Halloween Eve, a "do nothing" day

I mentioned a day or two ago about not being able to become a follower on other blogs by clicking the Follower button.  Yesterday I tried again and it didn't take - again.  I use Firefox, but also have Internet Explorer that I use for some things.  So, I clicked on Internet Explorer, brought up my blog, clicked on another blog I was trying to follow, clicked on their

 
button and it worked.  I went down the list of blogs I couldn't "follow" and they all worked. So, I guess if something doesn't work on-line, I can try another browser and maybe that one will work.  I can live with that work-around.

First Camellia bloom from my little backyard tree.

Nothing much going on today.  I slept in a little, fixed breakfast and coffee, and have been following up on my TV shows on Hulu all morning.  When I'm done with that, I'm going to find a good book on my Kindle.  I had to charge it this morning.  It's been sitting for quite a while, and since I'm still using the original battery, it always needs a charge when I don't use it.

It's cloudy/sunny here in San Diego today.  I woke up to rain.  It's been dry for hours now, but still wintry outside on and off.  I'm still in my sweats and actually turned on the heat for a while this morning.

I've got some frozen "spring rolls" in the oven for lunch, and that's about it.  I don't plan to do anything else today. 

 Katie Mouse

My neighbor and I always talk about how guilty we feel when we have a "do nothing" day, but hey, we're old enough to be retired - and still working.  We deserve "nothing" days if we want them. It's just hard not to feel like we should be doing something.

From me and Katie, have a nice Saturday, everyone. : )

Double, double toil and trouble

I don't have much to write about today - so here's a jumble of stuff.  I almost have my October badge for blogging every day, and I made my own this month (it is allowed).  It's very cute for October, the theme is "Play."  I'll put it up on the blog on Sunday.

      

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

              - William Shakespeare

We're getting close to Halloween!

Is anyone else having trouble signing up to follow other bloggers?  I can't get the Follow button to work.  It was giving me trouble last week, then it worked for one day, and now it won't work again.  Has something changed?

My weekend has started. I'm not driving to Boulder Creek this weekend, so I have lots of time on my hands.  Right now I can't think of a single thing to do with all this time.  Not complaining, not complaining.  I'll come up with something.  : )

I've seen it explained many ways, but this is the best answer I've found:

You're trying to fool people with redundant information and somewhat faulty math. Yes, the three men paid 27 dollars in total but that is not part of the problem. The problem is who is actually holding the money in their pocket.

The three men gave the manager 30 dollars. So the manager has 30 dollars. The manager took 5 dollars and handed it to the bellboy. The bellboy handed 3 dollars to the three men, and kept 2 dollars for himself. 25 (held by the manager) + 3 (held by the three men) + 2 (held by the bellboy) = 30 dollars, therefore there is no missing dollar.

It'll help you to wrap your mind around this one if you picture one man instead of three doing the transactions, and forget the 27 dollars paid.

Remember these?

Why can't a man living in the USA be buried in Canada?

If there are 3 apples and you take away 2, how many do you have?

One big football fan claimed to be able to say the score before any game. How did he do it?

 Answers

Because you can't bury a living man. 

If you take two apples, than you have, of course, two.

The score before any football game would be 0-0, right?

Another Katie Costume: 

Bumble Bee

Today I'm sending in my documents to Santa Clara County to request Certified copies of my Marriage Certificate and Divorce Decree.  I have the forms I need all filled out, and I'm going to a Notary Public this morning to have my signatures notarized.  Should get them back within 14 days at the most, then I'll take them to the local Social Security office and they will complete my application. 

I learned that my ex-husband took his Social Security benefit at age 62, so I won't be bothering with the Widow's benefit if he predeceases me. He has other income, so he used his as a supplement to what he already has.  If I work for another year or so, my benefit will be more than what he's collecting, so I'll continue collecting mine. I actually feel better about that, so everything is good.

From Me and My Dog, Katie, have a great Friday, everyone!  : )

Halloween town

WELCOME to Cruzin2some!  Thanks for becoming a Follower, I've been reading along on your blog, too.  Lately you have had questions that I'm definitely going to have in a year or so!  Hope you enjoy coming along for the ride!

 

Halloween Town

So... about the Boulder Creek property.  I made some phone calls yesterday - first to the county assessor.  They said the property is still in my name, I still don't owe any taxes, and it is still not buildable.  I'd need an acre, and it's 1/5 of an acre.  I told her about seeing the house on the Google Earth map and she said the satellites are so far up, they are often distorted when you are looking at specific properties. She said to call the planning department about parking my RV on the property.

So I called the planning department.  She said technically I am not allowed to park there.  I can only park an RV on property that has a building on it.  But she did say they are a complaint driven department.  If I parked there and no one complained, I'd be okay.  If someone complains, I'd have to move.  Good to know.

I told her about thinking someone put a house on the land, and out of curiosity she looked it up on their satellite program and this is what it showed (I went on their website and could pull it up, too): 

 Do you think the satellites could be off that much?

The blue outline is the property - see the house in the upper left corner?  There is actually another in the lower right corner, too.  That makes me think it might be off a little.  The woman at the zoning planning department said there have been no permits pulled for the property, so if there is something on it, it is definitely not legal.

I then called a Realtor I talked to in August 1994 when I was going to sell it (if it was worth selling), and she is still with the same real estate office.  There is a house in foreclosure next to my lot, and I wondered if it had anything to do with the structure that seems to be on my lot.  She took the information, did some checking and called me back. She said she gave both APNs to a local title company, and they are going to check on it.  She will call me back with information by Friday, or early next week.  Just in case someone had their lot lines wrong.  She asked me exactly where the lot was, and I gave her the "Beer Pub" location right next to me, and I'm hoping she will actually drive out and see for herself.  The lot is 4.5 miles from the town of Boulder Creek, so it would only take a few minutes.  It would be nice to have an "eyes on" opinion.

I really want to see the property, but it's an eight hour drive each way, and I don't know if I want to make such a long drive over a weekend.  I think I'm going to let the experts do their research, and see what they say.  If there is a problem, I'll go next weekend, maybe take off Monday so it will be a Friday through Sunday trip with Monday to recover. If it looks like everything is okay, I'll probably wait until I go up to Vacaville again to visit my daughter and her family, and we can take a day trip to see it then, walk around Boulder Creek and have lunch there.

After I wrote the above, I pulled up my condo address in Google Earth.  And you know what?  It has me two blocks over from my street.  Interesting...  Maybe it really is off that much. 

Maybe this is all much ado about nothing.  If so, at least I learned I can park my RV on the lot as long as no one complains.  I'm going to have to knock on some doors when I go up there and make some friends. : )

Boooooooo!

PUZZLE:   Here is a puzzle I have always liked.  It was in the San Francisco Chronicle when I was in high school, and I cut it out and saved it for years (and years and years).

Three people check into a hotel. They pay $30 to the manager and go to their room. The manager finds out that the room rate is $25 and gives the bellboy $5 to return to the guests. On the way to the room the bellboy reasons that $5 would be difficult to split among three people so he pockets $2 and gives $1 to each person. Now each person paid $10 and got back $1. So they paid $9 each, totaling $27. The bellboy has another $2, adding up to $29.

Where is the remaining dollar?  I'll have the answer tomorrow.

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everyone! : )

Welcome. The witch is in, and Boulder Creek property

WELCOME to Our Fiver Adventures!  Thank you for signing up to Follow Me and My Dog, Katie, on our adventures while we are preparing - and waiting - to be RV full-timers.  I don't see that you have a blog, but if you do, let me know so I can follow along with you, too! : )

And thank you everyone for all the nice comments you are leaving for me.  I appreciate it and, as you know, it's nice to see people are interested and still reading along.

There are good witches and bad witches.  Which do you think this witch is?

 

 Good Witch?  Bad Witch?

Halloween was confusing. All my life my parents said, ‘Never take candy from strangers.’ And then they dressed me up and said, ‘Go beg for it.’ I didn’t know what to do. I’d knock on people’s doors and go, "Trick or treat. No thank you."

- Rita Rudner         

I realized the most fantastic thing the other day when I was talking to my daughter. 

My parents owned some property in Santa Cruz County in California - in Boulder Creek.  It is a wooded lot right on Highway 9 in the forest.  It is a small piece of land, and years ago the local government decided they wanted to limit the growth in the area, so they limited the size of lots that could have septic tanks.  This property isn't big enough, so it is virtually un-buildable.  My parents were going to let it go for the taxes, so I took it, paid up the taxes, and it's been mine for a number of years. Since it is pretty much worthless, the tax collector agreed to reduce the value so low, that I don't have to pay taxes on it.

 Boulder Creek Market - I remember this market from 40 years ago.

I've only driven up to see it once, just to see what I owned.  I can't do anything with it, but it is a pretty wooded piece of land.  I keep forgetting I own it.  I know that sounds strange, it's not that I'm land rich, far from it, but I took possession almost 19 years ago and there was nothing I could do with it for all that time.

 Highway 9 - Boulder Creek

Highway 9 -  Boulder Creek

Over the years I've had a couple of neighbors call or write me letters asking if I'd sell it - for $1,000 - I said no, thank you. One person wanted to put in drainage pipes from my land to hers (which was lower) diverting water away from her house when it rained.  A lawyer I knew who specialized in "water law" (he was the attorney for the water company in our town) told me not to let anyone do anything - once I allow a change, if there is a problem I could be responsible.  Her contractor should have positioned her house differently.  So, again I said, sorry, I can't make any changes per my lawyer.

Ancient Giants, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, California

I also got a phone call from someone, twice, saying they just purchased the property and understood I was a previous owner, and they wondered if I could give them some history of the property.  WHAT?!  I told them I still owned the property, and the next day called the assessor and they said it was still in my name.  Hope I don't have squatters on the land.

Big Basin Redwoods 

I was thinking I am going to drive up and look at it again.  It's possible that, although I can't build on it, I could put a pad on it for an RV.  Or just clear a space large enough.  It's right on Highway 9, and would be very easy to drive onto with an RV.  When I start full-timing, I could use that place as a "home base" when I want to be off the road for a while.  I might even be able to store it there.   It's a beautiful area with lots of things to do.  Near Santa Cruz, Big Basin, lots of cool little towns. 

Berry Creek Falls, Big Basin

There was a British beer pub right next door to my lot called  The White Cockade, which unfortunately is closed down.  It was very highly rated from the reviews I read. A good pub with dart boards, sounded like it would have been fun.  And I could have walked across the driveway to my place.  Of course, it could have been a bit noisy!

The White Cockade (no longer OPEN)

I just Googled their address with Google Earth to see my lot next door (it doesn't have an address) and WOW, it looks like there are a lot of houses near me, across Highway 9, and possibly on my lot! Oh Oh.  I wonder if they changed the regs. and now leech fields/septic tanks are allowed on smaller properties.  I'd better get up there soon and make sure everything is okay. Hope I don't have squatters, or I could lose it? I'm calling the Realtor this morning.

Katieeeeee.....road trip!!! 

From Me and My Dog, have a great Wednesday, everyone! : )

Cognifit Personal Coach

WELCOME to new Follower Kimbopolo!  She has a new blog, and is married, going for her PhD, and wants a small RV to travel in after she completes her studies.  Talk about busy!  Thanks for joining my family of readers, I can already tell I'm going to enjoy your blog!

I signed up for a month-to-month membership on-line with Cognifit Personal Coach - software to keep your brain active. It says it exercises your brain - like you exercise your body.  Three times a week for 20 minutes.  The first thing they do is test you to set benchmarks on where you are in various activities, and I did the first half on Friday afternoon.  They ask that you come back in two days for the second half of the testing, which I did on Sunday evening. 

Then you get the results and you know where you are doing fine and where you might need to take some extra measures to keep your brain healthy.  The program rates your scores against others of your age range.  I love this stuff.

BOO!

I did well on the benchmark testing, but they say no matter how well you do, you can always improve, and by continuing with the program, you will maintain and/or continue to improve your brain health. I think I'm going to keep up with the program for a while to see what I think.  The price is $19.95 a month, but I accessed their website from a link on AOL that offered 25% off, so I am getting it for $14.95 a month.  They have a 30-day money back guarantee.

I'm not affiliated with the program at all and receive no compensation if you click on the link or buy the program.  Been there, done that, not doing it any more. : )  I had never heard of this type of thing before.  I guess there are lots of "brain health" programs out there, but I did some research and this one seems to be one of the best.  I'm much better at exercising my brain than my body.

Five days until Halloween!

  

Today I'll actually start doing the tasks - there are three that last for ten minutes each.  That doesn't seem like much, but when I did the preliminary testing, I did find I was a little stressed trying to do really well, and was glad to stop.  So, maybe 30 minutes will be plenty every other day.  I'll let you know how it goes.

From Me and Katie, have a great Tuesday, everyone! : )