I don't think of myself as a lucky person, but I often think that whatever good fortune has come my way has been by dumb luck as much as anything. And now I have empirical proof.

I guess the Dept. of Revenue issues unclaimed property announcements every year. My wife put all our names in a few years ago and my oldest daughter's name drew a hit. It turns out that she hadn't received her paycheck for "rouging spinach" in a farm field in summer in high school before we moved away from the Skagit Valley. So the DOR announcement came up again a couple weeks ago, and my good wife put the names back in the basket. And my name drew two hits for very old stock in a life insurance company. I have no idea or memory. DOR said it could have been bought by my parents in my name when I was very young. Who knows?

The woman at DOR said it's real, so go have some fun. Hookers and blow has been vetoed by the good wife.

Anyway, I'm thinking I will re-power my Lund. My 41 year-old Evenrude has been a faithful motor, but it's godawful noisy loud and burns a lotta' gas and oil. It won't last forever, and will be expensive to replace on future retirement income. So I'm thinking a shiny new 4 stroke Yamaha with jet pump might sit well on the transom. Less sensible alternatives include partial coverage of exotic fishing trips at 4 star lodges, but I actually prefer my own less lavish trips, so that really doesn't excite me. There are some home improvement projects to finish the house, but I've already got those semi budgeted, and those don't have quite as much fun factor.

Off to the credit union at lunch to deposit the check.

Sg