Retired so..... What's up
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Feb 3
Wow!  Where is the time going.  February already.  Had a nice visit with my brother Larry.  He was a big help with assisting me topping the big oak tree in the backyard.  It was very serious but comical work.  As I said before, each day I surprise myself with what a 60 year old man can still do.  Oak has it's unique characteristics when cutting and it will split if you don't get a good undercut.  Not as bad as an alder but ultimate respect, care, and understanding a must.  Now I have about 3 days plus of clean up work with branches.  I will give all the wood to a needy family that lives down the road from us.  As you can see I still have some tree's to trim back from the power lines.
   TREE         AND DEBRIS


I will be looking to get a full body massage today.  If you must realized by now, you can boast about what you can accomplish at my age but the 60 year old body is seriously protesting.  I actually had my leg over my head transiting from one branch to another at one time.  What a sight.  I missed the house, fence, sprinkler heads, and power lines with all the logs/branches so we are very proud of our work.  Sorry no pictures of that show.

I now have my sights on a 4" slab that used to hold a hot tub in the backyard.  I want to remove it so I can use that area for my garden.  My favorite tool for breaking up cement got willed early to my son-in-law in Washington due to it's weight, so I have to figure out how to break this up now without that tool.  Open to ideas.  Have a great day.
 


Feb 5
We went to a dinner theatre and got entertained by three comedians last night.  One of my goals I set for retirement was to start going to all sorts of theatrical events and this one fit in great.  We had started going to the Admiral Theatre before we left Washington and hopefully we will find something similar to that in the Sacramento area.  A lot of these places are seeing hard times and some are closing shop.  Sad but people are not spending money on entertainment right now. 

I believe my wife solved the problem of the cement pad removal.  Don't remove it.  Her idea was to build raised bed boxes over the slab so we both can enjoy working in the garden.  So.......I am going to frame in the electrical wiring at the edge of the slab and build boxes on top of the slab with walkways.  This way if a future home purchaser wants to put another hot tub on the slab everything will still be there.  How unique an idea, and all I had to do was ask her.  Another smart lady in my life (sister Patti) suggested Hydroponic gardening, so this gives me something else to seriously think about.  Looks promising.
 


Feb 9
I woke up today, so I am feeling really good about that.  Yesterday was a different day.  Weather had turned to rain, but I went for my walk anyway in between showers.  Whole body was aching especially the legs.  It is funny (not) how a quick change in the weather can affect your body and mind.  Glad it doesn't rain very often here, LOL.  Once I realized what was happening I compensated for it by having some hot cinnamon tea and home made cookies.  Feel great this morning.

 I know one thing for sure.  I am going to have to initiate some lean events on what to do next and when to do it due to all the multitasking around here.  It can get out of hand.  I like the concept, finish one job then move onto the next.  I can't remember, was that a lean process or a dream. 
 


I am going to rip the wall out to site the water lines for the tub and shower in the main bathroom.  Since we are going more modern I want to eliminate the jerry rig modifications of modern attempts by the previous home owner in adapting a shower in the main bathroom.  Looks like new tub faucets to incorporate a shower head in the wall.  I will probably replace the shower valve assy. in the master bath at the same time since removal of the wall should expose all the piping for both bathrooms and this will make it a one time smart replacement at that time.  Ugh!  
 


Lets see.....what did I buy this past weekend.  I got two really great buy's.  This is like taking candy from a baby.  I got a like new lawn mower for $100, less than a third of the price you would pay new and I bought a queen solid wood headboard for the guest bedroom bed for $20. 

I am still looking for a composter.  I will most likely end up building a double barrel stacker type out of plastic barrels, 4X4's, and pipe, so I can rotate them similar to picture right.

It also give me the option with two barrels to start another one while the other is brewing.  I do miss my worm composting.  I don't think worms are wise down here especially when the temp's start rising, so I will just let the sun cook the stuff into compost.

 

FEB 25
We have been real busy both with our own work as well as watching contractors working on our home some more.  These pictures will show some major improvements like the carport wood structure is now gone and all new windows are installed.   

I don't know what is more exhausting, your own physical work you perform or watching someone else working on your home.  I guess it is the emotional personal ties you have to your own home that don't help in this area.  It is difficult understanding that some of the workers don't care if you had new paint, carpet, or tiles installed.  Some of their standards in this area make you wonder what their own homes are like.  Enough complaining again the end results are good.

 


The old wood structure is now gone. 

All this wood along with the oak tree limbs went to Gage and Nacoma's home for heat since they again volunteered to help me.  They were thrilled because they also got paid for helping me on this larger job.

Much lighter and brighter now. 
Hope you did not miss the nice blue sunny sky today.

The original window in the garage was stationary
New window now slides

The back bedroom windows looks so much better

Barely hearing noises from outside now which is a major improvement.

Look how much natural light comes into the home now.

Note:  These workers were so clean and respectful of our home we could not tell they performed work on our house.
As you see by the pictures below the new bathroom modifications have started.


I started my new job a couple days ago so I am off to a slow start with making my next million.  On craigslist I sold a dresser and two night stands that I acquired free from a neighbor that moved out.   This gal put $25 down for me to hold until Tuesday.  Well here it is Wednesday and the stuff still sits in the garage.  I called the gal yesterday and she said she was going to pick it up around 4pm.  Damn I must have misunderstood her.  I was sure that time would have been that same evening.  I am learning and will have to stop holding stuff and go with first person with money takes it.  Wife said you are lucky to get what you asked for it anyway as she would not have paid my price.  The gal is moving into a new place (No not the wife) so I am trying to be patient and work with her.  I like to work with people that need the help and have to agree that my next million will be slower to come because of that.  Of course I am still working on the first million in parallel, but what else do I have to do with my time.

Late note:  Deal fell through furniture will not fit in the young ladies new apartment so of course I gave her back her deposit.  Only right thing to do.   I already have two other bites so nothing lost but time.  Oh....right I have lots of that.   Just got a call and someone is coming to look at the items for sale now.  Wish me skill, luck has nothing to do with it.
 


Yesterday is what we called a free day.  Both wife and I get to go do what ever we want for the day.  This give us a once in a while time out from each other but more so from the every day decisions we are making with work going on in the home.  My free day was spent getting me a message which I think is a gift from heaven.  This area is saturated with message businesses so you really have to find the right one.  Due to the competition the prices are affordable so you can get one every once in a while even on retirement pay. 
 

I also went to the store and purchased some lawn fertilizer to help promote greening and growth of the grass.  So my next challenge for the day was to find a lawn spreader.  Craigslist came through again with a $5.00 one that a local church was getting rid of.  It is an older model but like brand new condition.
 

Today I have to go to work.  My job delegated to me from our plumber contractor is to sand the walls in the bathtub if I want to save some money on the job.  He and I can't see paying $60.00 an hour for a plumber to do that type of work.   Today we also have to go pick out some different tiles for the tub walls.  Did I say tile....... Oh nooooo

We are about to wrap up another month so I will end this one for now. 

Hope you all had a great month and wish you great health and wealth for now and the future.  
Invest smart & retire early
end Feb 09

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