Author Angel Ackerman

When Life gives you Lemons buy a new Coffee Pot

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As many of you know— I had to buy a new computer over the weekend and it impacted my stress levels and my financial health.

So to console myself, I participated in Target.com’s pre-Black Friday sales and ordered myself a new coffee pot: a Ninja DualBrew.

Here is the unboxing.

I have been making my coffee in my espresso machine for most of the last three years, because I don’t have a full size coffee pot. I’m the only coffee drinker in the house now and I rarely drink more than one cup. I like it really strong and really hot so the Krups espresso machine I bought 23 years ago is just fine.

The teenager programmed the new coffee machine to have my coffee ready before 5 a.m. We used the “rich” setting as remember— I like it strong. We also chose 26 ounces.

Well, Supercoffee brewed on rich had me vibrating after a cup and a half. I brought the rest to work. It’s noon and I’m still drinking it.

I need to rethink that tomorrow.

Murphy, you’re not going to win: How a Great Day Broke my Heart, part 2 — Parisian Phoenix Publishing

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This is the second half of the MacBook Air Saga.

Part 1 of this blog post appeared on Angel Ackerman’s web site, angelackerman.com, and was reposted on ParisianPhoenix.com Yesterday, Rosie, the rose gold 13″ MacBook Air with the intel processor that Parisian Phoenix publisher Angel Ackerman bought refurbished from Apple about eighteen months ago when she decided to invest in the small press concept, took […]

Murphy, you’re not going to win: How a Great Day Broke my Heart, part 2 — Parisian Phoenix Publishing

Murphy, you’re not going to win: How a great day broke my heart, part 1

Angel Ackerman 2 Comments

Yesterday, I “broke” my dear blind friend Nan out of her independent living facility, her first outing since her bout with Covid-19. I drove up to the door in that convenient wide lane that have under the overhang and lowered the window on her side of the car.

“Hey, Nan,” I shouted. “Your getaway car has arrived.”

She laughed, and since she recently had her first Corona experience, it sure was nice to hear her laugh again.

I had the Spotify ready to go, as Nan loves a good random computer generated playlist, and we pulled off. Her goals were simple.

  1. CVS for vitamin C and Excedrin
  2. Batteries for her clock, 2-4 AAAs
  3. Stop at her old apartment as there was a package for her that was not forwarded
  4. Get some cash at the bank.

Well I told her right off that we had a 40-pack of AAAs somewhere in my house. So that was easy. I then told her I had thought I might take her back to my house for chai, but thought maybe getting out of a building into the sun would be more fun. That we could listen to Spotify in the car with the sunroof open sipping chai.

“That does sound nice,” she said.

“The same theory as taking the dog for a car ride,” I explained.

She laughed when I compared her to the dog, and I pointed out that really we both liked things that the dog would enjoy.

Nan and I headed into CVS, where I found her 200 generic acetaminophen, aspirin and caffeine tablets and 100 chewable vitamin C/rose hips tablets. The original price was $31.00 before tax, but I had carefully set up my CVS app to use some coupons that reduced her total to $20.58.

We drove to my house, got the batteries, and headed to her old apartment building.

“I just thought of something,” she said to me. “How are we going to get in?”

“I suppose you’ll have to tap the lobby door with your cane until someone sees you,” I said.

But there were no parking spots on street, and I pulled into the parking lot.

“Why don’t we just drive down to the back door and see if we see any of your neighbors,” I said.

“Good idea,” Nan agreed.

I saw the maintenance man at the back door. I pulled into the middle of the parking lot and hopped out of the car, escorting Nan as I hollered, “Excuse me, but can you let this vagabond into the building?”

She got her package.

We then got my favorite teller at the bank and almost went to a Dunkin several miles away, forgetting there was one on the other side of the bank.

We remembered in time.

We sat in the car, windows and sun roof open, enjoying the sun, listening to cars and birds and all the mundane sounds Nan had missed when trapped in her room with Covid.

And then, she went home and I talked to my friend Maryann Ignatz. I did all the press stuff I had planned for my business. I thought I deserved a small rest. I went up to my room and cuddled with some fosters, including sweet Jean-Paul Sartre.

The teenager texted that her boss was stopping by later. If you’re a regular here you might recall our “cat foster godmother.”

I decided to go downstairs and clean.

I grabbed my computer, Rosie, the 13″ MacBook Air, last of the Intel processor generation, and my iPhone. Foster cat Khloe has been a member of gen pop lately, free roaming the house because she scared the dog so badly. She can be a little dramatic.

The teenager has a baby gate with a cat door at the top of the stairs. Khloe was walking out the cat door and I went to unlatch the gate and must have tilted my hand just enough that Rosie the Laptop slipped from my fingers and somersaulted all the way down the uncarpeted, hard wood stairs.

When I opened her again, her screen image was splintered.

I have three book projects underway for Parisian Phoenix, and the Easton Book Festival coming up. I’m still wondering how best to pay off the recent ceiling repair…

Now is not the time.

But life is like that. I have to remind myself that we have more appreciation for the things that don’t come easy, that real success is slow.

And then I broke down into hysterics, alone, just me and the dog. And I scrubbed the floor on my hands and knees.

This saga will be continued on Parisian Phoenix’s blog.

Do I have the strength to be the lone voice of a group?

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Last fall, at work, before we even suspected they were eliminating our shift at the warehouse, our company launched what they called communities to represent and discuss certain voices across our network.

Black Lives Matter, Latinx and women were three of the communities— as was a community for people with disabilities.

I joined the community for employees with disabilities, but at the launch Zoom meeting I noticed everyone either worked in the office or worked from home. And no one represented the warehouses, but me.

The community had meetings during my work shifts, and the emails seemed focused on neurological and psychological diagnoses. And while those conditions are important and probably impact more of our population in the company than physical disabilities.

I had a brief conversation about this with my boss today as I had mentioned this flaw in the communities when one of my colleagues asked the CEO why warehouse associates across the network couldn’t have more on-the-clock time to contribute to the communities.

This same fellow employee— a member of the Black Lives Matter group— launched a series of Lunch and Learns to promote more involvement in these communities.

She came to my work station to ask me to come.

My boss said he would be there to represent Latinx. When I told him I registered, he replied, “sweet.”

But, what I realized in discussing this with him, was that people with disabilities probably don’t apply for jobs in warehouses. Because we’ve been conditioned to believe we can’t or shouldn’t do it.

That’s why we don’t have more representation in the warehouse. So while I want to know what plans the company has to accommodate people of different abilities, the reality is we need to determine what people with disabilities can do in the warehouse without impacting overall productivity.

But the next question is: am I really the best person to represent this issue? Do I have a choice?

When success means you think someone is trying to kill you

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During one of my recent doctor visits, I think it was at the end of August, my physician asked how my strength/fitness personal training sessions were going.

I told him my coach Andrew at Apex Training put me through some demanding stuff so I was in agony pretty often.

My doctor laughed and said that if Andrew was doing his job well I should hate him.

Well, today was the closest I ever came to thinking he might kill me.

Now, if you are new here, please note I have diplegic cerebral palsy (which basically means that my brain and my lower body muscles don’t communicate well, which has led to some structural issues in my hips, legs, etc.

I work out three-times-a-week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Andrew has his full-time job, which is primarily an overnight shift, and I work at a warehouse Sunday through Wednesday, 10-hour-shifts.

Mondays are always interesting. I am 50% through my workweek and Andrew is usually sleep-deprived.

By some miracle, I work 6:30 am to 5 pm and head straight to the gym, and Andrew comes to the gym, often having not slept for almost 24 hours. But he shows up and so do I.

Tonight was a full body workout that felt twice as intense as my normal routine, but it felt amazing to push myself and even more amazing to succeed.

And because Andrew knows what I’m feeling — not only as a person working to better myself physically but also as someone still grieving the loss of her father— he forgave me for eating half a cake for my dad’s birthday.

But I also asked him if some people had stopped working out three times a week. He say yes, that several of his clients were sporadic. One changed work schedules and hadn’t committed to a new time. And two of us were regulars.

I get life being in the way. I know it’s hard. I know it’s expensive.

But I encourage you to stick to it.

I started at Apex in August 2021. Somehow despite a tight budget, I find the money.

And for all those people who can’t stick with it— I promise:

  • You will see mental and physical changes in yourself.
  • You will feel better.
  • Your body composition will change.
  • Your fortitude will grow.

And you should also see changes in your balance, stability and coordination. The things you can do, whether stamina on a long walk or moving furniture, will improve. Your confidence should increase.

And some days it will feel grueling. Some days you will be exhausted or achy and not want to do it. On those days, tell your trainer how you feel, but show up for the workout and do your best.

Baked Flavors: A Ben & Jerry’s Review and a CVS saving spree

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It’s 8 p.m. on a Wednesday night. I just finished a rather strange Chinese take-out meal after a long work week and a hearty work-out with Andrew, my strength and fitness coach at Apex Training.

Hit another PR I believe, a 35 lb dumbbell RDL.

My performance at work has been stronger (by my calculations Sunday was about 104%, Monday 98% I think, 100% yesterday and 99% today). I finally replaced the company-issued box that Gayle doodled for me with a stadium backpack with my supplies divided by department. My box has gotten super messy and it was ripping.

Amidst all that, I still find myself dwelling on the fact that Friday, September 30, is my dad’s birthday.

It makes me so sad. It’s the first one without him here. He missed the teen’s high school graduation, her 18th birthday, her first car accident, buying her first car.

He missed the flood in my house, my dead car battery, and all the other things that happen day to day.

So now is the perfect time to review ice cream.

Last week I had $5 in Extra Bucks at CVS about to expire, and they were having an ice cream sale— so I got 3 pints of Ben & Jerry’s, a bottle of unsweetened flavored sparkling water and an 8 ounce bag of pistachios and almonds for $12.78. It was $30 before my deals.

I picked all “bakery”/cookie flavors.

Over time I made these conclusions:

  • Half Baked (chocolate and vanilla ice cream with gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough and brownies) was a disappointment. The chocolate ice cream overpowered the vanilla. There weren’t enough cookies and brownies and the ones we did find tasted dry.
  • Thé Tonight Dough (caramel and chocolate ice cream with chocolate cookie chip cookie dough, chocolate cookie swirls and peanut butter cookie dough) came recommended by Andrew. The cookie chunks were significantly better than the Half Baked, and the Teen and I both wished there was more caramel ice cream.
  • Netflix and Chill’d (peanut butter ice cream with salty pretzel bits, salted caramel and brownie chunks) might have been our favorite. The peanut butter ice cream complimented the pretzel and brownie accents perfectly.

And finally, in closing, walking home from the gym tonight with the pink & blue swirls of sunset before me, I noticed some changes in our neighborhood. On one hand, the neighbor boy who spray painted his name on their front walk is a senior in high school and his graffiti has faded.

And at another house, designs in sidewalk chalk suggest that the babies born to the kids who were the Teenager’s neighborhood playmates are old enough to stake their claim to playing outside and repopulating our block with youth.

I look forward to it.

Finally a visit to Mythic Beasts and Brews: Turns out they are passing out homemade chocolate chip cookies

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The Teenager is working on her college application and wanted to find a coffee shop to force her out of the house so she would have less distractions. Originally, she wanted to go to Three Birds in downtown Easton, one of our favorite spots, but by the time she got out of work, they would be closed.

I know of places on the other end of the Lehigh Valley open in the evening, but couldn’t think of anything close to home. So, I googled.

Monsieur Google suggested several local Starbucks.

Sigh.

Not that I don’t enjoy a flat white every once in a while, but we wanted something a little more unique and potentially eclectic.

A little more poking around the internet and I remembered Mythic Beasts and Brews, a ten minute walk from our house. Or, as the teenager says, “Mom, it’s closer to the house than the high school.”

The atmosphere is coffee shop meets role-players’ game den, which is exactly what it aims to be. There are four of five large tables for gamers and a few little spots for those of us who have retired our game master and PC gear.

Yes, the teenager’s father and I played White Wolf back in the day.

The Teenager ordered chai, which will make our blind friend Nancy very happy to hear that we have found yet another source of chai. I decided to take the 20-sided die challenge. Whatever you roll is your drink, $4, and it’s 50 cents to reroll.

I rolled a 12, which is a large Irish cream macchiato. That is a good selection for me.

We enjoyed our visit, and we especially enjoyed the free homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Beer and spaghetti: letting go of the hardest emotional weeks I’ve had in years

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When I got home from work at 6:45 p.m.-ish Wednesday, after another impressive session at Apex Training with my strength and fitness coach Andrew, the Teenager handed me a cold beer. This was much better than the start of my day.

(New personal record: 40 lb dumbbell row. Now, if we could just get the left leg to participate in the bench press.)

Even though I get up at the pre-dawn hour of 4:15 a.m. to work on my novel (buy my books here or email me for Paypal orders) before my ten-hour shift at Stitch Fix’s Bizzy Hizzy** starts at 6:30 a.m., between the animals and my superpower of innate time sense, I don’t usually need an alarm.

But Wednesday morning I woke from a terrifying nightmare by alarm. I will spare you the elaborate details but let’s just summarize by saying it felt like it lasted for hours and was one of my “James Bond dreams,” as the Teenager’s father used to say during our marriage. Stress-induced action-adventure dreams where I must navigate great danger to try and save family and/or the world.

Bean

The alarm work me before the end of the dream, so in that particular scene, her dog (F. Bean Barker) and I were trying to find and rescue her from the villain. But the dog had been mortally wounded and was dying in my arms and I still hadn’t located the Teen.

I woke shaking violently, I reset my alarm for 30 minutes later and curled into the fetal position with the covers under my chin, treasuring the faint smell of bleach. I almost called out. But I forced myself from bed and went to work.

Jean-Paul

I hadn’t had enough sleep, in part because our tiny foster kitten Jean-Paul Sartre resides in my bedroom now, and throughout the night (before the dream) he kept leaping on my face and biting me. He’s at the stage now where he’s learning appropriate social interaction, so that’s his way of getting my attention to tell me he’s bored. He’s learning to sleep nicely in my bed, but he still has poor impulse control so we have some lessons to teach him.

I maintained a 90% average on my work metrics, attended my roster and safety team meetings, and voiced my idea about different colored lanyards for safety team members to make us easier to spot in the warehouse. Currently, the safety team has orange name tags but only half the team has them, they make the name tags harder to read, and badges turn so you can’t always see the orange. In my opinion, the fact that you wouldn’t have to personalize lanyards means distributing them is instantaneous and easier to maintain.

In other events:

  • My blind friend Nancy has Covid for the first time.
  • The dining room ceiling project happened.
  • After a brief panic yesterday that one of my references had gotten lost in the mail, my service dog application is complete and will be reviewed in the next 3-6 weeks. More blog posts on that here.
  • My college roommate (Curly) visited.

Mercury Retrograde started September 9 and ends October 2, and the autumnal equinox is September 22 at 9 p.m. Hopefully the equinox will straighten out some energy in the universe. During the last Mercury retrograde, the flood that launched the ceiling project occurred. Read more about that here.

PHOTOS OF THE CEILING:

Some of the flood damage
I think this is the old ceiling coming down
The old ceiling out. One of the bids was to rip all this out and redo the entire plaster ceiling. I would have loved that.
New ceiling mostly in. Love the layers, at one point under the paneling, there was fern wallpaper on the walls and ceiling
New ceiling!

And because some of you might wonder where the food posts are:

Cauliflower “Wings” at The Goat
Asian Tofu inspired by Hungryroot
Blackened Bison, courtesy of my Hungryroot order
I was craving a Big Mac and onion rings
CVS has these on sale this week for $4.99. I never considered almonds and pistachios together. Turns out it’s a fantastic combo.

** On an unrelated note, I worked Freestyle on Sunday, hit my normal 103%, and had an order where someone order six of the same sweater in the same color and size. In my fantasy, Mom and her two daughters and three granddaughters are wearing them in a family portrait.