And Then, I Received a Sign.

 So, yeah. I took today off to prep for the garage cleanout on Wednesday. My Garage Guy will be here Wednesday morning and I needed to get into the awful "workbench" thing to see if I'd left anything actually useful in there. 

I did not. 

I realize that other than being grubby my garage isn't like an episode of Hoarders or anything, so anyone stumbling across this backwater blog may be puzzled about why I hired a guy to deal with it.  There's some heavy, bulky crap I can't lift that needs to go, but it's mainly the tear out of that absurd "workbench" or whatever it's supposed to be. 

There's no shelving behind those doors. There's no power or lighting. It takes up space that could be used for actual sturdy metal shelving for actual useful storage. My shit has been sitting in boxes on the garage floor for years, and I'm finally going to do something about it. I've hated it since I moved here but always had other spending priorities. So it's finally going to go, and then I'll get shelving from Costco, and maybe even a smallish garage fridge. But enough about the garage.

While I was running errands I got a text from my boss, apologizing for interrupting my day off and asking if I could give her a call later, then later said she'd scheduled a team call for noon. So my curiosity was aroused, but I figured it was a corporate announcement and probably didn't directly affect me. 

So, yeah, it's was a corporate announcement. A "minor restructuring". I still have a job, but...without getting too much into the details, the boss I've had since 2015 is no longer my boss, and my new manager is someone I've never met in another part of the country. This is all effective THURSDAY, as in April 16th. I don't talk about what I do, but it's fairly specialized work and it's focused in FL, so yeah, it makes perfect sense to have me report to a stranger in another state who has never done what I do.

To clarify: this isn't just about ME, it's about the type of work I do, there are lots of us in several states. But the way we do it in FL doesn't resemble the way they do it in the other states, and vice versa, so this genius management move disregards the specialized knowledge we accumulated through years of experience and makes us all just "one team" that has nothing at all in common.  Instead of leaving us attached to the state level work we do, we're now reporting to someone detached from the specialized issues we deal with. Cool, right? 

Nobody's happy. There's really no justification for it that we can discern, my boss was pretty outspoken that she's NOT happy, but yeah, here we are. 

As I've said I've made no secret that I've been contemplating my exit strategy for a while, so when asked my opinion, I said this maybe the sign I've been waiting for that it's time to pick a date and stick with it. The entire team was just, "Yup." 

So, I'm going with June 30 as my last day, unless they piss me off further. I'm salaried, I don't even need to give two weeks notice, but I also don't want to leave the people I work with and genuinely like screwed over. But yeah, today was the sign I can't ignore. 

Nope, Still Not Retired.

 I don't think I have to explain why not, do I? 

As I've said here and told my boss, I'm on the quarter by quarter plan. I'll work another quarter and see where we are.  It's anybody's guess at the moment, but it ain't looking good. I have my 401k basically locked down in the most conservative options available, and it lost $2k last week. God knows where we'll be by June.

But hey, I had my annual review and it was lovely again, and I got the max raise available and the max bonus, so I'd be a fool to say, "Yeah, but I'm sick of this and I want to retire," under the circumstances. 

And I will never forgive the people Republicans who fucked up this country AGAIN. Jesus can forgive them if He wants, that's His thing. I'm gonna hold a fucking grudge.  I've come back from recessions and housing crashes and major employers going under and all the shit that comes from Republican administrations, but I'm gonna be 68 and I just don't have time to bounce back this time. So I did everything right, saw this coming, tried to warn about it, and I'm in the backseat of the car going over the cliff.

This country is going through some shit, and it's making it clear how much things we all grew up hearing, because "Everybody knows" were LIES. Just a single example of many: How many times were we told that Republicans were best for the economy, and Democrats were always "tax and spend"? Shall we review the decades of actual evidence that proves the opposite, or would that be rude?  Mustn't make terrible people who made terrible choices and chose fascism over democracy feel bad about themselves!  That whole "greatest country on earth thing"? Was never true, and is now just a terrible joke.

So, anyway...I'm focused on gratitude that I'm healthy and doing okay and not being forced to retire yet, and I'm still planning my exit from the full time job to a part time something more fun, but when it'll happen is anybody's guess.  

Meanwhile, the next house projects: the garage makeover and the shower fixing. I'll take before and after pictures, I swear. I know the garage sounds like a low priority project, but it's a lot of useful storage space going to waste, and I want nice useful shelving and a small chest freezer, not the useless mess that exists now. 

The shower - I had originally thought I'd have to tear it out and have it entirely rebuilt, but I think I found an alternative, a local company that can refinish the existing tiled shower. The tile is in good shape, it could use re-grouting due to the age. The shower head is ancient and I really want one with a hand held option as well as a standard shower head, and then Lowe's can send strong young people to install a new shower door. 

I've lived with a curtain and tension rod for years, since the old glass shower door fell apart in my hands while I was cleaning it. I can't remember if I ever told that story here, but yeah, I was wiping the glass doors when the frame holding the large glass panels just...let go. I felt it wobble and grabbed the glass as the metal frame around one of the two large glass panels just fell away. It was old and tired, and it just had enough, a gentle cleaning with a sponge did it in. That was fun. So I'm hoping I can get the local company to give it a facelift, then I'll get new doors and call it done. I don't want to live with rebuilding it if I don't have to, we shall see.

We had a very rare major freeze last month, and many of my succulents didn't make it. They'd been growing since 2020, when my daughter unwittingly turned me into a succulent rancher by giving me some tiny cute owl shaped pots for tiny plants. I bought teeny tiny succulent clippings on Etsy, thinking if even a few lived I'd have plenty of plants. They all lived and thrived under my benign neglect, outgrew the owls quickly and then two more sizes of pots, finally becoming large, other-worldly looking things on the balcony. The Great Freeze of 2026 killed several, but not all. I'm not terribly sad about that, and I'm starting over with a new batch of wee plants, also from Etsy. 

So the balcony is mid-refresh. I got rid of the dead plants and also the old folding bookcases that had been pressed into service as plant shelving on the balcony. I knew exposure would wreck them, but they'd had a long life of service in just about every room in multiple houses, so it was their last role before the trash. Tonight my son-in-law (and my daughter and the Prince) stopped by so he could haul them down the stairs to the curb for me. I might have been able to manage them, but I didn't want to risk screwing up my currently pain-free knee with awkwardly getting them down the stairs.  I'll assemble the new plant stand this week. I also want to add a ceiling fan and light.  

So they stopped by for a few minutes of son-in-law carrying shit down the stairs, not a real visit. The Prince climbed the stairs under supervision, saw me, said "Gamma!" and ran to be picked up and gave me a hug. Though really, I think he was more excited to see Eddie. Eddie was super well behaved with him even though he was very excited too. I think they're going to be pals this year. The human boy is nearly to the age when he can visit Grandma without me needing to call for backup. 😂

I've been thinking a lot about how people living through terrible times just still have to go about their lives and try to find joy where they can. I never thought we'd be doing it on this scale of awful, but here we are, and we must both resist and not let the bastards steal all our happiness. 

 

 

And the Windows Are Finally Really Done!

 The windows are great, the process from sale to installation was great, but...follow up (aka the permit closeout) was awkward.  The ball was dropped. The inspection never got scheduled. I called the window company, I emailed. I called and emailed. I still had stickers on the windows, I was instructed to leave them in place until final inspection. Nobody got back to me.

The customer shouldn't have to go into the permit status on the county website to figure out WTF is going on. A ball was dropped there. Yesterday I called a third or fourth time and politely refused to leave a message, I needed to talk to somebody, and finally got a very nice guy who got it sorted out. I did let him know that I know my way around construction and the permit had an unexplained hold status, and he promised he'd get it sorted out, and he did. 

The inspector was here the very next day (today) before noon. He was also very nice, and Eddie absolutely fell in love with him at first sight, it was hilarious! Apparently Eddie has a thing for tall bearded redheads, who knew? I swear he thought I'd invited him over for HIM, it was adorable. I told the inspector that he's not that enthusiastic about most visitors, and we were laughing at his "OMG I ADORE YOU NEW FRIEND!" performance.  The inspector was in and out in 15 minutes, complimented the installation guys' work, petted Eddie again, and that's finally done. I peeled off the window stickers with glee. 

Lowe's installed the new blinds a week ago, and they are a huge step up from their 15 year old predecessors. That was also a very smooth process, FedEx delivered the blinds, the installer showed up a couple of days later, was in and out in under an hour. Eddie was polite and social, but didn't lose his mind. I don't know why the county inspector got that reaction. 

So the window rehab is now complete. I'm going to pause a month before deciding on the next project. I'm deciding between the sad shower and the gross garage, but neither will be as big ticket as the windows. And then, there must be paint. This place hasn't been painted in over 15 years. I'm dragging this 40+ year old condo into the 21st century piece by piece.  

So, next week is my annual review, and honestly, I am not invested in the outcome. I AM in that I stuck around to collect my incentive pay for last year, but I'll be 68 in June and really don't want to stick around another year. It's time to actually sort out my part time plan, whether it's Disney or assisting at the library or whatever. I'm truly grateful to be healthy and have a good job and a great boss and options. I know exactly how lucky I am, but damn, I'm so tired of sitting at a desk staring into computer screens. I want to interact with humans in my old lady gig.  

And Then, There Were Windows! Updated.

 The long awaited window installation happened yesterday, on what was of course the coldest day of the week. The installers were three very nice, very young men, all Hispanic, so I guess I should be grateful that ICE didn't show up and haul them away while there were gaping holes in my exterior walls. 

It got quite brisk in here. They replaced a window in each bedroom (the front bedroom is my office) and two in the kitchen, so Eddie and I spent most of the day on the couch in the living room, the only room without gaping holes in the walls, because I decided the old sliding glass doors to the balcony (in the living room and master bedroom) were still doing fine. Eddie behaved much better than I'd expected. I kept him on his leash and with me the entire day, and he was mostly calm and quiet, though he did bark at them when they broke out the noisy power tools. 

He was on duty all day and was exhausted when it was over.  Doing nothing on the couch sounds good until you are forced to do it. Then, it's kind of exhausting. Also, I never thought about how I'd eat lunch when my refrigerator was basically shrink wrapped all day.  (Narrator: She did not eat lunch that day.)

The installers were excellent and very meticulous and used miles of plastic sheeting and put down floor coverings, and even cleaned the leaves off my stairs while breaking down the scaffolding and packing up. I had very little cleanup to deal with, just a whole lot of putting stuff back in place.  But not completely back, because the county still has to come inspect. Then Friday will be the measuring for the new blinds, then the installing of (they're off the shelf so no delays for custom manufacture, it shouldn't be too long). 

I really have become one of those old people who forgets how old their stuff is. I had thought that I'd just keep the same blinds (basic Levelor white faux wood) and reuse them after the windows were done. Removing the old blinds made it clear that this was a stupid idea. They'd been pretty much fixed in place, length-wise, for a very long time. I did adjust the slats, but hadn't had a reason to raise them all the way in quite a while, and when I tried, yeah, time had taken its toll and the mechanism was in really bad shape. Imagine lifting a car with a string. They're being replaced. 

It had been quite a while since I'd had a home improvement project that required going to Lowe's. I was struck by how different it felt. It's kind of like how Target used to be more upscale than Walmart, and now it's just the other Walmart. 

Lowe's used to have actual home decor, like an aisle of lamps, not just lighting requiring installation. It had a real paint department with several brands and paint samples, and a huge wallpaper selection. Now everything is online, you have to hunt down an employee for service, and they obviously really want you to buy it online and pick it up in the store. I and another customer were shopping for blinds, there were no employees in sight. Finally the other customer flagged down someone in a store vest, she called someone else on her radio, and a few minutes later the woman who knew window treatments arrived. She was very nice and helpful, got me set up with an appointment for measurements, and that was that. If I didn't want just standard, decent but not custom blinds, I'd have had to go elsewhere. They've really cut back on what you can do in the store. 

I need a new trash can, a big one with wheels. I figured I'd buy it while I arranged for the blinds measurement. I went to the aisle with the sign that said "trash cans." There were no trash cans on the aisle. None. There were janitorial supplies. I checked the adjacent aisles as well, no trash cans of any description. I even walked to the back of the garden center, I seemed to remember they had them there in the past. I did not find any. Yet the website said they were available for pickup at that store. I would have asked an employee if I saw one, but other than a guy driving a forklift, no vest wearers were around. 

Sometimes I think about how I do so much shopping online now, and told myself I should get out and do more in person browsing. And then I'm reminded WHY we now have to buy so much online. 

Regarding the ICE bit (first commenter made me realize it needed context): I left out part of the story. Monday was trash day and when I opened the garage to drag the can out, there was an unfamiliar car in the driveway. A very young man was there, he told me he was one of the installers. He'd originally parked on the street waiting for the rest of the crew and materials, and a woman had yelled at him and told him he wasn't allowed to park on the street. I told him where the (very few) guest parking spots were, they're not in plain sight. 

He said the woman sounded really mad and told him she was on the CONDO BOARD and it was against the RULES. Here's the thing: People doing work in the neighborhood park in the street when they have to, because we really don't have many options. I'm quite sure board member herself has had to deal with workmen parking on the street; it's hardly unusual.

I can guess which condo board member it was, (and can confirm that she's an officious bitch and none too bright) and I'm equally sure she wouldn't have harassed him if he wasn't a young Latino guy loitering in his own car before 8 a.m. on Monday morning, and a holiday at that, as all the young hooligans do. If she had really been concerned about on street parking, she'd have directed him to the guest parking spaces. I have no idea what else she said, but that poor kid was genuinely shaken by the encounter. He was a kid, maybe 20, and clearly a trainee as he got all the basic tasks, like diligently wrapping all my stuff to protect it and cleaning up, and I felt awful that anyone in my neighborhood gave him any shit. 

I also know he was trying to be really discreet and professional about it, and I didn't want to make him more uncomfortable so I didn't ask him any details, I just said, "Yeah, I think I know who that was, she's like that, don't worry about it," and told him where the guest parking spots were.  

Lately it really sucks to be an older white lady in Florida; everybody assumes you're an asshole because so many are. 

I'm NOT going to say Happy New Year.

 This year has started far more insane than the last. As I've said, I don't write about politics and current events because I have a Clippy living in my brain since the Bush administration.  Remember when we thought he was the worst president ever? We were so innocent. 

 So, it's a new year, and it's going to be far too interesting. Ours did start off well on a family level: 

I've joked that my daughter's fiance/baby daddy has needed a nickname and was calling him Future Son In Law (FSIL). I can now officially drop the F. They quietly went to the courthouse and got married on New Year's Eve. No muss, no fuss, and her wedding ring is lovely. They joked about betting how long it would take The Kid to notice they were wearing rings. She spotted the diamond band on her mom's finger pretty quickly, it's not gaudy but an elegant band of quality diamonds, but somehow didn't connect it to getting married and thought it was an engagement ring. She didn't notice her new stepdad was also wearing a wedding band. As my daughter joked, "Nobody notices the supporting players." 

 We went to Animal Kingdom a few days later and I treated them to lunch at Tiffins.  I've walked past it forever, never had a reason to eat there. It's a signature dining (read: fancy/pricey) sit down restaurant, and this certainly was a reason to do it.

 It was very nice, the food was good, the atmosphere was quiet and classy, you completely forget you're in a theme park. I liked it, but to be honest, I didn't love it as much as I'd expected. I kinda wished we'd bugged out of the park to go to Boma. But Boma is a buffet, and as a special occasion restaurant Tiffins was the appropriate choice. It's unfussy and spacious, the art is all about the countries Animal Kingdom's imagineers visited when planning and designing the park. Even the Little Prince enjoyed it, he studied the art on the walls and ate his lunch and was his amazingly cool little self, as always. 

So, they're married and I'm very happy, and no, I'm not even a little sad that they didn't have a "real" wedding. I've done the Mother of the Bride/Groom thing twice, once for each kid, and they were not grand productions but were lovely, beautiful, magical weddings. Her marriage, not so much. She's now married to a man worthy of her, they're two mature, successful professionals, they're crazy about each other, and he's just a really great guy all around. And The Kid totally won the stepfather lottery, and I think she knows it. 

Son in Law thanked me for lunch as we were leaving the restaurant, and I said "Hey, that was so much nicer than doing all that mother of the bride crap!" and he said, "Hey, I guess I'm the one who should say you're welcome!" And we all laughed and went to visit the gorillas and eat ice cream, and it was just a fun end to the holidays.  

So, that was a bright start in this fresh hell that is 2026.  

Me? I am still trying to figure out when I might dare to retire, given the wild instability we're heading into. Getting stuff in Ye Olde Condo fixed is in process. I replaced my hated fridge, all hail Costco, and while the old one was still functioning, I've noticed my fresh produce stays fresh a hell of a lot longer now. I'm still waiting for the window installation to be scheduled. I think it'll be before the end of the month, because they did reach out for something for the county permit this week. I anticipate new windows by the end of January. 

I'm on a mission to simplify my life, get rid of things I've held onto from a sense of obligation. I have never used my mother's china and flatware, my kids don't want it/have room for it, it just takes up space, so this week I'm reaching out to an antiques dealer to see if there's any interest.  I am not going to haul other people's stuff into my old age, passing the burden of stuff onto the next generation.  

I'm going to hire that lovely young man who cleaned out the garage at the house last summer to work his magic on my garage, including dismantling the entirely useless "workbench" the original owner had installed, which has lousy storage and no power source. After he's done I'll give it a real cleaning, Costco will supply sensible shelving and maybe a wee garage freezer, and that'll be off the long neglected project list. 

This year will be all about practicality and making my home comfortable and a reflection of ME.  

Way back when this insanity first hit, someone I can't remember now offered very wise advice: When everything seems insane and overwhelming, go small. Clean a closet. Scrub the tile grout. Water the plants. Give yourself small victories you can look at and feel good about. Yes, we're living in insanity, but my closets will be marvels of organization, and it's lovely to sleep with the windows open on a cool night.