LIFE UNFOLDING

Tomorrow it is supposed to start raining again, so today I did as much outside as I could to get my Spring tasks underway.

This morning, I thought I’d drive to the Four Corner’s Farm & Garden Store in Castle Rock, to buy a few seed potatoes and a container of Sluggo Slug Bait; before I tackled tidying up the stored geraniums.

The early morning drive was nippy, and foggy:

Foggy morning. 8.48 AM - Ocean Beach Highway.

While, still on Ocean Beach Highway, I remembered that a friend had told me about a nursery on 44^th, so I thought I’d check that tip out …

(https://www.watershedgardenworks.com/nursery)

The nursery itinerary wasn’t what I am in the market for – it specializes in landscaping items: I need vegetable garden items.

I’ll continue driving to Adna, to purchase what I need; I actually like the country backroads drive to Adna, so the lengthy drive is a win-win situation, as far as I am concerned 😊

Topping the upper end of Virginia Way, the fog had lifted – and not a minute too soon, either: a doe was standing close to the road, munching grass. Deer can be testy creatures, and nearly impossible to see when shrouded by a fog bank. Thankfully, the fog had dissipated for clear vision … and the doe didn’t startle:

It was clear vision driving all the way over Virginia Way, Nevada Drive, and West Side Highway through Lexington – nearing Sandy Bend, though, the fog was laying low and heavy …

Thick fog patch on West Side Highway, near Sandy Bend.

A Truck was creeping up on my slow-moving bumper; so, I pulled over the first chance I got, and let him zip past me; I was in no hurry to get to Castle Rock, and the rest of the day was scheduled to operate in slo-mo 😉

When I arrived at Four Corners Farm & Garden Store, I was told the seed potatoes’ arrival has been delayed; so, I will have to go back to Castle Rock next week. But I did bring home the slug bait 😊

The weather had warmed up to about 50-degrees, so I settled back for a relaxing drive: when I reached the top end of Nevada Drive, I decided to take the Lone Oak Road home, instead of retracing Virginia Way to Old Pacific Highway (my normal route). Lone Oak is a twisting snaky road, but it is a nice country drive that would drop me close to Coal Creek – seconds from home.

Midway along the road, I came upon three robins skipping down the center line; it made me smile. I always smile when I see robins: peppy robins herald the onset of Spring … and seeing one, make my feet itch to get outside and embrace all that life is birthing in this new Spring season 😉

Nevada Drive from Four Corner's Farm & Garden Store, Castle Rock, WA. 14 minutes.

Columbia Heights Road from Nevada Drive Road, Longview. 3 minutes.

Heron Pointe from Lone Oak Road, Longview, WA. 9 minutes

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu0HCKbPTmU)

When I got home, I pulled the geranium pots from their overwintering storage, to start trimming the dried parts back to lively green growth. But first, I needed to sharpen the vintage pruning clippers (these are my favored clippers, but they have not been attended to in 3 years). I had watched Bob sharpen knives and my garden tools for decades – but his youngest brother, Kerry, explained how to do this last year when I asked him how it was done.

While going through the motions, I drew the first blood of this Spring season when the bottom jaw of the dull and rusty clippers jumped the file and bit me – the jaw blade wasn’t sharp, but it did jab me and pierce skin. By the time I got back outside, the small bubble of blood had stopped oozing:

Sharpening Garden Clippers. 10:38 AM - home.

First gardening wound of the season. LOL

Making the bottom jaw's bite sharper ...

The weather by then had inched up to 59-degrees, but it was a chilly 59-degrees. The sun was shining, and the sky was free of clouds; but it was not really a ‘warm Spring day’, yet.

It was, however, an enjoyable Spring day 😊 

I got the geraniums tidied up, lightly fertilized, and slug baited; and set out in the breezeway to rejuvenate them …

Overwintered geranium's trimmed, fertilized & sprinkled with Sluggo.

All the geraniums have been tended to ... and set in the breezeway to ‘wake up’ in a protective environment.

Herbs putting out new growth, Daffodils blooming, & Tiger Lilies planted.

And I met my new backyard neighbor – and we visited over the fence; she seems like a nice lady. She as widowed 8 months ago, and she moved here three months ago, from Yakima.

Yakima to Heron Pointe.3 hr. - 21 min.

Tired, and feeling accomplished, I settled into Bob’s recliner when I got back inside … and enjoyed a phone convo with my BIL, Rick (my sister Iris’s husband), as well as the vociferous honking of geese flying over the house:

Noisy flock of geese flying the airway, right over my head ... 4:23 PM 

And I finished up two more preemie baby gowns …

Preemie Baby Gown; 4 pounds, or less. Knit.

Today was a promising and productive day; full of life unfolding 😊

KIOSKS MAKE ME FEEL STUPID

They are soulless.

They are inanimate. 

They are digital robots.

They are basically rubbish.

But they have the power to make me feel stupid.

Yesterday afternoon, I received a notice from Xfinity that on February 26^th, Xfinity had decided I needed to receive my billing via a paperless route, so they set up an account for me … and I only had a week {window} to opt out.

Well, that whole thing pissed me off ☹ (1) Xfinity did not ask me if I wanted to go paperless (2) Xfinity took it upon themselves to make a decision for me – without my expressed permission (3) The week’s window began four work days ago … and the window was quickly closing before I had even yet been informed there was a necessary window.

So, this morning, I was up and out of the house … and downtown, with the papered notice in hand – by 9 AM.

Only to find out the downtown office had closed and relocated.

Standing in the vacant parking lot, reading the relocation poster, all I could think was, ‘I have no freaking idea where 740 Ocean Beach is’. So, I walked back to the car, and pointedly tapped the address into the map app on my inherited smartphone: all that did was add more confusion to an already frustrating situation – the {quick} route was an endless maze of blue lines going nowhere fast.

I pulled over as quickly as I could find an empty parking spot along the confusing highlighted phone app route … and entered the address into the car’s GPS system: 5 minutes later I was parking in Xfinity’s new parking lot; which, until recently, had been the Army/Navy/Marines/Airforce Recruiting Building in the Strip Mall.

Who knew?

The notification poster taped to the abandoned Xfinity office could have made things less frustrating by simply stating: ‘we are now located at the Twin Cities Shopping Center Strip Mall’.

As I entered the new downtown Xfinity office, I saw right away that it had indeed morphed into a downtown entity – the interior was streamlined: it was mimicking the AT & T office … in every way. There was an open floor plan with nappy gray upholstered ottomans strategically placed near a wall-mounted large-screen TV. There were Formica topped islands with tall-legged stool style chairs. The attendees wore wired chat headsets. There were kiosks lining one wall.

For one brief moment I thought I had entered the wrong building.

I explained to the greeting attendee that I had received notification that Xfinity had moved my monthly billing to a paperless thing; and I wanted to opt out – could I do it here, right now?

He said, yes – I could opt out: and then he fixed the issue 😊

Then I asked him if I could pay my bill also, even though I had not yet received my bill (I will no doubt receive that tomorrow). Again, I was told ‘yes’ … then he added … ‘you can pay at the kiosk’ – and he waved his hand in the general direction of the offending soulless machines.

I said I wasn’t sure how to use the kiosks (I really hate those things!)

He said, “Just tap the screen, and follow the directions.”

It sounds so simple.

Yet, it is anything but.

There is always a glitch somewhere; sometime.

And true to form … it made me feel stupid.

After the third time of being frustratingly rebuffed by the inanimate jerk, I terminated the transaction and turned to the attendee, saying, “I’m going to need some help over here.”

He came to me, and I said, “I’ve tried 3 times … but when it gets to the card part of the transaction, it just stops and times out.”

The guy said, “Yeah – what the machine doesn’t tell people is that when you insert your card, you have to pull it back out quickly – or it won’t read it.”

I just looked at him. 

And glared at the soulless machine. 

That is an important ‘instruction’ to know!

The transaction was finally finished; I pocketed my receipt, and left the building.

It helped defuse the frustration … and restored my confidence … by reasoning that the actual stupid person was the designer that programmed the robotic digital kiosk.

And if I ever have to go back to Xfinity for anything, I will park in the larger Strip Mall parking lot, and walk the distance to the building because the parking spaces in Xfinity’s designated locale is very, very tight – in all directions.