C’mon, give me something good!

On the first leg of my flight back from my conference in California a little over a week ago, I was informed by the ticket agent that the flight I was on was overbooked and overweight. They offered me a $250 travel voucher, good for one year in the US, for me or a family … Read more

Invest in yourself by blogging

I was IMing with a fellow blogger last night and he was asking me for hot mutual fund picks.  (Obviously he was very delusional, since he was asking ME!)  He was looking for a good $1,000 investment through traditional channels, like the stock market and the bond market. After suggesting what I thought, I asked … Read more

Yard sale finds this weekend

The weather this weekend in the Northern Neck of VA was the best it had been for most of the month. Birds were chirping, squirrels were squirreling, and vultures were yard-saling. Squirrels, with their twitchy tails and acrobatic flair, were in full form—darting across power lines, leaping from oak to pine like furry little daredevils. … Read more

Short snorters

Before you google the term, what do you think a short snorter is? A height-challenged unhappy customer A mixed drink with whiskey and a pinch of salt A piece of currency, or multiple examples taped together, signed by fellow airmen A special type of small tank used by WWII soldiers Well, considering this is a … Read more

Hotels and perqs

I was at a conference this week in California.  Most of the conference attendees stayed at one particular Hyatt because of its proximity to the conference locale. This was a very good stay with only a couple of blips in my expectations.  It wasn’t any false advertising by the hotel.  Without getting into all of … Read more

Save time and money packing your lunch

Packing your lunch instead of eating fast food during lunch at work is an excellent way to spend less money.  It’s nothing new, though. One bad spending habit that crept in while we were budgeting by using The Force was eating out.  My wife has been very kind in helping me with packing my lunch.  … Read more

Discount grocery, reloaded

I was saddened when our local discount grocery store went out of business.  After nearly a year, though, it’s back in business with a new twist. It’s no longer just “scratch and dent” groceries for sale.  About half of the shelf space is groceries as it was before — canned goods, household chemicals, pet food, … Read more