Hattie's Web

It is pleasant in the desert this time of year. I have been taking it easy and attending to mundane tasks like doing the laundry. I'm also watching a lot of MSNBC, which I can only get online at home. The commercials are so bad.

An agreeable surprise is a Mexican supermarket right across the street, where I got ready-made tamales and also peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc, and a real treat: a millet and peanut cracker. The checkout guy said, "It looks like birdseed." Indeed. But why should birds have all the good stuff?? It was absolutely delicious with a cup of coffee.
One thing that got me was that the entire back wall of the store was all chips: looked like hundreds of brands, but I could only find one brand of regular corn tortillas, and since it looked like about 500 or so of them in the package, I didn't buy them.

The place where I'm staying is full of elders escaping the northern winter, and all the work is being done by Mexicans: waiting table, doing the yard work, cleaning the rooms. I went over and had the breakfast that is included with our room and had a full American breakfast of two eggs, bacon (an indulgence), hash browns, toast, coffee and two glasses of orange juice, which was served by the nicest wait person. Our suite is a special deal to the company Terry is consulting for, and it is $45.00. a night. Try providing service like that at reasonable prices without the hard working Mexicans who nonetheless get kicked around here. The Arizonans are crazy for not thanking these people for making life so easy and comfortable for them and their guests.

I will start exploring in earnest tomorrow.

In Scottsdale, Arizona

Now we are in our rooms at the Hospitality Suite Resort. It's pleasant  with a kitchen, living room, and bedroom, and we will be comfortable here for the next few days while Terry is working at the startup company he consults for.  We were dog tired and starved coming in to Phoenix and so as soon as we got settled we went across the way to a vegetarian restaurant in a strip mall. It was full of happy diners. We had excellent hummus and spicy main dishes. We'll be back.

We enjoyed ourselves greatly in San Francisco. Last night we went to Scoma's on Fisherman's Wharf, and we each had a whole cracked crab,  cooked with plenty of garlic, and served with drawn butter.  Heavens!  What a treat. There is nothing as good, I think, as Dungeness crab, in the way of seafood. And I do enjoy the hands-on aspect of eating crab this way, with the bib and all. 

While Terry was busy at the planning committee for an upcoming conference,  I went around town with the group of wives, including a friend, Joan,  who has been a friend since the Swiss days when Terry and her husband, Allan, worked together;  we always meet for this annual occasion.   The brakeman flirted outrageously with us, and we didn't mind. Look at the fare!

 

I thought about how I used to take the cable car to my violin lessons when I was a teenager. San Francisco isn't my town, really, since I left so long ago in 1964 and never lived in SF proper for more than a few months but was more of a Berkeley girl.  I was born there, though! These days there isn't much of the funky stuff left that made it SF so exciting once upon a time.

I'm glad the cable cars are still running.

End of the line at the wharf.

 

hi all. posting from my kindle for lack of any wi fi connection. will probably be able to do something later. nice flight to sf on brand new hawaiian airlines airbus. now sitting with friends and getting caught up with all the gossip. lovely day here

Tweetage

I am too busy to finish my Nation Magazine Summary before we leave for the Mainland, nor will I finish the new post for my other blog. And I won't have time to post again until Monday. So just as placeholders, here are some good tweets.

 

alaindebotton Alain de Botton

Today's photo that 'doesn't look really like me' is five years from now's 'quite good shot'.

alaindebotton Alain de Botton

With age, one comes across more and more photos about which one protests in vain, 'That doesn't really look like me.'

 

chrislhayes Christopher Hayes

Mike Daisey will be returning to @upwithchris this weekend to talk about this: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Daloosh Dalia Ezzat

No #ArabSpring without women : "In #Egypt, there are now voices saying that women should leave the revolution to men" bit.ly/AxtbNs

1 hour ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Retweeted by @JessicaValenti

TPM Talking Points Memo

Even more Adelson money coming Newt's way: http://tpm.ly/w6gjoX

2 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

chrislhayes Christopher Hayes

Your must read of the week: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/30/080630fa_fact_bruck?currentPage=all

3 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Got to clean up my office and pack.

Aloha until Monday.

Unfriended a person who owes us $$$$$$ and just had a pool party and did not invite us. Dud friend anyway.

More:  There are a lot of bloggers out there who are just fools.   Enough said, and you know who you are. There are bloggers on my blogroll I disagree with, but they are not out and out fools.  If a blogger gets past me and turns out to be a fool, as sometimes happens, he or she is removed from my blogspace.

Young activist Rinku Sen on race, immigration, activism.

http://arc.org/content/view/44/43/

Rinku started her organizing career as a student activist at Brown University, fighting race, gender and class discrimination on campuses. She received a B.A. in Women's Studies in 1988 and an M.S. in Journalism at Columbia University in 2005. A native of India, Rinku grew up in the northeastern factory towns, and learned to speak English in a two-room schoolhouse. She can often be found with a pair of knitting needles in her hands.

Martin Bashir interviews Tea Party "freshman" Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh

Hard-hitting interview with deadbeat dad who owes $$$$$ in child support.

 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

This is a Democracy Now interview with Nicholas Shaxson, author of Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore banking and Tax Havens. It first broadcast on tax day, April 15, 2011. Mitt Romney comes up for discussion.

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/4/15/offshore_banking_and_tax_havens_have

After watching this, it was clear to me that tax evasion by the very rich is the reason our government is broke.

The Republicans out there in the blogosphere are starting to get worried, now that they see what a turkey Romney is.

http://floppingaces.net/2012/01/20/republicans-in-denial-reader-post/

From the Queen: Facebook page Ladies with Multiple Sclerosis for Newt.

http://www.mocklog.com/queen_mediocretia/2012/01/a-link-i-must-share.html

From Nancy Nall's blog.

http://nancynall.com/2012/01/23/the-one-great-scorer-is-ready/

From TPM livewire:
Gingrich: Romney Getting 'Desperate'

Newt Gingrich, speaking in Tampa, Florida said that Mitt Romney’s edge slipping after six years of campaigning is making the former governor “desperate.”

“It used to be pious baloney, but now it’s just desperate baloney,” Gingrich added. “Perhaps he’ll be able to open a delicatessen.”

Newt! The choice of nasty people everywhere.

Busy Monday

Too much to do for a person with a lazy constitution, but I forge on.  My notebook from the 2011 Nation Cruise turned up,  so I've been working on a summary, which I'll post later in the week. Also, working on a short piece about Global Hope  for the other blog on local progressive politics.

Four of us Leaguers went out to Hawaiian Shores, one of the numerous subdivisions in the Puna District, for their home owners' association vote count.  As usual, people were divided into angry factions. That's why we get hired for these things. Everyone respects our high ethical standards and professionalism. For many, it's the first time they have actually seen how much care and time go into vote counts. One observer told us, "We tried to run this election ourselves last year, and it took us twice as long to do it as it did you folks" Why?  We proceed in a careful and methodical way and double check everything,  This is the fastest way to handle things. Even at that, there will be glitches, and we have learned how to deal with those. I'm glad we have some younger members learning the ropes now. This is probably the single most important activity of the Hawaii Island League, because we  model proper election procedures.  And we make money for National, State, and local Leagues, too. 

And such excitement!  A nice couple in a pickup truck hauled away our old still functional but rusted out fridge. I imagine they, being young and worthwhile, will fix up the exterior and get some more use out of it. And we got rid of it without paying the $50.00 Sears would have charged us for the service. The new one has no freezer, which is fine, because we have a freezer downstairs. We also have a fridge downstairs with no freezer, where we store flour and rice, beans, coffee, pet food, etc. out of the reach of tropical heat and insects.  Lucky our electricity is free.

 

By the end of the week, we will have had to move all the furniture, etc. out of the back rooms so  our friend Jim can refinish the floors while we are  gone to the Mainland. And we will touch up the paint job on the kitchen cupboards. This should put us in good shape for friends and family coming in Feb. and March. April will be when grandchild #4 arrives, a girl.

I got into a big argument with a friend about finding out the sex of the child before birth.  I think it's always nice to know things. I know my daughter is over the moon about having a girl.

Did get a good swim in last week and will do yoga later. 

Have a nice day, everyone.

 

Earthquake! Magnitude 5 in Puna. Pretty good shaker. Caused things to bounce around but nothing got knocked over. Did not last very long.