For quite some time now I have been wanting a GPS to take up geocaching (basically an electronic worldwide treasure hunt) I finally got my GPS on Monday! (Note- Some may see this as a frivolous purchase since I am carfree, as in, "Couldn't that money be spent better elsewhere or put towards a car?" Well, yes, but God provided a gift certificate to a sporting goods store, so I was able to purchase this and several other things for about $8 total!)
Anyway, this morning I put the bike mount on my bike, clipped on the GPS and headed out. I hunted several downtown and in the parks nearby. I also hit the Saturday Marketand had lunch at Falls Park. Unfortunately, I only found 2 of the caches, but I was really close to several. I didn't take a list of hints with me that would have helped. Guess I'll do that next time! In all, I biked/walked 19.7 miles today! (Thanks to my GPS, I can now track my miles & speed!)
Had several inquiries about my Xtracycle today. One guy has even been considering buying one and previously ran into the other guy here in town that owns one. Oh, and one guy that saw me riding at Furman a couple weeks ago!
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Borealis by The North Face ($69) - Sierra Trading Post $46.95 (savings $22.05)Bonus - ebates 4% back
Cordura StudyHaul by Lands' End($39.50) Lands' End $34.50 (savings $5) thru 8/27 Bonus - ebates or fatwallet 4% back
Kelty Riff ($50) eBags $39.99 (savings $10.01)Bonus - ebates 6%, fatwallet 8% back
Recon by The North Face ($79) campmor $49.97 (savings $29.03)
Original Plus Book Pack by L.L.Bean ($29.50) L.L.Bean sold direct only. Check here for possible coupon codes
3 egg yolks*
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate sandwich cookies, coarsely crushed
2 cups heavy cream, whipped
In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and stir in the condensed milk and vanilla. Fold in the crushed cookies and whipped cream. Pour mixture into a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan lined with foil. Cover and freeze for 6 hours or until firm.
To serve, scoop ice cream from pan or cut into slices. *RAW EGG WARNING
Food Network Kitchens suggest caution in consuming raw and lightly-cooked eggs due to the slight risk of Salmonella or other food-borne illness. To reduce this risk, we recommend you use only fresh, properly-refrigerated, clean, grade A or AA eggs with intact shells, and avoid contact between the yolks or whites and the shell.
My notes -
The blog I got this recipe from said to whip 1 cup of cream into 2 cups, which I did. I see the original recipe actually says 2 cups heavy cream, whipped, so I actually used half the amount. Next time I'll try with the full amount. (I believe I learned in Foods class that since "whipped" follows the comma, you start with 2 cups liquid then whip it. If it said "2 cups whipped heavy cream", then it would be 2 cups is the amount after whipping, so you would start with 1cup.) I also freeze the bowl and beater before whipping. Use cream that is not ultra-pasteurized if possible because it whips better. (I couldn't find any regular, so I had to use the U-P and it worked OK.)
The first time I made it, I used 1 cup frozen strawberries instead of cookies. It was delicious and refreshing! Today I made it again and used 1 cup M&Ms. It's not frozen yet, so I am not sure how it turned out. I did notice that the M&M coating "bled" somewhat and sink to the bottom somewhat. If I make it again with M&Ms, I might wait until the mixture is partially frozen before adding them. (Update - The M&M batch has frozen. The color is a little gross looking because of the bleeding of all the colors. And due to the amount of cream being half of what it should be, this batch is incredibly sweet. As mom would say, "It is so sweet, it will curl your teeth!")
Since it calls for raw egg yolk, I cooked the eggs, milk and vanilla to kill any potential Salmonella bacteria. I confess. I do eat raw cookie dough. Somehow raw eggs in my ice cream is different. Don't ask me how. It just is. :-)
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I was checking some driving directions in Google and noticed they have added a beta "Walking" link. I played around with it and it's pretty decent from what I see so far. It will map the shortest distance between two points instead of the fastest car route. It will also estimate the time it will take you to walk it. I did check how long it would take to walk from SC to IA, but it doesn't give the walking directions option for a trip that far. :-) You can play with it yourself here. Not sure what the distance limit for walking directions is, but after playing with it a little, it seems it is about 6 miles.
I'm a little late with this post. I got some pictures up on facebook earlier, but didn't get them up on the blog.
Nora Pearl Ertl was born on June 28, 2008 at 2:03am
8 lb 6 oz
20 3/4" long
Aayla fell asleep on the way to meet her new sister. Looks like they make good napping buddies!
But she woke up later and enjoyed holding her. In fact, shortly after this picture was taken Daddy tried to take crying Nora and Aayla started crying because she wanted to keep holding her!
The Local Government Association in England has published a "non-word" list of cliches and jargon. One of those words is "synergies". So would that mean Progressive Synergy banned? Hmmm... I hope not. I do have international customers, but none in England (yet)!
I had my first experience with the Sav-Mor food yard sale today. Wow! What an experience! They line up tons of banana boxes full of food in their parking lot. When I arrived there were swarms of people around the perimeter. You grab an empty banana box and wait for the signal to go. Then it's a free for all! You pay $6 for whatever you can fit in your box. (level with the top of the box) I ran into a friend from church as I was leaving and she said she calculated it out once and it's about an average of 14 cents per item!
I got a couple boxes of cereal, a cake mix, 2 cheesecake mixes, 2 jars of natural peanut butter, several cans of Main Street Cafe iced coffee, 2 bags of Nestle peanut butter/chocolate chips, several bottles of dressing, tortilla mix, graham cracker crust, organic Kraft Mac & Cheese, organic spaghetti saurce, BBQ sauce and a bunch of other miscellaneous items. Some of the things I probably never would have bought in the store, but the items that I do buy were worth over $6. The rest of the stuff was just to fill the box! :-) I could have squeezed a few more things in, but there was nothing left that I would eat or want to give away!
I found Nemo when I was on Guam. Now I'm finding wifi.
I had lunch with a friend yesterday who recently acquired a laptop with a wireless card. She has been doing a lot of traveling lately and was trying to find free internet access at coffee shops, etc. This post will hopefully help her and others!
Wi-Fi Free Spot you can view by city/state or by type (companies, hotels, airports. RV parks, etc.) Jiwire (free and paid)
If you have AT&T as your internet service provider, you can use basic AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot locations for free. Many Barnes & Noble Bookstores, McDonald's and Starbucks are included. Hint - use the drop down menu below the map to filter for Basic (only). I haven't tested this yet. Last time I tried was right after the Bell South/AT&T merger and it wasn't available for SC subscribers. It appears that it should be now.
If you register a Starbucks card you will have access to 2 free hours of internet access per day. Not only that, but free beverage customization, brewed coffee refills, and a beverage with a whole bean purchase!
The Waterloo/Cedar Falls (Iowa) area has been hit with some major flooding in the last few days. Downtown has been evacuated. All but one bridge has been closed. A railroad bridge has washed away as well.
My family lives far enough away from the river so they have not been directly affected by the flooding. Mom did say it is difficult to get around town though because so many roads are closed. They are supposed to get about 6 more inches or rain this week.
Here in Greenville, we are still in a drought. We pretty much skipped right over the pleasant early summer weather and went directly to the record-breaking 95-100 degrees. It's been hot! Tonight we had a pretty good thunderstorm though. It was short, but I did go out on the porch and watch it. I love the smell of rain! That was one thing I missed while I lived on Guam. It didn't smell the same as it does in the States when it rained. They started replacing the roof on my apartment today. Hopefully it was covered well enough to keep the water out! :-) I don't see any leaks yet!
Oh, and I saw yesterday that somewhere in Washington State got about a foot of snow!
On May 30th, I finally got my Xtracycle FreeRadical hitchless trailer installed! Now I have an S.U.B. (Sport Utility Bike) Here are some before and after pictures. Sorry they're not quite the same angle. In both pictures the front tire is all the way to the wall. That will give you an idea of how LONG my bike is now!
Because it is a very unusual bike, I've met lots of people on the few rides I've taken with it! It is definitely a conversation starter! Today a kid I passed told his mom I had a cool bike! :-)
I've only taken about 4 rides with it so far, but I already like it! It really doesn't seem to handle much different than a regular bike as long as I remember it is longer and wider. (The optional wideloaders are currently installed to give me more package hauling ability).
Since my apartment is on 2nd floor, I thought it would be a lot harder to get the bike up the stairs. Nope. It's actually easier, believe it or not! In the picture above, look below the fire extinguisher. You will see a slightly curved silver bar near the bottom of the bike frame. I grab that and haul it up the stairs. Before the Xtracycle, I had to hoist the whole thing over my shoulder and carry it up. Not fun after a long, tiring ride! The folks at Xtracycle call it GravityAdvantage JuJu. I even carried it down the stairs with a 15lb box strapped on it. (Down is easier. Later I had a different 15 lb load. I took it off before going up!)
The other day I borrowed my friends kids to see how it handled with people/heavier loads. Two of the kids got on. It was slightly wobbly as we started because we were going slow out the driveway because of the way their curb is. Didn't want anyone to fall off! The four year old wanted off. The six year old got on. I warned him it would be just a little wobbly until we got going. He decided he didn't want to go down the hill. (He walks his bike down all hills because he hates them.) OK, so it's down to just me and the 9 year old. He loved it and said his mom should get one! He did think we were going a little fast down the hill, so I slowed down & lost my momentum to make it up the next one. I warned him I was going to stand up to pedal the rest of the way up the hill and it might wobble just a little. Surprisingly, there was only a slight wobble. I had worse wobble with my old setup carrying a 25 lb box. He weighs a little over 60 lbs. Barely noticed him there except the big hills. But it didn't feel like I was pulling that much weight. Never thought I'd say that about a load that size!
I also went to the grocery store this week. I took my cooler since it's been so hot this week and I need to pick up some ice and other refrigerated stuff. The cooler & contents weighed at least 15 lbs. Balancing the load on both sides is better, but didn't really have an option in this case. Didn't make a difference. Handled beautifully! Here's a picture:
Today on the way home from running some errands, a cyclist going the other direction gave me a thumbs up and hollered, "Nice Xtracycle!" Wow! Not that many people actually know what it is! He turned around and caught up to me. Turns out he's the only other guy I know of in town that has one! His bike is actually in the shop right now for some work and he was riding one without the "X". I had actually seen his when I was at the shop! It's taken some abuse. He rode cross country on it with his dogs. He's planning an "around the US" tour now.
Yep, I'm glad I bought my Xtracycle. Now I can't wait for the Stokemonkey to be released!
My birthday was June 3rd. It was a busy day! I got some work done in the morning then my friend, Kristin picked me up for lunch at Panera. We got there and her sister & 4 kids were there to help me celebrate! They had a balloon and cupcakes for me! The manager noticed the party going on and gave me a free lunch! After lunch and festivities (including making paper airplanes for the kids) they headed home and Kristin and I stayed. I worked and she read. She is reading 140 books this summer for her classes! Then we headed next door to get my free ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery. I tried "All Lovin' No Oven" - Cake Batter ice cream (my favorite!), cookie dough, fudge and whipped cream. It was very good! To get free ice cream on your birthday, click here.
I was home for a couple hours then Barb picked me up for Women for Missions salad picnic. On the way home we stopped at Moo's for more ice cream! And since it was Tuesday, cones are $1.50!
I have been so busy lately, I haven't had much time to blog. Let me back up and catch up on my life! On Wednesday, April 30th, I flew up to Wisconsin to spend a couple days with one of my best friends, Heather. Friday, we drove down to Chicago to meet up with my family to see Mei, my cousin's new baby and celebrate my brother's birthday. We went to Woodfield Mall to eat & do a little shopping. The whole group (cousins, Aunt & Uncle, Mom & Dad, kids, babies, etc.) went to a little zoo near my cousin's house. Then we went to Geneva to do a little shopping/wandering downtown. It was a nice area with some neat shops, but I didn't buy anything. Side note- Mike & I went to GameWorks and got carded! I don't think that's ever happened to me before! I had been to Gameworks several times on Guam, in Chicago and Indianapolis, but apparently after a certain time of night they don't let minors in! Mike had heard me talk about it before and wanted to see it so we ran in for a quick look around. They had changed several things since I had been there a few years ago.
On Sunday I drove back to Iowa with my family and spent a little over a week there. It was busy! Mike & Kris sold their house, but hadn't found one to buy, so we did some house hunting. Would you believe I was busy enough that I never went to the mall!? (except in Chicago) I went to Target once (out of town). Kris & I hit CVS a few times to take advantage of some good deals there. I'm a bad aunt. I never got my camera out to take pictures of Aayla!
Here is a picture of some burp cloths I made for Mei. I wanted to post them a long time ago after I finished them, but didn't want to spoil the surprise! :-)
I surprised Mom and was home for Mother's Day! She thought I was leaving on Saturday. We kept it a secret until Thursday and finally told her. She was so surprised! I headed back to South Carolina on Monday.
Since then I've been very busy with work! One exciting thing happened a couple weeks ago: We found out late Monday afternoon that a container leaving on Thursday was going to be about 20% empty. (various items we thought would make it in time got back ordered, delayed, etc.) I called my contact overseas to see what he wanted me to do. We did some brainstorming and after several phone calls & emails decided I'd rent a moving truck and do some shopping for things they needed that were going on another container a few months later. That filled the space and we even had a few things I picked up that didn't make it on and are waiting for the one that will ship in a couple weeks. Never a dull moment here!
This morning I rode my bike to the bus stop and loaded it onto the bike rack on the front of the bus. Headed downtown to the Saturday Market. I bought some strawberries and then on to find TTR Bikes. They used to be closer to my house, but they moved downtown not too long ago. It's a really nice shop! I looked around awhile, then asked about getting my Stokemonkey installed when it arrives. TTR is willing to help me out! They even offered to pick my bike up for me because I'm not sure it will fit on the bus racks after I have the Freeradical installed. Now that's what I call service!
I did more research over the weekend. Still going with a FreeRadical hitchless trailer. I think I've changed my mind on the motor. I am strongly leaning towards a Cleverchip Stokemonkey. The price is steeper, but I think it will really give me more bang for my buck. I found some OK reviews on the Wilderness Energy kit. Every person that has a Stokemonkey LOVES it.
Here are some reasons I'm leaning towards it: * It is built specifically for the Xtracycle FreeRadical hitchless trailer * More torque than the WE hub kit * All the battery options for the WE hub kit seemed to take up valuable cargo room or I'd have to buy a seatpost rack, but not sure that would really help much either. * Seems the mileage range is longer on the Stokemonkey than the WE
The number one thing that is strongly pulling me towards it - some guy in San Fransisco uses one for his daily commute (visiting nurse) and he also can climb the hills with a rider on the back of his bike! I think the Stokemonkey can handle the hills in Greenville!
While it is a bit more expensive and it does make me nervous to spend that kind of money on an accessory for my bike, it will pay for itself in only a few months.
The sad thing is...it's not currently available. They needed to make some adjustments to the Stokemonkey design and they're behind schedule with the production. Last update was March 26th and they were hopefully going to ship to the States soon, but they aren't exactly sure of the actual date.
Since I moved back to the States in July 2007, I have not had a car. I really didn't expect to be without one this long. So far it's worked out mostly OK. It's frustrating at times, but I've gotten used to it. Every time I have "needed" a car for some reason or another, God has provided the use of one at just the right time!
Now that I've saved some money, I'm at a crossroads. The amount of money I have will not buy me much of a car. That's OK with me. I just need something to get me from point A to point B and haul some stuff here and there. But...is it really worth it?
Since I work from home, I don't need to get to/from work. I was having to go to the Post Office quite a bit to mail boxes, but now I can do that from home using Endicia. Most everywhere I need to go is within a 2 mile radius of my house. I have a rack with panniers that work great for hauling groceries and smaller stuff, but sometimes they're not quite enough for bulkier items.
The hills here in Greenville do present a bit of a problem! My stamina has increased, but some of them are killers. A few weeks ago I almost passed out when I got off my bike after a hard ride. They take the joy out of riding. Granted, sometimes it's a thrill to accomplish them, but when I'm tired or don't feel like riding, but need to get somewhere, it's not fun. I dread them. Sometimes if I can, I'll take a slightly longer route with less hills.
So...what to do? Continue living car free? Or buy some cheap car that is going to need to be replaced probably sooner than later?
I've been weighing my options & minimally, I'll save over $4200/year ($350/month) by remaining car free! That's just for gas, insurance, oil changes and saving for a replacement car. That is not including car repairs, yearly registration, etc. (AAA's research shows the annual average cost of driving a small sedan is $6,320 per year.) With that kind of savings, living car free is becoming more tempting! That leaves me plenty of money to give my friends gas money (I do need to get to church, unless I find biking with a change of clothes will work.) or rent a car for a few days if I need to! The Transit Authority here recently installed bike racks on all the buses. So far, I haven't ridden it yet. The one and only time I tried to catch one didn't work out so well. Maybe I'll try again later.
So I've come up with some options to overcome the hurdles of hauling stuff/the hills:
First is the Xtracycle FreeRadical hitchless trailer conversion kit and WideLoaders. The hitchless trailer provides a lower center of gravity for more stability. It also provides more cargo room than my current saddle bags. The WideLoaders provide a platform to haul bulkier things:
The next purchase will be a Wilderness Energy ebike kit. This will give me assistance going up those tough hills without killing myself!
I had been planning on saving my tax rebate check for a rainy day, but I'm seriously considering putting that money towards these accessories. After all, that's what the government really wants us to do - stimulate the economy by buying things, right? :-)
There are some other options out there. But, since I'm just starting out, I don't want to sink a lot of money into something I might regret later. If I decide this is going to work out, I can always upgrade since I'll have some extra spending money!
Heather sent me a link to ivman's blague. She said one of the pictures reminded her of me. (For those of you that know me, I'll let you guess which one!)
The interesting thing I noticed on that page was the Donutland picutre. I was quite sure I recognized that location and the cars. I did a little digging on the web and sure enough, it was taken where I grew up! Sadly, it is no longer a Donutland, but now an Italian restaurant.
Update- I stopped in at noon and there were about 5 or 6 people ahead of me there for the same thing. Some had seen it on the Starbucks website. Some had received an email from Starbucks. The manager there had absolutely no idea what the free coffee was all about! Bad PR move on Starbucks part! Most of us left without purchasing anything.
Starbucks is giving away free coffee on 4/8/08 12pm EST/9am PST!
Today I needed to get out of the house for awhile. It has been raining the last couple days and it finally eased off to a mist. I grabbed my umbrella and walked almost 2 miles to the CVS. (I do better at exercising when I have a destination! Otherwise I wimp out and come home.)
I got 5 bottles of 24ct pain reliever and 2 bags of licorice. I paid 25 cents out of pocket and got $19.95 back in ECB to use later. I really wanted some of the body wash that is on sale because I had a couple coupons that expired today, but they were out. :-( I did also get a $4 off $20 coupon to use later!
I headed across the parking lot to check out the grocery store and see if they had the Campbell's StockPot Fresh soup. They did, and it was even Fully Loaded Baked Potato Soup today! I wasn't hungry when I got home, but I did taste it and it's delicious! I can't wait to heat it up tomorrow for lunch!
Campbell's StockPot Fresh Soups are available in select retail locations. Look for it hot–ready to eat or in 24 oz refrigerated tubs to take home–in your grocer's deli.
For the last several weeks I've been living off the food in my cupboards and only buying milk when I run out. I'm trying to make it the whole month of March (and maybe longer) without doing any grocery shopping. So far, it's working! (Except for a couple good deals I couldn't pass up - cereal for a quarter and bags of frozen vegetables for 34 cents each!)
The last few days tortillas have been sounding good. I didn't have any on hand. That posed a problem. I googled tortilla recipes and found one that used ingredients I had on hand, so I made my own! They were very easy to make and tasted pretty good! They are not the ultra-flat version, but a little puffy. Almost like a flatbread. I made a wrap sandwich for lunch with turkey, cheese and BBQ sauce. For supper I wrapped scrambled eggs, cheese and salsa and topped it off with a little non-fat yogurt as a sour cream substitute. For dessert I heated up a tortilla, spread it with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.
Here's the recipe if you want to try it out! (The post is a little long. The recipe is below the 3rd picture in the post.)
You can go to the Blue Bunny website and sign up for the iScream Team to get your coupon. They'll send you an email every month that generally has a coupon and other news about Blue Bunny ice cream. If you don't have a favorite flavor, try Bunny Tracks! Mmmm.....
Head over to Focus on the Family for their daily drawing through April 4th. Here are the prizes you could win: Two (2) winners each day will each receive an 8GB iPod nano® pre-loaded with resources – each valued at $225. One (1) winner each day will receive a 32GB iPod touch® preloaded with resources – each valued at: $600. Two (2) winners each day will receive the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre® audio dramas titled The Chronicles of Narnia®, 19 CD Box Set – each valued at $50.
I just got started shopping at CVS. It's addicting when you see how much you can get for so little! :-) Today's haul:
3 Dove Shampoos 3 Dove Conditioners 4 Johnson & Johnson Buddies Soaps 2 samples of Hershey's Bliss Chocolates
Total value: $35.50 Total out of pocket: $1.95 And I got $5 coupon to use later! (My actual total would have been less than $1, but I made a mistake and ended up spending a little more. I'm still getting the hang of this!)
In previous weeks I've scored toothbrushes, razors, toothpaste, and mouthwash. All for free or very little out of pocket. On some items, I even made money back after getting it free then sending in for a rebate!
Since I'm single, I obviously don't need all this stuff, so I am sending it to friends overseas that can really use it!
Being single with a steady income, I got lazy the last couple years and didn't really Now that I am back in the States and my income varies every month, I decided I need to go back on a strict budget. I had used Microsoft Money 2005 & 2006, but never really liked it much. (Which is probably one of the reason I quit sticking to a budget.) I missed the QuikBudget program I had for my Palm. Unfortunately,they don't make a PocketPC or desktop version of it, so I had to hunt for a new program. I found a great piece of software called "You Need a Budget Pro" or YNAB for short. It is very easy and intuitive to use. For tech support there are great tutorials, online help and forums if you need to ask a specific question. (And the creator of the software answers a lot of the questions himself!) I did have a little trouble because I have a few weird things that happen in my budget and a couple calculation errors on my part when I was double checking to make sure everything balanced out correctly. But that was not the software's fault! It is built on the zero-based budgeting principles. I have used zero-based in the past, but didn't know it had a name!
Now I can save for future expenses in the various budget categories and keep tabs on all my income and expenses.
The greatest thing about finally having my budget done - Now I know how much money I can spend on a car and can start looking after 9 months without one! Currently I'm one month ahead of my expenses, have money for a car and have started accumulating additional savings. It's such a freeing feeling to finally have it all worked out!
I saw a few of these bombers while I lived on Guam. They are incredible to see in the air!
On Saturday, about 10:30 am Guam time (7:30pm Friday EST) a $1.2 billion Stealth B-2 bomber crashed shortly after takeoff. Both pilots ejected safely. One has been released and the other is in stable condition. This is the first crash of a B-2 since the planes were unveiled in 1988.
And it's tax season again! My taxes are mostly done. I thought about hiring a CPA this year until I looked into the cost! Ouch! I asked around and one CPA friend told me "Get TurboTax.". Another friend who owns his own business said, "Get TurboTax!" I took their advice! I'm glad I did! It was simple and walked me through all the steps and my various deductions. I'm almost done with federal. (Have a couple things to check and got one more piece of paperwork in the mail the other day.) State should be even simpler since it uses all the data from the federal return.
Amazon had the best pricing for the software. Much cheaper than Intuit direct, Wal-Mart or any of the office supply stores!
I went home to Iowa for three weeks at Christmas. I ended up being sick most of the first week. But overall I had a great time! Aayla and I had fun looking at puppies on the computer. She LOVES animals and every time she saw me with my laptop, she came over and crawled in my lap so we could look at puppies!
Here are a few pictures of the cutie:
Heather came to stay with me for several days as well and we got to catch up with each other, relax and what we do best - shop! :-) Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of us. This is a picture of a gift that Mom & I made for her. Green M&Ms are her favorite, so I bought a bag of Christmas ones and sacrificed and ate all the red ones and drank a Starbuck's Frappuccino to make this!
For quite some time now I have wanted to invest in the stock market. Back in 2004, Google went public. I really wanted to buy some stock then at $80-something a share. However, it was right before I moved to Guam and felt it wasn't a good time to do that since I was trying to save money. Well...hindsight is 20/20. That stock is now valued over $600! The 52-week high was $747.24. Yep. Coulda, shoulda, woulda.
I received a small sum of money for Christmas and decided this year I would invest it. So now I'm researching companies to invest in. Now looks like a great time to get started as the market is WAY down. Most stocks I've been looking at right now are just above their 52-week low. My strategy is going to be buy and hold long term. Probably something that returns dividends, but I haven't made up my mind on that yet.
You'll only be able to see the snow while it lasts here, but we're supposed to get between 2-4" of snow here in Greenville. BJU Campus Webcams - 3 cameras here about 1.5 miles from my house WYFF Weather Cam
The Filipiaks are leaving in the morning for a vacation/mission trip to Taiwan. I helped them plan the trip, so today's webcams are going to be from Taiwan and some of the places they'll see!
*Note - you will need to view these with Internet Explorer Taipei Zoo
I think I was bitten by the travel bug a few years ago on my first trip to Guam. It was probably before that, but that definitely got me itching to travel!
I've been home a total of 4 days now & I'm ready to pack my bags and travel again!
Every time I pass the luggage section in a store, I'm compelled to look even though I have more suitcases than I'm allowed to take. (Unless I'm flying Business Class!)It's also weird because my favorite luggage is eBags, which you can't buy in stores! My dream suitcase from them is the carryon suitcase that will hold a laptop as well.
On January 7th, Mark Malkoff moved in to IKEA for a week while his apartment is being fumigated. As a kid, I always thought it would be cool to spend the night in a store. I don't know why. I just did. Check out Mark's website to read more about it and see videos of his adventures.
He's also the guy that in one day visited and bought something at all 171 Starbucks in Manhattan!
On my way to Iowa, my good water bottle fell out of my bag and was lost on the plane. I was sad. Thus began the search for a replacement. I had read a tip that drinking water from a bottle with a straw encourages you to drink more, so this was a good time to give it a try!
I found a 32 oz Camelbak bottle that is spill proof and absolutely love it! The straw flips back into the lid to help keep it clean.
It's with me during the day and since I've been sick, I keep it by my bed at night too. When I wake up coughing, I take a couple sips. I don't worry about knocking it over and dumping it out or having to unscrew a lid, sit up and try to drink without spilling it all over myself.
If you're looking for a good water bottle to help you keep a New Year's Resolution to drink more water, then pick up one of these in one of 4 different colors! (There are also smaller bottles available in up to 9 different colors.)
I have spent the last couple weeks in Waterloo, IA for Christmas with my family. The last couple days have been FREEZING! Right now it's -1 and the wind chill is -16. Brrr!!! The high today is supposed to be 8 degrees.
The (update 6/11/08 - link is broken. Not sure if it is permanent or due to high web traffic or other problems related to the current flooding) webcam for today comes courtesy of KWWL news in Waterloo, IA. (They don't have a direct link to it, so below the weather maps you'll need to click on the Skycams button.)
The weather in Greenville is cold right now too, but looks to be in the mid to upper 60s when I get back, so it will feel like a heat wave to me!
written by ertlnet
at Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Pack your virtual suitcase & passport and join me every Wednesday to travel around the world via webcams! I thought it fitting to start with a few from Guam, where I lived for 2 years. If you live in the States, the best time to check these is late afternoon thru the evening since their night is our day. Harvest Ministries Weather Webcam (picture refreshes every 30 seconds) Harvest Ministries Multiplex Construction (picture refreshes every 30 seconds) Micronesia Mall Webcam (I had trouble with this in Firefox. You may need to view it in Internet Explorer)
About 31 hours after my journey started, I arrived home! My plane left the gate on time from Detroit. (There were a lot of cancellations, so I wasn't sure I would get out!) We sat on the ground for about 2 hours for a mechanical problem and deicing. But we got out!!! I arrived in Minneapolis too late to catch the first flight to Iowa. They were able to get me confirmed on the 5:15pm flight instead of the 10:30pm one. Hooray!
Next time I spend 31 hours flying to my destination, I hope it's to Guam! :-)
I've now been rebooked for an earlier flight out of Detroit. I'm waitlisted in Minneapolis for two flights and still confirmed on the late flight just in case the others are still full.
They're now predicting 10-14" of snow for Detroit by tomorrow night!
The good news? My luggage made it home! I think that's the first time my luggage made it there before me! :-)
I left Greenville today for Iowa. My plane was delayed, but we were supposed to arrive only a few minutes late to Detroit. By the time we arrived, I had about 20 minutes to catch my next flight. Ordinarily, that might be enough time, but...the jet bridge wasn't working, so we sat on the plane for...you guessed it...20 minutes! When we finally got off, the gate agent checked & they were about to close the door on my connecting flight at the other end of the terminal.
Northwest was kind enough to put me up in a hotel and give me meal vouchers. Apparently there were lots of delayed flights because the they rebooked me on a 9pm Sunday flight! That means I get to Iowa at 11:30pm. Ugh!
There are earlier flights from Detroit to Minneapolis, but apparently all the flights from Minneapolis to home are full. I'm going to try and rebook on an earlier flight from Detroit and try to get a standby seat from Minneapolis.
Oh, and did I mention there is a storm brewing in Detroit? They're predicting 4-8"
I wonder, just how many cars does Alamo have available for this reservation if they're sold out and referring me to another agency? (If you can't read it well enough, click the picture for a larger view.)
Batteries Plus has 10% off all online purchases. They carry batteries for just about everything - cell phones, laptops, digital cameras, watches, cars, ATVs...they sell them all!
I am looking at making some changes to my internet service - Dry Loop DSL is now available in my area! That means I can ditch my landline phone and save about $36/month! That's $432 a year!
I haven't even used the landline since I've been here. I did plug a phone into it, but didn't give the number out to anyone. After 2 days of getting telemarketer calls (and they had my name!), I unplugged the phone! It's been so peaceful since then!
I was reading some boring fine print and ran across this on AT&T's website: "Applicable taxes and fees based on the full price of all products and services, and no faxes or fees will be added to any rebate." Whew! I am so glad they are not going to add any faxes to my rebate! I hate it when they do that.
Back to telemarketers. Since I have a VOIP phone and a cell phone, I really don't get telemarketer calls. I suppose it's only a matter of time though. I did get one interesting one awhile back. This lady called urging me to subscribe to the newspaper. I thought I caught the name of it, but wasn't sure. Didn't matter. I wasn't interested anyway. She persisted and started extolling the virtues of local coupons, etc. I asked her to repeat the name of the paper. It was my hometown paper in Iowa! I told her local news and coupons wouldn't be much help. I'm in South Carolina! :-) She apologized and hung up.
I've often marveled at how our brains work. I can dial a desktop phone about as fast as I can 10-key on a keyboard. But have you ever noticed the keys on the two are set up opposite of each other?
And those paragraphs written with no vowels- you can still read them because your brain fills in the missing letters.
I found this today - it's really pretty amazing. It's a half-keyboard. To type on the other "half", hold down the space bar. I was finding that I was hitting the right keys, but forgot to hold the space bar. I think I could get it with practice! I first tried it with my left hand only because the point is having your other hand free for using your mouse, writing, etc. Then I tried typing with my right hand. I was a little better at that.
No snow here in South Carolina yet. I'm heading to Iowa on Saturday though where they do have some and expecting more this week! I realized the other day that it's been 3 years since I've seen snow! I ran across this site today where you can make your own snowflake - the kind you did as a kid where you cut shapes out of folded paper! Once you create your snowflake, they add it to the snowfall on the site. If you mouse over the flakes, they'll stop and you can see ones other people around the world have created. There are some pretty fancy ones!
written by ertlnet
at Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Today's "Works for Me Wednesday" topic is What do I fix? This is for those days when you're short on time and need to fix dinner.
Since I am single, my #1 "no time" dinner tends to be cereal! :-) I love Grape Nuts and raisins, so it's healthy at least!
Fried Rice is a pretty simple delish dinner to whip up with stuff I usually have on hand. 1. Cook up a batch of rice in the rice cooker or on the stove top. (Rice cooker is my favorite way. Start it & forget it!) 2. Heat oil in a wok 3. Crack a couple eggs into the wok and scramble as they cook add vegetables. Depending on what I have on hand I use fresh or frozen. Usually peas and carrots. Last time I had "Asian blend vegetables with schezwan sauce" (microwaved first) and used that. Very yummy! 4. Add rice 5. Stir until rice is browned 6. Add a few dashes of soy sauce and stir in.
For variations you can add bacon, green onions, SPAM, garlic, brown some chicken for chicken fried rice, experiment with different sauces and oils, vegetables, etc. If it sounds good, I throw it in!
French toast, grilled cheese & tomato soup, sub sandwiches, fruit/yogurt smoothies or meat cooked on the George Foreman Grill are a few other quick-fix ideas that work for me.
I have also been making some dinners when I do have time to cook and freezing them in individual servings . Those are quick and easy to pull out and warm up. Here are a couple that freeze well: Cheesy Mostaccioli and Creamy Italian Chicken (sans mushrooms. blech!) I serve the Creamy Italian chicken with rice and freeze the rice in the same container so it's all ready to grab, thaw and reheat.
Two great features the United States Postal Service offers are online postage and carrier pickup. Carrier pickup is only available for Priority Mail and Express Mail. I can pack, pay and mail all from home! I just wish I could do this for media mail. :-(
Last year I ran to the Post Office with my package (carrier pickup is not available on Guam). I had already paid it for using online postage. It was right before Christmas, so the line was long. I went to the nearest window that was technically closed, but there was an employee there. I asked, "Where can I drop this box. It already has postage." She took it from me & I walked out the door avoiding that long line!
I ran across the "5 Minutes for Mom" site recently and decided I needed to participate in their Tackle it Tuesday. So I'm not a mom, but I can still pick up tips & tricks from others that post there! :-)
My project today was my work area. I work from home and currently my office doubles as the living room. It had been driving me nuts for awhile, so this blog motivated me to clean it up!
For background noise and entertainment, I turned on The Princess Bride and started tackling! (see previous post).
It looks much better now and I feel better too without all that clutter! Here are the before & after photos: Read More...
I read an article yesterday about a new technology that will eliminate high speed chases. Equipment mounted behind the grille of a police car will allow the officer to target the fleeing vehicle with a laser and launch a small GPS transmitter that sticks to the back vehicle.
The officer pursues long enough to attach the GPS, then backs off and lets the technology do the work of keeping track of the vehicle and follow at a safer speed and distance. When the suspect slows down or stops, the officer then can speed up and move in.
You can read more about this technology on FoxNews or the StarChase website.
I listed a (barely) used cable modem on ebay today. While I was there, I browsed a little. With Christmas getting near, I thought I'd look to see what the hard to find Nintendo Wii was going for. Normal retail price is $249. One guy is selling one for 10 million dollars! I think I'll pass.
I grew up in Iowa where it can get pretty cold in the winter. I spent 7 years in Wisconsin and endured 30 below temperatures at times. And 10" of snow at the end of April. And yet, in Greenville, SC, I freeze when it gets below 60! People laugh at me for being bundled up in a sweater and a light coat. I really want to wear my warmer winter one, but when it gets "really" cold I won't have any more warm layers to put on!
Please understand, living on a tropical island thins your blood. If you get too cold inside the air conditioning (or air con as it's called there), you go outside to warm up!
I will be in Iowa for 3 weeks over Christmas. I think I'll turn into a human Popsicle. They've already had snow there. It will be good to be with family, but I think I'll be wishing we could all be together on the beach - where I spent Christmas the last two years! They don't know what they're missing! :-)
If the weather gets cold in your area and you need a new coat, I found some on clearance (50% off or more) at Amazon for women and men. Christmas idea for the sports fan in your family - the men's clearance had quite a few different styles of lightweight NFL jackets 60% off!
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I played fetch with the neighbor's dog today. Toys? Who needs them when you have rocks! Yes, she plays fetch with rocks! She is so funny! If I didn't throw it fast enough, she'd bark at me to hurry up! There is a chain link fence between us and she runs over and pushes it through the fence to me. Apparently if there isn't enough dirt on the rock it doesn't taste as good. Every so often she would run over to a dirt patch and cover the rock with dirt then bring it to me again. Silly dog! BTW, she does have dog toys, but likes rocks better. She'll even catch it mid air sometimes!
I can't believe it. I just found out today that The Princess Bride is 20 years old! It is one of my all time favorite "classics". So many great quotes and dry humor!
Who can forget the impressive clergyman? Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam... And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva... So tweasure your wuv.
or: Murdered by pirates is good... As you wish. Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father prepare to die. You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles.
Another great scene is the rhyming on the boat. Anybody want a peanut?
I think I need to get my copy out and watch it again in honor of the anniversary!
I have also read the bookby William Goldman. The movie is pretty close to the book with a few exceptions. Shrieking sharks instead of shrieking eels. And they it into further detail about [use your raspy voice here] "The Pit of Despair" There are probably others, but I'll bet it's been about 20 years since I read the book. I'm getting old & my memory is failing...now what was I talking about again?
Asan Beach - I loved walking here and listening to the Pirates of the Caribbean Soundtrack on my iPod. I could just imagine a big pirate ship coming up over the horizon!
Pictures do not do justice to the sunsets on the ocean! You have to see them in person!
Crystal & I went snorkeling one afternoon and I shot this video of the little fishies in the ocean!
Today I went to my favorite store - Target! Unfortunately, their clearance was no good today. I only found one good gift item that I won't mention here in case it's for you! :-)
Here are the other good deals I found on sale items using coupons - 4 boxes Stove Top stuffing 2 bags Cheetos 4 bags M&Ms (one 11 oz & three 14 oz) 1 Polly Pocket set Grand total? $4.16!
I don't know what the "normal" regular prices for all these things was because they were on sale, but without using coupons, my total would have been $20.15. Overall savings of 79%! I wish I knew what the regular prices were...
4 boxes of Stove Top stuffing for one person you say? Believe it or not it would have cost me more to buy one box! They were on sale for .79. I had Target coupons for .50 off. I also had a manufacturer coupon for $1 off 4 boxes. So it ended up costing me .16 for all 4 boxes!
With people gearing up to travel for the holidays, I thought I'd post some of my favorite travel resources. SeatGuru- This site will show you the good bad and ugly of your airline seat choices. I always refer to this when choosing my airline seats!
Packing cubes from eBags - (click on the picture to go to the site for more info.) These help keep your suitcase organized. When I arrive at my destination, my clothes aren't a jumbled mess. I confess. I own a lot of eBags items - packing cubes, suitcase, laptop bag, luggage locks, toiletry bag, shoe bag, the list goes on! They produce quality and functional items. They also sell many other brands, but if I have a choice, eBags wins out hands down! (After seeing my packing cubes, several of my friends are now converts. One of my friends uses a different color for each family member.) TSA (Transportation Security Administration) - Traveler information including prohibited items, carry-on policy, etc.
Sleeping in Airports - Yes, I have done this a few times! Not because I didn't want to get a hotel, but because of a long layover on international flights & I just couldn't stay awake any longer!
I did hear from Nu Era Group on November 14th. The lady I spoke with was quite nice. She actually remembered seeing my case awhile back and was wondering why nothing had been done yet. (Me too!) Anyway, they are going to credit my account within the next few days. We'll see how that goes.
This is what they submitted to the BBB: On November 14, 2007, the business provided the following information: After researching this complaint, we have determined that the customer is due a full refund. This refund amount has been turned over to our accounting department today, November 14th, and our customer should see a credit on their account in the next few days. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, as we did have some difficulties with a system conversion that occurred during this time.
In July of 2006, I placed an order with Nu-Era Group for some store fixtures. They were plastic and not packed well at all. They arrived at my parents' broken and missing pieces. (I was living on Guam at the time.) Since 08-16-06, I have sent 4 emails and called 6 times. At one point I did talk to someone and they had to check on how to return the items (apparently they were shipped direct from the manufacturer & she didn't know if they wanted them back or would just give us credit.) I never heard back from her. I also got an email once that apologized for the delay & their customer service department was very busy handling customer requests and they would contact me soon. Yeah, well they've started contacting me - sending me PAST DUE notices and threatening to take action! (For some reason they never charged my credit card for these parts, but they did for the ones we kept.) I contacted the Better Business Bureau for help. Seriously, I have tried to resolve this! Finally on the last notice, they included an extension number, so I decided to give them one more chance and called that. Know what the lady told me? They wouldn't do anything because I've had the product more than 30 days! Can you believe it!? I explained to the lady I had been trying since we received them, but no one will get back with me. I asked to speak to her manager. He was "in a meeting". She said he would call me back. That was on 11/05. I also mentioned I have documentation of my attempts and have already reported them to the BBB. I still haven't heard back from them. They have until the 14th and the BBB will pursue it further. We'll see what happens.
written by ertlnet
at Wednesday, November 07, 2007
I bought 6lbs of chicken, cooking oil, conditioner, liquid coffee creamer and 2 packages of yeast. Total spent - $14.40! I saved $26.52! A savings of 54%
This post is long overdue! I have been incredibly busy with work, Heather's wedding, spending 3 weeks with family & trying to get resettled in Greenville again!
My apology goes to Chad. After years of mocking you for your "USB network", I finally had too many things plugged in to my laptop & docking station that I had to unplug something in order to download picts from my camera! :-) (I'm not quite ready to buy a hub though!)
I left for Heather's wedding on September 11th. It's such a small world. I ran into a couple at the Greenville airport that know the missionary I stayed with in Japan for a few days last November! I had a great time catching up with people at Northland! Heather & I stayed with the Ollilas and Charlene made me a milkshake for breakfast one morning. (It's a long story!) I realized I had forgotten my camera charger & we searched all over Iron Mountain for one to no avail. Thus, I wasn't able to take any pictures. :-( Heather & Jon got married on September 15th. We woke up to frost that morning, but it turned out to be a gorgeous day! Chris took a ton of pictures & Heather just sent me a copy of the CD, so here are some picts for those of you that have been asking!
After the wedding, I headed to Iowa with my parents. I stayed there for 2 weeks. Had a great time visiting with family, spoiling Aayla, hanging with cousins for Uncle Gary's retirement and Steve's 30th birthday. We got a little shopping in as well, but not nearly as much as previous trips home!
Mom and Dad brought me back to Greenville so they could see where I live and go to IKEA for some furniture! On the way down, we stopped at several Target Stores along the way. (It was for work.) I think we counted up about 15 or 16 we hit in a 3 week span! Good thing I love Target!
We did some sightseeing on the trip as well. On the way to Greenville, we stopped in Asheville, NC and toured the Biltmore mansion. It was very impressive! I could not imagine living in a house that big! (If you ever go for a visit, I highly recommend purchasing the self-guided audio tour.)
In Atlanta, we went to The New World of Coca Cola. They had a cook 4D theater and we were able to taste different drinks from around the world. Some are definitely an acquired taste! Unfortunately, the bottling line was down while we were there so we didn't get to see that.
What'll ya have??? Next it was on to The Varsity. Dad had seen a show about this on TV and wanted to try it. He loves unique hot dog restaurants, so we went! (I think the funniest named one he took us to several years ago was "The Flying Wienie"!) I had a "Slaw Dog". Your basic hot dog topped with cole slaw. Sounds kind of gross, but really wasn't too bad!
Next it was on to IKEA. It was kind of a bad experience. They were out of stock on just about everything I wanted. I changed my mind multiple times to be able to buy something in stock! We finally found a table & chairs that would work. The quest was over! Only to have our hopes dashed when we went to pick it up. They really were out of stock on that too! Ugh! Back to the drawing board. I ended up with a table, bookcase, chair (Alme natural) & stools that I'm using for end tables and extra seating at the table when needed. I don't have room in my apartment to store extra chairs, so we thought this would be a good way to get double use and not take up additional space! We didn't get any chairs because we couldn't find any in stock. They had a few floor models they'd sell us, but they were scratched up and they'd only take a couple dollars off. Not worth it. It was a long day & I even talked to the store manager about buying some off a display that were up high and looked like they were in good shape. It's company policy to not sell them & they wouldn't budge. We ended up with no chairs and we'd try to order them online.
The next day we were putting the bookcase together and the top piece was smashed in 2 places. Not good. We took a vote and as much as we didn't like paying full price for damaged goods, you wouldn't be able to see it and we didn't want to drive all the way back to Atlanta! However, when we opened box #2 of 3, it didn't contain the right parts. Guess we're going back to Atlanta! On the plus side, we were able to get chairs as well! We also found out they have an area where you can open all your boxes to check the contents and tape it all back up. We used it this time! :-) Needless to say, if this had been my first experience with IKEA, I would have been very disappointed and probably never go back. I stuck it out because I like their stuff - it's well made, reasonably priced and different from the norm.
The bookcase forms a partial wall to section off my office space. Eventually I'd like to get a curtain hung between it and the wall to hide my desk & stuff. For now though, it has lots of cubbies to store things! It's hard to visualize without pictures (those will come later!), but we put part of it in the kitchen and part in the living room. That helped give me extra storage space in the kitchen for my cookbooks and some of my kitchen things that are nice enough to display.
I've been able to cook a few "real" meals lately now that I have all my belongings back! It's nice being able to do that again after 5 months! I made Pollo a la Crema the other night for supper and had Guacachips with it. (I love Guacachips and searched high and low for a place that carried them here. Almost had to have my friends from Guam send me some! I finally found them at World Market!)
The crate has finally arrived in Greenville! It's going to be like Christmas! After many phone calls back & forth to the shipper & Customs, I learned it was cleared and we are free to go pick it up! Now we just have to get the truck lined up & we're on our way to get it!
are a few other quick-fix ideas that work for me.
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