La Diva Loca: Learning, Living The Diva Life

Bed side Reading~~~

2012-01-27T15:38:00.000-08:00

Well Darlings, after all of that heavy work we need something a bit lighter.

Ordinarily Darlings, I don’t often recommend books to read unless its periodicals or books dealing with finance, but with such cold, cold weather and I do mean cold darlings, one really wants to just snuggle up in a nice warm blanket with a cup of hot coco, in front of a blazing fireplace, with good soft music, (I love Ella Fitzgerald myself) and a really good read.

Here are several that I found fascinating on the Non-fiction front.

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson, what a frightening time for them.

Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic conversations of life with John F. Kenned; interview with Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., 1964 by Michael Beschloss, my goodness I love her thoughts, she was not a brainless twit as some people would try to paint her, and I would love to read Michelle Obama’s thoughts on paper as well, considering some of the looks that she delivers during certain moments.

Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard, amazing how events turned on this one horrible act.

And for spiritual uplifting reading “Heaven is for real” by Todd Burpo w/ Lynn Vincent, I found myself in tears reading this.

On the Fiction front well I have to confess Darlings I do have my favorites.

With the new Stephanie Plum movie coming out I am re-reading “One for the Money” as well as Janet Evanovich’s latest “Explosive Eighteen”, laughs, laughs and I wish it could be made for T.V. ala “Columbo” it would be a hit.

Sue Grafton never fails to entertain me with her “V is for Vengeance” she still has x, y, and z to go.

I’m including Sandra Brown’s “Lethal” and Lee Child’s “the Affair: a Reacher Novel, and I’ve always adored John Grisham and he does still do justice with “The Litigators, as does James Patterson’s two books with two different collaborators “The Christmas wedding” and “Kill me if you can”

Of course Kathryn Stockett’s book “The Help” is also a fun and eye opening read.

One book that I would recommend as very serious reading on the investment and financial front as well as American history is “That Used to be Us: How America fell behind in the world it invented and how we can come back” by Thomas L. Friedman & Michael Mandelbaum. Not for a cozy winter read but for serious reflection.

And when I say cold Darlings I do mean cold. Juanita and I worried about our small family of ducks that like to, on occasion nest under my plants, so I asked Manuel to build a small shelter and we put bedding hay for them, I was please to see that they took advantage of it ever since it started turning very cold and especially when the weather dropped to near freezing.

Juanita and I covered the more delicate plants with blankets for protection and I threw an old rug on top of the shelter for more insulation. For the last few extremely cold weeks I saw them taking advantage of its protection all snuggled together and Juanita and I put out duck chow for them in large plastic bowls that they partook of. I had to keep Princess in so as to not disturb them.

And Princess my little 4 legged Diva Darling, was so cold even with her sweater on that she begged me to come to my bed, so with a special flannel blanket for her she slept with “Mommy”. Even as I write this I have a heating pad on her chair, set on low so she will not take a chill.

With the weather taking such a freezing dip our walks have not been very long, just a quick dash down about a block and then back. She did learn that we have those special doggie pads on the garage floor all she has to do is just scratch the door, go there quickly and do her business on them. I have a special bin to put the used pad into to dispose of.

And bit by bit we are learning more about drafts and doing some work to eliminate them.

It’s times like these where it is soooo much better to fall back on using flannel pajamas as well as flannel sheets and pillow case and thick warm fuzzy wuzzy slippers. I know darlings, not glamouriest or divaiest, but you’ll be at your warmest.

And speaking of warm, well Darlings, I did run out of the Pumpkin spice liquid creamer but I still have my Pumpkin Spice tea, and it feels so good going down into my tummy (sorry Darling I know that sounds so too-too). But it is the feel good thing I’m going for, and at night when it is fine to use the fireplace I still burn candles for a sense of feeling warm, there is something so cozy about it.

In a few days when Juanita and I go shopping I’m going to get the Hazelnut liquid creamer as we head slowly into spring, which I can hardly wait for.

Until Anon Darlings, Kisses.

Important Papers Review 2012

2012-01-27T15:33:00.000-08:00

Once again Dahlings it is time to review what to keep and what to throw away and I am going to be posting from several wonderful sources.

Oprah’s financial guru David Bach has a wonderful list in Chapter 2 of his book “Start Over, Finish Rich” I do recommend that you get and read his entire book which goes into things in depth.

Now he states that “except in cases involving fraud, the statute of
limitations on income-tax returns is only three years, so the Internal
Revenue Service does not expect you to hang on to tax records and receipts
for any longer than that. The main exceptions to this are if you've
underreported your income (in which case you should keep your records for
six years) or have claimed a loss from worthless securities (seven years).

(Personally Darlings I recommend 10 years---I never could trust the I.R.S.)

You should keep records documenting the cost basis of your home
and all your other taxable investments for as long as you own them. The
same goes for the basic documents concerning your retirement accounts and
insurance policies, not to mention all loans and mortgages.”

(This goes without saying and again as long as you own them and for at least 10 years after But consult with a very good Tax attorney about this)

This is Bach’s list of
items you should consider throwing away (or shredding if the documents
contain personal information):

Outdated warranties
Outdated instruction manuals
Outdated wills or trusts (provided you created a new one)
Canceled insurance policies
Credit card statements for closed tax years
Canceled checks for closed tax years
Old brokerage statements for closed tax years (unless they have
cost-basis information you might eventually need)
Old annual reports from stocks and/or mutual funds
Old investment newsletters (some people keep these things for years
because they paid for them—let them go)

Now one person posted this suggestion and it is I consider a very worthy thought

“If you are sorting papers for an elderly person who might need to apply for Medicaid you should know that the Medicaid office will want to see the paper trail,
all documentation for any transaction over $1000. Since there is a five
year look-back period, save all bank statements, brokerage statements,
large receipts for five years, otherwise you'll be spending a lot to get
the bank or broker to reproduce them for you.”

Again I still recommend 7 to 10 years back trail

Now Mr. Bach does have a file organization system that does work wonders but we haven’t covered other papers that you should keep---so let’s take a look at those----

Now I have copied this next bit of information for your personal information it is no longer in print but you can find a copy of it on the internet---and it is vital for your organization.

Keeping Family/Household Records Return to Publications.USA.gov
KEEPING FAMILY/HOUSEHOLD RECORDS
This brochure is no longer available in print. It is based on a chapter
from the U. S. Department of Agriculture's 1973 Yearbook of Agriculture
and has been adapted for use online by the Federal Citizen Information
Center of the General Services Administration as a public service. The
chapter on which this brochure is based was originally prepared by
Constance Burgess, a retired Cooperative Extension consumer education
specialist from the University of California. The information is in the
public domain and you are welcome to reference or copy it for educational
purposes.
What to Discard

When was the last time you couldn't find an important paper you knew you
had carefully put away someplace? How much time do you spend trying to
straighten out your household business affairs, especially at income tax
time?

How, in fact, do people decide what records are important to keep and what
they can discard? How do they decide where to store and keep such records
and papers?

Even though each family or household must work out its own system, some
general guidelines can be helpful. As a starter, ask yourself a few
questions:

How easy or difficult would it be for other members of your household to
figure out your record system? Or…do you even have a system?

Who besides you knows where to turn for necessary information about the
family household assets and obligations?
Do you have a listing of people
who are important contacts, such as tax counselors, attorneys, bankers,
brokers, insurance representatives, employers, creditors, and debtors?

Are you sure titles to property and possessions are held in the best way
for all concerned?
If not, you may want to ask an estate attorney or a
trust officer at your bank for professional assistance.

A good record system will provide a bird's-eye view of what happens to
property after you die or when a member of your household dies.
Other
changes can alter plans too---for example, divorce or separation,
children reaching legal age, a long illness, a lawsuit, a natural
disaster, loss of a job, and retirement.

What happens if the place where you live is burglarized or there's a
fire and records are destroyed?
What do you do when you lose track of
important paper.
Which can be replaced, and how do you go about that?

Which ones cannot be replaced, and what do you do about those?

Papers to Keep in Safe Deposit Boxes
Every family household has some important records. Each of us should have
a birth certificate or an acceptable substitute. Since there are many
occasions when the information on your birth certificate will be needed,
it is important that you keep it in a safe place, preferably in a safe
deposit box.

If you have lost or misplaced birth certificates, consider applying for
replacements now, before there is a pressing need. Otherwise, you may have
to wait for one you need quickly.

State registration of births has been mandatory since 1920, and you can
contact your State agency to get a copy. The Bureau of the Census also
will search its files for proof of age.

By the same token, there will be death certificate for every person
someday. These will be needed occasionally and also are best kept in a
safe deposit box.

If you need to obtain these kinds of records, the publication,
Where to
Write for Vital Records is available for viewing or purchase from the
Federal Citizen Information Center, Pueblo, Colorado 81009.

Other important documents to be kept in your safe deposit box include
marriage certificates, divorce or other legal papers regarding dissolution
of marriage, adoption papers, citizenship records, service papers, and any
other document that is either government or court recorded.

The original
copy of a will, in most cases, is kept in the safe of the attorney who
prepared it.
This is highly desirable, since it may save complications
later.
The client receives two carbon copies, one of which may be put into
his or her own safe deposit box.
However, there could be a legal delay in
getting this copy at his or her death.
The third copy, therefore, should
be kept at home where it is readily accessible.

Some of your important papers, such as investments, are of a business or
financial nature.
Certificates for securities are nonnegotiable (can't be
sold or legally transferred) until they are signed by the owner.

Nevertheless, such certificates can be lost or stolen, and the signature
can be forged.
In either case replacement involves both cost and delay.

Such certificates then, when not left with the broker, should be kept in
the owner's safe deposit box.

Government bonds can be replaced without cost, but there will be a delay
of several months. So it is best to keep these in the box also.

Among other investment-type documents that require safekeeping are papers
that serve as proof of ownership, such as deeds for real estate, other
mortgage papers, contracts, automobile titles (if this applies in your
State), leases, notes, and such special papers as patents and copyrights.

Renting Safe Deposit Boxes
If you don't have a safe deposit box, then consider getting one. The
yearly rental, at your bank or savings and loan company, is inexpensive.
Often the smallest size is adequate, though larger sizes are available at
slightly higher charges.
If you do have a safe deposit box, ask yourself if it is large enough to
hold everything that should be in it-and small enough to keep out things
that don't need to be there. If you store documents from investment
properties or securities, the rental can be claimed as a deduction for
income tax purposes. The box should not be used as a catchall for
souvenirs and unimportant papers.

What Goes In And What Stays Out
A guideline as to what goes in and what stays out of your safe deposit box
might be: Put it in if you can't replace it or if it would be costly or
troublesome to replace.

Many items can be replaced rather easily. Copies of insurance policies can
be obtained from your insurance companies. Copies of cancelled checks are
usually available at your bank. Generally speaking, you do not need to
keep the following in a safe deposit box: income tax returns, education
records, employment records, bankbooks, social security cards, guarantees,
and burial instructions.

Keeping Tax Records
How long should you keep tax records? The Internal Revenue Service has 3
years in which to audit Federal income tax returns.
However, this limit
does not apply in unusual cases. If you failed to report more than 25
percent of your gross income, the Government has 6 years to collect the
tax or to start legal proceedings. Also, there are no time limitations if
you filed a fraudulent return or if you failed to file a return.

But you don't have to keep everything for tax purposes. You can lighten
your record load by discarding certain checks and bills once they have
served their purpose. For example, you can throw away weekly or monthly
salary statements---assuming you are paid in that way---after you check
them against your annual W-2 Form.
But save cancelled checks that relate
directly to an entry on your tax return, and keep all medical bills for 3
years to back up your cancelled checks.

The IRS generally keeps records for 6 years. You can obtain a copy of your
tax return by writing to the IRS center to which your return was sent.
Make sure you include your social security number and a notarized
signature.

Making Household Inventory Records
Among your important papers keep a household inventory. If there is a fire
or burglary in your home, this record will help you remember what has to
be replaced and how much each item is worth. An inventory also may show
that you need to increase your insurance because your possessions are
worth more than you thought.

The best way to go about compiling a household inventory is to start with
a sheet of paper for each room in the house, apartment, etc. Forms on
which to record items are available from several places, sometimes from
your county Extension office.

When you make your inventory, start at one point in the room and go all
the way around, listing everything. For each item, list what it is, how
much it cost, when it was purchased, and what it would cost to replace it.

Include the model number, brand name, dealer's name, and a general
description. If you take pictures of the rooms and your household
possessions, it will make identification or replacement, easier. Arrange
expensive collections, silver, and jewelry separately and take close-up
pictures.

When you have finished all the rooms, including the basement, garage, and
attic, add up the total replacement cost. That figure will represent what
your household is worth and is what your insurance should cover.

Update your inventory every 6 months or so by adding new purchases and
adjusting replacement costs.

Organizing A Home Filing System
A system for personal records is a necessity. No matter how modest your
home facilities might be, you need a special place to keep your papers.

That could be as elaborate as a room or home office or as simple as a
corner of the kitchen, bedroom, or hall.

Records, regardless of the filing system used, should be reviewed at least
once a year to discard items no longer needed. January is a good time for
an overhaul, since it's just before you begin to work on taxes.

The equipment you will need doesn't have to be elaborate. Think about a
filing cabinet before you think about a desk. The two-drawer type can be
covered with paint or wallpaper. A wooden slab or hollow-core door
stretched across the top of two cabinets can make a practical home office
desk.

If you don't have space for a small cabinet, buy accordion folders, a
storage chest that fits under the bed, or get sturdy cardboard boxes of an
appropriate size.

A home computer or portable typewriter and a pocket calculator can be
handy, but they are not essential. The essential thing is to know where
everything is.

Two Home Files
You should keep two home files, in addition to your safe deposit box at
the bank. These two files are your active file and your dead storage file.

Your active file will hold:
1) unpaid bills until paid,
2) paid bill receipts,
3) current bank statements,
4) current cancelled checks,
5) income tax working papers. After 3 years, move these items to your dead
storage file. --- Be sure to hold to for 10 years.

There are other items which should always be kept in your active file.
These include:
1) employment records, such as resumes, recommendation
letters, health benefit information;
2) credit card information, including
the number of each card, by company name;
3) insurance policies;
4) copies of wills;
5) family health records;
6) appliance manuals and warranties;
7) education information, such as transcripts, diplomas, etc.;
8) Social Security information on benefits and regulations;
9) an inventory of what's in your safe deposit box (you might store a key in the inventory
folder).

Finally, keep a record book of the whereabouts of your important papers.
If you use a loose-leaf binder, you will be able to change papers easily
or copy a page or two.

The book should contain a list of all your savings and checking accounts.

This way you won't become one of the missing depositors who have forgotten
their accounts or who have died without telling relatives about them.

Also, include the name and branch of the bank where you keep your safe
deposit box.

The book also should have all of the family members' social security
numbers, and all of the insurance policy information.
It's a good idea to
keep a copy of your household inventory here as well.
Don't forget to
record all your household improvements.

Finally, make sure someone else knows and understands the family
record-keeping system.

Some things not covered in this list is a durable power of attorney and a medical power of attorney and a medical directive, this should be in your safe deposit box, a copy in your active file, a copy with a trusted blood relative as well as your spouse/significant other.
And directions for your funeral arrangements.

Preparing A Net Worth Statement
Have you tried filling out a net worth statement as a means of keeping
tabs on yourself and your family possessions? Such a record provides a
good overall picture and can be prepared in an hour or less. If you do it
annually, you can see quickly whether you are getting ahead financially or
falling behind and, in either case, how fast.

An accurate net worth statement can serve as a point of departure for the
year ahead. If you're not making as much progress financially as you had
expected to, you can decide whether to stay on course or to change
directions for the coming year.
Where are you going to find a net worth
form that will meet your needs? Try your county Cooperative Extension
Service office. Or ask at your bank. Better yet, perhaps you can make one
to fit your family.
All you do is list your assets, list your obligations,
and subtract the debts from the assets. Hopefully the plus side of the
ledger will get larger each year and the minus side smaller. But there may
be good reasons why you'll fall behind sometimes, such as when you buy a
new home or when other expenses are heavier than usual.

THINGS TO REMEMBER
Use the checklist chart below to remind yourself what to keep and what you
can discard.
Safe Deposit Box
Birth Certificates
Citizenship Papers
Marriage Certificates
Adoption Papers
Divorce Decrees
Wills
Death Certificates
Deeds
Titles to Automobiles
Household Inventory
Veteran's Papers
Bonds and Stock Certificates
Important Contracts
Active File
Tax Receipts
Unpaid Bills
Paid Bill Receipts
Current Bank Statements
Current Cancelled Checks
Income Tax Working Papers
Employment Records
Health Benefit Information
Credit Card Information
Insurance Policies
Copies of Wills
Family Health Records
Appliance Manuals and Warranties
Receipts of Items Under Warranty
Education Information
Inventory of Safe Deposit Box (and key)
Loan Statements
Loan Payment Books
Receipts of Expensive Items Not Yet Paid For
Dead Storage
All Active File Papers Over 3 Years Old
Items To Discard
Salary Statements (after checking on W-2 Form)
Cancelled Checks for Cash or Nondeductible Expenses
Expired Warranties
Coupons After Expiration Date
Other Records No Longer Needed see further above.

Julia Morgenstern in Oprah’s magazine for Sept 2004 gave this general guide of what to keep and for how long---

"How long should I keep certain papers?" It is
imperative that you check with your accountant and/or lawyer before throwing out
any financial or legal papers, because they know most about your individual
situation.

Here's a general guide of what to keep and for how long.

What to Keep and For How Long

Automobile records (titles, registration, repairs)—As long as you own the
vehicle(s)

Appointment books—1 to 10 years, depending on your comfort level

ATM slips—Maximum six years if needed for tax purposes

Bank statements—Maximum six years if needed for tax purposes

Credit card statements—Maximum six years if tax-related purchases on statements;
otherwise, until annual interest statement is issued by company

Calendars (past)—According to your comfort level and whether you use them for
reference or memorabilia

Catalogs and magazines—Until the next issue

Dividend payment records—Until an annual statement is supplied by company, then
just only annual statements

Household inventory and appraisal—As long as current, review at least once a year.

Insurance policies (auto, homeowners, liability)—As long as the statute of
limitations runs in the event of late claims

Insurance policies (disability, medical, life, personal property, umbrella)—As
long as you own it

Investments (purchase records)—As long as you own them

Investments (sales records)—Maximum six years for tax purposes could strech
to 10 years

Mortgage or loan discharge—As long as you own, or six years after discharge or 10

Receipts
Appliances—As long as you own the item

Art, antiques, collectibles—As long as you own the item

Clothing—For the length of the returns period, unless tracking your household
budget

Credit card slips—Until your statement comes and you can match purchases

Furniture—As long as you own the item in case repair is needed

Home improvements—As long as you own your home, or six years after sale

Household repairs—For life of warranty, or longer to reference reliability
record of service people and their rates

Major purchases—For the life of the item

Medical and tax-related—Maximum of six years to 10

Rent—Your canceled check is sufficient unless you make the mistake of paying
cash then it's best to switch to using a U.S. Postal Money Order and label it "Rent"
and get a receipt no matter what, demand it.

Utility bills—Your current bill and one previous year's to check billing
patterns

Warranties and instructions—For the life of warranty or the item. Stick label
with warranty expiration date and service repair number on bottom of appliance.
If something breaks down, you've got an easy way to check if the item's still
covered without even having to go to your file drawer.

Property bill of purchase—As long as you own the property

Résumé—As long as it's current

Safe Deposit Box key and inventory—As long as it's current

Tax records (bank statements and canceled checks, certificates of deposit,
contracts, charitable contributions, credit statements, income tax returns,
lease and loan agreements, loan payment books, pension plan records, pay
stubs)—The current year, plus six prior years to 10

Vital Records (Adoption papers, birth & death certificates, citizenship papers,
copyrights/patents, marriage certificate, divorce decree, letter of "Last
Instructions" to executor or heirs, medical illness and vaccination records,
passports, Power of Attorney, Social Security records, Wills)—Permanently

Now that you know how long to hang on to important papers, set up a file folder
system that works for you!

And every year you should do this---prepare a----

NET WORTH STATEMENT as of ________________
(update annually)

Assets
Cash on Hand$______________
Bank accounts (checking and savings)$______________
Credit Union account$______________
Savings & loan accounts$______________
Any other savings accounts$______________
House, market value$______________
Other real estate, value$______________
Household furnishings, value$______________
Automobile(s), blue book value$______________
Life insurance, cash value$______________
Stocks and bonds, today's value$______________
Profit-sharing or retirement plans$______________
U.S. Savings Bonds$______________
Money owed you$______________
Other assets or investments$______________
Personal property$______________
Total Assets$______________

Obligations
Mortgages, balance due$______________
Other loans (bank, credit union)$______________
Installment debts, balance due$______________
Credit cards, balance due$______________
Charge accounts, owed$______________
Other debts, total owed$______________
Insurance premiums due$______________
Taxes owed$______________
Other current bills$______________
Total Debts$______________

Net Worth (assets minus debts)$______________

Now a friend of mine has her active and inactive files in two 2 drawer cabinets, but she also invested in a 4 drawer cabinet because of her children’s information again label the cabinet drawers to cover each child.

Remember Darlings, you are the C.E.O. of your life and should you get married, of your family’s life.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings

Time to start the new year~~~

2012-01-27T15:30:00.000-08:00

Well Dahlings, once again it’s Tax Time---how awful and how boring, but it must be done.

The first thing I do recommend to all you wonderful Diva’s is always get a very good tax preparer, it really is worth it to have someone do the taxes for you, and it saves you the head ache and worry about putting things off, then racing at the last minute to do it.

Now if you are starting out in life to make the Diva bucks, if you are buying stocks, bonds, mutual funds etc. and are receiving some dividends from them either profit or loss, then you may want to consider someone with more experience than H. & R. Block.

But, if right now you are working to earn the money to invest, then H & R Block is just fine to start with. If you are renting, even sharing an apartment you still must make sure that you know exactly where your deductions are. Even if you think all you can fill out is a 1040 EZ form, it doesn’t hurt to discover what deductions you can take. You maybe surprised.

Each year the tax laws change either a little or a lot, so it pays to keep up with any possible changes and ask your tax preparer about them if they would apply to you.

Barron’s January 9, 2012 issue is well worth a very serious read about Mutual funds and how to keep your cash safe and still earn a return.

It also mentions one of my favorite investment funds, Sequoia Fund (ticker: SEQUX) it has been thriving in this depressed market, and when they shifted into pharmaceuticals I realized they were operating the way I liked. I mean Darlings everyone needs medicine.

For an interesting read about the future of office work read the January 16, 2012 issue of Fortune, is shows the way how in the future technology, energy, banking, offices, education etc. will operate, and read it very, very carefully darlings for what you should consider as future investments, I think I would not be amiss in suggesting Bio-fuels.

The AARP magazine (yes Darlings I am of an age) for Dec. 2011/Jan. 2012 includes an excellent article about how to boost your retirement nest egg, one that I think all Diva’s should take to heart.

I’ve been enjoying reading the Jan/Feb. 2012 issue of Money magazine, the investor’s guide issue. One thing they do talk about is how to set up your portfolio for retirement, the article is titled “The easy way to stay on track.”

Darlings it is always wise to see if your investment portfolio is doing what you want it to do, especially in these roller coaster times.

But this issue includes not only retirement but good and bad ideas for home remodeling, health and other issues in one’s life. Definitely something to read cover to cover and keep on file for reference.

Now another thing I’m going to mention is this, insurance, I’m not talking about car, house, rental or medical insurance although all of those are very, very important. I’m going to briefly mention life insurance, yes Darlings, Life Insurance. Look for an insurance plan that will cover you both alive and dead and do not look into a Term Life Insurance even though they sound good and inexpensive, part of that problem is that if you need to cash it out early, you can’t…it is money lost, and it’s only for a limited amount of time, in most cases only up to the age of 80. But with the milestones they are making in health care, and you take very, very good care of yourself you could easily live till your 100 or beyond and still be having a Diva Life, but a term life insurance will not go past the age of 80.

Look for an insurance that will be for your full life time and that will pay you back should you need to cash it out, it may cost more, but it’s like money in the bank.

And if you get it while you are young and healthy it is so much cheaper.

Until Annon, Kisses Darlings.

A home office

2012-01-27T15:28:00.000-08:00

Hello All you Diva Darlings!

Are you ready to start the New Year including Chinese New Year?? I hope so. It’s going to be a very interesting one with all the political fencing that we are simply going to be bored to death with.

Frankly among the early republican hopefuls there is not a single good person among them at all. Where is Ronald Regan when you need him??!!

Alright Darlings, not everyone was enamored by Ronnie, I’ll concede that, but still……

Now Darlings, I have been a busy little bee writing up various posts and I have been during our cold, rainy days---although we do need the rain---writing a lot of posts. But I have broken them down as to what they should cover.

Some of my Diva’s in training have asked me how to set up a “home office”, even if it’s only for their personal use.

(Thank you Jennifer, Dianna, Nancy, Lynda, Becky) I didn’t post their comments because the questions were pretty much the same.

Well first Darlings, you need to set aside a space that you have to say is your “Office”, whether it’s a corner in the kitchen or you have a room to outfit. Second, this desk or office area is off-limits to other family members, no touching at all.

I know of one lady who simply raged that her husband and children would not keep their hands off of her desk, computer etc. while she went to take care of other things, only to come back and find everything including important bills and papers, completely dis-organized, so much so that she had to spend a considerable amount of time putting it back in order.

She was so angry about it that she threatened divorce and told her husband he could keep the kiddies and then he’d learn what it was like to deal with them.

Fortunately her hubby was not dense, after all he had his “man-cave” and the children (3 boys) could invade there especially during the games. But the children simply thought that anything that was Mom’s was theirs---not so when it comes to bill paying or anything, even Mom’s purse is off limits.

Her hubby realized she needed what in Victorian times would have been called “The Morning Room”, they had a good size garden and part of it was under underutilized (aka weedy), so instead of giving her diamonds, he had built for her “A Room of Her Own”, complete with electricity, phone, and computer connections, now the room was bare, no carpets, not painted, not furnished, but she envisioned what it should look like and where the connections and outlets should be and it was so.

Then he let her choose what she wanted in it, oh and did I forget, but he also made sure that it was properly done so she could run a space heater without blowing out anything.

And she has the key---kiddies not allowed, unless the house is burning down.

But lets say that you have in your home a spare room, maybe a room that is too small to be a bed room or a man-cave, or you have an over large kitchen with a convenient corner.

Asses the space to figure out what will fit, and that will require taking photos and measurements, and doing a grid.

Then you need to find a good desk that will fit the space that you have in mind, now some people will have an “L” shaped desk, one side to hold the computer and the other for a flat space to write out or sort things.

Then you need to have at least a 2 drawer file cabinet, it helps if it’s a locking file cabinet.

The cheapest way to create a desk is to get two 2 drawer file cabinets and put on top of them a standard hollow core door, with one cabinet for active files and the other for dead files.

I also suggest a fire proof safe to hold things like insurance papers, mortgage papers, social security cards, birth certificates and that is just for starters.

You need to assess the types of office supply materials you’ll need.

And for that you need these essentials:
Comfortable desk chair
Desk lamp (those with the movable head)
Holder to hold incoming mail,
Shredder,
Scissors
Waste basket
Calculator,
magnifying glass,
stapler/staples,
scotch tape and dispenser,
pens/pencils,
envelopes legal size,
letter size paper,
letter opener,
12 inch/18 inch ruler, 1 yard stick (36 inches),
cheap note pad to do calculations,
Stamps,
Rubber bands
File to hold seasonal or special occasion cards (birthdays, anniversaries etc.)
Files to hold paid bills, these will go into the file cabinet.

Cash book---now this is important---I use a cash book and write down monthly what bills need to come in and when, I check off if they have arrived, then check off if they have been paid

Large calendar, and have it so you can see three months ahead, write on it when and what bills should be paid and when it should be mailed, I also use the calendar to note when I will be getting deposits into my various accounts, then I call to check to see what has been deposited and note my balance. This calendar should include medical/dental appointments, birthdays, anniversaries, any upcoming events like when school lets out for the Summer, etc.

Special holder to hold outgoing bills/letters/cards that you are mailing,

You will need a magazine file holder to hold the current catalogues that you get, mark on them when received and rotate them out when the next one comes in,

File to hold menus for take out in case you don’t feel like cooking; rotate those once a year to update prices.

Rack to hold Labled spare keys (this to be mounted on the wall)

Printer for computer
Scanner for Computer
A table to hold both printer and scanner.

Now you may not need all of this but in time you will discover what is very handy.

I also have a check file to hold my duplicate carbons for my checks as well as the check registers and I keep clipped together all my receipts, especially when I use my debt card and credit card, I do not get rid of them until I have resolved my statements, some receipts you need to hold onto in case you have to return an item or gift, so mark those receipts as such and some maybe be needed for income tax purposes.

Now how often should you reconcile your checkbook, well Darlings I maybe paranoid but I do it every other day, I also list what is pending and what is outstanding, this is especially important during the holidays or if you are heavy into using your debt card to pay for everything, you don’t want to over draft your account.

Another reason is that of late thieves are very big into “skimming” cards at Grocery stores, gas stations, ATM’s etc. so by checking every other day you’d be quick to catch any unauthorized spending, also it does pay to use your debt card as a credit card or to use your credit card as you have a better chance of reversing unauthorized transactions.

Now a new list has come out on paperwork that you will need to keep, and one of the most important questions that is asked is----

"How long should I keep certain papers?"

It is imperative that you check with your accountant and/or lawyer before throwing out any financial or legal papers, because they know most about your individual situation.

Because each person’s situation is unique there are times when it is important to hold older files in a 4 drawer file cabinet. And if you have children that information will also be important to hold on to.

I will be posting what papers to keep and for how long, and when to shift things from an active file to a dead one.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings

Etta James & Haute Couture

2012-01-27T11:23:00.000-08:00

Darlings, I am Devastated after hearing about Etta James, one of the world’s most wonderful Jazz and R & B singers passing away; her song “At Last” is just so iconic, so perfectly rendered that no one else can come close to duplicating it.

I am so glad that I encouraged my great-niece to buy a CD of her songs which included that one; she e-mailed me this morning and said she is going to hunt for every CD that has ever been produced of her singing. I told her to not forget Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Holiday, Dina Washington and Julie London; we could all learn from them their singing style, just so wonderful on cold, rainy nights.

I am going to have to go over my collection and see what I need to do to update it.

But still one more voice now gone, first Elizabeth and now Etta, well the best thing I can do is simply “pound out” more posts.

And I have been a busy “Little Bee”.

I had a chance to see what the Haute-Couture Fashion is coming out of Paris and all I can say is that I was bored, bored, bored, with the exception of some promising numbers from Dior and a couple from the house of Channel there was nothing that was exciting.

Even the clothing styles created for the T.V. program “Mad Men” were far more exciting than what walked down the runways. One of my friends who is an editor for a Fashion magazine had asked if I care to come with her for Fashion week, and although I would have loved seeing Paris again (I have not been there for nearly 6 years), I decided to pass on it and sent my regrets, but she promised to keep me up to date on what looked promising.

Even she had a hard time getting excited about what trotted out.

Lagerfeld did have some inspiration perhaps from the possibility of the Television program Pan-Am but frankly there were a lot of styles from the 1960’s that were not the best. And shades of blue, Darlings are we all going to be stewardesses?

My friend said she would have loved to see some of the garments in other colors, to get a true feel of what they would be.

Versache went with off-white silver and acid green, but Halston could have done better if he was alive and still designing.

What I have to laugh about is how the fashion reporters give such glowing reports on stuff that are such tripe. I could do better by going into my closet and digging out garments from 20 years ago that I still fit into. Even the vintage items from the Art Deco shows are far better than what walked down the run ways this spring season.

Sorry Darlings, I just could not get excited, and the clothing styles out of Berlin…Unbelievable, I think there was only one thing that I saw among them that was of interest.

But the year is still young, we’ll just have to wait and see what crops up. Or is it going to be Talbots and Jessica London with their basic sensible designs?

However something very interesting has developed, Constance's second oldest daughter, Bella has discovered the clothes that I gave to her mother, she became very interested in dress design and such and look classes in sewing, she sewed her own prom dresses as well as several for her friends and got paid for it.

Well when she came over this last weekend with her mother and the baby, such a sweet little thing, she asked me about vintage designs, so I showed her my closets and we talked, and talked she didn't want to leave, so Juanita, Constance and the Baby went to do their errands and Bella and I looked at the clothes, talked about fashion, and we went over the patterns offered by Vogue, Butterick and McCalls.

She has a sewing machine a good sturdy Singer, so I am going to "bankroll" her, she wants to get into tailoring and designing, her Mother is concerned about her making her way in the world, and I have to admit the world of fashion design is highly competitive, and I encouraged her to look at taking business classes so she would understand what a cut-throat business she'd be getting into, she also saw my Besame cosmetics, and so I showed her a web site "Lulu's at the Belle Kay".

Oh the sweet dear became ecstatic!

I told her about the Art Deco Societies and the concept of all the retro programs such as Pan Am, Mad Men and some of the movies. So I have told her she needs to develop a plan and get an idea of what she wants to do.

So calling Constance on her cell phone I told her that we were going to a fabric store that I knew and buy Patterns, and that Constance better be prepared to have a at home business in her house and said to come back to my house and we'd all go out to dinner, baby in tow.

So that evening we did and explained what I was going to do for Bella, but Bella had to promise that she would go to college and study business and marketing as well as fashion design, it's exciting to be able to help launch a career, and to encourage her dreams.

And now I have other postings to prepare.

Until anon Darlings, Kisses

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings

Politics and Money

2011-12-28T11:15:00.000-08:00

Hello Dahlings!!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas Holiday.

Currently I am blogging from my brother's computer system. I am staying at his place with his dear wife, Lois until Friday.

Today we are going to the SPA and treat ourselves to being pampered. Lois has chosen the place and I haven't a clue where it is. I love things like that.

Another thing is I'm going to invest in a laptop computer, my brother has strongly suggested that it would be a good thing, because when I travel I can link in through a hotels' wi-fi when I want to know about investments. And frankly I have to agree with his assessment.

I had been holding off because I don't buy one day and sell the next I select stocks and funds for the long haul. But it can tell me which way "the wind is blowing".

I have been doing this since I knew how to do math when I was child and I can thank my parents for that and my brothers and late husband.

I've had several of my blog friends ask me if I have an "office". Well yes and no.

You see I use to go to my husbands and his business partners office, and he'd have a desk and phone for me to use (so much has changed since those early days)and I would invest only my own independent funds.

Upon his death, I made a deal with his business partners, that I could have a small office (with windows thank you) and continue to do my investing. But I also maintain an office at home as well, Wallace my friend, joined my husband's firm after my husband's death and we've continued this business relationship.

It works out well, because sometimes they will come to me for my opinion on things, which I can talk to them more freely than I can here on this blog (there are laws about that you know), but please be aware that when I talk to them I don't "darling" them at all. I talk to them as an equal and they know it. (please see my earlier posts).

The other day there was concerned about North Korea and Iran, especially around transportation of oil through one of the main water ways. There were private rumbles about that.

And if you have recently read the news Iran is threatening to block the strait that many oil cargo ships use, even though the strait is international waters.

Saudi Arabia to keep the peace and good relationships with us and Europe has done and end run which has lowered the cost of oil, but transporting it may raise the price.

We are concerned about all this "saber rattling", is this going to be another war?

Frankly my dears, if my husband were alive he'd say bomb Iran back to the stone age, and take out all the nuclear reactors. If I wasn't so concerned about repercussions I'd say the same thing, it can get very frustrating.

Now North Korea---we are dealing with an unknown quantity, personally don't be surprised if Kim's son eventually disappears from the scene, or he is used as a figure head.

But getting back to my "office" I am much like that gentleman who is 106 years old and goes to his office everyday, he has retired from the company but he keeps his office as a private investor, and he stays up with the technology. I just adore him. BUT I am not 106 years old.

Now I must go, Lois is ready and we are going for lunch first.

So what is this post all about Darlings? Remember you are the CEO of your life, what happens politically and economically, both local, state, nation and internationally, affects you. You cannot change things, but be prepared for them to "weather the fall out" so to speak.

That is why the media, newspapers, radio, television, Internet, magazines are so important to making careful judgements. Always be "the ant" not "the grasshopper" if you remember Aesop's fable.

Untill Anon, Kisses Darlings.

Diamonds, Taylor & Christmas

2011-12-18T11:29:00.000-08:00

Well Darlings I am amazed!

Darling Elizabeth Taylor’s fantastic Jewelry and other items went for nearly $150 million dollars!!!

Christie’s estimated some of her pieces at 1 million or so and they went nearly 10 times as much.

Scripts estimated at 2 or 3 thousand dollars went for over a hundred thousand!

And all to her AIDS foundation. Such a worthy charity. The lady knew how to live and she knew how to plan her final kickoff even being late to her own funeral.

One of the last of the True Diva’s of the world, there is no one else like her and there never will be.

I’ve managed to save her White Diamonds commercials, well I have a friend who knows someone and they made copies for me, next will be the J’adore commercial where they show Grace Kelly and Sweet Marilyn along with Charlene Therzon, wonderful splicing.

All these young actresses only borrow their jewels for the big events; they don’t OWN them and choosing one to make their own statement. They make enough money, and with a bit of shrewd understanding of the value they can have it as an investment.

Mae West bought and was given diamonds all her life, and she even sold some to finance several of her plays such as “Sex”, “The Constant Sinner” and most importantly “Diamond Lil”.

From that investment she was able to “bankroll” the incomes into buying land, beach front property, and even the apartment building that she lived in.

Darlings do you see what I’m getting at? Tiffany, Cartier, Bulgari, Winston are all good investments as well as personal adornment. Just don’t brag about it, let them guess but you feel good wearing the real thing, it’s like knowing that you’re wearing a simple but well-made business outfit, but wearing sexy lingerie underneath.

I invested in the Christie’s auction catalogue for the Taylor auction, it was not cheap, but I’ve also bought her book “My Love Affair with Jewelry”.

Hmmm it’s no wonder Mae West said “Diamonds are my career.” She is so right.

It reminds me of that song from the James Bond movie “Diamonds are Forever.”

Diamonds are forever,
They are all I need to please me,
They can stimulate and tease me,
They won't leave in the night,
I've no fear that they might desert me.
Diamonds are forever,
Hold one up and then caress it,
Touch it, stroke it and undress it,
I can see every part,
Nothing hides in the heart to hurt me.

I don't need love,
For what good will love do me?
Diamonds never lie to me,
For when love's gone,
They'll luster on.

Diamonds are forever,
Sparkling round my little finger.
Unlike men, the diamonds linger;
Men are mere mortals who
Are not worth going to your grave for.

I don't need love,
For what good will love do me?
Diamonds never lie to me,
For when love's gone,
They'll luster on.

Diamonds are forever, forever, forever.
Diamonds are forever, forever, forever.
Forever and ever.

(written by John Berry/Don Black)

But that is not to say that relationships are not important, they are and to always have good friends, wonderful family and a wonderful relationship with people that you know and work with is always important. For those are the most precious diamonds of all.

And now my Diva Darlings, tonight I’m going to take a wonderful bubble bath and relax, the holidays are not over yet. Because I will be plunging into the holiday crowd and look for goodies for myself. I’ve already bought things for others, Juanita and I had fun finding toys for her grandchildren, my “adopted grandchildren” and I had fund finding things for my great nieces and nephews, and thank goodness their parents were able to tell me what they needed and desired and what they had already got for them, in some cases all I needed was to get accessories for them.

Tom and the family and I will be going to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, I’ll be spending the Christmas Holidays with them as usual and Juanita will be with her family. Ralph informed me last night that his new landlord, very apologetically informed Ralph that the painters would be available to paint Ralph’s apartment just before Christmas, and Ralph is worried that the paint smell would give him headaches, so I invited him over to house sit for me, since I and Juanita will not be home, I told him to be sure to turn on the outside lights and make like someone is living in the house.

Ralph leaped at the chance, all he has right now is a cheap bureau and a bed frame with mattress and box spring and just one set of bedding, he hasn’t even thought of getting anything else because of the Christmas crowds, so right now he is going to pack all his clothes, store the bedding, cover the bed and the bureau with painter’s plastic and let them go to it, the landlord said that if Ralph wanted to he could remove the old carpeting after all the painting is done, especially since he found beautiful hardwood flooring underneath. I’ll have to do a separate post about Ralphs’ find of an apartment. Just a precious jewel.

So Darlings all of you have a wonderful Christmas Holiday, Be Merry and Bright and be Safe.

Until Anon, Kisses.

2011-12-16T18:17:00.000-08:00

Hello Darlings,

Again a long time and no blogging, I’ve been bad and busy as usual.

Mostly watching the stock reports, having my health check up and Princesses’ as well, attending fund raisers, I’m on the board of several local charities, but come January my term will be up with several of them and with relief I must say, although I’ll still keep my hand in it but on a less demanding level.

Thanksgiving was a quiet affair with the family in San Francisco, Tom is having second thoughts about selling his home, although one of his boys has suggested that he buy it off of his Dad, since he will be moving back to the Bay Area for his company, and until Tom and his wife feel comfortable in finding a Pied a Terre in the City, they can stay at the house when they come down from the Lake, Tom is determined to move up to his Lake property, but over October when the trick or treaters were coming around he started wondering if he was going to be doing the right thing. Then his son came to the rescue, and frankly I think it’s a wonderful idea.

So next year they will be putting their plans forward, in the mean time his son is renting an apartment for the family as a temporary measure with much of their extra belongings in storage.

My friend Ralph has found a month to month apartment to rent and it’s possible he may decide to stay there on a permanent basis, he feels very comfortable with it, the neighbors and its location.

Juanita and her family are all doing well, the little ones are excited that Christmas is coming and lots of family are visiting, her other 2 sons and their families and extended relatives and friends.

And I?

Well I have been and will be doing my usual plans that I do every year this holiday time, writing out Christmas cards, seeing the nutcracker, attending the Dickens fair, the Christmas revels, touring Dunsmuir house, the sing a long messiah, seeing A Christmas Carol, the Art Deco societies Deco the Halls, donating Toys for Tots, food for the food banks, buying a tree from one of the church lots and trimming it, lights on the house (thank you Manuel), feeding our local bird life, then towards the last few days before Christmas touring Christmas tree lane and other Christmas holiday lights with my friends, and I hosting a fund raiser dinner party last weekend and also shopping, shopping, shopping but not necessarily buying.

Whew!!! That is a lot when one thinks of it. I had not realized how busy I get during the Holidays.

But it’s not all play and no work; I have been working in my own way. Reading the news, watching the media and trying to make determinations.

I’m happy to say that my “Mac and Cheese” type of investing has been paying off, Smucker’s is showing a nice upswing as well as Mattel Toys, children always want toys and you can never go wrong with old reliables, although Hasbro has not fared well, but I’ve always preferred Mattel toys over Hasbro over the years. The latest Barron’s talks about these two companies and their performance.

Christian Science Monitor has an article about Occupy Wall Street and their local branches and it appears they have out worn their welcome. I know locally the local branches appear to be falling apart or at least wearing out their welcome, for they have lost their focus and their message and are currently doing more financial harm than good.

I for one, can understand at least the heart of the message but I strongly feel that they are going about it the wrong way, you do not in anyway interfere with the working people trying to earn money, you do not disrupt them, instead become more cohesive, really research what needs to be done, expose the greed of the financial institutions and how they are working hand in glove with politicians, something that everyone has known for decades but expose it, name names, show the paper and money trail, don’t in anyway harm the working person, do not in anyway disrupt their earnings. Become an organizational party that will work to vote in those needs and persons who will work for the greater good and in doing so be careful to not become communistic.

Newsweek for December 12, 2011 has articles about why we need Europe, the foolishness of expensive art and the disaster by investor Corzine. Popular Mechanics for Jan 2012 has articles about Digital spies and how China’s secret war threatens our economy, security and us as individuals. Articles I certainly would not pass up and I’d keep on file for future reference.

Once again I’ll be making plans for the New Years, and also taking time for a relaxing Spa vacation, after the fund raiser holidays it’s needed. And then I’ll be able to tackle----ahhhh yes Darlings, the dreaded income taxes and paying the property taxes.

So what is this blog all about---I would say to relax and enjoy the holidays, to not over do, rotate your Christmas events, Nutcracker one year, Christmas Carol the next, but always keep the easiest to do as an annual event. With New Years, plan on one year to go out and the following year to stay home, by doing that it helps keep one’s sanity. The simplest gifts are always the best, focus on family events and doings, my Christmas shopping has been focused on the children and with the adults looking more forward to just getting together and enjoying the company, doing games, exchanging recipes, turning off the T.V. the Ipod, I pad, the internet and just being with family and reconnecting, which is the best gift of all.

Also something I recommend, keeping a journal of your ups and downs, your thoughts and hopes, your sadness and joys, sometimes it may seem trivial and sometimes profound. But it will be your own ‘snapshot’ of your life to think about and also a possible historical connection from the people of the future to our past.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings, with or without mistletoe.

9/11 Ten years later~~~

2011-09-11T10:06:00.000-07:00

Hello My Darling Divas,

It is not often that I post on something that is tragic or sad, but today I feel I must.

It has been 10 years since that terrible day, a day which changed our lives and our complacency.

We thought we were invincible, but we weren't, no country is. Globalization came home and stabbed us in the heart. It was a moment in time of sacrifice, heroism, fear, sadness, courage and love.

And it is something we should not forget, not ever.

Young people do not understand about what happened at Pearl Harbor, I was not born yet when that happened, but I remember how my parents felt.

Then all those years that I lived with only bumps on my road---the worst being the death of my husband, but I managed to "deal" with that.

But this...This...and still young people do not understand. They feel it does not affect them. My Dear Diva's it does affect them and us, in ways they cannot comprehend. It affects us personally, globally, economically, and in safety.

I remember just a few years ago, I had decided to take the bus home from S.F. something I rarely do, but BART was having delays. I remember looking out the window and saw a Coast Guard helicopter flying along side the bridge, I remembered we were on condition orange, and they were checking things on the bridge. I felt fear, their eyes and any decisions they made had my life in their hands.

And that is how we are still affected, and will always be affected.

Our lives are always in other peoples hands.

So what can you Dear Divas do?

Never forget there is always someone somewhere who seeks to do harm, so always be on alert.

If you are in a building try to spot the emergency exits, this is especially true in restaurants, theatres, nightclubs any large gathering place.

Nightclubs especially are extremely dangerous places where they have dancing and are cramming a large group of people in, if you do not see an emergency exit or if you see that the exit doors are chained locked...leave immediately demand your coverage charge returned because of unsafe conditions and leave immediately and immediately call the fire department and tell them what you have seen, you may save a lot of lives.

There were and are, a lot of nightclub fires in which people could not get out because of narrow exits, unsafe conditions, chained emergency doors and highly flammable materials.

If you are drinking never accept a drink handed to you that you did not see mixed by the bartender, there could be knock out drops in it.

Do not smoke pot, take Ecstasy, or any kind of drugs just to be part of the crowd, you could die or do serious damage to your health.

If you drink do not drive, take a taxi home and make sure ahead of time that your house key is securely in your purse, so you won't have to fumble around for it.

Never ever leave with a stranger.

Learn to shoot a gun, I own a revolver. I keep it in a secure gun safe that I can open with a push button combination. I've taken the gun safety course and practice at the range on a regular basis. I renew my gun safety card every 5 years. A revolver is the easiest to handle, clean and load.

Since I own a home I also have an alarm system if either I or Juanita are going to be gone for any length of time. I also will have a reputable House sitter stay if we are going to be gone longer than a day.

Go to courses that will teach you how to be secure both at home, and when you travel.

And most of all, never ever assume everything will be fine. If anything can go wrong it will.

That is the legacy that we have from 9/11. You only have one life this time around, make sure that you live it to the fullest, but safely.

Until Anon Darlings, Kisses.

Thoughts on Things~~~

2011-09-06T14:38:00.000-07:00

Hello My Diva Dahlings,

I know---What!!??? A second post in the same month??!! Well I've been thinking on things and laughing about things.

My little Labor Day vacation has come to an end. And what did I do? Well there was the Scottish Games this weekend, Bill and Irma took me to them, lots of fun and different too.

I did vegetate a bit, tried to sleep in but my little Diva Darling refused to let her "Mommy" sleep in. Well it really was good and healthy for me to get up and walk anyway.

Juanita is back this afternoon, and she is fussing over things, it seems we've had to call in the plumber, as much as she has tried the sink is stopped up. Usually we'd have Manuel work on it, but he is working longer hours this week as one of his co-workers is out with an injury. The plumber is here and Juanita is handling it, I do not argue with her about these matters.

I saw on the news that Obama is having a low rating with the public and so are the Republicans, but what about the Democrats there is no talk about their ratings.

Obama is talking about putting people back to work, he's talking about construction jobs, but there are other jobs out there that need to come back to the States.

Now this is just my opinion, but if companies were penalized for outsourcing and if higher tariff taxes were placed on imports, then jobs would have to come back here, now because of unions and wages things would cost more, but if the unions would work with the government on having people working, things would level out. The fact of the matter is that when people invest and expect a high rate of return on their stock holdings, it sends prices up sky high, and we should go back on the gold standard so that a dollar truly equals a dollar.

Of course if the U.S. were to be the first to go back to the Gold and Silver Standard there would be an economic shake up, but if countries like, Switzerland, Germany, England, the U.S., Canada were to go on that standard at the same time, it would equalize.

Ahhh wishful thinking on my part, and someone would point out flaws, BUT it is TRUE no matter what, jobs MUST come back to the U.S. the outsourcing MUST STOP.

And now onto something Fashioniesta----Well this weekend I will be going through my annual closet clean out, Constance and her oldest daughter will be here to help me, and I know that since they are also my size, who is going to be expanding their closets.

But I also have to go through and weed out what is worn out as well, and then do a list of what to replace, first on my list is my bed room slippers---it seems that Princess has taken to chewing on them, so they will become her new toys.

And what Constance and her daughter Isabella do not want and are in excellent shape I will take to the consignment shop for some extra change.

And here my Diva Fashionesta's is where you can make some money and save money too. The first is to weed your closet, what doesn't look good on you take to the consignment shops to sell for you for either cash or credit, that way you can shop there without putting out much in the way of funds.

What doesn't sell or is taken by the shop then have a yard sale, then what doesn't sell at the yard sale, donate to a charity, either way it is "cash" either having it in hand or by tax write off.

Another thing, the other day by chance I was going to the local Thrift store and found a brand new purse by Guess, and another that was Kate Spade also brand new and the prices were a steal. So if you need to build up your wardrobe check the consignment shops and the better Thrift shops for bargains, but don't buy any thing if it doesn't meet your requirements or has a serious defect. I did make an exception I bought a Paloma Picasso handbag and all it needed was one strap repaired and my shoe maker did a marvelous job.

So if it's an easy fix then get it. Also check out the bargains at Marshall's and T.J. Max, but remember always go for a classic style that will last, never a flash in the pan. If in doubt always buy the September and March issues of Vogue, Vanity Fair, Elle, Allure, Harper's Bazaar, In Style and any other fashion magazine that you like, granted they weigh a ton, but rip out the styles you like and put them into a cheap binder that way you can refer to them when you go shopping.

Another thing that I do is take pictures of my purses, shoes, clothing, coats, hats, that way I know what I have and in what colors as well. It's a good way to keep inventory, also keep the receipts for 1 year in case of fire or theft.

Another thing is to go through your makeup, anything that is more than 6 months old, with the exception of perfume, should be tossed to avoid infections, especially mascara.

So spring and fall do your closet clean out, and yes you CAN wear White after Labor Day. I'll explain why that rule came about another time.

Must go, the plumber is done, time to pay the bill.

Until Anon Darlings, Kisses

Riding the Roller Coaster~~~~

2011-09-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

Hello My Diva Darlings,

Now it is the beginning of September and where HAVE I been?

Visiting both of my brothers and taking a wonderful trip to Lake Tahoe.

I first enjoyed my younger brother’s country house on the lake, up north (not at Lake Tahoe); it was a wonderful reprieve although not as warm as expected, but lovely just the same.

Princess and I had been taking a lot of walks around my brother’s property, well I was walking and she wanted me to carry her, not that I blame her, she is such a tiny thing.

But it’s been fun to watch her and my brother Tom’s dog Smokey interact, she just bosses him around and he takes it. And then after an exhausting day of fun in the sun they fall asleep together.

With all the building and re-landscaping, they’ve made sure about having what is called a “defensible” area. Although my sister-in-law, Lois, insists on planting red geraniums for color and it’s looks wonderful.

It does have the look and feel of the Ponderosa; they hunted for a modern stove that looked old fashion and found Elmira products, and they are just wonderful. The kitchen has everything one could need and still look old fashion, including a farmer’s stone sink, and a chopping block that one would see on the T.V. series.

Although among the furniture it’s not an exact replica of the Ponderosa but as my sister-in-law says bit by bit they will get there.

Out of the dinning room area as well as the better bedrooms on one side, one has a fantastic view of the lake, my brother made sure that it was a little longer than the one pictured in the series, so that two comfortable chairs could look out onto the lake while indoors.

On the other side a view of the mountains and forest that is just as pleasing.

My brother also had a deck built on the back to enjoy the lake and mountain views in the evening but out of sight when one comes up on the road.

My brother and his wife are planning to move here permanently, get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, although they do plan on getting a pied a Terre in the City, like my other brother, just a one bedroom, small but comfortable, that way if the children come to the city they have a place they can go to.

I asked Tom if now was a good time to sell his house and he replied “No time is a good time to sell” When they bought their home some years ago it was very reasonable, and even now they will still get a very good price for it, enough to pay off what is still owed on their country place and buy the planned pied a Terre. So he will come out ahead.

Although he does sympathize with people who have low incomes their difficulties in home buying, “It’s the American Dream to own your own home, but it’s a nightmare now for almost everyone except the very lucky or the very rich.” He pointed out that Juanita’s children are very lucky to have their homes, and that they were able to re-finance them, but he asked “Why doesn’t Juanita buy her own home?” I couldn’t answer that, I hadn’t thought that maybe Juanita would like to have a place of her own to call home and I was both embarrassed and ashamed that I had not thought of that, I felt that she was content with the current arrangements, so I resolved to ask her as soon as possible.

He did suggest that if one is moving out of state and has a house to sell and the market is slow, to lease it out through a reputable agent, that way if an offer is made for the house at the price one wants they can do it, the new owner can finish out the lease. By doing it that way the agent is the one who has to deal with emergencies and make sure the house is in good condition when vacated.

We were looking at the Stock Markets crazy ride and what Standard and Poor’s has done, and could only shake our collective heads.

When I returned home, I had a chance to have dinner with my friend Wallace and his wife Sherry, and the consensus between my brothers, Wallace and myself is this, ride out the “roller coaster” and not to panic. I have been doing that and I always factor that as long as a certain amount is available I can always pay the bills, taxes, buy food and medicine, anything extra I slot over into a savings account for just in case.

If you feel very anxious then do a 50/50 mix of stocks and bonds, but depending upon your age you can start with a 80/20 mix of stocks to bonds ratio, as you approach middle age then go to 60/40 but it all depends upon your comfort level.

If you are young but prefer staying with the Treasury’s’, CD’s or savings account then it means a lower interest rate which means you’ll have to work longer, save a lot more and have less to live on when you retire.

I have a mixture of Stocks, Bonds, CD’s, Treasury and the old standby savings accounts, as I do not put all my “eggs in one basket” it’s a big mistake to do that.

Remember what happened with those that trusted Bernie Madoff. And I look at stocks that will withstand the long haul, and I make sure that that it’s not concentrated in just Europe or Asia, be sure you’re spread around.

A little gold in an exchange-traded fund is fine but only if you have bought it at a very low rate, with gold climbing to the $2,000 level I’m not sure it’s a good investment at this time. Some real estate investments trusts or (REIT’s) are fine just be sure to check them out.

But no matter what, My Dear Diva’s, a cash reserve for emergencies is important---plan on at least 3 but even better 6 months of savings, to cover your rent, bills, food etc. for any job loss, medical emergencies or even when the Stock Market faints, until things recover. Although my “Ladies Who Lunch” tell me that the minimum of 1 year’s savings is by far the best, considering how the economy is going and I am inclined to agree with them, this is a very, very bad economic situation.

Just remember if you have 50 dollars in your saving account you’ll always have 50 dollars in a FDIC-insured account but if you have 50 dollars in your bond fund brokerage account there is no guarantee, because it could become $45.00 tomorrow.

My Father always said it’s hard to go against the crowd but that is how the House of Rothschild did it. And even the legendary “Witch of Wall Street” Hetty Green did it, her motto was “Buy cheap, sell dear” or buy low sell high, which means that if one is very astute buying stocks can be a fire sale right now, especially if you buy the right stocks.

I have systematically contributed to my 401(k) and by doing that have reaped the rewards of the upswing in the stock market in the last few years. I will buy stocks that are on sale but by doing it through my 401 (k), IRA and my other retirement accounts it’s far better than shopping for individual stocks.

Manage your portfolio by sticking to a balanced, diversified mix of stocks and bonds, and do not try to time the market, you will come out better in the long run, do not run in fear towards gold or cash when things dip or over buy, in better times, stocks, you will be just following sheep and you my Dear Diva’s are not sheep.

On stocks as I recommended before, go for something that no matter what, the consumer will need, what I call my “Mac and Cheese” stocks. I mean no matter what children and adults will always want Mac and Cheese, or John Deer Tractors, or Tires etc. Find out who is the holding company, check out their ratings and how well they are doing, even with a slow growth rate if they are weathering this bad economy then they are the ones to buy.

And now for something completely different----

I visited my older brother down in Santa Barbra, he sold his house in the Santa Barbra hills, the fires that they had made him too nervous, and he has paid off his house with a wonderful view of the Ocean on the beach. “I don’t have to worry about beach erosion” he said in an oblique reference to the condo’s that are just south of San Francisco that are in danger of falling off the sandy cliffs.

Of course he has his Pied a Terre in San Francisco for when he travels up for business, and his wife Diana can shop till she drops(and I do love her). They sold off most of their collection of paintings and antiques, only keeping a few that are their favorites at their beach house.

It was relaxing in Santa Barbra, we went to a few Summer Fund raising events, but watching the Ocean is hypnotizing in its own special way. One of my nephews’ and his family came to visit as well, it was good seeing them and we all made plans to get together for the holidays.

My great-niece Cynthia (aka Cindy) has discovered Etta James and Dina Washington on CD and begged me to take her to this music store in town to see what one could find, realizing that I had nothing by these two artists I was able to pick up two Etta James CD’s and suggested to Cindy a CD of Julie London that had her signature tune “Cry me a river”.

Then it was time to return home, so driving Ms. Wicked I enjoyed listening to Etta as I and my little Diva Daring, Princess, drove up 101, then flipping over to 880 and home.

Juanita elected to stay in my home while I was off vacationing, taking a day here and there to visit her children, but I made arrangements with my friend Ralph who had been burned out of his apartment, he still hasn’t found a good place to stay and is just staying in a studio apartment that he’s sub rented on a month to month.

Anyway Ralph was happy to stay at my house for a week while my friend Michelle swooped me up to Lake Tahoe in a friends’ private jet. That way Juanita could visit with her oldest Grand Daughter in Los Angeles and have fun in Disneyland.

I know Dahlings---A Private Jet??!!! Well why not! Michelle had a friend who needed to fly up to Tahoe to conduct business and offered to take Michelle and “a friend” (Moi) for the long weekend, it was a beautiful Falcon Jet, off white cabin interior with pale beech wood trim, the most comfortable seats, and we could conduct business on the plane if we wanted to.

It was good seeing her again, so off we flew on a Wednesday morning, landing at the Lake Tahoe airport, it had been years since I’d seen it and it has improved so much. A private Limo was waiting for us to take us to the MontBlu Resort and Spa and while we were there enjoying the beauty that is Tahoe we enjoyed a Gatsby weekend at the Valhalla Arts festival, with Friday a Gatsby Dance with the Tahoe Dance Band, followed on Saturday by Murder Mystery Radio Theatre with a local play titled “Lights! Camera! Murder!” about murder at Lake Tahoe 1920’s style, wine and hors d’oeuvres included, we finished off on Sunday with a Gatsby’s tea on the lawn of the Valhalla hall, that included a fashion show of vintage clothing just right for a 1920’s summer.

It was more than enough for a vintage fashion maven like Moi, I felt that I was back in the Lake Tahoe of the 1920’s and the money’s to go to the Tahoe Heritage Foundation to help preserve Lake Tahoe history and those locations that could easily disappear if they were not saved.

We also contributed to the Tahoe Youth and Family services organization, although we could not attend their Gatsby Gala, we felt it was a very worthy cause.

But all too soon our Gatsby fantasy came to an end and by Tuesday afternoon we winged our way back home and reality, Ralph was just fine taking care of the house and Princess (she couldn’t come on the plane) and she was terribly spoiled by Ralph. Ralph was going to stay at another hotel for a week, until he could line up another apartment, he still preferred month to month until he could make up his mind where he wanted to stay.

Juanita returned as well saying she needed to rest from her Disney Vacation. I could only laugh at her remark. Princess was happy to have her “Mummy” back home.

And “Mummy” also needed to rest from her vacations as well. Michelle stayed with me for the week so she could rent a car and visit her family in San Francisco, then she flew back to L.A. over the weekend. I’ll miss her company, we had so much fun catching up and enjoying everything. But I HAD to get back to going to the gym and my walks with my little darling, not that I’ve gained any weight, as a matter of fact my clothes are a little loose, but I know the holidays will start putting on the pounds again---can’t be helped.

After I got my head back to reality, one evening I had a chat with Juanita about the possibility of her owning her own home, I was surprised when she said “I am home Senora, I’m with you, where would I find a home with a beautiful view with the birds, where I work is only steps away, I have my own comfortable room, I make meals that we both like, and little Princess to play with. My family know I am safe, I can call them anytime, they are like family to you. When I am too old to work, then I move in with Constance, by then the children will have moved away and she will be lonely…or not…I have both things, for that I am lucky. You are ‘La Senora’ I am Juanita, but we do things together and you are very kind to me and my family, many of my friends they are not so lucky and are treated badly, but you … you see me…you see my happiness and my pain…but you do what you can to ease my pain…your family they are kind to me, you always see that I have plenty of time with my family, so why do I want to buy a home? I am home.”

Well that left my head spinning, she was fine with the way thing are, all I could do was hug her. And with that we had fun watching a tellanovella that we both enjoy.

The Labor Day weekend is here and I suggested to Juanita to spend time with her grandchildren…I mean I’ll be fine for the few days she’s gone, and she does love seeing her family. There are a few local events that I and a few friends are going to take in, or I might “vegetate” for the whole weekend, sleeping in is such a delicious thought although my little 4 legged darling might have different ideas. We shall see.

So what is this post all about??? Well Darlings, first an update (and I was bragging a bit), but also what to expect when the Stock market goes insane, just hold tight is the best thing, and thirdly, if you are going to have fun make sure it’s a tax right off as well. You’ll get more “bang for the buck”.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings.

"Egg Money"

2011-07-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

Hello All My Diva Darlings,

It's been a while since I last blogged, but as in anyone's life things have been busy for me.

To enumerate I've been sprucing up the garden with Juanita's son-in-law's help.

Repairs to gutters on the house, those rains did stress them. A new Roof as well.

Having my lunches with my "Ladies who Lunch" whom I'm happy to say are doing very, very well.

My late husband's company (or office) is doing so well that they are expanding, not too big but to accommodate a few new hires. This benefits me indirectly.

I've been visiting my family here and there and will be going up to my brother's cabin in a week or two for a delightful vacation.

My investments are holding steady, my health is good, little Princess, my family and friends, Juanita and her family are all doing well despite this economy. We are all learning to do more with less.

And that is the my lesson for today, learning to do more with less.

As everyone knows it pays to comparison shop, it pays to decide if it's a want or a need, it pays to find out if it's cheaper to fix or replace, and it pays to have "Mad Money".

Now what is "Mad Money"? Well my Mother told me to always have "Mad Money" in my purse but to not inform my date that I have it. So I always made sure that there was a special compartment in my purse for the secret stash of funds.

But where did the term come from? Well back in the 1920's during the time of speak-easys and prohibition, if a girl got mad at her date and wanted to depart, if she had on her cash for a taxi or bus fare that was called "Mad Money" so she would not have to be dependent upon her date or the kindness of strangers for a ride home.

In a way it was a way for a young lady to "Flex her muscles" to show she was independent and not under the control of someone else be it boyfriend or husband or even the friends she was with.---"Mad Money"

Besides "Mad Money" there is also the "Rainy Day fund", the "Egg Money", the "something put aside" fund.

So what are all of these?

Let's start with "Egg Money".

One of the easiest ways for housewives or farmer's wives to earn a bit of extra funds was to raise chickens---chickens were a self renewing animal crop--- with a dozen or two dozen hens and one rooster, you had eggs, new chicks both for food and sale. Yes for sale, lots of grocers or butches would get their eggs or chickens for sale from these little homemakers, who would sell their excess eggs or chickens for profit, back then feed was cheap. The woman then had extra money that she got from selling her eggs and excess chickens. "Egg Money" This was set aside for something special or for emergencies. But it did give the woman a sense of independence.

"Rainy Day" fund---this is a savings account or a jar or some holding spot where any spare change was put aside for emergencies, one never knew if the roof was going to leak during a bad rain storm, and if that happened, at least you had money for supplies or to hire someone to repair the roof or fix the porch or car or wagon or pay for the unexpected Doctor's visit when someone came down ill.

"Something Put aside" Fund---this was important eventually there would come a time when it was difficult for one to work at least full time---this was really a retirement fund, to have something to live off of when one couldn't work anymore.

But in the old days pretty much everyone worked until they died, so if nothing else it paid any left over bills, the funeral, and would leave the surviving spouse with something.

And dear Diva's that is what you should do as well, if you manage to be able to finance yourself so that you can live on less than your income, set aside that spare change for your "egg fund", "Mad Money", "Rainy Day", "Something Put Aside" funds.

O.K. in today's modern terms how would this translate?

"Something Put Aside"---this can be called your retirement fund, your 401 K's, your investments, Your Roth IRA's, and yes even the retirement fund from your company and anything in Social Security---they all do add up.

"Rainy Day Fund"---This is something that you can set up as a savings account granted the interest rate is low but at least it's set aside for emergency repairs, be it your car, the toilet, a broken window, no matter what you should have funds set aside so you won't have to worry about where you are going to get your money for it.

"Egg Money"---This is to save up for either something special or to just have to draw on should you be laid off, how does one get this money? Yard Sales, selling your unwanted clothing on consignment, recycling those cans, bottles and plastic, picking up those unwanted pennies that people toss out of their pocket. Extra lose spare change in the bottom of your purse. Even money you earn from a 2nd part time job.

"Mad Money"---This one is easy---always have a secret stash of funds in your purse to cover any transportation, find out what are taxi fares, discover the best bus routes home, have a transportation card with funds on it all the time. For example in my area we have what is called "Clipper Cards" for our Bus service, we also have Rapid Transit as well, I always keep funds on those cards in case my car breaks down or if I should get very upset with my Date. You can also have cash as well, but these cards are a life saver.

Now there is something else you should consider---your income tax refund---if you are lucky enough to get a refund there are several ways you can utilize it. Some people will apply it to their property taxes, some will put the whole amount into their retirement fund, I suggest that you split it up into those funds that I have mentioned, with the exception of the "Mad Money" unless you want to add an extra $100to be safe.

No matter what you can always find ways to find those little extra coins to put aside, and there is always something wonderful, a comfortable feeling knowing that you have those funds to tide you over without having to put an unnecessary dent onto a credit card.

If you are just coming on to my blog my Dear Darling Divas, be sure to read my earlier postings for more suggestions and information.

Until Anon Kisses Darlings.

Investing, gardening and Staycations

2011-06-22T09:25:00.000-07:00

Hello All you Darling Divas,

I know I haven’t been blogging for some time; I have to confess I’ve been busy, busy, busy.

The rains have done “a number” on my garden so I’ve been working on getting it up to par, thanks to Juanita's son-in-law Manuel, I'm so glad that he's willing to take on some side jobs besides his regular work.

I'm happy to say that Juanita and her family are doing well, Constance and Manuel have such a nice large back yard that they are planting vegetables and several fruit trees and are getting into the food canning and preserving. Manuel knows some small holding farmers and he is even able to buy fruits and veggies that he is not growing. Constance told me that there is something very special in having a vegetable garden, a sense of time and purpose, something she really can't put into words but I know what she means.

Of late both Juanita and I have gotten into going to the Farmers' Market for much of our groceries and the variety and freshness is so wonderful, and it's so easy to over buy, so now in the garage Juanita has started a pantry of preserved foods.

Princess my little Diva Darling had a serious tummy ache a few weeks ago, seems she swallowed something she shouldn’t have, well as all you dog lovers know having your beloved pet going in for surgery is always a worry, but I’m happy to say she is just fine and her fur is growing out after surgery, we'll have to be more watchful from now on.

This brings me to the question of pet insurance. Should one pay for pet insurance especially in today’s economy? Only if you can budget for having a pet, otherwise I suggest that you not own a pet beyond a goldfish, although goldfish are not exactly huggable, in the right aquarium they can have a wonderful calming effect after a stressful day, far better than Valium.

But if you are considering owning a dog or a cat, I first would have to say you need to look at your life style, many Divas’ work 12 to 15 hour days at this time, or they love to travel or go out partying when they can afford to, or they are caregivers, or they maybe facing layoffs or budget crunches.

If you are in that category then do not get a pet, stay with gold fish.

But if you are more stay at home, love to jog, have a solid job with nearly normal hours and can give the attention that a pet needs, then a pet companion is worthwhile, and pet insurance is also a good investment, but you have to make sure that the insurance covers a lot of things, remember if you buy cheap you will get cheap and not have what you need covered.

Much of the vet visits are check ups, shots or the fox tail embedded in the skin or ear, the latter can cost you $400 if you are going after hours. Also find out what kind of pet insurance your vet takes or recommends, that can save you much worry.

It is a wise Diva who is thinking of being a pet owner to consider those things.

Now about finances: The state of the Union with its debt is not good, unless changes are made, and if they can raise their debt ceiling it still will not put us in good shape.

I recommend reading Thomas G. Donlan’s editorial in the June 20, 2011 Barron’s magazine, page 51, it is worth the read.

Unless the U.S. can bring back jobs to the U.S., increase it’s export of goods, get businesses back in American hands, stop giving money to countries that do not pay us back, become a credit nation as oppose to a nation in debt to others, then the U.S. will cease to exist as a great nation and be under the thumb of foreign interests which it already is.

And even owning gold will not help, unless we give up fiat money. We are paying more than the value owed, so it’s not real.

I Recently read in Fortune Magazine June 13, 2011 the article about Robert (Bob) Rodriguez (page 136) he predicted the last two market crashes when most other investors just poo-pooed his prediction and they were caught flat-footed, and he’s predicting another one---currently he’s refusing to invest in a bond market that is being distorted by government interference and he’s sticking with this approach, frankly I’m with him on this. READ THIS ARTICLE IN FORTUNE!

Currently his fund FPA Capital is closed to new investors but there are three others that have his approach such as risk aversion, emphasis on cash flow or a focused portfolio---they are The Jensen Portfolio, Yacktman Focused Fund and Sequoia Fund. I’m inclined to go with Sequoia Fund myself but all three are excellent.

More than ever people are looking at what they can truly afford; they are cutting back on useless things and taking a hard look at what they really need.

And Divas should do the same, you don’t need 10 pairs of Jimmy Choo’s shoes, shoes can have style and be sensible as well. Just the other day I ran into an acquaintance of mine and she had on the most stylish but sensible heeled shoes I’ve seen, I asked her where did she find such lovely things and she said that she found them at Nordstrom’s and on sale, they can go from Summer to Winter and back again, perfect for work meetings as well as going out.

The dear sweet young thing said to me “I’m going back to the ‘three basic black skirts’ concept” and it works! So what are the three basic black skirts? Three skirts of three different lengths, above the knee (but only if you have great looking knees and thighs), just below the knee, and ankle length, each one fills a perfect need, the ankle length is excellent for formal affairs, the below the knee is excellent for work and informal occasions, above the knee is fine for going out and having fun---but again that length only works if you are a certain young age.

She was surprised to find out in “The Week” magazine June 24, 2011, that back in 1930 women owned on an average just 9 outfits, now in 2011 the average woman has at least 60 pieces of clothing, and this is not including underwear, nylons, shoes, purses and for some—hats.

I know of one young man who is putting together a basic working wardrobe for young men or Divos (male divas) he said that as soon as he has it figured out he will let me know to post on my blog since he follows it as well.

Getting back to finances I still recommend following the investing articles in all the previous money magazines that I’ve suggested and I still recommend investing in commodities that withstand the test of time and economic fluctuations and companies that build support products for computers, such as printers, software, etc, but with electronics you have to be constantly on the watch for any sudden changes. Continue to avoid the dot.coms start ups as much as possible, a company such as Apple only comes along once in a generation.

Currently IBM (International Business Machines) is holding up very well, so if you want to invest is something like IBM or Apple, research it carefully, see if it has "legs" and is not "Pie-in-the-sky". I was very lucky, my Grandfather saw the solidness of IBM many years ago and in time I inherited a portion of his stock, which I built upon, and I did take "a flyer" on Apple many years ago because I felt it had "legs" but it is a bit scary when a stock on a company goes up and down based on the health of it's CEO. IBM doesn't do that, again I suggest look into companies to invest in that will hold out for the long haul, it may have a slow growth rate but you want it to be able to withstand the fluctuations of the economy.

On electronic equipment---Do I suggest going out and getting the latest ipad or ipod? No---what I do suggest is looking at what you really need to keep up with your job, what will work best.

Although I do have a cell phone I do not go in for all those apps, I feel they are a waste of money, unless you take public transportation, that application can come in handy, especially if time is of the essence and the calculator.

I still keep my hard wire land line only because the voice quality is so good, I’m not big on skyp, again I find the voice quality poor, but hard wire comes in handy when you are doing an order over the phone or you need to talk to someone about something and it’s going to take a long time to talk about whatever you need to discuss.

One thing I’ve been very discussed with is the phones that are hardwired to the wall but then you pick up the phone and can roam over the house with it, what one forgets is that the batteries in those phones die, so I prefer to have the head/hand set hard wired to the phone base, nothing dies although it’s difficult to roam all over the house but that doesn’t count when one is conducting business.

Alright enough of that----So vacations are becoming staycations, and gaining a certain amount of interest. Of course Mommy misses out on not having to cook or clean, but staycations can include that if everyone else pitches in on the cooking and cleaning and making mommies work easier, especially during the Summer.

Riding the bus, going to a park, camping in the back yard, visiting the local museum or Zoo, many people are amazed as to what is close to home that are either free or low cost---of course some young people need to go to that huge amusement park, but this is when the entire family should save up for it, save those pennies, nickels and dimes, recycle those cans and plastic bottles and see what one can get, have a yard sale or two, with a big event as the goal, with everyone joining in and working together towards the same goal it makes it more memorable.

Now that is for the family, but my dear Divas you can do it as well. Select the local spot that you are just wishing to spend a night or two at and be spoiled, by doing those savings, that is what makes it so much more splendiferous.

And for Moi? Well once again my brother and sister-in-law have invited me to their Ponderosa cabin in the mountains, I’ll get to see what improvements and special touches has been made on their home away from home, as I understand it some progress has been made but with the snows it had been a bit slow, but they are making up for lost time. Either way it will be nice to have a little get a way and do a bit of catch up with the family.

Until Anon my Darling Divas. Kisses.

Hello 2011

2011-02-28T12:14:00.000-08:00

Hello Darlings!!

I know Just where Have I been?? Busy My Dears, just simply Busy.

The Holidays were fabulous, but then being with my family is always fabulous.

Juanita and her family are doing just fantastic, the baby is growing, discovering things, and is just so beautiful.

I have been busy with the Holidays, Taxes, and house hold repairs---the roof for one, it developed a leak over the kitchen so it was decided to replace the whole roof instead of layering over it, which I could have done but I wanted to see if there was any serious structural issues. Of course the heating bill went up until the work was completed, but the good thing is that during that time we had a wonderful window of opportunity to get the work done.

Princess is trotting around with her new hair do and pedicure from the Doggie Salon, I’ve found a wonderful one that also is a day care center for dogs if one has to be gone for the day. And yes she is spoiled.

My brother Tom and his wife Lois are making plans to “attack” the Oakland Museum White Elephant Sale, they’ve already made early purchases by donating some goodies, mostly for their newly build cabin---and yes Darlings it DOES look like the Ponderosa, with 4 bedrooms on the second floor, the master bedroom has it’s own bathroom, walk in closet and a small fireplace, the two smaller bedrooms share a bath, and the 2nd largest bedroom has it’s own bath.

There is a half bath down on the main floor, and off the main living room is a Library and it too has its own fireplace for heating, although it is propane driven.

Towards the back of the house is a two car garage that has a door that leads into the hallway of the house, separated by a mud room which will hold boots and such.

Some of the trees that were close to the house had to be cut down, they were so badly burned that there were deemed a danger, so my brother got some plantings to replace the burnt trees.

Lois is going to plant red geraniums around the grounds for color. The furniture from the original cabin has been installed and already Lois is thinking of changing some things, the painting that she saved has been placed in the Library, and she’s think of having a rotating collection of books there, although bound volumes of the Louie L’Amour westerns will have pride of place, as well as a thesaurus, dictionary and a Encyclopedia.

Now there is another room just off the mud room on the way to the living room and it has a pool table in it, all knotty pine, Lois is going with the Western Victorian theme, she also wants to put a pot belly stove and a card table like you see in the western movies, but in much better shape.

Right now the snows are much too heavy to go up there, but earlier when there was a nice break in the weather they were able to get much of their things up there.

Their dog Smoky, that they rescued a few years ago has settled in with them just fine and seems to have his own routine, Tom and Lois love taking walks with Smoky, but being a Cattle Dog he needs extra mental stimulation, Lois said that Tom is looking far more trim than ever thanks to Smoky.

And for myself, well for the last two days I’ve been putting together all that needs to be done for our annual “Oscar Party”. A number of friends including my “Ladies who Lunch” came over for the festivities; Costco has such wonderful bargains for entertaining. And passion was high between “Black Swan” and “The King’s Speech” not having a chance to see either of them I couldn’t make a choice, so I will have to wait until they are out in DVD, ***sigh*** “such is life” (I’m joking of course). And, of course, “The King’s Speech” won.

And where is all the snow that we were promised??? Although I do remember it snowing in 1976 and even earlier, but we really don’t need it now.

Now on entertaining---Darlings it’s always best to do it at home and have your friends get involved as well to bring over goodies. Being a member of Costco is very good if you can afford the annual membership, but it really only works if you entertain a lot, have an at home business and/or a large family. But for a number of people that I know the annual fee seems worth it.

Right now gasoline prices are devastating, I don’t need to tell you that it’s nearly at $4.00 a gallon. My Ladies who lunch are being Frugalistas by taking the bus or other public transportation, even car pooling if need be. One of my Ladies took advantage of an offer at her job, they are offering in conjunction with the local transportation organization bus passes that she can use unlimited, coming into the city, going around the area. She even uses it to help with shopping. By doing that is has lowered the mileage on her car and she is getting a break on her car insurance.

Some of my ladies are trying to see if they can take a tax write-off by using public transportation to get to work as a work related expense, if they have to pay for their passes. Always check with your tax preparer to find out if you can.

In the Feburary 26, 2011 New York Times, a short article by Floyd Norris talks about the prices for oil and natural gas and touches briefly on what is driving the oil price up and what could bring it down. He mentions that Libyan production was falling (as we know because of the rebelling that has been happening) and has influenced the rising of oil, but since Libya produces only 2 percent of the world oil and the United States does not buy Libyan oil that should not drive up the prices---it is what is called “panic pricing” being done by those who are investing and manipulating the upward oil prices.

The United States needs to look at its untapped oil fields that are in the Rocky Mountains and also back in the outlying areas of Los Angeles, we have vast oil pool reserves that have not been tapped, and there are better more eco-friendly ways of getting to that oil, if anything it will give the United States a chance to get back on top again, have prices based on the U.S. dollar, between that, budgeting on the Federal and State Level, bring back manufacturing to the U.S. and stop selling our patents to foreign countries the United States can be back at the top of the mountain where it is now topping from.

If the U.S. doesn’t, we will be taken over by China and the U.S. will be made a “slave.”

Am so sorry to give one those bits of bad news but one has to face facts, but by being frugal, and by slowing down oil demand it will make the oil rich countries have a hard time and only if the Asian markets (China ) stumble and decrease their demand for oil will we have a chance to truly recover and give our manufactures a chance to develop a fuel that is not dependent upon corn or any other high-end product, so that the U.S. can be independent again.

Again my Dears be Frugalistas’ to be Divanestas.

More later.

Until Anon. Kisses Darlings.

Love and Joy Come to you and a Merry New Year~~~

2010-12-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

Hello My Diva Darlings,

Yes, yes, I know I haven’t posted in sometime, but I have to admit the joys of adopted Grandmother hood has been keeping me a bit busy, along with family events, my friends, events, my Ladies who Lunch, events, my darling little dog Princess, managing my finances and more events.

I have to say that the stupidity both at the State Capitol and in Washington is unprecedented; as a matter of fact I do not think we have had an intelligent President since Franklin D. Roosevelt. At least he was a Democrat that you could stomach, even my Father, a conservative Republican, liked the man.

That is not to say that young Obama is stupid, I do not believe he is, but he is young and unseasoned and untested---I am of two minds on his election to the Presidency.

First---he had only become involved with politics in his first season as a Senator, he never had a chance to learn the ‘chops’ of dealing with both sides of the partisan barrier, he was swept into office by a wave of sentiment and what people had hope for would be change, instead it has gotten worse and sad to say, Mr. Obama chose advisors who were very bad financial analysts and simply have not a clue what the people really want.
Too young, too unseasoned. That is the minus side

Second---the fact that people voted for a Black President, shows that the mentality of the American people has moved forward, it is a major breakthrough, and that is the plus side.

But it’s not enough to carry us through to positive resolutions---he has waffled on many issues, and now bringing in an aging former President---Bill Clinton to help sell the tax compromise, a former President who knows how to handle the press, and field questions.
A seasoned although tarnish president, somehow people do wonder, if it hadn’t been for that incident, what else he could have accomplished.

If he had left on a high note we most likely would have continued having Democratic presidents but then I believe that the Tax Rates would have been astronomical and out of sight. So what Bush did with the Tax Cut backs was a good thing, and we need to look further into what can be done using that premise to jump start the economy. We need to regenerate the Middle Class again, by doing that we can improve this nation back into the greatness that it can be.

Oh my, is that just wishful thinking? Maybe, but one has to start some place.

On a Christmas note, my shopping is done, not that I had a lot to do, my brothers, sisters-in-law and I have agreed that Christmas present giving is for the children, the young ones. And I still have a few, I was able to find out what they liked and managed.

Even Juanita and her family are limiting the gift giving to just the children and again, I managed. Juanita and I have been wrapping presents and carefully noting what goes to whom with my darling Princess, getting involved in the left over wrapping and ribbons, we were occasionally hearing her growl in delight and the different things we wrapped that were hers already, but we decided to play a game with her, need to keep doggie minds active.

My Ladies who lunch came over last Sunday and with pot luck we had a tree trimming party, it went up quickly, we all sat around and watched a DVD of “Miracle on 34th Street.” We all agreed that somehow those times seemed simpler although they were tough as well, but it just seemed simpler.

My home office has Christmas lights going around the window creating a festive air.

And Christmas decorations are out, Manuel put up the Christmas lights on the house for me. Princess, my little Diva Darling, is wearing a Christmas bow on her harness, it got stuck there and she doesn’t want it taken off for some reason.

I’ve seen the Nutcracker ballet, the Zoolights, have gone to the Dickens Fair twice, and we are planning to walk our local Christmas Tree Lane, we’ve got toys together and have given them to Toys for Tots, and my Brothers and I have donated money to several soup kitchens to help with Christmas dinners.

I’ll go to the City Sunday and just walk through the Stores on Union Square, and just have a little fun watching the matinee performance of “A Christmas Carol”, even though I know it will be raining, I’ll just take BART and bus. It will take time but I don’t feel the need to rush.

Then the week before Christmas, I’ll go a few days before to my Brother’s in San Francisco with Princess with me. Juanita will go to her family but I’ve made arrangements for a house sitter, Ralph a friend who has done it before and is happy to have a place right now, he got burnt out of his apartment, right now he’s at a hotel while he goes through what has survived, but he’ll be coming over tonight for dinner, and we’ll make arrangements for him to stay in the guest room.

I was afraid to leave him alone for Christmas but he’ll be going to a relatives’ house for the Day. Then when I get back we’ll work together on dealing with his insurance claim.

In a strange way he’s sort of glad, he says he can start fresh and down size things a bit. I just hope it isn’t shock, but then he has always looked forward never back.

I had the pleasure of running into my dear friend “Mean Kitty” a week or two back. She was shopping for a gift for an ornament exchange at T.J. Max and she found a beautiful one, Lennox china in the shape of a snow flake with the word in gold saying “Believe”. She told me if one of the participants’ girls are there at the party she knows that they will be fighting to get it.

And I understand that did happen, I told her I was planning an extensive dinner party and invited her and her man but she declined sadly as it conflicted with another party, I said I was looking for plates that would work with the Christmas china that I already had and she lifted this decorator pillow and there they were----Lennox Christmas China!! It didn’t matter that it was a discontinued pattern it was There!!!

We were like two school girls looking for all the matching pieces I couldn’t believe it we had enough plates, desert/salad plates and cups to match plus 2 sets of cream and sugar, and several serving platters.

She happen to have a shopping cart, so to use her phrase “we loaded up”, then she recommended that we look for the soft cases used to store good china and we found those! Then with her sharp eye she spotted several Spode china pieces for the or’deuvers and candy and the usual veggie and cheese platters.

Fortunately I have a very large credit line with T.J.Max and since I always do itemized deductions, I’m going to see if I can write this off, since the people that are coming to this party will be donating money to one of the charities that I help to sponsor. “Mean Kitty” has a very good eye finding things.

So I offered to buy her and her man coffee at the nearby Starbucks, and being the little elf I encouraged her to get the ginger bread cake, as she indulged in a Pumpkin spice Latté, her man being basic, went for the house blend and a glazed donut.

We had fun catching up, but I was a bit worried about her, she does so much for other people including her man, she’s put her credit and her indebtedness on the line to please him although I think he doesn’t realize that, that sometimes I wonder if her man really understands and appreciates her, I think he does but I think he is not aware what extend of what she has done, and she says she really doesn’t like to put herself out there but she does without realizing it.

She’s even going to take a friend of hers to the hospital for out patient surgery so her friend doesn’t have to worry about transportation. At it will be during “Mean Kitty’s” vacation. She tells me “I take the time off, because I need to breathe and work on some projects at home, that’s what I’m planning to do for the upcoming year, and besides we’ll be going down during the summer to do our history docent work.”

But I asked her “What are you doing for yourself?” and she said “Oh we don’t have money in the budget for that, as long as I have a change of scene I’m fine.”

I took a good long look at her, she has an eye for good things, but can’t afford them, she knows what would look good on a person and gives off ideas to people for their events that they claim as their own, she is idea talented as oppose to being talented in writing, art, music, theatre or dance, (although I’ve seen her act and she’s very good) she doesn’t entertain, no space in her house; family has imposed their possessions upon her upon their death that she has been trying to unburden herself from for years, she sold her beloved car that I know she misses. She used up her funds for years to help her family so she has to work until she dies because she couldn’t put it into a retirement fund. Because she loves her man she bought a house that’s a money pit instead of getting out of debt and renting an apartment instead.

I hate to pity her because in her own way she’s happy, she’s a survivor, she makes do and she enjoys the little things that come along. And she works to make other people happy without even trying. And yet she claims that she’s selfish. Selfish?? I don’t think so.

So on the spur of the moment, I got up and saw a cup that I knew she admired and bought it for her, it was red with white designs (yes Christmas designs) and gold trim on the top and gave it to her. She said that I didn’t have to, but I said “Oh yes I do, how else can I repay you for helping me with all that China”, I could see the delight in her eyes at the cup and knew she was going to enjoy it for a long, long time.

My party was a success and raised quiet a bit of money, I had it catered so all my dear Juanita had to do was just heat, and it was served buffet style, after all I’m not having her wait hand and foot, then afterwards, I told Juanita to not wash the dinners and things that evening, the next day we worked together hand washing and wiping everything and putting it all carefully away, although I have left out the Spode dishes with Christmas candy.

Right now I’m relaxing typing this, Juanita is putting together a tempting dinner, the house is festive. I’m going to check to see if it’s a spare the air day or not, if it is then I’ll burn candles in the fire place. Ralph will be here at 6 and we’ll have a glass of wine.

On the economy front, I’m still putting my thoughts together. So many buzzing in my head.

Until the New Year Have a Happy Holiday Season, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanaka, Happy Kwanza, Happy Boxing Day and all the Best for the New Year.

Until Anon my Diva Darlings

A Quick Update

2010-11-06T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hello My Diva Darlings,

I am back and have not forgotten you.

Family and Friends are all doing fine, including Juanita's family, the grandbaby is growing so fast, and my little Diva Princess is still on her little doggie job.

The months have flown by so quickly, my ladies who lunch still met on Thursdays, and we still have our once a month get togethers, we've settled on my Home which is not much of a burden on me, and since my house is centrally located its much easier for all.

Of late we have been talking about if it is possible to live without using a credit card. I have to laugh for a long time, certain pundits have been talking about a "cashless society" but it seems that the economy has forced people to give serious consideration to "cold, hard cash" as a way to be frugal.

As I gather more information, I will eventually look into how one can be a diva without using the credit card and post a blog on it.

In the mean time my Dears look over what I have posted previously to "glean" from it ideas on how to live with using your credit card rarely.

Until Anon, kisses Darlings.

Do you Like the new Design?....

2010-06-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

Hello All you Lovely Diva Darlings,

Do you like the new web page design? I do. I felt that it was time for a change and Blogspot offered it.

And change can be a good thing. Sometimes change is something you do, sometimes it's something that is forced upon you. For some people they are afraid of change, which is something I can understand.

There is a book that all you Darlings should read it's called "Who Moved the Cheese" and it's all about change. It will show you how you can make change work for you or to at least understand change and deal with it.

There are some things that I simply will not change, I have an old fashioned rotary phone. I have it in my living room because it is period correct for the retro style, but in my personal office at home I have a push button phone because many businesses require you to "push buttons". No matter what I still prefer to talk to a live person, which I make every effort of doing. But I still need that push button phone.

We have become so caught up in modern technology that it is stressing us, so it is important to carefully chose what technology you want in your home and in your work.

But with that comes a price, increased fees and rates, greater stress, lack of personal contact, and lack of simplicity and privacy.

But if you are a business, you need to be out there, many established businesses are on Facebook and My Space to advertise what they are doing and to keep a certain fan following. From a business point of view I can see that, it makes sense.

I know of a number of people who are on Facebook, I chose to not be one of them. Why? Because it moves too fast, the next thing you know you have friends on your page that you have no idea who they are and the world moves very fast---must like if you miss 5 minutes of that T.V. program "Lost". Of course I could never follow that program anyway.

My dear friend Mean Kitty said to me one day "Being on Facebook is like having your e-mail on crack, too hyper." and she is right. But I may consider it someday, if it's the only way to be in touch with family and friends.

Now what have I been doing? Relaxing and re-evaluating things, doing work on my home, enjoying being an adopted grandmama and enjoying the cool summer that is finally upon us.

I've recovered from my kidney surgery and am doing well, Princess and I are enjoying our walks. My ladies who lunch and I still meet, now we are talking about affordable vacations.

Juanita and her family are all doing well and so are my family and friends, oh there are some minor ups and downs, like a dental appointment, or the car is not running properly, but on the whole doing well.

Of late though I've been following the financial pages and I am very concerned about the moves that a number of banks, Bank of America included, that are going to do to charge people for having a checking account. Watch that very carefully my Darlings, and if you don't like what your bank is planning find out how you can avoid those fees or find another good and solid bank.

Some banks will not charge fees if you have direct deposit, so if you have several checking accounts have your company payroll deposit a little something into each account, even if it's only $10.00 per paycheck, it will do. And the beauty of it is that it forces you to save, so consider that.

Keep up with reading the financials we are not out of the woods and may never be.

Yesterday in the early evening I took a nice long walk with my little Diva Darling and although it was windy I enjoyed watching the waves making white caps on the water and all the para gliders who use these kites to surf on the waves, there were so many of them that I thought it was a race of sorts, but I found it so relaxing and entertaining.

Also of late I've been looking into places to stay that accept small pets, they do charge a fee, but for me I feel that it's worth it.

Now I must go, I'm driving over to my brother's today, he is having a Bar-B-Que with his children and grandchildren and my other Brother and his wife will be there, they finally found a nice little pied-a-terre in the City and close to BART as well.

It will be so nice to see them all and have a "catch up" with them.

Until Anon Darlings, Kisses.

A belated Update

2010-04-03T09:49:00.000-07:00

Hello My Diva Darlings, Hello!!

I know, it's been a long time, but I only have time for a quick update.

I've been busy paying property taxes, having my income taxes done and plumbing work, then I came down with a cold, and on top of that I had to go in for a kidney stone operation, it was so hard to sit up.

I didn't want to put a strain on Juanita but she knew of a friend who is a nurse who does private care and she came in to help me during my getting well period.

My friends have been helpful and my family as well, but both Juanita and her friend have been guarding me fiercely so I'll get well.

My ladies who lunch have been keeping tabs on me, and all I can say is this for now, if you have been reading the newspapers and the financial pages you will have an idea of how things are going. Keep reading those recommended magazines that I've listed for you and once I'm on my feet again I'll start giving you dear Diva's those recommendations.

My brother is coming by to pick me and my little diva darling, Princess up. We'll be spending the Easter Weekend at his house and I'll be back on par by the end of Next week.

Until anon, Kisses Darlings

Happy 2010 Darlings!!!

2010-01-13T08:58:00.000-08:00

Hello Darlings, Hello!

I am so sorry for not having posted for so long, but my Dears, the Holidays have been a very busy time for me.

I'm getting together a list of reading materials for all of you to help start your Diva year right financially speaking of course.

I'm still having my "Ladies Who Lunch" weekly meetings in the City and now once or twice a month on Sundays we have our get-togethers at my home, not everyone can attend so it's sort of a rotation, if one of our Lunch Ladies cannot meet on Thursdays they try for the Sunday get togethers.

And we have a lot to share.

So over the next few days or at least by the end of this week I hope to have several postings up for you to read, one of course will be "How I Spent My Holidays" (Sorry Darlings, remember I am vain).

And one or two will be about the financial information.

Even though the weather and rain has been rough, the feeling so far is optimistic among people. With the attitude of being leaner and meaner they intend to plough through 2010 with determination.

Of course for those out of work, it is desperation, and with the stupidity of the EDD not sending out those claim forms for those out of work, it makes it harder for all.

Tax Time is coming up, so do refer to my earlier Posting on what to keep for your tax information.

And again this month make it your Goal to get Organized with your financial papers and your work and home situation. I'm not talking New Year's Resolutions, I'm talking Goals and stick to it.

So refer to my earlier postings and follow though on it.

Must Go Darlings, I have to get to my "Office" this morning

Until Anon Darlings, Kisses.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

2009-11-28T08:38:00.000-08:00

Hello All You Diva Darlings!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

For some reason this Thanksgiving seems to be happier in general feeling. Of course for those that are out of work, losing their homes, it’s is not such a wonderful feeling, but I’ve been talking to a number of people who, because of such circumstances are in that situation.

But the reason why they are Thankful is that they had Family to fall back on, there are many who don’t, and they must depend upon the limited largess of the Government and the Churches and Synagogues who are working hard to easy the burden of an overburden population.

But some of the people I have been talking to are saying that they are looking upon these sad events as a reason to regroup and take stock of what is really valuable, and what they really need.

I’ve even heard on the news that on “Black Friday” many people are avoiding using credit cards and instead are paying by cash that they have saved or using their debt cards.

Now I just want to re-iterate something, I have said that it pays to have two checking and two savings accounts, The first checking and savings account is to be used to pay bills and groceries, and the savings account is to save up for any sudden repairs.

The second checking account and savings account, is to be used for purchases that you have up money for, like a Christmas club account but it’s more flexible, I have a friend that has an extra savings account that she puts her funds in to pay for her property taxes. But the second savings account is also for something special, like a trip, or to make that big purchase.

The whole idea is to have your saved money make money, even if it’s only 1 or 2 percent it’s better than nothing. And a lot of people are forgoing the 401 k’s and are looking into IRA’s and short term CD’s like 6 months or 1 year at the most. That way they have control over what they want their money to go into. So many people who had 401 k’s have lost a great deal of value, as bad as the stock market.

One other thing if you have several checking and savings accounts always make sure that there is some activity, even if you are just putting 20 dollars or so into them, that way the bank will not close them, so always watch your account activity.

Juanita is gone this weekend to be with her daughter and new grandbaby, she is so happy to have a little one to spoil.

I spent Thanksgiving at my brother’s house in San Francisco, and stayed a couple of nights, I had no desire to be driving home late at night, but it worked out well. I took public transportation as if I was going to my ‘office’ and then managed to grab a taxi to take me to my brother’s, I tipped the driver handsomely as well, it was a bit of a drive.

Then Friday my brother took me to a Bart Station that was not involved with Critical Mass and I took Bart back home.

I’m so use to using the Public Transportation system that it doesn’t faze me, and with that dangerous “S” curve it would be just my luck to be involved in an accident. Even my brother agreed.

It was so good seeing my nephews and nieces and their children, my brother had also invited some of his business acquaintances and their wives quite a full house, and such a feast! But one has to be careful about gaining weight around the holidays.

When I arrived home on Friday I was happy to have several phone messages from friends wishing me a Happy Thanksgiving, Kevin even called long distance. I miss him, I haven’t seen him for a while, his work keeps him on the road a lot.

I am avoiding the shopping Malls as much as possible this weekend, all those sales and everything just makes for a serious headache which I do not wish to have. But there are some gallery events that I will be going to tonight and tomorrow with Betty and her husband, so my weekend will be busy.

And we are planning to go to some Christmas events as well, like Dunsmuir House, The Dickens’s Fair, the Ballet for the traditional Nutcracker, and one or two choral events.

My family agreed that it would be best to just get presents for the children, since the grownups don’t need anything, but my oldest niece has been saving the old family pictures onto disc and wants to show them at the family Christmas party, she says a number of the photo’s are not labeled, so by showing them on the big screen (T.V.) we can identify them and she can label them.

Makes sense to me. And I’ll be looking forward to seeing those pictures.

Now I must go and get dressed and run some errands, I have a busy evening tonight.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings.

Being "Frugal and Hunting Bargains" are in Style~~~

2009-11-15T10:21:00.000-08:00

Hello All You Darling Divas!!

I know Darlings; I’ve been away for just too long. And don’t I realize that!

But so much has been happening in my life. Where do I start?

First, I am now an adopted Grandmamma, Juanita’s daughter Constance gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl on October 30. The baby was a surprise to everyone, and a welcomed one.

And why am I an adopted Grandma? Constance and her husband have medical insurance but it doesn’t quite stretch to meet all the bills and although she was and is working full time, he had been out of work for a while but getting by with temporary and odd jobs and now finally has a full time job, so with 4 other children to feed and clothe it does get hard, yes 2 boys and 2 girls. As Manuel says quite a full house, so I’m helping to pay the medical bills for the baby.

When Constance came home with the baby I gave Juanita time off to help get Constance settled in with the new baby, and what I’m doing is having Juanita have more days off to be with Constance so she can rest and get into a routine with the baby.

One thing has Constance and Manuel worried is baby care because Constance can only take 4 months off from her work. She took the final month of her pregnancy off and will only have 3 months to be with the baby before she goes back to working as a secretary/ receptionist at her job and with the economy being the way it is she doesn’t want to lose it.

So Moi made a suggestion, my house is right on the way to where Constance’s job is, she can leave the baby with Juanita, we can have a complete set of baby things at my home, including disposable diapers, and Juanita can watch the baby during the day and then Constance can pick the baby up on the way home.

Juanita was worried that she might not be able to do things for me at the house, but I said that with the two of us and with “Molly Maids” from time to time, we should be able to give Constance peace of mind. It’s not like I’m a handful to take care of and I’m quiet capable of grocery shopping, taking things to the cleaners and such, although with having Juanita around it does make it easier in case a repair person is needed and I have to leave to take care of business.

And Constance’s older daughters and the boys can watch the baby while Constance is preparing dinner and they can help around the house as well. Which as I understand it, is not a problem since that is part of their responsibilities anyway.

So it’s a matter of adjusting our routines. And I have another little one to spoil as well.

Now about the economy-----Well Darlings, I don’t have to tell you that it is in “the toilet”. And such changes that are happening, even I have a hard time to keep up with it.

Fortunately my “Ladies Who Lunch” still get together and so far they have been riding out the ups and downs fairly well, with adjustments.

Can I tell you what to do in general about things? Sad to say No I can’t, because each individuals situation is unique, but there are some general things that you can do.

An important thing is to pay attention to the business reports especially about banking policies; recently it came out that two banking institutions were in the process of charging fees on good customers. How ridiculous is that!

One of my “Ladies” told me that the minute she heard about that she started looking into another institution that doesn’t do that.

Another told me that she left her credit union because they wanted her to keep more in her savings than before and if it went below a certain amount she would be charged a “maintenance fee”, what also aggravated her is that the closest branch closed and moved away from the business hub to a less accessible location for her, and the ATM is never properly maintained, I would say that is reasons to quit that institution and go with another.

So all you Diva Darlings, always keep a close eye on those extra fees that they are charging, and always read those little extra mailers that they send you that “tell” you of those changes, they are required by law to do that. And if they don’t, COMPLAIN AND COMPLAIN LOUDLY---if need be take it up a notch---speak with a supervisor---demand quality service---they are making money on your money anyway---the money that you put into their banks they use to make investments and purchases, so keep an eye if they are investing wisely.

One of my “Ladies” whom happens to know my dear friend “Mean Kitty” took a very hard hit, the bottom line is husband divorced her and left her in serious debt, she is of course trying to get some recourse, but it has been two years in the process, so she was forced to declare bankruptcy.

In a way she was lucky, she was awarded it, but she sold almost everything, there were no children involved, but she did find out that he had fathered a child by another woman who is going to be “new wifey” having seen an engagement ring with a rock big enough to choke a Shetland pony.

She met the woman in a friendly meeting, saw the baby, knew at once it was going to be an ‘ugly child’ and would need a lot of help, my “lady” told me that she hoped the child was ‘brilliant’ to help make it’s way in the world. Her words not mine.

Of course she didn’t say that to the Mother, no need to be cruel, but said that she hope the Mother and her Ex had an interesting life together. But also told her what her Ex-had done to her and warned the Mother to be on her guard with him and that she was compelled by law to seek some restitution from her Ex because it was not properly divided since this is a community law state.

She apologized to the new wife of her Ex and mother of his child, but said that it was the law, and she was only seeking that which is fair, and said she had no animosity towards the new wife and especially not to the idea of her Ex having a child.

She said that if the Ex would simply let their respective lawyers handle all the arrangements it would be nice to avoid court costs with the exception of the final judgment by the Judge and allow each of them to get on with their lives, and that either way her Ex would still come out of it in good shape. She even said that she would not seek any portion of her Ex’s retirement fund, if he allowed the lawyers to do “their thing”.

My lady told me that she at first thought that “new wifey” to be would become very upset, but instead was very reasonable, especially when she told “new wifey” about some of the hidden assets the Ex had that “new wifey” to be didn’t know about.

The final results were that she got what she wanted to make things better for herself, and she and “new wifey” are secret friends behind Ex’s back.

But because of the bankruptcy taking a hit on her credit score she cannot hold a credit card.

But she found out that check debt cards work like a credit card, so what she did is open a second checking account with the same bank and has been depositing extra cash into that debt card and maintaining running book keeping on it. She also has it linked to a savings account so that every month at the end of the month $25.00 is shifted into her savings.

She has found that with her no longer having to worry about those debts that she had, she has more freedom to exercise her choices on what she needs, or wants. And that is the difference.

One always has to discerned between the difference of a need and a want----

A NEED is something that you need to have if you want to have some function in life,--- for example if in your job it’s important to have a laptop, a DSL line or Wifi and a cell
Phone That is a NEED. Having an Iron and Ironing Board to press out your clothes is a Need. Being able to buy food is a need, having medical and dental insurance is a Need.

A WANT is something you desire, but is NOT necessary for you to function in life----

Example: a cell phone with all sorts of Apps so you can get onto Twitter and Face book, since that is not really necessary in your life it is only a Want. Expensive crystal wine glasses are a Want not a need. Buying a Gucci Handbag is a Want not a need. A plasma screen T.V. that is 72 inches is a Want not a need. Having a Mani-Pedi every two weeks is a Want not a need, when you can get by having it only once a month or not at all.

Another thing as all agreed upon by my “Ladies Who Lunch” being Frugal and hunting for Bargains is the new “In-Thing” even among those who can afford things.

One of my Ladies told me she got a CVS card with the CVS stores that use to be Longs in our Area; she gets coupons with purchases that she makes, especially if she purchases CVS products. She also buys her milk at CVS anyway because where she’s at it’s $2.49 a gallon compared to $2.99 at most grocery stores, and when she uses her CVS card it drops to $2.29 a gallon, and if she has an extra discount coupon that says “Real California Cows” she can get 50 cents to a $1.00 off a gallon of milk.

She has also discovered the 99 cents Hallmark cards, and uses them for birthdays, and special occasions, yes she does have to pay 44 cents for postage but she says that she enjoys the personal touch with a card.

She has also used the $20 dollar coupon from Wal-Mart that says you can buy a Thanksgiving dinner for 8 for $20 this includes a 12 pound turkey; she has used it and says that turkey is going to be used for dinner, soup, casseroles, and sandwiches.

So the word is to all you Darling Divas the New In Thing is being FRUGAL AND HUNTING BARGAINS.

But frankly my Dear Divas, as being a Diva that should also be your Mantra.

Must go my Dears Irma has come by to take me out to Brunch and since Juanita is at Constance’s home spoiling the baby, my time is my own.

Until Anon, Kisses.

An Update

2009-05-08T17:13:00.000-07:00

Hello Darlings,

To some of you who know me personally, yes, I have not posted for some time, it is because so much has been happening in my life.

My Dear Friend Irma is currently very depressed, her older sister Iris, whom I bought her house last year, passed away in her sleep a couple of weeks ago and Iris and her husband are dealing with what is left of her estate and legal things.

This is really not giving Irma much chance to mourn and so I've been her shoulder to cry on. We only knew that Iris was feeling more tired than usual, but till the very end would dress and join the other members of her senior community for meals and events, but of late she had been passing on the events and started giving Irma her personal jewelry with notes as to which child to receive it.

This of course upset Irma, but I told her that it's possible that Iris was feeling something very subtle in her health that is not detectable by the usual exams and to just reassure Iris.

Little did we know that Iris was feeling the end to her life approaching, the good thing is that she passed away in her sleep after having a wonderful visit by Irma and her husband and Iris's two grown children.

I think it's just the suddenness of it that has Irma so upset.

I hope that when my time comes I'll be able to pass away peacefully like Iris.

And my attention is also turned towards my older brother who lives in Santa Barbara, I am worried for his and his wife's health and safty. My brother still has his house in the hills but he bought a house on the ocean side just south of Santa Barbara and is renting his hillside home. He'd been selling a number of his things that was in the house, just decided that it was for the best after the last fire.

But the minute he heard about the fire he called his tennant and advised him to get everything that was important and everyone out of there after setting up the watering fire system, to not hesitate.

His renter has done so and is safe, and my brother has been calling the house to see if it has burned but as of one hour ago he is still getting the answering machine so the house is still intact. He has insureance on it, but said that if it burns he will not rebuild and instead sell the property once it's been cleared off.

He has had enough and preferrs the sea breeze instead of the worry of fires. He also owns a Pied a terre here in San Francisco where he has put a number of things that he still owns, his grand daughter is currently living there while looking for a home to buy.

So I know that my brother and his family are safe which is important but these fires are just so frightening.

Even here in my little city there was a terrible fire last month, granted it did burn down an abandoned building, but the smoke from it made it hard to breathe.

And our weather has been hot, then cold, then rain and now muggy and getting hot again, at least I have serveral large walk in closets where I can pick and choose what I'll wear and not have to put anything into storage, except my furs.

Oh now Darlings don't be jealous, if you do as I have done to earn the "Diva Bucks" you too will be able to have several large walk in closets as I do.

I've been walking my little diva Princess, the little thing is doing so well, and fortunately so has my ankle that I injured last year, we still enjoy our walks to and along the beach.

Lately I've taken to shopping at several wonderful consignment stores, I find wonderful jewerly and things. It's wonderful to spoil oneself without breaking the bank, not that I have to worry about breaking my bank, but it does pay to be thrifty as much as possible.

I've given Juanita a few days off since this is Mother's Day weekend and told her to not come back until Tuesday, after losing Iris I felt that it was important for Juanita to spend as much time as possible with her family. I even had a third phone line installed dedicated for her use to talk to her family as often as she can.

I have two for myself plus internet access.

And now Princess is demanding her walk, and the weather is just fine.

Until Annon Darlings, Kisses

A Quick Note~~~~~

2009-04-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

Hello Darlings,

I know I have been very neglectful here, but as with life I've been very busy, even my dear friend "Mean Kitty" has been busy.

But I haven't been stagnating either.

Taxes are done, thank goodness, I'm still holding Sunday luncheons with my "Business ladies who lunch" but we've decided to make it twice a month for now, but we still meet on Thursdays in the City. I am happy to say that everyone is doing well, and holding their own.

Juanita is going to become a grandmother again, and she is sooooo happy, it was a surprise even for her daughter, they did the amenosis test and the baby is healthy, I have offered to pay for any bills that are not covered by their insurance plan, I want this baby to come into this world with a chance---I know me! Me who has never had children---but there is something that makes my heart "mushy".

Juanita and her family have been good to me and I know times are tough for them.

Her Daughter and Husband were worried about losing their house because of the high interest rates, but I did this, with my lawyer I negotiated with the bank and took over their mortgage, so I hold the deed, But I lowered the rate to 4.50% to improve their cash flow, but what I am also doing is that if I should die, their loan is forgiven and they receive their house free and clear. It's a bit more complicated but since I was in a better position to re-fi than they were, we were able to work it out.

And I've been busy in other ways, I've had several large bond come due, so I'm buying property, property that can make a good investment income for me, in resort areas for summer and winter. And now I'm looking at property down near Montery, I'm a bit concerned about Santa Cruz especially after that earthquake that almost destroyed down town, but there is some property there that is built on very solid ground, Yes Darlings, if you have the funds and with the interest rates so low, this is the time to buy.

Land will never lose it's value as long as you buy it at the right time.

Hetty Green the so-called "Witch of Wall Street" (by the way you should read her biography) always said "Buy cheap and sell dear" meaning buy low and sell high.

And that is what I'm doing right now darlings, there are stocks that no matter what are recession resistant, not proof but resistant and that is what you should look for, the product will never go out of style, and I am in a position to do that.

Remember that Darlings.

Now I must go Darlings, I'm treating dear Betty to Lunch today in the City and we are going to do a little shoping, although it is very windy, warm coats and scarves recommended.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings

The Economy and hardshipsa brief note~

2009-03-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

Hello Darlings,

I know --- it has been a long time since I’ve last posted but, well darlings, with all the sudden changes in the stock market, the economy worsening, President Obama’s stimulus package, the foolishness being done at our State Capital (God Bless you, Maldonado), I just could not fathom what was going to happen.

My “Business Ladies Who Lunch” and I have been having meetings every Sunday just pouring over what is happening, two of the dear ladies have been downsized and are now seeking new employment.

My father once said that “We are not in a depression unless it has gone for 36 months, if it has gone that long and there is No sign of improvement, then we are in a depression.” But I fear that my Father’s assessment time frame may have been a bit too long, with employment in California at 10% and possibly going higher, the threats of furloughing workers and thereby shrinking their pay check will not stimulate the economy. And this has happened very rapidly, almost at the time the housing market had burst.

My ladies and I agree that the worst culprits are the CEO of major corporations, and banking institutions for unsecured loans, outsourcing jobs to other countries, taking huge payoffs, bonuses and separation packages and well as ridiculous spending has placed the economy in dire straits.

Then to discover that some of the higher positioned California State Staffers have used tax payer money to travel to things like a Justin Timberlake concert is completely reckless and reprehensible, I and my Ladies have written and sent a group letter demanding that the Governor force those who have done that illegitimate spending to completely repay the monies that they’ve illegally spent. To put it simply we are furious!

The best way to start improving this situation is to bring back the jobs that have been outsourced overseas, to encourage manufacturing in the United States, to inform the Unions that they cannot demand higher wages but can encourage safety procedures and legal conduits if there are improper situations, to demand higher wages would imperil the businesses, that banks work with homeowners to renegotiate all loans are a much lower and properly affordable interest rates. And banks should be the ones to encourage people to buy

Of course it would be best for people to spend less and more wisely, and to cease being a throw away society. Being “green” is fine, recycling is fine, being thrifty is fine, but not at the cost of businesses, and jobs. Also make our goods absolutely highly desirable by foreign countries so that we are selling much of our goods overseas, but keeping them very affordable here.

The March issue of U.S. news and world report has several articles that are worth reading and Mort Zuckerman’s editorial is well worth reading---his comment that “it’s a chicken and egg problem: the banks aren’t lending because of the weakening economy, and the economy is weakening because the banks aren’t lending” is really part of the crux of the problem.

And the only one who can break this cycle is really the banks, they need to lend to start the healing process but they need to do it at low interest rates to make the loans affordable and worthwhile. People are really seeing what they can and cannot do but they have to remember that they can’t spend like they use to, but only the banks can start the healing process and the CEO’s need to see that, forget what the stock holders want, get the healing started.

I for one have always thought that the way the stock markets were climbing was another bubble that would burst, so instead of buying the stocks when the rates were climbing to exorbitant rates I instead took the money and put it into high earning bank accounts, now the earnings have dropped but I have not lost my cash, it’s still there, maybe earning much less but there and I’m still have enough to cover all my expenses.

So I’ll be spending less, so what darlings, so what. I can still live.

Now my two ladies who lunch, one has moved back with her parents and has put her condo on the market, now she bought it a long time ago, so even what she gets now will still be more than what she paid for it. And she saw that her aging parents did need her, so she is looking for a job that is part time to cover her medical and dental costs and insurances, she did pay off her credit cards and is avoiding using them, she has also done other cost cutting measures so she is doing well.

My other lady who lunches has also done serious cost cutting measures, manage to sell off some property and used that to pay off the balance on that property and her credit card debt, she currently has COBRA on her medical, her working daughter has moved in with her and gave up her apartment, it was good really as her mother’s house is much closer to her work, and her mother’s house loan is fixed and affordable. My lady is also looking at various jobs and other options, and is being very creative. She has 5 interviews lined up and granted it will by at only ½ to 2/3 what she was making originally, but that is not an issue for her and any of the jobs are really a good fit.

It really being able to pay the bills and buying groceries and with the two of them living together it is really more viable by pooling their incomes together. As a matter of fact many families are doing that now and it is paying off for them as well as being supportive. In many ways we are returning to the solid roots of our grandparents of the early 1900's to 1930's, where every penny counted.

Really a attitude that should be regenerated into our young people all over again. All those old addiges "Waste not, want not", "a penny saved is a penny earned" and many more which our young people have totally disregarded which they are finding out to their own sorrow. "WAKE UP PEOPLE---THIS IS REALITY HITTING YOU ON THE HEAD".

So we shall see If our young people learn from this or will they go back to their "bad habits".

For now I’m going to the White Elephant sale today with my family and Juanita, who knows what items I will find, but it pays to be choosy Darlings and remember, it’s a tax write off.

Until anon, kisses Darlings.

President Obama

2009-01-20T10:31:00.000-08:00

Hello Darlings,

This is going to be a short post, I have guests. We've been here since 7 a.m. this morning.

So now we have President Obama, and it seems that he is "hitting the ground running".

He's made many statements and promises in his speech, and he's drawing on history to make his point. We shall see.

I can tell you Darlings that there is a sense of hope wafting in my living room right now as my friends talk about what he has said.

All I can do is wish the man well, and hope that his "dream" for America comes true.

Until Anon Darlings, Kisses

Part One of our "Business Ladies who Lunch" Pot Luck Review

2009-01-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

Hello Again Darlings,

Well I did promise you on how my “Business Ladies Who Lunch” Potluck went, we had a marvelous time and so much information to share that what we all did is use our digital recorders to record what was said that way we wouldn’t have to rely on memory.

But my Darlings there was so much information that I’m going to have to break it down into much smaller sections.

So this “chapter” is going to be on reading material, and at home entertainment~~~

One of our Ladies Sherry showed us several magazines that she purchased---because there were so many articles in them it was better to purchase them, she said next time she’ll photo copy the any articles if her Library carries those particular magazines, but this time she wasn’t sure.

The magazines were Kiplinger’s Personal Finance for January 2009 issue; it had many articles on building up your portfolio, finding best deals in bonds and warning of scams.

She also came across a November 2008 copy of the same magazine with articles on getting out of debt and saving on your energy bills and made copies for us.

Laura showed us the January 2009 issue of House Beautiful and it contained an article titled “A Clean Slate---It Starts With Your Closet” it had rules about weeding your wardrobe, and she gave us copies of the article.

On thing that we all agreed on was that it was important to save as much money as possible, and buying the magazines at costs ranging from 3.99 to 6.99 was defeatist, but Sherry said that by going to places such as Borders or Barnes and Nobel, she would look at the magazines, make a note of which ones had articles that were of interest and then go to the Library and photocopy the articles there.

If it was impossible to get the magazine at the Library only then would she consider buying it.

Speaking of buying magazines, Laura our Fashionista says that she limits her fashion magazine purchases to only the March and September issues of her favorites, and she watches for offers of when the subscriptions are 2/3’s lower than the shelf prices. For instance she has subscribed to Vanity Fair at a price that is only $1.25 per issue; she likes that magazine because of both the articles and the fashions they show.

She takes one evening a week after leaving work to go to the Library and scan Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and any other fashion magazine that is available, she likes to decompress that way. Any magazine that she does buy she removes only those articles that she wants and then drops them off at the magazine exchange box at the Library.

It was mentioned by all the Ladies that it appears that many Libraries and their Branches have a magazine exchange box, and for everyone to see if their nearest Library had one, we decided to also bring our magazines that we were done with to our next Pot Luck Meeting and if anyone wanted to take one home they could, but if everyone wanted the same article then the owner of the magazine would photo copy it and we would reimburse them for the cost of the photocopy.

It was also mentioned that if the particular issues are no longer on sale at either the bookstores like Borders or Barnes and Nobel, check your Public Library to see if they have those magazines or can request them for you from another Library System.

It was also discovered that checking the Magazine Exchange Bin was a good way to find back issues of magazines that we might be interested in. As my dear friend “Mean Kitty” would say “Free is always good.”

Now on to Entertainment~~~~~

We all agreed that going out for an evening of fun can become expensive and even having home entertainment can be expensive if you have children that want the latest video game, especially the Wii system.

Terri is a working mother, her husband also works but his job often takes him out of town, so she has two children ages 8 and 10 who demand being entertained. Because of the economy crunch, she had them watching the early evening news, and she would watch it with them, when it brought up the economy and people being out of work or losing their homes, she would then bring the subject up to her children.

She said that she really didn’t want to do the “Scared Straight” routine, but she had to make her children very aware that there were priorities in life and that buying the latest video game or the latest DVD was not high on the list. Through carefully telling them what the situation was she got them into the game of finding inexpensive ways to be entertained.

Card and board games came up, but they found that it only worked if there were at least 4 children involved so Terri came up with a exchange of play nights for children on Fridays and Saturday evenings if there was no big homework assignment, and games in which two people could play, such as checkers, puzzles, pick up sticks, tic-tac-toe, they found a children’s toy consignment store, and there they discovered board games that were much cheaper than new. They even discovered the game of Jacks and Marbles, she said that the children were working together better, less hyper-active and they tired more at night when ready to go to bed.

She also introduced a reading time as well, at least 15 minutes to read a portion of a book that was borrowed from the Library. And that was after dinner, and then to any game.

But homework always came first with the idea of games afterwards. She noticed an improvement on their homework as well, so she believes that the games engage their brain functions much better.

Sometimes a movie is always good, but our Ladies didn’t want to have to buy or rent the latest films, Net flicks was discussed, the fact that it could be mailed to and from the Net flicks center for a monthly fee of $8.99 was considered an excellent bargain, the ladies did have some disappointments, like a film not playing well and it was not their DVD, but it was considered the chances one has to take.

If one is into films then it was considered that Net Flicks is a good deal, going to the movies was another thing discussed and it was agreed that for some films seeing it on the big screen is visually more exciting, but going in the evenings can put a hole in the pocket, if it’s a film that one Must See then going to a matinee is always good, but do not buy any of the popcorn or soft drinks to save money.

The Public Library was brought up as a free option to borrow films and music CD’s and was considered the best rock bottom solution for music and Films.

One of the Ladies says that she and her boy friend plan one movie night out a month and this would include eating out as well, it’s their treat to themselves and they include it in their budget, but she says that they stay with appetizers, and only ONE alcoholic drink, they buy one big tub of popcorn, but they sneak in her oversize purse their bottled water.

I told them about my “Game Night” parties, which would include Mahjong and other games, and puzzles and doing it pot luck style, and it could be done with any size group.

Other things that were discussed was finding free things to do around the Bay Area, most museums have free sections one can go to, but if it’s a special exhibit in which there is a fee, one should be prepared for that.

Public Parks and Art Wine festivals with free entertainment was considered, free beaches was also thought of for the summer months, mention was made of some of the local events such as the Sand castle contest, and the Jam festival.

It was looked into the cost of parking and gas use and if it was possible to take public transportation to most events to save money, it was agreed that a number of events was easy to get to using public transportation and some not so easy, again planning and budgeting was considered the best way to make decisions.

Sometime during the Summer if a store is offering a special admission price to one of the local amusement parks that could be factored into one’s budge.

Terri told her children that if they collect cans and bottles for recycling the money from that could be used to go to a major amusement park one time during the Summer, but they had to decide which one it would be, and they created a Amusement Park Jar, which is a big glass jar and all the money that was raised by cashing in the cans etc was put into that jar, the children started including found money, that is money found on the sidewalks, etc. Terri says they do not turn their noses up at pennies anymore, and if they have any toys that are in good condition but they are no longer interested in they take it to the Toy consignment store for either credit or cash.

She also makes sure that the children wear gloves when they go on their hunts, she said it’s amazing the number of cans and plastic bottles that people carelessly toss out, she discovered teenagers are the worst offenders.

And Teenagers almost led us off into another tangent but we did get back on track.

Well Darlings this has gone to 4 pages, so I’ll have to end for now and continue at another time, my Dear Friends Betty and Bill are coming by in Bills’ Packard and we are going “Cruising”, and checking out some things, they are into Art Deco things, so I’m going with them just for fun. Besides you never know what might turn up or discover.

Until Anon Darlings, Kisses

A Life Time Routine~~~~

2009-01-10T12:03:00.000-08:00

Hello My Darling Divas,

It was so strange and yet not strange to wake up yesterday morning and finding cold, wet fog surrounding the house, feeling so cut off from the world.

The aroma of coffee was enough to perk me up, but it was so cold that even Princess has to wear a sweater; I have a special doggie heating pad so that her joints are not in pain.

The sun finally shone wetly through the fog, and as it lifted I was surprised to see a small flock of ducks had taken shelter under some of the bushes, on the mulch covering. I guess it was warm enough for them, poor things. I keep a small metal bin of duck feed in the garage and I put some out for them in a pan, Juanita has ‘clucked’ at me saying they make a mess on the wooden deck and that her son-in-law will have to come and wash it off, but even I have heard her muttering in Spanish “poor things”, I smile thinking about her soft side and yes her son-in-law will have to come and wash/scrub the area.

This last Sunday Juanita took a break from visiting her family and came by the house to take down all the indoor decorations while Manuel took down and stored the outside lights and put them away for another year, I don’t keep a live tree anymore, the artificial ones seem to work very well, then he and Juanita went to join the rest of her family for a special mass for Epiphany, I told her to have fun with her family she is to have a vacation through Jan 11. She didn’t have to but it is traditional in her family to be sure that all the Christmas decorations are removed by January 6 the Feast of the Epiphany, otherwise one would have bad luck for the year. I think it’s really to show that one is not lazy, but it was very sweet of her to help me.

For the last few days I’ve been starting to put together my paperwork for my Tax Preparer, now it’s just waiting for the paper work from the government agencies, my banks and my broker and put it all together in a packet.

Now as a reminder I want all of you to go to my blog posting for January 4 and 5, 2008, in these two blogs you will have information to help you put your paper work in order, especially if one of your resolutions is to be better organized.

I have another Magazine to recommend to all of you. It is again our old standby Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, the February 2009 issue. Again they focus on how to rebuild your retirement portfolio, plus stocks that pay 5% or more.

I was happy to see that one of the stocks that I have an investment in, Briggs & Stratton (their symbol is BGG) was mentioned, granted it’s dividend share isn’t big, but what I did over a number of years is simply let the dividends buy more shares, (of course there is taxes to consider) so that I do get a nice little income now (not much but nice enough to put into a rainy day fund).

Remember Darlings, I always believe in something that is going to remain for the long haul and has less chance of going under.

A number of you who’ve contacted me, via my comments section (and please forgive me if I’ve deleted your comments but they were long and saying pretty much the same thing) were asking ‘You seem like such a social butterfly, how you keep up with all of this?’ or words to that effect.

Well Darlings it’s this---the key word is discipline, I have a schedule that I do adhere to, but I do vary it depending upon my health, weather conditions, commitments, appointments, etc.

Let us consider the week as going from Monday to Sunday, although calendars show the week as starting on Sunday and ending on Saturday, but think of it as I suggested.

Monday is for me is the start of my business week and I use it to find out how the stock market and other financial institutions are starting out, so that is a “work day for me”, while I watch what the market is doing I’m also reading all the news in regards to events both nation-wide and overseas, because I believe in the domino effect, what happens in one place will affect things and the economy in another. Having an idea of history is important.

This is also the time when I will flag stocks or bonds that show some promise of being a good investment, I don’t invest every week, most of the time I just monitor the progress of stocks holdings.

Tuesdays is when I make or return phone calls, I’m always careful in calling my friends in finance I know that they have busy work schedules, if they are unable to speak with me, I’ll make an appointment for when I can call them. This would also include my broker, now I know many of you invest on line and that is fine, I’ve done this for so many years that I prefer the personal touch.

Tuesdays is also a good day to call credit card companies, business companies, etc. if you have a dispute over your billing or to make doctor or dental appointments, beauty shop appointments etc. I try to have the calls completed in the morning; the only time I’ll make an exception is when I’m having my car maintance done.

I continue to read the news or watch CNN especially with on going situations.

Wednesdays is when I make financial decisions if I might buy either more shares in a stock, continue to watch it, invest in a stock that looks promising, or flag those that look like they may be in trouble. I also use Wednesdays to balance my banking accounts and for bill paying as well as certain days that I have flagged when I know certain amounts are going to be deducted to pay bills, this way I can keep tabs on my income and outgo.

I do not necessarily buy stocks on that day and not every week, it could be months before I make a purchase.

This is also the day my house keeper clips coupons and we do grocery shopping when I get home.

Thursdays I meet with my “Business Ladies Who Lunch” I find that this is a good time for me to hear what is happening in their business world and if they have heard of anything that is shifting, these are savvy ladies and if anything feels “off” with them they are usually right.

Fridays are when I look in to see how the markets have faired and how the flagged stocks are performing. I make notes and check on my notes from Monday and Wednesday.

I try to make Fridays my final decision days as well, if I’m going to buy or sell, but most of the choices I make is for the “long haul” that is what I prefer in my stocks. An excellent source is Value Line Investment Survey, some people prefer the print edition and some the on line source. I like the print because sometimes things will jump quickly out at me, but, and I know it seems redundant, I also subscribe to the on line version only because sometimes my print copy doesn’t come in a timely manner in the mail. I also do not keep a print copy beyond 6 months (it does add up since its weekly) but what I do is tear out those stocks that I’ve flagged for future reference and put them in a folder for safe keeping.

Saturdays, the only thing I do is check the news and see how things have closed I use the rest of the day to pick up and drop off any Dry Cleaning, run errands, and anything else.

Sundays is when I catch up on my reading both news and magazine articles I also use Sundays I try to go to Church at least twice a month and sometimes more, I find that getting up early even on Sundays keeps me on my toes and to not get lazy, then on the early part of the afternoon is use that for planning my week and looking over my “Day runner” for appointments and create my “tickle file” after that on the later Sunday afternoon’s I go to the Library and quickly read a weeks worth of Christian Science Monitors newspapers, drop off any magazines I’m done with in the exchange bin, look for at least one good book to read to off set my business reading and select several music CD’s for the week.

Now it is not all business for me, I try to end my day after the close of the New York Stock Exchange which is 3 hours a head of us since I’m on the west coast, but I do check in on the performance of a few of my overseas stocks.

Once the market has closed then I use the rest of the day for any appointments, or do some shopping, I make every effort to go to the gym 3 to 4 times a week, not necessarily the same day, and before I go to the gym I give my little Darling Diva Princess her little walk. It’s just several blocks to the beach and then along the beach trail and back, it’s a good time for me to think and muse on things, of course when crossing the streets one has to be careful and Princess cannot be hurried in leaving her “messages” and her “Mommy” does have to clean up after her.

Because it gets dark so early we go about an hour before Sunset, during the Summer of course we go later,

Weekends are for fun, sometimes I have things planned and sometimes I have nothing planned, when I have quiet evenings I use it to catch up on correspondence, writing for my Blog, calling friends or family, catch up on my reading.

When I come across an article that has promising information I first flag it and then when I’m done with the magazine I remove the article and put it into recycling, or if I have not removed anything out of the magazine I take it to the Library and put it into their magazine exchange bin.

And I have to admit it is a lot of reading, I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, our local paper, the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Business Times (includes the Bay Area) and most of the magazines that I have mentioned. My library is my home office and I have a fast DSL line although I’m thinking of upgrading.

I do go into the city Mondays through Thursdays, and on occasion on Fridays, I rent a very small office space from my late husbands old firm where I keep much of my file information and I have a computer on line with a T2 line that is part of the office building, I am able to access the use of that for my use, now I had to get a business license, but I am in business for myself, I do not take clients, but because I am in business for myself I can take tax deductions. It’s complicated but it works well for me.

Years ago when I was learning about investing from my father and mother (yes she was a very sharp lady) and going to college to learn business, I started this routine and kept it up when I got married, I was fortunate in that I had a staff to help with the upkeep of the house, and although I’ve down sized my home (which was a good thing for me) Juanita although an employee for me, is also my helpmate, she keeps a keen eye on the house and makes sure things are run well, she also comes to me if there is a situation, I really view her as a partner, that is why is was so important for me to increase her income and improve her medical and dental insurance. I also established a retirement fund for her when she feels she is unable to work for me anymore.

I’ve also guided her daughter and son-in-law in solid investments to help them gain a better income. One of Juanita’s grand daughters is going to college and also has a keen sense of investment banking, she is a very sharp young lady and has started making modest investments with money she got from working part time and of all things, collecting cans and bottles, the income she’s getting from her investments is paying for most of her college, which has taken a burden off of her parents.

Juanita’s other grandchildren and children are doing well following her daughters’ Constance’s lead.

Now I know a number of you are wondering how can I possibly be able to do all this reading, it’s simple, I can scan an article in a magazine to see if it’s worth reading in depth, with newspapers, I skip the fluff articles, although Juanita loves the gardening and cooking section, and go directly to the financial section and then I scan local, national and international news as it would relate to affecting the economy, I save the comics, theatre and movie reviews for when I take a brief break. After all, the mind does have to play. In the evenings if I’m not going out, and television is a bore I will read for a bit from a novel and then meditate to relax my mind before going to bed

By meeting my “Business Ladies Who Lunch” on Thursdays, it also gives me a break from routine and keeps my mind relaxed and active as well.

I also offer suggestions to my friends if they are in a “puzzlement’ over something; not too long ago my dear friend “Mean Kitty” and I were having coffee and she told me that she was thinking of closing her savings account at a particular bank, I asked her why and she said that because she could not maintain $300 in her account for a full 30 or 31 days that $5 dollars is taken out as a fee. I suggested to her to ask her bank officer why that was happening, but do it in the bank, I told her that I have several standard savings accounts with attached checking and what I do is have once a month a certain amount automatically transferred from my checking to my savings and there is no fee and you can have the savings account go as low as you want, I told her to find out if that is possible and find out what is the minimum she can transfer without having to have fee charged.

That worked for her. She now has $10.00 a month transferred she doesn’t feel it, and it will build up in her account and as her finances increase she can have more money transferred if she wishes.

I try to post my blog when I can, and I write my blog when I can between everything else. Some postings may take a little longer, and of course I do take vacations when I feel that things will hold just fine. And since my investments have been for the long haul with solid companies I’ve very seldom have had to do any sell off.

Now that so called banker Madloff who got arrested, well years ago he approached my (now deceased)husband and me at a function and we did get together for lunch with him when we were in his area, and although he spoke of glowing reports on things, there was something about how he was describing things that made me want to hold back.

When my husband and I had a chance to get away from Madloff’s influence, we looked over what he had presented to us, and we both agreed that there was something a little “off” we couldn’t put our finger on it, but it didn’t have that solid feeling like Apple Corporation did when we first invested in Apple. We wisely decided to not invest with him; my husband felt it was some sort of pyramid scheme, which could collapse. Although it did appear to be solid, there was something just “off” with it. Now people have lost their retirement funds and Madloff is in jail. If it sounds too good to be true it usually is some sort of trap.

But that is my routine, I do have a beauty routine, an exercise routine, but I won’t bore you with those.

Now a quick investment suggestion, go to Value Line on line they have a 6 tips for investing or selecting stocks, an educational section, Do read that Darlings, also I'm going to look further into Logtectic, they supply add on's to computers, they've just been listed on Value Line For January 9, 2009 and they seem to be a good investment, I'm always cautious on computer stocks, so I don't have many (here today, gone tomorrow) but they seem to be a good solid company, so it's something I may take a few shares out on, and see how they do for the year, don't go overboard, always be cautious and always diversify your portfolio.

Just remember my Dear Divas and Diva’s in Training, you are in business, you are your own CEO’s of your life and your life is your business, Remember That.

Until Anon Darlings, Kisses.

Happy New Years Darlings!!! 2009

2009-01-01T11:33:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years to all my Darling Divas and Divas in Training,

Isn’t it good to get rid of 2008?

Well really Darlings, one should really take the experiences of 2008 and use them as a learning lesson. It is really Reality knocking on one’s door.

Take all those financial fiascos’s and see what you could do to prevent it from happening to you. All those Home Loans that were nothing but disasters, the housing market bubble popping, all those companies whose worth was nothing more than paper.

This is where learning finance and investing can really be the best thing that a Diva can have in her financial arsenal.

Now I was fortunate, my Father always said that you can’t go wrong in investing in durable goods, even if they are slow growth, my U.S. Steel Stocks always a steady but unremarkable performer has held solid for me. Of course that is just one example, but remember when one invests in something, there is always a “domino effect”, what affects one will always affect another.

So here is a quick recommendation, look at the 2008 back issues of these magazines, Money, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and the Kiplinger Report, Fortune, Forbes, Barron’s and others, and see what they recommended and compare it to what recommendations performed well, that will give you an idea of where to invest.

Right now there are things that can be picked up for a low cost. Hetty Green, the “Witch of Wall Street” always said “Buy cheap, sell dear” meaning buy low, sell high. I’d say the same thing too, but I also say that it’s important to look at the steady income stocks as well, see how their performance was during the crisis.

Now Darlings I’m still putting together my “report” on my “Business Ladies Who Lunch” Pot Luck and there is a lot to assimilate. But I will have it up in the next few days.

Now for my personal update:

As you all know, if you have been following my blog, my plans were to go to my brothers house in San Francisco for the Christmas holidays and I did, it was so good to see everyone, my nieces and nephews and their children, my other brother Roger and his wife. We also received phone calls from other far flung members of the family.

It was a wonderful time, very much like last year only more people. Roger and Diana are going to be staying in a hotel for a week or two (now that is expensive but they’ve been planning it) and are looking at Pied a Terre’s to buy, they are looking at 1000 Van Ness, it’s right on the Geary line and it has parking. He told me that just a few years ago the small condos were going for a million dollars each now he can pick and choose for a song.

There are others but the fact that it’s close to a major bus line is the attractiveness to them, they just want something that’s “basic”.

We all went to Midnight Mass and of course it was only standing room, now in a time of crisis people are coming together even more so.

And Lois, Diana and I had such a delicious time at that wonderful Spa that Lois calls her own.

Princess and Smokey got along very well, Princess even bossed Smokey who is a much bigger dog but he took it all in stride, it was so precious to see the two of them sleeping together, my little Diva Darling all curled up next to Smokey’s ample body. And Smokey is doing so well, Lois said the poor dear adjusted very well to being with them.
The elderly man who was Smokey’s pervious owner has seen him several times now but they got word that he’s beginning to have kidney problems and has been to dialysis, so they were going to go up before New Years to have him see Smokey again, they do not hold out much hope that he will see spring.

Tom, with Smokey’s owners’ wishes, has made all the funeral arrangements, and has made sure that his estate will cover the medical costs. The land that the man owned will go to the estate and be used to pay for all the medical expenses, but Tom has pre-paid all the funeral costs. He said it’s the least he can do, Smokey has been such a treasure and so devoted especially to Lois.

Lois showed me the preliminary drawings for their “cabin” that is going to be built on their property, she was able to get copies of the plans for the cabin that was at Incline Village and from there, she and her architect have been able to come up with a design that will incorporate the Ponderosa plus their needs.

She told me that she was able to locate a company that re-builds old fashion cooking stoves, so she is looking at one that is a combination of gas burners and oven with wood burning features so that if their gas/propane gets low she can still cook on the wood burning part and she also wanted it to have a hot water reservoir even though they will be installing a hot water system that will be hot water on demand, much like mine only larger for when the family visits.

And she was able to find refrigerators and freezers that look like pantries to install in the kitchen, and a place that makes the old fashioned stone sinks.

They figure it will take two to three years to build it properly; they don’t want to rush it, and their have to look at everything first to make sure about codes.

But Lois is so excited about this “adventure”.
We had fun at the Christmas sales, although exhausting, again I found some wonderful bargains, and I especially hit the perfume counters. Juanita asked me if I could purchase a perfume or cologne set of J’Adore for her daughter Constance, which I did find.

But all the Prêt porter clothing was just so unremarkable, except for some selections by Ralph Lauren, that was very interesting and I can see that they will remain in style for some time. But Lois and I had to laugh at the silliness of most of the shoe styles, the heels were so high who could or would walk in them. I have beautiful shoes and stylish too but I make sure that they are comfortable.

But again all too soon it ended and I and my Diva Darling came home. Which was good really, I had time to catch up on my mail, had the maid service come in for a good “fluff and dust” Then once again I and Kevin whisked ourselves off to the Hornet last night for the New Year’s Party, so lovely and so romantic.

But this morning I surprisingly got up early, showered and dressed and made coffee, Kevin is getting dressed now as I type, we are going out for breakfast, do a little “cheap” shopping--- It’s at Target and Rasputins, then a light lunch and we will go and pick up my Diva Darling at Betty’s house, but I will be staying at Betty’s and Bill’s house for dinner and they will bring Princess and I home, Kevin unfortunately must catch an evening flight to (and here I am jealous) Hawaii. Because Obama may make his White house home away from the White House in Hawaii, there appears to be some investments that may develop out there and Kevin wants to investigate it.

Then on Monday, back into the real life, I’ll be meeting Wallace for Lunch next Monday in the City, we’ll be talking about the financial course that I must plan on for durability. Then putting together my records for my tax preparer, Tax time my Dear Diva’s waits for no one, and it pays to get the jump on things quickly, why should the Government make anymore interest on your money.

Oh and here is a suggestion, but you really should talk it over with your professional Tax preparer or CPA and I’m not talking about H and R Block either. One item that was suggested by one of my Business ladies is to look at how much is being taken out of your income for income tax, put in a form with your job so that most of that comes to you, but DO NOT SPEND IT, put that money that would go to your Federal and State income tax into your own savings account or something that will give you a good return and you get the interest not the Federal or State governments, then just pay them what would have been taken out for your income tax, why should they make interest on your money.

But if you are not prepared to do that, then file early and get your refund early so it can make interest for you.

Now I must go Darlings, Kevin is waiting and looking so handsome in a Daniel Craig sort of way, well he does have at least a “4 pack”.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings.

Merry Christmas Darlings

2008-12-21T09:44:00.000-08:00

I know I haven’t “blogged” in the last few weeks, but Moi developed a cold, and so did my dear Juanita, so here we were both of us coughing and sneezing, and just so sick.

Thank God Constance, Juanita’s daughter came to our rescue, with nourishing soups and teas, and getting us our medicines, she also wanted to clean the house, but I told her “no’, she had enough just making sure we were getting well. Well, both Juanita and I had to relent and allow her to change and wash the sheets.

Darlings’, getting sick is ‘no fun’, even though we did get our flu shots it does not prevent coming down with the common cold. Because of that I missed out on some of my usual Christmas events, but at a ‘certain age’ one’s health comes first.

***Sigh***

As my friend “Mean Kitty” would say “Its God’s and your body’s way of saying ‘time to slow down and rest’”, and she’s right. So I skipped going to the Art Deco Societies Deco the Halls event, the Ballet and seeing the Nutcracker, skipped seeing “A Christmas Carol”, seeing the decorations and Christmas Tea at Dunsmuir House and going to the Christmas Revels.

But the day after Thanksgiving, Lois, Tom, the family and I did go the Dickens Christmas Fair and we had a wonderful time, so much to see and do. I really can’t begin to start. But it did get us into the mood. And over the remaining weekend, I set up the Christmas tree and decorated it with Juanita’s help, and Manuel her son-in-law put up the Christmas lights, and then--- “Achoo!”

There was nothing either of us could do but stay in bed and get well. Fortunately Lois bought the Christmas gift certificates for me and I reimbursed her. She told me I had to get better for Christmas, especially for the after Christmas sales.

Ahhh the Christmas sales, I can’t miss that!

All day Friday Juanita and I have been wrapping the Christmas Presents to her Grandchildren that she had managed to buy before she came down ill. Her family has decided that although the adults can do without, the grandchildren can’t and so once again we were covered with tissue and wrapping paper, sticky tape, bows and curling ribbon and constantly looking for the scissors, with Princess attacking every stray piece of wrapping paper that floated down to her and growling at the unknown intruder.

So Darlings, even though I have been laid low by this “bug” I haven’t been lazy, resting yes, lazy no. And now that I have emerged from my “cave” I’ve been able to look over things and this is my recommendations to all you dear Diva’s.

Recommended Diva Reading for 2009~~~~~~~~

The January issue of Money Magazine and the December 22, 2008 issue of Fortune Magazines, their recommendations are well worth reading about and investing in.

The articles in Money Magazine especially on how the secrets of America’s top advisers and is well worth reading and implementing especially if you are young, get into the financial habits that they recommend starting On New Years Day 2009.

Surprisingly the articles in the January 2009 issue of Family Circle are also worth reading to organize your life and lower your carbon footprint, so I recommend that as well. But also read the AARP Bulletin, especially if seniors have been treated in a shabby manner by companies or find themselves in an upsetting financial situation, it can help you decide if the company is the one you want to invest in and secondly to be on the watch for any scams or underhanded dealings.

The January 2009 of Reader’s Digest is running a short article about 9 new scams to avoid and Oprah Winfry’s “O” magazine for January 2009 has an excellent article by Suze Orman on “10 ways to protect your money now”. Photocopy those articles from the magazines that your public library will have and put it on your work bulletin board in your home office.

On the entertainment front-----

With January just around the corner I always recommend that the time between Christmas and New Years, be a combination of taking in the sales and getting started on getting ones’ life in order, personally for me Christmas isn’t over until January 6, the traditional date for the Feast of the Epiphany.

What many people do not realize is that the real 12 days of Christmas is from Christmas to Epiphany when traditionally the 3 wise men presented their gifts to the baby in recognition of his special place in our lives.

And on “Little Christmas”, as some people call it, that is time to start taking down the Christmas decorations, you can even has a little after Christmas party, with everyone bringing something to eat, and have it as a joint effort.

As for me, well Darlings, I’m going to have a little party today, Sunday, with my “Business Ladies Who Lunch”, again Pot Luck. We will be discussing what has been working well for us in the “saving mode” and other plans to save even further.

I will be sending Juanita off to join her family for the Holidays and I told her to not come back until the evening of January 11. I had a Maid Cleaning service in to clean the house before this weekend’s party and I’ll have them in again after New Years that way Juanita won’t have to worry about having to face a major house cleaning or tiring herself out and getting ill again. When I had the Cleaning Service in earlier this week I chased Juanita off so she could find some more Christmas presents for the Grandchildren.

Any if any of you wonder why I’ve hired a maid service, please look at my Dec 2007 blogs and you’ll understand why.

As for Christmas, once again I’ll be going to Tom and Lois’s home for a delicious few days of family fun and wicked indulgences, (again back to the Gym for me later) Lois and I will be going back to that wonderful Spa that she discovered last year, and of course the Christmas sales!

It will be good to hear Tom’s plans for his country place that was destroyed by fire earlier this year and I’ll see how my Darling little Princess gets along with their dog Smokey. Roger and his wife will be up for a few days, they are thinking of getting a Pied a Terre here in San Francisco, I was wondering why but Roger told me in an earlier phone conversation, that some of his business investments have expanded to the East Bay and it gives his wife a chance to shop in the City.

And now with the terrible winter chill, I always look forward to a nice hot toddy and if the “Air Police” will permit it, burning a nice warm fire in the fireplace, I have found out that although there are a number of pre-packaged fireplace logs, Duraflame is the only one that is without any petroleum products in it so it can “burn green” and it’s much better than wood.

But it has been so cold even Princess is wearing a warm sweater tucking her tiny little paws to stay warm, poor Darling, I bought at Walgreen’s a couple of those inexpensive fleecy throw blankets, one for me, one for Juanita and one for little Princess to lie upon while she waits in her chair for me to finish writing.

Ahhhh Juanita is playing some Christmas CD’s big band music of the old favorites, she does know my moods. And Kevin is on the phone calling from Hawaii, so Darlings I must go, so much to do before my ladies get here.

I hope to “Blog” again soon before Christmas, but if not----Then Merry Christmas to all of you and Best Wishes for a Better, Richer Diva New Year.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings.

Gold Standard, economic studies

2008-11-23T10:15:00.000-08:00

Hello Darlings,

First I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Quantum of Solace, it’s different in its own way, and obviously they are re-inventing the Bond Universe, but for just plain fun, and lots of popcorn (back to the gym for me) I do recommend it.

Afterwards, Kenneth updated me on what is going on in his life, it seems that with working with a certain company he is being forced to have to travel more to make sure that all parts of it are running in the same direction and it does look like they may have to do cut backs, Kenneth is recommending to hold off on the cut backs until after the Holidays, and see what they can gain through attrition (retirement) which can mean less layoffs than expected and he’s looking at last hired first to let go, unless it’s a specialization. He has a lot of headaches on this, but his feeling is that we won’t see the beginning of a turn around until this time next year. He’s planning to ride this out, make sure that as much as possible is in place with his company and then look at retirement, his finances are in good shape, but he’s thinking of freelancing, there seems to be a demand for that and he says he doesn’t have to remain in one place for a long time.

I’m inclined to agree with him. The news in Barron’s is mixed, the stock market doesn’t know where to go, and I do hope that Mr. Obama will put serious regulations on profit taking.

I am so glad that my head has finally stopped whirling around and around from all the election “hype”, now a President elect is in place. I sincerely hope he does the right thing, especially with the economy.

There is an opinion article in the (Nov. 17, 2008) Christian Science Monitor; the author postulates that it would be good for our economy for the United States to go back to the Gold Standard.

Personally Dahlings I feel that in the long term it would be a very wise move, one needs to look at the various economies of different nations over the last 100 years and see that when they went off the Gold Standard, it was rampant recession and inflation, with goods not being priced at their true value, if we were on the gold standard we would have a true value of what our goods are worth.

But there are some caveats to all of this:

There are over 100 countries that mine gold and sell it on the market.

The five biggest producers are
China
South Africa
United States
Australia
Russia

As you can see only the United States and Australia are the least volatile in gold production or mining.

China out stripped South Africa because labor is cheap there, for they, like some other countries hold life as being cheap.

Here in the United States the primary gold producing countries are Nevada, Alaska, Colorado and California. And we are the second largest holder of gold in the world, yes Dahlings, there is gold in Fort Knox. Approximately about $134 Billion dollars worth as of the gold value in April 2008.

But here is the crux of the problem how does one mine the gold without it becoming an eco-environmental danger. Open pit mine is safest to the laborers but is an environmental disaster. Closed mining is far more dangerous. One can only find so much in placer mining.

And the cost of mining, so what is the best way to get that gold out of the ground? Considering all the up to date mining techniques I think I’d leave that to those qualified.

But I know some of you are asking is the Gold Standard really the way to go?

Lawrence White wrote a paper on that and even answered any objections in his paper that was published in the CATO newsletter of which I will print the summary here and if you go to the CATO website you will be able to read his paper in full.

His paper was presented on Feb. 8, 2008

SUMMARY~~~~~

Is the Gold Standard Still the Gold Standard among Monetary Systems? By Lawrence H. White

Lawrence H. White is the F. A. Hayek Professor of Economic History at the University of Missouri St. Louis and an adjunct scholar of the Cato Institute. He is the author of Competition and Currency, Free Banking in Britain, and The Theory of Monetary Institutions.

No. 100

Critics have raised a number of theoretical and historical objections to the gold standard. Some have called the gold standard a crazy idea.

The gold standard is not a flawless monetary system.

Neither is the fiat money alternative.

In light of historical evidence about the comparative magnitude of these flaws, however, the gold standard is a policy option that deserves serious consideration.

In a study covering many decades in a large sample of countries, Federal Reserve Bank economists found that money growth and inflation are higher under fiat standards than under gold and silver standards.

Nor is the gold standard a source of harmful deflation.

Alan Greenspan has testified before Congress that a central bank, properly functioning will endeavor to, in many cases, replicate what a gold standard would itself generate.

This study addresses the leading criticisms of the gold standard, relating to the costs of gold, the costs of transition, the dangers of speculation, and the need for a lender of last resort.

One criticism is found to have some merit. The United States would not enjoy the benefits of being on an international gold standard if it were the first and only country whose currency was linked to gold.

A gold standard does not guarantee perfect steadiness in the growth of the money supply, but historical comparison shows that it has provided more moderate and steadier money growth in practice than the present-day alternative, politically empowering a central banking committee to determine growth in the stock of fiat money. From the perspective of limiting money growth appropriately, the gold standard is far from a crazy idea.

So Dahlings, what does this all lead to? Simple, if the new president-elect is wise, he should push for the Gold Standard with all nations, and that they should switch to this standard on the same day so that no one country is left dangling as the first.

Of course those countries with a greater gold production will have a certain amount of financial power, and that should be regulated as well.

People are taught to save, if they are wise, and savings is important but the money that you are saving is fiat money, only alleging being back by the governments guarantee that it will buy you a certain amount, but if you look at the value of the dollar against the Euro it has devalued and buys less. Why is that?

Because people speculate; with the gold standard it will reduce that speculation and you will have a guarantee that your dollar is a dollar. Fiat money is only credit dollars and can be rendered worthless if safe guards are not in place.

But do save, to do those emergency repairs that come up, it’s not a bad thing, but remember prices, because of this inflation will go up, so be prepared for that.

And study economic principals to aid you in your Diva life style.

Now this Diva having gone to the gym yesterday and did her aerobic walking this morning, is going to freshen up and meet her friend Irma for a bit of lunch in the City and a bit of shopping, my brother Tom has said that it’s best if we exchange gift certificates for the Grandchildren (my great nieces and nephews) and they can select what they want, an excellent idea and fortunately their parents told me what is their children’s favorite stores.

Must go, my Diva Darlings.

Until Annon, Kisses Darlings.

Changes and Holidays

2008-11-21T18:40:00.000-08:00

Hello Darlings,

Well the weather has finally turned chilly, and now they have put on these “Spare the Air Days” for fireplaces. Frankly Darlings there are factories that put out more pollutants than fire places do, and I burn Duraflame logs, which are made from sawdust and tends to put out less pollutants than a standard fire wood burner.

But one Must follow the rules, frankly I think the use of Duraflame logs is far more greener than burning perfectly good wood that could be used to make furniture or for flooring or cabinets. But I do have a stand-by when it’s the Spare the air day, I purchased from Victoria Trading company these resin fire proof logs that have inserts for tea lights, and it’s very cheerful as well.

Now my Diva darlings, if you would like to have a fireplace you can purchase those false front ones and burn candles in it, being careful of course, and it’s so romantic.

My dear friend, Mean Kitty, has a fireplace at her home but she said that the previous occupants painted the inside of it so she cannot use it as a fireplace. Eventually when she has the funds she can have it redone, but for now she too uses the tea lights and she says that even they make things feel warm.

So candles darlings (burning safely) when you want cheering up and it seems to take the gloom off of things.

And I can’t believe it! Koit radio is already playing Christmas music, as my friend Mean Kitty says “Now wait a minute, Santa hasn’t even shown up at the Macy’s parade!”

Well I have been a bit busy, I’ve put my spring and summer wardrobe into storage and have finally brought out the winter clothes and today was just the day for it. Picked up at the Dry Cleaners my wool coats, and picked up from the furrier my mink for those really chilly days. I know Darlings they say it’s not right to wear fur, but frankly that faux fur is very tacky looking, and I never get fur from endangered animals plus my mink is 8 years old. I do have some vintage fox furs but I only wear those to one of those art deco bashes during the winter, it is one way of reusing things.

And I’ve been making holiday plans again, Tom and Lois have invited me to their house for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, and Lois and I will do our spa treat again. Roger and his wife and his oldest son Richard and his wife and their dog, will be coming up for Thanksgiving as well, they’ll be staying at a bed and breakfast that is near Tom’s home.

Richard talked to me over the phone “Everything is gone Auntie, just everything but it’s only objects, we have the photos that’s irreplaceable, but I’m not sure we’ll rebuild there”

He told me that he got an offer with a company in Colorado, so he’s going to have his lawyer handle a lot of the legal work and Melanie his wife will see to things here and then join him. I asked him when does his job start “Dec 8, so I’ll have a chance to take my time getting there and avoid the holiday rush but we’ll miss having Christmas with the folks. It’s going to be hard, but Melanie has some aunts and uncles and cousins that live near by out there so we’ll see how things turn out”

Change, so much change is happening. I’m beginning to feel a little down, but change has to happen. And that is another thing that Diva’s must be aware of Change is constant and flowing and a Diva must flow with it, but always never let your high standards down.

Someone is at the door~~~~

Well Darlings, this Diva must tootle, my dear Friend Kenneth has just shown up to surprise me, and he’s been out of town for months! And we are going to see “Quantum of Solace” catch the 7:40 showing, and afterwards an aperitif at someplace lovely, it will be so much fun catching up on things.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings

Gaming Parties, and family events

2008-11-16T19:32:00.000-08:00

Hello Darlings,

I know it’s been a while since my last post but so much has been happening in my life and in other people’s lives as well.

As you know the economy has gone into the “tank” as some people would call it, but I’ve been able to survive well enough that with only a little cutting things will not be so bad.

I was worried because I had promised Juanita a raise and we were looking into a better health plan for her. Fortunately that turned out well and I was able to give her the raise, and we got her on a much better health plan and includes dental as well.

My lawyer was able to help out on that.

Then my oldest nephew Hank, was in the hospital, it seems he got a nasty bit from a spider or something, and his thumb turned almost black, his wife was not able to get in touch with Tom, his father so she called me and I said “take him into emergency Now!!” and I joined her at the hospital, Juanita offered to watch the children to take the worry off of Janet.

It was a horrible infection, they had to cut part of the tissue out, he was in the hospital for a week on antibiotics and watching for any necropsy, if it had gotten worse they would have had to amputate his left hand.

Tom and his wife were up in Canada visiting friends and I managed to get in touch and let him know that things were going fine for Hank and he was on the mend.

Then this last weekend the fire in Santa Barbara, that was so frightening, I managed to get a hold of Roger and his wife, they said they were out of the fire zone and the fire was moving away from them, but his youngest son and his wife lost their house, they grabbed the dog, the photo albums, the laptop, and the important papers and got out ahead of the flames, so now they are staying with Roger in the guest house until they can decide what to do next. Roger said that his wife took their daughter in law shopping for some clothes and also purchased some clothes for his son as well, so they’ll have something to wear when they finally go back to work.

Roger said that he loves Santa Barbara but he’s going to reconsider where to move to make sure he’s out of any future fire path. I think he’s going to move more into town or closer to the beach. And to think Fire has struck my family twice this year, sometimes I wonder if God is trying to tell us something, perhaps to not be so prideful.

A very big sigh----My friends and I are thinking of more inexpensive ways to entertain ourselves, oh there are fun things, but now a days with prices going up, we were not sure what to do, the theatre, the movies, gas, food, just dining out there is much less disposable income.

Many of my friends are thinking of going to more community theatre events, and only going to very special big ticket items like “the Phantom of the Opera”. But I simply refuse to give up seeing the San Francisco Ballet’s “Nutcracker” it’s tradition for me.

But less opera, less symphony, less ballet, less dinning out, more museums and little theatre, movie rentals and at home gatherings, lately my friends and I have started having “game parties” that is where you have several tables with different board games of no less than 4 players, and it can be 3 or 4 different board games. Monopoly is one, Scrabble is another, Yatzee, and there are even different types of Monopoly games, like San Francisopoly. Everyone brings a different hoer’s deuve and makes sure that nothing is repeated food wise as well as a beverage; the Host provides tea and coffee and desert, and those that have them bring a folding table and chairs, with the food on the dinning room table.

There are different card games as well, so it pays to have a number of decks, I’ve found some beautiful ones at the White Elephant sale and a current book of Hoyle’s rules.
I’ve even indulged in children’s card games, and a puzzle table, you never can tell what is in the offering.

And it seems that these “Gaming Parties” are going very well. My brother’s are doing it and so are their friends, it’s relatively cheap, and not a burden on any one person, sometimes for small gatherings like 4 to 6 people a puzzle table is the best because it can promote conversation and people can dress casually.

So what is the lesson for all you young Diva’s out there? You can plan a party where loud music is not essential nor getting “bombed” on drink or drugs should be considered the norm, this is a good way for people to get to know each other, really get to know each other. It will help you also to weed out those that do not have class nor do not have any self control, it will help you choose those friends that are really friends in every sense of the word.

Well Darlings, I’m going to relax with a cup of tea and a movie, I’m not sure what I will watch, Hmmm I think a Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes film would be good, it’s that kind of evening. Juanita will be back from her family by 11 p.m. she’s been telling them about the idea of “Gaming Parties” as well, she told me on the phone that they’ve done several and the family really likes the idea.

To Inari, Thank you, I appreciate the feedback.

So now to relax, and forget worries.

Until Anon Darlings, Kisses.

Budgeting--don't do what the state of California did

2008-09-20T16:57:00.000-07:00

Well Darlings,

It’s been a while, but I was having such a lovely time at my Brother Richard’s home in Santa Barbara.

But return home to the Bay Area I had to, my house sitter, a lovely person said that she could only commit herself until the 21st of this month and then had to go to her parents to watch their home while they went to visit other relatives.

So now I’m back in my own home, watching the ducks and other water fowl in the lagoon out my window. Princess, my little Diva darling goes out to the deck to warn them away but they don’t seem to mind a bit.

Juanita will be here later this evening, I told her to take her time as there was no urgency, my house sitter has done a wonderful job watching things, and my lawyer has been taking care of the bills, so no problems at all. Not that I want any.

And I have not been ignorant of the news either. This ridiculous hold out on the state budget by our own legislators is criminal and negligent of their commitment to the people of California and now after almost 3 months they finally come to an agreement. It is criminal.

The Governor’s attitude thinking that reducing the wages of state employees would bring the legislators to heel is foolish and harmful. If he wants to punish people and bring the legislators to finalizing the budget he should put the pinch on their wages not on the state employees.

My dear Friend “Mean Kitty” reminded me of an action that was taken by the people in the 1500’s when the college of Cardinals were taking their sweet time, over a year, choosing a Pope, what they did was lock them into the main meeting hall, without food or water, or heat (since it was winter) and told the Cardinals they could not come out until a Pope was chosen, they did it within 24 hours.

Perhaps that is what the people of California should do to the legislators, there is no possible way that the budget can be perfectly balanced or reconciled, if they over budget but use less money, that is excellent, but if they under budget and use more money, then they will know where to do Healthy cut backs, perhaps starting with the legislators own wages.

You do not put staff wage earners, seniors, people on disability, schools, educational support systems like Libraries, safety systems, and such at jeopardy that is irresponsible on the part of the State Legislators and the Governor. The only one who had any sense was the State Comptroller; you do not put hundreds and hundreds of staff people into bankruptcy and have them lose their homes and their lives.

All Diva’s should take a lesson from this fiasco and learn that budgeting is the most important thing a Diva can do. I believe it was Ben Franklin who once said, spend 19.90 from a working wage of $20 is happiness, spend $20.10 from a working wage of $20 is misery. That is how you budget.

There are many articles appearing in women’s home and money magazines that talk about budgeting and organizing. It appears to be the primary subject in people’s lives, the overspending 80’s and 90’s are gone now, the ‘chickens have come home to roost and peck you to death with debt’.

Now dear Diva’s if you are in financial debt, now is the time to get help from a financial planner, based according to your indebtedness, your income, and your needs, a good financial planner can tell you what is necessary and what isn’t. You may even have to get a second job to pay your bills.

If you own a home, one of the best things you can do is get an equity line of credit and use that to pay off all credit card bills, the equity line of credit is used against your home and is tax deductible, and if the interest rates are good will be lower than the credit cards, then cut up and cancel the credit cards that have the highest interests. It is important to have a credit card for emergencies, but shop around for one that has the lowest possible interest and if you have to use it, pay off as much as possible on it and pay it ON TIME.

Save up at least $3,000 for an emergency rainy day fund and if you use it replenish it immediately.

Do not be taken in by those offers that have 0 or very low Arps that are only temporary that can harm your credit. Work towards improving your credit rating, the higher your rating the better chance of obtaining that equity line.

It is a wise Diva who budgets and saves and can get the best for bargain rates. Do not be over spending and be wiser than our state legislators.

And now my Dear Diva’s, Moi is going out to have nice little dinner at a charming and inexpensive place, and I can sneak my little Diva darling in her little carry all. Later we will take a nice walk along the beach, Fall is here, I can feel it, that little tip towards winter, I think I'm going to have to stock up on firewood and candels to ward off the coming winter gloom.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings.

Blogging From Santa Barbara

2008-08-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hello Darlings,

I’m blogging from Santa Barbara, it took me a bit longer to get here than expected, just so much to do. I’ve been busy taking care of business at home, such a bore but it needs to be done.

Juanita returned for a few days, but I sent her back to her family so she has more family visiting time and a wedding to go to, so she is going to be busy for the next few weeks as well. My house sitter is back on duty, so I tied up a few things and then I was off with my darling Princess in my car, Ms. Wicked.

Some people have asked me if I am afraid to travel by myself, taking into account the dangers of a woman traveling alone. Well they are right about that, but there are some things one can do.

I’m going to post here some suggestions for you, there is much, much more that you can research but this should give you a good idea.

1. Never travel in clothes that scream “tourist” that is only for when you are at your resort. Travel in clothing that matches in colors, and choose neutral colors like black, grey and khaki, it’s easy to mix and match things that way and you carry less shoes to match you can always accesorise with a colorful scarf.

2. Remain low-key a much as possible do not wear expensive jewelry while traveling and that includes watches, purses etc. I have a watch and a purse that I bought at what my dear friend Mean Kitty calls “Wally World” (Wal-mart), I chose them to not be flashy and that is important. Some pieces of costume jewelry are fine as long as it’s not flashy.

3. Pack as much of your luggage into the trunk of your car as possible, anything that you put into the back seat, cover with a dark blanket so it will blend in. Get good but non-descript luggage if at all possible. (I’m afraid I sort of over indulged when I purchased my new, well now nearly new, Samsonite Retro collection---just love it) Just make sure that your luggage will hold up to heavy use. When you are traveling on a Airplane, train or Greyhound bus you can use something to make your luggage stand out, like a colorful ribbon or identification tag.

4. Pay attention to your surroundings and the people in it. Try to spot possible trouble makers. When walking to your car or to your room, always turn around to see who is behind you, have your cell phone ready to take a picture just in case.

5. Have 911 on your speed dial on your cell phone. Carry Pepper spray and don’t be afraid to use it. (Not good to take on an air plane because of cabin pressure)

6. Park your car as close as possible to the restaurant doors or Hotel that you are staying at and in a lighted area.

7. Never get a room that is too close to the emergency stairs or elevator, it’s too easy for a trouble maker to invade and escape. But make a note of where the emergency stairs are.

8 Never carry your purse just over your shoulder; always carry it so it is mounted across your body, that way the thief would have to pull it over your head, instead of snatching it off of your shoulder.

9. Never carry identifiable things or credit cards in your purse, there are little travel pouches that you can pin to the underside of your clothing or the inside of the pockets of your jacket.

Only have a little cash, some aspirin, and a lipstick, a cheap purse can always be replaced.

One time I was stopped for going over the speed limit (Yes, bad Moi) and the officer needed to see my driver’s license and I told him I had to un-pin it, He was surprised that I had it pinned to my bra strap, but he understood.

10. Never flash a large amount of money or large bills, if need be use your debt or credit card, never carry a check book while traveling, but get American express travelers checks they can always be replaced.

11. Always carry in your car a first aid kit as well as a disposable camera and car insurance information in case you are in an accident. Call the police and get an incident report if need be and contact your insurance agent right away.

12. Designate one credit card and one debt card for traveling only (you can have a separate checking account for that purpose). Put your travel money that you have saved onto the debt card, and never use that credit card for anything else except hotels, food, and gas. On the credit card make sure you have a high credit line, incase there is an accident and you have to pay for repairs while traveling. But when you get home pay that credit card off.

The extra debt card is only to hold your traveling expenses money. I know some people who sell things on line like e-bay and they have a pay-pal card, the money they make on-line is used for their travel expenses and they use the pay-pal card for traveling.

Keep the phone number of the debt and credit card company in your hidden travel pouch in case the cards are stolen or to find out what your balance is. Report stolen cards immediately.

13. If you are traveling for business, whether your company or your own, always keep an expense list and mileage list for tax purposes.

14. If you are a woman alone and a charming young man tries to make your acquaintance to the point of romancing you, be very aware that he maybe charging all those meals, drinks, and services to your room. Check with the front desk and insist that all charges must be approved by you in writing or else in person; no one else is to sign for it. Also beware of handsome young charming men who try to romance you, they are not in love with your but only after your money, your body or a way of becoming an American citizen---there are too many scam and con artists. Remember all those news stories of young girls disappearing, never to be found.

15. When staying at a Hotel always make a note of where the fire escapes are so in case of an emergency you can find it quickly even in poor visibility. Always have your most important things on your night stand when you go to bed, in case of an emergency you can sweep it into your tote bag that should be next to your bed, and always have good solid flats next to your bed in an emergency. Slippers do not hold up well.

16. If the Hotel has a safe and you want to make sure you don’t have important things stolen make use of it.

17. Always use the hotel locks, if they don’t have those special locks, you can buy them at a travel store, or put a chair angled in front of the door and under the door knob.

18. Always find out about the roming limitations on your cell phones, there are parts of the United States that may not have your cell phone service, select a cell phone service that is nation wide and have full roming service. Be aware that there maybe dead zones.

19. Have a good reliable Road Side Service that is nation wide, AAA is almost everywhere, keep the 1-800 number for Road Side service in your purse or glove compartment along with your insurance. Also have the phone numbers for Car Rental agencies such as Hertz, Avis and Enterprise.

Remember a person may come along and offer help if you break down, but always be careful, use your cell phone to let a relative know if you've had a break down tell them when and where and what your situation is, update them frequently. So even if a good Samaritin comes along do call Road side service, never leave your car unless you are with the Highway patrol.

Now these suggestions are fine if you are traveling within the United States. There is more if you are traveling overseas, but unless you are doing it for business then always travel with a tour group, in that situation Never, Ever travel alone.

There are many more suggestions on how to travel safely, like always carry a bottle of water in your car; you can become dehydrated easily, especially in hot weather.

There are new laws now when driving your vechile such as you must use a hands free device if you are going to use your cell phone, I have blue tooth myself. Do not wear an IPOD to listen to music you cut yourself off from hearing the outside sounds and that could put you at risk. NEVER, EVER Text Message anyone while driving, just one second your eyes are off the road and you could be killed.

Do not drive when tired, if you fall asleep at the wheel, it will be permanet.

Stay at Reputable hotels or motels that have AAA approval, of course some of them may not be the Hyatt or Regency and the pillows maybe flat, but they have been inspected.

I have stayed in some of the "funkiest" motels while traveling, but I've always judged by the manger and if I found them to be agreeable then their rooms while aging have been agreeable.

But always inspect the sheets, even 5 star hotels have been found to be infested with bed bugs, and it's not so much the hotels cleanliness but the previous travelers filtiness.

How to travel with your pet, how to pack for a trip, etc. All these suggestions can be found on line by just googoling it all in, or by going to Wiki-How and typing into the search engine “how to pack for a trip” “How to be safe on a trip”, etc. print the information out and create a binder to refer too and also include a master copy of a check list that you can print out and use over and over again for each trip.

I travel with one tote bag that is my medicine chest, you can get sick while traveling and it can be hard to get to a drug store, although many of the better hotels have a small concierge service they may not have what you need.

If you travel frequently then you will eventually use some of the things in your medicine tote, but in January of each year check the expiration dates of some of those items use them before they expire if you need to at home and keep a list in the medicine tote of what you should have in there.

Never wear on a vacation what you would never wear at home; always make sure your clothing is comfortable. I have no idea why some women wear muumuus and silly straw hats, and the men in Hawaiian shirts, shorts to the knees and sandals with socks, it’s just so tacky.

Mean Kitty use to tell me that when traveling up North towards the “Trees of Mystery” you always knew who had been up there, they would have this wired on bumper card that said “Trees of Mystery” it labeled them as vacationers, she said she doesn’t see it so much anymore, the bumper stickers usually say “Beat Bush” or “My cat is smarter than your honor roll student”, but bumper stickers like that label you as a tourist and as a target, besides Darlings, bumper stickers are so tacky.

Souvenirs—your pictures are your souvenirs and postcards work well because they can always be put into the photo album, just be sure to label your photos. Those tacky trinkets just take up so much space. Keep a journal as well and add the journal pages into your photo album.

Oh darlings there is just so much more, just check on line or read the Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel Magazine. Wiki-how will tell you what to pack and everything else.

Another thing that I’ve known for a long time, when people reserve their hotel reservations through either Expedia or Travelocity or other online discount reservation services via the internet, it is the policy of a hotel if it’s over booked to look at the internet reservations and “bump” them because many times those people cancel and the hotel is never informed, also the hotel makes the least profit off of internet reservations.

If you want to guarantee a hotel room, call the hotel directly yourself. You do not have to accept what is called the “rack rate” you can inquire about discounts and many times they have them plus special packages, especially now with the gasoline prices and the economy being what it is and you will always get better service because you do not use the internet reservations. When you call you always get a confirmation number. That means the room is guaranteed, of course you must notify the hotel if you have to cancel and if it’s at the last minute you will be charged for at least one night. BUT Dahlings you will get good service.

Now there are many hotels that will accept pets, call to inquire, there will be a non-refundable fee for this but it’s worth it and always ‘crate train’ your pet, and inquire on the hotel policy for pets. Traveling with pets is not easy, and requires very careful planning. Never travel with your pet on an airplane, they put them in the luggage compartments, and many times the luggage compartments are not pressurized, killing your pet, or they will lose your pet at the baggage handling, this has happened more frequently than you can imagine.

I prefer to travel with Princess in my Car, no matter what, and be sure to carry copies of all your pets’ shots.

Princess is ‘crate trained’ but because she is so tiny (only 4 pounds) I’ve managed to sneak her into places in her little carry all, as long as she has water and can relieve herself and has her favorite chew toy she is fine.

Zoos will not accept your pets, not even seeing-eye dogs, an animal quarantine thing.

Well Darlings that is all I can think of about traveling as a woman alone.
But I have to admit for the last few weeks I’ve been having fun, I had chance to go to a Fall/Winter fashion trunk show for all the top line designers, I must say I think I’m going to be looking forward to the fall/winter fashions that will be coming out.

Before I left Kevin treated me to dancing to the Glenn Miller Band on the U.S.S. Hornet, we had the admiral seating, so had a great view of the Band and the Andrew Sisters Tribute, very good food, so much fun to see everyone in costume or dressed up, I had to be careful with my ankle but Kevin and I danced to the slow tunes.

I came across my friend Mean Kitty and her wonderful man, she couldn’t dance poor dear, a very nasty injury to her knee, she is not sure if she will ever be able to dance again, but one can hope, but she was enjoying everything food, music and people. I, of course was dressed in my glamorous best ala la Marlene, and we had our photos taken. The men in uniforms, the women looking beautiful, it was a delightful evening that ended all too soon.

So now today I’m at my other brother’s home in Santa Barbara, Ms. Wicked is always ready to roll, and so is Princesses she knows when I pack her things it’s going to be something special. Of late the open road has been frequently beckoning me, and I get a restless feeling that I can hardly wait to see what is around the next bend or over the hill.

I e-mailed my friend Mean Kitty and she said that I should tour Highway 49 and stop and stay at some of those quaint bed and breakfast places in those old time gold mining towns she said I should select some harvest festivals and see what looks interesting. I think she has a point.

My brother Tom has called me and he is going to purchase a small, gently used trailer to put on his home site in the next few weeks, that way he and Lois and Smokey have a place to stay while they make plans to build their new cabin ala “Ponderosa” Lois has made contact with some people who knew the set layout as well as the layout of the actual physical Ponderosa up at Lake Tahoe, she said she is going to have to do some back extensions for the Bedrooms that will be up stairs because if one looks at the pictures there is no real upstairs there, because of the window factors. So this will prove to be interesting. But Lois is going to have fun and that is what is important.

Must go Darlings, there is a wine tasting and art exhibit fund raiser that my brother and his wife are invited to this afternoon and I’m included as their guest, who knows I may come across something I’ll simply adore.

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings.

A Fire Vacation~~~~

2008-07-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well Darlings,

My brother had decided that it would be best to cut short our vacation at his cabin.

And what an adventure it had been.

For a while we were not worried about fires because most of them were far from us, but a new fire started a bit nearer to us and at first it seemed that things might be fine, but my brother has a bit of a sixth sense and decided to call his other son, Ronnie to rent a large U-Haul truck and get some of his friends up to the cabin quickly; we were going to pack as much out of the cabin as possible.

Lois and I didn’t argue with my brother’s decision, so we started boxing all the small things first while we waited for the truck to get here. My brother checked on his neighbors and they too were considering packing some of their things just in case.

It was a few hours but Ronnie and two of his friends got here, so we started with the boxes first into the overhang, we had already put the important papers into Tom’s car. The boys made quick work of everything thanks to the fact that Tom, Lois and I had already dismantled the beds and took down all the curtains and unplugged and boxed up everything. Amazing what one can do in a hurry.

Tom made reservations at a motel that was safely away from the area, so all of us could stay there overnight to rest before we came home. The last thing that was packed besides my little Princess was Lois’ western town painting, while Tom took pictures of the cabin and property “For the Insurance” he said. Lois put the painting into their car. “I’m not taking my eye off of that painting” and she was right, she even took it into the Motel Room instead of leaving it in the car. It turns out that her $25.00 painting is worth several hundred dollars, it had been painted by a minor western artist in the 1940’s.

So now Princess and I are home, my house sitter is still here and I told her to stay a while as I was planning to go someplace else, it’s just making up my mind what to do next. I called Juanita at her daughter’s house and updated her. She wanted to come back home right away but I told her to stay and have fun with her family as I was going to plan another trip and I would update her on that.

The air has been so poor here from the fires that I need to find a place where it’s as clear as possible and since I was here, I needed to refresh my wardrobe and take care of any bills, while I was gone I had my house sitter delivered any bills to my lawyer so he could take care of them for me, I’m not ready to do bill paying on line yet.

My house sitter has done an excellent job of taking care of the house, neat, clean and the plants are doing well thanks to the drip irrigation. So I think taking another few weeks off would be good but I just need to think of where to go, considering all the smoke haze we’ve been having.

I’ve called my friends and let them know I am back for a little while, Keith came by the other evening to take me out to dinner, he had some suggestions and then dear Kenneth is coming by today to treat me to lunch, so we shall see.

I just feel so bad about my sister-in-law and brother, Lois took one last look at the cabin and then straightening her shoulders she said to me “If it burns it can be re-built, we are in a more fortunate position then some of our neighbors, but we’ve had it for 20 years.” I said to her “Lois you were always saying that except for the fire place there were a lot of things you wanted to change, if it burns think of it as serious home remodeling” and she laughed “That’s right, I really want to do it in all old fashioned knotty pine and river rock, maybe like the Ponderosa” referring to the homestead in the T.V. program “Bonanza”.

We shall see; I just hope everyone else comes out of this disaster well. We had heard on the news the night at the motel that one person had died in the Butte Fire, and we kept looking at each other then we hugged, realizing we are blessed.

I’ve not seen anything like this in 40 years or since the Oakland Fire Storm. We can just hope for the best for everyone, for many they are losing the only home they’ve known. But I’ve realized and this is a lesson for all you Diva’s, material things can be replaced, but family and good friends cannot.

If anything save your pets, your family photos and important papers, all else just have good insurance because it’s transitory.

And I’ve found out just how transitory I just received a telephone call a few days ago from Lois, she and my brother had got their things all packed away in a large storage unit but had decided to go back up to check on the status of their cabin.

She told me they had not been permitted to go to the area, so they went to a shelter for up dates, and she told me a very sad story, which has a happy ending.

They had tried to get to their cabin but had been turned back by the fire department, as they were driving down they noticed a dog slowly limping along the road, he looked like an Australian Cattle Dog and was in pitiful condition.

Lois and Tom managed to persuade the dog to allow them to pick it up and gave it some water, poor thing was thirsty. They had no idea where the poor thing came from; Tom knew none of his near neighbors had a dog of this type, so they took the poor thing to a Veterinarian.

Tom gave all the particulars and said to charge the bill to him, and if possible see if anyone had reported a lost dog answering that description.

Lois told me that the poor thing’s fur was singed, and he was soot covered, and its paw had been burned, the Vet said that it was also hungry and dehydrated, but should be fine. The strange thing is Lois was calling the dog “Smokey”.

She and Tom stayed in a Motel near their cabin area and keep checking on things.

During that time Moi had been in touch with her brother Roger in Santa Barbara and said that the air quality was good and to come down and spend a few weeks with them; Tom’s other son Richard and his wife and children had changed their plans because of the fires and will be visiting Roger instead in August, so it’s good to know they are safe.

So for now I’ll be staying at home for a few weeks and then off to Santa Barbara, my house sitter can accommodate the arrangements so she is going to visit relatives and then come back to house sit. Juanita will be with me for a few weeks make sure to her satisfaction that everything is just right.

I’d been in touch with my friend “Mean Kitty” and she told me and I quote “I think your brother and his wife are going to have themselves a dog, when you start giving some critter a name it starts becoming a part of you” and I think she’s right.

I’ve asked her if she and her husband wanted to join me at my brothers but she had to say no, “Work has got me tied up here and I’ve got some plans to do a yard sale or two, so I’m going to have to beg off.”

She showed me some of the vintage stuff she was planning to sell and I offered to buy this Victorian plant stand, I think Tom and Lois will like it for the cabin or new cabin which ever happens, it needs some restoration, but I think Lois will like the challenge.

“Mean Kitty” has been telling me how much the terrible economy has affected her and her husband, but she thinks some things may improve, “I have a plan and I just need to keep to my goals” she says. She is trying to stay positive about it “My house is in no way in danger ‘cause I’ve got a fix loan, through a good bank, so just have to stay with the budget.” I’m glad for her.

In the mean time I treated her to our favorite restaurant, after all one has to have a bit of fun in all this doom and gloom

I’ve been in touch with my brother Roger and he told me he has been looking around at things in his home, knowing about all the fires that have happened in his area and he has come to a conclusion. All the things that have extreme monetary value he is going to have auctioned off and simply put the money into some good long term investments.

He’s renting several safe deposit boxes to hold the originals plus negatives of family photos, what he has put up are copies.

I asked him about what he would do with his bare walls after he’s sold his art work and he told me that there are some painting galleries for people that just want a pretty picture on the wall that are inexpensive, so he’s going to do that.

Most of the antique furniture he’s going to sell, and just put in reproductions that are far more comfortable.

It’s this ‘Wildfire’s/Firestorm” attitude or feeling, just getting down to basics. And I can understand that. My brother said that since he has a guest house in the back I could always move in there if I wanted to. I thought that was very dear of him to suggest that, but I said that right now I just simply could not leave my current home, but to not be surprised if one day I show up with a U-haul and all my Samsonite retro collection luggage.

Now just an hour ago I got word from Tom and Lois, their cabin had burned down, the shed that held the ski’s and bikes was spared and most of their neighbors came through it fine, with only a couple of exceptions. Tom said that it looked like the fire just rolled through the trees but left the upper half of the trees alone; he said he’ll know better how much he may have to clean up after the first rains.

Lois said she gets to do her house remodeling, and about “Smokey” the dog they rescued a few days ago? Well they found Smokey’s owner, a very elderly man who had been pulled from his home by his neighbors, but they couldn’t find the dog at that time, the old gentleman thought that Smokey was dead. Lois told me the tears that were in that man’s eyes to know that Smokey was just fine and healing made her cry.

Lois said that they are now Smokey’s new owners, it seems that his former owner’s heart is in a bad way and he has to go to a care facility, he had a minor stroke and now he has no home to go to since it burned, but the old gentleman said that as long as he knew Smokey was fine and with good people he could go to the “old people’s home” with a clear heart and soul.

And, here is the surprise, Smokey is his real name, Lois said she had no idea that was the dog’s real name but it felt right and he responded to it.

So all’s well that end’s well---well as well that can be expected.

Tom is going to see what he can do to help his neighbors that lost their homes, put them in contact with some agencies that can help them. And Tom and Lois are going to see that Smokey’s former owner gets to see Smokey from time to time and make sure that the old man is doing o.k. it turns out that he has no family, so Tom is going to make sure a trust is in place for the old man’s care, the doctors’ said he really doesn’t have much time left and seems contented to go, so Tom has been talking with him about final arrangements.

It really doesn’t surprise me that Tom and Lois are doing this, they always wanted to do more for our father and mother, but sometimes things simply got bollixed up and it was left to Roger, not that Roger ever resented that, he’d always simply shrugged his shoulders and said “Man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.” And Tom and I always supported Roger’s decisions.

So in about a week or so I’ll be heading off to Santa Barbara, I do hope things will be better, but just knowing that some things have turned out well is enough for me.

Until Anon Darlings, Kisses.

At my brother's cabin and a future investment idea~~~

2008-06-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

Hello Darlings,

I am 'blogging' from my brother's cabin up here in the wilds (sorry Darlings for the sake of my brother's privacy I can't tell you exactly where).

My brother always needs to be in touch with his business even when he's on vacation, although he knows the business runs almost on it's own, he's set it up so well.

We're right on the lake, and there is a stream that runs near the cabin that you can hear it, but this drought is very bad, the lake is so low that my brother had to run his boat out onto a floating raft and we can walk through the low water to it. Where the raft is the edge of the lake drops down deeply, but still one can see the effects of the drought

Lois my sister in law, has planted native plants that deal with this type of weather very well.

They've done a marvelous job of re-decorating the cabin with their finds from the White Elephant sale. The lovely cowboy painting over the fireplace gives it a perfect finishing touch.

It's so relaxing up here, even Princess is enjoying it although it is warm, I had her fur trimmed down just enough so she's not too wrapped up in her fur, and I've put down wet towels for her and she is in the shade, with lots of water. And a fan for her. I stay in the shade as well, I'm so fair skinned, that I would burn before any tan.

Juanita is on vacation as well visiting family all over, I have a bonded house sitter staying at the house while we are gone. Although Juanita has told the house sitter that she will be coming back from time to time to check on things. That's why I love her.

Although I love to go into the city to keep up with my investments, there is something just so decadent being up here. It gives my mind a chance to relax and percolate as well with ideas.

My "Business Ladies Who Lunch" e-mail me with ideas although they are also planning vacations as well.

I know, who can plan a vacation when gasoline is so high---well for one thing---let someone else do the driving. One lady I know has had for over 18 months reservations to stay at the Ahwanee Hotel in Yosemite, so she and her husband have taken the train and the bus shuttle to the lodge, they rent bicycles there or take the tram to the various spots. Now they were planning to drive to Yosemite originally, but when gas hit $4.00 a gallon they starting thinking, so a friend drove them to the station and they were off. When they get back they will call a taxi.

In the long run it will cheaper.

That's is one way----you, my Dear Diva's will have to put on the thinking caps---because there are other ways as well.

I have to admit I drove to my brother's but then I wanted my car to be available to go anywhere at anytime. But it is no trouble to ride a bicycle around here to go to the store or anything. My brother made sure that the bikes were heavy duty and have baskets to carry groceries, including insulated bags for ice cream---I'm going to pay for this at the gym, but maybe not, it's usually Lois and I cycling to the store together so maybe with that exercise I won't need to.

Today is the First Day of Summer---and we are seeing a number of people on the Lake, my brother always worries that someone will have an accident. That is why he has a red, yellow orange bouyes around the raft and boat, and a blinking beacon on at night. "People don't use proper caution or their eyes" he says.

My nieces and nephews have been here and gone on their trip.

But they will return in August.

My brother has been directing some cleaning team to make sure that all the dead fall and dried shrubs have been removed to avoid any fire hazards. A friend of his, who lives up here year round who is a member of the fire dept. showed my brother what he needs to do. Fortunately a lot of work was done last year, a ceramic roof, vents screened, pine needles swept away, some natural firebreaks created and a water pump system to wet the area should the unthinkable happen, now it's just maintaining it.

Lois said that should a fire start and we have to leave the one thing she's going to grab from the house is the painting. Everything else is replaceable she says but that painting is one of a kind.

As a matter of fact my brother and sister in law are planning to retire up here in a few years.

Lois told me that they will just sell off everything at their San Francisco home, all they need is their family pictures "Everything" she said " was bought both to use, admire and as an investment, we can sell it all, and give to the children anything they want. We accumulate so much, that as one gets older one has to see what is really important in life"

What she told me has given me an idea for a future blog which I'll address at another time.

But right now Darlings there is something I want to pass on to all of you.

My brother has been following this story, and even I had noticed it back in 2007.

There is a venture company called LS9 in the Silicon Valley area---just Google in LS9 and you'll find the stories---it seems that they are developing nano-bacteria that will turn garbage into oil, or as my brother calls it "they poop oil". The only draw back is to develop a refinery to create enough oil to meet the U.S.'s current needs would require an area the size of Chicago. However, there is no need to use trucks to transport this oil---it can travel through the current pipelines that we now have.

My brother is watching this development very carefully, right now LS9 is privately owned but with the right breakthroughs, it could become the future "Apple Corp" to invest in.

I have to agree, anything that is reasonable that can produce oil at $50 a barrel and is less hazardous is worth investing in especially if it can take our garbage and "Poop oil" and get us away from foreign oil. As 'Mean Kitty' told me when I told this to her---"anything to stick a stick in the Foreigner's eyes".

So Darlings, watch for the future investing in energy, there are companies out there, check the latest Forbes and Fortune magazines for suggestions. But energy development is going to be a new wave of investing.

And that is one to put your thinking caps on my Dears.

For now this Diva is going to enjoy a nice ice cold Lemonade drink and relax.

Until Annon Darlings, Kisses.

More Budget Ideas....

2008-06-07T22:16:00.000-07:00

Hello again Darlings,

I am happy to say that I am making excellent although slow progress, last Sunday I was able to take my little Darling Diva Princess for a walk, granted it was only two blocks, but it was a start.

I am hoping that the weather will warm up mildly; I’ve had just enough of the chill and the wind for one winter.

The other evening I had a wonderful telephone conversation with my Brother Tom, he has invited me and Princess to join him and his wife up to his cabin in the mountains for a few weeks, the grand children will be up as soon as school lets out, they spend a few weeks up there, then off to see a fantastic place like Zion National Park, or historic places, then they come back and spend August with the grand parents. But part of their arrangement as encouraged by their parents is to write a two page essay about each of the places they saw and how it historically created our society. I was very surprised to hear what their parents are doing but they told me it was to help expand their education and awareness---of course they will go to Disneyland, that is their treat for keeping their grades up, poor grades no Disneyland. I think it’s a fair deal.

But even I have found it to be so restful out under the stars, which is why my niece and nephew love to go camping with their children and have them see historic places as well. Good education they say, and I have to agree.

But interesting enough my brother and his wife are going up and staying there for a while because of some legal business, not that he is having trouble but he’s decided to make sure the Homestead on his property is up to date and he is having the land re surveyed to make sure the property lines are still correct.

Then he informed me that he was going in to buy the timber, mineral and water rights as well as any other rights to his land where the family cabin is located plus making sure that the right of way is correct. He told me that the rights were still available, but many people do not realize that when they buy property they forget all these other property rights and the homestead option to protect their holdings.

Especially if you are buying land in the country, by having the homestead and all these rights, no one can get the land out from under you, if nothing else they will be forced by law to pay fair market value, and they will have to pay you for the rights or to lease the rights from you. I don’t know all the ins and outs of this but to you my Dear Diva’s and Diva’s in training one other person to add to your people to assist you is a real estate lawyer or property lawyer.

Never assume that your property is going to be safe, not with the government trying to condemn the land right out from under you and then giving them over to private developers.

Always Darlings protect what is yours, never surrender it without a good fight and then make sure they pay dearly for it.

Hetty Greene, whom some people referred to as “the witch of Wall Street” was a very sharp investor, her policy was buy cheap and sell dear, invest in something that there will be a demand for. The thing of it is, what is it that they will want, that is the trick.

Personally I’ve been looking at food products and products that people will always need, a child will always love to eat Mac and Cheese, so who makes a good product that sells well? Then find out who owns it, and then find out who is the ‘parent company’, that would be the best one to invest in for the long term. Other products as well such as toilet paper, Supermarkets, commodities. But go in for the long run, the sustainable run, not a quick profit.

Gold besides being used for jewelry is used in electronics, dentistry, and other applications, that will always go up. But I also invest in Silver as well.

And how are all you Diva Darlings doing?

I hope you are all doing well. Especially with all the sticker shock that is going around.

My “Business Ladies Who Lunch” and I had a gathering this last week and had been talking about the economy.

We do agree that part of the problem is the cap on oil production with demand increasing especially in China and India. As well as the useless and dangerous concept of using Corn for a Bio-Diesel fuel.

As one of my Ladies said “We can’t all convert to Bio-diesel or buy a Hybrid or Electric Car. Our current budgets simply don’t allow such purchases and there are places we want to go where such resources of that type of fuel, or plug in’s are not available. So we are stuck with gasoline/oil.”

Another said that the use of Corn, a staple of most food products, is financially dangerous, “We should look into other products such as sugar cane, or a form of sedge grass that seems to work well, even soy---something that grows fast, is quickly renewable and is not the foundation of the food economy, even reusing cooking oil from our homes or restaurants, didn’t they do something like that during World War II (yes they did as an oil/glycerin substitute). Looking into what Brazil is doing is important.”

I have to agree but for many people who have cars that run on gasoline, if they do not have a vehicle that runs on diesel such a conversion is not possible, the only thing is to hope for that more people will buy diesel engines, run on bio-diesel and in turn lower the cost of gasoline because the demand will be less.

And currently the investment return on Hybrids would be a long time in coming.

Another of my ladies said that Bamboo is an excellent wood crop for floors, plywood, furniture, and even paper products, etc., it’s fast growing, strong, and quickly renewable

“Cissy” mentioned that she re-discovered her LP collection when she was given as a gift a combination record-player with Radio, CD player and Tape player recorder. She loves it because it looks so old-fashioned.

She began to look over her unused Long Play 33 1/3 speed vinyl records, especially the classics, so carefully cleaning her records she began to play them and tape some of her favorites so she could play them over and over again without wearing out the records, and she tapes some of her favorite songs off the radio. Granted she has to put up with a brief bit of commercials but it’s worth it and again a saving instead of buying the entire CD she gets the music she wants---“later on” she said “I’ll buy the best of ‘so and so’ but I’ll save up my cans and plastic for that.”

Other suggestions were ~~~~

Plans your meals in advance, see what you already have in your pantry and then only shop with a grocery list; avoid impulse buying at the Supermarket or anywhere. Make a check list of your pantry so you’ll know what you have and what you’ve run out of, and only buy store brands if possible and be sure to use coupons.

If you simply have the urge to shop then go to Garage or Yard Sales, but also go with a list, only get what you need. Another suggested Holding a Yard sale at least twice a year, “cleans out the closet and you make money, then what is left over I list and donate and get a tax write off.”

The concept of cans and plastic for money was also brought up---Crush them (cans) so you can store more, but be sure to spray for ants and such, they get attracted to the sugar.
One of the ladies said that she was sure if she saved the money from turning in the cans and plastic she could save up for a nice vacation.

Another said that when she bicycles she carries several bags with her to collect the cans she finds (wear gloves as well). She also is fairly close to her grocery store, so she bicycles there, she found a place that sells second hand sports items and she found what she calls a tag-a-long, mostly people put their kids into them, but she found that it works well to carry her groceries, especially that she uses the recyclable cloth bags from the store. It works very well but put a flag on it so people in cars can see it since it rides low and follow all the vehicle laws, don’t just blast through a stop sign and stay to the far right of the road.

She saw someone who didn’t follow the rules, run a stop sign and got hit by a car, she told the police that the bicyclist was in the wrong, which ticked the bicyclist off, but as she said---he broke the law.

Several of the ladies said that the idea of Ipods and other portable electronic equipment are “…just useless” with the exception of the cell phone, “… there are times when you have to be in touch with the office and your clients…or if the car breaks down….emergencies…..if you can write if off as a business expense that would be good, check with your tax person…it’s stupid to use that at your main means of communication with friends to just ‘chat’ that’s what e-mail and land line phones are for…..I still need my lap top for my job but to write that off in taxes would be good.”….this was all the round-robin talk on electronics.

But one of the ladies mentioned a news article that appeared in the May 25, 2008 issue of the Los Angeles Times that said that the old services that most people had abandoned are coming back, railroads, Steel Companies, mining concerns, and agriculture, what is old is now new again.

All the tech. industry has offered things that occupy our minds and entertain us but it seems that in the long run people are now running back to that which you can hold, whether its cotton, cooking oil, or metals like copper or steel or fertilizer for food crops. In comparing U.S. Steel to Microsoft, Microsoft has flat-lined while Steel has shot up 1,000% in recent years.

Now I had told the ladies several years ago just after the dot coms had deflated that in time the old-fashioned tried and true will become the new wave of the future, I had been saying one needs to look to what is China demanding, what China demands is the wave of investments of the future.

I kept my U.S. Steel stock because it was given to me by my grandfather and I held it out of sentiment and just allowed it to grow and do what it does, granted it’s fortunes have been up and down and when it was down is when I bought more stock, and just let the funds come in.

Yes there are towns in the mid-west that are dying, but they can be re-vitalized with the new demands in solid tangibles, mad cow disease be damned. Although it could be at the expense of the coastal areas, unless one invests in shipping or Ports, the U.S. can increase its export potential.

The only problem is that job growth in these sectors is slow and in some areas jobs have been lost. The ladies believe that it’s because of improved ways of farming that use less labor.

But it’s much more---If any of you can, do read this article from the May 25, 2008 Los Angeles Times it is written by Peter G. Gosselin, and he’s right---one just needs to look at the raw materials demands of China, India and Brazil which the U.S. is rich in.

That may be the wave of the future and a possible bull market for 20 to 40 years, even if the U.S. dollar maybe slow to bounce back.

In the meantime, the ladies and I are still looking for ways to budget and cut back, another thought is overextended consumerism.

One of the ladies is going to try for a year to only buy food, medicine, hygiene products, just pay bills, insurances, purchase only what is needed for the upkeep of her car, and see about getting for free her magazines, books, DVD’s and CD’s at the Library and avoid buying clothes. Of course she does need to maintain her hair cut, and she will get her shoes re-heeled and such. But she’s going to try to put some of our suggestions into action and see what happens.

As a matter of fact all of us are going to try to do the same, it will be interesting to see how much we can save.

But in the meantime I’ll also be packing and selecting my clothes for my little vacation, it will be nice to be out under the stars and enjoying peace and quiet.

Until Annon Darlings, Kisses.

An Update

2008-05-24T09:34:00.000-07:00

Hello Darlings,

To all of you who personally know me, Thank you, Thank you for all the wonderful get well cards. I will have by now been in touch with most of you, don't worry I will catch up with everyone.

Just an update darlings who have been following me on my "Blog". I am getting better, I can get around now quite well, but I will need to use a cane from time to time and a light weight wheelchair if I have to stand or walk for more than a half an hour.

But I can move around my home again, drive my car again and generally take care of business again.

The Doctors have told me that I injured the tendons around my ankle a bit more than what was first realized, and as with anyone of a 'certain age' it will take me longer to heal, but heal I will.

I know can get around with out the use of my nurse, and I was very sorry to see her leave, but all is not lost. My dear friend Dolly is having her elderly mother live with her instead of those care homes, the dear lady is very alert and in her own way very active, but she does need assistance. So when I told Dolly about my nurse, Dolly immediately interviewed her and since her mother and her are fluent in Spanish and other languages, it worked out very well.

So arrangements were made that as soon as the doctor said that I no longer needed Isabella that she was available to go to Dolly's home. Dolly told me that with having Isabella to watch her mother and take her mother places, she has much less worries while she is at work.

Juanita does miss her, but since she knows where Isabella's new place is they will still be able to visit.

Oh but Darlings it is just so wonderful to finally be able to get out and do things again, even if at this time I'm still a bit limited but to be able to have my spa and beauty treatments again is just so wonderful.

Alright I'm vain, but it does feel so good.

Now to all you Darling Divas, it is good to budget especially during these bad financial times, but on my routine trips to the city (which I'm so glad to be able to do again) I've managed to 'chat up' several young ladies who are in the business world and we manage to get together for lunch once a week.

(side note to Lauren who I know checks this blog every day---don't sell those rings yet---I have a suggestion for you and I'll tell you about it when we meet for Lunch this coming Tuesday)

Any way Darlings, in talking to these bright young ladies, we've come up with suggestions to save some money here and there.

Now this is only a few ideas and there will be more added---

One young lady use to have a weekly mani-pedi but by only having it just once every 6 weeks, and bringing her polish choice from home, she can do touch ups at home and save over $200 every 6 weeks.

Another young lady use to drive her car to work every day, pay for monthly parking, and Fast Track as well as the cost of gasoline, now she leaves her car at home 4 days a week and takes public transportation, she has stopped the monthly parking, lowered her gasoline costs, and dropped fast track. Especially since she found out that the transbay buses have WiFi, so she is able to start on her work sooner.

And in just two months she has been able to save, in her words, "A Bundle". She only drives her car on Thursdays so she can do her grocery shopping straight from her job.

Another young lady brings her coffee and lunch from home instead of buying the 5 dollar coffee's at Starbucks and eating out. With the exception of our weekly lunches, and even she has noticed more money in her checking account.

They are are using coupons, watching sales on products they want, buying store brands, and using the public library to save money, they plan their shopping errands and keep a note book so they will know the times when some shops open and close when they plan their trips.

One of my young ladies has said that in stead of buying a gift she gives a gift card for a certain amount at a store that they know their family member or friend likes to go to. It saves money.

And this is only the start.

Now I do recommend my dear Divas to look for "Money" Magazine for June 2008, in it there is an article for creating a good investment portfolio for each stage of your life towards retirement.

Now there is one thing that all my young ladies have said, getting a spa treatment or a massage every two to 3 months as a treat is a must just to feel good.

But it seems that the adventure of Saving Money seems to be catching up with them, how creative can they be?

One young lady told me that because she has been working on saving money that she has reduced her attendance at some of the hot spots, and when she does go she has found that falling back on the most inexpensive drink (not beer) has been a savings for her as well as not having more than two during the whole of the evening, she told me that she has found it to be more of a 'prop' to have in front of her than as a drink. And she has found more fun and educational things to do that are free. For her she has put her savings into her investment portfolio.

So much to think about---Now to all you Darling Diva's and Diva's in Training---I put the challenge to you. What can you do to save money and still have fun? Time to put your "thinking caps" on.

Until Anon. Kisses Darlings.

Twisted ankles and frustration~~~

2008-04-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

Well Darlings,

I guess you've noticed that I had not posted for almost a month. ***sigh*** Sometimes life can be so frustrating.

Here I was, taking care of things, enjoying life, content that I've paid my income tax, took care of the property taxes, paid the house and car insurances--(I like to get all of that out of the way by April)---and then I think, I'm going to have a bit of fun.

It was not to be, a few weeks ago I was planning to post on my blog, but I decided to take Princess for her walk first, she loves to go to the beach, not that she gets dirty in the sand but there are so many nice people with their little dogs, and it's fun for her to exchange greetings.

I have fun too meeting on occasion a friend or acquittance that I've not seen for a while, I thank the Gods above that it was not raining and the weather was mild for March. Princess and I walked home and I was just even with my house, just 30 more steps and we would be home, when I tripped over an elevated portion of the side walk. I landed heavily, but I kept my hand on Princess leash.

I have to confess I was frightened, I found that I could not get up, my ankle was sending sharp pains, and I feared it was broken, all I could do was call out for help, but it was a late Sunday evening and most of my neighbors were out for the evening. Thank God Juanita was in her room, and her window was open to allow fresh air in and she heard me.

Running out to the front she found me helpless on my back with poor Princess just whining with fear, she helped me sit up as best as the pain would allow, then she used her cell phone to call 911. And the firemen and the paramedics showed up***sigh*** they are so handsome and as "mean Kitty would say" hunky.

Well the up-shot was my ankle was so swollen that they could not tell if it was broken or sprained, and they were concerned about any other fractures I might have received, so I got Juanita to get my purse and while the ambulance transported me to the ER, Juanita took care of Princess and called my brother Tom in San Francisco.

So spending 4 hours in the ER (and I'm not complaining--there were people coming in who had life threatening injuries, so they had a higher priority) They found that my blood pressure was severely elevated, my ankle was very badly sprained and I would need to be off of it for several weeks, seems some tendons were injured as well. But they kept me in the hospital for 3 days to make sure that my blood pressure would come down to normal. And the Television programing was such a bore, one can stand Jerry Springer and Maury Povich for just so long, my room mate an older woman just loves them, so I endured it, I felt she was much closer to meeting her end than I was so who was I to deny her what pleasures she got.

Fortunately Tom and Lois came by and we all had a chance to talk to the doctor who wanted me to have a practical nurse for a week or two to help me bathe, get to the bath room and monitor my blood pressure, which was good thing, I didn't want to put any strain on Juanita, but Juanita took a bit of a personal affront about all of this, but I talked to her privately and told her that she had enough to do without injuring her back helping me, I wanted her to stay healthy or we both would be bed-ridden, then who would take care of Princess?

With that she was satisfied, and then it turned out that the practical nurse that Tom had found was a friend of Juanita's daughter Constance, so with the two of them helping me I began to make my recovery, the hard part was driving, I couldn't drive with my ankle, so Isabella my nurse drove me to the Doctor's office in her car.

It was very nice, and as a treat for all of us, since Isabella was going to be staying with me for a while in the guest room, we all watched the Telenovella stations (I do speak and understand Spanish) and I didn't feel bored.

But sometimes my ankle would throb so badly that I couldn't think straight and I hated taking pain pill, but to sleep I had to. I put off any decision making, both financially and otherwise which was a good thing, by letting some of my investments ride, they came out better and stronger in a fluctuating market.

We finally reached a point where I could finally maneuver myself into the shower and with one of those shower stools I could bathe and wash my hair, what a blessing!!!

I now can get around the house with a cane for support, but to do any shopping or any walking my ankle was not well enough, I was given a temporary handicapped placard, and Juanita insisted that I use the electric carts that the grocery stores have. Wheeee it was fun and Princess could ride in my lap.

But my friends were concerned, there were several events that we had all planned to go to, so I rented a small lightweight wheelchair---not one of those big clumsy ones---it just folds up and fits into a trunk.

And it was wonderful to finally have my hair styled again.

In another month or so the doctor says I should be well enough to do away with the wheelchair and the cane, but I have to say that what concerned me was the feeling of helplessness, I began looking at my lovely house with a different eye, and as soon as I am able I'm going to install things to help me get around especially when I get older. I never thought of becoming old and frail, but this was a wake up call.

Diva's need to know that to everything there is a season, you can be glamours at any age, but you have to acknowledge that there will come the time when you have to look at the frailties of old age, and to consider being prepared for it.

If nothing else My Dear Diva's please learn from this personal lesson.

Have Been Busy---White Elephant Sales and all~~~

2008-03-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

Well Darlings,

You are just going to have to forgive me for not posting for so long, but I have been very busy.

First of course, were the taxes and fortunately they were exactly as I had expected. My tax preparer is always so happy that I keep excellent records; well it does help to work with him throughout the year, especially if one has any questions. When I was with my friend Michelle in Reno, I did have some substantial winnings, but they will be for the 2008 taxes.

Then the garden, while we had some good weather I had my gardener work on the garden to make sure that I would have blooming flowers all year round and right now the plum and cherry trees are in magnificent full bloom, but it does aggravate one’s allergies, but I’m a bit fortunate in that regard, just some sneezing and sniffles and it’s worth it to see all that beauty.

I hired Manuel, Juanita’s son-in-law to work on the platform dock that I have to make sure that it is solid and to upgrade it so that when the weather is fine one can have coffee or cocktails without it sinking into the water. He did a wonderful job, and I was surprised to discover that he is such a fine craftsman with wood furniture, an artist really; I’m going to recommend him to a number of my friends who are doing some remodeling in their homes.

And I’m still decorating my home, well Darlings it never stops. I had a spare bedroom that I had not furnished yet, I wanted to continue my art deco/art moderne theme, but it was finding the right bedroom set. Now my house has 3 bedrooms, mine, and one that I converted for Juanita’s use and one spare bedroom but it wasn’t ready when Michelle stayed a couple of nights earlier this year.

But finally I found it and could get a nice tax write-off, The Oakland Museum White Elephant Sale, my brother Tom and his wife, Lois and I never miss it and this year we were prepared as always, Tom’s two sons and their wives were also coming with us and we had their trucks with rented trailers attached for our haul.

I asked Juanita if she wanted to come with us and she did. It was there that I found it, the perfect bedroom set, it had that wonderful round vanity mirror with the vanity and matching chair, two night stands, a dresser, double bed and an armoire with a mounted mirror. And a bonus, I also found the perfect table that would go with my Bogart Lux Dinning chairs; I just could not believe my luck with all of that.

My brother found some furniture to go into his cabin to replace some odd pieces that were there and that would match the décor a bit better and Lois, the girls and I found some jewelry we couldn’t live without (I know it sounds so, well you know, but it was fun). I also found a statue in the art deco style, my sister-in-law Lois came across a painting of an old western town street scene and we agreed that it was perfect for the cabin, Tom and the boys fell in love with it.

Juanita was also very lucky, she found the perfect chaise lounge chair and reading lamp that she had been looking for her room, just right to rest in with one’s feet elevated to read or watch T.V. and also a good sturdy table for her T.V. and DVD player.

So with all the loading and unloading we were delightfully tired, but it didn’t end for Tom and his boys, they all were going up to the cabin at Donner Lake to take the furniture and to check on the Cabin for needed repairs. So after a late lunch off they went while Juanita and I dusted and polished our hard won prizes.

But poor little Princess was feeling a bit neglected so I moved her little bed into the spare bedroom while I polished and cleaned everything to my satisfaction and she had the fun of trying to curl up in my lap as I sat on the floor cleaning every single bit of carving on the furniture. She even fell asleep. Juanita came in and laughed at the fact that I dared not move with my little darling sleeping in my lap, but move I must much to the little darlings’ complaints.

Juanita was very proud of her finds and they fitted into her room just perfectly.

Just when we took a break to have a bit of coffee the door bell rang and it was my sweet darling Kenneth, asking if he could treat me to dinner and an auction preview and I said only if I could go casual.

Then I took a look at Kenneth’s shirt and it was the exact type that Charlie Sheen wears on “Two and a Half Men” (well I do like the humor in that show), so with my (dare I say it) jeans, flannel shirt, tennis shoes and my hair it a cherry print scarf, and his Dockers and Charlie Sheen bowling shirt if that is not casual, then we don’t know what is, so off we went. But I had to sneak Princess with me; she had been neglected enough for one day.

Juanita was fine as her daughter called and she and Manuel were coming to pick her up to go to a relatives house for dinner, so freshening up my face, bundling Princess in her carryall off we went and had fun at the auction preview and made plans to come back the next day for the auction itself.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend, Tom and his family arrived at their cabin just fine without any problems and would be staying there for the week I had asked my friend ‘Mean Kitty’ if she had wanted to go with us to the White Elephant Sale but she had to work that day and hoped she would be lucky on Sunday.

I got lucky at the Auction as well and was able to purchase some jewelry at below their value. And here is where there is another lesson for all you Darling Diva’s.

Jewelry is also a good investment, no matter what, the value of gold and silver is always going up, so are gems, there is only a finite amount to go around, the only one that can be manufactured is pearls and to a certain extent coral, but if the seas or waters are not the right temperature then even pearls will not be available.

There are two prices to look at in terms of jewelry, their cash value (that is the amount of gold or other precious metals or gems) and their design value (that is the design if it is unique and by a well know company or designer) the second can be more valuable than the first.

I have a friend of mine and she will buy what she calls “casual jewelry” at Mervyns or T.J. Max, and sometimes at Macy’s on sale---what she does is takes photo’s of the pieces, puts them in a catalogue binder, tapes the purchase price and what was the original price next to each picture of each piece, this way when she plans to sell them she’ll know what to ask for it. And she has always made a profit.

But this is also true with your good pieces as well, always keep the receipt for the purchase price on file, and then after 5 years get an updated appraisal on it as well.

And all you Diva’s out there who get engaged, remember this---there are several rules about the engagement ring, one of which is traditional, if you break off the engagement you are suppose to give the engagement ring back, if he breaks off the engagement you can keep the ring because it is also a gift or promise to be married.

The only time I would absolutely give the ring back even if it is he who breaks the engagement off, is if the ring is a family heirloom from his family, even if you are the one who breaks the engagement off and the ring is a family heirloom return it, since it would not have any sentimental value to you, by giving the ring back (since it’s an heirloom) you would be looked upon as being an honorable person. If you keep it then be prepared to be sued in court for the ring or its value. A true Diva does not wish to have the head ache of going to court. But always find out first if the ring is an heirloom or if he bought it.

Now there is a gray area here, if he bought the ring and you break off the engagement, then you should give the ring back, but sometimes the ring is kept by the ex-future bride, in that case one of two things will happen either the ex-groom will demand the ring back and even go to court (so be prepared to be sued) or he will walk away and forget the whole thing, the latter rarely happens so it would be best then to give the ring back when you break the engagement, but anything else he gave you (and make sure even in writing) that these are gifts, so you may keep them---if he includes a card or something that indicates it was a period of gift giving, write on the card the date and what he gave you, this will be at least limited proof of his gift giving. Whether this will hold up in court will be up to the judge, but by having the gift cards with the dates it could help your defense. If he asks any questions just say you’re sentimental and also for insurance purposes.

If you do go ahead and get married and then eventually divorced, the rules are this, if he bought the rings you keep them. If they are family heirlooms give them back, it is so much simpler that way---but any jewelry that he buys you or you buy your self---that is yours, only family heirloom jewelry that is from his family should go back. Unless it is stipulated that it is to go to your daughters, in this case it would be best to be magnanimous and speak to your mother-in-law in regards to the heirloom jewelry without interference from your soon to be ex-husband and let her know that you wish to know her feelings on that matter. She will look upon you in a different and positive light, even if her feelings towards you maybe hostile and she acts like a witch, she cannot deny that in regards to the matter of the family jewelry you were honest.

But if you are single and having fun and your man of the hour gives you “bling”, then be calm and collect it, and make sure that the gift card lists the date and the item he gave you and then lock it up in a bank safe deposit box where he can’t get his hands on it.

Just on the news last night, I heard about gold going over $1,000, of course weakening the dollar, but I knew that was coming, since I follow the business and stock news. That is why I have been looking at stocks with growth potential that can weather this unsettling economic situation so remember even jewelry is going go to up in price , don’t waste you money on something that is 10k unless you regard it as just above costume jewelry, make sure it is at least 14k or 18k.

And also about all those little doggies that were going to the Marin animal shelter being rescued from an elderly couple that had over 800 dogs in their home!!! Well I wrote out a check as a donation to help out with the feed and care of those poor things.

Now before anyone thinks that I think more of animals than of people, I do think of people, there is this one charity that I donate regularly that supplies wheelchairs to needy disabled people, I also donate to a women’s shelter and several others that help women in need and children. Women, Children and pets are the one’s that have no voice in this world.

Of course some of you are going to say to me, “but you don’t have children” I have nieces and nephews so I know how it’s like for a child, I am a woman so I know how it’s like for a woman. And yes I do eat meat and I do wear fur, but those are from animals that are specifically bred for that, but even then I do believe that when an animal is made for human consumption it should be done humanely. And I will make no further excuses. Diva’s never make excuses Diva’s just do it.

Well Darlings, it is now Friday and I have plans for this weekend, so Until Anon, Kisses Darlings.

What to Read to be a Diva

2008-02-17T12:15:00.000-08:00

Hello Darlings,

I do not know where all of you live, but if you live here in the San Francisco Bay Area, I do hope you have been enjoying the Sunshine.

My little Diva Darling, Princess and I have been enjoying our early evening walks along the beach, but I do confess that towards evening it still gets a bit chilly.

I know that some of you are wondering what have I been doing for the last week or so, well Darlings, working with my Tax preparer and getting the Taxes filed, such work and making sure I have all the information, but it's done.

On Valentines day my other speical friend Kenneth and I had a wonderful dinner at a delightful restraunt in San Francisco, but I can't remember the name it was such a surprise.

And of course the mundane, grocery shopping with Juanita ( I really let her plan the menus, and shopping with her can be an adventure, if it's not up to par we go somplace else or we will find it at Andronico's), and having some men replace a damaged gutter that the high winds managed to bend, it didn't harm the house but it needed to be fixed.

Now Darlings, I’m going to talk to you briefly about reading materials, yes Darlings reading materials.

Now remember what I said the last time I posted that I use the public library. Well I still strongly recommend the library to save you money, think of all the subscriptions you do not have to buy, the DVD’s and CD’s and books you do not have to rent or purchase when you use the public library. As long as you return it on time it is a savings. Make going to the Library part of your shopping day, that is shopping for things for the home.

I prefer Thursdays myself, all the sales have started.

But there are subscriptions that you should think about getting and these are a few suggestions especially if you plan to invest.

Kiplingers Personal Finance (they also have a monthly news letter called Kiplingers Retirement report)

Money Magazine

Now if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and are thinking in terms of Real Estate or businesses there is the San Francisco Business Weekly and the East Bay Business Weekly (one covers San Francisco and the other the East Bay side of the Bay)

Investor’s Business Daily this is a daily newspaper that covers the business investment news

Business Week

The Economist

Now if you want something to cover Society and Fashion I recommend these 2 two of them are local and 2 you can find on the news stand.

The news stand ones are Vanity Fair and Real Simple. Now why those two, well Darlings Vanity Fair has the most wonderful articles much better than Vogue and it is always up to date on fashion. Real Simple has wonderful ideas on almost everything which can be inspiring.

The two that are locals are really for those wonderful Darlings that Live in the San Francisco Bay Area the first of course is San Francisco Magazine, it will tell you all about the Society events and wonderful places to go to as well as some very interesting articles that could lead you to wonderful investments.

The other magazine is a bit trickier, it depends upon where you live this is a local publication that will cover the city or county that you live it and it will have the name such as Oakland magazine or Diablo magazine etc. This will cover the events and list places to consider on your free evenings or days. And it will keep you up to date and in the know about who is who.

Now if you are those wonderful Divas that live outside of the Bay Area such as Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Chicago, New York etc. You will find comparable magazines of the same time in your local area, but the ones for investing you will find almost anywhere, unless you are living in a cultural desert for which I can only suggest to get out as soon as you can and only go back there just for mental vacations.

Because just as it is important about what you know it is equally important about who you know. But never forget where you came from and the family and friends that have supported you and have given you solid life values remember them always and cherish them.

Just as a “side-bar” although I have become very wealthy, that for my late husbands sake I cultivated social connections, I never forgot all the wonderful things that my parents did, the hard work my father did to get to a point of financial and social promince, my mother still being an old-fashioned home maker but getting use to the idea of having staff to assist (we never-ever called them ‘servants’ they were Staff always remember that my dear Divas) and still making time to always have family fun together, going to church every Sunday and always being aware that not everyone was as lucky and fortunate enough as us, that there were people for whom fortune did not always smiled upon but that within themselves they were as precious as gold.

My parents were right, there were several young people that I knew and became friends with and because I suggested to my father that it might be a good idea to help them out, one became a successful inventor, another a well-established artist and the third an editor for a publishing company, and we are still friends, even if we are still living in various parts of the world. Always remember that Darlings.

Now Darlings if you do not have the funds to subscribe to all these magazines do not worry, by going to your public library you can see which magazines would fit your needs and just subscribe to a few, while the others you can read in the library or photocopy those articles that will have the information that’s needed even at 15 cents a copy that is far cheaper than paying $4.95 for the whole magazine.

Investor papers such as Value Line, Morning Star, Mergent and the Standard and Poor’s stock guide should be available at your library and again you can photo copy those pages to see about the progress of a stock that may have your interest.

There are always books on how to read the financial pages, how to invest, but if you are still unsure about yourself, look for seminars or classes offered by schools or colleges that you can take classes in. It is possible that you can audit a class as a guest without having to sign up for college itself.

Now I have several young friends who are getting established in life and they want to know how they can have the Diva Look while they are still trying to get the Diva Bucks.

The first is avoid using your credit cards, only use them occasionally and pay it off with 3 payments, remember credit cards is a bad debt, whereas owning and paying on a home (that has been reasonably purchased) can be a good debt, now why is that? Very simple Darlings, the interest on a home loan can be taken off in taxes but not the interest paid on a credit card---interest paid on a credit card is money lost. Interest on a home loan is money gained.

There are many other things that you can do and I will cover that in another Blog.

The Sun is out and shining my darling friend Kevin and I are going to an estate sale auction that starts at 2 p.m. and being the hungry man that he is, he doesn’t want to miss out on the appetizers that they will be serving.

Until Anon Darlings, Kisses.

Darlings Do you think that Life can be difficult?

2008-02-07T19:23:00.000-08:00

Darlings,

Today I went to my local public library. Now I do belive that the library is the most wonderful place a Diva can go to find wonderful information to improve her Diva life. And it can also save you money.

As long as you return the items on time, you do not have to pay a thing. Books, Magazines, DVD's, music CD's and much more.

I love it because sometimes I want a change of pace for my music and sometimes I want to see a different film that I would not buy to add to my collection. But once in a while I do come across something that I know is just wonderful so then I will look for it.

But you have no idea how wonderful it can be-----Unless Darlings ****sigh**** one encounters a person who is ---well ----not quite right in the head.

There was a woman today---I refuse to call her a lady----from the way she was dressed, very nice and neat, you would not think there was anything wrong with her. But just as I was going towards the check out desk, she started spueing a mouthful of foul words and gutter language at one staff person.

There was no reason for it, then this woman, who was behaving like Brittany Spears on a very bad day, began to throw books all over. I ducked back to prevent myself from being harmed but I was wondering if I should use my cell phone to call the police. That was taken care of by another Staff person and the police were brought in.

Needless to say they took care of this person quickly, but I have to say that the Library staff behaved in a manner that was most impressive, no raising of the voices, just quick and efficent work and I do have to confess very steady nerves.

But as I was going home and to have a cup of tea, I began to wonder, what brought this woman to such a situation, why make one's life so difficult when life is difficult enough. There is no need to behave in such a manner.

Then I read in my "People Weekly" magazine what is happening with young Ms. Spears, and then I read that 1 in 20 children are found to be autistic, why is all of that? What makes those many years ago different from today, why are more people having such mental problems? Is it stress, diet, birth defects, something that happened pre-natally? Or are we better able to discover what the illness is? And it is more out there---in one's face so to speak.

I must confess Darlings, and this may seem prejudice, but just before Ronald Regan became state govener, the previous govener (whose name I can't recall) terminated the mental health programs---unfortunately this termination took effect when Regan became Govener of California. So people blamed him instead of looking at who the real culprit was.

But when this happened less and less people were being helped, now here it is 30 years later, and I in a public library have to be careful to not be hit by a flying book thrown by a mentally impaired person.

What is wrong with this? I have to confess Darlings, I do not have the answers, but I do belive that there are certain democrates who would have a lot to answer for.

I'm sorry Darlings, but this situation has upset Moi and my head just keeps spinning on it, when I should realize that I do not have an answer, but I think I will watch to see if anyone comes up with a solution that is feasible.

In the meantime I think I will indulge in a martini for tonight and perhaps Mmmmm Frank Sinatra.

Until Anon Darlings, Kisses.

Taxes, the curse of life and Divahood

2008-02-06T10:14:00.000-08:00

Oh ***sigh*** well, Darlings, this Diva Must buckle down and focus on putting together her tax information.

What a bore, but it must be done, after all we don’t want to give to the government more than we have to.

I am fortunate in that the best way to stay up-to-date on one’s tax information is to periodically file it at least every two week, but it’s better if you do it once a week. So that means that you have an “In-Box” to file such material. This means that you have to be very focused and organized to make sure that it is taken care of.

It is so important to designate a day to do all that filing and bill paying and balancing the accounts. Of course when you come home from a hard day of earning the “Diva Bucks” it is hard to get into the mood to do this, but in the long run I have found Mondays to be very good, just think of Mondays as “money days” and it will all make sense, and if you do it every Money day it won’t be so hard or difficult.

My dear friend ‘Mean Kitty’ says that she also ties it in with doing laundry, Mondays for all the underwear, Tuesdays of all the nice outerwear, Wednesdays for the rough outerwear like jeans and sweat suits and Thursdays for sheets, pillow cases and towels, with Saturday mornings for the weekly drop off and pick up at the dry cleaners. I like the way she has that organized.

But one thing to remember if your bills are pretty stable in that you have an idea how much the bills will be then you should be able to budget for any grocery shopping or entertainment over the weekend.

Budgeting is always very important.

Now Darlings do you remember all that information that I posted earlier on my Blog, well remember it will come in handy for you.

Now getting back to doing Taxes---Darlings you must do your taxes no matter what. Until someone or some group comes up with a fool proof lawsuit to show that taxes are illegal we have to pay them.

But never pay more than what the law requires, which means you have to see if you have any tax deductions---don’t think that just because you are renting or living with your parents (until you are Diva wealthy-independent) that you don’t have tax deductions and therefore can only 1040 and 540 EZ forms. There maybe deductions that you are not aware of.

Now it’s too late for this year, but for the year to come, write down and keep receipts of all your expenses, especially if it’s for work. Do not be afraid to ask a tax preparer (after the tax season is past and things have calmed down) what you can take deductions on, spend the money on an appointment with a very good tax preparer to learn what you maybe overlooking.

Remember in some profession if you are required to wear a certain type of clothing that you have to buy or a certain type of style is expected of you because of an image to present you may be able to take that as a tax deduction, the use of your personal vehicle for your job may also fit into that category (so do keep a mileage log as well as repair and maintenance log).

You maybe surprised, and instead have a longer form to do, which could result in more money coming back to you

But always, Always have a good tax peparer do your taxes and confirm if what you have is a legitimate deduction or not.

Of course one of the best tax write offs is owning your own home, I know of two girl friends who went in together to buy a duplex and each live in their own part of it, and it worked fine until one of them got married and wanted to sell off her half, so her girl friend bought it and rented it out, using the rent to offset part of the monthly payment, insurance and property taxes as well as any maintenance..

Sorry Darlings, I did drift off the subject here, but what I want to make clear to you is that there are deductions you may not be aware of, even those that those computer tax programs may not show up.

That is why having it done by a live professional tax person is very important. A really good one will ask you questions, guide you through the process, find all those little savings you were not aware of, by keeping your receipts and cancelled checks you then discover all those little things.

That is why it’s important to do that for at least a year it will give you a guide line to watch for.

Now the second reason to have a live professional tax person do it for you is that they also have to sign their name to the tax form, so if there is a mistake they are responsible as well.

Of course if you are honest with your finances you do not have to worry about being audited.

Also it pays to have a tax preparer be one who can go before an IRS investigation person to argue your case as well. Not all of them can do that, so ask that of your tax person if they have that capability to do that.

My tax person has always said to never take a greater tax deduction than what is legally acceptable unless you have proof that you can take it. The reason is that this would send up “Red Flags” to the IRS. If you increase your deduction you MUST have documentation to back it up---receipts, photos, an evaluation from the receiving agency, cancelled checks, anything to back this information.

Also be consistent each year with your deductions, and spread them around to different charities, for example if for the last two years you’ve been donating to Salvation Army change and donate to St. Vicente de Paul.

This would also apply to cash donations, but if possible always write out a check, it is proof of donating; any change that you drop into the bucket or donation box that’s loose cash will be hard to rove if it’s too much. Or you may not be able to take that deduction at all. So if you want to buy Girl Scout Cookies always pay by check.

Always, always check with your tax preparer with what is safe that you can donate or take a deduction on what will keep you “under the radar”. Some years you may be able to donate a lot and some years not quite so much, so always keep it reasonable.

If you go to the same tax preparer every year, they will send you a checkoff form each year to see if you have the same type of deductions, this is a good model to follow as well as a good reminder on what to watch for the upcoming year. Simple things like the tax you pay on your car license plate may be a tax deduction depending on the tax laws in your state.

And there are many, many more hidden ideas, so ask your tax person.

Oh just the thought of all this makes my head spin, Darlings forgive me but this Diva is going to take an aspirin and focus on her paperwork.

Until Anon Darlings, Happy Deduction Hunting.

Just an update

2008-02-01T23:30:00.000-08:00

Well Darlings,

I just heard on the news that several trains have been stuck in the snow and had to be sent back to Reno and the passengers will have to stay in Motels or take the buses.

Darlings I know I have been toutting train travel and I personally feel that it is the best way to travel, why what if you were driving in all that snow using your expensive gas to keep warm.

At least on a train you are warm and comfortable so don't give up on it. It's much better than a drafty airport.

Until Annon Darlings, it's time for beddy by.

Back from my Winter Vacation Darlings

2008-02-01T16:28:00.000-08:00

Well, Darlings I am back!

And such a wonderful whirlwind vacation!

I’ll give you all the highlights in just a few paragraphs, but first, I know that some of you wonderful Darling Pet Lovers want to know how my little Diva Darling fared while her “Mommy” was gone.

Princess did remarkably well, I phone Betty every few days and it seems that Princess and Jezebel were have their own little vacation. The two of them would play for hours on end until they were exhausted and then they would sleep together in Princess’s little bed. My little Diva Darling even used the kitty litter box, like a little lady.

This surprised Betty, but seeing as they were getting along so well and Princess appeared to be happy it was no cause for concern, but it seemed that each wanted to try the others food, fortunately no tummy upsets.

Of course when “Mommy” came to pick her up she was just jumping for joy and is back in her own home and into her regular routine, first checking out everything in the house to make sure all is well.

I know some of you would have asked “why didn’t I have Juanita watch Princess,” well I would have except that we had made arrangements prior to my going where she could visit her family for a few extra days and simply check on the house from time to time.

And Betty prefers to stay home as much as possible during the winter time; she is not one for the cold outdoors, it makes her joints ache painfully and considering how cold it’s been and still is, with snow on Mts Hamilton and Diablo I’m not a bit surprised. So it was a perfect arrangement and Princess and Jezebel’s antics did give Betty much laughter, especially in light of the horrible weather that everyone here in the Bay Area is suffering from.

As my dear friend “Mean Kitty” would say “…and I do mean suffering!” Poor dear is down with a nasty cold, all coughing, wheezing and sniffling. Not much one can do except bed rest, plenty of fluids, and cold medicine to at least make it bearable and lots of Kleenex with a very soft ply for a very sore nose. As soon as I found out she was sick I sent a Care package to her, her “hubby” was very grateful for it, poor soul was all thumbs caring for her.

Now Darlings about the trip; we finally made it into Reno, it was a bit of slow going because of all the snow, but the “upside” as my dear friend Michelle says is “We don’t have the headache and tense nerves driving in it”

And she is so right, how lovely it was to sit back, relax and leave the “driving” to the train and enjoy the view, it was like a Christmas postcard or a Thomas Kincaid painting unfolding before us.

We arrived at the Station a bit behind time and again gathered our luggage and took a taxi, although the station is only 4 or so blocks from the Legacy, considering the weather and all the luggage we had again it was best to take a taxi and again we paid the driver very well so he wouldn’t feel that he did a lot of hard work for nothing.

Remember that My Dear Divas, when you travel anywhere, if it’s a short trip from the station or air port and you have a lot of Louis Vuitton or quality Samsonite luggage be sure to tip generously. Everyone works hard for their money.

At the Silver legacy we settled in, and I found out that Michelle had booked us through Sunday with an option for staying one more night or two depending upon the weather. Of course we would return by train. So we took our time to unpack and unwound ourselves. We were fortunate to have Spa Suites, definitely for a romantic get away or just to relax, and feel pampered; the “I’M QUEEN OF THE WORLD!!!” type feeling.

And what a view of Reno and the mountains with all that cold, cold snow, which I’m sure many ski bunnies, appreciated.

After we refreshed ourselves we decided to talk a walk around to see what is being offered, do a little gambling, find a bite to eat and maybe take in a lounge or cabaret act.

And we weren’t disappointed. Since we were unwinding from traveling after a more than 4 hour trip from Sacramento to Reno, we relaxed and had a drink at the Sliver Barron Lounge where they had live entertainment, I thought the act was very good and Michelle said that she was familiar with them and was glad to see them doing so well.

Now on the entertainment---We saw Forbidden Broadway, very funny and very enjoyable and much of the “In-house” entertainment was very top notch, comedy acts, dueling pianos, a sort of Tiki act, singers too much to even begin to relate but I can tell you this you will not be disappointed. There was something different each night and with the Legacy, the El Dorado and Circus, Circus being linked with sky walks you can walk from one to the other and see something different each time.

Of course reservations are a must with the large name acts and a number of the cabaret acts. And each theatre or lounge had a different theme.

The same could be said of the food, so many choices so little time, we both were grateful for the workout rooms and spas massages that was offered, even so I did put on a couple of pounds---Got to work it off Darlings, can’t afford to have it all go to the hips.

And each restaurant with a different theme and specialty, from Steak to Tuscany and everything in-between. I cannot even begin to tell you which was my favorite.

But I do have to say that starting the day’s adventure at SIPS coffee and tea was the perfect way to begin. Michelle arranged for a chauffeured vehicle for us and we went to the Nevada Museum and took in the antique slot machine exhibit as well as paintings and everything. Another day when the weather wasn’t so bad we simply were driven around Reno to see how much it had changed over the years, and we had a chance to visit with some performers that Michelle was familiar with and see them do their acts.

I have to admit Reno is not the same as when I was a little girl to young lady, it’s all gone, Harold’s Club and the Mapes and the Primadonna, there was something about it that was just a bit gritty and edgy and a bit dangerous back them. The “Rat Pack” feeling now it’s a pizzazz and glitter and Disneylandish for adults.

I remember one time I was walking with my Father through one casino, he held my hand we were going to meet my mother at a restaurant at this casino and I can’t remember which one, and there was this table that was roped off and men and one woman were playing a high stakes game and everyone was gathered around with the ropes keeping the distance. There was one old man playing at this table. My Father stopped to watch briefly so I watched with him and there was something about this old man, he looked at his cards and then looked at everything on the table, his face revealed nothing, he said something to the house dealer, and another man laid his cards down and then the old man’s eyes seemed to take a sparkle at what he saw, and with that he laid his cards down without any flourish but with a little smile on his face.

All the chips were given to the elderly man and he shook hands with the fellow who had lost. People quietly applauded as if at a chess match. I heard my Father say “He’s still good” and who that man was I never knew, because we had to meet my mother for dinner.

I also remember staying with my parents at the Mapes Hotel and Casino many years ago when it was still in its Hey Day and I had my own room connected to my parent’s room. I remember it overlooked the Truckee River and that the drapes, bed clothes and everything being gold and white, at least that was the impression I had. Marilyn Monroe stayed there when she was filming the Misfits, if she had this room I cold understand the feeling I had being there, I felt like a princess. Ahhh so many years ago---now all gone.

But now with the Legacy, the El Dorado and Circus, Circus being connected by skywalk ways you don’t even have to go outside to get to a Casino. It feels a little disconcerting, like losing all track of time. That is why it’s very important to wear a watch.

But I could see the advantage of these walkways in both Reno and Vegas, and being connected to all the casinos

I remarked to Michelle that what Reno and Vegas is doing feels like a forerunner to the city of the future. Imagine being able to walk around Chicago and New York with being in the snow or heat. But it also feels a bit isolating as well. Hmmm that is something for future thought.

Well besides touring, eating and taking in the shows we did gamble a bit and I need to warn you Diva’s do not lose more than you can afford, that is the best advice my Father gave me, so for years I’ve always set aside a “Gambling Fund”, any lose change in my purse plus a certain amount goes into that fund, and that is what I recommend.

An acquaintance of mine does that as well but she goes one further, she’ll save cans and bottles and such, so when she goes on her walks she takes and old canvas bag and any cans, bottles she finds she collects and once a week takes it to the recycling. She plans about several trips a year and always when one of her favorite performers is appearing.

I asked her about the Indian Gaming Casinos and she told me it was the same policy, only if one of her favorite performers was appears and the roads were really bad to Vegas or Reno.

So keep that in mind Darlings so you won’t have to use and Max the Credit cards.

One of several habits that Michelle and I have is when we are in our rooms to have the television on at certain times to the news and for me, stock reports; we each have our own personal preference depending on our interest.

Imagine our surprise at seeing the Monte Carlo on Fire, but so far as we understood it no one was hurt. Michelle said she wasn’t a bit surprised about the situation, as she had heard of someone trying to set fire to a hotel that was in the process of slowly being renovated while it still maintained its tenants, she was wondering if it was some sort of arsonist trend. And taking into consideration the age of the Monte Carlo that was another factor. Michel I know will be looking into this considering her interests in the entertainment industry.

Another habit we both have is to listen (without appearing to be listening) other people’s conversations, there are different reasons for the both of us; you never know when it’s someone who is affiliated with some aspect of finance, industry or trends. It gives the both of us what to consider on our various investments. And on the lighter side it also made for good gossip for us after the other people leave, much more fun than soap operas. And on some occasions with our eaves dropping a bit more dramatic than “Dallas” or “Falcon’s Crest” or that other high society soap opera that had Joan Collins in it.

Michelle and I have set our Televisions to Tivo “Cashmere Mafia” and “Lipstick Jungle” so well has something to laugh over. I’m sorry Darlings I simply cannot get excited over “America’s Top Model” or “Survivor”, who wants to see sweaty, insect bitten, undernourished contestants bickering and that’s just “America’s Top Model”.

Well Darlings considering the weather we weren’t able to leave Reno until the following Tuesday but that was no hardship for us since we did have that planned. So once again we took the Capitol Corridor back into the Bay Area and then Taxi to my home. Allowing ourselves a bit of time to unpack and for Michelle re-pack I had her stay with me for a couple of days until she caught the train to Los Angeles and I have to admit I will miss her, we had so much fun together. Now she says that we'll have to plan a trip to Hawaii!!! I asked her if we could hold off on those plans for a while. And she laughed, and said I'd have to plan on staying with her for a week or two and do some serious shopping with her.

Juanita had all my mail sorted and stacked and ready for me to go through, she transferred messages from my answering machine so I do have people to call back, which I have been doing.

Oh just when things were so wonderful I have to make an appointment with my Tax Preparer.

My Father use to say, “January, February and March is really the time to get once house in order for the New Year, January especially you really can’t plan for fun until after April 15th.” And he was so right.

So now Darlings, the sun is just about to set I still have an hour of daylight, so my Diva Darling and I are going to take another walk to the Beach, I find that it gives me inspiration. Then a nice quiet dinner and we will curl up in front of the fireplace with a nice warm fire burning, and plan our next set of adventures.

“Hold me close and hold me fast
This magic spell you cast
Is La vie en la rose.

When you kiss me Heaven sighs
And though I close my eyes
I see la vie en la rose

When you press me to your heart
I’m in a world apart
Where roses bloom

And when you speak
The angels sing from above
Everyday words that turn
Into songs of love

Give your heart and your soul to me
And life will always be
Le vie en la rose”

So until Annon Darlings, La vie en la Rose.

Update on my Travels Darlings~~~~

2008-01-21T10:42:00.000-08:00

Hello all you Fabulous Divas,

I'm doing my posting from one of those delightful cafe's that have internet access.

Well Michelle and I have been having the most marvelous time, and thank goodness we are using today as a chance to catch our collective breaths.

We took the Capitor Corridor train on its mid-morning run to Sacramento, and then from the station we took a taxi to the Delta King, our floating hotel on the Sacremento River next to "Old Town Sacramento". Poor cab driver, we had so much luggage that it couldn't fit into his trunk so we had to put some in the back seat, so I sat in the back and Michelle sat in the front. We tipped him handsomely for his hard work.

Remember that dear Diva's if anyone give you extra service or they take that extra step to help you out, be sure to tip them for their work, it's always appreciated.

It only took two hours by train to get to Sacramento, which is a marvel because if one drives it takes the same amount of time, so why stress one's self and it can be so relaxing.

The Delta King is just a beautiful thing, I almost felt like Rhett Butler was going to be walking the boards of it. Our rooms are comfortable and most importantly Warm.

Since it's on the river and since it is Winter time, it will be Cold, and since we were also going to Reno we packed for cold weather, which is a good thing, gloves, wool scarves are a must.

My dear Friend Mean Kitty has always said to me "If you're going to the North Pole, don't pack a bikini". And she is right Darlings, one of the first steps in traveling is packing, always check what the weather conditions are like where you are going and with the internet you can always get last minute weather conditions.

Well we arrived just a bit after lunch time, so we decided to get settled in our rooms first and then see about a late lunch and do a little sight-seeing in Old Town Sacramento. We lunched in Old Town, and I have to say I am so glad they were able to preserve it. It felt like we had stepped back in time or that we were some how between time periods. We didn't have much in the way of crowds because many people were not there yet to take advantage of the Holiday Weekend, and I do belive that the cold may have kept some people away. But it was enjoyable.

And at night it just lit up and took on a hazy feeling, like a dream in a way.

The Delta King even had that quality as a hazy fog from the River drifted up and surrounded it; it felt like old ghosts were paying a visit to the old dear.

Well we returned to the King after we had lunch and walked around the town a bit, so we rested and finished getting settled. Later we had drinks and a light dinner, and it was very good, there were some dishes that I felt could have been better but I was not disapointed. We finished off with de-caffe coffee and later an after dinner drink.

I thought that with being on a large ferry that when I slept I would feel some movement from being on the water but I slept like a baby. On Friday morning we had brunch, and took in the Sacramento Railroad museum. Michelle had never seen it and we felt in a way like school girls, just looking at the old history and in some ways all the idea of travel by rail. Michelle said that in taking the Coast Starlight up to San Francisco she really had an appreciation of travel by rail that in many ways it was a great improvement over air flight. That is was a shame that people had gotten way from traveling by rail.

I told her that half the fun of travel is getting there, it's not so much the destination but traveling to it.

Watching our time, we had an early dinner and then took a chauffered vehicle to the ARCO Arena. Yes darlings I said "chauffered vehicle" now remember when you were going to your Senior Promp and a group of you would make arrangements to have a chauffered limo take you around, well as Diva's you can also make arrangements to get you to events. We did not ask for a Limo but we did ask for a nice sedan. Imaging my surprise when a Bentley showed up to take us there and bring us back to our hotel. Michelle made the arrangements and I do not know what service she used but we made sure that if there was any parking fees for the Bentley that they were covered.

And the "Blue Man Group", Darlings I cannot begin to describe this experience short of saying it was fantastic, it was music and performance art at the same time. If any of you have a chance to see them or if they ever show any of their earlier performances on Cable or DVD do see it, sadly it is not the same as seeing a live performance that "sucks you in to it" and grabs your senses, but do see them at least once.

We were just so overwhelmed by it that after the driver dropped us back at "The King" we decided to have a drink to just analize what we had seen. Michelle said that if they had been around when she was managing in the entertainment industry she would have leaped at having them as part of her "stars". She said that it was so much lack of talent and so much posturing that is what made her leave the entertainment industry and start doing real estate and later investments, she like Moi had the sense of when was the right time to get out of something before the bottom fell out.

Saturday we both slept in and then had a very light breakfast, Michelle wanted to take in one of the historical tours and we felt that afterwards we could relax a bit before we took in the Mystery Dinner theatre on the Delta King. Fortunately I have excellent walking shoes and the tour we had around "Old Town" was so informative and entertaining. I was wishing that we had some time to take in Sutter's Fort and a tour of the Capital as well as the Crocker Art Museum but I'll have to save that for another time.

Afterwards we stopped at a Lounge for a drink and a nosh, and that's when Michelle and I had a chance to do a bit of catch up.

I asked her what she had been doing of late since it had been nearly 5 years since I'd seen her although we had kept in touch with cards, letters and e-mails.

She told me that after I gave her the warning to sell out of the dot.com investments based on my "gut feelings" (and just in time too) she put some of her money into hotels that were in the process of being renovated and upgraded.

She still was representing talent but it was getting more and more exhausting for her. She said "I was representing 20 somethings that had not paid their life dues and wanted everything on a platter and just try and keep the drugs away from them, selfish, spoiled and without control the minute they had cash and this was long before the Paris Hilton
and Brittany Spears fiasco. I did have a few really talented people and I knew I had to get rid of those that were trouble but part of the problem is that those trouble makers were also my biggest money makers.

The decision came after I fainted in my office and was rushed to the hospital. It was what the doctors told me that made me make the final decision to get out of the business. I wasn't going to die for spoiled babies. But what to do with those that really counted?

I had to be brutal and yet find a way that would preserve my reputation in the business. I decided to let the "spoiled brats" know that I couldn't represent them any more and why and gave them the names of others that I said would take them up in a heartbeat. I didn't even recommend anyone to them.

But those that I knew worked hard and were paying their dues, those I gently guided them to those that I knew could give them the right venues, give good advice and treat them fairly, they are doing well. The "spoiled brats" ? Well some of them faded away on their own drug induced dreams, and some are still out there but not as well.

My hotel investments paid well and steady, and then when I felt better I did real estate on the side until I had that feeling that things might go down the "tubes" and got out at the right time. My investments are paying me well and I'm contacted by charity event coordinators about talent recommendations and seeing who would be available for fund raising events, so I act as a laison making the initial connections and then guide them through the rest of the process. It's not too tiring and leaves me with plenty of free time to see what other talent is out there and connect with them for future charity venues, keeps my hand in and saves me from heart attacks."

From there we talked about changes in L.A. and S.F., families, politicial issues, and the future.

Then Michelle stopped talking and was listening to the piano player who was singing in the Lounge, after the player stopped and took a break Michelle went up to her and exchanged cards with the singer, and then joined me "She is good, local preferrs, to stay around here, but I've got some people and such that might be interested in her for a few events around here. Smart too she's got a good manager, I've heard of him. I'll give him a call after I get back to L.A."

I could only smile, no matter what, my friend was still working and she just grinned at me when I smiled, it was like a silent secret message. Even I have to confess, I was looking around for things that might become a sign post towards good investments.

We returned to the King and freshened up and went to the Mystery Diner Theatre they have on board, Michelle and I had a lot of fun, I'm not going to even explain it to you, but I have to say you never know if you are going to be seated next to the victim or the killer. The food was good if not spectacular but I feel that one is in there more for the Mystery, but having good food helps.

Michelle said one drink after and then to bed, Sunday is going to be a busy day----And she was right!!

I have never seen professional bull riding or a rodeo and this was unbelievable! We had wonderful seats very up close and it was so dangerous, diffinetly a young persons sport. Forget Football, Soccer or Rock Concerts! Darlings THIS is something else!! It's one on one, mano e mano but between human and bull. It was in a way a sense of something almost primeval, and yet in the back ground I could sense that all though there was competition there was a form of comadre as well, not perfect because every one wants that prize money, but it's like they all know the chances.

I have seen Portugues Bull Fighting, which I preferr over Spanish Bull Fighting and I've seen the running of the bulls in San Marcos and this bull riding had all the excitment that one could ever want as in Portuguese Bull Fighting. It felt very Hemmingwayish if Hemmingway ever wrote a western, it was more competitive and the danger was more immediate. It was like grabbing a Tiger by its tail and knowning that it was trouble. And they breed these bulls for their abilities and strength, they were not going to be someone's meal after the ride.

Even Michelle was taken breathless by it all and she had seen it before. "It's Earthy" she said "but it's real and more exciting than any football game or rock concert and not snooty like a highclass horse or dog show. Not as glamourous as horse racing but more exciting."

Well Darlings I am "Hooked" as they say.

Well I must go my time is almost up and Michelle is has lunch for us planned. Once I get my business cards of all the places we've been too sorted out I'll post the places we've stayed and lunched at and what I recommend you see.

Just a quick up date for all you pet lovers----Princess is doing very well, I called Betty and Princess and Jezebelle are having a lot of fun together and Princess is eating well. A sort of Diva Darling vacation for her too.

Tomorrow Michelle and I will catch the Capitol Corridor train connection to Reno and we'll be staying at the Silver Legacy. One of the first things we are going to do is get a massage from head to toe, traveling and seeing the sights is fun but so tiring.

Until Anon Darlings, Kisses

Travel Plans-----

2008-01-15T23:05:00.000-08:00

Change in Plans Darlings,

Well my dear school chum Michelle or as the young people would say BFF, called me and there is a change in plans.

Oh yes, we will see the Blue Man group but not in Reno, in Sacramento instead. I don’t know how she manages it, but she wasn’t in the entertainment industry twiddling her thumbs, she has pull and can still effect changes at the last minute. I guess it’s who you know. And that is called Networking Darlings.

So as she has it planned we will leave a day early go by train to Sacramento, stay at the Delta King Hotel (something I’ve been planning to do). See the Blue Man group on Friday, tour Old Town Sacramento Saturday, take in the Delta King’s Mystery Dinner Theater that evening, and take in, of all things, the Professional Bull Riding competition on Sunday. Rest our poor bodies on Monday (and have fun catching up on each other’s lives), catch the train on Tuesday to continue on to Reno.

Where she made another change, we’ll be staying in the Silver Legacy instead of Circus, Circus and take in as many shows and acts that we can for the next week or so, as well as availing ourselves of the spa treatments. We even may take in the Slot Machine exhibit at the Nevada Museum if we have time. Then come back by train, Michelle will stay overnight with me (it does pay to have a fold out couch in the Library/Office) and then catch the train to Los Angeles.

Just thinking about it makes my head whirl and I may need to rest just from having fun, but it will be worth it.

So I’ve been packing and making arrangements, Princess poor dear, will not be able to come along, Diva Darlings like her, are not allowed on the Delta King or at the Legacy, but my friend Betty said she’d be happy to watch Princess, she gets along very well with Jezebel and Princess’s vet is also Jezebel’s vet as well, so it will work out fine.

Well I’ve been thinking about a trip to Old Town Sacramento and Reno for sometime, and this will take care of two things at the same time and being in the company of a dear friend always makes it so much fun. And she managed to get joining rooms.

Now Darlings, as I said “Why the Train?” Well for one thing you do not have to deal with those lines as you do at the airport, granted the departure and arrival times are not the best, but you can walk around the train, nap, stretch out, eat, and sight see out of the train, all that scenery that you can see, which you can never see out of an airplane and you do not have to worry about how much luggage to take or that they will lose it. And you are not stuck with seeing a movie that you have already seen or do not care to see and you are not crowed together like sardines.

I indulged in one of those Ipod devices and down loaded classical music and my favorite big bands, (well Kenneth showed me how, he’s so clever with all this electronic things and he teaches so well)

If more people took the train, there would not be all that crowding at the airports or flight delays, of course people have to get some place in a hurry, but the whole idea of a trip is to enjoy getting there. If you know where you’re going, when you get to the station you can take a cab to your hotel and make arrangements to rent a car from the concierge for your stay. That is why earning the Diva Bucks is important, so you can enjoy things in style and do things in style.

Of course there is going to be some delay but the trains do have to meet a schedule as well, because fright trains also use the same tracks and being on time is very important.

You know Darlings you should think of taking the train to a destination, now some people take the train to Yosemite they get off at a particular station and the Yosemite shuttle bus will take you to the park to your hotel. Think of how stress free it can be.

I remember some 30 years ago, a girl friend and I took what was called the “Happy Hop” tour to Disneyland, we were crammed into a commuter flight, only had nuts and a small glass of wine (which I substituted water instead) but then it was only a one hour flight. Arrived at the Anaheim airport and took a shuttle service to a main drop off point where people waited for the shuttles for the different hotels there was a direct phone service there to each hotel and I will never forget this one man with a large stomach, wearing shorts with sandals and socks (why sandals and socks with shorts) and he had very hairy legs really not a good fashion choice and he was yelling into the phone “There are people waiting here!! When is that bus going to come!!??” And he arrived on the same main bus that I and my friend did.

He hung up not satisfied at all. I went to the phone to the same hotel that he called and said “Hello this is ‘so and so’ and guest, I would like to confirm that you are still holding our rooms? Wonderful… and what is the approximate time of arrival for the shuttle bus?... All right allowing for traffic congestion, thank you, please continue to hold the rooms for us as there was a bit of a delay getting here….Excellent, Thank you.”

The hotel staffer on the other end was friendly and informative and helpful, and I and Mr. Angry Man were going to the same hotel, so I tipped my hard sided Samsonite on end and sat on it and my girl friend did the same (old hands we were) she asked me “How long for the shuttle?” And I said “15 minutes allowing for any traffic delays, I recommend we take a quick shower as it’s so hot, to refresh ourselves after we check in” and I said this loud enough for Mr. Angry Man to hear me. He looked at me and my friend and we were looking as cool as cucumbers, totally not put out by the delay.

We then had the pleasure of hearing Angry Man’s wife saying to him “If you would just calm down and understand that delays happen and that it’s just what happens, you wouldn’t have ulcers. Look at those two ladies, they understand delays, but oh no you’ve got to have it done right now, you are going to die from ulcer problems if you don’t calm down and behave like a gentleman instead of a boor.” He did look sheepish after her scolding and us fanning ourselves with our magazines.

But that’s the whole idea of traveling; know that there are delays and plan on a trip in which you don’t have to be delayed, taking the train is, in many ways, the way to go. And packing correctly for your trip is also a plus.

Many hotels have laundry facilities now a days, and have irons and ironing boards in one’s room; you can plan on where to stay as you travel by car on where to stay even based on amenities.

If anything a Diva knows how to plan and also knows that there may have to be sudden changes in plans.

Well Darlings, to bed I must go, I’ve been busy today and I have more to do tomorrow, so if you don’t see me “blog” for a while-----Well I’m having fun!

Until Anon, Kisses Darlings.

A Diva Health Guide~~~

2008-01-13T23:01:00.000-08:00

Hello all you Lovely Diva’s,

I could not believe the sun shine this morning! Instead of lying in bed as I would on a gloomy morning (with Juanita coaxing me out with a fresh brewed cup of coffee) I just had to get out and enjoy it.

So I walked with Princess in tow, to the beach, and marveled at the gloriousness of it all.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I do need sunlight, although I do not sun bathe and take care to not over expose myself to the sun, but sun light is needed to help get that Vitamin D going into one’s system besides drinking it in Milk. Yes Darlings even I at my age I still drink milk, it’s good for you keeps those bones strong, good for your teeth and it can be very calming for your nerves.

I realized this morning that I needed those light bulbs that imitate sunlight, and decided that I needed it in my bedroom, next to my desk in my library/office, and also next to my favorite chair where I read. So I’ve placed that on my list of things to buy.

Now Darlings were is this all leading to….

Health Darlings, Health…

One of the most important things a Diva needs to remember (besides lots of money and a fabulous wardrobe) is Health, it’s so easy to over look that most important of personal things and it is personal.

If you are in good health you will look good no matter what. This translates to your bones, your teeth, your hair, skin, eyes, nails and the muscles and nerves in your body.

First always get an annual check up with your general physician, your dentist, your eye doctor (not to be confused with where you purchase your glasses or contacts) and your GYN, find out how often you need to have a mammogram based upon your age and your family’s’ health background.

Darlings this is more important than a mani-pedi or having your hair styled.

If you are a bit overweight get into a good health loss program that can encourage you to eat right and healthy, but not unrealistic. Don’t go all vegan or on a faddy diet. It can do you more harm than good.

Find out about your family’s medical background, some people do family genealogy but what you should do is a medical genealogy, this will tell you what your family’s medical problems can be. I know that in my family there is a tendency towards heart attacks and heart problems, some people have diabetes in their family, some cancer. Do you see the picture my dears?

With that knowledge in hand then you can approach anything your doctor finds with realism and practicality.

Another thing is exercise, I do not recommend running as that can cause all kinds of foot and shin problems, but dancing can be wonderful. If you’ve watched “Dancing with the Stars” well you know doubt have heard them rave how much weight they’ve lost. Balance this with swimming as a low impact exercise, followed by Yoga for stretching and relaxing.

Alright you say you can’t afford dance lessons? Check with your Adult Education courses or with your city’s park and recreation department and see what they offer at a more affordable rate, another thing is walking, get good walking shoes that are comfortable, supportive and reduce any impact upon your bones or the Plantar of your feet. (Look that up Darlings, I can’t explain everything to you)

Some people say “well do bicycling” which is fine except that I have seen too many people foolishly ignore the vehicle laws, Remember your Bicycle is also a vehicle and since it’s a slower vehicle it MUST move over to the far right of the road way and you must obey all vehicle laws, do not “blast through” a stop sign it could mean your death and it would be your fault. And always wear a helmet and forget those Ipods, you must always be aware of the area around you. No one else will.

Weight loss cannot happen quickly, it took you years to put the weight on, and it will take you years to get it off, but remember, each pound that you lose is a victory, so keep at it.

Eating---one of the worst things that has developed over the years is the “all you can eat Buffet” and the supersize meals.

It is much better to eat six very small meals than 2 very large ones, because you will stretch your stomach. Eat only until your hunger is satisfied, not until your are stuffed.

Talk to your Doctor about healthy nutrition programs or join Jenny Craig and have them teach you how to eat healthy.

Another thing that can help you make healthy eating choices is attenting nutrition classes at your local hospital or health club, be on the watch for such program, taking them can be an eye opener as to what is healthy and what is not.

Alcohol---it can be a very bad thing, and that is one of the problems many young Divas-in-training forget, they drink to excess and think that being buzzed as they call it is fine. It is not. It can eat out your stomach, give you a bad headache, cause you to exercise very poor judgment and also someone can slip you a “Mickey Finn” or knockout drops, which could lead to being raped.

As they say “Drink Responsibly” and as a side comment, if you drink don’t drive, if you know you are going to drink then take a taxi and have a taxi bring you home, make sure you have enough for cab fare and tips. Do Not go home with some seemly kind stranger.

One of my nieces made the mistake of driving to a party and couldn’t drive some young fellow offered to drive her home in his car. Fortunately she gave him my address and she had a copy of my house key (this was at my old house) but her parents were not home (which was true in a way) so he opened the door and in the living room attempted to attack her, I was aware that there was someone coming through the front door because my alarm in my bedroom went off, so I called the police immediately.

I heard a female voice saying “stop it!” Imagine the young man’s surprise when I turned on the lights and said “Don’t move, I have a gun pointed at you and I will use it!” I told him to stay the way he was and to let my niece up, and she let in the police, I called my lawyer, he went to trial and jail, my niece knows better. That is why I say “Drink Responsibly”.

Of course Darlings that does come under the heading of Safety, but safety is also Health.

Now to continue----

Avoid soft drinks and sweetened fruit juices as a regular drink, even those waters that have a fruit taste has sugar in it, and soft drinks destroys the enamel on your teeth, drink plenty of water and keep yourself hydrated, milk is good too, but water will quench one’s thirst on a hot day.

You can have a soft drink or fruit juice on occasion but more as a treat.

And remember if you drink too much water you can wash out your electrolytes, 1 liter
a day maximum is good.

Always care for your skin, young people think that getting a tan is a good thing, but it like smoking can age one’s skin very quickly.

I take walks in the morning when the weather is good before 10 a.m. or after 3 p.m. I still get my Vitamin D and healthy sun exposure, but not to the point of being unhealthy for the skin, I always cover myself on hot days with hats and long sleeves, I even use gloves especially during the winter and light cotton gloves during the summer. If one goes to a vintage shop or sale you can find gloves in a light tan color that is good all year round, if they are made of cloth you can wash them as if you were washing your hands, to remove any soil.

And when I visit friends or have friends over and we are sitting outside I always make it a point to sit in the shade, you still will get enough sun to be healthy. At the most a 15 minute exposure a day is all one needs.

Find a good skin lotion that is hypoallergenic to put on your skin and hands to help keep it soft. Do not wash your body with a harsh soap. I’ve found that Dove soap for sensitive skin is an excellent choice.

Teeth---we often don’t think of our teeth except to brush them, but also use flossing thread and a gum massager to keep the gums healthy as well and to help remove food partials.

The old maximum of brushing after every meal is important, you can carry in your cosmetic case a small tiny toothbrush and one of those small travel size or sample size tubes of toothpaste, I even have found a collapsible cup which I use to rinse out my mouth.

If you don’t want to do it at the sink in the ladies room, use the cup to fill with some water and then brush in the bathroom stall. If you are unable to do that then at least brush morning and night, or when you get up, as soon as you get home and after dinner or when you come home from a date, then before bed. The evening brushing is very important to remove food particles from the day. The use of a mouth wash is also recommended, you dentist will be able to tell you what toothpaste and mouth wash is best.

Your eyes and your hearing are very important----when you are young have your eyes checked every year for any changes in vision or any problems, if you are constantly using a computer get glasses that have a tint to reduce glare, even if you don’t need glasses for reading, they will work like sun glasses and reduce the possibility of cataracts.

And speaking of Sunglasses, every time you go outside always use Sunglasses with a high glare ratio, if you wear prescription glasses then have your sunglasses as prescriptions as well. It comes in handy when driving, walking or just doing anything outside and it will protect your eyes from cataracts. Always make it a practice to wear sunglasses and if you wish have it as part of your wardrobe, be glamorous with them.

Your hearing is also important, having a hearing test every couple of years or if you sense that you have some hearing loss have it checked immediately.

Many young people are losing their hearing because of loud music at concerts, and at clubs, and also those young men that have their car stereos cranked up to the point that the car is vibrating are also going to be suffering hearing loss, we are developing a nation of young deaf people, and losing your hearing will deprive you of listening to natures’ joyous sounds, the songs of birds, the oceans’ waves, your baby saying it’s first words.

My friend Mean Kitty knew she was going to a concert with some friends and she knew that the concert hall had a strong echo reverb problem which for rock concert goers is just fine, but for someone who wants to preserve her hearing presented a problem. She solved it by wearing hearing plugs that are used when one goes to the gun range. She was able to hear the concert just enough to enjoy it but without it paining her ears.

So if you are going to a venue where it’s going to be very loud deafening music, wear ear plugs, it will save your hearing, they don’t cost much but what it will save is priceless.

Now one last thing, Vitamins Darling, Vitamins--- a good vitamin problem will help with teeth, hair, eyes and bones. Because many people are under a great deal of stress, the B vitamin complex is the most important, but make sure that your are getting enough minerals as well.

Be careful to not over do taking vitamins, one can get poisoned by too much Vitamin A and some of the others.

Now what Vitamins to take? Well Darlings there are many out there; Trader Joe’s has a thirty day supply packed in individual daily packets, you can put them in your purse and take each pill though out the day, and that way it will be spread out and keep your system going. They have them in what looks like a coffee tin, with or without Iron, I recommend always taking Iron, to help keep up your blood count.

But there are many others out there. Find the one that suits your body and lifestyle the best, and remember dear Diva’s you can always look stylish wearing hats, gloves and sun glasses, make it your style, have it make you look glamorous and mysterious, that is the Diva style.

Try to avoid stress, which if you are working hard to get the Diva Bucks can be hard to do, but no matter what, make time to relax and meditate to relieve stress. Remember Diva Darlings, STRESS is one of the biggest killers, so take up some healthy practices to help relieve stress, Yoga is one way, meditation is another. At work use the 10, 10, 10 rule in decision making how will it affect you in 10 minutes, 10 days, 10 weeks, 10 months, 10 years.

And if possible allow 1 to 5 minutes to gather your thoughts before going into a meeting or dealing with a situation that little pause will be enough for you to be confident in dealing with anything, even a flat tire.

And lastly, always get plenty of rest and sleep, the adage of getting 8 hours sleep is important, of course some of us can get by on a little less, but no less than 6 hours, remember Darlings, all that partying can take its toll on the Diva’s beauty.

If you can don’t be afraid to take a 15 minute nap in the afternoon, I’ve found that about 3 p.m. I get a little drowsy, a 15 or 20 minute nape can be very refreshing. But remember rest is very important.

There are many other things a Diva can do for her health, ask your dentist and your doctor. Remember you have only one body and all the face lifts, body tucks in the world cannot give you good health.

Now I must get to bed, it is past this Diva’s bedtime, but I wanted to be sure to post this for all of you.

Until Anon Darlings, stay healthy, be healthy. Kisses

Diva Ideas for a tax deduction for one's car------

2008-01-12T10:25:00.000-08:00

Darling Divas

It seems I’ve opened a whole new chapter of information, I was enjoying my little trip to the city yesterday, I like to take the BART system (but the cars do need some clean up) and on my train I ran into an old friend of mine, Wallace.

Wallace is a wonderful gentleman who introduced me to my tax preparer. I told him about my “blog” and he said that he had come across it by accident and thought that it sounded familiar, and has it flagged when ever a new posting is put up.

He loved the information that I had come across, but he felt that I left another part off.

He informed me that just as it is important to keep all paperwork on home repair and improvement on one’s home, especially for re-sale, it was equally important to keep all receipts on work done on one’s automobile or van.

I thought that was a bit unusual, but he said that if one plans to sell one’s vehicle, by having a copy of what has been done and at what mileage, when it comes time to sell your car to a private party, you as the seller, can give all full information on what has been done to your vehicle, as a form of full disclosure.

He said that sometimes for those that use a personal vehicle for their job by having all these receipts for repair and maintenance it maybe possible to take it as a tax deduction, but always check with your tax preparer because the tax laws change every year.

But even so it did make excellent sense to keep this information on your vehicle, especially if there is any sort of warranty on the repair. It did make sense especially if your job is in real estate or as a wedding or event planner or something of that sort, which a lot of traveling to different locations or clients is required, therefore because of that type of work it then requires keeping receipts for tax information, but to also have it for your personal information on repair and maintenance is equally important.

Now the tax law does vary a bit if your vehicle is used both for business and pleasure, so I do believe keeping a mileage report is important, but do ask your tax preparer about the tax laws covering this.

He also said that it didn’t make sense to buy a brand new vehicle especially since one loses value the minute it leaves the lot, but to buy one that has low mileage, is gently used and is from a reputable dealer that has gone through it completely to check it out to ensure that it is safe makes sense, and to hold on to it for no more than 10 years at the very most, perhaps only 8 years, because after that time it begins to cost more to repair than the worth of the vehicle , unless one has a car that is a collectable (like a Packard or an Aston Martin) or has proven very reliable in the long run.

I have a dear acquaintance of mine who is in advertising and she has a car that’s 20 years old and is so reliable that she is loath to get rid of it. She told me that she will use it until is drops and can’t move anymore, which is what I was planning with my old car, until it was stolen by those 3 hoodlums (which the police eventually caught, we are now in the process of going to court) and wrapped around a pole. This forced me to buy a new car, Ms. Wicked, which I adore.

Although I do have to confess that there are times when one just simply wants a brand new car, in spite of the drop in value once it leaves the show room and even Wallace agreed with that, he said there are times when nothing but a brand new car will do.

Another thing, have full insurance which would also include being hit by an uninsured driver or catastrophic damage such as fire, flood, or falling trees, if you want to know who are the top quality insurance companies you can check with Consumer Reports, for their ratings, but rule of thumb for many people is this~~~go to an insurance company that also has a “brick and mortar” office, so you can deal with real people, not over a computer or over the phone. It may take some of your personal time, but the personal touch to get your claim processed is very important.

My Dear Friend Mean Kitty had that happen to her, she and her husband were traveling and were at a stop light and they were in a multiple rear end collision. Fortunately their car was drive able, so with the information from CHP, and everyone exchanging insurance information, Mean Kitty also had the added photo information of taking pictures of the entire accident to confirm that her car was not at fault.

When she got to her destination she called her insurance office to report that she was in an accident and when she would be coming into the office to do the claim since no one was injured in the accident, if there was an injury of course reporting the incident immediately even over the phone, is very important.

She was very pleased by her insurance company, they made the process of getting their vehicle repaired, the rental of another vehicle and processing their claim very painless, and it went smoothly, she did recommend that it’s best to be patient about receiving your claim especially if multiple vehicles are involved or if there maybe a dispute or investigation. But she received her claim in less than 3 months. She also said that the auto repair shop that was recommended by her insurance company made the process very easy and the car rental company also was very accommodating.

(Now I have to say that Mean Kitty had her auto insurance with State Farm and the car rental company was Enterprise, I mention these companies because they are fairly nationwide, although I’ve been told other well-known insurance companies also give excellent service, but remember the “brick and mortar” rule.)

She recommends and I do to, to keep no less than 2 disposable cameras in one’s glove compartment as well as your insurance information, by taking pictures right at the time of the accident showing the location and positions of the cars and the damage it can strengthen your claim.

She also says refresh or replace those cameras on Dec. 31 of every year, and use the ones that you’ve removed for holiday pictures. She said that if one does it at the same time that you replace your batteries in your smoke alarms as part of your check list it helps to remember these things.

Now why disposable point and shoot cameras? Well Darlings, they are there, they won’t fail if your camera cell phone is dead and it’s much easier to have the film developed especially with one hour processing. Nor do you have the worry that the pictures will be accidentally erased which could happen.

Well with this delightful and informative chat that I had with Wallace we also exchanged cards, so I could update him on my new home location, and we could plan on having dinner together with him and his wife Marsha and I with possibly Kevin or Kenneth (I do love to have several handsome men dancing in attendance)

So it seems that I have started a new venture with gathering this very practical information to share with all you Diva’s and Diva’s in training. This is all very important, even Mean Kitty has to agree about this.

Oh and why was I going to the City? Well darlings, there are a couple of stores that I love to purchase my DVD’s and music from, Rasputins just below Union Square and Virgin Records, I couldn’t take my Diva Darling, Princess, but I’m so glad that Juanita is back, she loves watching her and spoiling the little dear, although she said I made her work very easy for her because I called in Molly Maids, so Juanita tells me she is going to go through my closet to see what needs to be repaired, she is so through, sometimes I feel like I have a mother watching over me, that is why I just want to do my best for her as well.

And clothing maintenance will be another subject I will be touching upon in the future my Dears.

Until Anon Darlings, this Diva is going to treat a dear friend to lunch, and relaxation. Kisses Darlings.

What is the world coming to?~~~

2008-01-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

Well Darlings,

Irma, Betty and I have gathered our information together and made lists, we’ve even gone on the internet to see what the best spots are. But from what we’ve discovered so far is that many coffee shop places appear to be for internet users, nothing relaxing and elegant, with good coffee and a little nosh.

We’ve even wondered if our focus is wrong.

But then Irma suggested that we simply put together first from our experiences, places we like first give it a review and what we think is best for it, like lunch, dinner, atmosphere, comfort, cost, what it’s close to, and how hard to get in, dress code (casual, tie, formal etc)

We’ll also keep in our purses a note book of each new place we find and write down our opinion of it, if possible get its business card.

So we’ve agreed to get together once a month and compare our excursions. This will be so much fun, and we’ve enlisted the husbands and Kevin and Kenneth and several other persons that we know, we may even expand on it to cover other subjects.

My friend Mean Kitty has suggested for very casual eating, the Country Way Inn on Mowrey Avenue in Fremont, retro early 70’s with comfort food, good prices and large portions. The waitress’s call you dear, or honey and is very friendly without out being snobbish, just down home as she calls it. I had to laugh because she always has a way of taking things down a peg or two.

She said to me, “Men Folk don’t want ‘elf food’ and micro bionic food, they want MEAT and plenty of it, they want to remember Mom’s or Grandma’s old fashioned
Cooking and ‘if you don’t eat it there’s children starving in India who’d love it’ type reminders and this place has it”

She also told me about Mel’s Drive-in Dinners (which are not drive in, just eateries) “Real good hamburgers, filling, good fries, and the one on Geary and Van Ness in San Francisco is good, but get there just before the crowd, I had the Tuna Melt, with a little potato salad and it was a good size sandwich, I couldn’t finish the potato salad and that was just a small amount, guess my stomach is shrinking.”

What I love about Mean Kitty is she keeps things “Real” when I tell her how much I paid for my luggage she broke it down to “Gee, I could get new gutters for the house and maybe a drive way patch job”

Mean Kitty and I had dinner last night at my “secret dinning place” which we’ve promised not to divulge, and I looked at her very closely----I know she is going to read this “blog” but I say these things with real love for her.

I want to make it clear I do admire her, I’ve come from a “privileged life” wealthy parents, made my money, married well if not for love, have a marvelous income, never had to really hold down a job, excellent college education, as well as being lucky to have a natural investment and business acumen. I’m slim, trim, in excellent health, have money, furs, jewels, a housekeeper, expensive car, and can hire anyone at any time when I want without worrying about funds.

Oh yes, I’ve had my disappointments, sadness, loss, but I’ve also had many joys and I never have to look over my shoulder or worry about how I’m going to be taken care of.

But I look at Mean Kitty, she came from a upper working blue collar class family, college did not come easy for her and the money ran out when her father became ill, by the time she was 22 everything she knew and loved was gone, because of so many changes she clung on to her mother and father, cared for them, lived with them and never got a chance to live her own life.

She’s worked from the time she was 18 till now and even before she worked, cleaning her parents and grandmother’s home, washed dishes, sewed and repaired her own clothes, got up on the roof and cleaned gutters, or replaced roofs as she said “I got so many splinters in my hands one time that I had to spend the evening with my Mom pulling them out before I could eat, it hurt so bad.”

If she had to have sometime done she had to save the money up or get a loan to pay it off, her cash flow has always been difficult, and “there were times when I felt among my own peers that I was always 5 years behind them in experience or just plain naïve”.

Until now she had always been unlucky in love “Just chose the wrong ones until my Man came along” and she chose for love not money. For her to go into a 4 or 5 star restaurant would as she’d put it “freak me out, because I know I just don’t belong there, like they know I shop at Mervyns’s not Saks 5th Avenue.”

And yet we’ve met, we share things and she helps keep me grounded, she knows a lot of things, and her information is so useful. But when I offer to help---well she has her pride “I don’t want to be beholden to anyone, a loan can break up a beautiful friendship, somehow I’ll manage”

She plans on working until she drops, for her it’s the only way she can pay the bills, and afford medical coverage, she never had enough for retirement or investment, she prays that she will never be laid up with a stroke or anything like that “I saw what it did to Mom, she just gave up, became bed ridden I had to use up all the money she saved, hire a caregiver to cover while I was at work, had visiting nurses, deal with Medi-cal and Medicare, use up all my savings. I refuse to give up---Dad had a stroke and he came back, but he could never work again, but he kept going until his heart attack----I’d like it to be that way, to be able to function and then just fall asleep and not wake up, no burden to anyone”

I look at the beautiful home I have, the beautiful things I have, blessed with good health and she says about her home “well the ceiling is peeling but at least the roof is sound and no leaks, but I can’t afford to paint the interior for some time or patch the cracks, I just hope the heater holds out until I can replace it and forget refinishing the wood floors, not a high priority right now.”

I am still a size 8 and have all my teeth but for her “ The stress of caring for Mom and then when My Man came down with congestive heart failure and dealing with Medi-cal and Social Security constantly denying his rightful benefits and then me hiring a lawyer and taking on a second job to pay for the bills has caused bone density loss especially in my jaw, so my teeth loosen up and become infected then they have to be removed, I hate eating with dentures, I don’t care what they say I’ve had to give up a lot of my favorite foods and I loss 2 inches in height”

As she puts it “Getting Old is NOT for Sissies”.

And yet I admire her, her command of the English language, how she can phrase things, be diplomatic, and yet honest, hard working even with her aches and pains. Her enjoyment of the simple things in life and yet even she is a “class Act” she knows what is proper and right, she can be elegant in her own way, and I’ve seen her in action, when we’ve gone shopping together, we were at Tiffany’s the other day (I was looking for a gift for my niece who has turned 13) she was looking at all the beautiful jewelry a staffer asked her if she needed assistance, instead of being flustered (as one would if they know they are in a place that they don’t feel they belong) she simply remarked “No Thank you, I’m just browsing and admiring, but ‘thank you’ for asking, one quick question are these “fancy diamonds?” I’ve seen pink sapphires, but I didn’t know diamonds are also pink---thank you, most informative”.

I did make my purchase and we went into the Westin St. Francis to see what we could find, I had the chance to ask her over coffee “Where did you learn to speak that way?” and she replied “I use to watch the old movies from the 30’s and 40’s (another reason why I love her) and I’d listen to how they talk. The “Thin Man Movies” are wonderful for style, and “The Women” , I just love the T.V. show “Mission Impossible” I always thought Barbara Bain was so elegant, she’d always play her character just so cool and classy, also I’d watch all the PBS mysteries like Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, and the Dorothy Sayers “Lord Peter Whimsey” mysteries, some of the verbiage is fluff, so I don’t use it, but it taught me the best way to phrase things, I also paid attention in my high school English classes, it just pains my ears (and mine too) when I hear the teenagers using words like ‘that’s hecka cool’ instead of saying that’s really nice, or using profanity, there are millions of words in the English language that one doesn’t have to resort to profanity”

I had to agree with her, we both came to conclusion that the young people didn’t have the right role models in front of them, they were too caught up with Brittany Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, the slut gangster persona and feel that, that is whom they must emulate. No Jackie Kennedy, no Audrey Hepburn, No Marlene Dietchrine, No Barbara Bain, no one to be in the forefront to show the way of how to be cool, elegant, classy and with style.

She said to me, “the other day I was watching ‘Judge Joe Brown’ and having a late lunch and he had on these 5 African American girls, one girl (who had a witness) was suing the other 3 for attacking her and these girls were big, I think collectively they could life up a bus.

She was beaten up real bad by these 3 girls, had to go to the ER, do a police report and such, and the 3 girls had an attitude like they were proud of what they did and brought in a video of the attack, and they just stood there posturing and rolling their eyes, while the plaintiff was explaining her case and her witness was verifying everything, now when the 3 defendants started talking, the plaintiff and her witness didn’t do any of that, they just stood there and quietly shook their heads at the lies and attitude of the 3 defendants.

Judge Joe Brown read the riot act to those three girls, told them what they really were and found for the plaintiff. And I have to admit, I could not believe those 3 girls even before I saw the video, their attitude put me off, made me believe that they were the aggressors and when I saw the video what I really saw was the plaintiff defending herself, I did not see her starting the attack. So the 3 defendants were in the wrong and yet they refuse to believe it.

And that is what this world is coming to.”

I could only agree with Mean Kitty, it is a sorry state of affairs, and we’ve lost what culture we had and it’s come down to all that.

But last night at dinner, in part I felt my faith somewhat restored when she said “If you always act like a class act, everyone will have to act that way too eventually, maybe indirectly it can influence some young person, give them the subconscious nudge in the right direction, what people don’t understand is that they themselves create the ghetto instead of improving it. Remember that movie ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ it’s based on a true story and that guy is making a lot of money now a days, but he’s helping others, as they say ‘You’ve got to have that fire in your belly’ if you want to improve yourself, it’s just that too many young people are afraid to leave that which they are familiar with, but all it takes is one step and then another and another and keep going, and then you are free of the ghetto, but I think a personality needs to be in the forefront and is a strong influence to make change for the better. It will happen, it will happen slowly, but it will happen.”

And that is when I realized that even I have to be an example Darlings and give you this next lesson----remember it-----

DIVADOM IS NOT BEING RICH OR WEALTHY BUT BEING CLASSY EVEN WITH LITTLE MONEY, TO SPEAK RIGHT, ACT RIGHT, DRESS RIGHT WITHOUT TRASH OR BEING TRASHY.

It’s knowing what is right and what is wrong, it’s being responsible and helpful, it’s being considerate of others and yet, knowing what is legal and right. The world is not handed to one on a platter, it must be earned and also earning the respect of others.

You can be a Diva even if you can only afford to buy at Goodwill, Salvation Army or St. Vincent De Paul. The key to Divadom is EDUCATION.

If any of you Diva Darlings are putting together your notebook based on my “blogs”, then put what I have just written as your prolog and always remember it.

Now Darlings, I must go and do my beauty routine and get my Beauty Sleep, Juanita will be back tomorrow and I need to get myself on track for the New Year.

Until Anon Darlings, Kisses.

La Diva Loca: Learning, Living The Diva Life

Bed side Reading~~~

Important Papers Review 2012

Time to start the new year~~~

A home office

Etta James & Haute Couture

Politics and Money

Diamonds, Taylor & Christmas

9/11 Ten years later~~~

Thoughts on Things~~~

Riding the Roller Coaster~~~~

"Egg Money"

Investing, gardening and Staycations

Hello 2011

Love and Joy Come to you and a Merry New Year~~~

A Quick Update

Do you Like the new Design?....

A belated Update

Happy 2010 Darlings!!!

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Being "Frugal and Hunting Bargains" are in Style~~~

An Update

A Quick Note~~~~~

The Economy and hardships~~a brief note~~~

President Obama

Part One of our "Business Ladies who Lunch" Pot Luck Review

A Life Time Routine~~~~

Happy New Years Darlings!!! 2009

Merry Christmas Darlings

Gold Standard, economic studies

Changes and Holidays

Gaming Parties, and family events

Budgeting--don't do what the state of California did

Blogging From Santa Barbara

A Fire Vacation~~~~

At my brother's cabin and a future investment idea~~~

More Budget Ideas....

An Update

Twisted ankles and frustration~~~

Have Been Busy---White Elephant Sales and all~~~

More Reading information and a bit of Fluff~~~

What to Read to be a Diva

Darlings Do you think that Life can be difficult?

Taxes, the curse of life and Divahood

Just an update

Back from my Winter Vacation Darlings

Update on my Travels Darlings~~~~

Travel Plans-----

A Diva Health Guide~~~

Diva Ideas for a tax deduction for one's car------

What is the world coming to?~~~

The Economy and hardshipsa brief note~