Cordelia's Mom, Still

Come On! Really?

Posted on September 7, 2018 by cordeliasmom2012

Ya just gotta know that when things seem to be going along smoothly, something has to happen to change that.

Anyone (at least in my state) who’s ever mortgaged a home and escrowed the taxes and insurance, is familiar with the annual escrow analysis review. If you’re lucky, your monthly mortgage payment then either goes down or doesn’t change, but for most of us the payment goes up a wee bit because the taxes and/or insurance always manage to go up. Usually, it’s not a huge problem.

I just got my annual escrow review statement, and my mortgage payment is going up by $171 per month! I don’t know about anyone else, but for me that’s a chunk of change I wasn’t anticipating.

Sure, I knew that buying a property owned by an old lady who then died would result in the loss of the senior exemption, and I knew that loss would be recaptured on the next year’s tax bills, so I was aware my payment likely would go up at some point – but I thought it would be by no more than $50 or $60 a month.

Sigh.

Yes, I can meet the new payment, but it means that repayment of those home improvement loans will take a little longer. I had been taking any excess cash each month and applying it to those loans, but now I’ll have to apply it to the new mortgage payment instead.

But at least we’re in a nice, safe neighborhood, with good neighbors – right?

Could someone, or something, jump that 4-foot chain-link fence? Probably.

At 5:00 am this morning, I was in The Important Room doing a little reading and waiting, when all of a sudden I heard men yelling – and it sounded like it was right outside my house! I jumped up and looked through the blinds into the back yard, at which point I saw someone switch on one of those really bright flashlights the police carry – and it was only then that I noticed the flashing police lights on the street behind us. As near as hubby and I can figure, the gas station on the corner must have been robbed, and the robber then took off on foot through the parking lot of the church across the street from the station, which church property happens to abut my back yard.

Hubby’s immediate response to all the commotion was to tell me not to go out there for awhile (D-u-h!)

Puppy Cody did her job from inside the house. When she heard the yelling outside, she began barking excitedly to make sure ALL her people GOT UP DAMMIT! There was STRANGER DANGER! She wanted to go OUT and DEAL WITH IT! (We made her wait, of course.)

I don’t think anyone actually jumped the fence into the yard, and once it was light enough out, Puppy Cody, hubby and I all searched for anything that might have been thrown over the fence into the yard, and found nothing.

Needless to say, hubby and I are both a little more tired than usual today.

Darn, CM, can’t you ever have any good news?

Well, yes, actually I can. When the mail came today, it included a check from New York State for the annual rebate on school taxes, and since I’m over 65, I get the enhanced rebate. My check was enough to cover the entire escrow shortage on my mortgage!

That check is already in the bank. I was afraid if I left it in the house over the weekend something bad would happen to it – either it would get lost, inadvertently shredded, or burned up in a freak house fire.

Now I don’t have to worry about any of that and can enjoy the rest of my weekend.

And to round out the week, hubby and I are getting free chicken dinners today. The church pastor (who lives next door) came over the other day and gave us two tickets to their chicken barbecue. He said “The Church wants to buy you dinner.” I don’t know why the Church wants to buy us dinner – and I do love our new neighbors – so I’m sure not going to refuse!

HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY YOUR WEEKENDS. TGIF!

__________
I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
__________
Images by Cordelia’s Mom

Posted in That's Life | Tagged budget, Cody, expenses, mortgage, NYS taxes, police, Puppy Cody, real estate, real estate taxes, robber, STAR rebate | 38 Comments

If It Ain’t One Thing, It’s Another

Posted on August 31, 2018 by cordeliasmom2012

It’s always so much fun at the office!

FIRST, it was failed air conditioning (during the hottest week of the summer), which drove the interior temperature high enough that the boss decided to send everyone home. That happened twice.

THEN, it was rats in the parking lot. The rats seem to be gone now. Either they’re all lying in a pile after suffering death by poisoned peanut butter, or they decided to try their luck at a more amicable building site. I never did get a decent picture of the little beasts.

NEXT, it was a seriously flooded basement in the office building. Fortunately, none of our files were damaged, but when I went downstairs to assess the damage, I could see water marks in the other rooms – some marks as high as two feet! Workers were down there for a week or more removing damaged items, tearing out walls, and doing whatever else was required. The noise got pretty bad at times, and I had to shut my office door in order to think.

By the end of that week, I figured the work would probably finish up on Friday, my day off. I went home on Thursday and enjoyed my weekend.

AND THEN –

Come Monday morning, I was first to arrive at the office, and found this in the driveway:

Since there was no accompanying police tape, there had been no news stories of a murder or other death near my office, and the drawing seemed just a bit too short to be the outline of an actual person, I assumed it was a practical joke by one of the basement workers. But I admit, the first sight of that drawing was a little jarring – and the feeling was further borne out when my boss arrived, followed soon thereafter by a client. My boss took it in stride, but the client seemed to view it a little more seriously than anyone else. I’m not sure our reassurances sufficed.

It rained again yesterday, and the drawing is gone. I kind of miss it.

Although personally, I think it would have been funnier had the prankster drawn a giant dead rat instead.

Happy Friday, Folks!

__________
I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
__________
Images by Cordelia’s Mom

Posted in That's Life | Tagged body outline, chalk drawing, driveway, job, office, pests, rats, work | 25 Comments

Just When I Was Getting the Hang of It (Sort of)

Posted on August 25, 2018 by cordeliasmom2012

Friday was approaching, and I wanted a head start on my weekly post.

The story was drafted, all I needed to do was add the photos. Such lovely photos they were, too, from the previous week’s stroll through Walton Woods Park.

I plugged the USB cord into the camera and the computer and waited.

Nothing.

Hm, maybe I plugged it in wrong? The connection to the camera was fine, but the plug into the computer was stuck. I pulled it out, checked the orientation, and pushed it back in – and it got stuck. When I pulled it out again, I noticed the plug end didn’t look quite right, and now the computer port also didn’t look quite right.

Fortunately, I have 3 other USB ports on that computer, but I was afraid to try any of them with this particular cord. I have other USB cords, and tried all of them with the camera. None of them worked.

Bad enough that I couldn’t transfer the photos, but without a usable cord, I also couldn’t charge the camera battery!

I found a replacement cord on Amazon, and ordered it, but it would take 2 weeks to arrive, and I needed those photos now!

Teddy Rosalie examining the new camera back in March.

On my lunch hour the next day, I drove to the camera shop where I had purchased my Nikon B700 and bought a new USB cord. I could hardly wait to get home and start uploading those photos!

But guess what – and I’m sure you did guess – the cord didn’t work. Sure, it fit both the camera and the computer, but nothing happened.

So, come Friday morning, instead of sipping my coffee while reading all those wonderful comments on my newest entertaining post, I found myself in the car heading back to the camera shop, hopefully to exchange USB cords. They didn’t have the exact one to fit my particular camera, but did gladly refund my money. I asked if there was any way to be sure the problem was with the cord, and not the camera, and the shop clerk said the correct cord would be needed in order to determine if the camera was defective. He suggested I might find the right cord at Best Buy.

The camera shop is in Buffalo, and Best Buy is in Amherst – about a 20 minute drive. But what the heck, I had already driven 20 minutes from Cheektowaga to Buffalo, so what’s a little more driving?

The clerk at Best Buy helped me pick out what he said was the appropriate cord. I had my camera with me and asked him to please make sure the cord would, in fact, work so I wouldn’t have to come back later. While I suspect he thought I was a dotty old lady, he quite willingly did as I asked – only to discover that this cord also did nothing. The clerk indicated he thought it was a problem with the camera itself and that I should contact Nikon.

Back out in my car, I called the camera store and explained what had just happened. I reminded them that I had bought the camera there and that it was still under the one-year manufacturer’s warranty. The store manager verified that they do camera repairs, but stated he would probably have to send the camera to Nikon. I was ok with that.

Another 20 minutes to drive from Amherst back to Buffalo. Please understand that on a Friday afternoon, Western New York drivers are not as polite as on other days – which means, never. Traffic was the usual bitch.

Anyway.

My 6-month-old Nikon B700 is now in the process of going back to Nikon for warranty repairs. The camera shop manager was diligent in removing and handing me the memory card so my photos wouldn’t be lost.

Oops. Almost forgot about those! How could I transfer them without the camera? When asked, the camera manager told me they were out of stock for memory card readers.

Damn.

Another 20 minutes to drive from Buffalo to Amherst to buy the memory card reader at Best Buy. It was the same clerk, and he found the whole thing a bit amusing.

Then, finally, heading home to Cheektowaga – another 20 minutes through pre-rush hour traffic. I still hadn’t done any of my usual Friday chores, so I opted to go straight home and not pick up early dinner at Burger King like I often do on Fridays. (Keep your comments to yourselves, people. I happen to like Burger King occasionally.)

It was very late afternoon, but I knew I had to get those photos uploaded in order to publish that post. And I had to edit those photos. My work was cut out for me.

Success! You all read that post, “Into the Woods Again“, but none of you knew what I had to go through to publish it. Now you do, and I hope you all appreciate the effort.

It’s old, but it still works.

I’m now back to using the old Olympus click-and-shoot that I started out with. I suspect the photo quality will be pretty much the same, considering the skill (or lack thereof) of the photographer, but I’ll do my best.

As luck would have it, Amazon shipped the replacement Nikon cord on a rush basis. It should arrive by Monday. So now I’ll have the right USB cord, but no camera to plug it into. Ugh!

Such is the life of a blogger/photographer. No one ever said it would be easy.

__________

I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com

__________

Images by Cordelia’s Mom

Posted in Humor, Photography, That's Life | Tagged blogging, camera, computer, driving, electronics, frustration, Nikin Coolpix B700, Olympus, shopping, stress | 26 Comments

Into the Woods Again

Posted on August 24, 2018 by cordeliasmom2012

It was Friday, my usual day off. My normal weekly post was already published (yay for me). Since I had pre-scheduled that post, I slept in and so was fairly well-rested. The weather was decent – a little overcast, comfortably cool for mid-August. I was in need of my preferred reading material – REAL books, with PAPER pages I could turn to enhance the reading experience.

The library branch I normally visit is closed on Fridays, and was inaccessible due to road construction so waiting until Saturday for that branch was not an option.

I gathered up my driver’s license, insurance card (never leave home without it!), library card and camera (the “good” one, just in case) and headed off to the Audubon library branch. After choosing my new reads, I decided to take another stroll through the adjoining Walton Woods Park (did you really think I’d need a camera at the library itself?).

This time, I turned right inside the park entrance. The right pathway is a little more woodsy, as the left pathway opens up to the back of nearby residences. Both paths circle the man-made lake.

I searched for frogs (just missed one – damn my reflexes!). I looked for fish (none, but they may have been scared away by several people fishing along the edge of the lake). I took photos of the path and greenery from whatever angle seemed attractive.

At the end of the lake, the path forked – one side circled around the lake, the other continued on towards who knew where. I decided to walk away from the lake for a change. I knew eventually there would be some houses or businesses, the park isn’t all that big.

Imagine my surprise when I saw this sign pointing to an UNPAVED path:

Well, how could I resist?

I could hear animals in the trees (probably just squirrels, I thought) and could smell what definitely seemed like something dead somewhere further in. Tempting as that was, I stayed on the path.

No animals evident, except for a number of leashed dogs with their owners. Every dog wanted “pets,” and with the owners’ permission, I obliged. We all went happily on our separate ways.

Deeper into the woods, I grew tired and decided to turn back. No danger of getting lost, the paths are very clear. Once again on the paved pathway, I headed back towards the lake.

And that’s when I finally saw it – a fawn grazing for food right at the sign announcing the lake:

The fawn was obviously unafraid of people. It simply looked at me and continued to graze. I tried to inch closer, at which point it decided to stroll on back to mama and papa. Apparently mama and papa were somewhere in the woods behind me, as the fawn began walking towards me through the woods and only about 10 feet away. It and I kept eye contact as it moved casually on by, and played peekaboo for a few minutes:

Apparently, the fawn didn’t like my camera click because it then began sprinting past me. (Or, maybe it didn’t like when I whispered [I thought], “Shhh. Just stay still!” Now, my camera does have a setting whereby I could take multiple shots of a moving object, but I don’t know how to use it yet. The best I could manage was this blurry shot of a fleeing fawn.

I wish Amy Rose had been with me – that fawn would have stopped and posed for her! Really! If you haven’t seen Amy’s recent wildlife photos, check them out here and here.

Maybe the next time I go to Walton Woods, I’ll have another chance to photograph that deer. Or maybe not. In any event, I intend to try.