“Going Against the Grain” This Christmas

When you get older you just have to “Go Against the Grain” sometimes on what is happening in the rest of the world.

SPENDING MONEY THIS CHRISTMAS

The latest data on shopping for Christmas is “gangbusters”.  People are feeling very good about their jobs, the futures and are spending more around the holidays than they have for many a year.  Libby and I are not spending more BUT its not that we don’t feel good about things, we just have everything we need!

WATCHING HOLLYWOOD’S MOVIES

The latest data is showing that Hollywood is going to have it worst year in 22 years.  Their politics and the streaming of entertainment to our big screen TV’s at home is killing Hollywood.

Libby and I seldom go to the movies like most people BUT we went to an outstanding  movie last night, “Darkest Hour”.  Outstanding acting, English actors of course.  Based on a portion of Churchill’s life.  Best movies I’ve seen in a couple of decades.  Highly recommended.

WATCHING THE NFL

It started last year and it getting worse and worse this year.  The National Football League players decided to mix their politics with sports.  It is clear that the number of people watching NFL games on TV or at the stadiums has plunged.  Latest data show the NFL will lose 100’s of millions of dollars for their teams and their sponsors this year alone based on their players political proclivities.  Gonna be worse next year as their sponsors are going to bailout.

That didn’t stop me from watching the Minnesota Vikings shut out their biggest competitor Green Bay Packers.  The game was at Green Bay and it was 4 degrees at game time.  In the past, that would not have stopped the Packer fans from filling up their stadium.  This year?  Half empty.  Here I was again “going against the grain” watching NFL football.

Merry Christmas Eve and Happy New Year

 

 

 

San Diego Trip Home, 80-50-80, Winds and Fire

So I guess you might be wondering what the heck 80-50-80 might be on our trip home from San Diego?  Well, here goes.  Said good-bye to our recuperating daughter with her broken ankle and headed out for our 185 mile trip home.  We had some concerns as the Santa Ana winds were expected to reach up to 100 miles per hour in some mountain passes and many fires were burning out of control across Southern California.  This could be an exciting trip.

The first 40 miles or so were fine, normal winds and no fires seen.  Then in the distance we saw red dust storms and felt the winds starting to buffet the car.  To make a long story short, on one mountain pass we had the Santa Ana wind behind us and as we rolled down the freeway, without my foot on the accelerator I was doing 80 miles per hour, being pushed by at least 50 miles per hour wind and getting 80 miles per gallon according to my car’s electronics.  80-50-80!  An exciting trip home.

Luckily, we by passed all of the fires and we arrived home safe and sound.  Our son a LA County Sheriff is on mandatory 12 hour shifts with no days off indefinitely to help fight the widely out of control fires.  One of the fires he was working got so close to the prison he formerly worked at that it burned down an out building.  Everyone was safe.

We are glad to be home.

 

 

San Diego, Day 2, December 6, 2017, Broken Christmas Bones

Our visit to San Diego to see our grandson’s Christmas play turned into a unexpected medical emergency  on Wednesday, Day 2.  But not for  us old folks.

We received a phone call from our daughter in the afternoon.  She was working at her job as a special education teacher and she was taking her class to Balboa Park on a field trip.   After a successful trip, she was shepherding her class back to the parking lot for their return trip  to the school when she tripped over an uneven section of sidewalk and heard a “pop” in her ankle.  She knew immediately that she had broke her ankle.  She coordinated all the kids back to school and then she called her husband to take here to  the emergency room and sure enough broken ankle.  Into a “boot”.

We helped Luke by picking up her car in the park and then headed out to get up some Mexican food  to feed the family.  Merry Christmas! Very interesting day.

 

Trip 11 of the Year; Ups and Down of a Life in 24 Hours

It is December and it is time to start celebrating Christmas and the Holidays.  We decided that the 400 mile round trip to San Diego would be our last trip of the year.  Eleventh trip would be to see our grandson Alex play the angel Gabriel in his school’s Christmas play.

What a great hour celebrating the birth of Jesus.  A great way to end the first day of our trip.  Must say that the time before the program was pretty interesting as well.

We filled up with gas and hooked up the Bluetooth to our streaming Amazon music and spent three hours listening to Christmas music.  Everything from Pantatonics to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Really got us into the holiday mood.

As we headed out of Palmdale, CA, we were in good spirits and that was even raised more as we watched a fighter jet take off.  A spectacular sight.  Add to that, major construction in the area to handle the 4000+ new high end jobs in the air craft industry for the new jets being built.  Our area is really booming in the past year like much of the country with a few exceptions like Hollywood and Washington D.C..

Our good spirits dropped a bit as we looking back in the rear view mirror and saw two plumes of smoke rising high over the mountains surrounding the Valley.  We found out later that numerous forest fires were burning throughout southern California.  Not an unusual thing this time of the year before our rain starts.  Strange though that so many started across such a wide area.

Of course we came to a screeching 40 minute stop on the 215 freeway due to a eight car crash.  A mess.

Interesting twenty four hours, with thoughts and occurrences ranging from joy to sadness.  Merry Christmas.