Same old, same old

These last few weeks have flown by in a blur. Every day is pretty much the same. Get up, work out, go to work #1, come home, go to work #2, go to bed. Rinse, repeat.

Last week there was a power outage which delayed going to work #1 but I can live with that. Other than that life has been fairly mundane.

Work #2 has a lot more quiet times which allows me to get some reading done. Most of what I have read has been alright. The one book that stands out is “A Woman is No Man” by Etaf Rum. Great book, I quite enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

Our libraries are now open for curbside pickup by appointment only so my holds tend to pile up and then I have 10+ movies to watch in 6 days 🤔 Most have been blockbusters that were meh. But I did watch “The Grizzlies” and it got me all in my feelings.

This movie made me laugh and cry. Based on a true story that really opened my eyes to the plight of my neighbours way up North.

It has been announced that as of August 1st we go back to full pay. YIPPEE!! Since I have a second job, I am not eligible for workshare, a government top up for a little over half of the missing 25%. I have decided to continue to work my current shifts for both jobs. 5 days at the full time and 6 days at the part time for August and September. Towards the end of September I will reassess as I don’t have anything else going on and figure I should make money while I can.

Recently a one-bedroom plus den went on the market for a ridiculous sum and it got me thinking that I might want to move. While I don’t know that I want the responsibility of snow removal and lawn care, I feel like the building I am in is due for some major repairs. And those expenses I would like to avoid. Also it is very frustrating to not be able to do what you would like as the latest property management company is treating us like a big business instead of a small building. Everything seems to need approval and a form to be filled out.

I am weighing my options as I would like to not have to work until my death in order to pay for my lifestyle. The thing is with working from home I have forced my kids to spend time in their rooms. I do not think this is great for them. So having more space would be ideal. Especially since my kids don’t seem to be moving out any time soon.

I also have an elderly aunt who currently lives alone in a seniors building. Her memory is not the best and if the time should come that she needs care, she would live with me and I don’t have space for her in this apartment.

I have looked at the real estate sites and the prices are extreme. Even with a huge profit on my current place, I still will need a sizable mortgage to be able to buy another property. This has put a big pause in my thought process. I don’t want to have a mortgage for another 25 years. I think if I had a better paying job, a partner or one of my kids chipping in then I would be out house shopping but to do it on my own … seems a bit daunting right now. My mother has reminded me that my old room is still available. LOL

I am going to let it marinate and run the numbers some more. There is a part of me that thinks wait until the new year as the folks who deferred their mortgages might be looking to unload their homes. There is another part of me that thinks I should stay where I am as it is very affordable and allows me to travel and eat out which bring me joy. Oh first world problems … how I love having them. 🙂

 

Arrived safely

I meant to type this up last night but by the end of the evening I did not want to do a thing.

Let’s back track a bit.

Thursday night I had great intentions to get to bed by 10pm. I had a few errands to run and might have made it, if my sister didn’t need me to pass by to open the front door for her as she forgot her keys.

What was supposed to be a quick trip turned into a bit more as her neighbour was outside with his friend and we got to talking about my old car. The friend seemed interested but I didn’t have the time to have a real conversation. Maybe when I get back.

When I finally got home, I realized my kids had cleaned the house, but neglected to wash up the dishes. I quickly knocked them out and reminded the girls that we would also need to clean out the fridge.

I found my bed around 10:30 but Diva was not home. So sleep was not coming easily. When she finally made it home, I was still having issues falling asleep. Not usually a problem but with my 3:30am wake up I was trying to get it together.

I believe it was after 12:30 when I finally went to sleep. The alarm went off on time … There was a struggle to get moving.

We were in the car by 4:15 and at the local Tim Horton’s coffee/donut shop just shortly after that. As we started out I remembered I forgot my computer so I turned around and started all over again at 5am.

The drive down to Maryland was uneventful. Even though we stopped more than usual we still made good time.

One of my objectives while here is to buy a TV as ours has a short in the power cord and since it is over 11 years old, I would like an upgrade. I’d prefer a “dumb” TV but that does not seem to readily available from my favourite store, Costco.

Our first stop was Costco and they did not have the TV I was looking for. So I bought clothes instead. 🙂

Later on we went to another Costco and they also did not have the size/brand TV I am looking for. I also returned most of the clothes I bought as my “fashion consultant” Diva and my cousin did not think they were flattering.

So I am back to square one with the TV. Buy a power cord and continue with my current TV, the financially smart decision. OR buy a bigger TV that I had originally planned?

Funny how according to my kids all TVs under 55″ look “small” when in Costco.

Me and my first world problems.

Working out not working out

Tee hee I made a funny.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

I really did mean to start working out but then reality set in. I was sick for the past week and a half and have lost both weight and my appetite. My appetite has not returned.

I don’t eat enough in a day. The struggle is real my friends. LOL #FirstWorldProblems

I went for another walk this evening with Diva.  This might be our new routine. It’s nice to get out and move without over-exerting myself. I just need to add some weights to my routine and I’ll be all set.

Eventually I will get it together and get back on track. I’m aiming for sooner rather than later.

Jam packed Wednesdays

Every new TV season I try not to add any too many new shows as there are only so many hours I want to devote to watching the old boob tube.

Of the 15 shows I think I am going to watch this season, 8 of them are on Wednesday night.  Huh!?!  Why!?!  Thank goodness for time-shifting and my PVR.  I know my life is hard!! First world problems.  LOL

Princess and I are huge Marvel comic book fans so you know Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D made the list.

 (Source)

So far I am not all that impressed but it’s some bonding time with the big child before she completely thinks I’m not cool.

Princess also loves Alice in Wonderland so she is patiently waiting for Once Upon A Time In Wonderland.

 (Source)

Thankfully this one is on Thursdays.  Since we all love Once Upon A Time, I hope we will enjoy Wonderland as well.

The only other shows I have added are Super Fun Night and Ironside.  Super Fun Night looks like it will be funny and Ironside … well I have been in love with Blair Underwood since my mother used to watch L.A. Law back in the ’90s.  I swear he has not aged at all.

I think 15 shows is way too many for one week.  This translates to 13 hours of TV a week … that’s almost a part-time job. 😦  Maybe I can salvage some of these hours by picking up my not so forgotten scarf.

Good Bonus Surprise?

Nice title huh?

A little back story.

I get retention bonuses at work.  We had a performance bonus program and found that it was not based on real merit so it was scrapped.  And replaced with a retention bonus for folks the company actually wanted to retain. 😉  The bonus happens several times throughout the year at odd intervals.

My latest bonus was until the end of the year.  Usually I am required to stay until a certain date then the bonus is paid on the pay cheque that falls after that date.  This was great for me as this bonus would be paid out next year and be counted as next year’s income.

This scenario did not happen for me this time around.

Since I do not want to be a little old lady eating cat food I put about 60% of this bonus into my retirement fund and left the rest to pay the additional income taxes and add to my $10K savings goal.

Well I check my account and I got paid early.  And there is way more deposited to my account than I expected.

I know “First World Problems”. 😉

My minor issue is that I have no way of know if the amount deposited is correct.  The money allotted to my retirement account takes awhile to show up so I won’t be able to see any time soon if that amount is correct either. 😦

Since I work for a small company we only have one person who deals with payroll and she will not be in until December 31 … so this would be the earliest I would be able to ask or even see my pay stub.

The suspense is torturing me just a little.

Right now my bank account is looking pretty, oh so pretty.  And it will remain looking pretty until I get the confirmation I am looking for.  I would hate to spend any of the extra cash if it wasn’t really mine to spend or worst yet the full amount that was to go to my retirement account didn’t.

I must say I am really hoping we got a year-end bonus that no one told me about.

First world problems

So I was thinking the other day that I really do suffer from “first world problems”.

Case in point:  No Frills, a local discount grocery store, is having a good sale this week.  There are a few things I wold like to stock up on.  I was in the store on the week-end and bought a couple of packages of ribs and Jane’s chicken strips.  I would like to buy more but my freezers are full.

With what? (And yes, you read correctly freezers, as in more than one.)

2 cartons of this; among other things.

(Source)

I have both vanilla and chocolate in my possession as my kids like different things and their mother has spoiled them.

No Frills had the 4 litre cartons of ice cream on sale for cheap so I did what any self-respecting frugalist would do, I bought one of each flavour.

My children have since grown “tired” of eating ice cream. O__o  ARGH!!

My life is “hard”.  LOL

 

Computer Problems

Yesterday I had this great post in my head.  When I got a minute to sit, I turned on my computer and was about to log into this blog and then I heard it.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

At the time I did not know what it meant but it didn’t sound good.

I logged off my computer and went to restart it and I got a black screen and a request to load a disk …

Oh, oh.

This I now know is the black screen of hard drive death.

While I hadn’t experienced it myself I was only aware of the blue screen of death.  I had no clue that there are screens of  any other colours.

A quick call to a techie friend and I was brought up to speed.

I. AM. NOT. IMPRESSED.

I bought this computer brand new in August!?!  I still have my old laptop that I bought 6-7 years ago refurbished and it still works.  It’s slow but functioning.

I had to do a search for the bill, but I found it.  Took my laptop and the bill to Future Shop only to be told by the service guy that he will send it out to Toshiba.

REALLY!?!

I can do that myself.  WTFrench fries!?!

My first call to Toshiba was not fruitful as I did not have the laptop in my hand.  But the person on the other end did tell me where I could take it.  Turns out there are 2 places close by.

Lucky me.

After a quick walk to the car, I called back Toshiba to get the necessary paperwork and a recommendation that I take it to the official service depot not one of the authorized dealers.

Well, OK.

So tomorrow before I go to work I will drop off my laptop.  The estimated time to fix is between 7-10 business days. 😦

No this is not the end of the world as both Princess and Diva have their own computers so I can easily get online.  It is however an annoying inconvenience.

Ahhh first world problems!!! 😉