There's a Hole in the Yard, Dear Liza...

I spent part of my Independence Day weekend digging a 5+ foot deep hole in my front yard. The stop and waste valve has gone bad and is leaking water into the ground. That's wasteful and causing an issue with the yard. Nonetheless, I dug a hole for the plumber to get at the bad part.

He'll get to put the new part in today after I get home from work and then, I'll get to put the dirt back into the hole. It's party time at my house tonight!!! :)

Couldn't I just bury my money in a shallow hole in the yard and bypass all the middlemen? It's going to cost on the order of $350 when it's all said and done.

Now, my back and left shoulder are killing me and Iam acutely feeling the effects of age. Getting old sucks!

Once again, this is proof that owning a home is a giant money suck.

This post was brought to you by the letters P, A, I, N, and the number 23.

What's the Holdup?

OK. In 5 days, tax returns are due. How many of you fine folks have completed and filed them? A lot fewer that should have, right? :) If you're getting money back, why haven't you filed them?

I know why they haven't been filed if you owe, but it just doesn't make any sense not to file if you're getting money back. If you wait until the last minute, it will take longer to get your money back. It just seems like a no-brainer to me, but I'm sure that far too many people out there haven't filed yet. It's a shame really...

OK, enough of the finger shaking. Hopefully you'll all get a giant return and will be able to afford a huge trip or something. :)

Please forgive my rant, I just needed to get it out. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters I, R, S, and the number 15.

The American Money Sink...

You all have 3 guesses to figure out what the Great American Money Sink is. OK, so you don't really get 3 guesses and this isn't the one at the TOP of the list, but it's pretty close. :) A house is at the top of the list, but the automobile follows closely behind.

The multi-function light/windshield wiper/washer switch in the steering column of our 1996 Dodge Intrepid died today in the middle of what can only be described as a mini-blizzard and when it died, it did so rather dramatically. :)

Apparently, there was acrid, black smoke that poured from the steering column for a while while the switch was in its death throes. This absolutely freaked the Queen out and she called me nearly hysterical. Like a knight in shining armor, I went to her rescue and once the machine was back home (I drove it :), I investigated and found the source of the issue.

Tomorrow she'll be picking up a used replacement part for $35 (a new one runs $145) and I'll install it tomorrow afternoon. Joy! :)

Wish me luck!

This post was brought to you by the letters C, A, S, H, and the number 145.

Inkjet Cartridges on the Cheap!

Which of you don't have a printer? That's right, very few of you. How many of you are rich? Again, very few of you. Why not save a bit of cash when you buy your inkjet cartridges? I thought you'd like that one. :)

If you're like me and have a Canon printer, please check out the cheap Canon printer cartridge at inkjetdeals.info. If you have a Brother, Dell, Epson, HP, or Lexmark printer, this is the place for you. Check out these tips for saving ink in your printers. There are some really good ideas in there.

Check out the site and save up to 80% of the cost of the name brands!

This post was brought to you by the letters I, N, K, and the number 80.

1 Million Dollars

The Admiral has asked anyone who reads her blog to tell what would be done if they had a million dollars. Here's what I'd do. Set up college funds for my girls, pay off all debts, move into our dream home, and buy our dream cars. I figure this would take about half of it. The rest of the money would be invested for early retirement with a few donations here and there. I'd continue to work, though a large portion of what I earned would go toward that early retirement I mentioned.

I feel that once I have a million banked after the debts are all paid, I'm in good shape to retire because I could life on about 5% interest pretty well when there aren't any expenses other that utilities. :) I'd retire immediately if I started with 1.5 million.

This was a nice exercise in "What If". Thanks to Admiral Bobcat for this assignment! :)

On another note. I'm home sick today. Rather, I came back home sick today and have slept for about 3 hours since returning at this point. This isn't a good way to spend VD, but then again, I'm not that enamored with this particular holiday anyway. That would explain why I'm wearing all black today. I'll let you all know that I am NOT stupid, however. The queen did receive something I know she likes for this useless commercialized holiday.

If you love someone, don't wait until February 14th to tell them. You should be telling them EVERY day in the things you do and the things you say. Your actions at the very least should say it each and every day. That is all.

I think I'm going to go back to sleep now. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters D, S, E, L, R, and the number 8.