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Old 02-24-2010, 05:02 PM   #3501
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Received treatment today at Wilford Hall Medical Center (USAF) for precancerous lesions on my face know as AKs. The doc applied the Levulan Kerastick solution, 20% and after about an hour wait (time to get a bite at the cafe), I received the PDT treatment of sitting in front of BLU-U lights for 16 min and 40 seconds.

My face feels like I got a mild sunburn, but not a lot of discomfort so far. Gotta kill those cancer cells!!!

All of this is the result of living in Florida as a kid, fishing, swimming, outdoor team sports, outdoor adventures with the US Army, and doing many archeological surveys.

You may notice that these are all outdoor activities. The sun can be a killer, but I had a damn good time along the way.
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Old 02-24-2010, 05:03 PM   #3502
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Went to Chinese buffet today and had some laughs with still-w*rking former colleagues..until this topic came up. The newest "control alogorithm" is lunch breaks are being closely timed by management.
One of the guys is a professional netw*rk manager and is voluntarily on call on weekends and holidays. Guess who is going to..oops..forget to leave his pager on ?
Or discover a dead battery in the pager, first thing Monday AM?
He keeps telling me how great I look and asking me exactly how I invested my TSP over the years. I do believe I detected a man ready to pull the plug as soon as he achieves the age.
Have I mentioned lately how much I love being FIREd ?
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Old 02-24-2010, 05:08 PM   #3503
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Been busy, busy, busy.....doin' nothin'.....well, 'cept enjoying the sunshine, warm weather, and ocean!

I've officially become a geezer! I've gone down the road a bit to the hotel where the tour group that we used to come to Florida with is staying....to play Bingo! I NEVER played Bingo with them in all of the years we traveled with them, but this year....traveling on our own....I went there and played! Yikes!!!

However.....I won a couple of games too, and recouped my money!

Anyway, other than that, we sat outside yesterday and watched 3 right whales playing just offshore! They were there for at least 4 hours straight....and never moved more than about 500 feet on way or the other, until they finally swam south about 2 p.m. It was just way too cool!!!

Today we went over to Sanford, FL, and went on a nice cruise on the St. Johns River and had lunch onboard. We each had huge ribeyes that were cooked perfectly for our taste...medium! They were at least 16-18 oz. steaks, and just as tender as could be! Delish!!! Plus the sun stayed out for the whole cruise, so it was very comfortable sitting out on deck watching the gators and the birds.....neat!

Only one more full day here at the beach, before we start our journey back to the north pole Illinois....with a couple of days in Nashville too. It's been one of the absolute best trips to Florida that we've had! This is our 12th year coming down here....and all have been good and enjoyable, but this one was THE best!

24 days 'til Spring!!!
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Old 02-24-2010, 05:20 PM   #3504
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I've officially become a geezer! I've gone down the road a bit to the hotel where the tour group that we used to come to Florida with is staying....to play Bingo! I NEVER played Bingo with them in all of the years we traveled with them, but this year....traveling on our own....I went there and played! Yikes!!!

!!!

On cruise ships they usually play Bingo and I used to make fun of it until I learned how much money you can win . My daughter and I went on a cruise and she won a free cruise playing bingo .Another time I won $450 so on our May cruise I'll be found at Jackpot Bingo !
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Old 02-24-2010, 05:29 PM   #3505
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My daughter and I went on a cruise and she won a free cruise playing bingo .Another time I won $450 so on our May cruise I'll be found at Jackpot Bingo !
I'm sure you both reported your winnings on your tax returns, right?
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Old 02-24-2010, 05:48 PM   #3506
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Goonie,

I am glad that you are having such a good time. It sounds wonderful. I don't know how you can eat everything that you do. I am always amazed. You guys have a safe trip back . I think that I can make it through winter now that I know only 24 more days til Spring! I think that we are supposed to get more snow tomorrow.
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Old 02-24-2010, 06:05 PM   #3507
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....I don't know how you can eat everything that you do. I am always amazed. You guys have a safe trip back......
Actually it sounds like we eat like we've been starved, but in reality we usually just have a small bite for breakfast and then a goodly sized lunch with just a salad or something very light for supper. Or we'll eat a nice breakfast, then skip lunch and have a nice meal at supper time.

If we get hungry between meals, we have fruit and nuts and stuff like that around to snack on and take away any hunger cravings.
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Old 02-24-2010, 07:45 PM   #3508
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On cruise ships they usually play Bingo and I used to make fun of it until I learned how much money you can win . My daughter and I went on a cruise and she won a free cruise playing bingo .Another time I won $450 so on our May cruise I'll be found at Jackpot Bingo !
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I'm sure you both reported your winnings on your tax returns, right?
We were once rewarded with a free domestic round trip for volunteering to get bumped off a flight. Come to think of it, was it taxable income?

My wife's megacorp once gave us business class tickets to London and in another time to Australia and New Zealand. Taxable income? Again, no one said anything about tax issues. What tax? One thing I knew is that it was damned nice fringe benefit, and boy oh boy, we miss it.

PS. When we got these "windfall profits", we never once thought of the tax issues. No, we were too busy thinking up our travel plans.
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Old 02-24-2010, 08:16 PM   #3509
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I'm sure you both reported your winnings on your tax returns, right?

My late husband worked for the IRS and the first year we were married he did the taxes and we owed money . I was not happy because I had always received a small refund . So he asked me what refund I deserved and then he wrote me a check for that amount .
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Old 02-24-2010, 08:36 PM   #3510
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Went dancing and will go again tomorrow night if I can get out of what is shaping up to be a business dinner. Argh. The dance teacher is also a martial artist, so he's starting some Brazilian martial arts workout classes. Sounds interesting, but having come from martial arts, which one do I think is better? It's a toss up. One the one side, you get to dance with attractive, great-smelling women who come decked out in their best sexy outfit. In the other, you wrestle with smelly dudes decked out in their unwashed gi and risk breaking your nose, or worse yet, breaking someone else's nose and having to apologize profusely. Hm...hard choices.
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Old 02-25-2010, 06:31 AM   #3511
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My wife's megacorp once gave us business class tickets to London and in another time to Australia and New Zealand. Taxable income? Again, no one said anything about tax issues. What tax? One thing I knew is that it was damned nice fringe benefit, and boy oh boy, we miss it.

PS. When we got these "windfall profits", we never once thought of the tax issues. No, we were too busy thinking up our travel plans.
The company I worked for did the same. None of the recipients gave any thought to reporting the trips as income. The IRS audited the company and found the freebies, then followed the trail to all the individuals who received the trips - and sent each of us a bill for tax, penalties and interest.
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Old 02-25-2010, 06:38 AM   #3512
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Anyway, other than that, we sat outside yesterday and watched 3 right whales playing just offshore! They were there for at least 4 hours straight....and never moved more than about 500 feet on way or the other, until they finally swam south about 2 p.m. It was just way too cool!!!
Thanks for the link, that sounds like it would be great fun!

I spent yesterday at our future retirement house site, excavations have gotten serious, the garage dig is complete and they were to start the house dig today. Hope to get back that way this weekend to see how they did, it's about a 2 hour drive.

Here's a picture. If you want to see more, we've started a blog (Romney Log House Build) so folks can see how we're progressing, it will be a log house. It finally feels like it's for real now that we see the dirt moving- up to now, it's mostly been writing checks!

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Old 02-25-2010, 07:12 AM   #3513
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Thanks for the link, that sounds like it would be great fun!

I spent yesterday at our future retirement house site, excavations have gotten serious, the garage dig is complete and they were to start the house dig today. Hope to get back that way this weekend to see how they did, it's about a 2 hour drive.

Here's a picture. If you want to see more, we've started a blog (Romney Log House Build) so folks can see how we're progressing, it will be a log house. It finally feels like it's for real now that we see the dirt moving- up to now, it's mostly been writing checks!

Very cool. Looks like a great site. I'm still tossing around the idea of building a cabin style home one day. Nothing this big, something around 1100 sq feet. I want the rustic look on the inside but would probably go with hardiplanks on the exterior. Anyway, I will follow your blog.

Goonie, sounds like a great trip! I'm looking forward to a few cruise trips someday. And I have always enjoyed my golf trips to FL. Won't be long before I will be heading down that way.
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Old 02-25-2010, 04:30 PM   #3514
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I continued work on the Great family Room Refit of 2010. Painting. Then more painting. And I'm online now waiting for the paint to dry before I put on a second coat.

The replacement for the Dead Giant TV from Heck arrived today. The box is much smaller, so small that I doubt I could be buried in it without significant trimming. The new cabinets, doors, and whatnot are all on order.

I think I may just take the weekend off...
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Old 02-25-2010, 04:37 PM   #3515
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No golf today, still letting my knee rest. But it feels 1000% better. Might even try 9 holes tomorrow, riding of course.

Had a handyman finish up my fascia board repairs. Took off my gutters, hauled them off, replaced a couple of spots of rotten board, and covered the fascia with a white aluminum piece all around the house. Did all this for less than a 1/3 of the cost another guy gave me to totally replace with new boards. The fugal in me feels pretty good. And all looks great. A lot of my neighbors have done the same thing so not out of place. Average person driving by can't tell it is not real wood anyway. So I have new heating and cooling system, repairs to the exterior and later this year need to replace the flooring in my kitchen and replace the oven. Trying to get in shape to sell in a couple of years. My poor old aunt did very little to it.

Now, time for a little dinner and a med.
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Old 02-25-2010, 05:33 PM   #3516
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Didn't sleep well last night, so I made up for it this morning.

Connected with a friend and met up this afternoon. Ahhh...a friend and a diet cherry 7-up, it doesn't get much better. Very nice afternoon was had by both of us.

May turn in early tonight. I think I'll sleep well.
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Old 02-25-2010, 09:14 PM   #3517
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DW and I spent SEVEN HOURS assembling an L-shaped desk that includes two file cabinets for the den. Even after one of us (not saying who...) assembled six left sides for three drawers we are still on speaking terms. We both think that's an accomplishment.
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Old 02-25-2010, 09:46 PM   #3518
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We enjoyed our last full day in Florida today...heading back toward home tomorrow morning after breakfast. It been a wonderful trip thus far...near perfect weather, and even better food! We've done a lot and seen a lot...and bummed around a whole lot more!!! We played bingo 4 times with our friends down at the other hotel we used to stay at...and we won all 4 times!!! Not big bucks, but enough to break even on playing and enjoy a few meals too! Plus we got to visit with several old friends there as well......and then bid them farewell tonight, as they and us all head out in the morning!

So we're all packed and ready to head to Macon, GA tomorrow, then on to Nashville on Saturday for a couple of days of fun, food, and relaxation. We'll get home early Tuesday afternoon.

So it's off to hit the pillows, so we can crank-up Willie Nelson in the morning....."On The Road Again"!
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Old 02-26-2010, 02:35 PM   #3519
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Wow...4:35 Eastern time and nobody did ANYTHING today?
Welcome to the club, because neither did I. Well, nothing tangibly productive.
I got up at 530 AM to do the "send dh2b off to w*rk" routine.
I chatted, I surfed, I goofed off, then I surfed some more. Then I called a friend who was obviously in need of a good listener (for 2 hours). Good deed du jour is accomplished.
I watched the sun come out and melt some remnant driveway snow. After all that excitement, I fell asleep in the recliner for a "few" minutes.
Oh oh ooooh ...I almost forgot...I walked down the driveway to carry back the garbage can and get the mail. Exhausting!
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Old 02-26-2010, 02:44 PM   #3520
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I made the mistake of Googling Vanguard's Growth Index fund, VIGRX today and got 2,170,000 hits of mostly Viagra websites.

Sheesh. Now I am going to be bombarded with Male Sexual Enhancement Ads.
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