March 14 - March 20, 2021 St Pete FL



3-14-2021

Corona Cases      27,416,572

Corona Deaths       505,364

3-20-2021              

Corona Cases          27,720,566

Corona Deaths       511,745

 

 

Interesting things we did this week

  • I did very little this week.  Last weekend was a pretty big weekend and this weekend I spent adjusting to the time change.  Combining a Disney trip with Daylight Savings has my sleep all messed up.  I’ve been struggling to get up on time for work all week and even with the time change I should be wide awake by 6am and just trying to get it moved back to 5am.  I’m snoozing the multiple alarms until 6:45am and then running to the bathroom and getting the VPN set up in time for work.  I’m sleeping hard and dreaming a lot.  I wish I could make it stop because it makes it hard to get out of bed.
  • I reached out to the Camino friend I made a couple of weeks ago to see if she wanted to walk one evening this week and she never responded.  I know she read the message, but perhaps she didn’t like me.  I wasn’t nearly as fast as her and our personalities are different.  Its fine, I have other people that I can walk with, but I was looking forward to walking with someone that could challenge me more. 
  • I got the latest stimulus in my bank account this week and made an appointment to get my catalytic converter fixed at Suncoast.  I could continue as I am now, however it keeps the check engine light on all the time and I never know if there are other serious issues.  This will help relieve some of that stress and if I chose to sell the car, I’ll be able to get a bit more out of it.  I can also stop buying super premium gas, which is sometimes close to a dollar more than the lower grade.  I’ll keep buying from legit gas dealers though, as I don’t want to create the issue again.  Shell / Wawa and Chevron have a long term customer here.  Not that the other gas is bad…but I was getting bad gas from somewhere and I don’t know where.  So from now on, I buy gas where my mechanic tells me is safe.
  • Gil and I spent Sunday at the Strawberry Festival.  I'll probably never go back.  We are lots of really bad food (deep fried Reeses may deserve their own food group). And we walked around a lot and got lots of steps.  But it was crowded and the whole festival had a feel of the lowest end of society.  Gil actually said being around all those people made him feel smarter...and he was right.  Maybe during a non Covid year, when there is some A list entertainment and such, it might be worth it.  But at least, this time around, it was a lot of not smart people spending too much money to win stuffed animals and ride death machines. 
  • After the Strawberry Festival Gil and I went to Circle B and I introduced Gil to my favorite park.  We did a few miles before heading to the Hard Rock and cashing in my birthday coupon for a BOGO entree.  It was a good day.
  • Gil has been making much more of an effort in our relationship, which is a nice change.  He’s been a ‘going with the flow’ guy for a long time and even more so after the stroke.  He doesn’t make plans or ask me out or anything.  But last weekend he wanted to do dinner on Friday night.  And he wants to do the same this Friday.  Its nice to see him putting some effort into things.  I don’t know if someone has given him advice or he’s just realized that I organize every outing and activity, along with generally paying for it and providing transportation.  I like that he’s taking more of an interest.
  • Soooo, I’ve been moving my savings over to the other things since Cap1 has changed the interest rate to a fraction of what I originally signed up for.  Apparently it was an introductory offer and didn’t last.  I’m not selfish, but I want a decent return on my money.  I put a chunk in Tesla…that is up and down and is probably safe but may not pay off as a short term investment.  I put a chunk in Bitcoin, which is up something like 75%.  I put a chunk in Canapy, which was doing really well…but I put more in in and now its not doing so great.  If Biden de-criminalizes cannabis, I expect it to spike…but in the meantime I’m sitting around waiting and not making any money.  I also put a chunk in Hilton and that is up over 20% currently, which makes me super happy.  Everytime I get 5000 in my savings, I move it to another investment.  I’m about to hit another 5000 mark and I’m not sure where to put it.  Truth is, bitcoin has been the best ROI so far, but I still don’t understand it or trust it and I’m very afraid of it.  But it looks like its here to stay and I may as well ride the money train.  Just not sure how much I want to risk.
  • Saturday I went ot Myakka to hike.  I haven’t been there for a long time and I don’t have great memories of hiking there.  Its hot.  And there isn’t a lot of shade.  But I cranked out 8 miles and explored a little.  They have 30 miles of hiking trail, which makes it a great option for marathons.  But not when its summer and not when its at all warm.  Stopped off at the parents to work on their taxes on the way home.  I’ll finish them next weekend, they were missing some forms, but they are simple enough.  Haven’t started on the state forms yet, and there will be 2 this year: MI and VA.  That should be challenging, but hopefully Turbo Tax makes it as simple as the Fed forms.

 

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