MISCELLANEA

         There’s a lot to be said for making phone calls and talking to other people who are in the same boat as me. I had to laugh when I told a friend in response to her question about how I was doing.

I said, “I can’t complain.”

She responded that, “Of course you can complain. We’re all in the same boat. We’re all full of complaints. This is a difficult time.”

This was followed by a conversation about how she and her husband and family were doing. Her daughter and son-in-law both had coronavirus and he ended up in the hospital while her daughter stayed at home. Both survived and are doing well now. This is the first time I’ve talked to anyone who knew someone that had COVID-19 and I’m glad the news was good.

I tried calling the vet to get the doggies in for their annual checkup. I just had them there a month ago for toenail trims and anal gland cleaning. Today when I called, I got the same message as last time, except this time, their mailbox was full. So, does that mean they’re closed now or what. I’ll just have to keep calling.

In the process of making that call, I fat finger dialed my friend Ken…he’s just above Kenmore. I thought I hung up in time, but he called me back and we had a nice chat. He reads this blog and told me that, yes, I had definitely been whiney. He pointed out that there are lots of people out there, including himself, who suffer more than aches and pains every day. He said he’s very thankful there are other people worse off than he is because it makes him feel better. He said I could call him any time I wanted to feel better. I told him he was going to the top of my speed dial list.

Then, in my email, there was a HUGE surprise. It was from Comcast and said,  

“We wanted to apologize for the interruption of your Xfinity services on May 13 when there was an outage in your neighborhood. Any time without services can be frustrating, and we're sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

“To help make it right, we're applying a $10.00 credit to your account. You don't need to do anything to receive the credit. It will appear on an upcoming bill.”

          How about that. All the complaining I did about them and how they should give me a refund…guess they must read my blog too (ha, ha, ha). It didn’t make me feel very special because I’m sure everyone in the neighborhood got the same email. Maybe Comcast is actually working on their popularity.

          I did go out and pull the majority of the weeds in the east flowerbed this morning. I managed to find four dahlias which the slugs had been more than happy to trim back for me. I saved them, put some safe slug bait around them and replaced their wire cages. One of them wasn’t very big and either Mabel managed to snip it at the base with her sharp beak or I broke it, but I still sprinkled slug bait and replaced the cage. Hopefully, it will send up another shoot or two now that the weeds cannot hold it back.

          Haley came over and we continued going through the tool chests. Holy mackerel, but I swear I could open a hardware store with all the tools, nuts and bolts we’ve found. I believe we have now opened and sorted through all the tool boxes, the carry ones with handles and the stand-alone ones. But, who knows, there’s still the attic and all the shelves under the big tool bench. So far, I’ve been putting screws and nuts and bolts into a metal recycling box, but I’ve now decided that I’m just going to keep the paint cans full of this stuff and put it out for sale for a dollar a can when I get to have my garage sale. A dollar is a dollar is a dollar.

          We moved what turned out to be a clutch that was on top of a five-gallon metal bucket. Beneath the clutch was a bucket full of nuts and bolts…big ones. I cannot imagine what John had those for. Maybe it was another example of something being free and even though he didn’t have a use, he couldn’t pass up free.

          Oh yes, when I was weeding, I realized I didn’t include all the memorial plants in the yard. There are three hydrangeas I was given last September at John’s memorial, plus two other smaller plants. The hydrangeas are sending up shoots, but one of the smaller plants didn’t survive the winter. They may not get very big this year, but next year, they should be gorgeous.

                           

          Well, that’s about it for the miscellanea that’s been churning around in my head. Today is Thursday already, so that’s another week that’s almost gone. You’d think that time would slow down since none of us (well, me at least) are very busy gadding about, visiting, eating out, taking classes, etc., but it certainly doesn’t seem to have slowed at all. If anything, it seems like time may be moving faster…one more reason to look up, smile and enjoy every single minute of every single day. Hope you have a great one today.