ALREADY, I MAY NEVER BE

         

          Today, Thursday, I took my car in to have it detailed as I do every fall. It’s too big and I’m too wise (old) to vacuum, clean the inside and wash and wax it myself. My friend Claudia picked me up and we went out to breakfast at a restaurant neither of has been to since we retired from the zoo.

          Tummies full, we decided to go to Swanson’s Nursery…indoor plants were 30% off plus it was wise people’s day so we got another 10% for 40%. Since we were in Wallingford, Claudia drove over to and through Ballard to the last road that heads north. It's definitely not the Ballard we remember from just a decade or so ago. Then, she took all back roads and almost all of them had water views. Some of the homes were astounding and I cannot begin to imagine the property taxes. One we passed was for sale for $1,850,000 and it didn't have much of a view. We also drove past the first house John and I lived in as a married couple. It’s been updated and added to and must be worth a bundle these days…too bad we didn’t take advantage of our landlord’s offer to sell it to us back in 1969.

          At Swanson’s, we began to wander around one of the indoor plant sections. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something glittery. When I looked, it was almost an entire wall full of Christmas ornaments…YES, Christmas ornaments!!! It had been all Halloween on our way inside.

          We did walk over and peruse all the offerings, but I didn’t see anything that would be applicable as this year’s grandkid ornaments. Still, seeing all that Christmassy stuff, kind of made me not very happy. You see, I have to make a decision about whether or not I’m going to decorate for Christmas this year. At the moment, I’m tending toward doing absolutely nothing.

          Part of the problem is that the Christmas tree I had last year was pretty much at the end of its life, so I got rid of it. That means I need to replace the tree and I seriously do not want to spend hundreds of dollars on a tree that will require effort to decorate for a measly thirty days of the year. I do know I can spend way less, but then the tree does look very fake. Then, too, there’s the boxes of Christmas stuff in the attic. I’d need to have someone come over and haul them out of the attic. And, it’s not that my kids or grandkid wouldn’t be willing to do so, it’s just that once it’s down, it takes a lot of effort to utilize.

          For those of you who haven’t been to my house, I have a lot of glass stuff sitting around all over the place. I love all of it and almost every single thing tells me a story. During the other eleven months of the year, this paraphernalia requires dusting, which I also hate and which doesn’t get done on a weekly (or maybe even monthly) basis. In order to decorate for Christmas, I have to pack it all up and put it somewhere else so I can replace it with Christmassy stuff. Lots of time and effort is required.

          When the thirty days of Christmas are over, it’s then time to dust and clean the Christmas gear and pack it away for another eleven months and ask someone to come back over and put the boxes in the attic. Once that’s accomplished, it’s time to bring out the ordinary stuff and dust and clean it prior to replacing it around the house.

          So, this leads to my quandary…should I decorate for Christmas or not. Yes, I love hauling out the decorations and taking trip after trip down memory lane with practically each and every ornament and display piece, but do I really want to take those trips this year? And, yes, when I’m returning the everyday things to their places, I also enjoy the trips they provide to times and events gone by.

          Finally, I no longer have Christmas events or many visitors to my home during the holiday season. Claudia’s advice is to do it if it’s something I really want to do for myself, that decorating isn’t for others. Maybe as the holidays get closer, I’ll have a change of heart/mind, but right now, I’m leaning heavily toward not decorating…I’ll let you know if I come to my senses (unless I’m already there).

THE BEST HOUSEMATE EVER

10/6/22

          As of October 6^th, Kuma has been my housemate for an entire year, and I cannot begin to express the love, joy, and fun, as well as the annoyances he’s brought into my life. I wouldn’t trade him for anything and am hoping that my life ends with him curled up against my back.

          I’ve written previous blogs about this wondrous puppy…I know he’s a dog, but he’ll always be puppy to me…but in the off chance I left something out, I’m going to sing his praises once again because that makes me happy.

          First, Kuma is a terrible nag and he does it without saying a word or even barking. I’ve been amazed at how he has adjusted to a schedule and how much having it change seems to annoy him…and me.  For instance, in the morning, he’s up and down off the bed at 6:30 am until I indicate I’m awake and getting up. Then he has to lick as much of me as he can reach and encourage me to pet him by taking my hand in his mouth. Then, once I’ve had my coffee and 7:30 am is nigh, he comes to the side of the couch and stares intently into my eyes until I get up and get moving, i.e., do my exercises. That’s his signal to get into his chair where he remains until I change rooms. Then he moves to the hallway outside the bedroom door. He waits there until I reach my last exercise and then he jumps onto the bed because he knows when I finish that one, I’ll lay on him and give him a full body hug, scratch, pet all while telling him what a wonderful Cutsie Putsie Puppy he is.

          When we went to the ocean last month, my son advised me to make sure Kuma was wearing his tags and remained on a leash…how much fun is that??? Yes, he wore his collar, but I let him off leash so he could run as fast as the wind up and down the beach. No matter where he ended up, I would always see him looking to check where I was and he always returned.

Lots more room

          Just recently, for what I thought was Kuma’s benefit, I made some furniture location changes and he has yet to totally adjust. Since the dining room chair with arms was really too small, I made my dining room table as small as possible with only four chairs. I moved the chairs with arms into a bedroom. Then, I moved the papasan chair from the back corner of the living room to the dining room in front of the fireplace. I also moved Kuma’s crate into the garage since I no longer confine him there when I leave the house. About the only time he’d go into the crate was when people came to visit. Since that doesn’t happen often, I can put him in the laundry room for that purpose.

          The first day this was implemented, Kuma walked throughout the house looking for “his” chair, or that’s what I assumed he was doing. When he received his breakfast treat, he turned from me and went to jump into his papasan chair which was no longer in its usual location. He looked a bit sad and confused and lay upon the rug to eat his treat. Over a week later, he’s finally becoming accustomed to the changes.

          I put a nice very soft turquoise blanket over the papasan chair. It is like the ones I used to put in his crate. For some reason, the fabric these blankets are made of encourages Kuma to chew, chew, chew. Every blanket he’s had has been chewed into tatters and it appears the turquoise one is going that way as well. I don’t know if it feels good in his mouth or if he can’t stand it against his fur.    He doesn’t eat it, so I end up picking up pieces.

Chewing Away

          Somehow, I began a very bad habit without thinking about it. I bought Kuma those yak bones because he loves to chew. Since they are kind of long, I initially held it while Kuma chewed. It didn’t take him long to figure out my holding the boney-bone was greatly preferable to holding it with his own paws. He even wants me to hold them when they become small and there might be a tendency for him to bite me. My son suggested I get a glove that would allow me to hold the boney-bone without getting bit…not sure I’m going to spoil Kuma quite that much.

          When I’m at work in the garden, Kuma has always done his best to get in my way. I finally found something that will keep him occupied for at least an hour or so. I was with a friend when she bought frozen beef bones for her dog. I bought a package as well and Kuma loves them. I give him a frozen one and it takes a bit of time before the marrow is gone and any fleshy remnants have been chewed off. Of course, he then wants me to throw it or hold it while he continues to chew, so I have to get my gardening done quickly.

          As I reported some time ago, a loving anonymous reader sent me a product called Pet Corrector. When you press the button compressed air comes out and makes a noise. Kuma doesn’t like it. Now I don’t usually have to even  pickup the container. A simple, stern “NO BARK” has him getting off the couch and taking refuge in the chair across the room. There, he continues to make soft barks/growls as if to let me know, “Fine, I won’t lean into the window and bark loudly, but you can’t make me stop this way over here.” I’m afraid to try it in the car for fear he’ll make some kind of movement that will cause me to have an accident. So, he still barks at dogs he sees from the car.

          On the trip to the ocean, Kuma was unbelievably good. Maybe it was because he was with his friend Chicken, but he didn’t bark at another dog while on or off his leash. Maybe I need to find a person with a dog with whom we could walk so he doesn’t go nuts when he sees another dog. I don’t know if that would work, but I hate being unable to take him places on a leash when he goes nuts at other dogs. Off leash, he’s fine, doesn’t bark and does his best to get the other dog(s) to interact with him.

          Finally, I’m probably a horrible pet owner, mainly because I share my food with Kuma. I know I’m not supposed to give him human food, but Kuma always gets at least a bite of whatever I’m eating. Amazingly, he loves most vegetables and waits patiently when I’m making salad for bites of carrot, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini. He really likes them though once I’ve put feta cheese, avacados and dressing on the entire salad. I had to laugh the first time I gave him cucumbers with dressing on them. I thought he ate them, but like some small child, he licked off the dressing and the cucumber chips somehow ended up between the cushions of the couch…clever boy, huh. Anyway, I enjoy sharing with Kuma even though it’s probably bad for him.

          I began this blog post last Friday on the anniversary of Kuma’s coming home and have worked on it off and on since then. So, I think it’s way past time to put the finished product out there. Hope you’ve enjoyed.

LICENSE TABS

          It only took me more than nine months to realize I had been driving around illegally and could have been stopped at any point in time. It only took two months for me to realize I didn’t have up-to-date insurance information in my car.

          I’m sure I would have continued to drive around blissfully unaware I didn’t have my 2023 tags on my license plate. I could have done the same with the insurance information. The only reason I discovered I hadn’t renewed my tabs when they were due last December or printed out insurance information the beginning of July was because I cleaned out my car.

          Now, I didn’t have to clean out the glove compartment. I planned on just making sure Kuma’s hair was off the passenger seat, that his nose prints had been scrubbed off the side windows and that the various detritus had been vacuumed up off the floors. I got that done and since I plan on having my car detailed after the upcoming trip to the ocean where my friend and our two dogs will undoubtedly bring in lots of sand, I figured I might as well go whole hog and clean the debris out of the glove compartments as well. My detail place doesn’t want you to leave stuff in your car.

          In the envelop that holds the paperwork the police would want to see, I had numerous registrations and insurance papers. I went through those and took out all the expired ones. That was when I realized I didn’t have the latest paperwork. I couldn’t believe I had neglected to take care of this business.

          John always gave me my car registration as a Christmas gift. All I had to do was stick the tab on the license plate and the paperwork in the car. The first time I had to do it myself was 2019 and I barely made it to the license place to pick up the tabs and registration before it closed on December 31. The next two years I managed to take care of business in a timely manner. I don’t know what happened last December. I did find the renewal reminder in the glove box as well, so I guess I had planned on doing something with it.

          Anyway, I’m getting on a ferry at 9:35 am and am planning on getting to the license place at 9:00 am to pick up the tab that will be good for only three and a half months. Hopefully, I can dash in and out and stick the tab on the plate on the ferry. Not complaining though since I’ve managed to get through the entire year, so far, without having the police stop and ticket me. I’m hoping my good luck continues for another seventeen hours. Fingers crossed, prayers said, candles lit, Buddha’s belly rubbed.

          I’ve also put a note in my calendar for December…RENEW LICENSE TABS!!!...and, I’ve made it a recurring note that will continue until I no longer need a renewal. Can’t wait to hear what my kids have to say about this…actually, I can definitely wait.

FURNACE FUN

 

          My thermostat has been blinking at me since June. It wants to have its filters cleaned. This morning it was 63 degrees in my house and I really wanted to turn the heat on but will not until I clean the filters.

          Back in January of 2001, I had to stay home from work for a week because I had a radiation burn under my right boob. When I called in sick, I jokingly told my boss I had to hang from the rafters by my knees so my boob would fall in the right direction and the burn could heal…and then I burst into tears. Little did I know then the house would become as cold as the attic. Anyway, I’m digressing from my furnace tale.

          I was always the first one up because I was the only one with a job that required my presence at 8;00 am. John worked for himself so he could set his own hours and was almost always still in bed when I left…more digressing. Anyway, I kept smelling something in the morning when the furnace came on. Since I had to stay home from work, I thought I was doing a good thing by calling the gas company…WRONG.

          This was Monday morning and my perception was that someone would probably come during my week at home. Instead, they came almost within the hour. I found out later it was because I said I smelled something. The serviceman checked things out, showed me how flames were climbing up the outside of the furnace, turned off the gas and locked up the furnace. There would be no heat until we either fixed the furnace or bought a new one.

          John was absolutely furious when he came home to find out we had no heat because I’d called the gas company. He told me he was aware of what was wrong and was “taking care of it.” When flames are climbing up the outside of the furnace, how can you be “taking care of it?” I was absolutely amazed at how angry he was, especially since I needed warmth since I had to stay at home. And it wasn't like we couldn't afford a new furnace. I thought we were really lucky the house hadn't burned down. 

          Since John had a project, he was working on, and since he was hugely pissed, he told me it was up to me to take care of the problem. What did I know about furnaces? Absolutely nothing. So, I called around and found a company that could give us a new furnace that week (the one that died was installed when the house was built in 1963). I opted to go for the electronic filter. I’d heard about them and it sounded like it would be perfect because it would eliminate a lot of dust. It cost extra.

          Meanwhile, it’s January and it’s cold. John remained furious and finally brought a couple of electric heaters home on Wednesday. I was pretty cold by then. I was also pretty pissed at his attitude because, after all, I was sick and should be taken care of...you know, "...in sickness and in health." I arranged for the new furnace to be installed on Thursday at 9:00 am.

          On Thursday, the furnace installer arrived at 8:15 am, and John quite rudely informed him he’d have to come back at the scheduled time of 9:00 am because he (John) wasn’t ready to leave home yet. I was positive John’s rudeness would cause the installer to not return that morning or to come back and install the furnace incorrectly.

          Fortunately, the man returned at 9:00 am and I apologized on my husband’s behalf. He took out the old one and installed the new furnace. By the end of the day, we had heat flowing through all the vents. I was very happy about that.

          Unfortunately, the electronic filter wasn’t a good choice. Every time something hit the wires, there was a noise like you heard with those bug zappers. It wasn’t long before John disconnected the electronic part…money down the drain, really, or would that be out the vent?

          I have no idea how often John cleaned the filters in the furnace. I wasn’t around when or if he did it. Eventually, a new thermostat was installed (by my HVAC son) that now flashes red when there’s a problem or the filter needs cleaning. I think it was the year after John died that AJ showed me how to remove the filter in order to clean it.

          There are actually four pieces to the filter. I take off the furnace front and remove the front large piece and then remove the back large piece. Then, I remove the two small metal screens which are the ones that are coated with yukky stuff. I don’t remember who told me I should put them in the dishwasher in order to clean them, but that’s what I do. It works really well and once they’ve cooled off and are dry, I can then reinstall.

Once that’s all done, it will be time to tell the thermostat I’ve cleaned the filter. What I wonder is if it is smart enough to tell me the filters need cleaning, why can’t it figure out the filters are clean? Instead, I have to go into the thermostat and confirm I’ve done my job.

The dishwasher just beeped that it’s done its job and the dishes are clean. I’ve opened the door and while everything cools off, I guess I’ll begin dismantling that electronic filter. I’ll feel accomplished once the filter is clean and back inside the furnace. Still, it’s just another one of those jobs I’d be happy to not have to do, but that’s the way it is when it’s just me, myself and I (and Kuma, but he has no cleaning skills) living the good life.

UPDATES...PIE, PIE IN THE SKY

           I’m absolutely positive, dear readers, that you want an update from my Labor Day post. I’m happy to report I did everything I said I was planning to do with the exception of cleaning the kitchen/dining room. I did that on Thursday as opposed to Monday.

          The blackberry pie almost didn’t come to fruition. Kuma and I went to ballyball hill after I went to the grocery store. I couldn’t believe how the blackberries had turned into small, dried lumps. I persevered, however, and managed to pick enough very small ones to fill my small cast iron skillet. Kuma had a fine time chasing the ball up and down the hill as I worked to fill my berry container. The first time I set it down, though, Kuma thought I’d picked the berries for him. I very quickly pushed his nose out of the bowl before he could gobble up the ones I’d managed to pick.

          Back home, I used one pie crust from the box I bought to make the pie. I really should have taken it out of the oven sooner…the recipe said forty minutes, but that was for the big skillet. Later that day, after the grilled flank steak and corn-on-the-cob, I had a dish of blackberry pie with vanilla ice cream…YUMMY!!!

          Thursday I had an appointment with the podiatrist. In the morning, I watered everything outside, did my office work, and then decided it was time to Swiffer up all the dog hair in the kitchen and dining room. Seriously, I don’t see how Kuma has any hair left. There was enough on the pad I had to use the hand vacuum to suck it off twice before tossing the pad. The rugs were washed as was the floor, so now everything looks very nice.

          Of course, it’s not going to stay that way for long. Almost every day I tidy up the house. This involves using the little vacuum to suck up the dog hair that’s drifted down the day before. The bathroom had quite a bit of hair which also included mine. There were also Kuma pawprints all over the floor because he’d gone out into the wet garden and neglected to wipe his paws on the way back in.

          The podiatrist was really a waste of time. I have one toe where the nail points downward and pushes into the footbed. If I keep it as short as possible, it’d not too big a problem. I was hoping for a better solution, but the doctor merely trimmed it more and said if that didn’t work, he could remove the nail. Whoa, I’m not going there, especially when he said it would just grow back.

          This appointment was far down on Broadway in Seattle. I don’t usually drive to or in those areas and today’s trip made me very sad. There’s so much garbage on the streets and sidewalks, people living up close to buildings beneath a big umbrella or even in a bus stop shelter. Broadway is also narrow with only two lanes, unless there’s a left turn lane which trucks and cars park in while making pickups or deliveries. There’s also rails in the road as well as electric wires overhead for the transit system. My memories of Broadway from eons ago do not match what I saw today at all.

          Finally, I read there were 60,000 children who traversed some pass below Mexico to escape their countries and try to come to mine. Altogether, there have been 250,000 people over that pass just this year. This brings me to my “pie in the sky” idea.

          A year or two ago, there was a chart online which showed how much money some members of the 1% had. It was set up in such a way that you flicked your screen to the left. Jeff Bezos was the richest of the 1% and I finally gave up flicking the screen because it seemed as though this illustration of his wealth would never end. What if Bezos decided to play God with all his millions and set out to rectify the world’s problems? Perhaps we could reach a goal where everyone had a home, food, health care, and violence was eliminated. Like I said, pie in the sky.

LABOR DAY

        

 It’s Labor Day. It’s raining. It’s cold. I’m wearing long pants for the first time in quite a while…it was 80+ on Saturday…my “I’m Sad” sweatshirt and socks. I guess summer is over, more or less.

          I’m feeling kinda sad for no particular reason other than it’s now September and before I know it, it will be time to decide if I’m going to buy another Christmas tree or give up that tradition. I’m not sure what the answer will be when the time arrives. Maybe my kinda sad is due to the change in atmospheric pressure because it rained and may still be raining for all I know.

          Anyway, since time is passing by so quickly, I really don’t have time to sit around being sad. I need to get my flank steak in the marinade so I can grill this evening…what’s a Labor Day without grilling? I also need to find my recipe for cast iron blackberry pie. I don’t know if I can cut it down enough to simply use my small cast iron skillet or if I’ll need to make the entire recipe. If I do use the big skillet, someone(s) going to get to share this pie.

          Of course, making that pie means Kuma and I need to go to our Ballyball hill so he can chase the ball and I can pick berries. Then, it’s off to the grocery store and the completion of some other errands. I was going to go to Costco today too, but that wonderful company has given its employees the day off. Why is it I like Costco so much and detest Amazon even though I use Amazon often because it usually has what I want/need and the prices are good. I think it’s because I see Amazon as an evil giant…kinda like the one in Jack and the Beanstalk…and Costco as more family friendly. I digress

          There’s also one more room to clean, i.e., dining room and kitchen. I need to Swiffer the floor, wash the rugs, wash the floor and put the rugs back. To pat my own self on the back, I did the rest of the house (except for the two bedrooms I don’t use) in the last few days. True, I could wash all the windows, but I’m not going to do that. Eliminating all the dog hair, detritus from the garden, dust from the various tables and tchotchkes is clean enough for me. Oh, I also did all the laundry, including stripping the bed and turning the mattress.

          Don’t you just love the internet and Google. I couldn’t find the proper spelling for tchotchke, so I typed in, “Jewish word for knick knacks,” and there was the correct spelling. I digress again.

          So, I’m not going to be sitting around here being sad. I’ve things to do, places to go, people to see. By the time I sit down with a glass of wine, I’m sure to be quite happy…or become so after the wine.

NATIONAL CINEMA DAY

 

          Sunday was National Cinema Day. Regal emailed me at the beginning of the week offering $4.00 tickets (actually $6.09 after taxes, etc.). Since I hadn’t been to the movies in a very long time, I decided to take advantage of this offer. And, since it was going to be a HOT Sunday, I figured there wouldn’t be a better place to spend the day than in an air-conditioned theater.

          I decided on two movies…Barbie because how can I not see this movie, the biggest grossing movie in all time; and Oppenheimer because who doesn’t want to know how the worst killing method was brought to fruition. I began with Barbie at 1:00 pm and transitioned to Oppenheimer at 4:00 pm. I didn’t even leave the theater between movies. I did have to wait about ten minutes before I could enter Oppenheimer, but I just played a game on my phone.

          It was rather surprising to see so many advertisements for stuff on the screen. The last time I went to the movies, there was a woman who entertained us with information and guests while we waited for the previews to begin. This time, it was ad after ad for one thing and another, and not many of them were for products you could buy at the concession stand. There was even an ad for a man who needs a living kidney. I could use my phone to take a photo of the QR code in order to become a kidney donor.

          There also were not very many previews, but that may be because of the writers’ and actors’ strike. They did preview Dune which is supposed to open in December, but I heard it’s been pushed back to 2024 because of the strike.

          I was a bit surprised by Barbie. I expected it to be rather frothy and perhaps it was, but the premise was a good one…too bad the premise isn’t the actual case in real life as opposed to Barbieland. Both Ken and Barbie were very attractive and did a good job of acting like dolls. A friend who raised three daughters loved the movie and said there were lots of things that I might not get not having had any Barbie experience. I suppose that’s true, but it did amuse me in several places.

          Oppenheimer seemed a bit slow and I sort of kept waiting for the end. It also moved forward and backward in time. I don’t usually have a problem with that sort of movie, but I did find myself wondering now and then where and when we were. The actor who played Oppenheimer was excellent and I did like the movie a lot. I didn’t know a lot about Oppenheimer or the Manhattan project, but I left the movie wanting to know more. I think I’ll be doing a bit of research in order to get my questions answered.

          I also didn’t know there were actually four different sites where research into making the bomb happened. Again, I have questions. They set off a couple of bombs at Los Alamos. Did it become radioactive? I don’t think I ever realized they set off small test bombs on US soil. I did know they made uranium isotopes (I think that’s what they were) in Oak Ridge Tennessee because my biological father worked there on that project. He and his entire crew died early from various cancers, probably the result of working at Oak Ridge. And, is any part of Oak Ridge still radioactive?

          See, lots of questions. I’d like to know more about Oppenheimer as well. He was a brilliant man with morals, at least that’s how he came across in the movie. At the same time, he was portrayed as a womanizer, but was he really? Did he or any of the people who worked at Los Alamos die of cancer?

          There’s one other thing that surprised me about spending six plus hours in a theater…my back was killing me Monday morning. I don’t know if it was the seats or simply the lack of activity. Still, I’d do it again.

          Anyway, I guess if I’m going to get the answers to any of my questions, I need to put my fingers to work on the internet as opposed to flying over the keyboard writing this blog.