Google knows me well

Yes. I know. Blogger is a Google entity, so the title is double meaning. All of my news feed is based upon google searches and such. Basically, google is trying to get me to buy something based upon my likes. I am looking for a laptop or a computer to do basic home office things. Nothing extravagant. I'm a notoriously horrible shopper. I lack impulse. I am an excessive saver. I like to window shop. I will never have a tiny house, yet I like looking at them. It's impractical given I'm comfortable in my house. I remodeled enough that the house isn't quite what it was when we bought before we had children or SUVs.

We're replaced 2 water heaters, 3 toilets, 2 porches, 2 dishwashers, 2 exterior doors, 14 light fixtures( 7 of which are ceiling fans), 3 sinks, all non basement flooring, all kitchen cabinets... I'm not doing anything beyond my current home.

Any ways... I get articles like this : https://www.gobankingrates.com/saving-money/savings-advice/things-to-stop-wasting-money-on-so-you-can-be-rich-in-10-years/amp/

I am beyond frugal. I get boxed in by bargain hunting, because I know I will use something eventually that is on sale now, but I don't need it yet.

Wolverine boots. I had a deal in American Express for cash back. I let it it expire. Now the boots I want are less than what the AMEX discount would have made them. The price isn't free shipping threshold so I'm not sure.

AMEX had a cash back deal for Dell computers. I let it pass because I don't want a Windows 11 in S mode. 

I plan to renew: Paramount Plus, Disney Plus, Max. I already have Peacock. My Sam's club membership has a deal for Max that I can double up, just as I can probably use Ibotta to double up Disney Plus and Paramount Plus.

Ugh. Paying upfront for a year's service is cheaper, but it's a big dent in the wallet when you have everything up at the same time.

My mother got rid of her cable the other day. She took her boxes and told Spectrum to have them back. She didn't care for the $20 price hike. She already pared back her services, but yet they clawed back what they wanted.

Seems dumb to sweat about $20, but it adds up. Everything is going up. Taxes are going up because property values are inflated. Groceries are probably double what there were 20 years ago, but wages are mostly the same.

Sad.

Cable will cease to be. Big media will have to hustle for customers. 

The Writers' strike is a big deal because they're not going to have jobs soon. They know it. 

Not sad. They paint rosey picture when it's all a house of cards.

We're getting to a tipping point where no one can pay for items that make the economy run smoothly. 

Weirdly, there's nothing going on regarding riots or uprising. 

I feel the pinch of prices. I am anxious about a global meltdown like '08. Everything seems worse, yet nothing is burning. 

Hobbies

I see on Facebook memes about people not having hobbies.
Before the pandemic, my work had a meeting where we had an icebreaker where we drew a piece of paper and shared something about himself based upon the color of paper drawn.
My color of paper was to share my hobbies. Rather than say I like Pittsburgh sporting teams or reading or blogging I threw out that my hobbies are whatever my wife wants me to do.
My wife says I'm on my phone too much. I probably am, but I have nothing better to do. She gets annoyed by my wanting to do anything beyond doing her bidding. I'm probably over exaggerating.
Anyways, the icebreaker worked in the sense coworkers from other departments were more inclined to small talk.
Blogging haitus probably occurred to being busy. I have several blogs, but I ceased being active back in December across all of them due to my finally having a 1st shift job. With my being home when everyone else is, I don't have access to a computer like I used to have.
I have a number of interests. I don't follow the news as much since it's mostly fake in that it's insincere. I enjoy twitter, as a means of my info diet, but I mostly follow the Dilbert Guy. I try to to follow economic news, since I have a few 401(k) platforms which I used to monitor daily.
Discover Card says I have a credit score of 849.

another day mixed with joy and annoyance

My dad is same as yesterday, but that's not as good as Sunday. He's back on a ventilator and sedated so visiting him isn't much of an option given he has diarrhea... the smell hits you as you enter his ICU room. Anyways, he's fine breathing and hip-wise... just not getting the secretions cleared from his lungs.

$2.15

So K has a letter in his bag sent home from the school cafeteria stating he owes money, though I know he wouldn't eat anything there. It's  a pittance, so I don't care to argue. K had a fit when I gave him money this morning. I think it was more about being late for his spot in line for the bus than his letter from school.

J was home yesterday. She is off Friday for the kids' last day of school. She worked Sunday, and she is representing her work Saturday. Weird timing, but she's able to do her own schedule now. We ran errands between downpours. Felt bad at Aldi as the older gentleman in front of me in checkout had to return $20 worth of stuff for he was short. He only had EBT and a wad of cash. EBT had $32 on it and his wad of cash was less than $62, evidently. He apologized to me because the ordeal added 5-10 minutes to my shopping trip. I wish I had cash to have given him, but I imagine that would have made him feel worse.

Rain yesterday meant work was dead. I had three days off and didn't feel like staying the whole 5 hours I'm allotted. Tonight is gonna be horrid because I got pit  duty.

Got the new phones from Walmart, and we're doing the Family Mobile plan that's under $40/ line for unlimited calls, texts, and web searching. I hate Walmart, but their service is actually T-Mobile. I hate Walmart for the lack of employees capable of doing customer service. Just because the item is said to be available instore, doesn't mean it is. Ordering for instore pickup of Internet purchases is easy but actual pickup takes roughly 30 minutes to check out since they don't staff the Walmart.com counter. The "T-Mobile" tech support is probably in India. They are helpful, unlike their website https://www.myfamilymobile.com/.

silliness

I realize I have been silly. I know a fellow named Ben whose Internet presence is "Boom." His name was/is on receipts when he sells high end merchandise and wanted to avoid being googled and seen for his normal jerkself.

Why he chose "Boom," I haven't asked. I gess he likes to go boom-boom since he's filled with bean brritos.

He was a neighbor of mine in the dorm. He was baby daddy to a friend of mine. I baby sat their child. They came to my wedding. I boght a mattress off him at a friends and family rate. Weird he was working in Dayton. I wonder if I know others here, bt he's not selling mattresses arond here anymore, so he stays in Cincy.

... 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.

Old Navy and other places

Ran some errands this afternoon.

1. Went to Sam's. Got gas for $2.96/gallon while other places went to $3.35. 
2. While inside Sam's bought stuff on our list. Saw they had four $25 giftcards for Logan's Steakhouse selling $79.99, but the location we frequent wasn't listed. Saw they had microwave popcorn at a decent price with an additional $1.50 off if bought before 26th. When I did self checkout, the item didn't show up as advertised, so I left annoyed. Probably will return popcorn and find out if the Logan's we frequent accepts the Sam's giftcards.
3. PetSmart had fish food stocked fine. The fish on sale were only a few cents off normal so nothing grand there like the sale before Christmas. Upon checkout, none of the lanes/aisles had a clerk for a few minutes. Was annoyed.
4. Target had no little girls clothes in size small. They had the baby supplies I needed (bought another 88ct box of Pampers for $24.99 since I had another $3 off coupon.). Check out was crazy except for the 10 items and less register, so I was happy I had a mere three items to purchase.
5. J had some Old Navy tights she wanted returned and B needed long sleeve shirts. Got decent service finding the shirts, but I had no idea they were CHEAPER than the advertised $4, so I had to buy oddball stuff at the checklane to get above the $25 threshold to use a $10 superbucks coupon. Annoying that I bought a $1.25 RING POP to get over $24.99, but it will be used soon enough.

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.

In hindsight, I wish I never bought stuff as a kid

Not sure if I mentioned it, but I used to collect comic books at one point. I didn't go nuts or anything seriously devoted. I got sucked into the fad and bought a series that I liked. I had the first 8 issues of the comic, and was broached by a classmate who was much more serious about a swap. I got 16 comics for my  8. The ones I got had a central theme to them as being The Punisher, Wolverine, or New Warriors. I subsequently bought a random comic regarding Wolverine, Punisher, or Venom, but I soon forgot about my comics once I moved out of my parents' house and went to college.

I got married while in college, so I never had the complete removal of personal stuff from my technical permanent residence. I basically just abandoned my stuff thinking my folks would leave my room as is and I'd get around to it when I felt like it. I was wrong. My mom isn't sentimental and tossed my treasured things or let her animals pee on them for some in-explicit reason. My baseball cards and coin collection were salvaged from the demise, but my drawings and comics didn't.

Though I was angry when I learned of the above unfortunate events, I forgot about them much like they were the recollections of a stranger until reading an article about adult nerds being upset their retirement savings(comic collection) were being sold at pennies on the FACE value of the comics. I got angry about the loss then remembered that they were probably worthless anyways.

Getting mad about money spent on disposed items is not as silly as regretting paying for things that intended to be disposable. I bought a lot of toys that gave me many hours of joy, if I hadn't bought them, then I wouldn't have the memories and would have spent the money elsewhere.

Today, I had a couple errands which I figured K and B could tag along and give J some rest as D was napping between feedings. They both wanted to go to Target. K had a giftcard while B had toothfairy  money, while I had to see if they carried newborn diapers in the quantity boxes advertised.

My mission was a wash, so we ventured to the toy section. K wanted Lego Minifigs to the Lego Movie. he had enough to buy three, while B didn't have enough to buy one(but I would spot her the difference). K quickly picked three mystery packets and was content, while B wanted specific characters, a mermaid or girl with a stripe in her hair. I started feeling the packets for telltale signs of ones to discard. K assisted in the search until we came to a packet that didn't have moveable legs much like the girl with a stripe in her hair would have. B was content with the finding so we left with those four.

K would soon be crying when we got home, for he picked two minifigs he already had from our trip to the Lego Store on New Year's Day. Sad that B was patient to get a figue she wanted while the older K was haphazard with his decision. Maybe one day he'll be better with his money. Just last week he wanted to spend $4 on a digital edition of a 25 page Star Wars Comic, which I am glad I talked him out of purchasing.

Neither kid wanted to go get Pizza Pizza, but they wanted Crazy Bread. they didn't eat the Crazy Bread the last time I got it, so I didn't get it. Sure it's $1.99 if you bother to go to their website and print the $2.00 off coupon that is always there, but $1.99 is better saved than wasted in my book. Ironically, I bought two pizzas for $5 since I got my pizza card filled last time I was there.

Tonight, I watched the Playoff game in hopes of seeing Tom Brady cry, but the game was a blowout in his favor. I could have used that time spent elsewhere besides the tv screen.

day off until key dropoff

The end of the year has a number of meaning to me. I mainly review the year and think of its pluses and minuses in my development towards finality. 2013 was a fair year. Economically it seems square with 2012, so no regression is good. My family has been healthy, though we have burned through over $5K in HSA funds.

Nothing sticks out. I have a job, which is much better than being on unemployment. I would never consider bringing another child into this world if I was not working. I could work more, but childcare is so expensive that avoiding it is like free money in a strange way.  If you spend $20 a day for a kid to be watched, then I saved easily $10K ($20 X 2 kids X 5 days X 52 weeks= $10,400, plus not having to pay taxes on money saved means an additional chunk saved considering Medicare and Social Security payroll taxes are still owed on the money paid towards childcare).

HSA will be beneficial when tax time comes, for the medical expenses would have been made regardless of HSA, but HSA saves us whatever % of income tax we'd have paid on the money that we were spending. Lowest tax bracket is 10%, so that's a minimum of $500 less in taxes owed.

Dull stuff, taxes, but I think of them a lot after reading Rex Stout's reasoning via Nero Wolfe.

I'm reading Richard Zacks's Island of Vice, which has given me a new perspective on William McKinley's successor in the White House. I once wrote a paper on President McKinley's untimely assassination. I didn't have anything nice to say about McKinley's term in office given my impression of Mark Hanna as his puppet master.

Though I am not done, I am glad that Richard Zacks told me about his research when I emailed him that I enjoyed one of his previous books regarding pirates. I still have the email dated November 7, 2007, which seems a lifetime ago.

--- Richard Zacks <rzacks@echonyc.com> wrote:

> always glad to cement a marriage...
>
> Thanks for your note... it gives me a boost as I try
> to make sense of Teddy
> Roosevelt, prudish police commissioner of NYC,
> 1895-1897. I'm a tad behind
> schedule but hope to have a book out late next year.
>
> Sorry for the delays... I toyed with writing fiction
> but it doesn't suit me
> to make stuff up. I prefer the strange but true to
> the merely strange.
>
> If you have a friend or neighbor to tell about the
> books, pls. go right
> ahead. I have delusions of... being surrounded by
> adoring eyes, followed by
> applause. I would probably run off the stage or trip
> down the stairs but
> it's a nice delusion.
>
> Richard Zacks

 TR had his fair share of haters. Wonder how he would have reacted to today's blogsphere.

Quiet day. Kids are home another week and I had the day off until I got a call needing my key. Someone from corporate had inadvertently pocketed a manager's key during an inspection and is now out of state. I live 20 miles away from my job so the venture takes an hour roundtrip, which is much shorter than anyone else who was available with a key to spare.There's worse things.

My New Year's resolution is to embrace the happiness I have achieved. Sure I'll look for opportunities and be forward thinking regarding taxes and the like, but I have to remember to be thankful for the family with which I have been blessed despite my personal failings.

cars

I have a hoarding problem it would seem when it comes to cars. We currently have three, and I feel conflicted with the idea of parting with any of them. Two of them are paid in full, but have had their fair share of repairs. The repairs on the surface seem expensive but when considering the prospect of a long term commitment to a car payment, I feel better about the short term pain than ditching a car all together.

Having older cars is the reason we have AAA membership. When people make the argument that everyone that owns a car must buy car insurance is comparable to forcing everyone to buy health insurance, they are being silly. Car insurance doesn't primarily protect the owner, it protects banks and strangers from the owner if minimum coverage is purchased. AAA membership is more comparable to health insurance, yet not everyone has AAA membership.

Anyways, J is nine months pregnant and it is winter, so I have had her drive our biggest and newest car, Dodge Journey. Normally, it was for weekends and family trips, so the mileage has been low. The longer we hold on to the Sebring and Neon as weekday cars, the longer we can keep the mileage low on the family car. Currently the Sebring has noise it makes that sound like it's going over a manhole. Nothing too worrisome, but I'll drive the Neon until money is more freed up to pay for the repair to the Sebring.

The Neon has had an expensive year. Last winter and spring, it needed new tires in addition to new timing belt, water pump and another matter that was a few hundred bucks. I had the $2000 in upkeep spread out over a seven month period, and I was thoroughly annoyed when I had a rear brake fall apart and become wedged in the wheel well.

Ever back out of the garage and coast? Well I wasn't coasting, and for a moment thought I had hit something. Describing the situation to a mechanic, he aptly suggested I get the car towed on a flatbed to the shop. I called AAA, and a regular wrecker came! I said that I had asked for a flatbed since the rear tire was stuck, so the dude called dispatch and relayed to me it would a significant wait. He then tells me that he can use dollies, but it took him nearly an hour to get them attached. Before he started, he had me initial and sign a form. It was raining so I didn't read it before signing. I read my copy inside my house, and he had marked that my car had preexisting DAMAGE! Dude filled out a new ticket without a fuss, but I swear he was trying to pull a fast one on me.

The repair to the car was more than a car payment, but less than 2, so I am not too anxious to get rid of the Neon for a car that can seat 6 like the Mazda5. Haven't driven a Mazda5 yet, but there's a good chance it will be the next car we buy... if we don't get another Dodge Journey, at least! Just love the Journey! Mileage could be better in a Mazda5, but the known qualities of the Journey make it seem a luxury worth the extra gas. We have a Journey and don't need a second. We have two paid in full cars that are covered by AAA, so we're fine until one hits the beyond salvaging point.

Yes, I'm a car hoarder, but I think I'm content with 3 at a time.

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!

Family Movies, pizza, furnishings

Tuesday at the Danbarry Dollar Saver is $1.75 a ticket, so we saw Despicable Me 2 today. Unlimited drink and popcorn in collectible cup/bucket makes the family a happy family for less that $25.

K only said that he liked the first film better. Not much to argue, but as sequels go it's okay.

Only sequel I consider better than the original is Empire Strikes Back. Godfather II is what J said was better, but I don't care for the trial and Havana stuff.

My lips are feeling cracked from the salty popcorn. I filled the bucket twice during the film, so we all had quite a bit of popcorn.

J was hungry earlier than usual, so I took advantage of a FREE CINNAMON CRAZY BREAD coupon that came in today's mail. $10 for two large pepperonis and an order of crazy bread isn't bad, especially since K has been eating pizza of late.

Not sure what the average cost of a family meal is, but our eating out doesn't .break the bank. On Sunday we had milkshakes with our Steak n' Shake meals and only had a check for $18 something. We never pay for drinks anymore it seems, so I always make sure to tip the waitress well.

The kids have switched rooms. I put in a shelf from IKEA EXPEDIT that seemed a bit heavy, so I made sure it was not above K's headboard. They seem fine with the arrangement. B wants to be with the baby, which will be soon enough. Her bed and the crib strangely match. It was unintentional that the trundle set we got B when she outgrew her crib was the same color and style. I'm not saying a Divine Entity made sure the Morris Outlet Store had the ideal match for us when we were looking for an affordable bed, but it worked out well that I think it's more than random luck.

Last landline in America

So I have a thing about being thrifty. I hate spending money. If I weren't married, I'd have died years ago from lack of food or something silly. I think my wife's willingness to share trivial things like her leftover Papa John's is why I fell for her. I'd never would have bought something that luxurious. $5 for a mere meal seemed too much when I was used to living on 1)rice, 2)oatmeal, 3)Brita water, and 4)coffee, where $5 would get me through a week. I actually may have only went grocery shopping once while in grad school. My parents brought foodstuffs when they visited a few times. A six pack of toilet paper lasted me the entire year.

I may be exaggerating, but I seriously didn't eat anything that could spoil. I was lactose intolerant after a year from not eating anything dairy. I remember thinking I was going to die from gas around my birthday, and it was because of an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. I had a borrowed mini-fridge, a microwave, a toast-r-oven and a coffee maker. My kitchen was a card table in the corner of a 12 by 12 room that used to be part of another apartment but since had a private entrance to a hallway and its own bathroom, the connecting doorway to the main apartment was boarded over.

Rent was $249 a month, including utilities except for phone and water. My neighbor paid my electric bill since he had the main portion of the apartment from which my was sealed off. I had free dial-up internet and I got a few stations with the rabbit ears. I didn't own a car. I walked everywhere. I don't think I had my bike there.

Not much to remember. Makes me wonder what J was thinking when she said yes to my proposal.

Anyways, I've adjusted to spending money on things deemed reasonable by J. We don't spend much on frills when you consider we spend less than $40 a month on DSL, Netflix, and Sunday Paper. We have a landline that is roughly $31 month after having gone up a few times in the past 6 years, but we bundle our dumb phones and DSL to where we don't pay a too hateful amount. We need phones. With children, it's best to have a landline in case of an emergency.

I frequently get the urge to shop around for cheaper plans, but  I usually find myself saying I HAVE the cheapest plans without going a flaky route like StraightTalk or whatever those Walmart phone plans are.  I will check out Clark Howard and see what he says, but he says some sketchy things at times.

I remember him saying something like there's an app that turns a iPod into a phone through Google Voice. It was a while ago, but it popped into my head the other night and I looked into Google Voice and set up my own number.

I was really bummed that it appears that you have to OWN a phone to use the damn thing, though they give you a number that can be used for forwarding to any phone. I might be missing something but I was hoping to just use wi-fi to make calls like I saw a guy use a MagicJack app on his tablet.

Regardless, the Google Voice number is local which got me thinking, and I figured that I could forward to my parents phone thus making a call to their house a "free" local call and not use minutes from my cell when I call them. It works, so I can call them guilt-free whenever rather than only on weekends(they are asleep well before peak hour end).

Hmm... I wonder what I would be like if I'd never married. It's a scary thought.

New tub

I can fix things, but I take a lot of time and such to get to things. Somethings are beyond my understanding or patience, so I reluctantly outsource to a professional. I don't install water heaters. I don't roof.  I don't concrete driveways. I don't install sump pumps. I don't do A/C. Finally, I don't do bath tubs.

I may not like paying for things, but I know that I can't do them well so I'm at a loss with regards to pleasing my better half unless I have someone else do it.

Home ownership is expensive if you don't want to live in a hovel. If you want to save money, sometimes you pay an expert to do it right for a long term fix.

Day of dread

I wonder if it will matter that I'm weary of today... I will avoid roller coasters. I will avoid shelving units. I will look both ways when crossing streets. I will refrain from backing my car up by parking where I can pull-through. I will park away from cars. I will drink plenty of fluids. I will tie my shoes securely. I will hug my children regularly throughout the day.
Actually, I'm being silly for the sake of it. I don't do risky things and I learn from my mistakes. As long as I remember that gravity can crush bones, I should be able to avoid some self-inflicted accidents.

I'm hungry for Deep Dish pizza from Little Caesar's.  I ate a tasty double-decker hamburger tonight. The patties we leftover from Father's Day. My inlaws don't eat left-overs so I take things home to see that they aren't wasted.

The burgers were rather dry out of the fridge. They use lean meat, and lean meat isn't the best to grill. Hamburgers off the grill should be juicy. Whenever I grill on my Char-Broil TRU  Infrared, I use fatty ground chuck from Dot's, so the best thing to do when re-heating burger without juice is to grab A1 Steak Sauce and coat the patty before nuking it for 20-30 seconds then flipping and re-heating another 20-30 seconds.

I got some Aunt Millie's buns from Meijer's when they had a BOGO sale in mid-May. J put one of them in the freezer and pulled it out last week. Frozen bread tends to be hard and any bread of a certain age can get moldy. I made sure it didn't have any moldy spots, and decided to toast the buns in my Black and Decker Toast R Oven. Toasting stale bread makes it better, since TOAST IS MEANT NOT TO BE SOFT except for French Toast which is meant to be soggy with butter and maple syrup! I set the T-R-O for low, then I buttered both inner parts of the bun to give moisture.

I like cheese on my burgers, so I got out a slice of American Cheese. The cheese was cold, so I assembled the sandwich and placed into the Toast R Oven. The burger was looking good and melty, but I knew the center of the patties would be dry so I got out some Heinz, shook the bottle to give the ketchup a more thorough consistency, for ketchup always separates, and that made a tasty left-over meal.

 (I shared a dorm room with a guy that didn't refrigerate ketchup for he argued that restaurants didn't and that vinegar based products don't need it.)

 .

Revisiting the Neon's headlight

When I replaced a headlight bulb in the Neon last summer, I discovered that the headlight was filled with water from a crack. I drained the water and tried to seal the crack with Krazy Glue, but the water returned.

I finally got around to buying a new headlight and replacing the cracked one. I actually had a harder time removing the older one than installing the replacement. Neither was fun or as simple as the Youtube clip makes it appear, but I have to say with practice, it gets easier.

I'd mention where I got the headlight, but they weren't a company I'd recommend. The part was a decent price and was what I needed, but they didn't send it to me until I complained about it not arriving on time. Take a look at those Ebay comments before buy something from someone.

I was surprised that the unit came with installed bulbs, so I returned the one I bought last year to the package with its twin until I need it. Trust me, I will since both the Sebring and Neon use 9007 bulbs.

Ebay is place to get replacement parts

Ideally, if I ever give advice to my children, it will be simple things that can be 99.9% infallible.
One thing that falls into that category is to buy things that last forever whenever possible if it's a big ticket item.
What's a big ticket item? Hard to say, but something that would piss you off if you had to replace it every three years if you go cheap and lasts longer than 15 if you pay for premium.
Of course wear and tear makes things die sooner than later, but if you go with a brand that makes affordable replacements parts, then you should be set.
I say this because I just had to buy new wheels for my Toro "22 Recycler 6.5 hp GTS self-propelled mower. I paid $299 for it Nine years ago. Runs great, but the plastic rear wheels cracked and died. Found replacement wheels on Ebay and I'm good to go without having to get a new mower for ten times the price of replacement wheels.
Obviously, an Ebay vendor can be horrid if you aren't keen in your online shopping.

Yard work Pt. II

There comes a point where grass and weeds seem to be intertwined that a $44 quote sounds reasonable. When I got a call about trying a different "local" lawn service without a contract,  I figured $44 is less than what I was paying, so I said "okay."

Sure it's a luxury, but so are Cub Scouts and swimming lessons. I can remind J of those costs whenever she starts talking about other projects.  Would be nice to be able to have a set budget and stick to it, but there's always going to be an unforeseen expense like a car repair or washing machine death that bears its ugly head during the month.

I need a real job or a second part-time job to get on top of things, but I have to contend with what I have first.

Clark Howard listed Cashcrate.com as a legit "work from home site."

I don't know if it's worth the effort, what do you think?

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Yard work

Was in the yard Saturday pulling weeds. Fired the lawn guy because of the drought and the fact I was unemployed, thus making the luxury of a treated lawn seem silly.
Anyways, there are weeds in the yard in addition to brown spots where the grass died. J wants the lawn treated, but I'd just assume not pay for it when we have other priorities.
When we went on vacation to Disney, we couldn't afford it, but a promise was made that we'd go on a vacation. I don't regret going to Florida for the memories will last a lifetime, unlike our lawn which will require regular maintenance just for aesthetics that depend upon elements beyond our control.
It would probably be more expensive to be my own lawn man beyond merely cutting the grass, but with videos online, it's something to consider as an alternative.