A Descent into the Maelstrom

(I love that word.  Maelstrom.  Thank you Scandinavians.  Thank you Edgar Allan Poe.)

Things have been rather busy around here these past few days.  Let’s see.

1.  Keisha wrecks and totals her car on Monday
2.  Work busier than normal
3.  Quotes for putting up a fence around Stewartland
4.  General spring cleaning and landscaping for Stewartland
5.  Preparing for our upcoming cruise

Looking at it that way looks rather manageable.  Not really that bad at all, actually.  But diving below the surface of the water, directly into the maelstrom, is more than I care to think about.

We need another vehicle to drive now.  We only had comprehensive insurance, which covers everybody’s bills for their cars, but gives us nothing for ours.  So we’re looking for automobiles.  I’m thinking about just getting an older ride, maybe a small pickup truck or something.  Let Keisha take the new(er) car.  But I can’t seem to find anything that looks dependable enough in my price range.  So after a few days of looking I’m burned (and bummed) out.  I’ve been driving Keisha around and then heading back to work, but we’re going to pick up an extra car from my uncle tonight to borrow for a while.  I also hate dealing with insurance people.  Even though they’ve been very helpful and friendly on the phone, it still is unpleasant talking to them.

To add to the whirlpool, we were scheduled to have some fence contractors look at our yard and give us a quote on putting up a fence.  I could do it myself, but I would much rather pay the extra money for the labor and get the warranty and quality offered by professionals.  However, a wooden fence around Stewartland is not going to be cheap.  So we got some quotes.  Since I live in a subdivision and I have a corner lot with a drainage inlet, my fence is going to require some unique design.  Basically, I’m supposed to keep it 25’ from the sidewalk on one side and 35’ from the sidewalk on the other, which would put the fence about 5’ from my house.  This doesn’t sit well with me, so I’m not exactly obeying the restrictions.  Hopefully no one says anything and forces me to remove it, cause that would just make me sick to my stomach, but it’s a chance I’m willing to take.

I got my tax refund in a few weeks ago and have been saving the money to put towards my student loan bills and the fence.  Alas, that no longer is the case.  I don’t like how debt makes me feel.  That is to say, I don’t like being squashed like a worm and grinded beneath its massive heel.  I don’t have a lot of debt (comparatively), but I have more than I like.  It’s rather depressing that I had a full-tuition scholarship, but still graduated with 16k in student loan bills.  Sadly, room & board and all the other nuances of the University of Louisville were not covered.  One of these days I’ll be debt free.  I’m just waiting for the syzygy. 

In everything, I’m very thankful to have what all I do have.  I’m blessed with a great job in this craptastic economy.  I have a wonderful wife and two beautiful puppies.  I have my own house, my own car, and thousands of other little things that I pay no attention to.  Things could always be worse, and I’m very thankful that they’re not.  It’s satisfying to know that in about 3 weeks I’ll be sitting on a cruise boat in the Caribbean.  I’m very ready for a vacation.  So is Keisha.  Both of our mind’s are fried.

I will be gone on business all of next week, travelling to Somewhere, IL.  Rememorandom will most likely sit idle, but if my hotel by chance has free internet I’ll try to put something up.  If not, hopefully things will return to normal the following week.

I would apologize that this post is mellow, but that would undermine the legitimacy of this post.  And, if this blog is indeed a chronicle of my daily life (along with all the other junk I put up here), then I should by all means express myself however I see fit.

I need to mow the yard.  You need to read Poe’s “A Descent into the Maelstrom.”  It’s been many years since I read it, but I remember liking it.  I dream of rain.  I dream of flowers in the desert sand…