Best Uses For AI

 I first had a chance to use AI when Microsoft added Copilot to Windows 10. Let's just say I was not impressed. I ended up removing it from the task bar because it often had problems connecting and giving me a command prompt. When I was able to enter a question, the answer looked like something I could have gotten with a basic web search. My next encounter with AI was when Google added "AI Mode" to their search engine in August 2025. They added a button to the right of the search box that allows you to access their Gemini AI agent. When you do a normal search, you get an AI summary above the typical search results. The AI summary often has the answer I'm looking for, so I don't need to look at any of the web links that show up below. At the bottom of the summary, there is a "Dive deeper in AI Mode" link, which gives you a more detailed response.

You may have noticed that companies are upgrading their customer support chat-bots and calling them AI assistants. One example is Xfinity (Comcast) which has "Xfinity Assistant". I was having trouble looking up my monthly Internet usage and decided to give it a try. I typed: "What is my monthly data usage?". Within a few seconds it showed me a 3-month trend, the current data usage, and the number of days left in my billing cycle. That was just what I was looking for. AI is perfect for customer help, although it may be even more difficult to talk to real person, because most of them have lost their jobs. Phone support is also being replaced by realistic sounding AI that can converse like a human. This might be a welcome change from having to deal with someone with a foreign accent at an overseas call center.

Other uses for AI are starting to appear. Music, movies, and social media are seeing a lot of AI activity. Some good and some bad. I think the fear is that it is progressing too quickly and there are no guard rails in place to protect people from those who abuse the technology. At this stage, you can generally tell when something is AI generated, but it gets harder every day. The movie industry has been using computer generated effects for years now. The difference is that someone with bad intentions can use AI to make a realistic image or video that used to require expensive equipment. AI can also be trained to have a bias. One example I saw was a Youtuber who asked several AI agents if Trump should be impeached or get a third term as president. Two chose to impeach, two refused to make a choice, and my favorite was the AI agent on Trump's Truth Social network, which said that he should be given a 3rd term.

It remains to be seen what jobs will be affected by AI. It will be years before we know the full impact. It clearly has the potential to disrupt some sectors of the economy sooner than others. It will first show its utility as a tool that we can use to improve our accuracy and efficiency. But we are a long way from seeing it replace our innovation and creativity. With so many companies working on AI agents, there needs to be standards and ratings in place so that we can measure response bias and IQ level. We should also be able to dynamically adjust the personality of an AI agent. Google has been prompting me to try the new updated Alexa that they just launched. "Alexa+" uses generative AI to provide more conversational and proactive assistance. I heard the new voice and didn't care for it. We only use Alexa to set timers, play songs, or answer questions. I don't want to have a conversation with a device that is designed to get more of my personal preferences. They know too much about me already.

Retirement Income Review 2025

3 Year Chart

In 2025 my investment portfolio increased by 8.65% and generated $3445 in monthly dividend income. During the year I was able to avoid taking any distributions from my retirement account. This means that I only used dividends from my taxable spending account. The income from that account was $1052 per month or $12,624 per year. I withdrew $11,860 to pay my credit card balance and mortgage. My total expenses for the year came to $15,509. The bulk of the $3649 shortfall was covered by my state property tax refund. For reference, the 2025 US poverty level for a one-person household was $15,650. 

There is a lot of debate about how much you need to retire. Americans now think you need about $1.5 million to retire. But only 3.2% of retirees have $1 million in their retirement accounts. Only about 2.5% of all Americans actually have $1 million or more saved in their retirement accounts. I am still a bit short of that goal, mainly because I've been withdrawing money for living expenses for the last 5 years. But I will say that my annual dividend and investment gains now exceed my pre-retirement salary. In the chart above it looks like I am doing well, despite my taxable income being at the poverty level.

The more money you have the more complicated your finances become. I have 26 different holdings, 4 checking accounts, 3 different financial institutions, a brokerage account, a spending account, and a retirement account. Plus being trustee for a small family trust. Surprisingly, I use all of the various accounts on a regular basis. Managing my investments has become my part-time job. I usually only make small adjustments from time to time. I spend more time following financial news, so that I am aware of investment opportunities and pitfalls. The one thing that has proven true is that time in the market beats timing the market. My portfolio balance will sometimes fluctuate by thousands of dollars per day. But even when the market is down, I know that those dividends will keep flowing in.

In 2026, I expect we will see interest rates drop further. This should stimulate growth in the economy by lowering the cost of borrowing money. We will probably see investors slowly moving away from AI and back into the manufacturing and housing sectors. Global conflicts will continue to affect commodity prices but should be good for the defense and cyber security sectors. Hopefully, the shock from Trump's tariff price increases will normalize and we will be able to see inflation become more predictable. The national debt also looms as a threat to our financial future. One thing is certain; American's will be spending more on healthcare and have less disposable income in the year ahead.

Year of the Denture 2025

2025 will forever be known as "Our year of the denture". When my girlfriend's bridge work broke in late 2024, her last option was to get an upper denture. Little did we know how this would impact our year and life going forward. It was her first year under Medicare and I managed to find a Medicare advantage plan that included dental. But we soon found out that none of the Medicare dental plans include implants. So, she decided to go with a local dentist to have her upper denture made. First, she needed to have nine teeth removed. This was done in two sessions, which began in March. You hear advertisements for same day dentures, but the preferred option is to allow time for the gums to heal so that the denture will fit better.

The teeth extractions were painful enough, what came next was a 6 month wait for her gums to heal properly. During that time, she was unable to eat solid food. This required modifications to our grocery shopping. She was also unable to eat out or spend any time out in public after having half of her teeth removed. Her diet consisted mainly of soup, oatmeal, pudding, and soft fruit. We couldn't have the same meals because I was the only one with teeth. Although, my teeth have several crowns and are overdue for maintenance. At first, the cost estimate was close to $3000, which I expected would be half our responsibility. We arranged to make payments at the first couple appointments. But after that, there was a long delay while they tried to determine exactly how much of the bill Medicare was going to cover.

I think it was to the dentist's advantage to stretch out the process over many visits, so that they could get ample reimbursement. In the end we only paid $300 and Medicare covered the rest. That was about the only thing that made the ordeal less traumatic. When it came time to get the denture fitted, they discovered that something must have gone wrong with the mold and the fit was wrong. A few weeks later they had another denture made and ready to fit. Next, she had to learn how to eat with false uppers. She tried all of the popular adhesives (Fixodent, Seabond, Poligrip). She finally settled on Super Poligrip. It still isn't ideal, because the stronger the adhesive the harder it is to clean off. There are going to be things that she will have to avoid eating and we still haven't gone to a restaurant. It will take time to adjust to this new routine and get confident enough to bite into something without having her denture come loose.

Hopefully she will get used to the denture like most older people seem too. I guess now with her upper teeth removed, someday she could get snap on dentures, so she wouldn't have to deal with the adhesive. It wasn't as bad as when she had her knee replaced a few years ago. That was another year of pain and suffering. Now, you wouldn't even know she had knee replacement surgery unless you saw the scar on her knee. But I think I heard her say once that she wouldn't get the other knee done after that experience. It's no fun getting old. In 2026 Medicare is going from $185 to $202.90 per month. That's an extra $214.80 per year or an annual cost of $2434.80. She is due to start social security soon, but we don't know what her monthly benefit will be. It's complicated because her benefit will be based on how much her ex-husband is getting. One thing we do know is that Medicare will be taking a big piece of it.

32 Xbox Controllers Sold in 2025

 In the past ten months I sold 32 refurbished Xbox One controllers on Ebay. Last year I sold 21. My goal was to sell 50 this year, but it was too difficult to find used controllers at the right price. Net profit for the 32 controllers was $280.25 which is an average of $8.76 per controller. That is what was left after deducting the cost of the controller, shipping, and Ebay fees. I also spent $130 on parts to repair the controllers. That lowers my profit to $150, but I bought the parts on Ebay with gift cards that I acquired from an online casino. So, the parts didn't cost me anything except my time to collect and play my free spins.

The controller pictured is an Xbox X|S model 1914 fourth generation controller. The Shock Blue Xbox Wireless controller was released on the Xbox Series X|S's launch back in 2020. This variant was only available at retail stores. I repaired the stick drift and installed new eXtremeRate thumbsticks and performance rubberized grips. A brand new one at Best Buy is $49.95 with free shipping. With the eXtremeRate parts added, this one is worth close to that. Normally I don't add aftermarket parts, but in this case, I was missing one of the back handle grips and the thumbsticks were worn. I paid about $10 for this one and put $28 in parts into it. That doesn't leave a lot of room for profit, so I may keep this one for myself.

I have two other controllers that are ready to sell, and another one that I just bought that should arrive in a few days. Now that we are into November, I will probably stop listing refurbished controllers on Ebay. Shipping prices increase during the holidays and the post office is usually busier than normal this time of the year. I will still keep looking for controllers to repair, but I will only buy them if they are not totally trashed and are at a fair price. That should give me more time to get back to working on home improvement projects and playing Xbox games. 

I just finish Guardians of the Galaxy. The game was just challenging enough to make it fun to play. I only had to go online a couple times to figure out how to finish a level. I'm about halfway through the single player campaign on Battlefield 5 and have several other games (Fallout 4, Farcry 6, Hogwarts Legacy) to play after that. My Thrustmaster TMX force feedback steering wheel is also ready for more F1 2016 racing this winter. Nascar 25 came out in October, but they don't make a version for Xbox One X. Maybe it's time to start looking for a used Xbox Series X|S. Too bad a used one still costs over $400.

Home Video Security System

 I've always wanted to get a video security system for my home. But I didn't want to buy a brand-new system. There are lots of options out there, so I first had to make a list of my requirements. I wanted a wired system with at least 4 cameras. The wire had to be light colored so it wouldn't stand out against the tan siding on my home. It also needed to have at least a 1TB hard drive, 1080p resolution, and have remote viewing capabilities. I had narrowed the brands to either Lorex or Swann with possible budget alternates Samsung or Night Owl. Samsung no longer makes video security systems, but you can still find them on the used market.

A wireless system from SimpliSafe, Arlo, or Blink would be easier to install, but I don't want to mess with batteries or connection reliability. The system I ended up getting was from Night Owl. It came with 4 cameras and can be expanded to 8. It also has all of the other features that were on my list. I bought it used for $71.48 with tax and shipping. The cameras and cables looked brand new. The only thing that was missing was an HDMI cable and a mouse. My biggest challenge would be installing the cameras. I decided to put two in the front and two in the back of the house.

I needed to buy a few more items to complete the installation. A staple gun for the low voltage cables, grommets for two wall holes, self-adhesive wire clips, two junction boxes, and an 1/4" x 8" drill bit for making pilot holes. At the front of the house, I used a 3/4" drill bit to make the holes for the wire in the garage. From the garage, the wire for the front cameras went into the master bedroom where the DVR would be located. At the back of the house, I used the junction boxes to mount the cameras and routed the cable along the siding and into the bedroom. The scariest part was drilling the holes, because you want to get it right the first time. Even with a 3/4" hole, it was tricky getting two sets of wire to pass through.

I don't have the remote viewing or email alerts setup yet, but the video looks good during the day. At night, the night vision tends to make the nearest object glow, and bugs seem to be attracted to the infrared light. The system is set to capture motion. One of the first videos it captured was a spider that dropped down right in front of the camera. At night it looked huge and was glowing white. I played it back for my girlfriend and it made her jump. So far it hasn't recorded anything other than rabbits and package deliveries. It will just make it easier to see what happened if anything suspicious does occur.

Follow up: A few weeks after I posted this, my cameras started having problems activating night vision. The infrared LEDs would flash, and one camera was completely dark. I tried rebooting the system, but that didn't fix the problem. The power output on the transformer for the cameras showed 11 volts with no cameras connected. It should be a minimum of 12 volts, so I connected only two cameras to the transformer, and the problem went away. This proved that the transformer was bad. If you have a similar issue with your wired security system, check that your camera transformer is the proper size for your setup and is working properly. For now, I'm using two transformers to power my cameras.