4/24/2022

 

Weekly Update 4/24/2022

This was a bad week for technology. Last Sunday, I killed my iPad. I tried to charge it using a Samsung charger that I’d purchased by mistake. (In my defense, couldn’t they make them look just a little bit different that the apple ones? The cords and ports look exactly the same, so you have to read the package very closely. It’s still my fault, though). Just before I went to buy a new one, I first went to a repair shop near me. I told them what I’d done, and they did try, but said the connections were too damaged to repair. They didn’t charge me for that analysis, and I went to the Walmart. Of course Walmart had none in stock, so I needed to order on online. I went home, took a shower, tried to relax a bit and then sat down to the laptop to do some bill paying. I had a message across the screen: Windows Defender – Security Warning. I was blocked due to questionable activity, and warned that if I turned my device off or ignored the warning, I would lose all my information and leave myself open to hacking. I had 5 minutes to call the phone number to get things restored. And, on top of the visual warnings, Siri kept yelling at me that I was in jeopardy of having all my data compromised. I not only was unable to close the program, I also could not adjust the volume and she just kept yelling at me. So I call the repair service back, frantic. I was told to unplug it, bring it in, and for $125 an hour, they could restore my data. So, back I went. Luckily it was not far. The 14 year old technician, looked at it, announced that it was a scam, and worked for about 10 minutes to get my information back. He didn’t charge me anything, just asked that I use them another time if I had a major issue. I suggested that probably my phone would abandon me is some nefarious way within a few days, so I would indeed be back. I went home, happy that at least this disaster was averted, checked my financial statements, and everything looked fine. But it was not a fun day!

Not only did I buy the wrong charger for my iPad, I also bought the wrong toothpaste. Who puts charcoal in toothpaste? What’s the point of that? It is certainly unappealing, and my teeth don’t feel any cleaner.

My new iPad was to be delivered on Tuesday, and I would need to sign for the package, so I didn’t go to City Hall. It’s been a couple of weeks since I was there, so I hope they have not forgotten me. No one was ever happier than I was to get that new iPad! I worked the rest of the day to re-load my favorite apps, and when I got up Wednesday morning, I was able to read the news, play my games, and imagine that nothing had happened.

Sharon’s sister, Vicki, and her husband, Mark, were traveling back to Rochester from Florida. I invited them to stay with me, so they were here both Thursday and Friday nights. They are very easy to entertain, and mostly just went off to do things on their own. I was happy to have them here. One thing they wanted to do was take the ghost tour at the Sorrel Weed House. Savannah hosts many ghost trolley tours, but few houses have evening tours, or ghost tours. Sorrel Weed is a very good one, and quite scary. I was glad they had a chance to do that.

Sunday, I met Kay at Henry’s for breakfast. I hadn’t seen her in a few weeks, so it was great to get caught up with her. Maybe next week, we can just sit on my porch and sip Bloody Marys. Lisa really liked being on the porch, and Vicki and Mark also thought it was nice to sit out there in the morning with that first cup of coffee.

From the pictures I saw of Adrian, it seems that the Easter bunny was very good to him. I think he got a book, some sunglasses, a fluffy bunny toy, some gardening toys, and some sidewalk chalk. To be honest, he needs NOTHING, but he seemed to like his new treats.

4/17/2022

 

Weekly Update 4/17/2022

Happy Easter

I made a huge purchase this week. I had a regular check up last week with my hearing aids. I have had more and more trouble hearing things, and the background noise was becoming more and more intolerable. I asked at the checkup if I should have my hearing re-tested to see if I've had more loss, and if that is the case, could the hearing aids I have be adjusted. Well, I have lost another 50% of my remaining hearing, so I got new hearing aids. These are not inexpensive, but in the short time that I’ve had them, I have noticed a significant improvement, not only with hearing, but they are also more comfortable.

Funny story – kind of. I had the hearing aids out as I was just home alone one evening, watching tv. I began to hear a faint beep beep beep. Since the new hearing aids are rechargeable, I thought perhaps they were trying to communicate that they were fully charged. I put them in my ears, but the beeping only got louder and it did not stop. I went outside thinking that if it was a problem with the hearing aids, the noise would remain the same. It went away. OK, brilliant detective that I am, I knew something in the apartment was beeping at me. I looked at all my smoke alarms, but I didn’t think it could be them; they are all wired and no longer need batteries. I was going to put in a maintenance request, but decided to go to bed and see how things seemed the next morning. As I turned off the light in the apartment, I noticed my oven was flashing at me, desperately trying to get my attention. I had baked cookies earlier, and forgot to turn the timer off. Since I didn’t have my hearing aids in, I couldn’t hear it, but once it was dark, I could see the light. I’m an idiot. I was going to call maintenance to turn off the timer on my stove. At least I didn’t embarrass myself by doing that.

I zoomed with Adrian on Saturday. He is such a darling little baby! One book I had for him was peek a boo. He liked that a lot. That was not a book I borrowed from the library, but one that I’d found in a book store, so I’ll be able to read that to him again. When I did go to the library to pick out some books for him, it was toddler story time, and the children were gathered outside on the lawn. It looked as if they were having a great time, clapping and jumping while the librarian read to them.

I attended two lectures this week, via zoom. One was the Historian of the Georgia Historical Society, Stan Deaton, about the history of race in America. The other was through TLC and was given Christopher Hendricks. He is doing a six part lecture series on American Architecture. Both were excellent.

A very frightening thing happened when I got home Thursday night. My garage is in the same building that my apartment is in, but it’s down a hallway. When I went from the garage to the hall, I saw a HUGE possum waddling near the walkway. Being as cool and calm as you know I would be when seeing that, I began to yell. Another resident (male) came out and took a photo of it, and we both reported the vermin to security. There was a trap set up the next day, but as far as I know, nothing has been captured.

I had to get domestic this week. I was asked to bring dessert to the Easter meal that Heidi invited me to attend. I would think that by now she would know that I’d be glad to bring wine, but anything involving me being in the kitchen would be iffy at best. But I made two icebox pies: a key lime pie and a coconut / pineapple pie. I also took a bottle of wine. To try to dress up a little, I made a bunny pin for my t-shirt. I only want to sit with my tv or my books, but I proved that I can still do a craft and make a pie. The dinner with friends was very nice indeed.

In addition to the zoom with Adrian, I saw photos and videos of him coloring Easter eggs and investigating the things in his first Easter basket. He’s adorable!

4/10/2022

 

Weekly Update 4/10/2022

I have written a few times about my friend, James, whom I’ve met as he plays his guitar and writes poetry in Johnson Square. That’s been going on for a couple of years. Sunday, the last time Kay, Lisa and I would be together, we were sitting at Forsyth and just enjoying being together. What are the chances? I strike up a conversation with the gentleman sitting next to me, and all of a sudden, I realize it’s James! He said I looked familiar to him too (he calls me the archives lady) but since we weren’t in our familiar surroundings, we both weren’t sure. I had Lisa take a photo of us. This is James!

And then it was over. The holiday I’d looked forward to for so long and enjoyed so very much was at an end. Lisa left Monday. Amazingly, there were no tears at the airport. We’d agreed ahead of time that I would just drop her at the departures area and that would be it. I was immediately lonely. I’m ever so grateful that she made this visit happen. Thanks Lisa!

I didn’t have time to miss her for long. Tuesday was City Hall, and I was also called in for an extra shift in the afternoon at DH. I had my regular DH tours on Wednesday. I was really pissed off when I got stopped for a train crossing route 21 for 40 minutes, and was late for the first tour at DH. I also had to wait going home, but only for 15 minutes. I imagine that the goods coming into the port are being moved out again, but couldn’t they do that on shorter but more frequent freight trains?

We had some bad weather on Wednesday night. I, of course was in my own little world, without my hearing aids and oblivious to everything going on around me. But the next day, driving to meet Helen and Jane at Green Square, I saw big trees down and a canopy ripped off a store front. It began to rain just as we were leaving the Square, but that only lasted a few minutes.

I have the only porch in the apartment complex that has no shrubbery in front of it. I’ve complained about this, but nothing was done. I finally asked if I would be able to plant a couple a things there myself. It was agreed that if what I planted fit in with the other plantings I would be allowed to do that. I stopped at Polks, a small garden center and farm store in Pooler, but they had nothing. I went to Lowe’s and got two sorry looking azalea bushes and some Tree and Shrub soil (I was told I would need that). I had hoped to pay the kids who do general maintenance here at BP plant them for me, but I haven’t seen them around lately. Saturday, I had a lunch date, so after that I went to the Walmart to buy a shovel while I was out. The Walmart had lovely, bright pink azaleas bushes, much nicer that the ones I’d paid almost as much for at Lowe’s. I couldn’t resist – I bought one. It was a struggle, but I worked until I had three holes big enough for the plants, and now I have three plants in front of my porch. I still don’t have as much as the landscape as the other porches, but I’m pleased with my efforts.

Sunday I did something I haven’t done in a long, long time – I made beef stew. I’d been hungry for it, and today was the day. It tasted awfully good! I never cooked while I’ve had visitors, but I just needed to this.

Adrian is perfect.  But, he's growing too fat!

4/2/2022

 

Weekly Update 4/3/2022

Another wonderful full week with Lisa. I am going to sorely miss her when she leaves tomorrow.

Kay had to work all week, and when she wasn’t working, she had doctor appointments for herself or her mother, so she wasn’t able to join us much during the day.

On Monday, Lisa and I went to Daffiin Park to walk, and then continued on to Bonaventure. We changed to tulips for John and Dessie (those poinsettias were really horrible!) and visited Little Gracie and Johnny Mercer. Since we were on the other side of the city, we went to Whole Foods and got more salads from the salad bar, pimento cheese, and chocolate croissants. In the evening we just ate and watched tv.

On Tuesday, Lisa had been invited to spend a night at Donna’s condo, so I went to city hall and Donna picked Lisa up there. I had a whole 24 hours, so I did laundry and read my library book furiously. I finished it, but I’m pretty sure I won’t remember any of it for book club. I got up late Wednesday, and just lazed around until time to go to DH. Lisa was dropped off in Columbia Square and I met her there when I was finished with my tours. We were relaxing on the porch, eating, when Kay came over. We were going to have a “pajama party”. We stayed up late, watched the Mama Mia video, talked, laughed and ate. Kay had to be up a 6 to get back home to let her dog out and log on to work, but we had a great time being together.

I met Helen, Jane and Denise at Whole Foods on Thursday because it was really windy, and we wanted to be inside. Lisa stayed at the apartment to walk and read her book. I created another salad at WF to take back to the apartment. By the time I returned, it had started to rain, so we didn’t go out to do anything, but stayed in. After our salad, we watched The Power of the Dog on tv. I was surprised that I thought it was better than I’d expected.

Friday evening, we had tickets to do the Boo Y’All Comedy Ghost Tour. I love the Savannah for Morons Tour, and didn’t think this would be as good, but I wanted to try it. We got t the start too early because we weren't just sure about where to park.  It wasn't a problem, so we had extra time for a drink at The Rail.  Lisa, Kay and I thought the tour was very funny. It was performed by a different comedy troupe, and it was not the same as the Morons tour, but we laughed and enjoyed it.

On Saturday, Lisa and were scheduled to join Jamie Creadle at DH for an Early Morning Walking tour of Savannah. We were supposed to learn about Savannah in the 1820s, and learn a bit about the architecture that would have been seen in Savannah when Isaiah Davenport was working. We walked for a few miles, and it took about two hours. There were muffins and coffee in the gardens when the walk was over. Because we still had a little energy left, and because we’re running out of time to be together, we decided to walk to the Power Plant District. This has all been developed since Lisa was last in Savannah, so I wanted to show it to her. We walked along the river and saw all the little shops and restaurants, we went into the big hotel and saw the steel dinosaur skeleton and all the geodes that are on display, and we people-watched, because a lot of people come the district to see it. From there, we wandered to Joe’s at the Jepson, where I love to have lunch. I’d raved about it so much, I was afraid it would not live up to the expectations I lavished on it. But, Lisa and I agreed that it was probably the best soup we’d ever had. That refreshed us just enough so we could walk back to the car and go back to the apartment.

That evening, Kay came over and we grilled steaks outside at the apartment. I no longer cook, so this was a challenge. Luckily, Lisa could get the charcoal started, and she grilled our steaks to perfection. What a great meal that was! We were so stuffed with the meat and sides, did couldn’t eat the carrot cake we had for dessert. It did not go to waste, however, and Lisa and I had the next night.

Sunday was going to be the last time Lisa would be able to see Kay. Lisa’s flight is Monday afternoon, and Kay has a dentist appointment in the morning. So, we wanted to do something together, one last time. We all went downtown to a coffee house that they used to go to a lot when Lisa lived here. Then we sat in Forsyth Park by the fountain and people watched for an hour or so. We took Kay back to her house and then Lisa and I had our last evening together, just relaxing, watching some tv, and planning what to do the next time she visits.

The 1950 census came out this week. I checked and I could find the Wahl family on Rich’s Dugway. I couldn’t find my grandparents, or any of my mother’s family. Maybe the name was spelled wrong or something, and you can’t yet search by address. I found a few other people I knew, but I didn’t spend a lot of time on it.

There were some great pictures of Adrian posted to the gallery this week. They dressed him up and had photos of him looking like the most darling bunny since Allen and Brian.

Lisa leaves tomorrow. I will be very sad, indeed. And quite bored. But I need to end the non-stop eating.