On My Mind: Love and Money

I've spent much of the last two days sorting through seven-and-a-half-years' worth of blog posts to print those I think would be of most interest to one of my favorite people in the world, my lovely stepmother, Liane. Liane is 88 years old now, and an age-related illness restricts many of her daily activities. This would be troublesome for anyone, but it's worse for Liane than it would be for me, because she's been very active until the last year or so. But she likes to read, and maybe I can help out with that. I don't know if the kind of writing I do will appeal to her particular taste, but I'll send it to her and we'll see.

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My Uncle Olan passed away Sunday night or early Monday morning, I don't know which. Of my dad's eight siblings, Olan, I believe, was closest to him in temperament. Those two probably sowed more wild oats than all the others put together and left behind the most tales to be told. If they're together now, I'm sure God and St. Peter are both keeping an eye on them, making sure they don't start some kind of shenanigans. I have to admit, though, it would be fun to watch.

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The fence along one side of my backyard is leaning. It has half a dozen broken posts, rusted through at ground level where the water stands deepest through the rainy months. I talked to my neighbor about it because the repair people would have to do the work on her side of the fence, even though the fence is technically on my property. She sent me a Facebook message Sunday evening saying not to worry about the fence, that her father had looked at it and she, her dad, and her brother can fix it. Now, those are good neighbors! I'll pay for the materials, but this will save me quite a bit.

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I've received notices in the mail that both my homeowner's insurance and auto insurance policies will be canceled as of their policy expiration dates in August. The insurer I've had since 1997 has decided to no longer issue those types of policies in Louisiana. One hurricane too many, I suppose. Anyway, I'll begin the search for new coverage in the next day or two and hope that other insurers don't get greedy when they recognize the glut of displaced policyholders in the same situation I'm in.

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I put my office reorganization project on hold when I had company last Friday and haven't managed to return to it yet. I'll get back on it any day now and finish the job. When I was going through all that stuff earlier last week, though, I did set aside one thing to show you. This is the receipt for my very first computer:

It had an astounding 1 MB of RAM--and (I think I remember) a 40 MB hard drive, but I still can't believe it cost that much all the way back in 1989. That was way more than a month's pay. Looking at the price on this receipt made me recall that my first microwave, a Christmas gift from my husband in 1975, cost nearly $400. I guess one good thing about electronics is the way their prices drop once they're no longer the hottest new item on the market.