Thursday Thoughtfulness

[lucylee]

Ta-das:
Cleaned bathrooms (including mirrors!)
Talked to ds on phone
Cooked and ate supper
— hamburgers, corn on cob, potato chips, salad, watermelon (plus Dh had a can of peaches)

[LadyMaverick]

Congratulations to Harmony & DH on the quick sale of the vehicle!

Since we are all alone for 24 hours, DH and I called in a restaurant order and drove the 30 minutes to pick up the food. It is the only place I have found that grills steak without salt and seasonings. We picked up our food and found a shade tree to sit underneath while eating. It was relaxing and much enjoyed.

Since the county we were in has zero cases of covid19 it felt safer than the big city that we normally go to. We checked out the mulch, compost, and straw availability for the garden. They had it but once I saw the volume of the items and how wet it was from last night's storm I decided against getting it today. I didn't want to haul it in the SUV because I would have to stack the 20 bags of 2cu ft plus 2 bales of hay tight to make it fit. We decided to return another day and haul it home in the pickup bed.

It is a good thing that I'm persistent. I am frustrated with the amount of effort, focus, and time it is taking to get DD8 added to my health insurance. I have been through this process before when we adopted DS11 and it was simple. The only thing I can think of that is causing so much trouble with getting DD8 added is the lack of people working so things are not getting done. I spent about 2 hours on this project this afternoon making multiple phone calls and finally reached someone who had a clue....sorta. I wanted to SCREAM with frustration with these conversations but I was kind and kept my frustration hidden (I hope).
Government Person on phone - We don't have a record of you sending the paperwork by mail.
Me: Can I email it to you? I will put it in any form you want - Would a pdf document work for you?
Government Person on the phone: No. Email isn't reliable and attachments don't always come through.
Me: I don't understand why this is so hard. When we adopted the last time I sent a fax and it was instantly accomplished.
Government Person on the phone: yes! send a fax! Here is the number....

So they consider fax to be more reliable than email and/or snail mail???? ***groan*** WHATEVER. I drove to our local library and used their fax machine. Guess what? Apparently, when they close their office for the day they shut the fax machine down. It was 15 minutes after they get off work on the east coast so their machine wouldn't accept my fax. **Big sigh** So tomorrow morning I will return to the library and try again. Hope. Hope.. HOPE. I can finally get this accomplished.

Today's plans & accomplishments -
Done ** Health tracker
Done ** AM cards -including washing hair
Done ** talked to DMom. She is crying in grief and pain. It's a difficult time.
Done ** Pack kids suitcases to stay with DD
Done ** gathered & loaded up bed frame, 6 metal flower stands with pots into DD pickup.
Done ** kids launched to stay with DD
Done ** DH to doctor appointment. Yes… confirmed once again it is time to change doctors!
Done ** One thing a day done well
Done ** Previous one thing a day maintained.
Done ** reset the 3 Wi-Fi mesh points and the modem. Test the entire network with all devices. Everything is working correctly again.
Done ** Another long phone call with DMom while she was in tears.
Done ** Date with DH
Done ** Cronometer
Done ** Phone call from Dbro. Long chat about nothing
Done ** Play in the garden
Done ** Visited DNeice at her new-to-her home and land. Researched past history of the land for her and printed out reports to give her.
In progress ARGH!** Contact office about DD8 insurance
Done ** Keto tribe
Done ** Active minutes
On hold ** Get well cards to Norma - I can't find the card that DS11 made for her. I'll ask him tomorrow where it is.

Even with the lack of sleep from last night storms, the ongoing grief the family is going through, and the frustration of being forced to use old school technology to accomplish a vital task......IMHO it has still turned out to be an awesome day. I don't know if that makes me an optimist but I can't help but see the many many blessings sprinkled in between the other things.

[Twins' Mom]

Would someone send me a private message with Norma's address? I'll send a hand made card also!

Dinner done and I have my steps for the day. I am checking out!

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I heard on the radio this afternoon there was picketing at ds's hospital. They were objecting that not every staff member is getting the $4/hour Covid hazard pay. And yes, ds is one of those who doesn't get it.

Harriet: there isn't enough PPE for the nurses, let alone admin staff. But they still are exposed to patients because the halls are not 12' wide (so you can't pass people, leaving 6' between you.)

Here's an article, (although it is full of ads.)

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-ne ... isks-cupe/

Thank heavens one of the left-out groups is unionized. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been a protest at all. Ds's group is not unionized.

[Elizabeth]

Another thing to cue up the Hallelujah Chorus for: my brother is still not feeling well, but is negative for covid. He did have the right symptoms for it, and we don't know what it was, but we know what it is not! In addition, Alabama is opening up again and my parents went to the Thursday night fun races (sailboat racing that my dad participated in when he had a boat). Hamburgers were enjoyed, but the wind was too strong for safe boating.

DD18 has come and gone. She spent her time reading. She may not come this weekend due to school projects and upcoming finals. I told her the same thing I always do: "Do what you need to do". She is not happy because her stepbrother is back in the house. His parents have decided he will alternate months during the restrictions. He is no longer working at McDonalds so he is there all the time now. I told her that it is now possible for her to come over whenever she wants, I can support her school data needs.

I wrote a haiku for your amusement:

The days crawl forward.
Nothing is going on yet.
Covid is boring.

[Harmony]

DH sat in the truck with this unknown fellow...no masks either of them.... when I gave him his receipt for downpayment I was in the suv and he was standing outside the open window. I handled his paper money....

So we'll be in that county office. These situations come up and there's no way around them. I will hand the hand sanitizer bottle around... will they use it? We have to go to his home and take him down to the county office with us. He will drive himself back home in the truck, that will be his then. We have about 350 cases in this county. In the area of the county office there are 71 cases. I will be so glad when this is all over.

Our copier is a copier/scan/fax machine. Faxing is so easy if you're set up for it. No scanning a document into the computer first to email... ours is attached to the phone jack in the wall and answers automatically if someone faxes. It recognizes the tone and turns itself on. If I pick up a phone and hear a fax tone I can turn it on remotely. Outgoing fax is easy. Dial the number, feed the paper in, push a button. Watch for the display to say complete. But if you're not set up, yes it's a pain. Office supply places can send for you, I think our ups does also. Not too many people fax any more. Ours won't work if we get rid of the land line. Just now thought of that.