The Dust Settles

As always, we are slowly moving past June 10th. We have both frozen our credit and taken care of the documentation for the stolen passports. We are wading through the insurance stuff. We will have to wait 30 days before the insurance company lists it as well and truly gone. 

It was a professional job. There is a professional network(s) at work. They utilize teenagers to steal the cars which are then driven to Quebec and loaded on a ship headed for west Africa. The number one target? Lexus RX models. (Number 2? Toyota Camry.)

As we slowly move through the morass of red tape associated with an event like this, little by little, life begins looking brighter. This is a survivable bump in the road, after all. 

Something that I have noticed is that Tim just expects that I will take care of the paperwork. He struggles with things like this. I understand why. I understand he can't help it. But the fact is, this stuff is stressful to me.

Something I have noticed is that he has become...um...demanding. Impatiently so. I am not the most patient person in the world, so I try to forgive that in him, but it has become increasingly difficult to ignore.

Yesterday we needed to go to the store. He needed his pop. He saw a rack of jeans on sale. We stopped to look. He did not find what he was looking for. 'Let's go,' he said. 

But they had a rack of tee-shirts marked down to a dollar and so I said, 'let me look through these...' He simply took off without me. 

My hearing is not so great and sometimes I don't hear him. If I ask him to repeat, he gets frustrated that I need to listen. But when I said that I was going to look at plants while he looked at deck stain and that I'd be right back, though he was looking right at me, when I came right back, he was no where to be found. I hadn't passed him between here and there. When I finally found him, he was irked. He couldn't hear me when I told him where I was going. "So why didn't you ask me to repeat myself?' He snapped, 'you need to speak up!'

A myriad of other frustrations. 'I will be back in 20 minutes and I want something to eat' is quite different from 'can you start supper?' 

An unexpected bill for $1400 that I was told would be covered by insurance wasn't. He is upset by that. He had been against the procedure, but it was important to me. In his mind, this was an unnecessary bill. I pointed out that he has just bought a tractor and spent $10,000. " 

Stupid stuff like me watching 'The Four Seasons". He didn't like it. Said all they do is talk. So we wound up watching "Yellowstone." Or when he is tired and just announces it is time for bed.or when I want to try ethnic food and he doesn't, why is it that we always wind up at Pizza Hut or McDonalds or Burger King?

All small and petty stuff. All of it, but it is just a stressful time for both of us and we both are snappier than usual.

This morning, I got up early to relax with my coffee. A few minutes later he came out. We have a tenant issue which he is upset about, and rightfully so. We have spent over $800 to snake out the sewer lines. This always happens of Friday afternoon, when we pay weekend fees for the plumber. It happened again. The other tenant in the house called to report. This time he said that he was told that the other tenant was flushing her cat litter when she did a full litter change on Friday. 

This required a direct discussion with the tenant, which upset her terribly. She has cognitive decline. We understand. I love that other tenants have gather about her to help her to continue to live independently. We will do our part too, of course. 

Tim and I discussed this this morning as I was trying to relax with my coffee and light blog reading. He wants to call her son and tell him she is not capable of living on her own. I think we have been very direct about it. She is upset. I think it may well not happen again. If it does, then we will rethink. This wait and see attitude made him mad.

Tim got snappish. "I am getting my shower and when I am done, you need to get yours. We have work to do." He decided that we were going to work on the old house before the protest. We already have a full schedule afterwards. We powerwashed a tenant's deck and today we are staining it. 

I said that he hadn't said anything about this. His response infuriated me. He said, "I didn't know what I would feel like doing."

I said, "How about what I feel like doing? Does that even matter anymore?"

 He glared and the floodgates opened. I yelled. He yelled. In the end, I said, "I am having a relaxing morning. It is the first time since we got home that we haven't had to hit the floor running. I am taking my morning. You feel like working, drive your truck to town."

And so he did.

I am sure this dust will settle too. 

Welp, Mrs Lincoln...

 ...other than that how did you like the play?

We had a very nice trip to Canada.

It ended early. Our car was stolen out of the hotel parking lot. The car was locked of course, but our passports were in the glove box. 

Also my favorite shoes were in the back.

Everyone has been kind and helpful. We are headed home now.

Now is later.

 We have not been to a protest for three weeks due to all the comings and goings, and a reception and family time. Tim said last night that we must go today. I agree. 

A funny thing happened this week. Tim had a serious craving for a banana split so we stopped at an ice cream place, pulling into a parking place next to a minivan with a VOTE! sticker on the window. The driver was waiting on her order, texting as she sat sideways in the driver seat, her feet sticking out the open car door. 

My initial impression was that she was a kindred soul, so I said, 'Not just 'vote' but vote blue!' and headed to the ice cream place. 

She shot out after me so fast that I initially thought I had misjudged. She wanted me to repeat myself. I did. The look on her face, people! She could not believe her ears, that I would just come out and say it. She is afraid to. 

I told her that she needed to find a group, that she wasn't the only one seeing it...more and more people are seeing it everyday. 'You can't see this as hopeless!' I said.

She agreed that it was changing, but was discouraged at how slowly it was happening. 

"Come protest with us! Find a group! You will be encouraged."

When her number was called, she got her food and passed by us. "Keep the faith, sister!" She smiled.

And I guess that is why we need to 'find our tribe'. That little exchange. It is too easy to fall into the hopeless thinking that we are the only ones who see what is happening as wrong. That the vast majority see nothing unusual about this at all. 

This is not true: It IS wrong. Most people DO see it. What we do with that knowledge is what separates us.

I am re-reading Elie Wiesel's 'Night'. What has struck me happens at the beginning of those terrible years. The Jews themselves tried to justify it, to normalize what was happening.

When the foreign Jews were loaded into trains to be deported, the Jews not taken comforted themselves: "It is not that bad. They were sent back to where they belonged." 

When Moishe Beadle escaped and came back to tell the story that all those people were forced to dig their own graves,  lined up at the edge of their grave and shot to death, his stories were dismissed as the stories of a crazy man.

As the government was replaced by pro Nazi officials, the same people told themselves that the Red Army was defeating Germany and that their authoritarian government would not last. 

When the Germans did march into town, they lodged with local families, even Jewish families. 'It is not that bad. They are behaving with courtesy.

When the synagogues were closed, they said 'It is okay...our Rabbis hold the services in their home'.

It went on and on. Jews could not own valuables. They buried them in their basement. 'We can survive this'. 

After all, the yellow stars did not kill them to wear.

Even the ghettos: 'We are together. We don't have to deal with the insults and cruelty of outsiders.'

And it went on and on, that normalization, the comforting. 'It's not that bad', except that it eventually did get 'that bad'.

Like Moishe Beadle, many of us are sounding the alarm. We are surrounded by people who dismiss all of it as 'it's not that bad. These people are crazy.'

In the end, I suppose, it comes down to this: we are all seeing the events of these days. Each one of us, even MAGA, sees things that should not be happening. The question becomes simple. What are we going to do with that knowledge? 

You are free 'to do you'. As for me and my house, we will 'do us'. That includes being vocal enough that if a doubter stands on the sidelines, they know who we are. Easier to find us.

It has been a quiet week. I have been earnestly weedwhacking, trying to bring this wildness to some semblance of order. Weeding flower beds, which to be fair, are two chaotic spaces where I tossed distressed plants bought on clearance last year. I figured that if they grew, I could sort them out and replant them later. Now is the 'later', I guess.

Monday, we head for our Canadian vacation. 

you know, I cannot post pictures right now. I have many things to show you. Right now, though, I need to get ready to protest.

...yet the magic remains

 It went too quickly. 

But it was chock full of special moments. One night, as we watched a movie to finish out the day, I caught my first glimpse of a firefly through the sliding glass doors.

There are no fireflies in England, so Cara immediately got up to go see. When she opened the door, one came straightaway inside to do lazy loops around the livingroom and kitchen, blinking on, blinking off.

The last Saturday of her visit, we arranged to meet her brother and the girls at the halfway point between our house and theirs, meaning they drove 2.5 hours west. We drove 2.5 hours east. We ended up at Bald Eagle state park. It was too chilly to spend a lot of time on the wonderful beach, but they had a great playground. We had a great cookout. We hiked the butterfly trail (there were frog eggs).

In an amazing coincidence, they had nature activities for the kids. They had booths set up to teach them how to cast a fishing rod and to identify fish. There was a woodcarver's display for bird identification. Another display of taxidermied birds to learn amazing bird facts. Native plants and seeds to give away. A chainsaw carver. A display of tanned animal hides for the kids to handle. 

Probably the most exciting thing was the 'nuisance bear'. He was trapped in a culvert bear trap. You can google this. I tried to post a picture, but cannot. It is baited with donuts. The bear walks in, the door closes behind him.  

The trap is hooked to a truck and hauled away. The bear is sedated. While the donut filled bear snoozes, he is tagged, a tooth pulled to determine his age, and a vial of blood taken to do a health screen. He is driven far out into the woods and released, hopefully never to return to populated areas again. 

The sedated bear slept right through the demonstration he was starring in. He continued to sleep as the most daring children petted him. When he showed signs of waking up, the door to the trap was closed and he was driven away to his new home.

So this was A. Very. Exciting. Day. My daughter in law had to work the previous night so she wasn't there. I made a joke about 'mama bear' would never put us in charge of her cubs again once she heard her 'baby' had petted a bear. My son was sure she already knew, probably awakened from a sound sleep by 'a disturbance in the force'. 

There were cookouts and easy laughter, sunny days and starry nights. Memories dusted off and related once again. 

And then it was time to drop her off at the airport.

We Gather.

 Time rushes by, doesn't it? 

Thursday, we drove to Buffalo and picked up my youngest daughter from the airport. The traffic was hairy, but the old folks did alright. 

Friday and Saturday rushed by in a flurry of activity. People coming in. Meet ups. Food prep. 

My youngest daughter spent the next 3 nights in town to maximize her time with nieces and nephew, and siblings too. 

The reception went well and was a pleasant celebration. I am sure glad we pushed so hard to make it happen indoors. It was 53° and raining. Not a day anyone wanted to sit in an outdoor pavillion. It was nice though, and a chance to meet my son in law's family. Being a merry prankster, he showed up in a shirt he had ordered special for the occasion. It said, "I am my mother in law's favorite child." (After the laughter died down, I offered to give him back. His family said there was a no return policy.)

I had bought the flowers from Mattie's greenhouse. She also made 5 dozen rolls and the girls churned butter for us. They were a huge hit. People were able to take the hanging baskets from their tables. Even still, I ended up with three baskets at my house. They really were just gorgeous.

As mentioned, I made 20 lbs of barbecued chicken, 20 lbs of garlic herb chicken and about 30 lbs of ham. To my relief, everything was very good. I am nervous about things like this because if there is to be a disaster of any sort, it will happen at an important day. I was a little more nervous than usual because the day had actually started out with a power outage.  I had three large roasters plugged in and everything blinked off. It was only for a few minutes, but oh, people! I nearly had a heartattack!

After the reception and the clean up/packing up, we were glad to get back to our little house and end the day relaxing...after dividing the left over meat up into single serve packages for the freezer and scrubbing out the roasters. 

Sunday, Tim went to church. I spent the morning getting ready for dinner here. The kids and their families and their dad were all coming here for an old family comfort food: homemade pepperoni rolls, or as my oldest granddaughter called it, 'inside out pizza'. 11 for dinner.

Because the day was not busy enough, I found a find. Someone I knew was selling an old fashioned oak table, 3 feet wide, 6 feet long. I knew it was perfect for our kitchen space. It was 40 min away. Tim grumbled, but as soon as he got home from church, I left my dough to rise and we headed off with the truck. For all of Tim's grumbling, he fell in love just as soon as he saw it. It is Amish made and extremely heavy. 

We got that home, the old enamel table to the basement. It will double the work area at the meat cutting station. The new table went in, and I was rolling out dough on it when people walked in the door. We don't have a lot of counter space and this was a beautifully functional addition.

Monday morning started with a huge breakfast send off at my sister's. I made a strata. She made a breakfast casserole and monkey bread. Fresh fruit and plenty of coffee, juice and milk completed that. 15 at the table that morning. We said our goodbyes there and Dylan and his family left for home.

Cara is now sleeping here. She is a very avid 'rambler' and belongs to a club back in the UK. She does 15 mile rambles and thinks nothing of it. We have walked over 20 miles in 3 days at Oil Creek Park. They have 35 miles of trails, but some of those trails were little more than deer paths, literally. We were walking on steep paths with sheer drops. She may have thought nothing of this, but it was challenging for Tim and I. We got it done, I am proud to say. Yesterday was 7.2 miles.

It is an off day for walking. Cara has business to take care of before she heads back home. Tim is chauffeuring. I am going to get my garden beds planted this morning. This afternoon, I am making homemade pizza. My sister and Cara and I will play a ruthless game of scrabble after.

Tomorrow is Friday already. Cara will spend the afternoon at my nephew's house. We will meet up with Dylan and the girls on Saturday at Bald Eagle Park which is almost precisely half way between our house and theirs. We will have a picnic and go hiking once more. 

We watched three good movies here in the evenings. Remarkably Bright Creatures. Thursday Murder Club. Grandma. Light and enjoyable.

We will be driving Cara back to Buffalo airport Monday morning. I am trying to hold on to these precious days but they trickle through my fingers like water.

Crazy

 We have been busy here. I finished my last day working on the old house for the next couple weeks. The day after tomorrow  we will be driving to the Buffalo Airport to pick up my youngest. Friday night my son and his wife and my granddaughters will be coming. I plan to savor this. Tim can do as he wants.

Saturday is the wedding reception for my oldest and her husband. They got married late last fall in a small  ceremony, delaying the celebration until the weather was a bit more predictable. This is also a long weekend which allows more out of towners to get in.

You know. Things like this stress me out. I have my agenda. Thursday: airport. Friday. Pick up produce order. On the way home, pick up four roasters. We will thaw 40 pounds of chicken breast and 30 pounds of ham. Saturday, we cook that meat. 20 lbs will be BBQ. 20 lbs will be lemon pepper. I will make the salad. I need to drive up to Mattie's to pick up the rolls and a pound of churned butter. Also to pick up 8 planters of flowers for the tables from her greenhouse.

 My sister gave me a load of manure for my birthday. I told her I don't take shit from anybody but her. We shoveled manure and blabbed. It feels like forever since we have had time to just visit. They are pretty busy too, demo'ing a house on their side of the road. Today I planted my onions, peppers and tomatoes.

So...it has been a bit crazy at my house.

It has also been crazy outside our house. We had two police shootings in 3 days. I mean, we live in the middle of nowhere. To have two separate shootings within 20 miles of us is crazy. Today an 18 year old stabbed his father. A man was sitting outside with his dog. A bear showed up and took a swipe at the dog. Also in that 20 mile circle.

Outside that 20 mile radius, it is even crazier. 1.7 billion dollar slush fund for trump allies. The IRS cannot investigate any of the trumps for tax evasion.  Trump claims he was within an hour of resuming attacks on Iran but has called them off because he was asked nicely. 

There is just too much crazy right now.

 .

If I don't laugh...

Gees...sorry about the spam comments on the last post. Miss a few days of blogging and those guys sneak right in there, don't they? I hope no one contacted those pesky faith healers with strange names who can cure breast cancer. We don't need them. 

Our president claims:

"We've taken people that were dead. We had a person given the last rites -- gone, the kids are crying and everything -- and started them on this drug. And the person became better. It works."

Of corse this miracle drug is not named and no one has left their death bed to testify to this miracle. 

It doesn't matter, people will still flock to the golden idol to pray.

https://youtu.be/tdcJ85PQw90?si=38PFfTTrWrI0uDfT

Sorry for going silent. It is a busy time. My daughter is flying home this month. I am planning a small wedding reception for my daughter and her husband. My son and his family will be coming home.

After this is done, we have a trip that will take us up into Canada for a week.

In the midst of this, because Tim cannot and will not wait, we are  clearing out the old house to put on the market. 

It is a crazy time, but no matter how crazy it gets, it is crazier in Washington. This is not comforting.

We have had two hard frosts in the last two days. It dropped to 25° two days ago. Will summer ever get (and stay) here.

Posting may be light for the month of May. Ignore the spam. Don't contact any African faith healers. Ask for the revival/Lazarus drugs instead.

Just Another Rainy Day in Paradise.

 It started out as another very rainy morning. This after a very rainy night. 

Protest started at 12 and I was dreading the thought of standing in the rain again. Miraculously, it cleared off before we got to the courthouse. 

It was a small group but we have a great comaradry. And it is not just the protesters. The people driving by know we are going to be there. The tooting begins before we get situated. 

Encouraging. 

I carried this:

It is a flip off sign. The reverse side says: BLESS YOUR ❤️! When we get flipped off, I can "flip them off" right back with my sign.

 

It was a good day. 

Hypocritical

This was written by Carrick Ryan and perfectly highlights the hypocrisy of this administration and its supporters:

 'Today, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood before the world's media and made the following statement about Iran:

“This is an international waterway, No country can control them. There is no international law that allows you to say, I’m going to put mines in an international body of water, and I’m going to blow up ships that don’t listen to us and try to go through.”

“We cannot live in a world where a rogue state like this Iranian regime is allowed to claim, as a new normal, control over an international shipping lane,” 

I agree with him.

Since September last year, the US military has conducted 47 strikes on civilians marine vessels travelling in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, leading to over 190 deaths.

No criminal trials, no evidence provided to the public to justify the violence, merely an arbitrary declaration of terrorism with no transparency or accountability for who they have summarily executed.

The USA then sent its military into Caracas, killing more than 80 people, to abduct the President of Venezuela and replace him with a compliant proxy.

It then commenced a military campaign against Iran that has already killed thousands, without even attempting to conduct themselves within the parameters of international law. The UN Security Council was not consulted, and no evidence has been provided to support its flimsy attempts of retrospective justification.

The US President has made genuine threats to invade Greenland, Panama, and Cuba, without ever once bothering to even pretend to discuss a legal justification for the hostility.

The erosion of the concept of international law as a guardrail against geopolitical anarchy has led us to a dangerous place. But few nations have contributed more to that erosion than the USA, and no president has expedited its demise faster than Donald Trump.

This isn't just hypocrisy, it's insulting, performative, dishonest, and shameless.'

Even as he stands there with the ridiculous 'Gulf of America' hat on display at his podium. How can people not see this blatent hypocrisy? 

Another day

 The weather is coolish but not cold. 69° right now, but a cool wind blowing in rain. More rain. We have had aclotvof it, but knowing how desperately some areas need rain, I will not complain. 

We have gotten nearly 14 inches of rain, this year, which is surprisingly considered just a bit above normal. We have 2 more inches on the way. 

So. Water is running high. You know what else is high? Gas. It has gone up 60 cents since May 1st. 5 days!

BTW: I am still optimistic and hopeful. I still dream of a better, kinder world.

Also, if I ever saw that horse, I would have to bring him home because he looks so sad. 

We drove back to Meadville today. At my appointment yesterday, I gave them a thank you card with a gas card tucked inside. That got a lot of attention. The card traveled around the office staff and people came out to tell that 'I did not need to do that'. I said that I liked the idea that the next time they had a Debby Dim-bulb standing in front of them all a-fluster, they could pay it forward. We all laughed together. I like that.

Today I went back for a followup. It is a longish drive and the first thing I do is tell them I am here. She remembered my name. The second thing I do is head for the bathroom because it is a long drive. 

When I came out. I admired a wandering jew that they had. I had a huge one that did not take to being moved from one house to the next. I asked if they would mind if I took a clip. The receptionist said, " I can do you one better " and handed me a cup with a rooted cutting. This is really just the friendliest little clinic. At the same time, they all wonderfully efficient, which is very comfortimg.

Something unexpected was that my shoes attracted a great deal of attention. People loved them. 'They look handmade!" "Where did you find them?" 

That surprised me because I really don't know that I have ever been walking past someone and their shoes caught my eye.

But they are sweet shoes.

I said. "Goodwill. Our store runs 79 cent sales, and these had the right color tag. They also were my size." And they were all suitably impressed.

So it was a good day for me and my bejeweled feet.

Over the weekend, I tried something new. I made ricotta cheese. It turned out very well. I have a lasagna in the oven that Tim is very excited about. 

So. That was today and it was a satisfactory day.

Well...except for the gas.

Food for thought

Gloom, despair and agony on me

 May 2nd. We woke up to snow. What the fresh hell IS this????!!

I am not a hardy character like Red who cheerfully deals with nonsense like this.

LATE EDIT: Kate too. She deals with this kind of nonsense too...and is far more complacent about it than I am. 

Normal service will resume when and if normal weather resumes.

Almost May

I was looking for a car part on line. I went to two or three web sites, but when I typed in the car make. Model and year and the part I was looking for, each time it came up as no parts available. 

In the middle of it, my phone rang. It came up as 'potential spam'. I did not answer the call. It was immediately followed by another phone call listed 'verified caller. Wyoming' 

I am a curious woman. I figured that the two calls had to be related. They were different numbers, but from the same 307 area code. So I answered it.

An unmistakably Indian accent said, 'are you looking for a passenger side fender for a 2008 Lincoln MKZ?'

(Side note: I was not driving the car. Actually, nobody was driving it. It was parked and quietly minding its own business when it was hit.)

Cautiously, I said 'Yesss...' while wondering how those searches were visible to him. 

"What color?" he asked. 

"Silver."

He said, almost instantly, "I can get you one for $146."

I said "I don't even know who you are."

He said, "My name is Lucas Anderson."

"Not to be rude, but I received two phone call within two minutes of each other. I don't know who you are, or how you figured out what I was looking for. Also, your accent is not a Wyoming accent. I am not comfortable handing out my credit card information under these circumstances."

He earnestly began to explain why I should trust him.

Unconvinced, I hung up.

Don't know if I am paranoid and missed out on a good deal, or whether I dodged a bullet. 

I was surprised to hear to receive a bulletin on my phone that a woman and baby down the road are missing, considered endangered. I do not know her, but it is something that grabbed my attention. I don"t know the back story but am hoping for a happy ending.

Other than that, it was a quiet day. I received a call from the office staff to see if I got home okay last night. They also had a cancelation and asked if I wanted the appointment. 

Less lead in time = less stress.

I said yes. I can hand deliver the thank you card and the gas card to them. 

May is a busy month. My daughter and son in law's wedding reception. My youngest daughter is coming stateside for it.  My son and his family will be here. We have a trip at the end of it. It was a lucky break to get that earlier appointment. 

The Governor of Louisiana called off the elections in his state until the maps can be redrawn to eliminate black majority areas. I mean they are not even hiding what they are up to. 

The White House posted a picture of trump and the King labeling it 'Two Kings'. 

The Republicans posted a picture of the King wearing a MAGA hat.

Mike Johnson denies we're at war.

The GOP voted today to end the government shut down without their exorbitant ICE funding demands. 

One positive sign at least. The rest of it is insane.

Frost warning tonight. Ugh.

Let's end with a laugh.

I cannot even...

I had an appointment today that i was heartily dreading. It was at 1, about an hours drive.

I was so anxious about it that I was wide awake at 4 am. I tried to fall back asleep, but I was so filled with 'fret' that it was not going to happen for me. I finally just got up and made my coffee and grabbed a package of BelVitas. I sat in the dark drinking coffee and reading blogs. 

It helped. 

A little. 

Tim got up. He had a bunch of stuff on his agenda, so I was on my own. 

I tried to comfort myself by going on a tear around the house. Scrubbed the bathroom, folded laundry, vacuumed, unloaded the dishwasher, tended to plants, cleaned the cat box, stuff like that. I made up my mind to leave at 11:30. I needed gas, and I was waiting to get it in Titusville. It is usually 20 cents  gallon cheaper and it was on the way, so it made sense.

So very methodically I set about getting set to go.

Shower (check)

Dress with great care (check)

Make up (check)

Hair (check)

(Did you ever notice that ticking boxes is a great distraction from thinking about things you'd druther not think about?)

Teeth (check)

Shoes (check)

Purse (check)

Raincoat (check)

Phone for directions since I did not know the area

(Check)

Full charge (Check)

Resolutely, I headed out the door and got myself on the road. When I got to Titusville, I was surprised to see that gas had gone up 20 cents over night. I decided to see what it was priced at on the way.

I had absolutely no idea how much I was going to regret this. The first thing I discovered is that there were no gas stations on my way.

Not to worry though. I knew I had enough gas to get me where I was going. I also knew that there were plenty of gas stations there. No worries. So I made my way through the heavy rain, trying to enjoy the Amish countryside.

I was on 'E' when I pulled into town. I had planned well enough that I had plenty of time for a fill up. I pulled into the first station I came to. I grabbed my wallet and it was then that I began to stress big time. My debit card was not in my wallet. I knew instantly where it was: at home on the table. I had been trying to renew the car registration on line. It would not accept our the card we use for online. I thought try my debit card. That did not work either. I brought the computer out to Tim to see if he could figure out where I was messing up. After trying it, he said, 'Never mind. I will just do it in person at the DMV. 

So much for convenience!

I logged off the website AND I NEVER WENT BACK TO GET MY DEBIT CARD! Now I was an hour from home, driving on E, and I still had my appointment. I was just sick. I got to where I was going, tried to call Tim from the parking lot. 

Did he answer his phone? No he did not.

Was his voice mail full? Yes it was.

There was nothing to do but walk into that appointment. I explained what I had done. She assured me it was fine. They took credit cards over the phone, so when I managed to get hold of Tim, I would be all set. She was so easy going about it. I was a little dumbfounded. 

Long story short. I survived my appointment. In the billing office. I did manage to get ahold of Tim. He read me the card information and I handed it to the billing person. I then began to explain about my gas situation. Did he know where a bank branch was? I had all my ID. 

 

The clerk interrupted. 'Don't worry about that. We got you a $20 gas card from the station across the street.'

I was flabbergasted. Tim was trying to talk and I was staring at the clerk, and I am embarrassed to say that after the whole stress filled day. I actually got teary. 

'Oh gees. You don't have to do that...'

She laughed. 'You have paid us enough that we can afford a gas card!' 

True, but...

In the end, I got home frazzled, but in one piece. Grateful, too.

 In all the hubbub I had skipped lunch. I knew I would be late getting back, so I had planned an easy supper. I split a loaf of Italian bread while sautéing onions, peppers, mushrooms, and some of the good sausage we made with Levi and Mattie and the kids. I spread the bread with spaghetti sauce, topped it with the meat and vegetables and sprinkled it with mozzarella cheese. 

Our pizzas were just coming out of the oven when Tim walked in the door from his day. 'Smells good! I didn't eat lunch today! I am starving.' 

So we sat down and ate.

All's well that ends well.

What do you think?

Tonight was Tim's final birthday hurrah. The man loves Journey. We have seen them twice and enjoyed both shows. I mean what's not to love. Familiar songs, songs that we know all the words to, songs from our youth. 

Of course, that was many moons ago. Steve Perry doesn't play with the group. In fact, only one original band member is still with the group that tours under the Journey name, which has always made me wonder at what point does a band actually become its own tribute band? But, as I said, we enjoyed both concerts. The new lead singer does a good job.

Compare this to the original Journey with Steve Perry. (Enjoy the 80s)

Well tonight we went to the Titusville Ironworks to see what is billed as the number one Journey tribute band, E5c4p3. We enjoyed the show. It was interesting to talk to another couple who have been to see the band 4 times. The woman said that the band actually has followers who follow them from venue to venue. She says after awhile they begin to recognize each other. Like I said. Interesting. 

Anyways, for comparison: the lead singer was very good. So the question begs an answer: which provides the more authentic experience? The 'actual' Journey with its one original band member, everyone else replaced or a tribute band with a good lead singer and a studied, polished band? 

I dunno. 

This made me think of Mr Shife right away

Quiet day

Today is Tim's birthday. It was a quiet day. We went to the gym. I work out for one hour. He works out for 30 minutes. He ducked out to buy his birthdsy present. He wanted a retractable air hose for his big air compressor in his garage, and then swung back to pick me up.

On the way home we stopped at the grocery store for strawberries and heavy whipping cream. He wanted strawberry shortcake for his birthday. Easy enough. His supper of choice was a simple one too. He loves mashed potatoes and hamburger gravy. He does love mashed potatoes. 

It is hard to believe we are both turning 69. 60 was a shock, and now a mere eyeblink later, we are looking at 70.  Just seems so strange. 70 is old! We aren't old!

An acquaintance posted a video of John Fettermen singing 47's praises on this Iran debacle. Another acquaintance responded with a reference to cults. They are two 80 yesr old white headed, bearded gentleman, both veterans. Both men of strong convictions. The poster blasted back with he 'was not raised to bash people on social media'. 

I smiled to that. Social media didn't exist 'til both of them were full grown men. My fingers itched a little because he unfriended me years back after I let him have it for calling Hillary Clinton a c*nt. He sent me a friend request years later, claiming I had unfriended him.

I scrolled on and left the two of them going at it.

We spent a quiet night not watching the news. 

Saturday

It is Saturday.

We protested. Gorgeous day, windy, which made the signs a bit of a challenge. 

Two of our tenants were there. I thought it was interesting that they simply stood on the corner making eye contact and waving with broad smiles. What was interesting is that when two women in their 70s are waving directly at people, no matter what their political leanings were, after some hesitation, generally, there was a small tentative wave back, one that used all their fingers.

We haven't had counter protesters lately. We have a small handful of people who cross over to stand with them, talking in a friendly way while waving their signs. The counter protesters kept trying to back away, but the friendly protesters followed them, smiling, talking, and waving their signs. Eventually, they left. They never have returned.

We made new signs.

 There is a big hulking young man who stands quietly in the back in solidarity. Somebody handed a sign to him and he came up front to stand with us. He seemed pleased to be there too. 

There was a lot of honking. I love the elderly people who quietly wave and smile at us. One fellow told us he was proud of us. Yeah. We get a few fingers and some shouts of 'go home!' Or 'Trump, Trump!' But that part of things seems to almost be dying down. 

We always hear him long before he gets to us. Today, air horn man was about ten minutes early. He came into town blaring his horns. A ripple went through our group. 'Here he comes! Here he comes!' Indeed he was, following a tanker truck. This time was different though. He caught the red light. We had a chance to demonstrate our thanks. We cheered and waved. In return he blared his horns. He tooted the old 'shave and a haircut' and around the corner, another horn answered with the obligatory 'two bits!' We all laughed.

A good day. 

We grabbed a burger and ran into people I used to work with, and had a good visit. 

We stopped off at a thrift store to make a donation from all that stuff that was mysteriously stuffed into the spare bedroom while I was gone. (Grrrrr!) I ran into a girl I went to school with. More jawjacking. I also got two beautiful blouses and a snuggly sweater for a quarter apiece. 

We stopped to check out Albert's garage sale on the way home. I could not believe my eyes to see a folding Rubbermaid two step ladder. Just that very morning I h Asaaddecided I needed something to reach the top shelves in the bathroom and the kitchen. $7.50 brought that home. $5.00 more brought a window fan home too.

So...it was a people-y sort of day, but a good one.

My blister is doing great. I soak my foot in the evening...

...and put a blister pad on it. Those things are miracle. 

That was Saturday.

Today kinda sucked.

 We went to the gym this morning and I did my 3 miles. I also did this:

It is the biggest blister I have ever given myself. Tim said, "why didn't you stop?" Short answer: I felt the blister on my big toe. I did not realize the rest of it until I took my shoe and sock off.

(I was walking, but you get the idea.)

So I am gimping around. I soaked my foot in hot water with Epsom salts. I put a blister dressing on it. It is pretty painful though.

Today was another one of those storm days. We were under tornado watch for a time, with those eerie strange skies.

Since I was confined to house, I tried to use my time wisely. We pay the water and sewage bills on our rentals. As the property owners, if the tenant defaults on the bill, we are responsible. We decided early on that it is easier to pay those bills monthly ourselves than inheriting a delinquent account, especially since it reflects negatively on our credit. 

A $12.99 charge has been added to this account. The original phone call happened in November. Here we were 5 months later still trying to get it resolved. When I called about it 6 weeks ago, I was told that there was no record of the initial call. I went all through it again. Ultimately, I was told that I would be credited for that amount. Yet two bills later, that billing was still there. It was showing as past due, highlighted in red, all caps warning with exclamation points.

The first phone call was very frustrating. A man just kept telling me that he had the transcripts of that conversation. Except what he was telling me was said wasn't what was said. I insisted I did not owe the $12.99. He insisted I did. When he said "is there anything else I can help you with?" I kept my rude remarks to myself and simply said to note my account that the charge was being disputed and I would not pay it.

Meanwhile, Tim was rooting through the old records. He found the information that proved our side of the conversation. So, taking a deep breath, I called back. Once again, I began the whole story. She interrupted me to say that I was calling the wrong customer service, that I needed to be speaking to another department. 

Sensing a brush off, I pointed out that I had already called this number and the previous person claimed to be reading the transcript of the conversation. She flatly said he wasn't. He had no access to them. 

!!!!

I called the number she gave me, braced for round three. Imagine my surprise to be told that my account was current, that the $12.99 had been refunded. I was told not to pay it, that it would eventually drop from the billing. 

!!!!!!!

The rest of the day was spent being very angry at my husband. While I was away, the man brought a bunch of stuff from the old house and stuffed it into the spare bedroom. It required going through. I pointed out that we had an agreement that we were not bringing a bunch of shit to the new house and stuffing it in the attic. We would sort it at the old house and make the decisions about what came and what didn't come here. The new house is just too small for all that clutter. Once the sorting was done, we could move the necessary things into the attic, sorted and organized. 

He listed to my frustration and got a stubborn tilt to his jaw. "You were not here!" he shouted

"Then wait until I AM!!!!" I yelled right back.

So I spent the evening going through that stuff , pulling everything out of the bedroom one box at a time. Old tax paperwork was organized by year. 3 years no longer needed and tossed. I kept showing stuff to Tim. He kept saying, "That's nothing, throw it away," which only irked me more, because there was no need to stuff all that shit into the spare bedroom. It literally proved my point.

I am pretty sure Tim and I have an understanding now. 

Back

 I am back from my little trip. It was a wonderful little getaway. There was a picnic in the park. A dance competition, followed by a dad grilled meal on the back patio. Dad and Mom got a date night. The girls and I used 'little eyes' to see the teeny tiniest wild flowers that are all around us. We planted terrariums in little 5 inch tall jars I brought with me. I introduced them to the Ramona series my kids watched on PBS when they were younger. When the oldest was at school on Monday and my son was at work, we were able to give mom a morning off. The youngest and I spent the morning playing. It is a wonder to watch her. She played independently for the entire morning. All that was required from me was to 'neeeeeeigh' at the appropriate times when she needed her 'oonyhorn' to speak.

So it was an ordinary stretch of time filled with quiet joys, an it could not have been more perfect.

Tuesday saw me headed home. I started out just as soon as the oldest was on the bus. Mama needed to drop the youngest off at preschool. I needed to get my hiney home asap. I needed to be at the lawyer's office to sign important papers. So it was the 5 hour trip. The car was unloaded. We hopped back in and headed to Warren.  It just made for a loooong day. 

While I was gone, Tim bought a car. Wednesday morning, we got up and headed out to pick that up. It is pretty, black metallic paint, so it sparkles. It is a hybrid, completely new technology to us. Tim drove it while I worked out the computer system. It has Sirius Satellite radio. Not sure how long that goody will last. It is quite the fanciest car we have ever owned. He is pleased with himself.

So that is the recap of life in my corner of the world. 

Outside of my bubble, Orban lost the election in Hungary after a 16 year dictatorship. Jd Vance even went there to campaign for him. Why? Well...there's this:

New Hungarian PM says Orban government was using taxpayer money to fund US pro-Trump activist group CPAC | LBC https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/new-hungarian-pm-says-orban-government-was-using-taxpayer-money-to-fund-us-pro-t-5HjdXp8_2/

I am sure that this is a coincidence though.

Trump's messianic visions have taken front stage. He's blasting the pope at this point. Posting AI of him as Jesus. Him with Jesus. MAGA is talking about blasphemy. Such a shock, isn't it? They were completely okay with his blasphemy until he began to mock their God. 

Let's just stop right there.

Going, going, gone

 I am heading out tomorrow morning to my son's house for the weekend, me and Flat Stanley. He went to Drake's Well, if you're curious. He has a nice story with pictures and brochures. 

My youngest granddaughter called this afternoon to tell me that she helped her mama get my room ready. She did the dusting all by herself and it was perfect. She also wanted me to know that she could hardly wait. I told her I could hardly wait either. We talked about what fun we would have. 

I won't be protesting on Saturday, although Tim will. I have a dance competition to attend. I probably won't be online much either, but I will catch you on the flipside, with plans to come back either Monday or Tuesday, depending on whether a plot I am plotting works out.

I told my sister that i had made a chicken pot pie for supper last night. The left overs will make a meal for Tim. I made two quiches today and for good measure made a meatloaf, which he can have with mashed potatoes and gravy one night and use for sandwiches. For good measure, I bought him 5 frozen dinners.

 My sister laughed. 'You know he will head for DQ' at the same time I said, 'he will probably just go to Dairy Queen.' 

SNAP!

Have a a good weekend everyone and remember this helpful tip of the day.

I haven't listened to the news at all. But boy, they are playing some great music on the classic rock station. Neil Young, U2, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith.

They did not play this though.

It is an old one. You might even call it a classic. 

Protest

 Saturday was the protest, as usual, and it was a beautiful day for it. 78°, sunny and a warm wind blowing. It was spring. 

Tim carried the signs and I carried a little folding table and a plate of 'oatmeal resistance' cookies to share. (Come to the dark side! We have cookies!) 

We are getting a lot more support from passersby. Lots of car horns. I also noticed that there are many people who don't toot, but as they sit at the light, they smile, doing the thumbs up, and if you are only waving one digit, that is the digit to wave!

One elderly couple had two large dogs in the back seat. They were sitting at the red light and the dogs stuck their heads out the window to say 'hey! How's it going!' Terry's dog, Carlos yapped back 'Pretty good! Join us, why doncha?' The poor owner looked embarrassed as she tried to stifle her two who were joyously barking their big barks, as Carlos happily yapped back. It made us all laugh, inside and outside of that car.

It used to be that business trucks didn't wave, but we are seeing more participation there, too, which is cool. They have big horns. 

'Airhorn guy' comes through blasting his horns enthusiastically. You can pretty much set your watch by him, and we always wondered. Turns out that he drives by multiple protests to show his support. We are part of his route. When gas is $4.39 a gallon, that's commitment to, isn't it?

Of course, there is the flipside. A woman walked over to scream about abortion. Sally answered, 'if you don't believe in them, don't have one.' The woman shrieked that she hoped if Sally had grandchildren, they were aborted.  A ripple of shocked murmuring followed. Ain't no hate stronger than Christian love, is there?

When it was cold, people often drove by. You could tell they were  not fans, but you could not hear them. Now you can because the windows are down. 

'How much are you getting paid?' (Answer: nothing...I hate this for free!)

'Why aren't you working??!!' (Same reason you aren't!)

One woman shouted,'if it weren't for trump, you would not even be here!!!' The guy next to me looked puzzled. 'What does that even mean?' he asked. 'Dunno,' I answered, 'but she's right. If it wasn't for him, we all wouldn't be standing here.' He let loose a laugh and passed the comment down the line.

I talked to the organizer. "We need a busker!"

Wonder what Jesse Welles is up to Saturday?

 Gas went up 20 more cents today. It was $3.19 on March 1st. It is $4.39 as of April 5th.

It is cold and spitting snow. (If someone has a protest for that, we'll show up for it.)

Night Noise

 Last night, Tim woke me up coughing. He coughed and coughed to the point it sounded like he was choking. This cold/plague/evil curse is awful stuff, but what makes it worse is that he will not take anything for it. I found a night time cough suppressant which works on the cough. It doesn't have all the added ingredients for sinus, body aches, fever, etc. Just the cough. I drink ginger tea through the day, just keep adding hot water to my cup. At night I take a dose of the cough suppressant which allows me to get some sleep.

Tim does neither and I don't know why, but he is a bullhead man. (Luckily, I, myself, have not a stubborn bone in my body. 😏) So he hacked himself awake, and on the other side of the bed, I was awake too. Even worse, I began to cough right along with him. 

He was fine, he claimed. Didn't want to take anything for it, so I came out to the living room for awhile. Being a companionable sort, Mr Cough-y followed me out, sitting in his rocking chair. We were sitting there in the dark when suddenly there was a loud crack of thunder. Immediately after, it began to pour, the rain pounding down on the tin roof. There were a couple more cracks of thunder, and then as suddenly as it started, the rain began to taper off. While it was an astonishingly brief storm, it was intense. 

So what was missing? Lightning. We saw no lightning. I have been puzzling over that. My first thought was that the fast moving storm was accompanied by extreme cloud cover we could not see in the night sky. Maybe the lightning took place above the clouds? But then, wouldn't it have muffled the thunder too? I mean those thunderclaps were sharp and loud. 

Reading about it, thunder simply does not occur without lightning. So, I throw it out there for your consideration. What did we witness?

So eventually, Tim wandered down the hall and back to bed. I listened to him coughing in bed.

The sound was a lot more tolerable from the couch than from the bed, so I stayed right where I was, and eventually dozed off.

The motion detector light came on outside and I was jolted awake by the sound of two cats fighting and squalling. I leaped off the couch and went to the sliding doors. I expected to see Phantom, the mysterious new cat who sneaks in at night to finish off the extra cat food left from the two remaining ferals. I expected to see either of them doing battle. Much to my surprise, it was not Tiger or Possum. It was Freddie, who I did not know was outside!

I flung open the door and went flying out in my nightgown. Usually, Phantom runs away at the sight of a person, but not this time. To make it even worse, Houdi tore outside when I opened the door. Now there were three of them squalling. Only two were actually fighting. Houdi was merely stalking around with his tail straight up and three times its normal size. He circled the fight yowling the cat equivalent of 'Yeah! Take that! My brother is going to whip your butt!!' Meanwhile, Phantom and Fred were going at it hammer and tongs.

I had to go back in to put shoes on. The ten tons of gravel we had dropped earlier in the week was too much for my bare feet. When I came back out, Houdi was circling the car growling. I hopped in the driver's seat and started the car thinking Phantom would run back to the old house, and Fred would head to the porch. Instead, Phantom ran for the old house with Freddie hot on his heels, both of them screaming their heads off. 

It was a long night, but Fred was waiting on the porch this morning. He had a snack and then arranged himself on the same couch I had spent the night on. He did some stretching and yawning and then tucked his chin on top of his murder mittens. 

Unlike me, the stinker fell soundly asleep and is sleeping still.

Big and small

 During trump's 19 minute speech, the price of oil rose $4 a barrel.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260402-oil-prices-rise-after-trump-speech-as-gold-and-silver-fall/

Tim and I went to the gym. Price of gas was $3.99 when we went in. After an hour workout, it was $4.19, which was a shock. 

Pam Bondi got fired. Everybody is celebrating that. I am not. The reasons given were two-fold. The first was her handling of the Epstein case. (Personally, I think there is this idea that once she is gone, the focus at next week's hearings will be on her, not on trump.) 

The second reason is that trump believed she was not moving fast enough on the prosecution of his 'enemies'. 

The thing that gives me pause: from all indications, Republicans are going to get trounced at the midterms. Strongly red areas are voting in democrats during a spate of special elections. 36 Republican House incumbents have chosen not to run for reelection.

I think that Bondi was removed in favor of someone who is willing to create more chaos in the seven months before the midterms. According to Lindsey Graham that is trump's genius: maintaining unpredictability and confusion.

So...I can't really celebrate Bondi's departure. But I am glad she is gone. I will never forget this:

Today, I made two boxes from greeting cards for the gifts for my granddaughter's fairies who live on her windowsill. In just a week and a half, I am headed to my son's house to unselfishly give them a date night or two while selfishly taking granddaughter time.

Two gifts wrapped and four to go. 

Two trees came down, aspen. They will be cut into logs and allowed to rest for 2 weeks. When I get back from my time away, it will be time to innocculate the logs for mushroom growing. I want to take a log up, predrilled for Rudy. He has some hand deformities, but I am sure that he can handle the rubber mallet and the pegs and daubing the paraffin. Lion's mane is believed to have medicinal properties and is prized by the Amish. It might be a nice little business of his own. 

Everything is starting to green up here. It will also be time to think about begin to plant the garden. 

The big stuff needs to be counterbalanced with the small stuff. I am lucky to have plenty of that.

Emotions

 This cold has been a bad one. I thought I got past the worst of it only to discover that I haven't.  The cough is horrible. 

So...it has been another quiet week.

One thing I discovered is that it is possible to share FB posts to IM without realizing it. I have conservative Christian and Christian Nationalist family members. 

We simply don't talk politics, but it gets very tricky. What I have discovered is that very suddenly politics encompass a lot more territory than it used to. For instance, my nephew had some very strong opinions of a religious leader. I countered with how what he was saying did not align with biblical teachings. He got very angry and accused me of arguing my politics. I said that I thought we were discussing a religious figure. 

It didn't help that I thought I was 'snoozing' him. I figured we would both benefit from a break. It turned out that I had blocked him, which made things worse. He blocked me back.

Last week, out of the blue, I got a message from my sister about two articles she had received from me via instant message. I was astonished to see that there were two of those highly charged over the top things along the line of 'Trump humiliated when....' and 'GOP demolished after...'. 

The thing is I don't even read crap like that myself. When I see all caps and exclamation points in a headline, I assume that it is something that is designed to draw you in emotionally. I am more of a 'just the facts' type of a person. As in, I want to read it and decide how I feel about it, as opposed to getting the emotions decided for me. Those headlines are designed to attract the eye of angry people who read along angrily muttering and angrily share the angry post  which is read by other angry people who read it angrily muttering.

That's some bullshit, isn't it?

Anyways, I read my sister's message and she was mad. I didn't blame her either. It was a disrespectful thing to do. The difference was that I knew I had never intentionally sent them. She believed I had. 

I began reading. During their last upgrade/change, FB added a feature called 'auto share'. People don't like it. It seems to be something that is easily activated unintentionallywhen you are quickly scrolling through FB. This is something I do when I am looking for a funny picture to go on the  blog. 

(So it is your faults really)

I sent the information to my sister who luckily believed it. I apologized for the offense. I promised to be mindful. I also noted that emotions are very near the surface everywhere.

My oldest daughter is a person whose emotions are very near the surface. The Epstein stuff has been very triggering for her. In talking about things, she decided that after some very strident posts from a relative, she was not sure about attending the family Easter. After all, she has posted some pretty strident stuff herself.

In the end, she and her husband decided to have their own quiet Easter. 

I respect that decision, but it left me in a hard place. In the end, Tim and I decided to celebrate where our grandson will be. I know that decision will be seen as political. It isn't. It is based on emotion, pure emotion. It will cause hurt feelings though. 

So that is where I am, right now. I am still sick. I am just weary. I don't sleep well. It is not covid though.

I did not go to the No Kings Protest, which made me very sad. I wanted to be there. Tim went and he carried my sign 'Ain't no faux king way!' What a turn out we had! Estimates of between 320-350, quite a turn out for a town of 9500 people. Tim said that there was huge support from the people passing by, too.

3300 events around the world, drawing an estimated 8 million people. The organizers really stressed that the biggest growth was seen in red, rural areas that had supported trump in the last election. The tide is turning. I was at home on the couch, probably sound asleep.

There was a terrible tragedy here on Friday in our Amish community in Spartansburg. An Amish school was burned to the ground when two girls and their teacher had lit a lantern which had been filled with the wrong fuel. It exploded. The girls were life flighted to burn centers, one to Buffalo, the two others to Pittsburgh. Their burns were described as severe, noting that their clothing had been entirely burnt away. 

There have been no updates on them. The community has collected money for the families. One person (English, not Amish) posted that two of the girls were on their way home and exhorted us all to give the glory to God. I will hold my glory. When someone has been burned over that percentage of their body, they are not likely to be released the next day.