Frantic February Begins
Monday, February 6th, 2023 09:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioSo, my last entry was on Wednesday the 1st, and... It has just been nonstop since then!
Starting a new month, with a Dad who died exactly two weeks earlier... turns out to be harder than you'd imagine!
I was trying to pay bills with the last of Dad's money... the final pension check that had hit on the 19th of January... and I was able to pay the electric, gas, and mortgage, but that was it!
However, I did manage, on February 1st, to cancel his entire AT&T bundle... which was $250.00 per month for Direct TV, a landline, and crappy DSL WiFi. And I got it replaced with my own, brand new fiber optic WiFi, for only $50.00 per month.
But that meant the WiFi was down for all of Thursday.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Tim's bank had rejected his attempt to do a mobile deposit of the check for the sale of Dad's car, so on Thursday, he had to take it to the issuing bank and get them to cash it... which they did, only after the car dealership lost their temper over the phone with them.
Then he and I had to deposit the cash into my bank account... because his bank has no branches in this state, and I attempted to do a wire transfer of the five thousand to him Thursday night.
At work on Thursday, my supervisor, Tony, found me and told me that a full time position was about to open up at Cloud Elementary School, which is about a mile away from Grape! And he wanted to know if I was interested.
I told him yes, but that I didn't want to go full time until February was over.
Both Wednesday and Thursday, I was hoping to get either my tax return, or Dad's life insurance money, or both... because without them, I couldn't pay any other utility bills, and would have a hard time making my car payment.
--<>--
Friday, February 3rd arrived and... no tax return, or life insurance money! Also, no wire transfer!.. It failed because we'd screwed up the form! But now, we'd have to wait until Monday!
At work on Friday, I got a call from Tony, who told me I was gonna start at Cloud elementary on Monday!
I could stay working part time until March, but GeoStaff wanted me at Cloud right away!
So... Friday was my last day at Grape! And I was sad about that, because I'd really loved working at Grape, and I'd only just gotten to know all the people there!
Having just lost Dad, and going through so much transitional bullshit, I wasn't happy about having to say goodbye to Grape, the place I started at, only five months ago... when my whole future looked a lot less insane than it's turned out to be.
So, I texted Tony back and asked for Monday off... because I just needed an extra day to catch up on bullshit before I go starting my job all over again at a new building!
--<>--
Saturday 4, and Sunday 5, were all about finishing the kitchen paint job... and it took all of both days to get it done!
Last weekend, there'd been tons of paint scraping, and sweeping and cleaning to do before we got half the room actually painted.
Saturday the 4th was about getting the other half of the room painted, and Sunday was about patching and painting the ceiling.
On Saturday, we spent some time scraping the paint off the bathroom door hinges and shining them up... along with the door knocker. But after that, the painting of the door, and the wall sections went pretty fast.
Taping for the trim, however, proved to be pretty time consuming.
We took a break just before sundown to run to Ace Hardware for some drywall tape (for the ceiling), and after that I insited we stop at Thrift & Dollar, a legendary second hand store in the same outdoor mall, to see if I could find some new wall art for the kitchen, for cheep.
Tim was impressed with Thrift & Dollar, because of all the ancient, vintage stuff they've got. They're really good about buying up shit from estate sales.
I looked thorugh all their framed prints and pictures and wasn't finding anything I liked much at all for the kitchen. But after we walked around the store a bit more, I stumbled on a stack of six canvas oil prints just sitting on an old table, with no price label on them yet.
They were all perfect squares of identical dimensions... about 9X9, and were nice, semi-abstract paintings of flowers, with lots of reds, and oranges, but also blues and golds. I was sure this set of six would be perfect!
I was worried they'd be asking ten bucks a print, and was prepared to offer $30.00 and haggle from there... but after the cashier looked them over, he said, "Eh... twenty five bucks!"
After running a couple more errands, we got back home and got back to painting the trim.
It was nearly midnight by the time the trim was done, and the tape was off.
The walls looked great, but we decided to hang the prints, and also the new bulletin board I'd bought a few days earlier, to replace a crappier old one that'd been hanging in the kitchen for decades.
The measuring, to get everything right took quite a while, but when everything was hung... along with the new valences I'd bought last week... it was pretty stunning!
The color palette of the new prints worked way better than either of us expected, because the oranges in some prints really matches the wood tone of the cabinets, and the reds go quite well with the valences.
After all the hard work... we just sat there drinking and admiring everything until after 3AM!
--<>--
Sunday the 5th, it was time to tackle the kitchen ceiling... which I thought would go fast but... of course it did not!
There had been some serious gaps in the plaster, up there, to patch. And on Saturday I'd gotten started by bridging the gaps with drywall tape and putting on a first coat of mud, but today I had to sand those patches, and do a second coat of mud... which then had to dry.
I also had to tape around the entire perimeter of the ceiling, which was fairly involved, because to do it, I had to move some furniture around, including the fridge... and the blades had to come off the ceiling fan as well.
After taping, I then had to edge the entire perimeter with a brush... which took forever.
And finally it was time to start rolling paint over the whole ceiling.
But my patches weren't dry, so... we took a break and went out to eat. Then, after running a few errands, we came back and started rolling.
It was around 9PM that the ceiling was finally done, but after that the blades had to go back on the ceiling fan, and the wall art and valences had to go back up.
I also had to put the paint and supplies down in the shop, and we had to clean up generally around the whole room.
But by 10PM, we were both taking pics and videos of the finished kitchen, and posting them online.
We then finally relaxed with our beers to just enjoy the new room, and engaged with Colleen, Kevin, Sheila, and Brian on the group chat for another hour.
--<>--
But before we could call it a night, we had to print up and fill out the Notice of Death, and Acceptance Affadavit, that needs to be filed with the county, in order to finalize the transfer of ownership of the house from Dad to me.
That took a while... working out some bugs in the PDF, before it printed correctly.
And after that, we had to try again with the wire transfer of Tim's five thousand from my account to his, so that it could hopefully go through in the morning.
Finally... around 1:30AM, I went upstairs for the night.
------------{=0=}------------
Okay, so today, Monday, February 6th, our main goal was to get that Notice of Death, and Affidavit of Acceptance recorded with the county.
But the first step was to have it witnessed and notarized as I signed it, so we went to the UPS store in Geneva, near where the county campus is located.
And to kill two birds with one stone, we took with us, Dad's old DSL router, and his DirectTV box, because the UPS store will ship those back to AT&T at no charge, as long as they have the account number.
--<>--
We were able to return Dad's equipment, but... it was a no-go on the notary, because they don't notarize anything having to do with real estate!
They suggested we try a bank... but only if the bank was involved in the real estate deal, or... possibly a public library.
We've been trying very hard not to tip off Dad's bank that he's dead, because he still owes 50 grand on the house, and I don't wanna tangle with them about it until AFTER the deed is indesputably mine!
So we went to the Geneva Public Library but... oops!.. they don't offer notary services!
So we went to the Saint Charles Public Library, and... THANK GOD!.. they did have a notary, she WAS able to witness a real estate document, and... there was no charge! Yay!
--<>--
We got to the Recorder of Deeds in Geneva around 3PM, and were all ready to get the thing recorded, including the death certificate, but... one little problem!
They said everything looked perfectly legit, and even threw a little stamp on there to show that the transfer of ownership was tax exempt... because no money had changed hands between Dad and I... BUT... the document needed to have a City Transfer Stamp, before the county could record it.
What's a city transfer stamp?
Not something you just go to City Hall and get!.. as we found out!
No, the City's gotta take a week to make sure nothing's still owed to them by the old owner of the house, before they can allow the deed to change hands. And for that... some paperwork has to be filled out... which they gave us at City Hall in Aurora.
But... the form I was given is set up for a transfer between two people who are alive, so... it's unclear how exactly to fill it out in this, transfer upon death, case.
--<>--
So... no transfer of the deed until we figure that shit out and get that all important City Transfer Stamp!
We ran a few errands before returning home and then just... took it easy tonight!
We've been cleaning, and painting, and throwing out garbage, and jumping through hoops to get the car sold... the WiFi updated... the bills paid... and the goddam deed transferred...
And tonight we were both just... spent!
At 9:30PM, we called it a night.
I went upstairs here to shower, shave, clip my overgrown nails, and catch up with this journal... while Tim retired to the back room to catch up with his business and family back in Nevada.
------------{=0=}------------
The wire transfer DID go through today, so, Tim finally does have the money from the sale of Dad's car in his own bank.
And I DID get a letter from the life insurance people saying that a booklet thingy is coming soon that will allow me access to that money... only six thousand, after paying for the Cremation.
So... that money, which is desperately needed, is coming later this week, as is, hopefully, my tax return.
And HEY!.. the new fiber optic WiFi is GREAT! Way faster, and a way stronger signal through most of the house!
So... things are still pretty sketchy, but we ARE making some progress!
--<>--
Tomorrow is another garbage night.
And it's also my first day at Cloud Elementary.
------------{=0=}------------
TALKING NEAR FUTURE STRATEGY
So, I'm only getting $6,000.00 from Dad's life insurance, which is paltry, in this day and age, but I am getting a $500.00 tax return, and can get another $500.00 from his pension death benefit... bringing the total parachute survival money to $7,000.00.
Seven grand is roughly equivalent to... two months worth of what was coming in from Dad's social security and pension... but I'm only staying part time for one month... February.
I can't go full time immediately because there are still too many things to take care of, including getting Snoop & Prowly fixed... dealing with the Yvette problem.. and all the financial red tape involved in the transfer.
I also need to get my own car's emissions checked, and renew my registration before months end... and get the oil and trans fluid changed.
After that, I'll be going full time, but because my pay scale is so low... I won't be pulling down enough to cover all the bills... mainly because the current home owner's insurance is $300.00 per month... which I can maybe get down by switching to Geico, but... the title has to be in my name first!
There's also the install of the decades overdue breaker panel, but lets not even go there right now!
Let's just assume that the life insurance money, together with going full time at the start of March, gets me through both February and March without defaulting or getting late on anything.
From there, what's emerging, is the idea of taking out a personal loan from my bank for around 30K. This is something I was pre-approved for months ago, and can likely still get once I'm full time at work, because my credit score remains above 800.
That's not enough to pay off the 50K owed on the house.
But it IS enough to pay off my car, which is only 10K, and my two credit cards, which together are only 1K.
After that, I reduce the car insurance to liability and... the payment on the personal loan is LESS than what I'd be paying monthly on the car with full coverage and the credit cards.
BUT, I also have 19K left over from the personal loan in my savings account.
SO... if I just do my best to scrape by on my paycheck, and only use that 19K padding to cover bills when things are tight... I can buy myself a year or two... to get pay raises, move up to engineering, and find other strategies to bring in more income.
Buying myself two years is GOOD, because the mortgage can be paid of in five years!
So, if I can survive first two years in this house on a shoestring, but continue to pay down that mortgage, and pay on that personal loan... after having paid off my car, and my credit cards...
My credit score will be even higher... and my pay will have gone up... thereby making the final three years a bit easier.
And then, after five years, the house will be paid off and I lose that bill forever!
That's the sketchy survival plan I'm turning over in my brain right now.
Buying a couple years of time is key... but it's also key to pay off the house and never again take a mortgage!
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
Starting a new month, with a Dad who died exactly two weeks earlier... turns out to be harder than you'd imagine!
I was trying to pay bills with the last of Dad's money... the final pension check that had hit on the 19th of January... and I was able to pay the electric, gas, and mortgage, but that was it!
However, I did manage, on February 1st, to cancel his entire AT&T bundle... which was $250.00 per month for Direct TV, a landline, and crappy DSL WiFi. And I got it replaced with my own, brand new fiber optic WiFi, for only $50.00 per month.
But that meant the WiFi was down for all of Thursday.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Tim's bank had rejected his attempt to do a mobile deposit of the check for the sale of Dad's car, so on Thursday, he had to take it to the issuing bank and get them to cash it... which they did, only after the car dealership lost their temper over the phone with them.
Then he and I had to deposit the cash into my bank account... because his bank has no branches in this state, and I attempted to do a wire transfer of the five thousand to him Thursday night.
At work on Thursday, my supervisor, Tony, found me and told me that a full time position was about to open up at Cloud Elementary School, which is about a mile away from Grape! And he wanted to know if I was interested.
I told him yes, but that I didn't want to go full time until February was over.
Both Wednesday and Thursday, I was hoping to get either my tax return, or Dad's life insurance money, or both... because without them, I couldn't pay any other utility bills, and would have a hard time making my car payment.
Friday, February 3rd arrived and... no tax return, or life insurance money! Also, no wire transfer!.. It failed because we'd screwed up the form! But now, we'd have to wait until Monday!
At work on Friday, I got a call from Tony, who told me I was gonna start at Cloud elementary on Monday!
I could stay working part time until March, but GeoStaff wanted me at Cloud right away!
So... Friday was my last day at Grape! And I was sad about that, because I'd really loved working at Grape, and I'd only just gotten to know all the people there!
Having just lost Dad, and going through so much transitional bullshit, I wasn't happy about having to say goodbye to Grape, the place I started at, only five months ago... when my whole future looked a lot less insane than it's turned out to be.
So, I texted Tony back and asked for Monday off... because I just needed an extra day to catch up on bullshit before I go starting my job all over again at a new building!
Saturday 4, and Sunday 5, were all about finishing the kitchen paint job... and it took all of both days to get it done!
Last weekend, there'd been tons of paint scraping, and sweeping and cleaning to do before we got half the room actually painted.
Saturday the 4th was about getting the other half of the room painted, and Sunday was about patching and painting the ceiling.
On Saturday, we spent some time scraping the paint off the bathroom door hinges and shining them up... along with the door knocker. But after that, the painting of the door, and the wall sections went pretty fast.
Taping for the trim, however, proved to be pretty time consuming.
We took a break just before sundown to run to Ace Hardware for some drywall tape (for the ceiling), and after that I insited we stop at Thrift & Dollar, a legendary second hand store in the same outdoor mall, to see if I could find some new wall art for the kitchen, for cheep.
Tim was impressed with Thrift & Dollar, because of all the ancient, vintage stuff they've got. They're really good about buying up shit from estate sales.
I looked thorugh all their framed prints and pictures and wasn't finding anything I liked much at all for the kitchen. But after we walked around the store a bit more, I stumbled on a stack of six canvas oil prints just sitting on an old table, with no price label on them yet.
They were all perfect squares of identical dimensions... about 9X9, and were nice, semi-abstract paintings of flowers, with lots of reds, and oranges, but also blues and golds. I was sure this set of six would be perfect!
I was worried they'd be asking ten bucks a print, and was prepared to offer $30.00 and haggle from there... but after the cashier looked them over, he said, "Eh... twenty five bucks!"
After running a couple more errands, we got back home and got back to painting the trim.
It was nearly midnight by the time the trim was done, and the tape was off.
The walls looked great, but we decided to hang the prints, and also the new bulletin board I'd bought a few days earlier, to replace a crappier old one that'd been hanging in the kitchen for decades.
The measuring, to get everything right took quite a while, but when everything was hung... along with the new valences I'd bought last week... it was pretty stunning!
The color palette of the new prints worked way better than either of us expected, because the oranges in some prints really matches the wood tone of the cabinets, and the reds go quite well with the valences.
After all the hard work... we just sat there drinking and admiring everything until after 3AM!
Sunday the 5th, it was time to tackle the kitchen ceiling... which I thought would go fast but... of course it did not!
There had been some serious gaps in the plaster, up there, to patch. And on Saturday I'd gotten started by bridging the gaps with drywall tape and putting on a first coat of mud, but today I had to sand those patches, and do a second coat of mud... which then had to dry.
I also had to tape around the entire perimeter of the ceiling, which was fairly involved, because to do it, I had to move some furniture around, including the fridge... and the blades had to come off the ceiling fan as well.
After taping, I then had to edge the entire perimeter with a brush... which took forever.
And finally it was time to start rolling paint over the whole ceiling.
But my patches weren't dry, so... we took a break and went out to eat. Then, after running a few errands, we came back and started rolling.
It was around 9PM that the ceiling was finally done, but after that the blades had to go back on the ceiling fan, and the wall art and valences had to go back up.
I also had to put the paint and supplies down in the shop, and we had to clean up generally around the whole room.
But by 10PM, we were both taking pics and videos of the finished kitchen, and posting them online.
We then finally relaxed with our beers to just enjoy the new room, and engaged with Colleen, Kevin, Sheila, and Brian on the group chat for another hour.
But before we could call it a night, we had to print up and fill out the Notice of Death, and Acceptance Affadavit, that needs to be filed with the county, in order to finalize the transfer of ownership of the house from Dad to me.
That took a while... working out some bugs in the PDF, before it printed correctly.
And after that, we had to try again with the wire transfer of Tim's five thousand from my account to his, so that it could hopefully go through in the morning.
Finally... around 1:30AM, I went upstairs for the night.
Okay, so today, Monday, February 6th, our main goal was to get that Notice of Death, and Affidavit of Acceptance recorded with the county.
But the first step was to have it witnessed and notarized as I signed it, so we went to the UPS store in Geneva, near where the county campus is located.
And to kill two birds with one stone, we took with us, Dad's old DSL router, and his DirectTV box, because the UPS store will ship those back to AT&T at no charge, as long as they have the account number.
We were able to return Dad's equipment, but... it was a no-go on the notary, because they don't notarize anything having to do with real estate!
They suggested we try a bank... but only if the bank was involved in the real estate deal, or... possibly a public library.
We've been trying very hard not to tip off Dad's bank that he's dead, because he still owes 50 grand on the house, and I don't wanna tangle with them about it until AFTER the deed is indesputably mine!
So we went to the Geneva Public Library but... oops!.. they don't offer notary services!
So we went to the Saint Charles Public Library, and... THANK GOD!.. they did have a notary, she WAS able to witness a real estate document, and... there was no charge! Yay!
We got to the Recorder of Deeds in Geneva around 3PM, and were all ready to get the thing recorded, including the death certificate, but... one little problem!
They said everything looked perfectly legit, and even threw a little stamp on there to show that the transfer of ownership was tax exempt... because no money had changed hands between Dad and I... BUT... the document needed to have a City Transfer Stamp, before the county could record it.
What's a city transfer stamp?
Not something you just go to City Hall and get!.. as we found out!
No, the City's gotta take a week to make sure nothing's still owed to them by the old owner of the house, before they can allow the deed to change hands. And for that... some paperwork has to be filled out... which they gave us at City Hall in Aurora.
But... the form I was given is set up for a transfer between two people who are alive, so... it's unclear how exactly to fill it out in this, transfer upon death, case.
So... no transfer of the deed until we figure that shit out and get that all important City Transfer Stamp!
We ran a few errands before returning home and then just... took it easy tonight!
We've been cleaning, and painting, and throwing out garbage, and jumping through hoops to get the car sold... the WiFi updated... the bills paid... and the goddam deed transferred...
And tonight we were both just... spent!
At 9:30PM, we called it a night.
I went upstairs here to shower, shave, clip my overgrown nails, and catch up with this journal... while Tim retired to the back room to catch up with his business and family back in Nevada.
The wire transfer DID go through today, so, Tim finally does have the money from the sale of Dad's car in his own bank.
And I DID get a letter from the life insurance people saying that a booklet thingy is coming soon that will allow me access to that money... only six thousand, after paying for the Cremation.
So... that money, which is desperately needed, is coming later this week, as is, hopefully, my tax return.
And HEY!.. the new fiber optic WiFi is GREAT! Way faster, and a way stronger signal through most of the house!
So... things are still pretty sketchy, but we ARE making some progress!
Tomorrow is another garbage night.
And it's also my first day at Cloud Elementary.
So, I'm only getting $6,000.00 from Dad's life insurance, which is paltry, in this day and age, but I am getting a $500.00 tax return, and can get another $500.00 from his pension death benefit... bringing the total parachute survival money to $7,000.00.
Seven grand is roughly equivalent to... two months worth of what was coming in from Dad's social security and pension... but I'm only staying part time for one month... February.
I can't go full time immediately because there are still too many things to take care of, including getting Snoop & Prowly fixed... dealing with the Yvette problem.. and all the financial red tape involved in the transfer.
I also need to get my own car's emissions checked, and renew my registration before months end... and get the oil and trans fluid changed.
After that, I'll be going full time, but because my pay scale is so low... I won't be pulling down enough to cover all the bills... mainly because the current home owner's insurance is $300.00 per month... which I can maybe get down by switching to Geico, but... the title has to be in my name first!
There's also the install of the decades overdue breaker panel, but lets not even go there right now!
Let's just assume that the life insurance money, together with going full time at the start of March, gets me through both February and March without defaulting or getting late on anything.
From there, what's emerging, is the idea of taking out a personal loan from my bank for around 30K. This is something I was pre-approved for months ago, and can likely still get once I'm full time at work, because my credit score remains above 800.
That's not enough to pay off the 50K owed on the house.
But it IS enough to pay off my car, which is only 10K, and my two credit cards, which together are only 1K.
After that, I reduce the car insurance to liability and... the payment on the personal loan is LESS than what I'd be paying monthly on the car with full coverage and the credit cards.
BUT, I also have 19K left over from the personal loan in my savings account.
SO... if I just do my best to scrape by on my paycheck, and only use that 19K padding to cover bills when things are tight... I can buy myself a year or two... to get pay raises, move up to engineering, and find other strategies to bring in more income.
Buying myself two years is GOOD, because the mortgage can be paid of in five years!
So, if I can survive first two years in this house on a shoestring, but continue to pay down that mortgage, and pay on that personal loan... after having paid off my car, and my credit cards...
My credit score will be even higher... and my pay will have gone up... thereby making the final three years a bit easier.
And then, after five years, the house will be paid off and I lose that bill forever!
That's the sketchy survival plan I'm turning over in my brain right now.
Buying a couple years of time is key... but it's also key to pay off the house and never again take a mortgage!
°¦}
