I'm a Productivity Machine!

What's up everybody, welcome to the weekend. This week has pretty much been the Week of Productivity as far as my odds and ends are considered. I don't know if I'm riding the wave of New Years energy or if it's because it feels like spring around here, but whatever the case I have been taking care of bidness.

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In Review

First I'll state some truths:

• I don't like talking on the phone


• I don't like calling people about money


• I don't like being pushy


• I don't like dealing with unpleasant things


• I don't like dealing with unpleasant things that also require me to just accept things I don't understand


• I procrastinate

Now, here's how I had to overcome all of those fears this week:

• I called the dentist about my erroneous bill (successful)


• I called the eye doctor about my overdue glasses (successful)


• I called my lawyer about the mortgage (successful)


• I painfully got all of my finances in order complete with tracking down the owner of my school loan (successful)


• I finished filling out my mortgage application and made an appointment with the bank (successful)


• I went to my appointment with the bank and got all of my questions answered and my application filed (successful)

The painfullest part of this whole mortgage thing is that the bank and attorney kept telling me to call the other one. The attorney wasn't going to tell me anything until he was on the payroll, and I couldn't convey to him that I wanted him on the payroll. The bank kept telling me to get answers from the attorney, and the cycle continued. Finally the other day I called the attorney and said "How do I make you my attorney?", to which he replied "Oh, just put my name on the attorney notification form that you give the bank.". I also had to give my info to the secretary, but it was relatively painless once I was able to persuade him to accept my money (or that of my legal insurance company).

The second most painful part of this process was finding all of my freaking loan information. Heaven forbid the company with which I consolidated should hang onto my loan for five minutes. Nope, they sold it after a while. Then that company sold it, then somehow the original company ended up with it. But then they apparently partnered up with another company who has the first company manage it, but with their name affixed to it.

Confused? Yeah, now try to do it when the only information you can get is that the lender you thought had your loan doesn't know who the hell you are, despite the fact that they get hundreds of your dollars every money.

All in all, I was ready to kill someone this morning as I was finishing up the last minute details before I had to meet with the man (who passed me off to someone else) at the bank.

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Spring Cleaning

I aggravated a leg injury (or just a sore leg) last night during the Thursday Night Run. Today it was wicked nice out and I was just DYING to get out and run, I'm talking shorts weather here. Being the good boy that I am, I figured I'd take it easy and rest for a day. By rest, I meant do some yard work.

In preparation for cleaning out my garage so I can park in it, I decided to take the wheelbarrow-ful of tree bark to the transfer station. That way I could put the wheelbarrow out in the back where it can chill for the winter. I bagged that up and thought to myself "Self, why don't you bust out a rake and clean all the new needles and pine cones in the back yard? You'll be much happier in the spring when you don't have to mess with them." So that's what I did. After the two dozen bags of yard debris I've already taken to the transfer station in the last few weeks, I managed to fill four more with needles and pine cones. Thank God I got my new cargo mat for the Tinsel Wagon from LLBean today. Booyacah!

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The Garage is Cleaned Out

Folks, it's with a tear in my eye (or is it dust) that I tell you I have the garage cleaned out well enough to park in it. There are a few things that could have better homes, but for now there is ample parking room. I even took the bike racks off the roof, so my car is ready for the winter. I've had to scrape the windows twice this "winter", but not no more Billy.

Not no more, Billy.

POP QUIZ: What movie is that line from? Abbey, I know you know it so let someone else have a chance.

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I'm not Gay

I have to preface this section with the disclaimer that I'm not gay, because often times the things I do are normally only done by members of the fairer sex or men who prefer the company of other men.

As a treat for taking care of the mortgage today, I bought myself a big ass latte (triple shot, yo) and went for a drive. Originally the drive was to make sure the transfer station was open, but I also ended up at Home Goods looking for window treatments and duvet covers. What I ended up getting was a duvet cover complete with two pillow shams (I'm not big on shams, but everything matches real purdy-like and the cotton is so cottony soft), a big brown bottle for my loose change and a picture frame for a sign my sister brought me from Japan. Actually, here's a picture so you can see how hot it looks atop my desk...



Click on the picture for a better view of it. You'll see that it's a picture of a dog biting a guy on the ass. Classic! I can only assume the kashi (okay, Kashi makes cereal but I can't remember what Japanese symbols are called) says something to the effect of "You gotta worry about a dog, CATCHIN YO ASS!".

POP QUIZ: What's that last quote from?

That's it folks, enjoy your weekend. It's good to be back.

Over and Out,
Old Coot