Tuesday, April 07, 2009

cuando el mundo gira


One thing I was positive I would have time to do in retirement was to keep up with my blog and reading all of my fellow blogger entries. Wrong.


I find myself furtively looking through my blogroll each night around midnight trying to catch up on the latest posts. For those of you who have not received email responses from me lately, I also apologize. They will eventually arrive.


So. What have I been doing?


Monday morning I was up literally at the crack of dawn to drive my truck to the local Ford dealer to get some major work done before I hit the road. I have oil leaking from three different points on the engine -- and my accelerator has a tendency to get stuck. I was not willing to risk either one becoming a larger problem on the drive south.


I got a call in the afternoon adding coolant problems and a loose windshield to the list. Based on an earlier estimate, I expect that I will be leaving $3K on the table before I drive it away this afternoon. I suspect I could have spent two days in the Salem Hospital and have owed just about the same amount of money.


I turned down the offer of a free van ride to my house. Instead, I walked the 3 or so miles. On a beautiful, clear morning, I enjoyed the exercise.


I did a bit of weeding, and then set out to resolve some financial issues.
Brenda suggested I should get extra ATM cards -- just in case one wore out. I thought it a brilliant idea.


Wells Fargo did not share our enthusiasm. One card per account said they. Asked I: What happens when it wears out? Said they: Order a new one that will go to your Oregon address only. Security. Liability. Blah blah blah. ARGHH!


And then I had the brilliant idea to ask my credit union if we could set up emergency access to my account. Certainly. If I would merely stop by the credit union in person when I needed a week's authorization. I asked if they would waive riding the usually-required elephant, but she seemed to miss my point.


I then walked to three department stores to buy shoes. Not one of them had anything in my size. So. No high quality walking shoes for me.


It may just be me, but I am convinced someone has enrolled me in Mexico Survival Tips 101.


But I had a success today. My purchase of MagicJack for telephone calls from Mexico. And I would have forgotten that if my brother had not reminded me. It should be arriving in the mail within the next few days -- he said with hope rising in his breast.


I also shoe horned in two long walks with Jiggs. He loves getting out in the warm weather, but he seems to tire quickly in this new-found heat.


This was the day I was going to start on organizing closets. At least, I managed to fit in about 6 or 7 miles of walking. I have not weighed myself recently. I think I will wait on that until the move is complete.


For those of you who thought I could not enjoy the non-business aspect of retirement, I am doing fine. Of course, I really do still have a job. This business of getting out of town is as much of a job as the one I just abandoned.


I will eventually catch up with all of these tasks -- and with all of your posts. I am hanging in there until the better end.

12 comments:

Calypso said...

What do you retired people do with yourselves?

Of course I laugh when I hear that - I can't figure out how I found the time to work ;-)

Anonymous said...

enjoying my morning coffee and your blog. glad you and the professor are getting out there and making the most of the beautiful weather.

yes, it does sound like you've been enrolled in mexico survival 101. i really don't understand why wells fargo wouldn't give you an extra card under the circumstances. not that i am prone to hissy fits, but i think i just might have had one if they'd denied me an extra card. i guess if you stick to using it once a week or so, it won't wear out. of course there's always the possibility of it getting eaten by the machine, although in my years of traveling in mexico i've never had that happen.

gosh, i can hardly believe you are just 1 week and 1 day from leaving! time sure does fly. enjoy your last week of preparations. before you know it, you'll be on your way.

take care steve.

teresa

Islagringo said...

"I am hanging in there until the better end." I love it when you put those little throw away gems in!

Steve Cotton said...

Calypso -- And I start wondering when I found time to do all of those things while I was working? The answer, of course, is that I didn't.

Teresa -- Attempting to find reason when bank security is involved is a fool's erand, and I have enough foolishness in my life as it is. Thank you for the nice comment.

Islagringo -- I am glad you saw it -- and you liked it.

Babs said...

I loved that sentence too. It made me giggle - you are a master at writing.

Steve Cotton said...

Babs -- Why thank you, milady.

Larry in Mazatlan said...

Steve

We had the same problem when we looked into opening a Wells Fargo account. That was why we went with BofA. CitiBank would have been okay too. Of all the banks, Wells Fargo was the worst when it came to customer service.

Don't forget to set yourself up for automatic deposit, wherever you land. And electronic statements. Removes a lot of future problems.

Larry

jennifer rose said...

Now's the time to buy yourself a new car. They're practically giving them away in the U.S.

Calypso said...

Have to agree with Larry on the Wells Fargo acct. thing. We have all three: Citi, B of A, and Wells - it is by far the worst of the three and that is going some.

GlorV1 said...

Why didn't you get your car worked on before?You're moving/driving to Mexico and you waited a few days before you leave??? Poor you, now you're really going to get nervous and get ulcers before you even get to where you are going. Geez. I already bid you farewell in my last comment, but you're still here and getting your car worked on at that. :))) Oh well, you can't win em all. Take care Steve. Viva La Mexico!

Steve Cotton said...

Babs -- High praise indeed, Thanks.

Larry -- We live. We learn. We share.

Jennifer -- Possibly. But I have some life left in my old chassis. (Famous last words.)

Calypso -- Before the year is out, I may need all three as well.

Gloria -- Getting major work completed in advance of a trip is only asking for something else to break. At least, this way I know everything has been recently examined. Besides, I love the adrenalin rush of doing everything at the last minute. It reminds me of combat.

GlorV1 said...

funny lololol