Poetic Justice

 

So today I found out something even more interesting about the game last night: Douglas, the cornerback who got the interception to end the game, had just been cut by the Cardinals. He had been on a number of teams but never really got any playing time, and this season he had been on the Cardinals' practice squad, but he never got any playing time with them either, and then they cut him. The Packers' two starting cornerbacks are both on injured reserve, so they were desperate to pick up a cornerback, and so they picked up Douglas, who had just become unemployed. He had a solid game against the team that had just cut him, but what poetic justice that he got to pound the nail into their coffin with that final play! So seldom do you get to see karma play out so quickly like that, but it's always so satisfying when it does.

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Trolleys and Boats and a Carillon

I hope my readers had a good weekend. Thursday evening I met up with Handy Woman for dinner, then Travalon and I watched the sunset at Tenney Park. Friday I drove out to Spring Green for the outdoor theater again, this time to watch Measure for Measure, a surprisingly relevant Shakespeare play that foresaw the “Me Too” movement hundreds of years ago. The Dairyman’s Daughter’s sister (the Dairyman’s Other Daughter?) told me a great story as we waited for the play to start: one day she had to sneak her little dog into daily Mass, so she sat unobtrusively in the back… and then a bat started flying around and freaking everyone out, so it panicked and landed right next to her. So much for secrecy! All the little old ladies were atwitter that there was not just a bat but a dog in church. So she snuck out as soon as Mass was over, and then the priest told her everyone thought she bolted because the bat had bitten her! He did advise her not to bring the dog back anytime soon.

Saturday morning the Rosary Ladies got together for the first time in forever, except for Jilly Moose, who informed us she couldn’t be there because she was going to be a “Godmooser.” Congratulations to Jilly Moose! Then Travalon and I drove to East Troy to visit their railroad museum and take a trolley ride. Unfortunately we did not get to go on the cute little trolleys, but that means we got to take pictures of them as we passed on the big electric train. We even got to go to the garage where they had several more cute trolleys. Travalon’s friend asked if we wanted to go on a boat ride, and he took us out on Pewaukee Lake on his speedboat. Was that ever fun! We stopped for dinner at a lakeside restaurant, and he was annoyed at the rude way another boat had tied up to the pier, barely leaving him any room. We ordered a pizza with tons of stuff on one half for him and me, and a plainer half for Travalon, and soon they brought a pizza for “John.” We said we weren’t John, but when the waiter described the pizza, it was ours. However, after we had eaten almost the whole thing, it turned out it was for the other people sitting out on the balcony – can you believe they ordered virtually the same pizza we did? At first we felt really bad, but then we realized they were the ones who parked their boat like such jerks, so I guess it was just karma. When our pizza came, they didn’t want it because it had green peppers (which we forgot about when we ate the wrong pizza), so the waiter gave us that pizza too. Then we headed out onto the lake, pink from the sunset, and boated around until after dark. Then Travalon and I went to hear a steel drum band on the Union Terrace. They played lots of wonderful songs – I made a short video of them playing “September” that just makes me so happy to watch over and over. In case you are wondering what Earth, Wind and Fire sounds like on steel drums, I will post it at some point. Travalon and I even danced on a little pier to their version of “Africa” by Toto! What a fantastic day!

Yesterday the air conditioning wasn’t working at church, so the priest made sure Mass was very short. Travalon and I used the extra time to take a boat ride, and we actually got pulled over by the boat police, who warned us that the lettering on our boat was wrong. How weird that we have been boating for four summers and this is the first they had noticed it! I met Hockey Girl for lunch, then Travalon and I came to campus for a carillon concert. He actually enjoyed it, because it is outside and there is no pressure to be an attentive audience member. Plus, bells – who doesn’t like bells? After that we drove to Crystal Lake campground and swam at their beach. They have lots of inflatable toys, and the slide was covered with tweens, but Travalon and I managed to gracelessly pull ourselves onto the thing that looks like a giant Danish. Even the tweens were ignoring the “Saturn,” but we did see one very fit adult guy scramble up to the top of it and then fall back into the water. We also swam in the pool, and then we got out and watched the sunset. Finally we headed home, and guess what we had for dinner? Leftover pizza! What an amazing weekend.

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True Adventure: KARMA

Here is a totally true story: a couple of weekends ago, Luxuli convinced Richard Bonomo, Kathbert, and me to look at houses with her. We saw one that had a palm tree sitting on the balcony, and I said what a shame that it was going to freeze to death. Luxuli said the family had already moved out, so I tried to convince Rich to climb up and rescue the poor palm, but he said that although he was capable of doing so, he would not steal. I called the realtor and inquired about the palm tree, and she said she would have to ask the family about it.

I could not get the poor palm off my mind as every morning I woke up to see frost on the ground. However, when I called the realtor, she said the family was in a foreign country, and she had emailed them but they hadn’t responded. So I gave it some time and called her yesterday, and we had the most unbelievable conversation:

FH: Have you heard from the family about the palm tree?
R: No, they’re in a foreign country.
FH: But you emailed them, right?
R: No.
FH: You told me you had last week.
R: I did, but they haven’t replied yet.
FH: Can you bring the tree into the house?
R: No, this man is a doctor and his house is very neat. That scraggly tree does not fit in.
FH: Then can I take it?
R: I’m not going to give it to you without their permission.
FH: So you’re just going to let it freeze to death??
R: It’s no concern of yours.
FH: It’s a living thing!
R: Why don’t you hassle his neighbors about their plants instead?
FH: They all took their plants in because it’s cold out. So you won’t bring it in, and you won’t let me have it? But why would they want it back once it’s dead?
R: They can throw it away once it dies. It’s their palm tree. Be sure and let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with.
FH: (incredulously) You mean besides the palm tree?
R: Yes.

OK, this woman just belittled my concern, was sarcastic and rude, and lied to me about emailing the family, yet she thinks I would hire her as a realtor???? I said I would be sure to tell everyone not to hire her and hung up. It took me a few hours, but it suddenly occurred to me that if this man was a doctor visiting this particular country, he could be a former coworker. This morning I looked up his address and BOO-YEAH!! So I shot him an email advising him to change realtors, then I sent her an email from my special email address of yousuck@yousuck.com telling her about it. If you want to help me in my quest to ruin this woman’s career, contact me privately, because I better not mention her name on this blog. If you’re Rich, go ahead and pray for me. It’s too late anyway. Remember, hubie got demoted after being a jerk. Karma is some wicked strong stuff.

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