The Red Invitation

On Wednesday, I got through the last of the hard parts and finished the book written by the Great Granddaughter I never knew I had.

Available on Amazon

It ended on a high note, with her doing great things … a non-profit, podcasts, a goal of connecting with other adoptees/foster youths, create safe spaces.

How was I depicted in the book you ask?

"My GG (great grandma) does voodoo". LOL.

She’s not entirely correct, but she’s not entirely wrong.

Also on Wednesday, through the kitchen window, I noticed something red posted to White-Haired Neighbors' door.

If she had something posted to her door, it was likely I also had something. Opened the door, checked and sure enough … it was an invitation from management to attend "Let’s Give Thanks – join us for a Thanksgiving Lunch, Tuesday November 24th".

WHAT!? Now I’m getting scared.

First, management threw that Halloween Party on the 30th of last month, and now they’re hosting a Thanksgiving event just weeks later????. Like, why are they suddenly being so good to us?

No question, I won’t be attending because it’s a purely eating event, and I can’t eat anything they are likely to serve. Plus, and too, there’s likely to be that annoying bullshite ceremony where they go around the room, everyone says what they are thankful for.

That's a little too hokey for me. So, if photos are to be taken for posting to the Residents’ facebook page, one of the Usual Suspects will have to take them, forward to me for posting.

I had been considering heading to Long Beach for the Thanksgiving Holiday but then, I remembered how boring Long Beach had been during a former Thanksgiving visit. Not to mention, reviews on my favorite hotel in the downtown area, with a view of the Queen Mary, seems to indicate the hotel and area have gone down considerably, because the area has been taken over by the unhoused.

Confirming with granddaughter, she tells me it has gotten bad, for that reason … you can’t even safely walk in the area, the noxious smells, sidewalks littered with animal and human feces.

So, if I go, I’ll have to switch to a hotel she suggested that’s near the airport.

There’s also to consider that, if I go for Thanksgiving, I’m likely to run into White Grandma (whom the great grandbabies call "Pink Grandma" as opposed to Twin 1, whom they referred to as "Brown Grandma"). I’m just "GG", no color assigned, LOL.

I’m thinking, I’ll save the visit for closer to Christmas when I can do "Breakfast with Santa" with the toddlers at the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Lastly, on Wednesday … the day when she who shall henceforth remain nameless on this here blog because she told me there would no longer be crafts on Wednesdays, those days supposedly reserved for doctor appointments and then proceeded to have sessions nevertheless, leaving me out of the notification process, the seniors had crafts. They made decorative plates.

What’s in the Closet?

Crafts this morning was a drag. The Usual Suspects were all either really sick, not feeling well or injured from falls in their units -- one with a broken clavicle.

Despite the nearly empty session, a bit of tea was served. The most surprising of which was learning Meat Man, formerly Handsome Man, moved out.

He had hinted at doing so, when we last spoke at an event, saying he was done with the rent increases, but I scoffed that he’d not find anything better, financially speaking.

Lo and Behold, he whisked himself away. Scuddle butt is his mom passed away, he moved into her house in the hills overlooking the University; but I won’t know that for sure unless I happen to run into him, or the resident that goes to same church as he, verify details for myself.

I also learned why this time, during the pre-inspection, management opened closet doors to inspect what was inside.

They somehow caught wind of and were looking for items residents hide … like portable mini washing machines residents are not allowed to have.

I’d never heard of mini washing machines until Scary Mary over at Dark Thoughts, said she had one and management told her she’d have to get rid of it. Had I known there was such a thing, for sure I’d have been caught with one hidden in the closet, LOL.

Who knows … now that I know of this time-saving device, I might get one and hide in the car during inspections.

I don’t know if management found any washing machines, but I do know that, when they opened the closet door of the downstairs neighbor around the corner of my building, two little dogs popped out.

That neighbor was hiding two dogs she’d not registered with the office.

I was also surprised to learn Di is in trouble again.

Some of us residents, when they have usable items, will place those items on the table in the Community Room where we usually place canned food, boxed food, appliances, clear containers et al for the taking.

Word is that pre-inspection of Di’s unit found many of those free items in her unit … too many.

Evidently, she doesn’t even use or need what she’s been taking, but takes nonetheless because it’s there for the taking.

After having gotten in trouble over hoarding in the past, made to clear up or clear out, Di is back to hoarding to a degree that management is once again on her case about clearing out her unit and have also banned her from the Community Room, planning to once again lock up our refrigerator, because Di has been, on camera, caught grocery shopping in the Community fridge – taking bottled water Kesha has stored in the fridge for her Tuesday appearances and other items.

So, I guess I won’t be seeing Di again, unless and until it’s when we happen to run into each other on a walkway.

The discussion of Medical Plans came up and, when asked if I had one, I answered "Yes and No" because, though I have been a member of the highly touted "integrated managed care consortium that combines health insurance coverage and medical services into a single coordinated system", since I was in my 20’s, and it was great until doctors were limited on how much time they could spend on patients and Care Teams came into being, mucking it all up to where I can’t get service in a timely manner, it's "Yes and No" because I now opt instead to walk down the street to a neighborhood clinic.

I am so frustrated with the integrated medical care consortium that every time I see their ad run on social media, and it runs a lot, I curse at it, call them "lying liars", but don’t change because I figure I’m old, can’t last much longer, so why bother when medical care is broken all over.

Crafty Lady said that when Kesha brought a group in that promised one-stop shopping at a lesser fee on prescriptions they would bill to insurance providers, she signed up.

All of a sudden, she’s getting monthly notifications of $189 being billed to her insurance for prescriptions she’s never ordered and is getting the runaround on getting it cleared up.

Seems the group that Kesha brought in was a total scam. No telling how many seniors they are currently taking advantage of that might not even understand they’re being scammed.

Crafty Lady has informed Kesha and her insurance of the fraud, as she also continuously tries to contact that one-stop group she signed up with.

Good luck finding anyone who cares. My thinking is the only way to stop it is for her insurer to kick back, refuse to pay the bill and, if they do, it will free Crafty Lady from the scam, but what about the many other seniors, at this and at other senior facilities, that fell into the trap.

My final word on medical care was, "Well even though I hate and complain about the integrated managed care consortium being of no help to me, at least they’re not stealing from me".

So, though Crafty Lady didn’t have a plan this morning and there was only she and our 89-year-old to nuke out a project, while Dream Lover and I watched, our 89-year-old pieced scraps together into a card, while Crafty Lady made a snowflake out of paper bags.

Yesterday was Kesha Tuesday. I’m told she never showed up, so Crafty Lady and our 89-year-old spent the time decorating a few tiles.

And That's the Tea

Crafty Lady called yesterday to say that, after a two-week hiatus, for reasons not known to me, she’d be hosting a Crafts session today.

I headed down this morning and, once again, not seeing anything that I wanted to further clutter up my unit with, I did not participate, just took pics for the Residents’ Facebook page, gathered tea.

The State Inspector is here today and, from the Community Room, I could see the Inspector, Head Maintenance Guy and Manager out on the walkway, heading into units.

The Inspector is not the usual short fat older nitpicking guy I’ve previously observed, but a young handsome guy.

One of our newer residents – 81-year-old Miss Jackie, said her unit had already been inspected and that this Inspector was quick, and seemed easy going, saying "Don’t worry about this, don’t worry about that".

Returning to my unit after crafts, I saw the trio heading up my walkway BUT, they didn’t bother myself or White-Haired Neighbor. They walked into the unit of the weird girl downstairs, underneath my unit, at 12:32 pm, per time on the security camera and exited at precisely 12:34.

Two fricking minutes.

I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but it sure shows the difference in how older workers perform vs. younger ones.

I appreciate the Eye Candy, but I’d rather have no eye candy and a worker that doesn’t just rush through whatever he's been tasked with.

It’s a two-day inspection so, if he doesn’t rush through the job and get it all done today, there’s still a possibility he’s not finished with this building yet.

While the Usual Suspects were working on Fall Crafts, I learned that Ankle Annie has vanished. It’s unknown if her mom kicked her out because she got involved in illicit substances – as she freely expressed to her neighbor Dream Lover that she was going somewhere across the street to do that, or whether she moved on her own or, as Talker suggested …… "Maybe she got locked back up".

I also learned that cameras on the property have caught kids from the multifamily complex next door, coming onto the property at night, vandalizing cars – smashing the windows out, looking for things to take.

So now we know how and why that car I’d blogged about, a few days ago, ended up with the window smashed out.

Since then, two more cars in that same area, which is where I also park, have been vandalized …… one being the downstairs neighbor across the quad who parks one car over from mine.

Fortunately, I’ve thus far been spared from the vandalism, but I’m not counting on the reprieve being forever and should probably prepare myself …… look into nearby car window repair shops.

If it happens, perhaps I should consider replacing, whichever window is broken, with a break-in resistant window.

Our newest member of the Usual Suspects – Miss Jackie that I spoke of above, sang a gospel song she made up on the spot that I think only I appreciated because her voice reminded me of Patsy Cline. She tells me that she written gospel songs before, got a bit famous, for a time, from several appearances on the old Gong Show.

I couldn’t verify that online, but I totally believe her.

Crafty Lady kinda sorta had a hissy fit when three of the Usual Suspects, who happen to be event organizers, finished their projects, went out onto the patio area to discuss a Thanksgiving event.

When Crafty Lady learned what they were doing, she got her panties in a bunch, tensed up, said "I guess I’m not invited to that!".

I’ve been told before that she’s sensitive that way, paranoid even …… Once got upset because Talker and someone else were in deep discussion in the room, began acting "funny" towards the two after.

Talker is very intuitive, very much intune, felt the chill, noticed the change in Crafty Lady, went up to her, asked "what's wrong"; whereupon Crafty Lady accused the two of "talking about" her.

Talker had to stroke her …… assure her she's loved, appreciated, everyone likes her, she was not being talked about. Crafty Lady went back to normal, but who in their right mind thinks people are talking about them just because they are not involved in the conversation?

At any rate, though Crafty Lady was busy running Crafts, it was obvious to me she did not appreciate the other organizers excusing themselves, seated on the patio planning Thanksgiving without her because not only did she get snarky with, "I guess I'm not invited to that", she all of sudden began packing things away, rushed us out.

I’m assuming so that she could head to the patio, invite herself to that planning session.

The crafts were mostly finished anyway, so no biggie. We just didn’t get the usual group photo of folks with their crafts, just the individual pics I'd taken.

And that's the tea.

Everyone Out of the Pool

I had no intentions of heading out in 104° weather for today’s End of Summer event. However, along about 11:00 — the time the event was to have started, not seeing anyone on the walkway heading that way, I became curious, threw on a top, shorts, grass skirt stepped out the door around 11:30 to see if anything was going on.

To say it was hot outside is an understatement. The word for today is ……

Seems everyone got the bitchferno memo, because the pool area was bare.

However, over in the distance, just outside the back door of the Community Room, I could see a covered kiosk where cooking seemed to be happening.

Detouring through the Mail Room to get out of the heat, I headed to the Community Room and found the event going on strong.

Seems, management did have the good sense, after all, to move the event inside.

Lu and Dream Lover were in attendance, sitting on opposite sides of the room, not speaking to each other, Dream Lover having declared to me that he’s learned his lesson about craping where he eats, and dressed for the occasion.

I’d recently seen him on the walkway heading towards Lu’s unit, but evidently his being in that area had nothing to do with her.

There was no update on the Feces Felon — whether he’s been caught or struck again, but I did get info on the woman wearing the ankle bracelet that saves me time and attention, limiting my checking ankles to a specific nationality.

BTW, we need a name for the Woman Wearing the Ankle Bracelet. No moniker is coming to mind, so what say you?

At any rate, turns out she’s not a resident per se but that, recently released from jail — unknown what her crime was, she’s living here with her mother.

Talker tells me the woman is "really rough", got "ugly and super aggressive" with Talker when Talker …… seeing her having a pool party with four other people and no resident with them, gave her a heads up that she’d get in trouble with the office for bringing in that many people and being a non-resident unaccompanied by a resident.

Instead of appreciating the warning, the woman with the ankle monitor became aggressive, argumentative, ended up calling her mom to the scene to back her up, put Talker in her place.

When her mom came over, saw Talker was involved, she told her daughter "Why you arguing with L …… She’s my friend", and made her take her people and get out of the pool.

So, it seems that though Woman with the Ankle Bracelet can't break the rule that a non-resident cannot use the pool without a resident accompanying them, she can wear an angle monitor in the pool without being electrocuted.

On the other hand, the internet tells me, "Most electronic monitoring devices are only water-resistant enough for brief exposures like a quick shower or getting caught in the rain. Full submersion in a swimming pool can damage the device and trigger a false tamper alert".

I don't know how she managed it, but where's there's a will, there's a way.

Repeat Performance

The cool down is over. The weather is heating up again, s0 I checked the forecast for next week’s End of Summer event in the pool area …… triple digits expected that day.

There’s been an unexpected buzz in the air about the event, folks are talking about it, telling others that didn’t know about it — even though signs are plastered everywhere. One resident …… the woman that used to sit in her car outside the Pain Cave to get a break from her husband, LOL, tells me she’s planning on wearing her swimsuit, bringing a pool floatie.

She doesn’t look that old, can still rock a revealing swimsuit.

I think the buzz is that folks are just so desperate for management to do something, anything that's not gonna cost us. So, the event might be a success.

Thing for me is the event is outdoors, in the area of the pool, during a week and on a day when triple digits are expected to hit, and I can't handle that.

So, unless something changes between now and then …… like the event being moved from the outdoor pool area to inside the Community Room and on the covered patio, I'm out, grass skirt and all.

In other news …… it was Tuesday when I blogged about Assistant Maintenance Guy going back/forth with inadequate equipment, cleaning up behind the Feces Felon (thanks for that title Bob). The very next day, yesterday, was Crafts Wednesday, so I went down to the Community Room.

Before I even got seated, Crafty Lady said manager had come in, told them, "It happened again". Between the time maintenance cleaned up on Tuesday, and this next morning, the Feces Felon had struck again.

Makes me think the felon is someone living in that area, whose unit allows them to watch the comings/goings as maintenance cleans up behind him, is getting a perverse pleasure from it.

If the cameras indicate it’s who Manager thinks it is, whether she feels she has enough to confront or not, she should confront. If all else fails, then test the DNA. Match it to who they think it is AND, if the felon refuses to give up his DNA to match, there are labs that can, from the DNA submitted, draw a picture of the felon, then follow ancestry techniques to name the exact person.

Me …… depending on the situation, I’m willing to risk a little bad karma by allowing my devious and vengeful side out to play. I’d terrorize the SOB, make him paranoid by mailing to the suspected felon’s unit or sneaking notes on his door saying, "I know who you are. I know what you’re doing".

So, anyway, I once again passed on participating in crafts, opted just to get the tea while taking photos, documenting for the residents' facebook page what the seniors created using the bottom of cans, the bottom of soda bottles, and the end of empty tissue rolls as tools for painting on canvas.

The Week that Was

We had a bit of a weather cooldown on Tuesday. It was still hot, but bearable, so I was able to log in a mile around the complex.

Saw that a unit, which had recently been vacated — the resident located elsewhere on the complex, has an obvious new resident. Obvious because the previous resident wasn’t this kind of decorative.

Elsewhere on the complex was this creatively decorated patio.

I'm guessing this is where those people relocated to.

While sitting on the patio, I’ve often grabbed the phone to take a pic of my favorite sight — my two elderly boys on the walkway but, slow walking as they are, I've not been able to get to the phone quick enough to capture a photo … that is until on my walk that day.

The boys, who look like they could be twins, do not live together. At the end of the walkway, one hangs a right, the other a left. So, I don’t know how they came to be such seemingly close friends …… always together.

I may have to one day come up with an excuse to approach, while the two are sitting outside the gate, engaged in their favorite activity of watching traffic go by, start a conversation, find out what their story is.

I bet drivers passing by, seeing not only the two boys but often other residents, sitting on walkers, with nothing better to do than watch traffic go by see it as sad.

I, on the other hand, think us residents to be content, at peace. Don't need a lot of what those driving by have and do to make us happy, feeling blessed just to be able to sit and watch the world roll by.

Wednesday was another day of bearable weather.

I’d planned to watch the eclipse that day, eclipse glasses at the ready.

Then learned, California would experience no visible eclipse activity as the path was restricted to far northern regions — Alaska, Canada. So, I decided instead to join the Usual Suspects in the Community Room for crafts but took the long way around …… twice around the complex to log in another mile.

Told myself this was doable …… that I could, at the very least get up and out, manage one mile a day, so long as the weather cooperated.

That motivation lasted about as long as you readers probably expected, as today is Saturday and I’ve not been out walking since Wednesday.

Oh well.

I didn’t participate in Wednesday’s craft session, just watched, took photos for the residents’ facebook page, as they made picture frames using stencils, plexiglass, cardboard.

As for what I’ve been doing locked in my unit, other than watching Korean and Chinese Dramas on TikTok and Facebook, lusting after the handsome young Asian men I see on the screen, I’ve been finishing up yet another scrapbook …… one I started in '23, which chronicles my own personal activities, got sidelined due to the birth of great grandkids, making books chronicling their activities.

Once my '23 book is finished, the plan is to do one more, that will cover my activities between then and now, which I sense will be the last chronicling my own personal activities.

The hardest part of scrapbooking is coming up with a title page. I've come up with a system where I sometimes make the title page look like magazine covers, like this one ……

Since this next book will be the last of my personal activities, I'm thinking of doing something with one of the few photos I have of my toddler years, titling it HOW IT STARTED.

In addition to scrapbooking, I've also been throwing together tropical wear for the Resident’s End of Summer Event.

Not finding, in storage, the grass skirt I’d previously made, I grabbed raffia when I was at the craft store purchasing that Venus Flytrap and, in between scrapbooking and lusting after young Asian men in K/Cdramas, building a skirt.

Also, while at the craft store, I looked for blocks and letters to arrange in 8647, but didn't find anything usable.

The fact is, I tried, LOL.

So, anyway, as I was saying …… in addition to scrapbooking supplies, there's currently grass-colored raffia everywhere.

Still not sure I’ll actually have the guts to wear the skirt … won’t know until the day of; but if I don’t wear it, it will turn into Skelly the Skeleton’s outfit for this year’s Halloween patio display.

Knock Knock Knock

Little Knock Knock was to have returned home day before yesterday/Monday but, when I walked into Arts and Crafts yesterday, there she was … decorating a jar.

She said she’d be leaving later that day, wanted to take a picture with me but wanted to wait until later, when Grandma Talker returns, have her take the pic.

So, when I returned to my unit, I didn’t immediately take off the bra, slip into comfortable clothing, but remained make-up on and ready for her knock on the door to go outside, take the pic.

That knock never came, so I guess Grandma Talker returned late, didn’t want to bother me, Knock Knock returned to her parents pictureless.

So, imagine my surprise, when a little after noon today, there was a knock knock knock on the door.

Though my face was together/makeup on, I’d not yet slipped out of my comfortable Bob Marley Sarong into daywear, was going to have to tell Knock Knock to wait until I got dressed.

Opening the door, sarong pulled tightly to not expose too much flesh, it wasn’t Knock Knock, it was my new neighbor, the White-Haired Neighbor (WHN).

She looked flustered, said no one was in the office, and she was having a problem with a leak in the bathroom from a pipe in the ceiling, hanging over back of the tub.

"I've been told it's supposed to leak as it's where the condensation from the A/C flows" said I, but that, over time, it creates a rust color along the walls and tub that I clear up with Zep Acidic Cleaner.

The A/C condenser pipe is probably not over the tub in other complexes and homes, but we're special here … different, like in having to pay for repairs.

She said okay, she wouldn’t worry about it, but that the heat was getting to her. That even with the A/C running and the blackout curtains she installed to keep the sun out, it was 88 degrees and intolerable in her unit. That sometimes the weather outside her unit is cooler than inside.

That’s true. I’ve experienced it myself when I step outside and find, hot as it is, it’s not as hot as inside my unit and can’t figure where the extra degrees are coming from. I’ve actually sometimes thought I’m not alone in this unit, that there are other invisible beings living here with me, their energy heating up the place. However, the fact that WHN is experiencing the same phenomena means either we both have invisible beings or it’s just a fluke that heat is rising from whatever is going on downstairs, giving us those extra degrees.

So, anyway, the weird thing about WHN knocking on my door this morning to vent is that, since she moved in, I've been having this recurring sense that she won’t be living her long, would end up moving.

She didn’t say she was already thinking about moving, possibly somewhere to a downstairs unit where it's cooler, just that she can't take the heat, has been spending most of her time at her son’s place; that where she was living previously for 34 years, never got this hot.

"Why, after 34 years, did you move?" asked I.

"I couldn’t get along with the manager".

"Well, I’m sorry you’re having such a time adjusting to how hot our units get, but it’s not going to get any better. I’ve told others that this is the hottest Summer I’ve experienced here, that it gets hotter every Summer so, with global warming, it’s just not going to get any better".

Our conversation ended with her looking just as frazzled as when the conversation began.

I heard her door open shortly after, heard her leave. Probably headed to her son’s place to escape the uncomfortableness in her unit.

When Crafty Lady, on Tuesday, told me that yesterday’s Crafts would be decorating glass jars, I decided to join in, do something different that I’d seen on the internet where, instead of decorating the outside of the jar, as the others did, to mod podged fabric to the inside of the jar.

I bet none of you can figure out which creation is mine 🤣🤣.

Our 88-year-old arrived late, so I didn’t get a pic of her completed jar but, the way she’s attaching pearls to the outside, I can tell the finished jar is going to be a masterpiece.

I'm going to have to catch her out and about, ask if I can come to her unit, get a pic of the finished project for the Residents' FB page.

Knock Knock's finished jar came out equally masterpiece fabulous.

Happy 250th Birthday America

We seniors celebrated the 4th on Thursday with fried chicken, potato salad, slaw, baked beans, pasta salad, deviled eggs, dinner rolls, fresh fruit, chips, sodas, pie and ice cream for dessert (I settled for a few bites of cantaloupe and strawberries), all of which we, as a community, put together for ourselves since Management did didley squat and should be ashamed of themselves.

The event netted 134 photos for the residents’ facebook page, which took me until 10 pm that night to resize, organize, post.

Lu showed up, as did Dream Lover.

Neither gave the other any mind whatsoever …… made a point to act like neither saw the other.

Lu was fine with chill, seemed to be charming another resident I’d never seen before, but who tells me he’s been here a few years. However, I could tell Dream Lover was uncomfortable with the frigid air between them …… hurt.

I have mixed feelings …… Lu has a right to live her own life however she wants to live it and with whom. A right to value her time and attention, put a price tag on it by wanting a man that can occasionally take her out to dinner, not a guy who can only lay around in her unit, keep her company.

I’m reminded of the 1970’s slogan, "Nobody Rides for Free. Gas, Grass or Ass". There has to be reciprocity in some form or fashion, each bringing something to the table or eventually resentment sets in, becomes like what do I need you in my life for.

Though ignoring him is harsh, Lu has no obligation to safeguard Dream Lover’s feeling by not showing interest in someone else.

On the other hand, when I see the hurt in Dream Lover’s eyes, I'm sad for him, but always think back on the hurt I saw in Faith’s eyes when he broke up with her, arrogantly began pursuing others right in front of her, and see his current situation as Karmic Retribution, living it as he’s given it.

So, anyway, Meat Man — formerly Handsome Man, who rarely attends events, stuck his head in the door … lured by the smell of Fried Chicken no doubt; and seeing me, he stayed for the entire — chatting with me.

Coming to the same conclusion I had …… that the rent increase is the result of our paying for the painting redo, he announced this would be his last year living here because of the $94.

Rents are outrageous all over, so I highly doubt it …… that is unless he can charm some woman into letting him into her life and home.

Painted Rock Lady, who has been in/out of the hospital last few years, mostly for hurting herself, and was one of the residents who’d fallen due to rocks on the walkway, had me in stitches over a sign she’s posted on her walker to proudly display she hasn't hurt herself/has been incident free for 32 Days.

Crafty Lady, and the organizers were so busy with running games for the seniors, giving out prizes for winners, and getting the meal together, that no one noticed I’d pimped the tee …… or if they did notice, none said.

I pared the tee with the same old patriotic leggings I made back in 2014, and exchanged my signature gold hoop earrings for the patriotic earrings Talker’s sister gifted me last year.

Hat borrowed from
my Little Hispanic friend for the photo

That’s it for events around here unless and until the next major holiday, or Management decides something should be done with the money that's been budgeted for activities, other than giving it to Kesha for potato chips.

Edward Scissorhands and Other Tales

Heading to the Community Room to take photos of today’s Craft Class for the residents’ facebook page, I caught Mr. Scissorhands in the process of giving buzz cuts to the remaining greenery.

Oh Oh! He caught me taking pics

Didn’t stop me from taking more pics.

The Usual Suspects made bracelets from tongue depressors today.

Crafty Lady soaked the depressors in water, manually molded into shape and the ladies embellished with fabric and stick-on decorations.

One of these bracelets, posed atop a display in Vanity Magazine, is a tongue depressor bracelet. Can you tell which one?

Today’s tea involved one of our Usual Suspects — Di, who tells us her utilities have been cutoff because she forgot to pay, couldn’t remember last time she actually paid a utility bill, didn’t recall getting any notices warning of being $1400 in arrears and of impending cutoffs until utilities were turned off.

That got her attention.

Di is one of the residents that doesn’t make much money, pays about $150 in rent and has a hard time coming up with that. So, she’s really in a pickle, which she’s hoping Kesha can help her resolve … show her how to work out something with the utility company or put her in contact with an agency whose mission is to help seniors in situations like this.

$1400 is a lot of misremembering. I’m thinking about over a year’s worth of forgetfulness because, looking at my budget sheet, I last year paid a total of $892.89 in utilities ($491.37 to Edison Electricity and $401.52 to SoCal Gas).

So, I can’t imagine how long it took for Di to get to $1400 in arrears.

Di is easily confused and forgetful due to a brain injury suffered in an automobile accident. Before that she was a brilliant chemist and still occasionally will have moments of brilliance where she will say something that speaks of quantum physics while misremembering simple things.

I dunno. My spirit is telling me to pay the bill for her, but I myself am not rich and don’t want to step into something that might cause her to depend on me in the future.

Part of Kesha’s job is to help the seniors out by connecting them with resources for medical and rent and utilities. So, I think I’ll wait to see if Di can resolve this issue through other means before involving myself.