How Bureaucrats Sneak Up on You…..

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This is one of those situations that when intense frustration ends, it comes close to being funny. Here’s how it went. We decided to invest the very large sum of money to have the whole-house, standby generator installed. In this area, that means the propane tank will be underground. Naturally, we intended everything to go behind the fence. So, it turns out our yard is not actually the dimensions we think. Once measured by the people who make the rules, we were a few feet off the clearance required between the generator and something like the electrical panel it had to wire into. That meant placement in front of the fence. Next, the tank has to be buried a certain number of feet from that so now the word is that won’t fit on the same side as the generator. (Our yards aren’t very big). The tank will have to be buried on the opposite side of the yard on the other side of the driveway and walk. So, tear up 3-4 rows of pavers and a section of the walk to dig trench to lay in the fuel line.As if all this isn’t enough frustration, there are quite frankly inexcusable delays that equal into months behind schedule.

Okay, the tank gets installed and the gentleman who handled this part was a subcontractor. He was quite professional, explained everything going on and then as he finished, he mentioned in order to pass inspection, we had to have these yellow “cones” placed in front of the tank. This is in case anyone should happen to drive onto our yard and on top of the tank. When I looked at him in disbelief, he said after the inspection, we could remove them because probably no one would come back to check again. Except, and this is a big except – when I arrived home I found three bright yellow 16 inch high, 3 inch round posts in the ground with concrete to secure them. While there is no question that will provide a warning, there was definitely no moving them. Let us just say that when it comes to colors, the air surrounding me was blue as I vented my anger. Of course that was to several geckos as the guys who installed these had wisely not stayed around.

This also meant we were now in indisputable violation of Homeowner Association rules for what we can and can’t have in a front yard. Receiving notification of that violation did take a couple of months. We’d discussed a couple of options and Hubby decided planting hibiscus in front of each post and painting the posts green would work the best. We went through the approval process with the HOA and despite now being in violation of code because the posts are no longer yellow, I did insist at least one of the hibiscus should be yellow. I can’t imagine an inspector will ever come by again, but if so, I’ll argue the point.

The “Slippery Slope” of Compartmentalization….

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Serious musings alert. A conversation the other day triggered the chain of thought about the ability to mentally compartmentalize. In this case, I’m referring to situations where you have multiple things to deal with and there is no way to manage them all at once. Although compartmentalizing is a type of prioritizing, prioritizing is closer to, “Let’s take this one step at a time,” rather than the infamous line of Margaret Mitchell’s character, Scarlett O’Hara’s, “After all, tomorrow is another day”. By that, I mean in keeping with her character, thinking about it another day also in general meant she would find a way to not take responsibility for her own actions.

Therein lies the three aspects of compartmentalization I consider to be “risky”. The first is the inclination to revisionism. The “well I should have said….” can morph into having thought you did so, then building the memory around that. (It’s not an uncommon trait as I have written about in other posts.) If the issue being compartmentalized is something that needs to be dealt with, then depending on when it is dealt with, the revised scenario may be brought out and either corrected or can lead to further complications. If you’ve ever found yourself in a situation that seems to be getting out of control, think back to how it originated and see if perhaps there was a basic misunderstanding in waiting to deal with whatever it is/was.

The second aspect of compartmentalization is the matter may be not overly significant to you, and yet important to another individual. You may forget about it through no malice and also cause complications because the other party/parties may view your forgetting in an unfavorable way.

The third aspect is if compartmentalization slides into repression/suppression. I do want to clarify there is a reason the phrase, “time and place for everything” exists, and that includes letting things go. Choosing to not deal with something immediately may well be the best option and then letting go of whatever it is may also be the correct choice.On the other hand, there can be unpleasant aspects to life which do require response/action and finding the way to do so is important.

Days Zipping Past….

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It’s obviously been hectic or I would have posted. It’s a combination of things as it often is. There’s no actual let-up until Friday which will make it approximately two months of pretty much non-stop activity. Not that I will have spare time, but rather tasks will be spread out a bit more. Anyway, in the course of having a friend visit, I took her to Everglades City. We hadn’t been for quite some time and unfortunately our favorite place for lunch was closed since it was a Sunday and the other place was closed apparently for good. It looks as if it sustained some damage and was perhaps not re-opened. The assumption is back during Hurricane Irma, but who knows. We popped into the Island Cafe, an old-fashioned kind of place with an ice cream shop in the back part, which is separate from the main dining room. There was a lot of fried food, to include gator nuggets that we passed on. The food was good though, the service friendly, and the ice cream was excellent. We did stop at the famous Clyde Butcher Gallery on the way back and alligators were bellowing even though there weren’t any in the parking lot this time.

The fence is finally finished and if the freezer repair guy has ordered the correct parts, that will be taken care of Friday. Fortunately, it still functions well enough to not impact the refrigerator and we got everything moved to the one in the garage. It’s a filter issue apparently designed so it takes a repairman to get to it. He pulled all the drawers out and in truth, they did need to be cleaned, so I suppose that’s a good thing. That task simply hasn’t been at the top of my priority list. Ah well, so it goes.

A “We’ll See” Idea…

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In taking a friend for surgery yesterday, there was a lengthy delay and as we were in the Pre-Op area, we were able to observe what was a professional group with what seemed to be an excellent dynamic. It was quite busy as patients were prepped and there was not much spare space, yet the nurses and technicians flowed around each other with smiles and friendly bedside manners.

There were some tasks involving what they called Enhanced Recovery Protocol and after about the third thing, I asked about it. The protocol has been in place for not quite two years and includes some different medication combinations and placement of pads on a patient’s feet and another portion of the body to cushion contact during prolonged surgery to help avoid bed sores. The medication was to reduce the possibility of nausea from anesthesia and I don’t recall now the purpose of the other one. There was also a different way to measure baseline breathing capacity to ensure it was as good post-surgery. The explanation for the protocol was to shorten the recovery time, especially for patients who would be going home alone. This was for outpatient surgery and while everything was supported by studies and research, it would make sense that it will depend on the individual as well. In this particular case, the delay in surgery meant being late in the evening when everything was completed and an overnight stay was ordered as a precaution. There was no complication from the surgery, but it had been nearly a fourteen hour day when travel time to and from the hospital was included. Since this particular patient has had other out-patient procedures, it will be interesting to see if any measurable difference in recovery is noted. I hope so, of course, because shorter recovery is always a good thing.

Unintended or Ignored Consequences…..

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Somewhat serious content alert. “Unintended consequences” is another term people often misuse. A definition posted on Wikipedia is, “outcomes that are not the ones foreseen and intended by a purposeful action.”

The “misuse” from my perspective is when a new idea is proposed and opposition to the idea is raised, reasons for the opposition may be met with a comment such as, “Oh, you’re worrying/arguing over something that won’t ever happen.” In my experience, this is especially applicable when social and actual engineering is involved. (Business, too, but I’m not going to use those examples). Those of us who were young in the 1960s, a time of much social upheaval, brushed aside a great many concerns of our parents/grandparents warning us of potential breakdown of families, etc. A number of those consequences can be seen today. Therefore, a major increase in children with no father figure and the adverse affect that can have is not an unintended consequence – it is one which was clearly stated and ignored. Yes, I realized having no father is better than a dangerously abusive one, but there are many, many studies supporting the major problem of no father figure in homes.

Moving on, however, to an example of unintended consequences (although maybe some people did warn of this) is the recent advertising for a company that provides on-line ordering and delivery of pet supplies. One of the benefits is  the consumer will no linger have to wrestle with heavy bags of pet food, etc. That is true. What I recently learned and hadn’t considered is that some postal workers are having to retire earlier than planned because of the significant increase in heavy loads they have to handle. As was stated to me, via a third, “Sure, one or two deliveries a week is okay. But when it becomes almost a daily thing with multiple deliveries, that’s more than I can deal with.” When private delivery firms hire people, that is with the understanding there are likely to be heavy deliveries. That is not in general (or wasn’t) true for most postal workers. Is the adverse affect on postal workers more important than the benefit to the consumer? That, will of course, depend on your point of view.

Amazing Talent….

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I’ve mentioned last week and this are extra busy and I’m not going to get into everything added in for next week. One of the events was/is attending Aida, the first summer production of our community theater, The Seminole Players. Other than “A Christmas Carol” in December, the performances have all been musicals. This year, the Director decided to go with something less well-known – the Broadway musical version of Aida, done by Elton John and Tim Rice. Most of us were puzzled and much of the community was unclear as to what it was about. The theatre PR folks sent out clips to look at/listen to and snippets from rehearsals. Our regular group split up a bit as to which performances to attend. Two went to opening night last Friday and when we saw them at another event on Saturday, they gave it rave reviews. With a cast of around 30, the range of talent was from very good to great. At almost two-and-a-half hours (a short intermission), there was a level of energy though to keep it from dragging.

Those of us who went to the Sunday matinee were still not quite prepared for the incredible voices, the excellent choreography and the smoothness of the flow. The songs were good and I suspect the bits of humor thrown in might not have been in the original opera. The tragic theme remained, however, and played true to the love triangle caught up in dynamics beyond their control.

Facebook has been filled with photos and compliments which I hope will translate into full audiences for this weekend. Attendance has been good, but not quite what the staff was looking for. On the other hand, when you try something new, reluctance to embrace it is not uncommon. Word is spreading and we’ll see what the final count turns out to be.

No doubt the August show, “The Little Mermaid”, will be a sell-out as was “Annie” last year.

Busy Week Again and Other…

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As I’ve mentioned lately, it was almost a year ago when my sister and I put together the extended time we would spend together in June. The week-long stay in Paris had to include two more days for Transatlantic travel time, then another 2-3 for Sis to get back and forth from Texas. Only a couple of other events were scheduled when we made these plans. As each successive one was added in, the calendar filled with back-to-backs in the ironic manner that can happen. The “irony” comes in because people constantly say, “Nothing happens in the summer here”. While it is true a number of organizations take July and August off, that only applies to a few things I am involved with. At any rate, getting through to about mid-July will continue to be interesting.

The long awaited fence repair is also bogged down and will require approximately double the number of days we thought. The ground here is extremely difficult to dig into because it’s very rocky (includes a lot of old coral) and the way the utilities are run prevent the guys from coming in with a machine to make things move faster. Hand digging dozens of holes, even with a power auger, in 90+ degrees is slow going. Then there is the stack of old fencing which we didn’t really discuss the removal of and as it turns out, the regular pick-up apparently doesn’t handle. We’ll get it all sorted out of course, but it is one more thing to deal with. I did put notes of apology into the mailboxes of the two neighbors most affected by the mess. Fortunately we all get along well enough so I don’t think this will have an adverse impact. It also means extra debris getting into the pool, so I won’t be using it for several more days. The important point though is progress is being made and we will get finished.

Catching Up and Photos….

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Back when we planned the Paris trip, several events which are now jammed into June were not on the calendar. That does make it a bit tricky to try and fit everything in whether in prep before departing or for the rest of the month. And of course, the repair of our fence which was supposed to occurred the end of March is just getting started today. What a mess that will be. However, since we haven’t been able to do anything about re-landscaping the back yard, once this is done it should last a very long time. Yes, that comes with an assumption that Mother Nature doesn’t tear through and we all know that possibility very much exists.

I do finally have some photos to post. I’m skipping the Eiffel Tower one as everyone knows it. The “Thinker” at the Rodin Museum is almost as well known, but the roses are lovely. The dome of the Galleries Lafayette is truly breath-taking and the Water Lily Garden at Giverny is wonderful. You may have already seen these on Facebook.

It is a trip we will both long remember. Who knows if we’ll take grandchildren some day? And if we do, who knows what all will have changed?

One angle The Water Lily Pond in Monet Gardens

Outside the Rodin Museum

Partial View of the Dome Galleries Lafayette

Home Again…..

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We had no delays in getting home although with a morning flight, we also didn’t winding up sleeping on the nine hour trip to Miami. We watched a lot of movies. “Mary Queen of Scots” is very well done if you haven’t seen it and “Bohemian Rhapsody” did bring back memories of those days. Even though  we haven’t yet signed up with Uber or Lyfte, a friend did recommend a young man who does a driving service. He was very polite, a nice car, reasonable rates and communicated well as we made our way through the process. And speaking of process; Hubby and I have Global Entry, but Sis doesn’t. MIA has installed a lot of kiosks for passport scanning as another expedited way of getting through Passport Control. It works well and there is no charge. There is also a Mobile App you can download for those who prefer that type of approach.

Sis is here until I/we take her to the airport mid-afternoon tomorrow so we will do a couple of local things we didn’t have a chance to do when she came in. As much as I’d like to run her down to Key Largo or Islamorada, doing so on any weekend, and especially Father’s Day weekend, is not happening. We had enough traffic in Paris. We might go to La Playa at Bayfront Park for lunch tomorrow – we haven’t been since it re-opened and it isn’t likely to be as crowded as all the “regular” places for Father’s Day.

Okay, I do still have things to catch up on and will parcel them out, knowing the upcoming week will be definitely super busy. This is one of those months when all three boards I sit on have their monthly meeting in the same week.

 

Paris Trip, Day 7……..

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The weather report for this morning didn’t really match what we woke up to although I had already scratched the idea of going to Montmarte. As it turns out, taxis are more difficult to find than expected as they don’t have taxi stands at all the major attractions. Since Hubby and I usually take the Metro/RER (light internal rail), I simply never paid much attention to taxis. I was very concerned that we could get to Montmarte, but have difficulty in getting back and that is one place for sure access to the Metro is a long and mostly lengthy climb. (Not precisely uphill both ways, but not easy no matter which direction).

Anyway, since Sis is a great Monet lover, we went to L’Orangerie Museum in the Jardin de Tuilleries with the idea of strolling through the garden later. The Museum itself is small compared to others, yet it is impressive. The two rooms with the eight massive panels of Monet’s Water Lilies are indeed something to see. Done in the latter part of his life when he was struggling with eyesight, they “track” the hours from sunrise to sunset, not in any chronological sense, but in the play of light. Having now visited Giverny and seen the gardens and water lily pond in their natural light, it’s easy to see how he was inspired. How he managed the extraordinary blending of colors and form is another matter altogether. In fact, the pieces were not placed on public display until a few months after his death. He no doubt has been around in spirit as people have absorbed this very special work. Much of the rest of the museum houses an amazing collection from Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume, men who contributed immeasurably to the art world in the patronage of Picasso, Matisse, etc., In gifting 145 pieces to the museum, there are also a large number of Renoir and Cezanne, so it crosses the decades. A special exhibit on display was August Macke and Franz Marc, German artists who became friends and were part of the post-Impressionist, avante-garde group who brought us “contemporary” leading into “modern” art.

As we exited the museum, wandering in the garden didn’t seem to be a good idea and in managing to snag a taxi, we also experienced a traffic jam which of course is part of Paris life. Thus ends our museum trek for the trip.