I’m about a day late on this one so apologies! Working to get better at getting things off my chest more….

Recently a young guy in Oaklawn was shot and killed while just a 2 minute walk from one of the bars I frequent regularly. Whenever incidents like this happen I think about how it could’ve been me. As a general rule between being old and concerned for my safety I try not to stay out too late. I feel sorry for the young man and his loved ones. No one deserves that. Apparently the person who did it was asking for money. I still refuse to live in a bubble and feel like a prisoner.

Dude I went on two dates with since August has essentially ghosted me. I had a romantic date and dropped about $100 for the both of us. He literally never initiates conversation with me via text. I tried to give him space and ask him how the process of moving was going… Still crickets afer 10 days. He also showed up to our first date almost 15 minutes late.

Then someone else I was interested in and met a few times took 5 weeks and 4 days to respond to one of my texts. Never answering me about his relationship status. Then taking 5 days to respond to one of my texts back. I’m taking that as a sign he is dating someone and just talking to me on the DL.

There are some other stories I left out intentionally. That said I think I’m giving up on dating for a while. Even when I don’t get too emotionally invested I end up wasting my energy. Ironically when I’m interested the least that’s when the most prospects start communicating with me.. hahaha

I may possibly be getting some type of merit increase in the next few weeks. I’m stoked about that but think I will be left underwhelmed since I’m on the lower quartile for my position and # of years experience. It’s unlikely my salary will be reset based on market rates…. Oh and this little thing called inflation…. Still some money is better than none.

I bought crypto literally right before the crash. Dropped $1,050 and slowly building up the emergency fund again back to where I was. I was tempted to invest more but figured I’d err on the side of caution. The S&P 500 is down 3.6% from where it was a month ago. The market is volatile but for now I will keep dollar cost averaging into low cost funds. Still a 1.4% dip Month-Over-Month isn’t the end of the world.

10/1/21:
401K: 147,601
Roth IRA: $15,921
M1 Accoun: $3,133
Crypto: $1,433
Buffer Fund: $4,314
HSA: $1,758
Total Investments: $174,160

8/28/21
401K: $150,508
Roth IRA: $15,937
M1 Acct: $2,810
Crypto: $659
Buffer Fund: $5,015
HSA $1,768
Total Investments: $176,696

Age 65 retirement looks less and less appealing by the day. Who wants to slave away for another 27 years and hope you’re in good enough shape to enjoy it. Not me! I’m more and more aware of that as my parents approach retirement age. Yesterday my grandmother would’ve turned 82, it’s hard to believe it’s been over 22 years since she’s been gone. I still miss her.

Took a few pictures over the last month to kind of capture some of the highlights. Pumpkins, my car after a wash, and Oktoberfest. The food was amazing!

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Also got a physical recently. Overall my numbers aren’t horrible but not ideal either. Vitamin D deficiency and cholesterol are the main things. I honestly am looking to drop about 50 pounds, then possibly looking at a bit of a life makeover. Intermittent fasting and keto have really been helping me in that regard. I hit a peak of 259 pounds mid August right before travelling. I’m about 250 now, was steadily a pound a day for a few days then gained 5 pounds back in 2 days and now back to dropping again. Not eating or drinking away my feelings can be challenging at times but I’m worth it.

Also on a positive note after 6 months of having to breathe in smoke from my neighbors I decided to speak up and wrote a friendly letter to the apartment management. The issue is now 90% better and I rejoice in being able to not inhale their second hand smoke.

Hope you guys / gals are well. I feel like I type to myself sometimes on this blog but it holds me accountable at least.