Category Archives: Life

Rethinking Goals and Schedules

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After two (or has it been three?) weeks in a row of mandatory five hours overtime with a max of ten (and of course, I do the full ten), I decided to take my full day off yesterday and not start before my scheduled late start time today. I didn’t even touch my own computer in that time. Refreshing and relaxing!

Experiencing that feeling made me want to rethink my goals and schedules. To get everything done, I generally multitask or switch gears quickly several times per day. My goal of five blog posts per week is now ridiculous in my head. I mean, who am I posting for? Why is it important to gather “followers” to my blog? What self satisfaction do I really get from that? I’d like to think that someone out there finds helpful information in some of my posts, but often, I post to ramble. So my goal is now modified to three posts per week. My weekly photo self assignments has been modified to at least twice per month.

Finally, I’m still pushing for a modified work schedule. The 4×10 (four ten-hour days) schedule is becoming more popular and has been mentioned as a possibility for the department I work in as well. Since I work two half days per week, I’ve suggested a twist on this for myself: 3×10 + 2×5. So five hours on Sunday afternoons and Wednesdays, and ten hours on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays with Thursdays off. Then I would still work the first Saturday (ten hours) of each month in exchange for the preceding Monday off. Ten hour days may sound like a lot to some of you reading, but I’d rather get work out of the way like this and get an extra day off to relax and feel more like this…

P.S. I clocked in today to find that we now have mandatory overtime of TEN hours overtime this week. It’s a good thing I already worked an extra two hours on Sunday. :)

Phishing – Run From the Hook!

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Don’t be a victim of phishing scams. If you allow yourself to become a victim of phishing, then don’t place the blame where it doesn’t belong. Phishers will create very official looking emails and web pages to lure you to enter your security information. DO NOT click links in these emails or enter your security info! ALWAYS go directly to the company’s website yourself to be sure you are on the right page. Check the URL at the top of your browser, too. Most login pages will begin with “https://”

Here are some good reads to arm yourself with knowledge:

Phishing: how to outwit the fraudsters
How Not to Get Hooked by a ‘Phishing’ Scam
After Epsilon: Avoiding Phishing Scams & Malware

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about phishing.

If you have to contact the company that you thought sent you the email with the link, please don’t harass them and accuse them of being at fault. They are trying to help you. A simple “thank you” will do nicely. :)

 

Choices

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Who we are is largely shaped by the choices we make. The beauty of it is that we do make choices. Even when nothing is chosen, we have made a choice not to choose! If we choose this instead of that and end up with undesirable consequences, does that mean we made a bad choice? Not necessarily. From such choices comes experience and knowledge. If we choose that instead of this, does that guarantee desirable consequences? Not always! This may work for one, and that may work for another. Perhaps in reverse, the opposite is true! You just never know.

Some readers may choose to assume they know what triggered this thought process. I doubt they’d be right because my mind is a complicated place. I’ll never tell! :)

1/22/12 UPDATE:

After thought … Often times, a person is fully aware of the consequences that may follow a choice they make. Yet, for reasons only they need to understand, they make the choice anyway often causing consternation among observers. So observers, take heart! For it is the chooser’s choice to suffer the consequences and work through whatever they need to work through to get to their ultimate goal. Sometimes it’s beneficial for a path to a goal to be longer. ;)

Not-So-Wordless Wednesday | Snow in Colorado

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Ya gotta love winter in Colorado! Especially in our area. We are at about an altitude 5800 feet in our neighborhood, which is fairly east of the foothills just at the beginning of the plains, and about 20 miles southeast of downtown Denver. It was in the 50s yesterday but quickly turned into snow in the wee hours of the morning.

I had to take Miranda to school early this morning, but I also seriously needed gas. After comparing getting gas after dropping her off to before dropping her off (about a 5 mile difference), I decided drive the one mile to get it first and also add weight to the car!

Four Years From Now…

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… there could be only three people living in this house: Greg, Miranda, and myself.
… Miranda will be graduating from high school.
… our dogs will be 12 and 13, and hopefully still with us.
… we will be credit card debt free!
… we will only have one car payment.
… we may be able to take a nice vacation in another country just for us.

Bring it, 2016!

Coffee Favorites

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8O The very first week of the month and I botched my blog goal. I did specify daily posts Monday-Friday. So, as any employer ga-ga over goals these days would tell you, it’s okay to rework goals that you don’t feel are achievable (too easy or too difficult). That goal is now to write five posts per week. Week 1: goal surpassed! This is #6. It may be lame, but it still counts. My blog, my rules. :P

With that aside, I want to know what your favorite coffees are.

  1. What is your favorite coffee you can buy at any grocery store?
  2. What is your favorite coffee shop coffee?

Some say they can drink just about any coffee as long as it “does the job”. Even if it’s bitter? YUCK! We had switched from Folgers to Maxwell House because MH is cheaper. Folgers was on sale last week, so I bought that instead. I guess I bought a different roast than I used to because this is awful! I also used lukewarm water in the coffee maker, and they recommend cold water. Why? Because cold water is fresher. Hot water sits around in your water heater for a long time. When heated more in the coffee maker, the taste of the minerals and any other sediment that might be in your water heater are intensified, thus ruining your coffee. True story. Use cold water, people. ;)

I do like the Starbucks Breakfast Blend from the shelf because it’s mild. I only buy this when it’s on sale, though. Same with any of those little bags of coffee. I really haven’t been disappointed with any of those, but they are so expensive. So I’m curious to hear what you all prefer.

Social Classes | Impact on Relationships

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The Ritual Cobb Salad Lunch scene in Julie & Julia got me again. The differences in the social classes are blaringly apparent, and I can totally relate to how Julie felt sitting there with her friends who went on to have successful careers while she was stuck working for the government in a cubicle. This is the only scene those friends are in, but I’m sure they lived in nice apartments in New York, while Julie lived over a restaurant in sort of a run-down studio apartment.

I understand getting together with old friends like this occasionally, but I bet she didn’t make it a habit of hanging out with them at that point. It just doesn’t happen. Different social classes just don’t mix. Why? Lack of commonality. Why would you choose to be around those with whom you don’t have a lot in common? We generally choose to be around people of the same means and with similar situations because we understand one another.

Sometimes it’s hard when there are people in your own family who are not of the same means or with similar situations. I imagine it’s just as hard on either side of that coin. While it’s hard for those less fortunate to hear of purchases and travels, it might sometimes be hard for those more fortunate to wonder if they need to tiptoe around the less fortunate so as not to bring them down.

Truly, I am happy for those more fortunate. I know that someday, we will get there. We will be the ones traveling and experiencing great places! We just did things a little back asswards and have to fix it now. For the next three years and two months (yes, I’m counting), we won’t be doing much of anything. We have a plan, and we are not backpedaling on this one! The only really scary thing about that is the thought of a family emergency coming up requiring a road trip. 8O Heaven forbid. Everyone stay healthy and alive!!!

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

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I made a goal of posting daily Monday through Friday, but I didn’t say they had to all be brilliant. :D

After washing the gray outta my hair today, I thought I’d try some pin curls. End result? I’d rather not talk about it! TIP: Do not twist before you coil it up. :P

Not-So-Extreme Couponing

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I plan on getting back in the game – the coupon game – the savings game! I switched stores along the way, and then found my filing system to be overwhelming. All coupon inserts jammed into one hanging file folder. Searching for inserts by date became a nightmare! (I need them by date because CouponMom tells me where to find specific coupons that match items on sale.) So I gave up a little on the extreme couponing and just searched my store’s site for electronic coupons to load to my store card. I’ve also been searching for printable coupons just for items I need.

No more! I want to get back to grabbing a few extras when I can. If I can save 50% or more, it’s totally worth it to me to make an extra trip to a different store or even double back to the same store later in the week. I don’t have enough room in my file cabinet for more hanging files, but I remembered that I have some empty file boxes in the house (the ones with lids and handles). I picked up some more Pendaflex files and started a new system this morning before work.

I just noticed that that top page on the stack in front of the box says “Resolve to save more”! :D I think I just might!

Hello 2012!

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Happy New Year!

I’m not one to make resolutions for each new year, but I’m going to hammer out some goals for myself this year. One of them (surprise, surprise) is more frequent blogging! My goal is daily posts Monday-Friday. Extra posting on the weekends will be a bonus but not required. So today’s post is a bonus! :)

Since long-term goals rarely work out for me, my main goal is to set monthly goals. Some of these goals may be added to for the next month and some will just be considered victories or losses (hopefully more victories than losses). Victories will be celebrated and either filed away or added to. Losses will be adjusted for another attempt. Sorry, not all goals will be shared here. Believe it or not, I don’t share my entire life on the interwebs for all to see! :D

January Goals

  1. Daily blog post Monday-Friday (no matter how small)
  2. Weekly photography self assignments posting photos on Behind the Lens
  3. Finish reading one book
  4. Toning exercise (non-aerobic) at least 3x per week

I wrote these goals down on my white board so I see them constantly. I’ll update on the last day of the month. No, really! I will! ◄ I think I’m trying to convince myself more than anyone reading. ;)