Reborn As An Early Retiree, I Now Wander America’s Costliest City: Volume 3, Chapter 11

 

WHAT’S ON MY MIND

I’m certain the ten point average increase in my Fitbit stress management score has a lot to do with the remarkable woman I call The Muse. It’s nice to have her on my mind, especially when I’m improving myself (weight training) or working towards a goal (published author). It’s like I feel this need to give that little bit of extra effort to impress her, even when I don’t have to.

In return, I wish I could wave a magic wand or my TUMI wallet and make all of her financial stresses go away. I appreciate that she wants to do things for herself (it’s a Capricorn thing), but dammit I hate seeing her struggle.

I also found out The Muse is five eight, but I suspect she’s rounding down to make me feel better. Please don’t tell her I said it's not necessary for her to do that. *grins*

WHAT I ATE

Eggnog truffles ($29.99, Williams Sonoma). They’re delightful, but also $3 a pop! That’s why I only have one after dinner every night until they’re all gone. 

I had a bottle of 2022 Herve Baudry Sancerre Romana ($32, Total Wine) with my baked salmon and yuzu chicken dinners this past week. I enjoyed it so much that I bought a second bottle to drink after the New Year.

WHAT I BOUGHT

I picked up a classic copy of Homer’s “The Odyssey” last weekend. I was in AP English Literature for several years, and yet I never had this book assigned as reading material. Ara ara!

WHAT I NEED ASAP

A small wine rack that holds four to six bottles. Right now I have four bottles stashed in between pairs of boots and cross trainers in my shoe rack, but at least they’re properly stored.

WHERE I WENT

Ulta Beauty Supply. Pottery Barn. Williams Sonoma. Total Wine. DXL. The usual haunts.

It was also the first and last time I’ll shop at those hell holes Kohl’s and TJ Maxx/Home Goods. I was only there to buy a hanging shower caddy, and thankfully Artoria the MINI didn't throw a fit. 

Speaking of Artoria...

WHAT MADE ME HAPPY

There will be THREE full length Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel animated movies to stream on Crunchyroll starting on Thursday. Yes, that’s Artoria Pendragon in a gothic armor dress after she turns evil at some point during the trilogy (Saber Alter).

An evil version of a woman that was King Arthur in another realm? Oh, this promises to be good!

LET’S PLAY… MINI RULE #1

This is my first documented Rule #1. I purposely parked Artoria the MINI next to a base model and snapped a quick photo before I shopped at Total Wine.

WHAT I LISTENED TO

Songs by .38 Special after a fun exchange with Bert. He thinks the song to best describe my relationship with The Muse is “Hold On Loosely”. I countered with “Caught Up In You”. It’s neither, but I really enjoyed this auditory trip down memory lane.

WHAT SACRED TEXTS I READ

• The Odyssey (in progress)
• Harem Marriage, Volume 20 (A special epilogue volume)
• Call Of The Night, Volume 18
• Death’s Daughter and the Ebony Blade, Volume 3

Also from J-Novel Club…

• The Hero And The Sage: Reincarnated And Engaged, Volume 3
• The Poison King: Now That I’ve Gained Ultimate Power, The Bewitching Beauties In My Harem Can’t Get Enough Of Me, Volume 3 (finished)
• An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels For Me!, Volume 9 
• Duchess In The Attic, Volume 3 

WELCOME TO SLAPSVILLE

About 60% of the drivers on my roads. There’s so many slaps to give out I should dip my hands in Plaster of Paris beforehand so I don’t end up in the ER at some point.

FIST BUMPS GO TO…

Bertrand Baguette and Kazuki Hiramine started dead last and finished third in the Super GT season finale at Suzuka last weekend. A fitting way for Team Impul to send off Marelli (Calsonic) as their longtime sponsor.

Also, undrafted Las Vegas Raiders running back Sincere McCormick is making the most of his opportunity to play in the NFL. I hope he becomes the starter going forward.

WHAT’S UP WITH MY HEALTH

Remember when my weight jumped to 259.2 a week ago? I’m down to 256.2 as of this morning. Of those three pounds I lost, 1.8 pounds was fat. Yay!

I did my full workouts this week, but I need to wear protective sleeves on both knees as a precaution. They feel great as of this writing, but that can easily change in this colder weather.

WHAT’S UP WITH MY WRITING

I edited the first two chapters of my novel, and I trimmed the word count by about 2,000 words. I still feel like something is missing, and it’s maddening since it would only take a few words or sentences to transform something good to great.

But once I find out what it is, I look forward to sharing these chapters with The Muse.