Long blog this week …
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Remember me telling you about hearing geese overhead and wondering why they were still here in winter? Well it had a very simple reason. Evidently some of them never went south this year. There is a gaggle of adventurous souls (in pairs since Canada geese are monogamous) in the bushes in a line along the east border of my and my neighbor’s parcels.
I saw them a few days ago when I heard them and went out to see what was going on. The hen turkeys have been displaced by the geese.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera within reach, but it is now near my side door where I can grab it next time I hear them.
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Last monday was my first time around the Mountain as far as Weed.
I had my n95 mask with me and was at a table with five friends who were all also masked until we were eating, at which time we all had our masks down under our chins ready to pull up rapidly. Talking through the masks was a challenge but we managed.
Maybe I’d better concentrate on brushing up my ASL and teaching our group some basics. Talk about a challenge.
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Mark’s family is in lockdown. Kamille and Paul were both tested positive (I think I told you that). Paul tested negative at his next test and went back to school monday, but Kamille is still positive and is in quarantine. At least her symptoms are lessened and she can begin to eat again.
Mark is still negative but is maintaining distance in case he is a carrier although his tests have all been negative.
I saw him yesterday as a result of misplacing my phone.
I stopped putting it in my pant’s pockets because it kept falling out and I knew it was only time until it was broken. So on monday I put it in a pocket the jacket I had taken with me and left them both in the car.
At the end of our meal, one of my friends cleared the table of all our trash. I had packed about half of my lunch/dinner to take home for my dinner, but didn’t think of it as I went out the door, still chatting with some of the others.
The friend who had cleared the table then went with me to the library where I returned the books I had gotten last week and we both got new books. As we parted, my friend said that she must have tossed her take-home pack in the trash when she tossed the table stuff because she couldn’t find it. At the time, I didn’t know I didn’t have my phone so we split up and both went home.
When I got home, I couldn’t find my phone.
Panic …
I thought to call my phone and listen for the ring.
Stupid!
How could I call my phone since I didn’t have my phone? So I went next door. I didn’t think to go back home and have the neighbor call my phone since I thought I had already checked there.
I then used her phone to call the Community Center where we had lunch and asked that they check the luncheon trash and was told it had already been collected. So I decided to retrace my steps and went back to Weed.
In the meantime, one of the city employees, the one who had told me the trash had been collected, went out to check and the trash was still in the dumpster, but when she called my number, which I had left with her, there was no ring heard.
When I got there I asked to go back and listen for myself. Still no sound heard.
As a last resort, I needed to go to Mark with my tail between my legs, since I knew he’d know what to do next. I had tried to call him, but he wasn’t answering. So I went to find him back in Mt Shasta. When I found him, we met (at a distance) and he had learned about my phone and said “Mom, your phone is at home either in your office or one of the sofas.” Seems there is a way to track your phone. I need to learn how to do that.
Although I thought I had checked everywhere, I trusted his know-how and went back home to look again … this time in the office and the sofas.
Nothing in the office. That left the sofas. I had put the phone in the jacket pocket but for some reason hadn’t recognized the extra weight and evidently when I tossed the jacket over the back of the sofa, neck down, my phone had fallen out between cushions. I let Mark know, and also let the lady at the Community Center know.
Did you know an embarrassed red face creates heat?
End of story.
I need to find one of those contraptions that go over your shoulder to carry my phone.
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So here’s another tale to end the week.
I recently rejoined Facebook (I had been in FB jail for quite some time, probably over a statement I made stating that I think female solo musicians should look like musicians and not like burlesque performers) and saw this post …
It is long but well worth sharing …
“I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing I noticed was the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for me.
He handed me a laminated card and said, ‘I’m Wasu, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk, I’d like you to read my mission statement.’
Taken aback, I read the card. It said, ‘Wasu’s Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.’
This blew me away. Especially when I noticed the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!
As he slid behind the wheel, Wasu said, ‘Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.’
I said jokingly, ‘No, I’d prefer a soft drink.’
Wasu smiled and said, ‘No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, lassi, water, and orange juice.’
Almost stuttering, I said, ‘I’ll take a lassi since I’ve never had one before.’
Handing me my drink, Wasu said, ‘If you’d like something to read, I have Good Housekeeping magazine, Reader’s Digest, The Bible, and a Travel + Leisure magazine.’
As we were pulling away, Wasu handed me another laminated card, ‘These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.’
And as if that weren’t enough, Wasu told me he had the heater on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for me.
Then he advised me of the best route to my destination for that time of day. He also let me know he’d be happy to chat and tell me about some of the sights or, if I preferred, to leave me with my own thoughts.
‘Tell me, Wasu,’ I was amazed and asked him, ‘have you always served customers like this?’
Wasu smiled into the rear view mirror. ‘No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard about power of choice one day.’
‘Power of choice is that you can be a duck or an eagle. If you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. Stop complaining! Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.’
‘That hit me right,’ said Wasu. He continued and said, ‘It is about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.’
‘I take it that has paid off for you,’ I said.
‘It sure has,’ Wasu replied. ‘My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year, I’ll probably quadruple it. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on it.’
Wasu made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.
I hope we all decide to soar like an eagle and not quack like a duck.”
— Summer Grace Vanni
So,‘til next week …