The new "old" date for appliances

Remember Mom's laundry room? Two washers and two dryers. They lasted forever, or at least a long time. My washer died, it won't spin. We checked the belt and it is good so it is something more expensive. We are leaving Saturday for a week so I guess we will pack whatever dirty clothes we need and wash them at the condo. We have a service appointment for Monday December 1, which if my memory of Meagan's trials will mean someone comes and looks at it, goes back to order a part and returns in a week or so. At least I hope that is what they do since the washer turned 10 in August. The last time we needed service it was on the fridge, the tech said "oh this is an old one" I may have something in my truck that will work. The fridge was 10 at the time.

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Social security

Over my lifetime of working I have contributed $150,000 to social security. If you guesstimate an average of a 4% return for 30 years, I will be 89.5 before I start taking out more than I put in. This is my money. Since the majority of my career I have been self employed, that means I pay my part and the employers part. So when you read your bottom line on your social security report think about what your employer contributed and then think about us small businesses where we pay both parts.

 

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California dreaming

Just back from a too short trip to California. Lots to tell. But I thought I would share a picture of one of my tour guides.

 

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Pictures really aren't enough

Meagan, Ashby and I went to Big Sur today for lunch. The resteraunt was 28 miles from Carmel. We took Meagan's VW with the top down. It was another beautuful day in California. The views were amazing. I used my phone but it takes a pro to capture the awesomeness. They have done a great job of having marked observation points and a lot of smaller pull off's. It was hard to miss any of them. Then we got to the redwood forest. The amazing woodsy smell filled the air. We had lunch at a resteraunt was on a precipice overlooking the ocean. It was almost like being on a cruiseliner looking at the horizon where the ocean meets the sky.

 

 

 

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California bound

The luggage is packed, the hotel confirmed and my boarding pass is downloaded. This seems like a major adventure. Usually when we are going on a trip I do my best to guess at clothing, usually over-packing, but reassuring myself that if I forgot it, or need it, my AMEX is securely lodged in my wallet. For some reason this feels different. I put most of my cards in the drawer, including the miscellaneous for gas, my car and store cards, but somehow it feels like foreign territory. I have been to California several times on business, so it isn't the trip. More tomorrow.

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Do you know what year this was?

I am scanning in pictures from Mom's collection.  The date on the back is no help, since Dad would frequently wait a year or more before sending the film in for processing.  So, what year was this?