...Transportation Is a State Of Mind

     Its been quite awhile since I've written my blog, in fact, since I've written at all! My 2 year old computer crashed and i think it may be a fatality...if its fixable , my budget would crash at the cost. I haven't taken it anywhere for a look-see because I no longer have a car!
    For many people this state of affairs would be traumatic beyond dealing with; For others, a mild inconvenience. Thankfully, I'm part of the second group. I'm not totally undone about being without a car but there have been times I looked outside, don't see my car and get pretty upset, especially when i wanted to run out quickly for something I needed.
     Organization is key when you don't have a car.  I said car.. not transportation. Transportation is there...everywhere. Buses go to stores, strip malls and big town centers. Airports and train stations are serviced by bus, tram and Service Vans that pick you up at home and take you and your luggage to the airport or train station. Since I'm disabled and a boomer I can
arrange for a van ride to anywhere in my city. What I usually do is go where they're going; like to the the Walmart. I can pick up most anything I need there  and the socialization on the van is great for me. One of the star attractions is that the Van drops you off at the Walmart door....no more endless walk through a vast parking lot.
     Then, of course, there's the  taxi. I try to avoid this as much as possible because it is costly and time-consumming since you can't set a pick up time with a taxi cab. You have to call when your finished what your doing and wait for them to come. Soimetimes its a long wait. I always make sure there is a coffee spot where I can sit, have some coffee and read my book. I always bring my Kindle when I call a Taxi!
     Getting groceries is a problem for me without a car...actually it was a problem when I had a car also. Groceries are heavy! The young bagger will help you put them in your car but its up to you to unload them, get them up the stairs and into your kitchen. Bringing home the bagger to help you is not negotiable. This is something I almost can't do! Sometimes, depending on how my breathing was, it would take me 2 or 3 hours to unload the car and another couple of hours to put it all away with lots of sit down breaks. Not anymore!  I have groceries delivered! This cost $6.95 a delivery and a computer is necessary but it's so-o-o worth it! It just takes organization.
Achieving the organization it takes to be car-less is a subject for another post. take it from me, a car is just one type of transportation and not owning a car is never as bad as you think it will be.

....Dog Days of Summer

   Went to the Dr on Monsday. Turns out I did have a sinus infection. He gave me pills and thank heaven above I'm more myself and not the half depressed/half angry slog I'd become. In fact my mood is what pushed me to the Dr. not for the mood but to see where the infection was.  Invariably my mood hits low when I have an infection or cold or something. Putting Ellie, my sweet dog ,down didn't help at all. Besides being borderline sick I'd lost my best friend! Last September I lost my first best friend, my husband and I'm not standing up straight from that just yet. I wish the dealer of bad circumstances would watch the timing a little more. Two great big losses in a year can be a hard pill to swallow!  The word about town is that if it don't kill ya, it makes ya stronger.!  This year I'm Hercules.

....more secret summer

Well my computer just shut itself down right in the middle of me working on my blog to do an "auto adjustment". Pretty cheeky, I'd say! I never invited my computer to do this!

Anywa, I had to start all over again....now where were we? Summer in Portland. These past weeks have been "keep it to yourself" beautiful, in fact, gorgeous days. Portlanders tend to walk around with their finger to their mouths saying "sh-h-h-h-, don't tell anyone else about Portland in summer!" I think the fear is more people will want to move here especially if they're suffering through 3 digit humid temperatures. Because of the job situation, or non-job I should say, Portlanders are all for everyone staying put and not arriving in Portland because of the beautiful weather. We don't have many jobs either, ya know!

Portland isn't always like this. I've melted through triple digits a few times in the seven years I've been here....might even this year yet. We've still got about 6 weeks to go so all we can do is hope it won't ramp up.

I wish I could put a picture in my blog but I don't dare because it will either be huge or teen-weeny like the one at the top of my blog! I'm workin' on it!

Secret Summer

Well, Here I am again. I've been just silent for a long time. I think part of it was being stressed about my sweet dog. Last week I had to put her down she was so bad off. She was diagnosed with a sarcoma about 2 mos. ago and it grew and grew and grew! She looked like the devil himself with one unicorn horn sticking out of her head. Her face soon filled up with pus and she began to smell...it was time to let her go. She was tired and couldn't hold her head up for too long but, you know, she still ate and begged for treats!! The girls at the Vets really helped. They walked her into the room petting her and giving her treats all the way. I couldn't go in. Thats OK. I don't feel bad about that. What I do feel bad about is that she is gone!. My buddy! I still talk to her every night like I used to. She's not there in my room but I think she hears me ..Wherever she is. RIP Ellie girl.

Blogger : Boomer Banter :: Configure Image

Blogger : Boomer Banter :: Configure Image

.....Needing some lessons

I'm going to be working on this blog in order to "prettify it" so Boomers Banter will go silent for awhile for awhile doing this, or learning how to do this. Unfortunatly, since I don't know how to organize sections in one blog...I'll be learning that too and posting how it's working...on this blog (sorry)!
If anyone can point me in the right direction to get the photo below the header smaller...please e-mail me! Thanks

Girl cats....

Ya gotta love 'em....kitty-cats, almost grown up cats but still kitties. I inherited two of them a few months ago and it was so good for me. John, who was my best friend and ex-husband loved cats. There was a feral mama-cat hanging around the property where he lived. She gave birth to kittens to the delight of John who became their "godfather". When they started to eat instead of nursing, he began to bother at me to take 2 of them because they needed a home.


"For pete's sake, I said, they're cats they've got a home with their mom."


This statement comes from the way that I grew up, actually. I always wanted a cat when I was a girl but, in my family, cats belonged outside. So we had a alot of feral cats around in the empty lot close to our house. As I got older, I thought all cats were like that. Living outside and not to be petted or touched at all.


John had a different cat upbringing, his mom loved cats and they were always around and in the house. He liked cats himself and what's more, he appreciated them.




Well, one day he arrived at my house with one of these feral babies ... that was it.. I was in love with this soft little mocha colored ball of fluff with full black feet who seemed to like me too! A few days later he showed up with Mocha's sister. Instant love..this was definitely a cat's cat, white and grey mug with a white vest and pure white feet, she was a darling. Well , what did it for me was when the two sisters found each other, curled up together and went for a nap.


Needless to say, they stayed with me but John didn't. He passed away unexpectedly a week or so after bringing the cats to me.

Having the "girls" as I began to call them kept me balanced in a world that had completely changed for me. To feed them, hold them , laugh at their antics, even work to get them both spayed at a reasonable price, all of these actions around the girl cats helped me stay upright in a crooked world.