Of the Sunny Sunday Aftermath~~~~

Hello Darklings,

Yes Undergroundfortea, it did turn out to be a very fun and exhausting day.  But as they say many hands make light work.

The brunch food was mostly for everyone who didn't have a chance for breakfast and were going to skip a late lunch,  as a matter of fact, everyone had indulged so much on the bagels, donuts and fruit that lunch was un-necessary.

But in a matter of a few hours the weeds and brambles were cleared out and dumped into the dumpster and its full, full, full!  It's a good thing we were able to close the lid, well the boys helped by jumping up an down on it, we put a tarp over everything and that way it avoided getting brambles in their clothes and it packed down nicely.

Hidden under all of that we found a dozen head stones for various pets, and it seems that my Great Aunt had a very low stone boundary wall marking the area, standing about 18 inches high, but it couldn't be seen very well, and with some dirt removed we've found a couple of steps that led to the area,  so we now have a clearly defined area, and my brother and Doyle are thinking of going in the next few weeks to Urban Ore or another salvage place to find old style metal fencing and re-making the area, the boys are now into it as well, but from their point of view as a goulish delight.  Oh well, whatever it takes.

It's a good thing my brother knows something about concret work and such since he handled a lot of the remodeling on his house, he's hoping to use that as a way of absolution towards Coralline and it will be a good thing for the boys to learn.

Once the hard work was done we all retired into the greenhouse where it was warm to relax and talk, the children enjoying the Koi, everyone else enjoying a beer or wine and what was left of the food,  then bit by bit my friends had to leave, I did give them standing invitations to come to my Halloween party.

Then Monica shoved the boys into the down stairs shower to get cleaned up, with their Father monitoring them and us "girls" upstairs getting cleaned up,  the idea of dinner seemed too much for everyone so we decided to see if there was going to be food at the Haunted House instead.  If not then we'd find a late night burger place like "In n' Out" for dinner.

I know Darklings, how mundane!  But do you know how hard it is to find a late night fast food place around here, that is not a night club?  

When I was much younger locations of such places were spread by word of mouth for the "Nighthawks" those who 'fly by night', some locations were pretty dicey, and finding an all night grocery store or drug store was even rarer,  very hard for those who live the vampire lifestyle, oh in San Francisco there were places but on the East Bay side much harder.

Now there are places that are almost 24/7  but you still need a directory for some services.  I have a friend who has a skin condition which forces her to practically be a vampire, she has to take vitamin D because she has to avoid the sun as much as possible.  The very early morning hours and at twilight she's fine, but full sun is a problem.   When she had a doctor or dental appointment she had to wear special clothing to shield her, now she has a dentist who has evening hours, can have her pills delivered by mail, she can go as early as possible for blood tests, but scheduling a doctor's appointment sometimes can be hard, but if she can be the last paticent of the day it works. 

Now there are many stores open late or 24/7 and she can find evening entertainment.  She works part-time at night and is also on disablity because her condition limits her to the types of jobs and work she can do.  Sometimes a government agency tries to kick her off their rolls but she has a lawyer and two doctors plus photos that show how horribly she can burn.  But for the last 5 years they've stopped trying to do that, it seems that other people have shown up with that condition. 

One would not think so, given how flawless her complexion is but I've seen her have accidents.

The Pirates of Emerson Haunted Houses were soooo much FUN!  and so very crowded but the boys were in their element and Coralline and her parents were enjoying themselves,  Doyle, Sis and I had a hard time keeping up, so we made arrangements to meet periodically.  I cannot tell you what we saw only to say that if you are in Pleasanton, Calif.  go and see, checkout their web site for hours and days and cost.

I can only say it was like a 6 ring circus.   Everyone came home exhausted, and slept like rocks,  the boys (aka the three stoogies) slept in their sleeping bags on padded mats on the floor of the maids room while their Dad slept in the twin size bed (his perogative), Coralline and her Mom shared Coralline's double bed, and we all slept the sleep of the just,  and we had breakfast out, Sis and I were not going to cook for that young ravenous crew.  But everyone had a wonderful time.

And we saw them off and came home to sleep some more.  It's a good thing we put stew in the crock pot, such a handy item. 

I woke up from my nap to find Doyle had left the house, but left a message that he'd be back soon, and he did with Creme de Violete and Bulldog gin, plus lemons, saying he was going to make all of us "Aviator' cocktails---time for a dash of the 1920's said he.   I think I'll have to get into my silk lounge pajama's after dinner to sip this.   I'll give you my opinion of it in another post.

Later Darklings

Of fireplaces, bridge closings and Doombuggies~~~

Well Darklings,

I'm at work but taking a little break.

They are closing the San Francisco Bay Bridge starting at 8 p.m. tonight through Sept 3, and opening the new Span with some fanfare.   The last car to go across tonight will be a 1932 model A car and it will also be the first one to go across the new bridge.  It seems that this was the first car to go across the old span when it first opened.  I love history, and so nice that it will be that old car repeating history.

But getting to work for the next few days will be a bear, It will be either the Ferry or BART, I think I'll take the Ferry its more relaxing and some what glamourous.   Doyle and Sis are making sure their appointments will be on the Oakland side of the bridge for the next 5 days.  Good thing we don't have any plans to be in S.F.

My formal parlour fireplace will be finished next week, it will take longer than a few hours to do the repairs and the screening, we need to also do it to the other chimney as well as a precaution, other than that the fireplaces are fine and will be ready to go.

I'll be working a bit late tonight, so Sis will prepare dinner.

One of my co-workers told me of a web site called DoomBuggies, it is dedicated to the Disneyland attraction the Haunted House both in Disneyland, Disneyworld and the Eurpean Disneylands, espeically the one in France where its called Phantom Manor.

The Haunted House ride has been always my favorite ride, last time I was there I rode it 5 times, just could not get enough of it.  I'll have to go back, the Pirates ride came close, and dinning in the Blue Bayou, so much fun.  Makes me want to go to the real New Orleans, but not during Mardi Gra that's insane, perhaps take one or two of their speical tours, even if some of the place in New Orleans are just fake, but its the history of it, as well as the deeper dark history of it. 

Oh well, must get back to work.

Later Darklings  

Of more updates and a mummified head in a reycling center~~~

Hello My Darklings,



Well I have to say I was almost all Day at work, just to see what has been done and what is happening currently.
Louise, bless her, came early to my home and we took public transportation just as if I was going to work as usual.


I’m very happy; with e-mail and teleconference calls and regular phone calls from staff to check in with me, things have been going very smoothly. But just being at work even for only less than 8 hours I found myself exhausted. And concerned, because sometimes I put in longer hours, I talked to my Director and we think that it would be best to ease me back into it by my doing Half Days, come in at 9:30 or 10 a.m. and leaving at 2 or 2:30 p.m. I did suggest that perhaps I could come in at 8 a.m. and leave at 1 or 2 since I am more spry in the morning so we’ll try the latter for a while.


My Director also suggested having me consider retirement and then be hired as a half-time independent contractor setting my own hours, I’m more than vested for retirement, and it would not interfere with retirement by my part time work. I said lets see how things go for me at this time and I’ll keep those suggestions in mind if I feel I cannot handle a full work load. My colleagues are terrified at even the idea of me retiring but I said it’s only under future consideration.


Frankly Darklings, I’m getting bored at home, I love the thrill of the commute, the challenges that work brings, the inter-action with my co-workers and finding answers to things.


During the Lunch Hour we decided to order out and have the lunch brought to us, I insisted with Louise that she have lunch with us, but she suggested that she take a bit of a walk around the area and eat out and do a bit of shopping and would be back on an agreed upon time. This worked out perfectly for us.


During our Lunch I and my colleagues discussed the various events that were happening.


A Christian gentleman offered a burial plot to bury the deceased Boston Bomber, but the Bombers family still fears grave desecration, and are even thinking of having him cremated and returning to Russia with the Ashes, if the ashes can be brought into Russia since that country and many others in Europe has a policy of not returning the bodies of terrorists back to the families and instead burying them in unmarked graves to prevent them from becoming martyrs. The US does not have that policy, Canada is facing the same situation, now since this has become international, both Russia, the US and Canada are being faced about matters of this sort that would be very hard to resolve (so says one Russian lawyer who had dealt with this sort of thing). We can only see what will happen.


It seems that the tragic deaths of the ladies who died in the Limo fire have touched one of my staff who knew her. According to further news reports, the Limo fire is considered very strange to have happened, and no answers as to cause has been found. Usually in most car fires it would happen in the front in the engine compartment, but from the back trunk area is almost unheard of. The only way that could happen is in a very violent collision which in this case did not happen.


And in Limo’s, since their maintenance and care is important to keep them functioning in a safe manner, such a fire is almost unheard of. This is going to be very interesting to hear the results of this investigation. Although I do feel that perhaps re-designing future Limos should be considered.


Every one was very happy about the discovery and rescue of the 3 women who had been held captive for over 10 years by this one man. That one of the women had the courage to take a chance to get help and that Mr. Charles Ramsey heard her cries for help is a miracle, there is the possibility that many years earlier there may have been a 4th victim, who disappeared, the police will look further. The suspect held these women in the basement of his home and he had 2 brothers living with him and yet those two were not charged with aiding and abetting I find strange, I can’t help but suspect that they may have known but were too cowardly to act. The most important thing is that the 6 year old girl who was born to one of the captive women had been carefully home schooled and possibly escaped becoming a victim of that man’s future actions.


My sister believes that the psychological aspect of that case is going to be carefully studied.


On a more interesting note, the chief of police of Oakland, CA has stepped down at his own request, claiming health issues, right on the day that the report of what the Oakland police department should do to decrease crime in that city was to be presented to the people. Frankly it is my opinion that anything the Chief of Police wanted to do was ‘shot down’ by the Mayor, and he was tired of being sabotaged by her. And only a 6 page report? Considering the problems that Oakland has I would have suspected a weightier presentation.


Several citizen groups believe the real reason the Chief stepped down was “Politics”. I agree.


I was also sad to hear that one of my favorite places for a late night bite had a fire. Merritt Bakery has been in business and a fixture in Oakland since the 1950’s, I remember Mom and Dad taking us there from time to time as a special treat. I was sad to hear that they had a horrible fire; I can only hope that they will be able to rebuild and continue to stay in business. The cause of the fire to yet be determined.


And now for something very bizarre and macabre----

A mummified head was found at an Oakland recycling center yesterday, I’m sure that freaked out the staff there. Cadaver dogs were brought in to try and find the rest of the remains, but beyond the head not much was found. Police say that the victim died sometime ago and may have been a homicide. Police will try to identify the Head of the victim using dental records. I hope that will be possible unless the victim was an illegal immigrant, if that is the case identification may be useless. I’m sure that a variation of this event will appear on a CSI T.V. episode in the future. Re-cycling human remains, well, to make an observation that does save the cost of a funeral.


My sister and I are grateful that Doyle installed a superb alarm system in my home, sensor lights on the grounds, and camera systems that work even in the dark, of course having good fences help. My great-aunts house was never burgled, but now day’s crooks are becoming more desperate even going so far as to try and break in while people are home. He is even worried when I am home alone, but I do have my gun and I know how to shoot it and I am aware of the laws about home invasion and the “Castle Laws”.

But one day when I was leaving the house, a woman was walking down the street, she looked a little out of place, more like a lady of the streets if you know what I mean, she saw me and was a bit startled then she said “Excus’ me, but yo liv heara?” (I’m writing this as I heard her speech) and I replied that yes I do.

She then asked “arn yu ‘fraid of the spooks?” “Spooks?” I asked, she said “ya eveone knows tha place haunted” her eyes were wide. So I thought I’d have some fun and tease her a bit so I said “Well, you’re right. It is haunted, so is the house next door.” Referring to the house that my sister was eventually going to buy.

“People died in both houses, why there is even a graveyard in the back of mine, with gravestones.” I informed the young woman. She asked me if the ‘spooks’ bothered me and I said not much, but if anyone with evil in their heart comes on the property, the spooks do not like it. I told her that several times people had tried to buy the house next door but the ‘spooks’ chased them out. (If you read my previous posts you’ll know how we found out why that happened)


The woman’s eyes got very, very wide and I gave her my best wicked smile and said “That’s why I have to be very careful living here; it’s not good to get the spirits angry.” And just then the cat that use to sleep under my porch showed up and hissed at the woman (I could not have planned that if I tried). The woman jumped back a bit and the cat went on, perhaps looking for a mouse, so I used the cat’s actions and said “I think one of the ‘spooks’ is unhappy, the cat looked possessed.”


The young woman walked away quickly and said as she was leaving “Lady yu crazy livin’ dare!!!” She almost ran away. And I was having fun trying not to laugh out loud.

Well I do have to say that after the end of yesterday, I was glad to return home, my back didn’t twinge but I was tired. Louise was happy though, she found some gifts for some family members whose birthdays are coming up. I suggested to Louise that since she was with me for all day Wednesday to take Friday off to have time for the Mother’s Day preparations. She was very happy about that, and I hope she has a nice Mother’s Day.

Coralline will be spending it with her Mom and her mother’s two grandma’s My brother’s treat.

Sis and I are going to spend our at a Spa and enjoy hedonistic delights. Doyle will be home and he is going to enjoy peace and quiet and indulge Belladonna.


So to all you Darklings Have a Happy Mother’s Day.


Later Darklings