justxploring's Blog

As many members here already know, I have 4 combinations for FL Lotto that I've played religiously since 1994.  Through rain, wind, hail and major hurricanes, I've never missed a drawing.

This week my mind is somewhere on Neptune, and today I kept thinking it was Sunday all day. (ever happen to you on a holiday?)  After I checked my raffle ticket this afternoon, I reminded myself that it was a Lotto night and put my plastic sleeve with my cards and a $5 bill in my pocketbook.  I then got completely sidetracked by something and guess what? I just signed on and it hit me.  Tonight is Wednesday!  I shrieked "OMG! It's after midnight and I didn't play my numbers." 

My heart began to pound.  What are the odds?  I mean, if the odds are 1 in 23 million to win, then the Universe would be playing a cruel, cruel joke if my numbers hit this one night, even 4 or 5 of them. 

Fortunately, the 6/53 Lotto is just as difficult as ever to win, and it rolled to a cool $10 million.  Well, I'm looking on the bright side.  I am way over budget this week since I bought that raffle ticket on Sunday.  So I just cut my losses by $4 bucks!

However, I think I'll play my numbers one day in advance from now on...just in case.  Phew!

Have you ever wondered about those self-checkout aisles? Nobody seems to be paying attention to me, but of course I always pay for the items I take. 

Now, how stupid is this guy to think he could get away with this?  If you can't use the link, just Google $4.88 plasma Walmart and there will be several articles.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/06/28/ap3869061.html

A man switched price tags on a Sanyo 42" Plasma TV at WalMart and used the self-checkout paying only $4.88.  He was stopped at the door by police. 

He's now in jail.  (I wonder if he he'll have television privileges.)

I just drove to the local dollar store which has a great selection.  I always buy my toothpaste there, which is made in America (I hope...at least that's how the label reads.)  However, tonight was the first time I hesitated purchasing liquid soap or body wash that said in small print "made in China."  I checked out another brand and it was made in Turkey.  I don't think I want to put anything on or in my body that's made in a foreign country.

Of course, how do we really know where any of our toiletries are made?  Anyway, I bought a large bottle of Arizona Green Tea with Ginseng ($1.00 - great buy) and some batteries and a couple of candles (it's hurricane season) and then I stopped at Walgreen's for the soap and shampoo.  I still bought the cheap stuff.  I just can't see any difference! 

 Are you a show off?    Is that why you want to win the lottery?

In my last blog entry I posted a headline from the newspaper.  A local business owner just purchased a home for $40 million overlooking the Gulf of Mexico.  In the same paper this week were articles about the struggling economy, the closing of several local shops, the record number of foreclosures, the amount of people who can't afford their property taxes and/or insurance and the number of recent layoffs.  The gap keeps getting bigger and bigger as what once was the middle class spirals down the social hierarchy.

Anyway, I mentioned that a place called James Island (maybe one of our members lives there) has some lovely homes and looks very pretty...just surfing the net... I posted a link to a 2,400 sq ft Cape Cod with a large deck and built-in pool on over 1.5 acres listed for $392,500.  Another member said it looked like a crack house to him and that I could "do much better" if I won the lottery.  What the heck does better mean?  Better for whom? 

I'm reminded of the times I dated a guy who wasn't flashy or very handsome, but he was kind and made me laugh, and someone commented "Nancy, you really could do much better."  (At 56 that's now changed to "Does he have a pulse? Can he feed himself?")   

So that got me thinking.  If I had won the jackpot last night, I could walk around the corner and buy a new home overlooking the river for about $1.8M.  I could also move to an area where homes cost less and buy a gorgeous estate, maybe even my own mountain retreat.  I could also trade my Camry for a more luxurious car, although it only has 24K miles on it and runs well.

However, I like small homes (BTW to me 2400 sq ft isn't small) with character. I also love the historic B & B homes with solid wood wainscotting and clawfoot tubs.  But my favorite homes are "beachy" and "woodsy" style cottages and log homes surrounded by trees.  When I first moved to this part of Florida, I lived on Sanibel Island and rented a small 2 bedroom stilt home (around 1,100 sq ft) at the end of a dirt road for $500 a month furnished.  It was a deal I made with a real estate agent while it was on the market.  It sold for about $398,000 in 1996.  I would take long walks to the beach and talk to ospreys that had constructed nests on top of poles along the way.  To date, it's been my favorite home - alligators, mosquitos, frogs, giant spiders, flooded roads and all. 

Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm pretty high maintenance.  The home came fully equipped with a dishwasher, garbage disposer, central air and cable TV.  I don't like to rough it! Well, one night I was reading the Island paper and saw a couple of ads for 2 multi-million dollar properties on Captiva (the next island) and recognized the name of the broker/owner.  So the next day I asked my neighbor, who lived in an old home about the size of mine, if he was related to this person.  He said "oh, that's me."  So here was a man who lived in an old cement block home who drove a pickup and he owned a $3.5 million estate.

So what's your style?  I know a man who built a mansion and was absolutely miserable so he sold it and moved to a 2 bedroom cape.  I also know a woman who lives in a 5,000+ sq ft house and always complains she needs more.

What does better mean to you?

The first site on got onto this morning was my email, then the local paper & the employment section, and then LP.  Not much to say, but we're always talking about the possibility of winning a jackpot, and this was the newspaper headline on NaplesNews (dot) com

Gulf-front estate home on the outskirts of Port Royal has sold for a record $40 million.

You know the expression "A picture is worth a thousand words?"  I saw this on the 11:00 news.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3263949

This is a great commercial but it would never make it to American television.  Still, it's worth watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJGCy14u3yA

I usually turn off the news when I hear about the new young Hollywood brats who seem to be the latest role models for our children.  One of them is always drunk, stoned, naked or just plain obnoxious.

However, when I read the following headline today I shouted with middle class horror.

            PARIS HILTON RELEASED FROM JAIL 

I honestly didn't care much before, but now I'm miffed. When someone asks on this board "What would you do if you won $50 million?" I can now add to my list of homes, cars, clothes and other earthly delights "a team of lawyers" so I know that if I drink & drive, lose my license, drive with a suspended license, turn my nose up at the system, violate my probation, I can just make a call and asked to be released for medical reasons.  I wonder if she had a bad hair day.  Maybe she scratched her lilly white ass when she used the cheap toilet paper? Perhaps one of her fingernails chipped.  That must be it.  I mean, how is she going to survive in jail without a manicure?

I was already a little peeved when I read that she didn't get the standard 90 day sentence and it was reduced to 45 days.  Then she got a generous sentence reduction for "good behavior" (I think she shared a cosmopolitan with someone at an MTV awards show)  I don't know about you guys, but I sure breathed a sign of relief when she walked into the Los Angeles Detention Facility to serve 23 days. 

Oh, I apologize for questioning our legal system and its equal treatment of the American people.  After all, she did experience a genuine trauma during that hour when she was allowed to make personal calls.  "She came out of her cell to make a phone call. She's not used to making collect calls and she needed help. A sergeant had to help her," the lawyer said, 

OMG! I can't imagine the hell this woman went through!  I guess the next time she's driving drunk and she runs down a group of your everyday working class slobs waiting for a bus, they'll be more than willing to understand why their lives have so much less value in this great land of "Liberty and justice for all."  ... or was that "all who can pay for it?"   Of course, folks, we already knew this, didn't we?

This is one of those meaningless blog entries.  No political rants today.

However, Larry the Cable Guy made $19 million last year???  Gee, I know a woman who teaches special needs children and a social worker who works with mentally and physically disabled young adults and they both make less than $35,000 a year.  God Bless America! 

Oops!  Well this started out to be just a post about nothing.  So if your child were to ask you "Mommy, what should I be when I grow up?" I guess the answer is pretty clear, huh? 

Here's the list of the top 100 celebrities according to Forbes.

http://www.forbes.com/2006/06/12/06celebrities_money-power-celebrities-list_land.html

Just a warning!!

I know most of us are savvy enough to realize there are lots of scammers trying to get personal information by sending notices that look very, very real.  Some of them even use my name!  I've received many of these in the past and I never respond, even to the legitimate ones.  I always sign off and then type the URL from my Rolodex in the address box or select from my bookmarks.  This morning I signed on to my email and there was a notice from ABC First Bank** ...or so it seemed.  I was tired and I have a headache. I didn't stop to think I wasn't signed onto the address I use for personal business transactions and account access.  The sender was service@abcfirstbank.com   This wasn't a simple email with a logo, but a picture with a man relaxing at his desk, almost identical to their actual notices.  It appeared to be as far from fraud as one can get, that is, except it was exactly that  ----  FRAUD!

The message said that my account access had been locked because of an incorrect amount. That could mean anything. What threw me is that they not only provided a link, but also a toll free customer service number to call.  Obviously these maggots are sitting by a phone waiting for Mrs. Smith to call and furnish them with the information they're hunting for, unaware that someone plans to steal her identity or go shopping with her credit card number!

Of course I called ABC First, since when I signed onto my account it looked just fine to me.  Nothing was "locked" and my last payment had been processed on time.  The real customer service rep gave me an email so I could forward the notice to the company. I'm sure they get hundreds or even thousands of them every day.

I posted this because, if you knew me, you'd know that I'm one of the most suspicious people around when it comes to the internet and email, but I almost fell for this one!  Just don't ever use a link or even a toll free number provided if you get an email from your bank or credit card company.  Use the number on the back of your card as I did and, if you do use online access, don't use any links sent to you.  Just answering one of these phishing emails lets the sender know you actually do have a credit card and/or bank account or simply that you exist.  A friend has been playing with those scammers who say she's won the lottery and I warned her not to answer them, since now they know that's a valid email address. The best thing is to forward the email to the Fraud Department (I'm not sure if they do anything with it) and delete the email.  If you get a lot of them, change your email address.  As I said before, I created an address I use only for business transactions and use the other for general email.   

**Note:  I made up the name.  If I write Bank of America or Capital One, then I'm contradicting myself by saying not to tell people online what credit cards you use! 

I just thought of something that will make me rich, if I can only create the right formula.  I'm too tired to type & make sense at the same time, but before I nod off I've been looking at my feet.  I need to wear open toe shoes tomorrow and I swear I polished my toenails just the other day, but they've grown so much.

Now if you really think about it, there is no use for overgrown toenails.  I mean, if you stopped hair growth, a person might regret it later on in life.  However, I can't think of anyone who wishes for longer toenails.  After a few weeks they can become destructive weapons.  Try sleeping next to someone who hasn't picked up a clipper in a couple of months.

So wouldn't a clear polish that slows the growth of toenails be marketable?  If I can just team up with the right group of researchers, this could be a major breakthrough in toenail growth science.  

Here is a beauty tip:

In 56 years of being on this fine planet I have never done so many dumb things in one year.  I wish I could take a pill and go to sleep until 2008.

Two weeks ago I poured an entire cup of bleach into my wash with my good clothes, thinking it was detergent.  Okay, so I was busy watching American Idol and dancing to the Bon Jovi songs with a margarita in my hand.  But it wasn't until I smelled that oh so pungent odor and my sinuses began to burn that I screamed "Oh S**t!!"  Well, my slacks and shirts are ruined, and my Welcome to Florida tee now says "Wel  e    lo    da" but I was able to salvage my underwear.  Of course if I'm ever hit by a bus, the nurses in the ER will have a good laugh. Why couldn't I have simply purchased white panties in the first place? 

So what's my latest home disaster?  I was brushing my hair one evening last week before running out to the store and accidentally twisted my styling brush a little too tight around my locks.  Yes, I know that's in violation of the principles of careful coiffuring, but in my many masterful years of proper blow drying, I have never pictured myself sleeping on one side of my head the rest of my life.

After painstakingly picking out the strands with a comb while I winced, a neighbor eventually removed the styling brush (along with much of my hair) leaving a small bald spot. I later read online that saturating the hair in conditioner or vegetable oil will loosen it enough to remove the brush. Being a logical and analytical person,  I would have thought of this before seeking assistance, had I not been more concerned about sending signals to the mother ship as I ran outside in a panic.

So if you ever find yourself with a brush melted to the side of your head, take a breath, stay calm, walk to the kitchen and get the Crisco.  

I'm not going to write anything politically motivated, because I don't know much about this issue.  What I do know is that I grew up in New England and, when I got my license, I would drive to the mountains just to watch a beautiful sunset or camp in the White Mountains to wake up to the magnificense of Mother Nature.

More than 450 mountains have been destroyed by mountaintop removal coal mining. Watch this video. It makes me sad.

http://www.ilovemountains.org/multimedia

This is a follow up of an earlier blog entry.

If you ever buy a used vehicle and suddenly have a problem with the tires, don't spend months getting them balanced and rebalanced along with rotations and 4-wheel alignments. Hundreds of dollars later and almost a nervous breakdown, I got new tires. That's what I wanted to do in the first place, but I wasn't certain where the vibration was coming from and got too many conflicting "expert" opinions.  The dealer (Enterprise) split the bill, even though it's been 6 months, so that helped. They were going to buy slightly more expensive tires for me, but I selected the Falken Ziex brand, because Consumer Reports rates them #1 in comfort and safety in their class.  I never heard of Falken before going to the library to do some research, but they seem to have eliminated most of the wobbling and rattling and they were very inexpensive.  I don't care about the tread wear right now as long as they are safe & ride well.  If they last a couple of years, that's fine with me.  I would have spent a little more for the Yokohama Avid TRZ had I not just charged $106 for a Road Force balance at another shop...not to mention the 4-wheel alignment and the (2) $40 4-wheel balances. (what would I do without a Visa card?)

I'm skipping a lot, since I also replaced 2 tires with very expensive Goodyears and it didn't help. The next day when one of the old Goodyear tires was removed from the rim, I was told it had been repaired with Fix-A-Flat (had to be before I bought the car) which is a sealant you can buy at Walmart that comes in a can.  It's a quick fix, but it's not very safe for the long haul.  It's also flammable, although that's mainly a problem for the mechanic using power tools, and it can leak onto the rim. In any case, it ruins the inside of the tire and voids the warranty. So that's why nobody could keep my tires balanced for very long and I kept feeling a wobble after the tires got hot.  I also paid for Road Force balancing which showed one tire was slightly out of round. Then I got another opinion and a second tire had a problem with the belts.  It was actually separating. I went back to the Goodyear dealership and insisted they remove the 2 tires I bought when the wobbling continued, since they were a complete waste of money.  I guess they all have their own agenda.  Goodyear says there's nothing wrong with the Goodyear tires and Tire Kingdom says there's nothing wrong with the Sigma tires and they both say the other brand is the problem. 

By the way, I am not blaming Enterprise for putting Fix-A-Flat in my tire, since I don't believe this was intentional.  In fact, the helpful manager drove my car right over to a Tire Kingdom shop in which they have an account and told them to inspect my tires and replace them if my earlier diagnosis was correct. (I think making phone calls and showing up on a busy day and being a pain in the butt helps too.)  I'm assuming one of their rental customers got a flat and didn't report it. However, you never know what you're going to get when a vehicle isn't brand new, even from a private owner. The Car Fax report can't possibly show a tire or bent rim problem, only a vehicle's history.  It was just bad luck. With the Fix-A-Flat a tire might seem okay for several weeks until the gook inside starts to heat up or disintegrate. I've purchased rental cars before at deep discounts and never had any trouble. My Oldsmobile was great for about 80,000 miles, and that was a rental car. So it's a hit or miss like buying any used car. Any driver could have used this product, since many people carry it in their trunks.  It is not a permanent solution to fixing a tire problem and if it's not removed after a repair, can create annoying balancing problems.

I wrote this as a warning to members who are thinking of purchasing a pre-owned vehicle.  There just isn't any way of knowing a tire has been repaired without very close examination, even if the tires have good tread. Not only a sealant could have been used on a tire, but a patch can be very difficult to see too, since most punctures are repaired from the inside.  Over the past couple of months I've gotten so many stories from different places, it makes my head spin.  Now I'm out of balance.

It must have taken years of brainstorming to come up with all the "new" sounds for Microsoft's new operating system.    Listen for yourself!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQe-2USL_iU