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

[MichaelB]

Yesterday evening was my last day of work. Turned in the gear this morning.

Welcome to the dark side!

 

[ERD50]

Yesterday evening was my last day of work. Turned in the gear this morning.

I am tempted to get a lawn chair and a bag of popcorn and watch the circus from across the street at (former) work Monday morning as they try to make things function with 19 full time of 45 people gone. A couple of us discussed doing that.

Congrats!

I predict that by the time Monday rolls around, this will be the furthest thing from your mind. ER is about moving forward and living your life. This work stuff will be behind you in about 24 hours (24 minutes, or seconds or nano-jiffies for some of us). You'll be too busy enjoying yourself to have any interest at all in something like that. At least that's how it was for me.

Enjoy!


-ERD50

 

[NW-Bound]

I don't know how you native Arizonans (and other rattlesnake infested people) do it.

Very swiftly, with a forked stick to hold the head to the ground, and a machete in the right hand to separate it from the rest of the snake. Be wary of the severed head, as it can still bite. The body of the snake can be skinned now - the meat is like chicken. If stored in a bag in the refrigerator to skin later, it can still coil and trash for an hour afterwards. The skin can be tanned with a solution of equal parts of water, glycerine, and isopropyl alcohol. After drying, its use is limited only by one's creativity.

No, I have not done the above, but the info was gathered from a blog written by a man who lives off the land in Southern Texas, in what is called Terlingua Ranch. Other than having solar panels to power computers to make blog posts, one can live as close to the way the pioneers lived 150 years ago as one cares to. In fact, one will have to, as there's no paved road (what is called a road turn to a mud trap after a rain), no water, very little vegetation, no nothin'.

And by the way, just now, I looked at the often publicized list of the hazards of Texas as put together by REWahoo. I saw no mentioning of conenoses. What's a conenose, you ask?

Well, even the rattlesnake eaters mind the conenoses. They are like bedbugs, bite and suck your blood just like bedbugs, except that they can be up to 3/4" long.

Welcome to Texas, and enjoy your stay.

 

[grasshopper]

And by the way, just now, I looked at the often publicized list of the hazards of Texas as put together by REWahoo. I saw no mentioning of conenoses. What's a conenose, you ask?

Well, even the rattlesnake eaters mind the conenoses. They are like bedbugs, bite and suck your blood just like bedbugs, except that they can be up to 3/4" long. Welcome to Texas, and enjoy your stay.

Near the Arizona/New Mexico bootheel, we call our conenoise Kissing bugs. You don't want to be kissed by them. The bite isn't as bad as the next step which is they crap on the bite, and gives you the nasties.

Chagas Disease
Chagas disease is rare in San Diego County and there has never been a case reported that was acquired locally. It is spread by kissing bugs, but not by their bite. The disease is spread through the bug's droppings. If the droppings are spread into the bite, it can enter the human body. It is important to always clean the bite with Iodine to prevent infection and wash to remove the droppings. The disease is most often found in Latin America because the species there are more likely to release their droppings after feeding. Symptoms of the disease include swelling of the face, fever that develops two weeks after the bite, swelling of other areas and sometimes nervous system disorders

 

[redduck]

Made a post on redduck's thread today (here), after a hiatus of a few months due to a serious health problem. May open up about this later, as it might help others with the same illness in the future.

Well, thanks for showing up with your usual solid advice. It was a tough choice, but I decided to go with your ideas re: Not-Really-Mrs. Redduck('s) (a term that I recently coined) retirement funds. It was a difficult call because MichaelB's suggestion of "More cowbell" was really appealing.

But, the triple-leveraged ETFs idea--a touch of genius: (I once touched a genius, but she told me if I touched her again, she'd call the police).

OK, back to your suggestion:

"Not just any options, but you want options of the most volatile stuff like triple-leveraged ETFs, such as SOXL, SOXS, EDC, etc... Just search the Web for "triple-leveraged ETFs", then narrow down to the ones that have options traded. Those are the ones you want and need".

I did not search the Web for "triple-leveraged ETF's"--I just bought the three that you suggested. I also did not do that option trading thing--seemed too risky to me. I know, I whussed (sp)? out, but I'm using a 69 year old woman's money, so I need to be responsible.

I hope that you stay pessimistic well into your late 80's (at least).

Your friend,
redduck

One question: Did you take a Percocet before you posted the above financial suggestions? Just sort of curious.

 

[NW-Bound]

Oh no, Mr.Redduck!

I mentioned SOXL (3X Semiconductor Long) and SOXS (3X Semiconductor Short) as examples of triple-leveraged ETFs, but they move in opposite directions. If one thinks that the semiconductor industry business is picking up, which should mean that their stock prices are going up (but not always, which is why you need the special software), you buy SOXL, which goes up 3X more than the semiconductor stock themselves. So, buying $1 of SOXL is equivalent to buying $3 of SMH, a straight semiconductor ETF.

Now, one will say "but how about I buy $3 of SOXL to give me the same effect as buying $9 of SMH?" Excellent question! It would get you there even a lot sooner, whether to the poor house or to a Beverly Hills mansion, that depends on the quality of the future-predicting software that tells you to buy or sell.

In contrast with SOXL, if the semiconductor industry goes up 1%, SOXS would go down 3%. Or conversely, if the semi industry goes down 1%, SOXS would go up 3%. So SOXS is the good stuff to get if you or your software thinks that the like of Intel, Texas Instruments, etc... will have bad earnings.

Obviously, you did not write that software, because you said you bought both! I don't think any software would be so buggy that it would tell you to buy both. Oh well, at least they roughly cancel each other out, and losing money you will, but at a slower rate.

I cannot help you with that software, because I have not done it myself either. I am no hedge fund manager, and I never said it nor implied it. If I were, I would want 2% annual fee, plus 20% of gains (but not losses), and you mentioned you got into enough problems with your own cut of the accounts of almost-Mrs.-Redduck.

Sorry that I have given you incomplete instructions, not realizing then you would follow it.

So, what's the recourse now? You need to get rid of them. Sell, sell, sell, and buy Pssst Wellesley, or Dodge & Cox, or even cowbells (symbol CWBL?).

No, you want to wait a while to learn how it works with these triple-leveraged ETFs? Then, you will need to make up your mind whether the semi industry will go up or down. You then sell one of the SOXL or SOXS, and double up on the one that you are keeping.

But you still do not have that proprietary software? As it is a binary decision, I would suggest a coin throw as the most practical solution. Head you keep SOXL, tail you keep SOXS.

About the Percocet, it has been given to me ever since I woke up on that hospital bed, which had all the bells and whistles (literally!). And all the cute nurses and nurse aides were at my beck and call via the buttons right by my head. It was a nice stay, but all things nice eventually must stop, as they say, and they pushed me out. Yes, I was pushed literally, all the way to the pickup point, sitting in one of those wheelchairs, even though I insisted that I was able to walk then, very slowly and crouching, but without grabbing the IV stand for support as I did a few days earlier. Nice people, and I truly do not care how much my insurance will have to pay them.

And by the way, you may wonder why one needs SOXS, if he can just short SOXL. Long the short is equivalent to short the long, oui? Yes, sort of, but one cannot short a long inside an IRA, so he has to long the short in a tax-deferred account. Silly IRS thinks it can tell people how to gamble, er, invest their money, but when there's a will, there's a way, or often even two ways.

I have been taking only 1/2 of the Percocet prescription. Obviously, either my pain is not too bad, or I was born with a deficience of nerves, I am not sure. The nurses kept insisting that I took 2 pills saying "everybody does", and I kept saying "no thank you". But if I had taken 2 pills instead of 1 when I mentioned SOXL and SOXS in the same sentence, perhaps I would have been in less pain, and would have the clear mind to tell you that you only chose 1 of the 2. Sorry for the confusion.

I need to log off and go get my Percocet now.

Your friend,

NW-Bound

 

[Walt34]

There was a brief-enough interlude in the rain for the roads to dry out and go for a short motorcycle ride before the rain started again.

 

[MichaelB]

Went to see "The Lone Ranger" last night. We enjoyed it, but not everyone will.

 

[Dawg52]

Painted another room yesterday. Have I ever mentioned that I hate to paint? Slow progress, but getting there. Still plan to get my Aunt's old house on the market by Fall.

About to mow some grass and then golf this afternoon. That is if my aching back stops aching.

 

[pb4uski]

Went to see "The Lone Ranger" last night. We enjoyed it, but not everyone will.

DW, DS and I went last week. Entertaining, and I loved the music (William Tell Overture).

 

[Chuckanut]

Went to see "The Lone Ranger" last night. We enjoyed it, but not everyone will.

Certainly a good film and worth viewing. I don't know why the critics are piling on they way they are. Group think, I guess.

I think they overdid the Tanto weirdness a bit, but he was fun to watch! And I think they did a good job of developing the relationship between the LR and Tanto.

Notice that the LR never killed anybody despite all the mayhem on the screen (except by very improbable accident). This is a requirement by the folks who own the rights to the character. They also did not allow the movie to fool around with the LR origin story. The accuracy of his origins is critical to understanding the character.

 

[antmary]

Certainly a good film and worth viewing. I don't know why the critics are piling on they way they are. Group think, I guess.

I think they overdid the Tanto weirdness a bit, but he was fun to watch! And I think they did a good job of developing the relationship between the LR and Tanto.

Notice that the LR never killed anybody despite all the mayhem on the screen (except by very improbable accident). This is a requirement by the folks who own the rights to the character. They also did not allow the movie to fool around with the LR origin story. The accuracy of his origins is critical to understanding the character.

I think this movie goes on my wish list - full screen, of course. I just finished baking banana-plum-nut bread, using what we had on hand: ripe bananas, walnuts, and an over-loaded plum tree.

 

[Walt34]

Mowed the grass. Watched a photography instructional video. Ate lunch. Took a nap.

 

[Meadbh]

I had a wonderful time taking an Italian cooking lesson here:

Wine and Thyme Cooking School - Okanagan BC Cooking School and cooking class, Corporate Team-Building Workshops - Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

This was a fully equipped professional kitchen with a cordon bleu trained chef. Ten of us, in teams of two, cooked an entire Italian dinner menu, including had made pizza dough, lasagne, the best Caesar salad I have ever had, home made ice cream, etc, etc. (and liberal helpings of wine). We left with all the menus and a large doggie bag. This was such a fun experience I definitely want to do it again.

 

[MichaelB]

Was there a blue moon last night?

We went see Willie Nelson & Family yesterday in an outdoor lawn setting. As usual, I had picnic food and drink duty. DW really enjoyed it, said so multiple times throughout the afternoon and evening. I can't remember the last time she complemented me on my food. Once in a blue moon for sure.

I never saw so many people wearing red bandanas, cowboy boots, and cowboy hats in the Chicago area.

 

[imoldernu]

Back from 10 days at Woodhaven Lakes.

Nirvana

One of the few times in life to experience total peace.

No Phone
No Internet
No TV
No obligations... to anyone
Feeling totally healthy... no aches, pains or worries
Days spent sailing my canoe, long easy bike rides and walks through the newest nature paths by the streams, watching families enjoying the beach, playing volleyball, skateboarding, tennis, or basketball.
Enjoying the company of my many species of birds, and the baby bunny who is friendly enough to sit next to me as I stir the campfire which contains the rest of the world.
Going to bed at 8 P.M. and sleeping, dreamlessly through the night, to wake with the last hoots of the owls, and the tweeting of the new baby nuthatches... at 4:30 A.M. in the grey dawn.
At about 5 o'clock, the mama doe walks her two fawn, right down the middle of Cherrywood Trail on their way to the meadow. Babies, still white spotted and bouncy.

6 A.M., and the fishermen begin drifting by... smoking their cigarettes, casting their favorite bait or lure, hoping to catch old Fred, the big bass that makes my part of the shoreline his home. Fred exists just to keep everyone happy, and has been caught and released dozens of times. My old willow tree still lies in the lake, and provides cover for the crappie and bluegill to nest and replenish the population. The roots of the tree provide home to the muskrat who disappear during the day, and the somtime resident beaver on alternate years. This has been a good year for fish, and no one complains.

The Canadian Geese population has stabilized, due to the volunteers who oiled the eggs, and I have only seen seven families with about 18 new babies... now within a few weeks of their first flight. Too many geese can pollute our small lakes, so there's a continuing project to keep the numbers in check.

Days go by easily. Eating is no longer a preparation project, but a continuous snacking on veggies and dip, pretzels, Fig Newtons, cheeses, fresh, uncooked young corn on the cob, and periodic slices of summer sausage. (lost 4 pounds) .

Neigbors drop by... not often, but enough to catch up on their families, and exhange pleasantries about vacationing in the quiet of the woods and lakes.

With only a small amount of imagination, it is transportation back to the time of Henry David Thoreau, (my favorite philosopher) and Walden Pond...

In short, a "nothing" week or so... with little brain activity. Even now, some kind of a pleasant aura that is bolstered by coming back to another peaceful no-stress existance. Not one "bad" thing happened while I was gone.

Life IS good... Indeed!

 

[pb4uski]

.....The Canadian Geese population has stabilized, due to the volunteers who oiled the eggs, and I have only seen seven families with about 18 new babies... now within a few weeks of their first flight. Too many geese can pollute our small lakes, so there's a continuing project to keep the numbers in check.....

The other thing you can do is coordinate with your local USDA people to do a round-up during the molting period (about now around here). The geese can't fly during the molting period so they round them up and destroy the adults (because they would return to that body of water even if relocated) and relocate the gosslings. A harsh solution, but gets rid of the nuisance (at least for a while).

 

[Dawg52]

What a way to end the day. As I was walking my dog in the neighborhood, out of no where a Pitbull charged and attempted to attack my dog. I yelled 'beat it' and the dog did retreat and out comes the owner who says "he really isn't a bad dog". Then the dog attacks again with me yelling 'beat it' again. Then I lost my cool and used some profanity telling the owner you can't let a Pitbull run loose in a yard. I realize some(maybe most) are OK if trained properly. I've heard from other neighbors that this dog has a history, so there is no excuse for letting this particular dog off leash.

I do wish I had kept my cool, but not easy when being attacked by a dog with a reputation as this one. Same thing happened about a year ago when a Rottweiler slipped through a hole in a fence and came charging towards us. Fortunately that dog tucked his tail when I yelled at it. Owner apologized and that was that.

Looks like I have run out of places to walk my dog in this neighborhood. In the future I will take him to a nearby walking trail around a softball complex. I have never seen any off leash dogs there.

 

[LinCella]

Dawg52,

One of my biggest fears when walking my dogs.

 

[Al in Ohio]

Update: B&N came through - UPS delivered my replacement Nook today at 5:30 pm.

Is it really a "replacement"? Sounds like its just MIA and finally accounted for!

 

[Walt34]

Hey, the excitement never stops around here! Since it's too hot to do much outside I decided to (finally!) learn to use Photoshop's Pen Tool. This is used for making very precise selections and drawing. The Pen Tool draws lines and curves, but they are not pixels, they are lines in the geometric sense in that they have no width and therefore will never show up in the photo. When you see in an advertisement that part of an image was "cut out" very precisely, somebody spent some time with the pen tool. It has a steep learning curve because the controls are not intuitive and one has to grasp the concepts of Bezier curves and draw with them.

It took over an hour to cut out the plastic guy and about an hour for the egg. The egg has varying radius curves so it isn't as easy as it looks. Hopefully with practice those times will go down.

But at least I learned something new today.

 

[travelover]

What a way to end the day. As I was walking my dog in the neighborhood, out of no where a Pitbull charged and attempted to attack my dog. .........

I always carry a can of Halt. They don't yelp and it doesn't permanently harm them. Better to stop the attack before anyone is hurt.

 

[ERD50]

What a way to end the day. As I was walking my dog in the neighborhood, out of no where a Pitbull charged and attempted to attack my dog. I yelled 'beat it' and the dog did retreat and out comes the owner who says "he really isn't a bad dog". Then the dog attacks again with me yelling 'beat it' again. Then I lost my cool and used some profanity telling the owner you can't let a Pitbull run loose in a yard. I realize some(maybe most) are OK if trained properly. I've heard from other neighbors that this dog has a history, so there is no excuse for letting this particular dog off leash.

...

I think you should report him. That dog/owner sounds dangerous, somebody might get hurt.

Are there leash laws in your area?

-ERD50

 

[Notmuchlonger]

What a way to end the day. As I was walking my dog in the neighborhood, out of no where a Pitbull charged and attempted to attack my dog. I yelled 'beat it' and the dog did retreat and out comes the owner who says "he really isn't a bad dog". Then the dog attacks again with me yelling 'beat it' again. Then I lost my cool and used some profanity telling the owner you can't let a Pitbull run loose in a yard. I realize some(maybe most) are OK if trained properly. I've heard from other neighbors that this dog has a history, so there is no excuse for letting this particular dog off leash.

I do wish I had kept my cool, but not easy when being attacked by a dog with a reputation as this one. Same thing happened about a year ago when a Rottweiler slipped through a hole in a fence and came charging towards us. Fortunately that dog tucked his tail when I yelled at it. Owner apologized and that was that.

Looks like I have run out of places to walk my dog in this neighborhood. In the future I will take him to a nearby walking trail around a softball complex. I have never seen any off leash dogs there.

Dog lover myself Dawg. It might not be a bad idea to carry a small thing of pepper spray. Wont harm the animal in the long run and they will more than likely retreat.

 

[Badger]

Planted a couple of Pear trees in the heat of the day. Won't do that again any time soon. Now all I need is a partridge.

Cheers!