"The Book Department's all here," said Dawn, a woman my age who started volunteering in BOOK's after I quit five months ago. ("I could see they needed help"). She, Amina, and I all happened to be in the break room at the same time.
It's good there's a couple of us volunteers.
Dawn impressed me yesterday, when she set up a little display. Hope never dies!
Dawn and Amina--both book people--keep the books in decent order. I help some, but I've been working more on toys, which no one loves like I do. (The good puzzle volunteer still comes too.) I still get annoyed at oversights in BOOK's, but it's purely fun to do toys.
I. Teeth & Politics
I asked all my coworkers yesterday what they thought about Kamala Harris replacing Biden.
I dropped by Emmler's after work and as I was talking to her about the responses, it occurred to me there's a direct relation between
people who haven't been able to afford a dentist in years
and people who don't care about politics.
(Which is many of my coworkers--"I don't care". Those with good teeth were excited about Kamala.)
[Oh! Also... E. gave me a panini/George-Forman grill! to use as a printing press. She said she never uses hers. Does anyone? The store is always getting donations of grills, often like-new.]
Emmler laughed and agreed with the teeth & president connection:
"If your teeth always cause you pain no matter who the president is, you don't care."
She's another person who lives with intermittent, intense dental pain. "I don't care about politics", she said, "but I'll vote because of my grandmother. She was in the League of Women voters, and I can't let her down." E's grandmother is nintey-two.
Until working at the thrift store, I'd never lived around the level of poverty that means you suffer with bad or, eventually, no teeth.
Our state does provide health insurance for people with a low-income, but it's not like you just show up and get free care.
Even to apply, you have to be able to read, have access to and feel comfortable on a computer, and have the mental focus to navigate government bureaucracy. Some of my thrift coworkers don't have one (or any) of those things.
E.’s mother has come to town to help her navigate the system. "There's a difference between it being available and you being able to get it," the mother said.
II. Banana Bread w/ Almond Flour
I'm trying (trying) to be a better advocate for myself. Really, I've skated by on good luck so far... Must try harder now. For health, I'm trying to cook more, which I do not love.
But I'm making an effort.
Hope never dies!
This morning I made banana bread with no added sugar. It's super easy. It's good, and it's sweet but not cake, so I'm not tempted to eat the whole pan at once. (I would.)
Recipe
3 ripe bananas--smash up with...
2 eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Mix 2 cups almond flour with
2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 (half) teaspoon salt.
Optional:
I added half a tsp cardamom, and a handful of walnuts.
Mix all together, and bake at 325 for 50 minutes.
A cake or bundt pan works better than a loaf pan, so the center isn't gooey.
III. Peggy Ashcroft
Marz watched The 39 Steps with me last night. I was going to write a review, but I fell asleep halfway through.
Marz hadn't seen any early Hitchcock, and she was impressed.
I was surprised how little I remembered. I'll watch the second half tonight.
I'll just mention that Peggy Ashcroft (1907–1991) is in it.
I'd seen her the other night too, in Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), playing Glenda Jackson's mother. [center photo, below]
I first saw her when I was young--she was in The Jewel in the Crown (1984), about the end of the British raj in India. [third photo, below]
Ashcroft'd have been about 28 in The 39 Steps (1935), playing the beaten-down wife of a crofter who bravely helps Richard Hanney (Robert Donat), below.
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