1/12/2020

Weekly Update 1/12/2020

I’ve found a new group of friends! A few weeks ago, I’d met my neighbor, Kathie, at the Friendship Coffee Shop to visit and get caught up. I noticed that there was a fake ficus tree in there that had little knit baby caps hung as decorations. Not seeing any price tags, I asked our barista if they were for sale or what was the story. She told me that a group meets one day a week, and they call themselves the Knit Wits. I have about 8 or 10 baby blankets in a box at the condo that I’ve knit as I sit and watch tv. It helps my to have something to do with my hands other than force food into my mouth as I watch tv. I wanted to know if any of these women know if the local hospital will take them as a donation. So I went to the “meeting” on Tuesday this week and met some very nice women. One has a list of charities that will accept projects, but she didn’t have it with her; she promised she’d bring it next time.

I have a long list of complaints this week:

I had to go downtown at noon on Wednesday for a CMA luncheon. I knew that POTUS had scheduled to address the American public about recent happenings in Iran. When I got home after the meeting, I tried to find info about the speech. What I found was numerous stories about and Harry and Megan dropping their royal responsibilities. Wait! How is it that this is a more important story than a war? While I believe the media has some responsibility for making this a top story, I also believe this is what people want to read about. And these are the people that will be electing the president in November – the ones who want to read about an actress and a foreign prince, but not about soldiers and actions that might have serious repercussions for all Americans.

I also needed to go to Comcast and complain. Last month, TCM was moved out of my “preferred” package (which I pay extra for) and placed in the international sports package (which would require me to pay even more). So, if I want to watch old movies – and diving in Acapulco or cross country skiing completions in Swedish – I have to pay more. I’m not going to do that. I have complained at the Service Center when they first eliminated TCM, I wrote to the company headquarters, I included a note with my payment – no response at all. So, when I got my bill this month, it had gone up $5. It was just a general increase, because taxes had risen, and they passed that on. Enough. I went to the Service Center to see what could be done. I’ll have to admit, I was not polite and accommodating; I was angry and nasty. So, here’s the thing: I got my monthly bill reduced by $40 a month by adding a landline phone, which I don’t want, won’t use and don’t even have the equipment for, and I signed up for paperless billing. The poor little girl I worked with apologized about TCM, but it’s not her fault. I said I would just like an acknowledgment that I’m upset about it. I want it back, but that’s not going to happen.

Something else I needed to get done this week was the office cleanup. At the end of each year, I put files and photos on a stick that I keep in my fire box. I did that, and opened new files on my laptop for financial records and other documents I keep yearly. Then, I began to shred old records that I’ve got on paper in boxes in the closet. What a mess! My poor little shredder is a cheap thing, and constantly overheated. I would shred some, then have to wait a couple of hours for it to cool down. It took all week to get all the records shredded. I had eight large garbage bags that I took to my dumpster. There were scarps and dust everywhere in the office, and I nearly broke the vacuum cleaner (wouldn’t that be tragic, as I rarely vacuum any more anyway) trying to get it all cleaned up and back to The Way It Should Be.

I’ve been given the month of January off from DH. It’s a slow time of year, and just don’t want to sit there on Friday afternoons and hope a tourist or two walk in for a tour. So I ask to have a little vacation. Since I didn’t have to do that this week, I met Connie and her friend Vicki at Forsyth Park to walk. It was all going very well, when I noticed a tiny, old woman lugging shopping bags, obviously walking home after a trip to the grocery store. I asked if we could help. She said she was fine and thanked us, and then continued on with a sermon about how God loves us all. My eyes glazed over and I wanted to move on quickly, but it’s hard to just tell her I'm good, thanks, when I’m with two others who are engaging the lady. It didn’t cost me anything, and I'm past the point now where I’m upset by religious zealots, but I really would just rather not give them my time. Connie, Vicki and I went to Clary’s for lunch and I had a nice omelet. It was warm enough to sit outside at the table and watch the people go past on Jones and Abercorn Streets. After a respite at home in the afternoon, I went back downtown to meet Kay at The 90 – just like all the other Fridays of my life.

Saturday, as I was coming back from my walk at the Y across the street, the gates at MP were broken. Actually the “out” gate had been stuck open for a few days and only the arm was preventing cars from speeding through that gate, but now there was a line of cars trying to in though the other gate, but no cards were working. As always, I tried to be helpful, and I broke the arm on the “out” gate so that the cars could enter there. I’m sure it was captured on the security camera, and I’ll be eligible for a fine now for breaking the arm. But, I’m not that worried – I don’t believe the cameras work, or if they do, there’s no film in time, or if those two stars align, I'll bet no one looks at the film. If I do get fined, they will have a fight on their hands.

But not everything was bad this week:

I have been enjoying watching the Jeopardy GOAT tournament. Those guys are really smart! I think it’s going to go on for a few more weeks, so there’s still a chance that James could overtake Ken for the championship. He’ll have to have better luck finding the Daily doubles for that to happen. I don’t think Brad will pose a serious challenge to either of the others. They all seem like just nice guys! I like them all.

I went to a talk by Stan Deaton about the Constitution. I have to say I didn’t learn a lot, but I am always interested in his talks.  

Barbara and I tried a new restaurant. I think it’s a chain, but it looked intriguing. It’s called Toasted, and it specializes in grilled cheese sandwiches and bourbon. We were there for lunch, so we passed on the alcohol, and had just soup and sandwiches. It was OK, but I thought it was expensive for a small sandwich and cup of soup. I probably will not be back.

My Publix hosted a Meet the Manager night. I wanted to go because there’s a lot I love about Publix, and I really do try to let places know if I find them to have good service, which is important to me. And while I was there, I got a slice of carrot cake. The bakery manager told me that it is made from the recipe that the owner’s grandmother used for decades. That is so cool! Now I’ll have to pick up a slice every time I go in there – just for Granny.

I walked early Saturday so that I could watch the Hotspurs game against Liverpool, but when I turned on my TV, the local channel preempted the game to show a charity local high school football game. It hardly mattered, as I knew the Spurs would lose, and they did. Then I started to watch the first playoff game. I had a post-holiday party to go to, and I even had to get dressed up to do that! Allen kept me informed about the game as the score changed, but it was not that good. I was home again on time for the second game. What happened? I’d picked Baltimore to win the Super Bowl, but they lost to the Titans. The Titans! How did that happen? At the party, which was hosted by the Victorian Society, I chatted with David Young, who owns the lovely, huge Victorian mansion on Forsyth Park that is now up for sale for $2.2 million. He and his wife have lived there since the 1970s, and they raised their family there. It’s now just too big and expensive. He very kindly encouraged me to stop and visit when I’m nearby (I told him that I often park there and walk to any place I need to go, so that I don’t have to pay the parking fees) and visit. I doubt that I will, but I wished him good luck on the move.

I had to give a tour at BC on Sunday afternoon. I was half done when the early playoff game began, and I wasn’t that concerned. But at the end of the tour, when I checked the score I was stunned that Houston was leading KC by 14-0! And then they scored again! I should not have been worried, because the final score was really a Chiefs blow out. I wasn’t able to see the second half, as I’d been invited to a 70^th birthday party for neighbor John McCann. I am not all that sympathetic for these young kids, but there was cake involved, so I went. I watched the Green Bay game, and the outcome was as I’d predicted. My winners choices this week were far better than last week – I was only surprised that Baltimore didn’t win. Only three more games this season. Then what will I do???