Author: Judi Curry

The Old Broad Writes …

Ft. Rosecrans Cemetery

Several years ago I wrote a number of articles about the deplorable condition of the Ft. Rosecrans Cemetery. (See here, here, and here.) At about the same time Michael Turko [ed: of the former “Turko Files”] also did a piece about the cemetery and between us the transformation of the grounds was amazing. Doug Ledbetter, the Director at the time of the articles, listened to us and within a year it was again a beautiful place to visit our loved ones.

As my international students and I ate a “turkeyless” dinner on Thanksgiving, I was reminded of the years my family had to wait for my husband to arrive home because he, and other members of Veterans for Peace, were busy distributing sleeping bags, water, and sometimes candy to the homeless living on the streets.

As my students and I discussed the meaning of Thanksgiving, they asked why the vets’ group distributed sleeping bags, how they got them, and who financed them. The students see people sleeping on the streets every day, since their ESL school is downtown. Miki said there are very few homeless in Japan; Lea said that she has not seen any homeless in Switzerland.

Ed Ayub Physical Therapy
3145 Rosecrans St.
San Diego, CA 92110

I didn’t meet Eddy and his crew by going to his physical therapy office. Rather, I met Eddy and his wife Mary through their dogs – Boomer and Bella. They live around the corner from me and every day when I walked my Golden Retriever Buddy, his dogs would come to the fence to greet us. It finally came to the point when Buddy automatically turned into their gate and patiently waited for them to come out and greet him.

Eventually, Eddy and Mary came out to say a few words, and before you knew it Eddy had a treat – or two – for Buddy. Although Buddy couldn’t pay them back, I would bring a new jar of jam I had just made as a “neighborly” gesture. One day when Mary and I were talking she noticed that I was wearing a splint on my arm and asked questions about it. The next day she told me that Eddy wanted to talk to me about the swelling.

Editordude: San Diego Free Press has announced it will suspend publication after Dec. 14.

I started writing for the San Diego Free Press with almost their first edition. One of the the nice things about writing for it was that I was limited in my writings for the OB Rag, because at that time all of the articles and restaurant reviews were about “goings on” in the neighborhood. I could write for the SDFP and cover more restaurants, more ideas, and more of San Diego County.

As I became more and more familiar with the editors and contributors, my respect for the online paper grew. The knowledge of the authors was tremendous.

Fig Tree Cafe
Liberty Station
2400 Historic Decatur Rd., #103
San Diego, CA 92107
619-821-2044

One of the fun things about having visitors come to San Diego that have never been here before is introducing them to the variety of restaurants in the neighborhood. I used to think, when I lived in San Francisco, that I would like to start trying restaurants on Lombard Street and try a different one every day. I doubted if I would ever get to try them all because there were so many different ones.

San Diego does not have as many restaurants as Lombard Street, and restaurants seem to change more rapidly than they do in San Francisco, but there is still a huge variety of different tastes in our fair city.

So Friday Hugh and I decided to try the “Fig Tree Café” in Liberty Station.

The Mission – Mission Beach
3795 Mission Blvd.
Mission Beach, CA 92109
858-488-9060

Every now and then, when the “old timers” of Ocean Beach get together , we discuss what stores and restaurants were here when we first moved into the area. There were so many stores that we missed today – Para’s Book Store, Lownes Department Store, Elms Mens Clothes, Coronet, Smith’s Jewelers, Strand Theater, etc.

And later on, perhaps in the late 80’s, a restaurant was started upstairs from where an ice cream store used to be downstairs; when you could buy a bikini on the way to having a meal;

The Old Broad

My Cable Company

I wonder if I will get as much flack over this column as I have with all the other ones I have written in the past two months. I have yet to talk to anyone that recommends their cable system, so I have a feeling that I may be treading well. We’ll see.

My cable provider is “Cox”. I have a bundle consisting of WiFi, Television and a Land Line. Someone asked me the other day why I needed a Land Line and my answer was “that is the way I find my cell phone.” Quite honestly I prefer talking on my land line. The reception is clearer; it doesn’t hurt my hand holding the receiver the way the cell phone does, and I can put it on my shoulder comfortably and still have the use of both hands. The cost is reasonable – $20.82 – at least compared to my cell phone.

But I am having some trouble with my landline since Cox went digital.

The Old Broad Speaks Her Mind

Airport Noise and the Button

Let’s start this column by saying those of you that will tell me that they are used to the airport noise do not have to read any further. Let’s continue this column by saying to those of you that say that the airport was here before me do not have to read any further either. Those of you that will say there is nothing we can do about the airport can also skip this column. And those of you that will say that I am always bitching about something do not have to read any further either. And those of you that are not bothered by the black soot, or the shaking windows, or the air pollution – well – you can skip reading also. Because I am pissed by all of the above.

Today, Sunday, October 28th, I pushed the airport noise button 7 times; four times within two hours.

The Old Broad Speaks Her Mind

Pittsburgh

I was in Las Vegas when I heard about the shootings in Pittsburgh. It spoiled my entire trip. (Of course not being able to find a Blackjack table for under $10 a hand didn’t help my mood.)

I was raised in a Jewish Neighborhood – the “Borscht” belt in Los Angeles. My high school – Fairfax High – was closed for Jewish holidays. Although I did not go to Sunday School, most of my friends did; most of my friends were either Bar Mitzvahed or, if female, Bas Mitzvahed. I would go to the Synagogue with friends when asked to go with them, and attended many Seder’s on the holidays. I celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas, and have a Menorah and candles ready for this holiday season.

You would think that people would be safe in the “House of God”. The president’s idiotic comment that if there had been armed guards at the “Tree of Life” Synagogue there would not have been so many deaths.

The Old Broad Ponders – Just Before She Takes Off for Vegas

By Judi Curry

So here I sit with two 36 gallon bags filled with plastic bottles; one 33 gallon bag filled with bottles, and one 33 gallon bag filled with aluminum cans and no close place to go to redeem them. My neighbor said to me that I should just throw them into the blue recycling receptacle and put it out in front of the house come recycling day.

Why? I am paying for those bottles, cans and glass containers. Why should I just throw them away?

I remember when I would return those items to the grocery store and get my “deposit” back. Why can’t I do that now? The closest place to redeem those items will cost me almost the same amount of money in gasoline to get there that I will get back from the redemption.

To quote Turko – “it ain’t right.” We need to have a recycling center in the Ocean Beach/ Point Loma area again.

Restaurant Review

Ketch (Revisited)
2614 Shelter Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92106
619-814-8080

I reviewed the Ketch just after it opened for another publication and said at the time that if it was not good, or just mediocre – and I would not do a review of it, because I felt they needed some time to get everything together. However, it turned out it was very good, and I wrote the review.

The other day I had the opportunity to go back to the Ketch with a new friend, and, again I was not disappointed in the food. What I was disappointed about was that the menu had changed, and the item that I wanted was gone. Hugh said that he really liked Calamari, and on the menu was a “Calamari & Peppers” item.

The Old Broad Sounds Off

As we get older, things that we believed in once – Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy – lose their authenticity. There are so many things that I used to believe in that I no longer believe in now. I ceased believing in our Presidential elections when the election was stolen from Al Gore; that feeling was only intensified with the election of the current president. I used to teach how important it was to vote; that each person’s vote counted until it was shown to be a misnomer with the electoral college. I have had to do some changes in my own philosophy and beliefs.

But there was still one governmental agency I believed in up until the last presidential election. I believed in the FBI.