I Apologize and I'm Sick at Heart - What a Disappointment!

I offer my apologies to Ukraine. With it almost a certainty that Trump will be in the White House for another four years (and how our nation will ever survive that is a good question), our support for Ukraine will bite the dust. Our promises will drift in the wind, our funding will disappear. Trump has made no secret that he'll pull out of the war in Ukraine. His "buddy" Putin will be delighted. He'll have an open road to Kiev. I'm absolutely sick at heart. 

I'm sick at heart. I haven't been this depressed over 
an election in my entire life. I really hope we make 
it through the next few years without a world war. 

I've lived through Nixon, through the Kennedy assassination, through election after election, and the nation has somehow survived all of the variety of Presidents we've elected. I have to hope that this will also be the case now. But Trump reminds me all too much of Hitler, and we all know what Hitler managed to do before he finally took his own life. We're in for a very bumpy ride, people. We're going to be maneuvering our way through the asteroid belt by the seat of our pants. I only hope we still have a democracy in four years because this will be challenging. 

I'm sick at heart. I'm quite sure I'm far from the only 
person who is looking at our immediate future with 
a bit of fear. I really HATE living in "interesting times". 

That's about all I can say right now, except that I'm very grateful I'm old. No matter what happens, I won't have to experience it for more than about 20 more years - 30 at the most. That's probably better numbers than most of my readership. Sometimes being old is a very good thing. Have an excellent Wednesday, I'm off to the swimming pool. Slava Ukraini. 

It's Election Day and I'm Running Late

Today I'm rushed. I actually slept until my alarm went off - a rarity in my life. Of course, I was up at 1:14 am but decided to go back to sleep. That my 3:00 am alarm would be coming all too quickly, and I needed my sleep. Wise - I sometimes can be wise without really thinking about it. It took all of a fleeting thought before I turned over and was asleep again - LOL. 

I actually had a good night's sleep last night, woke up 
when my 3:00 am alarm went off. Yippee. Now for a 
good swim to continue a good morning. 

I did cobble together one story for the current prompt yesterday morning. I'll read it over again today and decide whether to submit it or try again. The deadline is Thursday night, so not a lot of time, but some, and that's really all that's needed. 

We won't be able to escape Winter for much longer, 
I suspect. We still have a LOT of leaves to rake up, 
so hopefully DH will get working on that today. We're 
running out of time. 

I believe that Winter has now come to stay. We're much colder and, even though we haven't seen snow that actually stuck around, it's coming. Last winter was an anomaly, and I enjoyed it, but I'm sure we won't qualify for bare minimum snow two years in a row. That's actually not good, but it is what it is. Hopefully DH can get to the leaves today. We have a LOT of them, and they need to be raked up and put into our compost pile before much longer. We'll see what my front yard looks like when I get home tonight. 

I ordered a new parka last week. The same 
style as my old one (love it!), but two 
sizes smaller. Right now my body heat 
is only heating air. I need the coat to fit 
me much closer to be warm, and I would 
like a functional zipper as well - LOL. I got 
a great deal on it, so I'm happy. 

I also bit the bullet and ordered a new winter parka a couple of days ago. I adore my parka, but it's HUGE on my now, and the zipper pull is broken, replaced by a jumbo paper clip (not nearly as effective, but it works ... somewhat). I ordered the same style/color, but in an extra small. That should be the proper size for me and I'll be much warmer without the oversize air pockets to have to heat. I'll find out - this winter won't be as forgiving as last winter was. 

Please make sure you vote, if you haven't already done so. 
It's crucially important in this contentious election, to have 
your individual voice heard. 

So, since I'm running late, I'm cutting this off here. Have an excellent Tuesday, I'm off to the pool. If you haven't voted, get out to your local polling place and get your vote in. It's VITALLY important to express your voice in this contentious election. Slava Ukraini. 

The Treadmill, LJ Idol, and Life - Yadda, Yadda LOL

DH was insistent that I show him how to operate the treadmill yesterday, so I did. He refuses to clean more than the hand rails, which he complains he doesn't like. He wants a towel on each side and I nixed that immediately - he has the left side. but I get the right side. He "just wants to run" and doesn't care about any of the other stuff. He wants a treadmill bed that has more give to it (the only reason the old one had more give is because it was VERY old), etc, etc. Yadda, yadda. I'm resigned to cleaning the treadmill carefully after my uses and will hope I can keep things clean enough for my purposes. If not, I might be able to lock him out. (It's tempting - LOL). 

I'm not sure I could lock DH out of the treadmill, 
but if he abuses my equipment, I'm sure going to 
look into it. I can always text my rep, she's a lot 
of fun and knows her stuff. We hit it off really 
well and have chatted several times since I 
bought the equipment. 

Today I took a 30 minute fast-walk through New Zealand's South Island. So beautiful! I didn't super push things, my thigh is still twinging a bit after last week's pull/tear, but I did a decent distance, 30+ minutes on the tread, and I'm sure that Friday, after three days in the pool, I'll be totally ready to get back to a sturdy 45-60 minute schedule. I love the Virtual Reality hikes on the treadmill. I like scenery to look at, while I'm hooked into my favorite heavy metal rock station on my phone with my ear buds. It's just me ... one more example of how differently DH and I use the same equipment. 

Today I was hiking through the South Island of New 
Zealand. Such gorgeous and stunning scenery, with 
wonderful mountains, lots of greenery, and some 
challenging terrain. I'd love to do some of these 
hikes in person. Wouldn't that be fun? 

I'm turning around the latest writing challenge prompt in my head, not really sure of the direction I want to try. It's due Thursday night, so I don't have a lot of time to spend on it. But ... I might pull in from some older sources, put it squarely into the fantasy realm. and see what happens - whether the words flow or not. If the words don't flow, it won't be a successful write. If they do, they'll ring clearly like a bell. The fact that I've made it this far astonishes me and makes me very happy. I've never won a challenge, but I'm solidly in the pack. Of course, that pack is growing smaller and smaller - LOL. 

I'm rolling the latest prompt through my head. There are 
pathways I could take, but I don't have a lot of time to 
spare, and can't afford too many start-overs before I submit 
a final on Thursday. So far, every thought I've pursued has 
been a dead end. Hopefully I can came up with something 
worthwhile over the next 48 hours or so. 

So, I hope all of you have a wonderful Monday. If you wanted to vote early, today is your last chance. Otherwise, you can join DH and a lot of other people who want to vote in person on Voting Day. Me, I'm delighted that I've already done all of this and can stay nice and warm. I'm very disappointed that it's such a contentious election, but given the candidates - it's not really a surprise. I just hope we make it through the next four years without any catastrophes, depending on who actually wins the election this time (and whether or not the Capital and House of Representatives are assailed one more time). Have a good, quiet Monday before we enter "no man's land" over the next few days. Slava Ukraini. 

Tossing Around the Yiddish Because English Just Doesn't Cut It

I had a wonderful run ... yesterday morning. However, for the remainder of the day I was walking in pain from a pulled muscle in my upper thigh, something that had happened within the last five minutes or so on the treadmill yesterday. So, with the wisdom that hindsight brings, I've decided that I overdid it a bit yesterday, and also that I needed to give myself an additional amount of time to recover from this before going back to the equipment. So, I skipped today's run, and I'll be back on the treadmill on Monday. Of course, DH wants me to show him how to operate the machine tomorrow, so maybe I'll get a short workout on Sunday while demonstrating various things to him. Either way, however, today is a "rest" day instead. 

No treadmill today. My muscles are not very 
happy with me - I overdid it yesterday and all 
day I was in some serious hurt. I'll give myself 
until Monday to recover and should be fine to 
go by then. 

I survived the most recent LJ Idol round, and am entering the next one with the stories due on Thursday. Our topic this time is a quote from Thelonious Monk: "A genius is the one most like himself". It's leaving me a bit "bershpucked" (not sure of the Yiddish spelling, but the word is the right one for this event). I have things running through my brain, but will they be strong themes enough to survive writing and read-through? After all, for the previous post I wrote and discarded more than four tries before starting the acrostic out of desperation in my prayer. 

I'm completely "berspukled" by the latest 
topic for LJ Idol. I can tell I'm confused because 
I don't slip into Yiddish very often. But, as I 
was going through the Yiddish dictionary to see 
if I even remembered the word properly, I was 
quite amazed by how much Yiddish I actually 
know. Guess Mom raised me right - LOL. 

The Wild (hockey team) succeeded in their game against Tampa Bay last night. They were wearing their "Reverse Retro" alternate jerseys which confused me because it was North Stars colors but with the Wild logo. Very pretty. I still have an official North Stars jersey in my closet. It's not specific to any player, just a generic official one. But I still love it and I miss those colors. It was really nice to see them on the ice in Minnesota once again. I happily wear my current MN Wild jerseys too, though, especially my Kaprisov one given to me by a cherished online friend who also enjoys hockey. 

While watching the hockey game last night (we won - 
Yippee), I was initially confused by the uniform colors 
the players were wearing. These were MN North Stars 
colors, not MN Wild colors. Looking it up, it's called 
a "Reverse Retro" jersey, one of several specialty 
jerseys the team is authorized to wear for games. 
It was rather nice to see the green and gold back 
out on the ice again. 

Tuesday is Election Day where the challenge for the Presidency will enter the next phase. I guarantee if Trump isn't elected, he'll start legal crap, and people will be up in arms. Then again, if Harris doesn't win, the same thing might happen except I doubt she'll be crass enough to buy judges and influence outcomes. Either way, it's bound to be interesting, and I'm sure all of you remember that old Chinese curse ... "May you live in interesting times". ACK! 

There's something to be said about NOT living in 
interesting times. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending 
upon your viewpoint) interesting times are exactly 
where we are living right now. We're on a knife's edge 
and this election is more important than a LOT of 
elections in our past. 

So, I'm off for another day at the shop and some mulling over of directions I might take the current LJ Idol topic. I usually start and toss several story lines before settling into something I feel worth sharing with the group. The group is shrinking quickly, and for the first time ever, I'm in the final ten. It's mind-blowing and rather frightening in some respects, but I'm delighted to be among this group. I know if several people hadn't withdrawn (one in particular), I might not have survived this long. So, I'm off to the shop, then on to my truncated weekend, and finally marching into next week with a bit of trepidation. I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend and Slava Ukraini. 

Pushing Boundaries and Voting - LJ Idol and Presidential

I had a wonderful run this morning, a good 15-minute mile pace with a 4 elevation. Made me happy, and made my right hip sore by the end of my 45 minutes. *sigh* I'll be walking a bit slower today and I'm quite sure I'll twinge now and again reminding me that I overdid it a little bit. But, to get anywhere, you have to push boundaries. That's true on the treadmill, in the swimming pool, and in life. I'm sure I'll be fine by the time I'm back on the treadmill tomorrow morning. 

After my main 30 minute run, I started a second run, this 
time through the northern mountains of Italy. Lots of 
fun tunnels and narrow roadways. 

It's a "day off" for me today, and I have bills to pay, "Ogre Juice" (alkagizers) to make for the coming week, and a desk full of paperwork that has to be taken care of. Oh joy! LOL We had a quiet Halloween, as I had anticipated. We didn't have any goblins or ghouls come to the door, and were able to settle down and watch "Miss Marple" without interruption. So much fun! 

I need to get a batch of Alkagizers made today, but that's 
all of the kitchen work I need to do. I did find a new soup 
recipe I want to try, but not for another week or so. I'm 
totally stocked because I cooked ahead for Chickie's 
jury duty schedule. 

Because we had anticipated a possible two weeks of jury duty for Chickie, my refrigerator is full of lovely soups and stews, so I don't even need to do any cooking today. It's a day of luxury. So unexpected, and very welcome. 

I'm so sorry, but I think hand-made holiday cards will 
be impossible for me this year. I will take a serious 
hunt to find the nicest fun cards I can for all of you, 
my dear friends, and hope you can forgive me. 

I've come to the conclusion that hand-made holiday cards will be impossible for me this year. That causes me sorrow - I adore making my cards for all of you. But here it is November, and when I'm making cards, I usually start them in the summer months. Time simply hasn't been there this year. So I'm going to start a hunt to find something commercial, but incredible for all of my friends. I can't spend a total fortune, after all, I just bought a treadmill for several thousand dollars. But, I'm sure I can find something I'll be happy to send, and I hope all of you will understand that sometimes (rarely) life simply gets in the way. This will be one of those rare times. 

I'm delighted that I live to write again. I don't think I've 
ever made it this long/far in LJ Idol in the past, and 
I'm totally thrilled. I couldn't have gotten this far without 
all of your votes, and I hope that you will continue 
reading and voting for as long as I can participate. 
New prompt will be released later today. 

So I'm going to wrap this up and get moving again. Thank you to all of you who voted for my Prayer this time around. I'm honored that you thought enough of my thoughts to put in your vote. I didn't win, but I certainly didn't lose either. Instead, Xeena won with a VERY well deserved win for a beautiful composition, and we have a write-off between two others for who gets "kicked off the island" this week. The new prompt will be posted later today. I'll have to make sure to check in and find out what malicious idea our moderator has in his head this time - LOL. 

No matter who you vote for (or have already voted for), 
someone else will have a different opinion and will have 
voted the opposite. It's called democracy, and it actually 
works, despite the stumbles. Someone will be happy, 
someone else will not be. But, we need to keep the 
anger out of it. Be disappointed, but don't be angry. 
It's the way democracy works - someone wins and 
someone loses. 

Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up the week. Please be kind to people - emotions are running a bit high right now with the election only a few days away. No matter who wins, someone will be happy and someone else will be disappointed - even angered. I'm looking ahead to Thanksgiving, by which time I hope all of the pent-up emotions will be laid to rest with the roasting of a very large bird. Enjoy your day - Slava Ukraini. 

Good Samhain to All and Thank You for Your Votes!

Good Samhain or Halloween to each and every one of my readers. As we move from the season of abundance into the season of cold, need and want, perhaps it would be good to reflect upon the past year's deeds and accomplishments. Just as your ancestors (in the Northern Hemisphere) brought in the crops at the end of the growing cycle, so you should also gather those stray thoughts and unfinished deeds, deciding which to keep, which to hold until the Spring's renewal, and which to toss onto the bonfires of the closing season of Summer. 

The bonfires of Samhain allow for the burning of the 
past and the lighting of the future. Let its' flame warm 
you and brighten your path ahead. 

I'm still alive in LJ Idol, and I'm glad for it. I appreciate every single vote, and thank each of you for taking that extra step of not only reading my entry, but voting for me. We're down to a startling small number of writers now, compared to the huge group we initially had. Votes and/or circumstances have led to our shrinkage of numbers, and I'm SO honored to be among this small group of very talented people. I couldn't still be here without your votes, so once again a sincere and heartfelt "Thank You" if you have been one of those friends who have voted for my efforts. 

I'm VERY grateful for all of you who took the time and 
voted for my latest entry. It's looking like I will live 
to write at least once more, and I'm thrilled about that. 
Of course, the voting isn't closed yet, things could still 
change and I could be kicked off the island. But it's 
looking good so far. 

I awakened early today, so I'm not SUPER rushed (although I don't have all the time in the universe either). DH was in the computer room (the lights were on, I could see the light line at the base of the door). I got up, watered the fountain, convinced the lights above the picture window that it was their time to shine, and settled down to meditate. Getting up at 2:30 am when my alarm is scheduled for 3:00 am, just means I have a bit of extra breathing space before I leave for the swimming pool. 

If my road had been this open, I would have turned 
around. That was an impossibility, however. I had 
cars behind me and next to me, curbs that held me 
into my lane, and no ability to change fate. It was 
a very long 25 minutes before I was able to continue 
on my way to fetch my missing bag. *sigh* 

Yesterday I was an idiot (and probably half asleep). I was at the gym, reaching for my swimming stuff, when I realized I was missing one of the two bags I take with me. I had my swim bag - flippers, goggles, fins, etc - but I was missing the bag with my soap, lotion and clothing for the day. OOPS! I quickly left the gym to return home. Normally this is a five-minute trip. But I got caught by one of the large freight trains they have overnight - the multi-hundred cars worth of train. Twenty+ minutes later I finally was free of the train and heading home. I did return to the gym, and I did get at least half of my normal workout, but it was SO frustrating and so unnecessary if my head had been on straight. *sigh*. Sometimes I can be really stupid! I won't forget today! 

Dressing up for Halloween is a tradition, but one that I 
don't always indulge in. I suspect I won't dress up 
for the shop today. I have work to do, and outfits can 
sometimes get in the way. 

So, I'm off to the swimming pool. There's no way to dress for Halloween for swimming, so I can think about whether or not I'll dress up when I get home. Although I often do dress in a "Morticia Addams" style gown and a long wig, I might forgo that this year. I'm not really in the mood for it. Still, Samhain is finally here, and Winter will begin. It's time. Be safe, enjoy your Halloween, and don't eat TOO much candy. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Release and A Set of Chairs

Chickie totally lucked out (and therefore, so did we). She texted me yesterday afternoon, she's finished her Jury Duty and will be back at work today! YIPPEE. Since she was scheduled for a full two weeks, that's a blessing. I get my usual "day off" today, and DH can actually take his Thursday and Saturday. We're quite relieved. Chickie said she had been called for three different juries, but that one case settled, a second was postponed, and the third needed an interpreter who didn't arrive on time, so that case also was postponed. I'm just grateful all around. I don't mind working with DH, but it's not my favorite thing. 

Chickie has been released from her Jury Duty. She 
was called for three different juries, none of which 
actually were seated for a case, or that she didn't make 
the final cut for. 

I have two Pierre Paulin chairs in the basement of my shop. We had purchased them new at a warehouse sale decades ago, and for years and years they were our "sit and rest a bit" or a "keep your kids out from underfoot while you're shopping" chairs. We pulled them out of circulation during Covid because they are fabric covered, which couldn't be sterilized. Our current "companion chair" isn't nearly as comfortable as the Paulin chairs are/were, but it can be easily cleaned. 

I have a matched set of two Pierre Paulin 
"Ribbon Chairs" that we purchased at a 
warehouse sale decades ago. They are the 
most comfortable chairs I've EVER sat it, 
and I adore them. But they've been 
loved to death, and I have no space at 
home for them. So I'm willing to sell them 
to this possible buyer, who is willing to 
put the work and $ into upgrading them to 
"almost new" status and resell them. If we can 
come to a meeting of the minds on price. 

I had a gentleman come into the shop last week asking about the chairs. He said his business partner had recalled that we had them, and was wondering if we still owned them. We do, so I took him into the basement to examine them (they've been absolutely loved to death and need serious work - upholstery mostly). He took photos and said he would check with his partner and get back to me. 

Our chairs were covered in a dark chocolate 
brown fabric - perfect for the many, many 
people and children who sat in these chairs 
over the decades that we've had them. They are 
truly FABULOUS chairs, but need a lot of 
work and take up a lot of space. 

Yesterday I had an email from him. They are interested in the chairs, offering $450/each. If they put in another $2000, they will have chairs they can resell at a good profit. I had been looking for an upholsterer who was willing to take on the project, but had been unsuccessful. I replied with a counter offer dollar amount for each chair; higher, but far from unrealistic. We'll see what response we get. I adore the chairs, know their value, but they need A LOT of work. If someone's willing to put the work and money into it, they might make a tidy profit because these chairs sell for $2000-$20,000 EACH when in perfect condition. 

Please vote at one of the two links below 
for my current story, if you read it and 
enjoyed it. I appreciate your support and 
comments, and my prayer was very 
heartfelt. 

I'm going to enjoy my usual "day off" today. I'm really looking forward to it. I hope all of you have a wonderful day as well. I'll be back tomorrow with all of my clothes washed and put away, dinners made and in the refrigerator, and some off-the-grid stuff accomplished. I'm so VERY pleased that I get my "day off" after all. See you tomorrow and Slava Ukraini. And ... if you haven't read/voted for my current story using OMAKASE as the prompt (I used the letters to spur each paragraph), please hop over to LJ Idol, read, and vote here: https://www.dreamwidth.org/poll/?id=32108 or here: https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1170782.html .