Mothers Day has its roots in several places, including an ancient Greek celebration of Rhea, mother of the gods. In England, in the 1600s, servants were given a day off on "Mothering Sunday" and encouraged to visit their mothers for the day. A day to honor mothers was first suggested in the US in 1872… Continue reading

Do you have an old Cell Phone gathering dust in some corner of the garage because you didn't want to throw it away after you upgraded but never could figure out what to do with it? Consider donating it to The Wireless Foundation's "Donate a Phone" programs: DONATE A PHONE program recycles used wireless phones… Continue reading

We have a favorite restaurant we go to most often; it's a diner-style place with really good food. The vegetables are fresh (not frozen); the steaks are as tender as in a "steak restaurant". The service is fun. And they do a terrific bowl of fruit. In fact, many times the question isn't "what do… Continue reading

Under "normal" circumstances, I wish I didn't dream much. It's not that I have "bad" dreams exactly. It's more that my dreams are so… busy! Very High Production Values to my dreams – lots of action, lots of people, crowded sets. Lots of COLOR. When I wake up from a dream I am tired. I… Continue reading

I was in the Post Office contract station today, at the shopping center near our house. I wasn't mailing my taxes; I do that electronically; but we'd been talking about taxes. A woman came in who said she'd been in the Millbrae PO earlier (Millbrae is the next town south of ours) and they were… Continue reading

It may be spring but the winter weather isn't behind us yet, at least not in beautiful Bay Area CA. We had an arctic storm blow in over night. It's raining pretty heavily now (heavily for here; this is no patch on central PA, Maryland, or the southeast USA). We did have some good thunderbooms… Continue reading

Rich received a summons a few weeks ago for Jury Duty. Today would have been the day he had to report. The good news is that he didn't have to go; he called the number last night and his presence was not required. That happened to me the last time I was "summoned"; I guess… Continue reading

I did my taxes yesterday (for anyone who does their own taxes, I can't recommend Turbo Tax more strongly. It took me from tears at tax time to almost painless many years ago and I have been a staunch and loyal customer ever since.) So anyway, doing my taxes, I wondered as I do each… Continue reading

Sometimes I can readily understand how the theory of spontaneous generation came into being. Recently, we have had ants on our kitchen counter – the tiny little brown ones. I don't know where they are coming from. The only time I see one is in the middle of the counter. Always one or perhaps two,… Continue reading

Is that a contradiction? It's been wet today; a big Alaskan storm front. Not cold though and the wind has temporarily abated. Actually, a very nice day. Just damp in spots. Continue reading