RandomThoughts for a Thursday

First random thought: Someone once said to me, “Only you, Allison. Your whole life reads like a sit com script.” One day last week, I had to agree. Sit com moment, you ask? I was leaving a meeting held in a remodeled school building (Sellar’s Gunn for my ABSS peeps) late one afternoon last week. I had to walk down a ramp that was adjacent to an indoor cement stairwell. As I headed out the door, I pulled my iPhone from my back pocket to see if I might be able to catch my intercontinental husband before he called it a night. “Swoop,” out of my pocket and “bam” – onto the cloth doormat. “Thank you, Jesus!” I said out loud as it came to a rest with only a corner hanging over the edge of the concrete precipice. Lucky me! I leaned over to pick it up, feeling very lucky indeed when all of a sudden, water poured over my shoulder and onto my head. That’ll wake you up! Just as I realized that building was not leaking and remembered that I had a cup of refreshing water in the outside pocket of my very trendy, super-duper, organizing tote, the very cup which was the source of my wetness succumbed to gravity and bounced down the stairs – echoing my shame and embarrassment like crashing cymbals…cue laugh track.

Second random thought: Time Warner Cable is going to lose all its business and go bankrupt – at least that is what I hope. It took me over an hour last night to order cable. An hour of my life! A very nice young man explained all the packages to me and finally believed me when I said for the fifth time that I only want basic cable and ShowTime (I am in serious Dexter withdrawal). He quoted me all these prices and we agreed and I was only about twenty minutes into the call, when he said he was going to transfer me to installation to get that scheduled. I asked him where he was physically located. Pakistan. Fascinating. He was far more polite and helpful than the grumpy puss I spoke to at Target this week who told me to “Hollon – who do you wanna talk to?” “Did I dial Target?”

Anyway, I kept my cool until installation asked me all the exact same questions I had just answered, and then told me that in order to actually watch cable or ShowTime on any of my TVs, I have to rent a cable box from TWC for an additional $10 per month per box. So, how can they quote me a price, and then say, that doesn’t include the box? It’s like saying, “This is the price of your dinner. But you must rent the plate for us to serve it on for an additional fee.” If and when there is an alternative…

Third and final random thought: Four dudes and two trucks came to bring our belongs home last week. Between the four of them, in the seven hours they were here, they must have accepted a minimum of 25 personal calls on their cell phones. Granted, a few of the calls happened on their breaks, but at one point, they were hauling my grandmother’s antique sofa up the stairs, when I hear one of them say, “Hang on, man, I gotta take this.” This guy was talking to his wife. At first, I was understanding, then I realized, if this keeps up, they are not going to finish today. Believe me, it’s not the kids who are addicted to being connected – it’s the whole lot of us. Three out of four of these guys was over 30, and it seemed like they were all talking to their wives. Good Lord! – what happened to “being at work?”

Cleaning House

Yesterday, two – yes, two, moving vans arrived at my home and delivered all my stuff.   I honestly prefer to call it crap at this point.  Two vans full of things I don’t really need because I have been living in this house with empty rooms and no where really comfortable to sit, for two months.  Two whole months and I am fine.  Fine without the weight of all these belongings – all these things – things to make my life easier, more entertaining, more comfortable. I have a bread maker, a juicer, an ice cream freezer, an electric skillet and two sets of cookware and three coffee-makers…not even counting the one still in London.  I own three sets of china as well as everyday dishes and let’s not even count flatware.  There are now four sofas in this house, four desks, and five book cases.  You get the picture.

I just moved all my posts from Indie-Albany to this blog and re-read, “Its the people, not the things.”  I must concur with me.

The funny thing is, a whole lot of my things are about the people.  We have tea cups from every grandmother; a stamp collection from my father-in-law; the bread machine was actually a gift from my dad so I might not ever part with it; there’s china from both a grandmother and my parents – it simply goes on and on.  Half the exhaustion I feel is from visiting with all the ghosts, all the people I love and remember and no longer have in my daily life: only the things they left behind.  I miss them and touching the mementos forces me to remember…

Warning – a rant follows

Talking to my mom last night, she shared with me the latest horrible reality TV show she had watched.  Celebrity wives had planned a gourmet party for their dogs.  They hired two chefs, flew in Kobe beef, set up tables with china and linen table clothes for dogs.  Now, I am not a dog-hater.  I think it is great when people treat their animals well and love them.  I admit I cringe a bit when dogs get treated like children, especially when I think that the inverse is also true.  What has galled me is the gluttony – the unabashed flagrant and disgusting gluttony of spending tens of thousands of dollars on a dog party.  When people can “afford” to that, I think it is the inverse of a Facebook post that is circulating: “If you can afford to have a tattoo, buy cigarettes, and beer then you don’t need food stamps.”  So inversely, if you can afford to throw a party for your dog that includes Kobe beef, you don’t deserve a lower tax rate than the teachers, firefighters, and police to provide the underpinnings for our society.

There are starving, needy children – human children, close by, who could have been helped with that money.