My plan for the day was to focus mostly on doing stock research* and working on setting up my part-time hiking blog business.** That got changed by a raccoon, a newspaper flyer and a brochure in the mail. But it was all good in the end.

Today, I did my early morning coffee routine at the computer while I edited, typed up and posted my blog article Cashback Cards ARE Worth the Effort. Then off to the barnyard -- where we found our first trapped raccoon.***

8:00am to 12:00 noon
-- Drove and hiked into a secluded wooded area with fresh water access, and released the raccoon. It trotted off about 20 feet, went behind a tree, and then stood there on its haunches looking at me. (Yes, you are welcome for your life, raccoon.)
-- Back at home, I did some stock portfolio monitoring**** and it was time for lunch.

12:00 noon to 1:30pm
-- Another enjoyable sandwich lunch eaten in front of the TV watching a DVD lecture in the Great Courses' Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations.

1:30pm to 6:30pm
-- A day or two ago, a newspaper flyer from Ace Hardware sold us on picking up a modest above-ground pool there at a great discounted price*****. This afternoon, we set it up. (1000 gallons of water is a lot of water.)
-- Having some leftover time and energy, I knocked off a few boxes off our monstrous storage pile.****** It's a start and it felt good.

6:30pm until...
-- Having hardly made a dent on my June 30-deadlined $5000 spending spree*******, I opened today's mail to find an offer I could not resist from the Great Courses company. Seventy percent off on anything and everything in their catalog, including all already discounted courses on sale. So I spent an hour or so deciding what to buy and how to get the most bang for my buck, and then I picked up the phone and ordered TEN courses at a total cost of $795 including taxes and shipping. (List price on the courses was well above $3,000.) Take that, spending spree.
-- And then I played a little Pacific War********...