Mrs ERJ must take a personal day from work so she can shepherd the paperwork through the retirement department. I am on the hook to look through the safe(s) to find our marriage certificate and my birth certificate. They use actuarial data to determine survivor benefits and need to know who old I am....I guess.
My retirement department told me that I needed to get notarized documents, signed by my wife if I chose anything but the corporate defaults. A later telephone conversation with my "case manager" nullified that requirement when they figured out that I wanted to increase my wife's survivor benefits. I imagine that earlier retirees had cut the survivor benefits to zero to increase their life style, figuring that what happened afterward was their wife's problem. And you can bet their widow had a problem with it.
The other big thing that is happening is that I am taking Kubota and my oldest daughter to the Meijer's Sculpture garden and then on to Lake Michigan. Kubota's class is going to Cedar Point (an amusement park) as a class trip. Kubota was not eligible to go. So rather than have him go to school and mope around all day, I will take him for a little bit of culturing up and a bit of fun.
I am concerned about the Cavalier. I shredded one of the ribs on the serpentine belt the day I took Belladonna to Team States in Linden. Those things make a bunch of noise as they come apart. The belt now has four ribs instead of five ribs. I have a spare belt but do not look forward to possibly having to change it beside the freeway. The last time I changed it I really struggled. I might be a little bit smarter about how to do it and the belt might be a little bit longer and more flexible in the warmth. If I had any brains I would have changed it yesterday.
I plan to take many pictures. One of the revelation has been that blogging costs money. I have worn out two SD card readers and a digital camera. The door that accesses the batteries and SD card on the camera will not stay shut. It is currently Executive Ordered with three rubber bands to hold it all together.
http://rougeriverworkshop.blogspot.com/2011/05/serpentine-belt-replacement.html
ReplyDeleteHello Tom:
DeleteThank-you for the link!
My 2000 Cavalier has very little clearance between the idler pulley and the motor rail. My, based on earlier skinned knuckles, is to jack up the vehicle, remove the right front wheel, loop webbing around the idler pulley (my belt in an emergency), tie the webbing down low enough that I can stick my foot through it....and then push down to depress the idler pulley. Once I get the last loop in place (over the alternator pulley) I can either undo my belt or cut the webbing close to the idler pulley. The only downsides I can see are getting whacked by passing traffic, the possible instability of the car teetering on the jack.....or my pants falling down in public. One advantage of getting old is that nobody would look, anyway.
Again, thanks for writing.
But you're having fun, right??? :-)
ReplyDeleteD----A----M----N----E----D Straight.
Delete:-) GOOD!
Delete