Join Early Retirement Today
Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-12-2014, 11:59 AM   #13481
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 281
Trying to figure out how to get everything I've laid out into my new backpack and not exceed 31' - the optimal poundage for my height/weight/gender.

On a slightly side note, if you had told me three years ago that I would get involved in backpacking after FIRE, I'd have laughed you out the door. And yet, here I stand all excited about our upcoming trip into the wilds. Crazy this FIRE thing!
RetiredAndFree is offline  
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 03-12-2014, 02:01 PM   #13482
Moderator Emeritus
aja8888's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Conroe, Texas
Posts: 18,645
Went to Lowes and purchased my plywood and studs to build my new workbench. While I was there chatting with the help, the Manager asked me if I wanted a part time job there.

Since I still consult to oil and gas clients part time, and can make in one hour what I could in a full day or longer at Lowes, I politely declined.

It is nice to be wanted (I think)..... (maybe next year I'll reconsider)
aja8888 is offline  
Old 03-12-2014, 07:39 PM   #13483
Dryer sheet aficionado
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Ocala
Posts: 49
Caught a 32 inch snook, two 28 inch snook and a 15 lb black drum on 8 lb test on a self guided trip to Shark River in the Everglades.
__________________
Doug
GT1 Doug is offline  
Old 03-13-2014, 05:45 AM   #13484
Administrator
MichaelB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,586
Yesterday I took DD and the two GKs to the airport for their return home after a 5 week long visit. We were happy to see them arrive, and just as happy to see them go.
MichaelB is offline  
Old 03-13-2014, 07:52 AM   #13485
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
seraphim's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 1,555
Sounds good, Walt. Cold and windy here, so we settled for a mall walk, yesterday. Today looks better...
__________________
"Growing old is no excuse for growing up."
seraphim is offline  
Old 03-13-2014, 07:54 AM   #13486
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
seraphim's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 1,555
"On a slightly side note, if you had told me three years ago that I would get involved in backpacking after FIRE, I'd have laughed you out the door. And yet, here I stand all excited about our upcoming trip into the wilds. Crazy this FIRE thing! "

That's what we ER'd for...
__________________
"Growing old is no excuse for growing up."
seraphim is offline  
Old 03-13-2014, 09:01 AM   #13487
Moderator Emeritus
Bestwifeever's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,773
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelB View Post
Yesterday I took DD and the two GKs to the airport for their return home after a 5 week long visit. We were happy to see them arrive, and just as happy to see them go.
Five weeks! You and the missus need a nap and a drink, not necessarily in that order.
Bestwifeever is offline  
Old 03-13-2014, 06:10 PM   #13488
Administrator
Gumby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 22,973
I spent the earlier part of this evening doing battle with a squirrel.

It all started last week, when I came in the house and found a squirrel sitting on top of the valance over one of the windows. I opened the door and chased him around with a broom until he ran back outside. Then I performed a thorough inspection to see how he got in. Couldn't find any holes big enough for a squirrel. Did he maybe sneak in when I left the door open to bring in groceries? It was quite a mystery, but he was outside now, so I forgot about it.

So today I come home from w*rk and go down in the cellar, where I discover . . . a squirrel. I get a broom and chase him around. Lo and behold, he jumps in the air mixing flapper for the furnace and runs up the chimney!

I recollect that there is no screen or anything on the top of the chimney pipe, so I get some hardware cloth and the tin snips to make a screen. I get out the 20 foot extension ladder and go up on the roof, where I create and install a very nice squirrel screen. While I'm up there, the ladder blows over and I'm stuck on the roof in the 25 degree weather. I stand up there for 15 minutes while it gets dark, and the wife finally comes out looking for me. After another 10 minutes or so of her wrestling with the ladder (she has never used one), she gets it back in place and I finally come back down.
__________________
Living an analog life in the Digital Age.
Gumby is offline  
Old 03-13-2014, 06:25 PM   #13489
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
Took my motorhome to the tire store to get free recall tires from Michelin.

My small class C drives so nice when not towing the toad. On the drive today, I "opened up" the throttle to keep up with traffic . Yes, I could keep up with them as the vehicle's tanks were all empty. Having 7.4L of power helps, but my son will claim that his Audi has the same horse power!

Well, I doubt that his has the torque nor the endurance to power this MH with a toad in tow, on long hill climbs typically encountered on the highways here out west.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline  
Old 03-13-2014, 06:38 PM   #13490
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gumby View Post
...While I'm up there, the ladder blows over and I'm stuck on the roof in the 25 degree weather...
Up at my high-country home, the wind is so strong and most importantly so gusty that it can blow the ladder over with me standing on it! And it can come all of a sudden.

I had to use ropes as guy wires for my ladder when I was doing exterior staining myself, as shown in an infamous photo posted a few years ago.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline  
Old 03-13-2014, 07:58 PM   #13491
Moderator Emeritus
aja8888's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Conroe, Texas
Posts: 18,645
Friend's Honda 80 motor scooter stopped dead in its tracks on a local road today. He pushed it home. He called me and I stopped over with some tools and pulled the cover off the clutch/drive pulley and found this:



Not much drive belt left at 17,150 miles (on a Honda 80 scooter). Apparently, periodic maintenance is not in his vocabulary.
aja8888 is offline  
Old 03-13-2014, 08:04 PM   #13492
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Colorado Mountains
Posts: 3,165
Quote:
Originally Posted by aja8888 View Post
Friend's Honda 80 motor scooter stopped dead in its tracks on a local road today. He pushed it home. He called me and I stopped over with some tools and pulled the cover off the clutch/drive pulley and found this:

Not much drive belt left at 17,150 miles (on a Honda 80 scooter). Apparently, periodic maintenance is not in his vocabulary.
That's a lot of miles on one of those little scooters.
Hermit is offline  
Old 03-13-2014, 08:12 PM   #13493
Moderator Emeritus
aja8888's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Conroe, Texas
Posts: 18,645
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hermit View Post
That's a lot of miles on one of those little scooters.
Yes, and I am amazed that drive belt went the distance.
aja8888 is offline  
Old 03-13-2014, 08:42 PM   #13494
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
Is it one of the bikes that use a belt in a continuously variable transmission? I have read about them, but have not had the chance to open one up to see.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline  
Old 03-13-2014, 09:00 PM   #13495
Moderator Emeritus
aja8888's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Conroe, Texas
Posts: 18,645
Quote:
Originally Posted by NW-Bound View Post
Is it one of the bikes that use a belt in a continuously variable transmission? I have read about them, but have not had the chance to open one up to see.
Yep and it has a 4 stroke air cooled engine. This one is a 2007 and is in overall nice shape for the miles (never been dropped, had some periodic maintenance, new tires):



This is it above.
aja8888 is offline  
Old 03-14-2014, 06:46 AM   #13496
Moderator
Walt34's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Eastern WV Panhandle
Posts: 25,302
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gumby View Post
While I'm up there, the ladder blows over and I'm stuck on the roof in the 25 degree weather.
That's got to be a bad feeling. I'll make a note to myself to always have the cell phone with me when I go on the roof.
__________________
When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.
Walt34 is offline  
Old 03-14-2014, 10:27 AM   #13497
Moderator Emeritus
Bestwifeever's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,773
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gumby View Post
I spent the earlier part of this evening doing battle with a squirrel.

It all started last week, when I came in the house and found a squirrel sitting on top of the valance over one of the windows. I opened the door and chased him around with a broom until he ran back outside. Then I performed a thorough inspection to see how he got in. Couldn't find any holes big enough for a squirrel. Did he maybe sneak in when I left the door open to bring in groceries? It was quite a mystery, but he was outside now, so I forgot about it.

So today I come home from w*rk and go down in the cellar, where I discover . . . a squirrel. I get a broom and chase him around. Lo and behold, he jumps in the air mixing flapper for the furnace and runs up the chimney!

I recollect that there is no screen or anything on the top of the chimney pipe, so I get some hardware cloth and the tin snips to make a screen. I get out the 20 foot extension ladder and go up on the roof, where I create and install a very nice squirrel screen. While I'm up there, the ladder blows over and I'm stuck on the roof in the 25 degree weather. I stand up there for 15 minutes while it gets dark, and the wife finally comes out looking for me. After another 10 minutes or so of her wrestling with the ladder (she has never used one), she gets it back in place and I finally come back down.

And the squirrel enjoyed the show from a nearby tree.

Really funny story except for the part about the temperature and the wind and the dark.
__________________
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
Bestwifeever is offline  
Old 03-14-2014, 10:45 AM   #13498
Moderator Emeritus
W2R's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,474
Quote:
Originally Posted by Walt34 View Post
That's got to be a bad feeling. I'll make a note to myself to always have the cell phone with me when I go on the roof.
Even better - - don't go on the roof for any reason at all after about age 20 or so. Hire someone with safety equipment and experience to do these things. It's not worth the risk of ending up with a broken bone, especially now that medical costs can be so much higher than they once were.

I don't know what it is about men over a certain age - - so many seem absolutely determined to spend a lot of time up on the roof. Maybe they feel closer to their supreme being up there.

Not me - - I have owned my present house for 12 years and have never once been tempted to go up on the roof for anything at all. Amazingly, the world hasn't ended yet, for some reason. I think the only thing that could get me up on the roof would be floodwaters over about eight feet deep and that hasn't ever happened on my block.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.

Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
W2R is offline  
Old 03-14-2014, 11:26 AM   #13499
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Major Tom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SF East Bay
Posts: 4,324
Quote:
Originally Posted by W2R View Post
I don't know what it is about men over a certain age - - so many seem absolutely determined to spend a lot of time up on the roof. Maybe they feel closer to their supreme being up there.
When I owned a house, I used to love sitting on the roof and looking at the view. For me, it wasn't about feeling dominant, or anything like that, but it was part of my curiosity to know more about my house - and part of that was seeing it from all angles - the basement, the roof, any nook and cranny I could find. It was all part of "getting to know my house". Also, as I mentioned, the view from the roof was a unique view that I couldn't get from any other vantage point. When on the roof, I saw my neighborhood in a unique and (to me) interesting way.
__________________
Contentedly ER, with 3 furry friends (now, sadly, 1).
Planning my escape to the wide open spaces in my campervan (with my remaining kitty, of course!)
On a mission to become the world's second most boring man.

Major Tom is offline  
Old 03-14-2014, 12:38 PM   #13500
Moderator
braumeister's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,199
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gumby View Post
While I'm up there, the ladder blows over and I'm stuck on the roof in the 25 degree weather.
Had something similar happen about five or six years ago, but I was on the ladder at the time. No serious harm done (my childhood nickname wasn't "thick-headed Dutchman" for nothing), but ever since that time, I have made it a point to always have my phone in my pocket whenever I get on even a stepladder.
braumeister is offline  
Closed Thread


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Did 2008-09 Results Help You Now? Idnar7 FIRE and Money 42 10-27-2015 09:10 AM
California Munis Closed End Funds tanked today, why? Disappointed FIRE and Money 10 01-20-2008 06:15 PM
Did you retire or Did you quit GTM Life after FIRE 19 03-09-2006 01:06 PM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:37 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.