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Wednesday Wanderings

August 27, 2008 By

First of all, I have to give a big huge shout out to Zac. He just opened himself a brand-spanking new website dedicated to furthering the mission of the Agents of S.O.R.P. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart, but if you like a bitter commentary on the state of the world with a very creative use of cuss words, then EvilKicksAss is the place for you. It’s also a one-stop shop featuring Zac’s excellent videos, forums, and pictures of hot goth chicks. Go check it out!

Now, where was I? Oh yes. Mister and I are planning our trip to my old stomping grounds, New England. I bought my history buff husband a travel guide so that he can get excited about all the cool historical stuff Boston and beyond has to offer, so we are both really looking forward to going. I haven’t been to Boston proper in years, and the last time I did anything remotely educational there was when I was still in school.  We’re also planning a meet-n-greet dinner so that the rest of my family and friends can meet Mister.  As with my wedding, it’s been fun trying to keep my mom from making this bigger than it has to be.  It’s a meet my family event, not a recreation of the wedding.

We haven’t been watching much tv at all, but we have watched a few movies.  I opened my email the other day to see that a couple of movies I had ordered months ago finally shipped.  Truth is, I forgot about them because I ordered them in the days before the wedding, and one movie in particular wasn’t to be released until August.  Well, it’s August, and our 2-disc special edition of The Nightmare Before Christmas was delivered.  It’s one of those Disney flicks that they like to hide on you for a few years, so as to create demand.  It just got re-released on DVD and Blu-Ray, and since Mister has previously owned a copy on a number of occasions and was eager to get his hands on it again, I bought it.  I had only seen the movie once, when it was originally in the theaters, but I was never interested in seeing it again because I was on a bad date at the time.  Now I know Mister and we watched it and wanna know something?  It was good!

This weekend we are going to Phoenix.  Mister has some work, and I don’t, so I get to go with him.  We’re gonna spend Friday doing his work stuff, then Saturday we’ll be taking the scenic route back and taking pictures that we didn’t get to take when we went to Prescott awhile back.  Then we’ll be back late Saturday to spend the rest of the holiday weekend at home.  It’s nice to get a long weekend once in awhile.

That’s the news for now – it’s getting late and I need to get to bed.

Filed Under: Family

Encyclopedia of Me – E is for Excursions

August 23, 2008 By

Back to another edition of the Encyclopedia of me. It took me a while to come up with an E word, so I cracked open a dictionary. After writing down some possibilities, I saw a travel theme. I scrounged around a thesaurus for an E word related to travel, and as I was doing that Mister suggested Excursion. Perfect! Here are some excursions I’ve been on.

East Coast

I grew up on the east coast of the US. It’s a world of difference between there and the west coast, where I am now. (I’m not actually on the coast, but I am a half day’s drive from it.) There’s more a sense of tradition back east, for one. West coasters are more laid back, and here in Vegas especially there’s not too much concern about tradition. Back east, old historical buildings are held in the highest esteem, especially since there are quite a few that date back to before the Declaration of Independence. Here in Vegas, they just implode them. Mister and I are going for a visit in October so that he can meet the rest of my family, and it will be the first time he’s been to the New England area. We can’t wait.


Edinburgh

I’ve been to Europe a few times, mostly to the UK. The third time I went, my college roommate and I decided to trek around the UK and see a number of cities. The first one we went to was Edinburgh. Oh, how I loved that city. I wish we had more time there, but our Pig in the Poke itinerary didn’t allow it. We went to the Edinburgh Castle, walked the Royal Mile, and did an open top bus tour of the city. The Princes Street gardens were bright green, even in November, and my favorite thing was listening to the dreamy Scottish accent.


Eiffel Tower

I took French classes throughout high school, so on my first trip to Europe I was eager to visit Paris. I remember the first time I saw the Eiffel Tower up close. I had gotten off the Metro one stop too early, and was wandering the neighborhood streets trying to find my way. For being the tallest structure in Paris, it was hard to keep an eye on while in the narrow streets. I was staring to get a bit worried because I couldn’t see the tower and I couldn’t find my way back to the main road. Finally, I rounded a corner and there it was, up close in all its glory. It took my breath away! I’ve seen many, many pictures of it but they do not prepare you for the first time you see it up close. The detail is amazing (and the one in Vegas, which is a 1/2 scale model, does not compare). I climbed the stairs to the first level then took the lift to the second level. The third level was closed due to winds, but the view from the second level was pretty amazing. It was worth nearly getting run over by the horrible Parisian drivers to see this gorgeous piece of architecture.


Ellis Island

On one of my many trips to New York City with my Uncle N Period, we took a trip to Ellis Island. This holds some historical significance for us, because my great grandparents – Uncle N Period’s grandparents – came into this country through there. It spent many years in disrepair, but was eventually restored and now serves as an amazing museum of immigrant history. Also on the island, in back of the building, is the Wall of Honor. My mom’s cousin had my great grandparents’ names inscribed on the wall, so it was really cool seeing them there and being in the same place that was a huge part of their life history.


English Channel

My first time in Europe, I wanted to see as much as I could, so I planned my route carefully. After spending time in Paris, I took a train through the French countryside to Calais, where I was to take the ferry to Dover and a train to London. I thought a channel crossing would be cool. What I didn’t know was that a channel crossing could be very rough. After walking through the boat like I was really drunk, I finally fell asleep with my arms wrapped around my backpack, which is probably what saved me from getting seriously seasick. I made it to England with enough rest and coherency to breeze through customs and get on the train to London.


So there’s a few of my excursions – at least, the ones starting with E. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Encyclopedia of Me

Marriage in Real Life

August 18, 2008 By

I think I’m getting this in under the wire. So, the topic is Marriage in Real life. Boy, is this ever going to be a short post.

Mister and I were married just about 2 months ago. We are still in that honeymoon phase. Me probably more than him. He says that one of our friends observed that I am totally smitten with him. It is so true, and I am more in love with him now than I was even a couple months ago. That’s my real life marriage. And I plan on doing everything in my power to make sure it stays that way.

Filed Under: Love

Credit Card – The New Chapter

August 18, 2008 By

Here I am, paying bills and thinking about what to blog about, when I log into my credit card statement to make a payment.  I see some recent activity, and figure I’ll click on it to remind myself how much my last payment was.  I never use the darn thing, especially now that I’m in a position to not have to live off it, so it sits there and collects dust.  I did receive the new card in the mail when I told them about my name change, so I’m not missing anything.  The old card is still sitting on my desk ready to be cut up.

So when I checked my recent activity, I see 2 charges for the same merchant – AIC*HYDRODERM SKINCARE.  This sort of crap has happened before – remember how that turned out?  I ran downstairs to get my phone so I could call the credit card company.  They were very nice, again, and I filed a complaint with the fraud department, again.  Account closed, new card coming, fraud paperwork coming, yada yada yada.   I made my payment, since it’s due this week, and they even waived the usual $15 telephone payment charge for me.  Once I was all done using up my minutes with the credit card company, I turned to the search engine.

Apparently what happens is this – thieves see enticing offers for free stuff online that they really really want, like game consoles.  They just need to buy a bunch of worthless crap to earn points towards their free stuff.  Well, they sign up for all these “free” offers from their sponsors with “their own” credit cards and earn points that way.  That’s where they use auto-dialer techniques to find credit card numbers, and that’s how I ended up with fraudulent charges.

Everyone should reconcile their statements every month.  If you use your credit cards, then save your receipts to compare them against your statement.  That’s how I stopped one place from charging me more than I authorized.  Make sure everything matches, and that you have a receipt for everything.  It’s not fun being one of those people who are total dorks about their receipts, but it’s the only proof you have if you want to dispute a charge.  And if you see a charge you don’t recognize at all, call your credit card company.  They’ll tell you what it looks like the charge is for, and you can either remember that you made the purchase after all, in which case you thank them for helping you with your memory, or you kindly ask to be transferred to their fraud department to dispute the charges.  But take action!  Be vigilant about your accounts!

Filed Under: Grrr

Ready to Shop?

August 11, 2008 By

I thought long and hard about monetizing my blog.  I didn’t want to clutter up my fine work with ads, and I wasn’t keen on the whole pay-per-post idea.  In the past, you’ve probably seen some posts with links to products on Amazon.com using an affiliate program.  That’s about the extent of my efforts to make money from the blog.  Then Amazon came out with a whole storefront thing that you can insert in your site.  I fiddled around with it and realized I could probably do that.  So I made a shop – months ago.  I made the new page and let it sit in draft for the longest time, thinking I’ll release it when I have the time to work on it more.  But then I figured, why not?  Why not release it now?  So I did.  I’m featuring some stuff I’ve mentioned on the blog, along with other stuff I love.  And I decided to stay exclusively with Amazon because it’s a site that everyone knows, and they carry nearly everything.  So go check it out.  I’ll be adding more stuff as time and inspiration permits, so check back once in awhile.

Filed Under: My Blog, Shopping