Friday, July 30, 2010

Yippy!

When I got the mail this morning, among the stack of junk mail and who knows what else was my new payment book for the van.  I had requested a new one because I couldn't find the old one.  (I should be getting a replacement for the truck here in a day or two.)  Anyway, naturally after requesting the replacements, I found the old ones.  (Isn't that how it always works?) 

I compared the two and noticed that my last payment in the new book is a few months sooner than the old book.  Making payments higher than the minimum (and it doesn't have to be a large amount) adds up and the van will be paid off even sooner than anticipated.  We are now looking at February instead of April or May if we make just the minimum payments.  Sooner of course if we make larger payments.

We will roll the van payment into the truck payment once the van is paid off.  I am very happy.

I stopped by the Daily Journal to give them a heads up.  I broke my phone last night with a classic "Hey, watch this!"  So much for indestructible.  I'm filling out the forms online and go to put in my shipping address.  They don't deliver to PO Boxes.  So, I put in the address to the Daily Journal.  It doesn't match up with my "street address."  I put in my "street address" and there is no house number or even a recognition of the street.  So, I try inputting the Daily Journal again.  I get logged out because of too many "failed attempts."  So, I call the company and tell them "Hey, I have no street address.  Fed Ex does not come down here and UPS barely does.  You don't deliver to PO Boxes.  This place in Theodosia (along with a few other places) accept personal deliveries on behalf of people, but I am not allowed to put this information in because it doesn't match my non-street address where there are no addresses for any of the people who live out here until E-911 comes out, maps it out, and assigns them."

She apologized for the inconvenience, input the address, and asked if there was anything else.  I told her that there needs to be something for people who live in the backwoods to be able to do this themselves.  She said that most people who do not have at home delivery usually call it in.  My response was "Well, there needs to be something online that says "If you live in the boondocks, call.  Otherwise you will just get locked out of the system and on the phone with us anyway."  She chuckled, was good natured about it, and assured me that my phone should arrive tomorrow (today.)

So, I went to the Daily Journal, let them know it was arriving, and apologized for not calling them first even though I knew it wouldn't be an issue.  I didn't feel right calling them at 10:00 at night.  He had no problems with it, let me know that anything that comes UPS or Fed Ex is more than welcome there, and reminded me that if we need water to go ahead and fill up from their well.  Appreciative, I let him know that water should no longer be an issue since we'll be getting our truck back this afternoon.

People around here are just wonderful.  I feel the need to say that again.  Most of the people out here have done what we are doing.  Having to get their own water, supply their own electricity, get their own heat, etc.  Very few people around here just move into a house where all that stuff is already provided.  yeah, there is an electric company.  But that is more for the center of town where the businesses and school is.  Most of the people live out like we do.

I was listening to someone gripe about their trot line being raided.  All the fish had been taken off of it.  All I could think about was "A Country Boy can Survive" song. 

People around here know how to provide for themselves and their family.  People move to the area and they help.  It's genuine.  There is no "I'm helping you because I am going to get something out of it."  It is a definite "I am helping you because it is the right thing to do."  Or, as the gentleman at the Daily Journal put it "It is how we are supposed to be."  I also heard it put another way.  "Act like the person you want to be and you will be that person."

If you want to be seen as a mean, catty, backstabbing, mean-spirited person, then by all means, act that way.  That is the person you will be.

If you want to be seen as someone who is kind, generous, helpful, compassionate, and giving, then act that way.  You will be that person.  This is the person I want to be so this is how I try to behave.  I have more joy and peace in my life.  Even when things are cruddy, I still do my best to be helpful and considerate.  I try to place myself in the other person's shoes and think about "If it were me, what would I want" and try to give it to that person.

It's not always easy.  I remember when I was taking care of "My Lady" as I used to call her.  She was someone who was mean-spirited and catty.  Let's face it.  Sometimes she was down right cruel.  I actually yelled at her once.  That is not who I want to be.  I tried to understand her to find out why she was that way.  She was who she was.  I had to remind myself (sometimes I had to remind myself a million times a day) that I was not there for her praise.  That was never going to come.  But I also did not need to lower myself to her standards.  She really put to the test my character and who I wanted to be and how I wanted to reflect that. 

Anyway, gotta go.

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