It was a sort of madness, honey.

Okay....

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So this story starts twenty-six years ago.

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Twenty-six years ago I was married to my first husband, Rick. We were living in San Mateo, California. We had been married eleven years and the cracks had begun to appear. We had ceased being a couple who cared for each other and become more of a couple who just lived together with benefits. I was working for his brother who owned an independent telephone directory company. I sold advertising and it was one of the hardest jobs I have ever worked. Long hours, tons of cold calls and major rejection on a daily basis. It did not help the business was failing. Bob barely could make rent at the office most of the time and printing bills for the directory were coming due.

It was during this time I found out that Rick had given his brother almost 28K for the business. That money was the profit we had made from the sale of our house in San Jose. It had been tagged for a new home we were supposed to purchase in San Mateo. I was furious. Rick had ruined our chances of ever owning a new house. We would never have that kind of money ever again.

But at the least the printing bill got paid. I can say that.

So at the least, I was not happy. I had a good case of ignored wife syndrome. I used to talk about this a lot with a girlfriend, Jackie, who also had issues in her marriage. We normally would discuss the ills of our marriages at the Fish Market, a local restaurant. Great place. Happy hour was good, food was fabulous and it was a safe place. It wasn't a pick up bar, so Jackie and I felt safe there. We could nosh, drink and talk the troubles away.

This one day we were supposed to meet up at the Fish Market but I had received a message on the answering service that she was not going to make it. This was all before the time of cell phones, so I could not reach her to see if we could meet some other day. I was at the restaurant, so I decided what the hey. I would go and have a drink there anyway. Like I said, it was a family restaurant not a pick up bar.

I entered the bar and walked past of group of men who were doing the men bonding thing. They were not grunting and scratching private parts but they were cutting it up. I never gave them a second look as I found my favorite spot at the bar. The bartender greeted me even before I sat down and had a glass of Chablis ready for me. I pulled out my briefcase and pulled out my datebook. I needed to look over what had to be done for the next day and make some notes regarding what had happened today. As I was writing, I heard the men at the end of the bar greet someone. I looked over to see a new member of this clan arrive. Sage green sports jacket, tan pants, green checked shirt and a tie. Blondish hair, slightly curly. Nice looking at a distance. Just an observation on my part and nothing more. I returned to the datebook.

It was a few minutes later I felt a presence at my side. It is the man in the sage colored sports jacket and he is asking if I mind if he sits down next to me and we chat. Now I can see that he is handsome in an off beat sort of way. He has the clearest blue eyes I have seen on any one and a toothy smile that is charming. He is tan and fit, although he isn't a scary body builder fit. He is starched in his shirt and the tie is knotted perfectly. Above all else, he is a bit full of himself but in a funny sort of way.

What the heck. If he want to talk, we can talk. No harm in talking right?

So we talk or shall I say he talks. And talks. And he talks some more. He tells me he is a lawyer. He lives in San Jose and also has a residence in Southern California. All the time he is talking I am watching him. He is cocky, no doubt. But there is a sweetness to him. He laughs at himself at several points. There is a jitteriness to him but it isn't annoying. He is a high energy man who seems to be very interested in me.

He makes a suggestion that we go outside and sit on the bench in front of the restaurant. For me, this is fine. My tab is paid and I need to head out. Besides what could happen out there? The parking lot is to the left and El Camino Real is a busy street. If you want to sit on a bench and talk what harm is there?

He and I weave our ways out of the bar, past his comrades and other patrons. We are out the door and into the late sun of a California afternoon. We sit on the bench at a respectable distance. For some reason, I think this is my time to talk and I begin to do so. Now it is he who is watching. I see a bit of a flicker in those blue eyes and the smile has turned sly. While I am in mid sentence, he reaches over and places his hand behind my head, pulls me close and plants one of the all time best kisses ever on me. The execution is flawless. Not sloppy. Not rushed. Sexy but also sweet. It was almost like being kissed by your boyfriend in high school. Almost. There was a whole lot of man in that kiss too.

For one of the few times in my life I am stunned into near silence. I did say near because I did manage to ask if he was coming on to me. What a nitwit thing to ask. Of course he was and he confirmed it. I told him I had to go. He said we should do this again, at the Sofitel in Foster City perhaps. There is a nice bar there that overlooks the bay. I said sure, why not. I gave him my business card and ran to my car. As I pulled out of the lot, I could see him watching me watching him.

I wasn't quite sure what had just happened. Maybe all this just was a pleasant turn in an otherwise bland day. Maybe he would call. Maybe I would not return his call. Maybe he would lose that card among all the others he might collect over a period of a week. Men who kiss like that do it often and the next girl would consider the Sofitel. I wasn't going to bother thinking about it any longer. It was a non issue at this point.

I was not going to hold my breath. I was not going to worry about it. If I knew then what I know now I might have been less calm about it.

It did concern me his suggestion of the Sofitel. Of all the possible watering holes in the Bay Area, he did have to suggest one that also was a huge hotel.

I will update if you wanna hear more. Or I may if you don't. You know me, I have not changed.

Btw, I left Spencer.

We heard about this storm only on Wednesday. Some tropical mess off the coast was how it was described. I looked at doppler radar and saw only a mish-mash of clouds. Nothing very impressive, I thought.

By Friday the darn thing had a name. Beryl. A tropical depression working on trying or organize itself into a tropical storm was how the weather people talked. They are so quick to panic in the early part of the hurricane season, I told myself. We have gone nearly six months without any threats and we have forgotten how quickly these things fizzle out or head north to the Carolinas. Really. Why are we even bothering to talk about this?

We talked storm talk on Saturday. People at the restaurant were concerned but not really worried. We thought it had scared tourists away for the holiday weekend. We all reasoned that this was so silly. This thing called Beryl was going to be nothing more than a big blowy storm. A summer Nor'easter. That's all it will be. Why ruin a good three day weekend?

Today the storm named Beryl pulled itself together. Like any great Southern lady or gentleman going to a party, it made sure its bands were well defined and that an eye could be seen from outer space. The winds have increased to 65 miles per hour and the millibars have dropped dramatically. Crossing the ocean and headed directly for JAX Beach, Neptune Beach and St. Augustine, it has changed from a tropical storm to what the weatherman has called an extremely strong, dangerous tropical storm bordering on becoming a hurricane.

How the hell did this happen? I mean, it is the wrong time of the year for this. Beryl is almost three months way too early. This time of the year all this crap goes to Mexico and Central America. The Gulf Coast maybe. But not us. It is as if our disdain for this storm pissed it off, encouraging it to become a mini monster.

The Mayor of JAX had declared a state of emergency. The cities of JAX Beach, Palm Valley, Ponte Vedra and probably St Augustine are not that far behind in doing the same. They are telling us to stay home, hoard some water and get the candles out. We are to brace ourselves for what may be the start of a long hurricane season.

The bitch of it is, I don't even know if Beryl is a girl's or a guy's name. It would come in handy only when I want to cuss the damn thing as it arrives and my electric goes off. Just saying...

You know, I have just been very occupied as of late. Yes, it has been occupy Rosemary. It makes me feel like a cause instead of a very busy woman.

Updates later.

Okay, so I am trying to get back into posting and keep a bunch of videos at my fingertips. So a music video per day seems in order. Have missed a few days but I can catch that up.

Annie Lennox...Angels From the Realms of Glory. I don't care for the homemade video however I do love the music. What a voice this woman has.

I guess I should post a bit more often. Time, where has thou gone-th? I never seem to have any of this valued item anymore. Of course I say this as the threat of spending hours in a government agency is before me today. Take a number, wait, find out you don't have all the right paperwork, leave, return, take number and rinse.

Seriously, I am going to post.

It has been forever since I made a bear post. I used to do them quite often. Should keep up on them. :D










I have also read that the Swiss have discovered that neutrinos are moving at a speed faster than the speed of light. I knew they were quick but never thought the little neutrino was that fast.

So now it seems our visitor Hurricane Irene will not be smacking into the Fla coast. Oh she is going to mess with us and fling some rain and wind in our direction but that may be all she will be able to pull off. However most models put her landfall in NC and some evacuations have begun in that area. Irene looks like she will turn into a nasty storm, the first one any of us in Fla or the East coast has had to deal with in a long time. We never lose our hurricane fears here, you know. On Monday, the Publix by my house sold out of bottled water, batteries and bread. Yeah, we take them seriously.

I am intrigued by one path model that estimates the landfall of Irene in Washington DC. After the earthquake today and a possible hurricane by Saturday, could there be any thoughts that a higher authority is not pleased. Oh yes, release the insane on that.

You move with grace. After someone told me this I was on cloud nine for a week.