I have been trying to encourage my sister-in-law Susan to quit smoking for the past several years. She has smoked heavily for over forty years, so it is not going to be easy for her to quit. What bothers me is that her doctor has already told her that she needs to quit smoking because her lungs are not working at their full capacity. And her doctor has told her that the age of her lungs are about fifteen years older than her actual age. That tells me that she is on the path to an early death.
Unfortunately, she does not seem to have much interest in quitting smoking. Even though she has repeatedly promised her kids that she is going to quit, and even commits to a specific date, that date comes and goes and she still smokes. It seems that every time I turn around, she is outside smoking a cigarette and talking on her cell phone. The smoke stinks up her clothes, and stinks up the car when she sneaks a smoke in there.
I’ve been hearing a lot about the new electronic cigarette that has recently come onto the market Although it does not advertise itself as an aid to quit smoking, what I have read about it seems to be a viable option for people who need to quit smoking but really don’t want to. I’m going to talk to Susan about trying one and see if she would smoke one of them instead of the “real” things. If these are really less harmful to one’s health, then I’m all for it!
Something that is an actual bargain for the dollar is the washer and dryer that we buy for home use. They get used several times each week, in some homes they get used daily, and rarely break down or have any maintenance issues.
I have an older washer and dryer that I have been using for over 8 years. There is nothing wrong with them, but they are not the most economical machines. There have been a lot of advances in technology over the past 8n years.
The newest machines seem to be front loaders, that mount above a deep drawer unit that holds laundry detergent and other laundry supplies. The front loaders use less water, less electricity and hold larger loads than the older machines.
The only thing I could find in the office that wasn’t already claimed with someone’s name on it was a big Idaho potato in the vegetable bin of the refrigerator. Usually I keep a few things stashed in the freezer or in a desk drawer. I guess I ate the last of the freezer dinners some time ago and forgot to replace it.
So lunch today was a baked potato. We keep butter in the refrigerator and sometimes there is dressing or dip. But no such luck today. It was baked with butter and a little salt and pepper.
It could have been worse. It actually tasted good and was nutritious. So tonight I’m going to the grocery store and stocking up on a week’s worth of food to keep at the office.
Two years ago I bought a netbook. I thought it was very cool to have a tiny computer. It does not work with Windows, but Linux is a good operating system for basic computing. The primary reason I bought it was for internet access while waiting for long periods, such as at the doctors office or at work waiting for a truck to arrive with product.
The netbook works great other than the keyboard is really tiny and my fingers seem to hit two keys with every keystroke instead of just one. I seem to spend a lot of time using spell check and fixing what I typed. So it is not good for sending long messages or anything that requires a lot of typing.
The netbooks are relatively inexpensive. I bought mine for under $200 and have already gotten my money’s worth.
Have you ever noticed when you travel that most of the newer hotel rooms are decorated with contemporary furniture? I’ve always like the sleek, cleanlines of modern bedroom furniture, but my wife says that she thinks that the furniture lacks character and warmth. She’s never enjoyed the “industrial look.”
The last time we stayed in a motel room together, as we were getting ready to leave, my wife said to check under the beds to make sure that we had not accidentally pushed something under the bed. I was surprised to see that they were platform beds. I wondered if that was done to prevent people from leaving things behind, or to save money on cleaning, or if the beds were cheaper to buy! Maybe they are easier to maintain if they have to spray for bed bugs! What do you think? Why are motels switching to them?
Sue was trying to convince me to buy some of her newly discovered healthy-trend products that she has bought recently. She knows that I have frequent stomach irritations, so she wanted me to try some of the Oregano Oil she got. She said that she bought it over the Internet, and that it is supposed to help digestive health. And she was telling me that my brother should try some of the Bio D-Mulsion that she got. She said that was full of Vitamin D, which she knew that his doctor told him to take. The last physical my hubby had resulted in the doctor telling him to take some Vitamin D, as his blood tests showed he was low on Vitamin D.
I have to admit that I am always leery of trying new vitamins and supplements. This is an unregulated industry, and who knows for sure what is really in these supplements? I know what the labels claim are in there, but I’ve heard and read and seen so many news stories over the past several years about unsanitary factories and the like that I resist taking any kind of medicine. I really try my darnedest to eat healthy, so we don’t have to take vitamins and supplements! I wish that these things were overseen by some kind of regulatory agency that would ensure the quality of the products!
With so many people in the medical field and the numbers growing every day there will always be a need for medical attention, no matter how bad the economy gets. A good amount of people are going back to school seeking an education in some type of the medical field. It seems that where ever I go I see someone wearing either nursing uniforms and medical scrubs and most of them are wearing the clogs that have become so popular in the last decade.
Sometimes I’ll be in a drug store and see someone wearing something that looks like a lab coat and I’ll start talking to them as if they were employed and working there, only to find to my embarrassment that they are a customer but are wearing their medical uniforms which are better known as scrubs.
I mean folks that work in a doctor’s office, or dental practice, or in a pharmacy, or in medical records or in a nursing home or in any of the numerous departments at the local hospital are sporting this attire.It is good to see that they are making a larger variety of these uniforms, with all kinds of designs and patterns which must make it easier to tolerate having to wear this type of clothing day in and day out. I’ve seen them with balloons, Micky Mouse, frogs, happy faces just to name a few.
I am not really a big fan on using coupons. I will use one now and then, but I don’t get the Sunday paper and spend 15 minutes to a half an hour sorting and cutting coupons for groceries. But I will use one or two of them on occasion if I have it stuffed in my wallet and it it is for a decent amount. An amount worthy of me toting the darn thing around, if you know what I mean!
Of all the places for my nephew and his new wife to be relocating to they had to pick Texas. So now they are busy looking for Dallas Homes for Sale and utilizing the Internet for all that it is worth. Moving has never been an easy task and moving somewhere long distance is just a nightmare, thank goodness for the World Wide Web. There are tons of Dallas Real Estate options out there, weeding through all of them is time consuming but at least they can do that task online instead of having to make numerous trips in order to find the perfect match.
At least a good portion of the move is being paid for by his employer and he has a good paying job waiting for him to start at. They won’t know a soul in Texas, but they are good people and youth is on their side, so I’m sure it will work out just fine. In the mean time they are being kept busy Googling “Dallas Homes For Sale” and seeing all that Dallas has to offer folks in their shoes. In a few years I’ll make the time to take a trip out there and see how they are making out.
The word is that there are still Myrtle Beach vacation deals available for what is left of the summer season. A lot of school systems are starting school earlier and earlier which cuts out a good amount of vacation time for families. When I went to school, it always started the day after Labor Day, which of course is always in September. But I’m hearing from various friends and family members that most schools are opening in August. One friend’s kid started school yesterday, for goodness sake, it is only the first full week of August. The others that I’ve spoken with are starting August 22nd and the 23rd. I think that is so wrong, but nothing I can do about it at this point.
Anyway if I was to be planning a beach trip I’d being using the Internet to find the best Myrtle Beach hotel that might have accommodations still available. Being an avid golfer I’d certainly be looking for a place that could help with a good golf package to get my business, like what I found at http://www.grandeshores.com. They seem to have something for just about everyone at this resort. Too bad I’ve used up all of my vacation days for this year, the beach sounds great. It has been a long, hot summer this year. Can’t imagine what we are in store for this winter!
This depression hasn’t stopped a good amount of people from purchasing new vehicles. I’m seeing so many new cars with the bright white temporary tags on them. A lot of the new toyota camry, mercury milan and porsche cayman are now hitting the streets. I’m guessing maybe people’s tax refund checks are coming in, hitting the bank and a new car is high on their wish list and people are seeing to it that their wishes are coming true. It’s been a rough couple of years for us all.
I have never been a big fan of buying a new car. Hell as soon as it pulls out of the parking lot of the dealership the darn thing depreciates at least one or two thousand dollars. It isn’t all that unusual to hear stories of people totalling their brand spanking new vehicle just trying to merge into traffic from their local dealership. I had a good friend that worked for a major insurance company as a Claims Adjuster, the stories that he would tell was always good for a laugh or two. People and their cars share a special bond that no one can get in between.
My sister has always been totally in love with the volkswagen beetle. Her first car was a “punch buggie” and has her eyes set on the volkswagen new beetle convertible and has been talking about purchasing one these past couple of months. Her tax check just came in and she is planning on spending it all on a new beetle, bright yellow. I can see her behind the wheel of one with her blond hair flying all over and a bright yellow flower in the vase, conveniently located right on the dashboard that the “new” beetles are so well known for having for this newest generation’s beetle fans.
We finally got some rain today. It was actually a great thunder and lightening storm that even took the power away for a few minutes, but everything is back in order now. Although I’m sure that there are some trees that were hit and need some professional attention and a few computers and/or TVs that got fried since they were not on surge protectors.
My back yard vegetable garden hasn’t turned out as well as I expected it to, but with this heat wave and practically no rain, it has been a challenge. I spent a good amount of time and money this year on outdoor furniture and garden tools that I’m still trying to salvage for the season. I have been able to use the grills that I got a few years back for outdoor cooking and barbecuing, which has been nice. I am looking for some new decent barbecue tools, my current ones have seen better days and just need to be tossed into the trash to make way for some new ones.
We will have to see what September and October brings us to see if my harvest will be worth all the time, money and effort that I put into my gardening this year. I hope that I can salvage some of it by that time. I can only hope that the rains won’t disappear again on us.
Vacation planned! Success. I love hughesnet internet. I’m finally using high speed internet orrs island now, as my previous land line provider was awful, and it is so nice to be able to get online and do what I need to do this easily. I was able to go on the web and score some cheap tickets to visit my family this summer just by trolling around various travel websites throughout the day and waiting for a sale (sorry boss).
Soooo much easier then when I used to have to call each airline individually. And since my mom wanted to get out of the city for a few days I read some travel reviews and hotel reviews and picked a cute B&B that’s a few hours away from her house for us to spend the weekend at. Not only that, but I’ve been searching for things to do in the area since then and I already have a mini list that I’m going to present to mom, and she can pick her favorites. Which hopefully will be my favorites – maybe I can guide her a little, lol. I’m counting down the days!
What a wacky summer season we have gotten into. What with the economy still in such a mess and people looking for ways to save money and yet still have some sort of entertainment during the summer months and most of the beaches on the east coast overflowing with oil due to BP’s nonsense people aren’t sure what to do and where to go. It is possible now to find cheap flights if you know what you are doing and can use the Internet to the best of it’s ability to get the best deal possible. There are plenty of sites to find good travel information that can make the task of finding the perfect get-a-way much easier these days.
Since so many of the beaches are being destroyed by all of the oil mess, a lot of people are flocking to Myrtle Beach this summer. I’m sure that it is next to impossible to find accommodations anywhere near that place at this point, even if you could find good affordable airline tickets to get there. Myrtle Beach has been advertising like crazy these past couple of years in an attempt to get people to come spend their money there and all it took was an oil spill, go figure.
With the serious lack of rain that we have been dealing with this year, it is good to see that people are doing what they can to help conserve our precious rain waters. Rain barrels are coming back in a large variety of styles and prices, which I think is a great way to help out. We used to have several rain barrels in our back yard, back in the day, but they were the standard wooden ones, not much to look at, but they did the trick.
I was online last night and stumbled across a site that is selling rain chains. I really like the idea and looks of these rain chain items. They have a wide variety of these very affordable chains rain and their accessories. I have to tell you that I’ve never seen one before, maybe I am behind in the times, but I’d like to get the word out about this products and see more people investing in them. So if you could take the time to visit rainchainlink.com and see what they are all about and all that they have to offer I’d appreciate it. It can be easy being “green” no matter what Kermit The Frog says. LOL!
I stumbled across a site that specializes in tarps. I was amazed to see the variety of tarps that are now available for a variety of uses. I’ve always settled for the standard blue tarps that we all grew up seeing and using. I’ve always just gone to Home Depot, Lowes or Walmart for my truck tarps but they don’t see to last long and I end up going back time after time to replace the darn things. Some times you do get what you pay for after all.
Next time I want and need a tarp I’m going to order a custom made tarp that is made with good quality materials, one that I know I can count on lasting more than one season and fits my needs to a tee. The Internet makes the task of finding merchandise like this a much easier one to tackle and I’m grateful for that. I never have been one that enjoyed hopping from one store to another trying to find the best deal on what I’m looking for. Going online is much more my style and I’m getting better at it each time.
Sheetz is a popular gas station around these parts. They usually have the lowest prices for gas and cigarettes. Last time I was in there I saw that they are selling milk shakes and since I really enjoy a good milk shake I decided to give it a try. I have to say that they make a very tasty milk shake for only $2.29, a much better shake and a much better deal than McDonalds.
It is interesting that Tiles are coming back in fashion as of late. I ran across a great site that sells a great variety of Tiles and a decent prices to boot. They offer free shipping and take Pay Pal, which is a plus for people like me that use Pay Pal frequently. Companies are targeting online shoppers and free shipping is a good way to get consumers to order their products online. Using the Internet has made the task of shopping so much easier and more people are turning to the World Wide Web all year round, not just during the holiday seasons in their effort to keep away from the crowds and all that goes along with that yearly mess!
It’s amazing the variety of Tiles that are available these days. I really enjoy their selection of Subway tiles and their Brick Glass Mosaics and would encourage anyone to give glasstilestore.com a look see if you are in the market for the latest in Tiles. They aren’t just for kitchens and bathrooms anymore.
Over the weekend a friend stopped by for a visit and brought along his new black lab, who is still just a puppy and loves to chew. Even though he brought with him several chew toys the little bugger still managed to find my favorite slippers and chewed them up pretty bad. I didn’t find this out until after they had left and I don’t intend on telling him about it. He has enough on his plate as it is. But now I need to find a new pair of house slippers and soon.
Mom wants to throw a housewarming party for our son J who just got his own place for the first time. He’s got a nice little condo that he’s sharing about a ten minute walk from his new job. His roomate told him that he never uses the kitchen, and so J is looking to outfit the place with some basic cooking necessities. He gave us a wish list of things that he’d like to have as housewarming gifts. He put on the list that he would like a jk adams cutting board, a george foreman grill, a jk adams pot rack, a waffle iron, a jk adams spice rack, a food processor and a hand mixer. I guess he was serious when he said he planned on cooking his own meals!
We told him to come rummage around our place and see if there is anything we have duplicates of that he could use, and he has already scored a colander, a splatter guard, a cheese grater, and some serving spoons and cutlery. It won’t be long before he has a complete kitchen!
Ever since we moved here, my wife has been telling me that she wants to try out a Boston Market restaurant. She says that her sisters keep telling her that they really like the food. I’ve been very reluctant to try it – I just don’t like trying different restaurants. Once I find one that I like, I try to stick to it. I hate the thought of going to a restaurant and then not liking the food!
Well, finally she dragged me into a Boston Market yesterday. It was suppertime and we weren’t home. We were in Fairfax, and she saw a Boston Market and she pulled in. I grumbled a bit, but we got out of the car and went inside. She was quite upset when we got inside and realized that it was a fast food restaurant! No one had told her that! She thought it was going to be like an Applebee’s or Ruby Tuesday. She looked at me and declared “I was expecting a different kind of restaurant; I don’t want to eat here.” So we left! That was a close call!
I’ve never been much of one to visit art museums to walk around and appreciate the art. My “art” has been working on my cars, trucks, and bikes. So I wouldn’t know the difference between a couple of shepard fairey prints and a couple of Andy Warhol prints.
But I did notice when we were walking around looking at the different apartments this past weekend with our son that many of the rooms we were looking at did have at least one obey giant poster hanging on the wall! To be honest I thought that was rather odd, that so many young people seemed to be gravitating towards this type of graphic art.
And I’ve noticed that there seem to be a large number of T-shirts being worn by folks that also have obey giant art pictures on the fronts of them. I guess this artist has captured the imaginations of the youth!
My sister was asking me yesterday where she could find a local digital camera repair shop. She says she has been having problems with her camera and wants to get it fixed. She told me that she lent her camera to a friend and she thinks it was dropped.
To be honest, the whole concept of having to need camera repair was a little bit of a surprise to me.
I have had about eight different cameras in my lifetime and none of them have ever broken! I even have my old Polaroid “Swinger” camera and it works just fine! The problem I have with that is finding the film, if I were inclined to want to use it! So I’ve never had to worry about where to take one for camera repair! I usually only buy a new camera when new technological advances inspire me! I guess I’ve been lucky in that department!
I fear I have gotten to the point in life that my jeans just aren’t as comfortable as they used to be. I remember practically living in my blue jeans, a few nights I had even slept in them without a problem. I don’t think that I could handle doing something like that these days, they just don’t feel right anymore. Even with all the different brands and styles that they have to offer in the stores, I just can’t seem to find a pair that I can call comfortable, especially in the summer heat, that can make for a long hot day and that just isn’t acceptable to me.
So, I have turned to wearing cargo pants when I want to dress casual. They are readily available and are usually affordable, depending on where you purchase them. I have been doing most of my shopping online and have been finding some good deals. It works for me since I am not the type that enjoys going out and shopping for clothes, so shopping online is perfect for me.
I have found a good company at Blair.com and they have a good selection of cargo elastic waist pants, which are my favorite type of cargo pants. The elastic waist band makes them nice and comfortable all through the day and well into the night which is just what I’m looking for in my clothes. And I like all the pockets that cargo pants are known to have. Too bad I have such skinny legs and refuse to wear shorts because they are having a good sale on them right now, but I’ve never been a fan of wearing shorts, even on the hottest days of the summer.
I’m going to shoot off an order this weekend with them, gonna order a few pairs and see how I like them.
I was browsing the Internet this morning and saw a lot of hoopla about a new creation – a wedding dress that dissolves in water. The photos that are provided with all of the articles look like ballet tutus. What’s up with that? I can’t imagine a bride walking down the aisle in a tutu! Is that really the dress?
The articles talk about how women buy wedding dresses, wear them once and never again. And what a waste it is. In my family, it seems that the women save their wedding dresses in the hopes that one day their daughters will wear them to their weddings! Of course women who only bear sons might have problems with that!
I can remember going to a historical place that held lectures and the lecturer spoke of how wedding dresses used to be black, and that the women wore the same dress to church every Sunday, and that the dress was also used as dress that the woman was buried in. I guess those dresses really earned their keep!
My wife is always misplacing her eyeglasses. She uses two pairs, one for the computer/reading, and the other for general life. The “general life” are progressive lenses and the computer glasses are just mid-range single vision. It seems that she takes both pairs of glasses with her to work because she is on the computer quite a lot of the time, and using the “general life” glasses are not very comfortable for her to use for long periods on the computer.
Seems as though every two or three days she accidentally leaves her computer glasses at work, and then when she gets home and wants to read her email and do our personal book-keeping work on the computer she realizes that she left her computer glasses at work. She gets very frustrated by that! So I’m thinking about suggesting to her that she buy a spare pair of glasses through the Zenni Optical website. I was looking on their website a few minutes ago and saw some lenses that look exactly like the pair she wears, and they were very inexpensive!
I think I’ll suggest that she gets a couple of spare pairs of glasses. You never know when a pair of glasses is going to break, so having a spare pair or two is always a good idea. And now, with the great prices at Zenni, it is not a prohibitively expensive luxury.
The Internet has made it easy to find all the information that you need in order to take advantage of the buying first home tax credit that our Federal government has decided to extend once again. It’s the first time that I’ve agreed with something the Feds have done, how scary is that!
Homes sales are picking up more and more, and there are still plenty of great deals on the market. The amount of “For Sale” signs lining the neighborhoods all around town are totally outrageous. We will really know that things have turned around when we don’t see every 3rd of 4th house with a “For Sale” sign in the front yard.
Anyway, this extension is also helping people that have lived in their current home for 5 of the last 8 years. If so you can receive up to $6,500 in a tax credit as well. Something definitely worth looking into folks. I found a good overview of the tax credit extension at Coldwell Banker’s web site. They have a short video embedded there as well to assist as well. I’ve posted it below with the thought in mind that someone might learn something from it as well. Share the wealth…………..
My niece is expressing an interest in various Musical Instruments these past few years. Next year she will be entering middle school and will be able to take music lessons with real Flutes and Clarinets like the big kids. I’m sure my sister will be happy with any wind instrument, as long as it doesn’t have anything to do with Drum Sets. There is nothing worse than having to listen to a kid on a loud instrument like the Drums, the Cymbals or God forbid something like the Trombone.
We used to have a nice basement in the house that we grew up in. It was pretty much sound proof and we did all kinds of crazy and loud things in that house. But the house that my sister currently lives in is pretty small and really couldn’t hold anything large in size anyway. Of course there is always the garage though………….
We do come from a very musical family, so there is hope that she will be accomplished in some type of musical instrument of some sort. It’s all good.
The wife is considering purchasing some Hartmann Luggage. She is tired of lending our luggage to our kids when they travel, and wants some to just keep for herself! And every time she lends some luggage to one of the kids, it is returned badly beat up. So it would be a nice change for her to have some new Luggage for her to use (and keep) when needed.
She has gone online and looked around to see what is out there these days and I have learned a lot about luggage, actually more than I’d ever need to know, these past couple of days. Personally I like the looks of the Briggs and Riley Luggage that we saw last night at Villageluggageandgifts.com. But it’s her choice and I know that she will find a good deal using her online shopping and bargaining skills.
