Recent content by spectrallight

My thoughts on why counting on inheritance is imprudent: (1) I believe that in all states in the U.S., it is perfectly legal to disinherit anyone, for a valid reason, or on a whim, except for one's spouse. (2) A testator would usually disinherit someone for a reason. I.e., anger; loss of...

My 90-year old mom (who could well afford a house cleaner) refused to hire one to keep up the 2700 square foot house where she lived alone. She fell while vacuuming her stairs. This fall led to her giving up her house. She just turned 92, but she is in a nursing home and her quality of life...

When I was 30, and started to get minimally career-serious, I resolved never to date, or even "crush-on", a colleague. Not that I was the "office fox", always getting hit on. I just figured, those energies come up. Some women play with them, and do okay. I just had a huge dread of it blowing...

OP chiming in here. Although I have retired from federal service, I still get information from my former workplace union (NTEU). In their April 2015 bulletin, an article entitled "Federal Workers and Marijuana" cites a 1986 (pre-any U.S. State marijuana legalization) Executive Order by Ronald...

spectral light I have not held either job, Ha. But, I would imagine that driving a Microsoft Connector bus involves picking up well-behaved professionals in nice Seattle neighborhoods and delivering them to the Redmond campus. A King County Metro bus driver has it much, much tougher...

Thanks for the kind response, Live and Learn. Sadly, all relationships end in some manner. In some ways, being widowed is kinder than many divorces. Or, having any long-term relationship end, by being callously dumped by one's partner (my personal least favorite). My late husband and I had...

When I was 29 I fell in love with a wonderful, older man. Despite the age difference it was a romantic dream for both of us. I guess we thought we were Annette Benning and Warren Beatty types. He had no health problems whatsoever when we married six years later. Within seven months, though...

Thank you for all of the interesting and thoughtful responses. There appear to be a lot of variables involved with marijuana. Potency, and differences in strains - some of which reportedly promote relaxation, others which are more energizing. I know people who do brilliant software...

Thanks for your response. Yes the potency of today's strains vs. those of yesteryear is something to be considered. luckily I am enjoying retirement, with, or without, drugs/chemicals of any kind. It's all good! Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

I thought this might be an interesting topic for discussion. I live in a state that has legalized recreational use of marijuana. I used marijuana occasionally up until the late 1970's. Then, I guess I grew out of it. It was illegal. Some of my jobs had random drug testing. But, it has...

Thank you for the thoughts and warm welcomes. Moemg: Yes, for sure we should pay off the mortgage as early as possible. There is no prepayment penalty, so all it will take is a little discipline. athena53: My partner's LTC does concern me a bit. I should be young and strong enough to...

He has a modest equity stake in a start-up enterprise. That could amount to something. Or not. So, yeah, I could end up supporting him -- in the sense of covering any shortfall between his half of the household expenses and his SS, once his income opportunities dry up. Hopefully, this won't...

Thanks for Responding! Thanks for your supportive response to my post! For the time being (two months into retirement) I love having a lot of unstructured time. The Pacific Northwest is gorgeous this time of year! I do hope to return to volunteer work I did before. It was related to mental...

Greetings! I guess I am not asking "can I retire?" since I already pulled the plug. But lapsed Roman Catholics like to confess and hopefully, come away feeling good. Salient facts about me: 57 years old Liquid assets 25X annual expenses, 10/40/50 cash/fixed/equity $9,000.00/year FERS...