4th July and earthquakes...laying low :-)

At WW this week, Our Leader Shar, was dressed head to toe in stars and stripes. All very tasteful with a striped blouse, navy shoes a red and white cloth flower on her collar. It was 4th July week and a time for celebration and holiday for a majority of people. I had unfortunately put on a pound, so at the moment when I lose, I am losing weight Id already lost! What a pain. Must try harder!!! As Shar said, I need to ‘Catch it at the flicker not the bonfire’, so I will be good next week!!!

As I drove into my road, I saw a very young coyote just standing on the pavement. It looked so cute and I was told later that there has been a group of young coyotes around as their mother had been killed. My instinct is to put food out for them, but clearly the neighbours wouldn’t be happy and that will encourage them to come into the neighbourhood even more.

Later that evening I drove all the way to Thousand Oaks for Choir, after having diligently practiced all my songs, only to discover it had been cancelled as so many people were away on holiday this week, only someone had forgotten to put me on the mailing list. Still, I got home at a reasonable time, had a piece of cake and a large wine….. bugger, broke my diet already!

I went on Wednesday to give my blood samples and went to the same building as the doctors but this time it was the 3rd floor not the 5th. As I got out of the lift(elevator) I saw a corridor of fire door all with tiny plaques next to them. It looked like a corridor in a hotel. There were no windows or larger signs directing you. So I walked to the first LabCorp sign I saw and opened the door…into a supply cupboard filled with what looked like medication in cabinets and syringes etc….blimey security cant be great. Anyway, I hastily retreated out and made my way 3 doors down to another door marked LabCorp and opened it to find a sea of American flags, balloons and streamers. Ahhh, I thought 4th July!

After discovering I’d actually made the online appointment in Northridge by accident , the receptionist let me stay and the technician took 6 vials of blood!!! As Tony Hancock said in his sketch the Blood Donor, ‘That’s nearly an armful’. I think they are testing for loads of things – either comforting or terrifying, not sure which.

I said to the chap, ‘that’s alot of blood am I going to feel faint’. He said ‘no, but do you feel faint’. I did when I looked at the amount of blood!!

In the UK, you get a little round plaster, here he practically bandaged my arm, somewhat over the top.

At the reception, I had to pay $113. The receipt was 3 full pages (the America A4) – what a waste of trees!

My first session at Bitter Root Pottery in Woodland Hills was a dream to get to, taking only 10 mins drive as opposed to the hour Berman Pottery took. It was odd and as with any new experience you feel out of place. It started with getting lost when I got there and not being able to find a parking space, which didn’t give it a good start. Anyway I was told that I couldn’t use the clay from the other studio (which cost me $25), as it may be fired at a different temperature. Not sure if that’s right actually, so I’m going to make a few small things at home and smuggle them in to see…

The first session seemed to be filled with information of what I couldn’t do, and I didn’t really get to meet anyone, so I wasn’t sure if I made the right choice. I returned there today determined to chat to anyone who even looked in my direction and it worked, as we had a grand time, talking about films and music. We were there so long that Geoff a really chatty tattooed Chinese man about my age, popped out and came back with hotdogs and Pepsi from Costco – delicious - oh bugger, diet forgotten again!!!!

I worked really hard at my guitar this week and managed to get through the Hotel California intro solo without too many mistakes. At least Andre said he could tell I had practiced. Still not sure if I’ve reached a ceiling though. I’ve decided that I want to play a few more Beatles songs after watching ‘Yesterday’ at the cinema, which I loved!

At Aqua, Steph was away so we had a different teacher, who was nice but rather nervous. Finally people are saying hello and recognising me and even the famous Betty (who is cheered by the group every time she walks in) asked me my name. The music wasn’t good though and was rap and hip hop, which wasn’t right for the age group. One of the older ladies complained about the volume and another very old lady said ,‘no don’t turn it off, I love it, it’s like I’m in Africa’. 😊

After ringing to book my bloods this week, I had to ring another doctor to book my colonoscopy (everyone over 50 has it here) and I also had to ring to refer myself to a gynaecologist. I can see that people wouldn’t bother and probably wouldn’t get seen unless they were really ill. Anyway, I will be pricked and poked to see if I’m well – here’s hoping 😊 What a palaver!

At Costco on Thursday morning a lovely (not) huge fat man was proudly wearing a red t shirt saying, ‘Make America great again, Kick Socialists out!’. I wanted to take a picture as he clearly wanted to be seen and make a point, but Mark told me not to….wish I had.

Thursday 4th July

On the news here it is all about Trump showing his might with his tanks. It’s the large car, small….. thing isn’t it? Somewhat pathetic. Lots more talk about bipartisan politics. He used tax payers money for this and has made it a political rally.

So, Earthquakes…well that wasn’t in the brochure was it? Add that to rattlesnakes, coyotes, spiders and medical insurance…. The first tremor was when I was just getting up and the bed was shaking. Lulu was next to me and sat up with her ears pricked up. It was an odd sensation for sure. The house moves but sort of gradually, as when I moved quickly downstairs the hanging lights were swaying back and forth. The first quake had its epicentre in the Death Valley which had a 6.6 level, so we were just feeling the aftershocks of that. The following day, we had another tremor which was 7.7 this time and I felt the floor move and the pool water was sloshing side to side over the edges. Kind of scary actually.

Mark and I have now downloaded an app called earthquake alert!!! Unfortunately, he set his app to alert him of any quake, which to it’s word, did alert him of every tremor all over the world! Who knew….. there are small quakes all the time with anything from 1.4 to 2.46 (as I have just looked at happening right now). We had no idea...13 in last 7 days….121 on last 30….618 in last year!

The news was all about, ‘how ready are you?’ and ‘Get ready – this is after all earthquake country’ .... what!!!

So, we now have an ‘earthquake bag’ for quick escapes, by the front door, with the following things in it: Envelope of $100 cash; Jackets; Matches/flint; First aid kit and basic first aid book and a towel. What else would you put in?

That evening we decided to go under cover and join in the 4th July celebrations in the local Warner Park in Woodland Hills. It was a huge park and some people had been there all day to secure their spaces in their camping chairs (even during the tremor). Mark had booked seating luckily. There were loads of people dressed up , but many not. It was a wonderful scene of family fun and a real feeling of togetherness. Mark and I spoke softly so as not to be discovered 😊

We watched a fantastic blues band with the lead guitarist being only 21 – it really is too late for me….

The event was sponsored by Keyes on Van Nuy’s and after interviewing the whole Keyes family on stage, they played the advert over and over. It’s very catchy as it is the Beach Boys Barbara Anne.

There was a weird man in a pure white suit and Panama hat dancing around waving his arms, after a while a security guard shouted at him to move on in a really aggressive way. Poor man, he wasn’t doing any harm, just loving the music. We forgot the diet again and visited the line of burger, taco and hot dog trucks- the staple food. It was boiling hot, but incredibly there was only one ice cream truck. I miss Mr Whippy!!!!

The fireworks were really amazing with every minute lights filling the sky. The music was incredibly loud and the songs were patriotic songs; first of all with full orchestra and choir, then moving onto rock and country songs about America. We felt quite humbled about how much they love their country, but I have to say I did have a chuckle at some of the song lyrics – so incredibly cheessey!

Proud to be an American….

Worth a listen...😁

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps7xmW-9LXQ

And

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2hLBUkcFJoY

I think us Brits are too cynical to write songs like that. Steph at WW said that Americans feel they have to forge their way into the world as they are from all sides of the world coming together to make the country. This is a bit like Singapore I think. She also said that some are a little more patriotic than others. I know what she means.

Mark and I were trying to think of songs we Brits have written about the UK. We came up with:

London Calling- The Clash

God Save The Queen (and the fascist regime)- Sex Pistols

English Rose- The Jam

Streets of London - Ralph McTell

New England - Kirsty McCall

Mull of Kintyre- Wings

Four Lions- Baddile and Skinner

Land of Hope and Glory

Jerusalem

I had an email ‘call to arms’ from the Animal Sanctuary saying they had been inundated with puppies and kittens, cats and dogs, as this usually after the 4th July holiday, but I can’t go as haven’t had 1st day training. I’m Itching to help!!! I have booked the training for Wednesday and am VERY excited.

We had another lovely day out at the Santa Monica Vintage and Flea market and I was very excited to get a suitcase which I have covered in travel stickers and my very own slice of Americana, a Radio Flyer which I love and have filled with flowers.

After saying we could have another quake at anytime, the news now says that the small quakes we are having (we don’t feel these) are good as it now means we are unlikely to have a large one again.

Well let’s hope that’s true!