I have a few separate friends that want me to join them in a road trip of some kind.  I find it interesting that, even though these three people are all unrelated from each other, they have all caught some kind of wanderlust somehow.  Is it the season, the weather, or just pure coincidence?

Regardless, I'm not entirely opposed to the idea.  Even though I'm mostly a home-body, road trips aren't terribly expensive, and it is probably a good idea to get out there once in a while and live a little?

Actually, one of them has an even grander vision of eventually traveling all over the US in a full-sized truck towing a dreamy camper.  The cost of bringing such a vision to life would be, at bare minimum, at least $50k, but realistically much more.  This particular friend has a negative net worth, is in debt for around $30k that I am aware of, and is also currently unemployed.  I am always curious how people go about bringing their dreams to life, much less funding just their every day life?  Or do dreams remain just that in their minds: Dreams?  Sadly, these financial profiles are also very typical of most people I see around me.  Of all the people I know in real life, I only know one that actually has any means of realizing their dreams, but I digress.

Anyway, nothing is set in stone yet, as far as these road trip ideas go.  I guess only time will tell if I will end up on the road or not.

I was helping a buddy move some furniture the other day, and while we were at it, he asked me for advice to buy a TV.  The one he originally wanted to buy would have costed $2000 USD.  I talked him down to a $1200 set by explaining to him the technical differences between the two, and helping him realize that he would gain very little from the more expensive set.

Yes, I know $1200 is still very expensive, but this is what he wanted, and it's not like I'm spending my own money.

Earlier, I showed a photo of my snake plant with a couple of leaves that mysteriously collapsed overnight.  I was going to trim those leaves off, but over the following days, they are slowly making a comeback!  Here is its current status:

My plant may not be the prettiest around, but it's a fighter.  You go, little plant! I'm cheering you on!

Saw this recently in a parking lot, and thought it was very clever, even if it is a Kia.

Alas, I got a flat tire yesterday.  I installed an old spare tire and drove it to a garage.  The place was so busy, they couldn't get it done today, so I have to wait until tomorrow to pick it up.  Anyways, here's today's photo entry:

I friend of mine really, really likes sunflowers, so when I saw them growing on the side of the road, I decided to stop and take some photos of it for her.

While I'm here, I want to apologize if I am posting all these separate photo entries instead of just one big one.  SA blogs has this weird thing where it won't publish the first time I click it, so then I have to click the back button, and then click the publish button again to actually publish.

That's what I have figured out anyway, after having lost so many entries along the way, and even given up on trying to re-post that day because of it.  So, I am taking the cautious approach to basically post one at a time.  Baby steps....

As some of you may know, I was law enforcement in a previous life.  Although it's behind me now, I guess some things about me still permeates that past life, such as that I still have gang members that have sworn to kill me in the streets, and I still have to largely avoid certain areas and neighborhoods where they reside.

As such, I still have to remain vigilant, and even shoot once in a while just to brush up.  I like shooting as a hobby anyway, even though I would be the first to admit it's not exactly a cheap hobby.  Anyway, here is a picture of my last outing at a range.

Earlier this summer, I caught up with a couple of guys I knew from all the way back since high school.  We didn't do anything particularly interesting.  Just kind of hung out at a park for example, and this merry-go-round just happened to be there.

Maybe this is completely a normal thing for the rest of you, but I never knew it was possible to have white pumpkins until I saw it recently at a local grocery store.

How in the world a guy this big managed to get into my house is a complete mystery to me.  Luckily, I was able to get him back outside, but not before taking this picture first.

As the weather cools, I start to crave soups and stews, which is more or less what I am doing these days.  Here is a photo of my last crockpot pot roast.

I really like the idea of a daily photo challenge... but I can't imagine my life being interesting enough to be able to post a photo daily.  Still though, I do have a picture to share today, along with some questions.

The following is my poor example of the Mother-in-law's tongue plant.  I woke up one day, and a couple of leaves simply fell over.  Is this normal?  Or is it dying?  I should trim the leaves, right?  It happened just a couple of days ago.

I put off writing about this, partly because it's not financial, but mostly because I am trying my best not to think about it.  My mom has been diagnosed with colon cancer.

The craziest thing about that is that she eats the healthiest in our family, and is constantly active.   So she is the one we least expected to come down with something serious first.

Anyway, she finished her first of twelve rounds of chemotherapy, to be administered every other week.  Plus, she doesn't have to be admitted at the hospital so far, so maybe all this is a good sign?  Not sure, not a doctor.

My mom is the only woman who has ever tolerated me and believed in me throughout my life.  She is also the anchor that holds our entire family together.  Life without her would be devastating.  I don't even want to think about it.

Taking a cruise has always been on my bucket list.  To be clear, I'm not suggesting that I need to take a cruise every year or anything.  Rather, I've never been on one, have no idea what to expect really, but just want to do it at least once in my lifetime before I croak.

However, I also don't want to do it solo.  Yes, I know that is a thing, and yeah, maybe some day, I just might do it as a solo, you know, just to finally check it off me bucket list.  But it's really something I would like to do with someone.  Hard to accomplish that though, when I've been single for so many years now.

Fast forward to perhaps a couple of weeks ago, when I reconnected with a friend I've known for a while... since 2010 I think!  We've dated in the past, but things never really happened between us.  There were a lot of reasons why, ranging from personal differences to my financial struggles to bad timings.

Anyways, she just went through knee surgery, and as far as I know, is in a lot of pain.  Before the surgery though, I joked about how if she gets through the surgery and recovers by Valentine's Day, we should finally take that cruise that we've always been talking about.

I was half-serious, but also half-joking though.  My dumb sense of humor aside, I wasn't being entirely serious because I also couldn't quite see us getting back together?  We have not even talked for years, and even if we did, knowing the way we are, we would just as likely be at each other's throats as much as be in each other's arms.

I was also not expecting her to take the cruise idea seriously.  However, she's really latched on to it.  She's like, "Please don't joke and take this away from me, because I really need this to help me get through this surgery and have something to look forward to!" ... Guess I better start saving up for a cruise!

Then I started to get scared.  I think I will need a budget of $5000.  Yes, I know a cruise can be done for much less than that, but it's just the budget that I think I will need to pull this entire trip off comfortably.

As for the status between this lady friend and I, who in the world knows?  As I said, there are reasons why we get along, but there are also reasons why we just simply do not.  Plus, I have already resigned and even planned on living the rest of my life as a single person.  The ability to retire early is mostly possible because I have only calculated expenses for one person....

Sorry, I'm rambling at this point.  After all, it's only been two weeks of reconnecting, and I'm already over-analyzing.  I probably should've kept my mouth shut, but now, I have to man up and prepare to set sail.  Yaaar, mateys!

I first bought my printer in 2007(!), and up until now, it still printed.

Technically, there is nothing wrong with it.  At first, I thought it was a driver issue, so I went online to download it, but the company says it's been discontinued, and driver support is no longer offered.

I also thought maybe it was a hardware issue.  I opened it up, and all the ink lights are red.  However, I still have ink.

Much to my dismay, I am faced with the possibility of having to ditch this perfectly good device, just to be forced to buy another one.  I would really, really rather not, but if I were to, anybody got any suggestions?

This "friend" who I've written about before is currently on a vacation with her boyfriend right now.  The original plan was to spend two weeks in a nice hotel somewhere, sightsee, and eat expensive foods that looks like it comes out of Instagram.

However, she doesn't have the money for this.  Crazy enough, but neither does her boyfriend.  So, what to do?  Well one idea was to turn to me.  Why, I don't know.  She's used to other guys paying for her, and in her mind, maybe I'm no different.  She texted me as late as 2 am in the morning just indirectly asking for money.  "Oh no, I don't have the money for this.  If only someone could help me rent this AirB&B for a week.  No?  Well, how about this less expensive hotel room at least?"  She's asking for at least $1500 USD here.  Minimum. 

It was ridiculous.  I politely but firmly ignored her.  As a result, she may have shortened her vacay plans from two weeks to one week.  I think that's what happened.  Our "friendship" has cooled considerably since this incident, and she's currently not talking to me anymore.  That's fine by me because if this is her idea of a "friendship", then I'm out.   No thanks.  I'm sorry to find out that time has not made her better, but worse.

To add insult to injury, she has her little circle of friends who basically believe she can do no wrong, and they have all indirectly indicated how little they think of me.  Why are people like this?  Do they not realize that I'm not the bad guy here?  Just because I don't want to pay for somebody else's vacation?

Hmm.  All this is subtle in motion, but as I am typing this out, I am realizing just how toxic these people are, and I am not at all interested in being around them.  They used to be better than this.  It's always sad to lose "friends" but I'm mentally checked-out at this point.

Warning: Political rant ahead (but is money-related).

When people debate about politics and the economy, I often find that some people have misguided views about what's really going on.  In a way, this is understandable because even the "Big Beautiful Bill" that recently got signed into law can be difficult to make heads or tails out of it.  That's why I appreciate channels like MonkeyExplains on YouTube, who just put out a video trying to explain the BBB in a way that is amusing but also simple to understand.

A few additional notes of to add:

1.  Do not underestimate the national debt burden.  This has already caused Moody to decrease the US's credit rating, which coincides with other nations' decisions to invest LESS into US Treasuries, and at the same time, the US dollar is losing its appeal as an international standard.  This is already hurting us, and until something is done about it (which is nothing right now), it is only going to get worse.

2. While it's true the average American has seen benefits from the Trump tax cuts, what isn't mentioned in this MonkeyExplains video is that the rich got WAY bigger tax cuts as well.  Last I checked, I think I got something like an additional $300 or so dollars back through the Trump tax cuts, but the top 1% richest people are getting up to $60k back.  That's on top of whatever tax-evading practices the super rich are already using before said tax cuts.

3.  Even though the video is only 10 minutes long, if you want to shorten it even further, try setting the video speed to 1.25x.  Edit: Ok, I also figured out how to start the video further ahead to save you even more time.

So there is this woman I am sort of friends with who has a handicapped child, and her son really needs a wheelchair.  This child is still in single digits in age, but what they need isn't just any ordinary wheelchair, but one that is specially-built for children.

While there are cheaper options available, the one they really want and should get would cost $700 USD.  This is one of those specialized "strollers" that are built to high quality standards, and will allow a child to "grow" into them, and continue to use it as they get bigger, up until they can use adult wheelchairs.

Cheaper options are not only less durable, they are also a bit more hazardous (doesn't support the head for example, or maybe they are more likely to fall out of it), but it also doesn't really allow a child to grow into them, meaning they would have to replace it with something else as the child gets bigger, again and again.

Unfortunately, this woman can't afford the expensive one.  She was just telling me that in passing, without knowing anything about me or my financial situation, and after hearing about it, I asked her if I could just get it for her.

I've donated to charity before, and until now, I have never encountered any friction or resistance about it.  The other person agrees.  I pay, they say thank you.  Done and done.  Life moves on.

So, imagine my surprise when this woman actually refused, saying she had to think about it.  And not only that, but she thought about it for TWO FULL WEEKS before finally agreeing to it (without me forcing her or anything by the way).

Looking back at it, I think I understand though.  She has to be careful with people just offering money out of nowhere, right?  Who is this guy?  Why is he offering?  What's the catch?  What does he really want in return?  Right?

From my perspective though, it's just one of those things in life where I know this is the best choice to make, and the only obstacle here is the cost.  If so, then yeah I'll pick up this tab, why not?  I'm a simple guy, and that's all there is to it.

It's just an interesting experience because I've never had anyone refuse before.  Well, at least initially anyway.  She did eventually agree.

Unfortunately, I recently found out that a friend of mine lost his job to DOGE.  DOGE substantially slashed his agency's funding, particularly those related to research and study of pollution and its environmental impact.  Unlike other "luckier" employees, this friend wasn't given a "buy out offer" or anything.  His entire department was simply gutted financially, and was left to fend for itself with what remains of their funding.

So, when this friend of mine made an unintentional error, instead of the usual paper discipline, they instead fired him on the spot.  Sadly, it made sense, as the agency no longer has the money to keep the entire staff on the payroll, and is trying to find any excuse to let people go.

For some, including myself, most political headlines like DOGE may be just another piece of faraway news you might read somewhere. Not this time though.  This friend of mine is an intelligent, hard working, and highly capable individual who has faithfully worked for the agency for at least 15 productive years.  He has a name, a face, a family, and has done everything he can to live his life in a humble and responsible manner.  And this is how he is paid in return?  After more than a decade's worth of hard work and faithful service?  Now, with the BBB (Big Beautiful Bill as Trump puts it) just barely passed the senate, the Rich are going to get even bigger tax breaks, while the little people who make the country a better place to live in gets uncermoniously booted out of a job?  Unbelievable.

To end this entry on a more positive note, this friend has also been working two jobs for a while, and was thinking of slimming down to just one job anyway.  That's what he told me, trying to put a more positive spin to all this, and is grateful that he is at least still fully employed elsewhere.  Still, I know him.  He would not have left had they not fired him in the first place.  And sure, programs like DOGE may come and go, but for this friend, this firing has a life-altering effect that will negatively impact him for the rest of his life.  Sometimes, a headline isn't just headline.

Recently, a friend of mine got his debit card swiped by some identity thief.  Luckily for him, he managed to detect the illicit purchases in his checking account early, and contacted his bank immediately.  While that's all well and good, what followed is that his entire checking account had to be transferred to a new account, meaning he has to go through all the process of changing all of his online bill pays and direct deposits, etc.

Some of his bills had hiccups, such as his water / sewer, where they said he was paid up (through the old account) but they never received any money, so he had to figure out how to pay with his new account but can't use it because the computer system doesn't allow changes when the old account already shows it's paid....

And the scary part?  He said he had a crap ton of money sitting in his savings.  Like tens of thousands.  I'm like why?  Why have large sums of money sitting around doing nothing?  Regardless, he knows better now, and will at least stick with credit cards only.

Another buddy of mine-- the one that I've blogged about before regarding his divorce--  his divorce ideally should have been finalized by now, but for some reason, it still hasn't.  And not only is it not finalized yet, but now, his law firm is suggesting that he should not settle for joint custody, but to fight for primary if not sole custody of his children as well.  My buddy also agrees with this action.

Ok, but this buddy of mine is not a rich man.  He's already taken out loans from wherever and whoever he can just to afford the current $30k+ in legal fees.  And now they're asking him to put up another $5k to $9k that he doesn't have, just to fight for primary custody?  My buddy swears up and down they are good lawyers, but even if that's true, they are also ridiculously expensive, and he can't afford them any longer.

This line of converation make things super awkward too, like when he suddenly invited me to his "family day" last weekend where I got a chance to hang out with his kids again.  And while they sure have grown and seems to be doing well, I can't help but feel like he wanted me to come out and see his kids, in person, to help me realize how important they are, and that I should help contribute money to his custody battle.  Yes, they are indeed wonderful kids and they are very important, but come on man.  You can't be serious about trying to get me to give up thousands of my own hard earned dollars, money that I know I will never get back, just for your greedy lawyers to fight over something that might not even be necessary to go to court for?

Anyways, I have nothing to report on this early monthly update, other than to say that I love the boring life, especially when I look at all the drama and challenges my friends are going through.  When my buddies ask me, "How are you doing?", I'm like "Great.  No news at all on my end, but No News is Good News!"

I was originally going to repond with a comment, but there are a lot of details I've left out, so I thought perhaps it would be better for me to just write an entirely separate entry.

This woman and I have been friends for a while now, like for more than ten to fifteen years, depending on how you want to count it.

I've always been respectful of her relationship with the old boyfriend, and remained as just friends.  Besides, deep down, I know I can not afford to give her what she wants out of life.  You see, she lives in Canada, and in one of the most expensive cities on the planet (and hence the title of the entry).  To date her would require the guy to uproot everything (including his friends and family), move to an entirely different country, risk everything to rebuild a career or at least find a job there, and basically be able to afford for both of them to live there (because she loves her city and refuses to live anywhere else).  In fact, that's basically what the new boyfriend is having to do at this point, since he is from the US.

But perhaps that's not entirely unreasonable right?  However, she also wants to get married and have a child very soon.  So I'm thinking, "Let me get this straight.  Your new boyfriend needs to move away from his current friends and family, to an entirely different country, get all of his paperwork straight, rebuild a career from scratch or at least find a new job in one of the most expensive cities in the world, and not only afford for the both of you to live there, but also commit to a marriage and raising a child there?  All in one go?"

What kind of woman has this kind of pull, right?  Well, when we first met, she was in her mid twenties, and is fairy easy on the eyes.  More importantly, she has a rather pleasant personality that makes it fun for people to be around her.  Let's just say she is popular enough to make men go out of their way to do or buy things for her.  I'm always amazed when I meet women like this.  Like, I know I'm looking at it, but still, how do you do it?  And why doesn't this happen for us men?

But I think the years may have changed her....  She just turned forty not too long ago, and she is well-aware of her own sense of age and mortality.  She is still a fun and pleasant person to be around, but she knows her looks can't carry her forever.  So, while she may not have been in a rush before, I can't help but sense that she now wants to rush into a marriage and having a child.

Also, she's filing for spousal support from her ex-bf.  They were never married, but having lived together for so many years, apparently, this qualifies her for common law spousal support in Canada.  I didn't know that, but as a man, all I can think of is, imagine never being married with a woman only to find out she can suddenly leave you one day and still file for monthly financial support even though she was the one who cheated on you and left with another man.  So yeah, that's another detail I know about her.  She's been romantically involved with this new boyfriend for years, behind the ex-boyfriend's back, but he is the one who has to pay her for her cheating and leaving him.  That is so crazy.

And sure, while none of that is my business, our friendship apparently has changed as well.  Ever since she broke up with her old boyfriend, she has turned to asking for things from all her friends.  In my case, she doesn't even say hello or good morning anymore.  Friends normally do that, right?  Like genuinely asking "Hi, how are you doing?"  Recent texts just comes straight out and say, "Look at this incredible deal for headphones I found!" and the subsequent links for purchase.  It's ridiculous.

I know I probably painted this woman in a very negative light, but in practice, I don't think she is actually that terrible a person, and I know we used to be good friends once.  However, I think she's gone now... and I don't know what happened to her.

I have a female friend who recently broke up with an old boyfriend of about ten or so years, and is dating a new one.  The old boyfriend wasn't filthy rich, but he did make good, steady money just the same, and paid everything for her.  New boyfriend, while is currently employed, makes nowhere near the kind of money the old boyfriend does.

Long story short, while this female friend is a nice person overall, having been financially taken cared of for so long, I don't think she really understands the concept of money.  And now, with the new boyfriend she's dating, they are both having to figure out how to become... financially responsible?

So why am I bringing this up?  Well a bunch of stuff has also happened in between, but long story short to now, her old headphone broke, so she wants me to buy her a new headphone, so she can save what limited money she has for a vacation with her boyfriend instead.  Talk about a needless ask for such a shallow reason.  I even offered her my old headphone but she quick passed on it, asking for a new one instead.

While we are indeed friends, and while I do sometimes buy people stuff either for Christmas, birthdays, or special occasions, that does NOT mean I am her or anyone else's sugar daddy!

By the way, this behavior I am experiencing is new.  I think it's because the old boyfriend pretty much bought her whatever she wanted, and now that she isn't with him, she's... branching out to others to sustain her lifestyle?

For days, she's been telling me about all the great deals she has found (for me to buy her), and for now, I have basically stopped talking to her while I think about how to handle this.  I guess sooner rather than later, we may need to have that "I am not your sugar daddy" talk, and who knows, I may be losing another friend in the process here.  Any thoughts on this?

I thought about posting my monthly net worth, but at the end of the day, my needle hasn't moved much this month.  Instead, I'm going to talk about DOGE, so you are warned up-front.  (It may be political, but it's also financial imo, so I'm rolling with it.)

I think part of the problem in life is that, sometimes, people can identify a problem but still not be able to implement an effective solution.  However, when they market and sell on the idea of the problem hard enough, especially if it's somehow popular or even accurate, it can get quite a bit of traction.

Unfortunately, fellow savers, I hope we all know that understanding the problem isn't the hard part.  The hard part is actually solving the problem.  Well... I don't think even DOGE understood the problem really....

Now that Elon Musk is leaving, I think it's reasonable to take a look at what DOGE may or may not have accomplished so far.  Looking past all that Dark MAGA hype and chainsaw theatrics, was DOGE able to solve the problem of government bloat?  Here's a quick retrospective:

Jan 2025 - President Trump signed an executive order to create DOGE and to put Elon Musk in charge of it.  Remember, he personally signed off on it, so this is ultimately his responsibility.

Jan to Feb 2025 - Elon and DOGE goes around, inspecting agencies, accessing and copying the data of hundreds of thousands of American citizens that don't belong to him, including their social security numbers.  They were eventually blocked by the Treasury Dept, but who knows how much more data had been accessed and copied for themselves before they were finally blocked?  Does this bother you?  It bothers me, so I'm mentioning it.

In his now infamous "fork in the road" email, this is also when a lot of the buyouts were offered.  Buyouts of many federal employees that they had to re-hire because they were not bloat, but essential to the proper operation of the federal government.  This is important because it is proof that DOGE did not fully understand what they were doing.  I can't spell this out any clearer.

March 2025 - A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from shutting down USAID, one of DOGE's biggest targets.  For those that don't know, USAID's mission objective is to provide humanitarian aid, ranging from staving off malaria outbreaks to food, shelter, and health care for mothers and children in need on a global scale.  If there is ever any government agency that can slide by for being a little too bloated, I'm thinking USAID should be one of these shining examples.  And yet, DOGE spent $14 million in taxpayer's money to make a huge attempt at slashing and burning something that's actually good in life, causing all this disruption and turmoil, only to amount to a nothingburger.

April 2025 - Elon starts talking about stepping down from DOGE.  After bragging about how he can save America $2 trillion a year in federal spending bloat, that projection was then cut down to $1 trillion a year, but by this point, that projection is now reduced to a "mere" $150 to $175 billion.  "However, a BBC analysis on 23 April found that only $61.5bn of that amount was itemised, and evidence of how the savings were achieved was available for just $32.5bn."  Let me make this perfectly clear to everyone:  Elon lied.  He lied to all of us.  He spent a ton of money helping a tyrant get voted into office, and then proceeded to lie and fail the American people, and for what?

Speaking of which, while this may not be a part of DOGE directly, don't forget that Trump also cut spending on PBS and NPR, as well as FEMA and the FAA.  Oh yeah, and a very substantial amount of USAID is still on the chopping block as Trump is still attempting to axe it himself.  All of which have resulted in negative impacts in its own right.  However, since it's not directly the topic at hand, and this entry is already getting too long, I'm just going to gloss all this over.

Has DOGE achieved its own mission objective?  If I am being entirely fair, yes, it looks like it did accomplish something.  What exactly, I don't know, and the deeper you look, the more it looks like they were trying to cut good programs that benefited the American people.  To be clear, DOGE tried to make themselves look good by showcasing billions in spending cuts, but it's over a lot of good programs out there that actually help people.

I meant to end my rant here, but I can't stress this enough, so I'm going to say it again, to make this crystal clear: My fellow Americans, PLEASE do not fall into the trap of being sold on the idea of a problem, any problem, from anyone.  Even if it's completely accurate and true, what we really need to focus on is whether or not they can actually solve that problem.  Stop voting for "charming" idiots who are ultimately going to ruin our lives.  We are smarter than this.

Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c23vkd57471o
https://www.webopedia.com/technology/doge-timeline/
https://www.nrdc.org/bio/rob-moore/fema-and-nations-disaster-safety-net-gets-cut-adrift#risk-reduction
https://www.yahoo.com/news/heres-9-4-billion-doge-221044322.html
https://www.usaspending.gov/agency/department-of-defense?fy=2025

According to a New York Post article I read recently....

"A survey found that a majority of Americans (56%) said using a coupon is perfectly acceptable, and a further 61% said “frugality” is an attractive trait in a partner."

Excuse me?  Is this Opposite Day?  April Fools?  The Twilight zone?  It goes on....

"In a world of tariffs, economic uncertainty, and inflation, it seems being a deal maker is far from a dealbreaker when it comes to what’s attractive in a potential partner — over a quarter (28%) of the 2,000 polled went as far as to say frugality is 'sexy.'"

SEXY?!  Who are you and what have you done with my America?

Seriously though, wouldn't it be great if the majority of Americans viewed frugality in such a positive light?

Source: https://nypost.com/2025/05/20/lifestyle/study-shows-2-in-3-americans-say-frugality-is-an-attractive-trait/

A friend of mine recently adoped an adorable little kitten.  Her name is Nala, and she is only one year old.  For a kitty so young, I was surprised at how gentle and sweet she can be.  However, I did have a little bit of a hard time taking this photo because she was so inquisitive and didn't want to stay still.

She was so fluffy in my hand!  Urge to adopt my own kitty intensifies!

April is always a dreary month where I live.  It's a time of last-minute tax filings (though these days, I've been a good boy for filing them much earlier), wild fluctuations in temperature, and pollen and allergy season.  Ah, the pollen... the copious blanket of green nastiness that covers everything, making people here wish for days of rain to wash all that snotiness away.

But May!  May marks the end of the tax dread, the pollen plague, and Mother Nature finally deciding to properly blast us with the beginnings of summer heat.

With that in mind, this is when I change my car's air filter, and I also finally installed my window AC that I have kept putting off since... er... last year ahem.  But it's finally done, and I am hoping that it will lead to lower electric bills this month.

Also, as of today, my net worth has somewhat recovered from a peak loss of $150k to an easier-to-swallow-but-still-not-really-at-all $120k loss since January.  Thanks Trump, truly a legend in your own mind.  You just keep pausing those dumb tariffs you started out with, and maybe we'll talk about your 3rd term in the office, and simultaneous coronation as the next Pope, come next Febuary 30th.

Oh this is new.  My anti-virus software now warns me against clicking on anything from SavingAdvice's blog section, mostly because it does not offer HTTPS.  That's never come up before, but it does make sense I guess.

While I'm here, the stock market dropped again today, because our Stable Genius of a President decided that he has the power to fire the Chair of the Federal Reserve and is "considering it". 

Like, seriously, what is wrong with this guy?  Better yet, what is wrong with the people who support him and his agenda?  I mean, this stuff is obvious, isn't it?  Shake the legitimacy of the Federal Reserve, and you shake the market's faith in the Fed's ability to maintain a stable economy.  This is not rocket surgery.

And this is only month #4 into his 4 year presidency....

Anyways, it was "fun" watching my life savings take another hearty $20K drop from today's Oval Office hubris.

I've always liked the idea of adopting pets, but was too busy before to take care of them.  I had said to myself that, some day, when I retire, perhaps I would finally adopt some.  Well, that day is finally here, but I am still dragging my feet.

The usual concerns would come up.  As a pet novice, would I find the learning curve a bit too much?  Would I find the cost of raising pets too much as well?  I am also concerned about pets that might be too sad or something being around me?  I don't know.

It wasn't until recently, when would-be burglars nearly broke into my house that I started to give this topic a serious look.  Specifically, I am thinking maybe adopting dogs to help guard the house, even though I am also a big fan of cats.

If I do this, I would really, really like two dogs (or cats) at the same time, ideally from the same litter, if only because I'd like them to be able to socialize well and play with each other, and not just rely on me.

Of course, I am also very worried about the cost.  I read online that the cost of taking care of pets are at least $1k per pet, per year, and I am sure that cost is only going to increase as time goes by.

Anyway, does anyone have pets, or have thoughts they want to chime in on this?

Please don't forget days like earlier today.  Please.  Don't let anyone sugar coat this, or blame it on their (Democratic) opposition, or drink the GOP apologist Koolaid that this is somehow "normal".  It's not.

The Dow hasn't fallen like this since the Covid lockdown only a few years ago, and that was a global pandemic that shuttered the entire country and its businesses.

And you know what's really sad about this whole thing?  If Trump had literally not picked up his pen to sign for a tariff war, all this could have been avoided.  All of it.  The Covid pandemic was unavoidable, but this one is.  Easily.

It's a good thing I had already liquidated my Roth IRA positions (mostly due to my weird tax situation), because otherwise, this single day would have costed me another six figures.  I mean I still lost a bunch, so that's just me trying to look at this as glass half full.

And yes, I could rant more about it, but I won't.  I know this isn't the site for politics, although I think mentioning it to some extent is also kind of inevitable, especially when it affects our life savings so directly.

Last year, I got hit with a tax penalty for like $6,500 USD.  I believe they garnished it out of my Roth.  I thought perhaps it was because I didn't wait long enough or something before I sold a position to buy another one.  So, I figured it might be a one-off thing, but through the entire year of 2024, I did not sell anything.  I only bought more of the same positions.

Anyway, I just received a letter from the IRS again, saying this time I owe $13k+ !  I am flabbergasted.  So now, I am trying to figure out just what exactly is this 990-T, and if this is a nightmare I have to visit every year?

So, to the best of my limited abilities, I understand that this penalty is due to me holding MLPs in my Roth IRA account specifically, and my income distributions have exceeded $1k.  I thought the whole point of Roth is to be able to generate passive income tax free.  Income, I should add that I have not pulled out at all, but rather, have re-invested back into the same positions of that same account.

Assuming all this is not a scam or a mistake somehow, this is a lot of money I am going to be losing every year!  I need to figure out what's going on and make it stop!