Weekend Coffee Share is a time for us to take a break out of our lives and enjoy some timely catching up with friends (old and new)! To join, al l you need to do is create a post and link to Eclectic Ali
It’s been a mixed week. On the plus side, Friday I celebrated my birthday with a dinner with my parents and two cousins, I haven’t seen in ages. We ate outside at a local spot which has a lovely patio area. The downside, which is minor, is that it was quite chilly. We wore our fall coats the whole time. I must admit fall has come and it’s time to switch out my seasonal wardrobe.
While Friday was great, Saturday started with a fender bender. Ugh. I was parking in front of a food pantry where my partner and I were going to work. I accidentally started to park in a loading zone and the man who owned the store by the zone, startled me as he dramatically waved and pointed to the sign. Of course, I started to move out, but I wasn’t careful enough so I soon heard a dreadful CRRRUNCH. I’d hit the taillights of the car in front of me. Long story short, I’ve exchanged information with the other driver and will go through the process of making things right. There’s something so awful in that sound of a car accident, even a minor one. Then there’s the dreadful thought of how much will it cost and how much hassle this will be to fix. My car had a pretty long scratch, but when I got home, I wiped off the door and saw that the scratch isn’t so bad. Have you had any experiences like this?
This week at work we got more people to do the Census than any other, but 200%. Where have these people been? They were pleasant and we didn’t have any insults shouted at us. We have had some of our future assignments changed as both in Albany Park and the Morse CTA station, there were shootings. We work during the day and these incidents happened after 6pm, but it’s good we’ve been reassigned. I do wonder when Chicago’s violence will decline. Nothing seems to be working.
On Thursday, my partner and I had an interesting talk with the two police officers covering the Rogers Park CTA stations. They explained how there’s a lot to their job that TV commentators and social media users just don’t understand. For example, tasers only work as designed if they can touch the skin. If someone is wearing thick or baggy clothing, they’re ineffective. Someone can pull out the prongs pretty easily and once those wires are disconnected, the device is useless. I’d love to see a news program that offers information on how tasers work and what they can and can’t do. I’d like to see the actual statistics on how often someone draws a weapon on the police and the officers make the arrest without drawing a weapon.
I’m reading That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis. It’s the third book of his space trilogy. It’s quite different from the first two books, but relates to what’s going on in society right now in terms of violence and division. The main character Mark is a university professor and I’m enjoying the view into academia.
I finished the Hillsdale College Children’s Classic Literature course so I got Peter Rabbit and reread that and got Beatrix Potter’s Two Bad Mice. Both were witty and soothing timeless stories.
My job will end on September. I have lined up short term work as a judge for early voting which will start here on October 19th and culminate November 3rd. After that I have to get something else. First and foremost I have to figure out what I want to do.
Ruined for Life: Phoenix Edition 