Lazy Woman's Silver Polish

Our everyday silver is a set Bob's family used when he was a child at home, but I never had time to polish it and most of the time, it was tarnished and dirty looking. A few years ago I undertook a major initiative to polish all of it, but the tarnish gradually came back and I had never succeeded in removing the black in the smallest sections of the pattern.

Two weeks ago I polished the silver again and applied a new treatment whenever I have a load of silver to wash:

Line plastic rectangular container (like a dishpan) with foil (the thin, cheap kind)

Fill the container with silver or silverplate

Sprinkle liberally with baking soda

Pour boiling water over the silver and let cool

Wash silver with a liquid detergent

Dry

Silver will be shiny and tarnish free -- especially after a couple of applications

Cosmetology as a Sideline?

I've been coloring my own hair for many years, with varying degrees of success. In the last few years, less successful experiences have included a head that was red on the top half and light brown on the bottom and a color so dark that I washed my hair a dozen times to lighten the shade. The last shampoo included about a cup of peroxide, which finally did the trick.

Before Christmas last year, I decided that from now on I would go to a professional for my coloring in the future. However, my natural frugality kicked in when I worked my last paid day and I've gone back to the home salon. This morning I decided that I'd try some auburn highlights. I split a dose of Nice'n Easy lightest auburn into two applications and used my gloved fingers to mix the color through my hair. The result looked a little "chunky" so I switched to a comb and ended up with a fully moistened head, though I could see that some sections were a little light.

Final result: pretty good. It looks more like auburn with blondish highlights, but it's reasonably attractive. And I still have one more application for next time.

Next Career: Not Nursing

When I was a teenager, I wanted to be nurse but any hope of a medical career was dashed when I fainted as I watched a doctor stitch up a kid's cut. As I lay under the lights in the procedure room, the physician suggested I pursue another line of work.

My retirement date was determined by my husband's knee replacement surgery scheduled for the end of April. Having gone through the surgery twice myself, I knew that support at home is critical to a successful recovery. Bob's surgery was performed yesterday, and this is my second day at the hospital, where activities seem to be centered around various bodily functions, all of them disgusting to someone as squeamish as I.

My stomach has already lurched so much that I'm already doing the countdown to Monday, when the patient is released from the hospital. I've already warned Bob that level of service will diminish when he gets home, and nurse's aide duties will not be included in the overall package. My future is full of opportunities but home nursing is not one of them.

On "Meaningful Work"

I felt very eager to begin the first of my retirement projects, the "online coffee table book" on under-represented regions of Minnesota, and I was looking forward to a field trip to northwestern Minnesota, where I would see and photograph the headwaters of the Mississippi River for the first time. However, heavy snows across Minnesota, including the Twin Cities, precluded such a junket until later in the spring. Instead, after finishing the day's snow shoveling, I began to organize papers and online files, with a view to creating some order and sequencing projects.

I found myself longing for the predictability of a work routine, even as I enjoyed the freedom of being outdoors for several hours a day and the opportunity to capture some good shots of Minnesota wildlife right here in St. Paul and Minneapolis. One afternoon, I went with  Bob on a business call to Cretin Derham Hall High School, one of his customers. The familiar, reassuring ambience of a school made me long for some kind of job there. I learned that "they're always looking for staff in the media center". I'm not even sure what a media center is -- a library, perhaps?  However, it has to be full of devices (desktops, laptops, printers, audio-visual apparatus) that would be familiar to me.

I'm not going to rush to a part-tine job, but it was good to know that  I might find a few hours of "meaningful work" some time next fall.

Snow Daze

It's almost shocking to wake up in the morning, knowing that I don't have to go to work. Fortunately, for 5 of my first 10 days I had plenty of work to do, with a number of major spring snowstorms that dumped over 17 inches of snow on the Twin Cities. The first day I was thrilled to have physical work to occupy my body and mind; by Wednesday, April 24 -- our last snow day till next season, I think -- the thrill had receded and I trudged through clearing the deck and sidewalks. Bob did the blowing (not an easy task with thick, wet, heavy spring snow) and I shoveled. Tons of snow.

Today we should see our first temps above 60 since November 10.

The Decision

Email to co-workers at the Department of Commerce (Friday, April 5, 2013):

It’s hard to believe that 40+ years in the workforce have flown by, 23 of them with the State of Minnesota, where I began as a “session only” legislative staffer in 1990.  I’ve had the privilege of working in several agencies but have spent more than half my state career at either the Department of Commerce or the Public Utilities Commission. I’ve participated in a number of challenging projects and initiatives over the years,  and have especially enjoyed this last assignment with MNIT at Commerce. I’m going to miss the daily challenges and, even more,  the colleagues who’ve become friends.

 

I’m looking forward to indulging my love of the outdoors and pursuing some of  the interests that require time I haven’t had until now. One of my first projects will integrate my love of Minnesota, writing, photography, technology and social media tools. The idea is an “online coffee table book”, with photos and some text, on Minnesota’s varied topographical regions, particularly those I consider to be under-represented. My own collection of photos is heavy on the Brainerd area lakes, Lake Superior and the Twin Cities, so my husband and I are planning excursions that will include the  headwaters of the Mississippi River this spring and southern Minnesota late in the summer.

 

I’m very proud  of my years of state employment, enriched by your support, example of public service and, above all, your friendship. At my request, there will be no retirement party,  but I  hope to visit with some of you before I leave, and am grateful to live in an era that allows us to stay in touch.

 

Thanks, everyone, for  many happy memories.

 

Catherine

 

cahennessey@comcast.net

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