It's hard to believe that today is the last day of March, and that only means one thing: tomorrow is April Fool's Day. Yep, my sweet, kind Mother's favorite holiday of the year. In case you're a new faithful reader and don't know why April Fool's Day is her favorite holiday, let me explain: from the moment I wake up until the time I go to bed on April 1, my Mother tries to prank me with April Fools jokes and tricks. And unfortunately for me, she almost always suceeds.
I'll give her the early morning tricks - it's easy to trick someone who just crawled out of bed two minutes earlier. Why, anyone would go look out the window when their sweet Mother said with sincerity "Oh my gosh - I cannot believe it snowed last night." I'll confess she's got me on that one quite a few times - even on mornings when the temperature is well above freezing. And the jokes and tricks don't stop when I leave for work; she'll call me a couple of times during the day and silly me, I fall for each and every prank she pulls.
It's not like she pulls pranks that are set up - for instance, she's never put Saran wrap over the toilet seat (I'm thinking Dad might be real happy if he was the one to discover that trick), and she's never short-sheeted my bed; her tricks are more subtle and usually involve me looking at something outside or on the counter top that isn't there. This year, I'm going to be on top of my game and I will watch her like a hawk. I'll report back tomorrow evening and let you know if she got me or not.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
The Second Year Of Trying New Things
Faithful readers, I can add yet another item to my growing list of New Things I Have Tried. This time, it's the Reuben sandwich. Diva Stacy has been raving about them for a couple of years now, and just yesterday I finally had one. In fact, it was the main course at the annual Divas' Spring Brunch.
I'd been hesitant to try it because as you know, I don't like a lot of my foods mixed together. Sure, I know they all end up in the same place, but I prefer to eat them separately. In the old days, I would have eaten the corned beef sandwich 0n rye bread by itself and would have had a mound of saurkraut on the side, but never on top of the sandwich. But after hearing Diva Stacy rave about her Reubens, I knew I had to try it. And let me tell you it rocked.
The thing that had me hesitant to try the Reuban was the saurkraut. Now, let me be the first to tell you I love my kraut, but I had conjured up on my head the idea that there would be a cup full of kraut on the corned beef and Swiss cheese sandwich and that's what scared me off. She put a couple of tablespoons full of kraut on the sandwich before grilling it, and it was the perfect amount. The same with the Thousand Island dressing - she drizzled just enough to jazz it up. And the Reuben was awesome. I had no trouble at all riding an extra couple of miles last night to work it off - yep, it was that good. And the Reuben sandwich definitely gets Puddin's Seal Of Approval.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Link Of The Week
A friend from Indy sent this link to me this week, and at first, I was hesitant to even go to the link to check it out, much less use it in TWIT's Link Of The Week. Boy was I wrong. As soon as I went to the site, I was enamored. I poured over every statistic on the site, and once you look at it, I'm sure you will, too. It will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about your birthday and the day you were born. See for yourself at http://www.paulsadowski.com/birthday.asp.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Stock Market Update
It was a rough week in the stock market, faithful readers. My portfolio (I love saying that word) lost some this week, but I'm still in the black. Since my last Stock Market Update, I've purchased more stock - a few days after the last update, I purchased 100 shares of AIG when it was less than sixty cents a share. It, too, lost a bit this week, but overall my investment in AIG has doubled, as has my initial investment in CitiGroup. Since the purchase of both stocks, I've gained 91.39% combined. Not too shabby.
My opening statement was a bit off, faithful readers. I should have said it's been a rough year in the stock market. On Thursday we received our retirement fund statements for the last quarter and the entire year of 2008. It wasn't pretty. When the company president handed them out, I asked him if they had enough red ink to use when they printed them out; he said no, they ran out and had to use black ink. In 2008, I lost one-fourth of my entire retirement fund. Yep -- one-fourth. And the majority of that loss came in the last quarter of the year. It was a good thing our office is on the first floor of the building in case we decided to jump out of the windows. But I don't feel nearly as bad now - I talked to my friend Big Mama yesterday and she said that she lost one-third of her retirement fund last year. I guess neither one of us will be retiring as early as we'd hoped, Big Mama.
My opening statement was a bit off, faithful readers. I should have said it's been a rough year in the stock market. On Thursday we received our retirement fund statements for the last quarter and the entire year of 2008. It wasn't pretty. When the company president handed them out, I asked him if they had enough red ink to use when they printed them out; he said no, they ran out and had to use black ink. In 2008, I lost one-fourth of my entire retirement fund. Yep -- one-fourth. And the majority of that loss came in the last quarter of the year. It was a good thing our office is on the first floor of the building in case we decided to jump out of the windows. But I don't feel nearly as bad now - I talked to my friend Big Mama yesterday and she said that she lost one-third of her retirement fund last year. I guess neither one of us will be retiring as early as we'd hoped, Big Mama.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Flashback Friday
TWIT's Flashback Friday Trivia Contest:
Who is the mega-celebrity in this picture from way back in the day?
Guess correctly and you win . . . nothing but publicity in TWIT. Anyone care to take a guess?
Thursday, March 26, 2009
That's How I Roll
I wanted to share a picture of my new-used bike with everyone. I got it out of the shop yesterday, and had them put on a very cool carrier on the back and a basket on the front. It's been completely restored to mint condition. Doesn't look too shabby for a bike that's almost as old as I am.
OK OK I give. The picture has been altered. Sort of. We tied a cooler onto the luggage rack on the back and tied a bushel basket to the handle bars just so I could take a picture of it as a joke for a friend, and I couldn't resist putting the picture out on the worldwide web for all to see. I'll post a real picture of it tomorrow. In the meanwhile, that's how we hillbillies roll!!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
You Know You're Pathetic When . . .
You go to Wal-Mart and the greeter says "Honey, I haven't seen you all week."
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Good Luck Tuesday
I am just giddy with excitement as I type this tonight: I got the BMW repaired today and for the first time in years, it was less than the $400 minimum cap. Truth be told, the repair cost me about twelve bucks.
I've had an annoying leak for six or so months, but have just ignored it and procrastinated taking it to the shop for the $$$ repair. A couple of weeks ago, a friend from the VFW who is a retired mechanic told me to bring the car up to the post one night and he'd check it out. So tonight I drove her up there, and about 30 seconds after I popped the hood, my new friend "Stick" said "It's that little plastic T right there." He took off the T, which was connecting three hoses to the radiator, and took off a clamp, and sent them and me in his Lincoln Town Car up to Auto Zone to get the parts to fix the BMW. Let me tell you this Lincoln was the sweetest ride I have ever driven. But I digress. I got the parts, and then came back and held the flashlight as the mechanic's assistant while Stick put the T and clamps on and a few bucks and an hour later the BMW is back in business. Now the Old Man won't be bitching about the coolant leak on the carport floor. It pays to have friends.
I've had an annoying leak for six or so months, but have just ignored it and procrastinated taking it to the shop for the $$$ repair. A couple of weeks ago, a friend from the VFW who is a retired mechanic told me to bring the car up to the post one night and he'd check it out. So tonight I drove her up there, and about 30 seconds after I popped the hood, my new friend "Stick" said "It's that little plastic T right there." He took off the T, which was connecting three hoses to the radiator, and took off a clamp, and sent them and me in his Lincoln Town Car up to Auto Zone to get the parts to fix the BMW. Let me tell you this Lincoln was the sweetest ride I have ever driven. But I digress. I got the parts, and then came back and held the flashlight as the mechanic's assistant while Stick put the T and clamps on and a few bucks and an hour later the BMW is back in business. Now the Old Man won't be bitching about the coolant leak on the carport floor. It pays to have friends.
Monday, March 23, 2009
I Still Don't Deserve Electronics
As I type this, I'm in the midst of re-syncing my new iTouch for the fifth time. No, that was not a typo - I did mean to say "fifth time." I'm not ashamed to announce for the entire world wide web to hear that I have some issues with iTunes. I don't think I've attempted to download anything from iTunes to my other iPod or this iTouch when I didn't have problems with. And the problems have always been with the user, not the software or iPods.
Before re-syncing, I spent almost an hour deleting duplicates in my music library that were copied when I stupidly added my backup copy of the music library. Twice. See? I told you that I have issues with iTunes. After all of the duplicates were deleted and the iTouch was synced and filled with my music, I spent another twenty minutes trying to get a couple of movies and some videos to sync.
I'm an intelligent woman; people come to me for help with college school work or with their computers and I'm able to help with no problem. Yet after a few years of dealing with iTunes I still have problems with it. I think it's all because iPods (and basically every other electronic gadget) doesn't come with an old school owners manual. I get frustrated having to bring up Internet Explorer on the computer and go to iTunes or iPod help to find a solution to my problem. Maybe I would have more confidence if I had an owner's manual. I doubt it, but it sounded good.
Before re-syncing, I spent almost an hour deleting duplicates in my music library that were copied when I stupidly added my backup copy of the music library. Twice. See? I told you that I have issues with iTunes. After all of the duplicates were deleted and the iTouch was synced and filled with my music, I spent another twenty minutes trying to get a couple of movies and some videos to sync.
I'm an intelligent woman; people come to me for help with college school work or with their computers and I'm able to help with no problem. Yet after a few years of dealing with iTunes I still have problems with it. I think it's all because iPods (and basically every other electronic gadget) doesn't come with an old school owners manual. I get frustrated having to bring up Internet Explorer on the computer and go to iTunes or iPod help to find a solution to my problem. Maybe I would have more confidence if I had an owner's manual. I doubt it, but it sounded good.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Link Of The Week
If you know anything at all about the 'Rents and I, then you know we love our fish. We have it every Friday of the year - and we're not even Catholic. If anyone here in the 'Ville wants to get an awesome fish sandwich, then I recommend that they come out to my 'hood and visit Mike Linnig's. Believe me when I tell you that people from all over the state travel to our neck of the woods just to get a fish sandwich from Mike's. You can check out their menu before you make the trek to our 'hood. Just visit http://www.mikelinnigsrestaurant.com/ and see if anything tickles your fancy. I'm pretty sure it will.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
New Developments
After reading the title "New Developments" I guess it's redundant - any development is new. But that's what this post is going to be titled because I have a development which is new to tell you about.
For the past couple of months, I've been helping some friends that are going back to school to finish their Bachelor's Degrees. Let's call it tutoring. I've helped them on everything from fallen empires in western civilization to supply and demand curves, with quite a few things in between. All the time I was helping research and tutor, I was happy - doing the school thing puts me in my element where I am content and happy. I started thinking about it, and prayed about it, and this week I made a big quasi-life-changing decision: I decided to go back to school and get a second Master's Degree.
Before I go any further, let me reassure you that I am of sound mind and am not doing this under duress. Yep, I decided it on my own. Helping my friends with their classes stirred something up inside of me that was too big to ignore. People that know me will tell you that I love school - I always have and hopefully always will. The years that I was finishing my Bachelor's Degree and working on my first Master's Degree were some of the happiest years of my life. Some of you might think that alone makes me certifiable but trust me - I think I'm fairly sane; I've just always loved school and love learning.
I've been accepted into the sequential degree program at my alma mater Webster University, and starting May 29, I will begin the Master of Arts Degree in Business and Organizational Security Management. No, I won't be learning about how to keep people from shoplifting in a store - this has to do with keeping a company safe from takeovers, external threats, company asset protection, etc. You get the picture. And contrary to what a couple of co-workers think, I will not be able to have the title Officer Puddin. But I'm excited about it - probably more excited than I've been about something in a few years.
For the past couple of months, I've been helping some friends that are going back to school to finish their Bachelor's Degrees. Let's call it tutoring. I've helped them on everything from fallen empires in western civilization to supply and demand curves, with quite a few things in between. All the time I was helping research and tutor, I was happy - doing the school thing puts me in my element where I am content and happy. I started thinking about it, and prayed about it, and this week I made a big quasi-life-changing decision: I decided to go back to school and get a second Master's Degree.
Before I go any further, let me reassure you that I am of sound mind and am not doing this under duress. Yep, I decided it on my own. Helping my friends with their classes stirred something up inside of me that was too big to ignore. People that know me will tell you that I love school - I always have and hopefully always will. The years that I was finishing my Bachelor's Degree and working on my first Master's Degree were some of the happiest years of my life. Some of you might think that alone makes me certifiable but trust me - I think I'm fairly sane; I've just always loved school and love learning.
I've been accepted into the sequential degree program at my alma mater Webster University, and starting May 29, I will begin the Master of Arts Degree in Business and Organizational Security Management. No, I won't be learning about how to keep people from shoplifting in a store - this has to do with keeping a company safe from takeovers, external threats, company asset protection, etc. You get the picture. And contrary to what a couple of co-workers think, I will not be able to have the title Officer Puddin. But I'm excited about it - probably more excited than I've been about something in a few years.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Flashback Friday
It's hard to believe we're already deep in the throes of March Madness. Here at The Compound, we're sorta anti March Madness. Yesterday instead of watching the first round games, the 'Rents watched their beloved Cincinnati Reds in preseason baseball, and tonight instead of watching the games, we've wathced old black and white westerns on the Encore channel. It's not that we don't like college basketball; well, in all honesty we don't. My family has just never gotten into it. We've never chosen sides between UK and U of L, but on a rare occasion when they're playing basketball and there's nothing else on TV, we'll watch the game and root for them. And for a few years I went through a North Carolina Tar Heels phase, but that was just because that was the alma mater of a guy I was dating at the time. But I digress.
As a kid or even teenager, I just don't remember the NCAA tournament being as big of a deal as it is now. And I watched a lot of TV in my younger days, so I would have been the first to know if my favorite shows were getting preempted by the games. But I just don't think there was much March Madness back in the day. My parents never talked about filling out the brackets at work in hopes of winning some cash. In fact, I don't remember seeing the big bracket in the local newspaper as a kid, either. They sure are making up for lost time now days.
As a kid or even teenager, I just don't remember the NCAA tournament being as big of a deal as it is now. And I watched a lot of TV in my younger days, so I would have been the first to know if my favorite shows were getting preempted by the games. But I just don't think there was much March Madness back in the day. My parents never talked about filling out the brackets at work in hopes of winning some cash. In fact, I don't remember seeing the big bracket in the local newspaper as a kid, either. They sure are making up for lost time now days.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Special Request Thursday
Today's special request is from my Dad. He raised a question that I'm sure a lot of us have, and probably thought of this past Tuesday on St. Patrick's Day. He wanted to know why do they call it "corned" beef? I was happy to research and find the answer.
Actually, it's a very simple answer. The term “corned” comes from putting meat in a large crock and covering it with large rock-salt kernels of salt that were refered to as “corns of salt”. This preserved the meat. The term "corned" has been in the Oxford English Dictionary as early as 888 AD. Wow, that's been in the dictionary quite a long time.
The practice of salting meat goes back to ancient times in cold areas when they found you could preserve meat by salting it. Nomads on foot or horse could also put salt on meat and hike for days without refrigerating it.
The term "corn" is from an Old Germanic (P.Gmc) Word "Kurnam", which meant small seed of anything. Since a kernel of rock salt look like a wheat or oat kernel size, it became known as a corn of salt. Even the word "kernal" comes from the word Kurnam.
Actually, it's a very simple answer. The term “corned” comes from putting meat in a large crock and covering it with large rock-salt kernels of salt that were refered to as “corns of salt”. This preserved the meat. The term "corned" has been in the Oxford English Dictionary as early as 888 AD. Wow, that's been in the dictionary quite a long time.
The practice of salting meat goes back to ancient times in cold areas when they found you could preserve meat by salting it. Nomads on foot or horse could also put salt on meat and hike for days without refrigerating it.
The term "corn" is from an Old Germanic (P.Gmc) Word "Kurnam", which meant small seed of anything. Since a kernel of rock salt look like a wheat or oat kernel size, it became known as a corn of salt. Even the word "kernal" comes from the word Kurnam.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Stock Market Update
It's been one week since I bought my CitiGroup stock, and as of the close of the market this afternoon, I've made $152.15. But I have to tell you that I've had $152.15 worth of fun and excitement in the past week. Why, I don't get this excited at the casino or racetrack.
My co-workers and I still keep a day long vigil watching the stock price. And now faithful reader DH has joined in our vigilant watch. After reading my post last week about buying the CitiGroup stock, she decided she wanted a piece of the action, too, and she bought some. Our only hope is that the price will still keep on going up.
My co-workers and I still keep a day long vigil watching the stock price. And now faithful reader DH has joined in our vigilant watch. After reading my post last week about buying the CitiGroup stock, she decided she wanted a piece of the action, too, and she bought some. Our only hope is that the price will still keep on going up.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Thanks To My Faithful Readers
I try not to single out faithful readers, lest everyone would get their feelings hurt because I didn't mention them; you should know me well enough by now to know that I love all of my faithful readers, for without you I wouldn't still be blogging everyday. But from time to time, things happen that cause me to mention a faithful reader or two, and today I have to give props to a couple.
I'd like to thank BW for sending me the cool Barbie catalog. I spent about an hour looking through it last night. All I will say is your thoughtful gesture is probably going to cost me some money.
I'd also like to give a shout out to DH. I'm flattered that you followed my lead, and I hope my judgement doesn't let you down. I also would like to thank DH for her computer and blog expertise. She's helped me time after time when I've emailed her asking for help with my blog design.
I'd like to thank BW for sending me the cool Barbie catalog. I spent about an hour looking through it last night. All I will say is your thoughtful gesture is probably going to cost me some money.
I'd also like to give a shout out to DH. I'm flattered that you followed my lead, and I hope my judgement doesn't let you down. I also would like to thank DH for her computer and blog expertise. She's helped me time after time when I've emailed her asking for help with my blog design.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Link Of The Week
As a kid, I had a love-hate relationship with the Ripley's Believe It Or Not museums. Whenever we'd go to Gatlinburg, I'd see the billboards and ads for the place. Part of me wanted to go there but a bigger part of me was scared shitless for some bizarre reason. The things that fascinated me about the museum was things like "The Eifel Tower Built Out Of Matches" or "The White House Built Out Of Sugar Cubes." Those kinds of things fascinated me way more than the "Three Headed Goat." But I digress. I found a site that week that is one of the most fascinating sites I've visited in awhile. It's a site that has tons of pictures of people, places, and things made out of canned goods. Yes canned goods. You can see for yourself at http://www.canstruction.com. I was very disappointed to find out that a Canstruction display was in Louisville a few weeks ago and I knew nothing about it. Anyhoo, I will visit this site on a regular basis and will be one of the first to visit a future display here in the 'Ville.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
It Rained On My Parade
In case you haven't caught on by my comments in recent posts, I've gotten really into holidays lately. In fact, I've had our St. Patrick's Day t-shirts for the 'Rents and I for probably a couple of months now. I also bought a very cool Mad Hatter style big green hat, and just this afternoon I bought a pair of green-tinted beer mug glasses to complete my St. Patrick's Day ensamble. Sure it's only one day, but who cares. I'll have fun all day long with my wearing o' the green.
Even though I'm excited about this Tuesday, I'm kinda bummed this afternoon. For the first time, I'd planned to go to our city's St. Patrick's Day parade. Of course, it's cold and raining right now. And I found out earlier today that my beloved Derby City Roller Girls are going to be skating in the parade, too. Maybe that makes me a fair weather St. Patrick's Day supporter, but once again, who cares. I'll be there next year, provided it's not raining.
Even though I'm excited about this Tuesday, I'm kinda bummed this afternoon. For the first time, I'd planned to go to our city's St. Patrick's Day parade. Of course, it's cold and raining right now. And I found out earlier today that my beloved Derby City Roller Girls are going to be skating in the parade, too. Maybe that makes me a fair weather St. Patrick's Day supporter, but once again, who cares. I'll be there next year, provided it's not raining.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Flashback Friday
This week's Flashback Friday comes to you courtesy of my good friend, co-worker and our #1 mullet spotter, JMc. To thank him for being such a good faithful reader, I asked him to pick out his favorite old school album cover for this week's flashback. Without hesitation he said "Moving Pictures" by Rush.
You'll see that it truly is old school - today's albums (even though they are CDs, I still refer to them as albums) have at least ten or twelve tracks on them - this one had only seven. But it was an awesome album.
1. Tom Sawyer
2. Red Barchetta
3. YYZ
4. Limelight
5. The Camera Eye
6. Witch Hunt
7. Vital Signs
2. Red Barchetta
3. YYZ
4. Limelight
5. The Camera Eye
6. Witch Hunt
7. Vital Signs
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Look Out Wall Street, Here I Come
I was listening to the news while getting ready for church last Sunday morning and I heard a news reporter give an interesting fact. He was talking about how CitiGroup and GM were both circling the drain. He said that as of the close of the stock market on Friday, you could buy almost three shares of CitiGroup stock for the price of what the ATM fee would be if you got money out of a Citibank ATM. He also said that you could buy two shares of GM stock for a little less then the price of a gallon of gas. I thought about these facts throughout the day and on Monday morning my curiosity got the best of me. I went online and reactivated my Sharebuilder.com account and deposited a hundred bucks, and when the stock market opened on Tuesday morning, I was the proud owner of 85 shares of CitiGroup stock. I didn't get the stock for the $1.02 Monday closing price like I'd hoped, but I did get in before the price started rising on Tuesday - fueled by a memo from their CEO saying they were "profitable." As of today's market close, I've made a total of $32.30.
This isn't my first time at playing the stock market. I did this same whimsical thing back in 2002 right before KMart declared bankruptcy. Of course we all know they went belly-up and were bought out by Sears so needless to say my $100 investment was pissed away. But I'm more optimistic about CitiGroup. And if the stock plummets tomorrow and I lose this $100, too, well, I've had more than $100 worth of fun this week just watching the price of the stock all day long. (I'm hoping my boss didn't read that last sentence.) I think of this as entertainment - it's what I would take with me on a trip to the casino boat, and my odds of making money are a whole lot better then on the slot machines.
The story doesn't end there, faithful readers. Not wanting to be left behind by me when I make millions on the stock market, my two co-workers opened up Sharebuilder.com accounts, also deposited $100 each and and now they're also proud owners of CitiGroup stocks. Yep, we're hooked. We've watched the price of CitiGroup stock this week like an crazed bidder on eBay watches during the final minutes of an item up for bid. So wish us luck. I'll keep you posted with a weekly report. And in case you'd like to keep track yourself, the stock symbol for CitiGroup is "C".
This isn't my first time at playing the stock market. I did this same whimsical thing back in 2002 right before KMart declared bankruptcy. Of course we all know they went belly-up and were bought out by Sears so needless to say my $100 investment was pissed away. But I'm more optimistic about CitiGroup. And if the stock plummets tomorrow and I lose this $100, too, well, I've had more than $100 worth of fun this week just watching the price of the stock all day long. (I'm hoping my boss didn't read that last sentence.) I think of this as entertainment - it's what I would take with me on a trip to the casino boat, and my odds of making money are a whole lot better then on the slot machines.
The story doesn't end there, faithful readers. Not wanting to be left behind by me when I make millions on the stock market, my two co-workers opened up Sharebuilder.com accounts, also deposited $100 each and and now they're also proud owners of CitiGroup stocks. Yep, we're hooked. We've watched the price of CitiGroup stock this week like an crazed bidder on eBay watches during the final minutes of an item up for bid. So wish us luck. I'll keep you posted with a weekly report. And in case you'd like to keep track yourself, the stock symbol for CitiGroup is "C".
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Mullet Watch
Last weekend was a busy one for us mullet spotters. The warm temperatures must have brought the mullets out of hibernation.
Our number one mullet spotter JMc spotted not one but two mullets at the same time. They were spotted at the mullet hot spot, Wal-Mart, on Sunday afternoon. And they were of the femmullet variety, too. Not to be outdone by JMc, I spotted one on Sunday morning during church. It, too, was a femmullet.
Mullet count: 6
Our number one mullet spotter JMc spotted not one but two mullets at the same time. They were spotted at the mullet hot spot, Wal-Mart, on Sunday afternoon. And they were of the femmullet variety, too. Not to be outdone by JMc, I spotted one on Sunday morning during church. It, too, was a femmullet.
Mullet count: 6
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
I Feel Drained
There's no real way I can describe how I feel right now except to say I'm drained. Today I attended the funeral of a close co-worker and friend. That's two in the last few weeks. Yep, I'm drained.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Happy Birthday, Barbie
TWIT would like to wish a very happy birthday to Barbie. Our favorite doll is 50 today, but she's far from being middle-aged. Of course, she's kept busy during the years, with 108 careers & and counting. She's been an Olympic athlete, a Marine Corps sergeant, Miss America, a dentist, an aerobics instructor, an astronaut and a rock star. I guess all of those careers are what's kept Barbie so youthful.
Barbie made her debut on March 9, 1959 at the International Toy Fair in New York. During her first year in stores, about 300,000 Barbies were sold at $3 a pop. If you could find one of those original Barbies today in good condition, it would cost you almost $30 grand.
I did some checking and found some more interesting Barbie trivia. Three Barbies are sold somewhere in the world every second. If you do the math, that comes to about $1.5 billion a year in sales. So in just the time it took you to read this sentence, about nine Barbies were sold.
Barbie apparently spends more time in the hair salon than most females do: her hair is made up of seven shades of blonde, weaved together to get the signature golden look. But Barbie hasn't always been a blonde. My Barbie doll, identical to the one above, is a brunette. And to my knowledge, there was never a red-headed Barbie. If there had been, I would have gladly hocked my collection of 45's to buy her.
My brunette Barbie is in excellent condition, and based on prices at collectors' websites, she's worth quite a bit. But I wouldn't sell her no matter how hard up I was for cash. Mom and Dad got her for me for Christmas when I was five years old. In addition to her being a brunette, she is also a TNT - twist and turn Barbie, with knees that bend, too. So I was able to dress her up in her cowgirl outfits and let her ride Thunderbolt, the horse that belonged to my second favorite doll Jane West. Grandma crocheted all sorts of clothes for Barbie, including a red two-piece bathing suit. Yep, Gram made Barbie a bikini. And a woman that worked with Mom made me a gorgeous lace and satin wedding gown for Barbie, including a long veil. Barbie, along with all of her clothes, is stored safely down in the basement in a watertight box. I'll get it out one day soon and put the crocheted bikini on her and take a picture for my faithful readers. Even after all of these years, she still has it going on.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Link Of The Week
I've mentioned this a few times in TWIT in the past few months that instead of taking a big vacation this year, I'm trying to become debt-free in 2009. It's only March and it hasn't been easy, but I've been hacking away at it and have made a huge dent in my credit card debt. If things go as I've planned, by the end of the year I will entirely debt-free. Oh what a happy, happy day that will be.
I'm giving full blame to my debt on credit cards. As we all know they're way to easy to get; at least they were in years past. I know that today, the companies are tightening the reins and they're a bit harder to get.
I came across a site this week that might help people try to decipher and discern the hundreds of credit cards out there. First of all, let me say that I am not telling you to go out and get a credit card and max it out; that's not my intent at all. I'm just saying that this site will be helpful if you decide you absolutely need a credit card. Check out http://www.financeglobal.com and you can have access to the largest database of credit cards out there. You can find out interest rates, fees, terms, etc. All I will say is please be wise.
I'm giving full blame to my debt on credit cards. As we all know they're way to easy to get; at least they were in years past. I know that today, the companies are tightening the reins and they're a bit harder to get.
I came across a site this week that might help people try to decipher and discern the hundreds of credit cards out there. First of all, let me say that I am not telling you to go out and get a credit card and max it out; that's not my intent at all. I'm just saying that this site will be helpful if you decide you absolutely need a credit card. Check out http://www.financeglobal.com and you can have access to the largest database of credit cards out there. You can find out interest rates, fees, terms, etc. All I will say is please be wise.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Bargain Saturday
I'm not ashamed to admit that through an odd chain of events, I have destroyed two pair of very cool sunglasses today. They were awesome shades - one pair was similar to the Bono-style. But yes, I'm sad to report that two pair of my favorite sunglasses met an early demise today. But not to fear - on my daily visit to Wal-Mart, I purchased a pair of cool "High School Musical" sunglasses for only a buck. Yep, a buck. First of all, let me say that I have not watched any of the "High School Musical" movies, but the glasses were very cool and on sale, so I just had to buy them. They even had a music note etched onto one of the lens. Why, that in itself is a reason to buy them. So now, when I'm wearing my contact lens, I'll be sporting High School Musical sunglasses. I never knew I could be that cool.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Flashback Friday
First of all, I apologize for the fuzziness in this picture - it was the only picture my co-workers and I could find after an hour of searching online, but for those of you who are in my age range, you'll be able to tell what it is: an old school cable TV control box. Yep, the precurser to the remote control.
This was the same control box that we got when we first got cable wayyyy back in 1983. It had a little thing on it where you would slide it up and down and land on the channel you wanted. Ours had about a ten-foot cable on it, so fortunately for me it would stretch from the TV to the couch. If you weren't so lucky, you had actually get up off of your ass and walk over to where the slide control box was and change the channel. But for back in the day, it was very high-tech. You have to remember that this came on the heels of us walking over to change the channel on the TV set - a concept that kids today have no knowledge of.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
All Of This, Just So I Can See
It's been an action-packed twenty-four hours for Mom and me. Last night after supper, we headed up to our local Dr. Bizer's to pick out our new glasses. We dragged Dad along with us, for backup. (Well, somebody impartial had to tell us if our glasses looked cool or silly.) After almost two hours, we finally picked out our glasses, paid for them, and headed back home. Only if it had been that simple.
First of all, I'm almost ashamed to admit that my Mother picked out her glasses in about fifteen minutes; it took me over an hour to find the perfect frames. But let me rewind for a bit. When we got there, we looked around the showroom for about fifteen minutes before finding out we had to register first. If it hadn't been for a VFW regular that works there asking if we'd registered I guess we still would be standing there waiting. After we both registered, Mom went back to sit in the waiting area with Dad while I continued the search for the perfect frames. In the meanwhile a very patient clerk was on hold for over thirty minutes with Mom's insurance company, checking to see if they would cover anything on her glasses .Luckily, they covered $100. At least she didn't get screwed too bad.
I continued trying on frames and had the choice narrowed down to two. Our VFW friend grabbed our files and called us over to her table and started to take care of us, but when she saw my prescription and the frames I had picked out, she sadly informed me I couldn't get those; my prescription was too strong and the lens would be too thick for the small wire frames. Damnit. I was wanting the cool snakeskin print Sarah Palin glasses. So our VFW friend took care of Mom while Dad and I looked some more. I finally found a pair of Guess brand frames that were pretty cool, and came and sat down next to Mom. Our VFW friend then told us we had a problem. On Mom's and my prescriptions, our doctors didn't write quite as legibly as they should and they couldn't read some of the numbers. Great. She called over a co-worker and asked her what she thought the numbers were. Just as they were debating "Is it a 2 or a 7?" up went my hand, Erica Kane style, and I told them that they needed to call both of our doctors in the morning just to make sure. We weren't going to go with "I think's" on our vision prescriptions. By this time, I just wanted to pay the bill and go home. But it wouldn't be that easy. While the VFW friend was processing me, she told me that I qualified for the buy one pair get one pair free. Woohoo. So now I had to go back and find yet another pair of glasses. I told our VFW friend that I wanted these for sunglasses, and bless her heart, she studied my face for a few seconds and then went over and brought back a very cool pair of frames to use for my prescription sunglasses. Where had she been an hour and a half ago????
Now came the fun part of the evening: peeling. I wrote out the check, ($303) only to be told "I'm sorry - I forgot to add the tax." I then wrote out the check for $332. As I was tearing it off, she said "Ooops, you got a $10 discount. It's $322." Did I mention that I just wanted to get out of there and go home?
Flash forward to tonight. After supper, Mom and I trekked back up to Dr. Bizer's to pick up our glasses. It was a three-ring circus in there. I'm sorry to say this, but I've never been around such a large group of wild WT kids in all of my life. At one point, we counted 9 of them running through the waiting area. Once again, all I wanted to do was get my glasses and go back home.
After about an hour of waiting and wondering if the wild WT children were going to attack us, a very nice clerk named Sonia called us up to the counter and got our glasses adjusted just right and then we were finally able to go home.
All in all, the eye doctor's exam, a year's worth of contacts and glasses cost me a grand total of $677.64. It sure is expensive just to be able to see.
First of all, I'm almost ashamed to admit that my Mother picked out her glasses in about fifteen minutes; it took me over an hour to find the perfect frames. But let me rewind for a bit. When we got there, we looked around the showroom for about fifteen minutes before finding out we had to register first. If it hadn't been for a VFW regular that works there asking if we'd registered I guess we still would be standing there waiting. After we both registered, Mom went back to sit in the waiting area with Dad while I continued the search for the perfect frames. In the meanwhile a very patient clerk was on hold for over thirty minutes with Mom's insurance company, checking to see if they would cover anything on her glasses .Luckily, they covered $100. At least she didn't get screwed too bad.
I continued trying on frames and had the choice narrowed down to two. Our VFW friend grabbed our files and called us over to her table and started to take care of us, but when she saw my prescription and the frames I had picked out, she sadly informed me I couldn't get those; my prescription was too strong and the lens would be too thick for the small wire frames. Damnit. I was wanting the cool snakeskin print Sarah Palin glasses. So our VFW friend took care of Mom while Dad and I looked some more. I finally found a pair of Guess brand frames that were pretty cool, and came and sat down next to Mom. Our VFW friend then told us we had a problem. On Mom's and my prescriptions, our doctors didn't write quite as legibly as they should and they couldn't read some of the numbers. Great. She called over a co-worker and asked her what she thought the numbers were. Just as they were debating "Is it a 2 or a 7?" up went my hand, Erica Kane style, and I told them that they needed to call both of our doctors in the morning just to make sure. We weren't going to go with "I think's" on our vision prescriptions. By this time, I just wanted to pay the bill and go home. But it wouldn't be that easy. While the VFW friend was processing me, she told me that I qualified for the buy one pair get one pair free. Woohoo. So now I had to go back and find yet another pair of glasses. I told our VFW friend that I wanted these for sunglasses, and bless her heart, she studied my face for a few seconds and then went over and brought back a very cool pair of frames to use for my prescription sunglasses. Where had she been an hour and a half ago????
Now came the fun part of the evening: peeling. I wrote out the check, ($303) only to be told "I'm sorry - I forgot to add the tax." I then wrote out the check for $332. As I was tearing it off, she said "Ooops, you got a $10 discount. It's $322." Did I mention that I just wanted to get out of there and go home?
Flash forward to tonight. After supper, Mom and I trekked back up to Dr. Bizer's to pick up our glasses. It was a three-ring circus in there. I'm sorry to say this, but I've never been around such a large group of wild WT kids in all of my life. At one point, we counted 9 of them running through the waiting area. Once again, all I wanted to do was get my glasses and go back home.
After about an hour of waiting and wondering if the wild WT children were going to attack us, a very nice clerk named Sonia called us up to the counter and got our glasses adjusted just right and then we were finally able to go home.
All in all, the eye doctor's exam, a year's worth of contacts and glasses cost me a grand total of $677.64. It sure is expensive just to be able to see.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
New Product Review
The 'Rents and I love Italian food, especially lasagna. But we don't eat it that often, mainly because it's not exactly low-cal and because it's a pain to make. Plus, we don't particularly care for the frozen lasagna, either. So when we saw the commercials for Pizza Hut's Tuscani Lasagna, we knew we had to try it -- someone else would be making the fresh lasagna for us, and it would hot and ready to eat; no cooking necessary.
We chose last night to try the Pizza Hut lasagna. Mom was drafted as driver to haul me home from the eye doctor since it really wouldn't have been safe for other motorists for me to drive home after having my eyes dilated, so to thank her for her services I told her we'd stop on the way home and pick up a pan. I was hoping the ordering process for our lasagna wasn't going to be an indication of how the actual lasagna would be; I was on the phone on hold for 15 minutes waiting for an actual Pizza Hut worker to take my order. By the time they took my order and said it would be about 20 minutes, we were about 10 minutes away from the Pizza Hut. Anyhoo, we picked it up and drove about 15 minutes to The Compound, and by the time we went inside and sliced into the pan of lasagna, I'm very happy to report it was still hot and didn't need reheating.
We were hungry and dove into the lasagna like we hadn't eaten in weeks. It rocked. It was full of ricotta cheese and lots of meat, just how we like our lasagna, and tasted homemade. I admit I was expecting it to taste like one of the pans of microwave lasagna, but I was pleasantly surprised. The size of the lasagna also surprised me for a couple of reasons. First of all, the height/thickness of the lasagna was about half the size of the one shown on the commercials. But at the same time, there was a lot of lasagna in the pan. They advertise it as "feeds four" but with a salad or vegetable you could easily double the portions and feed eight with it. And Pizza Hut also threw in five bread sticks at no extra charge. The five bread sticks produced a slight WTF moment, though -- they say "feeds four" and yet they give you five bread sticks. But I digress. Like I said, Pizza Hut's Tuscani lasagna rocked. It most definitely gets the TWIT (and Puddin family) Seal Of Approval.
We chose last night to try the Pizza Hut lasagna. Mom was drafted as driver to haul me home from the eye doctor since it really wouldn't have been safe for other motorists for me to drive home after having my eyes dilated, so to thank her for her services I told her we'd stop on the way home and pick up a pan. I was hoping the ordering process for our lasagna wasn't going to be an indication of how the actual lasagna would be; I was on the phone on hold for 15 minutes waiting for an actual Pizza Hut worker to take my order. By the time they took my order and said it would be about 20 minutes, we were about 10 minutes away from the Pizza Hut. Anyhoo, we picked it up and drove about 15 minutes to The Compound, and by the time we went inside and sliced into the pan of lasagna, I'm very happy to report it was still hot and didn't need reheating.
We were hungry and dove into the lasagna like we hadn't eaten in weeks. It rocked. It was full of ricotta cheese and lots of meat, just how we like our lasagna, and tasted homemade. I admit I was expecting it to taste like one of the pans of microwave lasagna, but I was pleasantly surprised. The size of the lasagna also surprised me for a couple of reasons. First of all, the height/thickness of the lasagna was about half the size of the one shown on the commercials. But at the same time, there was a lot of lasagna in the pan. They advertise it as "feeds four" but with a salad or vegetable you could easily double the portions and feed eight with it. And Pizza Hut also threw in five bread sticks at no extra charge. The five bread sticks produced a slight WTF moment, though -- they say "feeds four" and yet they give you five bread sticks. But I digress. Like I said, Pizza Hut's Tuscani lasagna rocked. It most definitely gets the TWIT (and Puddin family) Seal Of Approval.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
I Squeaked By One More Year
Today was the annual trip to the eye doctor. I'll have to go back later and proofread this to make sure there aren't any typos, becauase I still can barely see as a result of having my eyes dialated. But I digress. I'm not ashamed to say I was dreading it. It's not because of my eye doctor; I think Dr. Parker is without a doubt the nicest doctor, and probably even professional-type person that I know. I dreaded going because I was for sure this visit would be the one that she would mention the "B" word to me. Yep, bifocals. But I squeaked by for one more year.
It's getting close, I will admit. For the past few months I've noticed a slight change when I was laying on the bed reading; yep, I started pushing the book a bit farther away. And I also noticed in church when I held the hymnal. Dr. Parker changed the prescription for my contacts and in my glasses to "compensate" she said. Riiiiiight. That was her way of being nice to me and putting off bifocals for one more year. Anyhoo, I got a great report from Dr. Parker. She said that other then a slight change when I read up close, things were fine. She even gave me a case (yes, an entire case) of small bottles of saline solution, too. And before I left, she reassured me that I still have the bluest eyes of all of her blue-eyed patients. Of course, she said that AFTER I had written out the check to pay the bill.
It's getting close, I will admit. For the past few months I've noticed a slight change when I was laying on the bed reading; yep, I started pushing the book a bit farther away. And I also noticed in church when I held the hymnal. Dr. Parker changed the prescription for my contacts and in my glasses to "compensate" she said. Riiiiiight. That was her way of being nice to me and putting off bifocals for one more year. Anyhoo, I got a great report from Dr. Parker. She said that other then a slight change when I read up close, things were fine. She even gave me a case (yes, an entire case) of small bottles of saline solution, too. And before I left, she reassured me that I still have the bluest eyes of all of her blue-eyed patients. Of course, she said that AFTER I had written out the check to pay the bill.
Monday, March 2, 2009
File Under: WTF?
Overheard at Sonny's Body Shop this evening:
"He does a great job. He's fixed my car a hundred times. I'm a terrible driver."
No, I did not make that up.
"He does a great job. He's fixed my car a hundred times. I'm a terrible driver."
No, I did not make that up.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Link Of The Week
Last night was a first for me. I attended my first roller derby match. I'm hooked. It was very cool to see the Derby City Roller Girls beat the Roller Girls of Southern Indiana. I'm sorry but I was so excited that I forgot the final score. Both teams scored in the 60's and we won by just a few points. But I digress. It was very cool to see roller derby in person. When I was little, I watched it every Saturday night with Grandma and Grandpa. They loved it, too, because they used to go down to the Armory to watch it. In fact, Louisville was one of the first four U.S. cities to host roller derby back in the 30's. But I digress once again. Please take a moment to check out the home page of the Derby City Roller Girls (DCRG) at http://www.derbycityrollergirls.com and hopefully you'll become a fan like I did. For those here in the 'Ville, their next home match isn't until the end of March, but I'd love to see you there. I know I'll be there on the front roll cheering on the DCRG.
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