Grandpa's Log, star date 011821021.163513. Here's what's going on in my world right now.
Personal Finances
Work
I didn't work at all last week. I didn't even receive a text. Just radio silence. It's kind of disconcerting not to have any contact in a week, especially after previous weeks where I was being contacted practically every day. It's also not very cool because I'm wondering throughout the day if a text is going to pop up out of the blue. Officially, I'm laid off, but in reality, it feels like I'm on call.
BK drive-thru, Lincoln City, OR—The way being in limbo should be.
UI Benefits
The unemployment compensation did finally come through, though. I'm caught up with the two weeks that were missed, and the federal supplemental compensation showed up with it. That's been helpful. Fills the gap a bit between funds available and funds needed, while soothing the sting of not getting paid in full from my employer yet.
For now, that is, since I'm accumulating more hours that will come due next month.
That said, I finally did get a text this morning. I was asked to fill one ATM today, so nothing major, but tomorrow I will probably be busy all day. It will depend on whether or not the money for the coast is available to fill their ATMs with.
It's feast or famine, I guess, though mainly famine.
I believe that the ATMs I've been filling in a week all needed attention last week. Why I didn't get sent to take care of them, I don't know. My guess is my boss had time to fill them himself, so he did.
Fed Money "Giveaway"
Still no sign of the stimulus money. After being told they probably wouldn't get any, both my sons have received theirs. Meanwhile, while receiving mine was supposedly never in question, it's currently lost in the mail somewhere out there.
Or plain didn't make it out the door.
Friday was the self-imposed deadline by the government for the IRS to get the money out, so instead of continuing to send what remains, the IRS is punting. Basically, they're into full blown tax mode now. If the money isn't received in the next few days, I'll need to claim it as a credit on my tax return. Which, unless it's set up differently, means I might not get it or the entire amount because it will be used to offset whatever taxes I owe.
Probability Work Hours Increase? Not Good
I guess I can be thankful for some financial progress, even if it's not coming in the shape or form I want it to. I'm not sure when the lock downs here will be over. The daily case count up until the weekend was above 1,000, which to date has meant the counties I work in are still at extreme risk levels. One county has been close to coming off that list, though, so maybe this next time around it will.
Only about eight more to go after that.
Good luck.
Now, they're warning about the so called UK strain of the virus, the one that is easier to get. They actually announced a case of it in Oregon last week, so I'm sure it will be making the rounds. One prediction I saw believes it will become the dominant strain by March.
Just like clockwork.
Biden Inauguration
While life continues under COVID-19 restrictions in my neck of the woods, I guess the rest of the country is safeguarding against another "coup attempt." The way security is being beefed up at all the state capitals and in Washington, DC, there must be something big in the works, especially since the Capitol riot and breach on January 6 didn't warrant nearly as much attention.
For the record, I'm not worried. Since the inauguration this year was already limited in scope because of COVID-19 restrictions, tons of people aren't going to be there, anyway. At least, they're not supposed to be. And, anytime such a "peaceful transition of power" takes place, there's always protestors, and they're always staged blocks and blocks away.
I know there are many on social media who think we're on the brink of Civil War, but I'm not one of them. Not at this stage. Even if we were, it would be pretty short lived, if the Capitol riot is any indication. For as much planning as there could have been put into it, what was accomplished was the exact opposite of whatever may have been intended. In other words, common sense wasn't at work with that mob, let alone strategy, or the capability to pull any of it off.
All they did is set back their own cause about half a century. If that's what the establishment is up against, it's not a contest.
What I Do Worry About
One party having all the executive and legislative power. At this point it doesn't look like they have the Supreme Court, too, but there's already been rumblings to change that by adding more seats.
There was a reason why the founders created a divided government. It was so the power wouldn't concentrate without checks and balances. Remove those checks and balances, however, and you've got a de facto dictatorship, even if it takes a little more to get the job done.
Spending is set to go through the roof. That's funny to say considering how much has already been spent. So far, a raise in taxes has not been noised around so much, but you know that's coming.
I wish I had a place to go to get away from all this. It's not from a lack of trying. I can certainly try harder, but it still doesn't look promising. The long arm of the IRS is global, and I don't have any meaningful means of supporting myself and my wife without working. That, despite my attempts.
It's one thing to know how to get out. It's becoming quite another to actually executive. Hat tip to any of you who have managed to do it.
He Thought It Was Funny
My oldest son is very much into politics (I think I've created a monster), and so during one of our discussions yesterday when he and his family were over, I took the opportunity to read him something I posted on HIVE last week.
I don't always get a response to what I write (shocking, I know), and this one was no exception. So, after he asked me whether or not he should post a certain gif on his Facebook account on Inauguration Day, I told him it was up to him, and wondered if he was ready to accept the consequences. He said he would answer any comments that took him to task with gifs.
He then asked, "What are we supposed to do? Nothing?"
I told him to hold on a second, and I looked up my HIVE post. I prefaced it with, "This is what your dear old Dad did." I read it, and he enjoyed it. When I was finished he said something like, "I didn't think I could love you any more, but now I do."
Yeah, he can go over the top sometimes (his love for me shouldn't be based on my satirical jabs at COVID-19 restrictions), but anyway, I'm glad I took the opportunity to read it to him.
That's It
I think that completes this week's journal entry. At least, the topics that are most relevant. There's always more to say, but some of it, I think, is best left unsaid. Who knows, I may have already overstepped my bounds and said too much, anyway. I guess it all depends on what you think the social side of HIVE is for, or whether any of what I've written here falls under 'quality content.'
Image courtesy of Glen Anthony Albrethsen