As dreary as yesterday's daylong rainstorm was, today was sunny, bright and beautiful with highs in the mid 60s.

I raked most of the backyard and hauled the leaves behind the tool shed with a tarp. I also mowed most of the front lawn. I fed the neighbor's cat and gave it lots of TLC. (He's neglected.) I did a load of laundry and hung it out to dry on the line, last time this season, i think. I made a turkey meatball and vegetable soup, using my own homegrown tomatoes from last summer as the base with chicken stock, garlic and onion, cauliflower, peas and kidney beans. A colorful "medley" intended to use up a bunch of frozen veggies taking up space in my freezer that must be over a year old. I'm too stingy to throw it out (horrors!) so it all went into soup.

I crawled out onto the family room roof (very shallow pitch) to check the gutters and scooped some muck out, but just at one end. They have wire screens over them, but still, a lot of stuff like pine needles get in them and it doesn't take long for the acidity from the leaves to eat through the tin and then you get little pin holes and a waterfaull-like effect during a rainstorm. Replacing those gutters 5 years ago wasn't cheap so i'm debating now whether to pay someone to check and clean out the gutters on the main part of the house, which i can't reach. I think i skipped this last year. It's a pain, becus the 2 cheapie handymen guys i know are both afraid of heights and aren't crazy about doing it.

Last night i kept hearing sounds from the basement as if the mouse traps were sprung. Twice, i was sure i'd gotten a mouse or two but when i checked this a.m., the traps were still set with Peanut butter still in 'em, so i don't know what the heck i was hearing. This creaky old house makes lots of noises.

I'm thrilled to report that for the first time since June, my end of month income ($3807) exceeded expenses ($2076) by a whopping $1731. (All this talk of no frivolous spending, no clothes shopping, etc. etc. has finally paid off.) Granted, i tallied up October expenses 5 days early, but i don't intend to spend on anything between now and the end of the month except gas.

Granted, my expenses don't usually exceed income by tons; it's usually a couple hundred in either direction, but i've been trying really hard not to spend on anything that's unnecessary. Yet each month I still wouldn't come out on top becus of once a year biggie expenses that would set me back, like my $800 car repair bill last month, or next month's homeowner's insurance of roughly the same amount, and in December it'll be $1200 for the chimney liner.

So i'm happy October was such a good month. Part of the reason it was becus i earned an extra $460 this month from freelance writing. Believe me, it helps. And next month i should have the same amount of extra freelance income, based on jobs i've already completed but not yet been paid for. I always drag my feet doing the freelance in my precious and limited free time, but when the checks come in, i'm happy as a clam.

I should really get out there for an end of the day walk, it's so nice. At my neighbor's party, M. told me the neighbor with the mean dog who attacked her dog twice (crossing the invisible fence line) is no longer owned by those people. They got rid of it after a number of run-ins with neighbors' dogs and cats. It intimidated me so much that i stopped walking around the block cus it would race to the edge of the invisible fence and stand there in a very aggressive way, waiting for me to get closer. Anyway, i should walk around the block again. When i approached that house in the past, my heart rate actually increased, cus i was never sure the dog was out or not. I feel bad becus the dog was probably put to sleep. So many people get a dog without understanding that making an animal as active as a dog sit around a house all day with no exercise is asking for behavioral problems. I'm sure that if they worked with him, they could have corrected the problem, but i guess it was more expedient to just put it to sleep. Makes me a little sad. The family across the street from me had 2 boxers and a Boston terrier, and all 3 are all gone.

I was browsing personal finance blogs yesterday and came upon a post that really got me excited. The author was talking about the upcoming Feb 09 conversion of analog TV to digital TV.

Now I had heard before that if you already have cable TV, you won't lose your reception, but if you don't, and you have an older TV, you won't be able to get a picture without getting a digital converter box.

But what got me excited is that the author was saying you could get a picture with the digital converter box and WITHOUT cable. In other words, by getting one of those $40 coupons they're offering online for free and then spending $10 out of pocket for the converter box, that could give you a picture if you're willing to settle for the basic network channels. Hey, that's what i'm getting now, but I'm SPENDING $15 a month for the privilege.

It would be great to do away with that monthly expense if i could.

The author also noted that they got a better set of rabbit ear antennas for their TV and said they didn't have an outdoor antenna on their roof, an added expense (especially to get someone to do it for me, plus making it lightening proof) which would make it not worth my while.

So i also requested the free coupons, which should be coming in the mail soon. I could spend the $10 on the box and then maybe wait til after February 09 to see if by plugging in the converter box and then unplugging the cable wire, i could get a decent picture. If not, i could try the rabbit ears route, too, and return them to the store if rabbit ears didn't improve the picture any.

Has anyone who is content with just basic cable channels considered doing away with their monthly cable bills by getting the converter box? I hadn't known before that this could be an option!

So last night i got home from work around 6:30 pm. I changed my clothes and washed up, then walked out the door around 6:50 pm and up the street to my neighbors' house for their little anniversary party.

They had their great aunt and uncle there as well as her friend, friend's husband and 2 kids. I was the only one who brought an anniversary present! I had a nice time and when i left around 9:30 pm, her husband and their dog walked me back home cus it was very dark out.

I was a little disappointed they opened my present in another room so i didn't get to see that, but they seemed to like it. (??)

Her friend's husband, who is a painter, has a "30-year plan" which he says won't make him wealthy, but it will make his children wealth. Each year they buy one fixer-upper house after careful research. They only buy at bargain prices, and the updates needed are only cosmetic, nothing serious. Then they rent them out and make sure there's a small positive cash flow. They have 6 investment properties now. Hemade it sound so easy. I asked him if he'd be in trouble if one of his renters lost their job, and he said they could still swing it if they lost tenants on 2 rentals. (For how long, i don't know.)

I guess with the real estate market so beaten down, more people are interested in renting, so that bodes well for him.

He said they also took out all the money that was availalble in their HELOC and put it in a money market account so they'd have access to that money to fix up future properties. They were afraid the HELOC would be yanked by the bank. Smart move, i would say, though he acknowledged that he's losing 2% when comparing the HELOC repayment rate to the rate he's earning in the money market account.

I was feeling great that i got another freelance assignment out of the way today. The money has been coming in from past jobs done, so that is nice, but i don't really feel like doing them on my weekends. I'm always conflicted about this....extra money is always nice, especially given this economy and not knowing what's going to happen next, jobwise, but i work hard all week and sometimes i just want to relax. One or two freelance jobs a month would be ok, but i've done freelance work for the last 4 weekends straight. No more assignments in-house now, though she mentioned she had another one from a different agent.

After finishing the freelance job i finished putting new insulation in the basement ceiling where the insulation foam had dried. I'm calling that project DONE though I KNOW it didn't plug up every last mouse hole. I want to move on to my bathroom wallpaper job next. I'm not sure the $100+ i spent on new insulation was a worthwhile investment, since i was just replacing old insulation with new, at a slightly higher R level (R19 vs R12, i think), altho some of that old stuff was really covered in mouse poop. I probably would have done better to add to the attic insulation. I added to it when i bought the placd 13 years ago, but i've read you should have at least a foot of insulation (12 inches high) and i'm not sure mine's quite that much. I may have 9 inches, but one place i can't measure or even access is the center floor of my attic cus it's covered by a carpet and plywood. Who knows how much is in there. It would be a job to rip up all that carpet and i ain't gonna do it this season!

Still NO HEAT (as far as i know)
Boomeyer - Missouri
monkeymama - Northern California
debtfreeme - Northern California
Ima Saver - Georgia
scfr - Texas
snoopycool - Florida
sevenofseven - Northern California
princessperky - Charlotte, North Carolina
toyguy1963 - Ohio
Analise - northern California
Little gopher - Minnesota
Joan.of.the.Arch
canoineag - Denver
Buckeye - Ohio
Koppur - Massachusetts

Those who already turned on the heat:
Househopeful - Delaware Oct. 23
dmontngrey - Massachusetts Oct. 22
Fern - Oct. 19 Connecticut
mbkonef - SE Pennyslvania - Oct 17
Creditcardfree - Oct. 15
Nancy - Oct. ??
MilehighGirl - Oct. 11
wyozozo - Wyoming - Oct. 10
Mech - Oct. 3 Massachusetts
ME2 - Oct. 3
myenglishcastle - October 1 - Wisconsin
homebody - October 1

Thanks for all your really good ideas. Although she mentioned they don't drink alcohol, there were 1 or 2 other ideas i probably would have gone with, but after wracking my brain for a few hours, something suddenly popped into my head that I thought would be perfect.

As a fundraiser, the school scholarship fund sells a personalized version of the Monopoly game. Maybe you've heard of the different versions you can get? In fact, i've had a National Parks version, where instead of Board Walk and Park Place, you land on all the different national parks and monuments. It's kind of fun. So my town has its own version.

I just thought for people who are relatively new to my town, it'd be such a nice "welcome to Mytown" gift. Not only that, but a well-known local artist (the same one who painted the murals in the town hall, which i've shared with you here) did the front of the game box and he will sign and autograph the game for me!

It sounded so good i decided to get a set for me, too, even though i already have the national parks version! I couldn't resist. Each game costs $25, which is the most i wanted to spend.

I hope they like it!

So i finally got around to calling my neighbor today. We had the nicest chat a few weeks ago.

I called to tell her that maybe she'd be interested in possibly exhibiting her art at my company's next art exhibit. They rotate the exhibits quarterly and feature CT artists.

She was very interested, so i'm going to get that in motion tomorrow when i head back to work.

But she also invited me to dinner this Friday night to help them celebrate her and her husband's ninth wedding anniversary. She's got her great aunt and uncle coming. Her aunt was a copywriter, like me, and her uncle was in Woodstock. They live in Brooklyn. (I'll find out more about that Woodstock thing later.) She also has a girlfriend coming over.

But anyway, i can't show up empty-handed, even though she insisted i should. I'll bring something to drink, but i really feel i should (and want) to bring some small token gift for their wedding anniversary. I don't want to spend much, but something thoughtful.

Can you help me with ideas? I only have Wednesday or Thursday to get something. Here are some things about them. She's an artist and just had a baby. He's a commercial photographer. They're the people who ALMOST bought my house when i had it on the market 3 years ago. They ended up buying the house 2 doors up from me cus it was a little bigger They have a big black friendly dog. She likes to garden.

That's all i really know! I went to their New Year's Day party last year, but i really didn't have much chance to get to know them then.

Isn't it funny how, instead of a buyer for my house, looks like i got a friend? They are both very friendly people. I've spoken to her husband a few times when he walks the dog. They moved her from New Orleans, after Katrina hit.

I knew the guy who was going to clean my chimney was coming sometime between 10 am and noon today, so i decided to get started back in the basement again around 9 am, this time armed with a can of insulating foam spray to plug up gaps around plumbing pipes, etc.

I wasn't at it long when my chimney sweep arrived. I casually asked him if the estimate he gave me a year ago to install a chimney liner was still good. Surprisingly, he said it was, and that's what made me decide, somewhat impulsively, to get the liner. I had just planned on the chimney cleaning, which i do every year, for safety reasons, but it's an old chimney and i knew that a liner would improve performance of my furnace and is also a safetey consideration, as creosote can't build up as much on a stainless steel liner.

So i gave him a $400 deposit and will pay the $800 balance when he's done. Since then, i've been reading up online about chimney liners to confirm my initial opinion this would be a good investment. I also learned of the importance of insulating the liner, so i will have to ask him if he plans to do that.

After he left, i continued with the very messy job of using up a can of the foam spray. It's messy cus the foam is very sticky and oozes slowly out of the 5 inch long tube thingy. Problem is, most of the many holes are in the basement ceiling, and these holes are so large that when you spray the foam, it has nothing to hold onto and gravity kept dropping it down into a goopy mess. I was able to seal up around where plumbing pipes and heat vents go through the basement ceiling to the rest of the house. Whoever cut the holes did a real hatchet job. I guess in those days (circa 1930), they didn't have power tools to cut a nice, round hole? Every hole looks gouged out.

So i ripped out a fair amount of mouse-icky insulation, and stuffed 3 large trash bags with it. I needed to let the foam spray cure overnight, so tomorrow i'll be putting in new insulation. It would be nice to think it will remain pristine, but sadly, i don't think all my work in the basement has done much to keep mice out.

It's frustrating. I hate having to deal with disgusting mouse traps all winter long. I did increase the number of traps down there becus i don't want untold numbers of mice living down there indefinitely.

I've come across alot of torn off areas of the basement ceiling, which is a wood sub-floor that lies underneath the first-floor floor. It's all torn at the very ends, I don't know why, which is very difficult to reach through a roughly 4 inch wide gap between the top of my foundation wall and the sub-floor.

So some of the holes are too big for the foam, which drops out. I didn't have much luck hammering tin flashing cut to cover the holes becus of the narrow space i had to swing the hammer. I did a number of holes, but it took like 1 hour per hole and a head full of spider webs. Sure, i can just put back all the insulation i had there, but the idea was to start plugging up barriers to prevent mice from running around down there. I still don't really know WHERE exactly they are coming in. If anyone has any other suggestions, i sure would be glad to hear them.

So after i'd had my fill of dirty basement work, i went upstairs and immediately set to work to continue to scrape the paper backing off my downstairs bathroom walls, a job long delayed over the summer. The wallpaper itself came off easily, but whoever put the paper on took a shortcut and DID NOT USE wallpaper primer, which makes it SO much easier to remove the wallpaper and the backing intact. I know, they figured they wouldn't likely be living in the house by the time the paper needed replacement. I, however, won't go that route. But anyway, i was scraping, scraping, scraping for hours, alternately using a wet sponge to soften the paper up.

I did make significant progress. Compared to the basement work, this was rather straightforward. I'd say I'm 65-70% done with scraping the paper backing. After that, I'll have to lightly sand the walls to get the remaining glue and little bits of paper off. I saw a few spots also that will require some wall repair in terms of joint compound/spackle.

After that, I'll have to go to the store and pick out the paint i have in mind, basically an ivory, which will cover the crown moldings, the baseboard, trim and the cabinet, all of which are painted a shade of royal blue i never cared for and which won't, in any event, go with the new wallpaper i bought, which is basically in the tan/ivory family.

So this project is a long way from being finished. One person working alone means slow going. But i've learned from experience that if you rush through the "prep," it will really show in the end, so i'm gonna do it right.

I broke for lunch around 2 pm and heated up some Turkey Meatloaf Surprise (the surprise being the hard-boiled egg inside, thanks Grandma) along with some leftover Kashi 7-grain rice mix and brussel sprouts. Then back to work.

An hour later, i decided to break again to walk down to the mailbox, around 3 pm. It was so nice outside and i'd been working inside all day, so i sat on my front stoop to breathe in some fresh air and enjoy the view of my yard. Then, Mr. McGregor, the neighbor's poor, neglected cat, came running up. He's such a mush and is always starved for attention, not to mention his long gray hair always has thick mats and knots. They make him stay outside all year long, even during the coldest part of winter, and he is on the thin side, so i brought him a plate of Iams dry food which he wolfed down. He's getting old, and i'd take him in myself if it wasn't for my own, very jealous cat. So we shared 15 minutes together enjoying a late autumn day.

I think after that is when i mowed the back lawn. I like mowing now becus the mower's very good at sucking up fallen leaves in addition to cutting the grass, and in my opinion, pushing the mower's easier than endless raking, then raking into a tarp and hauling to the back somewhere to dump it out. I will still have to rake later, but not as much. i finally called it quits around 5 pm when i collapsed in bed to watch the news. I had some more turkey meatloaf and here i am. Achy sore.

I'm hoping to drop off all the dirty insulation at the dump tomorrow after putting the replacement insulation back in. On the way back from the dump i can stop at Stop N Shop and get my .39 a pound bananas. I saw them at Shop Rite for .70 a pound.

My mostly retired friend wanted to see a movie with me today cus she knew i had the day off, but i didn't commit to anything cus i had the chimney guy coming. My friend is older and does nothing, really, to take care of her house and it's really in disrepair, on the exterior. She doesn't have the $ anyway. I gave her contact info and application for Americares, which sends volunteers to do odd jobs, etc. So she always likes to do things like shopping or movies when we get together, but so much of my free time i feel i need to take care of this house. I do whatever i can. I feel it's important. Some day, i'll sell this place, and i want to have all the big things taken care of when i do.

So I've been living like i earn minimum wage this past month, so i can blow $1200 on a chimney liner. That's where all my spare money goes, my house. The only $ i spent this month, aside from the mortgage and utilities was on 1. gas to get to work and 2. food. That's it. No eating out. No clothing or trinkets of any kind. But i'm doing ok. I feel like i have my priorties lined up right and, at the finish line, the goal is financial freedom for the rest of my life. If you've read this far down into my post, I'm amazed, but thank you.

Columbine

So yesterday, i'd been looking forward to attending my first Home Depot "clinic," an hour long thing on energy efficiency. It's definitely an interest of mine and i was hoping to learn about some new products and maybe even more importantly, see someone demonstrate techniques in how best to use them.

So I drove over to the local Home Depot. I've gotten into the routine of clocking my mileage everywhere i go so that i can compare different routes to say, decide which is less miles, the highway or back roads.

So i know that just getting to Home Depot one-way was 10 miles.

Imagine my disappointment when i asked at the Service Desk where the clinic was being held, and she said, "Clinic?" There's no clinic today. There was one yesterday, and we're doing another on Thursday, but there's nothing going on today."

I told her that their website, www.homedepotclinics.com, indicated there was a clinic that day. She called the store manager over and he very nicely confirmed what the desk clerk had just told me.

I figured i must've gotten the dates mixied up. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened. So I left, and when i got home, i went back on the website, and now i really got annoyed, becus i wasn't wrong. The Home Depot website did, in fact, indicate that the energy efficiency clinics were being held not only Saturdays throughout October, but every Sunday as well, from 1-2 pm, at this store.

I decided to call my local Home Depot back, if only to tell them they should contact their corporate offices and fix the snafu. Could i have been the only person who showed up for a non-existent clinic?

I was lucky enough to get Jim back on the phone, the store manager i talked to at the store. He was still very apologetic and asked me if there was something in particular i'd been looking for. I wasn't sure he "got" why i was making a bit of a fuss (mainly, that i drove 20 miles for nothing, but also because they should really fix their website!).

He didn't sound like he thought it was especially important to do that, but maybe that's just what i read into it. So i let it go with him, but becus he just appeared to not think it was a big deal (maybe that was just his temperament), i decided to leave a message online with Home Depot's customer service. I didn't really expect much. Half the time online messages aren't even monitored, it seems.

So i was quite surprised to find a reply back this a.m. (so quickly!) from Home Depot customer service, apologizing again for the inconvenience and offering me a $25 gift card for my trouble. So, wow! I thought that was pretty cool. $25 could buy a lot of mouse traps!

On the squirrel front, i've been studying my new clothesline bird feeder with 2 soda liter bottles on either side. Still no signs of squirrrels there yet, which frankly surprises me. But i can see that the weight of the bird feeder, especially being filled with bird seed, pulls the clothes line down in the center and so the 2 plastic soda bottles strung on either side have slid toward the center as well and are touching the bird feeder. I'm guessing any squirrel worth his salts could simply hang or jump to the feeder without having to do the Slippery Soda Bottle Dance.

I think that if i can recruit more people to give me their empty soda bottles, if i threaded 5 or so on each side of the feeder (total 10 bottles needed) that would be a long enough length of slippery soda bottles so that any interprid squirrel could not bypass the soda bottles by leaping to the feeder.
So now i need to find 10 more bottles.

I may have dropped out of the No Heat contest, but rest assured I'm still here to cheer you guys on. There are still 16 official contenders. But to play fair, i think you really can't be using a wood stove, for instance, to stay warm while the rest of us huddle under piles of blankets.

Still NO HEAT:
Boomeyer - Missouri
monkeymama - Northern California
debtfreeme - Northern California
Ima Saver - Georgia
scfr - Texas
snoopycool - Florida
dmontngrey - Massachusetts
sevenofseven - Northern California
princessperky - Charlotte, North Carolina
Househopeful - Delaware
toyguy1963 - Ohio
Analise - northern California
Little gopher - Minnesota
Joan.of.the.Arch
canoineag - Denver
Buckeye - Ohio
Koppur - Massachusetts

Those who already turned on the heat:
Fern - Oct. 19
mbkonef - SE Pennyslvania - Oct 17
Creditcardfree - Oct. 15
Nancy - Oct. ??
MilehighGirl - Oct. 11
wyozozo - Wyoming - Oct. 10
Mech - Oct. 3 Massachusetts
ME2 - Oct. 3
myenglishcastle - October 1
homebody - October 1

Halloween in my town is a REALLY big deal. Each year, though i don't have kids, i say i'm going to hang out on Main Street where all the little kiddie hordes go, just to enjoy the fesitvities. Our Main Street is filled with historic homes and the homeowners really go all out to decorate their homes which lend themselves so well to the season. One home in particular features a gigantic spider laying across a spider web that extends from the house and over the front yard. It's all great fun. Kids actually come from lots of surrounding towns becus people really go nuts here. They actually do fundraising for donations that will go toward buying candy which is then distributed to the homeowners on Main Street becus it is a heavy burden for some, i guess, to buy so much candy. Homeowners reported last year getting 3,000 children in a single night. That's a lot of candy.

So i fell asleep last night early, around 10 pm. I had wanted to stay up to watch Tina Fey, but i just couldn't. I was too tired to get up and take a sleeping pill, which was a mistake, cus i was up like a firecracker around 2 am, wide awake. I remember thinking how quiet it was at that hour. Usually, when i wake in the night, you hear something, whether it's the tractor trailer trucks downshifting on the Interstate, in the distance, the church bells ringing on the hour, the freight train chugging past on the line about a mile away from my house, or even coyotes howling. Last night, it was very, very quiet.

That's why i know exactly when my heat kicked on. Yes, i'm afraid i'm out of the contest. HOWEVER, i set the thermostat to 55 degrees, day and night, round the clock. I set it last night cus we were supposed to get down to freezing, statewide. And i heard it kick on at 2:05 am, and then it cycled back on and off throughout the rest of the morning as i tossed and turned.

It'll hopefully stay there, at 55, for this month and next. When we get into the bitter cold, i'll have to notch it up, but i never go above 65 degrees. I don't like to start out at that temp since i'll get accustomed to it, so i'll do it by "degrees."

I have a bad habit of writing stuff when i wake up and can't sleep, or early in the am before i'm fully conscious. I do some of my best work then (!), but the problem is that unless i turn on the light and start scribbling, i forget what I "wrote" in my head when i awake.

And that's what happened last night. Actually, i was writing this blog post, but i forgot half of what i intended to say.

I watched the best movie last night. It's called American Splendour. Have you seen it? Normally, I'm pretty stingy with my 5-star Netflix ratings. Most of the movies i say "I liked," (3 stars) or "I liked very much (4 stars). But this one was really good.

Without giving too much away, it's a story about a down and out guy living and working in Cleveland as a file clerk in a VA hospital. Not much in his life is going well. Actually, there's not much going on, period. One day, while filing away records in the "Deceased" section, he reads one file which lists "Born, 1938, Cleveland. Died, 1979, Cleveland." You know he's wondering if he's going to have that kind of seemingly meaningless existence.

He starts writing a comic strip that chronicles the minutae of his life. It's real, it's gritty, and it takes off. He lands an appearance on the David Letterman Show. He develops a following. And he ends up doing this for 20 years, although he never gets rich from it. I think it's a true story.

Anyway, if you get a chance, check it out. I loved it.

Later today, i'm going to my first Home Depot "clinic" on energy efficiency. Sure, they'll be pitching their products, but it's an hour long and i figure i'm bound to learn something i can do myself to better weatherproof my house.

I already bought 2 of their cans of insulating foam spray to use in gaps in the basement, but i read on the can how the product's intended for a one-time use cus it gunks up after 2 hours and then you can't use it. So I'll have to pull away all the insulation in the areas i intend to work in first, then do the spraying all at once. I'm looking for holes to seal up, both to eliminate drafts and air leaks as well as mouse infiltration. I hear them every night cus they must walk on the tin heat ductwork in the basement and the sound travels up thru the floor vents i have quite clearly. Yes, up 2 stories. In fact, if someone's in the basement having a conversation, you could hear that too.

I didn't do a whole heck of a lot yesterday. My mom dropped off some apples for me and we traded some other stuff and chit chatted for a while before she left. I did try a new, yet-to-be-squirrel tested relocation of a bird feeder by hanging it on my clothes line with 2 plastic soda liter bottles on either side of it. The theory being that when a squirrel tries to walk over the soda bottle, it will spin and throw him off.

I haven't seen any squirrels traverse it yet, but i foresee some possible problems, since one end of the clothesline, attached to a hook on my tool shed, is higher than the end that's tied to a tree. Meaning that the soda bottle on that side keeps sliding down until it stops and touches the bird feeder. I suspect a squirrel could simply leap from the clothesline to the feeder once he gets that close. I would need something like a big knot to keep the bottle 5 feet or so from the feeder, but it would still need to spin when the squirrel walked on it. So i'm not sure yet whether it'll work.

Oh, i did mow a good portion of the front lawn yesterday. I hadn't planned on it (was rather hoping i was done with it for the season) but yes, the grass still grew. I suppose I'll finish up the front today, then do the back tomorrow, since I'm OFF WORK Monday and Tuesday.

Still NO HEAT:
Boomeyer - Missouri
monkeymama - Northern California
debtfreeme - Northern California
mbkonef - Southeastern Pennyslvania
Ima Saver - Georgia
scfr - Texas
snoopycool - Florida
dmontngrey - Massachusetts
sevenofseven - Northern California
princessperky - Charlotte, North Carolina
Househopeful - Delaware
toyguy1963 - Ohio
Analise - northern California
Little gopher - Minnesota
Joan.of.the.Arch
canoineag - Denver
Buckeye - Ohio
Koppur - Massachusetts

Those who already turned on the heat:
Fern - Oct. 19
Creditcardfree - Oct. 15
Nancy - Oct. ??
MilehighGirl - Oct. 11
wyozozo - Wyoming - Oct. 10
Mech - Oct. 3 Massachusetts
ME2 - Oct. 3
myenglishcastle - October 1
homebody - October 1

It was 55 degrees again when i woke up. That was the inside temp; outside, it looked to be about 38 degrees.It's toasty warm in bed, but sitting at the computer for long periods, for instance, it gets quite chilly.

Not much going on here, just had a typical fast-paced week at work and now a typical "catch-up" weekend. My mom's coming over after the farmer's market to drop off some organic apples and to take some insulated drapes i bought last year for a set of French doors so she can hem them for me. They're a good 6 inches too long.

On Sunday I'll be attending my first Home Depot "clinic." This one is on energy efficiency. Of course, they'll be hawking their products, but that's ok, if i learn a thing or two about technique or what to use where, it'll be useful. I have 2 cans of insulating foam spray i'll be trying out in the basement instead of messing around with cutting and nailing pieces of tin flashing to seal up holes in the basement ceiling. Someone told me mice will chew through the foam stuff, but at this point, it's just a lot easier to do and i'll take my chances.

I received payment for one of my freelance assignments, $230. Would have been nice to get payment for the 2 they owe me for, but i guess i'll have to wait for the next one.

Stop & Shop prices these days generally don't beat Shop Rite, but they did have one good buy, bananas for .39 a pound. I can't justify the gas to drive the 8 miles round trip just for bananas, but i'm wondering if it would warm enough today (50s) for me to bike over there. A long trip, but now i have my little wicker basket and could easily carry 2 bunches of bananas plus get my weekend's worth of exercise at the same time. Plus i could deposit the freelance check at the bank branch which is inside the supermarket.

Am continuing to add to my emergency fund in small increments. I think I topped $5,000 now, so that's good. Am aiming for $18,000.

Here's the latest on the No Heat Challenge; I think we'll see some people cave in this weekend....

Still NO HEAT:
Me, aka fern - Connecticut
monkeymama - Northern California
debtfreeme - Northern California
mbkonef - Southeastern Pennyslvania
Ima Saver - Georgia
scfr - Texas
snoopycool - Florida
dmontngrey - Massachusetts
sevenofseven - Northern California
princessperky - Charlotte, North Carolina
Househopeful - Delaware
toyguy1963 - Ohio
Analise - northern California
Little gopher - Minnesota
Joan.of.the.Arch
canoineag - Denver
Buckeye - Ohio
Koppur - Massachusetts

Those who already turned on the heat:
Creditcardfree - Oct. 15
Nancy - Oct. ??
MilehighGirl - Oct. 11
wyozozo - Wyoming - Oct. 10
Mech - Oct. 3 Massachusetts
ME2 - Oct. 3
myenglishcastle - October 1
homebody - October 1

Here's where we stand again, with a few corrections...

Still NO HEAT:
Me, aka fern - Connecticut
monkeymama - Northern California
debtfreeme - Northern California
mbkonef - Southeastern Pennyslvania
Ima Saver - Georgia
scfr - Texas
snoopycool - Florida
dmontngrey - Massachusetts
sevenofseven - Northern California
princessperky - Charlotte, North Carolina
Househopeful - Delaware
toyguy1963 - Ohio
Analise - northern California
Gamecock 43 - Florida!!!
Little gopher - Minnesota
Joan.of.the.Arch
canoineag - Denver
Buckeye - Ohio
Koppur - Massachusetts

Those who already turned on the heat:
Creditcardfree - Oct. 15 (You gave it a good shot!)
Nancy - Northern Colorado, turned it sometimes last week?
wyozozo - Wyoming - Oct. 10
Mech - Oct. 3 Massachusetts
ME2 - Oct. 3
myenglishcastle - October 1
homebody - October 1

Here's who is still in the game for America's #1 No Heat Miser! There have been a few dropouts.

Me, aka fern - Connecticut - takes hot baths before going to bed at night!
monkeymama - Northern California
debtfreeme - Northern California
mbkonef - Southeastern Pennyslvania
Ima Saver - Georgia
scfr - Texas
snoopycool - Florida
dmontngrey - Massachusetts
sevenofseven - Northern California
princessperky - Charlotte, North Carolina
Househopeful - Delaware
toyguy1963 - Ohio
Analise - northern California
Gamecock 43 - Florida!!!
Nance - northern California - has a wood stove!
Little gopher - Minnesota
Joan.of.the.Arch
canoineag - Denver
Buckeye - Ohio

Those who already turned on the heat
(boo hoo):
Creditcardfree - Oct. 15 (You gave it a good shot!)
wyozozo - Wyoming - Oct. 10
Mech - Oct. 3 Massachusetts
ME2 - Oct. 3
myenglishcastle - October 1
homebody - October 1

I'm just thrilled that it's exactly mid-month and I've wasted no drops of my precious oil. I'll be patting myself on the back sometime in January when i squeeze an extra week out of my tank before the next fillup.

Still, the really hard part is coming very soon, here in the Northeast. Tomrrow, temps will begin to drop and this weekend I believe we're only expecting highs in the 50s. I can deal with indoor temps of 55 degrees, but not much cooler, during the day, anyway.

So the challenge is rapidly becoming, well, a real challenge! If you crank up the heat, please remember to post a reply on this post cus i may miss it if you post it to your own post during the week when i don't usually have time to read all your entertaining news.

Gas prices in my area, last time i checked, were around $3.26 a gallon. But there's this one gas station in my town, on the way to work, on a stretch of road that has no other places to stop, that still had posted prices of $3.65 a gallon. I suppose he's counting on the fact that some people who let the car run down near empty will stop at his station. Then a few days later, i was galled to see his price had jumped to $3.99!! Even in the town where i work, where prices are always a good .25 higher, their prices don't match his! Maybe i should report him as a price gouger to the state.

Lovely, lovely weekend. I feel a little guilty that i didn't stay outside all day long. In fact, i fell asleep in the early afternoon while October in Connecticut warmed to about 70 degrees.

I did, however, manage to mow the front yard yesterday and the back today. I dethawed some homemade pesto sauce and had that over pasta today for dinner.

Then i decided to squeeze in even more exercise by combining an errand with pleasure. I had some library books to return and i grabbed my camera for the walk. I was surprised the library was closed when i got there, but i dropped the books in the slot.

Here are some pix i took along the way....


There are some beautiful murals in the stairwells of our town hall, which also doubles as our town-owned movie theater. A well-known, local artist painted them and they all depict actual places in town. The prominent, red-brick building here is, in fact, the town hall itself. So i was standing in the town hall and taking a picture of it simultaneously. Cool, huh? I've always loved this old town hall, partly becus it was built in 1930, the same year my house was built.


The white church with the flagpole stands in the heart of our historic Main Street and at the intersection of my street and Main Street. The flagpole actually stands in the middle of the road and causes lots of car accidents. At night, the flagpole is always lit up and when you're coming home down Main Street, that flag says "home" to me.


I'm not sure where this little waterfall is...


This mural depicts my next door neighbor's barns, which stand vacant.

Now, here are the same barns in a photo i took along my walk...actually, the painted barn you see is one L-shaped barn, and standing from where i did to take my photo, i included a 2nd barn so it blocks the other part of the barn you see in the painting.




Virginia creeper on a sugar maple...


Autumn afternoon....

So, i've been tracking my fuel economy for the last 10 tank fill-ups. I'm getting an average, since this past mid-July when i started taking note of it, of 38.4 miles per gallon with a high of 42.6 miles per gallon and a low of 34.9 miles per gallon. I really can't complain and i look at my trusty Honda with new appreciation these days.

You probably know what a "bucket list" is, even if you didn't see the movie by that name. I didn't see it, but after a friend started talking about it, i began musing about what would be on my list.

My financial goals are already listed at the left, but i thought it would be fun to come up with a list of goals, specifically, learning experiences.

So far, i've got 2 worthwhile things:

1. Travel to every national park in the country. I love visiting national parks, i really do. I have a parks passport book where you can get it stamped at the visitor's center of any national park you visit. It has the name of the park and the date you visited, and is a nice memento of your travels. It might be fun to plan a week's vacation around a string of parks you could hit all in one trip.

2. Read a biography of every American president, starting with George Washington and ending with President Obama. Ha ha. Just making sure you're reading this. I'm more interested in recent history that i've lived through, but i'm sure there are interesting things to learn about our earliest presidents. I'm getting more and more interested in history, and this would be a good way to go about it.

That's all i've gotten for certain right now. Of course, i want to do more travel, but i want to keep my bucket list filled with educational type things. Why, i'm not really sure.

If i had more time (maybe when i retire) i might add: read 3 books of my choice from the NYT best-seller list each year.

I filled up my oil tank last June, which is usually a time when prices are depressed. But when i scheduled my furnace cleaning, i asked what the going rate was now, and they told me $3.09 a gallon. That's cheap(!) compared to the $4.24 i paid in June x 192 gallons = overpayment of $220 with just that one fill-up, but who knew?

However, the Energy Information Administration has forecast an average per gallon oil price of $3.90 this winter, so my advice to you would be, if you haven't filled up, do so now! Especially since OPEC is concerned that the dip in oil prices to around $87 per barrel is getting a little too low; they like to maintain oil prices at between $80 and $100. So they're meeting in November and will likely cut production. I just wrote a blog post at work on this subject called, "Kicking us when we're down?"

Today's high was about 69 or 70 here, so i threw open all the windows at about 1:30 pm when i saw it had reached 68 outside and my indoor temp was still 60! Despite doing that, and then closing all those windows around 3:45 pm, i managed to increasd the indoor temp to only 61. This house seems to retain the cooler temps, a good thing in summer but not so good now. Still, with mild temps forecast thru at least Wednesday of next week, I'm thrilled to continue deferring any use of my oil heat! Each day i avoid turning it on now means an extra day's worth of heat i'll get in the dead of winter, when i really can't avoid using it.

Work is getting incredibly busy. I'm writing feature stories for the website, news stories about all this bailout and credit liquidity stuff, and now blogs. If you have a chance, check it out....www.creditfyi.com. I've written close to 200 stories for the site, though only roughly half of them are now live. Others await review by our Search, Product and Legal people.

Since being with this company, i've had to learn so many freakin' new software programs, not really my strongpoint. There's one to load the website stories content on. Another to do the blogs on. Another to get reimbursed for seminars or other work expenses. Another to work on some of our other websites, of which there are many. And there's another website we have to go to just to see our paychecks, cus it's all paperless. It's enough to make your head spin.

The other morning, a work day, i woke up early, around 5 am, wide awake and forming the basic idea of what could be a great blog post. (Not here, but at work.) It was so good and i was afraid i'd forget all the details swirling in my head that i turned the light on and grabbed the pen and paper that aren't near my bed, they're IN my bed for just this purpose.

The lightbulb moment happened again when i woke up this a.m., so i scribbled down more notes. My very best creative time is first thing in the a.m. before i even get up. Ideas percolate and sizzle without my even realizing it, it seems. Wierd.

Oh, what a gorgeous early fall day. I did a load of laundry and hung it out to dry on the line before 9 am, to make sure it really dried.

Then i got to work on my next freelance writing project and finished that up around 12:30 pm. This house is a 4,397 sq foot Colonial priced at $3.75 million. Like the one i did last week, it has lots of fireplaces and a built-in pool as well as a gourmet kitchen. Unless they give me more assignments, I'll have just 1 more writeup to do. They'll owe me a tidy $920 for all 4 of them.

After doing that I mowed my front lawn and then, becus it was such a nice day out, i tidied up the garage in preparation for winter, basically, so i can park in there, and swept out all the leaves.

I should really be out there taking a walk or something, but i'm a little pooped from lawn-mowing.

In case you were in any kind of denial, here's an excerpt from a story on www.marketwatch.com:

All major categories of homeowner expenses increased faster than incomes between 1996 and 2006, the center reported in "Stretched Thin: The Impact of Rising Housing Expenses on America's Owners and Renters."

While mortgage payments increased 46% during those 10 years, utilities increased 43%, property taxes increased 66% and property insurance increased 83%, according to the study. But homeowner incomes increased just about 36%.

The full story is here: http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=4335322072fd4152b15eb043a92cfef7&siteid=nwhpf&sguid=L7yfy10mS0G-tGJJC23k-A

Kudos to all those who remain in the no-heat contest. No one else has written to tell me they turned on the heat, so we're all still in this together.

Fortunately for us in the Northeast, we're expecting mild temps in the low 70s for the rest of the week. And with all the terrible economic news (the Dow dropped again today like a lead weight), I'm looking at this no-heat challenge as more and more a necessity, not just entertainment.

On top of that, www.accuweather.com is forecasting the coldest winter in the Northeast in five years. So hang onto your mittens!

Thought i'd do a final weekend update on the "contest." But first, I just want to say that we don't want you to do any harm to your health by sitting in a cold house. So if you are in poor health, or have seniors or very young children at home, please don't go to any extremes.

That being said, here's who is still in the running for America's #1 No Heat Miser!

Me, aka fern - Connecticut - takes hot baths before going to bed at night!
monkeymama - Northern California
wyozozo - Wyoming
debtfreeme - Northern California
mbkonef - Southeastern Pennyslvania
Ima Saver - Georgia
scfr - Texas
snoopycool - Florida
dmontngrey - Massachusetts
sevenofseven - Northern California
princessperky - Charlotte, North Carolina
Househopeful - Delaware
toyguy1963 - Ohio
Analise - northern California

...and 7 new players!
Gamecock 43 - Florida!!!
Nance - northern California - has a wood stove!
Little gopher - Minnesota
Joan.of.the.Arch
canoineag - Denver
creditcardfree
Buckeye - Ohio

Those who already turned on the heat (boo hoo):
Mech - Oct. 3 Massachusetts
ME2 - Oct. 3
myenglishcastle - October 1
homebody - October 1

If there's anyone else who's turned on the heat, 'fess up now!

In other news...The skies turned blue late this afternoon, so i planted 12 daffodil bulbs and 5 allium bulbs. I like the alliums, which are in the onion family, cus no one likes to eat them!

I made both my peanut butter/whole wheat quick bread (dry, but edible) as well as my tomato soup with ravioli, chopped broccoli, and peas.

Tomorrow my mom's art exhibit at my office is ending, so i'll bring home her tapestries and framed art with me and drop it off at her place.


Here's her work here, at a different show...

It'll save her 1.5 hours of driving, since i'm already there. She invited me to stay for dinner, but i told her no, i'll likely be tired at the end of the day plus the kitty will be hungry. I playfully said she could pack me a homecooked "meal-to-go," and that's exactly what she's done! I love homemade meals and i rarely get one, unless i make it myself. And i also love my mom's cooking. It's always super healthy and good for you. Yum. She liked the sound of my PB whole wheat bread, so i'll bring her some, too. One hand washes the other.

My mom, who is both a very prolific and a very diversified artist, is also in the next exhibit at my office, which changes quarterly. My mom's thrilled, becus even if she doesn't sell anything, my company pays a very nice "rental fee" which is unheard of by gallery standards.

That's it for now. Time to settle in with Netflix and my kitty. Have a good week, everyone!

Looks like I need to update my list as some have turned the heat on and others are still stubbornly clinging to their sweaters.

Here's who is still in the running for America's #1 No Heat Miser!

Me, aka fern - Connecticut
monkeymama - Northern California
wyozozo - Wyoming
debtfreeme - Northern California
mbkonef - Southeastern Pennyslvania
Ima Saver - Georgia
scfr - Texas
snoopycool - Florida
dmontngrey - Massachusetts
sevenofseven - Northern California
princessperky - Charlotte, North Carolina
Househopeful - Delaware
toyguy1963 - Ohio (I'm sorry, you were on my handwritten list and somehow your name dropped off on the post)
Analise - northern California

Those who already turned on the heat (boo hoo):
Mech - Oct. 3 Massachusetts
ME2 - Oct. 3
myenglishcastle - October 1
homebody - October 1

So 4 have dropped out and there are still 14 in the running!

I must say i wavered a bit this weekend. This morning it is 55 degrees in my house and very chilly. Yesterday when sitting at my computer doing my freelance writing i couldn't seem to get warm. I started the day with a turtleneck, then was still cold, so i put a lightweight sweatshirt on over that. I was STILL cold, so i put on an oversized corduroy shirt on top of that and finally i was warm, though couldn't move!

Someone asked if using an electric blanket was "cheating." I don't think so, cus i imagine the energy used for that is a lot less than heating the whole house. My own strategy last night was to soak in a hot bath and then jump in under flannel sheets and 2 lightweight quilts, with a heavy comforter which my cat adores on the side, just in case.

Truth be told, even the most stalwart among us will have to cave in when the temps drop to the freezing level, since no one wants to risk frozen pipes. But even when i do turn the heat on, i plan to start off gradually with the thermostat set only at 55 so it'll likely only kick in at night, and that will be to keep temps from dropping near freezing, when that time comes.

I remember last winter that i kept the heat down so low that i actually looked forward to getting in the car or going to the office becus i knew it would be toasty warm!

Here in CT, tomorrow will be the chilliest day of the week with a high of about 57, but by the end of the week it will warm back up to a high of 71. Go figure.

Yesterday i got a decent amount of stuff done. I did a load of laundry and hung it out to dry around 9 am, hoping that by hanging all day it would eventually dry in our 60-something, partly cloudy weather. (It did.)

Then i sat down to try to get the 1st of 3 freelance writing projects out of the way. This time i tracked my time since it's been a while since i did a property listing brochure. It took me 2.5 hours to do, so that works out to a gross of about $92 an hour. I know that sounds great, and it is, but becus i have few deductions to take on my tax return (it's basically just me, my brain and my computer), i end up shelling out about 33% in taxes, so i probably net $62 an hour.

So I did finish the writeup for that one property, a 10,000 square foot Georgian Colonial in one of the wealthiest towns in the state selling for $4.55 million, if you're curious. Six bedrooms, 8 baths and 7 fireplaces, too, plus a pool and sauna on over 2 acres.

I also vacuumed out my car, which needed it. It'll probably be the last time til spring! I mowed and trimmed the back yard and relocated a bird feeder and suet feeder to their wintertime locations. I've been doing volunteer research for Cornell Ornithology for many years monitoring population flucutations and species diversity of North American songbirds.

Basically, you put out your feeders and every 2 weeks throughout the winter you identify and count the birds (any 2 consecutive days of your choosing).

(There's a certain way to do it so you don't end up counting the same bird twice.) You can spend as little as an hour doing it or all day if you want to. Then you enter your information on a special form online, at the Cornell Ornithology Lab website.

I'm sure it would be a great activity to do with kids if they are interested in nature. I guess i've been doing it for at least 15 years now. Since i don't ski and don't like the cold, it's a good winter activity to do from the comfort of your home. And you really learn your birds. An ID book is essential.

After relocating the feeders, I ran to the dump and took in my laundry, which by this time was dry. I was going to tackle my next chore, finishing putting plastic up on the screened porch, but i realized, HEY, i don't really feel like it, so i decided to leave that for today.

I've never put plastic up on the porch before and never realized why the paint on my painted wood floor on the porch was always peeling every spring. It's becus snow would drift in through the screen, lay there til it melted, and then seep down through the wood. Not good. I noticed someone else here said putting plastic up on windows made a big difference for them, and i'm hoping that enclosing my porch with plastic will stave off some of that cold air from my family room, which opens onto the screened porch thru a set of French doors that are always icy cold to the touch.

I got insulated cellular blinds for those French doors, too, but i need help putting them up! I'm so inept! I'm giving my friend R. some time to recover from assembling my Chinese cabinet and hope to enlist him again in a few weeks.

I also got about a dozen daffodil and allium bulbs in the mail recently, and was hoping today i could plant them. But right now it's rainy, so maybe later in the afternoon when the weather clears. The bulbs were free except for a small shipping and handling fee. Every so often, this mail order nursery catalog offers $25 worth of merchandize for free, NO MINIMUM PURCHASE required. I REALLY don't understand how they can do that and stay in business. Maybe most people end up ordering more than the $25 worth. Anyway, this is probably at least the 3rd time i've taken advantage of the offer.The catalog, if you're interested, is called Gardens Alive! and is based in Indiana. I don't know if they have the coupon on their website, but if you signed up to get their catalog, eventually you should see that offer again. They specialize in organic and natural pesticides safe for the environment.

The 2nd load of laundry i was hoping to do today will have to wait til next weekend when it's supposed to warm up.
NO DRYER FOR FERN!

May also catch that Get Smart Movie at our $2 movie theater here with friend H.

It's a long shot, but maybe i can get myself to start the next of my freelance writing projects. The only other things i wanted to do today was bake a loaf of quick bread, make a tomato/vegetable soup using frozen veggies so i can make room in the freezer to get some sale items at Shop Rite on Tuesday and watch a Netflix movie.

Oh, thank you for the compliments on my yard. It's 1.5 acres. My street is just a half mile from the center of town. My side of the street is the old side with larger lots (my neighbor behind me, who i used to carpool with has 9 acres, for example), while the houses on the other side of the street are part of a small 1970s subdivision with 1 acre zoning, which is the minimum in my town.

I love the property too, but it's hard to keep up with. I have twice as much land in my front yard, which was the view you saw in my last post, then in the back. The front is much more sunny, the back is more shaded by lots of trees. Actually, it's woodsy all around (especially in back) although once the leaves drop from the trees, you can see some of my neighbors' homes.

It's great to see so many of you are game for the no heat challenge.

Here in Connecticut, the weather has turned decidely cooler, with highs in the mid 60s daytime and this a.m. it was 38! I think we had a frost last night becus i can easily see the white stuff on the roof of my family room from my bedroom window.

I'm going to summarize where we stand now. If any of you have turned on the heat since my original post last weekend, please let me know what day you turned the heat on so i can update the list. Also, if you're willing to share what state you're in, that would be good for further "analysis."

3 cheers for those who are still "in the game" with NO HEAT turned on:

Me, aka fern - Connecticut
monkeymama - California
ME2
wyozozo - Wyoming
debtfreeme
mbkonef
Ima Saver - Georgia
scfr - Texas
snoopycool - Florida

Those who already turned on the heat (boo hoo):
myenglishcastle - October 1
homebody - October 1


This is the view of my front yard from just outside my front stoop. That's the autumn joy sedum in bloom in the foreground and the large red bush in background is a gigantic burning bush which I intend to trim back this winter.
A lot of nice autumn colors.

In other news...

I have more freelance work than i can handle right now. I guess that's a good thing, but (sigh) I don't really FEEL like it this weekend...I've got 3 assignments and i have to at least 1 of them this weekend. I'm charging $230 to write a property listing brochure. These are homes in the $5 million and up range, so they do more marketing than they would for the average home. I'll have to check how much time i spend on these as i haven't done any for a year or so. I'm guessing up to 3 hours, but really, it requires a lot of focus and effort. I intend to raise my prices after the new year to make it more worth sacrificing what little free time i have. I don't mean to sound ungrateful for the work, though, becus especially with this shaky economy, any extra income is welcome. I'm still intent on building up my emergency fund (an online money market getting 3.75%), which currently stands at $4500. I'd like to have at least $10K in there, and really, I should have $18,000 in it, which would equal about 6 months worth of expenses.

So...I HEAR mice in the basement or walls at night, and I SAW one scurry under the furnace a week ago. I've got maybe 6 mousetraps in the basement with peanut butter and still, only 1 mouse caught in the past 2 weeks.

I've got 4 vacation days left for the rest of the year. I'm not a big fan of taking off a lot of time at Xmas becus it's cold and there's not a whole lot you can do. I have set aside 2 days for Xmas, though we're already getting the Thurday AND Friday off after Christmas. And we get the Friday after T-giving off, too. So I think i'll use the remaining 2 vacation days later in October. I have bulbs to plant, leaves to rake and general tidying up and putting pots and stuff away for winter.

I'm happy I managed to squeeze in 4 bike trips this summer. I took 0 kayaking trips. Just couldn't squeeze it in.

The clothes are on the line, hopefully drying. I'm skeptical they will; as i recall, even temps in the 60s, unless direct sun is shining on them all day, aren't enough to dry damp clothes. It's pretty cloudy out right now. I just hate like the dickens to start using the dryer again. (It's just like turning on the heat.)

I still haven't bought any clothes and don't intend to for the rest of the year.

As I recall, it's usually early October, at some point, when i have to turn the heat on. It's been awfully warm here lately, so i have high hopes of perhaps setting a new record for living without heat. Care to join me??

Zillow informed me today that my house is worth $415,000, which sounds absolutely ridiculous. From the casual observance of the real estate ads in my local paper, I might get $350K. At the peak of the market, I had it listed for $429,900, so I'm sure its value has dropped more than $15,000.

Unhappily, i got my homeowner's insurance bill the other day. I've never made a claim, but each year it steadily increases by about $30 or so. It's $856 now. I hate the big bills.

In addiiton to not turning on the heat, i have also determined that i shall not buy any more clothes for the rest of the year. It's just 3 more months, and it's not that i'm a big clothes shopper or anything, but each month, there seems to be about $50 or $60 spent on clothing somehow.

My friend R. came over early this a.m. to fit me in his busy schedule so that he could finally finish helping me assemble a cabinet i bought from Home Decorators Catalog last spring. I thought i'd save a few dollars by buying a put-it-together--yourself deal, but then we found it was missing some essential cambolts. The piece was made in China so that's where they had to get the extra cambolts from. I don't know why they couldn't have taken the missing pieces from another box so as not to make the customer waite, then replace thoses cambolts when the part came in from China, but no, they made me wait about 4 months until finally after complaining to customer service for the 5th time, he offered to give me $25 credit if i agreed to get the cambolts myself at Home Depot. Well, geez, if i had known they carried cambolts, i would have suggested that myself much earlier. As it turned out, HD didn't have the right size, but i did find them at Lowes for $15, so i came out $10 ahead.

Here's the cabinet:



What you probably don't know (unless you're Chinese) is that the Chinese lettering is upside down. I realized that after peering closely at the picture of the cabinet in the catalog. Who knew? Anyway, what a sense of accomplishment that this thing is finally put together. As I figured out what to put in it (it's in my dining room) i also put aside some books for my next tag sale. Anytime i can cull clutter, i feel good.) Either that or if i feel lazy i'll just haul them all to the library for their book sale.

I also spent some time shredding several years worth of old paystubs.

Last night when i got home from work, around 6:20 pm, i stepped out the front door to get in about a half hour of mowing before it turned dark. Before i could walk down the stairs, a buck sauntered into the yard. Apparently he didn't see me. Not wanting to startle him, I just froze and watched, and was amazed when he started walking right toward me, sampling my plants as he went! Clearly, he still didn't see me, which was amazing, becus tho i was frozen, i still had to breathe, and i mean, he was about 5 feet away from me. I was feeling a little nervous and afraid that if i moved now it would REALLY startle him and he might get hurt or stumble running away. So i made a soft, clucking noise to alert him i was THERE. He looked at me sideways and kept eating. He had a tag in his ear and i wondered if he was semi-tame or something. I backed up slowly toward my front door, aware that his rack could make contact with my skin. Eventually, he wandered off. Phew. Close encounters of the deer kind.

Oh, if you'd like to see the website i write for, check out www.creditfyi.com. We're live now! There's probably a lot of content there you'd be interested in if you're here.

It's discouraging to see that I've lost (on paper only) $52,573 since the start of the year in the stock market. I try not to think about it. It's all long-term money, so I'll try to be patient and wait for the market to recover.