Saint Patrick's Day
Friday, March 17th, 2023 11:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudio30F out there this morning and windy, with gray skies. Felt colder because I could've sworn yesterday's outlook said it was supposed to be 50F and sunny.
Saint Patrick's Day has taken on a special significance for me, the past few years. Because when I quit the hospital job in January of 2021, I knew that's when the last of my money would be spent and gone... if I didn't cash out my 401K.
But a year later, most of the 401K money was spent and gone by Saint Patrick's Day.
This year... Dad's life insurance money and my tax return are spent and gone by today.
But... now there's this loan on the table.
--<>--
Snoop was sitting on top of the brush pile back there this morning, right where I'd stood last October, for hours, clipping branches apart, in a futile attempt to manage the mulberry situation.
I thought, I don't have that kind of time anymore, and looked over to the huge pile of uncut branches by the gigantic tree trunk on the ground. And then I looked over to the other mulberry... and up into it's high limbs.
$780.00 a month is steep, but... I need to get all that garbage out of my life!
------------{=0=}------------
I called about the loan to ask if the terms could be renegotiated, but they said they can't because it's a digital application or something. It's basically take it or leave it, unless I reapply.
But I can accept with the push of a button, and when I do... the money's in my account the next day.
Will it all be gone by next Saint Patrick's Day?
--<>--
It kinda doesn't matter, because my back's against the wall right now. The tree guy is waiting to hear back. April mortgage and HELOC are looming.
And I can't flip a single room down here without first installing new electrical circuits, because it's all on the same two knob & tube circuits from 100 years ago.
Literally, Dad's room, and the bathroom are both on the kitchen circuit. And until I flip both those rooms, nobody can come and live down here.
This back room gas wall heater also has to be fixed. The electric space heater is expensive as fuck to run.
Trees are only gonna cost $1600.00. A wood chipper to deal with the rest is only $800.00.
A breaker panel and it's installation; $700.00.
The rest is just materials and my own labor.
I might even be able to fix the gas heater myself, if I can diagnose it and find the parts.
No... I've got to pull the trigger on this.
------------{=0=}------------
12:45PM
Okay... it's done!
24 hours after submitting the application... by checking a box and clicking a button... it's done, and the funds will be dispersed into my savings account within another 24 hours... thirty four thousand, nine hundred dollars.
The monthly payment of $780.00 will be automatically deducted from my checking account, every month on the 16th, starting in April.
Let the tightrope walking begin!
------------{=0=}------------
1:05PM
Just texted with Martin, the tree guy. He's coming on Monday, April 3rd, to do the work!
I texted my supervisor to get the day off.
------------{=0=}------------
12:10AM
Filled out a PTO request for April 3rd at work and Jeremy signed it before he left.
Made it through my Friday okay. Thursday was definitely the worst night for my feet.
Tonight I had periods where they were fine and I forgot about them. But I did have one spell after lunch where they were bothering me for a short while.
Overall, felt totally synched up with DST today. Woke up naturally, and was not tired, even at the end of the night.
--<>--
But yes, the tree removal is now set in stone!
That brush pile has been growing for four years! And the crap ton of logs and branches and the trunk of the fallen mulberry have been laying around for eight months!
It's gonna be like a dream come true to see all that bullshit GONE, along with the other mulberry, that's been slowly dying for ten years!
Then, there are still seven saplings left growing through the back fence, and I mean to cut all seven down, cut up the trunks, and chip up the branches, this spring, before it starts getting too hot!
Then there's three more saplings in other spots that need to go!
Even if I get all that done, there are still PLENTY of adult trees around back there, from the mighty locust, to the ashes, and a few other hackberry and mulberry trees, so... it's not like I'm clear cutting the back yard.
I'm just trying to get it back to where it was in the 1990s, before random shit started growing out of control on all the property lines, and by structures like the SCOP and the old shed.
But with all that gone, along with the two decrepit mulberry trees, there's gonna be a lot more open sky, which means a lot more lawn for lovely field crickets, and a lot less foliage for obnoxious bush crickets.
--<>--
It'll be interesting to see how the August soundscape turns out.
There were a ton of field crickets hanging out under that brush pile last summer, so I'm assuming there are a legion of field cricket eggs in the ground there right now... waiting to hatch a week or two after the brush is removed.
If I do a good job of grooming the back yard this spring and summer, will they populate the back lawn, as they did in decades past?.. chirping at night, this time?
Last year they did all their chirping and mating during the day, because they had the shade of the brush pile, and there was no acoustical competition from shrill bush crickets during the day.
We'll just have to see. August is still a long way off, and I've got a lot of other bullshit to worry about between now and then.
------------{=0=}------------
I wrote on the first that March is the month to take action.
And I think I've done pretty well with that!.. I took care of the deed transfer, then started in working full time, then got that goddam loan for 35K and lined up a contractor to take care of the tree bullshit.
That's enough for a month right there!
I think the next two weeks are just gonna be about getting physically hardened to full time work!
I can't advance my livelihood in any way, until my feet are out of alarm!
--<>--
My plans for the weekend are to get gas and groceries, take down the Christmas lights, and update the door decorations from St. Pat's, to Easter stuff.
Also... try to get a hold of Kate.
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
Saint Patrick's Day has taken on a special significance for me, the past few years. Because when I quit the hospital job in January of 2021, I knew that's when the last of my money would be spent and gone... if I didn't cash out my 401K.
But a year later, most of the 401K money was spent and gone by Saint Patrick's Day.
This year... Dad's life insurance money and my tax return are spent and gone by today.
But... now there's this loan on the table.
Snoop was sitting on top of the brush pile back there this morning, right where I'd stood last October, for hours, clipping branches apart, in a futile attempt to manage the mulberry situation.
I thought, I don't have that kind of time anymore, and looked over to the huge pile of uncut branches by the gigantic tree trunk on the ground. And then I looked over to the other mulberry... and up into it's high limbs.
$780.00 a month is steep, but... I need to get all that garbage out of my life!
I called about the loan to ask if the terms could be renegotiated, but they said they can't because it's a digital application or something. It's basically take it or leave it, unless I reapply.
But I can accept with the push of a button, and when I do... the money's in my account the next day.
Will it all be gone by next Saint Patrick's Day?
It kinda doesn't matter, because my back's against the wall right now. The tree guy is waiting to hear back. April mortgage and HELOC are looming.
And I can't flip a single room down here without first installing new electrical circuits, because it's all on the same two knob & tube circuits from 100 years ago.
Literally, Dad's room, and the bathroom are both on the kitchen circuit. And until I flip both those rooms, nobody can come and live down here.
This back room gas wall heater also has to be fixed. The electric space heater is expensive as fuck to run.
Trees are only gonna cost $1600.00. A wood chipper to deal with the rest is only $800.00.
A breaker panel and it's installation; $700.00.
The rest is just materials and my own labor.
I might even be able to fix the gas heater myself, if I can diagnose it and find the parts.
No... I've got to pull the trigger on this.
Okay... it's done!
24 hours after submitting the application... by checking a box and clicking a button... it's done, and the funds will be dispersed into my savings account within another 24 hours... thirty four thousand, nine hundred dollars.
The monthly payment of $780.00 will be automatically deducted from my checking account, every month on the 16th, starting in April.
Let the tightrope walking begin!
Just texted with Martin, the tree guy. He's coming on Monday, April 3rd, to do the work!
I texted my supervisor to get the day off.
Filled out a PTO request for April 3rd at work and Jeremy signed it before he left.
Made it through my Friday okay. Thursday was definitely the worst night for my feet.
Tonight I had periods where they were fine and I forgot about them. But I did have one spell after lunch where they were bothering me for a short while.
Overall, felt totally synched up with DST today. Woke up naturally, and was not tired, even at the end of the night.
But yes, the tree removal is now set in stone!
That brush pile has been growing for four years! And the crap ton of logs and branches and the trunk of the fallen mulberry have been laying around for eight months!
It's gonna be like a dream come true to see all that bullshit GONE, along with the other mulberry, that's been slowly dying for ten years!
Then, there are still seven saplings left growing through the back fence, and I mean to cut all seven down, cut up the trunks, and chip up the branches, this spring, before it starts getting too hot!
Then there's three more saplings in other spots that need to go!
Even if I get all that done, there are still PLENTY of adult trees around back there, from the mighty locust, to the ashes, and a few other hackberry and mulberry trees, so... it's not like I'm clear cutting the back yard.
I'm just trying to get it back to where it was in the 1990s, before random shit started growing out of control on all the property lines, and by structures like the SCOP and the old shed.
But with all that gone, along with the two decrepit mulberry trees, there's gonna be a lot more open sky, which means a lot more lawn for lovely field crickets, and a lot less foliage for obnoxious bush crickets.
It'll be interesting to see how the August soundscape turns out.
There were a ton of field crickets hanging out under that brush pile last summer, so I'm assuming there are a legion of field cricket eggs in the ground there right now... waiting to hatch a week or two after the brush is removed.
If I do a good job of grooming the back yard this spring and summer, will they populate the back lawn, as they did in decades past?.. chirping at night, this time?
Last year they did all their chirping and mating during the day, because they had the shade of the brush pile, and there was no acoustical competition from shrill bush crickets during the day.
We'll just have to see. August is still a long way off, and I've got a lot of other bullshit to worry about between now and then.
I wrote on the first that March is the month to take action.
And I think I've done pretty well with that!.. I took care of the deed transfer, then started in working full time, then got that goddam loan for 35K and lined up a contractor to take care of the tree bullshit.
That's enough for a month right there!
I think the next two weeks are just gonna be about getting physically hardened to full time work!
I can't advance my livelihood in any way, until my feet are out of alarm!
My plans for the weekend are to get gas and groceries, take down the Christmas lights, and update the door decorations from St. Pat's, to Easter stuff.
Also... try to get a hold of Kate.
°¦}
