Category: Money matters

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Bartolini Original Bass Series

It looks like the 5 string bass pickups that I have found are in the price range from just under $100 all the way up to $200, which to tell you the truth is lower than I expected. Most of the money that got back from Uncle Sam last month is long gone but I managed to keep a bit of it for when I found the perfect 5 string bass pickup online.

This particular one, a Bartolini Original Bass Series, is about mid range and I think it will work quite well for what I want and need it for. It will be great fun to find something good in the mailbox instead of the usual junk mail and the endless stream of bills that manage to find there way there on a regular basis.

If I am not home when our mail carrier delivers it she will bring it all the way up the driveway and leave it by the door instead of down by the mailbox on the side of the road. Even though we live in the boonies things do go missing from time to time and our mail carrier does her best to keep that from happening to any of us.

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Cinco De Mayo

On May the 5th every year everyone who needs an excuse to drink and have fun uses this Mexican holiday as an excuse. Add this to St Patrick’s Day and New Years Eve as days that I will not go out at all if I can help it. All of the armature drinkers are out and so are all of the cops looking to add to the DUI total for the day.

There is no need for all of this nonsense, I can celebrate on July 12th just as well and will not be in jail for DUI. I hope every one is safe today and when I get home from work I will be safe indoors.

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Martha Stewart

Recently I was watching some old episodes of the Martha Stewart Living show. The one that I particularly enjoyed was the one where she featured animals that have been know to possess high IQ.  This was a fascinating segment.  I was surprised to see this type of topic on her show.  To my knowledge Martha Stewart rarely features animals on her shows.

During this particular segment she featured camels, parrots and multiple other animals found in Madagascar.  The animals featured from Madagascar were mostly from the Marsupial family.  The parrot featured was able to tell the differences between shapes and colors.

The part of the Marsupial family of animals that makes them super intelligent are their tails.  As for the camels I cannot recall what their “specialty” was.  All I recall from the camels was that the camels with one hump are from the Middle East while camels with two humps are traditionally found in China.

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Slow Moving Today

I must not have slept very well last night, because I am moving really slow this morning. It is almost noon and I haven’t gotten anything done yet. I woke up late, the kids are still sleeping and all I have accomplished is a shower and to make the coffee. Wow, that is so unlike me. I am usually up and at em first thing in the morning. I know that change to Daylight Savings Time is part of the reason my body takes a while to get used to the mandatory time change that most of us deal with twice a year.

I noticed that the other day when I stopped into Walmart to grab a few things for our trip to the creek that there are a ton of summer clothes on the racks. Reminded me that summer is just around the corner and the kids really need some new summer clothes. They say that this will be a killer summer, with a lot of high temperature days and a lot of humidity, sigh…

Anyway…I have a few things that have to be done today, but other then that, I will be taking it easy other than spending some time online looking for some deals on the much needed summer wardrobes. I hate shopping at the local box stores and try not to shop there except when I have no other options. There are so many promotions to be found online, no need to go out and spend my time fighting the crowds and the attitudes that go along with all of that. Besides just about everyone shops there and I like having my kids wearing clothes that can’t be found here in town.

One of my favorite websites  they have the cutest fashions for both girls and boys that are extremely affordable, especially when you can take advantage of the promotions, discounts, vouchers and/or coupons that they make available to their online customers. I always look for free shipping. These fees can add up quickly if not taken into consideration while adding items into your virtual shopping cart that they provide, as most websites do these days. There is nothing worse than taking your time to select items, add them to your cart and then find out that the shipping and handling costs have added up to more than your budget can handle.

 

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Another Friend Moving

I have great news. I have always been very aware that I live in a transient area. Many folks move in and out of this area, mostly for jobs. I have another good friend who is moving to Connecticut. She got a great job in New York and plans to do the daily commute by train so that she can live in a quiet country home while working in a Big Apple job.

Luckily, while making her plans she found Connecticut International Movers. I am sure she’ll make great money, and I’m envious of the country lifestyle she will also be able to maintain while having a great job. She has found a great old house with a wonderful yard, high ceilings, and crown molding in all the rooms.

Moving to a different state takes a lot more work than moving across town. She had to do a lot of research on Connecticut Moving Companies. Moving close by you can get away with throwing clothes into trash bags, moving several states away requires you to be a lot more organized. It would be embarrassing to hire a company and have a bunch of dark bags.

I am sorry for myself that I am again losing a close friend. I guess a positive way to look at this is that I’ll have more places to visit and vacation.

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Bar Rescue on Spike TV

One of my favorite TV shows that are on these days is called Bar Rescue. It stars Jon Taffer, who has been in the bar rescuing business for many years and can brag that he has saved over 800 bars during this time.

Mr Taffer gets a bit upset with many of the bar owners, blasts them from one end of the room to the other, which breaks them down to get them to realize the errors of their ways. Then he spends the remainder of his time training, grooming and rebuilding their bar along with their confidence.

A good amount of these bars have dance floors but they don’t seem to attract many dancers. Poor sound systems that need an update along with a new sound reflector or two and some new decor can make or break a good dance club. I would love to visit at least one of his bars that he has redone, especially one of the ones that have dancing!

I hope that Bar Rescue manages to stay around for a good long while. It always seems that the good ones don’t stick around very long.

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Throwing Stones

A friend of mine today had a huge rock hit her windshield on the way into work.  The noise it made sounded just like a gunshot she told me.  She was quite shaken when she got to work.  I told her that sometimes they can fill these holes without replacing the windshield.  She did not know that.

I gave her the number to a local company and after she got off the phone with them she told me that they could fill it and it most likely would not cost her a dime.  I thought that her term “dime” was funny because she had described the size of the pit in the windshield as the size of a dime.  Anyways, she was going to have it replaced later today and I was happy for her because who really wants to pay to put a whole new windshield in when it could cost you nothing to have it filled.  Apparently a lot of the insurance companies are allowing “pits” to be filled at not cost to the insured.  Finally a few insurance companies out there aren’t taking all of out money!

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Stupid Coffee Pot

I am so buying a new coffee pot, one that doesn’t have a decanter. I clean out the basket and it still gets stuck with something and over flows all over the counter top. So then I have coffee grounds in my coffee and have to strain it so I can drink it. That is so annoying to have to do first thing in the morning. I don’t wish this on anyone.

This time around instead of buying another coffee pot that looks and works just like the one before it, and the one before that and all the other ones that I have purchase throughout the years, I am buying a single coffee maker the Keurig B200 one cup coffee maker which is perfect for my needs and wants. These Keurig Coffee Makers are certainly getting more popular each and every day.

I seem to see them everywhere, even at my bank, who has been offering free coffee for their customers for many years now. Both of my sisters have one and my mother was given one for Christmas and has fallen in love with it.

I look forward to trying out all the different varieties of coffee, tea and all the other drinks that can be found on the grocery stores shelves. Pretty soon the whole Coffee/Tea aisle will be used only for those products!

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Nice Quality Teak Furniture For Mother’s Porch

As I promised my mother I would, I have been spending some time looking at various outside wood furniture that she is seriously considering purchasing when she gets her tax refund that is expected to be direct deposited into her checking out any day now. My mother has always been the first person to file her taxes each year, while I tend to put if off as long as I possibly can. Each year I promise myself that I will be more organized with all of the paperwork that we all accumulate throughout the year that we need for filing our Federal and State taxes with Uncle Sam.

With all of the options of filing online these past couple of years has been a great opportunity for people to tackle this yearly task. But try as you might to deal with less paperwork there will always be papers and a decent filing system can make or break a person, sigh….

Mother has always wanted some good quality teak wood front and side porch furniture. But with the winters being so long and hard where we live it is a commitment when purchasing outside furniture. You can’t just stick it outside and ignore some type of maintenance every now and then. Nothing can withstand Mother Nature 24/7, 365, year after year. It only makes sense to take care of something that you have spent a chunk of change on, so that you can enjoy it for as long as possible. It seems a good cleaning for teak furniture tip is that a nice sealer can work wonders and teak wood is known for requiring less maintenance than most of the other wood types that are used for this type of outside furniture.

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Got My Girl Scout Cookies Today

What a great surprise to come home and find my order of Girl Scout cookies were waiting on my porch. The girls and their mom must have spent all afternoon driving around town and delivering their cookie orders.

My favorite is the Samoas – they have chocolate and caramel and coconut. I try to only eat two each day, but they are very tempting. If I didn’t have any willpower I could easily eat the entire box in one night!