Christopher – The Man, The Legend (in his own mind! lol)
You might like to watch Uncle Jay as he explains the news every Monday. This man sings and uses small words and talks loudly and slowly. He does everything to make the big news sound simple. It’s very funny if you like this kind of silly humor.
I found Uncle Jay on the Chicago Tribune web site. There are links on this site to videos from several weeks back.
It seems lately that you are hearing more and more about swine flu. They are starting to call it a pandemic. What the heck does that mean for us? Is it something we really need to worry about or what? I don’t know anyone that has it and as far as this area, I haven’t heard about anyone having it.
When the news uses words like ‘pandemic’, to people like me, that sounds like we should all run to our doctor and get a shot or soemthing to prevent getting it. I’m not so sure they’re helping people not to panic about it, you know what I mean? They should speak in simple English and not cause people to panic. The panic can cause far more than the flu I bet!! I may be wrong but that’s my opinion.
I got up this morning to find that my bathroom was flooded. I called my landlord and they told me to call a plumber. I thought they would do that since they know more about stuff like that than I do but they told me to do it. Well the only thing I knew to do was to look on the Internet for a plumber in this area. They have a lot more information about plumbers online than they offer in the yellow pages.
Luckily I found a plumber that was in good standings with the Better Business Bureau, gave them a call and they were here in about 20 minutes. I had them give my landlord the estimate on what it would cost to repair the leak in the pipes under my sink and they had him to go ahead and fix the problem. Luckily there wasn’t much water damage to the floors since I had put in ceramic tile but I might have to take the dry wall out and replace some of that but I can do that myself now.
I have never worked enough to have to file taxes but this year is the first year I had to do it. I had no idea how to even start. Thank God for Breanna. She is so smart about things like this. She showed me how to go online and put all of my information in and file right on the computer. She also told me that I could take my tools, work boots, and even work clothes off on my taxes too. She saved me a bundle on my taxes.
They don’t give a single young person very many exemptions and that usually means we end up having to pay. Well thanks to Breanna, I don’t have to pay and will even get back something. Oh sure it’s only $19 but hey, that’s a refund!! That’s a lot better than having to pay, ya know.
Man I love the Wii game system. The games are more like you are really in the game instead of just sitting there with a control in your hand playing the game on TV. Did you know that they are even putting the Wii game systems in Nursing Homes for the patients to be active and get exercise. I think that is the greatest thing. Well I read this and it surprised me, does it surprise you too?
Nintendo’s widely popular game system the Wii was hit by a decrease in sales in Japan. Nintendo hopes to regain its sales by releasing a new version of its Wii Sports game in June. The current CEO of Nintendo said in a press conference they will not be slashing prices of their hardware. “If our products are not much different from competitors’, price cuts would generate significant fresh demand. But video games are just not that kind of product.”
As of December 31, 2008 the Wii leads the generation over the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in worldwide sales. The Wii’s competitor the PlayStation 3 for the first time exceeded sales in 16 months in Japan for the month of March. The Wii Sports Resort and other new games and software will show up in Japanese stores in June to renew interest in the Wii.
I’m sort of new to the whole Internet thing other than what they showed us in school and I wasn’t into school that much until now. I am learning so much from my Electrician training that it sort of makes me wish I had tried harder in school. Oh well, you know what they say, ‘Hind sight is 20/20’ and I guess in my case, that’s very true.
Anyway, with the economy getting so tight lately you have to look for bargains or ways to save money every way possible. I did not know that there were so many coupon sites on the Internet. Man can you really save some money with coupons. Who knew? I didn’t but this is the first time I’ve been totally on my own so I still have a lot to learn. The best part is I’m learning!! I have found coupons on food, clothing, gadgets and you name it.
In fact, with the coupons I have found online, I just saved $13.75 on my groceries. That’s nothing to sneeze at. I have several sites bookmarked now and before I go to any store for anything, I’ll check these sites and see if I can find coupons I could use or even find where I can get discounts by purchasing the items online. That way I’ll save on gas and wear and tear on my car too. Every penny makes a difference right now.
Today is Breanna’s birthday and I have something extra special planned for us to do. I’m taking her out to dinner at a nice restaurant and then we’re coming back here for me to give her the present I got for her. I really hope she likes it. It’s hard to find just the right gift for someone that’s becoming as special as she is if you catch what I mean.
She’s been the best thing I have found out here. I have been so very blessed with meeting some great people, finding a great place to life and a really nice man to work for with a great company. I’ve learned so very much since I have been here. I have learned that life didn’t have to be the way I thought it was for most of my life. Life is good so here’s what I got Breanna for her birthday. It’s a Citizens watch I found online. I have never seen one like this before and it made me think of her because it’s as unique as she is and just as special!
The bathroom they wanted ceramic tile put into was small and they loved the tile I have so the materials are what I got out of the dumpster and won’t cost me a dime. I quoted them a price and they want me to do it this coming weekend. How awesome is that? I wouldn’t have gotten this side job without Breanna putting up those flyer’s she made for me.
If I do a good job for these people then they just might get me even more work. The business card Breanna ordered for e came in yesterday and they look very professional. I’ll be sure to leave a few with the people when I complete the job if they’re happy with it that is. I’ll make enough money on this job to buy my own tile cutter and even have some left over. That way, the next job will gross me even more money since I won’t have to rent or borrow a tile cutter. I’m going to ask my boss if I can borrow the one we use at work. I don’t know if he’ll let me or not but it’s not that much to rent one if he won’t. I’m on my way to having my own side business.
I was totally blown away when I got my check today. I thought they made a mistake but my boss told me it was no mistake. He said I have been working really hard and he wanted to reward my hard work and I got a 75 cent an hour raise. It’s not much but it sure helped. It nice to know that your hard work is appreciated. He wanted to give me a bigger raise but work has slowed down he said. Once we finish this big job, there’s not another one lines up yet.
The economy is getting tighter and tighter here just like everywhere else. I have been stock piling the left over materials they throw away hoping to get side jobs on the weekend for extra money. Breanna even made up some business cards for me on her computer. I have no idea how to do that but she does. She even found a site online that will print the cards she made up really cheap. They’re cheaper than her doing them herself. I hope it works too.
She even made up some flyers to put up here and there. I got a call from one person so far wanting tile put in their bathroom. I’m going out this weekend to show them the tile I have and see if I have enough to do the job. Wish me luck but as lucky as I have been lately, I’m afraid it’s all going to end. I sure hope not.
I came out here in June. I knew it got hot but it’s a different type of hot here. The humidity isn’t a factor like it is back home so when it hits a hundred degrees here, it’s more like eighty-five back home, or where home used to be. What has really surprised me is how darn cold it gets here. I thought it stayed kind of warm here year around. Oh well, I don’t mind the cold that bad.
I got a comment from an old friend back home on my first blog. How cool is that? I was surprised because she’s an old flame from a couple years ago. It would be nice if she does come visit. I do miss some of the people back home but I love it here and have made some great friends.
I’ve decorated for Christmas as best as I can on a tight budget. My Christmas Tree is more of a Charlie Brown type of tree because it really is a twig I got from where someone cut some off of their tree. I did spend a little money on some lights for it but I made the decorations for it. I went to a local thrift store and they had some ornaments for fifty cents. So I have a Christmas tree!! I think it’s great personally. I won’t be sending out any Christmas cards through the mail because I can’t afford it but there are plenty of cards you can send online and that will have to work this year.
My landlord told me about a 15 year old kid up the street that is in need of some guidance. His father left them a couple years ago and his mother has to work two jobs so there’s no one home to keep him out of trouble. I have become his ‘big brother’ more or less. I’m trying to get him a Game Boy for Christmas if I can scrape up enough money. He comes by every day when I get off work and helps me do what ever I’m doing that day. He’s a pretty neat kid and if I can help him stay out of trouble, then I’ve done something good.