Be Careful What You Ask For in Everyday Ramblings

Fading Dogwood blossoms.

Be careful what you ask for. My birthday is coming up the Monday after next. I will have another year left in my 60’s and I plan to make the most of it. Anyway, people in my life have been asking what I would like as a gift, and I have been saying I want the wall back in my apartment.

There is now a wall. Inside and out. But that is all. No drywall. They did tape up the window outside yesterday as they are preparing to paint the new siding, they put up the week before last. From the outside it will look like job done. La de da.

The bathtub and shower and kitchen sink and dishwasher and cabinets though… still in the storage room across the hall with my extra sponges, toaster, string and everything else from the kitchen that I keep thinking it would be nice to have here in my luxury campsite (loaner apartment) named Alice.

Yesterday the word from the project manager was the contractors are saying they should have everything reinstalled by the 21st. Then the electrician and plumber have to come back and there was some discussion about another permit.

Oh, and speaking about the plumber. The main toilet here is an original from the building’s creation. It has been running periodically and also plugging up periodically. I assure you I am not doing anything vaguely controversial with the toilet. Night before last, it started running and wouldn’t stop. Yesterday morning I contacted the maintenance people (separate from the big repair people) and got on the list.

It is a simple fix. But they need to replace the toilet. It has one of those heavy ceramic lids. Not the easiest thing for a 68-year-old woman with arthritis in her spine to lift early in the morning. I get bonus points for managing. I stuck the plunger in sideways and braced it on the counter and voila no more water loss.

Lucky for me this apartment has two bathrooms. Carlo is a little put out that I am now using his.

Clearly, when I was asking the universe for my birthday wall, I should have been more specific.

For our national birthday on July 4th, I am asking for drywall, replacement of all relevant infrastructure (including the doorbell), plumbing, electrical work, (the electrician is adorable) interior painting, and cleaning. Okay?

Oh, and some help moving furniture around and shelf paper advice.

It is getting dry here. Spring is gone and there is that summer vibe. When I go meet with our coffee group on Thursdays now, we are meeting on the roof of the trendy hotel coffeeshop. I am still the only woman, and it gets a bit awkward at times.

Yesterday one of the guys, a lovely guy, serious and vulnerable was explaining to another guy, kind and generous, the meaning of the yoga sutras by Patanjali. A subject matter I am quite familiar with. After he finished Walt asked me, I was sitting right next to him, and what is your take on this?

I am like, I am not going there. I talked about how I tell my students regularly during guided relaxation that we are capable of feeling two sensations at once, heaviness and lightness.

The theme of the conversation was how in our own lives we manage the knowledge of incredible suffering with our knowledge that the world is also filled with staggering awe-inspiring beauty.

It gave me lots to think about and a big dose of social anxiety.

Oh well, it was excellent distraction from the plumbing and the League budget and this weird state of limbo I find myself in.

Last updated June 09, 2023