Winter's Here

 

We got some snow that arrived with the winter solstice - temperatures in the teens as well. The sun was warm Saturday morning, so I got out early and shoveled off the sidewalk and the apron for the garage. I'd hate to have the Amazon guy fall or have the truck go sideways while pulling into the garage. Light and fluffy snow, so no strain on the chest muscles. It'll all be gone today or tomorrow anyway. 

Instead of working in the shop over the weekend, I decided to start studying for the upgrade on my ham radio license. I'm planning on taking the test before the February club meeting starts, as long as that's acceptable to the examiners. I don't think I'll be ready for the January meeting, and I might be back to work in March. Should give me plenty of time to study and review. The format is the same as the Technician license - 35 questions from the question pool with 26 correct answers needed to pass.

The photos above both had to be cropped in order to get them to load onto the computer. Normally I shoot the pics with the phone and then email them to myself. I then download them to the hard drive on my computer. However, my email has been "upgraded" and will no longer download them unless I crop the photos. Apparently, the photos are too large for the new email program to deal with even though I've been doing business this way ever since I got the smart phone a few years ago. Going to have to give that some thought.

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Here's a little helpful hint to those of you planning on retiring comfortably with your Social Security check. I received a missive from SS about the 2.5% COLA adjustment I'll be receiving starting in January. While that's nice, when I added up my deductions for Medicare part B&C, and my "voluntary" federal tax withholding, I'm giving back 21% of my check. And, just for the record, at no time did I volunteer giving back any of my check for federal tax. My SS account was funded by my employer and I being taxed to begin with. The Missus' check gets hit even harder because she has another Medicare expense taken out of her check that I pay directly. 

Now that the new year is right around the corner, it's a good time to work on the budget and try your best to make sure your retirement plan is properly funded. I realize times are tough for a lot of people but it's a known fact that Uncle Sam is not overly concerned with looking out for your best interests. 36 trillion in debt with another trillion being add every 100 days is not going to leave much for you and yours. Especially when they expect the SS fund to go bust in about 10 years. As my old friend Dobak used to say, "Save your money!"