My Not-So-Romantic Valentine

He's doing the income taxes. Or maybe just gazing out the window. I think we are on the same page when it comes to our feeling that Valentine's Day is a commercial holiday. Love is a complicated thing which takes many forms, and should be practiced every day with everybody. Even 'romantic' love is oversimplified and not limited to wine and roses. After 60 years it's safe to say that I love him. I would take some chocolate though....

I went to AAA with my newly acquired form and received my temporary disabled placard. It's a very helpful service and saves us from having to go into the DMV and wait forever for basic paperwork services. The receptionist took my name and reminded me that they were now selling home protection services. I reminded him that AAA cancelled our homeowners' insurance, the most essential home protection there is, and we weren't at all interested in alarm systems or doorbell cameras.

Across the parking lot, with a Farmer's Market going on in the rain, to the Rite Aid where we were somewhat unceremoniously shifted when our family run pharmacy abruptly closed. So far it's working pretty well although it lacks the quirky decor...ducks in a pond upside down on the ceiling, pictures of many, many sponsored hometown Little League teams, a sign that said: You don't have to be crazy to work here
We'll train you!, and Robert himself, the fourth generation pharmacist from the same family. Theoretically he will be working at Rite Aid, but we haven't seen him there yet. It's hard to picture him in such a sterile, shiny environment. Much less arriving there on his motorcycle.

Jim came over last night to call Verizon again about my phone. Although my own number was restored on Sunday, the thing that still doesn't work is...the phone. I can make outgoing calls but the incoming ones go straight to voicemail which in turn goes out into the either and never reaches me. This has the unfortunate effect of making people feel they have left a message but it never reaches me. Jim, himself an electrical engineer with experience in the industry in general and Verizon in particular, talked to three different tiers of customer service people (Apple, Ebony and Clifford) for hours. When Clifford admitted defeat, he said he was sending everything to be reviewed by the engineers. I got a message this morning that it had been reviewed with a number to phone if there was still a problem. There is. Nothing has changed. Like many of us, the function I probably use the least is the phone but it does need to get fixed, especially since text messages are also linked to the phone number. So far they are working. Most perplexing....

We almost got rid of our home phone because almost all the calls we get on it are junk, but in this situation I'm really glad we didn't. I had to call the Surgery Center this morning to tell them not to call the mobile phone and they gave me an appointment for a call tomorrow.