Friday, July 14, 2023

Back to work today. A coworker called to let me know this day will be important because the “company suits” will visit and tour our store. So, what shall I be wearing on this occasion: those jeans or these jeans?

Actually, a little confession about something I’m considering. Recently, I purchased some hair coloring. Yes, after a lifelong of swearing not to, maybe I’ll color my hair. My interest in doing this sparked while my friend Julie Gilbert was speaking about how nicely one of our mutual acquaintances has upped her appearance.

But deeper, I don’t much care if I appear old because I am. On the other hand, I don’t much like what my mirror typically reflects. These thoughts are opposing and confusing.

Now they’re weighing in and favoring hair coloring. I’m in no hurry. Maybe it’s possible to make change occur very gradually and barely noticeably. My reasons are complex, seeming less about my appearance than about how I feel.

Recently, I received a box of clothing from Stitch Fix, an online site that asks what types of clothing one prefers and uses responses to select and send packages of wearables. All the sent choices are returnable.

My new clothing items fit and were likable but not what I’d have selected off the racks. After considering everything, I decided to keep all the articles and start upgrading my wardrobe. And, similar to coloring my hair, making a change slowly and barely noticeably.

I can say exactly why. Maybe it’s about wanting to the fun of feeling a little different. Time will tell if I’m dreaming or capable of moving forward courageously to make some changes. Meanwhile, it’s fun to consider possibilities.

Dear Friends: Changes might occur, but still in the workplace it’ll be jeans. Diana

Thursday, July 13, 2023

Yesterday, the season’s first Sego Lillies popped up at my place. It’s exciting to spot them and especially this summer after their non-appearance last year. This photo is not-so-good, an evening shot lacking adequate details of these beauties. In this morning’s brightness, I’ll capture new images.

My friend Julie Gilbert and I got together yesterday and looked at a single-family home. It’s a manufactured home on this community’s far east side. It’s located on 18 mostly-wooded acres, and its sale price is nearly a million dollars. Today’s market continues to discourage dreams of selling high and buying low.

It also discourages most first-time middle-class buyers. Most won’t qualify for million-dollar loans and also wouldn’t want to assume overly burdensome mortgages through many years. Today’s skyrocketing home-buying market changes how young people are planning their futures. Without adequate work opportunities supporting today’s higher living costs, more young people choose not to marry and have children.

Another trend is toward tiny homes. That may encourage home buying without particularly supporting family living.

So, no means of supporting home buying and family life influences today’s potential workers. Many chose to work fewer hours or somehow not work at all. Businesses having trouble filling jobs must deal with supply chain and product availability issues.

My part-time work keeps me among the public and acutely aware of this puzzle. Yesterday, our quick look at a million-dollar manufactured home for sale drives these points: populations are greater, resources are shorter, social choices are different, and maybe forever.

Dear Friends: These are global issues greatly challenging all economies. Diana

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Yesterday afternoon, my dogs and I walked along our favorite trail alongside a canal. The group played happily, as usual, although my puppy, Chase, seemed a little different to me, in good ways. Despite his enormous energy, he might have been bugging his running companions a bit less than usual, and most noticeably, when we bumped into other people walking with four or five dogs, Chase didn’t react aggressively. Maybe routinely walking in a public place encourages his willingness to socialize.

I’m off from work for a couple of days, will leash Chase and take him to a dog-friendly shopping place. Not HD, in case he becomes a handful; maybe to Lowe’s, where it doesn’t matter how anybody in the store perceives my dog’s behavior. If Chase can’t behave in a cool manner in our first venture, his future routine will include “routine shopping” with me.

Calming this Rottweiler/Shepherd puppy’s tendencies to be aggressive has consumed much of my time and energy. I’m encouraged to keep working with him upon noticing his improving behaviors in our trail walks. I hope that ongoing training will reduce his worries upon meeting other male dogs, and accustom him to being around lots of humans.

Dear Friends: Like everything worthwhile, my impulsive adoptee needs TLC. Diana

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

My kitchen counters are covered with cooking components leaving little space for anything else. You get it, the must-haves, a coffeemaker, blender, air fryer, and all such. There’s no space for an induction cooktop, or I’d add one.

Which raises questions about modern kitchens. Because of my rapid, effective independent cooking appliances, my oven only gets used for storing pots and pans. If I were to build a home or remodel a kitchen, I’d want to avoid a traditional oven. This idea initially seemed unreal because, in the last hundred or so years, nearly everybody’s lived with kitchen stoves.

I’d ask for a kitchen with a single unit providing an induction cooktop and housing various independent components for fast, efficient food prep.

While wondering if people have begun requesting kitchen designs without traditional stoves. I decided to ask the Home Depot’s kitchen design staff. They said they’ve not had such requests, but one designer did design a kitchen similar to my vision. It was for a tiny home that lacked space for a stove. Another designer suggested that in today’s world, a no-stove kitchen might negatively affect the home’s value.

Regardless, I can’t stop thinking that before long standard stoves must give way to something else. People need modern kitchens designed to accommodate rapidly multiplying alternate cooking devices.

Those aren’t cheap, so changes to improve kitchen efficiency would have to begin in areas with affluent populations. Nowadays among them, it would be interesting to know the typical percentages of foods still prepared in standard ovens.

Dear Friends: Questions about changes, maybe interesting only to a few. Diana

Monday, July 10, 2023

My part-time job at Home Depot is evolving in good ways. I’m doing a reasonably good job in sales and now will start spending a daily hour in training. I’m tasked to learn more about the hardware products that HD carries.

My feelings about this have been mixed. HD provides lots of training but there’s a downside, because it’s mostly online. I find being trained by computer, listening through headphones, discouraging to alertness. Always, and soon, I begin a struggle to stay awake, my brain isn’t attentive.

Yesterday, I half-dozed through some modules explaining nails and screws. Although just slightly alert, I recognized lots I’ve wondered about while helping customers. For example, there are bunches of nail types that exist designed for different purposes. Despite my fogginess, I heard why nail shanks are constructed differently and have unique coatings for designated uses. Also, it appears that nail types have various life expectancies.

Another example is many different screw types. They’re known as hex-head, pan-head, and other head types. I’ve helped shoppers select screws without knowing how they’re used. The training explained key types, the design differences, and their applications.

Feeling sleepy, and almost staggering from the training, I returned to hardware. I had missed much and planned to repeat those modules another day. As it turned out, all wasn’t lost.

The next time I helped a shopper look for nails and screws, I was surprised to feel more confident. For example, I sensed what job a #8, 1-1/2″ construction nail was designed for. Also, in searching for various screw types, I glimpsed why each might be needed. As a plus, I always ask customers how they will use items and yesterday, understood more.

Aside from assisting customers better, I’ll be helped personally. In the past and not knowing why item variations existed, I’ve been a relatively blind shopper. I’ve pulled any hardware seeming okay for my purposes off a shelf and used it. Thinking about a past project, for example, a better nail for my use would have been galvanized instead of the stainless steel I chose.

I’m getting a notion that product training is a good idea. I do need help, however, and today will take to work a few stashed, and terrible-tasting, “stay awake” shots. Maybe those will assist my focus and alertness.

Dear Friends: We do our best work in areas of personal high interest. Diana

Sunday, July 09, 2023

I’ve been thinking about how to create a frog pond and where to establish it, and I have come up with ideas. Today while leaving work, I’ll pick up a few basic habitat components, a large shallow plant-pot liner, and a couple of clay pots. I’ll also get a few tall grass plants.

I will bury the shallow liner in the corner of my garden and fill it with water. The clay pots will be set beside the frogs’ water and inverted to become frog shelters. Small rocks will elevate the pots slightly and let frogs enter and exit.

I’ll plant tall grasses around the water pan and shelters. I will place appropriate-sized lava rocks for added shade and for safety from predators.

I’ve been reading about habitat care and am gathering that appropriate maintenance is simple. My job will be maintaining a damp frog environment and changing the water every few days.

An interest, a plan, and a beginning–boosts that encourage new journeys.

Dear Friends: I hope the new frog habitat may begin attracting occupants this evening.

Saturday, July 08, 2023

These are beyond the typical dog days of summer, with triple-digit temperatures making the usual hot areas even hotter. We Central Oregonians are complaining about mid-80s heat but getting off easy, comparatively speaking. This week, I’ve been working at HD during the warmest hours daily, but with today off, I’ll be outside experiencing our heat.

Today’s Washington Post carried an article about how to establish a little frog pond. Frogs are an endangered species but an essential component of healthy environments. My neighbor’s pond emits sounds from what seems like thousands of frogs. Until now, that’s more than enough suited me. The critters migrate, however, and some have reestablished in my hanging planters. I like seeing those frogs and have begun considering playing around to create a small safe pond.

Lately, a couple of lizards, including one with a short tail and recognizable as an old friend, have drowned in smallish bowls of water set out for my dogs. Right away, I pulled those bowls and replaced them with easy-to-escape flat and shallow planter-pot underliners. That lizard-water issue got me thinking about doing something that could assist frogs, too.

Besides, there are a few colorful Garder Snakes around. I don’t spot them often, but I am always delighted to sight one. They might also appreciate a little pond.

So, I’m encouraged.

Dear Friends: Thanks again for “being there” for me, and let’s go beat the heat! Diana

Friday, July 07, 2023

My week has been tumultuous for having to say goodbye to a long-time, beloved pet after weeks of trying to help him fight an aggressive infection.

In my deepest moments of sadness, I surprised myself by wanting Peaches as my company. The often-noisy Cocktoo this time was quiet, seeming to understand my mood. He perched either on my shoulder or arm as we walked along a neighborhood street. Peaches listened as I spoke constantly, about us, about Ranger, and about passings, of loves, friends, and time.

I was trying to capture Peaches in a selfie when a “Hello!” caught my attention. Susie, my friend, and neighbor, had paused her bike nearby. She helped to achieve my goal by using my iPhone and capturing today’s header image.

She helped me more, by taking time to listen about my day. Those moments flowed into a larger and two-way exchange. We both have been too busy to hang out and took advantage of that moment to exchange doings and perceptions.

Susie might not like this photo, but it’s the real deal. She’s deeply thinking about what she’s explaining.

Showing one of the reasons that Susie is very cool.

Meanwhile, this selfie captures Peaches listening and being aware of our surroundings.

Dear Friends: Thanks for your emotional support through my pet loss. Diana

Thursday, July 06, 2023

Yesterday, I said goodbye to twelve-year-old Ranger, my Treeing Walker Coonhound. He was one of my best friends ever. I spent last night recalling our adventures together, and today woke up feeling the heavy loss of his nearby presence.

Today’s header photo shows Ranger shortly after he appeared on my street as a young stray, frightened and needy. When I called the pup, he bellied toward me. I popped him into my vehicle and drove to a veterinarian friend. She guessed him at four months old and didn’t find a microchip. The puppy’s eyes never left me, and she said, “He’s made you his person.” She was correct, and that never changed. I was happy that my ad about a stray puppy ran without any responses.

During his puppy years, Ranger was a handful. The nuisance chewed and destroyed most of the furniture on my deck. Also, he was somewhat timid of other dogs and sometimes tried offsetting that by bullying but never pursued or fought.

Throughout most of Ranger’s years, he was my horseback buddy. On trails, there were some especially wonderful things about him. Although a hound, he had a “cold nose” and never left me to go hunting game. Whenever he got too far ahead to see my horse following, he backtracked and checked to self-reassure that I was coming. Also very cool was that Ranger could find very old trails, overgrown and invisible. If I felt somewhat lost, a good gamble was having my horse simply follow Ranger.

Dear Friends: R.I.P., my finest companion through some of my best years. Diana

Wednesday, July 05, 2023

Last night went as anticipated, with loud noises frightening my dogs. This year, the noises were worse. A nearby neighbor, entertaining guests and setting off rockets, created many very loud bangs. I coped with nervous, worried dogs and felt thankful that my floors are covered in manufactured viny and easy to clean. Also, I’m thankful for this year’s 4th being history.

It’s the anniversary of my having rescued a Robin baby a couple of years ago. It had fallen from the nest and was helpless. Raising that fledgling was one of my most fun experiences. The bird and I developed a close, trusting relationship. Seeing it grow and develop to independence became memorable. I hoped the mature version would hang around, but one day it flew. Then, I hoped it would return someday to visit, which hasn’t happened far as I know. I keep looking for it anyway.

I wouldn’t recognize “my Robin,” but I hope it would remember my call. So these days, I spend time outside saying, “Bird?” in the tone and voice which I used to call it to me. In its baby days, the bird came immediately, at first from perches in the garage and later, flying from various trees. Until one day, my bird was gone.

I am a “bird person” and struggled about making this Robin a pet or letting it go wild. I’m glad I let it go, but I always wonder how its life has been.

Dear Friends: On my way outside now to make some calls for “Bird?” Diana