Well, school is safely started (postponed a day due to smoke and heat advisories) and I think the grandson is going to enjoy kindergarten. I also think I’m going to need no extra effort to get in my 10K steps a day (which is something my doctor recommended I do quite some time back). It’s a 20 minute walk each way, twice a day for me, and I don’t spend the whole rest of the day on my ass.
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It's also so we can find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. Members come here to check in. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a PM to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime! We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone who reads IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
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Dragon boogers are a real thing.
We aren’t the only country with a fashion for despondency.
Gluten free water? Holy crap.
O frabjous day! Just what we need — communications trouble from solar flares during hurricane season.
New takes on farm equipment. This could actually be a plus.
Amazon is considering a second headquarters.
Spain blocks Catalan independence vote.
If you like to read and enjoy libraries, every little bit helps. This is from my friend I only ever hear from on Facebook. One of many I’ve linked here.
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Willamette Week had an article about the fire in the Columbia Gorge. Some idiot kids started it. Judging from the witness in the sidebar of the print article (online as trending story 1 at the link when I looked it up), they had no clue of any kind.
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The newest “In Death” book came out last Tuesday. It has two crossword puzzles inside the dust jacket. One of them is the style they do in the London Times. The other is just difficult. No, I haven’t done either one yet — I’m trying to decide if I want to photocopy the things or just not bother.
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I’ve been calling around with questions about financial matters lately. Much of what I have to do will need to wait till at mid-November at the earliest, but at least I have a better idea of what it’s going to do to my finances. One annoying thing is that the company that handles one of my retirement funds is only legally required to get the monthly distributions out between the 1st and the 25th. This is actually a fairly small amount of money each month (and I really didn’t want to take the lump sum hit), but it means I won’t be able to depend on the money being there at a certain time if I need to pay for something. For the next 20 years. When I suggested they get a tighter deadline the next time the contract came up for renewal, I was told this was a better one than they’d had before.
My COBRA coverage runs out on December 31. Medicare kicks in on April 1. I need vision and dental and health insurance. The dental insurance plan I’m already on has options )that sound pretty good) for me to continue at the office I’ve been going to for years (I really like the people there). There’s an online vision insurance company that came to my attention because I use Goodsearch and they keep trying to get me to use Goodshop — I haven’t called them yet to see if I can continue seeing the opthalmologist at OHSU and getting my glasses at LensCrafters. I’m not sure what I’ll do about health insurance, I only need three months before I can afford what I’m offered through PERS (I’m not using them till Medicare starts — the individual-without-Medicare would cost pretty much my whole monthly payment from them and I still have rent, utilities and food to pay for). I’ll do the remaining calls next week.
I also have a W4-V to turn in in a week or so. My finances are back under control, so it’s time to start having some taxes taken out of my SSA payment.
I’m doing this now because I don’t enjoy working without information if I can avoid it — a situation that didn’t obtain while I was looking for work. It will also let me avoid the adventure of having to pay my January rent without enough in the bank.
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It’s Delusion Season again! Spiders are putting webs everywhere. I have no idea why they think they can trap something as big as a human, but I’ve taken down two across my back porch in the past couple of weeks and one to be able to do laundry — and there have been at least six in other places where people have to pass. This happens every year at about this time, but this year it’s more than usual.