Save More, Spend Less

Everytime I post here, I have to do it twice because it disapears the first time. I got tired of contacting admin here about it. I know from long practice to always copy what I write so it doesn't get lost, but this site will never grow because people will get frustrated and not bother trying a second time.

In 2022 (or so), I purchased an Eco-Flow power station, which is strong enough that it can keep my fridge/freezer going for 4 days in the event of an extended power outage. It gives me added peace of mind. I did use it once during a longer power outage and a few times for shorter (less than a day) outages. 

In November, Eco-Flow informed me of a recall and the risk of battery expolosion. Fixing it was a simple software update the customer could do themselves, but I could not.  My Eco-Flow refused to sync with my iphone, which was necessary to do the update.

Eco-Flow said I could return it to them and they would do it but at some point in the past 3 years I disposed of the original box and foam packaging. This thing weighs about 50 lbs so it definitely requires special care to ensure it's not damaged en route. They said they would ship a box, and after several email exchanges and the first box shipment "lost," I finally got it this past week, but without the foam inserts, which they now say they don't have but don't worry about it, just put it in the box and FedEx will pack it. EcoFlow scheduled a FedEx pickup this Tuesday for me.

In the meantime, and out of an abundance of caution, I found someone on Buy Nothing who gave me a bunch of super spongy corrugated cardboard padding, so it's now packed up and good to go. 

There were 4 bluebirds here this morning! I have mixed rehydrated freeze-dried meal worms in with the black oil sunflower seed. 

Saw dad in rehab today. Each time I go he seems a little better, although he won't always admit it. He even said his meal was good. I felt in a way I was also keeping his roommate company today, too, and we had a very pleasant conversation. He was born in Denmark and lived there during WWII. I was hoping that by having a pleasant chat it might encourage dad to talk more to him himself, to pass the time. 

One thing I've noticed about dad is that when he's not feeling well physically, it really affects him mentally. So initially my dad had the room to himself for several days, and when his roommate arrived, dad still wasn't feeling great, and he started talking negatively about his roommate (something about him snoring) while he was just separated from him by a curtain, so I cut my dad off and shhh'ed him.

But I noticed his roommate has a European accent, and that's why I started talking to him because I was curious. He's "just" 85. He lived many years in NYC and worked at a "salon," that was a combination book store and art gallery and "everyone" went there. Dad mostly listened but started joining in the conversation near the end. So maybe they'll be friends, even though they are two opposites. 

My 2025 expenses are pretty scary to look at, given how many line items increased significantly from 2024.

Here are my top 10 expenses.

1. No surprise, but what I paid on my new Toyota Corolla Crossover, between the down payment, regular payments and extra principal-only payments was $19,662. I still have a balance of $9,650 and plan to pay it all off in 2026. Seems like it's taking FOREVER, and I resent the 6.9% when nearly every other car brand out there finances at less than half that. I suppose I could have joined a credit union and gotten a better rate, but oh well.

2. Again no surprise, but property taxes of $7,569, an increase of 5.2% compared to last year. It is what it is. And to think that if I chose to move one town over, because that town is in a different county, I'd save quite a bit in property taxes, among other things. But I like my town.

3. Back stone stair redo, a one-time home improvement so I have nothing to compare it to from last year. $4,600.

4. Food: $4,502, which surprisingly was 4.5% less than last year. 

5. Health insurance: OK, here's where it gets really scary. My cost for Medicare and a Medigap plan was $4,473, which is 100% more than what I spent last year!! Last year, for the 1st 7 mths of the year, I was still on Obamacare. While I thank my lucky stars I don't have to deal with the massive rate increase Obamacare folks face now thanks to Rump, my health insurance costs in 2024 were just $2,231. I hadn't realized how much more I was paying this year.

6. Front door replacement (including the storm door) was another one-time home improvement that cost $3,698. I don't regret it but I still need to find a trim carpenter who can fix and replace the trim the door installers used, which doesn't match the trim I have in my LR/DR. It doesn't look good, plus there's a gap they created by removing the old trim. 

7. "Household." $3,182. This is probably the only catch-all category I have where things that don't fit in other categories tend to get buried. It's usually stuff for the house. This represented a 41% increase from the year before and included a new Shark vacuum, paying my handyman to build me a platform for my front-loading washer/dryer and my reverse-osmosis water filtration system. I don't regret any of these purchases.

8. Lawn & garden: $1,865, an 85% increase from the year before. This includes bi-weekly lawn mows, which increased in price when I changed mowers.  It also included some new plants I bought, a new battery lawn mower and an expensive tuteur for some native honeysuckle a friend gave me.

9. 2 basement walls recoated: $1,850. I had the other 2 walls done in prior years so now finally all 4 walls have been recoated. It needed to be done as the old concrete was crumbling, and if I ever want to sell this place, that could have been a concern for potential buyers.

10. Car insurance for new car: $1,286, the first time it's been a four-figure number. A 59% increase from last year, when I was insuring a 2013 sedan. Geez. Not to mention an increase in my car tax, $405, double what I paid on my old Honda.

I also had an unexpected big expense, replacement of the firebox in my oil furnace which cost me $1,090. The HVAC guy said that if it had been any other brand, he would have just recommended I replace my 30-yr furnace, but with mine,  I can get another 20 years out of it, he said. 

The majority of my other more routine expenses all saw increases from last year. The exceptions included a 42% drop in what I paid this year in out of pocket medical/dental costs and a 27% drop in entertainment expenses. My internet bill increased by 24%, just because they like to gouge their customers.  Even though I have 2 full years of free ToyotaCares maintenance, I still wound up paying $450 out of my own pocket because of that fiasco where I was handed the 2nd, spare key by the dealer salesman and then immediately lost it. Like, I don't know if it ever left the parking lot. I searched high and low for it and in the end, decided I wanted that 2nd key should anything ever happen to the first, so yup, I forked over $400.

A few bright spots in my secondary expenses: my gas costs dropped by 46%. My dining out expenses dropped by 40%, but then I only spend a few hundred on this anyway. My water bill dropped 11%, I think becus in 2024 the end cap on a pipe burst and flooded my basement with more water than I realized at the time.

All in all, total expenses came to about $65,000.  But part of that was roughly $11,000 spent on 4 separate home improvements, so my actual living expenses were about $54,000.

Looking at my grocery breakdown, or where I spent my grocery dollars, I spent the most, $1,298, at BJs, which I'm okay with since their prices tie with Aldi's in many cases. In the #2 spot was Whole Foods, at $921, which I think I'm ok with too because I stick to the 365 brand but do probably pay a premium for fresh organic produce there, but I think they have the best and I'm willing to spend on it.

I'm unhappy that I spent $815 at Stop & Shop, which is high priced, but there are certain items I can't find elsewhere cheaper, like the low-fat Cabot cheddar I buy, frozen lima beans and the shredded wheat cereal. I did discover their bok choy is way overpriced at $6.99 for a wrapped package of baby bok choy compared to Whole Foods, so I corrected that oversight sometime ago.

In the #4 spot is Aldi's, where I spent $445. I buy what I can there, but admit to being very particular when it comes to food; I avoid high sodium, high fat and high sugar products, as well as processed foods with lots of additives/preservatives and ingredients I can't pronounce. The remaining places I spent grocery dollars on, in lesser amounts, included Trader Joe's, Vitacost, Big Y, Target, Harney & Sons, Shop Rite, Walmart and 2 local and expensive stores. One is a new, small farm market with produce even more dazzling than Whole Foods, but I don't think their prices are a bargain and I don't like their receipts, which DO NOT itemize what you bought, making it impossible to compare prices later, so I'm sticking with Whole Foods. 

I continue to play around with my phone and taking pictures.

Dad had a busy day at rehab Sunday. First I showed up with my fruit salad and tea, then my younger half-brother came all the way from New Jersey with his pickles and liverwurst, and then my sister showed up. When it was just me and my brother, I decided it was a good time to suggest that when he went home, we should have an aide come to his place a few times a week, mainly to check in on him. To my surprise, he agreed that would be a good idea but he wasn't sure he'd be going home at all. He said he's planning on living until Jan 1 but not after that. 

For someone who's planning on dying, I'm not sure what the significance would be to hold out until Jan 1. 

He seems to be doing better now with the flu and pneumonia behind him (no phlemy cough today), but mobility-wise, I think he has a way to go. Maybe it's this that has him thinking so darkly. He really does enjoy the fruit salads I've been making him, the tea, the food my brother brought. So I plan to keep that up as one small way to remind him that there are still things in life he can enjoy. I worry about him. 

Now to change the subject: Without getting too personal, how much do you donate throughout the year? What do you feel is a reasonable amount, either in terms of monthly contributions or an annual percentage of your adjusted gross income? I would like to make my contributions more automated and more intentional, and ideally, make a fixed dollar amount each month to different nonprofit groups.

I also make non-tax-deductible political contributions and am mulling over what ratio of charitable to political contributions I should make. I foresee my political contributions ramping up as we approach the mid-term elections and then maybe stopping. These elections, if they go our way, can really make a big difference in curbing Rump's ability to get stuff done.

I live in a state that has a car property tax you pay each year, and it's based on the type of car, I guess, but also specifically, its age. The longer you own a car, the lower the tax gradually becomes. In 2024, the car tax on my little 2013 Honda was down to $204. I just got the bill for this year with my new 2024 Toyota SUV, and I'll be paying $405. Ouch. Call it a new car penalty tax.

Saw Dad in rehab the other day. They had just brought him down to another floor for his first physical therapy session, so I went down to find him. I nearly didn't recognize him because they had given him a shower and completely shaved him. Anyway, his exercises consisted of raising a bar about two feet long up overhead and in front of him and doing a bunch of reps with it, and also walking with his walker and stepping up a single step. It's a start. Mentally, I don't think he's really into it, but I think he finds it easier to just goes along with it when people are encouraging him to do so.

That's one thing I've realized about dad....my own mental outlook/attitude makes a huge difference on HIS mental outlook. He can pick up very quickly if I'm in a less-than-perfect mood myself. A positive, but not fake demeanor and kind words go a long way with him. 

He has really enjoyed the green chai tea I've been bringing him in my thermos. He also enjoyed listening to a new audio book on tape cassete I brought; the first book is about the role of privateers in the Revolutionary War, which he asked for. When I see him tomorrow I think I'll swing by the Chinese place and get him an egg roll, something he always gets when we go. And more chai tea. 

I am thinking ahead to when he is well enough to return home, or the point at which Medicare will no longer cover his stay there. If there's anything glaringly obvious to me, it's that it is not safe for him to continue living alone. The little baby step I would want him to take is to agree to having a home health aide come and check in on him a few days a week. Just a little extra companionship, someone who can maybe help him make lunch and maybe do some very light housekeeping. He will probably resist it as he has in the past, but maybe the scare of this last fall will help him to understand that wearing the emergency necklace around his neck is not enough. 

My challenge is getting my sister on board with this idea. She has now revealed that she is dad's POA since she added POA after her name when she signed the $5K Christmas check she wrote for my father for each of his kids, something he's done for the past 5 years or so. So while she still can't force him to do anything, she now has the ability to write the checks and so on. My sister will likely be reluctant to push anything. Taking care of my father really requires coordination of our efforts, but if your sibling is my sister, it's a whole different story. 

I have to be so careful in the way I phrase things to her becus she is quick to take offense and withdraw if I come on too strong. When I was walking in the parking lot into the rehab facility the other day to see dad, I saw her driving up and I waved. She rolled down the window and said I'm not going in, I'm on crutches, here, take this. And she handed over to me the cassette recorder I had asked her to bring from dad's apartment (adjacent to her home) to give him something to do. As I took it, she said, don't tell dad about the crutches. That's how she is....very secretive and never wanting to share anything about her life or situation. I have no idea why she's on crutches, but a few years ago, she finally submitted to hip replacement surgery after limping around for years. So maybe this is the other hip.

I had a nice chat with my cousin M. Christmas morning. She was stopped at a traffic light a few days prior and a pickup came up behind her and crashed into her, failing to stop. She has an older car with very low mileage that she likes, so she wanted to repair it, but the insurance company said it's too old to repair so you have to agree to total it, and then we'll give you $8,000. Now she's got a rental car for 2 weeks to give her time to find a new vehicle she didn't really want.  Anyway, she gave me a very nice Advent calendar tea sampler set with different herbal teas to enjoy each day.

Christmas for me was a quiet day, really a non-event. I guess I'm getting used to it becus I wasn't too upset. I didn't even bother going out for Chinese or Indian food. I just spent the day reading, listening to music and doing a jigsaw puzzle. Still, I'm glad it's behind me for another year.

We had a good 6 inches, maybe more, of snow overnight. The driveway is shoveled but I didn't get to doing the car and I'm worrying it will all be rock hard if I leave it overnight. A squirrel knocked my bird feeder down, so I threw handfuls of black oil sunflower seed and dried meal worms out on the roof of my family room from my upstairs bathroom window and had fun taking photos with my new iphone. This song sparrow is my favorite.

White-throated sparrow (above).

Cardinal.

Well, the good news is, I didn't lose power in the storm a few days ago. There were 60+ mile-per-hour winds, but it looks like the worst of the storm fell on the central part of the state. I'm on the western side, so we fared a little better.

However, I woke up this morning feeling really cold and i started worrying that something was wrong with the furnace. I have MANY times accidentally turned the furnace switch off at the top of the basement stairs becus I have a small bag hanging above the switch for recycling plastic bags, and if I knock the bag, it doesn't take much to push the switch down (off). I learned that the hard way one year when I had to pay the HVAC guy who responded to my call over a hundred dollars to TURN THE SWITCH ON. Even he felt bad, but he still had to charge me for coming out.

So first thing I did this morning was check the switch, and, yup, that was the problem. It was down to 53 degrees!

In days of yore, I used to try to keep the heat down as low as I could tolerate, and that included turning it down further at night. Now into my second year of full retirement and being home more, I found my sweet spot is a little warmer than when I used to do the No Heat Challenge. (Remember that?) It feels pretty good to have it set at 65 or 66 day AND night. However, when I go out anywhere, I always turn it down to 60 since now I don't even have a cat that might be chilly. That being said, I often notice when it starts getting dark and cooling down outside that I feel the chill in the house. I usually resist the temptation to turn it up a notch and just throw a sweater on instead. 

I had some grocery errands I wanted to run today, including a gym workout and a visit to see dad at his new location, the rehab facility, but I'd forgotten that I ordered heating oil and the window of arrival they gave me was "6 am to 4 pm." I could leave a signed blank check for them to fill out, but I prefer to write it out myself, plus they sometimes try to back up the driveway, even though I always request they don't (narrow, curvy driveway and pavers they will sink) so that could mean hanging out all day. Hmm. This oil fill-up should get me through February or even into March if the weather cooperates and I pile on the sweaters.

I timed my oil purchase to occur during a 3-day warm spell here, but I see prices didn't move as much as I thought they might. I think it's becus of what's happening with Rump's attacks on Venezuelan oil tankers and the massive buildup taking place offshore now. A lot of uncertainty about what's going to happen. I'll be paying $2.85 a gallon, or about $400 to fill up a half-full tank. (Prices are generally lower in early winter than mid- or late-winter.) Last year around this time, it was about .05 more a gallon.

I know a lot of people outside the Northeast use natural gas for heat. A lot of people in my immediate area use wood stoves or wood-burning fireplaces as supplemental heat. The air quality here is so bad I don't even like walking around the neighborhood in winter due to the stink. 

My cousin in PA sent me an early Xmas present, which I received yesterday. A new iPhone 17 Pro Max! This is the 3rd iphone he's gotten for me. I hit a few glitches setting it up; at one point it was asking me for my zip code and it wasn't accepting it until I realized he used HIS zip code and that, in fact, worked. I haven't tried out all the newest features, but I do see the camera on this one is much better, and evidently the battery has a longer life too. It transferred my thousands of photos and all my apps seamlessly to the new phone. The one thing I still need to figure out is how to reconfigure my "Find Me" thingie for the new phone (the thing you keep on your key chain if you can't find your phone). 

I haven't opened the other gift I've received this year and am saving that for December 25. It was given to me by my other cousin when I saw her at Thanksgiving after she told me let's not exchange presents anymore!

I'm not sure what, if anything, I'll be doing for Christmas. Dad will still be at rehab, I'm sure. I can visit him for a bit but am still stymied about what to get him. I bought several packages of low-sugar cookies but am now having second thoughts as he used to be pre-diabetic and they're probably feeding him crap at these facilities. Like the orange juice they gave him at the hospital while testing his blood sugar throughout the day.

I did order more books on tape for him and will swing by his place to pick up the cassette recorder he needs to listen to the tapes but am waiting for my sister to tell me whether or not dad has a private room at rehab; if he has a roommate, i won't bring the recorder. 

Just sitting here pondering life during the middle of a growing windstorm. Hoping I don't lose power but it doesn't take much here to do that; trees and power lines don't mix. Gusts of 55 to 60.

Hey, does anyone want to make an easy $100? If you apply for a Discover card using the link I send you and you make a purchase in the 1st 3 months after receiving the card, we both get $100! Here are the details:
https://card.discover.com/web/cardacq/referral/?page=referfriend&trafficCode=75

Dad is doing a bit better though still in the hospital. Better in the sense that he is more talkative and alert than he was a few days ago. He enjoyed the green chai tea I brought him. I want to make a lentil soup and bring some of that but I seem to be missing the dried lentils and this storm is getting worse. I sure wouldn't want to lose power in the middle of cooking; if it's not too late, I'll run out tonight after the storm eases to get those lentils.

Did anyone catch the Saturday Night Live special last night? It had all the classic holiday skits from years ago. I still get a laugh out of them. I guess there's another SNL special tomorrow night.

All of the loans I reviewed this week for Kiva were from borrowers in the Phillippines. I was notified of one small default (less than $2) which I consider as part of how the Kiva system works. Defaults are very uncommon and of inconsequential amounts.

I took a quick look at my stats since we are wrapping up 2025. Since joining Kiva as a volunteer in 2019, I see this statement: "You've reviewed 3,911 loans enabling $2,108,535 in lending activity."

I was pondering an interesting post here by Tabs, who wondered why some people savers, and others spendthrifts.

I was thinking more about the abrupt transition from "lifelong working gal with a career" to "retiree with hobbies." It can be a little rough to consider what all those years of hard work meant. I mean, I'm left with a a file cabinet full of writing samples from every job I ever had. I did a lot of work I was extremely proud of, and even got a few awards, but in the end, it just went to help this company or that market the product they were selling, and I daresay all that hard work has already been forgotten by the few who may have appreciated what went into creating it. So to add to my answer to Tabs, my self-worth was internally driven, and that's what remains today. I thought I was working to earn praise (and maybe a higher bonus) from my manager, or my manager's manager, but really, I am self-motivated, and do the hard work to please myself.

What kind of delights me is discovering that I am still using my decades of work experience and skillsets as a writer/journalist/researcher in my volunteer work, and that it is appreciated by others I work with. It's nice to work those muscles even if I'm not earning money for it. 

This winter could be very quiet though, since my 2 main volunteer activities naturally become a little less active due to the nature of our work. I am still on the lookout to take something new on; I've found that I like working with very small organizations because they will more likely offer more interesting volunteer opportunities to someone like me and will also appreciate what I can do more as well.  

The wind is really picking up and the rain is coming down in sheets. So far, I still have power.

Got together with one of the groups I volunteer with for a Christmas lunch at one of my favorite places in town. All I had was the tomato basil soup with the jumbo garlic bread croutons, and that was plenty filling, so I'm glad I didn't get the salad, too. . And the price was right: $8.95.

I haven't used my weighted belt on the treadmill since Tabs made his suggestions, and I've been able to increase my speed from 3.3/3.4 (with the belt) to 3.6 without it, and a heart rate high of 111, which is still probably not my optimal peak heart rate as far as cardio benefit goes. I have to say I enjoy the workout a lot more without the belt and I "feel" stronger because I'm walking faster. I usually shoot for 30 minutes. 

Today's a warmish day. I Would love to wash the salt off my car, but ehhh...maybe tomorrow. It's already 3 and the water will likely freeze on the driveway. Guess I'm too frugal for a car wash.

Dad's still in the hospital. As far as I'm concerned, it's the best place for him right now.

Unfortunately, he tested positive for the flu and he has a UTI. He has such limited exposure to people I'm really surprised, unless he immediately picked it up as soon as he entered the hospital. So many people coming and going to do this or do that, plus he was already moved once from an ER bed to a regular bed in a different "tower," so there was a whole new set of care providers tending to him.

He did get a flu vaccine in November, so hopefully that will blunt the worst of his symptoms, but he was noticeably tireder today and a little ill-humored due to not feeling well. Plus the gash above his eye that he received when he fell kept bleeding, so much so that they had to change the sheets 3 times, but once the blood thinner med he was on was stopped and out of his system, the gash seems to have stabilized. So perhaps not surprising he is a little anemic, so now they're giving him an iron pill. ....They seem like they're doing a good job, although he is pre-diabetic and what do I see he was given at breakfast? Orange juice. Maybe not the best choice.

We have overnight snow that ended around noon today, just about 3 inches, which was enough that I needed to shovel the driveway. Temps will warm considerably in the second half of this week so I am hoping to get some winter yard work chores done during that time (pruning this and that), and I also plan to order some heating oil if oil prices fall due to the rise in temps (which I find they often do, though there are also other factors in play). But between now and then, i.e., tonight, temps are going to drop to a littld below zero.

So this January it will be exactly 1 year since I purchased my SUV.  It feels like it's taking forever to pay the thing off, so much so that I wondered, momentarily, if Toyota Financial had calculated everything correctly. But on the face of it, I think they have.  I financed a little over $20,000 and have been throwing prepayments at it each month, having started out with an extra $200 each month but lately it's been an extra $250.

I guess it's about right since I see my balance on it is $9900, so I think I'm still on track to pay it off in less than 2 years (my plan all along). I'll be throwing $5k at it in early January to accelerate that process and then I'll be on the home stretch. That's $700 a month I'd rather keep in my pocket than pay in principal and interest.

My father had a fall a few days ago and is now in the hospital. I was shocked when I saw him yesterday because he looked like a boxer who got the short end of the stick in a bout. He had a golfball-sized swelling under his right eye and a cut above the eye with lots of discoloration. Luckily, he didn't break anything (a miracle) and the swelling has gone done quite a bit today. They're starting physical therapy with him today as well as occupational therapy, and it sounds like he may be transfered to a rehab facility to continue with that, which I am very much for. Typical dad, he says it dosen't hurt.

My father, who is in his 9th decade, does not move around much and no matter how much I try to encourage him to just move more, whatever he can, "use it or lose it," etc., etc., he has no interest. He humors me by listening, but that's it. I understand that. But he will do certain movements and exercises it if someone is there guiding him through it all. That's why I'm still taking him to physical therapy every week, and we've been doing this for over a year now. But it's not enough. He has major sarcopenia, and I'm pretty sure this is why he fell. He lays in bed all day and watches the news. He still lives alone, adjacent to my sister's house. She brings him dinner daily.  It's not enough. But these are dad's wishes. He doesn't want to be institutionalized, and I understand that, too. So we fumble on. I would love to have a home health aide come in a few days a week, but I already know he will tell me no.  He can afford it but doesn't like to spend money. When he gets home, I'm going to bring it up anyway. Maybe with this last fall he might see the wisdom of doing this.

My BJs membership was up for renewal in early January; each year they increase the membership fee and it's currently $60, which is a fee I don't like paying since buying for one makes it debatable whether or not paying that fee is worth it. However, my grocery price comparisons tell me that many BJs foods are priced at a level comparable to Aldi's, and certainly cheaper than big supermarkets like Stop & Shop or Big Y.

So I wrote to BJs customer service yesterday and explained that I found it hard paying that membership fee as a solo person, and could they offer me any discount. I got an email from the national customer service saying please call us, which I did this morning. At first she offered me a $5 discount, which was disappointing, but I thanked her and then declined. Then she said, hold on, let me check again, and this time she offered me a $10 discount. Again I declined as my backup plan was to stock up on a few favorite BJs foods before my membership expired, just go without BJs for a few months and then renew if I still want to. Again she said let me check again, and this time offered me what I'd been hoping for, a $25 membership that I happily accepted. I mean, their pricing negotiations are on a par with some Internet and phone service providers I've dealt with! The moral of the story is, 1) it never hurts to ask and 2) always remain polite and appreciative.

Netflix is my chief TV provider but often I find myself losing interest in many movies they offer about halfway through the movie, if not sooner. The acting is often lacking, IMO. But sometimes there's a movie name I recognize that I somehow never saw, even while being widely touted as an "important" film of its era. That was the case with Taxi Driver, a 1970s-era Scorsese film I watched last night, and I must say it was a great movie. It depicted a gritty, seamy side of New York that I was familiar with growing up during that period when prostitution and crime were perhaps more entrenched than they are now, or at least, less hidden from view if you were walking around Times Square.  

I knew the movie had to be good with its 4 key actors being Robert DeNiro, Cybil Shepherd, Jodie Foster and Harvey Keitel. It was one of those movies where you're not really sure you grasped all its meaning, so I often will go online afterwards and read movie critic reviews just to understand it better. Especially the ending, in this particular case. I must say, Robert DeNiro and Harvey Keitel were SO young in this film (and the others, too, of course).

In the past, I never really went out of my way to watch Martin Scorcese films due to their violence, but I must say now I am a little curious to possibly watch some of his other films if they are on Netflix.

One of my volunteer groups is planning a little holiday luncheon next week at one of my favorite local eateries. Just 5 of us. 

I've become inspired to try to make some tree ornaments made out of pinecones, cinammon sticks, berries and ribbons. I just need to get the cinammon sticks. I also have some small white birch logs sitting in the driveway since summer and I want to cut a few slices of them up to serve as a small base for a pinecone "tree."

I stopped at Tractor Supply for a 10-pack of suet and then went to the gym, where I increased my walking speed on the treadmill to 3.5 mph. I could never muster up enthusiasm for going any faster than 3.4 becus I always walk with a 10.5 lb weighted belt around my waist and it is darn heavy. The only reason I didn't have the belt today is becus one of the guys at the gym told me the painters would be moving into the women's locker room today (they didn't) so I wouldn't have access to all the stuff like the belt I just leave there. I had it in my car but don't like shlepping it back and forth thru the parking lot. So that's why I was so speedy today.

I started feeding the birds a week or so ago and today my one little feeder was especially mobbed, becus it's really gotten cold. I'd love to hang a 2nd one to relieve the crowding, but honestly the only spot that is mostly squirrel-proof is one large mulberry tree just outside my office window, which is a great viewing spot. But the tree branch is very high, too high, in fact, even with a step ladder. In the past I got the fishing line I use to hang it (too thin for a squirrel to climb onto) by climbing to the very top of the ladder and then throwing the roll of fishing line up and hopefully over the tree branch. I don't have anyone here to help me, so it takes a while becus my aim is not good so each time it falls to the ground, I have to descend the ladder and grab it to try again. 

Anyway, the feeder I have holds just a day's worth of black oil sunflower seed mixed with freeze-dried meal worms (crunchy yummy) and 2 suet cakes.

Red-bellied woodpecker, above and below

From left, tufted titmouse, female cardinal and 2 female house finches. Also a male house finch behind the titmouse.

I mailed my 2nd half of property taxes today. That's always a big ouch at $3,884 each payment.

For Thanksgiving I'm picking up dad and then heading southwest to meet my cousin and her friend for an early dinner at a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (expensive, especially if you like to drink...I think it's $50 a person, not including alcohol or tip). But we're a small group and no one wants to cook. I'll be home by dark at around the time most families are just starting to sit down at the table. I'm looking forward to it though I dislike the drive.

I love turkey with gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce and each  year ask myself why I only eat this once a year. I guess because it takes a lot to cook it all, and my desire to cook has really slumped in the past year. I still cook all my meals from scratch and eat out just once a week with dad.

Since I last wrote here, I organized another litter cleanup (the 4th in my hometown), different location. I had 4 new volunteers show up, including a Legislative Council member. The guy I've been in touch with from DPW came at the end with his pickup and on his own time (it was Sunday) helped us load the trash and he took it away to weigh and dump it; later he told me we'd picked up 420 pounds, so I was pumped. That included 3 old tires and an unopened package of coffee.

Not only that, but 2 of the women who volunteered were so enthusiastic and offering to do more, I invited them both to join me as organizers. There's a ton of stuff to do, from posting on social media before and after each cleanup to sending a press release to local paper, coordinating with DPW and police, etc. One woman has happily accepted so far; I plan to call our first meeting at my home sometime in January. She has a PR background and is already talking about a blog, website and our own FB page. I'm not so sure about all that right away becus it means we're "committed," and maybe at some point I'll want to move on to something else, or we don't get enough volunteers to make it worthwhile or maybe people's enthusiasm will wane over time (town has been enormously supportive thus far, but actually showing up to help is a different thing). I think I would like to give it a year and see if we can maintain a steady rate of volunteers.

We need to map out more (safe) roads to hit, ideally creating a calendar so we know what's coming up, think about how often we want to organize cleanups (no one wants to do this in heat of summer) and there are a dozen other logistical items to hash out. The other woman agreed with me we will need to start getting people to sign liability waivers when they arrive. Basically to give us some protection if someone gets hurt. I hate to introduce "paperwork" into the whole process, but I think it's very important. I can copy the waiver my statewide group was using. 

I am bracing for a big hike in my electric rate come Jan 1. My state allows consumers to shop for their own supplier. I had locked in a very low rate of 8.79 per kilowatt hour in 2024, but my 2-year contract expires end of December. I've already checked the state website showing all suppliers and their rates, and the lowest now is 11.89 per k/hour. So it's really going to be a big spike unless prices fall in the next 30 days, which seems unlikely.

Oh, and if you're wondering what happened with the man I was dating....he actually ghosted me. We went out twice and had a nice time both times. Then he asked me to go to a classical guitar concert. I turned him down on that one due to the timing but later followed up with him to see how it was. Then I never heard from him again. So I'm not sure what happened. He had a troubled family life growing up and I remember him telling me that he avoids conflict at all costs. His words. We had no conflict, but if he decided privately that I wasn't the right person for him, he may have wanted to avoid having to tell me in case I didn't take it well. So in retrospect, it's for the best. I don't think it would work to be in a relationship with someone like that.  It would just be impossible. 

Just heard from McAfee that savings advice was hacked and that my persona info is on the dark web.

If anyone knows how to change their password here, please let us know. It's ridiculous that i have to send a note asking how to do that to savings advice.

Thanks.

A fond look back to August warmth....monarch on cosmos.

Following my resignation from my statewide volunteer group, the ad hoc chairman also resigned, which basically put the existence of the group in jeopardy. I had not expected her to follow suit. My intent was not to leave them in the lurch, but it had become clear to me many months ago this group was dead in the water and no one seemed to care.

If I had to define what the problem was, I would have to say it was a lack of strong leadership, someone who was willing to put fellow board members on the spot, ask them to step up to the plate and help out. Cus it is a lot of work.  The woman who chaired our group when I joined a few years ago was a sweet, wonderful human being, but she did not know how to delegate to others; instead, she just wund up doing everything herself, and others let that happen becus it was easy for them to do that. Eventually, she burned out and resigned.

The other person on the board who volunteered to temporarily act as chairman until a permanent chair could be found did the best she could, I think, but there's still way too much for just one or two people to manage. So she just dropped off and didn't bother to resign (until I did), nor did she communicate with anyone when she failed to call meetings for the past 4 or 5 months now! Eventually, I just became disillusioned and disgusted with the apathy of some of the people on the board, whose involvement, even to just attend a remote meeting, was spotty at best; we often lacked a quorum.

When I voiced my concerns to another board member (our treasurer, who I recruited about a year ago), he said he would pick up chairing the meetings for as long as necessary. He did chair exactly 1 meeting, but then...nothing. I don't fault him becus he works f/t at a pretty senior level job and never sought to be chair.

At this point, I felt it was better to formally step down, cut ties and move on to more productive volunteer activities. However, there are a few housekeeping activities I need to perform for them, like posting all prior recorded meeting minutes on shared Google docs. I may need to attend one more final meeting, just to record minutes.

In the meantime, I organized a "flash" litter cleanup in my own hometown. I had 2 people (and a rescue dog) show up, and that was enough for this one road. I posted pix on the town's FB group and so far have 161 emoji positive expressions of support and 28 comments from people who say they want to participate next time. The owner of the local hardware store has also made an offer to donate trash bags, which I will take him up on once I use up my own stash of bags I can no longer use at our town landfill due to a new system that accepts only town-issued blue bags.

So there has been huge support for what I'm doing, as there was the two prior times I organized cleanups in my hometown of the interstate rest area. Far fewer people actually show up to help! That's okay. It's a process, and it takes time for any new group/pursuit to take hold. I have mixed feelings about turning this into anything more than a loose coalition of residents who do periodic litter cleanups. I am still concerned about the risks involved, and my own liability, of having groups of people walking along a road distracted by picking up litter.  So the road we did this weekend led to just one place: the town transfer station (ironic, huh?) and I chose to do it on a Sunday, when the transfer station is closed, so there was no traffic on the road that could affect volunteers' safety.

But there's only so many other places like that. Town parks are really pretty clean around here; a lot of trash seems to come from motorists who toss things out the window as they're driving or sit partying/drinking/eating/having sex in a parked car.  Any woodsy areas fronting roads attract lots of trash. I do have 2 roads in mind for next time that I believe are low-traffic, but I need to do a drive-by and see if there's enough trash to warrant a cleanup and assess traffic. Otherwise, I don't think it should be our responsibility to pick up trash on private property, whether residential or commercial.

I'm so thrilled. I did something I'm really not good at....

A few weeks ago, I reluctantly upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11. Windows 11 is a free software upgrade that's been available for over a year now, but I stalled and stalled because I was perfectly happy with how my computer was operating and my experience has been that when they want you to "upgrade," it can usually end up costing you. And that was right in this case.

I finally upgraded becus they started sending messages that they would no longer support Windows 10 with security updates. So as you may recall from earlier posts, I had a problem with all of my photos being "lost" and not showing up, until I discovered them all in my Recycle Bin. While I was mulling over resaving them to the hard drive or cloud, one by one, they magically reappeared in my photo folders. For which I was eternally grateful.

But a week ago, I noticed a new popup message in Windows Security teling me it could not turn on Memory Integrity (core isolation) which is aparently very important, because I had 2 IBM Rapport drivers that were incompatible and might need to be updated.

All this computer talk is like a foreign language to me, but I guess I've picked up little bits of info during the past 40 years of work when various things like arose and our tech person would deal with it. I always liked to watch and ask questions.

Anyway, I searched for a way to update the 2 drivers, got on the IBM Trusteer website and read about the updates but couldn't find where to download the updates! It was driving me mad. I finally caved and had decided to bring the computer in to a local computer repair shop where they wanted over $100 and up to 3 days' time just to diagnose the problem.

This morning I decided to give it one more shot to see if I could figure things out myself. I found it pretty quickly this time (I think the key word I omitted in my prior searches was teh word "download." Bingo. The warning message is gone and I do indeed see that my core isolation is now protected.

I'm amazed. And thrilled. As much by avoiding the need to do without my desktop for 3 days as having the spend the $$.

I had been keeping my computer shut off for the past few days, until I could bring it to the repair place, out of an abundance of caution since your computer cannot be hacked if it's not connected to the Internet. Believe me that was hard!

Well, it's the end of an era. Or at least, something I enjoyed for the past 2 years, serving on the board of a statewide nonprofit dedicated to organizing litter cleanups. I submitted my resignation, effective immediately, yesterday. Due totally to a complete lack of activity and the willingness of no one (myself included) to serve as chair. We only had 5 board members. It was a lot of work and not enough people to pitch in and help. The bulk of the work usually fell on the chairman.

I always felt that having a statewide focus was biting off way more than we could chew, but that's how others (no longer with the group) wanted it to be. I just feel my time will be spent more productively by joining various other cleanups by other groups and also organizing cleanups in my hometown. I've done 2 "flash" cleanups here in town but got just a few people. I'm having another one today; if I continue to get next to no participation (despite getting tremendous support on the town FB page), I may just drop it. I do worry about liability issues, and let's face it: picking up litter on the side of the road is not a low-risk activity. 

Now in the statewide group I just resigned from, they had written waivers at a sign-in table we had every volunteer sign, but that is not 100% guaranteed to stand up in court should we ever have gotten sued by someone hit by a car or something.

That's why today's cleanup is on a road that leads to one place, our town transfer station, and since it's closed on Sundays, there should be no traffic there. The last 2 cleanups I did were at an Interstate rest stop/park-and-ride that always seems to attract heavy litter.

So I designed a cute logo and name for the litter group and we'll see what happens. Worst case, I'll clean up litter myself for 1.5 hours in somewhat chilly weather.

Curious visitor...

In other news, the HVAC guys returned with a replacement firebox for my oil furnace and this time, it worked like a dream. He even said it was probably the easiest firebox replacement he's ever done. On top of that, they billed me in the middle (not the top) of the price range estimate he'd given me. I was afraid they'd bill even MORE for having to come twice to attempt the replacement install, even though it wasn't my fault that the supplier gave them a part that didn't fit.

Today's photo....hope you're not getting tired of my food photos! This was olive oil cake with ice cream at a local restaurant.

Today I did mostly nothing except for a few hours outside removing dead leaves that collect at the top of my driveway. I did also replace the filter on the Aprilaire humidifier that's attached to my furnace. A chore I dislike because it's never easy to take the thing apart that holds the filter and fit it back into the unit. I actually use an old set of handwritten instructions from probably 10 years ago that a friend of mine wrote for me after helping me perform this particular task. Anyway, that's done for another 6 months.

I did some work on our website for my volunteer group.

I think tomorow after the furnace firebox gets straightened out, I'll treat myself to lunch either at the Vietnamese place I like so much, or a pizza shop that everyone raves about. Guess I'll decide which when the time comes. I also hope to do another chore I've procrastinated about: rechecking the copper mesh mouseproofing I did last year along bottom row of siding, as I've been getting mice in my one indoor trap. They don't go to waste, though. I use a plastic, reuseable trap and toss the dead mouse outside in a certain area periodically checked by possums and I'm not sure what else. I'm sure the unexpected protein is much appreciated.

Today was the chilliest day of the fall season to date. In fact, it was the first day I felt it necessary to wear my winter coat.

Since it was too cold to do fall yard work, I turned it into a day of errands: Target (dad needed underwear), Wal-Mart (I wanted to spend a $5 gift card, so I bought some green tea), Whole Foods (they have the best produce, including a new favorite for me, organic Cosmic Crisp), BJs (for gas and a few food items) and then dropping off some donations at Good Will.

When I got home, I found a BJs coupon circular in my mailbox and a $3 coupon for the Nature Made vitamins I'd just purchased there. Since the coupon is good thru December, I will return the vitamins, then repurchase it so I can use the coupon. 

A local gallery is calling for artists for its "Small and Large" holiday exhibit, which I like to enter since it's around holiday gift-giving time. You can either submit 3 small pieces of art under 13" or one large piece over 31" for a $20 entry fee. I picked out 3 of my mother's pieces but realized the frame on one was a little dinged up, so I'm in the process of painting it now. I got a free paint sample in a pretty shade of blue from a paint shop last year and found that it goes perfectly with this piece of art. I need to drop the 3 pieces off this weekend.

The replacement part for my furnace should be shipped to my HVAC people this week, so hopefully can schedule a return visit soon after. Dad was more or less happy with the deep clean of his living space last Friday ($340) and agreed to have them come on a monthly basis ($140) moving forward. However, he wants to stay there while they clean so he can tell them what to do, which I know they won't like, but.... 

I had decided I wasn't going to share anything about the funeral I attended unless he asked about it, which he did once we sat down to lunch the other day. So I shared a little. Then he wanted to know who was there, what was on the menu, etc.

I brought him to the dentist that day (every 3 mths) and I was so relieved they didn't announce another cracked tooth, cavity or broken crown. Next week he'll be getting his covid shot and going to PT. The week after that we'll be driving an hour or so south to meet my cousin for Thanksgiving dinner at an insanely expensive Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. It's just a convenient location for her and I suppose for me, so.... we go early so we can all get home before dark. I think this may be our 4th year going there? Neither of us wants to cook the whole traditional Thanksgiving meal for just 3 people (her partner won't be around as he's a longtime volunteer helping to get the balloons ready for the Macy's Day parade in NY, and so it just makes it easier to eat out although I do sorely miss all the leftovers..

My knotweed group has decided to allow a 5th person to join our small group. We haven't been activley seeking to expand the group, cus we all work very well together and sometimes when you add new people it changes the dynamic, but she had recently met one of our members who was enthusiastic about the idea. We're involved in so many projects, we could definitely use an extra set of hands.

I'm not sure what I'm doing tomorrow. It will be in the low 50s so theoretically I could do yardwork. I'd like to remove a large quantity of leaves at the top of my driveway, where they tend to collect becus it's surrounded on 2 sides by stone walls and the 3rd side is my garage wall. 

There are also 2 smallish trees I'd like to take down (maybe) with my mini chainsaw so I can move one of the many oak seedlings that sprouted elsewhere to that spot. Getting rid of nonnative or invasive plants and replacing them with native plants has been an ongoing project for me. I've gotten more aggressive lately as i realized that much of my problem stems from the fact that the invasive plants keep spreading into my yard from my neighbors. In fact, I've been battlings invasives on the periphery of the property for 30 years now, and because I always avoided using herbicides, preferring to pull, dig or even just "cut back" invasives, of course they did indeed grow back and nothing's really changed in 30 years! . Last year is when I really started using chemicals in a very targeted and controlled manner. I never do foliage sprays. I'll cut an invasive shrub at the base, as close to the ground as possible, then paint herbicide on the stump with a small paint brush. Sometimes I'll even cover the herbicide-treated stump with a small white mesh baggy so an insect can't land on it. I bought a hundred of these little bags on Amazon; they're used to hold wedding favors. Of course this time of year I don't have to worry about insects since we've had a few hard frosts. But there are still animals roaming around.

But getting back to my neighbors....one of them is a widow well into her 90s. Even when her husband was alive, they never did anything to the brushy/woodsy area on their side of the stone wall, which is the property line, so it is filled with Asiatic bittersweet, Japanese privet, multiflora rose and a bunch of other stuff.. So I've been venturing onto her side of the wall to kill invasive vines and shrubs becus damn, I can't be doing this forever. I don't think she'd care, but I try to make it not noticeable. And I just uncovered a very spindly oak sapling underneath all the vines. Someday, I may move from here and downsize, but I still would want to leave this place in as good shape as possible, and that includes ecologically, too.

I allowed myself 2 hours to get down to Hackensack, knowing that taking the Tappan Zee would make it a little longer, but also allowing lots of extra time in case there was an accident or traffic backup. But GPS had other plans for me. You know how when you punch in a destination, they give you 3 options and show you the different routes on a map?  I wanted that Tappan Zee option to avoid the GW Bridge. Problem with the GPS is that when you click on one of the routes, it's hard to know if that's the route you want, and it seemed like every route had me driving into the city, so that's where I ended up. So amazingly, I arrived in Hackensack over an hour early!

I lived the first 17 years of my life in New Jersey, but the only things I recognized today were the old Bendix Diner and Teterboro Airport. Everything has changed so much and I guess I felt like an alien there.

The Tappan Zee spans the Hudson River, connecting New Jersey and New York State.   

I stopped at a nearby Wawa to use the rest room, then headed to the cemetery. The service itself was very brief, like maybe 10 minutes. Then we headed to a local restaurant where "Uncle Joe" treated us to a nice meal. It was good to see some of my extended family again, fragmented as we are, and it made me sad that it took someone's death to bring us all together. It was just 14 of us; my brother's best friend came to the funeral but not the meal. My late brother's wife is Chinese; her parents speak only Chinese, limiting communication.

Heading home I was determined to avoid the GW, and this time I was able to get on the Palisades Parkway North, which is a scenic drive with great views of the city. From there I headed east and crossed the Tappan Zee, then north to dear New England.

It was an exhausting day. I didn't sleep well last night, then 4 hours of driving in unfamiliar, high trafficked environs and the stress of the funeral. When I got home, the first think I did was change into my comfy clothes: a ratty pair of sweat pants and an old sweat shirt, and climbed into bed with the beginnings of a headache.

There's a problem with the firebox replacement on my ThermoPride oil furnace. HVAC is here now. Seems the part they got is a different size/shape than the one they're replacing. They have ordered again, but will have to wait a few days now. I'm worried about how much this will inflate the $900-$1200 estimate I'd been given. The technician has worked out a temporary solution so I can continue to use the furnace in the meantime, but he's still tinkering with it so I've been stuck here all morning.

I received word yesteray that my half-brother has passed. Very sad. I had first learned of his illness 11 months ago when I pulled into the parking lot at my gym and he called me. As it turned out, I received a text from his wife yesterday in the same parking lot, informing me of his death. I am waiting for details on the funeral. I am hoping it's in New Jersey and not Chinatown, NYC. (My brother's wife is Chinese-American.) My father has told me he doesn't want to go.

In addition to the problem with the furnace repair, I also already scheduled a deep clean of my father's place for this Saturday. They will bill me the full amount if I cancel/reschedule any later than tomorrow morning. I think I would just let them clean even if we aren't around. Just to get it done. They already have my credit card info.

And dad has a dentist appointment on Monday.

I was happy at a recent gym workout because I was able to raise the weight pulled, pushed, pressed or lifted by 5 lbs on every machine. I say this because I feel I'm already lifting near the maximum possible, but then I go and surprise myself. I noticed today when I went to the gym that they are putting solar panels on the roof. 

This week I reviewed loans from Pakistan, Albania, Uganda, Ghana, Liberia and Kenya.

I had to cut loose one of the men i got together with. I don't think we had much of anything in common, and he's Republican, which would be bound to create conflict.

I got together a 2nd time with the other one, the anesthesiologist nurse, going to a great takeout type Vietnamese restaurant I'd never been to (tofu curry, above), but I'm not sure about him either, I'm afraid. He is very liberal (he drives a Tesla with a F*** Trump sticker to ward off possible vandalism) and we definitely share some common interests, but he seems very, I don't know, repressed/depressed. Not light-hearted. He had a very tough upbringing. At this point in my life, I just want to have fun and be with someone a little more outgoing.  I'm afraid that J. is not that person.  Plus he plans to continue working for at least a few more years, so that would limit my fun stuff agenda. So I don't know. 

The company that provides my Internet just raised my monthly fee from $50 to $60, which feels like a lot! It was not so long ago, I guess a few years now, when they raised it from $40 to $50. Sigh. They said it was just an across-the-board rate hike, which to me sounds like saying we raised it because we could.

I do fine with just my Netflix subscription, free movies with my public library's Kanopy account and over-the-air antenna for TV, and a family member pays my cell phone bill. Nice, I know. So all I need is the Internet. I see some providers give you a year's worth of Internet for just $30, but then they jack it up to $70, so that wouldn't really entice me. I need to research it more although truth be told, I guess I could also skip the stress I cause myself and just accept it, knowing I can pay it. I used to always get very stressed when this particular provider raised their rates becus you basically feel powerless, and there aren't many options in my area. Plus, it's always an unpleasant surprise; the rep said they mentioned it in the prior month's bill, but since I'm on auto pay, I have no reason to be looking at the bill; I just look at the total due in the email they send, and that's it.

Wednesday night, try to take a look outside after dark. There's supposed to be a very bright and large moon. I will be trying to take photos.

Oops. Alas, I have no photo I took today so I'm cheating a little and posting a photo I took last week that made me laugh. A teeny tiny lock someone's using at my gym.

Today I made lentil soup.

In other news, Patient Saver has dipped her toe in the dating pool again and now she has not one but two suitors. I find it kind of stressful. I  never liked dating more than one man at a time (feels deceptive and gets complicated), but in this case, I met Bachelor #1 today and Bachelor #2 is really counting on us meeting sometime this week.

They are both very different from one another but coincidentally, both grew up in the same town about 45 minutes from me, are the same age and both have 2 kids. I met Bachelor #1 today for a nice long fall walk; he is a divorced nurse anesthesiologist who had a rough childhood and is on the quiet side. He seems thoughtful and is a good listener. He is interested in fitness and plant-based nutrition as I am. Bachelor #2 has a much more outgoing personality on the phone, is retired from a lengthy career with a single (defense) employer and is widowed. I want to at least meet Bachelor #2 before making any decisions but in a way it would make it easier for me if the choice were obvious.  

After our walk today, Bachelor #1 texted me while he was driving home to ask me to dinner this weekend, and Patient Saver said yes!

Near where I live....

What I'm reading: The Nature of Oaks, by Doug Tallamy.

Today started out as a good day but that was short-lived.  That's when I entered my father's apartment to see him attempting to attach a paper towel with scotch tape to his leg, which was bleeding. The elderly have very thin skin; he had a large scab that I guess he scratched, and his entire leg was bloody from the knee down.  There was blood on his bedsheets, the floor, the rug and him. Luckily I found a full drawer of medical supplies and actual bandages. I applied pressure to stop the bleeding, which he resisted, causing us to quarrel. He is really misinformed about a lot of things, and this is one of them. In the midst of all this and trying to clean him up and his apartment (which he also resisted), I got a text from the wife of my half-brother (my father's son). He is dying. Any day now. She told me to brace myself. He learned in December, or perhaps a little earlier, that he had stage 4 colon cancer. December is when I learned about it.

So it was not a good day. I'm not going to say we were close, because we weren't. We didn't grow up together. We lived in different states, led different lives. We've been cordial when we've seen each other, but that became very infrequent, especially once he had kids. His kids are great, and I know he loved them very much. The whole thing is very upsetting, so tragic and so unnecessary. He is young. He had a colonoscopy scheduled but cancelled it due to covid and never got around to rescheduling it. This is the only reason I am sharing this info here, in case anyone has procrastinated about any kind of routine screening.  Just get it done. 

If you're wondering what this means, the phrase is a modern adaptation of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous quote emphasizing that progress toward justice is not inevitable or automatic, and that we need active human effort to bring about change. It's meant to be a call to action urging people to work toward social change rather than waiting for justice to happen on its own. So appropros for 2025.

Even if trumpty-dumpty was not destroying the environment, selling off public lands, dismantling a wildly successful program that made health care affordable for millions of middle-class Americans, eliminating energy effciency tax credits and similar green energy incentives, hunting down and kidnapping suspected illegal immigrants with no due process, blowing up boats in the Caribbean, cozying up to dictators like Putin who is hell-bent on destroying Ukraine, dismantling the federal government, enriching himself and his family and pardoning Santos, who lied about his education, that his parents were Holacaust survivors and defrauded donors, who pardoned the Capitol rioters, I would still loathe this repulsive man. He does not have a shred of moral integrity, not an ounce of human decency. He is vindictive, cruel, self-serving and is an embarassment to this nation. 

I am so proud of the estimated 7 million souls who took time out of their lives to voice their anger and displeasure. There were some great signs, too. 

I wanted today to be a leisurely day, and it has been. This morning I headed out to nearby small city to help clean up one of their parks. Worked there for 2 hours; they were very appreciative. Oh, and I got this nice t-shirt too.

I came home, had leftovers for lunch and am contemplating my next move while there are still a few hours of sunlight left. I could do some laundry and want to make a big pot of lentil soup. Or, I could go outside and pull invasive plants. Finish tidying up the garage so I can fit my lawn furniture in there, and my vehicle. What to do, what to do?

The amazing thing is that the thousands of my photos that disappeared from my personal file folders have magically reappeared in those folders. I have no idea why, but I'm relieved, that's for sure.

All the Kiva loans I reviewed this week were from Phillippino borrowers, and all wanted money for a sanitary toilet. All of the borrower profiles showed the borrower standing next to a toilet inside a crude, cinderblock hut with a curtain for privacy. The toilet is never connected by pipes to the wall, so I can only guess they dig a pit underneath it until they can afford something approximating modern sanitation.

I think we may have had about 800 or so...maybe a thousand....people show up for our town's demonstration today. First we listened to a series of motivational speakers, including my favorite, a church pastor, and then we walked to South Main Street and lined nearly a mile of roadway with our signs, receiving a great deal of support from passing motorists.

I have a weak spot for craft fairs, church fairs and things of that sort. I love homemade knit items, which remind me of my dear grandmother, as well as homemade baked goods. I saw many things my grandmother would have liked.  It's a glorious fall day and I love this time of year.

That's a knit pumpkin at left with a real pumpkin stalk on it. So clever. Also a ceramic pumpkin for my kitchen window; I bought a similar pumpkin in a teal color last year. And, my first pair of fingerless gloves so I can use my phone outdoors.

I would have liked to support the church ladies by buying a few loaves of their home-baked pumpkin bread but I forgot they don't take credit cards like the craft vendors do and I rarely carry cash these days. I remembered the same thing last fall (!) when I had no cash, but then remembered I had lots of loose change in the car for tolls or Aldi's, so I trooped back to my car last year and paid in quarters, which they didn't seem to mind. I could have done the same this year, but it escaped my mind.

I also got a high dose flu vaccine at the health fair and a variety of fun freebies like pens, notepads, a rubber jar opener thingie, etc. I've been going to the health fair for years now. It's a great resource for residents and you'll see tables for the town's emergency response system, home health care agencies, suicide prevention, our local police force, the regional health care system/hospital, a local naturopath physician, varous dentists, the senior center, etc. 

In a few hours, I'll be attending a rally on what could be a record-setting day because a record-setting number of Americans hate what is happening to this country.

This was a very good dessert this week: a flourless chocolate cake (warm) with raspberry sorbet and pistachio nuts.

Took dad to PT, then lunch. Mowed the back lawn when I got home.

So tired of difficulties posting here. 

Anyhoo, catching up for a few days of missed photos.

Tonight I went to a meeting on efforts to ban rodenticides in my state. This is a rehabbed screech owl that survived an anticoagulant poison that killed the rest of its family. They've seen a real spike in birds and mammals like foxes and even domestic cats poisoned by rat and mice bait. This woman, with a group called A Place Called Hope, was a great advocate and very informative. 

This is the view as I sat at a traffic light on my way to the meeting.

Here's the gym where I work out 3x weekly. It's actually a huge building. The gym is on the 2nd floor but there are all kinds of ball courts and they have lots of tournaments there on weekends with out of towners who come to compete. It's a great resource.

In a post that disappeared after I saved it, I explained why I'd forgotten to post, but eh, I won't go into it now.

OK, so I needed to come up with a photo today, but it's been so cold, dreary and now rainy that I haven't really ventured outside. So I had to delve into my photo gallery to pick something recent. I imagine you are getting tired of my many plant photos, so here's another dish I enjoyed at that favorite cafe in town I told you I visited last week with my father.

This dish is "meatball salad." Each meatball is the size of 3 regular meatballs. It's delicious.

I have a small collection of head planters. They're not looking too spiffy at the moment, but they look great with the right kind of plant in there.

I had an incredibly productive day.

* I took a small pussy willow cutting from my one pussy willow shrub back in APRIL, and the poor thing sat in water all these months. I wanted to plant it sooner but couldn't find the right spot for it. It needs a lot of room but also needs sun. I tucked it in the ground today, FINALLY. It had quite the root system on it. I will be curious to see how it does.

* I also transplanted one black oak seedling from a bad spot where it popped up early in the spring and put it in a better spot. I have 3 or 4 more I'd like to do the same with.

* I finished cutting down a kousa dogwood. I noticed it a year or two ago; I had mixed feelings about taking it down, but it doesn't have much wildlife value. And then I noticed it was starting to steal sunlight from a nearby oak sapling which I very much want to thrive. In 31 years I've never had a single oak  here, and now this year I have at least 5 or 6 popping up all over. This sapling was about 6 feet high last year and has doubled in height this year. 

The kousa dogwood was a lot of work since this involved cutting up larger branches and then dragging them to a brush pile hidden in the woods. I got almost 13,000 steps in today, and this was a big reason why.

* I mowed part of the lawn.

* I started organizing the garage so I can store lawn furniture in there and all my plant pots. Maybe even my SUV. Didn't quite finish but made great headway. Also filled 4 trash bags with old newspapers I had used a few years ago to suppress weeds but decided I didn't like it as it required mulch on top of it and inevitably the ugly newspaper sheets would show thru the mulch. I'm doing a more natural mulch now of just leaves. Mice had gotten into the newspaper anyway.

* Continued work cutting rampant trumpet vine at the base near soil and then dabbing it with herbicide. There are a zillion individual plants. I feel like I did quite a bit but then when I look around at how it has gotten into every nook and cranny in this area, it's quite discouraging. Yesterday I was doing the same thing and pretty much cleared and treated the vine that had been growing up a very large evergreen I'd like to save. Vines will kill a tree pretty quickly. It's really a challenge to eradicate it because by June this whole area becomes impenetrable and the best time to treat this particular plant is late summer/early fall. So I get just one shot at it all year. I CAN try to maintain some sort of narrow pathways in there in spring and if I can do that, I can at least cut back the vines even if I don't treat them. This can help maintain some sort of control.

Tomorrow we're getting a fairly significant storm, big enough that I charged up my 2 "power stations" just in case I lose power. The big one can keep my fridge and freezer going for 4 days.  So, maybe I'll squeeze in another mowing session before the rain starts in the afternoon. 

We had our first frost last night, which reminded me of the days when I used to do the No Heat Challenge. Ha! As I get older, I appreciate creature comforts more. Though the heat is still OFF; just threw 2 blankets on the bed.

This week I reviewed Kiva loans from Kazakhstan, Ghana and Philippines.

I was just thinking about what photo I would post today when Nature decided for me! Saw this beautiful bobcat pass through my yard just now.