Adult Attention Deficit Is Not a Pretty Sight

July 23, 2020

Or ... How I ended up doing housework buck naked. (Is a buck more naked than any other naked creature?)

It all began a couple of days ago. I went to the kitchen sink and was horrified to see ten house flies on the window, inside of the screen. Yes, I counted them and sprayed so much Raid, that I couldn't see out. The next day, I look at the window in the dining area (it's a small space, divided by upper kitchen cabinets) and it has 20 or 30 flies in the center on the part where the split of upper and lower window is. It's like something out of a D-rated horror movie. I spray my brains out with more Raid. 

Today is the first day with no live flies. Even after having scooped out the dead bodies yesterday, there were many on the floor this a.m. So I start vacuuming them up when I realized that I haven't had breakfast or coffee. After vacuuming the living room and hall, I leave the vac at the bathroom and go for muffin and coffee.

By then it dawns on me that I have to get to the grocery store before the predicted afternoon thunderstorm, so I go to the bathroom and prepare to get into the shower. Which is when I see the curtains from the dining area that I washed. So I re-hung those and go back to the bathroom thinking that I should vac in there before the moisture from the shower impedes picking up dust kitties. 

As I'm ready to step into the shower, I realize that I had never finished scrubbing the tub the other day. Naturally, after the tub, it's time to clean the toilet too. Yup, you guessed it -- I had thought I was getting into the shower, so no pajamas ... and then I vacuumed the bathroom. At that point, I had to unplug it from the living room anyway, so I figured I might as well vacuum the other rooms. Yes, the shades were all down to keep out the summer sun/heat.

And there you have it. As I was typing this, we have had one heck of a thunderstorm pouring buckets of rain on us. I wonder if it will be enough to make Hadley take down their water ban signs. The power went off for a second, I hope it was not enough that I have to re-set the clocks. But what else do I have to do? Well, actually, I have to dust the baker's rack with my glass collection on it. Later.

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I was thinking the other day that, in nature, everything has a purpose. Such as mosquitoes are a food source for birds and frogs, and birds spread seeds of flowers and grasses, etc. (I know you're supposed to have at least three items in a series to use "etc." but I'm into rule breaking today.) Continuing on my musing, I wondered what is the purpose of covid19. And all I'm coming up with is human population control. Because it doesn't seem to kill the animals that we got it from. (Oh, hush up about ending a sentence with a preposition. It is at this juncture that a friend would say, "Bite me," but I don't understand that. Wouldn't it hurt? Why would I want you to hurt me if I'm annoyed with you?)

I was excited to find an Amherst Bulletin at the supermarket today. It's a free weekly newspaper that is mailed to homeowners but I stopped it. It was arriving in Palm Springs 15 days after pub date. That's OLD news. Anyway, I noticed that "Cuppa Joe with Paul" is tomorrow. He's the Town Manager and he started this thing where anybody who wanted to be up and out at 8 a.m. could meet him at a local coffee shop and say what's on their mind. I figured that maybe this would be outside and since I'm up before 7 a.m. daily, I thought I would go. But the newspaper helpfully did not tell me where. Great job of reporting, huh? It turns out it's a Zoom meeting so I don't even have to wear pants! I'll have to remember to comb my hair.

I admit it: much of what I read on FaceBook is fluff. It might be about celebrities or funny memes or just anecdotes about somebody's bloopers. But, boy, do these companies (who are producing the drivel) need a copy editor or six! I was brought up short when I read some celebrity had "earnt" their award. Later on, I read that a mother had "learnt" how to deal with her son's severe peanut allergy. For pete's sake! I guess what really worries me is that some of these same writers are teaching their children at home. I know that every generation bemoans the lack of proper grammar usage, the lack of manners, and the lack of social graces, but between texting shorthand and out-and-out making up words ... well, I guess the fall of civilization is already well in hand, so I guess I should just ignore this too.

Yes, I did make it to the 8 a.m. Zoom meeting with the Town Manager, Director of BID (Business Improvement District), and the Director of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce. I was both relieved that they couldn't see me and annoyed that I had officially gotten washed and dressed. I could have stayed in my pajamas. 

At that time, it was confirmed that my "Internet connection is unstable." After the meeting, I bit the bullet and contacted Comcast. After going through their menu, I was connected with the right branch of the phone tree which asserted that it needed to reset my modem. (No actual human was involved in this transaction.) It told me that it could take up to ten minutes and to be prepared to have service interrupted. "A technician cannot do anything unless this is performed first." I said okay and the phone line went into dead air mode. I thought it was odd that there was no annoying 'on hold' music or commercial, but I waited patiently. And I waited and I waited. Finally I gave up and hung up the phone.

Now I have no way to know if that improved anything. I either have to set up a Zoom meeting or stare at the TV and see if it hiccoughs. I think I'll go to the Post Office instead.

[Update: After one more re-set, I reached a human. Of course, my phone decided to cut us off three times, but I was finally left with, 'Ordinarily, I would send a technician out but we aren't doing that due to Covid19.']

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Sunday, July 27

I love my new stronger prescription glasses! I didn't realize how much I was struggling to see. Next time I won't wait for four years to update.

It has been interesting. I woke up at 4 a.m. yesterday sick, sick, sick. Apparently, I have some kind of throat infection. Mercifully, no fever, but besides yesterday's killer pain I have full blown laryngitis. Of course, at that early hour feeling awful, all I could think of is, 'Do I have the plague?' Luckily, I have found a miracle cure otherwise known as chicken soup. No, I'm not cured, but I am considerably better. I'm thinking it was the addition of broccoli and mushrooms that made the chicken soup so effective.

Well, that was a trip. The phone rang and that's when I discovered I can barely squeak out sounds. My friend, Ann, said, "Croak twice if it's really you." That made me laugh.  Guess I'll try gargling with salt water again.

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Blanket in Progress

It's still Sunday and after a nap I discovered that I still can barely croak. I did have to get dressed to take the trash and recycling out. It's 91 F. at 5:30 p.m. so I imagine it was a bit hotter earlier. Since this is the first time I have been out in days, I decided to see what was happening in the garden.

Front yard:

Back Yard:

Have a great rest of week. Cheers!

Morning Musings

July 13, 2020

If you manage to read all the way to the bottom, you will see that I began this ages ago. There's no excuse except for mundane things such as dentist, eye doctor, eye glasses, etc. I have ordered the glasses from Costco which means that I had to do some shopping while there. It has been an expensive ten days!

This morning started with a call from 'The Police Association.' The recorded opening line is, "You're harder to get ahold of than a roll of toilet paper." Boy, that really makes me want to donate to a scam charity!

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But total happiness first. Yesterday Emily brought J. and we started our visit at Groff Park which is barely 10 minutes from my house. They have just recently refurbished it, spending over $1 million. And it looks it with sturdy plastic equipment and big, tall shade umbrellas. My favorite part was the squishy floor material so if a child falls it's not as catastrophic as in 'the old days.' We had a great time and J. did too! 

At 17 months old, J. is a delight. Of course, I only get to see him when he's smiling and playful. Emily changed his diaper at the play ground and it went zip zop, no problems. She remarked that usually he's fighting and making a fuss. 

We all enjoyed some homemade strawberry ice cream before they left for a nap at home. I thoroughly enjoyed our morning together!

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As much as I would like to pretend that my gardens are riots of color and blooms like Martha Stewart's, I cannot. In reality, apparently, I belong to the Bloom of the Day Club. I seem to get only one bloom each day. The exception is the orange day lilies which are a saving grace because they don't mind sharing space with a myriad of weeds. 

7-12-20

7-7-20

I was so happy to discover that the flowers below are actually bee balm and not weeds. To the left is a climbing red rose bush that has finished blooming. It was years before I discovered it and now I'm trying to be nice to it and giving it some fertilizer. I hope the humming birds find it.

On July 6th I went to Andrew's Greenhouse and the colors and plants in profusion were a tonic to my soul. I enjoyed the garden accoutrement, but most of it was too expensive for me.

I thought this was the cutest bird house!

Below is the view from Andrew's Greenhouse's parking lot. This is about 6 minutes from my house, part of the south Amherst neighborhood. It's a couple of doors up from the church and the South Amherst Common.

Needless to say, it was a gorgeous day to go to a greenhouse! Of course, there are lots of plants outside but by the time I got there, it was HOT, so I did not linger to take pictures.

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This is the last of "the little lilies" in the front. There are orange and pink -- pink first to bloom, then orange. One at a time.

July 5, 2020 last bloom.

June 28, 2020

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This post is beginning on July 2 in the morning, but as you may have figured out, sometimes a post is written over three days or more. 

Carole sent me a missive from her UCLA health plan with suggestions about coping with the pandemic. There was a section called "Lift the Spirit" and one of the suggestions was to get out in nature. I guess doing battle with the wild roses and other weeds in my garden is getting out into nature.

My leg actually looks a lot better after some soapy water cleaned it up.

[Update on 7-13: You would never know I had those scratches. But ... I seem to have poison ivy scattered around and it did not show up until about three days ago. I have not been in the garden since!Weird, huh?]

 

Another suggestion was physical exercise and the aforementioned gardening and landscaping escapade must have been good exercise because I hurt in muscles I didn't even know I had. I guess the one cubic yard of soil and mulch is heavier than I thought.

Under the good nutrition and socialization area, they suggested a zoom dinner party. Helpfully, they provided some recipes which all seemed to be bean based. I guess it's a good thing that your dinner guests would be on screen so that nobody has to inhale the inevitable gaseous component of beans. 

Finally, one of the suggestions that I took to heart is to communicate with someone daily. He's not talking back much, but I sure am having fun yelling at that darn chipmunk who keeps digging holes in the garden or on the front walk. 

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It's back to July 13 and I wish you all good health and a great week! I have been knitting some and I may show it to you later but I'm still in the design phase and I would rather complete the blanket before showing it to you.  Cheers!