I went and done it.

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
When my disability and VA pension first started coming in, I began to put away some of it in savings. When I accumulated a year's living expenses in liquid funds, I decided to start putting money into a 5 year CD for "me money".

I had no idea what I'd do with it, except that I knew I wouldn't stay in Rhinelander forever, or at least that I wouldn't live in a ratty trailer forever.

The CD matured back in March and I cashed it in right before I moved "Down South". As you know, I am waiting for my apartment to be re-furbished. It will be ready for me to move into on July 15th.

Today, I spent my mad money on ordering furniture for my apartment. I purchased a matching sofa and loveseat in a woodsy greenish brown, a comfy chair in a coordinating print on a cream background (that I will be kicking cats out of constantly), two cherrywood and wrought iron end tables that will go nicely with the cherry wood coffee table I already have, a cherry wood TV stand that will go with the rest of the stuff.

For my little dining area, I got an octagonal dining table that is pecan around the edges with a faux marble center, with four chairs with wrought metal legs and backs, pecan tops to the backs, and upholstered seats.

My poor little tiny round, drop leaf pine kitchenette dinette with two chairs will go in my bedroom as temporary computer table until I can get a computer desk for the bedroom.

For the bedroom I got a large "high boy chest of drawers in a distresses antiqued light oak finish with brass knobs and handles, and a matching dresser and nightstand. I didn't get the matching bed for two reasons. One, it is immense and I'm not fond of the very high backed headboards so fashionable right now. The other is that I prefer a full-sized bed to a queen, and the bed is not available in a full.

I have already ordered a Saatva hotel quality mattress set in a full and was quite please to find the same set at the furniture store for over a thousand dollars more than I paid for it online.

This will likely be the last furniture set I buy. It will be part of my estate. I have never owned all wood furniture of this quality before, nor have I ever owned a new, "picked out the upholstery/wait for it to be made" living room set.

The frames of the furniture are solid wood which means that if I want to sit cockeyed in the chair with my legs and over one arm I can do so without breaking it. (I still cringe and what happened when I did that in my mother's armchair from Value City...Yikes!) The couch is nice and comfy so if mum comes to visit, she'll have soft place to sleep, though we'll have to confine the cats to my bedroom for the night as she won't appreciate Thomas usual wakeup call which involves a lot of face slurping and nose nibbling.

It was very interesting to shop this way as I had photographs and measurements of an identical empty apartment (mine is currently gutted and won't be ready for viewing til after July1), had already laid out exactly how I wanted it furnished and sketched in the layout of furniture and had definite pictures in my mind of how MY Place was going to look, an exact sum of money that I could spend, and dragged the salesman around the store slotting items into my "picture" Took about 4 hours, my feet still hurt. I sat and laid down on a lot of duds.

I went to the furniture store I went to (a mid-range chain) after researching several stores online and looking at inventory, pricing, and what sales they have going on. For those of you in the Midwest, now through July 4th is the time to buy furniture. Stores are marking down at least 25% as the 2016 fashions are going to be coming in soon.

I did see some of the trends: HUGE clear or tinted glass globes and vases on end tables and coffee tables, gigantic, antiqued bird-cagey looking things, either free-standing on the floor, or again on tables of various types.

I'm not sure what the point of all this stuff is beyond it seeming to be popular to put smaller glass objects into the larger glass objects, but between one oversized and very uncoordinated orange hairball and one, small, furry lunatic lacking in distance judgement, the whole thing gives me the willies.

So, for the first time since the medical bills force me out of the house that Stu and I had made into our own home, I am making a new place into MY home. It's a neat feeling. Even if I could've darned near paid off my car for what paid for furnishings today.

There's enough left for mum to take me out to buy window treatments and towels and tchotchkes...Dog help me...
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
GN, congratulations on your move and all t he goodies you bought for yourself to make your apartment your own. Very happy and excited for you!! Bet there are some really nice, large windows for your cats too :) Keep us posted.
 

recoveringenabler

Well-Known Member
Staff member
GN, congratulations on your brand spankin' new life! How exciting. You've let the 'old' go and now the "new" is here, a new beginning for you. I am really happy to read your post. Thanks for including us in your adventure, it's been fun to read it all.....
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
There are actually not a lot of windows due to the apartment being laid out in what we used to call a "shotgun" configuration. Long and narrow. There is a window in the living room, along with a floor to ceiling entryway to the patio, and a large window in the bedroom.

When I can track one down in Thomas-size/sturdiness, there will be a 6' or so cat free next to the patio doors so that the cats have a lounging area all their own overlooking the trees and grass outdoors.

In the meantime, they will have to make do with the small cat post from the trailer, and I will keep my fingers crossed with the furniture.

Thomas is declawed. Declawing is not an option with Squeaky, and claw covers cannot be used long term.

Luckily, this is the type of furniture it is worth reupholstering/repairing if it is damaged, and the salesperson threw in a five year warranty/insurance policy that covers pet damage including claw happy cats.

The policy also covers older cats with "nervous" bladders which makes me happy as Thomas, in moments of extreme startlement, has been known to not quite make it to the litterpan. There is nothing wrong with him other than him being 70 in human years and it being "one of those things that happens" to elderly males of many species.

The bed can be handled with a breathable waterproof mattress cover and pad, and the furniture will have throws on it when I'm not home. Thomas' issue is more a trickle than a flood, followed by a mad dash for the litter pan, but still...

I still have to go to Target and buy lamps, but that will wait until the furniture is in the apartment. I nearly plotzed when I saw how much lamps cost at the furniture store. NO WAY!, and will go to Kohl's/Target/Bed, Bath, Beyond for towels, bedding, etc., depending on what mum thinks is best as this is her area.

She will pick out towels, window treatments (place comes with blinds) and the like, and I will pick out bedding in consultation with her, and while she has excellent taste, her skin and mine do not agree on thread count.

She is giving me a lovely biscuit pinkish ginger jar lamp for my nightstand that she has no use for, so that is one lamp down.

I have to get place mats and matching silverware yet, and pick up my good dishes from my friend in Lombard, IL. once I am in the apartment. May see about crashing there as that's a long drive from Milwaukee...about 3 hours.

I have glasses, basic 12 oz water glasses, don't plan on getting stemware at this point unless I find some basic Anchor Hocking or similar or something at Crate and Barrel. Storage is an issue as well.

My kitchen is on 7' x 11'. You can stand in the middle of it and reach everything, which is a bit different, and it has the smallest dishwasher I 've ever seen in my life...about 20" across. Suitable for one person. If I entertain, I'm either doing dishes in shifts, or giving up and washing by hand.

My good dishes are dishwasher safe, but not microwave safe due to a platinum band around the edges.

I have a service for 4 in cheap WM stoneware that is micro-safe and will do for quick warmups.

It's a bit of a hike to the dumpsters, but I won't be generating as much garbage due to having a disposal.

So, I'm pretty much set on spending like a manic demon except for stainless ware, possibly more glasses, placemats, table linen (I am keeping the two battered chairs from the old dinette as spares for when I have people over. ANy more an it's a "bring your own chair event."

My sister already commented, not knowing that I'd bought furniture, (I don't intend on telling her at this point as I'd already told her recently that it wasn't possible for me to help her out financially and I'd prefer to avoid what could be a potentially awkward conversation) that we could "all" get together at "GoingNorth's" place the end of summer. I pointed out that I only have 780 sq.ft., but I'm not sure how much of that sunk through.

I don't mind entertaining, but the idea of entertaining the in-laws-to-be makes me cringe.

Ugh!
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Well, I found out that the furniture will be delivered on the 17th or 18th. They will phone me a couple of days before, give me a 4 hour window of delivery and I will camp out and wait for them. Then I get to do it all over again when the TV stand is ready as that is on back on order and has to be made as none are in stock. Apparently they don't sell enough 42" TV stands to keep ready-made ones in stock.

Meanwhile, the last of my three e-cigs ran out of warranty and just like two before them did when out of warranty, died. I could spit nails. I have a list of "vape shops" within a few miles of where I am staying, and my GPS and I are going e-cig shopping for something both of higher quality and non proprietary.

I am less that amused.

I gave in to the begging and pleading here earlier this evening, and after a visit yesterday to a very upscale grocer where I discovered that a good, lean beef brisket is now a gourmet cut of meat, produced a Jewish style brisket with baby root vegetables in wine sauce for the first time since Stu died.

The production of said meal was approached with a great deal of trepidation as the only thing I remembered was that it took 3/4 of a cup of dry red wine and 2 cups of stock to braise a 3lb roast and veggies and the rest of it was a complete punt. Given that the roast cost 30 bucks and I was cooking an unfamiliar oven. Well...I sweated bullets for 3.5 hours.

All for naught. The roast was delicious. We ate like pigs and there are leftovers for brisket sandwiches for lunch tomorrow.

Meanwhile, most of a bottle of dry red wine got poured down the drain as the cork self destructed, red wine gives me migraines, neither B nor J can drink at all for medical reasons and don't know how to cook with wine, and there was no way to save the wine to take it out to my mum, who does cook with wine.

Yesterday, J made a wonderful teriyaki beef with all sorts of veggies that we pigged out on, I stole her thunder tonight with the brisket, and tomorrow is B's turn to cook and she is throwing brats on the grill and making pasta salad and serving the brats with sauerkraut (and feeling like a bit of a piker)

Meanwhile, my prescriptions that were supposed to be so easily transferred from Rhinelander to Milwaukee turned into a nightmare because the folks at the local Wal-mart here are morons and couldn't figure out how to pull the RXs down from the Rhinelander store's hold files.

I finally got fed up and called Chris, the head pharmacist in Rhinelander, who force transferred the RXs from his end. I called the local WM and verified that they were ready and got an earful of whining about "siccing that guy from Rhinelander on him". I get the feeling Chris was in rare form and gave the Local pharmacist a piece or three of his mind.

To add to my misery, I need to schedule delivery of my household goods from the warehouse in Rhinelander to my apt, in Greenfield, and the moving company isn't returning my calls, which is starting to make me more than a little bit nervous. I'm not at all worried about the very minimal furniture they are to ship other than my coffee table, but I am bloody worried about my clothing, shoes, spare laptop, TV, and kitchen stuff.

It still seems like every time I think I've got every thing under control, something else pops up.

I do find it very interesting that the very first meal I have cooked for others,and a fancy meal at that, being a resounding success, was a huge confidence builder. I honestly didn't know if I COULD still cook, it had been so long.

I feel a lot more confident about facing a family gathering (assuming I can figure out where to put them)now that I know that I can put together a fairly complex dish and pull it off after all these years even if I did need to have J set the oven temperature for me because the stove is something like 50 years old and the temperatures shown on the dial have nothing to do with the actual temperatures attained by the oven.

So...I guess the next thing to do is to hit a grocery store in a suburg with a jewish population and see if I can get the fixings for some Jewish style chopped chicken liver as I've had a request for that.

Much more of this and if I don't get into that apartment soon and never mind the weight gain,my gallbladder's liable to fall out.
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
the salesperson threw in a five year warranty/insurance policy that covers pet damage including claw happy cats.

Sounds like a salesperson who was quite happy with the commission. :)

I love your posts and how happy you sound in them. I love the idea of going on a spending spree and buying all new things. I can't wait to see what you post after it all arrives and you're settled in!
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Well, it wasn't really a "spree" in the usual sense, but rather a "mission", I had the whole thing planned out in my head ahead of time, including drawings of the rooms with measurements showing placements and sizes of desired furniture.

At this point, I'm really glad the bloody couch is so comfy as I might be sleeping on it until they track down the dratted people who are supposed to deliver my bed1

Thomas still has an "upset tummy" from the sudden change in diet caused by the food I was feeding being discontinued without warning. I switched to a really good food, but Thomas' innards are NOT happy with the sudden change in diet at all.

Last night he made such a mess of his rear end that it took a pile of wet washcloths, several of which were soaped up with pet shampoo, to clean up his backside.

Thank Bast for good natured cats as all he did was :censored2: and moan about the experience. He was definitely unhappy and made his displeasure known, but no fighting or fussing.

He and Squeaky have both fallen in love with Auntie B, how much of this is that she always shows up bearing treats, I'm not sure. Thomas doesn't eat much beyond chicken, but I think Squeaky is actually gaining weight as there isn't much she doesn't eat.

The hook and eye locks are doing their jobs of keeping the kidz contained, though there have been several exchanges of "pleasantries through the door between "Stripe" the resident female cat and Squeaky, whose one accidental excursion out of the bedroom resulted in a very serious attempt to eat Stripe, generated a complete panic on humans and Stripe's part, and insured that Stripe will go to her grave hating my guts as the "Monster" is all my fault.

Meanwhile, I have returned from the pharmacy, only to discover that once again, they can't figure out how to transfer a controlled substance from my former pharmacy to the current one, necessitating yet another call to Rhinelander to once again talk the their pharmacy manager so he can once again walk the morons here through the process of doing the transfer (while reaming out the local pharmacy manager yet again).

If it wasn't so irritating it would be funny, and maybe in future years I will look back on this whole cluster <bleep> and laugh about it, but right now it's just giving me a headache.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Well, I am now officially somewhere between spitting nails and pitching my first rage since my teenage years:

Found out after finally getting through to the moving company, that my household goods have to wait until there is a larger load going "the same way" to be shipped to Greenfield!

This because I am only shipping about 1K lbs of stuff and it "isn't worth" putting that small a load on a truck by itself! Who knows how long it'll take for my stuff to get here!

On the bright side, my mattress arrived in Milwaukee today for quality assurance testing. I can expect a phone call today or tomorrow during which I can schedule delivery for the 17th or 18th of July, so at least I won't have to sleep on my new sofa.

Of course, COOKING AND DRESSING will be rather interesting, to say the least, depending on when my household goods arrive.

I came down here with only a few t-shirts, shirts, and a couple of pairs of pants/lounge pants. and various underthings. I'll have to buy some clothing.

I have a small saucepan,a small frypan, a service for one of dishes and silverware, and a spatula. my microwave is with the movers. It'll be very limited cooking until my stuff shows up.

Luckily, there are a lot of carryout places in the immediate area and quite a lot of delivered "dining", but I could really do without the expense.

Meanwhile, I ran into problems at the local Walmart pharmacy trying to fill my sleep medication, which is a controlled substance,despite it being "forced" down here from Rhinelander by the pharmacist up there.

Took another phone call during which Chris' reaction to the situation nearly melted my cellphone. He called the pharmacy and again walked them through transferring the RX, which will be ready on the 4th as they have to order the medication.

At this point, I don't know if they are intentionally obtuse or just stupid, but they are starting to drive me crazy. I go through this craziness with each RX I try to fill, magnified 100-fold with controlled substances.

I DON'T need anymore frustration in my life right now!

On the bright side, Thomas is finally recovering from his "upset" at having his diet switched suddenly. Both he and Squeaky are doing well, though frustrated at being confined to one room when they know good and darned well that there's a whole big house to explore on the other side of the door.

Unfortunately, there is also a little, female cat that Squeaky wants to eat on the other side of that door, so the Kidz have to stay confined.
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
Can you use a different pharmacy? Maybe a store like Walgreens or even a small non-chain pharmacy would be more inclined to get it right. For that matter, if you could get the doctor to just fax a prescription to the pharmacy, instead of transferring an older prescription, maybe that would be easier for the morons to understand?
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
if you could get the doctor to just fax a prescription to the pharmacy, instead of transferring an older prescription
Unfortunately, for "controlled substances", it's not so easy. The doctor could then be on the hook for over-prescribing. It's always a catch-22.
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
Well, maybe. But couldn't he cancel the one at the Rhinelander pharmacy? Not anything I know anything about...just sounds logical. But since when did logic have anything to do with life?
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Lil,

IC is basically correct: the controlled substances cannot be re-subscribed. Plus, controlled substances can only be transferred ONCE once prescribed, so I'm sort of stuck with this pharmacy until I find a new psychiatrist down here, which has to wait until I find a new primary to refer me, and then wait until there's an opening.

I am meeting with a potential new primary on Monday, who will hopefully work out as she comes highly recommended by several folks in the area that I know and trust.

The issue is finding a psychiatrist who A: takes insurance at all, let alone Medicare and ChampVA, and B: is taking new patients, let alone taking them without a ridiculous waiting period.

There is a terrible shortage of psychiatrists in the area, and unlike in Rhinelander, my income here is too high to qualify for county svcs even if I could wait the 18 mos or so it takes to get an intake appointment.

The "drug problem" is so severe in Milwaukee county that pharmacies and physicians, etc., much more rigidly enforce federal and state laws regarding controlled substances, in fact, many pharmacies do not even stock many of them, and I have to go through considerably more contortions down here to fill my two RXs, despite them being only Class C, than I did up in Oneida County.

Though the Fed laws are the same, tracking down here is much more rigid.

It's a lot to get used to.

I have done a lot of driving in the 3 weeks I have been here, and am finding that my Chicago born and trained city-driving skills are coming back full force, which is a bit of a relief, though I still can't parallel park worth crud.

Given that at one time I could squeeze a full-sized van into a spot you'd swear would require greasing the bumpers, I am hoping that I'll again be able to parallel park with more practice.

At this point, I am mostly handling city traffic, though with a bit of a Chicago flair which is probably a bit unnerving in a SUV with WI tags, but am finding myself a tad unnerved in busy parking lots of all things.

I also swear I have picked up more scratches and chips in my poor car's paint job in 3 weeks than I did in 2 years up North.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Well, last night was again my turn to cook and I took the easy way out. Cheeseburgers on Kaiser rolls and a deli pasta salad and bagged baby greens salad with some added veggies and bottled dressing.

Tonight was B's turn to cook and she took and even easier way out. Went to whole foods, bought all the ingredients off the salad bar, including the pre-cooked chicken, threw some brown rice in the cooker, and turned out a very good stir fry.

Took all of fifteen minutes, which was nice is was in the 80s and the window ACs on the main floor do not cool the kitchen.

Very tasty and we had Culver's custard for desert, which I partook of and totally screwed up my blood sugar.

Tomorrow I go with B to her doctor to meet the doctor who might also become my PCP, and then out to a cat shelter in Racine (about half an hour from here) to meet a senior kitty who might be moving in here. B and J's kitty is gonna Pass a Brick, she's already quite miffed about Thomas and Squeaky, but the potential new resident is a male and apparently Tiki doesn't mind boy cats, or at least cats that don't try to eat her.

Somewhere in here, I have to find time to call the movers and nag them about my household goods, call the mattress company to nag them about he mattress, and call the apartment complex to set a time on the 15th to come out, tour the apt, take pictures, sign the lease, pay a fortune prorated rent and deposits, call utility and cable companies, etc., and get that rolling, and generally start running around like a lunatic.
Within ten days of the 15th, I have to make it to the DMV to change my addy on my licence and car registration, call Allstate to initiate auto and tenant's insurance, notify my vet health ins company and the microchip company of my new address, change the forward on my mail, buy bedding and lamps and towels and generally run what is left of my shabby, nearly 55 year old, crippled up arse (what's left of it) into the ground.

Meanwhile, the enforced closeness is getting to Thomas and Squeaky, and things in the little bedroom on the 2nd floor have been getting a little slap happy, mostly on Squeaky's part.

The Kidz usually get along pretty well, but they've always had the option of withdrawing to different rooms when things got to be a bit much.

I used B and J's vacuum today to clean up my room, both cat hair and litter, and wound up tearing it apart to clean out a clog in the hose and clean hair and litter out of the brushes. I now know that an early model Hoover Windtunnel is not a suitable cat owner's vacuum though it does an admirable job of scaring the bejabbers out of cats.

I also discovered that vacuum cleaners scare the bejabbers out of Thomas, and Thomas, in full coat, with every hair standing on end, looks like he weighs 40 lbs.

I went shopping this AM to stock up "my" dorm fridge with yoghurt and kefir and some fruit and "fishy stuff" that I can eat in my room, though, I've taken to hovering up a carton on yoghurt when I get up at 7AM to pee and take my AM medications, after which I get up around 9:30, sneak downstairs, mop up after the dogs (ugh!), let them out, feed Tiki (who looks at me like I spat in her food) start the coffee, make a cup of tea, and vegetate until B gets up around ten and hobbles into the kitchen.

Gonna be a heavy driving day tomorrow with the drive to and from Racine after the doctor, and then Tuesday going out to mum's to look at more apartment stuff, and grab a shower and what has become our weekly dinner at Baker's Square.

I am enjoying spending time with mum. She say she has a blouse that is too big on her that may fit me, which means I may not need to get a blouse for sis' wedding.

Only real downside to all of this tomorrow is that it is supposed to be around 90 and the air pollution is so bad that my little computer weather program actually pops up alerts telling you just how awful the air quality is.

Both summer weather and the pollution is gonna take some getting used to.

Which reminds me. I now have to hassle with vehicle inspections, and I STILL haven't gotten the flipping car in for an oil change and it is past due. Really important now that I'm doing so much driving.

Damn, I'm worn out.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Oh, and I found a line of premium cat food that doesn't upset Thomas' innards.

Prairies Instinct. 34 bucks 5lb bag and THREE dollars a 5.5oz can! and that's at the DISCOUNT place1 Most expensive cat food they sell.

But, he doesn't have the runs. and Squeaky isn't launching It, and both of them love it.

Thomas isn't too awful too feed, but Squeaky, who has finally gained a little weight and probably weighs close to to 8lbs for the first time in her life, eats 3x what Thomas does.

At the same time, Thomas has lost most of his gut and is toning up on the ration due to it having higher quality protein.

It'll be good to get them into the apartment where they can get more exercise and not be in each other's faces constantly.

I also really need to have my own space. I love B and J like sisters, but this roommates stuff is starting to drive me bonkers.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Hang in there GN. You're doing a good job. Sounds like you're organized (I know, it never FEELS that way!).
In reality, you are just DAYS away from freedom. A couple more "marathons" to get everything done and you'll be HOME.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Well, I met the doctor, and I like her enough to at least make an appointment to get started on dealing with the thyroid and diabetes maintenance (and to do something about the swollen left ankle and foot)

We didn't go to Racine because the cat in question was adopted this AM.

I called the movers and it looks like my stuff may be hitching a ride on a load bound for LA (the state, not the city) on the 24th. They will call me a couple of days in advance to verify.

The leasing mgr from the apartment complex called and wants me to come out and do the walk thru this coming Thursday at 3PM and sign the lease then, which is fine. I plan on bringing B&J along, as J, at 77, sees stuff no one else does, B. points stuff out (loudly), and I will operate the camera and do my share of peering into corners and high places, being the tallest of the lot.

The idea is that that my doing the walk thru this early will give them a chance to correct any deficiencies before the possession date of 7/15.

Called again on the mattress set and was told that I will get a call two days before delivery to set an exact time, but that it looks like it will be delivered on the 20th.

Depending on the situation, I may just sleep on the couch by then.

Got the car insured and renter's insurance set up with Allstate to start on the 15th. The auto ins is costing me 4 bucks a month more in the big city than it did in the boondocks. I assume the likelihood of my car being stolen, broken into, or in a fender bender, on slightly exceeds the likelihood of it being clobbered by a drunk or run into by a deer or other wildlife.

Of course, there is a substantial savings on the renter's ins, as opposed to homeowner's insurance, even though I am carrying a higher liabilility portion than the usual.

Tomorrow, I still go out to my mother's
 
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