Author: katydid62

"Not Easily Domesticated" I'm Just Me....

Three Hours in a Parking Lot

Last step in drive through Covid testing

Today’s adventure is brought to you by our global pandemic, COVID-19!

A cough, a headache, a bit of fatigue, perhaps a sore throat; a cold, or has Covid caught up with us? Probably not, but it’s better to know. If you don’t know you can’t protect those around you.

My son and I set off this morning to get tested. A half hour drive each way, and a three hour wait in line was our fate. When we arrived , the line of cars was already most of the way down an access street to the Hillsboro Stadium, where the testing was being done. In the distance we could see- cars. Lots and lots of cars.

Eventually, we turned the corner and before us we saw- cars. Cars in multiple lanes, perhaps 6 lanes, bumper to bumper. I’m not good at guessing distance so I won’t try.

Now in our lane, our bumper close to the car in front of us, which happened to be a red SUV. We pulled up, and originally left my Jeep running. After a while we realized we would be there a while, and turned off the motor.

From the end of the lane we could see the actual testing tent. Our goal was visible.

We crept along slowly. The first medical person approached and got our information. Note: on the website it says they will test everyone, but in reality they test only those with direct exposure or who are having symptoms that could be related.

It was a long wait. I don’t know how it is in other areas, but given my experience, I’d recommend you bring a cell phone charger. I’d also recommend things to do. Books, movies, a snack and a drink. We spent most of the time with the engine off, waiting in place.

Finally we were up to go in the tent! The tent held two lanes of cars, each lane holding perhaps a dozen cars, perhaps a few more. There was room perhaps for two more lanes, but I’m guessing they didn’t have enough staff to run more than two.

It was fairly quick once we got into the tent. They rechecked our information, had us sign waivers, got our MyChart information for results and then it was time.

The test was annoying. It’s not painful. It’s not scary. It’s just annoying. They used a long stick with a slender brush-like swab that was probably around a centimeter long. They have to get it far up into your nose to where the virus would be if you’re infected.

They described the feeling well. It’s very like the feeling you get if you go swimming and get water up your nose. It’s over in 5 seconds, though the irritation lasts longer. Results will be available in the next 1-3 days.

It’s a simple thing to do, and it will probably be negative for both of us, but it’s one way to help stop this virus. If you have any symptoms, or if you’ve been exposed, take that test. And until you know you’re clear, stay home!

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!

Both of our tests came back negative! Yay!

A Tale of No Internet

Dogs don’t need the internet.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to explain my absence of late. I have been trapped in the absurd land of “GotNoInternet”. Being accustomed to actually having internet, this has been upsetting.

This isn’t a result of our poor planning, nor is it a result of not being able to pay. It’s a result of other people’s lack of planning. The people who built the the house we are renting. The house that was just built this year.

When you build a house you should make it internet accessible. (Also, as a side note, it should be accessible for mail delivery, but more on that subject later.)

We moved to our new home. Our new home is literally new. We are the first people to ever live here. It’s set back a bit from the road behind another house and I had to teach my GPS where it is.

A few days before we moved, we called Ziply (Frontier) because we used their internet at our previous house, and overall were happy with the service. They informed us they didn’t have internet service in our new area yet.

As much as we didn’t want to move our services to the rather poorly regarded Comcast (Xfinity), we needed internet. All of us use internet every day, including one college student whose school is completely online at present.

Our roommate reluctantly called Comcast and was given a “case number” to refer to for our case, and assured they would contact him in the next few days for an appointment. Days ticked by with no call from them.

Since he was working, I decided to call Comcast to find out why there were no calls from them; I was informed they “have no record of any call to them”.

Can someone please tell me what the number we were given was about? Of course not! Someone took our order and failed to enter it. Or they lied completely. Asking did no good.

We then set up an actual appointment for them to come out. This was in early October, and they had nothing open until the 22nd when, they assured us, we would finally have internet. We waited patiently.

Finally the day arrived! The excitement in the air was palpable after using a hotspot for weeks anytime we needed internet. We greeted the arrival of the Comcast installer joyfully. And then, he said, “I can’t install for you because there are no lines to this house. We have to dig a trench and bury a line.”

After a good scream into a pillow, I started looking for something that would work for the meantime. I thought about Verizon. We get excellent cell reception here so I figured perhaps there was a way to purchase a more permanent hotspot. An unlimited data hotspot.

I contacted Verizon and sure enough, they had a device called a global modem, which we ordered on our unlimited data cell phone plan. It was set to arrive on Tuesday. Of this week. 10/27/2020 I believe.

On Tuesday FedEx delivered our modem. I gleefully unpacked the small receiver and when plugged in to a computer it was fast and fairly reliable. We did have trouble with it cutting out when moved so we decided it might be best to keep it plugged in to my desktop computer. After all, the desktop stays in one place.

Here begins another little diversion. I had received a newer graphics card for my desktop computer and I needed to install that. It turned out that it didn’t have the proper cables, so I had to find a place to get the cables. I called around and really couldn’t find cables until I contacted one particularly good shop in my area. I will highlight the shop because I was very impressed with the guy and his operation.

We brought the computer in and he rapidly found a cable to suit our needs. We came in later in the day when the shop was very busy, so he did a test that the computer could now get a picture on a monitor, which was the problem we had presented. When we we got home the computer wouldn’t boot up. I called him and we walked through a couple of potential fixes involving changing the boot order in the BIOS. None managed to find the boot disk so we decided to bring it in again the next day, but earlier, before it got too busy.

Fast forward to the next day, when we headed back into town. We brought the computer in and Josh got it working by creating a new path to the boot disk. We headed home and set it up, and yippee! It worked !

For two days we happily use our internet….

And on the second day I got a disturbing text message from Verizon. It stated that we were about to run out of high speed data. This made no sense to me at all. I didn’t understand how our unlimited data plan could be running out of data. I called Verizon.

Verizon told me that, yes, I still have unlimited data but now that we’ve run through the rather pitiful 15 gigs of high speed data, all of our subsequent data will be very slow. As in 600kbps. I asked if there was anything else I could do with my phone to provide us with what we needed, which was high speed Internet for three people. They told me what I actually needed was a jet pack, which I guess is freestanding and allows for up to five devices to be connected.

I packed up the Global Modem and headed out for the Verizon store in Cornelius, the next town over, happy to be heading for a solution to the problem.

The young man, Adam, who was working the counter, informed me that I would get 30 gigs of high-speed internet with the jet pack. He told me I would get four days before I got an automated message rather than two and that unfortunately, they did not have anything that would do what I needed.

Thank you, Adam, for knowing your stuff and telling me the truth. I appreciate that.

I came home disappointed and not sure what to do. We still had no reliable, fast Internet, and it really kind of felt like we were out of ideas.

I happened to see our neighbor out in his yard. Our driveway runs along the side of his yard because our house is behind his. He was digging, and the thought crossed my mind that, while it’s an off chance, maybe our landlord came to some sort of a deal with him in which he would dig the trench for the cable company to lay the line in. While I didn’t think it was likely, I thought I might as well ask because I’d never met this particular neighbor before and it usually is good to meet your neighbors.

It turns out he was planting some trees which is wonderful because I like trees. He also informed me that he has Ziply Internet. Yes, the house directly in front of us has Ziply! He showed me the line that goes right into the house directly from the pole by the end of the driveway. It is, in fact, not an underground cable, but instead is an above ground fiber optic cable from the pole to his house. So I decided it would probably be a good idea to call Ziply again.

I called Ziply and had a very extensive conversation with the sales representative, in which I told him about everything that we have been dealing with. Everything including the fact that we don’t have any cable or other line to provide service to our house. He cheerfully informed me that it is not needed because it is a different set of lines or infrastructure from that used by Comcast. He asked if we would like to have it installed and of course we said yes. They were able to get someone out today between one and five.

The installer arrived about three-ish, maybe a little later, and immediately said he had to go outside and look for a connection.

This was when we started to lose it. We already knew there was no connection. There’s no connection in the house and there’s no connection outside of the house.

We already knew that because we had that discussion with the Comcast guy. And after all the discussion I had with the sales representative about this issue, they should’ve known also that there was no connection inside or outside of our house.

The installer informed us that there’s already an order in for the other unit in our house, which is a side by side duplex. He said he would go around and draw a map or something, so he could put it in another order. At this point we were just done with this crap, but might as well let the guy go and put in the order because somehow we have to have Internet. He claimed that the order should be filled within a few days. I kind of doubt that given that it’s been more than a few days since we weren’t able to get service from Comcast. At this point we don’t believe anybody about anything.

So this is my sad story, although I promised you I would mention the mailbox thing, so here goes.

It would seem that when a house is built, it’s up to the builder to speak with the post office and have the post office OK where they’re going to put the mailbox. When I first heard that I thought it sounded rather silly, but in retrospect it makes sense. They have a route that goes through the neighborhood. That route has to be set to be as efficient as possible. Our house is set back behind another house, and apparently our route is a walking route. This would mean that the letter carrier would have to traipse back to our house and then back down the driveway again. It makes sense that they might want us to have our mailboxes, for example, at the end of our driveway.

I had no idea that this was a requirement, but then again I’m not the person building a house. If I was I would have looked into things that need to have taken care of when you build a house. If the builder had done their job correctly, there would already be Internet service and a properly placed mailbox at this house. Instead, we had to discover that our mail wasn’t being delivered because we were expecting a ballot and knew when it was mailed out. It occurred to me that perhaps we weren’t getting mail because the house was new and it wasn’t registered with the post office. That was close. They had our address but they didn’t have a proper mailbox to put our mail into. There are mailboxes on the front of the building but those were not put where are the post office wanted them located.

If I ever build a house, I will do better than this. That being said, I will continue the search for internet and I will win eventually. And I will be back ASAP.

A Note About Voting

This is an interim post while I complete the propaganda post I promised you; not forgotten, just taking longer than I expected to make sure it’s a good, solid post.

So I have gotten several text messages urging me to register to vote because I’ve been purged from the voter rolls in my two previous locations. I think this is GREAT! I’ve thanked them each time for their efforts.

I know many of you will feel that your vote is not important. Yes, one vote is a small thing, but it’s also an action you can take. You might not like the choices, but it’s still an action you can take. There are other actions to take, but voting is the easy one, the no-brainer. You can just get the form and fill it in, or, if you dare, go to the polling place and do it in person. And remember that it’s not just about the presidential election. In fact, though that election is important, more change happens from local efforts and from the representatives we choose.

Those of us who live here, in the US, as well as citizens living abroad have only a few obligations to our country. One of them is to vote. If you don’t vote, you are choosing to allow others to determine what your future might look like. Your choices may not win, but at least you’ll know it isn’t you that let you down.

Vote. But you don’t have to stop there. Vote and then ACT! Help others vote. Get involved with causes you believe in.

Click here for a link that will help you register to vote:

https://www.vote.org/register-to-vote/

Civil Disobedience

Or why are those protesters standing in the street disrupting traffic?

Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government. By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called “civil“. Hence, civil disobedience is sometimes equated with peaceful protests or nonviolent resistance. Note that the second part of this definition is often not considered necessary.

Civil Disobedience is not just a right, it is a duty when you realize a law, action, inaction, declaration, decision or process being undertaken by the government is wrong. That means YOU feel it’s wrong. There doesn’t have to be consensus about the subject. Most likely there will be a group that holds the same belief as you about it, so you likely won’t be alone. Civil Disobedience works best in groups, however personal civil disobedience is also possible.

Protesters in Portland – Probably June 2020 but it could be anytime.

The United States has a long history of civil disobedience. The first act, arguably, was the Boston Tea Party. It was followed by many other acts, including the abolitionists movement, the underground railroad, the many , many steps of the Civil Rights Movement including marches, speeches, rallies and boycotts. The suffrage movement, the women’s rights movement and so many more were or included acts of civil disobedience.

Protests are one form of civil disobedience. There are others such as marches, sit-ins, refusal to sign a form when required, burning draft cards (and bras), refusing to pay an unjust fee or fine, etc.

Protests don’t happen when the people feel they have been heard, or when they feel that they are safe. Protests happen when the same thing happens over and over again, and amidst promises of change it gets swept under the rug again and again.

The protesters are blocking the streets because those are the same streets where the injustice occurs.

They are blocking the streets because no other form of protest is allowed.

they are blocking the streets because professional athletes can’t choose to take a knee in protest without losing their job and being fined.

They are blocking the streets because people are being killed because of their race, their ethnicity, their sexual orientation and their gender.

Mothers line up in front of the crowd of protesters, hands entwined, to stand between the protesters, their children and grandchildren, because the police keep using chemical weapons and “less than lethal” ordinance on largely unarmed, peaceful protesters.

They are blocking the streets because CHANGE has to happen and it won’t if we all keep quiet and let the government fix things.

Coming eventually. I hope: A guide to understanding propaganda.

12 Months of Change

Hello world! I haven’t been saying anything lately, and I am going to try to change that.

The 4th of July, 2020  marked 12 months since I was involved in a serious auto accident. Some days I am still surprised I’m here to tell the story.

The short version of the story follows.

I became homeless in early June. I had a good job but I was evicted from my housing because of the actions of others. Because the situation was volatile I was afraid to return to my previous home. The event that caused my eviction involved violence on the part of the landlord and one of his family members toward a friend of mine who was visiting.

I stayed in motels for a few weeks off and on, thanks to some people who cared enough to help me. One generous and caring friend was able to let me help with dog sitting jobs on a few occasions so we had some time to work things out, but not long.

Rosie (my dog) and I had nowhere to go. I looked for a roommate situation again, although after the last experience I was leery of that. I looked for other options. I found a women’s homeless shelter that had a wonderful program, but they couldn’t allow residents to have pets. I couldn’t find anyone who could keep Rosie for me so I was not able to go to the shelter.

I didn’t call my son about the problem because he lived so far away, and i didn’t want to burden him with anxiety.  I am intimately familiar with anxiety and i don’t wish to bring it to anyone else.  But i did ask on Facebook if anyone local could take care of my dog for a while so that i could get into the shelter.  No one was able to, but my son’s partner saw the post and i got a phone call from my son, saying his partner had seen my post and they wanted to help.

Eventually I accepted the invitation from my son and his roommates to come to live with him. I packed everything I could fit into my 1998 Mercury Mountaineer along with Rosie, and with the invaluable help of a good friend, headed out of Colorado and set out for Oregon.

I drove for the first day and we made Grand Junction by the evening of the 3rd of July. The next day we set out again and crossed into Utah. It was a hot but otherwise pleasant day.

If I remember correctly, I took the first driving shift and when we stopped for a restroom, gas and snack break, we switched.

Shortly before 1pm on July 4th, as she was driving, my friend strayed slightly off the road onto the shoulder. The shoulder in this area was narrow and the road dropped off. She pulled the truck back onto the road but over-corrected because it was necessary to over-steer to get back up from the somewhat steep grade.

I can still so clearly remember it. As we got back onto the road, I thought for a millisecond that we might be okay. I quickly reassessed as I felt the pull of the momentum and realized we were going to roll. It seems that we all have that innate sense of when the critical point, the point where a movement can be stopped, has passed.

As we rolled IIMG_1561 remember seeing the world go upside-down, come back to upright and then rock back and forth a couple of times before completely righting itself.

As the world spun around I recall rather calmly wondering if I would live through the event, and if I did, would I end up paralyzed or in some other way incapacitated. I don’t think I screamed; i’m not really a screamer. I might have cussed, ,because i am a good curser,  but I don’t remember.

We landed almost completely perpendicular to the road. Fortunately no one was directly behind us or coming in the opposite direction when it happened, but my first reaction was to tell my friend to pull the truck off the road because I didn’t want to cause a pile up. (The truck was still running.). Other drivers had stopped by this point and advised us to leave the truck where it was and get out to safety.

My foot hurt. My door was jammed shut, but the driver’s side could be opened and they helped my friend to the side of the road. I climbed across to the driver’s seat and another kind person, or perhaps two, helped me to the side of the road where someone had stopped their pick-up. My foot hurt. A lot.

I couldn’t bear any weight on my foot. They helped me up to the bed of the pick-up and I scooted up. I looked at my foot, which along with serious pain had an odd floppy sort of feeling. What I saw was a bloody mess.

Bystanders who stopped to help worried I would get shocky and encouraged me to lay down in the bed of the truck so I could elevate the foot.

All I wanted to do besides stop the pain was reach my son. I knew he was keeping track of our progress and I wanted to let him know what happened.

A kind man called him on my cell phone. I imagine it was one of the scariest phone calls my son ever got. But at least I was able to talk to him and assure him I was no longer in danger. Help was on the way and I would be okay.

We were in a rural area and it took about 45 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. The state patrol was there a bit sooner. A number of people stopped to help, including two doctors and at least one nurse.

Everyone was incredibly kind. One man took Rosie to the shelter for an emergency hold, and made sure I knew where she was, and the shelter knew the circumstances. Others stayed with us and comforted us as we waited. They kept telling my friend to sit down, but she wanted to help pick things up that had spilled across the road and along each side as the broken truck rolled over. I suspect she was a bit in shock and fixing things was her way to deal with what happened.

One man brought out a windshield sun shade and held it over me at the side of the truck to block the sun. It was very hot and the sun was full and intense. Someone gave us all water, including Rosie.

A state patrol officer took brief statements from my friend and me. Finally the ambulance came. They loaded me onto a stretcher.  I recall that process being one that i was concerned about because jostling my foot was the last thing i wanted to do.  They got me onto the stretcher without much additional pain, for which i’m grateful.  My friend rode in the front of the ambulance as we went to the hospital. They gave me something for the pain. It helped somewhat.

We arrived at Utah Valley Hospital and emergency personnel gathered around us. They took my friend away to be checked out. She had a nasty bump on the head and another on her elbow, but the x-rays were negative for anything serious. (Rosie had a scraped up muzzle and nose, but amazingly was otherwise uninjured.)

We spent a week or so in Springville, Utah before we could arrange to continue our trip since we had the vehicle to take care of.  We also had no way to complete the trip given that all of my stuff was in the car and we also had Rosie with us.  Another kind friend flew down to Salt Lake City, rented a van and we loaded up and finally headed back out on our trip.

It was an adventure, but we all made it to Oregon!  I’ve had other adventures (or misadventures as the case might be) since then, but i’ll save those for another time.

Conversations with my dog

Rosie came in from the yard with her normally white feet and muzzle a medium sort of tan color. Rosie likes to create little dens to lay in, which is to say, Rosie likes to dig.

A conversation ensued. Do understand that this conversation is up for alternate interpretation.

Me: Hello Rosie.

Rosie: *hops and wags* I’m here! Love me! Pet me!

Me: *notices her nose and feet are dirty* You’ve been digging.

Rosie: *sits and looks innocent*   No. I’m a good dog.

Me: you have dirt on your nose and feet. You can’t fool me.

Rosie: *looks away briefly then back* I’m a good dog! Love me! Pet me!

Me: a dog with a white nose and paws, and no opposable thumbs should find another vice. This one is not working very well for you.

Rosie: *wags nervously and looks at me*   But I love you. I’m a good dog. I don’t mean to dig. The dirt just feels so cool and refreshing when I have a fresh hole. I love you! Really! I do!

Me: *pets her on the head and sighs*   You’re a good dog.

Rosie: *turns and walks a few feet toward the family room, stops and turns to make sure I’m following her*   Lets go snuggle on the couch!

Admit it people! You do it too! You talk to your dog when no one is around. Or perhaps when people are around.

I’m not dead yet

Hey everyone, despite possible evidence to the contrary,  I’m not actually dead or even missing.  Just a bit stressed and overwhelmed.  Anyhow i’ll be working on my novel this month as part of NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, which, of course, is November.  For more information, see  NaNoWriMo    For a brief intro – November is National Novel Writing Month, a month in which writers come together, virtually or in person, to inspire one another in their quest to write their novel.

The Goal?  30 Days.  50,000 Words.

I’ve done it before.  I want to do it again.

If you’re a writer you might enjoy it and hate it and fear it.  if you sign up, look for me – katydid62 on NaNoWriMo!

Happy writing, happy reading.