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has written 476 articles for the OB Rag!

Meet the Kentucky Derby Duo of Ocean Beach

September 27, 2021 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

Ocean Beach is a melting pot of many different types of individuals, from humans, to pet pigs, to birds, to cats, and, in this case, dogs. Seldom does anyone get to meet a dog and his owner like I am going to introduce you to today. And they like to call Ocean Beach their home. Without any further introduction, let me introduce you to Kentucky – the human – and Derby, the surfing dog.

It wouldn’t surprise me if you already know them, or least know about them.

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What Happened to OB’s Recycling Center Next to Pat’s Liquor?

September 23, 2021 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

Over the past few months I have received several calls asking me if Prince’s Recycling Center at 5096 Voltaire right next to Pat’s Liquor is open or closed. This center is not to be confused with the one that was adjacent to Stumps Market, also on Voltaire. Each time I received a call I investigated to see the situation and sometimes I found it open while other times I found it closed.

Recently, however, there has been a sign on the door that stated that the City had closed them down and after receiving a call from Basil at Pat’s Liquor, I decided it was time to do a full investigation. On August 10th, a notice was send to Mr. Prince, telling him that the recycling center was in violation of the San Diego Municipal Code.

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The Widder Curry: Beware of Scammers Pretending to Be From the Post Office

September 21, 2021 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

As an insomniac it is apparent to me that I am not thinking in a creative manner when I cannot sleep. I’m still counting the sheep jumping over the fence. But let me alert you to this one, which was new to me.

Hitomi was a foreign language student from Japan that had lived with me for five years studying English. Perhaps you may remember she was the flight attendant that was working domestic flights and wanted to fly international but her English would not let her pass the test. She came here to further her skills.

She liked it so well, and was learning so much that she stayed, and went on to other ESL schools to increase her fluency with the language.

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Restaurant Review: Mr. Moto Pizza

September 13, 2021 by Judi Curry

Restaurant Review

Mr. Moto Pizza
1929 Cable St.
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
(619) 981-9777

By Judi Curry

Every now and then a coupon comes in the mail that is worthy of trying at the establishment sending it. The funny thing is that the coupon did not come to me – it came to my friend Steve – who lives on Santa Cruz only 6 blocks away. It was for $10 off one of their pizza’s. I didn’t get one!

Mr. Moto is known for their thin crusts, and we knew this at the time we placed our order.

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Restaurant Review: Vessel on Shelter Island

September 7, 2021 by Judi Curry

Restaurant Review

Vessels Restaurant at
Kona Kai Resort
1551 Shelter Island Drive
Point Loma, CA 92106
619-819-8195

Every now and then a special occasion occurs and you want to make it so special that those involved never forget it. That occasion happened the other day when I wanted to take Ibrahim Al Nashashibi (“Al”) out to celebrate two things: His birthday, and the completion of his second novel. As a restaurant owner, (Fairouz) he doesn’t get out much, and since this was a breakfast I wanted it to be someplace special. Vessels immediately came to mind because of the spectacular view, the good food, and the wonderful service.

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A Sophisticated Scam the Widder Curry Almost Fell For

August 25, 2021 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

It isn’t often that I fall for a scam, but this one had me 99% on the road to tapping into my Amazon account, so thought I’d share it with you.

I am a member of a Bunco group. There are 12 women that get together once a month to play the game. We have a yearly calendar that states the month we will host the game; our name, phone number, address, birth date, email address, etc. For purposes of anonymity I will only mention a name – Susan – as we do not have a Susan in our group.

Different members of the group have been with this group for years. Many years. As people dropped out, others have been added and I think that I was the last one to join approximately 5 years ago. It is fair to say that we know each other well; are aware of problems, highlights, etc. So when I received the following note from Susan, I immediately answered.

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Democrats Missed the Ball on the Newsom Recall

August 17, 2021 by Judi Curry

The Widder Says “a Mistake Is Being Done”

By Judi Curry

There is so much unrest going on in the world today – Afghanistan, Haiti, climate, refugee’s, fires, drought. The one I would like to focus on for a moment is the Recall of Governor Newsom.

Today I received a door hanging that was hard to miss: Shaped like a stop sign; white lettering on a red background, and the words “VOTE NO!” in yellow on one side; on the other side was more of the same in Spanish as well as English. For some reason the whole thing really bothered me.

First of all I want to say that I support the Governor. I think that he did a fantastic job during the first Covid pandemic, and has continued to do a great job in masking, closing indoor facilities, etc.

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The Widder Curry Is at it Again – This Time Against the Anti-VAXXers

August 13, 2021 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

I attended a social gathering of twelve women the other night and more than two came up to me and asked me why I hadn’t written anything lately. Basically I answered that I was so fed up with what is going on around me that I am trying not to let the social fabric of today get in my way.

Of course we all know that is impossible; every time you walk out of your house you can’t help but wonder if you are putting yourself at risk.

There are two things happening – or not happening – that have my dander up this week. The first one has to do with those people that refuse to get a Covid vaccine. People very, very dear to me refuse to get it.

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A Return to a Favorite After 10 Years – Taste of the Himalayas in the Midway

July 27, 2021 by Judi Curry

Restaurant Review

Taste of the Himalayas
3185 Midway Drive
San Diego, CA 92110
619-866-6922

By Judi Curry

One of the first restaurants in San Diego that I reviewed was the Taste of the Himalayas, way back in 2011 – almost ten years to the day. A lot has transpired in those ten years, and a former student from Switzerland that was with me during those years, suggested that we try it for lunch. I have been back there many times; the food has always been good, reasonable; different, and I have introduced many people to Indian food there.

Corinne and I decided to arrive about 11:30 am for lunch. We wanted to get there early before the crowd arrived – if, indeed, there was a crowd. Few things have changed, but those that we noticed were nice. For one thing, the back room was used for lunch. In the past, I have always eaten in the front room, which I like because it gives me an opportunity to see who is coming in to eat, who is coming in for take-out, etc.

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The Owner of Fairouz Cafe in the Midway Has a Love Story to Tell

July 19, 2021 by Judi Curry

Talent Abounds in Ibraham Al Nashashibi

By Judi Curry

I have been an educator for over 40 years and have never met a more talented person than Al. I have never met a more talented person that is so unassuming about his talent. If you have ever met this man you are almost immediately aware of the great attributes that he has to offer, for he is the owner of Fairouz Café on Midway Drive. But this article is not about the restaurant; rather it is about the man that created it and showcases the tremendous talent he has to offer to the world.

Al was born in Jerusalem, and among the various occupations he has tried, besides being a restaurateur,

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Restaurant Review: Breakfast Republic in Ocean Beach

July 14, 2021 by Judi Curry

Breakfast Republic
4839 Newport Avenue
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
619-255-7255
Open from 7:00am – 3:00pm.

By Judi Curry

It seems like forever since I stepped into a restaurant for a meal. Perhaps because it has been over a year since I really did an “inside” review. Yesterday I decided it was time to break that barrier, and went with Al, the owner of Fairouz Restaurant, to one of my favorite restaurants for breakfast. Suffice it to say, he had never been there; in fact, he hasn’t been to many San Diego restaurants because you can usually find him at his own establishment. I was curious to see what he thought of the décor; the wait staff; and, of course, the food.

There was a very short wait for our table at 10:00 am, but by the time we left an hour and a half later, customers were lined up on the stairs

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Sophisticated Spam Call at 10:47 pm

July 12, 2021 by Judi Curry

The Widow Curry with a warning

By Judi Curry

SCENARIO: Household sound asleep on a Saturday night. The telephone rings at 10:47pm. A woman’s voice says, “May I speak to Judith Curry please. This is the fraud unit of Target credit card and we have detected a fraud billing of $475 on her account.”

“This is Judith.”
“I am so sorry to wake you up but we have detected a $475 on your Target account for pharmacy items. Have you shopped the pharmacy at Target recently?”
“No”.
“Have you made a $475 purchase at Target at all?”
“No”.
“Do you know where your credit card is?”

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Luigi’s Pizzeria in Ocean Beach – A Disappointment

July 5, 2021 by Judi Curry

Luigi’s Pizzeria
5001 Newport Ave.
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
(no phone as of this review)

By Judi Curry

Contacted by several of my neighbors in the past few days asking me if I had tried Luigi’s Pizzeria yet, I decided to try it the other night. It is located where ”Bravo’s” Mexican Restaurant used to be.

It is difficult to write a poor review of a new restaurant, but since the owners of “Luigi’s” have been in business for years, I expected much more from the establishment that what I received. And, as I will mention later, based on a menu item, I would not return on any account.

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A Tragedy of Sight Averted – Hopefully

June 23, 2021 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

Seldom do I actually speak about myself. I have never liked to be the center of attention and even though I may write about my opinions, my personal experiences are kept at bay when possible. Having Covid in January changed some of that and the continuing saga is still in the forefront of a lot of my thoughts and experiences.

When I am asked how my recovery has gone I tell people I am about 95% recovered. The extreme fatigue is still there; the muscle tone in my legs is noticeably worse; but I still am able to get around with a minimum amount of difficulty. Except that the diagnosis I received from my Ophthalmologist last week scared the hell out of me.

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The Widder Curry (Finally) Speaks

June 7, 2021 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

In the past 4 days I have received 5 emails from people asking me why I haven’t written anything lately.

One wanted to know if I had a relapse of Covid. Thank you all for your concerns – I am fine, just so peeved at my fellow man that I find it hard to not rant and rave about the goings on in the world today.

Let me give you a sample – and I know the daggers are about ready to be thrown again. I suspect that the “dagger-throwers” are the ones that I am writing about in the first place.

Where to begin? Perhaps with the lowly Senators of the United States that do not have the testicles to stand up to the horrific former President of the United States – trump.

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Sunset Cliffs – the Forgotten Boulevard

May 4, 2021 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

From the 1300 block of Sunset Cliffs southbound, some of the most beautiful terrain of San Diego can be viewed. This particular area brings people from all phases of life to view the Cliffs, the waves, the birds, the homes, etc. and they do this on a very regular basis.

However, as a resident of the Cliffs area, it is getting out of hand. The traffic, the trash, the drinking has sky-rocked to the point that residents sometimes cannot get out of their driveways because of congestion on the road; rescue vehicles cannot traverse the road safely; pedestrians think they are invincible and cross in the middle of the street even though there is oncoming – and outgoing – traffic.

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‘Stop the Suffering’ – Shut Down the SeaWorld Fireworks

April 9, 2021 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

I realize that I have written about the fireworks at SeaWorld many times in the past. There are definitely two camps in this on-going battle – those that love the fireworks and those that see the pain and suffering to animals, big and small; pain and suffering to those people diagnosed with PTSD; the harm it is doing to the environment; and the lasting effects every time a firework is shot off.

I am, quite frankly, tired of the people that give stupid advice about turning up the volume of the television to distract the animals from reacting to the noise and repercussions of the fireworks; the people that are now advocating giving the animals a small dose of CBD to calm them down. (I wonder how small a dose you would have to give an Orca, a seal, a porpoise, a dolphin, etc. to “calm them down.”)

How loud would you have to turn up the volume of a television, or a radio, or….to calm them down?

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Restaurant Review: StarFish Filipino Eatery in Ocean Beach

March 22, 2021 by Judi Curry

Restaurant Review

StarFish Filipino Eatery
1830 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., Suite E
San Diego, CA 92107

By Judi Curry

I am always intrigued when a new ethnic restaurant opens nearby. I have long felt that Ocean Beach has enough Mexican, Pizza and Asian – read Japanese – restaurants and not enough “other” kinds. I was thrilled to hear that a Filipino restaurant has now opened right on Sunset Cliffs.

When I was working at Job Corps in Imperial Beach, I had several instructors and secretaries that were Filipino. When they brought in food for different occasions it was usually the first to go. They could never make enough Lumpia to satisfy the staff – you have to know that I had over 130 staff members! – and the Pancit was the best I had ever tasted. I “borrowed” Alicia’s recipe for Lumpia, and would spend hours cutting up the vegetables the way she taught me to but it never tasted as good as hers.

The pancit was interesting, because Alicia would put a layer of raw oysters on the top, and that stopped many of the staff from devouring the tasty dish. Other staff members did not put any topping on theirs at all and they were the first to be finished!

Now we have a Filipino restaurant in Ocean Beach. They have very limited hours – close their doors by 6:00 – which I am hoping will change as the pandemic decreases.

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SeaWorld Fireworks! Here We Go Again – But Why?

March 16, 2021 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

When you think of SeaWorld what do you think of? Shamu? Orcas? Dolphins? Seals? Sharks? Fish? What was the reason that Sea World started in the first place?

Let me give you some history:

“SeaWorld® opened its gates for the first time in 1964, founded by George Millay, Milt Shedd, Ken Norris and David DeMott. Originally planned as an underwater restaurant, the concept grew into a marine zoological park on 21 acres along the shore of Mission Bay in San Diego. With an initial investment of $1.5 million, 45 employees, several dolphins, sea lions, and two saltwater aquariums, SeaWorld drew more than 400,000 visitors its first year.

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A $48,000 Mistake in Going Solar

March 15, 2021 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

What I am about ready to write about is only my experience with trying to help the environment. Others may not have had the same experience and I want to say, again, that this is only my opinion and experience.

In August of 2018, I decided that I wanted to put solar on my roof. I thought it would help the environment; it would lessen my enormous electric bills; and with the offers of “no pay” it was too good to turn down.

I checked with my accountant, and she told me that I would be able to take a write-off on my taxes every year. So, I had it installed.

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‘I Got Him Out of a Jam’

March 3, 2021 by Judi Curry

A “Feel Good” Story

By Judi Curry

I am going to begin this little story by stating that there is nothing deep about this.

Some of you will think it is a complete waste of time to read; a complete waste of time to even publish it. So let me start out by saying that you are correct. If you are looking for something with deep meaning, something that you will learn from, something that you will want to repeat to others, STOP READING now – because this is none of those things.

Rather, this is about a sweet thing that happened this week.

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On the Path to Recovery – Part 2

February 24, 2021 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

During the past month when in the throes of Covid, I have been overwhelmed by the responses I have received from my friends, relatives, neighbors, strangers, etc.

I received over 100 get well wishes; I even received over 75 “Happy Birthday” wishes.

People that I do not know have sent me cards; a neighbor that I still don’t know sent me a long note telling me that he would be glad to anything for me that needed to be done during this time. (He sent me his address so that when I am finally able to go out I can see where he lives with his family.)

Al Nashashibi from Faurouz left me a huge of amount of his restaurants’ “Lemon Grass” soup by my front door;

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‘She’s Almost Among the Living Again’

February 10, 2021 by Judi Curry

The Saga of the Widder Curry’s Covid -19

By Judi Curry

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you that sent me prayers, positive thoughts, greeting cards, flowers, soups, foods, magazines, funny sayings, etc. during these past 22 days that I have been wiped out by Covid.

NEVER in my entire lifetime, which is substantial, have I ever been so weak, so indisposed as I have been the past three weeks.

When I say that I had no energy even to lift myself off the commode, that is no exaggeration. I needed help, each and every time. And do you want to know the strange thing about this disease? I had a “mild case.” I never had an elevated temperature; I never had low oxygen; my blood pressure remained normal throughout the entire 22 days.

I just had no energy. None. Nada. And one of the worst sensations I had in the 22 days was that my bones were on fire! Truly! They felt like there were flames emanating from them. All day. All night. For 18 days!

And how did it start?

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Info on the Recall of Jen Campbell

January 12, 2021 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

Until now, I didn’t know what was really happening with the recall of Councilmember Jennifer Campbell. I got a phone call from Bridger Langfur who kindly filled me in. Here’s what I learned.

The core of the movement is a large group of District 2 community members who, having witnessed Jennifer Campbell’s “governing style” over the last two years, now agree that her removal from office is the only way forward.

Campbell’s tenure has been characterized by reversals of promises she made during her campaign. Two notable examples are short term vacation rentals and the preservation of the 30 foot Coastal Height Limit Law.

During her campaign, she vowed to advocate for enforcement of the existing municipal code ordinances which prohibit short term rentals in residential zones. She’s now pushing an ordinance that not only would legalize short term rentals, but also earmarks thousands of San Diego housing units to be used as tourist lodging, in perpetuity, by billion dollar multinational corporations such as Airbnb and Expedia.

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It’s Still a Life or Death Situation

January 4, 2021 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

I realize that this article will tick off a lot of people. Some people will agree with me. At this point I really don’t care if you agree or disagree, but there is a tremendous problem out there that some are denying really exists.

Yes, I am speaking about the death rate of COVID-19.

Yesterday, at one of the larger shopping malls in the Los Angeles area, there was an “anti-masker” protest. It was an organized demonstration and a whole lot of people went to this mall, unmasked. They tried to get into many of the shops that were open for sales as they could. They coughed in people’s faces. They fought with the management; they fought with those people wearing masks; they put hundreds of people’s lives at risk because of their belief that COVID-19 doesn’t exist, that it is something that the fake media made up.

It is easier to forgive ignorance than it is stupidity. In this case, it is hard to forgive either. How many times have you heard people say that they didn’t believe this epidemic existed until they – or friends – or relatives came down with it?

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Time for a little schmaltz

December 31, 2020 by Judi Curry

Time for a little schmaltz

By Judi Curry

I’m so glad this year is over,
It hasn’t been the best,
Sometimes it was so unbelievable
I had to think things were said in jest.

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A Second Visit to Soi-OB Thai Street Food

December 28, 2020 by Judi Curry

Restaurant Review

Soi-OB Thai Street Food
1916 Cable St.
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
619-230-5885

By Judi Curry

When this restaurant first opened, Soi-OB Thai Street Food, my foreign language student – Hitomi – and I were there the first week. We both really enjoyed what we had, and went back several times until she moved to Los Angeles in July.

Last night I decided it was time to try it again, so went on-line to set up a delivery of a few items. Now that I do not have any students, I am not trying as many items as I did in the past. However, tonight one of my tenants – George – was home and he joined me in my tastings.

I ordered a Tom Kah Soup, with mild spices, and just vegetables.

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In Search of the Best Tamale

December 23, 2020 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

Many years ago I worked with a teacher named GiGi that taught Office Skills to our Job Corps Students. GiGi was outgoing, fun to be with, and about 45 years old. One year she invited about 15 of our staff members to her home in Tijuana to make tamales for Christmas. I am pretty sure that none of us had ever made tamales before – and I am almost willing to bet that none of have made them since!

I wish I had pictures of the scene, but I will do my best to recreate it for you. When we walked into her huge living room/ dining room, we found that she had prepared different fillings for the tamales – pork, chicken, fruit – for a typical Christmas tamale – cheese and beef. Imagine seeing all of these in huge pans on 10 long tables in her house!

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Tribute to a Special Friend Whom the Coronavirus Is Taking

December 22, 2020 by Judi Curry

Jaimee Dawson, Native of Spring Valley

By Judi Curry

In 1992 I went to work as the Vocations Manager for the San Diego Job Corps. For those of you that do not know about the history of Job Corps, it is a Federally funded program for males and females 16-24 that have not finished High School, and want to learn a Vocation.

It is an old program – both my husband and former husband worked at the Pleasanton Job Corps in 1964-5.

In addition to being an education program, the students enrolling in the program live, for the most part, on Center. They are fed three meals a day; their clothes are provided for them, and they attend classes all day long.

We had approximately 650 students living on Center, and if I remember correctly, we offered at least 12 vocational classes for them – solar, plumbing, painting, plastering, carpentry, culinary arts, auto mechanics, office skills, landscaping, security, computer repair, CNA, etc.

And we also gave them the opportunity to complete their high school diploma’s and/or obtain a GED. All classes were taught on Center. It was, and still is, a very viable program and our success rate was enormous. And what made it so successful?

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Little Chef Restaurant in Ocean Beach

December 21, 2020 by Judi Curry

Restaurant Review

Little Chef Restaurant
4910 Newport Avenue
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
619-222-6627

By Judi Curry

This is my third review of the various Chinese restaurants in the Ocean Beach – Point Loma area. I used to go to the Little Chef all the time and I was curious to see if there were any changes since the last time I was here – over 5 years ago. But before I get into the review itself I found out a few things I want to share with you.

It was too early to call in my order to Grubhub so I decided to go through the menu and have everything written down as to what I wanted to order. I also had down the prices on my list, so I didn’t go over the amount I had allocated for this meal. Imagine my surprise when I finally placed the order to find out that everything was more expensive than the menu listed.

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