Saturday, July 6, 2024

Saturday, July 6, 2024

 

  I went to bed very late because I had to see the end of the movie Darling Companion.  I loved it, but it got terrible reviews.  It stars Diane Keaton, Kevin Kline with Diane Wiest, and several other actors I recognized and thought well of.  The reviews didn't credit the movie's theme, resolving interpersonal relationships. 

  I walked up to Judy and Paulette's with Elsa, a spray bottle with ammonia in hand. I learned that Judy was trying to remove the tinting from Howard's car windows.  It had darkened over the years, and she couldn't see out anymore. That made driving dangerous.

  When I spoke with her, I learned Judy had tried several different methods already. Nothing worked. The videos show a guy peeling the tinting off the window in large sheets. Howard's car was ancient. The glue had hardened. Judy had managed to scrape some of it off and get clear glass. I delivered ammonia because Judy had learned it might work. My best guess is scraping is the only way to go. 

   Judy and Paulette told me they couldn't find ammonia in the local grocery stores. I remember buying it there but hadn't bought any in the last ten years. It's become a hardware item.  I wonder why.

  I did laundry, anticipating a sunny day. Good luck! When the washing machine had done its job, the rain started. I hung the laundry on the line anyway. I just set aside a few pairs of underwear in case I ran out. Given the strength of the sun here, it would require only a few hours to dry everything, even if it had been rain-soaked.

  The rain also busted my plans to walk the green waste down to Darby and Patrick's.

  It was a nothing day. The Twins go to a paddling race every Saturday, and Adolescent D had other plans.  I worked on updates and napped a lot.  I was almost narcoleptic for the whole day, easily falling asleep while writing.

  In anticipation of Damon visiting at the end of July, I planned a thorough house cleaning. Damon said, "No, no. that's not necessary." I use guests as motivation to get the cleaning done.  Mike used to say, "Where's a guest when you really need one?"  Today, I removed the screens and washed all the insides of the bay window. 

I planned lentil soup for my dinner. I generally cook it on the stovetop. The burner didn't ignite. I was out of gas.  Josh came up to help me. The two canisters that were attached were empty. They were light enough for me to pick up with ease. The two full ones were heavy. It didn't want Josh to lift them.  Josh was down with a painful neck a week ago. It was so bad he had to stay home from work.  He also has a chronic bad knee. I didn't want him to jeopardize his body when someone else could do it. Tomorrow, he was leaving for Colorado for his fiftieth birthday.  His mom, who rarely sees him, insisted he be with her for the occasion. Sounded reasonable to me.

  I texted Adam, Judy's son, who lives down the block on the same property as she does, to deal with the propane. Adam does this for a living. His next-door neighbor, Otto, owns a propane dispensing business. Adam went to work for him. Otto has adopted Adam as his Hanai son. He is planning on passing the business on to Adam when he retires.  I don't know all the arrangements. But I do know it's a good relationship.  Adam offered to come right over and attach the full canisters. I told him it wasn't necessary. I sent him a picture of the two empties sitting in the driveway for him to pick up on his way to work on Monday.

   I came across a list of the ten top films on Netflix. Yikes, most of them were violent—not to my taste. Only one seemed reasonable: The Pale Blue Eye with Christian Bale. While it didn't captivate me like Darling Companion did, it didn't disappoint. It has some interesting twists.