As Clear As Mud

Variations on a Theme

2011-11-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

I just played the word "strip" by adding an 's' to 'trip'. It woudln't have been a good play, except that I got to play the 's' on a triple word block. That made it a decent score. I stripped down a rocking chair last week and painted it green. It had been an ugly, outdated rocking chair, but now it's adorable. I also cut up a giraffe print throw blanket and recovered its cushions with them. The cushions in my diningroom chairs are not soft enough to allow them to be used as desk chairs, but the desk chair is at the desk and I'm in the diningroom, so I'm using a diningroom chair as a desk chair.

Which brings us to the question, why is a raven like a writing desk?

"Yules" is not a word, and yet, scrabble allows it? Why is that? they also allow "Jo," which is my nickname, so I can't think of a use for it where it does not qualify as a proper noun. That should disallow it, but it doesn't. I wonder how many fake words are allowed to break the scrabble rules?

If I were a fake word then I would break a lot of rules. I would carry extra pixels so that I could change my letters to make higher scoring words. I might even use the pixels to make my vowels have 10 points instead of 1.

I need sleep. I'm tired. I should be working but I'm not.

Caffeine Content

2011-10-25T05:43:00.000-07:00

Quinn says there's less caffeine in a shot of espresso than there is in a 12 oz cup of regular ol' joe. I believe him. People feel the espresso because they tend to drink it either as a shot, which is tiny and goes down quickly, or in a sugary concoction that they chug all too quickly and end up with a massive buzz, whereas people who like to enjoy a cup of coffee actually enjoy it...slowly.

I'm becoming something of a coffee addict...again. I was throughly addicted when I was a teenager, but I got over it when I was pregnant. It wasn't worth the leg aches and lack of sleep that it caused. Now I'm getting back to the cup-a-day status and enjoying it very much. I picked up some flavored creamers last week and I think they're making me fat. As if it isn't bad enough to have every snack available loaded with calories- I now drink my calories as well! Darnitall. I'm gonna have to research sugar free liquid creamers- or maybe go the half-and-half with flavored, sugar free syrups route. Either way, I'm glad for the warmth and the buzz now that fall is here. It goes well with my chunky, cable knit, burnt orange hooded sweater that I'm rocking.

Happyness is falltime full of apples, crunchy leaves and cinnamon sticks.

Runny Babbit

2011-10-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

My mother bought my son a book for Christmas. it's a billy sook by Shel Silverstein. Everything Silverstein writes is pretty silly, but this one is an entire book of spoonerized rhymes about a bunny rabbit. Or rather, a runny babbit.

Last night we had some young people over for a movie and game night and ended up with a competition going on to see who in the group could read through an entire poem without stuttering or losing their place. It was hilarious. Nobody made it, but we all laughed ourselves silly. Here is a sample of what we were dealing with:

Runny babbit knearned to lit,
And made a swat and heater,
And now he sadly will admit
He bight have done metter.

Runny be quimble,
Runny be nick,
Runny cump over the jandlestick.
But now- what smells furning bluff?
Guess he didnt' hump jigh enough.

BLARG!

2011-09-27T17:09:00.000-07:00

“Do you like vegetables?" Sophie asked, hoping to steer the conversation towards a slightly less dangerous kind of food.
"You is trying to change the subject," the Giant said sternly. "We is having an interesting babblement about the taste of the human bean. The human bean is not a vegetable.”

Roald Dahl- The Big Friendly Giant

I. Am. Exhausted. Emotionally and physically spent. I'm waiting here for Quinn, who is waiting on Tabbi to get out of the bathroom so that he can use the bathroom and he and I can go for a walk.

It's beautiful outside. It's shifted to fall and the air is clean and cool. The house got too warm this afternoon, but I didn't dare turn the air on so I've just been...warm. Very. Warm.

The neighbor's little girls were going to come over tonight, but I don't think they are coming afterall. I'm going to go get G-man into pajamas and we'll have devotions. It's time for us all to be getting ready for sleep.

“I was glad my father was an eye-smiler. It meant he never gave me a fake smile because it's impossible to make your eyes twinkle if you aren't feeling twinkly yourself. A mouth-smile is different. You can fake a mouth-smile any time you want, simply by moving your lips. I've also learned that a real mouth-smile always has an eye-smile to go with it. So watch out, I say, when someone smiles at you but his eyes stay the same. It's sure to be a phony.”
-Roald Dahl- Danny, The Champion of the World

2011-09-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

My work server has been out of tasks so much lately that I've been getting up earlier and earlier to try and beat the East Coast to the computers and get my queue filled before all the work is gone. 6:15 didn't work this morning, so I'm gonna shoot for 5am tomorrow. It's a little crazy, but we're at a point in life where we're free to work hard. Really hard. And since that point probably won't return until we retire, I want to make the best of it.

We're cutting back on movies and other free time twaddle. We're working longer hours, going to bed earlier, getting up earlier, eating less cheese and meat and getting the debts paid off. It's exciting, really. This weekend I get to pay a credit card entirely off. Next month we get to eliminate a hospital bill. The month after that we're on track for paying off our last credit card, then we'll only have the student loans and car payment. The car is owned, debt free, and we have a budget that will allow us to save as soon as we have the three less monthly payments. I can't wait. I love my life, and I love how Q and I can synergize and accomplish goals. It's thrilling to be a part of something so active and progressive as our life!

On the other hand- trying to decide what the G-man will need for his second Christmas...

Falling Behind

2011-09-20T05:08:00.000-07:00

It has been too long since I've updated. The fall air is infectious, and Quinn and I have been trying to get on top of the yard. We've been going along the fence line, cutting out all the little baby trees and vines and piling all the brush into my Mom's little trailer. As soon as we finish we'll take it out to her farm and burn it.

The falling leaves are beautiful. The neighbor across the street has a couple of birch trees that are full-yellow and have filled their yard with color, while my maples are still green. We need a nice hard frost so that we'll get some beautiful reds going on in our yard.

I'm excited for fall- I'm very much looking forward to French Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie, cheesecakes and coffee galore, and an entire host of other spicy, warm treats. I keep thinking I'll start making my own pie crusts, but it turns a pie into such a drawn out task that I always end up buying them pre-packaged. Pilsbury loves me.

Skeptic at heart

2011-08-01T06:36:00.001-07:00

Skeptic at heart

Authored by Rickey Combs

I’ve always been skeptical of things that seem too good to be true on the internet. My brother called me one time and swore to me that he had won the Spanish lottery and all he had to do was e-mail the number on the screen from the pop-up ad that had appeared on his computer. He was not calling to ask if I thought he should do it, he was calling to ask what one thing I wanted from his fortune so he could check me off the list of people he had to buy things for now that he was rich. I talked him out of e-mailing them, but I think he still halfway believes that he was tricked out of a small Spanish pile of gold, and he probably resents me for it. However, I finally talked him out of it when I told him it was probably spam. What’s not spam is if you’re trying to get a great deal on satellite, you should Click Here. You can ask my brother- I know what I’m talking about!

What an Angel Investor Might Do For Your Online Business

2011-06-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

In the past several years there has been a massive surge in online companies. Every business wants a website where they can serve the online community, and many businesses are based entirely online, built on affiliate sales or unique content and products that the owners want to market to a large audience without the trouble of a physical store. Ebooks, online conferences and tutorials are readily available for anyone looking for advice from their home office, but many of these businesses are struggling to gain notice due to lack of funding for advertisement and publicity.

Online businesses can very easily be lost in the endless ocean of information available on the internet. It’s crucial to their success that they find a way to garner traffic and work their way to the top of the ranking system. With Google becoming hard core about page quality and content amounts this is becoming more and more difficult, and simply advertising isn’t always cutting it. Oftentimes business owners need to hire writers to create original, helpful content and web designers to ensure that their layout is acceptable and their sites are cataloged in a way that is helpful to the end user.

This is where Angel Investors come into play. With their funding, in the form of convertible debts or ownership equity, can boost small online businesses into success by allowing them to access the professional help and advertising that they need to get their feet under them. If you’re unsure exactly what an angel investor is, then you should check out this angel investor information and get a good idea as to what exactly it is that they do.

If you’re product is good, don’t be afraid to do what it takes to get noticed. Your business is worth it- make the investment to make sure that your voice is heard and your idea is seen.

Auto Insurance

2011-06-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

Once again, the topic is insurance. This time it's auto insurance, not renters, home or health insurance, though all of those are important. We currently have two insured vehicles- our beautiful Mitsubishi SUV that has full coverage and Quinn's toy; his 1985 Silverado that has minimal liability.

We didn't shop much when we signed up for insurance on our vehicles because Quinn was kinda grandfathered into his current policy and we know it's a good deal, so we just extend it to whatever vehicles we happen to be driving. It was also very overwhelming to consider the amount of work that we'd have to do to find quotes from all the different companies. That was because we didn't know about sites like http://www.carinsurancerates.me/, that compare quotes for you and give you the best information available.

Shopping for auto insurance is like shopping for a home security system or a guard dog- you need to make sure that it is the best value, but even more important that that is knowing that it's gonna do its job. So shop wisely and carefully, and good luck!

Mortgages

2011-06-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

I would be thrilled if my husband and I had perfect credit scores, but alas, due to miscommunications with the hospital and some issues with pre-scheduled payments while out of the country, our credit is only "good." Because of this, it's likely that once our credit becomes excellent we will get a new mortgage to refinance our home at a better interest rate.

While house shopping we looked at a lot of different mortgage quotes and interest rates and calculated our potential monthly payments a thousand times. http://www.perfectscoremortgages.com/ is a nice little site with a little tool that lets you request interest quotes for your area. It also has a basic mortgage payment calculator that is easy to use. Sites like this can be very useful, whether your have perfect credit, or just good credit.

Family Franchises

2011-06-16T19:19:00.000-07:00

I have a weakness for car shopping. I can spend hours browsing inventories and using "build your own" car applications on manufacturer's websites. It's not because I want a new car-I actually love our car, but it's something akin to playing "Sim City"...with cars...

So today my car shopping led me to this Hyundai Genesis Dealer site. It's not an amazing site, but it does have an interesting aspect to it. If you dig around a bit you will find that the site is for an 80 year old, four generation family business! I love that kind of thing! It's so neat to me to see families passing on a valuable legacy from generation to generation. So if you're ever looking for a Hyundai Genesis sedan, make sure you check out not only the Napleton Family's website, but any of their 64 franchise locations!

Business Leads

2011-06-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

I'm currently perusing a site called Equileads.com. It's an interesting idea, and one that isn't eexactly new. It's all about lead generation. They pay bloggers and small business sites to post an information form on their site that allows users to input information, that then gets sent back to equileads, who then sells the leads to the appropriate companies so that the original user can be contacted by a broker/agent with the information they need. It's a very roundabout way of saying "hey, can we call you?"

Right now I might be inclined to fill out such a form, had we not just gone through the process of purchasing a house. We're pretty happy with the mortgage rate we got, but it wouldn't have hurt to get a few more quotes and see if we couldn't find something a tad bit better. In the future I can see Quinn using forms like these on the sites he builds, but at this point he's mostly concerned with writing helpful content and formatting high quality pages.

So anywho, there's a blurb for you... I hope my readers enjoy the odd variety of links that I tend to post!

How To Rock A Church At Group Exercise

2011-05-30T05:57:00.001-07:00

Posted by Gaylord Campbell

When people think of churches, they immediately begin to scratch imaginary itches from pantyhose, straighten non-existent ties and bend over to automatically tie shoes no matter whose kids they belong to. Guys look forward to a two hour nap while women look forward to shoving the kids into the nursery for some quiet time to themselves. Me? I like churches for Thursday nights when the jazzercise class rocks. We crank up some spiritual rock and dance all over the fellowship hall.

I can't wait for Thursday night after work to get here. I set myadt Security alarm after retrieving my gym bag with workout clothes, water and a towel then I set off for the church. It's a funny thing to see the ages of the women in group exercise classes. There are little old ladies who generally come because they're lonesome and could use some conversation while the mothers come to get some time away from the kids. Younger folks like me come for the actual exercise because it's fun. Gyms are okay, but in the church group exercise classes there's a comradeship you won't find in gyms.

Aside from the friendship of women you know, the jazzercise answers a need inside us not only for exercise but for the music. Working out to snappy tunes is more fun than country music line dancing.

Become.com

2011-04-20T07:01:00.000-07:00

I *love* www.become.com. I have since the first time I visited. I don't generally have spare money laying around that I can use to shop online, but I like to go to the site and follow crumb trails. One thing leads to the next, and I get fun ideas for sewing/crafting and cool objects to watch for when I do get to go shopping.

Today I started with the keyword "Oasis", simply because I'm thirsty and trying to decide whether or not it's worth walking to the kitchen for a glass of water. I then narrowed the search to shoes, and voilà- oasis shoes returned some pretty fun results. Everything from Under Armor running shoes to incredibly comfortable looking sandals. The sandals sparked a memory of some Teva Flip Flops, and how wonderfully comfortable they were. That search included some children's shoes, so I started browsing gifts for my little sister-in-law who will soon be 12 years old, and I found this wide selection of messenger bags for girls that is absolutely adorable. How would I pick?

Faces Of Loss

2011-01-22T08:05:00.000-08:00

I happened upon a website today, www.facesofloss.org that is something of a tribute to all of the parents who have lost babies to miscarriages and preterm births. It's a beautiful site, and one that touches close to home for me.

I've not had a miscarriage or a preterm labor, but a dear friend of mine went into labor at 22 weeks on my sweet baby's due date. Her labor was short, and her beautiful little girl only lived a few hours after her birth, but they cherished every second. Their pictures and stories still leave me with tears and goosebumps... I'm fighting the tears as I write.

She was due the same week as my sister-in-law, and last week as I held my tiny, newborn niece I ached, knowing that if little Christine had just waited a few more months then her parents would be holding her and she would be bright eyed and smiling with soft, fuzzy hair, smelling so sweetly of baby lotions and birth.

Now, 5 months after their loss the Lord has blessed them richly and they have conceived again. She's due in August, and they're so very excited. I'm finding that I'm struggling with fears for them, but as I watch and listen I see that the Lord has given them peace and strength and they are waiting expectantly on Him to work and move in their lives.

Car Hunt!

2010-12-29T13:15:00.000-08:00

Our little 90's Mazda is hanging by a thread... a thread that forces you to hand pump the clutch before shifting gears and hotwire the tail lights every time you start the car. It's a weak enough thread that I've come to a point of refusing to drive it. Therefore, we're car shopping. Right now our top options are an '01-05 Jeep Liberty or an '01-03 Honda Odyssey. Our parameters are pretty wide, though, so I have no idea what we'll end up with.

Our restrictions are as follows:
No older than an '00.
No more than 125k miles, unless it's a Honda or a Mercedes, in which case 150k is acceptable.
5 full sizes seats and a cargo area big enough for a cello and a double stroller.
4x4.
And a $2500-8k price range.

I'm sure we can find something that we love, just not sure how much shopping it's going to require.

Asbestos

2010-12-28T10:28:00.000-08:00

Asbestos. In 1973 the United States alone was using 803,000 metric tons of asbestos. At that point building and construction industries were using it for strengthening cements and plastics. They were also using it for insulation, roofing, fireproofing, and sound absorption. Automobile makers used it in vehicle brake shoes and clutch pads. Ship builders were using it to insulate boilers, steam pipes, and hot water pipes. It could be found in paints, adhesives, ceiling and floor tiles, plastics, gardening products and even in crayons. (Talc contains high levels of asbestos and was a main ingredient in crayon making for many years.)

Different movements over the last 35 years have worked together to bring that amount down to about 2,400 metric tons in annual use, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t still everywhere. Until the late 70's it was used in fireplace wallboarding. Until ‘79 it was used in a lot of hair dryers. In ‘89 new uses were banned, but every thing that I listed in the last paragraph was still allowed.

In the year 2000, the United States government asked the leading crayon companies to discontinue their use of talc in their crayon making, as 32 out of 40 crayons tested showed higher than trace amounts of asbestos. That same year the UK put a ban on all use of asbestos in building materials.

Why is it a big deal? Because 4000 people a year die of diseases caused by inhalation of damaged asbestos fibers. Those diseases include asbestosis, mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancers and diffuse pleural thickening. Also, according the the Health and Safety Executive of the UK: “Current evidence suggests that asbestos can also cause laryngeal cancer and may be implicated in causing pharyngeal, stomach and colorectal cancers.”

What can be done? Extensive inspections (also known as asbestos surveys) can uncover any and all areas and items in your home that contain asbestos, and a simple refurb can protect you and your family from many very unpleasant diseases. It’s worth it.

Facebook makes my brain bigger...

2010-12-27T08:31:00.000-08:00

According to Ars Technica, the mega-site Facebook creates bigger brains.

I'm not kidding.

Here's the link...check it out for yourself. It's true.

Not necessarily a good thing, but it *is* true.

So to all you fellow FB-addicts...here's to an oversized amygdalas.

Woot.