WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? AND PACKING AWAY CHRISTMAS FOR THE YEAR

 Where is what coming from next?  

Last week my husband complained that the basement that the basement smelled and I should come down and check if it smelled like (natural) gas.  It did not and the smell was coming from the other room in the basement – near our oil burner.  (In this area fuel oil is one of the common heating sources – it is the same as diesel.  It is dyed so that if one uses it in one's car because there are less taxes on it than on diesel it will obvious. ) We contract with a company to deliver our oil automatically so we don't run out and also we have a service contract with them to deal with any work any needed on the furnace.  It is a hot air furnace (meaning hot air is blown through vents running through the heat to heat the house). The smell was not of the oil itself, but sort of like it smells when burned.  We looked around the furnace and saw nothing and figured it was a one time thing.  Our carbon monoxide monitors had not gone off – even when we took one to the basement and put it near the furnace.  

Friday we went out for one of our corona virus food shopping sprees – 4 hours for a 15 minuted drive each way and shopping.  An hour and a half to wipe it all down and store it.  Smell still there.  It was still here over the weekend.  Monday husband decided that “we” had to do something about it.  I telephoned the company that we contract with for this and explained -also that we had forgotten about the annual cleaning and checkup.  (Okay, a bit of a lie.)  They were very nice and when I said - “in the afternoon, please” gave us an appointment for Tuesday afternoon.

We are entitled an annual cleaning of the furnace – replacement of filters, etc and they check that the furnace is running properly.  It would normally be done in the spring or summer  - their slow time.  I did not call to have same done in 2020 as we did not want anyone in the house due to Covid-19, and figured by the time winter was taking hold the pandemic would be over and we could deal with it then – ha ha.  So we figured the problem was that the furnace needed a cleaning and the filters needed replacement, but were afraid of a major repair or the need to replace our 70 year furnace and pandemic or not it had to be done. 

I spent a good part of Monday evening making room for him to walk around and work.  In addition to the usual items out in the basement – husband's foldable work table, laundry sorting cart, sewing machine cover, and such – I had moved things around to take out our Christmas tree and the Santa/elves figures we keep down there – under the staircase.  This also involves moving our Packtite heater (to kill possible bed bugs in items coming into the house) which is about 5 ft long.  It sits out of the way in a corner of the basement – but right in front of the Christmas items stored.  When we are dealing with decorating inside for Christmas I put the Packtite on top of the large piece of wood we use for its base normally, on top of the portable worktable and then put the Packtite on the piece of wood.  This stays like this until I finish putting away the inside Christmas decorations.  I had finished taking the ornaments off the tree – but not had not chance to move these items to get to the box to store them in.  So I had to move the Packtite and board back to where they belong so he could move around where he needed to.  I also moved a number of items to the other side of the basement including my wheeled laundry sorter and the portable work table.  (I folded up the work table before moving it – easier to carry and smaller to store – husband was surprised, it had not occurred to him to do so.)  

We woke and were getting dressed just before 11 am – the appointment was for 12-4 pm, so an hour before seemed like plenty of time.  I heard a vehicle door close outside and looked out the window – it was the serviceman.  Since I sleep in jeans and tee shirt (and these days sweatshirt also) I went downstairs to let him in while husband got dressed.  

When we got down to the basement I explained.  He immediately found the cause of the smell – the exhaust pipe from the furnace had partially popped out of it's mate in the wall – the furnace exhaust had been leaking into the basement!  I was astounded that we had not noticed this.  Later husband said that he looked at the exhaust several times and did not notice it.  The pipe was put back into it's mate and taped into place (it has always been taped into place).  The furnace was cleaned, tested, and everything changed.  In the interim husband and I had changed places  - with me going upstairs to get dressed and him staying with the serviceman.  (Having worn my sleep clothes around someone I through them in the laundry.)  Most of the smell was gone from the basement.  

After the serviceman left – due to the crazy people we become – I sprayed where he had been, left his jacket, his tools, etc. with a bit of our precious Lysol just to be careful.  The next day when I went down to the basement I smelled the Lysol with perhaps a whiff of the other smell.  Husband insisted he still smelled the smell.  Finally today – 2 days later the basement has cleared itself of the smell and all is well.  We cannot open the windows in the basement for a variety of reasons to air it out and I did not want to leave the door to the kitchen from the basement open as that would bring the smell into the rest of the house.  

Tonight I put back what I had moved so I could store the Christmas items away.  I like to do move the heavier Christmas items up and down the stairs while I am doing the laundry.  A trip down with laundry – throw it in the washer, bring up a box when I come upstairs.  Trip down to shift load to dryer, put new load in washer – bring up another box.  I had meant to bring the first box down when I came back down – but was not done with it yet.  I took the ornaments off the tree in our dining room and put them in the box in which they are kept (one of the fancy boxes we put under the tree to make it look like there are gifts for us).  I stored that tree in its box.  I then brought up the box for the tree in our studio – the ornaments were already off them as I took them off when I took the ornaments from the main tree.  I took apart and packed that tree in it's box also.  I taped both boxes closed.  Next trip down I will bring them to the basement and put them aside – they store on the main tree box so cannot be stored until that tree has its light removed and is dissembled and boxed – I did bring up the plastic bags to store the lights from the main tree on one of these trips – that is the next step in storing the main tree in it's box in the basement.  (Box remains in the basement as it to large and would be too heavy to carry the entire tree in it's box and sections are put in the box down there – one by one, each a trip down to due size and weight.)

Tonight we went out and drove the USPS mail collection box we are using – we are to get a snowstorm and we did not want to pay our real estate taxes late.  I had wanted to mail it last Sunday as it was the only mail for this coming weekend's trip to send mail, but husband had said to wait, so we had to go out tonight.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Okay, two of them -

First, make sure that all service and cleaning is done timely on your large appliances.  Second – make sure to allow time to pay bills before snow or other bad weather.  

AS LONG AS I AM STUCK HOME FOR THE PANDEMIC - I AM CLEARING OUT MY FILES OF OLD ITEMS

 I have been figuring that while we are stuck home most of the time due to the pandemic I will get some long undone projects done.  One that I have actually made some progress on is cleaning out my filing cabinets.  

We have 3 half height (2 drawer) filing cabinets.  I say “we” but basically they are mine for files for my husband and myself.  When we lived in our apartment there was no room for full height filing cabinet so we bought 2 half height ones and used the top for a place to keep needed items which had to be kept out.  When we moved to our house we kept the 2 cabinets and added a third.  This has been a good idea as our computer printers/scanner is kept on top of them – a solution to 2 problems, where to put the printers and where to keep files.  Our desks sit facing each other with one side of the desks along the all and the cabinets on the other end of the desks – facing away from them into the room (basically into the walkway between the filing cabinets and the book shelves across from them which are along the wall.

I use the top drawer of the first cabinet for our personal items.  I use regular manila folders in this drawer.  I have been using the bottom drawer of that cabinet for two sets of folders – instruction manuals/warranty papers for items around the house and for travel brochures/maps and such.  The top drawer is fine as I go through our personal folders annually.  (Note – paid bills for us are NOT kept in this cabinet  - I have an accordion folder next to my desk chair for same.)  

The bottom drawer below that is rarely gone through, though I have been working for a couple of years on scanning the instruction manuals and warranty papers into my computer to make them either and quicker to find – unless they are complicated manuals such as for the refrigerator or a major tool.  I have gone through and removed duplicate travel brochures to only keep the most recent one.  These two drawers are generally very full by the end of the year.

The top drawer of the middle cabinet has been used for financial matters for our craft business.  Bills for the business do go into this drawer and I go through it every year to remove bills and store with our personal ones.  It also has information about craft shows we have done or want to do, and stores/online businesses that carry items of interest to us.  

The  bottom drawer of the middle cabinet has two different sets of files – in the front is the files for my embroidery chapter and in the rear are the files for our reenactment unit.  (There are less files for the embroidery chapter which is why they are in the front.)  Since this drawer is almost on the floor and I am getting older it has become more problematic to get to the reenactment unit files – if nothing else when I lean down my progressive lens eyeglasses shift and everything goes out of focus.  I have wanted to shift one or the other to a different drawer to help get rid of this problem. I also have to sit on a small step we keep in the room to see the files which are further back in the drawer.

In the top drawer of the third cabinet was some additional files for our craft business and catalogs – lots of catalogs – mostly for our craft business, but some for us also.  We rarely order from catalogs or otherwise, but when we need something for the craft business we can go through and find what we need and who sells it and decide who to buy from and how to do so.  Of course we have not received a new catalog in probably over a decade, so the catalogs are not current.  

In the bottom of the third drawer of the third cabinet are my files for accounting clients, etc. and some files for husband related to his certifications and websites through which he has done counseling plus some files left from his former job - he quit over 10 years ago.

I figured that as long as I am stuck home anyway whenever I have some time while in office I would work on going on through the catalogs to see what to keep and get rid of the rest so I could put the two files for the 2 clubs into separate drawers.  Yes, Covid-19 is giving time at home to clear out old papers.  

I started a new spreadsheet for the catalogs.  I take some out and decide if we would still be interested in what each if for.  No longer interested – catalog info is put in the spreadsheet (after checking that the business still exists) and then the catalog goes into a pile to recycle.  With the spreadsheet info we can either go the website of the company or call for a new catalog if we need it.  Catalogs we are still interested in I check to see if the business still exists and how well their items are shown on their website.  If the company still exists, again I put the company's info in the spreadsheet.  If the website shows the items they carry – catalog gets recycled.  If the company is gone – catalog gets recycled.  If the website does not show what they carry and we are still interested, I keep the catalog even though it is old.  Amazing how many catalogs were recycled –  of course I remove the mailing info first and shred it.  

Today I started going through my old accounting files.  If I have not worked for the client in several years I make sure that all of the info in the file has been scanned into the computer and shred what is in the file.  (I keep copies of client's taxes other than the most recent year done as pdfs in my computer.  I keep the most recent year on paper as it is easier to refer to the following year when preparing that year's return.)  I also have been going through the other files in this drawer – forms I have to file for me to be able to prepare tax returns, proof of classes I had to take, returns shredded before I started keeping the record of same in a spreadsheet, etc. are being scanned into the computer (this is what I worked on today).  Clients who I go to and “do” their books have more papers retained than those who I just prepare income taxes for, including a traditional file folder that I take to them when I am working at their location so anything related does not get lost.  I filled my shredder basket today.  

I have a few more accounting files to go through and then I will go through the files I keep for husband for his counseling practice.  For convenience the two businesses will continue to share a file drawer.  

I plan to separate the two clubs into separate drawers and move the travel items into back of the drawer with my embroidery chapter's file since (as mentioned) there a lot less of them than of the reenactment unit's files.  We will travel again one day – when the corona virus is in control and it is safe.

I will continue to scan in the instructions and warranties books for things in the house and hope to get it down to a limited number of items which have too much info in them to get rid of.  Since small parts that came with items are also in this drawer, I will end up bagging and labeling them and keeping them in this drawer also.  

The drawers are so much emptier than when I started and easier to use.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

If you are stuck in the house anyway – use your time to work on getting rid of unneeded things.  There must be some papers that sit where they are just because of lack of thought of them.  Try to find them.  Decide if you need them.  If you need a copy of them and NOT the originals – scan them and shred the originals (birth certificates and marriage licenses are among the items that one needs to keep the original).  If you need to keep them – set them up so they are kept in some sort of order.  As someone raised in business I prefer papers in a file folder in a file drawer – what works for you to keep to track of the paper originals you need to keep?

CHANGING ONE ADDRESS FOR MAIL - EVERY TIME I THINK I AM DONE - OOPS

 First, I should mention first that we still have bills, statements, etc. delivered to us in hard copy by USPS mail and we do NOT do anything financial online unless there is no other option – we are old school computer users (back to main frame computer programming) and know that there is NO such thing as a secure connection.  

We have had problems in the past with mail delivery at our house and had transferred almost all of our mail delivery to a USPS box we had for our business at a different local Post Office to deal with it.  We found this worked extremely well – go on a trip, no need to have mail held as it would automatically be held when there was too much in the box, need to have something delivered other than USPS – with street addressing it could go to our box.  

Then along came the corona virus.  We don't want to go out at all, let alone into a crowded Post Office – whether to send mail out or get our incoming mail.  More about that from last March 26 at http://wheredidileavethat.blogspot.com/2020/03/   and from last April 16 at http://wheredidileavethat.blogspot.com/2020/04/ and I am sure there is more at other post inbetween.

So we started changing our mailing address back to our house address with any and every one we could think of.  Every time I think I am done changing our address back to our house – something else pops up.  

Latest things which popped up -  Our car insurance renews soon and I checked to make sure our house address was the mailing address for same – it is, but that started me thinking about other insurances  and I checked our homeowners' insurance comes to our house but our RV insurance goes to our PO Box.  I telephoned the insurance company and changed the address – would not want to take a chance on the policy renewal being mailed to our box and never finding its way here.

We are members of Costco and a similar warehouse company called BJs.  My excellent computer records for bills reminded me that our Costco dues are due during January – usually paid by now – but no renewal received and the renewal goes to our PO Box.  So today I called Costco and, yes, we should have received the renewal by now.  I changed our mailing address with them and checked the amount due for the dues and the mailing address to which I should send the check – I paid it, as I have paid so many other bills this past 9 months – with a cover letter.   Our BJs  renewal is next month – I called them also and changed our mailing address with them also.  Strangely, the various ad circulars from both of them all come to our home address.

I am well organized, well at least as far as paperwork, especially bills.  I went through all my papers, all our credit cards, etc. and made a list – I contacted each company to change our mailing address to our house – but each time I think I am finished doing so – something else pops up.  Worst of all, some day, soon I hope, I will have to reverse this and change all of the mailing addresses to back to our PO  Box so it does not go astray and we can again go on our little trips with the mail snugly and safely in our little box at the Post Office.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK-

We will soon have a new control of our government here in the U.S.A.  I hope that they will be organized and get control of the pandemic so we can all go out again and be with friends and family as we did before (and go to the Post Office again for mail) without fear of getting of getting Covid-19.  

Until then- please be careful and safe and keep yourselves and your families well.

WHEN IT IS TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO CHRISTMAS?

 Today is January 6 – the last day of Christmas.

No, really, today is the last of the twelve days of Christmas – the day the three kings arrived to see the Baby Jesus.  In earlier centuries Christmas started on Christmas day and ended today – not as today, where Christmas starts at Thanksgiving (a totally unrelated holiday) or earlier in the year and ends on Christmas Day.  I have mentioned that husband and I are 18th century reenactors.  In normal years our unit participates in a Candlelight Nights event at the local restoration village (forgive me if I am repeating myself).  We explain to the public which comes through that Christmas was celebrated for the  entire 12 days – which by the way, does NOT include Christmas Day – which was religious/church day.  Starting December 26 (still called Boxing Day in many countries), which was the first day of Christmas there would be parties every evening.  Family and friends would come to visit (and as I explain to children – family might come from far away and therefore might not come to visit for the day or the week, but for weeks or a month) - it was a common time for weddings as a result.  Each night we are at the event after Christmas Day we mention what night it is – as in “Oh, you are here for the family's first night (second night, third night…) party.  Think of it 12 days of parties and fun for Christmas.  

One advantage to there being 12 specific days of Christmas with a definite day – today – to end the holiday is that one knew when the holiday was over.  I hate it when people run to take down their Christmas Decorations or toss their tree out the day after Christmas.  

I sort of mix it all together.  Today we used/are using our Christmas dishes (inexpensive Corelle) for the last time for a year.  I have put the Christmas dishes we did not use today (and will not use for late night snack tonight) on the table runner on our dining room table.  The dinner dishes are washed.  When I take out them out of the drying rack, they will join the others on the dining room table.  Tomorrow I will add the dishes we use for late snack -which will be washed and left to air dry before we go to bed tonight, box them up, and store them in the basement closet until next year.  The same with our Christmas glasses.  

But as good as I am about the dishes – I hate to take down the decorations.  The outdoor lights will have the timer in our basement which controls them shut off.  The wreath on the door will have it's timer shut off also (it runs on batteries).  I will leave the window candles (also battery and timer) up a little longer.  But the outside decorations – lights, flag on holder and decorations on our solar lamps' holders – will remain up until the weather is warm enough to take them down comfortably or the weather coming is bad enough that we better get them down – freezing weather or not.  

But in the house – generally the decorations – including the trees – will stay up a bit longer (no one sees inside the house to see that they are still up).  Several years ago we realized that we needed a definite point in time to take down the inside the house decorations.  When January started it was too soon. By the last week in January I was walking around thinking - “oh no, I guess I should start taking it all down soon, but who wants to now that the holiday is over”.  I figured out a definite point to signal to start taking them down – Martin Luther King Jr's birthday.  (For those not in the U.S. this holiday is on the 3rd Monday in January and honors the Reverend King.)  The holiday is of no significance to taking down the decorations – other than it is a set point to do so – well, at least to start doing so.  

Our dining room is already back to normal other than the decorations.  The board I added to the table is back in the board holder in the back of our front closet.  The tablecloths and napkins long washed and put away.  The foam table protector is also long rolled up and stored in the front closet.  The good china and silver tableware was put away after New Year's Day.   (This is not the same as my Christmas dishes.)

The rest of the decorations inside may stay out a bit longer this year – basically it a bit of “we need a little Christmas” so I will not rush to pack them all away.  Something to cheer the house while staying in to avoid the corona virus is needed, so it may stay a little longer.  My infamous teddy bear village stopped having a “Christmas Festival” some years ago – as the same setup called a “Winter Festival” can stay out longer- until February when, of course, the “Valentine Festival” happens.  

When we take down the decorations – outside and inside – I will note anything which needs to be replaced next year and list it in the shopping list in my cell phone under “Xmas” so we remember to buy what is needed and have it when we need it next year.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

When there is a task to do which does not have a specific time it needs to be done or completed by – set a fixed time it needs to be done for yourself.  If it is an annual task – use the same fixed time point each year.  

I hope all have a good new year and stay well and safe.