Friday, April 5, 2019

My Wild Plans Are Ruined


We're having a mini-winter here, with nights in the low 40's (F) and gray, chilly days. I don't see any improvement in the forecast for the coming week. April showers and all that, I suppose, but at least it could be a little warmer.

Last night there was a knock at my door and when I looked out, I saw a woman with a package. She had her back to the door so I couldn't see her face -- I thought she was a postal worker. But when I opened the door who should be there but Mrs. Kravitz! She had a package to return and wanted to know if I would be home this evening to hand it off to a delivery driver. "Please tell me you'll be home," she said. "None of the other neighbors will be here."

After our recent trash situation, you have to be impressed at the sheer chutzpah of this woman. I took her package, even though (or maybe because) I was clearly her last resort. So there go my plans for a wild Friday night while Dave is out of town. Instead of going clubbing, taking ecstasy and dancing with glow-sticks, I'll be cooling my heels waiting for Mrs. Kravitz's delivery driver.

(Clearly I am joking. I was going to be home anyway.)

Someone asked whether I was once again, in Dave's absence, eating bizarre combinations of random food. Not yet -- last night I had leftover chicken fried rice from our Chinese takeaway the previous evening. But yeah, I probably will use this opportunity to clean out the cabinets a bit. We have, for example, a can of hearts-of-palm that has been in there for ages. Why we have this, I have no idea. What does one even do with hearts-of-palm? It's a salad thing, right? Clearly I need to do some research.

Last night I watched a Woody Allen double-feature, "Interiors" and "Manhattan." I've been a longtime fan of both movies. It's the New Yorker in me. Say what you will about Woody Allen's real-life creepiness -- and there is a lot to be said, I agree -- his depiction of the city in "Manhattan" is surely one of the most beautiful ever to grace the screen.

(Photo: Shops near Woolwich, last weekend.)

17 comments:

  1. your neighbor lady certainly has a pair! So sorry you missed out on the nightlife of wild and crazy underground clubbing. Molly is great for winter evenings when your husband is away, I have been told. Raining a bit here, glad of it, it is way too dry for this time of year already, This summer we could all go up in smoke.

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  2. She's got some big ones, and other than the fact that you are a completely decent human being, this post made me laugh! Thank you!

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  3. Wow...she DOES have a pair! Haha. Too bad about missing the club! :) A night in with movies sounds nice, though. We watched an old 007 movie last night..."Dr. No". Lots of fun!

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  4. Mrs. Kravitz is most likely a narcissist. She has no idea she's not your favorite person in the world.
    Hearts of palm are delicious sliced into salads. I bought a giant jar of them this week at the Costco. Or was it last week? Anyway, yes, there are many delicious-looking recipes online for salads made with them.
    Have you ever done ecstasy? No, no. Don't answer. Unless you want to!
    I hope you have a lovely, quiet evening watching whatever you want. I'll be doing the same here in Florida.

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  5. Mrs. Kravitz takes the prize. Your Friday night plans had me laughing out loud. Those are two good movies that I haven't seen in ages. My opinion of Woody Allen is that he makes good movies that would be even better if he wasn't in them. He is obviously not a very nice person in real life but he is a talented director.
    I hope the weather clears so you can get out for a walk.

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  6. The Kravitz neighbor just doesn't seem to have much sensitivity of any kind!

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  7. Mrs. Kravitz is a very interesting neighbor. Not particularly sensitive or insightful, but definitely a character. I loved Woody Allen's movie "Manhattan"-- it's been so many years since I've seen it.

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  8. Ha-ha! I love how your posts about weather illustrate how subjective our feelings about it are. Here in MN, we're having "nights in the low 40's (F)", and we're all happily commenting, "Spring weather!"

    Do you think Mr. Kravitz could have a touch of dementia, or something like that? That might explain what seems like odd social behavior.
    I've seem several parents of friends start to exhibit behavior changes, later to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

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  9. and where the hell was she going to be? she couldn't schedule the pick-up for an evening when she was going to be home? no dancing with glow sticks? dang!

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  10. I'm so sorry about no glow sticks for you. Do people still do that? Now that I'm elderly, the clubs are not for us. If you mix hearts of palms with mayonnaise, sour cream, and parmesan cheese and bake it until it's golden and bubbly it's a great (really fattening) dip when served on pita bread. So if you want to entertain, that's a thought. One can not buy hearts of palm in Tucson, no one carries them. Guess I'll have to stock up when we get to Seattle.

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  11. Next time, you tell that woman that you need to know a) what's inside the parcel for security reasons and b) where is she going at that time of the night anyway.

    As for the palm hearts, you make millionaire's salad, of course, a Seychelles staple.

    https://www.north-island.com/tropical-palm-heart-salad/

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  12. You should have asked Mrs. K what she thought of the new locks on your recycle containers!

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  13. The post and the comments are making me laugh! Mrs K has no sense of boundaries at all. But big bouquets to you for doing her a favour despite that. You're the kind of neighbour anyone would appreciate (except Mrs K, who's the one that really should).

    I've never eaten hearts of palm. Please let us know how you prepared them?

    Millennium Cafe, eh? I'd say it's been around for awhile. Doesn't that millennium stuff all seem sooo far in the past now? And minor?

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  14. You know, Mrs. Kravitz might not be that pressed about your locks on the garbage bins. Someone who would be so cavalier about throwing her trash in your bins probably isnt giving a lot of thought to social niceties. She certainly insn't holding any grudges when you can be useful to her, that's for sure! And hearts of palm. I'll be curious to see what you come up with.

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  15. Pete used to work shift-work, and when he was on nights I would treat myself to my favorite comfort food - Velveeta Shells and Cheese. The heck with a night of clubbing, I just wanted to stay home with my treat. And I watched reruns of House, which he doesn't care for. That must have been a real shock when you opened the door to find Mrs. Kravitz! It would have made me a bit nervous!

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  16. What price Mrs Kravitz? Isn't she something else? She seems to live in some sort of parallel universe, of which she is the absolute centre and everyone and everything else revolves around her.
    I loved Sabine's comment.
    Alphie

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