Search found 274 matches

by Patchy Groundfog
Sat Aug 21, 2021 8:29 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How to Attract Hummingbirds
Replies: 78
Views: 7998

Re: How to Attract Hummingbirds

We have a swarm of hummingbirds that arrive in mid-July and stay until mid-September . I don't know how many there are, but I make 2-3 gallons of nectar a week . Six feeders hanging in a spreading crape myrtle and 2 on the porch and still they spend more time chasing each other and fighting than eating. You want to just sit them down and say, "Guys..."

Also there's a female that guards the porch feeders and won't let anybody else eat from them. I'd like to give her a tiny smack.
by Patchy Groundfog
Wed Dec 23, 2020 6:39 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Buildings burned by Sherman
Replies: 14
Views: 2998

Re: Buildings burned by Sherman

Columbia, SC was burned by Sherman's army. There are photos you can find by Googling it.
by Patchy Groundfog
Sat Jul 27, 2013 7:27 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part V
Replies: 3372
Views: 1561180

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part V

Red Plenty by Francis Spufford. Fascinating blend of history and fiction about the Soviet Union's effort in the late 1950s-early 1960s to build an economy that would be the envy of the West, through central planning, "mathematical economics" and cybernetics. Copiously footnoted.
by Patchy Groundfog
Thu May 16, 2013 3:05 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: I [messed] up - Now what? ($200k in student loan debt, etc.)
Replies: 117
Views: 15579

Re: I [messed] up - Now what? ($200k in student loan debt, e

Do you have to live in an expensive city? In my city you could have a perfectly nice apartment (with a kitchen, even) for $800-900. If you have a roommate, paying $400 in rent frees up $600 a month towards the loans.
by Patchy Groundfog
Mon Apr 29, 2013 4:38 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Town of Bath, England (UK)
Replies: 16
Views: 2242

Re: Town of Bath, England (UK)

Bath is well worth a visit. There's a free two-hour walking tour (called the Mayor's tour, I think) that is a great way to see the city, which is quite compact.
by Patchy Groundfog
Mon Sep 17, 2012 4:20 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Sealing Concrete
Replies: 11
Views: 3290

Re: Sealing Concrete

I've used the Sakrete Top 'n Bond polymer concrete patch to fill cracks. I don't know about durability yet; it's only been a few weeks. It's not expensive, though, and Sakrete has a helpful video on Youtub with tips on how to use it.
by Patchy Groundfog
Wed Sep 05, 2012 8:26 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Immediate Annuities Aren’t for Everyone
Replies: 66
Views: 9418

Re: Immediate Annuities Aren’t for Everyone

I was surprised not to see any mention of health/medical conditions. Perhaps it's too obvious to be mentioned, but someone who has potentially life-shortening health issues shouldn't buy such an annuity. Or even if they don't, if the family's history is poor. Even though there are some "medically underwritten annuities" which will pay a higher rate, the premium wasn't very much, and you have to be old enough to qualify, which I am not. Interesting how on one side insurance companies consider me completely ineligible for life insurance due to HIV, as if I was going to die any minute now, but on the other same companies aren't willing to pay any premium if I buy an annuity. I think there is a contradiction there, and that market se...
by Patchy Groundfog
Fri Aug 10, 2012 8:26 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: GREAT long-term-care insurance article by Christine Benz
Replies: 55
Views: 7105

Re: GREAT long-term-care insurance article by Christine Benz

I think the reason the average nursing home stay is short is because for most families it is a last resort, a hard, sad decision reached after enormous sacrifices been made. That Americans just cavalierly dump their frail elderly into institutions is a myth, I think. It's certainly not something I've observed among my friends or extended family. What I see is people struggling not to do that, often long past the point where it became the only rational decision. I have insurance mainly to make that decision easier for my children, if they have to make it. Just being able to afford the nicer facility should, I hope, relieve some of the guilt that goes with sending Mom to "the home." (I also wonder if that average stay includes peopl...
by Patchy Groundfog
Sun Aug 05, 2012 3:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: traveling with credit card
Replies: 25
Views: 2520

Re: traveling with credit card

I called Chase before an out-of-the-country trip, and they wanted to know exactly which countries and when. Also, if you look on the back of your Chase Visa card, there is a number for a collect call if the card is lost or stolen outside the U.S., so you have to know how to call AT&T in whatever country you're in to make the collect call. I e-mailed all numbers and instructions for my cards to myself so I could have that information handy if I needed it, so of course I didn't need it.
by Patchy Groundfog
Fri Aug 03, 2012 1:07 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Wife is scared to quit.
Replies: 84
Views: 10948

Re: Wife is scared to quit.

I don't think quitting and finding another job is a terribly realistic idea. The job market for fifty-somethings is just terrible right now, especially in fields like human resources and marketing. Here's what I would do, but it's just me: Set a date certain for retirement, like June 30, 2015, and download one of those apps that counts off the days. Learn, with the help of a therapist if necessary, to develop an "Oh well" attitude to those things over which you have no control. CEO not only hired, but is overpaying his son? "Oh well." It is possible - though not easy - to change your feelings by changing your thoughts. Over the next couple of years, take some at-home vacations to save money and get an idea of what it's l...
by Patchy Groundfog
Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:01 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The illusion of control and predictability
Replies: 38
Views: 5415

Re: The illusion of control and predictability

I know I can't plan with precision a trip in 2037, but I don't have to. It won't make a bit of difference if wait until 2036 to think about it. I know I can't predict with precision what my finances will look like in 2037, but I can't wait until 2036 to think about it. I have to use the best knowledge I have now to make the best decisions I can, now. The heck of it is, I probably know a lot of things that just ain't so. Still, I have no choice but to peer forward into the mist as far as I can and try not to walk off a cliff.
by Patchy Groundfog
Sun Jul 29, 2012 9:54 am
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Let's talk about the Olympics
Replies: 115
Views: 13847

Re: Let's talk about the Olympics

I watched some of the opening ceremony but had to turn it off because it was reminding me so much of the village fete in an E.F. Benson "Lucia" novel, kind of comic and cringe-inducing. I'm sure I missed some spectacular stuff by not watching the whole thing.
by Patchy Groundfog
Tue Jul 24, 2012 8:24 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Adopting an adult dog
Replies: 42
Views: 8232

Re: Adopting an adult dog

Thanks for posting the super-happy ending (and a beginning, too) of your story. You're lucky dogs for sure, all four of you.
by Patchy Groundfog
Thu Jun 28, 2012 5:32 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: moving from Massachusetts to Florida
Replies: 8
Views: 2687

Re: moving from Massachusetts to Florida

Last time I moved I marked each box, some of the furniture and the doorways in the new house with colored tape. Worked fine -- everything ended up where it belonged (it was a crosstown move with four or five male relatives as movers).
by Patchy Groundfog
Thu Jun 21, 2012 11:24 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Presenting Scripture in a Text/Frame (Gift)
Replies: 7
Views: 1196

Re: Presenting Scripture in a Text/Frame (Gift)

Talk to someone at a stationery store that does custom invitations. They have special papers, etc., and probably could put you in touch with a calligrapher if you want to do it that way.
by Patchy Groundfog
Sun Jun 10, 2012 6:45 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Any fix for botched inherited non-spousal IRA?
Replies: 54
Views: 16139

Re: Any fix for botched inherited non-spousal IRA?

To Celia: I knew 0 about inherited IRA's at the time; I've learned all this after the fact, including that apparently the first RMD should have been paid to me before the funds were even sent to Vanguard. While I firmly wish I had learned all this stuff before things went bad, people who are in the midst of a loss aren't doing their most analytical thinking. I first learned about the tax implications of inherited non-spousal IRAs on this forum a couple of years ago. At present, two-thirds of what my children would inherit is in a traditional IRA, and this has worried me. Since Vanguard is the custodian I have assumed that they would provide guidance on retitling, RMDs, etc., but this thread has given me pause. I have included in the "...
by Patchy Groundfog
Fri Jun 01, 2012 2:41 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part V
Replies: 3372
Views: 1561180

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part V

How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It by Arthur Herman -- Title exaggerates, of course, but lots of fascinating history I didn't know.


Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath by Michael Norman and Elizabeth M. Norman -- I'm only a couple of chapters in, but it seems to be a well-researched and well-written account.
by Patchy Groundfog
Sun May 27, 2012 4:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: On growing old
Replies: 71
Views: 11987

Re: On growing old

Now that I've had to admit that I'm actually elderly (rmds in two years, just to give this a tinge of finance), I always have in the back of my mind thoughts of nearing the end of my alloted time. Running up the stairs I'll think, "I won't always be able to do this." Sitting under the maple tree with my brothers talking about this and that, I'm conscious of how much they mean to me, as vessels of memory -- our childhood, our parents when they were young, the farm as it was. This morning I stood on my deck and watched the breeze rippling the lake, the birds hopping around the feeders. I thought about the miracle of their little lives and how strange and wonderful that they can fly. I've come to love the weather, all of it. I guess ...
by Patchy Groundfog
Sun Apr 29, 2012 7:09 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Board dog or let him wing it?
Replies: 23
Views: 2422

Re: Board dog or let him wing it?

I think the vet's is a fairly stressful place for dogs to stay. They associate those smells with shots and having their temperature taken. ("What is wrong with these people?!).

We have several "pet resorts" and doggie day cares in our area, where the dogs get a lot of outdoor recreation and socializing. Maybe you could find something like that for your golden, so he could have a mini-vacation, too.
by Patchy Groundfog
Fri Apr 20, 2012 9:21 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part V
Replies: 3372
Views: 1561180

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part V

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dustbowl by Timothy Egan
by Patchy Groundfog
Sun Apr 08, 2012 9:02 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Junk removal companies - any recommendations?
Replies: 14
Views: 3096

Re: Junk removal companies - any recommendations?

I used 1-800-Got-Junk to get rid of some things I couldn't handle, like an old sofa and some heavy items in the attic left by previous owners. They give you an estimate before doing anything, but you can get a good idea of how much it's going to cost when you book the appointment online. Got Junk charges by volume, so you can look at their illustrations of what would fill 1/8, 1/4, etc. of a truck and figure it pretty close.
by Patchy Groundfog
Mon Mar 19, 2012 11:22 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How often do you check how the stock market is performing?
Replies: 31
Views: 2900

Re: How often do you check how the stock market is performin

. When I accidentally catch part of a news report and the announce, infuriatingly, says only that "the Dow was up 82 points today" without saying from what or to what, then, yeah, the next time I get to a computer I'll look to see what it was. Yeah, that drives me crazy, too. From the NPR website: Stock market indexes help newscasters "hit the post," or finish speaking at exactly the right second. For example, some newscasts begin at one minute after the hour. Three minutes later they break so local stations can air their own newscasts (many stations continue with the NPR newscasts, however). The timing must be exact or the newscaster will either be cut off abruptly or speak over the local announcers. I check the stock ...
by Patchy Groundfog
Tue Mar 06, 2012 4:05 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How do you protect your retirement assets from yourself
Replies: 16
Views: 2400

Re: How do you protect your retirement assets from yourself

I think about this issue a lot. At 68, I think I have 10 years or less to make these decisions, if I want to make them for myself. My daughter has a durable* power of attorney already, so she could take over my affairs at any time, temporarily or permanently. My son will be personal representative for my estate, so although I trust my daughter completely, there will be someone else coming behind and looking over how the finances have been handled. (*I've been told the "springing" power can be problematic -- getting it to "spring" can entail the same amount of hassle as not having one at all.) Everyone says you should move to a continuing care facility while you're still independent, and I intend to do that. I don't want ...
by Patchy Groundfog
Fri Mar 02, 2012 10:54 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Who Will Take Care Of My Wife?
Replies: 77
Views: 6239

Re: Who Will Take Care Of My Wife?

You might want to establish a relationship with a good CPA, even paying him/her to look over your tax returns, so that your wife and brother will have someone familiar with your situation to consult, at least on tax matters.

But don't underestimate your wife. I've known more than one widow who stepped up and took over her own financial life very competently. My mother-in-law, a housewife left with three teenaged sons and a small real estate and investment business, learned what she needed to learn and ran the business for the next 30 years.

Your wife may well develop the skills she needs when she needs them, plus you really do have good backup with your brother and your children.
by Patchy Groundfog
Fri Mar 02, 2012 9:59 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Credit Card Hacked -- how?
Replies: 62
Views: 9260

Re: Credit Card Hacked -- how?

Last week I discovered on my Chase Visa a charge to a company in China, along with a foreign transaction fee, that had been made the day before. This card was also compromised a couple of years ago, but that time Chase picked it up and called within hours.

I only use this card for one online retailer (Land's End) and automatic payments to Netflix, Habitat and two periodical subscriptions, so it's hard to understand how the number got out there in the fraudosphere, and why Chase didn't flag this very unusual transaction immediately.
by Patchy Groundfog
Tue Feb 28, 2012 7:36 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Money magazine for Bogleheads?
Replies: 35
Views: 4527

Re: Money magazine for Bogleheads?

I don't read Money anymore, but used to occasionally; it's where I found out about Bogleheads.

John Bogle in "Common Sense on Mutual Funds" gives Money credit for helping to get the word out about indexing:
The most enthusiastic endorsement came from Money magazine, which, in 1995, was generous enough to headline a lead editorial by Executive Editor Tyler Mathisen*: "Bogle Wins: Index funds should be the core of most portfolios today."
*Mathison is now a host on CNBC.
by Patchy Groundfog
Thu Feb 16, 2012 4:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: At what age did you start feeling old?
Replies: 110
Views: 13013

Re: At what age did you start feeling old?

Sometime in my early fifties I realized that I was becoming invisible. When you reach a certain age, people start to look through you or around you, but never at you. It's kind of liberating, really. As long as I don't look crazy, nobody's going to notice what I'm wearing or whether I need a haircut.
by Patchy Groundfog
Thu Feb 16, 2012 9:01 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Am I "young" or "middle aged"?
Replies: 28
Views: 10169

Re: Am I "young" or "middle aged"?

Just wait until you have to face the fact that your children are middle-aged!
by Patchy Groundfog
Tue Jan 24, 2012 7:04 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Popcorn/acoustic ceiling - removal help
Replies: 12
Views: 11586

Re: Popcorn/acoustic ceiling - removal help

Over a period of maybe two years, I removed the "popcorn" ceilings in six rooms and two bathrooms in my house by the spray-and-scrape method. As others have said, easy but messy. The hard part for me was fixing the imperfections left by the original sheetrock installers. Also, painting a ceiling is different from painting a wall; the way light falls across a ceiling highlights areas where the thickness of the paint varies. I wish I had called in professionals for the painting. I had to get a contractor to do my foyer, which has a descending staircase and required scaffolding. Instead of scraping off the texture, he covered it with a skim coat of joint compound. It looks great, but probably wouldn't be practical for a larger area.
by Patchy Groundfog
Thu Jan 12, 2012 8:09 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Found $100 Bill at Walmart
Replies: 161
Views: 19168

Re: Found $100 Bill at Walmart

Some years ago I realized one Saturday morning that my wallet was missing. It wasn't in the car so I knew I must have lost it at the grocery store the night before. I got out my list of credit card phone numbers, then without much hope decided to call the store first. The manager said, "Was it blue?" Sure enough, the night before someone had come in, put the wallet on the counter, said "I found this in the parking lot," and left. Cards and cash were all still there. If I find something of value it's easy for me to identify with the person who lost it, because I've been there more than once. It's a horrible feeling when you realize it's gone, and such a wonderful feeling to get it back. I just couldn't keep a $100 bill lo...
by Patchy Groundfog
Sun Oct 30, 2011 1:55 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How do you deal with the Gloom and Doom
Replies: 80
Views: 10292

Re: How do you deal with the Gloom and Doom

Go to the library, pull a roll of newspaper microfilm for any month from 1965-74 and just read. Terrible urban riots, war, assasinations, Watergate, an oil price shock and severe recession, polyester bell bottoms. For me all of that was current events, not history, and having lived through it makes me watch the news with curiosity, not dread. The only reason I would want to live to be really old is to see what happens.
by Patchy Groundfog
Mon Oct 24, 2011 11:44 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How do you live your life?
Replies: 112
Views: 57870

Re: How do you live your life?

To me, "Live like you were dying" doesn't mean going skydiving and spending all your income every year. It means being present in every moment of your life, whether you're handling the daily routine at work or sitting on the sofa with the baby sleeping on your chest. People who've been diagnosed with a terminal illness always say, "Every day is a gift." Well, that's true for all of us, at every stage of life. Surely it's a sin, if only against yourself, to spoil that gift with worry and discontent.

However you divide your time between family and work, if you can be completely there wherever you are, you've found the balance.

Figured this out a little late, in my fifties.
by Patchy Groundfog
Sat Oct 22, 2011 3:36 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Favorite comic strips
Replies: 50
Views: 5269

Re: Favorite comic strips

Calvin and Hobbes
Dilbert
Zits -- the teenager in this strip is so like my grandson its almost not funny
Dagwood -- although the characters never age, they live in the present time. Dagwood had a flat-screen TV before I did.
Overboard

I'll have to look for some of the strips mentioned here -- I only read the ones in my newspaper, and they keep shrinking.
by Patchy Groundfog
Thu Oct 13, 2011 7:32 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: College Degree in Something Practical...
Replies: 141
Views: 13309

Keep in mind that people graduating from college in 2010 chose their colleges and majors in 2006. The world they graduated into is very different from the one they were living in when they made those decisions. How many of us foresaw a global financial crisis that would take an as yet unknown number of years to play out? I certainly didn't.

Also, it's just a fact that not everyone has what it takes to get an engineering degree; that's why it pays well.
by Patchy Groundfog
Fri Sep 16, 2011 3:39 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cleaning a tiled shower floor
Replies: 19
Views: 2248

Scrubbing Bubbles cuts through soap scum but isn't caustic at all. On a buildup like that you might need several applications and a nylon scrubbing pad. Then use the Scrubbing Bubbles regularly to keep the scum from building up again.

Or you can try dishwasher detergent (Cascade) full strength, but wear a glove, because that stuff is caustic.
by Patchy Groundfog
Fri Aug 19, 2011 1:03 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What Book Are YOU Currently Reading? Part IV. (07/04/2010)
Replies: 1507
Views: 401915

The Patriarch:The Rise and Fall of the Bingham Dynasty by Susan Tifft and Alex Jones. A fascinating account of the family who owned the Louisville Courier-Journal, once one of the most respected newspapers in the country. Because the main characters were still around and cooperated fully with the authors the book is balanced, thoroughly researched and well-written.
by Patchy Groundfog
Tue Aug 09, 2011 6:18 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Suggestions for trip to London
Replies: 43
Views: 6446

Bank of America has a sister-bank arrangement with Barclays that allows no-fee use of Barclays ATMs. I opened a checking account with BOA just for my "trip money" and got an ATM-only (not debit) card. There are Barclays ATMs everywhere, including the airport, so you don't need to get a lot of cash at once. Maybe not the best exchange rate, but convenient. It also felt a little safer to use an account seperate from my primary, linked accounts.

We found the tube system very easy to use as long as you avoid the rush hours. I wouldn't try it with luggage, though, because some elevators may be out of service with all the pre-Olympics construction going on.
by Patchy Groundfog
Sun Aug 07, 2011 5:21 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why is nobody scared?
Replies: 133
Views: 21252

Beagler wrote:During the last bull market a friend and I were discussing investing in general and he'd vowed never to have more than 20% exposure to equities. That was his "sleep at night" number. He adjusted his savings rate up accordingly. I haven't talked to him yet this week, but I'll bet he's glad he stuck to his plan.
Same here. I sold equities down to a little less than 20 percent on Sept. 19 (Dow 11,300) and Sept. 26, 2008 (Dow 11,100) because I was so spooked by the volatility. It felt as though huge forces I couldn't see or understand were whipping the markets back and forth, up and down. Nothing that has happened since then has made me want to get back in -- I don't care where stocks go.
by Patchy Groundfog
Sun Aug 07, 2011 2:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best music to put on our MP3 players for next week?
Replies: 44
Views: 3678

Stormy Monday

They call it Stormy Monday
Well the Tuesday's just as bad
They call it Stormy Monday
But Tuesday's just as bad
Lord, Wednesday's worse
Thursday's all so sad
by Patchy Groundfog
Thu Jul 14, 2011 6:57 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Performance Review Dilemma
Replies: 20
Views: 3058

If your supervisor is a normal person, he hates doing performance reviews and wouldn't do them if he wasn't forced to. It's an especially onerous chore if he's not really familiar and involved with your day-to-day work. Presumably the review will be passed up to his manager, if only to be initialled before it goes into your HR file. Help him make it look like he's knowledgable about you and your work by giving him a list of specific accomplishments to flesh out the review, as nisi suggested.

Also, if you can, go into the interview with some suggestions or questions about how you can grow in your job or expand the boundaries of the job itself.

In other words, help him write the darn thing.
by Patchy Groundfog
Wed Jul 13, 2011 7:08 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: laundry or other chores you hate
Replies: 33
Views: 3287

Re: laundry or other chores you hate

Kashi wrote: And don't get me started about dryer buzzes--oi.
Yeah. The buzzer sound is something you don't think about when you're buying a dryer, or at least I didn't. I can't even turn it off. My daughter's dryer "buzz" is a gentle "Your clothes are dry, dear" sound; mine says "GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" Hate it.
by Patchy Groundfog
Wed Jul 06, 2011 8:02 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How to make a cup of tea
Replies: 38
Views: 4081

One thing I miss about winter -- maybe the only thing - is hot tea, Constant Comment with a lot of sweetner. I put the mug with water and tea bag in the microwave, hit 1 minute, take it out five minutes later. I sometimes enhance my brewed coffee with a cheap instant Cappucino mix that Sam's sells. It makes a terrible cup by itself because it's mostly creamer and sugar, but mixed with a little hot water it gives the regular coffee a nice boost of flavor. You might want to experiment a little more with making home-brewed coffee palatable. If you substitue tea for coffee you're going to be stepping down your caffiene quite a lot. If you only drink coffee on weekdays, no problem, but some people can have withdrawal issues even if they have onl...
by Patchy Groundfog
Tue Jun 21, 2011 2:42 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Impact of Financial Gifts to your Adult Children
Replies: 34
Views: 4506

Maybe you could just set up his account in Vanguard money market, and let him decide which fund(s) to buy. He sounds like the kind of young man who would thoroughly educate himself and follow good advice about how to invest. This might be a great opportunity for him to start taking charge of this very important area of his life.
by Patchy Groundfog
Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:06 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: At what age does it go downhill
Replies: 190
Views: 29088

I'm 67. Sometimes when I happen to notice the slack, wrinkled skin on my forearm, the realization that I'm elderly is very forcefully brought home. There's no way to reverse that slackness, the tissues losing their elasticity, letting go, and nothing I could have done to prevent it. I have to believe that the same process is going on where I can't see it, in all my muscles and joints, vessels and organs, and there's not a whole lot I can do about it. Facing that fact, I think I need to walk some fine line between keeping fit and making unreasonable demands on equipment that is clearly wearing out. Just not sure where that line is. I've never had a serious health problem, but for sure I'm out of warranty and it's just a question of whether i...
by Patchy Groundfog
Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:13 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Book banning (restrictions) by parents (for their kids)
Replies: 67
Views: 6832

My brother and I were compulsive readers with limited access to the library (bookmobile every two weeks), so we read everything we could get our hands on. All the magazines our parents subscribed to (including The Progressive Farmer), all the books on their shelves, from George Eliot to Book-of-the Month Club novels. No restrictions were imposed and not much attention was paid, really. I know that I read some books that were too mature for me, that bewildered and/or upset me. Somebody should have taken The Faulkner Reader away from me, for sure.
by Patchy Groundfog
Sun Jun 05, 2011 12:48 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: could you overlook this? [bad employee behavior]
Replies: 68
Views: 10164

I was always conscious when hiring for my small department that I was changing the working conditions for my current staff, for better or worse. I had enough experience with one inherited employee to know how one person can just poison the atmosphere and make everybody else dread going to work. It sounds like this woman has a personality disorder, and although you surely will use the skills it's obvious you have in dealing with her, she's not going to change or even see anything wrong with her behaviour. I'm guessing she's going to respond to whatever you say with confrontation and/or lying. Once on the Mary Tyler Moore show Lou gave Ted this advice: "You know how you are? Don't be that way." Counseling this employee is going to b...
by Patchy Groundfog
Thu May 26, 2011 1:44 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Laid Off Tuesday.
Replies: 20
Views: 4732

One last note. If something goes wrong and if by some chance you get mailed a check for $45,000, don't panic but don't dawdle. You have a fairly short period of time to get it safely into a custodian's hands, and if it were me I'd phone the IRS and ask them exactly what need to do to get it done properly. For a direct rollover, the check has to be made payable to the new custodian, something like "Vanguard Inc. FBO William Rice". If it's mailed to you, you have 60 days, I think, to get it to Vanguard or whoever. Several years ago my credit union mailed a rollover check to me although they had instructions about where to send it. I called Vanguard and was reassured that as long as I wasn't the payee and I got the check to them wit...
by Patchy Groundfog
Thu May 26, 2011 10:53 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pet Peeve: People without money who waste what they have
Replies: 74
Views: 12168

I accept that other people just have different tastes in spending . When my state was considering having a lottery, a major part of the anti-lottery argument was that poor people would waste their money buying tickets. You picture a hairdresser who spends eight hours putting curlers in old ladies' hair stopping by the 7-11 to buy Powerball tickets... We don't like that. We want her to spend her money on organic carrots and wooden toys for her children, and save for retirement. But I don't see where I get off even having an opinion about that, really. I knew a man who tried to sell the trailer he was living in for a $1,000 and didn't get any offers, just to give you an idea of his socio-economic status. One day I was driving by and saw him ...
by Patchy Groundfog
Thu May 26, 2011 9:31 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What Is Your Parking Lot Parking Style?
Replies: 56
Views: 6076

Here's an article on "tactical parking," about Type B parking for "egress and evasion," if that's something that concerns you.

http://www.itstactical.com/skillcom/dri ... d-evasion/

I'm a Type A parker, but I'm increasingly spooked by pedestrians appearing out of nowhere and walking behind my car when I'm already backing out. I don't know if they don't notice my car is moving, or just assume I'll see them and stop. So far I have, but since I can't see in all directions at once, I'm afraid that's just luck.
by Patchy Groundfog
Tue May 10, 2011 5:08 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: pet grammarian peeves
Replies: 323
Views: 22150

Lana wrote:I looked at the list linked in the message above, but was surprised not to see "bring/take" confusion as a common error. I keep reminding myself that the language evolves, and I should just try to keep up.
That one bugs me, too. I'm trying to just get over it because letting myself be bothered by "He was laying on the sofa," didn't keep that usage from becoming accepted.

Right about now is when someone comes along to say that if you don't have perfect grammar yourself, you can't criticize anyone else's. But I don't think I have to be Yo-Yo Ma to cringe when I hear a false note.