Senior Perks

After a cup of fresh-brewed coffee this morning … yes, by me, in my little percolator, it was off to the Community Room to sit in on the bus company’s presentation, which took place after all but with the actual bus cancelled out.

Worried as I was that this morning’s brew would be full of grounds, I’d done some research online into Terry’s pour-over method -- Terry being the coffee connoisseur husband of dkzody, and learned a nylon stocking could be utilized.

What are the odds that just yesterday, in de-cluttering containers in the bedroom closet, I ran across a couple pairs of unopened Nordstrom nylon stockings. Having not worn stockings since retiring, those packages I guessed to be from the year 2010. Another clue as to the age of those stockings were that the packaging was beginning to discolor, and the price tag was listed as $6.00. That Nordstrom brand now goes for $12.00.

At any rate, anticipating no need for stockings in future, I put them in the thrift store donation pile, but removed them after reading they could be used for straining out the grains and for the pour-over method.

As it turns out, there was no need to cut the stockings up because, when I poured my brew into a cup, there was not a single grain. However, there didn’t appear to be any coffee either because, what I poured from the percolator into the cup looked like lightly colored water.

I think because I made so little coffee, there wasn’t enough water to percolate properly.

I thought about that pour-over method and simply poured the lightly colored very hot water over the whatchamacallit in the percolator that contained the grounds, once again poured the brew into a cup and tada, perfectly brewed coffee.

Tomorrow, I think I’ll dispense entirely with percolating and utilize the pour-over method.

This morning’s presentation was fruitful. I learned of a Lyft program for us seniors, based along the lines of Uber which, instead of an expensive rental, seems like will be perfect for me if and when I have to leave the car for service.

Inasmuch as there’s been so much negative news about Uber, I inquired about how they vetted their drivers, which turned out to be the usual background and criminal checks.

Uber did that as well, yet and still I’m reading about women being attacked. So I then asked if I could request a female … answer was yes, but one idiot of a resident, sensing my mistrust of males blurted out, in what sounded to me like a snide manner, “What … you afraid of men?”

“Yes. Life experiences have taught me to be leery of anything with a penis.”

That, plus the don’t-test-me tone of my voice when I said it, shut her up.

At the end of the presentation, we were rewarded with a 1-Day Free Pass, good until September 2016.

After the presentation, I wasted a couple hours trying to locate a Salvation Army Donation Center. The center listed online for this area, turned out to be a self-serve storage. I pulled over, made a few phone calls to other so-called centers listed as being within 10 miles.

Phone calls went unanswered.

Getting frustrated at this point, I decided to just drop everything off in one of those donation bins I’ve seen in the area.

The one in front of the Thai Place was full, and I didn’t bother to try the one closest to the complex because I’ve seen people digging through the contents, taking off with what they want to sell, spewing the rest all over the place.

At this point, I was so ready to just return to the complex and toss everything into the dumpster, but my heart wouldn’t let me do that to perfectly good shoes and clothing that someone else could use, especially since there were shoes that had only been worn once, and summer tops, shorts, capri leggings that had never been worn, tags still attached.

Making one last effort, I used the cell phone internet, found a Goodwill a few cities over, called to verify and (after picking up dinner at Thai Place since I was there), finally four hours after the quest for a donation center began, managed to make the drop off.

While there, I saw what looked to be what once was someone’s treasured doll collection being donated.

Upon closer inspection, the collection made me smile. Some look to be quite old and valuable. I can’t imagine someone donating such a nice collection, so my guess is the collector passed away and the donations are from her estate.

At any rate, the closet is now de-cluttered and just needs items remaining to be better organized. I’d hoped to finish that when I got back but, exhausted from all that running around, I’m done for the day.

Going to brew another cup of coffee, self-medicate with Thai food and chill out.