Senior Gathering and More

As soon as I get up in the morning, I click on the coffee (I set it up the night before), do the usual personal tasks (oh, I'm so coy), then sit down at this computer. Yesterday morning when I did, I found an e-mail from Suz, saying Lori, the VCS secretary, had the flu and would I help her out at the senior gathering this (Thursday) morning and get there about "nineish"? It started at 9:45, and the topic was "Driving and Drugs," not very interesting to me; in fact, I hadn't planned even to go. However, I wrote back, said I would, and got there at 9:00, after walking Kimball and changing clothes.
I sometimes wonder if Suz isn't wrapped too tight (an old Holy Spirit expression), because when I got there, everything seemed to be under control. I had thought I'd be asked to hand out leaflets or something, but no. However, there was a registration table, manned--or womaned--by a couseler named Elizabeth Taylor. I introduced myself as Natalie Wood (couldn't resist) which went right over Elizabeth's head, I think. She is Hispanic and is a "Senior Preventionist" (I'm not sure that's a real word, but it's on her card) for Ventura's alcohol and drug prevention program. She's very nice, has a masters' degree, and a pretty strong accent, but we conversed together.
Our duty was simply to ask people attending to fill out sign-up sheet, listing name, address, phone, e-mail, and how they heard of the gathering. What I thought was idiotic was that they were also to fill out a yellow form with exactly the same questions, plus their ethnicity and signature. When I suggested to the organizer--a gorgeous young man named David--that one could be used for both, he insisted they had to do both, as the state required the yellow sheet. I didn't ask, although I was about to, why in hell the yellow sheet couldn't just be duplicated for the county.
Anyway, it was over at 11:30 and then the Rotary Club provided a hamburger and sides lunch. I didn't stay for that--my salad was waiting at home--but I actually enjoyed the morning quite a bit.
Did the usual after lunch. When I got home, I checked into my e-mail and a pop-up informed me that Anthony Boudain, of Parts Unknown, was going to be in Singapore on October 1. I'm looking forward to seeing it and will even stay up until 9:00, when it's on. I called Ellen to ask if she'd record it for me, too. She and Greg entertained some friends of theirs from Hamburg, Germany, she said; I reminded her our antecedents were from Alsace-Lorraine.