Thursday, August 02, 2012

What do I do???

I had a doctor's appointment the other day with a doctor other than my usual GP.  He was a guy about my own age and asked 'what do you do all day'?  I suppose he associates 'retired' with 'old, useless and discarded'.  I'm not sure what words I would use but relaxed and perhaps too comfortable are part of the answer. 

For example, there is absolutely no reason I shouldn't work out for say 30 minutes a day.  I'm unlikely to make it to the Olympics but that's not the point.  Good health requires some movement and unfortunately I don't make it happen.  We do walk out in the desert four or five days a week for half an hour or forty-five minutes.  When we go places like a museum I can tell that I don't get tired from the walking.  Now when we go someplace like Colorado I sure notice 1) the hills and 2) the altitude.  That would be tough to train for around here but I definitely need to incorporate some strength training into my day. 

Another area that needs some work is our portfolio.  I was checking today and a couple mutual funds that were rated as three-star (by Morningstar) have been downgraded to two-star.  I wasn't happy about having the funds at three-star but I've had them for a long while and thought they might recover.  For them to fall farther is not a good thing.  Generally I don't care much about the prognostications of 'experts' but when there is a calculated reduction in return,  I'm thinking there is a trade in my near future. 

Finally I want to spend less time on this computer and more time 'doing things'.  Like what?  Well, I bought lumber for a bat house but haven't built it.  I'm an amateur cook, that would certainly be a place I could improve!  Ditto with my photography.  I've wanted to learn to juggle for years, why am I not learning?  Finally, there are plenty of places where an unpaid volunteer might make a difference for people in the valley.  I need to raise my hand!  The fact that we are gone for a month or two a year should not be keeping me from the work in the first place. 

Ok, I'm motivated.  I'm going to go work out for a while.  Hope you are having a good one and, you too, can make time to work out.  Take care.

1 comment:

Croft said...

I hate those questions from doctors! I usually lie and then feel terrible about it later. Yes, I could use more exercise. Thanks for the reminder.

I was however, impressed that I could walk easily around the town of Highland mexico at altitudes of 7000 to 8000 feet. I guess we are not in that bad a shape!