Me & My Shadow

If you remember, I posted about a trip to a cemetery the day before yesterday to take some photos to post on Find A Grave, in which I also believe I saw an "apparition".

Yesterday I went and posted about 60 photos on F.A.G.--either had to post a memorial on the site since the person had none or added my photos to existing memorials of individuals if there was no photo or if my photo some how enhanced the memorial.  Sometimes the photos on the memorials are not very good(fuzzy, too far away to read the inscription or otherwise not very helpful)so if I get a good shot off, I'll hand it over to a memorial someone else created or maintains.

Another thing I do, especially if I am creating a memorial on F.A.G. on which to place the headstone photo on, since I have no clue who the person is/was, I'll go on Ancestry dotcom and research them briefly to see who is family to them and then search out that person on F.A.G. and find the member who is maintaining their memorial and let them know of the family connection so they can link their person to mine.  The more information on the person's memorial, the better able someone looking for their ancestors can locate them if my belief.

Well, sit down, because if you thought I was seeing things before, because it's getting a whole lot WEIRDER!

Two of the pictures I had snapped were of a headstone for "Santee", Joshua and his wife Elizabeth.  A really big, pretty rose colored chunk of granite with both their names on it.  I took a close-up of the inscription and a distance shot that took in the whole "rock" too. 
I went on F.A.G. and found that both Joshua and Elizabeth had memorials already put up by the same member, but neither one of them had a close-up of the wording on the stone, so I put my photo up on both of their memorials.

The other member did not however have their memorials linked, so I wrote to her and mentioned that if she gets some time, it would be nice to have them linked.  Just a suggestions as sometimes, if you are trying to get many people online for the site, you overlook some details like that.

Some people get very offended if you write and suggest things like this so I am always very careful to be none threatening.....though goodness knows, how or why anyone would feel threatened by ME escapes my reasoning! lol

I got a nice reply from the member and she did link this couple in her memorials.  She also let me know that she had put an interesting newspaper article from 1894 up on Joshua's memorial.
Please go read it HERE.

It's said that ghosts or apparitions or spirits whom make they presence known on Earth after their passing are still here because of unresolved issues, or a traumatic death.  Their energy refuses to leave
the physical world because of this.

After I read that newspaper article about Mr. Santee, I went and looked at my photograph of the burial map for the cemetery.  When I thought I "saw" that apparition of a man dressed in pants & a coat  from the 1850's(early Victorian era), I was standing in the vicinity of Joshua's headstone.  Mr. Santee would have been in his prime of adulthood during that time period, which matches the rough age & style of clothing of the figure I "saw".

When that sunk into my brain, I started freaking out all over again!

I told Hubs all this last night when he got home.  He rolled his eyes at me and said I needed a life. ;-)
I figured he'd react like that.....

A couple of things happened that evening, little things, like the sprayer on the kitchen faucet started spraying for no reason when we turned on the faucet(and it's not broken), and my printed was acting up.  We started joking that it was Joshua.....he got in the car and followed me home the other day.

Hey, now that I've made a new "friend" maybe I'll get out more.  It's sad when the long dead have a better social life than you.....

Sluggy





 

Where the Past & Present Intersect

I went out today to get some exercise since the weather is not beastly hot like the past 4 days have been.
And where does Sluggy go to exercise?
A local cemetery to take pictures of headstones for F.A.G. of course! 8-)

Call me crazy but I find it relaxing to wander about a green space on a beautiful day and snap pictures of grave markers of stranger's dear departed relatives and ancestors.
It was also a nice drive down a windy country road into a very tiny town with a huge church and large gorgeous cemetery.  This area was a booming place, filled with lots of people back 100 years or more ago, so there are lots of little and some massive graveyards tucked away all over the place in this part of PA.
I signed up to be a volunteer photographer for F.A.G.  Somebody makes a request for a photo of a headstone for someone listed on the website and every volunteer within 50 or so miles gets an email alert for that request.
You wouldn't believe how many email alerts I get a week!  There are so many graveyards in this area it's crazy!  I think there are more people these days here living below the ground than above. lol

And there are very few people taking volunteer photos so I have a wide open playing field if I can find the cemetery.  Heck, I could do this as a fulltime job there are so many requests for photos.  Too bad the pay is lousy....ok, the pay is VERY lousy, as in, NO pay. ;-)

I'm making this my project-to document with photos and memorials on the website-this entire cemetery.
There are some memorials already listed on F.A.G. for this boneyard, but by no means is it complete.

By posting those headstones/markers on the Find A Grave website, it might help some other amateur genealogist track down a missing piece of their family line.
This is me, giving back for those who have helped me on my journey into my past.

I caught the caretakers out mowing today so I got a chance to ask about how the cemetery was sectioned off/mapped out.  He showed me the very VERY old pages of the graveyards layout with the surnames handwritten.  They have no files in a cabinet, no computerized lists....these papers are the only records for the graves!  They are so old and brittle and almost a medium brown in color from age.  This was no archival paper by any means when they were new.  I wonder what they will do when/if these maps ever wear out or get destroyed.  Hopefully there is another set of them tucked away in a safe somewhere.

These maps are very important information so I am not traipsing all over looking for a particular person's grave to photograph for a request from the F.A.G. website.

And to make my trips back there more productive, I was allowed to photograph the maps.  What a coup!
This will help me tremendously to get all the burial records up on the site that are missing.
Score one for this amateur grave sleuth..... ;-)

I took about 100 photos today so I am off to see which ones came out clear and start cropping and getting them in a folder, ready to load to Find A Grave.

I also had a very unsettling incident in the cemetery today.  I am not one to believe in ghosts and stuff like that but.....
I could have sworn at one point, as I was turning my head as I walked to the next headstone, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a figure dressed in a white suit, standing about 50 ft. away from me.  It was a shadowy figure and other than the cut of the pants appearing to be empire period style(hey! I'm an old costume designer....I know this shit!lol), I couldn't make out any distinguishing features of the clothing or the face.
I quickly turned and did a double-take and there was no one there.  And the hairs on my arms were standing straight up.....eeeesh.....

If it hadn't been a bright beautiful day, I might have freaked out.  But I was surprisingly calm about the whole thing.
So go ahead and tell me it was the hot sun playing tricks on my mind or Sluggy has been drinking or taking "funny" medications today or she's stressed out and just losing what little is left of her mind now.
I know I saw it.....so shaddup! 8-P

Sluggy

 

Coupon Inserts Crap--Rant of The Week

*This post is in no way meant to malign anyone reading who actually buys the stuff discussed below.  Think of it instead as a wake up call about being frivolous with your money.
************************************************

I want to talk about Coupon Inserts this morning.
Specifically those pages of garbage, companies advertise to sell to the public in those inserts.

All I can say is what a waste of your good money if you buy that stuff.
Now I'm not talking about necessities sold via those insert ads.
Granted now and again there might be a true need offered for sale there, like an article of clothing(though the style is questionable) or footwear or wiper blades for your car or something similar.
Those things are money well spent if you need it and it's a good deal(for the quality).

What I'm talking about is the tchotchkes, collectibles, and other pointless wastes of money offered to get you separated from your cash.
I know, I know.......some of it is cute and irresistible but seriously......how many dust collectors does one need in their lifetime?

Let's have a look at this week's crop of drek......

First up, we have kitties.....

"An heirloom treasure is yours to claim!"
Oooo!
For the low LOW price of $2.95 get the 1st Captivating Cat figurine.
Then every month they'll send you another one, for which you only pay $15, for the next 23 months.
You also get as a BONUS a flimsy wooden cat holder shadowbox thingy to hold them all.
They are 1.5" tall.
In the end, you will be out approx. $347......$347!
But with an aDOREable set of miniature dust collectors to show for your money.

Then there is this one.....one of my favorites......

Designer Checks.
Ugh.

Nobody cares what your checks look like.....not the electric company, the grocery store cashiers nor the mortgage company.  Heck, you can take any piece of paper and write your own check technically and the bank is suppose to honor it.
Designer checks are a waste of ink and your money.

Seriously, you can't get checks for free or cheap at your bank or credit union?   Then you need to find a better bank......or maybe it's a matter of having more of your money IN the bank to get the free check perks, etc.  If you are wasting your money buying designer checks and cat figurines, maybe that's why you don't have enough money in your account to be a valued customer of your financial institution.
Not hating on anyone, just raising a valid point here. 8-)

I LOVE the part in this ad where they tell you the 1st box is $5.50 and if you buy 2 boxes it's only $11(which is 2 x $5.50, right?).  Then they tell you that you only pay $16.50 for 4 boxes, which means your 4th box is free.  But at $16.50, that comes out to $4.12(& 1/2¢)per box.
Wouldn't that $16.50 be much better spent on a donation to a local food bank or some  real world need?

And here's another one.....

A "Mystical Feline Fairy"
Yah......

What's with all the cat crap?
Where is the equal time for dog crap?? lol

For the low price of $29.99(plus $8.99), you too can be out $38.98 for this 5" tall ceramic cat tchotchke worth about 1.50¢ and produced in China.
OOoo!  But, but it's got a REAL Swarovski crystal on the collar!  And it's limited to 95 firing days and a Hamilton Collection collectible.
Do you know how many of these they can churn out in 95 days?  Billions!

But this is the biggest scam of the week......

The Official U.S. Presidential Coin Set.
Your 1st set is a mere $14.95.  Each subsequent coin set in the series will cost you $29.95(+ $2 shipping & service) and at the end of it all, IF you buy the full set, they send you a FREE display chest.
Ooooo!

Do you know how many presidents there have been?
If they are only making coins for the dead ones, that is 40 coins at the moment.
If you get all 40, you will be out $1,183 for that set.
A set of 3 $1 coins worth $3.... x 40 sets equals $120.
Yes, these are worth face value only.
You are spending just short of 10 TIMES what these are worth.
Does this kind of spending make any sense for anyone, short of a die-hard coin collector??

For a coin that the money spending public didn't want.  The Federal Reserve has BILLIONS of these things sitting in vaults taking up space because when they were produced no one who uses money wanted to use them in circulation.
So the Feds suspended production of this really wasteful idea and are only going to produce the rest of the presidential $1 coins for collectors who pre-order them(so there will be less of them from Grover Cleveland on down).

The PCS Stamps and Coins company(who bring you this fine offer)are betting on you not knowing the lack of rarity of these coins and the fact that you can't or don't care to do the math and see the crazy amount of coin you will be dropping on this item!
In the ad, they try to create a demand for the items harping on the "severe(ly) restricted inventories". LOLZ
Yes!
Act now!!.....before someone stops you on the street and tries to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge.

So to recap, if we fell for all these coupon insert offers this week, how much poorer would we each be after paying for all these complete sets?

$1,585.48

$1,585.48

And you'd have a handful of ceramic doo-dads, 4 boxes of checks you can get at the bank for free and $40 worth of legal tender cash monies(plus a flimsy wooden shelf and a plastic display chest to put in your next garage sale) in return for draining your savings account of over $1500.

So the next time you reach for your credit card or the phone to buy this kind of stuff, think about what meaningful things you can do for your family or community for this kind of money.
It's a nice vacation.
It's a new couple of appliances in your kitchen.
It's a new wardrobe.
It's a house payment.
It's emergency dental work if you don't have insurance(and even sometimes when you do!)
It's season tickets to some artistic group or cultural activity.
It's enough to dig a new well and install a pump and filtration system for a third world impoverished village.
It's a nice deposit into your kid's 529 college plan.

I am sure you can think of more ways to better use that kind of cash, rather than buying unnecessary
stuff from a coupon insert.

Sluggy




 

MAY 2013 Budget Results....Food & Toiletries Spending

 

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MAY 2013.

I have posted May's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2013 and updated the Yearly Totals.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in May.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Summary.

My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 5(4 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 17.
******************

 

BREAT OUTLET

OOP  $17.24

Value  $42.09

Savings  59.04%

MAINE SOURCE(restaurant supply)

OOP  $75.86

Value  $137.58

Savings   44.86%

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $107.74

Qs/Ads  $45.14

Value  $152.88

Savings  29.53%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $299.51

Qs/Ads  $190.82

Value  $490.33

Savings  39%

I am no longer adding my rebates received into my food budget directly. I will use them on food on occasion and will note that when used.  I will keep track of rebates/gift cards/certs received here as before however.

REBATE CHECKS RECEIVED IN May.....$0.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES....$0

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$0.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Zero

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Bread Outlet at 59.04%, Maine Source at 44.86% and Weis Market at 39%.  l only shopped at 4 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$500.35

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$322.53

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$822.88

TOTAL Savings of...................................39.20%

This closes out the May food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into May with my usual $400 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month.  Overshot the budget by $100.35.  Not a great month so I'll try to do better in June.

I did NO Rite-Aid shopping in last month either.

I'm still trying to figure out what my baseline for food costs is since the dietary change in April.  I suspect it will be more like $500 per month now, but I'm going to keep shooting for $400 for the next few months.

Looking ahead to June---We'll stick to our $400 food budget again this month.  I'm hoping for some better sales on fresh produce since it's almost Summer.

 

And here is the run down of my Food & Toiletries Spending for 2013 so far--

2013 Total Saved $1,432.51

2013 Yearly Total Value of Items  $3,350.33

2013 Yearly Total Spent $1,926.82

2013 Yearly Savings Total of 42.50%

 

My total savings percentage for the year has gone down just over 1%.  The month of May was over 30% saved and the yearly total so far is still over 40% so I am good with that.

 

How much did you spend on food in May?
 

Sluggy

The Ice Man Cometh.....Not Soon Enough!

May had been an incredibly expensive month for us here at Chez Sluggy.
Luckily, May was also one of those freak 3 paycheck months.
Good thing, it was!

So how do I start off June financially?
Well, I bought a freezer.

Yup.

Our old workhorse of a freezer has been limping along and this past week things started happening in the old chill chest that indicated that it would be gasping it's last very shortly.
It was defrosted recently and I opened the door to find a LOT of ice built up on the top shelves and on the door and the stuff on the top shelves didn't seem as frozen.
Jacking up the thermostat didn't help the situation either.

So I moved the ice cream and such to lower shelves and after another 24 hours rechecked the temperature and it was definitely heading in the wrong direction.

I went online for 3 HOURS yesterday comparing all the makes, models, brands for all the features important to me, in the size I needed.
My eyes were crossing by the time I came to a decision.

I would have liked to have bought from a local small business but both of them never returned my calls/emails within 6 hours time.
Good job local retailers, Grand Central and Beiter's,  if you are reading this......well done!
You have a willing mark customer and you both blew it....congratulations!
You should be so proud.

A note to every retailer out there who is selling freezers.....
The chances are that your potential customer shopping for a freezer is in a bit of a HURRY, as the likelihood is high that they are REPLACING their current freezer that NO LONGER REALLY KEEPS ANYTHING FROZEN......and when the weather is in the high 80's, this is an unacceptable situation to have for very long.
If you are selling freezers, return your phone calls if you want the business.
That's all I'm saying.......

Oh!....and don't NOT put prices on your website and make me call/email you for a "price quote".
I understand wanting to get me in the door and upsell me a more expensive/larger appliance but in real life, it just drives me into the arms of another retailer.

The frugal me wanted to buy my freezer from Lowe's....as I have a hate/hate relationship with the ir competitor, the Home Despot.
And I have $500 in gift cards to use at Lowe's from my Rite-Aid +Ups binging days last year.
($350 of the gcs are good at either Lowe's or the Despot, $150 are store specific for Lowe's).

For those of you who are thinking, "My, that was mighty brave/foolhardy of you to purchase such an expensive and large appliance, sight unseen on the internet.....aren't you scared?"
Nope.

Most of these freezers are NOT even in the store(the Despot only had 2 in the size/style in the store and Lowe's had 3 I think on the sales floor and 2 were too expensive), so I didn't even need to go in and "kick the tires" on the chill chests in order to decide.

My requirements were thus.....

1.  Be a certain size to fit into the current space for a freezer & approx. same interior size
2.  Be an upright model-we are horizontally surface challenged here
3.  Have a security door lock
4.  Be an Energy Star machine
5.  Have good to excellent reviews
6.  Not cost an arm OR a leg or our firstborn

I got 5 outta 6.  I can live without a door lock if I have to.

2 hours into the research and I realized one thing....Frigidaires are shit.....at least according to the "man on the street" reviews on various sites AND from my own personal knowledge of them.

So I pulled the trigger and here is what the delivery crew from the Despot is delivering to Chez Sluggy this coming Thursday.....

Whirlpool 15.8 cu. ft. Frost Free Upright Freezer in White

Model # EV160NZTQ

Reg. retail at the Despot is $599.00
I got it for $448.20 plus free shipping and haul away.

AND our electric supplier in PA has a $35 rebate if you replace your old freezer with an Energy Star model and THEY will haul it off.
Take it away and give me money?

Yes, please!!

And the deciding factor between this freezer and a nearly identical one at Lowe's?
The Despot would deliver it a full 12 DAYS sooner than Lowe's.

12 Days people......
June 6th vs. June 18th

Do you know what thawing meat smells like in 80 degree weather in 12 days time? lolol

Yeah...I got over my Despot loathing, at least for now, and I've got to organize room and a plan in the garage now for the new machine.
First the old fridge needs to be moved and the old freezer moved over into it's space.
Then the new machine needs to be delivered and put where the fridge was.
Then the goods transferred into it.
Then the old machine gets moved to the front of the garage, awaiting pick-up by the electric co.
Then the new machine needs to be slid over 3 feet and the old fridge needs to be moved back into it's space.

What.
A.
Production.

In the end we are out $413.20 and as a bonus, a little chunk of my sanity.....which is running rather low at the moment.


Sluggy