Tuesday Ramble

No one can escape stress, but you can learn to cope with it.

Practice positive thinking. . . seize control in small ways.

Adele Scheele

Sometimes I sit and wonder if things will ever continuously run smoothly in our lives. More stress.  Just when it seems that all our troubles are over, something new rears its ugly head.  Yesterday hubby was taking a neighbor to the doctor.  The man has Parkinson's Disease and has a hard time getting around.   Many people, especially the lady next door, glare at him when they see him because he walks like he is drunk, and sometimes he staggers into a wall.  Despite it all, he is such a wonderful person with a heart of gold.  Hubby and I try to do whatever we can to help whenever he needs it.

So, yesterday he came down and rang the doorbell.  'Access-a-Ride' had not shown to pick him up, and he had a doctor's appointment.  Hubby wasn't doing anything so he volunteered to take him.  About 30 minutes later I get a call from hubby.  "You'll never guess what happened.? I was stopped for a red light when suddenly I found myself involved in a three-car accident."  It seems hubby stopped, the man behind him stopped, but the female driver behind both of them was going fairly fast and not paying attention and slammed into the car in front of her which, in turn, slammed into hubby's car.  She hit them hard enough that all three cars were damaged. Hubby's rear bumper was so badly damaged that it is in the shop, and he is driving a rental. Fortunately no one was hurt.

However, here in New York we have 'no'fault' insurance. His insurance will pay and then collect from the other insurance companies, but he still has a $500 deductible to pay. I shudder to think of what would have happened had he not gotten his SSD settlement.  And what if his insurance payments go up?  (Sigh)

It is sad, though, that there are some people who try to take advantage when you offer them help. They take kindness for weakness, and sadly, this person seems to be that way.  Now, he is treating hubby like his own personal taxi cab and asking him to bring him everywhere. Not only with the rides, but last night he dropped off his laptop at our home.  He was going to the phone store and didn't want to leave it upstairs since his door hasn't been locking properly.  About 10 pm he called hubby and asked him to 'bring it upstairs'. What, he couldn't pick it up when he came home?  

Today, he asked to take him to his brother's house in the Bronx...a long distance from where we live.  And then he makes my hubby wait...and wait...and wait.  Today hubby was supposed meet him downstairs at 10 am and at 11:30 he was still waiting.  He went upstairs and the man sad he was waiting for his friend because he wanted him to come along as well.  Hubby said, 'no way. I can't wait any longer.  I have to go pick up a copy of the police report' and left.  Good for hubby.  Enough is enough.

Speaking of hubby and neighbors, my hubby is such a hoarder.  Sometimes I don't know what to do.  A neighbor is moving out, and hubby came in with the above lamp.  I'm not complaining about that.  We'd been planning to buy one anyway and this saves us some money. But, then he came in with this old table with slots for CD's.  The top needed a paint job badly.  "Look at this.  I can paint the top.  It's perfect for our CD's."  'But, we already have a place for our CD's', I thought.  The hanger I bought for them is perfect and doesn't take up much space at all as you can see.

And forget about the fact that we don't have room for it.  I didn't even purchase a cocktail table for the sofa because I wanted to keep the room open and airy.  Then, I saw a roach crawling out of one of the slots for the CD's, and I screamed at hubby to get it out of the house.  I pride myself on my bug free apartment, something not easy to accomplish in city apartment dwellings.  Building management sends the exterminator in monthly, and I make sure I am available each month.  I mentioned that there were very few signatures on his list, and he  told me that I am one of the few people who let him in, even though they are home. He comes early enough to be there before people go to work or school, and besides, many people in my building are retired or disabled.  I just can't imagine why people would turn him away.  It doesn't cost a penny extra to us, and gives one the serenity of living bug free.

Hubby has always picked up things and brought them home.  Some of the things have really worked out.  He picked up the following from the street about 20 years ago.  Originally we had it painted white, but just before moving here, he sanded it down again and re-painted it the light brown you see in the following photo.

You can't find things made this way anymore.  He also found the following wooden vase not too long ago.  It is so huge that it sits on the floor.  I actually use it to block the cable wires, although I just noticed that some are sticking out.

Well, I finally got it down.  I went from this....

...to this....

I did the coloring myself on Friday. My grays look so nasty growing in with the darker hair.  I went for the cut this morning at the Chinese salon down the block from me.  They treat you so wonderfully there.  First it is the most marvelous shampoo followed by a scalp, shoulder, and lower back massage.  Fantastic.  And all for $25.  Can't beat that. 

Well, guess I'd best be getting a move on. Decided not to go to the Center yesterday.  Instead went to the beauty salon and supermarket.  Talk to you all tomorrow.