Wednesday morning was more about me trying to start in the morning with the time change and darkness. It was hard to sleep and to rise. Ugh. I slept to 8! I got up and remembered I had to meet Samuel at US Bank to deposit the IRA rollover check. I took a quick shower, shaved, and wore a Star Wars T-shirt. No coffee or food. I hop into Air VW the Gray, make it at 9, and see Samuel leaving his car. Tracy, the branch manager, lets us in as she opens the US Bank branch a few minutes after 9. Tracy, Samuel, and another person I don’t know are all smartly dressed. Samuel introduced me to Tracy (I shook her hand) as one of his clients.
Tracy is supportive of Samuel and even offers to get me coffee. This is much different than my last confused stop there. Samuel created a receipt for me and the money, and all the 401K value appeared at US Bank that afternoon. Yay!
We talked about the market and the chaos and what he thinks. Like more investment folks I have spoken to, he advises caution, that corrections are usual, and that the change offers better buying opportunities. Since I have been all in cash since Thursday, he believes I missed much of the correction and sees me in a good position to buy at cheaper prices. We agree that Trump’s policies and chaos are not yet showing any signs of damage to the economy (as a liberal, that grinds on me, but the truth is better), inflation is still headed down, and the latest job reports were good. As a liberal, I would count that as the result of good policies from Biden. Samuel shook hands, and I headed out feeling a level head was in charge of my investments. I return home.
The blog for Tuesday has already been published, meaning I am at loose ends. I read the news (I am still doom-scrolling) and updated my Quicken entries. Jeff was there at 10 and started more power washing. I get out the broom and sweep the floors. I am talking to Deborah, who is free in the late morning my time. I head out to the local sushi place in the EV, Sushi Zen, and soon sit down at a track and pick a few favorites. They know me, and I have miso soup, hot tea, and a few plates. I am on my Apple at the same time, looking at travel options. None of these will work, I discover later, but it is fun to imagine going. I stay longer, eat more slowly, and only have four plates, which is a very light lunch. I talk to the waiter/cashier about travel, and the waiter’s eyes light up, and the waiter likes the idea of traveling to Europe.
Jeff re-cut the deck he had built years ago to increase the hole the mountain ash passes through. The tree is now intruding on the framing. In the future, he will need to reframe that part of the deck and create a large opening for the tree. The hole will be at its limit in a few years. There is no reason to fix it now. In the dry times (after the start of July and sometimes even mid-June in the past years), he will seal the wood, cut down some trees pressing on the fence, and fix anything else that breaks. He will return on Thursday to finish the bathroom and paint the back of the front door, which is still the primer color.
I mop the floors using Swiffer sheets and burn through a lot, as the dirt takes some time to lift. I skip the bathrooms as Jeff has some work. I do clean the shower and douse myself in cold water when cleaning—cold! I cleaned the vacuum, including the washed filter. I cannot vacuum until it dries–that ends up being a Thursday item, as it takes all day and night to dry.
I return to writing and add more to my story in Scrivener. I am focusing on the main character and adding features and thoughts about Brass, my main character. I worked on his appearance and described his personality. The software has sections to do this. So far, I have written nothing for the story as I form my ideas. I also describe a fantasy world and a new magic system with strong connections to Dungeons and Dragons’s Forgotten Realms material.
The dishes are done, and I’m watching some more Apple+ Severence shows. I can watch about one episode a day. The main character has a lot of grief, which hits me hard. The characters are interesting and seem believable.
I also read more of Elric’s stories and looked at the 2024 Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook. I like the changes, as they appear to clarify the stacking of effects. Some of the changes in 5E from 3.5 have been rolled back. I downloaded the new character sheet and sent it to my gaming friends.
I still have trouble sleeping, and the broken toilet runs twice. I discovered the chain inside was blocking the seal, and I managed to fiddle it back to quiet. I had to prove hydration twice. Sleep is still hard to find, but just as I turn to read, sleep decides to take me. I dream forgotten dreams about fixing the house and traveling. Maybe I had to fix a toilet in the hotel. My alarm wakes me too early. I ignore it and wake ninety minutes later!
Thanks for reading.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 