X-New York Gal

posted by Evi on Aug 7

It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything and I apologize. We’re just living day to day around here, like everyone else.

Monday I had some eye surgery to get rid of floaters in my left eye, so we’ll see how that goes (no pun intended). One of the bad things about this is I can’t wear makeup. Ack! Have you ever seen a naked face? How am I supposed to go out in public or to work, no less? (And, no, I’m not posting a picture of me sans makeup! Vanity, thy name is me.

Tonight’s our going out to dinner and playing cards with Al and Dee night so I’ll be facing the public with my makeup-less face and bloodshot eye. Better keep my sunglasses on so I don’t gross everyone out.

Right now my husband’s at work so it’s pretty quiet around here – no TV going all day long. Aah, peace and quit – I love it. Smoochie Cat’s sleeping in some hidden spot and Pistol is sleeping on his bed on his back with his short little legs spread wide open. That’s a sight to behold.

The house is a mess – my excuse being I just had eye surgery. Bill’s been cooking all week, but then he usually does anyway since he doesn’t care for my cooking. He likes plain meat and potatoes stuff whereas I like something with a little more taste and less fat. Cook separate meals, you might suggest? Hell no! If I can get out of cooking, that’s fine by me.

Well, that’s my week so far. I think I need a change of scenery.

posted by Evi on Jul 3

Okay, okay, okay.  It’s been a while between posts but I’m going to stop beating myself up over it.  I’ll have to get back on some type of schedule again.  Fact is, nothing exciting has been happening in my life.

I know I said I’d blog about the good old days when I worked in NYC so I’ll start going through my memory bank and see what I can conjure up.

Right now I’m sitting here with Smoochie Cat on my lap so I’m trying to type while looking over the cat’s head and with my arms on either side of him.  There’s something about me sitting in front of the computer that makes him decide to demand attention.

Bill is napping and I’m waiting for him  to rest up after a days work, shower, dress and take me to dinner.  Our friends, Al and Dee, haven’t gotten back from their vacation yet.  It’s been about 5 weeks now.  We usually go out to dinner with them on Friday nights, then play cards. (Yes, that’s what seniors do for excitement!)

God!  Seniors!  I certainly don’t feel that old.  In my mind I’m still in my 20’s or 30’s.  Just wish the old body looked like that of a 20 or 30 year old.  Hell, I’d settle for 40.  I used to love looking in the mirror or having my picture taken but that’s changed.  I’m not as photogenic as I used to be.

I know I’m kind of rambling but I really hadn’t planned out what I was going to write about.  I figured I’d better just write about something to let you all know I’m still kicking!

Getting along

posted by Evi on May 30

I’m sitting here at the computer watching the clouds roll in.  Maybe we’re in for some rain. I love rain!  Down here in Florida we’ve just gone about six months with a very minimal amount of rain.  Now that we’re in May, rainy season is about to start.  The grass is finally turning green after half a year of being brown and prone to catching fire. 

But even that’s a big disappointment to a rain-lover.  The clouds open up, pouring down torrents of water; lightning zigzags across the sky and hits all around us; and the thunder has The Smooch and Pistol running for cover – BUT it lasts for only a half hour or so if we’re lucky.  Then the sun returns and we’re back to the temperatures of hell.

Okay, so I'm cheating a little. This was taken after Hurricane Wilma.

I remember the days back in New York when it would rain for days on end.  I loved watching the rain beat against the windows while I felt all cozy inside the house.  I especially loved the chilly rains of October and November.  Throw in a little sleet and I was in my glory.  This was the time for cooking soup and letting the pot simmer on the stove for hours while I sat with my feet up reading a book.  Do I ever miss New York rain!

Right now the rain is ticking against my window and the palm trees outside are gracefully swaying in some kind of dance.  But I’ve barely blinked and there’s a patch of blue and it’s getting wider and wider.  The sun is now back in full force and it’ll be unbearably hot once more.

So I guess I’ll be spending most of my day playing around on the computer or reading a book.  But it’s just not the same.

posted by Evi on May 21

1. Planning the trip – I like sitting around making up lists, then crossing off items as

they get done.

2. Getting away from home and into the fresh air – a change of scenery is always nice.

3. Husband does most of the cooking since grilling is man’s work – besides I’m afraid of the grill and getting burned. My husband handles pain better than I do.

4. Being with our friends and playing cards every night – maybe this’ll be the night the girls win. It’s not that the guys are better players – they’re not – it’s just that they get all the right cards. That’s called luck!

5. Biking and walking around looking at other people’s campers and sites- let’s face it, I’m a bit of a voyeur.

Cute, but hazardous!

1. Cleaning the camper before heading out – you know, vacuuming, dusting and

helping husband with the power washing. He washes and I hose it off.

2. Loading the camper – Going up and down the damn steps a countless number of times with full loads. Good exercise, though. Builds up those arm and leg muscles.

3. Being in a cramped space with a husband, cat and dog. The cat sleeps all day so he’s not in the way, but trying to move without bumping into a husband or tripping over the dog can be tricky. Okay, I know I’m supposed to be outside enjoying nature, but that brings me to the next item.

4. Mosquitoes and other biting things – if there’s anything I hate, it’s itchy welts. Listening to whining insects around my head is a close second.

5. Unloading the camper – yup, here we go again. Up and down those steps again.

6. Cleaning the camper after getting home – and yes, we go through this whole procedure again.

Can’t wait till the next trip!

posted by Evi on May 13

Actually, I had written up a list of things to blog about and as soon as I find the list I’ll start writing about some of those things. In the meantime, however, we did go camping with Al and Dee this past weekend. They had just bought a new trailer after a very bad accident they had with their other trailer about two years ago. So this was their maiden voyage in the new one.

Since the campground (W.P. Franklin, a Corps of Engineers Campground – and they keep these campgrounds immaculate) wasn’t too far from home, Bill and Al went back to Al’s house to get his boat since we were right on the river. So we got some boating in. In the next few days I’ll tell you what I like about camping and what I hate about it. So if anyone out there plans on going camping check this out first.

Below are a few pictures taken at the campground:

Our camp site

Our camper

Smoochie Cat's favorite spot

Look who came for dinner!

posted by Evi on Mar 26

I know, I know, I’ve been very remiss in posting to my blog. As I’ve said before, I get lazy. My brothers have mentioned to our Mom that I haven’t written anything lately so I guess it’s about time I do.

So . . . Last weekend Bill and I, along with our menagerie of one cat and one dog, took our RV over to the east coast of Florida. I have a girlfriend (dating back to the 1970s when we worked together) who lives over in Boca Raton and she invited us over for a barbecue. Also at the barbecue was another gal we worked with at the time and who I haven’t seen in about 20 years. (It’s amazing how we never seem to age!)

We left the west coast on a beautiful sunny morning. Pistol, our Shi Tzu, was a very good traveler. He lay down in one spot and hardly moved. Smoochie Cat, on the other hand, is not the best of travelers. We can’t put him in a pet carrier because his yowling would be enough for Bill to either dump him alongside the road or run the RV into a tree. Therefore the only way to get him to shut up is to put him on my lap where he’ll stay for awhile, at least until my circulation stops and my legs get numb. After that he lay on the floor near the dog for awhile or slept on the couch. So the trip east wasn’t as eventful as it could have been.

By the time we got to the other side the sun was gone and in its place were heavy gray rain clouds. We picked up the rental car (we don’t have a tow bar yet) and headed over to the campground. We pulled in and I looked around.

This is it? I thought. Kinda small and all the RVs seemed pretty close together. One of them had a cage outside of it with two very big dogs. Oh no, don’t put us next to that one.

No one was in the office and a sign on the door stated they’d be back at 1:00. Great. That gave us a half hour in which to wait around. We walked the dog and explored the club house which had sort of an indoor pool, a laundry room and even a kitchen. Okay, it looked clean enough. Eventually the manager returned and placed us on a site that was actually pretty decent. We could look out the windows without anyone staring back at us and had nothing behind us except a fence. However, behind that fence was a daycare center. Nothing like the sound of laughter and shrieking of little kids.

During the night it poured and the wind kicked up. Of course, the barbecue was scheduled for later that afternoon. We hung out in the RV until it was time to leave because Bill wasn’t feeling all that well. This meant tripping over or stepping on the dog all day. At least the cat slept on the bed most of the time so he wasn’t underfoot. Before we left, I asked Bill to take down the awning because of the high wind gusts.

Naturally, it rained on the trip to my girlfriend’s condo and also after we got there (and when we left). Actually, this was reminiscent of the Fourth of July BBQ she had the year before last. It poured then, too.

But in spite of the weather we had a great time talking about old times, the people we knew and catching up with each others‘ lives. And, no, we haven’t aged a bit.

posted by Evi on Mar 11

Getting old’s a bitch especially when senility sets in. Recently after one of our Friday night out-to-dinners with friends Al and Dee, we stopped at Goodwill to see what kind of interesting stuff we could find. I always head straight to the books and Bill heads straight toward useless knick-knacks. Al and Dee head off in opposite directions to ‘wherever’.

I usually look for novels or cookbooks to either add to my already extensive collection or to try to (one of these days) resell on E-Bay. Mind you, I don’t cook much, if at all. My collection started when I was a little kid. My Mom, grandmother and I would go shopping at the local Bohacks in Huntington and I would ask them to buy me one of the cookbooks the store sold or I would collect the little flyers and cards with recipes on them. I loved looking at the pictures of food when I was hungry. This would really start my stomach growling.

Anyway, getting back to the subject, I bought an old book that had pictures of what meals containing various amounts of calories should look like. It was kind of picture book for dieters. I had never seen a book like this before and thought it looked interesting. I brought it home, threw it in a pile with my other recent acquisitions and figured I’d get around to looking at it one of these days.

The other day I decided to look through the book. I searched through the pile of books I hadn’t put away yet and it wasn’t there. I looked again, then again. No book. I knew I had bought the book so I began looking through all my cookbooks. Couldn’t find the damned thing. I called my Mom thinking maybe for some reason it landed over there. Why? I have no idea. Then I called Dee. Did I leave it in their car by any chance? Nope. I searched my car – several times – and had Bill dig through every compartment in his vehicle. No book.

Now finding this book was getting to be a matter of principle. I looked all over the place again for a dark gray hardcover book with black and white photos. Nothing, nada. Now I’m thinking – did I actually buy it? God, maybe I dreamt it and there really was no book. But no, I remember holding it in my hands in the store, looking at the old black and white photos. Maybe I decided not to buy it and put it back on the shelf. Nah, this was the type of book I would probably buy. But then again, maybe I didn’t.

This was now starting to drive me crazy and one day after work I drove over to the Goodwill where I thought I had bought the book. I searched the shelves but found nothing resembling this book. I finally gave up and went home. This was really starting to bother the crap out of me.

One of the projects on my to-do list was to organize my bookshelves so on my day off I began pulling books out of my book cases. I found a thin spiral bound book with a colorful cover. What was this one? I opened it to find color photos of different meals with different calorie counts. My book! It was here all the time, only it wasn’t a dark gray hard covered book with black and white photos. So much for memory. As I said, getting old’s a bitch.

posted by Evi on Mar 1

I know I haven’t written in well over a week but things have been just way too hectic. Every time I planned to do anything, something else would come along and my whole day would change course and be shot to hell. You see, I work two days a week and then plan what I’ll do with the rest of the week. But lately all sorts of wrenches have been thrown into my plans.

In addition to that, I’m also one of the laziest persons I know of. I have to be in the mood to do something. Don’t ask me to clean house or straighten after I get home from work. In fact, don’t ask me to do anything. If I’m lucky my husband won’t like what I’ve decided to make for dinner and he’ll cook (this takes well-thought-out menu planning on my part) . I don’t mind the cleanup after dinner; it’s just wipe the table and countertop, rinse the dishes and dump them in the dishwasher. Voila! Done. Crumbs on the floor? Never mind; I’ll get them the next time I vacuum – whenever that is.

So here it is Sunday and I haven’t done much of anything except go out shopping or sit in front of the computer playing games. It’s hard to concentrate when Bill’s home and the TV is on; I’m used to my quiet time during the week. I finally had to force myself to sit still and write something for my blog. So here goes:

Thursday was my birthday and I was _2 years old (no, that’s not a typo. I’m not giving out the first number!) It’s amazing how one doesn’t feel her or his age. Mentally, I feel like I’m barely out of my 20’s.

But when I think about it, when I was in my 20’s I thought people my age were really old. I guess years ago women let their hair go gray then permed and dyed it blue, plumped up and wore old lady dresses and glasses with the chains hanging down so they could wear them around their necks when not reading. They also used to wear those clunky-heeled black shoes that laced up and were worn by everyone’s grandmothers. (Sad to say, I’ve actually seen the style coming back.)

I remember back in my schooldays, all my teachers seemed really old when in reality they were probably only in their 20’s and 30’s. I’d hate to think what children would think my age is.

My Mom looks pretty damn good compared to other people her age (which I’m not giving out either). She’s slim, her face isn’t wrinkly and she doesn’t wear old lady clothes. She also reads, does puzzles, walks or rides her bike daily and doesn‘t overeat or sit munching junk food all day. Which is something I should take to heart if I want to be fit and still look good 20 years from now.

So there you have it, the basics of staying young and healthy long past your prime. Maybe I’ll make that my New Years Resolution (next year, that is).

posted by Evi on Feb 20

Somewhere along the line during my New York City days, I got a job working for an insurance agent who had his office within W____& W______, the parent insurance agency. What was good about the job was that I worked on my own without a supervisor whereas all the other girls in the office were under the jurisdiction of the office manager, M., who was the typical (at that time) old maid. She had to have been in her 40’s and ruled with an iron fist. I don’t think I ever saw that woman smile.

One of the things I hated about that agency was the formality. The gals were all expected to address the men agents as Mr. So and So while we were called by our first names. This did not sit too well with me, so I was on a first name basis with most of the guys including my married male boss who was forever making passes at me. (Nowadays I could have slapped him with a sexual harassment suit.)

When I had previously worked for the GAB, a fun office, we were all on a first name basis. I was one of the few employees who called the manager Mr. H. because I used to baby sit for him and his wife and in that day and age it was customary to refer to your parents’ friends as Mr. and Mrs. So and So. (Not like today, where no respect is shown for one‘s elders.)

Anyway, my bosses’ agency floundered and he and I ended up working for W____& W______ which, much to my horror, made M. my boss. She was forever taking me aside and chastening me when I slipped up and called one of the guys by his first name. Of course I didn’t let this stop me; I’m stubborn that way and the guys certainly didn‘t mind..

One day M. called me over to her desk and informed me that I would have a supervisor. That, too, didn’t sit too well with me. My supervisor, D., was a new employee, a very attractive dark-haired woman who was probably in her early 30’s. We got along very well and I looked up to her. I must say one of the things I learned from her and remember to this day is that before you ask questions, read the information first to see if you can find the answer. If not, then ask. I guess she got tired of my asking her questions every five minutes. I admit I was too lazy to read through the insurance policies and such. But D. was right; I usually found my answers by reading.

She left the agency before I did to go into business with a friend and one day I drove to Jersey to visit her and to see her new business. We later went back to her apartment where I met her daughters and we had dinner. Afterwards she led me back to the highway and we stopped at a restaurant near there for a goodbye drink. And that was the last time I’d seen her until that day in Fort Myers more than 30 years later.

posted by Evi on Feb 15

About a year and a half or two years ago I was looking for a job to supplement my two day a week job so I submitted applications all over the internet especially to the hospitals and school districts. I figured there had to be some sort of office work out there. (Turned out I was wrong.) I finally got contacted by the hospital system and was informed I had to take typing and Microsoft Excel tests.

Okay, with the typing I can more or less hold my own – about 55 to 60 wpm. But Excel is another story. I know enough to work with spread sheets and I’ve taken classes but since I hadn’t worked with it in a long time I managed to forget most of what I had learned. (Which, needless to say, came out loud and clear on my test results.)

So anyway, I showed up at the place where I had to take the test and walked over to the counter to sign in. A woman asked if she could help me and I told her I was here for the typing test. As I looked at her face I thought she looked familiar. I was trying to figure out where I had seen her before, then noticed her name tag. No way, it couldn’t be. But then again, maybe. The last name was different – not that I remembered her last name – and she could have gotten married since I had last seen her.

She took me to the computer and gave me the instructions for the test. Meanwhile I was thinking I’ve got to find out if she’s who I think she is. I mean I’m talking about someone I worked with in New York City more than 35 years ago. She would have been in her early 30’s and I in my – oh never mind how old I was at the time. She was about to leave me to my typing when I finally summoned up every last shred of courage and asked her where she was from.

“New Jersey.” She answered.

“Did you ever work in New York City?” Me.

“Yes.” She.

“Was it an insurance agency?” Me.

“Yes, W____ &W______.” She.

It was she! I then told her we used to work together and spouted out whatever I could remember about her at the time. We chatted for a while, then I had to take my test and when I left we hugged goodbye.

I got into my car with the weirdest feeling having run into someone from my NYC past. I remembered her as she looked 35+ years ago when she and I were much younger and how much the two of us had changed since then and I was overwhelmed with an indescribable nostalgia. All the way home I ached for my lost NYC days and the way things were. I missed my old friends, the commuting, the subway and, yes, even my jobs – not to mention my lost youth.