I was away from home for the last three days. Once again work sent me to Southern California . Each time I go I seem to be more and more uneasy, especially this time since I had to work in Los Angelesitself. As usual, I did combine the work trip with a family gathering. We were invited to a get together in LA. We got off the freeway and drove through a neighborhood that I remember my aunt and uncle living in about 30 years ago. The neighborhood has changed and I didn’t want to be there during the day, and certainly wouldn’t be there after dark. We then drove to our destination. There weren’t too many people out on the streets although I could imagine during the week that it would be bustling with people and with bumper to bumper traffic. We stayed for four hours and left.
Each time I go into the city I can feel my blood pressure rise and my situational awareness going into overload mode. This time was even worse because I was not the driver. We weren’t in my four wheel drive truck, instead traveling in a little car. The whole time I was thinking about my escape. I was questioned for bringing a backpack into the event. I just told them that I had the work computer with me and I couldn’t leave it anywhere. Little did anyone know what was in the bag. It contained my weapon, clothing and proper shoes, food, water, money, rope, a knife, and a bunch of other important stuff.
I checked and double checked the news reports, the police reports, and the traffic reports before we left. I know that a lot can change within the four hours that we were there but knowing that no riots were expected, I figured that unless an earthquake hit, we’d be relatively ok. We didn’t need to stop for gas as I made sure the driver had a full tank. I was probably the worst dressed of all the relatives but I knew that if someone came in to the celebration to cause trouble they wouldn’t have picked me out to rob or harass.
The drive home was uneventful. Lots of Highway Patrol on the prowl. Normally I don’t care as they aren’t going to give me a ticket when I’m in the work vehicle, but today I decided to not go over the speed limit. It was a long and boring drive home as I watched all the vehicles zip past me. I sure do like coming down the grapevine and getting that first glimpse into the valley. It has a real calming effect.
When I returned home and went to pull into the garage I had to stop. There was a dead bird in the driveway and I didn’t want to run it over. I picked it up and it was a baby chicken. It was smaller than my chicks so it wasn't one of mine. I’m not sure where it came from.
I then pulled into the garage and unloaded the truck. I went to check on the animals and garden. The baby chicks didn’t have any water or food once again. The rest of the animals were fine. The garden looked a little dry but that’s because I told Army daughter she didn’t have to water if she didn’t get a chance. She didn’t get a chance. I walked into the house. It was a mess. She said that they were hoping to get it cleaned up before I got home. They were gone most of yesterday. I said then it shouldn’t be messy if they weren’t there.
I pick on Army daughter a lot because I figure if she has to be neat, orderly, and capable of multitasking while in the Army then some of those skills should cross over to her personal life. They don’t. I picked up the grandkids from oldest daughter’s house. For the most part they were good for the three days except boy was in a little bit of trouble. He got to come home and pull weeds for an hour. Before we got home I stopped at Vons. Oldest daughter said they were remodeling and had a bunch of stuff in the back that was half price including canning lids. I bought a dozen boxes of small lids and two dozen boxes of wide mouth lids. Each box cost $1.25. They had more but I didn't have any extra money.
I collected eggs. Someone at work said she was willing to pay for fresh eggs so I said I’d start bringing them in. If I sell a five dozen a week I can earn sixty a month. That will be able to go towards more preps. She also said that she’d be interested in buying fruit. I told her that I didn’t know if I would have any to sell because we eat almost all and I can what we don’t eat. Perhaps I could bring some in to sell rather than passing it around the family. I’ll think about it. Anything to earn some extra money that I can put back into more supplies.
Then I went into granddaughter’s room. It was a mess. I got big plastic bags and brought them into her room. I went through her closet and pulled out everything that didn’t fit, I didn’t like, or wasn’t appropriate for school. I also took out all her winter clothes. She ended up with five pairs of pants and twelve tops. I then went through her drawers of play clothes and took out everything that didn’t fit or looked like rags. She has plenty of underclothes. She only has two pairs of shorts and one pair of play pants. She has about 20 play tops. She also has three or four pairs of pjs. I don’t think there were any clothes that I removed from her room that I’d want to put into the bins in the garage for emergency clothing for someone else in the future. The entire bag is going to get donated.
I then cleaned out under the dresser, under the bed, on the closet floor, and under her desk. I put stuff away that I wanted to make sure was kept. The rest I left in a pile on the floor. After dinner I told her to clean it up. Just like I figured she just swept the stuff up to dump in the trash. Obviously she has too much stuff. She didn’t complain about me going through her room because my response would be if you don’t want me to clean it then do it yourself. She did complain about only having 12 school shirts. I told her she only needs two. One to wear and one in the wash. Any more than that is more than she needs. She stopped complaining because she knows I’d take them all away.
Grandson’s room wasn’t a mess so he’s in luck this week. I’d like to go through Army daughter’s room, but I won’t.
I’m pretty much rambling on today. Sorry about that. I hate going into LA. I told one person that was in the room that there were more people in that room than I see in an entire month. I’m glad to be home - even if it means cleaning up kids rooms.
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