Last night was a rough one. I was up at 4am and was awake for about two hours... and it wasn't my kids that were keeping me up. As a mother, I could have handled crying children in the wee-hours, but last night it was something else.
I awoke to a horrible noise that sounded like a fan blowing or water running... loudly. It was coming from outside. After further investigations, we concluded that it was coming from the power plant on our street... there was a lot of smoke coming from it. We were concerned, so I called the police. They told me they were getting a lot of calls and were looking into it.
This morning, I went to my good friend Google to discover the answer to the source of the noise... turns out, it's the sound an emergency pressure-release valve makes when the internal pressure at the plant gets too high. Great. The power-plant in my backyard sounds super safe.
I'm not sure how I feel living so close to disaster. The worst part is that I was never told about the power plant before I bought the house and since it's not right on the street, you can't see it either. We had no idea until we went trekking through our woods after we moved in and stumbled upon a clearing with a huge power plant sitting in it. If I knew then what I know now about the location of my house, I would have never bought it. Boy, do I want to sell and move!! I wish the economy would come back so I can get off this street. :-/
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
Make an Offer
To anyone planning to sell something online, I have a tip that will make the process much easier for both you and the buyer. Do not use the phrase "make an offer" in the listing.
If you are selling something, I assume you have some idea of what you would like to get for it. The only reason you would ever write "make an offer" is if you have some silly notion that someone is going to suggest a price higher than what you are considering asking for it. This RARELY happens and most of the time those three little words turn buyers away, losing you a potential sale.
Here's a great example. On Facebook, a mother was selling a used baby swing. She posted a stock photo and only wrote, "Make an Offer". Another mom made an offer of $15. The poster replied that the swing was barely used and that offer was way too low as the swing originally sells for $170. Now, given that bit of information, it may have been more beneficial to post the stock photo and say, "Cradle swing, barely used $100". That may have drawn more attention for the item from people willing to pay her price.
Unfortunately, if she thinks $15 is "way too low" she has another thing coming. Those cradle swings have been going for anywhere from $20 to $30 on the site, so it's doubtful that she'll get what she wants for it, especially with her perky attitude and happy disposition. (Sarcasm is just one more service I offer.)
So let that be a lesson to all you sellers on Facebook and Craigslist. Nobody wants to guess what outrageous price you want for your item. "Make an offer" usually means you're just ashamed to ask for what you want because you know it's too high. Anyone who's ever bought anything online before won't respond to your ad and you'll probably wind up negotiating a lower price anyway with someone who won't show up to meet you.
Good luck all of you "make an offer" posters. I hope your items don't sell until you name a price.
If you are selling something, I assume you have some idea of what you would like to get for it. The only reason you would ever write "make an offer" is if you have some silly notion that someone is going to suggest a price higher than what you are considering asking for it. This RARELY happens and most of the time those three little words turn buyers away, losing you a potential sale.
Here's a great example. On Facebook, a mother was selling a used baby swing. She posted a stock photo and only wrote, "Make an Offer". Another mom made an offer of $15. The poster replied that the swing was barely used and that offer was way too low as the swing originally sells for $170. Now, given that bit of information, it may have been more beneficial to post the stock photo and say, "Cradle swing, barely used $100". That may have drawn more attention for the item from people willing to pay her price.
Unfortunately, if she thinks $15 is "way too low" she has another thing coming. Those cradle swings have been going for anywhere from $20 to $30 on the site, so it's doubtful that she'll get what she wants for it, especially with her perky attitude and happy disposition. (Sarcasm is just one more service I offer.)
So let that be a lesson to all you sellers on Facebook and Craigslist. Nobody wants to guess what outrageous price you want for your item. "Make an offer" usually means you're just ashamed to ask for what you want because you know it's too high. Anyone who's ever bought anything online before won't respond to your ad and you'll probably wind up negotiating a lower price anyway with someone who won't show up to meet you.
Good luck all of you "make an offer" posters. I hope your items don't sell until you name a price.
Letter to my MIL
I really wanted to write an email to my mother-in-law today regarding her behavior lately, but I'm not rude enough/ballsy enough to do so. Instead of sending it to her, I thought I'd share it with all of you instead...
Dear Mother-In-Law,
Your behavior as of late has been quite concerning. You seem to not be yourself, and I'm wondering if perhaps your recent separation from father-in-law is the cause of your troubles. In any event, I believe a few things need to be cleared up.
1.) While I appreciate your blind hatred of cats and your nonsensical belief that all cat litter boxes are disgusting (evident by your continual reminders of how you never had an indoor cat or a cat litter box because they are gross), my cat's litter box was fine this past weekend. I dumped the old litter and put in fresh, new, clean litter just 24 hours prior to your visit. The litter is scoopable, meaning it doesn't need to be emptied and re-filled every day. Good thing too, because my litter costs $17 per bag and one bag fills the litter box 1.5 times. Thank you so much for dumping an entire box of baking soda into the expensive cat litter. That was not only aesthetically appealing, but my cat really enjoyed the sensation of his behind fizzing as he went pee. He is now terrified of the litter box. Oh, and PS the litter we use is meant to attract the cat (in fact, it is called Kitten Attract) and it secretes a particular small that draws in the cat. Your little baking soda fiasco has destroyed that and now I must buy another bag of $17 cat litter. In any event, only cats can smell the herbs in the litter, so unless your mother had an affair with a lion your "small" issue is a moot point. I assume the smell is not what bothered you, but rather just being able to see the litter box in the first place.
2.) You keep asking me why you don't get jobs after going for an interview. Besides the obvious point of the economy and job competition, I think your main problem is articulation. You are not good at expressing your ideas clearly. This problem is compounded when you are nervous and every sentence ends with either, "You know what I mean?" or "Ya get what I'm sayin'?". Oh... and by the way, when one applies for a position as an English teacher, it is imperative that one uses proper English during the interview. It's also probably also a bad idea to call anyone "Darlin'" that has any connection to the school you wish to seek employment at.
3.) Your ex-husband-to-be is not sleeping with your cousin's daughter. While this statement alone may sound odd to some, the mere fact that she is now living with (renting from) him does not automatically mean that they are in any type of relationship. Furthermore, it is bad form to let the man you claim to have no feelings for see how upset you are over the prospect of him having relations with another woman. Clearly, you aren't completely done with him. It might be a good idea to try to work out your differences instead of seeking a divorce if there are any feelings left. After all, you are unemployed and will soon find yourself without a place to live or insurance or any other luxuries you've enjoyed for the past few decades.
I trust that you will think long and hard about the items I have mentioned. Thank you.
Dear Mother-In-Law,
Your behavior as of late has been quite concerning. You seem to not be yourself, and I'm wondering if perhaps your recent separation from father-in-law is the cause of your troubles. In any event, I believe a few things need to be cleared up.
1.) While I appreciate your blind hatred of cats and your nonsensical belief that all cat litter boxes are disgusting (evident by your continual reminders of how you never had an indoor cat or a cat litter box because they are gross), my cat's litter box was fine this past weekend. I dumped the old litter and put in fresh, new, clean litter just 24 hours prior to your visit. The litter is scoopable, meaning it doesn't need to be emptied and re-filled every day. Good thing too, because my litter costs $17 per bag and one bag fills the litter box 1.5 times. Thank you so much for dumping an entire box of baking soda into the expensive cat litter. That was not only aesthetically appealing, but my cat really enjoyed the sensation of his behind fizzing as he went pee. He is now terrified of the litter box. Oh, and PS the litter we use is meant to attract the cat (in fact, it is called Kitten Attract) and it secretes a particular small that draws in the cat. Your little baking soda fiasco has destroyed that and now I must buy another bag of $17 cat litter. In any event, only cats can smell the herbs in the litter, so unless your mother had an affair with a lion your "small" issue is a moot point. I assume the smell is not what bothered you, but rather just being able to see the litter box in the first place.
2.) You keep asking me why you don't get jobs after going for an interview. Besides the obvious point of the economy and job competition, I think your main problem is articulation. You are not good at expressing your ideas clearly. This problem is compounded when you are nervous and every sentence ends with either, "You know what I mean?" or "Ya get what I'm sayin'?". Oh... and by the way, when one applies for a position as an English teacher, it is imperative that one uses proper English during the interview. It's also probably also a bad idea to call anyone "Darlin'" that has any connection to the school you wish to seek employment at.
3.) Your ex-husband-to-be is not sleeping with your cousin's daughter. While this statement alone may sound odd to some, the mere fact that she is now living with (renting from) him does not automatically mean that they are in any type of relationship. Furthermore, it is bad form to let the man you claim to have no feelings for see how upset you are over the prospect of him having relations with another woman. Clearly, you aren't completely done with him. It might be a good idea to try to work out your differences instead of seeking a divorce if there are any feelings left. After all, you are unemployed and will soon find yourself without a place to live or insurance or any other luxuries you've enjoyed for the past few decades.
I trust that you will think long and hard about the items I have mentioned. Thank you.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Happy Birthday Baby!
Happy Birthday to my daughter who just turned 1 today. It's both a great day and a bittersweet day. On one hand, I'm happy to see the progress my little girl has made over the past year. She's almost walking, she's talking and she is totally off of baby food. She sleeps through the night and is growing beautifully.
On the other hand, I now have 2 toddlers and I don't know if I want more kids. My husband does, he wants to try for a boy. I always thought I wanted more than 2 kids, but now I'm not so sure. Two kids are a handful and I don't know if I can handle a third. I also don't know if I want to go through the whole pregnancy, labor, recovery, not sleeping through the night for 4 months routine again. That was hard, and I'm not getting any younger.
Part of me wants to just call it quits and watch as my two beautiful, smart, loving kids grow up into equally beautiful, smart and loving adults. Another part of me wonders if the next one might be the boy that my husband wants. Part of me wants another pregnancy, since I didn't take the time to appreciate my last two. I just don't know... do I sell the baby gear while it's still relevant and I can get a good price, or do I hang onto it for a few years and see if another baby comes our way?
On the other hand, I now have 2 toddlers and I don't know if I want more kids. My husband does, he wants to try for a boy. I always thought I wanted more than 2 kids, but now I'm not so sure. Two kids are a handful and I don't know if I can handle a third. I also don't know if I want to go through the whole pregnancy, labor, recovery, not sleeping through the night for 4 months routine again. That was hard, and I'm not getting any younger.
Part of me wants to just call it quits and watch as my two beautiful, smart, loving kids grow up into equally beautiful, smart and loving adults. Another part of me wonders if the next one might be the boy that my husband wants. Part of me wants another pregnancy, since I didn't take the time to appreciate my last two. I just don't know... do I sell the baby gear while it's still relevant and I can get a good price, or do I hang onto it for a few years and see if another baby comes our way?
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Misleading Chart
I've seen this chart floating around on Facebook an awful lot lately and I'm baffled at how people are interpreting it. I believe most people see this as a positive thing for the president, but I look at it and I'm just not that impressed... Here's the chart:
It looks like things are going up, right? At the first glance, it's pretty deceiving. You might look at this and think, "Hell yes, things are better than they were during Bush!" Before you start doing a victory dance look at the chart. I mean really look at it. Notice that the distance from the mid-point to the first marked line above it represents 150,000 jobs. The same distance in the negative direction represents a loss of 250,000 jobs. This is done intentionally to make a lesser gain look like it offsets a larger loss. Also, in January 2009 when Obama took over, the bar should be equally divided, but it's not. Bush's color is given a larger portion of the bar, visually giving him more of the losses. It's also important to note that this graph begins in January 2008, which only represents 1/8th of President Bush's term. Prior to this, the graph shows positive gains in jobs, larger than any gains experienced during Obama's rein in office... but they don't want to show that for obvious reasons.
Ignoring all of the visual trickery, lets just do some simple math here.
The number of jobs LOST during the Obama administration (counting half of the jobs from the bar when he took office) is 4,631,500. The number of jobs gained during his administration is 4,544,000. The NET LOSS is 87,500 jobs. That's over 80,000 jobs that were here four years ago that aren't here today. To me, that means we're still doing worse than we were four years ago.
In comparison, the number of jobs LOST during the Bush administration (counting half of the jobs from the bar representing when Obama took office) is 4,242,500. That's less jobs than were lost during the Obama administration. You heard it here first folks, less jobs were lost during the Bush administration than the Obama administration.
The country is not better off than it was four years ago. I remember a certain someone saying that if he hadn't turning things around in three years, it would be a one-term endeavor. Guess what, he didn't turn things around in three years. He didn't even turn things around in nearly four years...
It looks like things are going up, right? At the first glance, it's pretty deceiving. You might look at this and think, "Hell yes, things are better than they were during Bush!" Before you start doing a victory dance look at the chart. I mean really look at it. Notice that the distance from the mid-point to the first marked line above it represents 150,000 jobs. The same distance in the negative direction represents a loss of 250,000 jobs. This is done intentionally to make a lesser gain look like it offsets a larger loss. Also, in January 2009 when Obama took over, the bar should be equally divided, but it's not. Bush's color is given a larger portion of the bar, visually giving him more of the losses. It's also important to note that this graph begins in January 2008, which only represents 1/8th of President Bush's term. Prior to this, the graph shows positive gains in jobs, larger than any gains experienced during Obama's rein in office... but they don't want to show that for obvious reasons.
Ignoring all of the visual trickery, lets just do some simple math here.
The number of jobs LOST during the Obama administration (counting half of the jobs from the bar when he took office) is 4,631,500. The number of jobs gained during his administration is 4,544,000. The NET LOSS is 87,500 jobs. That's over 80,000 jobs that were here four years ago that aren't here today. To me, that means we're still doing worse than we were four years ago.
In comparison, the number of jobs LOST during the Bush administration (counting half of the jobs from the bar representing when Obama took office) is 4,242,500. That's less jobs than were lost during the Obama administration. You heard it here first folks, less jobs were lost during the Bush administration than the Obama administration.
The country is not better off than it was four years ago. I remember a certain someone saying that if he hadn't turning things around in three years, it would be a one-term endeavor. Guess what, he didn't turn things around in three years. He didn't even turn things around in nearly four years...
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