Rincon

Walked Kimball. After breakfast, I went to various stores and stocked up on produce: grapes, blueberries, tomatoes, onions, and more, plus rice cakes and salad dressing.
Took off for the bus in plenty of time, but decided to walk to the next stop. A bus passed me, so I figured the hell with it and walked the rest of the 1.9 miles to Rincon Restaurant/Brewery. Got there just about 12:30 and Carole came soon after.
The place was jumpin' both inside and out--very festive and fun, but the ceilings are very high and the noise level was tolerable. We had a really good time and good food and beer, too. We talked very frankly about our family members with dementia, including her husband, Vane (whoever would saddle a kid with that name like that should be shot) and we were there for almost two hours.
Vane picked us up (her car's in the shop) and took us to the mall, where Trader Joe's and the transit center are located. They went to the former and dropped me at the latter, where I took a bus into town. 
Walked to The Promenade in gentle warmth and under lovely blue skies. Did the loop up to Main, stopped in various places, then hopped a bus and was home at 5:00.
Diane had sent me info on a meeting of the Democratic Socialist club and yes, I'll go. I'm not at all sure I want to join an existing political organization, especially if it supports one of the black-hearted bastards who call themselves liberals, but I'm interested in what they have to say. It's next Thursday and I said I'd pick her up.
I e-mail Carolyn B. to see if she wanted to have lunch in Ojai on Monday and Tuesday. I like to talk to her one-on-one for a change, rather than in the presence of the others.

Mickey And The Museum

Walked Kimball. Went to T.O.P.S.and was pleased to weigh in at 129.5, a loss of 2.3. The program? Not worth mentioning for a variety of reasons.
After breakfast, I suddenly started thinking about my long-time (roughly 60 years) friend, Michaelanne (Mickey) Eldridge. We had been neighbors when we were in back-to-back apartments in Ewing--ours on Concord Avenue--and when we bought homes, ours on Lower Ferry, the Eldridges in Fleetwood Village. Micky and Art had three sons, Gary, David, and Kennie, roughly approximating my first three children in age. Mickey and Art divorced, he died, and she moved to Arizona years ago. I had her number from there, but it was no longer valid; I found her current one and her address on the Internet. Called her and we--figuratively speaking--fell into each others' arms. We talked for--get this--more than an hour and what fun it was.
Mickey is six months older than I am; both Gary and Ken are divorced, neither have children, and she hasn't been in touch with her middle son, David, for ten years. She now lives in Phoenix and Gary lives with her. What's incredible to me is that Mickey has no electronic devices at all: no desk top, no laptop,  no tablet, and no mobile phone, so no Internet. Gary has some, but she doesn't want to use it. Therefore, we decided we'd write and call back and forth.  I want to dig up some old pictures and send her copies. I'm so glad we re-connected; it's been 24 years.
As planned, Suzanne and I left at precisely at 2:20 to get to the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology (aka "the bird museum") in Camarillo at 3:00. This proved to be a fascinating place, one of only a handful in the world. The collection includes more than 1,800 mounted bird specimens, 20,000 nests, 56,000 bird skins, and an astounding 800,000 eggs. There was only a small family group with us when we took the guided tour with Rene, the collections manager and Shannon, the curatorial assistant.
Chatting with the latter, I was interested to hear that her mother and stepfather were moving to Singapore shortly; he's to be the editor of a paper there. Shannon has been to Singapore, as well as Malaysia and Cambodia. It was great to talk to her.
The museum fascinated me, in particular, the eggs, especially the gigantic one from the extinct elephant bird. Here are Suzanne and I in front of it:

Anyway, it was a different and interesting excursion. On the way home, Stella called from the library, wondering if I was walking. No, but we can get together later. Later, Betty called to say she had another doctor's appointment on Tuesday, so not to come to SB.
I had baked two large onions, which I first marinated, in my newly-acquired onion baker and, with chicken and spaghetti squash, had them for dinner. Yummy, yum, yum!

A Temple And Toe Nails

Walked Kimball, had breakfast, then drove to Diane's and got there at 9:00. We took a long walk in her neighborhood--probably two miles in total. We stopped at the Buddhist Temple (Diane has attended services there several times) and a nice Lama (or whatever he was) unlocked the door and allowed me to go in. Very interesting and it's similar to temples where I've been in Asia. We then sat talking for about an hour  in the lovely garden.
Diane is "into," as the saying goes, all kinds of spiritualism, alternative medicine, and you name it, she believes it. She told me how a man cured his stage 4 cancer with positive thinking. I try hard to keep my mouth shut, but that kind of think just drives me nuts. However, we managed to converse civilly before walking back to Silvercrest.
Diane asked me to join her canasta group--well, I'd rather do that than hang by my thumbs for three days, but no, that ain't gonna happen. Anyway, we parted and I got home about 1:00. Had lunch, typed up the minutes for the last T.O.P.S. meeting, then Suzanne rang my bell to ask if I want to go  to Camarillo this afternoon to some kind of bird museum. Well, sure, and we'll leave about 2:30.
I wrote two sympathy notes and headed to the post office for stamps. However, I deviated  to Jessica Nails, as I've been wanting to get a pedicure in preparation for my podiatrist visit next Friday. Did so and I'm glad, but I was hoping my (slight) pain in the big toe would ease and it's about the same. Okay, I can live with it. Got to the P.O. with minutes to spare, then stopped at Sprouts and Smart 'n' Final for blueberries, lettuce, and grapes.
I texted Carole F. to see if she wanted to go to lunch one day; she said yes and suggested Saturday, so we'll meet at noon at Rincon, a new restaurant not far from here.

Happy Hour At Casa Bella

Walked Kimball, then spent most of the morning after breakfast on tiresome duties: changed the sheets and did a wash; called podiatrist to find out when my appointments;  called AAA to see if they'd raise my rates because of my infraction--yes--but if I did the on-line traffic school thing, no; called the court to see how to do the traffic school and was told they'll send me info. Oh, by the way, I'll be charged an extra $70.71 to go to traffic school. Now this is not the cost of the traffic school, which is extra, it's just a little something they tack on. At this point, I don't even question, I just send the money, now totalling over three hundred bucks. Oh, well, that's better than $490.
Went to Smart 'n' Final for romaine and grapes, had lunch, showered, and took off for the bus stop. Got to Casa Bella a bit late, so Diane, Nancy, and Carolyn were already there. We had a good time, but it always goes a little too long for me. Nancy and Carolyn finally left and I told Diane I'd wait with her until the Access van came, which was about a half hour later. We had a good talk and she invited me to exercise at Seacrest today at 10, which I accepted with pleasure. I walked her out, the van came, and I crossed Main to get the bus. I just missed one and Goodwill is right on the corner, so I went in and found they were having one of their 50 % sales. Could I resist that? Certainly not and I bought a stoneware onion baker and can't wait to try it.
When I got home (after 7:00), I found an email from Colleen, the exercise person, saying she has bronchitis and had cancelled. I wrote Diane to ask if she wanted me to pick her up and we'd go the the supermarket near her.
Home after 7:00.

"The Upside"

Walked Kimball, had breakfast, then spent an interminable time on the phone with the Ventura Star, that crappy excuse for a newspaper. I'm keeping a record of all my travail with them--but a fat lot of good it'll do me.
Left about 10:15 to meet Nancy and walked the mile and some to Telephone Road. Got the bus there and to the Regency at our meet-up time of 11:30. The movie was supposed to start at 11:50, but of course, that was really just the start of an unbelievably huge number of ads. There must have been at least an hour of them. We really should remember this and go at least 45 minutes later.
We both enjoyed The Upside, finding it both funny and poignant. It takes place in Manhattan and when I saw the outdoor scenes, I felt a surge of nostalgia for the east coast, even with snow on the ground. Okay, the movie was a little sappy and it was one of those "based on a true story" hybrids, but I like it anyway.
After, we went to The Cave for our wine and appetizers. We were too early for Happy Hour, but that was okay. I had their yummy truffle fries, Nancy their special potato chips and we talked and talked, as ever. Stella called, but figuring she wanted to know if I was walking, I didn't answer.
Nance dropped me off near WinCo, but I decided to skip going there and just get on the bus. Did so and was home about 4:30.
Actual Happy Hour today, but I have a lot I want to get done before 4:00

DMV And Dudley House

Walked Kimball, had breakfast, then went to the justice complex.  I asked to have the fine reduced and/or  to pay in installments and was advised to go to traffic court at 1:30. I did, pled guilty, the fine was reduced from $490 to $200, with a $38.70 added because I paid it with my debit card. What a freakin' hassle, but it's over---almost. I now will call AAA to see if they'll stick me for higher insurance. If so, I'll see if they'll waive it if I go to Traffic School, for still more dough.
When I got home, I found a nice bag of tangerines at my door, from Suzanne, of course. She asked me to come in and see her orchid plant, which is gorgeous and we chatted a bit. She said our former neighbor, Don, had been over and told her Ventura Del Sol, where we live,  is for sale. Hmm...I wonder what, if any, changes will take place--the only one I care about is whether the rent will go up. (I"m afraid that to ask that question is to answer it.)
My tax account, Michelle, came over to give me copies of my return, which she filed and already, the refunds from fed and state appeared in my checking account; I'll shift a thou over to savings.
Betty called to tell me about Pat Kennedy's son's funeral. It was held in a rented hall and did not include any religious elements at all. There was no viewing--I believe he was buried already--and now Pat and her daughter will go to Jersey for her brother's funeral.
Betty has a doctor's appointment today, so I won't be going to Santa Barbara. Called Nancy to see if she wanted to do a movie and The Cave, and yes, sure. I'll meet her at 11:30 at the Regency to see The Upside.
Somewhat reluctantly, I attended the Poinsettia Toastmaster's meeting at Dudley House. I really didn't feel like it, but Fern had invited  me, and I said I'd come, so I did. Generally speaking, it was fun, especially the "joint event," which Judi conducted. This consisted of one person in turn sitting in a chair. The next had to persuade the person to vacate it, coming up with some reason why--it's really a form of improv. John was my "sitter" and I told him he had to rush home because some talent scouts from Hollywood were at his doorstep. They wanted to talk to him about starring in a movie with a voluptuous actress named Wild Wanda. He jumped up and I sat down. Jeanne then tried to get me up by offering to let me view the many woodpeckers in her garden. I rejected that, but she got me with an all-expense paid trip to Tokyo. And so on. There were other imaginative and creative efforts and lots of laughs.

Rebellion, Sort Of

Warning: This is a very long one.
I walked Kimball, but not at 7:00 am, as usual.
I was glad to have slept through the night, which is the first time in several days. I kept waking up because I was on my back and I like to sleep on my left side, which bothered me because of the rib bruise. (Actually, I'm beginning to think I pulled a muscle, instead.)  So I woke for the reason everybody over fifty seems to; got back to my room and saw it was 7:15. I get up at 7:30, so I ordinarily would have just stayed up--but I rebelled. I turned off the alarm and went back to bed and slept until 8:15!
Good grief, I usually have breakfast at 8:00, but I didn't care and I wasn't hungry then. Dressed, did the Internet stuff, and putzed around until 9:30 when I followed my usual Sunday routine, which can be summed up in "coffee, cottage cheese, and crossword." (Toast, too, but that doesn't scan.)
Checking me e-mail, I saw a message from Diane about how people who live in Singapore are some of the happiest in the world for various reasons. From the same source, she also sent information on "The End of Alzheimer's," the study by the very same doctor who wrote the book of the same name, which I had looked into at the library. I'm intrigued, but here is what I answered Diane:

As for the Alzheimer's article: Coincidentally, just yesterday, I had lunch with my daughter, then went to the library in town and read for awhile. Read what? An End to Alzheimer's, by the very same Dr. Bredesen cited in the article. As I think I mentioned, I had also attended an Alzheimer's program at the hospital on Thursday. The "lifestyle cure" was not mentioned at all and it was repeated that there is no treatment for the disease that works for all or that works consistently.

I'm not suggesting this is bogus, just that it has to be examined very carefully. You can be sure I didn't plow through all of this, but I skimmed over it and paid particular attention to the results. Here are some my major concerns:

1. It was a very small study with only ten participants. 

2. The title is misleading. I skimmed over the study quickly, but carefully read information about the results. None of it noted "a cure," but rather improvement (not that that isn't significant), some of which was subjective.

3. Dr. Bredesen has a financial interest in the supplements recommended. That alone should be a red flag.

4. Of most concern: I've attended a number of programs on the subject featuring a number of speakers, all of whom were doctors, scientists, pharmacists, or Alzheimer's professionals. While the importance of diet, exercise, and socializing were touched upon as possibly contributing to brain health, it was never suggested that a lifestyle change would have an effect on Alzheimer's or any other form of dementia.

5. I want to see if there are any larger students conducted by disinterested researchers. If this is legit, there should be, at this point.

Even with these concerns and more, I find the suggestion that these types of lifestyle changes could have a effect on Alzheimer's  intriguing and I intend to pursue it further.* 

I then went to WinCo for cabbage, apples spinach, and frozen fruit. Cut up the first two and put them in the slow cooker and made my lunch salad. Soon after, the third male sib, Larry, called and we had a long, long talk--more than an hour. He and a number of his clan (there are dozens of them!) are going to Prague and Budapest in July. He suggested I go with them. Hmm... I wrote Mike to ask if he'd meet me in Hungary (where he spent Junior Year Abroad) if I went. Dunno about this, as I also want to go to Jersey in May and New Mexico in June (the Jersey trip is problematic for several reasons).

Anyway, it wasn't until 3:30 that I left to walk Kimball. It seemed odd to be there in the afternoon, but it was pleasantly sunny and I enjoyed it. I then drove to Main Street, looking for the Alzheimer's  Association office, but didn't find it. Home about 5:00 and in for the night.

*Note: I would be very interested in hearing a comment on this from medical personnel who read this blog (hint, hint).