Good morning!!!!

[Green Acres Homestead]

You going to pick apples and I was blowing snow. Something doesn’t sound fair. Lol.

 

[PJSprog]

53°F and rain this morning, only going up to 55° today. Rain has been on and off all morning. Seems to be spinning right over the top of us.

Thanks for all the kind comments, gents. Much appreciated.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

Good morning, low temp is 27 and going to a high of 32°F. Wind E 16 mph. Periods of snow mixed with ice pellets. None so far.

I collected CPP (American SS) at age 60 one month before my 61st birthday. Got it retroactive back to my 60th birthday a lump sum payment and then regular monthly payments after that. We had a scheme where if we continued to work we could continue CPP deductions (which I did) until age 65 and they would add on to our payments later, which they are. Another 4.5 years and I will have broke even on what I paid into it over the lifetime (40 years) of working. Working for me pays the utility bills and the CPP puts some jingle in my pocket. There is a cap on what I can make before CPP starts 'clawing back' their payments. I think it is around $129,000.oo. Old Age Security (OAS) we have to apply for at age 65, it comes monthly, you don't have to pay into it and their threshold for clawback is around $76,000.oo they only had to clawback for 1 year on me, I have since worked smarter. Only work 4 months of the year and don't collect Unemployment Insurance...YET.
Unemployment insurance, IF you collect it 3 years in a row, you are considered a frequent flyer and will have to repay them 35% come income tax time. That is why I stopped collecting it, that and you have to prove to them that you are actively looking for work.
The Canadian system of CPP is fully invested and making money. Therefore it should never run out of money. We hope. OAS comes out of the tax coffers, I think, as does GIS (Guaranteed Income Supplement), which I cannot collect, I make too much.
I think, now don't hold me to this, but I think the Canadian system was modelled after the US system. We started in 1965.
I think after I get the Dodge paid for I may fully retire. There is only $8500.oo owing on it. That is going to depend on how my license medical goes, I have to get one every year since age 65, to maintain my Class "A" license. Otherwise my license gets downgraded to a 'G' good for a car/pickup.

Enough of a 'wall of text', I'm going to conserve energy today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEFs Father!

We paid into this and if they paid us interest of about 5 percent a year the total amount should be around $380000. Not likely I will ever get that back.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning to all! Low of 16°, we did get the 2" of snow as predicted. Forecasted high is 48°. Drier air already moving in, the humidity is at 10% already, dew point is a whopping -32°. Yes, a minus -32°. Don't think we will get anymore snow.....

Here is a pic of the snow on the mountain....



Buppies, sorry to hear about the fall..... be careful, we don't bounce anymore!

Don, nice to hear that the knee is doing good. Keep on chuggin' away!

RNG, that was a monster root ball! How are you going to shake the dirt off?

LFN, sounds like your retirement program is a step ahead of the states.... I think you planned the return very well!

WNG, I am envious of your hikes.... I did the Appalachian Trail many, many years ago as a young pup. I really loved doing it. Nothing else like it since. Enjoy it for me!

Thomas, I also enjoy e muffins..... however, I don't think I would pay $2.25 for one....

I'm not going to do much today except conserve energy in preparation for the nuclear stress test tomorrow. Might even take a nap!

Everyone have a great day!

 

[Thomas]

already, dew point is a whopping -32°. Yes, a minus -32°. Don't think we will get anymore snow.....

Had to let that sink in little bit longer.

 

[Looking4new]

The weather people are still talking about snow/ice pellets overnight, they are suggesting 10 cm/4" and then above freezing tomorrow. Didn't get anything today so far.

I missed my mid afternoon nap, was more interested in old British WW2 movies.

Tomorrow is a town run and MAYBE go and buy a zero turn mower.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Kyle still waiting for a report.

We and our stuff are all OK! I'm a huge fan of weather radar, and I left work about 10 minutes early. Got home a little after 6, battened the hatches here, watched the radar for about 10 seconds and told wife to pack essentials and get kids in truck. There was a huge tornadic storm headed right at us. I saw some gaps in the storms and we headed south "Until I see a good place to cut through it" I told the wife. Ended up in Lagrange Texas (yes the ZZ Top song place), it was super windy. It looked like a good place to stay and let the storm go by about 15 miles west of us. Watching the color radar, they showed the red/green tornadic winds going right over our town. We sat in Mcdonalds and waited (and prayed). When it cleared, we went home in the dark. There was some tree limbs on the highway just south of Giddings. Fortunately, there was very little damage, and the little that I know of, was a few miles east of me.

Thanks for the concerns. I have been busy.

Ken was on the job stepped over mesh type safety fence hooked foot down I go. That old asphalt was hard

Hope you're not too banged up. Get better quick!

The possible job thing....I love my current job. I didn't go looking, it kind of fell in my lap. They have upped their offer. Still undecided (will pray). Both jobs are good jobs. The new job would offer some additional retirement, if I could work until I was 72....dont know if that's happening....already tired.

46°F and clear skies this morning, got up to 71° today.

It was calm this morning, so I had hopes of getting in some burning today. Mother Nature had other plans, and started whipping the wind in from several different directions throughout the day.

Found one of my round tuits, and finally cut the parts for the speaker cabinet. Got aggravated at the ridiculous amount of stuff piled on the workbench, and gave up on the notion of assembling it today. So, it remains a stack of plywood, albeit cut to size now. Still need to cut the speaker holes in the baffle, and the jackplate hole on the back board.

Wife decided earlier last week to just order a new lamp to hang over the piano, rather than trying to fix the existing track lighting. Uh, OK. I really liked that light, but ... you know. The new light arrived yesterday, and she decided we should remove the old light and install the new one this afternoon. So, we did. The new light is a Tiffany-style hanging lamp. Lots of little challenges getting that thing installed. The Chinese manufacturer didn't plan very well for the size of the hole through the mounting cap that the wiring goes through to the electrical box. After removing the two rubber-ish grommets, I was able to force it through enough to grab the other end with pliers and pull it the rest of the way through. Mounting it was the next trick. The supplied bracket didn't have any holes that lined up with the existing box holes. It was too small to drill new holes anywhere, so I decided to just use the old one from the track mount. Nope. The screws to mount the cover are metric, and slightly too large for the slots in the old bracket. A little Dremel time fixed that by opening up the slots a bit. The old one had 90° wings to mount the cover, which were now in the way, so those had to be cut off, courtesy of a little more Dremel time. It wasn't a perfect fit, but close enough to get the screws through the cover holes and the acorn nuts on. I still like the old one better, but The Wife likes it, and that's what counts.

View attachment 738259

Katniss just laid there and supervised the whole affair. Not really much help at all.

PJ, Condolences for your wife and the family.
That is a really nice room. Looks like the cat really appreciates your work.

 

[Buppies]

Glad you are ok Kyle sometimes like the cow the grass looks greener until he gets to the other side of the fence. Good luck

 

[pennwalk]

Kyle, I read that something like 70 percent of people who changed jobs in the last 2 years regretted it. You can find the article on google. My wife's company used to have a boomerang that they gave to returnees. Engineers have a strange sense of humor.

Chris

 

[sodamo]

Glad to read you and family are safe, Kyle