Running On Fumes

 I made it back from Dreamforce safely in one piece.   It was a surreal experience being there and seeing the sea of folks in attendance.   I worked three different shifts during my time there.   They were long but I pushed through each of them.   For the most part they were fun, even though there was one shift if I had to do it over again I would not choose.   My fellow volunteers in that shift were extremely rude and made me feel unwelcome.   The only thing that got me through it were a couple of nice guys from other booths nearby that took pity on me and came to talk to me and made me more comfortable.   To top it off one of those volunteers wanted me to snap a group picture of them.   After I took the photo, a customer expressed how it was terrible that I made to be left out of the photo.   At first I was trying to diffuse him but the customer was right.   He saw what they did was wrong and wanted to speak up on it.   The final kicker was that two of the folks came up and proceeded to stand by me and talk to each other without even acknowledging I was there.   Luckily it was quitting time and I just rolled my eyes and walked away.  I was glad that nightmare was over.

My hotel was about an hour away from the Moscone Convention Center where Dreamforce was being held.   Day 1 I took the shuttle to the airport and then the BART from the airport to a stop near the convention.   Day 2 I actually had a good Samaritan take me there via his Uber free of charge.   Day 3 I got my own Lyft to go to the event.

It took me some time to figure out where my manager and my other teammates were at different points of the conference.   At the end of each conference day we commuted back to our local office.   On the first night there was an afterparty event not far from the convention center.   My co-workers and I danced the evening away.  I hadn't danced like that in years and I felt every bit of body ache the next two days.

The second night there was a concert at the Oracle Park stadium headlined by the artist Pink.   The crowd was insane though so it was hard to really enjoy it but it was nice to see her perform.   We left a little early to try and beat the crowd though a lot of folks opted to do the same.

The third night my manager's boss hosted a dinner at his family's home outside of Oakland, CA.   It was a nice estate that of course I had to look up on Zillow.    It's current net worth was around $3.7 million dollars.   Someone's living large.

Needless to say with all the late nights, I literally was getting about 3 hours of sleep.   By the third day I felt myself getting a cold.   By the time I got home Friday I had a sore throat and spent the weekend trying to recover from it.

In health news I was happy to see that my PSA and A1C numbers were pretty good.   I also visited the dentist in recent weeks and unfortunately they found a huge cavity in my lower right molar which required a crown.   It took a few visits but I had the crown placed earlier this week.   Unfortunately I have extreme sensitivity in that area when drinking something cold.   But I'm hoping it'll get better.  I have to go back to the dentist again mid-October to repair some old fillings in my lower right jaw that have worn out.   It's my first time since 2020 that I've been to the dentist so I was overdue.

Dom and I have plans to go to Reston, VA for a doll convention he wanted to go to late October.   Eugene also wanted me to visit him in October to watch the new Joker movie that's coming out.   I'll have to see if I'm able to or not.

Dreamforce 24 Bound

 Remember my upcoming work trip in San Francisco I briefly mentioned?   The time is quickly approaching for my flight and I need to pack still.   I will be attending none other than Salesforce's annual Dreamforce conference.    The conference promises to be the largest AI event in the world.   

At my company there's been a push to learn more about AI since some of our customers may have cases related to it.    In relation to the conference my manager mentioned that a few folks may be nominated to attend the conference (all expenses paid).    Imagine my shock when she told me that I would be attending.

But since I would be attending free of charge (well after paying and getting reimbursed), it was expected that I would be volunteering at a few stations and interacting with users of Salesforce.   I will admit the thought of having to do facetime with users is a bit intimidating.   But attending the conference is a once in a lifetime event so I'm ready to take it all in.

So the last time I was in San Francisco was in 2018 when I traveled there for a project at the aviation firm I consulted for.   I wondered why I attended that since my contract was ending less than two weeks afterwards but I went with it.    Like I had a choice...LOL.

San Francisco as a whole seems to be on a huge decline.   It's become more expensive to live there and there's stories of people that have jobs but they're living in their cars because housing prices are outrageous.   The news stories paint San Francisco as a crime-ridden, homeless, and drug addicted oasis.   I will admit the thought of visiting the city is a bit intimidating.

I don't remember feeling that way when I visited in 2014 and twice in 2018 (Dom and I were there together during my first visit staying at one of his friend's home).   I actually do remember my favorite show Half & Half being based in San Francisco and there was an episode where a guy Mona dated was living in his car even though he supposedly had a good job.  That was back in 2003 or 2004.   So San Francisco woes is nothing new.    There was even talk at one point of Salesforce moving their annual Dreamforce conference to a different city due to the huge homeless and drug problem the city has.   Part of the concern was attendees feeling unsafe while in the city.   But in the end Salesforce decided to continue to have their annual event in San Francisco.

So it'll be interesting to see how the city has changed since my last visit.   The plan for me is to work downtown Chicago for most of the day with my luggage in-tact and then take the CTA to O'hare airport so I don't have to pay for parking.   My flight leaves Monday evening and I return to Chicago on Friday afternoon.

Speaking of paying for items, I got my first ever official corporate credit card.   I never had a corporate card at any of my other jobs.    But it was felt to better track expenses associated with my travel and stay in San Francisco that it would make sense to have a card.    I'm glad I have it too since the hotel cost alone is over $1500.   I wasn't relishing putting that on my personal credit card.    Once I head back the plan is to reimburse all expenses associated with the trip so I can pay off the corporate card.

I'm nervous of course but I am looking forward to this next adventure.

The Help

 

I had an interesting encounter yesterday after a rare opportunity to run and grab lunch.   With my line of work, it's hard sometimes to find time to tear away from support issues especially when we have some of the most demanding customers at times.   

So why did I feel like "The Help"?  In going to my office, which is in a downtown high rise building, there are "doormen" who act as watchers before you get in.   Then once you're inside there's a couple stations of front desk workers you have to get by.   Then you have to scan your badge in the turnstile before you can get to the elevators where you have to scan your badge one more time to select your floor.

Working in downtown Chicago is definitely different from working in the Chicago burbs.  In the burbs though I definitely needed my car.   I believe I may have had to scan my ID at the front gate before parking and then scan it once more to get in the building.   It is nice that I don't have to worry about driving to work.

So anyway I decided to pick up lunch to bring back to the office.  I walked to the Ogilvie Train Station which is home to a French Market and other food vendors.   It's a cool area where you can order food and either eat there or take it back to the office.   I had a customer meeting within the hour so I opted to take the food back with me.

I ordered two mini-pot pies (ironic since I'm using Octavia Spencer's photo from The Help carrying her famous "chocolate" pie...LOL) from one of the vendors.   I stopped at another one to pick up some bubble tea.   So my pies were placed in a plastic brown bag and I decided not to pierce the bubble tea with my straw.   I'm walking back and make my way back to my high rise when one of the doormen shouts at me that I'm going in the wrong way.   The doorman whom I've seen before isn't the nicest person either.   There's another one that always takes the time to say good morning as folks enter.   This guy skulks to the side.    He could be socially awkward I suppose.

So he's telling me I need to go through the delivery entry.  I was taken aback but quickly told him that I work in the building.   A second doorman who was different from the one that always greets everyone tried to cover it up by saying he himself was newer.   I guess I can't expect them to remember everyone as there's 1000's of folks that go in and out.   But I literally left the building less than an hour before.   I do think the food in the bag and my unopened drink may have thrown him off.   Plus I was dressed casual.   But that made for an awkward moment.

It doesn't help that the doorman in question was white.   He's actually the only white doorman as well.   I don't think I was stopped because it was race related.    But it adds a potential layer of complexity to the issue.   Anyway it definitely gave me pause.   I may have also had my ID in my pocket.   I'll have to remember to keep it outside my pocket when walking towards the building next time.

Busy Thursday

 This past Thursday found Dom and I on the road again back to Shipshewana, IN.   This time we were going to see a performance by Dom's favorite singer Sandi Patty.   The last time we saw her perform was in 2016 at a venue in Evansville, IN.   I even got a package at that time where we got to see her backstage and take a quick photo.    We had some other plans while in Shipshewana that included stopping at the local grocer there and picking up some frozen goods like their peppered bacon, some boneless chicken breast, and other jellies and jams.

But before heading there we both had errands we needed to do that morning.   I had fasted the night before because I was heading to a lab to draw some blood for various tests including a PSA test that I had wanted to do last year.   Dom needed to take his minivan to a local repair shop to fix the Air Conditioner.   He didn't get paid till Friday so needed me to stay nearby.   

The last time I got blood work done at the specific lab I went to, it took almost two hours before I was done.   So I anticipated it taking just as long.   The plan was for Dom to head over there once I'm close to being done and then I could meet him there.    But you know what they say about plans...LOL.

I did wind up finishing earlier than planned.  While I was in that part of town, I wanted to run a couple more errands.    I needed to get my tires checked to make sure they had enough air before the trip to Shipshewana and my upcoming trip to Detroit (which I'm heading to in another hour after posting this entry).   In addition I needed to get a new toilet seat.   I had just gotten a new seat two or three months ago and the seat decided to crack under pressure when I sat on it.   I've never had a seat crack before.   I know I'm heavier these days but that was a shock.   Granted Dom is a bigger guy himself and of course had sat on it as well.   But it chose to crack when I sat on it...LOL.

Both errands were done and I got home by a little after 9:30am.   I got home and Dom made breakfast for us to enjoy.   Then around 10:30 he quickly put some clothes to get ready for us to head to the repair shop.   The owner of the shop said the repair would take 45 minutes.  Two hours later it was finally done.   We headed back home and Dom needed 30 minutes to shower and freshen up for the trip to Shipshewana.

So we got there around 3:30 PM their time.   I had thought of us doing the grocery stuff first but both of us were hungry by the time we got there so instead ate their famous Blue Gate Restaurant.  We thankfully were seated pretty quickly.   Dinner lasted about an hour.   I decided to check out the restaurant shop while Dom went to use the restroom which takes him a lot longer these days.   He wanted to meet me in the restaurant shop afterwards but since I knew he would take a while, I wound up completing my small purchase, which included some zucchini bread and black raspberry jam.   Yes apparently black raspberries are a thing.   I learned that from Dom a few years back. 

So I waited till Dom was finished and then we headed to Yoder's Meat & Cheese.   By the time we got there it was close to 5pm.   Next door to Yoder's was the Red Barn Shops.   I wanted to check out their tea store to see if they had any Avocado Leaf tea (my latest health kick obsession...LOL).   I decided to walk to the Red Barn Shops while Dom went to Yoder's.    It wasn't long before I found out that the particular tea shop I wanted to go to was closed.   So I left and went back to Yoder's.   I saw the "Closed" sign on the door and wondered where Dom was.   He was waiting inside and directed me to come in.   The store manager was nice enough to let us quickly shop for our items.   Thank goodness too since we had the freezer packs all ready for our haul.   It was a bit of a rush so we didn't have as much time to think about our purchases.   But thankfully we did make some selections.   After paying for our items the store manager escorted us out before locking up.   He asked Dom about the concert we were going to and Dom shared the details.   We both couldn't help but notice how handsome the store manager was.   We definitely wouldn't have minded some three-way action...LOL.

We got to the concert hall about 30 minutes before the show.   There were two other acts that would also be performing.   The opening act was a gospel group called High Road.   Dom and I had seats near the front row since I know he is a big Sandi Patty fan.    So we had a great view of the concert though really there aren't any bad seats.   Overall we both enjoyed High Road.   Of course Sandi Patty was a hit as well.   We got to listen to the other group called The Hoppers that would be coming out to perform after Sandi Patty.   One of the singers looked like a cross between Brendan Fraser and Tom Arnold.   But we opted to leave after Sandi Patty since we had a two hour trip back and I wasn't sure if I was going to the office or not.   Dom had thought about going back to work Friday himself but quickly decided to take that day off.   I also decided to work from home.    Our time-off apparently doesn't count as an office day so I'll have to work 4 days in the office either next week or the week after that.   Fun...LOL.

So after I post this I'll be getting ready to head to Detroit.  My last time visiting my sisters was during Christmas.   It'll be good to see them once more.   The suckiest part is the drive which takes a little over 4 hours (though it takes me slightly longer since I usually make a pitstop at Firekeepers..LOL).   It used to take longer though when I lived in the northwest burbs of Illinois so I am saving a little time.

Streaming Financials

Originally when we started going to streaming services years ago, the idea was to "cut the cord" from expensive ass Comcast cable.   Cable fees have gone up while the quality and choice of shows to watch have gone down.    But sadly the streaming service fees have gone up as well.   I remember Hulu was like $14 a month years back.   Then when I switched the card I used for paying Hulu, I found the price has gone up to $21 a month.    

Then earlier this year, Hulu and Disney merged.  I was then paying $29 a month for Hulu.  Dom insisted on getting Disney which he remembers getting a promotion price of $5.99.    He now is paying $16 a month for Disney.   We've been wanting to cancel both services for a while and then merging it into one service since now Hulu/Disney has a bundle that is starting around $16.   I just realized that I was paying the $29 yesterday.    One thing about automatic payments is that it's in a "set it and forget it" mode.   So I wasn't really thinking about until I was recently reviewing my credit card statement.   I then looked historically at my statements and saw how Hulu creeped from $20 in 2018 (the earliest I started paying for it on that card) to the $29 I'm paying now.    I do remember paying $14 when I first had it but have no receipts to prove that other than my faulty memory.

Sally has been nice enough to add me to her Max streaming account which gave me the chance to catch up on Sex & The City, Lovecraft Country, Insecure, Gilded Age, and Big Bang Theory (well Dom forced me to watch that one and it grew on me...LOL).   But in recent days Spectrum TV which is apparently a Cable Provider made changes where it's now forcing me to provide a "cable provider" before I can watch anything on Max.   Basically I can still see all the Max selections but if I want to watch anything I'll have to connect it to a "cable provider".   

Dom has been wanting me to get away from mooching it off Sally.   I didn't mind since I've helped Sally a lot financially myself over the years.    But apparently there's a new bundle with Hulu/Disney/Max that is the same $16 a month as their Hulu/Disney bundle.  So it probably is time for me to cut the Sally Max cord (LOL).   

My only question is when will Hulu/Disney/Max start creeping the fees on that one.   I'm sure they'll also start putting ADs during programming as well.  Not to mention they may pull an Amazon Prime and offer buy/rent options to watch certain shows.  But it seems getting this newest bundle may be the temporary fix to increasing streaming costs that we would need.   So I finally cancelled both Hulu and Disney on 08/17.   Our last day for Hulu is 08/28 and Disney's last day is 09/16 since Dom just paid the monthly Disney fee.    The plan is to sign under the new Hulu/Disney/Max bundle on 09/28.

Since I was looking at my historical credit card statements, I was curious to review them to see how much in interest fees I've been paying over the years.    I was only able to track them on one of my cards.   It was sobering to see how the interest fees stacked up.   As much as I bitched over the years with the fees we had to pay whenever Dom overdrawn on our joint account, those didn't come close to the amount of money I've paid in credit card interest fees since I was unable to pay my balance in full.

Things started getting dire in 2017.   I was close to getting my cards paid off but then a couple unplanned expenses and later my job being cut led me down the road to interest fee hell.

For my primary credit card I was able to track back to 2017, my highest balance was $30,193.54 in November 2021.   My secondary card I believe my highest was somewhere around $15,000.    So I had over $45K in credit card debt I was dealing with.

For my primary card, my interest fees by year were as followed:

2017 - $  856.17

2018 - $1244.08

2019 - $1681.36

2020 - $3191.88

2021 - $4327.64

2022 - $3066.47

2023 - $  712.38

2024 - $      0.00

Total interest fees: $15,079.98

Can you believe my total interest fees being paid over the last seven years exceeded my max credit card balance of my secondary card.    For the secondary card I will guess based on my total fees on the primary that my total interest there was between $6,000 and $7,000.   So over $22,000 in interest fees estimated for both of my cards.   I did pay off the secondary card completely in June 2022 so I stopped paying interest there starting in July 2022.

I had my temporary contract job from 03/2018 - 09/2018 which helped slow the interest fee increase a little bit but I still was carrying a $10K-ish credit card balance on my primary.   Then I was unemployed for a bit until I took my low-paying Amazon Warehouse job in May 2019.   You can see too that my interest fees paid more than doubled between 2019 and 2020.   That was because I was unable to put any dent on my credit cards but yet I still had things that I needed to purchase.   I would pay the minimum amount and maybe scrape an extra hundred (until it got that I could only pay the minimum) only to have the interest fees and purchases for that month eat it up.  So effectively it was like I wasn't paying anything.

Things of course started turning around in December 2021 when I decided to take $90,000 out of my 401-K.   I was blessed in that I didn't have to dip into my 401-K prior to that.  I remember Sally pretty much depleting her 401-K when she lost her job in 2007.   Thankfully I still have a good amount of my 401-K in-tact (recent stock price fluctuations aside).    Out of the $90,000, I had to pay close to $40,000 in penalty fees for early withdrawal and taxes.

Financial advisors keep saying not to touch your 401-K due to the penalties and taxes.   But I was glad I did it.   It gave me the boost I needed to eventually knock out my credit debt and avoid the interest fees I've been giving to the credit card companies.   

I was hopeful that I would find a better paying job in 2022 so it made sense for me to do the 401-K withdrawal in Dec 2021 so it would count as 2021 income and not 2022 income.   I was blessed that I didn't have to wait too long in 2022 until I was blessed with my present job.   And that's where I started the road to getting both of my credit cards paid off.   

Originally I had planned to use most of the remaining $50K to knock out both cards.  But since I got the job quicker than expected, I just used about half of the $50k to pay down my cards and then put the rest into a low-interest savings account.  I decided to just pay $3000 extra every month from my salary.

My interest fees in 2023 went below what I paid in 2017.   It feels so good seeing in print now the $0 in interest fees I paid in 2024.   The credit card companies got enough money out of me over the years.   I'm hoping I can still be able to pay off my monthly credit card bills to avoid paying any fees.   I try to keep my credit card balance under $3000.   This month unfortunately it looks like I'll be $200 over.   I had a couple unplanned expenses including one for a $623 plane ticket to San Francisco for a work conference I'll be participating in.   Thankfully I will be getting reimbursed for that one.   But I have enough savings to pay off my credit card balance this month.

It is interesting seeing my credit card history.  It's sobering seeing how much in interest I paid but at the same time it makes me happy to see how far I've come.   It reminds me that even if sometimes it seems my road to financial independence is a slow one, I am making a dent and bringing myself closer to that eventuality.   

Gimme 3 NOW!

 The place where I currently work has been continuing to crack the whip on returning employees back to the office.   A few months back upper management has been making noise about wanting folks to return to the office 3 days a week.   We were told we wouldn't have to worry about that until Oct 1st.   But apparently they want us to start coming back to the office 3 days a week effective now.

I was having my weekly one-on-one with my manager while in the office (well me in Chicago and she in Indianapolis...LOL).   She mentioned that her boss's boss pulled up a report on her team and it said that the average office rate for her team was 1.3 days.   As a result she was told that we have to effective immediately go into the office 3 days a week.   

I have been going in twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and now I have to add a third day to the mix.   My plan is to go in Wednesday this week and then I think I'll replace Wednesday with Monday go forward.   Though I may alternate between Monday and Wednesday depending on life circumstances.  I figure Mondays are crappy anyway so might as well be in the office.

But man does this blow.  I'm trying not to complain because well better this than Amazon.   At least too most of the time I can take the train and walk to the office.   The walking does give me some much needed exercise.

One of the things they say coming in the office is supposed to do is provide more team collaboration.   But in my case, almost all my immediate team is in Indianapolis so not sure what kind of collaborating I'm suppose to do since my only mode of communication with my team is via instant messaging.   If I say that though I don't want them then saying I should commute to Indianapolis.   They don't pay when I commute there now and they don't pay if I have to stay at a hotel.   I'm sure they won't pay either if it's mandated I go to Indianapolis instead.  There are a few other folks in the same circumstance living in offices near Atlanta and Boston respectively.   There are also some grandfathered folks that were hired in as fully remote employees that are not impacted.   Lucky bastards...LOL.

I have a feeling that they will push for everyone to come back 5 days a week.   There are another group of employees that are considered full office employees that are expected to come in 4-5 days a week starting Oct 1st.   Unless some of them are in an unlucky team where their average was 2.6 times a week so they have to start coming in 4-5 days immediately.

To top it off my manager had to throw in concerns from her boss that the company may be looking to do another round of layoffs.   That's so crazy to me since they've been hiring recently though most of it has been in Mexico City, Mexico where I imagine the salaries are a lot cheaper.   So supposedly going three days a week is supposed to potentially keep us off the layoff chopping block.   Except I know it doesn't work that way.    You could kill yourself to produce and they may still lay you off because you're costing the company too much to keep you.   Man, Blackberry, I need your stock to hit $15 now.  If only it worked that way...LOL.

It's so strange that except for Amazon (where I had to go to the warehouse since items aren't picking or packing remotely), I used to go in the office 5 days a week ages ago.   But thinking of going 3 days now is a major pain.   I definitely had to do the 5 days during my brief consulting role that I had for a few months in 2018.   As humans we are adaptable and I'm sure I'll get through this as painful as it is thinking about it now.    Besides as I said before, it beats the alternative.

Sally's Furbaby

 Sally reached out to me Friday afternoon and wanted to share some news.   Her long-time furbaby Kitty is unwell.   His appetite hasn't been great and she said that he's had a hard time pooping.   He's also been hiding under the bed a lot which is usually a sign that the pet is feeling like it may be the end.

I was recalling the day Sally first went to get her Kitty.    Actually prior to that she invited me along to go to the local humane society to look at some different pets.   I remember it was something about Kitty that caught Sally's attention.    She didn't see any other cats that caught her eye so her mind was made up that she had to have him.

The main reason she wanted a cat was because she had a rat problem at the time in the complex where she was living.    The idea was that the smell of a cat may drive the rats away.   I don't remember Kitty particularly helping in that department.    What I do remember is how much love he bought into Sally's life.   

I was there during his first days.  This was around 2009 or 2010.   I waited at Sally's apartment while she went to pick him up from the Humane Society.   He was a bit antsy so I held the makeshift cage he was held in while Sally went and opened the door to her apartment.   For the first day or so she kept him in the small bathroom, the idea being that Kitty would get used to that small area and then work his way to the rest of the house.

He escaped the bathroom by Day 2 and it wasn't long before he adapted to his new surroundings.  He followed Sally when she moved to Alabama for a new job.   Beforehand he made a pitstop in Detroit staying at her Mom's place for a couple months.

He was around 4 or 5 years old when she got Kitty.  So now he's around 18 years old which is an excellent age for a cat to reach.   He's in the high range of a cat's average lifespan.  But still it is so sad to hear the news.   I do hope that he somehow pulls through and gets past his illness.   The vet gave him some kind of probiotic that's supposed to be a Hail Mary to see if it helps or not.   But Sally is preparing for the worst.   She may have to make the decision to put him down which will not be easy.  I'm keeping them both in my thoughts and prayers.   It's definitely not an easy thing.   Both of my sisters also lost their furbabies a few years back.   They have other furbabies now.   I've never had a furbaby of my own but I can only imagine the pain of losing a loved one.   I've of course experienced that with my own parents and it would be no different with a pet.   I should know Kitty's fate by early next week.   Here's hoping for the best.