It’s the Friday Five …
When was the last time you…
1. …sent a handwritten letter?
After we visited with Tracy last Christmas, she told us about her mom’s cancer. Tracy does not seem to have a huge support network, and she was providing a lot of support herself to her mom.
So I wanted to be supportive. Heaven knows there have been times in my life when getting a word or two, unexpected, from a friend, was (or would have been) an incredible pick-me-up.
I am not a phone person. I would rather let all my friends drift off in a burning oil tanker than rely on using the phone to keep in touch with them. My bad, but there you go.
E-mail? Tracy is a few years behind the curve on the e-mail thing, where “few” equals “twenty.” If I send an e-mail to her, she might not see it for weeks, if not longer.
So that’s left Real Mail. I’ve been sending her post cards, pretty much every two weeks. Doesn’t take a lot of writing, but I knwo it’s the thought that counts. Really.
I am, without a doubt, the world’s worst correspondant. Send me something, I’ll probably reply — so long as it’s within 48 hours. Wait for me to send you something, and you might see whether you win the Lottery first.
That I have managed to keep this up for several months is as amazing as if I had been actually calling her. Really.
2. …baked something from scratch or made something by hand?
Since I am married to the avatar of whomever the Muse of Cooking is, I don’t get into the kitchen much, except in a back-up role.
That usually suits me fine, being a lazy cuss, but it’s also fun to make something and have people ooh and aah over it. Give me a recipe and I’m all over it. I make some very nice desserts, probably last time being about three or four months ago. I am on tap to whip up a batch of chicken biryani this week, too.
3. …camped in a tent?
Um … last weekend?
4. …volunteered your time to church, school, or community?
I actually volunteer a fair amount for our church. Not as much as that nagging shoulder-mounted angel with the pitchfork (yeah, go figure) keeps telling me I should, but I do.
5. …helped a stranger?
Hmmmm. I’m usually pretty open to helping strangers, especially with giving directions. I evidently have a big sign on me somewhere, in several different languages, indicating that I Know Where I Am, Where I’m Going, and How You Can Know Where You’re Going, Too, since I seem to be frequently asked just that thing.
Got it. We were looking at vacuum cleaners at CostCo. Another couple was, too. I offered them my copy of Consumer Reports. They accepted, but disagreed with the review and bought what they wanted to anyway.
Interestingly enough, another guy who was walking by us a few minutes later offered us advice on vacuums, too.
Still haven’t bought one, though.
All the world’s vaccums must be going at the same time. We need a new one too, but can’t decide on one even with CR.
My problem is that so many vacuums these days seem so ricky-ticky cheap, with lots of plastic bits that look like they’ll snap off even before it gets home.
Exactly. I want one like my mom’s. A canister vac made out of some type of god awful heavy metal. We always called it the cast iron pig, because that’s what it looked like.
It’s still kicking and has to be at least 25 years old.
Mmmmm. Yeah. We also have a big cast-metal Royal that may do a mediocre job, but, damn, you’re not afraid to lug it up the stairs or bump it into things.
Tom Martino, a local consumer advocate, has said that he basically buys whatever’s cheap and plans on replacing it in a year or two when it breaks. I don’t know that I’m at that point yet, but …