Timing the markets revisited

Long term planning means no short term freak outs.

I'll track the markets and my retirement out of habit, but I'm not doing anything drastic. A tinker here and there, but it's miniscule.

I struggle to be still. 

Death of another coffee maker.

 5 years ago, I bought a Hamilton Beach flex brew coffee maker. It died recently. It clogged on March 17th. Vinegar cleared the clog, but it started having a puddle beneath it so I guess the vinegar did more than clear the clog.

It was a good machine. I thought about buying another since it was roughly the same price as it was 5 years ago, but I got my emergency coffee maker out to think it over. 

Emergency coffee maker is okay. Was almost surprised it worked after being in my barn 5 years. It makes coffee fine, but it's my emergency coffee maker for a reason. I don't like its display. The delay feature also annoys me.

Having a coffee maker last 5 years is a miracle so I ordered another H-B flex brew.

David Copperfield

A number of events occurred since my last entry. Back in February, I was told not to come to work for an undetermined period. I finally finished reading David Copperfield, because I was told to be available to work at a moment's notice. I can't really go into details, but I got help from the union and was able to keep my job. 

Around Easter, my mom told me my grandma who lives in Naples, Florida broke her knee and was in a rehab facility. I hadn't seen her since before my dad passed, so I figured I should make plans to see her as soon as possible, rather than when it's most convenient. Probably weird to most people, but we normally take our primary vacation in October during fall break. 

My wife and kids had never flown, so it was a big deal. Since it was my mom's mother, wife thought we should invite her to come. 

Key West has always been a place of wonder, so we figured we'd go there since we'd be "close." 

My mom was reluctant to go until we said we were going to go to Key West.

I wasn't happy. Finding accommodations for a family of five is hard enough, but 6 seemed a bit too much.

I found a flight to Key West with a flight back from Ft. Myers for $217 a person for the first full week of June. Our hotel, Courtyard by Marriott, in Key West was amazing! 

After  4 nights in Key West, we took the Ferry to Ft. Myers Beach. Our hotel in Ft. Myers was okay, but the visit with my grandma was eye opening. 

My grandma was home, but she wasn't her normal self. For being 92, she always had spunk, but she was much different. 

I knew it would be the last time I would see her. She passed away the first weekend of August.

I'm glad we went to Key West first. Being ignorant of my grandma's actual condition, we were able to enjoy it.

I really didn't want to take my mom, but I'm glad she got to see her mom. She didn't get back in time when grandma was put into Hospice. Mom was in the airport waiting for her flight when my aunt told her.

Other events occurred since January, but they're more trivial.

keeping track of events

Time skips a bit when you get older.

I blame phones for filling in the void that existed. 

I've been trying to read David Copperfield for a year or two. I lost the ability to read for any stretch of time. I get distracted. 

I couldn't sit and read when I was young. I remember thinking Wrinkle Time looked interesting, but "moron" was used and I had never heard the word before so I looked it up. I never got back to the book. 

Think I majored in English literature so that I could hone the ability.

I can't listen to music when I read anything of depth. I need quiet. Sucks. I really want to finish David Copperfield. I never finished it when I had Nineteenth Century English Novel class twenty odd years ago. It weighes on me that I didn't finish it. 

I sold back all the books I read and finished, but I kept the ones I liked and those I never finished.

I don't really have interest in. Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, but I have it. 

I have the Chaucer and Arthurian Legends stuff, but my Middle English is rusty. I used to have to read it aloud to get a feel for it. The rhyme and meter makes it seem logical to be read aloud.

Yes, I'm probably retarded in some fashion, but once I learn something I remember it for no reason.

I can't do two things at once. I'm slow.

crowning achievement

The root canal was uneventful. Had the temporary crown done today. I get the permanent crown by the end of the month.

Expensive. 

I picked up a new skill at work, so I can work OT to help pay the dentistry bills. Don't need extra money, but paying over a thousand bucks for a tooth seems ridiculous.

Microwave isn't working again. The $180 in parts seemed to work,  so I'm hoping it's something else that's simple or covered under the 10-year warranty.

I did a dumb thing when renewing MAX. I used the app to renew and Google Services circumvented my using  Amex to pay directly, thus costing me $55 in cash back. I'm not happy with Max or Google. 

Worrying about a few bucks here and there gets old.

pain update

Following my weekend of pain, I  called the dentist about the mouth pain during my lunch break. 

I got in at 1:30 and they did the cold test for a tooth that bothered me back in March. I didn't feel it. Dentist said my nerve was dead in tooth, thus referred me to have a root canal elsewhere. 

They gave me a script for amoxicillin. 

I promptly went to CVS, got my script filled. I waited until after 3pm to call office to which I was referred. 

Earliest appointment was the 16th of next month, but I'm unavailable until the next week.

A day after being on antibiotics, I started to feel much better. I was able to sleep and manage the pain with OTC pain meds like acetaminophen and ibuprofen. 

Five days later, the pain is nearly all gone without needing OTC meds, and I'm questioning the need for a root canal.

misadventures in dentistry

I had my teeth cleaned on Tuesday. The hygienist picked at my gums where my wisdom teeth used to be enough that they were swollen a couple days. Thursday night I couldn't sleep from having a sore gum area. I went home from work early when I started feeling my back tighten and have sciatic nerve jolts.  Regardless, all day, my mouth head hurt whenever I laid down.

Same occurred Friday night, but my whole jaw and cheek were sore.

It occurred to me that the pain was such that I couldn't wear my retainer, so I figured the mouth guard I bought would be a good alternative to see if I'm grinding my teeth. The dentist suggested a mouth guard the prior visit but the pain was never relevant enough to use it. Seemed a hassle to mold it to my teeth. Less pain last and mostly pain free today.  I don't think I have an infection, but I was in more pain than I had following anything dental, including my wisdom teeth and the broken tooth being pulled.

The older I get, the more I dislike dealing with anyone in dentistry.