Christmas Shopping All Done Online This Year

It didn’t take me as long as I thought to find and purchase a wonderful Rickenbacker Guitar via the Internet last week MusiciansFriend.com Rickenbacker. This much anticipated package arrived this morning at my door, which gives me plenty of time to get it wrapped up and put up in the guest room along with the other presents that I plan on taking to my sister’s house tomorrow morning. I haven’t seen anyone on that side of the family since Thanksgiving, People have gotten way too busy and when a major holiday comes around it really messes things up.

I am thrilled with the fact that I got all of my Christmas shopping done online this year. I didn’t have to go to any brick and mortar stores for anything, including the wrapping paper and ribbons. I had plenty of scotch tape and gift labels left over from last year, so I didn’t have to worry about those items, but I’m sure I will need to replenish my supply before next Christmas comes around.

Miss That Warm and Fuzzy Christmas Feeling

If the Ibanez that I ordered doesn’t get here soon I won’t have the time to wrap it and get it in the mail to my nephew in time for Christmas. I’m sure it will but for some reason I’ve gotten myself a bit nervous about the whole deal. Must be that I’m just so beat from working so hard around here lately and with the holidays quickly approaching I tend to get a bit whacked out since my folks passed on and I’ve moved in and taken over the house and the farm and everything that goes along with all of that.

I really miss my folks and warm fuzzy feelings that we really didn’t appreciate to the fullest until it was taken away from us all so suddenly. At least my sister isn’t far from here and she has done her best to keep me included in all of her dinners, get togethers and celebrations. I couldn’t have asked for a better big sister. This year I will actually spend the night before Christmas at her place if I can get everything in order around here for me to be away for the night. It will be nice to wake up Christmas morning and be around family again, instead of waking up here alone as I have been doing for the past several years. Way too depressing.

It’s All About The Weather Gods

My sister and her family (hubby and two kids) are leaving tomorrow for their last fling of the summer. Most kids are all ready back in school, but she home schools her kids so they don’t have to worry about the kids missing the first part of school and can take advantage of the reduced rates that are offered for after the Labor Day week end is over and done with.

The whole family enjoys playing golf and hopefully the weather will be great for the beach as well as a few rounds of golf. There are wonderful Myrtle Beach golf courses that they will be checking out. Sis spent a good amount of time online looking for the best Myrtle Beach golf packages and her efforts paid off when she landed on http://www.myrtlebeachgolf.net. Their site made it nice and easy where she could arrange their tee times and their accommodations at the same time.

She picked the Stay & Play Golf package and I’m sure I’ll be hearing all the details along with plenty of pictures and videos that they will be taking. Hope they have a blast, may the weather gods be gentle with them. This time of the year you never know what to expect!

Atomic Timepieces

I hate it when I walk in the room to a TV program that is just wrapping up an interesting topic of discussion that I would have enjoyed listening to and watching for the entire time period. I wish I had the Direct TV package that gives you the DVR that allows you to stop, rewind, pause, fast forward and even record your TV programs in record time.

I’m hoping next year that things will have let up some around the place and I can upgrade a few things that I would enjoy instead of just the things that are needed. Last night I just missed a discussion about Atomic Watches that I really would have liked to have seen, since Atomic Watches were the topic of discussion a few weeks ago at the dinner table at my sister’s house. She invites me over as often as possible in an effort to keep good food in me and to get me away from the farm, which is always something to look forward to.

We have always been close and since our parents passed away a few years back and I am now in charge of the old homestead she has been a tremendous help to me through out the whole ordeal.

Anyway, my sister and her husband were tossing around ideas for a birthday gift for her father-in-law, when it came up that a nice Atomic Watch would be a good gift idea for him this year. I didn’t know that the first atomic clock was built in 1949 and that they are the most accurate time know, as well as frequency standards. They are used to control the frequency of television broadcasts and in global navigation satellite systems like our GPSs that we are all relying on more and more these days.

Her father-in-law has certain standards and we all think that a nice looking quality Atomic Watch would most definitely fit the bill of his idea of a welcomed and appreciated gift. Most people are relying on their electronic devices to tell us the time, but a good amount of our senior citizens are still wearing and depending on quality time pieces and watches are still the main way to tell you the time in a quick glance, no matter where you are, right?

They shouldn’t have a problem finding the perfect watch by taking their time and searching the Internet. Sis is a whiz at finding deals online so I’m sure they will come out of this smelling like roses!

Time Honored Family Traditions

I have to admit that the holiday season’s are still pretty tough for me considering that I am living at the homestead and farm that we all grew up on and our parents were running up until they passed away several years ago now. It is just me here, all though I have a ton of relatives that live close by. All of those holiday traditions are the hardest. My eldest sister and her family all try so very hard to keep most of these traditions alive and are always there for me each and every day and they go the extra mile during the holidays.

I haven’t spend a full Christmas day here at the house yet. So far I go over to my sister’s house and spent Christmas eve with them and spend the night there so that I can be there to see the kids eyes when they come down the stairs early Christmas morning. Then I am there dealing with the kids while my sister is busy in the kitchen preparing all the holiday foods for that evenings Christmas meal that she has taken over from my mom, with the rest of the family is on the road on their way to her house and the place gets filled up quickly through out the day.

One of the holiday traditions that we now have is going over to the family cemetery to pay our respects to our parents and all the other members of the family that are there with them as well.

Nady-HM-10U Headset Mic

With the Nady HM-10U being marked down to such a decent price, as well as getting the headset without having to pay for shipping and handling, just makes sense to go ahead order it. My nephew has his 13th birthday coming up next month and I think, no I know, that he would be thrilled with this gift idea that I have managed to come up without having to do much asking around and/or digging.

I hope the look on his face when he opens this gift, will be an exciting one. Hopefully it will be a Kodak moment that could possibly be captured by someone with all the cell phones and iPads, that everyone has on their person most of the time.

Gonzalez Reeds And Other Family Dinner Chit Chat

Since I’ve never even had the opportunity to actually see or place in my hands any type of Clarinet, much less the Gonzalez reeds that my sister’s middle son was trying to explain to me at dinner at their place over the weekend. It felt good to get away from the house and the farm, with no major holiday or family events being celebrated, just a night away from all the critters and chores that keep me pretty chained to the old homestead the majority of the time.

A nice home cooked meal is always a welcomed change. One that wasn’t placed into some type of Tupperware and brought over for me to re heat by one person or another, usually my sister. I was able to sit and watch TV with my nieces and nephews, while smelling all the wonderful aromas that were floating out of the kitchen. It’s the small things like that which people that are suddenly on their own and secluded from most of the world.

Dinner was awesome, sis is a wonderful cook, something that my mother spend a lot of her time teaching her to do. So most of the dishes are from our mother and they taste just like home!

PA Systems

Brent, who is the author of a valuable website I just found online that gives so much good information about everything you ever wanted or needed to know about PA Systems. And if he can’t provide you with what you want you can find even more information by clicking on any of the numerous provided links that he has taken his time and researched to find more. After all more is better, right?

I remember going and picking up one of my sister’s kids from school to take him to an important dentist appointment that she couldn’t take time off of work to take him herself. I had to sign in on a small sized computer at the front desk. It wanted to know my name, the relationship to the student and it took my picture. It was pretty impressive technology for a back country elementary school that has been forced to work even harder on really pinching pennies just like all our schools around the country with the economy still in such bad shape.

I understand the need for tight security around any and all schools these days. It doesn’t seem like a week goes by that there isn’t a reporting of some type of violence, usually a shooting and people being hurt and killed. It’s just madness and schools are struggling keeping their security as tight as possible to keep all students and employees safe from all the crazies roaming the streets that are determined to cause death and destruction in our schools.

What was really weird though was when I had finished with the sign-in procedure on the school’s computer and had my picture taken and took the printed name tag that it spit out for me to have on my body, the receptionist had to use the school’s very out-dated PA system to contact my nephews teacher to announce my arrival and to send him on up to the office for me to sign both of us out and leave the school hours before the last bell would ring. Their PA system sounded just like the PA system did in that same school (the same school that I attended back in the day). Her voice sounded rough and broken up, with a lot of popping and crackling along with other irritating noises they used to bug me back then and come to find out, still does.

I remember I asked my nephew about the PA system, of course he is oblivious to the whole entire subject. When I asked him what the normal morning announcements were all about in his school each morning, he couldn’t provide me with anything at all. Guess his ADHD makes it hard for him to concentrate and listen so early in the morning. I remember getting a lot of good information each day from the morning announcements, but that was me and my nephew doesn’t seem to be interested. To each his own I reckon.
 

 

Security Equipment

Once again my oldest sister is sticking her nose in my business. This time around she is concerned with all of the home break ins that are on the increase, due to the economy and people becoming more and more desperate for money. She has been doing a lot of research on the computer and is trying to convince me to purchase one of the new security systems that people are turning to in order to protect their property and their loved ones. I’ve told her that I don’t need a fancy security video camera around here, I have plenty of weapons here that will do the trick just fine.

My Dad left me a large weapons collection, when he passed and I am a very good shot, always have been. I keep all of the guns cleaned and ready for action. I target practice almost on a weekly basis as well, so I’m really not that concerned about it all. And it isn’t like I leave the place very often, plus all of the dogs would scare anyone from getting too close to anything around here.

She sent me the link to ADT Security last night, she particularly wanted me to read about the backup battery and equipment guide so that I would know as much as possible about what they have to offer. They have a good product to offer and I don’t have a problem with them, it’s just that I’m already up to my neck in debt and I don’t need to take on anything else at this time. A lot depends on this year’s harvest. With so little rain this year, it could possibly turn out real bad and I’m not looking forward to that.

A Free Bankruptcy Consultation

Since my sister’s husband was in a car accident several years ago and the whole mess has left them penniless, since he can’t work, as well as all of the medical bills that have been piling up, she is seriously considering a bankruptcy free consultation to see if that is the route that would be in their best interest.

No one wants to declare bankruptcy, it isn’t a fun experience and it doesn’t come cheap, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Bankruptcy laws have changed since I went through that whole process, but I can honestly say that when it is all over and done with, it is worth all the time, effort and money.

I hope that this free consultation gives her the information and the encouragement she needs to get things over and done with. In the meantime they will keep trudging along and keep screening their house phone calls from all the creditors that are after them right now.