Yesterday I sat on my rear for an extended period of time – not knitting – but clearing up tax stuff, pattern stuff, charting stuff and all kinds of email stuff that HAD TO BE DONE!
As a Virgo I usually relish the chance to crack open a spreadsheet and write up some functions (scripts, formulas, calculations – they have so many beautiful names!) but I’ve been so amazingly busy this past year that balancing my bank account, updating my database of products sold, etc., has eluded me. Luckily, I am fairly organized and keep very good records of what I sold where, how many miles I drove on what trip and last year I also dived into the borderline scary world of credit card bookkeeping.
What I mean by that is that now I hold 3 cards. This may not seem like a lot to most, but up until last year I’d been pretty much a debit card kind of gal for the past 20 years. Oh, sure, whenI first arrived in NYC my best friend and I had a little casual competition to see who could amass the greatest number of credit cards (they were hard to get then – just imagine!) I’ll never forget the sheer elegance of the narrow, lavendar Burgdorf’s card – what a nice looking credit card THAT was. Or was it Bendels? (Is there even still a Bendels?)
So I use one card purely for shipping, one card for travel, and one card for my printing & office expenses. Gerry has copies so when I’m out of town and he has to ship something or buy a business related item for me he can. Except for a few missteps (no, I don’t think admission to Cedar Point is a valid business expense…) it’s worked pretty well and makes the whole keeping track of receipts thing a little easier.
I’m still trying to figure out the whole rewards points / $$ / miles thing (of course they make it confusing on purpose!) but so far I’ve been able to get two airline tickets out of the amount I spent last year (one each on two different cards) and I should be able to cash in miles for yet another one. I think I must be their least favorite customer, though, because I always pay off my bill +$1.00 so I don’t carry anything over to accrue a finance charge.
I remember my mom – who used to work in a bank – sitting down with me and explaining about writing checks and keeping a balance in the account. She could have passed for a Virgo. It’s such a different world now, but the basics of keeping track of what goes out and what comes in will never change.
Another Openin’
We’ve had a nice amount of interest in the house, and actually had 2 folks who came through THREE times (we’d heard that the third time was a charm, but not in either of these instances…) But so far no bites. Darn. Um, St. Joseph?
So today, in light of the fact that our stairs are carpet-free and beautiful and the High Holy Days are over, and the news has moved away from Housing Prices At 11-Year Low! to stories about House Members and their – ahem – members, our agent feels that it would be a good day for a second Brokers Open House. I have to flee at 10:30 and be gone for a few hours, then return to hear what the lodown is from the ‘experts’ in our area.
The whole house sale thing is making Gerry a little more nuts than it makes me, but I think it’s because he has a lot wrapped up in the sale; he hates his job and wants to move to a new area, but I love what I do and I could do it anywhere!
More Books
I’m always astounded when I need to order more books from my printer – it just doesn’t seem possible that I run through all the books I do, but there it is – I’m down to my last 25 and I’d better place that order toot sweet!
Political Content (look away if you’re troubled by frankness)
We don’t have cable, but we have internet! I’ve become addicted to watching bits and pieces from Keith Olberman’s show. Ah. [le sigh…]
Anyway, I loved this bit so much that I feel it’s my duty (yes, duty – I’m a patriot, not a loyalist!) to post it on my blog. Enjoy!