I wrote most of this entry last week (1-14-2024 to 1-21-2024) but never got a chance to post it. So here it is, last week’s entry reporting to you one week late.
This week was a pretty bad week. A whole lot of negatives were coming my way from all different directions and the pressure was being felt. In hindsight, it was one of the worst weeks that I have had in a while. So here is the recap..
Last week I found out I would not be able to qualify for a mortgage because I took too many deductions on my 2022 taxes. The only way that I was told I’d be able to qualify would be by either finding a suitable co-borrower or by filing my 2023 taxes without putting any deductions. The problem with the latter is that I’ll owe the IRS a big chunk of change if I do that, and I won’t have enough money to cover the downpayment afterward. This puts me in a bit of trouble because one of my goals for 2024 was to purchase a house where I could make my permanent residence for a few years.
My plan to get around this was to add my stepdad as a co-borrower to acquire the house and to refinance him out of the mortgage within a couple of years. He owes me about 2400 dollars from a previous deal that we did before, and I thought that by waving this debt in exchange for this favor he would agree to go on the loan. Turns out he wasn’t having it. The last house deal that we did together did not go so well. So, for the time being, he wants nothing to do with any real estate deals. Fair enough.
He later came back to me towards the end of the week and said that he would CONSIDER being a co-borrower but only if we went 50/50 on the deal, and within a couple of years, I would have to pay him his equity on 50 percent of the market value less the mortgage. I must think this one through because, by the time I have to pay up, it is going to be a pretty hefty price that I’m going to have to pay him to keep the house. We’ll see what happens with this later.
School Spring Semester Starts
This past Tuesday was also the first day of the spring semester for mortuary school. Which means I had to drive a couple of hours to St. Petersburg for class. Some people talk to me as if this is a day off from work, but it’s really not. I have to wake up at 3:50 AM to make sure that I leave the house no later than 4:45 AM. If I leave any time later, I will end up getting stuck in the Tampa traffic, and that is no fun. Couple with the fact that I always end up going to bed around 11 PM, it makes for a gruesome drive that only makes the day worse once I’m standing for 3 hours trying to embalm a body and take in all the information the professor is spitting at me.
Work
Wednesday I was so backed up at work that I ended up working throughout the night and into the next day nonstop. The only sleep I got was a 30-minute nap around 1:30 AM. There were also a few incidents that happened that frustrated a few people, and many strings had to be pulled to resolve it. Eventually, the problem was solved, but it extended the day for everyone involved.
Thursday, while running on 30 minutes of sleep, I received quite a bit of attitude from some of the funeral directors. They are ungrateful… so ungrateful. I’m starting to get fed up, and I’m going to blow up soon. Everyone is going to get my two senses if that happens. In the meantime, my managers just keep telling me to keep calm and keep it professional. However, how am I supposed to keep it professional when the lines between business and personal are starting to get blurred? We are severely short-staffed, and the weight of the market feels like it is on my shoulders, yet I keep pushing to go above and beyond and these Funeral Directors have the balls to call and give me attitude. The same attitude that I know they wouldn’t dare to give me if we were in person. They act as if they can just plug me to the wall and I’m fully charged and ready to go in an hour. But I’m human and I function on sleep, food, and water. They need to show me some grace because I don’t see anybody else working 18-hour shifts consistently… In my case for Wednesday and Thursday, I think it was closer to 40 hours.
The case volume continued to increase, and I’m working myself down to the bone. Regardless, it doesn’t matter how many hours I put in because we still keep falling farther behind. I was really starting to feel helpless until I received some news on Friday evening. The company is going to fly people in to help me get caught up! The plan is that they are going to give me help for a month and a half to give us time to get fully staffed. This is awesome news because once we get caught up, I am hoping that I’ll be able to take a day off here and there to give my body some time to rest. The fatigue is real right now, mentally and physically. That was my silver lining this week.
The Balcony
I was not able to finish working on the balcony because it kept raining this week. I guess I’ll try again next week.
Insurance Lawsuit
The lawsuit that I have going on is still on my mind even though I did not hear anything from the attorney this week. I’ve discussed this with my parents and I think I’m just going to settle for what they offered. I’m still thinking about the situation because this is stressful right now. I hope to have made my mind up by next week.
Other Problems
Lastly, my car is still broken and at my parents’ house until my stepdad gets a chance to take it to his mechanic. He’s been busy and I have been as well, but I need to find some time to see what is wrong with my car because my mom’s car eats up way too much gas and that is eating into my pockets. I can’t afford to keep spending this much money. Now more than ever I need to be more frugal due to the big goals that I’m trying to achieve in 2024.. More on that to come.
Positives Today was a productive Saturday though. I went to work for a few hours and got a bit done. I also finished all my lessons for my pathology class and took all the quizzes. All I have left is the midterm and final exam. I want to finish this as soon as possible so I can start removing things off my plate. I’m hoping to take the midterm exam next week if I get some free time to study throughout the week. I also finished a couple of assignments for my other classes too, which will help me for the upcoming week’s schedule.