Of more protests and a possible BART shut down and clothing~~~~

Dear Darklings,

Well the commute into the City is going to be horrible tomorrow.  We heard on the news that protestors are going to muck up the commute on BART tomorrow by shutting down the Montgomery Street Station at 7 a.m. using "metal spoons"? 

What the spoons are for I don't know, but Doyle said that if they throw them from the platforms onto the third rail it could cause an explosion or seriously short circuit the electrical connection and possibly cause a fire. 

I'm hoping they will do something different, but people can be fools.

They are protesting because 14 protestors who shut down BART a few weeks ago in a "I Can't Breathe" protest are going to have to pay $70,000 dollars in fines and reparation.  Their complaint is that the protestors that blocked the freeway their charges were dismissed, so these protestors charges should also be dismissed.

Doyle thinks it's because it was handled by two different judges who had two different views on protesting.  He thinks and I certainly feel this way, that all protests including those on the freeway need to pay at least a fine and do community service like cleaning up graffiti and the rubbish on the freeways, that no one is exempt.  But we feel that the judge working with the freeway protestors felt overwhelmed. 

Doyle needs to go into the city but he'll take the Ferry instead,  My sister and I will be going to the city for the start of the Film Noir Festival but Brian said he'd drive us over in the early afternoon to allow us time to get to our hotel and settle in. 

It's all in the planning.  I'm feeling better and resting as much as possible as well, mostly its sniffling and this stubborn cough caused by dripping sinuses.  Doyle suggested that we plan on staying at the hotel for the entire time of the Film Festival, have a sort of vacation, he said he'd reimburse us half the costs of the hotel stay. 

Sis thinks that would be wonderful, she doesn't have any clients at all booked for the week, she planned on being free during that time.   So once we get to the Hotel we'll talk to the agent to see about extending our stay, even if we have to move to a different room.

I'll have all my meds with me and if we need anything Doyle can bring it to us, since he'll be commuting in.

So more packing for a longer stay,  Weiner Dog and Belladonna will be staying with our neighbor while Doyle is in the city during the day and come home with him in the evening.  I'm going to miss those precious dynamic duo, but they are use to it and our neighbor enjoys their antics.  

Sometimes because my family has said I'm to not do any heavy work that could aggravate my cold, I get bored, so besides writing to friends and family, reading, I do research, and I came across a lovely website that offers modern clothing done in the style of the 1920's and 1950's.

I will post a few examples here-----

 

The company is called ModCloth  their url is www.modcloth.com/

 

Again I recommend reading the reviews on their clothing and such, and compare their size chart,  also they seem to run their length of skirts a bit shorter than I like but I have fallen for the third image down and plan to order it.

 

They do not appear to have a brick and mortar store it appears to be all on line, which is sad in a way as I do love to hold the garment up to me and try it on, but I understand their return policy is very good, so it should not be a problem. 

 

I will keep looking for other on line shops if you are interested in vintage styles and want to take it to a slightly Gothic turn. 

 

And now I must go, the repair man is here to see what is wrong with the refrigerator.

 

Later Darklings

Of more Quiet time and vague thoughts~~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well at the last minute Doyle suggested we go by BART to the City and we were fortunate no tie-ups, not like what has happened today, someone had stepped in front of a BART train causing delays, of course the person I heard was killed but reports are still confusing.

Several times in the last few weeks there has been a body on the tracks or someone falling in front of a BART Train.  Its so sad when that happens. I could go on about that but right now my mind does not want to process it.

However Doyle and I went without our car and took public transportation instead, I would have preferred having left earlier but we really were not in a rush. 

Doyle did find two sets of Pajamas and a nice robe and slippers, "I'm all set for winter" he declared!  We decided to eat at John's Grill, made famous for the Maltese Falcon, for a nice early dinner. But before we even got there he spotted an out of the way 2nd hand furniture store.  I thought now what has gotten into him.

But he was determined, I asked him what was going on and he said "My Spidey Sense tells me I'm going to find something here"  and he did.

An old large Office desk right out of the 1940's, but it had a flip desk top, I don't know how to explain it but you can mount a standard typewriter on a frame on a very heavy duty side board, and with a push it folds into the side of the desk, you close the door and it looks like a set of drawers.

To use the typewriter you open the door, pull on the side handle and the typewriter comes right up, it was very cleaver.   On the other side was a file drawer for current files, two drawers one for stationary the other to hold staplers, rulers, tape dispenser,  and above it a side out table to hold papers, the desk also had a middle drawer to hold pens, pencils and other small things like paper clips.

All in Oak and in good condition, Doyle fell in love with it, and there was a matching 4 drawer oak file cabinet and swivel desk chair with arms, the owner of the shop said it came out of an old office so he was displaying it as a set piece, including a cobra head desk lamp.   Doyle asked if there was a typewriter that went with the desk and the owner said yes but it needed reconditioning, and showed it, it was a black Royal typewriter, a heavy monster,  he had detached it from the desk thinking to sell it separately but Doyle would not have that. 

Doyle whipped out his credit card and said he'd take the entire set, desk, chair, file cabinet, typewriter and lamp!  I asked him "How are we going to get it home??  We came by BART!"    The owner asked us where did we live and he said that his son lives in Berkeley although he may move eventually and he could deliver it later this evening or tomorrow morning (meaning today) we said tomorrow would be fine, I'd be home to accept delivery but it may have to be moved to the "Man cave" in the back of the property, no problem, his grandson could help. 

After that surprise bit of shopping we ate and talked about his find, he said he just knew it would be there.   And we happily took BART and Bus home as the light grew dark and the street lights came on.  And for a few moments as we walked up to the house I felt as if time had shifted, that the cars on the street were not from 2014 but from 1940, that radio's were playing "Fibber Magee and Molly" or "The Shadow" and that we were in the same neighborhood but not in the same time.  And then the sense of time shifting passed as we opened the door. 

So now sitting in Doyle's "Man Cave" is the office set of his dreams for his "Office"  I knew exactly where he'd want them placed, so when he gets home he can go play with it.  He will still have to anchor the typewriter but I think he wants to take it to this place he knows that reconditions typewriters first and have it working just right. 

But just for fun after it was delivered I went to Bev Mo bought for him a bottle of good  bourbon and two glasses that I knew would be period correct, and tucked them into the file drawer of his desk, a nice little "house warming" present. 

So with a few more period correct additions the office will be just right for Doyle.  And I could not be more happier for him.

The sun is now more sharply inclined, I can barely hear a ships' horn on the Estuary the wind must be right to carry the sound.  The dogs are in their sweaters and nicely curled up in their beds napping.  I just have a few dishes to wash, dinner will be a simple affair.  Sis won't be back until late and called to say she'd grab a bit of dinner with a friend.  Brian is visiting family for the week.

And it's quiet here, nice and comforting soothing really.  I was out in the back yard picking off Bay leaves from out Bay tree and rinsed the dust off of them and set them up to dry, after a bit I'll tuck the leaves on the pantry shelves to keep small bugs away.  Next Spring I'll have the rugs and padding taken up to do a through vacuuming, and then lay down fresh lavender and eucalyptus leaves to keep fleas and small insects out, I do that once a year in the Spring. 

So I'll make a cup of tea, and do my lists for projects to do, groceries to buy, preparations for Thanksgiving.  And I'll talk to my team of Merry Maids about some serious deep cleaning for the Holidays.

Later Darklings

Doyle had not realized that Thanksgiving would be so close.

Of "White Elephant Sales", Lent and a busy week~~~~

Hello My Darklings,

My goodness its been over a week since I last posted.   Well I confess work has kept me busy, both at my job and at home, so much so that I barely had a chance to even look over my blog.

We have been having rain, hooray!!!  But it still isn't enough to call off the call that we are in drought conditions, but my cisterns for the garden are getting nicely filled up, so with careful watering I think most of it not all my rooted plants will survive the coming summer.

So what mischief have I been getting into since last I posted???  Well just enough but not too much.

Sis, Doyle and I got up early to grab a good parking space for the Oakland Museums White Elephant Sale, with a folding stool we each took turns holding a place in line, while having hot coffee and donuts going back and forth between Doyles van and our holding spot, and yes it did rain and it was chilly.  But it was worth it,
Doyle found some things for his future "man-cave" so his man-cave can look like an old 1940's detective's office, we are eventually going to Urban Ore to find the approprate door as well.  Sis found a wonderful 1950's desk lamp that looks like a UFO flying disk,  and I found some wonderful vintage costume jewerly as well as a few hand bags, once I snared those I went to help Doyle and Sis.  Just wonderful selections, but you have to know what you are looking for and be prepared to move it right away, some people come with U-Haul Trucks, I did reconize several vintage clothing dealers, they pretty much know what they want and don't have to worry about sizes more about condition.   But Ohhh getting up so early in the morning, in the cold and the rain.  You have to be made of stern stuff.

We later grabed lunch then dropped Sis off at her house so she could meet with her contractor, then Doyle and I went to the Nursery to find some rose bushes, I have to admit it is a little late in the season but I found several in deep dark reds,  I was surprised to see a "Mr. Lincoln" but I wanted it and a couple of lovely climbing roses, which I'll use to help outline the gate way between my yard and my sisters yard.

Such Luck too.   Sunday I just rested and puttered around the house, Doyle treated us to dinner that evening.  Then my work week started and it has been insane, or as some young people would say "we've been slammed",  of course it didn't help that a person was found dead on the BART tracks late Tuesday night which affected my communte to work Wednesday but fortunately the "Powers that Be" were understanding provided that I stayed late to make up the time,  I compromise and told them "It's Ash Wednesday, I'm going to church, I'll make it up on Thursday"  and of course they gave in.

Tuesday if one is at Mardi Grah was "Fat Tuesday" and Doyle and I celebrated in our own way, we went to see a classic movie presentation "A Fistful of Dollars" with Clint Eastwood,  I have never seen the movie on the big screen, and such a difference!!!  It has greater impact visually which adds to the story line, the concept of the struggle for power in a small town where neither side is good, and the one in the middle that destroys the two factions is not really good either, but can be an emblem of rough justice.   The contrast of the two mothers is also very revealing.  Afterwards Doyle and I had to have a glass of wine at one of the local places with a bit of "bar food" and discuss seeing this film on the big screen.

But getting back to the person found dead on the BART tracks, not much is being told about this except that it's being investigated, but what is it about people and either BART or Train Tracks, of late there have been a lot of deaths in regards to this, and from what I've read it's just plain stupidity, not paying attention. 

Well I did stay late on Thursday and today I had a dental appointment this morning and all is well with my teeth.  The rain for now has stopped and the sun is shining, the plum trees are blooming, there are birds coming around, I've seen robins and blue jays, even humming birds, Sis and I have put out our humming bird feeders in locations where cats can't get to them.   And the squirrels are playing "chicken" with the cars and some of them are losing.

And no Darklings I did not watch the Oscars, I really didn't have any interest in it.

So now we are into Lent, Sis and I observe Lent with food restritions, I'm giving up wine and chocolate, no meat on Fridays,  and I'm taking next week off, Spring cleaning,  I'm having the drapes, curtains cleaned, the rugs have to be done a special way,  the cleaning service is going to be giving me a big bill after this is over, cleaning the stove and oven, and getting rid of things that we've bought and we'll never use. 

But it will feel good.

Later Darklings

Of Pfeffernusse, Raging wind storms, power outages and BART confusion~~~

Hello Darklings,

Yes Trisha it is Pfeffernusse!!!  But one receipe calls for a hard sugar coating and another is with powdered sugar.  And I remember Mr. Manning's was powdered sugar, his daughter in law baked them following his late wife's receipe.  My mouth just salavates with remembering,  it is amazing that I didn't get fat.

Earlier last evening I mentioned this to my Sister and she said when she has a breather (many clients this time of year) she is going to try and make it.  For her baking is therapy, but then she shares her treats with us and neighbors.  She told me that there is something wonderful about the smell of something freshly baking in a kitchen.

And hopefully we'll be able to do it this weekend, the stove man is coming tomorrow to work on the stove and if all goes well, we can start cooking on it.  With two ovens and such we are going to have a very warm kitchen for the winter, but that should feel good.

Right now my body is aching all over,  last night we had a raging wind storm with 45 mile an hour guses,  it was enough to cause a fire in Napa, power outages around the area, it was terrible last night, I heard glass breaking, and we went through the house but all the windows were fine, this morning I discovered a pine cone had smashed one of the glass panes in the greenhouse, shot through it like a bullet, tree branches and leaves all over the garden front and back, had to clean out the leaves from the outside pond, the indoor one was fine but had to put a board up to block the cold,  I'll have my contractor work on it in a few days.

Then we heard a sound like thunder so Doyle and I went out to investigate, while Sis stayed in the house, it turned out to be  my neighbors canopy E-ZUp had flown over into my yard,  there it was it's broken metal legs in the air, the canopy acting like a kite and getting shredded at the same time. He came over and the three of us wrestled it into submission fighting it and the wind.  We saw other things fly over which I  found this morning such as a styrofoam cooler and a few other stray things that were not mine.  So this morning I was cleaning the worst of it, my contractor who is also my Sister's contractor came over with two men and put them to work to take care of any damaged done to Sis's house where it was being worked on, and he told me if I found any damage to my house to let him know and he'll have men come by and fix it, but I told him it might be a few days. 

Sis had to go and see her clients, Doyle had to go early this morning but came back this afternoon and is finishing up for me,  we lost power last night, Doyle had stayed up to work on a report after we tamed the wild E-ZUp,  and the lights went out, so he went into the basement and powered up the emergency generator to keep the refrigerators and freezer going, and had enough power to light a lamp so he could finish his report.  He set the old windeup Westclock so he'd wake up in time.  Imaging how startled I was this morning when I heard it go off instead of soothing music, nearly gave me a heart attack.

Our power came back on an hour ago,  thank goodness.  And Sis said she'd help me tomorrow with anything that needed work,  all the debrie on the front porch, just unbelieveable.

We saw that a tree had lost some large branches partly blocking the street, but people managed to get around them.  City clean up will get to it, the police had reported it and managed to move the branches so we'd have egress.

And now my back is aching, my leg muscels are aching, my hands are aching,  I think this evening I'm going to take a nice long hot soak with plenty of bubble bath and a touch of J'Adore in the water.

I called my Cousin Louise to see how she fared and she said things were fine, messy but fine and she was going out to dinner with a friend of hers and to not worry. 

Brian called me from the BART Station, Bart was not running because of computer problems so he's going to be late to work, he managed to grab a transbay Bus but of course the freeway traffic over the bridge is backed up because of BART's snaffu.  It was good thing I didn't have to go into work today, I'd never make it.

I managed to catch some of the news, and it is a mess, power lines down all over the place, power outtages, cars damaged by falling trees, and two people were killed in all of this.  Amazing when Mother Nature starts throwing her weight around.

And speaking of weight being thrown around, it seems that BART has another snafu on its contract because of that one clause on family leave.  Of course the Union knows that the people are not happy and will not tolerate even an idea of a strike,  but they do have other recourse, it even may go to court or arbritration. 
I do wish a law would be passed and settle this once and for all.

I thought we might have Coralline this weekend but her Mother asked if we could have her for the following weekend instead, frankly that would be better, I need to know from the little girl, who is growing so fast, what mischief has she been into lately.

And Bat Kid is still in the news, it seems someone has put together a "movie trailer" as if a movie about the adventures of Bat Kid is coming out, not really but the trailer is fun, highlighting all the high points of Bat Kid's adventures.  The little guy said that the Penguin was nice and apologized for being such a Bad person, but not the Riddler, now he's got to catch the Joker.  Still a feel good moment.

Now I'm going to relax and have a cup of hot chocolate,  You're right Trish, I do make every effort for my home to be a santuary to feel safe and even cocooned from all the "evils" of the outside world, it becomes a world unto itself.  It is colors, textures, scents, and warmth, an enviroment to banish the stresses of the world.  We know there are concerns out there, some we can do something about, other's we can support positive efforts, and in others we make our opinion known by writing letters to our politicians and make our presence known at the voting booth.   I know that I cannot singlehandedly save the world, but I can save a small piece of it.

Oh and that very cute police officer that I met a number of weeks ago called and asked if would be alright to take a tour of my house the Sunday after Thanksgiving with his wife and two little children, I said that would be perfect and we arranged a time for them to come by, he said that he and his wife managed to buy an old 1912 Craftsman, at a good interest rate, a fixer upper, and estate sale, the person had no family and the funds were to go to charity, but it needed serious work, so he wants to have his wife see my house to be inspired.  I think I can do that.

And now for that hot chocolate.

Later Darklings

Sometimes the simplest pleasures are the best.

Of "static on the line", old musty book stores and BART is at it again~~~

Hello Darklings,

Oh yes Rebecca, that book on the Victorian House by Flanders is at the top of my list,  I'll have to see what is offered on Amazon.  

I know I would prefer to go to a local book store, but sometimes they have it and sometimes they don't, and my favorite book store has been closed for a few years, the owner was very up there in years and advertised that he was closing everything 50 to 75% off.  Of course we took advantage of it, it has always been my first place to shop for books, but when I saw how fraile he looked I realized he was doing the right thing.  His son and daughter in law was helping him box and bag books as they sold.  I could see how they were concerned about him,  the daughter in law told me, that ever since the Cat died, its name was Queen Elizabeth, her father in law was not the same afterwards and the Cat was nearly 20 years old.  Very old for a cat.

Then he was selling his book shelves and I put in a bid for 4 of them, so wonderfully old and victorian and got them too,  of course I had to borrow a truck and a friend to help me haul them, and put them into my apartment, now they are in different parts of the house still displaying speical treasures.

I miss Mr. Manning, he reminded me of a faded version of the actor Peter Cushing,  and his book store, it was crowded with books, and delightful things and his cat perched on a speical book shelf on a faded red cushion watching her kingdom, and what made it so speical was the wonderful scents of tea's and such, near his mystery section he also sold teas and tea cups and cozies and tea pots and all kinds of tea things.  I could never leave without buying a tea to try. 

I cannot forget how close to Thanksgiving and Christmas the scent of cinnamon and cloves filled the air, and his huge apolicary jar of ginger candies, "Good for a sore throat or cold" he would say and wrap a few of them in wax paper for me to take, always free.  The spice cookies Phiffin...something, such a treat spicy and sweet with a dusting of powdered sugar to get all over your clothes. 

And Tiffany style lamps to light a dark corner to reveal its treasures.  I would stop there at least once a week especially on my way to work to buy a mystery or informative book,  Mr. Manning knew what bus I had to catch and would warn me so I wouldn't miss it.  If I didn't have time to pay for the book he would hold it for me for next time.     

I miss places like that, if I ever come across a place like that again I would cherish it and support it, but alas, they are disappearing from the scene and will only exist in memory, hidden from view, like Harry Potter's Diagon Alley, a speical memory to go down and re-visit when I open a book, drink a cup of tea and have a ginger candy for a scratchy throat.

***Sigh***

Well now I must deal with the here and now,  I'm glad I only worked a half day today, it gave me a chance to deal with a problem I thought was developing on my phone line and with the rain I was right, the static is painful to the ears and impossible to talk to someone espeically in dealing with business. 

Even Brian at my Sister's house was having the same problem so we knew it had to be a major line across the street where there are trees and branches rubbing, rubbing and wearing out the phone lines, so both he and I put in a "Trouble on the Line" call and I just hate the automatic telephone tree, but at least they have one for static on the line selection, BUT now I have to take tomorrow off because the phone man will be here between 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. HOW DELIGHTFUL!!   Oh well as long as its fixed, that is my concern.

So far though doing e-mail and posting on my blog doesn't seem to be a problem, in the long run I still do preferr a hard wire land line, to me cell phones are not user friendly, the voice keeps breaking up and people have a tendency to wander around their home or office which affects the quality of communication as they fade in and out---I have to keep saying to them that they are fading in and out and breaking up, do they have a spot where the signal is good.  Well of course they do but then they start wandering around again.
I Give Up!!

And its not 'romantic' for me, people do not know how to hold a telephone conversation, or even to say good-bye, or hello,  I had a wrong number call me one time and the man on the other end said to me "Hey Bro!!  Wassup!!  Man I've gotta ...."  and I interrupted him and said, "Excuse me but I do not think I'm your Bro or Brother,  I'm not even transgender..."  and he says "Wha.., What???  Hey ain't youse (insert name here)?"  "No" said I "and I don't even know the person"  and instead of saying "I'm sorry I dialed the wrong number" being apologetic they just hang up.  How Rude!!   Ettiquete decrees that you should aplogize for mis-dialing and bid the person a good day. 

Now I do have to say I have been given a number incorrectly, when I call and its not the right person I always say "I'm sorry but the number I was dialing is (blah, blah) to reach (so and so) have I mis-dialed?"  now usually because I'm so polite the response is either "well you've dial the right number but no such person is here"  or it will be "I'm sorry but you've dialed the wrong number" either way I'll apologize for having bothered them and hang up.  And I have never had a rude response either.   I think because I'm so polite it startles them......

Or maybe they think that a phone call from the past has traverse time and space only to interrupt their lives and leave a puzzelment....I like that idea...sort of shake them up out of their complacentcy.  Considered that's there's been a movie or two about that...Hmmmmm, such fun when you think about it.

And BART...it seems that the BART Directors are saying that there was an error in the already signed contract giving 6 weeks family leave and the Directors are saying that the costs for that will be too high, hmmm why wasn't that caught when they signed off on it, espeically considering that it was signed too by the original negotiator that no one liked...was that revenge on his part??

Now there is really no talk of strike but the possiblity of it is there, but the public is like "I'm so over this, I'm not on the Union's side."   I have to agree, it would be very harmful to strike right at the Holiday Season,  I can just see the public now, storming the BART stations with pitch fokes and torches and the BART offices as well.    O.K. who is going to pour down the boiling oil on the peasant rabble?

And for a while we had a wonderful feel good moment with Bat Kid, and another with a little two year old napping with his 9 week old puppy buddy, kids and puppies and kittens, even I can't resist that.

But the Typhoon in the Phillipines and Tornado's in the Mid-West, a harsh dose of reality to be reminded that life and material things are fragile.

And I just got a phone call from Doyle, I could hear him over the static, he's buying Chinese tonight with lots of Soup, no cooking for Sis and I,  he asked me to check to see if Brian and Louise want to join us,  I think tonight deserves to be with good people.  Don't you?

Later Darklings



I just hate waiting for them to fix the phone lines.



Of dogs, gardens, unions and moving~~~~~

Good Morning Darklings,

A chilly nippy morning it is, even though the sun has come out to dry off the very wet dew.  Both Wiener Dog and Belladonna are wearing sweaters,  yes Sis has bought for Wiener a complement of sweaters, coats, rain coats and a t-shirt for the little guy.  No one has claimed him or asked for him, we've checked back with the Cemetery office, various shelters, the Vet and nothing. 

Sis took Wiener in for anothe check up and he's fit as a fiddle and he's about 6 months old, no microchip either, so Sis went the whole route, microchipping, other shots, nails trimmed, bought the right stuff for flea treatment, but he's fine right now, more food, and his own toys but he seems to like his blue wiener dog toy, he even takes it away from Belladonna if she should get too close,  I've seen them sleep together under the throw blanket.

With two dogs in the house we've had to purchase throws for the chairs and couches, then they can be whisked off for guests and parties.  But it will help preserve the fabric,  I was concerned about Wiener's chewing habits but he seems to be very good about that,  and with Belladonna's encouragment, he understands the signals to go out and do his duty.

My Gardener has finished re-enforceing the fence and it would be very hard for him to dig out and it prevents any run off of soil.  My contractor has put in the cement paths where the garden gates would be but has suggested that since my garden is so deep and the dogs are so small to install fencing with gates to separate the garden into sections, this way I can keep the dogs in my sight and prevent them from getting into an area where I can't see them.  His suggestion makes sense, currently Doyle has set up moveable metal fencing around the area that I refer to as a patio and it's very easy for anyone to clean up, so I think I'll select some period looking fencing with a gate and I think an archway to separate it from the rest of the garden.  I could even plant a climbing rose bush like "Cicel Brunner" to cover it.

And it's strange the other night when I mentioned it to Sis she became excited and showed me a photograph taken many years ago of the back of the house and it shows a wooden fence and a wooden covered gateway between the main garden and the patio area  from the 1920's, some how over the years it must have deteriorated and was removed, but this time it will be metal.  I showed this to Doyle and he said that we should check out Urban Ore and Omega Salvage, we could find what we're looking for there. 

More planning, more design.

Last night on the news we heard that the BART Strike problem is not over, although the BART trains are running, it seems that there is a problem in one of the area's of negotiations and management may want to go back to the bargaining table, the union has said if they do, they will strike.   Oh Wonderful!!!  Right at the beginning of the holiday shopping season! 

I've come to the conclusion that I really do hope that a law passes where transit unions cannot strike, because this is stupid, and economically harmful.  The Union will lose if this goes to the state capital.

At one time Unions were good in protecting workers rights, but now they've become greedy, one Union forced a situation where a large baking corperation had to close down and sell off its assests because the Union would not be reasonable, this put 2 thousand people out of work, Hostess cup cakes and Twinkies disappeared, as well as Home Pride Bread.  Well another company bought the cup cake and twinkie francise, and another is making Home Pride but that new bread does not taste the same, and even Twinkies (which I really can't stand) is not around like it use to be.

It appears this is what Unions are doing, taking everything to the brink to see if the owners or managers will blink, but what happens, the owners close up shop, sell everything and everyone is out of work.  Everyone loses,  if my Father was alive and he was a Union man, he would have been horrified at what the Unions are doing now, and they are NOT for the workers.

Well I'm done with that rant,  Louise is ready and we're going back to her new place to see how things are going, her friend says its ready to be moved in and will give Louise two weeks free rent, and start it on Dec. 1st for her, because she knows she'll be a good tennant.   So to read and sign the contract, take a measurement of the floor spaces and then to go and buy some things, first thing is a bed and matteress, I'll be loaning her a card table and chairs so she'll have a place to sit and eat,  I'm using Doyles van, he's using my car so that way we'll have plenty of space to carry things.  And we'll go to the storage unit that has the funrniture that neither I nor Sis want to see if there is anything Louise can use.  So much to do, so little Daylight to do it in and we still need to get some serious coffee in us.

Later Darklings



As I said, we do take our coffee SERIOUSLY.



Of "Ding-Dong The BART Strike is dead" and a kitchen stove~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well just a play on words, but in a nutshell, the BART Strike is over.  I think with having the Liut. Govenor There (Gavin Newsom) at the bargaining table and the tragic death of two BART staffers (one was management and the other a contractor), made the Unions wake up and Management ease up.

The Unions because most of the public is not on their side because their hardlineness is causing the general public to be out of work and lose money.  Management because they want this to end and it is easier to bend like a reed than to stand up like a tree.

But Newsom said something that I think is a signal to both Union and Management to transit workers state wide.  He stated that this will never happen again----oh I think Darklings that something is in the works, possibly a bill that would prevent such strikes from happening again and damaging the economy, there were a lot of people who could not get to their jobs because they do not have cars, or only one shared car. 

I think Darklings, that the Unions have shot themselves in the foot with this, oh they want things but when the Liut. Govenor steps in it shows that they have gotten out of hand and now they are possibly going to lose a bargaining chip.

I drive, I have a car, but taking public transit is so much easier for me, less stressful and less wear and tear on my car.  In my sisters' or Doyle's case their car is needed and must be used and they keep tabs on their millage for work related travel so they'd get a tax write off.

I'm glad that today I don't have to go in until 4 p.m. I'm being picked up by my car pool, then I'll have tomorrow off because I'm working late tonight, this was all pre-arranged in case of a strike, but since it will take almost a whole day to get the trains running properly we're going to do it this time, then things will be "back on track" for me Thursday.

Ahhh but Happy, Happy Joy Joy, Darklings,  my "new" used stove have been delivered and is waiting for Sis and I to tackle it to get it clean and make the appointment to have it serviced and calibrated.  Even with it's grime and wear it is a thing of beauty to be made a joy forever.  We are still using the apartment stove until we have the O.K. and I am just so excited about it.  I know Darklings, how can one be excited about something as mundane as a stove?  A homemaker and a good cook know that a good stove, refrigerator, washer, dryer, iron and ironing board, and a good sturdy clothes line, plus a working toaster and can opener can make a difference.  One can go into raptures about the latest App or Ipad or whatever, but that is transient---unless it helps with one's work.  I can be that way about a new microscope, if it makes my work easier and more efficent and this stove is a dream.

This weekend is going to be a busy one for me getting things together for our halloween party plus candy goodies for the little trick or treaters---My sister is going to drag me to this new Target tomorrow to see if we can get some candy bargains and see what they have, then I'll be menu planning, my Cousin Louise is going to help out planning it, she's a wonderful cook.  And yes she is going to go ahead with her divorce, she has a good lawyer and she knows what she wants.

Now I must put together what I need to take to work.

Later Darklings

Of a Short Vacation and a "new" stove~~~~

Hello my Darklings,

Yes I am up early, but a lot to do and little time to do it in.

Dear Rebecca I do hope you enjoy the pumpkin crunch receipe, I was surprised how easy it was to make, and it seems like just the perfect thing for the fall.   I hope to be able to on occasion post other receipes that I find tasty and enjoyable.
It seems for now BART cannot make up it's mind to strike or not to strike (that is the question), but it seems that the talks are moving forward although slowly.  I find it interesting that when the original mediator went on vacation and a Federal Mediator came in that suddenly there was progress.   They should keep this man in and booth the first one out. 

So the BART trains are running but people have to find out from the 11 p.m. news every night to see if it is so, very inconvient.  AC Transit (buses) were also threatening to strike but the Govenor stepped in and ordered a 7 day cooling down, and if they still can't get it together then he'll order a 60 day cooling down.

And the Federal Government has opened up for business at least for the next 3 or 4 months, frankly raising the debt ceiling is not really good.  The government needs to look at its spending practices and stop borrowing, even Benjamin Franklin once said "man has an income of $20 and spends only $19.90 that equals happiness, but if his earns $20 and spends $20.10 that equals misery" (o.k. I paraphrased it) but that is what our Government Federal, State, County and City is doing and you cannot tax the life out of the people.  Something has to give.

But for now I'm not going to worry,  even my cousin Louise said that the moon and the planets (she's into Astrology) showed that the bottle necks will suddenly clear up temporarily, and she said that on Monday.

Yes my Cousin Louise is staying with me and Sis and Doyle, which is a good thing in a way.  Depending upon how one looks at it, well Doyle is taking me to Old Sacramento and we are going to stay on the Delta King, Sis will be in and out of the house dealing with her clientel, and the workmen on her house,  Belladonna will be staying with our elderly neighbor, and Brian can keep an eye on the houses since he'll be working from home but with Louise here that will help.

Louise is my younger cousin and has moved out of her apartment because she is getting a divorce, after 25 years of marriage, no children and a finladering husband she has had enough.  She wanted a house he didn't, she wanted certain pieces of furniture,he didn't, she liked certain music, places to see, movies to go to and she wanted children---he didn't.  But when she found out that he fathered and was taking care of a child by another woman, that was the end.  And so she is now with me and Sis, I had her talk to my lawyer who recommended a very good lawyer to help her.  Money is not a worry for her, but she is going to get what is rightfully hers by our state laws.

And she'll house sit for me,  I am so looking forward to this vacation, to see somethings different, I understand that there maybe Ghost Walks in Old Sacramento but we'll know better once we get there.

And the 'new' stove,  well Darklings I've been looking and looking, new, old, vintage etc. and nothing seemed right,  I had first thought of getting a new stove from the Elmira works (it would have to be ordered) but what was off putting for me was how high the grates were on the stove, I thought it would be too easy to knock a pot off the stove.   And much of the old stoves still needed work,  I had found photos of the kitchen going back to when the house was built but the stove at that time was very small,  then one from the 1920's but again that seemed too small, I knew I wanted something like my O'keefe and Merritt but since from time to time I give parties I wanted something that would handle a lot.

Then my contractor called me last weekend and said he thinks he found the stove I want,  so yesterday evening Doyle and I went to this place that he was in the process of dismantling, yes Darklings dismantling, he preferes to salvage as much as he can before a place is torn down, this house was in very bad shape but he salvage a lot of wonderful things from it, including mahogany panneling, stain glass windows, etc. but it was the stove, I had the measurements as well as photo's of the spot where it would be put and I could not believe my eyes......There it was.....an O'Keefe and Merritt Town and Country range, 57 inches wide, 6 burners, 2 ovens with windows, 2 broilers, 2 warming compartments and 2 storage areas.

There were tears in my eyes of joy,  I had seen on a web site the same stove but the asking price was $8,000 I could not afford that!!!    But this one could be had for just the cost of moving it out and installing it at my place plus having a good repair man come out and checking it over and calibrating the burners and ovens,  it would need cleaning yes, but Sis, Doyle and I are up to it.  

Talking it over with my contractor he said he could move the tiny aparment stove over install a new flex hose for it and then move the O'Keefe stove into it's place we could clean it and then he'd install a flex hose for it but not turn on the gas to it until I had made an appointment for the repair man to come and check it out and do what needs be done to it. 

My contractor tested it while the gas was still available to see if there was any problems and he did not find any, but the move could jiggle something loose.  Some of the knobs were very stiff, so that needs to be worked on and yes the chrome was a little worn but it's perfect,  Sis will be home when the move is done this weekend, so the kitchen will be a little awkward but that will be only for a short time.

I do not have a picture of the stove in the old house but I've got a picture of the same one from the web site so you'll see what I'll be getting just remember Darklings this picture is of a totally refurbished stove, the one I'm getting will have seen some wars but it is perfectly useable.

But now Louise is here and I hear her puttering in the kitchen,  I think I'll go and have another cup of coffee and discuss with her, her future plans.

Later Darklings

This is the one on the web site, mine is far more used that this but its the exact same model.

Of Monday, Aviator cocktails, and a possible BART strike~~~

Hello and Good Morning Darklings,

Yes, Moi up early in the A.M.  who would have thought.  But it seems that when I wake up although the clock says 7 a.m. it Does feel like 6 a.m.  I will be so glad when Daylight Savings Time is over.  Of course Belladonna did not want to leave her nice warm bed, I still have her in her sweater and she was under her bed covers (yes doggie bed covers) so I have not forced her, she'll get up when she wants to.

I am so glad I do not work on Mondays and Fridays anymore,  I've been following the news and people thought that BART unions were going to strike today, but not----at least for 24 hours.  This whole thing is so silly and the public is fed up with the unions holding out, it seems anything to do with transportation is not sitting well with the general public.

BART management has given their best and final offer, which is more than before, and BART unions are acting coy hinting its still not enough, but from what I can detect between the verbage, I think the unions are wary of public opinion right now, the public is not on their side....AND there is a move up in Sacramento to design and pass a bill preventing state wide any kind of transit strike, I do believe that New York and at least two other states have a simular bill.  

Both Unions and Management do not want that kind of bill, but I have a feeling it will pass, anything that interfers with the economy, creates chaos and grid lock now a days is not looked upon favorably.   So BART and possibly AC Transit Unions may have shot themselves in the foot.  Well that is what happens if you become too greedy.

Doyle and Sis have left for their respective offices early today,  Doyle muttering about doing background checks,  and Sis saying she'll be glad to have her house done so she can get out of her lease on her office.  And I will be making dinner.  Good Old Fashion Monday Meatloaf.  But I came across a dessert called Pumpkin Crunch, such a good alternative to pumpkin pie.  So I'll be a housefrau today, which is good, my maid service is coming in today.

And meal planning, bill paying all those wonderful mundane things to do. 

Last night Doyle made Aviator cocktails, they have a sky blue color, and it is not made with Blue curaco but Creme de Violete very hard to get I understand but Doyle has his sources, it is a cocktail from the 1920's and such a floral taste almost refreshing----now Doyle said if one uses Palma Violetes or another liquor it tastes different, but he wanted to try this,  I fell in love with it, now there are a lot of receipes out there but the original is best to follow.

I asked Doyle why he wanted to try it and he reminded me of an earlier episode of "The Blacklist" where James Spader's character introduces the heroine to the Aviator cocktail---this is sort of a Hannibal character but with a slight difference, unfortunately it runs the same time as "Castle" so we record it and watch it on Tuesday right after the 6 p.m. news,  I find Spader's character devious, a manipulative, but why is his character getting rid of those he's done business with and who are very evil?  What is his motive?  It is far more enjoyable than "Revenge" which is just a fancy Soap Opera,  and "Scandal" is fine but I am not intrigued by that program as much. 

What we have found is that if there are programs that run at the same time we Tivo them and then watch them during "blank spots" in the regular T.V. programing---"Blank Spots" being programs we're not interested in, since we try to have dinner at 6 p.m. if possible, one blank spot is the 7 to 8 p.m. slot. and on weekends it can extend to the 8 to 9 p.m. slot as well.

And I must confess I've become hooked on "The Good Wife" now the plot line is getting very interesting, before it bored me, but Sis liked it.  But now we have "Sleepy Hollow" "Bones", "The Originals" and our favorites, "Castle", "Blue Bloods", "Supernatural", "Big Bang Theory", "NCIS" "NCIS-LA", "CSI", "Criminal Minds", "Person of Interest",  sorry but "Elementary" has lost me,  "Hawaii 50" is still interesting but I don't think it will survive this season.  We've been checking in on "Vampire Diaries"  Sis watches it because of some of her younger clients, but its still too juvenile for me, although I think the Damon character is interesting, he reminds me of a young man I dated many years ago, always acting like a bad boy, but secretly had a good heart and did kind and helpful things for people without their knowing it.  Same green eyes--mmmmmm.

But what has Happened to "Hannibal" and "Nikita"  I didn't hear of them being cancelled.  Unless "Hannibal" is one of those 13 weeks mid-season runs.  Doyle insists that we buy the series "Foyle's War" I agree I enjoy the degree of research into the history of that program and its set design.

But now I understand there are still a few more programs to premier, oh decisions, decisions.

Now I must go, Belladonna finally rose from her bed and has done her thing and is barking at the squirrels, I guess I'll have to go and referee and the Maid Service will be here in the next half-hour, and I still have to get the inside of the house decorated for Halloween, not that I have to do much, just to get out a few things and plan the menu for the party.

Later Darklings

Of Shopping exhaustion and vampire dolls~~~~

Well Darklings,

We got home a half hour ago, fortunately we managed to avoid the commute traffic.

Coralline is estatic with her new clothes, shoes and other goodies,  we found things at J.C. Penneys, Target and Wal-mart, we took side trips to the Beverly's Craft store for Halloween goodies, and I could not believe the things girls can put into their school lockers, little battery operated chandilers, we got one in black with crystals, mirrors (one with purple and little bats on it) and other sundry goodies. 

We never had anything like that when I went to school,  we really bought two chandiliers one for school and one for her oversize Dracula Dollhouse, we came across a horror high dolls like Draculina and other girl creatures, of course Coralline fell in love with Draculina, she hasn't grown out of dolls yet but this was like it had become her mascot,  who am I to say "No".

I mean I wanted to get the Munster Dolls but couldn't afford them. 

Had to get her shoes that were correct for her school uniforms, as well as fun shoes, but we had to be sure they wouldn't hurt her feet.

And I did promise I would take her to the Spirit Stores when they open.

I finally had a chance to show her the desk that I bought at the estate sale, she was thrilled, she said it was so "Addams Family"  so now she has her own desk.   I thought she would want her Dad to take it home but she said she couldn't trust her over-active brothers to keep out of her room and doing damage to it.   As a matter of fact she asked her Dad to bring over her Dracula Dollhouse to keep at my home.  

It seems her brothers had done some mischief to it, thinking it would be fun to tease her, instead she screamed and for the first time in her life her mother told me (over the phone) Coralline chased her brothers hitting them with a broom and calling them monsters, this was over a week ago.   Coralline told her folks that her brothers had no respect for her things, and her room and declared that she hated them.  Her Mother told me that Coralline refuses to speak to them or acknowledge their existence.

I asked Carol (her mother) what was her feelings about this and she acknowledge that the boys had gone too far and not only were grounded, but grounded through Christmas, and Coralline can lock her bedroom when she is not at home or if she even leaves her bedroom to help around the house to keep her brothers out.  The boys had their video game things taken away and would not be able to watch any sports games on T.V. , of course that means that my brother is going to have to watch the games at a friends house.

And the boys are going to be doing chores around the house under strick supervision, no more fun and games for them.  The dollhouse is repaired and re-painted, but Coralline's distrust of her brothers right now is very strong.  Maybe when they are older they will wake up to the fact that teasing is not as funny as they think.

This was something I was afraid would happen, I even voiced this to my brother a while ago before this happened, but he kept saying "boys will be boys" but I kept saying they have to learn boundries, they know them here at my house, but are they really learning them in his house.  Well now he knows and even he is paying for it, my brother even complained to my sister and I but we took Carol's and Coralline's side, he realized when he was out-gunned.

So Coralline will have dinner with us and her folks will come to pick her up and drop off the Dollhouse which will be put into her bedroom, her desk will be in the Library so she can do her homework while I work on bills and reports, that way I'm there if she needs help.

Sis is preparing dinner, crock pot stew which will be ready in a few minutes, I have to confess she is a much better cook than I am, although I'm not bad, but she has the better talent.  We thought Doyle would be flying in yesterday evening, but he was delayed for another day and will be in tomorrow, he said to not worry he'd either take the transit or a taxi.

And the 60 day cooling off period has been invoked, although according to those in the know Gov. Brown can do more to get this impass moving.  It seems that the BART Board came back to the table but the Union walked out, it has been recommended to change the negotiators new faces, because the personalities and stepping around to do one upsmanship is getting in the way of serious bargaining.  I agree.

So the trains are running now til Oct 10 and then it starts all over again.  Hmmmm maybe I'll make a voodoo doll to get them to come to an agreement.   Ahhhh Dinner is ready and we are all hungry.

Later Darklings

This is a Cuthulu pie made with cherries with cherry eyes, Sis will attempt to make one eventually

Of Shopping, shopping and more shopping~~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well I'm waiting for Coralline to finish getting dressed, although I know she is doing it as quickly as possible.

She spent the night at my home, because the stores she wants to go to is closer to me and I have not had the pleasure of her company for a while, and yes we did stay up late to watch "The Mummy's Hand" on Svengoolie.

So today we will go shopping for her clothes for school, she is getting to be tall, in a few more years I'm sure she will be as tall as me.

And I am looking forward to this expedition,  I also put in to have tomorrow off from work, since her school has not started yet we will finish the shopping tomorrow.  My Boss said that was fine since I had been putting in extra time to cover some vacations by staff and he'll have a full compliment tomorrow.

Well on the Bart Strike, Gov. Jerry Brown said for both sides to "hammer out a deal or else" which means he will call for a 60 day cooling down period.  But by law he can only do that one time.  From the editorial cartoons I've been seeing, the attitude is not sympathtic towards the Union or the Board, but more so not to the Union.   And if that state representative has his way it could make such strikes like these illegal, so have the Union done its members any good?  I don't think so.

Ahhh but at this point in time, I do not care, Coralline is here and is ready to go, Belladonna will go to her sitter and we shall be off to do what ladies do best----SHOPPING!!!

Later Darklings

Of the Spirit Store is comming!!!

Good Morning My Darklings,

My car pool ride home was relaxing and somewhat uneventful, except we had to take the San Mateo Bridge home instead of the SF East Bay Bridge,  it seems there was a huge truck fire that occurred on that bridge, no one hurt thank goodness, but a lot of sushi went up in flames.  As one of my co-workers remarked "That's a serious fish fry".   A humoriest he is not.

Traffic was backed up for 2 to 3 hours with people running out of gas and people being arrested for fighting.  A sign of things to come I fear.

But San Mateo Bridge traffic was fairly free-flowing so we took the "back way" home and contributed to paying for the extra gas to our driver.

Although I was a bit tired when I got home my sister was waiting very paticently for me and said "we need to get some staples for the pantry", it seems in the fun of shopping for Coralline for me and house re-modeling for my sister and Doyle out of town we forgot to do the basics----grocery shopping.

So with her driving and I going over the grocery list we went into Alameda to the Safeway there, and hoped that Trader Joe's would be open as well...we were lucky we got there in time before Joe's closed and then went to Safeway.   I was amazed at the peace and quiet in the Store and some of the strange "Nighthawks" that shop there after the sun went down.

Ever since many stores stay open either 24 hours or till 10 p.m. or midnight and since the "invention" of on line shopping, those that relish living at Night have many benefits of those shopping hours,  I'm sure during the Christmas shopping hours when many places stay open till 11 p.m. that is also greatly welcomed as well.

I mentioned to my sister about this and she said that in the hot valley areas and desert areas places like Wal-Mart and Target are open 24 hours so that people can shop during the cool of the night avoiding the heat of the day espeically when it gets up into the high 90's or 100's.   When she had to travel as part of her previous job this was something she discovered.    I looked at her and she smiled and said "Maybe we should look at the hours of our local Wal-mart and Target stores, it could prove to be very helpful."

I love the way she thinks.

After we were though loading our groceries in the car, Sis said she had to drop off a number of letters to mail and get stamps, the local post office was nearby and the lobby was open so we drove there and as we were going past what use to be a "Blockbuster" store we saw The Sign.   "Spirit Is Coming!"  

Yeaaaaaa we screamed like teenage girls at a rock concert!

We knew that towards the late middle towards end of September the store would still be stocking but also open to selling with a Grand Opening on Oct 1,   Sis looked at me and said "I guess we'll have to drive by here starting in September aren't we?"   Oh Yes said I.

I hope that they will carry the new Midnight Syndicate album and I do need to add to my Nox Arcana collection as well as any glass and plate wear and things to add to the house.   Sis reminded me to switch to my darker shades of nail polish like "Devil's Lure"  which means that there maybe some new and lovely selections of colors---I hope. 

I know Coralline will be thrilled----And I do hope the larger store south of us will be in its usual place.  Oh I am looking forward to Halloween!  

Sis also reminded me that the Vintage Fashion Fair will also be in October----Oh I thought, maybe I did have to forgo going on a vacation trip this year, but I am all excited in anticipation of the holidays!

And then after we got home and put the groceries away, Brian who was watching Belladonna while we were gone said that Doyle had called and would call back in a short while with some nice news for me.  Hmmmm I thought, I wonder what it could be?

I didn't have long to wait,  Doyle called back and asked me how would I like to spend several nights on the Delta King in Old Sacramento?  Tour the Old Town Sacramento and Sutter's Fort and if we have time maybe an art museum and get there by train?   Yes!!! I screamed.

Doyle had made arrangements for us to go in the early part of October, he said with all the stresses of what was happening I needed a bit of relaxation and fun.   And he made sure his calendar would be clear for those dates, all I had to do was set it up with my Boss, which I knew was not going to be a problem since it was well in advance.

And now with the morning gray and overcast as well as chilly I have my work papers ready and just for today will take the bus and BART and if tomorrow AC Transit strikes or if they don't I will be car pooling.   I just hope that in all this aftermath there will not be any fighting on the on ramps to the SF-Bay Bridge, I have to say on the news broadcast showing the fighting, there was one woman who was so big she could have lifted a bus without much effort.

Later Darklings

Of A brief BART Strike postponement~~~

Well My Darklings,

Someone Finally woke up our Govenor Jerry Brown to the fiscal disaster the BART strike could do.

I'm still here at home, the contingency plan was we'd impliment our commute plan on Monday (today) strike or no strike, to see how it would work.

But the Govenor has stepped in to impliment a 7 day investigation period into the strike with a 3 member panel to see if a 60 cooling off period is needed and to continue negotiatons.

I will post the article as it appeared in the Wall Street Journal so that those who live overseas can understand how this works.  

So here it is~~~
Gov. Brown Intervenes to Stop BART Strike—for a Week, at Least - WSJ.comWSJ


By
WILLIAM HARLESS

California Gov. Jerry Brown halted a transit strike threatening the San
Francisco Bay Area's main commuter rail system, invoking a law that makes a
strike illegal for, effectively, the next seven days.

Because a strike would "disrupt public transportation services and will endanger
the public's health, safety, and welfare," Gov. Brown said in a statement Sunday
night, he had appointed a three-member board to investigate "the threatened
strike" over the next seven days. California law prohibits a strike while the
investigation proceeds.

Bay Area Rapid Transit workers picketing during last month's four-day strike;
with management and unions still far apart Sunday night, Gov. Jerry Brown
intervened to delay a second strike by a week.Train drivers, station agents and
other workers of the Bay Area Rapid Transit System announced the strike late
last week after union and BART negotiators failed to make significant headway
toward a new labor contract.

It would have been the summer's second BART strike. The first, which lasted four
days the first week of July, cost the Bay Area at least $73 million daily in
lost productivity, according to Tracey Grose, the vice president of the Bay Area
Council Economic Institute, a nonprofit research organization.

BART Board President Tom Radulovich, in a Sunday letter to Gov. Brown requesting
he intervene to prevent a second strike, said the union's demands are still
insupportable.

"The BART system is aging, and needs considerable reinvestment to meet the
mobility needs of the Bay Area while state and federal support for transit
dwindle," Mr. Radulovich wrote. "Meanwhile, the cost of maintaining benefits
continues to grow faster than our revenues. Our labor agreements must reflect
these financial realities."

Pete Castelli, executive director of Service Employees International Union Local
1021, said BART's offer Sunday was "regressive"—financially worse for his
members than its previous offer—while BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said, "We
made a steadily upward climb in our offers all weekend, offering more and
more—the wage proposal went up."

"They were calling our proposal regressive," she said, "and our response was we
only went in one direction, and that was up."

As of about a month ago, Local 1021 and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555
were asking for a 4.5% wage increase for each of the next three years, along
with an annual 2.2% cost-of-living adjustment.

BART, Ms. Trost said, has offered an 8% salary increase over four years, while also asking workers to pay more for health insurance, saying their premiums are some of the lowest in California.

According to Ms. Trost, after the governor-appointed panel releases its report,
the governor will have the option of asking a judge to impose a 60-day strike
injunction as negotiations proceed.

The last BART strike before July's was in 1997.

Write to William Harless at william.harless@dowjones.com
Copyright 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So as I understand it the Union is requesting a salary increase of 4.5%  EACH Year for 4 years and a 2.2% cost of living EACH Year on top of that for a total of 6.7%  EACH Year for 4 years for a Grand Total of  26.8% in Salary increases on top of the over $75,000 a year they receive gross?   And they do not pay into a retirement program, BART pays into their program and they only pay $92 a month flat rate into their health plan?

I know of no other government agency or private agency that does that.   Where I work we pay a portion of our salary into a retirement fund and health fund and our company pays matching amounts if not more.   And because I budget my funds carefully I am able to pay into a private retirement fund as well.   When I retire I will continue with my same health insurance and also medicare, and I will pay so much into it and my compay will match it as well.  

I and my co-workers do not know of any company or agency that coddles their employees like that.

The safety issue I certainly can understand but if the employees want safety then they have to make adjustments on other issues accordingly.   Unfortunately it will be the passengers who will have to pay for the increase via their fare costs.   Nobody rides for free in this life.

No wonder my fellow co-workers are so disenchanted by the Union's side of things.   I also understand that a state legislator is seeking to have a bill passed that such strikes done by a government agency that serious affects the economy and commerce be deemed illegal, and force both sides to remain at negotiations even when a contract runs out.   So the BART Union has really started a process that will eventually hurt all Union members.  Tsk-tsk.   How short-sighted by the Union.

Well Darklings I must go,  by the way Coralline, her mother and I had fun over the weekend weeding Coralline's closet and shopping for goodies for her and we are not done, well get together again soon to do more.    The clothing that Coralline out grew and she is going to be a tall young lady, I have in two bags which will go to a charity,  talking to Doyle over the phone he said he'll take care of it for us.  Such a good man.

Later Darklings

Of the impending BART Strike~~~~

Well My Darklings,

I'm here very early at work today,  cleared off a lot of things and in about 30 minutes we will have our All-Staff meeting.

Already David is plying me with Hazelnut Mocha Coffee, our Director has cereral with either hot or cold milk, fresh fruit, fruit juice, coffee, tea, pastry, and Bagels with several different kinds of spreads.  He knows many of us left home without eating and this promises to be a long meeting.

We heard the word on last nights news broadcast, the BART Unions have given a 72 hour notice that they will strike on Midnight Monday Aug 4, so no service on Monday, unless both the Union and the BART management come to an agreement.

Which we know will not happen.   The Union is asking too much and are already the highest paid transport agency in the United States,  many of us have gone over the numbers and we agree that this Union does not pay into its pension program, only pays a flat $92 allowance into their medical program, where as other govenement agencies do pay into those programs with the company paying matching funds to match the difference. 

The BART Union does not want that to change, well as almost all of my co-workers agree, the BART Union better change or there will be new training under a new contract with less money and paying into those programs, and the old staffers can kiss their jobs bye-bye.   Much of the Public is not on the Union's side.  

One thing we do agree on is that better safety for BART employees and for passengers is very important, but the Union is using that as a cover-up to distract from the fact that they want to even be even higher paid.  And who is going to pay for that????   The Passenger riders with higher fees to ride the BART.  And many of them cannot afford to have that kind of increase.

And yesterday the BART Union Board as well as members of other Unions gathered in front of City Hall in Oakland to show solidarity???!!!  Where is solidarity for the BART passenger?!

And for the State Capital to become involved requires a vote by the state congress? as well as other legal hoops?   With out regard to the damage to the economy???   Oh something is very rotten in Sacramento.

So here we are, waiting for the meeting, already I can see huge boards being set up so that a plan can be in place, the idea is that we will copy what is finalized on the plan, then a designated person will print it out and distribute it, we'll look it over and agree or make final changes then print out the new plan for finalization.  We will be here till late I think, our Director said he will buy dinner if it looks like we are going to go past 5 p.m.  We all agreed PIZZA, much easier and we have two microwaves to heat up slices if need be.

Of course everyone is shocked, Shocked!!  I came wearing slacks, granted they are in black, but no one has ever seen me wearing slacks to work, I said "Well isn't Friday sometimes referred to as 'Casual Friday' ?  So why not wear slacks.  Espeically as this is going to be a long, long day."   No arguements.

One of my co-workers will give me a lift home, as its on his way.   ***sigh***  It's going to be a difficult August for communiting.

Later Darklings

Of a few corrections to the previous post and thoughts~~~

Hello Darklings,

Once again I will be taking Mass Transit to work, my sister had to leave early and Doyle took a taxi to the airport, we will not have him for the weekend but it does mean that Coralline and I can do a closet clean out with her Mom, to be followed by shopping!   So I will be busy.

I made a few spelling corrections as well as syntax on my previous post.  One should not type things in "on the fly" but I have corrected them.

It is so cold this morning, fog has rolled in  as well as gray clouds overhead, so out comes my black trench coat and a sweater, in this Bay Area it pays to be able to layer on and peel off, because it can be below 60 with a breeze in San Francisco but well over 80 in Walnut Creek. Only a distance of 30 or so miles.

And speaking of Mass Transit, the count down has begun on the possiblity of a BART strike again, although they continue talking.   Frankly I've looked at the numbers and really all they have to do is split the difference,  but then each side wants what they want and the poor passengers have no say at all.

One passenger is trying to get a coalition up to contact the Governor to stop the strike and keep them at the bargaining table.... I don't think the idiot we have at the state capital will do that, he doesn't think that far ahead to realize how damaging this would be to the economy and how many people could lose their jobs if they can't get to work on time or even at all. 

Well at least at work we will have a plan and our director understands the situation and is very reasonable.

Now I must leave to go to work.  Heigh Ho my Darklings, Heigh Ho!

Later Darklings

Of reviewing the Black Dahlia Book & commenting on our Mass Transit systems~~

Hello Darklings,

Yes my Dark Lovelies I have the Morning off, my Boss said that I'm really only suppose to be working half time until September, and then another review on my health. 

Really I am amazed that my back is doing so well but then I'm careful to follow Doctor's orders.  But it seems that by being half time I'm more flexable for things here at work and can adjust my schdule as needed.  

The only concern is my retirement package, would that adversely affect it, not that I'm worried about income, over the years I've made very wise investments that can hold up to the fluxuations of the economy and the trust fund to maintain the house, so I'll look into that further.

And now to respond to Rebecca's question about the Black Dahlia Book "Fallen Angel" by Troy Taylor published by Whitechapel Press.

The man has done such an extensive and exhaustive investigation into everything revolving around the Black Dahlia (Elizabeth Short), but its more than just her, it is also about the corruption of the police in 20's to 40's Los Angeles,  the influcence about the Mob, the cover up about the actions of famous persons, the blackmailing by a powerful newspaper in L.A. and lies, everyone told lies.  

Anything you've read about the Dahlia, toss that out of your head,  Taylor dug deep, very deep,  and for the content I am just blown away and yet so intrigued by it.  Darkness Noir with the Dahlia as the figurehead, the face to all of this.

Now here is the other thing, this is not a glossy pictures, hard back book, many of the pictures are photocopies, some very good, some not so good as if photocopies from newsprint, the crime scene photos, autopsy photos very graphic and disturbing.   The print is close printed and dense you cannot take this book in one sitting, no, this needs to be digested, its like a fact-packed filled dossier.

Why was it published this way?  To make it affordable to any and all crime Noir, film noir, Gothic Noir, History Noir buffs.   You can purchase it from Whitechapel press for $17.00 or a little cheaper if you order it from Barnes and Nobel,  there is shipping and handling----Whitechapel, for the $17 price has some autographed copies, mine is.

So Rebecca I suggest that you get a copy for yourself and a copy for your Library system.  The information in this book blasts the others all away.

By the way as a postscript  you can find the Black Dahlia's grave on Find a Grave, the poor dear is buried not in L.A. or in her old home town but in Oakland, Calif.  at Mountain View Cemetery.  

But getting to her grave is not easy; Mountain View is both flat and hilly,  and those graves that have people buried that had next to none or no family but could pay for a cheap plot are on a hillside that's hard to climb up to, difficult to stay at espeically if the grass is wet, dangerous if you should fall, just like the Dahlia.   

And why was she buried there?  Well it would have cost too much money to transport her, (and I suspect her body was cremated to facilitate easier transportation---if you travel by bus or train they don't object to cremains) and her Father who lived in Oakland had a spare single plot that he didn't want since he had remarried, so she was buried up her far away from the false glamour and glitz of Hollywood, but her grave faces south as if she's looking in that direction.

I should know---- I've visited her small, lonely grave.

And now on a different subject-----Rebecca you commented on finding interesting about our BART Strike (possible)and that where you live people either have to use their cars or a pecarious bus system --- I presume its because frequently the buses are not on time.

Here in the San Francisco-Oakland East Bay Area we are awashed in Mass Transit, but people cling to their cars like they are the Ring of Power from Toliken's Trilogy.   And unfortunately because of finacial cut backs and reduction of bus lines they have forced the people to go back to using cars instead of public transportation.

That in time may change.

The area is serviced by Airports, light rail, Trains, Mass transit systems, may of which are numerous and often overlapping.

Let's start with Airports---The largest and oldest in the area is San Francisco International  (SFO) and is a major international hub airport 2nd only to LAX (Los Angeles)  and is Hub to United and Virgin America airlines.  You may have heard about it in the news of the crash of a 777 Asiana airplane which is still under investigation.

Oakland International (OAK)  is the 2nd largest in the region and a hub for mostly low-cost domestic flights and is a base for Southwest airlines.  It's espeically popular for communter flights, my Doyle goes from OAK when he has to go to LA or San Diego or up north.

We have Mineta San Jose INT Ap (SJC which is a minor focus for Southwest and is popular with Silicon valley.

Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport (STS) is a minor one in Santa Rose and is served by one commercial airline, Horizon Air.  It's a fast way for those in wine country to get to their country homes away from the city, many people fly their own planes from a branch of OAK which is called Old Oakland Airport to STS

Now to Mass transit----We have BART a subway/communterrail serives that serves parts of the Bay area including S.F. Oakland, Berkely, Richmond, Fremont and Walnut Creek and has direct connections at SFO and an improved direct connection to OAK is currently being built, there is a shuttle from a BART station to OAK in operation at this time.  (the strike will temporarily discontinue that)

CALtrain is a commuter rail that connects San Jose and S.F.  and with a BART stop for the other side of the East Bay by way of the Millbrae Station

Amtrak--we have several Amtrak stations in the Bay Area that connects to major train lines up and down the coast, and going south, and back east, and has BART transfer stations at 2 points, the information on Amtraks site can tell you more.

ACE trains this is a rail service that serves commuters to and from the Central Valley to Silicon Valley and travels from Stockton to  Pleasanton, Fremont, Santa Clara and ends at San Jose, only runs during commute hours on weekdays.

Light Rail---this is becoming a popular mode of transportation and is slowing beginning to gain much interest in the Bay Area currently it's only in S.F. called Muni Metro, it does share a station with BART under Market Street, this runs on former street car lines.

San Francisco also has Historical Street Car lines, with vintage Street Cars, just riding the different ones can be fun but I recommend to do it between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or after the communte hours as they tend to be crowded.

The other light rail is VTA which serves San Jose, including Santa Clara, Sunny vale, Campbell and Mountain View.

There are other light rail systems being developed in Sacramento and eventually Los Angeles

BUS---  There are numerous and often overlapping bus transit agencies that service the area. 

On the East Bay side we have AC transit which serves Alameda and Contra Costa Counties,  This system provided limited  service to San Francico to the transfer area known as Transbay Terminal from there one has to use the S.F. system.

In San Francico it's called MUNI which is a combination of light rail, buses, as well as antique historical street cars and provides connections to other transit systems.

There are many other shuttle and transit bus systems far to numerous for me to mention but you can look them up on wikipedia under Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Once you know the name of the System you can look up their schedules, destinations and cost from their web sites.

Because we are a Bay Area Water location much like Seattle or Vacouver we have Ferry Service provided by several Ferry systems, Golden Gate, Blue & Gold, Red& White.  the Hornblower system provides service to visit historic Alcatraz Island.

The Ferrys here are only people ferrys they do not transport cars like some other ferry systems.
There are also shuttle services both Medical, airport and private such as LINKS which serves a limited area.

There is also a system of Car Sharing which is slowly gaining some interest as well a system of "casual car pooling",  I have used  the later myself while waiting for a bus, but one needs to be discering, I do predict that "casual car pooling" will happen again if the strike happens, one takes a chance on that.

There is also taxi service all over, as well as a program in S.F. called "Ride Sharing" which the Taxi companies and Drivers are having a dispute about in S.F. the issue is safety as well as questions about how legal is this "Ride Sharing" program.
People who use public transportation will purchase a Clipper Card which is reloadable and is accepted by most but not all Bay Area transit agencies---those that do are AC transit, BART, Cal Train, Golden Gate Transit, Muni, SamTrans, and VTA.

The Bay Area possesses an extensive freeway and highway system which during communte hours on a very bad day can become a parking lot, but on the whole is manageable if one drives safely and vigilantly.

Again the wikipedia web site that I mentioned will list the major interstate and state hyway systems in this area.

If one wanted to one could literally travel the entire bay area without driving,  but in S.F. be careful taking a bus into the Chinatown area, the Geary, Market Street, Stockton and N Judah,  buses and light rail are always packed like sardines, so be careful of your purse, wallet and cell phone, be careful with them on any transit system.   And when school lets out or communte times again be prepared to be crushed, squeezed, pinched, bumped and bruised.  Don't wear flashy gold or silver jewerly, or anything to attract would be robbers and rudeness.  Be prepared for crazies, drunks, druggies and pan handlers.

Other than that it can be fun.

And now I must finish getting dressed for work and taking Mass Transit   ;)

Later Darklings

Of a restful but peculair weekend~~~

Hello Darklings,

I've been reading my Black Dahlia book, but I can only take it in in small amounts, so much to digest, and last night I didn't get much reading done because one of my co-workers called to vent her frustrations of Friday.

She wanted my advise or some suggestions as to what she and others can do about the last friday of the month when those Bicyclists take over the streets of San Francisco and prevent people from getting home.  It has a regular name (Critical Mass) but at work they call it Road Block Friday.

And with the possiblity of BART going on Strike by August 4th, that leaves that possiblity of transportation out.   I told her that this is something that will have to be brought up at the All Staff meeting.

One thing I did suggest to her was getting to work much earlier and leaving earlier to at least take the bus home or the Ferry, and just leave her car at home it just means not planning anything for that evening, perhaps have that as a Pizza night for the family or something.

There was the idea of maybe taking that day off and working on Saturday instead or doing a half day on Friday and half day on Saturday leaving the afternoons free.  Or coming in later and working later pass the time of the insanity of the bicyclists. 

Ordinarily if BART was not striking she would take BART and Bus to and from work, but with the BART strike that will not be possible.   I did tell her that at the all staff meeting we were going to look into what worked and what didn't during the 4 1/2 day strike and advised her to write those ideas down, and that if the Strike last more than a month (I don't think it will) that we still have to take into the  idea of the inconsideration and inconvience of Critical Mass and now would be a good time to address it, I know that our Director would welcome any ideas.

This last Friday was horriendous, not only was it Friday it was Critical Mass Friday, plus two games being played one in S.F. the other in Oakland, as well as two concerts in the Area and then as a topper, the Bridge (S.F. East Bay) was closed for two hours in both directions just at quitting time because of something that looks suspiciously like a bomb at an off ramp at Treasure Island. 

I was so glad I was not working that day.  Sis and Doyle were fortunate to avoid that mess as their work kept them on this side of the Bay, and Brian was working late.  But it was awful and painful to see on the news.

But today I took it easy,  just a little walk with Belladonna this morning, and a light breakfast, a few chores to be done.  Sis wanted me to go with her over to her house to look over that back porch.  Her contractor had suggested a few ideas and even sketched them out,  and she sketched some of her own but it was as if she has this idea but didn't know how to express it.

So here we are sitting on a couple of folding chairs and looking things over, some tall metal stakes were set up and string was tied to them to measure the area of how far the extention was going to go and then the much small outside deck beyound that.  But she had a feeling that what she had in mind for a view of the garden would be blocked and she was right.   I thought for a minute or two and said "Why a 2nd deck?  Why not a patio below the "lani" level,  I pointed out that at one end  closests to the driveway she could have a small deck to step out on and then steps to go down to it.   Considering the amount of sun it gets it would be wasteful to have another overhang, just have patio umbrella's that can be taken up or put out for shade as needed.

That way the major expanse of the view of the enclosed porch would not be impeded.  And with screens on the sliding floor to ceiling windows (in essence slide glass doors) one still could get fresh air and hear the birds.   She was estatic about the idea  But she still had a problem,  her driveway curves into the back yard and after the garden area is her garage so you have a beautiful garden and then a garage wall,  I said disguise it.  Make it a rock wall with plantings,  maybe a waterfall  but avoid bamboo, grows like a weed, I suggested a form of climbing jasmine for scent.  The gardener would know.

I said that the driveway could be hidden from the Lani with some of those buildings that she was thinking of that she saw at the County Fair espeically if she wanted to bring 1950's Hawaii into her back yard.  Some of the landscape designers that we saw at the Fair could be very helpful.

I told her that any repairs to that particular Garage wall could be done from the inside if she had metal posts to hold up the roof of the garage on that side.  And of course motion detector lights as well.

She was so happy that she is treating me to dinner tonight, and I'm looking forward to putting on a lovely dress and getting dressed up.  I'm ready to go, Sis is just making a couple of phone calls to confirm her clients appointments tomorrow,   Doyle was already getting together with a couple of his friends tonight so everything is nicely set.

Then tomorrow back to the grind stone, and a all-staff meeting.   Even at my age I'm still a "workin' gal".

Later Darklings