Hello again, my friends.
Today was another day for the record books. Assuming your idea of keeping records is along the lines of not doing much. I got in touch with my tax accountant on Tuesday, and today I scanned in various receipts related to my taxes and then emailed them off to the accountant. I am still awaiting information from my credit union and will have that in a couple of days.
This being a pandemic year, I am not sure how the tax thing will shake out. I keep thinking I will have to pay in, that not enough was deducted at source. I will know in a week or so.
Whilst I was busy scannin', Patricia was in the kitchen deciding what to keep and what to donate. We didn't know it, but we have four large Pyrex containers. We decided we would keep two. There was also a serving dish that we would use in the oven as well, even though perhaps we shouldn't have. That went in the pile to go to Value Village. Some pots and pans that don't really fit in the space we have, are also going. We will still have more pots and pans than we really need, but we will at least be able to store them all.
The same deal with the dishes. We have too many. Quite a few I purchased when a restaurant was closing years ago. Good quality dishes for very cheap, and we use them all the time. But when Patricia moved in years ago, she brought dishes as well, and now we have several too many.
Don't get me started on the coffee mugs. Too late. I just did. We have too many of those as well. I don't know about you, but everyone has his/her favourite coffee mug, and uses it until it falls apart before using another one. We use five or six of the mugs at the most, and wash them and redeploy them.
We are also getting rid of an electric can opener. I had one for many years when I was renting an apartment on Green Street in Halifax because as a left-handed person, I had a helluva hard time using a manual can opener. But I finally found a manual can opener I can use with only a modicum of difficulty and use that. I had forgotten I still owned an electric can opener, and it is going in the pile, too.
Have I ever told you about a comic book story I read when I was nine or so? It was in one of those old Marvel comics that reprinted their horror stories from the 1950's, reproduced in a very poor manner. Maybe the book was called "Beware". I don't remember. But the story is about a guy who hears about an impending nuclear incident or some calamity. Today, he would be called a "prepper", but back then, he is just a crazy person who designs a shelter for himself to be protected from this emergency.
He stocks his shelter with every possible provision and locks himself inside, secure that he will outlive all the dummies who did not prepare themselves the way he did. The story's kicker? He realizes in the last panel that he neglected to pack away a can opener or two. I am guessing he dies by starvation, off panel.
Ever since I read that story all those years ago, I have made sure that wherever I go, I have a can opener or two within easy reach, even if I don't have any canned goods within easy reach. I always had at least one can opener at work, even though one could readily locate a can opener in the kitchen. I ended up with two or maybe even three can openers in a desk drawer, keeping in mind that old comic book story and the cardinal rule from grade school that one should always have two pencils on hand, in case the lead breaks on one of them. (I usually had three in case some wiseacre didn't abide by that rule and needed to borrow one of my pencils. Or can openers.)
I think we got rid of one of those can openers last year, but I fought like hell to keep another one of them here to go along with the red can opener that Patricia favours, which I find to be a never ending source of frustration to use, so when she turns her back, I dig out the one I prefer and use that instead.
We are keeping the manual can openers. We. Just. Are.
And now you know why.
Sorry you asked?
Tomorrow will be more of what we did today. Deciding whether to donate 40 spoons, or 14 forks, or 18 butter knives. Because we are retired, and we can.
You understand.
I think I will turn in. Thinking about utensils and can openers so tires one.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
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