GandK's journal

[Dragline]

Well, that month was like this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQlImg2bm28

Hopefully, next month will be like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BteIwbKU_iQ

Two sides to every coin.

[GandK]

Camping in Wisconsin

Just got back from a week at Point Beach State Forest. We tent camp frequently, and normally I wouldn't post details because tent camping in a forest is just... tent camping in a forest, but this time we had such a great-yet-inexpensive experience that I wanted to pass it on.

Details:

1. We had to buy an annual Wisconsin state park sticker for $35 to get into the forest, which gave us admission to all Wisconsin parks for the remainder of 2015. But after that, it was $15 a night for tent sites at this campground. Very reasonable.

2. It's gorgeous. G prefers beaches and I prefer forests for vacations, and our camp site had this:



and this:



just a few hundred yards/meters apart. Both extremely clean. Best of both worlds, we decided. We loved it. I could lay in our tent in the forest at night and hear the waves breaking on the shore.

3. Wisconsin in June has gorgeous weather. Highs in low-mid 70s. We couldn't have asked for better temperatures to camp/hike.

4. That whole area is an introvert's paradise. Very few people. At the camping area, there are ~125 sites total, most with woods between them. And for the majority of our stay, most of those were empty. More people arrived on the weekend, but we had very few other people to contend with during the week. No lines at the bathhouses or anything. And beyond the campsite, it's miles of forest. We felt like it was just us and (very well kept) nature.

5. The forest campground is in a remote area, but there's a small town nearby (Twin Rivers) that has reasonably priced supplies. Unlike most places we've stayed in either tourist areas or the very rural UP which charge an arm and a leg for everything. Going to town for laundry or coffee wasn't burdensome in any way.

All in all, we felt like this was the best "bang for our buck" camping vacation we've ever had. You would definitely need mosquito repellant, but that's literally the only possible negative we identified for this campground.

And by the way, since I know a lot of you bike... the whole state of Wisconsin - at least the eastern portion - seems to have bike trails everywhere. Even in extremely rural areas. Coming from Ohio, we were shocked. We'd been to WI cities before, like Milwaukee, but never out in the sticks. But even in towns you drive through where the welcome sign says things like "Population 1,008" you'd still see wide, well-maintained bike trails. Although we got a kick out of how we never once saw bikers on them. They just used the roads. But yeah, we looked at each other more than once and said, "If we ever want to take a dedicated biking trip, this is the place to be." Especially for amateurs like us who'd probably need the trails to ourselves to avoid causing accidents, LOL.

Anyway. Highly recommended spot, if you camp.

[jennypenny]

Your pics have inspired me to try tent camping again. We've only used our camper, so it limits where we can camp.

[GandK]

Your pics have inspired me to try tent camping again. We've only used our camper, so it limits where we can camp.

Awesome!

We look at campers periodically, but we've never pounced. We like the tent, and the lack of towing, and that everything we need for a week for 4 people can fit in our sedan.

We did upgrade, though. After a couple of "Oh, my back!" mornings we bought some inexpensive cots for the adults.

[GandK]

Camping adventure #2

This week we're in the Finger Lakes region of New York. We decided to camp at the Blueberry Patch campground in the FL National Forest, slap in the middle of wine country. Tent sites at BP are $10/night but it doesn't have shower facilities, so we knew we'd need day passes to other local campgrounds to bathe (more $). They don't take reservations, it's totally FCFS, so we weren't sure whether we'd get in. 9 spots in the whole site. But counting us, only two are in use. My kind of place.

Anyway, we get here, and there's a sign up at BP: "These sites are free until further notice." Some administrative problem, it looks like. 14 day limit on the stay, but that more than covers our camping trip. And it's free! Score!

Once settled, we head down the road a bit to Sampson State Park to bathe and let the little guy hit the huge playgrounds there. $7.50 for a day pass... but it turns out you only need one before 5:00 pm. From 5:00 pm until dark, park entry/use is... free! So free showers at a great place with awesome playgrounds, trails, marina, views of the lake, etc. as well.

Here's to a free camping experience, albeit accidental. <clink>

Wine festivals are in full swing here now. All kinds of free "come here and drink our wine tonight while we play music... maybe it will make you buy things" productions going on. Looks great, but we have Pete and Repeat with us, so no dice. Makes me wish we'd left them with the grandparents.

[jacob]

Love your camping updates. (Especially since we're in the same hunting grounds.)

I've been contemplating getting a[n expensive] canvas wall tent to solve many of these issues. E.g. bring a basin for showering. Thinking more "18th century pioneering" and less "20th century backpacking" for my solutions.

[jennypenny]

Did you get hit with bad storms?

Do you tear down the campsite when you expect bad weather, or just ride it out and hope for the best?

[GandK]

Love your camping updates. (Especially since we're in the same hunting grounds.)

Well for heaven's sake... come by and visit!

@jennypenny Yep! It stormed. It's been raining for most of our stay. And to answer your question: when it rains, the tent stays put but we usually don't. Apart from any errands - which we may put off until it rains if we know its going to - normally we have a list of inexpensive things in the area that we'd like to do/see if we have time. And if it's raining during the day, we pack up our food and drive around and do/see those rather than staying at the campsite.

This has many advantages. Tourist areas have fewer people in the rain. The locals drive slower, which is better for sightseeing from the car. And most importantly, it keeps us from sitting in the tent for what could be days on end, reluctantly playing Uno for the 200th time and hearing "Ugh! This is the worst vacation EVER! Leave me at home next time." And the kids are even worse than I am.

We always sleep in the tent. Every once in a while it leaks a bit by the door, even with the rain cover on. Never a big deal. Dirty clothes or a towel can absorb any water that comes in, and we just hit the laundromat for an hour (free WiFi!) the next day if we need to.

[GandK]

A few days of peace and quiet!

Today I put G and our 4yo son on a plane to Florida for a week to visit all the grandparents. From now until next Wednesday night, it will just be me and my 15yo son. And while the extraverts are away, the introverts are going to play! My older son's suggestion: "Mom, let's go hang at Starbucks all day Saturday. We can bring our laptops and our headphones and sip lattes." Maybe not all day, but... that's my boy.

Hell is a new mall...

... with a Cheesecake Factory.

Right up the road. In walking distance of my home. Positioned in such a way that I have to drive by it in order to get pretty much anywhere I go. Taunting me.

I don't care about most sweets. I have no problem ignoring chocolate, donuts, and almost any other sugary concoction. Except cheesecake. I'm irrationally convinced that cheesecake exists for the sole purpose of tormenting me. More than a year after our move here, I still love my condo, but I would never have agreed to live here in the first place if I knew that 90% of the time I go anywhere I'd have to drive by a Cheesecake Factory.

Some of you are laughing now... I'm sure this sounds silly, but this is a big deal to me. It's my favorite food thing, and I know it's horribly unhealthy, so I diligently try to pretend that it doesn't exist. Usually that works, but this new establishment is something I'm unprepared for. Either I drive several minutes out of my way every time I drive East now (and have associated gas/mileage costs), which is the direction I'm usually going, or I have to drive past the Mecca of dietetic debauchery. And either way I'm thinking about the place.

This is on top of the fact that there will be a mall, and all associated traffic, right up the road. Grrr! Our property value will certainly go up, if it hasn't already, but that's insufficient consolation for being nudged into thinking about my favorite fattening food every day. And right after I got myself back into good shape, too.

Not asking for advice, really, Just ranting.

[bradley]

And while the extraverts are away, the introverts are going to play!

That just made me laugh out loud. Enjoy it! Thinking ahead, it would be nice to have kids who get me

[jennypenny]

Cheesecake Factory's Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake is my weakness. It's gluten free. And 920 cal/slice. When I treat myself to a slice, I get it to go and divide it into 7 pieces so I can have one each day. Then it's only 132 cal/serving and I get to have it 7 times instead of once.

DD is the only extrovert. Whenever she heads back to college, the rest of us collapse from exhaustion. It's so different when she's not here. She's gone now, and I don't think anyone in my house has uttered a word in the last three hours. No TV, radio, video games, or conversation of any kind. It's heaven.

[GandK]

Finally back on track financially? (fingers crossed)

We started out horribly this year. After some rotten investment choices in February, G was chasing losses for most of the year. However, we have managed to out-earn and out-save our earlier stupidity, and with the help of those losses rebounding a bit, we are now out of the bad investments and are now on track to reach our annual savings goals. Woohoo!

If any of you are ever tempted to chase losses, shoot me a PM and I'll talk you out of it.

All kinds of craziness in my morning news feed today

Government workers are happier with their benefits than other US workers are, Gallup says. No surprise there, as the benefits are roughly twice as good. I remember a debate we had here about people's willingness to sacrifice pay for perks. Is this proof of that willingness? Writ large, is this the "big government" mentality in the workplace? And what might this tendency mean for do-it-yourselfers like the people who tend to populate this site? Just thinking out loud here...

Forbes is reporting today that 30% Of Millennials Would Sell An Organ To Get Rid Of Student Loans. The deeply twisted part of me wants to put up a poll to see which organs people are most likely to hawk. The rest of me is appalled, with both the article and my twistedness.

US News has an utterly useless article about things to do 5 Years Before Retiring. The list includes such epiphanies as "Estimate your retirement expenses and check the number against your nest egg" and "Decide how you will turn your nest egg into an income stream." No wonder no one in the US is prepared for retirement, if they're receiving messages that the time to think about these things is 5 years out, eh?

There was one ray of sunshine in my news feed, though: an off-grid Victorian prepper tiny house... yummy... Although the Escape tiny houses are still my favorite.

[George the original one]

Forbes is reporting today that 30% Of Millennials Would Sell An Organ To Get Rid Of Student Loans.

My sister's regular sale of her blood isn't enough to discharge her student loan debt... heck, I'm not sure it's enough to pay the interest on her debt.

[cmonkey]

US News has an utterly useless article about things to do 5 Years Before Retiring. The list includes such epiphanies as "Estimate your retirement expenses and check the number against your nest egg" and "Decide how you will turn your nest egg into an income stream." No wonder no one in the US is prepared for retirement, if they're receiving messages that the time to think about these things is 5 years out, eh?

I am pretty well convinced those articles are written by bots at this point (although this one looks a bit more....real?)...and if not....well then all hope truly is lost. How could anyone writing that not begin to question it?

[jacob]

If not bots then good copy-writers who are able to hammer out 40 "different" farticles on the same subject on practically any topic based on 10 minutes of research before tomorrow's deadline. If you don't think but type fast, you too can be a "content"-creatoooorrrr.

[jennypenny]

They aren't bots but ghost writers for journalists, bloggers trying to drive up traffic, or authors trying to build up a list of media appearances to list on their author page ("as seen on..."). Ghost writing that stuff is pretty lucrative.

Regarding that specific article, I'm going to defend David. He's a nice guy. I can't say for certain he wrote it, but he probably did.

[rube]

5 years will do if they follow Jacob's strategy

[GandK]

5 years will do if they follow Jacob's strategy

LOL. You're absolutely right. But how often does that happen?

[jacob]

@GandK - You'd be surprised. The "writer" I know is pursuing more of a "I'll just work 2 days per month" strategy though. The problem with these things is that they're hard to scale. Even if you can make $500 in a day's work, it doesn't mean you can make $182500 in a year.

[GandK]

Finances

Well, we did it. With perseverance, several swearing fits, better investment decisions and an overall lack of self-indulgence, we finally managed to rebound from this spring's losses. Our net worth is finally $500 higher than it was in January.

Moving on...

Book safe

G has always kept our spare household cash in a place I find a little too obvious. For one of my projects this month, I made him a book safe. And it turned out awesome:



I cleaned up the inside corners a bit after I took this photo, but this is otherwise it. I didn't bother with the felt lining.

The only thing I did differently was that I used puzzle mod podge with the enclosed sponge rather than a paintbrush; this saved a few bucks. It worked great. If you already own an Xact-o knife (I didn't), it would only cost you the mod podge, or maybe that and a blade pack ($7 instead of the $17 I spent). I used about a third of the bottle of mod podge, so this amount of money spent would yield ~3 book safes.

You seriously can't tell by looking at the closed book with the dust jacket on, or even by opening it to the beginning, that the book is a safe. We deliberately chose a book in the middle of a series we own, so that on our bookshelf it in no way sticks out.

I am sleeping a little better at night now that our emergency money isn't... where it was.

Writing

I was really feeling down earlier this month after my writing group took an X-acto knife to my own novel. Unfortunately, the result wasn't anywhere near as cool as a book safe. But I recently received a pep talk, and with a better attitude about my work, I'm currently preparing a draft of my novel to send to an editor who offered to peruse it.

It was my intention to do NaNoWriMo in November, but I don't think I'll do that this year. Finishing off my current project is more important; I really want to start the process of looking for an agent.

Capsule wardrobe

I was already basically doing the capsule wardrobe thing, but I formalized it this month. I chose a color scheme, made a list of garments in that scheme that I could mix/match, and packed every non-conforming item away. I was aiming for 100 items or less and I way overshot that... accessories and everything included, I ended up with exactly 80 items for my fall capsule.

Weirdly, with the things that don't match much of anything out of the way, I feel like I have more clothing options when I look at my closet. I've also been wearing more of my accessories because I don't have to think about what goes with what anymore. G is pleased with this... he likes it when I look "put together." I really couldn't care less, but I love that he's happy. Cheap win.

I'm curious to see if I bust out the packed items at any point before winter, or whether this meets all of my clothing needs. If it does, I will donate the packed items.

All in all, it's been a great September. And I'm loving the fall so far! (Leaves! Fleece! Hot cider! Yum...)