Im Monk, Soap and Doctors

Well it must be a slow month. After looking at my posting list by month, I have found that this month (August) I did not have much to say. Four Postings in a 31 day month is certainly not much excitement on my end. I am even writing this so it can be an even 5 rather than a 4 number.
I know what you are thinking- 5... that is not an even number. BUT, I like 5. I am a Monk type of person (as I posted on my FB this morning that I had to put my crayons in order of ROYGBIV before putting them back in the case) and I consider 5 a nice number to use because of being half to a great number of 10. Ten is a nice even number. I often wonder how Monk felt about stopping at 8 seasons. You would think that Mr. Monk would want to get to an even 10!

I have been thinking about something pretty regularly lately. It may seem very weird or awkward, but I have been thinking about Soap. I like to use the fresh scent of Irish Spring. It is not girly at all and I like the feel and smell. Well, I don't know about many other soap use, but I found fairly recently (in terms of how old I am- 2 years ago, I think) that there is a right way and wrong way to use Irish Spring soap in the shower. Now, hear me out.  If you look at a brand new bar of soap, you will see the label on the top with the bottom being curved. Now, I used to use the soap from the bottom-up. This seemed like the right way to use the soap because of the nice curve that worked well. I just recently learned though that the soap breaks quite a bit earlier (into two pieces that are harder to use) when the soap gets dissolved mostly. Using the top side of the soap and working it down is much better in keeping the soap in one piece when it gets down to the end. I know you are so interested in how to use soap. If you have always done one way, try the other and see if you agree.
Again, this is just for Irish Spring, I know not of other soap uses.

I was recently told to get my head checked... I know after that last little bit, you are not surprised, but it wasn't for crazy issues, it was for my birth mark on the side of my head. When I shave my head really close, people notice the marks on my head. I have had them forever but my dentist said I should get it checked so I looked into it. I called my old clinic I have gone to for minor urgent care issues- deep cuts ect. and they could not get me in to see a doc until Sept. 29th, a month away. I called the new BMC clinic in Redmond and they were able to get me in today. What a difference. I decided to go with the clinic that actually has time for me. I went in this afternoon and found that there was nothing wrong with my head but she, my doc, took liquid nitrogen to my head. Yeah, you read right. She burned off some excess that was kinda hanging down, crazy right. I was amazed at that.

I have a Dave Ramsey Dad

Debt Free! It is a nice thing to think of when I have been strapped for  cash this last year and having an $8500 loan hovering slightly over my head. Yes, I had learned from my father (and mother) not to get into debt. I always decline credit cards even though I am offered them all the time. I won't buy things that I don't have cash for. I do spend my money un-carefully at times, but I also keep track of it and am a tight-wad at times too. I know what you are thinking... Nope,  I have not gone through Dave Ramsey training, BUT I feel like I have with my father's influence.

A little over a week ago, I was in California with my mother's extended family for a reunion. It was great to see family I had not seen in a while. It was also  a bit awkward to re-meet extended family I had not seen in years or remembered, especially when they remembered me. After that reunion last saturday, we had a b-day party for many in the family. There are many birthdays in August and September that were celebrated, the most impressive was my grandmother- who is turning 93 in a few days. WOW, right?!

Because we had the whole family in one place, Grandma decided to give everyone an early Christmas present and boy, was it one. She gave every family in her family a check. It was a large sum of money. It was very helpful because I used some of the money to pay off my debt I had left. How nice it is to be debt free, all thanks to my grandmother.

After paying off the debt, I was looking for other ways to spend the money wisely. I have been in need of a newer (not new) car for a while now. I have had to pay repair bills for my current one for a while now. So, I decided to look online to see if there was a car for me. I found some good ones, but mostly out of my range. I found one that had all the specs- a good car, Honda CRV and there was no price. I left an email with the company asking about the price of the car. I figured it would be out of my range, but just in case...
So, I got a call back from someone at the dealership saying the price was 19,500. I had the amount of $7000 in my head as my cap. I said thank you but it was way out of my price range and hung up right away even though I know that she kept on talking while I was hanging up.
That night, I got an email from the company saying they heard I was unhappy with the price and I should come down to the lot and drive the thing and they could work out a price.
I said, No thank you, I have a price of $7000 and I am sure you don't want to come down THAT much to help me get in the car. I also said, I will not be taking out a loan.
He emailed back saying that they had many cars on the lot and he could help me get into a small SUV type if I wanted.
I emailed back yet again saying that if they had a 2005 or newer, under 50,000 miles, with AC, and Cruise and under $7000, then I would think about it.   For some reason I have not heard back from him... (That was sarcastic, in case you were wondering)

FedUP(S)

I am usually not a very patient person when I have a one-track mind. If I am waiting for something to arrive or an event to happen, you can forget about me thinking about anything else. That is why when I shop online, I like to get my item quickly. Well, it was not different these past few days. I purchased a large, exciting item online through Amazon and even purchased 1-day shipping so I could get it the next day (yesterday). I waited around ALL day. I would just be sitting out in the main room and listening for a large diesel brown truck to pull up in the driveway. Many times I thought I heard one and rushed to the door to see if someone had arrived. It went like this from about 5-9pm. Alas, I was devastated when I checked the tracking site one last time before bed and the site had updated from "delivered by end of the day" to "Delivery date unknown". This was not something I was used to about the boys in brown. I have had amazing experiences with UPS before. They usually came on time or even a day earlier. If the shipping was between 3-5 days, the shipment came in 3.  Not this time. I even paid extra so I could get it the very next day and it was on schedule until it came out of Portland.

So, Amazon shipped this video camera in super speed. Then it hits UPS and ships from Redmond, WA to Portland, OR in the nic of time. Then, I have no clue what happened. Logically from Portland, the package needed to be shipped to Bend and then out for Delivery to Redmond. Nope. That is not what happens. It gets shipped to Hermiston. Now, since it was being scanned in Hermiston, it should be very logical to think, oh, good, someone will read the package in Hermiston and say, why did it come over here, it should be going to Bend distribution center... and then correct the mistake. Again, Nope. That is not what happened. It ships even further to Commerce City, COLORADO! Are you kidding me? Why is my package (at the end of a day overdue) in the middle of the country when it originated from a few hundred miles from its destination?

Even before Colorado, I called UPS and spoke with someone there, they said, "Oh, it says it is on its way to Bend" (Were they blowing smoke up my butt?) I also asked about why it was taking so long because I paid for one-day shipping... to which they said it was specified as Ground shipping. Understandable, so I call Amazon because it must be their fault right? They were very gracious and even though I was frustrated I did not have my package when I expected it, I was alright with that.

That was until Colorado. I just called UPS again and they say that they cannot do anything about it. As I said, in the past, I have loved UPS. If I had a choice, I would choose UPS over USPS or FedEx. Now, after all this incident, I choose, FedEx. I am FedUP with UPS.

Help! I need somebody...

I went to a movie this afternoon while in Bend and it was a good one, but I noticed something. I must not like the same movies that most people, or guys, my age like, because the movie I went to had NO other guys my age there.
I first noticed this when I was sitting and waiting for the movie to start. I got there 20 minutes early like I always like to do (BTW- there are some really good looking movies coming up soon) and as I was waiting and semi-watching Regal First Look, I was mostly noticing who was entering the theater.. it was older ladies, mostly in their 60s and 70s. They were entering the theaters in masses. There were some dutiful husbands along with some ladies, but from what I saw, I was probably one of 10 guys there and the rest must have been married and at least 65 years old. Same with the women. A theater mostly of women and mostly over 65. I was lucky enough to sit next to the only lady around my age, of whom was there with what seemed like it must have been her mother. (Now, I just want to make it clear that they sat near me, I was there first, but they also left the obligatory one seat open so I wouldn't feel cramped, but hey, she was cute, I wouldn't have minded so much if she cramped me a bit in the theater seat and sat right next to me...)

You may be wondering what these circumstances were that led to a theater full of old women. Well, I will tell ya, it was a number of things. First off, it was a mid-day showing starting at 1:15. That is certainly not the time a whole heck of a lot of guys my age go to the movies- they wait till the evening and weekends when they get off of work. The next and most obvious reason though, was because of the movie I chose. I went to see "The Help". This not a manly-testosterone-pumping-car-crashing-blow-stuff-up man kind of a movie. But I do NOT regret going one bit. It was a great movie and very well done.

The movie is set in the mid-60's  in Jackson Mississippi and is a comment on the segregation of the whites and coloreds. There are a group of 20's ladies of whom their lives existed to get married and have babies. The only thing was they were rich, so they had a maid, a black woman, do all the chores, the housework, the serving, and even raising the kids. One young lady in that group did not like what she was seeing. Skeeter (Emma Stone- Gotta love those Red-Heads) did not think like the rest of the ladies in the group. She went to college, not to get her M.R.S. but to get a job afterwards and was a writer. She set out to write a book about The Help, the ladies in the town who did all the work for the rich white women.

It was a truly touching story of lives set back in the 60's. It makes you laugh when you hear about the pie and it makes you cry when you hear about the hardships. All around, a great family movie without nudity or terrible language or other offensive items that seem to be plaguing every Hollywood endeavor. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone, especially someone who grew up with that type of racism in that area doing that time.

Auntie Em, Auntie Em

Here it is already August 15th. We are already halfway through August and I have yet to post a blog entry during this month. I know you are all really anxiously waiting for the next story or opinion. Well, the wait is over.

What have I been doing in August? Not a whole heck of a lot. With my July being so busy, the first week was just recuperating from that, and then last week, pretty boring, I have to admit.

Today, I took a walk with the dog down in the Redmond Dry Canyon and of course had to stop at the Redmond Wieglund Dog Park so Pixar could get some energy out. It worked, as I write this posting he is laying sprawled out on the cool hardwood floor of my room. He looks very content.

After our walk this morning, it was 11:30 so I decided I would head off to one of my favorite Ma and Pop shop in Redmond- Auntie Em's. If you have not been to Auntie Em's, you are missing out TOTALLY! There is no comparison. The food is good, the price is amazing. What more could you ask for.

Auntie Em's is located in Downtown Redmond, on 6th street a little over a block way from Dairy Queen. At first entry of the Deli, you will notice that time has shifted back around 15-20 years earlier and been transported to the country. So much to say, the decor is outdated which in most cases would be a turnoff,  but it works for Auntie Em's. The stone wall with artwork of the country and fields is somewhat inviting.
When approaching the front counter, you will find three people, the two owners and an employee who has been there for just as long. They have sandwiches, soups and various other wonderful foods. Their soups are the best soups you could ever get. They always have three varieties of soups- two everyday menu soups and one rotational. The two soups that you will always find are Broccoli Cheese, and Chunky Vegetable. I am not a huge broccoli fan in general, but the way they make their Broccoli Cheese soup is AMAZING.  A cup of this soup comes with a bun, all for $3.  If you want to add another bun it is just $.50 extra and totally worth it. You will want an additional bun, they are just that good.
In fact, every time that I go to Auntie Em's I come home and have the urge to make my mother's recipe of Double Quick Dinner Rolls because they are very similar in taste.
They also have wonderful sandwiches. The bread is great with loads of meats and cheeses.

I highly recommend trying Auntie Em's. I even think it is worth the trip from the major metropolis of Bend to coming to lowly little Redmond, to try it out.