h20skibum

We recently downgraded our cable package to include just the channels we normally watch, because we are typically watching one of the streaming services. We have Prime, Netflix, and Disney+. Downgrading cable only knocked $50 off the bill, but we haven’t missed anything yet.

I have a sister-in-law that went on a couple cruises with us. She would sleep 8 or 9 hours each night. I told her I had twice the cruise she did, because she slept through so much.

4.5 hours of sleep is about my average each night. You mean people sleep longer than that?

There was an Elvis sighting this morning. (Along with a bat). I don’t know of any other 10 year olds that know the lyrics to so many Elvis songs. It seems his favorite is Burning Love. 🤣🤣 Lord Almighty, Feel my temperature rising!

Great minds and all. I was just going to post the land of the midnight sun. You beat me to it. Plus, I didn’t know drinking had a season.

I had not heard of them. It appears they have one place that services the SE portion of our state. I do not know that I would trust the US mail though. We are still waiting for them to find our lost wedding photos. I mean, they have had 42 years to find them. I am not holing out much hope.

Nothing to replacing the water shut off valves. Done that a couple times with ours. Good luck.

Probably best to wait until the year after FRA, depending on when your birthday is. They actually have another qualifier for the year you reach FRA. This is what they say. If you are younger than full retirement ageand earn more than the yearly earnings limit, we may reduce your benefit amount. If you are under full retirement age for the entire year, we deduct $1 from your benefit payments for every $2 you earn above the annual limit. For 2022, that limit is $19,560. In the year you reach full retirement age, we deduct $1 in benefits for every $3 you earn above a different limit. In 2022, this limit on your earnings is $51,960. We only count your earnings up to the month before you reach your full retirement age, not your earnings for the entire year.

If you are under full retirement age (FRA), you can work and earn up to a certain limit, and if you are collecting SS, there is a reduction for any earnings above that amount. Once you reach FRA, you can work and make any amount, and collect SS, and it will not be reduced.

My wife retired at 60, and took her SS at 62. At that point, her pension was maxed out (ie it wasn’t going to get bigger by working longer). Plus, they gave her free medical insurance until she reached Medicare age. She figured SS at 62 was best for her, because no one in her family lived much past mid 70’s. I am hoping she breaks that record.

Here in Western Pennsylvania, this time of year is known as deer collision season. That is pretty evident by the number we see scattered along the interstate and turnpike. And it was just a year ago that we participated, when we hit one as we were driving from the airport after our Odyssey cruise. That is your answer, right there. I was always told that you will know when it is time to retire. I always loved my work, and it was fun to go to work each day. Then, eventually, it was no longer fun. Then, I ran the numbers, and I realized that because of the way my pension was calculated, it would be more than my salary, and that helped with my decision. So when you no longer look forward to doing what you do, that is the time.

Congratulations to Ava and her team mate.

It was just on the morning newscast for one of the TV stations. My daughter must have had a notification from the school, so she let us know when it would be on.

I decided that today would not be a good day to “go big”. One of my childhood friends (same age as me), passed away. He married my 3rd cousin, and we would always reminisce about growing up, when we would have family get togethers. Then, I just read that an old girlfriend was struck and killed by a car last night. Dated for a couple years in high school and a year in college. Once again, same age as me. Not doing anything to tempt fate today.

That is probably a good decision. Here, I was fortunate enough to be able to collect half of my wife’s, and let mine grow until I was 70. So essentially, I gained 32% by waiting, but with collecting on hers, it made sense for me. I don’t think the younger ones have that option anymore.

Congratulations on reaching that magic age to collect your old age pension. Do you have different options to claim at different ages, or does everyone have to take it at 66 in the UK?

@Momof3gurlz, if you haven’t already done the initial Wi-Fi calling setup, set up Wi-Fi calling while you are at home, and don’t wait until you are on the ship. That way, you can try it out to make sure it works, by putting the phone in airplane mode and connecting to your Wi-Fi network and making a call.

We have 53° and rain this morning, so today is a day to catch up on inside work. One of the things I hate about getting old, is discovering bruises and not remembering what you did to get them. Got a nice one on my forearm by my elbow, with no idea what I hit it on. Maybe I need to start “going big”, like Greg, to make them memorable. Oh, and I got to see my granddaughter on TV this morning, doing the Pledge of Allegiance with her class. She did excellent. When Susan and I worked with the grandkids every day during remote learning, we had them start every day with the Pledge.

And if you want to see some hilarious spelling mistakes, there are some here. https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-spelling-mistakes-errors-fails/

On the way home from the hospital today, stopped at Firebird’s for lunch. And to my surprise, they had seasonal cocktails. 🤣🤣 So here you go @bobmacliberty, a recipe for a cinnamon mai tai. I guess as long as you are experimenting, you can try everything. Lunch was a couple light items. Chicken tortilla soup. And a smokehouse chicken sandwich You can never go wrong when bacon is involved.

It is so nice that you can all get together, Dani. What a great looking group.

Happy 35th anniversary

I will be following along. I should have been getting off Voyager last weekend, but that cruise didn’t work out. Will be interested in your take on Voyager. It has been several years since we were on her.

I think everyone has been “looking” at Icon, but how many will book. It has a few new things I would not mind experiencing, but then I think…… Max capacity 1,000 more than Oasis Class, and not much bigger. I already think Oasis class is too crowded when it sails full. Maybe I will book it during the next pandemic when it sails 1/4 full. Until then, the older ships will be good enough for me.

When we were in Italy, I think we had to stop at every gelato place. Looks good.