San Francisco is a colorful and diverse metropolis. The City by the Golden Gate is famed for its multicultural population, steep hills, cable cars, fine dining, theater and Fisherman's Wharf.

One of the city's most attractive communities is the Mission District. It features large, brilliantly-colored murals on outside walls, fences and facades that attract visitors from all over the world.

The wall-painting movement in San Francisco has its roots with Mexico’s great 20th Century muralists, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco. They were famous for creating the unique form of art in their country as historical, social and political commentary.

Casino ads always use the word gaming, their sneaky way to make gambling sound more socially acceptable. Actually, gambling is what it has always been since the first cavemen rolled bones to see who got the best-looking cave woman or the mastodon steak.

It’s putting your money down, and although the odds always favor the house ... the gam(bl)ing house ... you hope good luck will send you home a winner. Yeah, sure. Of course, gambling to excess is an addiction. Even the casinos admit it by posting insincere signs like ... please gamble responsibly ... as if they really mean it.

Considering how stressful flying has become to we humans, you can only guess the impact unfamiliar noises, confusion and delays can bring to your traveling pets. When making your travel plans, if not absolutely necessary, don’t take your pets on flights.

Second, if it requires checking your pet as baggage, consider all the possibilities. What are the total fees? Is the container clean, safe and comfortable? Is there adequate food and water? How long will the pet be caged in? What are the chances of airline errors and delays?

If your pet is small enough (check requirements) to be carried aboard, do you have the approved container? Will it be a problem for your seatmate and/or must you pay for an extra seat for the container?

Guest editor JJMcC, USNR (Retired), Long Beach CA: My Naval Reserve Air Group was called up for active duty during the Korean War. We spent six months on an aircraft carrier in the war zone, then returned to the States.

Because we were required to do two years (sound familiar to you Reservists of today?), we were assigned to various Naval Air Stations to serve out the rest of our time. Mine was at NAS Corpus Christi, on the Atlantic coast just 100 miles south of San Antonio.