Disappearing Ships in Philadelphia, Lightning Yellow, and Closing Shop

 

Saturday, September 2, 2023

What a weekend this has been with closing my business out and taking care of the other tasks at hand. Terry went to work on Wednesday but came home for a brief time around lunch due to the electricity failing in that part of town. Fred Meyer had no electricity. The VA had none. He could do nothing at work besides answer phone calls and even that was happening with rarity. 

Smoke is still thick in the city of Roseburg. Terry does not seem to be affected by any of it, thank God. Periodically I feel as though I can't breathe, and the headaches are awful. Feeling a bit congested in the upper respiratory section of my body and that makes me cough. Suddenly, I felt pain pierce my rib cage. Ouch, that hurt! I'm thinking I bruised the muscles or tendons around the ribs when I coughed. I did make an attempt at coughing fairly hard to ensure the gunk did not get deeply seated into my lungs, causing pneumonia or other complications. Apparently, it worked, as it even tried to cough up a lung or at least the muscles and tendons around it. Now each time I feel a need to cough, I cringe. The pain is coming, I know it is. 

Pain in my rib cage began on Monday or Tuesday. Here we are on Saturday, and it is still shooting pain through me every time I move wrong or cough. Yes, I am bitching and whining. It's tiresome, after a while, to feel that pain each time I move. Lying in bed at night I feel the pain as well. Thursday night I stayed up until around 3:30 or 4:00 AM due to being uncomfortable, no matter which side I laid on. If I lay on the right side, I feel the ribs being pushed inward from the mattress in that side. Lay on the left and gravity hits. Gravity is not my friend. It pulls the rib cage downward, making me feel as though something is being torn off the ribs inside. I can't win. 

Anyway, life goes on. Thursday and Friday were spent working. I pulled, packed, and invoiced a lot of jewelry to prepare it for its new "forever home." The ladies picked it up on Friday, as usual. I have everything on sale and who does not enjoy a sale? That feeling that you have found something cheaper than it usually is. It makes you want to throw your chest out and feel perfectly vindicated that you've gotten over on inflation. It's a wonderful, powerful feeling! Plus, you have something pretty and shiny to wear as a medal. It's such a chest-pounding, freeing, beautiful thing to find something on sale, especially to know that nobody else will be wearing your jewelry. That is what it's all about. You have lifted your leg and peed on your property. It's a magical moment. 

Saturday was all set aside for the Oregon Ducks game. Nothing else matters in this moment. You're in a world all your own when the game is on. The moment is here. Snacks are all spread around the TV trays. Drinks are poured. We're sitting on the edge of our seats. Then, in come the men in lightning yellow uniforms, black numbers and names in bold print for the world to see. Matching black helmets. It's the 2023 Oregon Ducks. 

Now, this would be a very exciting moment had it not been for the fact we were playing Portland State. Portland State. A team that is not anywhere close to the Ducks in the poll standings. I'm not in any way, shape, or form making fun of Portland State. They did a great job today. Problem is, they didn't want to be there any more than we wanted to watch them be beaten to a pulp on the football field. Team members knew they didn't stand a chance. One of the announcers even quoted a player from Portland State who said, "We stand about a 1% chance of winning." 

I felt bad for every tackle of the players we made. Feeling the pain of each player as the ball was intercepted out of the air during a play, even though the Ducks were doing a great job of being respectful. The ball was then run down the field and into the goal for a touchdown. Final score? 81-7, Oregon. The humiliation those guys must feel. Coach says to play the game, so you do play it robotically as told, but do you play with heart? To lose by that much has to lead to a bit of embarrassment. They do play these types of games; against teams they stand little chance of beating, to earn money. They need the funds in their coffers to keep their team going. 

Kudos to Portland State for playing as hard as they did. Awesome job. Just a bit out of your league. The Ducks aren't anything special nor are they any better than you as humans. I do know one thing though and that is the Vikings should have played with a team closer to their playing skills. They're a small school and don't have someone like "Uncle Phil" to take care of the expenses of fancy equipment and training facilities to make a team play well. They are an inner-city Portland school that struggles to teach and remain open much less keep a football team decked out with the top-of-the-line equipment. So, bless their hearts. They showed up with integrity and humility in hand when they arrived at Autzen Stadium today. Good for you, boys. Good for you. You played with pride and kept your dignity about you. Keep it up. I recall a Ducks team that started out that way. 

As I said, the game was a bit one sided. The Ducks did what they should have done and put in their third string players since they were so far ahead. I mean, let's not get greedy. Terry leaned toward my ear and stated, "They put in their third string players and the cheerleaders put in their third stringers too." Yes, readers, my man has jokes.  

After watching the game, Terry and I headed over to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription of insulin for him. His usual shipment hasn't arrived as of yet, even though he put the order in around August 22. This can be a crisis for someone who is diabetic and relies on that insulin. After he made some phone calls, we left to pick up the prescription. Thankfully the VA gave him an order for it since it is a holiday weekend. As my sweet man says, "It's no bueno." Crisis averted. 

On the way home, Terry remembered I had told him that chalupas sounded great lately. Through the Taco Bell parking lot we went. Inside, we ordered our food and sat down at a table to chat until our order was ready. As usual, we kept each other smiling and laughing while we waited. The wait wasn't long, and the food was ready. 

Terry ordered tacos and I had the chalupas. So good, but so messy! The sour cream mixed with the taco meat and poured out of the back end during each bite I took. Messy, to say the least. 

"Yo quiero Taco Bell."

Had to. Loved those commercials when they first came out! The little girl is adorable. Her name was Gidget. Gidget created a desire for Americans to own the small pups and many rushed out and grabbed chihuahuas. The problem with that is, like usual, people tired of them. There were far too many dumped in shelters, as there usually is when any cute commercials or celebrity of an animal comes up. I'm sure there were hundreds of the breed that were euthanized in shelters across the country, simply because we grew tired of yet another fad. 

It's the end of our Saturday. We still have tomorrow together and then we will have Monday. It is nice when my sweet man is home. Since I work at home, I will be working on Monday, although I'm not sure how many files I will find on a holiday. The idea of designing and crafting some jewelry for the new business might be up for consideration on Monday. 

Terry asked if I wanted to watch a movie on Thursday evening while we ate dinner. My answer was, "Of course," since we always view something while eating. Tonight, he suggested a film called The Philadelphia Experiment. Having never heard of it, I was happy to give it a try. Secretly I was hoping it didn't have any killing or bloody scenes though. 

The movie was intriguing. I do write articles for various sites and magazines, so today I began some research on the historical event. It is quite interesting and definitely got me wondering about how and why something like this would have come about. When the article is finished, I will post a link to the writing. Googling the incident is another way to read about what took place in 1943 in the story of The Philadelphia Experiment if you haven't heard about it. I hadn't and I'm glad I watched the movie. We watched the remake of the film as well, the following night. Both were good. Each had different aspects to make it more interesting. I had to look it up on my own to learn even more. 

It has been a bittersweet weekend, with closing Copper Boom Jewelry. Opening a new business with my own designs and creations pushes open a new door, a new beginning, and that's good. Oregon Ducks won today and that's a great starting game. We even broke a record of the most points scored in a season opener. Awesome. This weekend also brought about a new story to write about, to squash my desire to write an article again about something I find interesting. Pretty good weekend, I must say. Good and bad, but that's life, isn't it?