June 2009

Food of Frankenstein

June 21, 2009

So…you thought that documentary about food production I put you on to a while back was over the top, eh? Evidently not. Take a look at this, will you please? Maybe I’m being altogether too credulous about this stuff…but given a bent for skepticism that fades toward the cynical, I doubt it. Buy local. Buy [...]

Read the full article →

The high cost of Medicare

June 21, 2009

In a comment to my recent post about planning for the pending layoff/retirement/whatever-we’re-calling-it, Abigail asks about the costs of Medicare, which I estimate will be around $300. I’ll be eligible for Medicare in May of 2010. So, between the December 31 canning date and May I’ll have to take COBRA, which will cost about $480 [...]

Read the full article →

Wonderful dinner

June 20, 2009

Last week, M’hijito had me over for a delightful meal at his house. The guy can really cook. I think I mentioned the amazing potato pie he made. At the outset, he’d said we’d scallop some potatoes. This was the upshot: It was one of the tastiest potato anythings that I have ever enjoyed. He [...]

Read the full article →

Moments of Fame

June 20, 2009

Earlier this week, the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights went online at Pecuniarities, with a cool surfin’ theme: great photos and music! Funny’s list of low-cost cultural experiences made the cut here. Others had similar ideas: check out The Happy Rock’s guide to free music websites and The Buck List shares an interesting secret you may [...]

Read the full article →

Older houses: Living better with less?

June 19, 2009

Sometimes I think the modest things I have in life are so much better than anything I could buy for a zillion dollars. Maybe I suffer from the sour-grapes syndrome. But…well, you tell me. Is this sour grapes or common sense? This morning La Maya invited me to go with her to an estate sale [...]

Read the full article →

Planning for layoff-induced “retirement”

June 18, 2009

In a moment of lucidity, I realized that of course if my basic survival account is padded with a five- or ten thousand-dollar cushion, what will matter in “retirement” is not month-by-month income (earnings will fluctuate wildly because teaching money will come only in spring and fall), but how much I will earn on average. [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →