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Sep. 11th, 2015
Last night's dinner delivery was really cool. Turns out, it was really no more expensive than eating in a restaurant which is not as expensive for just one person as it is for a group. (Cooking for one is generally way more than half, for instance, of cooking for two... or more.) But, the meal I ordered was a fail. Good thing they aren't charging for delivery. I will try it again - different restaurant - but will probably give it up once they start charging.
I worked on my sweater sleeves last night. My goal is to get the whole thing done by Sept. 30. I think I'm going to make it. I already warned the bear lady that September's batch of bears will be, again, smaller. This gives me time and license to finish that sweater.
Today is swimming and then a library stop to pick up holds and a stop in the market down the street. Then home to hole up with the air conditioner. Today and tomorrow are hot. Sunny and hot. I will be inside here with my beloved air conditioner. Then Sunday I'll pack it up and put it away. Goodbye hot. Don't let the door hit you in the yellow round butt.
There may be knitting. There may be sewing. Or both.
I got a Free Shipping Today Only coupon from my yarn shop, so I need to go through my stash and see what I need, if anything. I might hold off. If I have enough bear yarn to last until the end of the year, I'll probably hold off on ordering. They usually have a couple of Free Shipping offers around the end of the year.
I worked on my sweater sleeves last night. My goal is to get the whole thing done by Sept. 30. I think I'm going to make it. I already warned the bear lady that September's batch of bears will be, again, smaller. This gives me time and license to finish that sweater.
Today is swimming and then a library stop to pick up holds and a stop in the market down the street. Then home to hole up with the air conditioner. Today and tomorrow are hot. Sunny and hot. I will be inside here with my beloved air conditioner. Then Sunday I'll pack it up and put it away. Goodbye hot. Don't let the door hit you in the yellow round butt.
There may be knitting. There may be sewing. Or both.
I got a Free Shipping Today Only coupon from my yarn shop, so I need to go through my stash and see what I need, if anything. I might hold off. If I have enough bear yarn to last until the end of the year, I'll probably hold off on ordering. They usually have a couple of Free Shipping offers around the end of the year.
Questions... and answers!
Sep. 11th, 2015 07:54 amI got questions. Fun questions!
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ladythmpr asked What do you watch to knit by once the baseball season is over?
Oh lots of stuff! My TiVo stays stuffed. Right now it's got a bunch of HGTV and DIY network shows and some movies and documentaries. Come the fall, I like scripted dramas (Madam Secretary, The Good Wife, Scandal, Gray's Anatomy, NCIS (except the New Orleans one), Law and Order (reruns of the original and Special Victims), etc. I watch Project Runway but really no other reality/contest shows. Some Netflix and Amazon originals.
I'm a TV lover. Really. I remember when we got our first one. A teensy black and white screen in a giant wooden box. Programming didn't start until 7 am and quit at 11 pm. I was not allowed to watch TV on a school night. I missed a lot of the episodes of some of my favorite shows because of this law and I am still making up for it :)
pinmedown gets a blue ribbon for the most great questions!
Have you never really been one for the marriage and kids thing? (I know you've been married before, but still) you seem so content with your own company and I envy that so much.
When I was little, my Dad was the boss of a group of sales people across the country. Periodically, they would come into 'hq' and Mother and Daddy would host them at our house. They were all men - nice men but... Then there was one woman. A woman!! I was fascinated and grilled her and grilled my Dad about her. Turns out she had no husband, no children and lived in downtown Chicago in what Daddy described as a very wonderful apartment. She had a giant organ in her living room and earphones so her neighbors couldn't hear her play. Every time she came to our house, I watched her with an eagle eye. Every time Daddy went to Chicago, I grilled him when he got home.
I was fascinated to find out that it was a real possibility to live a good life with no husband and no children.
My marriage was a mistake from the get go. My best friend at the time said I did it to prove I could and while I hate that she was probably right, she probably was.
I am just to selfish and self centered to share my life. Plus, you know, I've never seen enough benefits to out weigh the downsides. (Never having anyone to go out to eat with, or tell you when you have something on your teeth, or help you move furniture. I like being in control of my own TV remote.)
Also, how did you get into swimming? And baseball?
I was a member of the gym across the street. I hated it. I spent the hour before I would go trying to figure out an excuse not to go. I didn't like sweating. I didn't like the mirrors. I hate the whole thing. When I was little, I loved the time I spent in the swimming pool. I discovered that the local city pools offered exercise classes in the pools!! So I tried it and I loved it. No mirrors. No sweating. So I did those classes for several years and then decided I wanted more so I started swimming laps. I could only do about 10 or 15 at first. But now I do 70+ every day and I love it.
My grandpa (Mother's father) taught me to love baseball. After church and lunch on Sundays, we'd walk down to the drug store and buy a cigar. He got the cigar and I got the cigar ring. And then we'd settle in on the screen in back porch and watch the game. The rule was you had to be really quiet or you got kicked out. (My brother and sister never made it past the first half inning.) The reward was that at the 7th inning stretch, Grandpa would get up and go get us each a bottle of CocaCola (which my mother would never let us have) out of the icebox and pop the caps and we would drink right out of the bottle (again, a major faux pas according to my mother). Meanwhile I learned to really love the game. My Mom actually did, too, and after Daddy died, it was something she and I shared - just the two of us.
What age did you retire and how do you invest your money etc?
In the summer of 1994 [EDIT - thanksrsc - cause this is only a single decade off... I retired in 2014 - my brain is clearly used up!!!], I got laid off from my job. My boss encouraged me to apply for unemployment which I did (and it is very generous in Washington state) so I got paid for a year. I kind of looked for work but not that seriously. I had the money to retire so I just did.
In the 80's I worked for IBM and they started an early kind of matching 401K. I did not really understand it or care but I had a good friend in human resources and he bullies me into joining. So that started my little nest egg. When I left IBM in the 90's, I got a half year of salary and took that to an investment counselor. He invested it for me and showed me the fun of investing and making money with money. He did retire but I'm still with the guy he sold his practice to. By 1994, when I needed it, I had enough saved up and invested to live off the proceeds. Then Social Security kicked in and I get $1000 a month from IBM (retirement). And so now I just take a little out of my investment accounts every month and the rest is just reinvested in a wide variety of stuff that I just trust my own version of Bernie Madoff (only the the good kind of Bernie Madoff).
-----------
Thanks for asking! Fun questions. Always ready for more.
ladythmpr asked What do you watch to knit by once the baseball season is over?Oh lots of stuff! My TiVo stays stuffed. Right now it's got a bunch of HGTV and DIY network shows and some movies and documentaries. Come the fall, I like scripted dramas (Madam Secretary, The Good Wife, Scandal, Gray's Anatomy, NCIS (except the New Orleans one), Law and Order (reruns of the original and Special Victims), etc. I watch Project Runway but really no other reality/contest shows. Some Netflix and Amazon originals.
I'm a TV lover. Really. I remember when we got our first one. A teensy black and white screen in a giant wooden box. Programming didn't start until 7 am and quit at 11 pm. I was not allowed to watch TV on a school night. I missed a lot of the episodes of some of my favorite shows because of this law and I am still making up for it :)
pinmedown gets a blue ribbon for the most great questions!Have you never really been one for the marriage and kids thing? (I know you've been married before, but still) you seem so content with your own company and I envy that so much.
When I was little, my Dad was the boss of a group of sales people across the country. Periodically, they would come into 'hq' and Mother and Daddy would host them at our house. They were all men - nice men but... Then there was one woman. A woman!! I was fascinated and grilled her and grilled my Dad about her. Turns out she had no husband, no children and lived in downtown Chicago in what Daddy described as a very wonderful apartment. She had a giant organ in her living room and earphones so her neighbors couldn't hear her play. Every time she came to our house, I watched her with an eagle eye. Every time Daddy went to Chicago, I grilled him when he got home.
I was fascinated to find out that it was a real possibility to live a good life with no husband and no children.
My marriage was a mistake from the get go. My best friend at the time said I did it to prove I could and while I hate that she was probably right, she probably was.
I am just to selfish and self centered to share my life. Plus, you know, I've never seen enough benefits to out weigh the downsides. (Never having anyone to go out to eat with, or tell you when you have something on your teeth, or help you move furniture. I like being in control of my own TV remote.)
Also, how did you get into swimming? And baseball?
I was a member of the gym across the street. I hated it. I spent the hour before I would go trying to figure out an excuse not to go. I didn't like sweating. I didn't like the mirrors. I hate the whole thing. When I was little, I loved the time I spent in the swimming pool. I discovered that the local city pools offered exercise classes in the pools!! So I tried it and I loved it. No mirrors. No sweating. So I did those classes for several years and then decided I wanted more so I started swimming laps. I could only do about 10 or 15 at first. But now I do 70+ every day and I love it.
My grandpa (Mother's father) taught me to love baseball. After church and lunch on Sundays, we'd walk down to the drug store and buy a cigar. He got the cigar and I got the cigar ring. And then we'd settle in on the screen in back porch and watch the game. The rule was you had to be really quiet or you got kicked out. (My brother and sister never made it past the first half inning.) The reward was that at the 7th inning stretch, Grandpa would get up and go get us each a bottle of CocaCola (which my mother would never let us have) out of the icebox and pop the caps and we would drink right out of the bottle (again, a major faux pas according to my mother). Meanwhile I learned to really love the game. My Mom actually did, too, and after Daddy died, it was something she and I shared - just the two of us.
What age did you retire and how do you invest your money etc?
In the summer of 1994 [EDIT - thanks
rsc - cause this is only a single decade off... I retired in 2014 - my brain is clearly used up!!!], I got laid off from my job. My boss encouraged me to apply for unemployment which I did (and it is very generous in Washington state) so I got paid for a year. I kind of looked for work but not that seriously. I had the money to retire so I just did.In the 80's I worked for IBM and they started an early kind of matching 401K. I did not really understand it or care but I had a good friend in human resources and he bullies me into joining. So that started my little nest egg. When I left IBM in the 90's, I got a half year of salary and took that to an investment counselor. He invested it for me and showed me the fun of investing and making money with money. He did retire but I'm still with the guy he sold his practice to. By 1994, when I needed it, I had enough saved up and invested to live off the proceeds. Then Social Security kicked in and I get $1000 a month from IBM (retirement). And so now I just take a little out of my investment accounts every month and the rest is just reinvested in a wide variety of stuff that I just trust my own version of Bernie Madoff (only the the good kind of Bernie Madoff).
-----------
Thanks for asking! Fun questions. Always ready for more.
Nice, nice day with my air conditioner
Sep. 11th, 2015 07:04 pmI designed a new wallet in my head while swimming this morning. So... when I got home, after doing some chores, including laundry, I got to work on the wallet.
When I was organizing fabrics, I found a piece with the Mariners logo all over it. I've been watching some sewing videos on Amazon streaming and tried out some new stuff. Alas, I managed to make it about 1/4 inch too short. In something so small a quarter inch is a killer. And I didn't like the way the zipper fit in. And it was getting hot back there. Tomorrow I'll try again. I have plenty of fabric to make another and this time get it right!
And it is very excellent to have solved the wandering sewing machine pedal problem. Whew.
Zoey has now claimed the window arm of the new couch for her own. It's actually a perfect spot for her, she can see me, the TV, the birds... what they heck else could she ask for?
I've also figured out how to make Flickr work easily for me and am enjoying using it again. I need to do some organizing since I didn't really touch it much from March 2014 until last week but at least I did upload all the pictures I took so they are there, just all over the Flickr floor.
Baseball tonight.
When I was organizing fabrics, I found a piece with the Mariners logo all over it. I've been watching some sewing videos on Amazon streaming and tried out some new stuff. Alas, I managed to make it about 1/4 inch too short. In something so small a quarter inch is a killer. And I didn't like the way the zipper fit in. And it was getting hot back there. Tomorrow I'll try again. I have plenty of fabric to make another and this time get it right!
And it is very excellent to have solved the wandering sewing machine pedal problem. Whew.
Zoey has now claimed the window arm of the new couch for her own. It's actually a perfect spot for her, she can see me, the TV, the birds... what they heck else could she ask for?
I've also figured out how to make Flickr work easily for me and am enjoying using it again. I need to do some organizing since I didn't really touch it much from March 2014 until last week but at least I did upload all the pictures I took so they are there, just all over the Flickr floor.
Baseball tonight.
Generally I can restore restaurant fries pretty successfully. Not so with last night's fries of which I have a ton. I had them for dinner tonight and they were not impressive so I tossed all the rest.
Today I went to the little Red Apple market and discovered that they had the pickles I asked for on the shelf!! They are the only place in town that carries Sonomo Brinery pickles. They carried the bread and butter but last time I was in, I left a note for the manager asking him if he could please add the whole koshers to the shelf and he did! And they are sooo good.
But also they had Jiffy corn muffin mix!! Around here, corn bread is sugar sweet. I mean really sweet. I nearly choked the first time I buttered up a hunk of cornbread expecting it to be like I was used to only to find it had the sugar of an iced cinnamon bun. Ok, I exaggerate but...
Jiffy, those cheap little mixes that used to be everywhere when I was young and broke are really hard to find these days. But the Red Apple came through. They have sugar in them but it is not the first or even the second ingredient.
Tonight I made up a batch of muffins with about a cup and half of shredded cheese mixed in. They smelled so good when they were done that I had to have one and YUM!!!! Yeah for Jiffy. $.79. You can't beat it. These will be great with my pre-swim coffee in the mornings.
Today I went to the little Red Apple market and discovered that they had the pickles I asked for on the shelf!! They are the only place in town that carries Sonomo Brinery pickles. They carried the bread and butter but last time I was in, I left a note for the manager asking him if he could please add the whole koshers to the shelf and he did! And they are sooo good.
But also they had Jiffy corn muffin mix!! Around here, corn bread is sugar sweet. I mean really sweet. I nearly choked the first time I buttered up a hunk of cornbread expecting it to be like I was used to only to find it had the sugar of an iced cinnamon bun. Ok, I exaggerate but...
Jiffy, those cheap little mixes that used to be everywhere when I was young and broke are really hard to find these days. But the Red Apple came through. They have sugar in them but it is not the first or even the second ingredient.
Tonight I made up a batch of muffins with about a cup and half of shredded cheese mixed in. They smelled so good when they were done that I had to have one and YUM!!!! Yeah for Jiffy. $.79. You can't beat it. These will be great with my pre-swim coffee in the mornings.