Friday Beach Report

 An ocean of emptiness.

No people, no dogs, no surfers, no boats.

As I finished my walk, a patch of blue sky appeared--and I ran into two friends.

It's Friday. It was a better than average week here in Pillville. My mom's sitting at the dining room table drinking a banana, strawberry, blueberry smoothie and reading the local paper. 

And me, I just played the caregiver card while trying to cancel my CitiPrestige credit card. Back in the day when this blog was known by its other name, I sometimes played the card that my daughters called the crazy divorced lady card. With this card in play, I actually managed to take a snow globe through airport security. I babbled something about not having traveled at Christmas for years and now that my husband had  suddenly and unexpectedly left me for someone 20 years younger, I was going to spend Christmas with my grandchildren and the snow globe was a gift, and....yep, waved right on through. In my defense, I was weeping and truly distraught. It wasn't an act or  a conscious manipulation.

The Citibank thing though--I knew that was the only way I was going to get off the damn phone. I mean the call took 14 minutes--and I wasn't on hold. "Well you see, Warren, those triple points for air travel, those double points for dining out, those extra points for entertainment--they don't mean a thing to me. I'm my mother's caregiver, and I don't go out." There was a pause. "Oh ma'am, I know what you mean," he said. And I believe he did. But he did have to run through his damn script anyway.  I thanked him profusely, and debated with him for a bit how I would use refunded remainder of the annual card fee. "Yes, ma'am, the card is cancelled but you do have a $20.19 credit balance." Whatever. He did his job. I wouldn't trade my job for his any day.