We Have One Expensive Tree!

Yesterday, we got an estimate on how much it would cost to cut down the oak tree that is next to our house and is dropping huge limbs. I did not realize how expensive it is to cut down trees. Are you ready for this? It will cost $2000 to cut the tree down. (And that is with a discount because Mark used to work with me and he said he'd give me a discount.) I was ready to borrow against a couple of CD's I have at the Credit Union and have it done immediately before we have a big storm come through. But, Vance has decided he can do it himself. I don't think he knows what he is getting himself into. He said he would rent one of those lifts and cut the limbs off. Okay, so who's going to snatch them away from the house before they fall on it? At least, if Mark's crew damages the house, they are bonded and they will pay. If Vance does the damage, our insurance may not pay; or if it does, they will cancel us in a heartbeat. Then, where will we get insurance? I'm sick about this, but I don't dare go against his wishes. After all, he is the man of the house.

Had my mammogram yesterday. The doctor said it looked okay. Praise God for that! Made an appointment to go see my ENT to see about scheduling surgery to remove the bone spur in my left sinus. I think it has gotten bigger. Was supposed to have surgery last April, but I conveniently forgot to schedule it. Had too many other people to take care of. The left side of my face stays swollen and it hurts all the time. Not bad pain, but a dull pain all the time. I go see the doctor on Monday. Will probably have to have another MRI to see how big it has gotten, then talk about surgery. I am not looking forward to it. I'm really praying that they can do the surgery on a Thursday or Friday and I can go back to work the following Monday. That way, nobody will have to fill in for me. Everybody is just so overworked as it is; I would hate to add to their misery.

Had to take Daddy for bloodwork this morning. I'm supposed to have bloodwork, too, but could not find the paperwork. I'll have to go see my doctor tomorrow and get another order. The clinic where Daddy goes had it's own lab, but it is closed for two weeks, so we had to go to Bay Medical. Since we got there early, I was able to find a parking space after dropping Daddy off. I could have parked in the handicap parking since I have Mama's car and sticker, but I just can't make myself do that. Even though Daddy has a hard time walking; I still just drop him off at the door and go find a parking space. There are real handicapped people who need those slots.

Yesterday and today, I have been inputting time on the new timekeeping system to test it for the development team. Had a lot of problems. It is way slower than the system we are on now and not as user friendly. Today, I only input 9 timesheets from 10:30 to 3:30. That's not good - not good at all. I kept having to jump back and forth from the new system to the old one. Account numbers would not validate in the new system, but they would in the old. I sent an email to one of the team members letting her know the problems I found. We are due to go full-time in August. I just don't see it happening unless they do some major changes. I think I'm the only one at our company who has even tried to input time. The other companies are so different from us and there are more of them than there are of us, so the system was mainly built to handle their situations. It needs to be tweaked to be able to handle us. I won't be able to work with it the rest of this week, cause I am already behind because the new system takes so much longer. I'll try again the first of next week.

We'll find out next month if any of us in Power Delivery lose our jobs. They are doing a re-structuring and the email seemed to hint that some people would no longer have jobs. I think they should start at the top and get rid of some of the supervisory personnel and leave the ones who really do the work alone. We are already so shorthanded that we can't ever get caught up. I'm not worried about my job. God gave me this job. (My original job came open in January of 1970. They interviewed dozens of women before me. I had never worked anywhere before. I came straight out of high school and was hired in July. Tell me God didn't give me this job.) He protected me 12 years ago when they were talking about doing away with my job. (Two Vice Presidents told me I would not have a job in another year. I've been there 12 more than they said I would.) If He means for me to stay, then I'll stay. But, if He is done with me in this job, He will open up a bigger door for me to walk through. So, why worry? I know Who takes care of me.

Last night, I downloaded my 6800+ pictures onto 17 CD's. I should not have done it last night. That's a job that should be done on the weekend when you have plenty of time. I was up until after 1:00 waiting for it to finish. And last night, I could have fallen asleep around 10:00. I still haven't hooked up the external drive that I bought to backup my computer. I need to figure it out and do it this weekend. Especially, get the stuff off my old computer. It has all my family tree info on it.

Had to go grocery shopping for Mama when I got off work. She was out of a few things. Had a nice visit with her because Karen called and said we weren't having practice tonight. That was fine with me. I was tired.

Chris (neighbor and co-worker) came over late this afternoon and cut up the limb in the backyard. He wanted the wood for his fireplace. He hauled the limbs across the street for the garbage trucks to pick up. It would probably have been another week before Vance could do it. He just put his chainsaw in the shop today.

Well, guess I better get to bed. Early morning safety meeting tomorrow.

Goodnight and God bless................