Time For A New Wallet

My wallet is becoming thicker each week, not with cash mind you, but with all the plastic membership and discount cards that almost all the stores are offering their customers in order to receive discounted products. This is really getting to be a pain in the rear. And know I need to buy a new wallet next time I’m in town.

I understand the importance of businesses having this marketing power but it would just be nice if they offered their discounted prices to everyone and stop over loading us with these pesky cards that are straining our wallets to the point of wearing out our wallets before they should be wearing out.

Groundhog Day 2016

Today is Groundhog Day. If this furry little varmint sees his shadow, then we are doomed to six more weeks of winter. If he does not, then Spring is just around the corner – 6 weeks or less. I personally don’t see the logic in this. If you don’t see your shadow, it’s because the sun is behind a bunch of clouds. What does that have to do with foretelling the speed of spring’s approach? Spring will get here in her own good time.

In these parts, spring does not come in February, no matter what shadows lurk around groundhog holes, although yesterday we did enjoy warm temps – it hit 60 degrees and felt great when I took the dogs out for their walk. So February takes up 4 weeks of winter, regardless of the shadow seeing moment. The question then becomes, how far into March do we have cold weather? Does a quick spring conflict with the other old saying, “If March comes in like a lion then it goes out like a lamb”? I say, welcome the lion and forget the groundhog!

Getting Rid of Junk Mail

This is great! A must read. ?

CBS Newsman Tips for Handling Telemarketers. Three Little Words That Work!!

(1)The three little words are: ‘Hold On , Please….’Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off (instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each telemarketing call so much more time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt.Then when you eventually hear the phone company’s ‘beep-beep-beep’ tone, you know it’s time to go back and hang up your hand set, which has efficiently completed its task.These three little words will help eliminate telephone soliciting.

(2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end? This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and records the time of day when a person answers the phone. This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a ‘real’ sales person to call back and get someone at home. What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible. This confuses the machine that dialed the call and it kicks your number out of their system. Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their system any longer !!!

(3) Junk Mail Help: When you get ‘ads’ enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these ‘ads’ with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away. When you get those ‘pre-approved’ letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope. Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right? It costs them more  than the regular 41 cents postage ‘IF’ and when they receive them back.  It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was around 50 cents before the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-paid return envelopes.

One of Andy Rooney’s (60 minutes) ideas.Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express. Send a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn’t get anything else that day, then just send them their blank application back! If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn’t on anything you send them.You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to keep them guessing! It still costs them 41 cents. The banks and credit card companies are currently getting a lot of their own junk back in the mail, but folks, we need to OVERWHELM them. Let’s let them know what it’s like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they’re paying for it…Twice! Let’s help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that e-mail is cutting into their business profits, and that’s why they need to increase postage costs again You get the idea ! If enough people follow these tips, it will work —- My friend has been doing this for years, and she get very little junk mail anymore. THIS JUST MIGHT BE ONE E-MAIL THAT YOU WILL WANT TO FORWARD TO YOUR FRIENDS

TV and Sports Programs

A good friend of mine has cable and I subscribe to satellite, so we tend to bounce back and forth to each others living room in order to get the best of both worlds.  He gets the best in cable sports, while I get the Sunday ticket package, so between the two of us we get it all. It’s just too bad that we don’t live closer to each other but I can handle an hour drive in order to enjoy the companionship of a good friend and in order to enjoy a sporting event that I don’t get on my television. He has put to good use the Cloop – Your Handy Magnetic Cable Keeper that I brought over to his place a few weeks ago. His place is a total nightmare, even for being a confirmed bachelor (as I am myself) that I just couldn’t deal with all the cables that keep seeming to breed and cluster all under the entertainment center that he is currently using.

Say Hello to Cloop- Your Handy Magnetic Cable Tie.
Say goodbye to tangled headphones

We both try to keep the refrigerator full of beer and each is responsible for bringing over some munchies to enjoy during the games. It usually isn’t anything fancy, maybe some popcorn, nuts, chips and dip, something along that line. Once in a while we’ll call the local pizza joint to have a  pizza delivered, since neither one of us enjoys cooking and we both enjoy a thin crust pepperoni pizza.

I have found that Cox cable sports really does have the best selections available. And if I didn’t have the opportunity to go over to my buddies place to watch these sports with him I would most likely switch over to Cox cable. But I have had satellite for a good long time and have always had good customer service and I don’t pay a lot of money each month so for now I’ll just stay put. Since I do live alone it does me good to get out once in a while and I’ve known this guy for most of my life and it works out well for the both of us.

Luxury Real Estate Online

I grew up with a father that enjoyed gathering everyone up in the station wagon on Sundays and taking a nice Sunday drive, looking at the new houses that were popping up all over town and then on the way home we would drive through the older section and look at all the nice older houses and properties that were full of character and love for generations in the past. So it isn’t any wonder that I know enjoy looking at real estate websites and seeing what is out there that is for sale all across the country, since the Internet now allows us to do just that.

One site in particular that always fascinates me is by the Bushari Group Real Estate that has the most splendid Boston Condos and Boston Luxury Lofts that just blow the mind to gaze at. You have to remember that I grew up on a farm and am still living on one and have never had the opportunity to live in any places like what I have seen online. Now that I’ve inherited the farm it doesn’t look like I’ll be leaving any time soon so I can only dream of ever living in a glamorous house anywhere much less one of the luxury Boston Lofts that I keep returning to online from time to time.

Christmas Trees

Well today is the day I’ll be cutting my Christmas tree.  I’m one of the lucky folks who has the ability to just walk out to the “back forty” and cut down a tree off of my own property.  Just one of the benefits of having a farm, I guess!  You can plan your own Christmas tree needs and take care of that with very little trouble.  I was noticing that the live Christmas vendors are selling live trees for $60 and up this year!  I think that is a pretty steep price!  And a lot of the live Christmas trees that consumers buy off of tree lots (and some farms) are covered with chemicals used to control pests.

I don’t spray my trees, so I’m confident that whatever tree I bring into the house is chemical free.  And for every tree that I cut down, I plant three in its place so I don’t feel too bad about wreaking havoc on the environment by cutting down a tree on my own farm.  I think that if I didn’t have that option of cutting down my own tree on my own farm that I’d probably buy an artificial one – they don’t cost that much anymore and are easy to care for.  The only problem with them, as far as I’m concerned is where to store them in the “off season!”

fresh cut
Can’t Get Any Fresher Than This

 

English Assignment

My niece’s English homework assignment required this paragraph that she wrote. Good writing for a fourteen year old!

On a cold winters night, she stands there in the middle of the forest. Her hair as black as the night sky, swaying in

breeze. Her voice as sweet as your favorite candy, while singing the woodland a lullaby. And once their all asleep,

she swiftly falls onto the ground, sleeping, waiting for morning to arrive.

 

More Talk with Less Hassle

When I venture into town I see quite a few people walking around everywhere these days that appear to be talking to themselves and come to find out that they are busy talking away into their bluetooth headset. This is something that has always fascinated and interested me and I think it is about time that I start looking into this new technology and I hear that bluetooth is the way to go. It would make talking while outside doing chores around the farm and barn, so much more convenient, more talk, less hassle.

I found some nice wireless headsets online that are of the Plantronics variety by Bluetooth, if I were to go ahead and purchase one it would have to be this kind, due to the fact that they are very light weight and wouldn’t irritate the back of my ear. I have heard a few folks talking about how their ears would get very irritated after just a short time of having some type of equipment like this, tucked behind there. And of course they have all of the necessary adapters and other products that one would want or need that goes along with the sets.

Halloween

I don’t get many trick-or-treaters out here to the farm.  Never have had many of them, we live so far out in the boonies, and our driveway is a very long distance from the road.  So I don’t bother laying in a stock of Halloween candy for trick-or-treaters.  I just lay in a stockpile of quarters and if anyone shows up I’ll give them a couple of quarters.  I figure that when I was a kid I would have much preferred money to candy anyway!  Parents don’t have to worry about kids getting too much of a sugar high from quarters, either!  I figure it’s the perfect “treat.”

sad
Your Money Or Your Life!

Season’s Greetings From The Family Homestead

My parents were adamant about sending out Christmas cards to many friends and every family member that they ever had the pleasure of meeting and knowing. Last year I didn’t get a chance to send any cards out, for many a reasons. But this year I plan on sending out as many as I possibly can that I can read legibly on my mother’s handwritten Christmas card list. I discovered it a few months back in a dresser drawer that I was cleaning out and was pleased to read over it.

Since the place has many pine trees adorning it, I thought it fitting to sent the Pinecone photo Christmas cards that I found online with the photo of the old house that I uploaded and will have imprinted on the front of it. I think the folks that will be receiving them will appreciate.

Christmas will be here soon enough, I have my work cut out for me, there are over 50 names and addresses on that list!