Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Weekend Activities

A Humorous Quilt At the Craft Fair

In a rare departure from our tendency to remain home during winter weekends, we broke with that and went to the Town Library and Civic Center to attend two functions happening simultaneously. It was a very nice spring-like day, so we opted to venture out among ’em.

In the town auditorium, there was a showing of quilts from a local quilting society where there were hundreds of beautiful items on display. All of them looked that they had a lot of labor hours going into them, some taking the quilter years to complete. Damsel took the photo upper left of me being amused at a quilt commemorating the “Christmas Story” with Ralphie and the Leg Lamp.

The other activity was a craft fair presented by “Friends of the Wickenburg Library.” It was the usual display of art, jewelry, woodwork, soap, pottery and you name it. The displays were on the grounds of the library and it seemed to be well attended, now that the town population is over 20K with our winter visitors here for the beautiful weather.

While we were out, we decided to stop at the supermarket in that part of town and pick up a couple of sale items and some things we missed from shopping on Thursday. We noted that shopping on the weekends seemed to be a competition in that the parking lot and aisles were crowded. We resolved to avoid weekend shopping in the future during the winter season.

27 Jan 2018 by Arizona Culture

2017 Tax Return (Almost) Complete

irs_logo.pngWe have received all but one tax form from our various sources of income. The last of the 1099’s to arrive (as usual) was the one from the Social Security Administration, the SSA 1099. We had an additional set of 1099 forms this year due to our pension administrators decision to switch financial providers during 2017. Not a big deal, but two additional income sources to input into the tax program.

The last form (1099 B) which we have not yet received deals with investment income; we had a negative capital gain in 2017 when we sold mutual funds to acquire the new RV. I completed the inputs for this event into the tax program, but there are a couple of items I still do not have to finish up the input for the investments section. For that reason, I won’t be able to file the return until about the middle of February. The numbers won’t change, but the missing information is required by the IRS.

I mentioned on the other blog that we would be getting a refund this year. The final calculation shows that to be true. Damn, I hate lending the .gov interest-free money, especially given the amount of the over-payment in 2017. Given the new tax deal from Trump and the GOP, I will have to make some wild guesses as to how much “tuning up” our withholding needs. I am especially anxious to file the returns so we can get our money back ASAP.

25 Jan 2018 by Money and Business Retirement

Checking off the Chores

check.pngWe use a calendar application on the home computer to remind us of things we need to do. Even in retirement, there are a myriad of chores (as many retirees already know) that present themselves to be accomplished on a routine basis. The application also reminds us of birthdays, appointments, holidays and anything deemed necessary as a one-time or recurring event.

Wednesdays are filled with things to do:

  • Look at the grocery ads
  • Do the weekend food planning
  • Start and run the engines in the RV and in Damsel’s Convertible

And today, being the fourth Wednesday of the month:

  • Record the SSA deposit in the banking application
  • Pay off the Credit Card

There was an additional chore to do today; fill the RV with diesel (it has been on half tank since our return from the fall excursion). Our grocery chain has a “GAS REWARDS” program where we can get up to a dollar discount per gallon up to 25gal. It so happened that we had enough rewards for fifty gallons of fuel, so I drove the RV to the station that accepts the rewards here in town and pumped in 44 gallons of diesel at a dollar off the advertised price. Paying $1.999/gal is a whole lot better than the last time we fueled up in rip-off Kalifornistan at the $3.559/gal price tag over there.

24 Jan 2018 by Arizona Retirement Wanderlust

An Upside-Down Rainbow

Rainbow Arc

When putting the BBQ grill away in the garage late this afternoon, we noticed a couple of Sun Dogs on either side of the sun. But, when looking almost straight up, we saw the rainbow which is not actually a rainbow at all but a Circumzenithal Arc. I went back into the house and got my camera to photograph the unusual phenomenon. I stood in the shadow of the big saguaro out front to get the photo above.

The weather was very spring-like today with high thin clouds, a light breeze and a high temperature of 72 degrees. No wonder that the snowbirds are here in force. We also currently have rodeo events which brings out lots of participants and observers.

14 Jan 2018 by Arizona Astronomy Photography

Cactus Planting Day

Peruvian Apple CactusAfter our usual Monday morning activities were complete, Damsel and I decided it was time to put some of the potted cacti sitting in the side courtyard into the ground. We should have done this a long time ago, since a couple of the cacti had started sending roots into the courtyard ground through the drain holes in the bottom of their pots.

Today’s weather was Arizona perfect for these outdoor chores. It was mostly overcast with the temperature in the high sixties, nearly perfect conditions for digging a hole.

The first cactus to go into the ground is pictured on the right. The label on the pot said it was a “cereus peruvianus montrose,” or, as I learned from the internet, a Montrose Peruvian Apple Cactus. This cactus has been doing well in the courtyard in its pot and has given us numerous flowers typical of night-blooming cereus.

In addition to the cereus, we had three one-gallon pots, each containing a golden barrel cactus. These three were added in the rock slope in front and to the side of the house where we already had planted five other golden barrels a while back.

There are three or four more potted cacti in the courtyard which we didn’t get to today. But, now that the weather is going to be like this or cooler for a while, we will try and get to the others in the weeks ahead. Of course, we probably won’t stop there as the landscaping is an on-going endeavor that we may never finish.

08 Jan 2018 by Arizona Home & Garden Retirement

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year form us to you.

Luke 2:11-14 King James Version (KJV)

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Amen!

25 Dec 2017 by Holidays Religion

SpaceX Satellite Launch

SpaceX Satellite Launch

As Damsel and I were relaxing last evening, we were startled by a knocking at the back porch. It was the UPS delivery guy with a package we ordered from Amazon. But the package drop-off wasn’t the end of it. The driver said “Come out here and look at this!”

We walked down the driveway looking west and we pretty much saw the image depicted above, although we’re in a darker location than the Phoenix area where the photo was taken.

The phenomenon was attributed to a SpaceX Iridium Satellite launch:

At 5:30 pm on Dec. 22nd, SpaceX launched a 2-stage rocket from Vandenburg Air Force Base near the California coast.

The rocket launched 10 communications satellites to low-Earth orbit, adding to the growing Iridium NEXT constellation. This is the fourth such mission that SpaceX has flown for Iridium. Moreover, the rocket used for this mission had been used before. The Falcon 9 previously flew in June for the second Iridium mission.

It was quite spectacular as we watched the rocket move across the sky with its trail of gas lit up by sunlight high in the atmosphere. We’re glad that the UPS guy alerted us to this unusual event.

23 Dec 2017 by Aerospace Rocket Science

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