Another Day In Crazy

It's time to take a breath and ask,"'so what isn't happening?

Fires are burning as bad as they ever have. San Francisco and other cities and towns around the west have orange skies from smoke and flames, there's no such thing as air quality for a large segment of the country, and the Trumpanzees are blaming our failure to go out and sweep the forests.

In case you doubt that, our club president just returned from visiting family in Oregon with a report. The family homestead up there,  founded around 1840, had to be evacuated by the current generation and is expected to be totally devastated, family members scattering trying to find covid-free and affordable places to stay until ... however long it will take. And yes, there are Trumpanzees in the family spouting just that nonsense.

Books are hitting the stands, written by people with close ties to the Donald. His niece, his consiglieri, and Bob Woodward, the same reporter who was half the team which outed Watergate. Each book is worse in what they have to say about Trump, but the latest one is backed by hours and hours of taped interviews. Trumpanzees just say it's all just political. But... TAPE!

Damning as those books are, other leaks point to his total lack of humanity, honor, honesty, regard for fellow humans ... ad infinitum. He cannot comprehend service of any kind, but particularly military service. He knew how serious and contagious Covid 19 was months ago and did..... (crickets). He leaks national secrets, enlists just as in 2016 any and all assistance from Putin to sway our elections. Everybody around  him is corrupt. Or fired. Now AG Barr is stepping in with the Justice Department to stop him from having to contribute DNA in a rape case, at least until after (he "wins") the election. As a result all those costs will be borne by us, the taxpayers, rather than on Trump's own dime. The administration is leaning on those who file reports to lie, about the seriousness of the pandemic, the interference by Russia, dozens of other things including the pressure being supplied.

* * * * * 

Outside these walls, we did get rain the other day. About a quarter inch. Since March. Temperatures miraculously dipped into the low 90s today, but in two more we're back in triple digits. Monthly outlook for precipitation is again - wait for it - low. My agave babies have been given an increased amount of water lately and are growing faster now. The first two were adopted out to their new home this morning, a friend taking advantage of the "cooler" weather for her work.


I did get out myself yesterday. Had to. No AC in the car. I recognized the symptoms, as cooling paused briefly while the condenser waited for enough fluid again so it wouldn't fry. When you take several cars up over 300,000 miles, it does happen. Of course it wasn't that simple, right?

I walked in knowing what I wanted.... or should I say what the car needed. There was an inquisition to established exactly what was happening. (The same thing all those times before. Exactly!) Once I finally satisfied them that - at least - they should check the system out and see if it needed refilling. That's all they would commit to.


Fine. Do a load test on the battery too. It's been a bit over a couple years, I think, and the battery hasn't had the respite of a Minnesota summer this year. Arizona is very hard on them. I don't want it to die in the middle of ... anywhere.

There was more, boring stuff, but finally I'm home after my "free" Uber ride. I even managed to get them to understand that they needed to actually call me to let me know my return ride was coming rather than sending a text I'd never see. Only it didn't come. Hours after they said they'd be done, it didn't come. Were they trying to text me after all? You know, just like my last visit? Time to call them and check in.

Except....

No phone! Not here, there, everywhere. I'd put on shorts that morning with very shallow pockets. If I'm just walking around, no biggie. But my phone likes to fall out in a car. OK, but now the real question, which car? Mine or the Uber? I got Rich to call "me" in hopes of somebody nearby hearing and answering. Nada.

Now I have to go online to get the dealership's number again, since it's saved .... in my phone, of course. After some rigamarole getting ahold of "my" connection to the repair department, she says they are still working on the car, it had, fyi, failed the load test, and did I still want a new battery?

Hadn't I already said that?

She quoted some prices which I knew to be higher than Google information says they are (that's the "free" Uber folks), and I accepted them. I gave her Steve's phone number, asking her to please request the repair staff to check for my phone (with likely locations, known from experience) and please let me know. There were other possible locations, including completely lost.

While waiting for the nothing I was hearing back, a little research with Rich and the internet gave me some options for worst-possible-case.

Too much more time passed, so I asked Steve for his phone to call them back to check on progress so I could plan supper. Yeah, that late. Unfortunately, Steve's phone wasn't working for me. There's a security code to get in. First though, it has to be turned on via a button on the side. Then, I couldn't figure out how to access the keypad  menu. AAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!

After waking him, he patiently - kinda - showed me how to do what all I needed to use his phone. He was a little puzzled by my failure to comprehend. My temper was surfacing, and I just asked him to please call for me. Once the call was complete - my car was done, the Uber will be here..... - I showed him how he'd hold his phone so he could see it but not at an angle where I could, and I hope he now believes I'm not entirely as stupid as I was feeling while I was trying to use it.

Once I walked into the dealership, my contact was on the phone, which didn't stop her from reaching over her desk and  handing my phone to me. Big relief!

Matching big bill.

GREAT COOLING POWER!  However, an enigma. They could not detect any kind of a leak or fault in the condenser. But my fluid was high in water content! They finally gave up trying to figure out why, put all new coolant in, and added a lot of dye to it so I could locate any leak if one appeared. 

Oh, and did I want my tires replaced? Uh, sure, next month or two, and by somebody faster and cheaper!

* * * * *

I've been doing some internet shopping for clothes for the little grands. Two started school this week and their family budget has been hit with everything at once. I remember those days, so hunted around for some cute long sleeved shirts for them. Got pictures back of them opening them and holding them up to show off. What more could a Grandma want?

That was last night. This evening Steve showed me pics taken from the first day of school, sent via Facebook. NO MASKS! Not anywhere! Minnesota's covid numbers are currently higher than ours in new cases, and even here we're having issues with home learning vs. in school, whether precautions are "enough", and teachers calling in sick, presumably to safeguard themselves.

But no masks in these pictures!

OK, odds are.... Except, hearts are damaged in even light cases, and even in children, with more information coming in all the time. Even more, I worry about their father, with a very long history of asthma.

Oh, and as of right now, we haven't heard more about the granddaughter who'd tested positive a bit back. We've both been trying to reach out.

* * * * *

I have been working on a project now for a few days: archiving this blog. The powers that be have been changing things around, and you know by now how much I hate new tech most of the time. I don't consider this an improvement, though it doesn't show as you see it. Long ago the question came up, what happens of the host goes off-line? Till now this has been preserved only in cyberspace.

I'm changing that. Starting back in December, 2009, I'm copying each post in order onto my desktop, organized by month and year and in a separate folder from anything else I've saved. So far I've gotten 14 months, and rereading them has been an adventure. It starts after Daddy has moved in with us, and follows all kinds of details I'd forgotten. I'm glad I thought to write all the details down back then, though I'm sure for some of you it was a slog. Hey, at least you weren't as sleep deprived as I realize I've long since forgotten I was back then.

Looking back is also a treasure. I'd managed to erase much of that time, though not necessarily on purpose. I'm getting it back along with a renewed appreciation of the struggles, the humor, the wealth of assistance from those around  me. Most of all, I've recovered something I'd manage not to realize through all the stress: how much I loved that man!

How healing!