Protect Our Future!

LET'S NOT BE FOOLED AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some Cockatiel Cheer

It was high time for Tweaker and Meredith to have their own Facebook fan page. They would love for you to be counted in their popularity. Many thanks in advance! And please comment on their posts too! :-)

Thanks to those of you who have joined! We look forward to providing you with some inspiring posts!

My New Friend

I had a very nice thing happen today as I was shopping at Trader Joe's. I was visiting with the lady in the demo station. I had noticed and admired a purple butterfly wall hang behind her. I continued shopping from thence.

As I came back and asked her where I might find a certain product, she handed me the butterfly and told me to take it. I hesitated but she assured me. I wasn't sure if it was hers to give away. But I agreed to receive it with much gratitude.

As I went through the checkout, I explained to the cashier. He too agreed to let me have it.

So now it hangs on my patio wall. I made a Photoshop rendering of it with a fancy backdrop.

I have since remembered admiring a similar butterfly I saw at Walgreen's but passed it up because I didn't have the funds for it at the time. I came back to look for it, but never saw it again. I had lamented not getting it. But today was very redeeming for me as I acquired this one and it means so much more to me. Welcome home, Butterfly!

A Sugar-Free Family

This afternoon while shopping at Trader Joe's I encountered a family whose diet is strictly sugar-free. The mum was clearly British and the dad was American. There were two or three kids.

The mum and dad read the labels as they shopped. As the kids would pick up a package of cookies, the mum would tell them, "We won't be getting that but thanks for showing it to me." I noticed that the kids would repeatedly pick up stuff that was sugar-loaded and they would be corrected. On no occasion did they whine or cry, but only gracefully comply.

I shared my astonishing observation with an employee who was at the demo booth and she said that she had also taught her two daughters to live the same way. She said that the girls were allowed to have dessert a day. After dinner when she offered the girls dessert, one declined it, saying she had one earlier when she got home from school. They apparently learned the art of moderation with a food that is proven to be highly addictive and even worse than heroine in that it can take much longer to go through withdrawal.

Oh my, if more families would do this, what a wonderful place the world would be to live in!

I'm reminded of a time back in junior high that I had a classmate who never ate sweets. She had a good attitude and didn't seem to feel deprived. Instead, she was very bright and even-tempered and content. I wish I had learned early on the value of self control, especially in the area of the sweet tooth. I believe I would be a lot further ahead in life than I am.

I also know of someone who had difficulty as a young person in school. He later discovered on his own that he was sensitive to vanillin which when he eliminated it from his diet, it solved some hyperactivity issues for him.

I know of another case where the mother eliminated artificial food coloring from her son's diet and it made the difference of failure and success for him. He is now successfully employed and fulfilled in what he does.

It would behoove us to become more keenly aware of the effects of foods and substances taken into our bodies. We should never take them for granted. We are as invincible as our habits enforce.

Today in the City

City Hall & Civic Center

Today I went to the IRS to deal with my taxes. I had gotten a month's extension which was to run out tomorrow. I ended up having to schedule a new appointment. I will see about getting any penalty removed.

Meanwhile, I decided to stop at the City Hall just for something to do since it's a pretty building. While I was a ways off I could hear horns honking. I asked a passerby if he knew what the commotion was about and he said he didn't except that appeared to be taxi drivers in front of City Hall. I told him I was heading over there just to take pictures and asked if he was just visiting as he had a British-sounding accent. He was. I asked him to join me for a tour of the building. He accepted my invitation. He had his camera with him. It turns out he is visiting from Australia and was out for a friend's wedding and was out here for a few days. His name is Dwayne.

We walked around City Hall and took pictures. He was fascinated by the architecture and we also wandered into an area that is lit with a skylight ceiling and had some display boxes with model buildings inside them which he liked.

Meanwhile, the whole time at City Hall the honking continued and their were picketers outside. I never fully understood the cause but I told Dwayne about our recent demonstration at the Capital and how much more civil we were.

Then I led us through the rows of trees outside in front of City Hall. We walked to Market Street and headed northeast. We stopped somewhere for a bit to eat and he treated. It was very nice because I was broke and could not afford lunch. I had helped him out with some sort of itinerary or to do list for the remainder of his visit. I gave him my card asking him to email me, telling me how he spent the rest of his time.

Then we walked to Powell where we parted. He plans to take the ferry tomorrow to Sausalito and also visit Coit Tower. He may be visit Union Square this afternoon too.

My New Guatemalan Purse

A few weeks ago I discovered the Mission Thrift Store in the Mission District. I was so thrilled. It's funky and retro like a store I have shopped at in Haight-Ashbury called Aardvark's Odd Ark. It turns out that it's a sister store, and there are a couple others too. This one has the lowest priced items of all of them because of the overhead. So it's another good reason to shop at this one.

When I was in there for the first time a few weeks ago, I saw a purse that caught my eye which was behind the counter on a stack of other merchandise. I inquired about it but was told it was yet to get priced and the manager was not in right then. I called back to find out more but was unable to make the needed connection for the needed info. So I gave up and figured it was not for me.

Yesterday I showed up and there it was displayed with other purses. It was marked for $14.00. I decided to grab it and ask them to come down on the price. They did and let me have it for $10. I left one happy customer and told them I will keep coming back.

It's fabulously made and I got to use it today. It holds a lot and I had to knot the handle as it hangs too low. It works perfectly and I enjoy using my new bag.