Ace Wisdom

Here is a money lesson.  Compounding of interest is a powerful thing. I’m told we screwed the Indians when we bought Manhattan, N.Y. for $24 during the 1600’s.  If the Indians had invested the $24 at an interest rate of 8% and reinvested it over and over, they would have enough money to buy Manhattan back today at current prices.  I don’t have the energy to do the calculations but is it possible the Indians screwed us?

It is “full fledged” Obamacare season.  The sign up period or renewal period for Medicare with all it options exists until early December. Anyone not covered by insurance must sign up for a program or pay a penalty.  My mail is flooded with advertisements.  What does an old senile person do?  It is complex.  It is an individual thing.  You need to assess you personal medical situation, consider the risk of possible future problems and then, and then, what can you afford?  It hurts to think about it.  I’ll take it under consideration right after the Packer game on Sunday.

3000.  At 7:30 AM tomorrow morning, the brand new Costco store opens it doors in Grand Chute and they expect 3000 people to scurry into the store.  It costs $55-$110 per year to join.  Is Costco that good with it’s bargains?  Why do 3000 have to see the store on the first day?

I’m compelled to make several predictions.  The Green Bay Packers are going to struggle to win their division.  Jordy Nelson’s injury before the season began, sealed their destiny.

The UW-Badgers were an overwhelming favorite to win their Western Division of the Big 10.  They lost their first home game to Iowa and Iowa will now go unbeaten.  The Badgers fate was sealed early in the season.  They will be an “also ran”.

No I’m not negative.  Facts!  Just facts.

Love,

Dad

Against expert advice (including Clark Howard), your Mom and I have “bundled” cable TV, internet, and telephone.  Yesterday afternoon I went to turn on the TV and I had no picture.  I turned on the computer to find no internet service.  Yep, the phone was dead too (we couldn’t even call Time Warner to complain).  The whole sh– was down.  I am slowly going to change the “all-in-one” service.

Halloween night was the first time I can remember that we weren’t home to hand out candy.  It saves a lot of money but I miss the sampling.

We got to visit Grasshopper No.5 in Minneapolis over Halloween.  We went to see the play “Flashdance”.  That is not the story.  The play was held at “The Mystic Lake Casino” southwest of Minneapolis.  It is a huge, glitzy, maybe bordering on palatial complex with theaters, meeting rooms, hotel accommodations and multiple restaurants.  Did I mention bingo halls and gambling floors.  It is owned by the Sioux Indians.  Lots of strange people wandering around.  Halloween costumes didn’t help.  Our American economy may suffering, but I can report the Sioux are doing quite well.  It reminded me of driving up to Caesar’s Palace in Vegas. No I didn’t win anything.  In fact, it is “bread and water” for the next few weeks.

My snow blower started with one pull!

Love,

Dad

My fellow “marathon trainee”, Tom, has had successful surgery and is now being spoiled by hospital protocols and yep, hospital food.  He needs to get home so that I get my monthly newsletter on Nov. 1.

What does it mean when there are snowflakes in the air?

What does it mean when “wind chill” maps are being shown during weather broadcasts?

What does it mean when my calendar says “mount snow tires”?

What does it mean when you have to “set back” your clocks because it is the end of Daylight Saving Time?

You know what it means!

Halloween is Saturday night.  It sounds like it is going to be cold and rainy.  Ooooohhhh Nooooo!  I have bought bags and bags of candy for Trick or Treat and now I’m going to have to eat more of it myself.  I’m going to have extra “Reese’s Pieces, Kit Kats and Snickers, oh my”. Reese’s Pieces, Kit Kats and Snickers, oh my”.  Is there such a thing as diabetic shock?

Packers at Denver Sunday Night.  Two unbeatens.  Be there!

Love,

Dad

The nightly news TV broadcast #1 story is about a student who refused to leave a high school classroom.  A school policeman forcibly removed the student and is now facing Federal Investigation for civil rights violations.  Really?  I don’t know what happened prior to the encounter but the student was “disruptive”.  Here we go!  When I was a kid, if I was disruptive in a class I didn’t have to worry about getting disciplined by the teacher (we didn’t have officers patrolling the halls). I had to worry about my dad “kicking the sh–” out of me for mis-behaving.

Grandson Mitchell’s high school football team lost in the first round of the Wisconsin State playoffs.  The game was decided by errors.  Where have I heard the “coaches lament” before.  Hang on to the ball. Minimize the mistakes.  Focus!  In the end, it was a great year for Mitchell’s team.  They are Conference Champions.  We can only dream of what might have been if the team hadn’t made mistakes

I need to worry about meat causing cancer.  The World Health Organization (WHO) says tests indicate bacon, processed meats, wieners, and yep, steaks are all dangerous.  Now what do I eat?

Grasshopper No.2 says that banning guns is a diversion.  The world needs to ban forks.  The forks feed our face, cause us to eat too much and are much more dangerous to your health than guns.  Forks should not be a problem because all the foods we like and dislike are dangerous cancer causing agents.  There is nothing left to eat!  Now what do I do?

We got a new mattress from Amazon.  It ships in a box.  It weighs 100 pounds.  It is about the size of a golf bag (the container is small and oblong).  The secret is that the mattress is vacuum wrapped for shipment.  When the vacuum wrap is released, it is like pulling the string on a girdle.  The mattress expands to normal size.  Fun to watch.

Love,

Dad

A warm hug to my daily morning physical fitness training pardner, Tom.  He underwent a simple medical procedure at AMC (Appleton Medical Center).  He needs to stay in the hospital for several days.  In today’s world, nothing is simple.  Our hopes and prayers are with him.

A belated Happy Birthday to Grasshopper No.5.  She is the last of our “tribe”.  Because she was born so many years after the 3 oldest kids (No.1, No.2, and No.3), they were not able to corrupt her.  She was allowed to become her own person.  She is a special sister.  I hope her day was special.

Basketball calls it March Madness.  Tonight the Wisconsin State High School Football Championships begin.  Maybe we should call it “Friday Night Insanity”.  Good Luck Mitchell and his Middleton Cardinals.

My German car has a 50,000 mile warranty including free service on “everything”.  Free oil, parts, and brake adjustments.  Yesterday during a free service I got free wiper blades.  Ain’t that special.  I also got my car washed for free.  My common sense kicks in and tells me that “nothing is free”.  I paid for all the “free stuff” when I bought the car.  Isn’t this is a silly little game we play.

There will be a “Packer withdrawal” this weekend.  It is their bye week.

Love,

Dad

 

 

Your Mom and I attended the last two UW-Badger home football games. Both early games.  Good weather.  What more can you ask? I’m getting too old to “jump around”.

Mitchell stopped by during the game last Saturday with his “friend” to say hi.  I think he was sitting in “box seats”.  What is wrong with this picture?

Mitchell’s team won the high school football Conference Championship. Middleton ended up 8-1.  They now enter the Class One State football championship as a No.2 seed in a bracket of 8 teams.  That means they will play their first two games on their home field.  It is a nice way for a senior to close out his high school career.

More on Money Tip #1 -Saving.  As mentioned, the more you save, the more choices you have.  The vindictive side of saving is the FU factor. If someone tries to take financial advantage of you, you have the savings to say FU.  Oh yeah!

When you have as much money as Oprah Winfrey, you buy a 10% stake in Weight Watchers (their stock had been dying slowly, so she bought it at a 70% discount).  Total investment?  $43 million.  At the end of the trading day after people learned of her interest in Weight Watchers, WW stock prices rose and oprah’s investment rose to $93 million.  As my mother observed, the rich get richer and the poor get kids.  Oprah has options to buy more stock at lower prices and I guarantee the stock will rise in price.  See what Oprah’s savings did for her.

I think we are past “peak colors”

Love,

Dad

Your Mom and I went to see “Kinky Boots”.  Lots of loud music.  Lots of glitz.  Drag queens are in vogue.  Actually it was entertaining and we ended up liking the star “queen”.

The good news is you won $1 million in the Illinois lottery.  The bad news is you don’t get your money.  You get an I.O.U.  The lottery is tied to the Illinois State budget which expired in June and the new budget is not approved (they are arguing about pension obligations). Supposedly you will get you money when the budget gets approved.  I wouldn’t spend any winnings yet.

More on Money Tip #1.  The more you save, the more choices you get. More choices will make you happy.  Let me make this simple.  If you have no money, you have no choices. With no savings, you are at the bottom of the “food chain”.  The bottom sucks.

The cost-of-living apparently is near “0”.  That means Social Security recipients like your Mom and I will not get an increase in 2016. Medicare insurance on the other hand is going up.  So how does that work?  Now we will pay more for medical care but our income stays the same.  We may end up living with our kids.

I think Grasshopper No.1 added a cute, furry little little puppy to the family named Callie.  Second choice was Molly (the Collie).  Obviously, Grasshopper No.1 is not reading my advice on Saving.  On the other hand, she does seem to have choices.

I’ll tell you what sucks!  Waking up in the dark each morning sucks.

Love,

Dad