Reading stuff online for the last time for the foreseeable future. The electricity board is going to disconnect power in one hour. Trade union action. Then I’ll be back when things get better. Don’t know when.
Oh my, wish it weren’t so. Good luck, and hope to see you posting again soon.
Be well and good luck.
Best wishes our friend. See you soon!
I hate when someone’s moniker becomes a real life scenario.
Take care. And you’re always welcome in Oregon 
hoping for the best
All the best.
Thank you everyone, miraculously they called off the union action for a week.
The reason is that the Electricity Board engineers don’t let the government start renewable energy projects. They push on diesel and coal plants because some of the contractors are the engineers themselves. They get some of the highest salaries in the country, and threaten with strikes when things don’t go their way. It’s a mafia.
They started switching off the grid entirely last night at 12 midnight. Then the president has had a discussion and some sort of promises have been made. They weren’t made public.
People are calling for the privatization of the EB but there will be huge union action if that’s done. So the best now is to let private companies start renewable energy projects. A US company has been given green light already, and another Indian company is entering too. That’s what those engineers are against.
Here’s some reports about it http://www.adaderana.lk/news/82946/ceb-engineers-call-off-strike-after-talks-with-president
http://www.adaderana.lk/news/82952/court-issues-enjoining-order-against-cebeu-
Today the court has issued an order against union action. But these engineers respect no laws. lol.
Anyway I took some photos of ripe jakfruit I ate last week. I’ll post them tomorrow. Need to reduce them to post here. 
No electricity sucks So glad it did not happen. Not sure where to post this because it is hardly dinner plus I do tend to ramble on. But hey there might be a picture. I keep trying to like this place in beautiful downtown Lansdale Pa and when I saw this post I got drawn in. https://www.facebook.com/SBKCafeLansdale/photos/a.207640140153790/883144749269989/ Well the quest was a fail but the journey was amazing. Been reading that a brief amiable chat with a stranger is a good thing. No gps and the one in my brain is wonky so I had trouble finding this cafe. I wanted to park behind the cafe. I was way off but parked next to a small apartment building, maybe four units. As I was exiting the car an older Asian gentleman emerged and lit up a cigarette. I thought maybe he would scold me for parking there but then I cast my eyes on his tiny perfect raised bed garden and my eyes almost fell out of my head. It was beautiful and well tended and loved. I am no extrovert but I could not help complimenting him on his lovely garden. He was pleased and started to tell me “basil, tomatoes, peppers…” with pride. Then my dog Harley started barking breaking the beautiful spell. We moved on past the independent ice cream stand. I was feeling warm and that place sells “pup cups” too. But I wanted to try those pastries from another family owned business. That they still had pastries left should have been a red flag. I wisely ordered only one, and a cold orange soda in a glass bottle. I took a nibble and I am proud of myself that I did not spit it out. The lady behind the counter swooned over my pocket book. Many people do, even a middle aged dude wrangling carts at Costco. Well he didn’t actually swoon he just exclaimed “that’s a beautiful bag!” See how I ramble? The cafe was quiet and the lady confessed her love of purses. I told her where she could buy one for cheap and explained how practical the designer bag is. Fun conversation. So I went home well fed anyway. Doubt I will be back, as they tend to mess up a good thing. Plus soon oh so soon fireflies or as my mom called them June Bugs, black raspberries and many orange day lilies.
Cooking can get a bit too creative if you ask me:
We are continuously impressed by our kitchen chef’s creativity when working with seasonal produce.
Today make sure to grab one of these limited pastries filled with a fresh basil cream cheese and local strawberries. They are a true spring time delicacy!
On June 14, 1777 the American flag was adopted for the new Nation: United States of America.
Beginning today this is National Flag Week with Tuesday being Flag Day.
I’ve been flying the Thin Blue Line flag since Friday but today it’s back to Old Glory.
🫡
Love flag day. Thanks for the reminder. I must have been three when my mom told me it was flag day. She was setting me up with a little picnic lunch in the yard at my grandparents’ farm. It was so hot and humid. My mother commented on the heat and I answered with the wisdom of a three year old that yes it was hot. I smiled. I loved the heat. The cold too. I am friends with Jim Leff on fb but he yet again posted about the defining moment of the sixties. I understand he was trying to be clever but I reminded him of the line from The Vietnam song. “be the first one on your block to have your boy sent home in a box.”
What a nice message. I salute your mom and you! 🫡 
Yesterday while checking out at a store (okay it was a liquor store) I noticed the guy next to me was wearing a Vietnam hat. We shook hands and thanked him for his service. He turned out to be a chatty guy so we ended up talking for a bit. I’m unashamedly patriotic and proud of our country and count my blessings to have been born here to reap the benefits.
Went to the soul less sterile grim Penna liquor store today too. For board room spirits ginger vodka. Took a wee sip. Holy moley. Thanks for the compliment. I live near Lansdale Pa and there is a large ish park called memorial park. There is a big memorial to vets and I remember driving past the memorial on my way home from the daycare where I worked. It was veteran’s day and raining and chill and almost dark. As I drove closer to the memorial I could feel energy and I looked over at it. A group of vets were huddled against the cold and saying prayers.
To honor their fallen comrades who were not there with them I think. My mom did put out a big flag for flag day on that hot noon time flag day. I wrote in a regretfully lengthy comment to Jim Leff about my cousin’s army hat that he wore on the beaches of Wildwood NJ that summer. That hat made him the king of the beach and I am glad to hear that you took time to talk to that vet. The hat was also to cover up the steel plate in his head. He and his comrade hit a land mine and the comrade was killed instantly. I get a little twichy when people hold forth about the sixties but white out the Vietnam War. A woman named Ceil would hang out at my dad and mom’s bar and sometimes cry when she had had a few because her son died in Vietnam. Ceil was after my dad and wanted him to divorce my mom and marry her. My mom knew this but still felt very sorry for Ceil’s loss. My mom had a great generosity of spirit which I can only dream of achieving.
Yes. It’s reminiscent of Empty Chairs at Empty Tables from Les Miserables.
There’s a grief that can’t be spoken
There’s a pain goes on and on
Empty chairs at empty tables
Now my friends are dead and gone
Your mother seems very well grounded and a wonderful person. As for Ceil, life can be very difficult.
I spent six months in Cape May and made a couple trips to the Wildwood boardwalk. I was about 20 then and have very fond memories of the beaches. Oh, those beaches. 
Maybe your father tossed me out of his bar. 
My mom had a troubled relationship with her own mother who was an extreme introvert named Esther. Esther had a powerhouse of an intellect. My mom was pretty extroverted and the two of them just did not get each other. I greatly appreciated my grandmother and think of her often. My mom was determined to have a good relationship with her own daughter so I profited greatly from this. My mom’s mantra was keep the lines of communications open always no matter what. Ha ha ha naw the bar was in Lansdale Pa. My grandparents had houses in stone harbor and Dennisville NJ. My SO and I were welcome to stay at the one Dennisville house and did so. Our late night splurge was the Cape May Courthouse diner. We mostly pointed the car to stone harbor but once in awhile went to cape may. And of course Wildwood.
Some Italian families have a tradition of of one empty chair on Christmas Eve for a lost loved one. And the feast of the seven fishes cannot begin until someone sees the first star come out. My dad had a business partner named Joe who was like a second father to me. He would have done the bouncing. He taught me how to box. Very shortly after he died I fell asleep thinking of Joe. I dreamed that I asked him if he loved me. I was very upset. I stood in line at the register and looked behind me and there he was. He looked at me gently and sadly. The very next day his sister handed me a wallet sized picture of me she had found in Joe’s wallet. Her name was Rose. She was a little bit annoyed as she said “there were no other pictures in his wallet but this one.”
