October 16, 2012

October 16, 2012 (Tuesday)
(Post 630, Day 290 of 2012, 655 days since 1st post)

Daily Comment

As of today, my retirement is 1200 days away, a little more than three-and-a-quarter years. So, today, I'm thinking again about my retirement plans.

Some ideas have changed, some are the same.

My destination top 5 has changed: Penang has dropped off, due to Malaysia having a few laws I expect I'd break, the consequences of which are too drastic for my comfort (you execute people for smoking pot, publically flog them for spitting in public? I'm out).

The new list is: Chiang Mai, Thailand; Cuenca, Ecuador; Medellin, Colombia; Uruguay (multiple places to check out); Panama/Costa Rica (coin toss when the time comes). The first and second change places in my mind regularly. So do the third and fourth.

I have also changed my mind about working after retirement. I had entertained some ideas about that, looked at some ideas that would add a little income without requiring a major impact on my control of my own time. Now I've decided against that. This is because everything I want to do is fun when I'm doing it for its own sake, not fun when I'm doing it for pay (which means I'm meeting someone else's requirements, not my own).

I'm also debating what to do about transportation between now and retirement, when I won't need my own vehicle. My 13-year-old Honda Odyssey is giving up the ghost: I will not change the oil or repair anything at this point. If I get a flat tire, I'll pull the plates and walk away. I have already decided my next car will be a Kia Soul.

Plan One is to lease beginning around January 31. Auto leasing is a very bad deal, but a 3-year lease will give me the lowest monthly cost. However, if the Honda breaks down before then, I will have to buy, because leasing only makes sense if the lease starts at the very end of January.

If I buy, the running expenses will be much higher, but at retirement I will be able to sell the car and recover a lot of the additional cost. There are other reasons for buying (including not getting ripped off they way they do to everybody who leases a car).

There's more freedom in owning: I don't have to watch the mileage as closely, or make any kind of balooning payment when I'm done with the car. I also get to get a few options of my choice, which I wouldn't do with a lease, meaning I get to drive a nicer car.

Of course, there really isn't that much of a decision. Ifthe Odyssey breaks down before, say the middle of January, I buy. If not, I will have to do the math again, with the probability that I will lease.

I am still wrestling with the issue of possession disposal. I've already decided to give everything away, rather than sell it. Storing any of my stuff (except maybe for one of my basses) is not under consideration. I have already started, but will have to accelerate this. The problem I have is the logistics of when to part with some of this stuff (I'm going to need a lot of things right up to the point I leave), and who gets it, since many of the people I want to have my stuff aren't local.

I don't dwell on this stuff that much, but when I do, I need to get it out of my system.

Sorry about that.

Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!

 

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:        205.0 lbs 
Yesterday's Weight:    205.6 lbs
Day Net Loss/Gain:     - 0.6 lbs

Year 2012 daily weight from December 31, 2011

Diet Comment

Last night's snack-dinner-snack didn't accelerate any weight-loss, but at least it didn't cause a gain.

Food Log

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
At Ling-Ling Chinese Buffet:

From the "Mongolian Grill", chicken, pork, bean sprouts, cabbage, onions, peppers, broccoli, mushrooms in garlic and hot pepper sauce. Kim-chee.

Dinner

Italian-style organic chicken sausage with whole seed Dijon mustard and mashed cauliflower "faux-tatoes". Not shown: hard-boiled eggs, baby carrots and home-made spicy mayonnaise.

Liquid Intake
    Coffee:  22 oz,  Water: 106+ oz. 

Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!