Stumpy Drama/Dysfunctional Judy

             Stumpy drove me crazy last night with his constant trips outside. He pretty much refuses to use the inside litter box. When the temperatures are reasonable the back door is kept ajar so he can come and go at will. Not so the past few nights. He will scratch at the side bedroom door which will wake me up and a grouchy Jamie will let him out the side door to the driveway. Stump is expert in tripping the motion lights which then shine through the bedroom window! In about half an hour the side of the house will shake from Stumpy clawing at the heavy window screen covering the bathroom window.

He has access to this tall window jumping to the outside shower frame. The inside window sill is even to my shoulder. There are times Stump’s huge front claws will get stuck in the screen. When the weather is nice it can take forever for him to extract them and mosey on in.  In these cold temperatures he just wants back in so there is little procrastination.

I found this picture of Stumpy on the shower frame in my picture files from 2007.

We have this routine down pat…Stump will put his front paws on my right shoulder and I’ll grab his hind legs and hold him against me to warm up. The pads on his paws will be freezing cold under these circumstances. He will be purring to beat the band, and then I’ll let him launch himself onto the bed. From here he will either run for more food, or settle in for a nap.

I remember this happening at least twice last night. I kept the hot water tap dripping in the main bathroom. Each time I retrieved Stumpy, I turned the hot water faucet on in the bathroom off my bedroom full force. That water gushed out and was it ever cold!

Once the sun came up I turned on the gas and electric to the water heater and tested it out. It fired up just as it was supposed to. I dodged the bullet the other day…..

I never went into detail over my conversation with Judy yesterday which upset me so. Judy is pretty smart in a lot of things, but he always acts stupid/helpless pretty much all the time. He got me annoyed early on when I explained my frozen valve drama to him. He said in his “Judy way”, “Well, I hope you used a blowtorch to thaw things out.” I nearly lost it. A torch is the LAST thing you want to use on frozen pipes. Aside from the fire hazard, it can make steam which can build up pressure to fracture the pipes and valves even faster and better than ice. Judy knows this… he drives me crazy….

 Judy then went to berating me for signing up to start collecting my Social Security at age 62. He told me I was so ignorant for doing that. If I would just wait four years I would get the “full” benefit at age 66.

It does not register with Judy that my GM pension automatically drops by 2/3’rds when I hit the minimum Social Security age whether I sign up or not. Trust me Judy, I have done the math and have spent many years planning things out. Judy said I should live on my GM benefit and then collect more Social Security in four years.

My patience with Judy has been getting thinner and thinner each time we talk. He is more than aware of the frugal life style I’ve lived ever since he has known me and the reason I’ve lived that way. He is expert in making me feel guilty in that because of how I have conducted my investments and retirement savings, I now enjoy resources that far outstrip most of my friends.

I kind of equate it to the story of the "Little Red Hen" who ends up doing everything by herself, but when all is said and done, everyone wants to share in the fruits of her labour. OMG..just adding this had me going into total recall of Ayn Rand’s "Atlas Shrugged". I was thinking back to Hank Reardon being controlled and manipulated by his family by using guilt: Hank was made to feel guilty of his success. That is just the game Judy was playing on me.

Ayn Rand was quite a "crackpot" and I don’t agree with most of her philosophy. But, her books have awakened in me how to recognize so many different personality types who try to influence me. Sorry Judy, I can read too much of Hank Reardon’s wife Lillian in your manipulations! Be gone before somebody drops a house on you!!!

<span style="font-family: 'Bookman

Old Style’;”>Judy was silent when I explained to him that it would take 12 years of collecting a “full” Social Security Benefit to make up for difference of four years of lost minimum benefits.

There are no guarantees in life. From now on, I’m pretty much living for today and enjoying as much of life as I can. I’ll obsess over my “Stumpy dramas” and let the major stuff progress on!!