An early start means an early finish.

I woke up before my alarm today, and got up.  I fed the cats.  I got distracted with busy work and then realized I had 20 minutes until our ride to Walmart. 

I got Ron ready and we left.  I had a hard time bringing him out of the house because my tote bag, on the back of the wheelchair, made it hard to lift the wheelchair over the threshold.  I finally took off the bag, got him out, and put the bag back. 

We had to take the bag, I had a return in there and I also had the electric bill.  As you know, last month, when I was making a cash payment on the electric bill Ron tried to pay over the phone, and failed.  The company no longer allows him to make phone payments since he entered the wrong routing number years ago. 

As a side note, Ron was complaining about memory problems and I said yes, I had noticed, and it was due to his pain medication.  But this happened before that. 

Anyway, it came back "insufficient funds" - we got a very nasty letter from the company, and two bills for the amount I had paid in cash, plus the NSF charge.  I decided to wait until we got our formal, month-end bill before I paid anything. 

The standard bill showed a completed payment for last month, and then the NSF charge, and our regular monthly charge.  It came to $70.  So, good, it all went through. 

We drove around this morning, picking other people up - Ron had to ride in the wheelchair compartment, basically the "trunk" of the vehicle.  It has no shocks and is a rough ride.  But the driver was pretty careful and Ron was OK. 

We finally got to Walmart and made the electric payment.  You don't want to mess with water, gas, or electricity.  I left Ron up front and did my shopping. 

It was mainly "his" shopping, but I had some stuff, too.  My return was in my zippered tote bag and I forgot about it completely. 

I checked out and we went to wait by the door.  I didn't have a good view so I took Ron out.  However, it was pretty warm and he wanted to go back inside.  I left him inside and waited outside with our stuff.  That way, we're both happy, and it's a decent neighborhood so we didn't have to worry about my safety - or his, for that matter. 

A paratransit vehicle pulled up.  I went over - it was our pickup time.  I asked if she was there for us, it was the right time.  She said no, and gave me another name.  Then she went inside the building for about 5 minutes.  She came back out and sat in the vehicle for another 15 minutes.  Ron called me, said a supervisor had called him and told him the ride was outside.  I only saw the one vehicle. 

I went and asked if she was certain she wasn't there for us.  It was hot waiting outside and I had been standing next to the vehicle, idling, for a good 25 minutes while she had a nice break.  She said no.  I walked away. 

Then she got out and said "Oops, I was here for you all along, but I pushed the wrong button".  We have been riding for over 15 years and no one has ever made that mistake.  When you pull up a trip, it shows the name, and address, clearly.  The name she had pulled up was a future trip, with a different address, but she didn't bother to check the address. 

Because of that, Ron almost got left and I had to wait outside in the heat for half an hour.  I wasn't happy, but I was pleasant to her. 

She took the scenic route, instead of the efficient one.  By now I had to figure she was playing games, trying to get us upset.  That happens, rarely, and then when you get upset they act like a victim.  It is their payoff when you get angry, so the trick is to not get angry around them.  You wait until you can let it all out in your blog.  :p 

We got home.  She took the wheelchair out of the back of the cab and then rolled it over Ron's foot (in a sandal), twice, before I stopped her and took it away.  Happily it was the "dead" foot without much sensation, but by now I was getting annoyed.  I didn't show it, though, that's her payoff, me losing my temper. 

I couldn't wait to get into the house.  I vented a little at Ron and we both agreed, if she continues this way, she'll get fired in short order.  In addition to now being late for half an hour on all her trips "Because I pushed the wrong button" - which, I'll repeat, NO ONE has EVER done in 15 years, she is not driving efficiently - shortest distance and all that.  Plus she kept talking politics, all kinds of liberal garbage. 

I put everything away and then took a nap.  Torbie joined me, she has been very cuddly of late.  I got up and got ready, we went to the Waffle House.  Ron wasn't hungry but I ate.  I gave him a couple bites of my waffle and administered his vitamins.  He was a good sport about taking them. 

Our driver actually got a break between dropping us and picking us up again, so she got something to eat.  Then we came home and met the handyman. 

The trim on the top of my house, at the roofline, is damaged in one spot.  It looks like something took a bite.  I pointed it out and he hmmed over it.  He will come back tomorrow and fix it while we're at work.  The HOA is having seizures over this and keeps sending us letters. 

So that will be done, good, one thing off our plate.  After he left, I set up an extension cord in the garage so he will have power, I'm going to run it out under the door tomorrow.  I fed the cats, they like the primavera mix a lot.  I will have to buy more when this case is done.  They eat all of it, at least now. 

When I finished, Ron and I sat down and worked on the accounting stuff for a while.  It took some time.  Now I need to go to bed early because I have a 4 AM pickup tomorrow. 

But, an early start means an early finish, so there's that.