must be KARMAH

Still Around

2009-07-24T22:50:46-04:00

Hi. My name is karmah and I am a blog neglector. What excuses should I offer for my long absence?

Lack of time...
The return button on my keyboard says "Back in Ten Minutes"....
Work...
The dog ate my blog...
Family...
My brain moved and forgot to leave a forwarding address...
Just pure laziness...
All of the above?

I just need to get my thoughts, etc. in gear. Hopefully within the next few weeks. I have been missing out on being able to share with others. The camaraderie of sharing crafting, life, etc. Then there is the whole therapeutic affect that writing lends to life that I have been sorely missing.

At that time I might nuke all the old posts and start fresh. I haven't made up my mind yet. It might be a fresh new start all the way around.

See you in a few!

Faxed Again

2008-07-17T11:40:01-04:00

This morning when my cell phone rang, I ran through the house like a madwoman trying to reach it before the caller hung up. Why the haste? No one. I mean no one ever calls my cell phone when I am at home unless it is something important. Here I am thinking that something happened to a family member, etc. Nope. Just someone trying to fax me... again.

No sooner had I take a pic of my phone with the number displayed that they called again! "Hello?" "Beep, beep, uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh." Yeah, that is so not the sound that I want to hear at any time of the day, let alone at frequent intervals.

I did a search on the phone number and the only thing that came up was the location of the interchange. This time it is someone in the area of St. Louis, Missouri who is trying to send me some much needed document. My luck it is probably some auto fax spammer out there and the calls will continue.

Has anyone else been getting calls from 314-842-3855? I just saw another number on the received call list: 314-842-8348. This added to the previous number that kept calling me: 314-837-7321. I am up to three numbers trying to fax me. Wow. Lucky me I get to pay for the calls.

Now that I have listed the numbers, the next time that someone else is faxed by mistake, they might get this to come up in their search. It may not solve the problem, but at least they will know they are not alone.

Question: Anyone out there with T-Mobile know how to block a number?

Sign of the Times

2008-07-16T12:23:00-04:00

Does this mean that Coke Zero is so good... It's bad?
Picture of my MyCokeRewards points, taken after my last cap was inputed.
Maybe this entry should be titled "Sign of the Zero".

Show Me the Vinegar

2008-07-16T00:16:21-04:00

Online there have been a lot of post lately about being frugal and more "green". One of these posts mentioned making your own cleaning solutions. (Unfortunately, even after much backtracking through my computer's history I can not find the original post.)

The thought of a cheaper alternative that would work for cleaning, help kill mold and bacteria, etc. intrigued me. Vinegar can do all that? I had to try it out and see for myself.

Now mind you I am just in the testing phase. For my first go-round I decided to mix half white vinegar with half tap water to make the all-purpose cleaner. Then I went outside and tackled cleaning the car. Believe you me, it needed it bad. I used it on the windows and it seemed to work well. The true window test will be tomorrow while driving as it is then that I will see any streaks, etc. Kind of hard to tell if you have streaky windows in the near dark.

It did work wonders on the rubber floor mats. You know, the kind with all the crevices that take forever to try and clean out by hand, and they still have gummy stuff stuck in them? I just sprayed them down, let them sit for a little bit and rinsed them off with the hose. Gunk be gone!

The vinegar even removed a mark on the passenger door that we have been trying to get rid of for a while. A conventional cleaner would not remove it, but this solution did. (See the before and after photos below.)

The girls helped me clean out the car and they both complained of the strong smell. At first the smell was overwhelming to me as well, but as I cleaned I got used to it. The smell is supposed to dissipate with time, but most of the people who said so used it in a more open space (a house) and said that within 20 minutes it was gone. I will see in the morning if the car smells like vinegar inside or not.

Now I do not think that I would use the vinegar & water solution to regularly clean my car as there was a note about it dulling plastics, etc. I can imagine that a vinyl interior would not fare well with a constant acidic cleaner being used on it. It would be a good cleaner for occasionally use on tough dirt on the interior.

I am going to try it out on the bathrooms next and see what it can do there. I'll report in with my findings then. If it works out well, I will be quite happy to have a more cost effective cleaner for much, much less than the conventional counterpart.

In the mean time, does anyone have any homemade cleaning solutions that work for you? I am really interested in a detergent that will work with a dishwasher and another for laundry that would work in an HE machine.

Research Maniac

2008-07-15T02:01:00-04:00

When I want to find out information on a subject I invariably turn to the internet. Need a recipe? Look it up at All Recipes. Need to know how to spell a word or look up a word's meaning? Surf on over to Dictionary.com. No heavy tome lifting required. What time is the movie tonight? Pull up Fandango. How much wood can a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Google it.

I research everything online from a product that I want to buy to what time the store downtown opens up. Time flies by as I get lost hopping from site to site. Slogging through articles, digging through link after link. Searching for the golden egg of information.

If I can't find the information online I ask some questions on a related forum or message board. Someone there may be able to help me to direct me to an answer, or provide it thelmselves. Even a post on my blog can turn up an answer I am seeking.

When those means do not pan out, I use the resources available to connect me with other means. I log onto the local library system and request a book or two on the subject. Search a website for contact information to write an email or letter for more information about a product, destination, company, etc.

My obsession with finding out the best deals, how to accomplish something, etc. is becoming well known with friends and family. It's gotten to the point that if they need information on something they ask me first. I try to tell them how easy it is to find information online, but they would rather go through the middle man a.k.a. me. Good thing I am addicted, right?

Free Slurpee from 7-Eleven

2008-07-11T10:43:00-04:00

I found out via Erin at the Thrifty Soaper that 7-11 will be giving out 7.11 ounce Slurpees for free today July 11th. The only catch? Your local 7-11 might not be participating in their 7-Eleven Day celebration.

Hubby and the kiddos are planning on going and getting their own. They will either walk the mile to the store, or ride their bikes to get there. It will give them some quality time together and keep the kids from griping about their summer boredom for a little while at least.

Sew Good Reads

2008-07-10T03:27:00-04:00

After a long hiatus, my mother has taken up sewing again. It began a little bit before Christmas of last year. She got into making some pillows for gifts. Now she has moved on to quilts. I thought that I would help to broaden her horizons and give her some ideas of what people are sewing these days. (The last time she did a lot of sewing was the 1990's and before that the 1970's.)

I picked up the above books through the library loan system and dropped them off at her house. She was like a kid in the candy store with them. She teased me that I hadn't purchased the books for her, but rather they were the libraries, so she wasn't allowed to keep them. (Perhaps a hint for her yuletide gift this year?)

She returned them to me the other day because they are due soon. No comment as to what she might have decided to make. That leaves me in anticipation of what sewing project she is going to proudly present to me on my next visit to her home.

The books pictured above are:
In Stiches by Amy Butler
Last Minute Fabric Gifts by Cynthia Treen and Karen Philippi
Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol

Two to Four Pepsi Points

2008-07-01T21:50:00-04:00

Am I hallucinating? Has there been a misprint? Someone please tell me... Have the 12 packs of Pepsi gone from being two points to four?

I remember when the Pepsi Stuff program started up again and a lot of people were upset that the point value for 12 packs and 24 packs were not much more than a 20 ounce or two liter. They compared it against the My Coke Rewards where you received more points for the same package size. But then they tried to reason it out that rewards for Coke cost more points than those for Pepsi, etc. (Although this point can be argued by how much of each product needs to be purchased to gain items of similar value, but we are not going down that long road.)

Now, we only purchase the 12 packs, not the 24. So I was quite shocked to see that the points inside were more than I expected. Was their a stamping error at the plant that day, or did they raise the point value system to please customers? Hmmm...

Anyone else encounter this?

Catching Nashville Star

2008-06-29T20:14:00-04:00

In years past I had seen advertisements for the show Nashville Star, although I never watched it. Perhaps I had in my mind that it was just American Idol goes country. “Another music star-wannabe show? Ugh.”  

Then this summer rolls around, I see more advertisements and decide that I will set my DVR to record it and then give it a go. That way if I found out that I did not like it, I would just delete it and get on with my day. And if I did like it I could fast forward through the commercials to get on with the listening.

What did I find out? That I actually like watching the show and ended up watching the first three episodes back to back.

Things That I Like About the Show

The Auditions. They are condensed into a short and sweet segment. Not long and drawn out. No degradation, no ridicule. Just some good, some bad and some great. Then quickly into those who made it to the final round.

The Judges. They are not predictable in what they will and won’t like. They are real. You don’t automatically classify someone as the mean one, the pushover or the one who wants to be everyone’s friend. (If you know what I am talking about.)

The Second Chance. That even though someone may have received the lowest amount of votes, they get to prove that they do have what it takes to be the next star. 
 

Things That I Don’t Like About The Show 

The Guest Performers. I am watching the show to see who will be the next star, not those who already are. I’d rather the contestants have a little more song time to show us what they’ve got.

The Chippie After-Performance Interviewer. I have the same problem with the interviewer on Last Comic Standing. They just come off as fake instead of sincere.

What about the contestants on the show? I am in no way a show biz or music expert. However, I do know what music I like listening to and what I would buy. When it comes down to it the fans are the ones who buy the CDs, attend the concerts, etc. and in essence make the stars, well, stars. My opinion is that of one such fan. Others may agree to disagree, but here is my little breakdown of the performers.

Who I Am Rooting For 

Melissa Lawson... Ho-wee that girl can sing. No doubt about it. When she does put herself fully behind the song she shines and really lights up the stage. Keep putting your all into it girl! And I just have to say I want to see a big gal and a mama win it all.   

Gabe Garcia just plain sounds country to the bone. Not something that you can fake there. He’s got the voice and the depth to it that could take him all the way. I want to see him swing it out though.

Who I Can See Getting a Music Deal Win or Lose  

Pearl Heart has the harmonies and they have their own little take on the group thing. The lead singer standing out thing is getting better and I can see that with some more work they would be highly marketable.  

Ashlee Hewitt will undoubtably be signed the minute she walks off that stage. She is a wet dream for any promoter. Young, PYT (as the girl duo sang this past week) and boys everywhere will want to get with her and girls will want to be her. Yes, she can sing too. And that is always a plus. I don’t like singers who get shoved to the top simply due to their looks. Luckily this one can sing and has the passion for music. 

Who I Would Like to See Improve

Shawn Mayer has to overcome her “take on everything no matter what attitude” and put her heart more into doing something good with a song that might not have been so great to begin with, but that when she sings it, it becomes great. She has to make her own greatness instead of being compared to those who have already achieved it.

Sophie & Laura are so saccharine sweet it’s a little too much. They need to get some more soul behind their words. Dig down deep and give some meaning to what they are saying. It’s almost as if they have only been just let out of a box and are beginning to realize that this is a whole world out there. Let’s hope that they start exploring it and grow with the competition. And the outfits? A little less matchy-matchy dress-up and more a cohesive yet individual look. Think of how the other girl group had a cohesive look but were all different. 

Who I Do Not See Going Very Much Farther 

Coffey. Why? Because there is just something missing there. It just doesn’t come across with a depth and not very country either. Which sucks, because I would like to see him do well. He is a very likable guy, but is he an artist or an entertainer?   

Alyson Gilbert, already the judges have had it in their heads to compare her to Reba and Martina McBride. She’s been shoved into the red-head singer zone, and I do not think that she has enough original spark to step out of their shadows. I will say that her eyes are striking but she needs to pull people into her singing more.   

Tommy Stanley needs to be reminded that this is a C-O-U-N-T-R-Y competition. I am not saying that he totally sucks or that he can not get people going along for the ride. But that I have yet to hear anything country out of him. Maybe he would be better off on American Idol. Although I’d hate to see him get crushed by Cowell.

Who I Was Not Surprised to See Go

Charley Jenkins only performance on the big little screen was very cartoonish. As if it was what someone thought country ought to be. I hate to say it, but it was like seeing a skit. He would have done much better to actually sing the song rather than perform it.  

Justin “Pretty Boy”* Gaston. Something about the man did not come off even well, singable. He would be the karaoke guy that everyone at the bar was listening too and all the girls in the room drooling over. But he just not sound like a singer. Maybe not enough experience yet, but his voice just isn’t there. And what in the world was up with the man boobs white v-chest T? (No way that could be termed v-neck. A little farther and it would have been a v-belly button.)

*Due to be called too “pretty” by Rich.

Who I Thought Would Last Longer 

Third Town has something but it’s just not really defined yet. They could be edgy country if only they could pull it together. I agree with the comment that they needed a lead singer. But evidently that piece of advice was left by the wayside and they blundered on to a scattered performance. Perhaps not listening to the mentors/judges is what sent them packing despite having talent.

I may not have ever watched the previous seasons, but I definitely will be watching this one. I am looking forward to seeing the contestants grow.

Comeback of the Ghost Eating King

2008-06-22T14:17:00-04:00

That's right Pac Man is back and he's ready to... err... drink some Coke? I wonder if Ms. Pac Man is into Diet Pepsi. Oh, the household must be fraught with the debate over Coke vs. Pepsi. Poor RC Cola never had a chance.