Is there such a thing as a perfect “normal” day? I don’t mean vacations and special occasions, just a normal day. I’m not sure if there is: but I can easily describe my days that come closest.
For me, any Wednesday is an ideal candidate. That’s when automatic payments from two separate annuities drop into my checking account—easily covering all my essential spending. Getting to this point took decades of consistent saving, long hours and some luck,

Occasionally I meet a customer who has a sophisticated technical requirement. Recently it was a visiting corporate IT specialist who pinpointed a laptop he liked because the solid state drive could be expanded. Before completing the purchase, I suggested he look at another high performing computer on display in which both the memory and solid state drive could be upgraded. After some deliberation and research, my recommendation made sense to him. 

There are instances when someone may need a computer that can be performance enhanced based on potential future needs.

A few weeks ago we had another strong winter storm. We lost a large, mature tree and being the frugal person I am, I saw the opportunity to convert it into a few years of logs for our wood burning stoves. Unfortunately my cheap electric chainsaw gave up the ghost during operations.
Yesterday I purchased myself a gas powered chainsaw from the online website of a large DIY business. While navigating through the purchase and hitting the click and collect button,

Relative to my recent computer column, occasionally I will bundle a computer and printer for a customer.
 
There are two types of printers-Laser and Ink.
 
A laser unit utilizes toner instead of ink. They are generally larger in size and can generate several thousand prints before needing to replace a cartridge. A monochrome laser prints only black and white; a color laser contains black plus cyan, magenta and yellow cartridges. For someone doing high-volume printing, a laser makes sense.

Although well past retirement age, I was always gadget oriented and fascinated by the evolution of consumer electronics. For the past several years, I have been working part-time at a national retail electronics chain advising customers how to buy computers, printers and digital cameras. With the introduction of artificial intelligence in computers, I wanted to point out a few features in the new computers for anyone thinking about replacing an older unit or who has not been in the market for a while.
 

This morning on the elevator Connie and I were commiserating with a friend, a fellow octogenarian, we exchanged the normal pleasantries-how are you, how’s it going, what’s new, how are you feeling? “Can’t complain” was the standard answer.
But then he said … “they lied to us, where are the Golden Years?”
Have we been duped by advertising? “Golden years” refers to the later years of life, typically retirement-originally in the context of age 65,

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, one of the major holidays in the US calendar. I hope you had a wonderful day and the combined weight of your family dinner plates didn’t cause structural problems for your dining table. The story and origins of the holiday are well known. As you wake up this morning and into the dawn of the retail extravaganza that’s known as Black Friday and its contemporary, Cyber Monday, have you given any thoughts about their origin story?

And now… the rest of the story.
Good day. It is a very good day.
It was November, 1621. Ninety Wampanoag warriors and their chief, Massasoit, sat down with fifty-one Pilgrims for a three-day feast of deer, wild turkey, and corn the Indians had taught them to grow.
The history books call it “The First Thanksgiving.”
And it was… glorious.
Laughter, gun salutes, archery contests, and tables groaning with food.
What the paintings don’t show is that half the Pilgrims who had arrived the year before were already dead.

A more realistic title would be “when”, not “if”. It doesn’t take much, especially if you’re over 65: a broken bone, a joint replacement, failing eyesight, a stroke or heart attack, dementia. If you have a partner, and rely on the partner for transport, the same problems apply.
My mother, born in 1906, spent over 90 years living in England without ever learning to drive. There are a few cities in the US where that’s possible – New York,

Recently, we needed a new dishwasher.
The appliance company crew went about removing the old unit, making adjustments in order to install the new unit, then installing the new unit.  They provided a quick explanation of the controls.
After the crew left, I realized there was only a single basket for the knives, forks, spoons, etc.
Realization:  I should have pulled out the multiple baskets in the old unit!  Those baskets  might have saved the need to find and buy some after market baskets.

FOR DECADES, RESEARCHERS have been looking at the link between money and happiness. The findings? In short, it’s a mixed bag.
To be sure, there are ways that money can boost happiness, and below are some ideas to consider. But there are also obstacles to contend with. We’ll look first at the obstacles before turning to the recommendations. 
The most significant challenge is the fact that—to a great extent—our happiness level is hard-wired into us.

 
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the brokerage Robinhood is partnering with Gopuff to deliver cash directly to customers’ homes. For $6.99 (or $2.99 if you’ve got over $100K in your account), skip the teller, skip the ATM, and get your money in a sealed paper bag at your doorstep.
I’m already picturing it: an alert pops up—“Your money has been delivered!”—complete with a photo of a cash bag on my front stoop next to the Amazon delivery.

I’ve a sore back and I’m a bit irritated at the moment, but not because of the lower back pain, but another more irritating pain, namely people. I spent today locked in combat with the leaves in our garden, a battle I was destined to lose, as four separate pedestrians felt compelled to inform me. There I was, hunched over, rake in hand, working the grass verge out front. This is where things got interesting, by which I really mean deeply irritating.

I’ve decided my outer extremities have made the giant leap to sentience. I think it’s a distributed system. Over the last nearly sixty years, my only internal monologue was the one happening between my ears. Thankfully it’s always been a single voice and not a baker’s dozen whispering peculiar thoughts.
Retirement seems to have been the breakthrough point. I’ll be sitting in a quiet room, minding my own business, when the rebellious parts of my anatomy decide to join the party.

I think on occasion it’s nice to highlight a simple little pleasure of retirement—nothing earth-shattering, you understand, just something the gift of retirement time has allowed you to accomplish.
Late yesterday morning I found myself standing on a mile-long sandy beach, the Atlantic breakers sounding like a jet engine and the wind trying its playful best to knock me over. I was accompanied by eight other retired individuals as we marshalled ourselves to conduct a voluntary beach and sand dune clean-up.