'm SURE that I was AT LEAST drooling.... and maybe a bit of a snore/purr. OMG!!!!! I woke up with a start when Mark asked from the front seat, "Honey..... are you asleep?" and my hostess answered FROM THE BACK SEAT NEXT TO ME, "Yeeeesssssss. She is...." Oh well, so much for a great first impression. After a very nice dinner, Mark and I did the dishes and then beat a hasty retreat promising to have them over when we were unpacked. So, on to Sunday....
I have a new friend! Her name is Garmin Nuvi and she has a GPS for a brain. She loves to ride in the front and talks to us as we drive. And her route she suggests is outlined in pink!
MONDAY:
BOY WERE WE OFF ON SPACE!!!! We barely got everything into the garage and even had to put MORE in the house. Why did I ever think I would need 9 suits or 13 skirts??? And I haven't EVEN found the WAY TOO LARGE box of shoes yet. I had felt so righteous for all the "cleaning out" I did before we moved. HA HA! We now have paths through each room with the only clear space between the kanoodling chair (the leather loveseat recliner) and the Flat screen TV (you have to have SOME priorities!). The cat is happy and wants us to quick unpack the Planet Earth DVD's about birds (her favorite). I am being very organized and flattening all the packing paper, rolling it up and saving it for the next move. I keep hoping I'll make Mark a nice dinner in the mouse house kitchen..... then I get to the stove and everything goes wrong! This time, I decided to avoid the burners - I can never get them to light - and opt for an all-oven dinner. After all, it sprinkled today and was only sunny for a few hours. So we needed a nice cozy sort-of meal. The oven reaches 350 degrees when you have the dial set at 500 degrees. And then every time I open the door to put something in, I burn my hand on the edge of the door. I GIVE UP!! It's microwave TV dinners from now on... either that or cereal. Mark has spent the whole afternoon programing the TIVO - he is so excited to press all those buttons. Good thing he goes back to work tomorrow! Boy, I hope it's sunny tomorrow. This half-day of rain is SO depressing!!! You can shoot me now....

Day Three in NoCal

Weather: sunny (AGAIN) and in the 70's (AGAIN).
Today I mapped out my route to Ikea to find the tiniest bedside tables in the world . The store is up in Palo Alto - a mere 21.4 minutes on the 101 (that's CA lingo for 10 lanes of wacko drivers and lots of big trucks). I wandered through the store with my handy dandy tape measure and was so excited to see "ENTIRE HOME IN 691 SQ FT" "ENTIRE HOME IN 480 SQ FT". So I eagerly wandered through these "homes". The people living there had 3 shirts, 2 pars of shoes and enough dishes and pots/pans to make a meal for 2 not-very-hungry people. And as I continued to wander through the store, I realized that my problem is that I have TOO MUCH STUFF to put into the mini storage units for sale all around me. I need 3000 sq ft of mini storage units to hold it all. Rats! More weeding out is due. I did find the world's smallest bedside tables - 14" wide, 15" deep. So I eagerly wrote down the item number, aisle number, bin number and went down the the furniture-in-boxes-stacked-to-the-ceiling area. I found the aisle - 6 - and bin - 46 - and saw....... nothing. SOLD OUT for the next four weeks and I couldn't even talk them into 2 of the 4 floor models that they had set up. So back home and Target to exchange the wall-mounted paper towel holder for a sit-on-the-counter model (we have tile halfway up the walls in the kitchen and plastic lamenated cabinets). I decided to be daring and take the 87 off of the 101 - more CA lingo.... I got off at a familiar street and turned left... I realized I was going toward the house not Target. So I went "around the block" (about 4 miles) and found that if I had turned LEFT off of the 87, I would have been 1 minute from Target. ARGHH - the learning curve again. As I wandered through Target, I began to feel that I was in a world of aliens. Most people have these black or blue small rectangular boxes attached to an ear and flashing lights. Hmmm...... And I thought I was the only one who communicated with the Mother Ship through artificial attachments in the ears! No, No. I'm in California and it is illegal to use your cell phone while driving unless you have a hands-free set up. So the new CA jewelry is a bluetooth stuck in your ear which you put on in the morning and take off at night. How Special! Another interesting feature I observed while driving to Ikea were large (and I mean REALLY large) domed long buildings sitting in a large open area. Mark says that they are old blimp hangers. It is amazing to think of a giant balloon in those buildings and taking one to some far off city like we take planes today. Mark and I began talking about a plan in case there is an earthquake. The last BIG one occurred 20 years ago so that is on the news alot. Today we are going to Half Moon Bay with another couple from here.

Starting out in the Mouse House

I thought about writing emails about the adventures of becoming a California girl. But then I thought if I could blog it, then you would have the choice to read or not and I would learn to blog! So here goes.... It is sunny and warm in the mouse house each morning - 78 degrees with all the windows that have screens (and some that don't) open. I even turned on the attic fan to cool the place down yesterday afternoon when it got to be 85. It did start to cool things down, but I had to hang on to the poor cat so she wouldn't be sucked up into the attic. Mark had to turn it off the minute he got home - TOO MUCH NOISE!! I had just turned off the hearing aids and was fine. So after I bleached the bathroom and dug wads of hair out of the drain so that I wouldn't be standing in water up to my knees while showering, I was able to get dressed and get going...... until I realized that I was out of underwear ( I did pack in rather a hurry) and the load of undies in the washer wasn't done. So I checked the very high-tech European washer which very kindly tells you that it will be another 2.6 hrs before you can even HOPE to get your clothes out only to find a puddle in front of the washer. When I gingerly stepped in it, it was slimy -not wet. Hmmmm...... laundry soap! It seems that if you pull the soap drawer out TOOOO far, the soap doesn't go INTO the washer but dribbles down the interior and onto the floor. So my undies hadn't even been washed in soap. NOT ok for a Virgo!! So another 2.6 hours with soap this time. I added more undies to the list of things to get when out and about. Then I had to call Mark to find where he had stored the maps. Got those... and the list.... and the measurements for new window coverings.... and ready to go! I decided to try to find Wal Mart. Now I know some of you will ask - WHY BOTHER??? But I was on a mission to find Schweppes Diet Ginger Ale and Eight O'Clock coffee. Wal Mart in ME carries both. I found the store and even figured out how to get into the parking lot (not an easy thing to do with 5 lanes of traffic in each direction!). No coffee or g'ale. Then on to Target in a totally different part of town. Well, I can just hop on the 101 and take it to the 880 and then I'll be there......OMG!!! I am sounding like a California girl!!!! And it only took 10 minutes even with traffic!!! So I wander through Target looking for roller shades (I passed up the ones in Wal Mart thinking I would opt for the more expensive and obviously better ones at Target). Target doesn't carry roller shades and I don't think I can brave all those freeway numbers again especially as it is now after 3pm and the traffic is getting worse. So I will just have to sneak around in the house in my pjs in the dark for another night. (The roller shades were for the front windows because you can see into the bedroom and back hall from the front of the house and I am a paranoid person!). The last stop was the grocery store. I am on a hunting expedition to find a chain-type grocery that ISN'T Safeway. Today's test was PW Market. A bit tricky to find and VERY tricky to get to. Not only are there 5 lanes of traffic in each direction, but out in this part of town, they add dividers filled with bushes and trees (upscales the neighborhood) so you can't even see how you might possibly get in. The store was ok - better than Safeway. But food is expensive out here - bananas $.79/lb. We are trying to keep the supplies of back-up stuff down. So no more jumbo packages of toilet paper or extra large sizes in artichoke hearts. It felt good to get home - even if the house was hot. But then I tried to fix dinner and couldn't get the stove to light and couldn't find any matches to manually light the gas burners (kitchen matches are now on the list). So I just decided to sit down, eat some hummus and drink bad ginger ale (virgin - no Jack Daniels) and wait for Mark. Of course, he just turned on the burner, waited for 4 minutes and the thing lit. I just didn't have the patience to WAIT for it to light (nor the courage. I didn't want to blow up in CA on my first full day!) I was getting pretty tired and so was happy to huddle in front of Mark's computer to watch Top Chef on his 17" screen - Thank God the TV arrives on Monday with the rest of my underwear! Oh, and Mark and I are going to be Thing 1 and Thing 2 for Halloween when we answer the door. He wanted to wear a scary mask. But if all our Trick-or-Treaters are little, I didn't want to get the reputation of being the neighborhood ax murderers our first year. I will sign off and crawl through the 12.5" of space between the wall and my side of the bed.....