Where Have I Been

I haven't been blogging that's for sure. What I remember was blogging every day for a year, then only on Saturday, then golf season was here. That's that. 

This is my official retirement post. I don't do this a anymore. I still wake up earlier than I need to, but I read now instead of blog. I don't miss blogging. Like most things it doesn't stand the test of time. Most promises based on forever, or I'll always feel such and such a way don't stand the test of time. Do I miss blogging?  Fuck no!

I liked blogging, but like most things I can walk away. I blogged for over a decade. I ran a marathon at 40, and I turn 57 in less than two weeks. What???  

I was diagnosed with cancer this year. A thyloma I think they called it. I passed out at work, which I thought stroke maybe. Pneumonia,  plus a 3 inch tumor in my chest. Next thing you know my sternum is being cracked open, and tumor is removed. We still didn't think it was cancer at this point. Then I saw the test results. I was scared, but felt pretty positive, cuz I feel pretty good, with good energy. Anyhoo, my cancer people called me, said tumor was removed. There was no spreading, so I'll just need scans for a while. So, I had cancer for like two weeks. Then I was cancer free. I had an appointment with the cancer doctors this week. My cancer was rare. They don't know much about it. It is a slow grower, which is how it got to 3 inches and me no symptoms. My lungs and heart got used to be pushed around I guess. This cancer doesn't come back either, so I really am cancer free. My other internal organs were scanned to for another reason, and they are fine. 

Now I just need to heal up from surgery so I can golf. This type of surgery is the slowest to heal. 10-12 weeks. 1st 6 weeks 10 pound restriction, 2nd 6 weeks 20 pound restriction. Obviously no one is successful doing that all the time, but I do my best. I am still able to be productive at work. I just don't throw 50 pound bags od flour, and sugar around. 

My appetite is good. My weight is good. High 140s-low 150s. My cough is gone. The pre covid cough aka chest tumor. 

That's that. Blogging isn't horrible. It is probably good to do this. 

Anyway thanks for tagging along if anyone did. I enjoyed it. It was fun for me. I met people along the way, and they are all gone. I am 57 almost. I don't miss people. I like my silly little life. I am not much of a social networker. That shit I ditched for a year too. Now I have FB lite. Doesn't use as much memory. My current feed has a lot of miley Cyrus skimpy pictures. Why, I have no idea. I listened to one interview with Howard Stern. Why she is in my feed I have no idea. I definitely don't understand the world, and the people in it. 

Anyhoo, it's been fun.  

Thanks.  :)

Laterzzzzz.  :)

Xo.   :)

The Week Off Is Basically Done.

I'd say my week off was pretty relaxing. We got all our outside stuff done we wanted. Today, I slept til 8:00 AM. 

It rained a couple days so, I binged two seasons of "Mindhunter" on Netflix. Really good show. Right up my alley. I worked yesterday cuz of the holiday weekend. It was a ghost town. I feel good. Ready to get back to work, back to my normal schedule. 

I am going golfing today too. 

Not much going on besides that. Getting back to my regular schedule is pretty exciting. Work will be exciting too with the new changes coming soon. Plus we are approaching the busy season. Yesterday driving home from work, the bakery had a sign up saying sold out, so I think they were pretty darn busy anyway. It was trippy driving to work seeing people inside. I was what???   Oh it's Saturday not Sunday. Yesterday felt like Sunday. It is weird having today off now too. 

Not really much on my mind. I like how I live. I like the simplicity of my days. Simplicity in I have to labor for 8 hours give or take,  and then whatever. Dog, golf,  chores, dinner, sleep. This is my healthiest life for sure. 

My blog is pretty boring. I really have so little on my mind. Maybe no one even blogs. I don't hardly. I don't do social networking hardly. For me that stuff has run its course. 

We grow up having friends and stuff, and you slowly drift away. For me,  I am just busy. As I get older I don't feel like spending money either. We do spend money, but I do like saving. 

Anyway this is about nothing. 

Laterzzzzzzzzz.     :)

xoxo.      :)

This Is My Saturday Blog.

I didn't blog on Saturday,  as I was in Chicago. So this is my Saturday blog. Chicago was fun. Really fun. Friday we went into the 'burbs. Kinda like a little College/HS reunion thing. I laughed my ass off remembering the stupid shit we've done in the past. It was discussed it may have been like 15 years since I've seen any of these people,  which is ridiculous. Seems like 3. 

I guess I was working 3 jobs and 7 days each week for  while. When I visit Chicago again I only have to go to Lincoln Park area instead of the 'burbs. The burb commute on Friday is horrible. Lincoln Park is nothing. 

Anyway as I've been unsociable for a bit, I found out it also is fun to be sociable. I do both well. 

It seems a lot of my friends are ready to retire at the age of 55. Not me.  :)  To retire sounds good to many folks,  but you still have to fill the day. My favorite thing is to fill up my day with labor, and eat a meal. Most people do worry about how to fill the day. 

Anyhow everybody probably got older, but I think everyone still looks good. I probably look fine too as I am 10 pounds or so less than my marathon PR weight. 

That's that. Yesterday was warm and sunny so I took Hope,  and hit my 8 iron at the park, then watched the masters. 

I have this week off. I think it should be pretty good. I have stuff to keep me busy. 

Anyhow, that's my Saturday blog. 

Laterzzzzzzzzz.    :)

xoxo.      :)

Life Isn't Always What You Think.

So, I've been reading a book. An English author who I never heard of. I bought it for $2.99 on my nook. Turns out it is a really good book. Takes place in London. A girls take, as the author lives in busy London. The book makes me think girls are not as confident as you would think. Yeah they can look pretty, get dressed up, and have drinks with friends,  but on their own they think differently about things, than as we picture them being pretty,  carefree, and dressed up. 

Just things I was thinking about while reading the book. Anyway this week found me getting healthy. Weather wise it was shitty all week. I drove every day, and ran errands after work. I've been listening to David Gray a lot. English singer songwriter,  who has some really good songs. I cooked a lot of meals this week too. Lasagna,  chicken enchiladas, beef stew. Another week in the life I guess. 

Spring will be coming soon, but yesterday we had a fresh batch of white stuff on the ground. Not fair for April. I am going to go golfing today. 

So not really much exciting happening in my life. Probably not much exciting happening in anyone's life. I don't know what young people think life is supposed to be. You want to fall in love I guess,  get married,  make money. Make a name for yourself somehow I guess. By the time you are 55 you just want to be comfortable I guess. 

Do I want to make a name for myself?  No. What I want out of my life is what I have i guess. A busy life with plenty of time off each day to do fun stuff. Yard work,  golf, take dogs,  make a meal. That's it. Sleep, and repeat. 

I am free in ways I guess. Outside world pressures don't really penetrate. I don't have a lot of "have to" in my life. 

Financially I am fine, I have good jobs. An easy life. I don't look over my shoulder thinking what if. 

Anyway, I spose. I'm gonna go golfing. It will be cold for golfing,  but who cares.  

Laterzzzzzzz.       :)

xoxo.         :)

xxoo.       :)

Oh geez, I was going through my whole thing on auto pilot.   :)

Byeeeeeee.       :)

A Different Week.

I guess starting last weekend I started getting sick. You know one of those hindsight things. I didn't know it at the time. Monday, I knew. I had aches, maybe a bit of a fever. I took nyquil on Monday,  fever must have broke, and felt good on Tuesday. I did develop a cough though. I used the same playbook all week though. Read, eat, nyquil, read/sleep. I took Hope for her first walk yesterday. No working out either. 

I would say I've been sick more times in the last year, then the previous 30 years. I don't know what you make of that. 

I am putting all of my money I get from my "Oh shit" raise into savings, and plan on doing the same when Lisa gets her raise. 

Prices are really ridiculous again I see. OSB was $6/ 4'x8' sheet in 2018. 2022, it is $55/sheet. Something has gotta give. OSB is just a basic sheathing type of plywood. 

I would assume eventually that fact alone will slow building down. If anyone carries credit card debt they are paying 20% plus I imagine. As interest rates rise, it will be good to have cash. There is a playbook for high inflation. It is high interest rates. The fed chair under Reagan used higher interest rates to combat inflation. Are we comparing apples to oranges though?  

Basically higher interest rates means economically people and businesses will just have to take their lumps.  

I feel pretty safe where I am at. I obviously at this stage am a low risk guy for better or worse. 

Besides that I have been reading a lot. I've been reading free books or 99 cent books on my nook. Surprisingly pretty entertaining stuff actually. Golf is out for a bit due to weather, but I am excited for the year as I feel I straightened out my golf swing. Around the green I am a mess. My touch I developed as last year went on is gone. I can get it back, but it is hard if I am not golfing. 

Not really much going on with me. I know in my early years I could see pretty clearly what a life amounts to. At 55, I've lived it. I was very lucky to have had a helping hand planning out my future. Putting blind trust in one who could see farther than me. I did have to learn a lot about myself. Basically knowing my true worth. Being given a heart that can accept,  and be happy with it too. I have no idea how others are. Maybe still trying to figure out their worth I suspect. How would I know?  I don't walk in those shoes. I walk in mine,  and am pretty content in these ones.  

I spose.  

Laterzzzzzzzzz.       :)

xoxo.        :)

It Is That Time.

Good morning. How's it going?  Me, I am fine. It is that time again where I prove to you I still am alive. How would you know otherwise?  

I got one of those "Oh Shit" raises this week, this time from my main job. First words when they told me was "Oh Shit"    :)  good problems to have for sure. 

Work will be exciting this year. Going to be doing some new stuff soon. 

I went golfing on Wednesday which was great. 60+ degrees, and we walked 18 holes. It was tiring by the end after a full day of work. I don't do fitbit anymore,  but I am sure it was 15+miles on the legs. I do have something wrong with my swing,  but I think I figured it out. Famous last words I know, but I feel I was setting up my swing wrong. I had a real aha moment yesterday. 

Not much besides that I guess. I fertilized yesterday. Decided to do it myself this year. If I water the lawn, makes sense I give a shit enough to fertilize it. In past years I probably didn't give a shit. That changed several years back I guess. 

Things are going pretty well I guess. Financially I am getting more comfortable. I think Lisa will be getting an "Oh Shit" raise in April too. If you look to the past like post WWII, and 60's, and 70's Economies, you sense things are different now. Goods and services are more than bikes,  tvs, and cars. Technology has changed our Economy. Quicker shipping,  and global Economies, make everything more vibrant. 

There were some hiccups,  with the dotcom bust, and savings and loan scandals, and Enron, and mortgage backed securities,  but it seems like things are okay. Which probably means we are living in a bubble Economy that's about to crash.  Who knows? Economists from the 80s are probably as worthless as computer programmers.  Shit is just different now. It seems okay, but it may be bad. I have no idea.  I'm okay.  So that's good. We have good jobs,  no debt, house is paid for along with our vehicles. Money is in the bank,  just not enough, cuz that's just the way that works. 

I guess that's about it. Just plugging along doing my thing. Life is okay at 55 I guess you could say. Pretty easy.  

Laterzzzzzzzzz.       :)

xoxo.         :)

The Last Cold Day?

Today is going to be unseasonably cold, and next week we have a pretty significant warm up. Golfing is in the future next week. 

This week I picked up a bit of a cold, which has been making its rounds I guess. I slept and relaxed a lot. I did make it out for a pre-planned happy hour on Wednesday. I would have canceled and stayed home,  but we never get together,  and I was feeling better. It was fun. 

They let a guy go at the bakery. He knew a lot about baking,  or at least liked tinkering at home with it I guess, but was super slow at production. Being a baker who is slow at production is not a good fit. Not everyone is super fast, but super slow is not a winning recipe.

I felt bad for the owners who had to do it, and the person, but a new day started the day after, and there was work to do. 

Yesterday was how a bakery in my opinion should run. Everyone can do almost everything. Cinnamon rolls need to be made,  someone can jump on it, and knock it out. Same with croissants,  muffins, coffee cakes,  and puff dough. That way vacations aren't a pain etc...  In the end it will be a positive thing. The other guy can get a job anywhere, everywhere is hiring. 

That is that. It is a pretty good time of year with sports. March madness, baseball starting soon, NBA playoffs, warm weather and golf. I'd say NHL playoffs too,  but the Blackhawks suck, so I don't give a shit. 

Outside that not much I guess. Life goes on, I continue to read and listen to books at a pretty good clip. I didn't work out this week due to the cold,  and didn't take Hope. Hopefully back to full speed next week. 

The War is going on, and it is so stupid. Russia will be relegated to a 3rd World Nation by the end of it. It potentially could get pretty ugly for us all really. 

I'll just continue to work,  eat, and sleep. That is our lot in life.  

Laterzzzzz.      :)

xoxo.       :)