time off

If you work, do you take all your time off? You know, like some people are "earn it and burn it" kind of folks. Every time they get a second to take off work, they do. I get a lot of time off during the year. Besides 12 to 14 paid holidays every year, I also get 4 weeks of vacation, 6 sick days and 3 personal days. That's a whopping 43 days a year! I could almost take a day off every week! I don't though. The only time I use my sick time is if I'm actually sick, which isn't very often. Oh, I also use it for any kind of medical/dental appointments. Again, not very often. Sooooo, right now I have 39 days of sick time and 24 days of vacation time on the books.

When I first started working in the corporate world, years and years and years ago, and people would quit or retire from their jobs with a TON of time off on the books, I use to think, what the hell is wrong with you people!?!? Take your time off!!! My fella use to work for a company that made you take your time off. Take you vacation time off or lose it. They were serious about their staff having breaks! Where I work, if you don't take your time off it just builds up. But when you leave they'll only pay out 225 hours. You lose anything after that. Anyway...it turns out that I am one of those people now, who doesn't take their time off! What is wrong with me?! Geesh.

I'm going to try and do better. Take more time off. Even if we aren't going somewhere. It's good for your mental health :-) Plus, I don't want to feel dumb. Hey! I might even cheat and use some sick time for no good reason!!

Nomads

Have you ever been RV-ing? I don't just mean camping either. I mean an RV or 5th wheel or trailer. You know, something you can cook in and take a shower and flush a toilet. I haven't. It seems like a lot of work. I bet camping is easier. But normally, you can't just travel around the country, camping. You can't really live like that. Like snowbirds - They travel in their RV/trailer to warmer climates in the winter and back home in the summer. Could you do that? Live in an RV? When was the last time you were IN an RV?! They're spectacular! Seriously. If you're going to travel extensively, RV's seem to be pretty comfy. 

I couldn't to it though. For one, gas prices and mileage make it seem prohibitive to me. And it costs a lot more than you think to pull into some RV place and hook it up. Now, RV parks have amenities. Playgrounds for the kids, grassy areas with picnic benches, mini markets. I bet it's still less expensive to just drive somewhere and get a hotel! Beyond that though - could you live in an RV? I'm certain that I couldn't. Sure, maybe for a month. But that's it. I need more stuff than what I could put in an RV. Also, I have to have a home base. I need it. It's a form of stability. I need stability. I keep thinking about that movie, Nomad. Nope, not for me.

Maybe when I was a lot younger I could've done it. But now I have things. And I like it. Could you live with only what you need? Like people did 150+ years ago? It wasn't easy, that's why we don't live like that anymore :-)

Anyway, my younger brother and his wife are currently living in their RV. The goal is to travel around Nevada and Arizona and find a place they like and buy something, a small house or a condo. The original plan I think was for a year or so. It's only been a couple of weeks and he's really struggling with the plan. He hates not having a "home base."  I hope he can change his view and enjoy the next year instead. I want to try and be positive when I talk to him but I'll be lying. 

Memorabilia

Do you collect things? How much would you pay for something you wanted to have, that serves no purpose whatsoever, other than, you have it and no one else does. I have a smaller collection of beanie babies. I gave most them away. But I wouldn't pay hundreds of $$ just to have one that was rare. I also have a small collection of Funko Pop. I have all but a couple of Groot. But again, the few that I don't have are $40 and $90. I just like them. I didn't buy them for an investment. Some people have whole garages stuffed with toys and games, in boxes, brand new, that they buy and hold onto in hopes that they'll be worth a lot of $$ later on! I guess if I had a ton of expendable cash, I would probably spend more on art. I saw "a list" of the most expensive celebrity/movie memorabilia ever sold.

* The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car sold for $805k in 2011.

* Julie Andrews 'Do-Re-Mi' dress fetched $1.3 million in 2013. 

* Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball sold for over $3 million.

* The Maltese Falcon statue sold for $4,085,000 mill in 2013

* Ripley's Believe It or Not bought the dress that Marilyn Monroe wore when she sang happy        birthday to JFK, for $4.8 million in 2016!

* Robby the Robot!!! I loved him! You know, from Forbidden Planet? $5.3 million at a 2017              auction. I'd rather watch the movie - he was alive in that!

* The most expensive guitar ever sold at auction was Kurt Cobain's MTV Unplugged guitar. A         whopping $6,010,000!!! Seriously?!

* Elizabeth Taylor's tiara went for $4.2 million at auction. 

Sorry, I just don't think anything a celebrity has, is worth that kind of money.