Having to move

Thanks for the article from Rubin Osborne

Having to move wasn’t something that was in the cards for me but I’m really glad we did. It’s been a great way to force our family to come back together and at this age where the kids are both about to be teenagers it’s nice having something we can all go through together. I sure wish I had more of a hobby but sometimes I get online on the Satellite Star Internet in South Dakota during the day and talk to my sisters and stuff…my husband’s new job is working out well though and he really likes it which is good since it’s the whole reason we moved out here in the first place! It’s nice being able to find time to spend as a family and I know my kids will adjust just fine after a few more months so I’m just going to keep plugging ahead towards a new life for all of us here in South Dakota where we’re living!

Thank goodness for the industrial revolution

Every now and then I will take a drive out to the country and enjoy the sights and sounds of farm life. When I was very young my grandparents had a farm, and my happiest childhood memories are from visiting them on their farm.  Last weekend I decided to take such a drive and found myself driving very slowly behind a caravan of farm equipment. As you can imagine, in the country roads there are not very many opportunities to pass slow moving farm vehicles, so I just settled in for a slow ride; I was in no particular hurry.

Eventually all of the trucks pulled into a long dirt driveway and as I passed I took a look at some of the equipment that was being hauled. One of the things was a huge conveyor belt device that I could only imagine would be used for silo unloading. I don’t know what all of the other machines were, or how they are used. Sometimes I fantasize about living on a farm and driving big farm equipment.  But then I think about the old sit-com “Green Acres” and start to chuckle – I don’t think my wife would take kindly to living the farm life at all!

So very convenient

Every now and then I run into somebody who still spends hours on end writing checks out to pay their bills. Ever since my own bank offered Electronic Payments service (they call it Bill-pay) I signed up and have been delighted ever since! I don’t have to spend any time writing out the checks, so it saves me time. I don’t have to buy the blank checks, and I don’t have to buy stamps, so I save money. The Bill-pay is absolutely free, so it saves me time and money; how can you go wrong?

When I run into those people who say that they still do their bill paying by hand, I ask them why they don’t use their bank’s Bill-pay service. Sometimes they say that they don’t have a computer, or Internet service. Those folks tend to be senior citizens, so I can understand that. But the people that are my age or younger, when they say that they don’t own a computer, I really have to wonder why. I don’t get the impression that they are hard up for money. I wonder if they are afraid of computers!

Bad girl!

I have to give my niece a little bit of credit for creativity, although I’m not too happy about it.  What is it I’m not happy about?  Well, apparently she has been giving out my cell phone number as a “can be reached” number on a number of her credit accounts. And you can guess what happened next, right? Right, she has fallen behind on paying her bills, and now I’m getting a lot of debt collection calls for her on my cell phone!

Well, that is, admittedly, one way to Stop Debt Collectors from harassing you – giving out the wrong “can be reached” number! When the telephone call is being made by a real live human being, I don’t mind it too much because I explain that they have reached a wrong number and then they update their records, don’t bother me again. What I DO mind, however, are the collection calls that are dialed by a machine and when I answer the phone I get a recorded message that the call is for so-and-so and if I’m not that person, to hang up.

Shrinkage

I am outraged at how the consumers are being ripped off once again at the stores.  Companies are raising their prices and providing less product, both at the same time.  This means I often have to buy two of a product when I would normally only buy on.  When I think of how much more plastic and cardboard is being wasted and put in landfills, just so I can have the products I need, I get really upset.  We are paying more money for a product AND creating more waste at the same time.  This really bothers me a lot!