Author Archives: Pamela Rentz

Last weekend the berry situation became critical. We reached the point where we had to work to eat as many as we picked. I made a pie and we are still eating lots of berries but the supply is slowing down.

On Wednesday, I left my phone on the bus.

This is something I am normally careful about. I check my keys and phone and make sure I have everything when I exit. But I had an extra bag and somehow my phone slipped away.

It wasn’t in my pocket when I got to the car and I knew it was gone right away because it talks to my car and my car couldn’t find it.

A couple of years ago, Bob left his iPad on the bus. It was during the pandemic and there were so few bus riders that iPad remained on the bus for over a week. We could watch it riding back and forth to downtown and then going to the bus barn at night until the battery died. It took almost 2 weeks for him to get it back.

It would be very challenging to get through two weeks without my phone, so I was determined to rescue it from the bus.

My first idea was to wait until the bus looped back around to the park-n-ride again. From the schedule, it looked like that would be at least 45 minutes and I worried that meanwhile someone could use my phone for nefarious purposes or squirrel it away to Algeria and I would never see it again.

I went home and got on my desktop and put it in Lost Mode. I could see its location and it looked like it was on the lawn next to the park-n-ride break room/maintenance building.

Oh, I thought. It fell out of my pocket into the grass. I better hurry back before someone runs off with it.

I went back to the park-n-ride. (Trip 1) It was not on the grass. I went and found a bus driver standing around vaping and looking like he hated his life. I explained what was going on, thinking he might say, “Let me check the break room to see if someone brought in your phone.” or “Here, I just picked this up. So happy to find the rightful owner.”

He did not. He asked me where the app said it was and also asked me if I had a smart watch.

Thanks for helping, guy.

I waited for the bus to loop back down and the bus that arrived was not my bus.

I went home and got back on the app. It looked like my phone was headed for the bus barn. Oh well, I thought. I clicked the button where Lost Mode would have my phone make a noise. I needed someone to find it and send it to Lost and Found. (I also called Lost and Found to describe my problem.)

Then I was about to proceed with my evening when it looked like the phone was headed back to the park-n-ride. I jumped in the car. (Trip 2)

When I arrived at the park-n-ride I waited for the bus to arrive and the bus that arrived was not my bus. I talked to that driver and he was sympathetic but what could he do?

There was a maintenance person so I asked her if anyone had found a phone. No luck. I looked in the grass again and checked the schedule thinking, for sure the next bus would be my bus.

It wasn’t going to arrive for 45 minutes.

I thought I could wander around the park-n-ride but what were the chances that after all that, it wasn’t my bus?

I went back home. I checked the app. My phone was at the other park-n-ride north of mine which meant that my bus was still in service and would be coming back down.

I went back to the park-n-ride. (Trip 3). As I drove in there was a bus like the one I took parked to the side, out of service. I stopped the car and talked to that driver who looked for my phone. He also said reassuring things like: as soon as it’s found they would take it to Lost and Found and I could get it then.

I went to the platform to wait for my bus. At 7:17 (!) my bus arrived. It was the same driver who did not recognize me from earlier but let me on the bus, it was stuck in the crack between the seat and the window.

SUCCESS!!!!! I went home and cuddled with my phone for the rest of the night.

The garden plot fresh after rototilling in April.

Shortly after I graduated from college I lived in L.A. and I joined a gym.

I can’t remember if the gym had separate workout areas for men and women or if there was a private area for women. I warmed up in a small area with only women. There were about a half dozen stationary bikes.

The garden today. It is so out of control. I like to let it do its thing and see what happens but I think what is happening is that the pumpkins (all volunteers) have taken over and all the other stuff is hanging on for dear life.

I’m warming up. I doubt I sat on there for very long and this lady comes up and asks me how long until I’m finished.

Every other stationary bike was free.

I asked why she couldn’t use another bike and she said she wanted that one because it was under a fan.

Also lots of potatoes out there. Every time I end up with an old moldy potato, I bury it out in the garden. Apparently that happened a lot. The plants are crowding out the tomatoes. I hate pulling plants. I did whack back some of the pumpkins last weekend.

At first I considered swapping to another bike because I didn’t care. But why can’t she use a different bike? I was already working out. Buck up lady.

I took longer on purpose.

Our office overlooks a multi-story parking garage that’s shorter than us so we look down on the top floor.

Back in the before times this parking lot would fill up.

Fairly often, in the mornings, I would notice a car that drove to the roof and stopped in the driving lane. I can’t remember exactly but it was a small car like a Mini or maybe one of those little Fiats.

The driver would sit there. Sometimes they read the paper. Or sometimes they wrote in a notebook.

After a few minutes the car would drive back down.

What do you think was going on with that? Maybe just a security person who … drove through the parking garage to do his rounds?

How about a break from the deer and checking out some opossum clips? No matter how many photos and clips I post about opossum, I have to look up the spelling every single time.

Did I ever write about pickleball?

If you read any mainstream news you’ve probably heard about pickleball. It’s the fastest growing sport in the US.

If you haven’t seen it, it’s kind of like tennis but on half the court so I guess you can be less fit and still enjoy it.

The articles say it’s addictive. People love it. I’m not drawn to sports with rackets and aiming at things or being competitive so I have no personal experience.

We live down the street from an elementary school and there are 2 tennis courts there that weren’t abandoned but not in high use and were not maintained.

I don’t know who’s in charge but 4 or 5 years ago the courts were spruced up and if it’s good weather, there are people playing pickleball there. On the weekends they start early and it goes all day. There are cars and vans parked everywhere and people in folding chairs sitting around the courts.

I feel bad for the people who used to live next to a quiet, crumbling tennis court and now have all that activity and CLOP! CLOP! CLOP! of pickleball going all day long. But also I walked by there recently and it wasn’t that loud, so maybe the neighbors don’t mind. Plus it’s nice to have a wholesome activity bringing people together.

I was at Mom’s a couple of weeks ago and she is having a raccoon problem.

She moved all the cat food and secured anything else a raccoon might get into.

Except these milks. We found this in the yard.

On the complete other side of the yard we found the straw.

I guess that’s why the raccoon had to chew it up.

By the way, the garage smelled like funky wild animal. Raccoons may be cute but they smell.

I had this brilliant idea that maybe we could scare it away with some bells or something on the door.

All I could find was some aluminum cans and I made a pyramid by the cat door.

Cans were knocked over when we got up!

But I set them up the next night and they were knocked over again plus one of the cans was carried outside. I guess the raccoon wasn’t scared.

Mom is reluctant to block the cat door because : what about the cat?

We are exploring some modern cat doors for a solution.