Guys Talk About Everything

Page Plus Cellular Review - Cheap Cell Service

2013-11-25T10:23:00.000-08:00

Are you tired of paying Verizon or AT&T large sums of money annually to have a cell phone? I sure am, so I stopped doing it. Last month I had three phones on a Verizon cell phone plan; my daughter’s iphone and two 5 year old LG Cosmos slide phones. Our bill after taxes was $161.00 per month or $1932.00 per year! I decided to start shopping around. My daughter has 4 months left on her contract but my wife and I are free and clear from the chains of Verizon.

I used Google to locate and review several options from Net10, Straight Talk, Ting and Page Plus. After reviewing all the options I decided to switch to Page Plus Cellular. Page Plus Cellular is on the Verizon network and so far I am extremely happy with the plans that I have chosen and the customer service. I have my wife on the $12.00 per month plan. Yep, $12.00 per month! No taxes, no fees, no hidden charges! What a concept. She gets 250 minutes, 250 texts and 10mb of data. 10mb of data is plenty for the non-smart phone user. She can send voice tags and pictures via texting and she has no complaints about the service. I picked up a two year old Droid from a friend and signed up for the $29.95 plan. I get 1200 minutes, 3000 texts and 500mb of data. Again, $29.95 with no taxes, no fees and no hidden charges! My switch to Page Plus has been problem free. The service and coverage is the same as what I had with Verizon just much less expensive. Page Plus Cellular has many other options should you need more data or more minutes.

I have contacted Page Plus Cellular several times via the phone and online chat. Every contact has left me happy and with all of my questions answered. The $12.00 and $29.95 plan last for 30 days. After that the plan expires or you can renew it by calling or accessing the Page Plus website. This process is super easy. You can also “stack” an additional month or more on your account so when the month is up the system will pull from another month that you have already purchased.

Another option for limited use cell phone owners is the 120 day plan. Plans as little as $10.00 that last for 120 days. This is the perfect plan for a grandparent or anyone that hardly ever uses a phone but wants to have you for emergencies. Phones can be purchased from Page Plus should you need a new one. The phone is yours as soon as you purchase it and there are no strings attached or expensive 2 year contract. I love Page Plus Cellular and I am sure you will too!

Fixing Gas Grill Problems

2013-05-26T15:24:00.001-07:00

Have you ever started up your outdoor gas grill and found that after a few minutes of heating up, the temperature just hasn't risen to the level you would expect? Periodically, this has happened to me, and after doing all of the normal check to ensure that the grill is clean and the tank is adequately full, you're left with very little option. This is particularly interesting, when you've recently BBQ'd and the problem didn't exist two days prior or reoccurs every once in a while.

I ended up with this exact scenario and it had me thinking, why don't I do a quick YouTube search to see if anyone else has had this occur to them and see if a solution exists. Within a couple of searches, I found @simplecommentary who describe my problem and the solution down to the wire. Take a look:

Now, how about that! Strangely, it seems that the problem was related to how fast the valve is opened on the tank. I say this, because I usually just spin it open and do not give it another thought and 99% of the time, it's not an issue. Although, sometimes it does and to solve this problem, I simply followed the instructions below:

Turn off the gas on the tank
Disconnect the line from the tank
Open the valves on the grill and wait a minute
Close the valves on the grill
Connect the line to the tank
Slowly, very slowly turn on the gas
Test by lighting one of the burners

After relighting the burners, within a few minutes my grill was burning hot and ready for a hearty Memorial Weekend BBQ! If you run into this problem with the low flame remember this post and also, thank you @simplecommentary. Additionally, taking a look over at barbequelovers.com they had a very detailed article on other possible troubleshooting areas related to low flame output or yellow flames, so be sure to check out those troubleshooting tips too.

Sifting Through Trail Mix

2013-05-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

I know the latest rage is creating your own personal granola, trail mix or energy bars for those long excursions across the woods and road trips to visit friends and family. Sometimes it's best to just pick up a big bag of trail mix to have on hand or maybe there isn't the desire to make a big production when you're buried in planning and preparation for that long weekend getaway.

At one of my local grocery stores, Winco Foods, there is a significant bulk foods section, which has a number of various trail mix types, including traditional to more exotic mixtures and varying prices. Today, I grabbed a selection of four and thought I'd share a little bit about them.

4 Trail Mixes

Super Deluxe Trail Mix

Ingredients
Raisins
Pinepple
Peanuts
Papaya
Dates
Apricots

Caribbean Trail Mix

Ingredients
Honey Roasted Peanuts
Honey Glaze
Pineapple
Peanuts
Papaya
Dates
Apricots
Coconut
Almonds
Pumpkin Seeds

Mt. Hood Trail Mix

Ingredients
Toffee Peanuts
Yogurt Raisins
Yogurt Peanuts
Chocolate Peanuts
Coconut
Almonds
Pumpkin Seeds

Mt. Rainier Organic Trail Mix

Ingredients
Cranberries
Raw Sunflower Seeds
Raw Almonds
Raw Cashews
Raw Pumpkin Seeds
Raisins

Now, taking a look at these trail mixes, you'll see that some are a probably considered healthier than others. I prefer the Mt. Hood mix when I'm looking for something sweet, but I wouldn't recommend that as a health recommendation just because it's labeled as a trail mix. Some of the benefits of a trail mix are obtaining a quick snack to provide energy in the form of proteins, fats and sugars when energy stores are low. Getting a solid snack with almonds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, and sugars from friuts and a boost from chocolate can give you the energy needed to continue that last mile or recover some before moving on to your next game plan.

Winco Foods does offer quite an array of trail mixes and as you can see from the picture to the left, there are many more to try. Additionally, there are other quality products and that are a great value including Costco's Kirkland brand trail mix which comes in a 4lb. bag, or as snack packs ready to tear and share.

Have a look at your favorite store and see what is offered in bulk; it is often quite a better deal than finding the packaged products on the cereal or health food aisles. Enjoy!

Costco Kirkland Signature Coffee

2013-05-17T16:06:00.002-07:00

Several years ago I started my quest to brew a great tasting consistent cup of coffee at home every morning. I was tired of making a fresh pot of coffee that smelled great but tasted as though it was filtered through my gym socks. So I started my quest at the supermarket trying all of the normal offering; Yuban, Folgers, MJB, etc. I carefully measured and charted the amounts of coffee that I used for each pot as I worked my way through the supermarket offerings. I never found a consistent pot. So the next step was whole bean coffee including Millstone, Kivu, Starbucks, etc. At this point Starbucks was the frontrunner albeit at $12.99 per pound, so my search continued.

Enter Costco Wholesale. While I was in the middle of my research Costco started offering whole bean coffee. So I worked my way through every type of whole bean coffee offered by Costco. Many tasted good at first but the consistency was not there. I would have a great pot on Monday but the next two pots on Tuesday and Wednesday would not taste as good.

My last great hope was Costco Kirkland Signature pre-ground 100% Columbian coffee in the 3 pound can. It took me a couple of weeks to test this coffee. As I worked my way through the quest for the perfect amount of grounds to make the perfect cup, my wife and I were both getting excited. Why? Because we were enjoying almost every pot as we worked our way through the process of adjusting the amount of grounds in each pot. Some pots might be weak or strong, but the rich coffee taste was there without bitterness. We found our coffee!

So here I sit 4 or 5 years later and we are still enjoying a great cup of coffee every morning. I use a Cuisinart pot from Costco set on Medium heat. I scoop 2 rounded (not heaping and not level) ¼ cup scoops of grounds and place them in the white cone filters purchased at Costco. Every morning, every day, every can produces a consistent delicious cup of Joe. The best part? Right now a three pound can is $9.99, or $3.33 per pound. I dare you to find a better deal than that! This price varies for $8 to $15 depending on the current coffee market.

If you are looking for a great cup of coffee look no further that Costco. (by the way, Starbucks roasts this Costco) Shhh. It’s a secret.

Celebrity Cruise vs Royal Caribbean Cruise

2013-05-10T10:21:00.002-07:00

In January of this year we cruised on the newest Celebrity Cruise ship the Celebrity Reflection. We had so much fun enjoying this new ship. It was beautiful from bow to stern. The décor throughout the ship was very nice and the food was outstanding. This was our first cruise on a Celebrity cruise. Previously we have cruised with Royal Caribbean five times, with complete satisfaction. We decided to try Celebrity this time and see how it compares to RCCL.

Our meals in the dining room were so good that was never even considered trying one of the fancy “fee” restaurants. Each night the dinner menu had a wide selection of fish, chicken and beef to choose from. One night I ordered the roast turkey dinner which was a full Thanksgiving dinner with sweet potatoes, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberries, and green beans. It couldn’t have been better and the portions were very large.

We enjoyed breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria style buffet restaurant. The food was exceptionally good considering it was buffet style. I think their trick is to serve very small buffet portions so the food is always fresh. Every day in the afternoon there was sushi available and we ate our fair share of that!

The service was good but not exceptional. It seemed to lack the attention to detail that we have experienced on our RCCL cruises. Since Celebrity is advertised as a premium cruise I guess I had high expectations. Don’t get me wrong, the service was good, just not as good as I expected.

We met a great Jamaican bartender on the first day while lying in the sun named Vinroy. He took good care of us throughout the cruise. So good in fact that I tipped him above the automatic gratuity of 15% added to each drink purchase. Vinroy offered us a deal on a bucket of beer; six beers, any kind, for the price of five beers. We told him we would be in the same lounge chairs every day and would only buy from him if he would do six beers for the price of four. It was a deal! What a great time we had lying in the sun drinking ice cold beer.

Everything else, entertainment, amenities, etc., was in line with what I expected.

What didn’t I like? Well, there seemed to be less to do during the day than on RCCL. No rock climbing wall, inline skating, etc. If you are looking for a more active vacation you need to look elsewhere. If you like to read and need some peace and quiet, it would be perfect. Also, the average age of the passengers was much older than us (45). It didn’t matter much because we brought our own friends along with us. Had we gone alone it may have been an issue.

So the question is “Will I go on Celebrity or RCCL next time?”

I think we will be going back to Royal Caribbean the next time we cruise. We live a more active lifestyle and like the daily activities offered with RCCL. The food has always been great on Royal Caribbean and the service is as good as or better than Celebrity. Plus RCCL is 20% less than Celebrity.

If you have been on Royal Caribbean I suggested sticking with them. Overall, Royal Caribbean is a great value and you will not be disappointed with the service or experience.

Comcast vs. Centurylink - Internet Reliability

2013-05-03T22:46:00.001-07:00

About 6 months ago I switched my home phone and Internet service from Centurylink to Comcast. I was completely happy with my Centurylink service before switching. In fact, for the 4 years that I had Centurylink service I did not have any issues with the reliability of the phone or Internet. I switched to Comcast purely for the price and the bundle offered with Comcast.

After switching to Comcast I had a few start up issues that were mainly infrastructure problems with my home. Comcast sent a technician out and he got things squared away and I was up and running. The first thing I noticed was the increase in speed. I was completely satisfied with my decision.

After about 1 month I started to have reliability problems. First the phone would not work. I called Comcast India, India the country, and they told me to unplug the modem for 10 minutes and see if that would reset everything. It worked. The problem was this started happening every 7 to 10 days. It might be the phone or it might be the Internet. I would shut everything down and let it reset and things would be back to normal. Then after a few months that wouldn't fix the problem anymore. I would have to call Comcast India and they would ping my modem, rest passwords, run tests, etc. This process would get me back up and running but only temporarily.

With a daughter in College the reliability of my Internet connection is important. After months of fighting the reliability issue I called Comcast and demanded that they come to my home and figure things out. After a lot of testing by the Comcast technician he couldn't find any problems with access, cable ot modem. I demanded that he swap the modem and he did, although he speculated that the modem was not the problem. It has been 4 weeks and we have not had any problems. Maybe it was a bad modem? I don't know. I will monitor things closely and if I have additional problems, I will post another blog entry.

Best Men's Tees

2013-05-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

Nothing beats wearing a favorite pair of blue jeans and a plain white tee shirt. If you are looking to get rid of your grungy old graying t-shirts that you've been using for lawn mowing, running, and the occassional undershirt, I recommend picking up a fresh premium t-shirt from Costco. The Kirkland Signature Men's Premium T-shirt is a great shirt, and the quality by far outshines that of the Gap, Old Navy, Hanes, or any of the store brands offered by Target, Walmart or Fred Meyer to name a few.

The Kirkland Signature Premium Tee is 100% Pima Cotton, which is considered to be one of the superior blends of cotton and is extremely durable and absorbent according to WiseGeek.com. All aspects of these shirts indicate quality from the thread count down to the stitching. As with most cotton clothing, it is recommended to wash in cold water and dry on low heat in order to increase the overall life and reduce the harsh wear caused by the washing cycle. The shirts at Costco run approximately $12 each, which is about 3 times the cost of your Hanes shirt at Walmart, though I say after buying many Hanes tees, you get what you pay for.

To reduce your cost, locate a liquidation center that specializes in obtaining returned items or items that are unsold at Costco warehouses. In Spokane, you will find Spokane Discount, where you can purchase the Kirkland Tees for up to 70-80% off the listed price, bringing your total each shirt closer to $3-4, which for the quality is a great deal. Be careful when searching through that you don't pick up an item that is permanently stained or has a hole, which can happen in the large quantity of liquidated products.

All-in-all, the Kirkland Signature Premium T-shirt is a great product that is highly recommended. A follow up will be written after a few months to address the overall wear and any discoloration that may be seen, in order to provide additional information to the reader on the lasting quality of the product.

Subway

2013-03-18T16:09:00.002-07:00

I have a confession to make; I love Subway sandwiches. I eat 3 to 4 Subway sandwiches every month and I have never been disappointed. The bread is always fresh and so are the vegetables. My three favorite sandwiches are the meatball, the Italian and the sweet onion chicken teriyaki. I have not had a meatball in years due to the calorie and fat content, but it is still my favorite. My second favorite (the Italian with pepperoni and salami) is high in fat as well, so my go to sandwich is the sweet onion chicken teriyaki. It is delicious. I load it up with all of the vegetables except onion and green pepper and it never disappoints. Often I split the foot long sandwich with my wife for dinner. It is affordable, tastes great and is a healthy choice. If you have not enjoyed a Subway sandwich lately I suggest you give them a try.

CenturyLink vs. Comcast

2012-11-30T11:31:00.001-08:00

I've taken nearly a month to make a decision on a new broadband provider since I've recently moved from a more rural area. With greater options and too many choices, it made the decision to go with CenturyLink for DSL or Comcast with Cable Internet with the other amenities of cable.

I initially threw out any consideration for CenturyLink, because I assumed that I would be required to have a phone line, for which I didn't need. Comcast offered the Double Play option with Internet and TV, which was fine, because we've completely abandoned the need of a land line. Other options, such as my previous provider Air Pipe were completely out of the question because the cost was typically double and the connection speeds were dismal. It's funny to consider a 1Mbps connection speed dismal these days. Additionally, other wireless providers such as Clear Wire, AT&T, and Verizon, though have impressive speeds, weren't the direction I was interested in pursuing.

Challenges with Comcast

I had initially called and arranged service with Comcast without the consideration of CenturyLink because of the perceived phone line requirement, but my first three attempts all fell through. The first contact I had made, I was put on hold for nearly close to 30 minutes while the representative determined why she couldn't figure out what city my zip code was in. Unfortunately, at about the 30 minute mark the connection was lost, as if I reached a max hold time.

My second attempt ran into the same zip code fiasco, but the representative was able to get around the issue rather quickly. When she was describing the services, I was more informed that digital doesn't really mean HD. If I wanted HD content, I was going to have to pick up a heftier TV service plan, premier that is. The problem with that is, I don't watch a lot of TV, and like the Netflix ability to stream a show at your convenience. With that, I decided, I'd go with it and provided my information, and upon sign-up the representative stated I would be receiving a post card with my installation date within a few days.

About a week and a half later, no notice had arrived and I started thinking that maybe this is a sign that I should look elsewhere for broadband service. I contacted Comcast again, and the representative stated, that she'd never heard of them sending out a card with installation dates. Amazed by this, I still considered them as an option, but a new concern had arisen. The current incentive program for new customers requires a 2 year agreement, but the pricing is only locked in for 1 year. I don't like that option as a customer, even though they specify what the increases typically are. If you're going to want me to specify an agreement, I want that price for the entire term. With this new discrepancy, I decided again, to pass on Comcast.

CenturyLink Options

After another week or so, I checked out the CenturyLink site, and found that they had a broadband plan that didn't require a phone line in order to establish service. This was a great find for me, being that we have mobile phones, and have been without a traditional telephone for about 5 years now. I chatted with the representative on the website was able to get all of the details regarding the services and costs. I opted not to start service via the chat, even with the additional $50 closer card that was being offered.

On the morning of Black Friday, I was walking through the local mall, and saw a CenturyLink booth and talked to the sales representative about the service and what other options that may exist for me. I thought more about my desire for media content when the rep shared that Hulu Plus is a great option for augmenting Netflix, and the price is very reasonable.

I ended up going with the CenturyLink service, obtaining a 20Mbps connection at $40 per month with a guaranteed price for 12 months, and no term agreements. This is 50% less than what I was paying for a 1Mbps wireless connection just a couple months ago. Additionally, it was recommended to talk with their loyalty group to negotiate a new price at the end of 12 months, which I can see being a hassle, but the price after 12 months, is not that drastic of a variance.

In the end

Overall, I've gotten a great plan, the device was easy to set up, and we didn't have to have anyone on site from CenturyLink to roam around the house getting things turned on. I'm sure they had the capability to enable service from the maintenance panel on the side of the house or at the neighborhood presence. So far, the service has been great and the connectivity is fast and responsive. If you're looking for an internet provider without the need of cable TV or telephone service I recommend giving CenturyLink a try.

Favorite Frozen Pizza

2012-11-08T13:34:00.003-08:00

I would like to say a bit regarding my (and my bride's) favorite frozen pizza: Red Baron "Baron's Best" Supreme pizza.

My wife and I discovered this brand and specific pizza about a year ago (she was my then fiance'). We immediately fell in love with this pizza! The baking instructions call for an oven setting of 400', center rack, for 27-30 minutes. A bonus of this pizza is that it comes with it's own cardboard style baking pan. I believe this is the key in how Red Baron delivers my all time favortie frozen pizza. You see my favorite part of this pizza is the crust- more directly the bottom of the crust. The baking pan seems to produce a just slightly crunchy with just enough grease from the toppings/cheese/etc... to produce an amazing piece of pizza. We have found that 28 minutes exactly produces just the right crust without overcooking the toppings. That is where you have to be careful....To produce the best crust you will have to just slightly overbake the pizza. Some may not be in favor of this, but we have both over and undercooked the pizza and our end result has been to slightly overbake. We have both agreed that we prefer this over ANY type of pizza- delivered, restaurant or frozen. I will say that we have not ventured to try the Baron's Best 4 cheese, pepperoni or meat trio editions but it's hard to venture from something that you just know that you are going to love. Of course with any food that you find you come to truly love there is always the downside... There are 340 calories per serving, and 6 servings per pizza. I find it difficult to stop at half a pizza but I am usually successful however that means I've just consumed 1020 calories. But, at least I enjoyed every single one! If you try this pizza I'd like to hear your comments on it...

The Red Pill by Jay Pounder

2012-10-18T10:11:00.000-07:00

I recently read the book titled The Red Pill by Jay Pounder, which I believe was self published in 2012. The book is clearly a wake up call to Americans to change their spending and self reliant ways. I think the book was informative and there were a few criticisms that I had, as I started thinking about the practicality of taking measures to prepare your families for the upcoming economic collapse.

China Prints Their Currency

I just can't help but wonder how one of the poorest nations, for centuries, now in recent history has came out of nowhere economically. A country with "extractive" economic and political systems, with a per capita GDP 1/10th that of the United States. I realize that over the last 10-20 years we have been falling behind in a trade deficit and losing our innovative technologies by shipping our ideas for production and theft, but are these the key elements of their financial strength to where they can keep buying US debt? Is the Yuan really backed by gold? How would you know? I'm just asking the question here, and am willing to learn along the way if you have the answer.

Bullets & Beans

One aspect of The Red Pill was the preparations that families should be making with bullets, beans, and band-aids. I agree, we should be prepared for disasters, and we should be prepared for a loss of our constitutional rights and freedoms. We should be willing to fight for those ideals. As I was reading, the real frustration that came my way was related to the number of guns and ammunition one should be stockpiling away. I'm sure, if you have more you should prepare more, but the laundry list was nearly $10,000 worth of rifles (hunting and automatic), handguns, shotguns, and ammunition. More practically, I'd challenge the average American to put that $10,000 on their credit card balance to seek after a debt free life, rather than armory building.

Search & Seizure

A good portion of the book was focused on a hypothetical scenario where the government was requesting, then requiring, all goods of value that could help the country during an economic collapse, through martial law.. So here's my point, is it wise for me to stockpile a large portion of silver, gold, food, water, and firearms, if I'm going to be required to hand it over for the good of the order? I'd have to consider, if I have gone that far to prepare, I better be willing to protect it at all costs. How frustrating would that be to make all those preparations, only to have agency come in and take it for their own distribution.

As Federal As Federal Express

Jay Pounder gives an interesting overview of the Federal Reserve and shows how it functions in relation to the US Government and our commercial banks. I think the one thing I found strange that this banker, in the industry for 10-15 years had only discovered that the Federal Reserve was not a government agency only a year ago. I've heard the phrase, Federal as Federal Express for years, after doing my own research, I just found this strange to be discovered so late in our economic history. I don't fault him there, clearly most Americans have no idea what the Federal Reserve is, so I give him credit for learning, discovering, and changing.

One other interesting highlighted by Mr. Pounder was his detailing of the Fed's history and some of the presidential assassinations in relation to changing or inhibiting the Federal Reserve, such as when John F. Kennedy established the $2 and $5 silver certificates. Correlative, and strange.

In closing, I recommend getting a copy of The Red Pill, if anything, it'll make you think, ask questions, and determine whether or not you need to make a change in your financial life. The book is a short read at only about 80 pages and definitely a conversation starter for your friends and colleagues.

Costco Mortgage Loan Service

2012-10-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

In June of this year when mortgage rates dropped to historical levels I thought it was about time to run the numbers again on mortgage refinance options. At the time I was locked into a 5.5% 30 year residential mortgage that still had 20 years of payments left. I had been paying extra towards the principal every month to pay it off early but it was still a slow slog. As mortgage lending rates continued to drop over the last few years I would run the numbers occasionally to see if it made sense to refinance my residential mortgage. I probably looked at the numbers differently than most people that are looking at mortgage refinance options. I was not looking for a lower monthly payment or starting over on a 30 year mortgage. My goal is to pay off my home as quickly as I can, while not raising my payment to a level that will strap me to a high mortgage payment. I have been waiting for the 15 year mortgage rate to drop to a level that would allow me to refinance and not raise my monthly payment above what I am was currently paying. In June of this year that happened! I was listening to the news and heard that the 30 year rate was down to 3.69%. I immediately looked into the 15 year rate and discovered that it was 3.125%. I called my bride and told her what I was thinking and she said go for it. I made a few calls and requested a couple of good faith estimates. In the past I have always used a friend of mine named Paul Ramsey, who owns Quantum Mortgage Northwest. He always has the best rates, lowest costs and is a joy to work with.

Paul had the best offer like usual but then I thought of something. Why not check Costco? Years before I secured a 3% car loan through Costco. I jumped on the Costco.com web site and looked under the heading ‘services”, Low and behold they offered a residential mortgage service and if you are an Executive Member the loan “fee” is capped at $600 ($750 for Gold Star Members)! Most lenders charge a 1% loan origination fee, in my case that would have been $1300. (Of course Paul’s fee was less than that, at $995.) It takes about 2 minutes to enter the information needed online at the Costco web site. Typical things like name, address, mortgage amount, etc. and then you hit the send button. This is no exaggeration, I received a phone call in 60-70 seconds from the time I hit the send button! I was greeted by a very helpful loan officer from Central Mortgage Company. After a 20 minute question and answer session, I was pre-approved over the phone for a 3.125% 15 year mortgage! I received two additional calls from other mortgage companies within the hour, but the rates and fees were lowest with Central. After talking to my bride about the details I moved forward with Central Mortgage Company. Communication with my loan officer was very efficient and everything went so smoothly that I was that it exceeded my expectations. Everything was done via fax or e-mail with the exception of the closing which needed to be done by a local closing agent. The total process from initial phone call to closing was 28 days. I could not have been more satisfied with Costco or Central Mortgage Company during the whole closing process.
Here is what I ended up with:

15 year loan at 3%

Previous payment $1243 per month New payment $1248 per month

Principal gain $300 per month $600 per month

So my cost to live in my home (before maintenance) is $648 per month, since the rest is going to principal! I can’t rent a nice apartment for that price. And I live in an above-average home and neighborhood.

Furthermore, I continue to pay the additional principal payment each month that I was making before which makes this 15 year loan a 13 years loan. To quote James Brown “I feel good!”

The Costco mortgage loan service is one of many services offered by Costco that a lot of people are not familiar with. Before I make any large purchase or financial decision I always go to the Costco web site to see what they have to offer. Typically they offer the best product or service for the best price. When you are shopping for something go to Costco.com first. I can almost guarantee that you will leave happy!

Perfect Boiled Eggs

2012-10-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

About a year ago I stumbled across this blog post and found it had a great method for cooking hard boiled eggs that were easy to peel, we're not over cooked, and tasted great. The one significant difference between what I am writing about today and Simply Recipe's post is that I am cooking on a gas stove.

The significance is the retained heat in the coils, referred to in the posting, which is a valid point with electric stove tops with coils or even glass tops. I started off with the same process and have modified the steps after boiling begins and found that the eggs have turned out really tasty, with bright yellow yolks, are fully cooked, and easy to peel.

Perfect Boiled Eggs

Start with a pan of cold water, straight from the tap.
Place the eggs in the pan.
Turn on the stove and allow the water to begin to heat up.
Add about a 1/2 a teaspoon of salt
Since the eggs are sitting on the bottom of the pan, move them around every couple of minutes
When the water begins a rolling boil, let boil for 3 minutes.
After 3 minutes turn off the stove top and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 5 minutes
Transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water so they can begin to chill and cool down for serving
Periodically drain the warmer water, so the eggs are always soaking in cold water

After they have fully chilled peel them for your toasted egg salad sandwich, or favorite hard boiled egg dish. Please note that the cooking time may need to be extended when cooking more eggs. For this, I was cooking two eggs, and found the times above to work out perfectly. But, for the most part, the cooking time was related to the getting the water from tap to the boiling point. I'd experiment a little and see how much length needs to be added to the cooking time after the water is boiling. I don't think it'll be much.

I hope this helps a bit. I have learned that there are many strong beliefs posted in the comments of the Simply Recipes entry on the Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs, but the ones related to salt and the easy peeling aspect of hard boiled eggs were the most beneficial to me. Give this process a shot on your gas stove and see if you don't end up with perfect boiled eggs.

Preparedness

2012-10-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

Everyone can remember the devastation and chaos following the flooding in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. Very few people were prepared for the aftermath of such a large storm surge battering and breaching the levies surrounding the city. After all, they were many prior storms that had not caused that much destruction. This is one of many natural disasters that have hit America in the last decade. Usually people are not very well prepared for the smallest interruption in their daily routine. The US government, state governments and the American Red Cross have been trying to educate Americans about the need to have some basis emergency preparedness items on hand in case of a disaster, power outage, terrorist attack, etc. Most Americans ignore this education effort thinking that it will never happen to them…

I am not talking about going overboard and building an underground bunker with 5 years worth of food and water. The most realistic scenario will be 3-5 days of supplies to provide for your basic needs while the infrastructure and utilities are repaired and put back in order. It takes very little time and money to prepare your home with 3-5 days of supplies. The American Red Cross has already made a list that you can print from their web site. Personally, I have a longer term kit ready to go in my garage. Having lived through a couple of events myself, I feel that 3-5 days is a good start and 20-30 days gives me additional peace of mind, just in case. As always, check out what Costco has to offer!

I can remember three major events that I have lived through here in Spokane. May 18, 1980 Mount St. Helens erupted covering Spokane in 2-3 inches of volcanic ash. On October 16, 1991, a firestorm of 92 fires caused by extremely dry conditions and high winds burned 114 homes and killed two people. November 19, 2006 brought an ice storm to Spokane covering everything from cars to trees to power lines in a thick layer of ice. What do all three events have in common you ask? All three incidents brought the city to a halt, with store closures, power outages, school closures, etc. Having a small cache of emergency supplies on hands makes a lot of sense, especially after living through these three events.

Another important tip to keep your family prepared is to keep your vehicles full of fuel. Try to keep your vehicle half full of fuel at all times and never wait until you are on empty to fill up. If an event occurs that scares the populace there will be a run on gasoline. Everyone has seen the news reports of the long lines developing at gas stations right before a hurricane hits Florida. It doesn’t cost extra to fill up more often and it makes a lot of sense to never letting your tank fall below half way point.

Hopefully you will never need to break into your 3-5 day kit. But should the need arise, you will be thankful that you spent half a day and $100 or so to prepare your family. Don’t delay! Get prepared

What's in the Fridge?

2012-10-09T09:16:00.000-07:00

Summer has ended and fall is coming on strong with brightly colored leaves falling to the ground all over our neighborhood. The mornings are brisk and the afternoons are mild, my favorite time of the year. What this means for my household is that we will be making soup and lots of it. Soup, chili and stew are something that we enjoy making and searching for a new recipe is half the fun. But there are times when we are running late or just don’t feel like taking the time to cook and clean up. One of the soups that we often enjoy is Pacific brand organic soup purchased in a 6-pack at Costco.

Roasted red pepper and tomato soup is one of our favorites. It doesn’t contain any harmful oils or high fructose corn syrup as an ingredient. Plus all the ingredients are readily identifiable! (Milk, water, tomato paste, red bell pepper, cane sugar, garlic, sea salt, butter, rice flour, spices and sodium citrate) The only negative would be the level of sodium that it contains but as you now most processed or canned foods have a large amount of sodium. This soup is delicious and has a home-cooked taste of tomato as well as sweet roasted red pepper flavor. It is a great accompaniment to toasted cheese sandwiches or wonderful by itself. The packaging is more convenient than a can as it can be resealed and saved in the original container for use later in the week. Pacific brand soup can be found at most grocery stores for $2.75 to $3.25 per container. Plus there are lots of different types of soups available from Pacific and we have enjoyed them all. But once again Costco comes through with the best value. $10.99 for a 6-pack makes this $1.83 per container and one container will feed my family of three. Sometimes we spiff the soup up with fresh croutons, oyster crackers or some cooked macaroni noodles. My bride loves to add a can of diced tomatoes which gives the smooth soup some texture. If you have not tried this soup I highly recommend it. Fall is in the air and nothing is better in the fall than a hot cup of soup!

iPhone Tips: Playing Audio at Double Speed

2012-10-09T09:12:00.001-07:00

The other day I was trying to determine how I can listen to audiobooks at a faster rate of speed rather than the standard playback. Over the past year, I've been listening to a large number of books on my commute, and recently wondered how I could get through them faster.

I noticed when listening to podcasts, you have the option of playing the items faster, and began searching for iPhone and iTunes tips for doing the same for Books on CD. Here's the process:

iPhone Tips

Using iTunes, import the tracks from each CD of the audiobook
Create a new playlist and add the imported tracks to the playlist
Select the playlist and then select all of the listed tracks
Right click on the selected list and select Get Info
In the Options tab, change the Media Kind to Audiobook

This will create a new object in the Books portion of your Library. When you sync iTunes and your listening device, be sure you are syncing the Books. Being able to play audio at double speed in iTunes is a great way to spend less time listening to audiobooks on your commutes.

Getting and Staying Fit.

2012-10-08T10:29:00.001-07:00

It has been a lifetime struggle for me to stay fit. Why has it been? I have pondered that question for 25 years.

The best answer I have to date is, it’s been easy just not to pay attention to it.

There are quite a few people in my family that have weight problems, but there are also people that are fit as a fiddle! I used to use heredity as an excuse; at this point I feel it’s simply an excuse. The fit people in the family work at it. And the others don’t. Plus I love to eat! I’m a stress eater, I’m a happy eater, I’m a social eater, and I’m a bored eater…Plus doing whatever I want is way easier than Exercise.

So now I'm in my mid 40's it's finally time to wake up and do something about it for good.

I’m finally in the mindset that this is not a temporary endeavor. It will be, and needs to be a way of life; if I want a life.

I am lucky to have a lovely wife and 3 great children. I don't want to be the fat dad who can't or won't do anything with his children. I want my wife to be proud to introduce me as her husband.

I have been promoted to a management position in a national company that requires travel and presentations for various items. I don’t want to be judged the minute I enter the room. I don’t care what people say about this, but you and I know it happens…

With the encouragement and pleading of some lifelong friends and family I’ve started on this journey I have been putting off for way to long. To get kick started I’ve enrolled a program offered at the local YMCA. It’s a 12 week plan called Metabolic Makeover. https://sites.google.com/site/mmakeover12/

I just started week 5 of the program. So far I really like it. It hits on all points. Nutrition, exercise, positive self talk, accountability. Turning in food journals, No excuses for NOT showing up for exercise class.

It's not like I've not known what to do. When you break it down it's really quite simple. Eat a balanced diet; eat your calorie needs and exercise! No magic here.

I've lost over 100 pounds twice in my life and 30 to 50 pounds more times than I can count on various commercial diet programs. Did they work? Sure they work, but you can’t revert to your old ways after completing their programs.

This program incorporates all of them not just one or the other.

We weigh in and do body composition testing at the end of week of 6 and again the end of week 12 with a fitness re-evaluation.

I’ve been forcing myself to not step on the scale prior. But I know I’ve lost weight. Pants are looser and my shoes are looser as weird as that sounds.

I plan on signing up for the winter quarter class as well for another 12 weeks.

I’ll keep my progress updated. Wish me luck!

Mainvue Homes Review

2012-10-07T19:53:00.001-07:00

Mainvue Homes is a newer builder in the Seattle area. My fiance' and I were drawn to their homes due to their unique home designs; we wanted something just a little different. When we decided that Mainvue homes was what we wanted, we were able to go to their main homesite center, called the Bridges, and choose from 11 different pre-built home designs which was nice. We picked out a home model and a color scheme as well as a small development that they were building homes on. That's probably about where the positive part of our experience ends. If I had known what the process would be like buying a home from Mainvue, I would definately look elsewhere. My two biggest issues with Mainvue homes is the extremely poor communication between our main contacts during the actual home building (the sales center), the person supervising the construction and us. The sales center never had accurate information with regards to where our home construction was which we simply checked by going to the home itself. They were often short and often had incorrect information. The main issue of my disatisfaction with Mainview homes would be their construction quality. They tell you that they build with attention to detail and keeping their customers happy. We just performed our final walk through inspection and I was expecting minor cosmetic issues, but I wasn't expecting the majority of walls to be out of square (to the point where they agreed they needed to fix them). Their actual initial response to our complaint of crooked walls and ceilings was "that's normal". Normal.... Normal.... I know quite a few people who are either in construction or deal with it on some level and they either laughed their ass off at that comment or said "That's B-SHIT!", which I agree with. Cabinets not true or hung square or flush. Exterior roof boards so dramatically warped their response when I pointed it out was "Oh, we have to just replace that. There's no way we can fix that board". DUH. Deck posts that had a twist to them, probably 20'. I asked "is that because lower grade wood is used for decking?" The response was "no, it's actually supposed to be good quality/grade lumbar". I told him I'd hate to see what poor quality lumbar looked like. replace it. The list goes on. Between extreme lack of caring for doing a job with any level of pride by the sub-contractors and piss-poor communication I would give Mainvue homes a 1 out of 6 stars, simply due to the designs....

Refrigerator Purchase

2012-10-07T11:28:00.002-07:00

Moving into our newly built/purchased home (Mainvue built home) and needed to purchase a fridge. My fiance and I have shopped quite a bit, at Costco, Home Depot, Lowe's, Sears and several other appliance stores. We ended up staying with Sears as they had the largest selection of viewable- at the store- units. We ended up liking the Kenmore Elite counter depth the most. We were about to pull the trigger at the store, but using my handy smart phone (Droid Incredible) I was able to locate the same unit at a Sears outlet for what ended up being a $800 savings. It has a very un-noticeable dent in the lower left section of the front stainless steel door- easily worth the savings. We are looking forward to putting this unit into service and will update the post with our views on it.

Credit Cards Are Bad!

2012-10-05T10:54:00.000-07:00

I believe that I am in a very small demographic that has never carried a balance on a credit card. My father taught me that cash is king and debt is bad. I took this to heart at a young age and have been fortunate enough to never wavered from my father’s teaching. Of course I have a mortgage and I do have a car loan from time to time. My last car loan was for a 2010 Subaru Legacy at 1.9% and we put half down and paid the balance off in 3 years. I think the total interest paid was just over $400. That seemed like a reasonable amount of interest to me and my bride. I truly believe that I have lived at a higher standard of living than other people in my income bracket because I have stayed out of debt. I have been unexpectedly unemployed twice in the last ten years and have never been hurt financially because I didn’t have several minimum monthly payments on credit cards to worry about. All of that being said, I do have two credit cards, an American Express and a Visa. Next week I will tell you how I use these two cards and a change that I am considering making to my current strategy.

Flu Season

2012-10-04T15:43:00.001-07:00

Well, it looks like flu season for 2012 is upon us already. We had an episode of late night vomiting on Friday night, which inevitably let to a Saturday morning carpet cleaning excursion. Additionally, I gave my kids the I think I'm may throw up checklist knowing that we'd likely see the rest of them succumbing to stomach flu.

Vomit Checkist

Get out of bed
Run to the toilet
At least get to the sink
All else, get off the carpet

Just for a quick clarification, we had an incident where one knew they weren't going to make it to the toilet, so they just stopped. Cleaning up vomit on the carpet at 2:00AM, really makes no one's day. So, if you can't make it to the toilet, or the sink, at least get to the bathroom since it is much easier to clean up.

Our house didn't do too bad, because our kids are a bit older, but the other day I was doing some yard work and overheard one neighbor stating to another "Tommy just puked down the stairs." That's rough.

Stay well this cold and flu season.

Thanh Thao - Thai Restaurant

2012-10-03T10:01:00.002-07:00

If you are visiting Portland and get the craving for some good Thai food look no further that Thanh Thao on 4005 SE Hawthorne Blvd. After leaving my cousins on Sunday afternoon we decided we needed to eat before hitting the road for Spokane. My cousin lives in very unique area of Hawthorne street with many different types of businesses and strange people. There are many food options up and down Hawthorne including a couple of Thai restaurants. This was our first visit to Thanh Thao but it will not be our last. It is situated in an old structure that has been decorated in the typical Thai décor. The cleanliness was adequate and the table was clean and well organized. As soon as we sat down we were greeted with a smile and hot tea. We perused our menus and as soon as we closed the menus and placed them on the table we were asked to place our order. I choose peanut chicken and my bride ordered chicken and vegetables with wide noodles. The restaurant was half full when we arrived at 12:30pm. By the time our food arrived the restaurant was completely full. Our delicious food arrived in a timely manner. My peanut chicken consisted of lots of chicken breast, peanuts and a few white and green onions slivers. There was a thin broth style light peanut sauce that had a very mild spice taste. On the side of the table you will find squeeze bottles of hosin sauce and chili sauce. The chili sauce provided an added kick making my meal perfect. My brides meal was fresh broccoli, tomato, basil and chicken with perfectly cooked noodles. I would describe the taste as a typical oyster style sauce that is a popular item at many Thai restaurants. Mindy added a little hosin and chili sauce and we both ranted and raved about how good it was. The portion size of our entrees were very generous and the total cost of our meal was $17.99! Excellent food for an inexpensive price, my favorite type of meal! If you make it to Portland, I highly recommend it.

Thanh Thao

Written by: Todd

Thanh Thao

Date published: 10/03/2012

4.5 / 5 stars

Costco Kirkland Signature US made Vodka (first taste)

2012-10-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

Last week I mentioned that I purchased the new Kirland Signature vodka from Costco. You can read about that here. I finally got around to sampling it. While packing for our road trip to Portland Oregon on Thursday night I suddenly had a the desire for a cocktail. I approached the wife and she concurred, martini time! I broke out the Costco Kirkland Signature vodka and went through the steps of making a perfect Martini. First I filled two crystal martini glasses with ice and then topped them with water. (It doesn’t make sense to pour an ice cold martini into a room temperature glass!) Secondly, I skewered three chilled queen green olives. Next I filled the shaker with a combination of ice cubes and cracked ice along with a large measure of Kirkland Signature Vodka. I then vigorously shook the warmth out of the vodka until the shaker was too cold to handle any longer. I presented my bride with an ice cold martini and she looked excited.

We both put the glasses to our mouths for our first sip and then looked at each other. It was not the look that either of us expected…. yet nothing was said. After 25 years of marriage and several martini’s shared together over the years, we knew what each other was thinking. The first impression was not great. Knowing that the taste of a first sip of a beverage can be skewed by what was recently consumed, we both went in for our second sample of the ice cold martini. This time my bride used works and said “I’m not impressed”. And either was I. What was I expecting? A smooth crisp taste was a refreshingly smooth finish. It had neither. The finish could only be described as harsh or sharp. We will finish the bottle, but will probably not purchase it again. I think Smirnoff is a better value and has a better taste and costs less. For the wife and I this is one of the few Kirkland Signature products that we have not been impressed with. And the funny thing, it was probably made be Smirnoff.

Portland Oregon (the dirtiest place in the Northwest)

2012-10-01T12:07:00.003-07:00

I just spent three days in Portland Oregon helping with my cousins wedding. Something that I have noticed every time I visit the city is how filthy dirty it is and how much trash is all over the streets. Many "green people" live in Portland yet the streets are covered in refuse. Why doesn’t an environmental group organize a small army of "green people" to clean the place up? Several times as the wife and I were walking around we would get a whiff of what a large landfill smells like. I just don't get it…

What Guys Want

2012-09-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

Can you answer the question of what guys want? Some guys are looking for high search engine rankings and how those rankings can be increased by publishing better content on the web. That is a current challenge of mine, and I'm a guy.

Secondly, I'm really interested in writing code, as in Ruby based Rails applications, except, I'm lacking something significant during the course of my day. Time. So, in order to accomplish the code writing, another thing that guys want is more time. I hope this has been helpful, so far.

Besides being in good shape, I think most guys want to be healthier. That's something I'm continually striving for. I am amazed on how long it takes to remove fat from the body and lose weight compared to how fast it comes on. Literally, weeks versus months, or years even. Stay in shape, that is my advice; once you get there, you've worked too hard to let it go.

Finally, I don't think all guys are this way, but I am a learner -- I want to learn. All the time it seems. I have numerous interests, which would be helpful if time would be more plentiful, as mentioned before. But, currently, if I could knock out some fundamental knowledge of economics, statistics and probability, I'd be pretty happy about that.

I hope this has given you some insight, I'm sure my co-bloggers will put forth their perspectives on what guys want, and help answer this question for you.

Ethan is on Google+