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How to Find a Good Umbrella

The raindrops keep on falling my head. It’s time to whip out the ever reliable umbrella. For the past 5 years, I have resigned to the thought that umbrellas are meant to be disposable in America. We have been buying these $4 umbrellas from Walmart and they don’t even last a whole 3 months before they become total wrecks not that we play with them. They just don’t last. Then a trip to Staples introduced me to Raines umbrellas, I had to think hard about buying a $12.99 umbrella- the lifetime guarantee made me buy it. I’m glad that I took it home because now we have a reliable cover over our heads when we need it. It’s been with us for 2 years now and I don’t feel guilty about adding more bulk to the landfills with flimsy destroyed umbrellas.

Coming from the tropics where I have had my share of rain. Remember Forest Gump when he was in Vietman with the rain dialogue? He wasn’t exaggerating. When it rains it pours over there. So that’s why I know a thing or two about picking umbrellas. If you want to find a long lasting umbrella.

1. Choose a non-folding umbrella, yeah I know it’s not convenient but hey it doesn’t get easily blown over by the wind.
2. Find one with the rounded spokes. Why else would bicycles have round spokes and not square ones? The ones with lesser quality will get bent easily and break.
3. Well, if you find one with a lifetime limited guarantee, it’s worth buying.

If you want to take the guess work out, just do yourself a favor and buy Raines.

Tags: good umbrella

Posted in Shopping | 1 Comment »

Hot Geek Rock

I was about to log-on to my Yahoo mail when I saw the front page made give it a second look. Pictured was a dude with a look that screams: Geek! He sports a pair of glasses, cute curls frames his bearded face. With the article title totally contradicting the picture How to Become a Rock Star surely made me want to read what it was all about.I guess I haven’t spent enough time online to hear about Jonathan Coulton. He used to be a software engineer(code monkey as he calls it) made a radical life change buy quitting his job then pursuing his Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Geek Rock, Jonathan Coulter

Posted in Geek Stuff, Music | 1 Comment »

Pet Health Insurance Makes Sense

It’s been awhile since I have updated this blog. Our furry family member Little C(Shetland Sheepdog) passed away last month due to cancer. I’ll save you from the very emotional details, suffice to say that life itself seem to have stopped that day and the days that followed.

Dogs have a special place in the family. In return for their unconditional devotion, love and loyalty; we as their humans owe them best care we can give. Dogs need food(to be discussed in detail in another post), cuddles, exercise, lots of play, shelter and veterinary care. During the last months of our Little C’s life, he visited the veterinarian more often Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Pet Care, pet health care, pet insurance, veterinary care

Posted in Pet Care | No Comments »

Awesome CowPots™

I watched a new episode of Dirty Jobs earlier this evening and I have been inspired to write about it. This time Mike interned with the awesome farmer/inventor/entrepreneur who makes CowPots™ . “Matt and Ben Freund are second generation dairy farmers in the northwest hills of Connecticut.” They maximized what most people would think is a pile of smelly poo. I suggest you watch the poo pot maker episode of Dirty Jobs to really appreciate what trouble they go through to make renewable energy and biodegradable natural fertilizer pots. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: CowPot, green products, organic pots

Posted in Environment/Ecology, Go Organic, Green Products | 2 Comments »

Signs of Recession?

Reading an article from the NY Times: Americans Cut Back Sharply on Spending confirms that we(my family) are not the only ones cutting back or having a belt tightening move.

“Strong evidence is emerging that consumer spending, a bulwark against recession over the last year even as energy prices surged and the housing market sputtered, has begun to slow sharply at every level of the American economy, from the working class to the wealthy.

The abrupt pullback raises the possibility that the country may be experiencing a rare decline in personal consumption, not just a slower rate of growth. Such a decline would be the first since 1991, and it would almost certainly push the entire economy into a recession in the middle of an election year.”

We have lessened eating out and have been cooking more at home. We have always shopped at Costco for bulk necessity items. We have cut off going to Starbucks for ground coffee entirely and started using a less expensive alternative organic coffee named Mayorga(a review on it later). For clothes, we have been going to Delaware for tax free outlet shopping since we discovered them 6 years ago. We need to shop for clothes at least 2 twice a year for my daughter, children grow and go through clothes so fast. I don’t consider my small family of 3 an average American family when it comes to spending because we don’t go to the movies, I’m low maintenance when it comes to hair and nails and going to a mall is quite a field trip. We shop more online specially if free shipping is offered with additional perks and it saves gas!

I think more and more people feel the pinch with commodity prices going higher and higher but salaries remain stagnant, there is less spending money. Health insurance costs have doubled since last year for us and Maryland have raised taxes some more. Who would be in the mood to spend? Most likely it’s just spending money they don’t have.

Is it a sign of recession or the American public just wisening up?

Posted in Money | 1 Comment »