Nerdy Thoughts

Woke up at 6:30. Took Bella out, showered, and fed us all. Bella was whining while I was in the shower, but then she fell asleep while I was getting dressed.

I've decided that I should read my trust books before telling the trust that I want to manage the money myself. So I need to make time for reading this long weekend. (It's the Memorial Day holiday on Monday in the US.)

I was wondering if I should replace my personal laptop (it's several years old), but I shouldn't spend money just because I can. I did find one that I like though. Hmm.

Oliver and Lily are looking out the upstairs window, twitching their tails in unison :)

I went with Bella to take a nap, but Oliver was lying on the bed. I removed him because he and Bella will squabble. Bad Mommy! Bella was barking at the door for no apparent reason. I finally let her out. Then she was quiet.

I got contacted about a fraudulent transaction on my Capital One debit card. Sigh. I don't know how someone got the card number.

I'm mulling over my ethics in investing. There is an ETF that invests in data centers, more of which will be built for AI. But that's a negative environmental impact. Should I make money from damaging the environment?

They let us leave work early due to the holiday. I had just finished the task that I was working on, so that worked out well. I took Bella out, and apparently I missed throwing out one of the plastic pots that the plants came in, and Bella was having a great time playing with it. I didn’t have the heart to throw it out.

zhelana mentioned that she bought her dog a small pool for hot summer days, and that sounded like a good idea, so I got Bella one. I hope that she likes it.

I got my new Brooklinen towels, and oh, are they soft and luxurious. I’m tempted to get another set while the Memorial Day sale is still on (done).

Celebrated the holiday weekend with a nap. Overslept and slept until 8 PM. Ow, my knee hurts.

Fed us all. The can of Bella’s food that I opened had liquefied food, and Bella wouldn’t eat it, so I gave her a new can of it.

I’m thinking of going back to sleep. I want to get outside tomorrow before my pedicure appointment. I need to submit a Walmart order and Lowe’s order first though (done).

Note to self: Pedicure Saturday at 5 PM. Bring trust book.

Woke up at 6:30 AM. I was out with Bella when I realized that I hadn’t put my clothes in the dryer. Came in and did so, but it’ll take a while, so I’ll have to take my shower at lunchtime. Decided to go back to sleep for a half hour. It's a rainy, dreary day.

The recycling people didn't take my boxes, probably because it was raining. They left a mess, so I'll need to go out and drag the boxes back into the yard. Bah.

Forgot to mention that I bought a book on Medicare that I need to read. And my trust books.

I've got a paper trading account set up on Schwab, although they don't make it easy to find. I'll start following my dad's system next week.

I had an appointment to take Zara to the vet. When I went in her room, Oliver tried to come in and then Oliver and Bella were fighting outside the door. That freaked Zara out, and she retreated to the closet whenever I went near her. I called the vet, and have a new appointment for next Tuesday. Next time, I'll corral Oliver, Lily, and Bella before I try to get Zara.

I read an article in the BBC about the health benefits of saunas, including reducing the severity of tension headaches, which I get a lot. I’m looking for a sauna in the area but am having no luck. The big gym at the university has one, but I just read a comment about how they don’t keep the gym clean, which doesn’t make me want to go there. The YMCA has one. Maybe when my required membership at the university gym is up, I’ll try there. The membership at the uni gym was a minimum of four months, so it should be over soon if not already. I guess that my next step is to check the date and visit the YMCA to see if I want to switch there. Oh! It has a lap pool! And they have swim lessons! And a "gentle yoga" class! And an indoor walking track! And "learn to play pickleball" in the fall! Okay, I want to join the YMCA (joined). I need to cancel my uni gym membership.

I'm thinking of looking for a part-time job at one of the local public libraries when I retire. It would be fun and bring in a little money.

I've been bouncing back and forth from my work area upstairs to the kitchen. I'm processing videos at work, so I set one off for processing, went downstairs and worked on the kitchen, came back up to process videos, etc. I did get some cleaning done on the kitchen. The boxes are flattened.

Cleaned up the boxes outside. I have a video processing. If it's done after I post, I'll move it to the next step. Otherwise, I'll finish up tomorrow. Okay, I got the second video uploaded. I don't have the energy to start video 3. I'll work on it tomorrow.

Woke up at 6:30 AM.

I had an online seminar at work given by a committee for which I'm a liaison, so that took up at lot of my day. Otherwise, I've been discussing retirement with my dad. (I asked him how he decided when to retire.) My dad also thinks that I should "paper trade" his investment system until I get the money from the trust. I need to write the trust about wanting the money, but I've been dreading the explosion.

I was discussing with my dad things that I want to do in retirement, and learn photography is one of them. I ran across a photography tour of Yosemite, which would check two things off of my list---photography and seeing Yosemite.

My list: Mostly learning things. I wanted to learn how to do Web programming, but the classes at the U of I were too fast-paced, so I want to work on it at my pace, and maybe volunteer to do Web site work for non-profits. Also, work on programming for mobile devices. Learn more about economics. Work on my languages (Italian and French). The big thing that I want to do is spend a year studying Italian in Italy (and possibly French as well). Learn singing (I belong to a chorus), piano, and guitar. Garden. I don't have a plan for a part-time job but am open to one. Basically doing stuff that I'm already doing but with more time to do it. Oh, and start writing again (a mix of non-fiction and poetry). And I want to learn to write songs. I want to write humorous songs about getting older and post them on YouTube. And learn photography. I have a lot of resources about it, but haven't had the time to put into it.

My therapist said that Obamacare gets more expensive as you get older, and COBRA is expensive, so I should wait until I'm eligible for Medicare to retire (2.5 years). I need to learn more about it. I think that Fidelity has a webinar about Medicare that I'll look for.

Got the recycling out, including a ton of plant boxes that were on the porch. I have more boxes inside, but I’ll get them out next week. I strained my knee in taking out the recycling, sigh. I need replacement parts :)

I forgot to mention that I received more plants. The ferns for my shade garden look like happy little plants.

Speaking of dogs, I sent an inquiry about a poodle mix. We'll see what happens. He's a real cutie.

Woke up a little before my alarm at 8 AM. Bella pooped outside again, so I cracked the code.

I’m really not feeling the trip to Allerton for flower arranging. I want to stay home with my dog and cats and plant plants in the garden. Anyway, I need to feed the critters (done) and take a shower. If I’m not going to Allerton, I think that I’ll take a nap.

Put my tomato plants outside for the Buy Nothing person. It sucks that I can’t grow tomatoes, but I don’t trust Bella. Maybe when I have a high raised bed, I could grow some.

Had a nice nap. Overslept a little. Ate lunch.

Now I’m out in the yard. I tried my new weeding tools and one of them, Grandpa’s weeding tool, works. The big weeds need multiple tries though. Bella is having a great time playing with the pots that the plants came in. I’ve planted some herbs, but I think that I’ll need more dirt to plant strawberries. That little snot Bella grabbed one of my basils and tore it apart. I guess that I need a new basil. Sigh. She also dug up a coral bell that I planted. Hmm. Basil online comes in multipacks. I’ll have to go to Walmart or Lowe’s or Home Depot. Well, I had a little problem. My strawberries didn’t fit in the strawberry pot. I planted two in there, four in another pot, and four in a small pot. Now I’m trying to plant some irises, and Bella keeps on stealing them.

Now I need to clean up and water the plants (done, but I forgot to water the tickseed). I have only the tickseed and Japanese Spirea left to plant.

Fed us all. Bella “said” she wanted to go outside afterwards, but so far, she hasn’t done her business.

I'm beat. I made an appointment to bring the Honda in to be looked at. That will be Friday because I'm going to have a busy week.

I'm going to go to bed soon. Oh, I need to send an email to the Italian school because they haven't responded to me.