March 28, 2010
Winner of the Lightning Round Giveaway
for Postcards is Alli!
Congratulations and thanks to everyone who participated!
family
Farewell to the best boy in the world
About sixteen years ago, I met him for the first time. My trainwreck sibling brought home this adorable puppy he had no business adopting because he had not one thing in his life that wasn’t a mess. I was furious at my sibling – he didn’t even take care of himself, how could he drag
Read MoreMarch 27, 2010
Anecdotally
Girl Scout: “I think you should buy these cookies, sir! They are the healthiest!”
Friend: [thinking, are you calling me fat?] “Thanks but I’m buying these for my mom. She doesn’t really care about healthy stuff.”
Girl Scout’s mom: “Oh honey. No one cares about health, that’s not the way to sell them.”
Girl: “What happened to the toilet paper?”
Boy: “It’s not there.”
Girl: “You used it up?!?”
Boy: “No, I took it out.”
Girl: “What?!?”
Boy: “Look, I can’t keep all the stuff you keep adding to the pile…!”
Girl: “But it’s just one…!”
Boy: “The point is, if I keep all the stuff you keep stashing in my car…”
Girl: “It’s just one roll of toilet paper!!!”
It’s true, darlin’, ever seen Hoarders? You don’t want to be a Hoarder.
Driving home on good old SoCal freeways the other day, I encountered 4 speed racers (drivers in wee rice rockets frenetically changing lanes at 90 MPH), a dozen bikers one of whom popped a wheelie for half a mile in the fast lane, a car that had accordianed itself against the car in front of it, a fire, and a disabled vehicle/sitting duck right in front of a major interchange. Talk about a danger zone!
_______________
Giveaway:
Mrs. Money is having a $100 Giveaway at her blog
.
March 26, 2010
Changes are a-comin’
That’s a little misleading. It’s just that my sense of reality lags behind .. y’know, reality. It hasn’t quite sunk in all the way that I’ve finally left home. Actually that’s not true. It’s there, but I’ve only let myself mourn a little bit at a time. Full scale emotional acceptance will just have to wait – it’s too hard to get everything done while fretting about leaving my family, my home, and my workcave.
I said good-bye (for now) to my dogs who have no inkling at all that this is a huge step. /heart breaks a little/
My hometown friends evidently didn’t take me seriously when I said I was starting a job on April 1st in the northerly part of the state as one of them was surprised I’d left already. “What, no good-bye sendoff??”
*tired, grouchy, overwhelmed me says: If you wanted to see me before I left, you should have said so. The people who cared did say something and we saw each other. And if you thought I was going to organize my own send-off amidst the gazillion things I had to do? Chyeah. No.* So far as most friends and family are concerned, I’ve quietly slipped out of their midst.
I made a decision on the car front. More to come …
I’ve been actively pursuing freelance leads to supplement my income. Examples of my work have earned me a quick pass to the front of the line for one job. I hope we can come to an agreement as it would make at least a couple thousand and make up the difference in my spending of late. Wish me luck!
March 25, 2010
Adding a line item to the budget: Dental care
I’ve had excellent dental care over the years courtesy of employer-sponsored benefits, and then thanks to COBRA, so my dental woes have been routinely resolved. My parents, however, have had some dental issues I wasn’t aware of until recently, and I feel guilty about not providing more thoroughly for them since I discovered all was not fine and dandy in their world of teeth. It’s nothing emergent, but I think my dad may need some fairly major work done and I wanted to budget for that ASAP.
My first thought was to get them insured. Naturally, right? It turns out that dental insurance isn’t such a great deal.
A quick review of ehealthinsurance.com showed that I might just be better off self-insuring them.
At an annual cost of $444 plus a yearly deductible of $25 for the cheaper of the only two plans available for this zip code, the policy yields a princely benefit of $500 per person. That’s not all! They’ll offer a grand coinsurance of 0-50% so at times that $500 won’t even be participating in payment of the bills. When it does, it covers no more than 50% of the bill. Essentially I’m paying for the privilege of a partial, sometimes, discount.
The math is only marginally better for the “Enhanced” Plan carrying an annual bill of $1032 with a $150 family deductible. Same lousy excuse for a “coinsurance” and I find myself utterly disgusted. I’d probably be better off saving the cash and sending them to my old (current) dentist with a request for a cash and senior discount.
There’s also a reputable School of Dentistry within 50 miles. An old friend may be able to fill me in on their services or direct me to someone in the know. It’s not a convenient drive, but I’ve heard that they do good work so perhaps on one of the days that he’s free of mom, my dad could get his teeth examined. Their online quote ranges from $50-$88 for an initial exam, all necessary x-rays, study models and a treatment plan. That’s a heck of a lot better than my dentist’s quote of $60 for an exam and additional $35 per x-ray (usually about 4-6 films taken) for a total of $250 for them to tell us what they’re going to do and how much that’ll cost.
Lastly, I should check with my dentist friend about a personal referral. He’s got relatives in the field, they might be more affordable than the local dentist and worth adding to the list of errands they run out in that area.
March 24, 2010
Lightening Round Giveaway: Postcards!
I have a lovely set of postcards to give away courtesy of Uprinting which has expanded to postcard printing. You can design and order your print cards online. Y’all have three days to snag this prize!
The specs:
100 4 x 6 Postcards for One (1) Winner
Paper Stock: 14pt Cardstock Gloss
Specifications: Full Color Both Sides; 3 Business Days Turnaround
Shipping: FREE UPS Ground Shipping
How to Enter:
(One entry) Leave a comment with your name and a valid email address.
Tell me anything you like about yourself.
(Five entries) Follow me and tweet this up to five times
“Win postcards from @RevancheGS: http://bit.ly/biwtBJ RT to win!”
(Two entries) Blog about this giveaway
Link back in a comment to let me know.
(Two entries) Subscribe to my feed (If you already subscribe, let me know in a comment)
Rules and Restrictions
1. I will select a winner at random using a number generator.
2. My decisions are final.
3. Open to US residents only. Sorry, my non-US resident friends!
4. Giveaway closes 11:59 pm PST, March 27th.
A Day of Remembrance
Six months ago, we said goodbye to a very dear friend.
It’s tax season, he always thrived during this time of year.
“Uncle,” they called him. As in, “Uncle, here are my forms, will you do my taxes?” Or “Uncle, I have a problem, I need your help.”
Through the years ….
“Uncle, it’s good to see you again. [hug] How have you been? Are you ready for another year of Comic-Con? Is there anything we can bring you back? No? We’ll see you for dinner tonight, I’ll call when we’re on our way home!”
“Uncle, we got you a t-shirt! Thanks for all the fruit you picked out, they were all fantastic for lunch. We saw so much today, I’ll tell you all about it …. “
“Uncle, what were you like as a boss? I’m going to be just like you, never stop working.”
Today …
“Uncle, we miss you. Your oldest is doing so well at his new job. You’d be so proud of him. You’d shake his hand. And give him a good pat on the back. He’s taking care of the family just like he promised. It’s not easy, you knew it wouldn’t be, but you just trust in him. He can do it. Youngest is still, well, still the youngest. Still needs a lot of attention, and more now that you’re gone. Youngest always needed someone to fight with and you were a sure thing. Youngest is a little lost without that anchor now. We all are. I’m still going to be just like you when I grow up. I just wish I’d taken better notes.”
He’s sorely missed.
March 23, 2010
A Presumptuous Proposal
Subtitled: So this is what it’s like, parenting.
Be forewarned, this here’s a rant.
The codependent sibling has struck again. This time, he’s proposing that he move the family to cheaper housing [don’t ask me how he thinks it’s going to be a) attainable, b) affordable, or c) tolerable as I have done my research on this front already], while he stays at the house with the dogs who wouldn’t be allowed in apartment housing, and renovate so that he can sublet to his prospective coworkers.
Leaving aside the costs of moving and maintaining a whole new household, the insanity of depending on him to renovate the house, and the utter lunacy of trusting him with my dog’s life and health, it’s like he’s a newborn babe innocent to all the ways of the world. [A thirty year old newborn.]
He really thinks it’s as simple as that summed up statement there. If I were crazy, foolish, or suicidally inclined, I might be tempted to say, why not? Let HIM take some responsibility for once. Except I’m not any of those and the second everything fell apart, I’d be asked to take over. Aw heck no!
This is the guy who hasn’t managed to pay $200 in rent once a month on time for more than 6 months. This is the guy who couldn’t keep up with his car payments more than halfway through the term, before abandoning the payments to me. This is the guy who evidently thinks I’m a moron and will cede to his Big Plan. Based on what? The essence of fairy dust?
Instead of smacking him upside the head Gibbs-style (ask Mrs. Micah or DebtHater what I mean 😉 by that), I listed just a few responsibilities “taking over the house” entailed, off the top of my head:
1. Are you prepared to feed and care for the dogs? Can you feed them on time every day, no excuses? Can you clean their ears, clip their toenails? Can you bathe them twice a month? Can you get your dog fixed? Can you pick up after them every single day?
2. What are you going to do when one of them gets sick?
3. Can you keep every public room in the house clean, vacuuming everything once a week, cleaning the windows once a quarter, washing the floors once a week?
4. Can you wash the dishes after every meal and wash down the kitchen once a week?
5. Can you turn off every unnecessary light in every room?
6. Can you make sure that no faucet, sink or tub in the house or the garage leaks?
7. Can you make sure that the windows are airtight?
8. Can you live without running the heat or the a/c?
9. Can you pay rent in full, every month, on time?
10. Can you pay the water/trash payments in full, every month, on time?
11. Can you pay the gas payments in full, every month, on time?
12. Can you pay the electric payments in full, every month, on time?
13. Can you pay the insurance payments in full, every month, on time?
14. Can you pay for groceries and gas after paying all those expenses without resorting to credit cards, borrowing money, or otherwise using money you haven’t already earned and received?
15. Can you live on what’s left after paying all those expenses without resorting to credit cards, borrowing money, or otherwise using money you haven’t already earned and received?
16. Can you make sure that the subletters pay their rent money to you on time to cover all of the above bills that you cannot handle on your own?
17. Can you make up the difference between $2500-3000 a month if your renters don’t pay you without resorting to credit cards or borrowing money?
18. How long can you subsidize your friends when someone doesn’t pay? You do know that just your living here doesn’t force them to pay?
19. Unless you have a legal written and signed document, you have very little power as a landlord. But the converse is that evicting someone for non-payment is extremely difficult in the state of California. You have to be unpaid for between three to six months before you’re allowed to evict them.
20. Who will be responsible if there’s an emergency?
21. Who is going to be responsible for a lawsuit if one of them or one of their friends gets injured on the property? You will. As the “landlord” you are legally responsible for injuries that occur on the property whether or not you were there to witness it.
22. How are you going to make time to renovate the house while going to school, working and managing finances for renters when you’ve never done the first two while managing your own finances responsibly consistently?
Now I think I’m going to go smack him upside the head. Honestly!! I have so many more things on my plate to deal with, I don’t have time to raise a 30-year-idiot.
*sigh*
Alright, fine. I’m a liar. I’m still in parenting mode. Because instead of just dismissing him and walking away, I’m giving him rules to abide by if he really wants to prove he’s serious about making things right. I am not sticking around to make him toe the line. Either he does it or he doesn’t, I’m not ceding any rights
School:
1. You lay out what your classes are from now until you graduate on a calendar.
2. You calendar when you will be looking for work that’s related to your degree or what comes next after graduation and how you’re going to make it happen.
3. You list out on a spreadsheet what the cost of school is, how much is covered by the government and what you will pay out of pocket for tuition, fees and books.
4. AND you show on a calendar your registration dates and the tuition due dates.
Rent:
1. You continue to work and earn at least $1000 a month.
2. You set out a budget that I approve in which you lay out how much money you’re earning against how much and what you’re spending. That will include a line item for rent, amount and due date set for the same time every month. It is your responsibility to make sure that I receive payment in full, on time.
3. You note your cash and every single item you spend on in the spreadsheet.
4. At the beginning of each month, your first payment is rent, at the end of every month, you post your spreadsheet with receipts.
House:
1. Whatever you think needs work needs to be scheduled to let everyone know what and when you’re doing a project and how long it will take. Renovations inconvenience everyone and you need to reduce that inconvenience as much as possible.
Does anyone want to start laying bets what kind of response my counter-proposal will get?