Cabin update – a girl and her chainsaw

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girl and her chainsaw
Mule deer, Photo by slc

While growing up on a farm in Iowa my siblings and I spent many days in our timber helping our Dad cut wood for the wood-burning furnace.  It was our home’s only source of heat.  We watched as our Dad poured a mixture of oil and gas into his dirty chainsaw and pull the start line multiple times until it started up with a puff or two of smoke.  Unfortunately, we hauled and stacked wood during the hot and humid summer months.

Today, a beautiful early spring day, I was reminded of those memories.  I drove up to the Glen Haven cabin to cut firewood.  When I pulled into the worn path of a driveway I noticed there were three young mule deer on my property just below the cabin.  I reached for my camera and took several pictures as they grazed cautiously around the cabin.  It was obvious I was invading their space instead of the other way around.  Waiting until they moved on, I quietly exited the car and got my new power tool out of the trunk.

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Cabin update – wildfire mitigation

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wildfire mitigation
Before, Photo by slc

Since the first of the year, I have only been to the Glen Haven cabin five times.  Mostly to check to be sure it is still there,  but also to do fire mitigation and general property clean up.  Before I arrived the cabin hadn’t been inhabited for over 13 years according to neighbors.

When I bought it the property was overgrown with tall dry grasses, firewood stacked next to the cabin, and many low tree branches.  From the recent photos posted here, you can see there is currently no snow pack so it is very dry and susceptible to wildfire.

Right after purchasing the property in September, 2017, my son-in-law cut the tall dry grasses with a trimmer.  I have raked years of pine needles and cones and removing them from the property.  I have also trimmed several of the beautiful pine trees to decrease the risk of wildfire destroying the trees and the cabin on my mountain property.  It is dirty and dusty work but necessary.  According to the Colorado State Forest Service website, “Wildfire mitigation actions are on-the-ground treatments of forested properties implemented to reduce the threat of wildfire.”

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Replaced garbage disposal – surprise!

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A cereal bowl sat under the garbage disposal in my kitchen sink cabinet for over a year.  The bowl collected brown water which dripped from a crack in the disposal.  Daily, I washed the bowl and returned it to its important place.  Without it, the sink cabinet would have been continually damp and smelly.

A plumber quoted me $250 for a new disposal and installation.  I didn’t want to spend the money to replace the disposal so hence the cereal bowl collection system.

My daughter told me my son-in-law installed a new disposal.  My neighbor, Kyle, said I should be able to do it.  I was pretty sure I could get the old disposal out, but was I strong enough to lift the new one into place?  I was apprehensive.  What if I got the old one out but could not get the new one in?  How would I use the sink and dishwasher if I couldn’t get the new one installed?

After about a year of putting up with a worsening leak and reading lots of online reviews, I finally bought a new disposal for about $90.  As expected, taking out the old garbage disposal was easy with the right tools.  Connections to the new one were easy too but, as suspected, I was not strong enough to hoist the new disposal high enough to attach it to the bottom of the sink.  Now what?

garbage disposal
Items used to prop up disposal, Photo by slc

I started stacking household items up under the opening until I had the right height.  A medium-sized metal mixing bowl, the book The Encyclopedia of Gardening, and some cardboard packing from the disposal’s box.  Then I set the disposal on top of the stack.  The items acted like a jack.  Surprise!  It worked.  I was able to fasten the disposal to the sink!  I could use the sink, dishwasher and now the new disposal.  No more cereal bowl and leaky garbage disposal.

garbage disposal
Torin Big Red Steel Scissor Jack

If you need to replace your garbage disposal but don’t want to pay for the installation, you might try using your car jack.  Surprise!  I know I will next time.

Unaffordable Care Act

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Unaffordable Care Act
TrueDemocracyParty.net

For the past 20 years, I have had about 40 skin cancers or precancerous lesions removed by either surgery or by liquid nitrogen.  Now that I am retired and my insurance coverage has drastically changed due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, I may have to limit my skin cancer treatments.  Maybe it should be referred to as the Unaffordable Care Act as it was called in a July 5, 2015 Forbes article.  In this article author Richard Eisenberg stated, “…people are finding themselves facing enormous out-of-pocket health expenses — sometimes leading them to deplete their savings and rack up serious medical debt.”

I had an in-network office visit in December.  The dermatologist biopsied four lesions and treated four precancerous lesions with liquid nitrogen.  I just received the doctor and lab bills.  The copay to the doctor was $80 on the day of the visit.  I now owe him an additional $314.02 for his services.  The lab charged $544.12 for pathology of the biopsies.  That one visit cost $938.14.  The really sad part of this story is that I have health insurance and I am scheduled to return to the doctor in February for complete removal of three of the basal cell cancerous lesions and I have several more on my legs which we have not even biopsied yet.  How can I afford this medical care without taking money out of my emergency savings account?  Isn’t that why we pay for insurance?

I currently pay $210 a month or $2,520 annually for health insurance and my individual in-network deductible is $6,000.  My pension check is only $2,055.87 per month.  My health insurance coverage (if you can call it that) takes 10.2 percent from my check.  I can afford that as long as I don’t go to the doctor.

My mom, age 84, doesn’t go to the doctor to get needed care due to high costs.  My late father gave up cancer treatments due to costs and quality of life issues; he chose to die instead at age 80.  Am I and others headed toward that same predicament?

I do not want to spend my savings and retirement account on medical bills.  That is not why I put money in my 401(k) for 25 years.  I invested at least 10 percent of my income so I could travel and enjoy my retirement.  With my history of basal cell skin cancer, I can see those life-long dreams disappearing in favor of paying high medical expenses and insurance payments.

Is this situation what the federal government wanted when they passed the socialized medical legislation, Affordable Care Act, and Barack Obama signed it into law in 2010?  America used to have the best medical care in the world at a reasonable cost and many people traveled here for treatment.  Now, many American citizens, especially retirees, cannot afford much-needed healthcare.  Maybe it should be called the Unaffordable Care Act or the No Care Act.

What has been your experience?

Christmas card fronts

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My Facebook friends and some of my neighbors have lamented about having to put away their Christmas decorations.  They loved putting them up and having them up, but they dreaded putting them away.  I can relate.

Christmas card fronts
Box of letters and cards, Photo by slc

Right after putting away my decorations, I took down my Christmas card display and started to put them in the storage box of cards from Christmases past I keep in the basement.  This time though, I thought it was time to do something with all of those cards and letters.  I started saving them because about a million years ago, ok maybe 30 plus years ago, I read that if you cut off the front of the card you can donate them to a charity or a nursing home who reuses them.  So, I brought the storage box of cards and letters up to my study and started to go through them, one by one.

At first, it was interesting to see who the cards and letters were from and to see the wide variety of cards I had received.  The most beautiful cards were from my long time friend and former colleague, Dena.  My sister Sally sent the most special religious themed Christmas cards and another long time special friend Ruth Kay sent the most cards.  I was also blessed by many warm sentiments from people who are no longer around, either because I have lost touch with them or they have passed on.  I have many special notes from a great-grandmother to her precious great-granddaughter, my daughter, when she was younger which I will pass on to her.  Also, little notes like this one I received years ago from my Dad who passed in 2013:

Christmas card fronts
Note From My Dad, Photo by slc

After about four days of reading through cards and letters and cutting off the Christmas card fronts with no writing on them, I had enough.  The joy had turned into dread.  Why did I start this tedious sorting job?  Have I even thrown anything into the recycling bin?  I had, but it didn’t feel like it.  Why is it that when you try to clean out of box of stuff, valuable or not, you make an even bigger mess?

Now that I have read, cut, sorted and kept my precious Christmas sentiments, I have not located anyone yet to take my meticulously cut Christmas card fronts.  St. Jude’s Ranch no longer takes them.  I haven’t given up yet.  Maybe my grandson’s preschool or my church’s preschool will take them next year, or maybe I will donate them to a nursing home.  Either way I will pass them on to be used again.

It was a great exercise in clearing out the old, keeping the precious, and certainly reminiscing about wonderful old friends and family.  Thanks to all of you who have sent me cards and letters over the past 30 plus years.  I have kept them all, just not the Christmas card fronts.

Do you keep your Christmas cards and letters or have you donated the Christmas card fronts?  If so, please comment below.

Change your retirement life in 2018

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As 2017 ends and 2018 begins, it is a time of personal reflection.  I began 2017 feeling quite bored in my retirement life, even though I was writing this blog and learning about search engine optimization, as well as substituting part-time.  Then, I read Ernie J. Zelinski’s book, The Joy of Not Working.

change your retirement lifeI especially enjoyed the chapter titled Somebody is Boring Me; I Think It Is Me.  I got to work on “abolishing my boredom.”  Zelinski wrote, “By undertaking difficult and uncomfortable activities, we experience satisfaction and accomplishment in our lives.  This means being truly alive, with little or no room for boredom.”  That chapter changed my retirement life.

In March of 2017, the homeowners’ association (HOA) where I live held its annual meeting.  I attended and volunteered to serve on the board of directors for three years, a “difficult and uncomfortable activity.”  At our first board meeting in April, I was elected president of the HOA, another “difficult and uncomfortable activity.”  After basically “righting the ship,” the new HOA board is now preparing for the 2018 annual meeting.

In July, I read in the local newspaper that the school district was looking to add new members to its master planning committee.  It was a three-year commitment.  As a long time education advocate, I filled out the online application and sent it.  I was accepted as a member despite the fact I told them I was a fiscal conservative.   We meet the first Monday of every month during the school year and discuss topics such as boundary changes, school closures, etc.  The politics are “difficult and uncomfortable activities” but I feel I bring a new perspective to the table since I voted against the last bond election which was defeated.

In August, I saw a real estate posting on realtor.com for a 1938 cabin on .78 acres for sale in Glen Haven, a small town about 15 minutes outside Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.  I had looked for a fixer upper project or a cabin get-away for several years.  This cabin needed a bunch of work and was listed for $98,900.  I offered $85,000 and got it.  My son-in-law, Dave, and I took on the “difficult and uncomfortable activity” of demolishing the mold- and rodent-infested cabin addition by hand this fall.  Now, the original cabin is buttoned up for the winter and it is, more importantly, dry and rodent free.  We plan to begin rebuilding next summer.

Zelinski said, “Only by doing the difficult and uncomfortable can you make your life more interesting and fulfilling.”  I have taken on “difficult and uncomfortable activities” this past year and in doing so I have felt more alive and less bored.  I am more happy and content than I have in a long time.

I am glad I read Zelinski’s book and followed his advice.  I am also glad you follow this blog and I hope you consider taking on “difficult and uncomfortable activities” in 2018 and change your retirement life.

WISHING YOU HAVE A HAPPY, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!

A Christmas Find

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Christmas find
Cover Art by D.T. Workman
Christmas find
The Nativity by Regina Swedenborg

One of my hobbies is perusing antique stores and flea markets.  Last month while visiting one of my favorites, I came across this beautiful linen and paperback book from 1950,, a great Christmas find.

The title is Christmas: An American Annual of Christmas Literature and Art, Volume Twenty.  I loved it and bought it for $5.  I thought I would share a couple of the beautiful illustrations with you this lovely Christmas morning.

Enjoy this special time of year.  Call your family members or friends who live alone.  Have a very Merry Christmas!

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.”