... events that lead to no early nap, a continuation regarding Monday.

So I come back from the dentist a little tired, but alert enough to now going back to sleep when J, B, and D were up wasn't a grand idea. J had been talking about a Target coupon in the Sunday paper that gave the user a $20 giftcard when purchasing over $100 of baby care items. In the same Target circular, there was a promotion of a $5 giftcard when purchasing 2 big packs of Target Up & Up diapers that sold for $16.99 each.

We bought 6 boxes (4 size 1 - 112 ct, and 2 size 2 - 96 ct), so for $101.94, we got 640 diapers and $35 in gift cards to average $.104 a diaper!

While at Target we saw some clearance items. We bought a slider pan that was marked down to $15 and made tasty mini burgers for dinner. B loved the burger so much she had two, which made me feel good considering she got off the bus saying, "PIZZA PIZZA!!" referencing that Little Caesars was waiting for them the previous Monday when they got off the bus.

Another item that occurred during the day was my actual seeing my bill from Cincy Bell. In addition to the bogus $1.99 equipment charge for using my modem to access "zoomtown," my base wireless plan went up a couple bucks. When I was looking at the items on the bill, I noticed my "bundle" discount wasn't listed. I haven't received a hardcopy bill in so long that I hadn't noticed it missing. I just stopped scanning the bill when I came across the abnormality of one of the three services increasing by $2. The details are in the collapsible +/- fields so I never made it down to the +/- that housed my bundle discount credit.

I contacted CB about whether my services were bundled or not (Logically speaking, I'm owed $ if they are, or I can drop stuff without penalty if I'm not, right?) The response I got today was incomprehensible. Whoever responded to my inquiry must not have strong reading skills because nothing I asked was remotely answered while lies about CB sending notification about their service changes were regurgitated. They sent a notice today that I ordered something when I didn't! I have no idea what they claim I ordered, but it was confirmed later today. So I am very frustrated with Cincinnati Bell. I sent a reply stating such and that they either answer my question or give me the direct number of someone who speaks English as his/her primary language.

Surreal Sunday

Been sleeping in a bed for the first time in a year or so. D has been in the pack and play in the main bedroom, so I am triage for her noise making. I can sleep with lights on, and lights are needed on to ensure what exactly is causing D to be awake. She has the tendency to eat every two to four hours and fill her Pampers between feedings. I can't feed her, yet, but i can make sure her bottom is wet or not.

We bought Pampers back when K was a baby, but we were solely Luvs when B was a baby. Luvs are way cheaper, so the fact we bought Pampers back in the day puzzles me aside from perhaps they weren't much more expensive ten years ago. As far as I can tell, Luvs doesn't have a New Born size that will adequately protect D, so Pampers is a logical though expensive choice.

So two nights home after three nights in the hospital makes today feel like a new normal. I was not looking forward to certain elements, but I can't say for sure why I felt reservations now that the now has come.

Since J will be home an extended period of time, we have joined Amazon Prime. Compared to Netflix, we're very disappointed, so we'll probably not go beyond the free trial period. There's too many inconvenient elements when comparing the two Roku 3 channels, that we feel more comfortable with Netflix.

True, "free" two-day shipping from Amazon is nice, but the price difference isn't there when you consider variables like coupons and weekly store sales. Obviously, I could be mistaken, but being married to a like minded person gives me confidence when my reasoning concurred.

Shopping at Meijer and the mPerk mishap

J had a list for Meijer that was too overwhelming for my liking to go alone, so the whole family went.

She said somethings to me that I thought I understood, but I guess I didn't. See we had a mail-in rebate for a product that if you sent upc and receipt, you'd get your money back up to $9. J wanted the purchase on a separate receipt, I figured to make sending the receipt easier since it didn't have $200 of other things listed. So after we got the cart unloaded onto the conveyor belt, I went to self checkout with the items to be free via mail-in rebate. Upon getting my receipt I figured something was wrong, for I was charged $2.18. A rogue mPerk was counted against MY checkout which was to be dredited to J's still processing purchase.

J was not happy with me. I told her that I hadn't used the mPerk since it didn't ask me if I wanted to use the $5 off my total purchase, but she was made that I logged on with the id. If she told me not sign in, I must must not of heard her. Regardless, I went to customer service with the two receipts.

Meijer has the best customer service I've EVER encountered. Sure I was there a while, but no one said "no" to me, but rather checked with a higher up to see if there was a way to fix MY mistake. After the 4 had huddled made calls, they were going to give me a store credit, but that change when I showed them a text forwarded from J. Meijer sent her a text that started with "Ooops..." and went on to say that an mPerk was hasily applied and that a new $5 was being available until November 23rd.

Wow. Just plan wow.
The things one does to save $5. I am very thankful for the attitude I got from the customer service counter. Meijer ROCKS!

Val Pak

Usually, there's nothing worth much attention held within the Val Pak mailer, but we saved a cool $35 recently.

The secret to using coupons is to only pursue goods and services that you'd use normally. Just because you have a coupon doesn't mean you like something enough to use it. Coupons are good for exploring options when changes need made, but for the most part, coupons only indicate the product is over priced in the first place.

The money we saved through Val Pak was for swimming registration. As it so happens, the kids already are enrolled for swimming for the place using the coupon and annual registration was due.

Just like grilling is a luxury, swimming lessons aren't dire. Seeing that I hated water growing up due to my discomfort with swimming, I just assume having my children being adept thus allowing them to surpass me in that shortcoming.

Same could be said for Cubs Scouts. I could say some things, but I just assume not since the benefits of Cub Scouts are beyond words.

Venturing to Walgreens via Target

So we had places to go and things to do, the first stop was to PetSmart to look at aquariums to replace or 10 gallon tank. Our tank is a couple years old and our fish need a bigger home. We've had to move our male betta out to heal up from being attacked. Saw some aquariums, but nothing said "buy me now."

We went to Target next. I had to see the Pharmacist about getting the second half of K's medication. He'd left a vm while we were at PetSmart, so he was expecting us. Got word that the Walgreen's down the street had the script waiting for us, but we did some shopping at Target before leaving.

Had a coupon for $3 off a $25 or more purchases of groceries, and we had to look a while for $25 worth of food since there's quite a few things I will not buy at Target. But we found enough food and bought some things that we needed.

We left for real groceries that were at Dot's Market in Bellbrook. We buy all our meat there. Never heard of them having a meat recall like Sam's and Kroger, plus they don't use Pink Slime.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped at Dairy Shed. I prefer Dixie Dairy Dreem. The chocolate from my dipped cone was like syrup and dripped a puddle upon reception. B got the brunt of the mess as it was handed to me while she was standing by my feet. A lot of ugly kids were staring about, which hadn't been a concern when were ate at Dixie where most people use the drive thru.

We made our way to Walgreen's upon returning towards home. It was a nice and easy in and out stop.

Got home, and made dinner using the items we got from Target and Dot's. Cheaper than eating at Steak'n Shake, but most things are cheaper when you fix them yourself and don't have to leave a tip.

Rethinking Target Pharmacy

Disclaimer: I worked at Target at one point in my life.

For whatever reason, I have been to Target to pick up medications twice in the past week only to have to wait though they were called/faxed in hours before my coming to pick up.

I have a regular script I have refilled every 90 days, that I called in on Friday morning last week.
Supposedly, it would have been ready for pickup at 2pm that day, but I didn't get over there until Saturday.
They changed their hours since the remodeling for a produce section, so the pharmacy closed before I came to pick up.
Sorry, but 5 o'clock is early, even on a Saturday.
I made sure that I got there before 5 on Sunday, but my script wasn't ready. I had to wait a few moments for it to be filled.
A couple days ago, K had a visit to a specialist regarding issues he's had since December. Nothing seemed evident upon the doctor visit so blood work was ordered in addition to another test. Doctor sent a script for K that would help his current matters, but we were told to wait until the tests were ruled upon.
Got a call this morning at 9:15 about the blood work which showed nothing out of norm, but the second matter's results weren't in, yet. Those results were relayed at 2pm, and they were positive, so a different script was called in at our Target Pharmacy.
I was going to go to Target before J got home, but I changed my mind upon considering the last time I had K and B at Target. B wanted a toy and was not nice about leaving the toy aisle. I didn't want to relive the episode with it being a day fresh, so I waited until we had eaten dinner to go alone.
I head over there after 6, and they only had the original script ready. I said the other was called in around 2, and I was told they didn't have it in the system. The technician needed to check their voice mail.
It came via fax, and I had to wait a half hour for it to be filled.
Only half of the script was available so I didn't have to pay for it until I got the second half. I paid upfront, for I had a coupon for a $10 gift card since I was filling a new script there. The coupon expired before I needed to fill the second half of the script, and I could use $10 to off set the cost.

I like Target. I like our pharmacists at Target. I just don't care for the waiting and early closing hours.

One thing I do like, we were able to refill a script while we were in Florida without having the medication with us.

I'll stay with Target Rx for now, but there are a ton of pharmacies around that could do just as well if not better.

Don't forget your Pepsi when you go to Holiday World

A few weeks ago, J and K were watching PBS show a series on amusement parks. They featured a park called Holiday World that was in Santa Claus, Indiana. Not sure why, but they were intrigued, and they thought it a good idea to go there this summer.

We went today. Spent most of the time in the water park portion, so I didn't take any low quality pics or vids.

No one likes roller coasters in the family but me, while everyone likes water play, but me. The kids had a good time, so I won't say anything bad. I especially can't complain about the price of admission.

Check out their site. They don't charge for PARKING! They have a FREE PEPSI oasis almost every twenty yards. They have FREE sunscreen as well. Ample places to relieve oneself after drinking a gallon of Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Sierra Mist, Gatorade, or other Pepsi friendly product.

Admission was discounted with the presentation of a PEPSI can. Family of four admission cost less than $150. Only had to pay for food, carny games, and souvenirs.

• Food stands were mostly outdoors, which sucked with the heat index being over 100 degrees.
• Food selection indoors was limited. They didn't have chicken! Burgers, Pizza, and hotdogs were what they pigeonhole you into liking. But beverages are essentially FREE. I had rancid coffee, but only a person like myself would drink coffee when it's 100 out side.
• They had build your own stuffed animals! So we had to get a Penguin and a Poodle, since the carny games were rigged thus making those stuffed animals unattainable.

Kids had fun, but wanted to go home rather than stay another day ( adding a second day was a very reasonable option that could have been decide upon leaving for the day). We got home around 11:40 tonight. We left around 7:30 in the morning, so it made for a long day. It's almost a four hour drive, but it's in a different timezone, so we gained an hour of fun!

Holiday World, a place in the middle of nowhere that is great for kids like mine.

Saturday Night at the local Kroger

Ever go shopping because you had a coupon that you had to use by a certain date and that particular date was today?

I had a "save $6 off your next purchase of $25 or more" coupon that expired 6/30/12, so I made a dash for the store on a Saturday night.

We're Meijer's people in the sense that we shop there for food more than we do Sam's Club, Target, Walmart, Cub Food, Dot's Market, Health Foods Unlimited, Gordon Food Service or Kroger, but we buy things when they are on sale if we need something and it's convenient trip-wise.

We live in a very food-friendly shopping area, seeing that we have the above places to choose to do our shopping. We get the Sunday paper for the ads, and we comparison shop.

Kroger and Meijer double coupons and give coupons to save on your next visit a lot of the time.

Kroger generally has the best price for Very Vanilla Silk Milk with a price usually under $3 for a half-gallon. Silk soy milk runs for $3.29 at Meijer, and K drinks at least a gallon a week(K grew out of his milk allergy four years ago, but he still doesn't eat anything with cow milk in it).

Our stainless steel Frigidaire side by side refrigerator gets filled easily with the other things we get, so I don't buy more than 2 gallons of K's milk at a time. With my needing to buy an additional $13+ in food, J made a list from the ad we had and gave me appropriate coupons for my "quick" trip to Kroger.

I get to Kroger and notice that there are a lot of people shopping for a Saturday night, but also, the sale prices quoted by J didn't jive. So I called J for a legit reason for once to see if the ad she used was current, and it wasn't.

Kroger's ad runs from Monday through Sunday, while Meijer's ad runs from Sunday to Saturday, thus ads get confusing at times.

Kroger runs crazy ads from time to time, so I bought 10 random items that I, at least, like, thus saved an additional few bucks upon check out in addition to the original $6 coupon.

Upon checking out, I prefer self-service. I really don't like waiting in line, but I had coupons and several bags worth of things, so I picked a human occupied check lane with a conveyor belt and dividers.

There were two of such lanes open. Both were at least three customers deep, but there was a person lingering kinda between them. I had to ask her in which lane she was, and she picked one that looked slower. I shop enough that I have a fairly good instinct for slow lanes. I always avoid lanes with old people because they almost never use debit/credit cards because doing such is frowned upon by certain age groups.


I get cash back rewards and always pay my monthly bill in-full, so I make money when I spend money using my BankAmericard or Chase Freedom card.

The guy in front of me paid for his $62.57 grocery bill with all fives. Who carries around 13 five dollar bills? Are five dollar bills the  current standard for tipping bartenders, strippers, waiters, and waitresses now?

Not sure what the woman behind me used to pay, but she was the same person I asked which lane she was using. She either chose poorly or she was a quantum physicist that can be in two places indiscriminately like Brian Green.


I supposedly saved over $16 using my Kroger Plus Card. My total came to $35.10 before giving coupons.  I only had to "charge" $27.15.

I say "supposedly" because I bought a few 12 count boxes of Kellog's Pop-tarts for $1.99 that are originally $2.29 when the price for an 8 count box is $2.27.

Grocery shopping is a science not meant for those shopping on an empty stomach.

Phantom Fireworks: Lighting Up Backyards of America from Coast to Coast®

Sorry, but "Lighting Up Backyards of America from Coast to Coast®" is essentially illegal in Ohio.

Never understood why it's legal to buy them in Ohio if you can't use them. Are there states where they are illegal to sell, but legal to light up?

Don't care. I'm not driving around with fireworks in my car. With my luck, I'd get pulled over and charged as a terrorist for taking explosives across state lines.

Being on Phantom Fireworks' mailing list means that I have a little more trash to be on the lookout during the month of June.

Is CBW $100 friend referral a scam?

So I get another email from CBW about referring friends today, 5/18/12, and I look at the steps and notice that the "coupons" attached are already expired.


 *Referred customer must present referrer’s name and CBW account number at the point of sale when signing up for a new wireless account, for referral eligibility. $100 will be credited to the referrer’s Cincinnati Bell Wireless account for each new postpaid wireless account, regardless of the number of lines on the referred account. Credit may be reversed if referred account disconnects service within 60 days. Offer expires 4/30/12.

Bias Confirmed

It being a certain little girl's fourth birthday, we ate what she wanted regardless of it being Wednesday.

I printed out the coupon for the Jalapeno Crunch from my inbox and thought I'd give it a try.

It wasn't meant to be for they didn't have the salsa made, when the rest of our order was ready.

Since we're regulars, they knew we'd be back again and offered a comp burger next time we were in, and I was offered the choice to wait or get a different sandwich. I could have waited 10 minutes, but I was fine with the triple. Either way I would get a comp Jalapeno Crunch, but I was hungry.

I had coupons for the chicken finger meals, but couldn't use the free drink with a sandwich coupon. We generally have the same waitress, and she brings our regular drinks when she takes our order. Interestingly, we rarely are charged drinks during the week, and we weren't today. The difference is about the same as Kids Eat Free Weekends.

The original check was for $15, but the bill was adjusted for coupons and my Jalapeno Crunch was removed, so we were billed under $9. We always get decent service so I have no qualms tipping accordingly.

Upon leaving, I was offered the opportunity to take home a complimentary Jalapeno Crunch since the salsa was made upon check out, but a certain person suggested that I shouldn't.

I guess my family wants me around more than the life insurance $.

I like Steak'N Shake, but the kids like it too much. Sure we could save $ by eating at home, but the difference isn't much when you consider the intangibles of happy kids winning stuffed animals.

Keebler® SAVINGS & Cinco De Mayo Celebration!

What do elves have to do with Mexico? I got an email with the heading : Keebler® SAVINGS & Cinco De Mayo Celebration!, but the first thing shown is a new "granola bar on a  Keebler Fudge pedestal."

If I were from Mexico, I'd be offended.
I'm from Ohio, and I'm offended.

Most advertising people don't seem to realize that the day isn't a day celebrating independence, but rather a celebration of a victory against the FRENCH who outnumbered the Mexicans 8,000 to 4,000. The battle, El Dia de la Batalla de Puebla, was in 1862, five years before Maximilian I was captured and executed the 19th of June in 1867.

The history of Mexico is a messy one. I used to know a lot of it well enough to write long essays in blue books back when I took Latin American history classes as an undergrad. Now all I remember are the party abbreviations: PRI, PAN, and PRD, which I saw  EVERYWHERE while visiting Merida before NAFTA was signed. I still recall all the yellow cabs with VAMOS CON ZEDILLO in their rear windows.