Muddly Brain

There are times when I swear I've blogged about something - only to search my blog for key words and realize I apparently didn't blog about that something yet?  I hope there won't be too many repeats in this post but I'm retired and muddly retirement brain is real.  Really.

It snowed much of the night and hasn't let up yet today (it's just before noon) so we are once again no longer able to see any street pavement.  Looks like we got at least another 4 inches or so.  It is still incredibly beautiful.  It is a good soup day.  Making cream of potato soup for dinner which may not be the best plan since we had cream of mushroom soup from Atlantis one day this past week and also lobster bisque from Costco another day.  It's just soup kind of weather and I bought a 5 lb. bag of potatoes and need to use them up.  

Something I've been meaning to share:

There are four bridges between here and Reno on Highway 395.  One of those bridges is an actual bridge which is pretty much an engineering marvel.  (I searched for a picture but realize there might be a copyright issue so I'm not going to post a pic.  The name of the bridge is Galena Creek Bridge and you can see pics via Google easily enough).  The other three 'bridges' are overpasses where there is 'air' underneath the freeway vs. ground.  

The Galena Creek bridge is intimidating in bad weather.  On both ends and along the route are warning systems that tell truckers and other drivers of high profile vehicles when the bridge is unsafe in high winds.  Most truckers and high profile vehicles know to stay away when the warning lights along the highway are flashing.  Sometimes, they don't - and you can read about the big rig that tipped over on the bridge just before we got turned around and had to return to Reno the day of J.'s hip replacement surgery in January, 2022.  

I have a lot of anxiety about ice on the roads and honestly, the Galena Creek bridge ALWAYS looked wet to me.  Always.  I would fret about it often and tell J. I would just be so nervous about crossing the bridge when the temperature was low.  

Until....we were traveling over the bridge and saw a spray valve built into the pavement spray fluid in an arc shape from the middle lane arcing out to the outer lanes.  THAT was creating the constant moist state of the road and when we researched it via Google, we discovered it was antifreeze!  Turns out all four bridges have misters that spray antifreeze as needed - and the cars help spread the anti-freeze further.  It's an amazing system and because we figured that out, my anxiety about traveling on the bridge is greatly reduced.  Not eliminated entirely but at least I know signs of moisture on those stretches of freeway aren't going to ice over. 

Another revelation for us has been to finally give in and subscribe to Apple Music.  Wow, why didn't we do this ages ago?  (We didn't do it ages ago because I resist ongoing subscription products like the plague - seems like they could be endless and expensive.  But...we enjoy music very much and the subscription service provides access to pretty much any music we could ever want to listen to.  Watching a movie and hear a song you like?  Search for it and there it will be ready to play.  Here an artist you love has a new album coming out (Pink dropping on February 17th)?  Find it on the day of release and the entire album is available to you.  It's the most epic, life altering thing ever!  AND we get discounts on storage (something we were paying for separately), Apple TV, Apple News.  A host of other 'things' we didn't sign on for.  It's amazing and I'm so glad J. convinced me to give in and do it!  

I've been working on taxes a fair amount and am relieved to say we are getting back a hefty refund.  Much of which we expected - withholdings from jackpots that we were fairly confident would be refunded - and a little extra that is nice to have.  In theory, we could reduce our monthly tax withholding a smidge but it's kind of nice to have that extra cushion.  2022 included only five months of my social security income and we do our withholding through our monthly IRA withdrawal - so it's a relief to feel confident that what we are already withholding should be more than enough to cover 2023's full year of my social security income.  Woot woot! 

I think J. and I are both ready for him to be able to play golf.  The winter golf plans are completely off the table 'cuz it will take a LONG TIME for the accumulated snow to melt.  We get out of the house together a couple times a week (at least) and appreciate the fun and perks of all the casinos in the area - but I think we could also use our 'alone time' - and we don't get much of that lately.  Either of us.  And sometimes it shows.  We both get snarky and testy - me way more than him but sometimes him - and when HE is a wee bit snarky, too, it really throws me for a loop 'cuz he is so rarely ever snarky or perturbed. We will survive.  

We will be at Atlantis next weekend for the Super Bowl - it's a really fun event and we look forward to it very much.  Would be more excited if the SF 49ers were in it this year but oh well.  It will still be a lot of fun.  

Turns out the cracked tooth was actually a filling that failed/crumbled and took my molars 4th 'point' with it - so I will get a crown on Wednesday - it only takes 2 hours from start to finish and while it won't be a 'pleasant' 2 hours, it will be good to have it done in one visit.  Haircut on Thursday which I need because I haven't had once since right before Thanksgiving.  My hair is well past my chin so I am way overdue.  

J. is going to 'fly' with B. for a while - it's so amazing they can enjoy doing a video game together.  There is much about technology that is amazing!