Slippery Tuesday
Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024 11:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudio |
34F and drizzly this morning.
Things are still icy in spots out there... and wet in others.
The snow is mushy, but it's not melting.
I'm thinking I should shovel and salt a bit out there.
The shovel didn't do much.
That base layer of ice is still a solid inch thick... but you can see the bricks beneath it...
I salted the brick walk and the steps, because I'm tired of seeing them buried in show on the security cam view from work.
But I figured there's no point wasting the rest of the salt when everything will melt over the next couple days.
I then put a box together, and went around and put all the Christmas stuff into it, before putting it away in the music room.
We still have the lights out on the bushes but... the wreath, tree, etc have been retired for the year.
And I put up the valentine door hangings...
I keep the lights going for as long as there's snow around.
In my mind, that's the ture purpose of colored lights outside... to look pretty in the snow, and make winter feel a little more magical.
And around here we never get snow until after New Year.
So when I put out the Valentine hangings, it's my way of telling the world that the lights are now Valentine lights.
I wish I could switch them out with pink and white lights.
In my perfect world, I'd have lights that just changed from orange, to multi-color, to pink & white, from October, through February... but the tech's not there yet.
I feel like, culturally, we're not doing enough with Valentine's Day.
People always dismiss it as a holiday invented by Hallmark to sell cards, and a hokey holiday for horny young couples.
And it is that, but it did exist before Hallmark came along... and the rest of us, who aren't horny 20-somethings in relationships, I think, would still enjoy a good colorful holiday in the actual snowy part of winter.
I mean, who doesn't like hearts?.. and the color red?... and for that matter, the color pink?
But... it is what it is... and one old hermit in Aurora, Illinois isn't gonna change anything.
Okay, just got the garbage out.
Two week's worth in the bins, and still a huge struggle to get them through the wet snow out to the curb.
As for that earned income tax credit, I did make too much in 2023 to qualify.
At my current pay, I should make about 26 or 27K this year... which is not great, considering that ten years ago, I was clearing 32K, and that it went up from there.
So, increasing my income somehow needs to be part of this year's plan.
As for the loan situation... while I still haven't moved yet, I am certain that the first step needs to be de-stigmatizing that zombie HELOC.
At the very least, I have to get BMO to break it back into payments and remove the, "past due," status from it.
Once that hurdle is cleared, then I can try again to refinance my debt using the equity in the house.
Time is limited, because I only have so much credit to lean on, but at the moment I am suddenly getting more credit card offers so... that's a good sign, I guess.
I know I keep making excuses for not calling BMO.
Two weeks ago it was that it was too soon after the holidays and I needed to readjust to the normal schedule.
Last week it was that the crisis of the arctic blast required all my attention.
I mean, yes I am procrastinating... but... talking to banks is a big anxiety trigger for me, so I need to be perfectly centered and focused to deal with it.
This week may not be freakishly cold, but... I mean, it is difficult to even walk outside, with how slippery it is, and I am still getting rid of the garbage from last week.
But this week's still young.
With Christmas put away now, and if the walks clear up, I may be in the mood to get on the horn with BMO before the weekend.
Well, if you thought I was overreacting to the conditions outside... I arrived to an empty building today.
The district declared it an e-learning day... just as they had on the Friday of the slush storm, so the only people in the building were Bernice, and the office staff.
So it was a really easy night, but I did vacuum & mop two of the three stairwells as a favor to Bernice.
It got incredibly foggy just before sunset, and will stay that way over night.
I stopped to fill up the tank on the way back, and at home, the walk with Yvette was easier... not so much ice.
It was Snoop tonight, who we stumbled upon, on the other side of the block.
He joined us and we all walked back together.
So and easy tuesday at work... and now I'm gonna get back to working on the lyric videos for the YouTube channel tonight.
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