Planning the Next Steps
Thursday, March 9th, 2023 12:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioCooler, cloudier day today. Woke up with a sinus headache, but my back and feet were fine, so... I'll take the headache!
I filled out the paperwork for the pension death benefit this morning, but... that too has to be signed in front of a notary.
My public library says they have a notary on staff, but I need to make an appointment.
Sooo... tonight I'll scan the deed documents and print copies. Then I'll make an appointment with the notary... for Tuesday, because Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday, so you know it's gonna be tough getting up on Monday.
--<>--
I also checked my Geostaff employee portal this morning, and... well, paywise, and PTO-wise, I won't be fully full time until the Tue 28 paycheck.
The Tue 14 paycheck will be a hybrid; one week of part time, one week of full. Also, that'll be the day before I hit six months with Geostaff. So no sign on bonus until... again... Tuesday the 28th.
As a part timer, PTO was accruing in 4-hour increments. I only have 36 hours of PTO right now, which... was almost two days, but now it's less than one. But I should be able to get one day off near the end of the month if I need to... say, Monday the 27th.
--<>--
The question now is, do I really need to talk to a PNC banker in person to swing this personal loan?.. or can I just get it done online and/or over the phone?
I mean... credit cards are just bing bang done online!
But car loans are... sit at a desk and sign stuff with a guy.
I don't know where personal bank loans fall, on that spectrum. So, I gotta do that research over the next couple days.
------------{=0=}------------
1:40PM
I got to thinking about the tree removal, and worrying that it would take a long time to line up a contractor, so I decided to call one today, just to see if I could even get somebody to answer.
I Picked Mendez Tree Service because the name seemed familiar.
They happened to be nearby and came right over!
Turns out this couple (family business) used to live NEXT DOOR! They remembered that Dad's name was Michael!
Anyway, I showed them the issues with the fallen mulberry, all the brush, and the other mulberry that needs to come down.
They said they could do it for $1600.00. So I said, yes, let's do it!
I was worried it would be five or six thousand to have all that crap done! Sixteen hundred is great!
And this is clearly a universe thing! They lived next door and knew Dad. And they were here literally five minutes after I started worrying it could take all spring and summer to line this up!
--<>--
I cannot WAIT to be out there mowing the lawn in April... with all of that bullshit GONE!
That brush pile has been growing since I first started cutting shit down in 2019!
This puts me in a good mood before I leave for work today!
------------{=0=}------------
12:25AM
Right as I started my day, I was still thinking about how great it will be to have the mulberry trees and all the brush gone... and I was wondering if the field cricket recordings will go better this August, with a more open yard.
The second classroom I went into on my garbage run, I heard a field cricket chirping!
The teacher said, "We have a rogue cricket!"
She explained that he had escaped from a terrarium... a self sustaining environment in a clear plastic box with sunlight, a plant, and the cricket to eat the plant.
We could hear him chirping from somewhere in the room. So I promised her that if I saw him I would not vacuum him up. I would give him every chance to make a go of life on his own in the building.
But I totally took that as a sign from... somebody or something... that the recordings will go better this summer.
--<>--
It kinda stands to reason... I mean, with both those mullberry trees gone, there's gonna be a lot more open sky back there... right where the moon tracks, too!
And that brush pile last summer was where all the field crickets hung out, and chirped during the daytime... because it was shady and safe from preditors I guess... and there wasn't any sound competition during the day from the monotonous trill of the bush crickets.
So... there should be a crap ton of field cricket eggs in the ground under that brush pile, and it's going away right around the time they'll begin to hatch in April! So hopefully that means the field crickets will populate the back yard in greater numbers than they have in the past several years.
Man... it's been a long time since I did cricket speculation like this, huh?
------------{=0=}------------
Tonight was pretty full bore, serious cleaning of my areas. My feet were doing fine! A bit of mild discomfort here and there, but it cleared up if I got off them for a few minutes.
Also had a better sense of my areas... how much time things took... and what order to do things in.
Kept busy all the way until 10:45 tonight... and it was still the same 15K steps as it was on Monday.
I was going too fast on Monday.
When it's only four hours, you gotta move fast. But it's not hard to sustain that speed for only four hours.
When it's eight hours... you gotta pace yourself.
------------{=0=}------------
The animals are slowly adjusting to the new routines. The antagonism between Snoop & Prowly is ratcheting down. And Yvette seems to be somewhat consoled by their company while I'm gone?
I mean, it's hard to say for sure, but it seems that they're all starting to understand that it's the four of us against the world.
Yvette still spends all of her time in the kitchen right now, which is concerning.
She used to hang out in all the downstairs rooms, but ever since Tim & I got rid of the carpeting in the living room, hallway, and Dad's room, she just won't go in those rooms... or the back room... even though Tim's gone now.
She's also still not eating or drinking very much, or very predictably.
I think she's still mourning Dad, and processing all the shit that went down.
She had it good down here, being owned by a retired guy who was never gone for more than an hour. And that life they had together lasted almost seven years!
It really is a crime that Dad didn't outlive her.
But you know... he didn't want to! Didn't wanna see her go. Didn't care if him going first meant I'd have to go back to full time work and leave her here alone all day.
Sometime's he'd talk about his age, and how he'd outlived all his friends, and say, "I guess I'm still here for a reason."
And I'd say, "Uh yeah!... your dog! Hello?"
And he'd just shrug it off like, "I guess???"
°¦}
I filled out the paperwork for the pension death benefit this morning, but... that too has to be signed in front of a notary.
My public library says they have a notary on staff, but I need to make an appointment.
Sooo... tonight I'll scan the deed documents and print copies. Then I'll make an appointment with the notary... for Tuesday, because Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday, so you know it's gonna be tough getting up on Monday.
I also checked my Geostaff employee portal this morning, and... well, paywise, and PTO-wise, I won't be fully full time until the Tue 28 paycheck.
The Tue 14 paycheck will be a hybrid; one week of part time, one week of full. Also, that'll be the day before I hit six months with Geostaff. So no sign on bonus until... again... Tuesday the 28th.
As a part timer, PTO was accruing in 4-hour increments. I only have 36 hours of PTO right now, which... was almost two days, but now it's less than one. But I should be able to get one day off near the end of the month if I need to... say, Monday the 27th.
The question now is, do I really need to talk to a PNC banker in person to swing this personal loan?.. or can I just get it done online and/or over the phone?
I mean... credit cards are just bing bang done online!
But car loans are... sit at a desk and sign stuff with a guy.
I don't know where personal bank loans fall, on that spectrum. So, I gotta do that research over the next couple days.
I got to thinking about the tree removal, and worrying that it would take a long time to line up a contractor, so I decided to call one today, just to see if I could even get somebody to answer.
I Picked Mendez Tree Service because the name seemed familiar.
They happened to be nearby and came right over!
Turns out this couple (family business) used to live NEXT DOOR! They remembered that Dad's name was Michael!
Anyway, I showed them the issues with the fallen mulberry, all the brush, and the other mulberry that needs to come down.
They said they could do it for $1600.00. So I said, yes, let's do it!
I was worried it would be five or six thousand to have all that crap done! Sixteen hundred is great!
And this is clearly a universe thing! They lived next door and knew Dad. And they were here literally five minutes after I started worrying it could take all spring and summer to line this up!
I cannot WAIT to be out there mowing the lawn in April... with all of that bullshit GONE!
That brush pile has been growing since I first started cutting shit down in 2019!
This puts me in a good mood before I leave for work today!
Right as I started my day, I was still thinking about how great it will be to have the mulberry trees and all the brush gone... and I was wondering if the field cricket recordings will go better this August, with a more open yard.
The second classroom I went into on my garbage run, I heard a field cricket chirping!
The teacher said, "We have a rogue cricket!"
She explained that he had escaped from a terrarium... a self sustaining environment in a clear plastic box with sunlight, a plant, and the cricket to eat the plant.
We could hear him chirping from somewhere in the room. So I promised her that if I saw him I would not vacuum him up. I would give him every chance to make a go of life on his own in the building.
But I totally took that as a sign from... somebody or something... that the recordings will go better this summer.
It kinda stands to reason... I mean, with both those mullberry trees gone, there's gonna be a lot more open sky back there... right where the moon tracks, too!
And that brush pile last summer was where all the field crickets hung out, and chirped during the daytime... because it was shady and safe from preditors I guess... and there wasn't any sound competition during the day from the monotonous trill of the bush crickets.
So... there should be a crap ton of field cricket eggs in the ground under that brush pile, and it's going away right around the time they'll begin to hatch in April! So hopefully that means the field crickets will populate the back yard in greater numbers than they have in the past several years.
Man... it's been a long time since I did cricket speculation like this, huh?
Tonight was pretty full bore, serious cleaning of my areas. My feet were doing fine! A bit of mild discomfort here and there, but it cleared up if I got off them for a few minutes.
Also had a better sense of my areas... how much time things took... and what order to do things in.
Kept busy all the way until 10:45 tonight... and it was still the same 15K steps as it was on Monday.
I was going too fast on Monday.
When it's only four hours, you gotta move fast. But it's not hard to sustain that speed for only four hours.
When it's eight hours... you gotta pace yourself.
The animals are slowly adjusting to the new routines. The antagonism between Snoop & Prowly is ratcheting down. And Yvette seems to be somewhat consoled by their company while I'm gone?
I mean, it's hard to say for sure, but it seems that they're all starting to understand that it's the four of us against the world.
Yvette still spends all of her time in the kitchen right now, which is concerning.
She used to hang out in all the downstairs rooms, but ever since Tim & I got rid of the carpeting in the living room, hallway, and Dad's room, she just won't go in those rooms... or the back room... even though Tim's gone now.
She's also still not eating or drinking very much, or very predictably.
I think she's still mourning Dad, and processing all the shit that went down.
She had it good down here, being owned by a retired guy who was never gone for more than an hour. And that life they had together lasted almost seven years!
It really is a crime that Dad didn't outlive her.
But you know... he didn't want to! Didn't wanna see her go. Didn't care if him going first meant I'd have to go back to full time work and leave her here alone all day.
Sometime's he'd talk about his age, and how he'd outlived all his friends, and say, "I guess I'm still here for a reason."
And I'd say, "Uh yeah!... your dog! Hello?"
And he'd just shrug it off like, "I guess???"
°¦}
