Vacuum, Deck, Car, Grocery

The random thought of the day.  Like many children, I used to have imaginary friends.  I realize that I now have an imaginary friend.  It's Bob.   I still talk to him in my head, and sometimes out loud.  I picture him in the chair beating me at Jeopardy.  I keep thinking the words to the song: "You're still here, next to me.  Out of reach, somewhere I can't be."   I still often say "We" and "Our" instead of "I."  I've stopped fighting that.

I still observe how he worked.  A couple of days ago, the vacuum cleaner stopped picking up stuff.  In Ye Olde Dayes, I would comment that it wasn't working, and then it would somehow be fixed and working again.  But at least I hung around and watched him.  I remember us both laughing hysterically once when I wasn't getting any suction at all, and assume whatever part it was that created the vacuum wasn't working.  But he detached the hose, gave a mighty blow into it, and a mortar round of cat fur came flying out and exploded on the wall.  So I check the hose - suction there.  I opened the cleaner up and took out the filters and washed them.  Cleaned the beater bar.  Still no pickup.  Modern makes of vacuums aren't designed to be taken apart, but I did some probing at the base with a crochet hook and lo! and behold! apparently I sucked up a ferret because there was a huge plug of fur down there.  Problem solved.

Then I spent a couple of hours powerwashing the deck because it had gotten a bit green and very slippery when it rained and falling is not my idea of a good time.  Again - in the past might not have been my job.  But I knew where the power washer was, and how to hook it up and use it, and got the job done.  Besides, it's kind of fun using one of those (well, it was fun for the first hour.  Just got sort of tedious after that)  But the results are gratifying.  In a day or two I'll coat the deck with Thompson's Water Seal and that should hold it for awhile.

Middle patch still waiting it's turn

Got the car fuel pump replaced today - I wrote about wondering how single people do this sort of thing.  Well, they think to ask for a ride.  I arranged to do it on a work day.  One of the keepers, Shelby, lives within five minutes of the car place and picked me up on the way to work.  The car was done by the time I finished my shift, and one of my co-volunteers also lives nearby so gave me a lift back.  They were both happy to do it; I'm just not used to asking for favors.

Between the dealership and home is a Korean grocery store, so I decided to stop by.  I like it - it's both exotic and familiar.  Exotic, because there are a lot of things there that I have no idea what they are or what one should do with it.  Familiar, because it's small and we've (yes, we) been going there for years.  I can get all sorts of noodles there, and sauces, and bags of dumplings.  I bought a small cleaver there before we went to Gainesville because I thought I'd be cooking when Bob was in rehab and communal kitchens never have decent knives.  The owner is nice, and the cashier shares my fondness for bats.

So I pull into the parking lot, and it's closed.  As in permanently closed.  Not "moved to new location."  Looked online later and it was another Covid victim - not enough business to keep open.  I just sat in the parking lot for awhile and remembered.  Remembered being there with Bob, looking at artisanal sesame oil and weird seasonings and even found a Korean style garden trowel in a corner (it's still my favorite) and odd kitchen gadgets.  Wondered where I'll be able to get my sweet-potato starch noodles now.  I had planned on picking up some miso and experimenting.  Looking forward to chatting about bats (she has bat tattoos, which I don't).  Seeing if they had a somewhat smaller wok than I now use.  Gonna miss that place.