It sure felt like a repeat of yesterday where I was on the go nearly the entire day, but when looking back, I had the feeling I didn’t get much at all accomplished. Yes, we’ve all had such days with all those time-consuming little things.
My first duty of the day, was to get all the bills paid which had been piling up these recent days. Of course the ones that caused me to bristle the most, were those nasty utility bills which continue to go up on a monthly basis. You can bet my heart goes out to those who’re on tightly fixed incomes, where an extra hundred or more dollars added to their monthly expenses, could send them spiraling into a pit of debt they’re unable to crawl out of, and unfortunately in most cases, it’s happening to our proud elderly who’re ashamed to admit they’re financially struggling. I really get it, but most don’t.
I felt it time to go out and place a sold sign on one of my listings, and while I was driving back, I decided to stop at First Congregational Church, just to alert their office manager of the problem I was having with the sticking of one of their organ’s pipes. As I suspected, he wasn’t alerted to it, but while there, I also found out they’d decided to have me play their organ for them on the Sunday’s I’m not scheduled at St. Paul Lutheran. Another suspicion I had confirmed, was my email address having been taken down wrong, which is why I wasn’t aware of their decisions until today. Thank goodness I stopped and got that email problem squared away.
In spite of my knowing all my Sunday mornings will be filled starting in April, I really don’t have a problem with that because I know how hard it is in these times to find organists, and if I can bring a little more musical comfort to those who enjoy hearing their pipe organs, then so be it. Unfortunately, there are a very many people living in our midst who have talents, but unwilling to freely share them with others. It reminds me of an old story about how a person with many gifts, kept them hidden under a basket, and only because she was unwilling to share. On the positive side, I’ll be learning even more hymns, along with bettering my sight-reading skills. Practice makes perfect. Right?
By the time I finished up on some correspondence at office, it was the hour for me to head out to meet my relatives for lunch. When I pulled into that restaurant’s parking lot, I had a feeling they were closed, and thus they were. Just as I was getting back into my vehicle, my relatives pulled up, so off we went to a Mexican restaurant. I’ve eaten there before, and didn’t care for their food, but accommodating me, agreed to give it another try.
Their food wasn’t anything to write home about, but that didn’t bother me because I was there to enjoy their company and conversation. Since we’d not been together in months, we had much to talk about, and of course we found ourselves walking back down memory lane. Each time I’ve been with them, they tell me things about the happenings in their families, along with me sharing stuff they didn’t know, and since it all happened so many years ago, we looked at it all in a more positive light. One thing I didn’t realize, was their having noticed more things that took place in our household, which most would’ve overlooked. Yes, today’s lunch date was all good.
When I arrived back at office, I busied myself with some additional research I’d started early this morning, and once I’d found what I needed, I sat down and composed a letter to a seller, just to let him know my services were available if needed. Once I had it finished, I printed it out, signed it, and walked it over to the Post Office.
Around mid-afternoon, a client called and asked if I had the link to that government give-away which was called the PPP Program, so off I went looking for it, and managed to find it, so I emailed it over to him, just so he could look up all those who’d received those funds, along with how much they were paid.
After I got off the phone with him, and since I already had the site opened, I entered the State and zip code for Mason City, and proceeded to go thru the entire list. Oh my goodness! I’m now kinda wishing I didn’t see the names and the amounts they received, so if you’re interested in taking your own peek at that list, here’s the link: Paycheck Protection Program Keep in mind, you’ll have to scroll down to where you can see the boxes where you enter State and zip code. I never would’ve believed our Federal Government was doling out that kind of free money during the pandemic. I’m sorry to say, there are those whom I would’ve questioned their “need” for those funds at the time. Be sure to go thru the entire list which I believe drops down to $20K, because I’m sure you’ll recognize a number of names.
My last appointment of the day, was to open up the condo I have under contract, just so a tradesperson could get some measurements for some upgrades the buyer is wanting to have done after we close. All went well until I went to get into my lockbox, just so I could place the key back inside. Without going into detail, I spent a good half hour on the phone with tec support, and still that box wouldn’t open, so tomorrow morning, I’ll be at it again. What an embarrassment! Yes, it was another glaring example of the inconvenience of conveniences, which is why I’m saying it all the more.
I’m warning everyone with my prophecy which is, “The more we become digitalized, the more we become slaves to technology.”, and that’s gonna be a fact of the future.
Tonight’s One-liner is: Through travel, the concept of toleration is more fully understood.
