Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Midweek Rantness.......The Word of the Day

And yes, I do believe RANTNESS should be a word......
No matter what the "red squiggly lines" under it in my spellcheck program say.
It's a darn good word and appropriate for this post.

* I am still grounded at home.  The part STILL has not come in from the car company.  I have my suspicions....ever the conspiracy theorist here!.....that since I am having the repair done at a NON-CAR DEALER shop that the CAR COMPANY is in no freaking hurry to ship the part out.  Had an authorized "this brand of car" shop ordered the part?
Yah, that baby would have been hand delivered and installed last week already.
So because I refuse to put more money into the hands of "BIG CARMA" (aka big car manufacturers)by having them overcharge me for repair labor, I still sit at home.

I have important places to go and people to see dang it!.....like the grocery store and Rite-Aid.
This makes me figgity as a bubble dancer with a slow leak!

Yes, I subscribe to the Foghorn Leghorn school of insults......




* I have decided that being Grumpy is good for my bottom line.
And here is why.
I go to a particular gas station when my vehicle needs refilling.  It's one of 2 in my town in close proximity to the other and it's easiest to access, as it is at a traffic light.
The problem I have with this gas station is that they never EVER refill the pumps with receipt paper so that even if you push "YES" when the screen asks you if you want a receipt to print, at the end of the transaction, a receipt never prints out.....because......there is no paper in the machine!
Every.
Single.
Time.

So back a couple of weeks ago, before I lost the use of my car, I was at said gas station, filling up my tank.
As always I pushed YES for the print receipt? question, and yet again, no receipt printed out when I hung up the nozzle.
I got back into my car and instead of driving off straightaway, I sat and fumed and fussed at no one in particular.  I was just so exasperated by it all I had to sit and vent.
And while I was ranting, I was looking around out the windshield and I saw this laying on the ground about 10 feet away from my car........

HELLO ANDY JACKSON!


Nobody around to see if they lost this, so I picked old Andy up and tucked him into my pocket. 8-)

I had a thought initially to turn Andy into the clerk inside the minimart in case someone called about losing some money.
But then I thought that even if someone called looking for lost money, the clerk would probably just say no, keep the money and not turn it over the the manager or the owner.....and if he did, they would keep the money.

So now I have this problem....what to do with the 20 bucks.
I could give it to charity.
I could spend it on my family's needs.
I could spend it on myself.

So if you were me, what would you do?

And be honest.....if you would spend it on yourself don't be afraid to say so.
This is the anonymous internet so everyone who thinks they are morally superior to you can think you are a jerk but you don't have to care. ;-)
We all aren't cut out to be Mother Teresa, are we?
Some of us have to be Foghorn Leghorn.

Sluggy

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Stuck in the Past


I've always thought I had a good dose of OCD in my genetic makeup.
Why?  Because I can't become mildly interested in anything.
If I take up with an interest or a hobby or a job, I am ALL IN!
It's all I want to do and if left to my own devices, it IS all I do.
All day.
Every day.
24/7.....well except for that sleeping, eating, bathing stuff too. ;-)

Do you obsess over something or things?
I bet you do.

The thing that has me held captive lately is "armchair genealogy".
Not that I am searching for the history of armchairs but rather searching online records for family genealogy.  Having the internet and so many records being online, I can lose days sitting here just poking around in the past.....and I have!

Records that use to take genealogists months and years to search out via mail and on site location searches can be had in hours or mere minutes within a day now.
Of course you can't get everything online but for casual researchers like me and for digging into the top layers of history, the internet is 'da bomb!

Not that I am good at it yet, but I am getting better at putting 2 and 2 together.
It's like a giant time jigsaw puzzle.  And along the way I get history lessons too.  A win-win proposition in my book!

I work on one line and just keep going back until I hit those inevitable brick walls.
Then I go work on another branch.
And when I get bored with my family, I go work on the family of someone else.

I am so possessed that I've done a few people's trees and I don't even know them!
Someone posted a long gone family member on their blog and I went and built a family tree.  I'd love to share it with her but I'm scared to tell her......she might think I am creepy, ya know?
Someone else wrote a book about their great aunt's teenage journal and I traced her family tree back.

My daughter brought home a boyfriend and I started working on HIS family tree.....yah, but he was jazzed about it and WANTED to know.  It's too bad my daughter no longer dates him now.  But I did had a genealogy buddy for a short time......

I've just started Hub's oldest brother's wife's families and my brother's wife's families, though both of those have been difficult to get very far with.  Both have lines in North Carolina and for some reason, NC has some bad or non-existent records.

I have added every person who was ever connected to my family that I can find.....except for the family of the Sis-IL's ex hubby....and her new boyfriend....ooo!.....2 more families I can work on....yay!!

You should see my massive family tree now!   If I had to print this all out, I'd kill a rainforest in Central America.
Seriously.
My tree has 3572 peeps in it. 
I obviously come from some fertile clans....

My hub's tree has 312 peeps.
Hey, he's not interested in any of this stuff so I don't feel as motivated to do his side.....plus his father's side didn't come here until around 1900 and I don't read Italian or have access to records in Sicily which cuts into what I can do for free online.

And I have just started my oldest's longtime girlfriend's families.  Her grandmother seemed interested and gave oldest some basic info(name and birthdate) and I had this within minutes and sent this to oldest.



It's girlfriend's grandmother's  high school Senior photo.  So styling in those cat's eye glasses.....
Of course I can't get much more than this since she was born after the 1940 census year and I don't have her parents info yet.


So, does anybody out there want me rooting around in their family's past?
Want to know who you are named for or why you live where you do or how you got here and where your people came from?
If you have family info. for people born BEFORE 1940, email me and I'll see what I can find for you.
And I promise not to post your grandmother's high school yearbook photo on my blog.....unless you want me to. 8-)

Yes, I have a Ancestry dotcom membership and I know how to use it! ;-)

Sluggy







Monday, September 10, 2012

Food Spending September Week 1 & Meal Planning Week 2

 

*****************************

And here is the "meal plan" that actually happened last week.....


Sunday--Burgers, Dogs, Potato Salad, COC
Monday--Lime Chicken Fajitas
Tuesday--Stuffed Green Peppers with Rice
Wednesday--Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Cranberry Glop, Green Beans
Thursday--Alfredo Primavera, Caesar Salad
Friday--Leftovers
Saturday--Chinese take-out
 
The weekly food spending was $79.90. Actually $36.01 of that was receipts/trips from the previous week I forgot, which just means I spend even MORE($121 more) over my August budget on food.lol  $43.89 is still quite a bit for this past week, considering I didn't have a car to use until Saturday.  $15.12 of this is from Hubs picking up a couple things on his way home from work...aka "not getting the best price".  I did $28.77 worth of damage on Saturday....but I did get some clearanced "we ain't stocking this anymore" corned beef hash for 50% off for #2 Son.


Going into this week I have a largish portion of roasted chicken, some carrots, Fajita filling, Potato Salad and rice from the stuffed peppers.
Hubs has eaten the rest of the leftover stuffed peppers and the alfredo primavera over the weekend.
I think I get Bonus Points because I used a double leftover Sunday night.  The Fajita filling had used leftover chicken in it and I used it as a base for making Chicken Enchiladas last night.  Now we have 1 enchilada left and Daughter will be scarfing that leftover down tonight after work. ;-)
Tonight is Steak tips in gravy over rice, which uses the leftover rice, plus I'll add the leftover carrots into the sauce.
I'm having the P. salad with my lunch, so all that is left now is the chicken.  If I don't make chicken salad for lunch or find a way to work it into this week's menu, I'll freeze it for later use.


***********************

This week's menu.....
Sunday--Chicken Enchiladas, Caesar Salad
Monday--Steak Tips in Gravy over Brown Rice, Green Beans
Tuesday--Fish(not sure which kind yet/in freezer), Sweet Potato French Fries, Beets
Wednesday--Tacos
Thursday--Stuffed Shells(homemade in freezer), Tossed Salad or more Green Beans
Friday--Steak, Grilled Asparagus
Saturday--French Onion Soup w/Cheese, Caesar or Spinach Salad

We still have some zucchini bread left but I might also make some cookies this week.....lemon oatmeal and m&m types.
 
What I need to buy this week to serve this menu?.....Tortillas, Salad Greens/Romaine/Spinach, Asparagus.  Also need milk, fruit, lunchmeat for Hubs, little everyday stuff like condiments, sour cream, eggs, flour, etc. this week and I'm stocking up on tomato sauce this week.  I'm figuring $50 or less this week.


So what are you cooking at your house this week?

Sluggy

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Car and Rite-Aid Disgust


It's been a heck of a week here at Chez Sluggy.
On Tuesday Daughter's car broke down on her way home from college at 9 pm.
So she's been driving Hubs car to work/school and Hubs has been driving my car to work all week.

Daughter is fine and the car repair is small.  A couple of bolts need to be replaced and we are STILL waiting for them to come in.  It's been 3 business days and a weekend so far.

This means I haven't been anywhere this past week.
I did get out Saturday afternoon for a quick trip to the grocery store and to Rite-Aid.

I picked up 2 bottles of Infusium23 Shampoo at Rite-Aid.
And when I tried to "opt out" of having my +Up Rewards loaded onto my Wellness card I was thwarted.
Ugh!
Some new not-fully-trained kid was clerking.  Can you guess that he was clueless about how to opt me out at the register?!
And the asst. manager on duty was some new woman who transferred in so it was no use appealing to her.
So my +Ups didn't print out but loaded onto my card.
Ugh again!

Guess who I'll be calling on Monday?
If you said Rite-Aid Customer Service to bitch you would be correct.
Why do they put a not fully trained clerk on the register alone and put a new transferred in manager not familiar with procedures or this store on at the same time?
I think they do it just to piss me off, don't you?lol


2 x Infusium 'Poo on sale $4.99=$9.98

Used 2 x $2/1 AdPerks Infusium Qs=$4.00

$9.98-$4.00=$5.98
I used $6 in +Up Rewards to pay(adjusted down 2 cents-boy was THAT an ordeal!) so Zero OOP.
$6 in +Up Rewards(2 x $3-1 for each bottle) loaded onto my Wellness card....gggrrrrrrr

September Grand Totals so far.....

Out Of Pocket....$.00  cash
Value of items bought....$16.58
Savings Rate of  100%
Single Check Rebate due....$0.00
After SCR applied, Out of Pocket.... $.00
Savings Rate  100%

+Ups at beginning of month...$18+
+Ups used....$6+
+Ups received...$6+
+Ups currently...$18+ ($6 on my card, $12 on paper)


Hopefully I'll get my car back in time to get some trash bags at Rite-Aid this week and do some grocery shopping for some basics we are low or out of.

Of course, I usually don't go much of anywhere in the car anymore but don't you know it.....as soon as the car is NOT available, I need it! lol

Sluggy

Friday, September 7, 2012

The Boring Blog Box GIVEAWAY....Come Enter Again!

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.

Week 2 and here is what went into the Box today.....

1.  1 tube of Colgate Toothpaste
2.  1 Air Wick air freshener
3.  1 Halloween miniature stuffed M&M plush
4.  3 sample sized products--Colgate wisps, Eucerin lotion, Pledge wipe


If this is your first time, please go read all the rules for these Giveaways HERE.  *As always, if you are located outside the US, you CAN enter and win but weight restrictions/shipping costs may mean your prize box will contain less items.*

***Time to enter.....You can enter on this Giveaway post until I close this post to entries.

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 what you did on the long Labor Day Weekend.
Did you have a cook-out or other gathering?  Did you shop?  Did you sleep in?  Did you do anything interesting or just recharge for the work week ahead?
 
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 2 EXTRA entries on this and each new Giveaway Post.......

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 once each week of this giveaway.
2.  Blog about this Giveaway on your blog with a link to this post.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with a link to your blog post so I can go view it.  You can do this extra entry once each week of this giveaway.


Any questions?  Just email me.

Happy Entering!! 

Sluggy