Some years ago, I wrote about returning items that, for one reason or another, just don’t work. Sending back items has become substantially easier, what with so many of us doing our shopping online. Vendors have made it easier to return items by putting them back in their boxes and dropping them off at a pick-up center. No personal interaction, no lengthy explanations. Sometimes you can indicate what was wrong – it came too late, it was damaged in shipping, whatever. And you can even check off “other”, and in the box write: “I changed my mind.” Even your refunds come back quickly – no waiting until they receive the item. Just pass “go” and collect . . . .
Continue reading “More on the Art of Returns”Tag: life
Reflections, again, on Father’s Day
Once again, Father’s Day is here, so I’m reposting some reflections on all fathers, be they biological, grandfathers, father figures, favorite uncles, surrogates, and others that have played or continue to play a role. I often think of my father, a man left without his own at age three and left him nothing but a name, and who survived two stepfathers, one of whom he connected with for a short time, and one with whom he didn’t, and of consequence didn’t really have a model. He was an only child, and thus didn’t have any siblings with whom to share the experience. Considering that, he did remarkably well in the parent department, raising three of us with generosity. He wasn’t a demonstrably doting parent, but we knew that he loved and cared deeply about all of us. I had a personality closest to my mother’s, so he and I were perhaps closer than my brother or sister, because I understood him. Oh, yes. He loved them both, but my brother was a bit of a challenge, and my sister, the youngest, was the princess. When it came to managing his affairs later on, that became my role.
Continue reading “Reflections, again, on Father’s Day”Returning to my routines
In the last few weeks, I’ve had to get up and out in the mornings quite a bit. My choices, of course, but reading my daily newspaper in the afternoon is a violation of, well, my routine. Definitely a violation of all things sacred. Mornings are all about starting the coffee pot, and gathering my newspaper from the front porch to be read promptly on the back porch. Along the way, I turn on the computer so that both it and the internet are nicely warmed up should I feel in the mood to write. This morning I am, inspired perhaps because a piece of mine on immigration was in the weekend edition of the local paper. And I’ve fallen behind on my blogs. (My apologies!)
Continue reading “Returning to my routines”Remembering Our Mothers
It hit me the other day that, of all the topics about which I’ve written, I haven’t done anything on Mother’s Day. An oversight that will be corrected here, and high time too.
Continue reading “Remembering Our Mothers”On Getting Sick
My apologies to my readers for a gap in postings. I’ve been sick. Nothing that serious, although I can still act like it was. Our daughter, known to you as the Princess, was a presenter at a conference in Chicago in early April, bringing back with her a nice assortment of souvenirs and the flu. Apparently, it was making the rounds, some thoughtful conference attendee spreading their germs far and wide. In a slightly amusing note, she had two job interviews the next week, zoom calls, and two of the interviewers also had caught what they were now referring to as the “Chicago Flu”.
Continue reading “On Getting Sick”Don’t Bother Leaving a Message
Some time ago – actually five years, if I’m counting, I wrote about answering machines and voice mail, which had been, it seems, the gold standard for reaching out to friends and family. Some of you older folks remember when they were first developed, with separate devices hooked up to the telephone. Cordless phones were the size of FBI walkie-talkies, and we had to plug in car phones. Yes, answering machines were so innovative, such an improvement. Until they’d be filled up with junk callers, telemarketers, and stuff we didn’t need to hear. Then, we’d get unseemly pleas from the technology to “please empty your voicemail.”
Continue reading “Don’t Bother Leaving a Message”Embracing Change
This is a departure once again from my usual writing. If you could see me, I have on my “serious” face. With an election coming up quickly, along with a number of philosophical issues and decisions to be made, it’s worth a serious discussion of how we, as older Americans, adapt to life’s changes.
Continue reading “Embracing Change”“Keep Your Thoughts to Yourself”
Thus said my horoscope the other day. Her Ladyship read it out boldly to me, and we had a good laugh, because, in all honestly, that’s not something I do well. Often over the years, I’d be sitting in a meeting where that little voice in my head would say, “keep quiet”. Sometimes I could, but sometimes, not so much. I come from a long line of “Did I say that out loud?” Irish folks. Discretion and restraint aren’t really our strongest attributes. When Abraham Lincoln said, “It’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt.”, he may well have had a number of my ancestors in mind.
Continue reading ““Keep Your Thoughts to Yourself””Expanding Her Inheritance
How much really is too much? Can you have enough wealth? Most of us, and our immediate circle of friends, are what we used to call “comfortable”. Our immediate needs are met – we don’t face “food insecurity” or being homeless, at least I don’t think we do. As many of my readers know, I’m still chasing that illusive lottery payoff. My big check from Publishers Clearing House has not arrived, despite them telling me it’s on the way. They even have my address for delivery.
Continue reading “Expanding Her Inheritance”Oh, My Aching Back – More on Aging
Encountered a bit of bother this week. I’d been waiting anxiously until the weather broke so that I could start to tend the outdoor garden beds. I may have worked a bit too long – as all gardeners know, much of what we do is bending over to clear away the dead stuff, and thus, my back is sore. It’s been a festival of ibuprofen around here, and my whole gardening operation has come been shut down. The weather has turned colder again to accommodate my incapacitation. But Her Ladyship has been resistant to the idea of hiring an assistant or two to manage the estate. I know – penny pinching in the worst sense.
Continue reading “Oh, My Aching Back – More on Aging”
I'm Thinking...No! 