The morning came too early for me, as has been happening too often. I could have used another couple of hours. Instead, I rise like an unwilling undead and start my day at 7ish. I resisted, and it was more like 7:15 when I finally threw off the covers like an unwanted lover. Yes, I have been reading some gothic stuff and also feel it is time to find my writing voice again. Fatigue is no reason to be boring!
Breakfast puts up no resistance, and thus I find the last yogurt and last homemade scone to go with my liberal Fair-trade coffee. The status meetings for the shoe company start, as they do every day, at 8 and 8:30 local time. Again, I am just a tourist as I have no tasks, and there are no emergencies for me to help with. I listened and commented a few times while enjoying my breakfast. The video is off.
Once the meeting is done, I ask Alexa to play the La La Land soundtrack on the Echo Dot in the bedroom. I like to shower and dress to music; it is something I started to help motivate me when I was in chemotherapy.
Aside: During my chemotherapy, I found some tasks took a long time–the clock seemed to turn faster, but after playing music, the tasks took less time. I think I was going slower than I realized, and since there was nobody besides me at the house, I am not sure how much I slowed down. The beat of the music helped me go back to my more normal speed. A lesson that, I think.
I put the towels in the dryer I washed last night and ran a light but quickly aging dishwasher run. You cannot leave dishes unwashed in the machine for too long with the door shut. Next, I charged my phone and the Bluetooth speaker while showering and dressing. So, with the basic chores done, I headed out.
Air Volvo, taking now $90 to fill, took me to Susie’s place at Hummingbird House near Tigard. The trip, more extended from the house and using Hall Street, not 217, was uneventful despite passing two speeding traps–I was not speeding.
Susie was up today, Monday, and finishing her breakfast. Jennifer was on this Monday and was surprised to see me–she did not know Nike is closed for Juneteenth. Today was another movie for Susie: The Greatest Show.
Jennifer, after we waited for Susie to finish her breakfast, including scrambled eggs–Susie’s fav, moved Susie to a recliner in the activity room. I set up the screen I keep in Susie’s closet there and connected up the Mac. Ready.
The Greatest Show is a beautiful musical with great music that sounds a bit more modern and, of course, with its name, fantastic dance and circus performances. And, here is my favorite song: The Other Side. The story, while not historical, is meaningful and about discrimination and its impacts on people. I love a musical, and this one just moves me. Recommended.
We took a break about halfway through the film and called Leta, Susie’s mother. She was available at home, and she and Susie chatted for a while on FaceTime. Susie and I then finished the movie.
Next, it being a warming day and without, despite being June, rain, I took Susie outside. I pushed her wheelchair through most of Metzger Park, only turning around when the paved path started going downhill. I don’t trust my strength to resist gravity coming or going. Thinking, If I can’t handle stairs at Nike, pushing a wheelchair up and down hills will likely prove that gravity works and that I don’t!
The park was full of folks enjoying the Juneteenth (observed) holiday. Susie enjoyed the trip and the movie but was getting tired. I got Susie back to Hummingbird House, and Jennifer put Susie to bed for a short rest before a late lunch. I kissed her goodbye, and today she was not sad as we had a lovely day and she was a bit worn out from it.
I drove Air Volvo to McMenamins Cedar Mills location. I had not been there for months and needed to do some boring stuff. I promised myself to start up Quicken to manage our finances this three-day weekend. So I sat at the bar and got a Terminator (a dark beer) and pretzel bites with cheese dip. Next, I started the process and connected to my bank account with Quicken on my Mac. This only worked after making some changes to my bank account to allow access. This downloaded all the transactions in my account for three months of them to Quicken. I then had to characterize the transactions (some were correctly guessed by the software–IRS transactions were recognized as taxes, for example), which took hours. Yes, I sipped my beer and updated transactions for hours at the bar. Ordering sliders later for dinner-lunch.
Quicken is part of my retirement plan. I need to start watching every dollar. With Susie’s medical large bills, retirement may be further in the future, but the need for precision in our finances is now critical. I need to track all the medical bills and know where every dollar goes. I have had the privilege of not needing to be careful for a few years, but it is time to return to my detailed planning.
As I said, the basics are downloading all the transactions and then assigning them. First, I did all the easy ones and repetitive ones at the bar–beer helps. I then drove home and read and rested for a bit. Next, I looked up checks, Amazon orders, and Paypal details on the significant high-value transactions that I did not recognize. Soon, I had all those done (remembering now where all my money went) and ignored a few minor unclassified items. Quicken is now usable.
I added a screen to my Apple to make this work feel less like drudgery. Sometimes Quicken can make you feel like being virtually chained to an oar and rowing. I have the Quicken items up on one screen with Amazon, the bank, or Paypal on the other screen. This lets me easily match up the transactions. This is my USB-C portable screen that uses only one cable.
I also finished my laundry and the towels. All put away while doing all of this. It is a boring task so folding laundry is a good break.
I also connected my trading account and one credit card to Quicken. Quicken then handles matching across accounts, thus avoiding doubling up transactions. I did have one transaction that did not work right; I miss classified it. I deleted the erroneous transaction and re-entered it with a correction. Everything is good now. I could not get American Express to connect to Quicken yet. I will try again later in the week.
I will now download all the transactions from the bank, trading account, and credit card(s) and have a complete picture of my cash finances. Later, I will add the 401K, deferred compensation, and the house and car value to get a complete picture. This is what I used to have years ago, back to old habits.
Next, I rested a bit more. Cut some roses for Susie for tomorrow and then wrote the blog. Thanks for reading.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 