I’m interrupting some of my CampFI sequential thought-posts for this out-of-nowhere surprise.

I guess I’ve been out-and-about, and irresponsibly breathing around.

So, the crowns attacked me.  I can’t believe with all my healthy lifestyle activities and my double-dose vaccine barrier, that the little crown viruses attached themselves to me and broke through my defenses.  I also cannot believe after living in near-total isolation most for 13+ months that my lockdown barely mattered.

In the middle of October, someone spread their virus to me.  I have been practicing the safety protocol for so long that I’m shocked I something wrong. 

Oh Sh!t

Thursday afternoon I flew to Texas for a small conference.  Everything was normal, maybe a little tired from the stress of my first airport activities in almost two years, or my very early morning workout.  Upon arrival, I visited with some people in the evening and as often happens from talking too much (since I’m usually not talking so much) my throat got a little scratchy.  Our hotel room was cold 66 degrees (in Phx our house is 82) but the room warmed up, maybe too much—by midnight and it was hot.  I slept poorly in the hotel and didn’t get up to run in the morning because I was tired.  This was strange as I really enjoy my morning travel runs, especially in Texas along the river.  When I got up I noticed I had a headache.  That is normal when I fly or drive long distances because I get dehydrated from drinking so little water.

At lunch, I was eating my vegetables and felt a little queasy and thought “that’s not normal!”  Up to this point, my previous “symptoms” were common and explainable, but not stomach strangeness. 

After lunch, I looked up Covid’s symptoms on my phone and told my wife “I have covid.”  She said that I was “being crazy.”  I said, “nope, I have it.”  We found a little doctor’s office a few blocks away and I tested positive.  They gave me a steroid shot, antibiotics (which I didn’t want crushing my microbiome, but I figured, better safe than stupid), and an inhaler (if I didn’t need it for covid, it would be a nice running enhancer).  Oh, the doctor told me to isolate for 10 days.  WHAT, I’m 1000+ miles from home and staying in a little hotel room with one desk chair and no food.

We walked back to the hotel and I walked through a crown in the lobby and had to tell my friends at the conference I tested positive and I’m going into lockdown.  Most everyone looked at me with stress or fear like I was carrying full-on danger in my lungs.  Turns out that was the worst part of the whole ordeal. 

I felt so horrible that I was breathing in their presence (before my test) without having a clue that the crowns were in me.  If this occurred a day earlier I would have stayed home, but a day later, and I would have been in a room with 120+ people and been the super-spreader beast.  I’m still super upset about being the problem.  I never want to cause anyone problems, or worse.

Back in the hotel room, we’re sitting there with our masks on, 10 feet from each other as we discuss that we’ve been together non-stop for  6 days and I’ve already spread it to her.  She removed her mask realizing that the crowns are already out in the open.  Turns out, she never had any symptoms and tested negative 5 days after my test, following the 3-5 day testing CDC recommendation.  More on how this is amazing later.

Isolating and Safe Travels

WE could not fly home on Sunday.  I was infected and my wife was “exposed” to me.  I calculated the options for getting a better long-term hotel, one with kitchen options, and chairs or couch.  No good options.  A hotel also meant that I, or we would have to interact with restaurant people twice a day for 10 days (20+ interactions).

I thought, let’s rent a car and drive home for two days.  Our interactions will be minimal, getting to the airport, the rental counter, gas station pumps (0), one hotel, grocery store, and maybe a drive-through meal.  Total interactions ended up being 4-5ish with my tight N95.  That’s <25% of possible interactions vs. staying in a hotel.

Rental Car unavailability!  It turns out that it wasn’t easy getting a rental car in Texas for a one-way to Phoenix.  It was impossible on Friday evening and impossible on Saturday.  But luckily one company had a three-day minimum rental to Phoenix for $1100, done deal.  Then I happened to find a different company that had a 50 hour rental (time zones) to Phoenix for $588, better yet, it was the Rav4 class.  [oh, did I mention that on Friday that since no rental car options were available that we considered buying me a new Rav4 and driving it home?]

We ended up with a super-nice lady behind the rental car giant Plexiglas shield finding us a Rav4 XLE to rent.  I stayed back and masked!  Awesome a Rav4 test drive bonus. 

The Drive

We grabbed the rental car safely as there was hardly anyone around the rental car facility.  We drive to an Aldi which was very quiet on Sunday morning and grabbed a cart of food.  We were the only masks in the place…and for good reason.  The cashier was behind another large Plexiglas divider.

I drove the Rav4—loving being able to test it and compare it to my Florida 2020 Rav4 rental—towards the aliens in Roswell.  After about 5 hours I was getting VERY tired and asked my wife to drive, which hasn’t happened in the past 25 years.  I reclined the passenger’s seat, munched some PB pretzels, and slept on/off for the next 2 ½ hours to Roswell.

I picked the Roswell Inn as our little motel.  Tiny lobby, outside room door, no hallways, fridge, and microwave, it seemed the safest I could keep everyone (except my wife who was in the small multi-cubic foot area of the Rav4 with a biohazard husband).  I checked in through another huge Plexiglas barrier while N95 masked.  In my room munched on bags of Aldi goodies happy to be almost halfway home and still very isolated from others.

The next morning we drove out with no sighting, incidents, or abductions that we remember.  I skipped visiting Lincoln NM which is on my ToDo places even though it was only 10+10 miles out of our way.  My logic was that it probably had little museums and buildings to visit, and I couldn’t bring myself to be irresponsible and put anyone at risk—those that I could avoid.  I felt as if the travel industry would have precautions in place for their interactive workers, and they did.

We decided to stop at White Sands National Park since it was outdoors.  It was really cool seeing the sands and driving on the little sandy road loops.  The park was practically empty this early Monday morning.  We then drove to my wife’s childhood home at NM State University.  All-day it was easy to isolate outside just staying away from people.  To be honest, I barely breathed out much when I was near anyone, even being masked up N95 style.

In Las Cruses I popped onto I10 and the GPS said: “370miles to your next turn” to the exit on our street.  It was one LONG direct segment from Las Cruces to our everyday freeway exit.  Amazing how the southwest is so (almost) empty.  I really wanted to stop in Tucson to check things out, but I respected my isolation protocol just as I did skipping Lincoln.

To end the rental car section of this post, we accidentally returned the rental car two hours earlier than scheduled which put us at the 48-hour mark for a two-day total of $504.  NICE!

Total added cost of not being able to fly home on Sunday’s schedule: $853 = mostly car/gas 617, food $123, and one hotel $83, but we visited three sights and found something positive from the drive/experience.

Symptoms

I’ve read about multiple people catching and having covid.  I read about vaccinated and unvaccinated.  I learned from a doctor at CampFI SW that unvaccinated people have much higher viral loads and can spread the virus more intensely, and those vaccinated have less viral load (per the immune system awareness and quicker attacking before expansion in one’s body).  At least that’s what she said.  Turns out that could be a reason my wife’s vaccine kept her safe from me.

My progression per my Google Doc tracking.

• Thu1 evening-probably had symptoms starting a little. 
• Fri2 by lunch noticing symptoms in my stomach.  Test positive 4pm Friday.  Evening dry light cough.
• Sat3-congestion started slowly, fever at night, didn’t sleep at all, but was comfortable, just not able to fall asleep.
• Sun4-very little dry coughing in the car, tired also no sleep night before.  The hotel room was a little warm, but sweating at night.
• Mon5-little headache in am, today I could feel slight vibration starting in my chest when breathing.  Little coughing.  Arrived home 5pm
• Tue6-at home now-I felt normal in the morning but at noon started heavy coughing and used the inhaler (useless?).  Wed7- cough hit harder in the afternoon but was fine all night.
• Thu8-felt pretty normal all day and on my 20m bike ride (I skipped the last 5m to take it easy).  Some light coughing in the afternoon.
• Days up through 14-very light dry coughing throughout afternoon and evening. 
• Days up through 20- very, very light coughing in afternoon or evening.  Just once every few hours just to remind me that the crowns are still trying to take over but my body has crushed those little #$!@#s.

I had “mild” symptoms, but definitely “noticeable and annoying,” but not unnoticeable or worse significant.  My takeaway from this infection

1. even with the vaccine protecting me, it was scary testing positive with the unknown. 
2. it was scary as the symptoms moved from my headache, to a runny nose, to a light/dry cough, to a heavier cough, and the chest vibrations when breathing while sitting on the couch. 
3. I only felt significant stress reduction (I wasn’t too stressed because I knew I would be OK if my body was truly efficient and vaccinated) as the symptoms reversed and congestion and heavy cough disappeared (day 8, but day 5 of significant coughing) back to a light/dry, then very light cough.
4. I never had the symptoms I hear most often, no loss of smell, no loss of taste, no aches.

Additional Thoughts

1. Based on the fact that I was not out and about engaging in unprotected breathing much in the days before symptoms, we concluded that I probably became infected at hockey—probably in the locker room before/after skating.  This really sucks because I avoided hockey for a LONG time to be extra, extra safe.  I did not skate for 17 months, even after having the vaccine in me.  I guess it goes to show you that not having protection one time can be enough to cause danger.
2. Once home, isolating for the remaining week was not any different than the previous year and a half, not realy.  Actually, it wasn’t different than my normal life at all.  I still ran and biked in the desert preserve, but I did do my weight workouts at home instead of the gym to be respectful and extra safe.
3. One final note on renting the Rav4.  It turns out my wonderful, amazing experience with the Rav4 in Florida last year was been a little overshadowed by the purchase of my wife’s new Toyota Venza.  The Venza (Limited) is a MUCH nicer vehicle than the Rav 4 (XLE), from the engine, the steering wheel, the displays, the seats, the ride, etc.  I know the Venza is adjectivized as “elegant” but it’s built on the Rav4 chassis so it should be quite close.  I’m glad we did not buy an emergency “covid positive” Rav4in Texas.   Ironically, we bought our Venza from a Texas dealer and had it shipped to Phoenix because I didn’t want to fly & drive, which is exactly what I was considering for the purchased Rav4, and did for the rental Rav4.  You never know what’s going to happen in life.  I’m glad that now a couple of months past my virus attack that I have life and it’s been good great.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.

Now shifting from CampFI SW in my last post, I noticed a post that I started in January 2020 after CampFI SE.  It’s a must share for an opposite perspective.

From 2020-01: I decided after CampFU (that was a typo, but actually kind of applicable) to drive across the Florida panhandle and explore the gulf coast, then head up into Alabama just for fun, just because I could.  I hopped in my rental RAV4—which was awesome because I’ve considered buying a Rav4  when I need a new car.  I mapped out the places to visit, and hotels deals along the way.  It turns out you can get some nice beach-view resort rooms at excellent prices with last-minute bookings, even in January.

There I was, in the lobby checking out of my (basic) motel in Tallahassee when I spoke to a stranger—which is rare for me.  After days of hearing about JL Collins The Simple Path to Wealth, I wanted to title this post “the simple path to nowhere.”  Another guest was checking out, and he said loud enough so those around him could hear his brilliance “OK, makin me some money on Tesla.”

I asked him “oh, you’re invested in Tesla, that’s cool, what brokerage do you use?”  I know it was a somewhat leading question, but I wanted to dig into his boastful arrogance in a little more detail to understand his vocal prosperity.  He mentioned something about some “stock app” on his phone.  I said, “I’ve never heard of that, how does it work?”  Mr. Investor proceeds to show me how he’s up FOURTEEN CENTS and he “now has $2.04 in Tesla and $1.79 in apple.”  [I swear this is 100% true, I put the note in my phone immediately so I wouldn’t forget]

OK, I understand there is a stock-picking game used in schools all over the country (universities included) and the game is (in my opinion) detrimental to investing, especially long-term “investing,” but this app seemed like a game for sure.  It was the arrogance he shared out loud that bothered me.  Ironically, I am finally posting this considering how Carl just shared his “Tesla investing story” recently. 

So, I have many thoughts about this motel lobby interaction 1) arrogantly boasting is unbecoming and may be asinine 2) stock games on a smartphone may be idiotic 3) I was staying in a lower-end motel, lower than I needed to 4)…

#4)  I was so disappointed that I didn’t have a $5 bill to double his money.  This is what I think is funny now 18+ months later, if he held on to his $2.04 of Tesla stock from Jan 2020, he actually would have shown me who’s boss.  It turns out, as of now Nov 2021 his Tesla “investment” would be worth $21.00+.

I’m not condescending of those struggling, or those saving small amounts to get started or give their life some buffer.  That is very hard for so many people.  There is even US tax code to support these savers-credits.  I believe in the power of positive actions—to try and improve a little at a time, day after day, week after week—hoping those actions make life better.  It’s the braggadocio nature of his obnoxious actions.

As for the opposite of my interaction, I love those who have shared the concept of stealth wealth.  I love the work of Dr. Thomas Stanley and his daughter, Sarah Stanley Fallaw.  These are just some of the many people who help make us all better.  I’m also pretty sure that they often do not speak in loud voices in public situations.

Help those you can, with whatever you can.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll write it again—hanging out with people who make you better is one of the best things you can do for yourself and those around you.

I’ve been to five CampFI gatherings around the country and each one is very interesting and valuable to me.  There is an abundance of intelligence, wisdom, and sharing.  I am often presented with perspectives that differ from considerations I’ve had in the past.  I find value in listening, processing, and re-evaluating positions I’ve held on many topics.  This is not something that I normally do in real life with other people, even If they are friends.  I think I do this at camp because I feel that the people who (pay to) attend CampFI tend to be of higher intellectual caliber in so many ways and I recognize that distinction.

The average age of CampFI SW San Diego was a little older than many camps— probably mid-40s.  The ages ranged from 24 to 69.  There were a handful of people in their mid-20s, and a chunk of people 45/50+. The remaining (most) attendees were in the 35-45ish age range.  This allowed for a lot of discussions from those who may be nearing the 10-year stage of planning for FI, never mind the leaving-their-career stage.

Looking back, in the spring of 2020 I was closing in on turning 50 and I was really thinking that I’d aged out of CampFI and ChooseFI.  Many of the discussions (“saving $9 on Netflix every other month” or “side hustling for $100/wk”) didn’t interest me.  To be honest, even opening a treasury direct.gov account didn’t seem worth my time in an attempt to earn more interest on a $10k transaction.

As luck would have it, CampFI SW moved from the Palm Spring area to a camp near our home in Encinitas.   I also lucked out in that the group of attendees was the best of ANY CampFI I’ve been to.  “Awesome” (see I’m old).

One big takeaway is that I am glad I’m smart enough to realize that people who are not like me can make me better.

I also realize that people who challenge you to go outside your comfort zone (jumping off a zip line platform, or climbing a wall, or talking about a worldly topic) can help you grow.

In my mind, I find that talking with people who are on a similar journey ahead of you will help you navigate your path a little smarter.  Similarly, people who are on a similar journey but behind you can help you frame how you got to where you are.  Both groups of people can help you traverse your journey better than you would without them. 

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.

I haven’t really talked to many people about my strange/shocking/sad moment last week but I will here because it’s part of my LifeInFIRE.

My schetchle ended up shuffling around so that I had a swim listed on Tuesday, October 5^th, 2021.  I list the exact date because, well it changed a part of life for many people.

I was swimming laps at the gym in Encinitas.  The pool was pretty busy as normal, I remember counting about 8 people in the 4 lanes, including a few people walking in the far lane, as well as a couple of people standing on the pool deck talking.  I was feeling OK going back and forth, noticing the people in the next lane with flippers moving along nicely thinking “that looks more enjoyable,” but I know I have to give it my full-human effort at this point in life.  It was an ironic thought looking back.

Back and forth, back and forth, then on my 12th lap into my 36 lap mile I’m taking a breath on my right side, and the Asian lady in the lane next to me—who got into the pool at the exact same time as me, and smiled toward me because we were both lucky to have an opening to share a lane with other people at a pretty busy pool-was floating as you see in the movies. 

Here’s my mind: what am I seeing, I stop swimming and move toward the lane line thinking just “maybe she is doing a relaxation thing?” but that only lasted a split second as I dunked under the lane line and tapped her unresponsive shoulder.

I grabbed her and began pulling her the 10 feet to the edge while yelling “HELP, Get Help” to the two ladies talking on the deck.  They both stared at me without moving for a couple of seconds, so I yelled “Bang on the Glass” which leads to the main gym area, right by the front desk, manager, and sales team.  They didn’t understand what I was saying and started walking (quite slowly, scared) around the edge to me and I repeated to “BANG ON THE GLASS.”  Nothing from them.

I lifted the nice lady (who else would take the time to smile toward me) up and halfway onto the desk when two guys rushed over to pull her out.  They asked if she was breathing and I said “no, I don’t think so, do CRP.”  They paused and while I was still in the pool said “just press her chest.”  I swam over to the ladder and popped out (more like, carefully climbed the in-wall steps), and rushed to the lady.  None of the three of us were able to start CPR for that 10 seconds, but a 3^rd guy and a lady (with spinning shoes on) arrived and did a couple of things, and then 10-15 seconds later they started CRP.  They were both nurses who were at the gym and came running, full-speed to help anyone in danger.

I’m sorry this is so long, but I’m in the zone sharing something so real and doubly important.

WE ALL told another lady watching to call 911 TWICE.  Actually, I think that was immediately before the 2 nurses arrived.  She must have heard my strongly calling for help and walked over.  I knew to yell LOUD so anyone close could hear.  You could probably hear something loud coming into both locker rooms.

So initial CPR did not work.  The paramedics arrived quickly <5 minutes?  The gym did a great job opening doors 15’ away and placing people outside to flag down the paramedics for quick attention.  They all worked on the lady and did maybe a dozen procedures to try to bring her back.  The ambulance brought her to the nearest hospital.  I don’t believe she survived.  Her husband was at the gym because he came to her side just after the paramedics.  I spoke to him and told him “I was swimming next to her, something happened and I pulled her out of the pool within a minute. I’ve seen her swimming before and today we both got into the pool at the same time, I want you to know she smiled at me before we both got and she was happy to be swimming.”  He said “she has stage 3 lung cancer, never smoked, was halfway through chemo and the day before her right foot swelled up and urgent care couldn’t find anything.”  I said, “I’m so sorry, but she was smiling.”  He did a little head nod bow and I stepped back.

Before I left the house I was talking to my neighbor about how it’s it’s strange to just move your arms swimming back and forth and think non-stop for 35ish minutes.  When I swim (crappy swimmer) there’s nothing to worry about like running or biking, or planning like lifting weights in the middle of everyone else.  It’s just a physical, and mind thinking zone.  It’s pretty special in some ways.  My swimming is an active form of meditation or gratitude, while suffering a little.

During the care of the nice lady, the gym staff cleared out the members watching (some were TOTALLY freaked out, inside I was in knots and pain, but outside I showed my best strength) but I didn’t leave.  I just stepped way back and each time they approached me to leave I said “I pulled her out, I’m going to just stay back here.”  They do my sentence as “he’s ok here.”  Position your strength for what YOU want.  I wanted to be there for the police, the husband, the nice lady, and myself.  Do What You Want, if it’s the right thing!

I’m sure we lost that nice lady last week at the pool.  I’m sure her passing is sad to her family.  I hope her husband shares that she was happy at the time.  I’m sure I’ll never be the same.  I’ll never swim the same.  I’ll never see someone getting paramedic help the same.  I’m sure I’m better from the loss of that nice lady.

I could/should end the post there my philosophical statements but I can’t, well, because that’s me.

So the gym staff closed the doors behind the paramedics and everyone went back to the previous locations.  I was standing there out of the way.  I was standing there in the large pool, Jacuzzi area all by myself.

I walked over to the pretty big 4-lane pool and it was (word removed) “perfectly” silent.  I’ve swum at this pool for 10 years, dozens and dozens and dozens of times and it’s never been so still and silent.  There is always some activity.  At that moment, I just knew that time goes on.  Hopefully, we proceed in a better state.

I looked around for a LONG minute, popped back into the water at the end of my lane, the same lane I was in.  Looked at my watch and 20 minutes had passed since I stopped my exercise after climbing out of the water.  I thought about the lives changed in that 20 minutes.  I thought about how my remaining 24 laps (<24 minutes) would be less time than the entire incident.

I pressed apple watch start, beep, beep, beep down the lane I went.  I just moved my arms swimming back and forth and thinking non-stop for now, 24ish minutes.  Every second (alternating) breathe I looked to the lane where I would see that nice lady swimming (and worse thought in my mind) and I just tried to enjoy the life and activity I had at that moment.

On the phone later my wife said “what do you do after the ambulance left?” I said, “umm, what do you think?”  She said, “you finished your swim.”  Yes, of course, I did, but it was different.  It may have been better.

Live your life, help where you can.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.

I love data and I enjoy gadgets.  I have plenty of gadgets that track my workouts/activities. 

I track sleep, and my waking data.  I find data fascinating and my body’s data even more so.

Hospital Heart Numbers

At the hospital [#130] the medical team would wake me up in the middle of the night to run tests: vitals, blood, whatever they needed.  Each night I could hear their concern when my pulse registered low 40s.  They would often ask me to sit up and I would say (in almost full-sleep mode) “my normal sleeping/resting pulse is 40” and they would say “OK, thank you.”  I would look at the rolling monitor and it would have a RED 42 or whatever on the display.

Past Heart Numbers

At home, for the past decade-plus my waking HR,   HRV,   sleeping average, sleeping low would be quite low.  I assume this is from 20+ years of exercise.  For a baseline; my average morning HR was 38-39, morning HRV was 120ish and sleeping average HR was 44ish.  I know these numbers are extremely unique to each person’s own body, but when falling asleep at night, I could feel my heart beating, which is a little disconcerting and strange.

Back Home Heart Numbers

After coming home from the hospital my numbers were much different.  For the first two weeks they averaged:  waking HR of mid 40s and sleeping HR average low 50s. 

It was interesting how strange the 15-20% “decrease” was in my fitness after 4 days+4 hrs in the hospital and 2 weeks of “no strenuous exercise.”  The only activity I did for two weeks was walking along with 500-1000 stair steps and a few simple dumbbell exercises, nothing straining my core/surgery incisions.

I was just amazed at how much of my fitness disappeared in 2 weeks of drastic reduction.

After being home 3 full weeks.  The first two weeks were no strenuous activity, then in week 3, I eased back into my workouts 33%, 67% then 100% each day.  The only reason I increased so rapidly was because my surgeon told me it was OK to start working out when I could walk down stairs with no pain.  The problem was, I walked up and down stairs the moment I arrived home to test my abdomen and there was no pain, no pinch, no anything of concern.  That is one reason my “no strenuous activity” included 2 then 4 mile walks along with beach bluff stair climbing.  First, it was 4x*125 stairs, then 8x*125 stairs (1000+ sounded good to me).  No pain, no concerns other than a little breathing increase and some quad burn (loved it!).

Getting Heart Back to Normal Numbers

At the 6 full weeks point from entering the hospital.  My numbers are now getting closer to where they were before my scary adventure.  Twice at the 6-week mark, my watch has reported good news in the morning.  It has notified me that my heart rate fell below 40 during the night.  A standard warning of concern that a normal person’s heart rate is too low.

It’s now 12 weeks from returning home from my 4+day glitch and my numbers have been consistently low for the past few weeks.  In addition to my apple watch tracking system, after returning home from the hospital I added an Oura ring tracking tool to get similar and other data points

I truly love the data and would probably be all strapped up with gadgets if I had my way.  I have been known to wear my polar watch AND apple watch at the gym, but now I just use my polar iphone app, plus apple watch and sometimes my Oura ring.  If Whoop wasn’t $30 per month, I’d probably strap one of those on.  Note: I just saw their $24/mo yearly or $18/mo for 18 months.  Uh oh.  I also see the band is free if you sign up for 6+ months.  Oooh, there’s an app for that…data.

So, I’ve learned in great detail, and at significant concern, at how fitness (health) levels change quickly and how 1) they can come back to prior excellent levels and 2) that it takes considerable effort and patience to get back to where you were.

I have to wonder, if so many aspects of life follow the same pattern of work hard, be consistent, gain improvements, take a break, lose previous improvements, fight hard to get back to where you were before.  Having survived a stressful, close call with health/fitness, I can say it was worth the effort both physically and mentally to get back to my high baseline.  It was good to have a goal.  It was good to have to dedicate myself to myself.  It made me more appreciative of so much in my life.  I strive to practice gratituding each and every day.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.

Some of you may understand that your left foot used to do something while driving.  Mostly only the older people really understand this phenomenon.  It’s true younger people who love sporty cars have manual stick shifts by choice, but it used the be the main option unless you had a fancy automatic transmission (or live outside the US).

The above history lesson is mostly irrelevant except the fact that my mind thinks in “gears.”  Not spinning gears as much as performance gears.

The reason I’ve been thinking about gears (frequently) lately is that I feel as though I’m stuck in 3^rd gear.  I’m just moving along in my days and weeks and all is well.  However, I just can’t seem to punch it and get into 4^th, never mind 5^th gear.

Let me explain my gearing definitions:

1. Creeping
2. Putzing
3. Moving
4. Cruising
5. Flying

So, using the scale above, I seem to be in the moving speed.  I’m not putzing along, nor am I cruising.  I’m just moving along day-to-day doing what I need to do, adding a few extra tasks, and quite often taking it pretty easy.  If it weren’t for my extremely consistent workouts (which are at basic standard effort), I would probably be nearing 2^nd gear putzing speed much of the time.

I’ve written about the Covid forced SloGo and how interesting it was (is again?) to see what the slow-life may look like.  A FIRE friend said it’s “like they are living as 80 year-olds right now.” 

I’ve seen articles from some writers about their levels of depression increasing somewhat.  They are somewhat in the doldrums and just feel life’s dragging a little.  I don’t feel depressed (I guess?).  But I do feel as if there is no GoGo happening in me right now, or at least that I am not jumping into all kinds of activities.

We re-entered the world around us in late April after our 2^nd vaccines doses kicked in.  We did a road trip and have been to multiple states and explored.  I’ve been to the actual gym and even stores without concern.  As I write this I’m preparing my hockey gear for my first skate in 17 months.  It should have occurred after 13 months, but I was traveling the past few months.

So, I’m wondering, will things feel a little more GoGo this afternoon at/after hockey?  Will I inherently increase from a planned easy going get re-introduced to the ice game?  Will I, as usual, skate as hard as I can on every rush (and backcheck hard too-I’m not lazy) and push for 5^th gear?  And, if so, will those 5^th gear efforts kick start my engine and motivation drive to push into 4^th and 5^th gear more often now? 

I sure hope so.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.

I was thinking about my life as I sat on my patio looking at the desert (right next to my spa).  For once, I was thinking “outside the spa.”

When I think of the mainstream media sharing the “good life” stories, I think of their portrayal of mansions and 100k cars.  But, could there be another “good life” picture?  Could others be living in a manner that enriches their soul every day?  So far over the past seven years, I can say, yes.

We own a pretty small (main) home.  It’s 1026 sq ft.  It’s probably one of the smallest starter homes available.  We’ve owned it since 1991.  I considered the options of moving to a larger home in the late 90s as our careers (incomes) progressed and most everyone we knew upgraded their homes.

Luckily, location, location, location mattered more to me than size.  We live three houses from a 10,000-acre desert mountain preserve with a wash behind us.  We get privacy as well as access to a giant recreation/exercise area that I use throughout the week.

I’ve written about “same spouse, same house, and same cars” before, and we live(d) that lifestyle to the core.  Yet, as we’ve progressed in our lives together (grown older) we’ve been able to expand somewhat for strategic or qualitative purposes.

Let’s start with using timing.  We own the little house next to us—another 1026 sq ft of “space.”  When the housing market was in disaster in 2009 we worked with our realtor to grab the house when it went into foreclosure (REO).  The plan was to have a place for my mom to live if she was no longer safe in her home (1 mile away).

Over the years we have let a family member live there at a low-rent amount to help them get more financially sound.  We have used the garage for storage.  We have used the inside for storage.  We even use the yard/shed for some storage.  Sounds dumb, but our 1000 sq ft house or small yard doesn’t have much space for “stuff.”

Here’s where the story takes a sharp left turn…Covid-19.  With the onset of the pandemic coming, we staged the extra house as a quarantine home for emergencies.  We bought a fridge, freezer, set up the nice blow-up bed, set up a wifi extension (next door is close enough to share our service), put an older TV with a roku in the living room, and stocked some extra food and household supplies for the family if needed.  Not like a warehouse, but just some cushion of supplies. 

But wait, it gets even better.  The true amazingness, especially during a pandemic, was that we already had some exercise equipment and weights that we collected over the years as people and businesses were getting rid of it.  They were nice enough items at LOW prices.  Turned out to be lucky purchases as it was almost impossible to buy home exercise equipment once the gyms were closed.

Side note: the neighbors found it strange when they watched us walk out our front gate and into the opening garage door next door…  (perceptions?  not stealth wealth?)

Now, after 10+ years of owning the house next door, we decided to spend a chunk of money (only $1100) to remove a  small section of our block fence and install a gate between the backyards.  This 1) eliminated the side note above, and 2) allowed super easy access to the spare house.  It was SO nice not to have to open an old garage door and listen to the squealing as it went up to access the 2^nd home.  We actually use the extra/spare house two to three times more than we used to because of the gate.  It’s like having an east wing to our small home.  Now we kind of have a 2100 sq foot home—crazy.

The smart money option is that we can always sell the other house if we need an influx of money.  Just as we can sell the extra cars we own.  We can sell one asset at a time without impacting our main home or main vehicles.

There’s a saying that if you are house-rich and your home is your main asset, that you cannot sell some roof shingles or one of the rooms to buy food. 

In our case, owning a few extra (small) assets (small living) allows options for incremental sales and plenty of life flexibility.  In a way, we live a HUGE life on a small scale.  (is that a “big fish” or “small fish” in what sized pond?)

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.