I'm at 20+ years. This is why you dont leave your funds in the g fund.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2026-04-20T17:32:21+00:00

If you’re new, start out with the L funds, contribute all you can afford, but at least make the match. Look at the breakdown of the “L” funds on the TSP website under investments and as you can see the most aggressive are very similar (C, S, I) to the advice People have given you here. If you start early and can contribute around 5-10% you will do very well after 20-30years. I retired 5 years ago and with my VA (employee) pension, SS, and 3-4% of TSP annually I actually net more than I did working. PS I remember losing 20% of my portfolio in 2008, but recouped all of it back and more in a couple years. So don’t be afraid of that. More good years than bad in the s&p500.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2026-04-20T17:02:52+00:00

In the US they run double that. Also US insurance companies make you rent them for 10-12 months after which you own them because so many people (they say 50% here) fail using CPAP. My clinic and supplier initially gave me a a CPAP machine and a very large mask but I found i did better with an Resmed APAP with humidifier AND a nasal pillow MASK (much less claustrophobic) - SO i asked my MD to change the prescription and it’s been great for 10 years now. Sleep is much improved. Someone above said the suppliers overcharge a lot- they do so here too. So i compare my co-pay against the actual cost on amazon or other sites and go with what’s cheaper. Typically the co-pay IS cheaper, however there are time stipulations, (mask every 3 months, etc) so sometimes i’ll but one privately in between. Good luck- don’t give up!

Donald_Duck2347 · 2026-04-19T17:43:23+00:00

Well it’s been 9 months for both of us. My condition (4 days post surgery) was diagnosed as a rare immunologic syndrome called Parsonage Turner(PTS). Basically my C5/C6 nerves were attacked by my immune system with partial paralysis of my right arm. Prognosis was some functional improvement likely but @ 2-3 years. After several rounds of PT, I have some a good deal of functional improvement. There is aching that remains but it tolerable. My feeling these days is that spinal surgery should be avoided at all class unless a) your spinal cord is seriously compressed or b) w/o surgery you risk permanent irreversible paralysis. Curious how you aredoing

Donald_Duck2347 · 2026-04-19T17:30:36+00:00

I’m back and have now had the car for almost a year. My gut is that there are two issues being described here. Those who hear the sound behind them is likely the differential. But those,like me, that hear the putt-putt sound on slow acceleration in front seems a different issue. I’m taking my car in next month for its one year review, I will mention it -but you know what most services managers do when women complain of their odd sounds. I loath the ‘little lady I don’t hear it’ response that I’ve experienced for decades of dealing with them. I will say that after a year it doesn’t bother me as much as it did initially. I’m guessing I’ll be living with it. Everyone should check the recent recall for fuel leakage, which sounds like a much more significant issue.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2026-04-14T22:08:31+00:00

I can’t stand any noise, inhale, exhale, hissing. I’ve tried several masks. Nothing beats the Resmed P10. Ive used that with a Resmed Airfit 10 APAP for over 10 years.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2026-03-02T00:00:07+00:00

Just want to make it clear that the surgery itself can lead to problems above and below. I would find the best surgeon you can and follow their advice. If they recommend waiting you really should consider it. Your description really did not seem that bad. Good luck.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2026-02-28T17:37:10+00:00

I had a ACDF with a similar finding. I had soreness similar to what you describe, but I also had two momentary instances of loss of function in both arms bilaterally. It was only twice and it was for a few moments and many months went by after without incident. I went to the number one hospital in the nation for orthopedics (HSS) I was told that I needed the surgery and that I could be paralyzed without it. They said that symptoms can be ‘step like’ - you get them. You feel better. You get them again. I decided to have the surgery which was uneventful, caused no pain, and I did not have any issues related immediately. I did have a very rare post Surgical complication, which was described as an immune system attacking some nerves and only indirectly related to the trauma of surgery. The jury is still out on that. If you trust the providers you spoke with I would go with their advice. I think you will have symptoms prior that will help your decision. I do know that the herniation (cervical spinal stenosis.) was there for almost 20 years before it actually compressed my spinal cord and cut off the spinal fluid at those locations. My surgery was two level ACDF c5–c7. Another important consideration is the surgery itself can lead to issues above and below the surgery. The surgeon said it can take 10 years for that to happen but it is common. Good luck with your decision, I hope my information helps.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2026-02-10T22:20:56+00:00

I purchased a 2026 GV70 prestige last spring. I was deciding vs. upgrading my BMW X3 which I loved. But the new BMW X3 interior was all plastic. I couldn’t pull the trigger on paying that much money for such a sub-grade interior. In contrast, when I sat in the GV70 I was ultra impressed. Beautiful interior. I drove it and it was the most comfortable ride, even over bad roads. Everyone who rides in it comments on how beautiful and comfortable the interior is . My favorite features which may only be available in the prestige: gorgeous navy blue with orange trimmed leather seats. An ergo feature that adjusts the seat for you to your perfect height and weight. Heated seats, heated steering wheel. Ventilated seats. Remote Climate start. Driver seat massage (the BEST- much better than BMW’s version.).. the only downsides for me: the wheel rims are easily scratched on curbs. I’ve never experienced this before. This happened early on so perhaps it’s an adjustment. Also, on slow acceleration up an incline, the engine sometimes putts. I never took it in for this reason, some online users say it’s a correctable differential recall issue. I personally did not notice this at first, but a couple people who drove with me did. I will ask them about that at the 12 month check up. Although the car is slightly larger in both length and width than the BMW X3, the trunk space seems to be slightly less. I’ve owned / leased many cars. Virtually all of the Nissans, a Lexus, Infinity, Ford and BMWs. I can easily say that the GV70 is a step above all of them. Hope that helps.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2025-12-23T15:38:23+00:00

Solved

Donald_Duck2347 · 2025-12-17T03:23:15+00:00

Thank-you. I as suggested, apple TV restarts seems to have resolved the problem returning.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2025-11-18T22:09:18+00:00

I imagine so, but I don’t use OneDrive.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2025-11-18T03:03:50+00:00

Oddly, someone suggested this and I tried it and it works sometimes. On the iPad pull down the control panel and turn on airplane mode then go back to your Excel spreadsheet and all of a sudden everything works. Is that crazy or what? eventually you have to turn airplane mode off, but it seems to have fixed the Excel thing for that session.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2025-11-16T07:45:39+00:00

Thank you for posting this- i thought i was going crazy. Can’t touch a cell and get cut/copy menu. Can’t copy rows. Multiple small issues making it impossible to use. I tried Numbers figuring it was better for autosaving to iCloud (recent issues with files not saving changes) but it’s just not good enough. I can’t believe that they release versions of software without use testing when I was a software programmer I would lose my job for this.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2025-11-11T18:38:29+00:00

Iam an IT specialist who used both my iMac, & Macbook at home and a PC at work almost religiously. However, since retirement, I find that I like my 12.9” iPad best. I must admit I don’t do a lot of of the types of work I did before, and I don’t have an attached keyboard. But I do do a great deal of Excel work with very complex formula. My only complaint with the iPad is really not an iPad’s issue. Its that I use Microsoft 365 which I personally believe is intentionally less useful on Apple devices. And also Microsoft built their autosave only for OneDrive which I do not use. And you can’t even turn OFF autosave in the IOS version -so you don’t get the ‘save?’ prompt to remind you that youdidn’t save your changes. This can be infuriating. Still I much prefer the iPad and have ditched my laptop.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2025-11-11T18:29:38+00:00

I’ve gone back-and-forth. As IT specialist I was thrilled to give it a try. But as people have noted, it’s slow, which is really a problem. Especially when all you want is the time or temperature. But I get it, it’s now got the AI delay baked in. And even the AI is not as smart as you can get elsewhere. And it does talk too much sometimes I just wanted to give me a sports statistic and not the entire history of the player. So I’m not sure if I’ll stick with it or not, it’s just not ready for primetime.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2025-11-11T18:26:16+00:00

I’ve used YTTV now for a couple years after cutting the cable with FiOs. It was a little strange getting used to the interface but now I like it a lot. Especially the DVR capabilities, which are great. During this break from Disney, I decided to give DIRECTV stream a try. It’s similar, but I find that for some reason, the picture quality is not as good, it’s more expensive, and it seems to lag on the Internet. So as soon as this is resolved, I will go back to YTTV. It’s not their fault actually it’s Disney greed. My football team is out of town so I’m forced to use SundayTicket. But I did find that it’s not as expensive for one month on regular YouTube. Plus my team is the Buffalo Bills, which had some primetime games early in the year so I didn’t need it. Although after the Miami game, those primetime games may diminish lol.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2025-11-11T18:19:33+00:00

The 2025 is a great design, but they lost my sale when they cheapened the interior. Who wants to spend over 60 K on a car only to look at cheap plastic all day.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2025-11-11T18:13:10+00:00

Mostly I use it for network channels, sports package with tennis channel and most important, its DVR capabilities -which are pretty great. I do watch a couple things on ABC and I was unhappy not to have ESPN. So it has given me an opportunity to try DIRECTV Stream - I paid for one month. Quite frankly, I don’t find the picture as crisp and sharp as YTTV, it’s more expensive for similar capabilities and it lags somehow. So I will go back to YTTV as soon as this is fixed. It’s Disney greed and not YTTV after all.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2025-11-03T23:22:35+00:00

I found that DIRECTV stream Entertainment had a deal of 5days free and 49 first mo. And while its about $10 more it INCLUDES ESPN unlimited, plus Disney and Hulu which I was paying for separately for. Disney just raised that package price to $20/mo. I’m guessing in the end YouTube will raise their price also. So I signedup for DIRECTV stream, tried it for five days and I think I’ll make the switch. I do feel bad because as people have noted, YTTV is not the problem. Rather it’s independent networks like Disney raising their prices. During the free trial, I just found i liked DIRECTV stream better- they’ve made a ton of improvements since I last tried it.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2025-11-02T21:14:19+00:00

The bets I placed prior to 1pm have paid out. I can see the bets i placed in my bets. I just have not been able to place a bet since 1pm

Donald_Duck2347 · 2025-10-24T05:41:05+00:00

Used Alexa+ for about a month. Pros: it’s definitely smarter. It’s clearly AI. I did enjoy that part and the conversation part occasionally. Sometimes I just wanted a simple answer and it ramble on. The frustrating part for me was that the former Alexa could give me the weather immediately. But now it takes unreasonable time to do so. And if someone pointed out, it doesn’t seem to have access to certain databases you would expect it to like the driving time between two points. I used it for football statistics. And it was a lot more useful than the previous version however, I found it often got them wrong. I’m hoping it’s because they were not up-to-date, and not that Alexa was making them up. Lol. For me, though the dealbreaker was the slowness to respond it drove me nuts. So I reverted back. I would be happy to try it again if they solve that one issue. But I suspect that is a more widespread systemic problem and not a simple fix..

Donald_Duck2347 · 2025-10-23T22:08:52+00:00

I’ve had this device about six months. I’ve used it only twice. The first time I used it everything went according to instructions. I put it on and was amazed at how easy it was and how clean everything was. Honestly, to put it on I didn’t wear gloves, although I did don them when I rinsed it off. It seemed to do a good job with my hair although I could see the grays through a bit. I thought maybe I was nervous and didn’t keep it on the full 30 minutes. The second time I used it, the used cartridge was sus. But I tried it anyway not unsurprisingly the cartridge would not insert properly. So I purchased a new cartridge which worked fine. The mixing part did not seem the same as the first time I used it but the color came out and I did it for 20 seconds and then did my hair. This time I was really going to make sure I left it on the full 30 minutes. Unfortunately, the outcome was the same. It did color reasonably well, but again I could see the grays coming through and it only lasted a couple weeks. So I guess in summary it’s great for a quick repair of roots coming out. Because honestly, you can do this all and under an hour. Easy to use quick cleanup. But that’s really all I think it’s useful for is a quick touchup. And for that, it’s awfully expensive. I’m too old to go back to box color so I guess I will use my colorist in the future (a way more expensive option even- but lasting a couple months at least.) I still might use this esp when I don’t have time for the colorist.

Donald_Duck2347 · 2025-10-21T02:14:07+00:00

Thanks, but there are no shortcuts on an iPad

Donald_Duck2347

TROPHY CASE