That's Ridiculous

I read Sunday that the average American child gets 70 toys A YEAR. I was appalled. That's a toy nearly every 5 days. There's no way a kid is going to play with that many toys. Is this perhaps a sign that our society has gone just a touch overboard on consumer consumption?

An Idea I Hope Catches On

I got this e-mail from one of my vendors:






This is such an awesome idea. Let me first say that I do the Christmas cards at my company, and it's not something that brings me tidings of joy. It is such a waste of time, trees, and money. I've proposed doing something like this, but my boss said he thinks electronic cards are "bad manners". I hope more businesses go to ideas such as this one. It truly made me happy to see it, and I told them so. If you are in a position at work to suggest such a thing, please do so for the sake of the planet and its inhabitants. It's a very appropriate way to celebrate the Christmas season.

Made in the USA

A month or two ago, I saw Aldi had a 2 quart measuring mixing bowl with a lid for $6.99. Such an item would be really handy, and this seemed like a good deal, but I wasn't sure. Not long after I was in Target and saw that the Pyrex version sells for about $13. Thus, I was happy there was one left for me to snag on my next Aldi trip. Want to know what made me even happier? I discovered that both the glass bowl portion AND the bpa-free plastic lid were made in the USA. Let's face it, how often anymore do you buy something besides food that was made here?

Manufacturing is a vital portion of the U.S. economy, and I don't say that just because that is the industry in which I work. As my mom says, we as a country need to make stuff. This employs our people, and it also makes our lives better in other ways. One local example: our area is currently in the midst of an infrastructure catastrophe. The fix is still 3 months out. However, we are fortunate in that there are still steel mills on the U.S. to provide us the materials to make the repairs. Can you imagine if we had to import from China? Tack on a minimum of 3 more months. Our company receives some key raw materials and a few finished goods from our parent company in Japan. We always plan for a 3 month lead time. Of course, that's assuming there's not a natural disaster, the boat doesn't sink on the way over, and the item doesn't get stuck in customs.

Here are a list of a few more things made in the USA.

Courtesy of the Street (see the website for several more)
Louisville Slugger Baseball Bats
Harley Davidsons
KitchenAid Mixers
Crayola Crayons

Other I know about personally: Pyrex (all) and New Balance (25% of their shoes sold here are made here)

We as a nation can make things, and we are good at it. Let's hope we always remember that.

I'm a fan of Aldi

Some of you right now are thinking what on earth is an Aldi? Aldi is a grocery store chain based in Germany. The stores are small and carry almost exclusively store brands. Why have I become such a fan?

1.Cart control
At Aldi you put in a quarter to get a cart from the corral. When you bring it back, the quarter is returned. This ingenious solution solves two problems. First, no straggling carts in the lot to dent your car. Second, Aldi doesn't have to pay someone to pick up the carts like other stores do.

2. Compact footprint
As mentioned previously, the stores are small. You can hit all the aisles in rapid succession.

3. Good prices on produce
Aldi frequently has outstanding prices on produce, and the quality is usually very high

4. Random good deals on random items
Aldi also has one time buys on name brands and other special items. I've recently scored pesto and roasted red peppers for $1.99/jar, a great deal. I also got a screaming deal on an Anchor Hocking measuring bowl- more about that in a future post.

5. Reduction bagging waste
Aldi doesn't bag your groceries. They also don't provide you with bags. You can bring your own, something precious few people do at other stores, or they have plastic and paper bags for sale. I'm sure this greatly reduces the number people actually use.

If you've become intrigued, look on Aldi's website for a store near you. Be sure to bring a quarter for your cart and some cash or a debit card as they don't accept credit cards. Happy shopping!

Sleep In Heavenly Peace- and Warmth Too

If you are like me, you try to keep your heating costs down by turning down the thermostat while you sleep. However, I have discovered that it's very hard to sleep when you are cold. I have found the perfect solution- a heated mattress pad. I first had one over 15 years ago. I found one for $10 on clearance at Wal-mart.  I used it on my twin bed at college and passed it on to one of my sisters after that.

Once I got my own place I wanted one again. They are readily available, for example Target carries them. I think I bought mine at JCPenney. Shop around and find one for a good price. They are much better than an electric blanket. Heat rises, so as the mattress pad heats the warmth passes straight into you. My trick is to turn the mattress pad on while I'm getting ready for bed. Then when I crawl in the sheets are all nice and warm. It's like being in a cocoon. Queen and king sizes normally come with dual controllers so each person can be as warm or cool as desired.

If you have someone in your life who hates to be cold while sleeping, this would make a great Christmas present. Order it now so it will be here in time.

A Neat Gadget

This is a neat little gadget. You are probably asking yourself what it is. It's a universal FM transmitter. Ok, but what does it DO? you're thinking. It's really cool. You plug it into your IPOD, IPhone, etc.

and you can play it over the radio through any device with speakers. I purchased this on a lark. My new car doesn't have a CD player, so my options for tunes are pretty limited (I later found out the cassette player doesn't work either). My choices were further complicated by the fact that the cigarette lighter isn't functioning, so I can't power anything that way (my brother said this should be fairly simple to fix. I'll probably have him do that some time.)

This device was less than $15 and uses batteries, so I decided to give it a shot. I was skeptical that something at this price point would do the job, but it does. Yea music! I've actually ended up using it more in my house than in the car though. Sound through the IPod's external speakers is pretty anemic. It sounds MUCH better though my stereo. I'm well pleased and would highly recommend this little gadget.

The Real Woman New Mom

This summer I had a conversation with a lady behind me in line at Wal-mart while we waited. I have named her "the Real Woman New Mom" for reasons that will become obvious later.

The lady had a little girl in her cart. I asked how old she was. She would be 3 soon, and the little girl told me about some of the things they were doing for her party. The mom told me her daughter was born on the day the remnants of Hurricane Ike came through our area. We live an entire day's drive from the nearest ocean. Somehow the storm was still strong enough to give us tropical storm level winds. It was crazy. I remember being at my mom's house and watching trees essentially bent at a 90 degree angle in the gale. There were of course massive widespread power outages that lasted for days.

The lady said they asked her before she went home from the hospital if she had power at home. The rest of our conversation went like this:

Me: "Why does a baby need electricity? People have had babies for thousands of years."

Real Women New Mom: "Exactly. I told them that I did even though I didn't. I sterilized my breast pump on the front porch with a Bunsen burner. I grew up in a cabin in the woods. When there was no electricity our well pump didn't work so we melted snow on our wood stove for water."

I loved this lady. She is one tough cookie. I think you can now see why I call her The Real Woman New Mom.

How to Fight Privacy Pirates

This article appears in the December issue of Kiplinger Magazine. I'm a privacy nut anyway (and a germphobe, but that's a topic for another day), so of course it freaked me out a bit. One of the many reasons I don't have a Facebook page is the privacy factor. I do have a LinkedIn page, but it's super bland. You might think "she's a privacy freak but she has a blog.." True, but I completely control what goes here AND you'll note I don't blog under my own name or use other identifying info either.

I did go to some of the websites listed in the article. One got my age wrong by over 2 decades, oops. Another was scary though. It had the last 3 cities in which I've lived in this state. I was even more shocked as it had my correct age along with the names of my parents and siblings all correctly spelled. Yikes.

My point in this post is to make you think about the information that is available about you online. Can you control all of it? No way. Can you make a dent? Yes. Should you? Yes.

Related story
When I started my job over a decade ago, the ID numbers on our insurance cards were our social security numbers. This completely freaked me out naturally. As a direct result of my pushing my boss (the head of HR) to make the insurance company assign us different numbers, we have been free of this practice for years, well before many other companies did this. We all have power to affect our privacy. It's up to us to use it.

4 Months in the Club

Today marks my 4 month membership in the "two vehicle owner" club. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'd been looking for something to supplement my primary vehicle, a V-8 sports car. I LOVE this car. However, a few days each winter the ride to work can be downright unpleasant as high powered rear wheel drive and snow/ice aren't very compatible. Also, I wanted something as a better gas mileage vehicle. I knew exactly what I wanted- a Geo Tracker. You might not remember these, as they haven't been made in over a decade. This vehicle met both criteria- it was available in 4 wheel drive and as a 4 cylinder it would get better gas mile than my sports car. Also, they made it in a convertible. Really, what's not to love?

All that was left was to find one. You'd be surprised how many are still around today, especially since they were made from 1989-1997. I did indeed find one to my liking, or more accurately my brother did. Once I started seriously looking, I asked my brother to keep his eyes out for me. Not too long thereafter he said his friend had one he wanted to sell, and it was priced right. I looked at some pictures, and since those were good, we set up an in person viewing.

Here's what we noticed- you could smell the front brakes and they were so hot you could cook on them. This is often a sign that you need new brakes, but brakes are pretty cheap. The a/c didn't work, no biggie. The radio was locked because the battery had gone dead, but the seller said it could be reset at the dealership pretty easily (my brother also knew someone who worked there, so we could see if we could just pay him to do it without taking it in). The check engine light was on, but it had been on the seven months the guy had owned it. People often freak when the light comes on, but it's often an emissions issue and not a signal that your car is about to explode. Then, the potential deal breaker- the seller said the 4 wheel drive didn't work. That's THE main reason I wanted it. If that was broken, I was done. However, a brief investigation revealed that the 4 wheel drive actually did work. I took it for a spin, and it drove fine.

After taking several days to think it over, get insurance quotes, etc., I bought it. First stop- we dropped off my car (my brother drove the Tracker from the seller's) and took the top off.

Next stops (in order):
-Had lunch (food is important)
-Got the check engine code read (free at Autozone- O2 Senor, keep on driving)
-BMV to be titled and apply for a plate (They take appointments now. In and out in no time)
-Service: oil change, new air filter, rotate tires, front brakes checked (They were fine, which we'd guessed by now as they no longer stunk or radiated heat. The vehicle had sat for a while without being driven before I bought it, and my brother said it's not unusual for brakes to get hot and smell briefly after being returned to service)
-Wal-mart for supplies: first aid kit, steering wheel cover (the foam on the OEM one is deteriorating), sunshield, tow strap, portable air compressor, valve stem covers, tire pressure gauge, windshield washer fluid, keys made (it only came with one key, please I need house keys for its key rings)

It was upon returning home that I noticed an important factor I had overlooked in the presale inspection: this vehicle had the dirtiest interior I had ever seen, bar none. I only wish we'd taken pictures. Words do not do it justice.  There was so much dirt we didn't even know there were floor mat on the floor until we started cleaning it out. My brother and I got to work. We threw away trash, pulled everything out that wasn't nailed down, and shop vacced like mad. To give you an idea of how bad it was, this is some of the change we found in it.

You'll notice it's sitting on a cloth. The coins were filthy too, so I soaked them.  You're looking at $3.10 - 2 quarters, 18 dimes, 7 nickles, and 45 pennies. There was also one Canadian penny. You may have noticed I said this was some of the change we found. My zealous application of the shop vac consumed some too. In addition we found some screwdrivers and small wrenches that I gave to my brother. I told him later that during the cleaning process I wondered what I had gotten myself into.

After spending a long time cleaning out and vacuuming, we drove it to my mom's. We washed the outside (very clean compared the outside) and inside. The Tracker has a metal floor and drain holes, so we hosed it out. The dirt turned to mud when we did. It looked much better after we finished flooding out the crud. Here are some pictures:



Then it was off for a well deserved off road ride where we confirmed yet again that the 4 wheel drive does indeed work fine.

I left it with my brother for a while. He is super car handy, and here's a short list of what he fixed:

-Unlocked radio- he found the code in the owner's manual
-Took out yards of unnecessary speaker wire and put in new speakers so I'd actually have a functioning radio
-Fixed the slide action on the seats. We thought they were stationary until we saw the track under them when we were cleaning
-A/C- it just needed recharged. His friend showed him how to do that
-Rearview mirror- it flapped when the vehicle was moving

As you can see, he was an invaluable asset in what I call "Project Tracker". After he brought it to me, I spent several hours and lots of Armour All wipes, Q-tips, and water cleaning the inside. Let's put it this way- I knew I was there when I could finally wipe my sweaty head on my shirt and not leave an orange dust streak. Here's a picture I took of it not long after that. You can see what it looks like with the top on.

I love my Tracker. I can take it down poor roads and not worry about its suspension. I don't worry about it getting dinged in the parking lot either. I drive it to work every day. My grandma is really fond it of it, and she was mad that I didn't drive to Thanksgiving for everyone to see. Yes, it's a keeper.

It's not nice to make inanimate objects lie

Last night we had our company Christmas party. We gave these mugs out as party favors.

When we were looking to purchase something, someone asked my opinion. I objected to the choice. Not because of the item iteself. It's a really nice insulated mug. No, it's the text  with which I hold issue. In case you can't see it clearly, it says "Thanks for bringing cheer to our year". I said "It's a lie", and it is. This has been a very difficult year at work, especially for our area. While some employees have sometimes brought us amusement by doing dumb things, more have been prominient and persistent pains in the posterior. Thus, something like "Happy Holidays" would have been a much more sincere statement.

"Good with money"

Yesterday someone I know was discussing a person with both know. She said "X said she was good with money. Well, she's good at spending it". I loved it. As my parents told me many times "We don't always see ourselves as others see us."

You have to be pretty brash to send out a letter like this

Today one of our managers showed me a letter he'd received from one of our customers. It started out like many we tend to receive this time of year:

"Dear X,

This a reminder that employees of XYZ company are prohibited from receiving gifts."

Then it got crazy

"But the company will accept gifts to give at our Christmas party. Gift cards in the amount of at least "X" preferred. Please send them to Employee Z at the address listed below by such and such date"

You are soliciting people to help fund YOUR company's party? Get real. Now our company does solicit vendors for charity fundraising, but not to fund our own events. We received at least one similar type letter before (I think it was for a company's employee picnic), and let's say our management was not impressed. The statement was something like "We don't mind helping with charities, but we're not paying for something that your company should be paying for."

As for today's letter, the manager said it was headed straight for File 13.

DUH

This morning one of our teams spent a considerable amount of time moving files to an outdoor storage unit. It was cold this morning (see previous post), and they all knew yesterday that this task had to be done today. I talked to someone on this project. and she said she asked another person on the project (who often whines about being cold in our climate controlled office)  "Did you wear your longjohns?" The answer was no. It turns out the person didn't even have any gloves. DUH. You knew you'd be outside, moving boxes, and it's cold. My dad had a rule that you should always have gloves in every coat. I follow that to this day with every coat and jacket I own. Be prepared. It takes a bit of effort, but it's time well spent.

Insanely Dangerous/Stupid

Today was the coldest morning we've had yet this winter- 25 when I left my house around 7:30. Thus, I really had to scrape my windows and windshield before leaving the parking lot. It was also one of the foggiest days I've seen in a long time. As I was rolling down the highway on the way to work, I noticed brake lights through the fog ahead (visibility was VERY low at times). This road is a divided highway, so I figured someone was waiting to turn into the industrial complex across the road. However, I sat parked for quite a while, and cars in front of me started changing lanes, very challenging due to the fog. I finally saw flashers in front of me, my clue to extremely cautiously try to move over myself. When I eventually got moving again in the other lane, I was shocked at what had caused the slow down- someone was PARKED diagonally in the fast lane (speed limit 55 MPH) of the highway scraping the windows of the car. Are you insane? You could have been rearended and killed, clipped by a car and killed, caused a wreck that killed others, etc. What on earth would possess anyone to do something this dumb?