I got a new car. It was something I needed to do, and wasn't sure it was the right thing to do. I almost had myself talked out of the deal, and then I thought about driving the Avalon for the next three years, hauling a trailer to and from school. It just made me crazy. It just doesn't have the space I need to carry everything to and from every week.
I found a really good car, a couple of years newer than my current, the monthly is the same, and the mileage is much better than it was when I bought my current car.
I got my '97 Toyota Avalon about five years ago. I just paid it off. It had 184K miles on it at the time, and 214K miles, now. I got a decent deal on it, but had to re-finance it to the monthly payments when I lost my job in 2010.
Well, this is a Subaru Outback Legacy, 118K miles, and it's a '99. I am adding my own cash to the deal, so the payments for three years will be the same as what I was paying on the Avalon. The CarFax is good, and even my banker said it was a good car. My mechanic recommended it to me. So, I'm reasonably certain that it will do me a good job over the next three years, while I'm in school, and paying on it. It has the space I need and all the bells and whistles work.
So, I got my dream car, kept the payment, but all is well. I'll sell my Avalon, get a bit back on what I've paid for it, and apply that to the loan. The interest rate is slightly better than what I was paying on the Avalon, but not much. I'll need to increase my income substantially to make that happen. And if I did that, I'd probably have gotten a much newer car and ended up with a larger payment!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
It's Been a Week!
So much going on!
I was robbed in November. A lady I'd hired to do some cleaning took some jewelery. I didn't discover the theft until December, and then only partially. It was January before I realized how many pieces had been taken. I hemmed and hawed about it for about a week then called the police to report the theft.
A month goes by, and I finally got the police report from them to give to my insurance company. I called my agent, and he intimidated me so bad I nearly didn't file the claim. But I had to file the claim!
Another week went by and I finally called them. They were fast, efficient, and downgraded my loss by about $2375, so I have to absorb that much of it. To be honest, that includes my deductible, so the amount of actual loss not covered is about $1375.
So that was story number one. Story number two...
I ordered some cat furniture from a reputable supplier. It was almost $400 for the order, and included two cat trees and one scratching post. One of the trees was 80 inches tall, almost to the ceiling, which I figured would give the cats a wonderful view of the bird feeders and space away from each other.
The items were all shipped separately, from different points of origin. The first never arrived, but the second arrived on Feb 10. I got another e-mail, for the third shipment, and looked into the three shipments.
It turns out that the wonderful, tall cat tree was delivered to someone other than me, left by a front door, with no signature confirmation. The delivery company says they delivered it to me. I'm sure it doesn't help that I had several deliveries that week, and continue to receive items I've ordered - specialty cat products, books, online-only office supplies, and so on. So, they closed the inquiry, and are offended that I would even hint at a mis-delivery.
Too bad. Now, I have to do a chargeback against my vendor. I hate to do that, but the item was the most expensive of the three that I ordered. In fact, the one cat tree that I received was a purchase afterthought because the large cat tree was $100 less on sale!
So, I went to my bank and did the chargeback yesterday. I really hate to do that. I really do. It's a black mark against any merchant when that happens. And it wasn't her fault, but the shipper's. The only mistake she made was allowing the shipment to be made without requiring a signature confirmation.
So much for story number two. On to story number three...
My doctor wanted me to take some allergy medicine because of the drainage I experience every night. She prescribed Zyrtec. It's known to make folks drowsy, so I took a pill at night with my other meds on Wednesday.
I had a very fitful night's sleep, came stark raving awake at several points, and my body seemed to slow down. The next day, I was in a fog all day, and had to slap myself awake during my last class. The drive home was a nightmare!
When I got home, I slept. Nothing but. The phone was ringing off the hook, and I just couldn't talk to anyone. I couldn't get the phone to my ear fast enough. I ended up with six messages on the machine. Two were the insurance company, one from the shipper, and three from friends.
I ended up sleeping till about 8:30. I got up and called two friends back, and it was too late to call the third. I ended up staying awake till about 4:30am and then went to bed. I slept like a log till 10:30 when the alarm went off.
It was now Friday, and I had a lot to do. I went to the bank to do the chargeback, went to the court and did my little research job there, and then went to get tires on the car before the next rain hits. I've not had time for that since I had the money, and it was becoming desparate. I almost hydro-planed during the last rain on Thursday, when I was groggy.
I got home, and forget the diet, I wanted a hamburger! So, I got one of those when it was time to have supper.
Story number four...
During all this, as if my week wasn't full enough, I printed the last of the research I'd done for my book. I organized what had been printed and started printing at home, and finished the job at school. I'm now looking for space to work.
I think I'll clear off the perfectly-good work space I have that's an accumulation of stuff that doesn't belong to me and wasted money. There is a furnace filter that's the wrong size, an older laptop computer, and a collection of stuff that belongs to a friend that moved to CA over a year ago. He want's it shipped to him if he ever sends money. Meanwhile, it's taking up space in my house. If I can get the table cleared off, I'll have a great work space for school work, sewing and other purposes.
Story number five...
Well, there's this mess that's been accumulating around my chair. Things fall and I'm not paying attention, so the mess gets bigger and bigger. Last night, I'd had enough. The reason for the mass purge was that my cat Fluffy, who never pukes up hairballs or anything, got sick. All over the place, repeatedly, and nastily. I had to clean up after her.
She started on a pair of shoes that got tossed yesterday afternoon. She has diabetes, so this is kind of a serious turn for her. She continued into several rooms, and hit the paid bills, computer programs (boxed), office supplies, clothes, and of course, all the stuff sitting around my chair. It was bad enough that the pile was growing, but her getting sick on it was more than I could stand.
So, it's been a very full week. Lots of ins and outs, lots of stuff happening. So much for not getting anything done!
Those pills from the doctor? - not taking them anymore. Once was enough.
I was robbed in November. A lady I'd hired to do some cleaning took some jewelery. I didn't discover the theft until December, and then only partially. It was January before I realized how many pieces had been taken. I hemmed and hawed about it for about a week then called the police to report the theft.
A month goes by, and I finally got the police report from them to give to my insurance company. I called my agent, and he intimidated me so bad I nearly didn't file the claim. But I had to file the claim!
Another week went by and I finally called them. They were fast, efficient, and downgraded my loss by about $2375, so I have to absorb that much of it. To be honest, that includes my deductible, so the amount of actual loss not covered is about $1375.
So that was story number one. Story number two...
I ordered some cat furniture from a reputable supplier. It was almost $400 for the order, and included two cat trees and one scratching post. One of the trees was 80 inches tall, almost to the ceiling, which I figured would give the cats a wonderful view of the bird feeders and space away from each other.
The items were all shipped separately, from different points of origin. The first never arrived, but the second arrived on Feb 10. I got another e-mail, for the third shipment, and looked into the three shipments.
It turns out that the wonderful, tall cat tree was delivered to someone other than me, left by a front door, with no signature confirmation. The delivery company says they delivered it to me. I'm sure it doesn't help that I had several deliveries that week, and continue to receive items I've ordered - specialty cat products, books, online-only office supplies, and so on. So, they closed the inquiry, and are offended that I would even hint at a mis-delivery.
Too bad. Now, I have to do a chargeback against my vendor. I hate to do that, but the item was the most expensive of the three that I ordered. In fact, the one cat tree that I received was a purchase afterthought because the large cat tree was $100 less on sale!
So, I went to my bank and did the chargeback yesterday. I really hate to do that. I really do. It's a black mark against any merchant when that happens. And it wasn't her fault, but the shipper's. The only mistake she made was allowing the shipment to be made without requiring a signature confirmation.
So much for story number two. On to story number three...
My doctor wanted me to take some allergy medicine because of the drainage I experience every night. She prescribed Zyrtec. It's known to make folks drowsy, so I took a pill at night with my other meds on Wednesday.
I had a very fitful night's sleep, came stark raving awake at several points, and my body seemed to slow down. The next day, I was in a fog all day, and had to slap myself awake during my last class. The drive home was a nightmare!
When I got home, I slept. Nothing but. The phone was ringing off the hook, and I just couldn't talk to anyone. I couldn't get the phone to my ear fast enough. I ended up with six messages on the machine. Two were the insurance company, one from the shipper, and three from friends.
I ended up sleeping till about 8:30. I got up and called two friends back, and it was too late to call the third. I ended up staying awake till about 4:30am and then went to bed. I slept like a log till 10:30 when the alarm went off.
It was now Friday, and I had a lot to do. I went to the bank to do the chargeback, went to the court and did my little research job there, and then went to get tires on the car before the next rain hits. I've not had time for that since I had the money, and it was becoming desparate. I almost hydro-planed during the last rain on Thursday, when I was groggy.
I got home, and forget the diet, I wanted a hamburger! So, I got one of those when it was time to have supper.
Story number four...
During all this, as if my week wasn't full enough, I printed the last of the research I'd done for my book. I organized what had been printed and started printing at home, and finished the job at school. I'm now looking for space to work.
I think I'll clear off the perfectly-good work space I have that's an accumulation of stuff that doesn't belong to me and wasted money. There is a furnace filter that's the wrong size, an older laptop computer, and a collection of stuff that belongs to a friend that moved to CA over a year ago. He want's it shipped to him if he ever sends money. Meanwhile, it's taking up space in my house. If I can get the table cleared off, I'll have a great work space for school work, sewing and other purposes.
Story number five...
Well, there's this mess that's been accumulating around my chair. Things fall and I'm not paying attention, so the mess gets bigger and bigger. Last night, I'd had enough. The reason for the mass purge was that my cat Fluffy, who never pukes up hairballs or anything, got sick. All over the place, repeatedly, and nastily. I had to clean up after her.
She started on a pair of shoes that got tossed yesterday afternoon. She has diabetes, so this is kind of a serious turn for her. She continued into several rooms, and hit the paid bills, computer programs (boxed), office supplies, clothes, and of course, all the stuff sitting around my chair. It was bad enough that the pile was growing, but her getting sick on it was more than I could stand.
So, it's been a very full week. Lots of ins and outs, lots of stuff happening. So much for not getting anything done!
Those pills from the doctor? - not taking them anymore. Once was enough.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Tired of Being Tired
It seems I can't sleep. Then, when I get to sleep, I'm awake a couple of hours later and can't get back to sleep right away. It's broken sleep. When I wake, I have to use the bathroom - no buts about it, get there. Or, I'm in pain, and then to get back to sleep I have to get up and go to the bathroom, not just adjust. My bladder demands it. I generally awaken within 25 minutes of the alarm going off, and just get up early.
Last night, I started with Zyrtec for my allergies. Since it makes one drowsy, I'm taking it at night instead of the morning, so I won't have to drive while drowsy. I didn't have my typical night. I awakened several times - like "stark-raving-awake" but didn't have to go to the bathroom, wasn't in pain, and no reason that I could figure out that I was awake. I was on my side. My nose/sinuses were filled when I got up to the alarm, and draining was going on.
I was able to go back to sleep, it seems. I woke to the alarm from a deeper state of sleep, very sleepy and groggy. It took a full cup of coffee to get me going, and I was seeing double and yawning.
What happens is that I don't sleep at night, and somewhere in the afternoon, I drift off, unable to keep my eyes open, and sleep anywhere from 20 minutes to 5 hours in my chair. It usually occurs after eating carbs, so I've thought my diet was to blame, and insulin resistance. Now, I see that it also has to do with my terrible sleeping issues at night.
My doctor said she was going to schedule a sleep study, but it hasn't been scheduled, yet.
I feel like a failure when I can't get anything done, but with being this tired all the time, it's no wonder nothing gets done. No matter how much B-12 I take, I can't over come lack of sleep without actually sleeping.
Last night, I started with Zyrtec for my allergies. Since it makes one drowsy, I'm taking it at night instead of the morning, so I won't have to drive while drowsy. I didn't have my typical night. I awakened several times - like "stark-raving-awake" but didn't have to go to the bathroom, wasn't in pain, and no reason that I could figure out that I was awake. I was on my side. My nose/sinuses were filled when I got up to the alarm, and draining was going on.
I was able to go back to sleep, it seems. I woke to the alarm from a deeper state of sleep, very sleepy and groggy. It took a full cup of coffee to get me going, and I was seeing double and yawning.
What happens is that I don't sleep at night, and somewhere in the afternoon, I drift off, unable to keep my eyes open, and sleep anywhere from 20 minutes to 5 hours in my chair. It usually occurs after eating carbs, so I've thought my diet was to blame, and insulin resistance. Now, I see that it also has to do with my terrible sleeping issues at night.
My doctor said she was going to schedule a sleep study, but it hasn't been scheduled, yet.
I feel like a failure when I can't get anything done, but with being this tired all the time, it's no wonder nothing gets done. No matter how much B-12 I take, I can't over come lack of sleep without actually sleeping.
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