random thoughts – Day 1,176 – (Tuesday) – some days

Around 9:00 this morning, a loud truck moved through the neighborhood and could be heard on neighboring streets. The guess was it might be for the yard waste pickup that didn’t happen on Monday. At 9:15, the noisy truck backed down my street all the way to the end where there were no barrels to empty. It stopped and the driver got out and walked around to the back of the truck. I could see a puddle appearing and growing in front of his feet, visible under the truck. It seemed he was enjoying a nice long pee. Thanks, pal. And WTF?

June hot soup.

The return to chilly weather launched a rewind to winter soup season. The chill may have been WTF but the soup was 100% yummy. Chicken bone broth with mushrooms, carrots, mixed veggies, and mushroom tortellini, dressed with a splash of half and half and parmesan cheese and a slice of olive bread with butter for the win.

After work I had an organization board meeting downtown followed by a trip to Family Dollar for toilet paper. At the register, wallet in hand, the debit card used Monday night at the gas station was not in its designated slot in the wallet. Thanks goodness I had $5 to pay for my toilet paper and precious bag of delicious Wiley Wallaby black licorice.

When I entered the house and flipped on the kitchen light, it blew out. One bulb went out a month or two ago and I hadn’t bothered to replace it. Now it was time. The step stool was schlepped to the bathroom closet to get the box of lightbulbs from the closet shelf. Then it was hauled into the kitchen to the table under the light.

Two bulbs were removed from the box and set on the table under the light, ready to install. According to the box, they burn for “13 years*/ *Based on three hours a day.” Cool, cool. Then why have mine burned out after barely five years in a room that definitely does not have that light on for anything close to three hours a day? Talk about false advertising. WTF.

Knobby thing.

Atop the step stool, the knob at the bottom of the ceiling fixture glass shade wouldn’t budge. It’s possible the last time the shade was removed was when Mass Save came for an energy audit and replaced all the bulbs with LED. There was some mumbling about the guy with superhuman finger strength who changed the bulbs and reassembled the fixture back around 2018 which is definitely not 13 years ago.

Down from the stool and in the bathroom closet again, the tool bag was rummaged through in search of pliers but a wrench was the best that could be found. The knob loosened with the leverage from the wrench but at the point where I could finish it by hand, the wrench became stuck on the knob. WTF. It finally came free. The lamp shade was cleaned, bulbs replaced. It is now blinding in its brightness.

With the light squared away, focus could shift to the missing debit card. My bag was emptied and gone through. Same for the wallet, where gas receipts going back to April were found, including the receipt from Monday night, but not the card used. Jacket and pants pockets were checked. The car was searched. No card. WTF.

Thanks to the wonders of technology and mobile banking, the card was turned off. Tapping the option for “Report a Lost or Stolen Card” resulted in a message to “Call to report a lost or stolen card.” It took two tries before the call went through and received a recording that the call center was closed. The robot man on the line then said that many card functions could be handled in the mobile app. Umm, yes, except this one. WTF.

The entire bag of black licorice was stress devoured during the unfruitful debit card effort. Some days have a whole lot of WTF going on, but black licorice is a pretty good salve.