ExiledInIllinois

There is are herd here a few miles from where we live... National Tallgrass Prairie: https://www.fs.usda.gov/midewin Went to see them in them in spring after the prairie burn: Highly compressed to get under site limits... Shot with a 300mm Pentax DA on full frame K-1. Bringing the new 150-450mm next time we visit!

Does your employer offer a pension? As Fed mine is 3 prong. I will retire in 3 years @ 56.8. Pension, TSP, and Social Security. What will sweeten the pot is basically collecting the SS for 5 years prior to 62 since I have 30 years in at minimum retirement age... Called: Annuity Supplement to FERS pension. Then they shut those special payments off in lieu of collecting SS @ 62. If I feel good, the government doesn't start messing with stuff (when does the gov't not?) got money rolling in... I will wait till I turn 65-67, or later to start collecting the real SS payments... Gonna weigh it. Anyway, gives me the ability to be some where else but Illinois... BUT... Illinois really ain't that bad... They don't tax your pension here OR 401k distribution... Probably be best if I keep this as my permanent address. Why would I go into work, basically taking home what I take now... Sure I will be lighter on my savings/deductions... No OT/Holidays... But can be where I wanna be relatively young for rest of life and have a lifetime annuity... The Fed even brings back people to work as "retired annuitants"... So I got that option, even part time... Like say down South... Good luck... Yes! OR just have so many damn deductions, savings, you're basically living on what you'll get in retirement! 😆... My take home pay will be more in retirement... BUT, I won't be saving at a torrid pace! Or go into retirement without a mortgage. Or a small one for tax purposes...

There goes the neighborhood and traffic patterns! https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10171621/Herd-150-BISON-surround-SUV-Yellowstone-National-Park-lifetime-experience.html There they go... Scaring off our Tennessee tourists! https://weather.com/science/nature/video/150-bison-surround-suv-in-yellowstone-tourists-freak

Factor in Alaska and Hawaii... The geographical center is up near The Badlands of South Dakota. If anything, population center will move further south like it's trending now.

Semi-annual car insurance? What is this, 1956? 😆... More monthly for us poor plebs... The monthly installment fee isn't that much though...Just have it auto bill pay, most places give you a discount. And to the OP... Yeah, you better start right away and max out... At 40, you're a few years behind!

@ 31, catches himself @ 3:04: @ 71, keeping aging real:

The Lakers stay on the Lakes. I was all confused when the AiS was showing destination as Spain. @Ridgewaycynic2013 caught it! Can't even fit through Welland. So... Arthur M. Anderson has to remain in Lakes Superior (Soo lock is 1200'), Michigan, Huron, & Erie. IIRC, ocean waves have a longer frequency vs. Great Lakes waves.

Since MarineTraffic is based out of Cyprus we can't officially use it at work. We have an in-house, 🇺🇸 production system overlayed on Google EarthPro. Guys at work were asking why we can't link to others when ours goes down. The security answer was given... Not sure how true that is! ??

Because the Midwest is near the center of population? 😛 Too close to Downstate. In the "Buffer Zone" like Saratoga. 😏

I double checked, double take the Spain thing. Being so old... I thought they may have taking it out of service for good. Since destination is input at pilothouse, other AiS programs must show the same, no... Marin, Spain and Marine City, Michigan... Are similar! Goes to show you not to count on technology!

I am just messing with Gug... He hates horsetracks too!

You have way too much confidence and not enough knowledge ^^^^. Come on down from Mount Stupid and join me in the Valley of Despair! 😜

Good catch! Now @ 729' the Fitz would have fit through... But then again these are Lake Boats made for Lake waves... Superstructure/wheelhouse is fore/bow, not aft/stern like the salties! May they even go in the ocean, are they fitted for salt even if they could fit through Seaway specs?

Saratoga is really New England! Just make a left turn heading south. Practically Vermont. You don't still call Vermont part of New York... 😉😜 Signed, /UpstateRabbleRouser

@Ridgewaycynic2013... Here's the date it was lengthened... Strange it was 1975 and it survived the 11/10 storm: "...Arthur M. Anderson's sea trials commenced on 7 August 1952, and she loaded her first cargo at the Two Harbors dock on 12 August 1952. She received several refits in her life including the addition of a new 120-foot (37 m) midsection in 1975 which added about 6,000 tons to her gross tonnage, bringing the total to about 26,000 tons. ..." Yet!... Anderson was lengthened to longer than Edmund Fitzgerald (729') but could carry less: "...She is unique among the three Great Lakes Fleet steamships in that she has a softer midsection that prohibits loading as much cargo as the others; roughly 1500 tons less. ..." There's a theory that I read that the Fitzgerald may have scraped bottom before the storm. Why is it listing Marin, Spain? Same input code for: Marine City, Michigan? Check it again... Click on it. Shows Spain! Even the forecasted track has it going through locks it can't fit into! 🙃

It was built only 647. I guessed they lengthened it years ago so it can't leave. Good question! Probably not. That's gotta be a typo on AiS. I thought that seemed strange. MarineTraffic is out of Cyprus I believe... SEE can't trust them! 😁 The Anderson is near Detroit near MARINE CITY, Michigan right now. https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-82.483/centery:42.698/zoom:12 That's where it must have been headed to!!! 😆... It actually fit here first, we have a 1,000 foot lock... But draft/air draft is a real problem! 😉 You won't 😆... It's stuck in the middle Lakes... SEE the cynic from Ridgeway's post... 😏

John Fogerty: "Rock and Roll Girls" "...Hey, let's go all over the world Rock and roll girls, rock and roll girls Yeah, yeah, yeah If I had my way, I'd shuffle off to Buffalo Sit by the lake and watch the world go by Ladies in the sun, listenin' to the radio Like flowers on the sand, a rainbow in my mind Hey, let's go all over the world Rock and roll girls, rock and roll girls..."

Amazing they have this tech. Imagine if they had it in 1975! Here is the Arthur M. Anderson's forecasted track to Spain: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-45.9/centery:45.7/zoom:2 The boat was built in 1952...Six years earlier than when the Edmund Fitzgerald (1958) was launched.

Arthur M. Anderson is still plying The Lakes... Anderson was the last vessel to make contact with The Fitz. Wanna see where The Anderson is on the live AiS map... Just east of Alpena, Michigan at time of this post: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-83.0/centery:45.2/zoom:8 Looks like The Anderson is leaving The Lakes and heading to Marin, Spain for the winter... Origin was Drummond Island, Michigan...

Lou Rawls on back vocals.

My reason for that one: Watching that game is like the closest to child abuse one can come without going to prison! Ah ***** it... Just arrest me now for abusing myself!

With BFLo born Grover Washington Jr...

You got me here! 😆 I am quitting the internet... Hanging them up for good!