Overloaded

THIS is why I don't have a Facebook!


Infographic by- Shanghai Web Designers

I only use a few of these apps/sites thankfully, but I'm still overwhelmed with all of the information thrown at me daily. What have YOU done in the last 60 seconds?

A Green Pug?!

Happy EarthDay!

I've commented here before about how much my family and I are into recycling.  Though our city won't use them right now, other local cities do use Recycle Bank for curbside recycling.  Though we're not able to get RecycleBank rewards for our curbside recycling, we do it for other reasons -- like it's the right thing to do.  Save the planet and all...  Even if your city doesn't use RecycleBank, you can still earn some rewards by taking the time to learn more about recycling - how to recycle more, how to be more green, how some  companies are being more green, etc...  The numbers below show just a portion of the impact you can contribute to by being more green.

FW: You better be careful when we're shopping...

Another one from the Inter-web...

After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to Target. Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse.

Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter from our local Target.

Dear Mrs. Smith,

Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Smith, are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.

1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in other people's carts when they weren't looking.

2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.

3. July 7: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away'. This caused the employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her Supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing management to lose time and costing the company money.

5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on layaway.

6. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.

7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the children shoppers he would invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged.

8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' EMTs were called..

9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.

10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.

11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme.

12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna look' by using different sizes of funnels.

13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'

14. October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!'

And last, but not least:

15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, and then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here.' One of the clerks passed out.

I kinda like this guy :-)

Brother can you spare a dime?

Donations are always welcome, but I'm doing OK. Actually better than I thought I was. Well, in a "college financial aid" kinda way. You know, "you make too much money to qualify for any grants, but enjoy your ramen noodles for dinner."

One thing I was actually dreading about getting my wife's new vehicle was the credit application. I know that I'm much better off than a large number of people, but I hate having so much debt and so little savings. We'd socked away the tax return in February and all we could since then as a down payment at the expense of larger checks to Visa and his cousin, but because we needed a larger car (we'll have three tall teenagers by the time we are done with this vehicle, plus the two of us as well), we couldn't fit into a pop can on wheels.

My wife actually submitted the credit application on our behalf while she was at the dealership the day the vehicle came in. She gave them estimates of income and house payment, etc and set the wheels in motion.

Payment history -- good, no flaws. Length of credit history -- all good, lengthy track racord. Amount of available credit to income -- a little high I think. Amount of debt to income -- higher than I'd like, but not unmanageable by any standard. Available savings -- sitting there waiting to make a down payment. Really nothing for me to worry about in reality, but it's kinda like being called into the boss' office without an agenda -- makes me a little nervous.

In the end, I was very pleasantly surprised when not only did we qualify for the low rate we were after, but I happen to see a copy of the credit score. Much higher than I was thinking. I know that they've really tightened up on credit and even reworked the FICO score not too long ago. I'd gotten my score several years ago before that change, but other than paying down debt, had not really done anything else to influence that score.

I know that they (the bankers) are in a funny spot. On one hand, trying to convince you to take as much loan as they can get you to take, telling you you can afford more than you really can sometimes -- that's how they make their money after all, but on the other hand if they over extend themselves, or rather, get you to over extend yourself, that's not good for them and they lose money on defaults.

My credit score is not something to brag about, but I have been working a long time on maintaining a good credit score and report, and I'm still working on the outstanding debt part of the equation, but I guess in the end I may not be as bad off as I had thought.

Now I just have to find a way to figure out the whole financial aid thing within 3-4 years. I really hope my kids like writing grant essays :-)

A world discovered...

Soooo.... Long time no type:-)

My wife FINALLY got her new vehicle this past week. Though we didn't really splurge on anything, there were a couple of things that we got that came along with what we "needed" that we would not have otherwise purchased. One of those was a navigation system. There are a few other things that she's still playing with as well, but the nav system is pretty cool. It's not like we've been anywhere yet that we need directions - I think I can find my way to the kid's schools and church, but we've had fun sending locations from Google Maps, setting other schools that the kids will run track meets at and a few local parks as we went for exercise and distraction.

One cool thing that I didn't expect however was that I'd discover all kinds of things around us that I would not have otherwise discovered. Driving down the road, well OK, riding ( I've only driven the vehicle about 15 feet so far -- into the garage last night), with the nav screen up, we were finding all sorts of places labeled that we'd not really noticed before -- parks, schools, etc. These were things just out of site while moving down the road, but perfectly within view on the nav screen.

We've lived here in this house for over 10 years and never knew about some of these discoveries. Sometimes it's all about perspective.

The Earth is alive!

My flowers don't look quite this pretty, and I certainly don't have the variety anymore, but, this is beautiful to watch anyway...

A new me...revealed!

I am not who you think I am. Anymore. Or maybe I am. Yes, of course I am.

Since I was young, I've gone by my middle name. I did this because my dad used my first name. Well, actually I guess it was his name first. I was a Jr. I never used my official first name because, well, that was his name. I used some variety of my name in all of my school records, the obligatory diminutive names giving way to the more grown up version in high school. I used my name when I filed my taxes. I used my name when I bought my first car. I used my name on everything... until recently.

Several years ago, things started to fall apart. I think it was our mortgage that first forced me to use my official name on a document. Then it was financing on my car. Then my bank account. Then one thing after another - most recently my Red Cross card and my new ID badge at work. Part of this is fed by the forms, printed and on-line, that state "First Name, Middle Initial, Last Name." Not everyone goes by their first name and they have no way to deal with "First Initial, Middle Name, Last Name"-type people.

Over the years I've been able to "correct" a few of the issues (or at least get them to use "First Initial, Middle Name" format), but it's becoming more and more difficult. I'm not trying to hide or change who I am, but rather to solidify my identity.

My driver's license seems to be the root of all of these problems. It has my full name on it. But... it has my signature on it. I've used that argument on a couple of occasions with some success when I was asked to "re-sign my full name." If my drivers license has my "official signature" on it, then if I signed something different on a form, they'd not have anything to compare it against to prove that it was me that signed the document.

I understand the need to be "more diligent" nowadays I guess, so I recognize that it will only get more difficult, not easier as time moves on. So, after discussion with my dad to ensure him I was not trying to forsake his (ok, our) name, I finally got the ball rolling to change my name. I will no longer be "First Name Middle Initial Last Name" guy. With the full authority of a court order behind me (sigh, that's a story for another time), from this day forth, I will now be [Middle Name] [Last Name] guy. Well, not exactly 'cuz that would just be weird, but you know what I mean...

Now the fun begins - "fixing," officially, all of the places that have my name wrong. This includes strangely enough, re-writing history. I have to change all of the current and active documents that have my "old" name, but I also need to have my birth certificate, our marriage license, the kids birth certificates, and a host of other documents reissued so ensure that when the day comes where my name is written on a headstone (or small vase or plastic bag of ashes), no one will question the rights of my family to take what little I had at the time.

WAY TOO COOL!