Gratitude while FIRE'd

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Another year has come and gone. Last November while watching the sumo tournament, Asanoyama said something that caught my attention. He's been gone from the very top division for sometime and I was happy to see him back. He did well and when he was interviewed after getting a winning record, he said: A lot has happened a long the way, the tournament isn't over yet. So I want to say focused, keep my gratitude in mind and continue giving my best. That is a good attitude to cultivate - an attitude of gratitude.  Last Monday, I stopped at a counter to do a pickup and I realized that people get up each day to show up to work. Later during the week, I stopped by the store to look for replacement bulbs and on my way back to the garage, I saw a worker helping a customer with loading their car and what I felt was gratitude to God. God has been good to me.  I think that sometimes, it's easy to forget the good we have but I think it is important to focus on the good we have, on the bl...
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A Week In The FI/RE'd LIfe: Tuesday

My plan was to visit a particular city, see their downtown area and have a meal. I thought it was an 1.5hrs away but it was a bit farther and I took the longer route so it turned out to be 2 hours. The issue is that I didn't leave home early. I left closer to 1 and the restaurant I was going to was going to be closed when I got there but would reopen at 4 🙄

With that discovery, I decided to detour to another town and see what it's like there. When I got there, I saw they had Long John Silvers. I haven't seen those around here and it had been a while since I ate at one. I decided to order an old favorite. Big Mistake! I feel like they took all the salt in Utah and dumped it into the batter. The hush puppies were good, the Coleslaw was good and the fries were good. The shrimp and fish were hot but it was so salty. I tasted the corn and trashed it with the rest of the fish. For me to throw food away, it means it was bad. All I really wanted was the shrimp which I ate. 

The last time I ate at one, the food was salty and I think I trashed it also. It was either before the pandemic or shortly after. So why did I order again? Different state, different city, I thought the food would be different.It was slightly better than the last one I had years ago but I thought of something while I was still there: to start a Google doc of things I shouldn't order. It was hot. I decided I'd seen enough and left to continue my drive. I encountered a b it of traffic and got to know an area I had familiarized myself with on a map. It was nice seeing them in person. I think the most interesting discovery was finding out that a city I thought was smaller was actually bigger than I thought and really nice. 

I got to my destination and went to downtown area but couldn't find the restaurant in the beginning so I went to scope out a house I had seen months ago. I came back and circled a block about 2 or 3 times trying to find the restaurant and when I finally did, I realized that there isn't even street parking. The lots are controlled by the city and it's "pay by plate" type of thing. That last time I tried to do that on my phone, it didn't work. I wasn't going to risk being ticketed. Some places love to dish out hefty tickets when they see an out of state tag. I also wasn't hungry anymore. All I really wanted was a frosty or milkshake to cool down. Google put me on a different route on the way back and it was a scenic one as I got to see another town I had been curious about. That and a few more places. I stopped to get a Frosty and came home. I was tired. I took a shower and went to bed. 

It's not the first time I've wanted to drive someplace to simply eat, s hop and come home. I used to do that. Sometimes, I did It because I liked the food at a particular place in a different city. Sometimes, it's just to get away and experience a different environment. I also usually leave earlier so that I get to my destination earlier. There are times when I've driven a great distance to another city simply to get cookies. Yes, they are that good. I was too tired when I got home to blog. The day before I was chatting with a new acquaintance who mentioned a city about an hour away had a nice downtown area and stuff. I feel like I could've explored that instead. Anyway, what's done is done. Time moves so fast. My plan of eating BBQ turned out differently. I thought I would have room to eat dinner but I didn't. Oh well...

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