Showing posts with label no cable tv. Show all posts
Showing posts with label no cable tv. Show all posts

Friday, March 20, 2015

Random Stuff

Lots of small items to cover today---

*  We got word this past weekend that Hubs sister, who just got remarried Aug. 2013(and we traveled to the Midwest to attend the wedding ceremony), is getting divorced.
Things just didn't work out due to her husband's issues so instead of just riding it out until he drinks himself to death and being miserable, she's bailing.
I don't blame her at all not that I would have married the guy in the first place, but that's just me.
8-(

*  College Boy has the promise of a Summer job in a town nearby here.  And hopefully it's more hours than the bakery he worked at in high school use to give him.  He also has a possible second Summer job if the first one doesn't keep him working enough hours per week.
Being broke his first year of college has spurred him into going back for his sophomore year with the cash he saves from this Summer employment.  Hopefully he feels confident enough in his course work next semester that he can try to get a part time job while attending school.  That would help a lot to keep him from draining his college fund at the alarming clip that it is now being depleted.

*  Now seeing as College Boy will have employment this Summer this also means that he needs transportation.  We are down to 2 cars here--my purple bop around town vehicle and the old used Malibu(which was the 3rd kids' car)he took over when we donated his Elentra last Fall. 
So Hubs has decided to get a new, used car within the next month.  He may even buy it this weekend.
He found a good deal at Enterprise(the car rental people-they also sell cars)on another Malibu.
We'll be using part of his yearly Bonus which we received in February to pay for this.
Not only does this mean forking over $$$ for a new-to-us cars but having a third vehicle will mean our car insurance will again go up.  *sigh*  Well that reduction in insurance was nice for the 7 months it lasted......

*  Speaking of bonuses--Hubs and I need to sit down and talk about how the rest of the Bonus money will be spent this year. 

*  We need to pay for a bathroom redo this year so most, if not all, will go toward that.  It's a redo but we aren't going high end.  Just replacing worn out fixtures/cabinet/floor/toilet and taking out the moldy tile(yuck!)and fixing the wall behind where the tile is and installing a new tub.
Pretty much everything is being changed because we can't even THINK about selling this house until this work is done.

*  I would also like to get a freezer as I never replaced the one that died 3 weeks after buying it.  We've been limping along using the small compartments on two fridges-the one in the house and the older one in the garage.  I am figuring on getting a small chest type since we don't need/use as much food as when all the kids were home.  A small freezer will be adequate and will fit just fine where the older fridge resides in the garage.

*  I just saw that cable channel TLC is bringing back another episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?" this Sunday.  And we no longer have cable.
Bleh.
I suppose eventually they'll put the episodes online or on YouTube and I can catch them there.
So don't anyone give away the endings to me, ok? lolz

*  We are set to travel to Louisiana in mid May.  The Daughter has gotten time off from work so we are trying to plan some activities and such.  There is the Bonnie & Clyde Festival(weird)and a War of Northern Aggression Battlefield/Museum(boring) and a new brewery to visit(hic).  I just hope the weather down there in May isn't too humid.
I am still trying to set up motel reservations that don't cost an arm and a leg.  I don't want to stay where we were last trip there(too far)but I don't want to spend a fortune.  I found a reasonably priced motel but the reviews mentioned roaches and crack 'hos in the lobby........ick.

*  I go to the eye surgeon on Monday for my cataract surgery consult.  Still have forms to fill out before then and decisions to make about what type of lens to get.....the regular or the corrective lens.
I am sure insurance won't cover the corrective lens as much so that decision may be already made due to cost differences.  I still don't know when they will cut my eyeball open but it had better be well before the middle of May.

*  Easter is sneaking up on us soon.  College Boy won't be here for it this year, so I've got to decide if we just have a small meal Hubs and I or invite the brother in-law and nephew over.  We'll probably just hide out from family this year and relax. ;-)

*  Speaking of genealogy......I've already heard back from the Huguenot Society folks.  On the positive side of thing, there is someone who was confirmed into the Society using my Huguenot ancestor already and our lines are in common down to my 2x GGs, which means if she agrees to let me use the information in her application, I only have to prove 4 generations back from myself instead of 8.  It will be much easier to obtain documents going back to the 1800's rather than the 1600's, but while easily to get, it will cost me for official state vital statistical forms.
On the negative side here, the cost to apply is $20.  Then there is the annual dues to the National Society($25 or if over age 50 you can pay a one-time lifetime membership fee of $500) and then there are the yearly State fees for your chapter($10 or included in the lifetime membership fee).
So I'll be out $55 to start and then $35 each year.....or $520 in fees now and forever more, no more fees for my lifetime.   If I pay for the lifetime I'll have to live another 13 years to break even and after I am 69 it's all gravy.  ;-)
I also need up to 8 different vital statistical forms at $12 a pop to apply, so another $96 + postage.

*  I bought that Steve Jobs biography that came out a year or so ago at Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!) It was less than $3 with my discount card.  I'm about 2/3rds of the way through it and I can safely say the man was a narcissistic jerk!  I am glad I never worshiped at the Apple altar......

*  In other news, my oldest son is going to an educational job fair in Pittsburgh this weekend.  His GF is finishing up her degree in nuclear medical imaging and by August they will be ready to relocate so he has begun the search for a "real" job in his field.  He has a teaching degree in History and wants to land a job in a high school setting.  Please keep him in your thoughts this weekend that he gets some interest from the school districts in a state he has targeted and that his GF can land a job in her field in the same city/area.

*  Oh, and Happy Spring!
I went out for an Rx first thing this morning.
Now look at my backyard......


Mind you yesterday this ground was bare, save a few areas of leftover snow.

@#%$&%!@$@

Spring my ass........

Sluggy


 

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Happenings Lately at Chez Sluggy


*  Halloween has come and gone......


We had a couple dozen trick-or-treaters this year.
Very unusual for our neighborhood.
Hubs mentioned that most of the kids are aging out of trick-or-treating around here and the neighborhood is growing older.
This might be true but I think the fact that our high school had a home football game on Friday is more of a factor.
Football is almost a religion in these parts of PA, even high school football.  I think the fact that most families(including younger siblings of players, cheerleaders and band members)were at the game explains why there were no older kids(over 10)out begging for candy this year.
 
 
One little girl was especially cute this year.  She was about 3 or 4 and had on a homemade dinosaur cotume(a T-Rex to be exact).
She walked up the driveway while her mom stayed at the street and onto the porch.
I said to her, "Oh please don't eat me scary dinosaur!"

She thought a moment, then took 1 tiny step toward me and said very quietly, "Chomp!".
So cute.
She got extra candy......
 
 
Here's our bowl of candy once the night was over.
It's a huge bowl and held 4 large bags of candy.  Even with giving out handfuls of candy to each T-or-Ter it's still half full!
That's ok.
I can throw what's left into the next package I send #2 Son, or he can eat on this when he comes home for Thanksgiving break in a few weeks.

*  The day before Halloween, the police finally caught "suspected" cop-killer Eric Frein, the latest entry onto the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List from around here.
We use to live in the Poconos, near the town where they held his hearing last week, and I use to drive by that PSP barracks where he shot at the police quite often in my daily life.
Knowing this area I knew it would be awhile before they flushed him out of the woods being as he was a survivalist devotee.  But I didn't think it would take just shy of 7 weeks to run him down!
Hubs and I really thought the authorities would have to resort to issuing Frein tags to the local hunters(hunting--another things that's akin to a religion around here)to finally get him.
"Ok Mack, here's your doe tag, your buck tag and your Frein tag.....now go out and do some killing!"

Hunters have been denied any of the various hunting seasons since the beginning of October around here but they got Frein just in time not to ruin turkey season.
I am also so glad because that's all that's been on the local tv news around here for 7 weeks. 

*  I got a letter back from the P&G laundry rebate I sent for on Saturday telling me I didn't spend enough to qualify for the deal.
Obviously someone working on this deal can't do math!
I have copies of everything I sent them to prove I spend enough.
You had to spend $30.
I spent $49.02.
Subtract coupons totaling $14.25.
That gives you $34.77.....well over the $30 required.

Now I am debating whether to just let this go or to send them a letter with copies of my copies and pointing out the math is correct and they have erroneously screwed me out of my $10 rebate...which they will probably ignore and I still won't get satisfaction.
Or I can just start boycotting P&G goods instead.
What would you do?


*  I got a deal last week.  This showed up in the mail about a month ago......


A sheet of coupons from K-Mart offering me various $ amounts of gift cards for transferring prescriptions.
It was expiring October 31st so I transferred an rx that was coming due the end of October and got a $40 gift card for my trouble.


The other 2 offers were only for $10 gift cards so I only moved 1 for the $40 card.

Free Christmas shopping money?
YES please!!  8-)


*  We have officially been cable TV free for 10 days now.
And I am not adjusting well.  Up until now I have been a cable show watcher.  There are very few shows I have watched on network tv for years now.  Big Bang Theory, The Middle and Modern Family being the few exceptions to this.  Though I am not a big tv watcher my fav shows are mostly on cable.  We don't have Netflix of Hulu Plus or watch DVDs here much.  It has been a difficult 10 days for me but I keep reminding myself that for the few shows I am missing it's not worth the $70 we are now saving each month.
The jury is still out on this experiment however.


*  It's the beginning of November so I dug through and organized the freezers.  I have lots of salmon in there as well as pork chops.  I keep putting pork chops on the menu but we always seem to not get around to making them. lolz  I am going to try to eat down the freezer over the next few weeks so I can hopefully get a second turkey cheap and fit it into there....or maybe just a turkey breast since it's difficult to finish off a whole turkey between just Hubs and I. 

*  I finally went though my Summer clothes last week.  About time since it looks like it might SNOW today.
bleh.
I had to wait until we went to OC to change out the wardrobe since I needed warm weather things to wear down there.  Now it's time to knuckle down and put away the sandals and shorts.
double bleh.


*  It's coming up on 2 months since we contacted Sears about our split-unit going out on us.  After sending out a repair guy who was clueless TWICE, they finally sent out the guy who installs these things and guess what?.....the whatever died last year on the compressor and was replaced is dead again.  Twice within 12 months they went.
He tried to get Sears to replace the whole compressor, since it seems to be a lemon, but guess who is opting to replace the part again?
Sears.
Have I said how much I hate Sears now??
When we called for service in August we didn't have a/c.  Now we need heat it's been so long. 8-(

Anyway, if last year's fun is any indication of this year's fun with this, the part is having to be shipped from Japan so it will take it's sweet time getting here and the unit getting fixed......again!
Have I told y'all how much I hate Sears lately???
So we hobble along using the baseboards and the ceramic storage heaters that still work to keep warm.
Boy, I can't wait to get out of PA and this house.
Only 3 more years.....

So what's new at your house?

Sluggy