What did you do today? 2017 version

[splitwdw]

Thanks for the well wishes everybody.

These fractures are not happening due to DW doing anything physical. It's scary that one can have this happen for no apparent reason at all. The operative word here is osteoporosis which makes the bones very fragile.

Is this a new procedure? I don't think I've ever heard of it. Hope it's helpful for your wife.

 

[aja8888]

Please keep us informed on your wife's progress with the treatment.

My wife had a recent bone scan, and they said it was thinning. She's only 60. There's some expensive medicine that she can take by injection. We were checking it out when she had to change doctor due to change of insurer.

A Web site said that osteoporosis affects 1/2 of the women at the age of 60. Yet this was very rare 100 years ago! There is a list of risk factors such as too much protein or sugar in the diet, caffeine, etc..., but none of those apply to my wife.

I'll post up any new progress. We believe that her loss of bone density is a partial result of taking steroids to counteract the COPD issues she has been suffering with.

 

[aja8888]

Is this a new procedure? I don't think I've ever heard of it. Hope it's helpful for your wife.

No, this is not a new procedure. The gluing process fixes the fractures and that glue/cement has been used for may years in surgery for bone repairs. The repair is very helpful as the intense pain from the fractured area of the bone is gone.

 

[coveredbridge]

Not a darn thing. I should be doing something and have plenty to do but I'm not. Lol

Sounds like a lot of great days for all of you.

coveredbridge >>>> I did frost seeding about 3 weeks ago. I did alfalfa what kind of luck have you had frost seeding?

I've had pretty good luck frost seeding over the years, but I don't know how good this year will be. Doesn't seem like there was enough frost in the ground to set the seed well.

 

[Moemg]

DW was under a general anesthesia and the procedure lasted two hours. The number of repaired vertebrae is now 5. Got home at 8:30 PM. She will not be too mobile for the weekend and maybe a bit longer because of the fractured rib. I thought the two root canals I had this week were tough (not!).

Hope the both of you feel better soon .

 

[RetiredGypsy]

It's frightening how health can become compromised by factors unknown yet, or so inherent in the environment there's no escape. At least the medical field forever marches onward.

I wish everyone dealing with their medical issues the best recovery, or at least care enough for for a high quality of life for the things that can't be cured.

I just found out I have some form of connective tissue defect. Ortho Dr and I got a kick out of that; we both agreed that's probably why I've managed to break just about all my major joints throughout the years, not to mention other issues. The double edged sword is that the pursuit of physically demanding activities back when I was able, and now what exercise I can do also prevents the issue from becoming far worse than it could be.

So that was the big news for me this morning. And then I came home and ran my spending spreadsheets. I've been tweaking them since the beginning of the year, working toward finally accepting the medical retirement from the military and being okay with the quality of life I've had. Also that I can up my spending after living on $12000/yr for my 20s.

So a mixed bag today so far, yet I'd consider it all good news in my outlook on it all. Very freeing in each instance.

 

[Philliefan33]

Great example of why we need a fiduciary rule.

I wonder if there is a way to frame some advice to her that is not providing financial advice but would prompt her to have a loved one review her situation. Something like... the fees that you are being charged are higher than average... or the turnover in your account is higher than typical... perhaps you should have a loved one review your situation for you.

An interesting question to me would when does high fees and turnover cross the line and become potential elder abuse? To a degree where your organization would have some sort of obligation to report (like a medical professional's obligation to report child or elder abuse).

Good suggestions regarding broaching the subject without giving financial advice. The sad fact in this particular situation is that the woman lamented that she had no one to lean on except her granddaughter who lives far away.

There was nothing in our training that leads me to believe that we, as tax aides, have a legal obligation to report. That sounds like a great big can of worms that I am not willing to open!

 

[braumeister]

Got my last 1099 today (from Fidelity) so spent several hours "doing the taxes."

Surprised to find that there was an error in at least one 1099 and several errors in the way TurboTax Premier handled my state taxes.

Nothing I couldn't figure out and correct, but disappointing. I think I'll wait another couple of weeks before filing to see if they correct their software.

The good news: I was pretty close in my estimates so I only owe a very small amount.

 

[Souschef]

Got my last 1099 today (from Fidelity) so spent several hours "doing the taxes."
.

I do my taxes as I get the 1099's. I just got the last Fidelity 1099 today. I am still waiting for one more that should have been available on the 14th.
I was surprised to discover the CA std deduction was quite a bit smaller than the Federal. This year I was way over the CA one, as i donated almost 8K to Angel Flight West.

 

[Nodak]

This is the third day in a row above 40 degrees so I put on my Yak Trax (there are still icy patches) and went for a nice walk. In the process I saw 2 mourning doves; I have never seen them in this area this early. Normally they show up in early April. We are supposed to be back in the 20s by next Thursday so they may not stick around.

 

[REWahoo]

This is the third day in a row above 40 degrees so I put on my Yak Trax (there are still icy patches) and went for a nice walk.

I'm going to modify your quote to fit my local conditions:

This is the third day in a row above 80 degrees so I put on my shorts (there are still scaly patches around my knees) and went for a nice walk.

 

[pb4uski]

Nasty.

 

[REWahoo]

No, the weather is beautiful!

 

[RetiredGypsy]

No, the weather is beautiful!

Floridians by default think 80 degrees comes with 80% humidity.

 

[Jerry1]

This is the third day in a row above 40 degrees so I put on my Yak Trax (there are still icy patches) and went for a nice walk. In the process I saw 2 mourning doves; I have never seen them in this area this early. Normally they show up in early April. We are supposed to be back in the 20s by next Thursday so they may not stick around.

I'm going to modify your quote to fit my local conditions:

And for my local conditions:

This is the first day in a long time that it hit the high 60's in Michigan and so I went for a very enjoyable walk!! It was a really nice day.

 

[RobbieB]

Champagne brunch with girlfriend, trip to hardware store, walked the dog and put another coat of paint on the picnic table.

 

[Dreamer]

We traveled home (WV) from NC. Beautiful traveling day. I am hoping to be able to stay at home for at least a month and just relax. We have only been at home for approximately a week, since 12/28/16. We have been to NC to DD's a couple of times because of babysitter problems for my 3 grandchildren. Also, went on a 2 week trip to AZ and was on the go with other relatives that we met there.

 

[brewer12345]

Did some well-paid consulting work from my couch which consisted of looking over a bunch of loans that are school-bus-full-of-girl-scouts-gets-hit-by-the-circus-train bad. Then DD2 finally met some behavior hurdles to deserve getting a fish tank, so we drove a ways to pick up a 20 gallon tank with accessories I found on craigslist. Tomorrow I need to paint some honey supers (all 9 hives are still kicking, so I should have good honey crop), start putting together a raised bed for gardening, and make pupusas from scratch for dinner.

 

[NW-Bound]

I learned a new word today: pupusa. Looked up the recipe on the Web too.

Just finished the 2016 tax. As usual, I need to write the IRS a check, so may not fire up TaxAct again until early April.

 

[brewer12345]

I learned a new word today: pupusa. Looked up the recipe on the Web too.

Tasty things. We make them out of blue corn we soak overnight, nixtamalize, and grind into fresh masa harina. Stuff them with homemade refries and cheese, fry, and serve with curtido. I still buy the curtido, but one of these days I will get around to making my own. If we have extra masa, we press tortillas and usually make freshly made blue corn chips out of it.

 

[NW-Bound]

If I make it, will stuff it with pork. I am a meat eater.

 

[brewer12345]

If I make it, will stuff it with pork. I am a meat eater.

I am a hunter and routinely eat everything from dove to squirrel to wild boar to, well, whatever is in season and pops up in front of me. We had pulled goose sandwiches for dinner last night.

That said, I have to cater to a wide variety of tastes. DD1 is vegetarian. DD2 cannot stand anything with the remotest hint of spice. DW will not eat any mammals. Life as the head chef is rough in my house. Not infrequently I cook two meals a night.

 

[brewer12345]

Raised bed is done. Now we just have to locate the sprinkler heads before we can put it in place.

 

[Gumby]

Made 6 lbs of soap today. About to grill some steaks.

 

[W2R]

I'm going to modify your quote to fit my local conditions:

It was beautiful here, too. Sunny, blue skies, not too humid, high of 78. Even though I still had 1/4 tank of gas, I went to the gas station and got more because (for once) it was so pleasant just to stand outside in the light breeze while pumping gas.

OK, that doesn't really sound like such fun! But it was.

We had lunch together and then went on a long pleasure drive around our suburb, smiling, chatting, laughing, and enjoying the beautiful weather together. Retirement on a day like this is such a dream. It's all I ever hoped for.