Ron got the cellular shades/blinds up very easily for me. He was in a bit of a rush as he was going to his friend's house for dinner and bringing his 92-year-old dad with him, so he could only stay an hour or so at my place.

I told him there's a bottom part that secures the bottom of the shade to the door when it's fully extended; he said, no it's just supposed to hang loose. After he left, i found in the directions where it talks about anchoring the bottom part, so i think i can do that part myself, plus the parts you screw in so you can wrap the cord around it.

Anyway, it looks real nice. They were custom-ordered to fit my narrow French doors and weren't cheap, so i'm glad i'll finally be able to enjoy them. I don't think i'd spend that kind of money now in the recession.

We toasted Ron's birthday with my dad's vodka...twice. Everyone who tries this x-rated "infused" vodka loves it. Tastes like pink grapefruit juice that leaves a warm glow.

This a.m. I went down to the shelter and met "Stripey," a large, 6-year old male tabby that was born feral and has spent his ENTIRE life in this one room. He is very, very timid and i guess that's why he was never adopted. She said he would be a "project," meaning it would take time for him to come around, and being older, it may take longer. At his older age, he would likely always be a shy cat, and truth be told, after having owned several somewhat timid cats, i had wanted outgoing and affecitonate cats this time around. I certainly have "outgoing" with Luther, and i'm hoping he'll be more affectionate when he gets older.

Anyway, as for Stripey, I'm not sure i'm ready or up for that challenge becus my workdays are so long, but my heart really does go out for him and i'd love to take him from that place. I think i have a strong desire to "rescue" animals from bad siutations. So i still may take him, i don't know.

When i told Nancy i don't know, my workday are so long, i would feel bad not having much time to help him acclimate, she said whatever time i spent with him would be more time than he gets with people there. And that there was a time she was able to spend more time with him and she could see him coming around, but lately she hasn't and he's withdrawn from her somewhat. So.....help me decide!

I also meet "Polar," a very affectionate all white male about 2 years old. (His hearing is fine.)

Both cats get along well with other cats. That of course is the most important thing, that the cat i bring home will get along well with Luther. I lived for years with 2 females who didn't get along, Sitka and Tigger, and while i couldn't give either up, it wasn't easy with them scrapping, plus Sitka was spraying around the house.

I'm just not sure, so i left there, knowing Ron was coming soon, and feeling actually stressed like i did last time becus i dont' know what to do.

I hadn't actually even gotten to see all of Stripey, as he was holed up at the very top of a tall treehouse in exactly the spot that Luther used to sit in. All i really saw was Stripey's face, but i could see he was a big cat (which i like).

Now that we've ruled out worms, i don't think Luther has thyroid problems becus from my onling reading on the subject, it's very rare in young cats like him. In talking with Nancy at the shelter, i think i may have figured out why he's eating so much. She said for cats that are still younger than a year old (LUther is 7.5 months) he should still be eating kitten food, which is higher in protein and carbs becus they're still growing. OOPS. I will have to get kitten food tomorrow if i can find a store open.

I misspoke when i said Ron's ex-wife had been in the hospital for a few weeks after that surgery made her kidneys fail. She was in the hospital for EIGHT WEEKS. That's why she's in rehab now, becus her muscles atrophied during all that time. She was always very light weight, like about 115 or something and probably 5'2" tall, and now she weighs 95 pounds. Yes, 95 pounds.

He told me she told him she loves him. Being his friend, and seeing how much his 2 divorces from this woman tore him up, i gently asked him if he was prepared for the possiblity that when she fully recovered, she might no longer want him around.

I mean, right now, being ill, she's very vulnerable and i'm sure it was an ordeal. She needs him. I know how scary surgery is and everything associated with hospitals. He said yes, he's tried to prepare himself for that, but i know he's hoping they'll get back together again.

He was pretty cheerful today. I just want to see him happy. For many, many months during and after those divorces, he was very depressed and it was hard to see him that way and not be able to do anything about it.

When i have time to have a leisurely morning, i like to make myself some pancakes for breakfast. So I did. I never used anything but real maple syrup, and let me tell you it's as expensive as ever. I think i paid $16.99 at Costco for a small jug. Still, i don't have pancakes often and it's worth it.

I've got a load of laundry in the wash and Luther and I changed the bedsheets.

I had emailed my friend Ron this week suggesting it was time he came over to help me install the cellular blinds i got for my French doors last year. He called me this morning around 8 am and said he could come over around 4 pm, which works perfectly for me.

He reminded me it's his birthday today, so we'll have to have a toast to his good health with the pink vodka my dad got me for Valentine's Day.

Ron turned 62 today, and he's looking forward to collecting his first Social Security check May 1. He also plans on cutting back his work hours at his 3 part-time jobs. I'm sure I'll hear more about it when he comes over.

He's been having a tough time of it in recent months. The woman who divorced him twice, landed in the hospital in need of an emergency bowel obstruction surgery and that procedure caused her kidneys to fail. She was in the hospital for several weeks and will now be in rehab for at least a month. Throughout it all, even though she did not treat him well, he was by her bedside and in fact now is headed down to the rehab place to see her. Not that he's perfect, he's definitely not. He's extremely controlling and set in his ways, but he did love her and he tried to look out for her best interests. Still, his personality is such that I can only take him in small doses. We'll always be friends, but he really can be difficult to be around sometimes. I've just learned, for instance, to never discuss politics with him becus he likes to bash liberals in general and seems to know how to hit my hot buttons. Oh, well, that's life. We're all imperfect.

Til then, I plan one mid-day trip: to the dump, with some smelly cat litter and smaller tree branches cut up in the driveway, and then to the cat shelter to see about Luther's possible buddy.

Earlier this week at work, (sshhhh!) I did a naughty thing. I was returning from my lunch hour walk and it was SUCH a nice day. On an impulse, i told my boss i wasn't feeling well. It was perfect timing, becus sickness had been making the rounds in my department for a month now. In fact, I had been munching on some pistachios that morning, but i had called Costco before opening the bag and they said it was fine. So i got an afternoon to myself, stopped at Trader Joe's for some dried fruit i need to make more granola and cat food for Luther, and then to Shop-Rite for a few things.

I lucked out by getting a $20 cat carrier for free. I had bought one that you had to assemble yourself, thru a merchant affiliate of Amazon's, and for the life of me there were a few plastic screws i couldn't get in the hole. There were large, boldly worded postcards saying "WE want you to be 100% satisfied with your product!" and "Please rate us 10 on Amazon," so i called the merchant and asked her if there was some special trick to getting these screws in. Altho she was customer service, she had no idea, so she just had them send me a 2nd cat carrier, this one fully assembled, and she didn't make me return the old one!

Even better, after i spoke with her, i was just holding 2 of the screws in my hand as i'd brought them to work in the hope they could walk me through it. I suddenly realized that the purpose of the slit in the screw was to allow you to SQUEEZE the plastic into a smaller size so it would fit through the hole in the side of the carrier. (There were absolutely no directions.) Bingo! I now have the original carrier fully assembled save for ONE screw that i STILL can't get in. Maybe Ron can help me with that, too.

I've been walking on my lunch hour for oh, at least 15 years. When you work full-time and have a longish commute, it's often the only weekday opportunity you get for exercise.

Ideally, i choose walking locations that are in the immediate vicinity of my office so that i can maximize the time spent walking. Unfortunately, in my current job, I'm just off a very busy road and am surrounded by a lot of professional office buildings.

I don't like walking the main road because of the traffic and noise generated by the traffic, so if i want to completely hoof it, there's really just one option. Cross the railroad tracks, do a short jog down a side road with more offices and industrial type businesses, then turn left onto a dead-end with about 6 separate condo developments.

If i just walked on the condo road itself, it would be all of 10 minutes, so to lengthen my walk to a full 55 minutes or so, i had gotten into the habit since i started this job of walking in and out amongst the condos. I like to make mental notes of which complexes are the nicest and so on, and the few people i do see on my walks I'm sure assume l live in the complex.

I'm in the habit, too, of being friendly with assorted delivery people and even greet the mailman by name.

There are other single-family residential neighborhoods nearby that are nicer, but they'd require a half mile drive in the car, and why spend more on gas than i need to, plus shorten my walk time?

So lately i'd been relying on the condo walk for exercise, and i've been doing it for about 16 months now, no problem.

Until a few week ago, when i was unfortunately spotted by a resident of one condo as i cut thru one condo complex into the other. That's how i figure she realized i didn't live there. She quite rightly told me i was "trespassing," and in fact most of the condos have No Trespassing signs posted. Still, the nastiness of her tone startled me. I told her "i'm just taking a walk." "It's NOT allowed," she insisted. I was pissed, so i continued walking thru her complex anyway, but ever since then, i found the whole interaction so unpleasant I've been driving to my other neighborhoods where i mostly walk on public streets.

In all my years of walking, she's one of only 2 unpleasant people i've encountered. Among some of my other experiences:

1. i was in a public park in wealthy Greenwich, CT and witnessed a man beat and abuse his Yorkshire terrier. Others witnessed it too and were shocked. He told one senior citizen who attempted to intervene to "Mind your own business." I called the police at a nearby pay phone and waited for them to arrive. The police took statements from me and others and arrested the man for animal abuse. Sadly, i don't know what happened to the dog. My boss was sure surprised when i explained why i was late; i had to give my statement to the officer at the police station.

2. Last fall, I saw an elderly woman kicking a few errant leaves off the side of a very busy road, and cars were veering around her. I thought maybe she had dementia or something that would cause her to be oblivious to the danger. I grabbed her arm and steered her out of the road. She was perfectly sane, and after being momentarily irritated, thanked me for pointing out the danger. Drivers around here with their cell phones, etc...she easily could've been hit.

3. I met a woman named Jan today walking her 2 dogs. I like to chat with people and learned she was laid off in February. She worked as a travel writer. I regret i didn't have a card with me to give her. I'm not very good at networking and don't often meet other writers, so i could've even given her the name of the website i write for as a way to contact me, since i moderate the blog replies and so she could've sent me her contact info, since no blog replies are posted without me reviewing them first. (I thought all this through after i left her, of course.)

4. I met a resident of another condo complex here who was gardening and we had the nicest conversation about plants.

5. I meet a nice older man raking leaves once and stopped to ask him for directions when i was in a new neighborhood. After speaking for a few minutes, i said, well, i don't want to take up any more of your time, thank you, and he replied, i have all the time in the world. I wondered if he, too, had been laid off.

6. Lots of people stop and ask me for directions, ha ha. Sometimes i can help them, sometimes not.

I was very bummed out to learn today that Walgreens will be discontinuing its Easy Saver program May 1. You don't know how many full-sized bottles of shampoos, conditioner and tons of makeup i got for the price of the sales tax there. I'll be sad to see that program go by the wayside. I'll have to more closely investigate similar programs at Rite-Aid and CVS.

I dropped off the cat's stool sample yesterday morning at the vet's becus he's eating like a horse and acts like he's starving all the time. My contact at the shelter said it's possible he has a different kind of worm that wasn't killed by the meds i used before. Guess i should've done the stool sample from the start, but shelter lady seemed sure it was roundworm.

I was surprised when they told me today he tested negative for all worms and that i might want to do a blood test to check his thyroid at some point. But he's not putting on weight.

As i've said before, he's HIGH ENERGY. But gosh, he eats like there's no tomorrow and he's a little on the thin side, i think.

He can easily eat 2 full cans of cat food a day. Don't you think that's a lot? Plus snacks.

I'm thinking of suing the house painters. Why bother wasting my time filing complaints with the BBB and Consumer Protection? That may warn off other potential customers, but it won't do anything for me. But I think i stand a pretty good chance of collecting everything i spent on the paint job, $3,500, last spring, by filing a case in small claims court. If they don't show up, I win automatically. If they do show up, well, i will have photos of peeling house paint that will be dated, plus my original contract with them.

I only worry that i wouldn't be able to file a claim because i don't have the last names of anyone at that business, and just a PO box address. I'm going to see later if i can do a reverse phone number look up to get some kind of address.

It makes me angry he didn't return my calls when i said i was going to complain to BBB. It would seem to confirm my suspisions they had no intention of redoing the work.

On Saturday, i'm going back to the shelter to consider "Stripey" as a pal for Luther. I felt very sad for him when Nancy told me his story. He was a feral kitten and has now lived at the shelter in this tiny room for 6 YEARS. And recently, he lost a cat (to adoption) that he was kind of protective of and now just seems lost. She said he would be a "challenge," though becus he's shy. My main concern is that whatever cat i get gets along well with Luther, so i will question her closely as to the nature of their interactions when Luther was still there. Thing is, the Luther who lives with me now is NOT the cat that lived at that shelter. Luther is a wild thing and constantly into everything, racing around, biting lots of stuff (he may still be teething), etc. I'm hoping another cat may calm him down but i also don't want his energy to get on another cat's nerves, either.

I have all my seeds and potato sets ready for planting, though it's still getting down to around freezing at night. I can put the potatoes in now anyway, but guess will have to hold off on the lettuce, radishes and spinach.

Hope to get the potatoes in this saturday but have to turn over sod to do so, and that will be a lot of work.

As is usually the case, i only got half as much done as i set out to do this weekend.

But today, I did accomplish 2 important things:

1. I planted 7 shrub seedlings, including 3 red osier dogwood, 2 viburnum lantana nd 2 blackhaw viburnum. Although the seedlings are small, this is all a lot of work because not only must i dig a hole and plant each one, but then i have to install deer fencing around each one as well as hardware cloth on the base.

My yard is filling up with all these fenced seedlings, this year and years past. I think i don't have much room for anything else!

2. I actually installed the fence around my vegetable garden. I wasn't at all sure i could do it single-handedly and while it was difficult, the fence is up...and still standing. I just wasn't able to rig up a gate through which i can get in and out, becus i really should've ordered one more post to do so.

This was quite tiring work, but i also managed to clean up the rest of my burning bush trimmings from last fall and finish clipping the dead heads of my autumn joy sedums.

I had wanted to get the rest of my veggie seeds and potato sets, but ran out of time. I'll begin planting the cooler weather stuff next weekend.

The paint job i got last spring on the house exterior is already PEELING. I called the company and he told me he'd "Get back to me" on when they'd come to redo. I really didn't think he would, and he didn't. So now it's time to get nasty. I'll make one more phone call to him informing him that if i don't hear back from him in a few days, i'll file a formal complaint with the state consumer protection commission as well as BBB. I'm hoping that will prod them to come.

The paint is peeling on 2 sides of the house. I should have stopped the painter from doing the entire job alone. He was supposed to have at least 1 helper, who never showed, so one single guy did the entire job. I'm sure he was worn out and started cutting corners. Obviously, the prep was not done well.

Just doing a little "tidying up" of my investments after mulling over some moves with the aim of:

1. Simplifying my portfolio and reducing the number of funds i have.

2. Moving more money into lower cost index funds and keeping an eye on annual expenses.

3. Opening a TIPS (Treasury inflation-protected securites) fund as an inflation hedge.

So after reading up on TIPS and confirming that it's best to have a TIPS in a retirement account, not a taxable one, I moved about 10% from my T Rowe Price IRA bond index fund and created a new Vanguard IRA TIPS fund. Did it online, mission accomplished.

Next, i moved the entire balance of my T Rowe Price Value fund (a taxable large cap stock fund) into my international stock index fund, thereby eliminating a fund entirely, along with its higher expense ratio. Most of my large cap stock investments are now in index funds, which is what i want.

Last weekend i changed my 401k investment elections to 3 index funds. I thought that change would be reflected in yesterday's paycheck contributions, but it wasn't. I'll have to check with HR on Monday to ensure it will moving forward. The change was reflected on my online statement, but no money allocated to it yet.

I thought I'd top the $10,000 mark in my emergency fund with my most recent paycheck contribution, but i didn't...i'm about $30 short....

This a.m. i headed to the Honda dealer for an oil/filter change. I had a nice conversation with the woman sitting next to me. She lives in a town near me, also drives a 10-year-old Honda,lives with a cat, is "single" like me and also works in financial services like me. As i was paying my bill, i was tempted to go back to the waiting room, give her my business card and tell her if she ever wanted to get together for lunch sometime, that'd be nice, but i sort of decided it might seem wierd.

But then as i was headed to my next stop, Costco, i was regretting not extending my hand in friendship, so to speak, when i met someone i hit it off with, so i used my cell phone to call the dealer and asked the guy to give her my name and number. (I'd introduced myself to her as i was leaving.) I don't know if he did, and if so, did she think that was wierd, probably wierder than if i'd just left her my business card as i was leaving....

Costco was the usual zoo but i got out of there spending my rough usual amount of about $55: 2 gallons of milk, cat litter, multigrain crackers and some very nice frozen Tilapia filets (about $4 something a pound) i had for lunch. They were so much better than the usual Gorton's or Van de Kamp's frozen fish i buy. The tilapia tasted like restaurant quality. Cool. I'm trying to eat more fish.

I browsed clothing at Good Will. I really wanted another pair of comfty jeans, but couldn't find any. I did end up buying a St. John's Bay shirt for $3.99 though for it to really look good i should lose 5 lbs.

I got an extra $20 or so in my paycheck as part of the federal payroll tax credit. I doubt i'll even notice its presence and don't plan on spending it on anything.

I worked from home today because i had to see my dentist this morning, who lives in my hometown.

It was my first experience having him do anything do to me, since it's his hygienist who cleans my teeth twice a year. But this time, he had to replace a cracked filling.

I was a little nervous because it's been many years since i've had any work done.

I was actually impressed by how good he was. Even the Novacaine needle felt like nothing. I remember my other dentist, who retired, jamming that needle in my jaw; it was like he was punching me at the same time he was sticking me with the needle! This new dentist seemed very efficient at what he was doing, plus he actually had a nice personality and a sweet sense of humor.

I liked him! Hoping that won't change when i get his bill! Luckily, i have dental insurance with just a $50 deductible and then they pay 90%. I have no idea what he'll charge me. A couple hundred dollars?

When i came back home, i actually felt very, very tired, i think becus i was so tense in the dentist's chair. I think i was actually sweating a bit. Glad it's over, anyway.

On my lunch hour, i ran down to nearby town to pick up my garden fencing and metal posts. I really felt the cost was way too high, but i shopped around a lot online and everything seemed comprably priced. So I spent about $288 for 2 50-foot rolls of 6-foot-high viny wire fencing and 6 7-foot-tall metal posts. I'll only need about 59 feet of that fencing. I could enlarge it a little, but it wouldn't use up much more of the fencing, and i can only go so far with enlarging.

Well, i will keep track of my produce output again this year, and for the first time, estimate actual cost based on the going rate for tomatoes and so on at the store. I have a little countertop scale in my kitchen which i think goes up to 5 pounds, so i can easily weight stuff. I don't think i'll break even, but you never know. I remember last year, i got well over 100 tomatoes alone; if each tomato weighed a pound (i know they don't), and tomatoes sell in summer for what, $1.49 a pound, that'd be $149 right there! Either way, i'm just gonna call this a hobby that lets me eat a lot of yummy organic produce!

I got heating oil delivered yesterday. I thought prices might go even lower now that heating season is nearly over, but actually, prices rose a little from their low of $1.76 a gallon. (This is heating oil, like diesel, not the same as gas for the car.) I got about 140 gallons at $1.99 a gallon, still a huge savings compared to last winter and even a very decent price compared to all my winters here.

Because I'm a manic keep-track-of-everything-you-never-know-when-it'll-come-in-handy kind of girl, i can tell you the lowest oil prices i paid in the past 4 years was, in fact, $1.99 a gallon yesterday (!) and the highest was $4.24 a gallon in June of 2008. I don't think it's gonna stay that low so that's why i topped it off though i still had a third of a tank left.

It's times like this that i keep telling myself i should have a 2nd oil tank installed in my garage next to the other one, and i could fill them both up when prices are low and know i'm covered for all of the next season. As it stands now, this one full tank will probably get me through mid-January.

I like to try to time my very infrequent work at home days for when i'm getting an oil delivery, but as i said, i chose to make today my work at home day due to the dentist appointment, and the oil company said they don't deliver to my town on Wednesdays. So i was forced to do what i really don't like to do: leave a blank check, made out to the company, by the fill-up nozzle, they fill it in and are supposed to leave you a copy of the ticket/receipt from the truck.

Yesterday i checked the oil tank when i got home from work and it was full, but i couldn't find a receipt anywhere, not in my mailbox, the garage door or the front door. I was working myself up into a bit of a pissy mood over it since without that ticket, i have to take their word for it they gave me the oil they claim they did, and after getting ripped off by one oil company already, years ago, i'm wary of oil companies in general.

I called the company and she said she'd mail me the ticket, or a copy of it. I'm glad, in hindsight, i didn't get pissy with the girl on the phone, becus as it turned out, the receipt was in my mailbox but i just didn't see it when i grabbed my mail. (oops)

I like to watch a little of the court shows when i'm home (sshhhh). My favorites are Judge Alex and that former NY prosecutor, i forget her name now. Oh, and Judge Judy, of course. She's one wealthy woman.

I read somewhere that T. Rowe Price had a new retirement calculator, so i tried it today but actually i prefer the one at Yahoo Finance. It's just easy to use and you can adjust a lot of the variables and see how it differs.

IF I stay on my current course, and that's a big IF, i will be fine and meet my goal of about $1.2 million saved by the time i want to retire. But so many things could happen in the meantime, the biggest one being job loss. I also worry a bit about my health. I really have no control over either factor, so better to just take it day by day, even as i keep my long-term goals in front of my face as much as possible.

So i am just hoping to stay the course, carry on and keep working hard. Back to the old grind tomorrow.