random thoughts – Day 2,299 (Wednesday) – hotness

As promised and foretold in an endless stream of media accounts declaring the heat advisory and scorching temperatures across the country, it was hot.

Mom and I went shopping this morning. The first stop was Ollie’s Bargain Outlet for a couple things. I looked at sheets, but the only 100% cotton ones didn’t have a deep enough pocket for my mattress. Mom had a mission which was fulfilled.

The other stop was a few doors down at Market Basket, where we threw ourselves into the crowd. Shopping carts were scarce and store clerks were wrangling them as best they could, which included taking them from customers in the parking lot as soon as they were emptied. 

I had just grocery shopped a couple days ago and was along mostly for the company and the cheese ends usually available near the deli. There were no cheese ends today so I wandered around the store, dodging the many shoppers who had the glazed look seen at any mall right before Christmas. The best part of the trip was that the stores were air conditioned.

The temperature was in the 90s outside, and 85 in my house despite my efforts to block the sun from entering. It was humid and there was no breeze, except for the living room ceiling fan which I sat under all afternoon, drinking endless glasses of ice water and reading a book

The bedroom is currently closed off with the window A/C unit chilling the space before bed. I am most definitely missing the central A/C in the Lowell house. One heat advisory day down, three more to go. I used to think there is no such thing as too hot, but I am ready to reconsider that position.

random thoughts – Day 2,298 (Tuesday) – dancing it out

Dancing the summer at Saima.

It was week two of my summer trip down Denishawn memory lane. Today, there were ten of us at Saima Park, executing the barre and center of the floor routines, and then dancing the memories. We were able to run some of the big group dances with moving parts in the form of a sections with a soloist, duos, trios, and quartets. We aren’t prepping for a show or anything stressful, so it’s pure fun. 

It was fun, and a healthier way to spend my one-year anniversary of being laid off than sitting at home simmering in an unemployed stew of if only and what if. It’s time to move on in every way possible, and for now that means dancing it out and shaking it off.

Last week, I was sore for several days after class, but it felt good. Today I’m already feeling it in my legs and glutes. Maybe it’s from what feels like a million plies and I’ll take it. In the weird way my body handles environmental temperature, my arms were cool to the touch and my feet were cold while my head and torso were sweating. So weird. But I sometimes get chills when I eat spicy food, so I’ve given up trying to comprehend.

It rained while we were dancing, and when I got home, the evening air was deliciously cool and breezy. The shades had been lowered against the sun early in the day, but tonight they were raised for the evening air to blow through the house. Of course, all good things must come to and end, and the breezes stopped shortly before a skunk sprayed nearby, and the fragrance is hanging in the air and my nostrils and the back of my throat. It must be tome to close up the fortress again. 

Gonna get hot, hot, hot.

From Wednesday morning until Saturday night, we are under an excessive heat warning, so the next several days should be fun to navigate while it is hot, hot, hot. Between the heat and it being a holiday and popular vacation week, the beaches will likely be packed, so I won’t set my hopes on being there. It might be a good time to go to the movies and every grocery and retail store in the region, spots where I generally tend to be chilly. I can test the spicy food and chills situation, too.

random thoughts – Day 2,297 (Monday) – adulting

Somehow, the end of the month snuck up on me and there were only two days left to get my car inspection done. Once upon a time, there was a strategy for this, which was to schedule an oil change in June and have the sticker done then, too. Other times, the “strategy” was shrieking, “crap, it’s the 30^th” and logging off the work computer to drive two streets over to Hank’s Garage for the task.

This year it’s all different with no job to be working at from home during the week, no inspection station spitting distance from home, and not much urgency for life maintenance tasks because all the days are mostly empty and things can easily be delayed until tomorrow.

Anyway. This morning, I was checking the day planner I often forget to consult and saw “car inspection” on this week’s to-do list, having been carried over from last week’s list. The state website listed  three or four inspections stations in town, with two of them about a mile away down the street. The closest location was the Chevy-Jeep-Dodge dealership so I went there first. Unfortunately, it was 11:45 and the inspection guy was in the middle of an inspection and then was going to lunch until 1:00. I was invited to wait there for an hour and be the first car after lunch, but I declined (and also marveled about the one-hour lunch, because for nine years it was a measly 30 minute lunch break at the bank).

First in the queue.

I drove down the street to the other inspection station which was a large brick complex with a tow yard, auto repair bays, and activity in the lot with flatbeds, tow trucks, delivery vehicles from parts providers, and those of us waiting for inspections. I was the third car in the inspection line. The A/C was on, the radio was playing, and my phone was put to use with a game for the wait. It was about 35 minutes later when my car was collected by the mechanic and I was invited to wait in the office.

When my car was put into the inspection bay there were three cars in the queue outside (again). The office A/C was running on the Arctic setting and I was freezing, but standing in the asphalt parking lot in the heat felt kind of weird and dumb. Around 1:00, my car was brought back out to the lot and I was on my way. There were now four cars in the permanent inspection queue on the next to the last day for June inspections but mine was done with a day to spare and I was feeling pleased.

After the triumph of the annual inspection, I went to Dollar Tree for tin foil, but it’s dumb to buy just one item there so I browsed the whole store and also got a can of tuna, a can of mandarin oranges, a bag of coffee. News flash -- school ended in my town last Wednesday, and the back to school displays are being installed at Dollar Tree now. Basically, parents, teachers, and students had about five minutes to shake off school before having to think about the upcoming school year. That is cruel.

The shopping was marred by some old dude wandering the aisles and whistling random warbling notes and humming random noises. He seemed to be one aisle away from me no matter where I was, until he ended up two people behind me in the very long checkout line at the one cashier, still whistling. I don't know why whistling grates on my nerves like it does, but I was tempted to drop my items and flee the store to get away from it. 

I chose to be a responsible shopper, completed my transaction and declared the adulting tasks done for the day. And the month. Until I begin again with the bill paying and chores and to-do lists for July. Adulting is like being on a never ending gerbil wheel.

random thoughts – Day 2,296 (Sunday) – years ago on june 28

Oceanside Pier,
Oceanside, California, 6-28-2012.

On this date in 2012 (June 28) I had recently arrived in California from Tennessee and hanging out with two of my cousins who had fled New England for better weather and a different lifestyle.  I had fled New England for Tennessee after one too many harsh winters, then fled Tennessee temporarily for a vacation with a change of scenery. 

During my Cali vacation, I stayed at the home of one cousin for half the week, then went to the other cousin’s home for the rest of the week. It was fun, even though the weather was the midst of the “June gloom” with cloud cover, chilly temperatures, and fog.

On June 28^th, a cousin and I had been to a very fancy and beautiful gym in Carlsbad that put to shame any I had ever belonged to. Later that day, we went to Oceanside Pier. During the course of the week, both cousins and their menfolk and I went to a concert at the San Diego County Fair, visited breweries, and rode a train from Carlsbad to San Diego to eat dinner. 

During the week, I also enjoyed a yoga class taught by one of my Cali cousins, and many other fun things that were not in my usual Tennessee lifestyle. My cousins were great hosts and made it a great vacation for me with a blend of touristy things and cool places where the locals eat and socialize.

Long Sands Beach,
York, Maine, 6-28-2013.

Seeing the photo of Oceanside Pier in Facebook memories today sent me back to that fun vacation week along the Pacific Ocean. The same memories feature for today included a photo from a vacation exactly one year later in York Beach, Maine. that is the year when Mom, my sister, and I rented a house one block from the beach for a week. 

In York Beach, we rode trolleys, went to the beach, walked my dogs, and ate seafood and ice cream. York Beach was so welcoming, the colorful seaweed even coordinated with my sneakers during a morning walk with the dogs. Unlike the humans and all the other dogs on the beach in the early mornings, my dogs were not fans of the beach.

Beach towns are fun. For various reasons, in recent years I have failed to get myself to a nearby beach. This needs to be corrected this summer.

random thoughts – Day 2,295 (Saturday) – old and new

Mom and I went out to some consignment and antique stores today. One of our favorite consignment shops is in Amherst, NH, so we headed there. As usual, the two-level store had a huge selection of furniture and cool home décor. A sectional upholstered in patchwork denim ($700+) was interesting, and so was the reaction of two younger women who were so excited about it they were practically jumping up and down with glee. I can't recall ever being so excited about a couch. Or much else, really. I may have been a bit envious of the passion expressed.

I was tempted by a couple items, but reason took over. Sure, the rooster pitcher was fun, but I already have a blue glass pitcher that lives in a cabinet, and the counters are cluttered enough without a pitcher shaped like a rooster. The cosmetic roll up with four removable sections was cute but seemed complicated. There were about a hundred Hummel figurines and some Lladro pieces which did not tempt me at all because I’m looking for some stuff for the yard that is not a gnome or a toadstool.

At the two-level antique shop a mile down the street, there were lots of Hot Wheels, larger metal collectible cars, comics, some interesting signs, and more Hummels. It looks like the great Hummel figurine purge is underway.

We laughed about how much money we saved by not buying anything.

Mama and a fluff ball poult.

Back at home, from the comfort of the couch which is angled to face the windows, I spotted a turkey with one wee fluffy chick crossing my lawn. It’s the youngest turkey I’ve ever seen and it was so cute with the fluffy little feathers. 

The turkey and poult moved so quickly I didn’t have a chance to call Mom to tell her to look out her window as they raced through her yard and into the woods. 

random thoughts – Day 2,294 (Friday) – domesticity

Guest room window film.

Today’s domestic effort to chip away at the house list was covering the guest bathroom window with privacy film. This allows elimination of a sheer curtain and the temperamental old-timey roller window shade that goes down but not back up. The film for this window has an alligator-type texture and when the sun shines through it, it throws holographic prisms. I like it better than the film installed in the main bathroom window. The main bathroom might very well be changed to the fun one. 

Later, two cans of spray paint were bought for the next stage of the oil tank enclosure painting project. Tonight's visit to the hardware store was free of clerks attempting to be helpful and it was great. I even wandered the store and saw some nice interior lighting fixtures and outdoor flower pots but no garden decor, which have been a quest item since 2016 when I couldn't find any for the Lowell house. 

The in-between time of the two activities was spent reading and roasting veggies for lunch. There was a rare itch to socialize, and a debate took place about reaching out to see if anyone wanted to do something tonight. Thanks to the inability to have any ideas to suggest for a proposed social activity because it is basically a foreign activity for me, the desire to socialize evaporated before any texts were made that might have committed me to do so. It’s hard when checking availability with people and their willingness to leave their own homes is based on the idea at hand and there is no idea, because why make a plan if there nobody to do it with. A real chicken and egg situation. 

Once I hit the point where the idea of socializing felt like too much work, it then felt a little bit like I had dodged a bullet. Whew! The night was spent re-watching a series I already watched, and then marveling over the fireflies. The first one was at the living room window, and there were a couple spotted in the back yard. So cool.

random thoughts – Day 2,293 (Thursday) – tackling the list

Much like the running project list I always maintained for work, there is a running list of projects for the house. The rate of additions to the list usually exceeds the pace of completed items coming off. This week, progress is being recorded.

On Wednesday, pruning was done out front and the oil tank enclosure out back was covered with a fresh coat of spray paint. Today, the plan for artsy-fartsy embellishment of the tank cover took shape with a list of spray paint colors to be procured and an solid plan for the design.

Also today, the narrow window in the bathroom adjoining the main bedroom received a coating of static cling privacy film. The film replaces a privacy curtain which was attached by rods at the top and bottom of the window and made the window inaccessible. 

It was about an hour of fun with a spray bottle of water, scissors, and a box cutter. The hardest part of working with the film was trimming the excess after it was in place. I probably need a new blade. Bonus content with the new film is the option to open the window for air flow. A different pattern of film was bought for the guest bathroom, which will probably be installed on Friday. The second window should be much quicker now that I'm experienced in the technique. Maybe I can hire myself out for oil tank cover painting and window privacy film installation. 

The walls in the bedroom and dining room are beginning to speak to me and the artwork plan is formulating. The added bonus to finally hanging art on the walls is the clearing of space in the craft room so it can become functional (also on the list).

I love the taste of progress. It’s delicious like chocolate. Or Ben & Jerry Karamel Sutra ice cream.