Author: Peg

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.

I have packed 18 boxes. I am seriously thinking about what is in those 18 boxes. Why exactly am I taking 18 boxes of stuff I can apparently do without for 6+ weeks? I don’t have a good answer to that question.

Remember that $26 ugly printer I bought? Well, today for no apparent reason those nice Jewish boys in NYC sent me $15 coupon off of my next purchase because of my purchase of the ugly printer. Since I will always buy something else from BH Photo – that makes my ugly printer cost $11. And, I used the ugly printer today. It still works.

The apartment management told me I don’t have to have the carpet cleaned or super clean my unit. I’ll just roll the dust bunnies out. They are more like dust kangaroos. Well, actually, my people will do that.

I need little more depth of field on this shot. (In case you are interested – milkweed bugs live about 6 weeks.)

Just finished up a turkey, bacon, avocado and tomato wrap. Some guys are playing golf on the tv. Just like Carlton was still here and we were still “enjoying every sandwich”… Grief has smoothed out, mellowed out. The memory of Carlton is like comfy old levis. Or a much loved cashmere sweater.

Went into the office today to knock out some scanning. Then, I took a couple of busses down to the asylum directly from the hospital. Had a lovely late lunch. I had the patio all to myself. Stomped around the strip mall next door. Came back to the asylum and snagged an ice cream cone. (Carlton would so love living in a place with ice cream on demand 24/7.) And bussed it back home.

They were having a memorial service at the asylum. As you might imagine – they have LOTS of memorial services. This one was for the lady who lived in the Old Bat Cave before me. She was still alive when I “bought” the unit – she had transitioned to the nursing unit. Now, she has transitioned to the next level. No, I didn’t go to the memorial service.

Old people, myself included, are pretty philosophical about being dead. Hey, it’s going to happen. Nobody gets out of here alive. However, we are not so very happy about the end game. When we consider how far how fast and successfully the millennials drove the gay marriage issue, seems to me the boomers could drive assisted suicide. Enlightened self interest.

Time to swap out the macro lens for longer glass – the goldfinches are back in action. This one seems to be molting. But, he is doing a great job on the cone flower.

Glad it is Friday. Hard week at work. Glad it is over. Decided not to go down to dinner at the asylum tonight. Going to have a simple dinner at home. Put a nature show on TV and pretend that Carlton is watching it. And after dinner, maybe read a while. Then tomorrow, attack some additional moving paper tasks.

But, it is kinda pretty.

Spent less than 15 minutes selecting kitchen cabinets (dark wood), countertops (black marble), floor (wood – mid-dark), appliances (stainless “steel”) and wall color (medium grey) for the old bat cave. I have the interior decorating skills of a snapping turtle. I nixed having an oven. Who I am I kidding – I am not going to bake anything. I am having a dishwasher.

The Zen of Bus Riding. Riding the bus. You give up all illusion of control as a bus rider. You make only 3 choices. You decide to take the bus, you select a bus to get on, you decide when to pull the cord and get off. That is all there is to riding the bus. You have zero control over when the bus will come by, which bus will come by, you don’t control who is on the bus, who is next to you, you have nothing to say about how fast the bus goes, you can only hope the driver is watching where the bus is going. When you want off the bus you pull the cord and most of the time “stop requested” shows up and the bus stops. You get off and once again have the illusion of control over your life. But, for the time that you are a bus rider – you are given a little vacation from being in charge of anything. And, for 90 cents – that isn’t a bad deal.

 

The Great Black Wasp. Sphex pensylvanicus is a digger wasp. And apparently sort of harmless to humans. So, I might get closer next time I find one.

According to Orkin…

The great black wasp is a very large wasp species, as its name infers. This wasp is black, mono-colored and without colored stripes, spots or other noticeable patterns on the body. Adult females of the species reach about 1-1 ½ inches long and are a little larger than the males.

. . . Great black wasps are not aggressive due to the fact they do not have a colony to defend and are categorized as solitary wasps. Although their common name sounds intimidating, their name comes from the size of the insect, rather than the aggressiveness of the insect. In fact, male adults do not have the ability to sting and their only purpose in nature is to mate. Females can sting, but only do so if their nest is threatened. Great black wasps are subterranean wasps, meaning they live underground and construct small underground nests where they care for their offspring.

. . . Since the great black wasp is not aggressive and is an important predator of harmful insects and a good pollinator of flowering plants, there is no reason for the homeowner to control them.

So I figure if Orkin makes them sound sort of like good bugs – they must be OK. They are really big. And scarey looking.

The $26 printer,Canon ip2820, arrived today. It fits in the space. It prints. It is white and ugly. Maybe it needs a “cover” – like Mom had back in the fifties for her blender, mixer, toaster etc. But, it prints. And, ink costs $45.45. Cheaper to buy a new printer every time you need more ink.

It was easy to setup. I downloaded a driver. Plugged it in. Connected it to the computer. Turned it on. It printed. That is all I wanted it to do. No scanning, no wifi, no bluetooth, no card readers. It just prints. And sells ink.

 

Milkweed Bug (Family Lygaedidae) – Milkweed bugs come in two flavors – Large (¾”) (LMB) and Small (½”) (SMB). I didn’t measure these guys. I am guess they are Small.

According to the University of Wisconsin: Unlike most insects, MBs are gregarious, and milkweed pods may be covered with adults and nymphs (the nymphs start out solid red-orange and add some black markings each time they molt. Older adults are darker red). One reference theorized that everybody benefits from communal feeding behavior. More feeding tubes = more saliva = more softening = more food. During large outbreaks, milkweed seed production suffers; the inner seeds are safe, but the whole pod seems dysfunctional. Most sources say that MBs have no economic importance, since they don’t attack crops, carry disease, or otherwise cross paths with humans, but people who raise milkweeds or collect seed are not fans.

And that is the result of today’s bug hunt. I am still trying to not be overtaken by a sinus infection. I haven’t had a bad sinus infection in a couple of years. For that I am grateful. It saps my energy. So, I am cutting myself a lot of slack. Went to work on the bus, and yoga, walked home, read some, went on a little bug hunt. No moving activities. Going have dinner here at home and I think I’ll do some origami. I miss having Mr C telling me to take it easy.

 

Not busy as a bee this afternoon. Having some sort of sinus issues today. So, I sort of napped all afternoon.

Did nothing move-wise. Hey, my people are handling that.

Last night, I found a printer that will fit in my space. A printer that just prints. It doesn’t copy, scan, do wifi or bluetooth. And, it isn’t a super expensive “mobile” printer. It is a $26 ink cartridge sales platform. I don’t care. I just want it to print. It has a OS-X driver. It is on the way from those nice Jewish boys in NYC – B&H Photo. It was $26 yesterday. Upto $37 today.

Nice leisurely day. I tried a new origami model. Let us just say – the barista got a very crumpled tip!

My printer which had been working since I beat the crap out of it – stopped working again. I stomped over to Staples. I was going to replace that Carly Fiorina POS. Staples did not have what I wanted in stock. I stomped back home and beat the crap out of the printer again. It is working again.

For me – especially in the new old bat cave – size matters when it comes to printers. The printer has to be no deeper than 10 inches. There are very few printers that are that small – for no apparent reason. Which sort of sticks me with getting one of those little “portable” printers. I don’t know if the asylum has a printer that is always working for the inmates to use. We used to have a printer in our Business Center here. But no more. Printers seem to be right up there with cable companies as “the technology we all love to hate”. About twice a month I want to print a little something. But, when I want to print something I REALLY WANT TO PRINT SOMETHING. I used the printer a lot when Carlton was alive. I printed his emails, bank statements, stuff he was interested in etc.