Claim to Fame: Steve McQueen's Dogs Barked at me

The SUNDAY MORNING CBS NEWS SHOW had something on their show yesterday about Steve McQueen.   I confess I did not actually see what they had, but when they said it was coming up It brought back memories of the time I was looking at the two big barking dogs in Steve McQueen’s back yard. 

1967.  The Naval Reserve Squadron I was in went to NAS Yuma, Arizona, for two weeks of training.   The weekend was no duty.  We were free to do whatever we wanted, or could afford.  To made a long story short, or save for another blog, I will fast forward to downtown Las Angeles  that Saturday morning  I rented a hotel room.   At one point on Saturday I was sitting in the hotel’s huge lobby, near a window hoping to see a movie star walk by.

Then I saw my immediate boss for these two weeks, Chief Sprung, stroll by.  He was carrying a small suitcase.  I did not wave my arms or anything to get his attention.  I was looking forward of being alone.

He walked out of view of the window.  Whew!

Then he backed up back in the window’s view and waved.  Shit!

He rushed in waving and asked where was I staying.  “Here” I said.

“Great!” he said, he was having a hard time finding a room, he will just move in with me.  I said, “Great!” and secretly rolled my eyes.

The next morning, Sunday morning, he got on the phone.  He called an old Navy friend of his that worked as a technician for Disney Studios.

His friend came and picked us up and carried us back to his home in Hollywood Hills.  His wife was Asian.  They lived in a very nice modern house.  They were both very nice and congenial.  Chief Spung and his old Navy friend had a lot of catching up to do.  “What ever happen to blab bla la la”

The wife saw that I was left out of their conversation so she moved over towards me and started talking.  Then there was two conversations going on at the same time.  The wife guided me out of the room to show me around and have a more one on one conversation.  She showed me the rooms of the house, which I don’t remember and showed me the landscaping in the back yard. 

Two big dogs in a fence, adjacent to their side yard were barking at us.  She told me that was Steve McQueen’s dogs.  They knew her and wagged their tails when she talked to them but kept a guarded eye on me.

Steve’s house looked like a normal brick house, it was not a mansion.  The dogs were big, but I don’t remember what kind.

I turn 71 today ... Gasp!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

No new year resolutions. If Nostradamus's prediction or the Mayan Calendar proves true, why bother?

Lee and Dianne's 50th

Happy 50th Anniversary Lee and Dianne Cooper Moss!!

By the way, after Youtube had already accepted the video I noticed I misspelled Dianne's name. Darn!

Their anniversary party was crawling with law enforcers. I wonder why?

The Importance of Self-Image and Grunt-Work

We are having a 90th birthday celebration tomorrow for a relative. We are renting the family center of a church. A caterer will be supplying the eats and a floral artist will see to it there are beautiful floral arrangements there.

The caterer and the floral artist and their staffs were to meet this morning and set up tables, chairs, table clothes, and whatever else should be done. I volunteered my services to help out on the grunt work. They happily accepted.

The question I asked myself what image should I convey? Should I follow the chef around and tell him my secrets on how to get the best from a grill rotisserie and tell him out how much I like garlic and hot spices in my food? Or should I tell him my adventures with the beer can up the ass of a chicken squatting on the grill? Or should I do a quick Google-study on different types of flowers good for arranging, go buy a beret’ and leotards and talk to the floral-artist about my opinion on different types of arrangements and maybe try to use a lot of French words. Or maybe I should have my earphones and ipod in place, my ball cap backwards, and sort of bop to the rhythm that no one but me can hear, as I walk and occasionally fall down on a my back and do a spin, then get back up and start moving chairs again. Or, maybe I should just bring the book I’m reading, find me a quiet corner and open my book and read and tell them if they need me to do something, just ask…. But by my expression they will understand it will be best if they do it themselves.

I picked none of the above. I wore my ball cap with the front in the front and I did what I was asked to do, which was move roll the big round tables like big wheels, and then sat them up by unfastening their legs to the table bottom and after that was done I moved the chairs, eight to a table. I put them “about” where they should go and then someone else, a paid staffer, placed them exactly where they should be. Before it was over with I was pouring with sweat.

Of course the plan was, we thought, we were to place back the tables and chairs after the shindig tomorrow.

We noticed some young men came in, talked to the leaders and the leaders told them it would be over tomorrow around 5pm. Then the young men left.

We were told those young men would be back after we finish to put the tables and chairs back into place on the racks. We said, “We thought we had to do that because we were told the church didn’t have anybody working Saturday afternoon.”

“They are not from the church, they are doing community service”.

I wondered, “What image do I want tomorrow afternoon? I wonder if they still sell “sponge-on” tattoos?

VJ Day in Honolullu

Click here!

Click above for a little WWII history in the Pacific. It is VJ Day, August 14, 1945, in Honolulu.

Oh, My God!

Last night we went to a function; or maybe it was a celebration. In ever which case, it was catered with good food.

The big room had many big round tables. I think about 8 could sit per table.

We sat with one couple we knew and before it was all over with other couples sat down.

The lady of the other original couple had a low-cut on that accentuate her bountiful cleavage. She was a contrast of herself. She had a cute youthful face but her hair was gray and her husband was an older man. All but the boobs they looked like a grandparent couple.

She wore a small top jacket in. She removed the little jacket. And I suppose after a few stares she felt self conscious and put it back on and buttoned the top buttoned. Then the front was mostly closed but there was just enough flap to allow the to boobs peek out to give one a flirty hint what was underneath.

Maybe it was all Victoria’s Secret hardware.

The last couple to sit down was a young couple. I doubt he they were 30 yet. The guy had a camera bag. He pulled out of the bag a big and nice digital camera. He said he was taking the official pictures.

On his flash he attached a white plastic cover. I think that the white cover would sort of muffled the flash, making a soft light instead of a harsh light.

He said he would start with our table taking pictures. He told the lady with the little top jacket on and her husband he wanted to take their picture.

I think the lady thought it would be more elegant if she removed her little jacket.

When she removed it the photographer first instant verbal expression without thinking was “Oh My God!”

Almost as quick as his expression was, his wife, under the table, gave him a good swift hit in his groin.

Cough!

Then he took our picture.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Have a #19 (taco & burrito) today!

Eggnog Research

We had some unspiked eggnog yesterday evening.

The taste reminded me of a time in the middle 1940s that we went to visit my grandmother in Rossville, Georgia, at Christmas time. Grandma, her daughter and grandson lived on top of a big hill. One of her sons was currently living with them and had a job at a grocery in nearby Chattanooga. He was just home from his hitch in the Navy during the War. His name was Osmo.

Osmo had some eggnog he kept from view. He whispered something to his two brothers Bill and Leonard and they stepped in a little room and they passed the eggnog bottle around. All three bothers passing the bottle around had been in the war. Bill in the Army and Leonard inthe Navy.

I don’t remember the two oldest brothers Tom and Wallace participating in passing the eggnog jug… or the two son-in-laws, my father and Cecil.

Except me. I was about 6 or 7 years old. I begged and pestered Osmo wanting a drink of the secret potion. Osmo finally handed me the bottle but not before looking off towards the front of the house to see my mother talking to her siblings.

The eggnog was rich and potent. But at least I had enough sense to have one gulp and quick. After all, it was just research.

The Invisible Man Strikes P.F. Chang’s

To embigger (as Kenju says) a picture click on it.

Our little band of restauranteers went to P.F. Chang’s Restaurant Saturday night to celebrate Rocky and Sabrina’s birthday. They were in South Korea the day of his birthday. And Sabrina’s actual birthday was the following day, Sunday – which was yesterday. Confused?

Anna, Anna’s mother, my two sisters, Adam, Rocky, Sabrina, and Sabrina’s mother made up the group. And oh yes, me too – I forgot about me - I am so easily to be overlooked.

For instance, when we sat down I sat beside Anna – it was only a matter of a minute or two that someone counted people and counted the napkins and eating utensils and decided we had one set of dining tools too many. I pointed out that did not have any dining tools. Oh.

The birthday girl, Sabrina, brought the birthday cake – or in this case, birthday cupcakes. The cupcakes were handed out. The person handing out the cup cakes thought the job was finished – then I pointed I that I haven’t received mine. Oh.

I think I am going to have to start putting bandage tape around my head and body like a mummy and of course leave openings for eating and seeing.

We had belated birthday presents for Rocky and pre-birthday presents for Sabrina.

And, to our delight they had presents for us. They bought us gifts in South Korea. They are very thoughtful.

They gave me a little press or a stamp of a sort that presses an ancient Chinese symbol . The ancient Chinese symbol means HUNTER*. Below is a picture of the stamp, the red stuff which you use. It is like a seal. They had it made by an artisan who specializing in these. Rocky had one made for him that said HUNTER in ancient Korean.

Neat! I love it!




*Doing more research on the ancient Chinese symbols I discovered that anyone except one with the name HUNTER looks at this symbol it will cause an agonizing painful death within six months. You didn’t look did you?**

** But I know you didn’t fall for the above old gag – after all, I’m sure you remember it in MAD comicbook #23, takeoff on RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT drawn by Wallace Wood (below).

The Squeaky Wheel Gets The Oil

It is a fact: The squeaky wheel gets the grease. But what kind of grease?

Case number 1: Not long ago my oldest son bought a new HD TV for about $2500. The company he bought it from did not deliver it on time as they promised. When he checked with them they told him they made a mistake, they did not have the TV he ordered in stock. They said they didn’t know when they would receive it.

I think he demanded to see the manager, the area supervisor, and anybody else who would listen.

To please him, as a customer, they told him he could have an upgrade of what he ordered from what they had in stock. He told them he wanted a HD TV that sells for about $4500, which is 2 grand over what he paid. They gritted their smiling teeth and agreed.

And he said he also wanted the extended warranty for the same price as the other one. They said, in so many words, “No way!” Then, he started calling again. He got the HD TV and the extended warranty at the old price.

They delivered it Saturday.

However! It was 35 degrees F when they brought it. The men who delivered it said he would have to let it sit for at least two hours before he can turn it on. They said it was so cold outside the fluid part of the HD had to stabilize to room temperature. After two hours he turned it on and it blew his electric circuit.

I don’t know but I suspect the delivery men might have known the electrical circuit throughout the house blow so they wanted to be long-gone before hand. They had a 2 hour head start.

Case number 2: A couple of weeks ago our family had one of family members birthday dinner at a nice steak house. Anna ordered her steak medium rare. It came raw. I also ordered mine medium rare and it was just right… red and juicy, but not gushing blood. Anna sent her steak back. It came back “medium” too done and tough..

When we returned home that night she went to the restaurant’s website (that was on the receipt) and found a way to email them to complain, which she did.

Wednesday or Thursday the manager of the restaurant called and wanted to speak to Anna. I told the man she was at work. He wanted to know when he may reach her and I told him when, About 30 minutes after that time he called again and spoke to Anna. He apologized and asked what could he do to get her back in there. She said don’t worry about it, she just complained to get it off her chest and to make their service better, she said she would probably go back in time.

Saturday we received a letter from them, again apologizing, and inclosing $150 worth of gift certificates in $25 increments. The manager knew what it would take to get us back there. It worked! We are planning on returning next week.

I told her we should not flash those gift certificates around until after we ate and ready to pay up. They may be color-coded or something to signal that we are complainers.

If the cooks knew we were getting a free meal on the house over their blunders they might want to spit on our food, or maybe even urinate, or worse, or maybe even worse.

I would hate to catch the AIDS virus from a loaded baked potato.

38 Years!

Today we have been married 38 happy years. We have two sons we are very proud of and each of them has a dog, so we have two grand-dogs we enjoy also. We have lived in the same house for 30 years, which is all paid for. I have had a heart attack in 2001 and a stroke last Christmas Eve, but somehow I just keep on going beating that drum.