October 1st

Wow speaking of time flying. This is sick how fast time is going by.

Interesting things happening.

The Ryder Cup and the Americans sucked. Furyk made some critical errors in his choices as to who to sit out and when. Phil should never have made the team. The captain needs help making decisions as Reed and Woods should never have sat out. The Europeans did have an advantage knowing the course compared to the USA team but with the talent on that team they shouldn’t have lost.Inside team issues and ego problems.

Kavanaugh hearings- One of the more confusing hearings. You want to believe Ford and you believe Brett after giving his statement. Ford’s testimony was emotional and very compelling.  I can’t figure a motive for her if she wasn’t telling the truth.  Having said that how can someone remember the event but not remember how she got home, who’s place it was at, how long she was there, etc etc. It is so full of holes and her time to speak was read from a paper. Scripted ?  Why 36 years later ?  Why close to a million dollars raised for her on GO FUND Me ?If someone is holding their hand over your mouth you are going to know who . Yet Brett and his friend Judge state they were not even at the party. Feinstein’s leak of the letter with the timing is just odd. Like a set up. A house renovation is the catalyst of Ford remembering also seems odd. There is something else going on here. Russel Ford her husband is a director of Zosano a company that specializes in mind altering drugs. Brett’s mother was a judge in a case where Fords parents were the defendants that lost the case. It is a strange event that no one will win. Who is telling the truth isn’t going be easy to find out. Having said that I believe what someone does or is as a high school person is a far far from cry from whom they become later in life.

NAFTA-  Trudeau burns his votes in Quebec and saves votes in Ontario. He has already lost BC ( pipeline) AB, Sask ( oil, pipeline, carbon tax,) and now Quebec he maybe easily be defeated next election. We can only hope.  His gives up on our supply management structure that affects Alberta, Sask and Quebec and tries to save auto jobs for Ontario. He has to be the worst Prime Minister we have every had.  The consumer may win having lower milk, cheese , egg , poultry pricing but the poor farmer gets screwed again. Some of these farmers have paid in excess of a million dollars for their quota. Going to be some sleepless nights. Duty free raised from $20 to $150 before having to pay tax on it is good thing. Way to go Trudeau ! You are the best.

Doing my budget numbers today and I am not liking them. I would love interest rates to raise to reasonable rates. Tired of the crappy returns.

Thought of the Day 

How awesome would it be if a liars pants actually caught on fire !

October 2nd

One word SAD.

This is supposed to be fall not winter. I looked at this picture and it is identical to the April 5th picture when I returned from Mesa. Sooo I am leaving Canada to late and returning to early. I need to fix this.

Went to Sobey’s as it is their 15% off day and being retired we can miss the crowds and get our groceries just a little cheaper. Nice to shop in the morning without crowds.

Nearly 5 years retired now and this is the first time the weather is getting to me. I wanted to get a few things done at the lot before winter but may have to wait until spring. I will work inside the shed a bit as i need rafter ties yet to hold the snow load and few blocks. I can put a heater in the shed and work away.

My new glasses still are not working super well. I will give it more time.

Watching the news it made me smile. We set an all time record snow fall today. The bulk of the snow hitting Calgary north of the river. 35 cms in Scenic Acres but only 15 cms here in Cranston. With all of the snow Calgary asked for help plowing as the drive today to work was a disaster. Buses not moving and 180 accidents. Edmonton is sending 30 snowplows down to help. Here is the smile. Each truck will be equipped with a Oiler’s flag. I guarantee Calgary is being billed for these in the final invoice. Funny and good for them. I say NO to help. Make the idiotic drivers of Calgary struggle. Make them use common sense. No normal vehicle can’t be driven in snow on hard pavement. Good thing we are hiring all govt employed driver testing staff now so we maybe be able to fix this problem. No wind blowing drifts so just stupidity causing the issues.

Interesting news clip tonight on the news. 84% of all vehicles bought in Alberta are classified as SUV’s or trucks. So they did a survey on men and women to see if a nice truck increases your attractiveness. A sales lady from a Ford dealership was awesome. She said to the news reporting  guy.” Well you are a solid 7 but put you into this truck ( lifted F350 Ford $90K) and you would be a 9 ” . Funny. Hope she doesn’t get in trouble for being sexist.  You got to love a nice truck though.

October 3rd to 4th

Jackie & I headed out to the lot to retrieve the food and drinks out of the motorhome as the season is over. I have LOTS of beer left over so I am bringing it into town so hopefully some one ill finish it off. Lots of clothes and food to put away and some stuff like cleaners etc to store until spring. Nice to get it all done.

We had a family member issue come up that has kept us busy for the last two days. Jackie has been amazing with her lack of sleep and being able to still do everything she wanted being the wonderful helper to everyone she always is.

She will sleep extra long tonight I am sure.

First time in a long long time I spent money when I didn’t need to or really want to. I got a great deal on 5 golf shirts, 1 over shirt and a hat. No I didn’t need these or really want them but afriend was selling them and I didn’t say no. Now I have to tell Jackie what I bought. LOL

Thought of the Day 

A mistake repeated more than once becomes a decision.

October 5th

I went out to the lot to work on few things. Arriving it was cooler out like plus 2 but what was amazing was all of the snow was gone. Completely ! After a few hours  and the blue sky and sun shining it hit 10 degrees. Funny how 10 degrees seem so warm now. I had the ceramic heater going in the shed and after a while I had to turn it off it was so warm in there. And this is with no insulation. I added a few nails, screws to the corner post inside walls, I added my L angle bracket at each rafter where it attaches to the ridge beam, I cleaned up and organized the tools, I installed a new fridge light bulb, I wrapped up the garden hose and put it away, I tried a new padlock that didn’t work as the long shaft was too long, I removed the bolts and castors from my air compressor cart as it was just too big and didn’t work as well as I had planned and I hauled a load to the dump. It was wonderful working out there today in the warmth and quiet. As I was leaving there were quite a few vehicles pulling in for the weekend. A good day.

Jackie helped out Tor for most of the day and then came with me to see the doctor. As usual more testing. Good thing for our health care system.

After the visit we went to East Side Mario’s. We both had wonderful suppers. Jackie had spagettini in a olive oil sauce and I had the Spicy Italian sausage with Penne. Very good ! Like the Olive all you can eat salad and bread and I like the East’s bread better. Jackie had a peanut butter dessert and I had a remarkable NY Cheesecake. The best I have had for a long time. East Side even serves Caeser’s the proper way with celery. A wonderful supper and evening.

Trudeau is such a joke it is amazing. They negotiate a deal with the US and Mexico and two days later he is going to give cash to the Quebec milk producers because they may be hurt by the deal. Come ON. Make a deal. live with it and let the whiners find a way to make it work. He gives more away than Monty Hall or Oprah at Christmas time. He is a joke. A bad joke.

Thought of the Day

Like the saying ” I’m not yelling. I am Italian” 

October 6th to 8th

You can’t have a Thanksgiving without turkey.  One year in Mesa I even went to Denny’s for their Turkey Dinner when I was there by myself.  I have had some wonderful Thanksgiving beef roasts cooked by Fred over the years for the US Thanksgiving though. Today we bought all of the groceries we needed for our meal. Prepped as much as we could before hand. On  the menu for 15 people is Turkey, stuffing( dressing from my Mom’s recipe) mashed ( riced) potatoes, ham,corn, peas, carrots, cranberry’s, gravy, and a couple of items people are bringing like a spinach salad and pies. Should be awesome.

Cooking for a larger group isn’t much harder except for counter space and timing. In fact 15 people is no more difficult than say 3 or 4 people. Once you hit 20 people it is a little more difficult only because not even burners, ovens, space etc. The thing about Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas is, it is the special occasion that the families get all together. That is the best thing. A little work, a lot of noise,  and a lot of action but it is a nice time. I remember when my Grandparents passed on the family just stopped getting together on these occasions as no one picked up the cause.

I used our crock pot to give a moist ham, and our large electric pan for dressing. All four burners are used up plus needing the microwave and oven. It only gets hectic from the time the turkey is done and taken out of the oven to rest. You have 20 mins or so of rest time for it to get everything else done. I like things hot so I like to time everything perfect. Some people use hot gravy to cover cool turkey or potatoes which works but timing can be right that everything is hot. I use a cheat sheet with the cook times beside the stove. I put the turkey in early this morning after dry brine and the ham. Jackie has done a great job of organizing and placing everything. We work together quite well in the kitchen. The only thing I ask is for someone to carve the turkey. I am not good at this. We will see who shows up but tentatively it is Jess, Pen, Atty, Auggie, Jackson, Tor, Cor, Al, MaryAnn, Danny, Ken, Chris, Audrey, Michael along with Jackie & I.

The large ham cooked in the crock pot was excellent. I used a wet rub of honey, dijon mustard and brown sugar that I poured over the ham and basted it for the 4 hours or so. The turkey was excellent being moist and perfectly cooked and removed at 165 degrees which would be 175 degrees in the 20 minutes of resting. I basted the turkey with butter and olive oil the whole time and received a moist golden brown bird. I used my Mom’s dressing recipe with a few modifications and  I do NOT stuff the turkey. Stuffing a bird causes at least 1 hour or more more cook time and a greater risk of a non cooked bird near the cage. In the electric pan using turkey drippings and turkey stock the dressing is every bit as good as being in the bird. Plus you can make a lot more as the cavity is somewhat limited in room. The carrots were boiled to that perfect tenderness ( i like a carrot to be a little crunchy ) and then glazed with brown sugar and butter. A simple flour gravy with extra store bought gravy added to the turkey pan was awesome. Riced potatoes just work better. You get a fluffy non sticking potato dish and  especially when cooking 10 pounds like we did today as I HATE lumps in mashed potatoes. I soaked the potatoes to remove the starch for about 2 hours but mashed spuds still can have a tendency to be ” sticky”. Real cream with butter cooked before adding does reduce this. You don’t have to worry about this going with riced potatoes.

I may be prejudiced but the meal was fantastic.

Spinach salad is always a favorite but the Cobb’s dinner buns and SuperStore Pumpkin pie were exceptional. I like my Mom’s pumpkin better than anyone’s but this pie was equal by any stretch. It was incredible.

Everyone was full and happy. I had a bet with Jackie that more corn would be eaten than the sweet peas. Jessica showed me the left overs and I was WRONG. I don’t understand these city folk.  Corn with a Thanksgiving meal is traditional. BUT WAIT !   I then discover the left over peas that wouldn’t fit into the serving bowl were still in the cooking pot. Now we will NEVER know so when in doubt I always say I was RIGHT. !!

The boys had a great time running around and even little Atticus which now can crawl at a record speed was everywhere. They had a blast and Danielle bringing her Switch game kept them very entertained.

Only a couple of spills this time on the carpet and pillow so we got off lucky. LOL

Thought of the Day

No matter what there is always something to be thankful for.

October 8th -9th

Speaking of being thankful I find it hard to like anything about this weather. -2 as a high today and snow starting this afternoon again. Where is our fall. I just want our average temperature to hit so I can get somethings done I want. It is getting a little annoying to be somewhat trapped in the condo.

Jackie has read a lot and i have done a lot of researching and watching a bit of sports on TV. Sports on TV versus building a outhouse which i would take the building any day. I am going to build a Faux Outhouse as a small storage shed. I have to “bend” the bylaws a bit as Wheatland County asks for 5 ft between structures but I can only squeeze  3 ft max. If I have to move it later on I will get it lifted out and sell it. I am expecting to spend about $400 building the outhouse. Board and Batten siding and sloped roof shingled roof with a solid core wood door with my crescent moon cutout.  Come on good weather. !!

Sleeping can bring about  a lot of good ideas. My outhouse maybe to obvious of an infraction as the park is going thru it’s struggles getting permits for the new area. I may wait. I will see.

Great Stamps game even though it was toooo close. But a win is a win. A great Roughrider win. Edmonton is on the verge of NOT making the playoffs. If they pull a win or two off they may make the crossover which would be cool. Stamps against the Eskimo’s would be fun in a Grey Cup game. Interesting looking at Edmonton sports stats. The Eskimo’s are in last place and the Oiler’s are in second last place. Everyone is used to the Oiler’s being a lousy team for a 10 years now with one year exception but now to have BOTH teams suck must be hard to take. They are feeling down, rejected, like losers so I say LET’s KEEP IT UP. Beat them good. LOL

Another cold snowy day. Unbelievable.  -2 degrees and as I headed out on the road it dropped to -4 degrees. I won’t get into the amount of lousy drives I encountered but one elder lady just made me laugh. She was going around the corner of the overpass and caught the deeper snow on the edge and wham right into the ditch. Hopefully our new driver training program will weed out these dangerous drivers.

Easy drive to Cochrane to the Hitch Shop. These guys are great, wonderful, super, the best. As you know I took my tow bar in for repair as it wouldn’t lock. They cost about $1500 so I wanted to see if I could get lucky. and get it fixed. The shop had it for close to a month when they phoned. They couldn’t get the right parts for it so they couldn’t fix it. I was going to pick it up and look at purchasing a new one. When I arrived I met with the owner Nilsen. In between my phone call I received last week and another part coming from Demco when I arrived he said it was all fixed. FIXED but the best part was the $45.00 bill. Amazing. I was thinking I would be spending $1500 and ended up with a $45 bill. Honest, super service and caring for the customer and not trying to rack up a bill this shop is first class. I will absolutely make sure to use them again including if I ever do need to replace my bar.

Then off to get my “Free “Oil change. One more time as I am sure by now everyone knows that I believe car dealership repair shops are the most dishonest businesses there is.

“MY RANT”

As I have said before my oil change for life which was sold to me as “Free” lasted for about one year then a Environmental Fee now HAS to be charged. $10.00   If the government changed the rules the dealer should have ATE this charge for anyone in this program. Also remember when you book your car in for service they put a sticker for a oil change in 5000 kms. Go to the fast serve oil change ( free change) bays, the sticker is put at 10,000 kms. SCAM artists. Today again if I had followed all of their “suggested” maintenance I would have had a $2500 bill.

1. New windshield-  agreed and I would have hoped it would be noticed. LOL Their bill to replace it $361.45. I have replaced this shield 4 times now and have NEVER paid over $160.
2. Perform rear diff service-  $ 273.47.  I checked my service manual right from the factory and this isn’t required to perform until 200K kms. I have 79K kms. SCAM
3. Engine coolant exchange- $ 310.00. Again the owner manual states 170k kms with me only having 79 kms. SCAM 
4. Transmission fluid flush- Dealer price $ 330.00. Again the manual states at 100k kms. SCAM
5. Replace battery- I give them this one. I had my favorite shop do a test on this when in Arizona and the battery was weak. Dealer price to replace $312.97.  I can get the exact same battery at Canadian Tire $ 166.00   SCAM 

My warning to everyone. DO NOT TRUST car dealerships. Look up in your manual as the factory ( who built the car and provides warranty) provides all of the maintenance guidelines needed. There will be exceptions due to contamination or hard driving etc but in most most cases do not fall for the accelerated and unneeded demands of the service dealer. Watch them come up with all kind of excuses when you show them the factory schedule.  All I can say is SHAME on them. There are huge fines for misleading yet the bulk of the car dealerships continue to upsell as people just don’t report them.

K.I.S.S.- read you manual every time before committing to any work.

” BUT THAT IS JUST ME!!”

October 10th -11th

Up early this morning and headed to Edmonton to see Mom for the day.  The fog was thick. Very thick and the traffic a little on the slow side but we still made good time.

We had a great visit with Mom all day. She is doing very well and gaining her strength back slowly. Those small strokes can zap of energy very easily. After visiting for a while we decided to have  later lunch/early supper and went to the Sawmill. JUST missed the timing on their buffet which was too bad so we headed to the lounge side. We were unlucky in getting a slower thinker blonde waitress today. I had to get her attention to get ANY attention. We finally got that all fixed up and ordered our food. I had their pot roast and it was excellent. Mom ordered the prime rib and asked for it to be well done. Two things . First no cook wants to hear well done, it doesn’t do the meat and justice and prime rib is extremely difficult to get it without pink or blood. The waitress knew her meat as she did say it would take an extra 20 mins to have to done. Try ordering the end cut if possible as on a prime roast it is always the most well done portion. It came and it was med to med rare as prime rib is usually. We have been bugging Mom she isn’t eating properly but I have to say today she ate very very well. She finished off her entire veggies, mashed potatoes and a huge Yorkshire pudding plus a large portion of her meat. I was impressed.

We then headed over to SAS shoes as Mom had been having trouble with her shoes as the soles are worn. Expensive shoes if anyone knows SAS but extremely comfortable. I only buy SAS sandals as they are awesome. I had to head back to Mom’s condo to get her current SAS as she has inserts in them. This is where I forgot where I was. Edmontonians are  slowest drivers on the planet. Numerous numerous traffic lights and many huge potholes in the middle of the road to avoid. A 10 min trip took me 1/2 hr. I am so glad to moved to Calgary. Fast traffic, and smooth roads. We ended up ordering a pair that will be in Edmonton by Friday so Mom should be set again.

Did a lot more visiting and then headed home. Good drive. Love my new glasses as night glare doesn’t exist.

Cold again this morning but with the sun it is expected to hit between 3 and 6 degrees. Yahoo. This is the 11th of October and we have already set the October snow record for the month. Looking at the forecast though by Monday we are hitting high teens which will be awesome.

Today my home course announced it is closing for the season. Earliest close ever but the crew needs time to prepare the course before our real winter hits. My other course will be open as soon as the snow is gone. I did not get my 100 games this year like last and perhaps the scoring as of late indicates this. LOL

” Memories”

 

Jackie told me one of my  former employees just announced his engagement. This is Darren Wood’s second marriage. Darren started at Henderson’s in late 1991 so he will have been employed by Henderson/ JELDWEN now for 27 years. Darren was one of the few employees that wasn’t terminated at the Calgary branch when I was transferred down to clean up a poor performing branch. I have some wonderful, funny, and interesting memories of Darren when  he worked for me.

1. Anyone that knows me, knows that I don’t anger easily and even then that is an extremely rare occurrence. I always consider anger a weakness of the mind of the person becoming angry. Only a few weeks into the job which as my first managerial position was stressful I walked into the lunch room with a big discussion going on. I hate negativity!  I asked the guys to get back to work and quit bickering. Darren for some reason that day was quite obstinate and for what ever reason the anger weakness hit me. A few swear words and a physical push to get back to work . Not proud of it but I remember it well. Darren rushed to work luckily for me as Darren is twice my size.
2. I promoted Darren twice. Once from a  order procurement warehouse employee to a delivery specialist driver and then later to an inside sales position. During his time with me a few incidents happened.
   1. On a road trip in central Alberta Darren decides to take a short cut across the country. Full ban on the roads. Darren gets our 5 ton delivery truck stuck in the middle of a gravel road sunk down to the axles. Rather than call the office to get help and advice he pays for a tow truck to get himself unstuck. Hard to do on a drivers wage at the time. I can’t remember for sure but I hope I reimbursed him when I found out about this much later after it happened.
   2. I ordered a brand new International Eagle tractor from Edmonton as a new delivery truck for the Calgary branch and had Darren go to Edmonton to pick it up. 15 speed split etc tranny and a newer driver can cause issues. Darren shifted 15 times from a green light and didn’t make it thru the intersection before the light turned red and he had to shut it down. He had quite a learning curve on his way home.
   3. On a trip in the 5 ton with a pup Darren pulls into the weigh scale in Golden BC. These guys are idiots but that is another story. His log book gets checked and he made an error in filling it out so he was away over his allotted driving time. He phoned to let me know. I had a sales rep Tom Daniels with his #1 license that I asked a favor of to make the deliveries to Kelowna. Tom agreed but wasn’t happy with Darren. Tom and I drove  the 3 hours to Golden and couldn’t find Darren at the weigh scale.  We check every hotel and finally find him sleeping at the Mary’s Inn. Tom is not happy. Tom and Darren head out for  long trip at least 15 hours with Darren having to sit on a plastic box as we removed the passenger seat to make room for carrying locks etc. Darren handled the entire trip quite well and took thousands of pictures as the passenger on his first trip in the delivery truck thru the mountains. I am sure Tom bent him for most of the way.
   4. Darren in the office was shredding paper and bent over. In those days we all had to wear ties. Darren’s tie gets sucked into the shredder and almost chokes the guy.
   5. I assigned all of the purchasing for truck repairs, warehouse repairs , supplies etc to Darren. He saved us a lot of money making deals with great vendors. The one thing that irked me though was our telephone contract. He showed me the dollars we were saving but every time I went to dial I had to remember to dial 9 before the number. I never forgave him for that one. LOL
   6. I had to send Darren to Saskatoon for something I can’t remember. Either a new truck or parts from Bell International. As he was staying overnight I went over our hotel and per diems amount he was allowed. He saved his breakfast and dinner per diem all for supper. When I looked at the receipt I killed my self laughing. Darren spent the entire per diem on his supper and didn’t leave a tip as it would have put him over.
   7. Darren had this older Dodge 1/2 ton that he was proud of. At one of our staff parties he was kind enough to offer a fellow employee a pull to see if they could get his vehicle started. On the pull the guy dumps the clutch but instead of starting it the sudden jerk destroys Darren’s rear differential.
   8. Same party this employee was bugging Darren to which Darren picked up this guy threw him over his shoulder and carried him to a creek a few hundred feet away and threw him in. Darren is strong like bull.
   9. I went on a fishing trip to Lake On the Woods. My cabin assignment bunk mate ( the beds were literally  2 ft apart ) was late getting in and I headed to bed. Later that night this gentleman sneaks into bed. This guy snore like nothing I have every heard. My bed  was vibrating. I could not sleep. I semi awoke in the morning and look over and had to laugh. It was Darren. If I had known I would have made his sleep a lot less comfortable.
3. I have eaten literally a 1000 pounds of chicken wings and drank gallons of beer with Darren over the years. Every Friday night after work I would buy wings and beer for Darren & Ed ( my asst mgr) . A lot of fun, a lot of wings and a lot of beer but fun fun times.
4. Darren accepted a new opportunity at our Regina branch a few years later.
5. I have to say Darren made my coming to Calgary both an interesting and fun time. An amazing employee with the smarts and work ethic. Nice to see him finding happiness. 

Received this picture today from Jessica. It is toooo cute to just put under the Atticus header,

Not again. The TSX is dropping a way way too much. I don’t like it. We need to get rid of Trudeau and Notley asap. Calgary new home construction is down 38 %.  YTD sales are 20% below the 10 year average with pricing continuing to drop. Calgary unemployment is still over 8% .

October 12th

Finally a nice day. I headed to Claresholm today to golf. All the way it was windy and it continued on. Winds were to hit 50 mph which I am sure it did. LOL  Golfing in the wind definitely causes issues with golfing. Not swinging a club for weeks and wind made for a interesting day. I ended up winning $10 by winning two snips which is awesome. The score was high but only caused by wind issues and stupidity. Remove 3 holes scores and i would be happy. I didn’t lose any money to Larry even though I think he made an error. It was a fun fun day and extremely enjoyable to be outside and having fun. Hit 16 degrees today. I know !!!

I would bet there were only 10 people on the course. Every time golfing something happens but today was even a little scary.

The four of us were attacked by two dogs. I mean attacked. We had to use our clubs to hold them back. They were biting the clubs and very aggressively circling while trying to attack us. This is what is frustrating and annoying. We were yelling at the owner to get his dogs off us and he just causally walks towards us. The one dog managed to bite one of our group on the hand. I was close to the point of hitting the dog across the head as hard as I could to stop them. No other word for the dog owner than asshole. ” My dogs don’t bite! ” They just don’t like golfers” . This after they are circling and attacking us. Amazing. A quick I am sorry and he left. Amazing the indifference and lack of concern

A few holes later Ralph with a brand new ball has it picked up by a crow and he flew off with it right in front of us.

Like the excitement but didn’t care for the attack in the least.

Thought of the Day 

Large dog owners that are ignorant, have aggressive dogs that they somewhat encourage to be aggressive with no control should be charged.  I should have taken a picture but I couldn’t as I was protecting myself with my golf club. 

October 13-18th

SNOW !   Yes snowing again today. Unbelievable cold and snowy fall.  Nothing urgent  on the plate today so I will watch Sask win, Eskimo’s lose , Stamps win, Oiler’s lose, and the Flames win and it will be a good day. LOL

Well a few good things happened. The Flames won- excellent, the Oiler’s won- lucky and I can see them struggling, the Eskimos won- a little to late, Stamps lost – on purpose to allow the Lions to be ahead of Edmonton and Edmonton miss the playoffs. It was a busy sports day which I would normally not be all that into but with it cold and snowy it seemed fitting.

A very good day today hitting 11 degrees  today. Just a nice temperature. Jackie and I worked all day out at the lot. Jackie has the motor home looking very nice inside with her new black chairs, black rug and pillows and pictures. It looks great.  I found a place to get new front window curtains that I will order when in Phoenix.  I may switch the front to a pull down shade though.

We bought these X Large leaf bags and filled  9 bags total. Each bag when filled weighed at least 60 pounds. I was shocked how heavy they were. That is a lot of leaves. Jackie packed up all of the cushions and put them in the shed and piled up the furniture, rug and foot stools for winter. I will get a tarp and bundle them up and leave them under the gazebo.

I said my tow bar is fixed. Now the lithium grease is sticking the arms and they are not releasing. I can’t get the arms to lock. FAIL after I thought the Hitch Shop fixed them. Plan B now.

Stacked up the chairs, put away decorations, removed the solar lights and put them away.

I have 4 golf games this week while it is warm. I will start my outdoor kitchen project and work on it when I can and hopefully have it done by the end of next weekend. I want to use up my Canexel siding rather than leave it in the snow all winter sitting on the ground.  A quick trip with the Dakota into Strathmore and then I work. I will complete the exposed outside of it this year and finish the interior like the Saloon next spring.

It was a wonderful day working out there all day. Everything was perfect except for the music coming from at least a 1/4 mile away blasting. I don’t understand the rationale first of spoiling the peace and quiet of the country but second being ignorant enough to bother others 1/4 mile away with the volume of your music you like. Play your music for yourself which should be the volume intended for yourself. I may have resort to extra loud opera music next time with my surround sound  exterior stereo that I never use to help them understand  It is LOUD.

Up and out of the house to play golf. Wow it hit 18 degrees today. Heatherglen Golf course was fantastic. The greens were in remarkable shape and the leaves all gone.The crew has done a wonderful job. Being nice, me liking this course I had high hopes of a low score. That ended quickly after the first triple and the second triple. Played ok but not great. I just can’t put a good game together. It will happen. I lost a few bucks today to Larry today which is ok as tomorrow is my day !! Not that many on the course which was odd so we finished in a great time. It was so nice being outside in the warmth. We can’t get those 4 weeks back though. Darn.

Another wonderful day on the golf course with a better but still poorer performance. I lost a couple of bucks again but overall played a lot better. Remove a couple of blow up holes and i would be happy.

Up early this morning and Jackie & I head out to the lot to start building my outdoor kitchen. It is a western themed covered and enclosed extension on the deck to house our BBQ and fridge and to provide  a counter for the ice machine and prep work with a few cupboard drawers and doors. Day one went very well. It hit 23 degrees on the temperature gauge in the Jeep. We managed to get all three walls farmed and the front western facade done. Next trip will be the roofing and siding. I am using my cedar board and batten roof to match the saloon and Canexel siding to match also. I am not going to board the wall but attach the siding directly to the studs. I went 12 inch on centers so it should work out perfect. I plan to install barn board in the inside and have two western style wall sconces for the look and extra light in the gazebo. I need to see the crib board to win.

Worked there all day then headed into town to play golf with Jeff at McKenzie.

We were partnered up with a gentleman that turned out to be a “celebrity” of sorts. Our golfing partner was Tony Tighe from Global TV. He just retired, lives in McKenzie and walked down and joined us as a single. Nice guy and a good golfer. I played very well the front nine and got the first Birdie in a few games since the snow left. 39 on the front nine. Then the cooler air, the darkness and lack of effort resulted in a few two many mistakes on the back. Still a good game and fun getting out with Jeff and meeting Tony.

Thought of the Day

Don’t you hate it when someone you just met says ” Nice to meet you ” and you haven’t even said a word to them. How do they know ?

October 18th 

I have this splinter in my thumb that I had Jackie try to remove but we can’t get a hold it of it. I awoke this morning and it is swollen and infected. I squeezed blood and puss out of it but the splinter still is too deep to grab it. Darn thing hurts. I will let it fester a bit more to hopefully push the piece of wood out a bit. If in a couple  of days if still in me I guess a quick stop ( sorry a long wait) at a walk in for numbing agent and a slice of a knife to get it out. Darn. !

Fire alarm testing today so we have to be home. I was going to head out but decided to work downstairs and pull our Christmas stuff and suitcases out of storage. I rent our parking lot out Nov 1st so I need to get our stuff out before the tenant parks there.

Paid some bills and looked at our budget. I checked my numbers against my hopes and am not exactly happy. We have a meeting with our planner again in December where we need a discussion. We have averaged right at 5% for the last 3 years. That is after fees etc. I want more but do not want to increase the risk factor too much.

” PENNYWISE TIPS”

I used my retirement calculator to do some longer term calculating. First thing is – a 1% increase in returns allows our money to last an additional 8 years. That is a lot.  Second is -at 5% it takes a HUGE amount of money to generate a lot of usable interest to spend.

Having said that people need to do their lifestyle calculations. We do NOT care to preserve capital ( banks use this as a ploy for them to use your money to make a lot of money for themselves) . This allows us to have that much more to spend. Everyone knows expenses will decrease a lot on some items but increase dramatically on others. You are no longer saving so that frees up a lot of monthly expense. Work clothes are not needed. No work lunches etc. But travel and leisure expenses go a way up. But remember with CPP and OAS you should replace approximately  $30,000 of your income as a couple.  Institutions ( remember they are selling you) claim you need 70% of your income to live on. I disagree with that completely. I am saying 45 to 55%. You have no mortgage, no car payment, no loans, no business expenses, no saving allocated etc etc.  Just for illustration purposes I will use Canadian current averages

Canadian average salary is $51000 a year. 51 x 2 = $102,000 annually. 102  @ 60% is  $61,000 Minus your CPP/OAS 61,000- 30,000= 31,000  of income you need from somewhere. At 5% it takes $621,000  to generate $31,000.   That is using interest only. Using a retirement calculator and not preserving capital you can save a lot less. It all comes down to two things. Your income required and amount saved.  This scenario for those that are fortunate enough to have company pensions doesn’t work. Most individuals with company pensions retire early and a have a lot more spending money than those that don’t.

We see this a lot of as most retirees we meet that if they had a great company pension, that they earned, it allows them the extra vacations and enjoyments that others just can’t afford. This is a life lesson that as a younger person your benefits are a way more important that anything when deciding what you want to become.

I am of the mind set and have seen many cases of people falling victim to our financial institutions selling them and creating fear they haven’t saved enough as they want  you preserve capital and that you need to have 25 times you current income saved etc only to retire and not live or spend out of fear. Money doesn’t fulfill you if it sits in the bank.I have listed these rules before but here are a couple again all created by financial institutions  but are used and sold everyday to us.

1. The 4 % rule. The 4 percent rule is a rule of thumb used to determine how much a retiree should withdraw from a retirement account each year. This rule seeks to provide a steady income stream to the retiree while also maintaining an account balance that keeps income flowing through retirement. What they don’t tell you they want your capital to use to create more profits for them and to cover off expenses. The premise is you should not run out of money but your capital, that you could be spending, is just sitting there.
2. The 25 times rule.  This is to figure out how much you need in retirement by multiplying your desired income by 25. ie  you want 50,000 a year  50 x 25= $ 1,250,000 you need to save. A scare tactic used to convince people they need to save more.
3. Age rule- You should invest 100 minus your age in stocks. ie  100 – 61 yrs old= 39% investment in stocks. In my mind a way way to conservative in our low interest era.
4. Rule of 72.  I like this money rule. Use it to calculate doubling your money. Ie  12% takes 6 years to double your money. 8% return take 9 years. and so on.

There are many many more rules but it is up to us to figure out what is right for us. Just don’t waste time working and saving like mad to miss out what life has to offer.

Spend wisely but don’t be a cheapskate on life.

“BUT THAT IS JUST ME “

Had a great fun golf game with Jeff & Wendy and Jackie. You got to love these nice fall days. Everyone had their bad shots and good shots. I wasn’t disappointed with any part of the game today except I wish there was a little more luck. Only one birdie but plenty of tries. No one was on the course in front of us so we sailed which was nice. Fun game.

After the golf we decided to go out for supper so headed to the Bull & Finch as I know you will always get great food there. They didn’t disappoint again as each of our dishes were done perfectly. It is always nice having food and a couple of beer with friends.

We have two good friends that will be retiring early at the end of October. Both Wendy and Terry will join us retirees enjoying life and not worrying about anything work related. Two smart girls. I KNOW they will love their new occupation and if they don’t they have no one to blame but themselves. There isn’t enough time in a day to get everything done is what I have found for the last 5 years. If for what ever reason a day comes where you are feeling a little antsy, bake a new recipe,  wash the car, go to the gym , ride your bike, go shopping, or just relax and read a good book. Most importantly ENJOY !  And remember you earned it.

Arriving at the doorstep of retirement with all of your marbles intact is an achievement worthy of praise in its self. You have survived a career that even if stimulating has likely taken its toll over the years. Your kids should be of  independent status, your mortgage should be gone and you have built a sufficient nest egg to subsidize the retired lifestyle you hope to enjoy.

As you start to enjoy retirement  the opportunity to experience the best of what life has to offer will be there for you. Assuming you can cope with the challenges that come with getting old and as long as you manage to live within the constraints of a budget by being smart with your money your future can be bright for many years to come.

Why should retirement be the best time of your life?

You don’t have to act your age

You don’t have to wait for the weekend to have fun

You don’t have to waste time doing what you do not want to

You don’t have to listen to what others tell you

You can learn/study/read what really interests you

You can travel in non peak times, search out vacation special and two week vacations to find the sun are long gone. Make it a 6 month vacation.

Short lines at the check outs during mid week, senior specials and no rush hours.

October 19th

Up and out of the house. Stopped at the Depot to pick up some more wood. Had to make a Tim’s stop and then headed out to the lot. Filled up today at $ 1.12 which is more like it.

I have to say I am going to make a carpenter out of Jackie yet. Her weak wrists get to her but today she was an awesome help. I had her using the impact, being my fetch girl, holding material, leveling, getting wood, jig sawing out my bird mouths plus putting together lunch and supper. She worked hard and did exceptional. She is getting the hang of the angle of the driver to screw including how to toe nail. Plus the help in cleaning up when done is awesome.

Day two went well with us completing the walls, sheathed the interior wall, tyvek on the exterior, trim boards on corners and bottom, and build the roof structure to hold my board and batten roofing plus 80% finished putting on the exterior siding. A very good day working from about 10 am to 7 pm. An enjoyable day. The outside kitchen area is looking wonderful. !!

Booked a few golf games for next week and will book a couple closer to the dates when the computer allows me.
Planning a BBQ out there on Sunday which will be fun.

Thought of the Day 

I’ll have you know I am in the process of a small building project and i have gone to Home Depot only 6 times. 

October 20th

Another gorgeous fall day. It was only supposed to hit 13 but zoomed up to 16 degrees with no wind or clouds.

Finished the exterior of the outdoor kitchen. Completed the roof, finished off the siding, trim, caulking. I have only cut offs left of my expensive siding so pretty good figuring. Funny how a small project takes so long. I had a small hiccup and am out of perfect square by 1/4 on the roof line but caulk and paint will finish it up but it still bugs me. I didn’t want to adjust the end board as it may exaggerate it. No one will notice but it is funny how it bugs me.  Next is to install the electrical boxes and wiring then finish the interior sheathing. I am planning to use barn wood for the interior finish and make a barn wood cupboard section. I will have an aluminum flashing surround to reflect heat behind the BBQ and a small counter top for the ice maker . Should finish up good.

Worked hard all day but enjoyed it. Jackie again worked right beside me and did a lot helping. She said she did over 14K steps today. Tiring but fun work in the sun and semi-warmth.

Came home tonight and picked up the groceries for our BBQ tomorrow.  Even burgers are getting expensive in the store. I decided on frozen just due to ease of handling since the motor home is basically shut down for the season. Should be a nice camp fire BBQ visit with the kids.

Thought of the Day

Just remember as far as any one knows we are just a normal family.

October 21st

Up earlier this morning and made my Grandma’s recipe for potato salad. I love this salad as do most people that  try it. It is my favorite potato salad recipe. I do remember having a Larry Geddes version that was very very good also. So many different ways to make it.

Out at the lot we got everything ready. Pulled out all of the cushions and organized. A lot of cushions. Place was looking good.

We had Audrey, Michael, Victoria, Jackson, Jessica, Penny, August , Atticus along Jackie & I. I bought Angus burgers and Sirloin burgers. The Sirloin wins hands down in the cooking and looks. Hot dogs for kids to cook in the fire along with our potato salad and beans. Awesome summer meal ! All the burgers I cooked were eaten plus a large portion of the salad so I guess everyone liked it. I used Montreal Steak Spice and Lady Di’s sauce on the burgers.  A good meal.

Playground time, discussion time, walks around the park, kicking the ball around and enjoying the sun and warmth as it hit around 14 degrees today.

Jackson had the event of the day losing his front tooth. He is looking forward to the $5 from the tooth fairy. I used to get 25 cents.

Amazing we still had wasps and bees all day. We hired Atti with a fly swatter to get them.

We stayed out all day including long after everyone left sitting in the sun enjoying the country quiet.

Thought of the Day  

Being retired I discovered there is really no sunrise so beautiful that I need to get up early to see it.

October 22nd -23rd

This weeks weather is supposed to be great. Today hitting 14 and everyday this week that or above.

I booked a tee time for Jackie, Wendy and myself today to golf at Heatherglen. Sunny but still on the cool side but a wonderful day to be outside.

Hot chocolate with Bailey’s to start the day tastes awesome. Wendy brought every treat you could think of in the cart. We started a little late due to a frost delay. I was shocked as this was the first time I have seen this here.

The girls played overall quite well today. Some wonderful shots and the odd bad one happening at the most inopportune time. If I could play everyday like I did today it would be wonderful. Straight drives, and great chips. If I could have putted better I would have had an incredible score. Numerous putts for birdies turned into par’s or boogies. One eagle putt into a par. Darn. So close to breaking 80 today.

We sent a selfie to Jeff at work to bug him while Wendy was in her practice retirement mode.  It was a fun day. LOL

Woke up to a cool 4 degrees but very sunny day. I had a golf game booked with Larry P today but unfortunately he had a medical issue come up. I asked Jackie if she wanted to play and I was surprised she said yes.  Arriving at the course for a 11 am tee time there was a mess of people waiting as it was another frost delay. I checked in to the clubhouse and was told we had a 40 minute wait. Remember time really isn’t that important if you don’t have plans so we decided to go in to the lounge and sit for a bit. My supervisor was in the pro shop when I checked in and he comp’d Jackie. Very nice to have the free round for Jackie & I. We were teamed up with a guy and his father-in-law. Very nice guys. The young guy tried hard but the father-in-law putted unbelievable and took strokes on most holes. Jackie had another good game with the odd error thrown in. I was very happy again shooting an 82.  The odd error caused the score to hit a little higher. I had two birdies but was putting for at least 8 birdies and missed.

It is a fun game especially when you play well. Muscles though are a little tight tonight. I normally never like to golf so many games in a row but it does help with the feel. Anytime you are inside 100 yards it is feel not the distance that matters and practice is the only way to get better. The driving range does wonders on irons and driver but chip shots are not real as you need the hole, distance and feel happening.

Thought of the Day 

The best things in life are free. The second best things are very expensive.

Oct 24th -25th

I worked on my budget inputting this morning. I hate the coming up decline in the stocks again. We will not be hurt as much this time as the last big crash as our ratio’s of risk and safety have improved. Lower returns but safer yet a large drop means 5 digit losses immediately.

Paid a bunch of bills and moved money into the US dollar account to pay our Mesa HOA and for out upcoming trip to Mesa. The dollar still isn’t strong. Low interest accounts and dollar difference hurts.

I met Jeff at McKenzie golf course tonight and we were the third last tee time for their 2018 season. It was an ok golf game ending up with a 84 but a couple of stupid shots. On the eighteenth hole I lost a ball in the center of the fairway in the darkness. The temperature was fine to  golf in and we finished in good time as it wasn’t that busy during twilight tee times. Jeff struck the ball overall quite good tonight. Forward hands and hitting down on the ball is his nemesis and habits are hard to break. I do believe he should be happy with the lessons as I have never seen Jeff hit his drives as long as he has lately. A fun fun game and maybe the last depending on the weather.

Up and Jackie and head out to the lot. We finalized everything. Last sewer dump, pulled in the slides, lowered the roof vents, unhooked the battery, put on the a/c cover and tire covers, installed the winter snow load pole in the gazebo, using a large tarp wrapped all of the patio furniture, enclosed the kitchen after finishing installing the inside walls, placed mouse killer in the shed and motor home, removed the tow bar to take to Mesa with me, and locked the place down. I forgot the Stabloc so one more trip to finish up. Time flies as it took Jackie and I the complete day to accomplish all of these things including a nice visit with our neighbors. I do have to say our neighbor loves a tall, large, big glass of wine. I couldn’t walk and I would have a headache if I drank that much. Very nice people !! Glad to have every neighbor near us as great people. Jury is still out on the ladies right behind us. Time will tell.

All done and the season ends.

Washed the Jeep twice now and STILL it isn’t clean. I need to spend about 2 hours cleaning, waxing , armorall etc.

One more doctor appointment, one confirmed golf game, perhaps another in the cards and then we leave to a much nicer climate. I am ready !

Thought of the Day 

I love the look of snow and am very appreciative of experiencing winter but i LOVE going south to miss it now. Winter is for kids !

October 26th

Received a picture of August’s new Halloween costume today from Jessica. This is the age when kids love this event . From 3 to 12 it is a fun time for every kid plus the added benefit of all the candy.  Adult parties are also fun as the dress code can be rather risky and when dressed up it is amazing how much different a person acts and can get away with. We used to dress up for years.

RETIREMENT ANNOUNCEMENT

I received another great picture today of a HUGE event. Today is the last day of work for Terry Keys. All those years of hard work, getting married,raising kids, paying off mortgages, debts, moving, bosses, meetings, getting up early for work etc are ALL GONE. Tomorrow is the FIRST DAY OF RETIREMENT the best time of your life. Your schedule, new worries about getting the best tee time, worries about when you should go camping or travelling, and the freedom to do what you want. The luxury of getting to spend winter in Arizona, enjoying the benefits of free time and the blessing of little STRESS.  Enjoy and we will see you in Mesa shortly.

I had a golf game arranged with Larry this morning with a tee time of 11 am. It was COLD. The first few holes extra jackets on , toque and gloves and still chilled. My finger tips turned pure white again.  Raynaud’s is weird condition. Unfortunately it is a heredity thing. My Dad had it bad as does Jessica. I wasn’t aware of it until a few years ago when it was very pronounced unloading the car in the cold. Your fingers turn white, completely numb,tingle and only warmth eventually helps. Not using this as an excuse but I didn’t play well which was the total opposite of Larry getting birdie after birdie. Later in the afternoon the temperatures came up a little and it was fine. Restrictions on movement in golf do not make things go well. Add in the cold and numb hands. Oh well next game. Golf is funny one good game one bad game. I have too many bad games lately though.

Jackson, Corey, Victoria along Jackie & I went to Boston Pizza tonight. I love Boston Pizza. A nice gathering and fun meal. As a family every Friday night was Boston night for years.

Jackson’s costume this year is really neat. As soon as i saw it I thought Fred would like one of these to go deer hunting. Just like in the army.

Thought of the Day 

Camouflage condoms- they will never see you coming !

October 27th-28th

Nice fall day hitting 12 degrees today in the sun. We went over to Tor’s to check out the Xterra as they have a odd noise happening. It appears to be the front brakes. You can’t see how much pad is left without pulling the wheel but I am sure the pads are grinding a bit. The rotors aren’t marked up yet though.  After a couple hard stops the noise disappeared. They will need to get it in for repair. Pads or CV are the two only things it can be. My trust of major shops is zero so they need to find a small honest shop or they will be replacing rotors, calipers, lines, brake flushes etc.

Our neighbor in Mesa sent us this picture of our trees in front of our home.. They have grown 6 feet plus in 7 months.  I normally keep them around 6 ft tall as a easy trim tree but nowhere close to that now. A full day to trim all of the trees in front, side and back of the house when I get there.

We met Alan & MaryAnn at the Memorial Forest as the wall plague with Peter’s name now is erected. The walk to the forest after the wall which is a little ways was cold on the ears. Luckily Jackie had an extra head band that kept the cold wind out of my ears.  A tree isn’t designated to one particular person but Alan & Jackie chose a tree, added a few rocks around it, and marked Peter’s initials on one of the rock. Alan is going to fertilize and water it so it becomes the best and biggest tree in the memorial gardens.

After our marking of the tree we decided to go for a nice lunch at East Side Mario’s. This place is excellent for their lunch special, all you can eat soup,salad, and bread special. We all decided on this special with MaryAnn and I having the Italian Wedding , Jackie having roasted tomato and Alan with the Minestrone. Alan’s second bowl was Italian Wedding. I like the fresh bread better than Olive Gardens sticks but the salad which is excellent I like the Olive’s just a little better. A long nice lunch , conversation and fun gathering.

Thought of the Day 

Lunch dates are always more lively than dinner dates. Most people are still awake !

October 29th

It turned out to be the front wheel bearing. It didn’t come up in my thinking as I felt no wiggle in the steering wheel and the noise wasn’t consistent. Also wheel bearings going really isn’t that common as most of them last the lifetime of the vehicle being a sealed unit. The pricing seemed high until Jackie told me they had to replace the hub also. A $30 bearing turns into $300 pretty quick. Audrey had suggested a smaller garage in Millrise to try which turned out good. It used to be a Minute Muffler but became an Napa dealer. I would prefer an independent but these guys seem to want to provide great service having a 4.8 star rating which in the auto industry is abnormal.

Went golfing for the last time at Heatherglen. I am getting a little frustrated with my golfing scores. I just can’t seem to score well. Lost a couple of bucks again today to Larry and Gavin.  A lot of bad luck ( ball on top of rock, ball behind a tree, missed numerous putts by centimeters.) The weather turned out to be a lot better than they forecast.  I was a beautiful fall golf day.

I have one nine hole golf game left with Jeff tomorrow night and that’s it for 2018 in Canada. I will get a few games in November in Mesa.

A light supper tonight and a bit of TV on the agenda. I will finish off the winterizing at the lot tomorrow and pack a few clothes and be down ready to go. We plan to leave Tuesday.

Thought of the Day  

I probably only need about 10 sets of clothes for Arizona but as usual I will pack 35. tt

October 30

I paid my HOA today for Viewpoint. It always hurts for a moment than quickly disappears when I think about how much we love and enjoy the place. With every business there are the annual increases which is now making our annual fee $9100 cdn. The way I rationalize this is a two week vacation anywhere can cost that much and we have this place for 6 months of the year to use. To rent in the area is about $2500 a month so at 4 months a year we are still ahead of the game. The atmosphere, the amenities which are second to none and the friendliness of the group especially the neighbors is amazing. Worth every penny.

I received a picture today of our place with it’s trees all trimmed thanks to our neighbors arranging it. Saves a lot of work and scratches.

Paying a few other bills today and have a golf game arranged for late afternoon with Jeff today. I will finalize the RV lot tomorrow. Today I will start packing my suitcase for the trip.

The day turned out great. This afternoon it was cool though hitting only 11. Out on the course and all of a sudden the sun came out and it was a nice temperature to golf in. A wonderful fall day. Jeff’s new driver worked perfect for him and overall he played very well. I think overall he had his best play in a long long time. New driver was longer and straighter than ever, he corrected his forward hands on his irons, corrected his wiggle with the irons and shot some fantastic shots all with confidence.  He always was a good putter. Larry P as usual had a solid game. I thought I had tied him for gross score but he had it as a 1 stroke win. Could have been the lateral drop shooting 3 versus shooting 4. It was a fun fun night of golfing and the last for Canada this year. Nice that scoring was reasonable tonight for everyone. Fun.

Watched the Flames at the bar and they played wonderful. Even better that we tied it up and went on to win !!!   GO Flames Go Even better to see the Oilers lose. LOL

Thought of the Day

You know water hazards would be no problem if you played golf when the ponds are froze

October 31st

Halloween !!

Here are a few throw back pictures of our family.

 

RETIREMENT ANNOUNCEMENT 

Today is Wendy Grace’s last day of work. Officially she is still using up vacation days and may have a contract coming but it is her LAST WORK day. Congratulations!  We are all wishing her the best in her new career which we all will agree is the best one. Throw out the alarm clock, make sure Jeff is quiet while he gets ready for work, and enjoy doing what you want to do when you want to is the first obvious benefit.Wendy is a girl that is a busy bee so she may have an adjustment period getting used to the good life as winter approaches but I am sure after  bit she is going to love the relaxation and lack of stress.

Way to go Wendy. Nothing like early retirement !!

Here are my thoughts right or wrong.When it comes to early retirement, there’s no discounting the importance of having enough money saved to retire early but money doesn’t really matter once you get there.
You have to realize how “unimportant and insignificant” money is after retiring early. Money is our primary motivator on our adult life, but now that you are retired you need to find new sources of motivation, be it getting better at golf, cooking, learning,travel etc.

You can’t put a price on the value of early retirement. Any amount of time working versus being retired has NO comparison. Imagine 10 years of life enjoyment in retirement versus 10 years of life enjoyment if you remained working – especially in the last 10 years of your career, What is that life enjoyment worth? People are scared of the money situation. I could have stayed working and earned in 10 years over 1 million dollars. But for what ? Worst case scenario and I say WORST is that you end up being supported by the government in a senior’s home when you are too old to do most things anyways.

Jessica, Penny, August and Atticus all dressed up Halloween 2018 . Great make up job and nice to see the kids having a wonderful time. Let’s see how much candy the parents “steal” tonight. I loved picking my favorites out of the piles.