Scooter Saga

Who benefits when you're staying clo se to home–all the time?  Could be the home itself.  When you're out and about, it's easy to get distracted and ignore signs that the house needs some attention.  But when you spend the lion's share of your time at home, it becomes daunting. The most urgent task was determining the source of a significant water leak and then fixing it. Was it in the pool? The hot tub? The water feature?  Worst case (most expensive to repair) scenario, was it under the concrete?  Long story short, it took nearly 6 months to figure out that it wasn't the pool (yay) , it wasn't the water feature (yay) , and it wasn't something under the concrete (major yay, I hope) .  We still haven't found the source, but we're closing in with help of professional leak detectors  ( of course) .    Although the water feature wasn't the cause of the mystery leak, it did need to be revised before becoming a major problem.  The lining had to be repl

"You want  what ?" said Earl.   Having gotten used to the amount of s*!@t I usually get from him*, "A bidet", I replied. And so the story begins. A few months before, our Thai housemate relayed a conversation between he and his mother, my friend. "Why don't Tammy and Earl use a bidet?" she inquired.  I later explained to Jack that in fact, people from the US are accustomed to using toilet paper.  Free-standing bidets here are often equated with affluence.  Not so elsewhere in the world.  I knew that bidets are more commonly seen in Europe, but didn't realize how much of the world uses them.   I remember traveling through Europe as a junior in high school with a large group. That was my first sighting of a bidet. This group of girls had no idea what it was for.  We thought it was a foot bath.  I can only imagine that the French girls thought we were rude, ignorant, or just crazy. At any rate, the more I read and thought about it, the more I wanted o

I've always struggled with a balance between my vanity and practical function*.  I've maintained that, although there may be some interest in my personal appearance, I was not a princess.  The COVID–19 pandemic blew the lid off my plausible deniability. I came to realize that, when you have too much time on your hands, you become preoccupied with things that were never given a second thought.  Although I had routinely had my hair cut and colored, gotten regular manicures & pedicures, I didn't appreciate how important maintenance appointments were to me until all the salons closed down.  There was no denying it any longer.  My princess persona was out. As the manicure grew out My hair was in my eyes, my toenails were starting to catch in the bedsheets, and my fingernails were so long, they started to hurt whenever I used my hands.   I had friends with beautiful gray or white hair, so when m y gray roots started to grow out, I smugly thought "I

Disclaimer:   We had no idea what was coming down the road in early March. COVID–19 has affected so many parts of our lives, that I decided to treat it like our road trip–separate posts.  Coming attractions?  Rule following, Home maintenance, Coping, Grooming, Travel (yes, really )... I didn't appreciate how much Skeeter would help me in figuring things out in the early days.  Our first effort was the driveway happy hour at the end of February.  True, there were only three of us, but it was fun catc hing up with our next door ne i ghbor.  I rode down the driveway and perched on Skeeter.  Earl was able to carry both his chair and my wine. Next came a collection of March birthdays.  I customarily have a March baby birthday party, but that was not going to happen in the usual way.We were, however, able to have a small garage gathering while FaceTiming with a friend who had a February birthday.  Different, but doable.  We were starting to get the hang of this "new normal." My

We left for Maui right after New Years (1/3/2020) and returned to Portland 2/20/2020.  Almost seven weeks!  It wasn't seeming as long as it used to before we made friends there.  Kai Makani was truly starting to feel like a second home (only warmer) .  In addition to having visit from mainland friends, Earl and I were having a grandchild visit for the first time completely on her own*.  The airlines consider passengers 14 and over "independent travelers"—yay! Too close to whales In addition to the tropical flora there, Maui also has amazing wildlife.  We have white egrets in our complex.  They're less obtrusive than the Pooping Pigeons (that we can see anyway).   But we also saw a rare, endangered monk seal basking in the sun.  Local  conservationists  were quick to tape off a wide area to keep nosy tourists at bay.  Snorkelers, divers, and swimmers  usually see plenty of turtles and fish.  The humpback whales winter in Hawaii to give birth.  Capturing wha

I was scooting in downtown Lake Oswego, waiting to cross the street. Art Martin "Hello Tammy", a fellow pedestrian said.  I was used to being recognized, but it's usually as the anonymous lady on the scooter.  I'm pretty hard to miss, but I rarely hear my name.  Looking up (it's always up) , I recognized Art, even though it had been awhile since we spoke.  Even longer since he had rescued me*– 2011 to be precise.  I had naively referred to him then as "elderly" and worried about what my folly would cost him.  He goodnaturedly reminds me of that frequently.  Now here he was, nearly 10 years later, out for his daily walk, healthy, and unchanged by the years.  That'll teach me...There was only 13 years between us. Old friends Art invited me to join he and another friend from my early scooting years.  I met John Burns and his wife Audrey in 2011 as well**.  He and Audrey had moved to an Assisted Living facility and I lost contact, but thou

I started thinking about Christmas around September and settled on a Monte Carlo theme even before there was a reunion in Las Vegas.  The more I thought about it, the more fun it sounded,  I had thought our Mardi Gras Christmas was the biggest doo–dah, but no–oo*.  Retirement allows for time to indulge our inner 'Martha Stewart'.  We never would have done this in our working days.   I'm very good about coming up with ideas that someone else has to implement. That usually falls to Earl.   Mediterranean food?  He can do that Décor?  Pam can do that The Tree?  Jill can do that The Christmas Village?  The granddaughters can do that Gaming table layout? Earl can do that Moving the furniture? Earl and JJ can do that  Hire party help? I can do that.  Jeez, I needed to do something. The first issue that came up was, of course, the Christmas tree**.  "How about something smaller?", Earl said. Nope, I couldn't do that. I did however compromise and move it

Las Vegas isn't my favorite city and having a family reunion* there on Thanksgiving weekend didn't sound like the best idea—initially.  But this was a "passing the torch" wholly to the next generation, so I decided to keep my generational lip zipped and go with it. Our niece Kathy, is a local resident living in Summerlin, an area about 10 miles from downtown Vegas.  Together with our nephew Richard, her cousin, she tackled planning with wedding-like effort and they  blew it out of the water.  They built it and, OMG, did we come!   Even though the Oregon/Washington contingent flew, most of the California and the New Mexico family drove.  So why then ?  Well, we have lots of school–age children, so taking advantage of the break and minimizing academic absences was a good move. Vegas weather in November can be cold (it was) but relatively temperate.  Although Thanksgiving is the start of the holidays, Chanukkah and Christmas were still a month away. Making C