Posted inHome life Neighborhood

Why two inches of snow can be a big deal here in western Oregon

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. So in this blog post I'll be sharing photos of how my wife and I have been dealing with, and enjoying, a seemingly minor storm that dropped two inches of snow out here in rural south Salem. I italicized "seemingly" because people from cold-weather states who make fun of how us Willamette Valley Oregonians panic over snow that they'd consider a dusting don't realize that our snow here usually isn't like their snow there.  This photo was taken today on a dog walk that led the family canine and I…
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Posted inHome life

I’m glad I sold my Mini Cooper to CarMax

Being the age I am (68), I've bought and sold quite a few cars over the years. I've found that buying is more pleasant than selling, especially now. New car dealerships increasingly have a fixed or no-haggle price. When I bought my 2011 Mini Cooper S in Portland, Oregon, I was told there was only one possible price: MSRP.  OK. I wanted the Mini. I paid that price. Simple. Similarly, when I recently decided that a 2017 VW GTI should enter my driving life, replacing the Mini, I was told that the VW dealer here in Salem (Lithia Motors) has…
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Posted inHome life

Why my wife’s “That’s not realistic” drives movie-watching-me crazy

I'm curious if anyone else has this problem with their significant other, or if -- on a planet with over 7 billion people -- I just happen to be married to the only person in the world who habitually (and repeatedly!) blurts out "That's not realistic" while we're watching a movie at home. This drives me crazy, because I have a totally normal approach to movies: aside from documentaries, they're escapes from the real world.  If I want to view life as it is really is, that's easy. I just go out and about in the world as usual. Movies…
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Posted inHome life Retirement community

Why it makes sense for seniors to postpone living in a retirement community

My wife and I are in our late 60's. For 26 years we've lived in a 3,200 square foot house on ten non-easycare acres in rural south Salem, Oregon. We've visited four retirement communities in the northwest, and browsed numerous others online. It's tough for seniors to decide when to leave a beloved home because it's become too damn difficult to maintain. Various factors enter into that decision: health status, where children and other family members are living, how attached one is to a current location -- all kinds of stuff. We've mulled over the reasons to stay where we…
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Posted inEntertainment Home life

Pac-12 Networks now on Sling TV. Because of me! (I like to think)

I DID IT! (in my magical thinking brain, at least) Just five days after my annual blog post rant about DirecTV not carrying the Pac-12 Networks -- and the Pac-12 Networks not being offered on any streaming service -- today a deal has been announced between Sling TV and the Pac-12 Networks.  SAN FRANCISCO– Pac-12 Networks announced today a new agreement with Sling TV to make all six Pac-12 Networks regional feeds, which collectively offer live coverage of more than 800 sporting events, available to Sling Orange and Sling Blue customers who subscribe to the “Sports Extra” add-on pack as…
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Posted inHome life

How to put on a Smith Optics integrated sunglasses leash without going (too) insane

I love my Smith Optics Captain's Choice sunglasses. They're spendy, but I got mine on Amazon for considerably less than list price. Comfortable. Nicely designed. Polarized. Great color quality (blue sky looks way more intense with them on). And they come with an integrated sunglasses leash. "Integrated" means the narrow plastic flexible wire fits into the frame of the sunglasses, so the leash won't come off, and nothing protrudes on the head side of the frame (a drawback of leashes with elastic connections that slip over the end of the frame). That's the good news. The bad news is that…
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Posted inHome life

I file a BBB complaint about the Oregonian’s “premium editions”

Just when I thought the Portland Oregonian couldn't irritate me any further, the newspaper DID! (Since 2013, I only get four print editions a week delivered to my south Salem home, and I don't like the Oregonian's increasingly right-wing editorial positions.) A few days ago a letter arrived from The Oregonian informing me they'd now be charging my EasyPay account $2.99 for each of four "premium editions" -- the first of which would be a 100 page Investment & Retirement Guide that will be delivered with my September 18 Sunday Oregonian. Even more irritating: in addition, I'm slated to be…
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Posted inHome life Salem

Most Oregonians are heat weenies. But not ex-Californian me.

With western Oregon in the midst of a several-day record-breaking heat wave -- temperatures over 100 degrees here in the Willamette Valley -- it's a great time for me to reprise my May 2008 blog post, "'Ooh, it's hot!' Oregonians are heat wussies."  Days like today, I feel so superior to most of my fellow Oregonians. I grew up in central California, where for much of the year a temperature under 100 degrees is considered a cool day. So here I am on May 16 in Salem, Oregon – enjoying a record breaking heat wave for this date. The thermometer in…
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Posted inHome life Neighborhood

Rural south Salem wildlife caught on our trail camera

OK, let's get this clear right off the bat: these photos from the trail camera my wife, Laurel, tends to -- moving it around our property in rural south Salem in attempts to capture what our non-human neighbors are doing -- aren't exactly National Geographic quality. But, hey, they show wild creatures living their animal lives on what sure seems to be a popular spot. (The dates on the photos appear to be off; so is the time, probably.) Coyote! Wily canines who we occasionally see in the daytime, but not often. We have some irrational coyote-hating neighbors who tried…
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Posted inFamily Home life

Memories of my dead father fade, while his genetic presence persists

It sounds strange to say this (even to myself), but I've already written about everything I know about my father. Physically, I only spent one hour with him, excluding unremembered baby-time. Telephonically, he started calling me when I was in my early-30's and he was nearing the end of his life. So add on a couple of phone conversation hours I spent with him. This morning, Father's Day 2016, I pulled out my "Father" file folder.  It contains the sum total of what I jotted down at the time about my father after he briefly came into my life back…
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Posted inHome life

Ah, the joy of clicking on “unsubscribe” in my emails. Bye, bye, DSCC!

I don't know why I didn't do this a lot sooner -- clicking on "unsubscribe" rather than merely deleting the massive amount of emails that regularly build up in my inbox from Democratic political causes, environmental groups, online businesses I bought something from way back when, and so many other entities I don't care about. OK, that isn't quite what I mean.  I care about many of the groups who email me incessantly. I just don't want their pleadings to appear in Apple Mail anymore. Like I said, it's hard for me to understand why it took me so long…
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Posted inHome life Retirement community

Retired folks need friends. Nature provides some for us.

I've written quite a bit about the quandary my wife and I have -- or will have one day -- about leaving our house on ten non-easy-care acres in rural south Salem, Oregon.  (See here, here, here, here, and here.) Age wise, we're in our late sixties. Which also happens to be the decade we were in college, the '60s. So, yeah, we're flower child, ex-hippie baby boomers.  We're somewhat worried about eventually being socially isolated out here in the semi-boonies, about six miles from the Salem city limits.  What if one or both of us can't drive? What if…
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Posted inHome life

Dog walk photos remind me why I love where we live

Having lived in our non-easy-care rural south Salem house for 26 years, and having reached the semi-geezerish age of 67, I'm heavy into a love/hate relationship with where we are.  (See here, here, here, here, and here.) But then there's a day like today, when a near-sunset dog walk on trails and roads in our neighborhood made me feel, This is why it'd be tough to move somewhere else. My iPhone's camera tells the tale. With some word help from me. (click to enlarge the photos) Near the end of our walk, ZuZu and I come to a trail that…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Home life

Index investing lets me relax in a stock market crash

Nobody likes to peek at their investment portfolio after a day like today: a 390 point drop in the Dow (-2.4%), with the S&P 500 not much better at -2.2%. But even though I toyed with the idea of brewing up a Cheerful Cocktail before I logged in to our Schwab account -- recipe: equal measures of anti-depressants, whiskey, potent marijuana, and caffeine extract -- I realized that our index fund investing approach would leave me feeling fine after I inspected our holdings. Not happy. Not ecstatic. But fine. Why? Because since 2002 I've been a happy passive investor, having…
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Posted inHome life

How two old folks spent New Years Eve 2016

Youngsters, maybe you've been wondering what New Year's Eve will be like when you reach the ancient age of 67.  Well, wonder no more. I'm exactly that age! So I'm perfectly qualified to reveal fascinating details about the Not-so-Secret Lives of Senior Citizens on the evening of December 31. Based on a sample of two -- me and my wife. This year, like most years, we didn't sit on our butts at home. No, indeedy. Far from it.  First we sat on our butts in our Chevy Volt as we drove to the 6 pm showing of "Youth" at Salem…
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Posted inHome life

2015 Hines Christmas Letter released to mild applause

clap... clap... clap  I'm pretty sure I hear three sentient beings applauding today's release of our annual Christmas Letter -- me, my wife, and our dog (all three of whom are, not surprisingly, featured in it). Otherwise, who knows? Christmas letters printed on paper and mailed to people seem to be going the way of buggy whips.  But traditionalists that we are, in some ways, every year we decide to keep on doing the Christmas Letter thing -- even though we actually title our missive "Holiday Greetings" given our secular scientific leanings. I do, of course, also share the Christmas…
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Posted inHome life

I’m loving my Public Rec “All Day Every Day” pants

Kickstarter rocks. I've enjoyed every product that I've gotten after contributing some cash to a start-up company via Kickstarter. But I'm absolutely loving the pants that Public Rec sent me -- which they're calling the All Day Every Day men's pant. When I saw the video that was part of their Kickstarter appeal, and read a description of the pant, I was immediately sold.  Here's the video. It could have used some narration, I suppose. However, before viewing it I'd already perused the features list. Elastic waistband with internal drawstring for maximum comfort Two deep, front zipper pockets to keep your valuables…
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Posted inEntertainment Home life

I love our new Apple TV, even without Amazon Prime

Today our Apple TV arrived. (For those who don't obsessively follow all things Apple'ish, this isn't an actual TV, but a little box that hooks up to your TV and streams content to it via wi-fi). We've used the previous incarnation of Apple TV, along with a Roku. We also got a "smart" Samsung TV a few months ago that has apps for streaming services like Netflix and Hulu built-in to the television.  But all of these devices have been quite difficult to use. Playing a movie or TV show has been pretty easy, but finding what you're looking for…
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Posted inHome life

Firing up a big burn pile reminds me: life is ablaze, yet ends in embers

I'm no Thoreau, that's for sure. But like him, I find meaning in doing simple chores. Our rural ten acres offers plenty of opportunity for engaging in some philosophizing as I deal with what needs to be done. Which, last Saturday, was firing up a burn pile. It's been growing steadily larger since spring. We've removed quite a bit of excess vegetation in our yard over the past six months or so, including a lot of heather that stealthily grew and grew until my wife and I realized, the damn stuff is taking over! Our non-easy care yard has lots…
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Posted inHome life

Yes, I’m cool. I got an iPhone 6s today.

Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe you were the one I stood next to this afternoon at Bridgeport Village, buying some Peets coffee after picking up an iPhone 6s on the very first day they were available, overshadowing you with the coolness invisibly yet tangibly emanating from the boxed Apple device sitting in my backpack. Couldn't help it. As everyone knows -- except for those who shun all things Apple, and what can I say to them except, I'm so sorry for you -- owning an iPhone, MacBook Pro, iPad, or whatever else Apple makes adds immeasurably to a person's Coolness Factor.…
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