A trip to the bank

I slept OK, got up, and did all my morning routine. 

We were headed to work, Ron always does better on work days.  I forgot to check if his shirt looked OK, it had some cat hair, I saw later, but was OK in my book. 

Surprisingly, things were busier than they had been in December.  And everyone wanted change (I convert "large" bills into $1 so they can use the vending machines).  I swear they must have put up a poster with my face on it "Gives change".  People were OK about waiting for a few seconds while I stocked the merchandise in my hands, and I must have converted $50. 

I haven't checked.  I have a designated pocket in my jeans for [company name] business money.  I give it to Ron when I remember, or I clean my pants out prior to doing laundry. 

The bottled vendor is working, the repairman is coming for the coffee machine, snack machines took some stocking, and Ron did canned sodas.  We split the difference on the bottled vendor and he ran some dimes through the coin sorter to count them.  Then we went to the bank and he sold the dimes to them (it's called a "coin dump" - we put the change into a large bag, which seals and goes off to a sorting facility, then the account gets credited.).  Ron left me plenty of dimes to fill the change banks, he said. 

We go through a lot of nickels, so he didn't touch them.  Good.  Our pricing structure means we give at least 5 cents change on every bag of chips (crisps) sold.  That adds up quickly. 

We also transferred money from savings to checking so we can pay the hospital - medical bills from Ron's surgery.  They're only 1/3 paid off.  We can manage, but it's going to burn. 

"You won't be needing any more back surgery" I told Ron hopefully. 

Makes me glad I have my crappy HMO insurance.  Something is better than nothing and medical bills add up exponentially. 

We did have one bill, $470 for a 5 minute urology consult.  Yeah.  He doesn't take Medicare, something I wish the referring doctor had known.  They were starting to make phone calls.  Ron called them back and told them he would be mailing a check on Friday. 

"Oh" they told him "If you're paying 'cash' we will cut the bill in half.".  So it's only $235 now.  Good.  One radiology bill is $1.53.  If only they were all that cheap! 

But Ron needed the surgery, he couldn't even stand up, and he is not in pain from his back anymore.  Now, the latest thing seems to be the knee problem.  I am really hoping the knee problem does not require surgery but I worry it does. 

Ron has said he doesn't want any more surgery, so that's it.  He seems to be fairly functional. 

I found it very odd, how the bank wanted ID before we could make the deposit.  You think they would make it easy but they say it has to do with preventing terrorism.  We always tell them, if someone wants to make a deposit into our account, let them! 

I "caught" Ron taking his vitamins this morning, so at least he is doing that.  I have him on Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Milk Thistle (for his liver, I am constantly warning him about his liver but he won't listen), and some other stuff.  He is taking them faithfully. 

He was never good, before, about taking any supplements I gave him.  I put my supplements in my pills-of-the week organizer. 

I will need to do up more medication at the end of the week.  I will, I always do. 

I keep my medication on the floor for a couple of reasons.  1.  The cats like to knock it off the couch and 2.  Ron has gone roaming off in the direction of my medication when he's had blackouts. 

No one can knock my medication on the floor if it's already there.  I doubt Ron would try to take them, if he put them in his mouth they taste terrible.  I've gotten the odd pill stuck in my mouth, and had it start dissolving.  He wouldn't swallow them.

He's more likely to give the cats a binge on treats. 

So, we came home from the bank.  I saw the garbage had already come so I left Ron in the driveway and put the cans away.  I saw that #2 had to completely rebuild one wall in their garage.  I can only imagine what's happening on the inside of the house. 

I had a thought.  Maybe both of them, the man and the woman, were hoarders.  That would explain an AWFUL lot.  I never understood how she could let him wreck the garage and yard, but maybe she had even more stuff in the house. 

We rode with a driver we like, today.  Ron mentioned the tenants had moved out of #2, she was interested in possibly renting.  I told her "No, you don't want it." and explained.  She was horrified and agreed. 

She (the driver) already has bad sinus trouble and allergies.  Can you imagine what it would do to move into a house that had rats for years? 

I know someone who caught a rat-borne illness.  He nearly died.  That's real life.  I've also watched "Monsters inside me" which have also featured some people who got sick from rat droppings. 

#2's landlady just has a handyman out there fixing things up, nothing like the professional cleaning it really needs.   I feel sorry for the next tenant.   Hell, I feel sorry for the handyman. 

I just worry (again with the worrying) we will get someone even worse than the last tenant.  I don't think the landlady will allow a dog, which is good because the fence is weak and I would have it attacking the cats.  But will they be quiet and stay out of the yard?  I don't know. 

I can hope, and pray.  I have been begging God every day to please send a quality tenant to live in #2 when they are done fixing it up.  Last time, I got a "No". 

Let's hope this year I get a "Yes".