Three-Blog Day

From the ridiculous to the sublime, my mind is processing information this fine morning, thanks to the new pair of shoes I purchased yesterday! My basically weeble-wobbly gait brought undue attention to my left hip area, so I bought a pair of the "rocking wedge" shoes to help stabilize my core. Bad move: the shoes really threw off my gait, forcing me constantly to self-correct my steps. I saw the TV commercial for NewBalance's competitive shoe to the Scetcher and went on an internet search to find a retailer, a process much easier to think than to do.

Yesterday, my coast friend knew of a shoe store in the same mall as the movie theater, so after an incredible lunch at The Islander, we went to DSW. If you want to put it onto your foot, you go to DSW, including 5" stilettoes, ballet slippers, and NewBalance's new truebalance walking shoes. The truebalance is designed specifically for walking and features what NewBalance calls its "balance board technology," which means goodbye to the rocking wedge and hello to a flat sole surface. I put them on in the store and grinned: immediately, I felt more stable. I wore one pair out of the store, with another pair in a box, and by the time I arrived home, my left hip was much less of an issue than it has been for many months.

This morning's walk was the least painful I can recall, with the severe pain waiting until we were about 3/4 of the way through our route. I'm not totally thrilled with the intensity of the hot pink accents on the shoes, but that's probably NewBalance's way of marking territory. If I were NewBalance, I not only would market to 20-somethings with hot bods who are turning heads in a power walk through the park designed to do just that, but also market to those of a certain age who are going through the knees and hips thing: we need the stability of the technology, but probably would appreciate a quick "you are hot" glance once in a while, too, which we'll get with the hot pink accents, right? It's a zero-sum solution.

Blog two has to do with our lunchtime discussion about Gloria Allred and the illegal immigrant effect on Meg Whitman's run for governor of Cally-phone-ya. I've never thought of Allred as either stupid or an ill-prepared lawyer, but it seems that she either made a backroom political deal or needs to fire her staff. No one of Allred's stature calls a press conference to make the kinds of charges she made involving Whitman's former housekeeper and NOT know all the facts, not just what someone told her. The illegal housekeeper is the one who lied, not Whitman. The illegal housekeeper possessed both a forged social security card and a forged driver's license that she used to obtain employment. The illegal housekeeper affirmed in her application to the employment agency that she was a legal resident of the state, knowing that she was lying. The employment agency sent her to Whitman, who insisted on legal residents in her employ, after the agency performed what they believed was their due diligence. When Whitman was made aware of her housekeeper's illegal status, she fired her.

If a rookie researcher at a local newspaper could find the facts, why did not Allred's staff? That question leads me to believe that Allred made a political deal to risk her professional cache to influence the vote for the next state's governor. It is glaringly obvious that "something" happened after Allred's scathing public denunciation of Whitman in the media circus Allred creates when she calls a press conference because she hasn't said a word since the facts of the situation were made public. Whitman was not at fault in this instance, but, perhaps, Allred was. Time will tell either how much this public gaffe costs Allred or for how big a pay-off she sold herself.

The other question about this incident brings the White House into the conversation via Janet Napolitano, who says that she does not know how the actions of the illegal housekeeper will be addressed. Actually, Ms. Napolitano, there is a process already in place for these specific illegal actions, a process initiated by law enforcement. An illegal immigrant who uses false documentation to get a job, including a forged social security card and a forged driver's license, as well as swearing under penalty of law that s/he is a legal resident, is arrested, spends lots of time in jail waiting for the trial, and is sentenced to prison. The actions are illegal, there are laws on the books to address these actions, so, Ms. Napolitano, what is there to discuss? to negotiate? to debate? to obfuscate? or to do, other than arrest the self-confessed criminal and take her to trial? Again, it makes me wonder what deal Allred made before that press conference -- and with whom. Hope it will prove to be worth whatever it's going to get her in return.

The third blog has to do with my rights as a homeowner. In brief, when I bought this house, it was a color that I do not like, a faded orangey buff that some people thinks represents the "southwest." After living with it for several years, I decided to repaint the exterior after having some repair work completed that led to gray patches on the exterior walls. I selected a deep green/gray that I love. If someone were to notify me after the fact that my color was not acceptable, I would laugh because this is MY house and I paint it the color I want it to be, the same way that I create my own landscaping plans. Evidently, my thinking is shared by other homeowners, particular one 84-year-old man in Palm Desert who was tired of his all-white house and had it painted a soft, mint green.

In 2004, the City Manager decided that the area had to present a certain image to passers-by, and although there is not a palette of approved colors, the green the 84-year-old man selected was seen by a Code Enforcement officer who drove by the newly-painted home. Code Enforcement alerted the City Manager to the color violation because the color was too garish, all that soft mint green, but the City Manager did allow in a follow-up interview that purple, red, bright blues and yellows, as well as certain other colors, could be pleasing as accent colors. He disavowed that the goal is for all residences to be bland in tones of beige and brown, but ... I think that really is the goal. The elderly man repainted, rather than face either a fine or a court appearance, and his home is again white, with some of the soft green as accent.

The charm of neighborhoods comes from the uniqueness of the architecture, not from the cookie-cutter sameness that strips individuality from ownership. If a person wants to live within the walls of a gated community and leave the homeowner's decisions to a committee, including both the exterior wall color and the landscaping, that's fine, but when people buy their own little piece of this world, each person should at least be able to pick the paint he puts on the walls of his home. Is it really that offensive for a driver traveling Highway 111 to see (gasp!) soft mint-green exterior walls on a well-maintained and beautifully landscaped property? How about spending more time with the peeling paint of vacant homes surrounded by dead vegetation? Now that is something of which to take notice!