Little Requirements

I'm healing but not "healed".  I can drive the car safely and get through a store OK,  but getting in and out of the car is (literally) a bit of a pain.  

I have to help my right leg under the steering wheel in and out.  It's more "annoying" than anything else.   But I'd rather not do it anymore than I need to.  So I went shopping just for a can of fish flakes in spite of that.  Why?

They needed food suitable to their mouths.  I have some adult fish, some catfish, some baby guppies and a Betta (not all in the same aquarium).  The betta has pellets it loves (beats me why).  The catfish will eat anything that falls on the gravel.  I have frozen brine shrimp for the adult fish.

But the baby guppies need crushed flakes and I was OUT of flakes entirely.  Not even dust in the container.  I'm responsible for them as much as for the cats and the outside birds accustomed to getting suet and sunflower seeds.

So (reluctantly) out I went out bad weather notwithstanding...  I pay more attention to "the closest parking space" than I used to.  The shopping strip has speed bumps.  It drives me crazy when people come to a full stop before easing over them.  They are designed to be passed over best at about 10-15 mph.  

So I followed a car coming to full stops at each speed bump.  And there was a place where we had the right of way and the side lot area had a stop sign.  Guess who came to a full stop to wave the other driver on?  THAT messed up the expectation of 3 drivers and almost got me rear-ended!

I know people like that MEAN well, but they don't understand how it confuses others.  SOME people leave a trail of car accidents behind them and wonder how "others" cause them.  AARGHH!

Then I saw a close parking spot.  Guess who backed into it?  Of course that "full stop speed bump" driver had the right to it, but my bad luck meant the next open space was 50' more walking.

I was shopping at a pet store because I thought I would get a few middle-tank fish like serpa tetras (I'm down to 2 of them) while getting the fishy flakes.  No such luck; the tanks were nearly empty.  Maybe they are going out of business.  Or fish are hard to stock these days.  Whichever, I just got the fishy flakes.

The cashier is apparently required to ask if I found everything I wanted.  I know that if I say "no" they get all distressed and waste time trying to help me find it.  I mean, I already SAW they didn't have the tetras, so I said "yes".  

Which I'm sure goes into some report that they have everything I wanted (which suggests I wasn't looking for fish and was inaccurate).  Sometimes you can't win.  

Something else that annoys me is that EVERY SINGLE CASH REGISTER I EVER MEET NOW demands that I actively decline some charity or another.  I give to my choices regularly by credit card; I shouldn't need to have to press a button to say "no" at every cash register.  Besides, I bet the store would get a %.  And there is some slight public shaming (Oh look, he didn't give to save a homeless pet).

So, needing fishy flakes and not finding fish, I purchased and left.  I was advised that I had $3 reward points and used it.  Felt stupid using a credit card for the additional $2 and change, but I hate coins these days.  They just go into a large jar.  I need to bring them to my bank on a Thursday (they only accept loose coins then with some machine they have).  I understand; it is a bit labor-intensive.

Stopped at the local DIY store to drop off burnt fluorescent tubes and buy new ones for the plant stand.  They didn't have what I wanted.  Went to the next and they did (almost).  Not all artificial lighting is the same.  Watts are not that important.  Lumens and Color/Temperature are.  Very basically, Lumens are brightness, which is like "volume of light". Temperature in this regard isn't how HOT the bulb is; it is the red/green/blue color spectrum like in a star.

Plants mostly use red and blue for photosynthesis.  We see most plants as green because they DON'T use it and reflect it away.  The colors we see are what they DON'T absorb and use and (in light) expressed as "Kelvin" (temperature above absolute zero).  Long story not TOO LONG, plants grow best at 5000 Kelvin which (for reasons I do NOT understand) means mostly red and blue.

A typical room bulb is something like 2500K (which means it has green and gives us balanced color from OUR POV.  Pants like higher Kelvin to a point.  5000 is best, 4000 to 6500 is OK.  All I could find was 6100.  I bought some.  

Sorry for all the details, I never know where to stop.  Maybe I should have been a teacher...

I was pretty much worn out by the time I got home.  Too much walking and I can feel it.  But the fish needed the flakes and the baby guppies moreso crushed small and the plant stand had a few bulbs to replace.  You have responsibilities to things you keep.

So I take care of the birdfeeders even when I have to climb a 6' stepladder, go driving to get fishy flakes when they need them, etc.  

You do what you think you must.