Random 5 for December 20 – Star Wars, accidents, reactions, doctor offices, holidays

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Star WarsA long time ago in a galaxy far far away – No, I didn’t see the new Star Wars but it is on the beloved husbands “to do” list. Reviews sound good so I’m sure he will enjoy. I’ll be at the café with a mocha latte and a goofy Stephanie Plum book. I never said I was an intellectual.

Source: clipartpanda.com

Source: clipartpanda.com

I knew it would happen – I just didn’t know I’d get to see it! My local Starbucks has two entrances to the drive-through. It can get mean when people who have not had their coffee line up. I was having a bad morning (although in retrospect, it was all good). I was held up by a LONG train. Then it took three lights to get through a traffic signal. It was 8:30 in the morning. Where do these people come from and why aren’t they at work? Traffic is only this bad at Christmas time. By the time I got to the drive-through there was an accident. Two people “racing” through, forgetting that Christmas spirit, vied for the same spot. Both lost and will need car bodywork. Oddly enough someone paid for my coffee. If not for the train and the congested traffic, it may have been me charging to that drive through.

Speaking of having an accident – I was fascinated by the two women who crashed. Both were young women tied to their phones. One had gone in to get a coffee (good move) while the other looked pretty unhappy (coffee would help that). No one was screaming at the other. I could have missed that part. It had already happened when I came through. I would have bought their coffee (they needed something good to happen to them) but they were still with the police as I exited.

Happy dance! – One of my doctors moved. Previously their offices were inside our humongous hospital. Parking was a nightmare and always a walk. The walk inside to their offices was long too. They were on the 5th floor. None of this is an issue with me but many patients are octogenarians on walkers with oxygen. They are moving into a large office area across the street. Parking is close and does not involve garages. Drop off is easy and they are located on the first floor. Several years ago I fractured my patella (kneecap). The ortho doc was on the fourth floor of a building with a detached garage. (Seriously?) Getting there with crutches and an immobilizer was always a challenge. I never figured out why bone docs would choose such an inaccessible space.

The older I get, the less exciting the holidays are – I am looking forward to a return to normal. The roads are clogged and so is my Starbucks. By next Sunday most of the frenzy will be over (hopefully). The beloved husband is cooking a superb Christmas dinner complete with Yorkshire pudding (no it will not involve pizza!). Can’t wait for that!

So how was your week?

 

 

42 thoughts on “Random 5 for December 20 – Star Wars, accidents, reactions, doctor offices, holidays”

  2. I don’t know – Christmas is less stressful now without having to create all the idealized holiday scenes this year. All I have to do is show up with presents – and the rest is taken care of. (Amazon is so wonderful for no traffic shopping) Yes, more time to meet friends for coffee at the new local place with a courtyard under whispering palms and lovely fountain. Luxurious on your own time leisure. Yep, this is the life. (Probably won’t happen again. Ever. HA HA)

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  3. Christmas spirit has not hit us yet and I don’t expect it too. Just don’t have it this year and our family Christmas was Sunday so it feels all over for us. I plug in Mom’s little ceramic Christmas tree every morning though… 🙂 If I am motivated, at some point in the day I plug in the candles in the windows and the big tree. I am making Pork Szechuan stir-fry for Christmas! I have not had my annual white chocolate mocha from Starbuck’s yet, that could change today. CH has noBODY to go to Star Wars with… I won’t go. I think that will happen today, too. Hoping Sailor visits today.

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  4. Pingback: Holidays | ladysighs

  5. Saw the new Star Wars film on Friday with our youngest and had a blast! Thank goodness there were no collisions in the Star Wars lines! The docs moving to a more accessible location and making it less of a challenge—especially for those who need assistance—was nice to hear. Christmas used to feel more special. Somethings missing that’s for sure.

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  6. Yorkshire pudding? I would invite myself over (and bring Starbucks, of course) if I lived within a 100 mile radius. Lucky you!

    Well, at least nobody broke out the tire iron in the parking lot. Civility is a great thing. I’ve seen ugly road rage in LA and Italy.

    I love the holidays, but I hear you. Craziness, made crazier by the fact that people who aren’t normally on the roads suddenly are on the roads and don’t know where they are going.

    Or they are on their phones. We got held up when someone (probably on a phone!) rear ended a truck on the I-15 today. Ah, well, we got to watch rock climbers while we barely moved for a half-hour!

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  7. There’s just something so “American” about dueling for priority spots in a Starbucks line. We want our coffee and we want it now. I feel like I was right there with your description, because I, too, have seen it happen. I think in the morning people are rushed trying to get their coffee and then on to work, and the traffic right now really is frustratingly high. We always have traffic, but December is always the worst by many degrees! What a treat to have your coffee bought for you. I’ve never had that happen! This should be the last week of craziness for awhile. 🙂

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    • Let’s hope. I can’t help wondering what those people do the rest of the year. Do they only buy SB coffee at Christmas time? I love the summers here. With vacations the lines are much shorter. Then again, I just love summer!

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  8. Bill lives off a main road, close to a mall. It’s so crazy! Police have been out there directing traffic since black Friday. I try to avoid going anywhere near there. My Starbucks is always busy but no drive-through. Most mornings I make my own coffee but when I do stop for my morning coffee at Starbucks (rather than my after work soy decaf latte extra hot) I wish they had an express line just for coffee drinkers. The line is always long! Merry Christmas, Kate. Enjoy the Yorkshire Pudding.

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    • You could keep Kana “full” but you would end up with a fat cat. Maybe as she gets older it will lessen. Morgan chases my other two but I think she wants to play. As she is getting older (holy smolies she’s 3-1/2!) she’s settling down a little (just a little! That cat has ADHD!)

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  11. I’m with you, Kate. Dealing with the craziness on the roads during the holiday is stressful. People are so rude…it’s me me me!
    My week was good, better than a coworker. On her way into work Monday morning she had an accident. She wasn’t hurt and arrived late. On the way home, same day, she had another accident. Neither were her fault and thankfully she wasn’t hurt. That, is a bad Monday.
    Let’s hope for a win tonight. Derek is prepared for a loss. He’s such a positive thinker. 🙂

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  12. I love the Starbucks section…who needs Star Wars when you have cars racing to the window. I totally get it…when I go at 5 a.m. I’m frothing at the mouth. It does help to treat someone. I’m in on that score..
    Forgive me, but I’m not as polite as you…Xmas blows. It does…so much over priced hype and no one when you really look seems to care, just phoning it in…going through the motions…ho-hum.
    I hope Kate that you and those you love, four-legged or otherwise, all have a Happy Christmas…and that’s not a phone in by any means. 🙂

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  14. We made a VERY last minute to go see a movie yesterday (“Brooklyn” — great flick!). It was so last minute the movie had in fact already started! We figured we had just enough time to drive there, get our tickets, and most likely see the last preview before the lights went down for the last time and the movie actually starts. This did in fact happen, but our plan didn’t include standing in line along with the Star Wars crowd! Thankfully they had several ticket-takers and the line moved quickly. We were lucky. Lesson learned, though. I am staying away from malls till after New Years.

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    • This is Netflix time for us until after the holidays. My husband MAY go see Star Wars but not until the crowds have calmed down a little. I wouldn’t have thought of the impact on another movie either.

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  15. How nice that your doctor is relocating. Maybe he got tired of hearing complaints about his location ~ I’d bet plenty of patients voiced their opinions.
    Little by little, my hubby and I have simplified Christmas to the point that it’s actually easy and enjoyable now. We’ve eliminated much of the shopping, baking and decorating so now it’s a more manageable Christmas. I’ve never tasted Yorkshire pudding, though, and now I want to check that out!

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    • It’s just like popovers except he makes it in a glass 9×13 instead of the single cupcake type popover pans. We have eliminated a lot too. It’s the traffic and store congestion that gets wears me down. We don’t go anywhere after about 11 a.m. Even grocery stores are busy.

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  16. Yorkshire Pudding…. yum yum yum… I grew up eating it on Sundays! Years ago when I managed to get bursitis in my knees I almost crawled the miles from the parking lot to the doctor’s office. Once there I sighed with relief when they prescribed a crutch for me to hobble around on. The catch? I had to crawl across the vast expanse of the UCLA Medical Center to another building to pick it up… I almost called a taxi to get me to the next building!!!! Happy Holidays…

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    • I was lucky enough to get crutches at the walk in care center I initially went to (parking outside the door. My brother carried me in). They were able to x-ray and give me the immobilizer and crutches. I could not walk at all without it. The kneecap holds it all together and I couldn’t put any weight at all on it for 4 weeks. I don’t know how I would have gotten into the ortho’s office without someone carrying me.

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  17. Those jerks are clogging up MY Starbucks line, too. We have a couple of them here, but there’s a particular one I’m thinking of that sounds exactly like you described. You can come in from two entrances, and it’s a fight to get in line. People will nudge up in front of you as far as possible so you can’t get in. I drink coffee before I go to SB, so I already go fully caffeinated. It helps with the timely lines and angry holiday shoppers lol.

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  18. I’m with you, Christmas doesn’t add to my delight with life ~> on a positive note, I’ve seen less evidence this year of certifiable insanity in holiday shoppers engage in excess consumption. Oh, wait, maybe that’s because I’ve been hibernating in the villa. :mrgreen:

    My mom made Yorkshire Pudding for Christmas every year. YUM!

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    • We only have Yorkshire pudding at Christmas. I don’t know why. It’s not that hard to make. I love it. My mother made an Austrian version of it that tasted the same but had a different name. She made it all year long and served it with a green salad. I didn’t need anything else!

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  19. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. My sewing is done – work closed down for two weeks – my gifts are mostly purchased, wrapped, and under the tree or mailed. I’ve done a little baking and decorating. Christmas dinner is planned. So…I actually may get a chance to write. Oh my! Surely there is something I’ve forgotten to do. I never have free writing time.
    Have a very merry Christmas Kate! ~Elle

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  20. I have similar parking problems when going to doctors. They seem to cluster in areas where parking is limited. Maybe it’s a passive aggressive move designed to subtly get back at us pesky patients who are always whining about something?!!

    Enjoy your holiday time. I haven’t thought about what we’ll have for Christmas dinner yet, but a beef roast with Yorkshire pudding does sound good. Maybe…

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    • Any dinner I don’t have to do a lot of work for is wonderful! When I went to the ortho doc, it was full of people with leg problems with great difficulty walking. Oh yes, they had 3 wheelchairs in the lobby. You would be very lucky if you got one. It was a big practice with 20+ docs.

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  21. No pizza for Christmas? Maybe it’ll be a surprise..:)
    I don’t drink coffee so I never understood the early morning addiction for it but so many people can’t function without it when they first wake up.
    Watching the crankiness of people on line in Starbucks must be a fun sight..:)

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    • The odd thing about Starbucks is that (specifically for the drive-through) it’s extremely competitive to get in line with people cutting people off. Then when you go through they are buying coffee for the person in back of them (that they just cut off!) Doesn’t make sense. When I worked the generation in back of me drank cokes for breakfast. It’s a caffeine thing. However, I see a lot of millennials in SB.

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