May is for cruising! At least it is for us this year. My blogging will be pretty much on hold this month.
After a couple of tough years, my wife and I are trying to hit the travel a little harder this year. We took a Royal Caribbean cruise the first week of May to Roatan, Costa Maya and Cozumel. Next week we head out on a Carnival Cruise to Alaska to Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Victoria, BC. I hope to be back to regular blogging after that. See you soon!
Often, while my coffee is brewing, I thank God for the great things in my life and then pray about future things involving family, health and well being. After that, I begin to think "what am I going to do today?" As a retiree, my days are often a blank slate and ready to be filled. The potential for a great day is there every morning! Do I want a day of rest and relaxation? Such a day may include a little reading, blogging and other menial tasks. Do I want a day of household chores? This would include laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, etc. Or, do I want a day of fun? This would include a day that would involve a new destination, a new dining experience or new activity.
I wake well before my wife. So, I have time to think about the potential of the day. I must think about time limits and costs while thinking about the opportunities that the day may have. A recent "day of fun" for me, was an hour trip to a new BBQ place and then some metal detecting. The BBQ place was outstanding and I found a few treasures while detecting. The day was awesome! The day was a great "retirement day". One of those days that I envisioned when I thought about retiring while sitting at my desk.
In retirement, as the saying goes above, "everyday had the potential to be the greatest day in your life". How true is that! If we approach everyday with a wide eyed expectation of the potential that this day has, what a great day we can have. If you get up in the morning and expect a great day to be relaxing, reading and listening the the birds outside, so be it. You do just that and enjoy your great day.
If you wake up and decide to be a "man of action" and mow the yard, paint the fence and clean the cars, so be it and have one awesome day!. If you wake up and decide to pick up litter along the road or feed the homeless at the local shelter, so be it. And, have a great day serving others! Each day has so much potential and we should all look to maximize that to our personal need.
I am much more of a planner than my wife. I do like to have things organized and thought out for most trips and vacations. But, I am also getting better at just taking off and doing something without a lot of thought. Do you spend a lot of time planning your retirement days? Or do you get up, like I do most mornings, and begin to look at the potential of today? I keep a list of possibilities in my notes on my phone. I often watch a show called "Discover Oklahoma" and note any places to see or new dining places. Then, when I am out and about or planning a day trip in the state, I can access my list as a reminder of new things to do.
I've posted before about "bucket lists", but do you have a list of smaller items that you want to do or see that really don't qualify as a "bucket list" item. I think of "bucket list" items as things like a trip to Italy or a trip to the Grand Canyon and other grand ideas. While my smaller list includes a few museums, ice cream shops and BBQ joints.
However you keep lists, or don't keep lists, just make sure you get out there and enjoy that retirement day!
One of my favorite recipes of my mother's is mayonnaise cake. As a youngster, I always cringed a little bit when she would mention making mayonnaise cake because it sounded a little gross. But, when all said and done, it was a pretty delicious cake. Her mayonnaise cake recipe is for a chocolate cake with warm chocolate icing poured on top. It is still one of my most favorite cakes. The coca cola cake at Cracker Barrel is similar to mom's mayonnaise cake.
When my kids were growing up, mom had to tell them she made mayonnaise cake but without the mayonnaise so they would eat it. They always loved the cake with the belief that the nasty mayonnaise had been left out! To a kid, mayonnaise in a cake just doesn't seem right. It would be the same as saying you made a broccoli cake.
Another favorite cake of mine is carrot cake. Who knew that carrots in a cake would be delicious? I'm sure there are a lot of other delicious recipes that don't sound so great when you mention the ingredients. Do you have a favorite recipe like "mayonnaise cake" that sounds a little weird, but it delicious? Do you have a great recipe for broccoli cake or something similar?
Have you dabbled in new recipes in retirement? Are you cooking more home cooked meals and desserts in retirement? If not, it is time for you to get busy and come up with the next great mayonnaise cake!
Recently I have seen several serious articles about retirees needing multiple income streams for a good retirement. The last one I read mentioned that 7 income streams would be the best. That is a lot of different income streams!
I began to add mine up and I think I may have the 7! I am a federal retiree and the federal system is a three tier system in which you draw a pension, 401K (Thrift Savings Plan TSP) and Social Security. The TSP portion can be small or large depending on your personal savings rate during your career. Some employees choose not to save much and thus their balance at retirement is pretty small. Some employees may max out their savings and have that part of their retirement be pretty substantial.
So, my retirement from the government gives me three income streams of #1 pension, #2 TSP withdrawals and #3 Social Security. I work part time doing a little contract work. Last year I made about $200 I think. The work was there for me but the will to get back into the working class was not too great last year. So, my part time job is income stream #4. I get a little interest off a savings account at my bank, so there is stream #5 interest income. This income stream is more like a trickle as the interest does not add up to much but was greater than stream #4 last year. Now I really have to stretch to add additional income streams. Every year I throw any found coins into a wooden bowl on my bedroom dresser and then count it and cash it in at the end of the year. This is my income stream #6. I counted my bowl as of this date and for the first 3+ months of 2023, that income stream has a total of $6.93. Also in that bowl are numerous coins that I found in CoinStar reject bins at the grocery store that are from Mexico, Canada and Israel. I can't even spend part of the found money stream in this country!
I've talked about my hobby of metal detecting in past posts. Guess what? This is my income stream #7! Much like my found money, my detecting coins also are saved, cleaned and counted at the end of the year. My best year so far has been $85.03. I know, I know, not much of an income stream. I'm not sure if the authors of the "multiple income stream" articles would approve of many of my streams being income streams, but it works for this guy! My wife and I live on #1-3, the rest are just extra pocket money.
Have you read about multiple income streams recently? I would think if you had one large stream, you could retire just fine. Do you have multiple income streams that make up your retirement? I can imagine there are a lot of retirees that collect income on dividends, part time jobs, rental properties and other traditional income producing investments. Do you have any income trickles, like several of mine listed above? I posted once on side hustle jobs. Maybe that is one or more of your income streams.
Oooh! I just remembered I have an upcoming cruise to Mexico, maybe I can spent that 50 pesos in my found money bowl!
I haven't visited our local public library in several months but made a trip there last week to meet my daughter and granddaughter. The library was very well lit and inviting. My daughter browsed for some children's books while my granddaughter took me back to a small play area. She played with some building blocks and wrote on an erasable sketch pad. Another mother sat in a nice chair in the area, reading, while her daughter played. It was very quiet and relaxing.
I found many books that I would like to read and picked out two. I figured that was about all I could get read in the three week time limit for checking them out. When leaving the library, we checked ourselves out quickly and without issue. The checkout table would scan your library card and then would scan and record the books as you placed them on a table. The whole process was easy and enjoyable.
I told myself that I need to put library visits on my weekly "to do list". They still have a decent amount of magazines to browse through and had a the local newspaper as well as the Wall St. Journal. I think I could easily spend an hour or two catching up on the current magazines and news. I noticed they had This Old House magazine that I could probably pick up a tip or inspiration from.
As I browsed the library, I was reminded of what a gem that public libraries are. You can borrow and read a book for free. You can browse through magazines and newspapers. You can take an interesting class or have a club meeting. There are programs for children for crafting or participating in reading sessions.
I read a few books a month and get most of my books from thrift stores and garage sales. I get a few books as gifts for birthdays or Christmas. The problem with me buying books is that I buy more than I can read and have them stacked on bookshelves and in my closet. If I would just use the library, I could get books for free and the added benefit is that they store them for me on nice, organized shelves. I really need to consider this option more often!
Do you utilize your local library? If so, what programs have you participated in? Do you use the library just for checking out a book, or do you sit for awhile and read magazines and newspapers?
Two posts ago, I wrote a post on this being a great country. After thinking about it for a week or so, I've also decided that we live on a great planet. Despite all the bad things on this earth with wars, famine and disasters of all kind, we do have a pretty hospitable place to have our home. Our options are pretty much zero at this point and will be for some time.
I watched William Shatner take his trip up to space and listened to his remarks upon his return. He was truly moved by his trip to space. Some of his remarks are noted below. He was in awe but also in grief for the future of our fragile earth.
"I saw more clearly than I
have, with all the studying and reading I've done, the writhing, slow death of
Earth and we on it," Shatner said.
"It's a
little tiny rock with an onion skin air around it. That's how fragile it all
is. It's so fragile. We hang by a thread ... we're just dangling."
Shatner was experiencing the "overview effect" that a lot of astronauts experience. The experience causes a cognitive and emotional shift in a person's awareness when they see earth from space. We often hear news of global warming and the effects on the climate and the livability of this planet. I think most of us have grown used to the news and don't think a whole lot about it on a daily basis. But, it does appear that us earthlings are not taking the problem as serious as we need to. As an individual, I believe our thought is "what can one person do" and our next thought is "the government and scientist will figure out a solution". I'm not sure how this whole thing is going to turn out and, if it turns out bad, we don't have a second planet to quickly move to.
Enough about the bad news. This is a great planet to live on. We have nice breathable air, abundant water and a pretty great place to live. Our options on other planets don't look so great. Mars has an atmosphere 100 time thinner than ours and only has a trace of oxygen. Venus has a surface temperature of 900 degrees. All the other known planets have similar, unlivable atmospheres. When you look at our earth from above you see a very, very thin layer of atmosphere that allows us to live. The current thought is that space begins at about 62 miles above the earth. Think about that, 62 miles! That is an hour's drive, if you could go straight up. When I think of driving down the interstate to a town 62 miles away, it doesn't seem to far. When you factor in the portion of that 62 miles that we can actually breath air, it shrinks to about 20,000 feet above sea level. That is 3.78 miles! We could walk that distance!
So, this great planet of ours is a great place to live, but is very fragile. We can enjoy it's oceans, mountains, canyons, wildlife, and it's water and oxygen, but we must also be good stewards of this earth. Our descendants are depending on us to take care of this place so they too will have a great place to live.
This planet has a great variety of cultures, architecture, food and other great things to enjoy while we live and in retirement we should explore as much of that as possible. I have seen some wonderful things on this earth including the Rocky Mountains, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone Park and many other parks. I have stood at the edge of Niagara Falls. I have seen some beautiful beaches. I have rafted down some whitewater canyons and have gazed upon the mighty Mississippi River. I've been lucky to see a very small portion of this earth and think this is the planet for me.
Science fiction shows and movies often show humans landing on other planets similar to ours. I can't imagine that will happen any time soon. I would imagine it will be many generations down the road before something like that is even possible. If you ever make it out of this world to visit one of the other planets, I'm sure you will be eager to get home to this great planet of ours!
What amazing things have you seen on this earth of ours? Was there somewhere that really took your breath away? The Grand Canyon was one spot that was mind boggling to me. I was simply amazed at the size of the canyon and the beauty of the place.
It's time to get our hands dirty! When you saw the title, some of you were thinking is this about Ukraine? Is this about current U.S. politics? Is this about climate change? In the movies and tv shows, getting your hands dirty usually means you are about to commit an immoral or criminal act.
All I'm saying is, it's Spring and it's time to get our hands dirty in a good way. Yesterday, I got out and enjoyed a few hours of getting my hands dirty while enjoying my metal detecting hobby. It did me some good to get out for some fresh air and sunshine. Now that the weather's getting better, it is time for my wife and I to get out in the yard a little more and get our hands dirty. We need to pull weeds and prepare our planting areas in our flower gardens. We need to put down some new mulch in the flower beds and around shrubs. We need to prune some shrubs and trees and do a general clean up. We need to uncover the water fountain and put in the pumps that I had pulled out for the winter.
Getting out in the yard will feel good after all the cold and dreary days of winter. Just the sense of accomplishment, by getting a few of these things done, will feel good. Studies have shown that getting outside is good for us. Healthline.com reports 8 benefits of getting outside. They include: 1. Better breathing 2. Improved sleep 3. Reduced depression symptoms 4. More motivation to exercise 5. Mental restoration 6. Boosted immune function 7. Protection from short-sightedness 8. Improved emotional well-being. And then you have all the benefits of a nicer looking yard with fresh mulch, new flowers and trimmed shrubs!
I always feel better after being outside. I enjoy a nice day outside while getting things done. For retirees, we also can take our time when outside and really enjoy it. During my career, my outside time was limited to evenings and weekends. During those years, I had to squeeze in all the outside chores into the limited time that was available. In retirement, I can be outside at 9am on a Tuesday and enjoy my outside time any day or time that suits my busy retirement schedule.
Spring is also a great time to get your hands dirty on the inside of your house. Most people feel like doing a little Spring cleaning at the beginning of the warmer season. It is time to dust off things around the house, move plants back outdoors, clean some dirty windows, etc. Even though you are indoors, you will still feel better once you sit back and see the improvements.
Are you ready for Spring and the opportunity to get your hands dirty in a good way? Do you have a list of outdoor projects you are ready to jump on? Have you found that getting outside in retirement seems to be more relaxing and laid back than it did during your working years? What things do you accomplish, inside or outside your home, this time of year to get your hands dirty?
Get dirty, get happy!
