Garbage Night & Tax Returns
Tuesday, January 24th, 2023 11:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioJust finished filing my taxes on Turbo Tax, and between Federal and State combined, I'm gonna be getting $530.00! That's a pretty nice little chunk of change!
Today started out sunny, and relatively mild. I was downstairs by 11:05AM, which is an hour earlier than yesterday.
Tim was up by the time Yvette and I got back from the morning walk, and after we conferred over coffee for a bit, I left to run some errands.
First stop was the local Walgreens, a mile away, for cat & dog food, and cigarettes.
Then it was to Supermercado El Paso Grande, kitty corner to the Walgreens, for garbage bags and ten garbage stickers.
From El Paso Grande, it was a quick jaunt, three blocks down New York Street to the local gas station, to put five gallons in the tank.
Then another quick, three block jaunt to Randall Liquors for some beer.
The whole trip took only 25 minutes, and I was never more than a mile from home!
This is what I LOVE, about living in this old part of town!
------------{=0=}------------
Tim's big ambitions for the day were to deep clean Dad's room, and throw out as much garbage and junk from cabinets and drawers downstairs as possible... and he was already to work by the time I got back with the garbage stickers and beer.
I had almost two hours to go, before I had to leave for work, so I did help out a bit, clearing out a couple kitchen cabinets full of junk.
--<>--
My day at work went pretty smoothly. Caught a few breaks and managed to get done a few minutes before 7PM.
I got to thinking that now that Dad's gone, I don't have to do 3PM to 7PM anymore... and that I need to start clocking in at 3:30, and working until 7:30.
I'll get more done, because I won't have to wait half an hour for the kids to clear out.
But... that may be short lived, if I have to go full time right away, because in that case, I'll probably be relocated to a different school.
--<>--
Because I ran all my errands before work, I was able to drive straight home afterward, and was back before 7:30 tonight.
Tim had done a ton of cleaning while I was gone. He cleaned under and behind all the furniture left in Dad's room, cleared out the china cabinet, and filled eight garbage bags full of junk and old papers.
While I walked Yvette, he took all the garbage out to the parking, including the bins... two water-damaged little storage drawer units from the music room, and mom's old commode.
If you're counting... the two storage units, commode, and eight garbage bags comes to eleven items... not ten!
But by fortune, the girl at Supermercado El Paso Grande accidentally gave me eleven stickers instead of ten! So... it's all going away in the morning!
------------{=0=}------------
After the garbage was out, Tim fired up the oven and put in a food bowl for himself, and a pot pie for me... both of which took 50 minutes to bake.
We chatted, drank, and caught up with the other siblings via group text, before we ate.
And then after another little while, I went upstairs for the night, where I did my taxes, and then... started this blog entry.
------------{=0=}------------
We've barely put a dent in the amount of junk removal and cleaning that needs to get done downstairs.
We're gonna need a bunch of boxes, to sort out what stuff to keep, for posterity... what stuff to sell in a yard sale... what stuff to sell on ebay (mostly Dad's train stuff)... and what stuff to donate.
It won't all get done while Tim's here either. This is gonna take years! But... we may get the bulk of it sorted out... and a fuck ton more thrown away... before he goes back home in March.
--<>--
Though Yvette has become less of a problem these days... as she's getting on with the cats, and is adjusting to life after Dad... I still can't escape the conclusion that she's got to be put down at some point.
I'm willing to wait on it for as long as possible, but... once it's just me here, working full time... and tearing down plaster to replace it with drywall... it's hard to picture her not being upset with, and in the way of, the changes... all the time.
I hate to put down a perfectly functional dog, but... nobody wants her, and it would be cruel to send her back to a shelter.
I'm waiting, to give; God, Grace & Grampa time to present a supernatural solution. But so far... there's no indication one is coming.
--<>--
It's possible that if I can get the handyman business to be profitable, and perhaps if I can find another person to occupy the downstairs after Tim's gone... there'd be no problem with Yvette living out her natural life span.
But... these are the big questions of 2023!
This WHOLE YEAR is going to be about tranistioning from a Dad-centric household, to a household I can manage and maintain by myself!
------------{=0=}------------
However, I have determined that there's no point in deconstructing a single wall, until I get a breaker box installed down in the basement!
This entire house is still running with EIGHT circuits, coming through two little FUSE BOXES, and a majority of the wiring is still KNOB & TUBE from the 1920s!... or in other words, a CENTURY old, now!
Before anything serious can be done at all... I MUST have a modern, fifty to one hundred circuit breaker box!
That way, I can rewire each room, as I renovate each room.
I do have a $3000.00 line of credit for home repairs with Wells Fargo, that I think could cover the breaker box... but that line of credit has VERY predatory terms!
I know, because it was instantiated to pay for gutter cleaning and screening back in 2018!
It was paid off with my 401K money in early 2021, but... yeah!.. that is NOT a line of credit I want to be stuck paying just the minimum balance on!
So... it CAN be used to get the ball rolling with the breaker box, but... I DO need to have some substantial income... and maybe a nice hunk of change to frontload and bring the balance down.
Dad's life insurance could be helpful with that.
It's not gonna be much either, but... it could give me a grand to spend on the breaker box, and then... maybe the rest of the job only costs another grand?
That's the big priority anyway.
I'll be yammering on about the breaker box a lot this coming year, until it's installed.
------------{=0=}------------
They're calling for a few inches of snow overnight, and a little more during the day tomorrow, so... I may be shoveling in the morning. And I will definitely have to go out and get some salt for the walks!
Let's hope the snow doesn't delay the garbage pickup for an extra day!
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
Today started out sunny, and relatively mild. I was downstairs by 11:05AM, which is an hour earlier than yesterday.
Tim was up by the time Yvette and I got back from the morning walk, and after we conferred over coffee for a bit, I left to run some errands.
First stop was the local Walgreens, a mile away, for cat & dog food, and cigarettes.
Then it was to Supermercado El Paso Grande, kitty corner to the Walgreens, for garbage bags and ten garbage stickers.
From El Paso Grande, it was a quick jaunt, three blocks down New York Street to the local gas station, to put five gallons in the tank.
Then another quick, three block jaunt to Randall Liquors for some beer.
The whole trip took only 25 minutes, and I was never more than a mile from home!
This is what I LOVE, about living in this old part of town!
Tim's big ambitions for the day were to deep clean Dad's room, and throw out as much garbage and junk from cabinets and drawers downstairs as possible... and he was already to work by the time I got back with the garbage stickers and beer.
I had almost two hours to go, before I had to leave for work, so I did help out a bit, clearing out a couple kitchen cabinets full of junk.
My day at work went pretty smoothly. Caught a few breaks and managed to get done a few minutes before 7PM.
I got to thinking that now that Dad's gone, I don't have to do 3PM to 7PM anymore... and that I need to start clocking in at 3:30, and working until 7:30.
I'll get more done, because I won't have to wait half an hour for the kids to clear out.
But... that may be short lived, if I have to go full time right away, because in that case, I'll probably be relocated to a different school.
Because I ran all my errands before work, I was able to drive straight home afterward, and was back before 7:30 tonight.
Tim had done a ton of cleaning while I was gone. He cleaned under and behind all the furniture left in Dad's room, cleared out the china cabinet, and filled eight garbage bags full of junk and old papers.
While I walked Yvette, he took all the garbage out to the parking, including the bins... two water-damaged little storage drawer units from the music room, and mom's old commode.
If you're counting... the two storage units, commode, and eight garbage bags comes to eleven items... not ten!
But by fortune, the girl at Supermercado El Paso Grande accidentally gave me eleven stickers instead of ten! So... it's all going away in the morning!
After the garbage was out, Tim fired up the oven and put in a food bowl for himself, and a pot pie for me... both of which took 50 minutes to bake.
We chatted, drank, and caught up with the other siblings via group text, before we ate.
And then after another little while, I went upstairs for the night, where I did my taxes, and then... started this blog entry.
We've barely put a dent in the amount of junk removal and cleaning that needs to get done downstairs.
We're gonna need a bunch of boxes, to sort out what stuff to keep, for posterity... what stuff to sell in a yard sale... what stuff to sell on ebay (mostly Dad's train stuff)... and what stuff to donate.
It won't all get done while Tim's here either. This is gonna take years! But... we may get the bulk of it sorted out... and a fuck ton more thrown away... before he goes back home in March.
Though Yvette has become less of a problem these days... as she's getting on with the cats, and is adjusting to life after Dad... I still can't escape the conclusion that she's got to be put down at some point.
I'm willing to wait on it for as long as possible, but... once it's just me here, working full time... and tearing down plaster to replace it with drywall... it's hard to picture her not being upset with, and in the way of, the changes... all the time.
I hate to put down a perfectly functional dog, but... nobody wants her, and it would be cruel to send her back to a shelter.
I'm waiting, to give; God, Grace & Grampa time to present a supernatural solution. But so far... there's no indication one is coming.
It's possible that if I can get the handyman business to be profitable, and perhaps if I can find another person to occupy the downstairs after Tim's gone... there'd be no problem with Yvette living out her natural life span.
But... these are the big questions of 2023!
This WHOLE YEAR is going to be about tranistioning from a Dad-centric household, to a household I can manage and maintain by myself!
However, I have determined that there's no point in deconstructing a single wall, until I get a breaker box installed down in the basement!
This entire house is still running with EIGHT circuits, coming through two little FUSE BOXES, and a majority of the wiring is still KNOB & TUBE from the 1920s!... or in other words, a CENTURY old, now!
Before anything serious can be done at all... I MUST have a modern, fifty to one hundred circuit breaker box!
That way, I can rewire each room, as I renovate each room.
I do have a $3000.00 line of credit for home repairs with Wells Fargo, that I think could cover the breaker box... but that line of credit has VERY predatory terms!
I know, because it was instantiated to pay for gutter cleaning and screening back in 2018!
It was paid off with my 401K money in early 2021, but... yeah!.. that is NOT a line of credit I want to be stuck paying just the minimum balance on!
So... it CAN be used to get the ball rolling with the breaker box, but... I DO need to have some substantial income... and maybe a nice hunk of change to frontload and bring the balance down.
Dad's life insurance could be helpful with that.
It's not gonna be much either, but... it could give me a grand to spend on the breaker box, and then... maybe the rest of the job only costs another grand?
That's the big priority anyway.
I'll be yammering on about the breaker box a lot this coming year, until it's installed.
They're calling for a few inches of snow overnight, and a little more during the day tomorrow, so... I may be shoveling in the morning. And I will definitely have to go out and get some salt for the walks!
Let's hope the snow doesn't delay the garbage pickup for an extra day!
°¦}
