CafeChatNoir

So, yesterday Tiffany & Co. had a very good day in the market thanks to a jump in profit and an increase in their holiday outlook. Overall, I think when luxury retailers are doing well, it’s a decent sign for the economy. Lots of talk about it on CNBC and while they were covering it, a phrase came up that I can’t say I’ve heard when it comes to jewelry.

“They’re buying ‘investment grade’ pieces.”

OK, I like shiny things as much as the next gal, but for some reason, the idea of an “investment grade” piece of jewelry doesn’t conjure up a vision of something pretty and sparkly…

Got into the broker this week and got a new account setup for myself and thy did their magic to get the “big” estate account split for us. Frankly, I was kind of dreading it - among other things, I just envisioned mountains of paperwork to get this accomplished. Well, our broker rocks - got there, all the various and sundry pieces of paper were already filled out and ready to go, so we ended up sitting around shooting the shit for a while and I signed 3 pieces of paper and it was all done. They’re doing the split electronically, my new account is up and running (saw it online today) and the funds should be moved either today or Monday. Finally, something went easily!

Back in the day Dan (our broker) & my Dad worked together, and back then he was just a broker like everyone else there. Looking at his business card, I discover his title is now now Senior Vice President - Wealth Management. Oh my. Which may explain the ever so slightly confused look on the receptionists face yesterday when my brother & I show up in our usual uniforms of blue jeans & work boots (woulda been Tevas if it was summer) saying, “Hey, we’re here to see Dan!” There is nothing about us (including our bank accounts) that says, “these people need wealth management, and the attention of the SVP in particular.” It really is all about who you know, I suppose. :)

The annuity people are now putting a rush on the last 3 contracts since there is no reason they shouldn’t have been processed by now. Granted, it’s not the end of the world that they apparently got stuck in a bit of limbo, but I just want to get those crossed off the list.

It’s also been an existentially angsty week - which is incredibly annoying, cause I really should be over that given my age & stage. Lots of “Why am I here and what should I be doing?” questions and annoyances. It’s mildly frustrating to have some of the places you want to be in life dependent on time and other people, and well, I’m running out of time and the right people can be hard to come by sometimes, so sometimes you need to set some ideas aside. Ah well.

Not all bad, as a 10 year plan has emerged from the fog of questioning - I’m just going to take over the world. Let me know what job you’d like. (Please keep in mind some spots have already been filled, so do have a second choice at the ready.)

Complete with Starbucks run. Which can only mean the rest of the day will go to shit, LOL!

Woke up WAY too early to the sound of my phone ringing - it’s Terminix confirming the appointment for this afternoon… Um, I made the appointment yesterday - yes, I’d say I’m still aware of it. (Yeah, I know they probably don’t have that in the system when they make those calls.)

Decided as long as I was up, might as well make some more phone calls. All the utilities are now in my name, with the exception of the cable. Have to take a death certificate to the cable offices to get it switched over. (Otherwise there would be a bunch of disconnect/reconnect fees.) Switched over water, electric & gas. Telephone was already done. Am I forgetting anything?

Appointment with broker is next Wednesday at 1PM. At least one of the annuity contracts is liquidated - checked the website this morning and it’s only showing 3 of them instead of 4. So, obviously they got the last bit of paperwork yesterday. Also got on the horn with E*Trade & got the excess earnings that went with my excess IRA contribution processed and en route to me. (They calc’d the earnings, called me and told me what they were, but didn’t actually distribute them with the contribution…why not, I’m still not quite sure.)

Figure I’ll hit the cable place after Terminix, then do the marketing, if I can figure out what I want to make for dinner.

The other task at hand for the week is getting this place cleaned up - looks like a tornado hit it. However, I’m not so sure that is going to happen today, considering that I’ve discovered muscles I didn’t know I had from yesterdays yardwork blitz. Ouch.

Yep, more townhouse & estate shit. ;) I find writing about it keeps me a little more on track, so lucky you, LOL.

Sent off 3 of the 4 sets of paperwork for the annuity stuff week before last(?) - little bro missed a signature on 1 contract so I held that back so I could get him to sign it. Got a letter from the annuity people saying they had everything (how, I still had 1 set of papers…), except the death cert. How did I manage to miss THAT?? So, last week the last set and the death cert went out. Just got off the phone with them, only thing left is the death cert, which I’m thinking they’ll get in the next day or so, then it’s 5-7 days for processing. Excellent. The paperwork said something about don’t plan on getting anything w/in 30 days, so that must have been on of those “just in case things are more complicated than usual” timeframes.

Once those cash out, then the mortgage will be paid off, and I’ll have some cash freed up to finish off the more expensive townhouse stuff. (I’m semi broke right now, cause I’m carrying 2 mortgages and all the expenses out of my own funds. I can always write a check off the estate account, but trying to avoid it if I can - I’d rather things get split, *then* write checks off “my” funds. I’m keeping meticulous track of the couple times I’ve had to do that so far, as well as what I’ve paid on my own, so it’s not like little bro will get screwed or anything, but you know what I mean…)

Then it’s clearing the NFCU accounts (waiting until after the mortgage is paid off since that is w/ NFCU as well.) Also getting with the broker soon to get a couple new accounts setup so we can (hopefully) just do a direct transfer from the “big” estate account into accounts for my brother and myself. After that, just a few small bits and pieces left. Woot.

Terminix is coming out tomorrow to inspect the house and figure out what’s going on with the neighborhood critters. If nothing else, everything will get sealed off as a preventative measure, otherwise I’m figuring bait/trap/remove/seal if there is anything wandering about.

Friday I get a free termite inspection to boot. Can’t hurt to have a recent one of those when I put the house on the market.

Now it’s off to finish the yard and windows. Going to hit Hunter Hardware for decent gloves and any good removing-latex-paint-from-glass advice they have.

Gutters will be done on Thursday. Of course, it’s supposed to rain between now and then. Don’t care if it rains this afternoon, I will still be in the yard.

Next “big” townhouse task is getting the painters in once we get some more cash freed up from the estate, which looks like it will happen in about a week or so with the annuities.

Seems like every time I see a light at the end of the tunnel, it turns out to be an oncoming train. Let’s hope that trend has passed.

…dealing with the estate stuff is draining. After I finished off the taxes, I went to fill out the annuity paperwork. To liquidate 4 contracts requires no less than 16 forms. I shit you not.

But, they’re all filled out, I’ve signed my 8 forms, and little bro needs to sign his half and in the mail they go.

Unfortunately, the living room now looks like a paper factory exploded, so the tax and annuity project has morphed into cleanup. Just what I love.

Bagging the taxes for the night. Should be able to finish them tomorrow. If I don’t have the 2006 taxes done by 3/1 of next year, please remind me to go hire someone to do it and not put myself through this nonsense again.

In the meantime, I’m going to do something actually relaxing for a change and make dinner, after which, I’ve got some reading to do and a paper to write.

I’ve basically felt totally exhausted all day, which probably is contributing to my less than chipper mood at this point.

Damn, why don’t they tell you some things will be so easy? Called the title company on the house, and all we have to do to get it in our name is to show up next week and sign some papers. I figured it would be a friggin’ goatrope like everything else.

Greed - Not Kindness - Gets Things Done

Interesting article - I wonder how many greedy folks were involved in getting the pop tart I had for dinner? (Yes, I normally eat slightly better than that…)

Link courtesy the Rural & Country Living board @ Fool.com

Settling an estate is a pain in the ass. The annuity company sent the paperwork god knows where, so they have to send that out again, there was apparently a miscommunication with the broker and they’re trying to cash out my brother’s half of the IRA, which is NOT what we want, so I have to make calls tomorrow to try to undo that.

And I could have sworn there was a payoff amount for the mortgage on the bank’s website, and apparently, there is not.

Everyone decided to behave last night, so I got to sleep. :) Only woke up when the fan booster on the vent came on, and went right back to sleep. This morning, the dog came bounding in, the cats departed, and we snoozed for a while longer. Next thing I know, Target is on my left all snuggled up, the dog is on my right, zonked out. Then Target looks over me and realizes THE DOG is not 18 inches away from him.

HISS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Right in my ear, and he takes off.

The dog raised his head and looked at me with a “Huh??” expression, and went back to snuggling.

I’ve spent my morning so far poring over IRS publication 590, trying to figure out WTF happens with an IRA after death. I think they’ve intentionally made it so damn complicated that folks will say fuckit and just cash it out & pay the tax immediately. Frankly, I’m about ready to head down that road myself after reading this shit, and I’m an accountant.

Another gray day today, but at least warmer. I do need to get a move on so I can get the oil changed in the car and at least see how long the lines for inspections are. Then to the market for FOOD, cause I’ve got NONE here! Of course, I may have to pop over to Spartans for breakfast first, I hear a two-egg with bacon calling my name…

I have triggered Discover cards fraud alert system… Today is charitable donation day and I spent my morning going through my list of places I donate to, and they were all the same amount, all in a short period of time, and DING, there comes the phone call…

I applaud their diligence, but really wish there was a way I could just let them know ahead of time… (I have tried calling ahead before a major purchase, didn’t work.)

In trying to get the cats and dog all eating in the same place, I fed the cats in the kitchen tonight, up on the desk counter so the dog couldn’t bother them. However, the dog wouldn’t eat while they were up there, guess he figured one of them would fall on him or chuck a plate at his head… So, he got to eat out on the deck, which was fine with him. (Heck, I highly recommend it for anyone this time of year.)

In moving-households-as-slow-as-physics allows news, I realized last night that I really need to get my art & beading supplies over here. Noting like jonesing to do some drawing and not having anything around to do it with. I also really need some short sleeved shirts. Basically, I need *all* my laundry. Just a matter of figuring out where to put it once it gets here… Oh, yeah, and I need to get the bath containers out of the car before I can get anything else in it. However, the vehicle is smelling quite fruity!

*sigh* Harrison Ford is on the Actor’s Studio right now. He really needs to dump Calista Flockhart’s sammich deprived bony ass and give me a call.

Well, now I know why I was soooo scattered and spacy today (well, more than normal) - I was working up to a full blown sinus headache… But I managed to shake it off long enough to get everything done that needed to get done when I got home (GO ME!), including exercise, even though my arms aren’t happy with me for the 60 pushups over the past 2 days. Now I’m just waiting for the Advil to kick in.

Good news: life insurance came through today. Feels like things are finally moving along now, and maybe eventually we’ll be able to say the estate is settled. In a fit of wild and reckless behavior, I funded my Roth for the year and have set my 401k to the max now that I have some cash in the bank to offset the lowered paycheck.

alerted me to this exhibit that is at the National Gallery through June 12: Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmarte. Sooo totally going to find the time to get over there for that. Thanks again for the heads up!

Holy crap - upcoming exhibitions - Winslow Homer in the National Gallery of Art - runs from July 3, 2005 to January 22, 2006. Another absolutely must see.

I should try and stay awake long enough to get the clothes out of the dryer, but I don’t think I am going to make it… Well, at least it’s all dark stuff, shouldn’t show the wrinkles too badly…

After dealing with the life insurance fuckwits, GSA has provided some needed balance to the scenario and seen fit to issue Mom’s last check for salary and vacation time. (See, , I spelled it right)

And I have to say, for someone that was always taking days off here and there, she had a shitload of leave built up.

In other news, the head of tech is messing with my head. I stopped by his office the other morning to chat, and he said, “Oh, by the way, you’re welcome, you’ll understand later.” My first question was, “OK, what gawdawful call am I going to be stuck with in the next hour?!” He claimed it was something good, and he’d said too much already… Of course, I have to ask if it has something to do with the good parking space for employee of the month, cause if that’s it, I already know about that. Says, no, it’s not that, but “you’re welcome” again cause apparently he nominated me for the EOM. (Good to know someone is looking out for me!) So, who knows what he’s talking about…

He’s a really good guy, tech is lucky to have him. Smart & laid back, but doesn’t take any bullshit. I’ve repeatedly stated that he should head up both tech & general. We talked about the 501 calls, and really, what it comes down to is that we had several people in training for a good chunk of the month, and our other top closer was on vacation. LOTS of opportunities to close calls. He said most wouldn’t avail themselves of said opportunities… I don’t know, I can’t be that different from anyone else.

Some excitement here in the DC area today as the White House and Capitol were evacuated for a plane that went off course into the restricted zones. Apparently they were flying by sight… Um, note to pilots, if you can SEE the Washington Monument, you’re too close…

OK, this is obviously my week for strange financial shit. I get up this morning to a trade confirmation on my brokerage account that my holdings in my index fund had been liquidated. Apparently the fund shut down last Friday. I called the brokerage, front line support didn’t have anything on it, I had a flash of brilliance and called the fund company - yes, they shut it down, notified broker/dealers at the beginning of April, and I don’t seem to have gotten any notification on it.

I’m pissed mainly because it was one of the few index funds out there that didn’t require a minimum opening investment of $10,000…

Apparently having three flower orders on your credit card the week of Mother’s Day sends the fraud department at your credit card company into a tizzy.

A “good enough for now” version of Mom’s taxes are done, and I can file the extension with a decent estimate instead of a wild assed guess. This is good and I will be able to actually do them full on properly at a more leisurely pace. Emailed the form to myself at work to print and send, and of course, got sidetracked and didn’t actually get it in the mail today. Tomorrow.

Past couple nights, Moxley & Snoopy have had free run of the upstairs. Target, still not convinced of this whole dog thing, has stayed in the basement. During the day, the cats go back to the basement. I get home this evening and am greeted by a dog.

And a cat.

Yup, they got the basement door opened. No one seems the worse for wear, Target apparently took cover somewhere in the basement, but came right out for dinner, no questions asked.

I have put the baby gate up at the basement door about 6 inches off the ground - cats can come and go, but the dog can’t get through. Decided that was necessary as I just had to corral the dog OUT of the basement as he wanted to go down there cause the kitties were there… (Shoulda known something was up, it was WAY too quiet.)

Weekend ahead looks quiet. A few errands to run, pickup mail at my place, and housework and some attempts at gardening here. The “big” project is to sit down and get all the paperwork floating about the house organized and to get started on the absolute multitude of thank you notes to be done. Decided I am not going to worry about my place this weekend, need to get here back in shape and then I can worry about the rest of it.

Pizza has been ordered, a beer has been cracked open and all is as right with the world as it can be.

Apparently, my brother and I now each have a 1/4 interest in my step-grandmother’s (Fran) condo. I have no idea how this is going to affect getting things settled. I don’t think it will really slow things down, just add a bit more complexity to it all. My uncle (Ron) is in charge of the trust my granddad setup that has the condo, and gave me some of the info via email. Seems Fran isn’t thrilled with the way the trust is setup, and from what I vaguely remember, never really has been, but not a whole lot I can do about that. (I’ll at least ask when he comes up here if there is something we can do to make it more favorable to her - doesn’t cost anything to inquire.) Ron said if she asks us about it to just send her back his way. Somehow, I don’t think she’s gonna bring it up with us. Hard to really explain why, but somehow I think she feels it’s my aunt’s (Sandra) doing somehow. Sandra really didn’t like my granddad getting remarried, so I think there has been a little bit of friction there, but Fran gave him another 10 years that he wouldn’t have had otherwise, of that I am 100% sure.

As it turns out, forgetting the paperwork today wasn’t the end of the world. There was one set of docs we wouldn’t have been able to send out anyway because I needed some additional information before I could send them out - I’ve got that info now, and everything can go out at once. Yay for being a scatterbrain in the morning. :)

Weird thing my brother picked up on - I had to put down my Dad’s date of death on one of the forms, and I couldn’t for the life of me remember the actual day of the month. (Weird how your mind works - you’d think you’d remember that, wouldn’t you?) He pointed out that my Dad died 12 days after my brother’s birthday, and my Mom died 12 days after my birthday. Sure, it’s just a freaky coincidence, but weird nonetheless. And, frankly, that will at least help me remember the dates… (Which I even was getting wrong with my Mom until he pointed that out.)

I think this week was easily the second longest week of my life, with last week being the longest. Funny how when things suck, time slows down, and when it’s good, it all goes by too fast. Sadly, other that going to work and submitting a decent performance there, I haven’t accomplished much of anything this week. I did at least get the appointment w/the lawyers rescheduled to week after next. I still need to remember to call Mom’s broker and get a list of documents they need to get things transferred so I can work on gathering those. Need to write a boatload of thank you notes. Need to finish getting the list of assets together for the lawyers. Need to contemplate the gawdawful prospect of prepping my house for sale this summer.**

But for now, I have cold beer, hot pizza, a dog, two cats, and a chance to sleep in tomorrow morning, so that is what I am choosing to focus on right now.

** Yeah, I wanna keep the house. Dog needs a yard, and there are just a ton of good memories here. If I have to buyout little bro, I buyout little bro - it’s worth it.