Irving Finkel

 I recently discovered a series of YouTube videos by a curator at the British Museum. Fascinating stuff.

And, this being October, I refer you to find the one about the first written mention of ghosts.

A  search page showing a number of these videos

A Rough Period.

 I am in my last year of my seventh decade on this Earth. And, I learned in the first week of May that I can not tolerate a bad diet as well as I once did. A client reminded me it was Cinco de Mayo, and I wasn't going to eat Mexican food to celebrate until I realized I had a box of frozen jalapeno poppers in the freezer. 

Because I have not yet changed my ways when it comes to eating massive volumes, I ate the entire box, (less three poppers). I was in such distress that I spent the next three days sick, mostly tired and I had a pain in my neck where I have a wounded disc, My body was exhausted trying to pass that load, and my muscles cramped leading to the neck pain. Or, so I explain it.

On the third day I was able to go for a walk, which did wonders to relieve, correct my malady. A laxative did wonders too.

I still don't feel 100%, but, I healed enough to be able to work a nine hour day on Tuesday, followed by six hour and four hour days on Wednesday and Thursday. 

Age is taking a tolll, but, in many respects my diminished skills and fragile body are due more to bad decisions than old age. Still hanging in there.

Florida Unclaimed Property

 So, mea culpa. I was warned. And, failed to act in time.

I have, or had, IRAs at two institutions. Both Traditional. One is with a local Credit Union, the other from another region of the State which I rarely have visited in recent times. My last wife came from there, and she got me in that CU when we got married, long ago. So, it became an account I no longer contributed to, all my contributions went to the local one, just let it be there hopefully accruing interest. (that is another subject).

Anyway, for some reason, because I had not been active toward that account for five years, they sent the money to the State as abandoned, "unclaimed". I came to know this when my monthly statement arrived and my balance was zero. I called that CU and they gave me the number for the Florida Unclaimed Property Division, saying, the CU no longer has the money, the State has it. 

Well, that is not true, yet. It seems, after two calls to each I have learned that it will take no less than a month (three to six?) for my funds to arrive at Unclaimed Property, but they are not at the CU either? So, they are in some form of bureaucratic purgatory. And Unclaimed Property does have any record of them coming or my name in their files. 

So, beginning next week, I can call back to see if they have arrived.  I am having to set up a schedule on my calendar to remind myself to keep calling Unclaimed Property until they have my money. And, then, who knows how many hoops will be presented for me to jump through to get it back.

Well, it is a relatively small amount of money. The initial contributions were not large, and the interest paid was minuscule. But, money is money. So, I will make the effort. 

 The awful part in the interim, mea culpa, the CU where I am active warned me this could happen. I was hoping to pull the money after my next birthday which I now know was too far away. I should have made a small contribution in the meantime and avoided all this hassle. If I had acted as they advised me to act, immediately, it would still be with that CU waiting for me to redeem it in a few months.

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I called this past Monday, 5/8. They now have my money. But, it hasn't been uploaded, so I was unable to put in a claim.

She said call back in three to four weeks. No promise that it will be uploaded by then.

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