Let’s save some money today.

Take a look at 22 Ways Senior Citizens Could Save More Money in 2018.

Three points:

I may not be ready to embrace the ‘senior citizen’ label, but hey, if it saves me some cash, I can live with it.

Yes, 2018 is nearing an end, but I’m pretty sure ideas don’t expire at the end of a calendar year.

My favorites from the list:

1. The NightGuide HD driving glasses. Just a half-hour ago, I was struggling with darkness, misty conditions, and glare from oncoming traffic. Not fun.

2. Kohl’s Wednesday discounts of 15%

3. Marriott and Hampton Inn discounts

4. Fred Meyer 10% discount on first Tuesdays of the month

5. The Dodow device [an electronic sleeping aid, popular in Europe]. I’m intrigued.

 

A new retirement weekend goal: 10 new ventures [updated]

Let’s define ventures : forays into something new.

Goal: At least ten new ventures for the weekend. I’m giving my Do Something Dice a week off. Hey, we retirees write our own rules! Here is the list so far…I’ll be adding incrementally through the weekend.

1. A Reading to Fight Hunger  Magic Barrel

2. Friday afternoon: Attended the dedication of statue to Dick Fosbury, the 1968 Olympic gold medalist from Oregon State University. Fifty years ago today, he revolutionized the high jump event with his patented flop.

3. Start a new board game design. Lots of mental math involved, that much is certain.

4. The crust is made, the apples from our backyard tree are sliced/diced, now it’s time to explore:  https://www.delish.com/cooking/g326/apple-pies/  And the decision is ‘Apple Pie with Salted Pecan Crumble  with some variations. I used hazel nuts instead of pecans and I added plumped-up dried cranberries.

5. New place to walk Buddy, our recently-adopted Aussie Shepherd mix.

6. New TV Show: The Rookie. I liked the characters, but didn’t need the gritty gore.

7. New music to listen to—I started with a new playlist on Spotify: Good Morning Jazz. That led me to Kokoroko, an Afrobeat Collective

8. A new breakfast burrito for lunch at La Rockita, along with their quality chicken torta.

9. New books:

Light the Dark: Writers on Creativity, Inspiration, and the Artistic Process

The Wizard of Foz [Subject: Dick Fosbury]

How to Bake by Paul Hollywood

10. A new tofu cheese recipe from Green Evi . No, it doesn’t completely replace real cheese, but I like the flavors and the protein and the lower fat content. [i.e. less guilt].

11. A Sunday where I read only the comics. Done! 

12. Two new biscuit recipes. Sweet potato biscuits and savory herb biscuits. As I usually do, I improvised by adding cinnamon, allspice, vanilla, and maple syrup to the sweet potato version. My starting point is usually Bert Greene’s  half-white flour, half whole wheat Sky High Biscuits recipe from The Grains Cookbook.

I opted for bite-size for more concentrated flavors…and less guilt.

[Same calories….but less guilt.]

 

 

My weekend of retirement…left to chance–Round 3

Here is my itinerary for the weekend…

Do Something Dice.

Roll for your next adventure.

According to this roll of the dice, over the next two days**, I should aim to:

1. Visit a museum.
2. Dessert. I can live with that.
3. Running. [Perfect. We just adopted an Aussie Shepherd who seems to prefer a higher gear than we’re used to.
4. Comedy [Time to pull out Dave or Ghostbusters.

How did I do last weekend? Grade: D

1. The whole weekend was redirected to adopting and acclimating Buddy the Aussie Shepherd.

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**I actually count Friday afternoon as the beginning of each retirement weekend.

Retirement Stepping Stone 18: Sadness can intervene.

During my year, I lost a relative and our beloved dog.

No fun…just when I was settling in a bit to my new chapter.

How to deal with sadness?

Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings blog reviews Michael Rosen’s Sad Book. 

The book’s and the review’s main points really hit home.

From Popova: Rosen welcomes the layers of grief, each unmasking a different shade of sadness — sadness that sneaks up on you mid-stride in the street; sadness that lurks as a backdrop to the happiest of moments…

From the author: Really I’m sad but pretending I’m happy.
I’m doing this because I think people won’t like me if I look sad.

Take a look. We’re all in this living drama together.

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Note: I retired for twelve months and learned plenty. I’ll be posting at least one stepping stone per week. Each of these lessons or impressions from that year off will constitute a mini-chapter in my book-in-progress. [Yes, that’s one of my unfinished projects. ;->]

The above links are not affiliate links.

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I’m also looking at setting up an online community.
If you’re interested…

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Sharing Your Retirement With a New Family Member [10 Reasons Why]

Tried to adopt last August but that one didn’t work out.

DUF [Dog Under Foot] showed up at a Senior Dog Rescue of Oregon pet adoption event two days ago. We were there only to accompany friends in their search, as we had postponed our search…until we looked into this seven-year-old’s eyes.

So, why not share retirement years with a guy like DUF? [Note: Official name not determined till my wife comes home from work.]

I could prattle on forever about a dog’s benefits, but I’ll let U.S. News do that for me.

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Note: I retired for twelve months and learned plenty. I’ll aim to post at least one stepping stone per week. Each of these lessons or impressions from that year off will constitute a mini-chapter of my book-in-progress.

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Along with my book-in-progress, I’m also looking at setting up an online community.
If you’re interested… [Honest! I’m scaling back my ‘shiny objects’ list!]

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Yes, keep me updated!

 

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My Retirement Book: Some hobbies require careful consideration.

Face it. You won’t stand a chance against
this millennium’s onslaught of drones.

 

Here are a few ideas for hobbies during retirement.

[Note: Aeronautics is not on the list. ;->]

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Today’s post is an excerpt from a draft of my tongue-in-cheek book on retirement.
I’m also looking at setting up an online community.
If you’re interested…

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My retirement weekend itinerary

Here is my itinerary for the weekend…

This is weekend two of letting the dice decide my fate.

Last week, I started posting photos of what my Do Something Dice suggested I do for fun during the upcoming weekend.

According to this roll of the dice, over the next 2+ days, I should aim to:

1. Attend a live sporting event.
2. Go out to see a movie. In my book, Netflix doesn’t count.
3. Workout at a gym. [Sorry, the garage with my exerbike and resistance bands is my ‘gym’.]
4. Dine at a fancy restaurant.

I’m most interested in our choice of restaurants and which movie we will choose to see. It’s been years since we went to the local cinema.

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**I actually count Friday afternoon as the beginning of each retirement weekend.

My weekend of retirement…left to chance–Round 2

Here is my itinerary for the weekend…

Do Something Dice.

Roll for your next adventure.

According to this roll of the dice, over the next two days**, I should aim to:

1. Go to a sporting event. [Maybe I’ll stop for five minutes at a high school soccer game en route to our fancy restaurant–die #4.]
2. Go out to a movie. [Netflix at home doesn’t count. Will probably see what’s at the Darkside Cinema.]
3. Go to a fitness club. [Sorry, not going to join one just because some silly wooden cube is telling me to. My garage works just fine, and for less cash, as a fitness club, though I haven’t yet installed my juice bar or sauna…]
4. Fancy restaurant. Hmmmm…Taco Vino [tonight’s plan] doesn’t quite qualify. Maybe I’ll order their gourmet plate [if they have one].

How did I do last weekend? Grade: D

1. Go running. [How about walk and waddle?]
2. Visit a museum. [I looked up the best online museums to visit. Yes, it’s cheating. But I didn’t get to those either.]
3. Listen to live music. [Meant to find some downtown buskers, though Imagine Coffee has someone almost every night. Will try that again.]
4. Order or make pizza. [I made a Serbian flatbread–lepinja–that served quite capably as a pizza. 

 

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**I actually count Friday afternoon as the beginning of each retirement weekend.