Day 132

The day started off early, but slowly. The kids weren't about to let anyone sleep in. At the same time neither Dan or I really wanted to work on the todo list right away. Instead we played with the kids. We got the train set going and I was put in charge of entertaining them with it for awhile. I was moderately successful. We were actually beginning to do quite well until Dan told us we couldn't play on the stairs.

Once we got started Dan tackled the insurance and I took on Social Security. In order to get a real person at Social Security you have to suffer through this inane voice recognition system that attempts to gain information from you and perhaps answer the question in an automated way. It couldn't seem to understand my answers with the kids screaming in the background. After about a 10 to 15 minute wait on hold a real person came on. As you would expect, they have a smooth running procedure for clients who die. Another 10 minutes on the phone and it was set up. The only possible snag will be if the government sends his next check. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

After that it was off to the cemetery to arrange for the burial. We chose a plot based on what the Greek person told us. It's next to our favorite cousin and about 20 feet from his parents. The cemetary keeps its plot records in a one and a half foot by two foot by four inch thick bound book. It's frayed and really beat up. It's been in use since 1914. Dan's sharp eye kept the cemetary person from entering the wrong plot number. We would have shown up for the burial with the hole in the wrong place. He also got the guy to reduce the price of the vault to match that of the mortuary. At the same time Tony was trying to get final OK on the plot selection. The Greek person said that the Greeks didn't own the plot we chose. The cemetery guy says they do. We'll let the two of them fight it out.

We then made a short stop to drop off a suit for Dad at the mortuary and pick up the papers Mom needs to sign. Then it was off to the Men's Wearhouse to get a suit, tie, and shirt. I got an OK deal on it all, $360. That included buying a suit and tie for Dan. It will be ready on Monday even though normal lead time is two weeks.

Ellen called. The closing will be a week from tomorrow (Friday). I'll fly home on Thursday. The flight leaves at 6:15 AM.

Hugh came for dinner. We had a great conversation. I told him about our adventures in house hunting and some things about the new house. After dinner we used his truck to move a bed and a dresser out of the nursing home. The dresser came home with us. The bed got taken to a person who needed it. We got finished with everything about 10:00 PM. I'm really pissed at the home. They are going to charge us $200 a day for 5 days after the room is vacated. That sucks.