Las Madres '80 East
AUGUST 2011 NEWSLETTER

happy summer

AUGUST BIRTHDAYS
7th   Abbey Nevoli
         Nathan Laing
11th  Erik Rasmussen
15th  Keely Corral
17th  Ron Miller
27th  Ruth Eastman

COMING EVENTS
Month of August
Saturday Coffees

9 am
LeBou at San Felipe/Yerba Buena
Contact: Randi
August 18
Annual Salad Potluck "Meeting"

7:15 pm
  Randi's House
RSVP: Randi
August 20
Coffee Field Trip

9 am
  Great Bear Coffee Shop, Los Gatos
Contact: Randi
November 4-6
Fall Fling


August Meeting
When: Thursday, August 18, 7:15pm
Where: Randi's House
What: Our Annual Salad Potluck


For our August 18th meeting, we will do our annual salad potluck at Randi's house.  Everyone needs to e-mail Randi to let her know what type of salad you are bringing so we don't have duplicates.  Randi will provide bread, drinks and dessert.  Let's have some new, original salads!  Also, Randi would like everyone to bring one book that you have read in the past that you have loved, and give a "review" to the group.


LM Fall Fling

It looks like the Nov. 4th weekend is the one where most people can make it.  I need to know who thinks they are going to go for sure so I know what size house, etc. to look for in the Carmel, Monterey, Pacific Grove area.  E-mail me ASAP so I can  count on you for that weekend.  After I find a place, we will be collecting deposits like we usually do if you plan on going......Randi



Saturday Coffee Clatches Continue
We meet every Saturday morning at 9 am at Le Boulanger at San Felipe and Yerba Buena.  There is a Starbucks across from it if you need something "special" to go with your bagel or pastry.   For our away coffee on August 20th, we will go to Great Bear Coffee Shop in Los Gatos on N. Santa Cruz.  We can also peruse the shops afterwards.  Here is the website:  http://www.yelp.com/biz/great-bear-coffee-los-gatos


e-Mail Tidbit

The Green Thing

In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.
In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us.
When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.
We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.

We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartbutt young person.


summer kids



AUGUST WEBSITE

Keyboard Symbols
Ever wonder how they make those hearts on Facebook?
Make a heart, as well as other symbols, using the Alternate key on your PC.
For those Mac users among us, click on the Mac tab in the page above and find out how to use the Keyboard & Character Pallettes.



CLUB OFFICERS
President - Merrilee Claverie
Treasurer - Sue Ballard
Newsletter & Webmaster - Ginny Gomez
Coffee Coordinator - Randi Heinrichsen
Executive Committee - Randi Heinrichsen, Joan Wilson and Sally Brooks-Schulke ???