A Tempting Offer

Today was yet another call offering voluntary termination to a portion of my company's workforce. Since I qualify for the maximum I was sore tempted, but we're only given three weeks to decide and my personal finances are not nearly as organized as I want them to be. Besides, I'm still kind of addicted to 26 pay stubs per year, which would be cut down by almost half (only lasting for 8 months) if I were to retire at the end of this September. So I'm on the fence but leaning towards getting off exactly where I stand right now. Having nobody to consult besides Robin, I have to go with my (and his) gut, and my stomach started churning a bit too much at the thought of extremely imminent retirement. For now I'm going to wait and see if they board the merry-go-round again this time next year, at which point my head -- and stomach -- will undoubtedly be in a different place.

Ping Ponging

Fun day at work and at home, trying to juggle lots of job and personal stuff at the same time. I feel like I'm at a ping pong game or something. But personal stuff (more things from Mom's estate) is done, I have a bunch more papers to file, and I'm in good shape at work as usual. Even had a chance to speak with my uncle this afternoon in his new senior living complex (via FaceTime no less, Mom could never have done that!). Big weekend awaits for footie, with England/France tomorrow in the consolation game and Spain v. Argentina in the big one, commandeered to a ludicrous extent by US insistence on four quarters throughout the tournament (these "hydration breaks" totally ruin the flow of the game) and an actual Halftime Show. And maybe, just maybe, I'll get back on the bike over the weekend, if I can breathe by that point.

Seeping In

We're starting to discover how extreme heat, even the onset of same, affects older people. Because, you know, we're Olds. I have various stomach and muscle ailments, Robin has been having trouble focusing, and we're not even going to try doing any more housework for the rest of the week. The living room blinds are drawn against the afternoon sun, I'm getting through my analog reading, and we're in a holding pattern watching the World Cup and baseball. Our downstairs neighbor Pablo volunteered to help us throw out our very old air conditioner, but we're not taking him up on his offer until the heat wave subsides. I'm just glad the kitchen trash is out. Whatever limited mail we get can wait until maybe Sunday; I'm content to have finally received notice that my $300/month pension from my first job will start coming in Any little bit helps!

Footie Foodie!

With the heat wave coming later this week, we decided to get our food shopping and my orthotic refurbishing out of the way today. I don't anticipate leaving the house any time in the next few days that would normally require the orthotics in my sneakers, so this was the best opportunity to get it done before I'll really need nice inserts for all that England walking in September. And it's nice to have a stocked fridge leading up to the 4th, again because we might not feel like going out much before that due to the heat. I started catching up on financial things, speaking with my brother about how to fill out my paperwork for the last of Mom's estate IRAs (it's all going to require sending out via FedEx from the office next week, but at least I know how to get everything ready for that) and organizing my receipts. And then it was on to World Cup watching, an activity I plan to do the most in the coming week.

Brief Holding Pattern

Today was pretty much a do-nothing day, but a nice quiet one. I'm fairly sure they're about done with the downstairs renovation, and now it's just a matter of waiting for our new neighbors. I caught up on the local paper and finally filed not only my personal finances but the myriad estate papers (we're far from over the distributions but we're actually getting to the point where things are becoming manageable). Oh, and of course lots of footie, and even some baseball. All set for tomorrow if I can get some sleep!

Quiet Reigns!

OMG, much needed afternoon nap and everything! It appears the construction downstairs is finally over, a few heavy appliances are now in place, and now begins the wait for the landlord to start showing the place to potential tenants and possibly even buyers. Whatever happens, I think we can wait things out until I retire. I caught up on lots of work stuff and even personal financial stuff, making a couple phone calls regarding my pension from my first job as well as Mom's inheritance stuff. And I got to watch the World Cup games with Robin from the comfort of my recliner, rather than at work by myself even though there were a number of coworkers there (none of whom even brought team jerseys as I did). The only minor drawback was when the home office AC noise kicked in and made it hard to hear folks over the phone, but considering how hot it is outside I'll take it. I also informed the folks I support of my upcoming plans for England in September, so maybe this weekend we'll actually book the flights and hotel. And of course I'll catch up more on personal finances. In between World Cup and baseball games, of course. A nice full quiet weekend at home beating the heat!

May Day!

White Rabbits! Now that our downstairs neighbor has moved out, the landlord has started preparing for renovations. We'll be getting a new front door at the foot of the indoor steps that actually closes for a change, and I suspect they'll be gutting the place pretty thoroughly. The noise today was minimal but still disruptive. I dread the noise this coming weekend, maybe it'll be an earbud kinda weekend after all. Meantime the laundry was done and has been put away in near-record time, I had a nice chat with the family financial advisor about my inheritance, I got through my work assignments in pretty decent shape to move forward next week, and I'm determined to finally organize my car maintenance files this weekend so I have my couch back!

Everything Everywhere All At Once

A few days ago I had a feeling of impending wossname, and had no idea what the imminent dread could be. Today I had to face three stressful situations involving the usual phone calls to AI robots before I could get human beings, and that was just my morning. The afternoon was wall-to-wall work meetings, during which my family broker called, so I've put that call off until Friday. There's only so much financial and medical stuff I can do in one day. There are also only so many meetings. I had no problem filling my day, my body didn't experience too many aches and pains so that's a plus, and I'm in good shape to concentrate only on work tomorrow, getting in my month-end requirements.