random thoughts – Day 2,397 (Friday 10/9) – doctors, contractors, and artsyness

Provisions.

It was an action-packed Friday. It kicked off with a drive to Dracut for my annual checkup with my doctor of 10 years who I like, so I haven’t been motivated to start all over with another provider closer to home. There was bloodwork, which was great because I didn’t feel like I fasted and sacrificed coffee for nothing.

Before leaving the Lowell area, I stopped at Market Basket to stock up on Greek spanikopita spinach pinwheels and stuffed grape leaves that don't seem to be available closer to home. The bakery discount rack was disappointing, but the deli discount area delivered with American cheese ends. 

Being close to noontime, and being hungry from the lack of breakfast, I grabbed a steak sandwich with cheese from the grab and go hot foods, which was devoured in the car before leaving the parking lot. I'm not too proud for a car picnic.

Progress!

When I arrived back at home, the contractors were busy at work on the siding and I parked on my lawn. During the afternoon, once again, several people stopped by to chat with the contractor and my address felt popular. Nobody ever stops by for me. 

The house across the street is very popular, but usually with ambulances, including today. The FedEx driver arrived across the street while the ambulance was in the driveway and I wondered if there was a protocol for such an occurrence. The delivery was made. Eventually, the ambulance left.

I don’t know when the contractor and his guy started working, but they were cranking until 5:00 and despite the interruptions, finished the back of the house and one of the short sides. The color looks great, and the feedback from the passersby confirms my choice. The contractor was a little skeptical about the color and when he relayed the praise, I looked at him and said “I told you!”. 

Mosaic house number.

The evening was spent in Ashburnham at The Painted Goat art space making a mosaic house number panel. Six of us pawed through scrap glass and arranged bits in a tray with our house numerals. Classic rock blared and the very loud talking instructor delivered instructions in the equivalent of stadium voice. One of the people at my table was singing along with every song, the glue wouldn't come out of the dispenser, and my nerves were fraying.

Despite the noise and the problems with the glue, choosing glass pieces was relaxing until I started to overthink everything, but I finally got to the point of being somewhat satisfied with the bits arranged around my house number. Several people complimented my color choices, especially the yellow, and I basked in the validation because I am sometimes needy like that.

Spreading the grout was a bit tricky. Tomorrow I’ll need to do a bit more cleanup when the grout is set further. I’m afraid the numbers are too small to be seen from the street so I’ll probably need larger numbers on the house for the benefit of delivery drivers and the hopefully never needed emergency services.