1/24/26: Odds, Ends, and Musings

These are very interesting times we are living in.  I could go on about what's been happening in Minneapolis recently, but I am not.  Anything I could say about it has already been duplicated many times over on social media platforms and comments sections of news sites that choose to have them.  And as it is, this really isn't something I feel like discussing, thus this post will be odds, ends, and random musings.  So here we go.

As of the past couple of months I have developed an appreciation for hot sauces like never before.  This started some six months ago when I started putting some on some of the food that I eat, and bolstered more by that trip to New Mexico last November.  I have since broken open those bottles that I've brought back.  I've since discovered that most of the brands I got over there can be gotten over here, with one exception, and that being the La Anita red sauce that I got in a four ounce bottle.  That was one of my favorites of that bunch, with El Yucatero being almost rocket fuel and is used somewhat sparingly.

Of the major brands, my favorite are the Cholula sauces, with their red sauce and their chili garlic sauce being the favorites there.  Zing, but not rocket fuel.  I still have those chili pods that I brought back from Silver City and yes, I really need to get off my sitting end and make some from scratch.  I have found that adding sauce has helped some with my digestive tract.  The issues I had been having have since passed with using sauces.  I am convinced that there are health benefits to these sauces.  I don't usually add them though when we're out to eat at any Mexican place, since the local favorite dishes don't need any additional ingredients.

Also over the past couple of months, I've been very busy in ham radio.  The thinking is that the solar peak has passed, and the we're in the downward slope of the solar cycle.  I am trying to make the most of these conditions while we have them.  I'm up to 159 countries worked already.  I've also made some good friends via the local ham radio club scene, as that I'm active in two clubs and I've learned a lot.

Over in the precious metals market, I'm amazed at what gold and silver has done, especially silver.  I have kicked myself many times over for not buying more gold back when it was $310 an ounce or so, but I did stock up on silver coins when silver was $4.50 an ounce.  I wanted to get some dates/mints that I didn't have, and the side benefit was that I regarded it as a long term investment.  I could sell off 10% of what I bought and recover the dollars that I put into it, but it goes without saying that the dollars I recover are worth less than what I spent back in the day.  I can make the argument that I should have bought more silver, but I stopped when I felt like I had had enough, aside from the one ounce bullion coins that some countries have issued.  Now that silver's broken the $100 an ounce barrier, I don't see myself buying any.  I'm wondering if we have a bubble here that's getting ready to burst.  My gut tells me there's still some upside potential, but I'm also old enough to remember silver breaking the $50 an ounce barrier back in 1980 and how far it fell from that level before it picked up again.

As for retirement, I'll admit that I've toyed with the idea of coming out of it and returning to one of my former employers as a consultant, but that won't be happening until April at the earliest if I do.  If the work is interesting I could see doing some.  Thing of it is, I have given myself too much to do, some of it fun, some of it necessary, and things aren't where I want them to be.  My problem is that if I get too close to the goalposts then I move them further back.  Maybe deep down inside there's this fear of not having enough to do.  I have changed jobs on the grounds that there wasn't enough to do.  I am busier now than I was a year ago, and yes, I sometimes joke about going back to the workforce so that I can get some rest.

Yes, there's more to do.  More recipes to try out.  More books to read.  Some foreign languages to study.  Some things to sort out.  Some guns to shoot.  Some fish to catch.  Some places to visit.  And some family history to research.

And speaking of which, there is an unverified trace to William the Conqueror, as well as an unverified trace to Charlemagne.  I have read where ole William is the ancestor to quite a percentage of those of British blood, and I've got at least a pint of British blood flowing thru my veins.  I probably ought to go ahead and pop for one of those DNA tests.  

With that I'm going to call this one a wrap, and maybe in the next entry or two I'll do some musing about Star Trek.  

Cheers, beers, and don't forget to pet a dog or a cat!

A Visit to the Land of Enchantment

One week ago tomorrow Sheila and started my third road trip since retiring.  We wanted to retrace the route we took back in August 2016, but with one major difference:  overnighting for two nights in Silver City NM.  Like the last time, day one was spent driving to Deming, where we stayed at the Comfort Inn & Suites, as we did in 2016.  For the evening meal we walked over to the family-run El Camino Real Mexican restaurant........which was of the New Mexico style, my favorite.

The enchiladas I had were almost nightmare grade, which I mean in a good way.  Beyond zing and almost rocket fuel.  In New Mexico, the custom is to have eggs served on top of your enchiladas, which I did.  The next morning it was off to Silver City, with a stop at City of Rocks State Park, which I recommend.

The next stop was the Bayard Food Basket, a local supermarket, where we got some items and beverages for our stay in Silver City.  After getting back to the truck, I kept thinking about that large package of dried Hatch chilis.  I went back, bought a bag, after we ate a somewhat late lunch at a Mexican/Salvadorean restaurant called La Mexicana.  

Our stay in Silver City was the historic Murray Hotel.  It was our first time in a historic hotel, and we liked it.  The only drawback is you have to hope there is street parking nearby and finding it was a challenge.  We fortunately landed a spot within half a block, but we also knew that we couldn't dare do any side trips or we would lose that spot.  That was OK, we wanted a full day downtown, so we booked two nights.

While there I did some online research about those chili pods.  Now that I have them, what do I do with them?  I found a recipe for chili sauce from scratch, and I thought I had better buy more bags of these.  On our way out we stopped at the Silver City Food Basket, where I picked up three more bags.  It was slow, so the cashier gave me a quick rundown on how she makes chili sauce from them.  I intend to be making a batch in the near future, with near future meaning this week.  I also picked up some hot sauce brands that I don't see here in Tucson, so as you're guessing my home cooked meals are having a Southwestern twist to them.

Saturday we drove to Willcox, where we stayed for the night.  Lunch was at Big Tex BBQ, which I highly recommend.  We spent Sunday morning driving to the Chiricahua National Monument where God's signature is all over the creation that is found there.  The rock formations are unique.......towering cylindrical shapes that reach up to the sky!  That afternoon we were back in Tucson, and I've spent today mostly resting.  

We love road trips, but it's really great to be home.  Our next trip hasn't been planned yet, but I'm guessing we will visit Laughlin NV, Oatman AZ, and if my cousin's available, we'll stop off and see her in Lake Havasu City where she and her husband now spend their winters.  

There's not very much else to report, and that's a good thing.  I have some projects to take care of, and I want to spend some time on the air.  

Retirement is great!  I miss some of my co-workers, but not the corporate crap.  I won't rule out going back next year as a part time consultant.  

To Trashcan and Back

Earlier this week I was in Las Vegas, for the first time since I left to return home in February 2016.  I was originally going to be there last week but a medical issue in the form of infection erupted, and Sheila had to go there with one of her daughters while I stayed home to get medical attention.  It wasn't serious, but it likely would have gotten that way if I didn't get a doctor to look at it.

Sheila came back, and on Monday we drove up to retrieve her son who she drove up there some days prior.  If I hadn't had the infection we would have made side trips to Rhyolite and a few other places.  As it was, we drove up Monday, I was too tired to do much of anything the next day, and on Wednesday we drove home.

While I was up there we did drive around the old neighborhood where I lived, and by Bigelow Aerospace, where I worked when I was up there.  The only employees remaining at Bigelow are the security guards who don't have very much to do unless some coyote trips the perimeter alarm.  As for who I knew when I was living up there, we've all scattered to our separate ways, and the only one I'm now in touch with is Ron S. who is on the east coast and will be retiring.  I would like to get out there and see him, he's a really great guy.

Anyway, I was really glad to be home when we got back Wednesday night.  Yesterday I had a follow-up appointment with the specialist about my infection and I am well on the mend.  Today I was exhausted for some reason and some things I needed to do were put off until Monday.  I have spent a lot of time playing radio, and Mark and I have been experimenting with some interesting modes on the ham bands.

As for Las Vegas, I think I would now enjoy a three day stay there, provided it's Downtown and not on the Strip.  I definitely want to see Rhyolite again; it was the first ghost town I ever visited and it's something I want to see on those rare occasions when I'm in the area.  I hope that on the next trip we overnight in Fallon, and then drive across to Ely, and then back down to Las Vegas before we start the trip home.

Being able to do this when we want is one of the many blessings of being retired.  I am enjoying this much more than I thought I would.  I haven't forgotten some conversations I've had with a previous employer and I have reason to believe I will be working part time next year.  

In the meantime?  I feel the need to research some more family history.  There is evidence, not  yet corroborated, that I am a descendant of William the Conqueror, thru my paternal grandmother.  There's some more research I want to do re the Parker family who settled North Carolina and Virginia.  I am way overdue in creating pages on the Bonsall and Pilkington families.  

I think with that, I'm going to call this a post.

Our First Road Trip, Post-Retirement

On Tuesday of last week Sheila and I took to the road, expecting to be gone anywhere from five days to one week, and largely making it up as we went along.  We knew that the Petrified Forest National Park was going to be one destination and we knew that we would take scenic routes to get there.  Destination for night number one was Globe AZ, which I've passed thru before but did not stop.

We took AZ77 up thru Oracle (getting off to drive its main drag), with a stop in Mammoth to check out some lots that were for sale.  Sheila wants some property outside of Tucson, which I'm sympathetic to but for me it has to be a great location for ham radio.  There was a lot in Mammoth which would have been great, but it wasn't buildable due to terrain.  We eventually found ourselves in Globe, where we had a nice meal at Irene's Real Mexican restaurant.  Well, I liked the meal..........Sheila didn't like the enchiladas.

The next was a drive over to Show Low, thru some really awesome scenery, especially that of the Salt River Canyon.  Show Low is a candidate location for a second home, but its drawback is the awful traffic they have there.  From there it was up to Snowflake, which was checked out.  Snowflake looked more like a town in Oregon than in Arizona.  To me its drawback is the distance from Tucson, because I would want to be in a place I can get to within a day.  

After Snowflake it was on to Holbrook, where we put down for the night.  Holbrook reminded a lot of Needles CA.  Both out in the middle of nowhere, both with historic US 66 running thru the main drag, and both where you stop for only one night before you continue on.  The major difference is Petrified Forest National Park, which I visited once in 1986, but something I wanted to see again.  That place has some scenery that you just can't get tired of looking at.  We plan on going up there again sometime within the next six months.

We knew that when we left Holbrook, that we would take in the Four Corners monument.  We also knew we would do that after stopping somewhere for the night.  That stop was in Cortez CO.  In retrospect we maybe should have stopped in Shiprock NM, but we had reservations in Cortez.  The drive gave us lots of scenic formations to look at.  As for Cortez, I think of it as a decent place to stop, and maybe on a future trip we'll stay there again.  The next morning, Thursday, it was off to the Four Corners which was something I've wanted to see since high school.

Four Corners is way out in the middle of nowhere, but if you have an appreciation for southwestern scenery like I do then you'll enjoy the drive there.  There were a lot of visitors there.  As I was standing in line waiting my turn to stand at the quadripoint, it was weird looking down and seeing one foot in Arizona and the other in New Mexico.  I got my picture taken (Sheila did not want to be photographed), and then walked around in all four states some.  The decision had been made the night before to drive to Flagstaff, and again I loved the scenery that the Navajo Nation had to offer.

I can't say that I liked that section of US 89 some eighty miles north of Flag.  That was pretty desolate and there was a lot of traffic.  Flagstaff was something of a madhouse on Friday afternoon at 2:30, and I'm sure being near Northern Arizona University didn't help.  We stayed at a Quality Inn and loved being within walking distance of a Himalayan restaurant.

After that it was the drive home, not made pleasant by the Phoenix metro traffic, but at least it moved.  I was worn out something fierce the next day and now I am enjoying retirement at home.

I took lots of pictures on this trip, but I'm not sure that posting them here would do what I saw any justice.  I would have to download them from my phone, and right now the "to do" list in my planner has ten items, and I'll settle for getting three of those knocked off the list tomorrow.  I'm also going thru papers here; sorting, filing, shredding, organizing..........a lot has built up and the next challenge is to live long enough to see everything done.  

That said, retirement is great.  I can take an afternoon nap anytime I want to.  I can get up at 3:00 AM and go on the air.  And now I've got time to work on some family history.  I want to get additional pages up, and get caught up on email.

With that, time now to call it a wrap.

Out.

Retired!

Last Thursday I officially retired, separating in the morning as that last minute things come up, which they did.  The previous night was a bit rough with a family member needing an ER visit and I was short on sleep that night.  I popped awake at 4:15 AM, and thought I  might as well get this day out of the way.  There was some confusion about the process.  And it wasn't a great week for my boss, as that he lost two other engineers to other departments and only one of the seven offers outstanding were accepted........and he lost that person to another department.

I was not prepared for how tired I was going to be that day.  I knocked off two naps of about one hour each, and I was still dog tired after that.  My body clock is still waking me up around 4:30ish.  No big deal, I can take all the afternoon naps that I want.  That time of morning is great for ham radio as that I can get Japan and Australia on the lower frequencies, and I've been on the air quite a bit.  

As for regrets..........only one.  I should have added one more "gripe" to the exit survey that I begrudgingly filled out.  I did complain about the unsafe drivers that we have working there, and about how some managers spring the "Friday Surprise" on you ten minutes before you start what you think is going to be a weekend off.  I did remember to point out that managers who spring this on  you still get to watch their kids' soccer games or go skydiving while you have to explain to an angry wife about why you can't make that day trip to Patagonia.  

Well, the "Friday Surprise" was an almost weekly occurrence when I was at Paragon Space Development, which has struggled with high turnover in addition to business volatility.  Almost everyone I knew there has since also left, so I have no idea what's really going on there any more aside from noticing that they are hiring again.  I'll pass; I'm done with manned spaceflight.  

Which I guess now begs the question, am I done?  I won't say that I am.  All I know is that I am taking the next six months off, and I may or may not seek a part time position as a consultant after that.  The pay for that is really well, and one former employer has unofficially spoken to me about part time work.  I am in the financial position of not really needing the extra money but I can see having to feed the travel appetite somehow.

As for retirement itself, I don't feel "retired" just yet.  That might change this evening as I go out on the back patio with a radio and a cold drink, and tune in those distant stations on the AM band, and knowing that this time I can stay up as late as I want to.  Tuning in to distant stations is what got me into my career field many years ago, and I'm going to have to tell that story sometime.  

And as I'm making this transition, there are some things I have resolved to do.  One, get a gym membership going.  Two, start eating better (that starts today).  Three, go out on walks a lot more often, which heat advisories as of late have constrained that.  But, it's cool enough around sunrise to do that, and the dog likes going out on walks too.  I think the dog and cats are going to like my retirement maybe even more than I will.

One important point I want to make.  This is not an end.  It is a beginning.  And I pray for health.

Retiring is a Lot of Work

Yes, you read that right.  Retiring is a lot of work.  There has been a lot of fighting with the third party benefits center that my employer uses.  I'm convinced that the people who run that hate all of mankind and every living creature that the Good Lord made.  Well, save for one.  I'd better not identify her or she'll get fired.  that lady has gone out of her way twice to help me.

At work, my replacement has been identified, and he is coming up to speed.  He'll  be seasoned in the months to come, but I also know a lot is being asked of him.  He's seen his fair share of trench warfare, maybe even more than I have seen, and I think he'll do well..........if they can keep him.  Morale in our department is still low and since I've announced my departure, two other engineers have announced theirs, and we've got some others actively looking.  I expect my phone will ring in six weeks, with them asking me to come back as a contractor, but I'll tell them again, I am taking the rest of the year off.  I see myself being open to that kind of discussion early next year, but not before.

Meanwhile, I'll have to say some good things about the Social Security people.  They have been very helpful, and more efficient than I would have considered them capable of being.  That has to say something when a government operation is more efficient than a similar private enterprise is.........and that something is not complimentary to the private sector in this case.

The big day is 7/31.  I have been counting the days and it's worse than being a kid and waiting for Christmas.  Three of those days will be consumed by a medical matter.  I am in need of a minor outpatient procedure and that is scheduled for the 29th.  I have had one exam, and another specialist is doing another on the 23rd.  I should be able to drive after that.

A lot of people have been wishing me well.  Their kind word are appreciated.

I will be glad when this is over.  I'm going to need a vacation when I'm done retiring.