Bargains

I've mentioned in past blogs that my wife and I like to visit thrift shops. I like browsing a store of miscellaneous items and finding a good bargain. I find a shirt or a pair of cargo shorts every now and then. I find a lot of great books at prices from 49 and up. I usually balk at book prices over $2 which is silly when most new books cost $24.99 or so. I've often scored great deals on jigsaw puzzles, toys and other gently used items. 

Most all of us love a good bargain. It doesn't matter if it is a secondhand item at a thrift store or garage sale or a new, but highly discounted, item at the grocery or retail stores. Recently, I scored a bargain of the year at our grocery store. Shortly after Thanksgiving, our local grocery store had shopping carts of Stovetop Stuffing and French's fried onions deeply discounted. I picked up a box of stuffing and was shocked at the price on the box..... 25 cents!! We like the stuffing and it makes for a quick meal with some warmed up deli turkey and a side or two. I joke with my wife about making Thanksgiving dinner when I make the meal on a random day throughout the week. Our twin, one year old, granddaughters like the stuffing also, so it makes a quick addition to their lunch. I loaded up on the bargain price and bought 5 boxes. The onions were the same price.....25 cents! I grabbed two of those. I should have bought a few more of each and they were quickly snapped up by other bargain shoppers and were all gone the next day. Recently, I was in a Dollar General store and noticed their Stovetop stuffing was priced at $3.49. I just smiled and thought to myself, "I paid a quarter a box for mine!". 

Another place to get a great deal is on Facebook marketplace. I have purchased a few things on the site and have sold a few things. I have bought and sold on Craigslist in the past and I'm not sure it is still the marketplace that it used to be as I usually just go to Facebook these days. 

In retirement, a lot of people have to watch their funds closely to make their retirement funds stretch to the next check. I've seen stories where some retirees must choose between prescriptions, food and utilities due to the lack of funds. I feel for those people and know they are probably the world's best bargain shoppers. Unless you are multi millionaires, most of us should watch our funds and take advantage of any discounts or bargains to help stretch the retirement dollar. 

Along with finding a good bargain, I like a good discount. There are numerous places that offer senior discounts. Most start at age 62-65, but I have seen several that start at 55. Most discounts are 10%, but every little bit helps the budget. I shop rates when booking hotels and often find that AAA or AARP rate is the most affordable and can be $20 or less than other rates. Watching small things like hotel rates and dining costs could help stretch your retirement travel funds. 

Using coupons is another great way to save a little money in retirement. We don't get a print newspaper anymore and that used to be the place to get coupons in the Sunday paper. These days, we use very few coupons. Every once in awhile we will redeem a coupon that is attached to a grocery product or we will use a coupon we have found on a website. 

Do you have a good bargain story? What is your latest bargain find? Do you coupon? Do you have any suggestions on finding a bargain or getting more out of your retirement dollars? 

Bookstores

I love to read books and in retirement have really enjoyed finishing up a large number of books from my bookshelf. I enjoy reading, but I don't devour 10 books a week or anything close to that. I usually average 2-4 books per month depending on the weather and what other things I have going on at the time. I have enough books on my shelf to last a few years at the moment but continue to pick up books at thrift stores and garage sales to add to my collections. Printed books are still extremely popular with over 700 million sold last year. 

As much as I love books, I really love a great bookstore. I love browsing the aisles and looking for a good bargain or looking for a good story that I wasn't aware existed. I used to enjoy going to Waldenbooks or B. Dalton Books back in the days when there was one or both in every shopping mall. My wife would go off to shop the clothing and other stores and I would head to the bookstore and then stop in at Radio Shack. B. Dalton was started in 1966 and peaked with 798 locations in 1986. The chain was acquired by Barnes & Noble and in January 2010, Barnes & Noble closed the last remaining 50 B. Dalton stores. Walden books opened in 1933 as a book rental business. Books were rented for three cents per day to help people after the Depression who could no longer afford to buy books. Walden became a bookstore in 1962 and changed it's name to Waldenbooks in the 1970's. The chain was bought by Kmart in 1984 and then Kmart bought Border's books in 1992. In 1994, Kmart joined the two book businesses and at the time Waldenbooks had 1216 stores. By 2011, bookstores were in major decline and Borders filed for liquidation to close all bookstore locations.

A lot of mom and pop bookstores have also fallen over the years. Amazon and other online book sellers have killed a lot of the local bookstore business. I still enjoy going to Barnes & Noble bookstores. They are currently the largest bookstore chain in the country. They began in 1886 as Arthur Hinds & Company which then became Hinds & Nobel when Clifford Noble became a partner in 1894. They now have about 600 stores in operation. I like strolling the aisles of books and looking through their bargain section where you can find recent bestsellers for $6.99 or so. 

My all time favorite bookstore, that I have visited, is Powell's Books in Portland, OR. This store is amazing. It is the world's largest independent bookstore. It has new books, used books and antique books. Powell's has several floors of books and is one awesome place for a book lover to visit. I have been there twice and can't wait to get back. If I lived near this store, I think I would be in there several times a month. 

Do you have a favorite bookstore? Is is a local independent store or a chain store? Do you like a good bookstore or do you prefer to order online? Anyone else been to Powell's and will agree it is one great bookstore? Anyone else remember going to the mall bookstores back in the 80's and 90's? 

Maps

The earliest know map in the world was etched on a clay tablet around 600 B.C. in Babylon. Ancient Greeks produced the first paper maps in the world. In 1579 the Guang Yutu atlas was produced and included 40 maps and using a grid system. The first maps of the entire world began in the 1500's as explorers sailed the seas discovering new lands never before seen by Europeans. In the 20th century aerial and satellite surveillance have made maps as precise as possible and make the map and direction apps that are in use in everyday life.

I saw a news story one day this week about paper maps making a comeback. Apparently, the younger generation has a new interest in paper maps. I have always enjoyed using a Road Atlas when planning and taking road trips in the past. The Road Atlas is a wealth of information that you just can't see spread out on a single page of internet web page on your phone or computer screen.  

With the Atlas you can see a lot of out of the way places of interest. I have used an Atlas when planning long road trips from OKC to the California coast and I have used it for short trips from OKC to Dodge City, KS. You can easily chart your route across numerous states and note any places of interest that you would like to explore. On our family trip to Dodge City, I noticed an interesting place in Greensburg, KS. Greensburg is home to the World's Largest Hand-Dug Well. So, I had to put that as a stop along our drive just to see what this place was. It turned out to be a very interesting museum that was about the well and about a tornado that destroyed the town in the past. Then we walked down a staircase into the well. How many of you have ever been to the World's Largest Hand-Dug Well? I bet not many!

If you were to look up your route on your phone in the maps app, you don't see this site listed unless you really zoom in on Greensburg. Which, you would probably never do if you were just passing through. The Atlas is so much better at showing you interesting sites in one easy, hand held, paper map book. Maybe the younger generation, now interested in paper maps, will not miss out on all the interesting spots out in this great world of ours.

I remember, back in the 90's using Mapsco books at work to get around the DFW area. I did not like those things. You had to find the address you wanted and then find what map page you needed. Then one page was so zoomed in that you had to flip to the page before or the page after to figure out where you were going. The modern smart phone is much better at getting you from one location to another. We also had maps for all the bigger cities in Oklahoma. When you need to go to one of those cities, you picked out the appropriate map from the map drawer and hit the road. My, how times have changed.

Paper maps would still be very handy these days if you found yourself somewhere without cell phone coverage. Some people couldn't get across town without using their directions from their phone with Siri telling them every turn to make. 

Maps are used to get from one place to another. Maps are used to plan details of vacations and weekend trips. Maps are used to track where you want to go or track where you have been. In our Road Atlas, I use a highlighter and mark every state we have been to on the U.S. Map and then sometimes highlight the entire route of a vacation road trip on the state maps within the Atlas. I've seen a few RVs that have a map on the back with colorful states placed on the map as the travelers have visited those states. I have a canvas world Conquest Map on my wall that I bought for a wall decoration. It came with pushpins so I can mark where I have visited and where I plan to visit. I just don't want to mess up the beautiful map with holes, so my map remains pin free at the moment. 

There are problems with a paper mat. Most do not show you where a good dining spot is or where the next hotel will be. It won't give you reviews of the sites it shows on the map. It won't give you advice on "things to do in xyz city". The smartphone or computer are much better tools for planning a lot of travel details. Another big problem with a paper mat......folding the darn thing if it is one of the foldable ones. Atlas, no problem. Folding map equals frustration. 

Do you still use a paper map in some instances? Do you use the Atlas as a planning tool for road trips? Have you seen anything interesting because you spotted it on a map and thought "you never know until you go"? Do you have a wall map that you use pushpins to mark where you have been and where you wish to go?

Retirement: Are You a Squirrel or a Cat?

While looking out into my back yard yesterday at birds eating seed at my bird feeder, I also saw a squirrel enjoying a little seed himself. When watching a squirrel move about I get the impression that they are on methamphetamines or something because they are so twitchy and nervous. They move about in quick jerky motions and are very busy animals going to-and-fro across the yard and up and down the trees. One minute they are sitting quietly enjoying the bird seed and the next minute they dart across the yard to bury an acorn in the ground. A few days ago I spotted a squirrel darting along my fence top with a giant piece of white cushion stuffing he had found some where. Who knows what he was going to do with it. I figure he was going to pad his nest a little against the cold winter wind.

Watching the squirrel made me think of people in retirement. Some people are very busy in retirement doing this and that and going through their day getting things done. And then some are more like a cat and take retirement super relaxed and enjoy sitting in the recliner watching TV, reading a book, knitting, etc.  

I see myself with the characteristics of both of these animals. On a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the 60's or 70's  I can fill a day with busy activities. I can be a squirrel on those days and wash the car, clean the garage, do some yardwork, touch up paint, replace or fix minor broken items, etc. By the end of that day, I just want to be a cat and take a break and sit somewhere quiet and read a book. On a cold winter day, I can be a lazy cat all day long drinking coffee, reading, blogging and other low energy activities. 

In the summer, the squirrel in me gets the lawn mowed and trimmed and flower beds cleaned up. Then, the cat in me gets on the pool float and does nothing for an hour or two other than listening to the water falls tumble into the pool and some reggae or smooth jazz playing on the speaker at the pool side. 

In retirement I think you need a good balance of being busy and being at rest. If you stay in squirrel mode you will burn yourself out with constant activities, volunteering and part time work and find that you have no time to enjoy the retirement you have worked for. On the flip side, you can not stay in cat mode for any length of time without becoming a hermit in your own home. You must get out and have interaction and exercise to keep the mind and body strong and able. I envision that most retirees become more cat as they age and squirrel activities become too much work. Health would also dictate your activity level. Obviously any major health issue or disability would slow your activity level to some extent.

Are you more squirrel than cat or more cat than squirrel? If you have been retired for many years, did you start off in squirrel mode and slowly transition to cat mode? Are you like me and flip between busy and not so busy depending on the day?  What other animal might you equate your retirement to? 

On Tuesday, as I write this, we have snow moving into the area with 4"-8" expected. Today, I'm not sure I have the energy to be a cat. Today,  I may go into sloth mode!

The Splinter!

I take my 3 year old granddaughter to school and then pick her up again every afternoon. She usually greets me in the afternoon with a huge smile and is excited to be going to Nana and Pawpaw's house. I pull up in line to pick her up and then jump out of my truck to help her get into her car seat and get buckled in the right rear passenger seat. One day last week, she met me with a smile and happy attitude as I began to put help her into my truck when she started wailing and crying. I didn't have a clue as to what just happened and then she started yelling she had a splinter in her hand as she put one hand on top of the one that contained the splinter. I struggled to calm her down and get her into her car seat and then she would not unclasp her hands so I could buckle her in. I pulled the truck up into a parking space so the next parent could pick up their child. I went back around to her side and was able to get her to allow me to look at the splinter. She had huge tears running down her face and I expected a huge splinter deep into her finger. She removed the hand covering the splinter and I saw a tiny half inch piece of wood that was barely embedded in her finger. (The photo above is not the splinter in her hand)  I quickly removed it and she instantly got better since she could no longer see the splinter in her finger. A smile and laugh quickly came back as I buckled her into her seat. 

This splinter could not have caused any pain, it had barely pricked her skin and was barely hanging on. I'm surprised she didn't shake her hand enough for it to just fall off. But, in her eyes, she saw a huge and painful problem with this splinter and just the idea of a splinter in her finger set her emotions into high gear. Her tears and screaming were more about what she thought was a terrible situation rather than what the actual situation was.

How many times throughout our lives do we react much the same way to situations that we find ourselves facing? I know, from personal experience, that I have made a mountain out of a mole hill on numerous occasions. I've walked to my car in the Walmart parking lot and noticed a spot on my car where someone has hit it with their own car door. My blood pressure rises, my stress level rises and I began to get mad and then as I rub my finger over the horrible spot on the car, the paint rubs off and you can't tell that anything happened! I had reacted the same as my granddaughter did to her "splinter". The same thing has probably happened to every one of you. You have overreacted to an event or a comment by someone that really was no event at all.

Other situations in our lives may deserve some reaction from us but not an overreaction. Many small events in my life have caused me great stress and sleepless nights. Those same events in retrospect were nothing to really lose sleep over. I have experienced several real splinters over the years. I have had painful splinters under my fingernails, in my finger and a few in my feet. Some were easy to remove. Some were hard and painful to remove. A few drew blood and were very painful. Life throws us many rough situations over the years and much like a splinter, some are easy to get through and some are a little tougher to get through.

The important lesson is to clearly assess the situation at hand and make sure we don't overreact to a situation that has been created in our own minds. Sometimes we see the splinter on the surface of our hand or the spot on the car before we assess things such as Is it real? Does it hurt me or others? Is it really important in the big scheme of things? Some friends of ours have a funny saying when they describe a silly fall. They will tell the story of stumbling and falling for some reason and then say "And then I assessed myself", meaning that they assessed the situation to determine if they were hurt and able to get up off the ground. But, what a great thing to to in any situation, "assess yourself" then carry on.

Our minds can work against us in making the situation much worse than it actually is. To me, it is much like the placebo effect that people often get when taking medicines. If you think you are taking a medicine that will help an ailment, often you feel better just simply because your mind believes that the medicine is working even if you are taking a placebo. Only, in this situation, our mind sees the splinter on the surface and automatically associates it with a painful and nasty experience. 

I believe I have gotten better at reacting to situations as I have gotten older and as I have adjusted to retirement. After years of overreacting to things, that turned out to be nothing, I feel that I am a little slower at reacting negatively to things. Since leaving the work force for retirement, I think I have a lot fewer problems and issues that come up on a daily basis. I'm sure I will still overreact to the next door ding on the car or other things that really are more irritating than they are a serious problem. I have to continue to remind my self that the small problems are not worth losing sleep over as they will pass into the past very quickly. 

Have you had a similar "splinter" moment recently when you thought something was going terribly wrong, when in fact nothing bad was happening at all? Have you ever experienced a placebo effect from taking a supplement or placebo medicine? What do you do to properly access a new situation to prevent overreaction? Have you become better at not making a mountain out of a molehill in retirement?

Making The World A Better Place!

Back in my working days I had two sayings that I uttered on most mornings to my wife and kids. One was "I'm off to make the world a better place!" and the other was "I'm going to work to make money for cookies!". In my last post I talked about my interesting career in law enforcement. When uttering the "I'm off to make the world a better place", I headed into the office to help stop some crime, bring justice for the victims and possibly bring restitution to those victims. Just my little part in making the world a better place. In all of our careers, and then in retirement, we can make the world a better place. Even if it is a very small improvement in our own small environment or a large improvement to the world in general.   

When I think now about making the world a better place, I think I am doing so every time I put something in the recycle bin or I plant a flower or tree. These are very tiny things but things that do, in fact, improve the world a tiny bit. We all can make the world a better place with physical acts such as these or even greater acts involving helping others, righting wrongs, volunteering, etc. In my own environment, I make our local world a better place by repairing something in the house, painting a part of the house that needs a touch up, getting rid of unused things and also any cleaning of the home or yard. I believe we make the world a better place with a simple smile or compliment given to someone. I believe we make the world a better place by raising responsible children and grandchildren. 

Sometimes I will voice "I'm making the world a better place" after I wash and clean my car or I take out the trash. These are probably not great examples of making the world a better place. I feel I don't have the talent, skill and money to make large scale improvements to the world. When I think of great improvements in the world, I think of the Gates Foundation that has saved countless lives through immunizations and health care in the poorest parts of our world. I think of the non-profits that drill water wells and provide drinking straws that filter water to those that don't have clean drinking water. I think of preachers spreading the gospel in secluded and dangerous areas. And, I think of those organizations that feed millions of the hungry around the world.

I have not made major inroads to making the world a better place. I have not started a non-profit to help those in need in some way. I have not invented or discovered anything that will change the world. I just march along through life making small contributions to this world of ours. 

Do I make the world a better place by putting bird seed out for the birds in my back yard? Do I make the world a better place by helping my family with a variety of chores and tasks? I think the world is a tiny bit better when I do those things.

Have you done anything major in your life to make the world a better place? What do you do on a regular basis that you would consider making the world a little better? What large and small efforts do you think about when you think about making the world a better place?

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!".