Blue-Footed Musings

A lot of paper crosses my desk. Some of it is and always will be important. Some of it is temporarily important. Some of it is irrelevant. Deciding which category a paper falls into can be difficult, and the simplest solution, I have always found, is to file all of the paper away. That way, if you need the paper, it’s there. And if you don’t need it, at least it’s out of your way.

That approach works for a long time. Years. Decades. Until one day you realize that your once neat files have grown into a wild paper jungle so massive and disorderly that you can barely open up the file drawers let alone find what you’re looking for inside.

The fix for that is to have a Shreddapalooza, and that’s what I did today. I shredded tons of paper, most of which I probably never needed. In my enthusiasm, I may even have shredded some paper that I do need. I filled up two trash bags and a recycling bin, and I’m not done yet. Tomorrow Shreddapalooza will continue!

Because the kids won’t be able to go trick-or-treating this year, I went online and ordered a bunch of Halloween treats for them. I wanted them to have some variety, like they would if they were collecting their loot from different houses, so I bought chocolate, cookies, gummies, chips, and a few other odds and ends. I spent more that I probably should have, but it was less that what I’d have spent on costumes. Plus, I paid with one of the gift cards that I got for my 25th work anniversary, so in a way the treats were free.

My plan is to set up a treasure hunt as a replacement for trick-or-treating. I hope I’ll be able to find the time and the energy for that. If not, at least the kids will enjoy the treats.

Last year I won a couple of prepaid debit cards in a Christmas party raffle. Lucky me! I knew that the cards had to be registered before use, but I didn’t get around to it until a few weeks ago, when I realized that I was running out of time. The cards said that they were good “through 10/20,” but that’s tricky wording. To some people it means “until the point at which October begins” and to others it means “until the point at which October ends.” The issuing bank really ought to have been clearer about that. Anyway, I didn’t want to take any chances, so I was planning to apply the cards toward my insurance renewal in early September.

But my insurance renewal was delayed until this week, and when I tried to use the cards, the payment was declined. I thought it was the insurance agent’s fault (she’d been unable to run my credit card the day before, and there was nothing wrong with the card–I know, because I called the bank and made sure). I didn’t want to keep reading the numbers to her, so I gave up, figuring I could find something to buy later with the cards.

Time flew, and suddenly I had only a few hours left. I tried applying one of the cards toward an Amazon gift card, a quick and easy solution. “Payment declined.” Uh-oh. I scanned the literature that had come with the cards. The cards were supposed to be good for anything but cash at any place where Visa was accepted. I tried the other card at Target. “Payment declined.” Uh-oh. So I called the customer service number on the back of the card. “Your call cannot be completed as dialed.” I tried the number several times to be sure. IT DID NOT WORK! What kind of a bank lets their customer service line go dead?

I was starting to panic. I was certain now, having read the literature, that the cards would expire at midnight. I was on the brink of losing a nice chunk of change!

So I examined the literature again, hoping to find a clue. Hidden under the “benefits of registration,” a section which I hadn’t read carefully because registration was mandatory, there was a line about how online retailers require a billing address. The bank hadn’t told me to add an address during registration or even made it clear that I could. But, I went back to the registration site, and I found a way to do it. The payments went through (for an Amazon gift card), with little time to spare.

Thank goodness! It’s bad enough that I had to work so hard for free money, but I would have felt like a total ass if I’d pissed it away. Now all I have to do is decide what to spend the money on. I can take my time, though. Gift cards are subject to state law and cannot expire! 🙂

Today I had to deal with car insurance paperwork, sexual harassment training at work, and prepping a package for shipment. I had been putting all of these things off, because I didn’t want to do them. But then I ran out of time and had to do them all on one day, which was stressful. Then I had to fold three loads of laundry before I could even sit down on my daybed to watch sappy Hallmark movies. Procrastination has its charms, but they don’t last, and it’s a hard day when they run out.