MAR 3, 13 .. HAVE A GREAT DAY !

While walking the streets here in Pondicherry, I came across the below photo!

What a concept huh?  

Have a truly GREAT DAY ! .. Cap ..

JAN 11, 13 .. MISSING CAR KEYS .. TOO FUNNY

Patti just sent this to me and it is TOO FUNNY .. so I decided to post it here .. one never knows about these 'internet writings' BUT .. I howled and hope you will too!  Just a little 'day brightener' for us all!

 The author .. a lady .. begins ..

 Several days ago as I left a meeting at a hotel, I realized suddenly that my car keys were missing.  So I desperately gave myself a personal TSA pat down looking for my car keys. They were not in my pockets! A quick search in the meeting room revealed nothing. Suddenly I realized I must have left them in the car.

 Frantically, I headed for the parking lot. My husband has scolded me many times for leaving the keys in the ignition. My theory is the ignition is the best place not to lose them. His theory is that the car will be stolen. As I burst through the door, I came to a terrifying conclusion that his theory was right. The parking lot was empty.

 I immediately called the police. I gave them my location, confessed that I had left my keys in the car, and that it had been stolen.

 Then I made the most difficult call of all, I called my husband. 

 "Hi, honey," I stammered, (I always call him "honey" in times like these) "I love you." "I left my keys in the car and it's been stolen."

 There was a period of silence. I thought the call had been dropped, but then I heard his voice.

"Are you kidding' me", he barked, "I dropped you off" !!!!!!!

Now it was my time to be silent.

 Embarrassed, I said, "Well, come and get me.

 He retorted, "I will, as soon as I convince this cop that I didn't steal your car!"

"Yep it's the golden years".........For those of you already here, you know! For those of you not yet here...YOU WILL BE!.

JAN 1, 13 .. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013 ..

HAPPY  NEW  YEAR  2013 ..

 HAPPY  NEW  YEAR  2013 ..

At this point in my life .. I have younger friends and fellow senior citizens who are facing some very serious life-challenges!  So I am not going to merely send you a ‘do-gooder-giddy’ .. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL .. greeting without adding a little  ‘discernment’ to go with it.

That being said, like it or not, good health or health challenges, it still boils down to what Abraham Lincoln is quoted as having said:

“Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

And that catapults me straight to one of my  ABSOLUTE FAVORITE WRITINGS!

              ATTITUDE

by: Charles Swindoll

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.

It is pretty difficult to ‘top this’ so I will close by again quoting Abraham Lincoln:

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count.  It’s the life in your years.”

 May your year 2013 be packed with all of the life that you can possibly squeeze into it. 

With Joy from Patti and Cap ..

DEC 27, 12 .. A LITTLE GOOD OL' TEXAS WISDOM ...

Patti and I really enjoyed our time spent in the GREAT ‘LONE STAR’ STATE OF TEXAS!

Texas .. like life itself .. is a State Of Mind.

While in Texas we came upon some TEXAS WISDOM that I wanted to share with you all ( y’all is said in one syllable .. ‘yawl’ ..)

Good judgment comes from experience and a lot of that comes from bad judgment!

If you find yourself in a hole .. the first thing to do is to stop diggin’!

Never miss a good chance to shut up!

Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier ‘n puttin’ it back in!

Don’t squat when you’re wearing your spurs!

If you’re riding ahead of the herd .. now and then take a look back to be sure it is still there!

Always drink up stream of the herd!

Never kick a cow chip on a hot day!

Never slap a man who’s chewin’ tobacco!

There’s two theories to arguin’ with a woman .. neither one works!

This morning I sent-out-a-feeler e-mail to the YMCA in Hong Kong, China, and asked them if there were any dorm beds open in mid-January.  The ‘itch’ to return to Hong Kong and then to India is sure there .. BUT .. the ‘calling’ I always await has NOT come to me. 

Meanwhile back up North in Anchorage .. Patti (well I think) is busy scurrying around to get the legal estate matters finished ASAP so she can possibly get back down here to join me in Michigan before I ‘head on out’ somewhere.

Another scenario is for Patti to hitch-up with me as I roll through San Francisco heading West for Asia.  That is IF I go.

So stayed tuned ‘yawl’ !

/s/  Cap and the Travelin’ Bobbseys Here With Me ‘itching to travel more’.

The hard-core India-Bobbseys are waiting for us IN India in Agra Cantt with Jeevan Lal.

FEB 17, 12 .. HUM-M-M ..

WAY-BACK-WHEN .. it was when I was in Calcutta .. I wrote of the trash being searched by the hotel help or other 'outsiders' .. and of the problem it was for me to cut and 'shred' sensitive documents that I am throwing away .. 

I FINALLY GAVE IN AND NOW USE THE PERFECT DISPOSAL OF SENSITIVE DOCUMENTS .. such as bank receipts .. your address lists after I update them and need to dispose of the old ones .. envelopes with both of our addresses showing .. hotel bills .. etc ..

 The above was just a trial run for me .. NO odor what-so-ever .. and just a small amount of ash ..

 Clean and you would-never-ever-KNOW ..

 EXCEPT NOW I burn all items over the toilet and then flush the ashes .. I use a pair of pliers to hold the paper(s) I am burning and wear one of my raw-hide gloves to protect my hand .. 

SO REST ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY ASSURED THAT NO ONE WILL HAVE ANY SENSITIVE MATERIALS OF EITHER YOURS OR MINE FROM THE TRASH !

JAN 2, 12 .. GOA .. HUM-M-M

Thanks to technology .. copy and paste  ..   all 'right click mouse magic' .. I am moving parts of two writings .. from babakaps.net here .. so let's try .. IT WORKED .. read on ..

Last week over in Pernem at the railway station .. 

I met an OLIVE OIL SNOB ..

I was chatting with a pair of ladies leaving Pernem for New Delhi .. both of Indian origin both living in the U.S. .. a mother and a daughter .. mother was  a very senior and the daughter probably in her 60s .. mother lives in New York City and daughter lives in San Francisco .. Vernal Heights ..

So we had a lot to chat about after I learned they too were going to board coach A1 (my coach next Wednesday) on Train Number 12449 (my train also) .. and I lived in San Francisco for about 33 years ..

Somehow .. I can NOT recall just exactly how .. we got on OLIVE OIL .. and I told them the brand of olive oil I had gotten here in Arambol .. CIRIO .. $5.80 U.S. Dollars for 250 ml .. expensive .. and good .. I REALLY LIKE IT.. extra virgin first cold extraction in a DARK GREEN BOTTLE the Italian company dating to 1856 .. having traveled in Italy and in Greece I do know something about olive oils ..

Well did the daughter turn up her nose ! .. saying to me .. "CIRIO is terrible .. we brought six (6) bottles of our own olive oil from Italy.."  etc  etc  blah  blah  blah ..

I just kept my mouth shut .. BUT I thought-my-thoughts !

And I think that I LUG around too much weight .. I can NOT grasp lugging around six or so full one litre bottles of olive oil all over India !

OK.. let's do some math .. 250 ml is exactly one fourth of a full litre which is 1,000 ml  ..  my 250 ml bottle of CIRIO olive oil cost me (U.S. Dollars)  $5.80 .. they are NOT giving this away .. and it came in a DARK GREEN bottle .. good stuff .. it is flawed math to say that at $5.80 for 250 ml .. a full litre at this rate would cost $23.20 .. I say the math is flawed because you do get a price break buying the larger quantity .
.
Well I am out of olive oil .. as of yesterday ..  I had four more full days plus Wednesday morning left here in Arambol Beach .. so I decided to buy more olive oil .. and I went price shopping .. and I found a deal ..

I found a full litre of extra virgin (first cold extraction) olive oil for (geez only) $10.23 .. at this rate .. 250 ml would cost me only $2.56 and NOT $5.80 that I paid for the CIRIO brand in a DARK GREEN bottle .. imported from Italy by a company in business since 1856 !

Prior to making the decision to buy a full litre .. I spoke to the owner of my apartment building .. and I asked him IF he used olive oil .. he said ..  "Yes but sparingly because it is so expensive .. we use a little in cooking.." .. and when I asked him IF he used it on bread he said .. "Oh no.. too expensive.." ..

So I told him .. "I would like to offer you a deal .. I will purchase a full one litre bottle of olive oil and I will give it to you free as a gift .." .. and he smiled .. then I added .. "BUT .. here is the deal .. I will give you the new bottle of olive oil so you can open it up and see it is new .. never opened .. THEN I will ask you to pour some of it into my 250 ml bottle so I can have some for the next four days .. you keep the rest .." ..

Such a deal he couldn't believe ..

So off I went and I purchased my full one litre bottle of extra virgin olive oil ..

Now back to OLIVE OIL SNOBBERY ..

This will slay you.. I smile just thinking of it ..

The one litre bottle of olive oil has a brand name ..

It is  LASER brand .. oh c'mon now.. LASER  brand ? ..  like laser to zap things in the dark .. YEP ..  LASER .. (what's that Zilla .. WHAT ? .. you have seen it at Wal-Mart .. figures .. ) ..

And the olive oil in the LASER brand bottle is in a clear transparent  bottle NOT in a dark green (proper) bottle ..

And it is made .. in the E.U.  .. this means in the European Union .. so much for Italian with a heritage back to 1856 !  Being made in the E.U. means the olives could come from who knows where .. just from the E.U. .. so my LASER brand olive oil has NO heritage .. olives  from all over europe ..

Now IF I had told the lady at the train station over in Pernem about the LASER brand olive oil.. in a clear glass bottle .. with NO heritage .. costing only $10.23  a full litre .. I would have fully understood her SNOBERY ..  but not over my PREMIUM CIRIO brand ..

BUT it looked good and the label stated that it was a first cold extraction .. extra virgin olive oil will be DARK in color .. so evidently the LASER executives WANT you to see their DARK olive oil in its clear bottle so NO dark green bottle .. 

I just giggle over the name .. LASER .. 

So with some trepidation I took it to the owner and he opened it up .. I said that I could never give him an already-opened bottle and thanked him for going along with my plan.. 

Then back to my apartment I trotted with my half-full 250 ml dark green CIRIO brand bottle HIDING my LASER brand olive oil inside .. (I could hear the dark green CIRIO bottle say to me .. "Dad .. what is this stuff you put in me ? ") ..

Out came some bread with my sharp knife .. out came the special bowl I put olive oil in to  dip and into it went some LASER brand olive oil ..  out came my wood chopsticks to firmly grasp and work the bread into the olive oil .. into the LASER brand olive oil went my bread .. then judgement time was at hand .. into my mouth went the bread soaked in LASER brand olive oil ..

IT IS ABSOLUTELY .. AND IT IS POSITIVELY .. WONDERFUL .. IT IS PHENOMENAL .. I LOVE IT .. 

So IF you see LASER brand olive oil at Cost Plus .. or Wal-Mart .. or Trader Joe's .. or .. buy it IF it is extra virgin .. 

Actually at $10.23 a full litre it is cost- wise comparable to COSTCO premium olive oil in a dark brown bottle that costs a tad more money ..

But why-oh-why not call it ..  LASERIO  .. ANYTHING but LASER .. say  .. "Made from the finest olives we could find throughout the entire European Union .."  .. spend a few pennies for a DARK GREEN / BROWN bottle ..

Now here is why I moved the writing over to this web site .. below is a photo of the two bottles and their brand names .. so you can SEE for yourself.. poor LASER even has a torn label.. but his olive oil is just fine ..  NOTICE his clear bottle and CIRIO's dark green bottle ..

oh yeah i am having fun here in arambol beach in goa on the west coast of india 360 miles south of bombay .. much joy for a happy and joyous and sober new year 2012 .. cap .. can you recognize the photo was taken on my porch beside my couch .. on the porch railing against the blue column ..

Jeanne 99631 .. I came back half a day later to see IF I could add another photo to an older post .. and I have .. still 'learning' this .. I MUST GOOGLE LASER OLIVE OIL .. I DID .. got 4,800,000 Google 'hits' .. laser is a technique the Italians have developed to combat fraudulent claims of some companies claiming the quality of 'extra virgin'  on lower quality olive oil .. go figure .. isn't GOOGLE SOMETHING .. actually little CIRIO looks kindda like he likes standing beside LASER .. he is sortta snuggled up beside her .. 

DEC 27, 11 .. GOA .. ARAMBOL BEACH ..

In Arambol Beach there are some 'urban' legends about the 'Hidden Lake' behind 'the OTHER' Beach in Arambol Beach .. and .. taa-daa .. myths surrounding .. THE Banyan Tree .. so I decided to really explore them both ..

This other beach is named 'Sweet Water Beach' and you have seen it above in FWIW.. 115 and 116.. and in photo 5 of For What It's Worth.. 78.. November 27, 2011 .. and it is simply another beach you get to by going past the rocky point jutting out into the ocean at the extreme north end of the main beach at Arambol Beach .. and walking some distance to this next beach .. 

 Standing on 'Sweet Water Beach' ..in the below photo .. looking east inland .. you can see immediately in front of you the downstream end of 'Sweet Water Lake' a hidden lake inland from the beach and the ocean  .. notice the 'floats' to the left of the red flag out on the lake .. now we are going to walk (CLIMB) up the hill which is to the right of the below photo and look down upon 'Sweet Water Lake' .. or 'Hidden Lake' .. I see it called either .. the Banyan Tree you will see in photos 7 and 8 below is going to be ahead of us on the left side of the lake shown below .. this is primaily a fresh water lake NOT sea water .. thus the name 'sweet' water ..

Below is a photo (taken Monday December the 26th) looking down upon the lake .. you can see the floats on the lake I mention in the photo above .. the building you see in the below photo is a beach restaurant .. and to get to the Banyan Tree we are going to walk beside this restaurant and follow the lake around its farther side (the north side) to the right and further past its head water entrance .. I was so exhausted after the climb to shoot this photo that I returned to my apartment and continued the Banyan Tree project on Tuesday the 27th .. but while up on the top of this 'hill' I shot several other photos you will see in FWIW.. 115 .. above ..

 Although the below photos were taken the next day .. Tuesday the 27th of December .. I am showing them below since you can orient to them as described above.. in the two below photos we are walking through the 'jungle' so to speak .. to get to the .. taa-daa .. Banyan Tree ..

 What these two photos do NOT clearly show .. is that we are climbing up and going down .. but the path is pretty clear .. the path on the climb to look down on 'Sweetwater Lake' was extremely difficult to ascertain for probably 40% of the way ..

 I could NOT resist photographing this magnificent stone bowl .. it is on the hill just below the Banyan Tree .. 'Give if you can' .. this too is FAMOUS locally and a part of the destination walking to the Banyan Tree ..

 'Take if you have to' .. very nice.. it was empty when I came upon it .. I had mixed feelings about that .. but I did NOT put any money into the bowl ..

 And below.. IF you can even begin to 'make it out' is the .. taa-daa .. fabled Banyan Tree .. in my humble opinion .. much ado about NOTHING .. I had expected it to be on the top of the mountain .. in a cleared open area .. and to stand .. solitary and alone .. in magnificent splendor .. instead it is mixed into the jungle and impossible to even ascertain where exactly it is .. and I was 'toast' after this climb also ..

In Arambol Beach .. in almost every restaurant .. there are signs posted saying .. no smoking .. "Lovely" I thought my first day or two here .. then I found that everyone that wants to smoke totally ignores the signs .. then I learned that there is smoking .. and there is ..  s m o k i n g  .. in the above photo you see steps up into a clearing under the Banyan Tree .. in the below photo is a shot in the clearing ..

 "Why" ..  I wondered silently .. "When it is in the 90s .. do they have a fire going ?" .. and .. "Why in the world are they bundled up ?" ..I did NOT ask and will never know .. BUT .. believe thee me .. they all were ..   S M O K I N G  ! ..  smoking is Marlboro's..  Lucky Strike's .. Camel's .. Pall Mall's .. and ..  S M O K I N G  .. is what they were doing .. very friendly .. they offered me a pipe but I declined .. I was so exhausted from the climb I DID stay with them for awhile .. they DID confirm for me that .. "YES.. this IS the Banyan Tree ! " .. so out and off went gimme-some Roy .. to the land that knows no time.. down a trail no man could conquer .. to a cliff no man could climb .. (from the Search for the Perfect High.. by Shel Silverstein..) .. smiles and love.. cap ..

DEC 21, 11 .. CAP .. HUM-M-M-M

If you have been following along with me pretty much from the start here .. and I mean on http://babakaps.net .. my primary writing web site.. you KNOW how much I DISLIKE people who (I guess I need to qualify it in terms of life and spiritual and religious realms) come on 'as-if' they REALLY KNOW .. anything ..


Well .. I REALLY KNOW this : THE MORE I DO KNOW .. THE MORE I KNOW THAT I DON'T REALLY KNOW MUCH ..


Are 'others' who have passed-on trying to communicate with us.. no one knows .. 


This morning.. Wednesday the 21st of December, 2011 .. I was riding the local bus from Arambol Beach here in Goa to the neighboring town of Pernem .. and I mean ..


I WAS IN THE ZONE ..


The day was absolutely picture perfect.. it was early in the morning.. 9:45AM so the temperature was still fairly cool .. a nice breeze was blowing through the bus .. I had a seat and the bus was not jammed packed crowded .. life was.. at the moment .. a perfect '10' .. and I was feeling this great spiritual oneness with-it-all..


Then I felt 'something' fall into my upturned palm and I looked down..

 And there in my palm .. was the most beautiful and lovely white and pink flower petal .. now you tell me .. because to tell you the truth .. I DON'T KNOW .. was this some 'sign' from something that .. "Yes Captain .. everything IS all right " .. well it sure FELT like it was a sign .. so I shall take it as a sign .. and oh-by-the-way .. my day really did go phenomenally well .. 


Cheri 48073 .. 1616 .. how do I really REALLY THANK YOU for me having a camera along that allowed me to photograph this lovely white and pink petal .. 

DEC 7, 11 .. PEARL HARBOR DAY IN GOA ..

Seventy (70) years ago TODAY.. it was December 7th.. 1941.. I was but five years old.. but even at five years of age.. I KNEW something really big had come to pass on that .. Day of Infamy .. as I have heard it referred to ..  Pearl Harbor Day ..

I love to quote .. and I love to re-quote Meister Eckhart .. German Philosopher and Theologian .. who wrote the following ..


If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is Thank You.. it will be enough ..

In the United States Marine Corps.. they have quite a philosophy .. well they did in early 1958 when I went through Marine Corps Boot Camp ..

As a Marine.. I was taught that I was to fight.. and that I might lay down my very life .. for two (2) groups of people ..  those who fought for ME when I was too young to fight for the country.. and those who were at that time too young to fight for the country.. the children basically ..


So to those who fought and to those who died when I was too young to fight .. I say THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH ..  I SALUTE YOU ALL ..


What a joy my life is today because of you all.. 

Much MUCH LOVE .. Cap.. USMC Enlisted.. USN Commissioned Officer (Sea Bees) ..