Creative job search strategy!

Hey, anything goes in this economy, right?

Haha....gotta love "The Bowl!"

Where the nuts are off the shelf
The grocery shopping is madcap at the Berkeley Bowl, renowned for fine produce and quick fists. Sampling without buying? You're banned!


September 22, 2008|John M. Glionna, LA Times Staff Writer

BERKELEY — As most veteran customers know, it takes a pretty thick skin to successfully navigate the Berkeley Bowl, this strident city's most popular grocery store.

Outside, petitioners seeking signatures for ballot measures have come to blows with opinionated residents. In the tiny parking lot, nicknamed the Berkeley Brawl, frustrated motorists have been known to ram one another's cars. At the checkout, people have thrown punches and unripened avocados at suspected line-cutters.
When one shopper was told she couldn't return a bag of granola, she showily dumped its contents on the floor. Culyon Garrison, who works at the customer-service desk, recently had a loaf of bread thrown at him.

The produce emporium -- one of the nation's most renowned retailers of exotic fruits and vegetables -- creates its own bad behavior. Kamikaze shoppers crash down crowded aisles without eye contact or apology for fender-benders. So many customers weren't waiting to pay before digging in that management imposed the ultimate deterrent: Those caught sampling without buying will be banned for life -- no reprieves, no excuses. (Not even "I forgot to take my medication.")

Raphael Breines, who was ejected last year for eating on the premises, said he couldn't decide between two types of apricots, so he sampled both. Security stopped him in the parking lot.

"They treated me like a thief," said the 37-year-old park planner, who was photographed and required to sign a no-trespass agreement. "Technically I was stealing, but I wasn't trying to hide anything. I was just deciding which type of apricot to buy."

Breines, a longtime customer, sent an apology letter, asking to be reinstated. His request was denied.

Store manager Larry Evans says the policy is a fair response to doctors, lawyers and college professors who help themselves to bags of cookies, nuts and vitamins, stick their fingers in pies and guzzle from bottles of sake, assuming the rules don't apply to them.

"There's a sense of entitlement to this town," Evans said. "People think, 'If I want to do it, I'll do it, just try and stop me.' "

Seven years on the job, he said, has given him insight into the city's sometimes sharp social elbows.

"Berkeley residents are angry -- they're mad at the president, the economy, all kinds of stuff. And this is the place where it seems to get released, the local supermarket."

READ ON.... : )

Chef in-the-making

Best use for a rubber spatula....kitchen utensil or baby teething toy? : )

Saturday Brunch

Good friends, family, yummy food, laughter, great conversation, and relaxation.....there aren't many better ways to spend a Saturday. And even though the weather has been on the cool side, the sun was out this weekend and it definitely felt like Spring.

Holy Hail!

I have been fascinated by weather since I was a little girl, which is directly attributed to my father and HIS fascination (or obsession, really) with tracking, observing, and analyzing weather patterns. I remember vividly several occasions when he quickly packed up my sister and I in the VW bus and headed off to chase a thunderstorm...fun! Although he had a successful career as a firefighter, I believe he missed his true calling by not becoming a meteorologist. Maybe in your next life Dad.

: )

Anyhow, David showed me this video last night and I was speechless! Can you imagine being caught outside in a hailstorm like this?! Getting hit with a ball of hail that big could be deadly, don't you think?! Or at least hurt a hell of a lot! Baseball...or maybe even cantaloupe sized hail means, in my opinion, that Mother Nature is ANGRY!

Isn't this insane?!

My Loves...

I haven't been feeling that hot lately - stressed, overwhelmed, tired, lacking personal time, and feeling nervous about some impending big changes in life. But even after a long day at work, even when I'm depleted and running on empty, my hubby and my baby always make me smile and feel happy. My two loves!

Angel & Justin's Engagement Party

My dear friend Angel is getting married this July, and we celebrated the happy couple on Saturday night! It was so great to see some of our dearest friends who we haven't seen in quite awhile, and to have some baby-free social time (thanks Mom!). : ) This will be my first time being in a friend's wedding when I serve a bridesmaid for Angel this July...and I can't wait! I love you Angel....congrats to you and Justin. Cheers! : )