Dinner

Charred hamburger and boiled spinach...dinner last night.



Try to make a poem out of THAT!

Gross Copyright Violation

I was at the dentist the other month. I was reading Sunset magazine (December 2008) and drooling over the recipes.

I was hoping to share them with YOU, and so I found the pictures and recipes on MyRecipes.

This is Thai Chicken Coconut Soup. Does it not look yummy? I believe I have had something like this at Karinya. Only 7.2 grams of carbohydrates. I'll have TWO bowels bowls!



For dessert, let us have some Eggnog Cheesecake! Only 27 grams of carbs, so maybe I could have just a smidgen.



Or how about some Cranberry Obsession Snow Cake? It is red, it is white, it has white chocolate shavings on top! And only 113 grams of carbohydrates per serving!



Someone sent me this. I don't know if it is serendipitous spam, or from a (regretfully) forgotten relative. I hope the former. But, it's probably the latter.

But, I thought it was pretty good, so here it is, in the original size:

jakara bullard 10-14-09

pizza poem

o,pizza cheese hanging from the crust.

you make me fell like im in haven with your hot pepperonis.and tamato sauce. why are you so good chessy pizza.maybe i will get another slice to the ride to marie's.pizza pizza day and nite i cant stop.

I feel the same, pizza rules!

I Get E-Mail!

Two for today! Why the all caps? Supposed to look like a telegram?

From: "EU INTERNATIONAL LOTTO AND GAMING CORPORATION"
Reply-To: cpobv@aim.com
Subject: WINNING NUMBER: EU/ILO-564/003/666
Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2009 11:19:21 +0200


EU INTERNATIONAL LOTTO AND GAMING CORPORATION.
LAAN VAN HOORNWIJCK 55
2289 DG RIJSWIJK
THE NETHERLANDS
www.lotto.nl

MONTH OF MAY EU INTERNATIONAL LOTTO.
WINNING NUMBER: EU/ILO-564/003/666

OUR DEAR WINNER,

THIS IS TO NOTIFY YOU THAT YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS HAS WON YOU THE SUM OF (ONE MILLION EURO) FROM EU INTERNATIONAL LOTTO ONLINE AND GAMING CORPORATION, ALL THE E-MAIL ADDRESSES WERE SELECTED FROM A DATA BASE OF INTERNET E-MAIL USERS, FROM WHICH YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS CAME OUT AS THE WINNING COUPON.

WE THEREBY CONTACT YOU TO CLAIM YOUR WINNING AMOUNT QUICKLY AS THIS IS A MONTHLY LOTTERY. FAILURE TO CLAIM YOUR WIN WILL RESULT INTO THE REVERSION OF THE WINNING SUM TO OUR FOLLOWING MONTH LOTTERY. (EXPIRATION DATE 19TH OF JUNE). PLEASE CONTACT OUR APPROVED AGENT FOR YOUR REGION WITH YOUR WINNING NUMBER ABOVE.

EU INTERNATIONAL LOTTO ONLINE AGENCY.
MISS. GILLIAN ROWLAND.
DIRECTOR OF WINNING CLAIMS DEPARTMENT.
TEL: 31- 630-800-322
E-MAIL: cpobv@aim.com

KINDLY KEEP YOUR WINNING PRIZE TO YOURSELF, TO AVOID DOUBLE CLAIM OF YOUR WINNING PRIZE.

REGARDS,
MRS. EVA JOHNSON.
DIRECTOR OF EU INTERNATIONAL LOTTO ONLINE.

WELL, I GUESS IT'S TOO LATE TO KINDLY KEEP MY WINNING PRIZE TO MYSELF, EVA! SO SORRY!!

And now...ALLUVIAL GOLD!


Reply-To:
From: mrs cemira gowan
Subject: From Mrs. Cemira,
Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2009 08:16:21 +0000


From Mrs. Cemira,
It's with pleasure that I write to inform you of the availability of ALLUVIAL GOLD for sale. Though my late husband was into this small scale mining business before his untimely death (may his soul rest in a perfect peace) Below are the classification of the goods :

PRODUCT : ALLUVIAL GOLD.
QUANTITY :500 KGS.
QUALITY : 22+ KARATS. Karat IS purity. 22 Karat gold is 91.671 pure.
PURITY : 99.98%
PRICE : $ 17,500usd PER KG.
TERM OF PAYMENT : NEGOTIABLE.

We do not accept advance payment, the transaction will be done according to the seller and buyers agreement and we expect you to come with your Inspector machines and after checking, the payment will be on bank to bank bases. All your base are belong...Sorry!
But be informed that the buyer will be responsible for the shipments arrangement of the goods to his refineries, which will be deducted from our money after the sales of the goods at your refineries

I don’t want to waste much time again because the proceeds from this gold is highly needed in order to uplift our mining strength and since the raining seasons we have not been able to do anything due to the lack of the mining equipment. We would also asked that you help us after the sales to use the part of the money realised to procure the needed equipments for us .
If you are interested in the above product please get in touch with me and we will make arrangement on the mode of delivery.

I await to hear from you very soon.

Regards.
Mrs. Cemira Gowan

And what the heck would I DO with alluvial gold, anyway?

Did/Not Did

I filled up the vehicle with gas and put a hundred miles on it today... a drive to the east. I have never done that before, in my entire life. I also put new windshield wipers on.

The Border Patrol checkpoint on the 8 has a big board listing their achievements at that station.

I drove a Lake Murray guy to Big Lots so he could buy some jumper cables, then I gave him a jump.

Observations:

The library in La Mesa doesn't open till one on Sunday.
There are a lot of helpful employees at Home Depot.
Guys in full kit riding a bicycle with safety brake levers just look silly.
It was fairly sunny in the east, but very overcast in the west.
Assuming I had the skills, which I don't, if I had to write for a living in this house, I'd go MAD!
Sisal rope is more dear than one would think.
Pete Dexter has a unique public speaking manner. And he write good!
Not everyone is aware that batteries generate hydrogen gas. Think Hindenburg!

Pictures I Want To Take:

The foreign car repair place over by Home Depot.
The interesting old truck on Normal.
Antennas on house near freeway on Los Coches Road.
Lady do leg stretches at lake after walking, while talking on cell phone.

I Get E-Mail!

It's ok, the FBI is on the job, and given me their approval to send six hundred bucks to this fellow in Nigeria, as this is definitely not a scam or terrorist plot. Wow, what excellent news, I could really use this money!

FROM: "washington.fieldic.fbi.gov"
SUBJECT: FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FBI.WASHINGTON DC

Anti-Terrorist And Monetary Crimes Division
FBI Headquarters In Washington, D.C.
Federal Bureau Of Investigation
J. Edgar Hoover Building

935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20535-0001

Attn: Beneficiary,

This is to officially inform you that it has come to our notice and we have
thoroughly completed an Investigation with the help of our Intelligence
Monitoring Network System that you legally won the sum of $800,000.00 USD from a
Lottery Company outside the United States of America. During our investigation
we discovered that your e-mail won the money from an Online Balloting System and
we have authorized this winning to be paid to you via a Certified Cashier's
Check.

Normally, it will take up to 10 business days for an International Check to be
cashed by your local bank. We have successfully notified this company on your
behalf that funds are to be drawn from a registered bank within the United
States of America so as to enable you cash the check instantly without any
delay, henceforth the stated amount of $800,000.00 USD has been deposited with
Bank of America.

We have completed this investigation and you are hereby approved to receive the
winning prize as we have verified the entire transaction to be Safe and 100%
risk free, due to the fact that the funds have been deposited at Bank Of America
you will be required to settle the following bills directly to the Lottery Agent
in-charge of this transaction whom is located in Lagos, Nigeria. According to
our discoveries, you were required to pay for the following -

(1) Deposit Fee's ( Fee's paid by the company for the deposit into an
American Bank which is - Bank Of America )
(2) Cashier's Check Conversion Fee ( Fee for converting the Wire Transfer
payment into a Certified Cashier's Check )
(3) Shipping Fee's ( This is the charge for shipping the Cashier's
Check to your home address and this fee includes Insurance )

The total amount for everything is $600.00 (Six Hundred-US Dollars). We have
tried our possible best to indicate that this $600.00 should be deducted from
your winning prize but we found out that the funds have already been deposited
at Bank Of America and cannot be accessed by anyone apart from you the winner,
therefore you will be required to pay the required fee's to the Agent
in-charge of this transaction via Western Union Money Transfer Or Money Gram.

In order to proceed with this transaction, you will be required to contact the
agent in-charge (MR. SILAS OKORO) via e-mail. Kindly look below to find
appropriate contact information:


CONTACT AGENT NAME: MR. SILAS OKORO

E-MAIL ADDRESS: silasokoroincplc@gmail.com

Telephone Number: +234-803-862-0836

You will be required to e-mail him with the following information:

FULL NAME:
ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE:
ZIP CODE:
DIRECT CONTACT NUMBER:

You will also be required to request Western Union or Money Gram details on how
to send the required $600.00 in order to immediately ship your prize of
$800,000.00 USD via Certified Cashier's Check drawn from Bank Of America,
also include the following transaction code in order for him to immediately
identify this transaction: EA2948-910.

This letter will serve as proof that the Federal Bureau Of Investigation is
authorizing you to pay the required $600.00 ONLY to MR. SILAS OKORO via
information in which he shall send to you, if you do not receive your winning
prize of $800,000..00 we shall be held responsible for the loss and this shall
invite a penalty of $3,000 which will be made PAYABLE ONLY to you (The Winner).

Mr. Edward John

Special Agent.
Washington DC FBI.

Room, 7367
J. Edgar Hoover Building

935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. 20535-0001


NOTE: In order to ensure your check gets delivered to you ASAP, you are advised
to immediately contact Mr.Silas Okoro via contact information provided above
and make the required payment of $600.00 to information in which he shall
provide to you

I Get E-Mail!

I got this nifty communique from FBI headquarters, I'm sure, the other day. Other than hitting "Reply To", I have no clue how I am to contact these folks. Nor do I have any idea what they want! All I know is they are threatening me. ME!

The ALL CAPS gives me a headache, but then it changes to something normal. But not without the mispelings! One would think the college graduates at the FBI would know how to operate spell chezh!

FROM: fbi@fbigov.org.com Robert S. Mueller, III
SUBJECT: FBI HEADQUARTERS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
ANTI-TERRORIST AND MONITARY CRIMES DIVISION
FBI HEADQUARTERS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
J. EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535-0001
Website: http://www.fbi.gov/


ATTENTION FUND BENEFICIARY,
THIS IS AN OFFICIAL ADVICE FROM THE FBI FOREIGN REMITTANCE/TELEGRAPHIC DEPT., IT HAS COME TO OUR NOTICE THAT THE C.B.N BANK NIGERIA DISTRICT HAS RELEASED 10,500,000.00 U.S DOLLARS INTO BANK OF AMERICA IN YOUR NAME AS THE BENEFICIARY,BY INHERITANCE MEANS. THE C.B.N BANK NIGERIA KNOWING FULLY WELL THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH FACILITIES TO EFFECT THIS PAYMENT FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM TO YOUR ACCOUNT, USED WHAT WE KNOW AS A SECRET DIPLOMATIC TRANSIT PAYMENT S.T.D.P TO PAY THIS FUND THROUGH WIRE TRANSFER,THEY USED THIS MEANS TO COMPLETE THE PAYMENT. THEY ARE STILL, WAITING FOR CONFIRMATION FROM YOU ON THE ALREADY TRANSFERRED FUNDS WHICH WAS MADE IN DIRECT TRANSFER SO THAT THEY CAN DO FINAL CREDITING TO YOUR ACCOUNT. SECRET DIPLOMATIC PAYMENTS ARE NOT MADE UNLESS THE FUNDS ARE RELATED TO TERRORIST ACTIVITIES WHY MUST YOUR PAYMENT BE MADE IN SECRET TRANSFER , IF YOUR TRANSACTION IS LEGITIMATE,IF YOU ARE NOT A TERRORIST, THEN WHY DID YOU NOT RECEIVE THE MONEY DIRECTLY INTO YOUR ACCOUNT,THIS IS A PURE CODED ,MEANS OF PAYMENT?

RECORDS WHICH WE HAVE HAD WITH THIS METHOD OF PAYMENT IN THE PAST HAS ALWAYS BEEN RELATED TO TERRORIST ACTS, WE DO NOT WANT YOU TO GET INTO TROUBLE AS SOON AS THESE FUNDS REFLECT IN YOUR ACCOUNT IN THE U.S.A, SO IT IS OUR DUTY AS A WORD WIDE COMMISSION TO CORRECT THIS LITTLE PROBLEM BEFORE THIS FUND WILL BE CREDITED INTO YOUR PERSONAL ACCOUNT.

DUE TO THE INCREASED DIFFICULTY AND UNNECESSARY SCRUTINY BY THE AMERICAN AUTHORITIES WHEN FUNDS COME FROM OUTSIDE OF EUROPE, AND THE MIDDLE EAST, THE F.B.I BANK COMMISSION FOR EUROPE HAS STOPPED THE TRANSFER ON ITS WAY TO DELIVER PAYMENT OF $10,500,000.00 TO DEBIT YOUR RESERVE ACCOUNT AND PAY YOU THROUGH A SECURED DIPLOMATIC TRANSIT ACCOUNT (S.D.T.A). WE GOVERN AND OVERSEES FUNDS TRANSFER FOR THE WORLD BANK AND THE REST OF THE WORLD.

WE ADVICE YOU CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY,AS THE FUNDS HAVE BEEN STOPPED AND ARE BEING HELD IN OUR CUSTODY ,UNTIL YOU CAN BE ABLE TO PROVIDE US WITH A DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY SEAL OF TRANSFER(DIST) WITHING 3 DAYS FROM THE WORLD LOCAL BANK THAT AUTHORIZE THE TRANSFER FROM WHERE THE FUNDS WAS TRANSFERRED FROM TO CERTIFY THAT THE FUNDS THAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO RECEIVE FROM NIGERIA ARE ANTITERRORIST/DRUG FREE OR WE SHALL HAVE CAUSE TO CROSS AND IMPOUND THE PAYMENT,WE SHALL RELEASE THE FUNDS IMMEEDIATELY WE RECEIVE THIS LEGAL DOCUMENTS .

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We have decided to contact you directly to acquire the proper verifications and proof from you to show that you are the rightful person to receive this fund, because of the amount involve,we want to make sure is a clean and legal money you are about to receive. Be informed that the fund are now in United State in your name , but right now we have ask the bank not to release the fund to anybody that comes to them , unless we ask them to do so, because we have to carry out our investigations first before releasing the fund to you.

Note that the fund is in the BANK OF AMERICA right now, but we have ask them not to credit the fund to you yet, because we need a solid proof and verifications from you before releasing the funds.

So to this regards you are to re-assure and proof to us that what you are about to receive is a clean money by sending to us FBI Identification Record and also Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer(DIST) to satisfy to us that the money your about to receive is legitimate and real money. You are to forward the documents to us immediately if you have it in your possession, if you don?t have it let us know so that we will direct and inform you where to obtain the document and send to us so that we will ask the bank holding the funds the Bank Of America to go ahead Crediting your account immediately.

This Documents are to be issued to you from the World Local Bank that Authorized the transfer, so get back to us immediately if you don?t have the document so that we will inform you the particular place to obtain the document in United Kingdom U.K, because we have come to realize that the fund was Authorized by H.S.B.C Bank in London.An FBI Identification Record and Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer(DIST)often referred to as a Criminal History Record or Rap Sheet, is a listing of certain information taken from fingerprint submissions retained by the FBI in connection with arrests and, in some instances, federal employment, naturalization, or military service.THESE CONDITION IS VALID UNTIL 16TH OF APRIL 2009 AFTER WE SHALL TAKE ACTIONS ON CANCELLING THE PAYMENT AND THEN CHARGE YOU FOR ILLEGALLY MOVING FUNDS OUT OF NIGERIA . GURANTEE: FUNDS WILL BE RELEASED ON CONFIRMATION OF THE DOCUMENT.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

FINAL INSTRUCTION: 60F CREDIT PAYMENT INSTRUCTION: IRREVOCABLE CREDIT GUARANTEE 61E BENEFICIARY HAS FULL POWER WHEN VALIDATION IS CLEARED 62 BENNEFICIARIES BANK IN U.S.A., CAN ONLY RELEASE FUNDS- 62 UPON CONFIRMATION FROM THE WORLD BANK/UNITED NATIONS. 64 BEARERS MUST CLEAR BANK PROTOCOL AND VALIDATION REQUEST

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE: We have asked for the above documents to make available the most complete and up-to date records possible for the enhancement of public safety,welfare and security of Society while recognizing the importance of individual privacy rights.. If you fail to provide the Documents to us, we will charge you with the FBI and take our proper action against you for not proofing to us the legitimate of the fund you are about to receive.

The United States Department of Justice Order 556-73 establishes rules and regulations for the subject of an FBI Identification Record to obtain a copy of his or her own Record for review. The FBI Criminal Justice Information Services(CJIS) Division processes these requests to check illegal activities in U.S.A.

An individual may request a copy of his or her own FBI Identification Record for personal review or to challenge information on the Record. Other reasons an individual may request a copy of his or her own Identification Record may include international adoption or to satisfy a requirement to live or work in a foreign country or receive funds from another country (i.e., Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer, letter of good conduct, criminal history background, etc.)

FBI Director
Robert S. Mueller, III

By the way, I checked the FBI website, they are aware of this little bit of heaven.

You Light Up My Year

A light-year is a measure of distance, people!

Heinlein made me think about it:

...had all been in that waterproof money belt Janet had given me so many light-years ago;...¹

Did he mean distance? It was in Canada (sort of) that she received the belt, now she just climbed out of the Mississippi river. That's a far distance. Or does did he mean time? Because the phraseology would be consistent with an expression of time. In which case he is wrong. But, hey, it's Heinlein! He knows his stuff! I'm sure he meant distance!

But check this out:

Flash back!! Back to a moment of time so many light years ago.²

That is just not going to cut it. And from a dean at the University of New England, too!

For more information, check out the Light Year article at eSky.

Quote Sources

¹ Heinlein, Robert A. Friday New York: Holt Rinehart Winston, c1982. pg. 174.
² Dean Kelley. "University of New England - COM - RSAS - Newsletter - September 2007 - Page 1". [Online](10April2009). URL: http://www.une.edu/com/rsas/newsletter/sept07a.asp

Granola Bars New Packaging

I noticed my beloved Albertson's Chewy Granola Bars (Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip) have been repackaged with an orange wrapper, but I didn't figure out just what that meant till other other day.

They changed the size!

Check this out:



They have been reduced from 10 ounces to .84 ounces!

Let us look at the nutritional data on the back:



You can see the the carbs, sugars, and protein have gone down by one gram each.

How about size?

Take a look:



The new bar looks longer!

But how about thickness?



It looks about the same thickness, but it doesn't look as dense.

As far as cost, I didn't keep track of the old price, so I couldn't tell you.

I hate change.

I Get E-Mail!

Come on, put a little effort into it! "rgds"???

SUBJECT: claim info
FROM: "email.award09@alice.it"

rgds,

Your email ID has been awarded 1million EUR,Reply to: micro.alliance@i12.com
+31-647-269-378


Alice Messenger ;-) chatti anche con gli amici di Windows Live Messenger e tutti i telefonini TIM!

I Get E-Mail!

I get another offer to do something illegal, this time from Malaysia. PROTIP: If you are sending out email scams, try to have the sender's name match the sending email address.

Greeting To You My Good Friend
Jason Koh

Dear Friend, [The first portent (Well, really, the second, eh?), I HAVE no friends! (Actually, I do, but it is something I have affected in order create a sympathetic persona. But I digress...]

Compliments of the season and my best wishes to you, I apologize if the contents here under are contrary to your moral ethics, but please treat with absolute secrecy and personal.

My name is Mr. Jason Koh, I'm a Singaporean and a seasoned Banker with Malaysia HSBC Bank (Malaysia office), am as well an account officer to a deceased customer of our bank, we lost this customer in the tsunami disaster on the 26th December 2004 in Sumatra Indonesia. http://asc-india.org/lib/20041226-sumatra.htm and his account of US$19.761 million with us have been unclaimed due to unavailability of next of kin/relatives to claim his estate.

In accordance with the escheat laws ["Es cheat", indeed!] in Malaysia as a kingdom, the board of directors of the bank met forth night ago and resolved to turn the estate of the deceased over to Government having waited for too long without the deceased relatives/next of kin surfacing property and if this is done, invariably, the funds will end up to become Government property and it is as a result of this that [I] am moved to contact you considering the fact that you share almost the same name with the deceased. And what name would that be, eh?

In view of this, I am seeking your cooperation and understanding to stand as the deceased next of kin to enable us claim the inheritance before the period given by the bank elapse. If you are interested and in agreement with me, get back to me quickly and I will send to you all our bank contacts and the information you may need to proceed without coming to Malaysia, and be rest assured that it is risk free project and the proceedings will be shared 50% each once the fund are repatriated into your account anywhere in the world. I will not settle for less that 53 percent, sir!

Please reply immediately with your information including your telephone number for easy communication and oral discussion.

I await your prompt response immediately.

Best Regards.

Jason koh. And capitalize your last name, Jason! Be proud! You are a person!

I Get E-Mail!

Boy, I thought this was the REAL THING!

Dear Customer!

We have been waiting for you to contact us for your Confirmed Package That
is registered with us for shipping to your residential location. We had
thought that your sender gave you our contact
Details. It may interest you to know that a letter is also added to Your
package. However, we cannot quote its content to you via email for Privacy
reasons.

We understand that the content of your package itself is a Bank Draft
Worth of $800,000.00 USD, FedEx do not ship money in CASH or in CHEQUES
but Bank Drafts are shippable. The package is registered with us for
mailing and still in our possession, and it is ready for delivery to your
door step.

Meanwhile, before the delivery or shipment will take place, you are advice
to send to us the following data mention below: We are sending you this
email because your package is been registered on a Special Order.

What you have to do now, is to contact our Delivery Department for
Immediate dispatch of your package to your residential address. Note
That as soon as our Delivery Team confirm your information, it will Take
only one working day (24 hours) for your package to arrive it's
Designated destination. For your information, the VAT & Shipping Charges
as well as Insurance fees have been paid for by your Colleague before your
package was registered. Note that the payment
That is made on the Insurance, Premium & Clearance Certificates, are to
certify that the Bank Draft is not a Drug Affiliated Fund (DAF)
Neither is it funds to sponsor Terrorism in your country. This will help
you avoid any form of query from the Monetary Authority of your
Country.

However, you will have to pay the sum of $210USD to the FedEx Delivery
Department being full payment for the Security Keeping Fee of the
FedEx company as stated in our privacy terms & condition page. Also be
informed that your colleague wished to pay for the Security Keeping
fee, but we do not accept such payment considering the facts that all
items & package that are registered with us have a time limitation and
we cannot accept payment not knowing when you will be contacting us for
your package or even responding to us. So we cannot take the risk
to have accepted such payment in case of any possible demurrage.

Kindly note that your colleague did not leave us with any further
Information. We hope that you respond to us as soon as possible because
if you fail to respond until the expiry date of your package, we may Refer
the package to the British Commission for Welfare as the package
Do not have a return address.

Kindly contact the delivery department (FedEx Delivery Post) with the
Details given below:

FedEx Online Delivery Post
Contact Person: KELLY MORGAN OSAGIE
Dispatch@terrapins.com

Kindly complete the below form and send it to the email address given
above. This is mandatory to reconfirm your Postal address and telephone
Numbers.

FULL NAMES:
TELEPHONE:
POSTAL ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:


As soon as your details are received, our delivery team will give you the
necessary payment procedure so that you can effect the payment for the
Security Keeping Fee. As soon as they confirm your payment Receipt
of$210USD, they will not hesitate to dispatch your package as well as the
attached letter to your residence. It usually takes 24 hours being an
overnight delivery service.

Note that we were not instructed to email you, but due to the high
Priority of your package we had to inform you as your sender did not
Leave us with his phone number because he stated that he just arrived
Nigeria and he hasn’t fix his phone yet. We indeed personally sealed
Your Bank Draft and we found your email contact in the receivers Column as
the recipient of the foremost package.

Ensure to contact the delivery department with the email address given
above and ensure to fill the above form as well to enable a successful
Reconfirmation.

Yours Faithfully,
Mrs. Margaret Blaire.
FedEx Online Team Management.
All rights reserved. © 1995-2009
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This E-mail is only for the above addresses. It may contain Confidential
or Privileged information. If you are not an addressee
you must not copy, distribute, disclose or use any of the information in
it or any attachments.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDEX INTL>>>LICENCE OF FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPERATION.

But then, something looks funny about the spelling of that last word... Looks like a combination of "cooperation" and "corporation"!

The Big Trip -- Day Two Redux

We wandered around Seaside looking at stuff like the cemetery, houses I once lived in, schools, and places I frequented in a former life.

I remember this old building as a grocery store when I was little, now it's a "Super Mercado"!



We went over to the Dennis the Menace Park and looked around. It's pretty neat, but all the old play equipment that I remember is long gone. I can't even find any pictures on the web, but one old postcard. Sad. The locomotive is still there, happily!



The ducks are still at the duck pond. But they seem larger, somehow...



We then headed out to Point Pinos to look at the lighthouse and the sunset, along with everyone else in Monterey who wasn't otherwise occupied.



The sign is for the seismic monitoring station. I have focusing issues...

I was getting hungry, so we started looking for some place to eat. Cannery row seemed a bit crowded and touristy, so we headed downtown. We walked around downtown, and of all the exotic eateries we COULD have gone to, we ended up at Roundtable Pizza! Hey, it was good, and it had a very cool mural on the wall.



After stuffing ourselves we walked over to Fisherman's Wharf. It was pretty busy for a Sunday evening, but not TOO busy. We took some pictures of some rowboats in the dark.



A tripod might have useful here!

We had a time figuring out which building was ye olde customs house, then a bit of disagreement as to whether what I said was a bocci bowling was indeed that. But it turns out that it is. We then decided we needed some more beer. Or one of us did. We found a brewery, not sure of the name, but we are thinking it was possibly Peter B's Brewery & Restauant(enough qualifiers there?). It was pretty noisy, what with the half-dozen television screens, assorted colligiate-types, and a football game on. We sat outside where it was quiet and watch a couple guys playing chess. We drank some kind of Russian Stout Dark stuff. It was pretty stout!

We spent about a hour there, watching folks come and go, then decided we better find some place to stay for the night, so we headed off to motel row to find the waffle motel, better know as Comfort Inn.

The Big Trio -- Day Two

Across the tracks from the Comfort Inn in Hanford is the Lacey Milling Company. It looks very old and industrialy and interesting, so I took a bunch of photos of it. I shall only inflict a couple on you here, you can go look at the rest on the Zooomr page.





Someone could turn this into a nice model railroad industry!

I also made a little movie of some locomotives going past.



Notice the flashing lights on the police car at the end. Yes, The Man pulled someone over on a Sunday morning. I walked back to the hotel and had another pastry and coffee. Then we left for Monterey.

Road Rage, With Garlic

While passing through Gilroy (the Garlic Capital Of The World, don't cha know!) on Sunday we observed a road rage incident right in front of us!

A white truck passed us, then a bit later a white car zoomed up and stopped in front of him and a guy got out and started yelling, then another car came up and a woman got out, too.









This guy was easing his way out, as were we!! Hey, how come the white car has no front license plate, eh?

DISCLAIMER: All of my recollections of this incident are hazy, and as such I am a terrible witness. Maybe there wasn't any yelling. Maybe they wuz just asking directions. Don't quote me on nuthin'!!!

Food Of The Gods

One nice thing about Solvang is that you will never go hungry there, as long as you have enough lucre.

Back in the 60s we stopped for lunch and I had a big bowl of sauerkraut. It was great!

On the Big Trip we stopped there for dessert. The first thing we saw was a stork. Storks are good luck! With any luck we would find a bakery soon!



We walked around a bit, found the Big Shoe as seen on Huell Hower's television program.



That little girl walking away said, "Mommy, I don't fit in the shoe anymore!"

We wandered around a bit more until we found the Solvang Bakery. What a fabulous place! We each got a pastry.



I got the eclair, Matt got the cherry-powdered sugar thing. I just KNEW that was going to be a mess!

We walked around a bit more until we found a little park to sit in and consume our goodies!

That powdered sugar WAS messy!










Hans Christian Andersen had to avert his gaze...



I did NOT test my blood sugar after this debacle!

I just do not want to know...

On The Road

One of the places we ate at was the Taco Temple in Morro Bay.



It's not your usual taco stand. There was a bit of a line, we had to wait about fifteen minutes to get a table.

I had the tacquito carnitas plate, with a diet Coke.



It was different, but pretty good. Not a lot of cheese. None, in fact. I love cheese. There was a red salsa on the side that hadn't arrived yet.

I forget what Matt had, but this is it. It was also carnitas, and there are a couple of tortillas down there somewhere.



It took him a while to eat it. I thought about ordering some nachos while I waited, but I was a good boy and did not. Good thing, too, as we ended up eating some baked goods in Solvang later on...

They serve beer and wine, too, as you can see.

A woman near us was sitting alone, pecking away on her personal electronic device. She had a bottle of wine and chips with salsa along with her meal. I was rather envious, I would never go out and eat alone. It all seemed very European.

I ran across a bad review of the place, they didn't like the food or the service. I found the waitress a little brusque, but in a sort of humorous way. She teased us about not ordering more food, probably because we are the big lads that we are. I heard the fish is excellent here, but I'm not a fish person. If I wanted typical taco stand Mexican food I would go elsewhere. The owners here are going for something different, and I think they've done a good job. I also found the decor nice, and even though it was busy, it wasn't noisy.