Monday, October 31, 2005 -- Halloween

Happy Halloween!

Enjoy some of Raymond's previous years of haunting at RF Haunt

Sunday, October 30, 2005 -- Cats
Kimberly, home for the weekend, said, "I just don't know how people live without cats."
Yeah, It's a mystery to me, too.

Saturday, October 29, 2005 -- Costumes
Whew, another Halloween season completed. So, what was the most popular costume this year? -- Pirates, all styles of pirates. Pirate costumes are always a good seller, but this year they were especially popular. Renaissance, as always, went well, too. And then there is always one crazy, impossible to predict, high demand costume. This year it was the "King Francois" costume. Called anything from King Frances to King Francisco (no history buffs here), the costume just happens to resemble the outfit worn by the king in the Burger King comercials.

Friday, October 28, 2005 -- Sense of Humor
Coming out of the shoe store, Lloyd said, "None of the clerks had any sense of humor at all." Okay, not everyone "gets" Lloyd's humor, but wouldn't you think someone who's worked in retail as long as he has wouldn't give sales clerks a hard time?

Saturday, October 22, 2005 -- Mouse
I was feeling a little down today, but then I came in to find the following instant message up on my computer, "If there was a mouse in our toaster (not while toasting), what would be the best way to clean out the toaster?"
Thank you, Kimberly. You have for brightened my day. I just can't stop laughing when I think of your little mouse peeking out of the toaster. Maybe this would be a good time to start a low carb diet. And definitely keep everything, EVERYTHING, in the refrigerator.

Update from Kimberly -
"Our mouse count is now back down to our 2 domestic apartment-dwelling rodents. The third, uninvited, mouse who has been freeloading off us for some time now, was somewhat haphazardly caught and transported outside in a toaster with a Kleenex box perched on top. I'm not sure what the neighbors thought as I ventured out of my apartment holding my toaster at arms length. Or what they presumed as I proceeded to cross the parking lot, set it near a bush, grab the Kleenex box (while simultaneously jumping backwards), and then stood there looking anxious for several moments while talking coaxingly to my nature-bound kitchen appliance. Eventually, the trapped mouse did manage his escape and set off in the opposite direction from me and my apartment though, and I gathered up my belongings to return home. Good luck in the real world, little guy. Most people out there do believe in poison pest control."
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go sanitize our toaster."

Tuesday, October 18, 2005 -- Rain
The weather people have been predicting/threatening/promising rain for days now. It is finally here, and I, for one, have been looking forward to it. I love a rainy day.

Monday, October 17, 2005 -- Elizabethtown
"If it wasn't this, it'd be something else." - from Elizabethtown
A good movie, though not really what I was expecting. It is both a look at death and a look at living, with an interesting balance between reality and craziness. The settings and situations give the impression of normalcy, but are actually exagerated and somewhat surreal, forming a bizarre backdrop for the characters' emotions.
And, of course, it gives us this memorable line, "Enjoy your footwear."

Saturday, October 15, 2005 -- Color Coordinated
Looking around, I noticed that all the people in the elevator were wearing green. I said, "Oh look, we're all wearing the same color. We could be a singing group." Everyone looked at me, without saying anything, without even smiling. I thought perhaps I should burst into song to emphasize my point, but then decided against it.

Friday, October 14, 2005 -- Journeys
A red-tail hawk just flew pass my window. I think I'll take that as an omen of good things for today.

The English author, Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) said, "You are not likely to get anywhere in particular if you don't know where you want to go." But that's not necessarily true. You may end up somewhere far more interesting than anywhere you would have planned to go.

Thursday, October 13, 2005 -- Halloween Pasta
For a Halloween pasta dish, Martha Stewart suggests stirring a handful of plastic bugs into the casserole just before serving.
Oh, how fun is that?!! Why, that alone, is almost reason enough to throw a dinner party. But of course, everyone would suspect it at Halloween. That's much too cliche'. Wouldn't it be better to save the idea for another time of the year?

Friday, October 7, 2005 -- Pumpkins
Kimberly writes,
"I stopped by Target briefly today, and guess what I saw out front? PUMPKINS! Tons of them! Big ones, small ones, all of them a nice pumpkin-orange color with green stems. Pumpkins are by far the best part of the Halloween season for me."
O-O-H--- N-O.
Is it that time of year again, already?
Every year she buys a bunch of pumpkins, fully intending to carve them in wonderful, creative designs, but then, things come up, she gets busy, she thinks maybe she'll carve them later . . . they DON'T GET CARVED. They are forgotten, stored in the back, where they become hidden behind something or under something. AND THEN, maybe around December, I'll find them, these former Halloween treasures, now squishy, gooshey, gooey, smelly, flat-as-pancakes, icky, soft, totally rotten, impossible-to-pick-up, covered-with-fruit-flies, completely unrecognizable pumpkins. You haven't lived until you've cleaned up that mess.

Monday, October 3, 2005 -- Perspective
It's all in your perspective.
From Boston --
"When the weather is nice like this, I just want to get outside. It's a gorgeous 51 degrees today."
From Philadelphia --
"The weather people are crazy. They keep talking about how cold it is. It's 52 degrees out!"
Here in San Diego, when it gets down to 70, people start asking "When will this cold spell end?"

Saturday, October 1, 2005 -- Pip
Pip contemplates what used to be his escape route.

There's netting preventing him from going over the fence, but he'd found a spot loose enough to slip through. After watching me tighten it, he pushed and pulled and discovered that it would no longer give, so he's been yowling around for the last two days, very angry at me.
I have no doubt he will find another way out. He is very determined. But maybe we can, at least, get through October without worrying about him.