LIVE FROM NEW YORK, IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT!

Is anyone else somewhat baffled that Saturday Night Live is still on the air? I don't know if I'm just getting too old or SNL has become too political or it's just not as funny anymore. Now days I watch the entire 90 minute show and maybe chuckle once or twice if I'm lucky. And, geez, half the show is taken up by the opening credits to introduce the 20 or so contributing cast members.

At the risk of sounding every bit of my 70 years old, I sure did like it a whole lot better in the good, old days. Saturday Night Live debuted in 1975 - I was all of 25 years old and my son wouldn't be born for another year. The original cast was dubbed "The Not Ready for Prime Time Players" and consisted of John Belushi, Jane Curtain, Gilda Radner, Dan Ackroyd, Garret Morris and Chevy Chase. Just six of them did the entire show and it was really funny.

Chevy Chase left after one year but his pratfalls were legendary. He was followed by Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy and later on, by Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, Amy Poehler and many others. My research shows that SNL had 156 different cast members over the 45 years of its existence!

Those first six "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" are still the ones who I remember the best. Who can forget Gilda Radner's Roseanne Roseanna Danna's long winded rants about something or other only to find out at the end that she was mistaken or had misunderstood, and simply said, "Never mind."

Being a sports fan, I loved Garret Morris as Chico Esquela, a fictional baseball player from the Dominican Republic, in his interviews as he reiterated, "Baseball been berry, berry good to me." Who didn't love John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd as The Blues Brothers?

John Belushi had some of the craziest and most memorable characters during his short stint on SNL. The Samurai was a good one, but I think my favorite was the Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger sketch that made no real sense but it sure made you laugh. No Coke, Pepsi. No fries, cheeps (chips). If you're too young and think I'm nuts about now, it's on YouTube. Lou and I went to the diner it was modeled after in Chicago on one of our trips - back when we could actually travel places.

Some other memorable characters were Father Guido Sarducci, Baba Wawa and of course, Mr. Bill. There is a special place in my heart for Mr. Bill. He was a little clay clown figurine who was a parody of children's shows of yester year. But this guy always got squished some way or another.

SNL was on at 11:30 PM and I always stayed up to watch it. That was my little bit of me time by myself. One night, Darrin was probably 4 years old, and he couldn't sleep. I brought him in with me and we snuggled on the couch under the afghan to watch Saturday Night Live. When "The Mr. Bill Show" came on the little guy was flattened and as he yelled, "Ooohhhh, Noooooo!", Darrin started giggling. He could not stop laughing which got me laughing. My son and I were laughing uncontrollably for several minutes. What memories!

I loved Eddie Murphy's "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood" sketches that put a bit of  criminal twist on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. I heard years later that Fred Rogers actually got a kick out of those bits. Eddie Murphy's take on Buckwheat as a grown up version of the Our Gang character with a speech impediment struck my funny bone, too. Although I'm guessing it is too politically incorrect for this day and age. Buckwheat became the most popular character on SNL at the time and was "killed off" a couple years later when Eddie Murphy was tired of always having to do Buckwheat.

Hopefully, many of you will remember these iconic SNL characters and sketches from days gone by. What are some of your favorites? Hard to believe that show has been around for 45 years! With YouTube it will tickle your fancy to relive all of these classic SNL sketches.

DEALING WITH COVID-19

It has now been over six months since we have been quarantining, locked down, sheltering in place OR whatever it is currently being called. Fortunately, some of the restrictions are being lifted and we are becoming used to the ever present face mask when leaving our house or car, the constant hand sanitizing and "social distancing". I wish they would have called it "physical distancing" so we could still feel that we were being social with other humans just doing it six feet apart.

My intentions were to do lots of writing and lots of blog posts but somehow laying on the couch watching Netflix or reading numerous books became far more time consuming than I intended. Tonight, after watching the 49ers win, the Giants lose (and be eliminated from the baseball playoffs) as well as a NASCAR race, I decided to make myself sit down here and start writing.

There are a bunch of things I want to comment on about these past months of dealing with unprecedented upheaval in our country - the Covid 19 pandemic, the racial unrest and the current political fiasco - BUT that can wait, first, there is something more important that I want to share and offer some unsolicited but essential advice.

Last month Lou's sister, Judy, passed away after 40 days in the hospital, most of them in the ICU on a ventilator. Judy was 70 years old and had been in poor health for years with many serious medical conditions. Back in the middle of July she was admitted to the ER with difficulty breathing. A test showed she had the Covid 19 virus. Judy rarely left her house. A person who cared for her dogs and helped her around the house also tested positive and likely infected Judy. He has since recovered.

No one could visit Judy during her time in the ICU. When the decision was finally made to stop attempting treatment and "let her go peacefully" Lou was finally able to receive special permission to visit. He called his father and sister then held the phone up to Judy's ear so they could talk to her. She was unresponsive but he was able to sit with her, hold her hand and talk to her during the final hours of her life.

My first piece of advice is take this seriously and be very careful who you let into your inner circle of friends and family. Secondly, every single one of us - old, young, healthy or sick -  EVERYONE, needs to make preparations in case the worse happens. I know it is not something any of us want to consider but, please, if you cherish your spouse, children, parents, siblings and friends, suck it up and get your affairs in order.

If you have a large or complicated estate, pay an attorney to set up a trust for you. This is the best way to avoid probate. Discuss it with your heirs and anyone who will be involved. In my case I don't have a lot but what I have goes to my only son and granddaughter. In California and many other states, a handwritten or holographic will, is completely legal and acceptable. Look up the requirements online and do it. A holographic will won't escape probate unless the estate is less than $150,000 in California.

Check your savings accounts and brokerage accounts to determine if they offer a "Transfer on Death" clause. This allows you to designate a beneficiary who will automatically receive these funds upon your death without going through probate. 

Decide who you want to be your "executor" (this can just be a verbal agreement) and make sure they are totally informed as to your wishes regarding life support, cremation or burial. Put all of this in writing. Most hospitals have an "Advance Directive" form you can fill out with all your healthcare wishes. You can indicate your wishes and designate a person to make decisions for you if you can't. Make sure this is on file with the hospital prior to any surgeries.

A Power of Attorney is extremely important. While Lou's sister was alive in the hospital and unable to make decisions, Lou, his sister and their dad's hands were tied since there was no Power of Attorney or Advance Directive.

Choose your executor (in my case it is my son) and make sure they have copies of everything - your will, your Advance Directive, your Power of Attorney, your financial information including online user names and passwords for all accounts - also make copies for your own files and clearly mark them.

Most of us use email or Facebook to communicate now days so give your executor a list of email friends who you want contacted if you are incapacitated or worse. Anything that you deem pertinent should be discussed and written out for your executor.

It is easy to say, I'm fine, I'm careful and put this off. Please, don't. I have seen the nightmare that Lou, his sister and their 96 year old father have gone through trying to figure all of this out when nothing was written down or easy to figure out. It took a lot of people helping to piece things together and hours of searching through boxes and boxes of papers for the past month to sort of get a handle of what has to be done. They haven't even had a chance to grieve their sister and daughter because they have been so preoccupied trying to determine everything that needs to be done.

My goal here is to get everyone thinking about preparing for the end of your life and to make it as easy as possible for your loved ones to sort it all out. After all, as much as we'd like to believe we may be the exception, no one makes it out of this life alive. If you want more information go to Amazon and search for "end of life planners", a ton of books and guides come up. 

Wear the damn mask, wash your hands and stay away from crowds.

And, please, please vote in November! We need some sanity back in our lives.

LISTEN AND LEARN

With the killing of George Floyd & the ensuing protests following the unprecedented (in our lifetimes) Covid-19 pandemic, there is much work to be done by everyone, especially white people. It is time that we stop, listen & learn from what our black brothers & sisters are emphatically telling us.

I don't pay much attention to the sensationalized news stories which are splashed across our TV screens. I am encouraged that my favorite white TV personalities are giving so many intelligent, capable black leaders extended time to discuss not only what is wrong with our country but to offer answers & solutions.

First of all, we have to understand that "white privilege" is real. The huge majority of white people haven't personally done anything to cause it. Rather by virtue of the fact that we are treated differently than black people simply because of our race is something that has been going on in the United States since its inception. The common cry this time is that we need to do something to stop it. I certainly haven't wanted to believe it but I am learning to accept that racism is still, STILL, a major problem in our country centuries later.

I've been watching Jimmy Fallon this week who did an informative show from home this past Monday talking to Derrick Johnson, president & CEO of the NAACP, and Don Lemon of CNN. Jimmy Fallon had been advised to simply ignore the recent controversy over a blackface skit on Saturday Night Live twenty years ago that resurfaced & just let it die down. Then the killing of George Floyd happened with all the riots & Fallon made the decision to not listen to that advice. He instead made a heartfelt apology & gave the floor to Johnson who praised him for not staying quiet & shared some good thoughts & insights. Including that we all need to continue the conversations & listen to each other.

Ellen deGeneres has been doing her show from  home & has spent all week discussing the issues with influential black people. Notably Keisha Lance Bottoms, mayor of Atlanta, & Val Demmings, Florida congresswoman, gave impassioned pleas for change. Both Fallon & deGeneres have stressed that white people need to change & be instrumental in demanding that our government needs to change.

Several black leaders have addressed the fact that everyone, black & white, needs to be able to make a mistake & not be crucified for that error. We are all human, we will make mistakes. But the goal is to learn from that mistake, make changes & move forward. In the meantime, let's be kinder to each other & allow them to falter. But let's also then listen to each other then show some empathy & respect toward our fellow Americans. We are all going to say or do the wrong thing sometimes.

This past week, our longtime Sacramento Kings announcer made a social media gaffe which cost him his job. He replied that "All Lives Matter" to a post of "Black Lives Matter" by a former player. Being the mother of a 44 year old white male, I didn't see the problem of that statement since my son's life matters just as much. BUT I learned a different perspective on those statements over the past few days . My son explained that if you say, "Save the Whales" & someone responds "Save All Sea Creatures", the message is yes, that is true, but right now, the whales need more help from us. It isn't an either/or statement.

Yesterday I saw photos of a young black girl holding a sign that read, "We Didn't Say ONLY Black Lives Matter." I get it now. Thanks for the education. Black Lives Matter.

Listening to an array of black leaders this past week, it is clear that no one is endorsing the rioting & looting & violence against others. I believe those people are a tiny minority who just want to destroy property, steal & cause mayhem. The huge majority of people are trying to continue the peaceful protests of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They made huge strides back in the 1960s & now it is time to make huge strides again. This time with ALL white people & ALL black people working together.

So what can we do? Derrick Johnson of the NAACP suggested that every white person make a new black friend. Then talk & listen to each other. That is excellent advice. Once the Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, I intend to do that. We can work in our own communities to change the laws governing the police. I still believe that the huge majority of police officers want to make our cities safer without using unnecessary violence. 

The common thread that I've heard from black leaders is for white people to truly listen, with an open mind, to what the black experience is in our country. Years ago I saw a former NFL wide receiver on TV. He was tall, extremely handsome, well-groomed & well-spoken. He lives in a nice part of town & drives a Mercedes. He said, "Not a week goes by that I don't pass a white woman on the street that she doesn't take her purse & hug it close to her body." I don't know the answer to stop this behavior but I know that we have to listen, accept our different experiences & unite as a country of concerned Americans who want to make this nation strong & welcoming for every citizen!

I will close with another common theme during this past week expressed by every one of the people I mentioned. We have no leadership in our country. Our president is a narcissist who is incapable of bringing this country together. WE MUST, WE MUST go to the polls (or mail in our ballots) & vote this man out of office. I could resort to all kinds of denigration & name calling but he isn't worth the effort. Instead let me leave you with a few quotes regarding Trump's leadership:

"We have a president who isn't capable of performing the job & doesn't understand the job. He doesn't talk like a leader, he talks like a dictator," Kamala Harris, U.S. Senator.

"America is a tinderbox & his tongue is a match," Keisha Lance Bottoms, Atlanta mayor.

"He is a dictator in waiting & a threat to democracy. He is dangerous," Val Demmings, Florida congresswoman.

"His approval rating is plummeting. He can go for 100% disapproval & take credit for uniting the country," Jimmy Fallon. Just because we still need to laugh or we will be crying.

If you want to listen to any of these interviews they can be seen on YouTube. Search for the name & the show on which they appeared. Example: "Kamala Harris on Jimmy Fallon" or "Val Demmings on Ellen".

GARBAGE MEN

The chore of household garbage collection is one thing that has really evolved over the years. Today is garbage pick up day in Sun City. All of the large plastic receptacles with wheels & flip lids are placed by the curb the night before. As I walked this morning I studied the current process that rids us of our weekly garbage & recyclables.

Most cities now have one man who drives a huge truck & only gets out if one of the bins isn't placed correctly. He drives up beside the container pushes a button that extends a big grabber arm around the can. Another button clamps it around the container. I'm guessing there is a lever that raises the can around ten feet in the air dumping it over the top & into his truck. The now empty can is then lowered to its position along the street. The driver moves forward a few feet to the next bin repeating the process. And he nods & waves hello to me as we pass each other.

It intrigues me how my morning walks get my mind thinking about all sorts of things. As I watched this simple garbage collection process, I was reminded of how it used to be in the "old days". Back when I was a child - shit, that was 60 years ago - there was a whole different way of performing this necessary chore.

Our garbage cans were smaller metal ones with a round detachable lid with a handle in the middle. It made a great shield for our sword fights with tree branches. Or if we commandeered our neighbors, they were terrific cymbals! About then a mother would appear telling us to put that back. The cans were all outside of the back gate accessible from the street.

On garbage day, a truck would proceed down the street. Well muscled men in dirty T-shirts & jeans would wheel a larger receptacle up to each house's garbage can, lift it & dump it into the larger can. I think the big ones held around four houses worth of weekly garbage. The garbage man rolled the full can to the truck & hefted it into the back.

When all three or four men had emptied their big cans they hopped onto the back of the truck rolling the big cans along as the driver moved the truck down the street about a block or so. They jumped off & repeated the process. I'm sure those guys were in much better shape just doing their jobs than most people. And they saved any gym fees since I'm sure their time off was spent relaxing with such a physical job. My understanding was that they were paid pretty well, rightly so, for what was manual labor work.

I think the dogs in the neighborhood looked forward to garbage day more than anything. The gates were made with slats allowing for some vision through the gate. On garbage day my mother would let the dog out just before the men arrived to "steal" our garbage. The dog went crazy, barking & jumping at them as they walked up & emptied the garbage can just on the other side of the gate. I think the dogs all knew they were totally safe but could act like big, brave watch dogs protecting their property as the workers calmly did their job.

As I walked around Sun City this morning, I had this post about three-quarters of the way "written" in my head. But the trouble is that my brain doesn't retain things even close to what it used to. It occurred to me that I needed one of those little mini tape recorders people had years ago that you could carry in your pocket & just push a button to speak a reminder that was recorded. I'm guessing there is probably an app for that now days. But not having one of those, or the app (if there is one), I just kept going over it in my mind until I returned to my car. Then I grabbed a pen & scribbled notes on the back of a receipt that I found in my purse.

It was a fun trip down memory lane as I walked along thinking about how the art of garbage collection has improved over the years. And it seems that the workers must be happier since I haven't heard of a garbage strike in many years - thank goodness. I can't imagine how awful those times must have been when garbage piled up in the streets for weeks. Yuck!

But enough of all that garbage - ha, ha, pun intended. I hope you are all still hanging in there with this unprecedented quarantine & disruption of "normal" life that the Covid-19 has caused. My next post will be on some random thoughts of our continuing country-wide lockdown. Stay safe & keep your spirits up.

TALES OF CORONAVIRUS QUARANTINE

Like most of you my days are far from exciting during this time of quarantine, lockdown, shelter-in-place, whatever you prefer to call it. My daily walk & the occasional trip to the grocery store (which usually doesn't have key items that I need) have been the highlights of my existence. No, that's not true, my FaceTime with my granddaughter & phone calls with my family & friends are the real highlights.

But there have been a few times in these past weeks that something out of the ordinary has made my day! Since I refuse to hoard it & I refuse to get up at 6 AM to stand in line with other seniors to buy toilet paper, our supply was getting a little low. Last week my sister called sounding somewhat excited. "Guess what I have? Toilet paper!" she answered her own question. She had been to Costco & offered to split the huge pack with me if I met her in Galt that afternoon.

Woo Hoo!! A forty mile road trip outing! Now, that was exciting for sure. It seemed strange being on the road longer than a few miles for my walk or grocery outings. I arrived first at our agreed upon location, the McDonald's parking lot. While waiting I observed a woman waiting in her car a few spaces away. Soon a man appeared, they hugged & kissed before getting in her car & leaving. Oooh, was it an illicit rendezvous? Then I watched a couple of old men wolf down their hamburgers in their trucks before my sister arrived.

We kept our distance as I handed her the folded up money & we loaded the toilet paper into my trunk. She said, "We had better be careful we don't get robbed with all this toilet paper." I was going to offer to buy us each a coffee in the drive through but was already starting to feel the call of nature. And, you know what? There is no where to use the bathroom with fast food lobbies & convenience stores closing their facilities. But I made it home in time AND I breezed through a section of the Capitol City Freeway that ALWAYS backs up without even slowing down at 3:30 PM!

A few days later we visited Lou's dad & ordered IHOP for brunch with free delivery & a discount to boot. That reminds me of the bad joke - "Where did the one-legged waitress work? Answer: IHOP". Anyway, it took us longer to order the meals (especially with a slow internet connection) than it did for them to deliver it. There was no human contact. It was left on the porch, the bell rang & we waved to the delivery person. The order was all correct & it was kind of hot. But, hey, that's what microwaves are for. Right?

I was hell bent on using my $10 Kohl's cash before it expired along with my $5 reward but the stores are closed. I ordered two tops online but they wanted to charge me $9 for shipping. No way! Then I saw that our Kohl's had an order online & pick up at the store option. I received an email with instructions - pull up in front of the store, call this number, do not get out of your car or open your window, pop your trunk & the associate would put your items in the trunk. It sounded like a real clandestine operation. It all worked fine & I got my two tops for $2.47...SCORE!

Lou has been making model airplanes to help pass the time in quarantine. He wanted to try airbrushing someday so I bought him one for his birthday & gave it to him early. Of course, all his models & paints had to be ordered online since no hobby stores are open. Today his acrylic paints arrived & he was ready to begin experimenting with his airbrush. The first thing he says is, "Do we have any distilled water?" Apparently, it is needed to thin the paint & we didn't have any. I grabbed my phone thinking it can't be that hard to make distilled water.

It isn't! After a couple of tweaks, I figured out how to do it. You put a pan of about an inch of water on the stove with an empty bowl in the center above the water level. Put the lid on upside down so the condensed (distilled) water collects on the lid & rolls to the middle where it drips into the bowl. To increase the steam condensation put a few ice cubes on top of the lid. Within about 15 minutes I had a couple tablespoons of distilled water for my sweetie. Ta-dah!

So, there you have it - a trip to Galt to pick up toilet paper, a delivered IHOP meal, a Kohl's bargain & learning how to make distilled water - were the most exciting events in my week. Who knows what next week will bring? More Netflix, more reading, more FaceTiming, more phone calls, more walks - definitely. And maybe if all that gets too boring, I'll actually clean some closets & organize some cupboards. Or maybe not. We'll see.

WHAT I LEARNED......

Here I sit typing a few days before I turn 70 years old. Seventy.....how the hell did that happen? Inside there are still parts of a 20 year old, 30 year old, 50 year old, even 60 year old wondering where in God's name did the time go? Sometimes I feel every bit of my 70 years on this earth but other times, I think, oh, I'm only 40, right?

It has me feeling introspective & reflective on this life that I've lived as I get ready to start my eighth decade on this planet. Once again I have to repeat that - eighth decade! What the fuck? There is no other way I can convey my opinion on that fact. As an aside it should be noted that neither my father or mother ever swore around the house when we were kids, barely a hell or damn. BUT both my sister & I can rival most longshoreman when it comes to "speaking French". When some old man says "pardon my French", I always reply, "No problem, I speak French fluently." It has always come naturally to me & sure gets a hell of a lot of frustration out.

I taught my son from the time he was a child that it's okay to swear as long as it is warranted & you don't do it around people who are offended. He & I have quite colorful conversations when things just need to be expressed. So, my conclusion is that swearing as an adult has nothing to do with your upbringing. My parents never swore around me & I swear. We always swore around Darrin & he swears. But  I digress.....back to my thoughts on turning 70 & all those years past.

What I learned......

In my 20s:  I don't think most of us learn a lot in our 20s. We are too busy trying to figure out who we are especially if you get married at 19 before you have a chance to grow up. But the BEST thing that ever happened to me was in my 20s. At age 26 I gave birth to my only child, Darrin Allen Silver. It was the single biggest event in my life. I learned that I was not the most important person in my universe.

In my 30s:  I discovered that being a full time mom was the great passion of my life. I loved every minute of being a mom & threw myself into that endeavor one hundred percent. Unfortunately, having my mother for a role model taught me only what NOT to do when raising my son. However, I trusted myself & carved out my own nonconventional way of doing things. But that's a whole other blog post. I am extremely proud of the person I raised & pretty damn proud of myself for doing it all my way, just like Frankie sang.

In my 40s:  I came to the realization that although I loved devoting my life to Darrin & my husband & wouldn't change a single thing, I had no idea who Kathy was as a woman. What did I like? What things did I want to do? Everything had revolved around my son & my husband. I liked what they liked. I did what they did. Who was I? In that decade between ages 30 & 40 I lost all four of my grandparents & my mother which had a profound effect on me. My son was fast approaching adulthood & it was time to figure out who the fuck Kathy was.

In my 50s:  In my early 50s I did just that. I was now divorced from a good husband who just wasn't the right one for me. I discovered that I enjoyed my own company. I also discovered a new love with a man who shared my desire to travel & photograph the world. We had the means to explore the world & have done just that for the past 18 years. Neither of us has any desire to get married. Being a product of the 1960s, it may be a bit of the rebel in me who relishes "living in sin". But mostly it just seems that we like being together because we choose to be, not because we are bound by a contract. I realized that my soul connections - soul mate, soul relatives, soul friends - are what give my life meaning, my life blood.

In my 60s:  The most amazing thing happened to me! I became a grandmother (AKA Gaga) to Charley Ellen Silver. From the moment I gazed into those piercing blue eyes as she grabbed onto my finger when she was only a couple hours old, I fell into the purest love I've ever known. There is indeed something magical about being a grandma. My Charley made my life complete.

Lou & I are continuing our travel or trying to anyway. We should be recovering from jet lag after our trip to Italy but thanks to the coronavirus we aren't. Our trip was cancelled by the tour company but there will be more. I still cherish being a mom to an almost 44 year old son & treasure every minute with my 8 year old granddaughter. The man I fell in love with almost 19 years ago will become a full-fledged senior citizen, too, turning 65 a few weeks after I turn 70 & we are still happily unmarried seeking the next adventure. Life is good!

CORONAVIRUS STRIKES!

No, we don't have it & no one we know has it. But our trip to Italy has become a victim of the coronavirus pandemic or epidemic or any other kind of "demic". Right now, we should have been ending our first day in Rome after an evening orientation tour, but instead I am sitting home typing this post.

After several days of our pre-travel routine, our bags were packed & downstairs by the door ready to load into the car for the 2-1/2 hour drive to San Francisco airport at 6:45 AM. With all the hoopla surrounding the coronavirus outbreak in China & the subsequent cases in northern Italy, we were following it closely. After much research, calls to Trafalgar & emails with our tour director in Italy on the tour previous to ours, we made the decision that we were going on our 13 day adventure throughout Italy! Virus be damned!

Neither of us were (or are) scared of the virus. All reports are that it is no worse than a mild cold in the majority of cases. Those who have died are almost all people with major health issues or compromised immune systems. Both Lou & I agree with Dr. Oz's statement, "You can't sacrifice life because of fear." We use caution but we won't let terrorists or health scares deter us from seeing the world. Another one of my favorite sayings is "The purpose of life is not to make it safely to the grave."

If you are a fact person there are almost 8 billion people in the world. To date there have been 88,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide (mostly in China) with 3000 deaths (mostly in China). In any given year the flu kills between 300,000 & 600,000 people worldwide! The day before our trip, in Italy there were about 1200 cases of the virus, most in northern Italy, with 26 deaths. There are 60 million people in Italy. None of that was scary enough to consider cancelling our trip. I'm sure we had a better chance of dying in a car accident on the way to the airport.

Everything was in place to leave for SFO at 7 AM on Saturday, February 29. The evening of Thursday, February 28, we learned that the U.S. state department & the CDC had changed the travel alert to all of Italy to Level 3 - No nonessential travel. This had us concerned, not because of the danger, but because of closures or cancellation of attractions & drastic changes to itineraries. And we didn't want to get stuck in quarantine somewhere. BUT, we ultimately said, "What the hell, we are still going!"

Our bags were downstairs ready to be loaded in the car when we decided to check Trafalgar's website one more time. Shit! Now the website said "all trips to Italy have been cancelled through March 31". We immediately called Trafalgar & sure enough, it was true. Our trip wasn't happening. After about 20 minutes on the phone our trip was cancelled & we were getting a full refund. There was a little relief & a lot of disappointment. I'm dealing with an airfare refund or travel insurance reimbursement for the remaining expenses tomorrow.

Yesterday was a strange day. We unpacked, stopped the mail hold, started the newspaper & basically did everything we do upon returning from every trip BUT we hadn't gone anywhere. All the preparation was for nothing. The only thing we didn't have to do was laundry.

I totally believe that the world is overreacting to this coronavirus. For crying out loud, they closed The Louvre today & I don't know if they have even had a reported case in Paris. Italy's tourism industry will suffer tremendously. This is going to spread. It is a fact of life in this age of world travel. There is so much panic surrounding it all - today there was an impassioned plea by the surgeon general to "STOP BUYING MASKS!". They don't help you from catching the virus but there are none for the health care workers who really do need them to treat patients.

Yes, our Italy trip was a casualty of all this panic. The stock market is crashing (tell me, how does selling your stock fix this???). Maybe we just need to close the entire world. I know, we can't do that & I can pretty much guarantee you that wouldn't work either. I wish I felt better about how our country & the world is handling this but I don't. It is only going to get worse I'm sure.

There is one thing that just might prevail in this coronavirus scare & every other predicament that our world faces - COMMON SENSE. If we all just exercised common sense, we wouldn't be where we are right now.

UGGS....AND MORE UGGS

Many years ago, 6 or 8 I think, I decided I wanted a pair of UGG boots. I'd seen lots of them & heard how comfortable they were. I asked Lou to get me a pair for either Christmas or my birthday - can't remember which. I found a website that had better prices & gave Lou the info with the type & color I wanted.

Well, it turned out that they were knock offs. The size 8s were too small & although they looked like the real thing they just didn't feel good. After much research we realized that there are tons of phony UGG boots out there. After trying to return them to no avail, Lou ultimately got his money back from the credit card company & I gave them to someone with smaller feet.

I then went to Nordstrom's & bought a full price pair of UGGS that were shorter & not the color I really wanted but they were cheaper than the pair I originally wanted which were basically the top of the line. Over the years I've worn them a bunch & they are so damn comfortable that I have almost worn them out. I am an UGG fanatic for sure!

That's the background. Now here in 2020, my father-in-law equivalent gave me a generous check for Christmas & I decided to buy the pair of UGGS that I wanted all those years ago. Being skeptical of knock offs, I went directly to the UGGS site to purchase them. It was great! They had the size & style I wanted. This time I was not going to compromise & ordered the exact pair I coveted.

I've learned there aren't deals or sales on UGGS. I did get free expedited shipping which was suppose to have them arrive January 9 on my doorstep. January 9 came & went & the 10th with no boots & no available tracking info. I waited through the weekend & called them on Monday, January 13.

The representative was pleasant but I was not happy with her explanation. My "ticket" was listed as an inactive order. WTF? If she put it through again it would be at least 10 working days before they got to it since "they were backed up from the holidays" She offered to refund my money which I decided to do. But that would take at least ten days, too. They charged my credit card the day I ordered them but they couldn't refund it in a timely manner. I was not a happy camper but said just give me my money back.

I gave UGG a bad review & explained why. Then for some reason I checked Amazon (we have Prime with the two day shipping) & found that they had them for the same price. I wanted the damn boots so I ordered them from Amazon. I figured Amazon would have the real thing, not a knock off. Yesterday I received an email from UGG that my order had processed. What?

This morning my Amazon UGGS arrived - they fit perfectly, felt great & I loved them! This afternoon my second pair of the same UGGS arrived from UGG. Remember, on Monday I was told that it would be "at least ten working days" until anything was done by UGG. They arrived today, on Thursday (well, yesterday since it is after midnight) three days after I cancelled the order.

Now, I have two pairs of the exact same expensive UGGS in my living room. One will have to be returned. I'm torn since it is easy to return the Amazon pair. Amazon has a simple, easy return policy BUT they did everything right delivering them in two days. UGG however has screwed everything up from the time I ordered them & then cancelled them. My thoughts are that it will be a long time before I can get my money refunded & send the boots back to them.

Do I go with the principle of it & make UGG fix this or do I just say, screw it, return them to Amazon, justifying that Amazon gets lots of my money over the years? I'm still wrestling with as I decide which to do.

With the whole ordering online thing & timely shipping I can foresee problems creeping up since the sheer volume of packages seems overwhelming. Twice during the Christmas season my packages were delayed but did arrive in the knick of time. Last week we toured the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Sacramento. It was fascinating & I'll do a post on that soon. But I really don't think that me returning a pair of UGGS will even register as a blip on their radar screen. I may well take the easy way out.

In the meantime, I love my UGGS!

I'M LOVIN' NETFLIX

Once again I am getting into the latest technology when it is no longer the latest technology. I discovered Netflix several months ago & I'm loving it like it is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Yeah, I know that's a stupid old saying & I have no idea what it really means. But I'm discovering how much fun it is to watch a show whenever I want & then I can watch six more if I want to - right then, all in a row. I get "binge watching" now.

I grew up in an age where TVs were black & white with a 19" screen & if you were really cool you had a huge antenna on top of your house for better reception. There were about 5 or 6 stations. You had to walk up to the set & turn the knob to change the channel. Now with 65" flat screens, surround sound & around 200 channels in the average package - not to mention all the streaming options - it is a whole new world.

But I digress. Initially I decided to subscribe to Netflix for two reasons. A couple years ago, a friend had told me about Grace & Frankie. It stars Jane Fonda & Lily Tomlin as two women whose husbands are law partners. The first episode explains that the husbands, played by Martin Sheen & Sam Waterston, are gay & madly in love. Their wives are forced to deal with their impending divorces & end up living together in the beach house the couples shared.

Jane Fonda & Lily Tomlin were on lots of talk shows promoting their show & I had to watch it. I purchased the first season of Grace & Frankie on DVD but it was pretty expensive. However, I loved the premise, laughed like crazy & the show was amazingly entertaining. When I found out that I could get Netflix on my iPad for only $8.99 a month, I decided to give it a try. I watched the remaining seasons in a bit of a marathon over several evenings. I am anxiously awaiting the next season due to be released this week!

The second reason I subscribed was so that my Charley could watch all of her shows when I visited her in New Mexico. The house that Darrin rents doesn't have a TV so the three of us snuggle up on the couch with my iPad perched on a small table in front of us to watch Spiderman: Into the Spider Verse or Toy Story or Octonauts. Lots of fun!

As I mentioned being a child of the 50s & 60s, TV shows were on at a set day & time each week for that season. We couldn't choose when to watch, record it, pause it or back it up if we missed something. All of these choices are now at my fingertips. I can watch what I want, when I want.

Once I was finished with Grace & Frankie, I moved on to The Kominsky Method starring Michael Douglas & Alan Arkin as an acting teacher & agent, respectively. Both of these series feature complex story lines & irresistible characters that you will fall in love with. At the same time I watched a few of Dolly Parton's Heartstrings movies, but be warned you will need lots of Kleenex, they are real tearjerkers.

After finishing two seasons of The Kominsky Method, I decided to start watching Dead To Me. It stars Christina Applegate as a woman whose husband is killed by a hit & run driver. I won't give away any more of the plot in case you plan to watch it. These ten episodes gripped me like none of the other shows so far. Each show ended with another twist that I didn't see coming. The other night I couldn't help myself & watched the remaining five episodes of season one. It was compelling, intense & a little unnerving at times, but well worth my time.

There are numerous other shows, movies, specials & series to watch. I learned that Netflix shows garnered the most Golden Globe nominations of any network or streaming service this year. I am really impressed with the quality of programming compared to network TV. And being someone who speaks French fluently (if you get my drift), it is refreshing to hear people talk like me without being bleeped constantly.

If you are tired of all the cop & hospital shows on network television, I highly recommend Netflix & its original programming. It took me awhile to accept that streaming is the future of entertainment but I'm a convert for sure. It's good to know that at almost 70 years of age, I can still embrace the next best thing in the world of technology. Better late than never!

DEJA VU, ALL OVER AGAIN

Several years ago our DirecTV Satellite service & NBC, channel 3, got into a snit with each other which resulted in NBC being pulled off the air. After a few days, I was getting into quite a snit myself. My thoughts were, & still are, get your shit together, figure this out, give us the services we are paying for & should be watching.

I did some research & discovered that an over-the-air antenna could be purchased for about $15 that would allow us to watch local channels without our satellite service. One of my favorite late night delights is watching The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. BUT Jimmy Fallon is on NBC so I was without my nightly guilty pleasure.

Heading down to Fry's Electronics, I purchased one of these little devices. It was quite different than the old rabbit ears we used back in the day - raising them, rotating them, occasionally crossing them or adding a wad of tin foil to get the best reception. This one is a flat sheet of something that you tape to the window then connect to the TV & satellite box with cables. I planned to install it on our office TV where I normally watch Jimmy Fallon.

Come hell or high water my desire to see my favorite late night host was so great that I figured out the numerous steps to change from satellite TV to over the air. I wrote down the instructions since the process was fairly involved. I was quite pleased when it worked to perfection! Plus there was a certain degree of satisfaction having beaten DirecTV at its own game. You can pull all the crap you want but I'm still watching my show.

Now, fast forward 3 or 4 years to today. Starting a few days before New Year's we began to get the scrolling message that DirecTV would no longer carry NBC as of December 31. DirecTV blames NBC, NBC blames DirecTV. I don't care whose fault it is, get your shit together & provide the programming we pay to see. But December 31 came & went with NBC still on the TV. We assumed they settled their differences.

Tonight about 10 PM, Lou says, "Guess what? NBC is off the air." I emphatically replied, "Damn, it! I hope I can remember how to make that over-the-air antenna work." We started digging around behind the TV & discovered the flat antenna sheet had fallen off the window awhile ago. While Lou was retrieving it, he found the box it came in with the instructions which I had apparently stashed behind the TV! Hooray!

Even better he found my step-by-step note of how to access it over-the-air. Lou grabbed the tape & reattached the antenna to the window. It was still hooked up to the TV & the satellite box. I guess in my infinite wisdom I had assumed that DirecTV would do this again & just left everything in place.

I read from my note as Lou followed the instructions:

Turn off TV & box with DirecTV remote

Turn on power with TV remote

Change from HDMI to TV using "input"

Push menu - scroll to "channel"

Move down to "TV source"

Move right to "air"

Low & behold, we had accessed channel 3 within minutes! Lou looked at me & asked, "You figured all this out before?" Apparently I did. Hey, don't mess with my Jimmy Fallon. He is on TV as I type this, even though it is a rerun since he is still on Christmas break. But next week when they are new again, I can watch it. And hopefully we can see the Seattle Seahawks lose this weekend since they are on NBC!