La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
Here are more photos I took on my walk to City Hall the other day. Immediately below is when I zoomed in on an interesting building from a previous post (click here). It’s one of more than a dozen elegant buildings around the country once owned by the insurance company The Union and the Phoenix. The building and statue date back to 1926–27. A man is atop the phoenix, but I don’t know if the man is anyone in particular or just your typical phoenix rider. They’re a dime a dozen.
We were back at the hardware store today. San Geraldo needed a good saw for the piano. I can hear him sawing away right now. We ordered two sofas, a comfy chair, and a whole bunch of other stuff today. Amazingly, there’s still money in the bank. But I have New York in January. Airfare is paid for. Hotel is not. So there’s a moratorium on spending.
Speaking of spending, I spoke with The Kid Brother last night. He announced, “I’m out of cereal!” I told him to buy some. He said, “You need to place an order, I think.” I explained that since I would be there in January, I wasn’t placing an order at Wegman’s now. I would be giving him money and taking him to Trader Joe’s.” I told him he needed to go grocery shopping and asked if he was out of money (he has a card that gives him money monthly for groceries). He told me the card was at the office (and we all know how he feels about the staff in the office) and one of them has to go grocery shopping with him. I told him he needs to go to the office no matter how he feels about it. He needs food. He said he also has money in the bank but has a new bank card that he can’t register without a current state ID card and he’s been telling the office about that since March. So, I’m about to phone the office. I don’t think much of this team either. I will keep my cool.
On top of that, I have an older cousin who is severely developmentally disabled. He lives in a home in upstate New York. I recently received a message saying they’d like to move him to another building. They need my permission. But, as I understand it, there’s no reason to move him except that they have a vacancy there they want to fill. They have provided mostly exceptional care for many years. But knowing how my brother and my cousin deal with change, I’m not thrilled with the idea. They’ve given me no medical or emotional justification for the move. So, we’re having a conference call this evening. Eight of us! My cousin is nearly 78 years old and I’ve decided I’m going to stick to my guns. No move. But I have to say again, their care of my cousin and their communication with me have been exceptional for many years. Needless to say, I’ve been stewing.
San Geraldo just yelled “Yay!” The photo above is what the piano now looks like. Yay! Not only that, he individually unscrewed and cut 220 to 230 wires. San Geraldo soars with the phoenix!
Aquí hay más fotos que tomé en mi caminata hacia el Ayuntamiento el otro día. Inmediatamente debajo está cuando hice zoom sobre un edificio interesante de una publicación anterior (haz clic aquí). Es uno de más de una docena de edificios elegantes en todo el país que alguna vez fueron propiedad de la compañía de seguros El Union y el Fenix. El edificio y la estatua datan de 1926-27. Un hombre está en lo alto del fénix, pero no sé si el hombre es alguien en particular o simplemente el típico jinete del fénix. Los hay a montones.
Hoy volvimos a la ferretería. San Geraldo necesitaba una buena sierra para el piano. Puedo oírlo serrando ahora mismo. Pedimos dos sofás, un sillón cómodo y un montón de cosas más hoy. Sorprendentemente, todavía hay dinero en el banco. Pero tengo que ir a Nueva York en enero. El billete de avión está pagado, pero el hotel no. Así que hay una moratoria para gastar.
Hablando de gastos, anoche hablé con The Kid Brother. Me dijo: “¡No tengo cereales!”. Le dije que comprara algunos. Me dijo: “Creo que tienes que hacer un pedido”. Le expliqué que, como estaría allí en enero, no iba a hacer un pedido en Wegman’s ahora. Le daría dinero y lo llevaría a Trader Joe’s”. Le dije que necesitaba ir a hacer la compra y le pregunté si se había quedado sin dinero (tiene una tarjeta que le da dinero mensualmente para la compra). Me dijo que la tarjeta estaba en la oficina (y todos sabemos lo que piensa del personal de la oficina) y que uno de ellos tiene que ir a hacer la compra con él. Le dije que tiene que ir a la oficina sin importar lo que piense al respecto. Necesita comida. Dijo que también tiene dinero en el banco, pero tiene una nueva tarjeta bancaria que no puede registrar sin una tarjeta de identificación estatal vigente y ha estado contándole eso a la oficina desde marzo. Así que estoy a punto de llamar a la oficina. Tampoco creo mucho en este equipo. Mantendré la calma.
Además de eso, tengo un primo de casi 78 años que tiene una discapacidad mental grave. Vive en una casa en el norte del estado de Nueva York. Hace poco recibí un mensaje diciendo que les gustaría trasladarlo a otro edificio. Necesitan mi permiso. Pero, según tengo entendido, no hay ninguna razón para trasladarlo, salvo que tienen una vacante allí que quieren cubrir. Han proporcionado una atención excepcional durante muchos años. Pero sabiendo cómo mi hermano y mi primo afrontan el cambio, no me entusiasma la idea. No me han dado ninguna justificación médica o emocional para la mudanza. Así que vamos a tener una conferencia telefónica esta tarde. ¡Ocho de nosotros! He decidido mantenerme firme en mi postura. Pero tengo que decir de nuevo que la atención que han dado a mi primo y su comunicación conmigo han sido excepcionales durante muchos años. No hace falta decir que he estado preocupado.
San Geraldo acaba de gritar “¡Yay!”. La foto de arriba muestra cómo luce ahora el piano. ¡Yay! No solo eso, sino que desatornilló y cortó de 220 a 230 cables uno a uno. ¡San Geraldo vuela con el ave fénix!
• ¿He mencionado lo mucho que detesto los grafitis?
• Torre de la Puerta del Rincón y escultura a la derecha de la torre. Se piensa que la torre es cristiana y fue construida en el siglo XIV sobre torres anteriores. La muralla data de la fundación de Córdoba por Claudio Marcelo en el siglo II a.C.
• Inaugurada en 2014, la escultura de bronce representa a una mujer cuidando las plantas con una regadera colgada de un palo largo. La escultura se llama simplemente “La Regadera”.
Click the thumbnails to enlarge.
Haz clic en las miniaturas para ampliar.
Endlessly interesting pictures again. What a great move that was for you.
That was me, boud. And I thought I’d said how marvelous you are in support and defense of relatives who need you. From such a distance, too. I expect younger brother is expecting you any minute, thinking ahead to January. I hope he gets his food situation organized in the meantime.
Boud:
My cousin has mostly exceptional care. My brother’s care is based on how lucky they are with their hires. They haven’t been lucky in about 10 years!
Boud:
Despite all my whining, I’m loving it.
LOVE that bronze sculpture!
Cordoba is quite the city with all its architecture and history.
Hope the conference call goes well and they don’t get their back up at your stance.
Jim:
So much art, architecture, and history here. I settled down yesterday!
Seeing that statue of the lady with the watering-can is a reminder that you have something else to look forward to next May – the “Courtyards/Patios Festival”! On our only visit to Cordoba, we were stunned by the myriad little courtyards filled to the brim with flowerpots and hangers (so it must have been that time of year)! Jx
PS Love the architecture of that building – SG is indeed “rising like a phoenix“, and making so much progress with the piano…
PPS Bloody graffiti!! Hate it all.
Jon:
I want to go around town with paint and cover up all the graffiti (and, I suppose, give them fresh canvases to paint on).
Instead of all that work could you have just called a trash hauler to remove it?
I absolutely could get lost on those quaint narrow streets….exploring.
Mistress Borghese:
See? This is what happens when you go to Nairobi and don’t keep up! Piano movers cost upwards of €1,000. Regular movers and trash haulers would have nothing to do with it. The piano wouldn’t fit in our elevators and would have to be carried down 7 flights of stairs. And THEN there was its disposal! I thought of turning it into a headboard. I could easily lose myself in my wanderings here.
Oh! Lmao!!!!! What about dropping it over the balcony?
Mistress Borghese:
Oh, it’s been discussed. The problem is lifting it over the railing (also that we might kill someone). Look out below!!!
San Geraldo continues to prove to us that he is, indeed, a san 🙂
In other news: Wowser! Those steps! The dime-a-dozen guy on the Phoenix… with that blue sky and the building it sits upon… everything you show us, is a joy to see.
Wishing you the best with the food card for Chuck, and your cousin’s situation. Glad you’re getting a bunch of comfy new stuff, too.
Judy C:
Glad yesterday is over. I’ll write about it, but things went fine. This city is a joy!
I hate tagging too. I don’t have much use for any graffiti to tell you the truth.
Kid brother. Do you think he’d go hungry before he went to the office for help? Doesn’t sound like the office is really dedicated to its clients and their needs. And yes- absolutely- why would they upset your cousin by making an unneeded move? Doesn’t make sense.
I do very much love the bronze sculpture of the watering lady. And the plants she is watering.
Ms. Moon
Ms. Moon:
I think The Kid Brother would finally cave and demand help, but he’d make himself miserable first. There’s regular turn-over of the office staff and it really is the luck of the draw. There’s been no luck for several years now! He’s smarter than they are. I thought more about my cousin’s situation and had a good conference call. I was just really stewing yesterday. I knew nothing about the watering lady, so loved stumbling on her and the ancient tower and wall.
Bravo, San Geraldo! Those inlaid stone mosaic steps are magnificent. And I agree — a pox on all graffiti taggers.
Debra:
San Geraldo is so willing to take on these huge projects and he loves learning from videos of the processes. We’ve seen artisans repairing those stone mosaics on the street. Amazing.
Debra beat me to it…. I agree with her 100% about the steps! I can’t imagine wanting to disrupts someone’s life with unnecessary change at that age, much less someone who needs certain order in their life.
Kelly:
Watching the craftspeople work on repairing that stone pavement is amazing. Stone by stone.
Well that should be the end of your piano. I thought you could have turned this into a YouTube channel to home improvement. Like all those Chateau sites.
larrymuffin:
It could have been a step-by-step on how to decommission an old piano.
I love the new town! Those teensy little streets between those buildings always amaze me.
And I kind of like the way the piano looks now!
Bob:
The piano become much more interesting once the ugly case was removed.
I too like the statue of the woman watering plants. As for the man on the phoenix, I’m assuming he waited a few minutes before he hopped that bird since he doesn’t look like he’s singed any.
Kirk:
That statue of the woman with the watering can was a wonderful surprise. I’m sure the guy on the phoenix is dressed in Kevlar.
I hope all goes well with the KB and cousin. Doing stuff like this, well, doing almost anything, when you live outside the US gets complex fast, not to mention frustrating.
Walt the Fourth:
All is fine (at least temporarily). Yesterday gave me serious indigestion.
SG for the win! I’m impressed! I hope your conference call goes well. It must be hard dealing with these things when you aren’t even in the country. I am sure you are loving your new place and I appreciate all of the photos. Also, Wegmans and Trader Joe’s are my two places to shop!
Michael:
I’ve never been in a Wegman’s but it’s a great place to shop online for my brother. I used to love Trader Joe’s. Now I just get to enjoy it with him.
Wegmans is the best!
Random reactions:
– That Phoenix statue would look wonderful atop my tomb. Ya think they’d part with it for the right price?
– I hope the houses at the bottom of those stairs have good flood insurance.
– My eyes went immediately to what I believe is a very plump pigeon in the watering can photo. Bird seems quite happy.
– Hearty “attaboy” to SG for his diligence and effort!
wickedhamster:
– I’m sure they’d make you a deal.
– I hope so, too (but probably not).
— I had better photos, but I like the pigeon.
— SG loves taking on these kinds of major projects.
I read Ina Garten’s memoir. She describes the delivery of a huge cast iron range to her top floor apartment in Paris, that would not fit the elevator. A friend arranged for 6 men to carry it up the stairs. And arranged to be there to watch and towel off their sweaty bodies when they made it to the top floor.
David:
Depending on the movers, I’d be happy to be on hand with a towel or two.
I absolutely lost it at the Phoenix Rider (tha’s my nom de porn!) comment. A dime a dozen, indeed.
And your photos always leave me literally speechless. Whoa. I love, love, love old cities.
XOXO
Sixpence,
Great nom de porn! You’re not really only a dime a dozen are you?
There are actual porn stars named Phoenix Rising, Phoenix Rivers (of course) and Phoenix Ryan. Just FYI. Never mind how I know this.
I meant “actual,” not “current.” LOL
Steve:
Not to mention Damon, Dean, and Gabriel. Household names.
I love the decorative pavements. But yeah, the tagging is a drag. I wonder who maintains the “Watering Can” plants?
It’s got to be so hard dealing with these brother/cousin issues from across the ocean. I agree with you re. your cousin — why move someone who’s so established without good reason?
Steve:
I, too, wonder about those plants. They look so happy.