Neighborhood group participation project

The city decided to redo the sidewalks. We got notified by a sidewalk full of “no parking” signs. The signs were put on the odd side of the street with the next day’s date through that Friday, with a note that there is no parking on the even side of the street. On the even side of the street, there were some more signs telling us not to park within twenty feet an address on the even side.

I called the number on the signs, asking for clarification. The work was going to be done on the odd side of the street and they were going to send someone over to fix the signs. Great.

After they changed the signs, I went outside to see what was done. They changed the signs, but this time, it showed addresses two blocks over, and the signs in front of the house on the even side of the street had been spaced out all along the block, instead of just in front of the one house that needed attention.

I saw two of my neighbors outside looking at the signs. They gathered up the signs on the even side of the street and put them near the house where the address was noted.

The day that they were supposed to start the work, no one showed up. They came and changed the signs to reflect the correct addresses. The next day, they did the work on the house on the even side of the street, but nothing on the odd side.

Four days later, the signs were changed to tell us to not park on the odd side of the street for another week. Great. I called again to find out when they were planning on starting. “Whenever we get someone out there.”

It took another 3 weeks of not parking on the odd side of the street before they began the sidewalk work. The work itself took one afternoon and the next morning. Then a few of the parking spots were blocked off to allow for cement drying. The signs were not removed for another week, and only after my neighbors went and moved all of the signs in front of the original house on the even side of the street.

Now, if we could only get someone out to deal with the tree that is now falling over because they cut the roots when they redid the sidewalks. Three neighbors have already called about it, and all the city has done is put caution tape around it. It takes a village, but apparently not a city, to get things done.

Failed as a Parent

A few weeks back, I got a phone call from my daughter, who is in her early twenties. She had a letter to mail, and she wanted to know how to do it. I asked for clarification. She knew that there was blue box or the post office available, but she didn’t know how to do it. I explained where the mailbox was, and that it opened and you can just drop it in and there’s a little sign on the blue mailbox to tell you what time it might be picked up. She had no clue and was amazed! I asked my other daughter if she knew how. “Well, I’ve seen you do it, so I think I can figure it out myself.” Ok. I’ll give you that one. I usually take stuff to work and drop it off in the outgoing mailbox in the mailroom.

Both of my children knew that they needed to put a stamp on it, so I guess I didn’t truly fail as a parent.

Adventures in Getting Organized

When we moved out of the home we had occupied for almost 20 years, we left in a hurry. 20 years of household items got shoved into three storage units. I managed to get the stuff down to two units right away, but then life got in the way and I got settled into ignoring the units until we needed something.

There was a break-in early last year. Some damage was done but mostly it motivated me to get in there and straighten up the units. We got to the point where it was obvious that we could consolidate, but we needed to find help and hands to do it. Then we got notification that the price of the units was going up $200 a month per unit. This motivated me.

We went in and took almost everything out of the unit that we were planning on keeping. Then we started moving the big stuff we’d be keeping into the unit we knew we’d need to keep. We put the stuff that we were getting rid of into the unit we’d be letting go. We worked for hours and lost track of time. We ended up throwing everything back into the units to address on another day.

I contacted a friend of the family who does dump runs and he suggested that I rent a U-Haul since he was too expensive for the trip to the dump that I needed. So, it took me a few weeks and then I finally found a spot on my schedule and I reserved a U-Haul truck online. I gathered the troops and planned the trip.

Pickup at U-Haul was awful. Nowhere to park and they double booked the truck. I managed to get the keys before the second person arrived. She almost started a fight, but I told her that her issue wasn’t with me, it was with management. We were not off to a good start.

We went and threw out so much stuff that we hadn’t needed in all of the years that it had been in storage. I rented a smaller unit and put the stuff that we were keeping but wouldn’t fit into the single larger unit into it. The U-Haul was full and I felt accomplished after we made it to the dump.

I had to go back a few more times to finish emptying the large storage unit we weren’t going to continue to use. On the last day, I went to the kiosk to cancel out the account. The person that I spoke to told me to just leave the unit open and she’d take care of the rest. I got calls for a few days from other people, letting me know that the unit was empty and they wanted to know if I knew it. Yes. I emptied it and reported it closed. I was worried that they would continue to bill me. They did not, thankfully.

I do hope that one day I can find a place and put all of the stuff from storage into a home. Until then, I’ll be storing it for safe-keeping.

Lost remote

I misplaced the remote for the cable box. I half heartedly looked for a while, then a brilliant idea came to mind – there must be an app.

I downloaded the app and logged into the cable account. It took me a while to figure out the name of the box that I was trying to access. I got it and then was playing with the app for a while. It didn’t work very well, but I can change channels in the most difficult way possible.

I gave up and turned on sitcoms that I had running in the background. I started reading with the TV on and Molly at my side.

My daughter came into the room and started playing with Molly. She rolled Molly over and the TVs guide page popped up. The remote was either under Molly or my daughter. Thankfully, it was my daughter who found it. Order has been restored and I know that the app isn’t for me. Live and learn.

Almost Missed a Step

I am taking summer classes in order to graduate as early as possible. The problem with summer classes is that the semesters are so short – 5 weeks long. The assignments are due several times a week, and they seem to come quickly.

I was supposed to have written 2 papers that were due on Sunday at midnight, but I had a long day on Saturday, getting organized, so I fell asleep early without the papers being written. I ended up writing the papers during my sleep intermission.

I submitted one paper right after I wrote it, but the other paper needed to be sent in with a specific format, so I had to email it to myself and then submit it. It would have to wait until I turned on my laptop again.

Sunday afternoon, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t turned in the paper. All of the work was done, but it hadn’t been submitted. Thankfully, I remembered with plenty of time to spare, or I would have been mad at myself.

Halfway through the first summer term!

I want to be that person

I was telling a person I just met about how I have a brain full of trivia. I was telling her that if I don’t know something, I am good at looking it up on Google, or I read a book about the topic. I told her that I can throw out a random fact and make someone go “What the heck? Where’d that come from?” She said, “Oh! I want to be that person!”

At least I can inspire someone these days.

Let me write it my way

I had been getting mediocre grades in one of my classes. Part of that reason was because all of the assignments had been given to us in “fill in the table” format. What was this about? Who is the main character and what does he learn?

I was eventually given an assignment to write no more than two pages, reflecting on “Why this story is better than Shrek.” I did so and just wrote what I was feeling. I wrote in my own voice and I received an A on the paper with the comment of “this is actually interesting to read!”

If you just let me write the way I want to, we’ll all be happier.

Encourage and Admire

Just a reminder:

Another adventure

I worked yesterday morning, earlier than usual, so I ran into my neighbor who gave me a long story about her stolen car (explained at the end*). I ended up later than anticipated at work. All of our patients came early today, so I left earlier than expected. This is good because I had a date with my cousin.

On the way home, I dropped off empty wine bottles on a friend’s porch. No, I don’t know what she’s using them for, but it wasn’t far out my way, and I had them at home.

Next stop was my date with the suitcase repairman. I had dropped it off last week, and I needed to retrieve it. My friends and family have been teasing me about it, because I had told a friend that I had dates all last week, including the suitcase repairman. I meant it as my calendar was full, and everything but the kitchen sink type comment, but she took me literally. When I mentioned to her today that I got a hug when I picked up my suitcase, she said it was because it was the second date. Well, there’s a reason she’s my friend.

I picked up mail, which was uneventful, other than the information that my daughter got a fixit ticket for not having her registration sticker on the car. It reminded me to do that.

I went to my friend’s business to drop off recycling in her almost empty recycling bin. I chatted a bit with her after making the mail carrier nervous when I parked across the driveway.

I went home to grab library books to return. I transferred stuff from my purse into my library bag. I then remembered the sticker on my car and the suitcase. I ran out to get the suitcase and brought it in the house, but saw Amazon packages, so I brought those in, too. I started to walk to the train stop. Then I remembered the sticker, so I went back to put it on. Check check check. Everything done?

I stopped to buy cough drops on the way to the train stop, so I missed the first train. When I got to the stop, a lady started to talk to me, not in English. She pulled out a notebook and the parts in English had the name of the train, the stop where we were standing, and another stop along the line. I nodded and pointed and she continued explaining, not in English. I got her on the train and made sure she got off at the right stop. Pantomime on a Thursday afternoon. Maybe charades?

I got off at the stop where the library is. Just dropping off books. Not browsing. The guy with the full sized iguana wasn’t getting second glances, but the couple with the stroller was stopped by security because they were trying to use the stairs. The guy with the dog had no problem getting in, either.

I changed train lines. A guy after me jumped the turnstile with a ton of bags and didn’t spill his grape soda. His girlfriend was inside the station with a ton more bags. They put everything down and suddenly their train was there. They gathered everything up and ran for the train. The guy ran back because he forgot his grape soda.

I went to the station to meet my cousin, but I was early. I messaged her and she told me she was still going to be a while, and she asked me if I had anything to read with me. Funny.

We went to the theater and the movie we wanted to see had only one seat available, so we had to go to the earlier showing. The previews had already started, but we made it.

We saw Little Women. It was wonderful! We did call it an early evening, though, and we were back home before 7 PM.

*Several months ago, my neighbor’s car was stolen. The thief managed to get her door unlock code and followed her home. Her car was stolen that night. It was retrieved the next day, because the thief worked in her building and he drove it to work the next day!

Last week, it was stolen again, from in front of her house. This week, she got a notice that her car was evading toll, so she’d have to pay the ticket. They have the photo of the license plates and the driver going through the toll gate right after it was stolen. At least they have a lead. Maybe it’s the same guy?

Looking Towards 2020

Every year, I set goals. Health goals, general life goals, reading goals, etc. This year, I’m starting to think about them a little earlier than New Year’s Eve.

I have set a goal of 1000 miles between 1/1 and 12/31 this year. It breaks down to just over 2.5 miles a day. Doable. The challenge here is to remember to log the miles.

I am setting my book goal at 100 books for 2020. I easily hit my goal of 75 books this year. I can do this.

I am going to seriously work on shrinking my book stack. My plan of attack is to have a book stack book, a kindle book, a library book, and an audiobook going constantly. This sounds impossible, but I pretty much do this anyway. I also have to add in the bookclub books, which have deadlines. I am going to try harder to get my “What Are You Reading Wednesday” blog posts posted weekly, and on time. We’ll see.

I have a general organization goal. I still have to define exactly what I’m trying to get accomplished, so I am still thinking on this one.

I am going to attempt exercise 5 days a week, which involves getting my daughters and the dogs involved. I also have to get myself up and out of the house early to get to the gym and showered before work. This is a two part project. Organization the night before, and getting to sleep on time. I know I feel better when I’ve been to the gym. I have managed to get the majority of my foot pain under control, so that helps a lot.

I have signed up for a 5k in January. At this point, I’m walking it. I have also signed up for a half marathon in November, which means I need to get myself moving, soon, to train.

I have a lot of big plans for the year. Let’s hope I can take chunks out of the goals and make it happen.