Rain, Rain Go Away!

We’ve been getting so much rain lately that worry-wart me has been going down the basement daily to make sure the sump pump is working. Even with a daylight window in the basement, I hate going downstairs and I hate sump pumps even more. I still have visuals stuck in my head of the time the sump pump quit working during a record breaking streak of rainy days and my basement got flooded to the tune of $3,000 to get the water pumped out, a new sump pump installed and a couple of treatments to prevent mold---not to mention the stuff that got damaged and had to be thrown out. I’m especially worried this time because my gutters need cleaning out which is causing rain water to go right over the top of the eaves troughs and land in the zone where it will end up in the sump pump to be pumped out farther into the yard. I had the gutters cleaned in the spring and usually they don’t need it twice a year but apparently they didn’t do as good a job as I’ve had in the past. I’m on the wait list to get them done again but like everything else that requires manpower, there seems to be a shortage of workers in this area. I’m also on the wait list for an arborist to trim my shrubs and for a painter to get a ceiling painted. 

Now that I’ve decided to move, all these house maintenance chores are starting to get to me like they never did before. I feel like I’m losing control. I am losing control! I never felt like that when I could do the work for myself or hire it done but how do you keep things maintained when you can’t even hire stuff taken care of in a timely manner? Even my cleaning service is moaning and groaning about not being able to hire enough people. Did I mention that I lost my cleaner who was also a college student working on her degree to teach art? I was not surprised but I’ll miss our great conversations. On the good side starting in November I’ll be getting the OCD cleaner back who gave a baby up for adoption and regretted the decision. I lost her because she quit working on Fridays and at the time it was the only day of the week I had free. There’s only one catch, she can’t fit me in for October because I have a bi-annual doctor’s appointment on the only day she has free. The service is working on finding me a temporary for this month. I’m not worried about it, though. I might be too old to clean my rain gutters out but I can still clean toilets and sinks if I have to.

This week I did get out of the house long enough to get some R&R from e-Baying. (Just in time to celebrate selling one of my husband's bug boxes for a whopping $610.00). I went to a lecture called Project One. I had to force myself to go because the night before I slept a grand total of three hours plus the topic didn’t look all that exciting, especially given the fact that there wasn't enough coffee in the world to make me want to go anywhere but back to bed. I would have passed on the lecture but they always have a long waiting list so the guilt over not using my RSVP would have been a bitchy companion.

It was about a couple of large art installations in town with a theme of ‘Crossed Lines’ which according to the exhibit’s description, “is meant to explore the way boundaries affect our sense of belonging. The results is a multi-site exhibition that connects disparate parts of the city, crossing dividing lines of neighborhoods, as well as socioeconomic and racial enclaves.” Call me old fashion but I can’t relate to things like the roof of a house laying on the ground and calling it ‘art’ and I’ve decided I don’t like public art installations that make you think you've blown a few brain cells because you don't "get it." Give me marble or metal sculptures that have passed the test of time or the moodiness of the Impressionists any day of the week except on Sundays when you can throw in an Andy Warhol soup can for a laugh or two. 

One of the classes my x-cleaner/art student had to take was on doing art installations in public spaces. Apparently, it’s a thing. Apparently art for public consumption no longer needs to just capture a mood or a moment. It’s all about bringing head-scratching or controversial conversations into public spaces. Whoopy doo. Okay, I admit my negativity here might be part sleep-deprivation. However, I like art that doesn’t need to be explained to me and certainly not explained more than once. Half the time artists are just making stuff up like that unattached roof, “is exploring boundaries" line of bull. Is this what getting old is all about, rejecting new ideas and concepts about things we dearly loved in its old forms? I’ve always prided myself on trying to stay current but I can foresee a time coming soon where I’ll be a grumpy camper---as opposed to a happy camper---living a half century behind the times. ©