Saturday, November 9, 2024

Lo...not to be confused with LOL.

 Today, we worked on the renovation and got the work done there that we wanted to get done. 

We met up with an old friend. He eats a plant based diet. A few days back, Tim and I had did a quick grocery shop, and I'd seen some of the pouches of seeds and grains that he likes. I thought of him as soon as I saw them, and at 59 cents, I could not pass them up. It was good to see him again, and he seemed pleased with our finds. 

A couple of days ago, someone had thrown (among other things) a plant to the curb. I'd been watching it for a couple days, wavering back and forth. It was supposed to be in the 20s that night, so, channeling my inner Steve Reed , I walked down and rescued it, three plants really, purple heart (tradescantia pallida). I brought the plant home but not the pot and dirt. I gave it a careful wash, and cut away all the dead and damaged leaves. What's left looks pretty happy, and that made me happy too. 

I finished the book that I was reading. It was the color of lapis lazuli as strange as it sounds that a book would have color. It was beautiful and filled with sweetness. It was ugly and heart breaking. In the end, it was hopeful. It seemed appropriate for these days and I loved it. "There's a River in the Sky" by Elif Shafak. 

I tended cats, although I did not have a chance to play with kittens. Teaching wild animals to trust is something that makes me feel peaceful too. 

Supper was a good soup from the left over steak and gravy of the night before. I chopped the carrots, celery and potatoes and tossed them into the crock pot, along with some green beans from my sister's garden. There are people in this world who would be grateful for such small moments of normal. I think of them.

Tim walked in the house exclaiming "Smells good! I could smell that soup half way up the driveway." We had a quiet supper with toasted garlic bread. It tasted as good as it smelled. 

I did not watch the news. It is too soon to watch it. I cannot bear to listen to the voices. I think it's awful that Nancy Pelosi blasted Biden. It's done. We need to put our efforts towards managing this train wreck, not finger pointing and blaming. Anyways, I keep a close eye on the news...I just don't want to hear it. I read it online, from trusted news sources. 

While I was not watching the news, I cleaned the kitchen. 

I did have a moment of hilarity today. Someone who believes herself to be always right decided today that I was using an alias on line, one blogger commenting under multiple names. First of all, I don't. I yam what I yam and dat's what I yam.


In any case, her hypothesis is incorrect. I'm sure that because she is never wrong, she will believe forever that I am a liar, but it is just so funny that she'd even come up with such an idea. What even sparked that? Since we got our computer back, the unfamiliar security system sometimes boots me off my blog while I am looking something up. Sometimes, I find that I've posted anonymous comments because I haven't noticed that security has logged me out, but I have never commented under another name. 

Nothing nefarious going on at all, and there is only one me. (Let the world rejoice!) 

Margaret from NZ asked about my meeting with the city. I'm loathe to say too much about it at this point, because I won't feel like the deal is done until we are actually holding the check, but I cautiously feel that this is resolved. I sent an e-mail to the city administrator asking if I could be put on the agenda to speak to the council. I gave her no reason, or idea of what I was going to say, but somehow, the big man himself got wind of it. 

Now remember, I had a funeral to attend that night, and it would have meant ducking out of the viewing, rushing to the meeting, hoping to speak first and then rushing back for the funeral. Since no one had responded to the e-mail, I called the city administrator. Without warning, I was asked to hold, and suddenly, I was speaking to the big man. He was very friendly, and wanted to know what was going on. I said, "I was informed by my lawyer that the city agreed to settle back in September. We are now into November, and the issue has yet to be put on the agenda. I would like to address the committee." 

Oh it was very polite. He claimed that our lawyer had never done the necessary work. He said, "But let me check into that, and I can give you a call back." 

I shouldn't have, I really shouldn't have, but there was this five months of ignored correspondence that rankles me to this day. I said, "Not to interject any animosity into the conversation, but really, you haven't been all that great about responding to us." 

And he smoothly said words to the effect of, "Initially, that may have been true but since the lawyers are involved, I think the city has been very responsive."

And to my credit, I made no response, although I had one in mind. Anyways, that is as close to an apology as I will get, I imagine.

Our lawyer was quite irritated, and handled things immediately. We should have payment the week of the 16th. 

So...I am glad that I did not have to make the meeting after all. The funeral was very sad, and it was important to be there. 

So... lo, it is good. 




45 comments:

  1. Oh gosh, fingers and toes crossed on the settlement.
    I have not watched any news at all since Monday, November 4. I don't want to hear about it. I am still down a hole with a blanket over my head. I am making a list of items we need to purchase before tariffs make the price too astronomical. We are headed to building supply stores tomorrow and depending on how many rubles we spend, I might order a new stove on Monday.

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    1. We are doing that as well, being in the middle of building a house and renovating another. It's a scary time. As I said to Tim, I would hate to be starting a new business right now. A business of ANY kind.

      We can simply close up our renovation if we have to, but how glad we are that we are well underway with our new house. The free gas will be important I think. A small weather tight house with a green house and what will be raised beds is just what we need. Tim got his first deer this morning, and we're glad for that, too.

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  2. Oh I do hope the end is in sight with your City battle.
    Just love that meme at the end!

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    1. Would love to just be done with that issue as well.

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  3. Thanks for answering my question. I’m crossing fingers and toes that you will get the settlement promised as I’d like to think that there are officials whose integrity is impeccable. Margaret from NZ

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    1. I'd like to believe that too, but there are a lot of officials who act without any kind of integrity at all, so it's kind of scary.

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  4. Good morning. I've been having one of my nights, so here I am at 4am. Not much to say really, but that statement about information is so true. You can even get it on your phone that everybody carries around, but you never bother. Not you personally -- you know what I mean. It's early.😁

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    1. I know exactly what you mean. We can know anything in the world that there is to know, but instead, we choose to watch funny cat videos and tiktoks of people acting like fools. I'm sorry you can't sleep. It is 4:30 in the morning and I have been waked up by the very strangest thing.

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  5. Great meme at the end - there is a lot of truth there. Fingers crossed regarding settlement with the city, not before time.

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    1. It's about time. Honestly. I just will never understand how an employee of the people gets off with simply ignoring a problem like that. I wonder what he did with my paperwork? Just walk back into his office and drop them in the trash. I've always wondered.

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  6. Plenty of things to be glad for...hoping the settlement happens as promised, that will ease things

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    1. I think it will be okay, but I guess that I've been burned enough in my lifetime that I won't feel sure of it until it is done.

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  7. It is a gift to find pleasure in small things. You have that gift.

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    1. Not always, but I think that it should be something I practice routinely in these difficult times. It's always there, and when I look, I can see them.

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  8. Bravo for rescuing the purple heart! And now that you have one, you will soon inevitably have plenty of cuttings and before you know it you'll have about ten more plants. The library where I work is positively infested with purple heart plants, all from the one I grew here at home. But I do like them. LOL!

    I'm glad things are looking positive for the settlement. I'd love the backstory on this blogger confusion about your identity. I may e-mail you. :)

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    1. I've replied to that e-mail. You are a clever one, Steve. Right on all accounts!

      Hopefully the purple heart does better than my 'zebrina' which grew lushly...and then began to struggle. I've been begging it to live for months now. I've made up my mind to take cuttings from its little bit of life and then toss the rest of it.

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  9. We will be waiting for the arrival of your settlement the week of the 16th. If you don't get it, you should give us the email address of the administrator that is holding up the process. We could all start emailing him to complain. ;)

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    1. LOL. He'd be wondering why he's getting emails from all over the country!

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    2. I’d email him from Down Under in NZ. This makes me mad on your behalf. Margaret from NZ

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  10. And just to clarify!!!! All those 'anonymous' comments above are me. I sign into my blog, and begin reading. However I'm usually trying to get a lot done as quickly as possible, and never seem to remember that to make a comment, I need to sign in again. I never needed to do that before. Is it like that for everyone? Is it blogger, or is it the new antivirus?

    I did not want my anonymous comments to be confused with another more malignant anonymous out there who sits in her lonely corner, letting her imagination run wild in tandem with her anger, all the while wrapping herself in a cozy shawl of 'I'm never wrong'.

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    1. No, I'm always signed in, only once had to re,-sign in to do anything

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    2. Perhaps it's my antivirus then. I hauled the computer in after an especially bad 'attack'. He sent it back with an improved virus protection. Everything has two step verification now. I log into blogger, but when I comment, I have to sign in a second time. I never had to do that before and it is the biggest PITA.

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  11. I like memes they make me laugh. Also funny dog short videos, cats aren't the same somehow. Glad things are moving forward with the settlement.

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    1. Sometimes, a simple giggle can make all the difference, can't it?! I have decided to try to end my posts with a little laugh.

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  12. You're always anonymous on my blog, Debby, but I always know it's you.

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  13. I started my bachelor life with a single plant grown from a shoot given to me by my 5th grade teacher. By the time I got married, I had doubled that to two plants. Somehow, I've lost track of how many plants we have inside but it is more than I can count using fingers and toes. It was a lot and then I doubled it by adopting all of mom's plants after her death. I still have the original plant though.

    I too have been avoiding the news. I just hate the finger pointing and failure to address why others found Trump desirable over Harris. It seems as if we are doomed to keep on heading down this bath of division.

    "Can we all get along?" - Rodney King

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    1. I had a slew of plants for a good many years. Interestingly I have a pot that I throw clippings of my struggling plants into. It is an interesting pot filled with happy thriving ghosts of plants long dead.

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  14. I'm sure it's not the same for you as it is for me but some of that same kind of plant got loose in my yard and it is now among the list of hated invasive things. So- be careful.
    So glad you seemingly have a resolution with the city. Excellent.
    I have a dear friend who truly believes that the election went the way it did because of lack of education among our citizens. I have no doubt that this is true but I asked her, "And how do we resolve that?"
    She had no answer. And that meme is expressing one of the reasons why, I think. People can learn the truth but they do not want to.

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    1. I don't see how we can resolve it when you've got parents actively blocking education and striving to ban books.

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    2. Not to mention that part of Project 2025 is to get rid of the department of education.

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  15. I know how the anonymous comment creep affects, Debby - I am logged in on this computer but lo - anonymous here. Go figure! I have just finished reading The Last Love Note by Emma Grey - a few tears but it was good and a romance so at the end was the possibility of happily ever after. Jeanie (in Paradise, as there are a few apparently)

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    1. I'm just a careless blogger, I guess. I tend to type, rat-a-tat, and then, suddenly, I realize that somewhere along the line I've gone anonymous.

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  16. I've noticed anonymous comments more often on blogs, blogger won't let people log on.
    I have been avoiding the news and feel much better because of it. I have no control over what's happening and it just causes me so much distress.

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    1. For some reason, just not 'hearing' the news helps me. Reading it is working better for me right now.

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    1. Yes. Anonymous needs good thoughts. Debby will not turn them down either.

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  18. Here’s to counting our blessings..! There’s lots of comfort to be found in ordinary everyday life❤️Yesterday I went to the annual Christmas bazaar of the local church- not to necessarily buy anything, but to meet the sweet people who arrange it.. so nice to just carry on with the traditions without thinking of the election results! (though one of the older women there said she’d thought of escaping to Norway with me if the election ‘went south’’! - it was an uplifting moment!😆) Fingers crossed for that check from the town!! -And how’s the young William doing these days? Haven’t heard anything about him lately… hope all is good! Xo, Rigmor

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    1. Oh, William's a teenager, and he's no time for grannies. But yes. Whenever things get too big to take in, it helps me to narrow my focus.

      But everything is as good as it can be in these strange days.

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  19. It seems like dogged persistence paid off.
    I like the meme and it is ever so true. The big electric library is browsed in depth to find the exact book that where what is written, is what we want to believe.

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    1. I don't know what made me think of it, but I've just checked someone's blog post back in April 2011, and voila.

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    2. Send me an e-mail, friend. You've got my curiosity piqued now!

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  20. Good the city drama is coming to an end.

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I'm glad you're here!

The Old Fellas

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