An Epiphany... Better Late Than Never To Get One

 

I was in Sprouts buying the Groceries we needed and I had an Epiphany about Why I'd been so Sick!!!   Yep, I'd done it to myself, I'd gone on a recent fresh raw Rhubarb Binge, which I LOVE that stuff too much, so ate too much at once, and, it's a Natural Laxative!!!   And boy did it work overtime on what it does Naturally, it cleaned me out thoroughly!   Well, I'll be Mindful to never do that again, unless I find myself really constipated... better late than never to get an Epiphany like that, huh?  *Bwahahahaha* This is Why I also Love Dr. Google, I just plugged in:  Can Rhubarb give you the shits and/or Gastro distress?   Yes, Yes it can!  Mystery Solved!  *LOL*

The Man and I did some Environmental Cleanup really early, we also turned in our Aluminum at the new Recycle Center we're going to who isn't so picky about smashed Cans.   We bagged over 30 lbs., but since there was yet another Heat Advisory and it did get to 111 again Today, we quit early, but cleaned up the Nature Preserve around the River after Weekend revelers left it a mess.   We always feel good about that and I'm sure Mother Nature appreciates our efforts.   The Man absolutely Loves these outings, he's as much an Environmentalist as this Old Hippie is, so, he Partners with me to do these Volunteer activities with as much Joy as I get from the doing of it.   Sadly, our numbers are few and the Environmentally Unconscious are many.

We also hit a couple of the more obscure GOODWILL locations and I got some great Inventory for Resale that will have amazing Margins of Profit.  I Scored a Charmander Loungefly Pokemon Mini Backpack that Sells for $109 and got it for $30.   Even used they're quite a bit more than I Paid so great Margins for Resale even if Princess T or The Daughter doesn't beg to Keep it?  *LOL*   We also got a Pokemon Card Book that tells of the Value of these popular Trading and Game Cards, which really are madly sought after at our Antique Mall.   I Scored a large Gold Canyon Candle in Pomegranate Scent.   

And an empty Modern Alchemy Mystical Shine Ceramic Candle Holder with Lid {Above} that the Candle has been removed, but the Canister has great Graphics and is great Storage for Smalls.   The Eye Graphic is on the top of the Lid too in Gold. The Line is very expensive but the Porcelain Canisters their Candles come in are lovely Keepers, I liked the Graphics of the ones pictured Below too.   But, I like the Graphics of the one I Scored best.  I'd like to find the Candles to smell them and see if I like them, but, they are quite expensive for a Candle, so I'd have exceedingly high expectations.   I am a Sucker for great Packaging of any Product.

I got a great Vintage Grateful Dead Graphics Tie Dye T-Shirt in my Size, that's a Keeper for my own Wardrobe, it was only $1.99!  There were some Vintage Fiesta Ware Mugs with the Classic Ring Handle, in great Colors, but, they wanted more than I'd ever charge for them.   So, whoever was Pricing them knew what they were and expected a serious Collector of it to show up to Buy them.   Of coarse, Online, they go for a ridiculous amount, so, if the Goodwill Employee Pricing them was using that for a reference, hence why they had them priced more than twice as much as all their other Coffee Mugs.   They had a Mini Starbucks Demitasse Mug priced really high too.   So, I Passed on their Collectible Merch, no Meat left on the Bone for Resale.   The same could be said for their New Old Stock of Halloween Merch donated by Ross and Marshalls.

I must say they are Selling Out of their Halloween Merch so they're already rolling out their New Old Stock of Donated Christmas Merch now.  I'm just not ready for Christmas... so didn't spend any time purveying that Inventory at all.   Some of our Vendors do and they're already Selling a lot of Christmas Merch, but, I'm focusing on Fall Merch right now and giving it some appropriate Space for the actual Season we're in.   I've got to bring in more Halloween Merch Tomorrow during my Shift coz I'm Selling Out already.  Halloween is always very well received and I personally think it outsells Christmas as a Holiday nowadays.   I know that for Years now I've spent more for any Autumn Holiday than for any Winter one.   I've downsized most of my Christmas Decor and am loathe to part with my Halloween Decor.

I'll probably keep my Halloween Blow Molds, but, chances are, this Year, I may Sell Off some of my Christmas Blow Molds.   They take up a lot of Space, so do Spare Christmas Trees and Ornaments, so, a lot of them are going to be considered for Resale this Holiday Season.   I have a whole Storage Closet in the Art Studio that has nothing but Christmas Decor in it.   My Halloween is Stored in The RV Garage Mahal.  I try to make my Seasonal Decor accessible for easy access prior to each Holiday, so I've always been vigilant about where it's Stored and how it's Organized.   For some reason it's easy for me to detach from Holiday excess tho', no idea Why?  I tend to prefer Decorating with my Favs and the rest is up for debate on being Kept or even rotated.

I even gave some of my Holiday Excess to other Vendors when it didn't Sell after last Year's Holidays were a wrap.  Some of them have been fortunate to be able to Sell it this Year, I just didn't wanna Store it and take up Space, simple as that.   To me, if I've put it up For Sale and can't find a Buyer within a reasonable amount of time, and I knew I had it priced to Sell, I get rid of it as a Donation and be done with it.  I don't have the Time, Space or Patience to keep something indefinitely and Hope it will Sell if it's just dallying at turning me a Profit.   To me if you're not making Money, you're likely losing Money.  Retail Space Rent is very expensive, so, you can't be foolish or wasteful about it's utilization and what's occupying that Space.

I'm trying to convince The Man to come with me to the Gym this Morning and do some semblance of a Workout.   I appreciate that our Medicare Advantage Plan pays for Membership and want to use it as much as possible.   For The Man it's almost a waste since getting him to attend is a battle and when he's there he's like a Deer caught in the Headlights as to what he should be doing?   I'd even like to get involved in joining some of the Classes, but I can't get there regularly enuf, with my other Caregiver obligations and Work Schedule, also limited by the Gym's Restrictions on Senior Hours, to commit to a Class yet.   But, I like going and when I'm there I usually will spend 1-3 Hours there happily and feel Physically and Emotionally improved when I leave.

 

It would be even more beneficial if either of my Adult Kids could afford Membership {they can't}, and attend with me as a Workout Partner.  It's much better to Workout with someone, but I can only take a Single Guest once every 3 Months.  So far it's always been The Daughter, she'd attend a Gym more regularly than her Brother would.   She's more invested in keeping in Shape than he seems to be.   Princess T has zero interest in going to a Gym, too many other people, she has Social Anxieties galore, so it wouldn't be the right environment for her.  It's a big Gym on Two levels, so I don't think it's too crowded, but, for the Granddaughter, it might be.   She went as a small Child and enjoyed it there tho'.  We had Membership Years ago when we Worked our Careers and could afford it, The G-Kid Force loved going to the Gym.

Lifetime has a Daycare that also has Workout Programs for your Children and they absolutely loved all the activities they were involved in.   But, you can only utilize it until Age 12 and once her Brother turned 13, she wouldn't go by herself to the Children's Activities and he didn't want to Workout with his Grandmother as a 13 Year Old, which is understandable.   So, we let our Membership lapse and I only picked it up again when our Medicare Advantage Plan Home Nurse told me it was part of the Benefits we could qualify for on the Silver Sneakers Programs that most Medicare Plans now offer to Seniors.  I signed up immediately but it took me another Year to convince The Man to.  It doesn't cost you any more Monthly on your Plan to do it, so Why Not do it?  You're paying a Medicare Premium whether you have Extra Benefits or not.

I selected a Medicare Advantage Plan from The Jump of Qualifying to receive Medicare, The Man wouldn't join the same Advantage Plan for quite a few Years after Qualifying for Medicare.  He just wouldn't invest in doing Due Diligence to see what the Advantage Plan Programs would offer him for no extra charge that regular Medicare didn't offer at all for the same cost.   I finally coaxed him into changing to my Plan during an Open Enrollment Period when he had seen how much more I was getting with United Healthcare Medicare Advantage than he was getting.  I had scrutinized all of the Advantage Plans for Months before I ever Qualified to receive Medicare, they send you all the literature to pour over, so only laziness or skepticism would prevent you from looking at it all.

The Man is terrible about spending the Time to Investigate things.   He's really good about meticulous Records Keeping or Organizing for Trips and such, he just doesn't scrutinize things or People like I do.   So, I'm the one to Interrogate people about stuff and he doesn't feel comfortable doing that.  *LOL*   I have no problem giving anyone the 3rd Degree about anything and everything so that I've got all the Information I'll ever need about whatever it is or whoever it is.  *Smiles and Winks*  All the Kiddos know that when they bring someone "New" around, I'll end up knowing more about them than even they do, even if they have known them a long time.  *Bwahahaha*   Most folks do like to talk about themselves or whatever it is they are Career Oriented in and knowledgeable about, so it's not that hard to find out what you need or want to know.

And Note to the Wise, if someone is reluctant to talk about themselves or what they SHOULD be knowledgeable about, they either got something to Hide or don't know shit... mebbe both.  *LOL*   If you have known someone a long time and yet know nothing about them, my first instinct is, what ARE they Hiding?   What do they NOT want anyone to know about them?   Why all the evasion and Secrecy surrounding them?   Yeah, I'm suspicious like that about anyone whose intentionally reluctant to Share anything about themselves or what they do.  *Smiles*   I don't need to know anything legitimately Private and none of my Business about you, but, if I know nothing about you, I don't want you in close around me, you're too much of a fucking Question Mark.  Even if you Share some Unsavory shit about your Past, I could Trust you more than someone keeping shit from everyone and shrouded in Secrecy.

If I don't know someone I'm constantly Evaluating them, listening closely to what they say and even closer to what they don't say.  Omission is often more Telling than what folks are disclosing openly.  And for the whole Political debacle unfolding around us these days, there's still a lot of vagaries I'd like more specificity about and we're not getting it.   On the one side there's just total Bullshit, Extreme Agenda, Lies and constant Political Theater... and the other side, tho' I do like both Candidates, I'm not getting specificity yet about how they Plan to implement the Ideas that sound good enuf to me, but, I got more Questions than Answers about.   How do you plan to do it, pay for it, sustain it if you do roll it out, shit like that.  I can have loads of lofty Ideology and no way in Hell to actually make it happen, ya know?   So, I could attempt to Sell you the Moon about my Ideas.  But if none of us can get to the Moon, what's the Point?  *Winks*

Becoz Yeah, I'm the Queen of damned near Everything on the Canvas of my very fertile Imagination, but if I can't Deliver, then, that's where it just remains and doesn't do anyone any good.   I'll still be Voting for Kamala, but, I am still trying to figure out Who she is and what she's capable of?   She hasn't done enuf Interviews for me to get a Read on her really, tho' Walz really seems to have his shit together when he's out there being Scrutinized.   But, let's face it, anyone NOT 45 would have gotten my Vote at this juncture in this whole Political shitshow that's been playing out since 2016 now!!!  Anyone NOT that Extremist Psychopathic Lunatic and his Fringe in a Position of Power doesn't unnerve me as much as they all do.   

And even if he FOAD's now, he seems to have spawned a Movement with momentum and his VP pick is more dangerously devious than he is IMO. That Couch Fucker has found a way to Weasel and Ass Kiss himself into a potential Position of unlimited Power and Corruption that has probably been his Wet Dream for a very long time.  Nobody knows WHAT he Stands For since it changes like the direction of the Wind constantly, he's like Water, he morphs and turns into whatever Shape you pour it into and whatever Temperature it is, then that's what it becomes too, fluid, steam or solid.   The fact 45 will Trust whoever flatters him most at the time means he can easily be manipulated by someone whose a better Shape Shifter than he even is. 

 He's so Addled right now someone behind the Scenes is really in Charge, his cognitive decline is too evident to think otherwise.  He can't even finish a Sentence, make any Sense or Hold a Thought now. I do find it Interesting that Age and Cognitive Decline was at the forefront with Uncle Joe all the time yet 45's more evident unraveling and serious Cognitive Decline is downplayed considerably, as if nobody wants to address it or pretends they don't see and hear it.   Every time he makes a Speech or does an Interview I have to Wonder how his Devoted can reconcile themselves to wanting a Leader whose clearly that fucked up and out of Touch with any Reality going on around him?   What ARE they Thinking?!  But then, after meeting many of them, I can certainly see what's IN them that attracts them TO him, it's usually easily revealed in fact... just sayin'.   The Company you'd keep, make excuses for and support tells me more about you than you think...

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It's a Hot, Hot uncertain Autumn still... Dawn... The Bohemian