Blessed Saturday 7-27-13

It's wonderful to be home!  It has been a rough week.  Lisa went to visit her mother in California -- boy, do I miss her! I had the auditors in for two days -- they actually expect me to answer questions and produce documents! Who knew?  Actually, I have been doing this for so many years, the audit is not a problem. And every year, they have a different suggestion and I do it, so everybody's happy.

So being Lisa-less meant that I had to open up, reconcile the registers, deal with auditors, write the white board, sort the mail, collect and deposit up to 27 checks (the new fundraising letter just went out), and THEN try to do my work at my desk.  So ... no accounts payable checks THIS week!  Oh well, the bills will still be there on Monday.

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It's a lovely day, a mere 85 F. and not too beastly humid.  I was beginning to think that mold would be growing everywhere because it has been so humid.  I do have a nice green patina of mold on my formerly yellow house (mostly the north side).  I'm not hiring that guy to powerwash my house again.  The jerk waited until the winter to bill me and when I questioned that he had even done the work, he said, 'Didn't you notice the green is gone?'  Well, no, I hadn't noticed, Jerk, that's why I questioned it.  Duh.

So I'm going to borrow Debbie's.  She was saying that next weekend they are going to Jersey and I said, 'How about if I meet you on the Mass. Pike and pick up the powerwasher?'  She said it might be difficult to meet up due to timing issues and it got me to thinking ... how exactly do drug dealers meet up?  Do they employ precise timing?  If they use a cell phone to keep in touch, it must be a burner.  What IS a burner? (I'm thinking it's a prepaid that they throw away when done, but that seems rather wasteful.)

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So, due to my sloth, I have yet again missed the Farmers' Market.  So you do not get pictures of juicy veggies.  I think I'll save this until I can give you some nice pictures!

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It's Sunday now, but I'll relate a little more than yesterday.  Once I got my mojo in motion, I started where all things must begin: at McDonald's, getting an ice cream with chocolate sauce and nuts.  It's my mother's fault, really.  She introduced me to this treat and I began to crave one ...

Then it was on to the Verizon store next door to Mickey D's.  It's time that I can upgrade my phone and Maria had told me that she is happy with her Galaxy.  I pull up to the store noticing that there are no customer cars and there are 4 guys standing outside of the door, looking up.  I'm thinking, "Must be the hot air balloon -- haven't they ever seen one before?" because they are transfixed.  When I get out of my car, I see that they are totally focused on a remote control spaceship.  One of them is trying to land it onto a light standard (he can't do it, but comes close).  I said to one, "Oh good, then you will leave me alone when I look at a phone."  Of course, he follows me into the store.  What was I thinking?

And he says to me (I am not making this up), "What do you mostly use your phone for?"  Feeling a little foolish, I say, "To make phone calls."  What am I supposed to be using my phone for? Cooking? Sex? Education?

So then he starts with the questions.  I know where he's going (have I got an iPad for you!!), but I'm impatient and just manage to not scream, 'Tell me the freakin' price!!!'   But he's persistent.  Finally he says that he's not trying to 'make this an interrogation, but to find out what's best for you.'  At this point I say, "Well, it is beginning to feel like the Inquisition," a la Monty Python, but the kid is 12 and absolutely misses the reference.  Finally, my patience is gone after he announces that after a rebate, the phone will cost me $150 plus tax.  (Mind you, I'm staring at a tag that says $49.99 next to it and this is after a debate -- just tell me the facts -- about whether I'll need another car charger other than the one I have.)  So I announce that I'll come back on the tax free weekend and he says he was about to suggest that.  Yeah, right.  You got a bridge you want to sell me, Kid?

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After that, it was just across the street to Home Depot where I measured (thanks, Deb for the good advice) kitchen appliances.  I need working/energy efficient stove and fridge.  The weekend of August 10th is tax free in Massachusetts, so I'll save 6.5% sales tax and if I open a Home Depot charge account, I'll get 10% off my total purchase.  A fellow helped me find a battery and I asked him about the new charge account discount.  He confirmed it, but didn't know if I opened it then, if I could use it next week.  He consulted Jean, who was very helpful, but kept saying to him, "You are empowered."  She seemed to suggest that I could open the account then and take the discount later.  But she reversed what she said several times.  Eventually, Mike wandered off.  Finally, as I paid for my battery, I said, "Does he get a credit if he makes me get a charge card?"  That's when she said, yes, and I should look for him next week.

Speaking of the battery.  I needed two "watch size" batteries for my bathroom scale.  I noticed that it was taking a long time to get to an actual weight, going up by 10 to 20 pound increments.  I thought of picking a weight I liked and stepping off the scale at that point, but the inaccuracy of it all began to bother me.  Hence, the batteries.

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At this point I'm petering out, and I don't have any groceries.  But -- yay!-- Aldi's is right next door to Home Depot.  This is a supermarket that I don't think of going to because they only take cash or a debit card. I usually have neither.  Yesterday, however, I had cash (thinking I was going to the Farmers' Market).  Wow! Their prices are amazing!  I ended up buying a pork roast.  Back in the car, I called Phyllis to see if she had gotten my phone message.  She hadn't but I told her I'd pick her up in a half hour.

I got home, put the pork in the crock pot, changed the laundry and added another load, went to the bathroom, got us a portable shrimp cocktail, loaded folding chairs into my car and picked up Phyllis.  As we drove to South Hadley, she fed me my shrimp cocktail.  (Anyone who has ridden with me knows that the passenger has serious responsibilities from map/gps reading/setting to keeping my strength up.)

We went to the South Hadley first ever FallsFest to eat supper and hear Art Steele's blues band. This was a benefit for the Pioneer Valley USO.

So below is Art Steele's Blues Band. He was good!

This is later, as the sun set.  I had thought that I reorder the pictures and maybe I can, but I'm in a rush.

Here's the crowd.  The Fest had been going on since Noon with Music all afternoon and evening.  After Steele, there was some young kid who thinks he's a rock star (he's not), and then a Latino band which was very good.

When we arrived, I was amazed and delighted to see that they had covered the ball field with a giant tarp (below).

Another longer shot of the Steele Band.

So I've got to wrap this up and declutter the kitchen.  Phyllis is coming for the now pulled pork and she's bringing (Yay!) fresh veggies from the Farmers' Market (where she works tirelessly).  By the way, I just found out Phyllis' age -- I would have thought she is ten years younger!  She's another inspiration!

Size Does Matter

July 21, 2013

While I was there, I bought some Trader Joe's Italian Sausage-less Sausages.  Why? you may ask.  Well ... it's all about this visit I had with a nutritionist.  I may never be the same.  She had pulled my blood work from January, which I swear I had never seen.  Everything that was supposed to be low was high and everything that was supposed to be high was low.  But it was the visual imagery that she gave me: 'with the diabetes, your blood is thicker, and with the high cholesterol it's clogging your arteries so the blood is having a hard time getting through.'

At that point, I was ready to find some kind of arterial draino, but apparently, it doesn't exist.  I went back to work thoroughly depressed (and contemplating drowning my sorrows in death by chocolate cake) when Lisa put it all into perspective.  "It's her job to scare you," she said.  Apparently, my nutritionist is really good at her job!

So ... this morning I cracked open the sausage-less sausages. They are o.k.  They need to consult a real Italian, however, for the seasoning.  That's where they fall down.  The texture is o.k., and when you brown them in a pan, they don't look like something you should throw away.  But they really need more authentic seasonings. (Especially caraway.)  Anyway, after I had my one (with one egg, one slice of toast), I needed to put the other three away.  (Maybe I can use them in jambalaya ... )

Sausage-less sausages

So I got to thinking that my morning had been fraught with things that are the wrong size (besides me).  Here is the bread I have.

I happen to be a fan of "good" bread.  But remember when bread -- "sandwich bread" -- became square?  You had no problem popping them into the toaster and when the bread popped up, there was the perfect grabbing surface of bread.  Now look at the above bread in the toaster before pushing it down to toast.  Honest.

You can't see it, right? So how the heck would I get it out after toasting?  This is what I have to resort to:

Obviously, you can see the inherent problem.  I can get 3/4 toasted.  Sigh.

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By the way, I used to have a bit of a 'following.'  Some people thought my Slices of Life were funny.  Well, I guess they were.  But I have discovered that I'm only truly funny when I'm deeply depressed.  And I was that for quite a while when that woman was a Trustee.

But my not-so-new-anymore boss, Sharon, has made me truly happy at work.  She has figured out that I get bored easily, so she keeps giving me new things to do.  That's good.  And she loves it when I edit her speeches (I make her sound like herself). 

And Lisa, my new Receptionist, is a jewel.  She is more than helpful to me in being a support person.  (I'm Sharon's support person.)  It's a good team and we get a lot of work done.  We laugh a lot, often at ourselves.  But it feels good.

 So now  ... I never get beyond mildly amusing here.  Damn her.  Um, sort of.  

For One Fleeting Moment

July 20, 2013

The other day I was in the supermarket and the woman in front of me at the check out counter was asking if anyone knew where she could find a pay phone.  Of course, there are none in that little strip mall, so I loaned her my cell phone.  I had to dial it for her since she doesn't know how they work and I handed her the phone. For one fleeting moment, I thought, "What if she runs off with my phone?"  It actually conjured up a silly picture of me in my mind -- halfway through my grocery order and not being able to run.  But it was an unnecessary thought.  She handed the phone back and thanked me politely.

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I made chili today with actual beef as opposed to chicken.  Boy, did it taste good.  I figured that 90 percent lean can't be too bad for me.  My friend, Ann, always says, 'How do they know it's 90% lean?'  Perhaps they add fat to the other ground beef and they know how much they added?  How do I know? Do I care? Not really.

We have a new taste sensation! I was at Trader Joe's (sorry, Maria, one day you will have one too) and I bought some "Curry Simmer Sauce" on a whim.  Wow! It's great! In our ignorance, we used some on a pork sandwich last night and it was yummy with quite a kick.  Today, in the light of day and lacking the vodka/o.j. drink, I read the label where it told me to dilute the sauce with one cup of water.  Okaaay ... then you cube chicken and saute it for about 15 minutes.  Of course I added fresh onion, mushrooms, and those tiny potatoes, sliced.  It was yummy!

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Last night was Girls' Night and Cathy and I went to Lisa's house.  Since Lisa not only has a pool but also central air conditioning, I declared that I would be moving in.  I don't know how her husband would feel about that, but since he only said hi and disappeared, I think we could coexist.  I wonder if he likes chili ...

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Today we have ended a 7 day heat wave (of days 90 F. or above).  The last time we had a heat wave like this was in 2002 and it was for 11 days.  I don't remember it, but that's o.k.   I wonder how they know they have a heat wave in the desert.  Does it have to go above 130 F?  Mom says it's hotter now because they have some humidity.  I didn't ask how much because it is so humid here that the flora is taking on jungle-like proportions.  I swear I heard one of those jungle type birds the other day.  Maybe some wise aleck kid taught the call to a mockingbird.

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That reminds me of eons ago when I was 13 and walking home on Grubb Street in Maryland.  (We lived there for a short time.)  I was kind of cute at age 13 ... anyway, I heard a wolf whistle and looked around.  There was nobody in sight.  I heard it again.  Nobody in sight.  It finally dawned on me: it was a mockingbird!  I don't know how long it took some boy to teach that to a bird, but it must have been fun.

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Another thing to not put on a job application.  Reason for leaving: It was tiring.

Well, ya.  That's why they call it work.  You work and then you get tired.  Did this person think working in a children's room in a busy library wouldn't make you tired?

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Having become thoroughly addicted to Farmville 2 on FaceBook, I almost don't have time for work.  There sure are a lot of chores on a farm! After I feed the cows, they do a happy dance.  The other animals do too, but it's much more impressive to see a cow dance!
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What do you do when it's even too late to call Mom in California? Blog, of course.

I'm really happy to say that the negotiating team and management have come to an agreement on a contract.  Now the members of the bargaining unit have to ratify the contract.  We have a 2 per cent COLA (which the professionals have already received without bargaining for it); a 15 cent per hour increase in the shift differential (bringing it to 85 cents per hour) and there's a new $100 per year boot allowance (for maintenance, inspectors, and parking workers).  I'm really happy to report that if the building is closed due to snow and I'm home sleeping and snug and the maintenance workers are shoveling snow -- they will now be paid time and a half.  Hooray!

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I had a blast at the Democratic Party Latino Caucus last Friday! I now know that Friday at the Democratic Convention is like the Friday at any other convention -- party, party, party!  I had great fun dancing the samba with Fred who had fun twirling me around. (Who knew I could twirl?)  Everyone was having a good time.  After a while, Charlotte and I went to the "Geezer Party" downstairs where the live band (of older guys) were playing oldies.  I mean really oldies -- Etta James.  We enjoyed it thoroughly.

On Saturday, I went to the actual Democratic Convention at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell.  (The night before was at the UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center.)  It's huge but I had a prime guest seat at the top so I didn't have to climb 8 zillion steps.

On the way in, I took the elevator because while the front is pretty, it has about 50 steps up to the main door.  The door opened and there were two people with their delegates' badges on.  The woman said, "Going down."  Since the elevator would not, could not, go down, another woman getting on said, 'This elevator is going up.'  At this point, I'm beginning to wonder about the caliber of delegate when the first woman says, 'Well, I want to go to the first floor, but apparently this elevator does not go there.'  Luckily, by that time, the elevator had reached the third floor (the top of the arena) so I didn't have to let her wonder how she would get to the first floor (where I had entered).

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Car trouble So I was preparing to leave UMass Lowell to go to Methuen and visit my relatives.  My car has a "trick" that if you hold the "unlock" button down, all of the windows will open.  It's great for getting some of the summer heat out before you open the door.  I did that and started the car.  I went to put the windows up to get the full benefit of the a.c. and -- only the driver's side window went up.  Click, click, click. Nothing.  So I drove (on a highway) to Methuen getting more and more anxious because big black storm clouds were gathering.  So I get to Sherylann's house and we try to inspect the fuses.  She knew where they are, but you have to be a contortionist to see them.  We used a makeup mirror. Stevie came by (he was rebuilding his back porch) and told me that PepBoys would have a fuse and they could pull the old ones out.  He asked if I had child locks and I said, 'Yes! Please don't flip them -- I had a woman who couldn't get out of the car because someone had put the child locks on!'

So Sherylann and her estranged husband, Tom, pile into the car and we go to PepBoys in Salem, New Hampshire (it's right next to Methuen).To make a long story a bit shorter, the fuses were o.k.  There is a child safety button that looks like a window with an X through it that had gotten pushed.  Boy, is that embarrassing!  I have had that car since 2005 and have not made that goof.  Hopefully, I won't do it again!

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Being a new member of the Kanegasaki Sister City Committee is fun, sort of.  This coming September will be the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Sister City agreement and the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Library's Sister City agreement.  So we are planning great festivities for the mayor of Kanegasaki and his delegation.  But sometimes I get signed up to do things and I find out about it in the draft minutes.  Nope, not going to do what I have not volunteered to do.  I'm busy!

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Yesterday, I was helping Lisa make copies of resumes for the hiring committee.  We have an opening in the Children's room.  For future reference, we cannot put the ad on Craig's list.  Working in retail or as a sous chef does not qualify you to deal with hordes of little children, plan programs for teens, and deal with parents who are not watching their little darlings.

Advice to job seekers: Don't have cutesy email addresses with words such as "anathema"  (honest) in them.  Don't put "sojourner" in your email addy -- we got it from the unwarranted apostrophe in your name.  And you might think you are a "supachica," but it's not really a professional appellation.

And, oh yeah.  Do NOT call the Director on Monday (the applications were due on Friday) to try to make an impression.  You made an impression all right.  As soon as she learns your name, you're out of the running.  What part of "no calls" did you not understand?

The good thing about online applications is that now I can't laugh at you when you fill out the application in pencil.  The bad thing about online applications is this program lets you skip parts -- thereby proving that you cannot follow directions which state, 'fill in all items.'  Oh yes, and we can't tell if your writing is illegible.  We mostly use computers, but if you have to scribble a note for your supervisor, it needs to be legible.

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Yesterday all I did was deal with food. I arranged "coffee and" for the Mass. Board of Library Commissioners' building program info session; arranged for a catered luncheon for 35 for July 22.  That will be yummy! I'm getting the food from Pasta E Basta.  Their name should say enough!  And I have to figure out a luncheon for the Union members' meeting (when they ratify the contract).  I've got it figure out, I just don't want to use my own money (and get reimbursed).  But I guess I'll have to do that.

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Guess it's time to go back to bed. 430 a.m.  Work is coming soon ...

July 6, 2013 (Saturday)

I have to say that I really enjoyed July 4th because I got to do a lot of housework, have an indoor picnic with Phyllis, run to see "Despicable Me 2," and nap.  A lot.

I highly recommend "Despicable Me 2!!"  I don't care if you, 'don't like animated films.'  Go see it anyway.  You NEED to.

And last night was two in a row when a group of friends and I went to see "The Heat."  This is another must see.  Even if you don't like bad language, it's FUNNY.  I laughed so hard that tears were rolling down my face. I may have to go back to hear the dialog that I missed while I was screaming in laughter.  Of course, it's set in Boston and you should hear Jane Curtain's Boston accent.  It's spot on.

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So it's hot again, duh.  Bless Miguel! He came after work and dumped out the water from the free standing air conditioners.  I had to Google the directions, because apparently the old ones had a tray that you just pull out.  These don't have that and Miguel was at first mystified.  He said he's going to rig up a hose and a bucket so I can empty it myself.  I can't sit on the floor and tip the machine the way he did.

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What's been happening?  Well, The Temperature Wars are on at the Library.  Yup, some think the air conditioning is too cold (daily readings have been 74 F. on average in that department), and some think it's too hot.  (When the cold people upstairs shut down the a.c., my office was over 80 F. and the day that I got in late -- luckily -- it was over 100 F. in my office.)  Two of the "cold people" have come to work on 90 F. days and put on bulky sweater coats and (I am not exaggerating) a thick woolen scarf knotted at their neck.

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As you may remember, Chris Demarest is our first Artist in Residence at the Jones Library.  He brought in a portfolio yesterday of the messages and drawings that visitors to the Women's Memorial (at the gates of Arlington National Cemetery) had plastered on a wall there.  One day, he had given his notebook to a young girl to keep her occupied while Chris talked with her parents.  Before he left for the day, he taped up her line drawing on the wall.  When he got back, many visitors from all over the world had left their own thank you notes (thank you to the women in military service). He only took a few so that they would be preserved, but it was a very moving experience to see how many people from so many countries had 'left their mark.'

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Union negotiations are going along.  There was no meeting last week because both participants from the Town/Management side were on vacation.  I sure hope we can wrap this up since our new fiscal year began on July 1 and we hope to get a COLA.  The professionals have already received a 2% COLA.  And they didn't have to have 6 negotiating meetings.

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Speaking of the Union, I spent the weekend of June 28th at WILD, aka, Women In Leadership Development.  It was held at UMass. and there were at least 250 women from all different unions across Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and Vermont.  Some women spent over 4 hours in traffic trying to get to Amherst from Boston.

It was pretty exhilarating because after the Leadership course (part 1 last year, part 2 this year), our workshops focused on sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace.  We learned what it is, how to deal with it as union stewards, and (hopefully) how to prevent it.

The main theme of the weekend was "justice through diversity."  So when we came together as a group, we all had headphones so that the message was heard in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.  At one point, I sat alone at a table and was soon surrounded by beautiful women from Brazil who were happily chatting in Portuguese.  They were very nice to me (in English, of course).

We saw a TedX video with a man named Vargas who works for The New York magazine and who has "come out" as an illegal alien.  As he pointed out, actions are illegal, people are not.  Through his talk and ensuing discussion, I learned a lot.  I did not know until then that "illegal aliens" have no way to get into the citizenship track because in order to do that. you must 'have papers.'  So people who have been contributing to the economy and raising families here for years can never become citizens -- unless we change something. I think we need to do that, and fast.

I heard from a union social worker from Boston who pointed out that these raids and deportations we see (there have been roundups in New Bedford) wreak havoc with families.  She said a child will go to school in the morning, come home in the afternoon to find both parents have been deported.  The child is thrown into the foster care system (which is abysmal in Massachusetts), and often ends up taking psychotropic drugs for depression and because they are acting out.  I'd act out too.

We heard stories of people suffering terrible hardships to get here -- to the promised land -- only to be thrown into jail in Arizona where they put food on a plate and threw it on the floor for the prisoners.  They had to drink water that stank because otherwise they would die of thirst.

I heard stories from right here in Massachusetts -- did you know people without papers cannot register a car or get a driver's license?

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I'm happy to report that Yaoyao is back in Hawaii from her deployment in Afghanistan.  Unfortunately, on the very beginning of her vacation, she broke her arm!  I really believe there is a reason for everything, but I'll be darned if I can figure this one out.  Maybe she will devise a new occupational therapy from her own experience and become world renowned!

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I think it may be nap time before lunch today.  Ciao!