A Year of Change

I decided to stick with my truck. It only has 21,000 miles on it and being a diesel, it’ll run for 250,000 miles or more! It’s not like they’ve stopped making new cars, so they’ll always be a deal.

Lori made peach cobbler yesterday along with homemade ice cream. She brought back some pure vanilla extract from Cabo when we went to the conference. The stuff from Mexico is much better than ours here in the U.S. It was really good. Today is National Ice Cream Day! Go get some!

Ty is working every day until he goes to L.A. next Thursday. He only works from 8am until noon today, but it’s more hours.

I’m watching the British Open now on tv as Shultz and Gareth are there. I’m trying to see if I can see them on tv. It’s only 5:43am here meaning 11:43am over across the pond. The World Cup finals are on at 1 today. Crazy game yesterday. Tom called me and told me about all the goals. I saw the beginning and the very end, but missed most of the action. Should be a good game, or match, or whatever they call it.

Yesterday Lori and I were on the phone with Marty when he pulled up to the dump. They always ask you what you have and we heard Marty say, “just two dead bodies and a little nuclear waste, but don’t worry, they’re democrats”! The lady said, “oh, ok, good, put them over there by the hazardous materials”. Too funny. That’s Marty.

No rain up here yet. It’s a little cloudy, but that’s all. Lori just woke up at 5:51. She even looks good in the morning after a nights sleep. She probably secretly wakes up early to primp, ha. Maybe we’ll get some rain tomorrow.

Time to go, have a great Sunday! God Bless.

Lor and I were talking the other day about retirement, again. It’s a process, but one thing we do know is that we don’t want to be working two years from now. One thing about retirement is that to make it work, most of us have to change our spending habits and will be on more of a fixed budget. The largest expenditure for anyone is housing. The bad news, if you’re retiring, is housing continues to go up and up. This is of course good if you’re young and trying to build wealth but makes things harder when you move to a fixed income. For us, it means we need to downsize in what we spend on a home. That doesn’t mean in the size of our house, but in the cost. Size wise though, we can go down a bit on the actual home, but I want to go up on the lot size.

First up is we need to lock down the location. All the metrics say Montana, and being specific, looking at everything from airport access to health care to weather and taxes, northern Montana in particular. Then you have to set a budget as to retire, we need to buy a house for cash, so we have no mortgage. To do this, we could spend around $2 million dollars, but Lori and I have decided to look for something ideally around $1,25 million. Luckily, there are a lot of nice, newer construction places in our range, 3200 square feet or so with 5 acres. We won’t be on the water, (would love to be on a river) as it’s not possible in that price range. That’s ok though, as you can see water from a lot of places and Marty has a place on the lake with a boat.

So, the search with these new parameters is on. Every decision we make now is based on retiring in a couple years. I’m looking at trading in my 3/4-ton pickup for a nice highway cruiser like the Lexus LX700 or the Mercedes GLS 450. It’s hard to pass the deal on the Mercedes as I have the dealer offering me $16,000 off of a $96,000 car. That’s like a 15% discount which is almost unheard of. Then if I want a truck, Chevy will give me zero percent for 60 months on any half ton truck plus $10,000 off. Not sure if I can swing both, but that would be the way to go. I’m working up a budget now.

We’re also cleaning out the house and the garage. This means our closets, basement, and stuff we’ve stored for years. We dumped a bunch of tv subscriptions we didn’t even know we had. We’re upping the contributions to Lori’s retirement fund and fixing up little things around the house. We’d like to put it on the market in the Spring, depending on how the market is. Thankfully our neighborhood has held steady and hasn’t dropped in value. I’d like for things to get better by Spring as then I think we’d walk away with $2 to 3 million or more when we sell. That’d go a long way. Spring will be here before we know it. Time to get busy and stick to our plan. More to come.

Ty’s off to work. We might go to the dump after the gym. Nice and clear up here. Lori’s two little fawns show up daily and she’s feeding them and their moms apples. You’re not supposed to really feed wildlife, but the moms are pretty skinny. The biggest thing is we fill the bird bath daily with water. All the animals love that! Time to get moving, have a great Saturday and God Bless.

Up here, it’s pretty nice. In Chicago, you can’t go outside today. The ACI, or air quality index, is way above hazardous. Yesterday it was off the charts which top out at a rating of 500. 300 is hazardous. Today it’s around 350, so Jagger and the rest of the office are staying home from work. Hopefully it clears up by tomorrow afternoon. I don’t know if they’ll have the World Cup game in New Jersey or not on Sunday as the smoke is supposed to linger on the East Coast through the weekend. Fires in Canada are the cause as Canada doesn’t really manage their forests at all.

Ty’s off today. Yesterday afternoon he drove to Grand Junction for the restaurant to pick up fresh peaches. He brought a box home for us! He works tomorrow. Lori was at the office all day yesterday with a research patient who was having surgery. I picked up five dozen eggs from Kellie, my egg girl, and went to Costco. Today I’m going to work a bit more on my closet.

Looks like we’ll get some rain next week, about time. Still 94 degrees in Denver today meaning high 80’s or 90 up here. Lori woke up at 4:30am with leg cramps and I couldn’t get back to sleep. Not sure if we’re going to the gym or taking a day off.

That’s it, time to get another cup of joe. Wonder how coffee got the nickname of “joe”. Have a great Friday. It’ll be August soon and that means football! God Bless.

Lori works today from around 11am until maybe 3. She has a research patient having surgery today and her nurse is out today. Both her nurse and her PA came back from the conference with a bad cough. Looks like they picked up a cold or something in Hawaii.

We’ll go to the gym early this morning so Lori can get back and get ready to go to work. Hopefully the gym is not too crowded. It’s been busier than usual.

Robi, or should I say Bobby, made the Big Ass Chocolate Chip Cookies from the Yellowstone Cookbook last night. I told her to send me some but I’m not holding my breath. I even sent her my Fed Ex number! We’ll see, she probably ate them all and said she would send me some, but they’d make me fat! I’ll have Lori make some on the weekend.

Pretty clear outside this morning. Ty’s getting ready for work. He goes to L.A. a week from today. Lori’s making Ty’s breakfast to go, which she does every morning, for him to take to work. Not sure who will make him food, do his laundry, clean his room and other stuff when he moves! He’ll need to figure that out pretty quick.

That’s it, time to get moving and head to the gym. Have a great Thursday, God Bless.

As of today, we’re halfway through summer. In six weeks, it’ll be September and Labor Day and then it’s all downhill until 2027!

It’s a bit clearer this morning with not as much smoke. We’re supposed to get rain this afternoon which would be nice. Ty’s working away to save money for his move, and Lori is back in Vail today. I have a few more calls this morning and will be around the house all day.

We have bears around the neighborhood! Normally they’re not here but down more by the river and up valley, but the drought has them looking for food wherever they can. Besides our two fawns, we have baby bunnies in the backyard, baby Robins out front learning to fly and all kinds of other birds and chipmunks that hang out around the bird feeder.

My bootmaker’s wife has never been to a Bronco game! With my boots fitting so well, we did a little horse trading and I now have another pair being made! They’ll be done by October 15th, instead of the usual year, as I traded him the Thursday Night Bronco game tickets, against the Seahawks on October 15th. No way we’d go to a Thursday night game anyhow. This pair is smooth ostrich, meaning the part of the hide without the quills, which I prefer. I like lighter colored boots in general. There are a lot of hides to choose from. Not sure what we’ll do for the tops of the boots. Jim is going to come up with some ideas for me to check out. Here’s the hide. As I said, he’ll use the smooth part. Ostrich is super durable and lasts a long time, probably longer than most of us, ha.

So nice to look outside and see no smoke! Lori needs to leave at 7 today. That’s when I’ll head out to the gym too. Ty’s about out the door as he always leaves around 6:30.

Time to get moving. Stay cool and drink lots of water! God Bless.

Lori made chocolate cupcakes for an athletic trainer that agreed to help her out today as Tiffany’s flight from the conference in Hawaii is scheduled for today. When she made her flight, she booked the wrong day for her return. Lori’s cake was a huge hit at work of course.

I was in and out of Denver by 11:45am. It was 86 degrees down there by 1oam. I did pick up my new boots which fit great. Ty’s working today. He goes to California a week from Thursday. He needs to start saving money. We reminded him last night, we can’t fund his entire move, and he needs to save up some cash. He probably needs $10K as it’s not cheap to get an apartment and outfit it and survive until you get your first paycheck, even if you have a job on day one. He’s bummed and ready to go but needs to learn to be financially responsible. Better to learn that while he’s living here for free than in his own apartment. His brother is all about budgeting and saving.

Not as much smoke this morning but there are fires raging across the State. It seems that all of Colorado is on fire as is most of the west. In 90 days, it’ll be October 15th and we’ll be in the middle of Fall, and it should be over. They say some rain is coming in next week. It’s scary how fast time flies.

6:10am now, time to go. Have a great day and God Bless.

Warm up here, probably the mid 90’s, but I heard it was over 100 in Denver. We’ll see how it is today as I’m running down until around 11:30 and then will head back up the hill.

Yesterday we stayed around the house, walked the dog, and Lori made a cake for a girl at work who quit to go work at the cancer center for more money. Ty was in Denver all day and went tubing before heading up the hill to go to the gym and then home. He stopped to see Tommy on the way. Jagger went into the office and did a few hours work.

We have two little newborn fawns in the backyard that must weigh no more than 25 pounds each. Lori loves them and cuts up apples for them and their moms.

Looks like a hot week with no relief coming until next week, at the earliest. No fires near the house, knock on wood. Have a great day and God Bless.

Pretty crazy these days. The Dems are doing their best to make socialism, which is communism, normal. Don’t fall for their promises of free stuff! That’s the lure of socialism and communism, take from the rich and give to you! Problem is that never works out. Just look at Venezuela or even here in our backyard at New York! Where are the free buses and grocery stores that guy promised? They tell you what you want to hear and it sounds good, but remember, as your parents said, nothing is ever free! If you fly the U.S. Flag outside your home, according to some in the media, you’re a white supremacist, and God help you if you believe in God. The World is on fire and conflict or war seems never ending. Dig deeper and the dollar is unstable, and while the market is holding steady, (it’ll always go up in the long run), a big crash like the Great Depression of 1929, is not out of the question. Food recalls are everywhere and Legionnaires Disease was just detected in NYC. There’s a parasite that causes explosive diarrhea that’s spread to 31 States, (wash your veggies and hands often), and of course Ebola has once again come up in Africa. Crime is everywhere and you have to be on your toes wherever you go in public. If you’ve read the bible, and made it to the Book of Revelations, you might think the End of Times is upon us. The good news is, if you did get that far, you’ll know that God will return and save those who believe and have asked for forgiveness. On the plus side, church attendance is way up, particularly among young people. Everyone needs to make a choice, are you for good or evil? It’s time to speak up and put down division and hate. Most people are good people but sit on the sidelines, not wanting to get involved. I’m not saying you need to go protest against the protestors, but we all should disown and distant ourselves from hate and division whenever it enters our World. Small gestures of kindness will go a long way, and you might not even realize it. Bottom line, just try to be a good human, and remember, God has your back!

Now that that’s out of the way, yesterday was a nice day up here. Ty golfed in the morning and then went to the gym and then went to Denver to watch some UFC fights with his buddies. I’m sure he’ll be headed up soon. Lori ordered up a table and chairs for Jagger on Amazon. He’s been studying hard and has been crushing his practice tests. Ava is back and they’re doing well, and Lori and I are fine.

Looks like 102 degrees in Denver today and a few 100 plus days ahead of us. By Wednesday we’ll be halfway through summer.

Try to be the glass half full person, rather than the other way around. Don’t get consumed by the never ending bad news, on the news. They know good news doesn’t sell, so you’ll always see the worst of people and times. Good is out there, and inside each and everyone of us! Enjoy the day and live your life! God Bless.

Ty’s golfing at Cordilla this morning. A customer from work is taking him. The guy who is taking Ty, wife’s sister, is married to Christian McCaffery of the San Francisco 49’rs. Kind of a fun fact right? Ty is so loved by all his customers and gets invited to things all the time. He could win the award for the kindest, nicest guy in America, if there was such an award. They tee off at 8:45 this morning.

Lori is getting her nails done at 10:15 and I have a call at noon. Then hopefully Norway beats England in the upcoming soccer game. I have a call to get the contract done on the new knife sharpener company. It seems to really be taking off. Then I’m done for the day.

We went to Costco yesterday after the gym. Lori wants to go to the gym earlier this morning as the Pilates reformer was being used when we showed up at 8:30 yesterday morning. She was not happy!

Marty and Mel made it as far as Casper Wyoming last night and then stopped for the day. They’ll drive home the last 5 hours or so today. Mark flew back from his annual golf trip. They went to Tehama, Clint Eastwoods course in Monterey CA. They usually go to Sedona but it was smoked out due to fires.

Nice outside but the heat is coming. It was 107 degrees in Sheridan Wyoming yesterday when Marty drove through. Looks like we have a string of three days of 100 plus temps starting today or tomorrow.

That’s it for today. Have a good day and Heia Norge!

That’s Go Norway in Norwegian, God Bless

The concert last night was great. It was like an instant flashback to the 1970’s. We were probably the youngest people there. Graham told lots of stories about the times of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, about when he was in the Hollies, about his relationship with Joni Mitchell and more. The two young guys in his band were amazing musicians that both played multiple instruments from the drums, to saxophone, guitar, bass and more. His keyboard player was the same guy from CSN&Y. They played for about 90 minutes finishing with Judy Blue Eyes which was a fitting song to end the show. I saw the whole band play the same song in Aspen in 1974 which was 52 years ago! How time flies. He plays again tonight but it’s sold out too. We’d go again if we could, it was that good.

Ty’s off to work and we’ll head to the gym soon. Nice and clear up here with no smoke which is a welcome change. Lots happening at work, good and let’s just say, challenging. It’s not bad as to change, things will always be challenging and uncomfortable, if you’re really making changes.

The house is clean from the cleaners, which is nice. Lori’s team is still at the conference in Hawaii. James texted last night and he just made it home from the European Tour. Marty is driving home from Montana today and that’s about it. TGIF and God Bless.