This Week on The Dining Table

 Let's get to it.....

 

Here's what was planned last week--

Sunday--Beef Stroganoff over Rice, Salad
Monday--Chinese takeout as Hubs is out of town(comes out of entertainment budget, not food)
Tuesday--Chicken Enchiladas(using pepper strips and chicken from freezer)
Wednesday--Not sure, 2 of us might be out of town for the day..Hubs will make pasta or have leftovers.....if we don't go, Quiche(using up half & half)most probably will be served and squash.
Thursday--Cook-Out(if the weather cooperates)-not sure what yet beyond dogs and burgers.
Friday--Red Robin(#1 Son's birthday meal he requested)(entertainment budget, not food)
Saturday--Beef Stroganoff over Rice of Chicken Enchiladas leftovers, Brussel Sprouts

 

Everything was served as planned except for Wednesday #1 Son and I didn't have an adventure so I made Squash Casserole and Quiche(which was the backup plan).

 

It was a big spend grocery week here.  I spent $91.67 on $160.52 worth of groceries at 3 stores last week.  

This means I have $308.33 left in my food budget for the rest of July.

 

Going into this week the leftovers that remain are--2/3 of a quiche, at least 2 servings of Stroganoff, 1 Enchilada, half a crockpot of chili, hot dog and burger rolls, chicken breast(I didn't use all of it to make the Enchiladas last week)and some boxes of previously frozen veggies(had to be put in the fridge when the freezer died, so they need to be used this week).

 

(I've made bold the leftover items I've used in the menu below.)

 Here's this week's meal plan--
 

Sunday--Leftovers(Quiche or Enchiladas)
Monday--Hot Dogs(on leftover buns)w/Chili or Burritos w/Chili
Tuesday--Chicken Salad Sandwiches, boxed veggie
Wednesday--Eating out after taking #2 to camp
Thursday--Mushroom Parmesan, Salad
Friday--Probably more leftovers
Saturday--Salmon, Coleslaw, boxed veggie

I don't have room in the freezer to throw any leftovers so we have to use them up this week, so the order of what's eaten when may change(except for Wed.'s meal) or some dish made new this week may be superseded by a leftover.

On the shopping list so far--Portabella Mushroom caps, Salad Greens, Cabbage(for coleslaw), potatoes, peaches, orange juice, turkey breast lunchmeat, tomatoes, maybe bread.  I might also pick up some canned tomatoes this week as they are on sale for $1 can.  Canned tomatoes, potatoes and OJ not needed this week but at a stock up price.

 

I'm figuring about $38 with the canned tomatoes for groceries this week.

That's what's appearing on the kitchen table this week here at Chez Sluggy.

 What's getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

That Hamilton Woman!

 

No, this isn't a review of that old classic movie about the life of Emma Hamilton, starring Vivian Leigh and Laurence Olivier.

It's a post about Genealogy....of course it is! lol
My family genealogy specifically and a document I found recently.

I am working on my mother's side of things presently.....my old long Southern roots.....my mother's, mother's, mother's, father's parents and grandparents to be precise.
Back about there is where the census information gets spotty and piecing together who's who and where they did what, becomes difficult to follow and keep the continuity of the trail.

Like for instance, my 3x Great Grandparents, Richard W. Baker and Sarah "Sallie" P. Hamilton.  We don't know exactly when they were born.  From the ages on census records you can deduce a range of a few years but no birth records have been found yet.  And the chance exists that I may never find any records to confirm their birthdates due to the records that were destroyed when the Yankees violated Old Virginny.

The possibility of hitting the genealogical Brick Wall at any point once you get this far back is always there, even if you are white.
But by finding various documents in their paper trail you can start to piece together where, when  and how they lived.

I was happy to discover a document that helped me authenticate this part of the family line.
It's a part of the special collections dept. at the University of VA library.....part of the "A Guide to the Valuation of Confederate Slaves from 1864".  I would have to travel to Charlottesville, VA to see that actual document but this digital summary gives me an idea about what it contains.
The documents were purchased in 1990 from a NJ auction dealer.

It's a court decree from February of 1864 concerning the dividing of a group of slaves among the heirs of one Mrs. Frances Flippen Hamilton, the widow of John Hamilton of VA(Prince Edward county to be exact).
Frances and John Hamilton were my 4x Great Grandparents.
Their daughter, Sarah "Sallie" was my 3x Great Grandmother.

Though it's not a "happy" document, being in reference to slaves and holding them, it is a thrill to see my direct ancestors mentioned if only electronically.

The person who wrote the content summary added that they were not sure if the court from which this proceeding were held was in Virginia or not because they could not find Frances or John Hamilton enumerated in the VA. state Censuses of 1850 and/or 1860(which preceded this court event in 1864).
Obviously, the person who wrote out the summary hadn't undertaken the amount of genealogy digging necessary to find Frances and John that I had. lol
It is widely held that John Hamilton died before the end of 1840, and at the time of this court proceeding Frances had been widowed for approx. 24 years.

I did think it strange since this was a court proceeding where it was determined how to divide up Frances Hamilton's, the widow of John Hamilton, slave property among her heirs, took place in Feb. of 1864.   Frances did not die until 1874.

Hmmm.
Distributing an estate ten years before the owner of said estate died?
A true head scratcher this.

Then my Hubs, ever the clever thinker, put out there that perhaps Frances was incompetent by 1864....meaning she was unable to take care of herself and of sound enough mind to direct how her property was to be handled.  Nowadays, someone deemed incompetent makes out(before they become incapacitated) or a court gives someone else a Power of Attorney over someone who is incapacitated so they can be their ward and handle all financial and legal affairs for the person.
I'm not sure if POA's were a regular part of the legal system in 1860's Virginia or if one existed for Frances, but this sounds very plausible a situation.

So if she was judged to be legally incapable of handling her own legal affairs, her estate may have been distributed at that point to her heirs instead of wanting until she passed on.
Especially since this "property" were living human beings and thus had needs to be met on a daily basis.  You couldn't just tuck slaves in a trunk somewhere like someone's good silverware or fine china until the owner died and the folks in the will came into control and possession of the property.
Slaves were people who had to be fed and housed and their physical needs met.

The particulars of the court decree were concerning 26 slaves in the possession of Frances Hamilton.
The total value of these 26 slaves, in 1864 dollars was $37,750.  In 2013 dollars that's equal to $563,432.84.  That ain't pocket change....lol
The slaves were divided up into 7 lots to be distributed to the 7 living heirs of Mrs. Hamilton; Richard W. & Sally Hamilton Baker(my direct ancestors), James & Anne Hamilton Ireson, William A. Hamilton, John F. Hamilton,  ? C. Hamilton(this was probably Joseph but not definite), Robert P. Hamilton and Martha Hamilton Leffew.
While this document with her children's names helped substantiate some of them, it also caused more questions for me about others.  For example, other genealogists have Robert Hamilton dying in 1849, 15 years before this court proceeding, but he is one of the inheriting heirs(and his children and/or spouse are not mentioned instead)?
But I digress.....

Each slave lot was worth $5,392.85 but separate from the slaves was a sixty-two year-old female slave named Betsy "nearly blind and Valueless".  The other 6 heirs were to pay $500 to William Hamilton, who took possession of Betsy, "for the keeping for life the said slave."   I truly hope my ancestors followed this court directive willingly and supported Betsy for the rest of her natural days.

The summary doesn't give the names of all the slaves concerned but it does indicate that 3 separate family groups(each a mother and her two young children)were worth $3,500 per family group.
My natural curiosity wants to know the names of all of these slaves and which ones my 3x Great Grandparents inherited.  Slaves who were no doubt released the following year if not sooner.
Having this information and putting it out into the electronic world, may also help someone of African American slave descent to connect the dots with a long lost ancestor of theirs as well.

I hope to someday get to Charlottesville again(I lived there for a year back in 1982-83....wish this document had been there back then and I had knowledge of it too)and get a chance to view the information contained within personally.

Sluggy

 

Toiletry Porn & Decluttering....Don't Stop Me Now!

I just wanted to explain to all my readers who come here to see what I get from Rite-Aid(for free or almost free)why you haven't seen me shop there since something like January or February of this year.

Yah see, I really don't need to buy any toiletries right now.
And I probably won't need any for a few months more.

The last week or so I have been making trips to my storage locker and have gotten the last of my tubs of spare toiletries I was keeping in there.
Yes, I am down to my last 5 tubs of toiletries stockpile items.....well, if you don't count all the toilet tissue. ;-)

And I finished clearing/cleaning out the Daughter's bedroom.  Got a box of items to ship off to Salvation Army, paired down what it stored in the closet and got both dressers cleaned out.
The dressers are now filled with toiletries.....

That's part of it.
There are 5 more drawers I didn't pull out to photograph.

There are also 2 tubs in the hall linen closet which I think I can combine into 1 tub now as some items have been used up in those.

And on tonight's agenda is reorganizing and going through the hall linen closet.

On the Decluttering Front--
We sent a broken inflatable bed(had to be re-inflated every 4 hours!lol)and an old lumpy futon mattress to the garbage last week. 
Then #1 Son took my oak Queen Anne leg, butler-style coffee table back with him when he left this morning(pardon the dog hair tumbleweed in the photo)......

He and his GF can use one and this one is small so it will fit better in the apartment they will most probably rent.  Hubs kept his mother's coffee and end tables when she died(which have been living in a bedroom upstairs)so we'll use that coffee table in the den now.
I have another smallish Asian style coffee table which may or may not go in the redone living room. but I am not ready to part with it yet, just in case.

I am not a big fan of coffee tables anyway, because we are "horizontally surface challenged".....meaning-we see a flat surface and we can't help ourselves but pile it with crap.  8-)

This morning, since I was on a "roll" in the getting rid of stuff department, I also boxed up a set of 8 Christmas themed drinking glasses and a Wizard and Dragon Votive candleholder from the kitchen and the dining room hutch, respectively.  Now Hubs has room to put his beer glasses in the kitchen cupboard and I don't have to have them sitting out on the counter 24/7.  I swear, some days with the barware and the empty bottles, my counters look like they need an intervention by the Bar Rescue Guy.....

I have decided to make the curtains for the living room out of that lime green bolt of fabric I have.  Hey!, they may end up being loud compared to the other colors in the room, but I'll like them. ;-)

And I'm taking all those drapes/curtains I bought back to BB&B for a credit on my card.  That's $150 back in the wallet to spend on something we need/want more.


So what has everyone else been up to in their copious free time this past week/weekend?


Sluggy

$20K Savings Challenge.....June Update

In our family we save money. It is important to us to put money aside for "rainy days".  You know.....those unexpected days when things happen in your life that you can't plan on, but that DO happen and they cost you money you didn't know you'd need to pay out.

Our income is mainly the salary my Hubs draws from his job.  We have money taken off each paycheck from the top to put into savings, before we even get our hands on it.  This money that's taken goes into various pots....life insurance, investments and retirement savings.  It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings.
Once the automatic savings, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision payments are taken out, it leaves what we get to "live on".  From this amount we budget for bills, both monthly and irregular bills(semi-annual, etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into a Savings Challenge. 

For 2013 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am going to keep the Goal amount at $20,000 again this year.

On to the June report.....

I have posted my June End of Month $20K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $1,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up June in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of June with?.......$844.79

Income
We had $629.95 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted. 

Add in 2 per diem expense reimbursement check, 2 stock dividend checks, a tow reimbursement and a refund on our car insurance(from removing daughter from the policy)and we have another $214.84 not spent this month.  This brought our gain to $844.79 for June.

 

Frankly, I am shocked that we had this much leftover from June's income because it seemed we experienced way higher than normal outgo.  But looking over the Good/Bad bullet points, besides the credit card bill, everything else wasn't so bad compared to last month.

Outgo

As for the expenses this June, here are the good and the bad side of things....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

 

*  Music lesson bill was half of it's usual amount due to teacher being away for half the month.

*  The electric bill was almost $56 less.
*  The food/toiletries bill was less than my budgeted $400 each month.

*  The cost of our prescriptions was half of what it was in May.

*  Cash withdrawals were $20 less than last month.

*  The doctor bill co-pays were under $80 this month.(Last month was over $1500.)

HERE are the BAD THINGS

 

*  Quarterly garbage bill due.
*  The phone bill was up by $2+.

*  The water bill doubled, as predicted in last month's report.  This was mainly due to the repair and refilling the pool and is expected every May or June.

*  The credit card bill....OH!, the credit card bill....lol  It was $1857+ MORE than last month.  This will be going down to $1409.21 more than last month when the freezer gets returned.  Still too high. 8-(

The Food Budget costs for June are in another post, which is located HERE.

We came in under budget by $119.26 last month.

The 2013 TOTAL so far.....
With 6 month behind us, half the year, our Savings Grand Total for 2013 stands at $12,571.63.  Only $7,438.37 left to save and 6 months left to accomplish this.

That comes out to $1,238.06 per month for the next 6 months to reach the goal.

Looking ahead for July......

*  Still waiting for medical bills to come in.  I don't know what the hold up is, but since we switched doctors to our insurance/health provider affiliated doctors, we haven't had to pay any co-pays at visits.  This is something new for us. 
 

*  I suspect once we get the new a/c system installed this month and the heat ratchets up the electric bill will increase moderately.

*  Last July we had a $1500 car repair bill.  Hubs car needs some maintenance work so it will go in for that this July.  I hope the bill is not anywhere near last July's total though.
  

*  The annual homeowner's insurance is due in July.  Last year it was $596.  Will be curious to see  how much it goes up this year.  Between that bill and the semi-annual car insurance bill which comes due in August, we need to stay as frugal as possible(outside of the planned home renovations/repairs we are paying for in July/August)with the bills.

So how was your June financially?  It was pretty much a wash for us in terms of getting ahead.
 

Did you put ordinary living expenses on a credit card last month and not pay it off in full when due?
Did you spend less than the income you had in June?
Did you received any "extra" or unexpected money in June like a tax refund, a dividend or bonus at work, and what did you do with those funds?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out your progress too and celebrate with you!

Sluggy

Freedom......Not So Much Anymore in America

* Please excuse another serious rant on the important stuff in life today.  I'll get back to posting lighter fare and nonsense soon.

In light of yesterday being the 4th of July and our country celebrating the founding of our great country, I want to talk about freedom.
Seems apropos to do so now, right?

We puff out our chests every year at this time and congratulate ourselves on being Americans and being the "Land of the Free".

But how free are you really?

Let's look at your economic freedom, shall we?

Brought to you by the fine folks at Bankrupting American.....

See a large view HERE.

When will the endless appetite for redundant and stifling legislation at both the state and federal level stop?
When they have driven all businesses(except the megamillion ones)out and more than half of Americans can no longer find jobs?

Here's a great little site to poke around at.  I caution you though, as what you may find there may challenge your concept of freedom and how free you, as an American citizen, really are, compared to other Americans.

There was a fairly comprehensive study done at George Mason University comparing each states' level of freedom in many categories.  The states were then ranked #1-50 on each point, as well as given a ranking for their overall Level of Freedom for each citizen wherein.

Go have a look at the data HERE.
You can click on each category that was measured and see how you, as a resident of whichever state, rank in our country's Freedom index.

Here in Pennsylvania, we got an overall ranking of 31st out of 50.  We got a better score than all of our neighbors except for Delaware.  But considering that we border some of the most unfree states in American(New York, New Jersey, Connecticut & Maryland)THAT isn't saying much!

The least free states in America are, in order from 50th to 46th....New York, California, New Jersey, Hawaii and Rhode Island.

The most free states overall are, in order from 1st to 5th......North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, New Hampshire and Oklahoma.

Of course this study is using data from 2011, but it does show a general trend of how the states compare to each other at present.

So how does your state rank?
Are you surprised by it's ranking on any of the categories measured?
Do you still feel "free" after reading this?

Sluggy
 

Independence Day Trivia Quiz Answers

1.  What is the correct date of our declaring independence from England?  Hint-it's not July 4th.

* The written resolution for independence was adopted at a vote on July 2nd, so that is the actual date of the document.  The Continental Congress spent the next 2 days amending the wording before finally deciding they were done "running their quill pens through it".
John Adams believed July 2nd would be celebrated by generations to come with much gaiety, pomp and celebrating, as he wrote to his wife Abigail in MA, in one of his well-known letters home to her.

Here are his actual words with misspellings from that letter.....
"But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.
I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

2.  Philadelphia is where the Declaration of Independence was voted upon and signed in 1776.  What was the most widely spoken language by residents of Philadelphia in 1776?

* While the obvious answer is English that is not quite right.  This area of PA was settled heavily by German immigrants and at the time of the revolution, it was more common to hear German being spoken and see business signs of local shops written in German.

3.  Which 3 American Presidents have died on July 4th? 

*2 of these are fairly easy....Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died within hours of each other on the 4th in 1826, the one thinking the other one still survived.  The 3rd President was James Monroe who followed them to the grave in 1831 on the 4th.

4.  Who were the "Committee of Five"....the group of 2nd Continental Congress members selected by that body to come up with a document of independence?

* The committee was made up of delegates John Adams of MA, Thomas Jefferson of VA, Benjamin Franklin of PA, Roger Sherman of CT and Robert Livingston of NY.

5.  Who designed the current version of the US Flag?

* A teenager Robert G. Heft living in Lancaster Ohio with his grandparents at that time, in 1958.  Designing a new flag when Alaska and Hawaii were poised to become the 49th and 50th states, Robert "Bob" Heft was a high school student.  As part of a school project, he designed a new flag and received a b- for his work from his teacher.  After his design was chosen from over 1500 ones sent to then President Eisenhower, his teacher upgraded Bob's grade to an A, as he had promised Bob.
Robert Heft spent his career as a teacher and died at the age of 68 in 2009.

6.  What bird did Benjamin Franklin propose be the emblem/seal for our country?

*Franklin believed the North American Turkey was the best choice.  He believed the turkey to be a noble bird.
Adams wanted the eagle but Franklin objected to this, as it was a long held emblem of many European countries, which they were trying to break free from. 

Franklin wrote:
"I wish that the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country, he is a bird of bad moral character, he does not get his living honestly, you may have seen him perched on some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labor of the fishing-hawk, and when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it to its nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him and takes it from him.... Besides he is a rank coward; the little kingbird, not bigger than a sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the district. He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest. . . of America.. . . For a truth, the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America . . . a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British guards, who should presume to invade his farmyard with a red coat on."

7.  It is well known that Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the Star Spangled Banner, our nation's anthem.  And that he wrote in his journal, what was to become the lyrics for the song, while onboard a ship in Baltimore Harbor, while British forces bombarded Fort McHenry in 1812.  But do you know why he was onboard a ship in Baltimore Harbor?

* Key was having dinner on board a British ship at the invite of 3 British naval officers on the night of 13 Sept, 1814.  He was there with the American Prisoner Exchange Agent to negotiate the exchange of American prisoners being held.  Key was a lawyer who's client, Dr. William Beanes of MD, was among those being held.
Key was unsuccessful at releasing his client but he got a really well known song out of the deal.
The Star Spangled Banner did not become our official anthem until 1916 under Woodrow Wilson and then by a congressional resolution in 1931 under Herbert Hoover.

8.  How many versions of the American flag have there been since 1776?

* There have been 28 official versions of the American flag, sort of.
The flag as we know it, red and white alternating stripes with a field of blue and stars, has undergone 26 modified versions, so 27 versions of that design.  The first officially recognized flag, adopted in December 1775, had alternation red and white stripes but instead of a blue field and stars, there was a St. George's Cross/Union Jack in the upper left corner.

 

 

 

The 13 Colonies Flag of June, 1777

9.  The original Declaration of Independence was printed on parchment, but the original copies, to be distributed among the citizens in the 13 colonies were printed on paper. Who printed the original copies of the Declaration of Independence and where?

* Though Franklin would be the obvious answer, because he was, among other things, a printer by trade, the original paper copies of the Declaration were printed in Philadelphia by a printer & book seller named John Dunlap.  He was an immigrant from Ireland,  a successful printer in the city and secured a contract with the 2nd Continental Congress supplying for their printing needs.
The type of sheet he printed the Declaration on was called a "broadside" in the printing trade.  It was typically a large sheet, printed on one side.  It was similar to today's poster.
(As an aside, by July 9th someone had translated and published the Declaration into German in Philadelphia so the bulk of the citizens in that city could read it.)


10.  How many copies of the original Declaration of Independence printed in 1776 are known to exist today?

* There are 26 copies known to exist today.  Approx. 200 were printed up in 1776.  One was discovered in 1989 by an amateur collector at a PA flea market hidden behind a framed painting he paid $4 for.  He later sold his discovery at auction for $8.14 million.
In 2009 the latest discovered copy was found in The National Archives in Britain among some papers that had been intercepted by the British in the 18th century, during the revolution.  This brings the number of original copies in the hands of the British Archives to 3.


11.  How many members of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776?

* The original, original declaration was printed on paper and only John Hancock signed this one.
The official declaration was printed on parchment(the wording was engrossed into that material, not just lying on top of the surface, so it would be better preserved)and was not signed until August 2nd of 1776.  Eventually 56 delegates signed the document.  There is debate on when certain people had signed.  It is widely held that most of the delegates signed on Aug. 2nd, but there were some who were not present(weren't even elected to Congress until after that date)who have signed.  When it was all over with, 56 signatures were affixed to the parchment.
By the way--The oldest signer was Benjamin Franklin of PA at 80 and the youngest was Edward Rutledge of SC at 26.

12.  Of the signers of the Declaration of Independence how many also signed the U.S. Constitution?

* Only 6 Declaration signers also signed the Constitution; Benjamin Franklin of PA, George Read of DE, Roger Sherman of CT, Robert Morris of PA, George Clymer of PA and James Wilson of PA.
By the way-Roger Sherman, the cobbler from CT, was the only member of Congress who signed all 4 of the documents important to the founding of the USA.  He signed the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Articles of Association and the Articles of Confederation.


I hope you've learned something from this little trivia quiz.  I know I did. ;-)

Sluggy

The Man & The Myth

Interesting short film on George Washington.

Enjoy!



Sluggy

Independence Day Trivia Quiz...Happy 4th of July!

In honor of our country's liberation from the tyranny of King George III of England in 1776, here is a little Trivia Quiz about our National celebration and assorted things having to do with this holiday.
See how much you actually know about these little known facts about our history.

1.  What is the correct date of our declaring independence from England?  Hint-it's not July 4th.

2.  Philadelphia is where the Declaration of Independence was voted upon and signed in 1776.  What was the most widely spoken language by residents of Philadelphia in 1776?

3.  Which 3 American Presidents have died on July 4th? 

4.  Who were the "Committee of Five"....the group of Continental Congress members selected by that body to come up with a document of independence?

5.  Who designed the current version of the US Flag?

6.  What bird did Benjamin Franklin propose be the emblem for our country?

7.  It is well known that Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the Star Spangled Banner, our nation's anthem.  And that he wrote in his journal, what was to become the lyrics for the song, while onboard a ship in Baltimore Harbor, while British forces bombarded Fort McHenry in 1812.  But do you know why he was onboard a ship in Baltimore Harbor?

8.  How many versions of the American flag have there been since 1776?

9.  The original Declaration of Independence was printed on parchment, but the original copies, to be distributed among the citizens in the 13 colonies were printed on paper. Who printed the original copies of the Declaration of Independence and where?

10.  How many copies of the original Declaration of Independence printed in 1776 are known to exist today?

11.  How many members of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776?

12.  Of the signers of the Declaration of Independence how many also signed the U.S. Constitution?

 Answers will follow tomorrow, if anyone is sober enough by then to read them(and didn't shoot off their hands). ;-)



Sluggy

In Memorian--My Ancestor & Our Country

Of the 32 ancestors who participated in the American War of Northern Aggression, I have uncovered in my research, today is the 150th Anniversary of the death of one of them, during the Battle of Gettysburg.

John Lee Holt was a father of 2 and husband from Campbell County, VA.  He had been a school master in civilian life and a part time tobacco farmer on the side.  And no, he did not own any slaves.
(Only about 6% of households in the South pre-war were wealthy enough to be part of the Planter Class and own slaves. Add in the free-black and native American households who owned slaves and the % is higher.)

John Lee Holt mustered into service as a private, for the Confederate States of America on 18 July 1861 in neighboring Charlotte County, VA, in the 56th Regiment of the Virginia Infantry, known as the Charlotte Grays, which fought in General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.  He was 32 years old and left a pregnant wife and 16 month old baby son the day he went off to defend the South.  He was only able to get a furlough one time during his 2 years of service.  He only met his daughter on that one occasion.

He was present at the battle of Fort Donelson, was captured and exchanged with his unit in February of 1862. After this, his regiment was assigned to General Pickett's Brigade.

He reported sick to the Empire Hospital of Atlanta, GA in March of 1862.  He fought at the Battle of Boonsboro, MD(South Mountain), which was the first battle fought on Northern soil, then the Seven Days Battles, 2nd Manassas and Sharpsburg.  At the Seven Days Battles of the 466 combatants in this unit, 100 casualties were reported.  Only 40 men from this unit were at Sharpsburg with 8 being wounded during that skirmish.

Then he accompanied his wounded brother, Meredith, to the Old School Presbyterian Church & Market House Hospitals in Winchester, VA on 20 September 1862.  He was employed as a nurse there until 1 November 1862, while he brother recuperated. 

He was admitted to Richmond Hospital in November of 1862  but returned to duty in time for the Battle of Fredericksburg.

He may or may not have been at the Siege of Suffolk and by the time surrender at Appomattox occurred only 3 officers and 26 men were left of this regiment.
Unfortunately, John didn't  make it to Appomattox in April of 1865.

As part of Longstreet's Corps, Pickett's Division, Garnett's Brigade, on July 3 1863 at about 2pm, John along with 12,500 fellow Southerners, started the descent down Seminary Ridge, across the cornfield toward the Emmittsburg Road and the Yankee lines beyond.  He was between two of his brothers when a mini ball hit him and he fell.  John waved his brothers forward indicating that he'd be ok.
Federal records in his service record reported that he was being held as a captured POW from 24 October 1863 to 19 January 1864, but we now know that John Lee Holt succumbed to his wounds and died on the battlefield that July day in 1863 in a cornfield by the Emmittsburg Rd.

Of the 286 members of the 56th Regiment participating at Gettysburg, more than 65% were "disabled"(and/or killed).

The family did not know his fate until 1865, as a death claim was filed in March of that year, a month before the War of Northern Aggression officially ended.

Today I mourn our sad bloody past and the wars(this one in particular)that didn't necessarily have to be fought, that make up our history.  We would be a much better nation and peoples if not for the tyranny of our government.

Deo Vindice John, Deo Vindice....

Sluggy







 

Of Freezers, Hunks Of Meat, DNA & The 3 Stooges

The last 2 days have been almost as much fun as last Friday was.
More time spent on the phone, which is one of my most favorite things. HA!

Update on the freezer.......
It's gone....as of 10 am Tuesday morning.
Hurray!!!

The asst. manager guy from Home Despot....er, Home Depot arrived with an assistant(assistant to the assistant manager?)in a sort of truck thingy vehicle and took her away.
The asst. manager even called me when they got back to the store and took my c/c number to issue me a refund.
I didn't even have to go to the store to get my money back.
Cool beans.

My local HD store gets two thumbs Way Up from me for the way they handled this situation.

Now I just have to decide what to do about a freezer as the old fridge's freezer compartment is not a long term solution for us.

On Monday, after running various store errands with my sons, we stopped in at Lone Star for lunch.
Oldest and I got a lunch steak and baked potato.
When I cut into my steak it was as far from Medium Rare inside, as I could have possibly ordered it.
I ate one piece and then decided, WTF?, I am NOT going to be ok with this steak being done incorrectly after all.
So I got the waiter's attention and sent it back for the kitchen to try again.
The replacement was done a tad Rare but borderline rare was better than the first one which was approaching well, so I pronounced it sufficiently cooked and munched away.  They also brought me a second potato which I couldn't possibly have eaten, so I boxed it and took it home.

Before we finished the meal, the manager du jour came over to "table touch"(technical restaurant biz term) and inquired about our visit.  The waiter had briefed her on the steak trouble so she said she was comping my lunch as, "It should have been done correctly the first time."
I did not argue the point and thanked her for the gesture.
And $11.29 stayed in my wallet on Monday. ;-)
Of course, the waiter got a real nice tip too.....

Then Monday afternoon, the Whirlpool authorized repair person finally called me.
I told him, thanks but no thanks as that POS appliance is going back to the store, so he need not bother making a trip out to visit it at my house.  But thanks for finally calling me for an appointment, 3 days after Whirlpool sent you the request for service!
Asshole......see if I EVER call you if another appliance of mine goes on the fritz.....

 

Monday evening I get an email back from FamilyTreeDNA.  These are the folks I bought a DNA testing kit from last month for $199.  Then they sent me a mass email as a user about a great DNA testing kit sale, not 3 weeks after paying them $199 for a kit.  Now that same kit is on sale for....$99.

Of course they got an angry email from me the evening I received that notice that they were charging HALF of what I was made to pay.
As a way to placate me, they are refunding $50 of what I paid(though I still don't see a credit for this on a c/c bill).
It's not total satisfaction but it's better than nothing.

So I won't totally tell all my readers to avoid FamilyTreeDNA for all your genealogical DNA testing needs like I was going to.
I will say that if you buy their product, wait for the inevitable sale price.

Oh, and be prepared to wait TWO MONTHS at least for your test results once it's received in their lab.
My problem is, if they take TWO MONTHS to provide test results when they charge $199, imagine how long test results will take once they drop the price by HALF and get inundated with orders!
Just don't be holding your breath....

Then let's move on to my youngest son's flute camp registration.
He's attending a flute camp at a university a couple of hours away from here next week.
I registered him online, on the school's website with a credit card over a month ago.

They sent a zip file with release forms that need to be signed and brought with us, as well as a file with other information(what to bring, daily itinerary, how to pay the balance of the tuition, etc.).
Of course when I went late last week to pay the balance due with my credit card, on their linked web page where you can make c/c payments, I get the "this page is missing" page.  Some numbnut at the school in charge of the website has either moved or taken down the payment page.

Numerous tries later for 2 days and I still get the error page.  Obviously, the link is broken.
So I call them and leave a voice mail.
Then I email both the woman teaching the flute camp and the dept. secretary at the school on Friday.
The teacher emails me back Friday evening that she'll forward my situation on to the woman in charge of the camps and they will be back to me.

Of course, with all we were doing on Monday, I totally forget to follow up on this until 5:20pm on Monday.....as no one had called or emailed me by then on Monday.  So I called and the phone rang and rang and no voice mail kicked in, so I could leave a message.

Then I found the email with the zip file attachments, which was from yet another person at the school and emailed her Monday around 5:30pm and asked if somebody ANYBODY! connected to this camp could please call or email me.

On Tuesday morning, I come downstairs to an email from her.  Evidently it seems like everyone in charge of camp stuff at this school decided to go on vacation the same week! so that is why no one has gotten back to me until now.
This dept. secretary gives me the option of her finding someone else who can find a way for me to pay via online(?!?!....just fix the freaking link to the webpage!)or I can mail a check.
Figuring that trying to pay online will just lead to more emails and frustration as these folks don't seem very technologically savvy, I decide to write a check to snail mail there.


So I have to ask her for the mailing address, as that also was NOT in the literature they supplied me upon registering.  You would think when she suggested that method of payment that she would have volunteered an address?
She replies with the snail mail addy for a check payment.
Then I have to email her again for how to make the check out to, as neither she nor the literature gives an inkling about this point either.
***exasperated sigh***

Like pulling teeth on a shark, folks......

So I got the check mailed out and with the Holiday weekend, it will be a race to see who/which arrives at flute camp first.....our minivan carting #2 Son there or this check payment.  I'll have to print out emails to bring to prove that we made payment and to show the reason that this payment is NOT there yet is due to the chucklehead's running this shebang.
Leave it to people in academia to not be able to efficiently run a flute camp.
After dealing with 2 children attending colleges, I have run into this lackadaisical type of attitude with higher education institutions and employees all the time.  They are like government bureaucracies, in that, they have no motivation to be efficient, organized and on the ball.  After all, if a "customer" is not happy, they aren't in danger of losing their job, like a private sector business employee.
This type of crap out in the business world doesn't fly for very long, because the people who run things badly are soon out of business.
This is one of the reasons I really detest dealing with educational institutions.

But enough of this for now.

Finally score for this post.....

Freezers   0
Steak Restaurants   0
DNA Labs    1/2 pt.
University run programs  3 Stooges-none of which knows what the others are doing

ME  broken freezer-free, free steak in the belly, $50 back in wallet and ready for a straight jacket having to deal with Moe, Larry and Curly

Sluggy
 

The Boring Blog Giveaway WEEK 3....Time to Enter Again!

It's Summer.  Things slow down this time of year in the Bloggiverse.
I think it's time for a return of.........

Sluggy's BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY!

 

Here's how it works if you are new here.......

 

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.  1 Aim Toothpaste

2.  1 Pepsodent Toothpaste
3.  1 Reach Toothbrush

4.  1 Reach Dental Floss

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 Your 2013 Goals(if you have any).

At halfway through the year, how are you doing on those goals?

Do you need to adjust them and why?

 

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.

 

These giveaways run about 4 weeks, depending on how often I get a blog post done.  The winner will be drawn from all valid entries received before the closing date of the giveaway.


 Any questions?  Just email me.

Happy Entering!! 

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Oldest Son home for 6 days & We need to eat down all this frozen food since the new freezer died" Week.

 Let's get to it.....

 

Here's what was planned last week--

Sunday--Grilled Steak, Tossed Salad
Monday--Leftovers or BLTs
Tuesday--Crab cakes, stuffed clams, green beans
Wednesday--Breakfast for Dinner use eggs
Thursday--Grilled Hot Dogs on Rolls, Beans, Mixed Veggies
Friday-Something Chicken in the Crockpot with Veggies and Rice
Saturday--maybe Take-Out since #1 Son is due in that evening

 

Things went as planned until Thursday evening when I discovered the brand new freezer had shit the bed.....are you tired of me harping on this blasted appliance deal yet?  I know I am.....

 

Friday and Saturday were a free-for-all of "eat what I can't cram in the freezer and will go bad after a couple days in the fridge" Nights.  Not very good for my waistline but we survived it.

And #1 Son didn't come home Saturday; he came home on Sunday.

I spent $20.25 on $29.30 worth of groceries at a single store last week.   Some fresh produce, fruit and #2 Son wanted a frozen pizza.

 

Total spent in June was a whopping $280.74, so I had $119.26 leftover in my food budget.

Nice.

8-)))

 

 

Going into this week the leftovers that remain are--1 hot dog roll and half a container of half & half.

Because of the freezer, I had to cook up about 6 pounds of steak.....sniff, sniff......

I made a big batch of stroganoff and a crockpot of chili with it all.  The chili will be for the kids to eat for lunch and/or snacks this week.

 

It won't be a 'usual' week for us in the dinner category, as the oldest is home so that warrants some eating out and cooking things he likes(meaning lots of meat meals).

 

(I've made bold the leftover items I've used in the menu below.)

 Here's this week's meal plan--
 

Sunday--Beef Stroganoff over rice, Salad
Monday--Chinese takeout as Hubs is out of town(comes out of entertainment budget, not food)
Tuesday--Chicken Enchiladas(using pepper strips and chicken from freezer)
Wednesday--Not sure, 2 of us might be out of town for the day..Hubs will make pasta or have leftovers.....if we don't go, Quiche(using up half & half)most probably will be served and squash.
Thursday--Cook-Out(if the weather cooperates)-not sure what yet beyond dogs and burgers.
Friday--Red Robin(#1 Son's birthday meal he requested)(entertainment budget, not food)
Saturday--Beef Stroganoff over rice or Chicken Enchiladas leftovers, Brussel Sprouts

(Sunday next will be whichever leftover we don't have on Saturday too, along with some veggies. lol)

On the shopping list so far--Monterey Jack & Swiss cheese, fruit, eggs, squash and corn, rolls, chips, ground beef for the cook-out so far.

 

I've got my $400 food budget for July available and ready to start spending.

That's what's appearing on the kitchen table this week here at Chez Sluggy.

 What's getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

What is Your House Costing You?

Life is expensive.
Yah, like noooooobody  already knows that, right? ;-)

Everyone has to live somewhere and it's not free.
Whether you rent or own, there are expenses associated with housing.
Are you in a housing situation that you can afford?
The cost of where you hang your hat is more than just a rent check or a mortgage payment.
Do you know how much your home is really costing you?

Sharon over at Midlife Mom Musings and Morrison over at My Life In Focus asked that question a month or two ago in regard to home ownership--What is it costing you?

They figured out their expenses for the year that were directly affected or a result of their home.....things like the obvious mortgage, but also taxes, services like water, garbage disposal and sewage, as well as electricity(and propane or gas for cooking/heating) and insurance.  Money spent on home maintenance and repairs should also be included in your total. 

We own a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath,  2 story home with a 2 car garage, on a 1/4 acre lot in a small town outside of a metropolitan city area. The development the home sits in dates from the 1980's.  The house is just over 2,100 sq. ft.(not including the basement).

For 2012, my list of expenses included.....
Insurance-$596.00
Sewage---$407.40
Taxes----$3116.33
Garbage--$336.00
Electric-$2432.28
Water-----$743.31
Repairs---$265.00

What I didn't include was money spent on the lawn/landscaping/gas for the mower/plants/etc. as I don't have figures for those expenses handy.  Most of that was paid for in cash and I didn't keep the receipts.

My Housing costs for 2012 were $7,896.32 for the whole year, or $658.03 per month, which comes to $21.63 a day.

And if I take that figure of $658.03 and compare it to renting a comparable house here, it is at least $350ish less than it would cost me to rent one.  And that rent wouldn't include the utilities or renter's insurance.
So we are doing well staying put here for now.

The water is higher because we have a pool so we use more than someone without a pool.
The electric is higher because the home is all electric-heating and cooking.  We do not have central A/C....yet! ;-)

The main reason my home costs us so little is because we paid it off in 2007 so there is NO mortgage.

Compared to our net take home pay, we are spending well under the recommended 30% of our after tax income on housing.


So what's your house costing you every year?
Are you afraid to figure it out because you might not like what you see?
The first step to budgeting and figuring out what it cost you to live the life you are leading is to get a handle on what you spend.
Run the numbers.....it might surprise you to see what it costs you daily to stay in your current home.
You might find that your house is unsustainable for your income and you might be better off not owning it.

Sluggy
 

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

 

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JUNE 2013.

I have posted June'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 June.  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(3 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 17.
******************

MAINE SOURCE(restaurant supply)

OOP  $43.16

Value  $71.07

Savings  39.27 %
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $121.70

Qs/Ads  $57.71

Value  $179.41

Savings  32.17%

WEGMAN'S
OOP  $85.29
Qs/Ads  $26.11
Value  $111.40
Savings  23.44%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $30.59

Qs/Ads  $27.64

Value  $58.23

Savings  47.46%

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 June.....$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 Weis at 47.46%, Maine Source at 39.27% and Shursave Markets at 32.17%.  l only shopped at 4 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$280.74

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$139.37

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$420.11

TOTAL Savings of...................................32.18%

This closes out the June food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into June with my usual $400 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month.  Ended the month with $119.26 left over.
 

I did NO Rite-Aid shopping last month either.

I'm still trying to figure out what my baseline for food costs is since the dietary change in April.  Scratching my head about the low spend on food this month....not sure why because we didn't suddenly increase the eating out or anything.  Maybe it was a combination of eating less at meals(so the food went further)and #2 Son working so not eating dinner here.  I also did no stocking up(much) in June and we ate down a bit on the frozen stuff....which turned out to be a VERY GOOD THING, what with the new freezer going kerflooey(technical term).

Looking ahead to July---I'm lowering our budget to $300 for  this month.  I won't be stocking up on any frozen foods and we'll be eating down what I have in that category, given our freezer situation at the moment.  I am hoping to not buy meat products until what we have in the freezers is gone this month.  Most of the food budget in July will be going toward fresh fruits and veggies and some dairy.
**Update** I might keep the food budget at $400 instead, since Daughter told me that Sears(where she works)is having a nice sale n freezers for the 4th of July week.  I might break down and buy a Kenmore freezer as she says they aren't made by the factory in China that makes Whirlpools.  I suppose it's a different factory but still in China however.lolz
So in case I do buy another new freezer this month, I'll keep the food budget at $400 since I'll need to get a few frozen items.

 

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

2013 Total Saved $1,562.88

2013 Yearly Total Value of Items  $3,770.44

2013 Yearly Total Spent $2,207.56

2013 Yearly Savings Total of  41.45%

 

Again in June, total savings percentage for the year has gone down just over 1%.  The month of June was 32.18% saved(which was 7% worse than May's savings).
The yearly total so far is still over 40% so I am good with that.

 

How much did you spend on food in June?
 

Sluggy

Well THAT was Fun!

Ok, so yesterday was about as far from the description of fun as I want to go!

Seriously, yesterday sucked major ass.

I spent large chunks of the day on the telephone or waiting for someone to call me back.
Even when it's someone I want to talk to, being on the phone is not my idea of fun.

So I am assuming you have read my previous post about my 3 week old NEW Freezer dropping dead for no apparent reason.
That was just the beginning of this stretch of "fun".

Luckily for us, we had kept our previous refrigerator of a couple of years back.  Something in that fridge that regulates the temperature in the freezer part of it went "kerflooey"(technical term)and it started staying on until the freezer parts froze up.  You would have to turn off the fridge/freezer every now and again, let it thaw out and then turn it back on.
Not a good thing for all the FROZEN food in it, right?

Since at that time, we couldn't get a repair person out here to change the part that was going "kerflooey"(technical term), we had to buy a new fridge, since we could get a new working one asap.  We stuck the old fridge in the garage to use for stockpile storage and to some day repair it if the new one died or one of the kids needed a fridge on down the line.

So when the new freezer having died was discovered, we plugged in the old refrigerator out in the garage next to it, and I transferred as much of the contents of the new freezer into the old fridge's freezer compartment.  While not everything would fit, I was able to save the more valuable food items.....the meats and cheeses and butter.
Screw the vegetables......
Hey!  What would you save?  ;-)

So currently, this is what my new freezer looks like.....

What I couldn't squeeze into either of the refrigerators freezer compartments I shoved into the fridge parts.  Most of what got put into the fridge parts will need to be cooked and used soon, as it won't keep but for so long.

Because of that, yesterday was also a very bad day for my healthy diet too.
Between the stress of the day and feeling the need to save/use as much of the food as I could, I ate A LOT.  Not "gosh, I'm going to burst!" eating but too much and some decidedly unhealthy things.
Like onion rings.....fried onion rings.  Between #2 Son and I, we polished off the whole bag yesterday.
And not a regular sized bag you get at the grocery store.
It was a restaurant supply sized bag.
But it was so good while I was doing it. lol

And then there were breaded chicken strips and 2 boxes of creamed spinach.
Ok, it was spinach but just too much salt for me now in these premade boxes of it.

So today, I am on a strict food intake plan.
Lots of water.
Mostly veggies(I can use up some of the none prepared veggies I need to save.)

I'll move some more of what is left into the fridge(like those red and yellow pepper strips in the photo there)as the temp. in the freezer is now below refrigeration recommended levels.

And this coming week's menu will see some Mexican food dishes(the peppers and homemade chili I had in the freezer), a meatloaf(also in the freezer),  pulled pork(ditto) and 2 beef dishes(since I couldn't fit all the steak I had into the little freezers so I cooked a crockpot full of beef yesterday).

Our #1 Son is coming home for a visit tomorrow and will be here all next week so having to cook all this meat is a happy coincidence, as he's a big time carnivore.
He will be more than happy to help me out and eat all this stuff! lol

As for yesterday and dealing with this deader than a door nail freezer......

Whirlpool was called first, as they claim to have made this lemon.
They will only pay for an authorized repair person to fix this and pay for the parts needed.
A 3 week old freezer and they will repair it NOT replace it.
This did NOT make me happy.
And if I am not happy, watch out.....

The CS person said the soonest she could get me an appt. was in a week.
Fantastic.
Then she went back into her database and found someone else in the area.
She was faxing the information to this authorized repair person and he/she would be calling me later that day to set up an appt.

While I was on hold with Whirlpool the mail lady came to the door to have me sign for a certified letter.  It was a summons for #2 Son in regard to his car accident.
Yep, he got a ticket.  Between that and his phone bill for July, there goes his whole paycheck he just got. 
Now he wasn't happy either.

I felt like I needed to DO something so I chatted online with the credit card company next.  I just wanted to have something on record asap with them if this came to having to dispute the charge with Home Despot, if they would not "do" something about the freezer.

In the meantime, while waiting for a call about repairing this POS freezer, I got on my cell to make other calls I needed to make.....like to reschedule a dr. appt. and to find out who was suppose to be sending me a new memory card(flash thingy)for my BiPAP machine, since the insurance had me mail them the card that came in the machine.  I ended up yelling at and then hanging up on a division of our insurance company that oversees durable hardware because they never returned my phone call on Monday and made me call again on Friday, plus they didn't include vital information in the literature they are constantly sending me, which would have AVOIDED this whole situation and not had me go 2 WEEKS without a memory card in the BiPAP.

Gee, let's make someone a tad on EDGE already, go over the sanity cliff, shall we?

Then I made a phone call to the contractor/repair person we have used before to schedule when he can come do the things we need doing in the house this Summer.
And he tells me, business is so good(plus they are so behind finishing jobs)that he can't fit me in until January 2014.
WTF?
Didn't someone tell all these people ahead of me on his schedule that there is a recession on and nobody had the money to afford remodeling/repairing stuff??lol
I am glad he was upfront with me, about the long timeline for getting to my jobs, but I was NOT expecting a 6 month wait!

So now I have to go to Plan B.
And no, Plan B is NOT to just not have the repairs done. lol
I'll be calling a franchised handyman service.....better yet, get 2 estimates from 2 different services and decide on which one to hire.

After hours of waiting on the Whirlpool repair person to call me, I thought, "What the hell am I doing here?!?  This blasted appliance is THREE WEEKS OLD!?  Who should have to REPAIR an appliance that dies when it's practically brand new?!  This is Bullshit!"

So I called Home Depot.
Well, first I went on the HD website because that is where I bought this freezer from.  And I called their 800 number.  And after a solid HALF AN HOUR on hold, they disconnected my call.
After that bullshit, then I called the local Home Depot.
And I started off talking to the poor woman in the appliance dept.  I really really tried not to take my foul mood out on her.  It was difficult, believe you me! lol

After explaining what had transpired so far and that I had decided that I just wanted to return the freezer, she put me on hold and went and talked to the store manager.  She came back and said that if I could get the freezer to the store, that he would accept it as a return.
WTF?

I told the woman that this was unacceptable, since I didn't own a delivery truck and I would have to RENT one(read SPEND MORE MONEY on this situation!)to return this major appliance.  It wasn't a dorm fridge I could shove into the back of my minivan and haul down.
She put me on hold again to go talk to the SM.
She came back and took my name/phone and said the SM would call me back later, as he was in a meeting.
So I left her the information and hung up.

And to my shock and surprise, a couple of hours later, the SM did call me.
After some talk about exchanging this lemon for another of the same freezer(no WAY in HELL!)I said I really wasn't amenable to owning this brand of freezer, especially not the identical model.  Having this experience has made me a bit gun shy in regard to owning a freezer.
So he sort of agreed with my POV and said he could come get the freezer on either Tues. or Wed. of next week with the store's truck and refund my credit card.

Now this local HD manager didn't have to make the decision to take this freezer back technically, because even though it was delivered from that store, I had bought it on the website.  He could have made me go through channels and waited for corporate to tell him to take it back.  But he didn't.
I guess he got a sense that if I had to go through any more bullshit over this stupid freezer, I might rent a truck anyway, bring it back to his store, dump it in the middle of their parking lot and set it on fire.  And he certainly wanted to avoid that, right?

And THAT idea had crossed my mind during the day on more than one occasion......

We did check with our homeowner's insurance, in regards to the loss of all that food when the freezer died and whether it was a coverable event in our policy.  Unfortunately for us, lightning didn't take out the freezer or our house hadn't burned down.  If it had, we would be entitled to compensation for the value of the food lost.

So in closing......
My son is broke until next payday.
My dr. appts. schedule is fine.
My BiPAP will be carded by early next week.
I have to go to Plan B in regard to our living room repairs.
My fridges are both running crammed full of food.
The credit card bill I paid for June will be retroactively going down when I get a refund on the freezer.
And I have a beautiful object d'art aka a new non-working freezer sitting in my garage until the middle of next week.

Oh, yes.....and the Whirlpool authorized repair person STILL  hasn't called me to set up an appointment 24 hours later.
This means I'll have to continue to Tweet and Facebook about how crappy anything or anyone connected to WHIRLPOOL really is.

Sluggy



 

@^%*%^$#@$@^#&%^*&!!!

I swear I am so mad at this moment that I could bite the head off of a live chicken.

Remember that brand new Whirlpool freezer I bought and had delivered not 3 WEEKS AGO from HOME DESPOT?

Well it's dead as a doornail this evening.
I went out to the garage about 9 pm to get a dish of lime shebert and the shebert is green liquid.
I immediately felt the outsides of the freezer and they were cool to the touch.
Since it was purchased and delivered to my garage and plugged in 3 weeks ago,  the outside walls have been warm to the touch.
Now it's stone cold on the outsides of the thing.
And the compressor is not running.
But the interior light is on when you open the door.
And the interior temperature is slowing rising.
We didn't have a storm or a power surge and nobody had monkeyed with the circuit breakers.

The thing is dead after a mere 3 WEEKS and I want someone's head to roll for this!

Damn you Whirlpool!
Damn you Home Depot!!

Whirlpool is suppose to pay for parts and labor to repair this.....if it's repairable......but that isn't going to save all the food in the freezer!!!

And their "Customer Experience Center".....yes they call it that in their voice mail.....doesn't open again until 8 am ET.....because, you know, your new 3 week old appliance wouldn't possibly break between the hours of 8pm and 8am, right?
So I can't even BEGIN to locate an authorized repair person until tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile I have HUNDREDS of POUNDS OF FOOD rotting away in my garage!!!

Can you tell I am upset?

I had better go before I start swearing like a sailor.

THANKS ALOT HOME DEPOT AND WHIRLPOOL....THANKS FOR A BIG FAT LOAD OF NOTHING.

Pissed as hell and Needing medication about now Sluggy