Life Rolls On in Day by Day

Let’s get the unpleasantness out of the way first: I am NOT surprised that Trump would attack the Labor leaders on Labor Day. In fact, I fully expect him to criticize mothers on Mother’s Day. Aaaaand that’s all I care to say about the carnival barker today.

It is a beautiful morning here, despite humidity that presses down like a wet blanket. Tropical storm Gordon has pushed itself across the southern tip of Florida and is now out in the Gulf of Mexico, heading for the favored target of all Gulf hurricanes: the Louisiana coast. Oh, they might hit TX or AL or MI, but it seems to me that the target is always New Orleans. Fortunately, this will be a small storm, Category One at most. Anyone who can’t weather a Category One or Two really doesn’t belong here. Yesterday was much worse, weather-wise. We had a lot of feeder bands and intermittent rain, but that seems to have moved on, as well. I think Naples and Fort Myers got it much worse than we did.

Work is crazy despite the fact that we are taking no new jobs as we plan to close our doors at the end of the year. Currently, we have two big jobs going. The first has been a nightmare. It was supposed to start in April, didn’t start until July, and instead of being able to get in and do our job and get out, the job has been stretched beyond belief. For instance, doors, which are usually delivered in batches, came in one. At. A. Time. The other should start next week or the week after, coinciding, OF COURSE, with the delivery of two huge saunas on the first job, so somehow, my husband must be in Tampa and in Naples on the same day.

We also have two smaller renovations that we must finish before the end of year, both kitchens. The owners of one kitchen have had a month to decide on cabinet style and color and are STILL on the fence. The owners of the other kitchen are pretty much the same, except their job also includes replacing windows, so they send me a PICTURE of the window they want that they saw in a magazine, only they didn’t save the magazine, so now we have to spend hours trying to track a window down.

If we don’t finish the first big job in time (by the end of September), I’m not sure we’ll get paid before closing our doors. As it is, we’ll probably lose the retainage, which is around $3K-$4K. Not a horrible loss, but significant enough to make us say, “hmmmm”. Unfortunately, it’s also not big enough to make us keep our doors open for another year.

I know, I know…First World problems…hand me the pity towel and tell me to buck up!

The non-profit continues to do well and I believe that is because it is being blessed and I believe that is because we are doing the right thing with the money. The young woman I am helping right now has had her world turned upside down by opioid drugs. A divorced mom of two, she has taken in her siblings’ children while they went through rehab (kids are now reunited with parents so she’s back to just her two) back in 2012, but her fiancee died last year, significantly changing her finances. She can’t work two jobs because her son is disabled, but makes enough to make ends meet if she can just get her car payments up to date. Once I get her through next week’s budget class, I’m going to pay the bill.

Her fiancee also battled opioid drug addiction and found sobriety. Unfortunately, like my Nick, he had weakened his body. For Nick, an undiagnosed thyroid condition was triggered. For this man, it was his heart. So I tell you this for a reason: some of you women who are my age, are addicted to opioids. You might use them for bad knees or to sleep at night or for any one of a gazillion reasons, but if you are addicted, you must try to free yourself. The long term consequences are just too great. If you need an operation on your knees or back, stop putting it off.

I’m not anti-drugs. I believe in CBD oils and may begin taking them myself (doctor suggested). I think marijuana should be legalized or booze made illegal or we are all just hypocrites. I think alcohol can be far more destructive than any drug out there. But opioid use should only be used after surgery and for cancer patients. It should NOT be continued for months after a tooth is extracted and it should not be used as a sleep aid. I think opioid should be treated as a poison that should be administered very, very carefully. JMO.

The boys are good. Eldest just got back from Disney World’s Very Mickey Halloween Party, a not-so-scary trick or treat venue that you pay extra for and get a special bag. If you carry the special bag, you get handfuls of candy from attendants that hand it out from buckets. Son asked one guy for TWO handfuls and the guy said, “SURE!” and gave it to him! My son is 38. Candy turns him into a 7 year old! LOL!

Youngest son is working hard (he & my husband both worked on Labor Day) on the mitvah at a Jewish temple. It is a ceremonial bath for those who are converting as well as those of the Jewish faith and usually means a stay over several days, so some temples in FL are building accommodations around these baths, since many women feel that if they must go through this ritual, they’d rather do it in sunny Florida than in snow bound New York.

The rabbi who heads this work does not come to FL in the summer so the work has been subbed out to us and that’s fine, except he’s a control freak, convinced that we goys will do it wrong (everything must be built to certain specifications laid out in the Torah), so he micro-manages from afar. We’re winning him over, though, and youngest will probably get the next job from him (I believe that one will be in St. Petersburg). This is a good thing, because my husband will continue to work part time with my son after we close our business (we’re stepping him down in retirement!).

So that catches you up on my boring life. I wish I could wow you with great accomplishments or exciting trips or…something…but that’s all I got: just me, plugging along, hoping to make my corner of the world just a little bit better than the way I found it. I suppose that’s what we all do, though, so even THAT is boring! LOL! Ah well, as the title says…life rolls on…