what's been going on in that real life of mine?

[amw]

I am sitting outside on a bench in the back driveway to type this entry. The weather is still pretty cold, but the past week or so it's been unseasonably warm, which is to say just above freezing

Comments

[opakele]

I told my dad tonight, this year took everything that was 'normal', smooshed it all together and presented us with 'this is how it really is'.

It's a lot to take in.

We have two more days until the light starts to come back. I don't know if that will make it all better, but this is the dark.

There is a reason our ancestors decided we needed a party right about now. This year, there is no fucking party. It is very sad.

Take care of yourself the best you can.

[amw]

Thanks. It's been a rough couple weeks, but i am hoping with the new year just ahead and the days getting longer we're heading in the right direction.

[carriea31]

On a positive note....I like your hat.

[olamina]

That hat brings out your eyes 😍

I'm glad you are around a few tolerable people. My bubble is just my husband, son, and mother in law. She has two friends that visit every day but I never see them. I just hear them downstairs talking old lady talk. I feel like I may have to really rebuild my in person social skills when this thing is over or maybe I'll become a lot quieter? That would not be a bad thing!

[livejournal]

Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!
Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ.

[dadi]

Looking very cool. Ice-queen like ;) .
That thing with the contactless paying is really hard on the homeless, for sure. With the nonprofit where I volunteer mostly for the refugees, we have had a meeting with somebody from a local bank, and they have agreed to issue rechargable cash cards free of charge, with 10 Euro on them, and we bought a shitload of them with the donations we got for the holidays. Usually around xmas we give out care packages with food, sweets, body care articles and an envelope with money for each person who comes to the food bank every week, this time they get one of the cards which can be recharged at each atm with money if they get that from people and can't pay anything with it. Also, cigarette machines. That idea has been well received also by a lot of local people, who bought these cards in newspaper shops and such, so they can gift them to the homeless and/or poor they meet or know.

[amw]

Most homeless i meet these days have a cheap phone, so as long as there is a quick peer to peer payment solution that might be another way to do it. I'm not sure we have one that is both ubiquitous and easy in the west, though. PayPal is a bit complicated to set up, and bank transfers are fiddly. Something like AliPay in China was a great option, basically just scan the other phone, type in an amount, the end. I think there are a few apps over here that do that, but they're not used by everyone, so still not quite as convenient as cash.

Giving refugees cash cards is a great idea. Even as a regular immigrant it can be difficult to set up a bank account in a new country. I can't imagine how tough it'd be if you perhaps didn't have your ID documents any more or don't yet have clear residential status in the country.