Thursday, December 1, 2022

And just like that it is the last month of the year!

Last comment on college - Somewhat coincidentally I read an article in the NY Times this morning about the value of college. It did say that the value has gone up over time (wasn't so important in the 1980's for instance). But at this point the estimate of the value is $500,000. In other words the expected additional income for a college graduate (vs high school with some college) minus the cost of college nets to that amount.

Time to walk Justice, then beach club with the sisters. Tonight we go to a sports bar for dinner and watch the beginning of the Patriots game on TV.

Have a thunderous Thursday!

Interesting about college value. I think I will take that info with a grain of salt. LOL! I'm guessing that 500K is earned over a 30-40 year career. When you break it down it's between 1K and 1.7K per month. Yes, over time that pays, but in the short term, which is how most people live in my experience, young people might not see the value of what is now 4-6 years of student debt for that minimal pay back. I remember being so pissed the first few years of teaching with my pay cut. I had been making so much more as a part time waiter than I was bringing home as a full time teacher. I worked weekends and nights waiting tables to make ends meet. What got me through was long term thinking.... Pension, automatic salary step increases, unpaid time off, hours.....

Ron got home last night. The dogs were happy to see him. Me, I was so tired and done in by my reaction to my second shingles vaccine, by the time we got back home, I was probably a little less enthusiastic than Ron would have liked. I was up and out of the house before he even woke. I can tell though he had a really good time and loved having so much time with his family.

Weight is dropping back down from the sudden jump up. That's good. If I am feeling up to it this afternoon, I will start yoga. I have just got to get some better flexibility going. This old man stiff sh*t is getting old! I also would really love for my low back to go a day or two with absolutely no pain. It's just never fully recovered from the blow out last spring....

Okay, I must run off to teach 5 year olds about high and low pitches!

Buh bye!

Greetings all

Things are quiet now but last night was awful. I had picked up an anti seizure med from the vet and given it. But two hours later Chip went in to a major seizure that went on and on. I texted my niece the vet in the midwest who said I could double the dose on the seizure med and be safe and to dissolve it in water and squirt it into his cheek. So thats what we did. And it did indeed work. I was afraid he would die from the seizure. I had a call into the emergency contact at my local vet but by the time they called back I had already talked to my niece. We have no emergency night vet here anymore which was her first suggestion. But all is calm now and he got another dose this morning and he sees the vet at 2 this afternoon. So I am not sure how much longer we will have old Chip but at least he is dozing peacefully now.

Other than that and having to drive to to the vet clinic to get pills in a pouring rain storm, it was an uneventful evening. Jeez, this drama I do not need. There was some crunchy ice stuff on the deck this morning and there was snow inland at 2000 feet. But suns out today.

The roast chicken I had for us ended up being fed to Chip so we ate mac and cheese. Not a good weight loss program but oh well.

I will be lounging about today waiting for vet apt. The younger dogs have been sort of neglected and kenneled during this drama so they deserve some treats too.

Not much else. Guess I will go back to knob shopping.

Diane S

So sorry about Chip. The end of their time is so darned hard.

You are taking good care of the old guy. Every animal should be so lucky.

Hugs to Chip and to you!

Well it's not going to be easy. He has new antisezure meds tonight so we will see how it goes. No seizures yet. His motion is somewhat limited but he sure wants to eat. We may have to fence off parts of the house mainly to keep perky poppy from bugging him.rite now chip. Lives in an ex pen in the living room with trips outside. This is not going to be easy with the puppy who is in his face all the time. Oy vey

ds

Hmm, value of college, DH's degree didn't pay off one iota as he ended up in retail management, no degree required. But I am a die hard liberal arts major, and I think college offered him and I much more than the promise of a financial pay off. He courted me with a poem from Yeats, and tickets to an Ibsen play. I wouldn't trade those four years for anything. It was such an expansive time. Sitting in a dark auditorium while slide after slide clicked by me in Art History class, learning about operant conditioning when I taught a white rat to push a lever, learning how to survive in some derelict student housing apartment... that was part of my education too. The difference is, it was soooo much cheaper. I could mostly earn enough money working full-time in the summer to cover tuition at the University of Minnesota. So there wasn't so much riding on the outcome. DH had no debt when he graduated, I had about $7000. (His parents helped pay, mine left me completely on my own, but I managed to graduate in 4 years just the same) Now, the $ investment is too much to risk.

BFF has been here since November 17. She will leave December 17. I thought I'd be more patient if I had a firm departure date, and I shortened the stay to only 4 weeks. But I'm weary of sharing my space, my social life, and frankly, my family. I look forward to my "empty nest" again.

We started watching Wednesday on Netflix. Only 1 episode in, but we liked it. Although I will never accept anybody but Raul Julia as Gomez. RIP. What a talent, lost much too soon.

I think as we we get older we really appreciate our space and our time. Probably learned over many years.