Category: Tinker (Page 11 of 15)

Our first schnauzer

Retirement is not without Hassles: Sunday #488

April 8, 2018 / mikeljohnston1 / 0 Comments

I thought it was Sunday, but there isn’t even a hint of sunshine. It’s just like any other gray day to a retiree like me. I did my three mile run this morning on the treadmill while I finished up Red Alert by James Patterson and Marshall Karp. The dogs were reluctant to go outside in the rain, but their bladders prevailed. Tally ran directly across the street dodging raindrops to do her business. Tinker, on the other hand, could not find a proper place to pee, and wandered aimlessly through the wet grass for what seemed like an hour. As I sit here drinking a Diet Coke and talking to my wife, we’re thinking about another visit to Cracker Barrel for what would be my third time this week. These are the things that make me a certified “creature of habit.”

There is a certain sense of peace in being a home body, while only venturing out to familiar sites. Buffalo Wild Wings to end each week is a good example. Movie night, cooking night, and date night help distinguish the days of the week. A different movie, recipe, and restaurant are the only decisions that need to be made when you’re in the routine of being home. It’s not boring at all considering the amount of traveling that we do. Nearly one week of every month is spent away from home, a percentage that’s been even higher so far this year. Marriott Hotels are our home away from home, utilizing everything from the lower end Fairfield Inn properties to the high-end JW Marriott and their world class resort hotels. However, there’s no place like home.

Tomorrow starts my wife’s work week – another Monday. Sunday, for me, was always the transition day, preparing for the job while struggling to preserve the weekend. I was never able to look at Sunday as “Funday” because of what always loomed ahead. As a result, the weekend hours began to shrink and pass by too quickly. The week seemed to skip from Friday to Monday to the point where I felt that I was always working, Also, back in the days of mowing, trimming, edging, and raking, weekends were nothing but a labor extension of the work week. Condo life eventually put an end to those responsibilities. My wife misses her garden, while I certainly don’t miss those yard work and home maintenance days.

We ended up going to Biscuits for breakfast, our favorite haunt prior to the recent two Cracker Barrel location openings. Regardless, a hearty breakfast at either location usually leads to a nap. The Cubs, The Masters, and I.U. baseball might allow me to plow through the afternoon. In addition, my wife wants us to watch Pitch Perfect 3. By the way, Game Night was a very entertaining movie last night. It was a Friday Night Lights reunion of coach Kyle Chandler and back-up quarterback, Jesse Plemons, one of my favorite TV series. I often had dinner with the two of them during the filming of the show while we lived in Austin. They were both very good about mixing with the crew and lowly show extras like myself.

It should be a relatively quiet week. There will be no skiing, Broadway musicals, or Leadership breakfasts. The dogs get to go to the spa and we might go to the Nike Hoop Summit on Friday night. It’s supposed to be spring-like weather tomorrow and then return to cool temperatures. The dogs were shorted their walk/run today, and Tinker responded with a fowl case of Tinkerrhea on the kitchen floor. She is the “Poopingest Pup on the Planet,” and after last night’s storms and the need for her Thunder Shirt was unable to control her output. (See Posts #370 and #371). I somehow managed to sleep through the high winds and heavy rain, exhausted after another tough day of retirement. What day is it again?

Retirement is not without Hassles: Travel Madness #462

March 16, 2018 / mikeljohnston1 / 0 Comments

Travel Madness is finally here. Our new luggage just arrived last evening, so we’ll be doing some last minute crammin’ and jammin’ this morning. We’ll probably have to pay for that third suitcase, plus a carry-on. The ten hour flight starts this afternoon, and when we touch down in Amsterdam it will be St. Patrick’s Day morning. We’ll head immediately to the Green Light District, on any other day Red, before our Anne Frank House tour. While we’re in the air, the NCAA basketball tournament will conclude its first round of action without me. With yesterday’s Leadership Meeting, I did watch some of the games, but found I have relatively little interest. In fact, there’s a sense of bitterness that my team isn’t playing again this year. It’s a good time to leave the country.

My wife had an appointment this morning and when she gets back home we’ll take the dogs on a final walk/run. As always, we’ll have a sitter staying at the house to watch them. They’re already suspicious, watching us scramble about making last minute preparations. Tinker, in particular, gives us the “hairy eyeball” of resentment. I’m glad she can’t talk (see Post #448), because her body language says enough. Tally, on the other hand, will be excited for the extra walks she’ll get from the youthful sitter.

When we get back, I’m planning another ski trip to Mt. Hood and will look forward to our 17th wedding anniversary in Santa Monica, one last stop on Route 66 this birthday year. (See Post #235). It will take a few weeks of “homebody” routine to recover from the next few weeks of Travel Madness. Tight schedules, confined quarters, heavy spending, and potential seasickness loom ahead. “There’s no place like home,” but seeing the world is a retirement requirement.

Retirement is not without Hassles: Straws #458

March 12, 2018 / mikeljohnston1 / 0 Comments

It was a gorgeous day of skiing. Obviously, several people took the day off to enjoy the rare sunshine at this time of year, but we still essentially had the slopes to ourselves. In comparison, Steamboat last month was cold and crowded, while the runs were sometimes too long for my aging legs. After all, I’m apparently only 9 years away from skiing free, and was able to get an all day Senior pass for $59, half the price of Colorado. The two-mile length of our run down the mountain today was enough to create a pleasant burn in my quads, not the unbearable, tired feeling of the longer, steeper, higher-altitude courses at Steamboat. It made me want to go back for more, as we made advance plans for next month.

This week’s Leadership Meeting will take place a day earlier and will involve the biggest day of college basketball all year long. Unfortunately, I really don’t have a horse in this year’s race, so it’s more sadness than Madness, for me. It’s appropriate that we’ll be out of the country, and so this will not be the focus of March. We’ll be crusin’ and boozin’ and my team won’t be losin’! Instead, my Indiana Hoosiers will be preparing for next year. Hopefully, Purdue, Butler, or even Notre Dame will represent my home state’s legendary reputation for basketball.

I’m learning to play “Stand By Me” on the ukulele, thanks to the help of a friend. My fingers get sore making the chord transitions, so it will take some practice time to build-up some calluses. The burn marks on my hands from cooking dinner last week have evolved into ugly, red scabs. My poor, multi-fingered appendages have taken a lot of abuse in retirement, so far. They were once rough & tough from shovel labor, shaking hands, and softball. Similarly, my poor feet are sore and my toe nails black from skiing, consequently I will need some luxury cruise pampering.

Our seventeen year-old cat, Frankie, has a urinary infection, so I will be back at the vet tomorrow. Pet.Vet. Debt. (See Post #351). Even our perfectly health schnauzer pup, Tally, needed eye drops for an infection last week. Pet expenses continue to mount, including the $1000 that we’ll need to pay a house/pet sitter while we’re away from home next week. We’ve begun to call Tally by the nickname, “Egbert,” since she loves to have a bite of our morning egg breakfast. Tinker, her older sister, is allergic to egg, so we have to be deceptive in the delivery. Tinker knows! Both dogs go to the groomer tomorrow to “get the stink off.” They accompanied us to wine country yesterday, glad to spend the day out of the house.

With all these pet duties tomorrow, I will have little time for writing. I need to start packing for our 15-day trip, and want to read The Diary of a Young Girl before our visit to the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. My wife had nightmares from reading it, so it’s been tough for her to digest. I’m bored with my current book, All-American Murder, by James Patterson. It’s not one of his better works, but non-fiction rather than his imaginative specialty. I was also disappointed with the movie, Wrinkle in Time, from a childhood book that was my wife’s favorite. It was really not about time travel as I originally posted. (See #455). It had too much of Oprah’s ego invested, however some movie-goers actually clapped.

I’ve been really good about limiting my use of straws. My friend has a blog, www.offthecoast.net. He is certified as a Master Recycler, and involved with organizations like www.portland.surfrider.org. I now always carry with me in my car a zip-lock bag so I can reuse the straw I get at regular McDonald’s visits for a Diet Coke. It’s a small gesture on my part to support his efforts to protect our environment and reinforce an anti-straw campaign by my former employer KINK Radio. I have become sooooooo… Portland!

Retirement is not without Hassles: By The Numbers #457

March 11, 2018 / mikeljohnston1 / 0 Comments

I just got done posting both my longest and shortest blog posts these past few days. Over the next few weeks, with our travel schedule, it will be tough to keep up the daily pace. After doing this for a year, I’m due for another blog-cation. The last one I took was while I was running the Hood to Coast relay (Post #230) and was stuck in a van for a few days. In this occasion, I’ll be on a Mediterranean cruise ship, with unlimited access to alcohol. I’ll see the sites of Amsterdam, Venus, Croatia, and Greece along the way, and try to take the time to report on my journey. We were in wine country today, enjoying the sunshine, and I’ll be back on the ski slopes tomorrow, as my wife anticipates her first two-week vacation from work ever.

As I continue to reflect on my past, I thought it might be interesting to look at my life from a numbers standpoint:

0. Number of calories in a Diet Coke.

1. loving wife of 17 years; sister; junior high attended; 43 year-old son; 97 year-old mother-in-law.

2. grade schools attended; marriages; high school buildings attended; step-daughters; houses lived-in as a child

3. college campuses enrolled; grand kids; cats lived with.

4. World Series attended (Cubs win!); strings on a ukulele.

5. I.U. NCAA basketball championships

6. pet dogs loved;

7. homes owned.

8. days until our Mediterranean cruise; Tally and Maddie’s current age.

9. ladies dancing (Limoges 12 days of Christmas collection); current Trail Blazer’s win streak.

10. Sherm Lollar’s uniform number (my lucky number)

11. cities lived-in. Gavyn’s age.

12. day of the current month.

13. cars owned.

14. apartments rented; Tinker’s current age.

16. dollars currently in my wallet.

17, days until baseball opening day; Frankie’s current age.

18. Payton Manning’s uniform number with the Colts.

20. employers who hired me; days left this month.

23. hours in a day (with time change).

24. each of our pup’s weight on the vet’s scale.

26. different jobs worked.

26.2. miles in the 1979 Detroit Marathon completed.

31. Reggie Miller’s uniform number with the Pacers.

32. games won in 1976 I.U. undefeated season (32-0).

34. Walter Payton’s uniform number with the Bears.

61. My younger wife’s current age.

66. years lived.

68. teams in this year’s NCAA basketball tournament.

72. My height in inches before Senior shrinkage.

88. sit-ups and push-ups done each day.

93. Age that both my parent’s lived.

100. days until my wife’s birthday.

146. Broadway shows attended with my wife (Post #454).

197. my weight today.

229. months together with my wife.

287. shopping days until Christmas.

294. days left this year.

436. days retired.

1273. different restaurants dined with my wife (date nights).

3361. consecutive days of running.

7,022. Days together with my wife.

Creature Features: Talking dogs #448

March 5, 2018 / mikeljohnston1 / 0 Comments

There are times when you wish your pets could talk and tell you exactly what they need. How were we to know that she was about to have another bad case of Tinkerreah? Tinker, after all, is the “Poopingest Pup on the Planet,” so a little more information than pacing back and forth might have been helpful. This was the case the other night. It was three in the morning and Tinker was restless. As I got up to use the bathroom for the umpteenth time that night, she was right on my heels. She’s typically pretty vocal and barks like a maniac when she needs something important. This was important, and she regrettably didn’t do as good of a job as Lassie, the lovable collie, in reporting that “Timmy was in the well.” Well, as it turns out, Timmy was never stuck in a well in any of the episodes, but the point was that the dog could communicate, even if it couldn’t talk.

I’m retired now, so I’m with our three pets all day long. They are quiet most of the day, except for when my wife comes home from work in the evening. “Don’t you ever pay any attention to them?” she will ask me, as they each vie for her attention. “It’s you that they want. They’re bored with me,” I will remind her. They can hear her car pull into the neighborhood, and anxiously make their way to the door to greet her with barking and jumping. It’s a grand reception that every pet owner craves, and she gets one each and every night, while I’m stuck with bladder-relief responsibilities. When she wants to relax on the couch, Tinker barks incessantly, wanting to play ball with her – not me. Tally wants to be on her lap, and Frankie the cat comes out of the dark bedroom for the first time each day.

Tinker barks at me when she’s hungry, and she’s hungry all the time, stalking me every time I pass near the kitchen. I can’t open anything without getting “the look,” that angelic face of starvation. Lately, practically every snack I give her comes back to haunt us in the form of Tinkerreah. She just turned fourteen and her once cast-iron digestive system is showing its age. I feel sorry for her because her appetite is still like a puppy. Snoopy, Charlie Brown’s pet beagle, at least expressed himself through balloons. I wish a balloon had popped up over Tinker’s head saying, “I have to poop, dad!” Before babies can talk, they at least wear a diaper.

There were other famous dogs that could communicate better than even Lassie, like Scooby-Doo, the Great Dane who spoke in broken English but usually put an “R” in front of his words and noises like “Ruh-Roh.” Tinker had that “ruh-roh” moment just before she let loose on our kitchen floor. I tried to get her safely outside, but it was too late! I need a better warning system.

The most vocal dog, in my opinion, is Brian Griffin from Family Guy. He can tell you if he has to poop, or at least Seth MacFarlane can. This is known as being anthromorphic, like Mr. Ed, who was a horse, of course. Mr. Ed could just poop in his stall, so he didn’t need to use his voice for this purpose. Astro, the Great Dane on The Jetson’s, also had a speech impediment like Scooby-Doo, but could definitely let you know when he had to “roh.” Goofy could talk but Pluto couldn’t because Disney unfairly distinguished between animated characters, making Goofy human-like and Pluto just a pet. The dirty word “Poop” was never used by either of these All-American characters, put Pluto thought about it. The only other talking dog that I can think of was the Taco Bell chihauhau, who only spoke Spanish. “Mierda.”

Tinker, “The Poopingest Pup on the Planet,” is not quite as famous as Benji, The Shaggy Dog, Martin Crane’s Eddie, Old Yeller, Beethoven, Rin-Tin-Tin, Full House’s Comet, The Little Rascal’s Petey, Otis, Toto, Hooch, Cujo, or Marley. Maybe, someday, she will be, as stories of Tinkerreah become legendary. In the meantime, only I give a “poop” that she be able to give me a stronger signal when she needs to go outside.

Creature Features: Deck Check #439

February 22, 2018 / mikeljohnston1 / 0 Comments

I should not have given Tinker, our oldest schnauzer, those tortilla chips yesterday. I took her out early this morning and saw no indication of a problem. She and younger sister Tally were enjoying the 3″ of snow that fell last night. Tinker does not like grass, most likely because of her allergies, so the blanket of snow provided a protective shield for her sensitive paws. Tally was busy digging in the snow and running circles around her, while she was trying to do her business.

An hour after Tinker was back inside our house, she began to bug my wife, fidgeting, shivering, and pacing down the hall. With the cold temperatures outside, my wife put on her Thunder Shirt that tightly hugs her body and provides comfort. We typically put this on in thunderstorms that were frequent when we lived in Austin, Texas, but rarely happen in Portland. As my wife opened the shutters on the sliding doors to the back deck, Tinker immediately went to look out the glass, so she opened the door and let her out. It was another bad case of “Tinkerrhea” (See Posts #370 and #371). My wife was not aware that I fed her chips yesterday, so she was disappointed in my actions, but relieved that it wasn’t something else. I went out later to clean up the mess and thought of this silly poem in honor of the occasion:

Deck Check

Before you step,
You need to check.
In venturing out,
On our back deck.

There’s no fenced yard,
Where we live.
So when pups gotta go,
Something has to give.

When weather’s bad,
Or emergency calls.
And dogs starts pacing,
Around our halls.

The only solution,
To get outside.
The sliding door,
Gets opened wide.

There’s no grass,
Just planks of wood.
But in a pinch,
It works real good.

There’s potted plants,
A table and chairs.
One way in or out,
No exit stairs.

A massive grill,
That smells of meat.
So sniffing that,
Is quite a treat.

So open up,
It’s time to go.
Bombs away,
Look out below.

Between the cracks,
A target looms.
With some help,
Let’s hope it blooms.

So watch out,
When you come over.
Dodge the spots,
Left from rover.

Before you step,
You need to check.
In venturing out,
On our poop deck.

Retirement is not without Hassles: Retirement Routine #438

February 22, 2018 / mikeljohnston1 / 0 Comments

No mail. No trash. No plumber. Just snow.

This sums up yesterday’s excitement and why should have be very busy. Maybe tomorrow? The weather this week has affected my retirement routine, so tomorrow will be the make-up day. Plus, I could not have picked a less entertaining combination of a book and documentary to be “my time” companions. It seems that I have been reading the Grant biography for an eternity, as it continues to drag along like the Civil War, and the Ken Burns documentary The Dust Bowl turned out to be one of his most depressing subject matters, comparable to Cancer. After four hours, I felt like my shoulders were gathering dust, watching these poor, misfortune Americans battle a decade of droughts, starvation, poverty, dirt storms, disease, locusts, and death. It did make me appreciate the “tropical lush” conditions of the Northwest and how trivial my retirement hassles really are. No Mail. No trash. No plumber. Oh My!

Tinker has to go to the vet for a cortisone shot, this too delayed from earlier this week due to early closings from the weather. Vet.Pet.Debt. The sink will finally get fixed, a hassle that I wouldn’t have if I didn’t have indoor plumbing. Trash pickup and mail delivery will hopefully resume as the ice melts, and my wife can return to driving herself to work. However, with the leadership meeting tomorrow, fundraisers to attend, and a red-eye to catch, my preferred role as a homebody will have to wait at least another week-and-a-half. I don’t think there’s enough drama or intrigue in my life for a book or documentary. I admittedly lead an uneventful, boring life with exaggerated hassles that I force you to read about every day. Just be patient – wait for it – there will be something of value in at least one of these next 10,995 posts. (See Post #433).

I was forced to run on the treadmill yesterday and today, rather than risk breaking my neck on the icy streets, just to keep my nine-year-plus running streak intact. (See Post #6). I will soon be running on foreign turf, boat decks, through airports, cobblestone streets, around walled cities, over canals, and “streak” through the famous “Red Light District.” I will be running despite too much food from the cruise buffets, rough seas, and after too much to drink because of the unlimited alcohol package that we purchased. I will also undoubtedly overdo it on bottomless Diet Cokes, irresistible pizza snacks, rich desserts, and 24-hour breakfast bars. “Run, Forest, Run!” or should that be “Drink, Mike, Drink?”

I was pleased to discover that we’re actually getting a small tax refund from my first retirement return, after years of “paying the piper.” I also saved a little money after discovering a couple of billing mistakes on my credit card. I certainly have the time now to carefully monitor my money and fight for these credits. Most of the cruise is already paid in advance, along with hotel costs, shore excursions, and tickets, so I won’t need to further tap into my bleeding IRA. We will next start to take advantage of our Marriott Vacation Club investment to reduce our $1,000 a day average travel expense. (See Post #323). The pets will once again be left behind in the care of a house sitter, so I will miss my daily conversation with them, but not the responsibility of taking them out five times a day or more. The countdown clock on the Viking Cruise website is down to 24 days. This is a much more appealing countdown than the one on the Hood To Coast website from last year. (See Post #220).

My wife has been safely delivered to work again this morning. Date night was cancelled to further disrupt our weekly routine. My meal preparation was also shaky this week, as I apparently ruined a cast iron skillet, burned some of the sweet potatoes, and made another characteristic mess. It tasted great thanks to the pork belly, but it was not one of my more successful aesthetic culinary presentations. On the positive side, I’m looking forward to a week off from my kitchen responsibilities so we can both recover from my cooking incompetency. For the first time in 14 months, I’ve gone to work every day this week, but only to drop her off and pick her up. It’s also a practice that I hope doesn’t become routine.

Retirement is not without Hassles: Friendship #420

February 4, 2018 / mikeljohnston1 / 0 Comments

The month of February is all about friendship and love. It started with two concerts and dinner with good friends. We saw 72 year-old Bruce Cockburn and 65 year-old John Hiatt, two performers that I would not have normally gone to see, but thoroughly enjoyed. It was good to see two fellow Senior Class members still active on the circuit. I was envious of their continued passion for their work, extending their careers into the twilight of their lives. Both of my retired buddies play and collect guitars, so I often follow their lead on must-be-seen-before-they-die performers. I’m rarely disappointed, and get to experience some of the unique music venues around Portland, like the Aladdin Theater and Revolution Hall. Also, older audiences tend to be better behaved and prefer to remain seated, rather than interfere with your view of the stage in favor of their awkward dance moves.

My best friend & wife next went to see the movie, Lady Bird, as a popcorn dinner and holding hands is our weekly tradition. We certainly hold hands more often, but restrict our popcorn eating to theaters and sometimes ballparks. I will leave her for a few days this week to ski with old friends in Steamboat. She doesn’t ski and prefers warmer climates to use her precious vacation time, so she’ll spend just her weekend with us, as we celebrate the 65th birthday of our hostess. She and her husband just bought a retirement home near the slopes, so they invited several of us to join them for the week. I will approach the mountain with caution, as all retirees should, hoping to return without a cast. I haven’t skied in at least two years, as evident by the cob webs on the padded travel bag that holds my equipment. The only other item in our garage with more dust on it is my golf bag.

When we aren’t traveling, my wife likes to spend her weekends with her two best friends, our schnauzer pups. When she gets home at night after a hard day at the office, she’s too exhausted to spend much time with them, so she tries to make up for it with long weekend walks. I will run ahead with Tally until she quickly loses interest and then loop back to the slower moving Tinker, who no longer runs and stays at my wife’s side. Tinker is like me in her hesitation to spend too much time outdoors. She has so many allergies and hates the feel of some grasses on her paws, so the outdoors is nothing to her but a giant toilet. In her opinion, there’s no other reason to go out there, unless it’s to go for a ride in the car. On the other hand, Tally loves to romp, and it’s critical to keep her on a leash. The weekend walk/runs give both Tinker and Tally the opportunity to sniff the butts of their furry friends.

My wife enjoys music, but our tastes slightly differ. She prefers uplifting popular music, while I lean more to the blues and classic rock. She has already bought tickets to see Pink, Steely Dan with The Doobie Brothers, James Taylor & Bonnie Raitt, Hall & Oates with Train, Sam Smith, Def Leppard/Journey, and Elton John. I will enjoy all of these shows, for in most cases, the second or third time around. At least, Pink, Sam Smith, and Train are not yet of retirement age and will be fresh new experiences for me. Also, we have reserved seats for each of these shows. The two shows I just attended this past week were in much smaller venues than these Moda Center dates, so it was strictly General Admission. That meant we also had to be there an hour early and wait in line for a decent seat. It makes for a long evening. I much prefer the assigned seats that we have for these upcoming shows, and appreciate that even movie theaters now allow you to select seats in advance. It avoids hassle and saves time, but it still doesn’t resolve the problems associated with those sitting in neighboring seats. (See Post #121).

Our February tour continues from Steamboat to Phoenix, for my wife’s budget meetings. We will have to spend Valentine’s Day apart, but I will fly in the next day once the business sessions conclude. Friends from Tucson will drive us to their home for the weekend. We hooked up with them last year after several years apart, so we’ll get a chance to experience more of the desert. I will then connect with a Fraternity Brother, who I reunited with last year after nearly 40 years. We plan to go to Surprise, Arizona and watch the Oregon State Beavers play Cal Poly in a college baseball tournament. Unfortunately, The timing of the budget meetings is just about a week early for Spring Training, otherwise we would have had some other choices for games. I’ll fly out early the next morning.

The February “friendship and love tour” ends with a trip back to Indiana. My wife’s niece is expecting their first child, and she is being honored with a shower. We also have to take my wife’s 96 year-old mother to the doctor, as is the case several times a year for us. Hopefully, she’ll stay out of the hospital on this trip. In the back of my mind, I still have hopes that I will hear back from my birth mother’s family, but I would also like to go Shelbyville, her home town, and look through the high school yearbooks for some photos of her and her siblings. It’s been about 12 days now since they received my certified letter (See Post #404). It took 9 days for the letter to get to them, so I will approach the mailbox tomorrow like a kid waiting for Christmas.

When the short month of February comes to an end, after spending half of it on the road, I will promise to spend as much time as possible with my wife. I haven’t been very attentive, leaving her alone in favor of other friends. We’ll spend half the month of March on a cruise ship with little time apart, after spending Valentine’s Day in two separate cities. Last year, her meeting didn’t start until the day after, so I’m sure there are other employees disappointed about not spending the “biggest day of love each year” with their significant other. I’ll at least have the two puppies and the cat to keep me company. She’ll have just The Company!

Diary of an Adoptee: Adoptee Diary #411

January 27, 2018 / mikeljohnston1 / 0 Comments

I was having a conversation with a friend today about the potential of finding my birth mother. It’s inspired several posts that I’ve now decided to relabel as “Diary of an Adoptee” rather than “Retirement is not without Hassles.” I’ve also decided to go back through my posts from this past year of retirement and start this new category. I have already used the category of “Creature Features” to write about my love of pets and other animals. Out of that category of posts have generated a humorous children’s book idea about our Schnauzer Tinker. I will call it “The Poopingest Pup on the Planet,” among the 400 plus articles that I’ve written. Tinker is also an adoptee, as is our other schnauzer, Tally.

For any of you that know me personally, I’m not typically a serious writer, as I’m much more comfortable being silly and/or humorous. A majority of the poems that I’ve posted are supposed to be funny. However, sometimes my emotions get the better of me, as I use my writing of this blog to express my inner feelings rather than paying for a therapist. I’ve already had that experience several times in my life, and as the subjects turned serious, the flight mechanism of humor would automatically kick in. I also try to express my passion for sports through the category of “Old Sport Shorts,” that you will also find scattered throughout this blog.

The adoption issues in my life are very emotional, particularly since my adoptive parents died a few years ago. Suddenly, there have been developments that have resulted in the whereabouts of my birth mother. Unfortunately, she may not know about my discovery as yet. I’m waiting for a response from a certified letter that I sent, and this subject weighs heavily on my mind. It’s not funny, so please bear with me, and if you’re not interested in the adoption aspects of my life, then you can confine your reading to my other categories. I wrote this poem today to express some of these feelings, some of which are embarrassing:

Adoptee Diary

I was a child,

With no Family Tree.

Because I was born,

An adoptee.

My father unknown,

Suspected Marine.

The scared mother,

Still a young teen.

.

I’m given the name,

Of Jerry Lee.

And didn’t know who,

My parents might be?

.

The next thing I knew,

A couple agreed.

They’d give me love,

And what else I might need.

.

I was soon in their home,

With the court to decide.

If they were worthy,

To remain at my side.

.

I was named Mike,

As they both agreed.

And I soon began,

To grow like a weed.

.

They raised me as if,

I was their own.

And cared for me,

Until fully grown.

.

With love and support,

I was never alone.

Showed me the skills,

To live on my own.

.

I added a branch,

Through birth of a son.

My family tree,

Had just begun.

.

Grand kids were added,

But my parents passed on.

In the back of my mind,

Not all was gone.

.

I had a name of the girl,

That gave me life.

And the love of another,

My precious wife.

.

It must have been fate,

To find my birth mother.

After all these years,

I also had a brother.

.

With cautious hope,

I wrote to him.

A chance for reunion?

Predictably thin.

.

And as I await,

For a reply.

I’m glad I at least,

Decided to try.

.

As I’m sixty-six.

She’d be eighty-four.

If she’s still able,

I’d be hard to ignore.

.

But is she alive?

And my facts correct?

Could our lives,

Once again intersect?

.

Until I have the answer,

Of a new Family Tree.

I’ve started to write,

The Adoptee Diary.

Retirement is not without Hassle: Spend #402

January 22, 2018 / mikeljohnston1 / 0 Comments

Every time I withdraw money from my IRA, I have a deep concern that I’m spending my retirement savings too fast. It doesn’t really matter how much I take out; it still feels like I’m tapping into sacred ground. For years, you save for a rainy day, but if you live in the Northwest every day is rainy. As a result, today was as good as any to pay off holiday credit card bills, pay taxes, and prepare for some upcoming travel. For years, I had done nothing but religiously put money into this account, so it seems counterproductive to now begin to dip into it. It’s only a finite amount of money, but the plan was always to spend it in the first ten years of retirement while we were healthy and travel hungry. After that, we would live on my pension, home equity, social security, and my wife’s 401K, with the majority of those dollars spent in the first ten years of her retirement. By then, I’ll be 80 years old and we won’t be spending $20,000 a year traveling back to Indiana to see family.

I certainly don’t want to admit that I will be tired of traveling by the time I’m 80, but I will have crossed off all the items on my current bucket list. I know that many others will be added, but by that age exploration will evolve into familiarity. I can see myself returning to some of the areas around the world that we explored years prior. It’s hard to imagine what life will be like at that time. Will I be in good health? Will there be money and motivation to travel? Will my running streak be at 23 years? My two current grand kids will be adults and my son will be 56, trying to deal with a 14 year old girl that will be born six months from now. It doesn’t really seem that far away, but the battle of spending now vs. waiting until later continues to weigh on my mind. After all, later may never come, so maybe we need to live for today.

Today includes some vet expenses for Tinker’s ear infection (Pet.Vet.Debt), pending 2017 taxes, spa treatments and shore excursions for an upcoming cruise, airfare/lift tickets for Colorado, airfare for our quarterly trip to Indiana, and ongoing Marriott Vacation Club payments. With this IRA withdrawal, I will zero out my credit card that includes these expenses, put aside some money for my soon to be 3 grand kids education fund (Oregon College Savings Plan), pay off some of my wife’s credit card debts, and shift some dollars to savings for inevitable Oregon and Federal taxes.

After a flurry of travel in February, our first March destination will be Amsterdam and the Anne Frank house. While we were waiting for our dinner reservation over my wife’s weekend, we walked over to the famous Powell’s Bookstore and bought The Diary of a Young Girl, along with Top Ten travel books for Venice, Croatia, Dubrovnik & The Dalmatian Islands, Athens, and the Greek Islands. We ADORE travel, as I emphasized in Post #396 – Anticipating, DOing, and REflecting. Part of the “anticipation” is studying the areas that we plan to see through these books and other resources. This is what we’ve saved for, and as a result, it’s time to spend!