Summer 2014 August 12 Tuesday (Costs and Prices)

64 degrees this morning.  When it is 64 degrees (or in the range), I always think it will be cool like it was last spring when 64 degrees was still cool enough to dress warm.  For some reason, 64 degrees in the summer isn’t that cold and I tend to overdress.    Walked 56:53 minutes this morning, also sit ups and barbells. 

My weight bench (which is on the patio and has been for the past 8 years), has mushrooms browning out of the sides and bottom.  I don’t know if this is dangerous or not, but I wouldn’t eat them!  It really is weird, but I don’t see how it compromises the integrity of the bench.  I really like the bench, except that I can’t use it with a barbell.  I am keeping my eye out for a bench I can also use the barbell (such as for bench presses etc.)

After Labor Day, we will start looking at a gym (probably the YMCA).  I plan not only to continue my swimming on a regular basis but also expanding my weight lifting program.  

I am enjoying my “extended walk” in the morning (almost double what I have walked for years).  It gives me the chance to listen more to my audiobooks, and I just feel like I am stretching my limits a little.  

Listening to “Capital in the 21st Century”.  I’m not sure why I found it so interesting, but the author made the point that while products such as electronics and even food are much cheaper in terms of “hours worked to purchase” the item, a haircut has basically remained the same price.  The reason is that it takes the same amount of time to give a haircut, and the income of a barber/hair stylist has basically remained the same, and even the technology hasn’t changed much.  So, on average, it costs the same amount of time to work to get a haircut as it did 100 years ago! 

An example he specifically mentioned of interest to me was the price of the early bicycles were six month’s salary, and this was just for a basic bicycle, with basic brakes and wheels .  In a few years an advance bicycle costs one months pay, and then soon an even more advanced bicycle costs a weeks pay etc. Of course, it depends on what you consider a days pay is also.  

Obviously an even better example is electronics, for the item itself, although the service costs have  remained high. 

I still remember when I bought an inexpensive tv that broke after several years.  I took it in for repair and was advised it was a “disposable tv” and if something went wrong, you just threw it away and bought another one.  Of course now there are numerous items that are essentially “disposable” since it costs more to fix them than it does to purchase a new, much improved, item!  

In fact, when it comes to items such as iPhones, iPads, iPods etc., perfectly good devices are abandoned, given away or used for other purposes just because of the improved features of the new ones.  I could name lot more areas where this is true.

Kali and Katherine (our youngest Granddaughters) are starting school next week (the school system they go to starts later than many schools.  Seeing time pass in the lives of children really emphasizes how fast time goes.  I have watched Aliene’s grandchildren grow just since we got married and it is just amazing the changes in their lives in 18 years.  Of course, Kali and Katherine are only 14 and 11 (Katherine is 12 next week), so the change have been even more dramatic for them.  

I have probably been much more aware of time passing since last  November (when my job status changed), almost like I am under some kind of deadline, but I”m really not.  

Like life, this journal goes in a direction I hadn’t planned.  While walking, I was going to go into another subject today.  I never even got the chance to bring up the subject! Maybe tomorrow.

That’s it for today, Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Summer 2014 August 9 Saturday (Audiobooks and iPods and ex iPhones)

81 degrees this morning, muggy, although not as bad as yesterday.  After walking yesterday there was a light rain, and, when I rode my bike the temperature had dropped by 5 degrees or so and it was almost cold, no mugginess.  I noticed how much faster I went on my bike in the cooler weather. 

Walked 55:01 minutes this morning, (a new record) meaning I have dropped almost 4 minutes off my time since I  first started walking this route.  Of course , logically, at some point, I will reach a time where I can’t walk any faster, although probably I will reach an time where I take a second or so off every few months and at some point probably will almost never take any time off my “record”. 

Actually I try to avoid trying to do a better time every day, since it puts the focus on a quantitative  goal rather than the journey and I am more interested in the journey and the general goal of maintaining my health and weight.  And listening to my books.

Started listening to “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” during my morning walk..  I may need to rethink that!  Even with my interest in this, my mind tends to wander.  I’ll see how it goes.  There are some interesting parts, I just need to get my head into it. 

 After listening to  the “Bully Pulpit” while I walk and a James Patterson story while I drive, this is a little bit of a shock to my mind!  

I am tempted to listen again to the Bully Pulpit since I am going to see Doris Kearns Goodwin in person in September (along with 3,000 other people!).  I’ve actually seen her three times before (always an excellent and interesting presentation) and talked to her briefly when she sat down by us at lunch.  I have also read all of her books, which are always interesting and I seem to learn a lot from them.  Probably “Team of Rivals” (about Lincoln) is the best, but she is the type of writer it is hard to say anything is “the best”.  I also really liked her books about Johnson and Roosevelt also.

Actually I probably am probably going to start listening to some podcasts about starting my own business in the near future while I walk.  Right now, that is a priority, as soon as I get them on my iPod (formerly my iPhone!).  Actually I have two “ex” iPhones that are now iPods (one Aliene’s and one mine).  I actually jumped from an iPhone 3 to an iPhone 5 and Aliene from an iPhone 3S to an iPhone 5S. 

As long as the batteries are still good, (and they show no sings of failing after, I believeI, about 6 years (for the iPhone 3).  I have an iPod and three iPod shuffles that have batteries that are about 7 years old (I believe, I lose track!) that still have good batteries and are operating well. 

When to retire an electronic device is always a good question.  It seems like there is always a use for an iPod.  My original iPad (an iPad 1) is still going strong, but I do have a little problem finding a use for it.  It is good for music and listening to books but so is all my iPods and ex iPhones.  (Otherwise, it is very slow compared to the latest iPads).  

It is strange how the line of thought in this daily journal finds it own life.  I didn’t have any intention of writing an entire post about my old iPods and iPads and ex-iPhones!  Every day, it seems to develop it’s own life.  

By the way, on my birthday, my internet speed doubled, from 50 mbps to 100 (I actually measured it at 129 mbps download and 36 mbps upload).  Probably much more than I actually need, but it is nice to have it.  There is actually one level higher.  

Family birthday dinner at On the Border last night.  (Katherine and my birthday). Aliene and I invite everyone out to eat to celebrate the birthdays.  It is a nice gathering.  We limit our visits to On the Border for good reason.  I don’t weigh myself for several days after visiting!  I like the tamales, retired beans and the chips, one of the few times I allow myself to each such food!  Like dessert, I don’t avoid it completely, but do limit it.  

Actually I gained some weight during he move, but am now close to my low again, where I like to be.  I can actually tell the difference in how my clothes fit and how I  feel.  

That’s it for now, Saturday, August 9, 2014.

Summer 2014 July 28 Monday (Anticipation and Change)

81 degrees this morning.  

Next stage of teeth implants today.  The surgeon will “uncover” the posts for the new teeth, and then when that heals, the Dentist will install the new teeth (actually crowns).  It probably will be almost a year to the day by time it is finished.  

It has probably been the “longest” year I have lived for awhile, although it seemed to go fast.  It wasn’t “long” because of the teeth implants, but because of the other events regarding my job, realizing that my age is considered a handicap (basically saying my experience doesn’t mean anything), moving to another area and other events. 

On the other hand, it means anticipation (both good and bad) about change also.  I have always enjoyed and anticipated some change, while also dreading some changes, if that makes any sense.  I guess I could say I like controlled change within an overall larger structure of predictability. 

For example, my early morning routine, I don’t like change.   From the time I get up to about 8:00 a.m., I like it to be the same procedure., and I really  liked my routine before we moved.  After I became “in transition”, I worked at keeping my morning  routine the same so I wouldn’t lose my sense of having a purpose each day, even if it was just exercise, reading the papers and  my “15 minimum minutes” of reading something I wouldn’t otherwise read and listening to a nonfiction book while I walk.  

The time I walk and listen to a book is valuable to me.  i have listened about uranium production, the Aztec culture, politics, job search, autobiographies, and oner subjects that I may not normally learn about. Now that i walk about twice as long, I can listen to more, which is good.   Frequently I will listen to a book twice, and I always learn something new the second time around!  

I recently gave my granddaughter my “Walkman” cassette tape players, accepting the fact that I would not probably even listen to cassette tapes again while I walked (thank goodness), nor even my CD Walkman, although I can’t bring myself to give up my CD Walkman, although even when I bought it about 7 years ago, I had a hard time finding one.  Of course, I now use my iPods/old iPhones converted to an iPod touch.  I am amazed that all of the batteries still work in my iPod’s and iPhones.  My original “iPod shuffles”  are about 8 years old and the batteries are still good in all three of them!  It will probably be a real shock when they give out.  Replacing the battery in the iPod Shuffle (unless I do it myself, which is probably impossible for me) costs more than buying a band new iPod Shuffle, although the new Shuffle’s are near as good as the ones I have.  (I have several of the new ones, and they just aren’t the same.)

On the newspaper situation (having to rely on “digital” newspapers more since the physical papers arrive so late or aren’t delivered in my new location), I have found that the iPad seems to be a better way to “read” the newspaper than computer.  It isn’t the device, it is the format.  The iPad “app” system is just more flexible than the web site delivery system.  Had to explain, but try it sometime and you will see what I mean.  The design of the newspaper is much different for the iPad, than for the computer.

Overall, the audiobooks and the digital newspapers are a major change in the method of learning.  Certainly I like the chance to listen and learn while I walk/drive and I like the way I can skip through the digital newspapers, but I still like the physical newspaper better.

That’s it for now, Monday, July 28, 2014.