Best Friends I Never Met!
Some people have friends they have from elementary school or high school that they have carried through their lives. Sadly, between frequent moves and my hatred for the stupid mind games kids played when I was little this wasn’t the case for me. My sister has been friends with her best friend since junior high, God bless her. I have to say the best friends I have met have been online and the majority of those from American Military University. I really have to brag on my AMU friends. They are the most creative, wittiest, smartest, practical people I’ve ever talked with.
I have had the luck to meet my friend, Graham in person two years ago. He hasn’t run away for the hill, screaming so I think it is safe to assume that we are still friends and I didn’t vex him immensely. I super-stoked about meeting my friend, Alex in person. He keeps me laughing when life is crappy and he has some really interesting insights on life. By the way, if you want a taste of his awesomisity his blog is at cognoramous.com. If I get bored and can’t figure out what to blog about I should write “profiles” on my friends, like a friend of the week column or something. I really don’t know if they would kill me or hug me–maybe both >.>
I think I’d like to take a road trip one day and meet all my online buddies (and hit a few friends that I knew outside of cyberspace). I’ll put that on the top of my bucket list.
I Drive a Ford F@$% Us
Let me rewind to February 2011. Miguel and I were driving down the road and lost all power to our 2008 Ford Taurus. We took it to the mechanic who patched us up and assured us we’re “good to go”. Then about 20 minutes later in the vast nothingness that is San Angelo, our car died..just died. We waited forever for Bubba the tow truck driver to show, and in the meantime, watched 5 state troopers fly past us without offering any sort of consolation or assistance. Distraught after spending thousands of dollars on car repairs and car payments, we had kind of toughed it out. This was the last straw. The mechanic and his plumber butt finally showed up an hour and a half later and dragged us to the dealership right before close. Anyone who has ever living in San Angelo can attest to the fact that there is very little there and it is not a place that you can walk everywhere (Monterey, I miss you every freakin’ day, baby). We were stuck.
Due to the fact we were upside-down in equity to payments, there is little we could afford. We were ecstatic that this zippy little focus seemed to be the answer to prayer. It was way better on gas mileage, it was small in case we ended up getting orders to Europe, and the payments wouldn’t devastate us completely. We hoped and prayed while we waited for the number crunch, and we got it. I was so excited about having a car that didn’t worry me to death about reliability…that lasted all but TWO weeks.
The car started lurching forward at 35 mph and it would usually not do it as much as the day went on. I took it to the dealership and they said they’d check it out. They took my car and did nothing with it for 3 weeks! I was due to move so they kind of shrugged off fixing it and gave me back my broken vehicle. I complained to everyone who would listen at the dealership, the BBB, etc. Nothing happened.
When we got to our duty station, we put the car in the shop here. The shop said there was nothing wrong with my car. Uh, did they note the part where you almost faceplant the windshield at 35? Apparently not! So, I got to thinking I was paranoid for awhile and then it happened. The wrench icon on the dash popped up. I was pissed, relieved that I wasn’t nuts,and worried all at the same time. Unfortunately, it happened in the middle of Austin in a busy intersection where I almost got KILLED when my car decided to crap out on me! >.<
I called the mechanic and he already started giving me excuses as to why they probably couldn't get to it right away and they don't have vehicles for loaners, yadda yadda yadda. I was ticked and I am going through the whole cycle again..dealership, Ford customer service center, BBB, Texas Lemon laws, everything..
This is so not right. If I had the money, I'd go and trade this vehicle for anything other than a Ford. Anyone have any solutions to this issue that I've missed? Feel free to share your my car sucks stories as well, it'll make me feel better.
A New Adventure Begins!
I called my landlord today and I got the green light to start gardening and composting. I am super-excited that I will actually get fruits and vegetables that I know where everything has been! Where I live I have yet to find a good farmer’s market without travelling about 90+ miles away. It uses up a fair amount of time and gas just trying to find decent produce. My in laws have been growing their own stuff for years and have offered themselves up to give us hints and what-not. I haven’t had my own garden since I was a kid in the 80s. (Side note: typing the previous sentence just made me feel REALLY old because I realize I was probably gardening before my friend, Alex was even born lol.)
We plan on getting an inside compost bin and an outdoor closed compost bin. As much as my neighbors really make me angry sometimes, I wouldn’t stink them out of their own home. (I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a tempting thought though).
I don’t know if we’ll use garden bags or build raised beds (this might turn into two adventures for the price of one, double your pleasure, double your fun, right?) Now the big question is..what all am I going to plant?!
If anyone is an experienced gardener or has an pearls of wisdom..feel free to share them with me, I’d love to hear it!
Grocery Shopping on the Net
If you would have asked me about a decade ago what I thought about ordering groceries on the net. I would have groaned and rolled my eyes in disgust. I have repented of my former attitude and absolutely LOVE it now. There are many benefits of shopping online and many ways to save money while doing it. I’ll run through both the benefits and a few ways to save money.
Benefits:
1. The groceries come to you. I live in a one car household, so it is awesome not to have to fanagle the car away from my husband to make a trip to the grocery store for non-perishables. I don’t sit in traffic and put wear and tear on my car. It is really awesome to be able to order my stuff in the middle of the night and make my insomnia count for something!
2. It has the potential to save money. It is so easy to comparison shop online and there are sites that keep running coupon codes that can give a discount when you go to check out. Amazon.com even has a subscription program that will help you save 15% on items that you sign up for that will automatically ordered at set intervals. I live in Texas so there is no tax on food, but if you live in a state that charges a food tax (and you are ordering from a place that does not have a plant or shipping center) you are able to save money by skirting taxes. (Some states require you claim items you purchase online on your state tax forms. Texas doesn’t have a state tax, so that’s a non-issue for me. I’m not advocating dishonesty, I am promoting frugality.)
3. One site I use (Alice.com) asks what non-perishables you use on a recurring bases. You can customize it to how often you go through the product and it generates a shopping list for you. It also searches for the cheapest possible price for the item and you can choose which item you want. Alice.com also emails me to remind me that I may be running low and need to reorder my products. It is like having a personal shopper for free!
Ways to Save:
1. Use a coupon online. Many different sites have a box where you can enter a code. If you Google “coupon codes”, you may get lucky. I have used http://www.retailmenot.com/ for awhile. It has saved me money but it is not always a sure thing.
2. Consider getting Amazon Prime. A regular subscription for Amazon Prime is $79 a year. It gives you free 2 day shipping and $3.99 shipping for overnight to yourself or your CONUS loved ones. They now have thousands of free streaming movies available to their members. That’s enough to sell me! BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! (Sorry I couldn’t help but throw in the Infomercial line). If you are a college student with a verifiable .edu address, Amazon will give you a FREE six months of the service! (The subsequent years will cost $39 a year). If you are a Mom, Dad or other primary caregiver, Amazon has a program called Amazon Mom. It is free for the first three months and you can earn additional free months by using your subscription to purchase stuff from their site. They offer discounts on diapers, wipes, and other baby stuffs through that program.
3. Refer a friend savings. I eat a lot of bean, lentils, seeds, and nuts (usually organic). They are SO expensive in my area. It is flat-out rediculous! My Mom referred me to NutsOnline.com. When I signed up she got 10% off her next order and I got 10% off of my order. We both benefitted and it didn’t take but a few seconds for big savings. In addition to the coupon, the price was 1/3 of what my local grocery stores wanted! How awesome!!
4. Sign up for newsletters and/or Facebook like. Many stores will send coupon codes or have links exclusive for their subscribed customers. I have received coupons that have had a few bucks off, free shipping, and up to 95% off that were only for subscribers. It adds up!
5. Use a price search engine to make sure you are getting the lowest price. Often times when I am pinching the pennies I use mysimon.com.
I am SO glad I got past my initial reaction and tried this out. It has saved me TONS of money.
Related Links:
Amazon Prime Info:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=13819211
Amazon For College Students:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/student/signup/info
Amazon Mom:
Brand New Day
I remember when I was a kid and I would play games with my friends everytime someone got a really bad roll, inevitably one of them would yell “do over” and they would reroll their dice. Don’t you wish life worked like that?! I got to thinking and mulled over it for a bit. Why can’t I have a do over? I decided that it wasn’t too late for it. I made a mental list of all the things I wanted to do and what would help me achieve my goal of revamping my life. Here’s what I came up with:
1. I deleted all of my old blog posts. I am generally an archivist, but it is hard to forgive and forget when I look at all the things I’ve spouted off about. There are so many issues and people that have irritated me that I just don’t need to hold on to.
2. I am going to find balance in my day. I am sick and tired of working myself into the ground and maintaining a break-neck pace and then conking myself out and ending up on bed rest for a week or two at a time. You think by now I’d learn! (Better late than never).
3. I am cutting junk out of my life. I am sick of taking pills and going for medical tests (over and over and over). The doctors tell me there is nothing they can do, yet insist on performing the tests, only to tell me again there is nothing they can do. I am going to pull myself up by the bootstraps and kick my health issues in the butt. I’m bucking up and changing my diet (that’s a whole ‘nother post in the making..stay tuned) and getting moving.
3. I want to think bigger than myself and leave a legacy of love and kindness. I am going to find ways to give my time, money, and energies that will impact future generations. Truth be told I can play the extrovert for awhile, but at heart I am an introvert. There are some days it takes something short of an act of Congress to get me out of my house and among the general populous. I find it easier to be the arm-chair advocate than to get around people. That’s not to say I’m lazy, most of the congressmen have been flooded with my telephone calls and emails when something displeases me. I tend to rope my compadres into petitions and such when the spirit moves me. I’ll try to be more face-to-face social 
I think that’s a good start for now. Here’s to a brand new day!
