Archive for the ‘Mindless Meanderings’ Category

This is an interesting alternative to shopping with a credit card (since I have no credit cards other than my Visa debit) or using paypal (because some people have horror stories), you can use ebillme. I heard about it when I clicked a link for buy.com coupons. Apparently, the way it works is you make your online purchase utilizing your bank account. Only, via an intermediary. So you make your purchase and an invoice is emailed to you, then you log into your bank account to pay the bill. This cuts down on you earning interest on your credit card from that Monday morning hate-to-be-back-at-work impulse buy, and enables you to spend cash… electronically.

I think it’s a good idea. I’ll keep it in mind when I’m back in Christmas shopping mode, which usually kicks in during the month of August.

Have any of you used this? I’d love to hear about your experience.

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Good gravy but my scooter ride home today was beastly hot. Oh, sure, it’s been hot for weeks, but today seemed even hotter. Blech. Red lights (I caught all of them) were brutal as I dripped sweat. But even when I was moving, the breeze was super hot and not at all refreshing, though certainly better than sitting still in the sun.

Other things that would be beastly hot this afternoon:

Why, yes, I am just looking for excuses to post more pictures from my brother’s visit!

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They increased the cost to apply for a passport a week or so ago. It was a significant price increase. Sadly, we didn’t have it in our budget to get our passports before the fee increase. So, whenever we get around to applying for our passports, it looks like it’ll cost something like $135 each instead of $100. That’s a heck of a price hike.

Who was I talking to about rfid blocking wallets? Is that the type of wallet that keeps the little microchip hoojamajobit (technical term) from being able to be scanned until you’re ready to be scanned? Whenever we get our passports, I’m going to make sure we have something safe to keep them in while traveling. I’m very much opposed to the thought of someone scanning my information without my knowledge. Passports have those scanning chip thingies (technical term) now, right?

It’s creepy.

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You have heard me on more than one occasion lament that all of the living areas of my house are tiled with ceramic tile. I hate sweeping and mopping. Hate it! You know this, you’ve endured my tirades about this loathsome chore for years.

A few weeks ago, I was asked to review a shark steam mop. I had no idea what that was, but I’m always happy to review products for you, oh faithful reader, and any possible way to make mopping more appealing to me is welcome. (Honestly, what was I thinking when we purchased a house full of tile?)

Luckily, my steam cleaner arrived the night before my brother and SIL arrived, and about ten minutes before I was planning to mop the house.

Some assembly required!

After my husband very kindly assembled it for me (I have not the patience for such things, and anyway, I had to sweep before I could try out my new steam mop), and after I read the instruction booklet, I couldn’t wait to try it out!

It’s very light-weight, so if I lived in a two-story home, I’d have no trouble at all carrying it upstairs to tackle bathrooms. And the main part of the machine separates from the wheels so it can be carried around to do smaller projects with the handy-dandy tools.

If I must mop, and clearly I must (stupid tile floors), this is the product I want to use. Here, watch me use it:

While I would never classify myself as “green,” I have been making changes in our habits to try to lessen our impact on the environment. As such, I really like a product that does not require chemicals to clean. We have a limited amount of water in our world, and we pollute it with soap, shampoo, old prescriptions we were told to flush… it’s nice to be able to clean my floors without having to utilize chemicals. And the steam is hot enough to give germ-freak me peace of mind about knowing the temperature is high enough to kill whatever might be growing on my floors.

Blech, that’s disgusting!

Because I have so much tile in this house, I quickly discovered I needed to change the pad if I truly wanted clean floors. Happily, the Gruene steam cleaners work both with the pad they give you or any other towel/rag you have lying around. I think that’s brilliant! There is a frame thingy (technical term) that holds any cloth in place so that I don’t have to go out and drop a bunch of cash on additional pads. That’s one of my biggest gripes about certain floor cleaning systems that force you to purchase their replacement pads. You end up spending too much money on all their specialty crap.

I have not yet tried any of the attachments, but I really do plan to at least try out the angled spout thingy (technical term) that they recommend for use on the rim of a toilet. You’ve heard me lament before about the black gunk that I cannot scrap off with the toilet brush. Steam might just be the solution.

I don’t know why it never occurred to me that steam would remove spilled candle wax from my floor, but I was pleasantly surprised, after mopping my bathroom, to discover those wax droplets that have been there for five years (because I’m just that bad a housekeeper) disappeared the first time I utilized this steam mop! I’m a pyromaniac and frequently have wax dripping onto my floors, so this is a fabulous alternative to having to get down with a razor blade and scrape the wax off my floor.

Pinelope enjoyed having a hissing competition with the steam mop! There you have it: Mom tested, hedgehog approved!

::I am receiving compensation for this review, however, I really do like this product and really do recommend it. It won’t make me like mopping my floors, but it does a great job, you know, since I cannot avoid mopping for too long!::

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So there’s this book I want to buy. It’s the next in the series I have been reading by Brad Thor. If you haven’t yet read any Brad Thor, you’re really missing out. He’s like Vince Flynn. I like both authors very much.

Anyway, I finished reading Path of the Assassin a couple weeks ago. Two Saturdays ago, my husband told me to go ahead and buy the next one, State of the Union as he’s one book behind me, so while I’m reading one, he’s reading the one I just finished, and we both love these books. It was Saturday night and, as usual, we were at Borders. I searched for my book and was dismayed to discover the only copy was badly abused. I do not buy abused books. Tiny flaws are one thing, but the front and back covers are both badly mangled. And so, I did not buy the book two weeks ago.

Sherlock found a 40% off coupon good this weekend at Borders, so we just ran up there to buy my book, as he’s half way through the previous, so I really need to get started on my new book. Only, they still just had that one, badly abused copy, that I am disinclined to buy. I prefer to abuse my books myself; I do not buy abused books. Not even with a 40% off coupon.

A store employee approached me, clearly seeing the frustration on my face, else why would she have approached me?

She: Are you finding everything today?
Me: No, actually. Let me show you the problem I’m having.
She: Okay.
Me: ::pulling the book off the shelf:: This is the book I want to buy, but it’s badly abused. And it’s been the only copy you’ve had here for the past few weeks.
She: Oh, goodness, that is an abused book. I don’t blame you for not wanting to buy it.
Me: I prefer to abuse books myself, not that I abuse books, mind you.
She: I know what you mean.

She looked the book up on the computer to verify that they had no additional copies in their store, nor at the next closest store. In fact, the only copy in the general area of Orlando is way far away in Ocoee. I’m disinclined to drive to Ocoee, and so will either go to Barnes & Noble or order it online.

As I browsed another section of the store, a store manager approached, holding the abused book out in front of her, like something smelly.

She: What if I gave you a 40% off coupon?
Me: ::confused:: I have a 40% off coupon. ::hold up my coupon::
She: I could give you another, and then you could get this book and another, each for 40% off.
Me: ::still confused:: I don’t understand the question.
She: ::gesturing to the first employee:: She asked me how much we could discount this book. I assumed you asked for a discount because it’s abused?
Me: Oh, no. No. I don’t want to buy it because it’s abused, regardless of the discount.
She: Oh! Because 40% off is a good discount.
Me: Yes it is, but I’m disinclined to buy abused books. I’m discriminatory like that.
She: I understand.

I felt like she had cornered me and was trying to force me to buy that poor, abused book.

Back in the safety of my car, I turned to sherlock and said, “why was she trying to force me to buy that abused book?” And we laughed.

Do you buy abused books? How abused is too-abused for you? This book’s cover, both front and back, were badly folded and creased and mangled.

I don’t buy abused books.

And so, I’ll continue re-reading the Harry Potter series that I started two weeks ago when I failed to buy the Brad Thor novel I need to read next. I’m 1/5 through year four. That should give me plenty of time to polish off the series before I successfully acquire my Thor novel.

(BTW, thank you to Tammi, for blogging about Thor a year or two ago)

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This post is mostly directed at Lukie. Hey Lukie, weren’t you recently lamenting that one of the tasks you had been assigned at work was to research health insurance rates for your company? Or am I remember this wrong, and you were researching it for your personal insurance? Anyway, I’m sure you’ve already looked into this, but if not, have you checked out bcbsnc yet? I know it can be overwhelming to compare and contrast various insurance companies, so I thought I’d throw that link your way.

And now, a couple adorable children:

(My nephew wanted to hold my hedgehog… right up until she pooped, then he wanted nothing to do with Pinelope!)

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I just had a brilliant idea! This could make me a millionaire. If only I were a chemist or knew a chemist-type-person (::cough cough::Maya::cough cough::). We need to invent weight loss pills that are activated by vodka, or beer. Or, you know, any other form of alcohol. It would be brilliant! Too many of those magic pills urge you not to drink while taking them. We need to invent a diet pill that thrives in an alcohol-enriched environment, AKA my stomach and blood stream.

That settles it, I need a My First Chemistry kit so I can get to work on this!

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I was reading online recently about something called irvingia gabonensis. Actually, the bizarreness of the phrase is what made me follow the link to it, as it was something I had never heard of before, and it’s such a foreign looking word. And, as if so often the case when I click weird words, it’s a weight loss product. But this one is made from some species of mango.

My interest was peaked. As you will recall because I’m about to remind you, I have two mango trees. My ice cream mango that has one fruit growing on it this year:

and another breed of mango that we bought this year, and have not yet planted.

The thought of mangos working as a weight loss product gives me hope. I love mangos. Love them! Favorite fruit. If they can be proven to aid in weight loss, I intend to read up about it. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if either or both of my breeds of mango trees ended up having weight loss benefits?

Then again, the one is called ice cream mango. Nothing with “ice cream” in the name can possibly be good for the waistline!

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To celebrate Independence day, every year I try to do a blood donation.
Today was Doug’s memorial service.

And so, to honor Doug, in lieu of attending his memorial, I made an appointment to donate platelets.

Platelets, I’m told, are used with cancer patients because platelets promote clotting. Plasma, on the other hand, is used with burn patients. I didn’t know that before today, and thought I’d share it with you, too.

Pics of my donation below the fold. Read the rest of this entry »

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One of the best things about my job is how little I am required to deal with the phone. I hate the phone. Always have, always will.

Me: Company name, this is WB, may I help you?
Her: Hi WB, this is LK, let me talk to Boss.
Me: I’m sorry, Boss is out of the office, may I take a message or try to help you with something?
Her: Can you give me Boss’ cell? I have it, but I left my cell down in the car. (or wherever she said she left Boss’s number)
Me: I could, but then I’d get in trouble!
Her: I have his cell, just not on me.
Me: Well, the office phone rings Boss’ cell, and if he doesn’t pick up by the third ring, he has me answer it, so he must be unavailable right now anyway, since I answered.
Her: WE HAVE BEEN WORKING TOGETHER FOR THREE YEARS. I JUST DON’T WANT TO HAVE TO GO DOWNSTAIRS TO GET HIS NUMBER. YOU KNOW WHAT, TELL HIM LK CALLED AND NOT TO CALL ME BACK.
And somewhere in my next reply, she slammed down her phone, so I’m not sure how much she heard of:
Me: LK, Boss is in a doctor’s appointment right now, he won’t answer his cell.

I don’t give out cell numbers. Period.

And when I encounter someone on the phone who is disinclined to give out another person’s cell, I get it, and don’t press the issue. Because I don’t want someone handing out my cell number to anyone who claims to have left it in their other coat.

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