This year will also be the first year I embark on my journey towards eventually converting all my traditional IRA money into my Roth IRA.

My plan is to convert $10k chunks every year, and when I file my taxes this year, I basically pay $1k in taxes, right?  I am no longer working, and paid no taxes on last year's tax return.

Likewise, the process seems very easy.  I made the money transfer on my phone app while lying in bed.  In fact, the whole thing seems TOO easy, and that's making me feel slightly uneasy, like I must be missing something or am not understanding some detail....  Am I missing anything?

As a part of my 2026 goal of rebalancing my portfolio to something more sane, I just sold my Merck (MRK) stock today.  My gains here are more than six figures so I am clearly not complaining.

However, and this subject came up as I was on my Jollibee road trip with this buddy of mine, where I said if I am being completely honest, I don't know which Dumb and Dumber character I was channeling when I bought MRK, because I clearly had no idea what I was recklessly buying into.  I barely remember the drug patent that was about to expire, or when, I had no idea what other research they had in the pipeline, let alone what they are called, or how far along and how commercially viable they are.  All I basically saw was that their PE was at an enticing low, all the while paying a beefy dividend.

Well, as I joked to my travel buddy that even when one put all their chips on black, sometimes, just sometimes, the roulette ball does land on black!  And that's essentially what happened for me here.  Yes, this could have easily backfired on me, and only out of sheer luck, not personal skill, did it swing to my favor instead.  I recognize that.  I recognize that, and that is why I decided to sell it today, because in cases like these, it's best to Quit While You're Still Ahead!

Oh, and I should also mention that this trade was made in my Roth IRA account, if that adds any more shock and horror to it all, but at least it shouldn't cause any tax issues for me from the sale.

This is basically how I feel about this entire thing, though at least I can take comfort in its surprisingly positive outcome:

Now, a rather important question for you dear readers: What do you have in your Roth IRA?  Or what do you suggest?  Me personally, I'm thinking of buying a good ole index style bond fund and just leaving it alone for all eternity, but I'm always open to suggestions.  I'm going to sleep on it for at least a few days while the money is settling and all that.

Ok, this isn't exactly financial.  Just warning you upfront, so you can skip it if you want.

For anyone else still reading, remember I blogged earlier about how I had buddies that wanted to take road trips, but none of that ever really panned out?  Yeah, real life happens, and I get that they're busy, so it's not like I am holding them to the fire over this or anything.

Well much to the surprise of even yours truly, one of them actually happened yesterday! This buddy and I have always wanted to go try Jollibee at Virigina beach, and off we actually went yesterday!

Now, before I continue, I just want to say that this is very much a bucket list item.  Yes.  A bucket list item, as in, we have never been to Jollibee.  Actually, we've never even been to virginia beach in our lifetime until now!  However, all over the internet, people were raving about how good Jollibee is, and being a bunch of self-professed foodies that we are, we were like you know we really have to try this out some day, just once, before we croak.

I think perhaps the passing of our co-workers might have finally lit the fire under the butt of this buddy to finally say yeah let's at least check off Jollibee (as it was arguably the easiest item on our bucket list).

So anyways, off we finally went and I ended up with this unhealthy amount of food:

That's a bucket of chicken, adobo rice, gravy, jolly spaghetti, and hiding behind the bucket is a tray of palabok.

The fried chicken is basically the best I have ever had out of any fast food restaurant.  The skin was light and crispy without being hard and hurting my mouth, and the meat was so juicy and tender.

The adobo rice was similar to Bojangle's dirty rice, but a bit drier and milder, so I didn't personally care for it.

The jolly spaghetti is like eating Chef Boyardee's, except the sauce was sweeter?  It's odd, I don't care for it myself, but I can see why it's a popular item, especially for kids.

Now the palabok.  That was truly a surprise.  Here's a separate picture of it to get a good look:

Basically, it's a clear noodle dish, but covered in this meaty, savory sauce I can't describe, but was really tasty and I couldn't stop eating it.  I COULD NOT STOP EATING IT.

But yeah, this bucket list item has been checked. It's a shame there is not a Jollibee near me, or I would definitely get food from there again.

Oh, and by the time we got there, it was already dark, so we decided there was no point in actually visiting the actual beach.  So we just ate and went back home.  Overall, I had nice time.  Not bad for a one day road trip.

I just found out that two of my former co-workers have either died or is dying.  Well, let explain.  One died recently of acute liver failure.  The other is dying of stage 4 cancer that has unfortunately spread to the point where he is not expected to be around for much longer.  Chemo has only slowed down the inevitable.

They are or were both still so young to me.  Neither have reached age 60 yet.

Both were or are shining beacons to the rest of us, always so tireless and capable, and were so much fun to work with.  If you were to ever call for help or 911, they were the kind of people you wish and pray would show up to come help you.

I don't really have a point to this entry.  If anything, I guess I do feel bad that my past few entries have been nothing but downers, but I just found out about all this like 5 minutes ago.  In moments like this, life certainly feels short though, and fate seems to have a habit of claiming the best of us, a little too early.

I don't have any particularly new or specific goals for the new year, except for the usual to reduce spending more, rebalance my portfolio, to spring clean and declutter more, and to just be more mindful of my use of time and energy.  I know, I know, not all that specific hahaha.

The only new wrinkle, I guess, is re-connecting with this female friend of mine, and to see if we can't work things out again.   So far, to the surprise of no one, we are not working out.  We are politically incompatible, for example, and I see that gap has only widened and become more entrenched during our time apart.

For example, why does she give certain people and politicians she doesn't even know, that she only see on TV or the internet, people that anyone can easily prove to be lying outright, get a complete free pass, but people who she personally DO know, but is telling her the smallest and most inconsequential things to her, and yet is the truth, she will grill me on it for the rest of the night?

For example, my last job working for the Feds required that I maintain certain military standards, meaning no facial hair, and either short or no head hair.  I joked to her that she missed out on the years seeing me running around bald, but somehow this became a point of contention?  She spent the rest of the night questioning the legitimacy of me actually working for the Feds?   I'm like HUH?  That was years of my life at it, but I no longer work there anymore anyway (which is what I really think is the important point here), and somehow, she accused me of lying about my hair for my job???  I'm telling her the truth about something that's not even all that important, but she refused to believe me, oh but some politician lying to the public that can be easily proven false, about things that can end up getting thousands of innocent people hurt or maybe even killed, gets a complete pass?  How does that even work?

Politics isn't the core issue here though.  It's just a convenient example.  At the end of the day, what really concerns me is how she views and treats even her own friends, nevermind her enemies.  For example, is she going to grill and accuse me of every little joke or musings, no matter how small?  She's already told me that she and her friends in their circle never trust men, not even their own husbands, because men cheat and can leave them in a bind at any time, which I agreed is an understandable concern, but as the guy in this picture here, I'm also wondering.... why am I here then, if you don't trust me?  I'm trying to be supportive and make you feel better, but joking about something as inconsequential as hair (or the lack of) is somehow going to be a problem?  I feel like I'm walking on egg shells around her, never knowing what's going to set her off, and I typically hang up stressed after I talk to her.

However, she is still recovering from a potentially botched knee surgery, a toe dislocation (long story), and is even fighting off a cold right now, so I thought maybe she's cranky because of all that.  I. am doing the best I can to, again, just be a kind and supportive friend to her while she is in recovery.

If I am being honest though, our communication at this point has broken down to just basic, passing pleasantries for the most part, and that to me is a pretty clear sign that things have already failed pretty spectacularly.

Regardless, with or without anyone else, I still have to live my own life, and I am still committed to try to make 2026 my best year yet.