September 8, 2007
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I called my broker yesterday, to ask if my IRA was insured by the FDIC or someone, since it’s in cash now. It is not. If you follow the market, you’ll know why that gave me pause.
I thought of snowshowers50 when I was trying to figure out how to handle the front porch. Of course she did all her own work, but I was so unsure of how to go about the sanding and filling and whether I should have boards replaced that I called the father-son team, who do a lot of work for me. There are big divots where the son sanded through the layers of paint a 100-year-old porch accumulates, and the caulking material he used is now visible through the paint. I hadn’t realized at first that because the porch is so old I couldn’t just have them rent a sander. You would have to sand each board separately, as over time the boards have not worn uniformly.
This manly stuff is such a struggle for me. I was both brought up by and married to someone who thought there was only one way to do things. So I always feel paralyzed by the fear of not knowing the correct way to do something. I’m a huge procrastinator but now that summer is over I have to get these outdoor things done, things I have no idea how to do. Home Depot didn’t have any twine and suggested I buy these horrible orange straps to secure the boards onto my car. This was a previous job, and they were happy to tie the wood onto my rack at Home Depot, but when I got to the lumberyard yesterday they said I would have to secure the wood, myself, as they could not be liable. The problem with those orange ties is that they have these clamps which are terribly complicated. I have made two runs for lumber and each time I HATED it. Driving home with those boards bouncing around on top of the car because I didn’t know the right knot — I couldn’t figure out the clams so just tied the orange ribbons in knots — I was missing my old neighbor who used to come to the lumberyard with me and take care of all that stuff.
I decided today, when I looked at the finished job in the daylight, that I was going to strike up a conversation with the next guy in painter’s pants I come across and ask him how the job should have been done. I suspect the caulking material was to be covered with an oil-based paint which would have had a slight sheen so that you wouldn’t notice the caulking.
Lately, I have been very lonely for the men I have loved. Not that I want to be with any of them but I have that ache in my heart that I get sometimes when I am not close to anybody. There is no one in my life I would like to be any closer to so for now I just enjoy my friends but I hope someone turns up someday.
My latest dance partner, who is actually taking lessons with another woman but we share him on the dance floor and all sit together, his old girlfriend wants him back. We went to dinner last night, just the two of us, and he explained that if he went back to her he wouldn’t be dancing with us anymore. The problem is they started having sex after the dance lesson, even though he is not that into her. She’s really into him, though. I am promoting the dance partner for obvious reasons but also because it sounds like his old girlfriend is just jealous and doesn’t want him with someone else.
After dinner we went to our blues bar to check out the new band they hired to do the jam on Tues. He surprised me by ordering my fave Jack and Coke, with two straws — I had said I didn’t want anything — and then I bought one so after a while I got friendlier than I usually am when it’s just the two of us and we are walking the dog or something. I sincerely was enjoying his company and his dance partner wasn’t there to see me lean into him. It’s so loud you have to talk into each other’s ear. He’s smart enough to know what was going on, though.
Comments (8)
Bug Hugs. I would love to be a fly on the wall of that blues bar.
Silly girl…She should read, “He’s Just Not Much Into You.”
I understand how you feel ,there is much that my husband does that I am clueless about.I hope you can find a new dancing partner if comes to that.I was complaining recently on my blog about being a domestic diva rather then a professional woman and my sister basically said she would love to be a domestic diva… and then I think about what is positive about being single ,( like not having to listen to awful television at full blast or not needing to consult with spouse about how you landscape the yard and so on )and I guess it all boils down to the idea that for all of us it could be better in some ways.I know too since women still out live men a lot of us will be looking at these issues even if we are happily married ,or in a good relationship.
Mmmm. A soft flirtation. Those are nice. A blues bar, now, there is something I miss. I need to make some phone calls and get out of the house again.
I know how to do so much of the “man” stuff but I cannot work those kinds of clamps either. I know the ones you are talking about I’ll bet. They can get really tight easily if one knows the magic! I end up with them ties in knots too or use bungees.
I did hear on NPR a bit about making sure the bank was FDIC and a few tricks about getting more than the 100K or something. Hope it isn’t a problem for you.
I think will read the part about the blues bar again.
I’m thinking of pulling everything I have out of the stock market..I’m a bite weiry of the roller coaster. I can’t imagine having cash in an IRA that wasn’t insured…possibly time for another venue it seems.
Those blasted straps are confounding to me too. When Dave uses them to tie down the boat in the back of his truck I look on with the wonder of a two year old as I’ve never mastered their quirks either.
RYC: Dave and his kids with money is so frustrating. He is of the belief that you must throw money at them or they won’t love you. He also gives with a string which I’ve tried over and over to drill into his head it’s fair. I’m from the school of hard work, doing without when I was young/married and making due with whatever money I had so it seems a huge disservice that Dave hands Tom everything. I wonder what contract they have with each other this lifetime that he must pay, pay and pay…for I realize it’s a contract and I’ve nothing to gain by harping about it…marilyn
listen to me prudy…if i can do home repair stuff (no previous experience) so can you…there are tons of books/sites/helpful people at lowes or your neighboorhood store to guide you. you will be amazed how kickass it feels to diy!
There’s always one way of doing things—the RIGHT way—but what i always find amusing is those who swear by their methods and are unwilling to change when shown that their way ain’t the best way. i’ve been washing my clothes the same way my stepmother taught me from when i was a chile until one day at the laundromat the dude who owns it told me i was doing it wrong and showed me the right way [soap in the second cycle] and i asked him—Why didn’t you show me this when i first started coming here?
And he replied—Most people don’t want to hear the right way.
I don’t do things the right way. I decide how I want to do them, and then never tell the man at the store what I’m doing cause I really don’t want him to tell me thats not the way to do it. Cause the right way is often too hard, and my way works, for now. The porch gives me a thrill every time I step on it now. GF is amazed. Always good to amaze the GF. But she always wants me to ask the guy – and I just want to find what I need and slink on out the door. Check with me in a few years, we’ll see how long it all holds up.