Here is my 1 Second Everyday for February 2023. Runs about 1 minute. Enjoy.
Archive for the ‘San Pedro’ category
1SE for February 2023
February 28, 2023Ocean View
April 3, 2022Today is Sunday and as usual we go to church at Ocean View Baptist Church. This is a post not about the church but about the view. It’s been pretty much overcast this week.
On a good day, one can see the mountains. Not today. One can barely see the harbor. If you look carefully, you can see ships anchored out side the harbor waiting to be unloaded.
I have been told by a friend that works at the port, that the Port of Los Angeles had been parking the ships out of sight from the shore to make it look like the backup is easing.
Today
January 9, 2020Well. Paula working at Assistance League today and I didn’t have anything to do. I didn’t feel like hanging out at home all day, so I decided to go out and do something.
First, a stop at the local Starbuck’s for an iced coffee. Brought my iPad. Finished work on previous blog post then did a couple of crossword puzzles. NY Times puzzle was nasty. Once that was done, I headed out.
I decided to take a ride down to South Shores to see the view. Would I be able to see Catalina Island. I could but just barely. Not the clearest day in a while.
I drove south on Western. All clogged up with construction work. Turned right on 25th Street and headed for Rancho Palos Verdes. Paula’s Mom once had a condo down here back when I first met her with a view of Catalina (when one could see it.)
I continued until I reached the famous Wayfarer’s Chapel I took a few pictures. The sun wasn’t at an optimum angle, but took a few pictures.
One of the things that the Wayfarer Chapel is famous for are glam Hollywood weddings. The one wedding that comes to mind is Jane Mansfield/Mickey Hargitay in 1958. Takes some time to visit all of the Jane Mansfield memorabilia. Man, she was hot. Click here for some of the pictures
So, I was done with the Wayfarer. Headed back whence I came and stopped at one of the pullouts to stop and enjoy the view of the Trump Golf course.
Highway to Heaven (or???)
November 22, 2019So I read that Mass is changing its exit numbering from the extent sequential numbering to mileage based numbering. So for instance, I90 (the MA Pike) would change from exits 1 in the west to exit 140-something in the East. Other highways would be renumbered similarly over the next few years. They say this is being ordered by the fed’s. That will undoubtedly cause widespread mayhem.
So that made me think, what kind of mayhem would that cause in Los Angeles? Luckily, I don’t have to commute on a daily basis on the LA freeways. But renumbering would be crazy.
So I thought I would give my east coast friends a test. Match the freeway number with its commonly used name. Some of the freeway names are a no brainer, some are a bit obscure. I had to look them up. No fair for west coast peeps. No using Google. [I’ll publish the answers in a couple of days, or you can google it]
- I-405
- I-10
- I-5
- I-710
- I-605
- Rt 60
- Rt 2
- I-215
- Rt 91
- I-105
- I-10
- Rt 101
- I-110
- Harbor
- Hollywood
- San Diego
- Gardena
- Santa Monica
- Glenn Anderson
- Santa Ana
- San Gabriel
- Pomona
- Glendale
- Golden State
- Escondido
- Long Beach
Board & Care #2
April 3, 2019We visited another Board & Care today. Our goal is to make a decision by Saturday. This B&C is in San Pedro on 1st Street. It is only 5 minutes from our house. Once again this facility is in a private residence (as are most B&C’s) Here is an exterior picture:
So this home seemed a bit bigger than the B&C we visited yesterday. It didn’t seem quite as cramped. There are three bathrooms. Each bedroom is equipped with two hospital style beds. So here are my pluses and minuses:
- Price is $3800 flat rate per month. All inclusive.
- Shaded patio outside.
- 5 minute drive to get there. This means we can keep doing Mary’s usual routines like her hair appt. on Friday.
- Newer TV. Not that it matters, Mary doesn’t watch any TV.
- Ramps out back.
Here are some more pictures:
Bottom line is we don’t really know how Mary would take to doing the move. We will probably break the news to her in the next day or so. Then take her for a tour.
The proximity to our place issue is huge. Price is also a big plus. We can pay for it quite easily. We won’t go broke moving her. Cheaper and nicer. That’s a good combination.
Stay tuned.
Joe
Spring Time in San Pedro
March 9, 2019I decide that today that I needed to do photo tour of San Pedro to see the Spring wild flower blooms. Paula didn’t need me at home, so I was free for a couple of hours. This is a few of the pictures that I took. My apologies to my friends back east, who are still feeling the effects of Winter.
First set of pictures is of an area called San Pedro Hill near 9th & Western. The ground is not stable enough to support construction, so the wild flowers can grow. By summer time, this area will be a golden brown, but right now it very green.
Then, I continued south-bound on Western and turned right onto 25th Street. This area is subject to many landslides, so the wildflowers grow unbothered. One of the areas that has a park is called Abalone Cove. Here are the pictures:
And finally, I headed east on 25th Street and headed to an overlook on Gaffey street with a great view of LA Harbor. It was a great day for the the sail boats.
Picture taking done. Now to stop the store for some laundry detergent. The Girl Scouts were outside selling their wares. Got a box of cookies. Not on my shopping list.
Finally, got a Venti iced coffee at Starbucks. Day is done. [BTW All picture were taken with my iPhone 8 plus.]
Second Tuesday
October 9, 2018Okay, today is the second Tuesday of the month and that means that the ladies at the Assistance League of San Pedro/South Bay are having their monthly luncheon meeting. Go to hyperlink to learn more about the Assistance League. Both Paula and Mary are members and usually attend. Paula runs the Chapter Relations Committee and she needs to be there early. Getting there early means that she gets prime parking. This is important because Mary can’t walk too far.
So we got up bright and early, had breakfast and hit the shower. We got Mary up, fed and dressed. Mary needs help getting dressed these days (that’s Paula’s job). At 9:00 AM, I walk Mary down to the elevator and wait for Paula to drive around to pick Mary up. So I load Mary into the Prius and off they go.
One of the nice things about our condo is that it’s all on one level. No stairs. That wasn’t an issue when Mary bought the property, but it is now. There is an elevator that takes us down to the garage. Mary doesn’t handle stairs very well anymore. We need to always be keenly aware of handicap accessibility. Another fall would probably kill her.
That means that I am free for the next four hours. So I headed to Albertson’s to do some grocery shopping. First thing, I head to the Starbuck’s and order my usual venti iced coffee. I also order a pumpkin scone. The barista tells me that they were out of “venti” cups so she had to give the larger cup. Twist my arm I tell her. I sit down at one of the small tables and sip my coffee and check the news on my iPhone. Ah, life is good.
So the first thing that the Barista asks me is “Where’s Paula?”. She’s at a meeting with her mother, I tell her. I’m flying solo today. The butcher and checkout lady ask me the same question, “Where’s Paula?”
So, i finish my shopping and head home. I unload all the groceries and sit down for a quiet lunch. Now, I finish this blog post and it’s time for Red Sox baseball.
Bacon
December 10, 2017Today I was with my family eating breakfast after church at one of our favorite places called the “Pacific Diner” in San Pedro. By now, all of the wait staff generally know that I will be ordering Bacon and Eggs. 
So several months ago, I was sitting next to my grandson Jonathan. So, he asked me what was on my plate, pointing at the bacon. That’s bacon, I tell him. Would you like a taste? Yes, he says. From that day forward, Mike would have to order a side of bacon for the kids.
So fast forward to today. Jonathan has an omelet of some kind with bacon. So I tell him how men eat bacon. You don’t eat it with a fork and knife. You can pick it up with your fingers if you like but that is not ideal.
I show him how to pick up a half slice of toast, add some jelly and put the bacon on the toast and then fold in half. Tastes great.
So Paula asks me why men always eat bacon on toast like that. I tell her that’s because it’s the right way to eat bacon. Gotta teach young lads early.
Home
May 25, 2017I’m just beginning to unwind from our whirl wind trip to Massachusetts. We visited many friends and family over a six day trip. Weather was very nice. We had a great trip. I even saw a thunder and lightning storm. Luckily I didn’t have to go out and drive in the storm. Don’t see that very much out west here.
Many of our friends said to us “Welcome Home”. But here’s the thing. I have spent most of my life living in Mass., including 36 years in Billerica. We have been living in San Pedro now for almost 5 years. Mass. doesn’t feel like home anymore. San Pedro is our home now and it feels like home to me.
Will we ever move back? Don’t know. Probably not. I don’t like moving. We’ll be back again next May.
Tuesday Night
September 21, 2016In the past, Tuesday nights were family nights. We would have our son and his family over for dinner. But now that the school year has started, doing dinner on Tuesday night became a problem. They needed to get our grandson Jonathan to bed by a decent hour so that he would get a full night’s sleep. School starts at 8:30 AM. and that meant we couldn’t do Tuesday dinner and get done early enough so that Jonathan could be in bed by 7:00 PM.
So, Paula and I suddenly had a free night. So I could go to my Shrine Club meeting with the guys. And Paula could go have dinner with the ladies. My meeting was with the Beach Cities Shrine Club at the Whale and Ale in San Pedro. The ladies were meeting at Trani’s, also in San Pedro.
So, if Mary was going to eat, she had to go with Paula. I heard from Paula that the service was none to good at Trani’s. We were getting text messages from some of the ladies that they hadn’t been served by 8:00 PM. By that time we were pretty much done.
So I had Fish and Chips at the Whale and Ale. This is one of their signature dishes. Very tasty. I had a “Dirty Martini” to wash it down. I need to do a blog post on various martini variations. So to make it short, a “Dirty Martini” is two parts gin, one part dry vermouth and an ounce of olive juice. I think I prefer a Martini straight up.
So I was home well before Paula hit the road. I used my “Find My iPhone” app to show me when Paula was coming home. So I asked her how things went. Terrible she says. She asked her mother if she had a good time. Mary says, “No, it was terrible”.
Apparently, Mary didn’t recognize anyone at the table except Paula. Even though she should have recognized at least half of the ladies at the table. This event made it clear to us that Mary’s dementia is getting much worse. We will most likely not take her to events like this in the future. No fun for us and no fun for Mary. In addition, she is having more and more difficulty in carrying on a conversation.
calherewecome 