seriously?

Everybody is so excited to vote that there were zero parking spots in downtown D'burg yesterday.  I managed to snag a spot today and get in and out in 10 minutes then ate breakfast at Dave's.  They told me yesterday was WILD and it looks like today will be the same.  There are signs saying "no campaigning beyond this point" yet I saw a big ass truck parked right in front to the office with a huge Trump thing on the back.  Hmmm.  I seriously don't respect people who don't have their minds made up before they show up and are swayed by that kind of thing.  If you don't know who to vote for, don't go.  Research it and find a candidate with which you have common ground on the issues.  This election year has been one for the history books.  Enough said.

I am a writer and I am struggling right now.  Not with inspiration or lack of interest but with failing eyesight and lack of proper equipment.  I am currently using a Chromebook that was given to me by my friend Jay a few months ago.  My eye doctor has declared me eligible for state assistance with improved options for  vision impaired users.  Nothing so far.  When my mom developed macular degeneration in her 70s she got a keyboard that had yellow keys which are much easier to see than the black with white.  I was at the State Gazette today and noticed that one staff member had a keyboard with white keys and black letters.  They were BIG keys too.  That is what I need. Maybe my readers would chip in for something more user friendly.  Or not.  Times are hard and nobody has money for a GoFundMe.

I went to the doc yesterday for the 2nd time in a week and he seemed to be a bit outdone with me.  I don't blame him.  He's younger than me and way overworked in a system where everything changes on a dime and he has to watch his ass on everything.  I got a steroid shot which helped and a Zpack for the URI.  Plus some cough medicine.  I feel better today except for the nagging pain in my scalp which is uh...occipital neuralgia??  It woke me up last night along with leg cramps because I can't afford PT co-pay anymore.  But I digress.  Life is good on so many levels.  

historic day

The Dyer County courthouse has been undergoing renovation for many months now.  I don't normally show up there and have been dodging the equipment while driving through downtown.  Lucky me got pulled for jury duty beginning September 2nd through today.  Panel C.  We have only been called twice and the first time I didn't get picked.  Today was supposed to be a trial so I headed out early to eat breakfast at Dave's before 9.  They were closed!  Probably because of fall break.  Anyway, I wasn't about to go back home so I sat on the ledge out in front waiting for the doors to open at the courthouse.  I was scrolling through my phone when the judge approached and said "Don't you have anything to do?"  I explained about Dave's and he let me in since it was business hours.

Many of panel C were not present for roll call by TJ.  I noticed that there was no defendant at that table but brushed it off.  Once court was in session, we were told that there was good news and bad news.  The good news was that the case did not require a jury and we were free to go.  The BAD news was that we had to take the elevator down ( or the back steps.)  I chose the elevator.  I almost fell down the steps last time I was there.  

What made it historic is that it was the last time a jury pool would be assembled in that courtroom as we know it.  Beginning tomorrow the entire thing will be gutted as part of restoration and the coming jury pools will report to the temporary courthouse near the fairgrounds at a property bought by the county.  As I left I remembered all the other times that I had been there, including once as a witness.  In that particular case I was deposed at the end of the day by an attorney who is long gone.  It was a child custody case and I was a "surprise."  A final nail in the coffin, so to speak.

I had canceled my doctor appointment because of this so I called them back and said I could be there like, now.  They got me in and out in 30 minutes with a shot in each hip.  I do so love my PCP.  He is a curmudgeon by anyone's definition but he appreciates that I know my stuff.  It makes for short visits.  After a blood draw, I was free to go once again.

I'm having trouble keeping up with things since Roellen ate my calendar and you certainly can't get a new one in October.  I reckon I will have to learn how to use my phone for that.  I really prefer having a day planner but, there ya' go.  

Prayers up for all those who have been hit by Helene and Milton.  That was sure a double whammy for Florida.  It's still not real to me that Reba is gone but it hit like a ton of bricks when I went by her house to visit with her daughter and son-in-law yesterday.  As Nancy and I walked into the kitchen to get me some bereavement food, I remembered all of the times that Reba and I sat at that kitchen table talking about life.  

Y'all be grateful and faithful ^j^

love you bigger

My dear friend Reba passed away on October 4th, two days before her 86th birthday.  We have known each other for a very loooong time because she and her husband Joe were running buddies with my parents back in the day.  Following her very serious vascular surgery last June, she hired me to be her gal Friday.  And so our friendship continued in a much closer fashion for a year.  

We were polar opposites in many ways.  I wore no makeup and dressed like a slob and she put on makeup and matching outfits every day.  We did lunch all over the area and shopped at Walgreens.  She even bought me some makeup and Hempz lotion on one outing.  She had gorgeous red hair that got done at her home by Connie.  In the end, she was taken care of by home health and her daughter Nancy.  I was there overnight on several occasions sleeping on the couch and listening for her footsteps and the walker.  We would wake up early, eat a biscuit from Mel's and watch TV or scroll through Facebook on our separate devices.  Then we would figure out what to do for lunch.

She told me a lot of stories about her past.  Reba worked as a dental hygienist for many years, first for Dr. Talley and then for Dr. Young.  Everybody loved her, including her clients.  Her stories included tales of her and Joe and my parents going on road trips to the White River.  One in particular sticks in my mind.  Daddy was pretty impatient and they had eaten lunch somewhere and Joe had to go.  Like bad.  Daddy pulled over on a field road and Joe did his business but there was no TP to be had.  On the next trip, Joe drove and there was a handmade TP holder on the dash.  

In his later years, Joe and Ernest came down to the riverbed to fish and when I was down there taking pictures I would run across them.  My favorite pic of all time is of those two. I would drive that trusty old Camry down through the fields and find a spot by the slough to explore.  

Reba was always the hostess with the mostest.  When somebody needed a meal, she whipped it up and delivered.  She was adamant that all cabinet doors be closed and I learned to do that during my time at her home.  Plus, organizing the silverware according to pattern. My mind doesn't usually work that way but I did it for her.  She knew exactly how to stack the bowls and soup cups to make it work. 

We talked politics a lot because we are both Dems.  She told me about the yellow dogs back in the day and I feel sure that she is voting from heaven for a more peaceful democracy.  Every time I left her whether at home or hospital or rehab, I said "I love you big."  Her response was always "I love you bigger."  I miss you Reba ^j^