My Not-So Love Affair With Motorized Vehicles

Well I took #2 Son down to the DMV(dept. of motor vehicles)on thursday after school for him to take his learner's permit test and hopefully get his permit, if he passed the test.
So we get called up to the desk and the guy goes through our paperwork to see that everything is in order.
Then he clears us & #2 Son goes over to the machine and I sit down and cross my fingers. 

And he passed! 8-)

So then we go over to another clerk and he tells me how much to make the check out for and then he flips one of the forms back and forth and makes an, "Uh oh" noise.
Uh-oh noises out of DMV clerks are not what you want to hear......

And he says, "One moment", and goes off to chat with the 1st clerk who cleared our paperwork.
They both come back after #2 Son and I give each other about 10 looks that say, "Oh Crap!...What now?!?".
Clerk #1 explains that the physical form, that the doctor filled out, that one section of it was done incorrectly.  This is the section where the doctor is suppose to check off from a given list if the permitee has any of the listed medical conditions/illnesses that will be a roadblock for him/her to be able to drive.  You are only suppose to check a condition IF it WILL be an issue for the new driver.  The list contains things like epilepsy, heart condition, diabetes, renal failure, neurological seizures, an amputation of a limb, deafness, etc.
Our doctor has checked off EVERY SINGLE BOX instead of no boxes!
Clerk #2 said, "Yah, according to your doctor, your son has about 5 minutes left to live."

!

Then Clerk #2 said that the form instructions use to be to check the boxes if the permit-ee did NOT have these conditions, but that the state had changed the form, so that now you only check off the boxes that apply to your permit-ee's health.

So we had to go back to the doctor with a clean form and have him redo it.  Of course, the receptionist at the dr. office got a real good laugh out of it and the dr., god that he is, insisted that HE did not make a mistake.
Yah right......

So #2 Son didn't get his permit Thursday.
But we just have to take the paperwork back and pick up the permit.
His test is valid for 30 days, as is the eye test they administered.
He'll have his permit in his hot little hands by Saturday afternoon and then he'll commence to start nagging us to take him driving.
Oh goody....I can't wait! lol

On the way home after all THAT fun, I had to stop and fill my tank at the gas station.
I drive so rarely lately that this is the first time I've put gas in my car in about a month.
I bet each and every one of you, no matter where you live, heard me freaking out over the price per gallon on the sign and how much it actually cost me to fill my tank.  I had just under 1/4 of a tank when I pulled into the station, so 3/4 of a tank cost me SIXTY ONE DOLLARS!!!!!!!
Yes, that WAS 7 exclamation marks......

And it was *ONLY*sarcasm alert* $3.93 per gallon.

And on a similar note.....
Thanks for all the advise on our car dilemma I posed earlier this week.
Hubs and I had a sit-down over the options and have concurred that 1 car for now is best, rather than 2.

We'll start window shopping online locally this weekend and then take some information to the car insurance guy so he can run the numbers on different makes and models to see, when all other things being equal, which cars would be less expensive to insure.
We also have to let the insurance guy know that #2 Son is Road Ready.....eep!

PS--Blogger changed up the Control Board on us today and I am NOT liking this new look.  I may be slow for a week or two getting posts up.  I am old and I don't take change well anymore it seems......bleh.

Sluggy

Sluggy's Boring Blog Giveaway Box......Enter Now!

Time for another......

Sluggy's BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY!

Here's how it works.....

I put things in the box(mostly what I have gotten for free or almost free)each week and when the box is filled we draw a winner from all the entries received.

Here is what went into the Box today.....

1.  an Elvis Refrigerator Magnet
2.  a box of Benadryl Allergy + Sinus formula
3.  a tub of Visine eye wipes
4. 2 bars of Oil of Olay Soap

5. a travel sized Dove deodorant

6. a travel sized John Frieda Shampoo tube 

Now you KNOW you NEED this!

If this is your first time, please go read all the rules for these Giveaways HERE.

Time to enter.....You can enter on this Giveaway post until I close this post to entries.  Then I will put up another post to comment on until the box is full.

1 entry per person per day on THIS POST. 
Leave your name/email addy and a COMMENT on this post.  

This week I want to hear about your family genealogy in your comments.  Do you do genealogy?.....Where did your ancestors come from?.....Have your ancestors been in this country(or your country if you don't live in the US)long or not?.....Do you have any famous, fascinating, weird or  notorious people in your family line?  Are WE related?? ;-)

You can come directly to this blog post or find it through the link on the right side bar to leave 1 comment per day.  The current Giveaway Post will be linked right at the top of the side bar.

Please NOTE--You MUST be a follower to enter the Giveaway.  If you aren't one, just click on the "Follow" button on the right hand side of my blog to become a follower.

There are 2 ways to get EXTRA entries....

1. Put my blog on your blog's Blogroll.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with the URL of your blog so I can go check it out. If I'm already on your Blogroll, say so in an extra entry comment.
2.  Blog about this Giveaway on your blog or on a Message Board.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with a link to your blog post or the message on the board.


Any questions?  Just email me.

Happy Entering!! 

Sluggy

Grocery Shopping This Week

I did the shopping early this week.
Hiked up to Weis last night and got this....

Like a man said in a famous movie...."Ignore those paper towels behind that curtain!"
Or something like that.
Though it kills me to buy them, I bought them.
It was either I bought them and a got a sorta "deal" or I let Hubs buy them and pay full retail price.

Weis has the 8 roll packs of Small Steps Marcal on sale this week(reg. $8.29 pkg.)for $5.99.
I found $1/1 Marcal products Q in the Weis "Healthy Bits" magazine they have stashed around the stores.  So I paid $4.99 for each pkg. or $3.29 less than retail.

I was fully prepared to go to Rite-Aid and buy the Simplify house brand of towels for .80¢ a roll with my 20% Wellness discount if I hadn't found the Weis deal on the Marcal.

So just think of all those paper towels as my love letter to my Hubs.....because I won't buy paper towels for anybody else on the planet!

The items we needed this week for meals were the Steak-Umms (BOGO sale this week, making them $5.99 for both)and the Taco Shells($2 on sale but I bought an extra package in case I don't find a deal before the next time #2 Son wants these again).

As for the rest, it was pure stock up....meaning I didn't NEED any of this stuff immediately.

* The olive oil was on sale for $3.99 and that Healthy Bits magazine had a $1/1 Q, making it $2.99.
* The tomato paste was on sale for .89¢ and that Healthy Bits magazine had a $1/2 full circle items Q, making them .39¢ each.
* The yogurt was a new Weis house brand of Greek yogurt and it was on sale for .88¢.  I just wanted to try it so I got one.
*  The OM roast beef deli meat was on sale for $4.29 plus there was a $2/1 Store discount Q on it AND each package had a $1/1 ManuQ Peelie stuck to it, so I got $3 off each pkg, making them $1.29 a piece.
This is the nitrite-free roast beef and there is still a couple of weeks left to use it.  Score!
* Those 4 packages of hot dogs are the natural, no nitrite/preservatives-free expensive ass hot dogs!  Reg. retail at 4.69 a package.  They are on sale this week for $3.50.  These had $2 Instant Store Qs stuck to the package, making them $1.49 a piece.  I don't eat hot dogs often but when I do, I want a quality piece of dog.  I'll feed the cheap hot dogs here to #2 Son and his friends when they descend like locust on my kitchen....shhhh, don't tell....lol

Total came to $36.77.  Regular retail of $81.02 for a savings of 55%.
55% may not be so great but it's for MEAT people!!lol
Plus I figured $40 of food spending this week so I'm calling it a win...

Sluggy

Some Comic Relief for a Thursday

Here's something to get your day off to a good start.  It's a gem of a number that most people probably have never heard of.

It's a song from that MGM musical "Royal Wedding", and it quite possibly has the longest song title in history.

It's called "How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You, When You Know I've Been a Liar All My Life".
By Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner.

A cute number courtesy of Ms. Jane Powell and Mr. Fred Astaire.

Enjoy!

Sluggy

There Goes the Money!

Last week, I broke down and finally bought that handheld scanner.  Because of my Christmas gift card I only spent $43 "new" dollars on it.

Well that one purchase has opened the flood gates!

Hubs birthday was earlier this month.  After we went window shopping last week for a new gas grill to replace the little one we have beat the life out of and it can't be resuscitated to get through another year of grilling season, he decided to go back out on Saturday and actually buy a grill.
We're calling it his birthday present so I don't have a fit over spending the money.

Hubs did use 3 x $50 Home Improvement Store gift cards I had gotten at Rite-Aid last Fall, so he only spent a little less than $50 in "new" money.   I didn't get a discount on the gift cards but I did get free $10 in +Up Rewards for buying them.....so the gift card +Ups money was "new" money in a way.  Look at it this way--we bought a grill on sale for $170 and got $30 in +Up Rewards to get $30 in free stuff.
And we have a nice new slightly larger shiny grill to destroy.....

Then an appliance went on strike.  Well, really it stopped working a few weeks ago but after having to hand wash all those Easter dinner pots and dishes, Hubs has had enough and wants the dishwasher replaced.

But me, being the frugal and trying to be 'green' even though it's a dishwasher people....c'mon!lol.....I tried to figure out a repair.
Repair=greener.
Repair=cheaper than replacing.

I figured out the door latch/handle was broken.
I ordered a new replacement part.
It came on Saturday.

So on Sunday we commenced to replace the part.  We got all the way through removing the panels to expose the guts of the operation and went to unscrew the broken component.
And it needed a specialized screwdriver.
The size we didn't have.
Ack.
So we put everything back together so we could turn the electricity back on.
But we had to tape the door closed, but not latched since if we had latched the door, we don't get it unlatched without the broken part inside.

What an elegant looking sight!lol

So Hubs picked up the right sized screwdriver Monday evening and we removed the broken part and replaced with the new component.
And then the door closed...yay!
But the handle is not quite the right size.  They redesigned the part and it doesn't work in this model of dishwasher.
We don't know if the computer works too now.  We can turn the dishwasher on and the lights come on and all but nothing happens....meaning no water gushes forth and fills the thing and actually moves around and washes the dishes.
 There might be a reset or something you have to do with the computerize motherboard OR that might also need replacing.  The lights/cycles indicate and the timer counts down but no water, no action.

At any rate, if it needs anything else done it is beyond our skill level and a real repair person will have to be called in.
A repair person will cost $100 just to walk into my kitchen.
I am already out $70+ on the part, shipping and screwdriver.
If he replaces the handle component with another one, that's an hour of work and another part with mark up, so about $230 and Up total.  If it's the computer stuff it will cost much much more....more than a new "low end" dishwasher would cost.

Add in that the repair people aren't returning my calls so IF I can find one who will come, we'll be without a dishwasher for many days to come.
Which will make Hubs start cursing like he did when we tried to repair it ourselves.

Whoever said doing things together draws a married couple closer together is full of horseshit.  Repairing appliances does NOT qualify as a "something to do together" if one of you isn't handy in any way shape or form.....and that non-handy person is male. ;-)

I can go buy a brand new dishwasher for $250.  No cursing, no good money thrown after bad, no buying more tools that Hubs doesn't use and certainly doesn't keep tidy out in the garage.........and free delivery to boot!
Myself?  I can live without a dishwasher....especially if it's just 2 or 3 people eating here.  Once the kids are gone for good and it's just the 2 of us, I probably won't use the dishwasher except for holidays or when company is over.

But those days aren't quite here yet....especially once Daughter comes home for the foreseeable fortune.

We still need to finalize the 4 home improvement projects we had planned to do this year, but if the money keeps up like this, we might need to downsize the scope or turn 4 projects into 3.

Instead of the Year of Saving Money it's turning into the Year of Watching the Money Go Out with The Tide.

2012....you are getting on my bad side ya know!

Make me feel better and tell me about all your recent Unexpected "having to spend money" Life Events.

Sluggy