Ed pulled himself together yesterday and drove to Orlando for a guardian meeting. He had to go to maintain his standing. He wanted me to go too but I was counting on the alone time to get some things done. And leaving the kitties is always troublesome. Sol said she would come stay with them so I’ll think about letting her do that some other time. I don’t like to pack for a short trip since it is a chore I hate.

Sol came by last night for help with a presentation she must make about Yersinia pestis (the bubonic plague). I help her with her English. Ed helps her with the medical minefield that nursing school studies are. (He went to medical school but had to drop out to take care of his mother and sister.) It was a mitzvah on my part because I was ready to drop. One “benefit” I get when working with Sol is that I learn a lot about things that otherwise would never come up. You don’t want to hear about the plague, trust me. But you should all know it is not eradicated and outbreaks can still happen. At the end, the course calls for 5 reasons why we should pay attention. One suggestion I made was “We could be next.” I wasn’t serious but Sol liked that and we made it the 5th reason.

We were having problems with TV reception – programs would stop, streaming would pause every few seconds for loading. Dish sent us a new box, or whatever that thing is, and I helped Ed install it. He can’t reach under the cabinets and I find that difficult too. Yesterday, I dropped off the old box at UPS.

In BJ”s parking lot last Friday, I pulled into a small space. My car touched the bumper of the car in the next slot, and I pulled out. I checked the fenders, no damage, I found another spot. A vigilante phoned the police because I didn’t leave my information, not thinking it necessary. I was questioned and have to go to court on August 4th. On the citation, the cop wrote “Damage: NONE”. But he cited me anyway. Probably has to meet a quota.

Then two days ago, the owner of the car, who, of course, does not know what the cop wrote, but was given my information, and would never have guessed anything happened but was informed by the observer who waited around for him, called my insurance company and filed a claim. There were scratch marks on his fender caused by a sideswipe. There was no paint offset on my car. I explained to the insurer what happened and she said they would probably deny the claim. What a weasel.

The citation misidentified my car as a 2004, but it is a 2009. It was suggested that this error might invalidate the citation. Also, police do not have the authority to detain people for minor offenses on private property, such as the BJ lot. We’ll see what happens. My best defense is I was not detained while being black.

xx, Teal

P. S. On another irrelevant but strangely pleasing event, Demi Moore and Bruce Willis are getting married again.