OT June Chitchat

[agate]

I just heard from Peg, and she will be back soon. She's been adjusting to a new hard drive, and we all know how computer problems can slow a person down.

A quote from the poet James Russell Lowell:

And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays;
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten;

He starts out with a question but doesn't really answer it. I have the answer: A day in February is even rarer than a day in June, but I shouldn't try to be witty about great poets.

I don't know what everyone else is doing but I keep admiring the plants on my patio. I personally put them out there a week or two ago, and they're still alive, not wilting, fading, or going into a slump.

Today this building had its third inspection so far this year. This is getting old!

Physical therapy continues, with two more weeks to go. It is really helping, and I still like the exercise pedaller.

What's going on in your life?

[Virginia]

Thanks Agate for getting this month started.

June is starting off HOT here, so I had rather have a day in February.

Well, as to what's going on in my life- My youngest niece is getting married Saturday. Everyone in my family is due to be there. Three brothers and sisters-in-laws, 4 nieces and 4 nephews. All I have except for some great nieces and nephews. I don't think they will attend. Spouses will be with all of the nieces and nephews. So......big goings on. I think somewhere around 115 to 125 are to come. Now for the bad part, at least for me. It is to be an outdoor wedding. Reception and sit down dinner will be held inside. It is due to be 90 degrees here Saturday. I called my sister-in-law today (bride's mom) and she said a golf cart would pick me up at the parking lot and I could get off where the reception is going to be held so that I would not be left sitting in the sun. It is a formal wedding with 5 attendants.

The wedding is going to be in front of a lake that has a walk way out to a gazebo. But that is just a back drop. They are going to stand in front of the lake and the minister will have a microphone. There will be music. I will be able to see the wedding (she said) from where I will be, but I probably will not be able to hear the minister or them exchange vows.

Now, I wish I had gone ahead and sprung for something nicer than what I have to wear, but it is too late and I will have to make do. They say you can wear any color you want to weddings now, so I am wearing a black silk skirt and a white silk blouse. I have a very long sash that wraps around the waist twice and ties on the side in a bow to make it dressier. Hope it works. I have gained weight since I bought it.

Howie, just one more day to go and then Friday should be your day. I hope it comes early and you get it tomorrow.

Now everyone else let us know what is going on with you.

[SuzE-Q]

Virginia, hope the wedding goes well. Your outfit sounds divine. Hopefully they'll make a video and post it on Facebook where you can hear what you may miss, that's what all the kids are doing these days. Nowadays, they may even film it via drone.

I'll bet Howie's paycheck lasting a whole month is also rarer than days in June, it will probably be gone before June is. Fingers crossed you have coffee til the end of this month, Howie!

Glad PT is helping, agate! I'll have to think of another exercise tool, I'm thinking gym membership and a few trainer lessons to spend my pedaler refund on. What's with all the home inspections, some illicit activity been going on in the building?

I must admit that I've been riveted by the Texas barn owl saga, I've not been getting much sleep as all the drama happens at night. I feel like that audience that was watching Jim Carrey's life unfold on tv, gripped to their seats - remember that movie, The Truman Show?

Virginia, I'm going to pick up Nightingale, sounds good, thanks. Going to try your nut mix.

My cuts and bruises on my legs are still healing. Let's just say I can't wear shorts or a dress without people asking questions.

Hope June is good for everyone and the temps stabilize so so many of us aren't watching it from inside an A/C room.

Hope Cat is still on the mend and doing well!

#missyouPeg!

[Howie]

Oh how I wish tomorrow could be Friday, but it's somewhere in my contract, I can't skip days. But I have food I ate today, and have some for tomorrow, and could even survive a few days past that, if you call oatmeal surviving!

But Friday is my big day. I'm going to take off first thing, and get the car serviced and inspected. I will have already dropped my two bills in the mail, so it's off to the grocery store for a massive shopping spree.

Then that's it, collapse in front of the TV, and snack heavily!

Only ONE MORE DAY!!!

[agate]

Virginia, I missed my own son's wedding, which was at the end of May last year. It was too likely to be very hot, and it was outdoors, and I just wasn't up to it. I just can't deal with crowds of people--my hearing isn't good even with the hearing aids. At least I was at his first wedding, even rode 150 miles on Amtrak to get there.

They made a video of the first part of it, and I got to hear the music and watch the processional, see the guests and the whole setting. And I can watch it again whenever I want!

Yes, people are wearing whatever they want to weddings, apparently.

Howie, hang in there. It's almost the 3rd! Tomorrow will just fly by. I fail to see why Social Security can't pay on the 1st but it is what it is.

People on SSI get paid on the 1st, I think.

SuzE-Q, the inspections are routine in HUD-subsidized rental housing. The building I lived in before, for many years, averaged about 4 inspections a year. Here I've been luckier. It's a newer building, and until this year there's been only one a year. But now it seems it's an older building and more things are going wrong with it.

Many people find this intrusive and objectionable, and it is. But it's such a good deal on housing that people wait for years to get into these buildings, and maybe it's just the price we have to pay for such a bargain.

It's pretty nice housing-- they allow pets and often have air conditioning--and the rent is 30% of a person's income. Medical expenses are deductible from income. That seems much fairer to me than the usual arrangement, where a landlord charges some skyhigh figure.

[Jeanie Z]

:) I too PM'd Peg but no response. I am getting very little done. It is very hot and humid and I am just staying indoors. The trip down the driveway to the mailbox on my scooter is unbelievable how hot it is.

Andy is coming Friday and he said he would mop my floors. It has been a few months since they were done.

I just reread 23 years of birthday, anniversary, Valentine's Day cards from David and them I put them all in the recycle bin. I am slowly but surely making a dent in the number of items the boys will have to sort when I am gone.

Some of the items will require shredding. I have a shredder but I can't empty it when it gets full. I will wait to shred until Andy is here doing the floors or yard and I can have him empty it.

Lacy is a lot of company unless it is thundering then she hides and shakes.

Virginia I am glad you are going to the wedding and you can stay out of the heat. Howie my cupboards are bare too but I have the money but not the energy to go yet. Jeanie :)

[SuzE-Q]

Howie, my "emergency" prep if I'm going to be short at the end of the month is I keep a few slices of bread and some shredded cheese in a ziplock bag in the freezer and a can of tuna in the cupboard.

Grilled tuna/cheese sandwich is a cheap decent meal to tide me over for a few days, and it lasts for months in the freezer/cupboard if I don't need to resort to it. Your feline housemates probably wouldn't mind sharing a bit of it either!

Agate, sounds like you have decent housing. It's just a lot of inspections!

Jeanie, hope you get cooler temps soon, sounds hot enough to melt your scooter tires!

My aunt was just going through all her stuff too, she sent me a letter I sent her when I was maybe 11. I wrote "sorry I haven't been in touch, I've been 'ever' so busy". "Ever" so busy? Who writes that at 11?! It was priceless to read, I'm so glad she shared it with me. I think that was my Gone With The Wind phase.

I agree, government paychecks should always be available on the 1st when most rents, mortgages and bills are due!

[Howie]

I always kept canned tuna in the cupboards, but didn't replace it last time I used it up. And I have a confession to make. I did buy a pack of sliced turkey not long ago, and still have most of it, but that is a special treat for the cats. Now don't throw rocks at me, I love my cats!

[stillstANNding]

I love reading these entries of what everyone is doing and not doing.

I have had family in town. My sister's son, wife and 2 teens. The girl is named Eileen after my sister (Remember the movie). She is a junior in HS and is looking at colleges that are ranked high, have premed, are linked to a med school and will give her a junior year abroad.

They live in Illinois. She is trying to get away from ragweed and wants to be on the E coast. They visited Deleware, DC, Philly, NYC and then Boston. We had a dinner w them on the waterfront and walked them thru the North End ( our little Italy).

It was a 3.5 hour visit at the end of a hot and humid day. I got to a point when I couldn't go and further. Fortunately, there's an App for that and Uber brought me home w Peter while the family went back to their hotel. So very glad they didn't need to stay w us. I was rehearsing, "It's just not possible." I ended up w TN anyway but it is much better now.

They went on a Whale Watch today and saw 4 whales!

Virginia, your outfit sounds smashing!

Jeanie, we have a big truck, twice a year at our Hazadous Waste day. You take boxes and bags of papers and checks and such and it swallows and shreds them for free. I am looking forward to it.

ANN

[Virginia]

Agate, I think that sounds really good for rent. Much better than you could do anywhere that I have heard of around here. So glad you have that place, especially since it is air conditioned and heated well. It also sounds like it is easy to keep.

Renee's place is not heated very well I don't think and I am not sure it is air conditioned either.

Howie, glad you have only one more day to go. However, I have to tell you people when I first went on Social Security I was on disability and my check comes on the 3rd Wednesday (sometimes Thursday) of the month. I told them I thought that it always came around the 1st, but they said no. I thought when it changed to just social security maybe it would come on the 1st, but it stayed the same. Luckily I have some income from my husband's retirement. Still not enough, but I know that overall I have been blessed to have it. Glad he took that option out and paid for me to have it when he got out of the military. I get that on the 1st thankfully.

Agate, I am like you about getting in crowds now. It really makes me anxious. But with all the family going to be there, I hate to say it but this may be the last time this happens. I was also invited to rehearsal dinner Friday night, but knew that I could not go to both. It is an hour from my house and so I would not have gotten in until late and then for me to get up and go again Saturday is just not something I can do these days. Also, even though brothers will be there, some of my nieces and nephews will not.

Suse, sounds like you really took some pretty bad blows when you fell. Kind of like Agate - worse than we thought it was. I hope you do enjoy The Nightingale. I was just absolutely glued to that book.

That is a good idea about keeping tuna and some frozen bread. I think I will start doing that for times when I do not feel like going to the store when I actually need to.

What a thoughtful thing for your Aunt to do when she sent you that letter. That was cute for an 11 year old to say.

Jeanie, I guess about all you can do is stay in to keep out of the heat. That is what I will be doing, other than to go to the grocery store and if I get a chance to go out and eat at night I will do that.

I just looked at the time for the first time. I had no idea it had gotten so late.

[agate]

ANN, there's an App for times when you can't go on and are stranded somewhere? Or maybe you mean that you contacted Uber to bail you out?

Maybe the whale-watches will have taken some pix of the whales they saw. It's too bad when you give out and have to disappoint people but I always figure they'd be far more upset if I gave out and fell and had to be carted off to an ER.

Jeanie, I had a shredder for a while but emptying it was almost impossible. Its lid was heavy, and it had to be oiled every time it was emptied too. I gave it away. Good riddance. I tear things up instead of shredding them. If there's something like a bank or credit card number on a piece of paper, I'm really careful about how I tear it up.

There are shredding services here too. On certain days (I think) people can go and have their papers shredded.

Virginia, that does sound like a lovely dress!

Food to keep on hand in case I run out of food--I always have a few cans of soup and a couple of packages of Zatarain's red beans and rice. You just need some oil or margarine, and a pan on top of the stove, and you have 3 meals from one package. It's not very high in protein, and so a bit of cheese or an egg on the side, maybe. I try never to run out of eggs.

A few scrambled eggs or hard-boiled eggs are a great way to have an easy dinner if you add a vegetable or two.

And I wouldn't be without peanut butter and a supply of nuts.

Zatarain used to have black beans and rice too but I haven't seen it in a while. They're a company in New Orleans and specialize in New Orleans flavors.

[stillstANNding]

Agate, you use the Uber App to contact them. Very helpful. Free App. Rides are cheaper than cabs, cleaner vehichles and quicker to get to you. At least here.

[Virginia]

Agate, thanks for reminding me - I do have some canned chili beans and regular rice on hand. Never heard of Zatarain. Sounds like it comes in some kind of package. Is that right?

I don't think we have heard from Nuthatch or Cat in a little while. Hope Cat is still doing well. She should be about ready to start her exercising now.

[agate]

Virginia, here's a link to Zatarain on Facebook, and the typical package is shown at the top. I've tried only the black beans and rice and the red beans and rice but have been using them for years.

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

Nuthatch is taking a break for a while if I understand it right. I hope she decides on a short break.

[Virginia]

Agate, I hope she decides on a short one also.