Mixed Bag

I took a stroll outside yesterday, to check the area where I'd seen wild mushrooms growing and found them gone.

Don’t know if Karen got to them or another resident or the landscapers but fortunately, when first spotted, I’d taken photos.

The plan, after this morning’s workout, was to head to the dentist for removal of that temporary crown.

However, the dental office called yesterday to reschedule to 10:00 Friday.

It’s already been four weeks, when it should have been only two, so "What’s the holdup" I asked.

Something to do with the permanent crown not yet being delivered by the lab.

The lab must be on Pluto, thought I, as I reluctantly agreed to give up Friday’s workout so I can get the work done and over with.

I am so over dentists that I’ll not be having any further preventive work done. I’ll wait until something goes wrong and I have no choice — from proactive to reactive.

It was a mixed bag the night I checked Twitter to see how Spring Baking Championship (SBC) fans were reacting to Carolyn being brought back.

Unlike Instagram, where the show’s media team can and do delete unfavorable comments, they can’t control Twitter and, though two or three were supportive of Carolyn coming back, the majority called the fairness of it into question, and universally voiced their displeasure of the new host.

"Not loving this season SBC where one mistake can send you home until they randomly change the rules" … "How is bringing Carolyn back fair? I'm out. This season is terrible" … "It’s horribly unfair that she gets another chance" … "SBC just out here making up their own rules. Eliminate someone too early. Bring them back. I mean, why bother having any rules anyway?" … "No way Carolyn should have come back. If they were going to have that be a new element in the show it should have been announced in the beginning. I'll finish watching this season but I hope Molly isn't here for any other Baking Championship" … "They had no business bringing Carolyn back. Done with this bullshit show" … "Molly Yeh makes me want to rip my eyes out and shove them in my ears" … "Molly should go back to the farm" …"If Carolyn wins, it’ll seem like favoritism" … and so on and so on and so on.

Newsflash …. Carolyn IS going to win and it IS favoritism.

I guess the show's Instagram page received so much flack that they got tired of deleting comments — like they promptly deleted my comment calling them out on being sketchy, and solved the issue by deleting the entire post, which was a photo of the remaining contestants.

If I were Carolyn, I’d be embarrassed and want no part of being called back to ultimately win under such circumstances.

I’m equating it to someone who recently won an Oscar — so you win your Oscar, you win Spring Baking Championship, but it’s a tainted victory that, even though you go on to enjoy fame and fortune, the wrongness of it will weigh on you.

It's bad Juju for everyone involved.

In other news ... and don't get mad my UK friends at this but I'm just wondering that, since Harry and Megan got such lovely comments about their attendance at the Invictus Games and PDA, if Kate and William will come up with something comparable since they do tend to compete for the lion's share of attention.

Just sayin.

Cash for Coins

After avoiding the heat by staying indoors Friday and Saturday, I had to venture out into it this morning, because the battery was too low for a reading on my little blood pressure monitor.

At the drugstore, the clerk asked if I had 4 cents, so she’d not have to give me 96 cents back from a bill, because they were short on change.

I would have liked to have helped them out but, unfortunately, my reply was “I don’t carry coins. All my coins are in jars at home”.

That’s when, what looked to be her supervisor, walked over and said, “If you want to get rid of those coins, we’ll buy them back from you”.

SAY WHAT!?

Didn’t sound like much of a buyback for, as she went on to say, “If you sell us $40 in change, we’ll give you back $41. However, it’s a much better offer than when I was last at the bank.

The bank offered no incentive whatsoever. In fact, the bank seemed to make the exchange too much trouble by requiring coins bundled in those little coin wrappers.

At any rate, I’ll hang onto the bulk of my plentiful coins just in case there’s a bidding war. LOL.

In the meantime, I’m going to go old school ─ start carrying a coin purse once again. Instead of tossing coins in jars, I’ll toss into the coin purse and help the stores out with exact purchase price, so they don’t have to depart with what little change they have.

IF the cashiers see my coin purse and asks if I want to exchange for cash, I’ll say “Make me an offer”.

Back at the complex, I saw I had a delivery at the door.

Thinking it was a pre-ordered book I’d been waiting for (not any of the new books about No. 45), I took it inside. Upon opening, I saw a shower curtain.

WHAT? I didn’t order this.

Checking the label, I saw it had been left at the wrong door ─ should have been delivered to the same address as mine, but in the F Building on the other side of the complex.

I wrote a note of apology ─ for having opened it ... because I thought it was mine, on the package, and back out into the heat I go to deliver to the correct door.

No one was home, so I left it at the door hoping the recipient isn’t a nut and my good deed doesn't end up biting me in the butt, because you just never know.

I once opened a file cabinet at the law firm and there, on the bottom was a credit card. I uttered out loud to my coworker, “There’s a credit card in here”.

When I read the name on it, she knew that as a temp who’d sat in that area, was still working jobs in the firm and said she’d give her a call to come pick it up.

When the girl came to pick it up, she gave me a look that would kill. She never said a word, but the way she looked at her credit card, then looked up at me, walked away, looked back at me, spoke volumes.

I told my coworker, “She thinks I stole it”.

Made no sense, but there you have it ─ ignorant people or people with mental issues that just don’t see things logically.

If I knew then, what I know now, upon finding that credit card, I’d have never said a word. Instead, I’d have run it through the shredder and gone about my business because that episode tainted me. It's still in me to do the right thing, but I try to be anonymous and always there's that worry it will somehow come back to bite me in the butt.

There was a thing on the news a couple years back, when a good guy found a cell phone and managed to contact the owner. The owner showed up to retrieve, accused the good guy of having stolen the phone and shot him dead.

I didn’t add my name to the apology for opening on the package, but the resident will know it was me because they had one of those little home spy cams set up in the window by the door.

Very creepy that. I just hope they’re okay people.

(Thanks Jan F. I’ve seen that one, and she’s still full of it.)

Rough Morning

Today started off rough with a dream trainer and I were having a disagreement that resulted in my walking out.

I hope it’s not a precog dream, but it felt pretty detailed not to be.

A few weeks ago, two women came into the pain cave looking to get fit.

Trainer had posted, just before Christmas that he’d not be accepting anymore cross fit clients, as he’d be focusing on his muay thai boxing clients this year.

A lot of his decision has to do with the cross fit clients complaining too much about how hard it is, not wanting to follow instructions without complaint, not showing up. He says the complaining, lack of dedication brings him down.

Okay, I understand ... his time is valuable, his choice as to where to use that time. I was just relieved he’d be keeping those of us already involved in cross fit on his roster.

What I had a bit of a problem with was the way he spoke to the two woman, who were quite literally begging him to take them on. Instead of saying no, he said maybe and lectured them that, if I do take you on, I expect this, that, the other, I don’t want to hear this, that, the other.

Had he laid down the law to me, as he was laying it down to these two women, coming from a place of ego, I would have said “Never mind, F you” and suggested he get over himself as I headed for the exit.

That pretty much was the substance of the dream, only it was me being lectured to.

I was in session, there were others in the room, trainer told me to make a move I was unfamiliar with and I began looking to him to give me a demonstration. He became short tempered that I didn’t know what to do and, showing off a bit in front of others, began lecturing me.

I wordlessly picked up my stuff and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” asked trainer.

“Thank you for the work you’ve put into me, but I won’t deal with this ego of yours” said I as I walked out the door.

Trainer followed, there was an apology ─ which I ignored as I got in the car and drove away. There was then a text message apology, a request for me to come back, but I said, though I accept the apology, it would feel weird, that I’d no longer feel comfortable with him.

The dream then shifted to thinking how to continue training on my own when I was suddenly awakened by a BEEP!

It was the smoke detector yet again.

Looking at the clock, it was 3:15 a.m.

Happy to be out of that dream, but not planning to repeat what happened last month, when it was smoke detector hell, with the mechanism beeping every 19 seconds for something like 6 hours, because management said, though I’d described the beeping as “driving me crazy”, it wasn’t considered a maintenance emergency, that the guys would get around to it.

Long-time readers will recall that brouhaha when the detector went off after hours, no one would come fix it until the next morning so, unable to sleep through it, I went to a hotel.

It’s like every month there’s drama with this smoke detector, so obviously there’s a problem with the mechanism but, after all I'd tolerated only to be told this last time wasn’t considered an emergency, I decided I’d never call in a fix-it request again. I’d find a way to fix it my own darn self.

Tada! …. Fixed it!

All units are getting their annual inspection next week/week after. Can’t wait to see management’s face.

If asked why I didn’t call it in, my reply will be “I was not willing to be inconvenienced from 3:15 in the morning until you guys decided to get around to my non-emergency”.

BAM!

After that very detailed dream, I was a little reticent about this morning’s training session. Everything was normal, went well, but the dream has me a little on guard ... waiting for the shoe to drop.

An Ominous Beginning

New Year’s Eve started off a business as usual day with a mid-morning workout at the Pain Cave, and plans to bring in the New Year with the seniors at a party in the Community Room, slated to begin at 5:00.

By the time five o’clock rolled around, I was way too comfortable to bundle up against the cold and head for the Community Room. I instead opted for a quiet night in ─ working on the latest needlepoint, watching the Twilight Zone Marathon.

THEN, along about 6:00, the cable services went down ─ no television, no internet.

The evening became a lot quieter than I’d bargained for.

At least the lights were still on, so I could spend the evening needlepointing ─ not like the day after Christmas when we had a complete outage first thing in the morning. Not only no television, no internet, but also no microwave, no stove, no lights. There was enough light seeping in from the outside that I could dress myself, but putting on makeup in the dark was challenging.

That outage was short, lasted a few hours. This latest outage lasted through New Year's Eve, and looked to be continuing all day today, with no end in sight and me with no access to information as to why it was happening and when will it end.

Along about 3:00, I decided to drive out of the area for bubble wrap and got cellphone access there to the internet. Able to log in, call my provider, make a complaint, I saw the outage was listed as system wide and caused by someone having damaged a fiber optic cable, whatever that is.

Whatever it is, the timing of it doesn’t sound like an accident or happenstance. More like the work of a disgruntled employee of the cable company or homegrown terrorist looking to ruin much for many.

I hope they figure out who, otherwise we can expect this kind of disruption again.

Expecting another night with no television no internet, about a half hour or so ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see lights once again blinking on the modem. Television and internet restored ─ too late to catch Judge Judy, but in time to catch tonight's episode of Vikings on the history channel.

Turns out the culprit cut the cable in two places between San Bernardino and Los Angeles.

Definitely someone with knowledge of the system's infrastructure.

At any rate, life will catch up with the culprit, if the authorities don’t, and karma will kick his arse. So though the start of 2020 seems ominous, it’s onward and upwards.

Instant Karma

Fourth of July was quiet around here … until about 9:00 p.m., then it was bombs bursting in air.

I looked out the patio and bedroom windows, trying to catch a glimpse, but the light show was on the other side of the complex. I would have had to go outside to watch, which is what some of the neighbors did.

Earlier in the day, I managed to finish laundry, log 6 miles into the San Francisco Challenge, and fix the problem with the improperly ironed and stretched landscape piece.

BEFORE

AFTER

I even managed to lug the carpet cleaner out of the patio storage area, but that’s as far as I got with cleaning the carpet. I’ll get around to it tomorrow.

Instead, I got online and spent hours laughing at what clever people had done with Photoshop and that photo of New Jersey Governor Christy lounging on a “closed to public” beach – of which these are just a hilarious few.

Today, I headed out to the craft store to pick up floss for my next project. While waiting in line, I observed a grandmother and her two grand girls at the check stand. Took them quite a while, the line was backing up and, after all was said and done, they walked away without their purchase. The woman at the register yelled out, “Ma’am”, held up the package, one of the grand girls went “Ohhhh”, ran back, grabbed the package, and I laughed out loud.

I thought the scene was funny.

When it was my turn at the check stand, I gave the girl at the register my cell phone, so she could scan my coupon, paid for my purchases and, in the process of stuffing change and the cell phone back into my fanny pack and getting out of the way, so as to not hold up the next person, I walked away from my package.

I heard the girl at the register yell out, “Ma’am”, went back, grabbed my package and avoided making eye contact with those in line behind me who’d heard me, just moments before, laugh when it happened to someone else.

Wasn’t so funny when it happened to me, but serves me right.

What Has Two Legs, Eight Eyes

The answer is ME ... still.

This morning’s visit to the optometrist did not go as expected.

Because I’ve never been able to adjust to the options -- that would be split lenses, bifocals, etc., you name it, I tried it, could never get comfortable with whatever, it's been three different pairs – distance, near and computer, six additional eyes.

Last time I had my eyes examined and bought glasses was when Sarah Palin was running for office and her rimless glasses caught my fancy. Costing an arm and two legs, it was a good investment as they’ve lasted all these years, are still fashionable and are being replaced only because I need a new prescription.

But for the fact I may move to Nevada, won’t have access to frame repair – and one pair did need servicing last year, I decided not to use that same optometrist, but made an appointment with optometry through my health plan provider, which has offices everywhere.

Seeing glasses on a Big Brother contestant two years ago (8/8/2015 to be exact), I snapped a photo, and kept the photo on my phone all this time.

Took a while to get around to going out for new glasses, but today was the day.

Would you believe, the provider's optometry department had those same glasses -- in the men’s section.

Pair 1 Distance

I was hoping to get down to one pair but, after discussing my activities, what worked for me in the past, what did not work in the past, it was still three pairs – except the optometrist suggested I ditch the computer glasses I’ve been using since 2007, saying the prescription on the Palin reading glasses would now be suitable as computer glasses, and just purchase a pair for near and a pair for distance.

Pair 2 Near

So it's still six additional eyes for me, but I’m okay with it.

I’m not okay with the optometrist finding signs of cataracts, even though she added it was "beginning stages, nowhere near requiring surgery, check back in two years".

Being a holistic type person, needing to know what I was dealing with so I’d know what needed to be corrected in how I care for myself, I asked, “Can cataracts be avoided?”

“No. If you live long enough, everyone gets cataracts.”

Dayum! thought I.

She was so blunt, so matter-of-fact that, after initially being stunned, I found it funny and started laughing.

Doesn’t mean I’m accepting it happens to everyone eventually, or that it will eventually happen to me because, once back at the complex, I checked my Louise Hay book and learned the root cause of cataracts is “Inability to see ahead with joy. Dark future”.

I try to stay in the moment but admit to having looked ahead and worried about my future because I’d jeopardized myself by putting the need of others ahead of my own. So it made sense the optometrist saw signs of cataracts. However, I feel assured it won’t progress any further because that windfall has given me a whole new outlook on my future. And having learned my lesson, I'm putting myself first, so that now, when I look ahead, the future looks a whole lot brighter.