Wow, it has been quite a month and a half since my last posting. There is so much to talk about, however, much of it is response to the instant news cycle. I believe that the instant news cycle has been an extreme detriment to true knowledge, as it tends to be just response (sometime knee jerk) reaction. So, I will not be commenting on the latest tragedy in Arizona. Too much has been said by too many too quickly to even have a clue what they are talking about. Speculation has taken the place of information from news sources. I may however speak to the larger issues that the Arizona tragedy brought up, but for those who have no interest in my political ranting I will reserve that for another post which will be titled accordingly so you may ignore it if you so choose.
On to the subject of the title of my post….Saving Money.
I like so many others saw the TLC show “Extreme Couponing” and was fascinated by the savings those folks were getting with coupons. I was however, not interested in "stockpiling." So, I looked up the website 918couponqueen.com, knowing that the information would be more local, and I could focus on the things I buy anyway.
So, last Sunday I started clipping. I had been saying that I needed to find a hobby that I could do while watching TV to make more effective use of my time. So that is when I clip and organize.
Luckily my wife watched the show with me so she is all for doing this if it saves our budget some. So, for that reason when I find a coupon online that is good I am able to register both her and I for said coupons and double up on the number of items I can save on.
To give an idea of where I came from.... There are 7 adults and 1 child in my household. I usually shop at Sam's once a month and try to stock up for the month on non-perishables (and some fresh stuff that will last.) Then for regularly purchased items (milk, bread, etc...) it was to Reasor’s and/or Walgreens I go. My average monthly expense for food w/o including any of our meals out is about $400-$600.
So last night we did our monthly big shopping trip, with our coupons.
We started at Target. I had received a baby catalogue from them earlier in the week which had a coupon for a $20 gift card if you created a registry (which is free to create by the way...) It just so happens we are expecting another grandchild, so we did that and got our $20. Then, thanks to the matchup provided by Brandi M I was able to pull coupons from my minimal collection and printed online and purchased Kashi cereal, Lean Cuisine meals, and Yoplait yogurt. And thanks to another poster I got my FREE Halls cough drops.
TARGET: Original Sale Prices = $68 ish
Cash after coupon and gift card = $9
Then we headed out to Reasor’s to stock up using our coupons combined with the 10 for $10 sale. Now here we also had to get a number of items that we did not have coupons for, after all we were stocking up for the month. However, we did get an entire dinning room table FULL of items, and I truly believe with the exception of things like milk, bread ect... everything we need for the month, and some stocking up on items that were extremely cheep.
REASORS: Original Sale Prices = $221
Cash after coupons = $173
TOTAL SAVINGS BASED ON COUPONS = $107
TOTAL SAVINGS BY COMBINING COUPONS AND SALES = $200-300
Yea, I'll never be doing my big shopping trips without my coupons again.
Clint
Friday, January 14, 2011
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The Zen of Bike Building Pt 2
A few more nights of beer and bike disassembly, but not as much time as I would have liked.
For a moment I thought I was going to have 4 days of Thanksgiving to work on the project. While the wife and I were supposed to go to Mississippi for the holiday and for the Egg Bowl (Ole Miss v. Miss State, Go Rebs...) a family member fell ill on Tuesday and I thought we were going to be here for the weekend, with no plans. Can you say lots of bike time... However, and this is good news, the family member got much better by Wed evening so we decided to head out EARLY Thurs morning to be with my family.
So, I haven't had as much time as I would have liked, but I have gotten a great deal accomplished.
Got the exhaust and headers off, got the rear wheel removed, and the swing arm out. Everything else attached to the engine (kicker, gear lever, rear break lever etc...) are off the bike. So now I am down to removing the front wheel and front fork. I have never messed with the forks on a bike so that will be a learning experience.
Then, after engine removal, it will be down to grinding off all unnecessary tabs and connection points not being used in the final version, fabricating a battery box under where the cowl will be.
I hope the finances are available when I am ready to send it off.
Dec 1, 2010... CB550 Wyatt Project...
For a moment I thought I was going to have 4 days of Thanksgiving to work on the project. While the wife and I were supposed to go to Mississippi for the holiday and for the Egg Bowl (Ole Miss v. Miss State, Go Rebs...) a family member fell ill on Tuesday and I thought we were going to be here for the weekend, with no plans. Can you say lots of bike time... However, and this is good news, the family member got much better by Wed evening so we decided to head out EARLY Thurs morning to be with my family.
So, I haven't had as much time as I would have liked, but I have gotten a great deal accomplished.
Got the exhaust and headers off, got the rear wheel removed, and the swing arm out. Everything else attached to the engine (kicker, gear lever, rear break lever etc...) are off the bike. So now I am down to removing the front wheel and front fork. I have never messed with the forks on a bike so that will be a learning experience.
Then, after engine removal, it will be down to grinding off all unnecessary tabs and connection points not being used in the final version, fabricating a battery box under where the cowl will be.
I hope the finances are available when I am ready to send it off.
Dec 1, 2010... CB550 Wyatt Project...
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
The Zen of Bike Building Pt 1
OK, it has been a while since I have posted to the blog, but it has been a very busy summer/fall. Between my second stroke, and my inlaw’s medical issues, coupled with some financial drama I have fallen down on posting. That is about to change.
Now I will warn those of you who read this and are not into motorcycles, I have a feeling that most of my posts for a while will revolve around the rebuilding of my CB550.
First, some background on the project… I have always done my own preventative maintenance on my bikes. However, I have never taken a bike apart to any real extent and put it back together. I have always wanted to build a bike. But I told my wife that I had to start with something basic, and cheap. Basic, because I am not real knowledgeable about motorcycle repair, and cheap because if I messed something up that was irreparable I had to be able to throw the whole thing away without much concern.
Tammy found a bike one day at a garage sale. It wasn’t officially for sale, mainly because the owner had forgotten it was in the back of the garage. They said, sure we would sell it, so Tammy offered such a low price that she figured they would say no. They didn’t.
What she had bought was a 1975 Honda CB550. It had a Vetter fairing and supposedly it ran when it went into the garage, in 1996. Unfortunately I didn’t get pictures before I started taking things apart. That fairing had to go!
I had been planning on turning it into a bobber. Then Tammy said she wanted to learn to ride, so I thought something more understated. But now that plan has changed as well. My oldest son, who is 20, has shown interest in riding, and talked his mother into letting him have the bike, so long as he works on getting it up and running.
Well, a 20 year old, in the modern motorcycling climate, was neither interested in a bobber, nor an understated quasi stock street bike. What he wanted was an old school café racer. And after looking at the frame, and bike design I tend to agree that this particular model will be a much better café bike than a bobber.
So, tonight we got started stripping her down. We had 2 hours before Sons of Anarchy, so to the garage we went.
Two hours later we had the back fender off, the seat off, the air box out, the battery box out, the electronics board off, the carburetors off, the front fender removed, the headlight removed, the handle bars removed, the wiring disassembled, and who knows what else.
About the only things left to remove, are the wheels, brakes, forks, and engine.
Now it is time to finalize the design. And since I am not real experienced, or even good at design, I think I will just print off a picture and copy it, then draw in the design that we want.
The only thing I can see holding us up is the unknown of costs when it comes to painting, and any problem with the engine when we get it back together (since we were not able to get it running prior to disassembly.)
Prior to full disassembly. Fairing and seat previously removed.
End of the night, this is what was left, along with a large stack of parts.
Now I will warn those of you who read this and are not into motorcycles, I have a feeling that most of my posts for a while will revolve around the rebuilding of my CB550.
First, some background on the project… I have always done my own preventative maintenance on my bikes. However, I have never taken a bike apart to any real extent and put it back together. I have always wanted to build a bike. But I told my wife that I had to start with something basic, and cheap. Basic, because I am not real knowledgeable about motorcycle repair, and cheap because if I messed something up that was irreparable I had to be able to throw the whole thing away without much concern.
Tammy found a bike one day at a garage sale. It wasn’t officially for sale, mainly because the owner had forgotten it was in the back of the garage. They said, sure we would sell it, so Tammy offered such a low price that she figured they would say no. They didn’t.
What she had bought was a 1975 Honda CB550. It had a Vetter fairing and supposedly it ran when it went into the garage, in 1996. Unfortunately I didn’t get pictures before I started taking things apart. That fairing had to go!
I had been planning on turning it into a bobber. Then Tammy said she wanted to learn to ride, so I thought something more understated. But now that plan has changed as well. My oldest son, who is 20, has shown interest in riding, and talked his mother into letting him have the bike, so long as he works on getting it up and running.
Well, a 20 year old, in the modern motorcycling climate, was neither interested in a bobber, nor an understated quasi stock street bike. What he wanted was an old school café racer. And after looking at the frame, and bike design I tend to agree that this particular model will be a much better café bike than a bobber.
So, tonight we got started stripping her down. We had 2 hours before Sons of Anarchy, so to the garage we went.
Two hours later we had the back fender off, the seat off, the air box out, the battery box out, the electronics board off, the carburetors off, the front fender removed, the headlight removed, the handle bars removed, the wiring disassembled, and who knows what else.
About the only things left to remove, are the wheels, brakes, forks, and engine.
Now it is time to finalize the design. And since I am not real experienced, or even good at design, I think I will just print off a picture and copy it, then draw in the design that we want.
The only thing I can see holding us up is the unknown of costs when it comes to painting, and any problem with the engine when we get it back together (since we were not able to get it running prior to disassembly.)
Prior to full disassembly. Fairing and seat previously removed.
End of the night, this is what was left, along with a large stack of parts.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
The Zen of Speaking the Truth in Love
Nine years ago a great crime was perpetrated on more than 3000 people when 3 planes were flown into 3 separate buildings. Without question the people involved in committing those crimes were of the Muslim faith.
At the time there were those, and there still are those, who wish to condemn all people of Muslim faith for the act of these few. The big issue with me, and many others is that while there were many dancing in the street and celebrating, there were almost no voices from “moderate” Muslims condemning same action as being wrong in their sight or the sight of Allah.
I am of the Christian faith. Specifically, I guess what you would call an Evangelical Protestant. It is my firm belief that when I see something evil being done I have to speak out on the issue. For as it says in James, and I paraphrase, if you know the good you aught to do, and don’t do it that in and of itself is a sin.
So today I, and I pray many others will follow, would like to say that the planned Koran burning on Sept 11 by the church in Florida is an evil act meant only to insight and insult. I do not believe either of those intentions is acceptable to a Jesus who ate with sinners and tax collectors, and sat with a Samaritan adulteress without condemning her. I believe the emotions and intentions behind the burning of the Koran are no different than the emotions and intentions of those who brought a woman caught in adultery before Jesus and wanted to see if he would agree for her to be stoned, under the law. But his response was “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” There have been bastardizations of Christianity that have committed some VERY evil acts, just as there are bastardizations of Islam that have committed some VERY evil acts. So, no one can cast the first stone on this matter.
Now please don’t think I believe that we must lie down and accept defeat at the hands of an enemy bent on our annihilation. But we must never change who we are in our own defense. For if we do, we become the ones to bastardize everything we believe in. We must “take the high road,” for if we do not act righteously, even by our own standards, due to fear or otherwise, we become a greater evil than we are attempting to avoid. We become hypocrites who do not live by our own standards, but expect others to live by them.
So let me be clear. I as a Christian of Evangelical Protestant faith speak out clearly and without reservation against the burning of the Koran planned for this Sept 11th in Florida. I pray that the Reverend’s heart will be touched and he will not go through with that uncalled for act. For the simple “do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” I would not appreciate anyone burning a Holy Bible, so I will act in accordance with what I would have them do. That is not to say that they won’t, but that is not the standard. The statement is not “do unto others as you would have them do unto you, unless they do otherwise.”
Retro
At the time there were those, and there still are those, who wish to condemn all people of Muslim faith for the act of these few. The big issue with me, and many others is that while there were many dancing in the street and celebrating, there were almost no voices from “moderate” Muslims condemning same action as being wrong in their sight or the sight of Allah.
I am of the Christian faith. Specifically, I guess what you would call an Evangelical Protestant. It is my firm belief that when I see something evil being done I have to speak out on the issue. For as it says in James, and I paraphrase, if you know the good you aught to do, and don’t do it that in and of itself is a sin.
So today I, and I pray many others will follow, would like to say that the planned Koran burning on Sept 11 by the church in Florida is an evil act meant only to insight and insult. I do not believe either of those intentions is acceptable to a Jesus who ate with sinners and tax collectors, and sat with a Samaritan adulteress without condemning her. I believe the emotions and intentions behind the burning of the Koran are no different than the emotions and intentions of those who brought a woman caught in adultery before Jesus and wanted to see if he would agree for her to be stoned, under the law. But his response was “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” There have been bastardizations of Christianity that have committed some VERY evil acts, just as there are bastardizations of Islam that have committed some VERY evil acts. So, no one can cast the first stone on this matter.
Now please don’t think I believe that we must lie down and accept defeat at the hands of an enemy bent on our annihilation. But we must never change who we are in our own defense. For if we do, we become the ones to bastardize everything we believe in. We must “take the high road,” for if we do not act righteously, even by our own standards, due to fear or otherwise, we become a greater evil than we are attempting to avoid. We become hypocrites who do not live by our own standards, but expect others to live by them.
So let me be clear. I as a Christian of Evangelical Protestant faith speak out clearly and without reservation against the burning of the Koran planned for this Sept 11th in Florida. I pray that the Reverend’s heart will be touched and he will not go through with that uncalled for act. For the simple “do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” I would not appreciate anyone burning a Holy Bible, so I will act in accordance with what I would have them do. That is not to say that they won’t, but that is not the standard. The statement is not “do unto others as you would have them do unto you, unless they do otherwise.”
Retro
Friday, August 27, 2010
The Zen of a Clean Office
I had no idea how much my office was stressing me out. I have always been one who had stacks of stuff all around everywhere, but if I needed to find something I knew where was. Little did I know that all of those stacks of stuff, and the disorganization that it represented, was providing a significant amount of stress.
Today my office is stress-free. That is not to say that my work is stress-free, but rather that my office is not adding additional stress to that work. Thanks to a small comment on Twitter or by my former minister, Wade Hodges, I now have a G. T. D. compliant office.
For those of you unfamiliar with the GTD concept, it is a process by which you organize your thoughts, and then make rational decisions as to what those thoughts represent. The thing I like best about this process is that it involves dumping all of your thoughts out onto either paper or in some digital format that then allows your mind to be clearer, and more focused on the individual tasks that you have to accomplish.
In my work setting the way this plays out is that I always have a daunting list of things that need to be done. However, I was adding to my own stress by trying to keep track all of those things that needed to be done, and the reference material to do those things, and all of my scheduling etc. in my head. What I found was, just as they say writing a journal is therapeutic, so is the process all of looking at everything you have to do, deciding on a next step for those things, making a list of those steps, and then putting it out of your head. You refer to the list to take action, but don't need to stress over the other items, or whether you are taking the right action. The decision of whether you are taking the right action or not is a decision you have already made prior to putting the action on the list of things to do.
In addition to making those lists, rather than leaving things piled up and keeping tracking in your head to locate things, a simple filing system of A-Z allows you to put things in reference points so that you know how to get to anything you may need in a minute or less.
So today I get to add the Zen of the clean office to my Zen of a motorcycle life. For now that I have a clean desk, and the process by which to keep it that way, my head is clear.
For this clarity I sincerely wish to thank Wade, David Allen the creator of the “getting things done" method, and my secretary to put up with a lot as I was going through this process.
Retro
Today my office is stress-free. That is not to say that my work is stress-free, but rather that my office is not adding additional stress to that work. Thanks to a small comment on Twitter or by my former minister, Wade Hodges, I now have a G. T. D. compliant office.
For those of you unfamiliar with the GTD concept, it is a process by which you organize your thoughts, and then make rational decisions as to what those thoughts represent. The thing I like best about this process is that it involves dumping all of your thoughts out onto either paper or in some digital format that then allows your mind to be clearer, and more focused on the individual tasks that you have to accomplish.
In my work setting the way this plays out is that I always have a daunting list of things that need to be done. However, I was adding to my own stress by trying to keep track all of those things that needed to be done, and the reference material to do those things, and all of my scheduling etc. in my head. What I found was, just as they say writing a journal is therapeutic, so is the process all of looking at everything you have to do, deciding on a next step for those things, making a list of those steps, and then putting it out of your head. You refer to the list to take action, but don't need to stress over the other items, or whether you are taking the right action. The decision of whether you are taking the right action or not is a decision you have already made prior to putting the action on the list of things to do.
In addition to making those lists, rather than leaving things piled up and keeping tracking in your head to locate things, a simple filing system of A-Z allows you to put things in reference points so that you know how to get to anything you may need in a minute or less.
So today I get to add the Zen of the clean office to my Zen of a motorcycle life. For now that I have a clean desk, and the process by which to keep it that way, my head is clear.
For this clarity I sincerely wish to thank Wade, David Allen the creator of the “getting things done" method, and my secretary to put up with a lot as I was going through this process.
Retro
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The Zen of Survival
You know, it is funny how after years of joking that I wasn’t going to live past 40 how it looses its comedy after my second stroke at 39.
Tuesday night I managed to survive my second stroke. For those that are unaware, on June 26th of last year (the same day that Michael Jackson died,) I suffered a stroke. At 38 years of age, needless to say it was quite a shock. The incident occurred on a very hot day when I was riding from Oklahoma City to Tulsa on my Goldwing. As I arrived in Tulsa I found that I lacked the ability to grip my brakes. As if this weren’t bad enough, the bike suddenly felt like it had a flat tire. I wasn’t sure what was occurring but was trying to believe that it was just that my hand had fallen asleep. But somewhere in the back of my mind I knew there was a possibility of stroke, because I pulled over and stuck my tongue out. After arriving home my wife recognized my symptoms and got me immediately to the hospital.
I ended up spending 2.5 days in the hospital, as my symptoms slowly abated. Afterwards my stroke was not obvious in any of my physical appearance, or performance. However, I did have some “cognitive dissonance.” There were words I just couldn’t remember, I continued to have problems using numbers, and my sort term memory was almost gone.
Release from the hospital was a welcome relief, as I felt the need to get back to some normalcy. To get “back in the saddle,” I returned to work that Monday. In hindsight I probably should have given myself more time, but I needed the consistency of going to work. Slowly the dissonance abated as well, and I was able to recover much of what was lost as far as I could tell (with some exceptions such as short term memory, either that or I am still oblivious to what was lost.)
Following last year’s incident I have not had any continuing symptoms, that is until last night. As I slept, the stroke began…. I woke to a numb arm, and I immediately thought of the potential of a stroke. After just a few moments I knew what it was, and woke my wife. It is amazing how quickly she woke up with the statement “babe, wake up, I think I’m having another stroke.”
Now I sit in the hospital again, all symptoms seem to have abated. And while I would rather be at home, and preparing for work tomorrow, I have grown to realize the blessing of simple survival.
This visit I have promised myself that I will take my time in returning to my normal break neck speed. The saddest part of this whole thing is that I may be quite a while before I can return to riding the motorcycle. While I yearn already to get the road under my tires, I will (not try but will) take my time.
Final thought: remember that just because you are young now doesn’t mean you always will be. Seize the Day, but occasionally remember to leave some day to be seized tomorrow, it’s better for your health.
Retro
Tuesday night I managed to survive my second stroke. For those that are unaware, on June 26th of last year (the same day that Michael Jackson died,) I suffered a stroke. At 38 years of age, needless to say it was quite a shock. The incident occurred on a very hot day when I was riding from Oklahoma City to Tulsa on my Goldwing. As I arrived in Tulsa I found that I lacked the ability to grip my brakes. As if this weren’t bad enough, the bike suddenly felt like it had a flat tire. I wasn’t sure what was occurring but was trying to believe that it was just that my hand had fallen asleep. But somewhere in the back of my mind I knew there was a possibility of stroke, because I pulled over and stuck my tongue out. After arriving home my wife recognized my symptoms and got me immediately to the hospital.
I ended up spending 2.5 days in the hospital, as my symptoms slowly abated. Afterwards my stroke was not obvious in any of my physical appearance, or performance. However, I did have some “cognitive dissonance.” There were words I just couldn’t remember, I continued to have problems using numbers, and my sort term memory was almost gone.
Release from the hospital was a welcome relief, as I felt the need to get back to some normalcy. To get “back in the saddle,” I returned to work that Monday. In hindsight I probably should have given myself more time, but I needed the consistency of going to work. Slowly the dissonance abated as well, and I was able to recover much of what was lost as far as I could tell (with some exceptions such as short term memory, either that or I am still oblivious to what was lost.)
Following last year’s incident I have not had any continuing symptoms, that is until last night. As I slept, the stroke began…. I woke to a numb arm, and I immediately thought of the potential of a stroke. After just a few moments I knew what it was, and woke my wife. It is amazing how quickly she woke up with the statement “babe, wake up, I think I’m having another stroke.”
Now I sit in the hospital again, all symptoms seem to have abated. And while I would rather be at home, and preparing for work tomorrow, I have grown to realize the blessing of simple survival.
This visit I have promised myself that I will take my time in returning to my normal break neck speed. The saddest part of this whole thing is that I may be quite a while before I can return to riding the motorcycle. While I yearn already to get the road under my tires, I will (not try but will) take my time.
Final thought: remember that just because you are young now doesn’t mean you always will be. Seize the Day, but occasionally remember to leave some day to be seized tomorrow, it’s better for your health.
Retro
Friday, July 23, 2010
The Zen of Fiberglass and Canvas
Some may immediately recognize what I am referring to when I mention Fiberglass and Canvas. Others might recognize it better if I said Wood and Canvas. Either way, ultimately the reference is to sailing.
On July 7th I was blessed with my first experience on a sailboat. It was a J24 racing cruiser, which is exactly what we were doing with it. A couple of the people I work with have sailboats and are members of the Windycrest Sailing Club. They actually go out and race these things a couple of times a week on Keystone lake.
On the 7th I took Tammy with me, and we met co-workers John, the skipper, and Margaret who was crewing. It was a beautiful evening, but the wind was low, somewhere around 5-7mph maybe. We had a good trip out and the race went well. I even got to help crew by stowing the Spinnaker (the sail that looks like a parachute when deployed), and hauling in the Ginny (the front, of the two sails.) Tammy’s job was to not get hit with the Boom as it moved from one side of the boat to the other, which she did beautifully.
On the way in, after the race was over John looked at me and said, “you want to drive a while?” I wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity, so I was seated with the tiller in hand. John was teaching me how to know when to tack and how to steer to keep the sails in the right wind. I was doing great until we got into the cove, and John was watching and said, “OK I guess we aught to tack about here”. So I yelled to the crew, “preparing to tack,” then “tacking” and about that time….the boat stopped dead in the water.
Yes, the first time I was ever in a sailboat I managed to run it aground. I was slightly embarrassed, right up to the moment Margaret reminded me that John was still the skipper and I was just doing what crew should do…following instructions.
We did finally make it in to dock.
Yesterday I got the chance to go again. And yes, John let me back on his boat. Not only that, he let me drive again, more than once. I don’t yet know if he is brave or stupid…I’m going for brave. Yesterday however was a very different experience. John’s experienced crew of Mike and Margaret neither were able to be there, so for last nights race we had a crew of exactly two, the skipper and me.
I got the full sailboating experience crewing a J24 with just two of us. I got really good at tacking the Ginny (moving the front sail from one side of the boat to the other depending on wind direction and where we were headed. I also got experience “flying” the Ginny kinda like a Spinnaker. Since we didn’t have someone to fly the Spinnaker we had to make the most of the wind we had on downwind legs, so we went into something called the “wing and wing.”
Well, I don’t know how John will come out in the standings, but I think we did pretty well. And, buy the final leg, I was getting used to the procedures and what was next, so I was getting quicker and quicker at making the changes. However, I have to say that today I am sore from hauling the sail around and getting it “trimmed,” which really means, “fight the wind until the sail is as taught as you can get it.”
I have really enjoyed sailing, and look forward to crewing again. The best part is I have been invited to crew any time I am available.
All of a sudden I know what Christopher Cross was talking about when he sang,
“Sailing… takes me a way…”
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