yikes...what happened to December!

Wow, it's December 26 and I hardly posted for December...sorry!

It has been a busy month! I took time off from the job hunt for some much needed R&R in Hawaii. Ten days in Oahu in the town of Makaha did the trick. It was wonderful, but in the nature of staying with my blog theme, I'll tell you about the traffic hell we encountered. The west side of Oahu doesn't usually receive high winds, it is the leeward side of the island...however, the first few days I was there the weather decided to play it's own game.

The first night we were there 24 power lines blew down on the only road out of town creating a 3 1/2 hour traffic nightmare. Power did go out at the hotel, but the electric company re-routed the power grid and the hotel was left dark for only about 10 hours. Some of the areas along the down power lines were out for at least 3 days...probably more. My hat goes off to the electric company there in Hawaii and how fast they replaced those lines. We contemplated changing hotels and going to the much dreaded Waikiki area so we didn't have to spend 3 1/2 hours each morning driving the 16 miles that got us out of town and the 2 1/2 hour drive back each night. Under normal circumstances we could drive to the north shore in about an hour, but the first day out it took us 4 1/2 hours. We could have opted to stay at the resort, but since this was a surf vacation, you need to go to where the waves are good.

The first day we endured the long drive was only about 6 hours after all those lines blew down. The local police were still directing traffic through the non working traffic lights and detouring traffic out of the lanes where some of the power poles were laying across. When we drove back through that night the electric company was out in full force. There must have been 50 or more electric company vehicles working working on those lines...and over 100 men and women out there in the dark. To me it looked like at least a week long project to restore it all. The following morning when we headed out there were even more power company vehicles and an even stronger workforce. It was truly incredible. They worked straight through for three day until all was up back as it should be.

As for the rest of the vacation...it was awesome! If I ever figure out how to upload pictures onto my blog space I'll share them with you. I also got some really good wave footage on video!

I got back on the 13th of December and eye surgery scheduled for the 14th. I had two procedures done to my eye. I had some Salzman Nodules lasered off of my eye and also had a pterygium removed. To difficult to explain what these both are, so if you are interested in learning more just google it. They did knock me out so I slept through the 45 minute operation. They did it through heavy sedation, which I am really glad they did because apparently they gave me shots in my eye...they also cut out two section of the white part. I have at least 6 stitches in my eye. Kind of gross so I hope you aren't eating while you read this. It feels okay now, but it's still red and my eye is all puffy. I had a great doctor. If you ever have eye issues I can give you my personal recommendation for Dr.Demartini in Walnut Creek, CA. He is wonderful!

Okay, one more bit of news....I START A NEW JOB TOMORROW! I won't be taking BART to work so I may have to rethink the name and original premise of this blog. I do have one blog entry from a ride I took on BART into the city last week, but I'll write that maybe tomorrow.

I hope you all had a wonderful Hanukkah or Christmas or what ever you celebrate. For me it's not so much about the holiday, but the spirit, the coming together of family and friends and the goodness that mankind hopefully shares in more abundance with each other at this time of year.

I'm glad that 2007 is coming to a close because it was kind of a rough year for me. 2006 wasn't such a hot year either.So here's to looking at all the wonderful and positive things I'm hoping that 2008 brings my way. Fate wouldn't dare bring me a third lousy year! Watch out 2008, here I come!

Public Service Annoucement - If you can stop sniffling, either blow your nose or stay home

I hate winter, no, I hate what winter does to people, no, I hate people who sit on the train and sniffle. People, do me a favor. If you are going to be on public transportation, stop at Walmart, Target, probably your grocery store and spend the 33 cents and buy a pocket size pack of kleenex. And while you are at it, pick up a pocket size of Purell because I know that you are wiping your runny nose with just your hand, then touching the the handle rail by the train door while you wait for your stop and the escalator hand rail. Spreading all those nasty cold and flu germs isn't a cool thing to do.

Oh, and for those of you sneezing, hacking and coughing up a lung back there 3 rows behind me, keep in mind that if you are that sick you should stay home and stop contaminating the rest of us with what ever you are sick with. I'm feeling really good right now and I really don't want to feel as crappy as you do next week.

love always,
Dr. Cecelia

High tech or what's a computer?

Yes, once again I headed into the city on BART for another interview. This one was with an agency so hopefully they will find me an awesome job...Soon! But I while I was on the train I started working on something I seem to be drawn to this time of year. I started needlepointing. I'm thinking it is a lost art. I got some really strange looks from younger people on the train. The looks didn't bother me, I just don't think they knew what I was doing. When I needle point I even wonder what I'm doing! The first project I ever did, a "Merry Christmas" banner took me 12 years to finish. I was so proud when I finally did finish that I had it framed and everything. This time around I'm working on a Christmas stocking. Its so cute and hopefully I'll be able to use it next year. I know there is no way in hell I'll finish it for this season. I'm sure it will look like crap, just as the Merry Christmas banner does, but I'll use it anyway. I think it's rather artistic that all my stiches are going in different directionsd!

Now for the flip side of the coin...after sitting on a train, working on the lost art of needlepointing, I come home and check my emails. A few days ago I sent out a happy holidays email to some friends I worked with in Los Angeles. When I first started this blog I sent them all the link to it. Well some of the emails I got back yesterday mentioned that they did check out my blog when I first sent them the link, but they weren't really sure what they were suppose to do with it or exactly what it was....I thought everyone understood what Blogs were.

So I find it kind of an interesting thing that I can sit on a train and get funny looks while I needlepoint because they don't have a clue to what I'm doing, then come home and write my blog, which isn't really that high tech, and have people tell me that have no idea what a blog is and what I'm doing.

I feel so hip and yet so old at the same time!

Am I old fashion? or a in a new frontier foreign to my friends? My friends are all pretty close to my age. You'd think that at 46 the would know what needlepointing is as I'm sure they saw their mom's or grandmothers doing it. And who hasn't heard of the internet and blogging.

Happy Thanksgiving

While I did have a job interview this morning,it was in Concord so I didn't take BART. And nothing very interesting happened on drive up there. So for today's posting I could tell you all about the AWESOME apple pie I'm making, or describe the beautiful flower arrangement I created, but instead I'll just wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Have a safe and wonderful holiday!

Cecelia

Little Pink Raiders????

Yesterday was Sunday and I was on the Oakland Raider's Express. We'll, not really, it was a BART train, but there were so many people dressed in Black and Silver heading out to the Raider's game from Pleasanton/Dublin. There was even one guy bringing on board two 12packs of beer. Of course he was the only guy wearing shorts. Everyone else was bundled up in black Raider team jackets and sweatshirts - after all, this is a mid November Sunday in California...we could all catch frostbite in 60 degree weather.

What's really cute are the faces of the children decked out in their finest Raider's gear. One little girl stands out in her pink and white Raider's jersey. She's a far cry from the Raider fan's they show close up at the game on TV wearing their spikes and black and silver Raider war paint.

After closing the doors at the first station only a handful of seats remain. It became a very interesting and noisy ride the closer we approached Oakland!

Step on a crack, break your mother's back...or other awful things

While this isn't about a train ride experience, it's about what can happen in any city or town...so city planners, contractors, and cement pourers please read and take notice and help do your part to correct this problem...not only in the SF Bay Area, but in every city across America.

I am a female. I enjoy wearing high heels, but what I don't enjoy is walking on side walks if you have on a heeled shoe that isn't a wedge or wide at the bottom of the heel. Every time I'm in the city (any city!) my heel gets stuck in a wide crack in the sidewalk. Not an unplanned crack, the but the intentional lines of the side walk they put in when pouring the sidewalk. I realize that these cracks/breaks are necessary, but damn it, make them narrower! I can't tell you how many pairs of shoes I've ruined because of a heel getting stuck.

It doesn't matter if I'm wearing high heels or kitten heels or somewhere in between...it always happens no matter what.

I can hear the applause and cheers of women everywhere agreeing with me on this one. It should be mandatory that everyone involved with sidewalk planning be made to walk a minimum of 4 blocks in high heels so they can understand this problem, fix it and plan accordingly for future sidewalk projects. It's a funny mental visual image, but hey, if it helps my shoe collection I'd gladly curtail my giggles and laughter if I see a parade of contractors in pumps.

Okay, done venting and off to Macy's to buy new shoes!

In need of Cheetos

Today I'm not on a train, a plane, a bus. I was in my car for a while, but that doesn't count. What I am doing is sitting here on the couch wishing I had a bag of cheetos or a box of donuts. Yes I am depressed. About a month ago I posting a blog with a shameless plea to employers out there offering my top notch executive admin services. Well even after that plea and I can't tell you how many resumes sent out, I'm still sitting here on the couch watching Oprah instead of sitting behind a desk organizing a company beyond their beliefs.

I have a lot I am greatful for, and I truly am, but today I received an email from a company I really wanted to work for telling me they had put the position on hold. I guess it set me off. Along with the fact that the sun never really came out today (I am solar powered). So, everyone please send me your positive thoughts and forward my blog onto anyone looking an Executive Assistant/Training Coordinator/Office Manager Extrodinare....oh send some Cheetos while you are at it!

Hanah who?

Last night we were riding BART into city. But before we even got on board we knew something was up. The kisoks where you buy your BART tickets were full of 10 year old girls, their mothers and a few fathers. Apparently Hanah Montana was appearing at the Oakland Colliseum. I've heard of Hanah Montana, but I really don't know much about her except for the fact that she is Billy Ray Cyrus's daughter. But every little girl in the East Bay knows who she is, and they were all attending her concert.

Pink, glittery, teeny bopping fans, one more adorable than the next were all over the train. The moms were in the know, but the dads were clueless and thinking back to the last concert they attended...Led Zepplin, The Rolling Stones, Rage Against the Machines, The Eagles...but Hanah Montana?????

I'm glad I had sons.

To Eat or Not to Eat...

Once again I was on BART into the city for another interview. The train is pretty empty the whole ride it, making it very comfortable…until Mr. I’m Not Following The Law boards. He has a bike with him, with is fine since there is plenty of room for it, but what is offensive is the food he has brought on board. The smell of a hot dog loaded with everything, including an over bearing amount of onions has fill the air. It’s rather nauseating and I know that if I were pregnant I’d be puking all over the place. But since I’m not pregnant…nor ever will be again I can’t puke on the guilty culprit I’ll settle for giving him dirty looks. I always thought that they didn’t allow food on board because of the mess it could cause, but now I realize it’s because how offending the smells can be to other passengers.

But a few days later I’m sitting at Oakland airport waiting for a flight to Chicago. I am nibbling on a cookie, the lady city across from me is eating a slice of pizza, the gentle man behind me and to my left has a bag of potato chips. There must be really good air circulation here because I don’t smell any thing. Yes the pizza is making me drool, just because it looks really really good and I’m starving. This little cookie isn’t cutting it. I am a stone’s throw away from the See’s Candy Kiosk and it’s killing me. I know I need to get something to eat to take on the plane because it’s a “non meal” flight. When I made this same flight 3 weeks ago the food they did offer on the plane was horrible at $5.00 a box. The actually encourage you go buy food to bring on the plane to eat.

So depending on where you are, Shakespear was almost right when he wrote "To eat or not to eat..."

Lullaby and Good Night….

On Friday night we took BART into the city to see a concert at the Warfield Theater. The show was great, especially if you like metal music. It had been a long time since I’ve been to the Warfield and I forgot what a great place it is to see a show.

When we boarded the train at the Dublin/Pleasanton station, the station was packed with commuters getting off the train on their way back home. We got on a train heading into the city and it was empty. We were the only ones in that particular train car. Of course, me in all my silliness pointed this out and I had this strong urge to run up and down the car making funny animal sounds, but I did contain the urge and stayed in my seat. For those of you who have known me personally for a long time, you should be very proud of me…Yes I’m finally growing up and trying to act my age! As we traveled closer to the city, it was defiantly a Friday night crowd getting on board. There was no such thing as the hushed speaking voices, but more of the “Let’s Party” battle cry.

Like I said, the show was great and so was the crowd. Some young thing even asked if he could buy me a drink….or maybe I’m confused, maybe he wanted me to buy him a drink, he didn’t look much over 21. I think I’ll stick with my first thought and he wanted to buy me a drink. I was looking damn good Friday night!

Needless to say I turned him down, but managed to have 3 diet cokes and rum. When we boarded back on BART to go home I felt my age as well as the cocktails and promptly fell asleep. Not just a dozing off, but a deep sleep. We got on at the Powell station and I was asleep before we went through the Trans Bay Tunnel. I didn’t hear anything till I was nudged awake when we pulled into Pleasanton. I personally apologize to everyone on that train if I was snoring or drooling. If I was, next time please laugh at me louder so I’ll hear you and wake up.

I'm Jealous

I'm jealous. When I was on a BART train one day last week I happened to look out the window as we passed the Fruitvale station. I looked out at the parking lot there and I saw empty parking places during the mid morning hours. I board at the Dublin/Pleasanton station and if you aren't parked by 7:00 am on a week day morning you can pretty much forget parking. I'll gladly pay the $1.00 parking fee for a parking spot, hell I'll even $2.0o any time of day or night if I could find an open spot. I've tried reserving a parking place, but unless you know 30 days in advance that you'll be parking and are able to get on line on that 30th day before everyone else it's nearly impossible.

While interviewing for jobs in the city (shameless plea here - I'm an excellent Executive Assistant with tons of experience both as an Executive Assistant and as a Training/Education Coordinator looking for a position with a great company...email me at cecelia.liss@yahoo.com if you have an open position for me!), my interviews are scheduled for generally mid morning after 10:00 am so I would be boarding BART about 8:30. There are never any parking places available at that time of day Monday through Friday. Thank God for the wonderful and incredible El Marko who leaves for work about that time and drives me there.

Leaving the city at noon is a breeze, but if the wonderful and incredible El Marko has driven me to the BART station that morning I'm stuck at the station because my car isn't there. It's about 5 miles from my house to the BART station and if I'm all dressed up for a job interview in heels, I don't really want to walk those 5 miles home. There isn't a bus route that comes close to the house so I'm faced with a $15.00 + cab ride home.

So here goes my second plea (this one not so shameless) and it goes out to BART....PLEASE hurry, hurry, hurry and expand the parking at the Dublin/Pleasanton station. Employers, please refer to plea number one and send me an email so we may discuss the wonderful things I can bring to your organization!

Trains, Planes, Buses....and a whole lot of walking

It’s Sunday and the train is full and it’s just the first stop. There are a lot of events going on in San Francisco today and all of us suburbanites have elected to ride BART rather than drive in and deal with the hassle of parking and a hundred other reasons that make a car in the city a headache. We are headed in to see the Blue Angeles as part of the Fleet Week celebration that happens every year in October. There is also a 49er game, the Italian Heritage Parade and the Annual Castro Street Fair happening today.

There where a lot of families on the train and could be attending any of these events with the exception of the Castro Street Fair. If it’s what I think it is or anything like the Folsom Street Fair I attended last weekend, I surely hope that none of the kids on the train will be attending! Yes, last week was the kinky event for me, this weekend it’s the good wholesome family event for me….the many personalities of Cecelia!

I’ll write more about the people who were on the train today in another blog, especially the adorable little blond girl on the train who makes me want to be a grandmother far sooner than I’m ready for my boys to have kids. I’ll go straight to the adventures of the city. I love being in San Francisco. I could never live there, but spending the day or the weekend playing tourist is a blast.

For the first time today I rode on a SF City Muni bus. It was no big deal, but an adventure none the less. The bus was even more crowded that the BART train. From the families heading to the Blue Angeles, there was the excitement written all over there kids' faces, to the teenage girls heading who knows where, gossiping and text messaging the whole way, to the sounds of foreign tourists finding there was through the city trying to see all the sites. And of course those that use the bus everyday as their normal daily transportation. Every seat was taken and there was no standing room left. All th0se sounds blending together giving you the sound of the city.

Needless to say the air show was awesome. The food was a bit over priced but smelled great so I couldn’t resist. It was a great day to be outside. Which was a good thing because I got more of the outside than I thought I would be. When it came to getting back on the bus to head back we had no problem boarding the bus. The problem was the bus never moved. Traffic was awful. I have no idea how many people attended this event, but I think all of them were attempting to drive up Van Ness at the same time we were on the bus.

We boarded the 49 Muni bus at Chestnut Street and it took us about 15 minutes to go 2 blocks south of Van Ness. At that stop we got off the bus and walked the rest of the way to the Civic Center BART Station. Walking we passed the #70 bus that was about 3 blocks ahead of ours and neither bus passed us. In fact when we looked back at about Eddy Street we couldn’t see either of the buses. Traffic was that bad. I don’t think they were moving at all. We probably shaved ½ an hour or more of time by walking while being able to see all the buildings that usually blur by me and go unnoticed when I’m in the car. I’m glad that the buses were stuck in traffic and that we decided to walked the city allowing my love for it to grow even more as it showed me its splendor, glory… and of course it’s chaos.

I'm No Physicist, But Shoes Win Every Time...

God knows I’m not a physicist, but if I were riding on a BART train this morning it would be using less energy than it was 2 ½ months ago. I’m sure in terms of energy how much less energy it needs if the train is 8 pounds lighter. I’m sure it’s not much at all, but for me it’s huge news. I got on the scale and I’ve lost 8 pounds!

Since I’m not on riding BART today, I’m actually in Chicago, I thought I’d share my first ride on BART. It was the summer between 6th and 7th grade so I must have been about 12 years old. I was in the city with my Dad, but I’m not sure why. We lived in Marin
County at the time and BART doesn’t have service there. I’m not sure exactly where we were, but I remember my shoe breaking. My dad knew that shopping was abundant in around Market Street by Union Square. He didn’t want to have to take the car so he said we would ride on BART. BART was still fairly new and I had never ridden on. I had heard a lot about it and was excited about riding on it. I remember Dad buying the tickets and trusting me to hold on to my own, warning me not to loose it since we would need to it get off the train as well as on. I was so afraid that I would drop it.

Well I managed not to loose my ticket and they let me off the train. I don’t remember a lot of the details about the train ride, except for that it was really exciting to ride on it for the very first time, but I can give you every detail about the shoes. Since I was shopping with my dad, and he didn’t really care about what I got as long as it didn’t take forever, I got to pick out what ever I wanted. I remember the shoes exactly. They were brown sandals, the must have summer shoe that year for all the girls my age. I was so excited to get them! They were a sandal that my mom would never let me get but since I was with my dad I was able to get them.

I really don’t know what was more exciting that day, finally getting to ride BART for the first time or getting the shoes. It must be the shoes because 34 years later I still remember exactly what the shoes look like.

Late in the morning, and my coffee is cold

It’s the morning commute on BART, well actually late into the commute. It’s after 8:30 and I’m sure that most going into the city for work were on board the 7 am train. I’ve never seen the 7 am train and if I had my choice I never would. At 7 am I’d much prefer to just be waking up to the sound of the handsome man that was just sleeping next to me going downstairs to start the coffee. These 8:30 train people are my people…the sleeper inners of the world.

It’s a world of difference between the casual weekend / midday / night riders as compared to those on board during the morning commute. News papers, laptops and books. Sport coats, brief cases and pantyhose. In this section of the train I only see one person in a baseball cap. At least he has the common decency to be wearing a home team SF Giants cap and not some hip hop clothing logo or punk band branded cap. Same goes with the few carrying back packs rather than briefcases. Plain navy blue Jansports far out number Echo and Dora the Explorer brands.

We are about 5 minutes into the ride and heads are starting to do the head bob. You know the look of the head bob, the eyes start getting heavy, they slowly lower until they closed. And as the eyes close the head starts to drop down onto chest. You can see the sleep deprived trying to fight it off. As soon as their head hits bottom, it immediately springs back up and the eyes fly wide open in panic. The entire process to be repeated again in about 30 seconds.

It’s a much quieter ride in the morning. There is a rustle of newspapers and the occasional brief and hushed conversation on a cell phone. For the most part everyone keeps to themselves. The train’s operator comes over the loud speaker announcing the next stop in a brief but soft tone, as if not to disturb the riders’ brief time of solitude before they start their workday.

Welcome to the city, I hope the office coffee pot isn't empty yet.

Once upon a time

Once upon a time I started writing a book. I was living in Los Angeles and commuting to work each day by train. I wrote about the people and experiences on the train. What I observed, the sights and sometimes even the smells. I wrote about the people I met, and those I didn’t meet. And then my computer crashed.

I never truly lost all of it, because it’s always been deep within the memory banks of my brain. I didn’t have the slightest idea on how to get it published as a book, but I have figured out how to create a blog. So welcome to the first posting of Cecelia on The Train.

Fast forward about 400 miles north from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area and a few years after the original thought of a train book. I find myself sitting here on a BART train. BART is short for Bay Area Rapid Transit, one of the areas main mass transportation services. Its mid afternoon, too early for the nightly commute but the train isn’t completely empty either.

I notice three people who have just boarded the train together. It appears to be a father and his two kids. His daughter is about 14 and looks like she would rather be anywhere else in the world right now except for on this train with her dad and her younger brother. She has her IPod on, using it as a distraction to help her ignore the fact that she is with her family. Dad is lost in his newspaper and doesn’t see the angst on his daughter’s face. I notice it, along with the fact that I would have given my right arm to be allowed to wear make up when I was her age the way she is, not exactly Goth, but not far from it. A Stylish Goth look if that’s possible. She closes her eyes and looses herself to her music. I highly doubt that its opera she’s listening to. Her eyes won’t open again till they reach their stop. Dad won't put down his newspaper till they reach stop.

My attention focuses on her brother who is about 10 years old. Like me, he is checking out everyone on the train, almost to the point of him staring. He looks over at me and I look away and lower my gaze. I look up again and he is still looking at me. I worry for a minute that I have might have something in my teeth or that my shirt is buttoned wrong. His focus doesn’t stay on me but goes one by one every person on the train. I watch him and I realize that he is probably doing the same thing I am, creating his own stories about the people on the train.