What did you do today? 2018 version

[Ubik]

Just moved to a new property with a couple acres of land. In the spirit of increasing my hobbies and interests prior to full ER (which seems about 3 years away now. Whether I like it or not) I purchased a takedown recurve bow from Cabelas to do target shooting.

I know nothing about archery but have been slowly educating myself.

It has been a riot so far. Very enjoyable. Well, it has been since I made my homemade duct tape armguard. The black and yellow bruise from string slaps is fading underneath it.. hahaha

Went on Amazon last night to order a few supplies (like replacing my ghetto bowstringer). Thankfully so far it is a cheap hobby but I can see how it might escalate.

I might start an archery thread if anyone is interested ?

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Same here, I joined an archery club shortly before my ER, and then in ER could get more practice (around 3 times/week).
It is a great hobby/sport for ER, because you immediately see the beneficial effect of ER.

To explain:

Bow shooting is a physical excercice (upper body strenght), but mostly it is an excercice in motor and body control: you try to achieve regular, smooth and precise movement and body control.
As a result any negative influence on your body control (lack of sleep, stress, hangover ...) will immediately affect your skill with very visible results.
During my last two years of work my shooting scores were inversely correlated to my work load (effect of stress and tiredness).

When I started my ER, the lack of stress + enough sleep + regular practice allowed me to greatly improve my shooting.
When I started work again, at the first rough spot my shooting went south again.

--> I will soon start shooting again when I leave my current job, if I reach again my previous performance level I will know that I am again cool and well in my re-ER !

 

[Just_Steve]

It was so hot today that we could not cook dinner (we don't have A/C), so the young wife and I went out. They were having trivia contest at the bar/restaurant. We won! They gave us a $20 gift certificate.

For real? I couldn't deal with the heat.

 

[6miths]

I was regaling DS with stories of my youth with no A/C as he started up the gas cooktop to do some chicken breasts a couple of weeks ago. It was coldcuts and potato salad for dinner back in the day. Then I took him outside and showed him how to do his chicken on the barbecue.

 

[MRG]

For real? I couldn't deal with the heat.

We have AC. Its been turned on each summer at least once.

 

[kgtest]

I was regaling DS with stories of my youth with no A/C as he started up the gas cooktop to do some chicken breasts a couple of weeks ago. It was coldcuts and potato salad for dinner back in the day. Then I took him outside and showed him how to do his chicken on the barbecue.

$8.99 propane refill, 12 minutes on each side @350 seasoned with salt, garlic and lowry's. Grill it at LEAST 3x a week, rain or snow. Even in negative temps. Saves us tons of money on groceries and future health care costs.


Usually boil some green beans, mashed taters or some other veggiie and of course desert!


Plus it eliminates the stress, I know what I am cooking 42% of the year's nights... CHICKEN, it's what's for dinner. Fill in the other nights with salmon, tuna, turkey and an occasional Steak Saturday or Steak Sunday as we call them!


Rarely if ever do i go out to eat, always seriously dissapointed...with the staff, the service, the food, the quality, the price and the speed.

 

[wmc1000]

Went to the local winery for their $6 bottle sale. Brought home 7 cases!

 

[6miths]

$8.99 propane refill, 12 minutes on each side @350 seasoned with salt, garlic and lowry's. Grill it at LEAST 3x a week, rain or snow. Even in negative temps. Saves us tons of money on groceries and future health care costs.

Usually boil some green beans, mashed taters or some other veggiie and of course desert!

Plus it eliminates the stress, I know what I am cooking 42% of the year's nights... CHICKEN, it's what's for dinner. Fill in the other nights with salmon, tuna, turkey and an occasional Steak Saturday or Steak Sunday as we call them!

Rarely if ever do i go out to eat, always seriously dissapointed...with the staff, the service, the food, the quality, the price and the speed.

You forgot pasta nights!! We eat surprisingly little beef during the winter. More and more chicken and fish as meats and tons of leafy salads. I am sure DW has added 20 years to my life. Though some say it just seems like that.

 

[Walt34]

DW and I met up with braumeister at the Longhorn Steakhouse in Hagerstown, MD for lunch. In spite of what image one may have of him online, IRL he's a nice guy.

We had a nice discussion about careers, hobbies, strange people, and such. A very good time.

 

[Rianne]

Going to movies, walked the dog earlier, ate crackers/hummus and spent too much time on ER.org.

 

[TromboneAl]

I've found a great spot to fish:

I do about 95% catch and release, but the caveman in me has to take a fish home occasionally. I just have to find a recipe that makes trout taste better (because Lena and I don't really like the taste of it).

 

[davemartin88]

DW and I met up with braumeister at the Longhorn Steakhouse in Hagerstown, MD for lunch. In spite of what image one may have of him online, IRL he's a nice guy.

We had a nice discussion about careers, hobbies, strange people, and such. A very good time.

I met braumeister on Wednesday as he went through here on his trip, I hope I wasn’t one of the strange people you talked about! Enjoyed the visit as well.

 

[Walt34]

I met braumeister on Wednesday as he went through here on his trip, I hope I wasn’t one of the strange people you talked about! Enjoyed the visit as well.

No, not at all. In fact he was in awe of the house you built and outbuildings and the area in general, and of course your craftsmanship.

 

[W2R]

1) Added up and categorized my spending for August.

2) Then, did a new projection of my spending for 2018, including all expected irregular expenses like property tax.

3) Finally, graphed my normalized annual spending for nine years of retirement, 2010-2018, using my projected spending for 2018 and the real number of dollars spend in prior years (not including the spending on buying/selling/moving when I moved to my Dream Home).

Here's what I came up with; see below. 2013,2015,2016, and 2017 included unusually high dental expenses because of dental implants. Worth every cent.

As for 2018, the drop in expenses for this year doesn't include any of those pesky doggone unexpected, irregular expenses that might pop up between now and the end of the year. It only includes the expected ones. It's probably a little overly optimistic to assume that my teeth will hold up and that the roof won't suddenly need replacing or some such thing between now and the end of the year.

Fun! Honestly I don't know what our forefathers ever DID for fun without Excel. Paper spreadsheets are fun too, but just not quite as pretty IMO.

 

[NW-Bound]

...We had a nice discussion about careers, hobbies, strange people, and such...

"Strange, I've seen that face before,
Seen him hanging 'round my door,
Like a hawk stealing for the prey,
Like the night waiting for the day

Strange, he shadows me back home,
Footsteps echo on the stones,
Rainy nights, on Hausmann Boulevard,
Parisian music drifting from the bars"​

 

[aja8888]

DW and I met up with braumeister at the Longhorn Steakhouse in Hagerstown, MD for lunch. In spite of what image one may have of him online, IRL he's a nice guy.

We had a nice discussion about careers, hobbies, strange people, and such. A very good time.

You talked about W*RK stuff??

 

[Walt34]

You talked about W*RK stuff??

VERY briefly.

 

[Jerry1]

I just have to find a recipe that makes trout taste better (because Lena and I don't really like the taste of it).

Smoke it. DW and I don’t even like fish, but decided to try some at a party. Didn’t know what it was but it was good. Thought it was some type of salmon but was told later that it was smoked trout.

 

[W2R]

I just have to find a recipe that makes trout taste better (because Lena and I don't really like the taste of it).

I didn't think I liked trout either, until I moved here. One of my favorite dishes ever was trout meunière at a marvelous but almost unknown restaurant just two miles from our homes, called La Cuisine. La Cuisine was totally destroyed by our 2005 disaster and sadly, it has never been rebuilt. Anyway I don't actually have a recipe, but I am feeling nostalgic and thought I'd just mention it in case you like New Orleans French Creole style food. As the Wikipedia article mentions, it is one of the most popular of dishes ordered around here.

 

[TrvlBug]

Smoke it. DW and I don’t even like fish, but decided to try some at a party. Didn’t know what it was but it was good. Thought it was some type of salmon but was told later that it was smoked trout.

+1. Parents smoked trout. DH hates seafood but loved the smoked trout they gave us.

 

[braumeister]

DW and I met up with braumeister

I met braumeister on Wednesday

It was a very pleasant trip and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting folks.

I'm up to six E-R forumites now that I've met in person.

Be careful, everyone: you could be next unless you watch out!

 

[Koogie]

DW prefers trout to salmon. I barbecue it (skin on), with some very thinly sliced lemon slices on top. Then we eat it with tzatziki and a tomato/cucumber/bocconcini salad that she makes.

 

[NW-Bound]

... I'm up to six E-R forumites now that I've met in person ...

Adding to your list of "strange people", I see.

 

[Walt34]

DW and her sister left this morning for NC to see the grandnephews and play with them for a week. This gives me the opportunity to practice hovering my new Mini Convergence VTOL airplane in the family room. I'm not good enough yet to fly up the staircase like the guy in the video (scroll down a bit) but I'm working on it. And I haven't hit anything yet.

DW would not be pleased if she knew I was flying an airplane in the house.

 

[braumeister]

Walt, if it helps any, I've flown my Mavic Pro drone all over the house, upstairs and down, while DW was away. It's fun, and I've only hit the ceiling once, by accident.

 

[MarieIG]

Well, I took today off from work today, so, I did some cleaning and purging around the house; and posting on the boards. Oh, and I'm trying to do some retirement planning. Re-read Gumby's list, and some articles recommended on this board.