Postal Dropbox Adventures (plus State Of The Estee): it's (a miserable) time to get current, AKA Unboxing #5 · 6:45pm Sep 21st, 2021
(Advance warning: the following blog does not represent more than catching up with previous unboxings, plus a very loud public scream.)
This has been a bad week.
I had a massive car repair. The Check Charge System message came on, and the alternator went. (Those who were in the Discord got to follow along live. Some people used Ko-Fi to defray the pain, and... I'm grateful. Too weak, the words are always too weak...) $556.40, gone.
And the next day, I was back at the repair shop.
Why? Because when I got there, I had a working air conditioner. And when I pulled out of the parking lot, I didn't.
...breathe a little. (I didn't.) The shop looked it over, and found it was a bad sensor: basically, when I hit the button for the air conditioner, the compressor didn't know to turn on. They concluded that it could have shorted out during the alternator replacement, so... that one, part and labor, was a freebie.
And this weekend... a relative wanted to see me. 'Check in with' was the phrasing, but he was paying the busfare. I went to a lonely place in the middle of too much silence, and got The Talk. Writer Version. Some of you may be familiar with The Talk. In his case, it started with asking if I'd looked into any warehouse inventory openings in my area.
...nice of him not to sugarcoat it, I guess...
But that wasn't his only reason for wanting to see me. He took me to my mother's gravesite. My first time up there since the funeral, because car issues. The stone still isn't in place: as with Medicaid's Estate Recovery division, if you deal with death, you have more work than you can manage. The target date for unveiling was last month, and we're now looking at December.
And he needed to give me some paperwork.
MER asked me for two things. The first was the bank account records for the last few months for my mother's life, so they could make sure there was no suspicious activity. (They defined this as 'sudden withdrawals of $10,000.' I tried not to laugh.) Second was receipts for funeral expenses. Some portion of this can be deducted from what's owed. Possibly not all, but... some.
First, here's the state's stance on Medicaid funerals.
will pay up to $2,246 in funeral costs and $524 in burial costs or crematory expenses for a deceased welfare recipient who is two years of age or older. Families are permitted to supplement these amounts up to $1,570.
I was given the receipts. And... I need everyone to remember something, right now: I didn't pay for any of this. Her surviving siblings pooled resources. We didn't hear from many of them in life unless it was her birthday, but... in death, they made sure she was buried next to her favorite sister. For that, they gathered.
I didn't pay for any part of the funeral. I couldn't have. At all. Today marks the first time I went through the numbers.
The reason I'm pasting them? Is to scare you.
Because just about all of us are going to face this at some point. Life is cheap: death is dear. The majority are going to face this, and... I want you to see what you might be up against.
This is what it cost to bury my mother.
Foundation and unveiling of the headstone are $330.
Stone is $4150.
Burial plot cost $2300.
Gravesite service was $6350.
Coffin and burial garments together totaled at $940.
Transportation of her body was $570.
Equipment for digging, maintenance of the site, religious figure, and the death certificates together added up to $2183.
Sixteen thousand, eight hundred and twenty-three dollars.
If you're afraid? Then prepare.
And tomorrow... tomorrow may be really bad. Because I had to drive around today, in my illegal car. It was the only way to get the copies for those receipts mailed out, because I also had to write a cover letter, deposit my busfare refund into the bank, make copies... the lot. It was especially important to get the busfare back in because $190 in checks will be coming out. I got the letter from the surrogate court last week. They wanted fees for estate executor and ad prosequendum licenses. And I had to get all of the paperwork notarized, which meant running to the bank, which doesn't notarize anything court-related.
...so I called the court, and they wanted it notarized in their immediate district. Bank wouldn't have counted. Library did. Library notarization is free. They also only do three signatures a day, because 'free' means people were crowding in with dozens of the things. I had to mail it out the same day and I had six.
...
...two libraries later...
Today, I drove so I could send out the funeral expense copies. And the Check Charge System message came on. Also, the dashboard battery icon went red for two seconds, then turned off again.
I screamed.
Then I drove to the repair shop.
They were overbooked for today. I go back tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. (The car got me home. If it doesn't start tomorrow, I'll have it jumped or towed to the shop.)
As I see it, there's three major possibilities.
Computer error. Nothing I can do.
Battery is going. I would be frustrated, because that should have been caught the last time -- but maybe it's just the battery.
Or the new alternator is having issues. And because it's new, it's under warranty.
So I could get out with little to no cost, or just a battery replacement, or -- there might be something I'm not seeing, and it could be bad. But I don't know. Please don't panic before I do there's true cause.
I am, put mildly, stressed. Getting The Talk didn't help. (It's just like The Talk regarding sex, only more insulting.)
And when I got home, there was a small box and two postcards near my door. Dropbox dropoff. So, in order to get my mind off everything...
(I try not to tell you about the bad stuff.)
I'm actually somewhat behind on these. This blog is going to bring us from August up to today.
If anyone wants the mailing address, it's in the Discord server (linked above), pinned to #p-o-unboxing: the wishlist link is there as well. I'm hoping to be mailing out bookplate stickers starting next month, presuming anyone purchases books. (Which are probably going to be a week late, because all I'm doing is sitting in repair shops.) And that I can find good stickers. It's still a problem.
I love postcards.
I'm thankful for anything I receive. (No matter what happens below: thank you all.) There are ways in which I'm luckier than most, and I know that. I still reserve the right to be frustrated about the running jokes.
So let's get current.
Quoting from the Discord server:
Y'all know I went down to DC a few weeks ago. Seeing family.
While there, I was shown The Used Bookstore To Make You Wish You Could Drive Back Down On Your Own.
Out of print books. Titles you've never heard of. Prices all over the place. Some actual collectibles.
I spent about ten dollars, because I remain somewhat human.
And on the counter at the checkout... was a complete, hardcover, slipcased collection of Everything In A Certain Run.
Also stained at the top of the slipcase, because used bookstore.
It was about $60, and so I passed.
Still... all of it. All. A complete series.
So I would like to know which of you was following me.
We continue to pony up.
The ponies continue to Netflix out.
Running. Jokes.
Someone wanted me to not sleep very well.
Joke's on you! I have chronic insomnia! I haven't slept well for years!
(Wishlist item. 'twas a rather major shelf hole.)
Never trust British food.
Never.
Wishlist item. I was grateful for the chance to read it, thankful to the gifter, and then... I read it.
...ow.
Maxx is the only McFarlane toy I own. 
I'm also lucky enough to have the DVD for the episodes which aired on MTV, and I've read the original comics arc. To see him coming back, with his original artist at the helm, and interacting with the bat... I wanted to find out what happened.
'What happened' is some interesting art which never quite connects together from panel to panel (even when the environment is stable) and, plotwise, a disjointed mess.
I wanted to read it. I got to do so. And I am thankful to the gifter, and I recommend the first story arc (plus MTV series) to the group. But when it comes to anyone else picking this up to read it for themselves? Check your library. And pray they don't have standards.
...somehow, this is my fault...
I was told this is an Anchor Foal joke.
Someone just smirked.
I'm guessing many of you are familiar with this joke.
Which made this inevitable.
Joke's on you. I love bobcats!
Running. Jokes.
(This blog can now be copyright-struck by Games Workshop.)
I mentioned liking kiwis.
Not entirely sure this is what I meant.
(This is a book of NZ cultural heritage.)
(...no, really.)
The Depressing Films Collection gains a crowner.
I am now fully expecting one of you to ship When The Wind Blows. Just to see if we can create an emotional black hole.
From the unboxing night on the server:
I can't flap my arms that fast.
...y'all are weird. You do know that, right? Weird.
LANDSHARK!
(In server lore, all sharks are Dawnbreez's fault.)
Lots of pictures coming up, and doing so for one package. Y'see, someone decided that what I needed was a custom pack of Magic: the gathering cards. In a pack assortment, commons through rare. And almost all of these cards are meant to have an association with the 'verse.
So here's a challenge. I'm just going to post the pictures. You tell me what the associations are.
Good luck.
BEES!
I had asked for the elusive Everfree Northwest convention program book, because... I wasn't there. I received one, and I understand that took some work. Apparently there was something of a shortage.
...
...sometimes... when I open a package, I wind up crying. I admit that freely. It can be an emotional experience, and...
...
...y'all kept that quiet.
...yeah.
Tears were wiped.
Thankee.
RUNNING. JOKES.
...which backfire. My mother's pharmacy used to sell the Famous Buildings line. I'm curious to try putting this together.
Also, they make ponies.
Last book in one... two...
...five is right out...
Writer Needs Caffeine. Badly.
And today... one box and two postcards on the stoop-equivalent. Greeting me at the end of a bad day, with dread looming over tomorrow.
I'm tired. (I've been up since two a.m. Again.) Stressed. A little scared about what might happen at the repair shop. And... I decided to open the box, rather than wait for a few more before doing a group. I felt like I needed some level of emotional boost, and even a running joke meant someone cared enough to tell it.
Sometimes I cry when I open a package.
Sometimes it's hard to stop.
I swear there's a reason behind each of those cards. Note that I never said they were good reasons. Some of them are running gags from the Discord server.
Though one could argue that Palisade Giant does a very good if unintended job of representing Cerea given both her tendency to shoulder an entire army's responsibility and being larger than the rest of the army.
Also, here's hoping things start easing up a little after tomorrow. And that the moments of package-induced catharsis help.
Here's where I was this weekend.
pbs.twimg.com/media/E_lQlkHXEAUsQO2?format=jpg&name=large
pbs.twimg.com/media/E_lQlkHXsAAaH1J?format=jpg&name=large
At my grandmother's place.
This is a mountain lake community or rather, it's about eight of them: scattered around the perimeter. You can't see my grandmother's cottage in either of these shots: it's well behind me, about six hundred feet up a dirt-and-gravel road. The whole area dried out from Ida on Friday.
The cottage has been there for at least seventy years, and... every minute when you're inside, you know it. There are no doors on any child's bedroom, because it was built in an age before the idea of privacy. The insulation consists of the wood, and the temperature got down to the mid-40s at night. It's being restored somewhat, as a prelude to being passed down -- but there's only so much which can be done, and installing baseboard heat to replace an absent gas radiator may not be enough.
When I was a kid, I used to be able to walk the entire shore perimeter. Now everything's fenced off. Docks have quadrupled, there's boats everywhere -- nearly all parked, as the area is mostly shut down for fall -- and No Trespassing is the order of the day. This last is meant to apply to the local waterfowl, because there are a lot of ducks. And in the name of keeping ducks and docks separated, someone came up with these.
pbs.twimg.com/media/E_1M7eUVEAQi7WB?format=jpg&name=large
By the way, that's not dirt on the wood. It's duck feces.
How very effective.
(There's a story in here somewhere, but I may need a few days to find it.)
(checks numbers against my mother's funeral a few years ago) Looks about right. When my siblings and I were in the funeral home, they kept trying to 'upsell' us like it was a car lot. We finally asked (since they had been there since before 1995 when my father died), "Can you just use the same package as Dad got?" They could, and we did. Took them a few weeks to add the date to the tombstone for Mom and a lot less money. When I die, I'm getting cremated, and everybody will have to wear name tags to the funeral, darnit.
(I still wonder about how many of those EFNW postcards made it through the postal service's 'gentle' handling and the flooded distribution center.)
When Estee posted the images of the Tish plush last week in the Discord, I predicted some thing very special would show up in the Dropbox shortly. Looks like I called it!
Your fans have a wicked sense of humor. I can’t help but smirk as I read this. I’m glad the last one really helped to brighten your day.
Meanwhile, I find it somewhat uncanny that Super Trampoline's handwriting is similar to mine...
this reminds me of a scene in a strange comic strip called "yafgc" where two people were fighting a land shark.
https://www.yafgc.net/comic/1130-gnome-body-knows-the-trouble-ive-seen/
I think at least in our end of the woods, cremation is more typical than burial nowadays in my woefully too-frequent experience. But the UK is a much denser populated place with not as much land available for cemetaries.
If I wasn't Undead already, I'd be concerned, to be honest, since if I wasn't and died, it's really difficult to re-animate when you been carbonised to cinders and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be the only exception.
Especially seriously never trust British food that a person from Britain doesn't even recognise. The hell even is that?
Also, seriously, Estee, if people are actually sending you painting stuff... There are literally six fleets of FDM (i.e. home-printer'd) official Aotrs Shipyards starships* that I do not know what to do with sitting in my cupboard. (Because I don't have space to store double the size of what will be by the time I've had to print everything to log the print times... eight of my... You don't want to know how many... starfleets.) If you would have any interest/use, just say. I cannae does much from over here, but I can Does You Starships, since it is arguably what I'm best at. But, y'know, I wouldn't want to clutter you with random stuff that doesn't hold any interest for you.
*Including the one that belongs to the carnivorous telekinetic tetracorns about the size of a welsh pony that were in no way inspired by anything to do with any other equines which may or may not have telekinetic powers.
Actually, I'm quite a fan of Footrot Flats - I was introduced to it by one of the local farming families who (I assume) had relations out there. A dog called "dog", and a cat called "Horse" - what more do you need?
This is why everyone needs at least some life insurance and I would even go as far as suggesting you should have at least enough life insurance that you don't need to work for the time it takes to handle the most difficult matters.
Plus burials are always way more expensive than cremation with most of my research into the topic suggesting around 1/4th the cost. In fact if we look at your itemization the stone, the site, and the maintenance fees alone are $12,000! By comparison a cremation urn averages $300.
In the words of an old Dorothy Parker poem about suicide:
"You might as well live."
As to your living in a warehouse.... IDK that you can afford one. Rents have gone crazy the last year or so.
At least with the Sex Talk, you're anticipating getting screwed in the good way...
I think Dad spent somewhere around $20K to bury Mom, and that was considered a "cheap" funeral & burial.
The Maxx was the last good thing MTV did.
xkcd, at its best, is sublime.
I'm glad the fandom's here to give you a smile when you need it.
When I had my Dad's funeral, I think it cost around $8000, give or take. I can't remember if that included the plot, though I think it didn't?... (I....own (
) the grave, but the paperwork isn't with me currently, so I can't check.)
I did get a discount from the funeral home though. (They knew my family and didn't upsell me anything, they're good people.) My Dad couldn't be made for viewing (I won't share mostly cause depressing), and even though they tried real hard, they didn't charge me for it. So that was like $500+ I got back. I guess.
.....funerals and everything are frickin' weird.
Good luck, Estee!
Huh. There's no British food you like? What foods DO you like?
Did you ever play M:tG?
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I lived in a music studio for 2 and 1/2 years. It was a lot of fun and I threw some lit parties but I definitely kind of stagnated
Estee jf you haven't already seen this, both this particular bit, and Adam Ruins Everything should deeply appeal to your dark cynicism.
Also blessed to have been a part of that EFNW signing!
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the technical term for it is dysgraphia. Also known as my handwriting is f****** atrocious and they tried to get it to improve with some handwriting classes in middle school so you can imagine how dogshit it was before then
5587626
Same for me. It didn't work.
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5587627
My own handwriting... well, the fact that you can read it puts it in the top couple of percentage points nowadays but...