Welcome back, Blogging Pals!!
My apology for the delay in posts. I have been busy with some things that didn't leave me time to sit and ponder what you might find of interest.
So... a few comments as the adventure in southwest Louisiana continues.
Recycling is not really something that is actively pursued here. Many of you in Austin are aware you put your recycles out (single-stream) alongside your garbage bin and the city comes along and empties it. "Single-stream", for those of you who are not familiar with the term, means you have ONE big bin into which you deposit ALL recyclable items... glass, metal (cans, etc.), plastics, paper, etc. In other words, if the city recycles it (and Austin recycles quite a bit these days), you can dump it all into the city-provided bin. Between the recycling program in Austin and my two compost bins in the back yard, we rarely filled up an actual garbage bin!! The only "recycling" I have found here is the WalMart and the local grocer providing a place to return one's plastic bags for recycling. That's it. There is no effort to recycle on the part of the town. I continue to have a hard time placing items I was able to recycle in Texas into the garbage can to go into a Louisiana landfill. I don't have a choice.
A Farmer's Market is always of interest in my world. I pretty faithfully attended the Sunset Valley Farmer's Market in Austin every Saturday morning for a long time. I had almost a "standing order" with my lettuce lady and my mushroom man and was always on the lookout for other offerings that were of interest. It was a large market with not only produce but interesting handmade items by local artists. There was nearly always something to see. I looked forward to it. I noticed a "Farmer's Market" sign in my new environment at each end of one of the two downtown blocks. It obviously was set up to slide from "closed" to "open" so folks would know. Good idea! There is a pavilion there so I figured it might not be large but it certainly would be worth a visit. Homegrown produce is always worth the trip! I have never found any specific information about it so could only assume it would at LEAST be open on a Saturday morning... right? Oops. There I go with my assumptions again. I got up one Saturday, had my coffee, got dressed, and headed downtown looking forward to checking out the local Farmer's Market. As I approached the site, there was NO ONE there. The place was absolutely dead. The sign showed "closed." Sigh. Foiled again. (Since then, I have discovered that the local sellers sort of show up whenever it makes sense to them and move the signage from "closed" to "open" while they are there. There is no specific day or time to set my schedule by.) Have I made it by when it was open yet? Nope.
Finally, there is one more comment about differences. The former owners of the house we now own had left quite a few items that we would like to dispose of but that are not accepted by the garbage workers. (I set out a non-functional trash can with writing on it to advise it was intended as TRASH itself. It was still there when I went to retrieve the functioning empty garbage bin.) There are other items so we called the city to determine where the local dump was located. (There was a local dump when I grew up here.) The city worker advised there was no city dump. I suggested to the spousal-unit (who was making the calls) that he contact the Parish. He did so and the Parish worker advised there was no Parish dump. Strike Two. He asked this individual WHO might have information about a location where items could be taken that the garbage guys would not retrieve? He was sent to the contracted trash pickup folks. A third call answered the question. The contractor has a location near the entrance to Fort Polk (about a 30 minute drive from here) where they will accept items you wish to bring in. There was no discussion about whether there was a charge to take them in. We have also been made aware there is a "bulk pickup" taking place twice a year. We apparently have not hit the first one since our arrival. We may just hold off for that.
The update is about my credit card dispute of Yahoo!'s charging of my card without my knowledge or permission. The last I had submitted to the credit card company was a little over a month ago. I received a letter from the credit card company last week advising they were "blocking" (guess that means "killing") my card and I shouldn't use it. I haven't used it in over a year so there was no real danger there. No problem. Suddenly, I receive a credit card bill in the mail with a $10 charge for an "additional or replacement card." Huh? First of all, I didn't GET a card. Secondly, I didn't ASK for a card. Thirdly... ah heck... I'll just call them. So I did. I actually was VERY pleased with the customer service I received. I spoke with a nice young lady, explained the situation, and asked her to determine if/when a "replacement" card had been sent as I had not received it and I asked why it was even sent since I did not request it. She checked on the whole thing, told me she would waive the $10 charge (but to call her back if I did not get the replacement card!), and advised that my dispute was in some limbo called "supervisory" something-or-other under review. Uh... okay. I asked what kind of timeline I should expect to get a resolution? Not sure. The process apparently "takes a long time." Uh... okay. I'll just mark my calendar and keep checking in about once a month. How's that? Fine. No problem.
I will continue to try to adapt and will continue to fight previous battles with vigor. :) Wish me luck!!
Until next time...
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