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Small-time Urban Adventure
Sep. 1st, 2006 10:34 pmMy net worth went up again this month because everything went up except my vacation cash-out value. Yea!
I totally played hookie last night, not going to intermediate ballroom dance class. I was feeling exhausted (though I suspect that was more psychological than physical), grumpy, brainless, and unmotivated. So I just didn't go. I rested for a while. I played. I was productive. I went to bed early. Then this morning I was feeling good (happy and optimistic) right up until 11:00 am, in spite of everything. It was nice. By noon I had a headache.
I took ibuprofin and then decided to go on a little adventure. Mostly because I didn't think to bring a map with me, or a bus schedule, or the address of the place I was going to visit. So it was sort of like a walkabout, only with a goal and a time limit.
I decided to visit my broker (hee, hee, don't I sound so rich?) in person. By which I mean that I decided to visit the office of my discount brokerage instead of calling on the phone.
My first goal was to get on the first bus that came heading downtown. This bus turned out to be the 1M, which went just about directly from my office to the broker.
My second goal was to find the office. I knew it was 5-something S. Congress, thus between 5th and 6th streets. I also remembered incorrectly that the name was on the outside of the building. No, it's just a giant Bank of America building. Then I remembered it was some sort of suite. Suite 300? I jumped on the elevator.
However the elevator did not let people off at the third floor; it just skipped a bunch of the bottom floors. So I got off at the tenth floor and rode back down.
Then I found the elevator for floors one through nine and parking. It turns out that floors one through nine are parking. So I rode back down and wandered around the first floor.
And what do you know, there was Scottrade right there in Suite 130.
I asked about rolling my ERS (state pension plan from my last job) into an IRA account. I knew that I had to get their paperwork first, then contact the ERS folks. And I knew I had to roll the money into a regular IRA, but that I can then later convert it to a Roth IRA if I want to, which I do.
What I didn't know is how they keep the money separate from your non IRA money, say, after you've sold something and before you've bought something else. The answer is that you open a whole separate account, with a different account number and everything, as if you have multiple personalities. But then later you can link the two accounts so you can see them online at the same time.
My next plan was to catch the first bus I saw that was heading anywhere near campus. I jumped on my old friend, the 1M.
I heard two people asking embarrassing questions. First, at one stop, someone asked the driver if the bus went to the airport. (No, and it was going the opposite direction also.) Then he asked which bus did go to the airport, and then he asked where to catch that bus. I expect a driver to be an expert on his own route, but every route in the city? And all that personal service while sitting at a bus stop? Yeesh.
The second one was a guy who was riding on the bus already and pulled out his ear phones and asked me if there was a certain brand of check-cashing company on Guadalupe Street. I said I didn't know. Another guy talked to him for a while and they worked it out that he could cash his check for a free at a bank on Guadalupe which is the bank the check is from. So it was good he asked, but what kind of person gets on a bus and then starts asking about whether it was a good idea to get on the bus?
The bus I had caught would get me back to work in plenty of time but with virtually no exercise at all, so I got off early.
This gave me a chance to get a look at the old Arby's which had then turned into a Sonic, but which is now for rent, and also being used for parking ($5 per day). I also peered into a TCBY without going in. It seems like they have frozen yogurt that looks like ice cream, not just the soft-serve kind. I'll have to go in there sometime when I don't have ice cream sandwiches in the freezer.
On the way to work I saw a homeless (I think) lady yelling and screaming and swearing in disgust. To no one at all. She would get so worked up that she would stop walking so she could gesticulate more fully. Then she would get quiet and start walking again, only to get all worked up again. I wondered what could make a person so angry and frustrated? Then I thought to myself that the mass transit system can make me feel the exact same way. "You stupid, idiot bus! Why don't you ever come? Any time now would be good." And of course no one is there when I'm feeling this way!
I was somewhat refreshed when I got back to work, but was not quite at the fabulous level I had been at in the morning when I was actually calming other people down. Everyone I work with was stressed this week, and all over different problems.
This weekend Robin and I are visiting an old friend of his in the Dallas area. I'm bringing my computer, but I have no idea if I'll use it. We won't be leaving to come back until Tuesday morning. I may go to work a half a day on Tuesday. So expect nothing until Tuesday evening.
I totally played hookie last night, not going to intermediate ballroom dance class. I was feeling exhausted (though I suspect that was more psychological than physical), grumpy, brainless, and unmotivated. So I just didn't go. I rested for a while. I played. I was productive. I went to bed early. Then this morning I was feeling good (happy and optimistic) right up until 11:00 am, in spite of everything. It was nice. By noon I had a headache.
I took ibuprofin and then decided to go on a little adventure. Mostly because I didn't think to bring a map with me, or a bus schedule, or the address of the place I was going to visit. So it was sort of like a walkabout, only with a goal and a time limit.
I decided to visit my broker (hee, hee, don't I sound so rich?) in person. By which I mean that I decided to visit the office of my discount brokerage instead of calling on the phone.
My first goal was to get on the first bus that came heading downtown. This bus turned out to be the 1M, which went just about directly from my office to the broker.
My second goal was to find the office. I knew it was 5-something S. Congress, thus between 5th and 6th streets. I also remembered incorrectly that the name was on the outside of the building. No, it's just a giant Bank of America building. Then I remembered it was some sort of suite. Suite 300? I jumped on the elevator.
However the elevator did not let people off at the third floor; it just skipped a bunch of the bottom floors. So I got off at the tenth floor and rode back down.
Then I found the elevator for floors one through nine and parking. It turns out that floors one through nine are parking. So I rode back down and wandered around the first floor.
And what do you know, there was Scottrade right there in Suite 130.
I asked about rolling my ERS (state pension plan from my last job) into an IRA account. I knew that I had to get their paperwork first, then contact the ERS folks. And I knew I had to roll the money into a regular IRA, but that I can then later convert it to a Roth IRA if I want to, which I do.
What I didn't know is how they keep the money separate from your non IRA money, say, after you've sold something and before you've bought something else. The answer is that you open a whole separate account, with a different account number and everything, as if you have multiple personalities. But then later you can link the two accounts so you can see them online at the same time.
My next plan was to catch the first bus I saw that was heading anywhere near campus. I jumped on my old friend, the 1M.
I heard two people asking embarrassing questions. First, at one stop, someone asked the driver if the bus went to the airport. (No, and it was going the opposite direction also.) Then he asked which bus did go to the airport, and then he asked where to catch that bus. I expect a driver to be an expert on his own route, but every route in the city? And all that personal service while sitting at a bus stop? Yeesh.
The second one was a guy who was riding on the bus already and pulled out his ear phones and asked me if there was a certain brand of check-cashing company on Guadalupe Street. I said I didn't know. Another guy talked to him for a while and they worked it out that he could cash his check for a free at a bank on Guadalupe which is the bank the check is from. So it was good he asked, but what kind of person gets on a bus and then starts asking about whether it was a good idea to get on the bus?
The bus I had caught would get me back to work in plenty of time but with virtually no exercise at all, so I got off early.
This gave me a chance to get a look at the old Arby's which had then turned into a Sonic, but which is now for rent, and also being used for parking ($5 per day). I also peered into a TCBY without going in. It seems like they have frozen yogurt that looks like ice cream, not just the soft-serve kind. I'll have to go in there sometime when I don't have ice cream sandwiches in the freezer.
On the way to work I saw a homeless (I think) lady yelling and screaming and swearing in disgust. To no one at all. She would get so worked up that she would stop walking so she could gesticulate more fully. Then she would get quiet and start walking again, only to get all worked up again. I wondered what could make a person so angry and frustrated? Then I thought to myself that the mass transit system can make me feel the exact same way. "You stupid, idiot bus! Why don't you ever come? Any time now would be good." And of course no one is there when I'm feeling this way!
I was somewhat refreshed when I got back to work, but was not quite at the fabulous level I had been at in the morning when I was actually calming other people down. Everyone I work with was stressed this week, and all over different problems.
This weekend Robin and I are visiting an old friend of his in the Dallas area. I'm bringing my computer, but I have no idea if I'll use it. We won't be leaving to come back until Tuesday morning. I may go to work a half a day on Tuesday. So expect nothing until Tuesday evening.