Questions and answers

[Midge]

I think I would want a large, beautifully-furnished home first of all and then a custom tailored wardrobe because I am hard to fit. Then I would trade in the 1993 Geo Prizm for a vehicle that is more suited to my elevated station in life. ;D

If you came into a fortune, what is the first thing you would spend it on?

[annavandenhazel]

Sad to say but...bills! Then of course move on to cooler stuff if there's anything left.

Where is the worst place you've ever lived?

[Midge]

Right after my parents' divorce I lived in a studio apartment (bedsit) with my father and brother. They slept on a mattress on the floor, and my bed was a war surplus Army cot in the kitchen.

What is the worst place you ever lived?

[annavandenhazel]

That would be the basement of a 3-story house in the hillside neighborhood of Salt Lake City known as "The Avenues", with 6 other women varying in age from 19-49. They had a main entrance at ground level, tenants had a main entrance by the driveway at basement level (we weren't allowed to park in the driveway), and the side entrance which was left open all day and one could get into either part of the house that way. The landlady would just pile our mail in the entrance where anyone off the street could help themselves - at the time I was getting my government paycheck through the mail instead of direct deposit, so I had good cause for concern.

One roommate would lock the side entrance after dark if she was alone then go to her room at the other end of the house where she couldn't hear anyone knocking (the doorbell could only be heard in the upstairs residence and we weren't given keys to that door). A couple of times the sidewalk was frozen over so I couldn't walk down to the driveway entrance without falling over. The first time it happened, the landlady's husband let me in and acted like it was a joke that the door was locked, and the second time it happened, Scott was bringing me home from a church activity - the 15-year-old daughter answered the front door and told us to just go down to the other entrance, ignooring my request to open the side door - she was apparently too lazy to walk 15 feet to do it. Scott was wearing a suit with dress shoes, and I was wearing a dress with heels, and the solid cement wall offered no support, we were holding each other up all the way down the hill. Once I was inside, Scott went out the side entrance. And they asked for references when new people applied to move in after someone left - but obviously never checked them. I had to move out when 2 new girls moved in who were very dishonest - not only did they steal my paycheck, but they also took my checkbook and the box containing my other checks, some credit-card checks, my bank card, and a store check-cashing card - but never touched the cash in my wallet. One of the suspected accomplices tried to assure me it couldn't have been anyone there who took it, but my purse was never out of my sight EXCEPT when I was in the house - and how would someone off the street know which room was mine and that I hid my checks in my dresser (I hadn't told anyone, but those girls didn't have jobs during the day and therefore had plenty of chances to snoop in my belongings)? I had already started looking for a new place before the check theft, and my parents advised me to GET OUT NOW after that happened; I couldn't take my bedroom furniture into the new place yet because the previous roommate hadn't moved all her stuff out, so I had to leave everything at Scott's house. I could only be thankful that I'd had the foresight to give Scott my credit cards to hide at his place - and before you panic, he has always been anti-credit card and wouldn't use one if you paid him to do it! A year later I heard from someone with the Secret Service still investigating the theft of that check, but I seriously doubt those girls were ever caught - no doubt they moved without a forwarding address once the house owners were made aware of their actions.

OK, enough "venting"...

What is the best place you've ever lived?

[Midge]

This is going to sound funny, but the best place I ever lived was a boarding house in San Jose, California. My divorced dad had just had a job transfer from Southern California and he hadn't found a permanent place for us to live yet. The boarding house was a 1920's era two-story mansion with a cupola and French doors leading to balconies. It looked like it could have come from a silent movie. It was owned by a divorcee with three young children who made a living by taking in boarders.

The rooms of this mansion were huge and scented with that rare perfume of antique wood, furniture polish and cigarette smoke that only grand old houses have. The landlady served meals in a spacious dining room with a dark wood dining table that could have seated 12 to 16 people. She lived in a room off the kitchen, and her daughter and I shared a bunk bed in small room under the stairs, a la Harry Potter. My dad and brother shared a real bedroom on the second floor, which was reached by a broad staircase with a landing where I used to sit and play jacks.

This is going to sound really funny, but one of the best parts of living there was that I got to ride the city bus to school, which was on the same street but about a mile away. I had never ridden a bus before, and I thought I was simply the bee's knees when I put my dime in the fare box, listened to it tinkle on the way down, and took a seat on one those dark green naughahyde benches. I loved the hissing sounds the bus made when the driver let the brakes off and the sweet oily perfume of diesel.

Sometimes I would keep the 10 cents return fare and spend it on candy after school, strolling home on the broad tree-shaded sidewalks in that more innocent era when an eight-year-old girl could walk around unescorted and feel perfectly safe.

Fifty-four years later the mansion still stands, but it is no longer a private home. It is now used for attorney's offices.

Where was the best place you ever lived?

[dvdjunkie]

When I was a Disc Jockey in Santa Barbara, three of us deejays shared a beach house in Carpinteria, CA, just down the road about nine miles from the radio station. If you went up on the roof of the radio station (we were on the top floor of the GE Building in Santa Barbara) you could see the beach in front of our house. It was a lot of fun, but lasted only about nine months, when we each got attached to a girl friend and moved out.

Where would you like to live if you could?

[Midge]

I like where I live now, but if I had to choose a different place, I would move to the Central Coast of California, somewhere in the Monterey-Carmel area.

Did you see that Super Moon the other night?

[annavandenhazel]

Nope, the first I even heard of it was yesterday when I read an online article that was obviously written before the event took place.

Have you been to Disneyland or Disney World recently?

[Midge]

No, not recently, but I have been to both of them. When I revisited Disneyland as an adult, it looked so small compared to my childhood memories of it! Also, the seemingly endless vistas of sweet-scented orange groves that I remembered seeing on the way to Disneyland had been replaced by endless housing developments, chain stores highways and strip malls.

What amusement park (fun park), national park or tourist destination would you most like to see if you could go anywhere you like?

[dvdjunkie]

Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota. Was there once as a tour bus driver and I would like to take the whole family to see this great National Treasure.

Is there a special place (theme park, national park, museum, etc.) that you have never been, but would like to go.

[Midge]

Yes, I would like to visit Yosemite National Park. I've never been there despite having lived in California for 56 of my 62 years.

Is there a place you visited expecting something great, but instead you were disappointed and wished you hadn't bothered?

[annavandenhazel]

None that I can think of, at least not the actual destination - do sub-standard motels count?

Do you have a favorite place to visit that isn't typically a tourist attraction?

[Midge]

Yes, I love to visit used bookstores, antique stores and thrift shops.

Have you ever kept a diary?

[annavandenhazel]

I used to, but gave it up years ago.

Do you currently keep a diary or journal?

[Midge]

Yes, but I don't write every day, only when something interesting happened or I need to vent.

Do you like Mexican food?

[annavandenhazel]

As long as it isn't too spicy.

Do you like Italian food?

[Midge]

Love it! My stepmother was Italian-American, and she cooked a big spaghetti and meatball dinner every Sunday.

What kind of food do you not like?

[annavandenhazel]

If you mean individual foods, the worst are onions and peppers. I can't really answer on the food of a particular country - there are many I haven't tried, and there are good and bad choices anywhere.

What is your favorite dessert?

[Midge]

My favorite dessert is either vanilla ice cream served with a jug of warm bittersweet chocolate sauce or devil's food cake with chocolate frosting and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Do you fondly remember a favorite childhood food or dessert that they don't make any more?

[annavandenhazel]

Not really - there was Oregon Farms Carrot Cake that was absorbed into the Pepperidge Farm conglomorate and slowly disappeared from the stores here, but I didn't try that until I was an adult.

Is there any food product that you haven't seen for years but would like to see make a comeback?

[Midge]

I want my Postum! Waaah! And while you're at it, bring back those golden raisin biscuits they used to make.

Have any of your relatives lived into their 90's or beyond?

[annavandenhazel]

Yes, my maternal grandmother made it to 93. There could be others but I don't know off the top of my head.

Do you have any relatives who are 100+, or deceased relatives who made it to that age?

[Midge]

No centenarians, but my grandmother died at 92, one of my uncles is going on 93, my mother-in-law lived to 94, and an aunt made it to 96.

Have you eaten food that you grew in your own garden?

[annavandenhazel]

Not recently - we used to plant tomatoes and potatoes, but always seem to have bad luck. The doggone bugs find them before we do!

[Midge]

Hey Anna, do you have a question, or did the bugs eat that, too?

[annavandenhazel]

Apr 20, 2011 0:22:42 GMT -6 Midge said:

Hey Anna, do you have a question, or did the bugs eat that, too?

Maybe they did. We seem to have a family of mutant cockroaches living in our dishwasher - bug spray doesn't work on them too well.

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Have you been grocery shopping this week yet.

[Midge]

Oh, dear, I'm sorry about your bug invasion, Anna. Those pests are getting to be so smart that nothing kills them any more.

Yes, I went to the local farmer's market on Sunday and to several places on Monday looking for fresh chives for a recipe, but nobody had any. I ended up buying a chive plant at the hardware store!

Do you know how to skip a stone? (I don't. :uhuh: )

[annavandenhazel]

Yes, sort of - but I haven't done it for at least 30 years.

Do you like to go camping in a tent?

[dvdjunkie]

Yes!!!! That is the only way to go camping. Anything with wheels on it isn't camping.


Do you have a favorite place to go camping?

[Midge]

I haven't been camping in about half a million years, but I remember a family vacation we took in the 1960's. We camped in a forest at Big Basin Redwoods State Park, and it was really peaceful and pretty there. Unfortunately my father forgot to pack the tent pole and had to drive all the way back home to get it, then set up the tent by flashlight in the dark!

Have you read any good books lately?