3 July 2008

I was telling Marilyn that I am now operating in life in a similar fashion to my Grandpa Ted Prescott when he retired in 1965.
Every month when he received his Social Security and Carpenter's Union pension checks, he and Grandma Myrtie went from place to place, in the old Ford, paying their bills in cash. That included the electric company (PG&E), the water company, the rent, the mortuary (for their burial plots) and the phone company. I never knew him to write a check, although he may have. I always thought that was an awful lot of effort.
Last week I went to what is called the State Grid (~5km) and paid, in advance, for about five months of electricity in cash. (I'll ride my bike next time, since I know where it is now.) Yesterday I rode my bike about 8km to the doctor's office to get our blood pressure medication. (They only issue one month's worth at a time because of the difficulty/uncertainty of getting shipments in from Hong Kong.) On the way back, I searched for and stopped at another place to pay, again in advance, for about 5-6 months of water. The gas meter lady will come to our place soon for cash. One of our high school kids makes extra money paying off everyone's phone bills for us each month for a slight fee, and then coming around to us for cash. I'm forgoing the mortuary stuff for the time being. ;-)
Life is simple here, but, in its own way, more complicated.
Later, y'all
In His Name,
Mark/Dad/Grandpa