It is Thursday and that means it is a Lake James and/or hiking day for me as you know ... Summer or Winter. This Free Member site is posted every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday ... but not on Thursdays. (However, the paid sites are posted every day before the market opens ... including Thursdays.)
Below are snapshots of our most recent Lake, Mountain, and trip photos ... hope you enjoy them.
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May 10th. 2012 ... With all that is going on, we have not been working out our 3 to 5 times per week. Which brings me to recent research just coming out ... here is what it said: If you walk for 30 minutes a day (at least 4 to 5 times per week), then your life span could increase 20%. If you push it to 90 minutes a day, the life span increase only goes up to 24%, so 30 minutes is an optimal amount of time. This amount of walking also has the benefits of a decrease in the probability of having a heart attack and/or not getting diabetes. Obviously, the faster the walking the better, and getting into an actual sweat is beneficial.
May 3rd. 2012 ... The countdown is on for "Cindy's farm". We are now going through the appraisal and inspection stage. Below is a photo of the old farm house, built in 1941.
April 26th, 2012 ... Busy, busy, busy ... that is what it has seemed like. Life changes and Cindy would like to live on a farm now, so the old house is being sold, and we bought a ... small farm? Yes, 17 acres of pasture and woods. Pictures are below of the old house and then the farm.
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April 12th, 2012 ... Another growing season coming ...
Cindy planted her garden last week, and of course the temperature fell to 27 degrees last night. She anticipated a late frost, so she planted the right things accordingly. Experience is a good thing!
March 29, 2012 ... We got back from Moab and Denver Tuesday night. It was a terrific trip seeing our new grandchild for the first time, and seeing the Arches National Park for the first time as well. Below are three of my favorite pictures from the trip ... The third one is a very interesting petroglyph in Moab Utah that goes back a few thousand years.
Have a great day, and we will see you on Friday.
March 14, 2012 ... Yesterday's hike was a four mile hike in the Arches National Park. I took about 200 pictures as there was so many incredible photo possibilities like the three below. Next, we will board the California Zephyr train for a ride through the Rocky Mountains to Denver to see our new grandson.
March 14, 2012 ... Did you know ... that before pink slime beef was treated with ammonia and used for humans, it was used as dog food? But, it is okay because the USDA decided it is perfectly safe and healthy to give it to our children for school lunches. McDonald's won't use it anymore for their hamburgers, hmm ... but the schools still do??? What's up with that?
Talking about schools ... 7 million pounds of "Lean Beef Trimmings" (pink slime beef) are used for school lunch programs.
How much money do they save? How about 3 cents per pound or $210,000 per year. That comes out to a savings of $4,200 per state and a whopping big savings of about 27.4 cents per student. And for this, they are giving our grandchildren what used to be dog food? Have we lost our minds as a nation?
March 1, 2012 ... Well, we finally booked a trip out to Colorado and Utah to see two of the kids. We will take the California Zephyr from Denver to near Moab which should be a lot of photo taking fun.
February 23rd, 2012 ... I guess things could change this year. We want to be in a position to travel out West to see the grand children more often ... so we are thinking of ending our love affair with Lake James and selling everything there ... even the pontoon boat. At the same time, working out 5 to 6 days a week puts us in good condition for hiking the local mountains a whole lot more. Doing something that keeps us physically fit while being outdoors is right up our ally.
February 9th, 2012 ... Today, we drive off with our youngest son so he can catch a plane. He's not just catching a plane, he's moving to Utah and with the event ... we will become "empty nesters". How did that happen so fast? Add to that ... we are now grandparents with another one on the way that is due any day now. In spite of it all, we think young, act young, and are physically young. How so? We belong to a fitness center and try to do aerobics with a workout 5 to 6 days a week. We hike, go to the lake, and stay active. It is part of our secret to feeling good, being sharp, and maintaining high levels of energy.
February 2nd, 2012 ... Daffodils are starting to bloom, and this has been a Spring like Winter. At the same time, people in Poland are freezing with 30 below temperatures. It is hard to believe that we will get a normal Summer with things this much out of kilter. We would love to start our garden now, but who would dare do so this early?
January 12th, 2012 ... Cindy suggested that I share other kinds of research with you ... research that I have done for the family. One that comes to mind is a warning to anyone who pays for prescriptions at a pharmacy. Here is the deal ... a month ago, I asked our pharmacy how much each of our prescriptions would cost if I did not have any insurance. One particular item was quoted at $10.75. So I recently refilled it and the co-pay was $10 even. Gosh, I thought ... something must be terribly wrong here ... if I paid $10 then that meant the insurance company was only paying $0.75. In that case, I would be getting very little benefit from the insurance.
Could this be true? I asked the pharmacist and he said that insurance companies win at the game by simply moving a prescription to a higher "tier level" where the prescription is not covered or is only covered by a small amount.
Here is what this means to you or any relative who is on medicare and paying for Part D coverage through a supplemental insurance provider: It means the person could be paying $30 to $50+ more per month for the insurance than they actually can get out of it.
What to do: Get the out of pocket costs of each prescription that would have to be paid if there was no insurance. Then, compare that to what the insurance company would charge you per month for policy coverage. One person I know came up with a $10 to $12 per month cost projection if he had to pay for the prescriptions himself ... while the insurance company was charging him $60 per month for Part D coverage. Bottom line, he could save about $50 per month without the insurance. The only caveat is if he got ended up with some dreaded disease during the year, then he could end up paying a lot for some expensive prescription. So, the question is: Would it be worth it to him to pay the extra $600 per year "just in case" he got very sick and needed some very expensive prescription or not?
January 5th, 2012 ... It's January and some of you have been busy making up New Years resolutions. So, this is probably "as good a time as any" to bring this up. It is about one of the most un-liked words in the American vocabulary.
What is it? Exercise ... not just exercise but what is REQUIRED for your body to stop that steady trending into an older body. I made this recommendation before and I am going to make it again. Go out and spend the $5 to $10 for "Younger Next Year". For now ... you don't have to do any more exercise than pick up the book and read it. After reading it, if you decide against an exercise program, you will at least have made a conscious and informed decision while realizing what the consequences will be over the longer term for not exercising. I like the book, I'm on my third read, and I have it in hardcover as well as on my Kindle Fire.
December 22, 2011 ... Time for a little humor today. This was sent to me by a friend ...
December 15, 2011 ... She's got the magic touch. I'm talking about Cindy and her Winter Garden. Take a look at this brussels sprout plant picture I just took ... fresh, organic, and doing well in December. Actually, the kale and collards are still hanging in and providing fresh greens on the table as well. It is not like we haven't had cold weather, as we have seen many nights get down to 25 to 28 degrees.
December 8, 2011 ... Making life easier ... Today, I wanted to share something with you. Even if I travel at StockTiming.com, I need constant daily access to the internet, a computer, and access to our servers in Texas and New York. The solution has fortunately been quite easy. First, we have a Verizon USB760 Wireless card as seen on the left below. Second, I use a CradlePoint wireless router with it. With the two, I can access the internet anywhere and anytime while traveling with my laptop. Continued below ...
The next thing I will share with you is a recent purchase I made. I don't normally purchase things that could be called a convenience item or a toy. However, with the Kindle Fire, I made an exception. Here's why: It allows me to connect to the internet anytime and anywhere with the above USB760 and router. It allows me to get rid of some of the clutter coming from magazines and newsletters which I can now read online with the Kindle Fire. And it also allows me to purchase, and then read any book at anytime on this device ... the end of trying to crowd one more book into a workspace or bookcase with no room left. (Besides, Cindy hates the look of clutter.)
It just makes life a little bit easier. The cost of manufacturing the Kindle Fire is about $201.79 and you can buy one for only $199. If Amazon did not make it a loss leader, it would cost about $300. It is considered a tablet, and is easy to use. What more can I say? I love it, I find it convenient, and its quality is exceptional. I really wouldn't blame you if you wanted one for Christmas!
December 1, 2011 ... Just went through our pictures to Denver again when we visited our son Carson. And ... I found a picture of Cindy staying young as she always does.
October 27th, 2011 ... The line was about an hour long and you would never guess what these people were waiting for. On Saturday, we had a brief stop in Shelby (North Carolina) where they were having their annual "Livermush Festival". Andrew Zimmern (from the Travel Channel) was there and on his quest to find his next "unusual food" item. I don't think he liked it, as he said little about it, and couldn't even spell it like one of the locals.
October 20th, 2011 ... We had a terrific hike last week to the top of Shortoff Mountain. Unfortunately, I had to take this picture of Cindy on my cell phone ... not very good resolution, but still a wonderful view.
By the way, our trip to see number 2 son and expectant Mom was terrific and a lot of fun. We even had a chance to drive up into the mountains where we took these pictures ...
October 6th, 2011 ... We are off to Colorado today to visit our second oldest son ... and guess what? Soon, we will be Grandparents for the second time. Our Congratulations to Carson and Kristen!
September 22nd, 2011 ... We visited my grandson in San Francisco last week, and here we are at his 1st. Birthday.
A trip to San Francisco would not be complete unless we visited the Muir Forest of giant redwoods. A breathtaking walk that could bring anyone back to reality.
The Palace of Fine Arts was also spectacular to see. We like to walk, so overall, we walked about 15 miles during the five days we were there. Walking is a great way to see San Francisco!
August 17th, 2011 FYI ... This has been a different year for us. The youngest moved back in, I finally became a Grandfather, and Cindy's gardening has been hugely successful this year. I guess it has meant that we have seen a little less Lake time this Summer. A month ago, I posted a picture of Cindy's 9 foot, 2 inch tomato plant (see below). Now we are starting to pick the tomatoes as seen in these photos, and they are exceptionally large and delicious. My favorite summertime lunch? ... a tomato sandwich of course.
