NEW BIKING SPOT

Crystal Springs water level is very low - but still lovely.

Last weekend we finally got some rain and the weekend before that we just didn't go for a ride for some reason so we made a special effort this weekend to get out on our bikes.  We  wanted to use the new bike rack so we hit the road for a new biking spot -  the Crystal Springs Reservoir near San Francisco.

The day was another warmish, sunny one, the air fresh because we had a small rain storm move through last night. The reservoir is low due to our drought, but the crowds were out hiking and biking.

The Pulgas Water Temple

We finally found a safe place to park and get on the
road.  We lucked out because we ended up in an area that had closed the road to cars for several miles.


We had great views of the reservoir, beautiful scenery and after a few more miles, to some spectacular homes and horse properties.

We rode about 15 miles along that area then put the bikes back on the car and drove over to the San Mateo coastline and got on the bikes again and rode down toward the SF airport.  We stopped for a snack and watched the planes coming and going for a while, then rode back to the car and went home.  I did a few chores and then realized how tired I was and collapsed on the couch for a while!

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD

This was quite a weekend for being nostalgic and thinking about just how long life has been.

There was the big 50 years tribute for the Beatles.  A wonderful show which brought me back time and again to times their music punctuated my life.  At my first boy/girl party  we played Meet the Beatles over and over.  When I Saw Her Standing There was my favorite.  I was in 5th grade.

I remember the Ed Sullivan show as clearly as  the assassination of JFK just months earlier.  It was a pretty memorable period of time for a kid.

The Beatles were the soundtrack to my youth and marked the changes our world went through in the 60's .  I was on the young side and a protected suburban kid, but even I could recognize their influence and reflection of the world as it was changing.  Hearing those songs brings back memories from so many periods of my life; and helps me remember that they opened my mind to new and different things.

I also got to spend time this weekend with Christina,  my friend who has been in my life the longest - since Biology class in 1970 when she sat behind me,  She liked to put her feet on the back of my chair and poke me in the butt. ( That really is how we became friends.)

I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around knowing someone for so many years.  We have lived in different states for most of the time and years have gone by between visits but still we manage to be connected.

I would say that it all makes me feel old,  but it doesn't.  It makes me feel full of life.  Seeing Paul and Ringo dancing and singing on stage at 71 and 74 reminds me there are still so many years ahead to celebrate and enjoy.  And spending the day with my long time friend makes me want many more visits in the years to come.

JUMPING INTO THE GOSSIP POOL - JUST THIS ONCE...

I have maintained my 2012 resolution to steer clear of gossip sites and TV and have become rather blissfully

Mia and Woody with Dylan and Ronin.

and mostly unaware of  many things.  I have occasionally made an effort to find out the details of some items that the media hyped up ( twerking); and  felt glad to be a bit in the know and also found that it was hard to turn it off once I opened myself to the subject.  So I have made more of an effort to remain unenlightened.

So when all the crap started up again about Woody Allen allegedly molesting his adopted daughter immediately upon an honor bestowed upon him at the Golden Globes - I did read this extremely informed and well researched and smart article published on the Daily Beast blog.  I recalled much of this information from the investigations which were done 20 years ago.

If you have any doubts that that young woman has been brainwashed and that Mia Farrow is still a self centered whack job - read it...

FRIDAY FAST ONES

1.)  This year I have seen more current movies, in a theater than I have in ages.  I LOVED American Hustle and completely disagree with the "critic"  who wrote that it was a hot mess and over rated.  In my opinion he  has too little knowledge and experience of the world to be a critic and maybe has a hard time admitting he couldn't follow a smart script.  We are hoping to see Gravity and Her before Oscar night.  The only big movies we have not seen yet.

By the way, we saw Nebraska, I didn't find it all that great but Tom loved it.  It was of a similar pace as Llewyn Davis, which I also thought was okay, but not my favorite Coen Brother's movie.

I think my favorite movie of the year was Blue Jasmine.

2.)  At work there is a full frig, but no ice maker or cube trays so I buy ice to use for my iced tea habit.  Printed on the bag is "Ice is food, too."  Concerned that, like catsup, the FDA had determined the ice to fulfill a food group, I looked it up.  

The FDA considers ice to be a food when it comes to cleanliness, sanitation, packaging and transportation rules.  Good to know.

The downside of looking things up is finding out stuff you didn't want to know...like the kid who did a science fair project testing the bacteria levels in restaurant ice in comparison with their toilet water.  The toilet water won.

3.)   So apparently the Huffington Post put something on Twitter asking for nominations of outstanding women in 2013.  The Girl Scouts re-tweeted (sorry if I have that wrong - not being a tweeter) and now Fox "News" has declared war on the sale of GS cookies because a couple of the women on the list support  reproductive rights; therefore the Girl Scouts are actively promoting abortion within their ranks.

Sigh.

I don't really like GS cookies and rarely buy them - but I will this year.

3.)  Super statistician Nate Silver picks the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl!!! WooHoo!

STILL HERE

When these dour moods descend on me I alternately fight and succumb.  My mood lifts for several days and

plunges again.  The voice in my head says "snap out of it!" and I am very aware I have so little to complain about.  But comparing ourselves to others doesn't resolve our own feelings and sometimes I think we just need to lay low and let things percolate and purify.

I realize that the post holiday let down is a matter of riding on a high of activity and family and when it is over I am simply tired.  With work it has been a long 3 months of carrying the load of  3 jobs all on my own and now with my co-worker back I can let myself slump in my seat and feel the stress of it. ( I also feel the lack of compensation for it - but that is another matter.)

Then the little things seem to pile on - the loss my bracelet that I have worn daily for nearly 20 years feels like a slap by the universe.  I am sure someone found it and recognized it's value (an early David Yurman piece) and chose not to turn it in.  That adds to the misery of it for some reason.

Stupid things like dropping a container of yogurt, spattering my clothes as I was about to leave for work.  Hitting all the red lights. Not being able to find the bath gel I like in any of the 5 stores I visited. The hot water heater breaking and the landlords, once again, not answering calls and e-mails.  All ordinary things, yet of late seem to be flung at my head in a cosmic game of dodge ball.

So, still here.  Still whining. Still have nothing interesting to say. Maybe next week I'll manage to read something interesting and think of something new to say and find the bright side again.

FUNK

I am in a funk.  I lost my favorite bracelet that I have worn for nearly 20 years. It is too damned warm and sunny.  Maybe it is a post-holiday thing.  I am just blue.

I'll catch up when I exit the funk.

FRIDAY FAST ONES

1.)  I guess am settling into being 60 now.  I actually piped up and asked for the Senior Discount at
Walgreens yesterday - 10% off every Tuesday!


2.)  We went to see American Hustle last Saturday - what a powerhouse cast of amazing actors.  It was second only to Blue Jasmine on my movie list for the year.  We also saw Inside Llewyn Davis  a week or so ago - a bit slow moving but the music was great.  Tom wants to see Nebraska this weekend - anyone seen that one?

3.)  Having 10 days off work was great and really made me look forward to having every day off work...


4.)  We took our new bike rack out for the first time last weekend - we drove to Martinez and then rode our bikes over the Benicia Bridge, all around the downtown and marina and then back to Martinez.  It was about 22 miles altogether.

It was another amazingly warm winter day - we don't know how much longer this weather is going to hold but plan to take advantage of it while it is here.


5.)  Finished our book club selection Cukoo's Calling, which was very good and dove right into The Goldfinch which is sooo excellent.  I have read one good book after another this past year.  So satisfying.

6.)  One of the owners of the company I work for had a hissy fit a few months ago when the flu started going around and made a big deal about everyone getting a flu shot.  She quizzed everyone for weeks about getting the shots and freaked out when I was stuffed up even when I assured her it was just allergies.

This week she came into work sick as I have ever seen anyone.  We were all just cringing and practically bathing in hand sanitizer.  Her daughter is our office manager and kept telling her to go in her office, close the door and keep away from everyone but she just kept dragging people in there or walking around touching the door handles, the printer and the schedule book which is kept on my desk.  We sanitized everything in her wake.

Now we are all watching each other for signs that we caught her bug (it appears it might have been H1N1 and she finally got drugs from her doctor) - so far I think we dodged the bullet.

This weekend will tell.  Hope you all have a nice, healthy one!

CRANKY SHOPPER

There was a time when I loved shopping.  I could spend hours in stores looking at everything, touching the

fabrics, slipping on clothes in the dressing rooms.  There was a time when salespeople were abundant, helpful and attentive.  I never could afford the really high end retailers, but Nordstom was so service oriented it was my favorite place to shop even if I couldn't buy much.  I always hoped that all the stores would see their example and follow it - but instead, it seemed to slide the other way.

Before there was even online shopping, I shopped catalogs.  It started when I was pregnant with the twins in late 1987.  I tried shopping in a mall when I was 7-8 months pregnant; my doctor forbade me anymore trips to the mall when he saw what was going on with the monitor I was required to wear to detect early labor.

After they were born, well, try shopping with a double wide stroller - I was the entertainment for half the shoppers at the mall.  It was still a bit unusual to have twins back then and the sight of those two babies drew a crowd.  I am not kidding.  My sister can attest that people literally grabbed the stroller to stop and take a look and comment.

So the catalog shopping continued.  As we all know, if you get on a list for one or two of them, the mailbox fills up really fast after that.  And then when stores started having websites and I could safely shop online - well, let's just say that years went by without trips to the mall even without the excuse of  pregnancies, babies, toddlers, kids and, later,  full time employment.  I'd say about 98% of my holiday shopping is done online.

There has been much discussion about the malls being empty this holiday season and the online retailers raking it in.  Wonder if the brick and mortar stores will pay attention now?

I went to the mall on December 1 and couldn't find a single salesperson at Macy's to ask about  stock or a style I was looking for. The aisles were crowded with racks, clothes were on the floor and heaped on the shelves, it was hard to figure out the organization of the merchandise or to find sizes. I did find a couple of things I liked and after lunch with my sisters (and I had birthday money in my pocket) we went back.  They approved the sweater so we got in line.  It didn't seem to be moving so we walked around and found another register and another line.  There was a woman who was returning 2 bags of things she had previously purchased and re-buying them with coupons.  It was ridiculous.

Rather than try to find another register, I dug deep for my patience and waited to make my purchase.  That is when I realized I would rather shop online than wait in line. The former love of seeing all the merchandise, touching the fabrics and trying things on just pales in comparison with the irritation I experienced.

Anyone in the business of customer service knows the axiom "Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part."  Yet there has been a week of news reports over the failure of Fed Ex and UPS to make all their Christmas deliveries "ruining" the holiday for people all across the country.

If these folks didn't care enough to get their shopping done in the 11 and 3/4 months before Christmas - how is it the fault of the delivery service that their holiday was spoiled?

And now I hear that recycling centers are "overwhelmed" with cardboard boxes following this online shopping frenzy.  It's always something - isn't it?

I will now remove my cranky pants and get ready to go do a couple of errands, including making a return to a real store..

RIDING MY TURBO BIKE

Tom's holiday gift to me was a turbo kit for my bike.

It's not really called that - it's an E Bike conversion.  Tom calls it an assist.  There is a battery and a little button to push which activates the motor and zooom, off I go.  It is a bit of an old lady gift - but with my knees, I'll take it!

It also allows us to expand our ride locales and terrains.  And I admit I have gotten a bit bored with our usual routes. It is especially useful for hill climbing, but was also put to use at the end of the day when I was getting tired and my knees were hurting.  We were able to use a route which had 10% grades as opposed to our usual 1-3% grade rides on the trails.  It is a little bizarre to use the assist.  When I start to bog down I hit the button and the motor just takes off as if am on a moped rather than a bike!

I knew exactly where Tom would take me on our first "assisted ride" and I was right.  He loves going up Dougherty Road through Dublin, San Ramon and into Danville.  The Iron Horse Trail we usually take goes around the hills - we went up and over.  Our 35 + mile ride lasted about 5 hours (with a stop at the Farmer's Market and a couple of drink and snack breaks.)

My gift to him was getting a hitch on my car and a new, smaller bike rack for our 2 bikes so we can travel light when we want to go ride out of the area.  He already has a whole list of new adventures for 2014 lined up!

HOLIDAY WRAP UP

 We had the pleasure of Maggie's company for almost 2 weeks!   We enjoyed going out to dinner...

 

bike riding and trying to harvest mistletoe!

Then all 3 kids were home and we had some family photos taken.

We had Christmas Eve dinner with my sister's family and played Cards Against Humanity with much laughter - the cousins enjoyed  each other's company.

Then we cozied up at home and opened presents and had our traditional breakfast, watched movies and made a nice dinner together.

As of today, Maggie is back in Philly and Zac in Monterey.  Ally is camped on the couch getting over a cold and checking the internet obsessively for her grades.  I am cleaning up the detritus room by room and happy to have 5 more days until I go back to work!