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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One job I could never make a living at is digging large holes alongside people\u2019s houses and then cutting one-ton slabs of concrete out of their basement foundations. For a lot of reasons I couldn\u2019t do that job, but the major clincher would be the nerve-wracking aspect. What if the house falls down? Or the concrete on top of you? And how can you stand operating the concrete saw\u2014loud, dirty, and smelly? I just had to put up with a few hours of the noise and vibration while trying to work. So yeah, that happened today; we now have a large chunk of our basement foundation cut out. Tonight, this rainy night, our new almost-door is blocked off with two full sheets of plywood, awaiting the double doors. The weather hasn\u2019t been terribly cooperative for these guys, but I\u2019m impressed by their good nature and diligence.<\/p>\n
Got a letter from the White House today. Uncle Joe wrote to say that we should be getting a stimulus check. We did. Six weeks or more ago. Either he\u2019s been too busy to write and so the letter didn\u2019t get out on time, or he needs to find a new Post Master General to speed things up. He didn\u2019t say anything about when our $6,000 tax refund would arrive, though. It\u2019s been two months since we filed. Come on, mama needs a new basement.<\/p>\n
Went for a walk in the light rain to buy Xanax, milk, and pickles. No, we\u2019re not pregnant, we just needed milk for yogurt, and Steve craves a certain brand of pickle. He\u2019s been having a bit of indigestion since going off the coffee. I found out that Xanax was pulled from the shelves awhile back for contamination issues. Hmm. While I was walking across the parking lot to the grocery store, this guy honks at me. Turns out he\u2019s a friend from work whom I haven\u2019t seen for more than a year\u2014for obvious reasons. He parked, got out of his car, and we stood in the light drizzle chatting for nearly a half hour. He caught me up on all the new building work that\u2019s been going on at our company. Like me, he\u2019s itching to get back in the office, but the facility manager told him that employees\u2019 pet dogs would be allowed to come back to that building before the likes of him\u2014or me, for that matter. Not sure whether that was a commentary on my friend or on the company\u2019s rigid health policy. Speaking of work, it\u2019s National No Pants Day. Um, no, I didn\u2019t. Despite the work-from-home status, I have always gotten dressed as if for the (thankfully, casual) office environment.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also National Provider Appreciation Day, and I\u2019d like to give a shout-out to all those caregivers who have looked after Mom for the past few years\u2014especially my sisters, and one who has taken on the role of Closest Proximity Child and Therefore Recipient of Complaints. Mom seems to be doing much better. Today, they gave facials to all the moms, and I have a picture of her with mud on her face and a big smile. We\u2019re glad she chose to participate. After seeing the picture, my brother wondered whether she was \u201cgetting all gussied up for a hunting trip.\u201d Oh, you!<\/p>\n