A Walk for Tabby

Posted on July 26, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I was unable to write my intended post today (no excuses, just the usual reasons). I see it has been two weeks since my last Pedestrian Post, so I submit the following.

I felt I owed our schnoodle, Tabby, something fun. Last night (Wednesday) we went to the laundromat, a new activity for us, as regular readers may recall. Tabby saw us loading the car and got all excited. We must be going somewhere fun! In her defense, that is usually the only time she sees us making multiple trips between the vehicle and the house.

She looked so happy, I wanted to cry. I knew she would forgive us as soon as we were back home, but still. I suppose the operative thing to have done would have been to take her for a walk immediately upon our return. Or even before we left, so she might be tired and sleep while we were gone. One can often see the perfect thing to have done after the fact.

Be all that as it may, Tabby and I went for a nice walk just now. Yesterday gave us the deliciously cool fall-like temperatures that I love (yes, yet anther reason it would have been a good idea to walk yesterday, will you give it a rest?). Today was warm but not stinking hot. I put on my crazy old lady had and sunglasses and off we went.

It was pleasant in the shade, especially when a breeze blew. We walked one of our usual routes, down to Church Street then over towards Tabby’s and my beloved Historic Four Corners. This was also good for me, because I saw how long it takes to get there. I intend to walk to the Herkimer County Historic Society (one of the four corners) later tonight for a program on Wicked Mohawk Valley (preview of coming attractions).

Tabby did her business before we got to the Four Corners, which was nice, because there is a trash can right in front of the 1834 Jail (another one of the corners). I had another bag in case of further need so did not scruple to get rid of what she’d done so far.

On down Main Street we went. As always I admired the historic looking buildings and lamented the closed businesses. I noticed Christ Episcopal Church is offering a free dinner on Sunday. That might be fun and tasty.

We turned at Park Avenue. Burrito Jones is still promising to come in on that corner, but we did not walk past it, so I could not observe current progress. A young lady passed us going in the other direction and said, “Hi, puppies.” There were two rather adorable dogs across the street in front of the Post Office, so perhaps she was talking to them as well. Or maybe she thought I’d like to be a puppy, too. You never know, I might make a good one.

Meyers Park was especially pleasant with the trees and grass making it a little cooler. We went up the shadier side of Bellinger Street. Some people never cleaned off the mud during the flood so now there are thick patches of dirt on the sidewalks. At least it’s a little softer than bare pavement.

We enjoyed our walk. I had been hoping for a little more excitement, since I intended to write a blog post about it, but one must make do. Now to get ready for the program at the Historical Society, Wicked Mohawk Valley. I ought to fit right in.

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Is Help on the Way?

Posted on July 25, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Flood recovery in the Mohawk Valley continues. This being a topic of surpassing local concern, I dare to write about it, even though I cannot call it “totally fun,” as my subhead promises.

FEMA has deemed individuals in Central New York unworthy of federal aid. They are helping municipalities, which is something (do I mean “municipalities”? “Towns, counties, villages and cities” seemed cumbersome) (I suppose parenthetical comments also become cumbersome, but I gotta be me). Gov. Cuomo has declared that the state will step in and help. Yesterday’s adventure involved the first step in Steven’s and my search for this help.

Actually, one could say we had already taken a first step, because we have gotten in touch with our insurance company to get a statement from them saying we’re not covered. I felt a little silly bothering them. It seems to me one could look at our policy and see there’s no flood coverage. I have also been told, by people with flood insurance, that it does not cover basements, where our damages took place. Still, “everybody” said you needed the official statement. So I bothered them.

I also called FEMA, because somebody on the local news seemed to think it was a good idea. I talked to a nice young lady who told me there really wasn’t anything she could do for me, because there had not been a declaration or delegation or something saying individuals would be helped.

So much for 800 numbers. The state sent people out to help flood victims apply for state aid. Last night (Tuesday), Steven and I went to apply.

The people were going to be at Herkimer County Community College (HCCC) Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. We went Tuesday after work. I had been going to just change my shoes and go in all my blue collar glory, but I felt grubby so decided to shower first.

Then I had to figure out what to wear, never an easy task. My green capris pants were clean and comfortable; I only needed a shirt big enough to cover my fat ass. Usually a Hawaiian shirt fit the bill, but I felt a little silly going out with my begging bowl dressed for a party. Steven was changing into more respectable-looking shorts himself. I finally settled on my t-shirt from Living History Weekend at the Fort Herkimer Church.

Some readers may think it silly that I take up a whole paragraph on wardrobe, but I like to think I was sneaking in a little fun after all.

Handy signs directed us where to go on the HCCC campus. We signed in and were given a form to fill out. Soon we were called in to talk to somebody. A nice young man went over the form with us, answered our questions and explained what would happen next. Then we had an exit interview where they asked us how it went and did we have any suggestions for improvement.

The entire process was actually fairly quick and painless. I must confess as I was debating what shirt to wear, I was fairly dreading the ordeal ahead. I thought the lines would be long, the form would be longer and I just didn’t want to mess with it. It was really not at all bad.

I asked the lady at the exit interview if they were volunteers or paid. She said she worked for the state but had volunteered to do this instead of her regular work. As it extended beyond the normal workday, she was volunteering the extra time. I thought that was pretty cool.

So did I get any help, you may ask. Well, I don’t know yet. This was only step one. But I’ll keep you posted.

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If You Like the Psycho-Biddy Genre

Posted on July 24, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Spoiler Alert! I’m going to give away practically everything for the following movie, because I want to comment on what happens.

I wasn’t going to write about this one at all, because I ended up disliking it so much. However, I mustn’t be selfish. Some of my readers like to read my movie write-ups. And I think many of them particularly like the psycho-biddy genre.

When I saw Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969) on the schedule for TCM, I immediately set it to DVR. We subsequently discovered (but were not surprised, considering the title) that it was produced by Robert Aldrich, the man behind Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (original title Whatever Happened to Cousin Charlotte?).

Aunt Alice stars Geraldine Page and Ruth Gordon. What a pedigree! How could we go wrong?

A better question is how could the script writers go so wrong? The movie opens promisingly enough with a funeral and Geraldine Page all set to be a merry widow. The next scene reveals to her and us that in fact she is left penniless. On to the murders!

The move wastes no time in getting to the murders. On must give them that. My problem is they don’t really explain what’s going on. I know from the description the lady kills her maids for their money and uses their bodies to fertilize her garden, but if that had not been the description, I think I would have gotten a little confused.

Another minor caveat, she’s not exactly fertilizing a garden. She gets her gardener to dig a big, deep hole, gets the maid into the hole and kills her, then plants a big old pine tree on top of the body. That old lady planting a big old pine tree (not a sapling, like a normal murderer would plant) is one of the most unbelievable parts in the picture.

Probably the most unbelievable part is how she gets the maids to work for her in the first place. According to this movie, there are plenty of lonely old ladies with large bank accounts willing to work for chicken scratch. Oh, and who are prepared to work for a raging virago. Seriously, Page is so mean I can’t believe she can get anybody to work for her.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Page was still killing the first maid. In general I have no problem with a thriller that gets right down to the killing. In this case, however, I could have used a scene where she gets the idea to kill the maid for the money. For one thing, they could have explained how the maid got so much money in the first place.

So there Page is, living in Arizona (also never explained) (at least I don’t think she started out in Arizona). At this point I usually make a little self-deprecating remark about how I ought to pay more attention to these things. I’m not sure it would have done any good.

Before Page offs the second maid (that we see; there were others in between), we see a little more of her method. Apparently she dangles her highly profitable stock market investments till the maid invests her own life savings. Without meeting the magic broker or signing any kind of contract. Well, I guess that’s not so far-fetched. People make a lot of stupid mistakes when they think they will get a large return.

Soon another tree is planted and Page is looking for another maid (we suspect now there have been other murders judging by the row of pine trees) (and can I just say, who plants pine trees in the desert, for heavens’ sake?). Enter Ruth Gordon, and we see some more of our killer’s evil method.

“I won’t pay you much,” she says smoothly, as if this were a minor glitch, like not having a vacuum cleaner. “So you won’t be able to save much.”

For God’s sake, who does that? Who makes it a job requirement that the employee have savings because the job pays crap? And who takes a job under those circumstances? Working, I remind you, for a mean, nasty old lady who treats you like dirt?

Then there’s this random beautiful chick who moves into the cabin next door with her nephew. This is a set-up right out of a romance novel: she’s a grieving widow and the nephew has really bad asthma, so the family sends them both to Arizona to heal their respective wounds. Only, of course, she’s not the main character and there’s no Mr. Rochester-type brooding mysterious guy for her to be suspicious of slash fall in love with (yes, you need to say “slash”). What a waste of a perfectly good set up!

She does get a love interest, by the way. It seems both our biddies have nephews. Page’s is married but I doubt that would stop him if Widow were having any of it. She’s not. She has some history with Gordon’s nephew, yet another thing not very well explained. It figures hugely into the plot, however, when they’re off canoodling while Gordon could REALLY use her nephew’s help.

I haven’t even gotten to the dog yet! Beautiful Widow and Asthmatic Boy (yes, it’s her nephew, but I think there are entirely too many nephews in this movie) adopt a stray dog. Of course anybody watching this sort of movie is immediately apprehensive on the dog’s behalf (unless you are an animal hater, in which case, stop reading now, we have nothing to say to each other).

Page is obviously (and not surprisingly) a dog hater. She is additionally concerned that the dog will dig up her handiwork, but come on! Each maid is six feet under with a pine tree planted on top. No mutt is going to dig that shit up without a backhoe.

I had a lot of other problems with this movie, but I think my post is running a bit long. Which, by the way, the movie did, too. I suppose it was entertaining, because I did watch it through to the end, but I didn’t like it. Still, if you like the psycho-biddy genre, it might be worth your time.

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Memory of Past Upsets

Posted on July 23, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I was not going to write a Middle-aged Musings Monday this week. Then in going through my notebook looking for a blank back of a page, I came across something I wrote some months ago. I was upset (never mind about what) and could not write. As I often do, I wrote about how I could not write. It was not a usable post (some of my more sarcastic readers are shuddering at the thought there there is some stuff worse than what I actually publish) (you know who you are), except for a couple of paragraphs I share with you now:

Writing this out is not helping. That has almost always been the case for me. Some people swear by writing when they are upset. They get it all out of their system and feel better. I do not experience this effect. When I write about what is upsetting me, I usually get more upset. I see how completely justified I am in being upset. I wonder why I am not more upset. I marvel at my self-restraint in not killing the people that are making me upset.

One might think this is because I was such a persuasive writer. However, in my adolescent past, when I was ill-advised enough to show what I had written to the culprits causing the upset, it did not bring them to acknowledge the error of their ways. They actually refused to see the irrefutable logic of my position. Their self-delusion appalled me.

I rather liked those last two paragraphs. Then again, perhaps my self-delusion is not appalling others. No matter. It’s Monday. I deem that a short, silly post is acceptable. If anyone disagrees, well, that might upset me. But I probably won’t write a post about how upset I am.

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Cutting the Wine Post Short

Posted on July 22, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I don’t like waiting till after 4 p.m. to write my Sunday blog post. It just encourages me to have another Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

The weekend almost started on Thursday with a wine tasting at Ilion Wine and Spirits. They normally have their tastings on a Friday, but they moved this one to Thursday because the Doo-Dah Parade was on Friday (love that name for a parade).

Steven and I showed up shortly after it began at five. A group of girls had already started sampling, but they made room for us.

I started with a KWV Sauvignon Blanc 2011 from South Africa, which I pronounced Yummy. Oh yeah, for anyone who’s never read one of my postings on wine, I’m not exactly sophisticated in this area. “Yummy” is my ultimate accolade.

Ilion Wine and Spirits always provides a sheet of tasting notes. I suppose if I wanted to sound more better I could crib from that, but that is hardly an act of integrity. The guy there said he just copied what he found on the internet.

The other white I liked was Purato Catarratto Pinot Grigio 2011 from Italy. The notes called it “slightly spitzy.” The guy said it was made from organic grapes. I pronounced it also yummy, but the first one was maybe a little more yummy.

The Rapido Red Sangiovese 2011 (Italy) was described as a “medium-bodied everyday drinking red,” and I thought that apt. You wouldn’t have to be in any particular mood for a wine like that. The other red I liked, Michael David Winery 7 Deadly Zins Zinfandel 2010 (California), was one you did have to be in the mood for. Actually, I guess it’s a mood I often have, because my remark was, “Oh, yeah.” It was a heavier, more robust wine.

Well, I see I have managed to eke out over 250 words on these wines, but I must admit I am kind of having a Wrist to Forehead Sunday. I enjoyed the wine tasting, I’m just not enjoying writing about it. Rather than segue into my usual angst about not being as able to write as I like to be, I’ll sign off. I hope to see you on Monday.

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I Didn’t Wait Till Fall

Posted on July 20, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

So when I got out of bed this morning, knowing that I should run but that I did not want to, I heard thunder and said, “I’m off the hook!”

Halfway through my second cup of coffee I realized it had not thundered again, and I had no excuse. I hadn’t run in at least a week and was feeling rather bad about it. On the other hand, I have a fairly athletic cousin who does NOT run in the summer time, too hot. Couldn’t I follow his example and bag it till fall? Oh, how good would that feel, wait till the temperature cools off and the humidity is gone. Fall, my favorite season. I could start running again in the fall.

Yesterday was the last day of the hideous heat wave, according to certain weather reports. Today should be better, tomorrow better yet. Last night, in fact, brought some cooler temperatures. The fan in my window was not merely pushing around hot air. Phew! Still, it’s not fall. I could wait till fall.

However, as I sat playing solitaire and finishing my coffee, I started to sweat from the humidity. Now I wanted a shower. Well, I showered after four o’clock yesterday afternoon. If I was going to shower again this morning, I had better work up a better sweat than from just playing cards. I got on the running gear.

The temperature was a little better than expected. I had been afraid that waiting till after seven as I had, it might be getting hot already. I was soon feeling the effects of the humidity, though. Ugh. Well, one thing I know is how to persevere.

I struck out down German Street, my goal being the hill at Valley Health. A good enough hill after taking time off. I crossed the street, to avoid what I recalled as some egregious mud further down.

As I ran, I reflected that I had been telling myself I “should” run. Obviously that was silly of me. I’ve spoken about that before: as soon as you think you should do something, it is the last thing you want to do! I thought to myself, “I knew it was a good idea to go running.” In fact, I had said no such thing to myself earlier, and that no doubt explained my reluctance to wriggle into the sports bras. Now that I was out and doing it, I reflected that it was a good idea, and I was happy.

Then I saw some mud even more egregious than what I had crossed the street to avoid. After being really annoyed with myself for forgetting this stretch (after all, I knew that was where the flood had done some pretty extensive damage), I went out in the road to avoid it.

And realized I was NOT on the left side facing traffic. OH NO! That is one of my pet soap boxes. I bitch all the time about people walking and running in the road (often when there is a perfectly respectable sidewalk) in the same direction as cars, sometimes two or three abreast. Grrr! At least there was only one of me and not much traffic. Cross the street to maintain my integrity? Oh, it was less than half a block. I picked up the pace and got back on the sidewalk as soon as I could.

I’d been running a little over ten minutes when I remembered, I like to run. I was coated with sweat in an uncomfortable fashion and I was not running very fast, but dammit, I liked it! Who saw that coming? Not me!

I continued through the streets of Herkimer, feeling pretty good about myself. I almost slipped in some mud and landed on my butt, but avoided that disaster. I took short shuffly steps through the mud after that. Soon I came to a stretch of bare sidewalk and lengthened my pace.

Oh, I was going great! I achieved that loping stride the young folks seem to do with no effort. At least, in my head it was that stride. In reality it was probably only a little longer and faster than my usual middle-aged shuffle. But I enjoyed it.

I ended up running the same length of time as the last time I ran. Incidentally, it was over two weeks ago; I looked it up when I got back home. Tabby graciously walked my cool-down with me. As we walked, the most delicious cool breeze blew in my face. What a great start to my Saturday!

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Keeping It Lame

Posted on July 20, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

There are times when one certainly appreciates Lame Post Friday (one is me in this case). However, one must also admit (still me) that even on Lame Post Friday, one must write something.

One might think I had thoroughly hashed out the subject of How Stupid of a Post Still Counts as a Post (one is not me in this case). One might be right. On the other hand, I’m betting most of my readers don’t read every single post (but God bless you if you do!). On a third hand (using my foot as a hand?), perhaps I can think of something new to say.

Well, I think I did. Using a foot as a hand is not a silly joke I have made before. Perhaps some did not find it a particularly funny joke, but at least it had the charm of originality.

Oh, here’s some half-baked philosophy: what can you say when originality masquerades as talent? Another question: just because something has never been done before is that sufficient reason to do it?

I’m thinking right now of some current and recent movies (like in the last few years). Some movie makers are known for “pushing the envelope” (I might research where that expression came from for another post. I mean, what envelope? Just saying). Torture porn falls under this category, as do ultra violent films. I’m not saying none of these films have artistic merit (I don’t watch many movies from this century). I’m asking, does their entire merit consist in the fact that they have done something that has never been done before? Discuss amongst yourselves.

Well, that was a totally wimp out discussion. You may have noticed I did not mention any specific movies or in fact make a strong stance on the issue. I just brought up the question.

In my defense, the heat wave in the Mohawk Valley continues, and neither my place of employment nor my residence boast air conditioning. And anyone who is rolling their eyes and forming the words, “You think you’ve got it bad” or “I don’t want to hear it,” just give it a rest. My brain has been baked, steamed, boiled and stewed for five days now. This is all I got.

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Fun Breakfast

Posted on July 19, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Last Sunday Steven had the day off, which is rare, and we had a lot of cleaning to do in our recently flooded basement, which these days is not the least bit rare. We still were not able to cook on our stove, and we needed sustenance before we began. I offered to cook scrambled eggs in the microwave, but Steven said, “Let’s go out.” Where to go?

I have often driven by the Family Fun Center, a bright purple and fuchsia Victorian-looking building (not that I know from architecture) on Main Street in Mohawk, NY, but never ventured in. I thought it was more a place that families went for parties or activities or, you know, fun. I knew they did a Friday Fish Fry, because a sign out front says so. A co-worker said they did a good breakfast, so after debating where to go on Sunday, we decided to check it out.

It’s often problematic to go out for breakfast on a Sunday, because this is probably the most popular day for breakfast out. I do hate fighting a crowd. I said if we could find a parking space, we could probably find a seat. As we walked in the back door (we tried the front, but a sign there said to use the back), a little girl immediately said, “Hi!”

“It is a fun center,” I said, after returning the greeting. We sat in a booth and looked around.

It is an old house with large rooms and an ornate ceiling that I admired. The dining room is brightly painted and decorated with retro and antique Coca-Cola memorabilia. I do enjoy a restaurant with cool things to look at. Adjoining the dining room is a room with a pool table and video games. I did not walk in and check out what all they had, but it looked like a fun center to me.

I ordered an egg sandwich on a roll with bacon, egg and cheese. Steven got eggs over medium with bacon, toast and some very yummy potatoes (I tried them). We had a strenuous day of basement cleaning ahead of us, but we felt we had fueled up for the endeavor.

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Where’s Bill Murray When You Need Him?

Posted on July 18, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

OK, so I started to write a post this morning about how hot it is. I knew I had set a precedent for such a subject about a year ago with a post titled “I’m Me-elting” (I know how to make a ping-back to that, but I’m not sure it’s really worth a click) (although I did kind of like the last paragraph).

From that last parenthetical comment you see that I looked up the post. I had, in fact, just about decided not to use what I had written this morning but instead to make it a kind of a cooking post, telling about what I threw together for supper just now. Then I thought, oh what the hell, I’ll look at “I’m Me-elting” first, just to see what I said.

Well, I hadn’t said much about the heat but immediately went into a kind of a cooking post.

What is this, Groundhog Day?

So I’m going back to Plan A and write about the heat, making this another Wuss-Out Wednesday.

This year’s heat wave started just as I was dealing with my flooding woes (I’ll say it again: not as bad as some people’s, but bad enough to upset me!). I said to a friend at work, “I remember last year when the worst thing I had to deal with was how hot it was. Boy, those were the days!”

I thought about that for a minute then said, “Oh dear, do you suppose something worse is going to happen next year, so I’ll say, ‘Last year all I had to deal with was heat and a flooded basement. Boy, those were the days!'”

I live in fear.

Just kidding. I admit to sometimes trying to peer around that figurative bend in the road, to see what stupid thing is going to happen next. But that gets into half-baked philosophy, more suitable for Lame Post Friday. And I just thought of a silly headline that really makes today kind of like Non-Sequitur Thursday.

Incidentally, I thawed some shrimp, made cocktail sauce and cooked broccoli in the microwave. And served some black olives which happened to be in the refrigerator, by way of garnish. I include this information in case anybody is saying, “Gee, I wish she would have done the cooking post.”

I bet nobody was.

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Help from the Belly Up

Posted on July 17, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I realized I had neglected to write about a Mohawk Valley adventure Steven and I had the Saturday before last. We went to the Belly Up Pub in Herkimer, NY for their Summer Saturday, which on July 6 was also a fundraiser for victims of the recent flooding in the Mohawk Valley.

We went to a previous Summer Saturday and enjoyed it very much (perhaps you read my blog post about it). We may not have attended another that Saturday, what with our own flooded basement blues, but we felt we should support the cause. Also, blues notwithstanding (or maybe because of the blues), I thought it would benefit me to get out of the house for the evening.

We stopped for dinner first at Crazy Otto’s Empire Diner, handily located just a few doors down. After filling up on burgers and homemade chips (or is that a misnomer: homemade in a restaurant?) we repaired to the Belly Up.

It was early enough to easily find a table inside (tall bar tables such as I love). We figured we could go outside for dancing later if we decided to. For the moment, the air conditioning felt good.

It continued to feel good, and we ended up not going outside at all. DJ Big Poppa was spinning tunes. We enjoyed his selections. Our friends Phyllis and Jim joined us, and we had a fine time visiting and making silly jokes (two of my favorite pastimes). At one point we saw somebody setting up a camera.

“And me having a bad hair day,” I lamented. This, of course, was another silly joke. I have only one kind of hair day since my St. Baldrick’s Day adventure in June. It’s actually now about a half inch long (haven’t measured). I think it looks cute, although I may be flattering myself.

I didn’t pay too much attention to the camera after that, but I guess they did interview somebody. A fellow I work with saw it on the news and said Phyllis and I were in the background. I knew there was a reason I should watch my local news on Sunday.

We later learned the evening raised over $1,800, to be donated to the United Way CNY Flood Recovery Fund. This is especially good news, as it seems FEMA is not going to come through with help for individuals. In light of that, I’m wondering if we will see fundraisers in other venues. Way to set the example, Belly Up Pub!

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