How Low Will It Go???

BRRRRR

A Sign of a Civilized Society

The shopping carts at Martin's Supermarket are always lined up nicely in the cart rack. I take that as a sign that the shoppers at Martin's are a bit more civilized than those at Wal-Mart or Meijer.

We have one grocery store in the area, Aldi's, that charges 25-cents to use their shopping carts and you don't get your quarter back unless you line your cart up neatly with the cart in front of it in the cart rack.

First Snow of the Season

Monday afternoon we had rain and hail. The weathermen said it wouldn't stick, but when I woke Tuesday I had to hunt down my snow scraper.

Freecycle Rocks

It's a well-know fact that most Americans have too much stuff. We buy Rubbermaid boxes to hold all of our stuff. We have space bags to store our stuff in less space than it would normally occupy. We have attics, garages, storage sheds and closets full of stuff.

When you're ready to purge, visit Freecycle.org.

Most people who know me know that I hate clutter. A few years ago I stopped buying stuff. Sure I buy groceries, some clothes and toiletries. But, gone are the days when I add unnecessary stuff to my shopping cart. Occasionally I will buy functional stuff for the house or landscaping products... hard to totally detach from consumerism ;-)

Instead of buying unnecessary stuff, I periodically go through my house and gather up the stuff that, for some reason in the past I felt I just must have but have found that I no longer need. Then, I get rid of it. Either by donating it to Goodwill, selling it in the annual neighborhood garage sale, or posting it on Freecycle.org.

It's hard to believe that someone would want a 27" TV with great audio, but no video, but someone in the Freecycle community took one off my hands this summer. And, that metal computer desk that was gathering dust in our basement... no longer there thanks to Freecycle.

Last week, after I finished painting the garage, I thought I should get a smoke eater or air purifier for the garage so I wouldn't have to repaint after the walls soak up more smoke. (We don't allow smoking in our house -- only outside or in the garage. And, the smoke out there gets really thick when we have parties or card nights.)

I did some research on ConsumerReports.org and found the air purifier I wanted to get. A few online price checks turned up an average price of $300. Dang, that's a lot of money. On a whim I posed a request for an air purifier on Freecycle.org. Within a week I had a free air purifier with a hepa filter from a lady in South Bend that no longer wanted hers. Seems to be brand new and the filter wasn't even dirty.

Freecycle.org Rocks. Check it out and sign up in your community. Warning: Sign up for the digest version so you don't get 20 emails a day.

Halloween Decor Gone Horribly Wrong

In December I wrote a blog post about the house that threw up Christmas. Turns out that as the seasons change, so does the color of their vomit.

Worried About Our Economy

As Cheryl and I were finishing lunch Friday, Bill Moor, a columnist for the South Bend Tribune, stopped by our table and asked if we would comment about how the free falling stock market is affecting our lunch conversations and our everyday lives.

We've actually been talking about this quite a bit lately and we were happy to share our thoughts with Mr. Moor. My 401k statement had actually arrived in the mail just before I left the house to meet Cheryl for lunch. I thought about opening it, but I didn't want to bring down my mood so I set it aside.

I had a hunch they'd use some of what we said in the paper, but I honestly didn't expect that we'd be on the front page of Sunday's paper -- both online and in print.

Here is the part of the story that included our quotes:

Market has many on edge

ECONOMIC DOWNTURN: THE ECONOMY AND ITS EFFECT

By BILL MOOR Tribune Staff Writer

"It's just hard for people to have rational thoughts in such an irrational time."

Sharon Gillis says she is afraid to open the envelope with her 401(k) statement inside.

"It scares me," she says.

Her friend, Cheryl Seitz, feels the same way.

"Sure, it is weighing heavily on me," she adds.

Sharon, who works for a website development company, has decided to put off buying the new car she had her eye on.

"I don't want to go into debt at this point in time," she says. "I don't want that kind of stress, right now."

As friends, Cheryl and Sharon never thought they would talk about the economy so much.

"Last week, we were trying to figure out the bailout and just not coming up with answers," says Cheryl, a residential account representative for Old Fort Building Supply.

Both in their 40s, they figure they will see the stock market get better before they start thinking about retirement.

Cheryl even made her first online stock acquisition this week.

"Part of me just thought it would be a good time to start buying," she says. "I think you have to continue to believe."

Crossed Another Fall Chore Off My List

Wow, what a difference this stain made on the cedar fence. We just put the fence up this spring and it had really faded quite a bit over the summer.

Someone that lives in a nearby neighborhood had such a beautifully stained fence that I knocked on their door to find out what they used on it to get that color. They happily shared the info with me and I picked up two gallons of the stain at the Osceola hardware store.

On Friday, it took me six hours to stain the front of the six panels of fence. Bruce helped me stain the back side on Saturday and it only took three hours.

I absolutely love Hardware Plus -- the Osceola hardware store. Their prices are competitive and they have knowledgeable employees on standby to answer any questions. In fact, they intercept you as you walk through the door and guide you through the store picking up everything on your list.

Go Jimmies

We've lived in Jimtown now for five years and tonight was the first time we went to a Jimtown Jimmies football game. We started by going to the Original Jonah Fish Fry at the high school and then moseyed on into the stadium for the game.

Many of our friends and neighbors were at the game, and other than the uncomfortable seats, we had quite a nice time.

Sign of the Times

I don't feel the need to know what Saulo Ribeiro Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is, but I thought it was a neat idea that they added "Google It" to this sign.

The Speak Out Column in The Paper

Previously in this blog, I've poked fun at the Speak Out column from our local, weekly shopper newspaper, The Paper. Here's another "winner" from this week's issue:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
COP OUT

I believe when a man and a woman are married, they should communicate and try to work things out. In fact, I have had a man come and cry on my shoulder who I thought was my friend. He sure had a mental problem. I told him to leave and never come back. He is on his fifth marriage. I am not a marriage counselor. She must not be much. There ought to be a law they don't issue a marriage license more than three times.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I read this, I wondered what sort of editorial policy this paper has that would justify them printing this nonsense. Then, I saw this on the inside front cover of The Paper:
(The submissions are taken via phone, not by mail.)

--- Editor's Policy
Callers are asked to limit their comments to 150 words. The Paper reserves the right to edit comments and make final publishing decisions.

So, if anyone out there in blogland wishes to share the most bizarre thoughts that have been rattling around in their head with the The Paper subscribers, I invite you to call in your submission. Call 574-534-2591 after 5pm M-F anytime Sat or Sun.

Hope you filled up before the hurricane hit

New Church in Osceola...

... Not Really ;-) Make your own Church Sign at ChurchSignGenerator.com.

It's Official...

It got pretty wet here today.

Fun with Potatoes

Ever wonder what goes on in a restaurant's kitchen when business is slow?

Late Friday night, the head chef at Hunter's Place in Elkhart came out of the kitchen to visit with a few patrons and show off his artwork.

Free Butt Rub

If you're in the market for a grill, don't miss this offer! I drove by this sign on US33 in Dunlap and just had to pull over to snap a photo.

Lunchtime Excitement

I jumped on the bypass today to head to the south side of town to meet Cheryl for lunch. As I was passing under the Nimtz Parkway overpass bridge I heard a large crash and as I looked to my left, saw a semi truck as it crashed into the center support of the bridge.

The crash wasn't head-on, it was sort of a side scrape -- I saw lots of cement dust flying off the bridge and the back-end of the semi come flying off. It was one of those semis that hauls cars, but it was not loaded (luckily).

I called 911 and suggested the police might want to check to make sure the bridge wasn't in danger of collapsing.

When I got back to the office after lunch, I checked the local newspaper's website and they already had the new blurb posted.

South Bend Tribune

Semi strikes Parkway overpass at Toll Road

Tribune Staff Report

South Bend Police are responding to the scene of a semi-truck accident on the St. Joseph Parkway (U.S. 31) at the Indiana Toll Road overpass.

According to a spokesman for the police department, the semi struck part of the overpass and knocked away some of the masonry.

There was no word on whether there were injuries, or whether the road would be closed.

10 Ears and Counting...

At Saturday's Corn & Sausage Roast in downtown OC, I gave up after eating four ears. Bruce just couldn't stop -- it was so sweet and so tender. I think his final count was 11 or maybe 12 ears of corn.

I had hoped to visit cousin Tammy and family for her son's second birthday party, but until I replace my ailing vehicle, I won't be making any out of town trips.

My mechanic told me I have a leaking head gasket and he doesn't recommend putting money into fixing it since my van has 200K miles. He suggested I start car shopping. I really can't think of many things I'd like to do less than car shopping. I'm sort of hoping I'll just happen into a replacement vehicle without too much effort. I haven't been to a car lot since I was 18 and my dad went with me then. Ever since, I've just sort of happened into replacement cars. I bought my current van over the phone, after my mom went to the car lot to check it out for me. I bought my previous van from a friend of a friend and the truck before that I bought from Bruce.

On our way home from the OC mall, with our new cheap and big TV, I saw a cute little Mustang convertible sitting on the side of the road with a For Sale sign. The owner said he'd be around Monday evening if I wanted to drive it. Not practical, but it sure would be fun ;-) We got stopped by a train on our way home and I was deep in thought. Bruce asked me what I was thinking about and I realized I was trying to plan out how to get the Mustang in and out of the garage with his truck and my van in the driveway. I just couldn't figure out how to make it work. Plus, if I get the Mustang, I'll still need a winter car. Plus, Dave Ramsey wouldn't approve.

Happy Birthday Fria

Don't you just love it when your friends take you to Hacienda for lunch on your birthday and make you wear the birthday sombrero.

Sure it would have been better if it was after work when we could have enjoyed a birthday margarita, but lunch with soggy chips (it was really humid Friday), Diet Coke and good friends comes in a close second.

I think I got rid of six Hacienda sombreros at my last garage sale. I bet there are a ton of them donated to Good Will. They're fun for about an hour, but then what do you do with them???

Touristy Tuesday

We started our Touristy Tuesday with lunch at Matuba's in South Bend. Owner, Robert, came out to greet all six of us and then got to work creating his masterpieces.