2001-05-19 - 11:01 p.m.

Anniversary/It's All About The Money

Because of how busy I've been recently I seem to be falling behind again. I would like to have a new update here every day, but it's difficult to find the time. I'd like to have something new here every day for people to look at and I'd like to be able to discipline myself into writing every day.

However, there I am still aware that writing every day may not be best for me, in terms figuring out what I want to say, and saying it the best way possible. My ideas need time to cook, it seems. Ah, my eternal dilemma.

Anyway, today marks the one year anniversary of this little diary - my first entry was May 19, 2000. Out of 366 possible entries I think I have about 260 in the last year, which isn't bad, but I know I can do better.

This also has me thinking about how I can make this diary easier to read, especially for people who wander across me for the first time. Probably a "cast of characters" page or something like that would be a good idea. I will talk to my resident designer about such things.

Yes, I am scheming for ways to increase my hit count.

I would also like to take this opportunity to than the people who have sent me nice emails of condolence or who have posted in my guestbook. It really is appreciated, and I will be getting back to all of you soon.

In other news, I got a phone call from my sister Janis today.

When I talked about her previously I was a little hard on her for not returning to Frown Town after Dad died. She said that she couldn't get time off from work, and I was of the opinion that any job that won't let you take time off for something like that isn't worth having anyway. However, it occurred to me today that the main reason that she didn't come up, and the main reason she couldn't take the time off from work, was that she simply couldn't afford it. When she visited a couple weeks ago she got a free ride up from Philadelphia and back again with one of her friends. I don't know of she could afford to take the time off from her job - no paid sick leave there - and pay for a bus ticket, not to mention imposing on her friends by staying at their house again.

That being said, I am still kind of annoyed at her. I know that Harry is a little displeased, too, since he feels that Janis has always gotten a free ride.

So Janis calls me up today, and she is all chatty but I get the distinct idea that she is after something. After a couple of minutes of chit-chat she gets to the point. When is she going to start seeing some money from Dad's estate?

Yep. Janis is all about the money.

When our Mom died about 4 1/2 years ago, Janis got a sizable inheritance from a trust fund that our grandparents set up. Apparently it is all gone now. Both Harry and I got similar bequests, but I still have more than half of mine, even though I sank a good chunk of it into renovating the Hamster Palace. I think Harry also put his money into a house. Janis has absolutely nothing to show for her share.

So why was Janis all hot to see some money? Because there is some sort of Science Fiction convention happening in Philadelphia in a couple of months, and she wants the money to go see it.

When it's time to help out, Janis is no place to be found. When it's time to hand out the money, Janis is first in line. Well, depending on how fast we get this cleaned up, she may see a check in as little as a month. It won't be for much, but it will certainly get her into a convention.

Dad was not exactly broke when he died, but he was close to it. Most of the money we'll be seeing out of Dad's death will be out a trust fund set up by my Mom's will. The terms of the trust specify that my father gets the income from the trust for as long as he lives, but after that the trust fund gets divided up among us three children.

However there is a catch, a nasty little clause my mother put in her will. Janis' share of the money stays held in trust until she gets married and has a child. Since Janis is gay, the odds of that happening are not too good. I thought it was a mean-spirited thing for Mom to do, and I told her that, but she left it in anyway. While I still think the clause is a posthumous joke in bad taste, it now makes a certain amount of sense. Considering how bad Janis is at holding on to money, she would be much better off getting a slow trickle of income rather than a big lump sum for her to dissipate or be conned out of.

I can't really be too upset with Janis for being anxious about getting some money from Dad's estate, after all Harry and I have talked about finances enough in the last few days, but it would be nice if Janis showed more interest in her brothers, and less interest in the dollars.