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

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Woke up with very sore legs. Mr B and I went to a fundraiser dinner dance last night. I learned several group synchronized dances and did some freestyle dancing on my own with some ladies I knew there. Mr B wasn't in the mood to dance fast, so I settled for a nice slow dance with him. :flowers:
It was very warm in the place, then add some dancing plus a few hot flashes just for fun...:nonono:
I ditched the long sleeved winter sweater and just bopped around in a spaghetti strap tank top I had on underneath. Summer is just around the bend :LOL:

I'm watching an excellent National Geographic program about the Galapagos Islands right now. Cool stuff! There is a segment about loggerhead turtles. The hatchlings are so cute. The footage of them emerging from the eggs, digging their way out, making a mad dash for the sea and swimming is fabulous.

Meatballs and medium hot sausage in homemade sauce are cooking in the crockpot for dinner tonight. I can't decide if I want that over spaghetti or make hot subs with melted mozzerella. :)
 
Helped DW work at a fund raiser for the Riley Childrens' Hospital. Was a dance marathon put on by and at the high school she works. Raised almost $18,000 for the first year this event was held here.
 
The housecleaner showed up. Did kitchen and great room. Next week: bathroom and bedrooms.
Filled the vacuum cleaner.
 
Another day spent helping to clean out the house of a relative who passed away recently. This is part of a long ongoing process. Marvelled at the amount of stuff a person can collect in a lifetime. Vowed not to do the same.

Also got to see "The King's Speech". Enjoyed it a great deal but felt it didn't live up to the hype.
 
I spent most of the weekend proofing the typeset versions of the book and the pocket guide. (Akaisha/Billy, Bob Clyatt, SamClem, Tomcat98, Deserat, and FIREUp2020, please check your e-mail.) There were the usual typos and nitpicks, and I've rewritten a lot of the manuscript as I was excerpting it on the blog, but I managed to restrain myself. It's "good enough". I'm a little bummed that the publisher didn't want to use my rock&roll chapter quotes but I'll publish the "author's cut" on the blog.

When Bob published WLLM in 2005 he sent out draft versions that were literally bound paperbacks with "DRAFT" stamped on the cover. I don't think that's going to happen for "The Military Guide"-- I got a PDF that should look pretty much the same when it comes off the printing press. The book & pocket guide will go to the presses in March, to the distributor in April, to Amazon.com's presale by May, and hopefully be on shelves in military exchanges around the world by August.

The next morning I woke up to start my day on the Internet as usual, and found that my wireless router had glitched up overnight. Its power light was doing a "slow flash" that indicated a firmware update hadn't succeeded-- which was bad news because I hadn't done any firmware updates.

Luckily yesterday spouse had left on another Mainland trip (imagine if this had happened while she was trying to print boarding passes over the "network" printer) and wouldn't need wireless for her laptop for a few more days. But then I realized that our two TiVos wouldn't be able to get their programming updates.

With troubleshooting help from a couple of the board's finest hardware experts (thanks youknowwho and BMJ!), I did a bunch of restarts and resets and eventually tried to install the latest firmware. However the desktop refused to talk to the router, so it became likely that the problem was the router's power supply. Luckily Radio Shack has a full line of replacement power transformers and compatible plugs for under $30 instead of having to shell out for a new router. But, hey, I was actually ready to buy a new router.

The crisis gave me the opportunity to clean up the computer desk. I pulled out the Mac Mini (it's a 2005 PowerPC model) and its KVM switch, and I managed to eliminate what seemed like a couple miles worth of spaghetti cable. I also rearranged the connections to be able to work on everything from on top or in front instead of having to pull this furniture monster away from the wall. Since we generate most of the electricity that we use, getting rid of even these little vampire loads will be noticeable on our electric bill.

If any of you collectors are looking for a cheap Mac Mini, I think this is the "high-end" model with extra RAM. Been a while since I fired it up, so this week I'll be trying to get past the logon passwords to delete the data. The rest will fill up our "e-waste closet" until the next free collection date.

I'll spend a little time today prepping a care package for our Hawaii college girl. Apparently it's really hard to find any nori and li hing mui mango in Houston, let alone the good stuff. She's looking forward to a week of spring break to [-]party[/-] catch up on her overloaded classwork & studying, so I won't have a surfing buddy next week after all. Between her plans for summer school, and the Navy's plans for her summer training, we probably won't see her until August or even September... and by that I mean we'll be going to Houston to see her. She probably won't get back to the islands until Christmas.

It's amazing how creative my "To-Do" list gets when its top entry is "Do your taxes"...
 
Nords said:
...It's amazing how creative my "To-Do" list gets when its top entry is "Do your taxes"...
Click to expand...
We think alike. I am in the final review stage of taxes before I e-file and I am doing everything but that. :LOL: So far I emptied/refilled the dishwasher, put some pork roast with BBQ sauce in the crockpot, surfed, read some joke emails, and watched the weather. :whistle:
Mr B is just as bad. He is playing DJ on his desktop computer with a collection of music from the 1960s. He is segregating favorite songs into a folder for eventual burning to CDs for our road trips.
 
Got up late this a.m., took a shower and slurped some coffee. Later went to Wally Word for kitty treats and stuff. Went with DH to his 8th RT and saw my 'buddy'. He struck up a conversation with me last Friday...he has prostate cancer as well and is about halfway through his treatments (with no side effects thus far). He's a matter-of-fact kind of guy, but is calm and the optimistic sort. He sure makes it much easier on me while I wait in that lobby. :)

Coming home I told DH since my new buddy is 70 years old and doing just fine, I reckon he (DH) could cook supper tonight. That's exactly what he's doing right now....:D
 
I had the day off for President's Day. In best "testing the waters" mode for retirement, I slept in a bit, read a little, enjoyed a full pot of coffee and just enjoyed having no where to go at a certain time. Walked the dog, went to the gym, and drove home in an unanticipated ice storm! Just came in from shoveling as I wanted to get the lay of the land in terms of what is happening with the storm...3-6 inches of snow expected. I had put away my shovel so had to retrieve it from a corner of the garage. I have a good stock of ice melt pellets so I scattered a little about on the walks. If I get enough snow, the fellow who does my snow removal will show up tomorrow...but likely after I have already gone into the office.
Still, a nice day over all. It doesn't seem so arduous when I think of only a 4-day week until the next week-end.
 
I started my day at the gym . The woman who teaches our Monday classes teaches kick boxing so we do kickboxing moves in the pool . I am always sore after her class . I then hung new blinds in the foyer and started The book " The girl who played with fire " . I hope it's as good as the first one .Tomorrow is an ebay day so I will be photographing and writing listings most of the day .
 
freebird5825 said:
Mr B is just as bad. He is playing DJ on his desktop computer with a collection of music from the 1960s. He is segregating favorite songs into a folder for eventual burning to CDs for our road trips.
Click to expand...
We have a guy around here who has five iPods-- one each for the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s...
 
Just got back from Universal Studios Orlando. Hadn't been there in 14 years. Really enjoyed the Harry Potter theme park. With the holiday weekend it was very busy. We had to wait in line for about 3 of the 7 hours we were there. It was over 80 degrees and sunny so it was a little rough but still had a great time. Only got burned a little. I have 1 more day before I have to go back to Wisconsin. It will be tough to leave the paradise that is Florida and go back to Wisconsin where they just got a foot of snow.
 
Not sure if this is appropriate for this thread, but I NEED TO VENT! here's what I did today:

*attempted* to fly to Cancun for a week of R&R with my spouseGot to the gate with boarding passes in hand and the attendant said "oh wait, you need to get 'revised' boarding passes". Okay, so we got them and these new ones have us sitting 2 rows apart. So far, no big deal. Then the plane sits for 30 minutes. Now I begin to think, "well I am glad we have 70 minutes to catch the connecting flight"...then we back onto the runway and the pilot says "we are so sorry, the power supply is not working and we have to return to the gate". Everyone discombobulates, gets off the plane, mostly grumbling, but I am thinking "not gonna freak out yet". Ten minutes after exiting the plane we are told "the plane is just fine and you can all reboard". YAY, it looks like I am going to make my connection! We board again, back onto the runway, and the pilot says "I am SO sorry, we have just been informed that Chicago is shut down due to weather and we are going to sit here for 30 minutes and see what happens".

You see how this is going, right?

Thirty minutes later, the pilot says "Okay ladies and gentlemen, we have been given a green light to take off for Chicago in 10 minutes". And 5 minutes later he says "I am SO sorry....the power supply seems to be malfunctioning again and we have to return to the gate".

So here I sit in my LIVING ROOM, enjoying the ice and 28 degrees and a packed suitcase in the hallway. When I was on The Race, I was blessed with seeing how AWESOME some of the international airliines are. And conversely, how much American airlines SUCK. There is simply NO comparison, and I must say, what an embarrassment we must be to the rest of the world.

Postscript - I have a new flight leaving in 2 hours. WISH*ME*LUCK please?

PostPostscript - despite the high level of stress this situation evokes, I am really digging that I can remind myself of my (still relatively new) FIRE status to coax me back into a state of peace and serenity. :flowers:
 
I woke up to day #2 of brilliant sunshine. So nice to be back in the solar system again. :cool:

I'm watching the weather carefully to figure out which day we can safely drive east during the daytime. I researched some fun things to do in the North of Boston area. I found a historic greenhouse on an estate in Waltham that looks really interesting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyman_Estate

And of course the ocean beckons....I can hear the siren's song :whistle:bidding me to come closer closer....
 
Finally getting some seasonal weather here in PV. Can see the north shore mountains for 2 days in a row. The hectic visiting season is still in full swing with snowbirds coming and going.

Spent last week helping a fellow snowbird complete an offer on his oceanfront condo (non-brokered). Introduced him to my personal banker and also my lawyer. He said: "Are they all this gorgeous?" I said: "I dunnow, these are just the ones I use!" So far so good. Buying from a rich Mexican family.

It is fun to watch the transition from a renter to an owner. We went through that in 2007.
 
kcowan said:
Spent last week helping a fellow snowbird complete an offer on his oceanfront condo (non-brokered). Introduced him to my personal banker and also my lawyer. He said: "Are they all this gorgeous?" I said: "I dunnow, these are just the ones I use!"
Click to expand...
Somehow I think the topic changed from gorgeous real estate to something else...
 
Went to Goose Island Brewery for lunch and stopped off at a hardwood lumber store and brewing supply store for supplies on the way home. Watched the Blackhawks and Bulls win. Life is good.
 
Picked up spouse from the airport yesterday. Our pet bunny and I are both happy to have her back! Despite his protests he really was getting enough food, water, & petting.

I think she's finally recovered from the jet lag, so we're staying mostly bunkered for the weekend. We may go up to the local shopping center today or tomorrow to pick up a special-order fin for our daughter's surfboard. We might have to stop at a nearby McDonald's to stave off incipient starvation with an ice-cream cone.

Next month she's taking a whirlwind tour of the Marianas with one of her non-profits. During her liberty hours she's also scouting dive operators for our future return trip.
 
Fussed with the turbotax as well. Have some consulting income, rental properties, MLP's and bunch of investment sales. Nothing insermountable with TTax but it does take some time. It did tell me I should open a SEP-IRA since I have outside consulting income. Was able to do that even with 401k contributions at my old full time w*rk (still consult a bit for them and contribute to 401k, have benefits, etc) and a TIRA. That was a bit of a shock. Turbotax actually took all this into account and told me what I could contribute to the SEP-IRA. Quite nice! So I called up Schwab, opened the SEP IRA and funded it for 2010.

Then I went out and watered the trees. Awfullly driy winter here in Front Range.
 
Worked in the morning. In the afternoon I fussed with fixing the sewer clean out in the front yard that was broken for years. I fixed it last month with PVC only to run it over and C-R-A-C-K the PVC on Saturday evening when my son move my car to the far side of the driveway off the concrete earlier in the day.

I went back to Lowe's today and found a 4 inch joint made of of a hard but flexible rubber which attaches with hose clamps. I have been in the house 25 years and have never need to use the clean out.

I want to get all of these little thing tied down while I still remember exactly where they are.
 
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