Pumpkins and football

Last weekend we went to see K's cousin in Half Moon Bay. When she came for a short visit this summer, we made plans to go see the Pumpkin Festival they have there. She has a house full of glass pumpkins that she's bought over the years, and since we won't be getting together for Thanksgiving like we've done in the past, it seemed like a good time to go see what the fuss was all about.

So we made these plans when we thought we had money coming in, that ended up not coming. But we had the tickets, so we went and tried not to spend a lot.

We flew on Southwest, which was an awesome airline when I needed to change the date. I didn't realize it would be like musical chairs once we got on board! People before us were taking the window seat or the aisle seat, leaving the middle seat empty. The girl in front of me sat in one of the two seats that were left together, sitting in the middle. Couldn't she have done that on any of the middle seats we saw on the way down? So we sat apart, but luckily the flight was short.

K's cousin picked us up, and drove us to her new home near Half Moon Bay. We met her new boyfriend, who seems really nice. She'd been heating up lasagna, and it was delicious! Then we sat outside in her lovely yard, mesmerized by her fire pit. It was a gas pit, coming out of colored glass rocks, and it was awesome! I want one now.

The next morning we slept in, then got up and got ready. We drove a short way to get near the Main Street area. We saw pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin beer, even pumpkin mac and cheese! We were afraid to try the last one. In the food area, we got some great artichoke hearts. Delicious! Artichokes have a certain aftertaste that's kindof addictive. K and I also shared a roast beef sandwich that had an unusual taste - his cousin declared it to be corriander.

There were so many interesting crafts there - I asked K to buy me a ring made from a spoon, and I looked at about 500 glass pumpkins before buying one for myself. We did a LOT of walking around, and finally headed home. On the way to the car, we stopped and bought crabs for dinner.

Dinner was one of the best meals I've ever had. Each of us had a whole crab ( I know!) and half an artichoke, with butter and a special sauce K's cousin had made. I thank that crab for giving it's life for me, as I really appreciated it. I was so stuffed, I couldn't even eat it all!

That would have been enough for a good trip, but the next day we got up early-ish and headed to SF for a Raider game. We met some of their friends for a tailgate party, and it also was delicious. They grilled hamburgers and kabobs with a special(Spedee?)sauce. There was also artichoke dip, salsa, and 3 kinds of pasta and salad.

When it was time, we cleaned up and headed toward the game. Brett Favre was playing for the Jets, so the girls (OK, guys too) had a little extra to be excited about. He looked good out there too.

We were sitting in the very last row, as high as you could get on that side of the stadium. There was a fan near us that kept yelling out instructions to the team and banging against the metal in back of him. I told K that the guy should be sitting a lot closer, as they couldn't possibly hear him from there. Yet he was yelling as if they should.

Funny.

The Raiders also ran my favorite play - the fake punt. I liked that.

The Raiders were ahead a lot of the game, but on their last possession, the Jets really advanced up the field pretty quickly. They set up for a kick that would tie the game - and they MISSED it! Yay, Raiders win. Wait, not so fast. The Raiders called Time Out just as the kicker was going to kick - a Shanahan trick that is supposed to psych out the kicker. But in this case it backfired, and the kicker got another chance to make that kick. And make it, he did. Tied game, overtime. I was pretty mad at the Raider coach for that.

Luckily, after a few possessions back and forth, the Raiders finally scored and won. The fans were SO happy! We kept running into fans the whole trip home, meeting a few people that fly up there just to see a game.

We got to sit together on the flight home, and that was nice. It was one of the best times I've ever had - especially in such a tight time period. And it was delicious every step of the way.

Commercials

One of my pet peeves is commercials, and how badly they're screened for young children. My young kids didn't need to see scenes from scary movies, but ads for them run at all times, not just after 8pm.

What I don't understand are the recent political commercials about California's Prop 8. Prop 8 is a proposal to ban gay marriage, something we've already voted on anyway. In the ads, a child brings a book home from school and says that she learned in school that boys can marry boys. A couple claim that this happened in their state, and when they complained, they were told they had no right to have their child not taught that.

So... they're objecting to their kids hearing that in school? Buy aren't you telling them about it now on TV? Aren't you in fact telling every kid that watches TV in California about this new concept? So is it they don't want their kids to KNOW about gays, or they just want to teach them that it's not right? Can't they do that at home anyway? I just don't get it.

I love it that my daughter doesn't even see an issue about having a black president or understand what it could be about, and I really think that this generation will come to feel the same way about gay people.

I must say, though, that the ads for the other side have been awfully dry. A strict-looking couple say that they have a gay daughter and it would be WRONG to treat her any differently. Finally they've come out with an Ellen ad which is a little more friendly. I think they should have focused more on the human aspect of not being able to visit someone in the hospital and things like that.

It doesn't matter anyway. Like I said, we already voted on this (conservatives won, I believe), and the courts overturned it. Why are we voting again?

Oodles of noodles

The other day I bought a few groceries in a store I don't usually go to, and I found some packaged noodles near the Top Ramen section. I thought the chow mein in peanut sauce sounded good, and it was on sale for about $.99, so I bought it. oodles

At home, I added water and microwaved as directed, mixed and stirred. When I sat down to eat it, it was good! It seemed like a lot of noodles, but it was so good I ate the whole thing! I wasn't really full when I was done, but it was so good! I told K, "Too bad it has no nutritional value, that's the only thing wrong with it!"

I started thinking of going back to the store and getting 10 more of those. Such a deal! In spite of no nutritional (and possibly some bad nutritional) value.

Then something made me go find the wrapping. I looked at the calorie section, and was surprised to find that I'd actually eaten 2 servings! Worse, each "serving" was 270 calories! I'd just eaten 540 calories, and I was still hungry!

Then I was mad, because for fewer calories I could have eaten a Snickers bar. And I'd probably be more full because of the peanuts!

So anyway... I've been looking at that section more often when shopping, and a few times I've been shocked. Wow.

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In an update to a previous complaint - I'd been surprised to find that a company was forcing through subscriptions to a few of our Verizon phones. A few weeks ago I got a notice that I am now part of a class-action suit (all Verizon customers are, I think) against a certain company for this very offense.

I'm glad that someone took that on, because that just isn't right.

Ambush at Breakfast

When I got back from vacation, there was a flyer in my box at work about a breakfast they were having at a local Country Club. I like breakfast and really any free meal, so I was all in. The flyer promised an "Extravaganza", said, "you don't want to miss this!" and that there was a "guest speaker" with "new marketing ideas."

I was looking forward to it! Even tho I'm not a big fan of this country club's food. Breakfast!

I was only 5 minutes late, but when I got there, everyone was already eating! But they brought mine out very quickly, and it was GREAT! That should have been my first clue that something was amiss. It was a delicious blend of spinach and eggs, served with bacon and potatoes. There were also baskets of toast and rolls and fresh orange juice.

After we ate, my boss talked a little bit and handed out a few awards, as I expected. Then she went on to say that many people have wanted to buy her business over the years, and finally the right company approached her at the right time, as she's getting older and it's a big responsibility, etc., etc.

She sold the company! To the company across the street that I decided against to work with her instead! One lady burst into tears. Many of those people have been with her 20 years or more.

Then she went on to say that the owner of THAT company was here and wanted to talk to us. This was our "guest speaker"! Well, he came in and opened up this bag, and said he had a bag for each of us that already included our business cards and name tag and tee shirts with the new logo on them, and all the info we'd need to make the transition.

He kept bringing things out of the bag, and the lady next to me kept exclaiming, "Holy Mother of God!"

Then, he went on to say that he'd brought people from the company to meet us and give us more things and answer our questions. With that, he opened the door to the room next door, where people from that company had tables set up with information and bags and other things on them. They handed us mimosas as we walked into the room. I took one even tho it was a weekday morning, because all of a sudden I NEEDED A DRINK!

No one really looked me in the eye and looked very welcoming, so I slipped out and went home. I took a few days just to let things kindof sink in, and then I did some checking around. Even tho they'd made it so easy to stay, I decided to take my marbles down the road and gamble on another company.

Some of you may remember that I just changed companies about 6 months ago. I finished notifying everyone, and now I have to start all over again! Hopefully this company will be stable for awhile.