HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY.

 

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HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

In the 1950s, my Father imported and sold Fiats, I have previously blogged about it here-

https://jimmyreina.wordpress.com/2014/08/22/fiatus-fiatus/

He sponsored a road racing version of their sports car, and one Sunday, he took my Brothers and me to watch a race.

The sports car was named the “Spyder”, we are sitting on the roof of one watching the race.

The “Abarth” was the racing version.

Here is another pic of the Spyder, decked out for my 1960 Grade School picnic-

 

WHAT DOES ALFRED HITCHCOCK HAVE TO DO WITH A REAL ESTATE AGENT IN BERKELEY?

BIRDS

At a client’s request I was visiting a property, and as I walked down the driveway, a bunch of Ravens circled me, squawking and screaming.  These critters have invaded our neighborhoods over the years, probably due to what appears to be an abundance of half-filled French Fry containers that litter the streets.

I have seen this mob behavior before, it seems to have been because one of their own is threatened, sometimes by a Squirrel or other neighbor. These guys were pretty aggressive with me, and getting louder, so since I couldn’t see a lockbox, I retreated.

As soon as I turned around, one of these hoodlums flew down and rammed into my head!

 

 

*

It was quite a blow, kind of like getting hit by a pillow in a pillow fight.

I retreated to the front porch to catch my breath, and had to think twice about going back out to find the Realtor lockbox. Two or three of them stood around laughing at me while the rest of the gang hung back over the driveway protecting whatever it was they were protecting.

They didn’t seem to mind me going to the lockbox, and by the time I performed my 30 minute due diligence, they were gone.

 

 

*This is my photograph, but it is not my image. It is a terrific shot done by a fellow BCC student named Norm.

 

Currency Exchange

Yesterday, I was running errands, and a shopkeeper gave me a $2 bill as change. At my next stop, I received a Sacagawea dollar coin.

I had to ask myself if it had been declared Oddball Currency Day, and nobody sent me the memo.

I am no stranger to $2 Bills, but haven’t seen one used in circulation for a very long time. My Mother always had an interest in coin (and currency) collecting, and occasionally, when I was a kid, if she got one of these oddball currencies, she would give it to me. This included Indian Head Pennies, Buffalo Nickels,

 

Winged Mercury Head Dimes, and coins produced during WWII that, due to the War effort, were minted from alternate materials.

In Missouri, where I was raised, we also had .1 and .5 cent Mills  or fractional tax tokens-I think sales tax was 4 ½ %, so although a nuisance to carry around, they probably came in handy.

From time to time, she also gave me Silver Dollars, uncirculated coins, and in 1957, she gave me a U.S. Mint Proof Set-a full set of newly minted coins encased in a plastic container. ’57 pennies still had the Wheat Back design, which I still sort out of  my change jar.

The Proof Set was wrapped in a box decorated with miniature $100 bills.

 

But the $2 bill had a special place for her, for on my 50^th Birthday, she gave me 50 of them.

 

 

It is curious that coins bearing the likeness of Native Americans and Women (including Susan B. Anthony) fall out of favor, and we are left with a bunch of White Guys.

 

The Great questions

Why do (mostly) women show up at the grocery store in (often expensive) workout gear, then have the bag boy carry their groceries out to the car?

I’m just askin’