One Last Helping of Chop Suey

   This past Friday, I had two doctor's appointments. The first one was with an orthopedist regarding my knees. An earlier x-ray revealed that both knees are arthritic. The doctor told me that the cushions between my leg bones and between the kneecap and joint are worn thin and my bones are rubbing directly against each other. The term she used was remodeling. I got steroid injections in both knees, which she told me would elevate my blood glucose level. She wasn't kidding. When I checked my blood glucose level the next morning, the meter didn't give me a number, it just said HI. That put it over 500 mg/dl. I checked it again at around midnight and it was still around 475.

  While my eyes haven't suffered any damage as a result of my diabetes, the cataract in my right eye is slowly getting worse and affecting how well I see out of it. I have an appointment with another eye doctor in December where we're going to discuss the possibility of having cataract surgery. That will change the lens prescription for my right eye quite a bit, so I'll have to get new glasses.

  I've finally transferred all my gaming material onto the SD card of my Galaxy Tab a6. I've installed a PDF and document reading app on my tablet so I can read the files. Some of the files had to be modified because certain file types like rich text files and TIFFs aren't readable by the app. Now I can bring less books with me when I go gaming. I also have easy access to all my errata files. The internal storage space on the tablet is very low. I've moved what apps I could onto the SD card, and I periodically have to delete cached and unnecessary data from it in order to perform updates. Right now, I can use the tablet to access all my email accounts, listen to music, watch YouTube, look up information on Wikipedia and surf the net.

  I've placed my final Cthulhu Wars order with The Game Steward. This order consists of Dire Azathoth, Dire Cthulhu and all the remaining alternate game boards for Cthulhu Wars (Yuggoth, Dreamlands, Library of Celaeno, Primeval and Shaggai) in both 3-5 player and 6-8 player versions. With the exception of a few crossovers from other games, I'll eventually have everything currently available for Cthulhu Wars. In the course of about two years, I've spent over $1,000 putting all this together.

  I had to order a three pack of A to micro-B USB cables for my Tab a6. The original cable's micro-B plug has cracked in two places. I glued those pieces back on, but now the insulation by that plug has cracked revealing the wiring underneath. I couldn't risk further cable damage possibly damaging my tablet or battery. I've already replaced the battery twice.

  I've gone on eBay and ordered a military canteen cup stove, rubber style canteen cup lid and an American style mess kit to add to my military canteen, cup and pouch set. While I'm never been camping, I was contemplating creating a small portable cooking set up that I could occasionally use to cook a quick outdoor meal. I might add more to it over time.

The Financial Report

   The RAV 4 is finally sold. An inspector for the buyer came out a few days ago and looked over the vehicle. He checked the inside and outside of the car and took a bunch of pictures before he left. That coupled with the CarFax report lowered their initial offer of $11,400 to $9,000. The car has been involved in three accidents: one minor, one moderate and one severe. I accepted their offer and uploaded pics of the front and back of the title, registration and front and back of my license to them. They emailed a FedEx label to me so I could ship the signed title to their office in Georgia. The title should get to them sometime later today. Once they have the title in their possession, they will electronically transfer the $9,000 into my account. Arrangements will then be made to have them pick up the RAV 4.

  My federal refund will be in my account on the 13th. It dropped from $3,405 to $2,005. I think the reason for the drop had to do with the third stimulus payment. Hopefully, later this week, I'll have $11,005 in the bank. I'm going to shunt $1,000 into my Health Savings account and about $1,000 to $1,500 will be used to pay down my credit card. Other bills due this month will be paid as well. I do plan to indulge myself a little bit. I'm going to buy the equipment guide for Twilight 2013 and a bunch of additional expansions for Cthulhu Wars like Dire Azathoth, Dire Cthulhu, the other game maps like Shaggai, Library of Celaeno, Dreamlands etc. and the 6-8 player maps for each. The rest of the money will stay in the account. I'm hoping that the amount of money I make on a monthly basis will be more than what I pay out in bills per month. I want to keep paying down my credit card and building up my savings so I can go to Gen Con next year.

Chop Suey Part 2 (More Odds & Ends)

  I'm currently trying to sell my Rav 4. One place has offered a little over $11,000 for the car. Another place has offered around $4,600. If the first place wants the car and can come pick it up, I'll sell it to them. The Crit Effect & Fright Effect dice sets have achieved their funding goal. They have 14 more days to collect more money and unlock stretch goals. The GoDice Kickstarter orders are now locked.

  My federal refund is still being processed. This waiting is getting to be a pain in the ass. If I can get my refund plus sell the Rav 4 for $11,000, I'd have plenty of money to not only take care of some bills, but I could also shunt some money into my HSA, Simple and Serve accounts.

  I need to get my Tab A6 fixed again. The back has partially popped off and I can't get it fastened back in place. It looks like the new battery has swelled up just like the last one did. I want to use this tablet for gaming. I've installed a 200Gb mini-SD card in the unit and I want to copy all my gaming book PDFs onto it. That plus a program that can read PDFs and other types of text files will allow me access to my entire gaming book PDF collection without having to use my laptop. I'll have a small, portable and easy to access library that I can take with me when I game.

  They've hired some new people at work and another employee in my department is leaving. I'm hoping that if we get more people in my department, I'll start getting early shifts again. I'm getting tired of closing all the time. That's all for now.