In the dumps.

 Have you ever been so efficient as to go backwards?

I always think about this when I see someone speeding. If he gets a ticket, did he really get there any faster?

Trying to be efficient one day, I grabbed a load of items destined for the recycle bin. I also grabbed a small lock that needed to be placed on an outdoor gate and a little plastic bag that need to go back in my trunk to be reused the next time I went shopping. It seemed logical to grab all these things at once since I would pass the car and the recycle bin in close proximity on my way to the gate. It would save me the trip of having to come back into the house before going back out in over-110 degree weather.

Car trunk ✔️ - I dropped the plastic bag onto the lid of the trunk. My arms were overflowing with recycling material. I would put the bag in the trunk on my way back in.

Recycle ✔️✔️ -  I managed to get the lid of the bin open and dumped my armload of recyclables in. Along with the lock.

Crap.

The bin is a large one which was useful three years ago when we first moved in and had lots of cardboard boxes to recycle. Now, my recycling lays at the bottom beyond the reach of my outstretched arm. 

Did I mention it was a small lock? It, like car keys in my purse, dove immediately to the bottom, out of sight. The only way to get at it was to tip the whole thing over and to crawl in.

I was already showered and dressed for the day. I was wearing a skirt and a white shirt. I squatted down and reached for the larger items within reach in the sweltering heat: wine bottles to be sure, Sunday's newspaper, loose junk mail items but I could see no lock. 

I was now crouched on the open lid of the bin with everything I was able to reach now at my feet. I sifted through the items again more carefully. Surely, the lock had to be there. I had only just tossed it in.

But, no, I could not find it which only meant one thing. It was still in the bin at the very bottom. Was I really going to have to crawl in on my hands and knees?

I went back to the garage and put the plastic bag in the trunk while I tried to think of something long enough to reach the bottom of the bin. I had a push broom but that was too unwieldy. And then I spotted it. Something one might not think to have in the desert: An umbrella. 

Back inside the bin, it worked brilliantly. I pushed away the remaining debris at the bottom of the recycle bin and used the tip of the umbrella to fish the lock out. All that was left was to put all the recycling back into the bin and stand it back up.

But first, I put the lock in my pocket.

Speaking of pages ...

 I used to have a page called "WUV" which stood for What's Up Vancouver. It was subtitled:

Fun Stuff to Do Around Town

With the following explanation:

This is in no way an exhaustive list of things to do. This just represents the things that appeal to me. And, frankly, it's all about me anyway.

I still keep it up in a manner of speaking only now the events are those that take place in and around Coachella Valley and there's no link to the page from Chocolate Chip Mint (other than this one). One thing remains the same: it's still about me. 

I'm thinking about revitalizing the page, changing the name, and updating the links. I love to explore what the valley has to offer in the way of restaurants, events, things to do. People often ask, "How do you know all this stuff?" I guess because that's what interests me, that's what I look for on websites, in the newspaper, and on social media. These are the things I put on my own calendar. That doesn't necessarily mean I go to all these things but I like to know what's going on and I like to have that at my fingertips for when the inevitable question come up, "What should we do tonight (or this weekend)?"

Let me know if you have an idea for the name. CV Happenings? That might lead you to the Community Calendar for Coachella Valley Chapter of the Community Associations Institute (which is an interesting website if you're interested in the workings of an HOA). 

How about "S'up CV?" for What's up Coachella Valley? 

I tried searching for "Around CV" and got a lot of information about constant velocity axle boots and I've had enough of that this year!

Maybe a take on the words "desert" or "cactus" or "hot." 

What do you think?

Did you know...?

 There are 77 instances of the word "chicken" on my Eat Me page. I only discovered this when I wanted to  find a recipe that I posted some time ago - like years ago - but couldn't remember the title of it. All I could remember was that it had chicken and olives in it. ("Olive" is mentioned only 22 times but most often in relation to "oil.") After sifting through several recipes that utilized chicken, I decided it must have been the Chicken, Quinoa, and Green-Olive Stew that I was looking for.

Or maybe it was Moroccan Chicken with Green Olives and Lemon.

I guess I'll just have to make both.