Friday, March 03, 2023

Our new world is the current technological revolution. Alex Murdough’s conviction probably wouldn’t have occurred without available cell phone videos and associated evidence, including his vehicle’s running data. His confessions of massive money thievery and opioid addiction, to fuel his denial of being anywhere near the site of that double murder, failed against technical evidence that dictated otherwise.

This new world confronts us everywhere and always. We are recorded by public and private cameras, our vehicles collect data, and so do our smartphones and watches. Not to mention whatever our laptops and tablets might record.

As to this growing city where for twenty years I’ve lived, the physical changes are evident. Our booming population has newcomers increasingly wealthier and more highly educated. Technology enables many still working to work from home. Their surrounding area invites jogging, bicycle riding, skiing, and more.

The changing population of such as doctors, lawyers, and engineers, has changed what old-timers typically took for granted. Today, on local roads, Teslas and other electric vehicles move too silently to hear them approaching; joggers are accompanied by their designer dogs for which they paid thousands; bicycle riding on trails has become an extreme sport that lacks apologies and politeness.

In my part-time work, I sense these sorts of changes from customers educated and sophisticated. They often tell me about their personal and working lives in pre-retirement cities. Their experiences differ greatly from those of folks I first met here years ago.

Technology, education, and new wealth alter my daily perceptions. My drives to and from work are full of heavy traffic, newly constructed apartment buildings, and multiple-lane serial roundabouts. My horseback riding can’t happen almost anywhere as in the old days. Nowadays, I must find where to take my horses to avoid silent vehicle approaches from behind, and also, numerous bicycle riders who aren’t aware of trail etiquette.

Dear Friends: Forever ahead, new technologies will alter our perceptions and lives. Diana

Thursday, March 02, 2023

The Criterion Channel will be streaming “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” one of my favorite movies this month. It’s getting lots of attention again because its star, Michelle Yeoh, is receiving much attention. She’s in a new movie, and the role is making her an Oscar contender.

I’m no longer interested in who wins an Oscar. But my interest in Yeoh’s work is high.

Yeoh is being interviewed often, and recently by Christianne Amanpour. Yeoh wowed me (and Amanpour) by describing the inspired creativity and required physical effort to perform in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” directed by the brilliant Ang Lee.

While being filmed, she and the other actors performed their own stunts. The movie is physical and, essentially, a ballet featuring hand-to-hand and sword- and knife fighting. In its sequences, combatants fly into the air and onto (and off) buildings without missing a single combatant stroke. The movie is beautiful visually; it’s exciting emotionally.

At work yesterday, a coworker’s cell phone rang. Her ringtone was the theme from “Kill Bill”! Another of my all-time favorites, directed by the outstanding Quintin Tarantino. My coworker and I spoke about the physicality and brilliance of the “Bill” trio. We then shifted to “Crouching Tiger.” That put both films into my mind, and I am eager to watch them again.

I’ll start with the Criterion replay. First, I will check out several recent Michelle Yeoh interviews to learn more about how the movie came to be and was developed. Then, I’ll look for the “Kill Bill” series, which might be available on YouTube.

Dear Friends: As a movie buff and visual, I’m thrilled by brilliant creativity. Diana

Wednesday, March 01, 2023

I’m cooking for the chickens. They’ll be feasting on brown rice, soybeans, lentils, and more grains, from Food 4 Less. Plus, they’ll have pasta! The girls are giving much, and essentially, churning out eggs. They deserve a little more effort. So, I’m cooking!

Well, cooking as best I can. Happily, the girls aren’t particular and will love their grains today.

My very elderly hen, Wellsummer, now thirteen years old, has become picky and needs to continue eating healthily. I worry about her diminishing appetite as a sign of starting to give up. On the other hand, she’s in her second year of living in my garage and is a very cool house (or garage) guest. I see her as a healthy elderly bird, sometimes less vigorous but hanging on.

On learning she was willing to eat brown rice, I initiated a grain quest to create meals that would attract Wellsummer, and add to feeding the outside chickens. My inner-inside birds, Peaches and Gilbert, will also receive grains. These guys are particular (call it “spoiled”). Peaches will toss the grains to the bottom of his cage, and Gilbert will ignore them and favor his regular seeds.

One keeps trying I remind myself, as an encouragement to keep going. I have raw popcorn kernels, too. If they’ll pop in the microwave without much effort, my chickens and the inner birds will receive popped corn. With the possible exception of Gilbert, they’ll love the treat.

Dear Friends: The header photo shows Wellsummer pecking around outside on a warm day. Diana

Tuesday, February 27, 2023

I did all the essential things yesterday on my list! Went to DVM and updated my Jeep license tags and driver’s license. Afterward, I hauled a trailer loaded with trash, and a stack of flattened cardboard, to the dump. Whew! Yesterday afternoon was one of effort.

At DVM, I anticipated a long wait time for service, perfect for getting started (again) on my thousand-page journey into The Tale of Genji. This long Tale was written 1,000 years ago by a Japanese noblewoman in the Emperor’s Court. I had tried reading Genji but needed prep work to learn about ancient Japanese sociology. So I had set aside the Tale to read a couple of diaries by Japanese noblewomen of the High Court 1,000 years ago.

I learned that the ancient Court was a world unto itself and very different from modern experience. Unique to Japan were specific communication styles, sociological behaviors, relationships between people overall, and genders. In addition, there were old ideas about education, language-sharing, and family status.

My introduction to the ancient Court came from the period diaries. So, at DVM, I was ready and tackled with a freshly educated mind, The Tale of Genji.

Regardless of differences in living then and now, what is the same is how quickly and similarly people perceive each other. The Diaries are very revealing. Old as they are, the writers often could have been observing and commenting contemporarily.

I’m preparing myself for more, for later reading a modern classic Japanese novel based on The Tale of Genji. I want to be aware of the contemporary story’s otherwise obscure elements. Meanwhile, I’m creating a little library of ancient and modern Japanese literature. To my surprise and awakening, this Eastern collection has an impact and importance that equals our Western awe of Shakespeare’s works.

Dear Friends: It will be a Jeep Day without worrying about being stopped and ticketed. Diana

Monday, February 27, 2023

Today’s a day off for me. Yesterday, I formally asked for my days off to be sequential. That would allow my twenty-hour working weeks to allow a straight trio of days off. The Garden Department, where I work, is about to enter its busiest time of the year, so off times might have to remain unpredictable.

I think that in two weeks the plants will have arrived. My new working schedule shows me as a “garden waterer” all that week. If we do have the outside plants, watering them sounds like fun.

More about watering, and about last evening. My routine of trough filling turned easy. Thankfully, thawing weather made workable a hydrant that’s been frozen. And, I could employ a hose that severe cold had frozen and was unusable. If I had been more careful, those freezings might not have occurred, and now, my watering ways will change.

At Home Depot, I’m expecting to learn more about distributing water. That experience might help me become more efficient with my horse watering and my home garden watering.

Today will be another story. Most of my time will be spent waiting in a chair at the DVM. It’s Monday and its lineup for services will be unending. I must obtain duplicates of the license tags missing from my Jeep. I’ll also renew my driver’s license. I’m not planning to fly on an airliner, but if that should change, my DL needs information the State now requires.

The header photo is of my Jasmin plant, this morning, still blooming like crazy and turning a corner window into a jazzy spot.

Dear Friends: Enjoying “seeing you again” this morning! Diana

@Eight Pines Ranch

Sunday, February 26, 2023

I’m on my way back to work today. My head cold has become history, the horses’ troughs are full of water, and everything that needed doing before today is done. All my challenges occurred in freezing and snowy weather.

Yesterday, I went shopping. Topping my list were hoses, Kleenex, and a snow shovel. I also purchased bottles of hand sanitizer, one for each vehicle, and one for my locker at Home Depot. Luckily, last week, my cold was just a bad one, that while brief, was physically rattling. Now, when in public, I will be wearing a mask and be sanitizing my hands.

We’re supposed to get more snow today. Fortunately, local temperatures will remain way above the single digits.

By the way, my chickens are continuing to lay. If you need eggs let me know. They’re fresh but unwashed and free to takers. If you’re returning, please don’t forget to bring empty egg cartons.

Dear Friends: Days off are good, and returning to work feels like an adventure. Diana

Ranger In Snow

Saturday, February 25, 2023

It was a good thing that my head cold mostly had passed by yesterday morning. I looked outside at the snow and recognized that ahead would be lots of barn-related work. Living on acreage with large animals teaches, as a rule of thumb, to expect in snowy weather something to go wrong. Yesterday, frozen hoses became my unexpected problem.

The frost-free pump close to my horse troughs has been on the blink for weeks, and the ground too frozen for digging and replacing. So daily, I have filled watering troughs from another pump using a 25-foot hose. A couple of evenings back, I didn’t bother to disconnect that hose from the pump nozzle, and yesterday found both solidly frozen together. I had to use a large pipe wrench to loosen the hose from its spigot and discovered both ice-packed and unusable.

Oh, why hadn’t I disconnected and drained that hose! To blame was a then-fierce onset of my massive head cold.

Yesterday, in the snowy cold, nothing would thaw. Trough filling is essential, and I could work the problem by filling from a more distant pump, which called for 100 feet of hose. There were several gardening hoses up at the house, and I went to get one.

I carried it down and hooked it up, but discovered that it leaked too much. I went for another hose, only to run into more leakiness. With yet another hose, a different problem and still it didn’t work.

After struggling with hoses for a long while, I managed to find and hook up two that worked, but both were half-frozen, and water barely dripped through. I stood at the troughs with a hose barely dripping, and hoping that slightly running water would dislodge the icy blockages. Eventually that happened, and water filled the troughs.

That’s how I spent my afternoon.

Today, I have a shopping list. If you guess new hoses are at the top, that’s correct. I now recognize that replacing items won’t be enough. I must change my draining techniques. I drain hoses when summer ends and apparently not well. Ahead, my challenge is to figure out a technique that avoids repeats of those awful frozen-hose struggles.

Dear Friends: Annually, the weather brings new challenges and lessons for moving forward. Diana

Friday, February 24, 2023

Thanks, friends, for sending well wishes. This morning I feel much better. Tomorrow, my cold might be misery past.

I slept most of yesterday while it snowed, and this morning through a window am estimating six inches. I was aware of snow falling, for periodically awakening and having to trudge outside to feed animals. The horses were blanketed in snow and stomping eagerly for hay. The goat and the chickens were hiding in their shelters. Because of my cold, it was difficult to breathe in a slight, but freezing, wind. I bolstered both my courage and sense of well-being, by reminding myself of having managed to feed my horses back in the very worst time while I was on chemo.

In the depths of my misery, upon each awakening, I sensed having slept motionlessly and dreamlessly. That probably allowed my immune system to work uninterruptedly. While I know that the brain and body interact by design, in my very deepest sense, they do so magically. Our “little kid” ideas don’t desert us.

Today, instead of driving to the DVM to correct a vehicle license issue, I’ll stay home. To clean, feed, and stay warm.

Dear Friends: I’ll search for my facemask stash, and re-start wearing one in public. Diana

Thursday, February 23, 2023

My head cold over several days has gained momentum. It began as nose dripping and offered too little warning. Last night the sniffling blossomed. Today, my whole body aches and I’ll call in sick, not go to work.

Regardless, today’s weather encourages staying home. This morning brings new snowing and a temperature of 13 degrees. So, I will feed the outside animals, bring the dogs inside, and then snuggle under warm blankets and fall asleep.

Recently, I quit masking in public. That wasn’t a good idea, so I will start masking while working. I constantly wore masks during and after the pandemic without catching colds. This bout of weeping nose with physical discomfort highlights the advantage of taking preventive measures.

Dear Friends: Have a good day, and we will meet again on a cheerier side. Diana

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

When I was a little girl there wasn’t a Presidents Day. To me, this is George Washington’s birthday. Again, Happy Birthday, George!

I’m facing today with a cold and anyway going to work. I’m hoping to make it through my shift without sneezing and offending.

Yesterday, the Big Brass came into the store. Regional managers. Each interrupted my work, introduced himself (all were men), addressed me by my name (Diana is written big on my apron), asked how I like working at HD, and explained his role and why he was in the store. They were there for a scheduled meeting with local managers.

Over the past year, I’ve worked for three different businesses. Home Depot is the only one where managers actively practice what I call “managing down.” In other words, they communicate regularly with lower-ranking staff members. The managers in Bend’s HD always speak to me, are helpful, and now I find their bosses doing the same. That’s what I know as good management in large organizations.

I’m trying to align what I understand about managing an organization with my year of experience. It’s been hard to understand why businesses lack effective new employee training and regular team meetings. I suppose they’re profiting anyway in today’s economy without having to provide valuable resources for training and development.

I hesitate to speculate more, for these times differ beyond post-Covid changes. Maybe it’s that young people are visualizing a world different from what earlier generations understood. That largely might be influencing modern management’s directions. Anyway, Home Depot seems to be sticking to what for organizations always works best: mightily communicating up and down the line.

Dear Friends: Such attention calls for responses that suggest one’s listening and serving skills. Diana