UNUSUALLY WARM AND HUMID

All three cats are laid out on our screened in back porch in such a way that the sun covers their entire stretched-out bodies...  their legs are also stretched-out to one side and their heads are laying flat on the wooden floor with their eyes shut...  calm...  relaxed...  comfortable...   and safe...  as a gentle breeze swoops in and over them like birds protecting their nests from predators.

It feels like we are in the heart of the summer and the cats are really enjoying our back porch investment.  The screened in back porch was more for our enjoyment that it was for our cat's enjoyment; in fact, we built a 20 foot by 12 foot screened in area attached to the basement wall exclusively for our cats which was used by our cats all-the-time until our back porch was screened in.

Four by Four 12 foot treated posts cemented into holes in the ground formed the perimeter of the enclosure and it was surrounded with chicken wire.  On the inside, we constructed sitting/lounge areas in two of the corners with walkways on three of the four sides.  There are two doors allowing easy access for cleaning and mowing.

Here's An Interesting Little Tidbit...

I woke up this morning at 2:00 am and I maintain 3 blogs daily not counting my Poetry Blog which obviously is exclusively dedicated to poetry...   and, on all three of these blogs, I have written or am in the process of writing about INSOMNIA...

I betcha you can never guess why in the hell I am writing about INSOMNIA at 2:00 in the morning? 

So, let me say this about that...   I have no desire to be sitting in my underwear, here on the couch with my Lenovo Laptop on my lap writing about some bullshit idea at 4:00 in the morning in the hopes that I will get sleepy...


Do I know why I have insomnia?


NO...  not really...  but, it could be my Thyroid medication that I just started taking 4 days ago although I was told it was take a couple of weeks for the meds to start working.

Sometimes, when I start daydreaming in bed at night to fall asleep the details that I am constantly crunching over in my mind have a tendency to keep me from falling asleep...  but, I don't remember if that was the case tonight or not.


I also had some crackers and pimento cheese around 9:30 this evening but eating late at night does not typically keep me from falling asleep either.


Maybe I'll trade in my cats for a dog...

Just Relaxing a bit...

About 12-15 years ago, after my wife and I paid off our mortgage on the house, we decided to renovate the outside of our house in case we did not have enough money to afford to go on a vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC which is where we both like to go in the summers.
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Our first order-of-business was to install an above ground about 24-26 feet in diameter, then build a deck around the pool big enough for me to completely walk around to clean and wide enough to add a 12 foot by 12 foot gazebo along with a 5-person hot tub next to the wall of the house since the pool proper was about 10-12 feet away from the house. 

During those 12-15 years, we have had to do nothing to our pool or pump (except add a new motor) but our hot tub (a Hot Springs Prodigy) has required maintenance twice at a cost of about 1/2 of what we paid for it.  Part of the problem is that we were using powders to clean the tub and that was causing problems even though powders is what the seller recommended we use.  Once we switched to liquid, our only issues has been replacing the heating elements. 

A month ago, our hot tub stopped heating the water and we called the technicians expecting a $2,000 bill and decided that we would use our COVID-19 stimulus money from the Government but it was just a bad switch in the electrical box which cost us substantially less except for the huge labor fee.

My wife sits under the gazebo most every day in the summer when it is not raining or lays in a lounge chair soaking up the sun and if she gets too hot, cools off in the pool.  I use the pool on a daily basis but have to wear long sleeves because of my Melanoma and the sun, but what I do is walk around the circumference of the pool for exercise.

As far as the hot tub is concerned, I use it at least every other night all year long, remaining in the 104 degree water for about 30 minutes each time.  The jets are pre programmed to only last 15 minutes for health reasons.

Our investment in our backyard was the best money we every spent and those monies did not come from salary or savings but from consulting fees that I earned on-the-side as a second job.  If I had remained in NC, my skill set would have been a dime-a-dozen and no consulting would have ever come my way, but in TN I was unique and consulting gigs were easy to acquire.

Exercising

Did You Know???

...that the fatter you are, the more calories you burn...  of course this sounds logical after I have shared it with you...  but, one would think that the more you walk on a treadmill the more calories you burn and while that is true also...  weight also seems to be an important factor in burning calories...  however, this is not to suggest that you should bulk up now so you can burn more calories when you finally start exercising...

I have always been one for exercising or working outside at something so that I SWEAT a lot such as splitting wood with a sledge hammer and wedges or using a push mower to mow an acre lot or moving 7 rooms of furniture with just a hand truck, a sturdy rug, and a 1/2 inch nylon rope.  If that was not good enough for me, I usually would fast walk for 90 minutes around the community which included hills, some of which were fairly steep....  since a mile is covered in about 15-20 minutes, I figured I walked 4-6 miles each time...  and, I would typically walk everyday unless it was raining or snowing.

BUT, exercising is not enough to STAY HEALTHY...

If you really want to stay healthy, you must:

1. Quit smoking cigarettes, cigars, and/or marijuana
2. Quit or  substantially reduce your intact of alcohol & red meat
3. Quit eating all friend foods
4. Quit eating sweets
5. Eat more fish and chicken, turkey
6. Eat more vegetables, fruits, and nuts
7. Manage stress with exercise and/or meditation
8. Get the required hours of sleep for you age
9. See your family doctor & eye doctor annually
10. See a dentist twice a year

OR, you can just get lazy, fat, and old and die earlier than expected...

THINK ABOUT THIS...

The U.S. military reported 58,220 American casualties in Vietnam.

US government reports 57, 640 American deaths due to COVID-19.

580 less deaths due to COVID-19 than Vietnam

ANCIENT ALIENS

History Channel
15 Seasons - first episode April 20, 2010
Investigators circle the globe in search of evidence in their quest to determine whether life on Earth began in outer space and if aliens influenced mankind in ancient times. Did extraterrestrial beings visit Earth and share information about technology and influence human religions?

Erich von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods  (first published January 1968) is a work of monumental importance--the first book to introduce the shocking theory that ancient Earth had been visited by aliens. This world-famous bestseller has withstood the test of time, inspiring countless books and films, including the author's own popular sequel, The Eyes of the Sphinx.               

Outside of College textbooks, this was one of the first books that I purchased in the 60's because of limited financial resources.  I remember reading this book 2-3 times before I started acquiring more books on the subject of extraterrestrials visiting earth.  Given the size of our universe, it just seemed highly logical and extremely probable that the human race was NOT ALONE...

SO...  let me give you an idea of how big our universe is.  First of all, you must understand that our EARTH lives inside a solar system and that solar system is a small part of our Milky Way Galaxy.  While  the diameter of the Milky way varies although for the most part is ~ 100,000 light years; therefore, the diameter of the Milky way is roughly 160,256,410 times as wide as the solar system.

Two Trillion Galaxies in the Universe

Just think about this for a minute...  160,000,000+ times as wide... 


It would take TWO BILLION YEARS cross the Milky Way Galaxy at LIGHT SPEED.


NOW, scientist believe there are TWO TRILLION Galaxies in the UNIVERSE.

Given this knowledge, it would be absolutely ludicrous to believe or even perceive that we are the only living SPECIES in the Universe.

GOVERNMENT Finally Admits UFOs

I never thought that I would see the day that our US Government would admit the existence of UFOs...

BACK TO WORK

MOST EVERYONE is anxious to get back to work and put behind them COVID-19 and this Pandemic that has restricted their movements for a couple of months.

America and Americans don't like being RESTRICTED...

BUT, can we take all the necessary precautions not to catch or spread the virus?

This is the really important question.

HERE, in the Tennessee Valley of the Volunteer State of Tennessee and being retired...  I am not sure that I share the anxiousness of the American Worker.  If I was working...  yes...  I would be concerned about being out-of-work and out-of-money, but I would also be concerned about my health and the health of my family.  I also realize that the older I became, the more conservative I also became so I really do understand their feelings...   I just don't support their feelings...

Mornings

Slowly, is how I begin the day and after feeding the cats, it is time for coffee and a minute or two
of reflection as I swallow the hot liquid down into my body...

Gradually, my body responds and my eyes begin to absorb the light, reflecting all the colors of the day that form my environment... 

It is a time of careful awakening, realizing there is another world outside the dreams and fantasies of the night and the sleep that is sometimes, so hard to acquire...

Today is never another day like yesterday or tomorrow but always today, providing me with new opportunities, new chances, affording me new beginnings to take this day and make the most of it while it lasts and while I am mentally capable enough to embrace it...

FINANCIAL PLANNING Part III

In Financial Planning Part II, I talked about 401K's and the money that they could provide for you in retirement and while they are not the best source a savings, they are a source of savings and if your employers offers you one and is matching then put into 401K as much money as you need to in order to receive your employer's maximum match.






This post is about DEBT.

Debt will SUCK the life out of all families and their future, not to mention monies needed for a retirement that you are probably not even thinking about.



You must eliminate your debt!

Right now you are probably thinking how in the hell am I going to do that?

You can start by:

1. quit buying cigarettes if you still smoke
2. stop drinking alcohol everyday - maybe only on the weekends
3. stop going out to lunch at work
4. stop buying stuff you don't really need
5. be frugal in your purchases

These 5 items will get you started but what do you do with the money that you are saving?

You pay off your debt?

Let's suppose that you have the following debt?

• mortgage @ $1,000/month
• car loan @ $400/month
• school loans @ $300/month
• credit card @ $200/month

Recommended Approach:

1. Pay off credit card debt first with money you have scrounged up
2. Use money you have scrounged up with credit card debt money to pay off school loans
3. Use scrounged up, credit card, & school loan monies to pay off car loan
4. Use all those monies to pay off mortgage
5. Save all debt reducing monies to save for RETIREMENT

Not possible you claim...

Bullshit...  I say...  and, I know it can be done because I have done it...

I found ways to save money first.

Then I worked a second job.

After debt was paid off, I did two things:

     First - I renovated house for retirement with half the money

     Second - I saved the other half of the money

They're a Nuisance

Outcast

as the lone rebel of the family

I have lived my life inside

caves of indiscriminate darkness

seeking neither enlightenment

nor ignorance, serving the

mistress of meaningless Haiku

and the loneliness of love.


April 20, 2020




Read more of my poems at REFLECTIONS:  WHITE SCORPION

PASSWORDS

In addition to these 4 blogs that I maintain, I have a LinkedIn account as well as a Facebook account.  My Facebook account was hacked and the last time I logged out after posting something, my account belonged to someone else.  I started a new Facebook account under a FAKE NAME and created a password that was composed of letters and numbers, capitals and lower case, as well as special symbols...   and I just not use one of each but several of each making it even more difficult for someone to hack.

Today, I got an email about my LinkedIn account asking for a password reset and the message said that if this is not you, then you should change your password immediately.  The message indicated that the request came from Santa Monica, CA and since I live in TN, I knew right away that I had not make the request...  so I changed my password.

One of the reasons I suppose that someone wants my LinkedIn account is that I have over 17,000 people in my network and it is easier to steal an account rather than build up an account like I had done...  either way it is still a chicken shit move to make.

My point here is this:

• think about using a fake name on your account
• think about creating a complicated password

A complicated password might consist of the following:  !#Fu#!1719$soL$Qq#!

Home Sweet Home

Staying-at-home has been a problem for most Americans who relish the idea of FREEDOM more than they relish the idea of their own/others health.  While I am a HUGE proponent of FREEDOM, I am not yet willing to RISK my own HEALTH in order to receive the FREEDOM that most of us took for granted before it was taken away.


I am reminded of Janis Joplin and the song Me and Bobby McGee

Lyrics

Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waitin' for a train
And I's feelin' near as faded as my jeans
Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained
It rode us all the way to New Orleans

I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandanna
I was playin' soft while Bobby sang the blues, yeah
Windshield wipers slappin' time, I was holdin' Bobby's hand in mine
We sang every song that driver knew

Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose
Nothin', don't mean nothin' hon' if it ain't free, no no
And, feelin' good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues
You know, feelin' good was good enough for me

Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee
From the Kentucky coal mine to the California sun
There Bobby shared the secrets of my soul
Through all kinds of weather, through everything we done

Yeah, Bobby baby kept me from the cold
One day up near Salinas, Lord, I let him slip away
He's lookin' for that home, and I hope he finds it
But, I'd trade all of my tomorrows, for a single yesterday

To be holdin' Bobby's body next to mine6
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose
Nothin', that's all that Bobby left me, yeah
But, feelin' good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues

Hey, feelin' good was good enough for me, mm-hmm
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee
La da da
La da da da

Is COVID-19 causing us to lose our common sense because we cannot bear to lose the freedom of not being able to go where we want to when we want to, putting our own health and the health of others at risk in the process.  For some of us, COVID-19 could end of lives if we don't stay at home and for others, not staying at home could cause future quarantines and future loss of employment because we did not exercise common sense...

Personally, I am not willing to take that RISK and am perfectly willing to stay at home as long as it takes to guarantee my life.  It is simply not worth the RISK.

New Norms After Pandemic Imagined

How is life in America going to be different after the COVID-19 Pandemic is over?

How is life in Tennessee going to be different after the COVID-19 Pandemic is over?

How is life in East TN going to be different after the COVID-19 Pandemic is over?

What an interesting set of questions and while all three seem a tad redundant, all three are different and relatively mutually exclusive.  Mutually exclusive is a statistical term describing two or more events that cannot coincide. It is commonly used to describe a situation where the occurrence of one outcome supersedes the other  In this case, we have the US versus States versus Regions/Cities and while the US supersedes all other laws, each of these will undoubtedly be a little different from each other.

Think of it this way:  GRANDPARENTS     Parents      children

ᐳWhat will be:

• wearing face masks
• keeping our distances inside
• waiting rooms
• lobbies
• bars/nightclubs
• malls
• restaurants
• movie theaters
• taking our temperatures everywhere
• video meetings with physicians more often
• cleaning everything after use
• middle seats in airplanes removed
• limited seating in restaurants
• possible end of student classrooms
• more and more online shopping

TAKING RISKS

They say that life is not fully experienced 

unless one is willing to take RISKS...

L  I  B...  my first comment is:  Who is hell is 'THEY'?

Risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value, often focusing on negative, undesirable consequences. Different practice areas of risk management have used many different definitions. Wikipedia...  so sayeth the online gods...

ANY RISK TAKERS OUT THERE?

Taking RISKS is like standing up for that in which you believe often referred to as INTEGRITY which more often than not will get you FIRED from your place of employment...   that is to say...  UNLESS you are an ass-kisser or kissing-the-ass of someone who is high up in the food chain.

Throughout my entire 45 year career, I have heard other retirees make the claim:  "If only I had taken more risks."  Or, "I wish I had taken more risks during my career (lifetime)."

Well, let me tell you this...  BELIEVE ME (but don't trust me), I have taken those risks that those other retirees had wished they had taken and the results were these:  risks benefited me just as often as they hurt me...

It is similar to POKER...  more often than not, people playing POKER or GAMBLING typically break-even (over a lifetime) winning as often as they lose.  In fact, according to mathematically probability (normally referred to as the Bell Shaped curve), every time one WINS one must also LOSE.

Hard to believe but it is true...  and, somewhat filled with irony in that what we might have learned in high school math could actually be of some use to us later in life.