The New and the Old

The New:


I participated in a 700 mile bicycle race!!! Me! Yes, me!

Here's what happened:


Yesterday we drove about 3 miles in our car to the mall. We found a decent place to park. We walked to the finish line and waited for about an hour for the cyclists to zip on by. This was the Amgen Tour of California, similar to the Tour de France. Check last year's blog; this was similar to last year's race. The world-class cyclists rode came into town and rode three circuits around town, then completed stage 6 of the 7-stage race. Today, they took off for the end of the race. Whew, I'm tired.

These fans wait for hours, only to see the racers fly by for a second. There were lots of racers, but they zipped by so fast, that I only caught 1 1/2 cyclists on my camera!

The Old

I was looking in the cabinet under my sink for sunscreen, for my vacation. One thing led to another. I found multiple products that were probably 10-20 years old. I found an old Norelco Electric ladybug shaver. The date on the price tag said 4-1-77 and it was $15.96. I don't even remember using an electric shaver. Old nailpolish. Old body powder. Old creams and lotions. Old make-up remover. Etc, etc, etc.

However, two items cracked me up (I'm still smiling). Yes, you can all call me an old douche bag. For you youngin's, this is a picture of an ancient (the rubber or plastic had hardened over the years) douche bag and the little clipper-garter things for sanitary napkins. It's a Modess sanitary napkin belt. As you can imagine, I now have a lot more room under my sink.

I tearfully have to report...

that our lovely Surveysez has passed away. I feel such a void; I can't stop crying. I didn't know her in person, of course, but she was one of us. I posted on our other two websites and will share the comments with her daughter. I can't stop thinking about the blanket that Nookie put together for her. I'm glad that we did it. Anyway, not much else to share, just the tragic news about Surveysez. She put up a fight to the end.

L.A. Traffic

We always check the traffic reports and the traffic online before we go on the freeways. Here's today's report:


405 North at Mulholland Dr
Traffic Hazard
4:10 PM

Thomas Guide Map Coordinates: Page 591, Grid 1G

Purse Blocking Middle Lanes-Money Coming Out of Purse and Flying All Over Roadway-Reporting Party Believes People Are Stopping to

That's where it left off. What are people stopping to do?

In other news, the new TV is installed; I'm getting used to using a cable box, the HD channels, and the DVR. All 3 TV's in our house now work differently, with different remotes and different channels. Whew! All this brain usage will delay my senility by at least 10 years.

Happy Valentine's Day! I love you all. Well, I'm at least fond of some of you and I tolerate the rest of you. Just kidding...I love you all and appreciate your friendships.

A Somber Note; A Funny Note

I'm not a big football fan, but I did go to a Super Bowl party. During the 4th quarter, 3 of the women played rummy Q. In one game, I had only made one play, when my friend won the game. I won the next game. We did stop to watch the final touchdowns, though. I'm usually for the underdog, so I was fine with the final score. *shrug*

Now for the somber note. We heard Dr. Judea Pearl speak on Saturday night. He is the father of Daniel Pearl, slain Wall Street Journal reporter. Dr. Pearl was born in Tel Aviv, he has a Masters degree and PhD in physics. He is on the faculty of UCLA, as a professor of computer science and director of the Cognitive Systems Laboratory. He is known internationally for his contributions to artificial intelligence, and human reasoning.

He founded the Daniel Pearl Foundation (www.danielpearl.org) to continue Daniel's life work of dialogue and understanding and to address the root causes of his tragedy and to address terrorism. The foundation sponsors journalism fellowships aimed at promoting honest reporting and East-West understanding, organizes worldwide concerts that promote inter-cultural respect, and sponsonr public dialogues between Jews and Muslims to explore common ground and air grievances.

Judea Pearl and his wife are co-editors of an extraordinary book 'I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl." It provides a view of how Jews define themselves in the post 9/11 era. Jews from all walks of life write a short piece of what makes them a Jew.

Judea Pearl was an inspirational speaker. He says that Al Jazeera, the Arab news channel, reaches 80 million people a day. With its one-sided news, it is the greatest roadblock between the Muslim world and the western world. He relayed many insights that I hadn't really thought about. He took a tragedy, his son's death, and turned it into something positive to change the world. I really admire him.

The funny note:
check out this link:
http://americancomedynetwork.com/animation.html?bit_id=25239

It's a little Frank Sinatra discussing My Way, er, I mean, My Space.