Well, dear readers, let’s just get yesterday done with because it was pretty much a disaster from the time I got up until the time I went to dinner, after which I calmed down a little. To make a long story long, here is the Reader’s Digest version. Payment two wasn’t here. I wrote, I called, no one would respond and finally my adjuster did and said the woman who processes didn’t get it and it had to be sent again. I’m leaving out hours upon hours of anxiety, of course. I was also out of the house until eleven-thirty – light breakfast and then last of the Do shopping at Gelson’s. And after all the e-mails and the calls and the frustrations and the anxiety, the payment finally arrives, but after everyone is gone. I click on the link, just like before, it tells me it will send an access code to my e-mail, just like before, I click send. Nothing. I refresh and refresh the e-mail. Nothing. I go directly to AOL to make sure it’s not Mac Mail screwing up. Nothing. I click on resend code. Nothing. I refresh and refresh. Nothing. I click on resend code again. Nothing. I refresh and refresh. I click on resend code again and it locks me out and tells me I’ll get a check in seven to ten days. Well, as you might imagine, I went completely berserk, with the last few days and today all boiling over. I sent texts to the adjuster and the supervisor, left the adjuster a panic-ridden e-mail. I have no idea if they’re even working tomorrow. I told both that I cannot wait seven to ten days for the payment and begged them to please fix it and send me a new link and to please make sure the access code thing is working. Then I suddenly thought, what if it went to spam, why didn’t I check there? So, I went to spam. Nothing. Which means their system was not working or was malfunctioning. I’m praying that when I get up in the morning this gets solved in the only way that will get me through. If not, well, it will be the worst Christmas in my entire history. I’m tired of asking for vibes and xylophones – they’ve mostly worked and I’m very appreciative of those who send them, but if you have any left, I won’t refuse them. A couple of nice folks calmed me down and I had a very nice dinner with the Wechters at Hugo’s.
After dinner, we came back here, and David brought some videos from the early 1990s that we wrote and he directed for the Playboy channel. He told me I starred in all but a couple. Well, I had no memory of doing them or writing them, other than a vague sense that maybe I had. Well, first off, they’re pretty amusing. Second off, I do star in all but a few and I’m so thin and wear clothes so well, so thank you pandemic for the fifty Orson Welles-like pounds. Much appreciated. Not. I look okay, there’s a lot of nudity but not from me, and I did laugh at a few things. I had no memory at all of the locations or the gals in them, but I must say that a couple of them were actually pretty talented in addition to being completely free about the nude stuff. So, that was fun.
Then I did a quick Zoom with Doug Haverty and Adryan Russ about their show – I’d been asked for notes and that’s what we discussed. Then I had to make the two batches of tuna pasta salad, which I just finished, and I have yet to even begin the chopping, dicing, and mincing. I’m really not in the mood, but I also really need to get that done, especially if they can fix the payment thing, which will then require a trip to the bank. Lordy, I hope they can fix it. And here we are.
Today, I’ll be up early to see if they can do anything for me, then I’ll get everything ready for the Do – chairs, cutlery, napkins, all that stuff. At noon, I’ll start the spaghetti sauce. Then it’s just watching the sauce, then getting ready and properly beautified, then making the pasta, and then we wait for the first arrivals. I’ll have photographs, for sure.
Tomorrow, the Darling Daughter comes, and we’ll eat then do our usual driving around and perhaps watching some fun LA as it was videos. She loves those. And then we’re into the final week of 2024.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up early to see if they can do anything for me and hopefully they’ll be able to fix this, I’ll get everything ready for the Do, at noon I’ll start the cooking of the sauce, I’ll watch it simmer throughout the day, I’ll get properly beautified, and then we have the Do. Today’s topic of discussion: What are you doing for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, ready to be rid of the day known as yesterday and ready for the Day of the Do.