Anne N. Mouse: Blog

I'm poor because I planned poorly and did stupid on steroids when I was younger. I know this is my fault, and I'm attempting (with little success) to rectify the situation. The big problem I'm facing now is tracking my spending. I'm sure the pie hole is still the biggest hole in the budget. But for me to write a 'budget' then not track my actual spending to categories is only slightly less fictional than a congressional budget. Less fictional because unlike congress (both parties have their favorite 'charity' to be supported with borrowed money) I cannot, and do not send money that I do not have.

Thus some hard words are going to be exchanged again with my mother. Tonight I came in and she announced she is out of heating fuel (it is my responsibility [IDK exactly how that came about] to provide heating fuel) but I have no money because my motorized roller-skate broke and must be either replaced or fixed.

Part of the hard words we are going to have are going to be about her wanting to travel 50+ miles to church (and just guess who is supposed to take her there) if you guessed me, you got it in one. This will be an all day trip, 'cause she wants to see her grandchildren (I do understand that) and visit an evening service while in town. Now I can't shop for anything that needs to stay cool (not that I'm apt to anyway) or much other shopping, 'cause if my mom gets out of the car (Truck) she will be lost in the store and even ignore a page (can you page people any more?) so I of course worry about whether or not she has fallen, left the store, etc. while trying to find her. And because of COVID there aren't even benches to sit on, and my mom refuses to use a store 'motorized cart' to ride around on though I'll hear all about how hard it was for her to get around. Also because the AC doesn't work in the truck I don't want to leave her in the truck, which she refuses to understand.

Or why I'm frustrated with my car. I had planned to do a timing belt change, with a water pump as well fairly soon. I just hadn't gotten a commitment with regard to time from someone who has some specialized tools which I don't own, and hope to not have to buy at this point. Anyway, that is not to be as it seems to me that I may have lost the water pump… at least it didn't seem to me that I had water in my oil, though I do intend to do a head gasket change due to the engine getting hotter than I like for one to get. Baked in the cake, to some extent, though doing this, if I do it, means probably setting back my plan for a different car for at least about six months. I dump $100 per pay period into the get Anne a better car fund, or about $2600 per year, if the better car fund doesn't get used to repair my current car, as it doesn't contain enough to pay for a better car, but more than enough (hopefully) to repair the one I have. But I've pretty much decided that if I do this, especially on top of just recently having the front end rebuilt, that it is the limit. No more repairs for this car. If it doesn't last out more than the six months that it takes to replenish my get a better car fund, or longer, then I promised myself, even if it goes against Dave Ramsey's plan, to borrow enough to get a better car.

Of course that could all be mooted by the get me to the doctor now order I got the other day when I called in for a consultation over the phone. He wants me to have more blood work soonest 'cause he saw some very concerning level rises in my last blood work. And here I thought all the lifting and carrying I've been doing would help things. But apparently not, 'cause he wants me to get new blood work. Unfortunately, my doctor is the VA and the closest VA clinic to where I work is not in the region where my care is 'registered' I'll go see the one nearest my work Monday anyway, 'cause they may have a work-around for me due to my 20% SCD rating. Don't complain, you don't live with and climb stairs with my knees! I do the 'stair-master' at work, nearly every day. Or at least the 'step-master' even if it is only four or five times of stepping up an hour…. Or not if I can avoid it!

I stopped at Wal-mart today and picked up a couple of bottles of Glucosimine Chondroitin (my spell checker hates both those spellings but they are what I hear) and a couple of bottles of liquid anti pain meds that go on the skin… AKA a knockoff of something like Absorbine. I needed it, my Asper-creme knockoff is empty and I had bilateral cramps in my legs, going up the insides, from my knees to my groin. I wasn't sure I was going to get up and moving without a walker! So again my car may be mooted if I become unable to walk or drive. The other worry? Just precursors to CANCER, maybe. Of course I couldn't be so lucky as to die in my sleep.

8/8/21

Sunday. And two days in a row at the computer! Now to do something other than meander. Well I did start several projects, but none are really calling. The muse gets that way I guess. Go a day or two without paying attention to her and she gets in a snit, just like every other female.

Then there is my mom. I asked if she wanted to go somewhere today. 'I'd rather go with your sister.' but my sister? Neither one of them in the area has a car. I don't either, but I do have (back from my sister who abused it) my dad's Mazda 3000. I don't mind taking my mom around. But at the same time, she thinks I should get some of the 'honey do' list around the place done. Which won't happen unless I can feel more rested, and less stress'd'd! I think I just barely missed breaking 50 hours of brute labor this week. So all the 'honey dos'? They are getting put aside. None of them are much less brute labor than what I do to earn a living.

Going back to the doctor wanting more blood. If I can't get the clinic nearest me to talk to the clinic I usually go to for care, then I have to take a vacation day, and I want to schedule that a couple of weeks in advance, 'cause the boss just announced a $1.00 per hour bonus for being there all the scheduled hours…. And I already took all my sick days being sick and tired of work!

I'm waiting (impatiently) on parts for my motorized rollerskate... As I suspected I have a badly worn inner tie-rod end. Hopefully this week I will have them available and installed. Not work I intend to do. I did enough pounding on plumbing today (with no result) Pipes are age welded together.... so I have to consider another strategy... no room under house to really wrench on them and I can't find my large monkey wrench (not a pipe wrench, but a knock off 'crescent' wrench) older (hopefully galvanized steel) pipes put together with knuckles (trying to avoid busting my knuckles while getting the ones in the pipe to come loose....) PEX going in when I get things apart!

Highway 97 has been closed for a week due to a wild fire. So far I'm safe, north of the fire. But man it has made a mess of the wilderness!

So it's been at least a month since I wrote even so much as a word on anything, even this blog, but yesterday one of my fans challenged me to improve A Bitch and Her Boy so that is what I was doing this morning. I can't promise anything soon, but hopefully I'll get something out!