Well, even though we are going to Jean’s house (she’s Ed’s lawyer friend he is working with in the elder care field) for Thanksgiving dinner, Ed wants to order a cooked turkey from Publix that we will heat up, just for us, because HE LOVES TURKEY and wants to have some around for countless snacks through the days following. I will say that is not as daunting as having guests, and I can make Stove Top stuffing, adding, perhaps a little sage and maybe some diced apple. If you are not cleaning your house for days before and worrying about lots of people, it ought not be so exhausting.

It is so tempting, also, to get a pie from Bob Evans or Perkins (they do have good desserts) that can tempt one for days on end. Oh, oh, oh.

My E mail has burgeoned again to over 250 E mails, so if some of your past posts have gone unacknowledged, please forgive me. I am slowly working my way through.
Did I mention Ed and I went to a local Democratic Club meeting recently? (I have been managing by resting all day and pulling myself together for the event.) There were about 20 people who came and we anticipated a speaker who would speak definitively about the Wall Street mess, maybe learn something, and/or meet some like minds. But what the organizer had in mind was a lecture off the internet and she wanted all of us to bring lap tops on which to get it (we don’t have one). There was a delivery problem and she couldn’t get the program at all and we all waited around while she fussed with her computer and made calls to the server. She apologized without (I would have been mortified) showing a shred of embarrassment. Finally, we just talked as a group. We left our E mail addresses on the roster and our reward is that everyone in the group is now inundating us with E mails – I get 8 or 10 a day from various members who were there. These communications appear to be therapy for this bunch. They don’t know we don’t need to hear their minutiae. Need I say that after I looked at a couple, I am now deleting them all without looking. I am not deleting as spam because I don’t want to be bitchy. I now know what is wrong with Democrats – all talk and no action.

The other thing that has escalated to an alarming degree this year is solicitations for contributions. I am getting 8 to 10 hard copy requests every week from animal rights groups, political arms of the Democratic party, charities who feed the homeless, activist groups who advocate for the disadvantaged. The ASPCA and the Humane Society write at least twice a week every week sending gifts (return labels, key rings, T shirts, a tote bag) to guilt you into making contributions. I am starting to throw these items away unopened because I do not have the energy to even open the envelopes. It’s hard enough to winnow out the important mail without this influx of do-good leeches who don’t know when enough is enough. But they all do it, so I guess it’s working for them. I am seriously considering sending this mail back marked “refused”. It seems draconian but what else can I do. The sheer work of it is draining. I’d rather contribute directly to local animal shelters than buy into this institutional usury. And, of course, I will think long and hard before making any contribution to a new group, no matter how worthy, because the result is you get on their sucker list and they sell your name to other groups.

Them’s me thoughts.

xx, Teal