So, I received a phone call from a very meek lady (probably afraid I’d chew her out) at Duquesne Light. But the electric service is finally in my name. The fourth attempt at sending my drivers license, accompanied by a note refusing responsibility for their vision problems, another note through their complaint page explaining to them that I knew they were lying to me (I have crystal clear fax verification copies and the crystal clear images I sent via email), and finally, an informal complaint to the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission finally got the message through to them that they need to stop fucking with me.
After eighteen years of being absolutely refused gainful employment, my patience with neoliberal or neoliberal-style bullshit is blown not merely sky high but to somewhere in a galaxy far, far away. I’m simply not putting up with it.
I’ve mentioned previously that the Whole Foods Markets in this area are dismal, lacking much of the selection I’m accustomed to in California. This morning, in despair, I found Fresh Thyme Farmer’s Market. Despite the name, it’s a supermarket. It fills probably enough, not all, but probably enough, of the gaps. And it’s a lot closer than Whole Foods, which I’ll still have to go to for some things.
I was seriously wondering how I was going to eat. It is simply astonishing to walk into a Whole Foods and not find fresh juice or a bunch of vegan products I’m used to being able to find. Seriously, the Whole Foods people need to take a serious look at what’s going on here; there is simply no excuse for this discrepancy nowadays.
One thing I’ve wondered about as I moved from California, where it mostly isn’t a problem, first and abortively to western Massachusetts, now to the Pittsburgh area is rust. Salt is good for melting ice on roads, which is a problem in winter around here. It isn’t very good for the environment: That salt has to go somewhere and salination of soil and freshwater is a problem. It also isn’t very good for cars. Ionized sodium chloride, in water (remember, we’re melting ice here), produces acids that corrode automobile bodies.
I hadn’t seen a lot of rust damage until I moved in here to Baldwin. But some, not all, cars here suffer from it severely.
I have found a car wash place with a monthly plan for exterior washes. I can use this daily. It’s nowhere near as good as what I had with Matt and Jeff’s in Novato, where I was on a monthly plan that included interior vacuuming and a wipe-down of the exterior.
Here, I pay $15 extra each time I want them to vacuum and spray stuff on the interior—as an Uber/Lyft driver, this will amount to considerably more than I was paying at Matt and Jeff’s. And they don’t do headlights or hand waxes. But I’m hoping it will be sufficient to avoid rust damage.
My mother snuck in some kitchen implements—I think she bought them new—before I left that I didn’t know about. They’re coming in handy about now. Thanks, Mom!
There is a new blog post, entitled, “About Brexit.”
Marijuana
Carol Ryan, “Wall Street Chokes on Cannabis Bank Bill,” Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/wall-street-chokes-on-cannabis-bank-bill-11557218712
Ridesharing
Julie Jargon, “Uber Says No Kids—These Other Car Services Say Yes,” Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/uber-says-no-kidsthese-other-car-services-say-yes-11557221402