Morning: Wake up around 7, head to the couch, and start working. A project came in yesterday after 5, and I wasn't feeling up to it, so I get started on it today. Work for an hour and jot down questions for my manager. Then brush my teeth & go shower. He gets up and showers while I watch The Big Day on Netflix. Once he's done, we head out for the day. First stop is a motorcycle store where he wants to get some saddlebags. Apparently, they are on sale for only $400?
Afternoon:
- He gets them and then we head to our favorite Mediterranean buffet for lunch ($50). Prices have gone up (grrr, $10 more expensive than the last time we went earlier this year), but the food is tasty as ever. I have two plates full of salad, beef & lamb kofta, saffron rice, mushroom & chicken curry, grilled mushrooms, and a chicken kofta. Two bowls of saffron rice pudding later, I'm stuffed. I have the epiphany that Mediterranean food is the only type of food where the vegetables taste as good as (if not better) than the meat. We love the food, but with the price increases, we can only eat here once a quarter now, so we plan for September as the next visit.
- We walk around the nearby mall for a while, spray ourselves liberally at Bath & Body Works, and then head to Costco. This is the first time at Costco where we are too stuffed to try most of the sample counters, and we only get the apricot parfait sample. Walk around Costco, grab seaweed for his friend & a Hawaiian shirt from his alma mater, and also spot a boba squashmallow. He grabs the squashmallow, but when going to pay, I see that a part of the sewing is coming apart, so I run to put it back and see if there's another boba one. There's not, so I run back to the cashier & wave to him several feet away so he can pay and we head out. Go to his friend's place, but end up not going bowling since his friend's wife took their girls swimming earlier in the day.
- We hang out at his friend's place for a while, and I read. Here is what I learn:
- Book I want to read: The Man Who Broke Capitalism by David Gelles
- For those you love: "There is no point in running yourself ragged if you aren't your best self for those that you love."
- "This person is frugal and can often be cheap":
- "He is also a very anxious person and generally not trustful that things will work out just fine in the future. He revealed his net worth was around $12 million while having retired from a job that never paid more than $100,000. I detected some regret for not having more free with his spending, since what is left over has ended up being just another source of anxiety & stress. Never underestimate how much your money is going to stress you out when you're old. Somewhat perversely, the frugality & cheapness that helped relieve anxiety earlier in life can come around to cause more of it later in life."
- I asked more about the last sentence, and wondered if the stress came from taxes or something else: "Definitely taxes are a stress with a 6 figure RMD. Also, there are issues with family dynamics where the thought of leaving a few million to one kid in particular is anxiety provoking, but with two other kids who are very financially responsible, there is a big struggle on leaving money to one kid in a different way than the other two. Plus, there are grandkids involved. It's a lot of stress for an older person. There is also stress with seeing a portfolio drop by $2 million, which is a lot of old people have been dealing with over the last several months."
Evening:
- Head to the nearby mall for dinner with their family. We all go in SO friend's car, and with two car seats, I shimmy into the small seat in the third row in the back of the car. It's super windy, and I'm wearing a shirt, so SO helps me get in and out of the car, lol. We stop by a sports store since SO's friend is heading to an NBA playoff game tomorrow and wants a jersey to cheer on the local team. SO finds a penny in the store & hands it to me (1 penny found). Next stop is the Crocs store where one of the girls gets a new pair of shoes, and both girls get clip-ons for their Crocs.
- We then all head to the food court. Their family gets beef noodle soup (for the mom) and philly cheesesteaks & fries (for the dad & the girls). The girls see their mom's noodle soup and want noodles themselves, lol. Their mom go gets noodles & green curry for them, but now they don't want it anymore, haha. I grab basil fried rice & red curry with chicken ($9.71). SO and I split the food and also eat a few fries & green curry that the girls didn't want. SO tells his friend about the buffet we went today (which is an hour drive away from us), and SO's friend calls us foodies, lol. SO also talks about that our next trip is in September, and his friend laughs. We make one last stop at Dippin' Dots since the girls & mom want some.
- Head back to the friend's place, and we watch Game 3 of the Celtics/Heat game. Watch the Heat win and head home around 10:30. Back home, do the activated charcoal mouthwash, and bed around 12:30.
Eating out = $59.71
Change found = $0.01
Total = $59.70
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