I realized after turning down yet another kind off extended to my spouse and me how atypical a lifestyle we lead. And yes, I am talking about how we live our lives, not being gay. There is no such thing as a “gay lifestyle.” One is born gay or one isn’t.

No, I am talking about how we live and what we do, or don’t do, as the case may be.
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Greetings, loyal blog readers. I was all set yesterday to write a new post for this blog, but got diverted to the hospital instead.

Yep, while my senior pal who walks with me and I were out for our early morning brisk walk yesterday, we were struck…
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On Friday evening before I left the house to drive to a sister’s for the regular Friday night family dinner, I posted an unusual-for-me mild rant on social media about how I would rather see photos of babies and puppies than read posts about a certain deadly viral disease (that will remain unnamed on this blog.)

Posts on social media about this disease range from educated and informed to fearful and panic-stricken — the latter mostly among the less educated and more politically conservative of my on-line social community. Some posts have been riddled with dead-wrong fear-mongered crap.

But what has been bothering me is the raging politically-motivated rants about it. Really, I just sick of it. I just want to hear about your kittens, family, and good things in your life. Not the flabbler-flub regurgitated from a certain cable news station that I refer to as “faux news.”

Anyway, while I was at my sister’s…
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I have mentioned for the past several months that I have been working with my local fire department, of which I am a proud Life Member, on organizing the 21st “Senior Safety Saturday” which turned out this year for a number of reasons to be “Senior Safety Sunday.”

Kinda funny how that happened, but that is another story.

So this past Sunday, I wore my Chippewa Firefighter Boots, tactical pants, and my local FD shirt and joined 12 firefighters, two lieutenants, and 60 more volunteers (friends of yours truly) who…
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My spouse and I live a comfortable life. We have a nice home and the things that make life comfortable. We don’t play “keep up with the Joneses” and don’t give a rat’s patootee if we do not lease the latest yuppie-mobile or have the most recent smartphone (or even a smartphone at all.) We seldom go out to eat, and I pack a lunch each day to bring to work. Sure, we could afford these things, but we’re not interested.

Also, being children of parents who lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s means that we grew up in an environment of “waste not, want not” — meaning that we watch what we spend, only spend what we have (that is, no carrying credit card balances), keep a healthy emergency fund, and are generally frugal.

The other day through careful and tedious negotiation, I reduced monthly household expenses by $105. It is hard to do that as expenses and fees for service continue to rise, but it is possible. This is what I did.
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We had a busy, productive, and happy weekend at the ol’ BHD/BB ranch. Saturday, I took the day off from the usual hustle and bustle of chasing lolits, and took my spouse to a car show.

How did we get there?
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I have blogged in the past about how important it is to have an emergency fund for those situations that happen in life. And “those situations” seem to occur to homeowners more often than others.

Two weeks ago, a huge tree in our backyard forest was struck by lightning. From the 150′ (46m) crown to its lowest trunk, the tree was destroyed. It literally exploded.

The tree fell…
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I am among the rare and most misunderstood morning people.

I mean morning, like 0400 (4am), each and every day.

I rise with a song on my lips and energy to pull on my boots, jeans or slacks, shirt, and start my day! No coffee required.

This behavior is so poorly understood by most people who…
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