Attempt #2
Feeling sassy as I gather things up this morning for laundry day. Sassy because I was just there and now I know what I am doing. I'm an experienced laundromat user. While it's only been 2 days since the last three loads, one of my beautiful children has had potty accidents each of the last 2 nights in bed. So another three loads we go. The washers at the Wash House are pretty small, so a normal sized load for everyone else is like two loads there.
I remembered to grab a magazine on my way out the door - thanks, Costco Connection for just recently arriving.
I get there and scope out the place. Mumbling woman possibly doing laundry, but more than likely, a crazy homeless person. She could also be a recent escapee from the local hospital as she is wearing all of the attire still. For the record, I am woefully uncomfortable around people who loudly talk and cuss at the wind. Not necessarily their fault, we need more social programs, etc, I just don't like being in the same room with them.
Only one other launderer this morning. Guy who had somehow managed to nap while sitting up on the uncomfortable bench! I must replicate his positioning... AFTER I grab the good washers that is.
Monday I learned one washer doesn't keep time well. It was the first one loaded and started yet somehow the last to finish. I will not use it today. I am smarter than that.
Only sort of. The new washer I picked has a terribly annoying squeak, but fortunately only while it's running. Must remember this for next week.
Washers finish, got two loads into one dryer. I feel successful!
Out of some back room comes the worker guy / owner/ custodian I don't really know who he is or where he came from but all of a sudden he was telling the woman she had to leave. This didn't go over too well, as she insisted she was doing laundry (she clearly wasn't) and then continued to cuss and yell at him even after he disappeared back to where he came from. In a few more minutes, she gathered her belongings and left.
Another ten minutes later, worker guy is back to wake up sleeping guy and ask "Can I help you?" Polite enough, right? Sleeping guy responds with "No" and continues to ignore him. Worker guy mumbles something back and then disappears again. Man, I am going to have to watch this guy next time. He's like a magician - throws a distraction my way and *poof* he is gone! Sleeping guy is now awake and I have totally misjudged him. Thought he was just a neighbor doing laundry and dozing while it laundered. Dressed decent, not talking to himself or yelling at me. Until he asks me if I smoke, then I'm done with him. Dryer finishes and as I'm folding the towels and sheets, worker guy appears again (how DOES he do that??) to take picture of now awake guy. WG tells him what he's doing, it's perfectly clear he taking AG's picture, and then *poof*. AG just sits there the whole time and says or does nothing. What is going to be done with the picture? I just don't know.
As I leave, I pass the escapee patient sitting on the curb in the parking lot with her pile of 'stuff'. Still in the hospital garb, still rambling on.
For this day, my clothes are clean and I was entertained. Plus I read about cooking camps for kids, for the summer time, so a win all around.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Chronicles from the Wash House
We are renovating our house right now. Started last week, the Tuesday after Memorial Day. I am without my washer and dryer. My first visit to the nearest laundromat was this past monday. I'm going to try to write a little each time I go, mostly because this little hub is large with activity.
Monday, June 3
My first "house renovation" visit to the Wash House. Actually, the name painted on the walls is " 'lectric Wash House" . Not sure why they didn't put the E there, but they didn't. I've been to this laundromat before, when the washer died two years ago. It's open, clean, but there is literally NOTHING to do while your clothes are tumbling.
I don't surf the net on my phone. My phone is too small and slow, my eyes too old and slow. I start the 3 washers and watch the timer click ON to 31 minutes. I sit on one of the most uncomfortable benches on the planet and watch the lady across from me with her book. Oh - a book! Why didn't I think to bring something to read? Because I'm not in school right now, so technically I don't have anything to read.
I decide the benches are so uncomfortable to keep the riff-raff that hang out along Telegraph Ave from sleeping on them. It's not that they are bumpy or metal or jagged or anything. The seat portion angles back, so that if you are borderline short, your feet wouldn't touch the ground.Very awkward. After about 10 minutes of trying to look like I have mastered finding the sweet spot on the bench, I get up for a walk around the outside of the House.
Not necessarily the smartest thing to do. First discovery around the corner was a used condom. For reals. There HAVE to be more romantic places to do this and really, the thing was tossed on the ground maybe 5' from the garbage can. I started thinking about the poor (hopefully gloved) sap who cleaned the parking lot and discovered it too. Would they pretend not to see it, so they didn't have to pick it up? Or just deal with it as they do every time they find one there? Either way, I felt bad for them.
Make it all the way around the rest of the building with no other discoveries. UNTIL I get to where my car is parked. I lean against it for warmth, as the sun was mostly hiding behind the clouds that day. As I start paying attention to the playful pigeons in the parking lot, I realize spring has sprung, and they got the fever. At least one set of pigeons were going for it, right there in front of me. National Geographic, live in Oakland, only I can't change the channel.
Ah well, maybe next time will be better.
Monday, June 3
My first "house renovation" visit to the Wash House. Actually, the name painted on the walls is " 'lectric Wash House" . Not sure why they didn't put the E there, but they didn't. I've been to this laundromat before, when the washer died two years ago. It's open, clean, but there is literally NOTHING to do while your clothes are tumbling.
I don't surf the net on my phone. My phone is too small and slow, my eyes too old and slow. I start the 3 washers and watch the timer click ON to 31 minutes. I sit on one of the most uncomfortable benches on the planet and watch the lady across from me with her book. Oh - a book! Why didn't I think to bring something to read? Because I'm not in school right now, so technically I don't have anything to read.
I decide the benches are so uncomfortable to keep the riff-raff that hang out along Telegraph Ave from sleeping on them. It's not that they are bumpy or metal or jagged or anything. The seat portion angles back, so that if you are borderline short, your feet wouldn't touch the ground.Very awkward. After about 10 minutes of trying to look like I have mastered finding the sweet spot on the bench, I get up for a walk around the outside of the House.
Not necessarily the smartest thing to do. First discovery around the corner was a used condom. For reals. There HAVE to be more romantic places to do this and really, the thing was tossed on the ground maybe 5' from the garbage can. I started thinking about the poor (hopefully gloved) sap who cleaned the parking lot and discovered it too. Would they pretend not to see it, so they didn't have to pick it up? Or just deal with it as they do every time they find one there? Either way, I felt bad for them.
Make it all the way around the rest of the building with no other discoveries. UNTIL I get to where my car is parked. I lean against it for warmth, as the sun was mostly hiding behind the clouds that day. As I start paying attention to the playful pigeons in the parking lot, I realize spring has sprung, and they got the fever. At least one set of pigeons were going for it, right there in front of me. National Geographic, live in Oakland, only I can't change the channel.
Ah well, maybe next time will be better.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
still taking baby steps
I am on a two week trial (free) membership to the Oakland YMCA. Even picked up a racquetball racquet at the thrift store today. Just need some goggles to play safe - I think I will buy those new. But I don't know how much they cost, so we'll see. I might just actually join the Y. It's not that expensive if I just do an individual membership - I might ask about reduced rates for family memberships. We'll see. Not sure how often I'd be taking the 3 boys anyway.
At this very moment, I'm trying to set up the ipod with my songs. I am creating a 'library' with Windows Media Player and then I hope to sync them with the pod. However.. the media player doesn't seem to recognize the pod, so I might just be setting up this library for nothing. How any songs got on this little machine in the first place is totally beyond me. Steve did it, amazingly enough. But he used the computer that crashes all the time and I didn't want to use that one. I figure if he can do it, so can i! I just don't know if I will have it done by the time I want to run with it in the morning. I know Caylynne told me to use itunes, but that was more than my old lady brain could handle.
Salt. Salt is my demon of choice lately. I've been eating ever-so-slightly better in terms of not so many cookies, desserts, etc, but man, I have been sucking down the salt. There is always room for improvement, always more jobs to tackle.
Steve is at band practice tonight. He was there on Sunday and will be there on Friday and father's day evening. I guess they (the band) are performing at an open microphone night at some bar somewhere far from here on Monday night. They are playing two 'cover' songs - a Nirvana song, which I'm so darned tired of hearing. I hate the song. Hated it for years. Yay - he gets to learn it and practice it over and over and over again. The other is a song I don't remember. Sorry. Has recently been on the radio, but I couldn't tell you what it is. oh and yes, he IS still playing frisbee. How does he make the time? Well clearly, he has a very loving and patient wife.
At this very moment, I'm trying to set up the ipod with my songs. I am creating a 'library' with Windows Media Player and then I hope to sync them with the pod. However.. the media player doesn't seem to recognize the pod, so I might just be setting up this library for nothing. How any songs got on this little machine in the first place is totally beyond me. Steve did it, amazingly enough. But he used the computer that crashes all the time and I didn't want to use that one. I figure if he can do it, so can i! I just don't know if I will have it done by the time I want to run with it in the morning. I know Caylynne told me to use itunes, but that was more than my old lady brain could handle.
Salt. Salt is my demon of choice lately. I've been eating ever-so-slightly better in terms of not so many cookies, desserts, etc, but man, I have been sucking down the salt. There is always room for improvement, always more jobs to tackle.
Steve is at band practice tonight. He was there on Sunday and will be there on Friday and father's day evening. I guess they (the band) are performing at an open microphone night at some bar somewhere far from here on Monday night. They are playing two 'cover' songs - a Nirvana song, which I'm so darned tired of hearing. I hate the song. Hated it for years. Yay - he gets to learn it and practice it over and over and over again. The other is a song I don't remember. Sorry. Has recently been on the radio, but I couldn't tell you what it is. oh and yes, he IS still playing frisbee. How does he make the time? Well clearly, he has a very loving and patient wife.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
did you see that?
a piece of debris from the tsunami in Japan has drifted ashore in Oregon. it was a DOCK. It's HUGE for what I would call 'debris'. I just find it amazing that it was still whole. Japan to Oregon is no small path. I would assume the water was fairly active and treacherous and yet, the entire dock made it to Oregon. cuh-razy.
Am playing racquetball this morning. First time in 20+ years. I used to be decent in high school. Just hoping to not be injured until the soreness hits tomorrow. Should be fun and I am looking forward to it.
realized my baby steps yesterday were actual steps. I parked farther away from the entrances of where I went for the past two days. 10,000 steps are quite a few and not all that easy to achieve, unless you make an effort to achieve them. Making an effort isn't always the easiest or funnest, i Have to say.
Am playing racquetball this morning. First time in 20+ years. I used to be decent in high school. Just hoping to not be injured until the soreness hits tomorrow. Should be fun and I am looking forward to it.
realized my baby steps yesterday were actual steps. I parked farther away from the entrances of where I went for the past two days. 10,000 steps are quite a few and not all that easy to achieve, unless you make an effort to achieve them. Making an effort isn't always the easiest or funnest, i Have to say.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
the titles are the hardest to write
by the way, the post just before this one - the video of the rain, that was in Puerto Rico. For some reason it was saved in my drafts to post but apparently I never did. Or maybe I did and forgot - I honestly didn't go back to look and see if it was already posted.
so this lifestyle change... it's all about the little things. I'm trying to pick stuff up off the stairs when I go upstairs. This will keep the stairs less cluttered. It's all about less clutter. I took this alternative healing class over a year ago and the thing that sticks with me is that clutter affects everything. External clutter around you causes clutter in your mind. Mental clutter / overload causes clutter in the house. It's all very cyclical and true! So I've removed maybe 1/4 of my picture frames and put them in a box under the bed. Still cluttered but less so. Baby steps. Little things I said before. I'm also trying to keep the dining room table a place where we can actually eat. I say that now and look over the top of the laptop and see a messy table. That's ok, it wont take long and I'm motivated to do it. Little things... giving up soda wasn't that big of a thing. Adding fruit and veggies while taking away cookies and cakes will be a big thing but I can do it in small fashion. For a snack at the baseball game last night I took carrot sticks and ranch. Figured if I was hungry enough I would eat them. Guess what - wasn't that hungry! But on the flip side, means I didn't eat anything so that's good.
I've also started swapping out 1 side of mayo on my sandwich for avocado. This is very new for me. It's only been a few months (march, 2012) that I've been eating avocado, so it's great that it replaces some of the mayo. And I figured out that if I come home right after dropping off the kids that I wont run. BUT If I leave straight from school - we walk anyway - that I'm way more likely to go. Take this morning for example. Dressed for exercise, but instead I sit here typing. Ah well, it's not a perfect system
Decided I didn't have the time with all the things I need to do today. Bank then Costco then asian market, then the hard part - I need to figure out how to work the ipod. It's Steve's so it's full of his lame music. I want to use it for running but it's really hard to run to Queen. So I need to figure out how to d/load music to the laptop from my cds, put them in a folder (i guess) and somehow get them into one spot on the ipod. I notice the ipod is sectioned by albums, but my music I will want to put in one section even tho it will come from different albums. May need to call in a teenager or college student for help.
Took frosted twinkies on a stick to Matthew's school yesterday. Kids, and even some adults, went crazy for them. I didn't try one - see, baby steps!
Enjoy your day!
so this lifestyle change... it's all about the little things. I'm trying to pick stuff up off the stairs when I go upstairs. This will keep the stairs less cluttered. It's all about less clutter. I took this alternative healing class over a year ago and the thing that sticks with me is that clutter affects everything. External clutter around you causes clutter in your mind. Mental clutter / overload causes clutter in the house. It's all very cyclical and true! So I've removed maybe 1/4 of my picture frames and put them in a box under the bed. Still cluttered but less so. Baby steps. Little things I said before. I'm also trying to keep the dining room table a place where we can actually eat. I say that now and look over the top of the laptop and see a messy table. That's ok, it wont take long and I'm motivated to do it. Little things... giving up soda wasn't that big of a thing. Adding fruit and veggies while taking away cookies and cakes will be a big thing but I can do it in small fashion. For a snack at the baseball game last night I took carrot sticks and ranch. Figured if I was hungry enough I would eat them. Guess what - wasn't that hungry! But on the flip side, means I didn't eat anything so that's good.
I've also started swapping out 1 side of mayo on my sandwich for avocado. This is very new for me. It's only been a few months (march, 2012) that I've been eating avocado, so it's great that it replaces some of the mayo. And I figured out that if I come home right after dropping off the kids that I wont run. BUT If I leave straight from school - we walk anyway - that I'm way more likely to go. Take this morning for example. Dressed for exercise, but instead I sit here typing. Ah well, it's not a perfect system
Decided I didn't have the time with all the things I need to do today. Bank then Costco then asian market, then the hard part - I need to figure out how to work the ipod. It's Steve's so it's full of his lame music. I want to use it for running but it's really hard to run to Queen. So I need to figure out how to d/load music to the laptop from my cds, put them in a folder (i guess) and somehow get them into one spot on the ipod. I notice the ipod is sectioned by albums, but my music I will want to put in one section even tho it will come from different albums. May need to call in a teenager or college student for help.
Took frosted twinkies on a stick to Matthew's school yesterday. Kids, and even some adults, went crazy for them. I didn't try one - see, baby steps!
Enjoy your day!
Monday, June 4, 2012
I still have a blog!
Caylynne reminded me that I still have a blog and it's outdated. I'm thinking she must be bored or else why would she even be checking, but ok fine, I will post.
I know our summers are like winters, but seriously, it rained ALL MORNING today. A lot. It was actually coming down. But it's 11:30 now and appears to have stopped. Which is good because Matthew has a playoff baseball game tonight. It's a double elimination tournament deal and they suffered their first loss on Saturday. There is no consistency yet within our team - good players and bad can have good days and bad. It's hard to be consistent when you're 10 and 11 I guess.
speaking of which, Matthew is 10 as of yesterday. A friend told me his is now a 'tween. I disagreed but then Matthew said it's true. I really don't like that idea much. Can't believe my kids are so old and I haven't aged at all. Thankfully.
Speaking of aging... I am trying to reconfigure my life style. I realize it's not going to happen overnight, but it needs to happen. I feel that I have successfully given up soda altogether. It's been at least 2 weeks since I've had one and I think that's the longest I've gone so far that I can remember. I realized I was trying to decide between two evils - one of sugar or one of chemicals. So I just said no.
I'm also trying to volunteer less and put my immediate family first more often. I know that sounds really obvious, but it's very hard for me to do. And I'm trying to eat less garbage in general. Trying is almost the same letters as tiring, just so you know. All this trying really is tiring but I'm hoping the long term benefits will be worth it.
that being said tho... I'm frosting 35 Twinkies to take to school for Matthew's bday celebration today. So no soda, but yes to chemicals - unless I don't eat one. Putting family first, but generally the kids come first in some way, so that's not a change. And eating less sugar, chemicals, and garbage... well it is his bday celebration so really, I don't want to be the parent who brings in carrot sticks and ranch do I???
Speaking of which, if I don't shower and start my day soon, I'm never going to finish the treats.
Thanks Caylynne. I will try to write more often!
I know our summers are like winters, but seriously, it rained ALL MORNING today. A lot. It was actually coming down. But it's 11:30 now and appears to have stopped. Which is good because Matthew has a playoff baseball game tonight. It's a double elimination tournament deal and they suffered their first loss on Saturday. There is no consistency yet within our team - good players and bad can have good days and bad. It's hard to be consistent when you're 10 and 11 I guess.
speaking of which, Matthew is 10 as of yesterday. A friend told me his is now a 'tween. I disagreed but then Matthew said it's true. I really don't like that idea much. Can't believe my kids are so old and I haven't aged at all. Thankfully.
Speaking of aging... I am trying to reconfigure my life style. I realize it's not going to happen overnight, but it needs to happen. I feel that I have successfully given up soda altogether. It's been at least 2 weeks since I've had one and I think that's the longest I've gone so far that I can remember. I realized I was trying to decide between two evils - one of sugar or one of chemicals. So I just said no.
I'm also trying to volunteer less and put my immediate family first more often. I know that sounds really obvious, but it's very hard for me to do. And I'm trying to eat less garbage in general. Trying is almost the same letters as tiring, just so you know. All this trying really is tiring but I'm hoping the long term benefits will be worth it.
that being said tho... I'm frosting 35 Twinkies to take to school for Matthew's bday celebration today. So no soda, but yes to chemicals - unless I don't eat one. Putting family first, but generally the kids come first in some way, so that's not a change. And eating less sugar, chemicals, and garbage... well it is his bday celebration so really, I don't want to be the parent who brings in carrot sticks and ranch do I???
Speaking of which, if I don't shower and start my day soon, I'm never going to finish the treats.
Thanks Caylynne. I will try to write more often!
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