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

[ohyes]

Rainy day, but those are beautiful in retirement.

Seems i don't get really going until 10AM. Quick errands after that. After lunch (3 bean vegetarian chili--according to nutritional info, fiber amount is quite impressive.)

THEN, i sat with a lady who will turn 100yo on January 24. We watched CNN and Katie Couric. I let her choose because it was her tv; I was "babysitting" as a hospice volunteer while her 60+ granddaughter visited the dentist. Interesting couple hours --gave me much to consider. The patient wanted to make sure granddaughter would be back in time to fix dinner.

DH and i watched karaoke at a Mexican restaurant near us this evening. We don't sing (they would so boot us out). It is our Thursday night treat.

 

[oldtrig]

Finished up installing timing belt, water pump, Idlers and tensioner, valve cover gaskets and spark plug boot seals, spark plugs, Cam and Crankshaft seals, all new betls on my sons 2000 Toyota Solara 3.0 V6 engine. What a task this was. I have very little skin left on both arms. I hurt all over but a good nights sleep will fix that. I saved my son probably $800 by doing this for him. I wanted to make sure I still had it in me also. I am getting oldbecause when I did this for a living I did not hurt this bad. Next time I think I will just remove the engine. I think I could have saved time by doing that. The car has very little room to work when doing a job like this. I think it took me 6 hours just to replace the valve cover gaskets and spark plug boot seals in valve covers. It runs great and I will be starting another project similar next week. Its fun doing this and not having to get in a hurry like when I worked for a living. This is retirement for me, doing something I enjoy and saving my family money. I am glad I learned a skill when I was young. oldtrig

 

[powerplay]

Finished up installing timing belt, water pump, Idlers and tensioner, valve cover gaskets and spark plug boot seals, spark plugs, Cam and Crankshaft seals, all new betls on my sons 2000 Toyota Solara 3.0 V6 engine. What a task this was. I have very little skin left on both arms. I hurt all over but a good nights sleep will fix that. I saved my son probably $800 by doing this for him. I wanted to make sure I still had it in me also. I am getting oldbecause when I did this for a living I did not hurt this bad. Next time I think I will just remove the engine. I think I could have saved time by doing that. The car has very little room to work when doing a job like this. I think it took me 6 hours just to replace the valve cover gaskets and spark plug boot seals in valve covers. It runs great and I will be starting another project similar next week. Its fun doing this and not having to get in a hurry like when I worked for a living. This is retirement for me, doing something I enjoy and saving my family money. I am glad I learned a skill when I was young. oldtrig

Wow oldtrig, you are a super Dad! I hope your son appreciates all the work you did for him.

 

[steelyman]

My big deal today is to get a haircut. Glad there's still hair to cut!

I read these other posts about people's complaints with their jobs and think, "Geez, there but for the grace..."

 

[Dawg52]

Last night I went to a retirement party for my old boss. He is 69 and certainly didn't have to work that long, but he did. Actually he wasn't there half the time, made a killing and got to go on lot's of nice business trips that was more pleasure than actual work so he had a deal hard to give up. But he recently remarried(previous wife died) and is ready to do lot's of traveling with his new companion.

I actually enjoyed the party. Saw lot's of old work mates I hadn't seen in several years. Oh yes, I also saw my original boss who hired me back in 1980(He's 96). I worked under him for 8 years. Although he was more of a hands on type of a boss, he was a good one too. I'm glad I'm retired, but I was lucky to only have 2 bosses over my 27 years there who pretty much left me alone to do my job.

 

[NW-Bound]

Sounds like a nice collegial place to work. These are rare these days, as workplaces become cut-throat.

 

[antmary]

This morning I felt in an anti-Paleo mood, and put black beans, tomatoes, onion, turmeric, cumin, and salt together in the crockpot. Maybe I'll make some cornbread (with maple syrup for sweetening) later this afternoon to go with.

Life is good Time for a nap....

 

[Rickochet]

I am not retired yet, but I haven't worked a Friday, Saturday or Sunday in 25 years. So it was a pretty typical day for me, except I was researching the various wireless providers looking for the best deals. My company has provided my phone since the beginning of cell phones. After Jan 31st., I will be without a company phone. YAAAAA!!!! BTW--Looking forward to having my own smartphone that doesn't lock on it's own every 30 minutes. I'm not going to miss the corporate hoops!

 

[freebird5825]

I stayed around the house while Mr B played his first match of shuffleboard at the VFW. He's not very good but he has fun playing. He will go play every Sat afternoon for the next 2 months.
I made a nice display frame for a US Navy coin that his son sent him for Xmas, complete with a retyped Sailors Creed. I used an antique frame, black felt, straight pins and short nails to secure the coin. Result is below. With time the bright white paper will fade and fit in more with the antique theme of the frame.
I emptied the dishwasher, surfed, and planted some carrots and radishes in an Earthbox inside the house.
We are both scheduled to help cook breakfast at a fundraiser for the Boy Scouts (sponsored by the Legion) at our local Legion tomorrow at o'dark thirty. I'm on pancake and french toast duty, along with mass egg cracking as needed for the omelet cook.
Mr B does the bacon and sausage. I used to do that but my hot flashes get too intense in front of that hot grill.
All in all it's fun and great exercise to do the cooking except for the early AM rise. I have to set my alarm clock.

 

[Ronstar]

Spurred the economy a little today, buying a new pair of running shoes, socks, flannel shirt, and a pair of cargo pants. Luckily REI didn't have kayaks in stock.

 

[Walt34]

Yesterday we finished cleaning out/setting up FIL's house to put on sale. Thankfully, he was fairly spartan when it came to accumulating "stuff" and there has been relatively little to deal with.

All this has made us acutely aware of how much stuff we have accumulated and the volume we would have to deal with if we suddenly had to move. So we've started getting rid of stuff, but that will be slowed a bit while we sort through the last of FIL's items that nobody wants and are too good to throw out. I see some trips to Goodwill in our near future.

 

[bbbamI]

Woke up at 9:30, then at 10. Finally got out of bed around 10:30. Enjoyed a cup of coffee and a donut. Been walking around the house looking for projects...noticed the blinds are dusty and the hamper is full of towels that need to be washed.

Hmmmm....

Think I'll have another cup of coffee.

..........and a donut.

 

[freebird5825]

I remembered to log on here.

I had my gas furnace serviced and hot water heater flushed. A thermocouple was looking unhappy so I had him replace it ($15 part) instead of having it fail and cost me another service call ($50 + $15 part).

I had my house cleaned by a new cleaner. She w*rked for 5 hours and did not complete the entire j*b. I instructed her to leave the knick-knacks alone (I can do those), just pick up and dust under them, and concentrate on the heavier tasks - vacuuming and mopping the floors and the bathroom. I have cleaned the house myself and know the amount of time it takes when being efficient. I also know when a j*b is being milked to "up" the hours spent.
So I will contact the cleaning service manager (a very good friend) and ask her to find another cleaner who can follow instructions AND do the entire j*b in the alloted time.

I am staying home tonight while Mr B does his weekly volunteer thing. I had several meds yesterday afternoon and am giving the ol' liver a break.

 

[Walt34]

Today we meet with the RE agent to finalize listing his house for sale. Whew, getting to this point has been some work!

So later on I'll go into my job and get some rest.

 

[bbbamI]

Today I became a Great Aunt.

The baby weighed 8 lbs 3 oz.....he and momma are doing just fine.

Thirty two plus years ago, I held my newborn nephew in my arms. Soon I'll hold his son. My oh my. ...sigh...

 

[W2R]

Carnival (Mardi Gras) parades have begun, and so we dodged a big parade today. F lives about a half block from the parade route that it was on, so I picked him up before the crowds arrived and we got out of that area. After lunch we killed time shopping in other parts of town, and eventually managed to sneak back to his house just as the parade ended.

After dropping him off I followed the streetcleaners out of there. I dodged several happy paradegoers walking in the temporarily deserted streets, wearing lots of pretty and unique beads and carrying all the rest of the loot they caught.

 

[Gumby]

Went to see Lincoln at the movies. It was very, very good. Daniel Day-Lewis certainly deserved his Oscar nomination for that performance.

 

[Original Wally]

Church. Then FOOTBALL

 

[Original Wally]

Went to see Lincoln at the movies. It was very, very good. Daniel Day-Lewis certainly deserved his Oscar nomination for that performance.

+1. Great flick. Was a bit surprised at two things - Lincoln's machavelian approach. I felt he came off as borderline slimy. And what I thought was a way excessive use of the very offensive "n"-bomb. Not needed. (they dropped it way too much in Django too).

 

[Gumby]

And what I thought was a way excessive use of the very offensive "n"-bomb. Not needed.

Growing up in the 1960s, I heard that word regularly in everyday, casual conversation. It's not too much of a stretch to think of how common it was in the 1860s. I thought Spielberg's use of the term, most importantly in Congressional debate, was important to capture the feelings of the people involved -- to make their atavistic hostility to the 13th Amendment understandable to the modern audience. In general, I don't think we do ourselves any favors when we sugarcoat history.

 

[freebird5825]

Let's see...

I folded laundry and roasted 4 chicken legs for midday supper. Mr B made homemade french fries . He's like a little kid with a new toy (he bought a compact deep fryer in WallyWorld a few weeks ago).
I made him a pepperoni/mozzerella roll with a pizza crust mix that was about ready to expire.

I ordered TurboTax Premier. The best price I found was at Amazon.

I ordered some heirloom pepper seeds from Sandia Seeds. I selected the Big Jim green, Anaheim, and Espanola chile varieties. I will get them started indoors in early February and grow them to just before setting blooms size. I will trim them back if they get too big to encourage branching and a sturdy main stem.
I am experimenting with some leftover radish and carrot seeds in an Earthbox indoors. I am leaving the grow light on 24/7 just to see what happens. Hopefully the plants will not take over the free world.
If the radishes grow more foliage than root, I will use them for greens.

I watched the championship football games. It's not looking good for the Patriots with the final 2 minutes left in the game

I may brave the lake effect snow and go up to the Lake Ontario beach camp again this week. I want to bring my xcountry skis and ski the beachfront if there is enough snow and no ice pieces on the shore. If nothing else, I'll bring my snowshoes and do that with my friends.

 

[Walt34]

FIL's house is finally up for sale. Yay! Hopefully a quick sale and then it's someone else's maintenance chore.

It's mostly emptied out but there is still some furniture left for staging so there's only one more time moving all that stuff.

 

[REWahoo]

FIL's house is finally up for sale. Yay! Hopefully a quick sale and then it's someone else's maintenance chore.

It's mostly emptied out but there is still some furniture left for staging so there's only one more time moving all that stuff.

Congratulations on getting that done. Having been there/done that with my FIL, I have some appreciation for all the work involved.

 

[MichaelB]

An uncle of DW visited yesterday. We drove to Miami to pick them up, about 50 miles, and about halfway back we left the highway and took route A1A, aka Ocean Blvd, which tracks alongside the beach. Even though it is mostly built and there are no uninterrupted views of the water there were lots of people walking & bicycling and it still made for a pleasant ride. We bought some shrimp, tuna and white wine, went home and enjoyed a pleasant afternoon.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

In lieu of remodeling our kitchen for the second time in three years, my wife agreed to use the money for something else. Went out and bought a 70" Visio TV. Now we have to get some things done to get ready for the installation Wednesday. New location.

My wife has failing eyesight and can no longer easily read the description of shows posted on the onscreen guide. Verizon said no way to make the wording larger so we're going for a larger TV. Looked good at the store so here's hoping.