Jeepers

That's odd about your SS tax. If you are in Virginia, you shouldn't have to pay any tax on your social security. 

Granted, I don't know a lot about how it works but social security benefits in Indiana and Ohio are tax free. 

I need to get my taxes done too. HR Block keeps making appointments for me without my knowledge. I keep getting emails that they set another one up. Two days ago I got one that said I had an appointment at 8:45PM. Today I got one that said I have an appointment today at 11:03AM. It was already noon when I saw it. The nerve.

It's gonna hurt this year because one of my stocks had a sell off and I'm going to have to pay capital gains on it. I've got everything ready. I'll make an appointment when I'm ready. 

I got a message from my doctor today. My creatinine level has elevated again. Guess my kidneys aren't doing so well. He mentioned seeing a nephrolgist. I'm not doing that yet. I need to get the cardiologist taken care of first. Sheesh. Go see a kidney doctor with a heart monitor on. They'll think I'm a hypochondriac. 

I looked up how to lower the levels. It said among other things to avoid protein especially fish and beef and to cut back on alcohol and smoking. I don't drink and I don't smoke and I don't eat fish and only have a burger about twice a month. It said to eat blueberries and strawberries but last week I read where they are some of the dirtiest (chemical) foods there is. I bought some anyway. Thanks to the new icemaker, I am drinking more. If I was a horse they would have done shot me by now.  

Public Service Announcement:

I got some useless "window blinds" from Amazon the other day. They said they were the roller kind but they weren't. You had to Velcro the top of them to the window frame. Also cut the side of them off to the width you want. They came folded up. Basically a piece of folded plastic you velcroed to the top of your window frame. I should have known by the price. Too good to be true. I bought...8. 

Anyway, I've never returned anything to Amazon but I wasn't going to keep all 8 of them. I went on their site to see about returning them. Boy was it easy! I filled out a short form saying why i wanted to return them and they told me where I could go locally to return them. UPS store, Whole Foods, Kohls and some other place. Maybe Staples. UPS is right up the street. Amazon emailed me one of those q code things. I took the stuff to the UPS store and they scanned the code, gave me a receipt and that was it. Amazon emailed me back and said they received the notice from UPS and will refund my card as soon as it arrives to them. 

Just mentioning it incase anyone else gets a dud and wants to return something to Amazon. I thought I  would have to go to the post office and pay to send them back. Glad I wasn't stuck with them and glad it was so easy to return. I'm not big on returning stuff but there were 8 of them. 

Everyone else beside me probably already knew all of this.   

Darn you Midnightmom. I had to touch the screen to scroll up away from it. I almost had to touch that fish. The struggle is real girlfriend. The struggle is real. 

See. That there is why I used to lie and say I was allergic to fish. And yes I remember that terrifying commercial.

Thanks for the reminder.  

Moving on....

Don't feel bad Annarchy. I'm right there with you. I don't understand how this is being allowed to happen. I've seen the violence too. When they beat up the cops, and walked out of the jail laughing and giving the camera the finger, my head nearly exploded. And our food and med shortages is no mystery. Don't get me started...

I wondered what all you would see down there so close to the border. 

Necie, don't you dare feel bad about fish pictures! I love seeing your darling granddaughter out there fishing. I was thinking about how brave she is to actually....fish.      I can overlook a fish in the background. Close up...not so much. 

Nope, cooked fish don't bother me. Post away! Unless it still has the head on. People actually eat whole fish with heads and eyes and fins and skin and bones... I always wonder if they are even gutted.    It happened to me once in Taiwan a big flat kind if fish on a platter. Whole. Then they brought out a whole duck. Complete with head and feet. And there was the octopus with their little suction cup tentacles. Eel soup complete with the bones. Fifty years later I can still see it all. I was a guest so when in Rome. Had diarrhea for a week. Seriously. It was the Dragon Boat Festival. At least I didn't have to eat a dragon.  LOL. 

About once every 2-3 years I will actually eat a Long John Silvers fish smothered in ketchup. I try.  

We can still be buds. I just won't go fishing with ya. And I won't knock you over.    Sounds like you might have some sort of vertigo?

Finally, after two dropped calls and one call that they never answered, I got my cable TV cut off from ATT. Only took an hour. What a hassle. Then they want me to sign up for all kinds of stuff. I'm old, not stupid. No means no the first time. Crimony. I hate to feel badgered. Now all I have is internet that I still can't get connected to. I'd cancel that too except I expect to have to use it with selling the house transactions. Since I unbundled, the internet price dropped by $30.00. Odd. I still have to send in my cable boxes. I think I have three of them...somewhere. I wish I could just take them in to an ATT store. That would be too easy I guess. Free shipping to mail the units back but I'll have to scrounge up a box big enough. I'll work on the internet when I'm in a better frame of mind. I know it will involve another call to India for assistance. I can barely understand them. Last time they told me to "Try harder". I understood that.    

When I rolled over my CD I told the banker that I was not interested in a financial advisor. I'm doing just fine. I don't want to be bothered. I don't need them. Both of my dollars are safe thank you very much.    So guess who called today? I was rude to him. Don't care. Every time I do inside banking or do a money withdrawal from my stock company, I get calls wanting to delve into my money and offers that I don't want. I tell them no one time. If they persist, I become very rude. Don't care. P*sses me off to no end when they ask why. None of their business. And I tell them so. "None. Of. Your. Business." *crickets*.  I get questioned about why I have this amount in this account and why I have that amount in that account and why don't WE roll it it over to whatever. I have zero interest in bonds or treasury notes and I really have no interest in a meet up. I probably should make an appointment with them just to waste their time after I've already told them no. 

I'm really grumpy today. Bet my heart monitor is really going off. And that's another thing, they call me every day just to tell me what day I'm on. Today is day 3. Yeah me. Only 27 more phone calls from them. 

A prescription is due to be picked up. I'm laying low though. I'm not fit to be in public today. Maybe tomorrow after I get my heart monitor robo call. Or maybe early in the morning before some other poor soul crosses my path. 

I'm carbing out in a huge plate of spaghetti for supper.  Don't care. 

Thanks for the info. I had to look it up.

AKA Mucinex. 

27 minutes ago, Annarchy said:

Safe in TX. Amen.

I didn't really realize just how big this place was until it got emptied out. A family of 6 could easily manage it here. 

I think you are right about people seeing their things in the space. I always heard you should remove anything personal such as photos and collectibles etc. so people could imagine their family in the house. No problem here. I've got nothing. 

You should have seen some of the houses we went through when we were looking at this one. Some were hoarded, some were filthy and some had dirty laundry all over the house. Some we couldn't even really see beyond the mess. I remember one still had standing water in one room and the tiles on the floor were all buckled and one had so much water in the basement we couldn't go down there. That was 35 years ago and I still remember them. 

One house had wallpaper in every single room. Some of it was big plaid and some was little rosebuds. One house had big tin soldier wallpaper on the dinningroom and kitchen walls.

To keep each house straight in our mind, we named them. The water house, the Chinese house, the dirty house, the laundry house, the cat house... I suppose mine will be the empty house. 

And some people just stayed in the house while we were looking making it awkward. 

That was before computers and Zillow. We were out of state with limited time and saw a lot of houses in a short amount of time. 

I'm not having it staged. It would be too expensive for the amount they would have to do. 

I can't even imagine how much a moving van would have cost me. Son came twice and I know he saved me a lot of money. He will have to come one more time with his trailer.  If I didn't have his help I would have probably used a POD or two. I would load it up and they would deliver it. That wouldn't be cheap either.

It cost me over $1,700 just to get rid of my old furniture and stove and refrigerator for 1-800-Got-Junk. Nothing is cheap that's for sure. 

I watched the video but missed that part.    

Guess I can forget making my fortune developing that software. 

I love HGTV but it is a reality show. They have crews working for them with mega budgets. The house I bought in Indy showed on zillow with furniture. When we looked at it, it was empty. I think it was the furnishings that belonged to the family. It was drastically cleared out though. Hardly anything on countertops etc.  If I could post pictures...

One of the differences in my case, is most all of my furniture was damaged so it had to be removed. It isn't like I was living in a furnished house where it could easily be updated. It had to be pretty much gutted. What little bit that was left was very old and ratty looking. I didn't want it so while the junk guys were here they took it away for me. 

What little I had, that I wanted to keep, needed to be removed (by my son) because of the demolition and to keep it safe. And that was only a couple of bookcases and two end tables etc. 

Other than the diningroom table and twin bed, there is nothing in this house. Everything would have to be brought in. Not worth the money in this case with such a big house. 

I'm not allergic to fish. They just freak me out. I used to lie and say I was allergic to avoid confrontation and explanations. But I grew up and now I just admit I'm afraid of them. I don’t mind being teased about it. It is ridiculous. But I didn't want anyone to know in case they thought it would be fun to tease me with a real or fake fish. 

So telling a fib was easier...and safer. 

I can enjoy an aquarium though. But if someone (G-son or son) touches the water then they have to scrub their hands before I'll even talk with them. Just incase they forget to wash their hands and touch me. 

To me a cooked fish smells like a live fish. Ugh. 

But other than that, I'm fairly sane. 

I like meat. But only the actual flesh. I love ham and beans. And chicken veggie soup. But only with shreds of meat visible. No skin, bones nor fat. 

I'm terrified of fish. It's a real phobia. If one touched me I'd probably pass out. Or die. I can't even touch a picture of one. 

Ambergris, I'm glad they look after you regardless of the reason.  

I eat so little meat that saving enough bones for broth/stock would take forever. Especially from one person. BUT, it's on my to-do list. When I get over there I will enlist the help of sons to save me some bones. What I plan to do is buy some rotisserie chickens for them (their favorite) with the promise of saving me the bones. They can freeze them and I should get enough in a couple of months. Seriously, it would take me years to get enough by myself. 99% of the time I buy boneless skinless chicken breasts. I only have a texture issues with skin and fat. And sometimes chicken bones. Especially when there is cartilage or pink spots involved. 

It will be easier with beef. Especially with summer grilling season. Or I can buy a some bones at the butcher. I don't have as much problems with beef. It comes skinless.  .  I just have to watch out for the fat.

I think I could very easily be a vegetarian 

Littlesister, I'm glad your doctor finally looked at your knee and shoulder. You've told him about it long enough. Hope you get some relief soon.  

Necie, I pressure cook my beans for about 15 minutes to the al dente stage instead of soaking them over night or doing the quick soak and boil for an hour thing. I don't raw pack them. About 15-20 minutes and they come out like they have been soaked over night. 

I have meat issues too. Surprise surprise.   I can't do the ugly chicken with that white stuff in the jar. So I cook the meat first. Plus. I make a lot of soups and I want the meat cooked and shredded in the jars. Especially the veggies soups. I can't eat the skin or fat (texture issues) and I can't eat meat off of the bones. Pick the meat off of the bones, throw them away, then eat the meat. I usually only eat the breast meat after it's been picked off of the bone. I can't do wings, legs, or thighs.  Don't judge. I'm nuts. I like meat but could easily do without it. Fish will never touch my lips. Well, except for tuna salad and tuna casserole. Occasionally. Or maybe during Armageddon, or maybe the Zombie Apocalypse. 

PS

if anyone reads this and wants to do the speed pressure cooking beans to get them ready to can, you must put some cooking oil in the pressure pot to prevent the foam from bubbling up and clogging the valve. 

Being a Hoosier, we read all of Gene Stratton Porter. Loved her books too. 

I got my heart monitor on today. It was easy peasy. From the time I walked in til the time I walked out was about 10-15 minutes. 

It's two electrodes. One under the breast and one on my chest. I have to unplug it when I bathe and when I charge it up. I figure I'll bathe while it's charging. She said about two hours before bedtime will last it 24+ hours. I don't have to do anything else unless I'm in some sort of distress. Then I have to report the issue to a website so they can mark where it was on the monitor. I have to be sure to sleep with it on too. I don't foresee any issues with it but you know me. I wish it was a little lower on my chest so it wouldn't show so much.

She said to line up the electrode under my breast with my nipple. I asked her if I should line it up when I'm sitting down or laying down. Big discrepancy there. I'd have to go searching for it under my arm pit if in the prone position.  She laughed and thumped me on the head.  

My d*amn brain won't shut its big mouth.  

I had another productive day. Voted and returned the window blinds  to Walmart that were too short and a trash can that was too tall to fit under my sink and bought a button up shirt. Dropped off some recycle papers and a bag of trash.

I went to the bank and renewed my CD. It was odd because you usually get a better rate the longer you lock it in. Not this time. It was 5% for only 8 months. It was 4.5% for 13 months.  I mentioned it to her and she said people are afraid to tie their money up for too long and the interest rates are too unpredictable. I usually get it for 13 months.  

I got my Indy banking done on the phone. One hassle after another with that bank. I hate that bank and told her so.   But I have enough in the mortgage account to last me nearly all summer. I'd like to refinance to Key Bank when I sell this place but they sold this house to BOA so its 6 of one and half dozen of another. 

I got all excited a Walmart. I saw a cute little Instant Pot thingy. About half the size as my regular one. Would be nice for pressure cooking beans and chicken and beef. I like to pressure them before I can then. Its only $30.00. I put it in the cart and as I was scanning it I noticed....its a freakin' rice cooker. It looked just like the Instant Pots only smaller. I paid and went right over to the service desk, again. Sigh. 

My version would be more like 'the can't-can't'  

I didn't know either. She touched on it in a video called "In My Brokeness." It was a sad one. She certainly deserves happiness. 

Oh lawsy...

Thank you Mother. And you are right. 

I'm only dragging, right now, because the contractor has one more thing to do in here to complete the project. I hope. Then I have to pay off the contractor and get it on the market. 

Then the big stuff will be done. I'll only do the little stuff as time permits. My job is to concentrate on getting all of my stuff out of here and into the garage so son can come over and just load it up. 

I'm not going to stage it because, for me, the wasted time and money isn't worth it. It would cost a fortune to stage this place just to take a few pictures and then remove all of that furniture. Probably bang up the walls. There aren't even any pictures on the walls. Four bedrooms, dinningroom, dinette, livingroom, family room all from scratch....   The bathrooms look nice from stuff I already had and the kitchen is cleared. 

If realtor mentions staging I'll tell her/him to digitalize it. Put it on the computer and insert furniture. Badda Boom Badda Bing.  Don't know if that's a thing or not but it should be. New marketing idea? 

To be 100% honest, it isn't all about the money. Of course I want to get as much for it as I can! But that isnt the end goal. 

I've had to do nearly all of it by myself and I'm tired. And weary. And beaten down. 

I'll see the cardiologist on the 25th and be done. Will take the results to Indiana with me. 

Son said he was tired of babysitting my grandson.     I agree. 

I have 3 JoAnn's near me so even if they don't close, I want to catch some sales too. I mostly use Aurifil thread for quilting. I usually wax it. Sometimes I use Gutermann but it's hard for me find unless I go to a quiltshop $$$