Window Shopper

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Now that the original bailout of the many companies that, admittedly, brought it on themselves has failed, what is next? That’s a little bit up in the air at the moment. Gas prices are falling which is good news. Wall Street came back today with over a 500 point regain after a disastrous day yesterday when the Dow fell almost 800 points. With all the advice flowing around all over the country and the way things are going at Wall Street, there may be some jobs in Manhattan available very soon. Try looking at CEO spots to start with. Those could be a tad shaky right now and they should be. Those people allowed their companies to become extremely vulnerable at a time when it was not the right thing to do. You would almost think there was some type of common knowledge about all this, a memo going around the companies.

Lenders who once were so liberal with their lending out are now locked down, nervous and stressed. Credit is not as available as it once was. Things are getting really tight here until the stress of the major crisis is over. No one really knows what is going to happen about all this. However, you need to protect yourself. Watch for deals that seem too good to be true. At this time, there will be many con artists out to get the last dime someone has. It is a very vulnerable time for so many people. Think before acting. Do not do anything financial without giving it a day or two to cool off first. These things have been good advice through good times and bad. Right now it is a bad time. Just do not do anything you will regret in a few weeks.

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It had been several weeks since we last saw my sister’s granddaughter. For some reason, in my head she was still the nearly newborn we saw a month and a half ago. How silly. We visited on Saturday and found that she has changed so much that she grew out of most of her clothes already. My sister and brother in law have their hands full with this little gal. Now at 4 months old, she is about to grow out of many other things too. For instance, they have a baby car seat but it is no longer enough for her. Of course, if they had a Britax car seat there would be no question. That particular car seat allows for children up to 65 lbs and is quite ready for anything that comes. Safety is their first priority apparently. It converts as the child grows. Not bad at all.

Equipping the baby is an ongoing experience but I doubt they expected to do this quite so soon. A whole new wardrobe is necessary as well. I remember how hard it can be trying to keep up with a child’s growth. Sometimes, it just seems like it goes faster than you can think straight. It will not be long before they will have to deal with mobility. That’s a lovely time. They get into everything, curious about it all. Nothing stops them if they want to see what it is. Yes, the baby has grown. Out of clothes, certain toys, car seat and all.

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There are times when it is such a lot of fun trying to get someone’s attention. I do this to my sis all the time by sending her Stumble Upon pages that have food or some animal on them. But the food items or recipes are the best ones. Recently, I ran across a simple yet incredibly good one that has cream cheese in it. That is one of my favorites anyway. Actually, I love cheesecake but have not had any of that for years. It’s kind of expensive at the moment. So, I look for things that are almost as good. This particular recipe seems to be like that. However, if you are taking Akavar to lose weight, you might want to find a substitute for the cream cheese.

It’s a pumpkin spread that could be used on bagels or muffins. I cannot think of a thing you could not use it on if you get creative enough with it. The simple fact is that this is really simple. You have cream cheese. You have a can of pumpkin. Put them together and you have a spread that works on whatever you want it it be on. Well, it’s a tad more complicated than that. A couple more ingredients that I have actually forgotten now. Yes, that helps, doesn’t it. Hey, you can even use it as a dip for fruit. Having now found this little gem, I am going to be having it for lots of occasions. Just so I don’t completely let you down on this, the name of the recipe is Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Spread and I found it on a blog called Pinch My Salt. There now. That should just about redeem me from getting lynched, right?

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Just when you think things are calming down, up jumps another problem….something dangerous, extremely dangerous. Cadbury has recalled 11 of the types of chocolates made by China since it was tested and found to have the chemical melamine in them. Melamine is an industrial chemical. Those chocolates in the recall were made in Hong Kong and for distribution in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia. Frankly, I have yet to see how any company can legitimately want them to make anything from there. China has proved over and over that they cannot be trusted to make safe items whether it be for the U.S. or anywhere else. They even are poisoning their own people with such things. This is obviously due to a low priority on safety.

After so many recalls from items made in China many people have chosen not to buy anything that was made there. Our own family has made this decision. Since then, we have found that many baby items are made there as well as dog treats. Those are just two of the things we recently discovered were made in China. That brings up a question that begs to be answered. Just how much goods and products have been farmed out to China suppliers? It reminds me of when it was Japan in the 50s and 60s. At that time, those items were very poorly made, just trinkets and cheap items. Now, Japan makes some of the best product on the market in certain areas.

But can we trust our children’s and pet’s lives to the products coming from China especially after so many recalls? Unlikely. Frankly, I do not believe we would even know about these things if it were not for the safety our country so insists on. Our family is boycotting China made products. What are you doing about it?

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Perhaps you feel that Quiznos is THE sub sandwich. I cannot say that since I have never had one. What I was planning was to do a verses type post on the two major sandwich outfits. So, what I had in mind was to go to their website and order from them. And then I could compare. However, that is not going to happen. And I wanted to tell you why that is the case. A couple of years ago, we went in to a Quiznos to order a couple of sandwiches. Since we were already familiar with “the other sandwich” place, this was an easy call. Quiznos has different sizes of sandwiches, as in different from the OTHER place which has two sizes. From what I recall, there were three or four sizes. The prices, even then, were so far out of range it was not funny. They wanted more than $10 for a less than foot long sub sandwich. We walked back out and never thought about it again until now.

While it would be unfair of me to compare the two sub sandwiches in taste since I have never had a Quiznos, I am qualified to tell you what I ran into just trying to navigate their website. What a nightmare! I was looking for sizes of the sandwiches, prices, locations and availability of delivery. Did I find it easy to navigate their site? NO! Did I find sizes of sandwiches? NO! Did I find prices? NO! Did I find locations? YES! Did I find availability to deliver? That depends on how you look at it. Delivery is available to me from a store that is well over 60 miles from my house yet it says I can get delivery. That’s weird. But okay. We do go to all four available locations that came up. They were all at least 60 miles away, some much farther than that. I thought maybe we could try them again anyway.

Prices, sizes, navigation. Those are pretty important. I did find a menu though it is in a PDF file. When I went to get the PDF file, I had to agree to a LICENSE agreement before I could even look at their menu which, by the way, did NOT have their prices or sizes on it. There is a very POSITIVE NOTE here with them. Their menu is awesome. They do have a lot of sandwiches available, far more than that OTHER place. If I were going simply by the menu alone, it would win hands down. No question. Black Angus Steak sub is absolutely fabulous. Just looking at the picture is enough to get you wanting it and wanting it RIGHT NOW!!! I have no idea how many items are on that menu but you would find what you wanted, no doubt in my mind. But that was not the problem.

What I have learned is that in order to place an order with them, you will have to generate an account and log in. I suspect you will not be able to do a single thing without it. And I am also guessing that there will be no account allowed if you do not live within their designated limits for delivery. However, I cannot tell you for certain since I have not created an account with them. I actually see no reason to do so because I do not know if I want to buy anything from them. I am a comparison shopper. There is nothing to compare here. No prices, no sizes, no way of knowing anything prior to logging in and starting the buying process. I did try to start a purchase without creating an account. The first thing they want is your location. Still no prices or sizes available. I will say this. IF those things were available to see, I might be interested. How can I know one way or the other?

All in all, my experience with Quiznos is a non-experience since I am unable to get any information whatsoever from their site. The experience going into their store was interesting in that the prices were too high, the sizes of sandwich could not be compared to the OTHER places since there were no similar sizes (no matches at all) and despite standing there for about 5 minutes, no one asked us if we wanted anything or could they help us in any way. They were not busy at the time. My experience therefore is that I have no plans for the forseeable future to go to or order from Quiznos. If anyone has had a better experience, I am glad.

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Well, at least for now. Thinking back, I have not had any, I SAID ANY, chocolate in months. Frankly, it had not occurred to me. My chocolate withdrawals must have happened during my time in the hospital so they were not apparent. Since then, we have been a bit limited in our going out and coming in. Recently I was freed from the problem of daily shots so getting out is much more of an option. We can go get some chocolate. We could if it wasn’t going on 11 pm, that is. I do not travel at night anymore unless I have to do so. I guess I am getting pretty spoiled about that. There was a time when I would have done so all night long to get to my appointment. But now, I can stay home and……wish I had chocolate!!! I think the lack is getting to me.

Actually, even thinking about chocolate can make my skin break out if I’m not careful here. No, that isn’t really true but it sounded good to the story, right? The reality is that I could have chocolate but I don’t since we do not have any available in the house. No one thinks of it when we’re out. So, no chocolate. Does it ever make you crazy when you want something but it is not there? Do you wait and find out it wasn’t necessary at all or do you go rushing out to get it before you blow up or have a fit of some type? Are you aware that this type of chocolate withdrawal is not going to hold? When I finally get the chocolate I crave so much, not even the best acne treatments will be able to keep me from the breakout I am going to have. No amount of creams or diet restrictions are going to do the job this time. I WANT CHOCOLATE!!!!! It is going to happen…maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But I promise, it is going to happen!

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The enormous greed of many companies is finally coming out and the companies are falling or being bailed out. While those same companies were so shaky, the CEOs and other top officials were taking and taking and taking multi millions of dollars as perks and other items they felt were theirs to have. What bothers me is that these people who are running the private companies obviously do not care about their own companies enough to stop the payments to themselves and help their company. The result is that the American public is going to pay and pay while the CEO gets to be in the lap of luxury. What is wrong with this picture?

Several of the top officers in the failing companies you have heard about recently in all the bailout talk were grabbing and grabbing. Their company is failing and they grab. Personally, I feel that each of these people are not worth the money that they are receiving. I do not for one moment think that even the top official in the company does enough to be paid multi millions of dollars. No one is that good. No one. These people get $30, $40, $60 million in pay, stocks and other perks. Where is the justice in that?

Now the bailout that the congress is working on is going to limit those same people to much less. That is so good. Why should they sit in beautiful surroundings while the rest of us struggle to exist when their own company is failing because of just such greed?

In the meanwhile, another bailout was happening at the same time but little media coverage occurred due to the massive bailout of the Wall Street greed companies. The Other bailout was for the Big Three auto makers who have also been having a rocky year. They, too, have been suffering due to the financial problems stemming yet again from greed. Does no one see this? The housing market is falling on hard times because of greed. Those lenders that are just about to fall on their own faces or already have, ended up this way due to ridiculous loans that could not work in the long run. Yet the greed of those who thought up this stupidity is the cause of the whole thing.

Gas prices are another reason for the Big Three problems. Greed again, this time coming out of the middle east…at least at first. OPEC has been playing us like the fiddle we are trying so hard to be. They cut production and raise it at their whim. We, here in the states, feel that each and every time. People in the 70s with a curious lack of foresight did nothing to help our situation though they knew about it even then. Heck, *I* knew about it then. How could they not know? Just as the engineers down in New Orleans did nothing about the levees that broke, people here could have done something to stop this madness long, long ago. But they did not. Now, big oil is working with that. Their greed is exceptionally obvious yet no one does a thing.

However, just as Wall Street is finally getting to see what the results of their greed is, big oil will soon follow along as each of the greediest companies on the face of the earth fall or get bailed out. Soon, there will be nothing left to bail them out when the public wakes up to the fact that, eventually, they….meaning *we* will be paying the bills on all this. Sure we will. Those of us who can hardly make it through to the next month on what we have, those of us who cannot make it from month to month, we will be paying the bills that the greedy companies are costing us though the bailouts. Just as there once was a revolt against double taxing and taxation without representation, there will be another revolt when the American public has had enough of greed and will be unwilling to pay another dime.

Wall Street, CEOs, Big Oil…..do not relax. The American people may sometimes be slow to act but we are here, we see what is happening and we are no longer willing to just sit back, pay out, live from paycheck to paycheck….and then pay more for some greedy CEO or company that gets millions of dollars to live large. The honeymoon is over.

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First, I love contests! If I can find a contest relevant to things I like, I’m there. And at this time, I have been remiss at thanking Lisa Cooking for her wonderful contest for Pizza Hut’s Tuscani Pasta - Premium Bacon Mac ‘n Cheese. She required people to simply put in a comment on her blog to have an entry. However, you could blog about the contest too! That got more entries. It was an awesome contest with three prizes. All three prizes were certificates to receive a free pasta dinner, in this case the Tuscani Pasta called Premium Bacon Mac ‘n Cheese.

Recently, I received a letter from Pizza Hut informing me that I was the winner and that I was getting a Pizza Hut card entitling me to a $20 gift card so I could try out their newest Tuscani Pasta. Fantastic! We did try out the pasta dish. It is very good. Definite bacon flavor and really good mac and cheese!

Thank you Pizza Hut for the gift card and thank you to Lisa Cooking for the contest that made this happen!

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Thinking back, I have been wearing glasses for over 49 years now. Only once did I even begin to think that I wanted contact lenses. One of the big things in my life concerning my eyes is that they are very sensitive. Therefore, I did not believe that it was possible to have contacts with such eyes. So, I have never gotten them. That makes me old fashioned, I suppose. But living with a nearsightedness and then astigmatism as well, it has not been as easy as all that. For instance, right now I cannot see the screen as well as I used to be able to. I have to hold my glasses up to the bifocal part so that I can see the screen successfully. Actually, I have no idea whatsoever if having contacts would help or hurt that.

On the other hand, I have thought about the Lasik procedure since it seems to be ideal for so many people. Yet my age might be against me there. Of course, this would have to happen at a time when we don’t have the money for such procedures. That is not right now. But I do believe it would be the one way to deal successfully with my eye problems permanently.

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In 1964, we didn’t know about things like fast computers, IPODs, fast auto insurance quotes online, cell phones, buying everything under the sun on auction sites on the internet, instant messaging. It did not exist for us. An instant message was when a friend called on the phone we now call a land line. We were still buying real vinyl records in speeds like 45s and 33 1/3 and playing them on a record player. The top twenty were on the radio at night. And we loved to listen to groups that talked about broken hearts, fast cars, crashes on the curves, surfing and going to the prom. We girls screamed listening to the Beatles. The boys never understood why we did that.

One of my favorite groups was The Supremes. Diana Ross was there but she had not been spotlighted just yet. Originally a quartet in the 50s, they came on the scene with three wonderful singers when one of the girls left the group. This particular song came out in 1964. Here are The Supremes with Diana Ross singing lead. The song is Baby Love.

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