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Restaurant Review: Rancho’s Cocina, North Park

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Rancho’s Cocina, North Park
3910 30th St, San Diego, CA 92104
(619) 574-1288

I used to say that I could eat Mexican food every day and enjoy the 7th day as much as I enjoyed the first day. That is not totally true anymore, but I do like Mexican food and eat it often.

Therefore, when you read this review, you might think it sounds familiar. That is because a few days ago I ate at Rancho’s Cocina in Ocean Beach and wrote a review for the OBRag. But today I ate at one of the other restaurants in the Rancho chain – the one in North Park.

As it happened, the San Diego Free Press had a meeting of many of its contributors this afternoon. Following the meeting, 10 of us decided to have a bite to eat and the closest place was Rancho’s. They were able to accommodate us in the back part of the restaurant without any problem.   [Read more…]

Restaurant Review: “The Original Pancake House”

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The Original Pancake House
3906 Convoy St  San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 565-1740

I can’t believe that people do not know about the Original Pancake House. It has been here forever, but when I told several people that I went there for my birthday breakfast, I was asked where it was located and if it was any good.

YES! It is good. Very good.  Not to brag, but of course that won’t stop me, but I don’t know of anyone that makes pancakes better than me. My pancakes are like my jam – eclectic; different; and succulent. I NEVER order pancakes out because they do not compare to mine, but at this restaurant I make the exception.   [Read more…]

A Helping Hand to a Needy Group

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When my husband was alive, he belonged to a wonderful organization entitled “Veteran’s for Peace.” As the title suggests, the group was made up of veteran’s from many “conflicts” and they all had one purpose – “Peace.”

Although not a member myself, I am still on the VFP mailing list and received this message today that I would like to share with you. The world for veterans today is so bleak; the feelings about the homeless population is shameful in so many areas that this report may shed a light on what is happening in our world today.   [Read more…]

Book Review: “Revolutionary Brain – Essays & Quasi-Essays”

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Written by Harold Jaffe, Published December 2012

I met Dr. Jaffe several months ago and was intrigued by his writings and background.  He is the author of 20+  volumes of fiction, “docufiction” novels and essays.  His writings have been translated into numerous languages, and has been the recipient of several awards.  He is the editor of Fiction International” and is currently a Professor of  Literature and Creative Writing at San Diego State University.

Dr. Jaffe, in this book, explores the changes of millennial culture.  He deplores what is happening to earth in a variety of ways.  It is an intellectual and philosophical look at the changes technology is making – has made – today and how we are unable to “reconstruct ourselves”.   [Read more…]

Who said girls can’t play rugby?

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My first introduction to Rugby was when my grandson-in-law, Ben, sent me a picture of him with the blackest eye I had ever seen after winning a Championship Rugby match in Australia. Having all daughters I was almost sickened by seeing this handsome man’s face marred by a “shiner” so large that it almost obliterated his face.

When, five years later, my 17 year old granddaughter informed me that she was going out for the rugby team with the San Diego Young Aztecs (SDYA) my first thought was of Ben and all the cuts, scrapes and bruises he had during the rugby season. (I shouldn’t have been surprised at Molly’s choice. Her Aunt Lynn, my middle daughter, was the first female on the Water Polo team out of Pt. Loma High many years ago.) Still, the remembrance of Ben’s pictures was at the forefront of my mind.

The San Diego Young Aztec Rugby Club was started by its visionary founder Nevin Kleege. He had a dream about starting up youth rugby, in a meaningful way, here in San Diego. Seven years ago six children showed up to practice, and today they serve over 600 children (from 5-19 years old) in our community.   [Read more…]

Screwed Again –Or Not: The continuing saga of on-line dating

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I have a birthday coming up in a few days. My last experience with on-line dating made me find my birth certificate – yes, they had them back then – to check and see if I was really born many years ago, or if there could have been a typo and I was really born in 1995. Many of the men I am meeting remind me of my youth – yes, I can remember back that far – and the titillating things we talked about during the dating process.

I am not happy to report that things have not changed significantly. Men still want to talk about all the things we read about in “Catcher in the Rye” or “Lady Chatterley’s Lover.” So let me tell you about my latest.

I “met” J. on line about 5 months ago. He, like me, is a widower; a year older than me; lives in Henderson, Nevada, and is about to embark on a million dollar solar plant in the desert. He told me right away that all of his monies were tied up in this project – one that he has been working on for over ten years – and that he didn’t have much discretionary money to play with. As we continued our daily conversations, we found that we had much in common and even though I did not believe a lot of what he said, he was fun and interesting to talk to.   [Read more…]

Restaurant Review: The Gathering

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The Gathering
902 W Washington St  San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 260-0400

When my husband was alive, we had season tickets to most of the live drama venues in San Diego. Frequently we went on Wednesday evenings, because there was less of a crowd; sometimes the tickets were less expensive and it was more convenient for us. The problem was that we went right after work and by the time the play was over there was no place to go for a bite to eat except the fast food restaurants or places like “Denny’s.”  And then we discovered “The Gathering.”   [Read more…]

An Expensive Lesson

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Those of you that have read my articles over the past year or so know that I am devoted to my 11 year old – soon to be 12 – Golden Retriever, named Buddy. He was definitely my deceased husband’s dog and I feel like he is the last remaining link between Bob and I. Yes, I have three daughters, but they are the product of my first marriage and Bob and I had no children between us.

When Buddy was a pup, I told Bob that we should have named him “Shadow” because he followed him everywhere. But our previous dog – another Golden – was named “Pal” and Bob wanted something close to that name. Hence “Buddy”.

Unless you are a dog lover you will not understand what I am about to say, but if you are a lover this will make perfect sense to you. When Bob died, almost 3 ½ years ago, Buddy mourned as much as I did. His “security blanket” has always been the swimming pool, maybe because he and Bob spent many hours swimming together. He would go and sit on the steps, maybe swim a lap or two, for hours on end. It was as if he was waiting for Bob to come out of the house and jump into the pool. Day after day that dog would wait for his master to come home. The house smelled like a locker room, because a hairy wet dog does not smell good – to anyone except maybe another dog.   [Read more…]

You Want to Arm My Teachers?

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I think I have shown great restraint in not approaching the arming of schools, teachers, counselors, etc. After all, it has been some time since the mass killings at Sandy Hook. But the more I hear about this asinine approach – guess where my beliefs lie – the more I question the sanity of the American people.

I spent five long years becoming a teacher. A damn good teacher. I was a high school dropout – the day I turned 16 – because I was bored, frustrated and, for the most part invisible to my teachers and staff. (Perhaps that was because I ditched more days than I was in attendance, but I didn’t ditch to have fun; rather I ditched because I had a job that paid me good money and I didn’t see what school was going to teach me that I wasn’t already using in my job. (I was a pharmacy tech – although not called that back in the early 50’s – but worked close to 40 hours a week and had a car that I had to support.)

Because of my horrible experiences with school, I decided that I would become a teacher and motivate students to learn using highly innovative means to do so. It must have worked, because even today I hear from some of my students that were in my first classes (and that was back in the 60’s) and they tell me that they owe me a lot for understanding their needs and setting up personal objectives for them.   [Read more…]

Restaurant Review – Himalayan Cuisine

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Approaching the doorway to the La Mesa restaurant, is a sandwich board listing the lunch specials of the day. Not surprisingly, they are the same as the Pt. Loma restaurant – Saag Aloo – a spinach and potato combination; Veggie coconut chicken; Chicken Curry; Chicken Vidaloo – chicken cooked in a gravy of tomato and onions with potatoes and vinegar; Chicken Tikka Masala and Chicken Chili. The diner selects two of the entrees, and it comes with a bowl of lentil soup, rice and naan bread. The cost is $7.95. (The same menu in Pt. Loma is $6.95.)

I was flabbergasted when I walked inside the restaurant. They had taken over the building next door and now, instead of an intimate restaurant with 12-15 tables there was a huge room with many, many tables in addition to the original restaurant. And it is needed, for the small dining room was filled to capacity during the time Jim and I were there.   [Read more…]

Sex in San Diego: An Open Letter to Men Looking for Women in the Online World

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It happened again today. I “met” a man online that sounded like a nice person. He had many of the attributes I am looking for in a companion, or so he said, and I agreed to meet him for lunch in a well-known restaurant in North County. (He lives in San Marcos and it was a good halfway place for us to meet.) We were both early; another nice attribute. He obviously had been there before, not because the waitress recognized him, but because he knew his way around the restaurant and we sat at “his favorite table.”

We chit-chatted as we made our selection from the menu and then he asked me the question that I have been asked four times already in my online dating experience: “I said on my profile that I was 72; I am really 82. Do you think I could pass for 72?”

Well, guys, I am tired of being nice. So I told him the truth.   [Read more…]

Restaurant Review: Bully’s Del Mar

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Bully’s
1404 Camino Del Mar 
Del Mar, CA 92014 
858-755-1660

Once again a date with a 72 year old man – that turned out to be 82 after we played “Truth or Consequences” – he wanted me to tell him the truth – did he really look 82 ? – took me to North County for breakfast.  I had been to Bully’s many times but not  to the one in Del Mar; La Jolla when there was one in La Jolla, and to the one in Mission Valley.  Bully’s is known for their Prime Rib, but I could not stomach the idea of Prime Rib for breakfast so ordered something else. More on that later.

The menu is extensive – Appetizers, Salads and Soups, Prime Rib, Steak and Ribs, a variety of “Surf and Turf” combinations;  Shellfish, Fish and Chicken, and for the lunch crowd Sandwiches, Eggs and Omelettes – their spelling , and Lunch Entrees.   There are also 4 items on their Dessert menu as well as a “Daily Selection”. (It is interesting to note that on their takeout menu and their menu on-line there are no prices listed.)   [Read more…]

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