If you are like me then sticking to a budget to remain financially solvent is becoming a main priority. I've found for myself that sticking within the budget when it comes to food is harder than most other areas. I've been a bit sickened lately when a couple bags of groceries can cost more than $40. Recently a couple internet friends of my wife tipped her off to Angel Food Ministries. It's a non-profit organization that buys lots of food at wholesale and then sells it for wholesale to the public. A good size box of food costs $30 and is easily worth double that. This past Saturday we picked up our very first box of food from Angel Food Ministries. Here's what it contained: steaks, pork ribs, hot dogs, eggs, chicken breasts, chicken nuggets, ground turkey, milk, peanut butter, cranberry sauce, pasta, pancake mix, green beans, carrots
Not bad for $30. I should note that some of the items are quite generic but that doesn't mean poor quality. They also have several optional boxes that you can order that cost varying amounts and feature different meat or fruit and vegetable items. Next month I think I'll order one of the optional boxes as well.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the US and Christmas is four weeks away. This time of year can definitely get expensive, do yourself a favor and at least look at Angel Food Ministries. It can be a great money saver and this is certainly not a time to be spending money unnecessarily.
And because Thanksgiving is only 15 minutes away as of the time of this writing, I would like to just say one thing that I am thankful for. There are many many things that I am thankful for and most more personal than this one. But the one thing that I'd like to share with you is that this is my 100th post on I'm Not A Rat. This is the first blog that I have consistently stuck to for this long and I am thankful for the things that I have learned and been able to share with all of you over the course of the last 8 or 9 months through this website. Thank you for reading.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Black Friday
We are just a week away from the most greed filled day of the year. I am talking about Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is one of the commercially innocent holidays remaining of the major holidays. That status is being stripped away though by more and more retail stores choosing to open on Thanksgiving instead of waiting until Friday to kick off their sales.
I have never gone shopping on Black Friday, most years it is because I have been working and a couple years it's simply because I've got no money. As someone who has worked inside of a store during this madness I can say that it is generally a display of the worst of humanity. People pushing, and yelling, and bursting with anger if they don't get their hands on lots of junk that they don't need anyway. A lot of them are the types that you see every year, buying the same type of junk, and also throughout the year whenever sales are good enough. These are the ones that aren't buying for themselves or as gifts for anyone, they are simply reselling. And they are usually the rudest ones.
If I could give just one piece of advice to those who are thinking of venturing out on Black Friday it would be this: Don't. Do you actually need the things you plan to buy or are the low prices driving greed somewhere within you? Those low prices aren't worth dealing with the traffic, the crowds, the stress, and more often in recent years the violence that accompanies this day.
I have a friend that has worked at Wal-Mart for a number of years. She told me that every year on Black Friday she comes home with bruises all over her from greed driven customers trying to get to whatever generic electronics item is on sale that year. Black Friday is definitely a dark day in America. Once again this year, I will be working that day. Fortunately though the company I currently work for doesn't deal with this kind of insanity.
I have never gone shopping on Black Friday, most years it is because I have been working and a couple years it's simply because I've got no money. As someone who has worked inside of a store during this madness I can say that it is generally a display of the worst of humanity. People pushing, and yelling, and bursting with anger if they don't get their hands on lots of junk that they don't need anyway. A lot of them are the types that you see every year, buying the same type of junk, and also throughout the year whenever sales are good enough. These are the ones that aren't buying for themselves or as gifts for anyone, they are simply reselling. And they are usually the rudest ones.
If I could give just one piece of advice to those who are thinking of venturing out on Black Friday it would be this: Don't. Do you actually need the things you plan to buy or are the low prices driving greed somewhere within you? Those low prices aren't worth dealing with the traffic, the crowds, the stress, and more often in recent years the violence that accompanies this day.
I have a friend that has worked at Wal-Mart for a number of years. She told me that every year on Black Friday she comes home with bruises all over her from greed driven customers trying to get to whatever generic electronics item is on sale that year. Black Friday is definitely a dark day in America. Once again this year, I will be working that day. Fortunately though the company I currently work for doesn't deal with this kind of insanity.
Black Friday
We are just a week away from the most greed filled day of the year. I am talking about Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is one of the commercially innocent holidays remaining of the major holidays. That status is being stripped away though by more and more retail stores choosing to open on Thanksgiving instead of waiting until Friday to kick off their sales.
I have never gone shopping on Black Friday, most years it is because I have been working and a couple years it's simply because I've got no money. As someone who has worked inside of a store during this madness I can say that it is generally a display of the worst of humanity. People pushing, and yelling, and bursting with anger if they don't get their hands on lots of junk that they don't need anyway. A lot of them are the types that you see every year, buying the same type of junk, and also throughout the year whenever sales are good enough. These are the ones that aren't buying for themselves or as gifts for anyone, they are simply reselling. And they are usually the rudest ones.
If I could give just one piece of advice to those who are thinking of venturing out on Black Friday it would be this: Don't. Do you actually need the things you plan to buy or are the low prices driving greed somewhere within you? Those low prices aren't worth dealing with the traffic, the crowds, the stress, and more often in recent years the violence that accompanies this day.
I have a friend that has worked at Wal-Mart for a number of years. She told me that every year on Black Friday she comes home with bruises all over her from greed driven customers trying to get to whatever generic electronics item is on sale that year. Black Friday is definitely a dark day in America. Once again this year, I will be working that day. Fortunately though the company I currently work for doesn't deal with this kind of insanity.
I have never gone shopping on Black Friday, most years it is because I have been working and a couple years it's simply because I've got no money. As someone who has worked inside of a store during this madness I can say that it is generally a display of the worst of humanity. People pushing, and yelling, and bursting with anger if they don't get their hands on lots of junk that they don't need anyway. A lot of them are the types that you see every year, buying the same type of junk, and also throughout the year whenever sales are good enough. These are the ones that aren't buying for themselves or as gifts for anyone, they are simply reselling. And they are usually the rudest ones.
If I could give just one piece of advice to those who are thinking of venturing out on Black Friday it would be this: Don't. Do you actually need the things you plan to buy or are the low prices driving greed somewhere within you? Those low prices aren't worth dealing with the traffic, the crowds, the stress, and more often in recent years the violence that accompanies this day.
I have a friend that has worked at Wal-Mart for a number of years. She told me that every year on Black Friday she comes home with bruises all over her from greed driven customers trying to get to whatever generic electronics item is on sale that year. Black Friday is definitely a dark day in America. Once again this year, I will be working that day. Fortunately though the company I currently work for doesn't deal with this kind of insanity.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
National Novel Writing Month
November is National Novel Writing Month. Maybe November 12th is a bit late in the month to be mentioning it, but this article kind of got preempted by all the political news last week.
National Novel Writing Month is when writers all across the country attempt to write an entire novel in one month. It's an admirable goal and one that I don't intend to achieve. I am however going to put a renewed focus on the novel that I am currently writing. That means that there will likely be a few less articles on I'm Not A Rat this month. I love writing on this website but the reality is that it sometimes cuts into my creative writing a bit much. I have a certain goal in mind for how much I would like to have finished on the novel by January and if I'm going to achieve it then I need to shift some of my writing time around to put a little more emphasis on fiction instead of non-fiction.
I hope you, my loyal readers, understand and cheer me on in this endeavor. I've got some great articles coming up, they're just going to be a bit more spaced out.
National Novel Writing Month is when writers all across the country attempt to write an entire novel in one month. It's an admirable goal and one that I don't intend to achieve. I am however going to put a renewed focus on the novel that I am currently writing. That means that there will likely be a few less articles on I'm Not A Rat this month. I love writing on this website but the reality is that it sometimes cuts into my creative writing a bit much. I have a certain goal in mind for how much I would like to have finished on the novel by January and if I'm going to achieve it then I need to shift some of my writing time around to put a little more emphasis on fiction instead of non-fiction.
I hope you, my loyal readers, understand and cheer me on in this endeavor. I've got some great articles coming up, they're just going to be a bit more spaced out.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Preparing for the Years Ahead
We are just a few days removed from Barack Obama's election as President of the United States and still a couple months away from when he actually takes office. It's never too early to start planning for the future and I think it's important to understand how policies that Obama plans to put in place may affect your daily life.
If your finances are like mine then supposedly Obama plans to give us a tax cut and people who are wealthy will have their taxes increased. On the surface this seems great for people who aren't well off financially but the problem is that it punishes people for being successful. Why should people work hard to succeed when the government promises to punish them for it?
He also plans to raise taxes on businesses. This has the great potential to do two things: one is that businesses will likely raises their prices to cover the cost of the tax increase and the second thing that could happen is that business close up shop and move over seas. In both instances we will need any tax cut we can get because things that we already can't afford are going to cost us more.
There's also that promise of $1000 for everyone in America that is supposed to come from the pockets of the oil companies. Again to punish them for being successful. Look I need any money I can get, so it's not like I would take the check and through it back in his face, but the reality is that a one time check for $1000 won't even heat my house for one winter and does nothing to actually lower the price of oil. My other problem with this idea is that I feel it was just an effort to buy votes for $1000 each and I sincerely doubt he will even follow through with this promise.
So what can we as individuals do to prepare ourselves for potentially far worse economic conditions in the country? The short answer is that we need to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. And preparing for the worst can mean a lot of different things depending on how bad you think things might get in the next four years. I should really say the next eight years. If Bush was able to go two terms while the media was destroying him before he even took office, then certainly Obama being the media's anointed one can go two terms.
I think a wise person would not spend beyond their means, would save money instead of going into debt. I wise person would become self-reliant in as many areas as he or she is capable. I think a wise person wouldn't just be thinking about stocking up on canned goods but growing their own food and learning how to can it themselves. I think now more than ever you need to be the best that you can be at your job so if the company you work for is making cuts you hopefully won't be one of the first to go. Find ways to make yourself energy independent because you realize that the country will never be.
These are all things that people would be wise to consider any time but especially right now when there is so much instability in our own country and abroad. We've had plenty of presidents who turned out to be pretty bad and it's way too early to start judging Obama as president, but I feel it is necessary to understand the potential consequences of his policies so that we are prepared and can handle the things that directly affect our lives.
If your finances are like mine then supposedly Obama plans to give us a tax cut and people who are wealthy will have their taxes increased. On the surface this seems great for people who aren't well off financially but the problem is that it punishes people for being successful. Why should people work hard to succeed when the government promises to punish them for it?
He also plans to raise taxes on businesses. This has the great potential to do two things: one is that businesses will likely raises their prices to cover the cost of the tax increase and the second thing that could happen is that business close up shop and move over seas. In both instances we will need any tax cut we can get because things that we already can't afford are going to cost us more.
There's also that promise of $1000 for everyone in America that is supposed to come from the pockets of the oil companies. Again to punish them for being successful. Look I need any money I can get, so it's not like I would take the check and through it back in his face, but the reality is that a one time check for $1000 won't even heat my house for one winter and does nothing to actually lower the price of oil. My other problem with this idea is that I feel it was just an effort to buy votes for $1000 each and I sincerely doubt he will even follow through with this promise.
So what can we as individuals do to prepare ourselves for potentially far worse economic conditions in the country? The short answer is that we need to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. And preparing for the worst can mean a lot of different things depending on how bad you think things might get in the next four years. I should really say the next eight years. If Bush was able to go two terms while the media was destroying him before he even took office, then certainly Obama being the media's anointed one can go two terms.
I think a wise person would not spend beyond their means, would save money instead of going into debt. I wise person would become self-reliant in as many areas as he or she is capable. I think a wise person wouldn't just be thinking about stocking up on canned goods but growing their own food and learning how to can it themselves. I think now more than ever you need to be the best that you can be at your job so if the company you work for is making cuts you hopefully won't be one of the first to go. Find ways to make yourself energy independent because you realize that the country will never be.
These are all things that people would be wise to consider any time but especially right now when there is so much instability in our own country and abroad. We've had plenty of presidents who turned out to be pretty bad and it's way too early to start judging Obama as president, but I feel it is necessary to understand the potential consequences of his policies so that we are prepared and can handle the things that directly affect our lives.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Day After the Election
I'm writing the first part of this article at 4 pm on Tuesday so as of right now I have no idea who won the presidential election. Up until about four hours ago I was pretty hopeful that John McCain would emerge the victor when all of this is over. But a startling thought kind of killed a lot of that hope.
Nearly every person I have heard show support for Barack Obama has done so from a place of willing ignorance. Most of the endorsements for Obama are filled with words that have no bearing on who he actually is and what he actually stands for. I saw an article yesterday that claimed Obama stood for family values. I'm not sure where they got that impression. Most of the rest of the endorsements Obama picks up lack anything that even approaches a substantial reason for supporting the man. Colin Powell's endorsement is a good example of this.
So here is the startling revelation that I had: None of this makes any sense. When normally intelligent people are willing to ignore all of the facts and come up with reasons for supporting someone that have no bearing in reality then I think there are greater things going on here than meets the eye. Just the other day a woman was buying dog food at the store I work at and said "I can't wait until Obama is president and we don't have to deal with these high prices anymore." What is wrong with people? It's best not to try and make sense of it all because you can't. There is no reasoning and no logic to describe why Obama carries the support that he does. What I'm trying to say is that I believe that our leaders are only in power because God allows them to be in power. If Obama wins the election then it is because God willed it so. And I certainly don't mean that to sound like God somehow endorses Obama's policies. No, I think sometimes nations need tough medicine to get themselves back on track. See my article Electing a King for more information on that.
I would like to believe that when this article is published tomorrow morning that none of this has actually come true, that enough of a America is not under the Obama spell to bring about a different outcome. The reason I don't hold on to much hope of that however is because I have yet to find an Obama supporter that is actually informed about the issues and has based their decision on that knowledge. I'm sure those kinds of people are out there as well, and though I disagree with them, at least they are making their decision from a place of knowledge and not because they think Obama will lower the price of dog food or because "McCain is too old."
This next paragraph is specifically for people in Pennsylvania. I've heard so much about how Obama cares about the middle class but what will happen to the middle class in Pennsylvania if he bankrupts the coal industry like he said he would? What about all those middle class people employed in that industry? What will happen to our electric prices in PA if there is no coal industry, or a heavily hindered one? If Pennsylvania goes to Obama, it just reinforces everything I have written in this article about voters not thinking and only feeling.
WEDNESDAY MORNING:
Well America has actually done it. I watched McCain's concession speech last night and at one point it almost seemed like there was a tone of “everyone can just shut up about equal rights now.” I could be wrong but that's what some of what he said seemed to be geared towards. I only watched about two minutes of Obama's speech in front of the teary eyed millions. Never before have I seen a president elect welcomed with such fervor and emotional displays, it's a bit frightening. America is normally not about these kinds anointings of elected officials. I kept expecting to see Hypnotoad somewhere up on stage with him. Friday's article will be about what to expect in the years ahead, don't miss it.
Nearly every person I have heard show support for Barack Obama has done so from a place of willing ignorance. Most of the endorsements for Obama are filled with words that have no bearing on who he actually is and what he actually stands for. I saw an article yesterday that claimed Obama stood for family values. I'm not sure where they got that impression. Most of the rest of the endorsements Obama picks up lack anything that even approaches a substantial reason for supporting the man. Colin Powell's endorsement is a good example of this.
So here is the startling revelation that I had: None of this makes any sense. When normally intelligent people are willing to ignore all of the facts and come up with reasons for supporting someone that have no bearing in reality then I think there are greater things going on here than meets the eye. Just the other day a woman was buying dog food at the store I work at and said "I can't wait until Obama is president and we don't have to deal with these high prices anymore." What is wrong with people? It's best not to try and make sense of it all because you can't. There is no reasoning and no logic to describe why Obama carries the support that he does. What I'm trying to say is that I believe that our leaders are only in power because God allows them to be in power. If Obama wins the election then it is because God willed it so. And I certainly don't mean that to sound like God somehow endorses Obama's policies. No, I think sometimes nations need tough medicine to get themselves back on track. See my article Electing a King for more information on that.
I would like to believe that when this article is published tomorrow morning that none of this has actually come true, that enough of a America is not under the Obama spell to bring about a different outcome. The reason I don't hold on to much hope of that however is because I have yet to find an Obama supporter that is actually informed about the issues and has based their decision on that knowledge. I'm sure those kinds of people are out there as well, and though I disagree with them, at least they are making their decision from a place of knowledge and not because they think Obama will lower the price of dog food or because "McCain is too old."
This next paragraph is specifically for people in Pennsylvania. I've heard so much about how Obama cares about the middle class but what will happen to the middle class in Pennsylvania if he bankrupts the coal industry like he said he would? What about all those middle class people employed in that industry? What will happen to our electric prices in PA if there is no coal industry, or a heavily hindered one? If Pennsylvania goes to Obama, it just reinforces everything I have written in this article about voters not thinking and only feeling.
WEDNESDAY MORNING:
Well America has actually done it. I watched McCain's concession speech last night and at one point it almost seemed like there was a tone of “everyone can just shut up about equal rights now.” I could be wrong but that's what some of what he said seemed to be geared towards. I only watched about two minutes of Obama's speech in front of the teary eyed millions. Never before have I seen a president elect welcomed with such fervor and emotional displays, it's a bit frightening. America is normally not about these kinds anointings of elected officials. I kept expecting to see Hypnotoad somewhere up on stage with him. Friday's article will be about what to expect in the years ahead, don't miss it.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
The Vacation has Ended
After taking an entire week off from work and this website I am back. I usually rather enjoy my time away from responsibilities but this wasn't exactly the most relaxing vacation ever. I'll spare you the many details of why it wasn't that great but I'll tell you one small story from last week.
It all started the very first day of vacation after getting off of work. I was driving home and then we would be leaving for New Jersey shortly after that. It was raining and I drove through a large puddle which splashed water into the engine and the car nearly stalled in an intersection. Smoke and steam billowing and check engine light flashing, I pressed on. We got on the road around 6 pm that fateful Saturday night. The rain was heavy and I could barely see the road in front of me. As we neared Philadelphia traffic slowed to a crawl and that's when realized that the Phillies were in the World Series! A trip that should have taken 2 and a half hours ended up taking 4 and a half. There were a couple times that we considered stopping at a hotel for the night because the rain was so bad. But we made it! The visit to relatives in New Jersey was pleasant but driving in New Jersey is not. At most intersections they don't let you turn left! You must turn right and go around a loop just to get back to the intersection in order to go left. Craziness! Their politicians should be run out of office for laws like that. We got lost on a couple of occasions thanks to that. On the way home we got lost again because of crazy road changes. And that my friends, simple set the stage for how the rest of the week went. It's not like anything terrible happened but nothing good happened either.
On a brighter note I finally finished my first online store. Three months ago I mentioned that I set up a small page for Wizkids Pirates of the Cursed Seas and that I hoped to develop a store out of that to sell some of my extras. Well I finally did it and got my first sale within the first couple days. Here is the link to the store: Pirates for Sale! I'll keep you posted on the growth or lack thereof of this new venture.
I also took some time to fix one of my other sites, substandardstudios.com. Apparently the blog portion of it hadn't functioned right for months.
I spent some time working on music as well but I wasn't nearly as productive as I had hoped to be with it or with many other things I had hoped to accomplished. Eh, life goes on.
It all started the very first day of vacation after getting off of work. I was driving home and then we would be leaving for New Jersey shortly after that. It was raining and I drove through a large puddle which splashed water into the engine and the car nearly stalled in an intersection. Smoke and steam billowing and check engine light flashing, I pressed on. We got on the road around 6 pm that fateful Saturday night. The rain was heavy and I could barely see the road in front of me. As we neared Philadelphia traffic slowed to a crawl and that's when realized that the Phillies were in the World Series! A trip that should have taken 2 and a half hours ended up taking 4 and a half. There were a couple times that we considered stopping at a hotel for the night because the rain was so bad. But we made it! The visit to relatives in New Jersey was pleasant but driving in New Jersey is not. At most intersections they don't let you turn left! You must turn right and go around a loop just to get back to the intersection in order to go left. Craziness! Their politicians should be run out of office for laws like that. We got lost on a couple of occasions thanks to that. On the way home we got lost again because of crazy road changes. And that my friends, simple set the stage for how the rest of the week went. It's not like anything terrible happened but nothing good happened either.
On a brighter note I finally finished my first online store. Three months ago I mentioned that I set up a small page for Wizkids Pirates of the Cursed Seas and that I hoped to develop a store out of that to sell some of my extras. Well I finally did it and got my first sale within the first couple days. Here is the link to the store: Pirates for Sale! I'll keep you posted on the growth or lack thereof of this new venture.
I also took some time to fix one of my other sites, substandardstudios.com. Apparently the blog portion of it hadn't functioned right for months.
I spent some time working on music as well but I wasn't nearly as productive as I had hoped to be with it or with many other things I had hoped to accomplished. Eh, life goes on.
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