With the weather getting a bit colder, I decided to research the fake fireplace I have. Turns out, it's a gel fuel unit. That means, instead of wood or logs, you burn cans filled with an alcohol gel. Kind of like sterno cans for chaffing dishes. They burn for about 2-3 hours, have pretty long flames and crackle like a fire. Plus, no extra ventilation needed as they burn clean with no real fumes (also, I can move the unit to just about any area I want to). of course, the fuel is kind of expensive. It makes the living room seem cozy though! Fortunately, it doesn't give off a ton of heat. Unfortunately, my cat is a bit scared of it. He's never seen fire before, so he's not sure what to make of it.

I'll try to attach a photo or two, one with the fire screen, one without:

I did some volunteering at a women's shelter down on Skid Row this weekend. Wow, what an absolutely humbling experience.

I worked the breakfast shift, so we arrived a little before 6am. To be honest, it's not an area you want to be during daylight hours, let alone before sunrise. A co-worker and I met at the office and he drove us over, so at least I wasn't on my own. We saw someone open the security gate to the parking lot and moved quickly to get inside before it closed.

Once inside, we introduced ourselves and said "put us to work!". Being the first to show-up, we had our pick of stuff to do. I got to slice up an entire crate of cantaloupes into 1 1/2 inch wedges. The guy in charge liked me, so I got the "good" knife (or so he said). My co-worker was working the grill. He had 130 eggs to fry! After fruit, it was putting shredded cheese and salsa into new containers. Folks from our office started to show up, so things were really gearing-up.

I worked the sink for a bit, then was directed to take the HUGE pans of hash browns out of the ovens and put them in to chafing type dishes (without the sterno candles), then wash the pans. Next, I got all the counters cleaned and started rolling 200 forks into napkins. It was getting close to serving time, so we had to get everything ready.

The way it worked was, we were in a line with one person in charge of each item that goes onto the plate. The first item goes on and gets handed to the next person to put their item on it, and so on, until it got to me where I handed it to the next lady in line.

I felt it was really important to engage as many women that I could. I looked at everyone in the eye (most looked back, but not all), said "Good morning, how are you?". If they answered I would respond, if not I would hand them their plate and say "enjoy your breakfast and have a good day.". I'd say 99% of the ladies were so friendly and said "Thank you" or "Thank you so much for coming down, we appreciate it". little did they know how much I appreciated them!

These women broke my heart and I am so glad there are places like where we spent our Saturday morning. I believe most were residents of the center, but not all. Some had chores to do after the meal (dishes, floors, etc). and the rest either went to other areas or outside. Before we arrived, we'd gotten almost 500 toiletry packs made-up with items we all went out and purchased to donate and some were passed-out, from what I understand, the women were so grateful. Imagine, a bag with soap, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lip balm, sunscreen, a washcloth, a brush or comb and a few other things like that was enough to make these women's day. Things we take for granted. Think about that.

Most of us volunteers also brought in items on our own to donate. I brought a huge handled bag with as many articles of new clothes (with tags) or gently used clothes. They have a real need for career wear (New or gently used) and undergarments (new, of course). I was able to find or buy a lot. Plus, I had new shoes I'd gotten online that didn't fit (5 pairs), plus casual wear clothes. I hope it makes a difference. This place works to get women back on their feet and into jobs, they need anything they can get to help.

To all the jerks who say these people are taking advantage of the system, fuck you. You do not live on or go to Skid Row to take advantage of the system. Some of these ladies don't know any other life, some were hit by disastrous events and are trying to claw their way back to a normal life and some were so horribly damaged by life that I want to cry when I think about where they would be without places like this.

Seeing the smiles our simple breakfast and just being there caused made my day. I was also really proud when our head kitchen guy told us that he would love for us to come back, because "A lot of folks come here and don't want to work. They want to play around and take pictures, you guys work hard and I would love to have you back any time". High praise! He actually ran out of stuff for us to do, so we did some of the work the lunch team was supposed to do. 😀

I'm really glad we went when we did and that it wasn't over Thanksgiving. They need help during the times there aren't celebrated holidays. They need help every day.

I told the gal that hooked us up with this program to let me know whenever they plan the next volunteer day, because I'm looking forward to going back.

Any one of us could end-up in the same situation as these ladies, don't take your life/situation for granted and, if you can, find a reputable program and see if you can help out. You won't regret it.

Time to work on a gratitude list....

Black Friday was such a cool day. I went in to the office my normal time (most of you are still in dreamland when I get to work, LOL!). Worked a little bit, then helped fix breakfast for everyone, did some more work and then got out of there st 10:10am. Awesome!!

Cruised up to the dealership where I got my tire replaced last week to see if they had my prescription black Ray Ban sunglasses (I called multiple times and never heard back from the service dept.). Alas, they didn't have them. I know I left them there, so I hope whoever picked them up has my prescription and that they really needed them. Sigh, they were expensive. Plus, I don't know if I can get them configured like that again (long story). Anyway, only good thoughts to the person who has them.

After that, I came home and puttered/relaxed. There was no way I was going to a store and dealing with crowds, so I hung out listening to podcasts and reading. I made sure to take all my laundry out to my car, so I wouldn't have to do it this morning in the dark.

I went to a new laundromat this morning and it was so cool. Because I'm me, I got there a little before they opened so that I could be sure to get however many machines I needed, plus have a little instruction time. This place does not take cash, you have to get a free card and then load it with money. Now they're pricey for a laundromat, but it's clean, well-lit, has good parking (if you get there early) and they always have staff there.

They also have HUGE machines!!! I should have used the largest washers, but ended-up using three four-load machines and two two- two-load machines. Yes, I had that much to wash! I was down to three clean sets of sheets for the bed, so that means I had EIGHT sets to wash (don't judge, I have a thing for sheets), plus one comforter and a bunch of clothes to wash. All that cost $30 to wash. It would have been a bit cheaper, but since it was my first time there, I didn't want to risk overloading the machines. The best thing is, everything was done washing in 27 minutes!! Each machine finished within a minute of each other, making it perfect to unload one into a cart, move to the next one, etc.

When it came to drying, after taking out a few things that needed to hang dry, I was able to fit all my stuff in two MASSIVE machines. They cost .75 every 10 mins and I think I ran one for 30 mins and one for 40 mins. May have run one machine another time, I'm not sure.

So, with folding everything, packing it up and walking back to my car, I was out of there around 8am. I did the equivalent of probably (conservatively) 10 loads of laundry from start to finish, in under two hours. I'm definitely going to go back! Hopefully, it won't be with so many sets of sheets, they're a pain to fold by myself out in public.

I'm also still working on my clothes gathering project. We're volunteering soon and the place we're going is also taking clothing donations. I've been going through and getting a lot of things ready to take. Nice thing, I've found shoes that I purchased online that I never wore as they didn't fit, along with clothes that still have tags. I'm hoping this will help people! We've gotten together about 500 toiletry packs as well. You know, bags with shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, sunscreen, deodorant, shower caps, etc.

I'll let you know how it all goes after we're done.

My new project for this weekend is that I'm going through and getting all my Christmas stuff together. I'm not going to put anything out until December, but I want to get it ready. Plus, I'm not sure where I'm going to put my tree this year. I'm keeping my front door open more than I did last year, so I'm not sure if the place I put it then is practical.

I also brought work home.... we'll see if I get to it!

My house is a mess, lol!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Because I'm a crummy friend, I begged-off going to friends houses today. Everyone lives kinda far and I really just don't want to drive. To be honest, I've only gotten 3-5 hours of sleep each night for the past week or so (I feel tired and "off")and I knew the idea of getting dressed-up, driving, cooking, cleaning, helping, then driving back home wouldn't appeal to me (I was right!). Plus, I have to go into work for a couple of hours tomorrow (Office closes at 10am), so sticking close to home is probably a good idea.

My current agenda for the day is wide open. I'd originally planned to go to the laundromat, but they're closed today (who knew?). I'll go tomorrow or early Saturday morning. As an alternative, I'm hoping to get in a couple of naps, continue going through my clothes for donations, make a few lists of chores I need to get done over the next few days and perhaps walk over to Starbucks. Maybe I'll bake something? I dunno. The cool thing is, as I don't have to get dressed-up, I can do all of those things while wearing my comfy overalls. YAAAASSSSSS!!!!

Whatever you end-up doing today, be safe and have fun. Don't forget to take time out to stop and reflect on everything you're thankful for!

Work has been kind of weird/odd since I last posted. I have made a concerted effort to be very nice, but not fully engaged with my friend/co-worker. I think he regrets a lot of what he said, but he's not the type to apologize. I also think he misses our back and forth throughout the day. While friendly, I'm keeping it all surface level stuff. No asking about the weekend or evening before. No volunteering on my part either.

Example:


Him: "Did you see that article about xyz?".
Me: "No, I hadn't, what was it about?".
Him: "Blah, blah, blah".
Me: "Oh, cool. I'll have to check it out".

Normally, we would have a really good conversation about it. I'm sure he misses that, I do.

At least it's not awful at work. It's just weird. I guess it's our new thing. Only good thing is, I'm getting crap done I've been putting off.

I'm making apple crisp from our tried and true family recipe. No oats or anything like that- no, no! Ours is more like apple pie with shortbread crumbled on top. I tried using part raw sugar with the regular sugar, we'll see how it turns out. I also added two extra apples and some cinnamon as the baking pan was a little bigger than I needed. I hope the people at work enjoy it, I'm only making it to make my apartment smell good.

Well, chores to do...

Today was a difficult day.

I had a lot written, but I deleted it. A very good work friend who I value and look up to did and said some things today that I will have to pretend to have gotten over, but in reality I'm devastated. They are going through difficult stuff in their personal life and chose to lash out at me in order to vent their frustration/feeling of helplessness. Horrible things were said. I sat there, quietly and let them do it, because it was coming from a place of pain/anguish. When it was done, I asked if we were good and he said "yes". But I'm not good. I'm crushed. Some things you can't take back once they are said.

I have to suck it up and go into work tomorrow as though everything is great.

Wish me luck.

Well, I was driving home from work and as I exited the freeway, the “tire pressures are low” alert came on. I drove to the closest dealership and found that I’d run over a really big screw. Right at the sidewall. Could they please fix it? No, they can’t. Now I’m waiting to hear how much this is going to cost. I’m expecting it to be steep. I found out after I got the car that I had “performance” tires, which is code for EXPENSIVE. I have no need for tires like that! I drive to work and back and sit in traffic, who has a need for performance tires in Los Angeles?

Waiting is taking forever. They’ve just turned the lights off. Should I be worried?

Well, I was there for two and a half hours and just got home. Is it worth eating dinner?