A little weird today. One of the data entry staff got fired today and was escorted out of the building. He apparently threatened another of the data entry staff (via blog, deep irony) and that was that.

At one point I had thought that I might reveal to my lawyer friend (also co worker) that I had this blog (who has a blog), but you know that this journal is strangely intimate because its so detached. As soon as anyone at work knows, I'll be holding my thoughts, fearing comments and this journal will lose a lot.

Of course, I can have a little bit of fun. If anyone really wants to know what my lawyer friend looks like:

http://hoquiamhouse.blogspot.com/

He's the one holding the filthy underwear in the first picture from 1/20/2006.

Got the sewer/water bill.

Sister figures that if the medical creditors don't show by the beginning of February, the four months will have passed. Worked out at the gym today with the new personal trainer - she's funny and I think we will get along well. She does more stretches, which I think are very useful.

The spinal adjustments have been working pretty well too. I've never done a decent squat for a couple of months; I've always pulled from the left, my right knee had always buckled and my right foot turns out. Today - perfect squats, Straight up, straight down.

In the football pool Sunday. 30$! You could win the first quarter for 10$, the halftime 30$, the third quarter 10$, and the game 50$. I'll tell you my technique. In the last football pool, one person won three out of four of the quarters - I considered her the luck magnet. If there was an empty spot in the grid next to her name, I took it. That's all the skill I have in gambling.

I'll have to contact our landlord; the sewer/water bill is late. I feel silly sometimes asking for my bills. Cripes, don't they need the money?

Had a Szechuan lunch with my lawyer friend/co worker. He's in the midst of his own battle with our HR department. He calculated the 403 B match one way, HR another, for a difference of $600.

I asked sister for info about the US Bank asset/creditor list. What is it? Are we at the end?

Savings log - 4$ tip box + 30$ gambling winnings
Spending log - 1.75$ coffee + 13$ lunch

I got a US Bank list of assets and distributions of dad's estate, and the assets of mom's estate. The first piece of property has been sold and the money is now in the money market accounts, while the second piece is still listed as miscellaneous and has not been sold. Total (assets - distributions) about 650K.

I have to say that the bank was very thorough - they even got a refund of the leftovers of an AARP subscription as an asset (19$), and have paid off all of dad's medical bills, utility bills, insurance premiums, probate office payment, bank executor cut. Gotta tell you that if I had been the executor, I would be bald with all the hairs that I would have torn out of my head.

So far, no listing on any of mom's medical bills, nor sister's lawyer's cut. Creditors have 4 months to speak up and get paid. From the looks of it, most of them from the farm/dad's side have been paid off. I wonder how much time is left. And the lawyer will charge his slice. I think sister will be surprised as to the size of his cut, compared to the executor's cut.

I'll have to ask sister and/or the executor where things stand.

Well, my bank didn't listen to my begging. They aren't going to waive the fee. Fine - I've got to suck it up and learn from it. Its easy to be snarky - I made a whole $8.65 in interest in 2005 from that little savings account. I made $163.45 interest on my ING account.

Cleaned out the freezer of the bags of bones and frozen vegetables and made a big batch of turkey vegetable soup. Yummy and cleansing at the same time. Collected my two coupons for the grocery store for next Saturday.

Wished my uncle a happy new year and gave him a vague explanation of what is going down with the farm. Sister called and asked when we get distributions. Depends on how done the "done deal" was for the first piece of property - it brought in exactly 300K. In the farmhouse, most of the furniture is out, along with the stained glass and some of the carved moldings. The only pieces of furniture left are those that the rest of the family is going to take in a couple of weeks. Sister told me a little about the possible buyer - a county employee. Hopefully this will be a second house - the farmhouse is barely livable. The last two barn kittens were having a run on the second floor of her house in Milwaukee.

I collected up all the tax papers for the February to come.

And the inheritance front opens up once again.

Got a call from sister, telling me that the sale of the first piece of property is a "done deal", but nothing regarding the particulars, only that she wanted to walk on the property one last time. DH slyly commented that she could, but it would be trespassing. I shot back that if sister had a gun and wore an orange vest and knew what season it was she probably still could.

We also got another email from the husband of dad's twin sister, father of the cousin who found dad. He wished us both a happy new year, but asked "How is the farm sale coming along?" I saw him at the funeral. He seems like a nice enough older gentleman when you meet him; however he has an unerring ability to ladle on large dollops of guilt in his letters and emails. So this current email set me off a bit, asking about the farm sale. Peter Parker, c'est moi. My spidey sense tells me that if we actually tell him the next email will be the question, "where's mine?"

Mom and dad had many close calls and nearly lost the farm several times. I know that many members of the family had given money to them both and that allowed them to stay. In the cleanup that first week, we collected and saved several versions of a list of who gave what. Sister and I had talked about this and we are both agreed that with the proceeds that we will honor the list as a list of loans and pay them off. Even if sister wouldn't have agreed, I would and will write the checks myself.

However, this whole plan would be spoiled with the words..."you know, we gave your father X$, pay up." It turns a pleasant surprise and an act of family generousity into a mere loan. I suppose we would have to pay points, too.

I asked sister about this and suggested that we be as vague as possible and stonewall. Real estate takes a long time to sell, we have at least three estates to settle, we are in the midst of settling with the creditors, we haven't had a chance to catch up with the executors, the executors timeline is fifteen months. All true to a point. The real truth, as DH said, is that its none of his business.

Sister agreed. Remind me to be vague and keep me strong about it, she said.

It looks like for 2006 it is us against the world.

Saving log: 3$ tip box, 1.22$/day ING, 450$ into savings.
Spending log: 1.65$ coffee, 26$ to the gym, so far about 350$ in Christmas gifts and shipping.

Man, for the frugal December really sucks.

Sister called at work. She's working the night shift, so she had a little time and got me up to speed. Apparently it appeared that someone was stealing propane from the farm, but it turned out that someone was stealing the copper pipes that led to the propane. (Stealing, or thinking that they bought it during the auction?) They grabbed the copper, sniffed, got scared and ran. We were lucky that no one lit a match nearby. Turns out the bank and the executor carry insurance coverage for something like this.

Dad's farm bordered a corporate farm, which turns out to have one the largest holdings of cows in the state; the owner of that place is the first interested buyer. Sister isn't too thrilled and for once, I have to agree. There also might be an additional interested buyer in the property with the barn and house, a friend of a friend.

The latest little thing from sister is a stock certificate she found in the attic bought, apparently, by a great-great uncle in 1919. She was wondering if the company got bought out and whether it was worth a little something. The company is The Burnrite Coal Briquette Co.

A quick google search gave me some bad news and some good news. The bad news is that the company went bankrupt before 1927. The good news is that the company was part of a Supreme Court decision in 1927.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vo...
If its fairly pretty, it might make a nice framed collectable.


Spending log - $1.65 coffee + $6.00 lunch
Savings log - $6.00 tip box

On the inheritance front:

Sister has found some insurance policies from grandpa and grandma in some of the other papers we collected. Not very much, but a little bit. Sister emailed me asking for advice, and she suspects that these were held by mom for some purpose. Grandpa died in 1999; I suspect that mom was biding her time, waiting for grandma to join him so she could collect. That's the problem with waiting; it could be you who runs out of time. The Greeks weren't kidding themselves when they thought the 3 Fates were vicious old ladies that held your life by a thread.

About all I could say is that they were still part of grandma's estate, and that sister should ask grandma's financial advisor - our cousin. It could very well be that since grandma is dispersing assets that sister should hold them and not do anything with them (more assets to disperse and take care of), but that's really grandma's decision, not sister's.

Sister also sent two boxes. The first box was the usual fun Christmas stuff: candles and jam and mustards and greenie dental treats for my cat, who loves them. The second box was a bit more thought provoking. Clothes. Mom and dad clothes. The dad clothes were a bit larger than my size but the mom clothes were my size. Dad was 67 when he died; mom was 61. Thank you, sister, but when their clothes fit me it's really time for me to lose the weight.

Spending log - $1.65 coffee + $7.00 lunch
Saving log - $2.00 tip box + $40.00 DRP

Lawyer friend bought my lunch and blew my diet. We had a nice normal talk and said nothing about any inheritance issues. For a going away party of the payroll coordinator I ate fruit and skipped the cake. It was very nearly a no-spend day.

Sister got ahold of the insurance company and lo and behold the claim form was for the $2000+ check that we received last week. Weird to me that the form came after the check.

Stomach muscles are sore from the baby ab crunches I did yesterday. Nice to know I have abs. They will never be a six pack; I think if I get them down to a 1 liter size from the 2 liter size I'll be doing well.

Moved the 600$ extra from the paycheck to ING and started asking around. If I have to give it back, I can still catch the float.

Spending log - $1.65 coffee
Savings log - $3.00 tip box

Mom's retirement benefit, that mysterious Employee Trust Fund, came in a lump sum today. $137.39. Mom didn't believe much in 403(B)s, I guess, and they must not have matched. Its also taxable, so it came with a Form 1099-R. Round and round into the ING account it goes and what it interest collects, nobody knows.

Bought my November I-bond - $500.

Boarded a tiny bus for the commute this morning. We got a young woman (5 yrs out of being a girl) who clearly didn't know bus rules. Came on a commuter transit bus with not one, but two full large suitcases. (Must've been one hell of a weekend). There were no seats, so she parked the baggage right next to the bus driver, partially blocking the entrance, and sat on top of them. Sigh.

Why the driver didn't force her back is anyone's guess. The bus was too packed to yell something clever (who would hear me?), so I just tried to transmit a telepathic signal. A big clean taxi, a friendly taxi driver who is paid and is happy to take on a pretty customer, driving to the airport in comfort and quiet, no one kicking your suitcases. Maybe the subliminal signal will help her think again the next time.

Ha.

Spending log - $1.65 coffee + $6.00 lunch
Saving log - $137.39 + $500 I-bond

Yesterday we re-visited the hosts from Thanksgiving. We just didn't get enough time to chat with them Thursday because they were being good hosts. They are a couple, the husband is a very high-end wood craftsman (desks, cabinets, tables), the wife used to work for Microsoft (we'll use husband and wife to distinguish them from us), but her health grew bad and the agita about MSFT grew tough to take.

They also asked us for advice on husband's business for marketing and advertising ideas. Husband's business has been falling off as of late. Jobs that husband easily closed on in one meeting are now getting the "wait and see" answer, which is usually a Seattle style passive-aggressive no. DH and I gave them a few ideas, but nothing earth-shattering.

I'm a little worried about them. They took out a second mortgage to rent increased shop space. Dangerous position, if you ask me. They also asked us, yet again, about buying a house. I don't want to buy a house. Even when the inheritance comes in, I still don't want to buy a house right now. It was hard to answer them without being impolite. I see and feel the economy constricting, especially in that husband's business. All the rich smart money is slowing down, waiting for the economy to turn one way or another. It's really no time to take on debt. Assets can shrink but debts never do, unless you pay them.

I got a claim form from Prudential Financial, the same insurance company that sent sister and I each a nice check last week. It has to be another insurance policy. Sister thought it might be the same policy, but why would they send a check first and then the claim form? She told me that she'll call and ask.

But not for a long time. Okay, it was weird and scary, just like others had said in a thread in the forums. As I trotted those three block to the bank, I clutched my purse just a little bit tighter, kept my head down, growled sublimally, and didn't let anyone come within three feet of me.

Figured that if I was depositing it in my bank, I might just as well visit a teller. She took one look, made a couple of key strokes, glanced at my signature and boom it was done. Blase, like she had done it before. Probably figured that the honest person would personally deposit the check and the criminal would just put it through the ATM.

I plan on consolidating most of my inheritance bits (and I count grandma's dispersement as inheritance) into my ING account until I figure out where I really want to put them.

Got my lunch paid for; this was very nearly a no-spend day. This afternoon at work I was on a field trip to a bank, helping process pledges to the non-profit I work for. They had a good reputation - "a banker's bank" - I was thinking of starting a bank account with them. Then I saw math mistakes and I am re-thinking that possibility.

And in the mail today I got another check from Prudential Financial. A death benefit from Mom. I called sister to ask whether she got one. She did - one penny more. I knew mom loved her best. Another chunk hits the ING account.

I mean I had an extremely lucky day.

In the morning, I won a gift certificate for a night at a Seattle downtown hotel.

I slipped away for lunch and talked with my lawyer friend who managed to talk to my sister before the farm auction. He had some good insights. She definitely wanted to honor dad's vision. However, the only way that we could know that would be if he had written it down. We didn't find it, and it wasn't in the will. Are we going to have to get it using an Ouiji Board?

Got a lot done in the afternoon.

Came home.

Got my 3M package
Got 2 checks from my cousin who had the power of attorney. One for 450$ and one for $9171. Time to put it in the savings account and figure it out.

Got back to work yesterday. Felt like I got hammered with requests (grrr), but I managed to get a fair amount done. I just have to take it slow, mix it up (easy project, hard project), and remember my predecessors magic words, "no one dies if it doesn't get done today."

Today was a lot better after about 9 hours of sleep. I went to the gym for the first time ever. The trainer was very nice - we did mostly the weigh-in, the measurements, the setting of goals. A revelation to learn what an ab crunch actually is. It'll be quite the little project to get my weight down.

On the other hand, three years ago it was quite the little project to get my finances in line. I never balanced my checkbook; I had two little 403Bs, 1 little, 1 medium, 1 large credit card balance, and about $1500 in student loans. It was a turning point for me when DH gave me my PDA for Christmas. Three weeks later I found a free, really good checkbook program

http://www.freewarepalm.com/financial/mycheckbook.shtml and put my info in with a quavering hand. I had a positive net worth, at least, but barely. This, at 40.

I started with the basics. With the PDA, it became important for me to reconcile my checkbook and to put what I spent in. I learned how I spent my money. It became very important that my credit card balances and student loan balances went down and my 403B contributions went up. When my student loan finally got paid off, that letter stating so was almost as valuable to me as the degree that I got with it. I made small investments, put little amounts and whatever bonus I got into a savings account which grew a little.

I wanted to cultivate some savings and a little investment so I knew what to throw extra money into after my debts were paid.

I learned about the debt snowball, and hit my accounts one at a time (although I did manage to put more than the minimum in each of the others). My worst one with the worst interest, which the cc company refused to lower, I transferred to a $0 balance offer. The debt didn't quite fit--so I made payments on the leftover debt that had to stay on the icky card, while paying low amounts on the balance offer. It was a bit dangerous, the 0$ interest after six month was okay compared to the icky card, but I was lucky. I had a couple of 500$ emergencies, not several $1000 ones.

I paid off my debts and now I'm manipulating my savings, tinkering around the edges.

It leads me into gramma's gift. I feel somehow that this is a dress rehearsal for the inheritance to come. Do I shore up my savings vehicles or go in a new direction? Do I throw it all in at once, or do I dollar cost average and spread out my payments into things?

Well, Nut's at it again. He's thinking about suing for back pay. I have no idea how far back. I do remember putting letters in a file saying to Nut "don't come back". Dad was always the pay as you go type, and if he didn't pay you it was a sign that you shouldn't show up. I'm thinking its either another try to get some bucks or to distract us from the fact that he was stealing stuff. Whatta Nut.

He and his father were at the auction. His dad bought a dead truck, I think.

Turns out that that pilot crashing in the trees in Milwaukee was within 6 blocks of sister's house.

Grandma, who is 95 and is living in skilled nursing care, is going to begin dispersing her assets. $10,000 in a few weeks, with the possibility of $10,000 more in March. After setting it in a 6 month CD to decide what to do with it, I'm going to have to get a financial planner.

It's raining money here, but today was a no-spend day. I'm down with a cold and I'm running on vitamin C packets, Airborne tablets, little oranges, and hot decaf chai. Bleggh.

Sister called last night. The farm auction went off without a hitch. The farm equipment that was still there (!), tools, pig iron, things in the sheds, guns, and the household stuff that sister and family didn't take went for about $20,000.

She told me that she had a pretty good conversation with the executor and got caught up. The second parcel got two estimates - one with house, grounds, and land sold together, and one with most of the land split from house, barn, sheds, and 20 acres. If my sister gets the house and a bit of the cash equal in value to what I get in cash, it turns out that the numbers work if she really wanted the house - she would probably get enough cash to fix up the house, should she choose. Now she's a bit frightened - so far the creditors for mom's medical bills haven't come forward. If that holds it means that my sister and I will inherit in the very high $200,000s.

Sister was hoping that the decisions would be made for her in such an obvious economic way. And a couple of the distant family relations still in east-central Wisconsin really want her to keep the house. They told her that she wouldn't come back if she just took the cash. (Like me) That could well be, but I told her that it was her life. If she had plans for the house, fine, but don't take on a house just because people want you to.

DH was on a funny work schedule, so he was at work today. My opportunity to do something that he is lukewarm about. I saw Good Night, and Good Luck which I enjoyed very much, but I missed the matinee. Yikes! 9$.

Got the shoes at G.I.Joes today for 40$ and a sports bra for 30$. All I have to do is find flipflops for the shower and I'm set.

The farm auction was this afternoon. I wonder how sister and the executor got along? Haven't seen any Breaking News on the Milwaukee Journal site. Fingers crossed.

Feel like I'm coming down with something. Figures, its three days after my flu shot.

First of all, thanks for the comments about my goal!

About 95% of my emergency savings is in 3 places - an ING account, in electronic US savings bonds at Treasury Direct (1.5 yrs of buying a month at a time), and in 3 DRPs - stocks. I count them because I'm willing to sell the stock if need be, and they are stable, blue chip stocks bought with my post tax dollars, different than my 403B. The other 5% is in my bank savings and checking account.

One of the things sister and I talked about last night came into play this morning. Sister still had in her possession an offer on the same parcel from that same buyer had made to dad a year ago for a bit higher price. Remember, no one threw anything away. The offer was not radically higher, but a worth-your-while mentioning it higher.

Sister asked me what I should do, so I coached her on the innocent letter technique. She put a voicemail on the executor's phone, and then faxed a copy of that old offer to the executor with a note that said, "Gee, I found this in the house when I was cleaning. Why was the buyer willing to pay this price to dad last year? What has changed? (Blink, blink.)

She also mentioned that neither one of us was in a rush. True on my end, but I wonder how true it really is on hers.

I got an email this morning from sister that the executors and sister's lawyer were very interested in that offer, and are going to make a counter offer based on it. The innocent, non-defensive letter (fax) strikes again! It saves everyone's face and the tone lets them help you out.

Spending log - $1.65 coffee + $7.62 lunch (had the lamb curry as a splurge)
Saving log - $5.00 tip box

Today was a faux-no spend day. I spent, but I used a gift card that someone else loaded up for me, and I saved half a large sandwich yesterday for lunch today.

Went to a health fair put on at work. Except for the fact that I need to lose weight (and who doesn't?) and my blood pressure is on the high normal side, things look good. Fasting blood sugar at 96 and total cholesterol at 175. YAY. I signed up for a gym membership at work. We'll see how that goes. I normally walk 10 blocks of downtown Seattle to get to my bus, and while it's keeping me from getting fatter, I need to think about improving that bit of my life.

Yesterday afternoon the executors called at work to update me; then sister called me later that night. The executors told her that I had agreed to X, and she was wondering whether that was the case. I honestly don't remember agreeing to anything, just that I understood what the situation was, so I told her that. I suspect that the executors are using divide and conquer, a useful tool when you trying to get scattered heirs to agree to anything. I'll have to keep my comments to myself - the non-committal uh-huh - and ask the executors point blank at the end of calls if I've agreed to anything.

My lawyer friend hadn't called her yet. He told me he would do it tonight.

I'll reach a milestone two days after payday, when I finish my sticking bits of my paycheck into various accounts. I will have saved 12 months worth of living expenses!

Things are looking up a bit from yesterday. Thank you very much for the supportive comments!

I had lunch with the lawyer friend today and two other friends (more his than mine). We all had or were close to family estate problems. Comforting in an odd sort of way. Lawyer friend offered to call up my sister and "talk her down", and get the full scoop from her side, which I thought was a great idea.

When I got home, I called sister and asked her whether it would be all right if my lawyer friend called, and she agreed. But it gets better. First of all, she agreed that she was acting like a skunk. It turns out that the executor apologized and told that actually they were a bit blindsided by the auction. Both the executor and sister will attend the auction this Saturday, which I think will do a world of good. They hadn't met, they've just called and emailed, so seeing a person instead of a name on bank stationary will calm sister down quite a bit. Turns out that the executor can call things off if the auction is a sham. Hearing that really eased sister's mind. Not to mention the pleasure she'll get introducing him to Nut. Now we're talking fun.

She also got word today that the executors presented the price of the first parcel to the interested parties. One party blanched a bit at the price and dropped out, another only wanted a small piece of land for a building (like that's gonna happen). But of the two parties left, each is very interested and will put up counter bids for us to consider. We're on our way. The apprasials for the second parcel, one complete and one split with house, grounds, barn, & 20 acres and the rest of the land are coming at the end of this week.

I asked sister about her plans for the house if decided on it and got an annoyingly vague answer - a second place, a dog run, a weekend place. Well, its her life. Then she let slip that she really needs the money because she doesn't want to work anymore. I don't get it - if that's the case, then take the money and don't take on an economic boat anchor like a 100 yr old house.

Whew. I feel better already.

Oh yes, and being the beneficiary of that mysterious Wisconsin Employees Trust thingy that mom had : $136. Let's see...lump sum or 30 yr annuity?

II, rather than 2. The blockbuster sequel. The Two Towers after The Fellowship of the Ring.

I described sister as "slightly" or a "bit". No slightly or bit about it. In the last entry, any slightly/bit should be changed to very. She's in a snit again, a flare up on the "why is US Bank the executor?" Now I'm getting the... "why are you trusting them to sell the land? Do you really trust them to sell the land at a decent price?" and the "dad wouldn't have wanted it this way..."

I'll ask my lawyer friend for advice, basically asking the question - how much communication should or can occur between heirs and the executor? I'm pretty sure that the answer is this: the executor is responsible for the efficient collection of debits and assets of the estate, and to disperse the leftover assets to the heirs. Nothing more, nothing less.

Dad be damned. Dad couldn't make a complex financial decision if his life depended on it. And since he's dead, it falls to his estate. Not to the heirs.

Of course I don't trust "them" for the sake of "them" to sell the land at a decent price, but I do trust the fact that the 4% of the estate fee will be the encouragement to sell the land at a decent price. The fee ensures that accepting lowball offers means that they will screw themselves. And I do trust a bank not to screw itself.

And should the heirs be around for the farm auction? Of course not. The household inventory was low and therefore sad, but theoretical. Seeing the stuff actually disappear for pennies on the dollar is going to be heartbreaking. What is sister going to do when she gets there. Buy stuff? Force the bidding up? Cry?

At least in the original plan, if the family collected household items and got a hold of them, we would generate family goodwill. Maybe that's what's really torqueing off sister. Bad decision on her end. After the word about the sinking foundation, she cooled on the idea about inheriting the house.

I'm going to have to warm up the K...yes dear response. Maybe I'll get another friend who mixes ambient music to loop in K... yes, dear to something restful. Oh wait - this is a marathon, and we're only rounding the first corner. A little drum and bass to get the energy going.

One thing's for certain. It's a whole lot easier to save money and buy your own assets than it is to inherit them.

Sister emailed that Nut was at it again. He's been on the grounds of the estate, poking around, exploring...umm, stealing. Sister put her foot down and called the sheriff and asked that the property be watched every so often. Of course, if the sheriff is on a routine, Nut will soon figure it out. He's not stupid, he's just ... Nut.

Sister was also a bit miffed at the household inventory appraisal. I explained to her that he set the price a bit low because if he wanted to buy it he would resell it and he would want to make a good profit if he kept his costs down. Sister is interested in buying most of it. I'm not terribly thrilled - her house is stuffed to the gills. I suggested that she cherry pick and buy up what was appraised the highest.

But finally, sister was very miffed that Nut knew when the farm auction was before she did. She's thinking collusion, and perhaps that's the case, but she's got to realize that the men in these parts behave exactly like hens - clucking and gossiping over coffee. Auction, FYI, is scheduled for next Saturday the 12th. Frugal meisters, if you're near Oshkosh WI, its 5975 Scott Road. Have fun but watch where you step.

I got an email myself today that I'm scratching my head about. It seems that there is a move afoot at work to have a socially responsible mutual fund as a choice in our 403(b). The email suggested that I encourage my team to vote on the proposal. I don't mind that. I mind that the thought is that I will somehow encourage folks to vote yes, because somehow my co workers have got it in their head that I love socially responsible investing.

Hmmmph. They're not going to like my opinion. For a mutual fund, I like making money. My opinion is that socially responsible investing tends to constrain your choices. Its like the old saying - "good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere." To make money, money's gotta go everywhere. No company has clean hands. Heck, when the economy is going to pot - what do people buy? Yep - cigarettes, booze, and porn. Add the fact that we're in a war so the gummint is going to buy weapons, and the future looks very, very bright for vice.

Spending log - 1.65$ coffee + 4.38$ lunch (curry place has a great friday special)
Saving log - 6$ tip jar

Well, no day away from work goes unpunished. I was hopping today so the day went by fast.

At lunch and learn today we learned about on new medical insurance plan. The old one would increase over 30% from last year. The new plan, a PPO, seems pretty good. Too good. I wonder what the catches are.

The box sister sent was my high school stuff. Evil woman!

Saving log - 4$ tip jar.
Spending log - 1.65$ coffee + 4.38$ lunch (curry special)

I was sick, so I stayed home. Actually it was due to eating a large quantity of roasted, salted pumpkin seeds. I was impacted, let's leave it at that. I called it in as food poisoning, and although I wasn't exactly poisoned, it did involve food. What else was I going to say?

Most of the day I slept, except when I ate the last 4 caramels from trick or treating. (Gotta get right back on that horse ) We got 20 trick or treaters last night, last year we got zero. Very unpredictable. Its why I love caramels - they're usually the frugal choice.

Got the household inventory, the executor's summary, and a box from sister in the mail today. I asked for a several items and pictures and I suspect that that's inside the box. The letters were soaking wet in the mailbox; I'll have to email the executors and warn them to send anything that I have to sign in a water-proof envelope.

I'm a bit disappointed by the fixed rate rate on the new I-bonds, but buying a small amount each month ($300-$500) means I have the luxury of keeping them put. I don't have a large lump of money nor time to chase interest rates.

A lot of my co workers dressed for Halloween. I went topical - a medical professional with bird flu . DH, at a different office, went as Doc Holliday. He had the cough from last week. Scratch off another lifetime goal - I got on the bus in full makeup and costume and didn't die of complete embarrassment. Less embarrassment - I lost track of my bus pass this weekend. In Seattle, if you keep a regular routine, the bus driver knows that you have a pass and waves you in. Still, you have to mumble something like, "Sorry - I forgot it in my regular pants."

I ended up with 63$ for the month, not too bad because generally Halloween throws me for a loop. Without Halloween I would have ended up with 102$. With the work potluck it was very nearly a no-spend day - the only spend was a $1.65 coffee.

Got paid today, so the check has gotten farmed out - 445$ for my share of rent, 100$ to ING, 50$ to bank savings, 40$ to 3M DRP. I'm waiting now for what the I-bond rates are going to be. US Treasury tends to be pretty timely - they announce right away.

Didn't get any insights about Mr. Nut from Bugs Bunny, but I did get some laughs. Sister thinks we are at a standoff. Each side has to prove ownership of stuff, and unlike cars, equipment doesn't come with titles. Sister got some more bad news about the house - a corner of the foundation is collapsing. I don't see how she'll make the numbers work, or even why she would want to, but I support her nonetheless.

could not have come fast enough.

Work is coming fast and furious and I'm now getting the onslaught of questions and little fires and puzzles to solve on a deadline. It's fun and strenuous and makes the day go fast but even after a 45 minute bus ride I'm hyper and it takes the rest of the evening to simmer down.

Then I'm at home and am following via email and phone the latest of sister's fires that she's dealing with. There is one particular farmer who really, really is aggrieved and is taking it out of our hides by "borrowing" ie stealing dad's farm equipment. I'll call him Nut. Nut was at the funeral and the funeral director warned us about him. I have to think that he's unbalanced to say the least. Nut was thinking that dad's stuff was his, he was the son dad never had, that dad was murdered. (!? - the cousin who found dad completely disproved that). Nut called sister and I "the girls" at the funeral even though he's at least five years younger than either of us. Okay, now that really, really hurt. .

I just shake my head at all this. The farm equipment is worth more than the household goods, but we aren't talking about things like a pristine tractor, lovingly preserved and of historical value. Nope, we are talking about stuff akin to a working tractor, machine greasy, with a pelt of oat chaff and dried alfalfa, held together with welds and solders and used parts. Nut has fetched a lawyer himself, claiming that dad had some of his stuff. As I said before, he's taking our junk hostage. Nut's getting sister riled up, and he's even getting me riled up.

And finally its rainy and icky in Seattle and I got my Looney Tunes vol 3 DVD last night. I see a weekend at home watching the art of my best buds: Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Friz Freling and Chuck Jones. Maybe Bugs Bunny can give me some comic inspiration on how to deal with Nut.

300$ to an October I-bond, 50$ to Coke DRP, 35$ to WEC DRP, 4$ in the tip box.

Well we decided on the bird in hand approach - the selling price of the land starts at 300K, and the executors will present the offer to the three interested parties, and we see who bites. I still think that this is the best way. The offer is a fair price, strategically low enough so we should have some sort of bidding war on it and we keep our costs at 4% flat (the executor's cut). As DH put it: we want them bidding against each other, not against us.

Sister agreed to it because I agreed to it. I'm sure she's thinking that I'm a traitor, selling our heritage on the cheap. Or maybe not. It could be that she's relieved that I made the decision and she has cover if things turn sour. That's fine - happy to help.

Sister got the household inventory and the auction appraisal on that. $2500. You buy stuff and you buy a ton of stuff and then you buy more stuff. Pretty soon your house gets cluttered, and for what? Worth anything intrinsically? Nope. Buy your stuff, use it up, enjoy it. Don't assume its worth anything except for memories and enjoyment.

Tonight, waiting for my bus downtown, I was watching starlings. The starlings are very active in the twilight these days, tinseling themselves all up on the tops of trees, squawking and chirping as the tree branches would bend from the wind and the weight of several starlings. Ten or so birds would fall out of a tree and swirl around for thirty seconds then alight on the tree next door. It was strange because they were active on just this block. It was like an outtake to a Hitchcock movie.

Put 3$ in my tip box.

Well the phone call was pretty uneventful. After preliminaries about the weather (cloudy here, thank you, just like the stereotype) and football (how 'bout them Seahawks?) the executors and I got down to business.

The assessment for one parcel of land hit about $290,000. There are four parties at various levels of interest. They figured two are real buyers, the other two not. Sister asked for another appraisal and asked them to dig a little deeper to find out about the rumor of commercial zoning. We have a choice - sell now at close to the assessment price (the bird in hand approach) or wait a bit, get the title, then sell using a realtor - who might get a better price but will take a 10% cut (two in the bush approach). Would we get more, would we pay more, would we suffer more, would we have no buyers. (maybe, maybe, yes, possible.). This week the second parcel with the house, household items, barn, and buildings is going to be assessed - with two scenarios. One is house and grounds split, the other house and grounds together.

There were 3 savings accounts that they've rolled up into the money market sweep account. I figure that it was about $10,000 all told. They were still looking for some of the co-op accounts, and are rolling up mom's accounts too, including a mystery insurance account from 1969. They figure that mom's medical bills were at about $90,000.
Cars are going for auction probably for parts. Leftovers will be sold for scrap.

They figure that it will take about 15 months to wrap things up. Land is notoriously non-liquid; that seemed about right in my mind.

At the end I asked for a written summary of what we had discussed.

At lunch, my lawyer friend asked me to make sure that I clarified what these estimates are. Assessment or appraisal? We have two currents, one underneath the other. Assessments should be low for tax purposes, and are meant to be a limit (matter of fact the executors are trying to go under 675K, the limit when we have to *file* WI tax). Appraisal is for the realtor and the seller to try to get a fair (or better than fair) price. They can go high as what the buyer is willing to pay. And then what the buyer bought at will be what the land will be taxed (assessed) at.

Put $45 into savings from my tip box.

Well Friday I shut my office door and got a lot done. That was good.

It was a nearly no-spend day, except for the coffee in the morning. Had lunch with my new boss (she took me out) at my usual curry place and we talked abit about her job and my job and how I got into my job and a little bit of the office gossip at that time. And we talked a bit about death and inheritance and probate.

Lucky thing, too. I got back and got a voicemail at work from the executor. Basically it was arrange a time to call to update me on what they are doing, have done, etc. Monday at 8:00 am my time, 10:00 am their time, and they'll call me (unless of course, it turns into 8:05 am and I call out of sheer nervousness - hah hah). I come to work a little late on Monday. I asked them whether there was anything I needed to do or to get from my end. Nothing, so I don't think I'm going to get a grill.

I talked with sister, who wants a detailed breakdown from the executors of everything that they have been doing. She passed on an email from her lawyer talking to the lawyer of the farmer who had has some of our broken farm equipment. He's asking for a list of his broken items that are on our property. In other works, he's holding some of our broken farm stuff hostage for some of his broken stuff. Just charming. It would be laugh out loud funny if it wasn't so pathetic.

Finally, I added 7$ to my tip box, bringing my current total to 40$ this month. I started the tip box in July 2004. I totaled all the savings that came from there - 756$!

Saturday was routine - a couple of grocery stores and back home to make beef barley vegetable soup.

Well only my coworkers called on the phone. Go figure. Swatted at a number of work related problems that I jokingly call horseflies because what do they buzz around? Yep, bs. Anyway, the horseflies kept me from doing what I wanted to do today. Time to call in the heavy artillery tomorrow: shut the door, and hit the DND button on the phone.

Except that I'm supposed to get more calls from the executor. Sister is now livid about the land assessment on one of the pieces of the land. At $290,000 she thinks its too low and that somehow its not taking into account the fabulous rumor of "some of it is zoned commercial". It's 72 acres of land, not El Dorado, hon. ...And from her, the money realization about what inheriting the house actually means. ...And she thinking that the executors aren't telling her about mom's medical bills.

I'm finding that my lawyer friend is right. I'm riding sister's waves of emotion. She's up, she's down, she's hearing things (and worse, beginning to believe them), she's closest so she's the main contact for the executors and while she was good at finding money, she's not the money/financial mastermind, and so I think she's nervous about asking questions. Worse, I'm getting swamped by her emotions. I have to try and use dry logic to get her to step back and think about what is actually being done.

I'm feeling flashes of anger myself. Why can't she step back? I know why. 2000 miles of distance and not being bugged by that particular swarm of horseflies.