A native Californian transplanted in southern Illinois.I had a large silver maple along my back fence dropping large limbs in my neighbor's yard. I had it removed this week, along with 4 much younger trees which were all too close to my house. I'm glad to have it done but it set me back $4500. I used my credit card to pay and will pay the balance from my Roth IRA in 3 weeks, when I am 59.5.
I am planning some other expenditures as well. New siding is next. There are a couple of spots with dry rot; we will see what removing the siding reveals.
I have discovered Chat GPT. So far I have used it to critique my retirement plans, pick a flattering hairstyle, choose colors for my siding and trim, and coach me in my exercise regimen. It is an incredibly handy app to have.
July 24th, 2026 at 02:59 pm 1784905182
I use AI frequently now and find it incredibly helpful. I use Claude Incognito so my chats are not saved by anyone. Most often I use AI to fine-tune my workout routine and talk about plants.