Dixie Fix

Check Out Walgreens!

....And you will notice a change to that ugly eyesore in the Brunswick Basin! What is it, you ask? They took their name (Walgreens) off the building!!

Here's what happened. I guess Steve Enos -- who is responsible for the building looking at least halfway decent -- sent the parent company pictures of what a blight their project has become in one of the busiest intersections in the county. Their response? To remove their name from the mess! Check it out!

That's interesting behavior from one of the largest drug store chains in the country -- a Fortune 500 company. I suppose we could all decide to boycott (if it ever opens) but isn't that what everyone decided when they leveled the ground for the Pineless, Creekless Center? Short memories!!

Anyway, this project has become an embarrassment! And, no one can open in that building until the intersection is improved, so look for road work before you look for something opening there.

Will it still be Walgreens? Of course.

I also am curious to check out and count the parking spaces. It looks woefully inadequate to me!!

I remember when the Holiday Inn Express was proposed....it was called the Gold Miners Inn. Do you see that name on the building? No!! It looks like every other Holiday Inn Express.

And, don't even get me started on the Del Oro mural!

The Politics of Cleanliness

There is usually at least one story in the Sunday New York Times that is a "talker" and today was no exception. It appears that there is some controversy over daily bathing/deoderant/hair washing and lots of 20 and 30-somethings are rebelling -- as in, not showering daily or using deoderant.

As someone who has bathed daily (except sometimes while camping) and washes her hair every day and also uses deoderant, I guess this isn't the trend for me, but I have noticed some people who seemed to have embraced it. You know the ones. Find 'em at Briar Patch, usually smelling a little ripe, greasy hair pulled back into a ponytail.

The reasons given for not bathing daily are: 1. Is it necessary? and 2. It's environmentally better to save that water. The reasons given for no deoderant are more along the lines of "what's in this stuff, anyway?" Kind of like how vaccines got a bad rap for supposedly causing autism, deoderant is apparently full of weird chemicals that possibly aren't good for you.

I understand all this intellectually, but am I a bad person for still bathing daily and continuing to use deoderant? Seems a tad weird -- and less than sanitary -- to me.

Death Comes in Threes

I've been thinking about death a lot lately...understandable, since I just returned from a funeral in Orange County. We were mourning my brother-in-law from my first marriage, Bryan Courtney, who was taken from us at age 60. The cause: melanoma. He leaves a wife, two college age kids, and three pets. He also leaves -- for us to enjoy -- an extraordinary garden that he tended daily with love.

Bryan was my brother in law, but so much more. I met him in high school, where he was my lab partner. He was smart and funny and outgoing...I thought. It turns out he was actually drunk in class, which enabled him to be outgoing, since he was extremely shy. The day he passed out after smashing all the beakers was his last day at Whittier High, because he was expelled. But I had met his older brother John by that time, and in short order we were married, giving me a inside view to Bryan's life.

Back in the day, alcoholism was not taken as seriously as it is today. The consequences were not as severe. Soon, in his teenage life, Bryan had an astounding 5 drunk driving arrests. Every time he was sent to a court-ordered shrink, and every time he was back drinking. Even though we both lived in Seal Beach, I banned Bryan from our home because our two small daughters had already seen enough and his behavior scared me. "Come back when you've been sober a year," I said, crying, as I slammed the door.

Six months later I got a call from his 10th psychologist, Pat Allen. "Bryan is sober now," she said, and invited me to meet her and see Bryan for myself. He had indeed, quit drinking, and never had another drink in his life. Bryan went on to be successful both personally and financially, marrying and having two kids. His brother and I divorced after 13 years, but I always had a soft spot for Bryan and always lauded his success.

That began my lifetime association with Pat Allen, who counseled me through divorce, cancer and my journalism career. I can honestly say that Pat Allen has been the biggest influence on my life. A recovering alcoholic herself, Pat has an uncanny ability to get right to the heart of the matter, even if it wasn't what you thought it was.

At the funeral there was talk of Bryan's garden, and his family, and his love of Halloween, but only a quick mention of his darkest days when he was drinking. After all, very few people at the funeral knew Bryan then. But I knew his defeat of alcoholism was his most monumental achievement. It paved the way for all the success he had later in life.

At 60, he was way too young to die. The fact that Bryan was instrumental in my meeting the father of my children and introducing me to the woman who would became my forever life coach, he changed my life for the better and I will never forget him.

About this same time, my friend and fellow blogger Denise lost her sister to breast cancer, which had reoccurred after a decade and spread its evil cells. Linda Silver fought this with everything she had for nearly four years. She leaves her mom, two sisters, a daughter and four terrific grandkids.

The third death is an animal -- lovely Bertha, an elderly St. Bernard who ended up at the shelter old, tired, with cancer and other medical problems. She lived the rest of her life in the shelter office, on a soft bed, being fed rotisserie chicken and Ritz crackers. Her ashes now sit in a beautiful box above Ruth's desk, along with her photo.

And so, three lives -- and now three deaths. People may think I'm stupid, but I like to think they're all somewhere together, enjoying God's grace. May they rest in peace.

Shhhhh...Do You Hear the County Quietly Laying Off People?

Several people got the old heave-ho yesterday afternoon as county officials try desperately to balance a budget in these tough economic times. For instance, the Grass Valley Librarian -- who recently started working Saturdays to take one for the team -- lost her job. (You knew this was coming after the library outsourcing was shut down!) The Public Defender's Office lost a high-ranking deputy; the CEO's office wasn't immune either. I hear the layoffs take place April 1 (ironic), just 2 weeks to get your life together. Some people are being retrained and moved to other departments to soften the blow, but that didn't work in every case.

I completely empathize with those who lost their jobs, because that was me almost exactly a year ago. It is shocking if you are blindsided, as I hear many county employees were.

As corny and trite as this sounds, every time a door shuts, another opens. It is like being handed a shiny new gift of something that has been in short supply for working folks -- time! It can be a blessing if you reframe your thoughts and realize the universe will guide you through these uncharted waters. It's not like no one in America has lost a job.

 Is this the "new normal?"

No Opposition in Nevada City's Council Election? And Senior Discounts!

We were at Sally Harris' lovely campaign kick-off, St. Patrick's Day party last night and she announced that it *appeared* she and Duane Strawser were running unopposed. I don't know that for a fact, but she reported that the third candidate hadn't turned in papers by close to 5 p.m. I'm happy for the candidates (they can relax in a tough time for fundraising) but it always saddens me when there isn't an actual race. It shows a lack of interest in the political process -- never a good thing in a Democracy. I loved that the food was Irish-themed, and Kathy Hillis kept serving like mad all evening. There were meatballs cooked in Guinness beer, tiny baked potatoes, irish Soda bread. Fun food, great company, and a chance to catch up with people I hadn't seen. The Google 95959 rally was a hot topic of conversation, and a Nevada City business owner doing an Irish jig was fabulous!

My husband went skiing at Sugar Bowl yesterday (great conditions early but mushy in the afternoon) and he and his friend only paid $5 because they were 70-plus. Isn't that cool? But I also heard Royal Gorge upped the senior discount to age 75 for cross-country skiing. That hardly seems fair. I know for skiing it was 60, then 65, and now 70. That's our reward for taking better care of ourselves and being able to ski as senior citizens for God's sake?!

What other senior discounts do you know about? When I worked at the newspaper I always thought that would be a great article! Sierra Cinemas' discount is $6.50. McDonald's used to sell cheap coffee to seniors -- don't know if they still do that. Ross gives 10% on Tuesdays and generously gives that senior discount at age 55. See, there are benefits to getting older!

Google 95959 and Other Random Thoughts

Yesterday's rally and party to try to secure the Google gigabit fiber optic infastructure went off beautifully...it was a typical Nevada City event, people in costumes, dogs, strollers, signs, Krusty the Clown (!) and more! John Paul and Chip organized this quickly and the weather cooperated, too. The after-party at The Foundry left everyone in good spirits and a good time was had by all. It was one of those communitywide events that brought together all spectrums of political views, which is always fun.

Denise and I checked out "Stick It," the new eatery where Tortilla Grill used to be on Commercial Street. I didn't see the food, just the menu, but the kabobs are in the $6 to $9 range. I wondered if 1 kabob was enough for a lunch or dinner, but then I remembered my "portion size" teachings and decided they would be.

Now that I've lost 50 pounds (!) and am done with losing weight, I'm in the phase of maintaining my loss. That is tricky, because you can eat more, but not too much more. Since about 9/10s of the people at Weight Watchers are "repeat offenders" (having joined many times, gained weight back) it is obviously difficult to maintain weight loss. The 2 strategies I have currently are daily visits with the scale and weekly attendance at meetings, where I also weigh in weekly. You only HAVE to go once a month at this point, but the successful "losers" keep going weekly. After all, it's free now!

Mike Carville (South Yuba Club, Monster Gym) spoke at my husband's Kiwanis Club about the book "Younger Next Year." The book deals with "aging" vs. "decay" and contains some great info! Mike sells them (for cost) at his health clubs because he believes so much in the message of the book.

I am embarking on a decluttering project right now, scouring blogs and Web sites for hints and ideas. I've hauled about 50 pounds of clothes to Ragtime in Grass Valley, where most of the winter stuff has sold and now they're transitioning to summer. We have a big garage sale in Cascade Shores in September and I already have a large tote full of cool stuff for that. More coming.

Enjoy this week's sunny weather! I'll be out in the garden, cleaning up what I can before the next storm hits!

Is This Scam a New One?

Several days ago we opened our e-mail to find an urgent message from a friend -- a business owner in Nevada City. It was sent at 1 a.m., I noted, and seemed hastily typed. The gist was that he was in London with his family and had been robbed of everything at gunpoint. He needed to pay the hotel bill and buy another set of tickets home. He said he would pay the money back as soon as he returned, and this person is as honest and forthright as they come.

The same message was also in my husband's e-mail. We discussed it and while he seemed wary, I suggested we offer to put the bill or the tickets on a credit card for him. I emailed that offer and we set out to walk the dog. When we returned, I  checked, but there was no  e-mail answer. That didn't seem strange to me, though, because I figured he sent the message to his whole address book. This couple knows about a zillion people and I figured lots stepped up to help.

My husband still had questions and just felt something was "off." Much later that same day when I logged into Facebook there was a warning about this e-mail, saying it WAS NOT from our mutual friend and was, instead, a scam.

Boy, did I feel dumb! Later I talked with another business owner who received the same e-mail, and she said another was sent hours later saying "This is not a scam." We didn't receive that one, probably because of my offer to put the hotel on a credit card.

I'm thinking the scam was to get someone to wire money; which of course they would never see again! And the business owner was out of town, but in the Bay Area, not London, so calls to the house would be unanswered.

Knowing what I know now, I would be much more circumspect of these type of e-mails! But somehow this scammer hacked into our friend's email address book and sent the message -- signed with his name -- to who knows how many people.

Anybody else experiencing these scams? How does the hacker do it? And, more importantly, don't be foolish like I almost was!

When Was the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time?

I love that question...and I can answer "yesterday" because I went snow shoeing! My friend Monica and I drove til the snow was deep (around Castle Peak) and put on show shoes and started walking! Once you get used to the big, awkward shoes, it was a blast! Of course the sun was out and it was so warm we were in jeans and shirtsleeves -- ideal weather for the mountains, and amazing for February!

It was a great workout, and we got to chat and catch up on stuff. When I got up this morning I had some aches and soreness in new places, so I know I used some muscles that haven't had much of a workout. Although there were a lot of people out in the snow, it was a weekday, so the crowds were minimal and parking was a cinch.

And guess who we ran into? Cathy Anderson Myers of Grass Valley. She is MS. SNOWSHOE, giving lessons and tours all winter long! She told us about a good trail for our next adventure. Cathy had a group on an REI tour (she no longer does "private tours," she said) and they all looked happy and tired. If Cathy's name sounds familiar, she is the founder of the Barbara Schmidt Millar Women's Triathlon that is held in Cascade Shores every September. Amazing woman!

You know how easy it is to tell a friend, "Oh let's get together" and it never happens? Well, Monica and I have threatened to go snow shoeing the past two winters and haven't gotten around to it, so this winter we made a vow to follow through and go! And I'm so glad we did!

We all think we have a lot of time in this life, but really, who knows? You see something like Jim Rodgers, dead at 53, and it makes you realize that TODAY is really all we're sure of. Did you make the most of it?

Are We Meant to be Vegetarians?

In the early 70s I met a guy on the beach who somehow convinced me to go vegetarian. Didn't know him; never saw him again. But his argument was sound and persuasive -- he told me to give it a 30 day trial run and just see if I felt better. I did, and I did.

So, that began my 7 year odyssey as a vegetarian -- in the days when it was hard! Forget eating out, and forget "special orders." In addition, my husband was a meat eater and insisted on separate dinners. One of the daughters was a vegetarian who occasionally eats bacon, and still is, at age 37.

What did me in was a neighbor famous for is BBQ who was barbecuing prime rid that had been marinated for days. I had a taste, and then a full dinner. Of course later I threw up, but decided that I wanted the option to eat meat.

My next vegetarian moment was during the heyday of psychedelics. Let's just say that when under the influence of, say, special mushrooms, it is impossible to eat meat. Just impossible. Oranges look like a super food and your body craves clean, fresh, produce. That made me wonder if maybe we weren't meant to eat meat -- just because.

Now as I try to eat healthy, local food -- and nothing with more than 5 ingredients, preferable nothing packaged, I find that a lot of my favorite food bloggers are vegetarian or vegan and I find myself wondering -- again -- if that is a choice I should make. I never eat ground beef, rarely eat any fast food, but I do love a steak about once a month. Otherwise it's chicken and seafood, and I now it would be hardest to give up seafood.

Many high school and college kids are vegetarian now, and with the health food stores and shift in consciousness about farmed animals (rent "Food, Inc.") it is something I'm flirting with. Not ready to commit, mind you, but it's rumbling around in my brain as a next step.

What do you think?

Too Bad About NC's Tortilla Grill; Pray for Pat

I ran into owner Andrew a few weeks ago. He told me that despite his restaurants being listed for sale, he was taking them off the market and would continue to run them. Imagine my surprise when 2 days later the Tortilla Grill on Commercial Street was empty!! Hmmmm...I guess I'm just a wee bit too trusting that people are usually telling the truth. (He seemed so sincere, too!)

I don't know about his other 2 locations. I do know that the Grill's shrimp enchiladas rival anything I've had at a 5-star restaurant. Too, too bad.

I did hear, however, that a new eatery has already leased the space and it will be called something like Stick It, a place with food on skewers. Take this with a grain of salt, since obviously it is quite easy to lie to me! (Off the subject, Lie to Me is the name of a great TV show.)

On another note, Nevada City's Pat Barrentine took a nasty fall and is in the ICU. She is a wonderful, vibrant person and she needs our positive prayers for a speedy recovery. It's all the chatter on FaceBook. She has a lot of friends!