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2018 did not have an auspicious start....
Jan. 13th, 2018 11:38 amDecember went well. Visited Aunt, had a good family visit the Saturday before Christmas, had a quiet Christmas at home on the 25th.... our friend Bruce treated us to the Special Showing of the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas Special at the Cinema ... about the only negative thing about December was the electricity bill, which due to the utility company switching to Winter Rates and the fact that Husband was home all day every day on his 'Use It or Lose it' vacation time, was at least twice the normal amount (at least we didn't have a fallen ceiling this year!) -- and the bill being due on Jan. 2nd -- which meant I had to get it in the mail right after Christmas so it didn't get held up by the New Year's Postal holiday..... So the Christmas money from Mom went to pay the electric bill.
So .... first week of January 2018 -- Record low winter temperatures, mostly below zero, and snow. On Tuesday, January 2nd, Husband went back to work. Same old, same old --- except that evening when he went out to the parking lot to get in his car to come home, he discovered that his car's back window had shattered from the cold! He had to drive home with a piece of cardboard shoved in the gap -- too cold for duct tape even to stick. Then came the two hours of phone calls, to try to find an affordable window replacement service -- the cheapest and soonest was $409, and on Saturday. He called our Auto insurance company to see if they would cover it --- yes, but only after the deductible ($500). After the holidays (and our mail-order medicine orders) , both of us were riding way too close to our Credit Card limits. Husband tried to get an increase on one of his cards, but it would take a week to go through -- if approved.... Neither Firestone nor Goodyear were able to help....
We managed, by fore-going our weekly grocery run (average:$150) and eating up the holiday left-overs (only replacing milk and lunch meat when we ran out), and only paying minimum amount due on bills due before next paychecks; I returned some yarn I'd purchased after Christmas (every little bit helps!); and the AutoGlass company gave us a cash discount (only $390 instead of $409). Keep in mind that this was a week of negative degree weather.....
So, last Saturday, we had the car window replaced -- on Sunday, something went wrong with our clothes washer. Wouldn't spin out and NASTY residue left in the drum..... last time this happened, it was due to blockage in the pipes and a faulty back-flow check valve..... So Husband took apart a few of the pipes --- nothing nasty came gushing out immediately, so we are thinking its not our immediate pipes but something frozen further up the line.... and again, keep in mind that the temps were STILL in the negative degrees.... Husband got his paycheck yesterday, and I get mine on Monday, so we are semi-solvent again. Husband has a plan for trying to resolve the plumbing issue this weekend. I, on the other hand, have checked out the local laundromat -- just in case. Last time we had trouble with back-up from the sewer line it also affected other parts of the plumbing system (toilet, bathtub); this time it's just the clothes-washer....
I really hope things turn around and that the plumbing thing doesn't turn out to be horribly expensive to fix.
ARRRRGH!
I confess to being a tad nervous about next week. True, I get my paycheck on Monday. But Monday is also MLK day (observed) -- and I can never remember if its considered a Bank/Post Office holiday or not.... a few years ago I forgot about a Postal Holiday when sending out the bills, and the Auto Insurance payment was late due to that said Postal Holiday, and I was charged a LATE FEE for the rest of that quarter... and the Auto Insurance is due on Jan. 22nd....
Okay, the Good news -- the Kickstarter for the new Eric Stuart Band CD (benefit to help pay medical fees for the band's drummer) has already met its goal (deadline is Jan.31)..... so new ESB is on the way! Still time to pre-order -- $25 donation will get you an autographed CD...
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ericstuartband/eric-stuart-band-my-kind-of-danger-new-album
That's it for me for now. Sorry if I was a bit of a downer.
So .... first week of January 2018 -- Record low winter temperatures, mostly below zero, and snow. On Tuesday, January 2nd, Husband went back to work. Same old, same old --- except that evening when he went out to the parking lot to get in his car to come home, he discovered that his car's back window had shattered from the cold! He had to drive home with a piece of cardboard shoved in the gap -- too cold for duct tape even to stick. Then came the two hours of phone calls, to try to find an affordable window replacement service -- the cheapest and soonest was $409, and on Saturday. He called our Auto insurance company to see if they would cover it --- yes, but only after the deductible ($500). After the holidays (and our mail-order medicine orders) , both of us were riding way too close to our Credit Card limits. Husband tried to get an increase on one of his cards, but it would take a week to go through -- if approved.... Neither Firestone nor Goodyear were able to help....
We managed, by fore-going our weekly grocery run (average:$150) and eating up the holiday left-overs (only replacing milk and lunch meat when we ran out), and only paying minimum amount due on bills due before next paychecks; I returned some yarn I'd purchased after Christmas (every little bit helps!); and the AutoGlass company gave us a cash discount (only $390 instead of $409). Keep in mind that this was a week of negative degree weather.....
So, last Saturday, we had the car window replaced -- on Sunday, something went wrong with our clothes washer. Wouldn't spin out and NASTY residue left in the drum..... last time this happened, it was due to blockage in the pipes and a faulty back-flow check valve..... So Husband took apart a few of the pipes --- nothing nasty came gushing out immediately, so we are thinking its not our immediate pipes but something frozen further up the line.... and again, keep in mind that the temps were STILL in the negative degrees.... Husband got his paycheck yesterday, and I get mine on Monday, so we are semi-solvent again. Husband has a plan for trying to resolve the plumbing issue this weekend. I, on the other hand, have checked out the local laundromat -- just in case. Last time we had trouble with back-up from the sewer line it also affected other parts of the plumbing system (toilet, bathtub); this time it's just the clothes-washer....
I really hope things turn around and that the plumbing thing doesn't turn out to be horribly expensive to fix.
ARRRRGH!
I confess to being a tad nervous about next week. True, I get my paycheck on Monday. But Monday is also MLK day (observed) -- and I can never remember if its considered a Bank/Post Office holiday or not.... a few years ago I forgot about a Postal Holiday when sending out the bills, and the Auto Insurance payment was late due to that said Postal Holiday, and I was charged a LATE FEE for the rest of that quarter... and the Auto Insurance is due on Jan. 22nd....
Okay, the Good news -- the Kickstarter for the new Eric Stuart Band CD (benefit to help pay medical fees for the band's drummer) has already met its goal (deadline is Jan.31)..... so new ESB is on the way! Still time to pre-order -- $25 donation will get you an autographed CD...
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ericstuartband/eric-stuart-band-my-kind-of-danger-new-album
That's it for me for now. Sorry if I was a bit of a downer.
