The Worm has Turned.

Well, it's Saturday and I get to go back to work.  I'm actually glad.  There is a difference between being off work, and having to take time off to deal with the technicalities of death.  Those technicalities are still not complete.  I still have to probate my Mom's will, which entails driving into downtown Harrisburg, finding a parking space, and going to the courthouse.  And the next day I have off is?  Thanksgiving.  And then it's back to work until Sunday.
As for work, I will be in the hole as far as sales go.   That's fine.  There wasn't the surge in customers wanting carpeting installed before Thanksgiving as is normal.  Whether that has picked up since I've been gone is something I don't know.  I keep my job separated from my personal life.  They are 2 distinct entities.  This means my co-workers are not my 'best friends,' which is quite fine with me.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, I'll be going to my Sisters.  My brother isn't hosting this year.  I suspect this is because he and my sister-in-law realize cleaning up their house is an insurmountable task. 
And, on this cloudy Saturday morning I thought I'd remind people of 'Dave's Axiom,' that a popular president can move the country either way, to the left, or to the right.  An unpopular president will always move the country in the opposite direction.  On November 6 the Idiot Jerk in the White House learned about 'Dave's Axiom.'  He is not happy.  Actually, Republicans in general are not happy.  They lost big time.  The worm has turned.

Democrats are joyous.  And the Idiot Jerk is lamenting "I should have gone to Arlington, but... it was raining, I'd just gotten back from France, I didn't want to miss Fox and Friends, and Sean Hannity was stopping by for a koffe klatch."  Oops, there goes his unpopularity again.
I read an 'opinion' in Bloomberg yesterday about the chaos surrounding the Idiot Jerk the point of which was... you ain't seen nothing yet.  If Donnie Jr. gets indicted there will be a full eruption.  he will be running around shrieking "off with their heads! off with their heads!"  And a lot of heads will most certainly roll.  He was sent by Karma to destroy the Republican Party, and he will succeed.

The Snow, the Cat... and a little idol worship

Well, here it is Friday, the end of the work week for some.  Me?  I get to go back to work tomorrow.  I haven't had the courage to step on the scale yet, but... it will be ugly.
And for those of you who don't know... yesterday, when weather forecasters predicted 1-3" of snow, and Accuweather teased of even less, turned into a shit-show snow storm with snow falling at over an inch an hour in some places... like the Hanoverdale Church of the Brethren.  That's where my Mom's memorial service was held.  Complicating matters was the fact that the main access to the church was closed for construction.  Yep, the road leading from Route 39 to the church was totally inaccessible.  There was a driveway through their cemetery which they could have opened... but they chose not to for reasons only they know.  Some people parked on the other side of the cemetery and walked down the hill.  Most people, however, did what the church asked and drove over narrow, hilly, back roads.  By the time the services and short reception were over, 4 inches of snow made most of those roads nearly impassable, unless you had a vehicle with 4-wheel drive.  People got stuck going up hills, got stuck trying to turn around.  My nephew Adam walked up to me as I was sitting in my car and said, "Uncle Dave, that car will get you through this shit so just go."  And, I did.  Traffic was horrendous because snow was falling at well over 1 inch and hour.  I had a 17 mile drive on Interstate 81... at 3 - 5 miles per hour, so it took me over 3 hours to get home.  It took my sister and brother-in-law, whose drive was mostly on back roads over 5 hours.  My nephew Noah ended up leaving his car at the church.  My brother took he and his wife home making my brother's drive over 7 hours.  Like I said, the storm made everything pretty much of a shit show.
The inurnment at Indiantown Gap was cancelled.  That will happen at some later date and the family will not be present.
I did get a picture of myself with my Mom in the Cat.

They did take the cat up and put it on the alter during the service, between 2 tall candles.  It looked quite a bit like idol worship, if you ask me.

I hadn't ordered any flowers because my Mom always hated them. "They die so fast," she would say.  People feel the need to send arrangements, so I knew there would be plenty of flowers.  There were.  The nicest arrangement was actually sent by the big orange retailer I work for.  They did well.

Now it is over except for some final paperwork wrapping up her estate.
There is a meaning in life.  There is a meaning in death.  The time has come to move on.

Notice, I did not include a video of Billy Idol's "White Wedding."  That would have been too 'over the top.'

Hang this

Today is Thursday, my Mom gets inurned today.  We will all be glad when it will be over.  And we're under a snow warning....  One nice thing about Accuweather is they provide you with %'s of depth which gives you a more realistic idea as to how much snow / rain you're going to get.  The way things stand right now we have a 59% probability of getting 1"-3" of snow, however, we also have a 37% probability of getting .02" - 2" of snow.  This means, mathematically speaking, we'll get about 1.5 inches of snow sometime between this morning and this afternoon.  Oh, and because of that we are under a snow warning.  Maybe we should talk about this need by weather forecasters to over dramatize their predictions.  At least Accuweather isn't as bad as the Weather Channel.  They feel the need to name every little shitty storm that comes along.
The stock market didn't do so well yesterday.  Today is not going to be a good day either.  Theresa May's Brexit plan is in slow motion crash stage.  People are quitting her cabinet.  Her power base is dwindling.  As a result, the stock market is going to experience something a little more than a ripple.  This means the Idiot Jerk in the White House will blame Democrats, spineless sack of shit that he is.  Most of his base have yet to realize he is the punishment they so well deserve.
As I was sipping my morning coffee, I thought once again about France, and his decision not attend ceremonies.  He has claimed his Secret Service is to blame, that going to the cemetery in his helicopter was too dangerous.  So, in between sips of French Roast, I started thinking of how funny it would be if they did it on purpose in order to humiliate him?  To his face they were saying "don't go, don't go," but behind his back they were going "hehehehehehe."  I can see that happening.
And the Florida recount is a cluster fuck.  For those who are too young to remember, we ended up with George W. as president (another electoral college technicality) because of 'hanging chads."  Now, I know a lot of you are asking how Chad hangs, to the left, or to the right.  To be honest, I don't think it really matters.

Right hanger

Forecasting a Long Train Running

Wednesday.  This afternoon I will make a stop at the caterers to pay for the refreshments, and make a final visit to Graysonview, my Mom's senior living facility.  A company called Dirty Dog Hauling will be cleaning the rest of my Mom's furniture out of her apartment.  My sister has already taken what she wants, and has taken the clothing to the Salvation Army.  My brother and niece were there yesterday to get what they want.  I don't really want anything.  As soon as everything is gone Graysonview the apartment will be considered 'unoccupied' and Graysonview will stop charging us.  I have not been contacted by any one in management to discuss the situation.  It was the receptionist who quietly told me they don't care how long it takes to move things out... because you're paying the bill.  This is how greed works in America.
Later this morning I'm getting my hair cut.  Great fun there.  Oh, and I'm going to cut my fingernails.
The weather for tomorrow is supposed to be shitty.  Oh, well.  Looks like we may have about an inch or so of snow.  Initially, when the Funeral Director had suggested Thursday, I had pointed out to my brother the weather was not forecast to be good.  He wanted Thursday.  So, Thursday it is.  Oh, and another slight hitch in the plans deals with a road closure.  The main road to the church is closed for construction. This means we need to go in through an alternative route.  So, everybody needs to be notified that the easy way is not available.  Snow, plus the difficult getting there, means, I suspect, we're going to end up with a lot of leftovers.  This is life.  And, I can not wait until this whole thing is over.
On the lighter side of things... the Idiot Jerk's trophy wife, Melanoma, wants someone fired... John Bolton's assistant.  I'll bet that's going over well with John the Hardliner Conservative.
And Maryland is suing to keep Trump Scump Matthew Whitaker from taking his appointment position as the Idiot Jerk's court executioner.
And French President Macron told the Idiot Jerk Patriotism is far stronger than Nationalism... pretty much called him a dickhead for not attending those rainy ceremonies.  Of course the Idiot Jerk blamed his Secret Service (bet their happy about that) and then Tweeted something nasty.  Let's be honest here, without Twitter the Idiot Jerk is nothing more than a spineless sack of shit.
If he put his head down on the tracks he could that long, blue train running, hauling in car after car of  change.  Nah, he'll have to pay someone.

Yo, Donald, I think I hear the train

Or, maybe he should listen to the Doobies.

Indiantown Gap

Okay, so it's Tuesday.  In case anyone is wondering, it's raining... again.
I spent yesterday on the phone, for the most part.  Catering has been arranged for my Mom's service.  We're going with Exclusively Yours.  I have no idea whether they are any good.  They had some decent Google reviews.  We'll find out on Thursday.
We're going with the Hanoverdale Church of the Brethren rather than the Rutherford Lutheran Church because... well, the Lutherans never got back to us.  While we were awaiting responses from the churches, I had suggested we just do the service at the Funeral Parlor and then take everybody who wants, out for lunch.  No go.
And, of course, the weather is supposed to be shitty on Thursday.  My brother called and suggested we change the day to Friday.  Well, my Mom is being inurned at Indiantown Gap Military Cemetery, next to my Dad.  For those who don't know, Indiantown Gap is the 2nd largest military cemetery, next to Arlington, in the region.  How big is it?  There are over 44,000 veterans and their spouses, interned or inurned there.  They are very busy.  You actually need to book a times slot.  Changing your time slot is difficult because they fill up so fast.

Then, of course, there was the death certificate issue.  You know there's a bit of a problem when you get a call from the County Coroner.  You see, my Mom went to the same doctor for years.  My sister-in-law did not like the doctor.  She thought my Mom should go to one who was more... professional.  In Pennsylvania, if you have a Personal Care physician, he or she needs to also sign the death certificate.  So the coroner goes to the old doctor who refused to sign the certificate.  Shit!  At some point the certificates passed into the hands of the Funeral Director, who ended up running around getting the required signatures.
And, of course, the Idiot Jerk in the White House is going all bohanga hanga with the Florida midterms.  He actually said it was 'infected.'  Well, of course it's infected, Rick Scott is there!  The truth is the Idiot Jerk is desperately trying to give his base at least one win... since they lost so much.  More so since they lost Arizona... to a white woman, who used to be a fighter pilot.
Finally, a bit about Stan Lee.  All of those years ago, when he created Spiderman, I don't think he had any idea how greatly he would be effecting the world's culture.  His Super Heroes had problems.  They didn't fit in.  They had color.  Superman was a hero for an age now passing, while Captain America is a hero for the ages, both past and future.  Thanks to him a flawed Iron Man saves the world and a Black Panther spreads equality.  They are more than cartoons.  They are more than Super Heroes.  They are us.

The tale of the cookie jar

Well, it's Monday.  Today is Veteran's Day.  Normally I would be working.  I work every holiday except Thanksgiving and Christmas.  But not today because my Mom died.  I get 3 days bereavement and I'm taking 2 vacation days.  I'm not going to go back to work until Saturday.
I'd like to thank everybody for their condolences and warm feelings, they are all greatly appreciated.
And now for an interesting fact and a bit of levity.
My Dad died on 12/10... my Mom died on 11/10.  Now isn't that odd.
Almost 15 years ago, when my Dad died, my Mom called me out into the kitchen where she'd been discussing arrangements with the Funeral Director.  Both my parents had decided to be cremated.  "Can we put Daddy in this?" she asked, holding up the yellow kitty-cat cookie jar I'd given her as a Christmas present.  My Mom, however, wanted an urn a little more refined.  She chose a pretty blue vase with a lid which could be sealed.  When my Mom moved into Graysonview the vase went to my sister.  Saturday morning I asked my sister if she knew where that vase was.  "Hell, I don't know," she said, "I probably threw it out."  That was a good thing.  I had always planned on using something else for her urn... another cookie jar given by my brother and sister-in-law.  My Mom never liked it and so eventually gave it to me.  And it's another kitty-cat.  Both of my parents are going to be in kitty-cat cookie jars.

Now how cute is that?

I saw where the Idiot Jerk in the White House was in France to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of Armistice.  Everybody ignored him (I'll bet that left a scathing mark on his ego).  He stayed in his hotel room while other Heads of State bowed their heads in the rain and gave thanks to the fallen, at an American Cemetery.  He is an embarrassment.

My Mom

At 0641 yesterday morning, just after I posted my blog, Greenfield Senior Facility called me.  They have called me before this early to tell me my Mom had fallen.  Not yesterday morning.  "Dave, I'm sorry to tell you that your Mom has died.  We found her lying on the floor of her room."
When I was 9 years old my Mom had electroshock therapy.  Her temper was most often taken out on me.  My childhood was not good.
She became very self centered and demanding as she grew older.  My Dad and I would go to movies and she would call and criticize the film.  She had no problem criticizing you, or trying to make you feel guilty.  She was very good at that.
I went by myself to the Funeral Directors this afternoon.  My sister doesn't deal with well with these things.  My brother was on his way back from vacation in North Carolina.  For the reading inside the program I chose a poem I love.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

BY ROBERT FROST

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound’s the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

My brother did not think it was religious enough.  "She was a very devout Christian," he said.  My reply "I've had a really shitty day and I was there by myself and I picked what I liked."

My Mom died yesterday and I had to cry.  My sister cried, too.  My brother also cried... and complained because I chose a verse that wasn't Christian.  You know it would have been nice if she had at least once looked me in the eye and said "I'm sorry for being so abusive."  Never happened.  Instead she found Jesus who forgave her sins without her ever needing to ask forgiveness from those she'd hurt the most.