1/10/2016

Weekly Update 1/10/2016

I'd been putting off a lot of little errands that I needed to get to. But the holidays got so busy - who ever would have thought I'd spend so much time in my kitchen? - that I just didn't get to them. So this week:

I contacted the Management at the condo development about some peeling veneers in my building. Nothing big, and not a danger, but it doesn't look as if the property is maintained if these things are not tended to.

I went to Staples to buy stationary items that I'd depleted when I made my Christmas cards. This is probably the last year I'll send holiday greetings, as I'm all out of ideas. But I needed card stock paper, envelopes, business card sheets and the little clips I use to keep my bills together when I close the financial year. I found everything except the envelopes. I haven't been able to find them in the last several times I've gone in there to look, so I complained as I checked out. The clerk helped me order exactly what I wanted, and it would be delivered to my door (it arrived the very next day) and it was $5 cheaper than on the shelf!

My car blinker has been malfunctioning. I think the directionals themselves are working, but the blinker inside the car made a funny noise. So I made an appointment to go to the VW repair shop to have the wiring checked. As soon as I made that appointment, the noise stopped. I went out there anyway to have them check to see if all my blinkers were flashing properly, and they were. But only until Sunday, when the noise began again. I don't know how fast I'll drive out to the repair shop again to have it checked into; it might be better to just make the appointment and then the car will work by magic!

The sheet of linoleum (or whatever it is) in my foyer has been awful. (The kitchen floor is bad as well, but I'll put that off for another day). The plastic is curling where it meets the door, probably because when the outside hallway is power washed, some water seeps through and is damaging inside my condo. So I finally went to the floor store to buy some ceramic tiles to replace it. I will have to try to find someone to install it for me, but at least I've started the repair. And then, because I think I need to fix the gap at the bottom of the door, not only because of water, but also for heat and cool air loss and entry for bugs, I bought a weather strip. I'll install that myself after the tile is in place.

I got a haircut. My New Year's resolution is to try to look less frumpy. Not an easy task. While it's impossible for me to lose weight or stick to a diet, I decided to try other ways to meet this goal. I started with buying new jeans. The pair I wear the most were threadbare in the thighs (this ever happen to you?) so I bought new ones that I hope will look better because I live in jeans. And I had my hair trimmed. I was disappointed because I went to Great Clips, which was cheap, and I got what I paid for. I needed to trim a little more once I was home to even things up. If I have to do that, I think I can cut my own hair next time.

Rummikub at June and Jimmy's started again as an every Wednesday event. We took a time out for the month of December when there was so much else going on, but we're back now.

I sent a complaint to the Post Office. I had a few things to complain about, but I only wrote about one. A Christmas card that was mailed to me was returned to sender, with the memo that it was undeliverable and unable to forward. Marcia emailed me to find out what my correct address was, and she had it right. She re-sent the card in another envelop, so I had both to make copies of and send to the Post Master, asking why, with the addresses the same, one would have been returned. Good Luck getting an answer. But another one was, when I sent the meager packages to New York, I mailed them on December 10. I paid for 2-day delivery. As far as I know, neither arrived until December 23. And for the last thing, Ishy and I both sent cards to someone in Florida at the same address. Ishy's was returned to her, but mine never was, so I'm left thinking that everything is ok but they, for whatever reason, didn't reply. Why one but not the other? Government, I suppose - they don't care; they don't have to.

And lastly, I took the Buffalo Bills license plate off the front of my car. The season is over, so I don't need that any longer.

So, it's just been a week of getting caught up. I'm exhausted.

Monday started off with a New Years celebration at the Community Center and Book Club. 

Donna enjoys the Community Center more than I do - she goes to exercise class (yuck) and movies (on Fridays when I'm at DH). I used to go to bingo there, but haven't been in ages. Donna got two tickets for this event, so we went together. There was a meal and entertainment. Most of the people attending are residents at Summer Breeze, a senior facility on Wilmington Island, and that kitchen catered the meal. It was pot roast, and quite tasty. Good to know! The entertainment was a singer who was lively and sang standards. I think I was the only person who did not sing along. These people, some (myself included) who have trouble remembering family members names, knew every lyric.

I was back at DH on Friday, after a few weeks off. The museum was closed on both Christmas Day and New Years Day, which were both Fridays. I'm going to have next week off, as well, because it will be closed for cleaning. This week, after the museum closed, there was a reception for retiring head shop keeper, Ben Head. Good Luck, Ben!

I was notified that my VISA card was “compromised” and would be cut off on January19 if I didn't do it sooner and that a new card would be mailed to me. Crap. I have several auto-payments set up that are charged to my credit card. Another problem here is that there is sign at my mail center that gave a warning that some mailboxes were being “tampered with”. I don't know what that means, but it can't be good. Along with a new credit card that I'm expecting, I am also waiting tax documents, year end investment statements, and other financial documents that I really don't want anyone else to have access to. Well, Wilma, welcome to the digital age, where everything is available to everyone. I spent a lot of time canceling payment options and switching to having the fees deducted from my checking, not my credit card. I don't know if that's more secure, but I don't know what else to do. I also tried to look at my credit card statement online, but couldn't get in. I'll have to continue next week to see if anything has been charged that I don't recognize.

And, finally – what's with the playoffs? Do teams actually NOT want to go to the Super Bowl? The Texans couldn't score any points at all against the Chiefs. The Bengals gave the game to the Steelers with a stupid, preventable personal foul penalty. The Vikings missed at 27-yard Field Goal for the win.