5 Random Things

In no particular order...

1. When we were at Sam's Club a few days ago, we saw how expensive five dozen eggs were then we rounded the corner and hubby saw two dozen hard boiled eggs for $7 so we grabbed the package because #1, that was a cheaper per-dozen price than the fresh eggs and #2, we thought we would try the eggs and see if we liked them.  I used to wonder who would even buy already cooked eggs when anyone can boil eggs but now that they are cheaper than uncooked eggs, plus they are perfectly cooked and already shelled, we love them!  It is a quick way to whip up some potato salad or egg salad for sandwiches so for now, this may be our go-to eggs until the price of fresh eggs comes down.  
   
   
   
2. Another way we save money is to clean out the fridge once a week, use up any leftovers, and take care of perishing perishables.  Today that meant old apples became applesauce!  
   
   
   
3. I need to spend some spare time learning about AI.  I sent my boss a 100+ page document that I wrote to edit and he sent it back to me, complete with several edits, in less than a half hour.  There is no way he would have even been able to read the document in such a short period of time so when I asked him how he accomplished such a feat--the edits he sent were right on point--he said he used AI!  Definitely something I need to learn!
4. Speaking of AI, I am amused with this little AI picture creator.
5. Finally, today was a great day for a protest!  Example here, here, and here.

It's Been a Month??

I looked at the date of my last blog post and I can't believe it's been nearly a month since my last post!  Here's what's been going on...

...Mostly work has been going on.  Which is why I haven't been blogging much since I am on my computer all day.  The last thing I want to do in the evening is be on my computer all evening as well!

...Speaking of work, we are in a "hurry up and wait situation" as we wrap up our fiscal year and biennial contracts and wait for new state and federal (what's left of the federal government...) contracts.  Ayayay

...We were at Sam's Club today and I can't believe how much eggs cost!  We bought 10 dozen a month or so ago so we still have plenty of eggs but...yikes!  

...Last weekend we went to two birthday parties, one was a $5k affair and one was closer to $50k.  The $50k bash (it's Las Vegas, this amount is not unusual here) was my niece's 50th birthday party and she went all out--huge cocktail party on Friday (I'm guessing the open bar bill was easily five figures over the three days), rented a nightclub for dinner and dancing on Saturday, then rented a resort pool for the Sunday pool party (we skipped that one, no way is anyone going to see me in a bathing suit these days!).  Both parties were equally wonderful due to the food (equally excellent in our opinion) and the people (lots of catching up with people we haven't seen in years for the niece's party and we met lots of fun, interesting people at my friend's husband's 75th birthday party which was originally planned for his 70th birthday just weeks after the entire world shut down for covid in 2020!).  Overall, we had a wonderful time but learned #1 we are no longer "dance all night people", I prefer a nice afternoon party these days, and #2, my days of dancing in five-inch heels are long gone, I found some cute, low-heeled shoes to wear--and they were still killing my feet by the end of each evening! 

...a week ago we hit 90 degrees in Las Vegas so we turned off the heat for the season, today it was low 60s (the heat went back on), the later this week it is supposed to be in the 90s again!  A bit of wild weather here but I'll take temperature swings over the tornadoes and flooding that's happening in the south this week.

...in odd news, a guy in the next city over had seven tigers confiscated (it was probably quite the shocking call for law enforcement!), here is a list of the world's oldest people, and here are some wonderful free things.

If you are in the south this week, I hope you are staying safe!

10 Random Things for This Week

In no particular order...

1. Set your clocks forward on Saturday night if you live in an area that does this.
2. Speaking of springing forward, here are other semi-annual tasks to do when you change your clocks.
3. Check out the live Eagle Cam here.  These eagles just had a baby eaglet!
4. Something (else) to be aware of if you are older and alone.
5. And here is an excellent pre-flight video that everyone should watch.
6. Here are some great frugal living tips.
7. And here are some purchases that people felt were well worth the price.
8. I've been sitting on a folding chair at my desk for an age.  When I was at TJ Maxx I sat in a real office chair and decided I definitely needed a better office chair.  I didn't want to pay the $130 price for that particular chair that I tried so I found this much less expensive chair on Amazon and it is super comfy!
9. If you are as annoyed as I am that Google Chrome now blocks UBlock origin (an ad blocker that is desperately needed on many sites these days), here is how to continue to use it.
10. Finally, we had our annual active shooter training today.  Here are some good tips and resources everyone should check out.

5 Things We AREN'T Doing in the Near Future

My list of 'things are so crazy in the US these days that we can't even think of doing the following things'...

1. Moving.  We would like a single-story house but I never want a mortgage again so we will need to save cash, plus sell our current house, in order to buy a new house.  This won't be happening for a while...
2. Traveling.  My walking club is having a convention in a couple of months but between the cost of a basic hotel ($300+ per night !?!), plus flights, plus car rental, etc, I think we will just stay home and save several thousand dollars :(
3. Changing jobs.  I actually love my job and have no intention of leaving, but I have several friends, highly qualified and very skilled friends, who can't find a job to save their lives!  The job market these days is very scary.
4. Watching the news/doomscrolling/etc.  The news is nothing but awful awful awful.  Since there is nothing I can do about every terrible thing that is happening, I will just watch more positive and happy things instead of stressing out about things I can't change.
5. Eating junk food.  Since my birthday is in 50 days from now, I have challenged myself to not eat any junk food for 50 days.  We will see how this goes...

10 More Random Things

From this week... 

1. Our weather is perfect!  It was 76 degrees here today and our sunsets are still beautiful!
2. Here is an excellent video on why you need multiple sources of income in retirement, not just Social Security.
3. Some of our favorite movies on Netflix this week with unique twists...Age of Adeline, Don't Let Go, and Passengers.
4. And some of our favorite series' on Netflix to binge-watch...The Recruit, Night Agent, and Zero Day.
5. And a good documentary on Netflix that I recently watched...Buy Now!
6. Unrelated, these woodworking projects are utterly amazing!
7. Of course, I can't make a list without posts of cat memes.
8. On a negative note, I can't believe that my local Baskin Robbins, in a relatively "good" neighborhood, now has to lock up their ice cream and cakes because people keep stealing from them.  The owner showed me a video today where a woman came in with her kid, they chose a cake, took it out of the freezer, then just walked out the door with the ice cream cake without paying!  If you wonder why people are more awful than usual these days, it seems like they are taught this by their parents!  
9. Here is a huge list of birthday freebies.
10. Finally, here are some things to NOT to do to your house in order to save money (and a lot of headaches).

10 Random Things

It's still busy around here but here are some random things from my favorites list...

1. I traded my old cell phone for a Galaxy S25+ phone and I am loving the detail in the photos it takes (see photo above)!
2. I just learned that there are a variety of ways you can become a NOAA volunteer.  Cool!
3. This past week, Las Vegas broke a 214-day rainless streak.  We had a much-needed rainstorm which was a nice change of pace.
4. This lady wrote about a wonderful way to spend a major birthday year!
5. Here are a bunch of ways to save money.
6. And speaking of frugal, here are pages and pages of frugal tips.
7. This guy's YT channel features a lot of useful, and most often free, website lists...good info here!
8. Here is an article on five big things that disappear after you retire...hubby and I can confirm pretty much all of these things happened to us immediately after retiring (so these are definitely things to plan for if you are planning for retirement).
9. A friend of ours is dealing with and-of-life stuff will an ill, very elderly parent.  When I asked if she and her husband have updated their wills lately, I was shocked that neither one has a will!  And they are in their early 70s!  Here are documents everyone should have in place no matter how old (or young) you are.
10. Finally, I am so thankful that all passengers survived the horrible plane crash in Toronto yesterday.  What is going on with all of these plane crashes lately???

All of This for $20!

Hubby and I stopped by the grocery store today and picked up a bunch of loss leaders.  For a grand total of $20.30 we got...

• a loaf of French bread
• a loaf of white bread
• 10 pounds of potatoes
• 20 limes
• a pound of tomatoes
• a half gallon of milk
• a pound of grapes
• 7.5 pounds of chicken

Overall, it was a pretty good--and cheap--haul!