Round Heeled Shoes

I just started reading Jane Juska's book, "A Round-Heeled Woman". I think it came out a few years ago, and I wanted to read it then.

But, as you should know-if you read my blog, I always troll the Thrift stores for books that were bestsellers or new reads years ago...and I found her book the other day. It was at the Milpitas Goodwill, which is sorely lacking. In fact, the only good thing I found at the Milpitas Goodwill was a forest green cloth placemat (which I use for under the dog's water and food) and this book.

Anyway, Jane Juska is a retired teacher from Berkeley. She came to Berkeley by way of Ohio and keeps her small town prejudices, only upside down in the way that transplanted Californians do...in other words, she considers herself a liberal. A misguided liberal who thinks that all gays are good and victimized and brilliant and she congratulates herself on dating people outside of what she would consider her race...she congratulates herself for dating a Jew, for heaven's sake. Only a misguided liberal would consider prejudices and stereotyping good as long as they weren't the same stereotypes and prejudices of an anal retentive conservative....

But peeling through all of her baggage and warped thinking, is an interesting story. First of all, Jane Jaska fought fat and won. And that is to be congratulated. She lost a lot of weight.

Then, at the ripe old age of 60 something, she decides to have a sex life. And she writes about it!

She gives us all hope.

WTF?

I had a job interview today.

So exciting.

I told everyone!

"Hey, I might be employed soon!" I exclaimed to my mom. "I got a job interview and I think it's a good one!"

She sounded relieved. "Oh that's great!" she said. "What is the job for?"

I explained that it was for a travel agency, selling trips to school kids. It was commission but it had a base.

It sounded great.

The interview was on the phone.

It started off just fine. It was home based position (working from home! Yay!), with a company that had been around for years.

I let the guy interviewing me (let's call him Chad) drivel on about the company. I'd already done my research on the company so I just listened to him confirm what I already knew.

Then he went into specifics about the position. It was inside sales, it was from 8:30-5:30 with an hour break for lunch, then 2+ more hours at night. Then two to three times a night every week in addition, to work on paperwork, etc.,.

I'm not afraid of hard work but this would be non-stop phone sales which is hard core and only rewarding if the payoff is big.

The base salary was about 20,000/year. Eeeks. Not enough to live on in the bay area.

So, you'd think commission would be big, right?

Ha ha ha ha ha.

About $30,000 in commission.

But it gets better.

I wouldn't get any commission until September. OF 2011!!!!

Thats' right...no commission for 2 years.

But the company has a plan. So not to worry!

Chad explained that the company would generously allow me to borrow $1,000 per month from them for 2 years until I could pay them back with my commission!!!

When I sounded incredulous, Chad responded with, "What's wrong? You sound a little hesitant about this..."

I explained that I wasn't planning on going into debt for a job.

Not to worry. Chad explained that if I were a finalist, he would get back to me and I would have a second interview with someone else in the company. Wooo-hoo.

Richmond Rape

So, along with everyone else, I'm watching the news today and I hear about this 15 year old girl who was raped outside a homecoming dance at her school for 2 hours.

More than 20 people watched and some even took pictures!

But do you know what I find deeply disturbing, besides the above facts of this criminal activity?

The reaction of the district spokesman, a Mr. Trujillo, who I just watched on t.v.

He stated, "The dance was a success." His take was that because no one inside the dance was hurt (they were people who had just done the hurting), the dance was...a success! And wasn't the girl who was raped initially at the dance? I mean, c'mon! It's disgusting how the district is trying to distance themselves from the responsibility of what occurred.

What a moron. I know that school district is trying to mitigate their losses and distance themselves from their culpability with this rape. Too bad. Suck it up, school district. The rape happened outside your dance, with your students. At the very, very least, you'd think the district would have the good sense to NOT appear on t.v. and say their dance was a success.

Recent Purchases

While everyone under the sun is scrambling to buy a Kindle or ebook, I've scoured the Salvation Army for old books.

And I hit the motherlode!

I found "Little Women", hardback, copyright 1926 in good condition for $3.

A few of the other books I found (all were $3!!!)

• "Leave Her to Heaven" by Ben Ames Williams (publisher; Houghton Mifflin), copyright MCMXLIV (I love how it says, Printed in the United States of America)

• "Physical Education For Elementary Students" by Nelson and Van Hagen, copyright 1929. With pictures (they are hilarious) and in stellar condition. This is a good read.

And my personal favorite;

• "Why I Quit Going to Church" by Rupert Hughes, 2 copyrights...Copyright 1924 by The Cosmopolitan Magazine Co., Inc and Copyright 1925 by Rupert Hughes. The book starts off by describing how Puritans and Pilgrims attempted to sell children into slavery for not going to church....haven't read the whole book so I don't know if the author mentions pedophiles. But whoever owned this book took notes! There are crib notes all along the sides of the book!

Hallo'right

We went to the Sunnyvale Howl'oween Pet Parade and Faire today.

Now, that's what I'm talkin' about.

It was so much fun!

Tons of dogs dressed in costume. We even saw a Cockatee dressed as a witch. It was fantastic!

There were booths with cute costumes, great dog food samples, little doggie giveaways.

There was even a doggie winery, giving free wine tastings!

Love, Love, Love Sunnyvale's dog festival.

Reflections

So, I'm reading my most recent posts and, I have to say, they do seem a little...er...negative, to say the least.

So, I've decided to put a moratorium on the negativity. No more downers for me!

And in light of my new found ambitions, I am linking to the Happiness Project. This link includes tips on how to feel better...and I will attempt to follow through by obeying these cited tips...

From now on, I'll try to include a positive thought in every post!

So here's my positive energy for today!

Thank you, God, for Big H and Leelu! They are lying here next to me, totally relaxed and happy and I am so happy for my beautiful little family!

Dogs are the best.

'Nother Book Review

So, while I've been recovering from a) unemployment, b) depression, c) a lackluster social life d) swine flu e) a sinus infection and f) a lackluster love life...I've chosen to flavor said life with reading books....

The first book I attacked was...

"Are You There Vodka, It's Me, Chelsea" by Chelsea Handler.

I believe she appeared, years ago, in some show called "Girls Behaving Badly".

She's the East Coast version of Jenny McCarthy, having originated from New Jersey (God help her).

Somewhat funny, fairly gross, good looking and without a filter.

Her book wasn't bad.

I mean, I could've done without the midget chapter. It puts a new spin on prejudiced...or maybe just takes the old spin out for a new whirl...but in any case, I could identify with a few things Chelsea said in some of her chapters...namely...

1) the crazy ass men who somehow decide that us-women are dating them 'too seriously'! I mean, I, also, have the kind of family that Chelsea speaks of. Men of America, I don't introduce anyone I want to date seriously to my family! If you are introduced to my family, it's because I don't think you are marriage material and I want to scare you off! So get a clue!

2) I hate my sister too. 'Nuff said.

3) My dad wears his pants hanging down around his ass also. I think it's a generational thing and no, he is not a gangbanger.

4) Girls having parties to celebrate big bdays are best blown off...I've been to way too many depressing..."I just turned {30, 40, 50 u name it} and I'm alone and depressed so cheer me up" events and they are NO FUN. I definitely could relate to her Audrey chapter.

5) Why do men piss in their yards? I think they all do it. At least Chelsea points it out.

Anyway, this is, at times, a funny book. I'd read it again, but only if I could check it out from the library.

Hallo'wrong

Today was the day for the Petco Halloween Party.

I was so excited. I had Big H in his costume...as a cute, cute pumpkin. Leelu was a ladybug...so cute.

Petrina called and asked if Nicolette (her dog) could accompany us, since I'd told her about the big party days ago and asked her to come.

"Of course!" I said. I asked her if she wanted me to bring a costume for Nicolette.

Err, okay, she said. She wasn't too thrilled about the extra dog costume I had as it was a...lobster. But it was cute, so she agreed.

We arrived at Petco. Big H and Leelu were thrilled. Their costumes were darling. They had fun sniffing around the store.

Petrina pulled out a costume she'd bought for Nicolette. A pumpkin, like Big H's. But Nicolette's pumpkin costume was too big and didn't really fit her well. Petrina didn't want the lobster costume, so I offered up Leelu's bandana and they took pictures.

As the hour passed, it was time for the costume contest. I found out later that there was a first prize ($10 gift card), 2nd prize ($5 gift card) and 3rd prize ($5 gift card). There were only 5 dogs participating in the contest. If I hadn't asked Petrina to come, there would've only been 4 dogs, ensuring that either Big H or Leelu would've won a gift card.

Two other dogs arrived just in time for the contest (we were there 45 minutes before them). One was clearly the winner. The owner had dressed up in an adorable witch costume, with a matching costume for her dog.

The girl with the witch costume and matching dog in costume clearly won (and should've won) first place. She won a $10 gift card and dog treats.

Petrina broke down and dressed Nicolette in the lobster costume, thereby sealing second place. She won a $5 gift card and dog treats.

It was between a labradoodle (in a pumpkin costume not half as cute as Big H) and Big H and Leelu. The owner of the labradoodle said she wasn't participating.

"Oh come on!" said the Petco salespeople. "We are entering you in the contest!"

The labradoodle won third place and a $5 gift card with dog treats.

The staff passed me dog treats and said that was that.

I smiled and said we were good sports and had fun.

But I'm disgusted. Would it have been too much to give us a $5 gift card too? I mean, I brought 2 dogs in costume and a friend, supplying her dog with a costume.

Petco, you blew it. I'm shopping at Petsmart from now on. And if I ever end up purchasing that $150 pet stroller I was thinking about getting, I'm not getting it from Petco, that's for sure!

Relapse

Thought I was healed.

Today was not that great. I'm pretty congested and tired...again!

First, took Big H and Leelu for a long walk with Paulina and Petunia...went for a nice breakfast (under $10, so decided I could splurge).

Then I REFAXED all of my teaching materials to a potential employer. It was the third time.

Rewarded myself with a trip to TJ Maxx, where I bought....nothing! Yay!

I came home, called the p.e. (that's potential employer), found that the fax had gone through this time (it's about $20 at Kinko's everytime I fax something...I've already spent a good $60 on faxes the last 2 days).

Then I came home and realized I could not spend one more penny today. So...I went to the library! Yes! I checked out...

• Are You There, Vodka? It's Me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
• Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins by Richard Farson and Ralph Keyes
• Design and Launch an Online Gift Business in a Week by Entrepreneur Press and Cheryl Kimball
• Getting Hits-The Definitive Guide to Promoting Your Website by Don Sellers
• and 5 DVD's (Organizing with Julia Morgenstern, Feng Shui, Coupling, Prime Suspect and Lovejoy)

I think I'm going to start with the Vodka book because it's supposed to be funny. And God knows, I need to laugh.

• 
  

SwineFest Hasn't Bested Me!

I'm feeling better, life is great.

The Bay Area is in the middle of SwineFest, but I've just recovered from it and life is good.

Msnbc.com just posted an article about how people are using the Swine Flu as an excuse to get out of work. If only!

I'm finding a lack of emails and job postings...so I'm thinking that I might dust off that old rough draft and start writing.

There was a lovely article in our local paper about self publishing and how anyone can do it. A new startup called FastPencil allows writers to publish at a low cost (a single copy of 100pgs costs $10, and large commercial runs cost less). I"m thinking this might be something I could do!

H1N1 Part II

I scared.

On the heels of getting better (albeit slightly better, still hacking, coughing and totally exhausted), I just read about the damage that the Swine Flu can do to your lungs.

Yahoo! posted on article about it here.

So, from what I read, the only way lung damage can be detected is through a CT scan. Some of these scans, from what I've read, were done post-mortem!

In addition to having no medical insurance, which is stressing me out along with this prolonged unemployment, I now get to worry that untold damage is being done to my lungs...and, in the event that I survive this flu -it's week five, folks!- I get to worry about possibly fronting cash for medical care.

It's enough to make me sick. Or at least to make me take another hour long nap, which how I seem to be spending my days when not searching the Internet for more to worry about.

Eeeks.

Petco Costume Party

So, Petco is sponsoring a dog costume party on Saturday, October 24th and I'm considering going because...

...my dogs and I are attending all the dog events in the area, since they are a whole lot more fun than people events right now.

....my dogs have killer costumes.

...my dogs love other dogs (well, one does more than the other one, but she'll come around).

...it's an opportunity for me to have a picture of myself with the dogs. I mean, I have pictures of my dogs but I take the pics, so this will be a chance for me to be in the picture also (and I don't have to show it to anyone if it looks like I've got 40 lbs of face fat).

...it's a break from job hunting and I'm actually starting to feel a little bit better and more like being social.

...it's a chance to get out of the house.

...photos are $3.95, which isn't that bad.

...quote from the flyer, "...All participants get a FREE 1lb bag of Hill's Science Diet dog treats!" Uh. did someone say FREE? I'm all over that.

...if I dress up (very iffy, unless I can come up with something stupid and easy), my dogs and I could win a prize.

See you there!

Working Overseas

So, I'm considering taking a post overseas...or even in Canada or Mexico or something.

The pluses are;

1) Distance from...well, you know who you are
2) Out from under my mortgage (I'd sell or rent out the house)
3) A change of pace
4) Exposure to a different culture and new experiences
5) I'd feel like I was completely starting fresh

The negatives are;

1) Distance from Big G (but that could be a plus too)
2) I'd have a whole lot of coordinating to do
3) I'd have to really put together and market myself and I'm not feeling up to it
4) Trying to get back into the bay area, after leaving, is virtually impossible
5) I'd miss (some) of my friends but they all have lives and right now, I don't

Right now I'm looking at all the possibilities and this does seem possible...

B of A. Again.

So, you may remember my post about Bank of America the other day. You know, where I express my surprise that BofA might be in a financially precarious situation...seeing as the bank can afford to hire doormen.

Well, now I have just read a story on Yahoo! about how BofA is going to charge annual fees to their credit card customers who don't carry balances and are in good standing.

Namely, me.

I'm pissed.

Not only am I supposed to carry the burden of the partying scumbags who bought into ARM's, but now, I'm supposed to bail out BofA because the bank has made a series of stupid-ass decisions.

Screw you BofA. I'm canceling my card. And I'm going to start consolidating my accounts and transfering my balances over to other banks. Bail yourself out a-holes.

Four Weeks and Counting

I just finished week four of the flu.

It's in my lungs now.

So, I have to decide...do I continue to try and fight it. I am starting to feel better.

Or, do I man up and go in to a doctor or free clinic?

If I go to my doctor, it will cost me at least $100, maybe more.

If I go to a free clinic, by the time some doctor or intern or nurse practitioner or student sees me, I'll probably have picked up something else from all the sickees in the waiting room and it'll take hours. And they'll probably just send me home.

'Course, I'll probably pick up something in the waiting room from my $100+ doctor visit too.

So, I guess I'll just hope that I don't have pneumonia and continue to stay home.

At this point, I think people have stopped believing me when I say I'm sick. I mean, c'mon, I'm starting on week 5, for heaven's sake!

Columbus Day

Happy Columbus Day!

I have to say, it was about 4 p.m. before I figured out that it was a semi-holiday. I say semi because many people don't have it off--but enough people do that it was a little off today.

I figured out it was a holiday when I went out to the mailbox and tried, once again, to pick up the mail. Nothing was there.

"It must be a holiday," I glibly sang to my neighbor, who was walking by with his two year old daughter.

"Yes, it's Columbus Day, " he answered.

When I raised my eyebrows in surprise he added dryly, "...And the daycare is closed."

Other than that, I've had a pretty weird day. I'm still fighting this bitter flu and hacking cough. But I'm ohh-so-slowly getting better. My ears are getting a little, teeny bit less stuffed. My throat is a little, teeny bit less sore.

I'm still absolutely exhausted though.

Goodwill

There is a saying, "Beggars Can't Be Choosers."

It means that if you are getting something free, you can't afford to be picky. No, you should be grateful and thankful that you are getting something for free and express that to the giver.

But apparently, the people at Goodwill have never heard of this American expression. I say, American Expression, because the people at the dropoff of the Sunnyvale/Mt. View and Palo Alto Goodwill are clearly not Americans with very strong accents (and some not understanding or pretending not to understand English), so they may not have heard of this expression. That is the reason for this post. Perhaps if they read and learn about it, they will treat the people dropping off donations more kindly.

First, the Sunnyvale/Mt. View Goodwill on El Camino. The dropoff point usually has a few cars pulling up to drop off donations. I've seen older ladies pull up in their cars with donations.

The 'dude' that works there looks to be in great shape, in his mid forties, with a cowboy hat (but has an accent, so I'm thinking he's not a cowboy...he's certainly no gentleman). As they older ladies get out of their car to drop off their donations, he yells out to them,

"No, not there, bring it here!"

"Put it in that bin over there" he commands.

The older ladies toddle over to him, dragging their heavy bags. He just watches.

Thinking of that scene, which I've seen happen over and over again, I decided to donate my Ralph Lauren tops, italian shoes, library supplies, furniture organizers, jewelry, etc., to a different Goodwill.

In other words, I've got some nice stuff that was cluttering up the house! Liz Claiborne purses (never used) purchased last year, etc.,.

So I pull my car up to the Palo Alto Goodwill at 9:58 a.m. yesterday.

"We don't open until 10" yells a little man from the doorway (I'm guessing about 40 or 50 years old).

"I'm just dropping off, not buying," I said to him. I was a little confused because it was, as I said, friggin' 9:58 a.m. What? Was I supposed to wait 2 minutes before emptying out my car?

I got out of the car and started getting stuff. "It's a lot of clothes," I explained to him, in case he thought I was dropping off, I don't know...live animals, plants, mattresses, a used toilet...although, I don't know how he'd be thinking that since I drive a small car, similar to a Honda Civic.

I pull out two bags of really nice books and he yells at me, "NOT HERE! OVER THERE!"

I realize that he's pointing across the parking lot to a couple of huge bins.

My books are gorgeous...I used them in my classroom last year and they are really nice--I just didn't want to store them.

I trot across the parking lot, hauling my two huge bags of books that the asswipe from the Goodwill is refusing to help me with and dump them into the bins he is pointing to...a huge bin of...SHOES. Pissed off, I decide not to let the asswipe know that he has directed me to haul my bags of books to a bin of shoes and I go back across the parking lot to get the rest of my bags.

Pulling out two huge bags of jewelry, shoes, clothes, plastic organizing containers, I put them down in the spot next to all of the donations.

"NO! NO! NO!" At this point asswipe is jumping up and down.

"Clothes ova here!" he yells. I realize that he wants me to take out the clothes and trot back across the parking lot and figure out which bin shirts go in, which bin pants go in, etc.,

I'm a little bit pissed off.

I wanted to drop of my gently used, thoroughly sellable donations to the Goodwill in an attempt to reuse, recycle...when I could've just sold everything on Craigslist. Hell, if I'm supposed to sort through it all, I could've just taken a little extra time and sold it all myself!

"No." I said, disgusted with Mr. Lazy. "I am not resorting through this. It is not all clothes."

At this point I hopped into my car and left. Because Mr. Lazy Asswipe looked as though he was ready to attack me.

I will NEVER donate to the Goodwill again. Ridiculous.

Bank of America

Reading the news (or browsing it online), you hear about the problems of B of A.

Branches closing.

Poor financial decisions.

The buying out of other financial organizations at ginormous sums of money.

But not to worry!

As a Bank of America customer, I am here to assure you that Bank of America is rolling in dough.

In fact, B of A is doing so well that our local branch, here in Mountain View, is now hiring doormen.

That's right! You sail through the doors of B of A and are immediately accosted by a doorman in a suit.

"How can we help you!" he/she will insist.

"No, no, I'm fine" you state as you attempt to sideswipe the doorman and run to the line of 10 or so customers waiting for the two tellers.

And you wait and wait for a teller. A customer finishes up and you breathe a sigh of relief...only 9 more customers until you can access your account via teller.

But that is not the case. You see the teller has spied someone they know...

"Hey Joe!" shouts teller 1, "How's it going?" Joe hurries over to the teller from ACROSS the lobby, essentially cutting in front of everyone in line. Or he would be cutting in line, but he has no business to take care of with the teller. He just wants to talk!

9 customers look on as teller 1 carries on an in depth conversation about Joe's new shoes.

Teller No. 2 is especially patient with the Special Ed. student who doesn't understand how to use his ATM card and needs help figuring out what a PIN code means.

The doorman paces up and down the line, "What do ya need.." he demands. After ascertaining that no one in the line needs his help, he joins teller 1 and jokes with Joe about his shoes.

"Those sure are nice shoes," the Doorman says, "I bought a pair myself last week. They were $100 bucks but I really like 'em. Where'd you get yours?"

9 customers look on with disbelief.

Big H

I went in to my desktop on the computer and found a picture of Big H. He really is a cutie!

This is a picture that I took when we went to Carmel this summer.

Carmel has a leash-less beach and he loved it! I only wish we lived closer to Carmel so he and Leelu could run on it every day.

The great thing about Carmel is that the people there love dogs. You can bring your dog into shops, little outdoor areas in restaurants, even to some of the local hotels and B&B's.

Big H and I walked to Mission Ranch, also, bringing along a little lunch and a mini bottle of wine.

During the day, no one was there, and we sat out on the deck of the restaurant. The view was incredible. I wish I'd taken a picture.

We spent a couple hours there, by ourselves, with our lunch, just enjoying the views. I told myself it was one of those moments to capture in my heart, to remember and be thankful for.

Big H would wake up in the morning, when we were there, with his tail wagging.

Silver Wire Basket

So I was reading a blogpost from http://thriftedtreasure.blogspot.com/ and I saw that she found a wire basket, like the one I found awhile ago.

Mine came with a silver holder, maybe used to put a chafing dish in...

I put dried moss and plants in mine, so I wrote a comment on the Thrifted Treasure blog, saying that I would post what I had done on my blog...

So here it is!

I took a few pictures outside (the dogs wanted to be in the pics), then I decided to take a few pics indoors. Tons and tons of pics of my silver basket...Well it was fun taking the pictures and posting them anyway.

I love thrifting and doing fun things with finds....

Secrets of Life

So I think I've figured out, if not the Secrets of Life, the Secret of Recovering from Sickness and Job Loss.

You recover in increments. But you expect to recover in a big jolt.

So every morning I expect to wake up feeling completely healed. And I'm not. Just a little, wee bit better.

And every morning I log into my email expecting a job offer with a huge salary guarantee. And nothing. Not even a nibble. Not even an interview.

So I slowly start taking care of myself...I drink cups and cups of tea with ginger and honey and lemon. I sleep for hours and hours. I don't move off the couch except to take my babies on their walks.

I spend a small amount of time looking at job postings and decide to do informational interviewing instead of resume blasting.

I slowly, slowly declutter, when not adding to the clutter with Goodwill visits. I post to Freecycle in hopes of getting rid of junk, only to get no replies. I attempt to sell clothes on craigslist (which apparently everyone is doing) and I give clothes to a consignment store (not selling anything, although the consignment store is impressed with my good taste -& takes everything- which is no small feat in Sillycon Valley).

But most of all I try to heal. Slowly. In small increments. And I'm waiting for that big jolt of something special to move me into the big time. But I think the small increments might move you forward faster than waiting for that pie-in-the-sky lotto moment. But when the big step up happens, I'll be ready thanks to the small movements forward. Yeah.

Sick of Sickness

And so I begin week 3 of the virus that will not end.

This has gone on longer than any other flu I've had!

Every morning I wake up (after a futile nights sleep marked by non stop hacking, coughing and throwing up), and say, "This is it! This is the day that I wake up healthy, recovering from this monster of a virus that has gotten ahold of me!"

And every morning I realize that, no, actually I've embraced yet another symptom of the flu. Perhaps watery eyes, chest congestion, aches and pains--or total and complete exhaustion--or how about stomach aches, dizziness, sore throat, headache... A new and uglier monstrosity to endure.

I've actually discovered another pain alleviater (although nothing really seems to abate this infinite flu virus), other than Advil and Jakemans. I've discovered Trader Joe's Pepperment Tea (although here in the valley we call it 'Trader Jose').

And another one that really helps is regular tea (I like Trader Jose's Irish Breakfast Tea, myself) with mild and grated fresh ginger. Yum. It really soothes the tummy.

Well, it's 8:10 p.m. and that's my bedtime. Yup. This cold/flu/virus has knocked me on my ass to the extent that I go to bed at 8 pm and wake up at 9 am, only to beat myself up over my lack of productivity.

H1N1 Flu Virus

This cold/flu/sickness has hung on for 2 weeks. Friends assure me that it is the H1N1 Flu virus. I think it's just a really, really nasty bug.

I'm still sick today. Too sick to clean. Too sick to move off of the couch. Yesterday I went to a workshop and I paid for it today 'cuz I'm super exhausted, congested and dizzy.

Going to the doctor is really not an option. Since I don't have health insurance, I'm sure not paying $100 to be told to keep hydrated and rest.

The one medicine that I've road tested and love is Jakemans Throat & Chest in Honey and Lemon. I love it. It's better than regular lozenges because it loosens up my chest congestion as well as soothing my throat.

Yumm.

SPCA

I'm watching the news on Channel 7 (abc news-local) and I've just heard that the SPCA is having layoffs in San Francisco.

Please, please, adopt those dogs! If you are ever considering a dog, please go to a shelter.

Seriously, I've adopted two dogs from shelters and they are so great!

And, please don't support the puppy mills.

Not JUST because puppy mills are evil and shelters are doing a wonderful job caring for dogs that people have tossed aside.

BUT, from a purely selfish standpoint, shelter dogs have better temperments, are healthier and usually are more socialized.

And I've seen some dogs from puppy mills (breeders).

They tend to be neurotic, inbred, nervous and shaky. Even the larger dogs.

Please! Adopt from the shelters!

Olympics

Okay, call me a traitor but I totally get why the Olympic Committee selected Rio de Janeiro as the host city for the 2016 Olympics.

From what I understand the choices were Spain, Rio de Janeiro and Chicago.

I mean, Chicago? C'mon.

No offense, and I should disclose that I've never even been to Chicago.

But seriously. Imagine you are on the committee and from some boring old place like, oh I don't know, Iceland or something.

You are planning on attending the 2016 Olympics and you want to select a city that you'd like to visit.

Chicago? Cold, windy, busy. Maybe you could stop over, if you have time, and sit in on Oprah's show. Other than that, committee members probably visualize themselves hunched over a beer in a cozy pub.

So, it was no surprise to me that Chicago was dismissed early in the process.

Because, after picturing themselves slouched over a beer, committee members then imagined themselves running around Spain, trying to fit in a siesta. A little more appealing than the beer, but not that much more exciting.

Okay, then visualize yourself in Rio. Aside from the slums, Rio has done a pretty good job of marketing the city as a topless beach town with beautiful women and good food.

So, I think, the decision was a no-brainer. Really, Obama could've saved himself the trip out to the committee. I mean, c'mon, a vacation in Chicago versus a vacation in Rio? Please.