Category: General (Page 33 of 64)

We have accumulated a few photos of pets and Pam’s “project.” This week I’ll look into a few topics related to these photos.

First up are a couple recent photos of our oldest dog, Blondie. She has always had a habit of sitting up on her hind legs:

We call this her “prairie dog” or “circus dog” stance and Blondie assumes it quite often.  I’ve only seen one other dog do this, but it must be more common than that. She can hold this pose for up to a minute.

And the other evening Blondie was taking a nap on the couch when I approached with my camera:

I don’t know if she was giving me the “evil eye” for disturbing her or exactly what that expression is supposed to mean. She went back to sleep a few minutes later.

Pam started working on cleaning the closet in the third bedroom, a room currently housing cats, cat pens and collected cat stuff. Photo albums that Pam had assembled for Felicity’s childhood-through-high-school-graduation years were unboxed after seventeen years of storage and relocated. The goal (at some point) is to permanently deliver these albums to Felicity in the Pacific Northwest.

Pam says she will be going through closets for the rest of the summer.

Yesterday we had snow flurries; last night ice formed on the back deck cat’s water dish. We hope the flowers and tree buds didn’t get whacked too hard by these cold temps. Today is bright but chilly. A few cold days – low of 24 is forecast for next Tuesday – are upcoming next week. That’s Spring in Colorado, last week we enjoyed several days in the 70s.

The town did turn on our irrigation water system but may shut it down again to avoid damage from  freezing. The ground is dry, even with some rain last week, and mountain snow levels  (which affect our summertime water supply) are down almost 20 percent from normal. It may be a hot and dry year for the high desert.

On tap for today: Swap the snow blade for the mower deck on the John Deere garden tractor. Grocery shopping later in the day. Weed-wacking around the edges of the lawn, garage, and house. Change oil and filter in the Honda. All pretty routine tasks.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

By request, included below are photos of Mary Lynn’s Memorial Garden.  At present, 90+ tulips have broken ground, about 25% are currently in bloom.  I did plant early, middle, and late bloomers to try to extend the color in that bed. Several iris plants overwintered in the same bed for variety.

Spring – the time of new growth and new birth. Mother Nature had another Spring surprise for me last weekend.  After a very stormy and windy night Saturday into Sunday, I checked feral cat feeders on Sunday morning for food supply levels. When I heard tiny mewing sounds, I knew the feeder area in the garage was now the home of newborn kittens – somewhere.  Four babies and Mom Scoobie were in one of the cat bedding crates.  Moving the little family from the garage — inside to the third bedroom — was a bit of a production number, but finally all was satisfactorily accomplished.  I wasn’t planning on foster litter #29 (or maybe any litters this summer – ha, ha on me) until after returning from our planned trip to the Midwest in early May. Luckily one of my neighbors, who feeds our cats and watches the house when we are on vacation, is comfortable feeding and cleaning up after a feral mom cat and litter.

Happy Trails.

I’m feeling better. Apparently the reaction I had to the new med (gemfibrozil) was a series of muscle spasms in my lower back. More than a week after discontinuing the med I still have a back ache; it’s not severe enough to keep me from going to work and is getting less and less noticeable as the days go by. Won’t go there again!

I was able to finish the shower faucet repair. I replaced the fitting that the shower head pipe fits into; I am not sure if the old fitting went bad or had just worked loose. At any rate, I replacing the fitting and tube that runs from the shower head to the faucet assembly. This  resulted in a non-leaking installation. We are glad to have the main shower back in operation!.

Here are a few photos of various plumbing bits and pieces involved with the repair.

When I removed the old line I had tied a cord to the fitting (from the shower side) and pulled the old line out the access hole. I then attached the new line and pulled the cord to get the fitting back up behind the shower and back through the shower head opening. This actually worked better than I expected.

This closes out the “shower from hell” episode; the new faucet does not drip and works smoother than the unit it replaced. Even with the expense of specialized tools and parts it was cheaper to do this myself as opposed to calling a plumber.

Today is wet and overcast; we are getting some much needed rain but it does put a bit of a crimp in outdoor activities. Several tulips are blooming and trees, including the cherry tree and lilacs, are budding out. I hope we don’t get a late freeze as we would like to see as many flowers as possible this spring.

Some strong winds did come through and I had to get on the roof to remove some dead branches that had blown down from one of our cottonwood trees. I’ll try to get those to the compost area today along with the first of the grass clippings from the lawn.

Pam has completed the first week of her “retirement” and worked on several projects both inside and outside the house. Inside she started going through closets and sorting out stuff  (like photo albums, some to be delivered to the kids) and it looks like closet organization + recycle will be an ongoing project for the summer. Outside jobs included working on the corner of our lawn near the new tulip bed. She installed some lawn edging and transplanted some hollyhock plants, while also continuing to remove mulch from beds around the house. Pam has a list of projects to keep her busy.

I’m getting used to commuting by myself. Some mornings I really don’t feel like getting out of bed when the house is dark and quiet, however.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Four Cents Worth:

The tulip bed is at about 90% bulbs germinated, but the tulips that have started to flower are pygmy-sized.  I’m holding off on photos of Mary Lynn’s Memorial Garden until the tulips fill in and grow taller. Hopefully, both will happen after this rain we’ve been enjoying.

Being OCD, I decided to make a weekly list of things to do to guide me through my first weeks and months of “unemployment.” I feel perfectly free to pick and choose what I want to do on this list; if something doesn’t get done then something moves to next week.  (This week, one outside project needed to be moved forward due to wind and weather.) I do believe the closet purge project will be ongoing, but no pressure.

I make sure to find opportunities to read, play the uke, and spend time outside with the dogs. Not to mention sleeping later in the morning.  Some transitions are funny, like realizing I can wear all my clothes now and not keep some of them “nice” for work.  I wonder if I will forget how to apply makeup in a few months?

While monitoring online houses for sale (the retirement house hunt continues), I found a stunning mansion along the Mississippi River at 11 Park Place Keokuk, Iowa.

More square footage and taxes than we would ever consider, but it ticks me off the price of this lovely historic property (with a view of Lock & Dam 19) is about the same as this dumpy trailer we now live in.  Gr-r-r-r-r.

Happy Trails.

 

This post includes news on health issues; it might get boring.

I am on medication for Type-2 diabetes and it was time for my annual check-up. The doctor decided to change my prescription a bit and added a triglyceride-reducing compound called gemfibrozil. I had a severe reaction to this addition; after three days of discontinuing any medication I can barely walk, even after taking a prescription pain medication that consists of Tylenol and codeine. Sitting is not too bad but getting up and down is difficult — and forget about bending over for anything. I am hurting and it shows. I’ve missed a couple days of work so far and may miss more.

The forced idleness is also hard to take as there is so much to be done this time of year. I have not finished “the shower from hell;” once I got the compression ring in place a leak developed behind the shower head and I have not had a chance to pull it out and complete the repair. For another week we are using the small “coffin” shower in the other bathroom.

The lawn is about ready for a first mowing; it gets “tufts” that are longer and makes the lawn look a bit ragged until I can get it mowed.

Last weekend I had moved the RV trailer, chipper, and utility trailer from our neighbor’s yard to ours and all items need attention to get them ready for summer use. The RV is sitting out on our driveway, partially blocking access to the garage so getting a car in and out is a bit of a challenge. I am frustrated that I can’t get out and work on these tasks!

The other big news is that Pam has (more or less) retired. Or, as she says, is now “unemployed” until she applies for her pension at the end of the year. Her final day of work at the community college was last Thursday. Over the course of her dozen-plus years she evaluated 17,029 incoming student transcripts. Her section took Pam out to lunch and presented her with a few small gifts. My guess is that Pam will be greatly missed in the next several weeks!

That’s it for now.  Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

It feels mighty strange realizing I don’t have to pack all my weekend activities into the weekends any more. I suspect having the luxury of time will be a learning curve for me.

Felicity has suggested I consider joining her in England this Fall for a vacation, to dovetail with a several-month house sit she has arranged.  This prospect is very attractive, but highly dependent on how the new budget I’ve figured out in theory actually works in fact. Still, I sometimes get caught up in “what ifs” and daydream about locations I might like to see on a return visit to the U.K.  On one of my internet searches, I came across a lovely high tea table (in Scotland!), complete with champagne.  Love it. Something to ponder.

Happy Trails.

 

I have several small items to report on this week, including a plumbing horror story and receiving two new household items.

Last time I noted I needed to change out the tub/shower faucet in our main bathroom. I knew this would be a nasty job, as the working area is very small and this place uses plastic plumbing (which requires specialized tools I do not own).

For starters, access to the back of the shower in the main bathroom is through a closet in the master bathroom:

In this photo you can see more of the plastic lines and fittings:

Note that in this photo the line running up to the shower head is disconnected. The reason:  I had to order a crimp tool and crimp rings to make the connection water-tight. I tried other methods, including small hose clamps, but could not keep the top fitting from leaking. The crimp tool and rings are on order from Amazon and should be here in a few days. Hopefully I will be able to finish this job once those items have arrived.

In the interim we have been using the shower in the master bathroom. This one we call “The Coffin” as it isn’t much more than an RV shower, very small. It needed some work (hasn’t been  used except for storage in years), particularly on the hot water side, but thankfully I’d accumulated enough small parts to make the repair. I hope in my next post I’ll be able to report a completion to this whole episode!

A few other upgrades were completed this week. We’ve been talking about getting a bulk water dispenser for awhile, to help save costs and reduce the amount of plastic we recycle. Pam uses bottled water for a variety of cooking purposes, plus as drinking water for the indoor cats and dogs. I drink bottled water while commuting and when I’m out on ATV and motorcycle trips. Bottled jug water runs about a dollar a gallon (and includes a lot of plastic recycle), refilled bulk water is thirty-nine cents a gallon locally.

Looking on-line, I found a unit that appeared to would fit our needs. Brand is Primo and the dispenser is available from a few different sources; Pam had a discount coupon from Bed, Bath, and Beyond so we ordered the Primo through them. Our local grocery store carries the empty jugs (5 gallon) so I bought one and filled it. Here is what the working dispenser looks like:

We calculate the savings in water cost will pay for the dispenser in 3 – 4 months.

Another household upgrade involved replacing our aging Hoover vacuum cleaner. While it still works, and we still have a few bags for it, the vac is definitely on the way out. Pam has commented — more than once! — that she would like to try a Dyson [animal hair] vac because of the amount of dog and cat hair that accumulates in our house. (3 dogs, 6 cats) Newegg Company, known for their lines of electronic and computer gear, put out a sales bulletin that featured  refurbished Dyson vacs so I ordered one. This is one of the “ball” vacuums (a bagless model) that Dyson is known for:

In its first use the Dyson picked up quite a bit of material and seems to be easy to maneuver around furniture. Here’s hoping this investment gives us good service for a long time.

A rain/snow mix is in the forecast for today along with several upcoming nights below freezing, but generally the weather is typical for this time of year and during the next week conditions will improve. Buds are beginning to appear on the lilac trees and I look forward to seeing those blossoms, providing a late freeze does not wipe them out (as it unfortunately did last year).

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Woo-hoo — the 100 tulip bed (AKA Mary Lynn’s Memorial Garden) now has about 60-65 bulbs total poking through. Much as I suspected, when I walk to that end of the lawn to check on bulb growth, it usually triggers a wave of sadness. I miss my friend and frequently ponder her loss.  Grieving is a tricky thing.

Happy Trails.

 

 

I’m going to start with something old, going back to the fall of 2009. Pam and I had stayed at a bed and Breakfast in Estes Park with the aim of spotting some of the area’s elk. I was able to get a 32 second clip (using my Flip recorder) of a bull elk calling for his harem. There is wind noise on the video but if you listen carefully you can hear the elk bugling.

[cincopa A4KACNuZi8HD]

Elk bugling is an annual event that draws many visitors to the Estes Park area every fall.

Moving ahead to now…

We have begun taking mulch off the flower beds as both iris plants and tulips are displaying a few inches of growth. While we expect more winter weather, the forecast is to have a 70 degree day this next Wednesday. Many nights are staying above freezing so it is time for the mulch to come off.

I drove up to Sanderling on Sunday just to check out the shed and utility trailer. I also wanted to see how much snow was left on the place. (Not much, soil appears fairly dry.) Temperature got up to 41 degrees but a chilly wind was blowing. I walked parts of The Lot and left some bread products [at different places] we’ve been saving for the chippies and squirrels. It was good to be back in the high country but it will be a while yet before spring reaches those elevations.

Our bath/shower faucet is giving us grief again. The last repair held for a few weeks but the faucet began leaking again. I am going to have to replace the faucet assembly, not a job I am looking forward to mainly due to the cramped quarters and age of the plumbing.

Good news: Pam’s niece Lilly is out of the hospital and beginning her recuperation. We hope this progresses OK but Lilly has been very ill and the healing will take an extended amount of time and effort.

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

The tulips are starting to burst through in the 100 tulip bed.  At about 40-45%  of tulips breaking ground so far, looks like it will be a lovely show.  Bittersweet – every day when I go to check on the progress of the tulips, I think of my friend and how she will be missing spring this year.

House hunt location:  I am currently keying in on Grinnell, Iowa.  Felicity and I did an overnight there when she was scouting college locations (she eventually decided on Beloit College in Wisconsin).  Fields and I are comfortable with the energy and activities (and politics) of college towns.  As luck would have it, there are some lovely older homes at reasonable prices in the Grinnell area. (Also looking at Montezuma, across the interstate and to the south of Grinnell.) We drive by on the interstate on our way to the Midwest in May, so why not stop and look around?  The list of towns to drive through becomes longer each week.

Happy Trails.

 

Wow. It has been a very quiet week for us. Here is a rundown on various items I’ve mentioned in previous posts.

Colds: Both of us are recovering (fewer coughs) but our energy levels are not yet back to 100 percent. After nearly 3 weeks of this, you would think we would be over it but we don’t recover as fast as we did 20 or 30 years ago.

Cats: One of the cats we had taken to the shelter, Fonzie, had to be euthanized as he was diagnosed with having feline leukemia, a fatal disease for cats and contagious. While not a “favorite cat” and just an occasional visitor to the feeding station, it was still sad to have his life end like that. The other cat, Cloudy Day, had a dental and is on a medical treatment plan for a urinary infection. She is not adapting well at the shelter, so is scheduled to return to us when her meds are completed. So much for that cat roundup.

Weather: We have had a few warm days (low 60s yesterday) but are looking at receiving 1 – 3 inches of snow by tomorrow (Sunday) morning. Wind has also been an issue with gusts hitting 40+ mph. On the other hand, a few tulips are beginning to show growth so Spring can’t be that far off.

House hunt: We are tentatively planning a trip to the Midwest in May. We want to check out some territories Pam has identified as potential retirement areas as well as visit family and friends. Pam is currently surveying Iowa along the Mississippi River, and found a house at 500 NW 1st Street  Elkader, IA, 

Another interesting town is Dyersville, Iowa, home to Ertl toys and the baseball field used in the movie “Field of Dreams.”  Although somewhat out of our current price range, we both liked the property at 604 9th Avenue SW in Dyersville.  The house hunt continues — southern Michigan is also on the current radar.

Work: I received a 3 percent pay increase and, while that does not sound like much, it was the maximum allowed by our County Commissioners (who control the County budget). At least it’s something; Pam is moving to part-time hours so we’ll have to see how the budgets work out under that arrangement. I finished the final tweaks on our intranet web page, a 70 hour project that turned out well and with which I am quite pleased. I am now configuring a new “ticket” system that will handle Help Desk requests as well as purchasing requests for the organization. It is a big project.

Speaking of projects: I am “older than dirt” it seems. A local lumber yard used to have a spring sale every year. Pam called them to find out when this year’s sale was scheduled, only to find it had been replaced by “Senior Tuesdays,” where I would qualify for a discount due to my age. Chagrin at being a senior citizen is offset by the savings but that doesn’t seem like an equitable trade-off. However, yard projects await, so I’ll take the 10%.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I’m looking forward to Spring, this year in particular, as I’m interested to see how the 100 tulips I planted in the “Mary Lynn Memorial Garden” will bloom. We always experience two Springs, one here on the high desert and then another in the high country when we open up Sanderling for the season.

Hey [Tabitha’s mother] Deb, wanna weigh in on what it’s like to live in Iowa? Property taxes seem a bit high (a common thread in the Midwest).  Politics seem a bit “red state” (another common thread in the Midwest, sadly…Fields and I are definitely “purple state” material).

Happy Trails.

On Monday I started feeling the effects of a cold; by Wednesday I left work early and stayed home both Thursday and Friday. Unfortunately I passed the cold along to Pam who is now suffering as well.

I am coming out of it, still coughing up crud, and Pam is getting better. Both of us had fever and chills in addition to the sinus draining and coughing.

This does not appear to be the flu that has been so common this year.

We don’t keep a lot of over-the-counter medications on hand to ease cold symptoms so a trip to the local market procured NyQuil, DayQuil, an anti-mucus product, and Tylenol Cold and Flu capsules. Pam had started taking Airborne Vitamin C tablets as soon as I started showing symptoms which may have helped; she seems to be recovering in a shorter time than I. It will be several days yet, I am sure, before we are both completely over this episode.

More winter-like weather has arrived with small amounts of snow every few days. The lawn is white but the streets are clear, although several accidents were observed going to and from work this past week.

Politics: Not a subject I like to address at length, so I’ll just include this bit as it pretty much sums up my point of view:

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Having the time to be sick is a luxury. Maybe retirement will be “luxurious” in this way?

Happy Trails.

Most of the week’s news concerns Pam and her “cat project,” aimed at reducing the number of feral cats in the neighborhood.

Two 5 month old kittens were taken to the shelter for spay/neuter operations and, after a few days of recovery, were re-homed with a friend of Pam’s. The lady needed a couple of barn cats. Initially set up in a large enclosure (with food-water-cat box), this pair will soon call the entire barn their new home.

Another pair of older cats will go into the Rifle Animal Shelter this week. Both are very friendly; we believe they may have been house cats that were dumped when their families left town. Pam has named them Fonzie and Cloudy Day. We hope they find homes with new families who might be interested in an older cat or an indoor-outdoor animal.

So that relocates 4 cats, leaving at least that many more to try to capture and take to the shelter for operations then, probably, release back into the neighborhood. The February round up continues.

Turning to other topics…

We have bald eagles in the area. We see them quite often as we drive to work, perched around a nest near the river,  but the other day one came closer to town. Sitting in a tree near the Colorado River, the eagle flew off as I approached on foot while trying to get a photo. Good to see them at a closer range, though. The bald eagle is an impressive bird.

The Olympics started a few days ago. Mixed curling is an Olympic sport? I don’t mind watching an end or two, but an Olympic sport? A brother/sister team from Madison, WI were the main reason we tuned in to watch. (An “end” in curling is something like an inning in baseball.)

A light snow fell yesterday (stuck to grass but not to streets and sidewalks) which made for a good day to stay inside and watch some of the Olympic events on TV.

Retirement house update:  Pam has begun an initial review of Midwest locations and houses for retirement. Cost of purchasing a house is lower there than Colorado, but other costs (colder winters, higher property taxes) tend to make up for some of the difference. Still, the idea of having a small (or in some cases zero) mortgage payment into retirement is quite appealing and offers us more financial options. I would still have “my” mountains (The Lot @ Sanderling) to come to in the summers. Who knows? The possibility of moving back to the Midwest is not something we’d seriously considered before. But we are more open to the idea after seeing some of the listings, particularly a number of “Grandma houses” that appeal to Pam. (These are older homes with intact woodwork and some include covered porches – also looking for larger lots and trees.) The search continues…

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Nickel’s Worth:

Beginning a housing search in a “new” area that was familiar to us decades ago has its challenges.  We don’t want to move “back” in time to a location where we lived before. At the moment, I’m looking at the lower peninsula of Michigan near the Indiana-Ohio line. Michigan property taxes are on the high end of the spectrum nationally (as are all the Midwest states), but the state has something called a homestead property tax rate that I need to check on, which might help mitigate high property taxes.  Michigan also exempts a certain amount of retirement pension income, which would be helpful to us going forward. (Can we live in a state that helped put President Cheetoh electorally into office?  A definite question which speaks to the political climate of the state.)

Two towns I keep an eye on are Albion and Adrian, MI.  Each has two colleges for “culture,” Adrian also has an old time Opera House and community band. (Take a look at any house for sale on Dennis Street in Adrian and follow the Google street view up and down the street.  It’s like a Disneyland of old architecture.  Very cool.)

If you have been blog readers during our Pacific Northwest property search last year, you are well aware this Midwest search may or may not pan out. Our first choice has always been another location in Colorado, but the CO housing market is rapidly moving away from what we can afford.

Since the death of my friend Mary last August, I have been considering our relative social isolation from family and childhood friends here in the West. I’m pondering if a retirement relocation to the Midwest would be satisfying or disappointing socially? Many things to consider. Where ever we end up, it appears we will be bringing along a bunch of cats…

Happy Trails.

There is no one theme for this post, just a series of notes about stuff that has been going on this last week.

The main news concerns Pam; she gave her notice for going from full-time to part-time this past Thursday. (First part of the process of going into semi-retirement later in the year.) While Pam was apprehensive about doing this, the actual event was somewhat anti-climatic and caused very little stir at her work place.

Back at the homestead, Pam has another project lined up: trapping some of the feral cat population.

This will be her attempt at “doing something” about the expanding population of feral cats in town. A few cats may be placed in homes or relocated as barn cats, but the rest will be released back into the area after their spay or neuter operation.  In the rescue world, this process is called TNR (trap/neuter/release). The attempt will be made — we will have to see what results from the effort.

I thought I would put in this photo of an art piece Pam bought a few months back. His name is Maxwell Moose:

Other households have dead animal heads and horns hanging around; we have Maxwell.

I’ve been able to do a bit of work on the Oliver OC-3. I had some unused vacation left over from 2017 that was paid out in my last January check. Some of this will go to savings but a bit of it went into parts for the tractor.

After installing the battery, cables, and starter switch the engine spun over. It did not start; I have yet to install the magneto, but at least I know the starter works and the engine will turn over. I’ll take this small advance as a small sign of progress.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Regarding the Spirit of De Beque (otherwise known as the Oliver OC-3), the sooner it runs the sooner it can be moved and doesn’t become permanent yard art.

I hate cat trapping. I hate transferring scared and feisty animals from trap to crate to pen. For the most part, I am a reluctant animal rescue person. Most of the time, the females a person wants to trap are too wily to be trapped, and males that have previously been trapped willingly go back into the trap for the tasty food again and again and again.

The sign is to let “the neighbors” know I am attempting to trap the many animals they have seen coming to our property this winter.  And to let them know I am perfectly aware they are throwing their unaltered “pets” outside to eat at my feeders.

Happy Trails.

You know it has been a slow news week when your major blog topic is plumbing.

The shower faucet has had issues over the years; every couple it seems to start leaking. I had replaced the seals at the end of the stems with new ones but this time that fix did not work.

Nothing like a drip – drip – drip to irritate you. Putting a bucket under the faucet just replaced the dripping with a splash-splash-splash.

So, it was off to the hardware store to try and find replacement parts. The house is 24 years old and used generic fixtures; finding parts would be a long shot.

I pulled one of the faucet stems to take along. Here is what the old stems looked like:

I lucked out and found new stems but with one major difference: They operate backward.

The original stems opened by turning counter-clockwise. The new stems open clockwise. While replacing the stems stopped the dripping we had to get used to the reverse operation. During the week I cranked the faucets the wrong way and got a blast of hot or cold water for my trouble. You learn quickly after that.

In theory there are right-hand stems and a left-hand stems but the store had only the left-hand stems in stock. Beggars can’t be choosers, as the saying goes, so I bought a pair of left-hand stems. Price was about $10.00 each, well worth it to cure the dripping.

As for the rest of the week, well, we will just say the time went by. We had some light snow but temperatures remain mild for late January. Here is a photo of the yard taken this morning; note the snow is present only in the shady areas.

We are already looking forward to spring (even though it is still months away). TV commercials for John Deere lawn tractors and folks loading their SUVs with fresh plants have already hit the airways out here – can spring be far away?

The next big event will be when Pam gives her notice at work. We will have to adapt to a new level of income, but both of us are more than ready to retire. For me that will not be for a few years yet.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Five Cents Worth:

February 1 is the day I submit my resignation at the community college.  You all know how it goes; plans are in place for your job to remain the same until you retire and then wham-o – the administration cancels part of your work contract (in my case, the remote work option) and everything changes. I’ve been using my annual leave benefits on Mondays and Fridays since the first of the year, to shorten my work week while still being paid at the full-time level.  Vacation time runs out in April, at which point I [perhaps] go part-time to train somebody, or I’m done.  Who knows?

I had one of those half awake/half asleep dreams this morning that took me back to the day Fields and I were married.  We were both returning to college after the wedding, and neither of us had jobs yet.  Things were kinda up in the air then – how were we going to live?  I think my brain is telling me I feel the same way now. Even though the financial circumstances are different, it’s about the unknown.

Married life for us has been a constant rotation of “enough money/not enough time” or “enough time/not enough money.” I don’t apply for my pension (such as it is) until the end of 2018 or early 2019, so semi-retirement will likely be the “enough time/not enough money” option.

The search for a retirement house will certainly be impacted by this development, as my reduced income introduces a monetary impact I was not planning on until next year at the earliest.  However, as Fields notes above, we are both more than ready to “retire.” For myself, after evaluating 16,750 (and counting) incoming student transcripts over a dozen years, definitely more than ready.

Happy Trails.