I ran across this interesting map from MyPerfectWeather.com the other day. It shows – by US County – where the weather is more frequently between 60-84 degrees as a daily high. For most places in the country, that’s between 50-150 days. Some places – particularly on the very West Coast – are in the 250-300 range. Los Angeles approaches an amazing 350 days! In retirement, … Continue reading Living Comfortably
The news has been full of economic policy proposals from our two major candidates. I’ll tell you that I’ve been reading them with interest, but cannot make sense out of either of them. They are both promising big economic windfalls to their favored protected classes and paying very little attention to the country’s current $35T debt (123% of GDP, up from just 56% in 2000). … Continue reading Confusing Candidates
The big summer concerts of 2024 are rolling through right now. It seems like every year now, we go to 3 or 4 big shows in July & August. In July, we saw Bachman Turner Overdrive & Pat Benatar. On Monday, we saw a tripleheader at the MN Twins stadium: Steve Miller, Journey, and Def Leppard. Next week we have a double-bill: Lynrd Skynrd & … Continue reading Concert Counting
It’s been a few years since the peak of the pandemic, so I thought I would look at the impact that the big event had on the average age of retirement. I heard a politician say that some of the shortages in the current jobs market are the result of Boomers leaving their jobs to retire early. I’ve written this blog long enough to be … Continue reading No Pandemic-Induced Retirement Spree
Today is ‘National Relaxation Day’. It’s recorded in Chase’s Calendar of Annual Events, after being proposed by Chase’s 9-year old grandson, Sean Moeller, in 1985. I celebrated the day by mowing the lawn. For me, that’s pretty relaxing. After all, I’ve had a busy week. On Monday we played pickle ball. Tuesday was a 37-mile bike ride – my longest ever. Wednesday I played tennis … Continue reading Relaxation Day
I just got back from a quick trip to Kansas City last week. I took my Jeep down there to see some sights, including a Disney 100 Exhibition that was going to end on Labor Day weekend. While I was in the area, I even drove up to Walt Disney’s hometown of Marceline, Missouri – the inspiration for Disneyland’s ‘Main Street USA’. It was a … Continue reading Planning Big Years
Before my Dad passed away in June, he and my Mom were diligent in getting “their affairs in order”. Now it’s our turn. My wife and I made a real estate purchase on Monday for our “forever home”. We bought a couple plots in the church cemetery next to my parents and my brother and his wife. When my wife’s Mom passed away unexpectedly a … Continue reading Planning Ahead …
I’ve been saying for about a year that the economy seems to be “wobbly”. It hasn’t been clear if the economy is going to improve (see: Bidenomics), or tip toward recession (see: Bidenflation). Increasingly, it seems like we are tipping the wrong way. This morning, the Dow Jones crashed 1,000+ points – compounding on losses last week. I will note that the Dow remains UP … Continue reading Wobbling The Wrong Way
I took my final business trip earlier this week. On Wednesday night I flew back from my last corporate board meeting, capping decades of business travel. Appropriately, my flight home was delayed 4x and I didn’t walk in the door of my house until 12:01am. I’m a bit of a ‘list person’ and have kept track of all my travel – business & pleasure – … Continue reading Final Business Trip
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