October 2026 Grab Bag

 The full force of Autumn leaning into Winter has arrived in New Home 2.0.

I would date it to this past Sunday upon my return (although apparently Saturday was the same):  cloudy, raining, with temperatures in the 50's F/10's C during the day and 40's F/single digit C during the night.  

I drove by The Allotment this week to check on things.  The buckwheat, my last remaining "Summer" crop, has definitely felt the change in weather.  I have one more harvest of seeds there (probably sometime today as you are reading this) and then The Allotment is formally done.

With the change of time this coming Sunday, we will spend our mornings and evenings in darkness.

Welcome, Winter.

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During our visit for my Aunt's funeral, we saw The Cowboy and his wife.  Their precise words were "Your mom and dad would have really liked the people at The Ranch now."

Apparently they are taking as good a care of the property as my father did, and even invited The Cowboy to plant his garden there again this past year.  They did let me know they repainted the living room (no surprise there; pink was always a bit of an unusual colour even for my father).

Although I continue to be surprised by the lack of regret I have for changing the course of my life and letting The Ranch pass on, it is good to know that the people there seem to love it as much as my parents did.  

Another sign that the decision was the correct one.

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The Ravishing Mrs. TB  and I have had some tentative further discussions about Retirement.

Although at least 3 years away, we still have to start making some decisions and plans about it now, or at least trending down that path.  One of the biggest remains, of course, where we will live.  We have talked a bit about moving back to New Home:  it is not my fondest choice for the weather and seasons, but financially it makes a lot of sense as 1) We outright own a home; and 2) There are no state taxes there.

It matters thinking about it now because no matter where we go, likely it will involve a move.  Which means saving for it - I have no intention of moving anything myself at this point and hopefully, this (wherever it ends up being) will be our last relocation.

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I am becoming mildly concerned about my own personal economy in the years leading up to retirement.

One, of course, is simply the cost of everything right now.  In a short sentence, it is definitely noticeable and definitely impacting our bottom line - even more so now that we are changing our thinking to "very fixed income".  The Ravishing Mrs. TB is already combing through our lives and our budget to find places that we can economize more.

I am also having low level concerns about my work.

Frankly, it is not a great time for my company.  Sure,  in terms of our stock price, it is as high as it has ever been.  But there are subtle signs:  spending on a great many things has been completely halted or pushed to next year and we are already discussing year end ratings with some expectations of the bell curve for ratings (e.g. you have to have a certain percentage on the low end).  

It is the sort of subsonic rumblings that one feels rather than hears before the earthquake arrives.

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We are 5 weeks into our Curling Season.  

Our "Record" is 1-4 (although they do not really keep league standings).  We have managed to at least score every game, which is nice - although to be fair, most games are what would be considered "blowouts" in terms of score (to the point the opposing team stops keeping track).

That said, we continue to improve slowly.  

Curling is a subtle sport which involves the ice, the stone, how one launches off the hack (the small rubber starting block) and the sweeping.  There are as many variables as any outdoor sport.

One of the nice things we heard this last week was from one of our "coaches" from our introduction class in March who said we are showing a lot of improvement.  I do not know that I believe it - but we will be back out on the ice next Monday to try again.