Where the ice is safely in the fridge

Mr. Gadget and I are now on the west coast, having barely escaped another snowstorm. I guess it was the pay-off for our 4:30 a.m. wake-up call. And you just can't beat this SoCal weather--about 75 degrees and sunny. My east coast friends will probably stop reading now. It's a little chilly inside the condo though. I had to put a sweater on.

Now that we've been flitting back and forth for a while, we have a settling-in process that usually involves dinner the first night at Denny's--a short walk down the street. The second day starts with me making a grocery list. There's always a cup of coffee to help me along. You've probably noticed Homer Simpson standing in the background, screaming at me to remember coffeepot filters. I actually had to use a paper towel yesterday afternoon. I could probably just switch to those and save a few bucks, but you never know. There might be coffee police.

My trip to the grocery store was relatively uneventful. I didn't meet up with the pink-haired lady, but was accosted instead by her evil twin--an overly-friendly young man with normal-colored hair, but who had obviously attended the same customer service training session as his co-worker. "Are you finding everything ok?" he asked me in every even-numbered aisle, in the same sing-songy voice the company must require of its employees.

Early this morning, while waiting for my coffee to perk, I took a walk to the newspaper dispenser thingie at the end of the sidewalk, and I noticed a few things.

Someone is building a castle in the neighborhood. Do you think it might be Prince Charming?It's Fall. Isn't this January? Things can be a little weird in California.

And what about this poor thing! I think the landscape guys went a little too far here. It makes me hurt just to look at it.

Lucky for me, I didn't encounter any barkrats. Maybe they're hibernating....