September 1, 2006
With the added benefit of cleaning up the overflow of aluminum cans *temporarily* stored in the backyard since 2001, I made a trip to the recycling center up the street and came out a whole $30.26 richer!
Good for the environment, good for the pocketbook! [I like the word pocketbook, it gives the impression of a book that can hold all your crap and still fit in your pocket. And seems to inherently mean there’s money in it, unlike my empty wallet.]
I’ve never actually used this sort of recycling center before but I learned that they are open 8:30-4:00 everyday. It’s a manned station, but you can either have the guy working there do your cans by volume or insert them, one by one, into the little feeder doohickey. They pay 4 cents per can or $1.75lb of sorted aluminum. They’ll take your assorted recyclables in bulk, too, but they’ll just pay you less by the pound: $1.17? I was vaguely wondering if I came out ahead doing about 17 pounds by weight or if I would have made much more going by the feeder system.
But since I had three enormous garbage bags-full, I would still be there feeding those blasted cans in one after the other. In 98 degree weather. Ugh. Oh, and the disadvantage of the singles system is that they do not accept squashed cans. Back in 2001, recycling centers still accepted squashed cans, so I had can-pucks aplenty.
That was kind of fun, now I’m eyeballing the cans in the kitchen anticipating another profitable recycling run.
August 31, 2006
Tune in, folks!
I received this email about a donation I’d made some months ago when I’d decided that I was going to donate to a charitable organization that called to me and make that a part of my budget. And this called to me. It was really a grassroots movement, something I wish I had the knowledge or technical skills to participate in, and grew from a genuine desire to actively do something rather than just wringing their hands and wailing “woe is me, the world today!”
Not only are they sweet and sincere, the email is truly a thank you and doesn’t even fall into that slightly annoying, ingratiating, guilt trip version of dunning for a donation. I know, that’s marketing, that’s how many charities have to solicit funds, but I felt that there was really something very geniune about this group. [Clearly, they know that it works for them.] I hope you do too. And I hope you watch, I never saw the original broadcast so I definitely want to watch.
August 30, 2006
Dear MsMiniducky:
Thank you again for supporting NYC Medics in the earliest hours of our organization.It’s paradoxical that such a tragic event made such a positive impact on us, yet that seems to have been the case. The earthquake brought together medical workers who had never met one another, but had all made independent commitments to helping others.
October 8th, 2005 was a wake-up call for us. Until then, NYC Medics was barely an idea. We didn’t know whether we’d be able to amass the supplies and volunteers, whether we’d be able to reach the country’s most ravaged areas, whether we’d be accepted by the community, or whether our small group could make an impact in the face of such an enormous need.
Now we know.
This Sunday, September 3rd at 7pm, we’ve just learned that CBS will re-broadcast the 60 Minutes story of NYC Medics with an update on our return trip to Pakistan. The piece has since been nominated for an Emmy Award. Please invite your friends, family and co-workers to watch the segment. Don’t hesitate to mention that these people are your friends and that you are a part of this work. We certainly feel that way.
I’ve included an update on our activities since our first trip to Pakistan last fall. It’s important for you to know how your support directly helped people when they needed it most. I’ve also written about where we’re going – and how you can help.
It’s unfortunate yet certain that sometime in the next six months, a disaster will strike somewhere in the world. Other people will need NYC Medics’ help and when they do, we want to be there.
It was the staggering word-of-mouth response that enabled us to return to a remote underserved region of Pakistan, treating an additional 10,000 people. If the opportunity presents itself to tell others about us, I hope you will. The direct and personal nature of NYC Medics is what makes us so effective.
Thank you again for everything, and keep in touch.
We’d love to hear from you.
Sincerely,
NYC Medics
August 30, 2006
Citygirl brought up the topic about whether time or the money was more important to save when traveling. In her case, she was weighing the value of 4 hours in a 4 day trip against about $150.
BoyDucky and I have been weighing these options as well, but have worked out a fairly reasonable compromise. In his case, he has to spend an additional two and a half hours in transit each way if he takes the cheaper airline [Southwest] versus about 10-30 minutes depending on his departure location with the pricier airline [United].
The math was approximately 2 to 2.5 hours each way on top of the flight time, for a savings of $60. Even though he was coming back twice a month sometimes, and that would add up to a substantial amount rather quickly, I just didn’t think it was worth the amount of time he was losing. And luckily, United has dropped their prices about $30 for some of the less desirable flights.
However, it does make sense for me to take the cheaper flights because he can pick me up with only an additional 30 mins each way. So I can travel at $120/trip while he takes the $150 flights when available.
One option I would like to explore is the Entertainment Book United coupons, I know they have a tiered coupon of “up to $75 off” flights but I haven’t actually seen one and read the fine print. I know they don’t apply to the lowest sale prices but if it applied to a moderately priced range, it may actually drop the price down lower than the lowest prices.
Last Saturday I received a letter about an overdraft charge on my checking account because my car loan company’s website didn’t show a pending payment six days after I’d scheduled the payment. Six days! So of course I panicked thinking that I was going to have a late payment and immediately scheduled *another* payment. Of course, on Wednesday and again on Thursday, a $400 payment was withdrawn from my account. Yes, from my account that I normally only keep a nominal amount, or rent money in.
I contacted Toyota to deal with it and then made sure that I hadn’t written any other checks that would be cashed before payday because I figured that Toyota would return that $400 or I would be paid within the next day or so, so no worries.
This morning I logged in to check on my paycheck and found that a $50 check was cashed yesterday!!!!
What made it worse was that it was PaDucky. He’d FINALLY deposited a check I’d written to him in APRIL. And I can’t even complain! I can’t even tell him what he did to me because it’s not like he did it on purpose, he just wouldn’t think that I, of all people, would ever be financially unstable for even a second because he thinks I hung the moon and found someone else to pay for it. *sigh* I can, nicely, ask him never to wait to deposit checks though. I’ve done that.
I couldn’t figure out why that money was still there and ended up using it to cover another urgent bill last month.
Now I’m waiting for my second overdraft charge to hit, because they’ll probably tack that on at the end of the day.
Can this be my third and final trouble for oh, say, the year?? Between the crazed folk at work whose grasp of reality is just the far side of insane and from another universe and these financial hits, I’m exhausted. I’m frustrated and deflated.
August 27, 2006
Size-mic Silliness
2 inches. That’s my magic number. However much poundage that translates into, I don’t care. I just want to put on 2 inches. In diameter.
Size 0 just doesn’t work for me anymore, because ladies’ sizes continue to shift upwards, and in stores where clothes in size 0 are too small, you can bet that size 2 will be too big. When, as in the majority of stores, size 0 is too BIG, I’m just SOL!
Thusly, I am embarking on my two-inch plan. I want to put on two inches, all around. Magically, waistlines will fit, hips in dresses, skirts and pants will fit, tops will fit. In addition to the party I get to throw when I hit 100 pounds, I will be allowed a new outfit when I gain those two inches.
And if I also manage to grow taller by two inches, well, I’ll entirely eliminate that tailor’s bill of $65 for hemming lengths, and trimming waistlines. Or will that just incur extra charges to try to let out waistlines and hemlines of existing clothes? Hmmm …..
Perhaps I’ve mentioned this before, but I have a tendency to just naturally screw things up. I compensate by trying to keep meticulous records and keep due diligence, but I inevitably make mistakes that cost me money. I’m sure you all have experienced something of the sort? Please feel free to share, I’m feeling particularly foolish today, as I attempt to plow through all the necessary paperwork to clear things off my desktop.
Foolishness #1: Car Troubles
When I bought my car 3 years ago, I was silly enough to not have really done my homework. Big mistake. I bought, in addition to my car, the useless GAP insurance and the Road Hazard warranty because Toyota does not insure tire damage. *sigh* I cringe, every time I say that out loud. Yes, folks, I was SO unsavvy that I thought getting my tires covered by this road hazard insurance was a good idea. Ok, in theory it’s a good idea. BUT I should have asked to see all the claim paperwork to see how many millions of hoops you have to jump through, which judges you have to bark at, and in what order the above must be done. Years down the road, I’m determined to recoup that loss by USING the insurance, because MaDucky got a record 3 flats in a row driving my little car to and from work. Theoretically each of those flats should have been covered fully because she ran over nails. In practice? I’d never used the road hazard insurance before, so I had no idea who I had to call first, what I had to fill out, and I don’t know how much more information I needed to have before the claim authorization was considered complete.
I’m going to make one last final effort to put all this information together to get just ONE of the tires covered, but haven’t got very high hopes for this at all. You may have won this one, Beacon, but I’ll know better next time!
Moral of the story? You’re MUCH better off just saving $20 a month, or even $10 to cover any road hazard tire problems you encounter. That and have a good, trustworthy, reliable mechanic to go to for any other car problems.
If you really want to use their insurance? You’ve have about ten flat tires in the last two-three years? ASK QUESTIONS. Ask for the claims forms. Ask for the authorization requirements. Ask for the administrating company’s contact information: name, address, phone number, hours. Heck, as for the selling company’s point person who will help you submit any claims you need.
As for me, I’m going to look into the other “services” that this company offers: Dent & Ding Protection to repair the dings or dents that Celeste has collected over the years, and see what little I can recoup from there.
Foolishness #2: Failure to maximize rewards, assuming you can get it next time around
I have had the Citi Driver’s Edge card since September of last year, and I’m coming up on the last month of 6% rebate goodness [gas, grocery, drugstore]. I should have immediately enrolled in the Drive Rebates Program the instant I got the card to make sure that I had both Drive Rebates AND regular purchase rebates to help pay off the bills from Foolishness #1.
One reason I let things slide was because Citi did NOT make their enrollment form available online. I searched, I called, I emailed and kept getting the same Miles Submission forms that I could get online. Finally I was worn down and just used that form to submit. Lo and behold, both “submissions” were rejected because I had not yet enrolled. This is after calling FOUR TIMES to ask for enrollment forms and getting the wrong ones. Extra moral: The more I do business with Citi, the less I like their lack of customer service.
Moral of the story? Don’t become the victim of attrition. Time and the credit card companies are not your friends, they are depending on you to drop the ball so they don’t have to pay you the rebates they offer.
Just after twelve and I’ve FINALLY cleared off part of my desk having organized all sixteen Pending Resolution issues into a nice accordion folder. That leaves:
1. the great Cable/Internet/Phone debate [I’m trying to research SingleMa’s Verizon experience because the AT&T Yahoo that I posted about may not pan out],
2. the lovely T-Mobile, Please remove BroDucky from the family plan campaign,
3. and the Road Hazards, Blown tire insurance shouldn’t be this much trouble to collect on debacle.
Things are heating up in here, and I haven’t even tackled the remainder of my work-work that has to be completed before I get into the office tomorrow.
I’m determined to get all this done today and start the week off right because I’ve only got 3 working days with the boss in the office and we need to Get. Things. DONE.
The end of this week, I’m going to leave ALL these worries behind – they shouldn’t even be worries by Friday – and go see BoyDucky for the weekend. Real relaxation, here I come!!