I'm frustrated with The Man still answering Spam and Scam Calls, no matter how often I tell him not to, he jumps on every Phone Call. Then he can't remember what it was about, who it was, or what he agreed to, so it's messy for me to clean up behind him taking calls he shouldn't have. The Niece said her Dad with Dementia does the same thing now and she's constantly cleaning up messes he's made for himself by agreeing to shit he shouldn't have and being the Target of Senior Exploitation. *Le Sigh* She's his Caregiver too and she feels he's reached a point where he should no longer make any decisions on his own, but he's stubbornly resistant. The Man just forgets, then gets defensive, coz he then knows he just did something again that he shouldn't have and was told not to do. But, he'll just do it again next time. *Le Sigh* Trying to maintain a Sense of Humor about it is a Challenge.
Anyway, Blogging Helps, it really does, coz I can Vent it in a Post and then Move On. *Smiles* I've got the Roof Estimate Guy coming in about Half an Hour, then I'll have more of an idea of Cost of the Job and if I can swing it or not? I'm feeling rather overwhelmed with expenses piling up on things that just can't be avoided and you've got to try to find Money for some kind of way. I'm very Budget conscious and careful with Finances, so I don't like to be pressed above measure with Expenses that can't be predicted or adequately Planned for that are large. I don't sweat the Small Stuff coz that isn't too sacrificial to manage on The Fly, but big Expenses are. I have an Emergency Savings coz I always set aside 10% of all Income for that. But it gets depleted if you have too many Crisis or Emergencies, which, we have, one right after another it seems. And on a Fixed Income, and with so few Household Members having Money, yet Six of us in the Household, it can be tight all of the time now.
Anyway, Keep On Truckin' is all you can do. I'm very achy too with the Storms, my Bones feel the Weather and I have a high tolerance for Pain, but it is really challenging at times when so much of you hurts and you cannot Mentally Override it all or enough. The Storms and high Humidity have really made me hurt a lot and it actually makes it hard to do things when it's so Painful to do it. But you have to do it and so you do it in Pain. I think in part it's why I require the Naps, to recuperate from pressing thru the Pain to do what has to get done. The Pain level does wear you out after a short while. I've had Osteo Arthritis for a very long time and Docs really have never had Solutions. I have some Topicals I use but they only reduce some of the Pain enuf to press thru it not being as excruciating. I know it's just the Normal aches and pains of an Aging Body getting worn out. If I had a Machine this Old I wouldn't even expect it to still be operational! *LOL*
Well, I just sent the Roof Guys packing, without even sending their Drone up to look, they estimated the Job at $15,000!!! And I'm like Whoah, Repairs, not total Replacement Dude!!! I suspected this would be the ploy. And my initial impression of this Young White Guy was he was gonna be like a Used Car Salesman! He started trying to hard Sell and Upsell me on filing a big Insurance Claim, so we could spend as much as we wanted to and he could get Big Money out of it, and we'd get a whole new Roof out of the Storm... yeah, No, forget about it. That's the problem with most Roofing Companies around here, they hard Sell replacements when all you need is a repair. Coz they wanna milk as much Money out of a Job as they can and file Claims that are not really necessary if they priced a Job right and fairly. Nope, not happening.
I got another Guy coming on Wednesday, and it's a Hispanic Crew that Princess T said she liked better and didn't seem to be just working some Hustle or trying to exploit an Old Man when they talked to her Grandpa. She said it was not some Smooth Talking White Boy... I had to Laugh. Coz, she's not Wrong. That Guy is also Licensed, Bonded and Insured, so, we'll see what his Quote is and give him a chance. Otherwise, this is gonna be another DIY for The Son and our Neighbors again. I don't see our Insurance or an Adjuster getting convinced into a New Roof being necessary either from this Storm's Damage, I really don't. I'd be pleasantly Surprised if they did, but then, Rates would likely get jacked up too to compensate on excessive Claim payouts. So you have to weigh the benefits of filing any Claims unless you absolutely must. Dealing with Insurances is yet another Pain in the Ass to get Settlements or not get Dropped once you cost them too much and are considered no longer Profitable to Insure. Already went thru that with United Healthcare Medicare Advantage dropping all Veterans in Maricopa County, don't need our Hazard Insurance Company doing it too!
Rob and TJ have done Roofing a lot and said most of these Companies price gouge and they are absolutely Right. Same with some of the Tree Services. We Paid an Arborist to try to Save our Big Pine Tree that got the Blight a few Years ago. They charged us a Fortune and the Tree Died anyway. They had subcontracted a Hispanic Crew. And after the Tree Died anyway the Head Crew leader came back and told me he felt bad that the Company who Subcontracted him to do the Work had overcharged us, but he couldn't say anything then. He told me how much they only gave his Crew to do the Job, so they got exploited too. He has done Work directly for us since then and the prices are always Fair and no Price Gouging. We now bypass the Bigger Company that is charging people too much and exploiting Subcontractors to do their work anyway, they don't even DO the Work. You can Hire that Crew direct, even paying them more than the Contractor would and still save yourself a lot of inflated Predatory Pricing or having to File excessive Insurance Claims and risk being dropped and ending up on Forced Place Coverage by your Mortgage Lender.
The Son, TJ and Rob have all spent their Adult Lives in The Trades, so I run everything by them too and they tell me when they feel an Estimate is ridiculous, even if I think it is, it validates that it is. The Son said that Quote was excessive and they're exploiting that this Storm did a lot of damage and Tonight's Storm might do even more. Lots of Trees were down, Power Lines were down, some whole Subdivisions had extensive Roof Damage where they Lost damned near their entire Roofs. The Guy giving the Quote said they don't make our Shingles anymore, and I have Three Boxes of New ones for that Roof in The RV Garage Mahal and said so, he looked embarrassed when I Called Bullshit. I think it was Bullshit, thinking I wouldn't know you can still Buy those Shingles, coz I have, within the past 24 Months. So, clearly they are still being made and Sold. Anyone who Lies to me I wouldn't Hire anyway. be Truthful or be Gone. If I can't Trust you to even tell me the Truth, why would I Trust you do do any of the Work or even give me a Solid Estimate you bind yourself to and not try to jack it up later Mid-Job?
So, anyway, Wednesday the Hispanic Owned Roofing Company is coming back out and we'll see whatssup with them? See if there is any consistency to Estimates for the Job? The Son said if it's still Inflated and Exaggerated what's needed, he'll just ask TJ or Rob to help him and they'll do it for me and I'll just throw them some Money for their Work, knowing they'll do me Right, coz I know where they all Live. *Winks* Anyway, Crews were out in force all over the City doing cleanup and cutting up felled big Trees and Limbs, mostly. And Utility Companies were out in force coz around 60,000 folks were without Power for over Six Hours during Last Night's Storm, so at least we didn't endure that added Crisis. It's still well over 106 at Night so that would be miserable and you risk all your Food and Medicines that need Refrigeration Spoiling if they can't get Power back on before everything risks not being Cold or Frozen enuf anymore. If you have folks in Fragile Conditions, it could even be Deadly.
I took a long Siesta, didn't even Wake Up 'til past 9:30 p.m., I felt Stressed Out from the Storm damage and what it might cost, and Wiped Out from doing Irrigation and Cleanup of all the Storm's debris that was everywhere on the Property. It's not how I expected to spend an entire Monday Morning. Then The Young Prince called saying he accidentally ordered something and had it shipped here instead of there, so could I ship it to them!? I told him I can't be wasting Money right now on airheaded things like that, so don't do that again or I won't pay for Postage coz he is being Careless with ordering stuff and where to send it. I think what happened is he ordered it thinking he'd be back in Phoenix by his Birthday to receive it and of coarse that didn't happen. It's a small package that arrived just this day so it shouldn't be that much to send it to New Mexico in new packaging. And I have another smaller Package that came for him Months ago I'll just put in with it.
The Cashier at The Son's Work saw Princess T and I when we picked him up from Work this day too and said, isn't that T and her Gramma? The Son said, yeah, it's my Mom and my Niece! Why, you know them? Turns out she's Timmy's Cousin and has known our Granddaughter for Years due to Timmy and her being so close since we moved here. Princess T had told me while we were there, that Cashier is Timmy's Cousin, Gramma, but I forgot to tell The Son, it slipped my Mind. Small World. I'm thinking she's the Daughter of one of Timmy's Older Aunts. Coz his Uncle got Murdered, and his Uncle's Two Daughters are Young and his Grandparents are now stuck Raising them too. They Raised Timmy already, the Grandparents, tho' his Younger Half-Brother lives with his Mom, coz she's still with the Father of that Child, and as far as I know, still a Train Wreck and active Drug User. This Cousin seems to have turned out alright and didn't go Haywire.
I'm having some 2014-2015 Sweet Nostalgia about my Old Art Studio Cottage at the Historic Homestead. So many Projects were Created there and I miss having a functional Art Studio Space to Create and Decorate Full On Me in how it looks and feels. Each Property we have Bought since then had a Space that should have been my Art Studio, that was the Intention. Then I had to give it up to House extended Family who found themselves Homeless and unable to afford local Rents. I did there too, off and on that Art Studio Cottage also Housed Friends and Family who needed somewhere to Live, but, about half the time it was my Happy Place to retreat to and just be Creative and Lost in that Process, Feeding my Soul. I do miss that. I've now given up on having it again, not enough Space here, the Downsizing didn't work out when so much Family had to move back in with all their Worldly Possessions. Que sera sera and all that. Moving On. Life happens, shit happens.
The Storm Tonight, at least so far, hasn't been as fierce and I'm hopeful it won't be so I can get that fucking damaged Roof fixed before any more Major Weather makes a Bad Situation even worse! It's stressful. It creates more Hardship and we're already at the breaking point of weathering too much more Hardship to get thru continuously. Well, I am anyway, I know my limits have been reached on how much more I can get thru without it being a collapsing House of Cards. I'm resourceful and adaptive, but it's been more than ridiculous the past Decade with this Political Nightmare wrecking functional Society as we once had and I am questioning whether we'll ever have again now? I want to remain Guardedly Optimistic, but it ain't looking so good IMO. And more Pessimism is creeping in and usually I'm a Glass Half Full kinda Gal... but this Regime has knocked the fucking Glass over again and again and again. Hard to keep a Glass even Half Full with that going on constantly and what to fill it back up with getting scarcer and scarcer.
I remember us watching a Special on TV about Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, who of coarse was the Mob Hit Man for John Gotti. He lives right here locally still, where he was sent during the Witness Protection Program. The Daughter actually knew some of the Family back in the Day of her wayward spent Youth when she was Buck Wild and out of Control Crazy as a Mad Hatter. She even Dated a few Mobsters in fact, on both sides of the Border, she got some Hairy Stories of her Vida Loca Days. Dangerous Men tend to like us Crazy Bitches, that's all I can say about that. *LOL and Winks* But, I digress. Anyway, The Man and I have zero Judgment about Sammy, coz like The Man said, the only difference between him and Sammy was, different Employer, same Job. In fact, the Mob didn't have Sammy Neutralize as many of their Targets actually as the U.S. Government did require The Man to. And all Governments are like that without exception. It's why The Man says he Loves his Country, but he doesn't Trust his, or any other, Government, period.
The other Bad Storm hit at 1:00 in the Morning and was just about as bad as the one the Night before, Flooding, but our Sandbags seemed to have held most of it back enough. Luckily I don't see any more Shingle Loss off the Roof of The RV Garage Mahal either. *Whew* Becoz I'd Napped most of the day I could be up all Night to check on things during it, didn't see any further damage on our Property, but more Street Flooding that the Night before's Storm, so probably more Rain fell in the 2nd Storm and our Front Yard looked Irrigated again coz it was holding just that much Water! I was relieved we weathered that Storm better at least but don't know how much more catastrophic Weather is coming? And, won't know until the Roofer that comes Tomorrow gives a 2nd Estimate, how much damage they will assess the Roof at? Will it be in line with the 1st Quote, which seemed like a whole Roof Estimate, or will it seem more like a Repair Estimate we could do without filing an Insurance Claim? I'd rather not file a Claim for a whole Roof, but we'll also see what TJ or Rob thinks about it, I Trust their Honest Opinions.
They had clocked Winds at 84 mph which is Category 1 Hurricane Force... or Force 12 on Beaufort Wind Scale... both considered Hurricane Force, very unusual inland in a Desert. They like to call them Gusts when they're Inland and not an actual Hurricane if you're not near Water. But honestly, no Gusting, it was constantly at that Force and Rain was not coming Down, it was coming Sideways and feeling like Daggers and a Storm like that is considered Highly Dangerous! It was debated whether it would be considered a Derecho or not? It was widespread and long lived and a Straight Line Windstorm from what I saw of it, so I don't need it to be debated. Was the Wind Damage Path Officially 240 Miles, hard to say Unofficially, but I know it stretched from Buckeye and tore thru Goodyear, Avondale, Litchfield Park and Glendale into West Phoenix, so it could have? I don't Care about the Semantics really.
I know damned near a whole Post on Weather is probably boring, unless you're the one going thru it, but, it required some Venting about it. *LOL and Winks* Becoz of all the Fires, we did need a lot of Rain to saturate everything, would have been better moderately spread out instead of a Noah's Ark kind of Situation tho'. Coz I just don't prepare for nor anticipate Hurricanes in the Middle of the Desert and this far Inland, that's all. *LOL* The News will probably cover any widespread damage incurred. I Plan to go to the Nature Preserve and see how high the Rivers are running in the Tres Rios Preserve where the Three Rivers converge? So, after I get both Kiddos to Work, that's my Plans, it's noticeably Cooler and very Overcast still, so I can do some Environmental Cleanup and make me some Can Money. I did get my Stock Dividend Check and it was higher than usual, my Bank Stock is doing well, even tho' nothing else is.
Of coarse our Prez got 100 or so of his Accounts recently shut down by Capital One for suspicion of Money Laundering... in total, since 2021, over 300 of his Accounts had to be Closed by them due to Anti-Money Laundering Reviews, let that sink in for a Minute. Of coarse he and his Family Spin that it's Politically motivated, but Federal Banking Guidelines are Specific and if specific transaction patterns exist and get flagged... well, all I can say is if it walks like a Duck, talks like a Duck, acts like a Duck, it's probably a fucking Duck. And given all his other Laundry List of very Serious Crimes, and Career Criminal Activities and well known Corruption since the 1970's, would we even be Surprised he's deeply involved in Money Laundering too? No, I didn't think so. And this should make Major News, but with him, it's a blip on the Radar of him Flooding the Zone with Crimes too numerous to Focus on for long before he's committing yet another. And his Fans don't seem to Care, so, there's that. We're way past Voters clutching their Pearls and having the Vapors over a Prez just wearing a Tan Suit! *Eye Roll* I personally Hope Obama wears it to the Funeral, I really do. *Winks*
I should go to The Gym Today but I know I don't have the Bandwidth for that so I probably won't. There's lotsa things I should be doing or could be doing that are not gonna remotely have me doing with the way I just Feel on a Physical and Emotional level. LATER the same Morning: It was so Cool Outside and Breezy, that The Daughter and I worked The She Shed for over an Hour, sitting Outside and sorting thru Crates of what would be Donated or Sold. We've got Two full Banana Boxes full of Donations to drop off at SAVERS when I pick Princess T up from Work later on. Now I have more Curated Inventory to Price and Sell at the Antique Mall and we plowed thru a considerable amount of the Crates on One whole Wall of The She Shed. So, we both felt quite accomplished and she set aside things for her next Yard Sale to try to Sell cheaply, if it doesn't Sell we'll Donate all of what doesn't and be rid of that. We have Plans now to keep doing that with consistency to get thru everything in both The She Shed and eventually The RV Garage Mahal too.
We calculated that if we Work it Together with consistency, we actually could and might get thru it by end of Winter of 2026, which would be in range of the original Goal of being Done with it this Year. It's a lofty Goal but we can see how close we can get to attaining it? She sees that when I have someone with me doing it, I get enormous amounts actually Done without fading out or getting Overwhelmed. I don't know Why that is, just that it's how I am. Even if the person helping me isn't doing all that much, it just matters that they are there and talking me thru some stuff when I seem to get Fixated or Stuck inside my Head. In my Corporate Lives I could make Unemotional Decisions Lightening fast that were very valuable to my Employers. But when I have any Emotional Attachment to what I'm doing is when I get bogged down with more indecisiveness when lots of Decisions have to be made and relatively quickly, unemotionally and efficiently. Mebbe that's Normal, I wouldn't know. *LOL*
I just know we got so much done in just an Hour that only the Weather coming in fast shut the Project Down for the Day real early, by 9:30 a.m.. It looks like a big Storm is coming earlier than this Evening, mebbe even before Noon?! LATER: The Storm didn't hit during the Day, don't know about later Tonight tho', they've been hitting in the early Morning Hours just after Midnight usually. The Young Prince might be here by the Weekend, I don't know yet when The Niece can get away with the complications she was having with her Dad? He was making a lot of bad decisions for himself that she was now having to run a lot of damage control behind. She may have to involuntarily have his competence assessed for his own good but she knows that will cause Estrangement and her Two Younger Sisters, who don't look after him, always oppose whatever she's trying to do for his own good. They aren't there with him so either don't acknowledge his decline or are in denial.
I called my Best Friend in Texas, she and I have been Besties since we were Tweens in England, we lived next door to each other in the American Projects off Base in a Town called Thetford. Her Dad was Stationed at Lakenheath, mine was Stationed at Mildenhall, we both went to Lakenheath High School and have been like Sisters our whole Adult lives. She's Two Years Older than me so is like my Big Sister. She's a Caregiver for her Disabled Younger Brother who was Born with Spina Bifida, so he's severely Developmentally Disabled and is my Age. He kind of stalled out Developmentally at a 14 Year Old level even tho' he's almost 70. Anyway, we had such a nice Talk even tho' she knows I'm not one to often make Phone Calls, but she'd sent me a Birthday Card that was lovely, and a hand-written Letter. She and I used to Write Letters to each other, epic ones, all of the time. She joked that it's been so many Years since she Wrote in Cursive, she wasn't even sure it would be legible? *LOL* It was as nice as her Handwriting has always been, she's a Leftie so she Writes straight up and down and it's very legible. It was so exciting to get a LETTER! It's been YEARS since I got one!
I should knuckle down and Hand Write her one too and Surprise her with it. We had resorted to Typing Letters on Word, many Years ago, but now I don't have a Printer and neither does she. And we Instant Message each other infrequently and she's not a Blogger or a Blog Reader, tho' we keep in Touch some on Facebook. But, like me, we mostly do Pixs on The Book Of Faces Feed and not much Writing. She's doing better with her Health, which I was glad to hear, we've both Lost so many Friends now that we often feel like The Last Of The Mohicans. Her Brother isn't doing well, he's been in decline for Years now and usually someone with his Condition doesn't even live as long as he's managed to. She has One Son and Raised him mostly as a Single Parent after her Divorce from his Dad... and she'd had him very late in Life, so he's much Younger than my Kiddos are. I bought some Tie Dyed various colored Lined Stationery Online, Free Shipping, and decided, that's it, I'll Write her a Letter on it. Who knows, we might resurrect the Practice, but just for each other. She joked that she'd only do this for me. Coz we both have Arthritic Hands now. Well, Arthritic everything. *Smiles*
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It was good to catch up even tho' we talked just about trifles and nothing all that Serious. We each know we've both got Tough Rows to Hoe being Full Time Unpaid Caregivers and she only Retired this Year, so is getting into the swing of the Transition of not Working Outside of the Home. We had a lot of Laughs during the Call, she's always been so effortless to be Friends with. And we're totally Opposites in every way you could Imagine, so it's not like we had a lot in common ever, we just hit it off like Family from when we first met. And we've shared so much Life History now that it just got more effortless over Time and never was complicated, no falling outs ever, no lapses in the Friendship ever. She's the easiest Person I've ever met to just be close to like a Sister and we've never had any Secrets from each other. I told her I was able to Score some Old Yearbooks from the very early 1970's of our Old High School in England. She said hers got Lost in a Home that got Sold and were never returned to her, which is unfortunate. It's Rare to find any from our American High School in England. The High School I Graduated from here in Phoenix it's easy to find Old Yearbooks For Sale.
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