...out of sorts[!?!]

if only we could all be like Macky cat...
get "on top of time"...
and stay there...


[this is one of his favorite perches...cats...go figure...]

I spent much of yesterday...
lost in the shadowy valley...
of financial chaos...

I've down-loaded statements to figure out my debt...
my dwindling assets and it seems, what's left of my sanity...

my Quicken software...
with which I've done online banking since 1996...
has stopped allowing me access...
since Oct. 15, 2008... it will not open...

I have re-loaded, used different browsers...
but something has "corrupted" the files...
and now that I really need ALL my records...
to do the taxes, they are not available...

I did not plan for this...
I have a Mac...it NEVER freezes or crashes...
and except for this glitch, is working fine...
but nothing I've done...
re-installed Quicken, contacted Intuit & Apple...
numerous times, I might add...with NO response...
nothing... seems to work...

so I'm "sorting"...

making copies of checking & savings account statements...
[ie "killing trees"...]
to try & categorize my various earning streams...

Quicken lets me tag deposits & payments...
as to tax impact, etc and prepares me charts & lists...
when I can open it...
and since it "opened on demand"...for 12 years...
I had no reason to think it would crash...
but it has & I'm stuck...

stuck...

trying to track all the money I had to take from my TSA...
my church checks, the music gigs I did...
all neatly identified in Quicken...
and totally inaccessible...

amongst all this chaos, is the attempt, by me...
to put my financial house in order...
by organizing and inventorying the debris field...
[also, neatly locked in Quicken...]

and since I have discontinued "paper" statements...
whenever possible, I'm now killing more trees...
going from website to website...
downloading the latest statements...

which I, as of this moment...
can't even put into the RTN software...
because the Excell spread sheets I downloaded...
had to be translated into Appleworks...
and are cranky & really hard to work with...
[you can't see what you're typing until you click enter...
& some fields are not accessible at all...]

did I mention that I can't even get it...
to print-out more than page 1 ?
so filling-in the blanks is not an option...
but I've signed-up, paid $ & have to do this...

obviously, the Excell spreadsheets would work better..
on their native PC...but...I don't use PC...
don't have one...don't have access to one...
am very inept on them & absolutely HATE using them...

I just seem to be going in circles & treading water...

there must be a dozen things God wants me to learn...
and I must be dumber than a sack of doorknobs...
'cause I'm at a loss as to what they/it are/is...
and why it's taking me so long to learn it...

but I know that things happen best...
in His time & His way...

the fact that I hate "this"...the uncertainty...
the clutter...all the sorting...and the facing of the bottom line...
is a pretty good indication that I have to do this...
I just wish I was a better "student"...

'cause I've had enough already...and there's NO end...
in sight...anywhere I can see...that is...

one good thing did come of this digging today, though...

BRMS, which manages health care for retired teachers...
until they get to 65 & go on Medicare...
is the company that I have to send the monthly "pay-up"...
which is the difference between what my district will pay...
for my health care...and what it costs...
from whichever company we're with...

I've always gone with the least expensive HMO...
[Kaiser is NOT a viable choice for me...]
and am now back with Blue Shield again...
they're great, but expensive...

I originally chose "option D"...
which was about $125 p/mo & had all sorts of deductibles...
but they have a quality network...
and don't "nickle & dime" you about needed care...

then I was informed that the district "wasn't sure"...
about who our choices would be...
the cost or options available...
so they danced around, reset deadlines...
re-did enrollment...
and then did it all over again...

when the dust finally cleared...
I had Blue Shield... at a buy-up of $175 p/mo...
at least $50 more per month than I expected...
so since I hadn't been getting my monthly statement...
from the folks at BRMS, I didn't know...
just how much of the $ I'd sent them in June was left ...

and it's a good thing that I contacted them...

the nice young man[NOT in a 3rd world country..]
that I had to wait through 4 muzac tunes to talk to...
told me that their records showed a statement...
going out to me every month...[which I'm NOT receiving...]

and my balance is now $37.35...
so I have to send them more $ soon...
so as not to lose my health insurance...

he's going to send me a 2008 statement for my taxes...
he's checking on why I'm not getting the statements...
and making sure I get a bill, of course...
[he took my phone number...just in case...]

I'm glad to know this before the insurance lapses...
but $175 p/mo more is the last thing I need...
unfortunately, I also saw today what I would have had to pay...
without the insurance for my finger...

I would still have a crooked, throbbing finger...

I know there's a path...
I keep being told to trust & move ahead...

thank you God, for providing my needs...
and leading me through this mess...

..."THUNK"...[the sound of the "other" shoe, dropping...]

I've been waiting for "the other shoe to drop"...
[ie : the bill for my finger surgery...]
because I was sure that there was a deductible...
and that it was going to burn a hole...
in my rapidly diminishing financial resources...

it came today...

in a fat creamy envelope from Blue Shield...
& unable to bear the suspense any longer...
I opened it and began to read...

2/02/09 office visit $ 102.44 allowed $ 10.00 patient resp.
2/04/09 surgery $ 827.17 allowed $ 0 patient resp.
2/04/09 anesthesia $ 266.88 allowed $ 0 patient resp.
2/04/09 hospital serv. $4858.00 allowed $ 0 patient resp.

that's a total of $6,054.49, allowed...

they billed $ 9,443.46...
but because my doctor & the hospital involved...
were in the "network"...
the costs were $3,388.99 less than the regular price...

and my share... ? a $10 co-pay for the first office visit...

I also owe a $10 co-pay to the first orthopedist...
and $50 [deductible] to the emergency room...

so if you're counting along at home...
that's $70 the dislocation has cost me in medical bills...
[there was also $20.00 co pay for the drugs...
so it's really $90.00....]

it could have been SSSOOOOOO much worse...

if I didn't have insurance, it would be nearly $10,000.00 I'd owe...

I really thought that I'd have to pay at least $500.00...
I guess having to have an "acute" surgery...
may have saved me...

for whatever reason, I'm grateful...
now... if only the IRS would "go away"...

...spring garden quiz

OK, fellow bloggers, we all love to take those quizzes...
you know, the ones with a number of words poorly spelled...
several tragic grammatical train-wrecks...
& we won't even get into syntax...

where we end up being identified about as accurately...
as I was when a career test I took in high school...
said my best career choice was "freelance shepherd"...
[OK...so I rigged the test...but you get the idea...]


so here's a different kind of quiz...

are you a garden wizard with a emerald thumb ?
[who composts their clippings...]
or do you just buy what's "purty"...
and hope it won't up & die on you ?

I took a camera excursion through my gardens...

the quiz...? can you identify what I picture here...
yes, they are just blooming, budding or leafing out...
but if you know your mulch from your compost...
you should be able to identify many, if not most of them...

just leave your guesses in the comments...
[collaboration is allowed...]

this, however...will be the hardest one...



bonus picture...

clue : they are NOT dried blossoms & this plant is pictured, "leafing-out"...
elsewhere in the quiz...
[& yes, the picture is "catty-corner", for better resolution...]

if you can guess what this is, you know your "dirt"...
and what grows in it...

here are the rest...ENJOY !



1.



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13.



14.

hope that you enjoyed a stroll through my awakening garden...

just put your guesses in the comments...

...food pørn, 1.1

drooool...



oven roasted red & yellow beets...like candy...
[e.v. olive oil & Kosher salt...]



oven roasted carrots, Brussels sprouts, beets & asparagus...
[e.v.olive oil & Kosher salt..]

and here...in all it's tasty glory...



Mr GT's "to die for" tabbouleh salad...



lots & lots of finely [& rhythmically...] chopped parsley...
green onion, cumin, lemon juice, tomato...
and, of course, Bulgar wheat...



a marvelous treat any time...

as a salad or an entreé, in warmer weather...

and a really fun thing to take macro photos of...

...is that spring in the air ?

ah spring... ah-CHOO...
been doing that all day...
at least today's headache is a bit less nasty...
than the one from yesterday...
but today's is making me dizzy too...
which means it's in my ears...

but there's something else in the air around here...
and it's WAY more insidious than mere nose tickling pollen...

the temperate weather, sunshine...
and the untimely onslaught of daylight savings time...
have combined to open doors...and windows...
and the privacy of colder days is gone on a sunbeam...

I arrived home, turned off my car...
and then I heard...something...

I knew that it was supposed to be music...
but as far as I was concerned, it wasn't making it...
this...from a former jr high instrumental music teacher...
who has been in a room with as many as 150+ jr high "musicians"...
all warming-up at once...

but this wasn't a fledgling saxophonist...
exploring the altissimo register...
a would-be trombonist practicing glissandi...
or an erstwhile percussionist perfecting a paradiddle...

this was noise... pure & simple...
sounds without purpose...
pure experimentation like a 3 year old pounding on a piano...

it was a...banjo...

and not the skillfully executed "pickin's"...
of a Deliverance-esque line...
flowing in & out & around in a game of tag with itself...
this was "strumming"...rhythmic disruption of the strings...
in a very "ukulele" type fashion....

no skillful, artful chording either...

just fingers up & down, back & forth over the strings...

somewhere between "the big finish" on a ukulele solo...
and the frantic, climactic strumming of a flamenco guitar...
nothing even vaguely musical...
just noise...

I located the "noise", across and down the street...

it's a rental, and they're fairly new...

I hope it's just a phase...or that they learn quickly...

I was just enjoying the recent departure...
of the rock band 2 doors up the street...
that rehearsed in their garage until after midnight...
with the doors open & NO sound proofing...

and then there's the 3 brothers that live across the street...
who take turns cranking up their car stereos...
when they're working out side...
and have also "adopted" an old upright piano...
that's horribly out of tune...
a fact that doesn't seem to stop them from playing it...

so now that spring is here...
I'm not sure...
am I allergic to the blooming flora ?
or the blooming, inconsiderate, non-musical neighbors ?

...food pørn

"a proper turkey sandwich..."
[toasted whole grain bread w/butter, turkey...
stuffing, cranberry relish, & cole slaw...]



"a proper piece of toast..."
[homemade multigrain bread & butter...]



"a Greek salad with grilled chicken..."

[romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomato, red onion, Greek olives, feta cheese...
with homemade oil & vinegar dressing & flat bread...]



"homegrown ruby red grapefruit..."



"down-home green beans..."
[green beans, red onion, minced garlic, chicken broth, S & P...]



"homemade lasagna..."



"homemade red 'gravy', with sweet Italian sausage..."



"oven-roasted Brussels sprouts, with Kosher salt..."



"pan-roasted salmon, with cracked pepper & lime juice..."



"fresh asparagus, ready to oven roast..."



"pan-roasted salmon, tabbouleh & home-made red cabbage..."
[aka "last night's supper..."]

is your mouth watering yet ?

...more progress

this was Fluff's eye on March 1...
nasty, angry, oozing...



the ulcer had ruptured & was draining...

today, March 7...



what a difference !

it's also obvious by her demeanor...
that she feels better too...

many thanks to all those of you who prayed for Fluff...



Creamer is also feeling better...
so far...I've found NO evidence of the nasty diarrhea...
that was racking her slinky self...
though her last "one" was a bit loose...

she's been good about choosing the ID food...
though at the moment, she's eating the turkey...
which didn't bother her before...
and since she didn't eat a lot just now...
I hope won't set off the diarrhea again...

so Creamer still needs your continued prayers...



she even tried out a new nest for a while...
now she's back on the floor...
in my way, like any self-respecting feline would be...

and my finger... ?



here how the "hole" was on Thursday...
just after pin removal...
[& yes...that black line around the "hole"...
is probably a cat hair...
Lucyfur, no doubt...]



and today...

it's still "puffy" & quite sore...
as it got torqued a bit when he removed the pin...
and there is some internal healing that needs time...

however...

there appears to be a scab forming on the "hole"...



and that's a very good thing...