SUBSTANDARD SUBSTATION

 

This is a vent post!

I'm hardly what you call a high tech type so I still depend heavily on the Post Office. I mail holiday & birthday cards regularly, often with handwritten notes inside.

Also I pay half my bills thru the mail and have valid reasons for still doing this. Although I'm leery because in this neighborhood our mailboxes are down by the street; so whenever I mailed a check I would drive straight to the Post Office. And I don't live close to one.

So I was delighted when a substation moved in only a few blocks around the corner from me. However it's crappy and my last experience there was especially aggravating.

I was returning an expensive item I'd decided wasn't worth the money. Also I needed to buy a sheet of stamps. The substation opens at 10:00 AM. I was early and debating whether or not to do my grocery shopping first and hit the station on the way home. However I buy lots of melty items and this is Florida, plus there's usually a line at the substation. Surely there wouldn't be one at that hour, I thought.

Wrong! I arrived about 10 minutes early to find a line already waiting. Soon another person joined in the wait behind me.

The clerk looked to be little more than a teenager. A sign was posted stating they were OUT OF STAMPS.  (Not unusual there!!!) Geez, this is a Post Office substation for crying out loud! They should NEVER be out of stamps!!! -- It's similar to when my Health Store's wheat germ & fish oil capsules are out of stock. I want to scream "You're a nutritional supplement company, how can you let this happen?!"

And the wait seemed unnecessary! The clerk was right there ignoring us doing things that could have been put on hold. Customers in line were looking around rolling their eyes and sighing as we all stood there.

Finally, the lady at the front of the line pointed out to the clerk that it was now 10:00 AM.

"My clock shows another minute!" the clerk replied.

Hot cat pee! Couldn't she sacrifice a mere minute for all these people standing there waiting? In frustration everyone gave out loud sighs and groans! The lady at the front of the line was shaking her head in disgust.

Eventually, my package was sent on its way. And I bought my stamps at the supermarket. Unlike this Post Office substation they never run out.

WALK THIS WAY

 

For over a decade I was fortunate enough to have a beautiful Russian Blue cat named Tasha sharing my life and my home. But I always had to laugh because she had this particular way of standing with heels touching and one foot straight forward and the other out to the side forming a V shape. -- This is the exact way professional models were trained to stand. And my little furry beauty was a natural!

With feet positioned in this manner human shoulders automatically go back as the spine straightens. It's impossible to slouch, so I can understand why it was encouraged.

In my 9th grade Home Economics class the older sister of a classmate was a professional model. She came to class and gave a speech on modeling along with demonstrations. Besides the stand, models were expected to walk with one foot directly in front of the other.

This walk was the same actor John Wayne performed to enhance his character and mystique for the big screen. Only he did it with more pronounced hip action while swinging the shoulders forward. -- And it was phony, an affectation suggested by another actor!

 However to some it came natural.

From the age of 18 thru 32 I had a small dog that executed the John Wayne swagger to perfection. He was one quarter Terrier & three quarters Chihuahua.  We owned his daddy as well, who was half & half.

I really shouldn't say "OWNED"! All our cats & dogs were fully empowered Canine and Feline Americans and they knew it!

And this particular dog was a little prince. He adamantly refused to be walked on a leash as if some common canine! Whenever we tried, he'd roll over on his back refusing to stand until that leash was off. We weren't about to drag him, so instead we took him for carries. He wasn't fond of going outdoors either!

Fortunately that house had a big yard. We'd set him down, he sniff around and then scratch your leg to be picked up again. This would be repeated multiple times until he finally found the perfect spot and did his business. And then he'd be carried back inside.

Often when I was seated, I'd gaze over at him as he stood across the carpet and I'd call out, "Come here sweetie pie, let me love my little baby."

He'd stand there and glare at me with that haughty stare of his as if to say: Maybe I will, or maybe I won't, I'm still deciding.

Eventually, after continued coaxing, he'd come slowly towards me doing the strut that would make John Wayne proud. This dog was letting me know that I was being bestowed a favor. -- Although he loved it when I rubbed behind his ears with one hand and his hips & butt just above the tail with the other.

Still in his mind, he was throwing me a bone. Guess he figured I'd earned it.

FALLING DOWN OR JUST FALLING BEHIND -- NO!

 

Yesterday was what I refer to as a Ketchup Day! I catch up on miscellaneous chores I've been putting off. -- Yes, that statement is both corny and cheesy. But never mind, I love the taste of both! However it seems to take me forever to get anything done.

I recall reading an article in the newspaper about an incredible local woman.  A CEO of her own company, who runs construction crews, oversees property management, flips houses, provides in-home patient & pet care, along with chauffeuring clients to appointments, plus tutoring blind students in Braille.

She also decorates residential and commercial properties for the holidays, cooks lavish gourmet meals for parties, speaks 5 languages fluently, and is currently learning Mandarin Chinese!

These are only slight exaggerations! Just reading about all she has accomplished made me feel so tuckered out that I wanted to collapse into my recliner and nap.

Honestly, I do admire people like that. I appreciate them and am delighted they exist, but at the same time I'm happy that I'm nothing like them. That type of existence sounds Hellish to me. It's way too hectic, stressful, and peopley for my taste. Guess I'm just one of those low energy types ex-President Bone Spurs was always putting down. And I wonder what the pussy grabber would be doing for a living had he not been born into all that money.

Back when I worked full time I felt exhausted and drained one hundred per cent of the time. Plus I was much younger then. I'd rather be dead than return to that! At age 70 I just want to be retired and enjoy a quiet life.

I'll admit conditions have been better than they are now, but they've also been far worse! Life is never perfect for anyone, not even that wonder woman mentioned above. I'm sure she has problems too; hers are just different from mine.

It's a mistake to compare yourself to other people. Especially when too many others are eager to do that for you!  I consider them noise. Life is made up of many different paths.

I recall a favorite Emily Dickinson poem titled: Not in Vain. (Google it!) The gist of it being that if you perform even one small selfless act of generosity or kindness, your life was worthwhile and had meaning. These are words I live by.