Retirement side hustle

I’m an avid golfer, usually playing two or three days a week. I sometimes play well, and sometimes I suck. That’s the way golf go.

However, I’ve been taking lessons (sadly, not the first, second or third time) and have seen marked improvement. Something clicked. My teacher gave me a free lesson when his other student canceled, and toward the end of the freebie, he mentioned he was writing a book. I’m grateful to him for helping me with my game, so I said if you need someone to edit a draft, I’d be happy to. Editing is a large part of what I did for a living.

He said yes and offered to pay me, but I said, no, consider this an act of kindness. Also, there’s less pressure on me if you don’t like my changes – not like you got ripped off! It’s a fabulous book, but it needed lots of editing. Some writers have solid concepts but don’t know the first thing about punctuation or how to be consistent with capitalization and other style/formatting issues.

I enjoyed editing his book and have been wondering if that’s what I should do for my retirement side hustle. Editing can be aggravating … so much to fix and so hard to catch everything. I must have gone through it three times and still found stuff I missed. In the end, I’m proud of the work I did, but I’m not sure I would do it again. Not a 175-page book anyway.

Today’s golf got rained out – just as I played one of my best front nine holes in ages. My teacher was in the clubhouse, so we met briefly to discuss the edits. The track changes feature in Word was driving him nuts, as it often does if you aren’t used to it. I schooled him a bit on that. For the most part, he’s on board with my edits, although like many corporate executives I used to support, he loves capitalizing anything he thinks is important. I called it visual clutter, and he looked sad.

Which reminds me – The New York Times featured an editorial on Trump’s communiqué about the Saudi mess, and they wrote, “The president made clear his commitment to the use of the exclamation point, if not to truth and justice.” I texted it to my friend from work who also cares about grammarly matters. We used to joke if someone pissed us off, we would deny them the exclamation point at the end of an email. The one that says:

Thanks!

You misbehave, and all you get is thanks. Period. The power of punctuation.

We had another pet peeve about names. It’s polite to start an email with the person’s name, whether you add hi, hello, dear or whatever. But use their name. We worked closely with someone who never used your name, ever. Just jumped right into whatever she wanted, and it came across as a giant bark.

But I digress. As for retirement side hustles, I could see taking on smaller editing jobs. Although I will not be penning the great American novel, I do know how to write and edit, which I don’t think robots have figured out just yet. I also like the way this opportunity emerged out of something I was doing anyway. That seems like a good way to find your retirement side hustle.

I’m going to let this one simmer for awhile. As you know, I’m kind of busy having fun. I’ll have to figure out if I can do both.

My coconut year (and the results)

I’ve written about my love of coconut and have incorporated it into my diet – mostly in the form of unsweetened coconut and coconut oil in my homemade granola and Indian soups and stews with full-fat coconut milk. These foods have been a staple of my diet for about a year now.

Although I don’t have a scientific process for examining cause and effect, in that year my cholesterol went up where it should have gone down and down where it should have gone up. My doctor said if it were anyone else, she wouldn’t even comment.

But it is not anyone else, it’s me, and she knows I take this stuff seriously.  She gets that I’m annoyed. I explained the details of my coconut year, and she agreed cutting back would probably bring my numbers back to where I want them. I hadn’t realized coconut was so high in saturated fat. Like 85 percent! Yikes.

Because it would be too simple to blame it on the coconut, during that year I also stopped taking a daily fish oil supplement. That scoundrel Jane Brody of the New York Times reported there doesn’t seem to be evidence fish oil supplements do anything but generate expensive urine. I’m all about cheap pee, so I stopped taking the pills.

As soon as I got my metabolic panel results – back to fish oil for me. The doctor agreed it was a prudent move.

Yogurt is another possible culprit, although I suspect not. I make my own yogurt using whole milk and eat a serving with breakfast nearly every day. Although I haven’t gained weight, one could argue the fat contributes to my cholesterol. I’ve been eating whole milk cheese for years, and my cholesterol was fine.

Nothing I’ve read puts a target on whole milk yogurt. But just for the sport of it, I made a batch of 2 percent, and it’s delicious. The texture is the same although perhaps slightly tarter. I definitely liked the 2 percent better for raita – grated cucumbers in yogurt to accompany spicy curry. For the sake of science, I’ll keep making 2 percent.

She was pleased with my blood sugar, which has remained stable with no medication or treatment. I am pre-diabetic, a condition I attribute to my origins at the bottom of the gene pool. I mean, really? I did not know a thin, active person could be at risk, but there you have it. I’m careful about carbs and sugar, and it appears to be working.

The visit went well, although I had a long list of stuff to go over, and they said I only had a 20-minute appointment. I didn’t know there was such a thing. Apparently, you have to request 40 minutes, and I will do that next time. I admit to being a wee bit manipulative, but we got through my list.

I don’t like my oncologist, and I got a referral to a female oncologist who also specializes in genetic research. I had ovarian and breast cancer and am BRCA1-positive. The other oncologist, a man, was surprised I did not have reconstruction and seemed squeamish about looking at my flat chest. I’m hoping the female doctor will have a better grip on reality.

The other big issue was my vertigo. The doctor agreed vertigo sucks and is referring me to vestibular rehabilitation therapy – some sort of physical therapy for inner ear disorders. I’m looking forward to it!

As I was leaving, she said, “You aren’t exercising outside with this air quality are you?” We’ve experienced days of dreaded red status – unhealthy for anyone – as a result of the fires more than 100 miles away. I said I was planning to play golf the next day, and she said, “Please don’t. This is bad stuff. You work too hard to be healthy to let this get you.”

For once, I listened. I canceled my tee time and am not doing much of anything outside until the air quality improves. In the meantime, I’m not eliminating anything from my diet – including yummy coconut – but I am going to be more careful and lean Mediterranean.

I previously shared my recipe for coconut granola, which I still love, but I’m updating here with olive oil and seeds instead of coconut. I made it yesterday, and it’s delicious.

Donna’s Low-Sugar Granola 

1 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup mixed raw seeds (hemp, sunflower, sesame, etc.)

1 cup mixed raw nuts, coarsely chopped (cashews, pecans, almonds, walnuts, etc.)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

¼ teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 egg white, lightly whisked

1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Line a ½ sheet pan with parchment.

Mix dry ingredients together and add liquids. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Spread mixture in the sheet pan and cook for 20 minutes – stir gently and turn pan half-way through cooking time. It should be golden brown but not too dark – it may need 3-5 minutes more cooking time. Let cool and store in airtight container.

Fragrance, taste and healing

Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley Bethesda again. That’s where my employer was headquartered, so we in the hinterlands often made the pilgrimage to Maryland for training, business meetings and other events.

In my dream, the weather turned bad, and everyone was holed up in the office. The big wheels were secluded in a conference room on the top floor, but I had superpowers and could hear their thoughts, which were actually quite simple.

Look at me. I’m a captain of industry. Riding out the storm at the office, my favorite place. I like it here. I feel comfortable here. I’m important.

In the dream, I could feel their pride coupled with a false sense of sacrifice. Like woe is me, such a burden, even though riding it out at the office with their comrades was exactly what they lived for.

Waking up, I felt grateful to be retired. Although I was ambitious and had a great career, every job disappointed me in the end. Dale and I were talking about winning the lottery, and I said, I don’t care. I mean, yes, more money would be great, but I have what I need. Life is good.

In choosing to jump ship, a lot of my decisions were driven by dinner (as they still are). I just couldn’t get excited about working longer and longer hours so I could come home to a bowl of cold cereal. My goal was to slow down, smell the roses, eat fabulous food and enjoy my time on the planet free from workplace drama.

Although I’m not one of those retire-at-35 people, retiring at 62 was a significant accomplishment. My life now is about reading, writing, playing outside and cooking. Outings with Dale to museums, wineries and such. The occasional road trip.

Today we’re hanging out inside. Smoke from the Northern California fires has blown our way, and unlike captains of industry, we are riding out the air quality at home, my favorite place, where fragrance, taste and healing are priorities.

Dale made a fresh batch of Mexican chorizo, which is a loose pork sausage, heavily spiced but not smoked. This morning for breakfast he browned some in a frying pan and then scrambled it with eggs. Homemade salsa verde to go with.

I started to defrost soup for lunch but then remembered an avocado on its last legs. I sliced it, garnished with fresh walnuts and drizzled a bit of olive oil on top. A sprinkle of sea salt and cracked black pepper. It was so simple and delicious.

Dinner is pan-seared scallops. Dale is in charge of the scallops, while I will cook sides of sautéed Swiss Chard and yellow rice. The rice is based on a Cuban recipe, but I’ve tweaked it a bit. Dale likes chard, but for some reason, he usually resists. I guess because it’s not a potato. But he knew I was pissed about cleaning the house this morning while he did pretty much nothing. All I had to say was how about chard, and he’s like, oh yum, OK!

Saffron, rich with fragrance and taste and revered for its healing powers, is one of the world’s most expensive spices at $3,000 to $9,000 per pound, but you’ll be spending between $5.00 and $7.00 per gram. A little goes a long way.

Instant Pot Yellow Rice

1 cup Basmati rice, rinsed

1 ½ cups chicken stock

A tablespoon or two of butter

A big pinch of saffron

A pinch of Kosher salt

Put everything in the Instant Pot, lock the lid and make sure the pressure valve is closed. Select the rice setting. It should take about 15 minutes. When the cooking is complete, let it sit until everything else is ready and then release the pressure.

Phat cat

I thought I was pretty good with words, but it turns out I haven’t kept up with the times. I sent this picture of our cat, Riley, lounging on his cardboard kitty couch to my sister-in-law, who texted back:

Is he laying on that couch? That’s a phat cat.

Nooooo. That’s just fur. Not fat!

I meant phat cat lounging on his couch by the fire with no cares, being catered to.

Oh.

Dale said I need to get with it. “I guess your golf buddies aren’t exactly up on the latest slang.”

At least we both agree Riley is a keeper (although Dale makes jokes about the unfortunate coloring at the base of his tail). I was reading about the fires in California – close enough to tamper with our air quality but far enough away to feel some sense of security – and a guy was frantically looking for his cat. He said he’d trade his house for the cat, and that’s the way I would feel. Loving a pet is life affirming.

I’m feeling like a phat cat since my vertigo went away. For those who are unfamiliar with vertigo, it’s not like the movie. For the type I get, crystals in the ears get jumbled around, causing nausea, vomiting and dizziness. Although I only throw up for a day, the other effects linger for about a week. I’ve had cancer twice, but I’d rank vertigo close to the top of the pestilence poster.

The doctor gave me exercises (Epley Maneuver) that are supposed to put the crystals back where they belong. The exercises work, but the dizziness often comes back at night when I sleep. Some studies say it doesn’t matter how you sleep, but others suggest you sleep at a 45-degree angle for two nights after doing the exercises. All I know is in my case, it kept coming back.

I couldn’t find a comfortable way to sleep at a 45-degree angle, so I went to a store that sells all matter of stuff for people with back problems who want to sleep. The rep was quite familiar with vertigo, and $300 later, I had a pillow system to keep me propped up. A wedge for my head, a wedge for my knees and a neck pillow. The first night was a bit uncomfortable, but the second night was fine.

The third night was great, because my vertigo was gone! It’s amazing how fabulous I feel. I was reluctant to spend the $300, but if it works, it’s totally worth it. I’ve had three vertigo episodes this year.

Now that I’m feeling phat, I’m excited about the cooler weather and new opportunities to play outside. I like sports, and I had kind of an epiphany this week about knowing my limitations. I had a golf lesson, and my coach wanted me to adopt a much more aggressive swing. We practiced it, but I hated the feeling, and I was scared being too aggressive would mess me up. There’s some history.

In the not-my-fault category, I’ve had two major abdominal surgeries, a mastectomy and frozen shoulder following the mastectomy. Frozen shoulder lasted a year. For self-induced trauma, I fell off a bike and broke my wrist. I also injured my hip flexors and trashed my knees racewalking competitively. My knees hurt for five years.

I’m healthy, my body parts are feeling good and I’d like to keep it that way so I can enjoy a long and active retirement. Isn’t that what we all want? If it means I don’t hit the ball as far, so be it. I’ll just have to improve the rest of my game. I have time.

Taking big bites

My last post was largely about food, and I bit off more than I can chew. I was loving the idea of going through old cookbooks and magazines and somehow reinventing recipes to share on the blog from time to time.

I started with an old Gourmet magazine, November 1990, and I was blown away by the complexity of the recipes and obscure ingredients. We make a few complicated dishes, but we’ve simplified our cooking and eating over the years. Back in the day, Dale and I used to joke about recipes that started with, “Have your fishmonger …”

The guy at Safeway is as close to a fishmonger as we ever got.

There’s a section of the magazine called, “You Asked for It.” People write in about some specific thing they ate in their travels, and could Gourmet possibly get the recipe? I read this one out loud to Dale:

At the wonderful Hotel Romazzino on Sardinia’s shimmering Costa Smeralda, we had a dish of baked noodles and lobster, covered with pastry, that was almost too good to believe. Was it a dream, Gourmet, or can the recipe be obtained?

We had a good laugh over that one.

Still, the same magazine features Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon Sour Cream Topping, and I have actually made that. Twice! Thinking about making it this year for Thanksgiving.

I’m not dissing the magazine. It gave us many years of pleasure, and I’m still excited to dig in and rediscover nuggets from the past. It’s a good retirement hobby for me, but I doubt I’ll make enough changes to call them my own. I will be lucky to call them edible.

Have no fear. I’ll continue to write about food in some form or fashion because it’s practically all I think about, and it’s important to enjoying life, especially in retirement. But even if a fellow retiree is inclined to cook fancy food, I hardly think they will be stopping by to get tips from me. There are too many great resources already out there.

At first, I felt embarrassed to have presented this grand idea before thinking it through more carefully. But then I thought, that’s what Retirement Confidential is all about – sharing true stories about retirement ups and downs in real time.

My progress on getting over the need to accomplish something was also a wee bit overstated. I mean, it has been less than two weeks since I decided to focus on the little things that make me happy. Although cooking makes me happy, in hindsight, reinventing 40 years of recipes sounds a wee bit driven to me.

As for retirement pursuits, it’s kind of like being a kid trying all the sports until you find one you actually like and are good at. Sometimes you have to take big bites. Go ahead, do it!

Political Postscript

In other news, I’m pleased Democrats took the House. I’m fine with Republicans having a majority in the Senate. In my opinion, democracy is stronger when power is distributed. The stock market seemed to agree, and that’s usually a positive thing for retirees. Overall, I know there is more drama to come, but I feel more hopeful about the future of our country.

Representing team live-to-eat

It has only been a week since I wrote about the nagging feeling that I’m supposed to be accomplishing something in retirement. I vowed to do what feels good and see what happens. I think it’s working!

I made a list of my favorite things:

  • Reading
  • Writing
  • Golf
  • Walking
  • Cooking

I can sort of feel the drive slipping away and am grateful I have the option of retirement. Why not just focus on what makes me happy? Sure, there are work-related activities that give me pleasure and satisfaction, but I must say it feels pretty good to wake up and not worry about what I’m going to achieve in life. Such a heavy load.

My happy list includes cooking, because we love to eat, and we hate eating bad or mediocre food, and we hate spending money on bad or mediocre food. We are both excellent home cooks and have been obsessed with food since our first date. As I started to think more about the role of food in our lives, I added up the cookbooks and food-related publications we’ve collected over 40 years.

I counted 193 books, 14 years of Gourmet magazines, five notebooks of clipped recipes and stacks of miscellaneous publications, including Cook’s Illustrated and Chile Pepper magazines. The bookcase photographed above is just outside the kitchen, but there’s an annex in the guest bedroom upstairs. Oh, and we converted a downstairs bedroom into a walk-in pantry for a second refrigerator and cooking supplies. One of our neighbors said it looked like Williams Sonoma.

As I get older, I’m concerned about using the things we have or getting rid of them. My sister and I both started wearing old jewelry for no good reason other than you can’t take it with you. If you love it, use it, wear it. Same with good china, crystal, special serving pieces. Use them! I’m starting to feel the same way about all these recipes.

Although I love to read cookbooks just for sport, I know there’s a treasure trove of great recipes dating back to the 70s, 80s and 90s. I want to dust them off and see what has been hiding in plain sight. I believe I would find that fulfilling. We enjoy spicy food, so I’m pretty sure we’ll have to jazz up some of these recipes to suit our current tastes. It just sounds like fun to me.

I’ve been reading up on copyright and how to feature the books on my blog and publish recipes – no illusions about being a food blogger – but I definitely want to share the nuggets and write more about how food and cooking enhances retirement lifestyle. Even if you are among those who just view food as fuel, you have to eat. Eat well!

So, there you have it. I’ll continue to file these articles under Food & Drink until I come up with something better. Even that is progress for me – the old Donna would have waited until everything was perfect and perfectly packaged. I’m evolving! I even gave ugly (but delicious) cupcakes to my neighbor. I think about the tantrum I might have thrown 20 years ago over making ugly cupcakes and am grateful to say it’s easier being me these days.

Which team are you on? Eat-to-live or live-to-eat?

The frugal reader

I’ve been down with another nasty bout of vertigo, but since I was already horizontal, I finished a book that was close to overdue, and it reminded me how much I love the library.

Although my parents were not well-educated, they strongly encouraged us to read – anything and everything. Dad was a big reader, and he kept a little shelf of salacious material in the bathroom, where he spent much of his time. But that’s another story.

My sister and I were always in the summer book clubs and walked to the library on warm summer days. Sometimes we cheated and took a shortcut over the railroad tracks. I’m sorry, Mom.

Dad once told us we were related to the Raja of Tahumbaktu. We spent hours researching and even got the librarian to help. We came up with nothing. I believe we used a pay phone to call him and ask how to spell Tahumbaktu, and all I can remember is the sound of him laughing his ass off. He made it up as a way to get us out of the house.

In high school, I won awards for my speech on legalizing prostitution, and my mother had to come with me to the library so I could access books needed for my research. She was happy to do it, although she was not much of a reader, other than true crime magazines. We were never allowed to go to Tom Sawyer’s Island at Disneyland, because according to Mom, a girl got raped there.

In retirement, I’ve become more frugal, and the library is a great way to save money and avoid the stockpiling of books. It’s an easy walk to my local branch! I take a small backpack for my books, and I feel sort of like Tom Sawyer embarking on an adventure. Or maybe Becky Thatcher? Although I read the books, I’ve imagined a lot of it, because sadly, I couldn’t get to the island.

We live in El Dorado County, so I immediately signed up for a library card at the branch down the street. Later, I discovered Sacramento County has a bigger system and Folsom, the next town over, has a separate system completely. By signing up for a Folsom library card, I now have access to everything in my county of residence, as well as Folsom and most everything in Sacramento County.

Although I sometimes show up and get lucky, I usually do my browsing online. I keep several tabs open. One for Amazon and one for each library. I’ve also bookmarked a couple of sites that review books in my favorite genre, and that’s a great way to find lesser known writers. For ideas, I like Left Coast Crime and Edgar award winners. Usually I go to Amazon for the full write-up.

When I find something I’m interested in reading, I place a hold on it through one of my online library accounts. If one library doesn’t have it, the other one usually does. I’m currently #23 for the new Michael Connelly mystery featuring my all-time favorite detective, Harry Bosch.

I’ll read just about anything, including cereal boxes, but I favor hard-boiled mysteries and historical fiction about the Old West. Some of the authors I like are not widely read, so I will often have to jostle back and forth between the libraries to find it in the system. Occasionally I will break down a buy a book, usually for my Kindle, and usually for travel. Sometimes a hard copy cookbook.

Finally, I keep a little journal with books I want to read. Mine is messy and includes other lists, because I am a demonic list maker. If it’s a series, I list all the books of the series in order and try to read them in order. Not because I am crazy but because I like to see how the characters evolve over time.

Any other good frugal reading tips out there?

Creamy, cheesy, garlicky, potatoey

Dale and I both love to cook, and I looked forward to spending more time in the kitchen after I retired. I was surprised to learn Dale thought he owned the kitchen, so there was that. Our first argument 40 years ago was how to cut onions, so there’s baggage.

At first, we decided to work separately. His turn or my turn. We still do that a lot, but lately we’ve also been cooking together. Why, we even ask each other for advice and recommendations! Must be love.

For us, cooking at home has always been about eating well. In retirement, I discovered cooking is also therapeutic. There’s a lot of stressful shit going down out there, and I have found comfort in the kitchen. I plan to share more about our cooking adventures on the blog. Of course, me being me, I’d like to come up with some clever name for this section of Retirement Confidential, but for now I’ll just file it under Food & Drink. Eventually I’d like to redesign the blog so you can easily print recipes.

I thought I’d start with this week’s big find! First, you have to understand, grocery stores are very important to us. My retirement relocation spreadsheet included distance to Whole Foods for every location under consideration. We ended up 5.7 miles from the nearest Whole Foods and only 2.6 miles from a local store called Nugget. Nugget is a lot like Whole Foods, but we like it better.

The store features tasty looking recipes on slick cards at the checkout. We pick them up frequently, but never make any of the recipes. Until yesterday. We both saw this one and surrendered completely. It was so creamy and cheesy and garlicky and potatoey – I can’t say enough good things about it. The potatoes still had nice bite to them, and you could taste the Dijon throughout.

We ate it with grilled sausage and curly endive tossed with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Oh, and we ate leftovers for breakfast with a slice of bacon. I think it would make an excellent breakfast casserole for company.

Adapted from Nugget Markets

Red Potato Gratin with Gruyere & Fontina

1 ½ cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cracked black pepper to taste

15-20 small to medium red potatoes, sliced wafer thin (leave the skins on)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated

1 cup Fontina cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 400°F

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together heavy cream, Dijon mustard and garlic. Add salt and pepper. Place sliced potatoes in the cream mixture and set aside.

Rub olive oil on the sides and bottom of an 8 X 11 glass baking pan or an 11-inch gratin pan. Place potato slices in a single layer on the bottom of the pan, overlapping like shingles on a roof. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons each of the Fontina and Gruyere. Repeat this process until you have 3-4 layers of potatoes and cheese, reserving enough of the Gruyere to generously coat the top layer of potatoes. We used maybe two extra tablespoons of Gruyere. But we are cheese heads.

Pour the cream mixture over the top. Dale did this in advance and let it sit for an hour or so at room temperature. I think you could also make it well in advance and refrigerate until ready.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, bake additional 20 minutes until the top is golden brown or until knife inserts easily into the middle to ensure potatoes are completely cooked.

Remove from heat and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

An open letter to Hillary

I feel so helpless in the wake of current events, in the wake of evil, but I did vote, and I did my best to put people in office who will help us overcome this horrible culture of hate. As I read through accounts about the horrors in Pittsburgh, I saw another article where Hillary Clinton seems to be toying with the idea of running for president again.

I’m a liberal Democrat, but I have Republican friends, and I think there’s one thing we might all agree on: Hillary needs to bow out. I thought I’d drop her a note. Can someone please see that she gets it?

Dearest Hillary,

I have always admired you and happily voted for you in 2016. I was also a fan of Bill’s, despite his wayward behavior. You were a good political team.

But the time has come to tell you to go away. I wanted to see you president, but now I want to see you gone from the spotlight. I don’t mean that in a harsh way. Sure, you’ve made some mistakes, but the hatred many feel for you is completely undeserved. Let’s face it, you are polarizing. Educated people voted for Trump because they couldn’t stand you. I don’t get it either, but there you have it.

You said you’d still like to be president, but for the greater good of kind and caring people everywhere, please let go. This is an intervention – let go now! Stop dreaming about what might have been and what could still be. If you are your party’s nominee in 2020, we will undoubtedly end up with Trump again. Nothing could be worse for the future of our nation and the world at large.

Good job! Has anyone told you that? You were awesome. You still are, but now you need to find another way to express your awesomeness. The single most important thing progressive Americans can do is vote amoral politicians out of office and elect a leader who can bring us together and save this country.

I know it breaks your heart to hear this, Hillary, but it’s not you.

Thanks!

Donna