Author Archives: cosmichomicide

January Update – Guest Bathroom

29 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by in Changes & Progress, Home

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We actually finished this months ago, but I never got around to the update, so here it is.  We are moving through the house, room by room, doing all those things that have been sitting on the “Wow.  Need to fix that someday.” list.  Not the huge things, but the little things that don’t really hold you up, but which constantly hang in the back of your mind.  And we frankly never really finished the guest bathroom to completion.  The January list item was:

Home – Guest BathroomGuest Bath

  • Buy & install replacement toilet seat, mirror, trash can & doorknob (budget $100, use rewards points where possible)
  • Deep clean
  • Touch up paint – matched and bought paint
  • Before & after pictures – dangit, took the door down before I got pics.
  • Sand and stain door, rehang to adjust to house settling – sanded

How did it turn out?  Pretty darned well.  The door in particular looks terrific.  And yes, the walls are actually the outside of the original house and the ceiling is tin painted with copper paint.  The cabinet is the exterior window, the paint colors are identical to the four color outside of the house.  We came in just under budget and even picked up new hand towels on sale.  The room is completely decluttered, everything needed stores away in the cabinet, total cleaning time less than 10 minutes – the secondary goal of each room redo being to minimize and reduce cleaning time.

Mission accomplished!

Please Don’t Be a Teacher, Son

23 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by in News and Politics

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“Teaching is the only major occupation of man for which we have not yet developed tools that make an average person capable of competence and performance. In teaching we rely on the “naturals,” the ones who somehow know how to teach.” ~ Peter F. Drucker

My rising high school senior wants to be a teacher.  He loves teaching, coaching, mentoring, tutoring.  He talks about great teachers he has had and how they have influenced him.  He wants to help kids not make the mistakes he has and to discover how great books are and how much fun rugby can be.  He loved teaching classes as a camp counselor.  He wants to start a rugby team at a school that doesn’t have one.  He has all the right motivations and all the right traits.  The only schools he’s applying to are those with education programs.  He understands he’ll never get rich and he doesn’t mind.  His friends all say he’ll be terrific at it.  I believe he will be.

And I hate it for him.  Many members of my family are either current or retired teachers.  I still remember the teachers who influenced my life and instilled in me a love of learning.  I’ve spent 20 years doing technical training and I know the thrill of seeing students grasp a concept.  But I look at schools and teachers and what this country has done to education and I worry.  A lot.  He’s signing on for a lifetime of being undervalued, underpaid and underappreciated.  Will he love it?  Probably.  But what a shame that one of our most important careers to our society makes a mother wish her son would pick something else.

No Contract, Unlimited Everything – Too Good To Be True?

14 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by in Cheapskate

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Not so far, nope.  Years ago my favorite wireless company (Cingular) was absorbed by AT&T, throwing me back into 2 year contract, ever increasing fee hell.  Every time it came up, I looked around annoyed that I was paying extra for texting (really, folks?), limited phone minutes (that I never used, but still) couldn’t afford to put the guys on decent data plans and every 1 MB over the “data limit” was a ridiculous charge.  Most of all, I hated the idea that I was basically paying for a phone over a 2 year period but at the end of that period I just kept paying – no drop in my bill.  Insult to injury, when I went to look at “upgrades” when this contract expired, my “old data plan” was no longer available – please pay more.

Nokia Lumia 521So I looked with interest when T-Mobile started advertising their no contract, unlimited everything plans.  I was paying about $130 (including taxes and fees) for our lines, only one smartphone in the bunch with 2 GB of data and constant fear of “going over”.  I never used my “rollover minutes” and I was paying $30 for unlimited texting, without which I would go broke with a teenager.  Off we go to T-Mobile to check it out.  $50 for the first line, $30 for the second – unlimited talk and text, 500 MB for each after which the bandwidth throttles (but doesn’t cost more).  An extra $20 gets me 2.5 GB for each phone with the same throttle. Now for the phones – the guys were happy with the Nokia 521 which, had I financed them over 2 years would have run me $10/month after which that would have dropped off my bill.  I went ahead and bought ’em.  Total monthly bill – $115 (including taxes and fees).

So to compare:

  • $15 less per month for a 2 year savings of $360
  • 3 GB more data and no additional data charges
  • 2 smartphones instead of one

Heck, I even feel good about spending to buy the extra data.  The signal in the house isn’t as good, but it’s not like AT&T was great (one downside of a metal roof) but everywhere else is about the same.  And to give the guy at AT&T credit, when I called to cancel my account and he asked why – I said “T-Mobile” and he said, “Yep, we’re hearing that a lot.  I used to be with them, they will treat you right.”  No argument at all.

Halfway Through The Year

10 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by in Changes & Progress, Cheapskate, Health, Home

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Time to catch up and review.  We finished the guest bathroom, it looks great.  We’ve got the house scheduled for painting.  I’ve lost 15 pounds.  The heir finished up his school year and is now a senior.  All the credit cards and credit lines are paid off and current.  Things that weren’t on the list are changing cellular companies which saved $15 per month plus netted us 2 smartphones instead of one and unlimited data (that’s going to be my next post ’cause I’m danged impressed with T-Mobile right now).  Next up is taking a good look at my insurance policies – which I’m woefully behind on.

I’m not where I wanted to be with certifications, but that’s the focus of the next month and a half.  I’ve also been a slack blogger, but that’s sadly nothing new – I did add it to my regular to-do list so hoping that will improve things a bit.  I did complete a long term goal and haunt Craigslist until I found the perfect porch furniture – it’s gotten a huge workout.  By the end of summer I’m aiming to have the porch repainted, my hanging baskets up, cushions for a freshly painted porch swing and a ceiling fan over the table.

So much for a laid back summer, but I’m pretty happy with how the year has gone so far.  Happy June, everyone!