Looking through some old papers of my parents, I found out that the house I grew up in was built in the 1930s.

When our family moved into the house, there were only 6 houses in the neighborhood. By the time I was in the sixth grade there were houses everywhere.

According to city census records, by that time there were over 2,000 people living in my 'hood.

One of the houses was a block over from my house. It was originally a hotel and by the time I started first grade it was an apartment building.

Later it was owned by a single family who ran a little candy store out of the garage that was on street level below the house.

Sometimes you find some really interesting things if you're willing to dig a bit.

~

I really, really, REALLY thought I'd already contributed something here today.

Senior moment, maybe?

;(

Temperature is 34 degrees, but wind chill makes it feel like 9.

When I go for my daily walk later I'll be easy to spot.

Just look for the rolly-polly guy with too many clothes on.

~

At the time of the Blizzard of '78, I shared a house in town with an old schoolmate.

The first night of the blizzard, I had my housemate drop me at my parent's house to see if my car that was being worked on was ready.

Got snowed in.

Spent 3 days helping a buddy dig his jeep out of a snowdrift so that I could get back.

Finally get back and find out my housemate had a party while I was gone.

My fiance got wasted and slept with my housemate.

No, I don't have any fond memories of the Blizzard of '78.

~

I heard on the local weather this morning that today is the 45th anniversary of the (around here in Indiana) infamous

Blizzard of '78.

We did indeed have a winter snowstorm today -

about 4 or 5 inches.

I, for one, am counting my blessings that history didn't repeat itself.

~

Since I've been retired, I have been dumping things I don't need to save money, since I'm now on a fixed budget.

A couple of examples are:

I switched from AT&T to Consumer Cellular for my phone and I'm saving about $40.00 a month.

I dropped OnStar. It was $36.00 a month, but AAA costs $83.00 a year.

One thing that's been bugging me is having to put a little air in a couple of tires about every two weeks.

I have aluminum rims on my car and they seem to seep out a little air over time.

I started to look around for a portable air compressor, since I've grown tired of spending $2.00 every two weeks for air at the service station to top off my tires.

I found one on Amazon for $30.00 that should fit the bill.

It plugs into the cigarette lighter on my car and inflates a tire in about a minute.

I looked at several, comparing size and price and am going with this one, since it is also highly rated by customers.

$30.00 one time payout is much better than bleeding out $2.00 at a time, over $100.00 a year.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

~

Monday is the hardest day of the week to get motivated to do anything for me.

Sometimes it's hard to get out of bed, knowing it's time to

stretch out, workout, do some yoga, then shower and shave before my morning coffee.

It gets a little easier when I sit in front of the computer for about an hour before I

eat a bowl of oatmeal and drink some orange juice, then go outside to

walk a couple of miles.

I finally get to sit and work a crossword puzzle before reading for an hour.

After that it's time to fix and eat dinner, do the dishes and finally

turn on the t.v. and relax.

Next thing I know it's time for bed,

to sleep before I get up and do it all again.

Still, it beats having to do all of that AND go to work, too.

Ah, the easy life of retirement.

And none of it happens without motivation.

~

... a nerd thing?

I noticed that broadcast t.v. has a tendency to show a lot of Star Wars movies, not Star Trek movies.

Are Star Wars movies more popular than Star Trek movies?

Or are Star Trek fans more concentrated on watching their t.v. series -

of which there are more.

In fact, how many Star Wars series are there?

I suppose it all balances out.

Anything to keep the nerds happy.

~

I had a dream where I was being told that I give away too many things.

I woke up, went to the bathroom, returned to bed and back to sleep.

Before I woke up, someone was yelling at me, saying I don't give enough to others.

Man, my subconcious sure is confused.

~

You hear little jingles on t.v. all the time -

'Have it your way' for Burger King.

'Liberty, liberty, liberty' for Liberty insurance.

But when the jingle asks me

'What would you do for a Klondike Bar',

I have to say nada, nil, zip.

Shave an eyebrow for a mediocre ice cream bar?

No way, no how.

I'd rather have an ice cream sandwich, thank you.

A Klondike Bar is more expensive, with less product to consume.

Small rant is finished.

Thanks for indulging me.

~