Window Shopper

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As you know, if you read this blog very often, I love contests! I like to enter the relevant ones as much as possible. Recently, an email was sent out about this jewelry place in Florida that was having a contest. I decided to check it out.

What I found was a company that has been in business at the present location for over 30 years, has a great reputation in their area with the local people voting them favorite jeweler of Orlando. It does not hurt that they are the largest independent diamond broker locally either. Not bad. Goldsmith Jewelry has a very nice selection of fine jewelry pieces that anyone would love to wear.

And now they are having a contest to win a prize worth $1,500. Now, if you are a blogger who wants to enter the contest simply follow the link. You had better hurry up though. The end of the contest is on February 4th. On the 5th, they will open up a poll with all of the entrants listed. Then people vote for the best entry. They will announce the winner on February 10th!

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Recently, there was a report that the FDA has decided that cloned meat and milk are okay to sell without any type of packaging information concerning the fact that it is cloned meat or milk. I have a problem with that. Frankly, I believe that the FDA needs to be in our corner, the consumer, not in the pocket of the meat and milk industry as it currently appears.

Why can’t we have the truth in labeling work for us on this too? I believe that the reason is that the consumers might not want to buy the product. I think that the meat and milk industry cannot take the chance without first putting the product out there so that people can try it to see what happens. PROBLEM!!!

Is there a problem? You bet. First, they have no idea whatsoever what effect, if any, there will be on people because they would have to have years of testing and they do not. What happens when the people who eat this stuff start having more cancer, more other devastating diseases? Oh wait! We already have that. Imagine that. Is it possible that we are already subject to the problems caused by this type of food? Maybe so.

Are you aware that you are already eating genetically modified food? That you are likely unable to get away from it? That there is absolutely no labeling for it and that the FDA does not require that? Are you aware that this modified food has not even been tested at all on humans? Are you aware that the FDA doesn’t even require the companies to notify them of such products going into the market? Oh yes! Genetically modified foods have been on the shelves for some time now. They are there in the form of grains that were modified to make the sale better.

The FDA does not require labeling for the genetically modified foods already on the shelves. Now they want to have cloned, or genetically modified, meat and milk on the shelves too. Also without labeling. Why? Because you might ask questions they do not want to answer.

So, what foods contain genetically modified foods then and how can I find them? Hold onto your hats, folks. Anything that has soy or corn in it is probably genetically altered. That’s actually about 70% of the foods on the shelves at the store right now.

The FDA is allowing companies that do NOT sell genetically modified foods to label their products as such. How big of them! So, if you do not want your family to eat genetically modified or cloned foods, you can do one of two things.

1) You can grow your own food or raise your own meat.
2) You can watch the labels and only eat those products that are labeled NOT genetically modified.

Nice. Doesn’t look too good, does it? I didn’t think so either. And the worst part is that the companies that do alter the foods are getting away with selling us that stuff without our knowledge. How much damage have they already done? How much??? Are our children safe? And people wonder why we have so much more of those nasty diseases out there and getting worse. DUH!!!! Where is the morality in this??? There is none. None at all.

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Teresa is running her first contest of the year over at her personal blog. You have a chance to win a beautiful turquoise bracelet created by Lori Jaclyn. She’s willing to ship anywhere and that means anyone is eligible to participate and win.

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I know that you have gripes about your job. Don’t we all? At this point in time, I am at home working instead of out there but I have had a number of jobs there and it ain’t pretty. What do you hate the most about your job? The boss and their attitude? Co-workers who steal your lunch? Or possibly gossip at the water cooler? I have to tell you that in my case, it was those performance reviews. ACK!

What am I talking about? Work evaluations to see if they want to keep you. I could not stand those things because they were always a bit slanted either for or against you depending on what your immediate supervisor thought of you. If you make nice with them, they either grab and keep grabbing credit for what you did or they simply hate you because you do a better job than they do. They know you want their job so they do what they can to discourage you. BAH!

Why not have your work speak for you in the numbers or the product, service or whatever you do. Why must we go through that nasty every month, two months, each week or whatever time of torture the company wishes to throw at ya. Nope. I want to say that I no longer have that problem. Well, except for the people who read my blog and give me a bad critique on it. And then there are my family members who think….well, that’s for another time, right? What’s that? You don’t like my post? I really can’t help that, you know. I simply write what I think, you see. What? You don’t like that? Sigh. Okay. (She mutters and walks slowly into the corner. She pouts. She sighs. She yawns. She goes off to bed. In the distance, you can hear snoring, a bark, a couple of meows and then it gets really quiet.)

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Despite the beautiful cars that roam our country, when you get into a rural area, it’s all about the pickup trucks. Did you notice that? We have. For instance, if I were living in a city, pickups might sell with a good price. Cars are more expensive, especially the ones that look really great. But you get into the country and try to buy a pickup. WOW! The price is way up there and the cars aren’t too bad. The secret appears to be that you go find the trucks in the city and the cars in the boonies.

Now, if you check out the pickups, you will find them decked out with all the goodies a guy can put on them. Are they working trucks? Not if the guy can get away with it. LOL! Yes, in a rural area there are farm trucks but I really do not think we’re talking about those, do you? Nope. The good ol’ boys around our area are buying the big, shiny dual cab pickups with all the truck accessories they can pack into the pickups. Why? To impress a girl, of course! Why else? Oh yeah, to feel manly. Sigh. Maybe they could find other, less expensive ways to do that, ya think?

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Recently, I received some samples of Grey Poupon mustard. I was asked to try these mustards and give an honest review of them. The ones that I received were the Hearty Spicy Brown mustard and the Harvest Coarse Ground mustard. Frankly, I was not sure if I could try them because I do not do well with spicy foods. However, I wanted to give an honest review so I decided that a little would not hurt at all. WOW!

First, I tried them on a plate with just the Grey Poupon mustard. The Hearty Spicy Brown was a tad spicy but really had a great taste. I loved it right away. Then, I tried the Harvest Coarse Ground mustard. To tell you the truth, my mouth lit up. HOT!!! Yes, it was hot to me but it was also incredibly tasty. Now, my husband did the same taste test I did. He loved both. They did not seem hot to him at all. He loves spicy hot foods!

Okay, I needed to figure out something to have these mustards either in or on to give them a real test. Burgers! But I didn’t want just any burger. These burgers are great with any condiment and especially good with both of these wonderful mustards. So, choose one mustard for your burger.

Mix the ground beef or turkey (yes, turkey burgers work great!) with onion soup mix. Add some shredded cheese (we like cheddar but would also put any other type of cheese as well). Mix well. Put them into a frying pan, broiler or on the grill. It all works great. When they are done, add cheese to the top, slap into a bun and get out the mustard! Slather a good helping of Hearty Spicy Brown or Harvest Coarse Ground onto the burger (my husband would use both at the same time for a really rich mustard taste!). Add your favorite side dish and watch out! Love those burgers!

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How many times have you been in a store and you needed something that the salesperson could help you with but decides that you are too this or too that for them to help? What has happened to “The customer is always right” meaning that if you want something, they could at least make the effort to do something for you or tell you why they cannot.

Most salespeople I run into are really nice and friendly. But there are those who simply will not be nice and friendly nor will they have a sense of humor at anything said. I do love people with a sense of humor because that makes them HUMAN! Salespeople who take themselves and their jobs too seriously are difficult in the extreme to have help you. They simply do not get it, do they? Why can’t we have sensible salespeople who like their jobs and love the public? I think that would be awesome! Don’t you?

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I wear glasses. I have worn glasses for about 48 years now. So, I am certainly used to the prices that go along with buying glasses. They are not now nor have they ever been inexpensive. Well, until now. What are the most expensive part of the glasses when you buy them? The frames, of course.

Zenni Optical can help you get the right glasses for the best price possible. They have a selection of frames that are fantastic. But that isn’t even the best part. The glasses can cost you as little as $8! Yes, I said $8! This is too good to be true, right? Wrong. They have the glasses you want for an affordable price. They are the Great Discovery: www.ZenniOptical.com. So, what are you waiting for? Go take a look!

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Now what??!!!! Have you signed up for those book clubs yet? You know the ones, monthly clubs that you can buy one or a hundred books. That’s one kind. Then there are those who are willing to ship out 2-4 books each month so that you can always have reading material. Uh huh. Well, I signed up for both. At the time, I was really missing my reading. We did not have that many books and all had been read a couple of times, at least.

I had been to our small library several times. When that happens, it’s over until they get more. Sigh. But then I got some info in the mail about book clubs. I went online to see what was what. Not bad. I could get up to 4 books a month for not that much money. I signed right up. That wasn’t all. I also signed up for 3 book clubs that had genre specific books. Well, it was really 4. I forgot to count the cooking book club. So, after it was all said and done, I had 4 book clubs and the one that was sending out 4 books at a time. Not enough!!! I was constantly running out of reading material. I should say here that I didn’t get new books from the big 5 every month. Those were held in reserve for when I was really needing a book.

When the offer came out that I could have some suspense books from that place that sent out the 4, I could not stand it. I had to have them. Now I had 8 books a month. The company was not satisfied that I was getting just the 8 so they sent out some more for free! These were so that I could get an idea of a different kind. I ended up with them too!!! Are you beginning to get the picture here?

Picture this: A mountain of books and me in the middle. ACK!!! A nightmare? Not really. I would have loved that. Eventually, it wasn’t about the books but about the bills that came with them. I admit it. I am a bookaholic. I need my books. I must have books. But maybe in the future I could try to have them a few at a time.

Want to know the really crazy part? Now that I blog so much, I don’t have time to read but the books keep coming every month!!! I have boxes and boxes of books to read. What a life! I love it.

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I worked in the trucking industry for about 8 and 1/2 years as an over-the-road trucker. For some of those years, I worked alone. Yes, I am female and it did work out nicely. Usually, I went from coast to coast in about a week or so. Then I went back again. I did not spend much time at home in those days but home was good to see, nevertheless.

On many of those runs, I would get so tired that I would pull off the road and go to sleep in a truck stop or rest area. Some days, there weren’t even those places to pull in to rest. It was a blessing, I believe, that the companies I worked for all trusted me to keep their equipment intact. In fact, I had one truck that was huge. It had the type of cab like the Condo Hotels on wheels, it was so big in the sleeper. You could actually sleep three in there comfortably. I did not!!! I loved the space.

I was thinking about this just today when we went out to do some quick shopping. We have noticed, as have you, that the prices on things are going up, up, up with no real relief in sight. And then I remember my time in a truck. Are you aware that almost everything you buy is brought in, one way or another, by truck? Are you aware that if the cost of gas or diesel goes up, the trucking companies have to pass that cost on to the companies who ship? Do you see what happens here? The cost of the diesel goes to the company who, in turn, charge the consumer for the added cost.

No, it is not the fault of the trucking companies, not really the fault of the manufacturers or the retail outlets. The fault belongs to the greedy oil companies who charge so much, not only at the pump, but the per barrel price too. Nevertheless just remember, when you are starting to cuss out the trucker that is driving by, that they are hauling the goods that you want to buy. I would say that 99% of all goods and products come by way of a truck. Makes you think, doesn’t it.

Happy Shopping!!!

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