1/9/2014
As I enter 2014, I have been medically retired. Much like last summer when Jeff was forced to retire from IBM, his career identified him. Luckily for him, he was picked up as a contractor doing similar work that he did with IBM. Now that I'm also "retired", the thing that I most identified with was my work. I was a secretary for 40+ years and 15 of those years was spent as a legal secretary. I don't want to toot my own horn - but I'm going to - I believed I was a damn good secretary.
When I started working back in 1968, I carried the words from my high school business teacher with me through my career. Mrs. Orr told me that if you were going to make your living being a secretary, then you'd better be the best one on the block. I've never forgotten her words and tried always to live up to high standards I set for myself.
Okay, so now I'm home all the time, except for the many doctor's appointments I have scheduled through the month. What do I do with my time? When you're working, having an extra day off from work now and again is pure heaven. I know I felt that way and always looked forward to those three day weekends.
I am in the process of trying to redefine myself. And I wonder how I go about this? When you have worked for practically forever, you give little thought to the day, so far in the future you assume, when you will hang up your keyboard, grab your purse and book it out of corporate America as fast as you can.
I am of retirement age but wanted to hang on two more years until I reached my full retirement age of 66. The longer you wait to retire the bigger your check. Being medically retired, I don't know what that does for my actual retirement. I guess I stay on disability until I reach 66 and then start drawing my retirement money, which is piddly compared to what Jeff will get. Of course, he's always been the bigger bread earner, so it stands to reason that his retirement bucks would be more than mine.
I have been spending my time reading, knitting (I can make a really cool strip of yarn which when finished I pull apart and start over again)! I have clean toilets, laundry is done, and I'm current with my filing. Doesn't that sound exciting?
I know that staying home being my usual reclusive self, is not good for my mental health, and I have put some effort in trying to find a volunteer opportunity or two. I make inquiries and nobody ever gets back to me. Do these organizations need volunteers or not? I have responded to several opportunities that indicate they need some help with office paperwork and I think that's exactly my cup of tea, so I don't know why they don't respond.
I can look my psychiatrist in the eye next week and tell her that I have definitely tried to find something for me to do, just haven't had success so far.
For the moment, I'm going to start purging out old (and I do mean old) papers from the filing cabinet. I'm pretty sure that our utility bills from the early 90's are no longer needed!
Wish me well on my search for purpose. There must be somebody out there that needs/wants me, so keep your fingers crossed. This is a new adventure/journey and frankly it's a bit scary to come to the end of everything I've known. I know it's not completely everything - I'm still a wife, mother and grandmother and friend.
Our plane's new engine has been installed and Jeff is trying to make arrangements with another pilot friend to go to Pennsylvania to pick her up. I see some spins in the air during weekends to "break" her in - that will be fun.
Enjoy your day.
P
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Women's Purses - Men's Wallets
1/8/2014
Truthfully, I had never given much thought to the subject of going through a woman's purse or a man's wallet, until I stumbled on to a very looooooooooong string of dialogue on the internet about this very subject.
First off, I don't think there is any man anywhere that willingly goes scrounging around in somebody's purse. Husbands are even resistant to retrieving anything from the bowels of a purse. For argument sake, let's assume that most women's purses are on the larger, not smaller side. You save those dainty, hold next to nothing, purses for "occasions". I know my regular purse, which weighs a ton, contains crackers (in case I get the munchies), keys, crossword puzzle book and pen (in case I get bored), keys, my "make-up" (lipstick and a comb!), cellphone (always turned off), wallet which holds enough cash to buy me a shake (my new vice), sunglasses, tissues and of course the required ID cards. Nothing in there that is a secret, or anything that would embarrass me if my purse was turned upside down!
What's in Jeff's wallet? Truly, I don't know and I'm not even curious. I cannot remember the last time I opened up his wallet. I actually think a man's wallet may be more scared than a woman's purse. A purse just sits around,generally open, allowing for practically anybody to glance inside. A wallet, on the other hand, sits inside a pocket generally on a man's backside, a place where I'm reluctant to go. Besides the obvious problem of trying to wrench a wallet from a back pocket, I'm just not that curious. The amount of things that can be contained in a wallet compared to a purse is quite small, making it much less interesting.
In the "old" days, people would carry pictures around of their children or grandchildren in our wallets, but with today's modern technology, we carry enough electronic pictures of our children around to put just about anybody to sleep!
I hope it's warmer where you are. Happy Wednesday.
P
Truthfully, I had never given much thought to the subject of going through a woman's purse or a man's wallet, until I stumbled on to a very looooooooooong string of dialogue on the internet about this very subject.
First off, I don't think there is any man anywhere that willingly goes scrounging around in somebody's purse. Husbands are even resistant to retrieving anything from the bowels of a purse. For argument sake, let's assume that most women's purses are on the larger, not smaller side. You save those dainty, hold next to nothing, purses for "occasions". I know my regular purse, which weighs a ton, contains crackers (in case I get the munchies), keys, crossword puzzle book and pen (in case I get bored), keys, my "make-up" (lipstick and a comb!), cellphone (always turned off), wallet which holds enough cash to buy me a shake (my new vice), sunglasses, tissues and of course the required ID cards. Nothing in there that is a secret, or anything that would embarrass me if my purse was turned upside down!
What's in Jeff's wallet? Truly, I don't know and I'm not even curious. I cannot remember the last time I opened up his wallet. I actually think a man's wallet may be more scared than a woman's purse. A purse just sits around,generally open, allowing for practically anybody to glance inside. A wallet, on the other hand, sits inside a pocket generally on a man's backside, a place where I'm reluctant to go. Besides the obvious problem of trying to wrench a wallet from a back pocket, I'm just not that curious. The amount of things that can be contained in a wallet compared to a purse is quite small, making it much less interesting.
In the "old" days, people would carry pictures around of their children or grandchildren in our wallets, but with today's modern technology, we carry enough electronic pictures of our children around to put just about anybody to sleep!
I hope it's warmer where you are. Happy Wednesday.
P
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Utilitity Sacrificing
1/7/2014
Okay today it's butt chilling cold in the East. I know that the good folks in the midwest are used to single digit temperatures, but in DC, not so much. I know it's cold when Jeff has the furnaces running upstairs and downstairs in the middle of the day. And, the gas fireplace is running with it's blower on high.
The cold water pipe for the shower is frozen, which is not a surprise, since those pipes run inside the garage, which is definitely not heated. Jeff and I were talking this morning and we couldn't remember how many years it had been since we had frozen pipes.
According to Jeff, the electric companies are wanting users to be mindful of their electric usage, as in don't run the washer and dryer, stuff like that. Because I want to be a good citizen, I've decided to take the day off from running the vacuum and dusting (which will only move the dust around requiring vacuuming)!
I guess it will be a bon-bon, coffee drinking, book reading day for me! Luckily, my Kindle is chock full of books to read - none of which constitutes good writing - but all entertaining nonetheless.
I apologize for this being short, but I'm not having a good day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.
P
Okay today it's butt chilling cold in the East. I know that the good folks in the midwest are used to single digit temperatures, but in DC, not so much. I know it's cold when Jeff has the furnaces running upstairs and downstairs in the middle of the day. And, the gas fireplace is running with it's blower on high.
The cold water pipe for the shower is frozen, which is not a surprise, since those pipes run inside the garage, which is definitely not heated. Jeff and I were talking this morning and we couldn't remember how many years it had been since we had frozen pipes.
According to Jeff, the electric companies are wanting users to be mindful of their electric usage, as in don't run the washer and dryer, stuff like that. Because I want to be a good citizen, I've decided to take the day off from running the vacuum and dusting (which will only move the dust around requiring vacuuming)!
I guess it will be a bon-bon, coffee drinking, book reading day for me! Luckily, my Kindle is chock full of books to read - none of which constitutes good writing - but all entertaining nonetheless.
I apologize for this being short, but I'm not having a good day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.
P
Monday, January 6, 2014
Money, Money, Money (Queen of Versailles)
1/6/2014
Don't hate us the super rich cry. They just can't help that they're really rich and famous and we're not. Sympathy from us? Nope. This documentary about the house being built named Versailles, was just plain fun to watch and generally when I'm watching somebody's story, I'm rooting for their success. With this story - not so much.
She's 47 and he's 77 and they have eight kids and a staff of 19. Until their "Versailles"home is being built (probably by 2015) with its 90,000 square feet home,30 bedrooms and 23 bathrooms, these people are reduced to living in a 26,000 square foot home. Wouldn't you like to have that kind of problem? Apparently the misses owns a $17,000 pair of crocodile boots made by Gucci. Again I ask why? I get happy about a pair of dress shoes that cost considerably less - and I have never bought a purse, coat or shoes that have a comma in the price tag. I just couldn't bring myself to spend money on something that is going to wear out. I will make an exception for jewelry - what woman wouldn't?
I know that when all the boys were home, Jeff and I dreamed of buying a bigger home to give us more space. Fast forward 28 years, it's just the two of us and our dogs that spend most of their time on sofas. What we've thought about is getting rid of this house, which is in a nice neighborhood and get something smaller. I'm not sure Jeff would be happy in a townhouse but who knows, nothing ever stays the same.
As our circumstances changed in 2013, Jeff and I have returned to tightening the belt when it comes to spending. When we were first married and bought our little house the house payment was $200.00. The year after moving in the mortgage jumped to $213 and both of us just couldn't imagine where we would get $13.00 more dollars. You can, if you have to, live with less. It's not fun but from the start of our marriage 39 years ago, we agreed that we would get in the rowboat and together row ourselves to the shore. I lost my way for most of last year, but I'm back in the boat with my best friend, and as we row together - we'll be just fine.
P
Don't hate us the super rich cry. They just can't help that they're really rich and famous and we're not. Sympathy from us? Nope. This documentary about the house being built named Versailles, was just plain fun to watch and generally when I'm watching somebody's story, I'm rooting for their success. With this story - not so much.
She's 47 and he's 77 and they have eight kids and a staff of 19. Until their "Versailles"home is being built (probably by 2015) with its 90,000 square feet home,30 bedrooms and 23 bathrooms, these people are reduced to living in a 26,000 square foot home. Wouldn't you like to have that kind of problem? Apparently the misses owns a $17,000 pair of crocodile boots made by Gucci. Again I ask why? I get happy about a pair of dress shoes that cost considerably less - and I have never bought a purse, coat or shoes that have a comma in the price tag. I just couldn't bring myself to spend money on something that is going to wear out. I will make an exception for jewelry - what woman wouldn't?
I know that when all the boys were home, Jeff and I dreamed of buying a bigger home to give us more space. Fast forward 28 years, it's just the two of us and our dogs that spend most of their time on sofas. What we've thought about is getting rid of this house, which is in a nice neighborhood and get something smaller. I'm not sure Jeff would be happy in a townhouse but who knows, nothing ever stays the same.
As our circumstances changed in 2013, Jeff and I have returned to tightening the belt when it comes to spending. When we were first married and bought our little house the house payment was $200.00. The year after moving in the mortgage jumped to $213 and both of us just couldn't imagine where we would get $13.00 more dollars. You can, if you have to, live with less. It's not fun but from the start of our marriage 39 years ago, we agreed that we would get in the rowboat and together row ourselves to the shore. I lost my way for most of last year, but I'm back in the boat with my best friend, and as we row together - we'll be just fine.
P
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Questionable Parenting
1/4/2014
While drinking my coffee this morning, my brain was coming up empty for something to blog about. And then I read the paper and became incensed about the "care" of two small children in the last few days. One woman went to a casino and left her four year old daughter alone in the car for EIGHT hours! Who does that? All I can think about is that this small child is likely locked in the car with no food or water, no ability to use the bathroom and the windows are all covered by blankets. Do you suppose that Mom knew what she was doing wrong so to ease her conscious, she covered up the windows with blankets making sure that nobody could see her daughter sitting alone in the car. I certainly hope that "Mom" won big because she's going to have to pay off the $150,000 fine - which isn't near large enough to suit me. Maybe Mom should have to sit in a cold car all day like her daughter did, but even that punishment doesn't seem enough for me.
Then there was the grandfather who left his grandson alone in the car for ninety minutes with temperatures just above freezing. Unfortunately, grandpa's bail was set at $10,000. Seriously?
When I think of the tens of thousands of people who would give their eye teeth to have a child and give them a good home and then I think of the morons who put their wants and needs before their children. Incredible.
I'm hoping that both of these individuals have learned from their mistake, and that we won't be reading about them again in the future.
Today is Saturday and I'm heading off in a few minutes to see a movie with friends.
P
While drinking my coffee this morning, my brain was coming up empty for something to blog about. And then I read the paper and became incensed about the "care" of two small children in the last few days. One woman went to a casino and left her four year old daughter alone in the car for EIGHT hours! Who does that? All I can think about is that this small child is likely locked in the car with no food or water, no ability to use the bathroom and the windows are all covered by blankets. Do you suppose that Mom knew what she was doing wrong so to ease her conscious, she covered up the windows with blankets making sure that nobody could see her daughter sitting alone in the car. I certainly hope that "Mom" won big because she's going to have to pay off the $150,000 fine - which isn't near large enough to suit me. Maybe Mom should have to sit in a cold car all day like her daughter did, but even that punishment doesn't seem enough for me.
Then there was the grandfather who left his grandson alone in the car for ninety minutes with temperatures just above freezing. Unfortunately, grandpa's bail was set at $10,000. Seriously?
When I think of the tens of thousands of people who would give their eye teeth to have a child and give them a good home and then I think of the morons who put their wants and needs before their children. Incredible.
I'm hoping that both of these individuals have learned from their mistake, and that we won't be reading about them again in the future.
Today is Saturday and I'm heading off in a few minutes to see a movie with friends.
P
Thursday, January 2, 2014
New Year's Day - Blah
1/2/2014
Okay yesterday was New Year's Day. For me a big whoop. I know some people probably partied hard on the 31st so they needed New Year's Day to be quiet because their heads hurt. I haven't "rung" in a new year in a whole bunch of years. My theory is that nothing mystical is going to happen between 11:59 pm and 12:00 am. Jeff and I did years ago try and celebrate and watch the ball drop but the musical groups we had to listen to while waiting, wasn't worth the effort to stay up.
New Year's Day has long been known for football (ugh - just my personal opinion here) games and there are a of them. I originally thought that all bowl games were played on the 1st, but found out, thanks to the internet, that's no so. Yesterday six bowl games were played; one game is scheduled for today; two games on the third, and one game on the fourth, fifth and sixth. Talk about dragging out a season. If you or more likely your other half loves football, then there's a lot of games to watch.
Luckily, stores are now open on New Year's which gives us non-football lovers a place to go. And what better way to start the year then with putting something on the card! Jeff is not a football fanatic and almost never watches a game. We do, however, watch the Super Bowl because we like the commercials so much. We record the game so we can fast forward through the boring stuff - like the game, and watch the commercials which are generally very good and way more entertaining than the game (again, just a personal opinion).
We tried yesterday afternoon to go see a movie, which is truly a rare event for us, and actually couldn't find anything we really wanted to see. Jeff goes to the movies so seldom that I knew the movie would have to be really good or our outing would be a bust. We decided to save money, pop popcorn and pick out movies from the ones that we own. Turned out to be a good decision.
If all things go according to plan, and we know they seldom do, Jeff will be catching a ride with another pilot friend and going to Lancaster, PA to pick up our plane with its brand new engine. The weather is pretty icky today but I know that he will want to fly to break in the engine as soon as possible. Hopefully, he will have sunny days over the weekend and can bore holes in the sky.
The holidays are over and most people are back at work now and everything will settle back into its normal routine. Dull I know but a routine nevertheless!
Happy Thursday.
P
Okay yesterday was New Year's Day. For me a big whoop. I know some people probably partied hard on the 31st so they needed New Year's Day to be quiet because their heads hurt. I haven't "rung" in a new year in a whole bunch of years. My theory is that nothing mystical is going to happen between 11:59 pm and 12:00 am. Jeff and I did years ago try and celebrate and watch the ball drop but the musical groups we had to listen to while waiting, wasn't worth the effort to stay up.
New Year's Day has long been known for football (ugh - just my personal opinion here) games and there are a of them. I originally thought that all bowl games were played on the 1st, but found out, thanks to the internet, that's no so. Yesterday six bowl games were played; one game is scheduled for today; two games on the third, and one game on the fourth, fifth and sixth. Talk about dragging out a season. If you or more likely your other half loves football, then there's a lot of games to watch.
Luckily, stores are now open on New Year's which gives us non-football lovers a place to go. And what better way to start the year then with putting something on the card! Jeff is not a football fanatic and almost never watches a game. We do, however, watch the Super Bowl because we like the commercials so much. We record the game so we can fast forward through the boring stuff - like the game, and watch the commercials which are generally very good and way more entertaining than the game (again, just a personal opinion).
We tried yesterday afternoon to go see a movie, which is truly a rare event for us, and actually couldn't find anything we really wanted to see. Jeff goes to the movies so seldom that I knew the movie would have to be really good or our outing would be a bust. We decided to save money, pop popcorn and pick out movies from the ones that we own. Turned out to be a good decision.
If all things go according to plan, and we know they seldom do, Jeff will be catching a ride with another pilot friend and going to Lancaster, PA to pick up our plane with its brand new engine. The weather is pretty icky today but I know that he will want to fly to break in the engine as soon as possible. Hopefully, he will have sunny days over the weekend and can bore holes in the sky.
The holidays are over and most people are back at work now and everything will settle back into its normal routine. Dull I know but a routine nevertheless!
Happy Thursday.
P
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Happy New Year and Haves and Haves Not
1/1/2014
New year, clean slate. A start over if you will, one that we get every year. We're not asking the universe to forget our mistakes, but to accept them for what they were - mistakes or errors in judgment. So with the flip of a calendar page, we have a brand new year ahead of us. What we do with our new beginning is entirely up to each of us. Nobody can make you change, or sure they can urge or even beg, but ultimately the change comes from within. If you're not ready for a change, it just ain't gonna happen.
I have just finished reading today's paper and one of the lead articles in the Food Section (though it was below the fold) was about a nine hour, 40 course dinner called Panarda costing $250 per person. The meal started at 1:41pm and ended around 10:30 pm. I had to ask myself who does that? Talk about overeating, this dinner would do that - and deplete your wallet all at the same time. Some diners ate every bite of everything, and I keep thinking where did they put all that food? When I eat out at a restaurant I am never able to finish something as simple as steak and a baked potato.
After reading about this rather expensive (at least in my book) meal, I wondered about the people who make up the "have not" portion of the United States. The figures are staggering:
According to some statistics I read, so don't quote me here, but it looks like the states with the best benefits are Hawaii, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey. The states with the lowest benefits package in 2013 were Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Idaho
and Texas. Again, something I found on the internet. For my money if I was looking for a new place to live and the above states were on the "short" list - I'd go to Hawaii every time! Who wouldn't want to live there?
Okay, my time sitting on my fanny is up, coffee is cold and time for me to do something - anything!
Happy New Year everyone.
P
New year, clean slate. A start over if you will, one that we get every year. We're not asking the universe to forget our mistakes, but to accept them for what they were - mistakes or errors in judgment. So with the flip of a calendar page, we have a brand new year ahead of us. What we do with our new beginning is entirely up to each of us. Nobody can make you change, or sure they can urge or even beg, but ultimately the change comes from within. If you're not ready for a change, it just ain't gonna happen.
I have just finished reading today's paper and one of the lead articles in the Food Section (though it was below the fold) was about a nine hour, 40 course dinner called Panarda costing $250 per person. The meal started at 1:41pm and ended around 10:30 pm. I had to ask myself who does that? Talk about overeating, this dinner would do that - and deplete your wallet all at the same time. Some diners ate every bite of everything, and I keep thinking where did they put all that food? When I eat out at a restaurant I am never able to finish something as simple as steak and a baked potato.
After reading about this rather expensive (at least in my book) meal, I wondered about the people who make up the "have not" portion of the United States. The figures are staggering:
There are 12,800,000 people on Welfare
46,700,000 people exist on food stamps
Okay, my time sitting on my fanny is up, coffee is cold and time for me to do something - anything!
Happy New Year everyone.
P
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