Charlie

It isn't so surprising that your masseur didn't know "Sonny & Cher": their career together only lasted about ten years, and was over before he was born. Cher's entertainment career has lasted much longer as a solo performer, but Sonny went into local politics instead, and would be remembered primarily by those of us in SoCal, where he became mayor of Palm Springs and then a Congressman; he has been dead for almost a quarter century. There has been controversy recently in Palm Springs about statues honoring former mayors, and some have pointed out that Sonny was a Republican who was opposed to gay marriage.

It's cheaper to buy Arrowhead in bulk.

And because of drought and water use restrictions, people with new pools are having trouble obtaining the water to fill them.

It sounds like the same person wrote the texts for both ads, with slight differences, and then chose some photos that would fit the written description.

When my spouse and I retired, we downsized to upsize. We sold our Center City townhouse in Philadelphia, and used the money to buy a ranch house with a two car garage, on a large lot of land with fruit trees and a swimming pool, in Palm Springs. We also bought a second car, something we never needed in the city. And we had money left over for our new lifestyle. However, after thirteen years, we were ready to downsize again, but this time for real: we sold our desert oasis and moved into a smaller house on a tiny piece of land, in a 55-plus community. Once again, we sold our house for more than we paid for our new residence. But the next downsize will probably be to a unit in an assisted living facility. We are already preparing to go back to only one car when the lease on our second car runs out at the end of this year. Depending on how old you are and what condition you are in, there is no one right way to adjust your lifestyle when you retire. The important point is to know what your options really are, and plan accordingly, recognizing that what you want and what you can do may change--retirement can last a long time, and you need to remain flexible.

Kyrgios is a fantastically talented player, but I have difficulty watching him, because his constant chatter drives me crazy, especially his criticism of his team--what on earth does he expect them to do?! He reminds me of John MacEnroe at his worst. (I couldn't stand watching him either in his playing days.) Novak is looking more and more like a dignified spokeman for the sport, regardless of his anti-vax nonsense. With the sound turned off, however, it was great fun to watch the match, which I did from beginning to end.

The Russian Tennis Federation has proudly claimed that Rybakina is "our product," and to a large extent, that is true--she was in the Russian program until she was 18; what Kazakhstan has provided is really the proper packaging and marketing of the product. I feel sorry for her, because she has to tiptoe carefully around the minefield that her international success has caused, as she tries to thank everyone appropriately without stepping on any political mines. So far her natural shyness and reticence have served her well, and I hope Putin continues to stay off the subject.

If you had come by the house at 3:30, you would have found it was 115 here, too.

Mack appears to have developed a beer gut.

I normally play tennis on Sunday morning from 7:30 to 9:30, but the four of unanimously agreed to stop playing our match at 9:05 this morning, when the temperature hit 100F.

One might note that Goolagong was also a mother when she won.

Well, a Russian has won Wimbledon in spite of the AELTC. Although Rybakina officially represents Kazakstan, she still lives in Moscow, but she was diplomatic enough in her acceptance speech not to say anything about being Russian, though she did mention that her parents couldn't be there to watch the match.

And Goolagong was Ash Barty's model.

"Of course"? (Careful: we're veering into Politics here.)

The Russian federation didn't want to invest in developing her, so she found another former Soviet Republic which did. She is certainly not alone in that regard (see Kukushkin, Putinseva, etc.).

Wimbledon supposedly banned the Russian and Belorussian players so Putin couldn't gloat about a Russian winning at the tournament. But now they have a Russian woman, Elena Rybakina--born and raised in Moscow--in the final, who only got into the tournament because technically she represents Kazakstan, which essentially bought her to boost their own tennis program. I wonder how Putin will play that fact if she wins the title.

Hmm. Why am I shopping at Von's when Trader Joe's is only a couple of minutes further away? Oh, maybe those 15 items are not the ones I want.

I didn't miss it when I encountered Lynde in the Meatrack on Fire Island one night in the late 1960s.

At the gas station: Driving in, cranking down the window, and saying "Fill 'er up!" (with leaded gas, of course) to the attendant. Watching the attendant automatically wash the windshield and check the oil stick (and possibly saying, "It's down; do you want me to add some?"). Paying for the full tank with dollar bills and coins.

😈

I remember the first time in London that someone asked me how many stone I weighed. 🤔??

My a/c is set so high it has hardly run today.

Today is the coldest July 4th in Palm Springs in a decade. At my house right now I am shivering, because it is only 97 F.

I used to go to Fire Island a couple of times every summer in the 1960s and 70s, but like @LIguy I stayed in the Grove, and if a friend was staying in the Pines, I would walk over to visit. My last visit to Fire Island was in 1981; after that, the guys I knew at the Pines started getting sick, and by the end of the decade, every single person I knew who had frequented the Pines was dead of AIDS. I was no longer living in NYC or spending much time there, so there didn't seem to be any reason for me to return to a vacation spot that would only evoke sad memories.

An occasional excerpt, with sections blacked out.