Sorry, dear reader, Monday was boring. I was feeling better, but there is so much to do before I leave for the holiday. I started on much of that on Monday.
I rose around 8 after some disturbed sleep. I kept waking up all night. Still, Monday is not a busy day, much like Saturday without cartoons when I was young. Coffee was waiting for me.
I spent the morning assembling my memories into a narrative describing my experience on Sunday. These blogs are about my voyage through life and how I experience that trip. I am careful to tell only my story and may leave some things out — I try to be a good storyteller and cover what makes the story important.
I remember, and often have to remind myself, that I do not have control of the voyage, that it is how I react and what I do that I can control. The events are not mine to change or make. Cancer, death of a loved one, brain tumors, loss of a vehicle to ridiculous bad engineering, and the usual daily grind of living in 2025 in the USA are not mine to control, but to experience.
I watch my unrealized losses reverse in a few days. The churn on Wall Street reminds me of the start of the Internet. It is hard to understand. I called Sam at US Bank Wealth Management, and we talked. I said I had decided not to withdraw anything this December from my IRA, but instead ‘let h’r ride.’ I see some losses in mid-cap funds (likely the churn impact). I believe the mix is conservative, as Sam told me (15% cash), and will likely gain over the months. It is essential to not look at my balances every day (but I do anyway).
A tiny hummingbird zipped here and there on the dry moments and seemed to find lunch in my roses and various pine trees. I try to avoid using poisons on my plants, as I don’t need perfect roses to enjoy them, and so many animals and bugs enjoy the bushes (some of the bugs are most unwelcome).
I wrote and finally published my story, the next blog, and found that I had two new readers (welcome!) from WordPress. I sliced cold steak for a late breakfast and early lunch while I finished up. I went through all the bills, the mail came in (and some emails), and I paid all the outstanding medical bills now, so they count towards 2025. I believe, and that is what CPAs are for, that my employer-paid, cash-insured payments, not before taxes, count towards my health care total for tax purposes. I believe I can itemize this year and get pay nothing to the state and Federal. Which is quite a change from last year!
Aside: I could have withdrawn more money from my IRA to cause more tax events to consume all my write-offs. But I prefer that US Bank Wealth Management keep the before-tax cash invested. I will miss out on some of the tax benefits, but I think staying invested is better.
I did some light housework, getting the laundry going on Monday, stripping the bed, and then found I was shaky, like I needed more food, and decided, though it was late, to try Happy Panda. In the mail, I finally received my new solo board game, Plague of Dracula. I brought it to read the rules during lunch.
The food was nothing to remember; the Orange Chicken tasted plain to me, but I know that my tastes are not good, and so I would not recommend listening to me. I did read the rules, and the staff remembered me. I try to get there once a week for lunch. I have many happy work lunches there with Michelle S and Michael G, and I still get a warm feeling, even alone, when I eat there. I will be back.
I returned home, and never made dinner, and swept and mopped, and watched more of the Halo episodes. The show is getting better. I finished up Monday’s laundry on Monday (instead of Wednesday or worse): Towel, clothing, and bedding. Bathroom floors got swept and mopped. More rules of Plague of Dracula were read (and some confusion as I began to get the structure).
I baked Babka too (from King Arthur Flour). I used the bread machine to mix and rise the dough. I then rolled it out, ‘chocolated’ it, braided it, and put it in a pan to rise. I used a larger loaf pan and thought the rise was slow. The pan was too tall. Finally, I baked it and tried a slice. Good!
And soon I was nodding off while reading the rules (reading about vampire attacks is not a time to nod off!). I turned off the light and was happy to sleep without any impacts, that I remember, from reading about vampires. I do remember a flash of a dream or two about traveling with friends in my dream world, and Amsterdam might have been in one of them. It was easy travel in this dream.
And that was my not-that-interesting Monday. Thanks for reading.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 