PNewL PNewS
Volume 28 Issue 4 “All the pnews that phits.” February 2021
In the Time of the ’Rona & Other Observations Part IV:
Well, that wasn’t what I expected…
As Roger and I were walking a while back, I thought Well, that wasn’t what I expected…. Then I thought that would be a good title for a piece in the final issue of 2020. And so here it is….and though it is early 2021, it’s still a lot like 2020 so I’m sticking with it.
2020 has been so much of the unexpected, along with a lot of daily expected stuff day after day. You know. Early 2021 is keeping pace with the unexpected of 2020, and I for one would be okay if 2021 broke free and went down a different path but just saying that makes me a little nervous. It could be a wilder and crazier path and where would we be then? Hoping and praying that 2022 would be more manageable? Onward…
- I had a colonoscopy since last I wrote. It was the usual joyous experience. I don’t mind the things people mind about this procedure. I mind that it takes so much time—and now that we get to start looking at what we eat days in advance, it takes even longer. And I mind how hungry I am by the time I walk out. Plus I don’t think the drugs are quite as much as fun as they once were. As usual, I made good flavorful chicken broth and several packets of jello. Did you know the sugar free jello packet contains .3 oz of powder and the regular jello packet contains 3 oz.?
- Google where artificial vanilla flavoring comes from. You’ll be pleased to have this tidbit of info to share when small talk opportunities return.
- In the late 70s-early 80s, I worked for a restaurant company in Los Angeles for a brief time. I was in the office and got the whole office set-up: ruler, stapler, scotch tape dispenser, desk calendar, scissors etc. When I left, my office was dismantled and I confess I took the ruler and the stapler and the scotch tape dispenser. They have been with me ever since. The other day, I found sand, very fine sand! all over the floor of the kitchen. (I’m using my dining room table as my work space since no one is coming in to eat…) The 40 year old scotch tape dispenser has sprung a leak! Very messy.
- Living alone and not seeing people all that much, I have kinda lost track of my showering schedule and how long I have been wearing the same clothes. One of my neighbors said she sometimes doesn’t even get out of her clothes to sleep. That made me feel better.
- The dog with an iron stomach barfed in the bed, my bed. That was unexpected. Aging is fun!
- I have made several masks since the pandemic began. I bow to the people who have made hundreds of them. For some reason, I find it incredibly boring. I started with a very complicated pattern that involved a bunch of different ingredients that almost took my sewing machine out—there was a metal nose piece that was sewed in with a piece of fleece that fluffed everywhere. I am down to my favorite pattern which seems to fit people’s faces well and has a manageable number of steps. Now, my least favorite parts are having to go out to buy elastic and then threading the elastic. Yes, I am whining. (Favorite pattern can be found at http://www.japanesesewingbooks.com/category/free-patterns-2/ look for contoured 3d mask.)
- One of my new hobbies has been acquiring art. Artists are not making much money and there has been the Artist Support Pledge on Instagram where artists are offering small work at affordable prices and when they sell $1000 of their work, they promise to buy something. Local artists have been very active and it’s been a lot of fun—I’ve been introduced to some people I wouldn’t have met otherwise. All of my walls are now covered!
- In July, I went through some gyrations to figure out Roger the dog’s age. I acknowledged I had lost a year of his life. Recently, a new piece of paper came to light and we are back to 11. He’s 11! (well, 11 1/2 now) I know no one cares but me—that’s okay.
- Just before Christmas, I replaced the battery in the camper. Or rather two goofballs from the auto supply did because my mechanic was busy. The next time I got in the van, the battery was dead. I was distraught. No one seems to want to work on the van because it was converted to a camper and no one wants to figure out how that works. It’s frustrating and weighs heavy on my brain in the wee hours of the morning. I had a lengthy very helpful conversation with a guy who does van conversions during which I learned some language to talk to mechanics about these issues. (Basically no one wants to blow it up by not understanding the wiring. I am trying to get the schematic from the converter guy.) He also recommended I make sure that all the connections are tight. Today I was taking a picture of the battery to send to the conversion people and I jiggled the battery and it was barely secured to the vehicle and the connections were very loose. AND it started right up. When I took it to the mechanic to tighten it, he was really unimpressed with the job the aforementioned goofballs did. What a relief and once again, unexpected.
- There is a section of the local paper that feels a little out of step with the world in its current state. It’s called “Living” or “Home” or something basic and vague. It seems to me there have been an unusual number of articles about pillows—not bed pillows, decorative pillows. And recently, there was a whole long article about remodeling the Laundry Room. I am not going to complain about my laundry room (no caps, doesn’t warrant it)—I am grateful for it. I thought when I bought the house that having the laundry just off the Living Room was bizarre, but it sure is handy. But it is little more than a glorified closet—glorified because it has a name. My point is…how many of us need help remodeling the Laundry Room?
- I got a mailing from my health insurance company that went on a stack of to-read-later mail. I just opened it and followed the instructions and learned that I have a gift card for $400 of health aids from places like CVS, Walmart, Walgreens, Family Dollar, etc. that expires in 2037. I think it would be fine if they just charged me less from the get go, but I wonder how many people will not bother to look into this or know what it is.
- The other day, I found my landline wasn’t working. I have no idea how long it had been broken, but thinking back, it had been kinda quiet for a few days: no robo calls. As much as I would like to cut the cord, I have a few reasons to keep a landline so it may as well work. I decided to do an online chat to log my problem. It was a bit convoluted. My contact’s name was Zarife. (I googled the name which turned up many meanings but the first one said girl, so I am calling Zarife a she/her for simplicity.) She got kinda snippy with me because I would react to the automatically generated dialog boxes and she thought I was responding to her which made for a really herky-jerky “conversation.” When I asked her what an “LTS equipment failure” was, she sent this
Zarife11:37 AM
equipment failure - a cessation of normal operation; "there was a power breakdown" breakdown. failure - an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose; "the surprise party was a complete failure"
She set up a repair appointment for the following day that meant I had to be home from 8-5. When I woke up the next morning, the phone was working. No one ever contacted me.
- I heard that people were writing haiku in “these times.” I tried on occasion. Here’re my summer, fall, winter offerings:
It is summer, I think
time is weird—fast, slow at once
Thank god for the dog
Am sick of “this time”
My privilege is showing
Thank god for the dog
What day is it now?
Soon through January? oy
Thank god for the dog
- I am part of a virtual Knit-a-long with a group of local knitters. We are each knitting a temperature throw—I knit a row a day based on the high temperature of that day. We chose our own yarn, we keep our own pace…there are websites where I can get last week’s or even last month’s high termperatures. When I think of it, I am trying to do actuals at my location. I find myself looking at the weather predictions and thinking of color combinations and having to go back and look again to see what the weather will be like. Last week, we had a high of 66 one day (72 in nearby neighborhoods but I hate my 70-79 yarn [yellow] so am glad it only got to 66 at my house), followed by a high of 32 (purple).
- It is in this issue that I normally do Things I am Grateful For and New Year’s Resolutions but I think I’ve gone on long enough here and I’ll wait til next time.
Two quotes…because I like them and it’s been a while.
“If moving through your life you find yourself lost, go back to the last place where you knew who you were and what you were doing and start from there.” Bernice Johnson Reagon
“I loved Rebecca Solnit’s line, ‘Privilege is a landscape as level as the Andes.’ And I think, for the most part, all of our presidents are dealing in privileged landscapes, not vulnerable ones.” Terry Tempest Williams
PS I bought a new computer and there are some things I don’t quite know how to do so this looks a little different and I am not going to figure out before I put this out…hopefully by next time…
