Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Retirement

Moving the Travel Trailer

Moving Trailer

The big chore today was moving the trailer across the road to the new lot we bought. The new spot is not its permanent storage location, but we moved it there temporarily so the work of building retention walls and paving the RV drive around the house can be done. We had planned to tow the trailer to the lot across the road and had the blessing of the previous landowner, but now, it’s a moot point since we closed escrow over three weeks ago.

This is the first time that we towed the trailer with the new Ford F-150. As soon as we got the trailer electrical cable hooked up to the truck, the electronic readout in the drivers instrument console started reporting information about the trailer. Since I was busy with the move, I didn’t take the time to check out all the data there. I will consult the owner’s manual before the next time we hitch up the trailer.

04 Feb 2015 by Retirement Technobabble Travel Wanderlust

Banks and Bankers

bucks.pngAfter we sold the property in Kalifornistan, we were relieved at last from the jumbo mortgage and the ludicrous L. A. County property taxes, not to mention the cost of insurance, utilities and upkeep. All of a sudden, there was a place in the budget for putting some money away, rather than allocating funds to the aforementioned money sinks. That was the good news.

The bad news is that when the mortgage balance went to zero and our combined checking and savings account were less than a specific (and large) minimum, the bank where we held the mortgage began charging us about a dollar a day in “fees.” It seems that when we did some refinancing a few years ago to provide the funds for building the Arizona home, “they” required us to sign up for this fancy bank product which provided brokerage services, bonus interest rates, bigger discounts, and fee waivers for many common banking services, none of which we needed.

Damsel and I are 15 and 33 year members of two credit unions whose memberships were available as benefits from previous employers. Both have competitive interest rates for the savings accounts and the checking accounts are free of charge. Plus, our only credit card is issued from one of the CUs (we don’t use it much, but it’s good to have).

So, I fired the bank today. It was the obvious thing for us to do. I electronically transferred the funds out of the bank to our joint savings where we have our retirement accounts. I went to the bank branch office here in town and asked them to close the accounts, which they grudgingly did.

While having a branch here in town was convenient for us to deposit checks, etc., we now can electronically deposit our checks to either credit union via scanner or smartphone. That is even more convenient than visiting the local branch. I think we did the right thing in firing the commercial bank.

18 Nov 2014 by Money and Business Retirement

Office Upgrade II

New Chairs and Mats

I spent a couple of hours putting the new office chairs together today and they are quite nice. Our old office chairs were almost 13 years old and had seen better days, although the gas piston air cushions were still functional. The surfaces were worn and the padding was pretty flat (Damsel used a patio chair cushion on hers to soften it up).

The finished products above are (left) my new chair on a new roll around pad and Damsel’s new chair and pad. Click on the image to enlarge.

We use these chairs not only to work at the computers, but sit in them to watch movies on the DVD/TV in the office. We’re looking forward to this evening’s movie in the new chairs. I wonder if we wll be able to stay awake with all the comfort . . . 😉

31 Oct 2014 by Arizona Home & Garden Retirement

Office Upgrade

New ChairWhen we moved to Arizona, we brought only a few items of furniture from the California house. Damsel had designs on furnishing the new house with all new items. That was true for the bedroom-turned-office as well. We bought two new desks and a short filing cabinet for computers and peripherals storage. However, we did not buy new office chairs; the old ones were brought for that purpose.

Now, the original office furniture for the old house had been there for a while. I checked our financial records and found that the office furniture – including the chairs – had been purchased in December of 2001. That’s just under thirteen years ago – time to get some new chairs. Damsel and I both went down to the (greater Phoenix Area) West Valley today and purchased two new chairs similar to the one shown in the graphic.

We also bought two chair pads that sit on the floor in front of the desks for the chairs to roll around on. We had been using area carpets for this, but the plastic pads seemed to be more durable and easier to clean and maintain.

This minor office upgrade is just the beginning. Damsel and I have decided to redecorate the great room and dining area with all new furnishings. The old tables, table lamps and sofas will be donated to charity (as will be the old office chairs) and replaced with new items in the near future.

30 Oct 2014 by Arizona Home & Garden Retirement

A Personal History

Planner

I attended a time management seminar as a requisite to becoming a senior technical group leader when I worked in the aerospace industry in 1991. The seminar was based on the popular Franklin Planner organizing tools.

For over fifteen years, I faithfully recorded notes, personal and vocational goals in my planner. I retained the records in binders, one for each year I used the system. I was organized, believe me.

As we cleaned out the old stuff from the house in California after completing the sale, I elected to bring my volumes of planner with us to Arizona, so I could review, and dispose of the old notes as appropriate.

There were a lot of important events I recorded. I looked in the initial 1991 volume today and found the page where my first grandchild was born. That was the granddaughter who just recently gave birth to my first great grandson last month.

It will be conflicting to me, but, since we don’t really have a place to store them, I will probably gather them up and have them shredded. Way too much personal and potentially dangerous (i.e. identity theft) information. Nothing too incriminating . . . 😉

07 Oct 2014 by Aerospace California Retirement

Two Games

Two Games

While we often watch two simultaneous sporting events, this is the first weekend of 2014 that we can watch our baseball team and some NFL pre-season games. On the top TV, Mark Trumbo prepares to bat for our favorite Arizona Diamondbacks and on the bottom TV, the Baltimore Ravens are playing the San Francisco Forty-Niners in week one (of four) pre-season scrimmages. Earlier, we were watching NASCAR on one TV and baseball on the other. Click on the image to enlarge.

We don’t just spend our weekends watching sports; we cooked some meaty pork baby back ribs in the crockpot and finished them up on the grill outdoors. They were served with baked beans, Cole slaw and broccoli. Drool alert!

10 Aug 2014 by Food & Dining Retirement Sports

No Fishing From Bridge

No Fishing From Bridge

We went down to the West Valley area today to shop for some things. Shopping in the summertime in the Phoenix Metro area is better in the summer because the stores are not as crowded due to snowbirds gone for the season.

We shopped at Walmart for several sundries not always available in our little town. We also shopped at Lowe’s where Gas Grills were on sale this week. We need a replacement for ours that we junked yesterday.

As we passed the Pedestrian Bridge over the Hassayampa leaving town this morning, I took a picture of the NO FISHING sign. The sign has been there for a long time, dating back to pre-2009 when Highway 60 still used the old bridge. It strikes us funny that such a sign would be on a bridge over an underground river that flows less than one percent of the time during monsoon season. Click on the image to enlarge.

23 Jul 2014 by Arizona Humor Retirement

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