It's a Girl! 6 lbs, 15 ozs. ANNABELLE VICTORIA!

Born about 12:30 AM PST (3:30 PM Singapore) August 27. She's here and she's perfect!

WELCOME, PRECIOUS GRANDDAUGHTER.

Compassion

A fellow PowerSeller on eBay lost her two grandbabies in a tragic accident.

I've set up a fund to help with burial expenses. You don't have to be an ebayer to contribute. Here is the link.

Thank you for your kindness.

Thriller!

My mom asked to cook my favorite meal for my birthday, and I asked for "Thriller". It is a shortcut version of lasagna, made with large shells instead of long lasagna pasta, and dispensing with the ricotta cheese. Delicious, nonetheless! She adds Italian hot sausage, mozarella and lots of garlic.

The mystery is how she named it "Thriller". Hopefully she'll clear that up in a comment...

Here we are, ready to dish it up. Thanks, Mom!

P.S. Dig your new eyeglasses.

My Funny Hunny

Now that we're working 40-50 hours a week selling on ebay and at our antique co-op in Marin, I haven't done a lot of cooking or dishes. Rick has never complained; in fact he frequently runs out for tacos, sandwiches or salad while I take a nap! He does a good job of digging socks out of the laundry basket and overlooking dusty blinds and unswept floors. And, he's picked up a whole lot of new household chores- voluntarily. (Yeah, he's quite a guy!)

Since I've had my new MacBook Pro, I've been enjoying working on the laptop online in the kitchen where it is light and open. It gets me out of the crowded office in the back of the house.


Today, I was working at the kitchen table, and Rick walked by and remarked, "Sweetie, if anyone asks, tell them you've been spending lots of time in the kitchen! I won't tell them what you're doing!"

You MIGHT Be a Powerseller on Ebay if...

You order shipping bubblewrap for your ebay store...and then you can't fit it in through the door, and your kitchen looks like the local Post Office.

C'mon. Admit It.

This
is
the
cutest
little
boy
in
the
city
state
country
world
universe.

<<< TAKE MY POLL!!

Putting my money where my mouth is. I sent these to Rebecca for the new baby, with 21 days left until her due date!

Sunset

Out for a walk this evening, we saw this gorgeous sunset. Thank goodness for a camera phone!

New Digs!

We labored all day yesterday at our co-op, Antiques Legacy of San Anslemo*. The 10,000 sq. ft. store has about 40 dealers, each with their own piece of "real estate" to display their offerings. The natural walking pattern is in a counter-clockwise path inside the building.

We started out there last Fall with a tiny counter top near the front of the store to display Rick's Art Lamps, then moved to a cramped space of our own. It was tucked away on the end of the second half of the store layout, where most people have become eye-wearied with all the fabulous treasures by the time they arrive! It was a small space, chock-full of things we've added for sale, as well as Art Lamps. Nevertheless, we've done pretty well, always exceeding our monthly rent.

Recently, a vendor decided to leave the co-op, making his cherry spot available -and the store owner offered it to us. We jumped at the chance!

Location, Location, Location! they say in real estate. This spot is on the first half of the traffic pattern, right where you make the turn to go to the back portion and then second half. As you turn, your eye naturally notices our new booth.

Here are some photos of the new location. We have some tweaking to do, having run out of time yesterday. As you might notice, we have no neighbors, just the dividing wall on one side, the back wall on another, and two open sides. Across from us (on the right, but unseen) is a vendor who does quite well in her spot. We are looking forward to developing a good working relationship with her.

We are very excited about the new prospects! We never guessed we'd be selling in an antiques mecca, as San Anselmo has been called. We're loving it.



*if you visit Antiques Legacy's website and our own, you might notice they look similar. That's because the store owner hired me to do a website for him! And I figured, "Why re-invent the wheel?"

Summer Evening

This is a photo of a night-blooming cactus by our pool with a 3/4 moon in the the sky.

By morning, the blooms will die and fall to the deck.

Wringer Washers & Other Outmoded Ideas

In memory of Tony Snow, who died at age 53 today, here is a quote from an essay he wrote in 2005.

"If you want to understand how little sense our system of government makes, walk down the cereal aisle at your local grocery store. Count how many brands you can buy. Then ask yourself: If I have this many options in cereal, why don't I have any options when it comes to really important stuff that every single American needs — health care and retirement security? Why must we deal with Ponzi-scheme remedies that clean out our wallets without giving us our money's worth?

"Do we really believe our interests are best served by programs designed when Americans were driving Model A automobiles, where most washing machines had wringers, where refrigerators were scarce, interstates were nonexistent and air-conditioning a gewgaw reserved for futuristic exhibits at the World's Fair? "

Your Tax Dollars at Work!

Ten days ago, one of our neighborhood feral cats died somehow, and was lying in the gutter of the unoccupied house next door. We called Animal Control, which is a division of our local police department. A recording informed us that we were to leave the address of the dead animal, and that an Animal Control Officer would be out ASAP to make the removal. The recording also informed us that pickups would only be made on public property, not private. Of course, this was not a problem; the poor cat was in the public street.

Two days later, the animal was still lying there. We considered burying it ourselves, but there is a local law prohibiting that. I suggested bagging it and putting it in the garbage. Again, no- local ordinance. We made another phone call and again got the recording.

The odor increased.

On the fifth day, we made another call. Same recording.

The stench increased.

Seventh day. Another phone call. Now the neighborhood kids were surreptitiously poking sticks at it. Summer science lab, I guess.

The smell was now abominable in the heat and humidity.

Eighth day. The street sweeper came by about 5 AM. A few hours later, we noticed the cat was gone.

But the fetor remained. The cat had been flicked up into the bushes of the empty house.

Today we phoned the City Manager. We suggested they let the police department know that a whole week had gone by with no service, and that we'd be happy to deliver the carcass to the station if it would help.

Thirty minutes later, the Animal Control wagon showed up. Seeing no cat in the gutter, she cruised on by. I flagged her down, and she flipped the vehicle around.

We pointed out the cat that was now up in the bushes. She coolly cited the city code and said she was not able to remove it because it was on private property.

We reminded her that it was on city property for a week, and that her unit had failed to come in a timely manner.

Sighing deeply, she apologized and remained steadfast that it was beyond her scope. "Sorry, it's on private property!" We suggested she phone her supervisor. By now, Rick was so frustrated he went into the house, I assumed to maintain his cool.

Next thing I knew, while the Animal Control Officer was on the radio with her Sgt., Rick came strolling out of our garage with a shovel. He calmly tossed the poor carcass back into the street, pointed and smiled.

She picked it up and hauled it away. Thank you, Dutiful Public Servant.

Just Because I Love Him.

Click Here.

How Random is THIS?!

(Phoenix airport at sunset)

Debbie and son Charlie, from Minnesota, were due to fly into California tonight to help my niece Jessica pack and move.

My son Dan (Debbie's nephew) was in Dallas for several days at a conference, and was returning home to California tonight.

Dan had to change planes in Phoenix. He was one of the last ones on the airplane. When he found his seat, he noticed someone who looked familiar.

Debbie and Charlie were in the SAME ROW.

Neither one knew the other was even flying! Randomly, they ended up on the same flight, in the same row. All Dan had to do was switch aisle seats with the guy sitting next to Debbie.

Wow. What are the odds of that?!

(Debbie and Dan upon landing in Sacramento.)

Thought of the Word...

Hi Barb; thanks for dropping in! Feel free to leave a comment. ;-)

It Pays to Purchase AppleCare!

We purchased a 20" iMac in September of 2006 (seen in previous post). Fortunately, I purchased AppleCare soon after.

Somehow, I got a lemon. (There aren't many of them in Apple World.)

I won't bore you with the whole history, but after tolerating the annoying glitches for well over a year, it took a sudden turn for the worst in March. It became apparent it was about to become lemon-ADE*!

After jumping through a few easy hoops, Apple sent me a brand-new UPGRADED iMac today.

I can't wait to plug it in and take it for a spin.

*ADE= a dead electronic

God Provides!

Little by little, our ebay business has grown. Currently we are nicely supplementing Rick's pension, and are nearly at Level Two as Power Sellers! We're starting to realize we have a "real" business going.

I've been needing a new computer desk for some time now. I kinda knew what I wanted, but just haven't even had time to go looking for one. Besides! As official Garage Salers, we decided we'd just keep our eyes open for one when we are out "shopping" for resale products.

Yesterday, our neighbor asked for our help. She is newly moved back into the area from San Jose, and needed a strong man (that would be MY guy!) to unpack her PODS. Beth said that, after taking a few personal things out, the rest would be going to Salvation Army. She said we were welcome to take anything we thought we could use or sell.

The long and the short of it... not only did she have a computer desk that was exactly what I was looking for, but there were also two very nice metal file cabinets -complete with hundreds of hanging file folders- (tall black one at the left, half size one at the right), and an INDUSTRIAL paper shredder! We spent the day rearranging our home office, and sprucing things up. Rick took this photo of his very delighted business partner when I first sat down for a test drive at my new desk! We're ready for our business to really soar now.

Sidebar: we also placed a VERY NICE almost-new king-size Serta mattress set with a needy couple. They were all smiles, too!

Thank you Beth, and thank You God!

SPRING FANCY GONE MODERN!

In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.

Lord Tennyson Alfred (1809–1892)

Thank goodness for camera phones.

I was at a local discount store today (I'm not admitting which one in case Jessica or my bro reads this). In the greeting card aisle, I saw three guys. At first I couldn't figure out what they were doing. Then, it dawned on me and I could hardly keep from laughing out loud!

They had chosen a mushy "thinking of you" romantic card, and were TEXT MESSAGING the poem on it to one of their girlfriends! In typical guy slang, they were discussing how she would react, and wondering whether she'd be able to tell he didn't actually make it up himself.

I angled around, and snapped the photo, hoping they wouldn't hear the "click" and grab my phone.

Success!!

Congratulations, Jessica!

My niece, Jessica, is graduating in the morning from CSU-Sac. We're so very proud of her! Tonight we celebrated with a few family members and friends at Red Robin in Turlock.

I know she will go far. In fact, too far. She's moving to Minnesota after graduation!

CONGRATULATIONS, Jess! WOO-HOO! You did it!

(above) Dan, Jessica, Yvette and Jordan. My parents were there, too.

(above) The Band. Well, they should start a band. They already have their first album cover.