Sabbatical Day 4: Tuesday Preparing

I managed a bit more sleep last night, and I was feeling much better. The dizziness and exhaustion were gone. I slept into 9ish and managed to read some emails and news. I made a bagel and took my meds more early (again worried that the timing of the meds might have been the problem on Monday).

I called Texas Randall County Clerk’s Office and found how to get Leta Guild, Susie’s mom, a replacement copy of her wedding license. Apparently, to get RealID a woman must prove the name change with a wedding license. Even having lived in Michigan for most of her life, voting, and having a driving license Leta cannot get a RealID with her name. For $13 two copies are on their way to Leta. She cannot prove her name change.

The folks in Texas at the Clerk’s office walked me through the website to pay for the document and read me the document number of the phone to type in. It was a very friendly process.

Aside: There is no means to convince me that RealID is not a scam to suppress women and minorities. I had to bring a bank statement, a birth certificate (certified), and pay $70 to get mine. I had to read the website with care to learn that I needed a bank statement for proof of address! I imagine if I change address I will have to pay $70 again.

Returning to the story, I did the dishes and started back on the laundry. Nothing more fun than that! I also loaded up Air Volvo for a cargo mission. The old bike and books, fan, and a few odd ends were ready to find their next adventure. So I delivered them to Goodwill.

As I was still feeling good and got Susie her breakfast, I loaded up the old coffee table and a few more items. The coffee table I bought from my dad’s store in 1990, Wild’s Furniture and Appliances. It was hard to let it go. With Susie using a walker, we needed to remove the coffee table in the living room. I have moved it so many times it is an old friend. I am happy that someone new can get dad’s indestructible table (it still looks new). Dad said, “I sell them to folks with kids.”

The enormous pots for rice for the old India Night cooking were included in this load–they have been used only once in five years for a church dinner Corwin, and I put on. I hope that Goodwill will send them on to some starting chef that needs them. They are perfect for cooking rice and braising for 100 people.

After that, I headed to lunch and discovered that a fav Thai place was gone, so I drove over to the other side of Beaverton. Finally, I saw the Thai place and pulled into the parking lot. There I found a jacked-up pickup truck blocking traffic trying to park. It tried three times to finally get mainly between the lines. I was wondering how it was possible and then saw where the truck was parking, Cannabis Depot. Hate to say that it was a stereotype, but it was.

Another car pulled alongside the truck with a lurch. Then a Tesla was then headed for Air Volvo somehow in a head-on collision driving on the wrong side of the parking lane (again, all at parking lot slow speeds) after pulling out of the same Cannabis Depot parking. I was able to avoid any scratched paint; I was laughing the whole time. I circled around and parked Air Volvo away from the Cannabis Depot parking!

I had the Massaman Curry with beef, as I love the stew-like taste of potatoes and carrots in Thai food. The whole uncooked peanuts surprised me; usually, the peanuts are cooked into the curry. The curry was a bit bitter and less finished in flavor. I still enjoyed it, but I have had better.

I was reading the Internet and looked up, and the lights were off, and they said they were closing. So I left and headed home.

It has been raining for three days, and we had only two days without rain in the week. The grass is green again. As usual, I passed by many places with their sprinklers on. Only in Oregon have I seen the sprinklers running in the pouring rain.

I reached home only to discover that my headphones were gone. I have not needed them for a year. I then headed back to the mall and bought earbuds with proper connectors for iPhones; I don’t know where I put my converter). I also bought reasonably priced noise-reducing headphones that cover the ear as that works better for me.

I have charged them and have learned the usual mysteries of pushing buttons to make BlueTooth do its thing. I usually play music on my phone to the headphones while flying. I am also happy that they have wired access, and thus I can use them if I want to watch something on the plane.

I made a salad with meat and cheese for myself for dinner and made Susie cheese and crackers. We both had late lunch. I got Susie a Happy Meal (with Apples) on my way back with the headphones.

I think we are getting ready. I washed all the towels and had laundry to put away. I will do a few items and check into our flights in the morning. I will be up early, I think, on Wednesday.

I hope you enjoyed my story for today. More was happening today.