What did you do today? - 2023/2024 version

[MichaelB]

I just listed a couple of things for sale on eBay- a Montblanc sterling silver fountain pen and a Hidalgo ring I never wear. I've told DS and DDIL that I've documented thigs with great sentimental value (mostly jewelry) so they have the info, but anything else can be pitched, donated or sold to "We Buy Gold" places after I'm gone. I'm picking out the things I know won't interest them and selling them because I don't want things that could fetch Real Money to end up in thrift stores or landfills. The proceeds will go to the grandchildren's 529 accounts.

ETA: Holy %$$#! Pen just sold for $475. I guess I underpriced it.

Identifying the things that have economic, sentimental and no value is IMO one of the most helpful things one can do for the people handling one’s estate. I’ve done it 3 times and it is very difficult (and painful) to go through every item and deciding on its disposition.

 

[Walt34]

The landscaper that DW hired came out and ripped out the bushes that have been just fine for the last 20 years and installed (I guess "planted" is the correct term) five gumpo azalea bushes and five daylillies that have a yellow flower on them. Plus the black mulch to replace the red mulch. So DW is happy.

And during all that UPS delivered the new LG laptop PC to replace the old one that I'm using at the moment. According to Consumer Reports LG laptops score highly for reliability despite the terrible scores for their appliances. Different divisions managed differently I guess. This one will be the new spare, the one DW uses to keep up with Facebook downstairs, and the one used at the hospital if/when one of us has to stay overnight for some ailment. When the alternative is just daytime TV, a notebook PC with the free wifi that most hospitals have now is a godsend from insanity from boredom. Setting up and configuring a new PC is a time consuming pain, but the result is nice.

 

[Pointby2]

Back on May 20th, our LG ice maker quit working. It's the one that makes the clear ball ice. (Great in cocktails.) DW looked in the bin and found a large broken plastic piece. That's a bad sign.
I went on line and checked YouTube and found the fix was really simple. Scoured the internet parts houses and, to be safe, ordered the new part from LG Parts. A week later the box was here, and the part they sent was... a replacement drawer. Getting the RA took a week, and in the meantime I ordered another icemaker from Amazon. However, that got delayed, and delayed and when I tried to cancel it they said it had already shipped. Sigh.
Three days later, the part was here, and despite thinking it would continue to be a total FUBAR, the install only took 15-20 minutes and we again have ball ice in the bin. Yay!

 

[MC Rider]

Ugh. that does not make me want to do air travel.

Moved out of the RV which was fairly nice but for the heat. Back into the house which has a kick ass AC system. Of course the temps came down several degrees today.

 

[AudiDudi]

Sanded down part of the bottom of my home 550 gal gasoline tank to be able to repair a couple pin holes.

 

[jollystomper]

Golf in the morning, then a Power Red blood donation at the Red Cross in the afternoon.

 

[ls99]

Few days ago noted demise of AC compressor in my 99 Suburban. This morning it was resurrected. New compressor, accumulator, orifice tube and add R134. Works fine.
While at it, noted fan belt had small cracks, replaced it .
Lucky too, forecasters predicting heat wave coming to east coast.

 

[pacergal]

Yesterday was our afternoon with DGS, age 4. He wanted Grandma to take him out to "old mcDonalds" for lunch. While there, he asked if he could play on the indoor play structure. (He never had before). He got inside and didn't know what to do. Luckily, there were three little girls who took his hand and walked him through the climbing, crawling, and sliding.
He loved it. They had a great time. The young Moms could not believe he had never been in one before.
Then when we got home, he wanted Papa to take him to the park and see the neighbors chickens.The rest of the afternoon was spent out in our yard playing with puppy and the little kiddie/doggie pool, helping to water Grandmas flowers, and playing with Grandma in the toy room. He was exhausted when returned to Mom and Dad.
Today is rest up day

 

[skyking1]

I doubled up on the workout today and feel pretty good. 5 miles in two sessions on the treadmill.

 

[More Cowbell]

Checked out one of the local Ys since I want to add swimming activity. There's a new membership model that lets you go to any Y.

Then went to DMs where sibs and I opened bags of unopened junk mail, mostly charity solicitations, at DMs request, to shred/recycle/toss. It's a visible dent in the clutter, no doubt there's more. That's just the easy no-brainer stuff.

 

[ls99]

Went kayaking right after oh dark thirty, to beat the heat as foracst. Off the lake by 9 AM, stopped for coffe then on to camp. Sprayed around the building some stuff claiming to deter rodents. Several Groundhogs decided to take up residence under part of the building. Time will tell if the stuff works. Else I'll have to give the lead dissuasion of camping under building.
Around one PM decided to come home, temp was hitting 90F, pleasant ride home in the now air conditioned suburban kayak hauler.
Nap time!

 

[Mr Gadget]

Drove for 4 hours, from Great Smokey mountains towards the East Coast and a visit with family. We've been meandering all month. Life is good.

 

[street]

Been rainy and snow cold weather here so planning on going to ranch and walk into cabin for the day. A mile plus walk in but would be a nice to start the fire and read or just nap.

 

[braumeister]

Unusual errand today. Both my parents were WW II veterans. Dad was in the Infantry and wounded in combat in Europe. While he was recuperating back in the US he met my mom who was in the WAC at the same base.
Both were cremated and at their request I scattered their ashes in the ocean off NYC (my dad's favorite fishing spot). But it always bothered me a little that they had no physical reminder of their existence.
So today I arranged for them to have markers emplaced at a national cemetery -- they actually have a special "memorial section" just for this purpose. This is what they look like (just a random one I took a photo of this morning).
For some reason this makes me feel good.

 

[Ronstar]

^^Very nice!

 

[MC Rider]

Coughed up $962 to the plumbers to redo gray water drains on one bath. One sink, 1 shower, 1 clothes washer. The old setup involved garden hoses. We decided to fix it before they rotted and made a big floody mess. Hopefully no more plumbing work for a long time.

Next up. Building new front stairs, new skirting, and railings on the deck. I feel like I am lighting money on fire here with all the projects.

 

[Walt34]

Got up at 0330 hours this morning to go to the ER with afib. Again. They tried twice to do a cardioversion that didn't work and since I'm already on all the right medications for afib they sent me home in time for a late breakfast with instructions to call my primary doc and cardiologist. Just now at DW's insistence I checked and it's gone back normal rhythm. Or at least it sounds that way according to my $20 Walgreens stethoscope. Oh well.

 

[skyking1]

@braumeister that is very nice.
Walt I hope you get some relief from that.
I went up to personally check on the permit status. It seems to be the only way that anything gets done. I took the truck so I could start clearing the driveway path by hand while I wait for a permit.
Here it is parked on the edge of the dropoff, and the center of the road is the right side of the truck as pictured. I am standing at the top of the cut, it will gradually slope down from there.

There is a farm road that crosses the proposed driveway here. It will be the balance point of the driveway. Cuts to the right under the truck, fills to the left.

My brother is coming with me on Thurdsay to cut that brush to the left in the picture above. The goal is to get the centerline staked and be able to set a laser there and do the balancing. My work laser can find the percentage of grade across a distance like that and set it for you.
I stomped the truck down about 4 times and paid the price for that, it did not want to come back out.
Thursday I will put the rack boards on it and bring Pete's trailer so I don't have to get medieval on it.

 

[street]

Unusual errand today. Both my parents were WW II veterans. Dad was in the Infantry and wounded in combat in Europe. While he was recuperating back in the US he met my mom who was in the WAC at the same base.
Both were cremated and at their request I scattered their ashes in the ocean off NYC (my dad's favorite fishing spot). But it always bothered me a little that they had no physical reminder of their existence.
So today I arranged for them to have markers emplaced at a national cemetery -- they actually have a special "memorial section" just for this purpose. This is what they look like (just a random one I took a photo of this morning).
For some reason this makes me feel good.

View attachment 51355

That is great!! I will plan my ashes to be placed in a few spots and I also have a marker in the foothills of a small country cemetery which I already have my marker in place. I also want a spot to mark my life and name too.

Outstanding
braumeister.

 

[street]

I did walk into the cabin today just not to rut up the road and also the mile plus walk is a relaxing trip. I spent the whole day walked out late after rain stopped. I got to read a book I been finding not enough time to get read. A few pics from the day walking in.

 

[skyking1]

Yesterday David and I took the hounds to Bresemann Forest for a walk.
Bresemann Forest

The odd couple on the trail.

The outflow from Spanaway lake flows through Bresemann and is quite nice.

 

[skyking1]

Today, my brother and I went up to continue clearing out the brush in the driveway route.
I had a triangle blade for the weed eater for this woody stuff and starting in to the bigger stuff, the seafoam and hazelnut.

We got back to the big cedar and had a load on.

The driveway will be the classic batcave going up the hill. I'll clear out a 12' path for subgrade, for 10' wide base rock and a 9' wide concrete pair of runners.
I am hoping to bend it round the junior cedar on the right here. it's about 8" ~10", the big one is 2' plus at the butt.

one more truckload will get it daylighted through so I can set up the laser and pull some string lines and put up centerline staking.

 

[EastWest Gal]

What a week we've had, buying a new car immediately. This post could be under Blow That Dough or an example of being frugal. So I post here, as we have had a day.

We had an 18 year old Dodge Caravan. We used it to carry timpani, vibraphone, xylophone, and DH's entire keyboard, amplifier, keyboard stand, and staging set up over the years.

Monday evening, we had weird electrical failure. None of the gauges functioned-no speedometer, no odometer, no gas guage. All at zero. Took it to the shop the next morning, and the component that had failed was irreplaceable since the company no longer produced that part.

Meanwhile, online we found a perfect replacement. Chrysler Pacifica plugin hybrid. The dealer (5 miles from our house) had a 2023 model van that we needed with top of the line features, but they had failed to sell. List price ~$61K, based on many dealers online. They discounted $10K to get rid of the vehicle, plus the $12500 rebate including the plugin hybrid tax credit. So we paid $40K for a car retailing at $60+K. 4700 miles on it as a loaner vehicle. In great shape, with just enough scuffs for us to not be excessively ginger about a new car.

Regarding the rebate-we'll be reporting it as a tax credit of $7500 Our federal income tax this year would have been far less than the $7500. So what do we do? A freebie Roth IRA conversion!

It is weird that a dealership would throw so much money at us without our asking. But given how overloaded they are with cars, I can understand. And we are the recipients of a vehicle, bought free and clear using our nearly expired HELOC. We can pay it off soon or over the next 20 years. Our choice.

FIRE is amazing. It gives us options.

 

[Walt34]

Every once in a while I wander out on the back porch and say "Dang, it's hot out here!" and then go back into the A/C inside. That's my plan for tomorrow and Sunday as well.

 

[Gumby]

I went out to my garden at about 7am and finally put my eggplants in the ground (I try to wait out the flea beetles). Trimmed the bottom leaves off of all my 20 tomato plants, weeded a little and watered everything in anticipation of my two week sojourn in Maine starting tomorrow. Picked the first of my Summer Dance cucumbers today, as well as my first zucchini. If I were staying home, I may have left them another day or two to get a little bigger. They'll taste just as good though.