| Catsu's Corner Archives
October 2003 November 2003 Back to HOME |
| November 30, 2003 -- November update. |
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For costume shops the Christmas season begins about a week before Halloween. More and more Santa suits start going out as we wrap up the Halloween season. Of course, with Santa arriving at the malls during November, he has to get his suit in order before then, but I personally don't like to hear Christmas music or start decorating before Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. I like that the focus of the day is on family and friends -- and what's not to like about a day for turkey and pumpkin pie? I truly am thankful for all that I have. Thanksgivingtime is also special for us as it marks our wedding anniversary. We were married on the day after Thanksgiving in 1974 (twenty-nine years, this year.) In the past we used to have huge Thanksgiving dinners with lots of people coming, but this year we had a quiet, low key day. Kimberly had the oportunity to go to Vermont and spend Thanksgiving with a friend. She had a wonderful time and it even snowed while she was there! Julie, of course, is too far away to be able to come home at this time of the year, but we are so looking forward to seeing her at Christmas. I have been busy during November getting the house and yard ready for visitors in December. I planted lantana and baby tears ground covering in the back but the cats have been digging it up as fast as I put it in the ground. Hopefully, enough will be able to put down roots to mostly cover and I can fill in the bald spots later. All my spare time this month has been spent working on my digital photo album. I have begun the monumental task of scanning all of the pictures of the kids I have taken over the years and organizing them into a digital album. We've taken a lot of pictures, but after initially picking them up at the developers, we never looked at them. They were in cupboards and drawers and boxes and piles all over the house. I have been working backwards through the years, organizing and scanning. Many of the pictures have already started to deteriorate in quality, with colors fading or changing. Fortunately, I can correct that digitally before saving them. It's taking a long time but once I have them all on disk the kids will each have a small pictorial history of their childhoods. I told Raymond, "You are really going to appreciate this some day." "Oh, I know," He said, "I appreciate it now. I'm just glad I don't have to do all the work." It is a big job but I've been having so much fun going through the old pictures and reliving memories, -- I can hardly wait to see what happens in the next year. |
| October 31, 2003 -- Happy Halloween! |
Happy Halloween! |
| October 28, 2003 -- News at eleven. |
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As the fires raged throughout the county I listened intently to the news, flipping from one channel to another, hoping to gain information of what was happening and where.
Kimberly periodically filled me in, " It's three miles from. . .", "It just crossed over to. . .", It's seven miles away from. . ." "Where are you getting all this information?", I asked. "I'm on instant messenger", she said. As I watched the news, she was talking to about a dozen friends located all over San Diego. I seriously think we should forget about the media, and the news, and the reporters, and put the entire communication department in the hands of teen-age girls. |
| October 27, 2003 -- San Diego on fire. |
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Sunday morning - Flipping on the TV while I dried my hair, I heard of the fires that had been burning through the night. Looking out the window, we could see the smoke billowing up in the sky to the east of us, (Poway). Already it was hot, with the Santa Ana winds blowing. The sky was an eery, orangy color and the sun was blood red. During the day we followed the news, listening to the spread of the fires. They're bad. Stretching from northern San Diego to Otay in the south, they cross the entire county. From Julian, they ran down through east Poway, Scripps Ranch, Tierrasante, Kearny Mesa, and east Clairemont, then east through Santee, Rancho San Diego, Crest, Alpine and further. Virtually the whole county was affected as the fast moving fires, pushed by Santa Ana winds, spread further and further, jumping across freeways and running through canyons. We listened and watched as massive evacuations were ordered. Many homes were lost as the fires swept through densely populated neighborhoods.
In the thirty years I have been in San Diego I've never seen anything like this. The fire jumped the freeway in five different places. Six major freeways were closed to traffic at one time. The city was pretty much shut down today. Government offices, libraries, and schools were all closed. People were asked to stay home and not go to work. We are lucky. Thankfully, the area where we live is unaffected, except for the heavy smoke and ash, which covers the entire county. The whole city smells like an old ash tray and many people are wearing surgical masks when they go outside. But many have lost everything. The damage in the Scripps Ranch and Crest areas is devastating. I cannot even imagine what these people are going through. David spent the night at an evacuated friend's house, guarding it with a garden hose. He said he saw million dollar homes burn down and there was nothing anyone could do. If someone is not there the minute an ember lands, it gets out of control too quickly for anything to be done. The fire department is spread so thin that it canot be in all of the affected areas, and the winds were awful. Tonight there is at least some good news, the Santa Ana winds have died down and the temperature is supposed to drop 10 to 20 degrees. Also we will be getting fire fighting help from Arizona and Nevada so hopefully they will be able to get it under control soon. |
| October 11, 2003 -- Stakeout Update. |
| Ha, ha, I think I've got her now. |
| October 9, 2003 -- Stakeout. |
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Wed., 6:30 PM - It's dark. She* can't see me, but somehow she senses my presence. She knows I watch. She refuses to reveal her secret, but she underestimates my determination. Last night I turned away for just a moment and she was gone. Tonight I will succeed.
7:00 PM - Waiting, watching, it could be a long night. I should have brought coffee and donuts. 7:30 PM - Several times she starts to move, restlessly going from the front to the back, sometimes stopping to crouch and wait in the darkness. But it's just a ruse. She knows I watch. 8:00 PM - Stalemate. We call a truce. There will be no enlightenment tonight. Thurs., 5:00 AM - She's on the move again, and I'm right behind her. But she knows. False alarm. 6:00 AM - She's patient. She won't make her move until it's clear. There's nothing more I can do now. But I'm patient, too. I can wait. At least I have foiled her plans for last night and this morning. I'll try again tonight. For days now we have been playing this game. I keep thinking I have discovered how she is getting out. I keep tightening things up, adding more net, more nails, but then each morning, there she is, waiting at the window, laughing at me. * Patches, my little escape artist, and the smartest cat I know. |
| October 7, 2003 -- It's your right to vote. |
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"The candidates to suceed (replace) Gray Davis if he is recalled (removed) are listed . . ."
Not only is the ballot translated into seven different languages, but apparently the language, itself, must be simplified for the vocabulary challenged. "You can't take away someone's right to vote just because they are uneducated", I was told. Well no, of course not. That would be discrimination against the stupid - totally unconstitutional. Still, I think that if one can not understand the question, they should not be answering it. But for those of you familiar with the words "suceed" and "recall", those of you who can find one name out a list of 135, those of you who are capable of punching a hole in a card - well, get out there and exercise your right to vote. |
| October 1, 2003 -- Halloween is coming. |
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