I found a book on Costa Rica (by Nel Yomtov) from my favorite series (Enchantment of the World) and learned a few more interesting things!

Indigenous population: There's a site where as many as ten thousand people lived between 1000 BCE and 1500 CE with paved streets, bridges, and a large system of aqueducts.

Walker: He proposed the the US ( Read more... )

This year my homeowner's insurance went up 9.5%. Unless you count the new installment fees ($2/month); then it's 12%. And last year it went up 18%, but at least that year they also raised my limits. So I called ( Read more... )

Now that I'm retired, I can wear pretty much anything I want. But what would I most like to wear?

Currently, I'm wearing jeans or shorts and t-shirts, mostly because they are the clothes I like that I couldn't wear to work. But maybe I can find something more flattering and/or more fun.

PracticalAbove all, it has to be practical. I realized ( Read more... )

So, I showed up for my dentist appointment this afternoon and they told me that I was a week early. However, one of the assistants (not my usual one) was available if I would like to have my appointment today after all. (And she convincingly said she liked staying busy and was glad I was there ( Read more... )

I got an interesting letter in the mail today from my pension fund. It says that due to changes in the 2016 federal income tax withholding tables, my net pension amount will increase next year ( Read more... )

Robin recommended some novels based in Thailand by Timothy Hallinan. He'd just bought his own copies, so I started reading. But I accidentally started reading "Crashed" first, which is set in Los Angeles and turns out to be a whole different series (the Junior Bender mysteries ( Read more... )

I think I'm finally getting to the point where I can deliberately add fixed activities to my schedule and then look forward to them instead of feel stressed by them. Until very recently (perhaps two weeks ago?), I really didn't want anything on my schedule except Sunday brunch (and maybe Spanish class ( Read more... )

R: Look, there's a river [beside the road].

me: I'd call that a creek. Creeks dry up between rains.

R: "Between rains"? What's that?

me: That's a thing we used to have in the olden days.

**

Actually, we have been getting respites between the rains. Our current respite feels like a steam bath. Only maybe not as hot, since it's still only ( Read more... )

Sometimes we have different words for the same thing based on whether the living creature is still using it or whether people are using it. For example ( Read more... )

Dear Companies ( Read more... )