random thoughts – Day 1,719 – (Saturday) – yuletide market and parade

Kiki contemplating sunshine.

While I drank coffee and let the entire morning slip away, in between asking for head rubs, Kiki sat in a shaft of sunlight. Perhaps she was contemplating life. Or sunshine. Then, she did something I’ve never seen her do until today. She batted her stuffed fish toy around the dining room. It was a feline miracle at The BungaLowell. When she saw me watching her she stopped. Little Kiki seems to still be a little self-conscious. I get it. Happens to me too, Little Boo.

Besides rejoicing in Kiki playing with her toy, there were other things to be done today. The Saturday after Thanksgiving is the City of Lights event in Lowell so I spent the morning psyching myself up to leave the house. Before heading downtown, the tires needed air. The low-pressure sensor went off again earlier in the week. I am so over the temperature changes and the tire pressure. It took two stops to get the air because the air machine was out of service at the station where I got gas and I had to find another.

This year’s City of Lights event featured a Yuletide Market at JFK Plaza. Several heated tents housed art vendors, which were easier to browse than other events where the artists were all in one tent and it got really crowded. Several warming stations featured chairs and small campfire heaters. The Rotary Club had a toasted marshmallow station, there was a stage for bands, and there were likely more things I didn’t see. It was cold out, but not wicked cold.

Witches dance at the Yuletide Market.

After watching the New England Witches Guild perform three dances at 3:30, I walked over to The Brush Art Gallery and Studios to check out the member show I neglected to enter, this year’s edition of the Wreath Festival, and browse the artist studio shops. From there, it was back out to the cold. 

Walking the two blocks to Merrimack Street allowed time to decide if I would be staying for the parade at 4:30. The sidewalk had filled with people who had staked out their concrete real estate for the parade. I walked in the direction of the garage I parked in, which was also in the direction the parade would be coming from. 

UML Marching Band.

I ended up staying downtown. The parade began with the Lowell Police motorcycle squad and LPD vehicles, followed by the Fire Department. There were marching bands from Lowell High and UMASS Lowell and the musicians seemed to float down the street with the smooth marching band steps. 

The LHS ROTC cadets floated by in their tidy and crisp uniforms and twirled their blue rifles. There were Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. A dance troupe of the tiniest kids with metallic shakers executed precise footwork that was fancier than the marching band and military steps. There were floats scattered in.

After a half hour, I couldn't tell how much longer the parade would go, but my cell battery was definitely on the way out, and I was tired of standing there alone in the crowd of couples, friend groups, and families. It was time to head home.

Three hours after arriving home, I was sitting under a blanket and drinking Raspberry Zinger tea. I still hadn’t shaken the chill from outdoors, and can’t wait to go to bed. The current ideal combination of coverings is a top sheet, a puff, a handmade quilt, a duvet cover that is too difficult to put a blanket into but it is the covering where the bed and the room make sense, and a logo velour/sherpa blanket that was a work gift several years ago. I’m eager to test the comfort level again tonight.

random thoughts – Day 1,718 – (Friday) – black friday memory

I was never a Black Friday shopper. Although invited by some serious shopper friends in the past, I never arrived at a store hours before opening to stand in a line in the dark waiting for the doors to open. My friends had strategies, with family members clutching pages from sales flyers and assigned the task of acquiring designated items. As fun (cough) as it sounded, I declined the offer to participate. For many years, I was safe from the hordes of shoppers, tucked safely at my desk working what was usually a very quiet day.

There have been stretches of my work life where I was employed in retail and participated in Black Friday from the other side of the sales counter. In 2015, I worked my last Black Friday retail sales event, but I didn’t know it at the time. And there’s always the chance I could end up in retail again, so maybe it wasn’t my last Black Friday after all. 

Thanks to the Facebook Memories feature, I was able to enjoy a Black Friday blast from the past of nine years ago. In 2015, I was the visual merchandiser at a national store. As the VM, I dressed the mannequins, hung the big signs on the walls and windows, hung displays from department ceilings and over the registers, put up the Christmas decorations, and set the metal sign fixtures on the racks and installed the sale signs. It involved a lot of trips up and down the big staircase in the stockroom and pushing a giant ladder across the tile floors. It was the kind of work with visible results each day and the work was physical enough that it served as a workout.

Black Friday memory, 2015.

That Black Friday of 2015 included prep time earlier in the week stuffing helium-filled metallic balloons into the training room where they would stay until it was time to set them on the store floor. Sign holders had been set in place with the signs displaying the backside. The Black Friday shift began at 12:30 a.m. on the morning of Black Friday, which gave the team 30 minutes to dash through the store and finish preparations before the doors opened at 1:00 a.m. for the line of people standing outside.

I was powered by caffeine as I raced around flipping the signs in the holders and checking the locations of the balloons that designated the locations of the extra special limited quantity Door Buster deals that enticed the shoppers to stand in the cold waiting for a store to open. The rest of the shift was spent directing customers to products and refolding clothes and tidying displays that became disheveled as people shop. It was exhausting.

Since leaving retail, on Black Friday, I usually avoid the stores. The exceptions have been the time I found myself at the Verizon store in the mall because I needed to replace a malfunctioning phone.  Another year, I accidentally booked an eye exam on Black Friday.  Today, I hunkered down at home. Except for changing the sheets, I and enjoyed a quiet day of nothingness. That is my favorite flavor of day lately.

random thoughts – Day 1,717 – (Thursday) – day of thanks

The rain came for Thanksgiving, and hopefully it made a dent in the low water levels from the drought. I was thankful it wasn’t snow as I was driving to Fitchburg for dinner at my sister’s. A light, steady rain was preferable to snow while crawling along in the heavy and slow traffic on 495 south. It was less awful on route 2, which was a blessing.

During the drive, all 18 minutes and 47 seconds of "Alice’s Restaurant Massacree" played on the radio, a noontime tradition on one of the local radio stations. Side note, Alice Brock, the Alice who owned the restaurant in the song, passed away a week ago.

Dinner at my sister’s equivalent of a restaurant was plentiful and traditional. My sister made a turkey, baked potatoes, carrots, corn, gravy, rolls, and cranberry sauce. My eldest niece made a huge crockpot of macaroni and cheese, and I brought a crockpot of stuffing. We ate, we talked, we laughed at a cat video. This year, there was no Facetime call with the Vegas couple because the Vegas couple was right there at the table.

Leftovers!

The drive home also included rain, but the traffic was lighter than earlier. The now empty crockpot was accompanied by a container packed by my sister with the main components of dinner, another with cranberry sauce, a baked potato, and a container with two slices of pumpkin pie. 

My favorite part of big family dinners for Thanksgiving and Christmas is the leftovers. Tomorrow’s menu is set.

There was a lot for which to be thankful with most of the family around the dinner table sharing a delicious meal. The mood was relaxed and nobody had to dash home from work to arrive at dinner, or rush from dinner to get to a work shift. Once again, we neglected to take pictures of our group, which seems to have become one of our new traditions. 

random thoughts – Day 1,716 – (Wednesday) – stuffing and stuff

The stuffing/dressing saga has entered the production phase. After a brief consultation with the dinner hostess, it was decided to bring the stuffing in a crockpot instead of an oven baking dish. Ovens have limited capacity and the logistics can get complicated when there are lots of pans and casserole dishes jockeying for position.

A crockpot full  of stuffing.

A glass of Argentinian Malbec was poured. First things first, right? Then kitchen duty was activated for the crew of one.

Onions were chopped with the favorite knife and sautéed in the favorite cast iron pan. Ground beef and pork were browned in the pan with the onions. Celery was chopped. Instant potatoes were transformed from light as air flakes to a denser food consistency. It was all combined in the crock with the stuffing mix and seasonings.

Twice as much meat and onions as needed were cooked. Most of it was used for the stuffing and some was set aside for personal use. Extra potatoes were prepared, with a small portion set aside. This is how I roll with food preparation. Plan ahead, cook once and get multiple meals from the deal. I love efficiency. After the stuffing ingredients were mixed, it was time to move ahead with supper.

Supper is served.

Green beans and broccoli were cut and sautéed. Some of the extra meat and onion mix was added. Plated with a side of formerly instant potato flakes, topped with shredded cheddar, and a side of the refilled glass of the Malbec, it was a tasty treat for a cold night. More grownup and nutritious than Tuesday night's olive loaf sandwich. There is a lot of comfort in winter food (and wine).

There is a small container of meat and onion, and a smaller one of meat, onion, green beans, and broccoli packaged for future use. They will join the other random bits and bobs in the freezer and will one day become part of a casserole or a soup.

After the work, it’s time to relax with Average Joe, a dark comedy drama series on Netflix. It stars Deon Cole, who I’ve seen in the comedy Blackish. He’s great at comedy, and I didn’t know what to expect from him in a murder-y show, but I like it. There are funny moments, poignant moments, and a heavy dose of murder for a temporary flight from quiet-ish, regular life.

random thoughts – Day 1,715 – (Tuesday) – deli meat memories

When I was young, Mummu worked in the yarn mill on the 6 am to 2pm shift. She was highly disciplined and was in bed by 8:00 pm or earlier Sunday through Thursday and up by 5:00 am Monday through Friday. She got up, dressed her chosen uniform of a skirt and blouse, ankle socks and white nursing shoes which were polished every Sunday.

Lunch was prepared each evening so it was ready to go in the morning. Her lunch break was at 10:00 am and her lunch was always a sandwich. The deli meat rotation was luncheon loaf, olive loaf, ham, or roast beef on a rotating roster of bread, but usually scala. Of the meats, I liked the olive loaf and roast beef. Not together. That’s weird.  

Olive Loaf.

On Sunday, while getting the ingredients for Thanksgiving stuffing, including the bread cubes it turned out I didn’t need and forgetting to get the instant potatoes I did need, I took a lap around the outside departments of the store. At the cooler across from the deli where my beloved random cheese ends live, there was one package of cheese ends and one of olive loaf, which instantly made me think of Mummu and her work lunches. I bought them both.

Tonight, back at home after my work day, I had a supper of olive loaf with mayo on wheat pane. The bread was different than Mummu’s scala, but it’s what I had. I rarely eat deli meat, and it might be years before I do so again, but tonight’s sandwich and its memories of Mummu were pretty good.

Wednesday night I’ll be making my Finnish grandmother’s Canadian poultry stuffing recipe. It’s all about the food memories this week.

random thoughts – Day 1,714 – (Monday) – potaytoe, potahtoe

Realizing the forgotten instant potatoes after arriving home from the grocery store on Sunday forced a trip to Family Dollar on Monday. Family Dollar is a frequent destination for random items due to proximity. Located about a half mile from home, I can be there and back before I would even arrive at the closest Market Basket or Hannaford.

There are some annoying characteristics at this specific Family Dollar that I haven’t seen at other locations. It almost always looks like a tornado tore through the place. The most egregious characteristic has to do with shelf tags. If there are any shelf tags, they are incorrect about 95% of the time. There are two price checker kiosks in the store, and I am usually prepared for the trek to one of them to learn the pricing before reaching the register.

In addition to untrustworthy shelf tags, tonight’s shopping was compounded by confusing information on the instant potato packaging. The situation is, I need two cups of instant mashed potatoes for the stuffing recipe (“dressing” for my Southern friends). Yes, I could make homemaade potatoes, but I wold also have to go buy some , so it's quick and easy instant for the win. 

The instant potato packages noted four servings on the small package and eight servings on the large package, but didn’t say how big a serving is. Thimble? Small scoop? The massive mounds most people I know seem to enjoy? The Idahoan folks aren't telling, but I'm guessing it's on the small side.

The package noted that ¼ cup of dry flakes yields 140 grams prepared, so there I was, in the pantry aisle at Family Dollar, doing a Google search on what 140 grams converts to. (The answer is one cup.) Thank goodness I took my phone into the store. Then I studied the ingredients on the packet like I was preparing for a final exam. Oy. The packets of “Homestyle Buttery” instant potatoes had lots of extra sciencey words that did not seem based in nature or actual food. 

Luckily, there was an option in the private label box of potato flakes which are surprisingly mostly just dried potato with fewer lab-type words, and I get to add fresh butter and the milk I also had to buy because I don’t drink the stuff and only ever need it for recipes. 

The 13.3 ounce box box of potato flakes cost less than the four pounce packet of the name brand flakes and is large enough for this week’s project and a month of recipes using potato flakes, which I will be searching for shortly. It’s fun when projects lead to other new and exciting projects, right?

random thoughts – Day 1,713 – (Sunday) – short long weekend

Another three-day weekend has come to an end. Two days, three days, it doesn't matter, they are all too short. This coming week, I’ll have another chance to test if a four-day weekend is also too short, although I’m pretty sure the answer to the query hasn’t changed since the last time.

Today had dance rehearsal (we crushed it) followed by a brief visit with my sister. There was grocery shopping for the ingredients for the family poultry stuffing recipe I volunteered to make for Thanksgiving dinner. And as I write this, I realize I forgot the instant potato flakes. So much for planning ahead to avoid the crush in the store right before the holiday. Ugh.

Kiki as a silhouette.

Kiki is back in cute, adorable, wants head rubs mode. And I swear to you, when I meowed and said “hello” to her this afternoon, when she meowed back it sounded exactly like “hello.” This cat is all sorts of talented and special. And/or maybe  I am all sorts of delusional. These are not exclusive situations and both can be true.

To offset her moment of talking brilliance, tonight Kiki has resorted to sitting and staring at who knows what. With the white coat closet door behind her and only her black fur visible, she looks like a piece of  Victorian silhouette art or a contemporary plywood silhouette decorative piece. You know, like the cowboy leaning against a tree that some people have in their yard. After posing like a silhouette for a few minutes, she came across the room to sit and look at me and accept the adoration of the head rubs. She is so sweet.

random thoughts – Day 1,712 – (Saturday) – over indulged

For years, the Saturday before Thanksgiving has been the designated day for the Friendsgiving potluck hosted by my sister and her husband. They rent a hall and everyone brings a dish of some sort and it's the official start to the season of overindulgence and gluttony. We all sit around at tables and eat and chat for a couple hours and it’s fun. We used to be pretty good about taking lots of photos, but lately that hasn’t been the case. 

Today’s pot luck table was loaded with crockpots and casserole dishes and foil baking dishes with pulled pork, bread stuffing with apple and cranberries, butternut squash, meatballs, beef stew, penne with sauce, macaroni salad, shepherd’s pie, tater tot casserole, ham salad finger rolls,  shrimp cocktail, and cold cut subs.

The dessert table was filled with an array of baked goods. There was a German chocolate cake, Oreo trifle, blondies, lots of cookies, and even a light and fluffy pumpkin-cool whip-cream cheese dip with vanilla wafers, graham crackers, ginger snaps and sugar wafers.

There were young people and older folks, all visiting and catching up. My niece and her husband arrived from Las Vegas this morning and it will be great to have them around for Thanksgiving this year. At the table I sat at with some cousins, my aunt, and Dad, some of the talk was about family history on Dad’s side. One of my cousins is a pro at asking great questions and we heard some stories about life when Dad and my aunt were young. 

This year, there was even dancing when my brother-in-law’s band began playing at 4:00. By then, I was three hours into socializing and was all peopled out. It was time to waddle out the door and hit the road to get a jump on the drive before it became dark. 

The ride home bordered on terrible. The volume on routes 2 and 495 was heavy, and everyone entering the road seemed to have no understanding of what the yield sign means. It was a relief to park in the driveway and be done with traffic and driving for the night. 

Haunted by filets.

There were four pieces of mail in the letterbox today, a clear sign the holidays are approaching. Three of them were from one sender – Omaha Steaks. The marketing from that company is nonstop, especially since I sent one gift from them last Christmas. 

There are daily emails which don’t require the sacrifice of any trees and I expected a catalog or two throughout the season, but cripes, three advertising pieces in one day’s mail? It's enough to haunt a house. And after the full day of overeating, the images of filet mignon were more than a bit too much. It turned my stomach inside out a little bit. There will be no contemplation of meat gifts for Christmas tonight.

random thoughts – Day 1,711 – (Friday) – malling it

It was a vacation day, and as usual, I spent a chunk of the day on personal care. Today’s exciting appointment was with the eye doctor for the annual checkup. The eye doctor is located in the Pheasant Lane Mall, which is a blessing/curse scenario. The blessing is there is usually plenty of parking. There have been years when my appointment fell on Black Friday or one of the weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The place would be packed and there would be the Santa photo setup and lots of tiny tots in their tiny tot best outfits. Definitely a curse.

Decorations at the mall.

There were some white holiday decorations cascading from the upper level and very few people in the mall at 10:30. This was great for me, but probably not a dream for the retailers.

Every year, I forget where the eye doctor is located, so I arrive early to accommodate getting lost. During the search, I was hijacked by a clerk in the doorway of a shop. He complimented my shoes (Madden Girl loafers) and asked if he could take a picture to send to his mother. Ummmmm, weird, but I played along. He asked if I was “from around here,” which seemed irrelevant, and handed me a packaged alcohol wipe. Apparently I looked to be in need of sanitation. Then, he took out the big guns and tried to get me to sample some eye wrinkle cream and was surprised I hadn’t heard of the product because “It’s all over TV.” Um, ok.

I was completely confused when he told me to “open the windows.” My confused, “huh?” had him repeating it. He gestured that he meant for me to take off my glasses, but by then, I just wanted out. I looked at his colleague, who was casually leaning on the front window and she made a face that seemed like “I know, right? This is whack-a-doodle.” By then, I was making excuses that I needed to get to an appointment, and bolted. In what turned out to be the wrong direction.

By the time I finally found a mall directory, I was at the opposite end of the mall to where I needed to be. The storefront I needed was about three or four doors down from wrinkle cream guy, and had l looked to the right when I entered the mall, I would have known that. I backtracked quickly along the opposite side of the upper level to avoid the sample clerk, but sure enough, he saw me and waved enthusiastically. I waved back halfheartedly, imagining him thinking, “yeah, right, an appointment.”  and kept walking.

After my appointment, where there was no waiting and I was out in about 20 minutes, instead of shopping in some of the new stores there, I left the mall. There was no energy left to continue avoiding the wrinkle cream sample pusher. In retrospect, I blew the ideal shopping opportunity for the office gift swap. The best part is that now I don’t have to go back to the mall for another year.

random thoughts – Day 1,710 – (Thursday) – gray and wet

Gray and brick, 11-21-24.

After a drought that has lasted for several months, today, it rained. It was good. When the weather forecasts mentioned rain a few days ago, I looked forward to it. Lately, the section of the Merrimack River at the University Avenue bridge has looked more like a rock field than a body of water.

The morning started gray and fuzzy and a light mist on the verge of drizzle was in the air as I drove downtown. The damp air was fresher than on Wednesday when it reeked of smoke in a blend of burned wood and plastic blown in from fires elsewhere in the region.

From the roof of the parking garage, the misty morning view of the city was different than on Wednesday. The brick buildings and fall leaves popped against the gray sky. 

During the course of the day, the view from the office window remained gray. Periodically, the rain intensified and splattered against the skylights and roof. A small white Christmas tree sat on a windowsill in the building on the other side of Shattuck Street. At dusk, it glowed warmly with white lights in the window framed with more white lights. 

Wet afternoon.

Walking to the garage at 5:00, the wind was light, but strong enough to blow my rain hat off after just a few steps. The compact umbrella kept trying to collapse on itself. The angle of the light wind and the volume of the rain combined to be exactly enough to wet the front of my pants below the hem of my coat. It was a yucky feeling on the ride home. Once at home, I couldn’t trade the wet dress pants for dry and cozy fleece pants quickly enough. 

Hopefully, it will rain all night. It certainly won’t end the drought which reached Level-3 Critical a couple days ago, but it will help.

random thoughts – Day 1,709 – (Wednesday) – new and festive

Up on the roof.

It was a day of new things. The heavy volume of traffic has returned on Lakeview, indicating the culvert project must be done or done enough for the road to no longer be closed. I learned this as I sat at the end of Beaver Street for what felt like forever waiting to take a right turn into Lakeview.

The garage is still under renovations and I ended up parking on the ramp between the fifth floor and the roof level. It was my first time parking that far up. The views of downtown from up there include rooftops and wide swaths of brick which is no surprise, because if there is one thing we have in abundance downtown it’s brick. 

At the office, there were some chocolates from Russia brought in by a colleague. The pictures on the wrappers gave clues as to the fillings – blueberry, raspberry, and other less obvious illustrations. There was a post from the Chamber of Commerce about a ribbon cutting tomorrow at a new store on Market Street called Lowell General Store. Cool, downtown needs more shops.

The store name brought confusion in our office. Several people, after hearing the “Lowell General” part, thought first of the local hospital with that name. Meanwhile, I was focused on the “General Store” part and conjuring images of an old timey general store with lots of wood, all sort of products, maybe some snacks and ice cream.

I took a walk over there in the afternoon, and learned the shop was neither of these things. It was neither a hospital shop nor a big old general store. It was very tidy with neat and attractive displays of tee shirts, dog bandannas and gourmet dog treats, beautiful wood cutting boards, spice mixes and rubs, cloth napkins, and some cool lamps with very artsy paper lampshades. I wandered the store thinking about our office Yankee Swap scheduled for a couple weeks from now, but nothing I liked had a price tag and I hate asking. Asking requires conversation. Plus, it would have required asking about every single thing in there, except the set of four red and white cloth napkins for $40. Those had a sign.

Festive.

The decorations are popping up in preparation for the parade on November 30. The wreaths on the street lights have been hung for a couple weeks. A building entry on Market Street is now sporting a wreath and the planters are more festive. Decorations in the big street level window at work are underway. Businesses decorate in time for the parade and downtown always looks great for the lighting of City Hall the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

There was a satisfying level of progress on a new small project, and a little cha cha sidestep this afternoon on what is usually a routine update that is now a redesign. All it takes is one change to an advertising regulation from FDIC and the ripple effects in marketing materials last for ages. No worries, there is already a plan in mind and underway. All good.

random thoughts – Day 1,700 – (Tuesday) – counting issues

A stack of salvation.

Day 1,700? Um, ok, wow. When this little exercise began in 2020 as a way to deal with the whole remote thing, there really wasn’t a plan. And like so many things without a plan, it somehow manages to keep going. The funny part is, tonight I did a quick online query “how many days since March 17, 2020?” and the answer isn’t even 1,700. It’s actually 1,708. 

Once again, life has zipped ahead without me. It’s probably a good thing I don’t work in calendars or anything involving a lot of counting. And now I have something new and fresh to fret over, just in case discovering the 20-pack of batteries bought several weeks ago and finally used only has 18 batteries wasn't enough already. Apparently I'm not the only with trouble counting.

Anyway, whatever today is, the set of 14 organizer containers ordered from the magical and massive online site offering everything from A-Z at the click of a button were delivered to my deck at 4:40 this morning. No, I didn’t need the box of organization salvation at that ungodly early hour, but 4:00 – 8:00 a.m. was a delivery option with my Prime membership, so I took it. It sort of makes up for some of the items that were needed on a timeline and were delayed.

Before the organizing.

Coffee was poured and the box was opened. Fourteen clear plastic containers nested in a stack were ready to be liberated from their plastic wrapping and address some of my organization woes. Loading the freezer yesterday was not done with care and planning. The stuff had been in cooler bags with ice packs for a while and I was hurrying to get it inside and close the door and let the chilling continue. Even the old freezer was a dumping ground, but it's time to try and fix some old bad habits. 

The freezer was opened and the work began. everything was dumped onto the counter.  Fries, tots, and mixed veggies were gathered in one container. Bread items were collected in another. Other sort-of similar things were grouped and four containers were used. My hands were frozen. I'm not quite convinced it's a workable improvement. We’ll see how long the attempt at neatness and organization lasts.

After the organizing.

The next target for pre-work morning organizing was the spice cabinet. That’s where it began to fall apart. The containers are perfectly sized for the freezer and are about an inch too long for the depth of the spice cabinet as well as every other upper cabinet in the kitchen. The remaining 10 containers might be helpful in the linen closet. Or not.

The funny part (ha, ha, ha hear me laugh) is that a four-pack of the containers was available and now we all know that would have been sufficient. There were also packs of eight and ten, but I bought the big ole14-pack because it was on a flash sale and a much better value. 

This is yet another example of why I have so, so much stuff kicking around. Oddly, some of it was acquired with the intention to help make life easier and just didn't quite work out as planned. 

random thoughts – Day 1,699 – (Monday) – new cool

The refrigerator bought on Veterans Day weekend during a sale and before the promised tariffs of the incoming administration go into effect that will likely increase the prices of absolutely everything was delivered this morning. The time between purchase and delivery gave me a week to eat as much as possible from the big cold box. Oh wait, that was stress eating, not strategy.

On Friday, the appliance store notified that the delivery would be between 7:30 and 9:30. I haven’t owned a cooler since 2013 when I sold, gave away, and donated a ton off stuff including the cooler before I moved. There was a week of wondering what to do with the food during installation, and finally last night I remembered the several chiller bags in the laundry closet. They were from some of the many food deliveries from Whole Foods during the pandemic when deliveries were free with Prime membership. They had been saved under the “some day I might need those” genetically inherited packrat mentality, and finally there is a bona fide case of “some day” coming around.

The pre-installation guidance was to remove items from the walls on the travel path and near the site of the appliance. On Sunday night nine pieces of art were removed from the wall near the fridge and stacked on a counter.

At 7:20 this morning an automated call came saying the new refrigerator would be arriving in about 15 minutes. Coffee drinking was paused and I launched into action launching the contents of the fridge into cooler bags and setting them in the tub. A few and definitely not 15 minutes later, I was emptying the freezer of food and a dozen or so ice blocks and packs that had permanent residence in there when there was a knock at the door. The delivery team came in and scoped out the path from truck to kitchen refrigerator nook.

They held the cooler bags while I continued chucking items into them. They strapped up the fridge and rolled it through the doorway to the dining room. With their gloves on, the fingers and fridge barely cleared the space. I hurried to sweep the fridge nook.

Refrigerator and art.

The new unit was rolled in, plugged in, and set in place. And boom, by 7:45, the delivery team and the old unit had driven off and I was back to drinking coffee. The guidance was to wait two hours before loading the fridge and freezer, but that didn’t really happen. I rehung the displaced artwork and lasted about 30 minutes before I started putting things into the fridge and freezer. Did I really need to wait for the unit to chill itself when everything going back into it was already frozen, chilled, or an ice pack? Wouldn’t that help the cooling situation?

There was time to examine the expiration dates on items before they went back into the big chill box. Most things were okay, but the rarely used mustard turned out to have a best by date from the summer of 2022, the giant bottle of Italian dressing was a year past its expiration, and the mayonnaise jar had next to nothing left in it. It was better than I thought.

Now there is a cool new GE refrigerator freezer in The BungaLowell and things are different. It’s definitely quieter than the old one. There are a few features I’m not super keen on that I would have known about if there had been a floor model to look at. The deli drawer and the two produce drawers are significantly smaller than the old ones. Errrrr. The old produce drawers were squared and big enough that all my produce usually fit into one and the other held wine and beer. The new ones have sloped back walls and it took both drawers to hold a small head of broccoli, a pound of green beans, and a two-pound bag of carrots. That is going to be a summertime nightmare. And for some reason, when the lower big door closes, the upper freezer door pops open and then closes with a little sigh.

On the bonus side, the door has deeper racks and one more than the old fridge. And the freezer has an actual shelf, which the old one didn’t, but it doesn’t reach all the way to the back, so things keep slipping into the gap in the way back. Organizing containers have been ordered. Hopefully they will be as great as I imagine and solve all my problems.

random thoughts – Day 1,698 – (Sunday) – blingy

New dance veils and hip scarves are always exciting and today we got our new tri-color veils, which incorporate the colors of our individual aqua, lilac, and rose troupe hip scarves. Now, in addition to a new choreography, we have a fresh costuming look for our performance in December.

To tie things up with a bow, as soon as practice was done and before dealing with the weekly chores at the grocery store and gas station, I bolted to the nearby local antiques co-op. There is a booth there with a wall of costume jewelry where I have bought some great pieces. Today's mission was to find something in a deep pink color to go with my new rose hip scarf. Preferably blingy. 

Yes, I already have lots of clear and colored sparkly rhinestone jewelry from Mummu and my great aunts Julia and Mary, but not in pink. And something was pulling to me to the store.

Dance bling.

The store was busy. No matter which aisle I went down, there were two shoppers loudly talking (yelling) to each other from separate aisles. At the booth with all the jewelry, I jockeyed for space with two other shoppers to paw through the vintage and near-vintage trinkets. 

One of the other shoppers, in what seemed like a baby talk cartoon voice, was narrating to nobody in particular, everything she touched. “Oh, blue. Hmmm. This is long. Oh, shiny. I used to have something like this.” When her kid came over later to look at jewelry with her, it seemed the cartoon voice was her regular voice.

Meanwhile, while the jewelry shopper was conducting the cartoon voice inventory, the loud talkers were also in the vicinity. One pawed through videos and yelled to the other, “Do you like Adam Sandler? Do you like Jim Belushi?” “Have you seen [movie name - movie name - movie name]?” I focused on the trinkets, gathering a small load of potential contenders. 

Chainmail belt.

By the time I got to the other side of the wall, I had several clear rhinestone necklaces and a multicolor one, and a collar of dark pink faceted beads. That is when I discovered a real treasure – a chainmail belt in a pattern of larger and smaller rings that is more complicated than the European four-in-one I used to make. My knuckles ached just looking at it. I had to have it.

The necklace choices were narrowed to the pink bead collar, the large rhinestone piece, and the belt. With the two “new” necklaces, plus the existing pieces still to be dug out, I felt set for the show, but the dark pink beads are more red when near the pink in the veil and hip scarf. Which means I will probably keep shopping and buy 15 more pieces in the coming weeks. And what about bracelets and earrings? It’s all good. still have a few weeks.

Tonight, “How to clean costume jewelry” was my online search. I love asking a question and having a slew of instant answers. The most popular recommendation was warm water and dish soap. Easy peasy. Cleaned and done.

random thoughts – Day 1,697 – (Saturday) – caturday with kiki

Kiki was finally let back into the bedroom this morning. During previous visits, she had crawled up inside the box spring and stayed there for days. After that, the door was carefully kept closed. 

Since the last time she snuck her way into the bedroom and camped out in the boxspring, I had covered the torn fabric on the bottom of the box spring with a fitted sheet. The door was still kept closed until I figured out what to do next.

This morning, I left the door open while I worked on the wardrobe changeover. I wanted to see what would happen. As I packed the last of the summer clothes into storage bags to make room for the winter sweaters, Kiki slinked in like a shadow. I said hello. She froze in the middle of the rug. I resumed packing summer tee shirts as she silently continued her trek to under the bed. It wasn’t long before she emerged from the far side, padded silently around the bed, and walked out the door.

When I was done and went back downstairs, she ignored me. She turned her back to me as she sat under the dining room table. Or maybe it was a coincidence and she just decided to look out the patio slider through a space in the curtains and I’m just paranoid. 

It wasn’t long before Kiki walked over to me to be petted and we were back on our usual terms. She asks me for affection and I give it. I ask her for affection and she walks away. She pauses and poses too far away for me to pet her and I try to get a better photo than the previous 10,000 slightly out of focus and downright terrible previous ones. And just like that, everything is back to normal.

random thoughts – Day 1,696 – (Friday) – full beaver moon

Downtown at dusk, 11-15-24.

It’s the full beaver moon tonight, and I’m sorry, but the 12-year-old that lives permanently in my brain can’t stop giggling at “full beaver moon.” 

Anyway, the moon was swollen and silver and barely visible over Merrimack Street for most of the walk to the garage. It hadn’t ascended enough to clear the rooftops and there was no hope of trying to get more (quantity) and hopefully more clear (quality) photos of it in the center of a wreath downtown during the walk. I could have hung around downtown waiting to see it climb higher and there were times I would have, but tonight was not one of those times.

From the fifth level of the garage, the downtown streetlights and windows glowed and the distant sky was blue and gold and orange-pink. I bet the scene was nicer and more interesting from the rooftop level, but I wasn’t about to climb another flight or walk up the ramp to find out and once I’m in the car, it’s a serious case of automatic pilot taking over to get me to the exit and out of the place.

On the Aiken Street
bridge, 11-15-24.

The ride home has become a tad more strategic lately. If, when approaching Aiken Street on Father Morrisette, I can see that the traffic is already piled up on the approach to the University Ave Bridge, I’ve been turning off at Aiken and taking that bridge instead. With all the metal, angles, and rivets, it’s a more interesting bridge on which to be sitting in traffic. 

Tonight, the full moon reflected on the river, very low from the drought. When the traffic light changed and the cars advanced a bit, the moon was framed by the diamond shapes in the metal supports. 

I love finding ways to entertain myself while in traffic. Reflections, displays in shop windows, brake lights ahead, brick buildings, birds on windowsills, whatever. It’s all interesting on some level, if only for fleeting seconds while in slow moving traffic.

random thoughts – Day 1,695 – (Thursday) – food and moon

It’s now prime time in the busy season for events at work and in the community. Last Thursday morning was the Salvation Army fundraiser breakfast. Today there was a work event to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the Multicultural Alliance and Working Parents Resource group, two of our employee resource groups. There was a lunch and a fair with all six of our ERGs present.

The lunch was a buffet with food from various cultures. There was a rice dish, a chicken and potato dish, egg rolls, spanikopita, stuffed grape leaves, pad thai, pizza, and probably a few other things I forgot.

The resource groups each had a table with info, giveaway items including customized cookies, quizzes, games, and scavenger hunts. It was informative, fun, and the food was delicious. Having another opportunity to eat lunch in room that wasn’t our office and chat with people from other departments felt like the good old days before the pandemic that derailed and disrupted the world. The event was everything that colleagues and I have said we missed while working remote. It. Was. Wonderful.

Moon, wreath, light.

Of course, I ate too much. It was too good to not do so. Plus, I’ve been feeling extra-special stressed out and tired lately, which now manifests itself as eating everything in sight in gross quantities as if I could smother the stress and angst. It doesn’t even work. I really miss the days when stress made me lose my appetite and forget to eat. Those were grand days. But the baklava and flan today were also mighty grand.

After work, the fat, silver moon hung over downtown. The holiday wreaths are hung on the lamp posts in preparation for the holidays and the Festival of Lights parade. I was the dork standing on the sidewalk shuffling a few steps this way and that way while trying to find the magic spot where the moon was centered in a wreath. The alignment worked, but a tripod would have helped with sharpness. 

random thoughts – Day 1,694 – (Wednesday) – legal regrets and such

Tonight, I participated in a Zoom webinar called “A Brief introduction to Copyright for Working Artists” offered by Mosaic Lowell as part of their professional development program. It was led by a Boston lawyer and was an interesting presentation about Intellectual Property rights that reminded me of one of my several regrets in life. At least twice, I had considered law school. The first time was when I took Business Law as an undergrad. I liked that class so much I was one of a handful of us who attended all of the Friday afternoon classes, even on the gorgeous spring days when half the school chose to skip out. The Uniform Commercial Code and the implied warranty of merchantability were fascinating. To me, anyway.

There was a point when I started researching law schools, followed by the point where I majorly screwed up, like I did so often as a younger person with a modicum of hope. At supper one night, I expressed my interest in law school out loud to family. 

As so often happened, it was the kiss of death. Instead of being met with questions like "what do you like about it," “is there a specific area you are interested in?” or “what might you want to do with a law degree,” I was met with the same “support” received any and every time I expressed a preference for anything. A torrent of p*ss immediately flowed fast and hot into my bowl of circular oat cereal product. “All lawyers are scum.” “Lawyers are [insert your favorite insult or cuss word here].” “Ewww, why would you want to do that?” And just like my younger self always did in the face of such love and support from people I cared about, I dropped it. Eventually I learned to not share my diminishing number of dreams and hopes because it was easier than seeing them peed upon and stomped.

The second time that law school was considered, I was in my 40s, living in Tennessee, and working full time. I kept the idea to myself, did some research, and then dashed my own budding dream in my own calm, rational, and logical manner. A law school in nearby Nashville had part-time night classes and affordable tuition. A gal pal's father had graduated from there and was enjoying a successful career. The thing that stopped me wasn't the expense, time, or hard work that would be involved, but the lack of American Bar Association accreditation. My brain recognized that the degree might not mean much outside Tennessee and Kentucky and my heart recognized that I likely wouldn’t be living in Tennessee forever.

Anyway. Tonight's webinar on copyright, plus a conversation last Friday where I told colleagues my favorite undergrad class was Business Law, had me all nostalgic and sad about the things I could have/ should have done. A real (and recurring) “what if?” wonderment moment.

If only I could jump into the way-back machine and grow a spine and not let the influential adults in my life dash the few dreams I dared to dream. If only I could go back and learn to just shut up and not say anything until I had fully prepared and could present my arguments. If only there was actually a way-back machine (which, as an invention, would fall under patent protection and not copyright, which I learned tonight). Sigh.

random thoughts – Day 1,693 – (Tuesday) – blocked

Blah, blah. Same old, same old. There was coffee, work, lunch, and more work.

Blocked.

There was also the new weekday, work hours, annoying phone calls. Starting in July, there was a steady stream of calls from unidentified numbers, often in other states located far, far away. Minnesota. Louisiana. Indiana. Florida. Ohio. North Carolina. Oregon. Georgia. Illinois. South Carolina. Michigan. Texas. 

Fortunately, I keep my phone ringer off at work. Perhaps unfortunately, I usually forget to turn it back on and occasionally miss calls I actually want. It works out mostly okay though, because generally I get very few important calls and most of the people I communicate with prefer a nice quiet text message that can be answered when convenient. Works for me.

The calls from the out of state numbers seemed to stop on election day. Or maybe they are on a little rest break. It doesn’t mean I have caught a break, however. 

The out of state calls have been replaced by calls from the (351) area code of northern Massachusetts. Luckily, due to the aforementioned ringer being turned off thing, I am blissfully unaware of them coming in until later. I’ve answered only two of them because I happened to see the call coming in and I was curious. Both times there was nobody on the line. There has never been a voice mail left. I think the object of the game is to have some answer to verify the number is valid. 

Since last week, I’ve blocked seven numbers from the (351) area code. Enough already.

random thoughts – Day 1,692 – (Monday) – concept and plan

As usual, there were several potential plans for the day. Ok, no actual plans per se, more like a concept of a plan. The concept was that I “would do something.” The something part, including what and how to execute it, was where things got fuzzy. Scrolling Facebook events yielded nothing but potential ideas for next weekend. Potential ideas for the current day flitted in my head. Clean out the spare room (or at least start). Dismantle the deck table and put it in the shed. Read a book. Clean off the dining room table. Clean out the kitchen junk drawers.

Supper underway.

Big surprise to absolutely nobody at all, none of those things happened, but a couple other things did. I played games on my phone while shows and movies streamed on Netflix. Ate leftover pizza for lunch. Petted Kiki’s sweet little face every time she showed up to demand it. The dishes in the sink were washed. The floors, rugs, and Kiki’s chair were vacuumed. The trash and recycle bins were taken in from the curb. It was minimal effort at best.

While vegetating on the couch late in the afternoon, supper ideas began to form around sweet potatoes and onions. A sweet potato was sliced thin and sautéed with butter and a sliced onion. Almost everything I cook begins with butter and an onion. Frozen meat substitute crumbles and cranberries were added, and later, pecans. The seasonings were red pepper flakes and cinnamon.

Finished meal.

Normally, I would add diced apples and pears to a concoction like this to provide some moisture, but there were none at the house and I wasn’t going out shopping. A small amount of some sort of liquid was needed, but there was also no orange juice or broth from which to grab a splash. The winner for an on-hand sort-of liquid was strawberry jam. It was a desperate move, but the pretend meat crumbles can be as dry as dust without help. It worked, and the combination of hot red pepper and sweet jelly was tasty. 

It was another successful supper for one. I may fail to make and act on plans most of the time, but at least I manage to feed myself.

random thoughts – Day 1,691 – (Sunday) – perseverance

Perseverance in pink.

There were four or five mums, an echinacea plant, and other plants I didn’t even know the names of in the front yard. With the exception of one of the mums that was surrounded by irises that hid it, all were eaten by some still unidentified yard critter(s) as they began to produce leaves and buds. 

When I bought a couple more plants this year, I stood at the displays calculating how much money I was willing to sacrifice to the front yard mess hall, and also if there any colors the hungry little beasts might not like. The buds of the older plants of several colors were eaten as they emerged, so color might not be a factor. The tender young leaves and buds are probably as exciting to the critters as the early spring fiddleheads and asparagus are for humans.

Hanging tough in yellow.

This morning, I noticed some weary and worn yellow and dark pink flowers in the yard. There is no telling how long they had been there, because I don’t spend time in the yard like I did when Moose and Winston were alive. 

Somehow, two of the plants that had been prime ingredients in the front yard salad buffet managed to produce more leaves and flowers. They persevered through the hardships of being eaten down to little nubs and then a drought that still lingers and has ongoing daily fire danger warnings. 

Good work little plants. Nicely done. 

random thoughts – Day 1,690 – (Saturday) – spices and spending

Spices!

Oh, Saturday, how I love thee. Always so full of hope and promise and impulsive actions.

There was an ambitious start to the day. Friday night, thanks to a work friend’s Facebook post, I learned there was a spice drive taking place today from 10 until noon at a local food pantry. There was even a list provided of the most requested spices, which made it easy. 

My morning was free of commitments and I headed to Market Basket and rounded up several containers of salt, cinnamon, crushed red pepper flakes, and chili powder, then dropped them off at the drive. Did I think to buy any of these to restock my own pantry? No, I did not. Duh.

Next on the list was the gas station to fill the tank (only $2.85/gallon!) and the tires (low pressure again, Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot. Cripes). While heading back home, I remembered I had wanted to go to the neighborhood local appliance store (yes, there is still one of those!). My refrigerator, which came with the house, while reliable and functioning properly on the inside, keeps getting rust spots on the outside. They used to scrub off with a ton of effort, but now they are permanent and getting worse. Gross. For months, I looked for appliance vinyl to just cover it up, but everything found is sized for the narrower side-by-side doors. The people with basic models that could really benefit from the stuff are left out. The food chill box has become embarrassing and needs to go.

There was an email last week from the local appliance store about a sale this month and I had already measured the offending unit and looked at the options online. A very suitable option was found that is just like the one I have sans rust spots. It has glass shelves and a deli drawer and two produce drawers and is on sale for a couple hundred dollars off. I could have ordered it online, but wanted to see it in person.

Just my luck, there were none of the old school basic model 28-inch refrigerators on the showroom floor, just the super-super expensive models that are the Mercedes Benz or BMW equivalent models of home appliances. The sales guy and I were at a desk looking at the same website I had viewed at home, and thank goodness I had already done that because I could recognize from the photos which had wire shelves and which had the glass shelves I wanted. Anyway, the thing is ordered and a delivery date scheduled. Then I looked at washer dryer sets, just because.

After the almost-impulse refrigerator purchase, the day's momentum skidded to a stop. Enough money had been spent already for the day/week/month and it was fiscally more responsible to quietly stay home and watch Preacher on Netflix for the rest of the afternoon. So that is what I did. 

random thoughts – Day 1,689 – (Friday) – good day

This was the second of two days this week that included the fun part of marketing. Today's edition featured the graphic designer and another colleague and I as we stood around the work table analyzing potential designs for two projects. It was a smaller scale of when we did the same thing on Wednesday with the first set of design drafts and the full team. Today, we looked at the refinements that were proposed the other day and came up with a few more tweaks.

We discussed the various colors and the extent to which they drew attention to the message (or not). We analyzed the various font treatments and the weight of the text and the spacing. We looked at how the imagery in some versions led the eye into the text. This sort of exercise was done regularly at my old agency job in Tennessee and I've missed it, so it’s been great collaborating like this this week. 

Since the pandemic and then the hybrid schedules, a lot of our creative discussions are handled via email or chat messages from our remote locations. It can be efficient, but it’s just not the same as in person conversations. Efficiency can be isolating, and there is no way we could have captured all the nuances we discussed this week over email. Impossible, really.

Merrimack Street, 5:05 pm.

Another nice thing that happened today was that the three of us onsite in our suite were invited to a pizza lunch in the executive office downstairs with our colleagues on the sales side of our business unit. One of our team members in that group finished the requirements for her degree today. The pizzas and salad were from my favorite pizza purveyor and were predictably delicious. It was a treat sitting in a conference room chatting about all manner of non-work things like New York City, traffic stops, classes we liked in college, and pizza.

At home, the street is dry since the water department crew did work yesterday. It doesn’t seem they are finished yet because there is gravel and safety cones were there used to be asphalt, but the situation is certainly improved.

Today was a good day. Five out of five stars. Even walking in the dark to the garage after 5:00 was nice with the white lights shining in the trees and reflecting on the sidewalk, and the lights glowing in the restaurant windows. Not as nice as the afternoon brightness and sunshine of 5:00 on a June day of course, but still nice in its own different way.

random thoughts – Day 1,688 – (Thursday) – breakfast and drama

Breakfast.

At 7:00 this morning, instead of sitting on my couch drinking coffee and relaxing with the usual emails, Wordle, and Words with Friends, I was dressed in a suit, seated at a table set for breakfast in a function room in Dracut while Christmas music played. Five colleagues soon joined me at the table in the packed room for the Salvation Army of Lowell’s Christmas Castle Breakfast. It wasn’t my usual morning event, but definitely worth getting up and out of the house for.

As I pulled into the parking lot, it wasn't visions of sugarplums dancing through my head, but coffee and French toast with syrup. The buffet felt like a miniature version of the breakfast spreads at the resort in Mexico and had donuts, pastries, eggs, sausages, bacon, fruits, and yes, French toast. Talk about a great start to the day.

After the breakfast, it was back to the remote office where, at 9:30, multiple trucks were lined up on the street and a digger was parked at the end of the street. A crew from the water department was working on the water main leak. It was a little bit loud, but I was glad the problem was being fixed. 

There was drama.

Everything seemed to be moving along nicely for several hours, while big chunks of asphalt being set into the digger, and a big hose thing in the new hole and guys moving around the work site. It all seemed very routine until1:30, when it got spicy. 

Voices were yelling over the sound of an idling engine and a pickup truck was parked in the middle of the street. The yelling included lots and lots of passionate f-bombs that lasted for a few minutes as one worker screamed at another one. I had a front row seat to a real-life workplace drama. 

Eventually, the yelling stopped and the construction sounds resumed. The pickup truck parked at the end of the street briefly, then disappeared. Around 3:30, the entire operation had vacated, leaving nothing but some orange cones where the digging had been and the puddle that still remained at the foot of my driveway. The space in front of the neighbor's house was significantly drier.

My workday was free of the drama of the water crew. My colleagues and I quietly and respectfully moved projects along and responded to emails and Teams messages and exchanged important information and updates. I made more progress on the shared drive file cleanup, which I enjoy a lot more than I thought I would. As work days go, it was a pretty good one.

random thoughts – Day 1,687 – (Wednesday) – candy and ripples

Candy!!!

Today at work there was an insane quantity of candy. Some of it was left over from a meeting last week, and the rest seems to have appeared by the magic of The Great Pumpkin from the Peanuts cartoon. Or something. The M&Ms (plain and peanut), chocolate covered pretzels, Hershey minis, Swedish Fish, Skittles, Gummy Bears, and Smartees were the perfect sugar scenario for the day. 

Our team meeting was a productive event and we even got to do some of the more fun marketing things that aren’t necessarily regular events. Today we all reviewed eight concepts for a sign project – the kind of review where I laid out the designs on the counter to get first reactions to see which design(s) rose to the top.  We got a lot of good feedback to narrow the choices down and refine the remainders.

I had forgotten my usual crunchy breakfast granola bar, so it was a gazillion fun size Hershey bars for breakfast. And second breakfast. And pre-lunch appetizer. And after my grocery store Greek lunch of spanikopita twirl, stuffed grape leaves, Kalamata olives, and feta cheese. Hershey powered me through the "Planning for Medicare" webinar that just makes me want to open a vein. It feels like the entire program is designed to make people unalive themselves rather than deal with the frigging signups and b*ullsh*t. Thanks the the Hershey company for getting me through the webinar without stabbing myself.

Ripples on the canal water.

I haven’t checked to see how rare the weather was today in terms of records, but the average temperature is around 50 degrees (according to the Internet) and it was 80 degrees and sunny. In Massachusetts. In November. It's quite possible hell has relocated to Middlesex County, but I liked it. 

An afternoon walk was taken. The loop around the canal and the courthouse was a nice quick trek in the sunshine. Some of the trees are still colorful with leaves. It was breezy, so the canal water had a nicely rippled surface. I would have liked to watch the water for a while, but then I felt weird standing there so long like a weirdo so I resumed the walking.

It was super not fun leaving work in the dark but when I got to some of the trees with the white lights in them it seemed less awful. I like the lights in the trees. They are pretty and really improve the gloom of a dark night.

random thoughts – Day 1,686 – (Tuesday) – solar, soup, skirts

It was 4:55 this afternoon when I learned how nice it was outside. It was 67 degrees. How did I miss that? Also, why did the 67 outdoor degrees feel warmer than the 67 degrees inside where I was sitting and freezing? Another of life's everyday mysteries.

Without dogs, I have a dozen fewer daily reasons to be outside in the yard, so it's not really a surprise why I'm rarely outside. Today it was a knock on the door at dusk that gave me a heart attack and had me poking my nose outside. I was busy cleaning out duplicate files on the department shared drive and the rap on the glass storm door startled me. Most of the time, a rare knock on the back door is from someone from the house next door, and I bolted out of my chair, expecting to see neighbor K or another familiar face. Nope. It was a guy with a clipboard.

Clipboard guy wanted to talk to me about solar in the near-dark. Again. He seemed a bit surprised I didn’t remember him from the last time he bothered me with this, like maybe he thought I'd been waiting and hoping for his return or that he is the only clipboard bearer disturbing my peace and quiet to try and sell me stuff I don’t want. 

I told clipboard guy the same thing I told him the last time and what I tell everyone trying to sell me solar. The panels are hideous, but when the technology advances to being built into the usual styles of roofing shingles, I would feel differently about it. Also, my average electric bill is low enough that it would take forever and a day to recoup the cost. What was not said is that my house needs a whole hell of a lot of other things before dumping money into solar panels. He told me that “pretty soon, everyone will be solar,” as if he thinks I’m some little sheep that follows the crowd. I said, “well, I’m old, I’ll probably be dead by then.” He finally went away. I suspect he’ll be back.

After work, I heated up some of yesterday's soup. The tortellini had absorbed some of the broth since yesterday, so water and leftover spaghetti sauce from the freezer were added, along with some sliced mushrooms. It was delicious and different from the day before. Soup is fun to play with. 

New trio of dance skirts!

It was dark enough at 5:30 that I was ready to snuggle up with some fruit tea and call it a night on the couch, but it was dance class night. Text messages were mentally drafted with potential excuses as to why I wouldn’t be in class. No texts were sent, but I delayed until nearly the last possible minute to gather my dance skirt and get myself out the door. This sort of debate happens all the time. 

The traffic was light tonight, so the ride was easy. And as always happens, I was glad to be in class once I was there. Dance is always fun, and I got to wear the new blue and purple skirt that arrived last week as part of a three skirt random bundle from the same company that made my troupe performance 25-yard skirts.

My reluctance to leave the house is almost never about the destination and almost always about the transportation. If we had the personal jet packs and flying cars we were told we might have in the year 2000 by my elementary school teachers, I might like commuting more.

Perhaps the best part of being gone for three hours tonight was that I wasn’t stressed out and staring at the TV and the election news. Never have I been as nervous about an election as I have been about this one.