Thursday, May 28, 2015

Two Bumps on A Log Gonna Hit the Town

I've been dealing with a mild bout of vertigo all day long, since I woke up at 4:00 a.m. It was worse in the morning and started to tip over into an anxiety attack, but I after I had breakfast and Dave had left for work, I went back to bed put on an episode of Inside Amy Schumer to take my mind off of it. I ended up falling asleep for ninety minutes or so and when I got up the anxiety had subsided and the vertigo was a skosh better.

Despite the vertigo, I had a long list of things I wanted to get done today, everything from running errands to scrubbing the shower. I did get most of it done, so wa-hoo.

I went to the co-op for a few things for dinner and a bit of chocolate, too. While I was there, I realized I had forgotten my reusable bag, so I bought one (I think they're around $1.00). When you bring a bag, you get a ten-cent credit which you can either apply to your purchase or donate to a charity that changes every month. Of course, we just donate our dime, but I've seen people refuse to donate and ask for their dime credit. The first time I saw it happen, I was standing in line behind this old couple and when the cashier asked the man if he wanted to donate the bag credit, he looked at the sign for the charity that was posted at the register and he said no. I was, like, wha--? Maybe he disagreed with the charity's mission.

When I got up to the register, I saw that the charity of the month was an animal shelter and I was, like, who refuses to donate a dime to an animal shelter? But the cashier told me that it happens a lot, people would rather keep their dime than donate it to a charity. And it's not like they pick controversial charities. This month's donations go to a group that assists mothers with newborns. In the past, the money has gone to a children's science museum or to the rape crisis center. So I guess I don't understand people who would rather keep their dime than give it to charity.

But I mean, let me say this: When I'm shopping in some big business and I'm asked to donate, I usually say no. Whole Foods and PetSmart always ask for donations and I always say no. Why? Because the business bundles that money and uses the donation as a tax write-off. Since I don't think big businesses pay enough taxes as it is, I refuse to donate through them. However, I do donate my dimes to the co-op charities (since I'm a member/owner of the co-op) and I did recently donate to a charity through Costco, because I appreciate Costco's business model and the fact that they pay their employees a living wage (an average of over $20/hr, which is almost two and a half times the minimum wage). So I donated through them. And of course we do donate to other causes, too, on our own. I just don't do it through big businesses.

So that was a big rant, wasn't it? Sorry.

Anyway, so I got my co-op shopping done. And I went by the vet to pick up some cans of a special, prescription diet that we're trying on Gray Kitty to help with his urinary tract issues. Then I did a bunch of little chores around the house.

While I worked I watched a couple of episodes of Grace and Frankie, the new Netflix series starring Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. Man, there is some serious plastic surgery going on with those two, but the show is amusing. I didn't like it so much at first, but I stuck with it since I've loved Lily Tomlin since I was a kid. By the third episode it had grown on me. Now I'm six episodes in, and there's another seven or so left after this. It makes for some good background noise.

Oh, and one of the other things I did today was decide that Dave and I need to start going out from time to time instead of spending all our evenings sitting at home like two bumps on a log. I looked up some events on the local indie newspaper website (they list all kinds of concerts, performances, art gallery openings, and so on). I found a couple of options and texted them to Dave for his input. We decided to go see a local theater production of Spamalot, the Monty Python-created musical comedy. (It was that or a ninety-minute walking tour of haunted downtown spots. But maybe we'll go to that next week. Or maybe we'll go to Friday Fractals next week. We haven't done that in awhile and I love it, so maybe that instead and the ghost tour the week after.)

Anyway, it's time to get started on dinner. I'm wavering between bean burritos with homemade salsa and vegetarian meatball sandwiches. Oh, I have to use up some avocados, so I'll go with burritos and make salsa and guacamole. Okay, that's decided!

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