How to fill time in retirement

 When I first retired, I created a Bucket List with most items being travel and visiting places. In August 2019, I added to the list an item to read the 100 books everyone should read. It has been a Long, Long, Long time and I finally decided to check my progress. It is just more data from my multitude of spreadsheets. I may have mentioned that I have a spreadsheet listing my spreadsheets. So, I started with a list of 100 books that I got off the Internet. Since then, I have added 139 more books to the list of novels I should read. I do have a tendency to read my favorite authors or any other book of interest I find at the library. These books do not get added to the bucket list but I still read them. I use Goodreads, a great website, to keep track of my reading, and of course they have their own lists of best books. During my first four years of retirement, I read 24 books or just six a year. After creating the list, I have averaged 32 books a year for the last seven years. Five o...

 Last week I went to a turtle release as part of Brevard Zoo's team on healing of wild turtles. For the two turtles release, things were Getting Better all the time. I think this was the fourth or fifth release I have attended, but the first held at Paradise Beach. The release was scheduled for 3:30 PM and I arrived about 20 minutes early. Already a crowd was forming. They typically rope off an area to keep the spectators back, and allows them a clear access to the ocean. The guy in the middle with the black jacket is a local surgeon who use to sit next to me at Spring Training games. I will remember his name after I post this BLOG Waves were small and smooth and the birds were looking for handouts. Nice turtle hat worn by one of the Volunteers. One of the turtles, Bling, being carried toward me. They walk the turtles around the whole roped off area for people to get photos and get a close up introduction to the animals. The other turtle was named Jiminy Cricket and has a close res...

 I decided to write more often about my dining visits and my history with each eatery that I dine at in 2026. My goal is just like 2025, go to 12 New places that I have never been, and at least 52 different places throughout the year. So, here are my dining out experiences for the first two weeks of 2026. 1/6/2026 Frigate's Waterfront Bar & Grill Score: 3.5 (Great to Excellent) Frigates is an eclectic restaurant located in Eau Gallie off of US1. There is a boat dock for customers on the North bank of the Eau Gallie River. Origin : The owners of the North Palm Beach Frigate's purchased the Eau Gallie property in 2016, with plans to create a tropical restaurant.  It opened in October 2019. The site has been a few different places but is most remembered by locals as the site of a Burger King. Later it became the Eau Gallie River Crab House; I went a few times with my nephew Jared and his family. For me, I go to Frigates quite often since it opened because it is close to ...

 With the New Year starting, I decided to Get Back to writing posts about Connections. I have done some in the past and almost all my hoarding is about connections too. Even the books I read, as my list gets depleted, I am finding more connections between the books, authors and stories. I still read magazines, but not as many as I use to read. Three of the magazines I currently read are alumni reports. I get the one from Florida Tech (or FIT) where I got my Master's degree in Applied Mathematics. I get one from Middlebury College where I got my Hobart Engineer degree (actually I get it because I asked for it because my dad Harold and Uncle Ken were alumni). The third is The University of Vermont Magazine where I got my Bachelor's degree in Mathematics. First, a little background. I graduated from UVM in 1979. I still visit the campus when I am in Vermont. I took this picture of Coolidge Hall (on right), my dormitory. These photos were from a 2007 visit. The back of Coolidge Hal...