Yes, now and then, we watch Huell Howser's California Gold.  Wanna make something of it???  Okay, I didn't think so!  Anyway, he was talking about good BBQ places and since our favorite place, Riley's (in Brea), went out of business last year, we've been looking for a new favorite place.  When Huell did a spot on The Beach Pit BBQ in Old Town, Tustin, we paid attention.

The restaurant is kinda like Philippe's, in L.A., near Union Station, but for BBQ, instead of for French dip (hmmm ... and now I want a Philippe's sandwich).  It used to be a garage.  Not like the one you have attached to your home, but the kind where you take your car to be repaired.  They've preserved the feel of the garage, but, of course, it's much cleaner.  They have a few old style booths, but mostly tables and chairs and a lot of the tall tables and stools.  The music was from the 70's and was too loud, but there were only a few people in the place -- if it were full, the music might not be an issue.

The BBQ meat is smoky and good.  The sauce comes in mild or spicy.  Everything on the menu is a little pricey.  No big surprise that you're more for it being in Old Town.  But they have something there that I've never had before and it was absolutely terrific.  What is it?  Deep friend pickles!  I know, I know, it sounds gross, but that's what the photo is, at the start of this, and it's not only NOT gross, it's delicious!

Thankfully, Old Town, Tustin, isn't that easy to get to from Fullerton.  We have a couple of friends who live up that way and if we're out there anyway, then we might stop back at the Beach Pit BBQ.  But, even for those yummy fried pickles, I don't see us making the trip out there solely to eat at this place again.

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GOT A BOOK ON CD THAT YOU'VE ALREADY UPLOADED TO YOUR IPOD?

Bet you've got at least one DVD that's been doing nothing but collecting dust, too.

Why not swap them for something you haven't listened to yet, or for something you haven't seen?

This is the place where I "swap" books on CD.  If you want an audio book that someone else has, they pay the postage to send it to you.  If someone else

wants an audio book that you have, you pay the postage (usually media rate) to send it to them. Obviously, you can swap paperback books, too.  And you can swap hardback and books on cassette tapes as well. You should click the logo below and go take a look at what they have to offer ...

If you decide to sign up for any of the sites below, please tell them that Sandi@LoisDailyPlanet.com referred you.  Thanks!

HEADLINES

This is my idea of a reasonable start to real health care reform in this country:

Given that the Democrats cannot seem to live without the idea of involving the government in health care, how about we treat health care insurance as something that is necessary in order for the average person to maintain a decent standard of living - like a utility?  Then the government can impose a few simple standards for the insurance industry.  

The first standard is one of equality. If the insurance companies want to insure anyone at all, then they have to insure everyone who wants it.  No more picking and choosing.  No more discriminating against people in ill health by charging them more or by not insuring them at all.  We're all created equal and we're all treated equally.  

The second standard is that rates are regulated.  There are a lot more healthy people in this country than there are people in ill health - the healthy people won't be using their health insurance as often, or for the more expensive procedures, as the people who are not healthy.  Everyone will have great coverage and the insurance companies will still make enough profit to make remaining in business worthwhile.

Let us not forget that it was the insurance companies who were responsible for the climbing medical rates to begin with - making medical procedures in general so expensive that if one didn't have insurance they literally couldn't afford to be ill.  I'm old enough to remember exactly when my doctor's rates began to climb.  I'm old enough to remember why.  There was a brief moment in time where doctors tried to hold the line against the insurance companies making the cost of practicing medicine prohibitive and then the battle was lost ... doctors began having to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to insurance companies to protect themselves against malpractice suits - most of which should never have been allowed in court to begin with - and the doctors, in turn, passed the cost of that insurance onto their patients.

At that point in time, anyone who thought they might be needing to go to the doctor was forced into buying insurance, in order to be able to afford the increased cost of medical care.  That meant that the insurance companies were getting paid on both sides of the equation - first by the doctors, then by the patients.

Now, that's not even enough for them.  Now the insurance companies want everyone to pay (aided and abetted by a particular political party who thinks that the government should be involved in every part of our life that it possibly can be) ... whether an individual wants or needs to be insured or not.

KEEP IT TO YOURSELF

A couple of days ago I finished listening (on my iPod) to a short story that was written by Orson Scott Card.  There was a chapter at the end, read by the author, telling how the idea for this particular story came to him.  And before I knew it, a man whose work I'd been enjoying for quite some time told me more about himself than I ever wanted to know.

The days of these people permitting the rest of us to believe whatever illusions have been spun by their industry, or in our own minds, about them are long gone!  It's no longer enough for the actor to be famous for acting, the singer for singing or the author for writing.  Now, they want us to know everything about their personal lives and love them for that as well as for whatever else it is that they do.  The problem is that most of these people are broken in some way and even if they're among the few who aren't, I don't want to be a part of the reality of their life -- I have my own reality to deal with!  I only want to be able to enjoy the fantasy they create.  That fantasy is what I pay for when I buy the movie, the CD or the audiobook. 

So I blame myself for the loss of this author because I know better than to listen to any artist or celebrity.  But blaming myself for not hitting the "pause" button when I should have doesn't make me any less angry over the fact that I'll never be able to look (or listen) to anything this man writes the same way again.  In truth, I doubt I'll ever again purchase anything else he writes or has written ... something for which I'd like to smack him - HARD - right upside the head!

What I desperately need these people to do is their job, whatever it may be ... act, sing, write, whatever, and then just SHUT UP AND GO AWAY.  They always act as if they're spitting out a bad clam when they say the word "fan" anyway, so why should piping down and getting the hell out of Dodge when they're finished with whatever they were doing be so hard for them?

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GO FLYERS!!!