Mutual Fund Account; More Outdoor Cleaning; Taxes

The eternal saga of trying to liquidate a joint mutual fund account between my mother and me continues. I thought I'd sent off all the right paperwork; the application to change the account to an individual one was mailed Monday the 27th.

But I didn't hear anything. So I called yesterday and was told that the original letter of March 22 indicating the death of my mother, requesting the joint account be changed to an individual account and liguidation of the new account was lacking the proper authorization.

Value Line indicated that the letter needed a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Which I was not familiar with. So I go to the bank, and the personage tells me that mean notarization. But their notary is out. So I go to another bank, not mentioning the Medallion, and get the letter notarized. Rush off to the PO and mailed it for over-night delivery.

Yesterday's call revealed that only a Medallion Signature Guarantee would do. So I wrote another letter, bounced off to the bank and was again told by the same personage that meant notarization, and I said I'd been that route, so he directed me to the right person who provided the Medallion Signature. Next I raced to PO and mailed it for over-night delivery.

In my entry of the 27th, I typed the following:

"Earlier, I used the phrase 'one of life's little inconveniences.' This does not fall into that category. This falls into the fucking inane category. Think how much simplier and less costly this would be if I could have just written a check."

I've been using the pitch fork to fill the garbage cans with straw, sticks and weeds. I've also been using clippers and a saw to make some preemptive strikes. So this morning there were ten trash cans stuffed with debris waiting by the street.

Twice I put out a pair of saw horses, but the garbage folks ignored them. So I took the cans in but left the saw horses. And some bypasser grabbed them up. Yesterday, I put out two pieces of tin panels (4 ft by 15 ft). And again a nice stranger picked them up. As I write there are several more panels by the street, and again I'm hoping for some interested party to take them.

There's a section of yard between the house and the cursed shed that has not been cleaned in eons. I've raked up the straw and gotten most of the climbs. But the big problem is the tangle of roots. I got one type of herbicide, but I can tell it will have little impact. So I'm going to have to move up to something more powerful.

Although I've not said too much about the rest of the back yard, I can now say that it bears a close resemblance to the Old Forest in "The Fellowship of the Ring." It is a horrendous mess. But I've made a start.

However, I'm fairly certain I'll get a refund. Which is bound to have some impact on the bankruptcy situation.

PAX!