Summer 2014 August 31 Sunday (Doing with Less?, Being the Older Generation)

Saturday, August 30,2014:  Actually writing this on Saturday morning at “my second place”, a Starbucks, while waiting to meet a friend.  A Starbucks is normally an experience in itself as I drink coffee and observe the unending tapestry of customers coming in for  coffee, tea or whatever and the amazement at the huge line of cars at the drive thru.

Somehow, I never have liked the drive-thru experience.   I don’t like eating in cars and I haven’t found a coffee cup (other than McDonalds) that I can drink while I drive, so that limits my drive through experience.  If I go to McDonalds, I normally also go to the restroom, so there you go!

Some years ago (actually 13 years, now that I think of it), Aliene and I took a course at the local community college and we would frequently go through the Starbucks drive thru and by the time we got to class, the coffee would be good to drink and would normally last the entire evening.  The class was Accounting and I believe that is the last class (that is, a graded class) that I ever took.  

Before that, I took a class in Technical Writing, which was an interesting course.  

Just looked through this and corrected it.  It had some really weird errors, which had to be caused by spell-check!

Sunday, August 31:

73 degrees this morning, several earthquakes yesterday, one a  3.2.

Perhaps a case of my subconscious mind (and conscious mind) becoming more aware of it, but I just opened up the New York Times web site and immediately noted the following stories:

-A story about how baby boomers (I am in that category) are suddenly noting they are the oldest in the room etc. and surrounded by younger people.  Somehow, this wasn’t a surprise. Basically the story said “just deal with it”, which I agree with.  

However, the article started with an observation by someone that it was “time to leave the company because he suddenly noticed he was the oldest in the room”.  Rather a bizarre comment, and one that contributes to the age discrimination which is already so prevalent.  

I do agree with the article I shouldn’t care about trying to act like I”m 20 (or 30 or 40) years younger then I am, because I probably do have a lot of different interests.  I think that is what makes all the different ages so valuable, we all have different experiences and interests to contribute.  I have absolutely no interest in some of the music or  “wearing” something punched into my skin or tattoos and will not act like I do!

-The second article concerned the “rental economy” and how people are “renting” a lot of items people used to own.  

Personally I would never use “airbud” and either rent out my house or rent a room from a stranger (I actually like hotels/motels), but I can see the advantage of renting items I may use only one time and never use again.  

I currently am actually renting a second car when I need it and not buying a second car.  That may change in the future, but right now it works fine and I am finding I don’t really need a second car that much.  I can certainly see the advantage of the “ride sharing”  or Urber  type services.  

Looking at what I have, I can see numerous items I could “rent” and not have to worry about storing them etc.

-The third article was on a “living simple” movement.  While I wouldn’t want to go the the extreme on this (i.e., try to cut down to 100 items or live in a 400 square foot apartment or house), I can see a lot of advantages in adopting some aspects of “living simpler” and I can see the advantages of a 400 square foot house, depending on your situation.  

I will also “write simply and short”.  I have reached my limit for the day.  I won’t burden anyone with the articles I have cited, but I have  them in PDF format and will e-mail on request,  Perhaps I will set up an area where I can post articles I find interesting (assuming it is legal).  I could post them to Twitter or Facebook and I may well do that.

That’s it for now, Sunday, August 31, 2014.

Summer 2014 August 30 Saturday ("What We Own"

72 degrees this morning, Rain forecast.  At least three earthquakes reported within the area we live yesterday, one a  3.2.  The earthquakes seem to gradually be getting more powerful, maybe not, 

I read several articles this morning that struck me as timely, one I am reprinting at the bottom of this.  (I hope this is legal).  

I think the reason it hit a chord with me is the recent move, our having to dispose of possessions and make choices about what to keep etc.  

I have actually thought a lot on this the past several years.  The importance of experiences and friends and family and the relatively importance of “things” or possessions.  At some point “things” come to own and manage a person, rather than a person “owning” the possession.  

I”m not including it, but the another article in the same section of the newspaper included a story about retirees who literally sell everything (including their house) and basically live as nomads.  This includes retirees who buy an RV, but also includes a large proportion who live in short term rentals etc.  Kind of like Jack Reacher, for those of you who read the novels by Lee Childs.  (The new Jack Reacher comes out Tuesday!)

I wouldn’t want to do that.  Much as I like to travel and have new experiences, I like having a “home base” where I can return and call “home”, even if it was just a room in a house that was someplace that was my permanent living area. 

About 25 years ago, I had a major shift in my thinking, and it included more living in the “present” in the sense that I decided I was going to experience life as it happens, even to the point that, while I don’t look forward to some experiences, I will accept the experience and reflect on what it means, even if it is a trip to the dentist, removal of skin cancer by the dermatologist.  

A few years ago, I was reading “The Kite Runner” and the book actually helped me through the surgery, which was overall minor.  I think what was difficult about it was a series of painful (minor, but still painful) series of surgeries.   One of the characters in the book helped me put this into perspective as I reflected on his experiences.  

As I transition back to “working full-time”, I need to reflect on the quotation that hit me like a brick shortly after my employment status changed in Lakeland.  I’ll repeat it here:

(Quote from 'And the Mountains Echoed':

"Now I was free to do as I wished, but I found the freedom illusory, for what I wished for had been taken from me. They say, Find a purpose in life and live it. But, sometimes, it is only after you have lived that you recognize you life had a purpose, and likely one you never had in mind”.

I still get a chill down my back when I read this quote and think about what it meant, and what it means. The meaning has actually changed through the past nine months.

For years, all I wished for was more time.  When I had it, I realized more time wasn’t necessarily what I needed.  

In my case the quote is somewhat true that “Now I was free to do as I wished”.  I chose to spend almost all my time looking for another job, improving my qualifications and making improvements in my skills for what i thought would quickly be a new job.  

On the other hand, I was fortunate that I could have decided to “retire” (which has a lot different meaning than in the past-at least to me, in the sense that  would have been productive in some way and definitely  pursued an “encore career”.  

As Aliene noted recently (actually last night), during the last nine months, I have read less than I did when I was working, probably 80 hours per week, although I didn’t keep track

Sometimes, this journal has a life of it’s own.  My original thought today strayed and I have reached what I feel should be the maximum for one day.  I”ll reflect more on this in the future.

I hope you read the article noted below and think about it.  It will be well worth your time.

That’s it for now, Saturday, August 30, 2014

BUSINESS DAY | YOUR MONEY

For Some, ’Tis a Gift to Be Simple

By RON LIEBER

Last month, I spent a day in a library for the first time in over 20 years. I was there to work, but I appeared to be the only one doing so. Everyone else lolled about as the rain fell outside, helping themselves to the endless shelves of newspapers and magazines or browsing the newest fiction.

My work brings me joy. But as I looked around at the older patrons especially, I was overcome by a single emotion: jealousy. It had been too long since I’d sampled the simple but profound pleasure of losing myself in the stacks. I wanted to feel it again.

That craving stayed with me, and it helped me recognize how important some research from the June issue of The Journal of Consumer Research could be for helping many Americans find peace of mind as they contemplate their retirement savings. The lead article reported that older people often draw as much happiness from ordinary experiences — like a day in the library — as they do from extraordinary ones.

For people who have not saved enough or have broken into their savings because of lost jobs and health crises, the findings offer a glimmer of hope. If you can cover basic expenses, pursuing inexpensive, everyday things that bring comfort and satisfaction can lead to happiness equal to jetting about on international trips in your 70s and 80s.

The study’s authors, Amit Bhattacharjee and Cassie Mogilner, met when Mr. Bhattacharjee was earning his doctorate at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where Ms. Mogilner is an assistant professor of marketing. When they decided to work together, they did not set out to make grand pronouncements about aging.

Instead, they were trying to help answer one of the next big questions in the emerging field of happiness studies. Already, scholars in the field have established that experiences tend to make people happier than possessions. What we do, it

seems, has more potential for lasting satisfaction and memory-making than what we have. But Mr. Bhattacharjee, who is now a visiting assistant professor of marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, and Ms. Mogilner wanted to know what sort of experiences made people the most happy and why.

To find out, they conducted eight studies in which they asked participants about their recollections of, planning for or daydreaming about various happiness- making experiences. They also checked to see what sort of things their subjects were posting about on Facebook. The researchers’ definitions of ordinary and extraordinary experiences, when they prompted people to discuss one or the other, were simple and focused on frequency; ordinary experiences happen often and occur in the course of everyday life while extraordinary ones are much more rare.

Extraordinary experiences bring great joy throughout life. No surprise there. But what the pair found again and again was that the older people got, the more happiness ordinary experiences delivered. In fact, the happiness-making potential of everyday pursuits eventually grows equal to that of ones that are rarer.

For Mr. Bhattacharjee, 32, the findings helped clarify a few things about his own parents. He had been attracted to research on moral beliefs and well-being in part because of his upbringing in a Bengali-speaking household of Indian immigrants. “My whole life, I felt like I was trying to sort out these competing cultural standards,” he said. “What is good? What is desirable? There are very different sorts of standards that people apply.”

When his younger brother started college, the two siblings plied their empty- nester parents with restaurant gift cards and theater tickets so they could revel in their freedom from full-time parenting duties. “They just had zero interest,” he recalled. “They really relish the ordinary. At some point, I stopped fighting it. And once I started working on this stuff, it helped crystallize for me that their conception of what is valuable is different.”

Different from what a young person might have expected, at least. His parents were never much for the grand journey or the statement vehicle. “I tell people I’ve been buying a new Mercedes and driving it off a cliff each year for 10 or 15 years,” said Mr. Bhattacharjee’s father, Arun, of his and his wife’s efforts to pay for their sons’ higher education.

Now that Arun Bhattacharjee, 73, is more than half a decade into retirement, he devotes his days to reading the newspaper and books and regular strolls near the family home in Audubon, Pa. “I walk in the neighborhood around the block a few times,” he said. “Everybody knows me. Rain or shine.”

His wife, Ratna, 63, still works as an engineer. She and Arun go to India about once a year to see her mother. The family of four did head to Las Vegas for a vacation recently. “I have not lost interest in those kinds of things,” Arun Bhattacharjee said. “But I don’t need that sort of thing all of the time to give me pleasure. I can get it from simple things.”

Why might that be? Mr. Bhattacharjee and Ms. Mogilner explored some of the factors besides frequency that separate ordinary and extraordinary experiences and seized on one in particular: the tendency for extraordinary experiences to be self-defining in some way.

One way to think about this is to consider the various adventures younger people pursue to find themselves. “That sort of exploration to see what fits and feels like you may be the process by which you can start to figure out what sort of ordinary life to build,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said.

Once you know yourself, the deliberate pursuit of more ordinary things can then deliver that same level of happiness. It doesn’t hurt, either, that you may appreciate the ordinary much more once you’re more aware of the decreasing number of years you have left to enjoy it.

Older people are not set in their ways, nor should they want to be, and it would be a mistake to think we know ourselves well enough to be certain of what will give us the most satisfaction when we’re older. Retirement is just the sort of transition point that causes many people to seek new adventures and try on new ways of being in the world. No one should deny themselves that if they can afford it.

But plenty of people won’t have the money to go to faraway places or pay to jump out of airplanes. Low-cost extraordinary experiences may well be nearby, but there ought to be much comfort in the evidence that everyday things that cost little or nothing can deliver the same amount of joy. A garden. The elaborate meal that emerges from it and the spare time to invent the recipes. A return to a neglected musical instrument. All-you-can-consume subscriptions to Netflix and Spotify, with

watchlists and playlists that stretch on for years.

As for me, I’m merely middle-aged. But I’m almost positive that the first thing on my retirement wish list will be a brand-new library card.

Make the most of your money. Every Monday get articles about retirement, saving for college, investing, new online financial services and much more. Sign up for the Your Money newsletter here.

Twitter: @ronlieber

Summer 2014 August 29 Friday (iPhone's iPod's, Sprouts and Drones)

ummer 2014 August 29 Friday (iPhone’s, IPod’s, Sprouts and Drones)

72 degrees this morning.  Rain forecast. Several earthquakes in the area (I believe 3).  They are a little further from us than some.  A 3.0 just happened.  

I am the proud owner of two new teeth as I completed my teeth implant yesterday.  Everything seemed to go find, and I can’t really even feel them as a foreign object in my mouth.  Still will take some time to chew on that side after chewing on the oner side for at least a year!

Apple is bringing out a new iPhone and possibly an iWatch (or something like that).  It will be interesting to see.  

I still have, and am using, my 8 year old (I think) iPod shuffles with the original batteries.  I can’t believe the batteries are lasting so long, but I like the design a lot better then the later shuffles.  I am also using all of my old (no longer used as phones) iPods.  They make great iPods!  I think the oldest (for me an iPhone 3)  is about 6 years old and still going strong.  \

While I really don’t like not having a battery which is “consumer replaceable”, I really can’t complain.  Of course when the battery goes out of the iPod Shuffles, it will cost more to put it a new battery than to buy a brand new iPod Shuffle!  I’m not sure what I will do with the old iPhones when the battery goes out.  So far, it is simply not a problem.  

The iPad one (or “original iPad”) poses special problems for me.  I actually like some aspects of it and hate to io give it up,but it is so slow as compared to the newest iPad, which is wonderful.  I use the original iPad some as an iPod, but it is a little clunky for using it a lot.  If I start driving a lot, as part of my work, it may come in more handy  I also has some special apps which work well.  I like the color on the original iPad.  Not necessarily better than the new iPad, I just like it.

It will probably be a while before I upgrade to the iPhone 6, but….  

I am peaked to see that Lakeland is getting a “Sprouts” in the old Kroger grocery store. The staff and several of the previous Commissioners  worked hard for it.  I’m sure they won’t get any credit for it, but they are really the ones who deserve the credit.   

In my opinion, Sprouts is kind of like a baby Whole Foods, with the narrow aisles and high prices, but it also has some good points and good items and I’m sure will be a success in that  area.  We have two near us now, but we rarely go there except for some specialty items, but it is normally very busy, so it should be a great asset to the area.  

I am disappointed that the persons who really did the work aren’t getting any credit for it, but that is kind of the way life goes.  

The previous Growth Management Director did a lot of work on all of the commercial projects going on now, and of course, is not getting any credit for it, nor will the previous City Engineer get any credit for all the work he did on the interchange and streets etc.  Kind of pathetic, but a lot of people know the  truth and neither of them (or the previous Commissioners or staff) were in it for personal credit, and they have the satisfaction they know they contributed.

Drones.  I just saw where Google is not testing delivery by drones as are other companies.  I can see the advantage, but I also see problems for use of air space, invasion of privacy, and liability problems, accidents etc although but I expect that can be worked out.  I’m now sure how they will work out the likely possibility that criminals will hijack them or shoot them down or just hack through to instruct them to fly somewhere else.

That may be the reason I haven’t seen the “driverless car” I have been waiting for since I saw the ad at least 50 years ago of the family i the car playing cards while the car drove itself.  I really never thought i would still be driving the car, and basically he same car (with a lot of improvements, but still basically he same type of car) 50 years later.  

That’s it for now, Friday, August 29, 2014.

Summer 2014 August 28 Thursday (Teeth Implant Day)

77 degrees this morning 

Last phases of my “teeth implant” today.  Two new teeth will be born today. The process actually started September 5, 2013, so the actual process has been almost a year.  I expect that is about what it normally takes to allow time for healing etc.  Mine may have taken a little longer since I had to have a bond graft.  

Yesterday, I learned something new, that since I had a bridge on my teeth so long, the bone density decreased.  I actually had the bride for almost 40 years (it was replaced once).  I made the mistake of going to the “free” dental work after getting out of the Air Force (you had one year to get free dental work) and the dentist doing the work, in my option, took the easy way out and pulled the tooth instead of trying to save the tooth. My opinion.  

Anyway, the procedure is almost done.  I was thinking that the tooth implant process paralleled a major disruption in my life, starting with the Lakeland elections and hopefully ending next Tuesday.  

I think I am still thinking (for lack of a better word right nowI) about the events of the past year.  Of course, as soon as I heard the results fo the city election, I knew I was facing major changes.  I think it is an even any City Manager knows can happen, and likely even will happen to some degree.  You always hope it is handled in a more ethical and professional manner than Lakeland handled it, but I think that reflects on the poor quality and lack of professionalism of the people involved.

I always thought if that happened it would be like a dream, but it really wasn’t.  I was very aware of my status the next day, etc.

We will really miss the Memphis Redbirds.  Not only did they put on a good show in a great ballpark, buit we enjoyed watching the players develop from AAA to Major League players with the St. Louis Cardinals.  (Almost all of the current St. Louis Cardinals played for the Memphis Redbirds.)  Obviously it isn’t really the same, but it is something like seeing someone start work, struggle some, and then suddenly blossom into success.

We have seen so many players go from the Memphis Redbirds to the St. Louis Cardinals, we are now strong Redbirds fans, although we still like the Chicago Cubs.  (When St. Louis plays Chicago, we have a difficult time deciding whom to cheer for.  We end up hoping both of them play their best and don’t make any major mistakes. 

We can’t really bring ourselves to watch the AAA team where we live.   We probably will eventually, but it won’t be the same, not that anything is ever really the same anyway. 

Hopefully, my laptop computer will keep working until I can turn it in for repairs next Monday.  It has developed a strange habit of the screen blinking off.  I don’t lose the program so it could be worse.  It was just annoying (I could shake it and it would come back on), but how it has become a major problem (it goes of and has became very hard to get back on).  

Of course, it is one of those things that  won’t happen when I take it into the Apple Store and doesn’t leave any tracks of what happened.  The last time, it was off when I took it in and they were able to see something.  Anything they are going to replace the major compute ring board or something.  Which means I will probably lose everything on the computer and have to restore it, which I hate to do.  I can’t understand why  I can buy a new computer and they can transfer everything over without any problems, but if I get my computer repaired, it can come back completely blank.

Anyway, I’ll be glad when the implant work is done today. 

That’s it for now, Thursday, August 28, 2014

Summer 2014 August 27 Wednesday (Doors of Opportunity)

79 degrees this morning.

The  evening darkness is already coming much sooner, even though it is only August.  Every year I am surprised at how quickly the Summer sunset fades and darkness comes earlier and earlier.  

Fall is now less than a month away.  Fall is ok, but then comes Winter.  I will miss the very mild, low attitude winter Memphis typically has.  Last Winter was horrible, the worst winter we had in Memphis.  

Perhaps what i miss most are the long Summer sunsets, the ones that last forever.  That is the one thing I missed in Memphis, was the long sunsets. (In Memphis, the sun just suddenly went down, the hills and trees blocked the sunset.)

As normally happens, when opportunity knocks there are several doors to open, which one do you open?  While I can see the “opportunity” behind the doors, I have no idea which door is best for me.  Time will tell, except it is one of those decisions where there are no (or very rare) “seconds” where a decision can be reversed for another decision.  I will see.  By this time three months from now I may know, or I may never know.  Such is life.

They say the correct decision is to “follow your passion”.  Perhaps so, but I also believe someone should keep their word once it is given, subject to conditions that may not be known when the decision was made. 

So….I am trying a compromise, trying to have the best of both worlds (not quite having your cake and eating it too, but rather realizing that life is a tapestry and sometimes (or probably never) there is no right decision  

If this doesn’t make any sense, I can’t really make any details public right now.  If you are really interested, I can discuss it, just not in public. 

I was discussing “following your passion” the other day, and I note the difference in, say the personnel a the Apple Store as opposed to other facilities.  I was there the other day and the persons with the “passion” are clearly noticeable.  

One thing I really liked about the Apple Store (I saw it ore that the Memphis Apple Store, but it is evident at the one here also) is the high percentage of personnel who had a real passion for Apple products, computers, helping people or all three.  I would ask a question or show them something i learned to do, and they would get all excited about it, it was a pleasure to watch.

Actually I noticed it at the local Apple store the other day, which made me think of it.  There is an electricity in the air you don’t see in other places, or at least very rarely.   

            

Not walking this morning, do to some conflicting activities.  Usually the one thing I won’t give up is my morning walk.  I’m not sure if it is because I get my blood/muscles (or body) moving and feel more alert, or if it is the opportunity to listen and think and listen to my audiobooks.  It may be a combination of the physical and mental stimulation that make me feel better and ready for the day, maybe a combination  

On my projects, I am still working on my China photos, trying to get them organized.  As with other projects, I hate to dispose of photos, but I will need to so I can get them organized.    With some exceptions, a photograph doesn’t do justice to what the picture is about,l but if you don’t take the photograph, the scene you saw could be gone forever.  

Actually I have deleted about 10% of the photos I took, but there is still a lot of photo’s left.   I look at them and see a small piece of my life, somewhat like when I look at letters I have written etc. 

That’s it for today, Wednesday, August 27, 2014. 

Summer 2014 August 26 Tuesday (Anniversary)

82 degrees this morning.  55:10 Minute Walk. 

The 26th of each month reminds me of the action on November 26, 2013.  It seems a long time ago now, and it has been nine months.  I actually have kept very busy the past nine months, I never had the time to read or do some of the activities I always said I would do if I “had the time”.  I didn’t waste time, I didn’t watch a single movie, i kept my morning routine and I feel I improved by learning and building m capacity during this period.

Certainly, I would never have had the chance to go to China.  While I would never know what I missed, I am glad i didn’t miss it.  

Now, it looks like i will have several exciting opportunities and I am looking forward to it.  I always feel there is a reason for everything and “I am where I am supposed to be”.  As my Aunt Ruth told me, “When one door closes, another door opens, but sometimes it takes a long time for the right door to open”. 

The local Community College has an “Entrepreneurial Institute”.  I visited with one of the staff and it is amazing how effective she has been.  

I will detail the opportunities more later, since we are still working on the details. However, I think both of the opportunities will complement each other and it will be a wonderful opportunity.  It will provide me an opportunity I have been looking for while I will also have some security.  

The neighborhood I live in is a real maze, as I have noted.  That is good, in that no one, once they have tried to “short cut” through our neighborhood will ever try it again!  It makes for a nice area to walk and bike, since there is only local traffic.  Of course, there is a lot of local traffic here!

I hope i can continue at least the basics of my morning routine.  I almost have to walk.  If I don’t walk I feel like i am missing something.  I would miss my morning bike ride, but I can ride it at another part of the day.  

Looking forward to the final phase of getting my “teeth implant” this week, but I’m not looking forward to the bill!  At least it will be done.  It has been a long process (since September 5, 2013) and covers a lot of life territory. I feel especially bad about how it has affected and impacted the people around me (the action on November 26 affecting my job, not the teeth implant).  Since I knew it was coming, I had time to prepare to psychologically for it. 

My main laptop is having problems again, I will need to send it off the hospital for several days for major surgery.  That may impact this journal, since it is a lot more difficult to write this on an iPad and even on the main desktop due to the sporadic method of writing this.

My granddaughter, Kali, throughly enjoyed her trip to the concert (I believe “One Direction”).  It is early nice when the expectations for an event are exceeded by the invent itself and it is really s special treat when that happens.

That’s it of now, Tuesday, August 26, 2014.

Summer 2014 August 25 Monday (The Wind)

82  Degrees this morning.  Walked 55:22 minutes.

I realized this morning that we are recycling almost twice as much as we send to the landfill each week.  I’m not sure if we should be proud of the fact we recycle more than we dispose of or if it means we use too many disposable  items!  I”m not going to sit around and dwell on it, but it is something to consider.  

The wind is so dominating here.  The only thing I can do is learn to live with it.  I can understand why it drove people mad.  As far as dealing with it on my bicycle, it is going to be a major factor.  At least I am relieved to learn my tires aren’t leaking, or my legs aren’t getting old (well they are, but they’re still in shape), it is just the wind.  

When I was still in Lakeland, I rode east down Highway 64 (it is an east/west highway with an excellent bike lane).  There was a strong wind at my back and I was happily going along at 26-28 mph (to put this into context, my usual speed is probably about 11 mph, if that).  I was out about 4 miles, when I suddenly realized I had to peddle AGAINST the wind, with a storm coming in!  I turned around and headed back and probably went about 6 mph!  

On my morning ride here there is one area (a slight downgrade, with a south wind at my backI), I can reach 22 mph, however on the way back, I go about 8 mph!  I have a lot of training left!  As I continue, I will get faster.  I take it easy on my bike and just enjoy myself.

Of course, in Tennessee it was the hills, etc. (which I don’t mind near as much as the wind). 

I read something a long time ago about how if you live on the plains, the mountains or the seashore, it shapes how you view life and I can understand that.  

Visited the dermatologist and she advised me to wear a hat with a “brim” on all sides to cover my ears as well as my head etc.  I guess theta means to dust off my old cowboy hat (I actually purchased it at least 14 years ago, it was specifically made for me, since my hat size is about 8 1/2. ).  Of course, if I do that than I need to get cowboy boots!  

As September 2 approaches, I am thinking of how I will prioritize my morning routine  My routine for the last few months has been walk, read the paper and nap and write, ride the bicycle, eat breakfast, go swimming, take a whirlpool patch, nap….  I will need to change my schedule!  I have enjoyed it, but it is time to change, especially if I am doing something I feel is worthwhile and I enjoy.  

As I mentioned previously,  I will continue my walk for sure, and my pre-breakfast nap.  Hopefully, I can continue my morning bike ride.  I have to have breakfast.  Hopefully in several weeks I will have a “Home office” and I can adjust my schedule again to allow more morning pre-work activities, since I won’t have to allow for the commute time.  (The actual commute time is only about 10 to 15 minutes, but you also have to allow getting to the building, getting settled in etc.)

I am trying to look at my eating habits to see if I can lose more weight.  I know I eat too much peanut butter etc., but it is hard not to eat it!  I am going to start re-emphasizing how many carbs I eat and also control the amount of peanut butter etc.  I eat.  (I have found moderation is as important as anything. Completely denying yourself somewhat you enjoy isn’t a good idea either.  I am using the app “My Fitness Pal” and the main problem is just remembering to take the time to input it into the program!  The problem is the program has some limitations and I get frustrated with the program limitations.  I have learned that “approximate is ok”  and I don’t need to be exact.

I am reviewing several books on food which were recommended to me  and hopefully will get some ideas on what foods to avoid and foods to eat both for weight control and health.

My real purpose in keep   track of the food I eat is just to be aware of how much I do eat.  I started “measuring” my peanut butter usage by putting it in the little cups like restaurants have etc.  

It’s Monday.  Have a nice week!

That’s it for now, Monday, August 25, 2014.

Summer 2014 August 24 Sunday (The Search)

82  degrees this morning.  Walk 55.53  minutes.  I keep track of my time basically just to have a record (and perhaps keep myself honest as far as a walking pace).  I really don’t consciously try to beat my best time every day.  I noted that today is roughly 14 seconds more then yesterday, so I expect I should expect my “normal” time to be in the 55:00 to 58:00 time frame.  Wind, weather, what music I may be listening to etc. may account for any major differences. No  earthquakes as of yet!

Today marks two months in our new location (not our new house, we were just looking for a house two months ago).  We saw our new primary Doctor last week (seemed to be ok) and a dermatologist (we see a PA and she is great).  We still need to establish ourselves with other specialists and such items as a barber/hair stylist (although Aliene goes to one she has been going to for, I believe about 30 years.  She went to her when we visited OKC while living in Lakeland).  

I tried one hair shop and the results were, frankly, horrible, so I’ll try again. Life includes a complex web of relationships, from the place you get gas, to a new doctor, dentist, restaurant, grocery etc.  Once I get my teeth  implants in, I will need to search for a new dentist, which probably will stress me out more than anything else.  

The search for new business relationships is really a major factor in satisfaction with living anyplace.  Thus far, we have been reasonably satisfied with our  new medical providers, shopping, restaurants etc.  Not really any better or any worse, just different, and overall it will just take some trial and error to find the right ones.

This time of year, with the coolish, yet warm early evening breeze reminds me of when I was in 7th/8th/9th/ grade and on nights like this we would go out and climb on the roof of the school. I don’t know why we did it, we didn’t vandalize anything or even really look for anything.  We just climbed up on the roof and  talked.

I don’t know why that sticks in my mind, but it does.  We would climb on the roof and just sit and talk.  When i think about it, I was about the age of my granddaughters then.  I hope they aren’t doing stuff like that!

I think it sticks in my mind because of the wind.  It is one wind I can live with and actually like.  It doesn’t happen a large part of the year, I think it is a summer/fall, perhaps early summer/late spring event..  

We are now starting to review further “downsizing”  and moving options.  We still have too much stuff for the house!  It is getting easier to consider “weeding” items, but it is still difficult.  I know I can weed more books, and will use the “toothbrush test” on items.  It is just  continuous process.   Th difficult items to dispose of are the ones with some emotional meaning or attachment (meaning some things we will never get rid of) and thoughts that it is something “someday’ we will use it.

I am still looking at my morning routine.  It is difficult to change even the “piddling” around activities since they are part of the morning routine!  

I don’t bicycle until daylight, primarily because of the  maze of streets, but also because I’m not completely satisfied with my lighting system (even though there are few vehicles on the streets at that time in the morning.

That’s it for now, Sunday, August 24, 2014.

Summer 2014 August 23 Saturday (Decisions and Priorities)

81 degrees this morning.  Walked 55:39 minutes. Yesterday morning rode bike about 40 minutes.  One earthquake (3.2) this morning about 20 miles away.

I had been wondering if my bike had a bad tire, since the peddling got so hard.  I figured out yesterday morning it was the wind!  A 17 mph head wind can made a huge difference in how fast I can go and how much effort it takes!

I am always surprised at how many people leave their garage doors open at night (by accident I assume).  I even noticed  mine one morning!  

I keep thinking how ISIS is like a Stephen King novel, where an evil force is taking over, and a “good” counterforce rises to combat it.  You can’t even call them lower than animals, since animals don’t act that way.  I think it is what happens when extremists take over, they lose all control.  

I am still trying to “weed” my books and otherwise “weed” items to fit into our house.  Many of the books (and other items) have an emotional meaning that makes it difficult to give  away.  I need to use the “Toothbrush Test” on each item!. (I modified it for  those items it doesn’t apply to, but basically it is “if you don’t use it at least once or twice per day and it doesn’t make your life better, either dispose of it or don’t buy it!”.  I do try to use the standard of “what value is this to me”  (not counting the value, “I may need it sometime”!  It helps.

I have been watching my “data exhaust”  (the records I leave through my activities each day, such as using credit cards, etc. and I am truly amazed at how much “data exhaust” I leave!   Considering e-mails, credit cards, toll roads etc. I leave an amazing record of what I do each day.

Allstate (our car insurer) offered us a discount if we would install something on our car that measured hard braking, hard acceleration or anytime we went over 80 mph.  The problem was it measured  and kept a record of everything from the time you turned the car on to when you turned the car off.  We declined, not so much as we were concerned about our driving as much we just don’t want to have a record like that floating around.  In the right circumstances, it could be accessed by almost anyone.

I am accessing my morning schedule to determine how I can change my priorities   or activities to fit into a smaller space.  Basically I have to be ready to go by 6:30 a.m., which means I need to cut about two hours out of my morning schedule.  

I have noticed I have a lot of “piddling” or time spent in running around doing nothing or items I could have arranged for the night before to make it easier to get around in the morning. Some things I do in the morning I can do later, some items I will need to just not do.  I think I can save at least one-half hour, just by planning my time better.  

I am starting out with the idea that I can time shift anything except my walk, my nap and breakfast and maybe at least a quick look at a newspaper!  And I’m not going to get up any earlier!  

Fortunately, it is temporary and I will get back about one hour of time later.  I’m still not sure of the exact details. 

That’s it for now, Saturday, August 23, 2014.

Summer 2014 August 22 Friday (Anticipation)

82 degrees this morning.  Summer finally arrives in late August!  Walk 54:57 minutes this morning, biked about 30 minutes yesterday.  No earthquakes  today (at least none showing up on my app.)  My bike ride has been shorter since there appears to be a problem with the tire or chain, or maybe a problem with my legs not in shape yet!

Bike ride has changed a little with the arrival of the school buses (school is just starting here) and the crowds of children either standing on the corner or slowing making their way to the bus stop.  

Tomorrow will mark two months since our move.  Even though we have gone back on a fairly frequent basis and greatly enjoy our visits with friends (during these visits it is almost like we haven’t moved, it is kind of a shock when we end our visit and realize it is not a regular event anymore, which I guess makes it even more treasured), it is almost like we have never lived there.  

In a sense, we have never lived in Lakeland as it exists today, and I’m not sure we would want to, since it is basically changing to a “non-city”, where the general concept seems to be to provide as few public services as possible and make it a city that is primarily “business friendly” at the expense of the residents.  

I felt the same separation last November when I was no longer working for the City.  After a week or so, it was like I have never worked there, on a psychological basis.  

I remember the story about President Reagan, when we was in the last stages of his illness.  He saw a replica of the White House and looked at it and said “I used to have something to do with that”.  I always thought that was sad, and I was surprised at how fast I felt the same psychological separation.  

It kind of goes back to my favorite saying “The World Without End is Ending”.  The world of employment, a residence continues until it is over, and then it is over.  

Kind of like the cartoon in the paper I saw recently.  The family is moving and the little boy looks around the house and says “this used to be our house but now it is just a house”.  

After receiving my newspapers at the “normal time” all week,(around 3:30 a.m., or at least they are here when I complete my walk), the newspapers are “late” today (probably will be here at 6 a.m.).  I really wish they would not deliver them early, if they aren’t going to do it all the time, it just ruins my routine.  

Of course, as a friend recently a advised me, all I need to do is just read the paper when it is a day old, that way I would always have it when I wanted it and I would have my routine!  It actually makes sense, but somehow I have to read the paper as soon as it arrives or it is like “what’s the use!”.  

Kind of like mail, I have always loved to receive the mail.  Evan as a child, I can remember walking down to the mailbox and waiting for the mail, even when I didn’t expect anything and my disappointment (that I still feel today) when I don’t get anything!  I am a regular checker of e-mail, it is like getting mail on a 24 hour basis.

Kali (my granddaughter) is going to a concert with a friend this weekend.  They are staying overnight in another City.  It is one fo the first stages of her establishing her own life and probably one of her first adventures from her parents.  She saved her own money for the trip and has been anticipating this since early in the year.  I hope it is everything she anticipates.  It is wonderful when it is, a learning experience when you realize that anticipation is frequently 90% of the fun.

i think that is why I enjoyed China so much.  I anticipated the trip for about 5 months and it was everything I anticipated and more, in fact, much more.  It was not a matter of anticipating something and suddenly it is over and you wonder what you really anticipated.  

That’s it for today, Friday, August 22, 2014.

Summer 2014 August 21 Thursday (Sigs)

81 degrees this morning.  Walked 53:35 minutes, a new record. Three earthquakes in the are this last night/this morning, one measuring around 3.2.  Biked yesterday around 30 minutes.

A lot of debate on whether fracking  for oil  is creating the earthquakes.  I heard they are so much deeper than the oil fracking.  I haven’t heard if this is a preliminary “the big one”, like they are forecasting for Memphis.   

Establishing new Doctors etc. this week, a number of appointments  Useless to compare therm with previous Doctors etc., what is, is.  

 This city believes in “speed control by stop sign” (which doesn’t really work).  It makes bike riding a lot harder since legally I am supposed to come to to full stop at each stop sign.  With “speed control by stop sign’, most vehicles also don’t stop at stop signs, the the integrity of the stop sign is lost and where stop signs are really supposed to be, they are frequently ignored, leading to more dangerous.  

Also, Stop Signs by themselves don’t really help control speed, and is frequently counterproductive.  

As you can  tell, this is a favorite peeve of mine!    

They also have a lot of “yield” signs here.  In most cases, yield signs are completely ignored and are worse then useless, at least in my opinion.  

I recently read that signs were originally set up so the the number of sides indicated the importance of the sign emphasized the importance of the sign.  The most important is a sign with no sides, so a round sign is the most important traffic control signs or the railroad warning sign. 

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices is the governing manual used by most cities and counties on installing traffic control devices.  If they don’t comply, the city or county could be liable in an accident (if the misplaced device created the accident).

Speaking of peeves on walks and bicycles, there must be a special place for people who park over sidewalks.  What do they think sidewalks are for?  It makes it impossible to walk or bike on a sidewalk.  While I don’t walk or bike on the sidewalk, it is very dangerous and could lead to serious accidents.  

Parking on sidewalks is also one reason I restrict my bike riding to the neighborhood.  If I ride on a busy street, for safety reasons,  I would need to ride on the sidewalk, but the many violations of the law against parking on sidewalks (which is widely ignored) make it a real safety hazard. 

Combine people parking on sidewalks, with the lack of maintenance, sidewalks are basically useless.  

Planning for my schedule change starting September 2.  I am sure once it starts everything will fall into place.

Took a nap this morning (I frequently take a nap after I walk and before I ride my bikeI). I had dreams of speeding cars (I was also in a car, not walking or on my bicycleI).  

That’s it for  now,  Wednesday, August 21, 2014

                

Summer 2014 August 20 Wednesday (Earthquakes)

79 degrees this morning.  Walk of 55;41 minutes.  (bicycle ride yesterday morning of approximately 44 minutes)

Happy Birthday Katherine!  12 years old today!

Earthquake measuring around 4.2 yesterday, probably about 20 miles away.  Anyway, strong enough and near enough to show up on the iPhone “App” as an earthquake.  (It only reports at least 2.5 minimum earthquakes).  There are about three 2.5 earthquakes per day around here, according to the app.  Most of them are about 20 miles away

Aliene, and many other people, felt the earthquake.  I was out riding my bike and I didn’t feel a thing.  Aliene said she felt it and she didn’t really care for it!  It was large enough that social media posted on it a lot and the quake  made the news.  

Some of the damage is street cracks etc.  The image of the street suddenly opening up as I ride isn’t a nice thought!

When we moved to Memphis, I heard about the “big one” (Earthquake-  which was coming.  I wondered if I rally wanted to live with the possibility of such an earthquake.  In 1804 Memphis had an earthquake so severe the Mississippi actually flowed backward.       

We never did buy earthquake insurance. At first, our insurance policy covered earthquake damage with a $25,000 deductible,  then they canceled it completely.  

We are seriously thinking about not buying a house here, just based on the number of earthquakes here and the fact it is difficult and expensive to find insurance.  Of course there is also a school of thought that if  the “big one” comes, it really doesn’t matter whether  you have insurance or not.

Our orientation continues.  We had an appointment with our primary card doctor today, I feel we will be happy with him and the  clinic.  We finally got our drivers license yesterday and are taking car of similar “getting established” items.

I have my final work on my teeth implant next week.  Should be a relatively simple procedure.  I would recommend it, although I would highly recommend getting a detailed estimate of costs.  My procedure is costing about $2,000 more than I was led to believe it was going to cost, and that it still isn’t over.