A couple of weeks ago, just before getting my temporary Benefits card from East 16th Street, I had $808 in my EBT account. It started to mount up back in February or March but I was waiting for the card to arrive and couldn’t spend the “food stamps” money until it did. It never did. You have to go talk through Plexiglas in person. But since receiving it I’ve spent over $300, I believe. That includes $101 at Wegman’s yesterday, whither I journeyed in the subway and drizzle of late afternoon because it seems to be the only place you can buy lump crabmeat (apart from the canned type). I thought I was getting a pound for about $10 or less, but the scanner registered $33. Ho well, it’s only play money. I bought stuff I’d never pay real money for. $10 for gourmet vegan mayo (for the crabcakes), $13 for fried chicken and $7 for some beef chili in the “prepared foods” section. One avocado, one lemon, a bunch of scallions. About $5 for a half-pound of gabagool (hot capicola). Coffee, tunafish. I’ve never spent a three-figure sum on groceries before.
This morning I went to Whole Foods and bought two Blake’s chicken pot pies (their last), some Rice Select Arborio Rice, a half-gallon of milk (their cheap gallons were all gone, only the organic milk left, which costs seven or eight dollars), some chicken sausage for stir-fry, and lots more cheap yoghurt. The $4.99 Simply something grapefruit juice, which is a very nice deal when they have it.
So I have perhaps $480 on my EBT account now, and this will be topped up with another $202 in a few days (after the 1st of June) so I don’t have to count food pennies there just yet.
I sold some of my last crypto a few days ago, that was $260 into the USAA account when it cleared the other day. Then that awful Delta Dental billed me for its monthly $50. Must hit the dentist soon, for a cleaning at least.
No bidding on eBay these days. I’m thinking of selling some ephemera soon. Start with a Diego Rivera card print, some vintage art postcards. Clippings and vintage ephemera. Make some postcards with Moki’s color inkjet printer, using the postcard stock we still have, and my Eurostar and Penn Station collection.
I have had to keep a close watch on my last rent checks, however. I sent in a Citi check and a WF check last Friday, and they have not yet gone through. But last night I noticed that part of my account balance at WF was ng, probably because I padded it with a mobile check from USAA, which I made out with some very wet and penetrating purple ink from the Enobling Pen. So I guess it was being rejected as digitally illegible. That was back on Tuesday, I think, two days ago. Seeing as I have to face the landlord lawyers in T&L court next Wednesday, I can’t very well bounce checks at this point. So I went to the WF ATM at Broadway and 56th, took $300 out of the USAA and $200 out of the Global HSBC account, and deposited this cash into the WF checking. So now there is $1404 in there and the $1200 WF check should have no trouble going through. I have about $850 in the Citi account and a $688 check to clear. SS payment hitting the Citi account in four days. No money from Nruns till July. There is a chance I may start my preposterous job as Anchor Healthcare carer person in the coming week. Grimm tells me he’s trying to wangle 40 hours of help.
Thinking of going out for a pint, or a half-point, to go with the grapefruit juice. Perhaps I can scratch together a fake review of Celine’s Londres for C-C. My thought is that I’ll pick a dozen random pages through the book, loosely translate them, and tell the story that way, combining it with whatever aperçus I can get from the TLS and LRB. NYRB? Must look.
Sluggish and napping most of the day. On second mug of tea. I’m almost out of tea. Watching Sopranos again. Season 3. Ralphie just killed Tracee. Noah Tannenbaum just dumped Meadow.
