Attitude is supposed to be everything. I reminded myself of this several times today. To begin, I was late getting out of the house because I could not find things I needed. Then I had to run back up to the house and get my car keys, which I’d forgotten.

I was due to be at the Palmer Senior Center (replacing the person who previously replaced me) at 11 a.m. I got there at 11:30 a.m. and gave a senior, Cathy, who was in charge of putting the books out, an assist.

I got wind of the fact that one of my favorite seniors, Mario, is in hospice, so I will need to go and visit him and support his wife, Mary.

Ryder's got attitude

I stopped on the way out and offered condolences to the woman who is running the gift shop. The administration is closing it down. I bought something for Eleanor and will go back on Monday when they are having their 50 percent of sale.

I drove back to the hotel. The board member who holds down the fort on Tuesdays was dealing with a family medical problem, so I held down the fort. This meant I could not leave and do my distributing. I Had a good afternoon categorizing books while two volunteers, one old, one new, talked. They got along really well, so this is going to be a good match.

I went after hours and distributed books for Bill Schmidtkunz, who has his hands full these days – he’s assisting in taking care of his 95 year old father in law.

I then returned to the hotel, changed my clothes and waited for Jeanie, my ride, to take me to the restaurant where The Women who Care event was taking place.

We got there late because Jeanie had to attend a union meeting beforehand. By this point in time, everyone had already hobnobbed and gotten their share of finger food.

The deal is this – you get on a list and then are eligible for a raffle in which three names are selected. These three names give 5 minute presentations. After, there is a brief question and answer session.

I was not on the list – I filled out a form and the administration will decide if I, who am a Bright Lights Book Project representative, is eligible.

There was a raffle, and three organization names were pulled. I am not going to name names, but one of the organizations is a partner. The way it is now working is that nonprofits everywhere are scrambling for any money they can get. Yes, we are all competitive. And this is why I was not told by this partner that this quasi fundraiser was taking place. This partner also had its full complement of board members present. There were no BLBP board members present. It was just me and Jeanie.

Of course, the partnering organization got $100.00 from the 37 women present. So they went home with $ 3,700.00. Okay, so the next meeting is November 13. I am going to go to this quasi fundraiser, and if I am fortunate enough to be called upon to speak, I will kick butt.

I have not included all the day’s details. It just seems to me now that truth is stranger than fiction.

Next: 247. 9/12/25: Rain at Both Ends of the Day