Descendants of the Ash and Elm

For Sunday supper we had build your own pizza which was a blast.  I usually make the dough, but when John and I went to Trader Joe’s to get an assortment of cheese’s they had three varieteis.  Regular, wheat and an herb blend.  I made mine with tomato sauce, sun dried tomatoes, zucchini, goat cheese, mozarella. It was delicious.  Jacob made a sun dried tomato, crab meat and olives.  JJ had a  plain cheese pizza and he loved it!  John and Joseph each made calzones. Cheese and meat assortments.  Jacob also brought over some chicken that he barbequed and Joseph mixed that with a dijon mustard concoction.  We ate hours ago and are still stuffed.

JJ had his first pizza today and he loved it.

I start back to work tomorrow after two weeks off and I sure hope I can wake up on time.  I’ve really gotten use to sleeping in  and loving it.

And I blame owe it all to Nancie.  See, she’s been knitting socks and they look so comfy.  Then she sent me a link about a sock book  and you can see on my book sidebar ( I need to add a “coming Attraction” header)  mine is on it’s way along with a book I pre-ordered about socks.  Don’t you just love it when Amazon sends you emails on books  you might be interested in?

But until the books arrive, I’ll be  experimenting with my new needle set that Lois got me for Christmas.  I’m so lucky to have TWO great bosses.

It’s the Addi Turbo Click set.  And you really just click and away you go and  I found no snagging in that transitional area where needle and chord connect.

I even specifically cast on with my metallic rayon and still no snags, thus far.

So, are  you using yours yet Terry?

Geez, Marc, I had no idea I left you sitting on the edge of your seat!  

Well, to get back to our story kids, a Mr. Lee A_____ of Street Division a Department of Public Works, dontcha know, called me to let me know that Asplundh was working for the Edison Company doing line clearing.  So, I walked outside on my cell phone and told Lee that I had to call bullshit.  The cut Asplundh made to my tree and a good many other that I could see from where I was standing was 6 feet off the ground and the power lines are about 30 feet and my Liquid Amber  limbs are still smacking those power lines every time with wind blows. 

 If I call Edison I could risk them *Topping my tree.

*Topping is perhaps the most harmful tree pruning practice known. It is usually done to reduce the size of a tree. Often, homeowners top their trees because they feel that they have become too large for their property and are a hazard. However, topping will make a tree more hazardous in the long term and is very harmful to the health of a tree.  International Arborist Society

Sadly, this is a common mistake done to trees rendering a tree unable to dance for the rest of it’s natural life.  Once you top a tree their crown will never grow back.   And as we all know a tree, by nature, loves to dance.  They stand stoic for days, arms held out waiting to embrace their partner and suddenly a  breeze comes along after a hot spell.  The wind lightly brushing against their leaves, then leaves start to rustling, the equivalent of letting ones hair down, they dance and rejoice. And the sight of a dancing tree is something to behold and to know they are partying over something as simple as air is a rather humbling experience.

So be good to your trees and they will be good to you.

That I have turned into my mother.  A few weeks ago I took a picture of Asplundh Tree because the woke me up on a Saturday with chain saws and took one limb off of every tree on my street and part of Mobile and it’s a good thing I did because in the background you can see the address and the city was unaware that Asplundh was trimming trees in our city.  Asplund is kind of the Walmart of Arborists.

Well, today I went to the bank and across the street by the Cattle Man I noticed a  Landscape Company TRIMMING TREES!  So, I drove over and memorized their name “Kaneka Landscaping” (I am really Harriet the Spy at Heart)  looked them up on the internet and they don’t even have a contractors license to trim trees!     Some cheap assed property owner has hired a landscaper to trim trees!

And just so you know, Landscapers trimming trees is like getting a blow job from a Lesbian.  It’s just wrong!  And I know why they hire Landscapers because the workmans comp is drastically reduced than that of a tree trimmer (once you get off the ground the fees are astronomical)  and this mother fucker was operating a chipper around children on skateboards!  He didn’t even turn it off!  This property owner gets sued and he just raises everyone’s rent.

So , I hop in my truck and go on over to City Hall and they didn’t know what to do with me.  I talked to planning and street division and no one has a record of the City hiring Asplundh to trim trees so that means the guy that has the contract outsourced it which is not cool.  Then they send me over to the tax lady named Sue she  looked up Kaneka Landscaping and they don’t even have a license to work in the city to mow lawns, let alone trim trees.

So, she asks what I would like to do?  What do I want to do?  Well, I thought the city KNEW what to do.  So I told her a story about how I had a new dishwasher installed and the old one sat in my driveway for less than 24 hours and the city sent me a ticket because it was against the law.  I got it sorted out, and didn’t have to pay and then I went on to tell her about the time I was sent a letter and told to plant flowers and install a sprinkler system in the parkway and if I didn’t I was going to be fined.  So what do I want? I want business property owners and/or the individuals that are contracted to manage business property to be held to the same standard.

I want the trees trimmed properly and I would like to see contractors with an Arborist license trim them. Preferably from the State of California so the money goes back to the state as we are in dire need of money.

I don’t want to look at a shopping center that looks like Napalm has been dropped like the Camarillo Outlet.  Perhpas someone from the city could go to Thousand Oaks or Santa Barbara or any city that cares about their appearance and find out who trims their trees and they will find out that a good many of them are trimmed by a Jon Greene’s Tree Care Company who happnes to LIVE IN CAMARILLO!

I dreampt about mother last night.  She’s been doctor shopping again. Not to get good drugs like most of us would, but because she doesn’t want her heart doctor to know he was right.  See, she got a rash right around the time she started a new medication.  Went back to the doctor and he stated that the rash was not due to the medication, but due to her insistence he changed it.  I heard all about it from John who has never been with mom at the doctor and had to sit through lectures TO A DOCTOR  like, ” we are all going to die sooner or later so, no, I don’t want that procedure to clear an artery, but thank you for showing concern.” While she’s really thinking, “this bastard either needs to catch up on payments on his Mercedes or has bought a new piece of equipment for the office that he needs to pay off.” Or the time her appointment card said Oxnard and when the receptionist called to remind her it was in  Camarillo and I had to drive her and she brought the card in and wanted the doctor to send the card in to the FBI for a handwriting analysis so the fucker could be fired.  My mothers’ last name is Sandberg and he asked if she was  Jewish as she reminded him of  his own.  I informed him we were Swedish, but apparently and Ish is an Ish.  Mother was not amused.

So, the new medication did not make the rash go away, so she went to her diabetes doctor and she has a form of psoriasis which the heart doctor already diagnosed, but as mother pointed out to me “he’s a heart doctor, what does he know about skin?”  Put me in my place and I’ve been confused ever since.

Now she refuses to go to the heart doctor and admit he was right and start up taking the new heart medication he prescribed for her angina.   She says it’s probably the same as the other stuff, it just has a different binder so they can call it a “new” drug and charge  you more for it.  She worked for a compound pharmacist and it’s from the same family and she’s on to those scheeming rat bastard pharmacutical companies. They are just one notch above HMO mother fuckers.

So, I had a dream about my mothers rash last night and woke up itching this morning.  I have a freaking rash right in my hip bone area on BOTH sides.  I laid in bed and thought “maybe I ate too much and my skin is about to burst.”  

I couldn’t stand the itching any longer and got up and went through my medicine closet (seriously, it’s a walk -in. I have everything from Doggie Downers to Puppy Uppers and some medicinal “tobacco”  HEY, IT’S FOR RESEARCH!)       The only thing I could find to counteract itchings was Preparation H.  Now, hold on, I know what your thinking, but I bought it for the bags under my eyes.  Those bad boys are packed and ready to move to Florida, I swear! And after standing in line and being mortified at buying  “butt cream” it didn’t even work!  Those fuckers in Cosmo!

So, I called mother and first she inquired if I had been using a heating pad.  Well, yes I have. ( I actually fell asleep with it on the other night, but I didn’t have time for that lecture and remained silent)   Have you used a new lotion? Well, yeeeeees, I  got a buttload for Christmas.  Everything from Hemp Lotion to something called Black Velvet.  I think it’s a lotion and an alcoholic beverage.    So, mother has diagnosed a heat rash or an allergic reaction to lotion (or probably both) over the phone and said to stop using Preperation H for crying out loud!

And since she doesn’t have a Mercedes or a new piece of equipment to pay off, I am inclined to believe her.

Jacob and I went grocery shopping yesterday ( he baked is first Buttermilk Coffee Cake from scratch) and we left JJ in the care of Uncle Joseph and when we came home we found him looking like this.

Don’t be all up in my grill girl.  I’m just chillin with my hommie Uncle Yo Yo. You better step off!

I spent the whole day shopping with my boys.  First, Joseph and I went to this Ghetto T-Shirt warehouse because he wanted to get a new had.  Reluctantly I went in with and guess what?  They had pashminas for $7.98.  One hundred percent.  I couldn’t believe it.  And socks MADE IN AMERICA.  I bought all kinds of shit for 29 bucks.  What a deal!   Then we went to Journey Home where Joseph picked out a present for his sister Jackie.  It was a weeping Buddha carved from wood.  He’s just beautiful.

Came home and Jacob and JJ were here so Jacob baked a Coffee Cake.

While Uncle Joseph did the dishes and I got to play with the baby.

And here’s the final product.  It was really delicious.  He baked two and took one home to his woman.

JJ enjoyed it too!  Jacob said he came over to bake here because he doesn’t like his electric stove.  Joseph told him to cut the cord, little brother.

JJ got good and tuckered out.

And so did Blue.  That pillow he is laying on is actually Sadie’s bed.  Found out today Blue has to have surgery on his back leg.  He tore a muscle.  Hank bit him one day and when Blue turned to get him he let out a cry so they way I figure it  that little fucker Hank owes me $800.00!

My gift from Sandy (I read banned books bracelet) has already brought me good luck.  I showed it to Mary at the Bookworm while Joseph and I were shopping for books and she noticed Mark Twain and asked me if I had ever read the Diaries of Adam and Eve.  I told her no, that  I’d never heard of it and she looked on her shelf and handed it to me and said “Merry Christmas”!  She is so sweet.

Okay, time to bake cookies.

Also known as Banking institutions.  I went Christmas shopping, spent a little extra so I go home and select transfer from Savings to Checking like I’ve done a brazilian times.  Then the next day I see I have an overdraft charge so I investigate and low and behold I had clicked the wrong button and put money in my Gold Option Loan Account.  What the fuck that is I had no idea. 

So, I call the bank explain my delema and found out it’s for those fucking checks they are always sending to me that I can use like a credit card. Blah, blah, bah and into the shredder they go.  I explained to the first lady that if I can transfer to an account I should be able to transfer from an account.  Oh no, she says’ and then she want to know how much of a payment I wanted to make on my GOLD OPTION LOAN!  I don’t have a fucking loan.  Cant you see that I now have a $500 credit?  why would I make a payment when I just gave myself a line of credit?   IN ERROR.  So she send me to the load department I have to explain my fuck up again.  And let me just add that apparently I am the first American to make an on-line error with Bank of America because no one knew what to do with me.  I went through credit people, loan departments, gold option loan department and back to credit because the loan option stems from a credit card. 

So, finally this mother fucker, WHO CAN KISS MY LEFT LIP BTW, tells me it will take 2 to 5 days for my money to go into my checking account.  What?  I dont’ NEED it in my checking account now because my overdraft kicked in and you took it IMMEDIATELY FROM MY SAVINGS.        So, now we’re even put it back into my savings.  That will take another 2 - 5 days.!  It’s Christmas! I might need that money.  I’m sorry ma’am those are the rules. 

 Those bastards!  I know the flunkyanswering  the phone didn’t make the rules, and I did make an error, but  somewhere in the Bahamas,  some mother fucking fat cat CEO is getting a blow job and a Mai tai with my fucking five hundred dollars!

Bah Humbug!

First silly hat from Grandma.

First time seeing his uncle in a doo-rag.

Well, I sure did last Wednesday.   I went to our local Community Center where I was expecting to see the exhibit of the proposed Prison Hospital, which I did get to see and to also speak with people who were on hand to answer questions about everything from enviromental impacts to job applications within the system.  But what I wasn’t expecting was a group of hostile community members.  One guy drove all the way from Thousand Oaks. They had on Orange Shirts to look as if they were imates with the logo

CRIME DOES PAY

There is just something extremely frightening about a group of hostile white people with matching uniforms, bullhorns, signs and chants, that I can’t explain.   I just wanted to slug these people right in the neck until they understood:

“Under California law, it is a misdemeanor to inflict any treatment or allow lack of care that would injure or impair the health of a prisoner or inmate. ”

I live in a town that (I’m not exagerating) you cannot throw a rock without hitting a church and yet I have never seen a group more devoid of human compassion than my own church-going neighbors.  I wish I had the ovaries  to stand upon a chair in that community center  and quote the following passage from the book of Matthew: “then the king will say to those on his right hand, “you have my Father’s blessings…..for when I was hungry, you gave me food, when thirsty, you gave me drink, when I was a stranger, you took me into your home, when naked, you clothed me, when I was ill you came to help, when in prison you visited me.” “Then the Righteous shall reply, Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and fed you, or thirsty and gave you drink, a stranger and took you home, or naked and clothed you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and come to visit you?  And the king will answer, “I tell you this, anything you did for one of my brothers you did for me.”  Then he will say to those on his left hand, “The curse is upon you, go from my sight to the eternal fire that is ready for the devil and his angels. For when I was hungry you gave me nothing to eat, when thirsty nothing to drink; when I was a stranger you gave me no home, when naked you did not clothe me when I was ill and in prison you did not come to my help.” 

But I didn’t, I merely told my comments to the court reporter as quietly as possible.  My Name is Rebecca Gojkovich and I am a homeowner in Camarillo and I am here to make sure that my voice is heard.  I understand that the state of California was found guilty of not meeting the intent of the law by meeting the needs and  or prividing adequate medical care to our inmates.  I want it to be known that I feel that some members of my community are aiding and abeting the state (which is a misdemeanor) by making it difficult to build on State owne property.  The State has broken the Law. There are people housed in prison who have broken the law. The State of California is not above the law. My husband helped build the jail in Santa Paula, my nephew works there and some of  my children have been housed there.   I take issue with statements being made as the the “type” of people that will enter our fine community and  visit inmates at the proposed prison hospital because I am that person.   And that’s all I have to say about that. ”

I must say it was rather nerve wracking to say these things while people are standing in line behind you within ear shot to give their hostile statements, most of which were directed at Kelso, who was put in this position after the State failed to uphold the law.  And I woudn’t be surprised if I found a cross burning in my front yard anytime soon.  

People are in prison for various reasons.  Some are in prison serving time for a crime they committed. Some have been deemed worthy to return to society by a parole board only to have a governor who might have other political aspirations, overturn the decision. Some are mentally ill and many have committed crimes where there was no victim at all.  And some are entraped for political gain, like Tommy Chong who was arrested for selling bongs!

Regardless of what we might think about inmates with respect to the crimes they might have committed, that does not entitle us to break the law based on our personal opinions.

And seriously, the asshole who is worried about the TYPE of people who will visit prisoners? Get over yourself and get educated.  Known criminals do not get to visit criminals.  They can’t even write letters to each other. My husband and I both had to have a  serious, extensive background check and I was denied my first attempt because I failed to mention a traffic “incident” in 1989!   I mean really, who among us hasn’t forgotten at least one hit and run in their life? 

Woke up Saturday to the sound of chain says.  Asplundh Tree Care Experts went up and down the street making precisely one cut per tree (I bet they get to bill per tree) and none of the cuts were necessary. So, you know the chain saw’s weren’t necessary.  They could have easily used tree pruner’s and saved on fuel and noise pollution.  And you can’t throw a rock in Camarillo without hitting a licensed contractor, so why the city doesn’t hire local and keep the money within the city is beyond me.  Oh, well, what can you do.

So since we were up early I talked John into taking me to an Alpaca Farm in Somis that Preita had e-mailed me about and Windy Hill is a beautiful place.    We met some folks from Lompoc that own Ranch of the Oaks.  John and I visited with them for awhile before the lecture started on Alpaca’s which was really interesting.  I ran into my old vet, Dr. Jana Smith, who use to take the best care of my Bubba.

After the lecture, we walked around and met up with Preita and finally got to meet the Mr. who actually goes by the name of Mattt.  And he is just as cute in person as the pictures she posts.  We walked together and oohed and ahhhed over the Alpaca’s.  Aren’t they adorable?

My pictures don’t do them justice.  Check out Prieta’s blog.  She takes awesome pictures.

John and I left early and headed over to Somis for some lunch at a little market that has the best burritos.  It’s a real cute little place.  Yesterday was Sean’s birthday.

Then today we celbrated Sean’s birthday.  Thirty three years old.  Wow, time flies.  He requested fried chicken, green beans and cheesey potatoes. I also made two batches of chocolate chip cookies and brownies. Joseph, lil John and Sean played Scrabble!  I couldn’t believe it and I have to say I never realized Scrabble was a contact sport.  Man,these guys are sticklers with their spelling.  Roger and I watched from the sideline and I knitted as we cracked up as Sean would try to use a military acronym and Joseph would demanding Top Ramen every time he challenged and was correct. (in jail they played Scrabble for soup)   I was the official Webster checker as Joseph was certain that they would find new words to spell if they looked up a word and he didn’t want to be accused of cheating, either.  I guess that’s how they roll in the Texas jails apparently.  Nice to know they practice their spelling, though.

So here is Sean at Thirty-three.

Oh and we Googled Jack Russel’s and Beagles mixes and there is actually a hybrid dog called a Jackabee.

I don’t know if we are having puppies yet, but John is having kittens over the whole ordeal of getting a dog we thought was fixed that obviously isn’t, yet.  But their in love and Hank will not leave her side now and it is just the sweetest thing.

I hope you all had a great weekend.