On What Day Will You Buy the Farm?

Need to know what day you will die on? Need to plan in advance and get your affairs in order? Then visit -

THE DEATH METER

BTW, I will no longer be blogging after March 11, 2050.

Here's a Tip

How much should you give as a Christmas bonus to the people that serve you during year? Here are some suggestions:

Tipping experts say, and tip recipients implied, that cash is the best way to say happy holidays. "Tipping is not a time to try and be original," said Hilka Klinkenberg, founder of Etiquette International.

Other tipping tips include...

• If you frequent a restaurant daily, it's a good idea to tip your regular waiter. An extra $5 in a card is a kind gesture at your regular lunch spot, while at the Four Seasons you could shell out $40-$50, plus similar amounts to the maitre and captain.
  
• You don't have to give as much to the new hairdresser, doorman, etc. because you haven't forged a relationship with them yet.
  
• Alcohol is not recommended. Just because you
  may enjoy the extra splash of cheer, it might not be right for someone else.
  
  CHILD CARE
  Babysitter 1 evening's pay + small gift
  from child
  Au pair 1 week's pay or a gift + small gift from child
  Nanny 1 week's to 1 month's pay + small gift from child
  Daycare providers $20-$70/each + small gift from child
  Child's teacher Gift (but check the school's policy to see if it's allowed)
  Coaches, tutors, music teachers, ballet instructors, etc: A small gift from the child
  
  HOME/CAR CARE
  Housekeeper 1 week's pay or more (depending on length of service)
  Trash collectors $15-$20 each
  Parking attendants $10-$35 each or up to half a
  month's parking bill for the group if they regularly provide extra service
  Gardener $20-$50. If the gardener's last job before spring is a fall clean up, it's best to tip in the fall
  
  APARTMENT SERVICE
  Doormen $25-$100 each (those who provide the most service for you should get more than those whom you barely see)
  Superintendent/custodian $50-$300 (tip more if
  there's no doorman and the service has been particularly attentive, but tip less if you tip throughout the year)
  Porters/handymen $10-$50 each
  Elevator operators $15-$40 each
  
  PERSONAL CARE
  Hairdresser Cost of 1 cut (or $20-$100) if you go frequently + small gift
  Manicurist Cost of 1 session (or $10-$50) + small gift
  Personal trainer $25 up to 1 week's pay (or cost
  of 1 session)
  Massage therapist $50-$100 or cost of 1 session
  
  PET CARE
  Dog groomer Small gift + 1/4 to 1/2 the cost of 1
  session
  Dog walker/regular dog sitter Cost of 1-2 week's pay (as with a
  nanny, a small gift is optional)
  
  DELIVERY SERVICES
  U.S. mail carrier Gifts under $20*
  UPS Company policy discourages drivers from accepting tips, but they can accept something of nominal value. Tipping guides offer $15 as a guideline, but the amount and choice of gift are up to you.
  
  FedEx Company policy does not permit cash tips, but a gift worth up to $25 is okay.
  Paper carrier $15-$25 for daily delivery ($5-$15 for
  weekend delivery)
  *Civil servants are not allowed to receive cash tips. But if you wish to recognize your mail carrier, the U.S. Postal Service asks that your gratuity not exceed $20 in cash value.
  

Is it fun to be you?

At the end of the day when you look in the mirror, do you smile and say, "Gee, It's fun to be me!" If not, what can you do to change that?

It is usually fun to be me, because I try really hard not to be a grown up. You know, to stay young at heart. But doing that sometimes makes me selfish and self centered as I try to surround myself with a barrier of personal comfort. If anything disrupts that personal comfort then it is no longer "fun to be me."

I try and full fill my "grown up" obligations, then I am ready to have fun. Be it hiking, camping, games, movies, etc. I don't want to be tied to schedules, goals that I can't achieve, and meetings I can't make. I want to be spontaneous and a free spirit.

But as I said before, doing that can sometimes run over other people and that is not fair. I need to be more focused on others rather than myself. And during this season of giving, I hope to reflect on that and perhaps be proactive in making sure that it is fun to be me but also it is fun to be AROUND me too.

LOL!

Movie Friday

I have only seen two or three of the animated Aeon Flux episodes on MTV. They were interesting and disturbing at the same time. And I never saw enough of the series to understand what the premise was. Fortunately none of those are a problem for the movie Aeon Flux.

I first saw Charlize Theron in the fun caper movie, The Italian Job. I fell in love with her acting and Mini Coopers. I did not see her in her Academy Award winning role she played in Monster. (shudder). In Aeon Flux she plays a highly trained assassin working with a group of rebels that are fighting against the system in which they live. The earth's population was wiped out by a virus and only a city full remain. They were saved by a brilliant scientist named Trevor Goodchild. But people are beginning to suspect there is nothing "good" about Trevor as people are mysteriously disappearing. Aeon is sent to kill him.

The movie is very fast paced and we are slowly given the complete storyline throughout the movie as the dialogue is interspersed with the action. The film is not too deep, and the plot twists are cliche and weak, but never the less, the visuals of the near-future city and set design was suburb. I really believed the world exsisted as presented. It was a fun film to watch and I feel I got my five-fiftys worth.

Catch it before its buried by a large hairy ape.

Calvin and the Snowmen

I love Calvin!

Grrrrrrr!

No My Name is Earl and no Office last night! They had to have their two-hour finale of The Biggest Loser instead! Who wants to see a show about other people losing weight? Not me.

What's next? We watch chain smokers try to kick the habit? Compulsive gamblers stop going to the track? Online gamers get away from the keyboard more? Hey wait that's me!

Weeping Mary

(Sacramento, CA) - A Sacramento-area church is drawing the faithful and the curious for an unusual sight that some are calling a miracle.

In front of the Vietnamese Catholic Martyrs Church stands a statute of the Virgin Mary. The figure appears to be crying tears of blood. The tears streak down the left side of her face and onto the bodice of her garment.

Church parishioners first reported seeing the red teardrops last Wednesday.

Observers are interpreting the phenomenon in various ways. Some say Mary is crying for all of the tragic events in the world. Others see it as a premonition of what the future holds.

Super Cool

I love movies and I love super heroes. So put the two together and you have two great tastes in one, just like a Reese's Cup. Although if you are allergic to peanuts, I can't recommend eating one.

Superman Returns is months away from release but everyone's talking about it. There's a great Macromedia Flash preview now circulating around the internet and if you have a few minutes and want to watch something really good, click right here. The movie even has a bonus superhero, Batman. I am surprised they would write the dark knight into the script with Batman Begins still fresh in our minds, but the caped D.C. Comics heroes have crossed paths several times in their series, so it is fitting the Batman makes an appearance. It has my blessing.

Kiss of Death

SAGUENAY, Quebec (AP) -- A 15-year-old girl with a peanut allergy died after kissing her boyfriend, who had just eaten a peanut butter snack, hospital officials said Monday.

Christina Desforges died in a Quebec hospital Wednesday after doctors were unable to treat her allergic reaction to the kiss the previous weekend.

About 1.5 million Americans are severely allergic to even the smallest trace of peanuts and peanut allergies account for 50 to 100 deaths in the United States each year.

The Washington Monument

I was born in Washinton D.C. in September of 1965. It was a dark stormy night. Sounds like the start of a mystery novel does it not? My father, like most fathers during that period was in the waiting room. He was watching a movie called....It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Fitting I think.

Learn more than you care to know about the Washington Monument here.

Five Things I'm Thankful For [Day 5]

1. Christmas
2. Wind
3. Water (swimming, lakes, ocean, etc.)
4. Laughter
5. Love

Five Things I'm Thankful For [Day 4]

1. Movies
2. Our home
3. Good Neighbors
4. Sunshine
5. Home Videos
   

Food and Football

A big thank you to my sister who saved Thanksgiving. Otherwise we might have ended up at Denny's. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Five Things I'm Thankful For [Day 3]

1. Doctors
2. Football
3. 24 hour Walgreens
4. Pictures
5. Thanksgiving
   

Perfect Dark Zero

Well I said the heck with trying to score a Premium XBOX 360 bundle and I went out and bought all the gizmos I need to bring mine up to par. So look out, I am online and slaying the world.

For my first 360 game I chose Perfect Dark Zero because of its rave reviews. I really like the game so far. It's like Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, but easier and more fun. You play female secret agent named Joanna Dark. She has a variety of weapons and gadgets to help her infiltrate enemy bases and complete missions. There is a co-op mode and of course mulit-player.

The multi-player rocks. It's called Combat Arena. All the weapons, cool moves, and tons of ememies to frag. I highly recommend this title as a must have!

Game on dood

"Are you insane?"

That's what my wife asked when I told her I stood outside Target this morning for two hours to buy an XBOX 360 game system I did not want. Well I wanted the PREMIUM system, but all I could get was the CORE system, which has less essential accessories. I am going to hold it for a few days while I try and find a premium system. I hate Microsoft. They should have just made ONE system. Everyone wants the premium, but this Target store had 4 premiums and 12 core systems. It should have been the other way around! Did I mention I hate Microsoft!

Happy Holidaze!

Five Things I'm Thankful for [Day 2]

1. Music
2. Rain
3. My Job (no really I am!)
4. Computers
5. Blogs

Radio Peeps

I was listening to the Marc and Kim radio show here in K-Town on 102.1 fm and apparently Marc Anthony claimed he would strip naked and stand outside the studio naked and sing if gas prices ever fell below 2 bucks.

Well it is 1.99 all over town. So as a man of his word he went out side in 39 degree temps and rain and exposed his grapes. What will he do if prices drop to 1.09?

Five Things I'm Thankful For [Day 1]

1. Family
2. Church
3. Christmas Lights (duh)
4. Turkey
5. Cold Weather
   

I Love Christmas Lights

Their soft quite glow in the dark of the night is somehow comforting. Sometimes I stand on the porch alone in the cold and stare up at the twinkling motes. No screaming kids, no blaring TV, no keyboard demanding attention, no bills to pay, just me and the winking little balls of light. It can be peaceful for just a moment to collect my thoughts and take a deep breath.

The weather was not too cold this afternoon, so Lyn suggested I drag the lights out and put some up before it gets frigid for the rest of the year. Tangled icicle lights, twisted lighted garland, the blinking star, spiral trees, and coiled rope lights. Ladders, extension cords, plugs, and burned out bulbs.

Ahhh peace on earth. OK maybe not, but peace on my porch at least.