Smells
I am not a smoker but I have to say that the difference in smell between
Black and Mild cigars and a cigarette is night and day. I will never smoke but the smell of a cigar is certainly a lot more pleasing than the rank chemical stench of your average cigarette.
On the surface, I have no idea if they are safer or not, but as I don't plan to smoke it doesn't matter much. Still I probably wouldn't breath deeply for long periods in a cigar filled room if I could help it.
Still, I think that smoking on the whole would be a lot less offensive if there were only cigars.
Next Summer
We have promised the kids that they will get to see the ocean next summer and even plan to take a couple of months off from paying down debt to go. (Shh don't tell Dave)
Originally we had planned to go to Myrtle Beach but as I have already been there three times I wasn't too keen on the idea. Then I though of an outer banks vacation. I have never been there but have heard a lot of good things about it. Hopefully there will be plenty for the kids to do. Not sure what is near by. One thing I do know is that Myrtle is a little bit on the wrong side of the tracks with a ton of bars and what not, so I'll be happy to avoid that on a family vacation.
Anyone have good/bad experiences with the Outer Banks?
Budgets aren't easy
Despite our best efforts, budgeting properly can be hard. Most of the time the difficulty arises when there is something important that needs done that doesn't fit into our budget anywhere. We call these Monthly Specials.
It always seems as though these are too high and it frustrates me because they also seem really important. How do I rectify this? Insurance, bills,
SSDI (not that we need it) are all things people can budget with ease, but what to do with the random things?
At this point, I'm not really sure but I am frustrated that even if I allow for $100 worth of those every month, I'm probably still shooting low. To me this means that our budget is wrong, but I don't know how to fix it.
Cash Crate
I've found a way to make quick cash for those of you who are on a computer all day anyway. The site is called
Cash Crate. You fill out free offers, watch videos, or do surveys and the money adds up. I made $30 last month and I'm on pace to make at least that this month as well.
So for those that are looking to pad their pockets with a little extra, feel free to take a look. Every little bit helps.
Term Limits
I recently found out that if you have life insurance through your employer that there is a hidden danger. Your coverage is based on a percentage of the time you spent working in the past 12 months.
So what? You might say...
Well imagine a terrible scenario in which you suffer some form of disease that makes you unable to work for 6 months, and then you pass away. Now your family gets only 50% of the money that they could have from your policy.
So if you don't have it already, you really should get private life insurance
. The other reason is that you might not be at your current company forever and life insurance premiums cost more the older you get.
Frustration? Maybe not...
At first I was a little frustrated that it took me 2 weeks (4 workouts) to move up from 70 to 75 pounds on the easy curl bar. I have a goal of being able to do 3 sets of 10 of 135.
My first thought was that at that rate, this was going to take FOREVER!
Then I did some math. Assuming the same rate of increase (which I know it won't be but bear with me) I would be there in 24 weeks. That's only about six months.
In the grand scheme of things that would be a big win for me. My big problem is patience. I can plan well and see the big picture but I have a hard time trudging through the "swamps" to get there sometimes.
