The Risk Family

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-12-01T12:40:00.000-08:00

Conversations with a Two Year Old

2009-11-28T12:57:00.000-08:00

Below are some recent conversations with our son James who turned two in October.

On Priorities

Mommy: Are you Mommy's baby?
James: No Way!
Mommy: (feeling sad and hurt) You're not Mommy's baby?
James: No Way!
Daddy: Are you Daddy's baby?
James: No Way!
Daddy: Is that because James is a little Boy and not a baby?
James: No Way!
Daddy: Is James a big boy?
James: No Way!
Mommy: Does James like cookies?
James: (without hesitation) Yes!

More on Possession is 9/10 the Law

James: (having finished his own dessert of Chocolate pudding, eyes Mommy's) James'
Mommy: The chocolate pudding is James'?
James: (reaching for Mommy's chocolate pudding) James'
Mommy: Does this look like James'?
James: Yes!

On Telling Time

Daddy: (asking James, but really expecting a response from Mommy sitting nearby) James, what time is it?
James: (without hesitation) Four o'clock
Daddy: (knowing it is at least 5:30, but rather shocked by James' response) Four o'clock? What's four o'clock?
James: Four twenty.
Daddy: Four twenty? How does James know how to tell time?
James: (giggles)

It's What's for Breakfast

Daddy: (James having just finished eating a waffle.) James, are you done?
James: (shaking his head) No.
Daddy: Are you still hungry? Would you like something else?
James: Yes.
Daddy: What would you like?
James: French fries, ketchup, chicken.
Daddy: (trying hard not to laugh) French fries, ketchup and chicken????? For breakfast?
James: Yes.
Daddy: (trying harder to stifle the laughter) How about some cereal?
James: No. French fries, ketchup, chicken.
Daddy: (doubles over with laughter)
James: (laughs with Daddy)

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-11-24T12:45:00.000-08:00

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-11-17T12:54:00.000-08:00

From the Mind / Mouth of a Two Year Old

2009-11-10T21:13:00.000-08:00

Some recent conversations I have had with our son James.

What We Learn at School
Daddy: Did you have fun at school today?
James: Yep!
Daddy: Yep? What is this yep?
James: (no response)
Daddy: James, we say yes or sure. We don't say yep. Do you understand?
James: Yep!
Daddy: Where did you learn that?
James: (no response)
Daddy: Did one of your new friends at school teach you that?
James: Um? Yep!

Learning Our Colors
James: (pointing to Daddy's car) Daddy's car.
Daddy: Yes. That's very good James. What color is Daddy's car?
James: Green
Daddy: No. Mommy's car is green. Daddy's car is grey.
James: No. Daddy's car green.
Daddy: James, you know what color green is. Daddy's car is grey, not green.
James: Daddy's car green.
(Continue this a few more times)
Daddy: (Sighs and gives up) Ok. Daddy's car is green.
James: No, Daddy's car grey!

Possession is 9/10 of the Law
Daddy buys James vanilla soft serve ice cream at Friendly's. Daddy gets a scoop of blueberry ice cream

James: (pointing to Daddy's ice cream) uhhhhh! uuuuuhhhhh! uuuuuh!
Daddy: James, use your words. Daddy can't understand you.
James: Daddy's ice cream. uhhhhh! uuuuuuhhhhhh! uuuuuh!
Daddy: Would James like a taste of Daddy's ice cream?
James: Shore (sure).
Daddy: (gives James a taste of his ice cream)
James: (reaches over and takes Daddy's bowl)
Daddy: James, that's Daddy's ice cream. Here is your ice cream.
James: (putting bowl on the other side of him away from Daddy) No! James' ice cream!
Daddy: James you have your own ice cream. Give Daddy his ice cream back.
James: No! James' ice cream!
Daddy: (sighs and gives up. Goes back to counter to purchase another scoop of blueberry ice cream for himself.)

On Pooping
Daddy: (smells something stinky) James, did you poop?
James: No.
Daddy: Are you lying?
James: Yes.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-11-10T20:33:00.000-08:00

Catching Up

2009-11-03T19:23:00.000-08:00

Well, as most of you know, we recently moved from our home in Morgantown, WV to Baltimore, MD. It has taken us a great deal to complete the move and begin to get settled. I stress the word begin, because we are far from being settled. We are just now getting to the point of being caught up. The move has turned our lives upside down, but we are managing. We thought this would be a good time to update everyone on how we are doing and what we are doing.

The Family - The move has been extremely disruptful to our "normal" routine. We started out in our new home without phone and internet, but luckily those have been installed. We are still living without cable and hopefully will have that installed before Thanksgiving. Verizon is currently wiring for FIOS in our community as we write this. The installation of FIOS is suppose to be completed by the end of next week.

One of the great thing to come out of the move has been the elimination of the Risk family's debt. With exception of student loans (Lori's are paid off this month) and about six months of car payments on the Honda, we have been able to pay off all of our debt.

We are planning a weekend get away this coming weekend since we did not get a real vacation this year. Holiday plans are up in the air because Lori will not have accumulated enough time off to be away for long.

Jim - I have started graduate school at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in pursuit of my Master's degree in History. As many of you know, the path to graduate school was very stressful and at times seemed hopeless. After applying to 10 different schools, I ended up enrolling in the 11th as a non-degree seeking student. I have applied to the formal progrma for a Spring 2010 admission and I am currently taking two classes which will apply to my degree. This was the best option for me without "losing time" considering the course that transpired. I have some how managed an A in both classes to this point, but the one class has not had any real assignments yet. In January, I will take on a full course load and over the summer hope to complete an internship and take a class at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut that will transfer back to UMBC for credit towards my degree.

Lori - Lori has started her new job as an Occupational Therapist at Harbor Hospital on the southside. The commute is a little longer than we expected, but the hours are good. The job is still too new to know whether she will truly like it our not. It will take four to six months to really get to know how she feels about it. Lori's job is less stressful, but more physically challenging.

James - James has had a rougher time with the move than we expected. When we first moved, James was constantly asking to "go home". He has accepted that Baltimore is his new home, but he misses his friend Morgan a great deal. This evening when we were looking at desks at Office Depot, James saw a Christmas teddy bear and said it looked like Morgan.

A big part of the transition was that the daycares here would not take James before he turned two years old. James had almost four weeks from the time we moved until he was able to start daycare again. One of those weeks was spent with Grandma and Grandpa in Pittsburgh, and the other three with Daddy at home. James is definitely a child of structure, and the lack of structure really made it rough for him. Since starting daycare, James has become more settled both at school and at home. He enjoys being near Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathy and he enjoys his new school.

James has begun speaking in sentences, and can now recite "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" word for word. He is fascinated by the moon and the stars and seeks them out every night after dark. James also is fascinated by the sirens of firetrucks and ambulances. James' daycare had a visit from the fire department (no, not for a fire) and he really enjoyed seeing the firetruck up close.

James' class has also gone on a field trip to a local farm and pumpkin patch. He had so much fun, he fell sleep on his teacher on the hayride. One of the worse things about starting daycare has been the germs. As to be expected, James has become sick over the last two days. He has a horrible cough, and starting running a slight fever last night, but is otherwise doing fine.

James has taken to drawing a great deal and is constantly asking for a pen to "write" with. He believes that everything belongs to him and has become very possessive of things. On a recent trip for ice cream, we bought James soft serve vanilla because we thought he would do better with it. Daddy got a scoop of blueberry and Mommy got a scoop of chocolate carmel. James tasted Daddy's ice cream and then took it from Daddy. When James was told that it was Daddy's ice cream, James said, "No! James' ice cream", prompting Daddy to let James have the ice cream and go get another scoop for himself.

Socks & Shadow - Socks and Shadow have shown the greatest amount of adaptation to their new environment. They seem to have had no ill effects from the move and have made themselves at home.

Our Home - Our home has been downsized by at least 150 square feet. While that may not sound like much, it has been rather difficult to find space for all of our stuff. In fact, we had to get rid of a lot of stuff prior to moving and had let a few things go since we moved. (In addition, our computer died in the move prompting us to convert from the PC to the MAC.) The real problem is not the square footage as much as it is that we lost two full rooms, a basement and the garage. We have had to combine our den with our bedroom and the guest bedroom with James' nursery. Our living room is about 80% complete, but our dining room has become our storage room. We are still "unpacking", and hope to have that complete by the holidays.

We apologize for how long it has taken us to update this blog. Please bear with us as we continue the adjustment to our new home. Hopefully we will be able to keep up to date better now that we are starting to get settled.

My Letter to Comcast

2009-10-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

For those that have followed this blog for a while, you know that a little over 2 years ago Lori and I switched from Comcast to DirecTV. It was one of the best decisions we have made. When we moved to Baltimore, however, we are unable to get reception for DirecTV. Our only option for TV is Comcast. Begrudgingly, I called them. They blew off the installation appointment and we have now decided to wait until Verizon installs FIOS in our area (starting next week) to get TV service. With that said, I decided it was time to write a letter to Comcast.

Mr. __________________
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Comcast Corporation
One Comcast Center
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Dear Mr. _____________,

A little over two years ago, I was a faithful Comcast subscriber (Morgantown, WV) who would never have thought to look elsewhere for paid television service despite all the prodding I received from family and friends. Today, I will never subscribe to a Comcast service again.

Comcast first lost me when, more than two years ago, I called to upgrade my existing service. I was a current Comcast customer with the very basic cable service. When I began experiencing a pixelized picture with greater frequency, I assumed it was because everything was being switched to digitial and I was still subscribing to the non-digital service. I called Comcast to upgrade to digital cable and scheduled the installation of my upgrade for a few days later between 2 PM and 5 PM. I took that afternoon off work and waited for a technician who never arrived and never called. At 7 PM that evening, I called to find out why the technician never arrived. I was told by the customer service representative that the technician never picked up the work order to install my upgrade. That meant that I not only missed a half day's work, but that I would have to miss another half day's work for the return appointment. When I explained my frustrations to the customer service representative, I was suprised by the response. Yes, the customer service representative apologized for my inconvenience, but she did so in a tone that said "I don't really care" and did not try to make any ammends for the inconvenience. When I told her that I would cancel my service and go with DirecTV, her attitude remained the same as if to say "we don't need you as a customer anyway." It was only when I followed through with switching to DirecTV that I got any sort of real concern from Comcast. It was almost like the customer service representative didn't think I (or anyone else) would actually leave Comcast. Needless to say, I was very happy with my DirecTV and DirecTV was very happy to have my business.

A couple of weeks ago, I moved to an area (Baltimore, MD) where satellite reception is not good. To my dismay I had to cancel my DirecTV service. DirecTV did everything they could to try to keep me as a customer, exactly the way a company should respond when they are losing a valued customer. To add to my dismay, the only option for paid television service at my new home was Comcast. Verizon FIOS is coming to the area, but it is still a few months away. So I contacted Comcast through their website and scheduled to have Comcast's Triple Play (TV/Phone/Internet) installed. Because we live in a gated community, I left specific instructions for the installer to contact the leasing office when he arrived at the gate. Since Comcast was installing our phone service, we did not a phone coneccted to the gate to let him in ourselves. I also explained very specifically that we did not get any cellular phone service inside our apartment, but that I would be home the entire day. Again, contacting the leasing office would have allowed the technician to complete the installation as scheduled.

You can imagine my ire when I received a voice mail on my cellular phone that the technician had arrived at the gate of our community and because he could not get inside the gate, I would have to reschedule. Understand that rescheduling would not have solved the problem. Without the phone service that Comcast was suppose to install that day, I would never be able to open the gate for the technician and the technician would still have to contact the leasing office to get into the complex. Just as my original instructions had stated.

My ire increased when I called Comcast back and tried to get the installer to return. I was told that a request would be put in and I would hear back in 15 - 20 minutes. Two hours later, I called back. I was told that because I missed the scheduled appointment, I would need to reschedule. I MISSED THE APPOINTMENT????? I was at my apartment the whole time. The technician is the one who didn't follow the instructions. This time, I missed a full day's work and would miss another day's work for the return visit. I told the customer service representative that I did not need reschedule my appointment, but that I needed to cancel my installation. I informed her that I would have Verizon install my service. The customer service rep apologized for the inconvenience with the same lack of concern as the rep two years ago. Once again I was left with the feeling that my money was not good enough for Comcast and that Comcast didn't need me as a customer.

May I ask how Comcast expects to stay in business if they treat customers like they have so little value? Companies are built on their customer base. A satisfied customer will tell one other person about their experience, but a dissatisfied customer will tell many more. (I personally have already told more than 75 people about my experience with Comcast through Facebook and will be posting this letter to my oline blog.) To treat a customer, or potential customer, as though they don't really matter is a very poor business model.

Needless to say, my eperience with Comcast has led me to never do business with Comcast again. Two different Comcast locations in two different states two years apart and I received the same lack of concern both times. If in the future I should move again and I am faced with the choice of Comcast or doing without, I will happily do without.

Sincerely,
James Risk

P.S. - Could you please remove my name and address from the mailing list used to recruit new customers? Seems kind of pointless to keep killing trees since Comcast apparently doesn't need me as a customer anyway.

Life Without the Internet

2009-10-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

Many people look forward to the days when they can get away from it all and just forget technology altogether. That is not the case for us, at least not at this moment. Since moving to Baltimore, we have struggled to get everything done while continuing to work and study full-time. Neither of us has really taken any "time off". So needless to say, getting internet setup at our new home has been put off until we could get some semblence of what was even going on. This is one of the reasons we have not updated this blog, James' scrapbook, or our facebook pages on a regular basis.

Although, getting internet has been put off, it has also been one of the most importnat things we need. Research for school papers, checking emails for our contract jobs with WVU, and arranging for utilities to be hooked up (including the internet) at the new home.

What this means is that life without the internet has been very difficult. In order to accomplish these things, we have had to resort to some pretty creative ways of getting internet service. All have cost us a great deal of time and money. While the internet access has been "free", there are costs associated with it - time, gas, and the feeling of obligation to buy something from the establishment that is offering the free wi-fi access.

The nearest spot is the local Dunkin Donuts, which I have visited on several occasions. Although it is only a few blocks from the house, it takes about 30 minutes to pack everything up, drive there and unpack everything to get set up (including the return home). Time is money. If we had internet at home, we could be saving a lot of time, and thus a lot of money. Luckily for use, the Dunkin Donuts is open 24 hours. But then that brings up another cost - the feeling of obligation to buy something. I've spent roughly $3-$5 everyday at the Dunkin Donuts on a juice/water and a donut or two. That $3-$5 adds up and quickly. Especially when you have to go almost daily.

Other places that have free internet are the public library and the UMBC campus. The library is nice because it is close and quiet, but it closes at 9 PM and you have to pay to park. Parking can cost anywhere from $1-$8 depending on how long you are there. The UMBC campus has free access and free parking, but with traffic, it can be upto 45 minutes away. Again, time is money.

So with all of this strugle to access the internet, we finally were able to get our internet service scheduled for hookup. Yesterday, Comcast had an appointment to install our phone, internet, and cable between 12 Noon - 3 PM. However, in the typical Comcast fashion, the technician blew off the appointment and customer service acted like it was no big deal. (That will actually be my next post.) Needless to say, we have cancelled our install with Comcast and gone with Verizon. Verizon will have our phone and internet (but no TV) installed at the end of next week, meaning we have another week to wait for internet service.

Frustrating! Rest assured, once our internet is hooked up, we will do our best to update all of our family and friends through our blogs, scrapbooks, and Facebook pages.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-09-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

Casualties of Moving

2009-09-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, we recently moved to Towson, a Baltimore area suburb. We did our best to pack everything as carefully as we could to make sure that nothing broke in transit. As we begin unpacking our many boxes, we have come across our first casualty of the move -- our computer!

It is really a stretch to call it a casualty of the move. When I disassembled the computer to move it, it already had a blank black screen. We did not pack it because it was moved in our car as a precaution, something we had planned to do anyway. When the computer arrived in Baltimore, we set it up and quickly realized our worst fears - the computer had indeed crashed. When booting the computer, I continually get a blue screen error message stating that Windows has shut itself down to prevent further damage to the computer.

I can't really blame anything for the computer crash. The computer is five years old (ancient and antique in the computer world). We needed to replace it anyway. I have taken the computer to the Geek Squad at Best Buy (didn't know where else to take it having just moved) and they are going to try to retrieve the data from the computer. While it went against my better judgment because of cost, I asked them to repair it as well, assuming it is repairable. This really is more to buy us a little more time until the sell of our house closes and we can get a new computer. Luckily for us we have a laptop that I bought last year for school. Unfortunately, the data on the desktop that may not be recoverable is our checkbook (in Quicken) and several songs from iTunes that had not yet been synced with our iPod.

Hopefully both will be recoverable and we won't lose any money we paid for the any of the iTunes songs. I can reinstall the Quicken and recover the data from my backup (yes, I have a backup of our checkbook), if I could just figure out what box they are packed it. It is maddening trying to go from day-to-day without knowing exactly how much money you have to spend -- and because of the move having to spend money like crazy to get things done. We can always check on the balance online, except that we don't have internet service yet! We are having to use the free Wi-Fi at Dunkin Doughnuts, which isn't exactly free considering you feel obligated to buy something while you are there. Besides, their internet access is not secure and even if it was, the online balance may not be correct because it doesn't show checks that have been presented until after they post. Good news is that we are getting internet, phone and TV installed on Thursday. Hopefully as we get these little things accomplished, we will begin to feel settled.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-09-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-09-15T10:57:00.000-07:00

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-09-08T19:37:00.000-07:00

An Double Arch Observation

2009-09-04T14:53:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I could have titled this post "A Golden Arches Observation", but that would have given away the topic and may have influenced my readers (all 3 of them) from this post.

My observation started a couple of weeks ago when we were forced to stopp at a McDonald's for lunch. We were in Baltimore looking for apartments and had James with us. It was past lunchtime and James was getting rather cranky. (Don't we all when we are hungry?) Not knowing exactly where we were or what was around, we tried to find someplace to eat that would have something James could eat. As we drove around looking and James continued to get crankier, we came across a dreaded McDonald's restaurant. Dreaded because we avoid McDonald's like the plague. Personal preference which will be discussed a little later. Seeing no other suitable restuarant in sight, we stopped. We got James a happy meal and we each got a value meal. Everything was fine. For the most part we enjoyed our meals. This was James' FIRST time to eat at McDonald's. (He's almost 2, so that tells you how long it has been since we ate at the Big M. Actually much longer.) We didn't think much of our visit. It was just another lunch on the run.

And then it happened...

..Somehow in that one visit, McDonald's had brainwashed our child. Now everytime we are out running errands and need to grab a bite to eat, James will start asking "McDonald's?". Everytime he sees the Golden Arches, James starts asking "McDonald's?". How, after ONLY ONE visit, can a two year old child know and want McDonald's? It is an absolutely absurd concept that McDonald's can have that kind of hold over someone. What could they possibly put in their food to makes us zombies to our craving for our next Golden Arch fix?

Well, I am not sure what it is that they put in their food, but that leads me to my next observation. The McDonald's taste. Have you ever noticed that no matter what menu item McDonald's comes up with, it still has the distinct taste of McDonald's? For instance, McDonald's could add something like lasagna to their menu (although not likely) and one would be able to tell that it came from McDonald's. If Burger King, Wendy's or any other fast food restaurant tried to add the same thing to their menu, it would probably taste like fast food, but it wouldn't necessarily taste like it came from Burger King, Wendy's or any other particular fast food restaurant. I do not like the distinct taste that is McDonald's. I never have. Unfortunately, I was reminded of that yesterday on my way back from Baltimore. I was running late getting back to Morgantown for an after lunch meeting. I had to stop for gas and decided I would get something to eat as well. And guess what...the only place to eat at the exit I chose to stop for gas was a McDonald's. Yuck. I decided I would avoid the hamburgers and get a chicken sandwich. I ordered the southern style chicken sandwich without the sauce, thinking it was the sauce that gave McDonald's it's distinct taste. I was wrong, although the sauce probably would have made it taste more like McDonald's than having it without the sauce. (The sauce on this sandwich btw is butter.) As I bit into the sandwich, that distinct McDonald's flavor hit me like a brick wall. In this case, it was the bun. Ruined my whole lunch experience. Next time, (let's hope it is another 2+ years before I make it there again) I will order the sandwich without the sauce and the bun and maybe I will get something I enjoy -- a piece of chicken that doesn't taste like it came from McDonald's.

I welcome hearing from anyone else on what they think makes the McDonald's taste so distinctive and why people become zombies for the Big M taste.

First Week of Classes

2009-09-02T19:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I have made it through my first week as a graduate student. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. Not because of the assignments, but because of all the resources available. I don't know where to begin my research. I also think I am overwhelmed because I am not settled yet. We won't be physically moving for another week and a half and I feel there is so much for me to do, yet I can't really concentrate because I am still trying to figure out everything with the move. In the end, I think I will be alright once things get settled, but until then I will just have to take it one day at a time and make sure I schedule enough time to get me schoolwork done. It will have to take priority if I am to make sure I don't fall behind. One group research paper with a presentation to class, one group project and two short 5 - 7 page papers to present in class. I think that will turn out ok. I'll have to relinquish some responsibility in the group project and research paper. Not sure how well I will be able to do that. I have never been one to give up responsibility when it is my grade on the line, but I have to realize I am dealing with graduate students now. More like professionals than undergraduates. I am looking forward to the challenge.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-09-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

Change Pot Tuesday is a weekly recap of finding money that other people have lost. However, it is more than just picking up pennies and collecting lost change. For those readers and followers who have begun following the Change Pot midway, Change Pot Tuesday is about charity. When the Change Pot reaches $100, it will be donated to charity and the process will be started all over again. Loyal readers and followers will have an opportunity to help me choose which charity will receive the money accumulated in the Change Pot. While, I don't expect to change the world with the Change Pot, I do hope to help a charity in some small way.

Thursday was an interesting day for the Change Pot, because I can not tell you exactly how much money I found that day. It's not that I found I lot, it really is that I don't know exactly how much. Here is why: I stopped by the Sheetz on Route 7 near I-68 on Thursday morning to get some breakfast before running some errands. I saw a penny on the floor between the registers and the coffee bar. My hands were full, so I couldn't pick it up. Continuing to look around, I
thought I saw a second penny under one of the racks at the counter. Again, I was unable to pick it up, but decided I would donate two cents to the Change Pot. However, when I returned to Sheetz after my errands to pick up something to drink for lunch with Lori, I found another penny near where I had seen the first penny earlier. Was this the same penny as before? Likely, but the coloring was a bit duller and it was not in the same spot. Sure, someone could have kicked it, but I just don't know. So did I find two cents or three? I picked this penny up, but the story doesn't end there. After paying for my drinks, I look down and see a dime underneath the same rack I thought I saw a penny earlier. So was my earlier penny and this dime one in the same? I don't know. So now I am not sure if i have found 11 cents or 13 cents, or something altogether different. I picked up the dime, but again the story doesn't end there. Later that evening, I ran to the Kroger in Sabraton (Route 7 in Morgantown) to get some milk. While I was there, I picked up some other things, so once again my hands were full. As a left the self-checkout lane, I look over at the checkout next to me and see a penny lying on the floor. Being unable to pick up the penny, I noted it and will donate another penny to the Change Pot. As I continued looking, I thought I saw a second dime in the checkout lane two over from where I was. Was it a dime, was it a penny? Are my eyes going bad and playing tricks on me? Maybe it was just a stain on the floor. After that morning's incident with the penny / dime under the candy rack, I have to wonder. So now I don't don't know if I have found 13 cents, 24 cents, or somewhere in between. I will donate 24 cents to the Change Pot. After all it's only pennies and dimes. And that 11 cents? Well, if it breaks my bank, then I need to be looking a lot harder for lost change.

On Friday, I found $0.06 in the parking lot next to our realtor's office. We had to go downtown to sign some papers and when we arrived, I found a nickel lying on the ground next to the parking meter. On the way out, I found a penny in the middle of the parking lot.

On Monday, I found four pennies in four separate places. The first was near the coffee counter at the Sheetz in Sabraton (Morgantown), WV. Later that day, I found three pennies at the UMBC campus in Baltimore. All three pennies were found as I got out of my car when parking at various spots on campus.

Weekly Total: $0.34
YTD Total: $7.10

George is George - No Monkeying Around

2009-08-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

For some time now, Lori has been reading to James every night at bedtime. James insists on Mommy reading two books specifically - "Llama Llama Misses Momma" and any one of three Curious George books. James has come to know Curious George is the mischievious monkey and always points him out as Mommy reads to him.

James' acknowledgement of Curious George is cute, but today it was more hilarious. As we were preparing for our day and a trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house, we were watching the memorial service for Senator Edward M. Kennedy. The telecast focused on the area where the Obamas, the Bushes, and the Clintons were sitting. As we discussed the presence of the the three presidential families, Lori commented on how former president George W. Bush was joking around and laughing with everyone, except President Obama. The former president took a more serious tone when conversing with the President Obama. As we were discussing this, James overheard us talking about former president George W. Bush and decided to join our conversation.

"George Bush? George Bush?"
"George?"
"Book?"

Yes. According to James, the former president George W. Bush and the michievious monkey Curious George are one in the same.

Priceless!

More Wasted Money

2009-08-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I wrote on our blog about wasting money on items that we ended up never using. The list was relatively short and really didn't amount to much money wasted (still a penny spent is a penny unsaved). My list, however, was primarily confined to items found in a 1 1/2 foot wide by 9 inch deep closet. Yesterday and today while continuing to pack, I came across several other items that we bought with good intentions, but never seemed to find the time to use. These items were a bit more expensive than my first list making this list a little more disheartening than the first. Below is the list of the newly discovered unused items.

Two sets of Pyrex® baking dishes. We bought these seven years ago when we were putting them on our wedding registry at Kohl's. It so happened that as we were putting them on the registry, they were being put on clearance for $5.00 each set. We purchased the last three sets in the store, but we have only used one set. (They are all the same, so unless something in one of the sets breaks, we won't likely need the other two.) We had said that we would give the other two sets away as wedding gifts. We have been invited to several weddings since then and yet the two sets still sit on the shelf in the closet of our spare bedroom. We will take these with us when we move just in case we are invited to another wedding and need a gift.

Two party style games. Over the past couple of years, we had hosted a monthly game night attended by several friends. Each month we would try to have different games, so for a while, we were buying a new game once a month. Each game typically costs $15 - $25. The two games we have never used are Loaded Questions and Scattergories. We never used these games because we had bought the same games for our friends as Christmas presents. When our monthly game night rolled around, our friends brought their new games with them and we played using their games instead of our own. We will take these with us when we move. Maybe someday we will open them up and play them.

Two sets of landscaping lights. We bought these a few years ago during one of Ace Hardware’s holiday rebate sales. (I think it was the Memorial Day sale, but they have similar sales on the 4th of July and Labor Day.) I had intended to line our driveway with the lights, but after purchasing them, I decided to wait until we put in landscaping (railroad ties and gravel) along the driveway to avoid the lights getting damaged by the lawn mower. I never seemed to find the time to start the project, let alone finish it. The lights cost $19.99 per set and if I remember correctly the rebate was $5.00 per set for a total loss of $30.00. We have decided to give these to our good friends Jennifer and Patrick who will hopefully get more use out of them than we did.

A bag of soil starter. Last fall, we had to have the drainage system for our house replaced. The contractors dug up our entire backyard and when they were done, they planted grass seed. I watered the grass seed for two weeks as the contractor had instructed me, but it turned too cold shortly thereafter. When the spring came, the grass had come in very spotty. I attempted to patch the yard by mixing some grass seed with three bags of soil starter and then spreading the mixture over the areas that needed it. I ended up with one extra bag of soil starter and never got around to returning it. Unfortunately, the grass seed that I spread never came in and the yard is still as patchy as it was before.

An exercise ball. I purchased this on clearance shortly after my back surgery. i had intended to do back strengthening exercises and stretches with the exercise ball, but I never seem to find the motivation. Something else always seemed to take priority. Life just got in the way. We will take this with us in hopes that I will use it now that I will have more time.

Well, that’s it for this list. I am sure I will find more as I continue to pack. Hopefully, it is not too much more. This list alone totals about $100 in money wasted.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-08-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

Wasting Money

2009-08-25T10:21:00.001-07:00

As everyone knows, Lori and I are not ones to waste a lot of money. We are frugal to a point and do our best to balance our budget with a happy and enjoyable lifestyle. We watch every penny closely and do not indulge in friviolous spending. So you can imagine how disheartening it is to find out how much money we have wasted over the past couple of years.

Let me back up a step. I have been packing up the house for the past two days in preparation of our move. During that time, I have come across several items that we had purchased with good intentions, but have never even opened. Imagine how much money we could get if we could return all of those items. Unfortunately, we have had them for too long and it would take too much time to find the receipts. Here are a few of the items I discovered just today.

A solid brass eyehole. We had intended to install this on our front door. We bought the eyehole when when bought the door two years ago, but just never got around to installing it.

A tube of concrete sealer/silicone. I don't remember when or why we bought it, but chances are the sealant is no longer any good. Even unopened, it will only last so long.

A 15 foot indoor extension cord. We could take this with us, and probably will, but if we haven't used it yet, it is not likely that we ever will.

A twin pack of Woolite® Carpet Spot and Stain remover. Maybe we will use this as we clean the house before we go.

A six outlet surge protector. If I remember right, we got this free after rebate, so maybe we didn't waste any money on it. We will pack this up and take it with us.

All of this was found in a small 2 foot wide by 9 inch deep closet. Imagine what I will find in other rooms of the house that are much larger. Not much we can do about it now, I just hope we don't find much more.

Finding a Home

2009-08-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

After two weekends in Baltimore, we finally found a home. It was not our first choice, but it was probably the best choice. Our home will be in Towson, just five mintues from Lori's brother Mike and his wife Kathy. We have secured an apartment at Versailles. Sounds a bit luxurious and exotic, and in some ways it is compared to the other places we looked, but in general it is a pretty standard place.

The community is gated. The only access is through the leasing office or a resident. Our apartment is a two bedroom, 1300 sq ft ground level unit. This will be great for James as he will have lots of room to play and won't be distrubing the neighbors below us. The apartment is a short 20 minute commute to Lori's new job and to my classes at UMBC. It is near a major shopping center and several daycare centers. The area is also one of the safest in Baltimore, rating 92 out of 100.

We do not have our physical address as of yet. We will get that when we sign our lease on September 12. For more about our new home, please visit Versailles Apartment Homes.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-08-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

Sold?!!!!

2009-08-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

After being on the market for 14 days, we received an offer on our house today. We countered, they countered, we countered again, they countered again, we countered a final time and they accepted. We will sign the contract tonight or tomorrow. As long as everything goes well, we should close around the middle to end of October. Please keep your fingers crossed and pray that everything continues to work out.

Our move to Baltimore is tentatively scheduled for the weekend after Labor Day. Lori is suppose to start her new job in Baltimore on September 23rd and her last day at work in WV will be September 18. Therefore, we will move 90% of the stuff the weekend after Labor Day, leaving the bare necessities. I will commute to Baltimore for school for the first couple of weeks of class.

Now all we have to do is find a place to live.

Showings, showings and more showings

2009-08-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

Let's hope we are on a roll. We have had three showings on the house since last Friday and one scheduled for tomorrow morning. While we are not unrealistic enough to think the house will sell in less than two weeks, we are glad to see some activity and interest in realtors and potential buyers. I buried St. Joseph's statue in the yard the other night and we have been praying faithfully in hopes for a quick sale. For those of you who do not know, St. Joseph is the patron of a happy home, safeguard of families and protector of children. The tradition of burying a statue of St. Joseph's dates back to ancient Catholic times when people would bury blessed metals in the ground, invoking God's blessing in the area. It was not the metal but the blessing that brings God's power. Please include us in your prayers as we try to sell our house and look for new housing in Baltimore.

In the mean time, we are taking a breather this weekend with a trip to Pittsburgh to visit Lori's parents and to attend the Keelin Family Picnic (our sister-in-law's family). It will be a nice break from all the craziness and gear us up for another trip to Baltimore next weekend to find housing and daycare.

Friends Don't Let Friends Buy DirecTV!

2009-08-12T18:03:00.000-07:00

Update: After months of fighting with DirecTV, we finally received one of our Refer-a-Friend credits. Unfortunately, we are moving in a few weeks and will not be able to have DirecTV in our new apartment home. When it is all said and done, we will see $10 of the $100 worth of credits we were suppose to receive. Fortunately for us, the two friends we referred to DirecTV are still our friends.

You've heard the ads before "Friends don't let friends watch cable" by DirecTV. Well, they seem to have gotten it wrong. Friends don't let friends watch DirecTV! And friends definitely don't refer friends to DirecTV. But wait, don't they give you and your friend $50 for referrals? That's what they want you to think. It is actually a scam to get more customers. DirecTV does not pay the referral bonus as they promise and after talking with customer service this evening, they never intended to pay it!

Here's the deal. I signed up for DirecTV almost two years ago because the customer serivce at Comcast was horrible right after the took over for Adelphia. At the time DirecTV had an offer that if you referred your friends, you and your friend received a $50 credit on you bill. The credit was promised to be paid $10/month for 5 months.

This past November, a good friend of ours moved into a house they had just finished building. Because the development was brand new, Comcast was taking their own sweet time installing the necessary equipment. I recommended to my friend that he should get DirecTV. I told him about the referral plan and after several days of thinking it over, he decided to have DirecTV installed. When he called to have his new service installed, he gave them my account number as he was suppose to and the installer told him that we would both receive the $50 credit in about 4 - 6 weeks. Here it has been FOUR MONTHS and neither of us have recieved our credit. My friend called at eight weeks to find out why we weren't receiving the credit and he was told by customer service that they did not have record of the referral. They said we would not be getting the credit.

About that same time, another friend of ours asked me about DirecTV because they knew we had gotten it some time ago. Figuring that the referral bonus from my first friend was a simple problem that would be resolved quickly, I referred my second friend to DirecTV. They had their DirecTV installed in February and like our first friend, they provided my account number when they called for the initial installation of their service. They were told the same 4 - 6 weeks before the credit would appear. It has been TWO MONTHS since our second friend signed up and again, neither of us has received the referral credit.

This evening, I called to see what was going on and I was told by customer service that they had no record of me referring either friend and that none of us would be getting any referral credits.

It is obvious to me that they do not care about their customers and I would like to apologize to our two friends. If I had known that DirecTV would treat its customers this way, I never would have gotten my friends mixed up with a company like this. Unlike DirecTV, I value and respect my friends. I would never knowing turn them onto a scam. Because of the economy, both of our friends switched because they were going to be saving money. Like us, they need every little bit of help stretching the budget as far as they can.

To that I say, it is DirecTV's loss. Not only will they lose me as a customer when my comittment is up next month, but studies have shown that scorned customers tell more people about their bad experiences than satisfied customers tell about theirs. This blog post is my second negative review of DirecTV in less than an hour. I have already posted a review of DirecTV on Viewpoints.com and I plan to post others. I may not be able to do much, but with the world wide web, the audience has definitely gotten bigger.

So for all those DirecTV subscribers, please don't jeopordize your friendships by referring your friends to satellite. Friends don't let friends watch DirecTV!

Apartment Hunting

2009-08-11T20:42:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, the Risk family made a trip to Baltimore to scope out an apartment. And let me tell you, there is no shortage of apartments in a big city. Every where you turn, you could find an apartment complex. What there is a shortage of is an affordable apartment in a safe area. We were amazed at how little you get for your money in the Baltimore rental market.

Here were our criteria:

3 BR or 2 BR w/Den
Safe secure neighborhood
Pets (we have two cats)
Washer and dryer in unit (with James, an outside laundry is not an option)
First floor (so that James does not disturb the Neighbors below us)

We did not feel that these were unreasonable. Of course we also wanted maximum space for the least money, but hey doesn't everybody???

On Friday, we looked at five complexes, one of which we didn't even stop and get out to look at because the area was that bad. On Saturday, we looked at at least a dozen complexes and finally decided on one of the last ones we viewed. It was perfect. Everything we asked for at a price we could afford and space that was larger than our house. Still not as nice as the apartment we looked at in Greenville, NC for about $900.00.

The apartment we chose was at Cascades Overlook in Owings Mills, a Baltimore suburb. 2 BR with a bonus family room that could serve as our den, first floor, with washer/dryer, pet friendly, semi-gated community and all the normal amenities - pool, clubhouse, playground, etc. 1500 sq foot, all for the great price of $1,275. The remainder of August's rent was free and according to the leasing agent, September's rent was also free with a 13 month lease. This would give us a chance to move and have the house sell before having to pay rent and a mortgage. The complex was a short commute to work and school and within a mile of the grocery store and the local mall. Perfect.

On Sunday, we turned in our application and waited for the reference check. That afternoon, we returned home to Morgantown knowing that another piece of the puzzle was about to be put in place.

On Monday, we received a call from the apartments that we had been approved for the apartment, but that the apartment would have to be a different one than was offered on Saturday. Apparently, the leasing agent on Saturday had given us som bad information and because we had pets, we would have to take an apartment in another building. The new apartment was $1,330 per month and on the second floor. It was a newer apartment and had a fireplace - two things that were very low on list of priorities. (So low that neither actually made the list.)

I called on Tuesday to find out what was going on, and told the apartments that I felt they were pulling a "bait and switch" on us. The agent assured me that they were not and seemed very sincere in offering this new apartment at the lower price of the original apartment. While the price was part of the issue, a bigger part was the new apartment was on the second floor. This was the sticking point. We would never have applied for the apartment had we known the apartment was on the second floor. Therefore, we asked to have our non-refundable application fee of $70 returned. We have not heard whether the company plans to return the fee. I have to call the company's regional manager tomorrow to see what we can do.

So we are back to square one. We will be making another trip to Baltimore in two weeks to try again. We researched about a dozen other apartments today and hope that things will work out.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-08-11T16:23:00.000-07:00

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-08-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

Baltimore Bound?????

2009-08-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

For those that have been following the saga of the Risk family this past summer, you know it has been a very stressful time for us. In some instances, that stress has finally found a resolution, but in others, the stress has just begun.

On Friday, Lori received a verbal job offer from Harbor Hospital in Baltimore. Today, the official Letter of Intent was mailed out. Lori has decided to accept the offer and we have decided to move to Baltimore. Fall classes start September 1 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. We are going this coming Friday to enroll in classes as a non-degree seeking student (program deadlines have long since passed). I will then apply for admission for the Spring semester and if accepted, the classes I take this fall will be applied to my degree.

What this means is that we have a lot of work to do over the next three - six weeks as we attempt to move. Our house will officially go back on the market tomorrow (Tuesday) and this weekend while in Baltimore, we hope to find a new home. We also have to look at daycare options for James, and I will need to find a part-time job. All within this three - six week time frame. We don't expect the house to sell before we move, but we are hopeful that we might have an offer.

We ask that all of our family and friends help us pray so that we may be able to make this move and continue to work for what is best for our family and our future.

We would also like to let all of our friends here in Morgantown know that we will miss them and once we are settled, they are more than welcome to come visit us. We will make sure we keep in touch. So easy to do these days with Facebook, blogs, email, and instant messengers. We will do our best to keep everyone updated on our progress, but if we get behind, rest assured that we will catch up once we are settled in our new home.

Here's Your Sign

2009-08-02T23:56:00.000-07:00

Nothing irritates me more than stupidity and stupid people. Especially after I have had a hard and tiring day. If you have ever listened to comedian Bill Engvall, then you know about "the sign". Unfortunately, demand outstrips my supply.

Earlier today, Lori and I worked to get the house ready to go back on the market and after working extemely hard all day (I had to shower twice!) Lori and I were both tired and hungry. Neither of us felt like cooking, so we decided to go to IHOP for dinner. We had to stop by Lowe's for a new furnace filter and IHOP was right there, so it made a good choice. Besides, we had a 20% off coupon. What I didn't know was that by using the coupon, you also got 20% less waitress, most of it taken from the brain.

Now , I really shouldn't be surprised by this, service at our IHOP in Morgantown has always left something to be desired ever since it opened. That is why we don't go there very often. I will give our waitress a break and say that she had as long and exhausting day as we had. Still, I will never pass up an opportunity to hand out a sign.

I should have realized I needed to hand out a sign as soon as our the waitress began taking our order. I asked for one of IHOP's flavored lemonade / lemon-lime sodas. IHOP calls them Splashers. They have three:

Sparkling Cherry Lemonade - with lemonade, lemon-lime soda, and a sweet cherry flavored syrup

Tropical Island Twist - with lemonade, lemon-lime soda, and a tropical mango flavored syrup

and

Splashberry - with strawberries, lemonade, and orange juice.

I ordered the Splashberry. After ordering, the waitress asked "That's the one with the strawberries in it right?" No, it is the one with the mangoes. DUH! Of course it is the one with the strawberries, hence the word "berry" in the name. Maybe I am wrong, I can only go by what the menu said.

After the waitress brought our drinks, (and yes, she brought the correct one with strawberries) we placed our order. I asked for the Bacon Temptation Omelette which comes with a side of pancakes. For the side of pancakes, I ordered the pineapple upside down pancakes which are a limited-time special for IHOP's Hawaiiam promotion. Our waitress then asked me, "How do you want your eggs cooked?" Hmmmmmm, let's see, I would like my omelette hard boiled please. DUH! How else would you make an omelette? Poached, over-easy, sunnyside up -- they just don't make for very good omelettes. At least not in my experience. What's worse is that this IS NOT the first time I have been asked that question when ordering an omelette at this very same IHOP.

Do I give the sign to the manager for hiring these people or to the waitress for just not having a clue. Oh, wait, she had as long and hard of a day as I did, but I bet I could still tell you how you want your eggs cooked when you order an omelette.

Here's your sign!

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-07-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-07-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

Diary of a Wedding Guest: Part 15 - The Return

2009-07-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

Well, our story has finally come to an end with this post. On Sunday, we returned home from the wedding in Detroit. While there was not really anything abnormal about our return trip, there were a couple of highlights that were worth mentioning.

We began the day by having breakfast with one of Lori's friends and former college roomates, Aileen. Aileen lives in Ann Arbor which is a short drive from where we were staying. We had breakfast with her family at a Big Boy Restaurant and really enjoyed meeting their two adopted boys. On our way to breakfast, however, had a slight delay because we DID NOT follow the GPS. As you know from previous posts, we could only make a right turn out of the hotel. The GPS then instructed us to make a U-turn so that we could get on the interstate. Instead of making a U-turn, I chose to make a left at the next stoplight and see if I could find a better route to where we needed to be. Unfortunately, we had no luck in doing so and my left turn turned into a seven-mile U-turn, forcing us to go much further past the interstate and make a second U-turn to get back where we needed to be. We arrived a couple of mintues late, but I don't think anyone really cared. The Big Boy Restaurant had a Sunday breakfast buffet which was very good. We spent a hour or so catching up (it was the first time Lori had seen Aileen since college).

After breakfast, Lori and decided to see at least one lighthouse before heading home. There were a couple of other lighthouses on the Detroit River that seemed to be close to each other, so we headed that direction and hoped to have success at one of them. We actually had success at finding three lighthouses.

The first one was the furthest out. It was at the mouth of the Detroit River and is known as Windmill Point. I do not know the history of the lighthouse's name as there was no plaque telling anything about the lighthouse. It sits on a small fishing pier on the west side of the river in a little park. It is not one that the average person would know about or even how to find (although it was fairly simple to find). We had to pass through some very poor neighborhoods that we might not have driven through at night, but it was actually a nice drive and the people at the park seemed friendly enough. (A lot of lighthouses are in poor areas because they were guide for shipping and industry. Industry naturally seems to bring down the areas immediate surrounding them.)

(Photo coming soon.)

After a quick visit to the Windmill Point Lighthouse, we drove back the way we came and head to Besse Isle. Besse Isle is a city park and home to the William Livingstone Memorial Lighthouse. Traffic on the island travels one direction in a counterclockwise motion. The lighthouse is on the north end of Besse Isle. The William Livingstone Memorial lighthouse has an interesting architecture to it. It is a square stone tower that bears a striking resemblance to gothic architecture. Unusual for a lighthouse. Like Windmill Point, the lighthouse had no information describing the history of it or its naming. It sits back from the parking area giving us a bit of a walk. All told, we probably walked about 3/4 total.

(Photo coming soon)

The last lighthouse we "discovered" was one that Lori had seen from the street as we were driving to the first lighthouse. We decided to stop and see it before we left town. It was not a lighthouse listed in any of the lighthouse websites I had looked at the night before. I would, in fact, later discover that it was not an actual lighthouse, but rather a replica of a lighthouse that sits at Tawas Point. I do not know if the lighthouse was operational as an aid to navigation or not. It is located in the Tri-Centenial marina on the west side of the Detroit River.

After seeing the three lighthouses, we headed for home. It was just after 1:00 pm and we had to have the car back by 6:00 pm. Luckily, Detroit is only about 4 1/2 hours from Pittsburgh, so we had plenty of time. Or so we thought...

As we got back on the interstate, we came across a closure because of construction. (Yes, the closed the whole interstate for construction. Closing a couple of lanes apparently was not sufficient. The detour took us several miles out of the way, taking us almost back to the area of our hotel. About halfway through the detour, I decided that it was taking us too far out of the way and chose to find my own route. Bad move? Not when you have a Garmin GPS!

Actually, the Garmin re-routed us very proficiently and we ended up only losing about a half and hour. That would put us arriving back in Pittsburgh at 6:00 pm, just as the car was to be returned. The problem was that we would have to stop for gas at least once and we still had to unload the car before returning it. The race was on! I hit the gas with lead in my foot.

There were not really any other stumbling blocks and the trip was essentially uneventful. We arrived back at Lori's parents house at 5:40 pm. The rental car return was at least 20 minutes away. I quickly unloaded the car, made a potty break and was on my way. Now the only obstacle was that I had to top off the gas tank before returning the car. I hit the gas with even more lead in my foot!

As I am driving to the airport, I remembered something Lori had told me when we picked up the car on Friday. Our main route to the airport, as in the shortest and fastest route, was closed because of construction. The detour took me at least 10 minutes out of the way. I hit the gas with still more lead in my foot!

You see, Dollar Rent-A-Car, does not have a leeway policy on their returns. If you are a minute late, you are charged for the next hour. In our case, that extra hour exceeded the current 24 hour period and threw us into the next 24 hour period. Same taxes on rental cars are figured on the number of days the car is rented meaning we would be slapped with taxes equally as much as the rate for the additional hour.

I arrived at 6:06 pm.

As I got out of the car, the return attendant walked up and scanned the car for return. I think I said something like "Please, tell me I'm not late." The girl asked when the car was due and then looked at her watch. She told me not to worry, she would take care of it. She said that Dollar used to have a leeway on returns, but had recently changed it's policy in attempt to boost revenue without actually raising the price of the rental. Dollar claims to be less expensive and on the surface they are, but when you factor in the additional charges for extra drivers and no leeway on the time of return, Dollar simply isn't any cheaper than any other rental company. I thanked the girl for taking care of the extra hour and because of her actions, I will consider renting from Dollar again.

And that is the end of our not so short story. Congratulations to our friend Ashley and her new husband E.J.! May your marriage be the most wonderful blessing you have.

Diary of a Wedding Guest: Part 14 - The $4 Non-Existent View: The GPS Strikes Again

2009-07-17T07:01:00.001-07:00

After leaving the the reception, Lori and decided to check out a couple of lighthouses on the Detroit River. We thought it would be nice to see one lit up at night because we usually don't get to witness lighthouses at nightime. So, we pulled out our "trusty" Garmin and using the lighthouse Point of Interest (POI) file I had downloaded last fall, we set out for the Grosse Ile lighthouse. The directions were perfect. They took us through Detroit to an island in the Detroit River. Island visitors had to pay a $2.00 toll to cross a small drawbridge. Once across the bridge, the Garmin directed us to Lighthouse Lane. Unfortunately, as our luck would have it, Lighthouse lane is not a street. It is a private driveway! Yes, the GPS strikes again! The lighthouse sits in someone's yard and is not accessible to the public but once a year. Since it was dark, Lori and did not feel it was appropriate to ask permission to see the lighthouse. The lighthouse sits in a very well-to-do neighborhood and we didn't want anyone to think we were trying to rob them. After driving around the island trying to find even a miniscule view of the lighthouse, we drove back across the drawbridge and paid another $2.00 toll, making the our lighthouse site seeing a $4.00 non-existent view. Considering the island is completely residential with no grocery store, doctor, gas station, etc., it costs residents $1,500 a year in tolls just to live on the island. That's assuming that residents leave the island once a day and everyday each year.

In all fairness to the Garmin, the problem isn't with the GPS. It never really has been. The problem has been with the Lighthouse POI file I downloaded from the internet. This is the third inaccesible lighthouse we have tried to see using the POI file. If the file was meant to be a driving tour of lighthouses, it shouldn't include those that are in the middle of the water or those that are inaccesible from the street. In most other cases, the problems with the Garmin have been operator error, not fully understanding how the Garmin determines things such as distance and arrival times. So, I guess we will keep the Garmin, but maybe sans the lighthouse POI file.

We returned to the hotel disappointed once again. But at least we were able to spend some time together -- just the two of us.

Deal of the Week

2009-07-17T06:25:00.000-07:00

Last night, I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few supplies for Lori's upcoming birthday and I came across the "Deal of the Week". Unfortunately, I was not in market for the item that was "ON SALE". After picking up everything I had gone to Wal-Mart for, I decided to run through the clearance aisle just to see if they had anything interesting. I found a single-handle kitchen faucet. The faucet was Peerless' Solutions style and it originally sold (at Wal-Mart) for $72.87. Not a bad deal. But the "better" deal could be found right below the original price. The faucet was on clearance for $74.88! Yes, that's right, you can get the same faucet on clearance for $2.00 more than you'd pay for it normally. Unfortunately, as I mentioned before, I was not in the market for a kitchen faucet, so I put it back on the shelf and carried on my way wondering who might actually fall for Wal-Mart's "Deal of the Week" and if Wal-Mart really truly thought people were that stupid.

Here's your sign! Just don't know if I am suppose to give it to Wal-Mart or the person who actually buys the faucet. Probably the former, since I will never actually meet the latter.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-07-14T15:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday's Fortunes

2009-07-12T15:06:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Lori, James and I ate at the Mall with James' friend Morgan and her parents. James ate Chicken from Chick-Fil-A, while Mommy and Daddy had Chinese from Wong's Wok. At the end of our meals, we opened our fortune cookies. Lori's cookie had THREE fortunes inside. Not sure exactly what that means. Do they cancel each other out, or is she bound to have all three fortunes come true? Lori didn't keep her fortunes and we can't remember exactly what they said, but here is a recap what our fortunes held:

Jim's

"You will be fortune in the opportunities presented to you"

Lori's

"Now is a good time to make new friends"
Not exact - "You will find success in your business venture."

Not exact - "You will find happiness in new surroundings"

All of these fortunes lead us to believe that our attempts to move will come to fruition. We just don't know when or how. I don't want to jinx our fortunes, so I will say that we fully believe in this method for predicting what our future holds. I will also say that we are praying every night for answers, because while the cookie may tell the future, it is still very cloudy and vague.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-07-07T13:58:00.000-07:00

Wednesday - $0.02. Two cents found at the Royal Farms convenience store on Providence Road in Towson, Maryland (Baltimore area). The first, at the checkout counter, I did not pick up because it was back in a corner here I would not be able to reach it. I will donate a penny to the change pot for charity. The second was on the sidewalk outside which I did pick up even though it was raining cats and dogs at the time.

Friday - $0.01. A penny near the ice cream freezers at Kroger on Route 7 in Morgantown.

Saturday - $0.01. A penny at the gas pump at Get Go in Sewickley, PA (Pittsburgh, area). I did not pick it up on the way in to buy drinks for the 4th of July parade and when I came out, a car was filling up so I couldn't get it. I will donate a penny to the change pot for charity.

Sunday - $0.05. A nickel when exiting Wal-Mart in Cranberry, PA (Pittsburgh area).

Weekly Total: $0.09
YTD Total: $5.86

Diary of a Wedding Guest: Part 13 - The Wedding and the Reception

2009-07-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well this short story has gotten pretty long and it has taken much longer to complete than I thought it would. The great news is that we have arrived at the chapters that everyone are most interested in - The Wedding and The Reception!

After our morning excursion searching for a Best Buy, we arrived back at our hotel around noon to begin preparing for our friend's wedding. Lori had to iron her dress, do her hair and makeup, and get dressed. I had to decide which shirt and tie to wear, get dressed and gather up the cameras and tripod - all in about 25 minutes. We quickly rushed through the tasks at hand, and made it back out the door around 12:30 pm. The wedding started at one o'clock. We were at least fifteen mintues away and still had to set up so that Lori could video the wedding.

As we left the hotel parking lot, we came up to one of those "Michigan Lefts" which sent us headed in the wrong direction. Actually it was a regular "No Left Turn". I had planned to turn right, make an immediate left into the parking lot of the business across the street, whip around and head in the right direction. As I pulled out squealing my tires, a car behind me pulled out and merged into the left lane blocking me from turning into the parking lot across the street. My only other option was to go to the stoplight and try to turn around at one of the businesses at the intersection. Luckily for me, this intersection did not include a "Michigan Left" and I was able to make the left turn that I needed. (They are SOOOOOOO inconsistent with left turns in Michigan.) I whipped into the parking lot I originally wanted to turn around in and got us headed in the right direction. Lori was not saying anything during this time, but I am sure she was none to pleased with my driving.

The GPS directed us onto the interstate, but I decided to ignore the GPS because we had spent enough time driving around in the morning, that I knew a more direct route. Although it was more direct, it might not have been the quickest. I weaved in and out of lanes like a mad man and probably exceeded the speed limit by at least 15 MPH (anything more and I would have to retract my earlier statement about being a law-abiding citizen). We arrived at 12:50 pm to a mostly empty church parking lot. At first I thought we might have been in the wrong place and then I thought maybe the wedding started at 1:30 pm. Neither turned out to be the case as we simply ended up being one of the first guest to arrive. The parking lot filled pretty quickly after we arrived. We entered the church to find the bridal party sitting for pictures. As we looked around, we realized the layout of the church prevented us from having a good place to set up to video. Lori would have to do it from her seat on the aisle.

The wedding was a very lovely mass and one of the nicest weddings that I have attended. It was a simple elegance that words can not begin to describe. Most importantly, it was not only a celebration of love for the bride and groom, but a reminder to all who attended of the importance of having love in our life. Considering, I had lost my faith and hope with the graduate school process, the wedding was a very refreshing experience. For a brief moment, I found peace.

Ashley, our friend was absolutely beautiful in her bridal gown. She looked so elegant and sophisticated that I didn't even recognize her, except that she was the bride and I knew it was her wedding we were attending. She looked so grown up compared to what we see of her everyday at work. E.J. looked equally handsome, but this is the bride's day, so we will concentrate on that.

The wedding lasted about an hour. The reception would not start until 4:30 pm, giving us about two hours in between. Lori and I decided to find the Best Buy that we had looked for earlier. I now had a much better idea of the area and where it was that I needed to go. We found the Best Buy with little effort (and NO GPS). They had four GPS dash friction mounts left. (They had nine when we tried to find it earlier.) After purchasing the mount, we stopped to buy some Father's Day presents and then headed to the reception.

The funny thing - after purchasing the dash friction mount, we realized we would be unable to use it until we got home, because we had failed to bring the windshield mount with us and both mounts share a common clip that attaches the GPS to the mount.

Like the wedding, the reception was very simple yet, very elegant in its simplicity. Dinner was served family style, which was the first I had seen at a wedding reception. I have been to buffets and plate dinner weddings, but this was definitely a first for me. It was also very nice because it helped one interact with the people at the table. We were seated with two other very nice couples and held conversation as though we had known the couples for years. It was very pleasant. Many times when you attend a wedding and are seated with people you don't know, it can be awkward. The bride and groom did an excellent job with the seating arrangements. Dinner was perfectly prepared.

We were also impressed with the DJ. He was no overly loud, but he was very engaging. He knew his job and, in my opinion, did it superbly. He played music that kept the party going and people on the dance floor. At one point, I requested a song for Lori and I to dance to - Edwin McCain's "I Could Not Ask for More" (the sound you are hearing as you read this blog if your speakers are turned on). The DJ commented that it was an excellent choice and said he would play it. To my surprise, he played it right after the current song ended! Usually when a DJ says they will play a song, it is put in a long list of requests and you are lucky if you hear it within the next hour. He was the best DJ I have seen at a wedding.

As the night wore on, Lori and I decided to leave the reception a little early and spend some time together. We decided to drive down to the Detroit River and find a lighthouse. We haven't visited many lighthouses after dark, but I think one of the most romantic things a couple can do is spend time together at a lighthouse when it is lit up at night.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-06-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday - $0.01. Found a penny in the crosswalk near Garfield's restaurant while exiting the Morgantown Mall.

Tuesday - $0.25. Just when I thought I was going to end the week with a single penny found, I went into the Giant Eagle on Greenbag Road in Morgantown to pick up a prescription and found a QUARTER! Yes, and actually QUARTER. We don't find those too often. It was lying on the floor at the backend of a check out lane. Next week we are in Baltimore and Pittsburgh, so hopefully we will have a better week.

Weekly Total: $0.26
YTD Total: $5.77

More Reese's Pieces

2009-06-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

The only thing I have concluded from my study of Reese's® pieces® is that orange is the dominate color, but hey we already knew that. Brown and yellow continue to trade palces for second and third. Three additional boxes, over the past couple of weeks, have resulted in roughly the same findings as the first three boxes. With that, I have decided to conclude this study. Not that anyone really cared anyway. It was always just something to take my mind off the disappointment of my graduate school rejections and the boredom of my job.

If you are interested in the final results, just let me know and I will e-mail them to you.

The Refrigerator's Purpose

2009-06-28T15:11:00.000-07:00

This is a Not Me Monday story, only it really truly does not invole me. It involves another member of our family who "dared" me to write about this Not Me event. That individual will remain nameless, but they did not wish to write about it themselves.

On Friday night, I (substitute the real culprit here) did not have a bowl of cereal before going to bed. And on Saturday morning, I (again substitute the real culprit)did not wake up with no milk to have cereal for breakfast. On Saturday afternoon, I (real culprit) did not open the kitchen cabinet for a glass to get a drink and find a 1/4 gallon of milk.

On Saturday, our family went shopping in Clarksburg and had dinner at Ryan's. James was given milk with his free kid's meal. The waitress brought two pint size cartons of milk. James drank one and we brought the other home.

On Sunday, morning I (real culprit again), did not find an unopened pint sized carton of milk in James' diaper bag.

What is really funny about this Not Me incident, is that it appears to run in a certain family. I have heard stories of a grandmother (not mine) who was notorious for doing similar things in the later years of her life.

I am now wondering how much we can get for our old refrigerator since we obviously don't need it anymore. Any offers?

Diary of a Wedding Guest: Part 12 - To Make a Left, Turn Right: Another Michigan Anomally

2009-06-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

When we are young, our parents spend a great deal of time teaching us right between right and wrong, up and down, black and white, and left from right. As parents, we are likely to spend a similar amount of time teaching our own kids the same things. And just when we think we have it down, along comes Michigan to screw things up.

If you have ever driven in Michigan, you know what I am talking about. The "Michigan Left Turn". Making a left turn in Michigan is quite different than making a left turn in any other state - at least the ones I have been in. Although it is not the case in every instance, major intersections in Michigan require a driver making a left turn, to turn right. Yes, that is correct. The driver then must make a U-turn to complete his left turn. I have no idea why Michigan has to be so backwards about this. Do they think it reduces accidents? Maybe it helps the flow of traffic because you can turn right on red, make the U-turn and then proceed through the intersection without any lost time. I really don't know what the rationale is, but what I do know is that if you aren't familar with the process, YOU will be the one to cause an accident. Why can't Michigan be like everyone else?

I had forgotten about this little inconvenience until we were driving back to the hotel from trying to find the Best Buy. As I approached the intersection of Newburgh and Six Mile Roads (in Livonia), I was reminded of this fact. I was in the left lane, anticipating a left turn onto Six Mile Road. I see the sign mapping out the right turn, U-turn process but it did not click. I though the sign was indicating to proceed half-way through the stoplight and turn left after the median. Then as I was about to make the left turn, I see the NO LEFT TURN sign. Lucky for me I had out-of-state plates on the rental car, so no one really paid attention to me. As the law abiding citizen that I am, I did not make the left turn but proceeded completely through the interection. I then turned into a shopping center on the left, whipped around the parking lot and back out onto Newburgh Road in the opposite direction. I completed my left turn by turning right onto Six Mile Road and managed to get back to the hotel at 12:00 noon. This was not boding well because we still had to iron our outfits, get dressed and leave for the church by 12:15 PM. NOT HAPPENING!

Now, I really truly don't see the difference between having a left turn lane and turn light and having to make a right turn and then a U-turn. They both accomplish the same feat, one just does it with less confusion. It would be different if EVERY left turn in Michigan were this way, but they aren't. A few minutes earlier and a few blocks south of the intersection at Newburgh and Six Mile Roads, I made a left turn out of a left turn lane with a left turn signal. So what's the difference? Why make it more confusing to everyone?

Oh, and by the way, the left turn from the left turn lane with the left turn signal, wasn't normal either. When this situation occurs in Michigan, the left turn signal flashes red while the regualr stoplight is green. In some cases, the left turn signal never turns green and the driver sits through the entire light. This is because, once the driver has stopped, if the traffic from the on-coming direction is clear, he may proceed. At least I hope so, because that is what I did and as a law -abiding citizen, I would never have done that if I weren't allowed to. Because sitting through two stoplights waiting for the left turn signal to turn green just isn't acceptable.

Oh, and another thing. Had I had the GPS with us, I am sure that it would have told me to turn right and then make a U-turn. On a drive later that evening, the GPS properly instructed me to do just that.

Diary of a Wedding Guest: Part 11 - The Weekend's Best Buy

2009-06-27T18:55:00.000-07:00

We awoke Saturday morning with a few a few things to do before Ashley's wedding. The wedding was at 1:00 PM and it was about fifteen mintues from the hotel. Lori had volunteered to video the wedding for Ashley so she wanted to arrive early to get a good spot to set up. We figured we would need to leave the hotel by 12:15 PM.

Lori suggested that we swing by Best Buy to look for the GPS accessory that we had missed the day before. There happened to be a Best Buy about five minutes from the hotel (the same one we passed the previous night because we would have gotten there after they closed - according to the GPS). Lori had also wanted to stop by Target or Wal-Mart to pick up some gifts for some friends that we were meeting for breakfast on Sunday morning. Additionally, we still needed to do some Father's Day shopping, which was also the very next day.

We quickly got ready and arrived at the Best Buy around 9:30 AM. They did not open for another half hour. Instead of waiting, we decided to knock out the other tasks we still needed to complete. We had passed a Meijer store (like a Super Wal-Mart for those that are not familar with them) and went there to do some shopping. We found some great toys for our friends' little boys and bought some Father's Day cards. By the time we returned to Best Buy, it was almost 10:30 AM.

Lori looked around for a gift for her father while I ran back to grab the GPS dash mount. SOLD OUT! This being the second Best Buy Store we had checked (one before we even left town for the wedding) and both being sold out of the item, I inquired about a raincheck. Best Buy's raincheck are good only at the issuing store, not every store within the company. Since I would not be returning to the Detroit area for a while, the raincheck would do me no good. The sale on the item was ending that day. The manager said I could get a raincheck and try to use it at another store, but the other store would not be obligated to honor the raincheck. He offered to check the stock of the surrounding stores. If any had a large amount of stock on hand, he would send me there, but if they only had one or two, he said it probably wouldn't be worth my time. With only one or two in stock, they would either sell out before I got there or their inventory count could be off and they could already be sold out. He found a store about 10 miles away that had nine. And gave me directions to the store. He said it would be near the Meijer Store on Newburgh and Warren Roads. (Meijer by the way is the dominate player in the discount retail business. We only saw 1 Wal-Mart in our entire time in the Detroit area!)

I found Lori, we paid for her Father's Day gift (a CD of Italian music) and set out to find the other Best Buy. I followed the manager's directions to a T, or so I thought. I passed the Meijer at Newburgh and Warren Roads, but I found no other shopping areas. I continued driving until I reached the Ford Plant in Dearborn where Newburgh Road ends. At this point, I turned around and headed back to towards the hotel. We would be lucky to get back there in time to iron clothes, get dressed and get to the church in time for Lori to set up for the video.

Here's the kicker to this whole getting lost on the way to find a Best Buy to purchase and accessory for the GPS - I DID NOT HAVE THE GPS WITH US AND THEREFORE COULD NOT HAVE USED IT! We had taken the GPS into the hotel the night before so that it wouldn't get stolen from the car. Had we had the GPS with us, we could have plugged in the Best Buy and probably found it right away. WHY IS IT THAT THE DAMN THING DOESN'T WORK WHEN YOU WANT IT TO AND IT DOES WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE IT WITH YOU?

We did eventually get to the Best Buy in between the wedding and the reception. Apparently, I was suppose to turn on Warren Road at the Meijer on Newburgh and Warren Roads and it would have been just a few blocks away. We we finally arrived at the Best Buy around 3:00 PM, they only had three left on the shelf. I snatched one up and got the Best Buy of the weekend -- if you don't factor in the time and gas it cost to get the item. With that I probably lost out on the deal. ;-)

Diary of a Wedding Guest: Part 10 - Late Night Snack

2009-06-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

After returning to the hotel from our trip to Frankenmuth, we settled in for the night watching a little TV, checking e-mail, and updating our Facebook pages. OUr hotel was a Residence Inn by Marriott. It cam fully equipped with a small kitchenette including a stove, sink and full size refrigerator/freezer. Shortly after we got settled, a very strong thunderstorm roared through Livonia. The power did not go out, but the TV lost its signal and lightning flashes could be seen every few seconds followed by a loud thunderous boom. The time lapse between the lightning strikes and the thunder indicated that the strikes were very close.

We then decided to turn in for the night, however, before retiring I got up to take my pain medicine (for the pinched nerve in my back/hip). My pain medicine has to be taken with food or it will cause an ulcer. I told Lori that I was going to grab something from the vending machines and asked if she wanted anything. She asked for some bottled water.

Our room was located at one end of the hotel, so I proceeded down the hallway towards the other end. There were no signs directing me to the vending machines on our floor and I could not locate them. I figured that they didn't have vending machines on every floor so I headed down to the 2nd floor (we were on the 3rd floor of 5). I walked the length of the second floor and again found no vending machines. I began to get a little irritated because surely a vending area existed. Every hotel has a vending area. And usually one on each floor for convenience. With that I proceedeed down to the first floor. Once again, I walked the length of the first floor and found no vending. I didn't even find an ice machine on any of these floors. This was extremely odd, but I headed back to our room to see if the hotel directory would say anything about the vending area.

When I returned to our room, I saw a note that said there was no need to go out for ice because you could make your own in the freezer of the refrigerator (thus the reason there were no ice machines). Remember, we are at a Residence Inn, an extended stay hotel with a full size refrigerator and a small kitchenette. Once I found the directory, I read that the vending area was located at the front desk. The front desk was located in the Gatehouse. Yes, as you might expect from the sound of the Gatehouse, the front desk is in a completely different building! How absurd to have a five story hotel with onsite vending located across the parking lot in a spearate building. I am guessing that few people take advantage of this service. Once the realize they have to get dressed, and go outside to another building, many will opt to just do without.

On this particular night, the absurdity of this vending system was highlighted even more. There was a torrential downpour outside and lightning striking all around. What idiot in there right mind would go out in this kind of weather just to buy a snack?

Yes, you guess it...the idiot that need to eat something when they take their medicine. To make matters worse, it was not raining when we arrived at the hotel, so we did not bring in the umbrella. It was still lying on the backseat of our rental car.

With that, I got dressed and headed for the Gatehouse. Yes, I had been in my pajamas while roaming the halls a few mintues earlier. Perfectly acceptable at 11:00 PM because no one else is going to be out roaming the halls at that hour, unless of course they too are looking for the vending machines.

Lucky for me by the time I got to the first floor and ready to exit the building, the rain had slackened quite a bit. I ran across the parking lot to the Gatehouse dodging most of the raindrops. When I saw the "vending" area, I could not believe what I saw. The vending area had 3 kinds of soda and 3 types of candy bars. There may have been a bag of chips, I don't remember, but the point was that if you are going to make people leave there building and walk across the parking lot to the vending area, you had better have something there to make it worth the trip. I bought two sodas and a candy bar and headed back to the room to take my medicine. As I left the front desk, I mumbled something to the clerk about the absurdity of the whole vending thing. He stated that the hotel was a franchise and that the layout of the vending was the common practice at the time that this hotel was built. AND ARE WE NOT SUCH AN ADVANCED RACE THAT SINCE THE TIME THE HOTEL HAS BEEN OPEN SOMEONE COULD NOT HAVE FIGURED OUT SOMETHING MORE SENSIBLE??????

Here's your sign!

A Very Sad Day

2009-06-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

For those that read James' scrapbook, this posting is similar to the one posted there this evening. If you don't, then please please join the Risk family in prayer for the loss of a very dear friend.

At 8:10 PM, Ms. Ellen Gatian, James' very first daycare provider, lost her longtime battle with cancer. Ellen was more than a babysitter. She taught James many things and started him on the right path to learning. She was like a Grandmother to him and to James' friend Morgan. Above all else, Ellen was an angel, and although we are saddened by her passing, as an angel, God needed her to come home. We are thankful that God has taken away her pain and that he has provided a home like no other for her to spend the rest of eternity. Her time on earth may be complete, but we are sure that she will continue to watch over both James and Morgan. An angel's work is never done.

We have not told James, and probably will not. He is too young to fully comprehend what has happened. Our thoughts, prayers, and hearts go out to Ellen's husband Ron and the rest of her family. We ask that you include the Gatian family in your own thoughts and prayers.

In Memory:
Ellen Gatian 1943 - 2009

Diary of a Wedding Guest: Part 9 - The GPS Strikes Again....Or Does It?

2009-06-25T19:33:00.001-07:00

On the way back from Frankenmuth, we decided to stop by Best Buy and purchase an accessory for our GPS system. The accessory was a dashboard friction mount that was on sale until Saturday. This being Friday, we hoped to get one before they were all sold out. The sale price was $14.99 - normally $41.99, so it was a really good deal. Beyond that, don't ask me why we would even consider buying something else for our GPS. We have had nothing but trouble with it. Well, sort of. More like we have had nothing but trouble with the lighthouse custom points of interest file we downloaded for it.

As we were heading back to the hotel in Livonia and decided to visit the local Best Buy store, we had to use the GPS to find the nearest one. The GPS comes with thousands upon thousands of preloaded points of interest such as gas stations, hotels, shopping, etc. Since we did not know the area, we plugged in Best Buy to see what came up. There were three or four Best Buy stores in the area so we chose the closest one. It was about 30 miles away when we first decided to go there.

As we were drawing nearer the location of the first Best Buy (about 4-5 miles away), Lori informs me that the arrival time will be 9:05 PM. I looked at the clock in the car which said 8:41 PM. It didn't sound right that we would only be five miles away, but that it would take almost 25 minutes to get there. We were on the interstate and I suspect that the Best Buy was right of the interstate. Never-the-less, I took the GPS's arrival time as accurate and chose not to stop. The store would close at 9:00 PM and we would arrive five minutes too late.

With that, we opted for the second Besy Buy. The GPS said that it would be 15 miles away. Great, I thought. I can get there just as they are closing, grab the item and checkout in a flash. Lori then informs me that the GPS arrival time is 9:40 PM. WHAT????!!!! Fifteen miles is going to take us an hour????? Something was very wrong.

As we began pondering what a worthless piece of crap the GPS was turning out to be, Lori asked me - Is the arrival time for this destination, or the final destination. We had programmed our hotel as the final destination and the Best Buy was simply a stop along the way.

For those of you that don't know, the arrival time IS to the final destination, meaning that we would have arrived at the original Best Buy (now long past) before they closed and would have had plenty of time to spare. (Passing the original Best Buy on the interstate prompted Lori's question.) At this point, it was now almost 9:00 PM and we would definitely not make it to the second Best Buy before they closed. With that we returned to the hotel intent on trying again another day - excpet the sales would end tomorrow.

Diary of a Wedding Guest: Part 8 - A Bavarian Adventure

2009-06-25T18:56:00.000-07:00

After leaving Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland, we decided to find something to eat. Bronner's is located in Frankenmuth and we decided to see what restaurants were available in town. Frankenmuth is a tourist area that is built on the theme of a Bavarian village. While the town is much larger, the tourist area is about 3 - 4 blocks along the main drag through town. There are several specialty shops and a couple of really nice restaurants ($20 and up).

We found a parking spot and set out on foot to find our meal. Along the way we stopped in several of the specialty shops looking for some possibilities for Father's Day gifts. Frankenmuth has several candy stores in which they make the candy and fudge right in front of the customers. And like most other tourist places they had the usual deals - buy three slices (1/2 lb each) of fudge and get the fourth one free. Each slice of fudge is $6.50, and despite the various names, all the candy/fudge stores seem to actually be one in the same. If you checkout the website www.frankenmuth.org all of the links for the candy stores go to the same page. We did not get to go through the River Place shops, but we did check out Zak's Kandy Haus, the Bavarian Inn Castle Shops, Rau's Country Store, and Zehnder's Marketplace. There were many interesting things to see in the shops, but we refrained from buying anything, especially the chocolate for fear that it would melt in the heat. In several of the little shops, the employees wore traditional Barvarian outfits. Aside from the costumes, the building architecture and some of the dishes served at the restuarants, there was really nothing Bavarian about the place. The did not sell traditional German/Barvarian gifts. Most of the stuff was made in China, like everything everywhere else.

We ended up dining at Zehnder's Z-Chef's Cafe. This was a more affordable option than the more touristy restaurants and yet it had some of the same foods as the regular Zehnder's Restaurant. Lori and I ate for around $20 total including our drinks. We both had the fried chicken and brat combo meal which included a piece of fried chicken, a brat with kraut, two sides and a roll for about $8.50. The food was really good. I would recommend it to anyone. The chicken was not greasy. The breading was very light and had a hint of cornmeal taste to it. With this combo, you have your choice of brat - smoked or traditional. Lori got the smoked and I had the traditional. Both were very tasty. Zehnder's Z-Chef Cafe is on the side of Zehnder's and in the lower level. Well worth the price we paid. They also have salads, sandwiches, pizzas and deli style sides in addition to their hot plate cafeteria style dinners.

After dinner we headed back to the car and drove back to our hotel. It was a very pleasant afternoon visitng Bronner's and Frankenmuth and it is something that we will definitely do again, should we find ourselves in the area again.

Diary of a Wedding Guest: Part 7 - Christmas in June

2009-06-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

Our visit to Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland was one of the highlights of our trip. Bronner's claims to be the world's largest Christmas store with over 6,000 different ornaments, 350 decorated Christmas trees and one and a half football fields of Christmas merchandise. I had been to Bronner's more than a decade ago and thought that Lori might like it, so we decided to go. The store had changed a bit since I was there last, but it still is an experience that I recommend to anyone.

In addition to the many ornaments, visitors will find Department 56 villages, Hummel figurines, Precious Moments, Pipka & Possible Dreams Santas, Kurt S. Adler, Fontanini nativities and many other high quality Christmas items. In fact, I did not notice a single "cheap" item. Everything Bronner's carries is of the highest quality. No dollar store imitations.

In their auditorium, Bronner's has several display cases with nativities from various parts of the world. It was interesting to see how the Christian culture varies with the cultures of the world. For instance, in America, Jesus is primarily depicted as a Caucasian, but in the Italian nativity, the holy family were more accurately represented as Middle Eastern. In Kenya, the nativity showed Jesus and the holy family wearing tribal masks.

I was disappointed that the store did not carry the one item I was looking for. Pipka Santas are a very nice resin collectible. They come in three sizes and for space and price purposes, I like the miniature Pipka Santas the best. Bronner's carried the two larger sizes of Pipka, but not the miniatures. They did not offer to try to get them, so I guess it is not something they could special order.

The vast majority of their merchandise is dedicated to ornaments. They carry every possible style of ornament that one could ever want. Many of them can be personalized. Bronner's sells so many ornaments that they work with the manufacturers on creating ornaments exclusively from Bronners. Ornaments are not the only exclusive. Department 56 has created a replica of the original Bronners store for its Snow Village series. The piece is sold exclusively at Bronners.

If you ever get the chance to visit Michigan, Bronners is a must see. You won't be disappointed.

Diary of a Wedding Guest: Part 6 - Here's Your Sign

2009-06-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

Every summer people begin telling road consturction jokes and talk about how bad their state is when it comes to detours and orange pylons. Michigan is no different - excpet they have one joke that no other state can match.

After checking into our hotel, we decided to take a little drive to visit "The World's Largest Christmas Store. The store is known as Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland and is located in Frankenmuth, Michigan. Frankenmuth, a Barvarian village, is about an hour and twenty minutes from Livonia.

To get to Frankenmuth, we had to travel north on I-96 and then on US 23. It was on US 23 that we encountered the best road construction joke of all time - a sign alerting us to "Rough Road Next 5 Miles". Usually when you see these signs, it is because the road has been grated in preparation for laying new asphalt. Not so in Michigan. Apparently, Michigan felt they could save little money by NOT repairing the road and simply telling drivers about the chuckholes! Let me tell you, after that five mile stretch, our rental car, a brand new 2009 Ford Escape with less than 1000 miles on it, needed an alignment! It was bad enough that the Ford Escape rides so poorly anyway, but for Michigan not to repair their roads is absurd. Especially when it is a federal highway and the state is receiving federal funds to maintain the road. What is this state doing with the Obama economic stimulus money that is suppose to repair the highway infrastructure?

To Michigan's defense, they did have lots of road construction on the interstates, but this was still unacceptable. Some might try to argue that Michigan had harsher winter than usual, but in other areas like downtown Detroit, the ruts and potholes showed signs of being patched several times. The city's streets will only fall further into disrepair with the crisis in the auto industry. I am sure the city is losing major tax dollars from the fallout.

So, back to US 23 and the five miles of "Rough Road". Maybe they should put a sign up that says "Drive at Your Own Risk - Alignments NOT Covered by the State". That way they could protect themselves from getting sued by drivers for failing to do their job. Whatever the case, it sure is a good way to cut several million dollars out of the budget. A sign only costs a couple hundred dollars. Actually reapiring the road costs several hundreds of thousands depending on how much is needed to make the repair.

So Michigan DOT, here's your sign! Be sure to place it where all the drivers can see it.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-06-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

Thursday - $0.01. A penny on the floor in the middle of Best Buy at the Pointe in Robinson (Pittsburgh area).

Friday /Saturday / Sunday - $0.00. Why am I reporting this if I didn't find anything? Because we were in Detroit for these three days. In a city the size of Detroit, we should have found something more than nothing. It is a sure sign of the economic troubles that have hit this region when you can't even find a single penny on the ground. Especially when you consider all of the public places we were in over the course of these three days.

Sunday (outside of Detroit) - $0.05 total. Four pennies, including one Canadian, in separate locations at the Sheetz in Streetsboro, OH. The fifth penny was found in the Walgreen's in Moon Township, PA.

Monday - $0.10. A dime in the checkout lane of the Giant Eagel grocery store on Greenbag Road in Morgantown.

Weekly Total: $0.16
YTD Total: $5.51

Diary of a Wedding Guest: Part 5 - Motor City USA

2009-06-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

As we entered the outskirts of Detroit, it became very apparent why the city has earned the name "Motor City USA". Even in these tough economic times, Detroit is a city in which the car is king. Not just any car. The American car.

American cars have gotten a bad rap concerning quality. Yes, there was a time when the Big Three didn't care about quality because they dominated the market and had nothing to fear from their foreign competitors, but that quickly changed. And although the Big Three may have been slow to react, they are now producing cars of equal quality to their foreign counterparts.

Maybe it's because everyone who lives in the Detroit area is connected to the Big Three in one way or another, but the city has no problems showing their pride for the American car industry and the American manufacturing worker. In Detroit, American automobiles outnumber foreign cars by at least a 3:1 margin. No where else in America, can that be said. At one point, I counted nine American automobiles before I found the first foreign car. Ford seemed to have the slight advantage, but it may have been because of the area we were in. We were closest to Dearborn, which is the headquarters for Ford.

It was nice to see the pride in American made goods. It made you proud to be an American. And I was glad that we were driving an American car. Unfortunately, when we returned home, we would be returning to our foreign automobiles. For now, I will keep my Honda and Lori will keep her Subaru, both made in America with American workers and American made parts. I will consider a Ford in the future, but I am done with Chrysler. I will never own another after having owned several in the past. The jury is still out on GM. I may or may not seriously consider a GM vehicle in the future.

Diary of a Wedding Guest: Part 4 - The Bubble Gum Machines

2009-06-22T20:44:00.001-07:00

Throughout this story, our readers will be treated to list of anomallies that will poke fun at the state of Michigan. Don't get me wrong, I like the state of Michigan. It is a very beautiful state with lots of wonderful things to do. I have always enjoyed visiting the coasts of the great lakes and seeing the different lighthouses. In fact, Michigan is really where my love of lighthouses began. But enough about that, just know that no matter how much I poke fun at the state of Michigan, I really do like the state.

The rest of our trip through Ohio was relatively uneventful. We stopped for lunch on the northside of Toledo and shortly thereafter entered Michigan. It was Lori's first visit to Michigan. I had been here several times, but it had been more than ten years since my last visit and I had never been to the Detroit area.

Shortly after entering Michigan, I saw the first of many "Bubble Gum Machines". It made me laugh. I had completely forgotten about the "Bubble Gum Machines" until that time. They had changed a bit in the last ten years, but I think the name still fits. I say that because the "Bubble Gum Machines" are not actually bubble gum machines. You probably figured that out already. In fact, the "Bubble Gum Machines" don't even refer to candy machines. The name refers to the single red light that sits atop Michigan's State Police cruisers. Yes, when it comes to their cars, the Michigan State Police are unmistakable. Their cars are equipped with a single dome shaped red light like the one on Sheriff Andy Taylor's patrol car in Mayberry. This first one had a car pulled over for the purposes of issuing a citation.

We called them "Bubble Gum Machines" because the light's dome shape reminded us of a bubble gum machine. Michigan has to be the last state to continue to use these outdated sirens and for the life of me, I don't know why. I am not sure if I should feel sorry for the humiliated officers driving those patrol cars or if I should laugh at how funny and stupid the lights look on top of the cars. Today, the lights don't appear to be domed. The ones that I saw this time were flattops. Never the less, the single red light will always be a "Bubble Gum Machine".

Dairy of a Wedding Guest: Part 3 - The Fifty Cent Gift

2009-06-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

No, this post is not about the gift that Lori and I gave the bride and groom, nor is it about any gift that the bride and groom gave their guests. This short story is not about the wedding at all, but about a promotional offer we redeemed on our way to Detroit.

On Friday morning, we left for our day of travel. We had plans to make a few stops including one to the Step2 Factory Store in Streetsboro, Ohio. I had been to the store about a month and a half ago when Lori was asked to present at a conference. The Step2 Factory Store is located on the grounds of the Step2 factory and sells the company's products at a discount. When I had been there in April, I signed up for their e-mail list. About two weeks before this trip started, we received a coupon in our e-mail for a free gift with a $20 purchase. The e-mail also stated that many items in the store were on sale - $20 off. Lori and I had decided that we would buy James a wagon. Normally, $79.99, it was now on sale for $59.99. This wagon was the main reason we opted for a small SUV on this trip.

The Step2 company makes children's toys, outdoor storage, mailboxes and garden accessories (benches, carts, etc.) using a high density plastic. Rubbermaid has a division that directly competes with Step2. Rubbermaid's division produces mailboxes, trash cans, and outdoor storage, but Step2 seems to have the edge on children's toys.

When we arrived at the store, we found the wagon that we had wanted to buy and a motorcycle that we thought James would really love. The motorcycle was $24.99. In addition, we found a cute little toy for James' friend Morgan who will turn three years old in just a few days. We bought the toy for James to give to Morgan as a birthday present.

When we got to the counter and paid for our three items, the bill came to $109 and some change. We were then shown a basket full of miniature stuffed animals to choose one from as our free gift. The stuffed animals were no more than three inches in height. In a store they would probably retail for about $2.49 ($0.99 at Walgreens), but realisitcally, they cost less than $0.50 to manufacture - thus the fifty cent gift. I am not sure which animal Lori chose, possibly the lion, but it will probably end up in the Goodwill box without every having been played with. It was a big disappointment and a good thing we didn't stop here just to use the coupon.

Personally, if you are going to give away a free gift and only give it away the one company store which requires most people to travel more than 100 miles, you should make the gift worth while. For that matter, give away some of the items you have on clearance. The three foam dinosaur puzzles which normally sell as a set for $14.99 and were on clearance for $2.00 would have been an excellent gift. You get rid of merchandise you are trying to move out and customers feel like they got a worthwhile present.

Diary of a Wedding Guest: Part 2 - The Rental Car and its Company

2009-06-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

For our trip to Livonia, we decided to rent a car. We often do this to save the miles on our own vehicles. The cost of renting a car as compared to the wear and tear on our cars is a no-brainer for us. This trip would result in over 1,000 miles in just three days. At $150.00 for the weekend, that's just $0.15 per mile. Plus, renting a vehicle gives us the opportunity to check out potential replacements for our Subaru next summer. Our Subaru is 10 years old and has over 170K. We plan on replacing it when the Honda is paid off in June of 2010. Renting a car also gives you piece of mind about having your car break down in an unfamiliar place.

For this trip, we planned to stop by the Step 2 factory store and buy James a wagon. That would require a larger vehicle, so we decided to rent a small SUV. We figured the small SUV would sit a little different than a car and should therefore be a little more comfortable. SUVs, even the smaller ones, run much more expensive than the mid-size cars we typically rent, but we found one at Dollar Rent A Car for less than $40 day. With taxes, that came to just over $150 for the weekend. I had rented from Dollar on other occasions and didn't have any major problems (their cars tend to have more "dings" and "scratchers" than other rental companies), so we decided to book the SUV.

I arrived an hour early to pick up the SUV and I was given the a brand new 2009 Ford Escape. It only had 641 total miles on it. Having rented several "damaged" and "wrecked" cars from Dollar in the past, this was a pleasant surprise. As the rental agent completed the paperwork and handed me the agreement, I noticed the price was not the same as the reservation estimate. I asked the agent about it and he explained that he did not change the return time even though I picked up an hour earlier. I was charged $10.00 plus taxes for the additional hour. He assured me that as long as I returned by 6 PM on Sunday, the additional hour would not be charged. If you know anything about renting cars, especially at an airport, you know that the taxes are based on the total. The taxes on the $10.00 charge for the additional hour amounted to over $7.00! This was partially because the extra hour would put me into the next 24 hour interval and thus I was charged an extra $2.00/per day for each of the PA state rental car tax and the local Allegheny County rental car tax. In addition to state sales tax, their is now an "Energy Recovery Fee" which is a percentage of the total and the usual "Concession Recovery Fee", also a percentage of the total.

As I walked away from the counter I verified that Lori, my spouse, would be allowed to drive. No, with Dollar Rent A Car, spouses are considered an additional driver. Another $10.00 PER DAY plus taxes! I would either be driving the whole trip, or we would have to stop by the next morning to add Lori as an additional driver. Since she had dropped me off and continued on to her parents house, I did not have her driver's license and she wouldn't be able to sign the paperwork. When I told Lori about it, she opted to stop by on Friday on our way out of town an be added as an additional driver. The SUV would now be more expensive than the same vehicle at Avis, where spouses are allowed to drive without the additional driver fee. Now I know why they car it Dollar Rent A Car. They don't nickle and dime you to death with fees, they DOLLAR you to death with them.

The SUV we were given was a 2009 Ford Escape and right away I could tell that we would be pleased with the space. It was fully loaded with satellite radio, a sunroof, and leather seats. It was also much more functional than similar GM vehicles that we had driven. Despite all of these positives, we will not be buying a Ford Escape - sorry, Escape owners. The two biggest issues with the Escape are the gas mileage and the ride. I refuse to own a vehicle that costs $60 to fill the tank and that gets less mileage from a larger tank of gas than our current cars get from smaller tanks. Even as old as our Subaru is, we can still get 400 miles to a tank of gas. The Escape - about 350 miles, and the Escape's gas tank is larger than our Subaru's. If gas mileage weren't an issue, the ride definitely was. The Escape rode like a truck. Not a pickup truck - an actual truck with the big white box on the back. It was probably the worst riding vehicle we have driven. Unlike other small SUVs that are built on car chasises offering a smoother ride, the Escape is built on a chasis designed specifically for it. Additionally, the Escape has a major blind spot in the right rear. Twice, I almost took out a car when changing lanes because I could not see the other vehicle. Other minor nuisances included the console between the front seats being too bulky and hard to get into and out of when sitting in the front seat and the coat hooks in the back seats that could only hold a single coat hanger. If you have three dress shirts to hang up, you're out of luck.

Lori said that I had to say something nice for every negative, so here are the positives. Dollar Rent A Car has great customer service (at least those at the Pittsburgh Airport) and the Ford Escape seems to be very well built with a high standard of quality.

Diary of a Wedding Guest: Part I - The Departure

2009-06-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, June 20, our friend Ashley got married. She had invited us to the wedding, which was to be held in her hometown of Livonia, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. Since Livonia was a six hour drive from Morgantown, we took Friday off work to make the drive. James was not going to go with us because he is still too young to go to a wedding without upstaging the bride and groom or having Mommy and Daddy chase after him the whole evening. No surprise, Grandma and Grandpa offered to watch James for the weekend. On Thursday afternoon, we left work a little early to pick up James from daycare and then pick up our rental car in Pittsburgh. We decided to stay with Grandma and Grandpa on Thursday night and leave early the next morning. Leaving from Pittsburgh shortened our drive time for Friday by an hour and a half. And so with this plan, we departed for our weekend to Michigan. Lori drove this stretch so that I could easily hop out at the airport to pick up the rental car.

Our weekend, however, almost ended before it began. Actually our lives almost ended before the weekend began. About 45 minutes into our drive to Pittsburgh, we had a heart-stopping experience. We were approaching the intersection of I-79 and I-70 near Washington, PA. If you know this intersection, you know that as you approach, you are climbing a small hill at a speed limit of 65 MPH (most vehicales are traveling much faster). At the top of the hill, the speed limit drops to 45 MPH. This is designed to help slow vehicles down for the sharp cloverleaf on ramp at the bottom of the hill. Most drivers don't adhere to this drop in the speed limit and as the approach the cloverleaf they are slamming on their brakes to avoid hitting the wall. For truckers, the speed limit through the cloverleaf is 25 MPH, but realistically, even small cars have to take the turn at 15 MPH. PenDOT has done everything they can to slow driver's down including three sets of rumble strips in the middle of the road. Still, there have been numerous accidents in this area from vehicles traveling too fast.

Thursday afternoon was no exception. Driver's were flying down the hill and traffic starting backing up quickly because of the cloverleaf, which is a left lane exit. As we started slowing down, Lori and I both were paying close attention to the Semi that was right behind us. Luckily he seemed to be in control and we had nothing to worry about -- at least that's what we thought. As we proceeded down the hill, we turned our attention to the cars in front of us and safely stopped our vehicle. Within a few mintues we hear the engine of a braking semi that sounds a little closer than it should be and I hear James say "truck". I turned to my left to look back and make sure everything was ok. Imagine my surprise when I see a semi squeezing itself between our car and the guardrail on the left to avoid hitting us. The NOSE of the SEMI was HALFWAY UP THE SIDE OF OUR CAR! Because this is the left lane, typically a high speed passing lane on interstates, there is NO SHOULDER!

But that's not all. After we were relieved to see the driver had maintained control of his truck and we were lucky to be alive, we realized it was not the semi that had been directly behind us. That semi was in fact, still directly behind us! The truck that almost hit us had also squeezed between the semi behind us and the guardrail on the left and drove the length of the first semi before reaching us. How he managed not to hit something is beyond me. For those that know this area, you know incidents like this do not usually turn out good. Luckily for us, someone was watching over us and the rest of our drive to Pittsburgh was uneventful.

James, by the way was oblivious to the danger. He was smiling like nothing had happened.

Diary of a Wedding Guest

2009-06-20T21:51:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Lori and I were invited to the wedding of a friend and co-worker in the suburbs of Detroit. We are enjoying our trip, but we have had many things to write about. To give each item its due, we will write this post as a series of short stories. We hope that you will enjoy them. Below are the individual chapters of this story. As each one is completed, we will make the chapter heading a link to the actual posting of that chapter, so check back to this post often until we have finished the story.

The Departure

The Rental Car and its Company

The Fifty Cent Gift

The Bubble Gum Machines

Motor City USA

Here's Your Sign: A Michigan DOT Anomally

Christmas in June

A Barvarian Adventure

The GPS Strikes Again...or Does It?

Late Night Snack

The Weekend's Best Buy

To Make a Left, Turn Right: Another Michigan DOT Anomally

The Wedding & The Reception

The $4 Non-Existent View: The GPS Strikes Again

The Return

We look forward to hearing your comments once we have the story finished.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-06-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday - $0.01. Found a penny lying under one of the candy racks near the lottery counter of Sheetz on Route 7 in Morgantown.

Sunday - $0.01. Found a penny lying in the checkout lane of Kroger on Route 7 in Morgantown while picking up some milk and the newspapers.

Monday - $0.48 total. Found two pennies lying on the floor near the checkout counter at Sheetz on Route 7 in Morgantown. Later I found a single penny at the customer service desk of Lowe's after returning a couple of unneeded items. Lori then found $0.45 in the recliner. A quarter and two dimes that most likely belonged to my father who was visitng this weekend.

Tuesday - $0.10. A dime in the parking lot of the All-Star/Diary Mart in Westover (Morgantown).

Weekly Total: $0.60
YTD Total; $5.35

Weekly Mailbag

2009-06-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

Over the past two months or so, our mailbag has brought much disappointment. This week, however, amid all the usual bills, reimbursement checks and junk mail, I received to very interesting pieces of mail.

The first one comes from Mrs. Yvonne Paulley of Lebanon Junction, KY. Mrs. Paulley's envelope was marked "Do Not Bend!". Inside the envelope was a single photograph of one Katherine Lois Humes taken about 1980. Mrs. Humes was approximately 84 years old at the time. She was the daughter of George Hume. All of this information was handwritten on the back of the photo, and no other information (letter, etc.) was enclosed. Mrs. Humes is my biological great grandmother. I never knew her, because I never knew my biological mother. This was the first photograph I had ever seen of Mrs. Humes. Mrs. Humes supposedly died within a few years of the picture being taken. The picture was taken by Alvis Hall Hume, Mrs. Paulley's father. My great-great-great grandfather James Peter Hume was Mrs. Paulley's great uncle.

Katherine Lois Humes, abt 1980

The second piece of mail comes from Ms. Susan Rogers of Zionsville, IN. Ms. Rogers is a paper conservator and was returning a historical document that I had sent to her. The document was a Original Indiana Land Grant dated 1838. It was made out to one Gideon Crooks of Parke County, Indiana for land purchased in Crawfordsville, Indiana. In the lower right corner in blue inked handwriting is the signature "MVan Buren". Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States. Unfortunately, research has proven that the signature is not by the hand of the president himself, but rather by one of his secretaries. Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States, ended the practice of the president personally signing land grants because they simply became too numerous and time consuming. Never the less the document is quite interesting and Ms. Rogers did an excellent job of restoring the document. The land grant was part of my grandfather's amatuer collection of history. I also have newspapers from 1795 and 1809 that once belonged to him. The land grant is 16 x 10 and would not fit on the scanner to upload here.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-06-09T18:24:00.000-07:00

Wednesday - $0.01. A penny found at the end of a checkout counter at Lowe's Home Improvement Store at Glenmark in Morgantown.

Sunday - $0.01. A penny on the floor near the coffee service at Sheetz on Route 7 in Morgantown.

Tuesday - $0.03 total. First was a penny in the checkout lane of Family Dollar on Route 7 in Morgantown. I subsequently used the penny when my own purchase came to $2.01, so I will donate a penny to the change pot. The second penny was found at the Morgantown Target near the Customer Service desk. Lori found the final penny on her way to the car after eating dinner at Eat & Park.

Weekly Total: $0.05
YTD Total: $4.75

Recipe Disaster

2009-06-08T21:06:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday, we are hosting our monthly game night. Since it is likely to be our last, we are having a special game based on the Food Network's "Chopped". The game requires players to use mystery ingredients in preparing a three course meal. Each course gets new mystery ingredients. Our variation was to have each person prepare one course (an appetizer) using four ingredients determined by the players themselves. Four players submitted one ingredient each. The four players did not know the other three ingredients until after all four had been chosen. The "mystery" ingredients were then given out to everyone two weeks prior to our game night.

The four ingredients were honey, corn, garlic, and chicken. No too bad of a mix considering what the show "Chopped" usually dishes out.

Tonight, I decided to practice my recipe or recipes to see if any of them would be worthy of the competition. I can safely say that the competition has nothing to worry about from me. I will also tell you what I WILL NOT be fixing for game night.

I WILL NOT serve the following:

Honey Garlic Chicken Cornbread muffins - cornbread muffins with chicken, sweet kernel corn, honey and garlic mixed into the batter. This was the best of the group, but it lacked the punch to take home the trophy.

Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Honey Garlic Cornbread Muffins - This was a big disappointment. I "stole" our friend Jennifer's recipe for Buffalo Chicken Dip and I baked some inside of the corn bread muffins. The batter for these muffins had honey, garlic and sweet kernel corn, but no chicken since the muffins were to be stuffed with the Buffalo Chicken Dip. I really thought this would turn out better than it did. The flavors did not go together quite the way I had hoped.

BBQ Chicken and Corn Dip - I found this recipe online and thought I would give it a try. The original recipe had all of the ingredients except honey, but adding a little honey to barbeque sauce is no big deal. The recipe however did not turn out as a dip like it was suppose to. It seemed more like a chicken and corn stew with BBQ sauce as the broth/gravy. Go ahead and say it -- it's exactly what I am thinking. (I can't even finish writing this because of the tears from laughing so hard.) You really had to see this. It more pitiful than disgusting, but I wouldn't even feed it to the dogs, it looked so bad. The closest I can come to describing it is to think of baked beans, only with corn instead of beans. You couldn't even see the chicken.

I won't reveal my backup recipe, but I am expecting it to turn out a little bit better. Wish me luck.

The Reader - A Movie Review

2009-06-04T12:45:00.000-07:00

This week we rented the movie The Reader after Lori had indicated she wanted to see it and I had heard that it had won or had been nominated for several awards. For those of you who have not seen it, here is my review.

The Reader
starring: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes

The movie is set in two different times and at first comes across as a bit confusing. Michael (played by Ralph Fiennes in adulthood) is a judge looking back on the events of his youth and the impact they had on his life. Unfortunately, this is not clear at the beginning and one begins to wonder what the role of Ralph Fiennes' character is in relation to the rest of the movie. Once that is established, the somber tone of the movie begins to set in. It is the somber tone that makes the movie as great as it is.

The movie is set in Germany. Michael's youth (adolescent years) occurs in the 1960s. His adulthood takes place in the mid to late 1990s. As a youth, Michael has a friendship with a lady named Hannah (played by Kate Winslet). Hannah teaches Michael many things and in return Michael reads to Hannah. Their friendship lasts only a year, as Hannah unexpectedly leaves, never revealing much about herself. The impact of the friendship is witnessed later when Michael attends law school and follows the trial of several former Nazi concentration camp guards.

Aside from the early confusion over the elder Michael reflecting back upon his youth, the only other aspect of this film that may turn people off is the lack of a wardrobe budget in the early parts of the film. (The should be read as the lack of a wardrobe!) Although it is artistically done, nothing is left to the imagination in the film's early going. This was quite a shock for us and I question whether or not the quantity of these early scenes were truly necessary. Nevertheless, the early scenes create the overall necessary effect and tone for the remainder of the movie. The somber tone is elevated by one twist and cemented by a second. The first will leave the viewer questioning Michael. The second will leave the viewer questioning Hannah.

In all, one of the best movies we have seen in a long time.

Grade: A-

Ongoing Reese's® pieces® study

2009-06-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

The third installment of the Reese's® pieces® study had a couple of interesting notes. Brown once again outpaced yellow for the number two spot disproving my theory a second time. Yellow fell 4½ pieces short of brown. Yes, 4½! One of the yellow pieces turned out to be only a ½ of a piece. Orange still dominated. The breakdown of this box:

Orange - 72 pieces (45.7%)
Brown - 45 pieces (28.6%)
Yellow - 40½ pieces (25.7%)

And so the scientific study continues - at least until I find a more interesting and worthwhile job. Hopefully, I won't gain a hundred pounds between now and then.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-06-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

Last week's Change Pot paled in comparison to the previous week's until the final hours on Tuesday. At that time, the Change Pot had it's most interesting find and one of the largest individual finds. Leading up to Tuesday, we had only found a single dime on Sunday while doing our grocery shopping at Giant Eagle. The dime was on the floor near the end of a check out aisle. We had to walk right past it to get to the produce section and so we collected it.

On Tuesday, however, we found $0.35 in the form of a quarter and a dime. What is interesting about this find is that it was money WE LOST!!!! Yes, I found the $0.35 in our own home in the cushions of our couch. Normally this would be that big of a deal, except that our couch is fairly new and that I was actually looking for something else when I found the change. We had been watching the movie "The Reader" with Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes and I was lying comfortably on the couch. We had been snacking on buttered flavored popcorn Jelly Belly® jelly beans and I thought I had dropped some. Being that the couch is fairly new and we don't typically eat on it, I wanted to make sure that I had not lost any of the jelly beans to the couch and began running my hand between the cushions. Not only did I find $0.35, I also found a AA battery!

Weekly Total: $0.45
YTD Total: $4.70

Revising Our Plan, Learning the Ropes, and Playing the Game

2009-05-29T17:41:00.000-07:00

After two very sobering days, the Risk family has revised their outlook for the future. Although the timeline for the future is not what we had originally planned, our new plans seem to make things a little brighter and hopefully a lot easier. In retrospect, we have discovered many errors and oversights in our original graduate school application process and have decided to remedy the problem with a new perspective.

In our original plan, we applied to several MA/PhD combined programs and were not admitted to a single one. We quickly backtracked and applied to three MA programs and were accepted to all three - lesson number #1.

After being accepted to three MA programs, we then proceeded to the next step of selling our house and finding jobs in the the area of our school of choice. To our surprise, the house received an offer within 9 days, and we were no where near landing a job. - lesson #2.

With that we backtracked again, pulled the house off the market and "settled" for what was suppose to be the last resort for school. This created a very sobering dilemna because the school did not actually have the program we were seeking, but would have been acceptable to at least get through the next step. It was also the most expensive choice, even with a tuition waiver/graduate assistantship because of the cost of living. This choice made us very unhappy and had begun tearing us apart. - lesson #3.

So our revised plan incorporates all of the lessons we learned and hopefully allows us to proceed with greater success, but at a different pace. Instead of applying to schools first and then hoping all of the other puzzle pieces fall into place, we have decided to put the pieces of the puzzle together and then apply to schools. We will apply for jobs in one or two geographic locations (Baltimore, MD or Richmond, VA). These two areas offer us the best potential for success. Lori and I will find a job, we will THEN put the house on the market to make the move. Once moved, we will get settled and then apply to the area schools. Each area has three to four schools that will be great possibilities (some of them were my original schools). Lesson #2 learned.

How does this make things better? How do we know that we will be accepted the second time around? First, things will be better, because we will already be settled and that will result in less stress. Second, we will have a greater chance of acceptance because we will apply to these schools differently. Originally, we had applied to MA/PhD combined programs and did not get accepted to a single one. Shame on us for not realizing the natural progression of the academic world and thinking we were "exceptional" enough to bypass certain necessary steps. Each of these combined MA/PhD programs offer a terminal MA degree. I was accepted to three terminal MA programs. Duh! The combined MA/PhD programs will accept "exceptional" undergraduates, but realistically that just doesn't happen. By applying to the terminal MA program at each of these schools, I will have a better chance of acceptance. A terminal MA does not close the door on a PhD as the term "terminal" might imply. In fact, the opposite is true. If one does well enough in the terminal MA program, they are usually recommended and welcomed to the PhD program with open arms. Thus, we could ultimately achieve our original goal and land somewhere for several years, simply by applying ourselves differently. Lesson #1 learned.

So what if this still doens't work out? There are no guarantees. That is lesson #3. Do what makes you happy. By being in a larger metropolitan area, there will be more opportunities for both of us, before and after enrollment in graduate school. Lori's opportunities in healthcare and goverment program management go without saying. For me, history jobs, even with only a BA, will be more plentiful. If I do not get accepted to an MA program where we move, I will at least be working in my field and that will make me very happy. The same thing holds true if I am accepted into an MA program, but I am unable to get into a PhD program. In either case, I can find a job that is much more interesting. In the interim to starting a program at one of the schools in either of these areas, I will have access to the research materials I need for my thesis and dissertation. I will be able to get a jump start on my research.

So that is our revised plan. We don't know how long it will take to implement. It likely will not result in time for the fall semester, meaning, I will sit out at least one academic year. It may be possible for me to attend one semester at WVU and transfer two classes (6 credit hours) to another program. This would allow me to keep my job and defer my undergraduate student loans for another six months. Most programs will not allow you to transfer more than six credits.

Maybe God will smile a little brighter upon us this time.

Sobering Day

2009-05-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

Today has been a sobering day for the Risk family. We turned down our potential buyer's second offer and removed our house from the market. We have withdrawn our acceptance to Salisbury University in Maryland and East Carolina University in North Carolina. Currently, we are debating on withdrawing my acceptance to West Virginia University and sitting the academic year out. More realistically, not returning to school...period.

Although I have expressed my dislike of Morgantown, the state of West Virginia, and West Virginia University, it is not simply about me or the two years it will take to complete my degree. WVU is an acceptable school. Morgantown and West Virginia are tolerable for two years. I have already tolerated them for eight. It's much bigger than that. It's about the fact that in two years, nothing will change. We will go through the motions of leaving, but when the time comes, it won't happen, no matter how much I want to leave. (You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.) With no careers in history in the area (except for WVU if you have a PhD), there will be no reason to spend time, money and energy earning an MA. I would never have the chance to use it.

Some may read this as me being pessimistic. I have never considered myself a pessimist or an optimist. I am a realist. One of my better traits is to visualize the future and work towards that goal. If I do not return to school, I will become too involved with James and everyday life to ever return.

Offer....Counteroffer...Counter again....

2009-05-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we received the first offer on our house. Our house has only been on the market for 9 days! The offer was a little lower than we wanted, so we countered the offer with our own. The buyers countered our offer with a second offer and we will mostly likely make a second counter offer. Right now we are about $7,000.00 apart, so I think our next counter will be pretty close to where we want to be. Now we just have to find Lori a job....AND QUICKLY! The offer is for closing at the end of July.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-05-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

Wednesday - $0.10. Found a dime in the parking lot at work. Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone, they will say it was theirs. Especially our receptionist because I found it in "her" parking spot.

Thursday - $0.12 total. I found a dime and a penny inside of Sheetz on Route 7 in Morgantown while getting donuts and juice for breakfast. Lori picked up the dime for me because my hands were full making her first contribution to the A second penny was found in the afternoon in the parking garage at the WVU Mountainlair Student Union.

Friday - $0.05 total. Five pennies in various places throughout the Charleston Town Center Mall in Charleston, WV. The first was outside of GNC. The second just inside the 5-7-9 store. A third was in the seating area of Starbucks. The last two were found near the customer service center. Lori found one of them on her own, making it her first find for the Change Pot

Saturday - $0.01. A single penny on the floor of Zaxby's in Greenville, NC. Zaxby's is a fast food chicken restaurant. It is not like a KFC, Popeye's, Church's or Bojangle's. It is more like an upscale Chick-fil-a.

Sunday - $0.01. A single penny on near the entrance to a BP convenience store. I found just after I helped Lori lose a quarter in a newspaper machine.

Monday - $0.02 total. First penny at the food counter of Sam's Club in Greenville/Winterville, NC. Second penny in one of the drive-up carhop parking spots of Sonic on the southside of Greenville, NC.

Tuesday - $0.11 total. A dime and a penny on the campus of ECU. The dime was on the sidewalk outside of Student Health. The penny was found by the bus loading zones near the gymnasium.

We went over $4.00 this week and for the first week we found money on every single day.

Weekly Total: $0.42
YTD Total: $4.25

Heart Failure!!!!!!

2009-05-25T19:18:00.001-07:00

At 9:00pm this evening, Lori and I went through the drive up ATM of our bank in Greenville, NC (our bank is a NC-based bank) and attempted to draw out $20.00 for the tolls on our trip home tomorrow. At the end of the transaction, the ATM returned my card, but never gave me my money or my receipt. I waited a few minutes as a car was in line behind me, but the ATM simply went back into sleep mode. I didn't feel good about this being out of town, and not really having any recourse to prove that the machine didn't give me my money. I read the toll-free number for ATM problems and Lori wrote it down. As we pulled away, I decided to park in the banks parking lot and call the toll-free number immediately. I received a recorded message saying that the service was not currently available and to try again later. Most likely because it was the holiday. So I called the toll-free number for my bank and checked my balance. It appeared as though nothing had beeen debited from the account but I decided to check online when we got back to the hotel.

Imagine my surprise when I logged onto my account and saw a pending debit for today's date for $200.00!!!!! I immediately started panicking, because again I had no way to prove that I never received my money. I quickly dialed the toll-free number for my bank again and tried desperately to reach a live human would hopefully would help me resolve my dilemna and recover my $20, now $200. The automated service kept refusing to allow me to speak to a live representative until I final proceeded far enough through the system. At his point, I was told that due to a high call volume, I would have an extended wait. I didn't care, I was not about to lose $200. As I am waiting, I had to desperately visit the little boy's room, so I gave the phone to Lori and asked her to stay on hold for me for a few minutes.

While I was in the restroom, the customer service representative answered the phone. Lori explained the situation to the customeer service rep and learned that the ATM we attempted to use was out of money and that the transaction failed. The $200.00 debit showing from my account was a transfer I had done two days ago. Due to the weekend and holiday, the transfer would not be processed until overnight this evening, thus bearing today's date.

Crisis averted. My heart started beating again and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Becoming a Pirate?????

2009-05-24T20:01:00.000-07:00

We have been in Greenville, NC for two days now looking for potential housing and checking out the area for a potential move. I have not been overly impressed by Greenville, but I also have not found anything to really dislike about the area. I believe that this is an area I could live in for a couple of years while earning my Masters degree and I feel the area will grow on me. I believe I will come to think of Greenville as home, but I don't know that I would want to live here for a longer period. Greenville has all the basic amenities, but it is still lacking many of the same things that Morgantown lacks. It is over an hour to the nearest metro area.

We hope to check out more tomorrow and see the university on Tuesday. As long as my visit with the department goes well, I will be trading my muzzleloader and coonskin hat for a saber and black eye patch.

A Continued Random Observation

2009-05-24T19:22:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I posted an entry about the ratio of colors in a box of Reese's® pieces®. I have continued my scientific study of the issue with a second box. The second box came closer to proving my theory of the color ratio inside the box matching the color ratio on the outside of the package. The second package had the following ratio:

Orange - 67 pieces (44.4%)
Yellow - 48 pieces (31.8%)
Brown - 36 pieces (23.8%)

In the name of science, eat more Reese's® pieces®!

On the Road Again.....

2009-05-23T19:25:00.000-07:00

Our travels have taken us to Greenville, NC as we are checking out the area for a possible move. I have been accepted to East Carolina University's program in Maritime Studies and we are trying to decide if this is the right choice for the Risk family. Today we looked at three sets of apartments. The first was really nice, but too small. The second complex was larger, but not as nice. The third....HOME! Although, we will continue to look for a house to rent, the third apartment - The Reserve at Waterford Place, was one of the nicesrt complexes I have ever been in. Gated entry, interior entrances (think hotel penthouse) Marble countertops, security systems, crown moulding, arched doorways, decorative column supports, decorative sconce wall lighting, etc....... all for less than a smaller sized apartment in Morgantown.

Tomorrow we will continue to explore the area, but so far our trip has been very good. We had a very nice dinner at CPW's (Carolina Pasta Works). It is a must visit if you are ever in the area. A high-end chef-prepared gourmet meal at Applebee's prices. On Tuesday we hope to visit the actual campus and some daycare centers before returning home.

Clean Sweep Week 19

2009-05-20T21:49:00.000-07:00

Clean Sweep had a good week at the Risk household. We took three more bags and two boxes of stuff to Goodwill and completed our de-cluttering of the house for our realtors. The biggest success of the week was our trip to the dump. We dumped 440 lbs of garbage to the dump. Most of it came from some old ceiling tiles that we had planned to use when we finished the basement. Since it doesn't appear that we will be staying, I decided it was a good time to get rid of them. If counted individually, we probably got rid of more than 150 items. I am guessing that total rises to more than 225 items if you also count the rails that the ceiling tiles hang on. Because they are made of aluminum, and the price of aluminum is good these days, I let our friend Patrick have them to recycle in return for the use of his truck to go to the dump. All in all, I was very pleased with our progress this week, as were our realtors.

Real Estate Market Day 1

2009-05-20T21:43:00.000-07:00

Well, the first day on the market was a busy one. We had three showings today from three different real estate companies. We heard that the one individual really liked what he saw on the outside, but he was waiting for our realtor to get the key to them to look at the inside. We have a lock box, but the realtor makes a key from our key to put in the lockbox and then gives us our key back. They hadn't quite got that done yet before they started showing the house. ooooops!

Anyway, we should hear feedback tomorrow. The first thirty days will have the most showings, and having three the first day is a good start. Now, if I can find time to bury Saint Joseph.

Tuesday's Mailbag

2009-05-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

Tuesday's mailbag brought an OFFICIAL acceptance to West Virginia University's Masters program in History. This was a nice touch considering I have already "unofficially" registered for classes in the Fall. Now don't go and get any ideas. I had to register because most of the classes I needed to take my first semester only had one or two openings left. If we decide to stay, I had to know that I had classes to attend. I can always withdraw from all of the classes prior to the start of class, but at least this way, I know that I have a place to go and classes to attend. I just would've been nice to get the "OFFICIAL" acceptance letter before I registered.

Speaking of OFFICIAL acceptance letters, what happened to really welcoming a student to the program and university???? How come I don't get t-shirts and hats when I receive my acceptance??? I read somewhere that colleges were including school apparel and giftware with their acceptance letters to entice students who had been accepted to more than one school to accept that particular school's offer. I haven't received any such items. How am I suppose to really get behind my school and its teams if I have no school merchandise???

I guess they figure after being rejected by six schools, I should just be happy to be accepted somewhere. They are probably right.

For Sale!

2009-05-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

Well, all of our hard work the past two weekends has really paid off. OUr house is now on the market for sale. We have our first showing tomorrow morning between 10am - 11am. Lori broke out the chocolate chip cookies to see how long the smell lingers. We will bake some in the morning to make the house "smell and feel like home" to our potential buyers. We will bury our Saint Joseph statue in the front yard tomorrow and ask that everyone pray everyday to Joseph that our house sells in a timely manner - like yesterday! Sorry, but we were a month late getting the house on the market, so we have to squeeze the sell in quickly.

We are suppose to say the prayer to Saint Joseph for nine days straight. When I sold my house the first time, I said the prayer nine times a day for nine days. This time around, I will need some help for my prayers to be heard. The man upstairs has not been smiling to brightly upon me these days because of a disagreement he and I have regarding my admission (or lack there of) to the University of Delaware. Yes, I agreed to abide by his wishes, but I never said I had to agree with them.

Anyway, back to the house. Three bedroom ranch with full unfinished basement, two car attached garage, with newer roof, paint, water heater, dishwasher and garbage disposal. Nice yard with natural fence and mature fruit trees. Friendly neighborhood with lots of families, good schools and great curb appeal. Steady growth area. $175,000.00 list.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-05-19T13:43:00.000-07:00

Wednesday - $0.02. Two pennies in separate locations. The first, by the trash can at the register of Rio Grande Mexican Restaurante (again!) and the second on the sidewalk outside of Family Dollar. I really wish I could find more nickels and dimes. The pennies do add up, just very slowly.

Thursday - $0.12 total. One dime and two pennies found in three separate locations, but all within a few hundred feet of each other. The first was a penny in the Wendy's parking lot on Route 7 in Morgantown. I almost missed it because of how dull and nicked up it was. The second find was a dime near the register of Family Dollar a few doors down from Wendy's. The lady in front of me in line dropped a dime and a penny. For whatever reason, she only picked up the penny and left the dime. Maybe that makes me a bad person because I didn't say anything, but I guess I feel that if the lady was too busy (she was talking on the phone while paying for her purchases) to pay attention, then she can afford to donate ten cents to the cause. The last find was another penny on the sidewalk near the Minor Family Physician a few more doors down from the Family Dollar.

Friday - $0.02. Two pennies in the same glass covered candy rack at Sheetz. I really wonder how people are able to drop money in this rack because of the way it is covered.

Monday - $0.01. A single penny at Lowe's hiding behind a rack near the customer service counter.

Weekly Total: $0.17
YTD Total: $3.83

Not Me Monday

2009-05-18T20:33:00.001-07:00

I love reading the "Not Me Monday" column of our dear friend Jennifer. It always gives me a good chuckle and inspires me to write my own "Not Me Monday" column. However, my "Not Me Column" will travel back in time a few years as there has not been anything of interest for this past week.

The NOT ME ghost has NEVER sent a dozen long stems to his (now ex-) wife on Valentine's Day. No roses, just long stems. The NOT ME ghost has NEVER done this because he understands that such a gesture is not funny and would not be taken lightly. Especially by someone who has spent the rest of her day notifying co-workers of their own Valentine's Day deliveries. (This is also NOT one of the reasons the NOT ME ghost has an ex-wife.) The NOT ME ghost knows that sending a dozen long stem black roses would have been a slightly better gesture than sending a dozen long stems without roses. (This will never happen with the Not Me ghost's current wife because he cares way too much to do something as thoughtless and cheap [they were NOT free] as that.) The NOT ME ghost has NEVER had to buy a replacement dozen long stem roses at a much higher premium to try to make up for his inconsiderate gift.

I have NEVER watched a lateral file roll down a flight of stairs after lugging it up the stairs by myself because I know that a lateral file is too heavy for one person to carry up a flight of stairs. If such a thing ever did happen, I would NEVER complete the delivery of the file as if nothing had happened because I know that no matter how well a file is made, it would not survive rolling down a flight of stairs without sustaining damage.

I have NEVER traded my $1,800.00 vaccuum cleaner for a car that did not run. This would be true even if I only owed $800.00 on the said vaccuum cleaner and if the owner of the car were my brother - who originally sold me the vaccuum cleaner.

I have NEVER drilled four screws through the top of a custom built-in mahogany desk while mounting a keyboard tray underneath the desk. And, if I had, I certainly would NOT have done this to the desk of the president of the Finish Line (shoe and sporting goods reatiler).

Definitely, NOT ME. Maybe some other poor fool, but NOT ME.

How Many of Me??????

2009-05-15T13:03:00.000-07:00

Lucky for you, just one, but here's the story...

I went to Lowe's today during lunch to pick up some paint for our foundation as we prepare our house for the market. While on my way to Lowe's, I am listening to the radio and the DJ starts talking about how many people there are with his same name in the United States. It sounded like fun, so I gave it a try.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
30
people with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Here's Your Sign...

2009-05-14T20:09:00.001-07:00

You probably have heard the comedy routine of Bill Engvall called "Here's Your Sign!". Well, today, I got to hand out one of those signs and I thought I would share my experience.

The winner of today's "Here's Your Sign!" was a line cook at Wendy's. I had ordered a bacon cheeseburger with pickle and mustard only. Pickle and mustard only is my normal request at fast food restaurants because then I know my sandwich is hot and fresh. And besides, I hate mayonaise, ketchup, and most other condiments on my sandwich. If I want a salad on my sandwich, I will order one separately and put it on the hamburger myself.

Anyway, the lady assembling the bacon cheeseburger with pickle and mustard only got a little confused. After staring at the order screen for a few mintues, she turn to me and asked - "Do you want the cheese and bacon on that?" Duh! I ordered a bacon cheeseburger, not a hamburger. Why would I pay more for a bacon cheeseburger and then get it without the bacon or the cheese????? Do I look stupid? Do I look like I have money growing on trees and don't know what else to do with it? We're in a recession! Of course I want the cheese and bacon on that!!! That's why I ordered a bacon cheeseburger!

....and here's your sign.

A random observation

2009-05-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

Today, I stopped and bought a box of Reese's® pieces® (yes, the "p" in pieces® is lowercase.) on my way back from lunch so that I would have something to keep me occupied while making updates to my employer's website. When I opened the box, I got this crazy idea of a theory in my head and decided to see if I could prove it.

Reese's® pieces® come in three colors - orange, yellow, and brown. Reese's® packaging, minus any special promotions and the black ink, is colored in the same three colors. Orange is the most prominent, yellow comes in second and brown brings up the rear.

My theory was this - the ratio of the three colors inside the box would directly correspond with the prominence of the colors on the outside of the box. To prove this theory, I would count the number of Reese's® pieces® of each color. In this particular 4 oz box of Reese's® pieces® (I did not eat all of them. I still have half a box) there were 161 individual pieces. The break down is as follows:

Orange - 77 pieces (47.8%)
Brown - 44 pieces (27.3%)
Yellow - 40 pieces (24.8%)

This did not exactly prove my theory. Reese's® packaging is approximately 70-75% orange. Yellow accounts for about about 15-20% of the package's color and brown fills the remaining 5-10%.

However, it does lend itself to the idea that not all colors are equal. Although, this was only one package and a truly scientific study would require evaluation of several hundred packages, I tend to believe that other packages would have a similar outcome based on how heavily orange outpaced the other two colors. Orange, for whatever reason, is obviously the more popular color. Probably because it's Reese's® trademark color.

I propose further study of this issue and challenge all of our readers and followers to lend a hand in this study. Once completed, we can move on to the more complex study of M&Ms®, which have a few more colors and a few more varieties. (We actually did this as kids before they came up with blue, purple and all the holiday colors variations.)

Back to work. Counting Reese's® pieces® may be more fun than my job, but I guess I have to earn some of my paycheck. (And I wonder why I never seem to get anything done.)

(Oh, and if you are from Reese's®, you can mail my endorsement check at your earliest convenience.)

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-05-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

Wednesday - $0.06 total. In each case, I found two pennies on three separate occasions. The first two pennies were found at Taco Bell across from the Glenmark Shopping Center in Morgantown during lunch. One was at the register, the second was under a table. After work, I found two pennies at Target. One in a checkout lane and the other near the doors while exiting. After dinner, I found another two pennies at Wal-Mart at the end of the checkout lane.

Thursday - $0.10. We found a dime inside a glass covered candy rack at the register of Sheetz on Route 7 in Morgantown, WV. It was a really interesting find because the glass covering makes it hard to see how one could drop any change into that particular spot. Obviously, it was possible because someone did and we found it.

Saturday - $0.01. We found an uncollectible penny under a movable rack at the Sheetz in Star City (Morgantown), WV. We will donate a penny to the cause.

Sunday - $0.07 total. The first find was a penny at the entrance to a Get Go gas station / convenience store in Sewickley, PA. Later, we stopped by Kmart in Robinson Township to pick up some items and I found a penny near the entrance and a nickel near a crane game while exiting.

Monday - $0.03 total. All three pennies were found on the WVU campus. The first was half covered by a floor mat in the entrance to Woodburn Hall. The second penny was found on the floor in front of the counter at McCoy's, an eatery in the WVU student union. The last penny was found outside the entrance to the university bookstore.

Not too bad for the week. If we lived in a more urban area, I am sure we would be finding much more to add to our change pot. Til next week.

Weekly Total: $0.27
YTD Total: $3.66

Wednesday's mailbag

2009-05-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

Wednesday's mailbag brought lots of good news. I received my "official" notification of acceptance to East Carolina University as well as an unofficial email notification of acceptance to West Virginia University. WVU even mentioned the possibility of a partial tuition scholarship. I plan to schedule a meeting with the graduate director at WVU next week to find out more information.

So now it is deciding between three schools. While I am leaning toward ECU, I will have to weigh all options carefully and make sure that I make the best decision for all of us. Salisbury has a good research center and faculty, but their small program means taking classes of little or no interest (like Latin America history) in order to complete the program on time. If I get the assistantship I applied for, Salisbury is the most affordable option. East Carolina has the program that is specific to my interest and seems to have a decent program in public history as well, which would be a good supplement to any field of historical study. With the Academic Common Market, I would be eligible for in-state tuition rates which makes it more affordable than WVU. WVU is the easy option. No stress of finding new jobs or selling the house. WVU also has an excellent public history program to supplement my studies, but does not have a formal program in my area of interest. Even with a partial tuition scholarship or a tuition waiver as a graduate assistant, WVU could still be the most expensive option.

Wednesday's mailbag brought much to think about and hopefully we will be able to settle some of our stress by making a decision very soon.

My Crazy 8s

2009-05-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

A friend of ours posted on her blog something called "Crazy 8s" and challenged all of her friends to do the same. Kind of like the time she "tagged" us for 25 random things about ourselves. It must be the newest thing circuiting the blogs. Anyway, here are my "Crazy 8s".

8 Things I am Looking Froward To

Attending graduate school

Planinng Lori's 40th birthday party/trip

The day it stops raining

James sleeping through the night

Paying of Lori's student loans in November

Completing our home improvement projects

Visiting Lighthouses in Michigan & Ohio while attending a friend and co-worker's wedding

Visiting Bronner's, the world's largest Christmas store, while attending the same weeding

8 Things I did Yesterday

Sang the "Wheels on the Bus" song with James

Returned the movie "Marley & Me" to Blockbuster

Spoke with our realtor about paint colors

Told my wife, Lori, that I love her

Communicated with professors at East Carolina University

Mailed a textbook I sold at the post office

Framed a painting for a colleague's daughter

Packed up all of our CDs, DVDs, and VHS tapes

8 Things I Wish I Could Do

Visit every lighthouse in the United States

Live in a house on the beach

Have James meet his Grandma Risk

Travel whenever/whereever I want

Buy a new BMW (even the el cheapo model)

Skip packing the house and just move

Win my own fantasy football league

Take all of our friends with us when we move

8 Songs I Will Never Get Tired of Hearing

I Could Not Ask for More by Edwin McCain

Beautiful Boy by John Lennon

On Eagle's Wings

The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkle (actually any song by Simon & Garfunkle)

The Little Drummer Boy

The Pipes of Peace by Paul McCartney

Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton

Scout Vespers (a Boy Scout campfire song)

8 Plans for the Rest of the Week

Buy a Mother's Day card and present for James to give to Mommy

"De-clutter" the house for the realtor's pictures

Buy grass seed, paint, and hardware at Lowe's to complete our home improvement projects

Take James to visit with Grandma and Grandpa (so that we can complete the "de-cluttering" without interuption)

Re-seed the backyard

Plan a trip to visit East Carolina

Make time for my wife

Post to my blogs

8 Shows I Watch (when I have time)

NBC's The Today Show

ABC's Private Practice

ABC's Brothers & Sisters

ABC's Samantha Who?

ABC's Grey's Anatomy

Noggin's Go, Diego Go! (James' favorite)

Noggin's Dora the Explorer (another James favorite)

Food Networks's Chopped

The Return of Clean Sweep

2009-05-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

Clean Sweep returned this week to the Risk household when we met with our realtors and were given the advice to "de-clutter" the house for pictures and showings. This week clean sweep netted only 11 items, but as we start packing things up to "de-clutter" and prepare for the move, we will most likely find many more items to get rid of. Friday we are taking the day off work to specifically work on packing and "de-cluttering".

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-05-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

Thursday - A dime in the self-checkout registers at Kroger on Route 7 in Morgantown, WV. Due to the crowds in the self-check out lines, I was unable to collect this, but I will donate $0.10 to the Change Pot.

Friday - A single penny near a trash can at the cashier's station of Rio Grande Mexican Restaurante.

Tuesday - A single penny near the exit of Blockbuster video when returning a movie.

Weekly Total: $0.12
YTD Total: $3.39

A Series of Unfortunate Events

2009-05-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

Please note this entry has taken me three days to write! Our series of unfortunate events ended Tuesday afternoon.

You may have heard of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. It is a set of stories that chronicles unfortunate events in the lives of three orphans. The books were made into a movie that starred Jim Carrey. What you may not have heard of is the Risk version of A Series of Unfortunate Events. We would like to share.

Our story takes place over a very short, but tiring four days. It all started on Saturday evening when we decided to get a humidifier for James to help him sleep at night. We were staying at Grandma and Grandpa's house and they only one they had was a warm mist. We were looking for a cool mist humidifier. We drove down to the local drug store, only to learn that they had closed 15 mintues earlier, thus forcing us to drive across the river in search of a pharmacy that didn't lock up at 6:00 p.m. when they rolled the streets up. (This is an exaggeration. The pharmacy actually closed at 8:00pm.) We found one, bought the humidifier, and then went back to settle in for the night. In the middle of the night on Saturday. James, our cute and adorable son, was anything but cute and adorable when he woke up with a fever near 102 degrees. James' fever broke quickly, but he remained restless the rest of the night. Mommy did not get much sleep in trying to calm James.

Since James' fever broke quickly and did not return on Sunday, Mommy and Daddy left James with Grandma and Grandpa to attend a conference in the Cleveland area. Mommy was to present at the conference and Daddy was taking care of the driving so that Mommy could be well rested for her presentation.

As we exited the Ohio turnpike in Streetsboro, we followed our directions from Rand McNally and discovered the directions were incorrect. The directions told us to take I-480/SR 14 West. It also stated that this would be the ramp on the left. The ramp on the left was for SR 14 East and the ramp on the right was I-480/SR 14 West. We took the ramp on the right, deciding to follow the directions according to the street name. We were wrong. We should have followed the directions according to the ramp on the left (SR 14 East) and not by the street name. We drove four miles out of our way to the next exit before we could turn around.

When we arrived at our hotel late Sunday afternoon, the third unfortunate event occurred. We were given the wrong room. Mommy had requested a room with a king bed and we received a room with two twin beds. The hotel quickly apologized and reassigned us to a new room, so the unfortunate event was not tragic. But none the less it was unfortunate.

After settling in to the room, we decided to go for a drive and check out one of the lighthouses in Cleveland and then go to dinner. Since the conference was in a Cleveland suburb, we drove about 35-40 minutes to see the lighthouse. It was during our drive that the next unfortunate, though still not tragic, event occurred. We knew where the lighthouse was located because we had seen it about 10 years ago on our last trip to Cleveland, but we wanted to see if we could get closer than we did before, in order to get a better picture. To get closer, we decided to follow the directions provided by our Garmin GPS system. Why, I have no idea. The last time we went looking for lighthouses using the GPS system, it was a disaster. Read Our GPS post. The GPS continually told us to make turns where no turns existed and due to the complexity of some of the intersections, it told us to make turns that we should not have made. After driving around for a 1/2 hour, we finally got to where we thought we wanted to be. We were as close to the lighthouse as we could get (it is in the middle of Lake Erie with no access). Unfortunately, this still left us behind several fences and unable to get a good picture of the lighthouse. To top it off, we had forgotten our regular camera and had to try to take pictures on our cell phones. Those cameras are not very good because you can no zoom the lens very well. None of the pictures turned out.

With that, we decided to just go back and get something to eat. We decided on a place called The Tavern at Twin Lakes because it came highly recommended from the hotel staff. Boy were they wrong. The place was very nicely decorated with a good waterfront view, but the food was the worst meal we have had in a long time. Our appetizer was clam strips which were too heavily battered and thus overcooked. If you have ever had fried clam strips, you know they get rubbery when they are overcooked. A heavy batter can contribute to this because the clams have top cook longer to get the batter completely done. After the appetizer, we received our salads. Mine had a single cherry tomato on the salad. That tomato was smaller than the nail on my pinky finger and had more wrinkles than a raisin. For our entrees, I ordered the Fish Sandwich Du Jour. It was a fried Walleye. To begin with, the fish was so greasy, youy could blot the grease off with your napkin and the ring the napkin out. Additionally, the fish had NO FLAVOR. I know that Walleye is a very mild fish, but this was beyond mild. It tasted flat.

The rest of the evening was uneventful and the next morning we got up early so Lori could get to the conference early. As we pulled out of the hotel parking lot, we called Grandma and Grandpa and found out that James' fever had returned overnight, but had once again broken quickly. This time however, the fever kept coming back. We decided we would continue to the conference and check in at the morning break. We were on schedule to arrive 15 minutes early.

At this point another unfortunate event occurred as we missed our turn and drove seven miles out of the way before finding a church at which we could turn around. Lori arrived at the conference two minutes late instead of 15 mintues early.

While Lori was at the conference, I decided to check out some antique malls. I had found four the night before on the internet and set out to find them. The first two were in Hudson, Ohio and the second two were in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The furtherest was about a half hour away. When I arrived in Hudson, I discovered the first antique mall did not exist. The address was on Boston Mills Road, and it turned out to be a residential area. The mailboxes skipped over the address that was suppose to be the antique mall. The second antique mall in Hudson turned out to be closed on Mondays. Disappointed, I head for Cuyahoga Falls. When I got to Cuyahoga Falls, I discovered the third antique mall on my list was not accessible. It apparently sits in an area only accessible to pedestrians and I could not find any parking. I proceeded to the fourth and final antique mall. To my surprise, the antique mall no longer existed. The address given by the internet was now a game store. It appeared that the antique mall had been gone for quite some time.

By now I was upset for having wasted a perfectly good morning driving around to non-existent businesses. I decided to return to Streetsboro and go back to the hotel. Once back in Streetsboro, I stopped for lunch and as I finished my lunch, Lori called. James' fever has continued to come back even after giving him Children's Motrin and it hovered around 102 degrees taken with the thermometer under James' arm. This means the actual temperature is higher by about 2-3 degrees. Grandma had made an appointment with the pediatrician at the hospital an we decided we needed to go back to check on James ourselves. Not that Grandma and Grandpa can't handle it, but with the high fever and the news of a flu pandemic, we felt it was best to return.

I picked Lori up, swung by the hotel to pickup our stuff and check out, and we were back on the road for the 2 hour trip to Pittsburgh. As we are coming up to the toll booths, we decide to go by way of Pennsylvania State Route 60 because the tolls would be cheaper and our cash on hand was very tight. Toll booths don't take debit cards.

As we crossed into Pennsylvania we were horrified to find the toll booth sooner than expected. On our way out, we went by PA State Route 60 and only had to pay $0.65 for the toll. Our surprise was that if we went back by that same route, we had to pay two tolls - one of $3.75 and on of $0.65. As we approached the toll booth, Lori frantically counted out our money to make sure we had enough. I endedup pulling over onto the shoulder so that we could continue to count. We scrapped together enough money for the first toll by collecting all of our loose change, which included about 20 pennies. After getting through the first toll, we had five pennies left in our car, and no service plazas with an ATM to getmore money. We were forced to stay on the PA Turnpike instead of taking our intended route because we didn't have the money to get through the second toll. The first toll paid for the first three exits from the turnpike, so we took the third exit and found our way to the doctor's office. As we pulled into the parking garage at the hospital, we discovered the hospital had begun charging $2.00 to park. Before this, parking had always been free at the hospital. Now we would have to pay $2.00, when all we had was 5 pennies. All we really cared about was getting back to James and making sure he was ok. Lucky for us, Grandma had two extra dollars. The rest of the evening was uneventful save for James' restlessness. He throw up a couple of times because of all th muccus in his stomach.

Tuesday came and James was doing a little better. Mommy's presentation at the conference was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, so once again, we left James with Grandma and Grandpa and headed off on another two hour drive. I only went at the insistence of everyone to help Lori with driving.

We got back to the conference without incident, and had the best meal for lunch, save for a few rain drops. After dropping Lori off, I decided to head back to Hudson and visit the antique mall that was closed on Monday. After the 1/2 hour drive, I pull into the parking lot and see that the building is dark. I wondered if I had misread the hours the day before, but just as I was approaching the door, the owner stepped out. Apparently, the rain storm had knocked out the power and she didn't know when it would be back on. She told me I could try back in about an hour, but it was pitch black inside, so I wouldn't be able to see anything. I fully understood what she was saying, but she was kind of rude about it. I decided to head back towards Streetsboro and see what I could find to kill time there. Two blocks after I left the antique shop, the power came back on. I could tell because of the traffic light I was sitting at -- or should I say in. I was in the middle of the intersection when the power came back. Luckily, everyone had been treating it as a four-way stop like they were suppose to. I decided not to return to the antique shop because of the owner's rudeness and spent the remainder of the afternoon browsing a comic book and sports card shop, a Goodwill store and an independent thrift shop.

At 3:00 PM, I headed back to the conference to pick Lori up. The conference was to end at 4:00 PM and it was only a five minute drive, but I really had nothing else to do. When I arrived, I plugged my cell phone in to charge and opted to play a game of Tetrus on it. About and hour later, I thought I would move the car to the curb so that Lori would not get wet when she came out of the conference, only the car wouldn't start. That's right, I apparently ran down the battery charging my phone and playing Tetrus. Here we were two hours from home (grandma and grandpa's house) and unable to get back to our poor sick little baby. Luckily we have AAA, and for once, our luck seemed to change, because they arrived rather quickly. As we left town, I stopped by Auto Zone to have the battery replaced. Luck was with us again, though it left me confused, when the battery checked out perfectly good!

With that, we filled up the gas tank, ran through the drive thru at Sonic, and headed for home. I am happy to say that our series of unfortunate events ended with the car not starting.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-04-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

Friday - A single penny while filling up at the BP on Route 7 in Sabraton (Morgantown, WV).

Saturday - Two pennies. The first was in the parking garage at the WVU Mountainlair student union building. The second was late in the afternoon at the Mall at Robinson in Pittsburgh, PA.

Sunday - Eleven cents. A nickel at the toll booth on PA State Route 60 outside of New Castle, PA. I was unable to pick up the nickel because of the line of cars behind me, but will donate a nickel to the Change Pot. A second nickel was found in the parking lot across the street from the Cleveland Browns Stadium. I am not sure if my followers will be happy that I took a nickel from a Cleveland Browns fan or upset that I was at the Cleveland Browns Stadium to begin with. (We were there to see a lighthouse.) The last find of the day was a penny in the parking lot of a BP gas station in Twinsburg, OH.

Monday - Five pennies in five separate locations. First was a penny in one of the carhop spaces at the Sonic in Streetsboro, OH. Upon returning to the hotel, a Hampton Inn & Suites in Streetsboro, I found a second penny. I found the third penny at lunchtime while eating at the Chipotle in Streetsboro. Later on our way out of town, we returned to the Sonic so Lori could get something for lunch. I found another penny by the drive up window, but was unable to retrieve it and a second penny in another carhop space, which I was also unable to retrieve. I will donate two pennies to compensate for these two finds.

Weekly Total: $0.19
YTD Total: $3.27

Change Pot Stats
(So you will know when and where to look)

By State

West Virginia $1.72
Ohio $0.54
Indiana $0.45
Virginia $0.39
Pennsylvania $0.16
Maryland $0.01

By Location

University $1.54
Restaurant $0.37
Department Store/Mall $0.33
Family $0.25
Public Common Areas $0.29
(parking lots, sidewalks, etc.)
Grocery Store $0.14
Gas/Convenience store $0.12
Government Office $0.11
Toll Booth $0.05
Hotel $0.06
Unknown $0.01

By Day of Week

Sunday $0.42
Monday $0.08
Tuesday $1.40
Wednesday $0.01
Thursday $0.28
Friday $0.22
Saturday $0.86

Miscellaneous

Found, but not collected $0.07
Found, and collected $3.20

NOT ME

2009-04-22T06:36:00.001-07:00

A good friend of ours maintains a blog and a few weeks back, she posted a entry titled "NOT ME Monday". If I understood the blog correctly, it was a list of things she had done, but would never admit to doing. I'm sure she will correct me if I misunderstood, but on that assumption, I was inspired to write my own NOT ME entry.

I have NEVER sliced my thumb open while trying to condense my trash into a soda can, because the openings of those soda cans are very sharp, I know this.

I have NEVER left our garage door opener in my rental car upon returning it. Especially one that I rented from a location 2 hours away (Pittsburgh). And I have definitely NEVER done this when our only other garage door opener was with catsitter because we were traveling.

I have NEVER locked myself out of our house and had to ask a neighbor for a ladder to remove the screen from a open window so I could then crawl through.

I have NEVER put unleaded gasoline in a delivery truck that only runs on diesel fuel. NEVER. And if I had done it, I would NEVER do it a second time. I know the difference between a green handled pump and a black handled one. I also know that a diesel engine does not run well on unleaded gasoline.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-04-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

Wednesday - One penny on the sidewalk in front of Wicomico Hall at Salisbury University in Salisbury, MD.

Saturday - Saturday was the jackpot of the week with a total of $0.38 found. The first find was one penny in the automatic changer at a register in a BP gas station in Columbus, OH. At first I thouht this was one of those "Need A Penny, Take A Penny" trays, but when my own change came out, I picked it all up including the penny that had been left by the person before me. That evening, we found $0.37 cents at the Easton Town Centre in Columbus. We began by finding $0.11 outside of the parking garage in the form of a nickel and six pennies. The change was spread out in a path like a Hansel and Gretel bread trail. Most likely someone lost the money through a hole in their pocket while walking from the garage. We proceeded to P.F. Chang's where we had intended to have dinner and found a quarter on the sidewalk in front of Chipotle. I find it rather interesting that the quarter was lying on the sidewalk right next to a couple of tables full of people and no one saw it or bothered to pick it up. After dinner, which ended up being at the Cheesecake Factory because of the long wait at P.F. Chang's, I found a penny on the floor while on our way out of the restaurant. Saturday's finds put the Change Pot over $3.00 for the year.

Sunday - Found 4 pennies in three separate carhop bays at the Sonic on Olentangy River Road in Columbus.

Monday - I found a single penny in the parking lot of the Sabraton Plaza Shopping Center in Morgantown. I ended up drenched for the the time I took to pick it up because of the pouring rain, but I will still add it to the Change Pot.

Weekly Total: $ 0.44
YTD Total: $3.08

Next week I think I might post some Change Pot stats comparing where my finds have been. Let me know what you think and I will see what I can come up with.

Thursday's Mailbag

2009-04-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

After visiting Salisbury University yesterday, I decided to check up on my application to Ohio State. I have been admitted to Salisbury, but before I make a decision, I wanted to see if I had been admitted to Ohio State. Ohio State's program is a combined MA/PhD program, so it would naturally rank higher than a program that ends in a terminal MA degree.

Much as I had suspected, I did not get accepted at Ohio State. The graduate coordinator at Ohio State said that the University and the department were experiencing cutbacks due to the economic situation and that they were unable to offer as many admissions as they would have liked. In a normal year, applying to six schools should have been enough to get me into at least one, but I was unable to secure admission to a single one of my original six schools. I will reapply to a PhD program in two years after I earn my MA degree, but I suspect that I will apply to different programs the second time around. If I wasn't good enough for them the first time, I doubt that I would be good enough the second time. I will save my money not applying to those schools a second time and try my hand at some other very fine schools. It will be their loss, not mine.

I have also pretty much crossed Old Dominion in Norfolk off my list. The school was much nicer than I expected and the program was exactly what I was looking for, however, because I missed the deadline for financial assistance, I would be unable to afford out of state tuition. Sure, I can take out student loans to pay for it, but at 20k per year, it just doesn't seem practical.

Out of state tuition is almost quadruple the in state rates and I can attend other university's for less money. If I get an assistantship at Salisbury, my tuition will be waived and I would only pay fees. That's about $1,500 a year as compared to 20K. At East Carolina, I could get in state tuition rates through a program called the Academic Common Market. If I am accepted at East Carolina, I would pay just under 10K total for the two year MA program. Again, much more practical than 20K per year at Old Dominion. Finally, if I have to use my last resort and attend school at WVU, I would pay just over 11K total for the two year program because of in-state tuition.

So those are my options for the fall. Wish me luck on the assistantship.

Wednesday's Mailbag

2009-04-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, I received the first positive news about graduate school. I have been accepted to Salisbury University on the Eastern Shore in Maryland. The letter did not actually come in the mail, it was handed to me while visiting the History department yesterday. I am still waiting to hear on the assistantship I applied for at Salisbury, and if I get an assistantship, Salisbury becomes a very attractive place to complete my Master's Degree.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-04-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

This week's recap:

Friday - A single penny found at the Sheetz gas station on Route 7 in Morgantown while getting drinks for our road trip to Pittsburgh for the Easter weekend.

Saturday - A dime found at the cafe counter in Borders Bookstore on McKnight Road in Pittsburgh's North Hills.

Monday - Two pennies were found at an Exxon station in someplace called Ladysmith, VA. I stopped here for gas and a bathroom break while on my way to Williamsburg to visit graduate schools in Norfolk and Salisbury, MD. (I only stayed in Williamsburg because it was cheaper than Norfolk.) The first penny was found outside by the pump I filled up at. In fact it was under the car when I got out. The second penny was inside on the floor by the register.

Tuesday - Tuesday was a big day for the change pot with finds totaling $0.37. The first find was a quarter at the parking pay station of Old Dominion University's visitor lot. I had put in $3.00 and was attempting to put in a fourth, when the machine gave me my quarter back, plus an additional quarter. I then proceeded to lose both quarters in the machine, but will donate $0.25 to the change pot for the original find. Later that day in the university's student union, I saw a gentleman with a disability drop a dime. Instead of picking up the dime, I informed the gentleman of his loss. I admit, if the gentleman had not had a disability, I may not have said anything. I am donating a dime to the change pot for this find. The final find for the day was on my way to Salisbury, MD for Wednesday's campus visit. I stopped to get something to drink at a WaWa (a gas station) on US 13 in Virginia Beach. I found two pennies on the floor at opposite ends of the check out counter. Not bad for the day, and a good strong finish to the week.

Weekly Total: $0.50
YTD Total: $2.64

Update on Graduate School

2009-04-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

Well, there is not much to say about an update to Graduate School. I still have not heard back from Ohio State, the last of my original six applications. I am not sure if that is good news or bad that I haven't heard yet, but it has put our lives on hold for the time being, unable to make plans for much of anything. We are proceding with the updates to the house on the assumption that we will be moving, we just don't know where or when and that can be stressful.

I am visiting Norfolk this week to see the department at Old Dominion and the traveling to Salisbury, Maryland to visit the history department at Salisbury University. These are two of the Masters programs to which I have recently applied. I have not heard from either, but we are hoping for something soon. I also applied to East Carolina in Greenville, NC and hopefully will get to visit the department there before the end of the semester.

As a back up plan to all of this, I broke down and applied to West Virginia University, but please keep this under wraps. Many people will be happy to hear this once it gets out, but it is strictly a backup to our backup plan. It was really hard for me to actually accept applying to WVU for several reasons. First, with the exception of a handful of people (they know who they are), I have absolutely hated living here. I am a big city individual that thrives on the stress of a fast paced chaotic environment. I am at my best in the chaos of the urban world because I have a knack for making sense out of all the chaos. This rural environment is too slow and, well too rural for me. Applying to WVU opens the door to the possibility of us staying in Morgantown for another 2 years - something I really don't want to think about. However, I had to realize that with the economic downturn, staying here may actually be the best for our family, at least for the time being. All I really know at this point is that whatever is meant to be will be and that things always work out they way they are suppose to, even if we happen to disagree. And while I truly believe that, I must say, my faith of late has not been very strong. All I can do is hope that God's plan will at some point coincide with mine.

Update on Goals

2009-04-09T19:33:00.000-07:00

Well, the year is a quarter of the way over and it's time to update on our goals for the year. I have achieved 5 of my 43 goals for the year so far. That is an 11% completion rate so far. I am also well on my way to completing some other goals. By the time May rolls around I expect to have completed 3 to 4 more. Most of the goals that have been completed are improvements around the house. For instance, our front door is now painted to match our shutters - something that has been on my list of goals for three years! Better late than never. Below are the goals that have been accomplished so far:

1. Submit an article for publication
2. Finish remodeling guest bathroom (another goals of 3 plus years
3. Paint front door
4. Fix ceiling in master bathroom
5. Paint the foundation

The two goals that I have made the most progress on are walking 5,000 steps a day and reading 12 books. I am actually averaging over 6,000 steps six days a week and over 7,000 steps on the seventh day of the week. Because I am exceeding this goal by so much, I am going to revise my goal to average 7,500 steps per day. I did not get any reading done last month, but I have still read 6 books so far this year. I hope to get back to reading this month.

I hope everyone else is doing as well on their goals for the year. Its hard to believe that in a couple of months, the year will already be half over. If you haven't started working on your goals, no is a good time to start.

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-04-09T19:23:00.000-07:00

I apologize for this post being late. Verizon had an issue with their network that disabled our phone and internet for the past week. Our service was just restored today. Thank goodness we did not have to call 911. Verizon is crediting us for the time we have lost.

Last week's change pot found $0.16 over two separate outings. The first was last Thursday in the parking lot of Walgreens. I had gone over my lunch to pick up a prescription. Between the time I went into the store and the time I returned to the car, someone had dropped a dime and a nickel beside my car. I suspect it was from the car next parked next to me. They had arrived after I did and as I started my car to leave, they were getting into there vehicle. I didn't bother to thank them and I didn't give them their $0.15 back. Thursday's find put the Change Pot over $2.00 for the YTD total.

They second find was on Saturday while exiting Target. We had stopped to pick up some diapers and baby wipes for James and I found a penny on the way out the door.

Weekly Total: $0.16
YTD Total: $2.14

Change Pot Tuesday

2009-03-31T21:46:00.000-07:00

The Change Pot had another disappointing week, but it did not lay another goose egg. This week's finds were limited to two pennies found on a single shopping trip on Friday to the Lowes on the southeast side of Morgantown. Both pennies were lying on the floor in the closed checkout lane next to the checkout I used for my purchase.

Weekly Total: $0.02
YTD Total:$1.98

Clean Sweep - Week 12

2009-03-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

The Risk household's Clean Sweep has officially been placed on hiatus. The reason for the hiatus is the rejections from my graduate school applications. It has been hard to continue making preparations for moving when we in fact, are no longer sure of when we will be moving. Throughout the course of my graduate school applications and planning to move, I have had a plan to be as prepared as possible for when the decision was ultimately made. I am now beginning to think it best to be unprepared, so that we will unexpectedly get some positive news. So until we receive news of where we are accepted and where we will be moving, Clean Sweep will not be a weekly feature.

Wednesday's Mailbag

2009-03-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

The Risk family received its biggest disappointment of the graduate school applications this week. The University of Delaware rejected our application for graduate school. Delaware had been our first choice of all the schools we had applied to and we felt we had a very good shot at getting accepted there, but it was not to be. The last remaining school of the original six is Ohio State in Columbus. We are holding out hope, but at this point, we are not expecting anything positive.

Our back up plan has been coming along well. We will have our application to the master's program in history at Salisbury University in Maryland will be completed on time to be considered for a graduate assistantship. This will be the only other school that will pay a stipend to attend there, but the assistantship is very competitive as they only offer two. Our other applications to Old Dominion and East Carolina are coming along just fine. We will most likely not here from these applications until the end of April or middle of May. That really puts pressure on for finding jobs and selling the house, but we will deal with whatever comes our way.

Our relocation options are now Columbus, OH (MA/PhD combined program), Salisbury, MD (MA program), Greenville, NC (MA program), and Norfolk, VA (MA program). We ask that everyone keep us in their prayers so that we may get into school somewhere this fall.