Monday

As I emailed my sister that nothing says quite as much about the state of my life this week as the fact that I have an open window on my PC tuned to the live Baby watch "action" at the front door of the Lindo Wing of the London hospital where the new royal is hatching out.  No, I'm not sitting in front of it constantly.  I'm not sure why it interests me so much.  Although one of my grandfathers was born in London and came over here when he was an adolescent.  And by the way, he jumped ship and snuck into the USA.  More than once.  Got shanghaied and had to repeat the action.  The last time he and his brother abandoned the east coast and headed out west, but that's another story.  So we are the offspring of a person who entered illegally and now you are stuck with us.  Ha, ha!

Today I am upgrading my 30+ year old vacuum cleaner.  Ordered a new filter from Sears online for an outrageous price and exorbitant postage cost.  It's a little piece of plastic with a razor thin piece of foam over it.  They must have sent it on a piece of flotsam from China, it took forever.  However I am grateful they even carry the parts.  Maybe I should have ordered two, the darned thing is old and the best vacuum ever.  Just a sec, must check the Lindo Wing.  Two two lady bobbies chatting in front and two young women stopping to take pictures with their phone and tablet(?) respectively.

I am a fool for live cams though.  From time to time I open up one in downtown Anchorage, and then there is the one here in Walla Walla aimed at Main Street.  Our town is so small that I see people and cars I recognize.  I like to check out the camera on the jetty of Westport, WA.  I lived there as a small kid, and today it's 57° and cloudy while here it is going to be nearly a 100° again and bright, bright.   It makes me feel cooler just looking at the ocean and mist there, ahhhhh!  Traveling from my chair.

I put a hold on two books from the library.  Online is so cool.  I am so lazy.  Got a newer Haruki Murakami, "1Q84" and an older Sue Grafton, "Q is for Quarry".  I started reading Grafton years ago and then stopped for no good reason, love her books.  Sadly they've cut the library hours again.

Back to the vacuum and the laundry.  Ah, another Bobby rotation.  Hope your Monday is content.

Water

This is my neighbor's tree but it reminded me that I'd best give my evergreens a drinkie.  Mine are firs and they are growing around and over underground creeks but they are showing some brown too.  We haven't seen any rain in for awhile and fires can break out in a town just like in them thar hills.  Turned the hose on and discovered it's ancient and leaking and mostly watering the house foundation.  I got in my trusty van muttering all the way, it's 96°F right now.  Mad dogs etc.  Fortunately being late in the season I found what I wanted on sale whoopee!  Plus a new bra, don't you buy bras in the same place you buy hoses?  I also found the main thoroughfare to the hose and bra emporium is ripped to shreds for resurfacing.  I knew that; I forgot.  I'll start watering when it gets dark.  Tomorrow is supposed to be 85°F much better but I will rise at the crack of dawn anyway to water some more.

I have a new insurance carrier which took $400 off my bill.  I read the coverage and called the agent back and started cancelling stuff.  Canceled the PIP, which I discovered is actually mandatory in some states but not Washington.  Lowered my liability insurance, took in my AARP driving course certificate.  Found a duplication of coverage.  That will take some more off.  Who knows what I may find when all the paperwork shows up.  Meanwhile I'm still getting estimates.  I'm also using the State of Washington's evaluation of various insurance companies  Washington Insurance Commissioner no point in picking up someone who is slow pay or no-pay.And I got a bus schedule.  One of these days I could be van-less. Funny how much better I feel when I get up and do something about the stuff that bugs me.

Thoughts on Gardens and Cars

One of my favorite gardeners.

July 4th is over and the temperature has dropped into the high 80's for us.  It feels like a cold spell after 107+, however failure to water the potted plants daily threatens to leave me with almost nothing especially with the hanging pots.  My lawn has brown spots; I am too cheap to water the grass often, just the trees, flowers, and shrubs.

Isabel and I dug up a little place for her to plant flower seeds, they didn't do so well the first year, cold spring.  The second year the old seeds sprouted up all around the starts we bought at the garden store.  Who knew they'd be there all winter just waiting?  We are down to some snapdragons now, and a few basil plants.  I love fresh basil.  I've got two new rosemary plants that need to go into bigger spaces, and healthy and thriving chive plants.  Must get her over her soon to water with her little rooster watering can.  She keeps the plants and especially Grandma happy.

I am working my way through the AARP Driver Safety class online.  It's changed quite a bit since I took it a couple of years ago.  A lot more emphasis on maintaining your health, your flexibility, and protecting your eyesight, all necessary to drive safely.  Some of their graphics are odd, as though no one edited their pictures.   There is a drawing of someone holding their steering wheel at the correct o'clock positions but the hands are reversed with the thumbs on the outsides of the wheel.  I supposed you could accomplish that if you gripped your steering wheel from behind and twisted your hands forward but no one I know does.  Another one shows cars exiting and entering the highway through a freeway on-off ramp weave.  The recommended procedure is described well but the little movie shows the cars doing it in the non-recommended fashion.  I of course sent them email about their flaws which I am almost certain they will appreciate and correct immediately, snicker.

The big shocker of the week was my car insurance bill.  It came in the mail and had gone up by several hundreds of dollars.  I did have an accident two years ago, I backed into someone else's car in a parking lot and they did pay for that.  At the next billing interval my auto insurance went from about $580 to over $800.  Gasp, OK, accident, and probably time insurance shop, but I didn't.  This week's the new bill went up nearly another $400.  So I started shopping, I have no other claims since 1993, no damage then but the other party wanted their car checked out.  I have no tickets, none.  I am in the "drives under 6000 miles a year" category and my car is a 2005, runs well but is worth little.  My credit is good.  I live a in low traffic small town.  Few car thefts here especially of the grandma van kind.  I started calling, "no," I was told, "it is not because of your age (71)," not much comfort, as apparently that kicks in at age 75.   And I'm not sure I believe it. I haven't given up.  It seems like the company that insured me is trying to get all the money they paid out two years ago all at once.  I think maybe I am over-insured as well.  Talking to a friend she too had the same experience.  And the same price this year, over $1,200 for one car.  Where's my bus schedule?  Is it too late for me to learn to ride a bike again?  I like driving and many of my family and friends are 4 or 5 hours from here by the interstate.  Why do I need PIP (personal injury protection) when I have Medicare which I pay for and a Medicare Supplement which I pay a lot for, must do my homework.

There's been a lot in the news about how older people die more often in traffic accidents.  Duh, of course we do, we're more fragile and less resilient.  This is auto insurance not life insurance.  If you look at the stats even with the burgeoning numbers of baby boomers we are a tiny blip on the accident scale. 

Any thoughts about your insurance company and their ridiculous rates?

Happy 4th of July