Reunions

When I was a young kid and up until my late teens, my dad's side of the family had a few family reunions. I remember attending a few of them and seeing aunts, uncles and cousins galore. It mainly involved getting together to catch up, letting the cousins play and eating a lot of food. I think I had one or two aunts and my grandmother who set these reunions up. After graduating high school I don't remember any family reunions. If there was one, I didn't attend. I don't know if it was due to the cousins all growing up or the aunts and grandmother aging and not interested in continuing the work that it would take to plan the reunion..

This past weekend my wife and I attended a high school reunion. Our school was very small, so every two years there is one "all school" reunion. This year marks my 40th year since graduation and I had never been to one of the all school reunions. This year my sister was in charge and we decided it would be fun to go. We enjoyed it very much and enjoyed seeing people we haven't seen in many, many years. I was class of 1984 and my wife was class of 1987. There were five of us from my class and it was good to see them. I think there were four from my wife's class. We also got to see a few graduates that were a year or two above and below us and got to see our Principal and a couple of teachers. My high school math teacher was there and we were very surprised to see each other. That's him in the photo above. 

We have vowed to continue to go to this school reunion every two years and try to encourage other classmates to come and join us all. My graduating class only had 18 and I would guess all other graduating classes were similar in size. So, you can see why the need for an all school reunion would work for this small town. 

Reunion is an instance of two or more people coming together after a period of separation. With that definition, I have attended numerous small family reunions when I attend a funeral. Unfortunately, these are not happy reunions. Other small reunions my involve birthday parties, weddings, graduations, etc. You could have a small reunion when welcoming home a friend or family member after living away or welcoming home a service member after a lengthy time away in the military.

In retirement and with age these reunions may become more fun. Seeing and visiting with family and friends, that you haven't seen in awhile, is always fun. What kind of reunions do you enjoy? Does your family have regular family reunions? If so, who plans them and what type of activities does everyone do? Do you enjoy family or high school reunions or do you avoid them for some reason?

Root Beer Update!

Back in February I posted about root beer and my quest to try some new brands. I have purchased numerous different brands here in OKC and picked up six new brands on a recent trip to Kansas City. The store in Kansas City probably had about 50 or more brands! Here are some of my most recent taste tests. I have rated them on a scale of 1 to10. I tend to favor the sweeter variety. I have about ten more brands in the fridge awaiting a try. Have an awesome root beer summer!

 

1.      Rocky Mountain Root Beer  2/27/24     (5)

2.      Bull Dog Root Beer 2/29/24  (6)

3.      Red Arrow Root Beer 3/2/24  (7)

4.      Dang! That’s Good 3/19/24  (5)

5.      Sprecher 3/30/24  (7)

6.      Americana 4/5/24  (9)

7.      Dog N Suds 4/17/23  (7)

8.      Death Valley Root Beer  5/16/24  (8)

9.      Gene Autry Root Beer 5/28/24  (7)

10   Poppi   6/19/24   (-2)     Yes -2. I did not like this one past two sips!

11   Oak Creek Barrel Aged Root Beer 6/20/24   (8)

12   The Pop Shoppe 7/2/24  (7)

More Preparation

 

My son and I had a discussion last year about purchasing first aid kits for our vehicles. He bought a kit for his car. I never did, so I got online last week and bought two kits and the following is the reason why I got motivated to be more prepared. 

On a recent trip to Kansas City to visit the WW1 museum, I was reminded to be more prepared for emergencies. My son, my wife and I were driving up Interstate 135 when we came upon a vehicle accident just south of Newton, KS. We rolled up on this major accident within a minute or two of it happening. I could see a jackknifed big rig across the interstate and a badly damage car closer to us. I asked my son if he had his first aid kit and he said he did. He grabbed his kit and we headed to the damaged car to see if we could give assistance. 

One man had beat us to the car and was walking back toward us when I asked if anyone was in the car. He replied that he didn't see anyone in the front but did not check the back. I went up to the car and had to move the side airbags away to look in the back seat and back luggage area. Luckily, I found the car empty. Another woman walked by us carrying a towel and said there was a body in the road. We returned to our car and tried to calm down a little. I tell this story to emphasize preparation again. My son's kit was a first aid kit that included the basics but also has chest seals and a tourniquet. Had we come upon someone hurt, we would have had the tools to bandage a small wound or for something more serious until first responders arrived.

We later learned, through an internet search, that the driver was a 29 year old female. She had crossed the median and hit the big rig head on. The cause was unknown and she was not wearing a seat belt and had been thrown from her car. We were shocked at the loss and I wished the outcome would have been better, but I was glad we were prepared had we found a child or another person needing immediate first aid. I hope to never come upon a scene like this again, but if I do, I want to be prepared. 

I bought kits that included one tourniquet and chest seals. I had training on using both during my career. I recommend that you watch an instructional video online to learn how to quickly apply either of these life saving tools.

Similar prep can be done at home for a variety of things. I have a fire extinguisher in the garage. I have placed bottled water in our underground shelter in the garage. I'm sure there are more things that I can do for other situations that may arise. I do not have 6 months worth of food, water and ammunition stored up like a true prepper may have. But, I hopefully have a few basics to get me through whatever comes my way.

Do you have a first aid kit in your car for emergencies? How about a small took kit, jumper cables or other emergency items? If you have a kit, have you ever had to use it for a more serious situation? Do you have any other preparation ideas that I need to consider?

Stay safe out there!!

Preparation

I just hit my 5 year mark of retirement! It has passed so quickly and I better get busy over the next years and live it up before the next 5 years zoom by.

Prior to retirement, preparation is the key. Many spend years preparing for retirement. I spent 33 years saving in to the government version of a 401K in preparation for retirement. Some people prepare by saving, some by investing in real estate or other investment and income producing products. Some people never prepare and just as my 5 years of retirement quickly passed by, their 30-40 years of working passes by with nothing saved for retirement. Reminds me of the grasshopper and ant fable where the ant works hard to prepare for the winter while the grasshopper did nothing. The grasshopper played around all summer and then had nothing to eat that winter. The news is full of stories about the number of people, at or close to retirement, with little to nothing in retirement savings.  Preparation is key to a good retirement and requires some sacrifice along the way. I was very fortunate to have the career that I had that included a pension plus any 401K savings. I certainly understand that saving is hard these days, even if you have a middle class income. For some, preparation for retirement is difficult if not impossible for a variety of reasons.

The grasshoppers of the world are a different story. The grasshopper is able to prepare but just fails to do it because it is more fun to live it up in the moment and not worry about tomorrow. Today's grasshoppers are buying more car and house than they can really afford. Today's grasshoppers are wearing expensive clothing and carrying around the latest gadgets. Today's grasshoppers are going to wake up in 30 years and then panic because they can't retire.

Retirement preparation is not all finance. We need to prepare in other ways. We have to prepare for the extra time on your hands and what our retirement days are going to look like. We have to prepare for possibly living on less. Even in retirement, there is preparation to be done. We need to monitor the savings and income to make sure it will last for another 30 plus years. We need to continue to prepare for the future with decisions of downsizing a house or moving into a retirement community. We need to prepare for aging in place by making our homes easier to live in as mobility and dexterity may become issues. I have read of recommendations of replacing door knobs with door levers to make it easier to open. Other recommendations are to have a walk in shower with no step, have brighter lighting and widening doors for wheelchair access if eventually needed.

Other retirement preparation will include wills and long term care insurance. I have a will that I completed online but I have yet to check on the insurance. 

What other preparations can you thing of that are needed leading up to retirement and during retirement? Have you explored long term care insurance yet? Have you made any improvement to your home for aging in place? At 58 years old, I don't think too much about these things, but I do need to begin preparing for the future.

A Pedicure

 

I've posted many times about trying new things. I have a new one to report thanks to a Christmas gift from my wife. She gets her nails done often and gets a pedicure every once in awhile. She felt that I would enjoy a pedicure and gifted me a gift card for one at the shop she frequents. 

Yesterday, she announced she was going to get her nails done and I bravely announced that I would join her and try this pedicure thing. I was hesitant as I entered the salon not knowing what this thing would involve. I always thought a pedicure was getting your toe nails trimmed and painted much like your fingernails. I also largely thought this practice was for the ladies of the world even though I have heard that men enjoy them.

I sat in the pedicure chair and the pedicurist, if that is a word, asked if I wanted the massage function turned on for the chair. I said "sure" and my first pedicure began. The massage chair was pretty nice and I became comfortable very quickly. Next was a soak in a hot footbath. I'm liking this more and more! Then came the nail trimming, the scrub, the wax and the hot stone massage. The pedicurist said "Happy feet make happy people". I couldn't agree more. I thoroughly enjoyed this pampering and will be back to enjoy this again in the near future.

For this post I looked up pedicure history. Pedicures have been around for thousands of years and was enjoyed by ancient Egyptians. In Babylonia, noblemen gave themselves pedicures using solid gold tools. Very nice! Early depictions of early manicures and pedicures are depicted on some pharaohs tombs. Pedicures didn't become popular in the United States until the 1990's. Wow, we are behind the times! Prior to that, most of the U.S. classified the pedicure as a medical procedure and had laws preventing them.

If you have never experienced a pedicure, I highly recommend you give it a try. It feels awesome to have "baby soft" feet as my pedicurist described them. I asked my wife several times if she wanted to feel my baby soft feet yesterday. She never took me up on the offer! Happy feet make happy people!

Have you enjoyed a pedicure? Do you agree that it is a pretty relaxing event?

First Visit to NYC!

My wife and I just got back from a cruise out of NYC and four days of sightseeing in the city. It was our first trip to NYC and we loved it! We did the normal sites and visited the Statue of Liberty and walked up to the crown. We saw the Wall St Bull, the Empire State Building, the NYC Library, the NY Stock Exchange, Central Park and many other sites. We did an evening harbor cruise and enjoyed the lights of the city at night. We saw two Broadway Shows, Wicked and the Book of Mormon. Enjoyed them both but was surprised at some of the vulgarity in the Book of Mormon but it was a funny show. We went to Top of the Rock and rode the beam for some fantastic views of the city. We visited the Morgan Library Museum which I dearly loved. We got up early on Monday morning and went to the Today Show plaza and got to do a "shout out" which was aired on TV!

We were amazed at the size of NYC while staying in the Times Square area. We have a few tall buildings in Oklahoma City but there are hundreds of skyscrapers in NYC. It is definitely the city that never sleeps. We were amazed at the number of people on the streets at 11pm. We got to experience the crowds on the sidewalk, the NYPD on the street corners or directing traffic, the honking, the street traffic and the huge amount of yellow taxis everywhere. 

We ate some of the best Italian food we have ever had in Little Italy. We had NY pizza a couple of times and ate at many other great places. We really enjoyed this first visit to NYC and recommend that everyone experience that huge city at least once in their life.

Have you visited New York City? Were you amazed at the size and busyness of the city? Have you been to a city even bigger somewhere else in the world? If so, how was your experience?

Happy Birthday!

 

Happy Birthday to all of you who have a birthday on leap day! You are the lucky ones who have 25% of the birthdays that the rest of us do. Here's to you 20 year old leap year babies who are actually 80 today! 

The fact that leap year babies can count their birthdays at a much slower rate than the rest of us makes me think of my many birthdays. I have numerous birthdays throughout the year and thus I may be approaching 100 birthdays or more here in my normally 58th year. 

Let me explain. I have downloaded many apps on my phone to get reward points from various establishments. I am a reward member at Chickfila, Red Lobster, Dunkin, Crumbl, Dominos, Regal, Qdoba, Freddy's, Cracker Barrel and McDonalds.  Most, if not all, of the apps ask for your birthday month and day so you can get a special reward for your birthday. I don't like giving out my actual birthday. So, I usually have a birthday in the month after I download the app so I can enjoy my birthday gift soon! 

This strategy gives me a variety of birthday presents throughout the year. I am a genius. I have managed to find a way to celebrate my birthday year round. But, if I have 10 extra birthdays a year, I am aging rather quickly. Now that I think about 10 extra a year, I'm probably closer to 200 at this point in my life.

My latest app addition was McDonalds last week. I am out of pocket on vacation most of March so I chose April 2 as my birthday. I can't wait to see what I get for my birthday!

Do any of you have leap year birthdays? If so, do you have one big blowout party every four years or do you celebrate every year even if it is on Feb 28th? Do any of you spread you app birthdays around and enjoy year round celebration like I do?

I still have a birthday reward from Red Lobster available until March 3rd. Chocolate cake with ice cream! Yum! And, Happy Birthday to me!