"Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom" Albert Einstein

"A dame who knows the ropes isn't likely to get tied up." Mae West

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

I'm back - sort of

Saturday I realized I hadn't posted on this blog for six days.  As far as I know only one reader missed me and actually seemed concerned about me.  That tells you something about my readership numbers.
Almost two full days last week were spent transporting an elderly relative to doctors for pre-operation appointments for cataract surgery.  Even though it took a great deal of time away from work, I must say the clinic was quite efficient, and there was minimal waiting in all of the many offices we needed to visit.  There were two things I was most grateful for:

 1.  The clinic has a valet parking service and it saved me at least 15 minutes of time and heaps of trouble in getting my relative out of the car, into a wheel chair, wheeling her into the lobby, going back to the car, finding a parking space, walking back to the clinic lobby and getting her to the appointment on time. The fellows working at the valet area were wonderfully kind.

 2.  Despite the mild irritation of being asked the same questions (name, birthday, address, phone number, reason we're there) at every single office, knowing full well they had all the answers right in front of them on the computer screen,  I appreciate a business where quality control is or appears to be a priority.  Every office seemed to have a verification protocol of checking, double-checking, and triple-checking.  When you see this in the pre-op stages, you perhaps can feel a bit more confident that the surgery will be performed on the correct body part on the correct person.

The surgery is this week so there will be more absences from work and this blog.

I spent my weekend hauling things out of some unheated attic areas with the intention of installing additional insulation there.  This is a 100+ year old home and these little cubby-holes were the only areas still in need of more energy efficiency.  Stored in the attics were items left from the previous owner and remainder items from construction renovations over the past 50 years.

Boxes of ceramic tiles of green, pink, gray, and white and excess vinyl floor tile were toted to the basement as was at least 50 feet of wood mouldings and a 36 inch, 8 foot tall solid wood door that must have come from some opening that has since been enclosed. Under some old yellowed newspapers, I found six stained glass windows, still in fairly good condition, that had originally been located in the windows of the main staircase landing. Hopefully I can get them reconditioned and find a place to display them. I like saving original parts of the house and construction left-overs because you never know when you might need to repair something and it is handy to have a perfect match.

I did discover a man had been living in one of the spaces for over 40 years.  At five feet tall, he was a chubby fellow despite not having food for all that time.  He had a smile on his face which lit up when I stuck his plug in.

I'm not especially fond of large yard ornaments, so Santa will be sold at a yard sale later this week, along with some large vintage Christmas lights, two 4 foot lighted Christmas candles and whole bunch of other items I have been storing for years.

Hopefully I'll be back to regular daily postings next week.

8 comments:

Red Shoes said...

I hope that your trials and tribulations ahead for you go easily and with minimal snags.

Yeah, for some reason, we business types like efficiency at the places that we frequent...

Good luck with everything...

~shoes~

Catch Her in the Wry said...

shoes: I don't think of it as trials and tribulations. I'm happy to be the chauffeur and personal assistant. It's my turn now since she did all those things for me while I was growing up.

Yes, I do like efficiency and proficiency when it comes to business.

Red Shoes said...

I am doing the same thing for my 80 yo sister... I make sure she makes her dr's appts... things like that. She is the one that screwed us all over when Dad died... but I hate to see her in this position...

You are a good person...

~shoes~

Mike from Adelaide said...

As a hopelessly slack blogger myself, it would have been presumption indeed for me to comment about your not blogging.

Anonymous said...

dear catcher, more folks read your daily wisdom than you know. our day is blank when your page is too. we learn so much from you trials,tribs and tips. we know what songs to play at the next"rock of ages" bash at the retirement home. we know that there is more than a "tator-tot-cass-a-roll to take an pass at popluck suppers. we now know "what not to wear" when the mother ship lands in the big ole cornfield. how did we know that nativity and hand knit snoopy in santa hat sweaters we not proper a-tire for such an event. please "our wizard of wry"
do not leave us unattended for so long.
your loving readers,
fred and beuluh
p.s. fred would like the #'s of your inmate friends

Catch Her in the Wry said...

anon: Gee whiz, fred and beuluh, I thought you two died years ago. I miss your hugs after which your body odor lingered with me for over an hour. We had some cool times at the Arcade back in the days. Say hi to Beuluh's pop. He always liked to run his fingers through my hair.

Anonymous said...

oh! those were the good ole days! who says we're gone! better check that attic!

Alice said...

I didn't miss you 'cause I was gone myself. Now about that smilin santa. Exactly what did you stick his plug into? I think it would have been loads of fun to explore in that old house. Mine is loaded up with things I'm getting rid of but not nearly so interesting.