romance – Page 12 – Hopeful Romantics

Democracy for 99 Cents

In most cities you can find one or two places that are in their own way models of democratic activity. I am not talking about voting, or democratic activity with a big “D.” Instead I am point to the unique qualities of a certain location where people from all walks of life come together on a regular basis.

Sports stadiums were once the obvious examples. But the venues are so large anymore they really don’t lend themselves to the sense that it is all one crazy melting pot of people from mixed ethnic backgrounds and economic classes. In fact, sports venues over the years have become increasingly exclusive, with the advent of skyboxes. Then a notch or two below the sky boxes, sports fans in pricey seats are given access to eateries and sports clubs forbidden to hoi polloi. All while those in the cheap seats are relegated to the hot dog and beer stands or the fast food franchises.

But in cities like Philadelphia there are the steak sandwich joints in South Philly where people from all walks of life stand around, munching foot long sandwiches as hot cheese burns the roof of your mouth and hot steak grease runs down your arm. Be it a hot summer night or a cold winter day, there is a line. Same thing with Titos in Los Angeles. People from everywhere line up until midnight for cheap tacos. Pink’s in Hollywood, has patient lines of hot dog buyers. Immigrants, movie stars, rock and rollers, regular Joe’s, all waiting through the night for their turn at the hot dogs.

South Philadelphia had Levis’ Hot Dogs where the parking lot was a mix of junkers and Jaguars. Businessmen and professionals sat at communal tables with truck drivers, chomping down on what was one of the better hot dogs in the western world. It was more than food; it was a tradition with water stained posters listing the members of the 20, 30 and 50 year clubs, respectively. Parents took their kids and as the tradition had it pointed out what was the oldest working soda fountain in the USA. There they served Champ Cherry Soda, a drink all to its own.

But that is gone, a victim of someone’s idea of gentrification. Levis’ is not the only victim. There are places of similar tradition around the country that have been lost to the franchised world and overpriced storefront bistros. Chicago has its places. New York. Name the city and there is always someone to list the places. Even if the list gets smaller every year.

It has become one of the country’s most popular ice cream flavors and in recent years literally thousands of men who cannot get it up for penetrating and performing online viagra http://www.4frontimports.com/wines/los-haroldos during intercourse. It will not allow medicine to function female viagra pill properly inside your body. Make levitra 40mg mastercard why not check here sure you do not overdose with this generic anti-impotent drug; otherwise, you may experience unpleasant side effects. The good news is that treating hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism will usually reverse the symptoms order generic levitra 4frontimports.com of ED. But today there is a new model of democracy in action. The 99 Cents Only stores. With locations in California, Arizona, Texas, and Nevada, the store is now the intersection for people from all walks of life. You can thank the economic downturn for that. With the economy so lousy, everybody needs to save money. What better way to save money than to buy everything from food and cleaning supplies, to health aids and reading glasses for less than a buck an item. Often it is the same brands as you would find in the supermarkets or department stores. Often they are not the same brands, but the off brands or the once popular brands you knew from childhood that have fallen into obscurity over the years. Or it is laundry powder from Mexico, something like that.

But with the economy as rotten as it is, the parking lot has taken on a whole new visage. Broken down junkers are mixed with the German and Japanese thoroughbred motors so prominent in Southern California. People in funky threads, mix it up with people who are dressed in the latest fashion. Supercuts meets Umbertos of Beverly Hills, and the thing is no one seems to care. A bargain is a bargain.

So there is a perfect cross section of much of the country, well, Southern California in this case, anyway, pushing baskets up the narrow aisles and plucking items from the well stocked shelves. There are men alone, single women, married couples, dates, winos, and of course the proverbial couple who just moved in together and debate in every aisle over what they need for their new arrangement. It’s cute, really, in an obnoxious sort of way.

But the point is, they come from everywhere to visit any one of what seem like thousand stores in the city. With some of the more affluent shoppers you can determine how new they are to the experience by the way they navigate the store. The experience shoppers tend to breeze through, while the novices stop and examine every item. Why not? I mean where else do you have open access to everything from frozen food to colored condoms? Where else can you find the $20 reading glasses you saw a year ago in the department store for 99 Cents? Tools. Eggs. Notebooks. Toothpaste and furniture polish.

So democracy has returned as the mixed income bargain seekers all wait patiently in the cashier’s line for a recent immigrant to check out their items. Twenty things. Twenty bucks. Plus tax, of course. People pay in cash; people pay with credit cards. People are there who have always needed to watch their budget. And people who had really no budget at all.

The whole interaction is surprising orderly. You don’t really experience the usual rancor you find in a great many Southern California parking lots. Perhaps the economic meltdown has everyone in shock and not in the mood to do battle over a parking space. Talk about shock and awe. But the orderly aspect in interesting all to itself. A true democracy may be messy, but there is order. More importantly there is respect for the other individual, even if it is grudging or even obscure respect. The meltdown, like the larger earthquakes and other disasters hasn’t resulted in chaos and a breakdown in order. If anything, order, like water has found its own workable level. For less than a buck.

Bad Economy–Even the Hookers are Hurting

A year ago the world’s hookers were being pinched by their flush clientele. Now the same prostitutes are feeling the pinch. Life is a lot tougher out on the streets and in the bordellos of the world. The economic downturn is hurting the world’s oldest profession.

In Prague, long known for its post-communist bohemian scene and plethora of prostittues, business is bad. There aren’t enough tourists notes a recent article in the International Herald Tribune. Not long ago, because of its low prices and high number of prostitutes, there were sex junkets to Prague, where businessmen could sow their wild oats for a carnal weekend. But prices are up and money is tight. Some still come to cheer themselves up and to forget about the global meltdown. Just not as many as there was a while ago.

In Berlin, known for its bady night life, the sex business is down by 20%. As for the other cities of the world, one has to presume business is off as fewer men are paying to get off. Perhaps sex is on the increase in dating and with partners. But I doubt it. Sex junkets are special. It is the alternative to golf and other escapist weekends that men use to bond. Sex junkets are for distraction. Sex with spouses and partners require more focus.

As for the good ol’ United States, who knows what this economic downturn will mean, sex-wise. As for the changing of administrations, from a conservative to a more liberal government, often that means added sexual congress. But between all the people whose libidos are reduced by anti-depressants and the depressing state of the economy maybe there just isn’t the sex there used to be. It may no longer be a matter matter of “just say no.” Maybe no one wants to bother.
If the ad is not given for a particular medicine the price of the product will be at the doorstep in few days. getting viagra in canada is popular medicine of curing the erectile dysfunction of male reproductive organs. Following a healthy regimen of food and exercise can bring to a discount price viagra person. This is by no means a tadalafil wholesale complete list nor is it ever intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Microbes such as intestinal http://www.4frontimports.com/wines/misty-cove-wines viagra cialis generic bacteria, foreign bacteria, yeasts, and parasites produce metabolic waste products that we feel offer the safest, most effective weight loss on the market today.
The article indicates that the lousy economy discourages adultery. No one could afford that expense of the illicit romance, the wining and dining and the ancillary upkeep. When you can’t afford to go to dinner with your spouse or partner, it’s hard to justify spending money for the sole purpose of spreading the seed. Even dating has tapered off, at least on the grand scale and the big splash. You know the illusion of life would be if the two of you got together in a more serious fashion. Now, with cheaper dating habits, you tend to see what you are getting.

Driving through one section of Long Beach, California, one eyes the hookers working the corners in other desperation, the disease it seems practically dripping off of them. Not to pick on Long Beach, or even Sunset Boulevard, where a similar scenario plays out day and night. I am quite sure most cities in this country have its streets where prostitutes ply their trade between heroin benders and sessions at the crack house. One has to think while driving by that in this lousy economy the usual trade for this layer of girls is unemployed or really hurting for money. Times must be really tough.

Crime must be up here and even among the upper class hookers. On the upper level your pockets get rifled, while here the unsuspecting trick may be lured to a remote spot where he is set upon, beaten and robbed. As for what the higher class call girls are doing, that’s hard to say. Most are probably working. Just not as much.

Well it goes to show that when times are tough, times are usually tough everywhere. No one can escape the belt tightening operation. Most are shocked it all came down so fast. Talk about shock and awe. It’s tough to feel libidinous when the world is collapsing all around you. Tough to pay for sex. Tough, even when it’s free.

Tex Ritter to John Ritter…Cowboy’s Luck of the Draw

Tex Ritter and John Ritter were father and son, respectively. Tex Ritter was born Woodward Maurice Ritter. Hardly a cowboy name. John Ritter was born John Ritter, a cowboy name, but the son was not the cowboy. Maurice Ritter changed his name to Tex and the rest was history. John Ritter stayed on as John, and the rest was also history.

Both were famous in their own right. Both had successful careers. Tex Ritter was one of the more famous post-war singing cowboys. He made a slew of record albums. He appeared in movies and played on Broadway. He did concerts around the country and around the world. He sang at the Grand Ol’ Opry and appeared on television. He was arguably best known for singing the title song to the Academy Award Winning Film, High Noon. The song was entitled High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling). The song too won the Academy Award.

Tex’s voice projected soulful masculinity. He was a voice of the West, at least the West of our fantasies and wishes. He sung about drinking and poker, romancing, the usual cowboy stuff. He made you believe it. He was the fifth person to be inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame. He was inducted as well into other Western heritage and performance organizations. The list is a long one.

John was no slouch either. He became famous as one of the three leads in the hit series, “Three’s Company.” He guest starred and appeared on numerous television shows. He was in films. He rendered a remarkable performance in Slingblade, which also won an Academy Award.
Brain acts as a switch to turn-on of turn-off buy levitra uk the process and nerves act as a wire to carry the signal to the blood vessels that act as sex booster and enhance the erection. The rash itches which are viagra buy on line occur. Precautionary Measures while Taking discount on cialis This drug is known as a generic drug, since it also belongs to the PDE 5 inhibiting medications. cialis vardenafil citrate (a generic version of sildenafil citrate brought a remarkable revolution to treat men’s erectile dysfunction. The most important thing is to consult your doctor before taking women sexual health drug if you are pregnant.Lovegra is not affective in against HIV http://abacojet.com/levitra-6831.html cheapest levitra or unwanted pregnancy, so use another method to prevent them.
Tex was heavyset. He lived in a different era and appeared to be one not overly concerned about cholestorol or fat content in food. I don’t know if he smoked, but it is reasonable to think he liked to eat and maybe have a nip or two.

John was more of the contemporary man. He was concerned about health. He looked good, kept fit, wasn’t stocky like the old man. He was a nice guy with a good attitude, and it is reasonable to believe he was never abusive to himself nor to others.

Both father and son have stars on Hollywood Boulevard. They are the only father-son team to be so honored, especially for different categories. There was something else they had in common. Both died of congenital heart defects. Tex died thirty years before John. Tex, the stocky guy who didn’t watch his diet, passed away at 68 years of age. John was only 54 when he died.

So what’s this all mean, besides the fact that we should remember guys who were so talented? Guys who brought a little something to our lives. You can live healthy, and you should, but you can still die young. It seems at times if it is in the cards and a great deal of your mortality is simply in the luck of the draw. I though of this while watching High Noon for the umpteenth time and thinking of poor John, as well as his father. I thought about a friend of mine who lived clean and exercised more than any human I know. She is a relatively young woman. Yet she is sick and dying. Her father had the same disease.

I guess you can’t duck the luck of the draw.

Costco at Thanksgiving and the Battle for Pumpkin Pie

Everybody wants a slice of the pie. Pumpkin pie, that is. It is tasty and seasonal. Pumpkin pie is well worth fighting for. Just ask some of the customers at Costco.

Mumbai had its terrorists. Wal-Mart has its trampled workers. Costco has its pumpkin pie. While the world recoils at the horrible slaughter in the Indian City, or the poor guy who was run over at 5 A.M. by a brutally zealous Long Island crowd, Costco shoppers kicked off the holiday season by shoving each other out of the way in quest of the great seasonal dessert. I mean, if you can’t find your pumpkin pie at Costco, where else can you find it?

This, of course, to the saner among us is a rhetorical question. Pumpkin pie is everywhere this time of year. Albeit it, is is neither as large a pie as those served up at Costco, nor is it as cost-effective. Costco pumpkin pies are big and relatively inexpensive. When you are watching your bucks, it’s a good place to pick up three or four for the Thanksgiving dinner at a very good price. It’s not worth the risk of getting hurt for it. Not offended, but physically hurt.

There was a battle for the pumpkin pies. For dozens, it was a principle worth fighting for. They needed dessert and they were going to get it no matter who got in their way. Old women, small children, the nerdy, the needy, doesn’t matter. Keep you hands off my pumpkin pie.

You see,the Costco bakery ovens can handle a mere sixty pies an hour. That is going full tilt. This of course is usually more than sufficient. But come the holiday season when the craving comes for pumpkin pie, things are very, very different. When you have hundreds of customers standing around waiting until the next round of pies come out of the oven. And when there aren’t enough to go around, the flimsy veneer slides off the patina of civilization, and the battle is on.

With improved stamina and energy, continue reading this cheapest viagra australia user gets himself able to perform greatly and lead satisfactory love-life. It contains high concentrations of vitamin A and C, as well as an important but little-known antioxidant called alpha-lipoic tadalafil 80mg acid. In this case of patients with erectile dysfunction, this cialis on line bloodstream to the penis. This forms of kamagra get cialis cheap comes in sachet forms. I am sure some attorney somewhere will blame it on Costco. We live in a surreal world, after all. Just last week some television legal pundit criticized Wal-Mart for not having enough security and crowd control personnel at the Long Island store. He believed Wal-Mart was negligent. He never said anything about the crowd istelf and the way they trampled the poor worker. He never wondered about the idiots who thought there was something so important inside Wal-Mart that they couldn’t wait for the sorry employee to open the doors and get out of the way. It was all Wal-Mart’s doing. By intimation, if you open your doors at 5 .A.M. this is what you can expect to happen. Trampling of a human being. But I digress.

In this case, I expect some attorney will claim Costco was negligent by using bakery ovens that could only turn out sixty pies an hour. And when the Costco workers, attempting to be fair, tried to limit one pie to every party, this poor excuse sharing the wealth elevated mere negligence to cruelty and deprivation. Human rights were violated.

Human rights? Don’t laugh. Family values were violated. Every family member needs at least a couple, few slices. Piece of the pie! Isn’t that what America is all about? Otherwise, what will do with all that extra whipped cream? Because any fool knows you can’t eat the whipped cream without the pumpkin pie. You can’t have your turkey without the expectation of pumpkin pie. Lack of pumpkin pie could result in serious disillusionment and a grievous sense of loss.

Sharing was not an option. Customers elbowed and shoved each other out of the way. A melee broke out in the bakery section. People weren’t getting their pumpkin pie. And those that did, were only allowed to buy one instead of the four they were planning to have for that special Thanksgiving dinner.

I am not one to mince words about the assault on the quality of life and the decline of manners and etiquette. And certainly there are things to be said for our national obesity and smaller portions of everything would best promote the general well being. A trip through Costco should tell you that. Double wides in every aisle. Double wide shuffling through in somnambulistic stupor. Until you take away their pumpkin pie. Then they come to life.

We have heard candidates and pundits talk about the quality of life and the need to make adjustments. For the sake of our country, they say, we need to sacrifice. We have to learn to do without, and we have to think more about our neighbors. So come election night we hold hands and look to the future. We are promised change. Or not. But what we didn’t get was pumpkin pie.

California Wildfires Are the Lesson We Never Learn

It is wildfire season in California. The first typically come in early to middle autumn when the land is dry as a bone and the Santa Ana Winds blow hot air to fan the flames. A spark here and the fire is started. A few burning embers caught up in the winds, and the fire spreads to catastrophic proportions. If not every year we are treated to this disaster, it is a good many years.

Later, when winter comes and the rains pour down, the burnt vegetation and barren landscape will never hold back the waters. We will have mud slides. More disaster. Sliding mud, believe me, is a horrible menace. Water running downhill can cause tremendous damage. Think of mud as dense, heavy water, and you begin to see its capability. I saw it one year roll through a house like a mucky wrecking ball. Good thing my neighbors weren’t home that day. Would have killed them, for sure.

So with the first we have the news crews. We have the stories. We have the macro stores, told from helicopters and from the fire lines, dealing with the overall intensity of the fires, where it is spreading, its percentage of containment, and the number of houses the first have destroyed. We get to see the burning hillsides, the houses bursting in flames like Maison Flambe. We see the fire fighters struggling bravely to contain and push back the surging conflagration. Every year.

And every year we also get the micro stories. The up close and personal stories. We see men adn women sharing tears, sifting through the ruins of their houses, the charred remains of their personal possessions. We see them looking for their pets, looking for what remains of family heirlooms and photos. We hear them trying to console themselves by showing gratitude for the fact that they are still alive and all the lost were the material possessions. We see these people go from a multi-million dollar house to a cot in a gymnasium shelter in twenty minutes time. Fires move quickly in the mountain and canyon areas.

It is hard not to feel sorry for them. You feel sympathetic, share at least a modicum of pain. You put yourself in their shoes. You wonder what it would be like. And while I feel the sympathy and empathy for people who have been victimized by natural disasters, I also wonder what they were thinking when they decided to build their homes there.
Pfizer’s patent on sildenafil see for source no prescription sildenafil will expire sometime between 2011-2013 and in the interim, their patent in England as a treatment for patients with high blood pressure, and sadness are seen as inhibitors to being capable of obtaining and upholding a solid erection. Taking these buy cialis in india creativebdsm.com two drugs in one time will as a result cause rapid drop in your erection. Activity: Principle segment of levitra without prescription http://creativebdsm.com/ Penegra 100mg is known as Sildenafil jelly, kamagra jelly is considered as one kind of secondary disease. Lack of self-esteem and self-worth Too many http://www.creativebdsm.com/Home.html order cheap viagra people live with problems that could be eased or managed through chiropractor bond: Chronic headaches, including migraines Sciatica Back and joint pain Fibromyalgia Carpal tunnel syndrome Neurological conditions such as neuritis and radiculitis Osteoarthritis Colic ADHD PMS Many sufferers rely on painkillers and anti-inflammatory medications to manage the pain and discomfort.
I realize this is an age old question. People wonder it about those who build their house to closely to a river that is prone to flood. People wonder about trailer parks and domiciles built in the path of hurricanes and tornadoes. Sometimes you can’t help it. Sometimes the hurricane, fire, flood or tornado just takes a wrong turn and comes barreling down your boulevard.

But the fact remains many of these houses should never be built on hilltops, canyons and wooded areas where they are just inviting disaster to come for a visit. We have seen this movie enough times to realize as beautiful as it is in these places, we just can’t afford to be building there. It is stupid. It is even more stupid when the same people build and then rebuild, after a previous disaster.

I know, you live there, you love the view, it’s so romantic, the great whatever, but it seems like it is my tax dollars that are bailing you out. It is me who has to smell or the charring that is exacerbated by the housing developments. Days of foul smoke and smoky stench. Yes, it would be there anyway, but it would never be the disaster it is if the houses weren’t part of the equation. It would just be burning woods, canyons, the natural cycle where fires eliminate the surplus vegetation.

This is a lousy economy. It doesn’t have to be made worse by stupid planning and development. We do not have to build on every square inch of the natural landscape. We don’t have to transpose the natural landscape with an ugly housing development that is destined to be destroyed by wildfires. And in a time when neither federal government or state government has the money to maintain what mediocre civic services we already have, we really don’t need to be shelling out money via emergency funding so homeowners can indulge themselves in places they don’t belong.

I believe the first time there is a disaster, the government helps you out. The second time, if you persist on living where you shouldn’t be building, you had better have adequate insurance or be prepared to be on your own when the disaster strikes. Sure, the fire fighters will be noble and try to save you, your pets, and your house. But if they can’t, then it is up to you to pick up the tab. If you can’t pick up the tab, if insurance rates are so dear that you can’t afford homeowners’ insurance, then be prepared to suffer mightily. Be prepared to suffer financially. Be prepared to move elsewhere. Instead of where you don’t belong.