June 2, 2014

Plenty To Do at the Office Today

June 2, 2014

Probably I say this during the first week of every month, but the beginning of the month is my busy time at the office.  I always prepare one more bank deposit that covers the last business day of the month.  Then I finish all the posting to the accounts receivable, balance the books, print the statements, and attach copies of the invoices to the statements.  Next, Ron goes over them, I fold them, and stuff them in envelopes for mailing to our customers who have charged goods and services during the month.  Once return labels and stamps are attached and I check them off my list to be sure none got buried on my desk, I mail them to the customers and hope that they will pay them in a timely manner.  All of that got done today.  Then I will prepare the reports for the accountant, balance the checkbook when the statement arrives, and start filing away all those original invoices and reports. 

More and more of our customers: government agencies, city and state government offices, stores, maintenance companies, etc. are paying with credit cards, so there are a lot fewer statements to mail out these days.  Over the years I have closed accounts of customers who chronically don't pay for months at a time, so that most of the current customers are good about paying when the bills are due.  It never ceases to amaze me though, which ones are slow pay - the very ones who would not put up with their customers being late.  It can get frustrating.

Other than that, very little went on today - which is not all bad.  Before going to work, I worked in the yard for a while, cleaning out around one large hibiscus bush.  Then I did go by Jeff and Barb's house on the way to work to deliver some things that the grandchildren left here yesterday.  Our oldest grandson met me at the car and took the things in so I could go on to work. 

After work, I went to do a little shopping and when I got home I had supper before filling the bird feeders, bird baths, and ponds.  I did some additional work in the front yard, trimming trees and shrubs, before the mosquitoes found me.  The yard continues to be filled with birds, but not too many colorful ones.  The green jays are among the few flashes of color that I see in the yard these days.  I did see a pair of Lesser Goldfinches last week and a small warbler or two, but mostly I have doves, doves, and more doves, sparrows, grackles, a few woodpeckers and a few ducks.  I think the woodpecker parents have moved back to an old hole in a tree in the front yard.  I don't see them around the hole just out my sewing room windows any more.

I am trying to get back to sewing.  For some reason, I just haven't been doing any the last two or three weeks, except for the blanket I made for our youngest grandson this past weekend.  That one is just a "cuddle" blanket that he holds while he naps or sucks his thumb.  I started working on one this evening for a little baby girl. 

We go back to Houston to the Houston Ear Research Foundation in a week and I glad that we have that scheduled appointment.  I just don't think the clarity is good on the sound processor of the Cochlear Implant.  I tried a different program today and it did fairly well in quiet situations, but with any added noises, it was useless.  I am hoping for some suggestions next week on making things better. 

Our youngest son called this afternoon and he repeated one thing he was trying to tell me 5 or 6 times before I understood most of what he was saying.  I just get so frustrated when that happens.  I feel so sorry for him.  He calls when he wants to talk and then I can't hear.  Finally I did understand what my son was saying and then we did fairly well for a while.  He uses a cell phone, which adds to the problem.  The reception in his apartment is not very good so he often calls when he is out of the apartment, usually putting himself in less than quiet settings. 

My brother sent me a link today to a story in the Corpus Christi Caller Times newspaper.  His son, my nephew, was mentioned in the article.  The article tells about how a financial gift enabled The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center in Corpus Christi to more effectively help hearing impaired people, and people with hearing aids or Cochlear Implants, to be able to hear better in the organization's offices and classrooms.  One reason that it stood out to me was that it makes it clear in the article that people with Cochlear Implants and hearing aids, still struggle a lot to get by.  As I have often said, my Cochlear Implant helps tremendously.  It beats being deaf.  But it is not the same as having natural, God-given hearing.   Here is a link to the article: http://callertimes.tx.newsmemory.com/publink.php?shareid=36e982126
My nephew is in the last photo in the article in the front right corner of the picture.  I am delighted that he has been working on this project.  

More and more technology is becoming available for the hearing impaired, but it is usually expensive.  I think of people who are deaf but have no way to afford to get help for their problems.  I wonder what my grandmother's life would have been like if she could have heard better in her last years of life.  I hope that they continue to make advances in this field.  As Baby Boomers age, many are finding it harder and harder to hear.