It's Getting Hot and Humid in Early May

Today ended up being a pretty busy day with no time to explore the local area. I had a few things I wanted to get done today and I ended up getting even more accomplished than I had wanted. As the photos of the hounds show, it's getting hot here in the "tropics" of southern Indiana.

When the hounds have their tongues dangling out of their mouths after zero exercise, I know it's starting to get hot. The past few days the hounds have been waking up and wanting to go outside around 6:30am ... that is about an hour earlier than I like but it's still nice with the sun just starting to rise, so I usually end up staying up.

Below I have pictures of the hounds and more pictures of that old steel bridge. Click on the photos for a larger image.

By 7:45am this morning I was pulling the Mini Cooper out into the drive and giving it a good wash, blackened the trim and tires. I didn't hand wash the FJ but the pressure of the water was enough to at least get the dust and dirt off, so I also cleaned that one up but let the wind dry it off. The weather was still cool and it was a nice time to wash the vehicles.

About 10am I realized I may have made a mistake washing those vehicles because the farmer across the highway shows up with two tractors, one towing a disc system and the other towing his planters. I knew that pretty soon the air would be full of dirt from that field as he drove through the field.

What this disc system did was not only break up the ground preparing to plant either corn or soybeans but it filled the air and my world with pure brown thick dust from the ground that was being broken up. Based on the wind I could see we were going to be engulfed with the light brown haze. I also knew then my car that had just been washed was going to end up with a (hopefully) thin and not a thick film of dust or dirt. It ended up not being as bad as I thought it would.

I guess it doesn't matter anyway because rain is in the forecast this weekend, which always seems to happen after I wash a car. That was one reason they were planting today and not his weekend ... the rain.

Between the time of finishing the Mini Cooper, the FJ and the farm work, I ran down to the landscaping establishment nearby and picked out some color for spring and summer. They are not real large but they usually grow fast. Since crimson is my favorite color, that usually is the color I pick for flowers.

With a little help from Winston and Sadie, as they have to smell anything that comes on their property, I was able to get these into the three pots fairly quick, without too much damage. I should have grabbed my camera but didn't, when Winston decided he would eat a mouthful of potting soil, probably to check out the quality. I wasn't amused.

Later in the day when the sun was on the other side of the house (west) the hounds and I went out back (east). While I watered the new lawn, they sat in the grass with their tongues out. It's been one of those days where they want out and as soon as they get out ... they want in ... back and forth. They must know that they "own " me. I retired only to be their doorman.

I asked Heidi to come out and enjoy the great weather but I think her look says it all ... By that look I knew the answer to my request. Not only does she not like temps outside below 55°, she also doesn't like it when the temps outside are higher than 80°. She "has it made" as they say ... duck and sweet potato dog food, sleeps anywhere she pleases inside and never has to go outside unless SHE wants to. She has a pretty nice deal.

Tomorrow will be more than exciting and since I have only two hands, I will not be able to take photos of the "action" that will take place. It's going to be dog bath day and one of the three dogs hates getting a bath and hates getting her toenails cut.  That leaves out Winston and it' isn't Heidi ... of course it has to be the biggest and strongest dog of all ... Sadie.

So the two "pool" loungers will get their dogs baths first ... and then the "mud wrestling" event will start with Sadie afterwards. For those that are wondering ... wouldn't it be easier giving her a bath outside???

The only difference is, outside she can run further away after she breaks free instead of being blocked by the closed bathroom door after she gets away from me and jumps out of the tub.

Cussing will be allowed tomorrow while attempting to bathe the bloodhound. As far as cutting Sadie's toenails, we may have to drive to the vet and let him/her do it. Sadie is big and strong when she is determined she isn't going to do something. It should be fun!!

Speaking again of the back area that I have burned out, tore out roots, vines etc ... I have taken photos of what is growing besides my new grass. It's okay because I am taking the long slow approach to this new "yard" and maybe the "un"professional way of doing this job. I could have borrowed a friends tiller and ground up all the area, planted grass seed and covered it with straw.

Instead I removed as much of the vine roots, small saplings and weeds the best I could then raked the area before planting grass seed, with plans of watering it twice per day.  Being right next to a hay field or any kind of field, the mole traffic is hard to control and they have made their way into the new territory.

With the long slow way, I am willing to let everything grow besides the grass and keep it mowed on a regular basis only a couple of inches high. Eventually the grass will over take the different things pictured with some help of Scott's Weed and Feed later in the fall. That theory has worked before, so we'll see.

Feel free to let me know what you see growing besides the new grass.

I have a few more photos of the bridge I saw yesterday. It still amazes me just how old that steel bridge is. As I walked out to the middle of the bridge I was almost expecting the bridge to squeak or at least make some kind of noise. I guess it was best that I heard nothing as I walked around.

That is all from the "tropics" of southern Indiana.

Photo Fixer

I talked about my Apple Photos issue after the latest Yosemite OS X update yesterday. Then last night I went to the MacRumors forum and read two pages on the exact issues I was having, finding more people were wanting the same thing I was.

There is not a fix for that at this time.

Around 5pm today I checked my computer and had the following article show up on my Feedly account. I am posting this now to get it out to readers that may have not seen it and need some free help in freeing up some iPhone space and can delete photographs in a group instead of one at a time.

Here is the link to the article:  Photo Fixer

That is not an affiliate link, therefore I do not make any money if you click the link or download the free app. I am passing this out as information only for those that need it. This lists a free app that can be downloaded from the Apple App Store.

From just a short few paragraphs I also found what takes place when taking pictures with my iPhone that causes duplicates and what they call "bursts". I take a lot of not all my iPhone photos using the HDR feature which results in duplicate photos.

I guess I should have read more in depth before using the new iPhone last summer ... but as usual I jump in from the start and use the phone like I have with the previous phone ... then learn things as I go or run into trouble.

So the article answers some other questions I had but it still will not do what I want, preventing photos downloaded from my camera to my computer from being automatically uploaded into my iPhone and iPad. I know how to prevent that but it also means I have to manually change settings each time when I download photos from my camera or from my iPhone to the computer.

I had a pretty busy day today and still am not finished. I may post later tonight or early tomorrow.

A Field of Yellow Across the Highway

With temperatures expected to reach in the upper 80's today, I decided whatever the hounds and I needed to do would be done before noon. The past few weeks as I look out my large kitchen window I kept seeing this field of yellow. I knew it wouldn't last long before they were plowed under for soybeans this year. I grabbed my camera and took off across the highway.

Before I get started I wanted to say for all the readers that are Mac users and may still be fighting with the new "Photos" program that Apple has forced on everyone, replacing "iPhotos" I have not found a way to fix some issues we are all having with automatic uploads, etc. I'll talk about that after my story/photos of the bridge.

Down at the end of this path is an old steel bridge somewhere around 70 years old at least. Under that bridge is or use to be a creek that was deep enough where as a young boy, my 86 yr old dad, his brothers and friends would jump off the bridge and spend a hot summer day swimming. You will find that story hard to imagine further into this blog when you see the condition of the bridge, the low water level and the low quality of the water.

I am not sure what kind of flowers these are or if they are just weeds that bloom. Even if I were to spend time to find the names of all of the flowers/plants I see, I would not be able to remember them anyway. I just like taking pictures of them and other blooms I see in the field behind my house. You can see the corn stalks from the harvest last fall.

The field on the right side of the lane across from the field of yellow, owned by the same farmer, has already been fertilized and yesterday they put on some anhydrous ammonia. They are both small fields maintained by small tractors and farm equipment but from what I am told produce some pretty large income per acre.

I am not sure now but a few years ago those large white tanks of anhydrous ammonia were being stolen by the meth dealers throughout southern Indiana. In this area, unemployment is over 8.5%, our county is the 2nd highest county in the state for meth labs. To prevent the theft of those tanks, State Police were having the guard those tanks over night per request of the farmers. In some cases they were parking empty State Police cars next to tanks to prevent theft.

In 1970, the spring of my senior year of high school, I was living in a rural community on the west side of Indianapolis. Large flat fields. I had zero farming experiencing but did have a desire to make some great money.

A friend's dad hired me to drive a huge John Deere tractor day and night, putting on anhydrous ammonia. I knew a lot about sports but very little if anything about the dangers of anhydrous ammonia.

During one of my trips up and down those extremely large fields I noticed the hose connection from the tank to the discs/applicator had come loose and there was a leak spraying out at the connector. As I was trying to press the hoses together to get the connection to lock, due to the pressure, that anhydrous ammonia shot out and hit me in my chest, extremely cold. I told Jack (friend's dad) what had happen but didn't think anything else about it.

A week later, an older farmer had the same thing happen to him only the shot hit him in the face/nose, killing him instantly as the large amount of anhydrous ammonia flowed to his lungs. That ended up being one of many close calls I've had over the years.

I said in my post yesterday that I did not have a water shortage here so I could water my lawn, wash cars anytime I wanted. After seeing the level of this creek today and comparing it to what I remember in June 2008, I may have been incorrect saying that. The last time I came back here to look around the water level was up to the top of the dirt bank.

There was also a large amount of flowing water rushing through a large ditch that runs along the path, coming from the pictured source into the creek. Now you can tell there is only a dribble of water from that source.

If I were to continue walking across the bridge the path would take me to the road that goes to the covered bridge that I blogged about last fall, which is to the left of this bridge a mile or so.

So today was just a short trip across the highway, not really a hike.

Great weather, interesting scenery.

Here is a photo of my house from a different angle. I took this from the path next to the yellow field. Kneeling and taking the photo barely over the tall grass, you cannot tell the house sits on a pretty good size hill.

I ended my exploration today at the local landscaping establishment that sits maybe 300-400' from the house. I have three pots and the potting soil from last year, and plan to plant some new flowers to put in front of the house. I'll get them later today after the place empties out a little.

Just another typical day in retirement where you can do what you want, when you want. I am enjoying the Nikon camera I bought last fall as the temps warm up.


Apple's new Photos program

I am sure for those readers, like myself, that have updated their Yosemite OS on their laptops or iMacs, have found plenty of frustration with the new Photo system. In my case with satellite internet and paying for a fixed number of gigs per month for data, I have to really watch what is taking place while I'm on the computer so I can limit my usage. Currently I pay $87 for 15Gb per month just for my home internet connection. That amount of money isn't much higher than what I was paying in the years prior to last summer with a AT&T land line and then DSL service.

With the new Photos program, by default, I was seeing a huge increase in data usage while downloading photos from my Nikon SDHC card to my computer. That process doesn't take any data because its only going from a card to your hard drive. Still the "data sent" graph was going off the charts. I knew exactly what was taking place because I spoke of it a few days ago.

For example today, after I downloaded 33 photos from my camera to my computer, the Photos Agent 'data sent' used 208 Mb, synchronizing  photos that I don't want on my iPhone or iPad. That is 208/500Mb's that I allow myself per day to meet the 15Gb at the end of the monthly billing period.

Under the new Yosemite update, any photos from your camera downloading into your laptop or desktop in Photos, is also being uploaded into Photo Stream on your iPhones and iPads. Personally I don't want that to happen. I also found out by error yesterday that when I went into Photos on my computer and deleted those photos from Photo Stream thinking they would be deleted from my iPhone and iMac but would stay in the computer's hard drive ... that also deleted the photos out of the master library.

Luckily I could go back to my camera card and reload them into my computer since I do not delete any photos off my SD card after uploading them into the computer. Still once those photos were downloaded from the SD card to the computer, they automatically uploaded again to my iPhone and iMac.

What is the fix to this problem?

I spent a few days reading, looking on my own, trying to figure out how to prevent the automatic upload of photos into my iPhone and iPad, which was also soaking up a lot of my memory on a 16Gb iPhone.

So far, as of today I have not found the solution to stop those automatic uploads. It's too nice outside right now to do any searching, but I'll try to do that tonight after dark and will post any information I find for blog readers looking for the same solution. If you have the answer, let me know in the comments section.

I am still having good luck with my diet changes from last Friday. Two things I have noticed, no heartburn/acid reflux and no urges for the afternoon nap I was becoming addicted to. I do have periods of intense craving for the things I am trying to eliminate. Drinking water during those times, helps.

Toyota - Apple Store & Fishing

The thing about retirement and a brain that can change to unplanned activity within minutes makes a normal Monday interesting. As usual I had no plans for today, I rarely have plans, so that leaves a lot of open space on the calendar to get things done or go places ... or a chance for my brain to lead me down a path of destruction.

Expecting 80° and sunny, I woke up to overcast gray clouds and 70°, that was my first signal that possibly things were not going to go as I thought they would go today. If you remember a few posts ago I posted a picture in the backyard where I had cleared out an area of overgrown brush, small 1" trees, weeds etc. I finally was going to turn this into a part of my yard where I could build a fire pit plus have some nice shade to sit under during the summer.

Well that is going as planned. Like all bags of grass seed that I buy anyway, there always seems to be more in the bag besides just grass seed. I will wait a few more weeks before I take pictures and try to decide what it is ... maybe some readers can help with the identification ... although I do have new grass sprouting up on schedule. I have various attachments I can connect to my hose to water the yard. Unlike the western states I have an abundance of water so watering the yard is permissible if I chose to do so.

That is too easy though and not nearly as much fun you can have with a hose in your hand and watering that area yourself. You can adjust the spray nozzle, you can rotate the water spray anyway you want, flip the water back and forth or up and down but the real reason I like doing that task ... it's relaxing ... plus I have always enjoyed watching the ground crew at a Major League Baseball game water the infield before the game is played.

To me, watering the infield before the game is almost as enjoyable as watching batting practice. In some games I've attended, watering the infield pre-game was better than the game. I know some will accuse me of being 'weird', but I have been accused and called worse. So that is what really has me watering that back area myself instead of using water sprinklers. I not only like doing it, I love watching it.

Before I did the watering this morning, I cut the last of the small trees that were 1"-2" in diameter down to ground level so I can eventually mow that area without tearing up my mower. At times I was on my hands and knees, getting jeans dirty but I was dressed just for that. Those dirty jeans are a factor in this story.

Where and why does that lead into today's post???  Stick with me and you can see how I may have a little ADD but not confirmed ... sure I can be doing yard work but that doesn't stop me from something else if I am distracted.

As Winston, Sadie and I were headed back inside the house, as I walked by the FJ I had a sudden urge to crawl under the FJ to look around. With those dirty jeans I was already dressed for crawling under my FJ to take a look around for any skid plate damage, any kind of leaks, plus I also wanted to locate the oil drain plug because lately I had been thinking about changing my oil. See where this is going???  LOL

When i realized that I had to remove two skid plates to get to the oil drain plug ... I wasn't in the mood for that today. I've done it in the past but not today. Maybe it was the overcast clouds instead of sun, who knows but all I knew, I would not be the person changing the oil today.

Since I had nothing else planned or at least I had not made it back to my iPhone to see what was next on my 'to do' list, I called the local Toyota dealer 25 miles away and they said oil changes were first come first serve. Nothing was happening in that line and if I could make it over within the hour they should be able to get me in and out fairly quickly. That sounded good to me. A quick shower and change of cloths had me on the road within minutes.

Off I went, stayed at 60mph, made it through some light traffic in town and was at the Toyota Dealership within 45 minutes. I pull the FJ into the garage as the sign said, stopped next to the service desk and I saw a garage that was about 1/3 filled with Toyotas on lifts being worked on. It looked like plenty of space for them to take my FJ and finish the job in under 30 minutes. I mean the FJ was already inside and they were stepping into my vehicle .. what could go wrong?

Not so fast, nothing ever goes that smooth with me and vehicles. Instead of giving them the FJ and sitting in the waiting room for 30 minutes, the lady said it would be 2 hours before I got my FJ back .. but but but ... that's not what he said on the phone ?? I called before I left. If I had heard the two hour window on the phone at home, I wouldn't have gone because patience is not my strong point .. plus I can change the oil in less than two hours myself.

Here I am in a two hour window twenty-five miles away from where I had thought I'd spend most of my day today .. at home or taking another local expedition to blog about and take pictures. I bit the bullet or my tongue, gave them the FJ, nodded at their two hour estimate and hopped into their shuttle van for a trip to the local shopping mall.

An hour plus ago I was on my hands and knees in dirt, sawing small trees to ground level and now I am headed to the mall ... just like that ... totally unplanned and unexpected.

I knew that a trip to the mall with the large 'food court' would probably be a true test for day 4 of my diet ... it was and I was surprised I passed. It was something else though that caught my eye in the mall that I had not seen before, it was something that makes one forget about food, tv, mall walking, or anything else ... a new Apple Store. It had opened just last Friday. I could hear it calling me ......

See how my mind works at times? Totally unfocused equals totally dangerous. From dirt to new Apple computers within 1-1/2 hours.

I hated the thought of going inside the store to even look. My iMac is great and has treated me well for almost 5 years ... except that time I activated File Vault. I posted about that disaster last fall under the 'Geek Squad', read if you are seeking some humor today.

Anyway I had to look, I had to feel and test out the new MacBook they just released. Of course they had that displayed right up front as  you stepped inside. In gold, extremely thin, great picture on the monitor ... it was just like the pictures Apple has been sending me lately in email.

I also wanted to look at a MacAir with the retina display to see if the 13" monitor is manageable after living on my 27" monitor at home. I need more than a 16Gb iPad Mini to upload photos from my camera when I travel. Plus I am finding out I do more than just internet and mail, so a laptop computer is probably the better choice.

Needless to say, I survived both of those machines without opening my billfold.

Then ... as I was walking past the iMac's to look at cases for my iPad Mini ... there it was ... the 27" iMac 5G with the retina display. woah woah woah .... what a clear precise picture displayed on that 27" retina monitor. It made me stop to look. No ... I am NOT in the market for a new iMac but this one is simply amazing in person, so I had to, I had no choice ... afterall I heard the store calling my name as I walked down the mall corridor.

With the retina display on one side of me and the regular 27" monitor on my other side it was very easy to compare the same photos, to see if my old naked eyes could tell the difference. They could and they could very easy ... I didn't even have to squint to see if there was a difference ... I could see the differences standing a foot away. I had a feeling I was slipping off the cliff on this one ... I confirmed by feeling for my billfold and it was still there, so I had the ability to close the sale.

Remember when I said I hated the thought of walking inside the store?

Well I can feel my brain cells scrambling, heavy electrical activity going on between my ears ... I hate when that happens.

After giving that iMac a strenuous personal test, I loved it ... but I walked away a few steps ... then turned back around. The sales agent seriously thought by the look on his face that he had NABBED ME ... it wasn't the MacAir or the new MacBook this customer wanted ... I had sold the iMac to myself. He could feel the 'tug of the line' I'm sure ... but like some fishing stories I've heard ... this fish gets away.

I told him I had some thinking to do, and headed to the door ... billfold still in my jeans back pocket.

I had survived the new Apple Store !!!!

The driver of the Toyota Shuttle van was also retired and after I told him I had made it through my first year of retirement unscathed, he asked me what I did ... I replied "not a damn thing and I love it" .. no schedules, no priorities, no business trips, no boring powerpoint meetings ... it's great.

Then he asked if I fished. When I heard that question all I could think about was the picture of that bobber I took yesterday that was hanging in a tree about 10' off the ground. It's also the picture at the start of this blog post. In fact there were two bobbers hanging from two different spots on that same location on the bank of the lake. I wondered if it was the same fisherman that put them there.

When I saw those bobbers in the tree yesterday I mumbled to myself out loud ... "that's why I don't fish".  lol

The very few times I have been taken fishing by relatives or friends, less than 5 times in my life ... i've never caught anything ... not even a nibble. Someway my fishing line always got tangled, at times I've had those same red and white bobbers do weird things behind me as I rare back in my baseball pitching form to cast the line out into the water. Although they were probably worth taking a video or at least a picture to laugh about ... luckily phones with cameras or even small cameras were not available way back when.

So ... fishing has never sent excitement to my brainwaves like that 27" iMac w/retina did today.

Lake Greenwood

The weather in "the tropics" has been great lately. Today it was sunny, 80° with only 55% humidity. I decided I'd take a drive, get away from the house and do some local exploring with photographs included. The hounds had been fed around 1:15pm by popular demand, with Sadie jumping and doing 360's while Heidi barked and howled. Winston? He sat by his food bowl wagging his tail.

The plan was to take all three hounds with me. I've decided the more they ride and get in and out of the FJ, the faster they will learn the process so we can travel. By the time I had finished some things from this morning, they had gone outside for their after meal cruise and by the time I was ready to leave all three hounds were in a deep sleep, with Sadie snoring.

Why wake them, I decided to make this trip solo.  By the time I was at the bottom of the 80' driveway I had already changed my mind on which direction I was heading. I chose to turn due south instead of north. A few miles down the road is a large man made lake, a few tent camping spots, an RV park with full hook-ups and a small marina. Luckily the place was practically vacant, with only a couple of trucks parked with empty boat trailers. The place does not open until next Saturday the 9th of May.

It was a perfect afternoon to say the least.

Since all the facilities do not open until next Saturday, I had the whole place to my self. This marina is located about 1/3 from the eastern border of the lake. Water skiing is allowed but only miles away in the last 1/3 of the lake on the western side. Otherwise all the water you see is for sailing, fishing, canoes, kayaks and boating.

The small dock area on the left side will be filled with boats renting those spaces by the end of May. Currently they have about 4-5 pontoon boats on the water behind the shelter that are available to rent starting next weekend. By that time they will also have kayaks and canoes that can be rented.

Would have been a great day for sailing

Rentals

Am I reading the side of that boat right ... "Party Barge" ???  I better pass on the chance to rent that one ... LOL

Spaces will be filled by May 30

Across the dock area is the tent camping area. I didn't see more than 8-10 camping spots along this road. Almost all of the camping spots had a view of the lake. The grass for each spot wasn't mowed but probably will be this week before they open on Saturday. It was strange with only 6 days from opening and all the fire pits needed to be cleaned out.

I spent most of my afternoon with this view, sitting in the sun daydreaming, listening to the many birds around, the light breeze and at times water that was washing onshore after a boat passed. Without anyone around I could imagine the hounds sitting in the grass nearby unleashed. With people there the hounds would have to be leashed because they would want to visit everyone that was camping and would try to move from site to site ... they love people.

Sadie's best friend

It would be a challenge with Sadie because of the amount of squirrels, rabbits and birds that were around. The basset hounds I am not really concerned about. They would be more interested in meeting anyone that was walking by but not really into chasing other animals that may be in their area.

With miles of a narrow two lane road, around curves and up and over small steep hills, I have a hard time seeing how a 40' Class A can get around. Even the entry/exit into the small RV park was only one lane and very steep. The RV park was not one of the best I've seen on other blogs but it did have full hook-ups, a few washers and dryers, a shelter for pot-luck dinners and a small view of the lake. As you can see the park was all gravel .. grass was nowhere to be seen.

A total of 40 spots were jammed into this area. It looked cramped with only a few early campers. Some of the trailers looked as if they had been stored their for the winter, although when I talked to them last year, they didn't have any kind of storage available for trailers or Class C's nor Class A's.

A view from a tent camping spot

The lake and the camping area are a few miles from a very small grocery store but is surrounded by 100 square miles of some of the nicest land in southern Indiana. It has a feel of being off the grid.

One note on my diet ... I'm making some changes and in the very short time since I started last Friday, I have not had any indigestion nor bouts of acid reflux. Today is my third full day of making the changes and a few times I have had short periods of withdrawals. It's hard at times to get past those cravings, luckily the stuff I crave during that time is not located in my house.

As a test I am eliminating all grains, as far as fruit I am only eating melons and berries, and only a handful of almonds per day. Instead of oatmeal (caused indigestion) for breakfast I have added bacon and eggs. Instead of eating unlimited amounts of fruit and all kinds of fruit, I have changed that to only berries, melons and pears ... nothing else and a limited quantity those. No orange juice and no cranberry juice as they both caused heartburn.

Lunch is a lot of salad and sandwiches have been eliminated. Cheese will be decreased to a couple of slices per week ... NO ice cream (that's a killer).

I am also eliminating - fast food joints, cookies, candy, and soda. The only thing I am drinking is coffee, tea or water. If it is boxed, canned or packaged I will not buy it.

I know it's very very early in this experiment, only 3 days, but so far zero heartburn and acid reflux anytime. I spent a lot of time reading about different diets and have decided to modify from some of the information I've read. My goal is for the month of May. That length of time should get me on my way to a different way of eating.

Well it was great sitting out by the lake today. I'm going to make more local trips when the weather is good and blog about what I see in hopes of blogging a little more plus taking a lot more photos.

All three hounds are sitting looking at me as I type ... this time of day it only means one thing ... it's time for the daily hound walk.

Another Great Day of Retirement

I've been sitting here today waiting for the grass to dry so I can mow the lawn later this afternoon. It's tall as usual this time of year and with the light rain early this morning it's not dry yet. It just proves that when you are retired things do not matter. If something is not done one day it can be done the next or another day.

A lot has happened this past year, nothing major, no problems but just the way my life has adjusted to my first year of retirement.

I had no doubts I would NOT miss work and I haven't. If I wasn't traveling, I am doing what I pictured I would be doing if I decided to stay around the house and the local area.

All the plans for traveling and the reasons for delaying them have been discussed in past posts.

My daily activity is not much different than what I have done for years while working. The only difference is, what I spend all day, every day doing now I use to do during weekends and when I had time off from my job. It seems like a lot of my time I do nothing and that's fine with me. It just doesn't matter to me, nothing is scheduled nor prioritized. Sure there are things I want to get done around the house, some things I need to get done before going anywhere ... and they are getting done, just at a slow pace.

I use to be a workaholic, rarely took vacations, worked on days off and at home. Still deep inside I knew I could and would adapt to be someone would slow their pace down to almost nothing. There are days I follow the same schedule as my hounds do ... eat a little, sleep a lot.

Through the help of my Excel spreadsheets I've always kept that track my monthly spending and a book I read a few years ago called You Don't Need a Million Dollars to Retire, I have been able to adjust my lifestyle this past year and my spending from the days of working a stressed out job to daily routine of relaxation and leisure.

Sure, there is always unexpected expenses and there always will be. Mine have been small amounts  compared to others. They were no more than the cost of vet treatment for Heidi's skin rash/allergies. It seems like a lot of money but is nothing compared to medical bills, car/rv repairs or house repairs that other people are going through. I'm thankful for that and know that I am fortunate my life is what it is.

I have gone past my 1 year anniversary for retiring. I stopped working last year on April 11 and then it was official a couple of weeks later after my company processed what was needed for my departure.

At the time of the exit interview I had just bought a 2006 Chevy 2500HD 4x4, with plans of purchasing a larger trailer and was deciding on a trailer around 19'-21'. It was a great pickup truck, short bed, crew cab, plenty of room for me and hounds and enough power to tow about anything I wanted.

At times it felt like it was too big for me and when thinking of adding another 20' feet behind it ... I had doubts that was what I really wanted to do.

Within 4 weeks after buying that truck I saw a Toyota FJ Cruiser for sale that had low miles, one owner that had it serviced on a regular basis at the Toyota dealership. Of course that would put me back into the range of small fiberglass trailers 16' and/or the converted cargo trailer option. It was a costly move but one I'm glad I made.

Still that smaller vehicle was going to put me further off the grid to camp and a vehicle that would get me further off-road when exploring the local area.

It must have been the right rig to buy because for the first time in almost 15 years, I have not had the urge to look at other vehicles online, buy, sell or trade it. I've been happy with the two vehicles I have and that says something after the amount of cars and trucks I have bought, sold over the past 15 years. The only thing I have noticed though since retirement, I rarely drive anywhere. When I reported my annual mileage for my car insurance, which decreased my premiums, I thought they might have a really hard time believing the mileage I was telling them.

Luckily with my addiction to spreadsheets, I already had a spreadsheet made, where I take the odometer reading the first day of each month, recording the monthly mileage of each vehicle. I know those miles will increase later but since last June, it is consistent and extremely low.

So if you have read this far, you must be asking yourself where is this leading to ... what is so "great" about today? Nothing really, except I am not in the long line of traffic every afternoon that passes in front of my house, of those that work where I use to work. That is the "great" thing about today and every day ... a job is not soaking up my time and after a year plus two weeks, I am still able to do what I want when I want. To me, that's a fantastic thing to have.

I have not missed spending money on a whim. I do miss the dollar amount of those checks I use to get electronically deposited in my account every two weeks, but I really like the trade off of dollars for time. Time seems to be much more valuable and is much more enjoyable.

For those readers that may be on the fence, trying to decide how much longer to work, it's doable to retire and live on less money than you planned on having. It's doable if you have as many things as possible paid off. It's also doable if you have a few monthly expenditures and can control your spending.

Enough about wasting days away retired.

As you can see from the photos, Heidi has decided to come out of her hibernation and enjoy the good weather outside. From day one when I picked her up 4 hours away at the Basset Hound Rescue in 2010, she has always been a true homebody and will spend the majority of her time inside the house, no matter how nice it is outside. Plus she loves to sleep more than any other hound I have had since 1987.

The other two, Winston and Sadie love being outside. Winston will sleep in the sun unleashed, while Sadie will roam the field in back connected to a rope to prevent her from taking off chasing deer, rabbits, squirrels, birds or butterflies. She will sniff every inch of that hay field. The length of the rope is long enough where she can reach the back of the field near the woods.

One thing I have noticed. When I am sitting outside enjoying the day, the sun, sometimes the cool breeze and they have all those acres of open field to move around in ... they either sit or lay in the grass within 6' of where I am sitting. If I move my seat, they follow me and stay within 6' of me. They don't get too far away from me if I am sitting outside.

That makes me think they would all do well at a campsite boondocking. I have made each of them a 20' lead that can be connected to my FJ bumper, to a stake or a cable run when traveling. They have also passed the nighttime test sleeping with the windows open and a lot of animal noises nearby, such as dogs barking, or coyotes howling. Things that wake me up do not wake them up. That's another good sign for their future in traveling.

I think right now it's down to a couple of things for use to get sorted out ... the process of all three of them wanting to get out of the FJ at the same time when the door opens in back. Then the process of me controlling three 6' dog leashes with two hands and keeping them from wrapping them around my legs like on the trip in September 2013.

Sadie has no issues jumping in and out of the back of the FJ like she did with the H3 Hummer I had on the September 2013 trip. She has even jumped into the FJ that was full of groceries when I have opened the door after returning home from the store. She never did that when I had the Hummer. The two bassets have to be lifted in and out of course due to their short legs. They would jump out but that isn't good for Winston's bad back and both basset's knees. I have a ramp picked out to buy for them to use. It's retractable and can be easily stored.

So once again it's that time of  year where the travel 'bug' is with me. Some things with the hounds have been figured out and tested with positive results. I know the two kinds of weather I don't care for but put up with are "hot and humid" and "freezing cold" ... those are looking like travel times.

We will see.