Random Thoughts the Third

Here’s a look at my horriblescope for today:

This isn't a good day to plan or start a trip by air, Sagittarius. Wait a few days if you can. However, if you must confirm plans now, travel light, check all arrangements for accommodation and rental car before you leave, and collect phone numbers for those you intend to meet.​

Hopefully, this is all bullshit.

 

Is there a "dealing with aging parents thread?"

So my sister has been helping my folks get their financial stuff straight and its been a nightmare. I started to worry when they went with a reverse mortgage about 10 years into their retirement - worrying that they were blowing through their retirement, and now its come to the point where they will have to move out of there very nice retirement community and head up this way. Apparently they've been spending about $7k a month while only bringing in about $3k with their Social Security. Everything from having a cable package they can no longer afford, frequent "help" to my brother who always seems to have some emergency need for cash (even worse when they spend about $20 just to wire him the money), the payments for devices they don't use (Verizon), the frequent trips to the body shop when they ding their cars, and the ever escalating HOA fees that are what I pay in rent. They've always opted just to solve immediate needs by spending their way out of it. Healthwise they are at a point in their lives where they really can't care for themselves with the confidence they need in any event, they can no longer figure out tech stuff (which makes keeping medical appointments, and checking their status, charts etc tricky - apparently a lot of doctors don't realize there is a tech gap with older patients). - but what truly astounded me is that they were paying $500 a month - a month - on subscriptions to the SF Chronicle and East Bay Times, papers they have read religiously since I was a kid. Even if you paid the cover price of maybe $2 a day and threw in a delivery fee, I STILL don't see how papers can charge that much, unless they figure their older readers will just ignore the price hikes and keep with the autobilling. If we don't allow kids under 18 to sign contracts because they aren't "mature" enough to know what they are getting into, maybe we should have a law doing the same with older folks? My parents are both north of 80.

Anyway - I'm sure others on this board have dealt with the same stuff. A lot of their friends are moving away too for the same reason. Cost, inability to enjoy all the stuff they are paying for living there etc. and of course health reasons. We all see the retirement ads on TV where people are traveling all over the place, living fantastic lives without a care - there comes a point - even if you are watching your money - where the party ends and you have to simplify your life quite a bit.

 

Random find.

 

I got a shingles shot about 7 hours ago, and my dang arm hurts like a son of a gun.

 

If you have a kid after the age of 35, yoga mats are most useful as padding while sitting on the floor to play with your kid and not as exercise equipment.

 

In today’s edition of Random Things I Learned From Saturday Morning Cartoons Back In The Day:

The reason I believe there are no ghosts is that every time there was some sort of a ghost or monster up to shenanigans on Scooby Doo, Where Are You!, Scooby and the gang proved every time that it was some old guy in a suit. And every time, they swore they’d have gotten away with it “if it weren’t for you kids.”

 

Botox Karen is the worstest Karen.

 

"meddling" kids

 

I only mention him because he was among the featured faces on baseball-reference.com today, but man Matt Harvey had a pretty freaking mediocre (one might say subpar) career.

Matt Harvey Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

For a guy who was once touted as Batman and dated a lot of smokeshows (and did his share of Bolivian marching powder), he gave the impression of an ace. But really, he had only two good years, only received Cy Young votes in one season, and finished his 9-year career 16 games UNDER .500, 50-66, with a 4.42 era. He had one complete game and one shutout in his entire career. Not slagging on the guy in so much as just reorienting my memories of his career.

 

Everything about this scene.