Travels with The Rayman

This blog captures key learnings from the week in Santee, CA.

Do not wear pants that aren’t made for golf when golfing.  To illustrate the point, I did just that.  I wore some hiking pants when I played golf earlier this week.  The pockets were shallow.  What that means is that the shallow pockets don’t hold a lot.  And when you play golf, you need pockets that will hold a golf ball, tees, a green repair tool, and a marker that is used for marking your ball on the green.  So, what happened?  I went to the bathroom and as I flushed the toilet, my ball jumped out of my pocket as I was pulling my pants back up and it fell in the toilet at the exact moment that the water was rushing out of the toilet and my ball was swallowed up by said toilet.  When I reported this calamity to the Rayman, he told me not to mention it to anyone.  So I didn’t.  Until now.

Another key learning was to shop on line whenever possible.  Which probably explains why Jeff Bozos is now richer than Warren Buffett.  But I digress.  Today, we drove to somewhere to buy something and we almost died.  Twice, two different cars passed me and intruded into my lane so closely that Rayman and I could only marvel that we weren’t killed.  I laid on the horn for the second occurrence.  The first guy’s bad driving forced me to brake and move to the left to avoid the collision.   So, no more trips to the store except for groceries and car washes.  Let your fingers do the shopping.

Let’s see.  What else?  Oh, don’t sit down too much.  On Thursday, we met up with one of my high school friends to play golf.  We were a threesome.  We were joined by Louie.  Louie was 94 years old.  Fit as a fiddle.  Sharp as a tack.  He beat us all.  Not only that, he roamed up hills to find our balls.  No need for him to roam up hills to find his balls.  He never hit it anywhere but straight down the middle.  And Louie grows orchids.  It’s one of his many hobbies.  Not only that, but Louie was a Lt. Col. in the Marines and went to Iwo Jima in WWII.  Really.  Said he was just plain lucky to survive.  However, I attribute his longevity to more than luck.  He is out doing it.  He reports that he walked the course until just a few years ago when all his friends started renting carts.  So, now he rides.  However, he was forever jumping out his cart helping us find our wayward balls.  And he provided my friend, Elissa, with countless golf tips.  I think he fancied her.  He was a jewel and we loved our time with him.  So.  Keep moving.  Don’t use age as an excuse.

 

If you want to empathize with black people or if you don’t empathize with black people, read The Underground Railroad.  I’m in the middle of this book and it is so painful and awful that even though it is a novel, I think it is true.  If you are unsympathetic to black people in America, the reading of this book will give you some insight into the realities of America’s original sin.  It won a National Book Award.  Is is well worth your time.  Published a year or so ago.   ahttp://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/08/22/the-perilous-lure-of-the-underground-railroad

One other note.  I thought the underground railroad was a euphemism.  My history needs improvement, obviously.  I am embarrassed to admit it but the underground railroads were, well, underground railroads.  Proves we can all learn new things.

Reconnecting with old friends is fun and worthwhile.   As mentioned earlier, I hooked up with my friend and we had a splendid time.  She and her main squeeze are coming over tomorrow for a barbecue.  We plan to have a great time again.  Can’t wait.

Don’t sit on your sunglasses.  We went to Nordstrom and I tried on a few things.  One item required me to remove my shoes.  So I sat down.  When we left the store, I donned my sunglasses and they were a kilter.   This required a trip to an eyeglasses store.  Luckily, the woman that helped me fixed the problem.  And she refused payment.  There are nice people in the world, aren’t there?   Even offered a tip.  She wouldn’t hear of it.

Shop with your husband.  Rayman always gravitates to grays, navy blues, black.  At Nordstroms, he bought a red plaid shirt.  Very handsome.  Bright colors are great for guys.  It should be encouraged.  Now if only he will buy some salmon colored shorts!!    See.  He fits right in with battleship gray.  Here he is on the USS Midway in the San Diego harbor.

As an older woman, what do you like to be called by a stranger?  Madam, young lady, Miss, or something yet again?  Madam in the french manner sounds okay to me.  I’m admittedly conflicted but young lady or Miss seems an afront.  I’m neither and don’t pretend that I am.   Here I am in a cockpit of an actual jet from WWII, I think.  Climbing in and out I definitely did not look like a young lady…many other descriptions come to mind.  

Okay.  That’s all the key learnings this week.  What will next week bring?  Stay tuned.