Monday, March 11
Mar. 12th, 2024 12:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
Being able to get up about an hour before I normally would, so that I could be dressed and prepared for the plumber today. I didn't have to DO anything, nor did I have to explain much, as he knows to go into the mud room, and he was the one who started on it, so he knows what's left.
I just wanted to be awake and dressed, like a "normal person" for once.
The sink is still not ready to be used, as the faucets can't go on until we have a support board behind the sink, and a few other things, but we're CLOSER. I really didn't think that putting in a sink would be that big a deal, but it is.
Very beautiful weather again today. Everything is melting, and the sunshine has a very different quality in the spring, as the angle of the sun relative to the surface is different.
I'm pretty sure I got flirted with today, from the plumber (a cute plumber easily 15 years younger than I am). Or, at least, "very friendlied". He knows I'm married, but we were talking, and we both like to do outdoorsy things like kayaking or hiking (though I am not a hard core athlete or anything). He is part of a group of people, who go places together so that they can, for example, car pool and rent a B&B together so it's cheaper, and then go hiking as a group so that it's more social. He invited me, and presumably my husband, but it was definitely aimed at me.
I don't know that I'm up for a weekend of sleeping with eight or more strangers in a rented cabin in the bush, but I am flattered to be considered for it.
I did say my husband and I would be up for a day of canoeing or show shoeing with him and any friends he might want to bring, since we are totally up for something like that. There's lots of places not far from our house that would make an easy day trip.
I spoke with Trainwreck on the phone, and it was pretty much business as usual. She's talking about taking over all the small garden planters in front of everyone's unit at the lodge (apparently a lot of them remain unplanted) and starting a vegetable garden. That in itself doesn't sound bad, but you don't know my sister.
If they allow her to do this, I know how it would go. She'll start piling up pails and pots all over the place, flats of half dead plants from some green house that was throwing them away, and shovels and such.
She's not going to do things neatly or nicely, like just plant some geraniums in there and then actually water them. Nope. She's going to GO BIG OR GO HOME, only she'll probably abandon the project half way through and leave a giant mess.
Oh well. That's not my problem.
She also has a puppy that someone was giving away. She can't keep it, as the lodge doesn't allow pets, and she knows that too. This is pure Trainwreck.
Someone was "moving" and had to "find homes for these pups or else" according to her (it would have totally found another home).
She's lonely, she says. I know this part too. She took this pup, with no intention to actually care for it, and she doesn't have the money for vet bills, and food, or the time and patience to house break it or walk it. She's just going to walk around with it in her purse and take it with her everywhere for a week, and then she's going to foist it on someone else.
She's already got our Sister L in mind, as a person to take it. So there you go. Sister L would have gone and got a pup if she's wanted one, but instead Trainwreck will try to guilt her into taking THIS one, that maybe Sister L won't want.
THAT WAY, Trainwreck wins. Not only does Sister L, a responsible and caring person, take this puppy and care for it and get it spayed and train it and walk it and feed it and love it, but Trainwreck gets to see it whenever she wants to, with no actual responsibility.
Just like how her son ended up living with my Mom for six years (he should never have gone back to live with her, either).
I don't know if Sister L will take this puppy or not, but Trainwreck WOULD LIKE her to take it. If not, she'll dump it on someone else.
Every time in the past that she has had animals, all she told me is how much she hated them. Hated the mess, the expense, the inevitable poop in the house since she can't train them (or if it's cats, won't maintain a litter box). HATES THEM.
Apparently I have misunderstood (she tells me today). She just hates it when she has to give them up. She fails to mention that she ALWAYS has to give them up, because half the time she's living somewhere that doesn't allow them in the first place, or she can't afford them, or they drive her crazy and because she's irresponsible they become animals with behavioral issues.
Since animals aren't allowed at the lodge, she pretty much has to give it to someone soon, but not before she gets to spend a selfish few weeks with it. Hopefully it doesn't get sick or something. Likely she won't give it up until someone reports it.
I told her that she's pushing her luck, and if she gets kicked out, she will have NOWHERE to go. Her reply? "they'll never kick me out, they'll just tell me to get rid of the dog".
So, that's pure Trainwreck.
I chose to let all of this "not be my problem", because it sure as hell isn't my problem.
I went to town, tried unsuccessfully to get special food for Jones (they're out of his kind), got the pellets for litter (and petted the sweet store cat), and went to pottery.
I was alone at pottery, but I enjoyed my time there, throwing away on the wheel. It's a very enjoyable way to spend some time.
I got groceries too, but with lots of time so I didn't feel pressured.
I came home, and my Sweetie helped me put everything away.
The Republic of Bulgaria is located in the Balkan peninsula, bordering the Black Sea. In the past, it was once a battleground for Thracians, Persians, Celts and Macedonians, and finally found some stability with the Roman empire.
After Rome, it was more fighting, and eventually it was part of the Byzantine empire. Then the Bulgarian empire, then the Ottoman empire for nearly five hundred years.
"The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 resulted in the formation of the third and current Bulgarian state. Many ethnic Bulgarians were left outside the new nation's borders, which stoked irredentist sentiments that led to... alliances with Germany in both world wars. In 1946, Bulgaria came under the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc and became a socialist state. The ruling Communist Party gave up its monopoly on power after the revolutions of 1989 and allowed multiparty elections. Bulgaria then transitioned into a democracy and a market-based economy. Since adopting a democratic constitution in 1991, Bulgaria has been a unitary parliamentary republic composed of 28 provinces, with a high degree of political, administrative, and economic centralisation."
Bulgaria is South of the Danube River, but there is a great plain that is within it's borders called the Danube Plain. There are also the Balkan mountains, and the Thracian Plain, and the Rila-Rhodope massif (mountain mass) as major geographical features.
Bulgaria's climate is all over the place, as it has cold mountains, but warm Mediterranean air currents.
Bulgaria still uses coal power for electricity generation, too many pesticides, and poor sewage disposal, though efforts are being made to improve in these areas.
Their economy is the usual agricultural products like grain, as well as mining and industry.
What is DIFFERENT, is that they produce a lot of perfume from roses and lavender (I guess you can think of Bulgarian Rose, which I recognize as a specific perfume oil).
Something I didn't know AT ALL, was that Bulgaria has a strong space program: "Bulgaria has made numerous contributions to space exploration.[274] These include two scientific satellites, more than 200 payloads and 300 experiments in Earth orbit, as well as two cosmonauts since 1971.[274] Bulgaria was the first country to grow wheat and vegetables in space with its Svet greenhouses on the Mir space station.[275][276] It was involved in the development of the Granat gamma-ray observatory[277] and the Vega program, particularly in modelling trajectories and guidance algorithms for both Vega probes.[278][279] Bulgarian instruments have been used in the exploration of Mars, including a spectrometer that took the first high quality spectroscopic images of Martian moon Phobos with the Phobos 2 probe.[274][277] Cosmic radiation en route to and around the planet has been mapped by Liulin-ML dosimeters on the ExoMars TGO.[280] Variants of these instruments have also been fitted on the International Space Station and the Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe.[281][282] Another lunar mission, SpaceIL's Beresheet, was also equipped with a Bulgarian-manufactured imaging payload.[283] Bulgaria's first geostationary communications satellite—BulgariaSat-1—was launched by SpaceX in 2017.[284]"
Bulgaria is experiencing a population crisis. With a downwards spiral in population, there are fewer and fewer births (far below replacement levels), thus creating a very aging population.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgaria
A good video about a traditional dance: https://youtu.be/SWIK0SfT4Mw?si=9CEmHfKAozzSr6oI
Also of note: Balkan Yogurt originates here, and Bulgaria has over 4500 known caves, and LOTS OF BATS.
https://youtu.be/SlVmp7zBbKU?si=ptdFBqR-dw75VLBq
Being able to get up about an hour before I normally would, so that I could be dressed and prepared for the plumber today. I didn't have to DO anything, nor did I have to explain much, as he knows to go into the mud room, and he was the one who started on it, so he knows what's left.
I just wanted to be awake and dressed, like a "normal person" for once.
The sink is still not ready to be used, as the faucets can't go on until we have a support board behind the sink, and a few other things, but we're CLOSER. I really didn't think that putting in a sink would be that big a deal, but it is.
Very beautiful weather again today. Everything is melting, and the sunshine has a very different quality in the spring, as the angle of the sun relative to the surface is different.
I'm pretty sure I got flirted with today, from the plumber (a cute plumber easily 15 years younger than I am). Or, at least, "very friendlied". He knows I'm married, but we were talking, and we both like to do outdoorsy things like kayaking or hiking (though I am not a hard core athlete or anything). He is part of a group of people, who go places together so that they can, for example, car pool and rent a B&B together so it's cheaper, and then go hiking as a group so that it's more social. He invited me, and presumably my husband, but it was definitely aimed at me.
I don't know that I'm up for a weekend of sleeping with eight or more strangers in a rented cabin in the bush, but I am flattered to be considered for it.
I did say my husband and I would be up for a day of canoeing or show shoeing with him and any friends he might want to bring, since we are totally up for something like that. There's lots of places not far from our house that would make an easy day trip.
I spoke with Trainwreck on the phone, and it was pretty much business as usual. She's talking about taking over all the small garden planters in front of everyone's unit at the lodge (apparently a lot of them remain unplanted) and starting a vegetable garden. That in itself doesn't sound bad, but you don't know my sister.
If they allow her to do this, I know how it would go. She'll start piling up pails and pots all over the place, flats of half dead plants from some green house that was throwing them away, and shovels and such.
She's not going to do things neatly or nicely, like just plant some geraniums in there and then actually water them. Nope. She's going to GO BIG OR GO HOME, only she'll probably abandon the project half way through and leave a giant mess.
Oh well. That's not my problem.
She also has a puppy that someone was giving away. She can't keep it, as the lodge doesn't allow pets, and she knows that too. This is pure Trainwreck.
Someone was "moving" and had to "find homes for these pups or else" according to her (it would have totally found another home).
She's lonely, she says. I know this part too. She took this pup, with no intention to actually care for it, and she doesn't have the money for vet bills, and food, or the time and patience to house break it or walk it. She's just going to walk around with it in her purse and take it with her everywhere for a week, and then she's going to foist it on someone else.
She's already got our Sister L in mind, as a person to take it. So there you go. Sister L would have gone and got a pup if she's wanted one, but instead Trainwreck will try to guilt her into taking THIS one, that maybe Sister L won't want.
THAT WAY, Trainwreck wins. Not only does Sister L, a responsible and caring person, take this puppy and care for it and get it spayed and train it and walk it and feed it and love it, but Trainwreck gets to see it whenever she wants to, with no actual responsibility.
Just like how her son ended up living with my Mom for six years (he should never have gone back to live with her, either).
I don't know if Sister L will take this puppy or not, but Trainwreck WOULD LIKE her to take it. If not, she'll dump it on someone else.
Every time in the past that she has had animals, all she told me is how much she hated them. Hated the mess, the expense, the inevitable poop in the house since she can't train them (or if it's cats, won't maintain a litter box). HATES THEM.
Apparently I have misunderstood (she tells me today). She just hates it when she has to give them up. She fails to mention that she ALWAYS has to give them up, because half the time she's living somewhere that doesn't allow them in the first place, or she can't afford them, or they drive her crazy and because she's irresponsible they become animals with behavioral issues.
Since animals aren't allowed at the lodge, she pretty much has to give it to someone soon, but not before she gets to spend a selfish few weeks with it. Hopefully it doesn't get sick or something. Likely she won't give it up until someone reports it.
I told her that she's pushing her luck, and if she gets kicked out, she will have NOWHERE to go. Her reply? "they'll never kick me out, they'll just tell me to get rid of the dog".
So, that's pure Trainwreck.
I chose to let all of this "not be my problem", because it sure as hell isn't my problem.
I went to town, tried unsuccessfully to get special food for Jones (they're out of his kind), got the pellets for litter (and petted the sweet store cat), and went to pottery.
I was alone at pottery, but I enjoyed my time there, throwing away on the wheel. It's a very enjoyable way to spend some time.
I got groceries too, but with lots of time so I didn't feel pressured.
I came home, and my Sweetie helped me put everything away.
The Republic of Bulgaria is located in the Balkan peninsula, bordering the Black Sea. In the past, it was once a battleground for Thracians, Persians, Celts and Macedonians, and finally found some stability with the Roman empire.
After Rome, it was more fighting, and eventually it was part of the Byzantine empire. Then the Bulgarian empire, then the Ottoman empire for nearly five hundred years.
"The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 resulted in the formation of the third and current Bulgarian state. Many ethnic Bulgarians were left outside the new nation's borders, which stoked irredentist sentiments that led to... alliances with Germany in both world wars. In 1946, Bulgaria came under the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc and became a socialist state. The ruling Communist Party gave up its monopoly on power after the revolutions of 1989 and allowed multiparty elections. Bulgaria then transitioned into a democracy and a market-based economy. Since adopting a democratic constitution in 1991, Bulgaria has been a unitary parliamentary republic composed of 28 provinces, with a high degree of political, administrative, and economic centralisation."
Bulgaria is South of the Danube River, but there is a great plain that is within it's borders called the Danube Plain. There are also the Balkan mountains, and the Thracian Plain, and the Rila-Rhodope massif (mountain mass) as major geographical features.
Bulgaria's climate is all over the place, as it has cold mountains, but warm Mediterranean air currents.
Bulgaria still uses coal power for electricity generation, too many pesticides, and poor sewage disposal, though efforts are being made to improve in these areas.
Their economy is the usual agricultural products like grain, as well as mining and industry.
What is DIFFERENT, is that they produce a lot of perfume from roses and lavender (I guess you can think of Bulgarian Rose, which I recognize as a specific perfume oil).
Something I didn't know AT ALL, was that Bulgaria has a strong space program: "Bulgaria has made numerous contributions to space exploration.[274] These include two scientific satellites, more than 200 payloads and 300 experiments in Earth orbit, as well as two cosmonauts since 1971.[274] Bulgaria was the first country to grow wheat and vegetables in space with its Svet greenhouses on the Mir space station.[275][276] It was involved in the development of the Granat gamma-ray observatory[277] and the Vega program, particularly in modelling trajectories and guidance algorithms for both Vega probes.[278][279] Bulgarian instruments have been used in the exploration of Mars, including a spectrometer that took the first high quality spectroscopic images of Martian moon Phobos with the Phobos 2 probe.[274][277] Cosmic radiation en route to and around the planet has been mapped by Liulin-ML dosimeters on the ExoMars TGO.[280] Variants of these instruments have also been fitted on the International Space Station and the Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe.[281][282] Another lunar mission, SpaceIL's Beresheet, was also equipped with a Bulgarian-manufactured imaging payload.[283] Bulgaria's first geostationary communications satellite—BulgariaSat-1—was launched by SpaceX in 2017.[284]"
Bulgaria is experiencing a population crisis. With a downwards spiral in population, there are fewer and fewer births (far below replacement levels), thus creating a very aging population.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgaria
A good video about a traditional dance: https://youtu.be/SWIK0SfT4Mw?si=9CEmHfKAozzSr6oI
Also of note: Balkan Yogurt originates here, and Bulgaria has over 4500 known caves, and LOTS OF BATS.
https://youtu.be/SlVmp7zBbKU?si=ptdFBqR-dw75VLBq
no subject
Date: 2024-03-12 04:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-03-12 09:00 pm (UTC)In the past, I've watched her get all kinds of animals and neglect them horribly. Horses, dogs, cats, and farm animals that you could argue were there for meat anyhow, so were treated about par for how meat animals are treated.
This little dog will hopefully find a better home soon, but likely not before she's reported by someone. As a pup, it shouldn't be paraded around in her purse for a week or more, meeting all kinds of different people. It won't have any of it's shots yet, or any natural immunity. I worry that it will be harder for someone else to potty train because you know she's going to let it go to the bathroom inside. She'll also get mad at it for doing so.
I'm thinking of calling it in myself, if she doesn't find it a home this week.
I'm reasonably sure that a great deal of the trauma I had over animals as a kid have led me to my present state of feeling so protective of them.
no subject
Date: 2024-03-13 06:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-03-14 08:00 am (UTC)Every now and then we have a better talk, and sometimes it's about stuff in our childhood that helps me to make sense of things. Sometimes she's helpful when I'm in a bad mood.
At other times, her selfishness and obvious "addict" personality is maddening.
Sometimes I feel like she does listen to the people in our family who try to give her good advice (she DID end up leaving her trailer and living in the lodge in town, probably in part because myself and others were strongly advising her that this was a good move for her).
A lot of why I keep talking to her is a sense of obligation, and the hope that it maybe helps.
It's probably not GOOD for me.
no subject
Date: 2024-03-15 07:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-03-15 07:57 am (UTC)My family is pretty odd, in that they might "care" about you, but they probably have no intention of helping you in any meaningful way other than maybe listening to you.
Sometimes having someone listen is valuable.
I would have to say that her personal issues make her seem very self-absorbed; pain can do that to a person. She is often attentive if I am unhappy, as it fosters a kind of camaraderie. She isn't that interested in when I am doing well, perhaps because it is hard for her to relate to.
Example: she is happy to listen when I am upset about lack of house progress, despair over something like piles of garbage in the yard. Less interested in when we got our truck, or that I am working with River and enjoying that.
If I am doing okay, then I don't "need" her, right?
no subject
Date: 2024-03-16 05:32 am (UTC)She is lucky to have a caring sibling.
no subject
Date: 2024-03-16 06:30 am (UTC)I know that having an audience feeds her need for attention and possibly commiseration, though she doesn't get that much sympathy from me.
I do listen to her, but there are lots of times when what I have to say about her problems probably isn't what she was hoping to hear.
no subject
Date: 2024-03-16 06:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-03-16 07:47 am (UTC)Kind of like how she doesn't refer to herself as an alcoholic, even though she knows on some level that she has a lot of problems with drinking.
I haven't seen her new place, but I can't imagine that it's clean. I imagine that it is about as full as she can possibly get it, or it will be soon. Just moving and leaving most of her stuff behind doesn't change the reality of being a hoarder any more than moving would somehow mean she wasn't an alcoholic anymore.
For both of these issues, she would have to do the work of addressing the underlying mental illness, and form new patterns in her life about taking responsibility for herself. She would have to likely get therapy, be accountable to someone about her habits, and so on.
She resists any kind of therapy, won't attend AA meetings, or anything like that.
Any improvement in her housing situation is not going to mean her hoarding days are over.
no subject
Date: 2024-03-17 08:50 pm (UTC)Perhaps the place where TW lives will similarly clean her apartment from time to time, thus preventing infestations and/or fire hazard. If she's kept safe, that's half the battle.
no subject
Date: 2024-03-18 02:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-03-18 04:04 am (UTC)