In yesterday’s post I wrote about the Hormel mystery meat called Spam. Today I’ll open with a few words about the other kind of spam – the electronic type. We all get spam in our email inbox from time to time. Anyone with a blog or website knows they are also vulnerable to spam.

In my case, spammers hit my blog daily through the comments. I enjoy reading comments from people who actually read the blog and I wish I could allow people to post their comments freely. I can’t do this because of the spam. Therefore, all comments have to be approved before they are visible.

I can understand some of the spam I receive. Sometimes the spammer writes what appears to be a valid comment at first glance. Further reading reveals the product(s) the spammer is hawking. Other times the spam is trying to sell me software to “enhance” my blog. These spam entries usually contain links that I immediately delete – this is to protect my blog and to protect readers from clicking on potentially dangerous links.

There’s another type of spam I receive on a daily basis. These “comments” are pure gibberish. I don’t understand what these are about. It’s usually a series of hanzi or kanji characters (I’m not sure if they’re Chinese hanzi or Japanese kanji) followed by “words” that look something like “jjgrt kllpt”. What’s this all about? This is the most prevalent spam I have to screen out. End of rant.

Yesterday I unpacked Donna’s road bike. She went for a ride in the morning while I attended to some business. I rolled my 401k into an IRA. I did this because I want to set up a 72t (SEPP) distribution that will allow me to supplement my pension without paying a 10% penalty. The IRS has a rule, 72t, that allows this with certain restrictions if you are under 59 and a half years old.

My company’s 401k rules also had a provision for allowing withdrawals without penalty if you are separated from the company and over the age of 55. This provision requires a one time annual lump sum payment. I opted for the IRA with a 72t distribution because it allows me to dribble the money out of my account in monthly payments. I think this is a better way for me to take the money and allow the investments in equities and bonds to keep working. There are pros and cons to each method, but I think what I’m doing is right for me.

After Donna returned, we had lunch. She had conference calls to attend at 1pm and 2pm. I got out of her way by taking the scooter for a ride. I explored a bit and found the easiest route to Best Buy. After her conference calls, Donna wanted to go shopping for a new laptop. I came back and picked Donna up around 2:30pm. We rode to Best Buy. Donna found the laptop she wanted. It’s an ASUS with a hot pink shell!

Unfortunately, the Best Buy we were at only had it in green. We were told the Best Buy in Eden Prairie had it in hot pink. Donna wouldn’t settle for green. The route to the Eden Prairie store was complicated due to construction on I-169. I wasn’t too keen on scootering “two up” on the interstate anyway. So, we returned to the park. I looked up an alternate route online while Donna packed her bag for her trip to New York City.

We had a simple dinner. I grilled Wisconsin bratwurst and roasted corn on the cob. The Wisconsin bratwurst had cheese stuffed in the casing along with the sausage. It was a little on the salty side for my taste, but I enjoyed it.

Wisconsin Brats – that’s cheese oozing through the casing

This morning Donna will fly from Minneapolis to New York City for a job she has there tomorrow. Later I’ll take the scooter and go to Eden Prairie to pick up the hot pink ASUS laptop she wants. I don’t have much in the way of plans beyond that for today. I might laze in the outdoor recliner and read a book. Maybe I’ll get motivated and get my road bike out to bicycle the area. We’ll see.

I walked around the RV park and took pictures of a few million-dollar-plus coaches. These were all built on Prevost chassis and body. The three pictured started with the same chassis and body but the coach work was performed by different manufacturers.

Liberty coach built on a Prevost chassis

Marathon coach built on a Prevost chassis

Royale coach built on a Prevost chassis

Tomorrow I’ll wrap up a few more financial arrangements and start packing our coach before Donna returns. Then we’ll head west to South Dakota.