Things I loved to do in CA

There are a few things that I did love doing in California.

I loved going to the Apple store and taking classes, learning different software and things my MacBook can do. Yesterday I took my first Apple class here in PA. The store is smaller. I believe the store in Canoga Park, CA is the largest Apple store (that's in a mall). The drive was one hour to the store. In CA it was only 2 blocks from my home.

I also loved going to the free cooking classes at William Sonoma on Sundays. I would schedule my Apple class an hour before the cooking class and just walk from one immediately to the other. Yesterday, I was excited to find out that the William Sonoma store is only a couple of doors away from the Apple store. So I will be able to schedule my computer classes along with the cooking classes. Yeeeaaaa.

I loved going to the Getty Museum for lunch. Half of the time I did this with friends and the other half of the time I made this trip alone. I always had a great time. It's a really beautiful place and the food was amazing.

For 2 years, 2006 and 2007, every single Friday, religiously, my friend Eric and I, went to Six Flags Magic Mountain. We had it so dialed in. We would wear cargo pants, the ones that come to your knee and have large pockets on the side. I had 2 giant baby pins and would put my cell phone, wallet, etc in the pockets and pin them shut. We would wear flip flops. We noticed these young kids getting on the roller coasters (the ones with the track at the top) and kicking off their shoes. We tried it bare foot and it is a totally different experience. You also have to have the special thingy that holds your sunglasses to your head. I would meet Eric in the parking lot of his office at 9:30 am. Most days he was late. We would arrive at Magic Mountain at 10:30am. Most people show up after noon time so the park was virtually empty from 10:30am to noon. We would ride the roller coasters over and over and over again. Scream is my favorite ride. Batman is also one of my favorite rides. We would leave the park around noonish grab some lunch and I would be sitting at my desk by 1:30pm ready to work. It was the best therapy in the world. The inner child in us got to play like we were 5 again and you get to scream your lungs out to relieve any tension. We had no idea how long our weekly gaunt would be. When year 3 came around both of us had a lot of other things in life to deal with and it wasn't as easy to attend to the routine we had previously stuck to. So we said to each other "It was a great 2 years. So glad we did it."

The other thing that I loved was going to the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara. A friend had taken me there on evening and the energy of the place was amazing. The resort is absolutely breathtaking.... my attraction was more to the energy of the place. I went to Houston to visit my sister and I was telling her about my visit to the Bacara. I asked her, "Sister, what would you think if I went there every week." My sister said, "She thought that was a great idea, especially since it was something I felt drawn to do." So for a year and a half, once a week, I would drive to the Bacara Resort for dinner. I would never go on a Monday as I always seem to have more to do on Monday than any other day of the week. And I wouldn't go on Friday, Saturday or Sunday because that is when everyone else went. Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday would be my days. 90% of the time I had the entire bar area to myself. I got to know the staff and they got to know me. I rang in New Year's 2008 at the Bacara. I met a lot of interesting people there and wrote several books there. My friends were all curious about the Bacara and many would say "I would love to come with you." I told my friend who worked there, "Dante, my friends all want to come here." Dante slammed his hands on the bar and said "Batman wouldn't take his girlfriends to the bat cave. This is your sanctuary Dottie. This is where you create." And so... not many of my friends got to experience the Bacara. I only went to the Bacara when I truly wanted to go. If I didn't have the feeling of wanting to go... I didn't go. My sister called me once and asked, "Are you going to the Bacara?" And I responded, "No, I don't feel like it." It took a little time before my sister realized how I am. I love doing things when I feel like doing them. I don't care how long I have been doing it or who I have been doing it with, if I don't feel like doing it I am not going to go along because of the time or the person involved. Because then they wouldn't be with me... the real me.... they would be with a pretend version of me. Pretending is exhausting and not nearly as much fun.

The beautiful picture was taken by my friend, Luci, at the Getty museum on our recent visit there.

Ciao

During My Sister's Recent Visit to California

My sister and I went to Beverly Hills, specifically Rodeo Drive. We walked into a jewelry store, the kind where you have to wait for them to buzz the door to let you in and out. We where the only ones in the store. The owner and sales girl offered us wine and cheese, we declined. I have never felt such desperation as I did in that store. The owner and sales girl kept taking things out of the cases and walking over to us to show us. They really really wanted us to purchase something. I actually wonder when was the last time they had a sale.

My sister and I proceed down the street and walked into a jewelry store that had the doors wide open, no buzzers on their door. I saw a ring that had a brown tear drop shaped stone in the middle with tiny pink stones all around it. The entire ring was set in rose gold. It looked more like a trinket to me. We were told that it was a brown diamond surrounded by pink diamonds as I slipped it on my finger. When we asked what the price was... we were told..... $575,000.00. My sister and I looked at each other in shock. Here is a jewelry store with the door wide open and no security guard any where in sight and this girl just whipped out a $575,000.00 ring and stuck it on my finger. Something seemed very weird. My sister asked me, "What would you think if I bought it for you?" I told her, "I would think you are seriously ill!" and we had an incredible laugh.

We have two great memories to revisit and laugh about... remember the time we felt like we were held hostage in the jewelry store? ..... remember the time I tried on a half a million dollar ring that looked like it should have a $12 price tag on it?...lol...lol...vll...lol..vll

The picture is my sister and I and it was taken at the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara, CA, two weeks ago.

Ciao

Like Wow my Health Insurance will be Cheaper

I have Kaiser health insurance here in California. I LOVE Kaiser. They are a non-profit organization. You don't need to deal with any insurance company. If your doctor says that you need a MRI... bam it is booked. With other insurance companies your doctor can say "you need a MRI" and then your insurance company has to approve it. The thing about this is that the people who are actually making the approval are not doctors. I know this cause I worked for one of these insurance companies and it was really heart breaking to know that you are making $$$ decisions regarding someones health. There was something soooo radically wrong with it.

When I move I won't be able to keep my health insurance. Kaiser is not in Pennsylvania.

I was in Costco cancelling my membership. Costco is not in Pennsylvania either. However, Sam's Club is. While standing in line at Costco I was looking at the wall and saw that they actually had health insurance. I thought "Hummm... if they have health insurance maybe Sam's Club does." So when I got home I looked up Sam's Club and there was a link for Health Insurance Benefits. I didn't even have to become a member of Sam's Club to have access to a variety of insurance companies. I did my research and found a health insurance company whose plan is exactly the same as what I have with Kaiser.

I was shocked to find out my health insurance will be $200 less a month. When the guy on the phone told me how much my health insurance was going to be I thought for sure he had made a mistake. I asked him "Do you have my birthday right. I'm 50 years old!" And he said "Yes, I have your birthday right." I asked him how could it be that my health insurance would be $2,400 cheaper a year! He said that is was because of where I was moving. The chances of me getting lung cancer or a respiratory infection are a lot less than they are now. The chances of me getting into a car accident will be a lot less than they are now. The chances of me getting sick from a terrorist attack are less than they are now. And... the chances of me catching the bird flu will be less than they are now.

The picture is of the Pacific Ocean and it was taken at the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara last year.

Ciao