Catching Up With Los Banos

By Rory Moore
First we give our apologies for our writing absence, but we have a pretty good excuse. Let me explain. We have been semi-retired for ten years now, and generally we stay busy either with our business working for Safeway NorCal Stores, or our ministerial involvement. Since these have been comfortable and convenient time occupiers for many years, we were able to also contribute our views and experiences from life in LB to The Paper.
Then it happened. In March our main client, Safeway Stores, initiated a new “Immersion” program in which all the stores are being inspected and refurbished.
This included very detailed cleaning, painting, repairs, and overhaul in order to bring the stores into tip-top condition, and we play an on-going part in that program. Our work schedule went from a casual one to three jobs per month to twenty or thirty! On top of that, travel is involved in all of them and we have traveled to and worked in about 75 cities since March. It brings to mind that Johnny Cash tune “I’ve Been Everywhere Man”, which became our theme song as we excursioned to Clear Lake, Placerville, San Francisco x3, Oakland, Petaluma, Napa, Windsor, Santa Rosa x4, Guerneville, Lodi, Stockton, Vallejo, Dixon, San Jose, Soquel, Sonora, Monterey, Sacramento, and even close by to Madera, Turlock, and Modesto.
That is but a partial list, and we camped out in Best Western Hotels scattered across the state also and stayed in Northern California enough to become friends with the manager of one of the Peet’s Coffee stores up in Windsor near Santa Rosa. For full article, please purchase a copy of The Paper.