Rain... Hail... Pandemic Boredom Blogging...

   Pandemic Boredom Blogging and Bad Weather have made for Manic Writing spurts as I'm Locked Down inside way too much lately!  *LOL*  Torrential Rain turned to Hail with threat of it turning to Snow if it got much Colder in the Valley... Rare, since we live in a Desert.  We needed the Rains, the Monsoons never came in 2020 and we've been thru an extended drought and loads of Fires last Season that torched the Landscape.   I was sitting in a ridiculously long line at the Base Pharmacy Drive-Thru waiting to pick up my Rx refills, otherwise, I wouldn't have been out of the house.  

The Man and I popped in to a "Jack In The Box" to grab something to eat fast and tho' it is a brand new building, their interior Ceiling had began falling in from the Storms!   Drywall and water was everywhere in this brand new Restaurant, if I was the Franchise Owner I'd be beyond pissed off!   New builds are so haphazardly constructed that I can't say I'm surprised, this is why I'd never again buy a New Home, give me an Older or preferably Historic Home any day, they'll last longer than something built right now!   

Cosmetically they did a Fine job on that location's interior Design, but clearly they slapped the building up poorly to already have a bad and dangerous Roof so soon.   The large portion of Ceiling had fallen down directly over a Table and Seating, they're lucky it didn't fall on Customers and create liability! The staff were clearly negatively impacted by their working conditions, they were screwing up Orders and seemed ambivalent about even making the place look presentable or being Customer Service oriented.  They have a Survey on your Receipt to take, they don't really wanna know what I thought about our experience.  *LOL*  

I get Cranky in long, slow moving, inefficient lines.  Patience not being a Virtue of mine.  At least at the Base Pharmacy they had Young G.I.'s working it this day they were really slammed... and not Ninety Year Old Red Cross Volunteers.  Who Bless them for Volunteering, move slower than Death itself, so I prefer me some Hired Help that gets Paid and are Young enough to keep up the Pace required for such high volume Service that it requires.  Being too reliant on Volunteer Help is a mystery there, surely they have enough Paid Staff to do the Job.  At least this time they didn't screw up my Prescriptions or not have them ready.  *Whew!*

I've actually Written about Three Blog Posts that I just trashed and deleted. I've Re-Written this one Twice now.   Lately things aren't even seeming relevant directly after Writing about it.   The above pixs of Paper Wasp Nests are of a Trio of them I ordered Online for filling one of my Naturalist Jars.  Harvesting Nests myself would be dicey since I'm allergic to stings so wouldn't wanna risk it.  This trio had nice shapes, low price and was just the right size to fill the one Container of the Trio I just bought for the Vignette I want to build.

     

For a Second Container I'm doing Bird's Nests and I have plenty of those.  I think there's even an abandoned Hummingbird Nest in a Hanging Planter Ring on the back Patio that I might use.   I'm not sure yet what I want to put into the Third Container, but it might be Feathers.  When I was buying these Wasp Nests I was Surprised to see how much Antique Botanical Herbarium Collections were going for.  I have an enormous folder of them from 1883 I bought Years ago Online.  I've framed several, but my Collection is way older, larger and nicer than any I saw for Sale that were Hundreds of Dollars for just a scant few!  Wow!

 

Sometimes I don't keep up on the current Value of things I have no intention of ever Selling.  I had spent Years looking for just the right Collection before Investing in the one I have, which I only paid Ninety-Nine Bucks for and there's several Hundred Samples, plus a Log hand written in Beautiful Cursive Script by who mounted and categorized them from 1883.  Literally the Folder is about 3-4 inches thick with them plus I've Framed about 25 that hang on our Walls!  I bought it from a Great Niece who no longer wanted to keep the Family Heirloom and was glad someone who would appreciate it was buying it and cherishing it. 

The leading pixs of this Post are of some of the Botanicals from 1936 that were for Sale for Hundreds of Dollars for just a Couple of them!   Mine look very similar and when I Framed the ones to hang, I used Floating Glass Frames and some Washi Tape rather than Wooden Frames since I didn't want anything to compete with the Specimens or detract from them.  All of my Botanicals remain inside of the protective sleeves they arrived in, I'm sure due to their Age they're fragile, but still vibrant and it's amazing they've held up this long in such great condition actually.   Just looking at plant Specimens from the early 1880's is kinda Surreal!  And folks took such great Pride and pains in Writing in Cursive in those Days, the Handwriting is Beautiful!

Choosing which to Frame was difficult since the Choices were vast and each was Beautiful and Interesting in it's own right.   Some were mounted vertically and some horizontally on their Pages.    I haven't even looked at them all that are still in the Book/Folder they came in, since I haven't wanted to handle the Pages too much, due to their advanced age.   Dr. William A. Tope apparently spent the entire Spring of 1883 compiling these Specimens to categorize them.   Since there are anywhere from One to Five Specimens per Page, that's a lot of different Plants identified!   I wonder if as many exist in that area Today?

I remember it took me all Season the Year I bought these to go to enough Craft Stores that carried these Floating Glass Frames, so that I could buy enough of them!   I think I cleaned out about Three Craft Chain Stores of what they had in this size!  *LOL*   Packing them to move here, I put each between flat Styrofoam of the same size that I Sourced in a Dumpster Dive behind a Cosmetic Store!  So they all arrived safely and undamaged.  I've kept the flat Styrofoam for any other transport of flat fragile items of Art and such that might be Showroom bound.

Apparently Dr. Tope was an accomplished Sketch Artist too and this is the Logo Sketch he used for the Collection he'd compiled.  I just couldn't Imagine Heirs not wanting to keep and preserve this for Future Generations, but at least they put it up for Sale and recognized it had some Value rather than simply discarding it.  *Whew!*   At least they did keep it in the Family thru 'til the later 2000 Era.  I probably purchased this shortly after moving in to Villa Boheme' in about 2015.  I had so much Wall space at the McManse to Showcase those I'd Framed, here I don't have the Luxury of as much Wall Space to Display them, but I still got them all hung on several different Walls.

That the Blooms still have some Color even after 138 Years is remarkable!   The Sweet Cicely mentioned on this Page is actually Aniseroot and a kind of Myrrh and has dangerous lookalikes, which is perhaps why it was important to categorize various Plants often used for Medicinal purposes.   I would guess that in the 1880's they used a lot of Plants for Medicinal Purposes, moreso than Today's Medicine does.   I'm always fascinated by the Healing properties of various things found in Nature.  A lot of that knowledge/Wisdom has been lost as the Elders who knew such things have died off.

 His Hand-Written Notes are in a Book form which came with the Collection and tells much more about each Plant.  It's all written in Pencil and has a lot of Latin and Scholarly info, so it's all above my Head and I cannot translate it all either.  But I like it and feel very fortunate to own it and be the next Keeper Of The Past of it and Hope my Heirs will appreciate it more than Dr. Tope's last Generation of Heirs did?   If not, at least they'll know the potential Value of it, either as a complete Collection or Sold Off in Individual Framed Botanical Specimens if they don't plan to keep it and hand it down in our Family.

Seriously, I don't expect our Adult Kids, Adult Grandkids or even the Great-Grandkids we already have, to keep everything they'll Inherit one day from us.  What they decide to keep and what they decide to turn into profits is entirely up to them and I've made that clear beforehand.  I don't wanna Guilt anyone into keeping anything whatsoever if they have no real attachment to it or preference for having it in their Homes.   I know one of the hardest things my Brother and I had to decide was what to Donate or Sell that had belonged to our Parents and we didn't want or have room for in our Homes.   It's easy to feel somewhat Obligated to do something to Honor their possessions properly after they pass.

I have so much stuff that it would be impossible for them to recall what was handed down as a Family Heirloom and what I purchased during my own Lifetime.  They might have fonder Memories and attachments of insignificant things that have a specific Memory they do recall attached to it.   Like these Pendants we made together out of Old Dominoes and with Tim Holtz products, which was a lot of Fun.   The Friend who taught us to make them, in exchange for giving us the Class gratis, we churned out a bunch of them for her to Sell in her Paper Arts Shop.   Then we went Home and made some for ourselves.

I might not recall, all these Years later, which of us Created which ones, just that we had such Fun Creating them Together.   The Young Prince and Princess T are very Creative fledgling Artists with a lot of Natural Talent and just Love Creating Art in various forms.   We used to think Princess T was tracing her Drawings because they were so Advanced, but she wasn't, she was doing them all Freehand from a very early Age, it was remarkable to watch her do it so effortlessly!  She would like to become a Tattoo Artist and often Arts herself up with Mehndi temporary Henna Tattoos.   Her Brother is an Amazing Sculptor and he's been experimenting with Online Art lately using Computers and designing Programs.

I used to Sketch a lot when I was Younger and even Sold some of my Work when I was a Teenager or gave it as Gifts when I'd do Portraits of Friends for their Families.   I haven't done that in close to 50 Years now tho'.   I made Jewelry when my Eyesight was better and I didn't have Arthritis in my Hands.  I like Fabric Art, Altered Art and Paper Arts best now, but haven't indulged in a while due to Extreme Caregiving kinda consuming the last Seven Years.   I used to really lose myself in my Art and would forget how many Hours I'd been in the Studio Creating stuff.   I did find that doing Commissioned Work was a Pain in the Ass, so I quit doing that, nothing stifled Creativity quite like a Deadline, a long Waiting List of Clients waiting for you to get to their piece, or being asked to do the same thing over and over again for Clients.

I rarely kept anything I made, I'd rather Collect the exceptional Work of other Artists that I Admire and have amassed a Collection of.   I particularly like Magnolia Pearl Bags and Backpacks, even tho' the Artist hasn't made them now in a very long time, so I'm glad I established my Collection early into her Career and when she made everything herself.   Once an Artist becomes renown, things are going to be mass produced and branded, and by then, I often lose Interest in Collecting any of it when it becomes common rather than OOAk and Artisan made.   I like to find Unknown Artists that I Admire the Work of buy their Work while it's still affordable and not clamored for once they become known.

I know a lot of people who Collect Art that only want Art from Known Masters and not the Unknown Masters, but I'm the opposite when I Collect.   I still laugh at the True Story my Parents had of one of Mom's Eccentric wealthy Great Aunts who Gifted them with an Ugly Painting for their Wedding Gift.  They hung it up in their first Apartment so as not to hurt her Feelings, but they Hated it.  Well, they left it hanging on the Wall when they moved.  Fast forward about 20+ Years later and my Nanna asked them whatever did they do with that Monet Painting that Mom's Great Aunt had given them for their Wedding!?  A Monet, and they just left it behind... because, tho' Monet was Famous, they didn't know he'd Painted it and didn't like the Painting at all anyway and thought it was a Weird and Ugly Gift from an Old and mebbe Senile Relative.  *Bwahahaha!*  

Of coarse, Dad being a Young Airman in the Military, and broke most of the time, Mom said had they known how valuable the Painting was, they would have Sold it and cashed out on the Investment the Great Aunt bestowed upon them.  They don't even know if the Landlord mebbe didn't discard it, since they'd just left it behind and I'm sure the Landlord cleared out the Apartment of previous Tenant's stuff?  So, it might have ended up in the Trash for all they knew?  Just goes to show you.   Not everything a Famous Person Creates is necessary deemed Desirable just becoz they're Famous... and some Unknown Masters might Create something you absolutely Love and Cherish even if it's Value is low or unknown!

I do know some of what I Collected when Artists were Unknown is now Valuable once they become Well Known.   I'm not always Interested in Selling it tho', in fact, if I still Love it as much as when I bought it, I probably never will re-sell it so that will be up to my Heirs to decide eventually.   I thought about how the Pharaohs built enormous Pyramids and just brought all their stuff with them into their Tombs... I think my Kiddos would be relieved if I could just do that.  *LOL*  Seriously, I don't envy them the task of whatever I don't manage to downsize enough of before I croak!   But I am attempting to downsize possessions and keep at Purging a lot about Life, to Simplify things for me and for them.

Now, I don't know about anyone else as they're Aging, but do you find that in your Senior Years you need or even want to Invest less in Relationships outside of Immediate Family?   I do, and I don't know if it's due to the Family expanding so much now that there's more Relationships just IN the Family to maintain... and that's Enough for me to adequately Invest myself in?   Or, if I'm just more in a Comfort Zone now of having mostly Acquaintances and knowing a lot of people Casually, but not needing nor wanting a really close connection that requires cultivation, regular maintenance and Investment of yourself in?   I'm quite comfortable with more Solitude and less Socialization as I Age, even tho' I used to be a very Social person by Nature.

 

I still know a lot of people and I still Like people just Fine, I'm not anti-social at all, but I just find that my terms now are Fine with keeping it on an Acquaintance Level rather than that Close Inner Circle Friendship Level now.   Besides, when you Lose a really Close Lifelong Friend, as we have now we're getting Older, it's a great Void left behind that nobody can really fill.   And The Land Of Blog has afforded me enough Companionship from the Comforts of Home in a Social Online Setting, that I'm actually more comfortable with that than In Person contact lately... mebbe due to Pandemic, but mebbe even before that actually... since Dealing with other people's shit AND our shit and unpacking all that Baggage, would just be A LOT!  *LOL*

*******

May you already have all the Friends in the World you'll ever Need... Dawn... The Bohemian

A Small Uneventful Life

 I was just thinking upon how much Contentment can be had with a Small and uneventful Life.  Life unraveling as it will just do sometimes, is too much Drama and a Headache for me personally, I prefer a Zen State of Being and it can be elusive as Hell!  In fact, Sunday was one of those never get out of your Pajamas kind of Days for me and started off with a Glorious Tub Soak with scented Bath Bomb and giving myself a Pedicure, then just luxuriating in an uneventful Day.

  Yes, I got our Laundry done, I did the washing and drying of it, The Man did the sorting and folding of it, we make a good Team and Princess T does her own Laundry, usually prompting me to do ours.  I don't wanna be outdone by a Fifteen Year Old being more responsible than I am, after all!  *Winks*  The Weather was Cold and Rainy outside, so Cocooning inside felt Good, felt Cozy, felt Safe.  Not too much Feels Safe nowadays.   Today I have to get Motivated enough to get my Rx from the Base Pharmacy, Princess T incessantly reminding me, Gramma, don't you hafta get your Meds, mebbe you should get dressed before Noon?  *LMAO*

I grabbed some new Pixs the other Grandkids sent of themselves on the Book Of Faces for my Photo Archives.  Children are the Future and the Hope for Tomorrow, they hold so much Promise and Pureness of Spirit.  Well, if they don't go Wheels Off the Rails in wayward Youth Fashion at some point.  Isn't it just Nice, after the last Chaotic Four Years of constant Drama, Headaches and Fuckery, to NOT have it present every single Day, the weight of it becoming too much to bear?  No, everything isn't well with the World, the Pandemic rages on mercilessly... yet, without the threat of insurrection and our Democracy being overthrown, and that Orange Fucker's Name in everyone's Mouth, it just feels Calmer, Dialed back and simmered down some... enough.  We can begin to relax some and feel Hopeful again.

 Enough that I can regain some of my composure, let go of the rising Anger and that lost Hope that got taken away by the turbulence, blatant corruption and intense division caused by the worst Leadership in our Nation's long History.  Violating and Robbing us of a sense of Personal Security and Safety, Order to our way of Life, our National Security... so much else that got upended, Fucked Up and created a disturbance in The Force!  I was so Fatigued from it all that I don't think I could have lasted another Four more Years had the outcome been different... I don't think the Nation could have survived it either, we were on the Brink and most of us knew it!  Thankfully the Majority of us Voted accordingly to oust the Cancerous and unraveling Administration before it Killed or further compromised us all!  *Whew, a Collective Sigh of Relief!*

I'm just beyond Grateful to have Days now that are Serenely small and uneventful again!   It doesn't take much to make me Happy and Content, it really doesn't, the Simplest of things have always been the most Cherished things to me.   Often they cost nothing at all and yet are the most Memorable and Beloved recollections and Happiest of Memories.  I am not Addicted to Drama, I do not need to Create my own Issues of Life, enough of those come without Invitation!  Princess T even marveled at how good it felt to just be at Home painting a secondhand full length Mirror's Frame that we picked up whilst Goodwill Hunting for Twelve Bucks.  It had looked like a Circus Act getting it into the inside of the Truck, because it didn't fit into the Bed of the Truck either and it was also Raining like Hell.

So, somehow it had to go inside the Truck and the contortions were interesting to make it happen.  We'd angled it between the Seats of the Front with Grandpa holding one end of it up on the Passenger side, while she held the other end of it up in the opposite side of the Back Seat behind me as I drove Home.  We laughed all the way Home at the contortions that took for them both, to be comfortable and buckled in around said Mirror, driving Home in pouring Rain in Rush Hour Traffic of the City!  

 Then to manage to get out of the Truck, unfolding themselves around the positioning of them and the Mirror.  If you knew Grandpa's extent of Disability, you'd realize how Down he is for anything when it comes to that Child!  *Smiles*  She knows she's got The Man wrapped around her Little Finger, so it was me she had to convince that this Mirror purchase was a good Idea, even tho' getting it Home was clearly going to be Interesting!  She knew if she put it in the Truck Bed, with the way I Drive, it might have gone Airborne... mebbe not accidentally?  *Winks*  She's now painting it Black, since it was a hideous and tasteless conglomerate of bold Stripes someone else had painted the Frame with in Black, Blood Red and White.

 But, that's also why it was only Twelve Bucks... and it's a Vintage Mirror, affixed to an Old Tall Narrow Door, probably from an Antique piece of Furniture or a Historic Home's Closet?   At our Historic Home some of the Closets were Tall and very Narrow, with Old Doors like that, some had Mirrors built into them.  This Mirror has no Foxing, but the Door is quite heavy and very Tall, tho' very Narrow across... it's White Paint on the back, which looks original to the Door.  She hadda have it and I'd been skeptical if it would even fit in the Truck any kind of way, due to it's Height, so tried to persuade her to not get it... but, she assured me she'd make it fit... and she did!  That Kid did Inherit my Tenacity and that of her Mama... if nothing else, we're a Tenacious Crew!  *Winks*

 Grandpa was on her side, so I was outnumbered in the Vote... I let them have at it, tho' I eventually had to put my Two Cents worth in to actually make it fit!  *LMAO*  I've been doing Circus Act schlepping of Found Treasures in Vehicles for many Years, where there's a Will, there's usually a Way!  Those of you who are Incurable Collectors and Junquers Feel me.  *Winks*  She reminded me that the Truck wasn't big enough for my Chicken Coop Nesting Box, enormous odd sized piece of Furniture either.,. Touche', well Played GF, I couldn't Argue with that Fact!  *Smiles*  But we tied that sucker I bought, not even for Chickens, down and did a Circus balancing Act to get it Home, with Gay Timmy hanging onto it from the Back Window of the Back Seat Cab of the Truck, so it wouldn't shift too much and fall out.  *LOL*

Duly Inspired Obsessed by my Friend Nina's Trio of Naturalist Jar Vignette, I Sourced a Trio of Jars for 50% Off at a Craft Store.  I get easily Obsessed, can you only tell?  I've perfected the Art of Obsession, I'm quite good at it by now! *Winks*  The Contents will be Bird Nests in one, Wasps Nests in another, I have no Idea about the Third.  She had Saguaro Boots in her 3rd Jar, since I couldn't tell by her pix and so she told me via Messenger.  Yes, I'm a Copycat when I see something that just Works Well and I wanna replicate it in a Vignette, becoz I Love it and you won't Sell it to me, I have no Shame.  *Winks... Hint Hint Nina, you should have Sold me that damned Trio GF and saved me having a New Obsession and itch that needed scratching!   LOL* 

 The Man knows how I get after I've shown him a Vignette Online that I LOVE and wanna replicate and end up Obsessed with, he's long suffering that Man.  So, after trawling numerous Chazzas and coming up empty handed on finding the right lidded Jars by Chance, he said, where can we know we can just buy them Honey?  *LMAO*  Getting them 50% Off was just Dumb Luck and Good Timing!   The Thrill of The Hunt is only Fun if you're not Obsessed with having something Right Now and very Specific!  Otherwise, it could take a damned Lifetime to Luck Out and Find just what you Envision and want.  We don't have much Lifetime left for that.   Gramma, if you know where you can get some, just go there and buy them, whatever they Cost, was Princess T's Sage adage of Fifteen Year Old Logic. She knows I'm like a Dog with a Bone otherwise!  *Bwahahahaha!*

It's like when I was waffling on that Fabric Scrap Art Pin and the both of them just knew I wasn't getting it off my Heart or Mind... so said GET IT already, you KNOW you WANT it!   *Smiles*  They were right and I'm Happy it was still there when I went back so that it did come Home with me.  Otherwise I might have been talking about it Years from now, how I Wished I had, you know, and driven them all Crazy?   Well, Crazier... since we're ALL Mad here!  *LMAO* 

  Non-Buyer's Remorse is much worse than Buyer's Remorse IMO, if I regret Buying something I can always flip it for profit later and recoup an Investment I wasn't Solid on.  Some things I know I'll be Solid on Buying, even if I have to Pony Up for them beyond what I wanna pay.  So why I waffle, I don't even know, except Price Point can be something I always try to justify in my Conscience I guess.   I Hate feeling like something cost too much, even if I really, really, really, really, really want it!  So that's the hurdle I need to leap over first, just fucking pay the Price Dawn and get it already!  *LOL*

There's something in me that always kinda wants the Deal, yet doesn't ever wanna insult the Seller... or especially an Artist who Created something and knows the Value of their Work when they set a Price and their Essence is infused in the piece.  With any kind of Art Form, Value is so subjective and Honestly, I totally Respect that.  A OOAK piece is worth whatever you'll Pay for it since there won't be another one just like it.  When I Created my Art, I never would haggle on Price Point, it was what I set a price for since it was the only one like it.  If you felt it was too much, or you couldn't afford it, then I'd rather you go buy something else from someone else that you could afford instead and felt totally comfortable paying for it.  When I've Invested in any Art Form I Love, I've never regret it, ever.

Sometimes Serendipity and the Laws of Attraction even intervene when I really want something and yet Price Point deters me from buying it at that price.   Case in point, this Artist Signed Polar Bear Sculpture from Alaska, it had been at our Antique Mall for a long time, but was priced quite High, so I wanted it but wouldn't pay that price.   I looked at it often to see if the Vendor would ever mark it down but they never did and finally that Vendor packed up and moved out, closing out their Case.   Well, lo and behold, they Donated said piece to the local Goodwill and it still had their BAAM price sticker on it, so I knew it was MY Polar Bear, and I got it for a low price I was quite Delighted to pay!   Booyah, the Sun, Moon and Stars lined up for that Bear to belong to me, Divine Coincidence perhaps?  Because, what are the Odds do you suppose?

Surprises like that just make me Happy and make me realize the World is very Strange sometimes in how things work out a certain kind of way sometimes.  I like to think of it as Divine Appointment, but if you're not a Spiritual Person, you might call it something else, but you might have experienced it too and the small Miracle and Magical benefit of it?   Sometimes only you know what it was that just turned up and had been on your Heart and Mind, even if it wasn't particularly significant, it had significance in it's Meaning to you in the Grand Scheme of things.   In a Small Uneventful Life it can be quite Meaningful.

*******

Blessings, Love, Light and Hope be Yours... Dawn... The Bohemian
 

Refresh ~ Part III ~ And Dirty Feet

 Yep, it's time for a Two-Fer again since I Created Two Posts Today so why wait?  *LOL*  While the Visuals will be more of the Event and it's Eye Candy, the Topic of the this Post's Story Line will be more random than the earlier Post.  Completely random, starting with dirty Feet, I mean, you can't get much more random than that, Right?!  *LOL*   I haven't had a Pedi in I can't say how long and I tend to run around Barefoot and we live in a Desert Environment, thus I have Feet like Tarzan, which would make a Pedicurist run screaming from the building!  I could belong to a Parody of the Blackfoot Tribe of peeps that epitomize the proverbial dirty Old Hippie!  *Smiles*

Every so often I just have to give myself my own Pedi, no easy task when you get to be a Senior and you're an Insulin dependent Diabetic who has to be very Careful about such things.   Diabetes is notorious for messing with your extremities, Feet in particular, since Feet take a beating in Life.   My Feet take a real beating in Life since I always wear Okabashi Flip Flops 100% of the time, since closed Shoes were causing more Diabetic problems for me than being Helpful to protect my Feet.  Since I didn't want to risk amputations and serious Foot injury, I needed to see when my Feet had minor Issues before they became major Issues.

I lamented not being able to wear pretty Shoes for a time, then I got over it. Okabashi Flip Flops last a long time, are madly comfortable and cause no Foot injuries, so eventually they just became my go to footwear exclusively.  Nothing is worse than constant Foot pain, or worse, injuries you cannot feel because of Diabetic Neuropathy so don't even know you had until it's problematic.  My Diabetic Neuropathy has not progressed a lot and I think that's due to my own management of what could become more problematic, when Docs have been unable to control the Disease with their medications.

So, dirty and calloused Feet is my primary problem I only have to Deal with and manage, which isn't so bad.  It's just embarrassing to have nugly Feet and not those pretty and pampered Feet of the Fortunate.   Last Night was my Pedi day to tackle my disgusting Feet and their condition, which had been deferred because, shit, I been deferring everything lately that I should do more regularly and with consistency.   The results weren't half bad considering I decided to do this at Five in the Morning, which I guess really wasn't technically 'Last Night'.  *Bwahaha!*  I hadn't been to Bed yet, so it seemed like Last Night to me.

Pandemic Insomnia didn't just disappear when the Inauguration went smoothly.  Tho' I must say that another Topic I'd like to throw out here is how Refreshing it has been since the Inauguration to watch the News, sans the usual Four Years of not knowing what Drama, Chaos and general Fuckery it would inform us of!  *Whew and Ahhhhhh, Bliss!*   Yes, now they can just focus on some Positive stuff going on... or even of the Sad Stuff like a Celebrity Passing and Tributes to their Lives and contributions that were Positive.  They did a Tribute to Larry King last Night. I always liked watching Larry's Interviews with anyone, he clearly was fascinated by people and their Story, whoever they were and could get them relaxed and to open up. 

My Mom would say Larry had the Gift of Hospitality, she had it too, people would willingly and without prompting tell Mom their whole Life's Story even if they'd only just met.   I think most people want to tell their Story actually, the ones who are most Guarded about doing so usually have a Backstory of why they distrust the telling of it.   Of coarse if you reach Celebrity Status and are Famous there's more reason to Guard your Life's Story and keep some Privacy from your Adoring Public.  Then there are the Notorious and Infamous, which fascinate people with their Life's Story too, as to what went awry and more importantly, Why?  I mean Larry Interviewed everybody from Celebs to Serial Killers, with equal aplomb and Interest.

I thought about the act of Interviewing random people and what a Skill that really is, to get people to Talk and get the information you need to make the Interview a Success.   Yes, in my first Corporate Life I did have to do that to some degree, conduct Interviews regularly.  Both to Hire Employees for the Departments I ran and also to Debt Counsel or Collect from the Borrower who'd run into Financial Crisis with their Real Estate they borrowed Money from our Institutions to buy. 

 Once a Person is in Collections, Foreclosure or Bankruptcy, things have mostly and generally not gone Well with them and they're very Guarded, defensive and upset, so not the easiest Interviews to conduct.  When you're meeting someone at their worst, it's not the best Timing or Circumstances.  Sometimes I knew I could not Help them, but still needed to discern the trajectory of their situation of being in default.  Sometimes I could assist them in working things out satisfactorily for Borrower and Lender, but it was Rare actually that the Idyllic Outcome happens once someone's Life is circling the Drain financially... but it can and does happen even in the best of Families.

Telling people Bad News is never easy no matter how many Years you've spent doing it.  In that Corporate Life I spent over 13 Years of Dealing with people in dire situations and the potential of Bad News of losing their Homes and being Evicted if they were unable to cure their default some kind of way.  My primary objective being to protect the Lender and Investors Interest and Investments.  Why this happens that people get into trouble financially varies as much as people vary, being able to get to the bottom of Why it happened and if it could be prevented, remedied or not, was my Job.  Not every Story has a Happy Storybook Ending.  

Moving on to my 2nd Corporate Life working for the DA's Office and hardly any of those Stories had a Happy Storybook Ending at all.   Even in a Dismissal or Acquittal, that didn't always mean Innocence of a Crime, just the inability to Prosecute and Convict successfully.   And since most Crimes have Victims, if Justice isn't Served for the Victims or they have no Closure, then you can never feel good about the Case no matter how hard it was worked.  Society can be very subjective about what they consider a 'Victimless' Crime, but in fact, all Crime affects someone at some level, whether you are Aware of that Fact or not.

I'm glad I'm no longer in the Corporate Grind even tho' I did very well in my Corporate Lives and performed well in both choices of Career, even tho' they were vastly different.   I prefer being Semi-Retired and just following my Bliss if and when I wanna Work now.   I'm Thankful I have the Option to Work or not now and that The Man and I have earned Pensions we can Live on comfortably, from all of our combined Years of doing our Grind with success.  

 Now of coarse those Careers earn far more than we did back in our Day!  Like Pro Athletes probably do, we sometimes marvel at what the Modern Corporate World pays for some of the same skills and duties we performed for far less.   Damn, we were a Bargain, I'd be a Made Woman now in those Career Fields!  *LOL*   But... would I still want to be doing any of it, even tho' it would be making considerably more Bank than back in da Day when I was doing it? 

 Naw... not really... Money ain't everything my Friends... and to whom much is given, much is required, I have zero delusions about the Cost on a Personal level to attain certain levels of Success Corporately.   Feeding your Soul and Selling it are Two entirely different things in Life, you have to decide which it is you're willing to do and for what?

 I think Life has become far more complicated and demanding, so I wouldn't wanna go back into the fray now, absolutely NOT.   Nope, quite Content to be of the Era that suited me best and to look back with only a few regrets.   I don't think one can get thru Life without a few regrets and things we might have done differently, had we known certain outcomes in advance.   But, we can't predict everything that might happen thruout Life and adequately Plan for every situation that could befall us, challenge us, throw us off our Game and best made Plans.  Living Proactively rather than Reactively cannot always happen seamlessly.

 There are some adjustments that would have benefit me more, had I been able to predict the Future and know the eventual outcome of things I never could have known I'd have to Deal with.  *LOL*   Life does throw us many curve balls and Hard Knocks Life, the content of our Character is often revealed during those times.  May the Content of your Character have risen to the occasion... I'm Happy that mine did, no regrets there.  I'm Living The Dream after all now... dirty Feet and all! *Winks*

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Feeling quite Refreshed in late January now and Hope you are too my Friends... Dawn... The Bohemian