Blue M & M Sued for 6 million!

Talk about frivolous law suits! It would take a real stretch for me to belive that the cowboy dressed in a hat, boots and skivies looks anything like an M & M. But I guess a New York judge believes the naked cowboy can carry the law suit forward. I does make me think a before I choose a blue M & M. Somehow I can't get the image of the naked cowboy out of my head.

Brain Fitness

Aging boomers fuel 'brain fitness' explosion I do not fear physical ailments as much as I do 'loosing the ability to think. Sometimes when I am having a senior moment I get nervous that it is the beginning of something worse. My parents, both in their mid 80's play scrabble, card games and bingo to keep their minds sharp. I am not much of a card player and certainly not a bingo player so I have to think of something new to stimulate the brain cells. Nintendo has come up with Brain Age 2 to keep the boomer brain exercised. I remember introducing my kids to the first Pac Man Nintendo game years ago (20 to be exact). So maybe I need to try the new games and exercise my brain. Maybe with enough hinting I can get a Nintendo game for Christmas.

New Ways to Guzzle Gas

GAS PRICES are up to about $5.85 for premium at the local Chevron dealer. The topic of conversation in every venue has been the price of gas. My oldest son purchased a used Lexus (MPG 22) and his wife has an Hybrid Ford Escape. My middle son lives within walking distance of his office in downtown LA and leaves his Infinity parked most of the week, using the train when he needs to get around the city. My daughter has odd hours so she does not waste gas sitting in traffic. Stealing gas from gas stations and parked vehicles has become more prevalent in recent weeks.

I found a video on YouTube that was quite funny.

Cell Phone Myths

Common Cell Phone Myths

I found a fun little web site call mythbusters today. The article talks about cell phone myths. I guess you cannot start your car with your cel phone. I found a video on-line today that showed a group a young adults popping popcorn with their cell phone.

Down Day in the Market

It was painful looking at the market going down more than 400 points. We have been meeting with a financial planner to try and map on some strategy for the future. It is hard not to start to panic a bit. Just what does one do as they see their retirement saving dwindle down month by month and cost of living go up month by month. In southern California I saw a gas price for premium jump 7 cents overnight to 4 dollars and 60 cents a gallon. I wish I had a cristal ball.

Airlines and luggage

How much luggage can you take on your next airline trip? Not much if you are flying on United Airlines. On our recent trip to Hawaii we knew we would be limited to two checked bags and two carry-on bags. Since my husband likes to golf, his golf bag accounted for one bag. We got a little bigger bag so we could pack our clothes and toiletries together. We were able to pack the bag and still be under the 50 pound limit. Coming back was the problem. We arrived at the airport and our bag weighed 53 pounds. We were asked to redistribute the weight or pay $100. We re-arranged the bags and avoided the extra $100 dollar fee. I was still a bit miffed when we got on the airplane and watched our fellow travelers board the airplane, many of them quite overweight. I wondered aloud when they will be weighing us and charging by the pound to fly. Today I heard the same comment on the radio. Another reason to keep going to my daily work-out.

Dumpster Divers

Dumpster Divers. During my childhood my Uncle was a Dumpster Diver. I was a young child and times were rough. My uncle use to go into dumpsters looking for canned foods and day-old bakery items. I do remember having a dinner of canned goods without labels. It was like playing a game. Sometimes the can contained something like peas and carrots and other times canned fruit. As a child it was just a little game. My parents never went on welfare during hard times. The new Dumpster Jumpers scrounge around for items that others just throw out or abandon because they cannot use them or move them. I know the feeling as we filled a few trashcans full of "stuff" we had in out shed. I put aside a slide projector and carosels that I used to present lectures with. Even my daughter-in-law a first grade teacher said was obsolete in the classroom.

Clean-up Sunday

We just had some outdoor bricking and stonework done. We were on vacation when the workers put the final touches on the backyard so today was the first day we set out to put the backyard back together. I picked up some new patio furniture at Costco and had some umbrellas and chair pads in our shed in the side yard. Well, when I went to open the shed there was a slight problem the new walkway blocked the door to the shed. My husband tried to remove the door. I said maybe we should just keep it as a time capsule. Someday our children can pry it open and see what we stored in it for years. Oldest son to the rescue. I knew if I gave him a problem there was no way he would leave without solving it. Well five hour later we had organized the shed. Our son filled one large trash with computer stuff that was outdated and left with a handful of boxes he wanted to sell on Craigs list. I have a pile to donate out and the ski and water toys went back in. We screwed to door back on until the next time.