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| The Pole Bean Vines |
The Pole Bean vines are looking rather wilted and yellowed in the heat. There are flowers on the vines, however, and I am hoping that there will be more beans to pick than the handful I've picked so far.
On Friday, I went for my blood test in the morning. The waiting room was very full when I went and there must have been some sort of a delay, because they were still calling in people who had their appointments scheduled during the previous hour. Several people left, however, saying they couldn't wait any longer, and eventually, I was called in after a 40 minutes wait. The parking structure attached to the building has upgraded to a new parking meter, which no longer accepts cash! One has to pay by credit card and I was not impressed. The person in the car ahead of me needed help with figuring out the machine and someone came out to help and he helped me, too. At first, I didn't realize they had changed the meter, so I handed him cash and he told me, "Credit card only". What if I didn't have a credit cart? I hate to use a credit card for small purchases like paying for parking or fast food, etc. Sigh. I have to learn to move with the times, I guess.
Later in the afternoon, I took Dancer to his vet's appointment to have his arthritis medication. He was not happy to be sedated and I have the scars to prove it! But, although he protested a bit during the car ride there, and panted and drooled, he did not throw up or have any accidents, so that was good. He was fairly quiet on the ride home, and has been sleeping off the after effects of the sedation all evening.
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| "Meow! Let me out! Meow!" |
I was going to water the garden in the evening, but, I was tired after we came home from the vet's clinic. So, I relaxed, read a library book, watched some Olympics coverage, and video chatted with my daughter. I will water the garden on Saturday, instead.
On Friday, I was grateful for:
- Access to medical care for myself and for Dancer
- Safe drives to the various places I needed to go to and back
- Dancer tolerated the drive to the vet's and back
- Air conditioning in the car
- Having a credit card!
Friday's joyful activity was reading.
Plans for Saturday include watering the garden and tidying up the house a bit.
How was your Friday? What are your plans for Saturday?
Here in Wales hospital car parking is free although it never used to be.I had to take my husband to hospital one time and rushed out of the house without my handbag. So I parked up but after him being seen I couldn't get through the barrier to leave and a line of motorists behind me were getting impatient. So in the end they had to let me out by raising the barrier and that was the end of that :) Some car parks here have those QR codes to pay but as I don't have a smart phone I can't use that. I'm afraid I haven't moved with the times either.
ReplyDeletePoor you and poor Dancer, maybe you could sedate him a little earlier next time. I'm sure he will have forgiven you.
I'm glad that there was someone to raise the barrier and let you out of the parking lot! My daughter said to be thankful that I was able to use a credit card instead of paying online through an app! She said that when she attended some event, the machine was broken and instead of paying by cc, she had to download an app to her phone and enter her cc info and then, make an online payment! I wouldn't know how to even go about that!
DeleteIt was all fine in the end, but commiserations about the new payment machines. It was lucky you had your credit card with you. I too don't like this trend of electronic payments for the tiniest of purchases. Most of the time they don't even give a receipt, so it's a lot of hassle to keep track of everything. On the other hand, we the public can be tracked in more and more areas of our lives! France and a couple of other countries have made it illegal to refuse cash and I wish they would bring in something similar here. As you say, not everyone has a credit card, and some people find it difficult to navigate cashless payment machines. I've noticed that my parents can be discouraged from going to certain places for this reason, and they should be going out more, not less!
ReplyDeleteGlad you and Dancer got through your appointments ok. Hope the beans come good.
Ella
Yes, it worked out fine, in the end. My daughter said to be thankful that I was not required to pay online! Apparently, she attended an event where the credit card payment machine was broken and she had to download an app to her phone and enter the cc info and pay online! Something like that assumes one has a smart phone and not everyone does! I wouldn't know how to download apps, etc., and I'd have been too flustered to even figure it out! (I have two apps downloaded to my phone and my daughter did the downloading for me.) And you are right - there was no receipt, either!
DeleteThank you; both Dancer and I got through our appointments ok. And I hope that I'll get more beans, eventually. :)
The parking meters at the eye hospital are phone/app only, which means Dad can't drive Mum there, which is how sister ended up taking it on. (I only recently got a smartphone, but haven't embraced cashless payments with it.) I actually think it is unethical the way we are being bullied into certain things, whether we like/want/are able to use them or not. OK, for me, it is a choice, but for my parents there is no choice, they just have to lump it and miss out or rely on others. It strips them of independence and, I think, some dignity.
DeleteI am pleased to report that my first barlotti and golden gate beans have formed!
On a completely different matter, I thought of you while watching the Olympics closing ceremony, when they showed that Hollywood sign! It made me laugh. I wondered whether you had heard any rumours about it during filming, but apparently it was done digitally. Hope they do it for real, for 2028! Then you can take pictures and put them on your blog!
I had to use the same parking meter on Tuesday and I felt very proud of myself that I knew what to do! When my daughter comes down for a visit, next, I shall have to ask her to show me how to download an app and how to pay through it. Not knowing what to do makes me feel very ignorant and stupid and yes, you are right, it makes us less independent.
DeleteYay! Glad to hear that your beans are forming.
Ha, ha, I was very surprised to see the Hollywood sign being changed during the closing ceremony! Once, in the 1970s, some people changed the sign from Hollywood to Hollyweed.
I'm resting, now our two guests have gone! I struggled with a card only /app only parking machine on Wednesday at the Museum. Bob came over and said "I have that app on my phone, I will do it" But even he was ages [I think helping the other person as well as struggling himself to master the wretched thing!]
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are resting, Angela, and that Bob was there to help you with the parking meter. Yes, my daughter was telling me about the app only parking machines and if that had happened to me, I would have been in big trouble! I'm going to have to put "How to download apps" on my "honey do list" for when my daughter visits next! Once, when I was at a store and there was a huge discount on an item provided it was purchased through their app, I asked one of the store clerks to download the app on my phone, but, when my credit card info was required, I refused and said, "Forget it". I didn't purchase the item and the store lost a sale.
DeleteHope your pole beans continue to produce, and also the corn and okra! Are you still getting fruit from your trees?
ReplyDeletePoor Dancer really doesn’t like disruption of the daily routine! Between organizing your own medical appointment and Dancer’s, I can see why you were exhausted. Hope you got a good night’s sleep!
The credit card parking meters make me crazy. It’s so much back and forth with the card and the display of the receipt in the windshield. We still have a row of quarters in the coin compartment of our car. Now that I think about it, I wonder if newer cars even have coin holders. 🧐
Thank you, Taconix. The spring fruits are over. I am now waiting for the fall fruit - Asian pears and Fuyu persimmons. But, both those trees are not doing too well due to the heat.
DeleteDancer was not happy about being sedated, put into a carrier, and being taken in the car! And I am no longer used to having more than one outing a day! LOL.
My daughter said to be thankful that I was not required to download an app and pay online! I wouldn't have known how to do that! I would have had to ask the person in the car behind me to help me! Good question if newer cars have coin holders!
The cash v card issue can cause a lot of problems. I'm glad you got sorted in the end. And I hope you've recovered from Dancer's 'reluctance' to be sedated, as I imagine he's probably forgotten about it already. Xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jules; yes, I was very glad that the parking attendant stayed to help me. Dancer had to be wrapped up in a towel, like a burrito, before I could sedate him, eventually! But, yes, we have both recovered from that incident! :D Just in time to give him his flea prevention medication, sometime today! :D
DeletePoor kitty! If only he understood that it is for his own good.
ReplyDeleteCredit cards and phones seem to be a way of creating barriers for ordinary mortals. I don't use a cell phone so I can't scan this, that and the other!
Yes, he doesn't understand why Mummy is trying to squirt some nasty tasting stuff into his mouth!
DeleteCredit cards and smart phones make it very difficult for some of us, who are 'not with the times', so to speak. Sigh.
We encountered on of those meters a couple of years ago and were confused by the whole thing. Next time we were in the area, we drove around to find a parking place that did not have that kind. If it had just been a straight credit card, that would have been one thing, but it was more complicated than that.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like everything is being made more complicated, these days. You need to use credit cards and apps for everything and the next thing you know, your information has been hacked and there's not much you can do! I'm glad you were able to find a different parking place.
DeletePoor Dancer. Maybe eventually he will get used to car rides.
ReplyDeleteMost things are app based, or use QR codes now. And when there's a glitch, no one knows what to do.
Yes, poor Dancer. He starts meowing from the time I put him in the carrier!
DeleteI am afraid that I am very behind times when it comes to keeping up with technology!
Oh, poor Dancer. I know what you mean about moving with the times. We really need to be tech savvy now. I'm glad someone came out to help you with the parking. It's nice that you could wait a day to finish your watering.
ReplyDeleteYes, I need to become more tech savvy than I am currently! The person two cars ahead of me was having a hard time figuring out the new payment machine and someone came out to help them and stayed to help the car ahead of me and me; maybe they stayed to help the car behind me, too. I will get another chance to try it by myself, next week, when I have to go there, again, for a different blood test!
DeleteYes, the garden could wait another day. I usually water it on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but, it could wait until Saturday. I will water again on Monday. :)
Oh dear that is looking a little sad!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad someone was there to help with the parking. There is so much done online these days. Poor Dancer. Poor you.
Thank you, Sharon. Yes, the green beans aren't doing too well in the heat. I, too, am glad that someone helped me with the parking machine. I get to try it on my own, tomorrow!
DeleteI don't mind paying for parking with my credit card - I can manage that! - but downloading an app is not for me either. I can't be bothered with all the faff of it. It's like going over the Dartford Bridge & Runcorn bridge in the UK : you have to remember to go onto the website to pay within 24 hours of using the bridges. I believe there's a motorway (toll road) like that in France now : if you don't have the bipper then you have to remember to pay within 24 hours. Usually there's a toll booth (automatic) on the road, but this is a "smart" road. Love FD xx
ReplyDeleteThose toll roads and bridges, where you have to go online to pay within 24 hours sounds like a headache! All this "smart" technology simply makes me realize that I am not at all smart!
DeleteYou were lucky to have a credit card on you to pay for your parking.
ReplyDeleteOh Dancer. You get yourself so worked up you poor little guy.
I'm glad he relaxed once the medicine got in him.
Yes, it was a good thing that I had a cc with me, wasn't it? On my second visit to the facility on Tuesday, I noticed that they had scratched out the "cash" part on the methods of payment signage on the wall, but, honestly, the signage is posted on a wall on the passenger side of the car and I'm sure that not too many people would notice it, unless they were looking for it.
DeleteYes, Dancer does get worked up over his vet visits.