To NOLA or Not NOLA
- Fall gives me the Fibros. Bleah! Whine!
- I’m painting the awful stairs and the thresholds at Camp Chaos. It sure must be a sight as I writhe and flail trying to get down low to do the fine work but that chocolate brown porch paint looks so good you want to lick it off your fingers – don’t advise that.
- Wu got all the window trim done in “Viking Yellow” and that’s the best we can do before winter. None of the expensive grass seeds Hubbin bought sprouted. I won’t say I told him so but…
- More flooring to collect tomorrow. We had a yell fest over that. It was his 59th birthday and caused him a grumpy butt paralysis where he got mad and fussy baby about “one more thing” instead of suggesting how we could do this better.
- I had Wu get him a T Bone and I had cakes and ice creams at BOTH houses to appease him.
- Tomorrow I have to decide if I’ll go to NOLA in April or not. I would love to go hang out with my peeps but every time I check the prices it gets more expensive. I got “spoiled” being there to do useful things instead of having fun. All the nonrefundable stuff is pretty intimidating. If this weren’t for a social event and I could just up and leave when I felt like it I could be there any time and maybe someday that’s how it’ll go but buying a commitment for April seems problematic. Fun fact: I’m usually a planner but this scenario doesn’t work.
- If the house situation weren’t entirely messed up I’d feel less responsible. Also, SIL is talking about coming out in the Spring but no idea when. Also, I don’t have the legs for “nightlife” that I used to. I remember cars and downtown being a royal pain but I don’t have time to figure it out on the fly like I used to. Things have changed. I have changed. Airport life beat it out of me. Amtrak makes no sense at all and you have to leave from my end at 1 am which is sketchy too. It’s not as romantic as I remember.
- Meanwhile, I finally got my passport application submitted. There goes 3 years of wistful waiting out of my way. What blows my mind is after 35 years of marriage I am still not a real person to the Washington State DMV, the SAME DMV that gave me a driver’s license they say doesn’t prove I’m me. How many security clearances have I had? Forget the blather about illegals, a married female isn’t a legitimate human being. If military service and federal employment count for nothing because I said “I do” and took the name of the father of my spouslings, I want to know where they are going to deport me to. Find the place I belong that isn’t Washington state. Curious minds want to know. Maybe Desantis would fund a trip to NOLA for me. Relocating PNW people to the land of laissez le bon temps rouler is probably not his top priority these days. I kind of understand. My empathy chip still works some of the time. Anyway, the USPS got that straightened out for me which is kind of ironic since last week I was trying to get keys for the new (ish) mail receptacle at the end of the street and they made me make two trips to get the paperwork to prove it was my house even after I showed them 4 forms of ID and the county assessors website with full history and a picture of the house. “Can you show us a mortgage or a rental agreement?” No, I own it. “Can you bring us a copy of the water bill?” Water bills in town are addressed to “occupant”. I’d already shown them proof of my ownership and the business entity but they wanted paper. “How about a utility bill?” Now how exactly am I supposed to get a utility bill if I can’t collect the mail to the house? The hitch in all this is at the people at the USPS seem pretty nice. You can’t even get mad at the strange logic that makes them bunny trail off into the hiney-covering land of makes-no-sense. I remember how it felt having to deal with illogical stuff every day and being the person who had to deliver messages from higher-ups who seemed to be a bit oxygen deprived. You have to smile and give customer service to customer service. You don’t get what you want by being a big old poopy pants.
I have been fighting with California for the “Real ID” which all airlines will demand starting next May. I can’t even believe all the stuff I have to show them! And I’ve got plans to move back to the PNW. I hope to heavens they accept the Real ID from California rather than make me go through all that again…
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