Yuck. Just when I think I have a handle on things something new comes along and knocks me off center. Yesterday I checked Jim's e-mail for the first time in two weeks. I had forgotten he had a bunch of books and cds for sale on Half.com. One of the books had sold. This was some out of print Microsoft book that sold for $213.00! I found it and packaged it up. This morning I checked his mail again and a cd had sold ($1.99). I found that one and wrapped it up. Then I left to go on some errands.
I dropped off my dry cleaning, went to the post office to mail the book and cd and then went to the bank to get cashiers checks to pay back the loans for the hospital bills. As I was driving to the bank I was thinking about all the stuff that's locked inside Jim's 4 computers, the 2 Macs and the 2 pcs that are in the bedroom closet. Not only are the financial stuff and the Rancho Curioso stuff on those computers but a whole lot of his music is as well. I have his passwords but I've discovered he also used a lot of different user names. So, which user name goes with which password? And I'm sure these files have layers that I have no idea how to get to. I'm sure eventually I'll get it all sorted out but it made me wonder how many years I'll be lugging this stuff around because I can't get to the information I really need to keep. I certainly can't just throw it all away.
So, by the time I got to the bank I could feel my throat tightening up. As I was standing in line I was thinking about paying off the loans and what an important step that was. Just as I got to the front the damn bank greeter was suddenly next to me, really almost behind me saying, "Hello, Miss! I just wanted to make sure I said hello to you today!" I just about jumped out of my skin. I HATE that! Sure, say hello as I'm coming in the door but don't attack me in line just to make sure I'm properly greeted! Another thing I hate is being called "Miss". I'm fifty freakin' years old! Being called "Miss" doesn't flatter me. I'm solidly in Ma'am territory, thank you very much. He said, "Are they treating you well this morning?" Grrr... I said, "I'm fine. I'm next in line so I'm happy" (Now go away and leave me the fuck alone.) Well, it was too late, I was ready to lose it. There's no way I could have gotten through the transaction without being reduced to tears. So I left. I was at the front of the line and I just had to leave.
I went out to my car and just sat there and sobbed. After about 15 minutes I pulled it together, checked my eyes for redness and went back into the bank. The greeter said, "Hey! You came back!" (Somebody get me a gun.) Fortunately the line wasn't long so I got to a window pretty fast. I told the teller what I needed and she said the funds were still being held and wouldn't be available until Wednesday. Crap. In two days I have to do it all over again.
I left and went for some lunch. Virginia had mentioned going to El Torito for dinner the other night. That sounded good and it was close so I went there. First I stopped at Borders and bought a couple magazines, one really good one on mid-century modern design. I LOVE that stuff! At El Torito I had a great waitress and the meal was excellent. She and I got into a conversation about tequila. She noticed that I sipped my shot of Patron instead of slamming it down. She suggested another kind of tequila, Don Julio Anejo, so I tried a shot of that. Mmmmm... That lunch was exactly what I needed.
Then I went to the grocery store and was back in idiot land. Oh well. Now I'm home and ready for a hot bath and a nap.
6 comments:
xanex for the bank. Really, I think chirpy humans need to have some kind of drug induced barrier to keep from killing them.
Here's a thought...might be for another day but thought I'd put it out there. Call each place where Jim has an acct and see if showing them a death cert will get you access. Other than the financial ones you can probably do it at your leisure and stamina.
I don't think there's much that would require a death certificate. I already wrote to Half.com to see if I can shut down those sales. I haven't heard back yet. Eventually I'll start it back up again under my name. He has a lot of books that could be sold.
No, the problem is with the depth and breadth of his files and matching up the user names with the passwords. It's about getting to the STUFF. Maybe the next time you're here I'll show you.
Probably most of this info I'll never need. There's stuff I wouldn't miss in a million years. But there's also stuff I would really want to keep, like his music.
Dean- El Torito is built right where Carlos O'
Brien's used to be. (did I spell it right?)
THats what I mean, contact them and they'll give you a new password for any/all of his accounts. Then you can get everything he has hidden away.
Things on the harddrive should be accessible to you now, it should only be the things he stored on outside servers that is the issue.
I see what you mean. Yes, the stuff on the hard drive is accessable to me but I don't know what it all means. Come over, I'll show you.
And as far as contacting people goes, I don't know WHO. He has stuff all over the place. Most of the outside accounts are of no consequence to me so I don't worry about letting them go. But then there's some stuff that's very important.
Bleah. Today is a heavy sigh, heartache kind of day. Other than my meltdown outside the bank I haven't been able to muster up any tears. I feel like I need to uncork but I can't get to it. The other night I called John, our bass player, to invite him to come to Ken's on Thursday so we can talk and maybe play some music. As soon as I heard his voice I got very weepy to the point where I could barely talk. It surprised me. John's voice was a trigger. Heh! Maybe I should call him right now just to get me started. No, no, no, I'm not going to do that to him! He'll get enough of that on Thursday.
I'm actually not too worried about getting stuff off the computer. I think when the need arises it'll point me to where I need to go. I'll keep checking his e-mail. It's just when I think of the enormity of the project I get overwhelmed. When it comes to computers it's very, VERY easy for me to get overwhelmed. I can do some e-mail stuff and surf the web and do a little Photoshop but really, I barely know how to use this thing.
And it doesn't help that Jim saved EVERYTHING. He's got useless crap mixed in with the important stuff.
By the way, Xanax for the bank is a reeeeally good idea. I keep forgetting that I have it. Next time, I'll dose up.
Ok, I better understand now. Don't worry about getting all het up about computers, the good thing is they aren't chirpy personalities and you can shut them down whenever you want. I can help you with navagating some of that and you can go folder by folder and burn things to a cd as you find them. Time consuming but not all that difficult. I'll show you and maybe you can get the kids to help you out with it. The biggest time suck is having to look at every file but it won't go anywhere so do it in little increments.
So Wed is Xanex day right? Don't forget!
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