Frustration cake

I made this Pineapple Upside-Down Cake last night. I had a piece this morning for breakfast. Want a piece? Just think: If I'm parked at your house I could make you one of these.

I bake when frustrated. I'd offered a Shop Vac to a guy who said he needed one for the 4 homes he just bought to refurbish. Never met him but his emails are long and rambling. I don't have that kind of time. Well, he keeps saying he's going to show up to get it but he seems to have too much on his plate. And he let me know in multiple paragraphs that his time and activities were more important than mine. I call that bad manners and disrespect.  One of his emails said he was sitting outside my door in his car waiting for me. What, he couldn't knock on the door? I'm supposed to bring the Shop Vac out to him? He's what I call high maintenance. That's not how you treat a woman 20 years older.  Next.

You can help

I have 500 copies - 2 heavy boxes - of my printed booklet that I don't have the energy to move. And with a kidney stone that moves when I exert myself, I shouldn't be lifting anything heavy.  That's why I'm selling and giving away everything heavy. I won't be able to afford moving help, so I'm doing it all myself.

And by buying 2-500 copies you can help me finance a mailbox at The UPS Store, and a storage unit at UHaul. Both are in Erie in case anyone wants to make an anonymous donation on my behalf.

The title is...  No Surprises: 365 Critical Questions You Need to Ask Each Other Before You Marry... and how to ask them.  Click on the title at the top of the post to take you to the order page.

Preparation Required

In no particular order:
1. Pull credit reports.
2. Pay off utility bills.
3. Give notice to landlord.
4. Do 2009 taxes.
5. Collect money owed to me.
6. Pay personal debts.
7. Promote 2,398 units of book.
8. Attract driveway invitations.
9. Write news release to distribute.
10.  Sell most of my big, heavy things.
11. Give away things I'll never need.
12. Mend clothes to wear.
13. Purge and consolidate files.
14. Shred old papers.
15. Empty old computer of files.
16. Pack what I'm keeping.
17. Find/rent storage facility. (Found, not rented.)
18. Rent a mailbox. (Found, not rented.)
19. Change address and have mail forwarded.
20. Empty van contents into storage unit so I can use the van for moving.
21. Secure van insulation with sticky Velcro.
22. Use up food in fridge and pantry.
23. Move everything to storage by myself.
24. Clean empty apartment.
25. Take photos of clean apartment.
26. Have carpets steam cleaned.
27. Get security deposit back.
28. Have dental work done.
29. Post The Generosity Experiment on Pledgie.com.
30. Build up my strength and stamina to survive moving.
31. Take my father to Pittsburgh for a surgical consult.

Pizza for brunch

In a continued effort to cook and eat up what's left in my pantry and fridge, I just made this pizza: sliced green olives, diced ham slice, pineapple bits. I won't be able to do much pizza baking in my van.

Also today I'll make a quiche with the remaining ham and shredded cheese, and a large pineapple upside-down cake with the rest of the pineapple and maraschino cherries.

I'm making progress and eating well.

My first driveway invite

I just gave away this TV stand through my local Freecycle group. The woman, Clara, who came to claim it reads this blog and invited me to, not only park in her driveway, but come in for a not shower.  Totally unsolicited invitation and she gave me her address. Not an empty offer. She's in Millcreek, the west end of Erie.

I wish others who came to pick up freebies or purchase items from me at extremely low prices would offer to let me park outside where they live. Now that one person has got the ball rolling, maybe more will follow suit.... not just locally, but anywhere in North America.

I might bribe a church

I wonder if a local church would accept this in exchange for the right for me to park - a letter of acceptance would be nice to show police, security guards - in their parking lot when few cars are there, and let me plug into their outside power.

Maybe this statue/art piece is worth some money and could be raffled off to raise funds for the homeless. That would be ironic.

I was a host

A year ago during a blizzard I hosted strangers from Florida in my apartment and parking lot. A natural response from my bed and breakfast hosting days, it's in my blood to be a good host. I provided electricity during the night, Wifi, water, hot showers, laundry facilities, warm beds, daily meals and even some Canadian coins. Before they arrived I received packages on their behalf from their families. At the end of their stay 3-4 days later, I provided a ladder and broom to get the snow off the top of their rig.

From that experience I rrecognized that if I want to be a welcome guest it would be a good idea to not waste my host's utilities unnecessarily, but contribute something to meals and supplies that I consumed, do something to make the host's life a little easier, and write a thank you note.