Leaving Los Copa
It's one of those crazy fall days where it's up to almost 80 degrees outside. I don't mind it so much. I know it's going to be one of the last tastes of warm weather. I went to the arboretum on lunch to enjoy it for a bit, though the sun was quite warm and I think I got a bit of a burn.
When it comes to fall walks, I do prefer a bit of an overcast day. I feel like it makes the autumn colors in the landscape shine a little brighter. The leaves from some trees were dropping like rain. I did notice a lot of the oaks there were very colored up and looking good. For whatever reason, the oaks on our property seem to take forever to change. Add to that the fact some of the oaks hold onto their leaves throughout the winter. Our shagbark hickories are looking brilliant though, vibrant yellows with some orange.
When I was out planting those autumn ferns the other day I was underneath the ones out front and there had to have been ten thousand pieces of husk and shell from the hickory nuts the squirrels have devoured. I'd intended on finding an intact one so I could stick it in the ground in back and hopefully in about thirty years have a shagbark off the north side of the patio.
My big work project for the day was to get the Woman's Clinic moving with eFax. But, either the main doctor isn't in today or she saw what the monthly cost was and is putting the process on hold. Because of my anticipation of dealing with this, which I feel is a project they should be doing on their own and not involving me, I haven't done much else. They are real penny pinchers there, yet they'll put something like this on my plate when the office manager could easily do 90% of the process without me. But, whatever.
Because I am taking Monday and Tuesday off I need to get my time for the month done by Friday. The warm weather and sunshine outside the open window is not helping motivation levels in that arena either.
We spent a bulk of last evening watching this YouTuber we discovered two or three Christmases ago. He's this older gent from Florida and his channel is called 'My Take On Home And Garden'. His Christmas videos were just ridiculous. He and his wife are "maximalists" so the entire house is filled to capacity with stuff. And I want to say he had anywhere from 5 to 15 Christmas trees. Every one of them decorated in total excess. It was almost too much to look at. I am pretty sure he has Italian in him, and his stuff reminds me very much of visiting one of my aunts on my dad's side growing up who was very, VERY Italian.
I just happened upon him again the other day, and he has all kinds of table decorating, home tour and cooking videos. He actually seems like a very sweet man, which I think is what is drawing me into viewing more of his content. Comically, I cannot believe he is not gay. He talks gay. He decorates gay. I've never seen any straight man as into making bouquets and changing bedspreads as this guy is. But, he's had his wife on camera before so I know it's true. I guess the world is filled with all kinds of people, so good on him.
He did a dining room table setup in the "Dark Academia" style for Halloween. We've been mocking said style for months, but secretly I do love it. And his table looked damn good. He ended the video with a cape and some vampire teeth, and again he was just adorable in that old queen kind of way. Even if he isn't an old queen.
I suppose I was just in the mood for that type of stuff what with my thinking about Thanksgiving dinners and such yesterday.
I reviewed my current 401K this morning and was shocked to see it had jumped back up after losing close to 30K the past two years. It's still not where it was, but I ended up going out there and readjusting things sort of along the lines of Dave Ramsey's suggestions on what funds to invest in. I noticed some of the more aggressive funds had major growth recently.
I have another old IRA that used to be my 401K from my job at the Circus eons ago. Sadly, that one was barely at 100K, and in the past few years dropped below 70K. The Boss suggested to me a long while back during the fake pandemic that I should cash the thing out and put it toward our mortgage goals. I wish I would have back then, because it was still at 78K at the time. The losses incurred since would have paid the penalties and taxes on the cash out. If we did cash it out now, based on very, very loose math, it would move our payoff date for the house to 2026, provided we upped the principle payments like I still want to.
The Sicilian messaged me on Friday and told me he and his partner made their final payment on their mortgage that day. I not only feel happy for him, but quite egotistically proud because I was the one that really lit a fire under his ass to do this. And now it has stoked the fire under my own butt about getting ours paid off sooner than humanly possible. Not only for the relief or the extra money or the glory of being able to say we did it, but also so we can start really investing into retirement. Which, if I was following Ramsey's rules, I would already be doing. Probably not my smartest choice in not following that rule.
I am a very impatient man, and I don't want to wait another 4 years to be mortgage free. Over the past 6 or 7 years, I have done miracles as far as paying off the old debt I had as well as the Jeep (three years early). We got damned lucky on the profit from my old house and because of the Sparrow's penny-pinching we were able to make huge lump sum payments on the mortgage early on. We are in that period of leveling off now where we are doing what we can, and I am looking to squeeze blood from a turnip to do more.
How much more life can we sacrifice right now to have a bigger dream in the future? Perhaps with winter coming, we can make some of those sacrifices. Though, with the shorter days and staying in more often comes the balancing of the financial scales as the cost of energy goes up just to survive the cold.
As it is right now, with the nights in the 40s, I've got the thermostat down to 60 degrees while we are sleeping. I know the Sparrow hates it and is suffering silently. Every once in a while he'll comment on being freezing in bed. Of course, I am sweating my ass off even in 60 degrees because I've always got at least two cats on top of me.
Actually, another strange thing that happens these days. Back in 2021, really starting at the end of 2020, I had a horrendous case of sciatic. I eventually went to a chiropractor. That's a whole other story because that woman actually prolonged my issues by over extending my leg trying to stretch me out, because I don't think she believed the level of pain I was in (and was mad I'd done some self-diagnosis on the Internet).
Anyway, I recovered over time, but to this day when I first lay in bed at night my feet start burning up. They get so hot I have to stick them out from under the sheets because it is almost unbearable. And I read that this is likely due to pressure on my sciatic nerve. I dread the day that ailment returns.
Though, I was quite shocked to read that it seems twice in my past I suffered from slight bouts of the issue. I had no memory of it till I reread my journal. Of course, compared to how excruciating the flare up in 2021 was, I am guessing the previous ones were so forgettable because they were brief. I was in literal tears and often left to lay on the floor in pain my recent condition was so sever. Made worse when I was sitting. So working and driving became total torture.
It has since had me thinking about getting one of those desks that goes from normal to a standing desk with the push of a button. Add that to the never ending list of things that need to be purchased.
When it comes to fall walks, I do prefer a bit of an overcast day. I feel like it makes the autumn colors in the landscape shine a little brighter. The leaves from some trees were dropping like rain. I did notice a lot of the oaks there were very colored up and looking good. For whatever reason, the oaks on our property seem to take forever to change. Add to that the fact some of the oaks hold onto their leaves throughout the winter. Our shagbark hickories are looking brilliant though, vibrant yellows with some orange.
When I was out planting those autumn ferns the other day I was underneath the ones out front and there had to have been ten thousand pieces of husk and shell from the hickory nuts the squirrels have devoured. I'd intended on finding an intact one so I could stick it in the ground in back and hopefully in about thirty years have a shagbark off the north side of the patio.
My big work project for the day was to get the Woman's Clinic moving with eFax. But, either the main doctor isn't in today or she saw what the monthly cost was and is putting the process on hold. Because of my anticipation of dealing with this, which I feel is a project they should be doing on their own and not involving me, I haven't done much else. They are real penny pinchers there, yet they'll put something like this on my plate when the office manager could easily do 90% of the process without me. But, whatever.
Because I am taking Monday and Tuesday off I need to get my time for the month done by Friday. The warm weather and sunshine outside the open window is not helping motivation levels in that arena either.
We spent a bulk of last evening watching this YouTuber we discovered two or three Christmases ago. He's this older gent from Florida and his channel is called 'My Take On Home And Garden'. His Christmas videos were just ridiculous. He and his wife are "maximalists" so the entire house is filled to capacity with stuff. And I want to say he had anywhere from 5 to 15 Christmas trees. Every one of them decorated in total excess. It was almost too much to look at. I am pretty sure he has Italian in him, and his stuff reminds me very much of visiting one of my aunts on my dad's side growing up who was very, VERY Italian.
I just happened upon him again the other day, and he has all kinds of table decorating, home tour and cooking videos. He actually seems like a very sweet man, which I think is what is drawing me into viewing more of his content. Comically, I cannot believe he is not gay. He talks gay. He decorates gay. I've never seen any straight man as into making bouquets and changing bedspreads as this guy is. But, he's had his wife on camera before so I know it's true. I guess the world is filled with all kinds of people, so good on him.
He did a dining room table setup in the "Dark Academia" style for Halloween. We've been mocking said style for months, but secretly I do love it. And his table looked damn good. He ended the video with a cape and some vampire teeth, and again he was just adorable in that old queen kind of way. Even if he isn't an old queen.
I suppose I was just in the mood for that type of stuff what with my thinking about Thanksgiving dinners and such yesterday.
I reviewed my current 401K this morning and was shocked to see it had jumped back up after losing close to 30K the past two years. It's still not where it was, but I ended up going out there and readjusting things sort of along the lines of Dave Ramsey's suggestions on what funds to invest in. I noticed some of the more aggressive funds had major growth recently.
I have another old IRA that used to be my 401K from my job at the Circus eons ago. Sadly, that one was barely at 100K, and in the past few years dropped below 70K. The Boss suggested to me a long while back during the fake pandemic that I should cash the thing out and put it toward our mortgage goals. I wish I would have back then, because it was still at 78K at the time. The losses incurred since would have paid the penalties and taxes on the cash out. If we did cash it out now, based on very, very loose math, it would move our payoff date for the house to 2026, provided we upped the principle payments like I still want to.
The Sicilian messaged me on Friday and told me he and his partner made their final payment on their mortgage that day. I not only feel happy for him, but quite egotistically proud because I was the one that really lit a fire under his ass to do this. And now it has stoked the fire under my own butt about getting ours paid off sooner than humanly possible. Not only for the relief or the extra money or the glory of being able to say we did it, but also so we can start really investing into retirement. Which, if I was following Ramsey's rules, I would already be doing. Probably not my smartest choice in not following that rule.
I am a very impatient man, and I don't want to wait another 4 years to be mortgage free. Over the past 6 or 7 years, I have done miracles as far as paying off the old debt I had as well as the Jeep (three years early). We got damned lucky on the profit from my old house and because of the Sparrow's penny-pinching we were able to make huge lump sum payments on the mortgage early on. We are in that period of leveling off now where we are doing what we can, and I am looking to squeeze blood from a turnip to do more.
How much more life can we sacrifice right now to have a bigger dream in the future? Perhaps with winter coming, we can make some of those sacrifices. Though, with the shorter days and staying in more often comes the balancing of the financial scales as the cost of energy goes up just to survive the cold.
As it is right now, with the nights in the 40s, I've got the thermostat down to 60 degrees while we are sleeping. I know the Sparrow hates it and is suffering silently. Every once in a while he'll comment on being freezing in bed. Of course, I am sweating my ass off even in 60 degrees because I've always got at least two cats on top of me.
Actually, another strange thing that happens these days. Back in 2021, really starting at the end of 2020, I had a horrendous case of sciatic. I eventually went to a chiropractor. That's a whole other story because that woman actually prolonged my issues by over extending my leg trying to stretch me out, because I don't think she believed the level of pain I was in (and was mad I'd done some self-diagnosis on the Internet).
Anyway, I recovered over time, but to this day when I first lay in bed at night my feet start burning up. They get so hot I have to stick them out from under the sheets because it is almost unbearable. And I read that this is likely due to pressure on my sciatic nerve. I dread the day that ailment returns.
Though, I was quite shocked to read that it seems twice in my past I suffered from slight bouts of the issue. I had no memory of it till I reread my journal. Of course, compared to how excruciating the flare up in 2021 was, I am guessing the previous ones were so forgettable because they were brief. I was in literal tears and often left to lay on the floor in pain my recent condition was so sever. Made worse when I was sitting. So working and driving became total torture.
It has since had me thinking about getting one of those desks that goes from normal to a standing desk with the push of a button. Add that to the never ending list of things that need to be purchased.