Coaching for Pizza: Fun AND Games

Thurs.-Sat., April 4-6, 2024

We enjoyed three quiet, fruitful and fun days to end the week.

On Thursday, Laurie and I made the trip to San Marino to help my sister Linda with the ongoing and seemingly never ending task of cleaning out our mother's home.

As it turns out, one tends to accumulate several things, some wondrous, some not, over 65 years of living in one domicile.

My main job today was to dispose of two old cars that had been sitting unused in the family garage.

Our aunt Katie, who passed away in 2014, lived with us in our expansive manor house for much of her life. Her 1984 Mercury Topaz had been sitting idly in that garage since 2009.

Our mother Chuny's 1998 Chevy Malibu had been in a similar state since 2017.

Problem #1 was that the cars were both had 100% dead batteries incapable starting the car or of being recharged.

We opted to donate both vehicles to the Kars4Kids people who take cars no matter their condition. They had but one simple request, the cars needed to be on the street to be towed away.

This is where a San Marino city ordinance, old age and logistics all came into play.

First, the city of San Marino has, seemingly forever, banned overnight parking on all of the city's streets. We needed to get the cars removed from the garage to the street and towed away all in one day.

Second, with all of us in our 70s, we didn't think that pushing the dead cars that would be both hard to steer and even harder to stop since their would be no power was a wise decision. We needed someone to tow them from the garage to the street.

Enter our logistics issues . . .

There are our two suspect autos

in the garage to the right

Here is the 10'-6" wide gate that a

tow truck would have to navigate

I contacted AAA and they said a resounding "NO!" They only do emergency roadside towing and this did not qualify.

Next up was the Yelp app which allowed me to type in our exact situation before they sent that information to about ten local area independent towing companies.

Many said that they do not tow cars out of garages due to liability issues should the tow somehow damage the garage itself.

Finally, one company said they would do it for $180 per car, YIKES!

Once out of the garage and through

the gate, it was all downhill in the

driveway to the street

At last we were contacted by Linda from Tow Ur Car. Her company had rave reviews on Yelp and after sending her photos of both cars from all sides, the garage, the gate and the driveway, she said they would do the job for a mere $80 total.

SOLD!

Their man, Nate, arrived almost on time, backed his tow truck up the driveway in reverse and passed through the gate skillfully and slowly with at least two inches to spare on both sides.

After successfully getting the Chevy Malibu to the curb, he repeated the same delicate procedure again for the Mercury Topaz.

As an aside, Nate noted that he learned how to drive in an identical Mercury Topaz a lifetime ago.

SUCCESS!

Both cars were now ready for the Kars4Kids pickup on the curb scheduled to occur about two hours after these first two successful tows.

While we waited, we attacked the manor's basement that is the site of the buildings heating and air conditioning units as well as serving as a storeroom for lots of things that we needed to move along to their next and as yet to be unnamed owners.

It took some time but the basement was eventually 100% clear.

The house is about 100 years old

and sports this heating control panel

next to the basement's door

This panel allowed you to control the heat based on individual areas of the home, not the whole house at once as is the case today.

The house had a Billiards Room, just

like in the game of Clue

I remember that when we moved in back in 1958, a beautiful, old oak pool table in the same Billiards Room came with the house's purchase.

There were no weapons or a dead body in this or any other room of the house.

Our mother feared that a pool table in our home would strike a terrible blow to all of our moral fiber, so it was donated instead to a recreation facility for the criminally insane.

My sisters Marilyn, Linda and I would not realize until several years later our narrow escape from a wanton life of crime.

Finally, the Kars4Kids tow truck arrived.

The two vehicles swiftly and efficiently

taken from the street and, VOILÀ,

mission accomplished!

We spent a few more hours at the house cleaning out cupboards, sweeping out the now empty garage and deciding what to do with the items we found.

Some went straight to the trash, some to a more or less Goodwill pile and the third to be up for sale at some point.

That about sums up our tasks today

Before heading home, we stopped in Highland Park for three reasons.

First stop was Galco's which has

all sorts of fun things for sale

In the 1950s, who didn't "smoke"

a few of these candy cigarettes?

Next to Galco's is a little shop that sells Mexican pottery.

We are still in the late stages of the "Accumulating Stuff" portion of our married lives but are transitioning slowly but surely into the "Getting Rid of Stuff" phase.

Fantastic tacos and some good

Mexican beer at Chico's in Highland

Park was a good way to end the day

before the drive home

Michael's family was on Spring Break and had spent Wednesday through Friday enjoying all that San Diego has to offer.

Since Wednesday had been Michael's birthday and they were on their mini-vacation, we got together on Saturday to celebrate his special day.

Hugging grandchildren is one

of life's greatest pleasures

Mary was styling as usual

One of Michael's presents

For his birthday dinner, we let Michael have the option to decide what he wanted.

Mexican food it was!

Let the Birthday Feast begin!

Much like a swarm of locusts, we

polished off everything in sight

After an Easter Weekend with no games, Italy and Spain were both back in full swing this Saturday and Sunday.

The Varese Skorpions were alone in

First Place in the IFL, Italy's top circuit

The Skorpions had a tough game on

Saturday at the home of the defending

IFL Champion Parma Panthers.

4-0, WOW!

Varese parlayed a 77 yard TD Kickoff Return, a 32 yard TD interception return and then another 83 yard TD Kickoff Return with just enough Offense to win this crucial game in the closing seconds of the game.

AMAZING!

Undefeated Ancona keeps pace

after beating the Milano eleven

Lazio had no trouble handing

Bologna their fifth loss of the season

The 0-5 Bologna Warriors have now been outscored 254 to 14 in 2024. That's an average score of 50.8 to 2.8.

Having already broken down three of their game videos, I have come to believe that this particular Warriors squad may be the worst IFL team that I have ever seen.