I know it has been a while since I shared my thoughts and dreams with you all and some of you even wondered if I was still alive. Sorry to disappoint you but I'm still here. Deal with it.
I thought that today would be a good time to bring you up to speed on my doings before the week gets away from me again. For someone that is retired I sure have a lot on my plate right now.
The bladder infection I was dealing with earlier in the month is gone but it left some other issues in its wake. Luckily I was able to get in to see a Urologist as a rush appointment, in May. One of the joys of living in a vacation/retirement community is that it is filled with old people with issues. Trying to get in to see a doctor is like trying to get a reservation at a hot New York City restaurant, even if you know someone it takes months.
May it will be unless someone in line before me dies then we all move up one slot. As every recording for every doctor in the Coachella Valley says, "if this is an emergency, hang up and dial 911." Hopefully whatever I have going on isn't life threatening while I wait for the doctor to tell me it is just old age.
As some of you might recall I volunteered to be on the HOA budget work group in order to stop them from rubber stamping a budget the finance committee was going to put in that would raise our monthly dues. At the first meeting, while I was answering a text, I somehow got elected chair of the group. Great. The week between Christmas and New Year we held our first meeting and we quickly realized we didn't have enough information to even begin talking about a new budget.
I asked the management team to send us the budgets and actuals for the last three years so we could review and note any trends. Now, you would think that since they create a financial sheet every month with this information that they would already have it stored someplace that could be easily pulled up and sent out.
Ha! Incorrect response my friend. Five weeks later we now have the information, sort of. They gave us actuals for the previous three years but not what the budget was, however we are going to carry on. I set last Friday afternoon for our first meeting via Zoom and of course of the six members of this group, only three of us showed up, two couldn't figure out Zoom, and one we have sent out a search party for. We are off and running.
The finance committee, and board, want us to submit our initial budget by mid February. I have already told them that is not going to happen and now I am scheduled to meet with the board on Wednesday to explain to them why we are not going to be on time. Should be tons of fun.
Here is a question for someone on the board. Why are we paying $20,000 a year for a starter, $3500 for telephone charges, and another $2700 for internet at the golf course when we have, on a good day, twelve people playing golf here? Can't we just have a signup sheet and tee off in order of signing up?
Anyway, this budget thing is going to be a nightmare for another three months for me at least.
Of course Linda and I still have our other things to do like taking us, and our mothers, to doctor appointments. Going to Walgreens and waiting in line for seventeen hours to get a prescription filled and picked up. Shopping at four different grocery stores because, for some reason, everyone is out of bathroom cups and dill pickles.
Nobody wants to be out in public anymore for more than five minutes because this omicron variant is raging across the country. We appreciate the people from around North America who decided to come here to escape the ravages of Covid in their home area but once here refuse to follow our rules. Many won't wear a mask in the stores, they argue about having to pay for a bag when you purchase something, and they refuse to drive at our posted speed limits because they think they are too fast.
We love your money, but please go back home if you can't follow the rules here. I am still shocked every day at how many people I know who have either refused to get vaccinated, or refuse to wear a mask, and are getting infected. Why they are surprised is my shock. If only there was something that we could do to prevent getting infected?
However the biggest amount of my time right now is being spent on writing my book. I am fifty-five single spaced pages into it and am still only in my high school years. I am going to finish up and then will need to go back and figure out a final plan for continuity.
I have started out in the first half of what I've written in one voice and now it has slowly morphed into a different voice. I will leave it for my editor to help me decide which is the right voice, or do I just leave it as is?
It has been more fun than I thought it would be to write this, especially when taking a walk down memory lane. My goodness I have met some interesting people and done some interesting things in my life. I hope everyone else feels the same way when you read it.
So, that is why I have been missing from this blog for days at a time. Please bear with me for a little while longer while I complete the budget process and the book. I will try to post something when I get a few minutes. I will leave you with my favorite story of the last week.
The former idiot in chief was on the Sean Hannity show. Sean was tossing him another softball question and he ended it with, "Biden keeps beating his head against the wall hoping for a different result." The former idiot in chief was silent for about twenty seconds when he then said, "Well Sean we tried to get the wall completed right away but the Democrats kept forcing us to stop."
He had no idea what the phrase "beating your head against the wall", meant.
Yeah, our smartest President ever.