Monday, January 24, 2011

Change

The Found Change count for 2010 is……. (drum roll please!)…….

$1.19

 

.25 = 1

.10 = 7

.01 = 24

 

This is down 86¢ from last year.  Could it be that because the economy is so bad that people are more careful with their change?  Or maybe more people are bothering to pick up change from the ground?  Or maybe I just wasn’t as lucky this past year?

The world may never know  shrug

I can only hope to find more in 2011  laughing

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Optical

It’s been a bit chilly around here the past few days – I think the high temperature today was 5° F and it’s down to -5° F now…  So to get your mind off the weather, here is a cool video (Get it?  Cool?  laughing ) .  There was no video editing or special effects here…

 

 

If you liked this – check out the guy’s website

*Update* – the high was actually 14° F, but that’s still cold  Brr

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Guards

For the first time in a loooong while, I went to the Galleria Mall.

None of the stores I went to had what I was looking for, but that’s besides the point – I couldn’t believe all the security guards that were all over!  What’s going on there that I missed?

I will say that they all looked very professional and had the mall very well covered. 

Whatever trouble they had or are anticipating, it looks like it’s taken care of. 

I’m not sure if I should be happy or sad about this.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Monday, January 17, 2011

Longer

You can tell the days are getting longer again.

I love it!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Trust

It can be hard sometimes not having anyone around that you can trust 100%.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Still Scorpio

I’m not super-deep into astrology and horoscopes, but I do find them fun and entertaining.    I was born under the sign Scorpio, which I was very happy with.  

Even tho’ I don’t see logically how a description of a an astrological sign could possibly apply to everyone born under that sign, when I read about Scorpios or a daily horoscope, I tend to look at the similarities that apply to me and feel comfortable with the way they seem to fit.

That all changed this week, when it was announced that the dates for the zodiac signs had changed a bit  - including a new one added to the lot.  I had changed from Scorpio to Libra.  Ugh.  Scorpio was fun… a scorpion has personality – I don’t think the same could be said of a set of scales… except maybe bor-ing.   I was happy being a Scorpio, notsomuch a Libra.

Fortunately, I’m a Scorpio again!  Not that I really believe in horoscopes  rolleyes

 

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Future Mess

When I woke up this morning, there was about a foot of snow on the ground.

When I got home from work, it was was up to almost two feet.

My tractor did an admiral job of clearing it out of my driveway 

The patches on the hoses are leaking a bit, but they held good enough to get the job done. (hopefully they will hold for the season!)

I’m dreading to see what my yard is going to look like come springtime…  With the blade on the tractor, you can’t let it “ride” on top of the driveway – that is going up and down over the grade of the ground… you have to set a height and go with it.  Unfortunately, either my driveway is very uneven or the three-point hitch isn’t level – either way, I’ve been digging up a lot of dirt, stone and grass.

Whatever mess there is tho’, it will be worth cleaning up as long as I don’t have to shovel for the rest of the winter  laughing

When the weather gets warmer, I’ll have to see if there is a way to adjust the level-ness of the blade.  Until then, I’m going to try to minimize the mess as much as I can…   rolleyes

Monday, January 10, 2011

Top Gear

When it comes to cars, I am by no means a gearhead.  I don’t understand people who spend their evenings at car shows, wandering from car to car looking at engines and fenders and the like.  Boooooooring  zzz

That being said, I enjoy watching Top Gear.  I don’t watch it regularly, but when I do, it has never failed to make me laugh.  And of course I’m talking about the original BBC version, not the crappy US remake.  I tried watching the new version on the History Channel and it was pretty awful.  The cast just doesn’t have the charisma of the BBC guys…  they weren’t very entertaining to me.

It amazes me sometimes (most of the time?) how remakes can totally ruin something really good.

I would love the chance to have a go around their track and see where I would rate on their board.  I have a bit of a lead foot and I’d like to think that I would end up at least somewhere in the middle of their ranking board.  I guess we’ll never know, tho’   rolleyes

This is the first part of one of my favorite episodes.  If you get the chance to watch the whole thing – do it… the last part is soooo funny  laughing  

Unfortunately, the only place I can find the whole episode is on iTunes… but it’s totally worth the 99¢ – just search for Top Gear US Road Trip.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

New Ride

So before Christmas, I finally bit the bullet and traded in the Jillmobile. 

It needed to be done – I was getting tired of taking her into the shop every few weeks…  Not to mention, the cost.

I think I would have liked to get another pickup, but when I saw the price of used ones, I knew that was out of the question.  I went with my next best option:  an SUV.  They can haul pretty much what I need from Home Depot, they can pull a trailer and are priced much more reasonably.  After much research, I had narrowed down what I would have preferred, but discovered that what looks good in reviews doesn’t necessarily match real life.

I ended up getting a Jeep Liberty.  It’s still old, but it has a lot less miles than my Dakota had.  It had a few issues, but the place I bought it from is being good about taking care of them.  All-in-all, I am pretty happy with it so far.  There’s not as much room in the back as I had with my pickup, but I love the way it handles in the snow.  The inside is really well laid out – it’s very roomy and comfortable.  And the engine looks pretty accessible, so I’m hoping I won’t have too hard of a time taking care of a lot of the maintenance myself.  I think my biggest complaint is the gas mileage – it’s pretty awful…  I think it’s worse than I got with the Dakota.  I’m going to keep track of the gas and mileage for another few weeks, just to see if my first mpg results are the same.  I’m really hoping I made a mistake somewhere  crossed fingers

I hate having a car payment now, too.

Here’s hoping that I get many good years out of the new Jillmobile!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Thursday Bullets

So the holidays are over - routine will hopefully fall back into place and I will start posting more regularly…

 

  • I don’t know if it’s just the stress from the holidays or it’s just my turn, but I’m getting whatever it is that’s going around.  I hope it comes and goes quickly  crossed fingers

 

  • What is it with the guys that have the plows on the front of their trucks – why do they have to ride the center line all the time?  I always feel when one is coming from the opposite direction that I have to move over until I’m practically in the ditch or it’s going to take out the side of my truck…

 

  • What don’t guys understand about ‘No’ when you don’t want to go out with them?  If I’m not interested, I don’t want to waste my time and energy playing games.  Don’t try to pressure me – it makes me not want to go out with you even more.

 

  • As I alluded to a couple of weeks ago – I’m getting my garden catalogs already…  I am itching for spring to get here already  rolleyes   I can’t wait to get my garden growing again.

 

  • So I had the chance to work on my tractor.  I found the damaged hoses, but there was absolutely no way I could access them to get them out and replace them.  The hoses were cut by one of the fan belt pulleys that was rubbing against them. Why would anyone design an engine like that?  I managed to temporarily patch them up until the warmer weather, when it will be easier to take the radiator off to get in there and properly make the repair.  They still leak a bit, but I think (hope) that I will be able to get through the winter, barring any other disasters.

 

  • Someone did something for me that I did not need and did not want.  I (thought I) was gracious and a few days later sent over a thank you card and a some cookies.  Is it wrong for me to be aggravated that I was reprimanded for not calling that same day to say ‘thank you’?  Do me a favor and don’t try to be nice if have expectations.

 

  • If you haven’t seen this yet, they did a great job as usual… but what’s even more interesting is seeing how the clip was made – so creative!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year 01 We hope everyone out there has a healthy and prosperous 2011