Dear Quarantine Diary – Week 33

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Dear Diary – It’s not weed. It’s basil.

If I wanted weed, I’d just steal it from the guy next door. He probably wouldn’t notice on account of how often he’s out smoking on the back porch.

It’s not always pot. I can smell the difference.

But he does seem to make an appearance every time I step out my back door for more than 30 seconds. Every.Time.

Reminds me of Pavlov’s dog.

My basil is on steroids again this year, or so it seems. Maybe because, like all my plants, it’s learned to survive unattended. This is the third harvest. Half of this one and all of the second (having been dried in the oven) went to Hubby’s co-workers. I bagged in clear plastic baggies and sent Hubby to work with them.

I guess that kind of makes him my mule.

He said the office smelled good.

I personally like the pervasive smell of my herbs. My nose, however, does not. Both Youngest Son and I turn into Sneezy (he also becomes grumpy), and when we take allergy medication, we turn into Dopey.

But it’s not dope. It’s basil!

Dear Diary – I will never EVER purchase prepaid VISA cards! I paid a friend’s bill with my credit card (because she doesn’t have one and needed one on record) and she repaid me with these gift cards.

I had NO idea that you have to use the exact or less than amount on it, or it will be declined.

I managed to sweet talk the clerk at Home Depot to put the exact amount left on the first card on the debit machine and I got rid of it. One card to go!

Only…I didn’t get quite the right thing at Home Depot and when I returned it, the money went back on the card. Fortunately I hadn’t tossed it yet! So now I’m stuck with a gift card with $11.76 on it. Tim’s anyone??

Dea Diary – I have a great Dad. He made sure I’m prepared for the first week of September! Youngest Son is starting Grade 12! I don’t think he’s been out of bed before 3 p.m. yet this month.

Daddy dear also voluntarily took on a “design and build” project for me: a rack to display my Nanas’ rolling pins (plus my new textured one. I have yet to successfully bake cookies with it), for a small space.

He left the finishing touches for me (which could have been a huge mistake) but I managed to varnish it without drips. It only took 12 hours to do it “right”.

I think it looks fantastic. Love you Dad, more than you’ll ever know!

(And not just because you can build cool stuff for me)!

Dear Diary – This weekend, we recorded and watched some old movies. We also caught a short video from the “hosts” of The Classic Movie channel, who addressed the challenges of showing old movies. Many movies show abusive relationships, sexism, racism, and other attitudes that just aren’t acceptable any more. Nor should they be! But I did agree with their statement that history cannot, nor should it be, simply erased. We need to be reminded of the past and the actions and attitudes of people to help us fight against the actions and attitudes of people today. We need to mourn the wrongs and celebrate those who stood up in the face of opposition to work toward righting those wrongs. To erase the past minimizes the victims and heroes of a by-gone age.

Agreed, some should never see the light of day again. But some of these movies are classics, not because of the acting or the sets, but because they tackled things head-on. For example, 12 Angry Men addressed biases that interfered with justice. A Street Car Named Desire addressed domestic violence and mental illness. Look Who’s Coming to Dinner discussed racial attitudes toward mixed marriages and challenged those states for which such unions were illegal.

Modern movies and actors are also addressing and challenging past and present beliefs, but honestly I often find the political agendas a bit heavy-handed, and the motivation for popularity, stifling.

I still love old black and white movies.

Sometimes I find movies patronizing, which is the ultimate crime.
Dito Montiel

We also watched Clockwork Orange this weekend, which is supposed to be a classic. I’m not sure I’d call it that, unless I were a horny, teenager. The storyline was ok, but I was not a fan of the erotic art or granny in her red pleather hooker boots and mini skirt. If I ever dress like that…lock me up! 😉

Dear Diary – I hate patronizing men!

Yesterday I went to the gas station in anticipation of an upcoming holiday at my folks with both of my boys! But as I inserted my card and pushed the buttons, a big red STOP sign appeared on the screen, telling me I had to speak to an attendant. Then it would revert to the start menu again. After a few attempts, grumbling, I backed my car to the pump behind me.

But it happened again.

Each time, I’d get to a different point, but I didn’t get gas.

Really grumbling, I drove around the island to yet another pump. And received the same treatment.

So I grabbed my wallet and thundered into the store.

I calmly (too calmly) explained what was happening to the gentleman inside and demanded an explanation.

“oh, Ma’am”, he says smiling, “you’re doing it wrong. There’s nothing wrong with the pumps”. He nodded with a smirk at the guys standing behind me. “Tell me again what you did, step by step”.

So I did. Even though I’ve been pumping gas for over 30 years!

“I don’t know,” he said, “you’ve done it wrong. Let me finish with these gentlemen”, nodding and smirking at them again. “I’ll go with you and show you how,” he said patronizingly, lips curled knowingly.

I let him have it!

Then I went to the gas station down the road.

It took me longer to drive there than it did to get gas.

If I didn’t have to make a U-turn and go out of my way, I would have let him have it again! In person.

I SO let him have it while I drove to my next stop.