Do you ever check out your blogs stats? I puruse them, maybe, once per year for a giggle or two, but don't really care about the data. What I do find amusing are the search terms. Over 50% of search terms pointing to my site are some variation on "5 year relationship". Some folks are... Continue Reading →
How Did You Get Into Your Career?
Some people go to school with a clear path in mind. Their education and training prepares them to become a doctor, teacher, plumber, software engineer, or construction worker. Others may start work in business and gradually work their way up into management and then executive management. Finally, there is a third group that stumble into... Continue Reading →
What Was Your Proudest Frugal Moment?
I randomly stumbled upon a forum thread where this question was asked. I immediately knew my answer, which I'll share below. I'll preface by giving some context. Though living in a small condo, we still practiced emergency preparedness. If something happens to the Salt River, millions will be without water. If I lose my job,... Continue Reading →
The Good, The Bad, and The Hazy In-Between
While a student at the California Institute of Technology in the late-1920s, my grandfather was chosen for the Henry Ford II Scholar Award and provided the opportunity to travel across Europe with three other standout engineering students. The young men drove from Pasadena to Detroit, where they explored the Ford automobile manufacturing plant, witnessed production... Continue Reading →
Best Buds, or Something Like That
Last summer, my parents adopted two stray rag doll kittens. Their 12-year cat had passed away, leaving behind his lonely litter-mate. Within a few months, one of the kittens succumbed to a rod infection in his lung, leaving behind his lonely sister. The cats were kept separated for months but, with both seeking out companionship,... Continue Reading →
The Bony Bane of My Existence
As a kid, my mom always bought me shoe insoles, heel padding, and tongue padding. I never through anything of it. As I got older and had to buy my own shoes, I found that everything felt loose. When I picked up a pair of Nike Flyknit shoes with a sock-like fit from TJ Maxx,... Continue Reading →
Our Home’s Dirty Little Secret
After eight months of asking for our third-party mold testing results, the HOA finally provided us the file. Twenty holes were drilled in the drywall for air cavity sampling. Five were significantly elevated and two contained the spooky "toxic black mold." Behind the drywall, our home was hiding a dirty little secret. Per the comments... Continue Reading →
Erin go Bragh
Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Tell me again why the the feast of saint is celebrated so widely. It's the green beer, isn't it? Legend has it that in the early Middle Ages, a British teen was captured by Irish pirates, later escaped captivity, and then returned to Ireland to spread Christianity. Quickly, the pagan society... Continue Reading →
Breaths Held, Fingers Crossed
Today, my boyfriend has two meetings scheduled with local attorneys to discuss our complicated and messy mold case. Then, another later in the week. In 2018, the ceiling of our condo collapsed due to a sprinkler leak. In 2021, we discovered our kitchen wall was filled with mold and were told that the issue predated... Continue Reading →
Book-Based Behavioral Change
By the time I was in middle school, I had read most of the books at the school library so I began pursuing my parents' numerous bookshelves. I read The Millionaire Next Door, and wondered how many of our neighbors were secretly wealthy. I read Zig Ziglar's See You at the Top, intrigued that someone... Continue Reading →
Isolated Diastolic Hypotension
Today, we cleaned the car. Every time I shifted my position from squatting to standing, I had to sit down due to overwhelming dizziness. It's the same sensation I've experienced before fainting--lightheadedness, waves of nausea, and a flood of warmth across my face. As usual, I made my way to bedroom, propped up against the... Continue Reading →
An Educational Leg Up
The other day, my partner and I had a phone consult with a relocation expert. It's our goal to go rural and be as self-sufficient as possible. In addition to inquiring about good locations, optimal acreage, water cisterns, and acclimating into a new community, we also asked about children. "Children are an asset," we were... Continue Reading →
Cerebral Somersaults
When functioning on all cylinders, my brain has a habit of collecting everything in the vicinity and piecing together disparate ideas in a reasonable conclusion. Whether that's the sign of a genius or nutcase, I couldn't tell you. I highly suspect chronic illness fried my brain because, lately, it doesn't get to thinking until I... Continue Reading →
The Tale Of A Burgeoning Chocoholic
I was a curious child. I also loved sweets. Around age five, while snooping through my parents closet looking for our Siamese cat, Princess, I discovered a bag of Halloween candy. My parents didn't keep candy in the house and we were only allowed to consume "added sugar" on holidays and at birthday parties, so... Continue Reading →
Web Miscellany: Compilation #110
Hello friends! Happy Monday! Here we are, launching into another week already. I hope you have some exciting plans in the works. As of today, we've been out of our home for over a year and the HOA board has still taken no action to remediate the space, despite our daily nagging. We've finalizing our... Continue Reading →
You must be logged in to post a comment.