My Two Cents Worth For Today

 We got some Pancake Mix that was dried Strawberries and Yoghurt Chips in the Batter Mix. The Daughter made some this Morning and they were delicious, I'd definitely Buy this Mix again.  It was at "Trader Joe's" and only $3.99 a Box.  I've done all my Grocery Shopping for the Month, it's gonna be a lean Month, tho' I was pleasantly Surprised that my Bank Stock Dividend Check was double what it usually is, so, Chase Stock is doing well at least.  *Whew*  It's always performed and given me passive income flow Quarterly for around 50 Years now, so, I can't complain.  I was shocked that a Friend who works in a High Position at AMAZON says his Stock doesn't pay him Dividends and he can only Sell it with the permission of his Employer, WTF?  Then what good is it as an Investment vehicle for passive income flow!?

Now, Companies like AMAZON don't pay Dividends with the excuse of prioritizing Growth and Reinvestment over immediate Payouts to Investors.  But, does it really need to get bigger, REALLY, or have Need of the Reinvestment of their Shareholders Money when Bezos is a showoff Multi-Billionaire himself... REALLY?   Seems to me he's screwing over his Shareholders by using their Money rather than his own and dictating how they can even and when they can even Sell Off their Stocks!!!  I don't want anyone Dictating my Investment Vehicles, it's my Money, my Investment, and I utilize it for MY Benefit, that's the fucking Point of Investing!  I want a Return on my Investment every fucking time, and consistently for my own Benefit.  If the Company I'm a Shareholder in wants to use MY Money, I want them to Pay to use it... that's the Retired Bank Executive in me I guess.  There are no Free Rides.  *Winks*

Clearly Investing in Stocks that pay Dividends is Beneficial to the Shareholders.  Yes, Reinvestment and Growth is Important, but, the Business needs to use it's own Money, not mine and for Free, that's just my personal opinion, you can agree to disagree.  There's no Guarantee with Stock whether it will increase in Value just coz Money is being reinvested, and if they Dictate also when you can Sell, will they really agree to let you when it's highest for YOUR maximum Profits?   I don't want the Business telling me what to do with Shareholder Owned Investments, seems it constitutes a Conflict of Interest on their part to have that much Control over their Shareholders IMO.  But, Investing is a personal choice, so I didn't argue with my Friend, he seems Okay with his Options and he's Wise, he's not a Stupid Guy, he's a Tech Savant himself, which is why they Hire him to develop AMAZON's Technology.

You should see his Computer Room in his Home, it looks like he works for NASA and it's Water Cooled, fucking Ahhhmazing setup!  His whole Home is too, he's Single and his Home is a Designer's Dreamscape, he's got Style.   Love his Home coz he has the Color Palette in Black and Red, with lots of Chrome and an Industrial Vibe, sleek, Classy and very Trendy... he Styled it all himself and for a Bachelor Pad, it's immaculate!  He and The Daughter were a couple for a Minute, he said if he ever Married he'd Buy his Wife her own Home nearby, coz, he doesn't think, as a Guy now in his 40's, that he'd wanna Share Space full time.  I get it, if you haven't had to, but Midlife, you don't want to either.  The Daughter was about the only Woman he went out with that was Okay with that potential Arrangement if they got Serious. *LOL*  Hell Yeah, Buy me my own House, no problem, I don't wanna Live full time with a Guy either.  *LOL*  But, she has no desire to ever Marry, so, now they're just Best of Friends.  

He's a helluva Guy and would be Idyllic SIL Material.  She got a kick that he and I would be always talking Finances, Investments and shit like that.  Though he's a legit Genius so he'd get way over my Head, he and The Young Prince could and would Gel on an Intellectual level better.  Genus to Genius with similar Interests in Deep Subject matter.  The Daughter's Eyes would glaze over coz that Topic is Boring to her, she is not the least bit Materialistic and would prefer that people lived without actual Money and just Traded for what they Needed or Wanted.  He said she was Fun and made it so that he had balance between Work and Play, coz he was so Deep into his Work that he'd sometimes be all Work and no Play otherwise.  He was also into Weaponry so he and The Man bonded on that level of Interest.   His Weaponry Vault was something The Man would be over the Moon to see and then want.  *LOL* 

 They'd be ready for the Apocalypse with Glitch's Cache of Weaponry.  *ha ha ha*  I don't even know his given Name, we've always called him Glitch since he was a Teenager.  *Smiles*  He's always been an Oddball Young Person who was ridiculously Genius, but didn't look like your Garden Variety Tech Geek or Intellectual.  He's a very big, muscular, good looking, heavily Tattooed Guy with full Color Sleeves on both Arms, dresses like a Biker, so, you'd think was an Outlaw Biker Dude instead of a Stephen Hawking type Intellectual.  Ergo, Glitch doesn't Socialize much, most Genius people don't, so he's off the Grid a lot Socially and very reclusive in his Nature.   The Daughter could roll with that coz tho' she is very popular and has a lot of Friends, being a Schizophrenic can be a disconnect Socially too.  I always felt that Glitch had Asperger's Syndrome and he said he always wondered if he was indeed on the Spectrum of Autism high function?   I highly think so. 

Speaking of Glitches, I just had one in my Photo Archives and do Hope it clears up coz it kinda shook me when I couldn't bring up any Photo Folders and The System said it couldn't "Find" anything!!!  Yikes!!!  I thought initially, Shit, did all my Photos get Purged in some System Glitch?!  But, I just backed out and went back in, Thankfully, everything was Restored when I did that, so, indeed it was a temporary Glitch.  *Whew*  Bloggers Panic when shit like that happens and we lose Online Content, even temporarily, but when we think it could be permanently!?  I'm just relieved it restored itself and so quickly.   It's 117 Today and not even yet the Heat of the Day, so it could go higher.  It's supposed to exceed 116 all Week and we've got huge Fires raging all over the State, especially in Northern Arizona, with the North Rim of the Grand Canyon losing 130,000 Acres so far to that enormous uncontained Fire up there.  But Two more large ones are burning as well.   The above Pix was taken several Years ago by one of the Kiddos as I was watching a Sunset in the Fall, with all the fallen Pecan Leaves around me in the Back Pasture.

After I pick Princess T up from Work I think I'm going to dive into the Pool to Cool off, coz she gets off during the Heat of the Day, so it will likely be Hotter than the Reading I took before Noon in my Truck of the Reading my exterior Sensors monitor.   It will mean another Midafternoon Siesta is likely in Order too after Lunchtime.  I've got another Package ready to Mail to The Young Prince since his 25th Birthday will be August 9th.  It's only gonna have some more Clothes and a Birthday Card with Money in it.   The Tees are Specialty types like what HOT TOPIC and SPENCERS Sells, one has all the Horror Movie Icons sitting at a Last Supper Type Table and says CHURCH OF HORROR.  {See Below Pix and it's on a Black T-Shirt}  Another has Salem 1692 and a Witch but says "They Missed One...", and on the back has various Symbols down the Spine of it. {See Pix of Shirt Below}  The other is an Iconic "Grateful Dead" Shirt of a Special Concert they performed called the Olympic Tour.  I know he'll like all Three and wear them.

Online these Shirts go for around $25 each and I got all Three at SAVERS for less than $5 each.   By the time I was picking her up at 3:30-4:00 in the Afternoon from Work, it was up to 119 degrees.   Sweltering Hot and it felt every bit of it, of coarse "Officially" I doubt they'll document it as being that Hot, but they are admitting finally that it's gotten to 116 and 117 at their Cooler site they Record "Official" Temperatures from, tho' in Urban Phoenix Metro, it's always Hotter than the Officially Recorded Temps, so it's not at all accurate and never has been.   So, when they say we've broken Records, they mean only Officially Recorded ones that are several Degrees lower than it really always is.   I'd venture to Guess we're ACTUALLY breaking Heat Records every single Day now.   And every Year it gets Hotter and at some point that's not sustainable for Life of Wild things and the Plants and Trees to survive.  I worry about the losses we're already Witnessing in recent Years.  We've lost so many of the Ancient Magnificent Old Saguaro Cacti already that normally live a couple Hundred Years or more.

Noon Temperature

I haven't felt very hungry, what with the Heat and the Ozempic, my appetite is quite suppressed.   I'm Hopeful my A1C will get much better and my Weight.   I'm doing all I can to develop the best regimen to improve both... and thus stabilize, manage or eliminate Diabetes.  I'm hoping that The Man will behave better and do the same.  It's up to him tho', I can't do it FOR him.  So far he's behaving better than usual and I'm Hopeful that will Hold?   I let him get some Cardio in Today by going to The Granddaughter's Work with me and Walking around in the comfort of Air Conditioning for a couple Hours.  He'd never put that many Steps in at the Gym or use most of the Equipment, so, I have to get Creative to get him Moving in ways he enjoys doing and will do for an appropriate length of time to make a Positive difference.

4:00 p.m. Temperature

I might just ditch The Man Tomorrow Morning after 9:30 a.m. and go to the Gym for a proper workout.  I need to set aside more Me Time to do that even if he doesn't want to workout or cannot due to his present Health complications.   I actually miss going and spending my 1-2 Hours there, which is about all I can manage and spread out doing various things I enjoy doing while there.   My Doctor did encourage me to get in more Gym Time, she feels it is a Mental boost as well as a Physical one, and she'd be Right about that.  I always feel Mentally Uplifted after having spent some time there doing whatever I decided to do for that visit.   This is why I think I could personally go every day for at least an Hour and never tire of it and really get the use out of my Membership.  I like Exercise, I guess I'm a Weirdo like that, it's not something I dread doing and I'm always told by people I know that I'm way more Active than even most Young People.  When I do something Physical I can still do it for Hours without fading. 

When we do Environmental Cleanup we always do it for Hours and we've sometimes taken others with us who are even Half or more our Age, the Generations of our Adult Kids or our Adult Grandkids, and they can't keep Pace, none of them so far.   They will Tap Out long before we do and so The Man and I usually decline the offer for any of them to accompany us.  Coz we know they'll wanna quit way too early and can't Hang.  *LOL*  They claim we can have that kind of Stamina becoz we do it all the time, at least 1-4 times a Week, Hours at a time, and that could be Right... anything done with consistency builds up your Stamina to do whatever it is.  And when I do go to the Gym, I could do longer Workouts, what keeps me from doing it longer than I do is that someone at Home is filling in for me with Caregiving and sometimes The Man behaves for them and sometimes he doesn't and gets anxious for me to be back Home.  He gets separation Anxiety and with the TBI and Dementia, his concept of Time is now compromised a lot.

Above and Below is my favorite Nail Clipper which is an Ornate Vintage one.   Why did they make everything so much Prettier 'just because' back in Da Day and now they don't bother, especially with Utilitarian Items?   This is probably from the 1920's Era, I've researched Online and most like it are said to be from the Twenties.  They can fetch a lot at Auction but I've built up a small Collection of Four various 1920's Era Ornate Nail Clippers by different Manufacturers, with different Etchings, when I can find them at Auction on an inexpensive Buy-It-Now Feature.  I used Nail Clippers a lot and just like having prettier ones that were made during a time when the Appearance mattered as much as the Function.   With a modicum of care they practically last forever and I'm anal about not letting the rest of the Family use my Antique ones, I keep them on Display mostly and use them myself becoz the others would lose them.  We have enuf Modern Clippers they don't need to mess with my Collection of Antique ones.  *LOL*

And Yes, I have some unusual Collections to be sure, but I'm eclectic in my tastes and Passions and not exactly a Fixated Collector.  There's not a lot of things in particular that I Focus on long term when I'm Collecting.  It often changes and sometimes I'll Collect something for a while and then be satisfied with that Collection being sufficient.  Or, simply Move On to something else that I become Interested in enuf to acquire some of it, or even a lot of it sometimes.  *Smiles*   I think you should always Buy what you either Need, you Use, or you Love.  If it doesn't meet one of those Three criteria, I usually won't consider purchasing it.  And often, very often in fact, I don't even know what I will Buy until I see it, discover it, didn't have the intention of the purchase until it happens.  I've very rarely gone anywhere on The Hunt for something very specific.  And I've rarely ever found the Primo Stuff on Purpose, mostly it's found by Serendipity and Accidentally!

The Thrill Of The Hunt does drive most Collectors and Treasure Seekers.  It's not always about even Finding something, but in the Seeking of it, and then, if you do Score a Find, you're Elated.   And for Princess T and I, even tho' the majority of what we Sell at our Antique Mall Showroom and Locked Case is from Home and Downsizing, when you have that Space, you need Fresh Inventory all the time.  So, you do look for Inventory too at times that you might need and no longer have at Home in enuf abundance you Source it from what you already have or want to Sell Off of what you already have.   We Sell a lot of Vintage and Specialty T-Shirts now, we Purged our Closets of what we needed to rid ourselves of and Sell Off.  But then, becoz it's a desired item by our Customers, we still now look for some to Resell as well.  It's a nice way to even rotate your own Wardrobe in and out.  We've often had people ask and want to Buy what we're wearing!  *Smiles*

And sometimes you still Love your Wardrobe but now your Size has changed and it no longer fits.  Whether you got bigger or smaller really is irrelevant to keeping something you can't now wear anymore.  I don't keep things that no longer fit, Hoping that mebbe I will grow into it again, if it got too big now, or lose enuf Weight to fit into it again.  I don't see the Point no matter how much I might have J'Adored wearing it when it did fit.   Princess T on the other hand, and the rest of the Kiddos, change their Wardrobe much more often, their Tastes and their Styles, coz they're Younger.   So, we often Sell Off what they don't want anymore to Fund and Buy what they wanna replace it with.   Kiddos are much more Fashion Conscious that way, I am an Old Hippie whose Taste and Style hasn't really altered that much, I still like what I always liked, I just changed Sizes over the Years quite often.   I've been anywhere between 98 lbs. and 225 lbs., fluctuating wildly between those Two Numbers enuf in the last Five Decades Plus, that I need new Wardrobe relatively often just coz of Sizing.  *Le Sigh and LOL* 

Princess T and her Boyfriend Rusty have decided to split time between his Home and ours coz of Eli.   Eli the Cat has been Mad as Hell that his Human spends far too much time at Work and at the Boyfriend's Home rather than here with him.   Thus, he's begun to misbehave and be naughty A LOT, in defiance and to retaliate how angry he is about it.  He is sometimes sitting in the Window looking out for her so long, it breaks my Heart and I told her so.   So, now Rusty comes during the Week when they want to be together and is here in her Room, rather than at his House, which, they now reserve for the Weekends.  Often the Kiddos fall Asleep at each other's Homes and that's Fine, they are Lightweights Bless 'em and often when they're Together, half the time they've fallen Asleep... such Party Animals they are NOT!!!   *Bwahahahaha*  And as a Parental Figure for her, I'm FINE with that.  *Whew*

They are like Two Peas in a Pod tho' that way, neither is very Social, both of them are very Quiet and Introverted.  They are Homebodies and other than Work, stay Home contentedly.  On their Phones or their Computers, and with their Cats.  He is responsible for his Two Younger Sisters Cats his Dad bought, his Sisters live with the Mom.  Having each other's Company is usually more than enuf for each of them, so they do spend a lot of time together, which is good for both of them, coz, other than Working long and hard, they don't do anything else.   So, I'm glad they have each other and enjoy the same Simple things at Home and aren't Young People out running the Streets, Drinking or Drugging, getting into Trouble or being Mister or Miss Party-All-The-Time.  Raised some that did that, have done that, ain't no Fun in the Raising of a Child whose a Risk Taker or Rebel without a Cause... even sometimes with a Cause.  *Winks*   And we'll End with some delicious Middle Eastern Lebanese Food Porn from "MIJANA".

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Blessings, Love and Light from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian