what did you do today? (2008-2015) (closed)

[Fireup2020]

0947 and I am still in my bathrobe procrastinating about heading into w*rk...the very-heavy-at-times rain is not helping matters...very soon, will shower, don uniform, and head in....but until then...

[freebird5825]

11 AM and I am still in my nightgown.
Mr B just called from the Legion to let me know he has a buyer for my old lawnmower. The offering price was a bit lower than I wanted, but I won't have to mess around with Craiglist and having strangers show up and try to talk me down in price anyway. Plus I asked for 2 beers in addition to the cash.
I know the guy buying the mower very well. He is a veteran and recently retired on a much lower pension income than I live on.
It all evens out.
One less thing to hassle with...

[Major Tom]

Walked my SO to the train station for the first day of training on her new job. I am so relieved that she has found work. We were both laid off 2 years ago, but the difference between us is that I had the means to ease into ER/ESR and she did not. She has been applying for jobs and going to interviews consistently and regularly for the past 2 years and was finally hired yesterday. It was just in the nick of time too - things were about to slowly start getting scary for her, and it would have been very stressful for me to help and support her through what would have been some pretty bad stuff if money didn't start coming in soon.

As someone else said somewhere in this forum a few months ago, this economy has taken it's toll on a lot of people - and not just those directly affected, but their loved ones too.

[nafddur1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Major Tom this economy has taken it's toll on a lot of people - and not just those directly affected, but their loved ones too.

How great is it that our economy has rebounded so nicely over the past 2 years! Remember before that time span when we were on the verge of a full fledged depression?

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rambler Anyway, I'm at work now, having lunch with DD who is interning in my company.

What a great deal.

Is she bi-lingual now? Tri-lingual?

[JmfromTx]

I started painting the exterior of my house. Nuff said.

[nafddur1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords What a great deal.

To me, a far better deal would be being retired and not having to work. But hey, that's just me. I guess retirement's not for everyone.

[Nuiloa]

Had to work all day but now I'm off to Hula class followed by a Tahitian dance class and a tap dancing class.

Then I get to go home and continue my massive reorganization project. I took everything out of the 2 bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen and dumped it in the living/dining room, about a month ago. It was the only way I could think of to get going on the de-cluttering/de-junking of my place. I have a deadline of June 4th to finish. I've got out-of-town visitors coming.

[Nodak]

The John Deere "B" is back in one piece again. Mechanically it's very good and for being 60 years old it looks pretty good so we decided not to do a complete restoration. After all, it's only original once.

[Gumby]

It's a beauty, Nodak.

[Rambler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar I need to get one of those gizmos. I started running again and need something to keep me interested. But your 10:30 pace is a sprint compared to my speed.

I tried it with the heart rate monitor this morning. I love it. It mapped my route for me yesterday when I synced it with Nike+ but today it did not produce a map for me. I think that's because I started the run before I had a lock on the satelite. It also senses the foot pod, so it is getting the run data even when you are on a treadmill or when you've lost the satelite signal. However, it did produce nice graphs about speed, and heart rate. I think it also produces an altitude feed on the graphs as the iphone app does, but I'll have to check that next time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords What a great deal. Is she bi-lingual now? Tri-lingual?

We are both enjoying it, although it does have its drawbacks. Sometimes daughters back-talk a bit to their daddies a bit. That does not go over well with me in the office, and I don't suppose it would in a submarine command either...if a daughter was ever assigned to work with her father in a sub...We've had a talk about it, and she understood the explanation well.

She is more or less bilingual, English first, Japanese second. However, she does not understand business in either language yet. And she does not understand how to use "polite" or "honorific" Japanese yet...so we are working on that. Her fiance also speaks Spanish, so she is working on that, but does not claim to speak it yet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nafddur1 To me, a far better deal would be being retired and not having to work. But hey, that's just me. I guess retirement's not for everyone.

Yeah, but "just one more year" (and a half) until (semi/maybe/kinda) retirement. And since she is getting married in August, its nice to have the last little bit of daddy-daughter time. She spent the first couple of days in and around my office, but is now in an office across the street from mine. We still have lunch together, and come to work and go home together. Its nice.

R

[Nords]

It's been a busy week-- father-daughter taekwondo, father-daughter surfing, father-daughter tax-return preparation, father-daughter weapons shooting, father-daughter yardwork, father-daughter grocery shopping... you get the idea. She survived freshman year with a "C" in chemistry (darn happy to get it, too), a 3.00 GPA, and exactly the classes/dorm room/roommates she wants for sophomore year. Now she's packing for a month of Navy training including a few days each aboard a submarine, destroyer or cruiser, and an aircraft carrier. The Marines are also promising opportunities with pugil sticks and a mud crawl, although it's not clear whether those are separate or simultaneous. I'm lookin' forward to that trip report.

It's fun to watch the impressive personal growth that's occurred in just a few months. Many of this week's conversations have started with "Hey Dad, how come when I was X years old you and Mom decided to..." She's developing a new appreciation for priorities, time management, and making choices.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rambler We are both enjoying it, although it does have its drawbacks. Sometimes daughters back-talk a bit to their daddies a bit. That does not go over well with me in the office, and I don't suppose it would in a submarine command either...if a daughter was ever assigned to work with her father in a sub...We've had a talk about it, and she understood the explanation well.

Well. A certain amount of creative payback "forceful backup" and self-criticism is encouraged tolerated. I guess it reminds the authority figures not to shoot the messengers. I certainly contributed more than my fair share on both sides of the situation. But it's always fun to watch the young ones test their independence on the ones they love the most.

Although your co-workers may be snickering, I'm sure every other parent in that office is wishing they had the same chance to develop an adult relationship with their children!

I'm just glad I never had to compete with my spouse or my daughter for promotions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nafddur1 To me, a far better deal would be being retired and not having to work. But hey, that's just me. I guess retirement's not for everyone.

Not to pile on, but I was referring to Rambler's opportunity to spend time with his daughter after being separated for months over a number of time zones. Not so much to his daughter's "opportunity", although I've enjoyed what he's shared over the years about her college experience. Around here, Japanese-language skills are difficult to acquire and quite a boost to one's earning potential. Gaining that experience in Japan is very valuable.

Our daughter just came home after her freshman year and is absolutely bubbling over with enthusiasm at her opportunities. (Heck, I would be too.) We talk a lot about work, family, priorities, and financial independence. She's spent more than half of her existence with ER'd parents and she appreciates the lifestyle. However we tell her it's far more rewarding to find work that you love, and financial independence gives you choices. She sees us living that lifestyle, too.

[Webzter]

Building the second garden continues. Being the type of guy I am, I decided I wanted the garden on the south side of the house... right where the previous owners had a rock garden on a slope that's graded in twelve three directions. Also turns out they didn't use fill dirt, they used demolition debris. I've pulled out about 600 pounds of broken concrete so far.





I should be wrapped up with everything this weekend... then I'll need to find a new hell way to entertain myself after work. I suspect it'll involve weeding.

Oops, completely forgot... tree crew is coming today to cut down 7 trees between our house and our neighbor's. I have three dead ash, he has one, plus I have a black willow and pussy willow that need to come down and he has a walnut he wants removed as it's close to the house. The crew is felling and cutting them into 3' sections then I'll be cutting the wood to fireplace length and disposing of the brush. I guess that'll be a couple day's fun of hauling brush plus a half day of playing with a chipper.

[Walt34]

Since it was raining or threatening to rain most of the day I just about finished the restoration of an old photograph. Aside from the obvious color shifting and cracks there was apparently water damage from sprinkles of something on it, and seemingly thousands of individual spots that had to be corrected by hand. Without a drawing tablet I'd have carpal tunnel syndrome doing that with a mouse. It's a photo of me with only the year 1952, no month.

[Major Tom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 Since it was raining or threatening to rain most of the day I just about finished the restoration of an old photograph. Aside from the obvious color shifting and cracks there was apparently water damage from sprinkles of something on it, and seemingly thousands of individual spots that had to be corrected by hand. Without a drawing tablet I'd have carpal tunnel syndrome doing that with a mouse. It's a photo of me with only the year 1952, no month.

Pictured above: A young Walt, dreaming of early retirement.

The picture looks great!

[DblDoc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Major Tom Pictured above: A young Walt, dreaming of early retirement. The picture looks great!

Actually it looks like he got into the meds at an early age...

DD

[Patrick]

I read the CDC's weblog in how to deal with a Zombie Apocalypse: CDC EPR | Social Media | Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse - Blog

[TromboneAl]

Quote:

I'll be cutting the wood to fireplace length and disposing of the brush.

I'm bummed because there were two offers of "cut up these trees and you can have the firewood" in craigslist -- possibly enough to heat our house for all of next year -- but I haven't recovered enough from my accident that I could handle it.

[freebird5825]

I tried to mow the back yard today...but a thunderstorm cut my efforts short. I am really enjoying my new self-propelled mower. I am wearing a pair of padded palm fingerless bicycle gloves, so my hands do not hurt at all after using the self-propel mower or the riding mower.
I do the tight spaces with that first and then the long straight lines with the riding mower. I'm getting some walking exercise and getting a chore done at the same time.
Figuring on a cost of $40 per contracted out mowing fee, all I have to do is use the new mower 8x and I break even. That was a no-brainer.

[KingB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl I'm bummed because there were two offers of "cut up these trees and you can have the firewood" in craigslist -- possibly enough to heat our house for all of next year -- but I haven't recovered enough from my accident that I could handle it.

Good deal for the tree owners.

I pay to get my dead trees cut and then you pay again for them to haul the wood (to be sold later). I have paid in the range of $700 - $1300/tree.