As we are deep into tax time, this previous post has a timely – and timeless – message. Regular readers will recognize this theme from earlier posts as this was – and still is - one of my major messages for those seeking early retirement. I was reminded of the topic by a couple of recent events. The first came during conversations with friends who lamented that their young adult children frequently ask for financial support for necessities after spending their own mone

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but YouTube is the mother of Do-It-Yourself. I recently used that wonderful web tool to save at least $750 by replacing a simple LED board on my 14-year-old X3. I noticed that 2 linear running lights were out on the tailgate of my vehicle. The backup and brake lights in the assembly were still working fine so no legal issue but wanted to get it fixed. First step was to call the BMW dealer I use for service to find out how much

In this time of decreasing civility, a reminder from a 2022 post: Sorry to anyone thinking this post would be about food. The focus is on letting people know when they have done a good job: chefs, servers, customer service reps, co-workers, kids, parents, etc. People are usually quick to jump on Yelp (or attack the “offender”) when they feel they didn’t get the service they deserved but most aren’t as quick to give praise or post positive reviews. That goes for the cor

After watching the 40th anniversary celebration program on Piscataway Community TV that featured awards for the many volunteers that enable most of the programming – there are only 3 full-time employees – I decided to look into joining. As luck would have it, there was a volunteer class coming up that I was able to be part of. We learned about production techniques as well as getting hands-on experience as camera operators, working the sound and video boards, editing, and eve

I don’t normally stray into politics, but the last election cycle proved to be too much to ignore. No, I’m not going to rant about either side – though there is plenty to rant about against both extremes. Rather, this is a plea from those of us who care about the real issues and look for elected officials to provide real solutions. Once again, the vast majority of political ads, speeches, debate rhetoric, and even media coverage, focused on why not to vote for the opponent.

Welcome to 2026! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays as we wound down 2025. ------- Another year has passed, or more accurately flown by. It was a seesaw year with more downs than ups, but with the help of friends, family, and the organizations I belong to, I came out of it all OK. That support network kept me going and helped me to look at the potential ahead rather than dwelling on what I was leaving behind. The year started with the stress of needi

Having just enrolled in my former employer’s 2026 benefits (which jumped 14% from 2025) I was reminded of this early post: During lunch with a friend the other day he talked about not being able to retire as early as he’d like because of the cost of health insurance for him and his family until he and his wife are eligible for Medicare. This is a topic that has been on my list to write about since I started my blog but talking to him brought it back to the top of the l

Moving is never fun. The idea of a new start in a new place is of course exciting, but the act of packing and physically moving is a chore and can be draining. So many little things to take care of besides packing up your life. I’ll start with one of those little things. Being of a certain aga, I use newspapers to wrap dishes, cups, glasses and other fragile items. Since our local newspaper went online only, a supply of newspapers (also a prime source for starting fires in t

With all the stresses in life, it’s important to find ways to decompress and leave the stress behind for a while. For me, biking off-road and playing disc golf provide exactly that. Lately I’ve been playing disc golf much more than riding and a friend has taken up the sport, so I have a partner on the course. Let me start by taking an excerpt from a definition of “zen”: “…its focus on mind-body oneness and a holistic understanding of reality. The term "zen" can also be

When we are young, we think we are indestructible but as we mature reality takes the place of that youthful myth. About to celebrate another birthday, I got to thinking about living by myself and being on my own again after so many years. A lot of things to consider as I looked for a new home and a lot to plan for going forward. After 25 years of taking care of a house and yard, I wanted to be free from that responsibility for a while. Plus, I didn’t want to spend a huge chu

A big shout-out to the organizer (thanks Alicia) and volunteers who made the convention in Richmond, VA a huge success. THANK YOU! Since the travel time was basically the same to fly or drive, I chose to drive. It saved a ton of money but more importantly allowed me to bring back beer from several local breweries and a nice bottle of VA bourbon too. I was amazed and pleased to see my 14-year-old SUV pull 25 mpg on the drive. Not bad for an aging tank of a vehicle.

One of my first posts that came up again amidst the changes in my life. As we evolve through life, our goals and priorities ebb and flow with age. Coming out of college I was the typical idealistic, naïve, energetic youngster. I wanted nothing to do with the evil big companies, and focused on small, family-owned businesses to get my start. That naïve idealism lasted only a few years as reality set in – unless I was a family member, there was not a long-term future to be had,

As we move from one phase of our lives to the next, we can choose to fight the changes or embrace the opportunities they present. I’ve been doing a little of both over the last few months but the best outcomes have occurred when I’ve taken a positive approach. Swimming with the current is definitely much better than swimming against it. I’ve settled into my new apartment and am getting used to living in a multiple-unit building for the first time. New neighbors to meet, new

With all the changes happening in my life right now, this old post came to mind as I ponder the future. Those of you old enough – or into classic rock – will recognize the CSNY song title I borrowed for the title of this post. While the original meaning of the lyrics is about the Vietnam war, the draft, and the emotions swirling around at the time, it has always had a more personal meaning for me. To me it speaks of being true to yourself and that is key to making the trans

Now that I am in my new apartment, I want to share some lessons learned and insights gained as I packed up my belongings on the way to the next phase of my life. After 24 years in a fantastic house in a really nice town, life changes forced the sale of the house. That not only meant getting the house ready for market (which could be a post on its own) but finding a new place to live and packing up all my stuff. Luckily a friend told me about a brand-new building in the next

It’s summer and that got me thinking about vacations and more of the memorable meals I’ve had along the way. Those meals were enjoyed at many types of establishments from a food stand on a dock in Alaska, to a food truck in Islamorada, Fl, a B&B in northern CA, hot dogs in Hawaii and NJ, and a liquor store 5 minutes from our house. You will notice that in this post, there are no fancy restaurants on the menu. Let’s start on the island of Kawaii. One of the staff at ou

The title of this post is a direct quote of advice I got from a softball teammate when I was in a hitting slump a few seasons ago. By making it light and using humor in his advice, he helped me to relax and it got me back on track again. I wound up finishing the season at my normal batting average which was no small feat as I had dug myself a deep hole. I was doing OK at the plate and then I started trying to place the ball to take advantage of the lefty shift most tea

Another of my early posts that I was recently reminded of: As children we have a natural curiosity about everything, and we are not shy about asking questions – a lot of questions. Over time we lose that curiosity, maybe because we are more focused on learning specific things in school, or maybe because as we get older asking “too many” questions becomes a bad thing. By the time we are adults, many of us have lost the gift of curiosity. That’s a shame because curiosity

I am lucky to have 2 close friends with whom I can discuss any topic without issue. One is more on the religious side than me and the other is more widely read than me in many areas. We bring our individual perspectives to the conversation without judging each other and with minds open to the other’s positions. Often we get into energetic and enthusiastic discussions with no taboo topics. The key is that we focus on the issues and not on each other personally. We really

Some late spring cleaning and de-cluttering at home got me thinking about this early post. If you’re like me, you have a lot of stuff sitting around that you don’t use or wear anymore. Now’s a great time to gather that stuff together and get it out of your house – either by donating or selling it. Just be sure not to replace it with more stuff you won’t be using. ---------------------------------- This past Friday was the 6 month anniversary of my retirement date. The time s