Daddy Went To Prison Today!

 "Daddy went to prison today!" This was a statement that my son made to his teacher of his kindergarten class many years ago. The teacher approached my wife when she picked him up from school that day and asked if anything was going on at home that she should know about. My wife responded that everything was good, "Why?". The teacher explained that our son had told her that his daddy went to prison today. My wife laughed and explained that I was a law enforcement officer and had indeed gone to prison that day to interview a prisoner. They all had a good laugh and now we have a funny memory!  

  retirement, I have looked back at my career and admit I had a very interesting and fulfilling career. I began my government service as a city mail carrier and did that for about 5 years before becoming a Postal Inspector. During my mail carrier time I suffered hot days, freezing days, crazy customers and a dog bite. I then began my law enforcement career as an Inspector investigating federal cases involving mail theft, mail fraud, robbery, burglary, internal worker's comp fraud and much more. I interviewed numerous prisoners and soon to be prisoners during my career and had many interesting cases and crazy stories. 

I began college thinking I would be a CPA, but after my first accounting class I decided I couldn't do that for the rest of my life. You have to remember that this was in 1984 and accounting was basically done by hand with a pencil and numerous accounting ledgers! I could probably handle it much better today with a computer. I switched to a finance major and graduated with a Bachelor of Business degree. After being persuaded to take the postal test in 1985 by my postmaster father, I was hired on as a city mail carrier and finished up my degree at night. During my carrier time, I found out about the Postal Service having jobs of Postal Inspector and the rest is history. 

During my career as a Postal Inspector and then as a Special Agent I was involved in car chases, foot chases, search warrants, etc. There was never a dull moment. One car chase made a TV series called The Real Stories of the Highway Patrol because the chase had been terminated by a trooper doing a pit maneuver that went perfectly. I also ran across numerous characters on both sides of the law. I once interviewed prisoner David Hammer at the McAlester State Prison in Oklahoma for his role in  corresponding to women through the mail and scamming them out of their money. Hammer later rose to fame in the OKC Bombing case in which he claimed McVeigh had confided in him many facts about the case. 

I was able to work on many interesting cases over the years. I was part of a task force that took an independent look at the Waco, TX fiasco at the Branch Davidian Compound. Our group was asked to cull through evidence to determine if a certain caliber bullet was fired during the siege. We sifted through many barrels of evidence of ammo casings in the search for truth. I also experienced the OKC Bombing first hand with my office being across the street. I was there at the time of the bombing and was involved in recovery operations for the post office we were located in. I also experienced the anthrax attacks of 2001 which resulted in deaths, including postal employees, from anthrax mailed through the postal service. The months after the initial attack resulted in non-stop calls from customers and postal employees regarding white powder found in mailboxes and postal facilities. All Postal Inspectors at the time were responding night and day in response to this scare across the country.

On my side of the law, I was exposed to humorous characters throughout my career. One rural county deputy comes to mind as I will always remember a saying of his during an interview of a suspect. He and I were interviewing a young guy for knocking down mailboxes in his county. The suspect wasn't too cooperative until the deputy told him if he didn't start being truthful "the only thing that is going to beat your ass to jail are the headlights on the bus". I almost laughed during that interview. Another rural county deputy was being briefed on our plan to conduct a controlled operation in which the suspect would pick up a package of drugs at the post office while we watched and then stopped him. In reply to a question of "What if he takes off?" from a member of our task force, this particular deputy advised "I will shoot his tires out". The problem was that he was serious about it. After advising him we weren't going to be shooting out tires, the operation was successful with no shots fired. Another local character always teased us when we arrived to coordinate an operation by stating "Why are the stamp police here, did someone forget to lick a stamp?. He thought he was funny!

There are many interesting careers out there in this world. We all see the glamorous careers that are depicted on a thousand TV shows that include police, fire, law and medical. There are certainly many more interesting careers that don't have their own TV show. I would imagine the person who fixes cell phone towers has stories to tell. The garbage truck driver has stories to tell. The cable repairman has stories to tell. I'm sure most every career has it's share of experiences and humorous stories. 

Did you have an interesting career that you can share? Do you have any funny anecdotes to tell us about? I remember reading Reader's Digest magazines in the past and reading anecdotes from the military in one regular monthly section. In retirement, do you look back at your career with a smile on your face and think "That was a fun ride!"? 

And...for those out there contemplating a new life of crime, remember "The only thing that is going to beat your ass to jail are the headlights on the bus!".

New Year's Financial Tune Up Tips

Usually around the first of the year I take a serious look at our finances to fine tune a variety of things. I haven't completed this yet this year, but will within the next week or so. Here are a few tips on what I look at every year. Most, you may have read about before, but it can't hurt to be reminded to get yourself in gear sometimes. 

I start my financial tune up with accessing and saving my credit report with all three major credit reporting companies. This can be done for free at  www.annualcreditreport.com.  I do a quick review to make sure there are no unauthorized accounts or any old accounts that have popped up. Years ago I discovered an old hospital bill that had gone to collections for about $100. I contacted the collection company and found out that the hospital had an address on my account that was very old, and numerous moves ago, so this particular bill had slipped through the cracks. I settled the small debt to have it drop off the reports. I review the report for any credit cards I may need to close. I often open up a new credit card to get free miles or points and then never use it again. This is my opportunity to be reminded to close an account or two.

Next, review your bank accounts you may have and check interest rates on your various options. The bank is not going to call you on your .5% savings account to let you know you can get 2% by switching to another account. I recently checked on our savings account options at the bank. By moving it to another type of savings I went from getting $8 a month in interest to getting about $80 per month. That is a huge difference for just inquiring about what options are out there. Savings rates have jumped a lot since the Fed started raising interest rates. This change took me less than 30 minutes at the bank.

I've mentioned this one before in a post, remember to check your online streaming accounts. There may be an account or two you no longer use and can close. The streaming services are all month to month and can be cancelled and restarted anytime. So, If you have watched all your favorite shows on a service and the next season doesn't come out until next Fall, cancel it. Then, restart next season. 

Review your health insurance plan and make sure you are using all the benefits. Our health insurance is Blue Cross and they have a benefit in which they pay you $50 to take an online health questionnaire and pay you $40 for online coaching and tracking sessions. The online tracking is super easy and covers things like Eat Better, Get More Exercise and Have Less Stress. You just check in online and check a box for being on track, a little off track, etc. Once you meet their set criteria, such as 12 days of exercise out of 30 days, you complete the task and get $40. Blue Cross will allow you to complete 3 of these session resulting in you being paid $120. The amounts are put on a Debit card that can be used for health expenses including co-pays and prescriptions. Not a bad way to get a free $170 per person. Our health insurance also has a program where you can get a free blood pressure cuff and a free blood sugar testing device if your health situation would require monitoring in those areas. 

Review your home and auto insurance. Some people purchase the coverage and then never review it. My wife's parents have had the same insurance for 50 years or more. I guarantee you that if they had shopped for insurance every year or two they would have saved thousands of dollars. If you compare every year or so, you can save hundreds of dollars each year. 

I have never shopped around for better health insurance. I have been happy with Blue Cross and feel like it is well worth what I pay. I know some people who shopped their health insurance and then were surprised about the difference in co-pays, in network doctors, etc. I am content knowing my insurance is good and don't want to mess around with it. I did make one change to my health insurance. My son will be 26 this year and would be off my insurance and he just got a new job that pays 100% for his health insurance. So, during open season, I changed our plan from family to self plus one. This saved about $50 per month and we still have our very same coverage. So, if you children have aged out and are off your insurance, make sure you see if you plan has a self plus one option that is cheaper than the family option.

Review all of you financial and investment accounts and make any adjustments as needed. This would be a good time to change asset allocations or change your withdrawal rates on you retirement funds. This is also a good time to review your important documents and make sure they are up to date and secured in a place where you and your spouse know about. In your review, check passport expiration dates, life insurance expiration dates and make any changes to your will and other legal documents. 

I hope you can benefit from at least one suggestion I've listed here. If nothing else, I have reminded you to get busy!

Do you have any other financial tune up tips to share? Does your health insurance offer similar benefits to what I discussed? Take a few minutes to tune up your finances and then sit back and enjoy 2023!

It All Has To Do With Our Perspective

Perspective has one definition of "a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view".  The word is most often used in a similar fashion as the word "standpoint". Standpoint is defined as a position from which objects or principles are viewed and according to which they are compared and judged. 

I have visited San Antonio, TX numerous times over the years and have taken the riverboat tour several times. There is one point where the narrator has you look up at a building as you round a corner. Upon first glance, and from that particular perspective the building looks like a single wall reaching into the sky. As the boat moves along, your perspective changes, and you see the whole building and the fact it is a full building built with a very sharp angle at the corners. 

Our perspective changes with our environment. I posted before regarding our different environments that we live in. Perspective is similar in that each of us has a unique perspective of everything around us.  That perspective shapes our thoughts and attitudes and the way we act and respond daily. I have often heard that those people who lived through the Great Depression were frugal their whole lives. Due to the crash of the financial system, they no longer had faith in the system and would only keep cash at home and would often bury it or hide it rather than put it in a bank. From their perspective, banks could never be trusted again. For those of us that have not lived through such a time, we trust that our money is safe in a bank or other financial institution and don't think twice about it.

Due to our prosperous environment in the U.S., most of us have a perspective of being pretty secure and pretty safe in this country. Other than the random gun violence that has run crazy, I feel pretty safe when I am out and about in this world of mine. After watching a recent WW I movie recently, I thought of how great we have it in this day and age in the U.S. The hardships of the soldiers and the citizens involved in that war, as in any war, was horrendous. I can't imagine being in constant fear of a bomb dropping from the sky or fear of an invading force coming into my city. I can't imagine having to forage for food and water in those conditions or trying to protect my family in those conditions.  Forcing ourselves to think about that type of perspective makes you appreciate what you have. 

When you think about the hardships others are in, you appreciate the water that comes out of the tap at the turn of the handle. You appreciate the lights and the heat coming on at the flip of a switch. You appreciate the abundance of food available at the local grocery market. Our perspective sometimes leads us to be accustomed to our situation and not fully appreciate what we have. 

I think I have a bad day if the battery goes out in my car, or the electricity goes out for a couple of hours, or I break something I drop on the floor. Really Mitch! Those are such minor issues compared to "bad days" that others are experiencing around the world. My wife and I have talked about how our perspective about cancer and cancer treatment has changed over the past two years. We both had the perspective that cancer was bad and the treatments were pretty awful. After she went through the cancer treatment herself and I saw firsthand how tough it really is, our perspective has changed dramatically and we realized it is a much worse experience than we had in mind. It's all in the perspective.

I mentioned WWI, but there are some pretty bad situations in this world currently. The people in Ukraine worry about the bombs and invasion and staying warm this winter. People are starving in parts of the world with about 9 million dying last year because they didn't have food to eat. Can you imagine having their perspective of the world! A Google search says there are 15 wars or armed conflicts going on in the world. Another terrible perspective. 

Our perspective doesn't just involve what we can see or touch, it also involves our opinions on things from religion to politics. We must all remind ourselves that our perspective is not always the right perspective and is certainly not the only perspective out there. We must keep open minds to everyone else's perspective. Giving other people's perspective some respect is similar to the quote "Before you judge me, walk a mile in my shoes".

As I sit here writing this blog in a warm house with a full pantry and all the basics I need in life, I must continue to broaden my perspective to acknowledge those that are suffering and be very thankful for what I have. As we all start a new year, we must be thankful for what we have as it can all change in a heartbeat. In this new year, I hope to be more content and more appreciative than I have been in past years. 

In my retirement, I believe my perspective in life has changed. I see life more as something to slow down and enjoy rather than the hustle and bustle of work to earn a dollar. I look more for things that bring me joy such as family and new experiences. I enjoy the relaxing aspect of retirement with no real set schedule. My current perspective is of a pretty awesome world despite it's many flaws and of huge potential for the future.

Have you read about or viewed a situation that makes you thankful for your current perspective? Did your general perspective change with retirement? Are you more open to other's political and religious views than you used to be? Do you have a way to be more thankful in your daily activities?

May you all have a great year in 2023 and savor and enjoy every moment!

What Is Retirement?

There are several definitions of retirement that I found in searching Google. One definition is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from active working life. Another definition is the stage in life when one choses to leave the work force and live off sources of income or savings that do not require active work. Another definition states that retirement is when one leave the workforce for good. Retirement means different things for each of us. Some can fully retire from the workforce but choose not to and stay in their active working life until they can no longer physically perform the work. Some retire from a full time career but take up part time work and thus are not fully retired by the last definition. Some can never fully leave the work force due to lack of a pension or adequate savings. 

I met a man a few months ago that was painting a house in our neighborhood. He had just come down off a ladder and was at his truck when I had a short conversation with him. This young man of 76 had been painting houses for 40 years. He said he still loves the satisfaction of a paint job well done. He was still getting up and down the ladder even though he had fallen off the ladder into an empty hot tub on a recent job and hurt his shoulder. He said it still hurts and he was to have a MRI soon to see if surgery is needed. I jokingly said that maybe he should hire a younger man for the ladder work and he agreed. This 76 year old looked to be in great shape and I'm sure his work helped keep him that way. I don't think "retirement" was in his vocabulary. In his opinion he was doing something he enjoyed and would continue doing so as long as he could.

We all know or have seen people who work late in their life. We see politicians that work into their 80's and sometimes die while holding office. I can't imagine that being an enjoyable position and imagine it to be very stressful with the travel and the bickering that happens in the political arena. We see actors and singers who love their profession and also perform as long as they can. I heard the other day that Indiana Jones will be back this Summer! There are many old bands that still tour the country with the members in their 70's and 80's. You would think after 40+ years on the road they would want to retire and settle down!

We each have our own expectation of retirement and what that life looks like. I guess some have the mindset to retire as soon as possible and pursue other activities while some never think about retirement because they enjoy what they do so much. I guess I can't say I'm retired as I do a little part time work, only about 5 hours this last year but by the last definition I have not left the work force for good. In my opinion I'm retired. For some, retirement is a beach house in Florida. For some, retirement is travel around the country in an RV. And, for some, retirement is sitting in a recliner and watching TV all day. 

What is your version of retirement. Do you have a "pie in the sky" vision of retirement where you and your spouse are super fit and walking hand in hand on a white sand beach everyday? Or, is your vision of retirement more reality based? Is there an age where you think you should give up your working life or are you an old rock star that will rock until you die?

Foreigner Still Rocking!

Christmas Memories

This time of year always brings back memories of my childhood and growing older over the years. My family lived in a house on about 26 acres of land in North Texas. The land had numerous cedar trees on it that provided our Christmas tree every year. We would go out into the pasture and find the perfect tree and dad would cut it down and haul it into the house. It was always much bigger in the house and had to be trimmed down quiet a bit to fit the space. By the time he was done there were cedar needles all over the house but it began to smell a little like Christmas. I remember at least once where we took a tree up to my school for our class Christmas Tree. I was so proud that we provided the tree that year!

Decorating the tree was a family affair and we all gathered around and put the ornaments on. Some were handmade by my two sisters and I and some were store bought and several years old. We began the decorating process excitedly but quickly tired of putting on ornaments after placing 10 or so on the tree. The grand finale of decorating was placing the tinsel icicles on the tree. We always had several new boxes of these every year. Each box held about 10,000 strands and it would take you forever to put them on! At the time, they probably cost 29 cents a box or something similar. My sisters and I started out putting them on one strand at a time while delicately placing them on the branches to hang just perfectly. By the end, we were throwing handfuls at a time at the tree and they landed wherever they wanted. My mother would come behind us and thin the bigger deposits and redistribute some of those strands to the empty sections of the tree.

I always remember sitting at the base of the fully decorated and lit tree and staring at all the wrapped presents with so much excitement. I could not wait until Christmas arrived! Our family always opened the wrapped presents on Christmas Eve night. These were presents that were from mom and dad or from one sibling to another. The kids were usually given a small budget to buy the other two a gift or two. Our Christmas Eve dinner usually was chili dogs because we wanted a quick dinner as soon as dad got home from work so we could begin opening presents. I know, chili dogs, really? My mother continued to have chili dog dinners on Christmas Eve for years whenever we gathered to do our family Christmas. And then, on Christmas, Santa came overnight and left more gifts under the tree for us to discover the next morning. Which sometimes was 3am when one of us woke up and bounded down the stairs to see if Santa came. Those were great times!

Our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day scheduled served us well over the years as my wife's family always waited until Christmas morning to open all gifts. This allowed us to have Christmas Eve at my family's home with my kids and then have Christmas morning at my wife's family's home. Now that our kids are grown and we have three grandkids we will have Christmas at our home on Christmas Day. I hope my kids and grandkids will have great Christmas memories of these days. 

We haven't had a live tree but once or twice in my adult years. We currently have a nice artificial tree in the corner. It sheds needles as much as a live tree when I put it up and take it down. Our tree has ribbon and a variety of decorations. One thing it lacks is tinsel icicles! On our old live cedar trees, we threw out the tree with most tinsel still on it. I can't imagine trying to remove tinsel from our artificial tree every year to pack it away.

What are your Christmas memories of your childhood? What was a favorite gift you got when you were younger? Mine was a BB gun and a bicycle. When do you celebrate Christmas with gifts, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Anyone else out there do chili dogs on Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas everyone!! Remember the reason for the season and enjoy those family interactions!

New Things To Add To The New Things List

 On December 5th, my wife and I added another New Thing done this year. We went to a glass blowing studio and each made a blown glass ornament. After the instructor dabbed a pipe into molten glass he handed it to us to roll on a table. Next he dabbed the pipe into the furnace for additional glass. We then rolled our molten glass in two different colors, of our choosing, and then we put it into another furnace to melt the glass color into the original clear glass. Boy, was that furnace hot! 2400 degrees! We then handed the pipe and glass to the instructor who rolled and shaped it into a round ball while we blew into the pipe to create the round bulb. It was a lot of fun! The glass had to cool and we picked the ornaments up the next day. We had created a one of a kind keepsake for our Christmas tree. A couple in front of us said it was their fourth year of creating a glass ornament. What a cool Christmas tradition. We already plan on going back next year. 

While waiting on our appointment time we visited a fused glass studio next door. The owners were making Ginger Bread ornament of glass. With fused glass, you decorate the piece with bits and pieces of colored glass and then fire it to melt all the glass into one piece. We got a flyer from them and plan on this being another New Things for us to try in the near future.

We had dinner at a new place in town before we went to the studio. Well, it was new to us. I think it opened in 2006, but was our first time. It was a pub called McNellie's Public House. It was an old three story building with a bar on the first and third floor with dining on each floor. We enjoyed a great dinner in a new spot. Overall, we had a great night and it helped add a lot of fun to our week of keeping grandkids and prepping for Christmas. 

Another New Thing we did recently was to hide ducks on our last cruise we took in November. I had posted about cruising ducks a few posts back. We took about 50 ducks to hide and hid about 10 a day on our 5 day cruise. I found 10 ducks with one duck having a tag from an earlier cruise out of Los Angeles. I will add a tag to it and hide it again on our next cruise. I saw one little girl looking for ducks one morning and pointed her to one of my hidden ones and to another I spotted. She was very excited as she hadn't found a duck up to that point. Hiding and finding ducks added a whole layer of fun to the cruise and I plan on doing it again on our next cruise.

Our ducks to hide!

Ducks found!

 

Have you tried glass blowing? Have you tried any New Things lately that have been a great experience?

What Books Are On Your Christmas List?

 

I recently saw a TV interview of the singer Bono on an early morning news program. During the interview I became aware that he was a man of faith and that he had a new book out titled Surrender. I have put that book on my Christmas wish list for this year. I have been watching Dave Letterman's show No Need For An Introduction on Netflix and saw an interview with Will Smith. The interview was before his big slap down of Chris Rock. Will Smith talked about his troubled childhood and I found out that he has a book titled Will. That book has also been added to my Christmas wish list for this year. 

I like to vary my reading with books that include Fiction, History, Memoirs, and Devotionals. I will read a couple of Fiction books, then throw in a History story and back to Fiction. 

What books are on your Christmas list this year? Anything interesting that you added? Do you stick to one genre in your reading or do you mix it up? What is your favorite genre? In the Fiction category I usually read thrillers, adventure and murder mysteries.  I'm always looking for suggestions for a great read!