Fabulous autumn morning as I survey train yard

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Netbook Fever

I often frequent coffeehouses and tea cafes since my community has many independently owned & operated, it's also my way of stimulating and contributing to the local economy.

Until recently I didn't pay attention to which ones offered wifi, whether it was free or not and what amount of purchase, if any, was required. Now that I have the HP Netbook which is uber convenient to carry with me and set up my eyes have opened!

I see plenty of people surfing the web, doing homework, viewing YouTube videos, blogging and researching from their netbooks. Occasionally I glimpse a Macbook or full sized Windows notebook, but lately they're netbooks that line the table tops.

Cha for Tea is a cafe that I truly enjoy frequenting because it not only offers free wifi but also has an open fun atmosphere for folks who like playing card and board games. On any given night you'll see two or more groups engaged in a competitive game seated side by side the screen zombies.

The screen zombies preferred choice of equipment these days is the netbook. They don't seem to mind that they lack an optical drive since all are engaged in activity that requires Net access. I haven't become a screen zombie yet, preferring to use my time engage in healthy, competitive game warfare!

Hospital Essentials

Recently a co-worker's mother spent hours & days at the hospital in support of her husband, I wondered how she was surviving the long days in between treatments. I anticipated what essentials I'd need under similar circumstances and decided my netbook with USB flash drive and games and iPod would be the items.

As of last Wednesday my nephew was hospitalized for four days and did nothing but climb the walls for two of them. I suggested my sister take her son a deck of cards, sketch pad with color pencils (he's artistic) and the current musician magazine.

Again I wondered what I would want if I were hospitalized? I came up with a deck of cards, iPod with latest podcasts, the word game Bananagrams and my netbook with flash drive of games. These things would keep me mentally occupied and out of trouble!

What would you want?

Three Dog Night

I'm listening to a live recording of Three Dog Night Captured Live at the Forum in Los Angeles. I first heard this album as a child, I was going through my sisters' record collection and the cover looked interesting. Between physical attraction to the singers' pictured on the album's cover art and being mesmerized by their rendition of Chest Fever I became a fan.

Over the years their music has stuck with me so much so that when Chuck Negron performed solo at my community's Summer Jubilee I attended, eagerly anticipating hearing Negron perform live. I posted a poorly recorded video captured via digital camera on YouTube and to date it's received over 3,000 views which comparatively speaking is miniscule yet, something I never considered could happen.

I checked wikipedia for all three former lead singers of Three Dog Night: Cory Wells, Danny Hutton and Chuck Negron and sadly it seems they still haven't reconciled. What a joy it would be for fans if the band could settle their egos and differences allowing the music to truly heal.

Los Angeles County Fair

I'm relaxing today after spending all day yesterday at the fair. I know they get a lot of flak for things they do wrong, but they earned kudos in 2009 for:

• Opening Labor Day normally they open the Friday after the holiday when the kids are back in school and parents are running as fast as they can.


• Promoting $1 entrance fee between 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Saturday, Sunday & Monday (the actual holiday) normally only opening day is $1  entrance all day, which meant Friday, when everyone's working or in school.

This year's promotion gave families someplace to spend the holiday other than the park, beach or home BBQing because the fair was in town. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the end of summer and herald the chaos that is back to school.

The $1 entrance promo potentially enticed many new fair goers to attend, as well as past attendees who have turned sour over the fair's escalating admission fee. This promo generated positive associations to the fair and it's needed this for a long time.



The grounds were packed to the gills between 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. and thinned considerably by 4:00 p.m., which was great for the rest of us as we were able to see the exhibits and find seating at performances. We spent a fair share of money on food, beverages and assorted items and stayed until closing.



We attend the fair annually with friends who opted out of attending opening weekend fearing crushing crowds. We normally would never attend the fair on the weekend, but were too excited about the change not to try it! We'll return in two weeks on a weekday as we normally do and see the sections we missed this go round.