Category Archives: Retirement

Nix Still Comes Down

February 21, 2011 Charles Leave a comment

Imbolc Waning Bridgit Moon

Boy did we get the snow. Don’t know how much, but it sure piled up in the driveway. Up to the top of my Sorels when I retrieved the paper.

Business meeting this morning. Still reconnoitering retirement finances. They look good right now, real good in fact. The recent market up tick has made our IRA look strong and has helped our savings fund, too. Even so, we need to get comfortable with the income, outgo realities of this new reality. We will.

Need to go out and do some digging, find our sidewalk. I’m sure it’s still there. Somewhere.

Aging, Commentary on Religion, Humanities, Retirement, Woolly Mammoths

Words.

February 7, 2011 Charles Leave a comment

Imbolc Waxing Bridgit Moon

“Belief in the truth commences with the doubting of all those ‘truths’ we once believed.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

This intellectual bomb-thrower has always been a favorite of mine though I’ve not ready any of his stuff cover to cover. A recent bio tries to make him into a closet hyper-religious, but if he is he did the damndest job of hiding it. Sometimes I think an atheist is just an atheist and not a cigar.

I have felt the force flowing with me ever since the retreat. There’s something about being lifted in the mosh pit of old friends that buoys the soul. I’ve got out the pages of Missing I’ve written so far and am finishing an edit/revision I began a while ago, then I’m going to pick up the keyboard and set byte to screen. Kate and I also identified a week in March when I can go back out to Blue Cloud and work intensively on the novel. I’m still weighing it since it seems indulgent, but, hey, maybe it’s time for this kind of indulgence.

We had our business meeting this morning and I had a post-retirement anxiety tremor, so we ran numbers out past 2012. Hah. As if it matters. After 2012. Just in case, though, we ran them anyhow and the numbers do begin to make sense when looked at over a period of time. My tremor quieted.

Had a call this morning from a brother asking for some reassurance. I gave it, though I’m not sure how my input helped. It’s humbling to be asked for such a thing.

Met with Leslie, the UU student at UTS that I’m mentoring this year. It’s fun to watch a young person, she’s my age when I was in Sem, go through the back and forth of this strange vocation, ministry. Had I a chance to do it over again, knowing what I know now, I would have worked at McDonald’s. No. Not really. But, I wouldn’t have gone into the ministry. Maybe art history. Maybe politics full time. Maybe something else, but I wouldn’t have ended up in the ministry. But, I did. Go figure.

Art and Culture, Humanities, Myth and Story, Retirement

Deeper Into The Text

January 31, 2011 Charles Leave a comment

Winter Waning Moon of the Cold Month

We woke up to a new snow, sparkly and still coming down like flour from a flour sifter, gentle but persistent. These kind of snows freshen up the scenery, cover up the dirty layers with fresh white linens.

Business meeting. We’re still feeling our way into retirement finances. Not doing too bad, but we’re both a bit edgy since its new. We’re fine, but until we have experience under our belts we’ll have some doubts. Irrational. Yes. Ignorable? No.

Finished my English to Latin today and am now about to embark on a new adventure. I’m going to work on the Ovid behind the two Titian paintings in the new MIA exhibit that reference the Metamorphosis: Diana and Acteon in book 3:138-255 and Diana and Callisto Book 2:401-503. This means I’m jumping over the intro for now and going straight into the text about the changes. Since these paintings will be here a while, they will add some energy to my work. Should be fun.

Aging, Family, Retirement, Travel

A Decent Insurance Sales Agent

January 27, 2011 Charles Leave a comment

Winter Waning Moon of the Cold Month

Kathryn Kiegler has restored, no, wait that’s too strong, has challenged my opinion about insurance sales folk. She gave us good advice, walked us through the labyrinth that is Medicare and the various parts attached to it A, B, C, and D, then helped us evaluate a plan best suited to Kate’s needs. She was clear, patient, gave us the time we needed. Great person to work with.

We did hit one weird snag. Kate had not gotten her part B card, nor her letter telling her she had been enrolled. Without this letter or the card Kate couldn’t sign up for Medicare advantage at all. Kathryn called Social Security, finally, after a really long and tedious animated voice, a real human came on the line. Kathryn explained Kate’s need for the letter, the woman agreed to fax it and all seemed in order. Except. By the time we were ready to leave, no fax. None of us wanted to wait the 10-12 minutes to go through the animated phone information.

What to do? Kathryn recommended going to the Social Security and getting the letter in person. Not a bad solution since the SSA office is on Chicago Avenue and 18th, not all that far from Kathryn’s office near Westminster Church downtown. So, we drove over there. Kate went in while I waited outside. I’m not real patient with bureaucracy. When she returned a bit later, letter in hand, she told me why we had received no fax. “The man told me the Social Security Administration never faxes anything with a social security number on it.”

Hmmm. Have you ever read Kafka? Can you imagine, say, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles choosing to never fax something with a license plate number on it? Yes, of course. Identity theft. I know. Seems that such intelligent folks could have figured out a solution. One idea. When faxing a document to the person whose social security number is involved? Leave it off and let them fill it in on the other end.

The really good news in this is that our budget for Kate’s insurance costs was about double the cost we’ll pay. That probably means the same will hold true for me. That will remove several thousand dollars a year from our expenses, maybe a bit more. Where was that cruise brochure? Maybe we could afford that round the world jet junket? Nah, even at $65,000 that sounded like a cheesy deal. The Amazon River? Egypt? Possible. Maybe possible.

Aging, Family, Retirement

Finishing the Puzzle–Not Quite Done. But Close.

January 27, 2011 Charles Leave a comment

Winter Waning Moon of the Cold Month

One more piece of the retirement puzzle should get put in place today, Medicaid part D for Kate. We’re visiting an adviser recommended by both Ruth Hayden and RJ Devick to help us sort through the overwhelming number of choices.

Since last year we’ve added social security for both of us, withdrawals from the IRA, my pension, long term care insurance, Kate’s medicare, added funds to our cash savings and trimmed our budget some. Now we just have to live a few months into this way of getting our cash together and see how it works. Don’t anticipate any big problems.

Seems like the most difficult part of all this is the setting up, making choices phase. After that, barring disaster, things look reasonably smooth for us. That way, we can just go back to life as we live it day to day. Because we’ve done so much planning for such a long while now, the transition seems to have been easy, but, of course, it wasn’t. Lots of legwork, phone calls, penciled in budgets, head scratching over rules and options. Worth it though.

Retirement, Travel

Dreaming of the Far Away

January 26, 2011 Charles Leave a comment

Winter Waning Moon of the Cold Month

With Kate now retired, life has taken on a different, more relaxed rhythm. She’s not hurrying to get ready for work, nor is she coming home tired, neck, back and hip on fire. We don’t have that churn created by the world of busy, earn, comply, obey. Both of us have an easier day, though we’re not quite used to what to do with evenings yet since that was her work time and my workout, end the day time. We’ll get a new flow, one that will change with the seasons as the garden and the bees begin to demand more and more time, then subside as fall ushers in another round of senescence and transitions back to the cold, fallow months.

Travel is the one real potential budget wrecker we have. I had some misspent time this afternoon looking at the National Geographic Expeditions catalog. Gee, for only $65,000 a person you can fly around the world, stopping in exotic places along the way, staying in 5-star hotels including the Raffles Hotel D’Angkor in Siem Reap. I know that place, $500 a night and a hell of a good afternoon tea. My $35 a night place was just fine, thank you. Cheaper food, too. That Amazon River cruise looked

Have to sign off now for the Legislative Committee conference call.

Aging, Faith and Spirituality, Family, Friends, Health, Retirement

Gospel

January 22, 2011 Charles Leave a comment

Winter Waning Moon of the Cold Month 3 degrees

In all the hoopla and aftermath of the party I forgot to mention the gospel. The good news. The friend’s wife I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, the one diagnosed with cancer? She came to the party. Not only that she said her energy was better than it had been for a while. She looked good, too. Both she and her husband looked still vulnerable, the residue of concern, fear lingering. She has a hormone treatment, recommended by her oncologist, that may keep the cancer at bay. Not cure it, but keep it from getting a firm grasp on her.

As Leni said, another party goer that same night, about his throat cancer, “Well, you know, the goal now is to make cancer a chronic disease. Something you can manage.” He’s living proof, having survived in apparent good health for several years now. He and the friend’s wife were not alone, either. Hank, another party goer, has leukemia, a disease kept in check now for many years, so much so that it almost recedes into the background.

These are the three I know about. There were probably others. Cancer no longer has the skull and cross-bones attached to its every appearance. Think of it. Cancer is not a new disease. It killed people relentlessly in all centuries before the last one. Now, it begins to look, at least in many cases, like the caged tiger, pacing back and forth within its chemical compound, its lethality imprisoned, though not rendered harmless.

Kate has retired from the practice of medicine as others graduate each year to take up the responsibility, this tricky act we call healing. It has more parts than chemistry and technology and knives, we know this, yet those parts themselves, the fruits of engineering and science, have a great deal to offer. Perhaps this next century is the one where the enlightenment driven side of medicine will meet the ageless truths of the human spirit, joining together in a medicine, a healing for the whole person. It may be that the last years of the baby boom generation, now upon us, will provide the impetus for this fusion.

Aging, Family, Retirement

The Hereford Queen

January 21, 2011 Charles Leave a comment

Winter Full Moon of The Cold Month 0 degrees

Here’s a picture I took with my cell phone at the Great Western Stock Show. That’s the Hereford Queen in white, all white.

Confusing. Yesterday I had cold symptoms that I had to knock back for Kate’s party. Thank you Dayquil. Today most of the symptoms are gone except that nagging, worn out feeling, the sort you get when your body has other things to do than help you be alert.

Today marks the end of Kate’s second full work week of retirement, one in Colorado and one in Minnesota. We’re still sinking back into it, realizing the nuances. Probably won’t be clear for a year or two. We need a full garden and holiseason cycle, too.

This has been a cold winter already and it will get yet colder tonight, though not as cold as last night. A fire, a book, supper, TV and bed. That’ll put this cold back in the bottle.

This was a busy week with the Target tour on Monday, the Woolly Meeting at Scott’s in the evening of the same day, getting ready for the Legcom and holding the meeting, then the last minute prepping for Kate’s party, the Expressionist tour yesterday morning, then the party in the evening. That’s a lot for this guy in terms of outside obligations. Next week looks a bit more subdued, though Monday looks like a lot going on, again. This means I can get back in the Latin groove, push myself toward finishing Vanished. It’s a keeper and I’ve a good bit of it done already.

Aging, Family, Retirement

Kate Has Other Things To Do

January 21, 2011 Charles 1 Comment

Winter Full Moon of the Cold Month -18 outside right now

Woolly Mammoths on parade. The herd came to the event last night. Docents came, too. Tom and Allison and Kathleen and Wendy and Joy and Carreen and Grace and Jean-Ann 6702011-01-20_0607 and Paul. Paula came. John Pastorius came. Suwy came, not once, but twice, at the beginning and at the end. From Shoreview. Before and after work. Kate’s nail lady and hair dresser came. The Perlichs came, Lydia and Pam. Greg and Ana came. Nurses and docs and lab techs from the Coon Rapids Clinic came. Jane and Dobbie West. Around 100 over the evening. Lois and Hank came. Jettie Ann, Jean Ann, Mingjen and a couple of other CIF folks came. There was even a woman who wandered in, not sure what was going on. Once she realized it was a retirement party she went to the gift shop and bought Kate a small beaded purse that matched her jacket.

We gave away fabric bowls, a pillow, a purse and a pint of Artemis Honey. Conversation ebbed and flowed. Servers passed sparkling cider and champagne, appertifs, too. One, a Kobe beef with shrimp in truffle aioli sauce got rave reviews. The Turtle Island String Quartet played through the speakers and the buffet always had a few folks at the counter.

Some wandered off into the museum and came back. Many had not been to the museum before. Many had. Kate wanted the event to provide closure. She said it did.

Then we loaded up the truck and drove home, the temperature dropping degree by degree to -13 as we got home.

Aging, Art and Culture, Family, GeekWorld, Retirement

Expressionists

January 19, 2011 Charles Leave a comment

Winter Full Moon of the Cold Month

A cold stretch coming up. The night of Kate’s retirement party predicted to be -22 with a high of 3 during the day. I have disposable cameras to buy, chipboard for small signs and a couple of things to print out. That last may be a problem. My HP laserjet printer, one I’ve had since the late 90’s, you know, back in the last century, seems unwilling to accept a new toner cartridge. I’ve changed these out many times over the last 10-12 years, so this is a puzzle. My other printer, a Canon color printer, is also down right now. I’m going to take a stab at solving those while I’m out buying cameras and chipboard.

I’ve got my tour for tomorrow morning patched together. We’ll start with Monet, the impressionist Haystack, to ground our further adventures in expressionism. Where the plein air impressionists wanted to show just what their senses saw, color as created by light bouncing off of objects and received by painterly retinas, the expressionists gave up the senses to the camera and tried to depict that cavern measureless to man, the human mind and human feeling. Using the formal aspects of painting in new and unusual ways, color, bright color, chosen for its expressive nature rather than its sensory veracity, flowing lines not always stopping at the borders of one object, compositions set flat against the canvas, shoved up toward the front with all the Renaissance experiments in perspective abandoned, the expressionists wanted to evoke feeling and the swirling inner life of the individual.

Some of my favorite pieces in the museum are in our expressionist collection: Beckmann’s Blind Man’s Buff, Kandinsky’s Study for Improvisation V and the Egon Schiele painting to the right.

Well, back to the tour work.