Oncologist Wednesday

 Even though the appointment was at 1:45 in the afternoon, I could barely move, could barely get onto the table. This doctor replaces the gynecological oncologist that died. His father and grandfather died from same cancer and he leaves three boys. I know his wife is tied in knots about their health. I could not think of words, so sounded like I had dementia. 

We left there and went to BK close by. We were going to get small, plain burger. They are $2 or over. Since there is Duo deal, we could get two Whopper Jr.s. for $5. The person at the window said something about me going to the doctor. I suppose from seeing my id bracelet. Then said, how is your blood pressure?  Okay. How is your diabetes? Okay, I guess. She checked up on several medical things with me. I laughed and said, "Is this the hospital's annex?"

She said, "Well, you go to the doctor, then come eat all this fast food?" I defended myself as I laughed, "But, we did not buy fries, bought small burger, no mayo, just vegetables on mine. Diet Coke small?" I don't remember how it all ended, but we were not offended, and she did not give up chiding us as she was very friendy. 

Tommy keeps correcting me saying it was a man, not a woman. ???

We stopped by all the stores to get ads. I bought two of the Red Delicious apples I did not yesterday. Since then, I have been sitting in my chair, trying to rest or sleep or something. I only had a small bowl of cabbage for dinner. 

On the news tonight, we saw a bad backup of traffic from an accident where we had just gone through. I am always grateful not to be sitting in a traffic jam. We almost got hit again in an identical accident near the hospital, but on the driver side of the car. The insurance company would never believe Tommy was not at fault somehow. Tommy was going about five miles an hour when a car going at least 30 miles an hour came zooming into our lane. Thankfully, Tommy braked and swerved. 

At the doctor Tommy left my purse in the car and let it go with the valet. It had $500 cash in it which I cannot find now. Hopefully, I had taken it out of my purse. We will look for it tonight or tomorrow.

After the cabbage for dinner, I am having half an apple, pecans, and three prunes. I never have more than three prunes. 

Have you ever lost a large amount of money? Did you find it?

Edit: I found the money still in my purse plus another $80.

Money Save, Lunch, Opossums

As I was tidying up on Tuesday, I picked up a plastic bag with plastic bags inside it. For some reason I pulled out all the bags. Inside one of the bags I felt something. It was a check and receipt from a purchase. AND, two $5 bills. $10!

This was more of a save than gain. But, it could have been a loss. I am counting it.

My garbage and recycling have been the target of animals. I find recycling under the house! Saturday night, garbage was strewn all over the yard, front and back. Thankfully, the mower guy picked it up without complaining. He says it is 'possums and not raccoons. He says that his yard is overrun with 'possums and is sure that is what is getting into my trash.

Last Sunday, I set the trap for raccoons with strawberry. Monday morning, both the pieces of strawberry were still there. It is surprising that a ground squirrel, tree squirrel, or something did not fall for the bait once it was daylight. Tuesday, the strawberries are still in the trap. Okay, Tuesday afternoon both pieces of strawberry were gone, but the trap was not tripped.

Animal Control might give me hints for what I should put in the trap. And, the Internet could help me. If you have had 'opossums and successfully gotten rid of them, how did you do it? I don't need a link. Okay, he said tuna or sardines. I will catch cats with that!

Today was supposed to be lunch day, but they cancelled it. The moved it back to last Tuesday!

What has worked for you when you caught a 'possum?

Monday, More Money for Me Today

Today was MRI day. Tommy came up and drove me. I have been feeling woozy and did not want to drive so far. I packed a snack-y sort of lunch to keep from buying fast food. We each had three good sized strawberries and a large pineapple spear, cheddar cheese and chunks of chicken. I packed a tiny pack of goldfish for him, and we had water. My intentions were to make a sandwich, but I could not find the bread after a ten-second search.

At the MRI office, I received a $10 gift card and another for the last time I went for an MRI. There was a basket of snacks. I ate cookies and took cheese peanut butter crackers to Tommy. The lady gave me a Coke. There is a cooler full of drinks for customers. It is a very nice facility. The tiny dressing rooms are well-appointed. It all feels so luxurious.

Before we left for my appointment to the north, we drove 7 miles south. We each purchased a turkey breast for $0.95/lbs. The three are in the refrigerator. Hopefully, all three will fit in a turkey bag. I will cook all three and slice one for him, keeping the other two in my freezer, sliced and ready to serve.

The temps were fine until a chilling rain turned the day uncomfortable. Tommy said it was strange hearing me say I was cold because I rarely complain about the cold in such mild weather as we had today.

The two gift cards bought gas. $20 did not even fill the car 3/4 full. Gas is $2.12 here.

I had one of those frozen meals, raw and ready to cook. Yesterday, I cooked that in the crock pot, took out the pork roast, onions, and peppers. Then, I added potatoes and carrots to the crock pot. The carrots were organic and four different colors. This all went home with Tommy. The mojito seasoning is just too hot for me.

Now, I wonder what money will come my way tomorrow.

Windfall

A card came in the mail informing me my share of a class action suit had been mailed. ??? I know nothing of this class action and would not join. As far as I know, one must join the class action suit. At least that is what the information says that comes in the mail often.

Well, if they mailed me a check for $113.98, I really want it.  I don't even know what the case is about. However, the check is from a well-known entity.

I did call the telephone number on the card. Even though most checks are good for 90 days, this one is only good for 60 days. What is with that?

Have you ever joined a class-action suit? Get any money?

I could really use this money!

Money and a Child--Me

Even as a child I was mindful of money. Having it was important. After all, isn’t this one of the differences in children and adults—having money? I had no job, so I had to be creative. I learned early, around age four, to maximize my chances of having money. Collecting Coke or other drink bottles for the deposit was just one of my methods of getting money.

I lived in the era of recyclable bottles. Bottles were a boon! I could get two cents for recycling one bottle. Since Cokes and candy were a nickel apiece, it didn’t take long to accumulate the necessary funds. Of course, every child wants both Coke and candy, finding enough bottles in one week was sort of difficult. Usually, I just settled for the candy--a Baby Ruth.You see, I was not allowed out of the yard to make the big bucks.

The best I could hope for was that someone would throw one into the ditch in front of our house in the rural area in which I lived. Since there were three of us children (then four children) collecting bottles for deposits, chances were slim that I would find a bottle. To make matters worse, I did not live on a main road. Occasionally, and only for a specific reason were we allowed to walk down the road. Reasons? To go pick plums. (for a few weeks) To go on an errand where I was allowed to ride my bike to the store and go onto the main highway. To walk to a friend’s house. Maybe!

Later, we lived in a neighborhood where the chances of finding a bottle were greater. Then, we moved back to Memphis and we were once again relegated to finding bottles thrown out on the highway. No matter where we went when we were in town, we found stray bottles in order to collect the deposit.

We never missed the opportunity to gather bottles even though we scarcely had the chance. We did manage to get ten cents to buy the occasional candy bar or coke or both. Hallelujah! Sometimes, we claimed Coke bottles brought home full of Coke. Sadly, this rarely happened. I suppose I was a deprived child, forced to subsist on and quench my thirst with water instead of Coke.

We bothered our father to allow us to keep change if we were sent into the store for a purchase or if we took money and ran an errand. Since I was the oldest, I was the biggest pest. Rarely did he ever give me anything when I pestered him except grief.

Even though I wanted to buy candy, I also wanted just to amass money. While my younger siblings found joy in having more coins, I knew from an early age that having large coins was the key. They played with, counted, lost, and frittered away a handful of pennies. If they had a nickel, I could always count on one of them to trade me the nickel for five of my pennies. To my credit, I did explain why it would be best to keep their nickel and how foolish they were being. Those little kids were overjoyed with their good fortune, while I was celebrating having silly siblings.

You might say, “Okay, Linda. You were 7 and they were 6 and 4. You were just older and had learned about coins.” I say, “How about when I was 10 and they were 9 and 7?” See, they just kept wanting pennies while I wanted to get dollars for my quarters and a five dollar bill for my five ones.

I think this strong desire and ability to take small amounts and save and consolidate until I reached my goal of more money has served me well. I was never tempted to fritter away my money even though I really did want Cokes and candy. I did spend some of my money on these small pleasures, but I valued saving more than I valued having a constant supply if candy.

This attitude still serves me well. I paid off my mortgage after years of deprivation, skimping, saving and patching together a living for a few years.

Oh, please tell me how you collected bottles? When? Where? Did you have a ready stash? Live behind a store?