Author: Peg

Bingo 2Night at 7PM. The dining rooms were deserted by 6:45PM. Let the record show – I did not go to Bingo. I did have blackened grouper for dinner. Still adjusting to life as an inmate.

Moving to the asylum did not make me into a wildlife photographer. But, there are birds in the little garden out front. How hard will it be the haul the tripod out?

I got up at 5AM and was at work by 7AM. I left the OBC at about 610. I bused some and walked some.

So far, so good as I approach the one year anniversary of Carlton’s death…

September 28, 2014 – Lazy Last Summer of September – everything was “fine”

Interesting times: Running water found on Mars. The Pope was received like a rock star in DC. No, it was bigger than that – more like back in the day when the Redskins won the Superbowl. And, the crazies seem to have taken over the Republican Party – at least the part that runs the House of Representatives. Interesting times.

Went to on walkabout today and took my camera. Nothing great. But, it was nice to not do anything moving-wise.  I missed lunch. Not a problem. Still got a nice avocado and grilled salmon salad. I have to be careful with all this unlimited food available 12 hours a day. Not cruiseship. But close. Don’t want to require an entire new wardrobe. Dinner will be oatmeal and yogurt in the OBC.

I am going to have trouble this week. Because 52 weeks ago Carlton was alive and planning on staying that way. We had our last Sunday together a year ago.

And, September 27, 2014 – A Few Fall Grays – recalled October 3, 2013 – Accidental Panorama – that was when the wheels really fell off…

Note to Carlton: I really am OK. And thank you for getting me on my way to the asylum.

Time to catch up on emails and paperwork. Then “dinner”.

I might not have taken any pictures – but I worked my okole off today. All day, until 4PM when I started getting ready for the little block party that was happening in my honor at 4:30. One thing about the asylum – you can go to a party and do dinner and still be back in the old bat cave – in jammies – by 8PM.

But, I am now all moved in. My closets are even almost done. I took some stuff down to the storage cage. stuff like milk crates. and baskets. and shelve organizing thingies. stuff that will go to donation or trash.

But I am tired and am taking tomorrow OFF. This being a religious place – most of the residents seem to head out to church on sunday, A couple of retired ministers live on my floor. But, they don’t seem to mind having a pagan in their midst.

My apartment turned out fine. It is one room – plus a tiny bathroom and a big closet and a barely there closet. But, it is all I need. It is not “cozy”. It has an almost industrial or loft type feel to it – don’t know when that comes from. Maybe it is the shape of the room. Maybe it is my eclectic furniture collection. Who knows.

September 27, 2014 – A Few Fall Colors – we were enjoying a few days of grace.

Day off tomorrow. Will figure something to do – even nothing at all – tomorrow. Will take some pictures – weather permitting.

Big sign in “my” neighborhood. But, I don’t have a phone – so, no one can call. Not a bad thing, I am sure. Zuchini bread arrived at my door. And, the folks from “my” neighborhood are having a little welcome party for me tomorrow. Each floor seems to consider itself a “neighborhood”. A neighborhood of maybe 25-30 folks.

So what did I do today – well, I didn’t go to work. Need some time to find my stuff and get organized.

• Got up at the usual time – 0530 and had breakfast in the Old Bat Cave.
• Organized the bathroom a little more to my liking.
• Organized the kitchen.
• Went walkabout around the neighborhood (outside the building).
• Stopped by Bed Bath and Beyond for “stuff”
• Wandered over to Trader Joe’s for a little food. This is the same Trader Joe’s that I patronized 15 years ago.
• That was about a 3 mile round trip walkabout.
• Picked up a take out lunch at the asylum bistro.
• Napped a little.
• Worked on setting up my computer and desk area.
• My boss paid a surprise visit. She is the first outsider to see the Old Bat Cave.
• I decided I wanted to fix my own dinner, so I did… If I eat asylum food twice a day – I’ll need a new wardrobe.
• And that is about all.
• 10,420 Steps on the FitBit.

So, you want to see the new digs…

 

And that is about all there is to it.

Note to Carlton: Your sword is safely mounted on the wall – just like you liked it hung. And, your little steam engine and chrome plated bolt are in the “living room” – or as I call it – the North End.

September 25, 2014 – Back in this century, I took a “formal” picture of Carlton. If I had known I would have done a much better job.

And the move happened. My “people” got my stuff here. Took the stuff I don’t need/have room for “somewhere”. And unpacked my stuff and put it “somewhere”. The operative word is “somewhere”.

The furniture fits. That is a good thing. My job tonight is to find my toothbrush. And toothpaste. I found my computer gear. The Airness says “mouse needs new batteries”. Well, suck it up Airness – your mouse will get new batteries when I find them.

The people put everything that looked “kitcheny” in the kitchen area – somewhere. And everything that looked “bathroomy” in the bathroom – which is to say it is stuffed under the sink. The rest of the “stuff” got “stuffed” into my closets.

Pictures of the new digs tomorrow.

For now – about 12 hours after and 3 miles from the pictures above.

Not too shabby a view – But, I have to stand up to see it. From my chair or my bed – all I can see is sky. Nothing wrong with sky.

September 24, 2014, Back in the Last Century, I was thinking about Hawai’i. Time to think about Hawai’i this year.

September 23, 2014 Today, I am an old woman, One year ago today, I made a deposit for Carlton and I to move into the asylum. Today, I made the final payment for my Old Bat Cave. They finished it up a little after noon today.

Took a few “valuables” to the Old Bat Cave. My camera lenses, Carlton’s sword, Sam’s Au Hoy’s wonderful lauhala pāpale, the 8783 Propeller Stool.

Then I came home (for the next 16 hours home) and decided that some more stuff needed to get the green – not going to the old bat cave – tape job.

And, I didn’t have any time left in the day to mope.

BTW, the Old Bat Cave is about 23 by 16 feet. Not big. But heaps better as one room. It was 2 rooms when I found it.

I had no idea that moving out of the last place I lived with Carlton would be so hard. I had no idea that the emotions that have been well under control for almost a year would come undone. We lived in lots of places. Four main places. But lots of NPS and/or other temporary places. Places that were “home”.”Home” was wherever we happened to be. Places where I cooked dinner, Carlton cleaned up, we made love, places where we lived out our lives. 

And now, I am tucking all those memories away. And, I am moving to a place where no one knows Carlton. A place where Carlton will just be a ring on my hand, pictures on my wall, a treasure in my heart and a void in my life. The Old Bat Cave will be where I live. But, it will not be home. Because Carlton made a place a home.

I have one more day here. Two more nights. I will be too busy to lapse into melancholia. I hope. ( and this time I am the cleaning crew!)

September 22, 2014 Happy September Equinox was very “normal”.

These two pictures are worth at least 500 words.  Guess who wanted to “make it legal”? And who said “it works don’t fix it”?

72 hours from now it will be over. I’ll be moved. And, if I get my act together here in the apartment – I might be out of the apartment when the moving van moves out. Then, I can spend all of Friday getting “settled in” the Old Bat Cave and not need to come back to check out. 

A potential problem??? The Holy Father will be in town on moving day. He isn’t coming to Virginia. He will stay in DC.  But, he is going to seriously disrupt traffic. Sort of like a snow storm. What if my moving van gets stuck? Well, I have people who will worry about that. Feel sure that once the van gets to the apartment – no problem getting it to the asylum – but, getting it here??? 

I loaded up the push cart with “stuff” and rolled the “stuff” down to the Goodwill. I could have left it for my people to deal with – but – taking the “stuff” to Goodwill – it reminds me that “stuff” is a burden that I don’t need at this stage of my life. And, I made 3 or 4 trips to the building dumpsters. I also checked with building management on the exit process, passed out tips to the building stuff. And scrubbed the tubs. (I plan to do what Carlton would do – the bathtubs are squeaky clean – I will not use them – I’ll use the showers in the gym.)

Cleaning the apartment reminds me of Park Service times – in September we would get the fridge down to zero food. AND, get our quarters clean enough for the Park Administrative Officer. Then we would pack our car and leave. Sort of what I am doing.

Thanks Laurent, I’ll keep iOS8 for another week or so…

September 21, 2014 Happy Birthday, Little Brother

 

 

Sixteen pieces of furniture tagged to go to Goodwill or the dump. And the outdoor furniture all is tagged to go bye-bye. I have another pile of small stuff ready for Goodwill. And, a couple of big ole trash bags ready for the dumpster. But the building dumpsters are overflowing. 

The kitchen looks like a hand grenade exploded. My bathtub “needs work”. 

I used the tools that I didn’t give away today. For the last 45 years the men in my life promised to replace the casters on a midcentury “hifi cabinet”. It is now used as a storage cabinet for photo albums and camera gear. This is a very heavy cabinet and it used to house the starter hubby’s McIntosh stereo gear. It is from Denmark. It’s casters were not up to the weight of the gear and the heat of DC summers without air conditioning. The casters sort of melted. They don’t go round and round any more. They are flat. 

At least 3 men (2 of them husbands) said “I’ll replace the casters for you.”.  Carlton too. Well, I didn’t replace them. But, I removed the flat ones. The cabinet looks a little strange – sitting flat on the floor. But, in the asylum – no one is going to notice. It took about an hour to get them off. I am going to sit it on a small fragment – that will protect the hardwood floor. 

I resisted the urge to put iOS 9 on my iPad today. I’ll do that next weekend. 

Note to Carlton: The ‘Skins finally won today. And, our favorite Saturday night TV diversion, “Sabado Gigante” had its last show yesterday – after 53 years.

Speaking of Carlton…
September 20, 2014 – It must be autumn – the new apples are here – proves that Carlton was no seer.

 

I captured the message on Carlton’s answering machine before I pitched it. I think that this little grief ritual is universal. Of course, most people have phone messages left by their loved ones. Not me – Carlton, saving his money, eschewed cell phones. 

It seemed like a good idea at the time – signing up for a 90 minute yoga class on Saturday morning. I walked to yoga. Did yoga. Continued on to the asylum. Ate lunch (and got a takeout order – since I am out of food at the apartment). Walked to the bus stop. Came home. Logged 5.38 miles on the fitbit and crashed. No moving activities today. (yet)

Had lunch with one of my neighbors – she is organizing a welcome to the neighborhood party for me. Next Saturday. She told me that she runs the thrift shop at “The Hermitage” – which I thought was a little funny. The Hermitage is an old folks asylum about a mile from my asylum, Goodwin House. My neighbor explained that The Hermitage is run by the Methodist Church and they don’t have as much money as the Episcopailians who our establishment. 

September 19, 2014 – Manhole Covers – a pretty normal day. Speaking of sandwiches – the brie and turkey sandwich that I brought home from the asylum was pretty good.

 

Sort of a low key day. No moving panic. Went to check out the Old Bat Cave after work. The floors are done. The countertops are installed. The appliances are waiting to be installed. No potty. That is kind of important. Guess they are trying to find a tiny toilet!

The closets are outfitted with plain old cheap wire shelves. Which is what I wanted. Yesterday, I decided that I didn’t want anything in my hall closet. But, it was already outfitted with a standard closet rod and wire shelf today. I’ll just make it work. Don’t want to be a huge pest. And, I did win my big battle – I got them to reverse the bathroom and closet doors so they open out not in. That makes a HUGE difference in the amount of space in the closet.

By this time next week – I’ll be completely out of my current apartment and will be totally ensconced in the asylum.

BTW: Asylum from the Apple Thesaurus

1. refuge, sanctuary, shelter, safety, protection, security, immunity; a safe haven.
2. psychiatric hospital, mental hospital, mental institution, mental asylum.
3. informal: madhouse, loony bin, funny farm, nuthouse, bughouse.
4. dated lunatic asylum.
5. archaic: bedlam.

From what I have seen the asylum is a lot like middle school. Cliques, “Special” tables in the cafeteria, Dress codes – formal and unwritten.

I think it will be important to – as Yogi Berra famously said “Observe at lot by watching”.

And, I’ll be happy to have internet back again.

More relaxed about the move today. Don’t know how long this will last.

Day before yesterday – my beloved Kona had a huge flood.

Yesterday – my beloved Kona had a tsunami alert – it didn’t happen

Today – in my beloved Kona – the USGS raised the volcano level from “normal” to “advisory”. This would be for Mauna Loa. It hasn’t done anything since the 1980’s.

For the first time in recorded history – the east coast seems better than the west side of the Island of Hawai’i.

My current apartment is being looked at tomorrow afternoon by prospective renters. I promised to round up the dust kangaroos and take out the trash.

September 17, 2014 Manhole Cover #2 I was working on accepting the necessity of moving to the asylum.

Moving: I packed a box today. And, took some stuff to the trash room. The fridge is almost bare. And, a week of now – I’ll be all moved in the new apartment.