Month: February 2013

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Bulletproof Microphones

Since both of our parents were killed over five years ago now, my oldest sister is always stuck playing hostess for most of the major family holiday dinners and get-togethers. Since I am on my own and live the closest to her and her family it only makes sense for me to pitch in where the others really can’t manage to do for a variety of reasons, I try and help out in any way that I can.

Over Christmas it was mentioned that we should try doing some karaoke at the next family dinner, which just so happens to be Easter and that believe it or not,  is only a few short weeks away. My sister does have a karaoke machine but it’s been around the block a few times from the look of it and it doesn’t have the microphone that used to go with that particular karaoke machine. I have been looking at various microphones online in my spare time and have been totally surprised at how many microphones are really out there.

I think I finally decided on the right one, the sm57, but what freaked me out was in the description part of the add it boasts that it is bulletproof and how it stands up to road travel and abuse. Guess these are just an added bonus to the whole deal, I really don’t think anyone in my family would get that crazy during karaoke at my sisters on Easter, but in case they do I will know that the microphone will make it through all right! I can’t wait to share this story on Easter day with the family members that manage to find their way there this year.

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He’s Large!

There’s a scene in the movie, Popeye, where Olive Oil is hanging out with her girlfriends and she starts to sing a song about her fiancé, Bluto. She tries to sing of his virtues, but the song ends up, “He’s large,” and the girls sing along like backup singers, “Large.” That was the polite way, back in the 1980’s, to describe guys like me. I’m large and I’m not all that worried about losing weight. I’m not fat. There is a difference between large and fat.

My problem with being large is finding clothes that fit. For some reason a lot of U. S. manufacturers have decided that men who are wide must also be short. If I can find clothes that fit me around the waist, the legs are too short. If I find a shirt that is large enough for my barrel chest, then the sleeves are too short. That is why I shop for Large Men’s Clothing online. I know the measurements that I need and I can usually get enough details from the web site to know if the clothes will fit me.

Enjoy the video, thanks to YouTube! I’ve always been a Popeye fan and was thrilled when this movie came out. I think it’s time to dig that movie out and watch it again, probably been ten years since I’ve seen in last!

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Luxury Vacation Rentals, Paris or Greece?

Since it has been so nasty outside with freezing rain, snow, sleet, along with some pretty hefty winds these past couple of days, I do what I only have to do and get myself back inside as quick as possible. The older I get the less I enjoy (yes I used to enjoy) winter and all the ugly weather that it brings along with it, like it or not. Although we have had some pretty mild winters these past couple of years it is still winter and it’s still cold and wet. Not my favorite mixture.

I’ve been going through some boxes that have been in the “Guest Room” for many years now that mainly have papers in them that have needed to be gone through, most of which ends up in the paper/cardboard recycling bin. It’s a slow process and sometimes a painful one that causes me to feel depressed for days. Even though my folks have been gone for over four years now it is still painful and raw. I will never get over it, but am doing the best that I can with the cards that I have been dealt in this life. Living here at their house and running the family farm on my own has been a challenge and will continue to because that is real life.

What I really need right now is when I get my tax refund check is to book one of the luxury paris vacation rentals that I’ve been eyeballing online for years now. I made the mistake of sharing my wants and needs for a luxury vacation some where like Paris or Greece and now she seems to be on a mission to get me away from here and plan the “perfect get-a-way” for me before I lose my mind and health. I don’t want to go alone, but there really aren’t a lot of people that I could spend that amount of time with and enjoy before wanting to strangle them. I’ve been on my own for so long here that I don’t know how I would handle sharing myself 24/7. And trying to find someone that can get away for a week because of their job, or their kids, or their aging parents, or their health or their finances, blah, blah, blah………

 

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Paper Trade Account

This morning I am taking advantage of a nice quiet house, not that it is ever loud, to get online and learn more about the stock market. It seems to me that the huge decline in stocks these past several years or so has brought the price of many stocks down to a price point where there are good opportunities for smart investors. Four years ago if you told me to invest a couple thousand dollars into a handful of stocks, I would not have gotten much for money. The price per share would have been so high that I would not have many shares. Now that the price has dropped to what I call an adjusted level of reasonable price points, the challenge is to find the businesses that offer good value for the investment and that have a good to excellent chance of coming through this recession as a healthier, stronger company.

If you find the right companies for this investment strategy, you will be rewarded in a few years with rebounding share prices. A good friend told me about a web site that is an online stock broker and also a great learning tool. They have a great feature called a “paper trade account” so that you can play the market without risking real cash. Once you are comfortable with the results of your paper trading efforts, you can easily open a real account and manage your real shares. What a wonderful idea that I believe I am going to check out here real soon and would urge others to try out as well, just to get a good idea of how it all works before jumping in.