LET THERE BE LIGHT! AND AC AND REFRIGERATION...(WEEK OF AUGUST 23)

 "If you need to use the toilet our pool is full of water" my neighbor helpfully stated.  Hmm was she offering her kiddie pool as a comfort station on a hot and stormy night? Was she warning us she would hear if we stumbled through her yard seeking water through the impenetrable blackness? Did she know we skinny dipped when all was quiet?  Fortunately her meaning dawned on me before I made some asinine remark. Losing power again meant our electrically operated well will not allow more than one toilet flush, so make it a good one! I still wonder, though, if she expected us to use the pool for nefarious actions or just grab a bucket.

Losing power has now become a game between our two houses where one wonders which storm, car/pole accident or just the capricious nature of the utility will strike when and where. I picture the utility gods playing darts to determine which transformer to blow up or which tree masquerading as a power pole will decide to fail. Trust me if a tree/power pole falls, many are doomed to know it whether they hear it or not. The gentle and jealousy provoking sound of generators fills the night air on a regular basis these days. We did manage to dig out the generator, fire it up and .....recharge my phone, which was my immediate concern.  I like to measure out my disasters by looking up the estimated time of repair which is grossly exaggerated for the comfort? of the consumers who will marvel that they were able to get up and running so much sooner than predicted. I will of course see that non-use of power reflected on my bill.  Not.

The horrible tragedy of 13 American soldiers and 100's of Afghans being killed by selfish, hateful cowards is heart-wrenching. I still support the withdrawal but its interesting to make the comparisons. When we withdrew from Syria, due to the former president's fascination with dicators, we deserted the Kurds who were promptly massacred while handing over our equipment and bases to the Russians, and no one (R's) made a peep. Biden is taking the grief, the blame, and staying the course, while air-lifting over 100,000 people out of harm's way. This deal was made with the Taliban, not the Afghan government, by the previous Administration but they didn't have the guts to pull the trigger. Now they want to cry foul? 

Secondly the President knows this happened on his watch as he personally honors their final trip home and offers what comfort he can to their families. Not on such a scale as that, but the fatals that occurred during my career stay with me. I understood the only punching bag available for an unbearable tragedy that families have is you. 

Thought to ponder. Why don't the folks so opposed to masking students (so they don't spread disease or die) with their take-over of school board meetings, marches and confrontations show the same level of commitment to getting guns out of schools?   

The mad fisherperson, Joseph, was adequately rewarded this week for drowning his hapless worms with a 13 inch bass, 2 giant catfish and even a respectable sized bluegill or two. Then he proceeded to scare any further big ones away with a massive amount of time swimming in both the canal and State Park. My contribution is sitting in a floating chair, slathered with sunscreen, t-shirt, hat and sunglasses pretending I am not on lifeguard duty. The second day we had limited time so he was allowed to take to the water by himelf. As usual he hooked up with any boys out there where the rough housing and attempted drowning of each other proceeds. Though he did manage to get into a conversation with a Mom debating the merits of D.C. vs Marvel comics. Yeah, I don't get it either. As long as everybody had fun...

TP, TALIBAN, TWEENER (WEEK OF AUG 16)

 My big sister is ahead of the curve according to my son-in-law. She likes to gift massive amounts of toilet paper, paper plates, utensils, brushes, etc. to new home owners. After we moved into the lake house she showed up with gift-wrapped TP and toilet brush that literally lasted me a year (the brush still in use). So we showed up with massive amounts of TP and paper towels on our first visit to my daughter's new house.... as did his Mother....as did the new homeowners. Oh well-three bathrooms, no waiting. The rest of the conversation was "who knew the value of toilet paper before the pandemic?" I mentioned that my sis "gifted" this way before the pandemic made TP solid gold, which then prompted the original statement. 

Afghanistan, the graveyard of empires. Why is a country that is basically mountains and desert such a catalyst for unlucky would-be conquerers and a source of expense, death and embarrassment for so many? Well they are major exporters of opium and have massive lithium deposits, but perhaps it is their strategic position in Asia - surrounded by Russia, China, Pakistan, etc.  At any rate, Biden had two horrible choices - continue and escalate this war or pull out of a bad deal all the way around. The fact that the government could not hold for a month shows the fruitlessness of further "support". On the other hand, why did we pull out the troops before the civilians were evacuated? Black eyes all the way around.We did defeat Al-Qaeda and the Taliban after 9/11 in three months but when they offered total surrender we decided to try "empire building" instead. As usual -bad decision perpetuated by President after President. 

Though he will suffer for it, Biden did the right thing. Our continuing presence there, to this observer, seemed more of a desire of the military than the American people, who by the way, were surprised we had been fighting a "war" for 20 years. At least he is appearing before the American people daily and taking the blame though when the former prez made the deal with the Taliban to withdraw (not the Afghan govt) all heralded it. He even campaigned on it "you want to continue the war elect Biden". No doubt he would be hiding in the "bunker" and assigning blame to "all and sundry" as Mother used to say.

Podcast this week was with an MSU Professor who is also a Civil and Environmental Engineer as well as an expert in traffic safety and highway management. The discussion centered around people driving less during the pandemic, but more fatalities (including pedestrian and bikers) were reported. Some occurred due to speed, but an intuitive discussion (read undocumented guesses) ensued on what else could be factors, such as fatigue, unfamiliarity with driving, lack of public transport and the big bugaboo - distracted driving. Oddly enough people don't list these other issues on the police report, but interesting to contemplate.  I mentioned the Jetson world with self-driving cars might eliminate the problem allowing us to read War and Peace on a long road trip.

He offered a startling statistic of the large number of fatalities in cars occurred when one was not wearing a seatbelt. When I first went to the City as the Safety  Director one of the first campaigns the Mayor wanted was a seatbelt push for Lansing residents. This was 1987 and seatbelts were still being protested (deja vu right?) I became the City's "Seatbelt Czar" and was responsible for those billboards that showed a seatbelt around the Capitol saying put a belt around it or something like that. It was only after they were up that we realized the belt was going the wrong way-oh well.  We also gave burger king coupons to the LPD to hand out on random traffic stops when they noted seatbelt use. Scared the hell out of a few folks when they got stopped.  Also flubbed my first radio interview-which went well in rehearsal-which sounds oddly familiar to my experience with podcast interviews. I tried to answer the practiced questions without taking a breath when we went live.  Totally embarrassing.

Busy week as we hosted the grandson. Mom started a hybrid schedule of home and office. He is a typical active and talkative nine-year old. Golf with Grandpa the first day where he showed quite an aptitude coming closer to the pin than his mentor a couple of times. Arcade activities the next day where getting as many tickets as possible to trade in was the goal (for junk basically) . Third day was bowling. We promised a fun activity once a day to keep the video gaming to a minimum, but I built in a nap each day (no, not for him, us). Went shopping the 4th day where he ran into more people he knew or knew him than we ever do which meant a long conversation each time. When we dropped him off to his folks Friday night and were driving home I remarked "it's like all the energy went out of the room". Rinse and repeat this week, but we are going to the Lake. He hates the drive, but loves to swim.

THINGS THAT USED TO BE COMMON DEPT - made an odd observation the other day when I was packing up my "studio" for a couple of weeks while the boys were shooting pool in the other room. As I was dusting I kept moving objects around and discovered we still had two ashtrays. Remember when people actually smoked and you had to provide a disgusting receptacle? Not sure what one provides for the vaping or mary jane connoisseurs. Standard answer is "take it outside". In our case we never smoked but they used to be common everywhere; so our two were "borrowed" items from interesting places - like the Playboy Club. 

Speaking of MJ and sorting old pictures, reminded me of our downstairs neighbors in our first apartment. The reek of illegal smoke was always prevalent as one ascended the stairs to our place. But at $110 a month, you put up with a little inconvenience. Having been raised to pay your bills, I was surprised when the landlord remarked we were his only tenants that he did not have to chase down every month for the rent. I did not know we had the option.

 Our next door neighbors were "dyed in the wool" hippies with a little boy and many amphibious, lizard-like creatures roaming their house. Did not visit in-person very often after my first encounter with "something" under the couch. Also if I knew I would have to move all our hand-me-down furniture up those stairs, I would have sold everything when I got an offer while sitting on the street waiting for the boy to come back from dropping off the trailer. (See picture) 

 Deja vu again helping the kids a couple of times with moves.  Hurts more the next day though than it used to....

ITS A MAD MAD MAD WEEK OF AUGUST 9

 Started out as a "calm before the storm" kind of week as we get closer to all the doin's in September. After wrangling with a podcast potential who apparently thought I had an office and staff and oodles of time, I finally sent a message that I am busy until after Labor Day (which I am). Volunteering is great, but it has its limits. Time to do some lake time and finish up projects for the anniversary party and wedding. 

Well-laid plans and all that, when a podcast committee member took my woes of no responses to heart and quickly sent me a filled out questionnaire anticipating a quick turn-around. Ahh, ahh -ok we can do this with a quick rehearsal and possible recording on Friday salvaging time planned to spend at the lake. After deciding to do one more "for the gipper" I suddenly got the questions back from another interviewee who needed to get it done before September 1. Double ahh, ahh. If you send me a bio and speak with me Friday on the questions, possibly Monday (today) figuring no way-Wrong. Scramble, scramble.

Hit the lake on Monday night anyway for some downtime and hosted some good friends on Tuesday for lunch and longgg boat ride.  One of our friends and I snoozed through the tour while Burt continued the lecture for the other passenger. Although we invited them for an overnight they had to decline. Good thing as Wednesday noonish the whole power grid crashed into the lake apparently. Estimate time of restoration - Friday at 6:30 pm?? Plus my cell phone would not work. Apparently the cell towers shut down in a show of solidarity with the power grid. Well good time to read all my New Yorker mags--uh oh - 2 'frigerators and 2 freezers full of meat, etc. and Joseph's worm supply.  

Dragged the generator out which I am estimating weighs the amount of a small elephant but it does actually run the whole house except the AC. It was only predicted to be about 90 and more storms. With gas stations within scrambling distance closed due to power outage, we had to devise a schedule of on-off timing to preserve gas for the generator without destroying the food supply. Back-up plan for gas was whatever was in the boat and then start siphoning off the car.  Good news-after the 3 day estimate of power outage it did actually come on at about 10 that night-crisis averted. We now have an written emergency generator plan as certain circuits need to be turned off so we don't blow ourselves up. The lake folk are used to this as we heard the sweet sound of generators filling the air.

This weekend was filled with helping the younger folk move what we could into their new digs. Bad news-most of their stored stuff cannot be delivered until this week and their new ordered stuff may be weeks if not months. Sunday, mad trip to Muskegon to check out sister's storage units resulting in filling up a van and truck with furniture. This sis went from a giant 4-5 bedroom house to a condo, so the pickins' were pretty good as conversely the kids were filling a 4-5 bedroom house. Recycling at its best!

After recording one poddie Friday and another one today, I am talked out...no really. Picking up Grandpa's golfing buddy tonight for the week and probably next week too before school starts. Darn I wish I wasn't such a procrastinator...oh well things percolating in my head will get done, just a matter of organization right?

Finally a picture of our latest satisfied customers-- Dave and Sue

JOBS, LESSONS, TOWEL FLUFF (Week Of August 1)

 I was reminded of jobs and job interviews this week when I saw the question "tell us about your toughest job and what you learned".  Interesting. Does one pick the most prestigious endeavor or go back to our youth and/or first job. "When I was inventing the internet" "As I was discovering the cure for cancer", etc.  What constitutes a job? That you got paid? That you were committed to certain hours, certain days? That it kicked your butt, however (wanted to say but, but butt but sounded weird) you HAD to do it? I was pondering my paper route days and thought no one would pick their first unskilled position, but I was surprised. It appears that those bumps, bruises and screw-ups that come with your first unskilled position - paper person, ice cream stand, pizza delivery, go-fer provided the many moments for learning. 

My paper days were every night for at least 6 years through high school. As stated before, "I was lightening on my feet" (thanks Taylor Swift) so I usually was the anointed one that "ran" the route leaping in and out the back window like a demented ninja. However collections were the real learning opportunity. A lot of slackers out there. Taught me to pay what I owed when I owe it-a rare commodity apparently. Also in retrospect I got to know my Mother very well through those long harsh winter nights as she tried to keep both our spirits up while racing around like a female Andretti on the streets of Grand Rapids. Did you know people call and complain when there is 10 inches of snow or roads are an ice rink and want to know why their paper is late?

 Working the cafeteria at MSU during my college days was an eye-opener as well. People are slobs but from a research standpoint it was a wonderful opportunity to observe and comment on human behavior. For instance I never knew the amount of food one can shove into the enclosed napkin holder which we work-study peons had to clean out. These were opened gingerly as half-masticated items might shoot out. Also did you know you can launch a butter pat as high as the ceiling if you snap the fold of the napkin just right? One Sunday afternoon, the OH who was my boyfriend at the time was tsk tsking the beginnings of a food fight (well what do you expect when you serve watermelons full of seeds). He sat quietly observing as the furor escalated and then he of course got nailed with a plate of mashed potatoes as I recall.  Hard to pretend I was appalled as I was laughing hysterically. (No I did not throw the taters)

I also learned not to work too hard or at least not show up the full-timers. Lasted one week as a clerk at a local billing office typing forms  allllll  dayyy longggg. I rather noticed I was probably putting out twice as much paperwork as the regular staff. At the end of the week the temp agency told me I was making too many errors-right.  Which no one thought to mention at the time, like the first day. This was not the proverbial "rocket science" level of work. I now also understand why insurance payments take forever to process...

Moving to job interviews; I performed at a few and held court over many more as I became the employer. I remember one question at the State where they asked "what would you do if a complaining person threatened to go to the Governor". Coming from a highly political position I knew there was no way in Hades it would ever go that far unless it was the CEO of a major company who would just get another pardon or tax abatement. My answer was basically "it is my job to be sure it never goes there and if so cover my rear with full disclosure to the next level up" There is always a next level up LOL. 

On the hiring end of the stick, I remember one gentleman answering my question of why he was interested in the job I was offering. His job-killing answer was baldly "I have been working for myself for years and I want to relax".  Yep-right up there with my dream candidates. Also learned that people LIE! Oh my.  That is why one checks references. Get a clue and don't give me personal references who are going to tell me the real truth. Ouch. It is surprising how many folks do not check out what people tell them-oh yes, because I found out people LIE. I always checked their claims which is why the City did not pay bogus workers' comp or unemployment claims if they just gave me a crack at it first. What a meanie. 

In the interests of full disclosure, people lie, including me. As I graduated high school at the tender age of 17 I had to "suggest" I left my driver's license at home when they wanted to verify my age the summer before college. I needed the money, they needed the warm body-which when you work in a bakery is a given-so we agreed all was good. Also this was right after I lost the KFC Asst. Manager gig as they eagerly called before I got home and my little sister answered truthfully when they asked if I was planning on going to college in the Fall. Geez Mom thanks for raising us that way.

Of course, one gets "schooled" all the time by life. After hearing the story this week of the black realtor, his client and son being handcuffed and held at gunpoint when showing a house I was shamefully reminded of how old I was when I first realized  people of color were not treated the same. In theory, perhaps, but I did not learn the true extent of bias until I was a full-time working wife, mother and returning college student. One of my fellow students relayed how his father was "gently" (right) steered away from certain neighborhoods when looking for a house for his family. I was credulous that the color of their skin dictated where they would live. As a female in a non-traditional role I have had my moments of discomfort, sneaky harassment or out and out prejudice, but not anywhere to that level. Though when a car dealer referred to me as "the little woman" and looked around for my male counterpart Burt was conditioned enough to pull Kristen away and make for the hills so she wouldn't hear her Mother deal with the situation.  Major faux pas, he did not make a sale obviously and I believe blood (virtually) was spilled.

Which brings up another point. Gov Cuomo is being vilified and threatened with impeachment by all and sundry. If he did the crime, he needs to do the time. However why is it we all pile on when it's a democrat but when its the other side - think Gaetz, Green, McCarthy, Roy Moore (Alabama pig) the other side says nothing or defends. Integrity perhaps? I know both sides have their bozos, but the dems seem quicker to fall on the old sword when one of their flock screws up.

Speaking of dangerous situations as one skips merrily through life oblivious (I know we weren't speaking about it except perhaps metaphorically), coming out of Meijers the other day I was smack dab beneath the upraised platform of the JLG working on the building. No notice, no sign, just hope the hydraulics don't happen to fail at this moment.  Reminds me of an episode at work when I shocked a worker by sharply telling him not to cross between the bobcat mast and the cab. Double duhhh. They were always surprised, supposedly, that I was the only one who saw the hazard.

PUBLIC SERVICE MOMENT: A critically ill eleven month old baby is airlifted to a hospital suffering from the effects of covid as her local hospital pediatric ward is full.  There is so much wrong with that statement. Get the poke folks, we're hurting babies here. No one asked you to give up your liberty, just give a crap for your fellow humans.

Finally, another unanswerable question. Does anyone else wonder how their bath towels stay intact when you clean the lint trap after drying a load? It looks like they massacred one of their own and shredded the evidence from the amount of soft fuzzy stuff I have to dig out. I think I need to count how many go in and how many come out, similar to the missing sock mysteries of laundry day...

RUGS, RAIN, DEATH AND POLITICS (WEEK OF JULY 26)

Something funny struck me the other day. As guests were talking about getting new flooring (well not all conversations are political) I noticed that all three area rugs in the immediate area were exactly the same! Bought years apart, but exactly the same.  I appear to have a type and I like what I like.

Where does one start? The horrendous sh--- show in Washington DC where the childish repubs are tossing face masks back at staff trying to follow directives or their shameful protest against four Capitol Police Officers who described their personal hell on January 6, 2021. Anyone with a heart, soul or cares about this country should have felt the horror of those images of citizens breaking into our hallowed Hall, assaulting officers, destroying priceless artifacts lusting for bloodshed and murder.  Oddly some of those who are vehement about caring about the folks in "blue" or the "blue line" are some of the ones participating, condemning, threatening and cursing out these officers. Apparently they are only loyal to the big lie/liar.

There is no way to sugarcoat this but Mo Brooks, just a wonderful congressman from Alabama, wore body armor to the Trump "peace" rally January 6 after being tipped off about "risks". So they knew, which we knew they knew and now they're trying to say like Schultz on "Hogan's Heroes", I know notting! In other news, at least some repubs are finally realizing it is their supporters who are getting sick and dying of covid as they make their public attacks against the vaccine while privately getting stabbed themselves. Doesn't matter what does it, as long as the unvaxed get vaxed as it rather "sucks" for the rest of us who would like to get on with our lives.

On the brighter side....a Trump backed candidate in Texas had their election upended (probably by rogue Dems) so maybe he is not the kingmaker he thinks he is. Plus Trump kingdom lost another court case where they tried to pull off a hidden arbitration-nope full court press in the open. Not to mention the recent court decision to allow Congress access to his tax returns, though I don't know the point now since the company is being indicted. Oh and (thanks to my sister on this news item) Gaetz and Green were denied entry to visit the "political prisoner" (their label) traitors from January 6. Some justice at last.

Odd that in this year of our 50th anniversary others have the audacity to also claim a 50 year victory lap. Such as PBS! Disney World! and Just Call SAM! We are in august company. 

Other good news the OH achieved the ultimate when he nailed a hole in one on the 18th Monday (3 witnesses so legit). One bounce and in the cup, though one of the "boys" needed to see it in the cup to believe it. LOL. Upon relaying the news to Joe's golf coach, he was trying to find out if the tips we had both been soaking up during Joe's lessons had any impact. LOL.

I was getting all bent out of shape as I thought MIOSHA was doing nothing to promote my podcast for one of their programs. After bitching to my inside secret contact, I went back and found it right on their front page OOPS.  Also the MTI (MIOSHA Training Institute) seems to be zooming along with virtual and self-administered classes; concepts we were just starting to explore when I retired. Happy to see it is still vital and functioning as I often said "I never created a school before". 

Saw an obituary this week for a lady who was my direct supervisor at one of my jobs. She was not happy when I was hired, making that very clear, and did what she could to make my life difficult. Fortunately I have the ability to "get on with it" so I mostly ignored her antagonism as the Director was pleased with my work. When a new administration came in our Director (her boss) quit showing up for work and this lady tried to fill in while keeping her boss in the loop. Very odd politics going on at the time. Eventually they had to put a new director in place and then this lady stopped showing up for work.Went out in the worst possible way by breaking down during a budget hearing, on camera.

 Again as I have the ability to just "get on with it" I inherited her duties as well as my own which were extensive (also learning there is no crying in politics, at least not on camera). After becoming expert on FMLA (Family Medical Leave) the Director and I had a meeting where this lady's in-house spy was present and discussed the part of the Act that says the employer can demand return of "essential" employees, which she was. As the spy system was up and running she turned in her resigna, errr retirement papers. My last encounter with her was her screaming at me that I was happy she was leaving as she ducked in early to clean out her office.  Not particularly as I was carrying her load as well as mine. However, I ended up with her job which was not something I desired or sought but a promotion is a promotion and everything is a learning experience right? Oddly enough (or not) her in-house spy also retired abruptly but handing three jobs is no big deal apparently. All this being said I do feel sorry that she slipped away with no husband or children to mourn her and requesting no services. Only a couple of years older than myself. Peace to her.

Life with Joe included golf practice, lessons and attendance at his ball games this week. The coach was out of town so my daughter and son by another Mother picked up the slack of running the team on Tuesday. Why other parents who are glued to the action in their folding chairs didn't think to volunteer to help I don't know. Grandpa brought his glove in case he needed to be called into play-Lol.  

On Thursday, after walking a football field length to the ball fields a big bad black cloud appeared from nowhere and a monsoon hit just as they had all the gear out ready to go. OMG-I have never been nailed that bad in a rainstorm before. Burt's umbrella immediately turned inside out in the gale wind and the rain was coming sideways.  Should we cancel?  That was actually debated. As everyone was soaked anyway it was a legitimate question. However no one thought to bring flippers for the flooded field.  I'm glad I don't have cloth seats in my car is all I can say.   When it's wet, it's wet.