September 3, 2009
Dear Everyone:
I spent last Saturday taking notes for the
ARMA Mt
Diablo Chapter Board Planning Meeting.
We usually have a meeting during the summer, when there are no
regular Chapter meetings to plan for the next fiscal year, which runs
from July through June. When
we first planned this meeting, some months ago, I suggested that we use
the Clubhouse at Crestview, where I have my new condo.
The Clubhouse is available for any homeowner to use.
You have to put down a deposit, of course; then when there are no
damages, you get the deposit back.
I emailed the administrative assistant in charge of
such matters a couple of months ago.
She sent back a form to be filled out and mailed to her.
I printed it at home, filled it out and sent it back right away.
After weeks of not hearing anything, I sent a follow-up email.
That's when I got an "Out of Office" reply informing me that she
no longer worked there. I
sent an email to her replacement, asking if the request to use the
Clubhouse had even been received.
I got a reply that yes, they had received it and forwarded it to
the Homeowners Association Board of Directors for consideration.
Later I received a snail-mail letter again
informing me that the request had been sent to the Board.
The last meeting of the Homeowners Association was on August
13th. That was the day that
I flew to
By Tuesday of last week, I still had not heard
anything about the Clubhouse.
I was at the townhouse, waiting to meet "Jose" to see that the
furnace had been properly repaired.
While I waited, I called “Jeannie” on my
cell phone to let her
know what was going on with the townhouse.
I also mentioned that I had better find some kind of a fallback
position if I didn't hear about the Clubhouse soon.
She said, "You're standing in it."
Of course!
The townhouse was (still is) furnished with seating for three in
the living room and four chairs around the dining table.
And it was far more presentable than my condo, and would be much
quieter than meeting at the pizza parlor.
I emailed directions to the townhouse to the ARMA Board members.
Thursday night, around 6:00, I heard my cell phone go off, but
couldn't reach it before it went to voicemail.
When I got the message it was from, "(mumble) with the Clubhouse
Committee. Can we get
together tomorrow after work to go over your using the Clubhouse?"
I called back and told him I'd made other
arrangements. But I kept the
phone number for future reference.
Maybe by next year the Clubhouse Committee will have their ducks
in a row.
I got up early (for a Saturday) and got to the
townhouse with the coffee maker, coffee, etc., a "coffee cake" and a
fruit platter. The Board
members very matter-of-factly picked up the dining chairs and moved them
into the living room. We
discussed what we wanted to accomplish in the next year for about 2-1/2
hours. Then the meeting
adjourned. Then we did a
brief tour of the townhouse, which everyone said looked very nice.
Having survived the meeting, “Jeannie” and I
decided to go to a movie on Sunday.
We picked
Julie & Julia.
Back in the 1950's,
Julia Child was the rather
bored wife of a career diplomat stationed in
Paris, France.
Looking for something to do with her time, she wound up taking
cooking lessons at the famous
Le Cordon Bleu.
She was very competitive with the other (exclusively male)
students.
50 years later,
Julie Powell, a young writer in New
York city, decided to take on the challenge of cooking the over 500
recipes in Child's
Mastering the
Art of French Cooking and document her adventures in a
blog.
(For the technically-challenged, a "blog" is short for a "web
log" in which a person writes frequent remarks which they "post" on a
web site.)
Julie & Julia
is officially the first movie to be "based" on a blog.
Powell later converted the blog into a book, which she was able
to get published.
Nora
Ephron (When
Harry Met Sally,
Sleepless in Seattle) wrote
the screenplay based partly on Powell's book and partly on Child's
My Life in France.
She also directed the film.
Meryl Streep plays Julia Child with a booming voice
and a down-to-earthiness.
Amy Adams (Enchanted,
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day) plays Julie with the light-hearted
earnestness that is her trademark.
Both women have extremely patient husbands.
Stanley Tucci does extremely well as Paul, Julia’s husband.
“Jeannie” and I both enjoyed it.
Bon appetit!
Love, as always,
Pete
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