Tuesday night

I think the cold is gone. That's good. Being kind to myself. Last week was a bit much (or, to make a contraction of that, a "bitch").

Yesterday in the mail I received a statement from my mortgage company saying they were upping the escrow well over $200/month for windstorm insurance that they were buying for me (i.e., screwing me over for) (over $1,700/year). I practically had a stroke when I saw that, but I calmed down. It's their mistake. I resolved it today. (This was supposed to have been resolved in October but I'd forgotten all about it.)

Ever since my mortgage was taken over by Citibank last year from ABN AMRO, I've been constantly bombarded by threatening letters that I've had to respond to (to little avail, it seems). This windstorm "exposure" is covered by the condominium's insurance policy, the cost of which is included in the monthly condo fees of over $700 (which includes assessments and which BTW is over and above the mortgage and taxes I pay through the escrow account). I'd faxed Citibank everything they needed about our insurance policies here, with help from the condo office. (BTW, I hope to pay off that mortgage before I retire. I'm paying extra principal each month and was pissed to see the upped escrow. The mortgage is now less than $50,000.)

All I have to say about this is--don't let these people intimidate and try to take advantage of you. If you live in a condominium (and I talked to my insurance agent about this today), the condominium's insurance policies cover almost everything. Today I bought a $300 homeowners policy to comply with the new Florida law. (Plus I bought hurricane shutters a couple of years ago, but didn't get a break for that, since the included windstorm coverage ($60+) costs less than the cost of a shutter inspection.)

Tomorrow I'm calling Home Depot to try to get things wrapped up here re: the kitchen. Yesterday I got a call from the general contractor about coming to do the final inspection, but the kitchen won't pass inspection until the sink is fixed (it moves around and the caulk seal is broken). Home Depot has known about this for over three weeks and agrees that sink has to be fixed. Now that the holidays are over, there's no reason for any further delay.

I need to get a new pillow. These white Siberian goose down pillows aren't hacking it. My neck is sore. I'll go back to Mattress Giant and get that great $100 pillow they tried to make me buy last year when I bought the new mattress. I think it's memory foam. [Update: It was latex.]