Thursday, November 12, 2015

Change. More Certain than Death and Taxes?

End of era – for me at least.  I will not be renewing my P.O. Box, and I feel as if I’m losing apo box 1 friend.  Actually, In a way I am.  The people who work there are a friendly helpful crew.  I’ll probably still take them my annual gift of 3-4 tins of cookies as I have for the past 25 years, but alas, it will be the last.
The post office has always been open 24-7 for those of us who have office hours of our own and need access in the wee hours of morning or night.  Now, because of the unwashed who use it as a nighttime squat, leaving their trash and on occasion vomit, the Post Office has announced office hours of its own and the rest of the day the doors will be locked. 
po box 2I’m not sure how those who have jobs outside the home will make it work.  Fortunately I work from home and it doesn’t affect me except in principle.  I loved stopping by and picking up my mail after an evening out or on my early morning walkabout (rain, shine, or snow), but they won’t unlock the doors now til 7:30, and I’m home from my walk way before that. Worse still they'll close early on Saturday and totally close on Sunday.
I’ve had a post office box on Southside since 1990.  It’s always been staffed by a terrific bunch of people that I’ve enjoyed doing business with.  It’s up for renewal and at $33 for six months, it’s a bargain for the security they’ve given me over the years. footprints snow po box
My first 2 apartments on Southside, the one on 15th Avenue (10 years) and then the one on 14th Avenue that burned in 2011 (also10 years), had exposed and unsecure mail boxes easily accessible from the street.  The day I moved in on 14th  in 1990, my neighbor came home to find his mail and an empty box of CD’s rifled and strewn across his front steps. 
I immediately went to the Southside Post Office right next to the Golden Temple and got a box, and I’ve used it for 25 years.  My neighbor did, too.  I considered it a business address, but now I wonder if it’s necessary. 
I live in a more secure 4-plex now; the boxes are inside; the mailman climbs the stairs to deliver packages to my door; I only have one magazine subscription that’s print; all my bills, bank and credit card statements, etc., are digital; payments from Amazon and other places that owe me money go thru PayPal or digitally credit my a special credit union account set up for such payments - separate from my house account at another bank.
Sad to say, but my PO Box is no longer necessary. I might of kept it just because it's been part of my routine for so long.  I picked up change of address forms, but opted to do the deed online instead. Later I’ll order new business cards from VistaPrint and probably omit a physical address and opt just for email, as that's pretty much how people contact me these days.
I waited until the last possible pay by moment, November 10, to let the box go.  I stopped by to say goodbye to the crew. 
Up there with the certainty of death and taxes there is change.  Death comes and you're no longer here to know it on this plane; taxes are a constant and expected, but change, oh change. Of the three, I think change is the more difficult.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Do I Paint or Do I Write? Both!

Well NanoWrimo (National Novel Writing Month) is here and I rose early to get my wordcount done (1773 done).  I could write more and will probably do so later in the day, but I've been sidetracked.  
What is it about me, that I've barely touched a paintbrush, pencil or pen to draw or paint all summer long. I blame my ennui on the sweltering summer heat.  But now on this cool rainy Sunday with the Nano challenge of writing 50,000 words before me I'm working on unfinished paintings.
Madness to dilute my time in one of the socially busiest months of my year. What can I say. Here are 4 that are finally ready to post to Etsy unless they disappear via Blog. Acryllic, pencil and/or pen on rescued (I gather wood from construction sites and upcycle it and lessen the burden on our burgeoning waste)
Psykhe (9"x11-1/2")
Psykhe (9x11-1/2)
Meowling at the Moon 1 (3"X9-1/2)"
Meowling at the Moon 1
Sundrenched Village
Sundrenched Village (3"X9-1/2)"
Meow Amour
Meow Amour (3-1/2"x16")