Nope, Still Not Retired.

 I don't think I have to explain why not, do I? 

As I've said here and told my boss, I'm on the quarter by quarter plan. I'll work another quarter and see where we are.  It's anybody's guess at the moment, but it ain't looking good. I have my 401k basically locked down in the most conservative options available, and it lost $2k last week. God knows where we'll be by June.

But hey, I had my annual review and it was lovely again, and I got the max raise available and the max bonus, so I'd be a fool to say, "Yeah, but I'm sick of this and I want to retire," under the circumstances. 

And I will never forgive the people Republicans who fucked up this country AGAIN. Jesus can forgive them if He wants, that's His thing. I'm gonna hold a fucking grudge.  I've come back from recessions and housing crashes and major employers going under and all the shit that comes from Republican administrations, but I'm gonna be 68 and I just don't have time to bounce back this time. So I did everything right, saw this coming, tried to warn about it, and I'm in the backseat of the car going over the cliff.

This country is going through some shit, and it's making it clear how much things we all grew up hearing, because "Everybody knows" were LIES. Just a single example of many: How many times were we told that Republicans were best for the economy, and Democrats were always "tax and spend"? Shall we review the decades of actual evidence that proves the opposite, or would that be rude?  Mustn't make terrible people who made terrible choices and chose fascism over democracy feel bad about themselves!  That whole "greatest country on earth thing"? Was never true, and is now just a terrible joke.

So, anyway...I'm focused on gratitude that I'm healthy and doing okay and not being forced to retire yet, and I'm still planning my exit from the full time job to a part time something more fun, but when it'll happen is anybody's guess.  

Meanwhile, the next house projects: the garage makeover and the shower fixing. I'll take before and after pictures, I swear. I know the garage sounds like a low priority project, but it's a lot of useful storage space going to waste, and I want nice useful shelving and a small chest freezer, not the useless mess that exists now. 

The shower - I had originally thought I'd have to tear it out and have it entirely rebuilt, but I think I found an alternative, a local company that can refinish the existing tiled shower. The tile is in good shape, it could use re-grouting due to the age. The shower head is ancient and I really want one with a hand held option as well as a standard shower head, and then Lowe's can send strong young people to install a new shower door. 

I've lived with a curtain and tension rod for years, since the old glass shower door fell apart in my hands while I was cleaning it. I can't remember if I ever told that story here, but yeah, I was wiping the glass doors when the frame holding the large glass panels just...let go. I felt it wobble and grabbed the glass as the metal frame around one of the two large glass panels just fell away. It was old and tired, and it just had enough, a gentle cleaning with a sponge did it in. That was fun. So I'm hoping I can get the local company to give it a facelift, then I'll get new doors and call it done. I don't want to live with rebuilding it if I don't have to, we shall see.

We had a very rare major freeze last month, and many of my succulents didn't make it. They'd been growing since 2020, when my daughter unwittingly turned me into a succulent rancher by giving me some tiny cute owl shaped pots for tiny plants. I bought teeny tiny succulent clippings on Etsy, thinking if even a few lived I'd have plenty of plants. They all lived and thrived under my benign neglect, outgrew the owls quickly and then two more sizes of pots, finally becoming large, other-worldly looking things on the balcony. The Great Freeze of 2026 killed several, but not all. I'm not terribly sad about that, and I'm starting over with a new batch of wee plants, also from Etsy. 

So the balcony is mid-refresh. I got rid of the dead plants and also the old folding bookcases that had been pressed into service as plant shelving on the balcony. I knew exposure would wreck them, but they'd had a long life of service in just about every room in multiple houses, so it was their last role before the trash. Tonight my son-in-law (and my daughter and the Prince) stopped by so he could haul them down the stairs to the curb for me. I might have been able to manage them, but I didn't want to risk screwing up my currently pain-free knee with awkwardly getting them down the stairs.  I'll assemble the new plant stand this week. I also want to add a ceiling fan and light.  

So they stopped by for a few minutes of son-in-law carrying shit down the stairs, not a real visit. The Prince climbed the stairs under supervision, saw me, said "Gamma!" and ran to be picked up and gave me a hug. Though really, I think he was more excited to see Eddie. Eddie was super well behaved with him even though he was very excited too. I think they're going to be pals this year. The human boy is nearly to the age when he can visit Grandma without me needing to call for backup. 😂

I've been thinking a lot about how people living through terrible times just still have to go about their lives and try to find joy where they can. I never thought we'd be doing it on this scale of awful, but here we are, and we must both resist and not let the bastards steal all our happiness.