Here’s some things that I’m involved with over the next several months.
Annulment
The year started with attorney Mario doing absolutely nothing. After my girl bugging him for a few weeks, she was finally told that he was waiting on his second payment before doing any more work on her case. (The psychologist had given him the final report on December 9th of last year. The proverbial ball has been squarely in Mario’s court since then.) She reminded him that he had already been paid. She looked it up and this happened in the first week of October. Mario verified it in his records and confirmed that he had his first two installments and thus, finally has set to work. Mario is finalizing witness statements and has promised to get us a court date next week.
Mario has the same ethics as a north Idaho contractor, as long as money is flowing then he works, when the account gets paid too far forward, then he stops and goes on to something more lucrative. It’s cash flow baby, not completion that matters.
Anyway, we are five months into what should have been a six month legal process.
Taxes for 2025
My tax appointment with the local CPA is February 2nd. I am currently missing two documents. I have requested both but whether they arrive by the end of January is unknown.
One that is causing me consternation is CalSTRS. They managed to split one retirement income into three Form 1099’s. I am unable to get any numbers on the retirement income that was collected at the beginning of 2025 since that was treated as my wife’s income. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, they updated their computer system in September and deleted all online accounts. Since my wife was reported as deceased in April, her SSN is blocked from creating an account in their new system. I don’t particularly mind this, but they wouldn’t give me the numbers over the phone when I called. Instead, I had to get a special form off their website and then request the information. (of course, the proper way to return their form was via fax. Like who else uses a fax nowadays?) They didn’t even have her 1099 scheduled to mail to her address on record. Typical California government B.S.
Ring by Spring
After the tax mess is put behind me, I will pivot to getting the requisite diamond ring. I was really hoping that she would opt for a ruby but since I already bought one of those for her, she said that she wants a diamond ring. Yes, dear. I had planned to get the ring at D.J.’s in Woodland but since I have been excused from the big wedding in February, I have no plans to head that way. I found a place in Coeur d’Alene that will probably get my business instead.
May Flowers
If the good Lords wills; I will head to the land of 7,000 islands in May. I plan to be there about six weeks. We will do the blessing ceremony while I’m there. I’m sure we will have a discussion about whether to report said ceremony to the government but likely won’t because it will make us ineligible for the K1 visa option. Thus, look for the reenactment of the blessing ceremony stateside in 2027. If I lack the finances in May, then the backup time will be in July.
On the Home Front
Currently, I am taping the sheetrock in the garage. I have been working on the north wall. I don’t really know what I am doing but my goal is to make it look better and then hit it with a primer coat of paint.
Additionally, I am trying to critter proof the place while all the insects are dormant.
My other goal is to waterproof the wall between the guest room/craft room and the garage. Due to the lack of our contractor’s concrete skills, the garage drains to the center of the slab and not out of the door openings as it should. Every time a vehicle enters the garage after driving in rain or snow, all the water dripping from the underside runs toward the wall and is absorbed by the sheetrock. If there is enough water, it also goes under the wall and pools in the wall area. I can make an argument that a floor drain might help but putting one in without messing up the floor coating in the garage is more money than I can afford right now. Thus far the winter has been mild, and I’ve put enough caulking down that it should be ok … but we will see.
Almost every room in the house is missing some trim or in need of more caulking, especially around the door frames and windows.
The following work still needs to be done:
- Trim around tongue and groove ceilings
- Backyard fence
- Minisplit in garage—leak fix
- Bridge between second floor of house and garage
- Vent hood in house is not retracting properly
- Storage and organization in the garage
- Complete closet in the house
- Upstairs closet in garage needs barn door
- Complete stairwell in garage
So, as you can see, I have many irons in the fire. My girl gets top billing but there is much to keep me busy.