My Week That Was - March 16

Saturday afternoon as rain
changed to snow.
3/9/2019 dwm photo

My week started with a second day of temperatures above 32 degrees.  It was expected to rain a lot last Saturday, but it held off - allowing us to take a breakfast run to nearby Stoughton and its legendary Koffee Kup Kafe.

Joined on the other side of a firewall by a social services agency, to its left is a driveway between it and the restored Stoughton Opera House.

It has a home-town vibe as folks crowd inside and wait for a table.  We sat down before it could be bused, otherwise you lose it.  Cheerful servers appear to carry away the dishes and wipe down the table before taking our order.

Looking over the menu can make you wonder what year it is.  A single plate-sized Buttermilk pancake is $1.59.  Add chocolate chips or blueberries or strawberries for an additional $1.59 (I went with blueberries).  Thirsty?  Chocolate milk is $1.79.

You can't get a filling breakfast very often for less than $5.00; especially one that is made from scratch in a bustling kitchen.

The Koffee Kup Kafe.
3/9/2019 (dwm)

After breakfast, we picked up a few essentials - I found a replacement pair of winter gloves on sale since store buyers seem to think winter is over in Wisconsin.  I'm excited about this pair of gloves - it has mitten style tops to cover fingertips which will be handy when taking pictures in cold temperatures.

The work week started well.  Traffic was good and the weather was fine with a promising warm-up as the calendar turns.  Monday was spent on the east campus.  Tuesday began with a meeting downtown focusing on Donor Advised Funds (DAFs).

DAFs are useful for folks who prefer to get a charitable deduction at one time.  Your gift is to a legitimate charity created as a resting spot until you direct the custodian which charity should get your money.

The current tax law gives DAFs a boost because of their usefulness and flexibility.  Since the current income tax law is likely to persuade many donors to "bunch" their gifts into an every other year cycle - by using a DAF they can do that and hold some money in the fund to distribute in the second year.

Local community foundations and really large investment firms offer DAFs - before you do anything, be sure to talk to your tax adviser to see if it could be right for you.

Wednesday evening I started what I'll call "the preparation" for Thursday's medical procedure.  If you are 50 or older, you have done the same thing at least once.  If you haven't, you should - it's important.  I'll share more about it in a separate blog Sunday.

Fast forward to Friday and I was back at work.  While I had plenty of sleep, the fasting which started at 2:30 Wednesday afternoon was only interrupted after a three hour nap post-procedure with half a hamburger.  I was very hungry, as you might imagine and ate a bunch for breakfast.

It took time, but I'm OK and had a nice day at work and was able to attend an important memorial service for a friend and donor at Oakwood.

I'm hoping your next week wasn't quite so interesting.