Apr 24 2024 - Retirement Regrets

 

What are those big item purchases that retirees try out?  Supposedly retirement often brings on a purchase of something one has always longed for.   Here are a few of them from an AARP article: The Boat - maybe  a sail boat to travel somewhere challenging or a speed boat for the weekends.  "Before you know it, what was supposed to give you joy and freedom is tying you down. “The two best days are when you buy and sell the boat." Recreational Vehicle - What better way to travel than with an RV?  “If you are going to use an RV once a month or three times a year, do you really need to buy an RV? Of course not. A lot of those things that make retirees feel good can add up.”​ Dream House - "Doing an upgrade here and an upgrade there, home improvement enthusiasts may soon find they’ve blown through a big chunk of retirement cash. That dream dwelling suddenly becomes a money pit at a time when less income is flowing in, leaving owners “really stressed out and frustrated,” Manske says. “It’s a really big one that retirees regret.” Resort Living - " For lots of people it’s a fabulous idea in the first year, but after that, the novelty can quickly wear off, Manske warns. They realize that all the things that gave them value and purpose and were fulfilling are back where they used to live, he says." And there's more - Giving to adult children can leave one destitute later, Buying a time share, Expensive musical instruments, Fancy cars. So many possible ways to dwindle one's retirement income. Here's some advice to a person starting their retirement.

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Apr 24 2024 - Cliffhanger Endings

 

We so enjoy great stories and we so enjoy suspense. I makes me wonder why I haven't I read any of the best cliffhangers of all time? I looked up the list of the top cliffhangers and don't seem to have read any of them:  Rose Gold by Walter Mosley One Day by David Nicholls The Maze Runner by James Dashner Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi Only a Monster by Maya Motayne Twin Crowns by Catherine Doyle & Katherine Webber Blade Breaker by Victoria Aveyard Oprah thinks the best one is Winter's Bone even though  it isn't on the list. It does come up in other lists.  Here's the description from the Oprah site: The Premise: In this literary page-turner, Ree Dolly's meth-cooking dad has skipped bail. If he doesn't show up for his next court date, then 16-year-old Ree, her two younger brothers and her mentally ill mother will lose their house. The search to find him involves poking into secrets that dangerous, neighboring families in the Ozarks would rather keep hidden.   Why the Ending Is a Stunner: Woodrell simultaneously resolves this heart-pounding—and heart-breaking—story and leaves you wondering what will happen next. But the real hook? Ree's acts of courage that leave you astounded by what a young girl will risk to save her family. — Dawn Raffel The summary itself doesn't have enough interest to make one want to read it. That's compared to first page first line where the writing is so compelling, one wants to read on.   A happy Camellia portrait today.

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Apr 223 2024 - Autocorrect Funnies

 

There have to be the top funniest autocomplete suggestions.  Because I get them often, and then I don't write them down.  Here are some results in this article I found HERE.   These are from 2010.  There were a lot of inappropriate autocompletes in 2010.  Even if they came from actual search results.  How strange that in 2010, "I hate it when j" had autocompletes with Jesus in them.  But then, skip ahead to today's retrieval on this query and it is equally strange and incoherent with Jesus references.   Here's the article's search autocomplete for "Is it wr": This is what I got:   Here's the 2010 article's search autocomplete for "when I jump": It looks like a lot happened in the decade that passed. This is from a similar 2023 article:   Not much has changed in a year or so since the last retrieval.  This is what I got:   This activity would either lead to a research study or be turned into a word game. If you figure out the word game, let me know.   I seem to think we are well into Spring.  The early daffodils are finished and we're on to the mid-season bloomers.

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Apr 22 2024 - Priscilla Queen of the Desert Rides Again

 

The bus in the 1994 movie "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" has begun a journey to being restored into a museum artifact.  This story hit the news in the last week - $2.2 million Australian is being raised to restore the bus and its interior for display at the National Motor Museum. Priscilla started out as a 1976 Japanese model Hino RC320. It was owned by Sydney company Boronia Tours before it was sold to a couple who leased the bus to Latent Images, the film’s production company, for the duration of the shoot in September and October 1993. Afterwards, the couple hired it out occasionally, including to the Australian band the Whitlams, who used it as a tour bus for six months in 1994. Its location was lost for all these decades, although there have been "pretenders to the throne" - for example the bus that was driven around the 2000 Olympics closing ceremony in Sydney.   "Michael Mahon said he bought the property, and unbeknownst to him the bus in the paddock, in 2016. He said the property belonged to musician Ian Ross East, whose friend brought the bus to Ewingar when she moved there. After the community told him about the bus, Mr Mahon did some research on the provenance of the bus and started making calls." Then it got complicated as it was abandoned on a deceased estate.  They had to wait a year for someone to come forward to claim it.  That completed, they got started on moving the bus to the museum and starting the restoration.  There's talk of putting the giant high heel back on the top again. I've used all the filters on this version of the Spring Magnolia around the corner.

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Apr 21 2024 - Snow Blizzard Cherry Blossoms

 

The Weather Network has a video of winter snow and hail blizzard conditions in China.  Normally, the cherry blossoms fall to the ground/water creating a beautiful pink blanket.  Pink petals on the ground is desirable.  Pink petals, snow and hailstones is serious.  With climate change, the Weather Network is extremely busy - floods in Dubai, snow in China.  Here in Niagara the video says cherry blossoms Niagara and they are showing the Magnolia trees at the Floral Showcase in Niagara Falls.  They are beautiful pink, so maybe a good substitute for cherries.  We have more flower festivals in the area on the horizon - not just cherry blossoms.  There is a tourist tulip display on Seventh Avenue, just north of Fourth Street.  They grew fields of Dahlias last summer - I assume a picked flower crop.  They are advertising a tulip festival this weekend.  These flower festivals are starting to pop up in Ontario - the one that is best known is in Fenwick - TASC - they are advertising 2 million tulips this year.  They open in a week.   Checking the weather forecast, there don't seem to be any blizzards on our horizon.  The picture of the Magnolia tree with snow was from 2021 when we did get a snowstorm in April. The sense of movement is created with multiple exposures in camera.

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