PNewL PNewS
Volume 28 Issue 2 "All the pnews that phits.” July
2020
Editors Note: I lost track of time.
In the Time of the ’Rona &
Other Observations Part II
It
feels like it is time to write the next PNewS.
Things bubble up, things you might find entertaining—obviously things I find
entertaining—I wouldn’t bother otherwise, but, honestly…has anything changed
since the last issue? Well, I have developed the tong idea. My hair has grown
another ¾ of an inch, I finished painting the bathroom though there is still
some finishing to do…I apparently have time.
Business Opportunity
“Just one word…are you listening? Tongs…there’s
a great future in tongs. Think about it. Will you think about it?” Okay, so I
stole the quote from The Graduate but to me it rings so true these days and I
am sharing it with you in hopes that someone can take the idea and run with it.
I have talked with some of my most favorite entrepreneurial types and we have
all agreed that we do not work in the medium that are tongs and so it must be
suggested to someone who does. Please feel free to share.
I s’pose I should explain what I mean. I think
there is a huge opportunity here now that, should we get together, physically
distanced, we will want to also distance ourselves from shared food, if we dare
to share. This first came to me when, in the beginning (March), Susan was going
to a birthday party where there were going to be..I think it was Jelly Bellies,
in a large bowl. I loaned Susan these precious sterling silver tongs that I
think were probably sugar cube grabbers that my mother gave me back when I
entertained and it didn’t look like I was going to be getting married and have
showers and wedding presents. (Poor woman—how she wished she’d had children who
married…if only to get some payback on all the wedding presents she’d given…but
I am getting off track…)
As time went on and we were having some shared
items at Take Out Fridays and at Cocktails In Joanna’s Backyard, I thought—it’s
all about the appropriate size tongs. And then, what about if we each had our
own set…like in a travel case, color specific—a new individual accessory. I
LOVE THIS IDEA. Can you tell? Gini has tongs with red silicone at the end in a
fun grabby shape. Very cool—that’s the idea—now someone: Go!
Happy Birthday to Roger and Martha
Today is my little sister’s 60th
birthday and Roger’s 12th*. Happy birthday to them
both—accomplishments all around. Two of my favorite beings. Roger celebrated by
having many breakfast snacks and eating some old dead chicken (mostly feathers—TMI??)
found in the field. Yum! I have not gotten Martha’s report on her day—I suspect
it will be different. I sent her a box of goodies–-partly filled with stuff
from our past. She’ll think I’m goofy which she knew before. I am so grateful
to them both for being in my life and being such loyal friends. *Up until
recently I thought Roger was going to be 11. I’m usually pretty good about this
sort of thing but when I did the math recently I realized he has been with me
for seven years not six and we never really got to celebrate him being 11.
We’ll make it up this year and I will cut him some slack for being a little old
man.
The Little Things have gotten Smaller:
•
When I did the “Whole 30” food choice shake up a few years back, I got pretty
good at making mayonnaise. I have made it ever since. It is a wonderful thing
to see it emulsify, bloom and come together. Recommend.
•
I guess being home and paying closer attention, I am more aware and oddly
appreciative of that brief time when all of my underwear has been washed, dried
and in the drawer. True.
•
I have taken about 40 photos of summer flowers in the fields across the way. They
seem to change every day and it makes me happy.
•
This is bigger than a little thing but I am over the moon: I inherited a
printer from Patsy and Ernie when they downsized. My printer, which is so not
old, stopped printing black text. It was explained on a website by a techie
that the ink in the large Black cartridge of a Canon printer is a lower grade
ink and clogs easily. Not a fan of companies who know but don’t fix or improve.
Being able to print in black makes me haphaphappy.
Stuff that may not fit Anywhere Else &
Zoom
•
I got my first tattoo the day before the world shut down. That’s all. It was
kind of a big deal at the time and I forgot to mention it. It’s a penguin taken
from a photograph I took on the Falkland Islands. And for those who don’t know
and are curious: getting a tattoo is like being scratched with a not so fine
pin for an hour (mine is smallish so it took an hour—y’all who have large
tattoos, I don’t know how you do it. Not so much because of the pain, but I
found it boring.)
•
I am fine with Zoom—I find several a day exhausting but a couple can be
manageable. I squawk when someone says there’ll be breakout rooms or we need to
turn our video on if I hadn’t planned accordingly but for the most part, it’s
manageable. Yoga on Zoom: oh yeah. No one knows when I have gone off topic,
can’t manage to figure out how to move that limb out of the way or am flattened
by a pose. Seeing Osawa family at the Annual Meeting was surprisingly sweet.
And I’ve just started attending a handwork circle where everyone is doing
different crafty stuff and chatting. These times were made for introverts.
•
Speaking of Zoom—the small differences in the kinds of Zoom interest me. I
never know if I will have to be let in, or use a password or if I have to mute
myself or will automatically be muted. It often feels just a wee bit different.
• And one last
Zoom comment: "In this moment" and, "That's SUCH a good
question," are overused and annoying.
•
Eating oddities continue though I should mention the baking phase is over. I am
still eating weird combos like too many pistachios and radishes and lemon
wafers. (I have none of those in the kitchen right now, thankfully.)
•
I found my scissors in my purse. I know why they were there (moving them from a
place they shouldn’t have been to the place they should be but then of course I
forgot)—but there was a brief moment when I thought, what the…heck?
•
Getting my haircut was not the pure ecstasy I was hoping for. Because I had
gotten past the awkward part, I thought I should try something new and longer,
in the dead of summer with humidity high. That has presented a bunch of hurdles
and new challenges but as I have mentioned, I have the time.
• My idea of
dressing up has gone from a clean T-shirt to a button down shirt. I’m
making progress I think. I actually remember to put on earrings sometimes.
•
My new hobby is trapping flies between the screen and the window. My personal
best is five. Then the window has to be kept closed until they die or escape.
Perhaps it’s cruel, but they are flies. I now have a minor infestation of the
giant dumb black ants. Not sure how to turn that into a game.
•
The contacts app on my computer has stopped opening. What’s that about? I’m
sending out pretty notes to improve the mail and I can’t get into my address
book? Harumph.
•
Tater tot waffles. It’s a thing. Google it. Try it before you dismiss it.
•
Suddenly my social media is full of friends’ visits to the beach. What’s up
with that? I thought we weren’t supposed to go anywhere? I do not remember the
last time I slept so many nights in a row at my house. I’m moving to the guest
room I am so sick of my bedroom. Yes I am a whiney entitled person. Now I feel
better. Thanks.
•
I had my annual physical yesterday which is a glorified phrase for a nice chat
with the Doc and oh as long as you’re here I will look in your ears, check your
blood pressure, and listen to heart and lungs PERIOD. I feel confident I will
live forever after that. There’s a new questionnaire I had to answer about my
mental state (with the young PA/nurse who liked my tattoo and thought my Black
Lives Matter bracelet rocked). I was fine before she asked the questions. On
the way home, I thought, Have I had thoughts of suicide? No but now that you
mention it…KIDDING.
Taking advantage of Time
•
In the beginning of “the time we are in,” I was envious of all the people who
were cleaning out closets while I was hunkered down reading or listening to
audiobooks and knitting. Slowly I started going through stuff, took old paint
to the hazardous waste drop off, took the recycling away, etc. I have sent some
things to people who might like or use things, and I’ve got several boxes of
miscellany to go to thrift shops etc. though nowhere near the amount of stuff
it should be!
•
I painted the bathroom. I recommend this sort of project (which I don’t
normally). I don’t like to paint. But this was a focus and I needed that. I
recognize—and accept—it could/did take longer than I would like. I discovered as
I was pulling out painting supplies that a lot of things in my garage are
unusable, unidentifiable and/or I have no idea where they came from. I live
alone—that’s just weird.
• There are
days Roger and I return to bed (his favorite place) during the day and I have
decided to be okay with it. Thankfully it has been a gorgeous spring and not a
bad though humid summer and I have a faithful dog. When I can take a break from
worrying about people less fortunate than me, I can enjoy it. Mostly I am so
afraid for so many. Napping is okay every once in a while.
• My pal Gini
is moving to town (yay) and wound up buying a house during the pandemic. Being a part of looking
for and buying a house when I have little “skin in the game” is great fun. It’s
so much easier now with online access to what’s on the market. (Ironically, the
house Gini is buying had online photos that turned out to be six years old.) I
love looking at houses—being critical and/or appreciative of people’s choices,
picking up ideas, paint color combos, opening closets or rather having them
opened by a gloved and masked realtor, snooping etc. The hard part is being
careful about what comes out of my mouth when asked, “So, what do you think of
that house?”
“And then it [bleeping]
SNOWS. (Let us pause and reflect here that while May snow is technically
legal in Canada, it seems like a bloody insult when we’ve already got a
pandemic and murder hornets. This plot is overwritten.)”
From the Yarn Harlot, one of my knitting gurus,
in a blog post
••• Fill out your census.
• Make sure you are registered to vote. •
Sign up for an absentee ballot. •
Please and thank you. •••
