I’ve been running a lot of errands the last few days and have noticed a bunch of really random things that I feel I want to tell someone about. But really no one wants to hear about any of it. Lucky for me, I have this here blog.
Occupy Irvine
Like many towns and cities across the US, we have a number of protesters camped out on our City Hall’s front lawn. I drive by them frequently; they’re an interesting mishmash of people – college kids, those in need of a shower who honestly don’t look like they live in Irvine, people who wish it was still the 60’s, even though they never lived in that era. And don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great what they’re doing. Good for them for caring enough to speak out – I commend them, really I do. What I find funny is that today when I drove by, all their tents were put off to the side. Did the city finally shut them down??? Nope, apparently today is gardener day. Apparently the city thinks it’s ok to peacefully protest. But not at the expense of the city lawns! Egad! Our city does not want to be the 1%…the 1% with dead grass.
Who notices baby?
I get a lot of really friendly and nice comments about our baby when I am out and about with her. Usually the comments are about one of the four things:
- She’s so cute!
- Look at those eyes!
- She’s so observant!
- She has so much hair!
It’s really nice. While I hate to lump people into categories, I’ve noticed that, in general, it’s the same types of people who notice our baby: the elderly, female cashiers (almost every single one of them makes a friendly comment), and little girls under the age of four. Who doesn’t notice our baby, ever? Men in suits, especially those between the ages of 32-50, Male laborers/service folks, and college kids.
College kids are…interesting
We live very close to a good sized college campus, which means there’s a lot to look at for people who like to observe other people, like me. Today it was 66 degrees, according to the thermometer in my car. While driving near the college campus, I saw one student wearing a winter hat, scarf, pants and boots. I saw another wearing a tank top and shorts, riding a skateboard. I saw yet another who couldn’t make up her mind on whether or not it was cold – winter hat, scarf and shorts. Don’t people just wear jeans and long sleeve t-shirts anymore? I also can’t help but notice how these kids shop for groceries. First, they’re always in a group. I seldom see them by themselves, which I guess makes sense -most have roommates, I guess. But I love how their carts are filled with almost all liquids (bottled water, sports drinks, sodas, and/or beer usually) and frozen foods. I once was behind a kid who had like 20 frozen pizzas in his cart. I wonder how long it took him to get through all those? A week?
Old folks are also…interesting
The supermarket I frequent is nestled between the college campus, a high school, and a retirement home (actually I think it’s two retirement homes). So I also shop with the elderly. Their diets are not that different from the college kids – they are also looking for convenience foods. I notice they eat a lot of canned or pre-made foods but instead of beer and soda, they’re drinking juices. The one common thread? They all seem to have a sweet tooth. There’s almost always some kind of dessert in their carts.
Marines
When dropping off clothes to the dry cleaner today, there were two gentlemen in front of me. One was parked next to me and had a US and US Marines flags in the dashboard flower holder (he was driving a yellow VW beetle) and the other had a marines tattoo peeking out from under his sleeve. Both brought their laundry not wadded into a big ball like mine, but hung on hangers. Both were clean cut and seemed meticulous in their appearance. The yellow beetle was clean, shiny and didn’t have stuff all over it. Could have been a coincidence but man, Marines aren’t messing around with their appearance.
I’m lucky
Our city is nice. Today the weather is nice. The streets are mostly safe and well kept. The roads are lined with trees – apparently our town has a policy where it’s 4 trees for every person or something like that. I like where we live. It gives me plenty to look at.