My Weblog

I want it to be over

It's supposed to be a high of 108 in the shade in the desert today. Yesterday it was 109. NOT a noticeable improvement. And as far out as the 10-day forecast will go, it's still triple digits. It is so blasted hot one turns into a creature of the night, only voluntarily going outside after the sun sets. I am due at work at 11 today. The car will be extremely hot when I get into it and probably will have cooled to barely tolerable by the time I get to work. The steering wheel will burn my hands. It will be at least as hot when I climb back into it to come home around 4 PM.

The good news--you knew there had to be some, right?--is that my back has stopped spasming. And I think that will actually hold through a whole shift. I am so grateful. 

New client--insights into the "pandemic"

I had a new client referred to me. A few years ago I would have met this with great joy. Now it's more mixed emotions. I'm really pretty burnt out on doing accounting/tax. In fact, by the time tax season ended this year, I was ready to send out a blanket letter to my existing clients to, putting it mildly, establish new rules. I am so tired of inconsiderate people, who have all their info at hand, wandering in here at the last minute. It puts SO MUCH stress on me, particularly since I have the bread and butter part time job. And, believe me, this isn't the first time I've had to bridle my tongue and keep myself from doing this. I have tried to be accommodating, but I know that some people will take advantage of you because they can. They don't need any other motivation.........

I had to drive about 8 miles to meet with this new client. And, I ended up making two wrong turns trying to find him. He lives in a fancy gated community with all sorts of twisty turny streets. My car is old enough that it doesn't have GPS. Sometimes that is an inconvenience--like today. I felt like I was on a search for the Holy Grail. Sometimes I like it because there may come a time I'd rather big brother not know where I am at all times. However, today's experience had me online pricing portable GPS systems--the kind you can disconnect. 

The guy is Asian and elderly. I would say he was born in the US to immigrant parents. He is filthy rich, at least by my standards. He owns several pieces of rental property in Washington DC. He just turned down a cash offer of 2 million dollars on one of them. Two years ago the same property was appraised at 5 million. Here's what I learned about COVID: This particular property is rented to a restaurant. However, as of May, he's lost $22000 on it. Because of COVID, the lessee can't pay the rent. Meanwhile, the operating expenses of the property are falling on my new client. He has met with an attorney who specializes in landlord-tenant matters and there appears to be nothing he can do. According to the attorney, the courts that hear landlord-tenant cases have shut down. Apparently law firms who specialize in this type of law are closing up operations. And they don't expect the courts to open up til the end of the year, at which time there will be  huge backlog of cases. So, my client cannot evict the client . And having the facility standing vacant has depressed the market value of the property so he stands to lose millions if he tries to sell out now. However, in the alternative, in the meantime, he is on the hook for the operating expenses--utilities and such. He cannot turn off the lights, etc., because then the place turns into a derelict building.

I have had a great deal of sympathy for people facing eviction or foreclosure because of lay-offs and business closures due to "the China Virus". It brought to mind the fact that the small branch bank in the neighborhood of my work, has closed down. Now, I'm sure B of A is still solid, but can we expect other small branches to close? The truth is, upper echelon management would be wise to take that step. With home loans not being repaid, and, I'm sure commercial loans are also not being repaid, you can see that the banks will have less cash to play with and will need to cut costs. In addition, many of the renters/borrowers may need to bankrupt due to this mess. This could take quite a toll on the nation's banks.

I had never looked at it from the standpoint of property owners or mortgage lien holders. Even worse, we once again face a glut on the market of rental property and foreclosed homes, once we think "it's" over, thus depressing the market value of those homes that are not hardship sales. It's gonna take a while to pull out of this...........possibly quite a long while.

Maybe things are looking up

I worked yesterday. I managed to stay 4 hours. Today, I do not have the heating pad on and, even so, I have only a tiny dull ache in my back. Thank God! I'm afraid 6 straight days of heavy duty pain was wearing me down..........Believe me, my daily prayers on this subject have been becoming increasingly "fervent".

It was time for me to look at grocery ads again. Kroger is running their case lot sale again. I was beginning to think maybe that would never happen again. I don't eat a lot of canned items, but it's nice to be able to buy the few things I do use in bulk and for less. I may even buy some canned veggies just to know I have them. The flip side to that is that their meat "specials" are really limited this week. Their big deal meat item is strip steak at $7.99 a pound. Thanks, but no thanks. I have plenty of meat in jars and in the freezer because, when meat has gone on sale at some sort of bargain price, I've stocked up. For example, last week they had 80 or 85% lean (I can't remember which) at $2.99 a pound, I bought almost 10 pounds of it. 

I have been trying, a little at a time, to stock up again. If Dementia Joe gets elected, I fear a national shutdown which he has said he would do "if the science suggests". Hence, that case lot sale at Kroger's (Smith's) looks pretty good to me. I am trying to buy back ups wherever I have holes. I'm thinking things like salt, baking powder, baking soda, fruits and veggies. I do have a fairly decent stash of freeze-dried veggies and I try to add to that every month. It domes in really handy when I get a sudden urge to make something I don't have ingredients for. I have also dehydrated some fruits and veggies myself. I am pretty sure I could live for quite a few months on what I have stashed. 

I have spent most of this afternoon working on food-related stuff. When you are a relatively inexperienced gardener, one of the mysteries of life is what to plant when. I have been browsing a blog by a local lady (that's important, given the extreme nature of our climate) who feeds a family of 7 kids and 2 adults on $400 a month. Much of her produce comes from her own front and back yards. She has her own planting calendar posted and I've drawn from that and one other source to create my own. She even includes her fertilization schedule, when to prune, etc. She's quite the model housewife............

I don't think I've told you that my computer has been on the fritz. I called a guy from work who works on computers as a sideline. He seems to really know what he's talking about. Anyway, as you've probably guessed since I'm posting again, she's fixed now. For all the work he did, his charge to me was $90. I am sure he had hours in on the job as well as having to install a new video card. In any case, in that I don't have TV, I am thrilled she's back to functional again. I do have one nagging question. It seems to me that everyone who works on a computer wants it organized the way they see fit. What makes these people assume I don't want it organized the way I see fit?

 

No, I haven't died...........

Wednesday I had myself all ready to go to work with about 3 hours to spare. I decided I'd very carefully try to vacuum the carpet. I bent down to release the dirt bin on the Dyson--didn't actually touch it, just bent down. My back popped out and immediately began to spasm. I called the store and told them I could not come in. I spent the day flat on my back in bed, taking muscle relaxers. I got up Thursday and things seemed to be better until right before I was ready to leave when I felt the first twinge. It was too late to "call out", so I went to work. By 2.5 hours later i was REALLY hurting. I asked to go home but was told I needed to work another hour. A co-worker slipped me an 800 mg ibuprofen. Honestly, it didn't seem to help at all. Finally at 3.5 hours I was released. I came home, took more muscle relaxers and went to bed. Friday and Saturday were my long-awaited weekend. I spent them in bed, doped up on muscle relaxers. By yesterday I had felt 8 pops in my back. Never before can I remember more than 5. Maybe they were just popping in and out. I don't know. But I tried going to work today. i managed 2.5 hours again and came home.  Since then I've had muscle relaxers and pain pills and slept 6 hours. At the moment, I'm sitting against the heating pad and not feeling too bad.

I am really angry at my doctor. I've complained to you before that he doesn't want to give me a prescription for SOMA. He's gotten a wild hair about "opiates". Well, honestly, for occasions such as this I've had a supply of SOMA in the house for about 3 decades. I am not in any way addicted to them. I dug around til I found the last of my stash. A previous doctor had given me a prescription for 90 in August, 2017. I have taken several and I still have 6 left. Does that sound like I'm addicted to you? I worked in a drug abuse facility many years ago, and, believe me, that doesn't sound like any kind of addict I ever encountered. 

Yet, this stupid doctor had someone send me a tens machine without authorizing it with my insurance. The insurance company denied the claim. I'm just waiting for a bill for over $10,000 to appear in my mail box. I'll be spittin' fire about then. He told these people I had arthritis in my back. I don't think so. Surely if I had arthritis in my back, things would not be popping in and out at will. And, he's never done so much as a sedimentation test to see if I have arthritis. The next time I see him, he and I are going to have a "come to Jesus" meeting--I don't care if he is a Muslim!

Today I went to let the head cashier know I was going home. Some person I don't know gave me permission to leave. I actually stopped and asked another cashier who that person was. Surprise! Apparently we have a new head cashier. In typical fashion, no one had introduced this person. I find the lack of communication within this organization ludicrous.

Several weeks ago, they began a store "reset". Basically they are moving things around within the store. People constantly ask the cashiers "Where can I find __________?" No one has bothered to tell us what they've moved or where they've moved it. How are we supposed to answer these questions? 

I have been praying most fervently for a new job which will not be so hard on me physically. If you can spare some prayer time, I'd appreciate you joining me in that petition. 

It's late and I'm going to go lie down again............

New kicks

I finally broke down and bought some new lace up shoes. I've needed them for many months. They're just so expensive........... They felt okay for a few hours. Then I became painfully aware of the "good support"--that's what they call it when they build up the arches. The problem is that I have flat feet. That "good support" just punches up into the meat of my flat feet. Over time that alone renders me almost unable to walk. I forgot that I need to put heel lifts in them. With the heel lifts, the punch up of the arch support hits at a different angle and the "bruised" feeling in the arch area feels better. I'll fix that before I wear them again...........

It was also a bad allergy day. I started with that drainage down the back of my throat. I took some extra allergy pills and that felt better. Then my nose began to run. And by the end of the day my eyes were burning and itching and watering something fierce. No idea what brought it all on, but it sure wasn't fun. In the age of Covid, customers get a little paranoid when you're snuffling, blowing, and wiping your nose.

And to complete my joy, my stomach started some mild cramping. Sunday I had diarrhea. I tried two peptos, but they couldn't handle it. I had to resort to Immodium. I hate that stuff. It seems to form something like the Hoover dam in my colon. It takes days for the dam to break. Yeah, today was the day.

So I guess you could say I felt like crap from head to toe................

Culinary masterpiece..........

I made something remarkable tonight. The veggie of the week around here is the sweet potato. Last night Parker and I enjoyed mashed sweet potatoes, prepared much like you'd prepare mashed potatoes. Tasty. I went looking for more ways to make sweet potatoes. I found sweet potatoes with apples or pineapple or cranberries. I found various sweet potato casseroles which seemed all to require pecans. Alas, I have no pecans. I found sweet potato bread, sweet potato muffins, and sweet potato pancakes. I found sweet potatoes with sauces: orange, maple, honey, etc. I found roasted veggies which included sweet potatoes. I even found sweet potato chili and sweet potato soup. I might try the sweet potato soup but the chili is definitely out. I finally decided to make what I'll call sweet potato pudding. It is actually the custard that goes into a sweet potato pie except no pie crust. And, it is scrumptious. I ate half and saved half, though I wanted to eat it all! Not terribly healthy, but there was some healthy sweet potato...........

I worked that 8 hour shift Sunday. They promised I could work in Lumber. They kept their word, mostly. I ended up in the front end on a register for 2 hours. That wasn't enough to make me feel awful.

Then I worked Monday again. Today I've been off. I am trying to make a push around here. It's hard. I come home so wrung out between physical pain and stress that I'm virtually worthless. But I keep trying.

Craziness at work, as usual. Do you remember talking about the little head cashier I called the fireball? Well she's been missing in action for a while now. Rumor has it she's on some extended leave and that she's stepped down as a head cashier. I have a feeling I know why but I'm keeping quiet on that one.