Busy day

I had a meeting with my finance guy this morning and he seems to think I might actually be able to retire.

My finance guy is a saint of a man who reminds me of Fred Rogers. He would never say or think anything bad about anyone but I'm pretty certain he thinks I'm a whiny little bitch whenever I say, "Man, I'm never going to be able to retire!"

What he said was, "You two are in great financial shape. Yes, the market has given everyone fits this past year but you guys have prepared well for your retirement and are all set. Let's meet again next April and see where things stand."

It's nice to hear we have done the right things.

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After that it was time to do some much needed "refreshing" of the woodwork in our bathroom.

When we had the bathroom done several years ago, I put some molding in place between the shower and the sink. Nothing fancy, just something to close the gap between the edge of the counter and the shower wall. Because it's a small bathroom with a shower, the room gets steamy and things get wet, including the woodwork. In the case of this particular woodwork, it looked grey instead of brown and there was almost no polyurethane coating on it anymore.

I pulled the molding out and took it downstairs where I sanded it, applied a fresh smear of stain and then two coats of polyurethane. It now looks brand shiny new.

I figure it'll be another five or ten years before it needs to be refreshed again and by then I'll probably be dead. If not, then I guess I'll do it.

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Let's talk about NOTAMs.

A NOTAM is short for "NOtice to AirMen" and it is a FAA public notification to pilots of anything that they need to know about. For instance, if someone decides to build a building near Bradley Airport and they erect a 100' tall crane to do that, there will be a NOTAM for Bradley telling pilots to be aware of that 100 foot tall crane. If the lights on a taxiway at Barnes Airport go out, there will be a NOTAM that identifies what taxiway is out of service.

Here is an example of a NOTAM:

DUE WIP TWY B SOUTH CLSD BTN 'F' AND 'R'. TWY 'R' CLSD BTN 'A' AND 'B' AND DIVERTED VIA NEW GREEN CL AND BLUE EDGE LGT.

My interpretation of that is:

Due to work in progress, taxiway B-South is closed between taxiways "F" and "R". Taxiway "R" is closed between taxiway's "A" and "B". Traffic will be diverted. Follow the new green centerline and blue edge lighting.

Clear as day, right?

If a significant event is happening. like the Superb Owl, or a VIP is at a particular location, there will be a special NOTAM called a TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) issued that tells pilots they are not allowed to fly with that airspace. Washington DC has a permenant TFR in place:

When the system went down last night, most major carriers said, "No way we're gonna fly around without knowing where there are problems" and they all put on a full stop.

So if you were trying to get somewhere today and your flight was delayed or cancelled, blame the FAA.

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Maybe I'll get around to buying a ticket for this one.

$1,350,000,000 divided by 30 payments is $45,000,000 every year for 30 years. That's roughly $27,000,000 after the feds and the state takes their cut in taxes.

I could absolutely retire on that...

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I'm going to wallow in the knowledge that someone thinks I might actually be able to retire.

You can enjoy these links if you want:

• His constituents must be so proud of him...



• Key quote in this story "My girlfriend called me and said 'Hey, can you get my bag that I left there' so I went back inside and I heard rumbling outside."



• It's only a matter of time before they outlaw knifes.



• I did not know this. Did you know this? I bet you didn't know this.



• "Worlds Best" is a flat out marketing lie.



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "3:11 p.m. A man approached a woman on the walking path, offered a piece of bloody meat, and then asked if she was looking for a good time.."