GOOD BYE SUMMER 2019, YOU SUCKED

Soon it will be over and can't happen fast enough; this was one of the worst! Usually summer zooms by, but this miserable one just seemed to drag on and on.

UGH!!! I will always remember it as one of INJURY (foot) PHYSICAL PAIN, (foot & tooth) STRESS (major hurricane threat) ENORMOUS OUT-OF-THE-BLUE EXPENSES (dental work, hurricane boarding, & 2 plumbing emergencies), and a bad haircut to boot!  Also included was much frustration and angst in trying to publish a book I ghostwrote after an unfortunate 2 year delay, along with numerous other things that I never blogged about. Be grateful I spared you!

However you may not always be so fortunate, this is my place to vent, so if this annoys you, stop reading right now and go away!

My idea of a wonderful summer is a quiet, serene, uneventful one without people noise or drama. I've already experienced enough of the latter for 10 life times! I prefer being alone cocooning in the air conditioning. When the weather cools, if ever (this is Florida & there's global warming) I'll feel like going out again. But even then, I can only stand people in small doses.

I love summer nights at home enjoying engrossing and sometimes just gross movies, occasionally with popcorn or ice-cream. But now, I remember why I stopped recording stuff on network TV after I got the Starz/Showtime package. I had it for a decade and lost it last spring when it became too expensive. After all the commercials are zapped, a two & a half hour movie often becomes 90 minutes! I'm constantly reaching for the remote. And worse, I hate staring at an advertisement during an entire film! It's distracting and irritating.

Thanks to a generous friend, I now have a DVD player and rent movies from Redbox. I'm glad it's an option.

Every morning, it seems I wake at 4:00 AM and am unable to get back to sleep. Then at 5:30 AM I get up and nap throughout the day.

I should be grateful at least the hurricane swerved east and missed. But it's still peak season and early.

However I am proud of myself for losing my Hurricane Dorian weight. It came off fast, too! I was expecting the power to go out, so I ate as much as possible from my fridge & garage freezer. Otherwise it would all end up on the curb. Huge breakfasts and enormous dinners were the norm for a week. Afterward, clothes weren't fitting.

But now they do. I'm back to a size 8 my fighting weight! Yay!!!

I miss my days of exotic foreign travel, it's always fun visiting other countries in distant far away continents, but the way things are going, any future ones will be under the Medical Tourism category.

I'm constantly cutting back, while the price of everything keeps going up! I may come to regret not expatriating. However it's not off the table! But if it comes to that, it will be tantamount to a shotgun marriage. After my exploratory trips, I learned that the Third World isn't the paradise for retirees on a fixed income those international living publications make it out to be.

Fall will be full of expensive dental appointments including a tooth extraction and implant. And I'm living in a dark boarded-up house until November.

Despite everything, I'm mostly happy. I must keep reminding myself of the way things used to be, all those many years when I wasn't.

MAYOR, YOU DON'T SPEAK FOR ME

My oh my, our current mayor has gone national by publicly attacking San Francisco on its stance against the National Rifle Association. According to our delusional mayor the NRA is "an extraordinary defender of America's constitutional civil rights" his words. Never mind it has repeatedly proven to be a domestic terrorist organization that must be ended.

Needless to say, our mayor is a member of the NRA!

Now I am not against anyone owning guns. One in the house for protection is a good idea. I'm not even against hunting rifles although I abhor the practice. However no one needs a military assault type weapon unless they are up to no good! And the idea of arming teachers is one of the stupidest ideas I've ever heard! I picture more innocent people being killed in the crossfire.

Our mayor used official city letter head in his criticism, as if all of Vero Beach is behind him! A San Francisco Examiner columnist cleverly upbraided our mayor and rightly so. However due to the letter head he also had some not-so-nice things to say about Vero Beach, my hometown of the last 20 years.

Ok, I'll admit Vero Beach is a Trump turd stronghold! Many people here think Trump walks on water when he's actually more like a fat chunk of excrement floating in a sewer!

I know there are many others in Vero Beach who feel as I do! I've marched in protests with them against Trump's policies. We received numerous honks of support as well as the one finger salute.

Our mayor is also an ophthalmologist, in fact, the same one who performed cataract surgery in both of my eyes.

Because I am alone, I needed their shuttle to pick me up and drive me home after the surgeries. During my second trip the driver praised Trump all the way to the Eye Institute. I told him that for the sake of our country, I hoped someone would shoot Trump! Which I'm sure didn't endear me to him. Fortunately, coming home I was assigned a different driver.  Politics were never discussed.

Our mayor called the San Francisco Examiner columnist's response "elitist". I could say the same about him! I found this ophthalmologist more than a bit arrogant. For my next eye exam, I will be taking my business elsewhere!

A CLOSE BRUSH WITH A MONSTER

A monster out to destroy me, others, and everything we own. Like nearly every other denizen of the Treasure Coast I was in a constant state of panic mingled with exhaustion. For what seemed like a week every meteorologist showed a Cat 5 Hurricane Dorian coming ashore over Vero Beach on their chart!

Out of habit I began stocking my storm pantry back in June, little was left to buy. Also around that time I purchased the Bell & Howell Light Bar to add to my hurricane lamp collection which is good to have anyway. Even under perfect conditions, I've never lived in a place that experiences as many power outages as Vero Beach!

Always, it's a problem finding someone to board me up. However this time a neighborhood Realtor emailed the name of a man willing to do it. But yikes, the cost was $600.! -- I paid $40 back in 2004!!! Unfortunately I had no choice. Now I plan to stay boarded until November! It's only the start of peak hurricane season and I can't afford to keep repeating this!

The expense could not have happened at a worse time! Just the week before, I learned I need a dental implant among other work and I'm going to be out $1000's. I waited months for an appointment at the sliding scale clinic; I desperately need that 15 per cent discount. Unfortunately the clinic doesn't do implants. UGH!!!

But that had to wait until after the hurricane.

I moved everything of value downstairs and packed several suitcases in the event my house became unlivable. It's devastating to think of everything I've accumulated over the years being destroyed. I own few things of monetary value. However each of my possessions has a memory attached making every one a treasure.

Dorian a slow moving storm, was now forecast to hit us on Wednesday. Hopefully, it would strike during daytime. I would be able to see well enough to do damage control. Also I could sleep in my own bed the night before rather than the floor of my downstairs bathroom which is my safe room.

Marie, my snowbird friend in Connecticut said she'd call every day until the power went out along with my landline. She was true to her word! And my friend Rose said she'd drive over to check on me after the storm passed. Both are wonderful friends!

Sunday night I watched a movie titled Between Heaven and Earth, a true story about a Vietnamese woman. As a child, her village was burned to the ground. During her teens she was raped, beaten, tortured with electricity, also staked to a pole near an ant hill, her legs coated with honey, and for added measure a snake was dropped down her blouse! And there's more that I won't go into. Watching this, made me feel like a wimp for freaking out over a hurricane!

Then I remembered the photos of Mexico Beach from last year's one. It looked like a bomb blast!!! My fears were valid!!! And Dorian was now doing likewise to the Bahamas.

Almost everyone living in Florida has been to the Bahamas at least once. The man who boarded my house said he had been there 50 times or more. The thought of the destruction, death, and shattered lives there is wrenching.

Cat 5 and 4 hurricanes used to be a rarity. Sadly, with global warming (which fools deny) they are becoming common. It's anyone's guess exactly where a hurricane will come ashore.

An arrogant, argumentative man on Facebook (whom I've since unfriended) claimed that no hurricane dared to hit since he moved here and no one should worry. Then came Irma in 2017 projected to hit us as a Cat 5 or 4. This guy ran like a scared rabbit to the center of the state! The hurricane shifted farther west at the last moment striking his hotel, another example of a man's big mouth  biting him in the butt!

As fate would have it, all of us here on the Treasure Coast were fortunate again this time. Dorian just skirted us. Not once did I lose power which was a miracle in itself.  Air-conditioning in a boarded up house is a blessing.

Thursday the hurricane had passed, mail & newspaper delivery resumed. I stepped onto my driveway to sweep debris. The heat & humidity were so heavy it felt as if someone had dropped a blanket over me. But my home remained intact, that was most important.

However, next time the result could be quite different. All you can do is prepare for the worst as best you can.

OH NOOOOO!!!

According to every chart I've seen Hurricane Dorian is projected to hit Vero Beach directly as a Cat 4 on Labor Day!!!

I must drop everything & prepare!!!
 

JUROR #395

Well it happened again! I don't believe there's a person alive who's been summoned for Jury Duty more than I have. I've actually lost count! I've read they draw names from the Dept. of Motor Vehicles. However I didn't have a Driver's License until almost the year 2000. So they must take them from Voter Registration as well.

Unlike most people, I look forward to Jury Duty. It pays money! Perhaps not a whole lot, but its $15 or $30 that I didn't have before. And if I get an interesting case its double bingo! Plus it's an opportunity to make friends -- or not. But it's still a welcome diversion.

Also I realize it's an important job, one I take seriously. I watch body language and my radar is tuned for attorney trickery. I think PROFESSIONAL JUROR should be an occupation! These people should be specifically trained to spot lawyer lies, exaggeration, and misdirection. It's a job I'd love! Of course those are exactly the kind of people they DON'T want!!!

For all my times summoned, I've only been selected twice. And this was back in my previous hometown. Usually I'm dismissed due to this bad habit I have of following the news. And since I'm a non-drinker I'm the last person a defense attorney wants on a drunken driving case!

Something I've discovered is that guilty people almost always want trials where as the innocent plea bargain.

I've been living in Vero Beach for 20 years now and this is the 4th time I've been summoned here. The first, I was unable to serve. My father had suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. He was unable to use the bathroom without help.

The next 2 times, my number was so far down the list I was instructed by phone not to report. I wasn't needed. This time I was almost Juror #400 out of a pool of 450. But you never can tell, so I had to be ready.

I received my summons around the middle of July for Aug. 12. My biggest concern was my shoes, due to an injury in June (I blogged about this!) I'd been living in flip-flops and I know they are forbidden in court.

My left foot was shrinking, but was still noticeably larger than the other. It didn't hurt, just felt stiff, heavy, & itched like crazy. So I purchased a few cute pairs of sandals at Kmart that might pass muster with the court (fingers crossed) also they were comfortable enough for me to wear all day if necessary.

However my left leg still had a cankle. So dresses and even my comfortable trousers with the slits up the sides could not be worn. Fortunately, I had plenty of other clothes to rely on!

Fast forward to the week before I was scheduled to report, my left foot was now back to normal size and my cankle was gone! I dug out the alarm clock I hadn't needed since Thailand in 2016 & installed a fresh battery. Now I was all set to do my duty and serve!

The Friday before I phoned for instructions and was told not to report Monday, but to call Monday after 5:00 PM concerning Tuesday. I was gnashing my teeth! I only want suspense in books & movies. I prefer knowing one way or the other!

As it turned out, once again I didn't have to report. This was a disappointment, also a lot of bother and worry for nothing! However at the same time I understood why. This way, they didn't have to pay me for sitting around days waiting to be interviewed by the attorneys.

I went thru that in the early 90's back in my previous hometown. This particular case was so well publicized in Florida that I'm surprised they didn't move the trial to another state.

I sat for 2 days amongst an enormous crowd of potential jurors. Late in the afternoon of the first day I was interviewed. At the end of the second, the jury was selected. A heavy-set man bragged constantly that he couldn't understand why he was there. He swore he would never be picked due to who he was. This guy was the first juror chosen! There were lots of smirks and chuckles.

But I was dismissed.

GOING GREEN, SUMMER SALADS WITH COLOR

Honestly, I've never been a salad person! To my mind, it was tantamount to chomping down on yard clippings! I could live happily on pasta & pizza. Unfortunately I had a health scare a few years back that forced me to dramatically alter my diet. I've since learned that as with pasta & pizza there's a variety of toppings that can make salad both healthy and delicious.

With the exception of red oak & radicchio; one thing you will rarely find in a salad of mine is lettuce! It may be healthy, but I can decipher no taste whatsoever.

Below are 2 of my favorites:  

 

      

                        DIANNE'S FRUITY DINNER SALAD

I always start with a base of fresh leafy kale & baby spinach on a dinner plate with high raised sides.

Generously add lots of seedless grapes, raspberries, & blueberries.

Sporadically scatter chopped walnuts.

Top with grilled chicken strips.

Lightly SPRINKLE, (NEVER soak a salad in dressing or oil!) raspberry or pear salad dressing.

On the side add a wedge or 2 of goat cheese or Swiss.

Best served with raspberry, apricot, peach, or mixed berry tea.

  

 

                                   DIANNE'S GREEK SALAD

The day before, slice cucumbers & soak them in lemon juice in the refrigerator overnight.

Again, start with the kale & spinach base.

Add a little radicchio lettuce for color.

Top with the sliced cucumbers

Add halved cherry tomatoes, sliced miniature sweet peppers, & chopped black olives.

Top with cooked shrimp.

Liberally scatter crumbled Feta cheese!

Then LIGHTLY sprinkle Greek dressing.

Best served with orange & cinnamon spice tea, or lemon ginger tea.

 

Note:  The last salad above should come with a warning, but only if you have Acid Reflux issues like me. Volcanic pain in the chest along with a fiery lava sensation in the throat, needless to say is no fun.

However, I've found that I don't have a problem if followed immediately by over the counter medication. Also milk in the tea helps!

MIDSOMMAR SCARES, NAH!

I love a good fright movie!!! One that shoots icy tingles thru your body as the hair on your arms and the back of your neck stand at attention riveting you to your seat while your nails claw deep into the armrests leaving you a quivering bundle of nerves afterward! 

I read online that Midsommar was probably the scariest movie ever made. I knew I must see it! Well don't believe everything you read online! For the first half hour I thought I was watching a tedious relationship drama about a dysfunctional couple. Had I been watching this on DVD or my DVR I would have fast-forwarded right thru this part. The plot was so slow to unfold it made me want a nap.

Scary is the last word I'd use to describe this film. It was just weird, violent, and lewd! There was lots of full-frontal nudity which I found interesting. -- I don't see a lot of this in my regular everyday life! However, I would never shell out money just to see naked people. I want a gripping plot, too!

The story centers on a colorful floral, traditional Swedish festival that seems innocent when in fact it's anything but. Here's a joke: How many of these Swedish festival goers does it take to screw in a light bulb? Answer: One to do it and the entire village to revel in the experience! Oh this film pushes the phrase "It takes a village" to a whole different level! These Swedish cultists reminded me of the pod-people from Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a truly frightening movie, at least for 10 year old me. The later remake not so much, but then I was no longer 10.

The original Night of the Living Dead actually terrified me when I saw it in my early 20's along with my future stepmother who watched the entire film with her eyes closed. "Next time I chose the movie, Dianne!" she declared as we left the theater.

The remake several decades later was equally as horrifying, (I LOVED it!) if not more so! As with the original, it stayed with me long after I departed the theater. I found myself avoiding dark rooms in my own home. However during the past decade there's been such a plethora of zombies in the movies & on TV that now I can sit in a dark house alone watching, go to bed afterward and sleep peacefully.

Perhaps as I age it's just becoming harder for me to buy into fantasy fiction. Either way, Midsommar was a mid-summer disappointment.