I finally took my car in for an oil change toady. It's one of Scoob's least favorite tasks so I left him at home, grabbed a book, and headed out.
I was a little surprised when the guy at the lube shop greeted me by name as I pulled in. Other than being distinctively dirty, my car certainly doesn't stand out—not at all like my beat up Geo Metro or the yellow VW Dasher with the silver hood and front fender did. And it isn't as if I'm a regular, I mean, it has been over 10,000 miles since my last visit.
Maybe it's because I generally understand what he's telling me when we're talking about the car, maybe it's because I don't treat him like he's trying to rip me off. He certainly wasn't flirting. When a guy is flirting he usually won't talk about his wife. Usually.
Anyhow, I got a lot done on the car Saturday, then drove over to the bank to deposit a refund from my auto insurance premium. As part of the ongoing effort to refinance the house, at the very last possible moment, the bank told us we needed to have home owner's insurance covering at least 20% of the loan. So we got a long overdue home owners policy. The financial planner we used to work with had recommended we insure the contents of the house anyway, so I had already had a discussion with my Farmers agent and knew I'd get a discount on my auto insurance.
After stopping at the bank I went over to Target (I needed bags for the vacuum cleaner and new mascara) and met up with Scoob who had ridden his bike. I had picked up a 25% off coupon at work for World Market's Friends and Family sale, so we wandered in that direction. Once we got in the store I overheard (I do that a lot) an older lady talking to the manager about a piece of furniture she wanted to buy.
She was trying to get a discount and the manager told her "Well if you were on the Friends and Family mailing list..." blah blah blah, but she would need to go home and sign up online so she couldn't get the discount that day. Since I had the coupon, I knew it was really just a matter of the manager entering a code at check out. It kinda cheesed me off so I gave the woman my coupon. It didn't apply to food stuffs, which was probably the only thing we would get anyhow seeing as how Scoob was off scoping out the chocolates. He ended up getting chipotle chocolate and pomegranate chocolate.
After that we came home, had dinner, watched (yet another) movie, and generally called it a night.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Making Ends Meet
Well, after today tax season will be officially behind us (except for those folks who filed for extensions) and I've been pondering some of the information I got out of doing my taxes. For example, I made $11,000 less in 2008 than I did in 2007. I know that most of this difference was due to being laid off in 2007—All my accrued vacation time was paid out and I collected several weeks worth of severance pay all with no real break in gainful employment because I was at a new job the day after being laid off. In essence I was receiving 2 full time paychecks for a couple months in 2007.
I also discovered that most people in my tax bracket earn about 7-times more in interest than I do. So I've resolved to save more this year and have already set up some automatic deductions to make sure this happens. They also make about 15-times more income from personal business. In 2007, the full time job I had while collecting severance was freelance work and it fell on this line of my return. It was the first time I had ever reported personal business income, and it felt pretty good.
In 2008, I still had a bit of income here, but nothing to get excited about. I was actually pretty peeved at myself for not earning more here, but hey, I was working full time, had health insurance and a 401(k), and I really like my day job. Obviously I'm not going to quit my 9-to-5 and go start my own business, but since we're looking at no raises at work for the foreseeable future and Scoob is taking a pay cut, I've been trying to think of ways to absorb the difference.
Lately I've been finding lots of articles about making residual income in your spare time, or from a hobby or interest, or starting your own business. Some things on the list I read today are clearly more involved than spare time projects.
The freelance work I've been doing the last couple years has been minimal, assisting with the escrow of the company I used to work for. Not so much because I was looking for extra income, but because I used to do the work in question and was already familiar with the group of contacts—their personalities, special requirements, and financial history with the company (not to mention the fact that I still work with several of them at my current job). It made no sense to for the employer to hire someone else, so when the work was offered, I accepted.
It quickly became apparent that this was not the type of work I could do in my spare time as banks, lawyers, and accountants were calling during business hours. Luckily, my day job doesn't have to be completed on a 9-to-5 schedule and if my side job cut into my work day, I would either stay late and make up the time missed or take my work home with me. Not an ideal situation, but not inequitable either. The fact that I like my day job helps :)
Ideally, I'd like to find more of a spare time/hobby project that could generate income. I've thought about monetizing this blog, and I'm still open to that idea, but at the moment, I don't feel as though I've hit a stride with tone, content, or frequency of posts, and I don't really think I have enough of an audience to warrant adding ads. But I did take a look at Etsy today.
Etsy is an online marketplace for buying and selling handmade items. Kind of like an online arts and crafts fair. Most things are one-of-a-kind. You'll find everything from glasswork to acrylic painting to furniture making. I've never felt that I'm terribly artistically inclined, but that's probably due more to my lack of self-confidence than anything else. When I look at some of the projects people post on Etsy I think "hey, I could do that," or "dude, I want to learn how to do that."
I know several people who could easily put things up on Etsy—Mom with her psycho bird garden ornaments, flower pressings, and concrete sculptures; Mom and her crocheting; my sister and her painting; and a friend of ours designs purses for her friends and makes some truly amazing cards.
I also discovered that most people in my tax bracket earn about 7-times more in interest than I do. So I've resolved to save more this year and have already set up some automatic deductions to make sure this happens. They also make about 15-times more income from personal business. In 2007, the full time job I had while collecting severance was freelance work and it fell on this line of my return. It was the first time I had ever reported personal business income, and it felt pretty good.
In 2008, I still had a bit of income here, but nothing to get excited about. I was actually pretty peeved at myself for not earning more here, but hey, I was working full time, had health insurance and a 401(k), and I really like my day job. Obviously I'm not going to quit my 9-to-5 and go start my own business, but since we're looking at no raises at work for the foreseeable future and Scoob is taking a pay cut, I've been trying to think of ways to absorb the difference.
Lately I've been finding lots of articles about making residual income in your spare time, or from a hobby or interest, or starting your own business. Some things on the list I read today are clearly more involved than spare time projects.
The freelance work I've been doing the last couple years has been minimal, assisting with the escrow of the company I used to work for. Not so much because I was looking for extra income, but because I used to do the work in question and was already familiar with the group of contacts—their personalities, special requirements, and financial history with the company (not to mention the fact that I still work with several of them at my current job). It made no sense to for the employer to hire someone else, so when the work was offered, I accepted.
It quickly became apparent that this was not the type of work I could do in my spare time as banks, lawyers, and accountants were calling during business hours. Luckily, my day job doesn't have to be completed on a 9-to-5 schedule and if my side job cut into my work day, I would either stay late and make up the time missed or take my work home with me. Not an ideal situation, but not inequitable either. The fact that I like my day job helps :)
Ideally, I'd like to find more of a spare time/hobby project that could generate income. I've thought about monetizing this blog, and I'm still open to that idea, but at the moment, I don't feel as though I've hit a stride with tone, content, or frequency of posts, and I don't really think I have enough of an audience to warrant adding ads. But I did take a look at Etsy today.
Etsy is an online marketplace for buying and selling handmade items. Kind of like an online arts and crafts fair. Most things are one-of-a-kind. You'll find everything from glasswork to acrylic painting to furniture making. I've never felt that I'm terribly artistically inclined, but that's probably due more to my lack of self-confidence than anything else. When I look at some of the projects people post on Etsy I think "hey, I could do that," or "dude, I want to learn how to do that."
I know several people who could easily put things up on Etsy—Mom with her psycho bird garden ornaments, flower pressings, and concrete sculptures; Mom and her crocheting; my sister and her painting; and a friend of ours designs purses for her friends and makes some truly amazing cards.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Scatterbrained
Happy Easter, all. I hope you're having a lovely holiday spent with family, friends, and those closest to you. For us, that means Scoob and I are hanging out with Tank and Dozer; pretty much like we do every day. But today it involved eggs.
For the first time ever, I tried my hand at making deviled eggs and I think they turned out pretty well considering I didn't use a recipe (though Mom did talk me through the process last Monday over the phone). I'm roasting chicken (again) for dinner tonight. In other excitement, we had a hawk land on our patio balcony this morning. Quite stunning; but it was gone by the time I had my camera out.
My web surfing today has taken me all over the place. No rhyme or reason or even a unifying theme, but I found most of it interesting nonetheless, which is noteworthy in and of itself because I've come across so little in the past few weeks that I felt compelled to share.
My first "awwwww" moment was when I caught sight of the First Family's new dog Bo. I haven't exactly been on Pooch Patrol waiting for news of the dog, but I do watch the White House Blogroom. I thought it curious that Bo is a purebred when the Obamas clearly stated they wanted to find a rescue dog, and I'm sure some folks will be up in arms over this.
But after reading a more detailed article here, it turns out that Bo wasn't a good fit with his previous family, and the Obamas are giving him a new home. When you get right down to it, finding homes for unwanted animals is what a lot of shelters try to do. The Obamas will still be making a donation to the D.C. Humane Society.
So getting into political news with a little more bite, or not, I read that the Indiana State Senate passed a resolution declaring “sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.” Uh-huh.
And someone thought it a good use of legislative time and taxpayer dollars to restate what is already quite clearly spelled out in the constitution? Aside from the fact that this resolution ever made it to vote, the fact that 3 Indiana Senators voted against it is interesting. I don't quite know what to make of that. Did they vote against it because it was an absurd resolution to begin with, or do they really not agree with what's being stated?
It's nearly impossible to talk about politics these days with out also discussing the economy, which in some ways is a good thing. I was amused, though, by this article about Sesame Street laying off the letters Q, X, Z, J, and the semicolon. There are other articles out there along the same vein, but apparently layoffs at Sesame Street are a real thing. The adult side of me understands completely, and even though I was more of an Electric Company fan (sowing the seeds of a life-long admiration for Morgan Freeman), the child in me is terribly upset.
The other day I posted about Mythbusters and sometimes wishing I had studied more science. Today I found this comic about the differences between TV science and real science. (Mythbusters' Jamie and Adam have a frame.)
Lastly, this was funny, and more than a little true, and I need to remember it more often.
With that, I'm off to read more Sor Juana on the elliptical machine and then go hang out some more with my peeps. I'll leave you with the results of this year's peeps diorama contest.
For the first time ever, I tried my hand at making deviled eggs and I think they turned out pretty well considering I didn't use a recipe (though Mom did talk me through the process last Monday over the phone). I'm roasting chicken (again) for dinner tonight. In other excitement, we had a hawk land on our patio balcony this morning. Quite stunning; but it was gone by the time I had my camera out.
My web surfing today has taken me all over the place. No rhyme or reason or even a unifying theme, but I found most of it interesting nonetheless, which is noteworthy in and of itself because I've come across so little in the past few weeks that I felt compelled to share.
My first "awwwww" moment was when I caught sight of the First Family's new dog Bo. I haven't exactly been on Pooch Patrol waiting for news of the dog, but I do watch the White House Blogroom. I thought it curious that Bo is a purebred when the Obamas clearly stated they wanted to find a rescue dog, and I'm sure some folks will be up in arms over this.
But after reading a more detailed article here, it turns out that Bo wasn't a good fit with his previous family, and the Obamas are giving him a new home. When you get right down to it, finding homes for unwanted animals is what a lot of shelters try to do. The Obamas will still be making a donation to the D.C. Humane Society.
So getting into political news with a little more bite, or not, I read that the Indiana State Senate passed a resolution declaring “sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.” Uh-huh.
And someone thought it a good use of legislative time and taxpayer dollars to restate what is already quite clearly spelled out in the constitution? Aside from the fact that this resolution ever made it to vote, the fact that 3 Indiana Senators voted against it is interesting. I don't quite know what to make of that. Did they vote against it because it was an absurd resolution to begin with, or do they really not agree with what's being stated?
It's nearly impossible to talk about politics these days with out also discussing the economy, which in some ways is a good thing. I was amused, though, by this article about Sesame Street laying off the letters Q, X, Z, J, and the semicolon. There are other articles out there along the same vein, but apparently layoffs at Sesame Street are a real thing. The adult side of me understands completely, and even though I was more of an Electric Company fan (sowing the seeds of a life-long admiration for Morgan Freeman), the child in me is terribly upset.
The other day I posted about Mythbusters and sometimes wishing I had studied more science. Today I found this comic about the differences between TV science and real science. (Mythbusters' Jamie and Adam have a frame.)
Lastly, this was funny, and more than a little true, and I need to remember it more often.
With that, I'm off to read more Sor Juana on the elliptical machine and then go hang out some more with my peeps. I'll leave you with the results of this year's peeps diorama contest.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Moons and Myths
The moon was beautiful last night and Scoob and I passed some time trying to get a good photo of it. Aside from that I watched Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel. Mythbusters is filmed locally and they got a little carried away a couple of weeks ago while trying to see if ones socks could be literally knocked off by igniting 500 pounds of ammonium nitrate.
They always look like they're having such fun crashing, exploding, shooting, dropping, stabbing, or otherwise destroying this week's projects that it kinda makes me wish I'd studied more science and engineering.
Speaking of education, I ran across this video and it really got me thinking about how quickly things have changed, not just over a generation, but even just in the last few years. How do you prepare or train for a job that doesn't even exist? And how do we make sure that kids get the foundation skills they'll need so that they are flexible enough to learn and adapt as the world continues to change?
I keep meaning to take my car in for maintenance. It's been about 10,000 miles since my last oil change and the tires are overdue for rotation as well. I know I need to take care of these things before they become much bigger problems, which made this how to talk to a mechanic comic strip more relevant than I would like.
Lastly, I'll leave you with some amazing animal photography to take a look at. Some of these photos are so amazing they almost look like paintings, especially the ostriches. If you make it down to the fox, that's how my cat Tank likes to lie down on the bed. He gets up near my head and then lays down, and when he squints like that, it's like he thinks he can will me to pet him. Well, maybe he can, because I always end up petting him. The red panda near the end is just too cute. Yes, too cute.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Stuffed Mediterranean Chicken
We made it over to Trader Joe's last weekend. Actually, we make it to Trader Joe's quite often, it's just that the store is usually so packed I won't deal with the crowds. When I see all registers open and the lines are 6 deep, I seriously have to ask myself what they possibly have in there that I need that badly.
And dudes, they seriously ought to license people to push shopping carts. I don't know what it is, but every time we go to Joe's on a weekend it seems people are missing most of their manners and brain cells.
But amazingly last weekend very few people were in the store and we did some shopping. (yes, mom, I got some more calcium supplements.) But the big item, the one real thing that brings me to Trader Joe's is the mixed olive bruschetta. If I've got this in my pantry, I can make almost anything palatable and I can create a meal out of thin air. It makes playing the What's for Dinner game so much easier.
So on Sunday, I made a dish I haven't made in a while, Stuffed Mediterranean Chicken.
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Ingredients
Directions
I'd had some other shots of this that showed the stuffed part, but frankly they were looking a little too anatomical to be appetizing.
And dudes, they seriously ought to license people to push shopping carts. I don't know what it is, but every time we go to Joe's on a weekend it seems people are missing most of their manners and brain cells.
But amazingly last weekend very few people were in the store and we did some shopping. (yes, mom, I got some more calcium supplements.) But the big item, the one real thing that brings me to Trader Joe's is the mixed olive bruschetta. If I've got this in my pantry, I can make almost anything palatable and I can create a meal out of thin air. It makes playing the What's for Dinner game so much easier.
So on Sunday, I made a dish I haven't made in a while, Stuffed Mediterranean Chicken.
Stuffed Mediterranean Chicken
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Ingredients
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- For each breast you'll want:
- 2 Tbsp olive bruschetta or tapenade
- Tbsp crumbled feta cheese
- extra virgin olive oil
- freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Cut a 2-inch pocket into the thickest part of the chicken breast.
- In a bowl, combine the olive tapenade and the feta and scoop the mixture into the chicken breasts and season the outside with the pepper.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook the chicken for 2 - 3 minutes on each side, or until brown.
- If you're not using an oven-safe skillet, transfer the chicken to a baking dish before moving to the oven. Bake for 18 minutes.
I'd had some other shots of this that showed the stuffed part, but frankly they were looking a little too anatomical to be appetizing.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Junkies
I'm told the first step is to acknowledge the fact that you have a problem. Hello, my name is Wayward, and we're Netflix junkies. We're usually using Netflix at least 3, and sometimes 5, times a week. If we go more than 2 days without Netflix, we become anxious and begin compulsively checking the mailbox for the arrival of that next fix.
I suppose it was peer pressure that got me started. I didn't go out of my way to find Netflix. Really it was Scoob that got me started. He signed us up and he usually picks the flix, I'm just mooching from his stash.
Okay, seriously now. I don't think I can keep that up much longer, but we do love our Netflix and we do actually use it that often. I like that we can browse movies and watch the trailers online, choose what we want and the movie is delivered to us. And the no late fee thing is great. That's what kept us from renting B.N. (Before Netflix); we usually returned movies ontime to Blockbuster, but we still got nailed with late fees half the time. It became such a hassle to argue with them every time that we just stopped renting altogether.
And I can't remember the last movie I saw at a theater. Well, if I stop and think about it I can. It was Dodge Ball. But I only saw it at a theater because I was taking Dad to the movies for Father's Day. So when was that, 2004? We just watched House Bunny the other night, which is a movie I had no interest in seeing at the theater. But it was quite funny and would have been worth a matinee admission. (I made Scoob keep it so I can watch it again before we return it.)
Yeah, I'm one of those people. I can watch a movie repeatedly, even back-to-back, and enjoy it every single time. Oh, and maybe it's an OCD thing, but I also cannot not finish a movie after I've begun watching it. No matter how many times I've seen it, even if I just saw it.
I still don't understand how Netflix makes a profit. I certainly don't think they make much of a profit from us. We pay about $20 each month for unlimited movie rentals and we can have 3 movies checked out at a time. (We rent a mix of regular and Blu-ray movies.) I've read that Netflix pays first-class postage both ways, in which case about half of our monthly fee goes toward postage. But I imagine they probably get a pre-sort bulk mail discount, though I don't know what that discount is.
If you've ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at Netflix, I ran across this photo essay the other day. I had assumed the sorting centers were much more automated than this. It looks like it takes a lot of labor to run the operation. Which is probably one of the reasons they're raising their rates again (effective April 27th), but only for the Blu-ray customers. It's an incredibly small increase when you think about it.
I suppose it was peer pressure that got me started. I didn't go out of my way to find Netflix. Really it was Scoob that got me started. He signed us up and he usually picks the flix, I'm just mooching from his stash.
Okay, seriously now. I don't think I can keep that up much longer, but we do love our Netflix and we do actually use it that often. I like that we can browse movies and watch the trailers online, choose what we want and the movie is delivered to us. And the no late fee thing is great. That's what kept us from renting B.N. (Before Netflix); we usually returned movies ontime to Blockbuster, but we still got nailed with late fees half the time. It became such a hassle to argue with them every time that we just stopped renting altogether.
And I can't remember the last movie I saw at a theater. Well, if I stop and think about it I can. It was Dodge Ball. But I only saw it at a theater because I was taking Dad to the movies for Father's Day. So when was that, 2004? We just watched House Bunny the other night, which is a movie I had no interest in seeing at the theater. But it was quite funny and would have been worth a matinee admission. (I made Scoob keep it so I can watch it again before we return it.)
Yeah, I'm one of those people. I can watch a movie repeatedly, even back-to-back, and enjoy it every single time. Oh, and maybe it's an OCD thing, but I also cannot not finish a movie after I've begun watching it. No matter how many times I've seen it, even if I just saw it.
I still don't understand how Netflix makes a profit. I certainly don't think they make much of a profit from us. We pay about $20 each month for unlimited movie rentals and we can have 3 movies checked out at a time. (We rent a mix of regular and Blu-ray movies.) I've read that Netflix pays first-class postage both ways, in which case about half of our monthly fee goes toward postage. But I imagine they probably get a pre-sort bulk mail discount, though I don't know what that discount is.
If you've ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at Netflix, I ran across this photo essay the other day. I had assumed the sorting centers were much more automated than this. It looks like it takes a lot of labor to run the operation. Which is probably one of the reasons they're raising their rates again (effective April 27th), but only for the Blu-ray customers. It's an incredibly small increase when you think about it.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Just a Hint of Cleavage
So the nice weather seems to be here to stay, and that means I need to start busting out the nice weather shoes—peep toes, sandals, sling backs. Which also means I need to bring my hoofies out of hibernation.
During the winter about all I do for pedi-hygiene is trim the nails and maybe get a little lotion on there. So when spring rolls around, I basically need to find a belt sander for the callouses and my heels.
It never ceases to amaze me how much other people look at my hands and feet. I very rarely notice other people's unless there's something noteworthy like fuchsia nail polish or maybe if they're severely in need of some TLC. But immediately after I take care of mine (or treat myself to letting someone else do it), even with a neutral polish, people immediately notice.
In other hoofie news, I bought a toe bra, you know, to conceal that toe cleavage. We just can't have our toes spilling out all over. Seriously though, I mentioned to a co-worker that a certain pair of shoes was rubbing my tender tootsies uncomfortably, and she recommended a toe bra. I'd never heard of it. But last weekend when I was out looking for new trouser socks (because I wore holes through the old ones) I saw them. At $3.00 for 2 pairs, I figured I give them a try.
You can't see it in the photo, but there's a clear plastic strap you slip behind your heel and it is attached to each side of the bra to keep it from bunching up in the toe of your shoe. It's very comfortable and definitely worked wonders with those shoes. I have no idea what these things are really called, but I'll probably call them toe bras until I die.
Much like the current to do over the Freedom Tower not being officially named the Freedom Tower any longer. Dudes, it'll be called whatever you call it regardless of what the name is. Kind of like how people in the Bay Area call the I-80 bridge between San Francisco and the East Bay the Bay Bridge, despite the fact that it's "name" is The James "Sunny Jim" Rolph Bridge.
Now there's a tidbit of useless trivia to file away.
This made me laugh. And the technique would have come on pretty darned handy n numerous occasions.
During the winter about all I do for pedi-hygiene is trim the nails and maybe get a little lotion on there. So when spring rolls around, I basically need to find a belt sander for the callouses and my heels.
It never ceases to amaze me how much other people look at my hands and feet. I very rarely notice other people's unless there's something noteworthy like fuchsia nail polish or maybe if they're severely in need of some TLC. But immediately after I take care of mine (or treat myself to letting someone else do it), even with a neutral polish, people immediately notice.
In other hoofie news, I bought a toe bra, you know, to conceal that toe cleavage. We just can't have our toes spilling out all over. Seriously though, I mentioned to a co-worker that a certain pair of shoes was rubbing my tender tootsies uncomfortably, and she recommended a toe bra. I'd never heard of it. But last weekend when I was out looking for new trouser socks (because I wore holes through the old ones) I saw them. At $3.00 for 2 pairs, I figured I give them a try.
You can't see it in the photo, but there's a clear plastic strap you slip behind your heel and it is attached to each side of the bra to keep it from bunching up in the toe of your shoe. It's very comfortable and definitely worked wonders with those shoes. I have no idea what these things are really called, but I'll probably call them toe bras until I die.
Much like the current to do over the Freedom Tower not being officially named the Freedom Tower any longer. Dudes, it'll be called whatever you call it regardless of what the name is. Kind of like how people in the Bay Area call the I-80 bridge between San Francisco and the East Bay the Bay Bridge, despite the fact that it's "name" is The James "Sunny Jim" Rolph Bridge.
Now there's a tidbit of useless trivia to file away.
This made me laugh. And the technique would have come on pretty darned handy n numerous occasions.
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