Author: 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.

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?

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.

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.

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!

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?

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.

Diego Marquez
“The Marketplace”
619-672-5911

By Judi Curry

Several years ago, my daughter bought me a very pretty, glass bird bath to attract more birds into my back yard.

For months I loved watching the birds come and drink from the bowl or take a bath when the weather was warmer.

And then, one day, a “murder” of Crows landed on the glass bowl and quickly toppled it. And from that day on I have been searching for another bird bath.

I found that many of them were built very flimsily; and knowing that not only do I have crows that have heard that the water is good at the “Curry Household” I have been providing several different hawks with the same good water so it is imperative that the bird bath be strong enough to handle several large birds at one time.

Restaurant Review

Z & F Chinese Food
2907 Shelter Island Dr., #104
San Diego, CA 92106
619-269-7668

Cooking for One Ain’t Fun – Part 2

By Judi Curry

Last week I ordered several items from another Chinese restaurant in the OB/ Pt. Loma area. Needless to say I wasn’t too happy with it, and decided that I would start looking about the area to find one that was more to more liking. I had had food from Z & F before, and decided to try them again.

The one thing I was very disappointed in at the other restaurant was the Won Ton Soup,

Pick Up Stix
3365 Rosecrans St.
San Diego, CA 92110
619-758-9041

By Judi Curry

As far back as I can remember I have always cooked for many people.

Beginning with my family of 5 – three daughters, husband and myself, trial and error was the key to breakfasts and dinners.

Later on, as my family grew to 18 grandchildren and the number of foreign language students that I have hosted – 598 – (not all at the same time!) I developed many different recipes that eventually made way into the three cookbooks that I authored. I always had “guinea pigs” to try the new concoctions that I was developing. I made it a point not to serve the same meal to my foreign language students for at least 6 months!

Now, because of COVID, several of the English Language schools that I dealt with have closed. One of the remaining schools placed a student with me on October 31, and he was a great guy. However, he is only 19 and really didn’t want to do his learning “on-line” and I did not feel safe from COVID by having him live here. After he told me that he “discovered” Black’s Beach, I asked the school to move him, and with his agreement, it was done. And so I find myself with no one to cook for, talk to, or even do laundry for.

By Judi Curry

What in the world is happening to America? What has happened to the values our ancestors fought so hard for? How can so many people be so obtuse as to approve the “goings-on” in the world today with a smile and a “victory” sign? And I am not just talking about the man in the White House. No, I am talking about the people that somehow have taken a wrong turn.

Does the name “Kyle Rittenhouse” mean anything to you?

He’s the new “hero” (sic) of the conservative right. He’s the 17 year old boy whose mother drove him across state lines – Illinois to Wisconsin – with a rifle to attend the “Jacob Blake” protest. He’s the 17 year old boy that killed two people and said it was “self defense” when every television channel showed him walking down the street with his rifle just “itching” to take a shot a people.

He’s the same 17 year old boy that was released from jail on a two million dollar bond, primarily funded by Mike Lindell – the “Pillow Man” and Ricky Schroder, the “Silver Spoons” actor of yesteryear.

Are they Or aren’t they? That is the question.

By Judi Curry

I received a phone call this morning telling me that the recycling center at Pat’s Liquor Store at 5096 Voltaire was closed. That there was a YELP review that said it had been closed for awhile, and there was no place left to recycle cans, bottles and plastic left in Ocean Beach.

I told my caller that I didn’t think that was right; that the “YELP” review was probably referring to the old recycling center next to Stumps. She thought I was wrong.

So, I called Pat’s Liquor and had a delightful conversation with Basil, the owner of the liquor store, who said that the recycling center was very definitely open, from 11:00am to 5:00pm six days a week.