Monthly Archives: June 2008

Baked & Burned = Exhausted

Posted on by

Things got pretty crazy today. I was trying to get payroll done, or even started for that matter and then had to head out for a site survey for this weekends event. It was flipping hot out there in Lake Elsinore, although not really any hotter than it was in Murrieta. We should have a great event this weekend and I am looking forward to working with these guys more in the future. Once I got back to the office it was trying to catchup and then in meetings for the rest of the day.

I’ve just been exhausted all day since being outside this morning and getting sunburned probably. I’ve had a decent headache and have been thinking about going to bed since I got home around 6. Fortunately the Alieve just started to kick in after comparing insurance quotes and reading Consumer Reports for a while. Looks like Western Mutual has the best policy at the best price, about $725. They are also offering earthquake insurance, although not actually offered by them I’m sure, for $476. I’m not sure if it is really going to be worth it or not. I’m sure the chances are slim that my house will be destroyed in an earthquake, yet they are still there. Any suggestions on what to do?

I also spent some time reading about the effect of Gen Y on the net, marketing and so forth. I kept reading about twitter, so I decided to sign up finally. I’ve resisted signing up since I couldn’t understand the point of the system/service. Now that I’ve signed up, I still can’t figure it out. What’s the point? If I want to tell you what I’m doing this second, I’ll tell you via my blog or facebook. If I really want you to know, I’ll send you a text message every few seconds. Maybe I’m just not ready to live my life that connected. I rarely even use facebook’s status thing for what I’m actually doing and instead usually just to broadcast messages.

Maybe someone can help me out and bring me into the 21st century!

The Paisley Party Tour 2008

Posted on by

Yesterday I got the privilege of finally going to another Brad Paisley Brad Paisley Concert – the Paisley Party Tour 2008. It was so great I almost wish I had made it for both nights and I totally would have dealt with Coors to see him again. The whole show was great, although I’m still not sure exactly how well Jewel Jewel fit the playbill. It seemed like Brad didn’t go as long this year or maybe I just enjoyed it more. He never did take a break and do an acoustic set and he missed quite a few big songs. I totally could have gone with staying there for a few more hours, or until the sun came up and kept the party going! We all (at least Mandi and I) had a great time. Tara and Chris, one of the guys selling security this summer, came along as well and I think they both enjoyed themselves as well.

We had the pleasure of getting to meet Julianne Hough Julianne Hough. I really wasn’t too familiar with her before the show and only really knew of her song “Will You Dance With Me?” I was pleased to find out that she has more song and seemed to be quite a good performer and has the potential to be a great entertainer. In any event, she was up first which I can only imagine how hard it must be to walk on stage with a venue that is only a quarter full at best and with people that aren’t drunk enough yet to really be partying. Of course, people like Mandi were there just to see Julianne, so that must be nice too, but hard to know when you’re up there. We stood in line after the show to get a chance to meet her. Just before we got to the front they announced that due to time restrictions we would only have the opportunity to get something signed or take a picture. I let Mandi take a picture and I had Julianne sign a picture for Mandi. Julianne was so friendly though I couldn’t believe it. She gave me a hug and wanted to talk; I don’t think she liked being rushed.

Chuck Wicks Chuck Wicks was great. Stealing Cinderella Chuck Wicks - Stealing Cinderella - Single - Stealing Cinderella is still an amazing song and I just love it. Jewel was good and she even yodeled for us. Brad was amazing and just never stopped or really even slowed down. I’m already looking forward to the next show!

I guess I didn’t do anything interesting the other days. Today went well and we had an excellent sacrament meeting. I was super tired from being up so late, but would do it again tomorrow night if given the opportunity. Things seem to be moving forward with the house, even if slowly.

Skillet Queso Recipe

Posted on by

We were talking about this today and I found a few recipes that could be worth trying.

From ThriftyFun:

Well, if anyone wants to know, I think I found the Chili’s Skillet Queso recipe.

1-lb Velveeta
1/2 lb ground beef
3/4 pkg Old El Paso taco seasoning
3/4 jar or 8 oz of Old El Paso taco sauce
1/2 can of tomato sauce (small can)
corn chips

Brown hamburger and drain
Mix all ingredients in crock pot
Cook on medium or high until cheese melts (about 90 minutes)
Turn heat to low for serving and Voila!

I haven’t tried this yet, but I FINALLY found this recipe on another site and there were 20+ 5 star reviews and all said, “It tastes exactly like Chili’s version” I sure hope it does, as I have been dinking around for years trying to perfect Chili’s Skillet Queso!

From CDKitchen:

1 brick Kraft Velveeta Cheese (2 lb.)
2 cans Hormel No-Bean Chili

Just heat in together in a crock pot for a few hours or until melted. For the most accurate texture mix sauce in a blender. Serve with heated corn chips.

This recipe from CDKitchen for Chili`s Skillet Queso serves/makes 14

St. Paul MN Temple Photos

Posted on by

This is really just another test trying to figure out the new gallery feature in WP 2.5.1. It looks like I can’t easily change the layout of the page, so I am stuck with the default 150×150 tumbnail size. Assuming this works of course…

Bon Jovi Pictures

Posted on by

Pricey parking could ease traffic – Los Angeles Times

Posted on by

The LA Times had an interesting article yesterday about ways to combat traffic. I have been saying for years that we need to switch all freeways to toll roads and charge commuters based on when and how far they drive. If we hit people with charges to their pocketbook, they will quickly learn to take mass transit, move closer to work, carpool or travel at off times. Traffic problems will go away.

I had never thought about the parking situation and how something like that could do the same thing. I certainly see that it is possible to get people to leave their cars at home if it cost too much to park at work.

Pricey parking could ease traffic – Los Angeles Times

Cleaning Files

Posted on by

I’ve been spending time cleaning up each night, or at least as I have been able. Sometimes it amazes me the things that we save. Obviously at the time it made sense, and I would probably have done it again, it’s just that I should have come back years ago and thrown away the tissue paper order forms for float a handful of years ago. I probably also didn’t need the class competition standings or all the raw calendar information for 2004-2005 and other years.

I was looking through a file of stuff from BYU-Idaho at one point tonight. It seems that the story I’ve been telling doesn’t quite match with the dates on the letters I have and it really wasn’t just before the semester was going to start. There was probably ample time for me to get things in order and move to Idaho. At the time it must have seemed like it was next week; maybe I had just registered for classes or something at CSUF.

Not to play the what if game, but of course this lead me to pondering (not that I don’t do this too often already) how things would be totally different in my life if I had gone there. I doubt CBC would still be in existence. I’d probably be married and have kids by now! How scary is that? I probably would have continued in IT or accounting and not be out here on my own doing whatever the random task of the day is. I’m not saying I would have rather done that, just pondering how the smallest decisions in life can have such huge consequences.

I’ve been stressing myself out lately over choosing a refrigerator, washer and dryer. I thought I had it all figured out from Consumer Reports and then I went into Pacific Sales. They didn’t sell Samsung, so i started looking at other refrigerators and then the guy turned me onto this washer and dryer combo that costs more than what I was going in there thinking of buying. Some of the features (and the ratings) are good. Is it worth the extra money though? Then there is the problem of what will really fit in the laundry room. Some things sound great on paper, but yet I wonder how they would really function in the available space.

Oh, I went to WinCo tonight to pickup some milk on my way home. I had an idea since they took over the old Costco building that it wasn’t going to be your typical grocery store. It’s pretty much a cross between Costco and a grocery store and probably not my first choice of somewhere to shop. They probably have some good deals, I’m just not that good of a comparison shopper to know. The milk was priced weird. Most places are more of a 2 for the price of 1 deal, while Winco seemed to just have a lower price per gallon and no incentive to buy the second one. P.S. They don’t take credit cards, so I had to actually use some of that cash I collect and never use to pay the $6 bill for bread and milk.

The Smoke Signal

Posted on by

As part of my move it or loose it campaign tonight I worked on cleaning out my filing cabinet. I found a bunch of stuff from the smoke signal which I guess was a student newspaper at Potter Jr. High of which I was editor during 7th grade. I don’t remember it at all. I called Larilyn, who was supposedly involved to some extent as well, and she can’t remember anything about it either. I remember most of the people who were involved in the paper, with the exception of one: Kristin Cubel. The name sounds so familiar, yet I just can’t remember her. It looks like she wasn’t there in 8th grade, so she must have moved away and that is contributing to why I can’t remember her.

I keep having this struggle over what is worth moving and holding on to throughout my life and what should just be thrown away now. Things like those student newspapers could be fun a few years down the road, but is there any purpose to having them beyond then? Is it worth actually moving and storing them or should I just let them go?

I was looking at pianos online tonight. Larilyn thinks I should just get the Costco special, without the player for something like $8k. The problem is, I started drooling over a Steinway Parlor Room model which is probably closer to $20k. I think I’d also like to get the player to provide some music when there aren’t people there to play the piano, but at $25k we’re talking a pretty penny. I guess it never hurts to have dreams!

Work was pretty quiet today. I could have used a bit more activity since I was there all alone. I think I was able to keep myself out of trouble though.

Inspection

Posted on by

The inspection went fairly well today. We found a few switches that didn’t seem to do what they were supposed to. One didn’t turn on the light fixtures in the upstairs back bedroom bathroom and the other didn’t turn on the garbage disposal in the kitchen. I’m not sure what’s going on there, they almost sound like problems from the builder that were never reported, but I find that kind of hard to believe.

I spent most of the rest of the day working on the financing, trying to get the right mix of everything together to have the least impact on future earnings and tax. It is looking like I am going to go with a FHA loan with only 3% down so I don’t have to tie up as much cash. The rate will be a bit more, but it looks to be better for a few years to do that and to refinance to a conventional once there is enough equity or after I have accumulated enough cash for the 20% down.

I also spent time looking at washers, dryers and refrigerators. The washer and dryer were pretty easy to figure out, but there are tons of options on the fridge. I think I’m just going to go to Pacific Sales and look at models and compare them to what Consumer Reports has rated. The french door style fridge seems like the way to go; I just want to see a few of the models in person.

I was also thinking about doing artificial turf for the front lawn instead of re-sodding it. It looks like the grass was dead long enough that it isn’t going to come back and it is primarily weeds now. I’ll have to do the math, but I think the cost of sod and then maintaining it is going to be higher than putting some artificial grass which will look great all year long in. I guess I need to figure out more of my grand landscape plan so I don’t put something in and then rip it out later. There are just so many things to think of doing, I don’t know if the list is ever going to stop.

I guess I just need to make some more money so I can afford all the things i want to do! I finally got tired of staring at a computer screen and magazines, so I decided to make some chocolate butterscotch cookies tonight and then watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The cookies turned out better than the movie, I wasn’t really all that impressed, maybe Harry Potter just doesn’t hold my interest anymore.

Ready to Go

Posted on by

Work went fairly well. It was quiet enough that I was able to get caught up on some stuff. I went and saw Bouse’s house and it looks pretty good. I came home and continued figuring out the finances for this house. It’s such a nightmare, I don’t want to have to deal with it for years to come again!

We do the inspection tomorrow and I’m ready to get moving on some of this other stuff. We are still waiting to get escrow papers and loan approval. The preliminary reports are looking good. Last night I found out talking to a neighbor that the house had been occupied by a couple who divorced and the guy who kept it eventually lost it. It sounds like it was vacant for a few months before they foreclosed on it, and that the owner wasn’t around much which is why not much has been done to the house. He said that it is a great neighborhood and they have had no problems with vandalism and so forth.

Escrow Open

Posted on by

Today was another fairly crazy day. I tried to get caught up on some things in the office today, but didn’t get all that far. At least I finally got to listen to all my voicemails and figure out what was important and had the ability to move on. I got my email cut down and hopefully will be able to get caught up tomorrow if it isn’t too crazy.

I signed docs for the loan today, so this may actually be going forward. Of course, we have to see if they actually come through with a loan and all that, but that is the plan. Alison and I went to dinner and then went and looked at the exterior of the house and neighborhood. We drove around a bit and then I dragged her to institute before taking her back to her car and letting her go home. We had some good talks, I wish we got to hang out more.

What Have I Done?

Posted on by

Today was pretty crazy. I don’t feel like I got any work done, and yet I was trying most of the day. I got in late and then spent some time talking with Tara about the house, last night and life.

The family and I went to see the house and accept the additional terms this afternoon. We really couldn’t find anything other than the entry door from the garage to the house and some cracks on the back of the house that don’t appear to go down to the foundation. We will need to have someone more qualified look at the house, and that is why we are hiring a home inspector, among other reasons.

I almost had to drive down to the zoo tonight to take a piece of a speaker, but I guess they decided to postpone hanging the rig. I spent my time working out details for the house. First action is trying to get all the documents together for financing. I can’t believe some of what they want and why they just don’t pull your tax returns from the IRS and compare your bank statements to make sure you are on the right track.

I started thinking of all the things that I will need to do as soon as I move in. I noticed that none of the rooms are prewired for ceiling fans. That will have to be a priority item, at least for the rooms I plan on spending time in. Tile and kitchen upgrades may have to take a back-seat for a while…