Went out to dinner last night with the kids, grandkids, and my ex and his wife. I was treated, so it was no cost to me. I ordered a plate of barbecued chicken and brought home two untouched pieces, as well as some cole slaw. It will make a great lunch today.

Early voting starts today in Illinois, and I will probably get that done today or tomorrow. It will be good to take a peek at how the new machines are working in real time. I'm curious about the setup, too, because at training it looked like we will no longer use the collapsible private booths. It looks like the expectation is that most people will use the touchscreen and not fill out a paper ballot. I want to see if that's how it will really play out.

When I did my February recap yesterday, I forgot to report on my variables. I spent 72% of the available funds. But that doesn't count items over $200 and there were several of those, unfortunately. So it's kind of meaningless.

I hope Wall Street starts to recover today, but it doesn't affect me too much except for the ripple effect. Most of my retirement funds are invested in bonds and only about 10% is in the stock market. Still, I am watching it with interest.

Only nine days to go and I still have more than $300 available to spend if I must. I'm going to try to make it as little as possible.

Medical/Health -- $1192
Housing - $774
Car Repair/Maintenance - $772
Gifts/Charity - $730
Taxes - $579
Utilities - $186
Eating Out - $107
Groceries - $88
Furnishings/Equipment/Decor - $53
Phone - $51
Entertainment - $47
Gas - $32
Vet/Pet Supplies - $19
Personal - $18
Laundry - $15
Clothing/Accessories - $14
Fares/Parking - $2

Grand Total - $4679

Yikes! That's almost double my income! I was helped along by getting a $500 payment from insurance and a $911 tax refund. But that's an $859 shortfall, covered by a cushion in my checking account and a $250 withdrawal from savings.

The high medical cost was due mainly to getting a crown. (Which I still don't have -- I've got a temporary and will get the permanent one on March 6. But it is paid in full.)

Car repairs included a new tire, a tire repair, new front brakes and new brake pads in back, a new cabin filter.

Gifts/Charity - A belated $600 payment to my grandsons' college fund inflated this.

Taxes - the first of two payments for my property tax. The second, which comes in July, is usually much lower.

Eating Out was high because it included not only my dinners with my grandsons, but a visit from BFF.

The Furnishing was a new set of towels, badly needed.

Entertainment included an Oscar week ticket at our local theater.

The Accessories I bought were a purse and some reading glasses which I got at Goodwill.

I had training yesterday, and I learned that the changes were mostly new machines, not new processes. Still, I was reminded that there are a LOT of steps to remember. I checked on my assignment. I wasn't assigned to any nursing home, so I will only get the one payment for primary day ($255). It looks like I have two inexperienced helpers -- that isn't good! And although I am not identified as the administrative judge, it looks like I might have to fill that role by default. It does look like the PPT (technician) is experienced, so I will probably rely on him a lot.

The location is at a community center about 20 minutes away by car. There is an adjacent parking lot, but I will have to check in advance on whether I need to get a permit for that day.

Today I'm going to the gym, as soon as I wake up all the way, and tonight I'm meeting the family at a local restaurant.

Just heard that someone in my county has tested positive for coronavirus. I forgot the hand sanitizer yesterday, but I did wash my hands!