I turned on Joyce Meyer this morning and once again God used her to speak to my heart. I’ve been feeling like my heart is in a thousand pieces over the situation with my grandson Joseph. I have been questioning God as to how he could let this terrible thing happen. I’ve been so angry with the screwed up system that robbed Joseph and his family of a Christmas together. Today I repented, asked God for His forgiveness and found peace. I have been through so many tragedies in my life and in the end; each and every one of them has turned out for my good. I have no doubt that God will use this situation to make sure that Joseph has the chance at life that he deserves. He is thankfully in a wonderful foster home with a Christian family experiencing what the true meaning of Christmas is. We celebrate the birth of God’s son who was sent to live as a man and die on a cross for our sins. He came that each and every one of us has the opportunity to have a close and personal relationship with Him. When we ask him to come into our lives and hearts we change them forever. He is loving, kind and merciful and we can do all things through him who strengthens us. I know that His angels are watching over my grandson and that someday in his timing it will be made clear to all of us why it had to happen this way. Who am I to question my God who causes the sun to rise and set, the stars to shine brightly and the moon to orbit around our earth? I’m sorry I lost my way Lord. I’m sorry I briefly tossed aside my trust that you cause everything to work together for the good of those that love you and are called according to your purposes. Merry Christmas everyone, May God bless and keep you. Remember that no matter where you are today or what you are going through there is always someone that has it worse than you do. Pray for them and be thankful for all that you have.

Happy birthday Jesus.

The party's at Johnny's

Join us Saturday December 31st for our annual dinner and New Years Eve celebration.

We’re serving our famous Prime Rib, filet mignon and lobster as well as steak and lobster dinners. All dinners include soup and salad, baked potato or rice pilaf, vegetables and dinner rolls. The food is great, the folks are friendly and the cocktails are tasty. All dinner guests will be provided with hats, horns and party favors as well a champagn toast at midnight. Reservations are suggested.

We’re rocking to some great music provided by our lovely bartenders from thier favorite CD’s. Feel free to bring along some of your own favorites. We’re family and we’re fun. Ring in the New Year with us.

free food and lot’s of fun at Johnny’s.

It’s been years since we tried serving food after 3:00 p.m. at Johnny’s; with the exception of our New Years Eve and Valentines Day dinners, and we’re ready to give it another try. I think we’ve got the right formula this time. We’re serving bar food like sliders, nachos and potato skins, to mention a few. Rey is back and will be making wonderful specials to compliment the new menu. We’re kicking off our new beginning with our annual Christmas and white elephant gift exchange party. Last year we had a blast with 36 gift exchanges. It took a while but we had a lot of laughs. Hollister Taxi has graciously offered to provide round trip fare from anywhere inside Hollister city limits to Johnny’s for only $12.00. We can all have fun and get home safely. The food is free, the beer is cold, the cocktails are tasty and the camaraderie is unsurpassed. We hope to see you there.

Second day in Cabo

It’s our second day in Cabo San Lucas Mexico and my girlfriends are taking a siesta. I’m down by the pool bar where the only free internet service is available and all of my attempts to connect from my room and pay for the service have failed.

In a state of what I will call temporary insanity I bought a time share against all of my husbands objections and we have paid dearly for it financially. It was the kind of thing I would have held over his head for a lifetime but he has been very gracious about it. As a recovering alcoholic he has no desire to take a tropical vacation again, ever! You must understand our vacations, pre-sober Tommy were always a drunk-fest that started with Bloody Mary’s when our eyes opened and ended when we finally passed out after a full day of drinking. We took very few tours and participated in very few activities; unless of course it was a booze cruise. I completely understand that a Mexican vacation is of zero interest to him. He did however send me away with his blessings to enjoy myself with a couple of girlfriends.

This is a working vacation as I am writing a story about time shares. As I said I lost my mind and bought one here and am regretting it terribly. Don’t get me wrong the place is gorgeous. The employees work their tails off to keep everyone happy and are all very personable. My largest complaint is the lies that were told to entice us to buy and the difficulty in getting a reservation. In our “members only” club, the members are the only ones that can’t seem to get a reservation. Joe Shmoe can easily go to Orbitz or Expedia and book a room here but as an owner I’m told there is no room at the inn. Yes, I am here and if you want to know how I managed to get a reservation you will have to read the story I will finish writing on my return. It promises to be an interesting one. I’ll check in tomorrow and include pictures. For now I’ll see if I can’t catch a couple of z’s too so I can keep up with my well rested friends this evening. God Bless, Cat

Now our prayers must move to a speedy trial with an outcome that will bring closure for Jethro’s family and friends. We are also praying hard that an all-out war between the two clubs does not ensue. An act of retaliation has already taken place with a drive-by shooting that took another man’s life. Yes, what happened to Jethro was horrible but it is entirely possible that the man who was then killed because he had on a Vago patched vest had nothing to do with what happened in Sparks. His life was snuffed out like Jethro’s and he too had a family who is now left with untold grief. Where does it all end? This incident has already struck a blow to the biker community that will take years to overcome.

Law enforcement has proved that they are taking this incident very seriously. I fervently hope that the clubs will leave the job of seeing that justice is served to the authorities. Our legal system is not a perfect one, but I believe in this situation rightousness will prevail. I realize these are lofty hopes and that is why all of our prayers are needed. In Mathew 18:19-20 of the Living Bible Jesus said, “I also tell you this-if two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask for, my Father in heaven do it for you. For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I will be right there among them.”

If  Christians everywhere will hold this situation up in prayer maybe we can make a difference. I’ve witnessed many miracles in my own life and I know that they do happen, if only we believe.

To say that I was saddened to hear about the shooting in Sparks and the death of
Jethro Pettigrew would be an understatement. Jethro and I go back further than
I can remember and despite the fact that he was the president of the San Jose
Chapter of the Hells Angels he was one of the most caring, considerate and soft
spoken people that I have had the pleasure of meeting. If you saw him without
his colors on you would never guess that he was an Angel, much less the
president of a chapter.

Jethro and I had a misunderstanding about eight years ago and he never got nasty or
rude or instruct his club to treat me any differently. He quietly called a
boycott of my establishment by his men; boycotted by a one-percent club not
exactly making the list of the worse things that has ever happened to me and
that was the end of it. I did miss seeing him and his lovely bride. She ate
lunch on my patio with her girlfriends on a regular basis and always brought
along her adorable pooch who was dressed in a different cute outfit every time.
My prayers go out to her. Even though they were no longer together, I know she
cared deeply for him and that doesn’t stop with separation.

About a year ago I was behind the bar and Jethro came in. In a prideful tone I asked,
“To what do I owe this pleasure?” He simply pointed to the guy behind him and
said, “I was just telling this guy that I haven’t been in here for more than
seven years.” “It’s true,” I told his friend. That was the end of the
conversation. I served him and the other gentleman a beer, told him it was nice
to see him and went on about my business. We never discussed our rift and it
was like it never happened.

Before moving back to San Jose, Jethro started coming in at least once a week for his
cheese burger and ice tea and he didn’t wear his colors. He was just another
great regular lunch customer who was also a very generous tipper. All my girls
would have nothing but good things to tell you about Jethro.

Jethro was generous to a fault. When we had a benefit for a young mother who had Lupus
he made an anonymous $1000.00 contribution to the cause. The only reason I knew
about it was because my bar hosted the event. To date it was one of the most
successful benefits we have ever had. He didn’t do it to be showy, he was
adamant about keeping it anonymous.

I felt it was important to share these things because every news article I have read,
wrote Jethro off as a Hells Angel boss who was now dead, but pretty much
incidental. I was not in Sparks so I can’t speak to what happened there. I can
tell you that when Jethro was in my bar I felt perfectly safe. He treated me
and my husband and staff with respect and set a wonderful example for his men.
This is why I just cannot picture him starting anything in a casino bar. I have
also had Vago’s in my bar and they too have never caused a problem. The whole
thing was most likely started by one irresponsible hot head. It would be great
if one-percent clubs did not exist or would figure out how to get along with
each other.

How such an incident could take place in a casino with all of its security and video
equipment and still the police have no suspects is beyond me. The news articles
did not even mention that Jethro took a bullet to the face at point blank rang.
I know if such an ungodly thing happened in my bar, I would have it on video.
How is it that the Nugget didn’t get the entire incident on their surveillance
cameras? One man is dead and others are wounded. Arrests need to be made
whether the victims were club members or not. Someone had to see something. I
pray that witnesses are not afraid to come forward with information because an
incident like this puts a bad stain on the entire biker community. I’m so
thankful that Reno and Virginia City carried on with their plans for Street
Vibration Weekend. To let an act of violence by few ruin an entire weekend for
so many would have been a crying shame.

My prayer is that law enforcement will catch the culprits and justice will be
served. I would hate to see this turn into a biker gang war. Innocent people
always die in wars and I’m sure that Jethro would not want the blood of one
innocent person to be shed on his account.

Our hearts and prayers go out to Jethro’s family and friends. I’m sure his dear
friend Tom Scally is devastated. We are all so glad that he was not with Jethro
when this terrible incident took place. I don’t think he would ever recover
from seeing his best friend die that way. For the friends that were with him we
also offer our prayers and support. None of us can imagine the horror of what
you witnessed. My hope is that you all will put any tough guy or gal stuff away
and seek counseling. You were involved in something the human spirit was not
built to deal with on its own. Please seek some help dealing with your grief.

We have a wonderful band of prayer warriors at Johnny’s and we will keep everyone
affected by this horrible tragedy in our prayers for a long time to come. My
crew has some of the biggest hearts and largest shoulders that I have ever
seen. We are here for you wounded ones.

God Bless, Charisse, Tommy and the Johnny’s staff.

Comic strips are intended to bring humor into our lives and, in the case of cartoonist Rob Campbell of Cartoon Thunder, the author and artist behind Keeping Up With Jones, the intention is also to bring encouragement.

With that in mind, it is our intention here at Johnny’s, today, to bring your attention to the simply stated September 11th tribute that can be seen right here on our Home page. Please check it out.

Head over to Cartoon Thunder and make a comment if you feel like it, or leave one right here. And by all means, thank a soldier. God bless America.

To escape the craziness in the stadium I headed to the bar which wasn’t any better. When the bartender asked me for $23.00 for two 16oz. Bud Lights I became a little testy myself. You almost couldn’t help getting infected by the nasty atmosphere. It was horrible and scary. It was the most disgusting display of human behavior I have ever witnessed and I don’t ever want to see anything like it again. I’ll stay at Johnny’s or on my couch and watch the game from now on. I don’t intend to spend my hard earned money to watch a bunch of buffoons shove each other around, punch each other and scream obscenities. As far as not telling that mother that she ought to be locked up for dressing her child in such an offensive shirt, I don’t think I could keep quiet about that one again.

We had a great bunch of respectful and fun people on our bus and even though a bunch of idiots put a damper on our great time at the game we didn’t let it effect the ride home on the bus. There were a few sleepy heads but our party continued and most of us danced and sang all the way back to Hollister.

If you want to enjoy some good old fashioned team rivalry without worrying about being shot, stabbed or roughed up in the bathroom come on down and watch the game with us. We have great food for free at halftime and our 12oz. bottled beers are $2.50 and $3.00 for imports and draft beers are even cheaper. You will have to listen to me yell though. I love my Niners, I’m not quiet about it, and I make no apologies for it. We do supply earplugs for those stuck sitting next to me.

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