Mundane Matters: Beer & Baubles

After work yesterday, I went for a happy-hour beer at the nearby deli again, where I started addressing Christmas cards. 
This time, only a whiff of barbecue was in the air--the deli must've been actively smoking their slicing-meats last time when it smelled so strongly.

I must say, their deli sandwiches look great. 
No vegetarian options though. I might suggest egg salad. All their fresh products are from local farms, and their eggs are $11/dozen.

A neighborhood group was meeting at the deli. 
I was cheered to overhear bits of their conversation--mostly about their strategies for ICE---like, which platform for which messages? 
The Signal app for alerts? *

bink & Maura's neighborhood group is almost entirely taken up with strategizing for ICE too. (These neighborhoods see action, it's not just theoretical.)
They also use online communication of course--as well as bagging up 500 whistles to give away, with instructions to BLOW for ICE.

I could have walked over and joined the group. 
Did I? Would I?

Nope.
"Do Something" is my motto, but groups are not one of some things I do.
 I'm greatly heartened, though, to know that this is a normal Something that people are doing in many places.

ANYWAY... here's my work haul.
 (The plant is the deli's.)

I love old-fashioned handmade Xmas decorations, like these two blue spangly balls--constructed with hat pins stuck into styrofoam. 

The shiny little drums were Made in Japan--they must be 60 years old. They are for the Girlettes' Holiday Marching Band.
I'd better get on that:
 I'm a little shocked to realize that Christmas is only two weeks away now!

The yellow wheeled-reindeer mug jumped out at me as especially adorable. Turned it upside down: 
it is Marimekko. 
Good design pops out, if you have an eye for it.

Behind the mug is my ear-flap PENDLETON hat that Manageress had put in textile baling last week.
 (Baling = bin of unsaleable fabric items to be squashed into bales at the warehouse, to be sold on for recycling or industrial use, etc.)

"It's got hair on it," she said.
The faux-fur had shed a little, but the inside label looked so clean, I doubt it'd even been worn.

So, I got it for what we pay for items from baling: a dollar.

Later, Manageress told me she hadn't deducted nine dollars from my store credit after all, for the tent I'd given to the homeless guy.
! ! !
I thanked her. 
(In fact, I'd been surprised she'd charged me in the first place, because she's usually generous to people in need.)

It can be really hard to keep emotional (or ethical) balance at work, in the shifting seas of No Consistency.
Sometimes it's to my benefit (the Pendleton hat), 
sometimes it taxes my sanity.

But overall, I've gotta admit, though neither is good, I tolerate chaos better than micro-management. 
Still, it's a wild ride. 
_________________________

But this is supposed to be a post about MUNDANE Matters, 
so let me get back to those.

Yesterday was a Red Letter Day at work because new floor pads got donated. Whoo-hooo!

(Rather than buying them, management relies on the inconsistent donation of such supplies. Frustrating though this is, the truth is, most needed supplies do get donated. . .  eventually.)

It so happened that our tidiest volunteer was working with me in Housewares.
I pulled up the old floor pads in our work station and asked her if she'd like to sweep up.

"Yes!" 

Honestly, I was being generous to offer-- I'd have enjoyed sweeping up too. 
It'd been a few years since we'd put down the last pads, and the floor was enjoyably dirty--that is, lots of dirt but nothing rotting. 
Very satisfying to clean up.

BELOW right: She mopped too--"The water is black!"
We were both ridiculously happy--it was a real bonding moment.

_____________________

Oh! More happiness-- as I am writing this post, an email came in from the Neighborhood council with the City's  
"All are welcome here" poster,
with official links to information about legal rights and resources.

Nice! 
I've wanted to post something at work, but knew Big Boss would object to anything "political" (he wouldn't even post Black Lives Matter). But this is Official City Business--I won't even ask.

THIS is a Something I can Do:
I will print copies at the library today to post on the bulletin board at work tomorrow.

It literally illustrates my print! LET'S HOLD HANDS:

minneapolismn.gov/government/programs-initiatives/racial-equity/know-your-rights

___________________

One more Holiday decorations picture.

Left: handmade egg-carton ornament (you can glimpse the shiny blue ball inside)

Right: German mini-candleholders 



And ONE MORE THING...
A beat-up old (not "vintage" 😆) handmade doll house, out by the store's green trash dumpster.
Emily-Ann, the Cashier Who Returned, sent me its photo, saying it looks like a crack house and my dolls should come play in it.

Hanukkah starts this Sunday, Dec. 14--so on Monday, the Girlettes will be lighting candles with Sander by the dumpster after work, like last year, and Emmler can join in too. 
They can check out the house then too, if it's still there.

__________________________
P.S. I had a good chat with Sister at the Art Institute. 
I gently (really!) suggested she could try trusting her intuition, making her own color choices in quilting:

"You are far better at it than you think!" I said.

This (being better than you think) is probably true for many people who don't suffer from Dunning Kreuger effect. 
Those people are far worse at things than they think.

Unfortunately, those people (with DK) are running the government of my country.

[You probably already know, 
"The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias that describes the systematic tendency of people with low ability in a specific area to give overly positive assessments of this ability." 
--Wikipedia]
_________________________

* I only knew of Signal from when secretary of defense (whoops--now "secretary of war"--jesus mary & jospeh!) Hegseth shared troop details on it [BBC article]. 

So I looked it up and discovered that Signal is encrypted, like my new email server Proton--so it's private. 
"Vulnerable to hacking" though. 
What isn't? 
(Not a rhetorical question--really, is anything NOT vulnerable to hacking?)