The Humble, the Weary, the Downtrodden

In the last few weeks the homeless have begun setting up tents at the local City Hall, which is directly across the street from my office building. At first they were out of sight around the corner; now they have moved to the front of the entrance by the sidewalk and even in the meridian. A town hall was held last week and the homeless have been given 30 days to vacate the area during the daylight hours, although they can return at night.

Through watercooler chat and Facebook posts, there have been a wide variety of opinions given about the City Hall shantytown. Are they all druggies? Criminals? Jobless n'ere do wells?

Statistics show the following for the homeless:

Of course, as with all society, the homeless include drug addicts and criminals. But they also include families, children, mentally ill, laid off, displaced, and so on.  It seems so easy for the homeless to be negatively labeled and demonized rather than determining the "why" behind the circumstance.

The characterization of the City Hall homeless seemed so similar to the depiction of the Jewish in Germany it is uncanny.  Per the New York Historical Society, it is about "the ease with which the rhetoric of hatred directed toward a particular group - in this case, the Jews - can permeate a national discourse and become "normal" for ordinary people."  I see this happening with the City Hall homeless.

Instead of tearing down the group, perhaps City Hall should have spent the meeting trying to figure out how and where to accommodate the people in need. Isn't there land somewhere available to pitch the tents? Or free on-site medical attention for addiction and mental health treatment?  

I don't know these people nor do I have all the answers. Just thinking that the judging from society isn't helping and what is needed are solutions rather than labels.  In the end, therefore but the grace of God go I.

Curtain Conquest

After lounging around this sleepy Sunday, finally took a shower to gain some momentum. And it actually worked!

Marie had picked up some $2.99 fabric at Goodwill and asked me to make some kitchen curtains. Threw my crafty cap on, measured the window, cut the fabric, then sewed. Was 80% done when hit a snag. The back portion of the stitch was clogging and looked horrendous. Had to pull out the bane of my existence - the seam ripper - and remove the curtain hem.

Since it was Marie's sewing machine, had her investigate. The root problem ended up being the bobbin, which coincidentally I had just (incorrectly) filled.  Oops! She fixed it (which required unspooling all the bobbin thread and restringing it) and I was in the curtain business once again.

Finished the curtains, hung them, and voila! Success, meaning they were the correct width and length.  Plus I can mark off my list that I actually accomplished something today!

Impeachment for Dummies

Waking up in the early morning hours, as seems to be the custom lately, the Internet ends up being my choice of entertainment.   After catching up on email and posting Facebook Happy Birthdays, my next view is of the news.  Recent news in the headlines is the possible impeachment of Donald Trump.

Now, I'm definitely not part of the political scene or analysis, but to be honest my opinion of Trump has been pretty darn low. He's a bad egg.  However, I didn't understand the facts behind his possible impeachment. Lots of terms such a Ukraine, Zelensky, Biden, weapons, quid pro quo, and whistleblower were being tossed around. I didn't have a clue as to how everything fit together.

So I did the next best thing - I Googled "explanation of Trump impeachment" and found the following step-by-step outline:

https://www.vox.com/2019/11/5/20914280/impeachment-trump-explained

In a nutshell, in a phone conversation with the Ukranian president, Trump said he would release American foreign aid to Ukraine if they would investigate his top 2020 Democratic competitor Joe Biden and his son Hunter for wrongdoing, thus using his presidential powers via quid-pro-quo in order to influence personal gain.

You may recognize quid-pro-quo from sexual harassment cases as it is a Latin term meaning "you give me what I want, I'll give you something in return", i.e. "give me sex, I give you a promotion." In this case, it was "investigate my top presidential competitor and I'll give you foreign aid aka money."  Not a very presidential stance.

There are a lot more actions involved with the above incident that have occurred, including:

A whistleblower (later determined to be a member of the CIA), sent a written report in July 2019 via proper channels of the conversation that occurred to the Director of National Intelligence.  Instead of following procedure, he sat on the report deeming it not a matter of urgent concern.

Knowledge of the report came to light in September, at which point it was discovered the transcript of the phone conversation with Ukraine was on "lockdown" and not accessible, which is outside of standard protocol. It wasn't until September 26 that the White House allowed both the whistleblower's complaint and the transcript of the phone call to become public.

Sounds very Watergate doesn't it? At some point I expect Redford and Hoffman to pop up with Deep Throat.

It's a long read but very clear and informative.

Ocean Absorb Me

After the packing
The coffee, the drive
The pit stops and
The last minute groceries

No, not until after
the unloading of essentials
and the dibbing of
the comfy bed

As always not until
the routine of adulting
the work, the bills, the parts
one is expected to play

The listener, the advisor
the mother, the lover
the sister, the friend
the orphan, the guilty

Not until the back screen door
cracks open for me to
sneak across the deck and
downstairs to the path

Winding between vacation cabins following
wooden stairs that could
use some upkeep but let's
put that off til next year

Five pound pup keeping up
my pace as we trot
to the end of the steps where
the wood meets the sand

And there it is surely the same as when I left it last
and the same as when we
were first introduced

Vast, endless and pounding
tore off the elastic from my pony so the breeze could tangle my hair with sweet saltwater scent

Wandering between the dry sand and the marshmallow tinged surf, my weary mind surrendered to the ocean roar

It had been too long since my
soul had been freed among
the sight, taste, sound and smell of the beach

Memories back to when a barefoot little girl ran freely
through the sand, straight to the Pacific, which always flowed cold

No adulting, no work, no fear
mind free, clear and present imprinting the ocean and a child's day of play in the sun

This is why the beach whispers
and pleads with me to come
enjoy the mist, salt, sand,
bare feet and broken shells

Embrace this moment, this day
this memory you are creating when its just you and the dog being absorbed by the ocean

Coast and Curls

Took Stubbs on a beach walk this afternoon. Was misty sprinkling but the ocean air felt so good.  Stubbs absolutely loves to run, explore and pee all over the ocean sand.

After an hour on the beach, decided it was time to take a shower and try out the new LUS curl products. Left my hair sopping wet, applied the cream throughout my hair and began to blow dry. Unfortunately left my blow dryer and diffuser at home so had to use the antique dryer and my fingers to encourage the curl.

It turned out okay but I have greater expectations for when I use the diffuser.  But that shower sure felt good!

Can you tell I also left my under eye concealer at home?

Beach, Barf, and Birthday

Happily it was our monthly half-day Friday yesterday at work so Steve and I left about 2pm to hit the road for the Arch Cape beach house. Stopped in Seaside Safeway for groceries then on to the beach.

Unpacked the rig, bags, and groceries, let little Stubbers out for a potty break, then on to the Driftwood for dinner.  We usually wind up there each beach trip.

Due to a friendly host, we scored a great table at the window.  Outstanding waitress and the meal, including steamed clams, crisp salad, and fettuccine with mounds of crab, was superb.

Finished dinner about 6:30pm although the darkness made us feel it was after 10pm. Made it home then relaxed with coffee and snacks until bedtime.

Not a good idea. Woke up with bubbling heartburn and wound up woofing my cookies. Ugh.  Guess that fine dinner and snacks returned to bite me back.

Wound up on the couch with Stubbs. Slept little, woke up early, and now sipping coffee while watching Twight Zone.  Foggy outside but still the beach is visible, high tide coming in.

Looking forward to strolling the beach when low tide hits. Even brought my pup his sweater to keep him cozy.

On a side note, happy birthday to Jay and Julie today!!!

Just Random Weird Stuff

Saw this on the news website.  Will be visiting Cannon Beach this weekend so hope I'm not tasked with changing any diapers while I'm there!

As you know, been growing my hair out so I'm well aware of the process. Ran across the following and she's obviously taken a good thing way too far.  Look at it hanging all over the couch!!! Yuck!

Chip Off the Diva's Block!

Last night Jordan and Candy invited me to the costume contest at Evergreen Tavern in Rainier, Oregon. This was the bar where last year I had won first place with my Crazy Cat Lady outfit.

I let them know I was not up for it. After three outings with the mermaid outfit, it had worn out its welcome. Just not enough oomph in me to tackle the makeup, hair, and heels to attempt to defend my first-place standing at a two-bit tavern.

Jordan and Candy went and ended up winning best costume and best couple costume! Yay!!! At least we kept the winning in the family!

Mr. Stubbs Pays A Visit to the Vet

Little Stubbs had a well baby check today at the vet. It had been awhile since he'd been in to the doctor so it was time.

Of course he had an inkling he was in for something slightly uncomfortable when we pulled up to the clinic.  Poor little pup.  We checked in up front where there sat on the counter two long haired cats, even though we were on the "dog" side of the clinic.  Ugh - I could feel my eyes beginning to itch!

Stubbs insisted on being held the entire time as we waited, and waited, and waited. Finally the tech came out. She wanted to weigh him on the big scale in the waiting room but, little guy he is, his weight wouldn't register so back to the examination room we went!

I gingerly untangled Stubbs from my neck and set him on the little dog scale.  He weighed in at a whopping 5.7 pounds. We then sat and waited for the vet at which point he threw caution to the wind, hopped off my lap and explored the floor. When the vet arrived, I tried to place him on the exam table and those furry little legs of his collapsed inward and he was having no part of it. The vet pretty much examined him while he was in my arms.

Final verdict was:

• He received his rabies and distemper shots;

• He has a case of dermatitis, which has caused him to itch and scratch, so they prescribed an antibiotic for the little guy. They also gave him a shot to help reduce his itching. The vet said this may be why he is kind of stinky - it's a bacterial infection. Once the antibiotic kicks in, this will help. She also said to get him fish-based food as this will help;

• He got some flea meds;

• The vet looked over the rest of him, including his legs. Marie is somewhat obsessed with animals and pet care so she thought Stubby was walking funny. The vet said he walks normal and showed me on her doggie knee model how his knee cap moves resulting in a bit of a hop when he walks. However, he does have arthritis (to be expected since he is now 11 - or 77 in dog years) so I'll be getting him on a glucosamine supplement;

• He needs some teeth pulled and cleaned. However, at a quote of $700 I don't see this happening soon.

And that's it!  We spent the rest of the afternoon running around together and I can tell the anti-itch shot is making him feel like like a new dog.  Tonight he's been napping in his bed all calm and relaxed. I just love my little pup, even when he's stinky!