life in the old lane

Stuck my head out the window and picked up the sun reflecting on the building along the Ballston Corridor. Where Carlton and I lived for many years.

I did not venture out of the building except for a walk today. So, I didn’t mess anything up. YET. As long as I am awake I can get things totally FUBAR.

At this instant, I am updating my phone to Andriod 15. I liked Android better when Google named the versions after desserts.  Think they stopped doing that about COVID Time. Version 15 seems to be installed and ready for a test drive. Not too smart of me to install it less than 24 hours after release. 

Did I mention that 2 of our 4 elevators were broken yesterday?  Marketing’s new slogan is “It’s Worth The Wait”.  It should be painted on the elevator doors. 

• • But, I had already forgotten to take my morning blood pressure meds.
  • I go downstairs and get breakfast.
  • Back to the Old Bat’s Cave to  brush my teeth and pick up my purse. Going to get my teeth cleaned and then to yoga. I forget my yoga mat.
  • Back downstairs I hail an Uber. Surge Pricing.
  • Getting my teeth cleaned – Priscilla finds a cavity. “Fortunately” I can get it fixed ASAP.
  • Have lots of time, so I walk to yoga. Still have time.
  • Have a Starbucks and since my mouth is numb, I dribble coffee all down my white shirt.

Okay. There is a lot to be grateful about. I don’t have to make another trip to the dentist. They have mats for the forgetful at my yoga class. I can afford Surge Pricing and an unexpected filling. The shirt will wash. And the coffee that made it into my mouth was excellent. Oh, and missing my morning BP meds isn’t fatal. 

Three weeks from today people. Three weeks from today. I am scared. It will be ugly no matter who wins. We are all already losers. 

Nice crispy fall day today. I mostly cleaned out my email inboxes and made reservations for this plane.

That is the kind of a plane that one has reservations ABOUT not FOR.
But, that’s how you get to Moloka’i and Lana’i.

And I still have to get to and from Honolulu. I assume that will not be a problem since real airplanes are involved.

And I said I was too old for adventures just a couple of months ago. Hoping the kid can find a vehicle to rent on Lana’i. The island only has 30 miles of paved roads. But one would like to be able to use the road.

Warning. Cat Picture. Below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guess I was too lazy to open the screen this morning.

This morning was devoted to orchids. I repotted my two new orphaned orchids. One is in great shape and I will pass it along. The other has serious root issues and it may not survive.  But, perhaps it will recover with ample doses of benign neglect. It deserves a chance. 

Gratitude

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Grateful for the orchids that add life to The Old Bat Cave. And to Barb who keeps them alive when I am away.

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Then I spent a wild and crazy afternoon planning a trip to Moloka’i and Lana’i. Master Card just rejected the charge from the Lana’i Hotel. But it let the one from Moloka’i through. Ah, the Lana’i hotel just went through. So, the next job is to get the little planes set up. The kids have to get ground transportation. Maybe mules.

While all this was going on, the son of the guy I rent the condo from texted me about this and that. It seems that the son didn’t know I had sent his dad a check—a check that the dad never cashed. There is a little family drama there. But the condo seems to be OK.

And tonight I will treat myself to a grilled cheese sandwich. With bacon?

It’s 80° this evening. Two weeks from just about now – my train should be pulling into Harpers Ferry, heading to Chicago.  Must spring into action about going to Kona someday soon.

But before that I need to plan an adventure to Moloka’i and Lanai for November 10 – 16. Air travel to those islands is infrequent and hotels are almost non-existant.

You might also notice a lack of roads. I may charter a plane and hire a mule.

Damn, for an old woman, I  know how to have fun.

Something I never thought I would see.

This email arrived a little after 8 last night. An aurora alert for Arlington, Virginia!

Zipped over to the window. Not once but many times.

But they were definitely visible to some folk in our area. How cool is that?

I needed some downtime today. So, very little was done. That’s OK. Very little actually needed doing. Except some emails are piled up awaiting responses. Maybe tomorrow.

I had I nice walk. Took the longer hillier more “challenging” walk today.

The asylum is having lox, bagels, and chocolate hamantaschen for dinner tonight. In honor of Yom Kippur, I suppose. My gentile brain thinks that maybe tomorrow night would be more appropriate. But, what do I know?

Before lox, bagels, and chocolate hamantaschen – Happy Hour. 

Kona. Leaving soon. Two weeks from Saturday.

The good news is I am still alive. According to my doctor’s notes “Pt is quite active, walks 2.5 miles easily”. Guess that means I am OK for an old woman. Active is important for me. 

Actually, the old woman walked 4.62 miles today. I enjoy walking to the doctor’s office. It’s a nice walk, and I like telling the doctor that I must be OK because I walked. Today, I had time for coffee and a croissant at Peet’s before wandering over to the doctor’s office. 

Gratitude

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Grateful for this fine fall day. And for coffee at the end of a walk.

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The bad news is: Donald Trump thinks he’s my friend.

Fortunately, GMAIL thinks that Donald Trump is Spam. That’s an insult to Spam.

A lovely lavendery sun rise.

Then it was off to set up for the origami sale.

The 11th Floor Origami Dojo had a very successful sale. I contributed very little to the sale’s success, but I am still as pleased as can be. 

Gratitude

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Grateful to everyone who made this so special for the 11th Floor Origami Dojo. ありがとうございます

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When I returned to the old bat cave all tired and hungry, what do I find? One of my orchids sprawled on the floor. There were no open windows. I don’t have a cat. I don’t believe we had an earthquake. Blame it on gravity. No harm done to the orchid or the floor. 

Tomorrow, it’s off to see the doctor. She will tell me I am old.

A rather bleak morning, I had  blood work done so no breakfast for me. I was allowed black coffee, thank goodness.

After visiting the hospital lab, I had a coffee and croissant. Then it was in-person yoga time. And that was about it for the day.

Gratitude

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Grateful that I can still take part in a yoga class.

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Got everything ready for tomorrow’s craft sale.

The craft sale will take up most of tomorrow. I can hardly stand all this excitement!

(Yes, I am reading World War Z by Max Brooks. It’s one of Carlton’s books. I was busy when it came out 20 years ago, Carlton read it somewhere along the line,  and I was going to read it  in Covid time, but decided not to. Maybe too close to reality.)

My brain is in an interesting place today. I am deeply concerned about the general operation of the Asylum. We are slumping along into mediocracy at best. The elevators. The food. The grounds are so neglected that it hurts look at them. Systems are supposed to be in place to protect the frail residents. Those safeguards have failed too many times. Something is wrong. Something that is completely outside my capacity to fix.

My brain is in an interesting place today. All that angst aside, I am content. Tranquil. Relaxed. Perhaps, my brain knows that I’ll be dead before the Asylum completely collapses due to benign neglect.

It’s hard to get management excited about making anything better. They want to make things BIGGER. Build More Asylums. Management thinks they have 900 potential residents waiting to move in. Management would be happy if current residents moved out. (All residents pay a substantial non-refundable fee for the privilege of living here.)

But, on to my news for Carlton. Today, I just happened to check on the price of my train ticket to Seattle. It had gone down $312. I called up Amtrak and they credited my visa account with $312. It took about half an hour to make happen. I heard Carlton saying that’s $624 an hour you just made! 

Still have a wicked cough. My watch advised another “recovery” day. I decided to go for a nice walk. I don’t do what humans tell me to do. Why should I do what a watch tells me to do?

The Twilight Zone

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Recently at the grocery store, searching for a can of tomatoes, I was attacked by Old Age. The generic version, a perfectly acceptable choice, was nestled on the bottom shelf, a mere two inches from the floor. The brand-name version, on the other hand, was perched about four feet high. It was a dollar more expensive.

The store’s strategy was clear, get me to buy the expensive version. This time, the floor was just too far away. The thought of squatting down to retrieve the cheaper can was too much. I reached for the brand-name version. It was the first time I’ve ever paid extra for a can of tomatoes simply because I wasn’t sure I could make it back up to my feet in a dignified manner.

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Accomplished very little today.  Washed the summer blanket and installed the spring/fall blanket on the bed. “Upgraded” the Mac to Sonoma. It’s a big yawn, so far. Which is fine. Wondering a bit about the possibility of a new iPad Mini. Not that I need one.

My watch said that I needed a recovery day. Well. That sounded like a fine idea. Today, I did very little.

Another reason to do very little is our elevators. At least half of our elevators were out of service. And 11 floors are a lot to walk up when your watch has declared today a recovery day.

For several years, I defended Asylum management against claims of elevator maintenance negligence. I am no longer a defender. In the last 12 months, we have received 59 emails about the status of our elevators. 13 emails arrived in the previous 30 days. And 3 so far today.

Now, the optimist  says  “Isn’t it wonderful how management is keeping us informed about the status of the elevators?” A realist says “WTF is wrong? If management had to ride these elevators 6 or 7 times a day, I bet the elevators would be fixed”

Good soup notwithstanding. I will go eat with my friends tonight because friends are important to my mental health. And it’s free wine night.