Oh wow...

A couple of weeks ago, a couple of friends of mine were going over their voter ID cards.  They were comparing them to see what differences they had as to what they covered.  As they both lived in the same city, the only things different between them had to do with city precincts.  But that prompted me to go home later on and find my voter ID card.  I'm rather different than them as I live just outside the other town in our twin cities.  I do share the major area with them (US House, State House, State Senate).  The differences come in local voting, mainly county board and local precinct.

Now, the biggest shock to me had nothing to do with any of that.  What got me was a date that was printed on the card and comparing it to the previous card.  I've been living at my current address for 6 years.  Where has the time flown?

Before I moved to my current address, I lived with my parents in a local farming community.  It was the same town I lived in when I went to high school in the next town over.  I had moved from there to go to Illinois Wesleyan, but then moved back to the parent's place to start looking for work.  And then the years passed...

One day around six years ago, a coworker had placed a sign up at work advertising that he was selling his trailer.  I got interested in it, investigated the place, and was intrigued.  It looked like a nice place, the park looked good, and it was incredibly close to work (around 10 minutes by car).

But before buying, I decided to have the place inspected.  Vernon (the seller) said that there was no need for that.  I insisted, however, just in case there was something wrong.  The inspection came back with only a couple of niggling problems that were easily addressed.  I went for the deal, and got a sweet loan off of my profit sharing (10 year loan as opposed to 5 years that the bank was offering).  Vernon moved to a town to the north, but had issues with that house that would have been caught if he got that place inspected (he did not).  He moved out of the area around 3-4 years ago, and the last time I tried to get hold of him the phone number that I had was disconnected.

But here I stay.  Unless something drastic changes in my life, I am liable to be here for the foreseeable future.  I know that I am paying a lot of money for lot rent, and that rent is only going to increase as time goes on.  However, I still like the place, and it is still as close to my work as I think I can get, outside of moving to an apartment.  And I am getting comfortable in this home.

My latest home purchase is a used washer-dryer combo that was being sold by a coworker who is moving to a new place.  $315 for a set is not bad.  The next step in getting the pair setup will be a stop at a hardware store for a new power cord for the dryer.  Seems that the previous place had a three-prong outlet, and my place has a four-prong one.  Then I replace a portion of the trailer skirt from Vernon's time.  He just made a square cut in the piece for his dryer vent, but that piece is now so damaged that I cannot put in my vent.  Plus the vent tube is badly damaged, but I have the replacement tube.   So the dryer will not be working for around 1-2 weeks (depends on how quick an order for a skirt piece can be delivered).

So, that is my home update.  Six years.  How time flies, even when you try to keep track of it.

Just Found, part two...

Well, I'm doing a bit of cleaning, and I found an old Tootsie Roll container.  If you remember, the company that made Tootsie Rolls (oddly named Tootsie roll Industries) had a package that, when emptied, could be used as a bank.  Well, the one that I kept had some items in it.  So, what did I put in there?

1 bicentennial US quarter
1 1979 Canadian dime
1 US penny (not sure of the year, but it is a wheat penny)
5 Canadian pennies (1941, 1986, and the others are hard to read)
1 1967 Canadian bird penny
3 game tokens (two from an old Aladdin's Castle franchise)
a 1976 2 dollar bill (still very crisp)
7 50-cent coins (1971x2, 1972x2, 1974, 1985, 1988)

I had found a second 2 dollar bill (1995) which I will be putting with this set of coins.  I will most likely put my other set of coins together with this one.  And looking at these coins brings back some memories.  Playing games at the old Aladdin's Castle arcade.  Being with my friends.  Spending time with my grandparents (my mom's parents who gave me the 2 dollar bills as part of my Christmas presents).

Well, time to get back to cleaning my home.  I'm in the process of buying a washer/dryer, and I need to have the place ready to bring in the new units.

Got lucky today

Well, today was a mixed bag.  But at least I got rid of a headache.

It seems that I became a victim of crime for the second time in my life.  I was checking my email accounts (outside of my main one and my gmail), and found that I had several notices from a credit card account.  Those notices were asking me to call their anti-fraud service.  So I did that.

It turns out that I had somehow given that credit card number to a less than reputable person (or that the number was part of a hack; I'm not sure of the details).  There were a number of charges on that card that I did not recognize.  I seem to remember that there were charges to a couple of internet dating services, an order of flowers, and one really expensive gift for around $500.  They did ask about a couple of charges that I did recognize (gas station, car wash, and a charge for my favorite game site).  So, my account is now in lock-down while wait to get a new card.  But, this also tells me that I need to check that account more often so I can avoid this headache.  And be careful where on the internet I use my credit cards.  I would prefer to avoid this kind of trouble.

As for my first time being a crime victim.  That was a lot more mundane.  Several years ago, someone stole the aluminum porch rails off of my steps while I was at work.  I did report the incident to the sheriff's office, but the deputy who took the report said that it was highly unlikely that anyone would be caught.  Some time later my dad helped build wooden rails for the steps, which I still have today.

My next post will be within a couple of days.  See you all later.

What a day

Work was actually fine. It was the after work events that made this day a bummer. I got home and turned on the power strip for the computer peripherals. And my wireless router did not turn on. A trip to Best Buy, and the Geek Squad tech told me that the power converter was alright but that the router itself was dead. Not a good sign. So I bought a reasonably priced replacement router. The bad part: Geek Squad installation would have doubled the price that I was paying for the new wireless router. The best part: I did the job on my own, and it was very easy to do the work. So gone is the Demon Duck wireless network. Born is the Demon Duck 2 wireless network. And with only one computer on it, I do not have to worry about setting up network sharing (unless I go ahead and get that secondary computer so that I can check up on work-related items).

I also got some more work done on cleaning up the place for company this weekend. I still have some more to get done, and there is also my Jello salad to make. My sister-in-law is making that special request, so I will promote family harmony and make it. Just as long as it is not the day that my family will make the usual trek to Monical's for dinner. There are just some places that my family has to go to, and the contingent from Wisconsin do not have Monical's up there, so they have to have the pizza and stock up on the house sauces.

Just found...

I was going over some items in the room where I keep my computer. One of the items that I went through was a clay cup in which I keep my odd coin collection. Now, I generally go through the collection as I find new odd coins, so after I recently got a Canadian quarter, I decided to catalog the cup's collection to see what I now own. Here it is:

-a 1984 Canadian quarter (the new coin)

-a 100 Japanese Yen coin (this came from my friend David)

-a 2003 Chinese 1 Yuan coin

-3 1979 Susan B. Anthony dollar coins

-a 1977 Kennedy half dollar coin

-a 1973 Kennedy half dollar coin

-2 more Canadian quarters (1974 and 1978)

-a British 10 Pence coin (not sure what year)

-a 1980 Greek 5 Drachmai coin

-a 1973 5 Centavos coin (think Mexican, but not sure)--this one is smaller than a US penny

-2 Canadian pennies (1980 and 1994)

-a Norwegian 5 ore coin from 1974

-4 US nickles from 2004 to 2006 (featuring the alternate designs for the face and back)

-3 game tokens from some of the locations that had video games in my local area (the only one that is still good is for Chuck E. Cheese, but there are no local outlets in my home area). I'm not sure about one, but I do remember the Space Port arcade that was on Green St. in the heart of Campus Town (University of Illinois)

-three shells that I collected back in high school when my band took its Florida trip (I got them from Daytona Beach)

-a bracelet that I got as a Christmas gift from my parents many years ago

-a spent rifle jacket. I got this from my best friend (at the time ), Rick Kessler. Rick lived outside of Foosland, IL, at the time, and we got together as much as 4th graders could. The one other thing that I remember about his family was that his father was in the Illinois National Guard (hence why he gave it to me). That still will bring me to a stop.

Anyways, I'll add to this list eventually. I know there are other odd coins out there that are circulating as US coins.

The start of Christmas

Well, here are my reflections about today. This was supposed to be a holiday day-off for me, but I went into work for around 6 hours. This is a first for me, as in the past other people in my department dealt with this duty. It turned out to be some of the easiest work I've had in some time. It was mostly taking care of paperwork and making sure that last-minute entries were dealt with.

Now, about the holiday day-off bit. I know that the holiday is supposed to be December 26 (that is, the Federal Holiday). But this has to do with the company I work for. My employer has established their own fiscal calendar so that there is a bit more regularity with scheduling. Every month begins on a Monday, ends on a Sunday, and has either 4 or 5 weeks in it, depending on which month it is. These months on the company fiscal calendar fall roughly where a normal month is, but there are some variances. Because the fiscal calendar ends on December 25, all of the entries needed to be dealt with before that (thus some work being done on the 24th). The other irregularity was that Christmas for 2011 for the company would actually fall in the fiscal calendar of 2012, thus the company shifting my holiday to December 24. I know this all sounds odd, but I did not complain. It just meant that I got around 6 hours of double time pay, plus my holiday pay. So I got a good bonus.

Anyways, I then got in my regular grocery shopping afterwards. I met a couple of people I know from my work. Hello to Maria D. and George from ATS.

Later was dinner with my local family. Dad was out of the hospital, and looking a bit better. My nephew got to open some gifts, and a decent amount of Monical's pizza was eaten by all. I even introduced my nephew to Angry Birds on my computer, but he was having a difficult time trying to manipulate the birds on my laptop's monitor (he's only played Angry Birds on my mom's Nook). Anyways, time for bed. I'll be having Christmas dinner with Mom and Dad at a local restaurant and not at their home. With Dad having been in the hospital for the last week, Mom has not had any time to take care of their home this last week, and dinner there is not an option. And I did not plan on making dinner myself. Hmm....

Favorite Recipes (part 2)

OK, here is the second of my favorite recipes. This one came from my sister (Hi, Deb!).

Ham Hash

Ingredients:

-half a teaspoon of Garlic

-half a package of Southern Style Hash Browns (defrosted)

-half a cup of Diced Ham

-half of a green pepper, diced

-half of a onion, diced

-half tablespoon of butter

-half tablespoon of oil (olive oil is best)

Start with heating up the butter and oil in a skillet. When the butter is melted, add the green pepper and onion. Cook them on medium high for around 5 minutes to soften the pepper and brown the onion. Add the ham and heat it until it begins to crisp. Then add the garlic and heat for around 1 minute. Add the potatoes, and cook until the potatoes are hated thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I estimate this will make around 4 servings, although I usually get two dinners from each batch.

One more recipe which I recently discovered. This came from a package of Don Marcos flour tortilla shells. They called it Mexican Morning, but I refer it to:

Breakfast Tacos

Ingredients:

one half cup of skim milk

dash of pepper

one 4oz. can of mushroom pieces and stems, drained

one cup of shredded cheese

one 16 oz. container of egg substitute

one tablespoon of margarine (low fat preferred)

package of tortilla shells of your choice

salsa

Combine milk, egg substitute, and pepper in a bowl and whisk until well blended. Melt the margarine in a skillet and add mushrooms. Heat for one to two minutes over medium heat. Stir in the egg mixture and heat. When egg mixture is nearly set, add cheese. After heated, remove from heat and spoon into heated tortilla shells. Top with a little bit of salsa and serve.

I also like to add either ham or green pepper to the mix, adding them with the mushroom pieces. I will heat that part for about a minute longer before adding the egg mixture.