This morning as I sit here on the computer I turned on the fan. I noticed that on my left there was a strange clicking noise every time the fan went way left. It sounded like it was coming from the front of me but there is nothing there that should make that noise. It wasn't until I turned to look at the fan that I realized it was the shades on the door that are making a click as it made the shade fly with the wind. I guess it is another victim of my being hard of hearing that I can't really tell where a noise is coming from. In my younger years, I had the eyes of an eagle and the hearing of a dog. Now sadly I have the vision of a Rhinerosis and the hearing of an old man. The hearing problem started in the Military from shooting rifles and then the Howitzers. It is fairly OK in the normal range but I can't hear squat in the higher range. I guess that's why I am now a Bass in the chorus. (pronounce that as Base not the fish)
The other day, I saw a nice little S-10 pickup sitting for sale in a yard nearby. It looks great and I called the number on the window. My first question was about the Air Conditioning. Here in Kansas that is a must. Unfortunately it has a leak and a recharge in the system doesn't last the season. No Go. This is the year that I either need to do some body work on the 53 Pick-up or replace it. I need to replace some body panels and install an A/C. The other option is to find a nice little truck that will be the replacement. There is also the option of dragging the 57 out of the garage and making it road worthy. It too needs an A/C to live well in the Kansas heat and humidity.
What would you do if you had the money to buy almost anything? I find that more and more I am getting to the point that I don't really want to buy toys and I am getting cheaper by the day. I watch the money programs and yell at the TV that everything they say is nearly a lie as the risk is way too high. My motto today is the return of my money is more important than the return on my money. It would also be nicer if the interest they pay is higher than the alcohol percentage in my near beer. Last time I looked that level had to be below .005 percent. Let me make that clear that it is less than one half of a percent. Math is one thing that I am not always good at and writing things in Math even worse.
The other day, one of my childhood friends wrote on a Facebook group that he loved our 7th grade English teacher, Mrs. Funk. He claims that she was his inspiration and he now writes well because of her. She was in my opinion the worst teacher I ever had. Instead of encouraging us to use the English language and the beauty and depth of the language, she focused on teaching the Walsh English Handbook and what the paragraphs said and meant. She started me down the slide that ended in my flunking English in my 9th Grade Year. The good thing that came out of that was at East High, I met a teacher that renewed my love for reading and writing. I spent the year reading every book on the college prep list and writing a book report about them. She focused on the words and not so much the structure. What I said was more important than how I said it. Kind of like reading this blog. I welcome you to write your own if this gets hard for you to stand. Keep in mind that it costs only what you pay to read my ramblings.
The other day, I ran into a friend from my years in the National Guard. She told me the dirt on what happened after I left and how several of the changes were made. It made me sad that I was interested and relieved that I didn't have to go through that mess. I guess every organization has it's ups and downs and the Party Politic of an organization can get messy. There was a time that my acerbic wit was almost too much to handle and I should have toned it down. I have a syndrome that causes me to not suffer fools gladly. I tend to call out the fool when they make really bad decisions. That included the General and his Chief of Staff. I am not sure but there were others that if asked supported my leaving. The really good news is that I have out lived several of them and am enjoying life about as much as I can.
have I told you that I love my wife? At least the person that I talk to after she has had her second cuppa tea in the morning. She is the foundation of our life right now and we have settled into a routine that works for us. I will tell you that she was like Dave Ramsey long before we ever saw anything he writes. She was the person that helped develop our budget and our investing strategies
way back when retirement was just a thought. One really good thing she did was make sure that anything we invested for retirement was in such a place that we didn't touch it for any reason. I can think of only one time when we were one meal away from being broke. I am sure that I could have borrowed enough to get by if needed but thankfully her annualized teaching salary gave us a check at the start of the year. I did have to tap dance fast with KU to get them to let me stay enrolled until my first GI Bill check arrived. It worked out well and it is all good.
How do you budget your money? For us, it was pretty clear that we got paid once a month and it had to last all month. The great times were when we got to the next payday with money left in the bank. The feeling was like It was like food and we never had to go to bed hungry. One nice thing was that I always put my check in the community pot and lived as much as I could on the extra money from part time jobs. My National Guard check was a part of that. I know that it paid pretty much for the overhaul of the 57 Chevy.
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| My 57 Chevy after the restoration |
Oh well, I hope you have a great day out there and nothing gets in your way of fun.
MUD
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