I didn’t turn the alarm on last night because I was going to stay home from Bikram and make phone calls to offices on the mainland. I assumed I’d be up by 6:30 the latest. When I woke up, it was 7:50. I didn’t go to bed that late. I must have needed the sleep. Another quick walk with Elsa before I started the day.
One of the first calls was to Sears Service. My annual maintenance for my appliances was due. This means my refrigerator, stovetop, oven, dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer. I could give a testimonial for this service. Mike and I got the top of the line service contract on our refrigerator. We had problems with it. After Sears was out for the fourth time trying to repair it, they gave us the money to replace the one we had. For a little extra money, we bought a better product. We feel we got our money’s worth forever.
I had a spot of reappearing dirt in the refrigerator. I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Yvette checked the bottom of the door and found a weep hole. When I spoke to the service provider, she had me send her pictures, and her technical staff checked it. Their conclusion: dirt; clean your refrigerator I had an appointment for Friday afternoon for all my appliances.
I spent from 8 am to 5 pm making calls to credit card companies, determining how to redeem bonus points and miles. I am reading CS Lewis’s Mere Christianity. He talks about his nasty temper. Boy, I’m seeing that in myself. Every call takes at least, at least half an hour, and every call gives me a little bit more information. Then when I ask another question, they repeat the same information. Maddening.
When I called one company, I discovered that Mike had accumulated 88,700 miles. Wow! This will take care of my travel to the mainland for a while. I also called TIAA and the New Jersey pension fund to ask for help in filling out paperwork. TIAA had my name wrong: Elizabeth Ross instead of Elizabeth David-Ross. The paperwork for the pension fund said something about submitting divorce papers if he had been married. At first, I thought maybe Jean could get some money, too. No, the pension fund wants to check if Mike has any outstanding debts. I called Jean and asked if she knew where her divorce papers were. She knew where they were. Inspired by my situation, she and John and have been getting all their paperwork together and making lists of passwords.
Yvette had a private yoga class with JJ. She texted me to say she was thrilled. I can imagine. He has a world of knowledge and thinks about how to apply what he knows to each body. I can’t wait to work with him and get special instructions.
In Yvette’s class with him in which he covered all the postures. I prefer his three-person three-session option; he breaks down the asanas over three sessions. That way, he will cover less in each session, and I will be able to hear instructions repeatedly as he helps each one of us.
I walked Elsa all the way around the block. If I’m doing Bikram that day, I just do a short walk. I noticed a lot of trash on this other street. Wow! Due to our friend, John Zimmerman, I carefully monitor our block for trash. There isn’t a lot on our street, a few cigarette butts, occasionally someone throws food containers out their car window. What I’m noticing is that trash has colors or shapes that usually don’t find in nature. The color white is a dead giveaway. I noticed that there are flowers which are that shade of white, but by the time they hit the ground, they’ve already started turning brown. I haven’t seen any objects in nature that are perfect rectangles or circles, either.
Dorothy came to mind. I was going to call her when I got a text from her. She had been in Seattle since March 27 to help Karin and David with their new baby. She decided to take a break and took a two-day trip to Victoria, British Columbia. She told me about the garden she visited while there. It was established by a wealthy family. Initially, people could visit for free; now, people have to pay. They need the money to pay the 70 gardeners who maintain the place. When she got back, she was surprised that the baby had visibly grown. She will go back to New Jersey after Passover. David’s whole family will be coming out to Seattle for the holiday.
I called Zola. We made a lunch date for Tuesday. She will bring food, and I will buy bread at Safeway. Delicious, whole grain, hmmm! Salivating just thinking about it. I’ll make sure I have extra salad in the house. Thank God for Costco.
I was finally ready to take a shower. I needed a fresh bar of soap. When we moved here, we discovered we had an impressive surplus of Dove soap bars. We put it, along with all the other items we store for future need, in a hall closet we called “the forever closet,” meaning we thought the items there would outlast us. Guess not. Mike’s gone; the Dove bars are not. There are still half a dozen left after close to 5 years. After the shower, I dutifully did MELT and used the Tiger Stick. I love this method of using the shower to trigger these practices. It works like a charm.
I did some work on making blog notes for the day. I was exhausted, and my mind is cottage cheese from all the phone calls and clerical work of the day. I went down for my afternoon nap.
After taking Elsa for her walk before dinner walk, I remembered to apply the ear cleaning solution. I have had trouble doing it regularly. She was suffering from an ear infection. Her normally white hair in her ears had turned a reddish-brown. It was Judy who pushed me to treat her or to take her to the vet. At first, the whole process was difficult. Elsa made it clear that this was not one of her favorite activities, and it left me reluctant to do it. But, practice makes better if not perfect. To do it regularly, I linked the ear cleaning with something I do do regularly, walking her. The brown color in the hair around her ears is fading, and there is actually more downright white hair coming back. Yeah, for me.
I ate dinner as I watched TV. I have found a wealth of British tv mysteries on Brit Box. My latest if Murder in Suburbia. It’s lightly comical and not edgy. I don’t like edgy. It scares me. I did not catalog any books tonight. It was too much after a day of clerical work.
I didn’t bother putting on a pair of shorts over my underpants when I Elsa and I took our late evening walk. I did run into someone as it turns out. But “It’s Hawaii.” Formality is not the order of the day.
I walked Elsa, had dinner, watched tv, and cataloged books. I walked Elsa before going to bed, washed my face, brushed my teeth, went to bed, and then said, “Goodnight, Elsa. Goodnight, Mike.”
