Cellar Scribblings

[CellarDweller]

It went fine, thanks! I'm home again. Had some lovely play time with Jona. He's now 10 months, and absolutely gorgeous!

My cats and Jona don't get to meet each other. They stay in the guest room where I sleep, they have food and litter tray there. Because my sond and d-i-l also have a cat, and we don't think it would go over well to let them meet each other. She would likely see them as trespassers in her territory.

Ah, ok!  I didn't realize that they had their own cat.  I can see why you would need to keep them separate.

[Jeff Wrangler]

My broom, mop, and scrub brush for the bathroom are the same ones I've had since I moved in, and they were definitely showing their age.  LOL  So I went out today and got replacements.

So now you have something to use when your car is in the shop. ... 

[southendmd]

So now you have something to use when your car is in the shop. ... 

 

[Front-Ranger]

 

[brianr]

I bought all those things new when I moved from Australia 10 years ago. I think they will outlive me. I do not like the mop, it is hard to wring out but I only mop floors 2 or 3 times per year. I do need a new straw broom for the garden, they tend to wear out.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Decades ago, in a now-long-gone toy shop, I saw a Barbie dressed as Samantha riding on her broom. I wish I'd bought it.    I adored Elizabeth Montgomery.

[CellarDweller]

Hiya BetterMost friends.

The week is flying by, and that means 'staycation' is almost over.   

I have about 4 more weeks of time to us, so I guess I should schedule it soon!  LOL   It has been suggested that we'll be returning to our office for September.  However, NJ cases are starting to go up again, so who knows if that will be true.

Anyway, we are only allowed to carry one unused week of vacation time to the next year, so if I don't use at least three weeks of my time by the end of the year, I lose it.  The only day I have scheduled off is the day after Thanksgiving.

[CellarDweller]

So now you have something to use when your car is in the shop. ... 

Don't encourage him. 

Decades ago, in a now-long-gone toy shop, I saw a Barbie dressed as Samantha riding on her broom. I wish I'd bought it.    I adored Elizabeth Montgomery.

Truth be told, I was never that big into Bewitched.   I liked Samantha, but Darrin and Endora annoyed the hell out of me.

I bought all those things new when I moved from Australia 10 years ago. I think they will outlive me. I do not like the mop, it is hard to wring out but I only mop floors 2 or 3 times per year. I do need a new straw broom for the garden, they tend to wear out.

Truth be told, the ones I had were not new.  When I moved out,  my mom used the opportunity to get new stuff, and I took her used stuff.  LOL  That worked for me.  My small apartment I didn't need new stuff, and mom's larger house would benefit from new stuff, so it was a good solution.  I have no idea how long mom had owned it before giving it to me.

[serious crayons]

Truth be told, I was never that big into Bewitched.   I liked Samantha, but Darrin and Endora annoyed the hell out of me.

I loved Bewitched. Back when it was still on in primetime, it was a big issue in my family for a while. It was on at, like, 8 p.m. and my dad was really adamant that my brother and I had to go to bed by 8. So I was always really upset (if only they'd had DVR -- problem solved!). Finally even my grandmother suggested to my dad (her SIL) that maybe he could just let me watch it. So finally, he did.

What I didn't realize at the time was that Bewitched is a perfect allegory for pre-feminist marriage, and not just because Darren has a career and Samantha's a housewife. (The first episode was in 1964, the year after Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique was published.) Darren is head of the household and makes the rules. In one episode, Samantha has to ask his permission to buy a new coat and he refuses for some reason. (That episode is also interesting from our perspective: After he refuses the coat, Endora casts a spell making him extremely stingy. At one point, he goes into the office and is horrified to find his secretary wastefully using just one side of pieces of scratch paper when she could write on the backs. Now it would be the other way around!)

Most telling, Samantha has these great powers but under Dareen's rules was required to keep them under wraps at all times.

That Girl, which I also loved, started a couple of years later, running immediately after Bewitched. It was very feminist. So the two shows were like "before" and "after" bookends.

[CellarDweller]

Hiya BetterMost friends.

Weather here in NJ has been crazy yesterday and today.

Yesterday we spent the day being pounded by Tropical Storm Fay.  The rains started around 10:00 in the morning, and kept on for about 10 hours or so.  The coastal areas suffered flooding.

This morning things seemed calmer, it was partly cloudy.  Then, about 90 minutes ago, it got dark and heavy rains pounded us, and we had thunder and lightning.  Then it stopped for about 15 minutes, and then a new storm happened, and then it stopped, and then just a few minutes ago, it happened again.  Now, we have sun.

I went to a friend's new townhouse today.  My former supervisor (but still my coworker) and her twin 6 year-old girls have been living with her mother and younger brother in their townhouse.  It was cramped, and she needed more space for both her and the girls.  I was talking with her on the phone Friday (yesterday), and she told me that they've officially moved into their own place, and I know what she went through to get this townhouse.  She worked with multiple programs in the state to get all the first homeowner benefits and deals that she could, and she visited multiple homes for them.  Finally, her bid was accepted and when she closed, it was a big deal because it happened during the whole Covid scare, and it felt like it was never going to happen.   Then there was the drama of finding a moving company to help with the move during the pandemic, and a delay with the girls' beds.

Anyway, I spoke with her on Friday and she tells me that there is an issue with their dining room table, and it won't be delivered until the end of August.  They were making due by eating on the floor, picnic style.  I knew this would get real tired really quickly, so I told her I had a folding banquet table that I was not using, and I was willing to bring it to her today.  She was extremely grateful, and I got to have a quick tour of her new place.