A day ago, after a long walk and several stops, I lay down to rest at home and was awakened by a phone call. The fellow wanted Ed. I got up to look for him (I should have remembered he was gone for most of the day on elder business but was groggy) and went back to the phone, Ed-less.

The guy was hard to understand, there was a lot of noise in the background. He said he was with “USA Initiatives”. I told him Ed was out. Then he asked me if either one of us suffered from sleep apnea and I realized it was a con. I said no and he seemed disbelieving as if “who doesn’t suffer from sleep apnea?” The noise was probably due to his calling from, perhaps, a booth at McDonald’s. What a nuisance. And as I think of it, I may have talked to him before on a different scam. Maybe we get these calls because we are seniors and you know how gullible seniors can be. Sure would love to trace him and put him out of business.

I Googled his so-called company name and found that it exists as a worldwide organization of people building bridges to each other to further cooperation and understanding. Nothing about sleep apnea. I guess he thought “initiatives” sounded important and cool and who could resist an outfit like that. Reminds me of an acquaintance who invented an alias for himself so he could be his own agent and chose Walter Reed because it sounded nice. I asked him if there was a reason he had chosen the name of the hospital for his alias and he was dumbstruck and since he had already used it in a couple of letters, realized he had sunk himself, and particularly because he was targeting firms in Washington.

My gtf (go-to-friend), Nadine, has her sister, Ruth, visiting from Canada. Nadine has been on a merry-go-round for several months with relatives visiting, and her son twice, with his wife and children, and she is looking for a break. I thought I would have her and Ruth over for lunch, and then thought why not invite the lunch group – Sonia, Toni, Fatima. Nadine, mindful of my slow recovery, said I was not up to it and why put myself through all that. And I thought, yes, I’d have to clean the house (or hire it done – that sounds better) and make the lunch. Nadine was agin’ it and she has tried to talk me out of this kind of thing before because she doesn’t realize I spent years – years – in New York, of living a fly-by-night life and never being a hostess, and that maybe I might enjoy doing it even if it is work. I laughed and said it wasn’t up to her. But I haven’t made up my mind yet, because she does have a point about my energy level.

I have shared a couple of political links on Facebook because they make it so easy to do and have posted some critical remarks about Sanctimoniorum and realize it has its uses in reaching people. I don’t have grandchildren to post pix about or talk about how cute they were spitting up and wouldn’t, anyway, even if I did. This use of it makes more sense to me. And, although I can be reasonably personal on this blog, I am not inclined to do the same on Facebook.

xx, Teal