Building Bridges

This morning I had a hard time falling asleep – I should not have had that Starbucks latte after work. The caffeine has messed me up but it is my own fault. So, I got online and started surfing some photography sites. I call the photoblogs my eye candy. I love to see what photographers can do with an artistic eye and a good camera.

One of the photoblogs that I really like is made by a man in Pennsylvania, John Maslowski. He takes the most beautiful photographs of waterfalls. The water always looks soft and pristine, like humans have never been there to spoil it.

The most recent photo that he posted on his photoblog is of a bridge located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The photo is stunning in the composition and artistic perspective, but even more was the way it brought to mind the dozens of men who had to work so hard to bring the iron ore from the ground, forge it into massive beams, transport it to the site and actually construct the bridge. All this work and expense so that people would have the convenience of crossing a body of water.

Things like these bridges are what makes our country so great. We have the men who are willing and able to work hard, the men who are educated and smart enough to design massive structures, and a way to finance these massive projects to make them happen.

And, after all these deep thoughts, I guess I will turn off my laptop and try once again to get some sleep. Six o’clock will be coming early for me.

 

Pay More Than the Minimum Due

Ever since I got my very first credit card – thanks to J. C. Penneys! – I have tried to pay off the entire amount due on the card every month. I was using my card for convenience, such as wanting to go shopping a few days before the day I actually get my paycheck. I can still go shopping, put the purchase on my credit card, and then when I do get paid I can send the money to the credit card company.

Sometimes I use the credit card to buy more than I can afford, and when I do that I know in advance that I am agreeing to pay interest charges on that money until I pay it back. I don’t like to pay interest charges, but that’s the price I have to pay for not waiting until I have the cash in hand to make that purchase.

When I get my credit card bill, the amount of interest that I am being charged always gets my attention and makes me feel guilty. Call me old fashioned, but I do not like to owe people money. It is not a good feeling. So, I always pay more than the minimum amount due when I get the bill – even if I can’t pay the whole amount like I prefer, I can still put as much money toward paying off the balance. If all I pay is the minimum amount then the balance does not go down to zero. It’s really just simple math.

Bad Economy is Bad News

I was watching the television with my co-workers in the lunchroom today, and we were bewildered with the news on how the stock market lost by three-digits again and how the real estate market may have bottomed out. In my neighborhood, there are at least 6 houses that have been for sale for over a year and no one has been able to to buy any of them.

My co-workers and I discussed pretty openly how we’re tightening our belts and how so badly affected we are by the downturn in the economy. Most of us spent freely when the real estate market was up because we felt rich. We are guilty of carrying high balances on our credit cards.

One of my co-workers hesitantly told us how she’s been bogged down by credit card debt and doesn’t know how to solve her problems. She’s not alone, a lot of people are currently in financial distress. This economy really has to turn around. I hoping that after the elections everyone will have a better sense of what direction our country is going and have some sense of security and optimism restored.

I think I’m going to change web hosts

When I first started my blog, I didn’t know squat about web hosts.  Boy have I learned a lot since then though.  A friend of mine suggested I check out a blog about web hosts so that I could learn more about the different ones that are offered.  That was the best advice anyone ever gave me as far as anything to do with my blog goes.  I’m so very glad they told me to check it out.  Just about any question you might have, you’ll manage to find the answer to it on their blog.  Nice to know that there’s help out there for us less knowledgeable in things like that.

Not only did that help with my questions about webhosting but this site helped me in more ways than the blog did once I learned what to look for.  These guys break down the good, the bad and the ugly of  web hosting.  They tell you which one is the best value, which one is best for your needs like blogs or an ecommerce web site and that makes it easier to choose the right host for you.  It’s sort of like having your own personal computer geek at your beck and call.  How cool is that?

There goes another one

Another of my neighbors is moving now.  The husband found a good job in Oklahoma so they’ll be moving soon.  I thought I would help them out by finding some good Oklahoma real estate online and give them a head start on where they might live when they get there.

The real estate market is wide open right now and they will be a first time buyer since they were only renting the town home they were living in here.  The best part of this move for them is that they have family out there and that’s why they want to buy a home instead of rent.  It’s time to put down roots she told me.

That’s the way it goes!!

My cousin sent me this and the bad thing about it is I could see that happening here!!!!

Two union guys working for the parks department. One would dig a hole and the other would come along and fill it in. This went on all day.  Dig, fill in Dig , fill in. I finally had to ask them what they were doing.

They told me that normally there are three of them but the guy who puts the tree in the hole called in sick.

Debt is getting a lot of people

I know so many people that are in over their heads with debt due to either losing their jobs or having to take a pay cut just to be able to keep their jobs.  A lot of them have looked into Debt Consolidation Help because without it, they run the chance of not only ruining their credit but possibly losing their homes because of the high interest on their credit cards and the minimum monthly payment keeps going up and up every month it seems.  Luckily there are web sites like this one out there to help so many people.

One of the things I like about this web site is that it is a resource for financial education, credit counseling, and debt management. You can find help with budgeting and a lot of people sure need that, credit card debt, loan modification which a lot of banks now offer, do-it-yourself resources, and they even help you to keep up with the latest in financial news.  Most of the resources they have will even help people that are not in total financial despair yet.  In fact, it could help you before you get there.  I learned a few skills from their web site myself.  Check out their site and you just might learn some things to help you too.

Now I know where they got Moms outfit

Remember I told you that my sister got Mom the cutest outfit for Mothers Day?  Well I now know where she got it from.  She ordered it from an online store that has plus size clothing. I finally got it out of my sister because I’m not a real big girl but it’s hard for me to find tops that fit me like I want. I wanted to check out what they had since Moms outfit was so darn cute.  Talk about surprised, well I was blown away at some of the great clothes they have on that site.

I found so many tops that I absolutely love that I think I’ll end up maxing out my credit card, which I never do.  I never charge more than I can pay off in a month or two at the most.  They have a tab called ‘Sale Rack’ that has some really great prices on.  In fact, there were three tops on there that I absolutely love.  The clothes are not frumpy like a lot of plus size clothes tend to be either.  They have some very stylish clothes that you can wear to work or anywhere as far as that goes.  Oh and get this, you even get free shipping if you order $75 dollars or more of their clothing.  That’s not going to be hard to do either.

Lousy weather

Well yesterday it rained most of the day and not today, it’s dreary and chilly on top of it.  This is the type of weather that’s only good for one thing and that’s laying around the house watching movies or listening to some good music with a nice pot of homemade soup in the slow cooker.  I don’t know where the heck spring when it sure left here.  Hopefully it will be back tomorrow but I haven’t watched the weather to know.  Guess I’ll find out later on what I need to wear to work tomorrow.  The way it feels right now, I would say a coat!!!

They’re installing new software at work

They just told us Friday that when we come back in Monday, they will have some new software installed that will not only help the office, but will help each of us individually and as a group.  Sometimes we have a project that we work on as a team and if we’re under a tight deadline, then we have to work on it over the weekend to get it completed in time.  Well this new software is going to be a huge help with that.  It’s a remote access software that will allow computers to ‘hook up’ to each other.

One of the best features of this software is the fact that if you’re having computer troubles, they can fix the problem by hooking up to another computer and fix it from that computer.  Anything from configuration issues to what ever else can go wrong and you know how computers can be sometimes.  I really think mine is a blond as goofy as it acts from time to time.  Another great thing about this software is the fact that PROXY Pro 6 Workstation Edition uses authentication and fine-grained permissions to make sure that only authorized technicians can access remote computers. It also has state-of-the-art 256-bit encryption which ensures that all communications are private and secure so you won’t have to worry that just anyone can access your computer.