Interesting, no? One minute I'm here, if a little busy with Life. The next, nothing. Two months plus of nothing.
And the answer is: I had a little crisis. I don't quite know how to describe it. Of confidence. Of identity. Of how I see myself. Of how others see me.
What brought this on? The silliest thing, something totally innocent. Praise.
I've known pretty much forever that I'm not great with criticism. Who knew a casual line of praise could totally undo me? Well, certainly not my blogging friend who emailed me a short note that included the following line:
"you are so good at staying committed to your goals".
I read it and a voice from deep inside said, "You don't deserve that praise." And I quietly fell apart. Couldn't post. Couldn't hide that truth. Couldn't speak it aloud. And, as time went by, things just got worse and worse.
I originally felt unworthy of praise because I'd just come through the whole financial devastation that is Passover. I'd charged a lot of food, matzo, wine, you name it on the credit card for Passover. I'd had to pay for Dog to go on his annual Pesach vacation. And I was starting to fall a little behind on certain things, while trying to pay off Dear Child's dental surgery. It seemed ludicrous to say that, because I was diverting $50 a pay period into my Tax Free Savings Account or $10 per week into my Baby Emergency Fund, I was staying committed to my goals. There were so many places where I was bleeding money.
In the interim, things have just gotten worse and worse (as I said). I bought the laminate flooring for Dear Child's room (and my Son-in-Law installed it!). More money, but money well spent. DC's room is finished except for baseboards. I also bought four new upper cupboards, IKEA ones, about the week before Passover (because I wanted pantry shelves on which to put my food). I spent about $500. If they were in and being used, I probably would also consider it money well spent. They're sitting in their boxes in my foyer. Apparently, if (at some point) I put them together my Son-in-Law will demo the existing (mostly broken and unusable) cupboards and hang the new ones.
I started having terrible tooth pain and ended up with a major root canal that now needs to be finished off with a crown. And my husband has just had pretty much the same thing. Net result, big increase in the credit card balance.
Sigh.
Despite paying off as much as possible pretty much every payday we owe way more than we did in March or April. I have a spreadsheet that tracks all the additional charges we've made to the card and when I've made each payment (in addition to the $90 per pay period that is our normal payment).
And I have continued to put money into both the Emergency Fund and the TFSA, as well as restarted deposits to my RRSP. It just seems like such a drop in the bucket compared to the other.
So, that's my story. I'm going to try to get back to writing here though, because (for all the embarrassment of having to admit all this) I find it valuable.
Showing posts with label rant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rant. Show all posts
Friday, June 11, 2010
Monday, December 21, 2009
Friday and the Very Bad Car Day
For some reason I thought I had posted about this, but I obviously didn't. Sleep deprivation will do that to you, I guess.
We've been having problems on and off with the car, often at night or when it's very cold. You insert the key in the ignition and...nothing. Maybe a click, maybe an attempt at turning over, maybe not. It didn't always happen after the car had been sitting for a long time. Sometimes you could be in the midst of a series of brief stops and the car could work fine repeatedly and then just not work. We figured it was one of 4 things:
1. a battery problem, including a dead cell
2. an alternator problem
3. the starter solenoid, or
4. an intermittent electrical system problem
We were trying to arrange to get it in somewhere to be looked at (and had actually booked an appointment for the middle of the day on Tuesday, which I just this second realized needs to be cancelled) but it died on us early Friday morning, parked on a major street a couple of blocks from home.
BCAA came and jumped it and my son-in-law got it home while I took everyone to work and school in the van instead. Then it stopped again at the house and couldn't be restarted. BCAA had to come back to take it to a shop to be worked on. The dealership that I'd made the appointment with was too far away but they took it to another place that was quite close. Interestingly, they didn't tow it but showed up with a flatbed truck and loaded it onto there.
The small shop it went to replaced the battery and some clamps that attach the battery to the car. It turns out that the battery was oozing sulphuric acid and the positive terminal was corroded through. The final bill was $238, less than a third of what it would have been for a new alternator. That's something to be thankful for at least.
Of course, all of this took most of the day and caused endless stress on the shortest Shabbos of the year. We did get it back before Shabbos, but we were cutting it pretty fine. I never got to Safeway since I didn't have a vehicle and that meant we were out of a couple of things we really needed. Milk, for instance.
I can hear someone saying, "But you drove the van". Well, yes. But my son-in-law needed that back when preschool let out at 11:30 am. That's when he took his 2 girls and drove them to Hope. His folks live up north and met him there because they're taking the girls for 10 days or so. So I didn't have a vehicle and my Hubby had to borrow the van from work to pick me up so we could play musical cars when the thing was finally ready.
In all of this mess Dear Child ended up not going to school for the last day before winter break, mostly because I had no way to know if I would be able to pick her up! However, I had to go to her school anyway in the morning because I had all the notes for all the teachers and all the gifts for them for Hanukkah/winter break and they had to be given to them that day. Then Dear Child hung out with her big sister, who had a dentist appointment at the mall while I worked and waited for the saga of the car to unfold.
It was a horrible day and I was very tempted to take the car and have it crushed into a large paperweight but I resisted the temptation and am now able to drive again. This makes over $2,800 in repairs these past few months, $2,000 a year ago and 3 pairs of rear tires (roughly $600) in the past 8 or 10 months (due to the bent axle). Actually, the final pair of tires (winter ones) are supposed to be bought tomorrow so we can put the other winter tires on too. Then we'll be able to drive to the house at some point during winter break. We hope.
We've been having problems on and off with the car, often at night or when it's very cold. You insert the key in the ignition and...nothing. Maybe a click, maybe an attempt at turning over, maybe not. It didn't always happen after the car had been sitting for a long time. Sometimes you could be in the midst of a series of brief stops and the car could work fine repeatedly and then just not work. We figured it was one of 4 things:
1. a battery problem, including a dead cell
2. an alternator problem
3. the starter solenoid, or
4. an intermittent electrical system problem
We were trying to arrange to get it in somewhere to be looked at (and had actually booked an appointment for the middle of the day on Tuesday, which I just this second realized needs to be cancelled) but it died on us early Friday morning, parked on a major street a couple of blocks from home.
BCAA came and jumped it and my son-in-law got it home while I took everyone to work and school in the van instead. Then it stopped again at the house and couldn't be restarted. BCAA had to come back to take it to a shop to be worked on. The dealership that I'd made the appointment with was too far away but they took it to another place that was quite close. Interestingly, they didn't tow it but showed up with a flatbed truck and loaded it onto there.
The small shop it went to replaced the battery and some clamps that attach the battery to the car. It turns out that the battery was oozing sulphuric acid and the positive terminal was corroded through. The final bill was $238, less than a third of what it would have been for a new alternator. That's something to be thankful for at least.
Of course, all of this took most of the day and caused endless stress on the shortest Shabbos of the year. We did get it back before Shabbos, but we were cutting it pretty fine. I never got to Safeway since I didn't have a vehicle and that meant we were out of a couple of things we really needed. Milk, for instance.
I can hear someone saying, "But you drove the van". Well, yes. But my son-in-law needed that back when preschool let out at 11:30 am. That's when he took his 2 girls and drove them to Hope. His folks live up north and met him there because they're taking the girls for 10 days or so. So I didn't have a vehicle and my Hubby had to borrow the van from work to pick me up so we could play musical cars when the thing was finally ready.
In all of this mess Dear Child ended up not going to school for the last day before winter break, mostly because I had no way to know if I would be able to pick her up! However, I had to go to her school anyway in the morning because I had all the notes for all the teachers and all the gifts for them for Hanukkah/winter break and they had to be given to them that day. Then Dear Child hung out with her big sister, who had a dentist appointment at the mall while I worked and waited for the saga of the car to unfold.
It was a horrible day and I was very tempted to take the car and have it crushed into a large paperweight but I resisted the temptation and am now able to drive again. This makes over $2,800 in repairs these past few months, $2,000 a year ago and 3 pairs of rear tires (roughly $600) in the past 8 or 10 months (due to the bent axle). Actually, the final pair of tires (winter ones) are supposed to be bought tomorrow so we can put the other winter tires on too. Then we'll be able to drive to the house at some point during winter break. We hope.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Debit Card Woes
My debit card was skimmed the other day and the credit union called me to tell me they were mailing me a new card. If I needed one faster I could go in to my branch for a temporary one. Friday was such a short day that I didn't have time to go in and they were closed for the remainder of the weekend by the time Shabbos was over.
This kind of messed me up in a couple of ways. First, I was supposed to transfer some money from that credit union to the one in the Interior that I pay bills for the house out of. No card, no way to withdraw cash (and I wanted cash rather than a cheque because I think the hold comes off faster for cash than a cheque). Second, I couldn't get any groceries, even essential ones without a card.
Anyway, I went in today. They gave me a new card, a copy of my statement for the past month (no money missing, Thank G-d), I withdrew money from my city credit union, deposited cash and a small cheque (really small, like about $13) into the rural credit union, then went to the grocery store on my way home from work. I only bought the bare necessities: a protein drink, sour cream, a minestrone soup mix, a box of 6 year old approved cereal, a bag of chips and a bag of cookies (the last two for use in Dear Child's lunches this week).
We had latkes with sour cream for dinner and tomorrow will be minestrone soup. I'm falling asleep at the keyboard, so that's all for now.
This kind of messed me up in a couple of ways. First, I was supposed to transfer some money from that credit union to the one in the Interior that I pay bills for the house out of. No card, no way to withdraw cash (and I wanted cash rather than a cheque because I think the hold comes off faster for cash than a cheque). Second, I couldn't get any groceries, even essential ones without a card.
Anyway, I went in today. They gave me a new card, a copy of my statement for the past month (no money missing, Thank G-d), I withdrew money from my city credit union, deposited cash and a small cheque (really small, like about $13) into the rural credit union, then went to the grocery store on my way home from work. I only bought the bare necessities: a protein drink, sour cream, a minestrone soup mix, a box of 6 year old approved cereal, a bag of chips and a bag of cookies (the last two for use in Dear Child's lunches this week).
We had latkes with sour cream for dinner and tomorrow will be minestrone soup. I'm falling asleep at the keyboard, so that's all for now.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Still Trying to Fix the Blog Feed!
So far, I've asked for help from Google and haven't heard anything useful. The only response was from someone else who is having a similar problem and also wants to contact someone at Google but couldn't figure out how!
I tried deleting the feedburner feed and redoing it, then deleting my subscription at Google Reader and resubscribing. It showed me the same thing as before and said that I hadn't yet subscribed, did I want to? I clicked on "List" (which shows the list of posts instead of the posts themselves) and FINALLY my 2 latest posts appeared at the top and showed as unread. However, I have no clue how to get rid of those 25 or 30 posts that aren't mine and no way to be sure that more of those fake posts won't appear!
In other words, I still need help! I can't just contact the person whose blog is attached to mine because when you try to open it you see a home page for a few seconds then get redirected to something called blogpop that says the domain name expired back in October. Yet all those spammy posts were from as recently as November 15th. I'm so confused and frustrated.
Sooner or later I'll actually get back to blogging about personal finance and my life. Depending on how crazy things are around here (my Eldest Daughter is out of town again for a week) it may not be until Wednesday, which will also be payday. I'm very grateful that this will be a normal cheque but I still probably have more things to pay than money! The biggest thing I'm worried about right now is the fuel oil situation at the house (and how I'll pay for it, of course). I was down to 7 or 8 inches of fuel in the tank the last time we were there and it's been pretty cold at night ever since. Even though the heat there is set at 10 Celsius (and I shrinkwrapped the drafty window) I know the heat has been on a lot.
I tried deleting the feedburner feed and redoing it, then deleting my subscription at Google Reader and resubscribing. It showed me the same thing as before and said that I hadn't yet subscribed, did I want to? I clicked on "List" (which shows the list of posts instead of the posts themselves) and FINALLY my 2 latest posts appeared at the top and showed as unread. However, I have no clue how to get rid of those 25 or 30 posts that aren't mine and no way to be sure that more of those fake posts won't appear!
In other words, I still need help! I can't just contact the person whose blog is attached to mine because when you try to open it you see a home page for a few seconds then get redirected to something called blogpop that says the domain name expired back in October. Yet all those spammy posts were from as recently as November 15th. I'm so confused and frustrated.
Sooner or later I'll actually get back to blogging about personal finance and my life. Depending on how crazy things are around here (my Eldest Daughter is out of town again for a week) it may not be until Wednesday, which will also be payday. I'm very grateful that this will be a normal cheque but I still probably have more things to pay than money! The biggest thing I'm worried about right now is the fuel oil situation at the house (and how I'll pay for it, of course). I was down to 7 or 8 inches of fuel in the tank the last time we were there and it's been pretty cold at night ever since. Even though the heat there is set at 10 Celsius (and I shrinkwrapped the drafty window) I know the heat has been on a lot.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Help!
Okay, I'm having some trouble with my blog, specifically with the feed. I set it up through Feedburner about a year ago and I think it's been wonky since then although I didn't realize it for quite some time. People have complained that they couldn't see any more recent posts than what must have been the last one I did before I set up Feedburner. I had noticed that when I commented on sites that have Comment Luv enabled it always pointed to that same old post.
Finally I spent a bunch of time playing around with it last night and it looked as though I had it working. It was a pretty basic error. I wasn't pointing it at the right URL, which was supposed to be the one Feedburner specified. I fixed that and it looked fine. Better still, all my posts appeared in Google Reader. I went to bed happy.
Sigh. Then today I tried to comment on a post made by someone who uses Comment Luv. It pulled up a post okay, but it wasn't my post! It refers back to a blog called Beckhans Blog and worse, when I clicked on the link it redirected me from there to something that I think was called Blogpop. It all looked really spammy and I couldn't figure out what was going on. Now, a reader has informed me that this (bleep) is showing up in Google Reader along with all my missing posts. I checked and, yes it is. It's what shows up first and, if you scroll past it all, you finally get to my stuff.
I'm definitely in over my head here. I don't know what's wrong and I'm looking for advice from my fellow bloggers. Has my feed been hacked somehow? Did I set it up wrong? How can I get rid of this junk so it doesn't appear with either Google Reader or Comment Luv? At least the spammy posts don't appear when I just open my blog directly! But I'm really, really frustrated and I can't seem to find an answer.
Hence, my cry for help.
Finally I spent a bunch of time playing around with it last night and it looked as though I had it working. It was a pretty basic error. I wasn't pointing it at the right URL, which was supposed to be the one Feedburner specified. I fixed that and it looked fine. Better still, all my posts appeared in Google Reader. I went to bed happy.
Sigh. Then today I tried to comment on a post made by someone who uses Comment Luv. It pulled up a post okay, but it wasn't my post! It refers back to a blog called Beckhans Blog and worse, when I clicked on the link it redirected me from there to something that I think was called Blogpop. It all looked really spammy and I couldn't figure out what was going on. Now, a reader has informed me that this (bleep) is showing up in Google Reader along with all my missing posts. I checked and, yes it is. It's what shows up first and, if you scroll past it all, you finally get to my stuff.
I'm definitely in over my head here. I don't know what's wrong and I'm looking for advice from my fellow bloggers. Has my feed been hacked somehow? Did I set it up wrong? How can I get rid of this junk so it doesn't appear with either Google Reader or Comment Luv? At least the spammy posts don't appear when I just open my blog directly! But I'm really, really frustrated and I can't seem to find an answer.
Hence, my cry for help.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Really?
Well, I have to say I was surprised to read this excerpt from an email ING sent me on Friday.
"We recently conducted a Twitter survey asking parents what they were least prepared to discuss with their children: sex, drugs, or finances. We heard it straight from Savers – ‘finances' was the hardest to cover with their little ones."
Really? People would rather talk to their kids about sex or drugs than talk about money? I mean, it's just money. You have to deal with money all the time, every day. If you're going to work you're earning money. If it's payday you have money. If you're going to the grocery store you're spending money. Kids see you doing this stuff all the time, constantly interacting with money. They're there with you when you're at the ATM or when you swipe your debit card at the gas station. They see you write the cheque for their school pictures. Presumably they don't see you in intimate situations or see you turning down people on Granville Street offering to sell you drugs (please G-d)!
So, how can it be easier to talk to your kids about sex? They don't want to have to entertain the possibility that this is something you've ever done (well, except that once in order to have them, and once for each of their siblings). And, as for drugs, well whatever they've read on the Internet must be more accurate than what their folks know about drugs, right?
But money is something they know you handle every day. How terrifying can it be to say "Well, let's look through the Scholastic flier and pick out some books. I can afford $10 this time. Do you want the Dora book and the book about ladybugs, or do you want the princess book with the beads you can make bracelets with? No, you have to choose because the princess one costs $9.99 all by itself."?
Or how about, "I wish we could go to Disneyland, but we don't have the money. If that's what we all want to do this summer maybe we could start saving for it now, but that might mean we can't pay for swimming lessons this spring."?
Or even, "I know you want a lot of things for the holidays but why don't you make a list of the things you want the most and I'll let your grandparents and Aunty Sue know too. Just remember, you won't necessarily get all of the things on the list because we only have so much money to spend."?
I mean, how scary was that? How tough is it to ask your teenager if the benefits at their first job include a pension fund and to suggest that they open an RRSP?
This is almost like the people who say they're most afraid of public speaking, more so than of fire or jumping off a cliff. Sorry. My mind's just boggling right now.
"We recently conducted a Twitter survey asking parents what they were least prepared to discuss with their children: sex, drugs, or finances. We heard it straight from Savers – ‘finances' was the hardest to cover with their little ones."
Really? People would rather talk to their kids about sex or drugs than talk about money? I mean, it's just money. You have to deal with money all the time, every day. If you're going to work you're earning money. If it's payday you have money. If you're going to the grocery store you're spending money. Kids see you doing this stuff all the time, constantly interacting with money. They're there with you when you're at the ATM or when you swipe your debit card at the gas station. They see you write the cheque for their school pictures. Presumably they don't see you in intimate situations or see you turning down people on Granville Street offering to sell you drugs (please G-d)!
So, how can it be easier to talk to your kids about sex? They don't want to have to entertain the possibility that this is something you've ever done (well, except that once in order to have them, and once for each of their siblings). And, as for drugs, well whatever they've read on the Internet must be more accurate than what their folks know about drugs, right?
But money is something they know you handle every day. How terrifying can it be to say "Well, let's look through the Scholastic flier and pick out some books. I can afford $10 this time. Do you want the Dora book and the book about ladybugs, or do you want the princess book with the beads you can make bracelets with? No, you have to choose because the princess one costs $9.99 all by itself."?
Or how about, "I wish we could go to Disneyland, but we don't have the money. If that's what we all want to do this summer maybe we could start saving for it now, but that might mean we can't pay for swimming lessons this spring."?
Or even, "I know you want a lot of things for the holidays but why don't you make a list of the things you want the most and I'll let your grandparents and Aunty Sue know too. Just remember, you won't necessarily get all of the things on the list because we only have so much money to spend."?
I mean, how scary was that? How tough is it to ask your teenager if the benefits at their first job include a pension fund and to suggest that they open an RRSP?
This is almost like the people who say they're most afraid of public speaking, more so than of fire or jumping off a cliff. Sorry. My mind's just boggling right now.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
It's Been A While
It's been a while and I really don't have a good excuse. The weather has been hot, I was away for the August long weekend, I haven't been sleeping well and I've been reading compulsively but not blogging, or even commenting very much.
And I don't really feel up to doing any kind of an update right now. I'm tired and I have 4 girls all day tomorrow, now that camp is finished. I'm just feeling kind of unmotivated and rebellious but I wanted everybody (the handful of folks who possibly haven't given up on me yet) to know that I am still around. In a way I feel like I really need a vacation.
I just can't afford to go away and I have responsibilities too, both family ones and work. But I'm feeling very flat and being away last weekend wasn't enough. For one thing, I had both Dear Child and my 4 year old granddaughter. Plus, I had to come home just about the time I felt like I was accomplishing anything.
I'm looking forward to going again (not sure which weekend though) because I want to put together the bookshelf I bought at IKEA and took there. Then I want to go through a couple of the boxes of memorabilia there and put out stuff on display on the shelves. I think that will feel nice. But what I'd really like is some alone time and I know that's not going to happen because, wherever I go, I'll have DC with me at the very least.
Anyway, my apologies for being in such a grumpy mood.
And I don't really feel up to doing any kind of an update right now. I'm tired and I have 4 girls all day tomorrow, now that camp is finished. I'm just feeling kind of unmotivated and rebellious but I wanted everybody (the handful of folks who possibly haven't given up on me yet) to know that I am still around. In a way I feel like I really need a vacation.
I just can't afford to go away and I have responsibilities too, both family ones and work. But I'm feeling very flat and being away last weekend wasn't enough. For one thing, I had both Dear Child and my 4 year old granddaughter. Plus, I had to come home just about the time I felt like I was accomplishing anything.
I'm looking forward to going again (not sure which weekend though) because I want to put together the bookshelf I bought at IKEA and took there. Then I want to go through a couple of the boxes of memorabilia there and put out stuff on display on the shelves. I think that will feel nice. But what I'd really like is some alone time and I know that's not going to happen because, wherever I go, I'll have DC with me at the very least.
Anyway, my apologies for being in such a grumpy mood.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Another One Bites the Dust
And Blogger lets me in for the first time in days on Internet Explorer, proving yet again that it's totally unpredictable.
I'm very frustrated by something else at the moment. We've been trying very hard to find an appropriate piece of land for a price that we can afford. (Yes, that rules out those million dollar properties, darn it.) The property I looked at just after Canada Day really had a lot of potential and I've been looking into several aspects of it. I just got 2 batches of information and was pursuing something else when I discovered that the property has been sold!
I'm just so tired of this happening every time I find something and start doing all the grunt work. Am I asking for so much? Now I'm back to square one, looking for more possibilities, but I'm just feeling really discouraged.
I'm very frustrated by something else at the moment. We've been trying very hard to find an appropriate piece of land for a price that we can afford. (Yes, that rules out those million dollar properties, darn it.) The property I looked at just after Canada Day really had a lot of potential and I've been looking into several aspects of it. I just got 2 batches of information and was pursuing something else when I discovered that the property has been sold!
I'm just so tired of this happening every time I find something and start doing all the grunt work. Am I asking for so much? Now I'm back to square one, looking for more possibilities, but I'm just feeling really discouraged.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Belated Blog Anniversary and Catch Up Time
Okay, my current working theory is that Blogger is sentient and has a really twisted sense of humor (a la "Mike" in Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress)!
I finally went to the Blogger help forums and posted about the problem I've been having getting into Blogger for the past couple of weeks and read about a couple of similar problems others have had. Before posting my help question I spent at least 10 minutes trying to access the text box and had no luck. I came back here after posting my query in order to try a couple of things that were suggested to other people and, hey presto, I can type! Whatever. I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. If it acts up again I'll try the suggestions at that point, although my gut feeling is that they may be pure chance. After all, I've done various things in the past that I initially thought "fixed" the problem. It's just that no one thing works all the time.
Anyway, this whole mess meant that I missed my very own first blog anniversary!
I've also been a little less pushy about resolving the problem than I would have been otherwise because Real Life has been very intense during this period. I've had my annual big event (a fundraising dinner for about 350 people) and 2 people I'm connected to have died from cancer within about a week of each other. Both were women who died in midlife, one in her 40s, the other in her late 50s. One was the adult daughter of a friend of mine who left teenage kids. The other was a longtime single parent and grandparent who was a close friend of mine since the time when we were both single mothers raising our teens.
I'm really hoping Blogger will co-operate and I'll be able to continue posting in the future. I definitely appreciate Kelly's offer to help me get going on Wordpress but I'm going to try to stick this out for a while longer before I make the decision to have to go through the learning curve entailed in switching over. I have a lot of feelings rolling around inside right now and I just want to be able to come on here and write a post without adding to the drama in my life.
On a financial note, I've been working hard to get current once again on all my bills (post Passover) and, while I'm not there yet, I've made a fair bit of progress. I also spent some time the other evening setting up bill payments on my new bank account and shut down the automatic weekly transfer from my old chequing account to ING. I'll start it up again from my new account after my next payday. We're still waiting for my Hubby's income tax refund and I still need to find my RRSP information slips in order to be able to send my taxes in. If I don't find them soon, I'll have to ask for copies.
Oh, yes. Last but definitely not least, I haven't heard from the doctor about my various test results. Now that the dinner is over I want to call for an appointment.
Here's hoping I can post again soon!
I finally went to the Blogger help forums and posted about the problem I've been having getting into Blogger for the past couple of weeks and read about a couple of similar problems others have had. Before posting my help question I spent at least 10 minutes trying to access the text box and had no luck. I came back here after posting my query in order to try a couple of things that were suggested to other people and, hey presto, I can type! Whatever. I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. If it acts up again I'll try the suggestions at that point, although my gut feeling is that they may be pure chance. After all, I've done various things in the past that I initially thought "fixed" the problem. It's just that no one thing works all the time.
Anyway, this whole mess meant that I missed my very own first blog anniversary!
I've also been a little less pushy about resolving the problem than I would have been otherwise because Real Life has been very intense during this period. I've had my annual big event (a fundraising dinner for about 350 people) and 2 people I'm connected to have died from cancer within about a week of each other. Both were women who died in midlife, one in her 40s, the other in her late 50s. One was the adult daughter of a friend of mine who left teenage kids. The other was a longtime single parent and grandparent who was a close friend of mine since the time when we were both single mothers raising our teens.
I'm really hoping Blogger will co-operate and I'll be able to continue posting in the future. I definitely appreciate Kelly's offer to help me get going on Wordpress but I'm going to try to stick this out for a while longer before I make the decision to have to go through the learning curve entailed in switching over. I have a lot of feelings rolling around inside right now and I just want to be able to come on here and write a post without adding to the drama in my life.
On a financial note, I've been working hard to get current once again on all my bills (post Passover) and, while I'm not there yet, I've made a fair bit of progress. I also spent some time the other evening setting up bill payments on my new bank account and shut down the automatic weekly transfer from my old chequing account to ING. I'll start it up again from my new account after my next payday. We're still waiting for my Hubby's income tax refund and I still need to find my RRSP information slips in order to be able to send my taxes in. If I don't find them soon, I'll have to ask for copies.
Oh, yes. Last but definitely not least, I haven't heard from the doctor about my various test results. Now that the dinner is over I want to call for an appointment.
Here's hoping I can post again soon!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Not So Great
There are a lot of things right now that don't seem to be so great. Being sick. Being busy at work. Getting shorted on my cheque (and no, I don't have the cheque I was promised yet). Having more bills than money to pay them with . Having constant problems with Blogger (can't get into a new post without at least 10 minutes worth of fiddling around, trying this and that, and now having everything I typed disappear only to reappear when I typed the word "Blogger" although the word itself disappeared and who knows what the post will look like when I hit the "Publish Post" button).
Yes, I'm ranting. Just a little. I'm still behind on my cleaning. I don't have the money to buy some of the things we want for Pesach now and if I don't get them quickly they'll be gone. It's the day after payday and I believe I'm already in overdraft. (What am I, Israeli?)
Sometimes it's hard to stay focused on the fact that everything is being supervised from Above and that I just have to keep trying my best and not be so attached to the desired outcome. But it's hard sometimes. Everybody else has gone to sleep early. I think I'm going to go to bed too and see if some extra sleep will help.
Yes, I'm ranting. Just a little. I'm still behind on my cleaning. I don't have the money to buy some of the things we want for Pesach now and if I don't get them quickly they'll be gone. It's the day after payday and I believe I'm already in overdraft. (What am I, Israeli?)
Sometimes it's hard to stay focused on the fact that everything is being supervised from Above and that I just have to keep trying my best and not be so attached to the desired outcome. But it's hard sometimes. Everybody else has gone to sleep early. I think I'm going to go to bed too and see if some extra sleep will help.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
I'm Getting Sick
I'm all stuffed up and have chills and body aches. This really sucks. I have so much to do and I'm not getting much of anything done while I huddle under the covers, trying to get warm.
I really hope I feel better tomorrow. It's payday and I have several bills to pay. Unfortunately, it's also Wednesday and I'm supposed to be finished Dear Child's room and moving on to my bedroom! That is so not the case. I mean, I can start working on the master bedroom but there is no way DC's room could be considered done.
I'm just going to bed.
I really hope I feel better tomorrow. It's payday and I have several bills to pay. Unfortunately, it's also Wednesday and I'm supposed to be finished Dear Child's room and moving on to my bedroom! That is so not the case. I mean, I can start working on the master bedroom but there is no way DC's room could be considered done.
I'm just going to bed.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Still Having Posting Issues and I'm FRUSTRATED
Okay, every day it seems to get more and more difficult to get in here to write a post. I don't have time to spend a half hour just trying to get into a new post. Even the trick I used last time wasn't working and I've signed in and out several times. This time I got here eventually using "Edit Posts" on the dashboard.
I know Dolly has been having problems too but is it just us or is anybody else on Blogger having a hard time?
Anyway, I wanted to post an update about my bathroom renovation and my progress (or lack thereof) in getting ready for Passover.
The bathroom is definitely "in progress". I have a new tub and surround. The faucet for the tub is in but not the showerhead or the tap that controls the water and the silicone seal around the tub still needs to be done. The vanity is out and primed (except for the doors and drawers). Once it's painted the new ceramic top and fixtures can be attached and it can go back into the room. The drywall is done, mudded and sanded 3 times and is now ready to be primed. The light fixture is out and there's a worklight plugged into the GFI plug. There is a fine layer of drywall dust over everything. The old toilet is still in and the floor needs to be done once that comes out.
My son-in-law's dad goes back home tomorrow and won't be back for 2 or 3 weeks as I understand it. I guess we'll see how much we can get through without him. Washing in the kitchen sink and using the mirror over the fireplace is a hassle and I really don't want to be doing it from now until Pesach. I need a full day to lay floor tile though, so that probably won't happen until next Sunday at the earliest. Besides, I want the room fully painted first so I don't have to kill the first person who drips paint all over the new floor tiles!
I'm still way behind on the Passover cleaning and having the reno incomplete means I'm even further behind. Sigh. Tomorrow is the Fast of Esther, followed by Purim tomorrow night and all day Tuesday. I'll be really busy until it's over but then I really have to get it in gear or I'll be pulling the dreaded all-nighters before the end!
Pesach food is starting to appear in the stores and I've bought a couple of things, knowing that they wouldn't be around if I wait. I still have to order the special matzo that we use though and all our dairy products. And the meat. And figure out how to get wine this year. It used to be much easier but the BC Liquor Control Board is a giant pain and has made our lives much more difficult for the past year or so. I bought stuff from their very limited selection last year and it really wasn't good for drinking at the seder when you're having 4 cups each within a period of a couple of hours. Plus it's incredibly expensive and I need about a case. At $19 to $25 per bottle, that's painful. I used to be able to get exactly what I needed for about half the price or a little less.
But that's a whole other rant and one I probably shouldn't start at all, since I'm eventually going to want to be on their good side in order to get my longed-for winery up and running at some point a few years from now. There are enough hoops to jump through in the licensing process (and a whole other set of hoops for kosher certification) that I don't need to borrow trouble.
This is just a busy, busy time of the year and probably wasn't the best time to do the bathroom but I've been waiting a long time for this and this was when the guys were available to do it. Of course, if this wasn't the day of the Purim Carnival at the JCC and the big birthday party for my granddaughters we might have actually gotten a bunch of work done today. As we say in Hebrew, gam zu le tova [this too will be for the good].
The party was fun and wasn't nearly as hectic as some I've been to recently, although I was baking cupcakes for the party about an hour before it started. I think the girls all had a good time and my oldest granddaughter (now 6, just like Dear Child) got to stay for a bit extra while her folks went to look at apartments (to rent, not buy). They have to move in the next month or so and are having a hard time finding anything decent that works for her school, their work and will take both a child and a cat. Oh, and doesn't cost a couple of thousand dollars per month. Gotta love that Vancouver housing market.
Happy Purim everybody! I'll be back as long as Blogger lets me in!
I know Dolly has been having problems too but is it just us or is anybody else on Blogger having a hard time?
Anyway, I wanted to post an update about my bathroom renovation and my progress (or lack thereof) in getting ready for Passover.
The bathroom is definitely "in progress". I have a new tub and surround. The faucet for the tub is in but not the showerhead or the tap that controls the water and the silicone seal around the tub still needs to be done. The vanity is out and primed (except for the doors and drawers). Once it's painted the new ceramic top and fixtures can be attached and it can go back into the room. The drywall is done, mudded and sanded 3 times and is now ready to be primed. The light fixture is out and there's a worklight plugged into the GFI plug. There is a fine layer of drywall dust over everything. The old toilet is still in and the floor needs to be done once that comes out.
My son-in-law's dad goes back home tomorrow and won't be back for 2 or 3 weeks as I understand it. I guess we'll see how much we can get through without him. Washing in the kitchen sink and using the mirror over the fireplace is a hassle and I really don't want to be doing it from now until Pesach. I need a full day to lay floor tile though, so that probably won't happen until next Sunday at the earliest. Besides, I want the room fully painted first so I don't have to kill the first person who drips paint all over the new floor tiles!
I'm still way behind on the Passover cleaning and having the reno incomplete means I'm even further behind. Sigh. Tomorrow is the Fast of Esther, followed by Purim tomorrow night and all day Tuesday. I'll be really busy until it's over but then I really have to get it in gear or I'll be pulling the dreaded all-nighters before the end!
Pesach food is starting to appear in the stores and I've bought a couple of things, knowing that they wouldn't be around if I wait. I still have to order the special matzo that we use though and all our dairy products. And the meat. And figure out how to get wine this year. It used to be much easier but the BC Liquor Control Board is a giant pain and has made our lives much more difficult for the past year or so. I bought stuff from their very limited selection last year and it really wasn't good for drinking at the seder when you're having 4 cups each within a period of a couple of hours. Plus it's incredibly expensive and I need about a case. At $19 to $25 per bottle, that's painful. I used to be able to get exactly what I needed for about half the price or a little less.
But that's a whole other rant and one I probably shouldn't start at all, since I'm eventually going to want to be on their good side in order to get my longed-for winery up and running at some point a few years from now. There are enough hoops to jump through in the licensing process (and a whole other set of hoops for kosher certification) that I don't need to borrow trouble.
This is just a busy, busy time of the year and probably wasn't the best time to do the bathroom but I've been waiting a long time for this and this was when the guys were available to do it. Of course, if this wasn't the day of the Purim Carnival at the JCC and the big birthday party for my granddaughters we might have actually gotten a bunch of work done today. As we say in Hebrew, gam zu le tova [this too will be for the good].
The party was fun and wasn't nearly as hectic as some I've been to recently, although I was baking cupcakes for the party about an hour before it started. I think the girls all had a good time and my oldest granddaughter (now 6, just like Dear Child) got to stay for a bit extra while her folks went to look at apartments (to rent, not buy). They have to move in the next month or so and are having a hard time finding anything decent that works for her school, their work and will take both a child and a cat. Oh, and doesn't cost a couple of thousand dollars per month. Gotta love that Vancouver housing market.
Happy Purim everybody! I'll be back as long as Blogger lets me in!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Problems Posting
For the past couple of days I've been having problems with Blogger. I get the blank form for a new post but can only write a title and labels, no content because the cursor won't go there! Usually logging out and back in seems to fix the problem but it didn't work tonight. I ended up posting an empty post with the title (above) and labeled "rant". Then I viewed my blog and clicked on the pencil at the bottom of the post to edit it and here I am!
Anyway, today I did a bit of this and a bit of that. I worked until my granddaughter finished preschool at 11:30 am, then came home. But I didn't really have the girls today so I did some laundry, shredded some more paper and emptied the bathroom before I went to pick up Dear Child. Part of the ceiling is down now but the real work starts tomorrow.
I went back to the office for a couple of hours this evening and now I'm hoping to go to sleep.
Anyway, today I did a bit of this and a bit of that. I worked until my granddaughter finished preschool at 11:30 am, then came home. But I didn't really have the girls today so I did some laundry, shredded some more paper and emptied the bathroom before I went to pick up Dear Child. Part of the ceiling is down now but the real work starts tomorrow.
I went back to the office for a couple of hours this evening and now I'm hoping to go to sleep.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Stupid Tax
No, I'm not talking about doing my income taxes (although I should get cracking on that fairly soon). I've been charged another round of "Stupidity Tax". I realized that I didn't have enough money to pay both the overdue portion of my cell bill and half of the amount I intended to pay on my MasterCard.
There were clever things I could have done. I could have paid half towards each bill. I could have paid the amount I intended on my cell and then just put $15 or so on the credit card. I could have paid the credit card and left the cell bill for a week or so. But I didn't. I stuck my head in the sand and, as a direct result, went overlimit on my credit card for the first time ever.
So, how much is the tax on stupidity this week? $29. I went overlimit by $12.84 and incurred a charge of $29. If I had paid $15 on the card I wouldn't have gone over! Adding insult to injury, I didn't go over because I bought something. I haven't used the card since I put the fuel oil on it in December and I paid it down by the amount I was charging beforehand. No, this was all purely interest. Because, you know, I have so much extra money that I don't know what to do with it all, so I like to give the nice people at MasterCard at least $90 per month. (Excuse me while I wipe off the excess sarcasm that oozed out all over the computer.)
So, do you know what my minimum payment is this month? $41.84. That is the exact amount by which I'm overlimit. So, if I just blindly paid the minimum payment what would happen? I'd get charged another $90 or so in interest, I'd go overlimit again and they could charge me another $29! That means I need to pay at least $150 before the due date of March 12th in order to be sure that I'm not going to go over again.
There were clever things I could have done. I could have paid half towards each bill. I could have paid the amount I intended on my cell and then just put $15 or so on the credit card. I could have paid the credit card and left the cell bill for a week or so. But I didn't. I stuck my head in the sand and, as a direct result, went overlimit on my credit card for the first time ever.
So, how much is the tax on stupidity this week? $29. I went overlimit by $12.84 and incurred a charge of $29. If I had paid $15 on the card I wouldn't have gone over! Adding insult to injury, I didn't go over because I bought something. I haven't used the card since I put the fuel oil on it in December and I paid it down by the amount I was charging beforehand. No, this was all purely interest. Because, you know, I have so much extra money that I don't know what to do with it all, so I like to give the nice people at MasterCard at least $90 per month. (Excuse me while I wipe off the excess sarcasm that oozed out all over the computer.)
So, do you know what my minimum payment is this month? $41.84. That is the exact amount by which I'm overlimit. So, if I just blindly paid the minimum payment what would happen? I'd get charged another $90 or so in interest, I'd go overlimit again and they could charge me another $29! That means I need to pay at least $150 before the due date of March 12th in order to be sure that I'm not going to go over again.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Singing a Different Tune Today
Yesterday I expressed satisfaction about the things I'd managed to accomplish. Today, not so much. I worked all day and that's probably about as much satisfaction as I'm going to get. My hours are still pretty hefty so I'll probably have another good cheque mid-month.
But I didn't finish the work I needed to get done today. There's only tomorrow left to complete it and I cannot stay past quarter to two (because school lets out at 2 pm on Fridays). There's still quite a bit to do. I'm not sure how that's going to turn out and I'm a little apprehensive.
When I left work and picked up Dear Child today we went straight home. Normally I go to the kosher deli on Thursday afternoon and try to get all the things I need for Shabbos dinner. That way, if they don't have something, I at least have the possibility of coming back on Friday to get it. When I put off shopping until after 2 pm on Friday on a day when Shabbos comes in before 5 pm I'm in big trouble if I'm missing something essential.
This evening I accomplished nothing beyond eating dinner, if one can call that an accomplishment. Getting a load of laundry done would have been nice. There's certainly no time to do laundry tomorrow. But my brains seem to have turned to mush. I didn't even think about it until I started getting changed for bed.
I'm far too distracted to cope with entering the past couple of days worth of spending and Hubby told me he tried to update his passbook at the ATM and it got eaten. I've had that happen before but I'm nothing if not tenacious. I got my book out again. How? Needle nose pliers. I reached into that little slot, got ahold of a corner and just kept tugging until it coughed it up.
But Hubby just gave up. So now he has to go into the branch and ask for a printout because once they open up the machine any books or cards just get shredded apparently.
As a result of all the above, I'm not singing quite the same tune today as yesterday. And, speaking of singing, I'm frustrated because I have a Billy Joel song stuck in my head and I can't get it out!
You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for
Turn out the light
Don't try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right
But I didn't finish the work I needed to get done today. There's only tomorrow left to complete it and I cannot stay past quarter to two (because school lets out at 2 pm on Fridays). There's still quite a bit to do. I'm not sure how that's going to turn out and I'm a little apprehensive.
When I left work and picked up Dear Child today we went straight home. Normally I go to the kosher deli on Thursday afternoon and try to get all the things I need for Shabbos dinner. That way, if they don't have something, I at least have the possibility of coming back on Friday to get it. When I put off shopping until after 2 pm on Friday on a day when Shabbos comes in before 5 pm I'm in big trouble if I'm missing something essential.
This evening I accomplished nothing beyond eating dinner, if one can call that an accomplishment. Getting a load of laundry done would have been nice. There's certainly no time to do laundry tomorrow. But my brains seem to have turned to mush. I didn't even think about it until I started getting changed for bed.
I'm far too distracted to cope with entering the past couple of days worth of spending and Hubby told me he tried to update his passbook at the ATM and it got eaten. I've had that happen before but I'm nothing if not tenacious. I got my book out again. How? Needle nose pliers. I reached into that little slot, got ahold of a corner and just kept tugging until it coughed it up.
But Hubby just gave up. So now he has to go into the branch and ask for a printout because once they open up the machine any books or cards just get shredded apparently.
As a result of all the above, I'm not singing quite the same tune today as yesterday. And, speaking of singing, I'm frustrated because I have a Billy Joel song stuck in my head and I can't get it out!
You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for
Turn out the light
Don't try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right
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