Random 5 for May 26, 2024 – Holiday, seasonal changes, fraud, house project, happiness

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Viet Nam Memorial, Courtesy of winfieldks.org

A holiday weekend – Monday we honor all the people who died protecting our country. That was the origin, but it’s turned into the official start of summer. There are picnics, sales (every holiday is a sale opportunity) and festivals. My family has been lucky. No one was killed in military service, but I’ve had some classmates killed in the Viet Nam conflict. The older you get the dumber war is.

Finally! – Yesterday I switched out the flannel sheets on the bed to the summer knit set. Those of you who live in warmer areas cringe, but the nights have been cool here.

Stupid things I do and lessons I learn – I made a series of charity donations in December. I usually write a check but this time I did some online. One of the charities had the donation page set up so it automatically defaulted to a monthly donation, and I didn’t notice. Even though I check my statement every month for rogue charges, I missed that monthly charge until the April statement. I thought I could call my credit card company and have them block it. You can’t do that. My choice was to flag it as fraud and instigate an investigation or cancel my card and get a new number. (Bangs head on table! That means adjusting all my auto payments!) I decided to call the charity. It was easy to cancel the monthly payment. I spent a lot of time flagellating (don’t you love that word) myself for being careless. I know not to pay for a magazine subscription online as they will put you on automatic renewals, but this was something new.

Good news – We have an approximate start date for our bath renovation. It’s July 15th. We were hoping for early June, but it was pushed to the end of June. Since they are closed the first week in July for vacation, I’d rather not have them rip everything up and leave for a week. Being on the schedule for that date doesn’t mean they will start on that date. It may be sometime that week. Depending on their other projects it may even mean the week after. Contractors have their own language. “End of the (week, month, fill in the blank)” does not mean anything. I’ll have to brush up on “contractoreze.” I’m sure it will be an adventure full of calamities with some disappointments and hopefully a few bright moments. In the end it should yield an improvement.

Gratitude – Yesterday was one of those perfect days. The weather was gorgeous. No one was ill. The cats were as normal as they get. I took time in the afternoon to sit on my deck and just enjoy life. I almost cried. My life has had its ups and downs, but it’s been a good life. I am grateful for all the friends who have been on the journey even if just for a short time.

So how was your week?

64 thoughts on “Random 5 for May 26, 2024 – Holiday, seasonal changes, fraud, house project, happiness”

  2. I am sitting in a fairly empty house with two dogs and a cat, who will be euthanized shortly because I can’t have more than 2 pets. I think I will lie to the apartment people and say she is dying (aren’t we all?).
    I am angry at my daughter because she has not returned my debit card.
    I am also trying to find an apartment without transportation. I asked a friend to join me, by text, email and phone call. No response. I know she is not out of town.
    I am tired and I have been crying on and off the past week.
    I am not typically a whiny person. But this has hit hard.
    Please pray.

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  4. I’m sorry about your monthly subscription situation but pleased you were able to correct the error as easily as can be done in a situation like that. We all try to be careful, yet…

    Yeah about a your start date should it actually turn out to be the start date. 🙄

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  5. Yeah, those contributions can be tricky. I always try to be careful and not choose the “monthly” option, but I’m prepared for the day that it happens. Glad you were able to sort it out with the charity. Congrats on a scheduled start date — may it stick! Gratitude and it’s not even November… good for you! – Marty

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  6. Gratitude is the only way out of these ominous times in which we live.

    And I use flannel sheets from L.L. Bean all year round since they are so soft the more they’re washed. Of course, I’m cold no matter what season.

    Online blunders. You’ve met your match since, I could lecture.

    Glad the cats are all in fine fettle. 🙂

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  7. Congrats on an approximate start date for the bathroom reno.
    I am always getting caught on those automatic renewals!
    I agree with Pam about your gratitude paragraph. It made me sigh with contentment and gratitude! I spent yesterday on the lanai. The weather was beautiful with humidity in the low 50s and a lovely breeze.
    No firecrackers! Shocked!

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  9. I read your story about online donation with interest. I subscribed to a local news source for two years, marked my calendar to cancel, and thought I could do it online. I spent quite a while learning that there was no way to cancel except to call and talk with someone whose first language was not English. It was worse than a dental appointment trying to cancel it. I certainly learned a valuable lesson.

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    • I’ve had those experiences with magazine subscriptions. This turned out to be easy except for a 5 minute queue. I think (not sure) that there is a law that requires a cancellation button easily accessible. We bought a printer with an “ink” subscription. Supposed to save a ton of money. Not! That took a while to undo. I don’t do automatic anything these days except for a few routine bills.

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  11. YAY on the start date(ish)……..even if it’s something close to that I’m sure you’ll be happy. I absolutely LOVE your “Gratitude” paragraph…..I have to say with as many ups and downs as I’ve had I’m happy with my life – it’s been longer than it could have been, bumpier than I would have liked, but I too can sit on my deck and smile about it all. Let’s hope we can keep that going Kate…..deal?

    Hugs, Pam

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  13. I like the image of you sitting on your deck and just enjoying life. Sometimes it’s hard to just sit still and enjoy.

    My great uncle died in WWI but no one since. My dad fought in WWII, but he made it home. It’s good that we remember all their sacrifices.

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    • I had a cousin in WWII. He came home. My dad was too young for the first one and two old with kids for the second. My brothers served but not during war time. Oldest brother helped bring POWs home from Japan and younger brother was stationed in Germany. They were fortunate to miss the Korean conflict. I went to school with a classmate whose brother was killed in Korea. My generation was involved in Viet Nam.

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  14. I never had any family or friends killed in the Viet Nam war either, but Memorial Day has really become synonymous with a good time. Especially awful in my opinion is the fireworks going off – not organized events, but in the neighborhoods and this will continue through Labor Day weekend, every weekend. I don’t “get” that at all. There were large spent fireworks in the parking lot at Council Point Park this morning – I thought to myself “well if the big machines don’t do the critters in, the big fireworks will.” Our City’s Memorial Day parade is always the Sunday before, although they do have 50 flags flying around the war memorial until Tuesday. We have had some pretty days this week, but very hot and we have possible severe weather tonight and the next few days. It is raining hard right now, build-an-ark weather.

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    • Surprisingly there were no fireworks last night. We are going to have “build an ark” weather today so I suspect any fireworks will be cancelled. I love the displays but hate the noise and it’s effect on animals. Fortunately cats, especially inside cats, don’t react.

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  15. I have been fooled many times by the automatic renewal. Glad you are having some peace and quiet with healthy cats.

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  16. Glad you have a date set for your renovation. So nice you had time to yourself outdoors. We have had so many rainy days, but tomorrow is going to be sunny and I’m going to enjoy it.

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  18. It’s always worthwhile to pause and appreciate all that we have. I am grateful for not having any house projects at looming.. but the work in the garden is surprisingly tiring this year. Ahh yes, life goes in 🥰

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  22. Bummer that your bathroom start date keeps getting moved back. Our kitchen reno is supposed to start June 10th, and there are a number of companies and pieces all tightly scheduled, so we shall see if it goes as well as the bathroom reno did! And I hate all those companies that put you on auto-pay. Some of them make it very hard to reach them and get off. I’m tempted to change my credit card just to get rid of the ones I don’t want anymore. Enjoy another gorgeous day – I assume your weather is much like ours. Perfect day here.

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  23. Like you, we honor all who served this weekend but especially those who paid the ultimate price. As I get older, I find there is lots to be grateful for and it truly washes the soul with good feelings. May your ‘s and the kitties holiday weekend be filled to the brim with good feels and good health.

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  25. so much here to love & relate to — those days of gratitude are a gift in themselves, aren’t they? Good luck on the reno, in my experience I’ve learned to double whatever is quoted, the cost, the materials, the # of changes, the timeline .. that way it works out Ok and I don’t lose my mind in the process. Your Kitchen is fantastic !! -MJ

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    • Even knowing all that I may lose my mind! Seems part of the process! What helped with the kitchen project was that the carpenter was quiet (no radio) and respectful of us being in the house (it was winter) and cleaned up every night before leaving. While most contractors clean up, some not so good.

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