One from film time. Milolii – wonder if they had a good luau?
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 #2I 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.
Went to the asylum for lunch and a looksee. Lunch was fine and not much progress had been made in the Old Bat Cave. The shower was finished. The bathroom sink was in place. No potty yet. I am still amazed at how tiny the bathroom is. There isn’t even room for a waste basket. The bathroom vanity has a strange feature. It has a drawer that goes the entire (not very long) length of the vanity. This drawer is down at the bottom. Inches from the floor. Totally useless. It is too shallow to store anything and too inconvenient to use. Annoyance #1 – the tiny bathroom continues.
Came home. (the kitchen sink was fine – annoyance #3) Took a nap. Work up in TOTAL panic. The move is a week away. The Old Bat Cave is too small. Nothing is going to fit. I am going to hate it. The location sucks. Everyone who lives there is ancient. It is in Fairfax County. I hate it.
Starbuck Grande Pike Place. Strawberry Cheesecake. Inhale. Exhale. Carry On.
After the above therapy – It occurs to me that my totally useless bathroom drawer will be a fine – if inconvenient – junk and tool drawer. (That helps with annoyance #2 – only one kitchen drawer.)
Inhale, exhale, this will be over. I will like the Old Bat Cave. I will never have to clean a toilet again. My new neighborhood will provide new photo opportunities. I will have internet access again. (That will fix annoyance #4) It will be okay.
September 16, 2014 – Almost DoneI was finishing up to paperwork so Carlton and I could apply for admission to the asylum. What a year this has been.
Got home from work and yoga at about 2PM to a sink full of water. Fortunately all the water was in the sink. Called down to the desk to remind them that I called them last night about the water problem. I was hungry – but lunch was a granola bar, a stick of cheese and some left over cantaloupe. Not satisfactory. But, soon … Mike arrives with his stopped up sink cart and went to work.
This happens at least twice a year.
Mike didn’t need me hanging around watching him run the snake. (It is more like a dragon than a snake.) So, I walked down to The Container Store -where I spent some quality time scoping out solutions to my single drawer kitchen annoyance. By the time I got back it was quarter to six and Mike was gone. So was the water.
I will keep this in my mind – to remind me when I get to the Asylum that VA Sq was not perfect.
Went to check on progress at the old bat cave after work. A guy was tiling in the tiny bathroom. He said floors were going to happen on Wednesday or Thursday. The bathroom is TINY. tiny. That is annoyance #1. I’ll just think of it was a weight control device. I don’t want to get too fat to get in my bathroom!
kitchen cabinets have happened.
The old bat kitchen has one drawer. My current kitchen has seven drawers. Every drawer is used. Rethinking is required! That would be annoyance #2
The kitchen sink in the current apartment is backing up. It has always had this problem. Why it has to do it when I only have 9 days left? Hopefully, it will not go critical before tomorrow morning. It is a good reminder that the place isn’t perfect. The potential sewage flood is annoyance #3.
Annoyance #4 – Verizon turned off my internet today.
All things considered – I have nothing to complain about – as long as the sink doesn’t get worse.
Time to go figure out something for dinner that will not require running water… Starbucks anyone? Or the Korean Deli. Or maybe wander down the street for a nice bowl of pho. Or I could make my very own PB&Jelly sandwich. We’ll see.
An old print look.an old damaged postcard lookB/W just out of the camera.Just out of the camera
Which just proves that a poor image, when post processed is still a poor image. But, I knew that. I just wanted it to work.
Did some moving stuff today. A little getting rid of, A little (very little) packing, some paperwork chores. Like moving the renters insurance etc.
And, it is out to dinner tonight – so, I’d best get off the okole and burn some calories. Why is that less than 2 weeks away for moving into an old ladies asylum – why is it that I am still concerned about my weight? I haven’t seen any old men there that I am in the least bit interested in seeing naked. And, I am sure they feel the same about me! But, I still care.
September 13, 2014 – Starting to think about Hawaii..which is what I am going to do real soon now this year. Now that I passed my mammogram.
The 60’s were a fun time when Carlton must have worked on “Nuclear cost assessment techniques” Note the cute little mushroom cloud.
The nuclear cost assessment technique slides hit the trash can. I was in full “What would Betsy do” mode. Betsy being my lawyer who will have ZERO trouble trashing stuff after I am gone. So, I may as well do it myself. Carlton’s desk, AKA the Ark of the Covenant, is now completely empty and cleared off except for his desk lamp. My “people” will “do something” with it (both desk and lamp) His Viagra Clock – well, it might just have to go to the trash bin. Most guys would not consider it as amusing as Carlton did.
Clearing off the desk was my move related accomplishment. Oh and I made of list of things that I need to do.
Yesterday – late in the day I ordered some printer ink. Yepper – the ink cost more than the printer… before noon today – Amazon delivered it. Well, I started fussing at my Hospital… If Amazon can deliver ink in less than 24 hours what is so hard about getting me my mammogram results. They didn’t come in today’s snail mail. Were they waiting to call me with bad news on Monday? A serious case of “living in the wreckage of the future”…
Well, I happened to look at the SPAM tab of my Gmail – and what should I find – but an email from my Doctor’s office telling me that new “lab reports” were added to my account. That email had arrived shortly after midnight. So, I check out the results. The mammogram is OK. And, the bone scan says my bones are better than the average 30 year old woman’s. Now I should be really happy with that news. And, I am… but you know me.. If some part of me is going to be way better than average – why can’t it be something that shows????
More good news. Verizon turned of Carlton’s phone service – but the Snail DSL still works.
It was cloudy and rainy all day.
September 12, 2014 Macro No Way. A pretty normal day – no signs of trouble ahead. I know where I found those interesting wasps in the top photo last year… maybe I’ll go look for them again tomorrow. Weather permitting.
Seems like one of the many republicans running for prez has pulled out. Gee, only 15 left.
Had the dreaded mammogram today. At 0730. I haven’t gotten the “we need to take another look…” phone call yet – it is 1730. If bad they call. If OK they snail mail.
I took an old friend to lunch – she needs a break – her partner is slipping off into dementia. And, I needed a break from me. We had a good time catching up. And, we checked out the Old Bat Cave. Kitchen was being installed. I am guessing the kitchen will be good to go by COB Tuesday. They have installed some outlets, switches, a thermostat etc. And – the shower floor is set. I noticed some nice and unexpected crown molding. Or maybe I just imagined crown molding.
So, the Old Bat Cave might be all fixed up in time to move in.
49 weeks ago today – I came home and found Carlton very dead.
Tahiti – mid 80sWith Thomas Jefferson – early 90s – the 1790s?
Today’s Moving Event: Schedule cutoff of the utilities. Verizon, who I had to call, took all the information and said “We’ll turn your service today”. Actually, I had planned have it turned off next week – but Verizon is so hard to deal with – I went along with their plan. So, after 42 years – it is byebye to Verizon. And, VEPCO, and Washington Gas Light.
The electric and the gas will stay on until the day after move out. Hopefully.
I’ll be tethering my computer to my iPad’s LTE service. Or I’ll use the house wifi.
The much dreaded mammogram is tomorrow AM. Dreaded, because who will hug me if something is wrong. Or needs rechecking. I have a history of false positives. Carlton always kept me under control when that happened. And, being Carlton, he suggested that I should just not get mammograms. Nobody gets out alive.
Planning lunch with an old friend tomorrow. Taking her to the Asylum. Sort of a reward for going through with the mammogram.
Went down to the asylum to check on the progress or lack thereof on the Old Bat Cave. There is no floor, no kitchen, no bathroom, no closet fittings, no electrical plugs or switches. There are walls – painted a lovely gray. A little lighter than the butterfly.
Two weeks from tomorrow – ready or not – I’ll be ensconced in the Old Bat Cave.
It was about 95 degrees when I was coming back from the asylum. It is going to be cool and rainy tomorrow – I think summer will be on the way out… Let fall begin.
September 9, 2014 – a warning – A little uneasy this eveningAnd, no, knowing how it all worked out – I wouldn’t have done anything different.
Took my camera outside for a sunrise shot this morning.
The B/W Version.
There was a little layer of fog. I just wish I had been able to center the sun right on top of the Washington Monument.
Most of you know that I was a member of the Longshoreman’s Union back in the day. ILWU Local 142. So, I have to remind one and all that we have Unions to thank for weekends, paid holidays, etc. When we had strong unions we also had employer paid health insurance and pensions…
Today – I took the little lenovo computer to the Goodwill and had a fine time checking out all the stuff. I love thrift shops. A vintage Ralph Lauren velvet jacket and a fine old belt with silver fetish animals. Now, I have to decide what I am going to remove from my carefully curated wardrobe to make “room” for the new additions.
And, this weekend – I did not succeed making butterflies or bats – but I did master the penguin.
Better find something other than bees to photograph. If you want to take more interesting pictures… Go to more interesting places. I’ll try that tomorrow. Maybe.
Vacuum Cleaners are a worthless. I thought they were supposed to “clean”. Who knew that the eat the fringe on rugs and get all clogged up with hair. And you have to CLEAN the vacuum cleaner. SO, what exactly is this thing doing for me. After I go around and sweep up all my hair. Then I eversocarefully run the darn thing around, being careful not to run over the rug fringe. Then I have to unjam the brush thing – which has strangled itself on hair that I missed. And take all the “dirt” out of the little box. And, I am supposed to do something to the filters. (But, I haven’t)… I am so not taking the vacuum to the Old Bat Cave.
Can you tell that Carlton was our family’s cleaning person. No wonder he used to complain about my hair being everywhere.
Oh – this is your very last chance for the little Lenovo.
It is in a box, ready to go down to the Goodwill. It is tiny, I can mail it to anyone in the US who wants it. It was designed to be used with your TV. But, it is a perfectly fine Windows 7 machine. HDMI cable conveys. As does the funky keyboard/mouse/remote. Provide your own tv.
