Retire In Style Blog Too

I don't know if children today even know about trolls that live under bridges and grow warts on their noses and chins. When I was a child I actually did not like going over bridges because I feared those creatures. As it turns out, even at my age I find trolls lurking between the lines of blogs and in the comments and I am still afraid of those creatures. They are very frightening because 1) they are mean spirited and hateful and 2) they usually post anonymously because they are cowards. So there you have it. No, I have not had a troll comment on this blog for quite a while. The Frugal Traveler for the New York Time called me amateurish a long time ago but that really doesn't count. He didn't do it here on my blog anyway...he did it in the NYT's so I don't know if that counts. It was on a fellow blogger's comment section when I saw something that made me a little sick. RJ over at RJs Corner wrote a blog post called  Inside The Loony Bin – The Beltway Baiters  a...

One of the many frustration that everyone faces if they are lucky enough to have insurance, is dealing with that insurance company. It turns out they are playing games with us and that is not right. And it makes me very suspicious. I was a classroom teacher and the wife of an administrator. That occupation had me rubbing shoulders with people that were not classroom teachers. Even by default I knew about how the group insurance companies worked. For example, my teaching partner was on the committee from our teacher's union that chose what company and plan those of the rest of us would have to pay for. At that time a plan that my husband had set up many years before was the one being used. With the old plan if there were teachers that were married, both of those people did not have to buy insurance. One insurance policy covered them both so the money that the union negotiated with the board to pay for insurance was put into a separate account to be saved for the teacher when they re...

As you have all suspected, I am a bit of an eavesdropper. If you are sitting in the next booth I will know what you are talking about, whether I am interested or agree with you and will even sneak a peek to see what you look like and how old you are. I am interested in you even when I shouldn't be. So today (Sunday) my husband and I headed to downtown Tucson for breakfast at The Cup cafe located inside the old Congress Hotel. The Cup is a local favorite. We were told we would have a 50 minute wait so we just wandered around and I took more pictures of the interior. I have been doing that very thing for many years. The old Congress Hotel was the place where John Dillinger was found and captured in 1934 I always wonder how our next booth experience is going to work out no matter who is sitting beside me. This was one of those Sunday morning experiences that make me smile. We were seated very quickly inside near a window next to a family of four. Mom and dad and two boys aged around 9...

The Game's Afoot Dear Watson I have been a fan of the Sherlock series both the one on BBC and the one here in the United States. The idea that when good is fighting evil, the satisfaction comes not only from getting to the finish line but also from running as fast as is possible. The thrill of the quest is sometimes all that is required. As Sherlock would say " the game's afoot." So, here in the USA, we are in the midst of our college basketball championship season so game seem to be on everyone's minds. Even here on the world of bloggers. It may turn out that the "game" is becoming a meme of sorts. Michelle Poston  over at Rubber Shoes in Hell talked about the game of martyrdom. ..you know that one where a person's story of their life is so much worse than anyone else's. I was playing this game when the man I was talking to reminded me that he flew in Vietnam and lost his friends in that war. I lost one. Recently, when it was pointed out to me ...

As I age I realize what a remarkable person my mother was. It seemed she was everywhere at once...and maybe still is. She would have loved my garden...I learned everything I know from her. You need to remember that she never had a driver's license. She did learn to drive but my father in his infinite wisdom just never found the time to take her to town so she could take her test. There was only one car so I don't suppose it would have made any difference. Still up until the time she could not live alone, she managed to get around one way or the other. She had a very active social life and her calendar was filled with lunch dates and church functions. We were from a very small town so our exposure to the fine arts was limited. It wasn't until she was nearing 80 that she discovered the symphony. The orchestra would travel from more than 100 miles away to play on our local college campus. And my mother was always in the front row. I suppose that was how she knew about the roma...

I was reading a blog post the other day on the emotional response we have to words and how reading expands our perception of other people's take on the world around us. The ideas that the post started flying around in my head was amazing. The Hamilton book is at my bedside now. Yesterday was a day of rest for me so I sat up in bed with a pencil reading the book and underlining passages. It was amazing how looking at life through a periscope makes things so much clearer. The right and wrong of things is easier to see when we are talking about what has happened and then have the privilege of actually seeing the outcome. The passage that caught my interest yesterday was related to the emotional response of the rabble and radicals of NYC to those people that hung back during the war failing to decide to join the cause. In a law passed by New York, Tory's were evacuated from the city and sent back to the place they came from. In fact New York City celebrated Evacuation Day on Novemb...

My husband bought a new diesel truck many years ago. It was one of the few of that model around at that time and people...mostly men...were very interested in how a "power stroke" diesel truck worked. I am not a truck expert so I have no idea what that means but evidently it was pretty impressive. The truck was a salmon color and had all the upgrades so it seemed very luxurious to me. It did whistle a little around the windows when you drove over 70 but that was a minor issue. I didn't like going over 70 anyway, My husband was in heaven. My grandsons thought grandpas truck was very cool and owning the truck meant we could buy a fifth wheel RV. Life was a lot of fun. But what impressed me more than anything about owning that truck was how many keys guys that do "truck talk" in front of the hardware store have. I stayed inside the cab of the truck as they emerged from the store and asked my husband about his new truck. We watched as they kicked the tires and asked...

When was the last time you sat down to write a letter or a short note? Have you become as dependent on that smartphone and texting as I have? the wonderful devices suggest the next word and do a spell check as I am writing.  I was at the golf course yesterday and I needed to leave a written note for a friend. I found a piece of paper and a pencil so I could do the task. Do you know how hard it is to even find a piece of paper and a pencil? Then I began writing the note: I lave...no have New piece of paper:   the clothes....no cloths for the table.  New piece of paper: Their...no there...are plenty.  Barbara I wanted to add more but I had torn up three note pad sheets and just gave up. Now you might think that I would worry about that sort of thing but I don't. It is a bit like that bicycle I used to ride. I COULD ride it if I wanted but what is the point. It is just a thought. b+

I live in 55+ resort in the winter. The park is large but not so large that we don't know each other and a lot about each other. If you want have a secret you cannot leave your house. So once a year we get together and put on a show. A group of friends get up on the stage and sing, lip sync, tell jokes etc. so the rest of us can laugh at them. It is one occasion during the year when our auditorium fills up with standing room only. My husband and I bought two of the last three tickets. We were very lucky. I did not realize how much I needed a really good laugh. We have some very big talent in the park but it is not that so much as the willingness of people to put their dignity on the line for our pleasure that brings everyone back. The queen of the lip sync turns 80 today. She can bring any vocal to life. I don't know how she does it. We love her performance a lot. We also loved the guy in the background lip syncing with her song,  I am a Natural Woman. I know...you needed to be...

Ok, those of you that live in the world of mass transit and taxis and rap and continuous texting may think I am old fashioned. I suppose you might be right. I take pride in the fact that I drive myself (thank you) and listen to jazz. I try to keep an open mind though. I am sure there are other better things out there in the world. Even though I generally drive myself, like Miss Daisy I do need a lift once in awhile. Take last week for example. I was having day surgery on my hand for trigger finger and my husband had signed up for a golf tournament with a friend for that day. I needed ride to the clinic so an Uber ride seemed a good choice. I left our one car with my husband. He was coming to get me because surgery clinics will not turn a person that has had even small surgery loose with a Uber driver. I know, that just didn't make sense to me! What is the worst that could happen? Right? So the appointed hour arrived and I call Uber. My husband had me put the Uber app on my iphone a...