A Great Lunch

We picked a small family owned Italian restaurant, Marino's on Bellflower, for a lunch date with my former colleagues at Paramount Petroleum Corporation. Roger Graves (my former boss), Marty Duran (my replacement), Hilda Medina and Tony Paglaniwan (both from the Training department where I started at PPC) joined Ken and me for a wonderful reunion with old friends. Unfortunately some of the PPC folks were unable to make it, and we missed them. The lunch was delicious, and we had a chance to catch up on what's happened in everyone's lives in the last year. Roger is looking to buy a fifth wheel for family vacations, so we shared some of the things we've learned about selecting a good trailer. Hilda's kids are still growing and doing well, and Tony is looking forward to retirement in a couple of years.

Ken and I shared an order of cannelloni and one of spaghettini with sausage. The salad came with a house creamy Italian dressing and included several varieties of beans.

After lunch Ken went on to his appointment for a second steroid injection in his back, and I had my regular screening mammogram (almost as much fun as a dentist visit). Then we went to Trader Joe's, one of our favorite stores, and one that is not found in most of the US. In the parking lot we were accosted and asked for a donation, so we felt right at home in LA. Then we got on the freeway to return to our camp site. Several miles of the 91 were stop and go, but we made it home before 5 p.m.