~Tuesday~ I was grateful to be able to work from home today, as I could just roll out of bed at 9:00 and start working. That came in very andy after getting to bed at 4:15 last night.
At around noontime, my doorbell rang, and by the time I put on some pants and a t-shirt and got to the door, the FedEx lady was walking back toward her truck.
“Oh,” she said, returning with my Mac!
I didn’t open it, as I knew that if I did, I would have spent the rest of the day playing with it, and I had work I needed to get done.
At 3:00, I drove to the endodontic, Dr. Henry Hancock‘s office off Lake Boone Trail to have my $150 “eval” to see if I did indeed have an abscess and need a root canal. I had to fill out paperwork, since it was my first time there, and the lady at the front desk was pleasant.
The hygienist, however, I immediately didn’t like. (I’m so judgmental!) I made some comment about the back of the chair being uneven, and she neither empathized with me nor made an effort to adjust it.
“It’s sticking out a little more on this side,” I said looking back at it and her when she didn’t respond.
She had her back to my chair and didn’t turn around or anything, but just said, “Adjust it any way you want to.”
She took x-rays, which looked exactly like the ones Dr. Gover took on Thursday and supposedly sent over.
The soft-spoken doctor came in and after shaking hands, I looked him in the eye and said, “Please don’t do a root canal on my tooth if it doesn’t need one.”
I think he was a little taken aback by that, and said, “Of course I wouldn’t do anything unnecessary to your teeth.”
He did almost the exact same thing that Dr. Gover did on Thursday in terms of knocking on my teeth in the affected area, poking them, and putting cold on them to see what I did and did not feel.
The long and short of it is that he said the evidence is inconclusive. He’s not convinced I have an abscess up there. He thinks that dark area is just one of my sinuses.
He told me I can come back any time in the next three months if the pain comes back, and he’ll do a re-evaluation at no charge. I appreciated that.
Next I headed out to North Raleigh to meet with Nathan, my financial advisor. I got behind a car with this bumper sticker, which I characterized as “oddly specific,” on the left rear of the car the driver was driving under the speed limit.
NEVER SHAKE A BABY |
If I’d’ve been able to, I’d’ve run up there and slapped this one on the right side:
BUY A BMW AND DRIVE IT THIS SLOWLY |
I was way early for my 5:00 appointment with Nathan, arriving at just before 4:30. I read The Hunger Games, which I was happy to have the opportunity to do, while I waited.
Nathan and I discussed three strategies today:
- Moving a good chunk of change out of an annuity that I’m in and into my Strategic Portfolio Services (SPS) account. The annuity has done very well over the years, but I’ve been in it since 2000, and it it limited to about 60 funds that he can invest in within it, while the SPS account offers many, many more options that we can take advantage of to further diversify my portfolio.
- The pros and cons of changing the risk level I’m currently taking in three guaranteed accounts that I’m in. We left it that I’d be back in touch with him tomorrow about increasing the risk in one of them. He didn’t want me to make a decision right then, but to think about it, at least over night.
- An opportunity that will present itself in the near future to invest in some senior debt.
It’s always a pleasure meeting with Nathan, and today was no exception in spite of it being his 8th meeting today. Needless to say most of his clients are “concerned” about the current economic course of our country.
I stopped at the grocery store to get coffee, which I desperately needed, and I picked up some nice chicken breasts that were over 50% off.
At home, I put the chicken breasts in some Black Peppercorn marinade, and heated up the grill while they marinated for 15 minutes. I cooked those once they were ready, along with four turkey burgers.
I ate two of the burgers, and put all of the chicken in the fridge for later in the week.
I met Joe at the Caribou Coffee at Olde Raleigh Village at 8:00, and although I had my Mac in the trunk of my car, I still hadn’t opened the FedEx box it came in, and I didn’t bring it in.
I pretty much knew I wasn’t going to be able to enjoy it like I wanted to, as Joe and I usually end up talking for 85% or 90% of the time we’re there.
We left at 10:00 when they closed, and I drove home with a pillow in my back, which has got to go. I’ve got to find a way to get that seat back up from its reclined position.