I was the Toastmaster of the Day at the Silver Tongued Cats today, and I’d selected “Messages of Love” as my theme. “Messages” because today was the anniversary of the very first singing telegram, and “Love” because Monday is coming. My comments throughout the meeting were related to the theme. I introduced our Inspiration Master with a quotation from Ella Fitzgerald:

Just don’t give up what you’re trying to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.

I even introduced Table Topics with a photo of the only candy which is its own message of love, Conversation Hearts.

Of course I talked about flowers and jewelry, too, so I wanted to close the meeting on a musical note. I began by mentioning a few of the Knot’s 100 best love songs, and then I planned to play the ultimate love song.

I wanted to be able to start the song without any delay, so I’d downloaded it and queued it up so that it would only take one keystroke to start it. It worked perfectly and the song started playing…from the beginning. The 43 seconds until the music got to the part I wanted seemed like an eternity, but people seemed to enjoy it anyway.

Speaking of eternities, I finally got a refund for the paper towels that Costco never shipped. Calling the corporate office (425-313-8100) was the key step – I told “Operator 1975” my story, and she promised that the “Escalation Team” would get back to me in 4 to 5 business days. It took less than an hour; I got a call and an email, and I already see the refund on my credit card. Finally!

Once more, we took an Afternoon Amble with the South Bay Striders – today’s walk was the half of the Los Gatos Year-Round Event that we didn’t walk last week. It wove through nice residential neighborhoods with a mix of old and new houses.

Some of the older houses in town have been designated as Bellringers – there are 100 in all, designated in three tranches (in 1976, 1977, and 1987). Our route took us past houses in all three categories, so we got to see all three versions of the award.

There’s a complete listing (with photos) of the Bellringers as part of the Los Gatos Local History Research Collection, which I discovered while writing this entry. It’s amazing how much information you can find with a walk and a simple search!