She Called Me "Sweetie"!

You know you must be (or look) very old when a kid who looks barely out of high school hands you your KFC bucket and calls you "Sweetie."

SWEETIE?

Harumph. It's amazing she didn't pat me on my big grey head.

Well, it's been a l-o-n-g day. Made even longer because I could not get to sleep last night. It was after 2 before I finally dozed off, and I woke up an hour or so later, then forced myself to go back to sleep, and was wide awake at 5. Even the DOGS didn't want to get up that early and I slid out from under them. They barely moved.

What I wanted to do for the morning was nap, but LifeLine was coming to my mother's at 11:30 and I'd said I'd be there.

The drive down was miserable. I didn't nod off, but my whole body cried out for sleep and my scalp got scratched a lot (those who know me well, know what that means--you can tell if I'm sleepy because I start scratching my head).

I was listening to another Michael Connelly book and even that couldn't keep me from longing for sleep.

The LifeLine installer arrived and put in the unit and all went very well. My mother even seems to be relieved that it's in. Of course she is wearing the pendant UNDER her clothes, and that may affect how well it works, but at least she has it.

The whole installation and testing process took about an hour and then we fixed ourselves sandwiches. During lunch, we talked about senior centers. A couple of years ago the owners of the mobile home park where my mother lived raised everyone's rate for rent on the land their units sit on to more than double. This meant my mother's rent would go from $800 to $1900 overnight.

This became a court case and after a very lengthy court battle, it was resolved that effective immediately, new residents of the park would pay the $1900, while current residents would continue paying their current rents (with cost of living increases each year) for the next 10 years. Since we figured that my mother would finally have moved out by the time she hits 100, this was a great relief for us all.

But now the park has been sold again and she just received another notice saying that they have filed an injunction against the decision and that if they win this time, the rent will go up to $1900, effective immediately. It's kind of like gay marriage. One day you're fine, the next you're not and then you're fine again and just when you think it will all finally be over, they start it all up again.

But this did give me the opportunity to suggest that now might be an excellent time to "home shop." She has some friends who have moved into assisted living facilities and she'd been thinking of getting information about them. I encouraged that strongly and she said that her best friend was also thinking of looking around, so she will suggest to Paula that the two of them go hunting. The main reason she is reluctant to move out of her house is that she loves having the space to entertain, which she won't have if she moves into a smaller apartment.

But at least it's now in the discussion phase.

I was going to take a nap before going home, but our discussion had lasted so long that I wanted to leave before rush hour traffic and assured her I was OK to drive. In truth, I felt fine. Until I got on the freeway. That same damn stretch of highway from Hwy 101 to I-80 put me to scratching my head again.

I stopped at Borders on the way home to use the bathroom and then decided to get KFC for dinner because it would be so late when I got home that I really wouldnt feel like cooking.

And the teeny bopper called me "Sweetie." Harumph.

After dinner we drove to Sacramento for opening night of Suds, the new cabaret show at the Cosmpolitan Cabaret. It's billed as a Rock Soap Opera with all or part of some 60 songs from the 60s. It is about as substantial as a soap bubble, but fun and the audience loved it.

At the cabaret you sit at tables for 4. Last time we sat with Mary Jane Popp, a radio talk show host and one of the reviewers we always see at these things. This time we sat with Walter, whose last name I can never remember, and his wife Terry. Walter, who is in his 70s, used to work with Ned until Ned changed radio stations, so we usually chat when we run into each other. I had a good time telling Terry about my experience reviewing the show called The Puppetry of the Penis (one of my very favorite reviews) during intermission.

I had a very difficult time staying awake toward the end of act 1, but made it through act 2 with flying colors. I am very glad, though, that we saw the show on Friday and that my review is not due until Monday, so I don't have to try to prop myself up and write it when I can barely keep my eyes opened.

Good night, all you Sweeties out there...