Downsizing and My Own Phone Line

As I have mentioned before, we are trying to downsize in anticipation of buying a smaller house and moving. We set our criteria for bedrooms at three when looking for houses, but I am seduced by the houses that have a fourth bedroom. We don't need it, but... it would be nice, especially if we have family or friends come to visit. Plus it would be a good place to keep some of the furniture we have now. I did say we are trying to downsize, which means, in my mind, getting rid of stuff that we don't need. Today I spent almost the entire morning carrying boxes of Christmas decorations from our attic to the first floor in anticipation of decorating the tree and finding out what we no longer want. There are 31 steps between the first floor and the attic and I must have made 20 trips, at least. That's 620 steps and 620 steps down, which must be the equivalent of climbing some national monument or other. Of course, when you're coming down a national monument you don't have to carry boxes.

So now I have filled pretty much our whole parlor with boxes and bags and this is just Christmas decorations, a fraction of what is stored in the attic. It's a big attic.

I know that whatever house we buy probably won't have a walk up attic, if it has an attic at all, so we must seriously get rid of stuff. We have been offering stuff to anyone who comes into the house, but the piles are dwindling very slowly. Do you suppose that no one is interested in the treasures of a lifetime that we have been carefully storing for all these years and that none of it is really worth anything?

On reflection it may seem a sad commentary that I am now seduced by a room. None of the ladies of my acquaintance need have any fear. I have in recent years been seduced by tools, boats, toy trains, musical instruments and garden tractors, but I now have an assortment of all of them, except a garden tractor. I don't have a garden tractor. In my current state of affairs, I am down to drooling over the four walls of an extra room. Sad, but true. I don't even know if I will get the extra room, but it is looking more and more attractive with each flight of stairs I ascend or descend.

I also mentioned in the title an extra phone line for me. I rarely get phone calls. When I do it is usual some recorded message reminding me of a doctor appointment or telling me that my prescription is ready. Yesterday, however, I decided to use the phone to initiate a call. First I had to wait my turn while others completed their telephonic business and then wait some more while additional business was conducted. I then got my chance, but not without attempted interruptions and concerns that I was not listening for call waiting for a return call that others were expecting. Never was a phone call so fraught with anxiety. And, what was it that was so important for me to use a phone? I had to call to sign up for a new Medicare Part D drug plan for the coming year. My old plan had raised its rate from about $15. a month to over $41. Now, I don't use the plan to get any drugs. The plan has never paid a penny on my behalf. Anything I take is in the form of generics which I get directly from a drug store cheaper than I could with a plan. I have the plan only so the government doesn't charge me a penalty for not having one. The process is a daunting one. First you speak to a lady who has to read to you all sorts of disclosures and then you are connected with a robot lady that asks a series of questions to determine if you understand what you're doing. You are admonished to answer "yes" or "no" clearly and distinctly and not to make any extraneous sounds as that may cause the system to boot you out. Heaven help us all. While this is going on, I am cringing in fear that call waiting will produce a signal or someone will come into the room and make a sound that the robot lady finds offensive and that she will then punish me by kicking me out and making me go through the whole process all over. Well, I only have to go through this once a year (and you can't do it online), so maybe I won't get a separate phone line just yet. I don't need a phone to be seduced either. I can go online to Craftsman tools or go onto Homestead.net to look at that fourth bedroom.