It’s Almost February

I am not sure that really matters in any substantive way.

I have no appointments today. Emily and I were scheduled to meet with our architect, builder and engineer at 430 today. But Engineer Glenn fell down and broke his crown, actually he busted three ribs. Says it hurts too much to drive. Hurts me too, Glenn.

In honor of our meeting, a bill arrived in yesterdays mail from the architect. Yikes. That guy is damn expensive. He does seem to be very good at what he does. One can only hope. I gotta go roll a few drunks and rob a video store to pay him. Are there any video stores left?

It is 8am. Emily just left for work, late. That happens. I have been texting with junior the past few minutes. Marika joined in. Cissie was on my text too but something came up. I need to go work out. I am burning daylight. Like that would work.

Nice workout, maybe an hour. Just some cardio and weights, an off day. Still god to do it, if just to make me feel better. Best to be a little sore all the time. It reminds you that there are muscles that need moving. Lower body strength leads to a longer life, or so I have been told.

I got home and here was someone on the roof of the garage. It ain’t Christmas and he had on a blue hoodie. Turns out Linda the broker had sent him out on her nut to fix the leak over the stove. About time. Should make buyer happy. Still have not heard on the septic.

I have one appointment today and it’s a phone call. One of my audits requires some back up for the employee benefit plan expense we have put on the return. My call today is with the plan creator and I want a little guidance on easing this through the process.

So off to shower and dress. Getting dressed is important for everyone else in the world. No one wants to see me naked. Hell, not even me.

So it turns out my call came in while I was in the car. No bluetooth, I just drive illegally. Had a nice chat with the plan trustee. He has a lot of information on the RPT. The audit does not center on that but the $275k deduction does make it a target for the auditor. Go figure.

Nice drive to work, chatting most of the way. Otherwise an uneventful trip to Sacrmento. Of course, commutes are best when no event occurs.

Got to work around noon. Not much going on. Did the usual crap I do at work. Lots of calls. I spoke to an IRS auditor who did not think death a valid excuse for failure to provide paperwork. I respectfully disagree. What a bitch. I also kept up on trying to get all my new accounts open. The bank is being a bear about getting the accounts open. I had a few client calls. I billed for all the 1099s, daddy gotta eat.

Just a day full of small tasks, when put together they go in the right direction.

Headed out at about 610. Need enough time to get to the carniceria and pick up dinner. It is Tuesday. One of these Tuesdays I should get tacos, of all things. Then it may be taco Tuesday for real.

Ended up with Costilla de Puerco and I also ordered a chile relleno. When I got home I discovered the Mexican retard at the store gave me chile verde. What a moron. Next week I may have to have words with her. If only I were fluent in Spanish.

Dinner was still very good. Emiky likes the chile verde. Mine was good too. Just missing the chile relleno.

After dinner I spent some quality time with the garbage cans. I also dumped the cat box. That’s always a ton of fun. Fortunately not a heavy garbage day so not too much work.

We are now sitting and watching Ellen degeneres game show. Kinda stupid, but the antics are entertaining. Easy questions mixed with dumb people and a little supposed danger. It’s funny, not uproarious, and keeps me from my book. I am going to bed.

Last January Monday

It’s 740 pm. Do you know where your blog post is? Not written.

Em and I just finished dinner. Caesar salad with tri tip on it. A side of deep fried avocado. Which was good, strangely. Emiky has been in Vacaville after work cuz she really needed to go to The Rack. Needed. Sure. Anyway, she bought herself a pair of pants and since she was right there she picked up dinner for us.

My day ended pretty much the way it started. I was finishing a tax return for client Rob from Placerville. Nice guy. Has a good world view. Has several companies so I get to do several tax returns. Which I like quite a bit. I made two trips to the bank prior to that during my day. Trying hard to get the accounts for my LLC opened. The bank wanted an operating agreement. Which I provided to them. But later in the day they wanted a different type of operating agreement which I provided and hen they wanted the other members to sign too. These bank assholes don’t know what they want. They are stupid. Prior to my bank trips I was tax returning it most of the morning.

My lovely counterpart, was in class for the 100th day of school. She dressed up as a 100 year old woman for the day. She is cray cray. But she did look the part of old lady. Some of her kids, on their own, also dressed up as same. It is nice to see the kids getting into it. I stopped by after going by the body shop with Emilys car. There is a new scratch and dent up front left and Emily loves her car. So we got to fix it. Monday.

After workout this morning, and shower, I had to go to the body shop with Emilys car. Yesterday, while I was at Safeway, I took her car, someone put their big tire into the front left bumper and quarterpanel of her car. I got blamed, of course. I really love damagingbit and then paying for body work. It’s my thing. Right. Anyway, since we know the owner of Superior Auto Body, I went to school and got her car and went to Superior.

Alex at Superior was nice. But, let’s face it, we are good customers. Mostly because my wife wants her car perfect all the time. So I had an estimate done. I am going to have him fix all problems while I’m there. Might as well.

My workout this morning, lower body, is a short workout. So I added an elliptical session at the end. Nothing big. I would like to be in better shape so a little extra can’t hurt.

Marika was home this morning. She came home for dinner last night and stayed over. Said she had to leave by 730 to make her 10am class. At 730 she was in our bed having moved over from her own at 645. I left for my workout so I hope she made the trip to class on time.

It’s 840 pm. I have been at this for an hour. Crazy what I do for art. We have been watching rerun TV for true last hour. I am not really paying attention.
Emily is riveted, isn’t that obvious. Fortunately it’s bedtime.

Sunday Funnies

Emily just commented that the Sunday funnies are not as funny as they used to be. I have been thinking same for a couple years. Why? There can’t be any fewer cartoonists out there, right? I don’t enjoy them to any great level. I still read them but don’t laugh much. Sad.

We got up about 840 this morning. The night before wore us out. The dinner out really was an awesome outing. It’s nice when my self-hype is held up to the actual event and the event is better. I gotta start hyping myself bigger I guess.

So we both sat and read the paper and ate breakfast together. Not the usual. Emily goes to workout on sundays and I am home alone. No matter. Paper was without merit today. I found myself starting to read articles and dropping out quickly. Slow news day?

I have plenty planned for today. Smog the car. Work on the S2000 to find the “klunk”. Then wash the gal cuz she is dirty after the unpaved, wet dirt parking lot last night. That place is a little rough. Part of the charm.

Does that sound like plenty? Gotta shower first. Start the laundry. Sunday. Ok, I am as clean as I will be today. I stripped the bedclothes from the bed. I reset Roomba on the charger. Boy, this is a banner day! The car is next.

Found a smog place open in Vacaville. Headed over. No line, no wait had a $30 off coupon. What can go wrong? Well, I can fail the test. Seems connecting the chip into the Mass Air Sensor wiring is a visual fail. Because I “tampered” with the equipment. A load of horseshit. I left and went to see Dennis, my mechanic. He required it for me. Quickly. I went back to the smog shop and I passed. See what a little studying does for test results?

After that debacle I went home. I pulled the air filter off the Fit and put it in the dishwasher. Easiest way to clean it. Need it dry to drive but it’s still early and I have time.

Went to work on the convertible. I need to find the source of the “klunk klunk” the hs been plaguing it. My mechanic had me take it into a shop and check the under side. Nada. He said I should take it into ge dealer and maybe they could find it. That was a couple months ago. Today I set aside some time to find it. So I took apart the trunk basically and went through all areas I could behind seats and in the boot. Nada. So in this tiny car there is little room. So there is no glove box in the usual spot up front. It’s actually between the seats. And it’s hard plastic in the inside of the box. Makes a drum like sound when you knock on it. Well, last night, when we were driving, I noted the sound came from behind Emily. She said it came from behind me. So I said, must be in the middle. Well, I opened the glove box. Inside my registration. And the lock but for unlocking the lugs on my wheels. And I think, does that roll around in here? And make a loud drum noise? So I took it out and went for a ride. No noise. I put it back, went for a ride, there was the noise. I may not be Einstein but I think I figured it out. It now resides in a small container, with pudding, in the glove box. No noise. Glad I didn’t take it to the shop. I woulda looked dumb.

So in honor of solving this ancient riddle, I washed the car. Noise free and clean. Bonus!!

Emily got home about then. She was not nearly as impressed as I was with the cure of the car as I was. Too bad.

Not much else to do. Put cars and crap away. Head inside. Sit down. Realize I needed to go to the pharmacy for Rx. So done.

Got home and set tri tips to defrost in the sink. Marika is coming. I also made ginger snaps. Gonna be awesome of course. Glad to be done with cookies so I sit down. Emily immediately says, let’s go make the rest of dinner. No. I say gimme five, slave driver! Or something to that effect. I am taking five. I can update the blog. That’s important work.

Ok. So Emily made a salad. I prepped the meat and started the BBQ. Put the meat on. Marika arrived. Emiky roasted some cauliflower. I made cocktails for everyone. A regular Sunday night dinner. I guess. We did enjoy our dinner.

After dinner we are watching the Grammys. I should say, I am stuck watching them. Emily and Marika seem to enjoy it. I find most award shows to be mundane and boring. I don’t enjoy them even when I know who the nominees are. The Grammys do nothing for me. Just more noise

My car air filter, which I had cleaned in the dishwasher earlier, has finally dried. I left it in front of the fireplace too dry. I reinstalled it just a few minutes ago. Hope rhere is a huge difference. Probably not noticeable. But I can dream.

Marika is spending the night. And leaving early am. She has class in the morning so has to be back early. Always nice to get a quick visit from the girl.

I am ready for bed. It’s late enough, 920. But I have to wait for Emily. Marika will prob go to bed too I think. Maybe I can sneak up to bed. And make it so O can get in it. Last bit of work for the day.

All Alone

I think Saturday’s newspaper is the weakest of all days. I would guess that’s because of lower amount of advertising content, though I am just guessing. If there is less as content there is less other space to fill and fewer stories which defines less content and makes the days per weak from a readers perspective. That’s my critical analysis. Or two cents worth. Though I think with inflation it’s more like $1.50.

Emily is teaching Saturday school today. So it is as a lot like a regular morning. One difference, she gets up and says “stay in bed” which is nice. But when she gets up I wake the hell up. She keeps quiet but that hardly matters. I wake up. So, feed animals, feed Emily, coffee her. Same as every day. Then she goes to work and I sit and read a lousy newspaper. Comfortably, with nowhere to go. So this is a peaceful day. I have finished my coffee and breakfast of nasty cakes. Read the paper and just sit. Nice. Soon, when I finally feel like it, clear the table, do the dishes, empty the dishwasher, check the laundry, take a shower, and get ready for the days chores. Speaking of, I am meeting Emily at her classroom at 1230. We are going to clean out her classroom. When I say clean out I mean it ends with a trip to the dump. I hate our local dump, it costs at least 20$ to get in and often much more. To throw away garbage. Probably cost less to buy it in the first place. Another racket. Though I have little choice.

As a kid I loved the periodic trips to the dump. I always had fun throwing garbage out the back of the trailer. Breaking glass, and smashing things. In those days a kid, like me, could wander around and no one said boo. I could find cool stuff, see huge rats eating unidentified things, and also identified yuck, occasional tv screens to throw a rock through(CRTs explode,fyi), watch the seagulls fight for garbage, and have a blast. That’s not allowed anymore. Probably why my kids did not enjoy it as much as I did. Also, as a kid my Dad paid. He never complained so I suppose it wasn’t that bad. I haven’t been to the dump in a couple years.

I forgot. Plumber Kevin is here to strap the water heater. Local code says it’s got to be strapped or it’s unsafe. So I guess it’s been unsafe, without incident, for the last 37 years. I am sure all of us will sleep better knowing it is strapped down. Finally.

This item is just one more stupid task that must be done to serve our government regulation machine. I also have to go to the hardware store and pick up a fourth CO alarm. Because, it turns out, three is not enough. Some bureaucrat somewhere is sleeping more soundly as I protect his job. I feel better.

Strapping job is done. Now it won’t fall over in an earthquake. The house will fall over but the water heater will stand. Just another $100 I can do without I guess. Seems to keep the plumber employed and at least I like him.

With plumber gone I can go do the laundry. Then its time to launder me. Gentle cycle please. No tumble dry, I break easily.

Off to the hardware store. More government regulation to satisfy with another CO monitor. Ran into John, he repairs and maintains my big riding mower. He actually knows someone who may want to buy it. Glad I went in. Next up the post office. It’s open on Saturdays which is really beneficial. I might never get there otherwise.

I am back home. Need to get the truck to Emilys classroom for the junk haul. To the dump we go.

I have spent the last 90 minutes pulling boxes and bags from Emilys classroom. What a load of crap. The truck is not quite full but you can see it from here.
Emilys class does not even look emptier than before. Yikes.

I pulled up to dump and there are 20 vehicles in line in front of me.
There are an equal number lined up to get out. Gonna be awhile. Kind of a hurry up and wait sort of thing.

So I got in in only 15 minutes. Not so bad. Five minute drive to the dump site and start tossing garbage! All my garbage is “clean” and it was a quick dump. I thought I would be out quick. Wrong.
That is the out line. 30 minutes to leave. What a pain.

Went straight back home once I was released from the compound. Nice day for a drive. Got home and had a little nosh, one of the deviled eggs. Don’t want to eat too much since we are going out to party tonight! Really looking forward to it. I do love Bull Valley and have not been there in quite some time.

Emily just got home from school. She had a long day as well. We are both tired. Maybe I can talk her into going to bed with me. For a nap. It’s worked before. Right now I am just sitting which is really nice when you have been working all day.

It’s 530 and I haven’t moved in the last hour. I have blogged a bit. I signed my dad up for online banking. Actually it’s for me to pay bills but it his account. The 800 number signed me up with no trouble and very little security. Worked well.

Called dad too. Just checking in and let him know what I’m doing. I learned something from him that’s very interesting. My grandfather Ralph and his sister Tillie moved to East Auburn from San Francisco right after the ‘06 quake. And they settled about a mile from where we bought land. Crazy. My great grandfather Armand Maurice Vivier married a woman from Auburn and her farm was near us too. Funny how life makes a circle. Not much else going on in Visalia. Dad does not live an exciting life. Of course, I don’t either but I do have more going on.

Emily has been napping. Without me. The bum. I came up and found her asleep. So I am here watching TV news, which is not new news, for the last 20 minutes. Before news was a travel show. Kinda boring. At least I can blog for entertainment.

It took Emily 30 minutes to get ready. Why so long so do not know. Then she decided she can’t drive at night. So I got out the S2000. Ablittle more fun but I has to drive. Which is a bad idea. The trip is not long but takes about an hour. Barb and Kirk were right behind us. Port Costa is a nice trip just off the interstate and a few miles up the coast of the San Francisco Bay. That Pernod the drive, right off the bridge is fun in a little roadster like mine. Not sure Emily had as much fun as I did.

Tonight’s dinner was fabulous. Lots of great food and cocktails. We had our favorites, mussels and fries, and pork stew. Also the buttermilk chicken and macaroni. Not a dud in the bunch. The Roadhouse makes some truly awesome pre prohibition cocktails. Inhadbonenof my favorites where the others had some tried and true cocktails. We all had seconds. Our bar bill was equal to the food bill. Doesn’t matter, a good time had by all.

I almost fell asleep on the way home. But that would not work because Emily was already asleep. Who would drive. So I stayed awake. And I am finally home. I feel like I won’t need to eat for a week. Though I may force myself.

Time for alcohol induced coma I think. Goodnight.

Your Title Here

It’s friday. You know what that means. It means tomorrow is Saturday. You were thinking something else?

Worked out early this morning. It was crowded, three people in the gym. Nice, regular workout. I was even sore later. Done by 9, awesome. Went home and because it’s Friday I have a newspaper. About ten I got a text from an appointment I forgot about. Oops. Had to rush through shower and shave. Grabbed everything and ran. Got there by 1020. Not bad. It don’t take long when you know what your doing.

There were seven people to meet with. I had no idea. I made a presentation for the whole office. All semi independent loan officers who get w2s so cant deduct their expenses under new tax law. And they want me to figure out how to structure each person in order to accomplish it. Not sure, I have an idea, but in practice I can’t determine a good answer. Lots of issues. I need to really think on this.

After the meeting I had to go back home to get everything I forgot when I ran out to my meeting. When you hurry, you forget. Me too.

Off to work. Made it around 1230. No other appointments today which is awesome.

I spent the next couple of hours doing actual work. The kind I get paid for. Tax returns. I have quite a few prior year returns to do while I wait for all the current stuff to come in. Won’t be long.

I went to the bank with some signed documents to get three more accounts opened. Bank rejected all. They wanted “wet” signatures. Assholes. They could have told me that when they gave them to me.

Fortunately I can get them signed tomorrow when we go out.

So back to the office and more work. And do the office payroll. And more work. You can see the trend, no? I managed to get out by 6pm and went home. Btw the recent rains are helping degrade our highways. The nasty pothole count is way up. I seem to keep finding them. With my front driver side tire. I hate CalDOT. Losers.

Anyhow I’m home now. We are eating in since we are going out tomorrow night to Port Costa to eat at Bull Valley Roadhouse which is one of our favorites. Marika is coming from Sant Rosa and the Garlick’s, our neighbors and friends are coming too. Big party, and no excuse, just want to go out and have a good time.

So we had ribs from a bag, sweet potatoes and deviled eggs. Emilys deviled eggs are the bomb. I ate three eggs. I said they were good. The sauce on the ribs was not very good. Too sweet. Still ok and tomorrow’s dinner will be great. Or maybe beyond great.

After dinner Emily and I sat in the front room, fire going, eating candy and watching my favorite TV show. A very nice evening. She is already in bed now having ran off before I was ready. I am barely catching up to her. She will be asleep before I have a chance to get in bed. She turns out like a light. Quick and off.

I am going to go brush my teeth and go to bed. May try to read a little. Not sure how successful I will be. This new book has not set a hook yet. I hope it does. My last book was really pointless and hard to read. I should write a review. Probably titled “this book stinks” or “don’t read this” not sure. No worry, this new one is better.

Service Before the Sale

So I sit here waiting for Frank’s Septic. They are gonna pump the turd tank before we close escrow. While waiting I did the wife a favor.
I picked lemons for her to take to yoga. She has been promising everyone. And I have to make good on her promises. I am a saint. Or at least nice. Out front, damn cold, in my robe, picking fruit. I am my wife’s bracero.

The septic guys got here.

Yep, that’s them stuck under my tree. Morons. They are going in the other way and extend their pump hoses, which are plenty long, to get get the tank pumped. Truly a shitty job. Lmfao. I would not want to do it. Yuck.

I am going to go prepay them and head for the gym. That’s more my speed.

So they did not want to get paid till they were done. Ok. I went to the gym.

Back an hour later. They were done. And the inspection brought bad news. Turns out the middle wall of the turd tank is corroding. Which causes a transfer of the contents back and forth. This is bad. We are waiting for the full report tomorrow. I think I can get it repaired. But the septic guy wants a big contract to replace, I think. He isn’t getting it.

So I paid the the guy his rip off fee of 575$ yikes and went to work. Not a very exciting trip. I have all the luck. I have one appointment later at around four. And no others. Gives me a chance to do other things.

I had to spend some time finishing my rental application. They wanted a lot of info. A lot of info. About forty pages with the application included.

I also had to call three other property management firms in my quest for the almost perfect place to live. None had anything for me. Which is not ok. I need to find something soon. We have to be out in three weeks.

I have to send some more applications. And make a couple call backs. I may finally find a place to live. And if my mean wife turns nice I will let her live with me. She should be so lucky. I am not sure why I have to do all this work alone. I need to work too.

I managed to finish a couple tax returns after all my rental search work. I do need to do work everyday where I get paid. It would help tremendously if I could focus on that.

I went home soon after. The drive was rainy but had little excitement. All I can note is the lousy condition of the roadways. I hit one pothole that felt like it was two feet deep. Where the hell is the gas tax money? Sposed to be used to fix roads.

I got home around 730. Emily was not home yet so I fixed dinner. Leftovers. Still good. We had dinner around 8.

We watched bad TV for awhile. Right before bedtime, Emily finally decided to look at the rentals. We have to place applications against a certain home, can’t be a blanket cover of all properties. Not sure why they do it that way. Will need to call again tomorrow. I want to find one now. Of course, if the house does not close we may be out with no place to go.

Load the Tractor

Today is the day I load my Ford tractor on a flat bed to go to shop. Unfortunately, it is cold as hell. Foggy and wet so it feels extra cold. And miserable.

I had a quick breakfast and shower. Got dressed and about then the driver showed up with his teenage daughter. Which is fine. She was here to help.

We headed across the road to where barn I store my tractor in. Turns out someone has parked a forklift and a couple very large produce bins behind the tractor. I called Paul, he owns the barn, he says he moved everything out of the way. One of his workers put stuff back. So we attempted to get the forklift going which was easy. Started up quick but could not make it move. Which is tough when all we are trying to do is move it. Called Paul again and he tells me I have to warm up the hydraulics for five or ten minutes. Lovely. We managed to get all the crap out of the way eventually. After that no real problem, hooked the winch cable from the trailer to the tractor and dragged it onto the trailer. Tied it down and they were off. I am frozen to the bone. That’s a problem. They claim ready next week but I have a hard time believing them.

I have an appointment here at the house at 930. I got back from trailer duty at 915. Wes, my 930, called about 935. Lost. I directed him to my house and had to wonder about his sense of direction. But no matter, he got here. I have not seen Wes in a couple years. He is five years behind on his taxes. But he is here to catch up. So we spent an hour and a half yakking. Takes awhile to catch up. And Wes is a talker extraordinaire. Either way I have to prep 5 returns for him. That’s cool.

While sitting and talking to Wes, the most remarkable things happened. First a truck pulled into the driveway. I am expecting no one. I went out to greet home and turns out he was there to take pictures for the buyer of our house. Ok. No problem. Ten minutes later the termite guy came to inspect. WTH? I don’t recall this. Then an agent who works for my broker showed up. Getting a little crowded. Then the broker showed up. Then some other guy. Gettin crowded. All of a sudden, all were gone. Crazy.

So done with Wes and all inspectors, I went to work. Got there around 12 in time for my noon appt. My 12 had called, he was running late. Which worked perfectly, I arrived on time and had coffee. My client owns a deli and does catering. He brought deli sandwiches for the office. He is a sweetheart. The appointment took only 15 minutes. But all done. And we got food.

Next appointment found me on the internet. Interesting guy. Does not own a cell phone. Retired. Rich. Wants someone to do his taxes. I am the right guy but he has three appointments to pick out one cpa. He has been doing his own return for 40 years. Does them by hand. Reads the instructions even. Crazy. He may be back next week if I am the winner.

After he left I worked for a few hours. Managed to finish the five returns from client Wes. And the sandwich clients return too. After that, usual work I don’t like much. But that work seems to show up with the tax returns. Also had a visit from a vendor who is also a client. He came by for money. I slow pay when I don’t have much money. He showed up to get paid which is tough to slow pay when they are in front of you.

Headed home around 6. It’s raining tonight and the commute was not fast. It was slow. Took quite awhile to get home without too much slamming of brakes and swerving. People don’t know how to drive in the rain. Morons.

So managed to get home in spite of the storm. Tonight we are having burgers. Emily made a whole bunch of cauliflower buns a couple days ago. Don’t laugh, they are way better than bread buns. Way better. First time I tried them I was ready to switch forever. And they are carb free so good for your diet. Yay. We also make pizza crusts out of cauliflower which is better than regular pizza crust. I kid you not. Delicious. Just to make the meal complete we had tots which are carb rich and not good for you. Yay to that too. It balances out.

We are on to TV now. Watching great TV, Last Man Standing. I find most TV to be not worth watching. So I don’t. Last Man Standing is the exception. I really like that. Soon will be bedtime.

Today is Beautiful

Managed to get up 15 minutes early today. I should be able to get to my workout started before 8. That helps me get moving.

I did something today, out of necessity, that I have never done before. I poured four single shot espressos instead of two doubles. I know, does not sound earth shattering, but when I say never I mean I have never done that. Since I got the espresso machine 23 years ago. And I use it every day. As mentioned yesterday, the filter basket blew out on the double. So I was forced into this. It’s a real pain. New amounts of ground coffee, new amount of water, hope it’s perfect as always. Lately with grounds in it not so good. Well, turns out I’m just good at it. I managed to coax very good coffee out of it. So we each got two singles in our morning addiction. Tastes fantastic when the basket keeps the grounds out of the cup. I still want my double back, it’s easier by far.

I have to go back to the bank today, old one, and get the money they are holding. Then need still to get the balance of the entities accounts open. I am limping along here with only parts open and working. What a pain. I hate my old bank. Hate them. Truly no love.

Still need to call my espresso machine repair guy. He never returned my call. Valued, and long time customer that I am, he did not call. I hope he has a good excuse. Just one more little thing I need to fix so that the next thing can come along to fix. Don’t want this crap to build up.

Ok, turns out he did call. And brought a double basket to my office. He does still love me!! All the love back buddy.

I made it to my old bank and got a check from them. Which I took to my new bank. I am still working on getting all the accounts open. Soon I hope. Still a major pain. Have I mentioned how much I hate my old bank? Prob not often enough.

I had to go downtown to drop off some docs. It is as really an easy trip. Found parking quickly. Even close to where I was going. And people say traffic sucks downtown. I went to the 25th floor of he Union Bank building. It’s a clear sunny day so I could see for miles. All over Sacramento. It was a little treat in a boring day. I remember back when I worked just up the street, 30 years ago. The building across he street was being torn down 28 stories. Sometimes I would stand in the window for half an hour just to watch pieces fall off. Tremendous fun. Way more fun than work.

Back to the office. I realize when I got there I was missing something important. My 1/2 gallon water bottle. I was sitting and realized I was very thirsty. Then no bottle. I am an idiot. Of course, you can find water everywhere. But the office sink water is really sketch. So I figured I would go dry and just soak it up when I get home.

Sadly the rest of the day was all work. Still trying to clean off my desk. I did manage to clear a little of the detritus. The flotsam and jetsam of big city accounting. All crap. But its my crap.

Before I left for the night I decided to return my messages. I called all 5 and scheduled all 5 for tax appointments. Surprising how early these people show up. I doubt any of these people are completely ready to go. But I will meet with them.

Headed home next. It is Tuesday so I headed to the carniceria for the usual. And I was not disappointed. I arrived and was greeted by one of the workers with a friendly “we’re out of Chile verde”. She was just screwing with me. But the other gal says “we’re out of Chile replenish”. She was not kidding. She knew I would order it. Last week she had eaten the last one right before I got there. I can’t catch a break.

Dinner was still awesome. Taco Tuesday is the best night of the week.

Next up take out the garbage. For a change, it was two half full cans. Easy peasy. With the move coming up we usually have three full cans.

Now back to semi bad TV. Emily likes the show, I don’t. Hence the semi bad. But its her turn to watch this fine show.

Now time for bed. I hope. We are still sitting downstairs. If lucky, at commercial break, we can go to bed. Please.

Strange Saturday

So, I slept very well last night. Only woke once which is not the norm for me. The alarm went off at 630 as usual. What? It’s Saturday. Well the bad news is that Emily is teaching Saturday school today. Something she almost never does. It really throws you for a loop to have to get up early and go to work on a day r we bed for leisure and other work. She took the job because another teacher who needs the extra money couldn’t make it. Emily really is not one who would ever work Saturday. Of course, I would have preferred to stay in bed and sleep another hour or so. It’s all about me. She will be done at 1230 so at least no lunch to pack. I wonder why all these kids have to go to school on Saturday? I should ask.

The nice thing about being alone in the house like this is I am self directed. I can choose what I want to do and when. I am not saying Emily makes me do other things, but when she is home it’s more of a team type thing. We do lots together and I do things she would like to get done instead of doing “my” chores. And when she is here we end up going shopping. She is better at that and I get to tag along.

Today, I can finally get rid of the leaves in the front drive.
That’s a chore.

So Dennis, my mechanic just showed up. He was sposed to be here yesterday. I need to get the tractors running, three. I want to send them to a new home and will sell them at the estate sale. So Dennis and I went across the road where I store my big tractor in a barn. We worked for an hour today on the beast but the battery is 16 years old. And truly dead. It charges but won’t hold a charge. Not good. The battery is big, 2 foot long, 1 foot wide 18 inches tall. No saying how much it’s gonna cost. At the end of the hour Dennis headed out for a new battery, starter fluid and tools. Back later. I am going to go rake leaves.

I was supposed to meet the estate sale guy at 11. He called around ten, left a message and a stream of excuses said he would try to get here in the next few days. Bullshit. I called him and told him we had an appointment at 11. His tune changed, he is coming later today. Nice guy, never wrote down the appointment in his book.

Btw, turns out when the kids are absent they go to Saturday school. And do art. And yoga and a little PE. And they have to get up early to do it. Seems unfair.

So I finished up the leaves, tossed the entire pile into the back of my truck and drive it to the burn pile. It’s the biggest wheel barrow I have.

Dennis returned about the time I finished the leaf pile. So we went back across the road to work on the tractor. We got the new battery installed. Did not help with the starting issue. But it does crank like a son of a bitch.

We went back through all systems and found that the injector pump is not pumping. This is a problem. I now have to call the tractor dealer and discuss the problem with him. I hope they have an idea of how to fix it vs replacing the pump. Either way, tractor no run. I want to sell it soon so this is an issue. Maybe I can solve quick next week.

Dennis left to attend his grandsons basketball game. I went to Vacaville and grocery shopping with Emily. We got food for next week. We got back home and Tim the estate sale guy was already there. Dennis was there too to fix the other two tractors. Dennis and Tim were chatting about things. Those two really hit it off.

Emily went back to Vacaville for Jaxons special dog food.

Dennis went to fix tractors and Tim and I walked the property and looked at all the things I want to sell. We discussed all items, he took lots of pictures, we tentatively scheduled the sale. He is going to try and sell all three tractors as well as my pickup. Could be a fantastic day. Real money to be had.

When we were done Tim and Dennis had a long conversation about their respective Ram trucks. Those two were made for each other. Even had to exchange phone numbers. I am sure Dennis will be working on Tims truck soon.

Everybody left. I went in and cleaned up a few things around the house. Did the dishes. Finally put away the groceries that we unloaded and Emily didn’t put away. Emptied the dishwasher. Usual stuff.

Emily finally got home. Turns out she ran into her friend Melissa and they had coffee. Emily told me later she wanted to avoid the sale talk from Tim. Seems she gets emotional about this. It’s strange because nothing else seems to bother her. So I made Mai Tais. That helped.

We made dinner. I BBQd New York steaks. Perfectly, I might add. Add salad to that and veg. A very good dinner for Saturday night.

Here after dinner we are watching bad TV. Almost all TV is bad but what can you do? At least Jeopardy just came on. Jeopardy is quality TV. Sadly not on 24 hours a day. After jeopardy is Wheel. Not good TV but not bad either. And the half a carton of coffee Haagen Dazs was great. Now bedtime. Also great.

Nothing Like It

Again, I got up early. Emily even asked why. It’s mostly because I have been waking early and not going back to sleep. A good reason to get up and do something. So I get out of bed, make coffee and breakfast. Feed the animals. And go workout. Seems a good idea.

My gym was packed. There was at least ten people there when I arrived. Usually no more than three or four on most days. There was no one in the back room I warm up in. So I managed a twenty minute warm up in privacy. When I came out to do weights, there was only one other person in the gym. So I had a peaceful few sets.

Back home to cleanup. SSS is the usual. It’s a really beautiful sunny day today. Since it’s such a nice day, I took the convertible to work. Top down. No stops for a change.

Had an audit client stop by. Went through his paperwork to figure out what was missing. Something is always missing. Got it straight. Need info back by late January so I can submit to IRS. Hope it works out.

Hal stopped by. We went through some tax strategies he has put into written format. I can use these materials to show clients how these strategies can help eliminate income taxes. Some of it is old news but it’s nice to have all written in one place.

Had to go to my old bank. The account got hit with more fees, which should not have happened. I was in yesterday to get them reversed, which did not happen. They doubled up today. My friend Joyce, at the bank, said she would reverse the fees. I hope so.

Went back to the office. Spent some time updating my debit card info on all the websites I have auto pay on. This is quite a chore. You have to remember all your passwords, which is near impossible, and of course remember all the places you use auto pay. I think I have 25 auto pays. Two or three of them I could not access. I can just wait for the NSF notice when it bounces but I might get hit with fees.

I headed for home around 615. Again, a peaceful ride home. A nice start to the weekend. Emily and I decided to go downtown and have dinner. Dawson’s Bar and Grill has reopened under new ownership. We went there. Friday night in downtown Dixon, not shocking to know everyone. It was tough to get through the crowd because everyone wanted to chat. We did finally get a table, the hostess was one of a Marika’s classmates. Mention no name but she is dumb as a post. She has new boobs too. But she is nice. Emily ordered a margarita, which was horrible. I had a glass of Zin, which was good. The rest of the meal was very good. We will need to come back to get farther into the menu. And be more careful about what cocktail we order.

Home by 915 and watched some good TV for a change. Emily is already asleep cuz she is teaching Saturday school. Has to be up early. I am going to sleep soon too.