Billy Mays = My Hero

You know you have made it in life when you are listed in Wikipedia for being a salesman on the TV. Billy Mays has been on the TV selling all sorts of home products for a good ten plus years. When I see him on TV I get a little excited and say, "I wonder what Uncle Billy is going to sell me today!"

The latest addition to his 20+ products that I have seen is the Handy Switch. This allows you to make a light switch to any lamp with remotes. I don't know who thinks of these products, but you have got to admit it's a pretty neat idea. I was thinking about picking up some for the house because I haven't had any luck training Sparky to get the lights.

It seems that anything Billy sells I think, wow, why don't I have that? Then the show comes back and it's like I was snapped out of hypnosis. Weird. Anywho! I have decided that when the time comes and I need to sell a house, forget realtor's, I am just going to hire Billy. I think I will actually get my money's worth.

Holiday Sweaters

Now before starting this entry, there is a disclaimer I must give. As engineers are apt to be socially awkward, holiday sweaters are intended for some people. They include people who work at schools, grandmas, and people that are blind. This entry is an FYI for everyone else.

Just as Bridget Jones makes fun of Mark Darcy for his fabulous reindeer sweater, so too, do I find myself holding back a chuckle every now and then as I witness what comes out of peoples closets this time of year. There is a lady that works in my building that is not in either of those groups. She has a couple of them she has shown off over the past month. I do snicker every now and then, but I can't help it. And of course because they are only appropriate for about a month, you need to wear them a few times. Styling.

Now, when people in the afore mentioned group wear them, they tend to look cute or at the very least appropriate. They are in the correct setting for it. If I were to bust out a sweater with sequins head to torso and blinking lights on it, I am sure I would look ridiculous because I am not in the appropriate group for it. Other people can pull it off.

I just get some good laughs when people pull out all the stops for these festive pieces of apparel. I don't know who designs it, but I would love to see the thought process behind it. "We need appliqués, beads, and sequins all over this. Let's give it all to a 10 year and see how it comes out."

However you show your festiveness, just keep it age appropriate and tasteful. You'll be fine.

A Year in Review for Books

One of the first blogs entries I made was about my book reading list I wanted to keep. To my surprise, I actually kept it up! It's kind of neat now to look back over it. I separated them out by month and if I had already read it once. I have read a solid 26 books this year and have a good feeling about completing at least two more before the year is over. That's an average of a book every two weeks. Not too shabby. Now because I am a real dork, here are some stats.

I have re-read 8 of those books. Six of them were the Harry Potter Series that I was trying to re-read before the last book came out. And four of those were read in July along with the final book making July the month I read the most in.

The book that took the longest to get through was Jane Eyre, but it was worth the read to get into Jasper Fforde's works. One of the books that I liked best was Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern. The same author wrote another book that is a new favorite called, PS, I love you, which is now about to be butchered by Hollywood. That's two of my favorite books this year (Stardust was the other) that Hollywood has made into a movie. Writers strike my foot, they are out of ideas and are now pillaging books.

I read books by 10 new to me authors. Some I liked some I didn't. But I enjoyed it all the same. I can also tell by my sheet what months I was super busy with other thing (Halloween costume) and didn't have as much time to devote to reading. Apparently I had some time on my hands in July and August.

I also wanted to share with you my personal library which is stored online. You can see what books I own and if I have rated them or not. If anyone would like to borrow one of them, I would encourage you to tell me and I can ship it to you or bring it with me the next time we meet. Happy Readings to you!

Going Dutch

I was recently at a restaurant with about 20 people for a social outing. This was a lot of fun and the food was good. The few of us that got there early had decided to order a few pitchers of margaritas for ourselves and those that would be coming. The waiter was trying to figure out how to do the billing for us. There was a lot of back and forth and the thought was that all the drinks were going to be on one bill and then everyone would chip in. Well it turned out that they went on some peoples bills and we were to "chip in" for them.

Now I am all for making the waiters life easier and we should have been a little more clear about what we thought was going on, but we were not. As a result I was stuck with a $20 pitcher of margaritas on my bill. I had a glass and maybe a half out of "my" pitcher which serves about 5 people. I think all told we had 7 pitchers across the table. As we were paying bills, some people "chipped in" money and called it even. Some asked, "How much do I owe you?" and I don't know if some even gave money.

This irks me because chipping in $2 (actual amount seen coming from a wallet) for a margarita is a far cry from fair for those that were chosen by the waiter to front the bill. I did have one person actually ask, how much? and put the proper amount it. All told though, I think the ones that got stuck with the bill maybe got $5-$10 paid to them. That means we fronted the other $10 a piece plus tax and tip. You do the math.

The point I am trying to make here is if you put in all on one bill, that works fine for 4 to maybe 6 people, if you really know them all. Otherwise ask for a separate check, ask how much if something was if you split a bottle of wine or an appetizer. The problem with "I'll just give you cash" is that people rarely take into account tax and then tip. I don't think it's on purpose, but it can add up especially in large groups. I have felt like more than half of the time I have put in on a card and gotten money for it, people came up short. I honestly hope I have never done that to someone, but I rarely have the cash on hand to give anyway.

The lesson, just go dutch or be sure to be responsible for all costs you are sharing on a bill. It's just good etiquette.

It's 75 degrees, but wait! It's December!

It appears that we have hit a bit of a heat wave. As if we need it. This weekend we started in the upper 60s and I know my car told me it was 76 this afternoon and right now my thermostat is telling me it's above 80. I know that's due to oven usage, but come on!

Meanwhile back in the north, people are actually having snow fall and lots of it. There have been reports of skiing, shoveling, the occasional snow ball fight, and even some furnaces kicking on. Well, let me tell you people in the north are missing out on.

That's right, the ability to drink a beer in a t-shirt with the warm sunshine on you. It's actually been really nice to do shopping in. The down side - no one I know really wants to turn on their oven and make it warmer in their place at that temperature. That's why I waited until the evening to start. I still have my windows open and a cool breeze is coming in, but it really feels like September, not December. My kitties were even enjoying the unseasonably warm weather.

It's supposed to be like this for another few days. I am going to take advantage of this and wear some of the warmer weather clothes like skirts and open toe shoes. My summer wardrobe is better anyway. :) Meanwhile, the rest of you can enjoy your winter wonderland.

Blog Updates

Recently there has been a number of people hopping on the blogger band wagon and I have added them off to the side of my own blog. The first one is Process + Color which is Kara Bo Bara, a friend of mine from college. The next one that was added was not too long ago by a co-worker of mine named Heidi, named The Goldilocks Quest. She actually stumbled across this on accident (stalker) because she was looking for LMents Braves pictures. Well, if you put that into Google, I am one of the first websites that comes up. My last one is about my friend Josh, who has decided to tell The Tale of The Traveling Name Plaque he has started on a journey all around New York State. I think it's like the office version of the gnome. :) Anywho, they are now on the side bar in case you wanted to know who they were.

Oooo Pretty Lights!

Ok, these aren't the best, but I thought I would toss them up here. One is of the outside of my house and the other is the tree. Honestly, if you needed that explanation for these pictures, we need to talk.