Visiting a friend sitting Shiva, then spending more money.

 

This morning, I was supposed to have brunch with SJM.  However, we postponed it, as the place we planned to go to was closed - as in no longer in business. (Or, so my friend said.)  And this was just as well for me, as I didn't have the energy to get showered, dressed, and made up as Marian until later in the day....

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When I finally got up and moving, it was well into the afternoon.  This was the last night my friend would be sitting Shiva, so I knew that I had to be there tonight.  So around 5 pm, I shaved, showered, and dressed - and was out the door by 6 pm.  Since I knew I was going to buy a new wallet and not use the one I bought through Amazon, I packed my license, money, and a couple of credit cards into my handbag and went to my friend's place.  It was perfect timing, as I got to spend some one on one time with my friend before people started coming over for the zoom service.  This gave me a good opportunity to leave, as I still had a couple more places to go to yet.

My next stop was Micro Center in Yonkers, where I bought a 30W USB-C charger, so that I could fast charge my phone when needed.  After that, I went to Target to pick up a woman's wallet - and found one that was close to fitting my needs.  So I bought it. 

Next, I went home to take care of things.  I transferred the replacement credit cards into the new wallet, but will not use them until I record them in my data base of card information.  And then, I cloned my BJ's card, so that I can scan it when shopping for less than 10 items.  (Larger purchases will require me to present as Mario and use the legitimate card I have.)  Hopefully, I'll be able to get a BJ's card which doesn't have a picture on it (I saw one when I was last there), and I'll put that in my female wallet for use.

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One thing of note.  I wasn't able to stay asleep last night.  So I decided to catch up on co-op work and write up two sets of meeting minutes.  It's enough to bore someone to sleep, and it helped to put me into the right frame to go back to sleep....

I was hemming and hawing about which day to take care of things

 

By the time you read this, I will have already made my decision on alternatives to choose from, and taken care of my responsibilities.

Let me explain....

My ex-boss was killed due to a drunk driver doing a hit-and-run over the weekend, leaving him with injuries that caused his death the day afterwards.  I just received information on when he is being buried, as well as the 3 days the family is sitting Shiva. (Traditionally, Jews sit Shiva for 7 days, but many non-traditional people reduce the duration of this practice.)  And here is where my conflict arises.

I just received an email regarding a second sample sale that Universal Standard is having this weekend. If I were to go to the sample sale on Thursday, I'd have to visit the family on Sunday.  If I were to go to the burial, I wouldn't be able to go to the sample sale, as plans for Friday, Saturday and Sunday preclude a sample sale visit.  The way I am leaning right now, I'll go to the sample sale tomorrow and hope that I can find either of the cashmere or merino wool sweaters I want (at a great discount), and get back home before rush hour.  If I can do this, I'll have the option of visiting the family before the end of the day on Thursday.  If I can't get back before rush hour, I'd still be able to visit on Sunday - on our way to the Jersey shore.  

You might be asking about my plans for Friday and Saturday.  Well, this is RQS's birthday weekend, and I want to make sure that our original and paid for plans aren't interrupted by unplanned for events. RQS knows about my minor dilemma, and will support me no matter what I do.

I thought the day ended well until....

 

For the past few years, my brother has done the books and took care of the management duties for the house we rent out.  So I was glad when my brother texted me to let me know that the paperwork for 2022 taxes was ready, and that I could send it to my accountant.  I was in a good mood until I checked back on my computer and found a message from a friend's son.  His dad was killed in a hit-and-run incident, with a drunken driver leaving the scene of the accident.  If I had not texted my friend today, I'd have never known this had happened.

My former boss was one of three people that I wanted to stay in contact with after leaving the bank.  The first of these three passed away 365 days after we were both laid off in 2014.  Hopefully, he was able to collect his full pension in a lump sum payment, as he would have gotten a small fraction of that if the bank paid him the value of his ESOP shares.  The second person died about 4 years ago, and I was the only person from the bank who attended his wake.  And now, the last person has died due to some drunk's stupidity.  

Sometime this week, I expect to visit his family as they sit Shiva. Although I just had a mani-pedi, intending to spend the week as Marian, I will remove the polish and visit in Mario mode.  Neither he, nor his family knew about Marian, and this would not be the time or place to let them know.  Instead, it's the time to show respect for my friend and to try and comfort his family as best as possible.