Category: The DayBook

I don’t have the right stuff to do dragon flies. That doesn’t stop me from trying, however.

Spent many hours last night putzing around with my apartment layout.

 

The gray room is the closet. I haven’t put in the cabinets in the kitchen yet. It doesn’t matter anyhow.

And now I am very tired… so off to bed for me.

Well boys and girls, 4 weeks from now… I’ll be ensconced in the Old Bat Cave. For the rest of my life. My final home. My last move. Well, actually, the asylum might move me down to assisted living or the nursing unit. I just hope the asylum lasts as long as I do. Since they have promised to take care of my sorry ass.

All things considered, I had two pretty good husbands. I think the starter husband is still alive. Wow – I just googled him. His Dad didn’t die until 2011 at the age of 96. And, Chuck was still alive then.

Last night I checked my work email account right before going to bed. BAD IDEA. I found an email telling me that our system was going to be upgraded overnight. That wasn’t a surprise. I was the one who asked the vendor to upgrade us. But, I didn’t know it was going to happen so soon. So, I woke up every hour and worried about the upgrade. BTW, the upgrade went OK.

Note to self: Don’t check work email from home!

Today’s moving adventure – I packed up the tools and rolled them down to Goodwill. But, I saved a little collection of tools. Just in case I need to hit someone with a hammer!

I walked down to the asylum this morning and discovered the old bat cave was unlocked. The wall is down. The electric seems to be rerouted. They have lots to get done in the next four weeks. But, it isn’t very big.

The kitchen has been gutted. (as has the bathroom and closet).

After snooping around my old bat cave I went to the 2016 financial presentation. Rates up 3% starting October 1st. No big surprise there. Had lunch with some of the other inmates. And, bussed home.

And addressed Carlton’s tools. Actually, I think most of them were my tools. I had lots of tools. I drove Italian cars and owned an old house. I needed lots of tools. Most of the tools stayed with the house, but Carlton took some.

I am going to take a hammer, a couple of screw drivers, pliers, needle nose pliers, a channel lock wrench. The rest will be going to the Goodwill. Unless someone wants them. (no power tools – just an old plug in drill. It is headed for Goodwill too.)

 

Aug 24 is today – Sep 24 is MOVING DAY. I think it is 4 weeks from this Thursday. Don’t worry, I’ll panic soon. But, I have people to take care of everything.

Speaking of panic. I am considerably poorer than I was this morning. Thank you stock market “correction”. The talking heads are telling us to stay the course and not panic. I would say – don’t try to catch a falling knife.

Report on the new computer gear:

The $26 Printer: I got an $11 coupon off my next purchase coupon. Which turns it into $15 printer. It prints. It even prints envelops. It is really ugly. But, for 15 bucks, what’s not to love.

The anti-personnel mine UE-Roll bluetooth speaker: we have only been together for 24 hours. But, so far so good. And, it is cute. Apparently, if I buy another one I can have a pretty good stereo effect. But, that is what headphones are for.

I wonder, when will I get too old to buy new techno toys?

The last year of Carlton’s life – we operated in “enjoy every sandwich mode” with a nod to Warren Zevon. We did not concern ourselves with the future, which looked pretty bleak. We did enjoy every sandwich – and almost all of every day.

I have been sort of moping around. Leaving my much loved apartment. Moving to the rather bleak future of life in the old folks asylum. Well, screw it. I am going to enjoy every single photo op out my windows during my last month at the apartment.

Note to self: You are not getting any younger. Stop wasting time mopping.

That blue thing – looks like a anti-personnel mine – will be the “sound system” in the Old Bat Cave. I was going to get something bigger and more “Bose-like”. Also more expensive. But the kid at the Apple store more of less convinced me to buy this thing. It sounds pretty good for the size. Bass is a little wimpy. No surprise there. But, when I really want to seriously listen to music, I will use the headphones. This thing is for casual listening. It is waterproof. They say it can go in the shower or in the pool. Not sure what that buys me. But, I think I will take it to Hawai’i with me.

None of my audio gear is going to the Old Bat Cave. I am all digital. And, that is good enough for my elderly ears.

Anyone want a small Denon receiver/CD player and a couple of small speakers? It is about 10 years old.

Now I have one more thing to keep charged up. Will have to come up with a killer charging station. Everything from the handvac to the toothbrush needs charging.

My goldfinch hunt was a bust – but – a katydid provided ample amusement. Damn, I love making pictures.

News flash – our local panda seems to have given birth to a little panda. She has two living cubs and has had several cubs that lived less than a month. Carlton was always really sad when one of her cubs died. Carlton didn’t approve of zoos. I don’t think he ever went to the National Zoo. He accepted the fact that pandas might well go extinct without zoos. But, he still didn’t approve of them. It didn’t help matters that the National Zoo went through a period of pretty lousy zoo practices.

On the other hand, I am rather fond of zoos. It is horse racing – which Carlton was OK with – that I object to. Especially cross country and steep chase. But, there is no excuse for any horse racing.

It is Friday. Went down to the asylum for dinner. The tuna was a little overcooked. But, there was plenty of belly lox on the salad bar. Plus yummie chocolate/raspberry/cheesecake.

This dog photo is for Melissa – click on it girl friend.

Jimmy Carter is living Carlton’s note in his little book. “Calmness is faith in action”. Carlton was referring to his faith in his radiologist. President Carter’s calmness comes from his faith in his god.

 

What would Betsy do? Betsy is my lawyer. I stalked into Carlton’s room and looked a a big pile of stuff. If I drop dead tonight, Betsy will not have to pay someone to take that pile of stuff to the dumpster. I took it to the dumpster. Sorry landfill. Sometimes I am not a perfect recycler. And, anyhow, the future archeologists need middens to excavate. That is my new mantra – What would Betsy do? Because, she is the one who is going to end up dealing with all this stuff.

I am going to seriously think about my stuff. Figure that the next month will be make or break for me and the stuff. I feel sort of happier with less stuff. So, I should get rid of more stuff. Maybe including some of the stuff that is already boxed. Maybe the boxes could just be diverted to Goodwill. The asylum has a little “what not shop”. They sell excess stuff. The proceeds go to the asylum charitable foundation. Old people have lots of stuff.

And this would be a good time to listen to George Carlin’s great take on “Stuff”

Note to Carlton: Preseason Football is underway. The ‘Skins don’t seem to be any better than in recent years. The controversy over their name continues. And the Nats started the season strong. But, they had best kick it into gear as the season really starts.

Here we have a strange photo of Carlton and his good friend Cal – from Iowa – They are on the deck of our “old” hotel. Overlooking the main drag in exciting downtown Kailua-Kona. Cal always enjoyed pointing out “widow women down on the street spending the old man’s money”… Well, boys – that is just what Sharon (Cal’s widow)  and I are doing. Deal with it.

And this interest image was next to the Carlton and Cal photo:

Which all sort of make me wonder what was on my blog way back then. Feb 19, 2005

If I really cared – I’d figure out what happened to the links to the header images. The blog has made several moves since then.

Cooking emergency tip: I cut into an avocado too soon this evening. No way near ready to eat. I do that from time to time. I made a fairly successful “rescue”. Quartered the thing. Dosed it with lemon. Put it in a covered microwave container and nuked it for 2 minutes. Not great. But eatable. Better than pitching a two buck avocado.

I am trying to convince the asylum to make my closet and bathroom doors – which are right next to each other – just like these – open into the room. The asylum thinks it will be a safety issue. Like maybe when I get really old – I’ll walk into a door. (it is really a de minimis issue. if that is all I have to complain about I am one lucky old lady.)

An altogether fine day. Wonderful cake, strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast, yoga for lunch, dinner with friends – Negra Modelo and green chili enchiladas at restaurant with Univision on the TV. Now enjoying a tall Americano from Starbucks. Fortunately, I walked to and from the restaurant – clocking 6.5 miles on the fitbit.

And, I snagged a free trashy chick lit Kindle novel for winter beach reading and for no apparent reason, Ford Motor company sent me a free audiobook of the vampire genre. As, I said a fine day. And it wasn’t as hot as yesterday. 89° vice 99° yesterday.

 

Just a normal day today. Didn’t go down to the asylum to eat. too hot. Couldn’t even go to the pool. The pool is closed on Monday. Just being grateful to the guy who invented air conditioning. In case you want to say thanks – it was Willis Carrier.

Willis Carrier: The Inventor of Modern Air Conditioning. Genius can strike anywhere. For Willis Carrier, it was a foggy Pittsburgh train platform in 1902. Carrier stared through the mist and realized that he could dry air by passing it through water to create fog.