Torniquet, Please

Okay, get this: I will need a checking account in Michigan and called the credit union where my sister banks, or credit unions; she likes them. I mentioned her name when the fellow asked how I had heard about them, and he said, “I think I’ve talked to her.” (!)

Forbes says it’s one of the best credit unions in the state (granted, I don’t know how many there are); they have a savings account that gets 2.9 percent interest. I got one of those, and basic checking, and enrolled in online banking. 

Today I had lunch at Plain Jane at 22nd Street and Guerrero, my favorite restaurant in San Francisco. A fellow came in with an older man and woman—his parents?—and spoke in a voice loud enough that it drowned out everyone else in the restaurant put together. If his companions spoke even a single word, I couldn’t make it out, but I heard every last thing the man said, including his efforts to persuade the elderly couple to go to Burning Man and how he advised someone to “Ask for what you want!” I very nearly went over to ask for what I wanted, but remembered Sayadaw U Tejaniya’s advice about not trying to make things happen nor not happen. I also remembered Howie saying something like, “If your mind is full of aversion and you’re aware of that, you’re doing the work.” That is a comforting thought. How persistent the idea is that we are somehow supposed to force our minds to be some other way, and how liberating to know that our main task is just to consciously notice what is happening.

Next I walked to Noe Valley to get a nice bald fade with a two on top. It was a gorgeous day, every lush plant and colorful flower blossom reminding me of how hard it will be to leave this beautiful place. My wonderful and meticulous barber and I discussed the upcoming life change. She said she thinks it’s not good for us to do the same thing over and over and that we benefit from doing challenging new things.

Proceeding to my next engagement, I ran into a friend on 24th Street. We got caught up for a bit, and I asked her if she'd like to take a road trip with me across the country in a van that has all my stuff in the back. (Due to the cost of professional cat transport, I am going to have to economize in other sectors.) She is potentially amenable to that, though she pointed out in a text message later that there are professionals who will pack up your stuff and drive it across the country for you. She added that one benefit of hiring professionals is that things won’t shift in the van, causing it to roll over and involve us in a fiery crash. I agreed that that could be a plus.

I received a couple of photographs today from a colleague who is on vacation in Montana, a timely reminder that there are lovely vistas everywhere.

While I was waiting for my dental appointment to start, I got a text from one of our Clinical Pastoral Education students asking if I would consider writing him a letter of recommendation for his application for board certification as a chaplain. As soon as I got home, I drafted the letter and texted him to say he’d asked the right person. I wrote, “The Enneagram One likes to get it done,” unintentionally coining a rhyming slogan.

I am deep into the mind-numbing details of figuring out what to sell of the things I’ve been saving up for so long, and linking this financial institution to that. Reeling from adding up the money for my sisters for the house, for fixing up the house, for moving the cats, for moving the rest of my stuff (which, if I hire professional movers, will literally cost less than moving the cats) and for my sisters for the car, then remembering I forgot to account for taxes. Ah! The refreshing feeling of hemorrhaging cash in all directions.