29 May 2010
27 May 2010
Recession or just Ripping me off?
Non-baby post ahead . . .
Yes, we are still in a recession. Many people are struggling to find jobs in a tough job market and the stock market is still a roller coaster, though going downhill over the last few days. Jobs are available, but it seems that there are an extreme number of applicants for every one. Unemployment is still high, budgets are being cut in all sectors of life and people are definitely still "tightening their belts," for lack of a better phrase.
I guess it's just a product of the times and all, but I'm sick of everything else going up in price. Our car insurance jumped $80 over the last 6 months. We only pay it every 6 months, so that's an increase of $13.33 per month. Maybe that's not a lot, but it's enough that it makes me mad. When I called to complain and find out why, the only explanation anyone could offer was that it was due to a "routine rate increase in our area." We looked into switching providers, but in talking to other people to find out what they pay, we felt like we were just as well to stay put.
Our health insurance is going up. Not only are we adding Molly to it (no, I'm not complaining about that), but our district is still negotiating how much it will increase (up to $130 per month last I heard - that's before we add Molly) the insurance premiums to cover budget shortfalls for next school year. I guess I should be happy that I am still confidently employed, right?
Even our water/sewer bill went up last month by a couple of bucks. Grrrrrrr . . . Granger-Hunter Improvement District.
So, what was the final straw for this ranting post . . . Cable Television. Since moving into our home 3 years ago, we've been subscribers to Comcast for both "limited basic" cable and internet. It's been fine. Our bill has increased a couple of times by a couple of bucks, but our service hasn't changed. So what's wrong? Due to Comcast's "digital migration" we now have local channels, the history channel, and the discovery channel . . . that's it. We don't watch a ton of tv at our house, but I do occasionally like to watch TLC, the food channel, and the home and garden channel. No more. What makes me mad is that we are now paying good money for channels that technically all we should have to do is purchase a tv for. What cable are we actually getting? Two or three channels? I don't like that idea. To get our old channels back we have to pay $12 more per month and get a "free" box and hook it up to our tv's. The bummer is that if we bought a regular digital box and got rid of the cable, the picture would probably not be as good AND we still have to pay for internet, so we're stuck. If we got rid of Comcast and found another internet provider, we'd likely continue to pay what we are paying now anyway. Grrrrr. It just makes me mad.
Oh well. I'm done now. At least the television isn't spewing up millions of gallons of oil into our living room and causing an environmental disaster. There are worse things, I guess.
Yes, we are still in a recession. Many people are struggling to find jobs in a tough job market and the stock market is still a roller coaster, though going downhill over the last few days. Jobs are available, but it seems that there are an extreme number of applicants for every one. Unemployment is still high, budgets are being cut in all sectors of life and people are definitely still "tightening their belts," for lack of a better phrase.
I guess it's just a product of the times and all, but I'm sick of everything else going up in price. Our car insurance jumped $80 over the last 6 months. We only pay it every 6 months, so that's an increase of $13.33 per month. Maybe that's not a lot, but it's enough that it makes me mad. When I called to complain and find out why, the only explanation anyone could offer was that it was due to a "routine rate increase in our area." We looked into switching providers, but in talking to other people to find out what they pay, we felt like we were just as well to stay put.
Our health insurance is going up. Not only are we adding Molly to it (no, I'm not complaining about that), but our district is still negotiating how much it will increase (up to $130 per month last I heard - that's before we add Molly) the insurance premiums to cover budget shortfalls for next school year. I guess I should be happy that I am still confidently employed, right?
Even our water/sewer bill went up last month by a couple of bucks. Grrrrrrr . . . Granger-Hunter Improvement District.
So, what was the final straw for this ranting post . . . Cable Television. Since moving into our home 3 years ago, we've been subscribers to Comcast for both "limited basic" cable and internet. It's been fine. Our bill has increased a couple of times by a couple of bucks, but our service hasn't changed. So what's wrong? Due to Comcast's "digital migration" we now have local channels, the history channel, and the discovery channel . . . that's it. We don't watch a ton of tv at our house, but I do occasionally like to watch TLC, the food channel, and the home and garden channel. No more. What makes me mad is that we are now paying good money for channels that technically all we should have to do is purchase a tv for. What cable are we actually getting? Two or three channels? I don't like that idea. To get our old channels back we have to pay $12 more per month and get a "free" box and hook it up to our tv's. The bummer is that if we bought a regular digital box and got rid of the cable, the picture would probably not be as good AND we still have to pay for internet, so we're stuck. If we got rid of Comcast and found another internet provider, we'd likely continue to pay what we are paying now anyway. Grrrrr. It just makes me mad.
Oh well. I'm done now. At least the television isn't spewing up millions of gallons of oil into our living room and causing an environmental disaster. There are worse things, I guess.
26 May 2010
Oh Grandma
Just to follow up with another grandma story . . .
Last night we went to Annie's to wish her a Happy Birthday. We had good treats and a good time. (Happy #32 Big Sister!) Grandma and Grandpa came out as well. Grandma's had a rough year so far, but is doing better. How do I know she's doing better?
Willie, Annie, and I were helping Grandma and Grandpa back to the truck. I was wheeling the oxygen tank in front of Grandma. There was this innocent little girl, probably around 7 years old, riding her scooter along the sidewalk.
Grandma says in her best grandma whisper, "Run over that little girl."
Willie, Annie, and I were laughing so hard. We said, "Grandma! Be nice!"
She replied, "Well . . . her pants are ugly."
Oh well. Glad to know Grandma was feeling well last night.
Last night we went to Annie's to wish her a Happy Birthday. We had good treats and a good time. (Happy #32 Big Sister!) Grandma and Grandpa came out as well. Grandma's had a rough year so far, but is doing better. How do I know she's doing better?
Willie, Annie, and I were helping Grandma and Grandpa back to the truck. I was wheeling the oxygen tank in front of Grandma. There was this innocent little girl, probably around 7 years old, riding her scooter along the sidewalk.
Grandma says in her best grandma whisper, "Run over that little girl."
Willie, Annie, and I were laughing so hard. We said, "Grandma! Be nice!"
She replied, "Well . . . her pants are ugly."
Oh well. Glad to know Grandma was feeling well last night.
23 May 2010
Stories of babies past
Haley, here. Molly is too tired to type. I guess I'll have to pick up the slack.
When Grandma Huber brought us dinner on Thursday night, she told us a couple of stories I thought I'd record for posterity's sake.
Formula
We were talking about the ease of washing dishes in a dishwasher and using formula purchased at the store. Grandma used to make her baby formula. The ingredients were, according to my Grandma, heavy cream [or maybe canned milk], water, and Karo syrup. She also added vinegar to the mix because it kept the hard Magna water from ruining her pan. She said that the older kids would moan and groan whenever she made a batch because it stunk so bad. Grandma's final comment was, "well, none of them died!"
Cars and Kids
Car seats are, of course, a more recent baby safety device. My parents didn't have one for me and my grandparents definitely didn't have them for my parents. In fact, even though they were required by law, I remember occasionally not putting my brother in one when he was a baby. When I was in junior high, I tended Willie while I was off track from year-round school. My grandma would drive down and pick me up when it was time to head over to school for basketball practice. We never used the car seat. I would hold Willie on my lap until we got to Brockbank. Once ther, we switched. I'd hand Willie over to Grandma, grab my shoes and water, and be gone. Grandma would either keep Willie on her lap or (as she told us Thursday) put Willie on the floor underneath her legs while she drove back home. She'd tend him until my mom or dad picked him up.
Grandma said she used a similar tactic the first time she and Grandpa took their family to Disneyland. Geneil was just a baby. They borrowed Great Grandpa Huber's Cadillac and put the 4 older girls in the back seat and Geneil sat up in the front, either on Grandma's lap, or again, on the floor.
She also told us about an early infant seat called the "car bed." I imagine it was something like this picture, but more bed-like than seat-like. It was a baby bed that had two large hooks to attach it to the passenger seat and then it hung over the back seat. Grandma said she once was so frustrated with Jackie screaming all the time that she got in the car, put Jackie in the car bed and decided to go for a ride to calm her down. She headed up 9th South and as they were going up the steep hill, she had to stop quick and the car bed flipped over the top of the seat and threw Jackie down on the floor, with the car bed on top of her. It sounds a bit scary, but Grandma was laughing like crazy telling us the story.
She also told us about how she would load up kids in the station wagon with all of the seats down in the back. The kids could just slide all over the back (no seatbelts, of course). She said they would always yell, "Slam on the breaks, Mom!" and they'd all go sliding and crashing one way. Then, they'd yell, "Dig it, mom, dig it!" and they'd all go sliding and crashing the other way.
When Grandma Huber brought us dinner on Thursday night, she told us a couple of stories I thought I'd record for posterity's sake.
Formula
We were talking about the ease of washing dishes in a dishwasher and using formula purchased at the store. Grandma used to make her baby formula. The ingredients were, according to my Grandma, heavy cream [or maybe canned milk], water, and Karo syrup. She also added vinegar to the mix because it kept the hard Magna water from ruining her pan. She said that the older kids would moan and groan whenever she made a batch because it stunk so bad. Grandma's final comment was, "well, none of them died!"Cars and Kids
Car seats are, of course, a more recent baby safety device. My parents didn't have one for me and my grandparents definitely didn't have them for my parents. In fact, even though they were required by law, I remember occasionally not putting my brother in one when he was a baby. When I was in junior high, I tended Willie while I was off track from year-round school. My grandma would drive down and pick me up when it was time to head over to school for basketball practice. We never used the car seat. I would hold Willie on my lap until we got to Brockbank. Once ther, we switched. I'd hand Willie over to Grandma, grab my shoes and water, and be gone. Grandma would either keep Willie on her lap or (as she told us Thursday) put Willie on the floor underneath her legs while she drove back home. She'd tend him until my mom or dad picked him up.
Grandma said she used a similar tactic the first time she and Grandpa took their family to Disneyland. Geneil was just a baby. They borrowed Great Grandpa Huber's Cadillac and put the 4 older girls in the back seat and Geneil sat up in the front, either on Grandma's lap, or again, on the floor.
She also told us about an early infant seat called the "car bed." I imagine it was something like this picture, but more bed-like than seat-like. It was a baby bed that had two large hooks to attach it to the passenger seat and then it hung over the back seat. Grandma said she once was so frustrated with Jackie screaming all the time that she got in the car, put Jackie in the car bed and decided to go for a ride to calm her down. She headed up 9th South and as they were going up the steep hill, she had to stop quick and the car bed flipped over the top of the seat and threw Jackie down on the floor, with the car bed on top of her. It sounds a bit scary, but Grandma was laughing like crazy telling us the story.
She also told us about how she would load up kids in the station wagon with all of the seats down in the back. The kids could just slide all over the back (no seatbelts, of course). She said they would always yell, "Slam on the breaks, Mom!" and they'd all go sliding and crashing one way. Then, they'd yell, "Dig it, mom, dig it!" and they'd all go sliding and crashing the other way.
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