Music Monday: “Movin’ On Up” – Ja’net DuBois
Posted By RichC on July 18, 2022
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Our 40th Anniversary trip to the Canadian Rockies (part 1)
Posted By RichC on July 17, 2022
Well … this is part 1 of the Canadian Rockies 40th Anniversary wrap-up (a pre-post was made last week) and since there are just WAY too many photos and memories to recall for just one post (the curse of multiple smartphones with cameras that also shoot motion GIFs and video). It was much simpler 34 years ago when we took MomH and DadH (Brenda’s siblings and spouses) and had just one hefty video camera … or even on a father-son trip when Taylor, Jeff and I did in 2005!
First … let me say thank you to Katelyn and Taylor (Drew, Annalyn, Ellerie and Megan) for planning such a wonderful 40th Anniversary for Brenda and me. It was so much fun to be there with everyone and to enjoy the beauty of the snow cap mountains and great townhouse in Canmore, Alberta, time in Banff and many crazy hikes and dinners. It was capped off with a deluxe stay at the Chateau Lake Louise; too much beauty to absorb in one short week … but so appreciated. Thank you!
We began our traveling from three separate airports on three separate airlines, not necessarily on purpose, but due to the airline fiasco (the summer after the COVID pandemic). 
Brenda and I were suppose to meet KDAE in Toronto and fly Air Canada with them to Calgary, but our flight was canceled so we flew United through Chicago instead – all was fine. We arrived early and waiting only a short time at the Calgary airport ready for Drew’s “perfect” rental car, a privately owned Toyota Sienna minivan with roof box (not an easy task to arrange) arrived to meet us and worked perfectly for the entire trip. Thankfully it fit all our luggage and accomplished miles of travel in relative comfort for all 8 of us … 1 in a car seat and 1 in a booster! Taylor and Megan connected in LA and arrived in Canmore, Alberta by the end of the travel day well rested (showered and relaxed in the Delta lounge – they know how to travel. Hm???)
Do Statins Increase Your Risk for Dementia?
Posted By RichC on July 16, 2022
Since a lot of aging Americans have been prescribed a statin, they likely pay close attention to articles talking about possible links between statins and dementia –I take note too. Thankfully each time the medical studies and advice is updated, the benefits of taking a statin vs trying to live with high cholesterol still outweigh the theorized risks.
Statins are powerful cholesterol-lowering medications. They are among the most prescribed medications in the U.S. Common examples of statins include atorvastatin, rosuvastatin, and simvastatin.
Fishy Friday Filler: Fish, Fish, Fishes
Posted By RichC on July 15, 2022
A nightmare ending to a great 40th anniversary family trip
Posted By RichC on July 14, 2022
It is probably good to have waited another day before posting in frustration over how our return flight was handled by Air Canada since we were not happy being stuck in Toronto after our final leg was canceled. To add insult to injury we already had a delayed flight on Sunday, then boarded and deplaned after 45 minutes when they canceled the flight. No reschedule or instructions … just that the flight was canceled. By the time we ALL made it to the 3 agent Toronto Air Canada customer service desk for rebooking and rescheduling, the line was very long. There were families, lost older people and non-English or French Canadian speakers in the line; we felt so sorry for them. FOUR hours later we made it to the front only to 
find that there were no flights available on any airline to our destination on Monday … so they said. Tuesday was the earliest they could get us on a flight so we took it. They made no accommodation plans and only gave out a couple $10 Canadian dollar vouchers for airport food (our meal was way more than $20CAD).
Thankfully Toronto has decent mass transit and we “herded” our way onto the train in the direction of hotels. By this time we had buddied up with others stuck in similar boats and got on and off the train and back in a hotel line again together. I was fearful we might not find a room since it was late and so we took the first room available hoping for some reimbursement from the airline. Our Sheraton Conference Hotel room was $419.32 CAD. Ugh! One of the the younger travelers didn’t even have a credit card so I’m unsure what he did?
Thankfully it was a very comfortable room and since we had been up since 2:45AM mountain time in Calgary, Alberta, Brenda fell fast asleep. Oh … and of course we didn’t have luggage! Since I had already had an Air Canada trip canceled and rebooked prior to our departure day going out to the Canadian Rockies, I sort of knew the long wait time drill when trying to talk with reservations on the phone. After 3 hours+ on hold, an agent took the call, but wasn’t able to book us on a Monday flight. BUT she WAS able to put another flight “on a courtesy hold” in our name so as long as I could be at the Toronto airport Air Canada customer service desk by 9AM. After sleeping THREE GLORIOUS hours, we checkout and headed to the airport. After some arm-twisting, the ticketing agent booked us on the Monday afternoon flight and didn’t cancel our 
Tuesday flight … just in case (flight after flight on the electronic board was being delayed or canceled on Monday too).
Next was the L-O-N-G security lines and then pre-US customs lines until we were finally into the terminal and could sit and wait at our gate. Lunch was good. As suspected, our flight was delayed 45 minutes, but it finally took off … although without our luggage I was sure … which was no doubt hopelessly lost.
On arrival back in the USA (we could finally take our masks off – Canada is still masking) we headed with crossed fingers to the luggage turnstiles hoping that our luggage would be there – it was not. Up to the Air Canada ticket/luggage desk, but since they didn’t have any more flights out on Monday, there was nobody to fill out the required claims forms and issue an all important “Incident Report Number.” I left a note for the morning agent at that desk to call us (they never did) and we pick up our car (parking for another day) and headed home.
On Tuesday I started the calling process again and thankfully was able to leave my number for a call back: “You will not lose your place in line, etc” … but when the call came back, it was a reservation specialist who couldn’t (I suspect wouldn’t) transfer me to the baggage/incident department. Of course that number only had a
message indicating that “you must have your airport issued “Incident Report Number” and then could used the online form. Attempts to file without that number were rejected (par for the course, to use another idiom).
Back on the phone again requesting another call back and by evening on Tuesday night I had an “Incident Report Number” and filed my lost luggage claim (not an easy online form either). Shockingly our luggage showed up at 4:30AM by courier in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday (video below).
Next step … file for a baggage refund … and see if we can recover the dollars on our credit card for the hotel and addition to the $20 vouchers for our meals? In reading the online PDF, they do have a “trip interruption policy,” but suspect because our flight was canceled due to a mechanical issue on the plane, Air Canada might try to weasel their way out???
I’m promising more BEAUTIFUL photos in another post later this week and likely a follow up someday on recovering our expenses and “trip interruption” headaches.
Oostra lot clearing has begun, a KETO diet and Fitbit update
Posted By RichC on July 13, 2022
Instead of starting a rant on our nightmare return trip from the Canadian Rockies flying Air Canada … I’m going to let the stress dissipate for a while. It was painful travel.
So instead I’ll archive a couple exciting photos from Katelyn and Drew as their builder has started clearing the trees from their lot in NW Ohio after their thankfully 
uneventful returned flight (I’m glad we had the flight problems and not them). 
Not to be left out, Megan and Taylor sent a message on their safe return that they are starting the KETO diet … yes, we all ate well on vacation.
Since I’ll probably forget to share the hiking/walking progress from last week’s trip, here’s the Fitbit summary! It was a week of hiking if I must say so myself (and it shows on the scale too as I’m finally under 190 lbs again!)
Astrophotography and The Sombrero Galaxy (Messier 104)
Posted By RichC on July 12, 2022
For the good and the bad, Twitter’s AI algorithms do feed my astrophotography and amateur astronomy interests. Here’s a space photo of galaxy Messier 104 or better known as The Sombrero Galaxy.
For a max sized download from NASA.gov of the Sombrero Galaxy, click this LINK
Where do you WANT vs where SHOULD you live in retirement?
Posted By RichC on July 10, 2022
While I personally have not worked the numbers, a May 2022 Barron’s Advisor column on retirement offered an enlightening look on “where” to live; it can be eye-opening!
Low income taxes aren’t everything. Many retirees who live in states with high taxes are eager to move to states with no income taxes, says Rhian Horgan, chief executive of Silvur, an app that helps baby boomers navigate retirement. But she says they need to look at their total costs including property taxes, sales taxes, and healthcare costs.
Florida has no income tax, for instance, but has high healthcare costs. A person on Medicare with supplemental medical and drug insurance will face average total medical costs of $8,352 a year in Florida, Horgan says. That’s compared with $6,208 a year in Tennessee, another state with no income tax.
Indeed, Silvur calculates that couple retiring with $1.1 million in total assets will run out of money at age 88 in Florida but age 104 in Tennessee.
That couple’s money would run out at age 77 in Hawaii, even though each spouse there would pay just $5,408 in total medical costs on Medicare, the lowest in the country, according to Silvur. Hawaii has high real estate costs and income taxes.
Friday filler: Ambition knows no limits for hard workers
Posted By RichC on July 8, 2022
If you are on social media, you likely have already watched this shared video of a couple of ambitious and obviously hardworking guys using their skills to build a below ground level sanctuary.
Art: “There is a different Winslow Homer for every age”
Posted By RichC on July 6, 2022
Winslow Homer’s 1899 painting “The Gulf Stream” (“reworked in 1906’) is a much-celebrated work of art for a variety of reasons, but appeals to me due to the ocean scene and dismasted sailboat, as do his other Atlantic scene paintings. 
This one has seen renewed interest likely because of our current “turbulent times” … politically. Although to me, violently protesting over oppression today, compared to our American ancestors living pre-Civil War (some in slavery) or after the war during Reconstruction, seems petty. The late 1800s were the times in which the artist lived and likely formed his views as he painted his scenes. Those times of oppression were strikingly different than the mostly self-imposed woes of those who destroy property and riot today in the name of inequality … or the less quantitative term, inequity (see Grammarist).
According to CSMonitor, the painting is currently on display in a larger exhibition titled “Winslow Homer: Crosscurrents” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
American painter Winslow Homer lived through turbulent times. He began his career in the 1860s as an illustrator and correspondent for Harper’s Weekly, as the United States was descending into the Civil War. During Reconstruction, when the nation tried (and in many ways failed) to find a path forward, he traveled through the South witnessing the aftermath of slavery.
Although Homer left scant record of his convictions about race, his paintings of Black people show his insistence on investing those images with the same realism that he displayed in capturing white subjects. For him, it was a matter of truth-telling.
Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee
- lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
- digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.