Backyard Tourists

Lately, Chizz and I have been visiting places close by that we have always meant to go to but somehow have never gotten the chance. When we took Kiki to the airport recently, we drove by this huge flea market/swap meet that is very close to the going to the airport freeway. I said aloud "we should go there sometime and just see what it is like". Sometime was this past weekend.

Actually, we went to the flea market next door. Who knew this area would have more than one flea market to visit? Parking in the area is pretty difficult, apparently this is a very popular flea market. There are actually two sections, one is a more formal pay $1 flea market and the other area is the people who just kind of set up a little area to sell their items. I am not sure what the odds are that this is true, but I got the feeling quite a bit of this stuff was stuff that had "fallen off the truck" or just out and out stolen. There were stalls after stalls of used work tools, drills, hammers, sanders, all used. Loads of used bicycles. We saw tables of laptops, one after another. Used but still pretty nice looking. Televisions, stereo systems, speakers. The "paid" area of the flea market had mostly new stuff but still, how are these people selling table loads of 409 cleaner, or toilet paper, or socks. You have to wonder how they actually got the items they are selling but you don't have to wonder for too long. We could have even gotten a stun gun from a table with a sign that declared they had several for sale, along with some whips and stuff. I wanted to take photos of both sides but I had a feeling that people would not take kindly to having their photos taken. So because I didn't have my running shoes on, I chose not to take the photos.

After we left the flea market, we decided to go to another area we had been too before but it had been many years before, Jack London Square. On Sundays there is small farmers market going on. We got there kind of late so not much there and it was a pretty cold day. Not too cold for Asian string players.

I think this man is a regular.




One of the things we liked best in London, wait one of the things Chizz liked best in



London, was finding a new pub to try out. Very often the pubs were historic, frequented by this prince or that famous author. Very often the pub looked like it hadn't changed an iota since it was founded. So we were excited to see this on our arrival at Jack London Square. It is a cute little small bar or pub. It appears to have quite a few names: J.M. Heinold's Saloon, First and Last Chance, or Jack London's Rendezvous. The inside is adorable, about 3 tables and five or six stools at the bar. The floor has a definite tilt, you can see it in the photo of the bar, the whole bar is tilted downward. The bar does have an interesting history as well. It opened in 1883 and was built from the timbers of an old whaling ship. In the 1920s a ferry between Alameda and Oakland ran from a nearby pier and Heinold's was literally the last chance, commuters could get a beverage before getting on the boat. Over the years, the bar enjoyed a mild success. It was the teenage hangout for a young Jack London, who used to study at the tables. He confided with the owner that he really wanted to enroll in the University of California at Berkeley. Mr. Heinold lent him the money and although London didn't make it past his first year, London must have felt some gratitude as he used Mr. Heinold's name and the name for the First and Last Chance Saloon in his novel, John Barleycorn.

In the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the pilings of the pier that bar was situated on, sunk into the mud under the pier, causing the floor to slant. Over the years they have tried to shore up the floor to straighten it out, without much success. So eventually they stopped trying. The clock in the bar stopped that morning and they have never wound it back up so you can still it at 5:18. It is hard to tell from this photo, but the walls just have all kinds of stuff on them. Chizz was interested in a display case that contain lots of Germany army pins with swastikas. There are pieces of currencies from all over the world tacked up on the wall. The bar and rail are original to the bar. Can't you just imagine Jack London sitting there, having a drink making notes for his next book?

There is lots of history in our own backyards. Chizz and I speak often of how lucky we are to live in an area that folks all over the world come to visit on their vacations. Sometimes we all take for granted those things right in our own neighborhood that are available to explore. I doubt too many tourists have the Oakland Flea Market on their list or even Jack London Square but these are places I have always wanted to visit, but never seemed to find the time. This weekend we found the time. I challenge you to visit something in your figurative backyard, something you have always meant to check out. In this economy, it pays to be a Backyard Tourist. The airfare is cheap.

Holiday Aftermath

Well, holidays are officially over (well, not if you ask Target because they have already moved on to Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day and the Superbowl!). The WTF household had pretty nice holiday overall.

For the first time in a long time, I felt as if I actually got to enjoy the holidays a bit more this year. Many times it just all goes by in a red and green blur. Perhaps it is because the kids are older, or we are older but it seems as if we were all a bit more relaxed this holiday. I just didn't feel the pressure to create the perfect Christmas "damn it" and perhaps because there was no pressure, it all seemed to work out beautifully. I even sent out a Christmas card or two. We enjoyed our "old" traditions and perhaps started a new one or two. Maybe when your kids are older, you don't work so hard to create memories because part of the holiday is spent reliving the old ones.

It was nice having Kiki back from college. Mercifully, there were no power struggles over car use and I don't remember any arguments either. She has grown up and so have we. She and I were discussing her New Year's Eve plans which included a group of kids going into the City and spending the night there at a friend's apartment. I was more than a little leery about it and I expressed my concerns about it really being an unsupervised party, likely with alcohol and no adults. Kiki paused for a minute, looked at me and said "Mom, what do you think college is?" . . . . . Alrighty. Actually she is right. We have to get used to her fielding these situations on her own. Now of course, that doesn't mean she still doesn't get the occasional lecture about safety etc and that as an 18 year old, alcohol use is against the law. But I can't be with her every time she has one of this situations pop up. So I have to just take comfort in the fact that I have given her 4,357,286 of these lectures and hopefully when the time is right, she will hear my voice in her ear giving the lecture again as if it were on shuffle on her Ipod.

Snake spent the holiday recharging his battery, which included sleeping until noonish, spending time on the computer, endless hours of football on tv and a few concerts. He went back to school today and I think it has been hard for him to get into the groove. He just called and told me he forgot what the schedule he was on today (his school has a block schedule which has a different schedule each day). So he inadvertantly skipped second period today because he thought it was a day he had a free period. He is on his way to the office to 'fess up and take whatever consequences are assigned.

So now I am left with dismantling Christmas. That always seems to take longer than it did to put it up. I have two mini deadlines, one is to make the house seem livable by tomorrow when Auntie L comes to visit. The next is one is two days later when the recycler comes for the tree. Right now, the cyclone that is my living room says I might not make either deadline. Yikes.

According to Target, I only have 32 more shopping days until the next big holiday, the Superbowl. Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!

VICTORIOUS!!!

See post here . Told ya! Details to follow after the holidays as I don't want to give away who might be getting these items.

Merry Christmas to All!!

Grocery Store Pet Peeves

Is it just me or is it something about the holiday season that just makes grocery shopping almost unbearable? Normally, I love shopping in all shapes or forms. It is in my genes - come from a long line of shoppers. It is part of my DNA profile. During the holiday season, I actually enjoy the gift shopping; don’t mind crowded malls. I take it as a challenge, a sport, competition. Getting the best deal gets my adrenaline pumping. If shopping were a sport, I am sure I could go pro or at least be in the elite category of amateur, like triple A or bowling or Nascar.

I think it is because at the holidays there are so many amateurs in the store, those who don’t know the in and outs, the etiquette. And maybe it is because I consider myself an expert in the field; I am annoyed by those that don’t follow the rules of grocery shopping. Oh and don’t kid yourself, there are rules. Let me give you a few. (And these are in no particular order because quite frankly they are all important).

1. Don’t park your cart on one side of the aisle and yourself on the other side. For example, if you are in the canned soup and vegetable aisle don’t park your cart on the soup side and then wander across to look at the canned veggies. What you have done, effectively, is block both sides of the aisle. People and carts can’t get around you. Cart management is very important in grocery shopping. Have a little self awareness, know where your fellow cart managers are, anticipate their movements, and get out of their way if you want to check the sodium content of every single can of chicken noodle in Safeway. Another tip, if your store has pillars in the most inconvenient places like mine, be aware of where you stop your cart. If you stop your cart right next to the pillar, guess what? No one can get around you. This also applies to the stores that display items in the aisles. Don't park your cart next to the display. It won't kill you to move ahead a few feet and go back to the item you want to look at or retrieve. Trust me.

2. If you bring your kids to the store with you and I recognize that there are situations where that needs to happen, keep them under control. Like automobiles, no one under 16 should be allowed to drive a cart. It is not adorable to have your 5 year old push your cart. In addition to the inevitable cart-run-into-your-heel-confrontation, I saw a 6 year old almost take out an entire display of Christmas M&Ms the other day at the store. I used to tell my kids on the very few grocery store trips they went on, that they couldn't be wider than the cart. So they had to either walk way in front of me and the cart or, preferably, behind me and the cart.

3. Express lanes are for those who can complete their transactions quickly. Repeat that out loud to yourself. If you haven’t used your debit card in the last 7 months and you just can’t remember your pin, you shouldn’t be in the express lane. If you want to discuss why (Insert Your Store’s Name Here) doesn’t carry your cat’s favorite brand of kitty litter, you shouldn't be in the express lane. If you are buying some exotic type of produce (yes I am talking to you radicchio buyers!) that the clerk just can’t remember the code for or can’t find the code for, you shouldn’t be in the express lane. And another thing express lane users, start your debit card or store card swiping as soon as the clerk has rung up the first item. There are few things in life more annoying than watching someone ring up an order in the express lane, THEN the customer searches her purse or goes through 27 cards in his wallet to find their store card or their credit card. Remember it is for those who can complete their transactions quickly. If you see yourself in any of those examples, the express lane is not for you. If you aren’t sure, message me your circumstances and I will be happy to let you know.

4. Regular lane users you have some rules too. (Please read express lane section about when to swipe your credit card or store card. It applies to you as well.) If you have brought your own bags to the store, don’t wait until the order has been bagged to present your reusable bags and ask that the order be re-bagged because you are a friend to the environment. If you can’t remember to present your bags before the bagger has started bagging, then you aren’t really very “green” to begin with and now the environment will just have to pay for your transgression. Think about that next time. If you really were concerned, you would make an effort to present your bags earlier in the process. Moving on. People that only have 1 or 2 or 3 items that stand behind big full carts in the regular lanes should not expect to skip ahead in line. 1 or 2 or 3 item people have whole lanes dedicated to them, the express lanes. My store has at least 5 and usually 3 of them are manned most of the time. If the express line is a little too long, you think you will move over to a regular line and someone will let you go head of them “because I only have one thing”. NOT IN MY LANE. I will wait you out. You can shift your weight from one ankle to another, try to make eye contact or sigh so deeply you begin to hyperventilate, I will not let you move head of me in line. It is the fairness of it all. Let’s face it, you are probably the same people who count items in the express lane and call out to the checker, “she has 13 items, only supposed to have 12”. We have our own lanes, let’s use them people.

5. Frozen food aisle. If you are looking at items in the frozen food case, don't hold the door open and peruse at your leisure. The glass doors get all fogged up and the next person can't see through them. Look through the glass, make your choice, THEN open the door to obtain your item or items. It goes without saying that you shouldn't leave the door open while you review the nutrition facts on the side. Close the door, review facts, put item in cart or back in case. Not rocket science.

6. People that eat from the bulk food bins. Do I really need to say this? I can almost excuse the kids, they don't know better. But it isn't usually the kids I see that stick their fingers inside and take a piece for snacking. Don't do this, no matter what!!! Unless you would like me to send Chizz or Snake over to put their grubby hands all over your food after they have been cleaning our gutters. Just saying. . . . It's gross and it's illegal. It is stealing, no ifs ands or buts. Frankly most produce departments (where these bins are usually located) will give you a taste of any item if you request it. If you take it, you are stealing. It is shop lifting except you aren't carrying the product out under your coat, you are taking it out in your stomach. And let's face it, someone always sees you do it. Be a better example. Shame, shame, shame.

So I think with these simple rules (Wendy's rules,if you insist), grocery store shopping can be a much better experience for everyone. Do you think I should print this out a few hundred times and give one to anyone I see not following the rules? Maybe not. But shape up people, or I just might!!

Parents Weekend

Chizz and I recently participated in a time-honored ritual - parents weekend. For those of you not in the know, its where parents of college students visit their children at college and get an idea of what the kid's life is like now that they aren't living with you 24/7. My mom gave me some very good advice. She told me this is what she used to do. Instead of worrying about what evil influences Kiki might be exposed to and wondering where she is late on a Saturday night, I have to convince myself that she is always at the library - studying. Hmmm. I think I can do that. Maybe. Actually, I think I like being a bit ignorant about what is going on at college in that way but those aren't the things you find out about at these Parents' Weekend events anyway, so off we went.


UCLA puts forth a good effort educating the parents on what programs are available to the kids, what it is like to live on campus, giving tours of campus (if you somehow managed to get through the application and acceptance process without going to one, I don't know how you did it. I think I have been on at least 6 campus tours of UCLA), eating in the dining hall, special lectures and parties where you can rub elbows with the chancellor and other important people. You can sign up for just about all of the events or pick and choose your way through. We signed up for a few but avoided anything that looked suspiciously like it would be a hold-up for money. I can't blame UC, all the campuses are looking for dough in this atmosphere but we already give UCLA $27,000+ a year. We don't have anymore money. They need to be talking to Snake! He has all the money in our family.

We also got to go to a football game. Auntie L & Auntie S, being alumni, are season ticket holders for football games so we were definitely interested in catching up with them at the game. Kiki is pledging a sorority. I am not going to say which one to keep her anonymous but let's just say one or more of the names includes the Greek letters, Gamma, Chi, Delta, Alpha, Phi, Rho, Kappa, Episilon, Pi, Iota, etc. So there were activities involved with that. Most of the sororities had a "Dad's day" where the dad got a t-shirt. We went on a tour of the sorority house (where Kiki may live next year) and then to the football game. It was fun. We sat with Auntie L, Uncle S and Dew. The next day there was a ceremony at the sorority house, where the new members are presented to the rest of the members and their parents. Kiki needed a white dress. I think finding a white dress in fall was harder than getting her accepted to the college to begin with!!

It was a very nice time and now when I speak with Kiki on the phone about this person or that building, I can use my imagination to picture what she is talking about. The trick is turning off your imagination so you don't see what she is NOT talking about!! Library, Library, Library, Library.

I am a Subscriber, hear me ROAR!!

The WTF household is a two paper household. We receive our local newspaper and also the San Francisco paper. We like getting two papers for a number of reasons. First, they fulfill two entirely separate needs. The local paper lets us know what is going on in our county, the happenings in our more immediate part of the globe. The SF Chronicle keeps us up to date on the news on a more national scale. Our ritual in the morning has been Chizz reads the local paper at breakfast and I read the SF Chronicle. He leaves for work and takes the Chronicle with him and I read the local paper at a more convenient time during the day sometime after he leaves. It works for us.

Until about 2 weeks ago. I received our renewal bill for the Chronicle. $403 per year. Last year I paid $140. It is now almost triple. I understand the siege newspapers are under right now trying to stay afloat and relevant in this economy, but I can't single handedly bring them back. When I sat down and figured it out, it doesn't make economical sense to subscribe to the paper at this rate. You receive very, very little benefit. The newspaper stand price (what it would cost if I bought it at Safeway) for a full year of the SF Chronicle is $417.00. When we subscribed to the paper, I usually didn't read the Saturday's paper - too little content. Very often when we went on vacation, I donated the papers. Count vacation papers at 15 per year, and 52 Saturday papers, the newstand price of my paper goes down to $350. Even if Chizz bought the Chronicle at Bart every single weekday he commutes into the city, we would still save money not subscribing.

So I cancelled our subscription. And I made sure the Chronicle knew why. And apparently they don't care, at least when I called in they did nothing to try and retain me as a customer. Based on some discussions I have had with my friends and family, I think the SF Chronicle is losing lots of customers with this approach. I would not be surprised if they aren't around much longer. I worry about the state of all newspapers. I love sitting down and reading one, but I think I am in the last generation that really does that. The younger generation gets their news from the Internet or television. Nothing wrong with that, it is just a different medium. Quite frankly, the newspaper industry doesn't appear to be doing anything to lure younger readers. They certainly don't do anything to keep their current ones. It is a shame.

Don't worry, we still subscribe to 2 newspapers, our local paper and ta-da . . . . the Wall Street Journal! (And which we receive for the bargain price of $150 per year). Sorry Chronicle, but by the time you do get around to offering me a discount to come back, I most likely can't or won't be persuaded to come back. The only downside, I don't have 2 Sudokus to do every morning. Oh, well I'll survive!! (Probably more than the Chronicle can say!)

Do You Zhu Zhu?

The call has been put out. Someone in my circle of family and friends wants, wait should I say, needs a Zhu Zhu pet. In case you don't have a person under 10 years old in your life, Zhu Zhu pets are this years "it" toy. You know, this year's Tickle-Me-Elmo, Wii, Princess Unicorn or Cabbage Patch Kid (okay I am dating myself here). Every year there is always a toy that is impossible to get, yet somehow it ends up on every kid's list. And parents go nuts trying to find that toy, paying 2, 3 even 10 times the value to get the item for their precious to open on Christmas Day.

Oh I mock because I have been there. One Christmas when Snake was 4 years old, all he wanted for Christmas was "Black Buzz". It was a special edition Buzz Lightyear Figure, that wasn't really black, it was silverish, kind of a plastic shiny chrome color but that is what he called it. He saw one in the Disney store and it was all he talked about. So of course, by the time I got to the Disney store to buy it , they were out of stock. It was hard to find. So I put the call out to the network of sisters, aunties and grandmas. And California was searched up and down the coast for a "Black Buzz". It was searched and it was searched hard. I tried to manage Snake's expectations. "You know sometimes you don't get everything you want for Christmas, but there is always your birthday just a little over 2 months away", in my cheerful it-doesn't-really-matter-if-all-of-your-Christmas-dreams-are-dashed, right? mom voice. I started to panic but Snake never did. He kept telling me "don't worry, Santa will bring it". Oh right, I forgot.

So I have been searching for Zhu Zhu pets. I have searched every store in about a 15 mile radius from my house looking for the toys. I can tell I am not the only one. The store clerks are just a little snippy. "Do you have---", I don't even get a chance to finish my question before several of them have cut me off "No. We don't have any Zhu Zhu pets. No. We don't know when we will get any in. No. We don't have any idea of when any kind of toy shipment will come in." (Apparently these boxes just appear like magic in stock rooms everywhere.) So I have taken to having them show me where the Zhu Zhu's will be, if and when they are ever in stock. So I know where to look without disturbing the toy department clerks who are too busy and important to answer my questions about . . . toys. And when I find them, because I have every confidence I will, I will buy as many as I can. And distribute them to my family and friends who need them. At cost. Because I understand.

Oh and yes, Snake did get the Black Buzz for Christmas. It was found about 2 days before and made its appearance under our tree on Christmas morning. Snake just said "See, I knew Santa would find it" and he was right. Then Kiki dropped it about two minutes after he opened it and his little shiny chrome foot broke off. We spent Christmas morning buying Scotch tape at Walgreens to tape Buzz's foot back on. And to all a good night!!