carbonel

1. As of October 15, I have (mostly) retired. I'm still working a few hours a week as a copyeditor, but as a contractor rather than an employee. I'm enjoying having the extra time.

2. Lydy and I bought one of those package deals that cover airfare and hotel, and spent four days in Paris in early November. I'd been there once before, in 1979; she'd never been there. We walked around a lot, did the hop on, hop off bus, took a food tour in Montmartre, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and visited the Louvre. We also had a nice dinner near the Louvre that was recommended by our food tour guide. Despite two very tight connections on the way home, all the travel worked out the way it was supposed to. I definitely want to do more travel, and this trip proved that doing it on the cheap can be successful.

3. The main annoying thing that's been taking up too much of my time has been dealing with health insurance. The Medicare supplement insurance I'd had with my company wasn't eligible for COBRA, even if I'd wanted it (which I didn't at over $900 per month, sheesh). I signed up for a BCBS policy, then had to do it all over again when it was canceled because I'd failed to dot an i or cross a t. I also had to get a policy for medicine (Part D) and set up COBRA payments for dental insurance, which puts off further decisions on that for another eighteen months.

4. MY YULETIDE STORY IS DONE AND POSTED. Every time I've signed up for Yuletide, it's gone to the wire, and this year was no exception, despite my best intentions. I had an entire eight hours of cushion when I hit the upload button, but it's done, modulo a final edit when get my brain back again. Thanks as always go to Pat WINODW for plot noodling and beta reading.

5. I'm trying to get various parts of my life into better order now that I have more free time. My finances are not completely taken care of, but they're much better now than they were at the start of the year. I have good intentions for decluttering the house, but little progress so far. Watch this space (but not too avidly).

And how are things going with you?

Today's Minnesota Strib email news roundup informed me that the sale of THC-laced edibles and beverages will become legal tomorrow. This is rather a surprise, since the state legislature refused to legalize recreational marijuana several times, and has quite a stringent policy on medical marijuana. The article implies the legislators didn't quite realize what they were doing. They seem to have legalized the sale without explicitly legalizing possession. But one apparently implies the other.

If I understand the situation correctly, the bill was worded in the form of controlling delta-9, but the upshot was to legalize the sale of delta-8.

Has anyone done this? What has been your experience?

I think about buying a season pass for Valleyfair (Minneapolis area big amusement park) every year, but I never have. The cost is $100, which includes admission and parking, plus discount cost for an accompanying friend on some days. That $100 is about what it would cost for two admissions plus parking. I've never gone more than once in a season, but if I had a season pass, the incentive would be to make more use of it.

I find it interesting that the cost for the season fast pass (that lets you go to the front of the line) is more than twice the cost of the season pass itself ($225 or so). I'm not considering that one.

It's about a 20-minute drive from my house to Valleyfair, which is a little far (IMO) for an impulse jaunt, but I'm not sure how much that would affect me in real life.

ETA: I bought the pass last night. Still interested in hearing about Valleyfair (or other amusement park) experiences.