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A Couple of Things…

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1. After a certain age, decisions should be made such as no more bacon, eliminate as much processed foods as possible, eat more veggies and fruits. And then I remember I’m a fan of the hot dog and my local Der Wienerschnitzel literally beckons me as it’s a mere .4 miles away (yeah, I google mapped it for accuracy). Then I quickly rationalize, “Eliminate as much processed foods as possible” could qualify as only once a month. Right? Love the mustard dog on a pretzel bun.

2. Speaking of dogs…I really try to restrain myself from waving to dogs (and cats) I see around town, whether it’s on a walk, in the car, hanging out, wherever. That being said, I still can’t help but nod when our eyes meet

angry woman reading text on mobile phone

3. May I please vent about texting? What happened to the art of conversing on one’s phone rather than tap tap tapping one’s message? I see the value in, “What time did we say?” Or “Are you up for lunch tomorrow?” If I can’t answer in five words or less, I’d prefer a phone call rather than a text.

Also…while we’re on the subject, WTF is up with group texts? I can tolerate 3-4 friends, but more than that and I’m out. Especially if some of those people are not in my contacts as that just might be by design! Every time someone responds, or acknowledges they saw someone’s text, my phone blows up with Ding! DING DING DING Ding! I try to delete, but the next time someone texts, it’s back! I think I’ve found a way to silence a group chat, but after while, the dings are back!

Am I the only one??? #PleaseDon’tSayItsSo

4. I saw a CNN article online last year reporting that a Whippet named Miuccia won Best in Show at Crufts, the world’s biggest dog show. While I thought, “Okay, Whippets are super adorable and worthy,” an ear worm developed almost instantly of Devo’s “Whip It” which lasted several days. Tell me if you have one too now #WhipItGood
See article and photo which is copyrighted: https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/10/uk/crufts-dog-show-miuccia-whippet-intl-scli-gbr/index.html

5. Women: Looking back, have you ever found a drunk man attractive? I’d ask the same thing of men, but in my experience, it doesn’t matter.

6. Have you ever had an argument with Alexa? #Yes

7. Taylor Andrews broached the subject about parents having a favorite child. (https://www.popsugar.com/family/do-parents-have-favorite-kid-44116603).
Of course that got me thinking, YEAH!! But then I only have the only, but I’m pretty sure even if I had ten more, she would forever be my favorite!

8. I think I would dance more often in public if people would stop posting videos on social media. Give it a break!!! #Seriously

9. Have I mentioned I once interviewed Joe Perry of Aerosmith? You’d think it would be about the band and I’d have to bring up how much I loved Rocks from 1976. But NO! The subject was his new line of hot sauce called “Joe Perry’s Rock Your World” sauces. I never would have guessed in a million years that is what rock stars do in-between tour schedules.

10. I still miss my father like the dickens! Check out those shoes! He loved his jazz and loved the crew at Squashed Grapes. He didn’t live long enough to see their new venue, The Grape, but he would have loved it!

11: Books I wish I would have thought of first:
* Anyone Can be Cool…but Awesome Takes Practice (Lorraine Peterson)
* Who Cares About Elderly People? (Pam Adams)
* I Was Told There’d Be Cake (Sloane Crosley)
* My Sister The Serial Killer (Oyinkan Braithwaite)
* The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things (Carolyn Mackler)
These are all real titles to real books! Of course I have no personal experience with any of these topics…except #3, and maybe #5.

12. From my favorite quotes file: “For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.”  – Eleanor Roosevelt

Thanks for listening!

A Couple of Things…

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  1. I’m going to just assume moving forward that photos of all beautiful people are either AI generated or airbrushed. #BetterForTheEgo

2. I changed Alexa’s voice from female to British male and ask him to give me a compliment.  He said I was sweet, like the corner piece of a brownie. #TrueStory

3. Who is a fan of the colonoscopy?  Everyone dreads them.  I dread the process leading up to it rather than the procedure itself. In fact, my last one, I was totally awake and watched the whole process on the monitor (I don’t think the anesthesiologist was checking on me).
In any case, I received a positive result from my Cologuard test and as a result I needed to do the dreaded colonoscopy. Now if I hadn’t done my routine every 10 year colonoscopy, then the precancerous polyps found, would most likely have evolved into cancer.  No telling how quickly, but still glad it was caught early. And just so you know, not all polpys are precancerous.  Some are beign, and some are cancer, and some have spread into the lining and to other parts of the body.

I guess what I’m trying to say is don’t put them off and …”Just do it.”

4. The biggest lesson the pandemic taught me is just how disgusting blowing out candles on one’s birthday cake really is. After spraying your spittle all over the icing, you then slice it up and serve it to others? This really needs to stop! Ew!!!

5. I still think about those first few months of the pandemic and following all the press conferences and being totally amazed about how closely the people behind the speaker where gathered, and how they all shared the same microphone.  WTF, right?
This one was held on March 11, 2020.

6. Fascinating fact. There are two items you can legally drop out of a car in California, according to the state’s vehicle code, 23114. A driver can technically spill clear water onto the roadway or feathers from birds; however, the law stipulates the birds have to be alive.

7. Great Blue Heron sightings take my breath away. I took this photo a quarter mile from where I live. It’s quite a thing when it becomes mating season. We use to have a dozen or so nests all in one tree two blocks away from the back of my house; they can be quite noisy. I’m sad to report the tree was cut down a few months ago after mating season ended. I will miss them dearly.

8. I found this image on Reddit of a nest here along Pierpont 2021:

9. As I get older, I’m a little surprised by how much I love birds. My dear friend Linda gifted me an owl release for my birthday this a few years back. Part of the package was being able to invited a few friends, so along with Linda, I brought Maggie and Steve & Sally Williams. It was one of those “I’ll-never-forget-this” moment.
Photo below with Kim from the Ojai Raptor Center.
This is a wonderful organization which rescues wild injured birds and rehabilitates them. Make a donation if you can: https://www.ojairaptorcenter.org/

10. Sticking with the bird theme for one more time…I am a huge fan of the Big Bear Lake Eagle Cam. If you haven’t checked it out, please do so! Jackie and Shadow have been nesting here for years and again this year they hatched two chicks who were recently named Sandy and Luna via a 3rd grade classroom competition. You can view via the official website: https://friendsofbigbearvalley.org/eagles/ or just click YouTube video below.

11. From my favorite quotes file:

“I don’t like country music, but I don’t mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means ‘put down’.”  – Bob Newhart

It’s been a hot minute since my last post. Hope to get back into the swing of posting more often.

Thanks for listening!

A Couple of Things…

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We made it to Italy!
(October 2021)

So…life happens and it’s been a few years since I posted a blog. I actually wrote this one a few years ago and never posted. So here you go…better late than never!!

While our 14 day trip to Italy was cut short by 3 days, those first 10 were the trip of a life time! Linda and I had been planing this trip for several years, we were suppose to be there the week after the pandemic shut everything down. So I didn’t hold my breath figuring it could all happen again. But after waiting nervously for our negative Covid-19 test results, having our ride at 5 am not show up to take us to the airport and narrowly almost missing our connection (yes, they paged us over the speaker in Atlanta, “Will Pam Baumgardner and Linda Lebrock please make your way to gate 20, your plane is getting ready to leave”), it wasn’t until wheels were up and we headed out over the Atlantic Ocean that I finally felt it was for real this time.

We landed in Venezia, make that Venice to you Americans, and took a water taxi to our hotel. As you may or may not know, there are no motorized vehicles on the streets of Venice. It’s water taxis, gondolas, any kind of boat really, bicycles, or walking. We did a lot of walking, you really can’t get lost when the City is an island. Turns out Venice was built on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. We crossed at least a dozen of them.

Sebastian our Gondola driver

The first night in Venezia we met up with John Chamberlain who made the trip specifically to see Linda, but it wasn’t long before we were steadfast friends as well. We had drinks, food, he treated us to a gondola ride, sang “Volare” and kept us in stitches most of our first two evenings in Italy. I love John! He and his partner moved to Italy earlier in the year so his Italian was far better than our ability to count to dieci (ten) or ask for wine, “per il vino.”
Right out of the gate he was ordering up Negronis which Linda partook (past tense of partake?) but I politely declined and embarked on what would be my introduction to really good red wines throughout our trip. Linda was quite taken with the Negronis so I gifted her a bottle of Campari for her birthday.

After three days in Venice of rooftop bars, pizzerias, churches, the Peggy Guggenheim museum, we were off to Florence via train.

(I did not take this photo of the Duomo)

Florence is a very large city. Lots of walking, with gorgeous views everywhere, amazing statues, centuries old buildings, and of course you’re in total awe the first time you come upon the Duomo (the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore). That being said, I must confess that our second night after having spent the day in Cinque Terra on a day tour, we got lost in Florence, and soon learned that apparently all roads lead to that fucking Duomo. We’d walk several blocks thinking we were heading back to our hotel, and bam! There it was AGAIN! We finally gave up and ended up taking a taxi back to the hotel totally exhausted.

But I have to say that one of the highlights, was our private tour when we saw the statue of David. Our tour guide was a sweet young art major whose enthusiasm was totally contagious. It really is quite remarkable.

By the way, on the day of our tour to Cinque Terre, it was pouring rain. My best investment I ever made was this damn plastic poncho. I figure I could use it in the future…yeah like it ever rains in California. But it kept me semi dry.

Our tour guide was Gabrielle who escorted us via train to all five towns, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Monterosso al Mare and Vernazza.

There were a couple of food facts I learned:
1. After three days, I no longer wanted pizza.
2. Not all bread is delicious.
3. I love Italian olive oil.
4. Chianti can actually be really really good.

The following day I took another day trip, left Linda behind to further investigate Florence, and I headed out to the leaning tower of Pisa, San Gimignano, Siena and Chianti stopping here and there to walk about, take pictures and stopping for lunch at Poggio ai Laghi. I teamed up with a couple of other single women and had wonderful time!

Then we left Florence and headed deeper into Tuscany where we stayed a few days at Villa Bordoni in Greve, Chianti Classico region. Our sweet little inn was an actual working kitchen where chefs came to learn.

The young man at the front desk gave us advice on how to spend the second day. he mapped out where to walk for lunch, and then the road which would take us to a wine tasting we had scheduled. I can’t emphasize enough how much I wanted to hurt him as we walked uphill, mile after mile. I can honestly say the thing that kept me going was how I would work out tripping him “accidentally” in the hallway. It seemed to us that we had walked so far, and so high, that the landscape was changing on us. we could have been delusional, but we did make it to our destination where a handsome young man, did a fabulous job of telling us about his vineyard, and winemaking, and olive oil, and as he’s serving us a platter of cheeses and just offhandedly mention his daughter has Covid while he walked out of the room. Linda and I jerked out heads at each other and we were, “What the Fuck!!” But there was nothing that could be done about it at that point, so we enjoyed our wine, ordered up some to be shipped home, and then made our way back to our inn.

We left via a private car to Arrezo where we stayed one night. We walked the streets, had a delightful dinner, and the next day we took the train to Rome.

We arrived at the station where I’m sure there were a number of young men ready to pickpocket. but we both were on to them. We stayed next to each other, making eye contact so they knew we weren’t easy targets. We took a cab to our hotel, left our bags in the room and ventured out to get a lay of the land. We walked, I shopped a little bit (boots and a new coat), and then made it back to our room…

…it was then that Linda got a call from her sister letting her know that their father had just passed away.

Of course it was an emotionally stressful time as we worked with our travel agent to get us back home as soon as possible. They got us booked for the first flight out the next morning. Everything was cancelled, our evening tour of the Coliseum where we were going to be able to walk around on the ground floor, and of course the Vatican and Sistine Chapel. Then I had a bright idea, I got us a cab and asked him to drive us around and show us Rome. Our driver was a sweetie and drove us around, let us jump out of the cab, take pictures, and he even ducked into a novelty store and bought us each mini statues of the fountain.

It was a bittersweet ending. But we had the most wonderful time while it lasted, and I know we’ll go back and pick up where we left off with Rome, and then head back to more small towns in Tuscany, because it kinda feels like home there.

A Couple of Things…

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  1. Take II – I was supposed to be in Italy mid March 2020 when the pandemic hit and closed everything down. A little over a year and a half later, we’re going to give it another try. Hopefully my next blog will be all about wine, cheese, and awesome photos.

  2. Not to get all threatening or anything, but those who post spoilers on social media will get unfollowed immediately. This happened recently with a movie just released the day before. The movie was still good, but would have been better had I not known the outcome. #Unfollowed

  3. In my opinion, the only bad french fry is a cold french fry.
  4. I love using the term, “Spitballing.”

  5. I feel weird saying “thank you” to Alexa, but I feel rude when I don’t.



  6. While looking through my spice cabinet recently, I realized the one stable item I’ve always had on hand since Sydney Rose was born was Ipecac. I picked it up probably for the first time ever to actually look at it and discovered it expired 2001.

  7. It hurts my heart whenever I hear one of my senior pups having what appears to be a nightmare while snoozing next to me. As they get older, I find myself doing what I did when Sydney Rose was a baby, I’d watch her sleep, and watch her chest rise and fall to ensure she was still breathing. 



  8. My heart hurts a little less after finding the senior pups had gotten into my toilet paper stash. #NoShame #NoRemorse

  9. When watching women on their weight loss journey, I can’t help but debate internally, is it better to lose weight and be healthy and look older, or is it better to have a little extra weight to enhance the softness and reduce the wrinkles and look younger? #VanityAtWork

  10. The phrase WTF is clearly warranted when one learns that President James Garfield (1831-1881) was not only ambidextrous, but he had the unique talent of simultaneously writing in Greek with one hand and in Latin with the other.



  11. One of the ways to manipulate Facebook is to just look up things you wouldn’t mind seeing ads about when scrolling through their news feed, just go to Google and other search engines and search for “learn how to cook” or “popcorn” or “kittens to adopt.”



  12. And staying with the topic of cats for a moment more, a headline I saw that made me laugh out loud: Cats Recognize their own names – even if they choose to Ignore them. https://getpocket.com/explore/item/cats-recognize-their-own-names-even-if-they-choose-to-ignore-them

  13. From my favorite quotes file: “To travel is to live” – Hans Christian Anderson

Thanks for listening!

A Couple of Things…

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Angel Devil Clipart1. This morning while going over my bank accounts, including the one I still have from my dad, I noticed something quite wrong, but in my favor.  While the Federal and State income tax refunds were correct, there was a third deposit. The IRS had direct deposited a stimulus payment to my dad’s bank account. Think of an angel on one shoulder and the devil on another.  I kid you not I had a check made out to the the IRS and in my neighborhood mailbox within the hour. #DontMessWithKarma

2. I freakin’ love Dave Grohl.  I bawl my eyes out every time I hear this #StayAtHome

3. In my last blog post, I listed the following ten jobs I’ve had, one of them was a lie:

1. Radio DJ
2. Editor-in-Chief National Magazine
3. Inspector Construction Management
4. Clothing Store Clerk
5. Newspaper Columnist
6. Webmaster
7. Bob’s Big Boy Waitress
8. Sandpaper Sales Rep
9. Private Investigator
10. Concert Photographer

I never worked as a clothing store clerk, though I did work at Music Plus as a seasonal worker during Christmas for a couple of years to make some extra cash for presents. I really learned to hate the alphabet as I mainly had to restock the merchandise…in alphabetical order.
I was surprised that a few people thought it was the P.I. job which has to be the most boring work in the world. You sit there for hours at a time waiting for your target to leave their home or work. The stupidest case was when a psychiatrist had us follow her boyfriend to prove he was cheating on her.  He was, but the kicker is that she was married.
Of course my favorite jobs had to do with music. My last full-time position in radio, I earned my Program Director stripes where we flipped an oldies radio station to alternative rock in the mid 90s.
All the other positions sort of speak for themselves, except maybe the sandpaper sales rep. After the radio station got sold and flipped to Spanish (I should have paid attention in class), I found a job through a temp agency and they hire me full time.  It was honest work, my boss was great, and I got paid to go to North Carolina for some training at Klingspor Abrasives. And no that’s not where I got my “abrasive” personality.

cereal boxes4. It’s been years since I’ve bought cereal, and correct me if I’m wrong, but the packaging is shrinking, right? Same price, smaller package.  #Capitalism #CheapBastards

 

Maroon 55. Awhile back, I posted this photo on Facebook as a Throwback Thursday pix with the boys in Maroon 5. I have to share the backstory: So we were launching a national music and entertainment publication called Buzzine Magazine and our launch party was at Deep in Hollywood.  It has since burnt down, I think it’s a parking lot now. Deep was located at the corner of Hollywood and Vine just down the street from Capital Records (Deep in Hollywood…get it?).  In fact, if you’ve ever seen Ocean’s Eleven, they film the card game where Rusty is teaching the Hollywood youngsters how to play poker there.  In any case, we had a step and repeat red carpet leading to the entrance with lots of paparazzi and young and upcoming stars who walked the carpet with myself (Editor-in-Chief ) and Aaron (Publisher) as a ways of getting in the magazine and gaining some publicity for themselves. These guys showed up and owned the red carpet and with a little nudging from the record company we did a small write up on this “up and coming” band, though no one knew who they were.

About a year later I’m looking at the issue with the photo and I went “Holy Moly! That’s Adam Levine and Maroon 5!”  Their record, Songs About Jane, was a huge hit once they released it a couple of months after our launch.  #WeHaven’tStayedInTouch

6. By the by, if you’re so inclined, do what you can and make a donation. #VCStrongDonate to FoodShare.com  or text VCStrong to 41444.

Donate to FoodShare

7. After reading this comic, henceforth, all my plants shall be named Robert. #WhatIsAndShouldAlwaysBe #RambleOn
Robert

8. I’m really enjoy working from home. I find I put in more hours, but I don’t mind. I don’t bill for them either. I really hope all businesses that can do so will learn from this experience and allow their employees to work remotely at least a few days a week. An office job should be based on production and not hours put in.

Mother's Day t shirt9. Mother’s Day was lovely enough. My daughter is still hundreds of miles away (682 to be exact) in Oregon but we got to video chat and yes, her gift did arrive in time!  I love you Sydney Rose!!

The rest of my day was spent relaxing, taking long leisurely walks with the senior pups and treating myself to some Chinese take out.

10. From my favorite quotes file, “What you do makes a difference. And you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” – Jane Goodall

Thanks for listening!

A Couple of Things…

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1. The senior pups I adopted last summer are an endless source of entertainment. Both dogs have foggy looking eyes in certain light, but Barney seems to have worst sight and has tumbled off curbs and this morning next to the gate, stood and faced the fence waiting for me to open it as Missy and myself stepped through the gate next to him.  Sad, but honestly, a little funny too.  #BadMom

Barnie Baumgardner

2. That being said, I do carry Barney down the stairs as he has previously stumbled down several steps at a time, because not only is he slightly blind, but he’s extremely bow-legged. I carry him much more than Missy, and I have turned him into such the momma’s boy!

3. Random nick names for the dogs include, Barnasourus (a lesser known creature from the Mesozoic era), and Missylaneous (because she’s a little of everything, a busy-body, a snuggle bug, and Barney’s face cleaning machine).

Yeah, I know, I’ve become one of “those” dog owners.  #DontCare #CrazyDogLover

snaggle tooth dog4. I can’t help but think of a baby sloth when I’m holding Missy.  She also makes little gurgling sounds sort of like a small pig and she has a snaggle tooth which juts out when she’s really comfortable. #FreakinAdorable #SnoresWhenSheSleeps

cat lounging5. Molly is none too happy with the senior pups. I have to speculate they would have been best friends if she hadn’t been such a snip when they arrived.  #MeanCat

6. Our first Halloween was quite fun dressing Missy as a folk singer. Not only did her picture make the local paper in the Ventura Breeze, but we won honorable mention at City Hall’s photo contest. I’ll get Barney next time. #WorthHerWeightInGold #MissyBaumgardner

7. After I first got the senior pups, I would give them baths myself, but then I had them “professionally groomed.”  I’m going to wait for it to warm up again before their next visit.  Can you believe they’re 12 and 11 years old?  #LookWayYounger

8. It couldn’t be helped, I started an Instagram account: AdoptedSeniorDogs.  Follow us!!

watching tv

9. Watching the Big Bang Theory with me.

dogs on lap10.  I can only extend my arms so far, but this is how I must now work at my computer. #TwoDogsOneLap #ReallyDontMind #SeniorDogLife

dogs wearing raincoats11.  I found out after the first shower, the senior dogs don’t do rain; but they actually like their raincoats and will wear them when it’s cold outside. #HighMaintenance

12. Home movies:  I call this one, “Couch Time with Missy and Barney.”

12. These two are extremely close. There is speculation that Missy is Barney’s mom (apparently mated with Maltese), as their white patches are exactly the same though he’s obviously tan and she gray.  Their foster mom thought Missy might have been a puppy mill mom as she wasn’t fixed when she was surrendered. Missy is always grooming Barney and cleaning his ears and he’s content to let her do so.  They’re always by each other’s side when I return home and are never more than a few feet away from each other when I’m there.
I’m trying not to think how one will do without the other when the inevitable happens, but I’ll be there to comfort and care for them when it does.

From my favorite quotes file: “I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me, they are the role model for being alive.” – Gilda Radner