Brainstorm!

Sunday again already?

I couldn’t tell you what happened last Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, except that, in perusing my calendar, it looks like I could have done some yard work, and I did go to the post office (this I do recall) to mail my other sister a box of stuff and her check from the sale of the house. I got a call from my bank from which I both sent the money for the house and received my money for the house inquiring what sort of fraud might be underway.

On Wednesday the renovations people came over, and the window washing fellows came over to do a final touchup, and I went to pick up my overalls from the very nice Cambodian lady on S. Congress just off Hewitt who hemmed up the legs.

I hadn’t yet had time to eat and thought I might go straight to Ricewood or Seva after I picked up my overalls in mid-afternoon, but by then, and maybe exactly due to not eating, I had spiraled down again into that very dark place and did not have the energy, so I just went home and, yep, got into bed to wait for the end.

Why is it that I turn so easily against myself? I recognize this from when I was a teenager, and then only now and then in the decades after that, and suddenly again alarmingly often at age 64.

Besides not having eaten on Wednesday, I had not had a sip of water the whole day. I slept for several daylight hours, and woke up and cried and cried (explicitly about my mother—she’s gone!), and called my friend in tears, three activities which have become very routine. It’s lucky I have the best friends on earth. I call them in tears way more than they call me in tears, though one of them did call me in an absolute blistering rage in the past few days. She asked if I could listen for two minutes. I sat down and told her I would cheerfully listen for 45 minutes. (I would of course have listened for as long as needed.)

After I talked to my friend on Wednesday, I drank and I ate—a large salad—and then it was time to pack for my trip to San Francisco the next day. I got very little sleep, as is usual on packing day. In all the fiddling with my flights, I had evidently forgotten to select a seat for this flight and did not discover until I was about to step onto the plane that I was in a middle seat. Fortunately, I had two excellent seatmates (Asha to my left, Matt to my right) who carefully kept all of their body parts to themselves the whole entire time.

At SFO, I had a young cab driver who has lately begun in that profession after not being able to get a job in his own field. At some point, engrossed in conversation, I looked out the window to realize we were lost. The trip cost noticeably more than usual, but I didn’t mention it. Once upon a time, I would have thought things would certainly fall into place for this young person, but now I tend to doubt it.

The cats seemed completely fine together, but I separated them just in case when I went out to have dinner at Mixt. Too late I realized my glasses were in the shut-off room, so I just went out without them. Valencia St. was closed off for a periodic street party and I could (sort of) see lots and lots of interesting-looking people strolling up and down. What a wonderful place this is!

On Friday I had lunch at Plain Jane, walked around Dolores Park, and went to pick up my new glasses. There was some sort of giant police incident at 20th St. and Dolores, with six or seven police vehicles and a mentally ill-looking person sitting on the sidewalk and a woman with her young child being interviewed by a police officer not far off.

On Saturday, this being yesterday, Tom and I went to Orphan Andy’s for brunch. Guess who was there? The cute server! As before, he started out taciturn but was smiling and friendly by the time we departed. I told him that he’s my favorite server and gave him another giant tip. I had a turkey melt, onion rings, and an extra-large side of butter, quite possibly literally a cup of butter. I ate the first third of it with a spoon and put the rest on my sandwich, while Tom murmured something about my “arteries.” I explained that nothing makes blood flow smoothly through the arteries nor lubricates aging joints like plenty of butter.

After that meal, I had to sleep for several hours, but I wasn’t in a gloom spiral.

I ran into the owner of the building next door and asked him if the smoking guy understands that he caused that fire. No, he does not; he doesn’t think it had anything to do with him smoking right in that area and tossing cigarette butts onto the wooden stairs, and furthermore, he was thrilled and delighted when the firefighters arrived. The building owner said he was dancing around excitedly and taking photographs of the firefighters.

Great.

I don’t know if I had mentioned that I had told my apartment building owner and manager that I plan to move out of this building, but I later told them I had changed my mind, which was fine with them. I had had a brainstorm, which was pretty easy to think of since it was the exact same brainstorm I had before, only inside out: Whereas I had been thinking I would be in SF for about six weeks and then visit my vacation home in Ypsilanti, I am now thinking I will do the reverse. I asked my sister today if she would feed the cats for about two and a half weeks every couple of months or so, and she said she will. I would not leave the cats on their own in San Francisco ever again, but I will be with them for quite a while before I leave Ypsilanti next (at least, that is the plan), and if they have settled in comfortably, I think they will be fine there. My sister is an outstanding cat mother.

Next I’m going to ask my boss if it would be okay if I worked four shifts every couple of months. If he says that is pushing it, then this plan might not work out.

I intend to depart from SF with the cats on September 9. I have a neighbor in Ypsilanti who lets her dog run into my yard routinely. I sent her a letter before I left saying this has to stop; she needs to build a fence or otherwise figure this out. The cats are going to be agitated enough seeing a woodchuck sitting on their deck and the chipmunks standing around; they don’t need to see a dog running to and fro.

I am ordering lots of stuff to be delivered to my sister’s: Litter boxes, scratching posts, litter, dry food, wet food, FortiFlora, Pill Pockets, Nulo Lickable Treats.