For those of you who don’t know me well enough in my personal life, I have recently married and with that temporarily moved to Nashville, TN while Kate (my wife) finishes up Grad school. We plan to switch over our wedding site, www.timandkateanderson.com from what it is now, to more of a life site where we can keep family and friends who don’t see us reguarly up to date. I’m not sure what that will mean for my site here. I’ll probably just end up writing more geeky and techy posts when I find the time. I’ve found that most of what I tend to want to relay, in general can be expressed in 140 characters or less.
Archive for the 'General' Category
–This deal only applies if you shop at Kroger, have Kroger Fueling stations and have the right cards for the scenario about to be described–
I’m a deal junkie and love finding the very best value. Some of you may have heard that Kroger is offering a bonus if you buy their store gift cards. For every $300 in gift cards that you buy, you get an extra $30 loaded onto them. Basically an instant 10% savings. If you have a rewards credit card that gives you money back for groceries you can save even more. One card I have, that I use for gas and groceries is the Chase Freedom Rewards Visa. It will give me 3% back on the top 3 categories of spending I use per month. So if I use it to purchase these gift cards, I get to save an additional 3%, totaling the 13% I can save on groceries per month.
I just discovered this past weekend, that I can use the gift cards I purchase, at Kroger Fuel Stations to fill up my car. In addition, if you’ve bought $100 worth of groceries in the past period (I’m not sure how often this gets reset) with your Kroger plus card you save 10¢ per gallon. With the price of gas at $4 per gallon, this is an added 2.5% savings. If you haven’t spent $100 in groceries you still get 3¢ off and I think there is a scalling effect to where the more groceries you buy the more you save per gallon. But in the end it is equivalant to about 15% off when you combine all these which is pretty nice. Giant Eagle seems to have a better Fuel Perks program, because I think it’s for ever $50 you spend you get 10¢ off, and the discount lasts for 3 months…. but it is also only for 1 fill up (up to 30 gallons) so there are trade-offs.
The next thing to figure out is if I can use the Kroger gift card to purchase other store gift cards, and get double fuel points (a limited time promotion currently running). I was originally not going to buy the limit of 4 $300 Kroger gift cards, but since discovering that I can use them for gas, I very well may buy all 4 that I’m entitled too before this promotion is over at the end of July.
On Friday night we had a party to celebrate Nick’s 23rd birthday. We invited a couple people over and ended up having a great time with our first party of the spring weather. Anyone who knows me knows I like to take pictures and document big events. I like to be able to look back and reflect on the fun times in my life and keep those memories fresh. I recently read at Lifehacker something to try to better document some of our parties. Basically the idea consists of setting up a webcam that captures an image every few seconds. Then the next day, you paste them all together in a movie and you can watch the previous night in a short time span. It gives it a very cool stop motion look to the evening. I decided Nick’s birthday party was a good trial celebration and set my webcam and laptop up in the corner of the room to record. After messing around with the video today and setting it to music, I must say I am VERY pleased with the end result.
High Quality WMV download link
First a quick note on the song. As soon as I saw the “look” of the video during a test run the night before I knew what song I would use if this was successful. One of my favorite songs from last year is “All Your Friends” by LCD Soundsystem. The rhythm is perfect for the type of video that was produced, and the theme of the song hits home. If you listen to or read the lyrics they might be a little confusing, but what I get from it is that later in life, looking back you’ll mostly remember the good times with your friends and not much else, even if some of the stuff you did with your friends was pretty stupid. It’s a theme that really struck a cord with me.
I wouldn’t trade one stupid decision
For another five years of lies
You drop the first ten years just as fast as you can
And the next ten people who are trying to be polite
When you’re blowing eighty-five days in the middle of France
Yeah, I know it gets tired only where are your friends tonight?
Sorry to get sidetracked on the song. Anyway, I can watch the video a few times and still notice something new that makes me smile since there is so much going on. One thing that might change if I keep doing this, is this no one knew that the camera was recording, so everything goes on unrelated to the camera. We might be able to perform some pretty cool captures if people know its recording every 4 seconds. Also we’ve talked about setting up a second one somewhere else to capture even more, but I think the placement of this one got a much as possibly ( you can even see corn hole action outside at one point). Let me know what you think in the comments.
Last weekend my fair city of Columbus, OH received a record setting snow storm. Kate was up for the week, and was planning to head back to Nashville on Saturday, but ended up staying through Sunday because of how much snow we got. It was kinda fun to feel “trapped” in our house, living in the middle of a metropolis. Here we are almost a week later, and consistent sunny days of 40 degree weather has our nearly 2 feet of frozen fun melted away. But here are some pictures of our fun for those of you out of the area.
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| Great Blizzard of 08 |
I just realized that my site has been running a fairly default layout and theme for almost 6 months now. I really should get on the ball and produce a more customized and visually pleasing timjanderson dot com.
For maybe 2 years now, I use credit to pay for stuff 95% of the time. It’s convenient, it doesn’t take up space, I can easily track my spending, I earn rewards, and since I pay off my balance each month, it doesn’t cost me anything. I usually carry around a little bit of cash, just in case, but I absolutely hate carrying change. It’s annoying, it’s dirty, it makes noise, it’s hard to keep track of, and it serves very little purpose. The worst change of all are Pennies. 1/100th of a dollar. I’ve read a few proposals to get rid of the penny and I often agree with their arguments. But this is one I haven’t seen that makes me hate the penny even more.
So I’ve been curious in finding ways to have some “extra” income outside of my job’s normal pay. I’ve been selling off some stuff that I don’t use anymore on craigslist and eBay, but that can only last as long as I have stuff to sell. A popular option for some passive income is usually to have a blog and sell advertisement. But we all know based on the fact that I can’t seem to keep any sort of normal schedule for a personal blog, there is no way I’d be able to produce good content on a blog that would generate advertisement revenue. So I’ve been search for other alternatives.
One that has come up recently and somewhat paid off already is participating in surveying. A few months back I signed up for a a few survey websites that send you various surveys based on your demographic to have you fill out, and for your time you are compensated. The best ones send you cash to a PayPal account, but there are some that run off a point system that is then translated into gift certificates or mileage credit. So far, over the past…. 2 months I’d say I’ve taken maybe 2 hours worth of surveys, probably less. Most are less than 5 minutes and even if you don’t qualify, will get partial credit just for filling out your age, job function and income level. For those two hours of work I’ve received $30 worth of PayPal funds and a bunch of points that I can cash out at anytime for quite a few miles on an airline of my choosing. Not bad!
More recently, I was talking to a friend at work who participated in a little more advanced surveying that paid much better. She sent me the email address of a woman that contracts the taste testing for Wendy’s International. Since Wendy’s is based in Columbus, when they are getting ready to release a new product, they need to test it against the market to see what kind of response they can expect and to see if the product needs any adjustment based on consumer feedback. I sent my information to the testing contractor, and this past Wednesday did my first taste testing. It was the easiest money I’ve ever made. I drove a couple minutes away from where I live to Wendy’s headquarters, walked and signed in. A few minutes after I arrived (along with 20 or so other people), we were led back to a lab type area where we were seated in front of a computer screen and desk. A food item (I signed an agreement not to disclose what it was exactly) was distributed and as we ate it, were instructed to complete a survey on the computer. It took me around 10 minutes to eat and complete the survey (the item was quite delicious) and as I walked out, was handed $25 in cold hard cash! I practically skipped to my car that was so easy.
I’m definitely going to keep my eye out for more opportunities like that. I’ve heard of things like mystery shopping and mystery dining, where your meal is paid for, for trying out a new restaurant and reporting on it. The Midwest (especially Columbus) is the middle of test market USA, and I don’t know why I haven’t discovered these opportunities until now.
Popular Mechanics released a list last month of 25 skills they believe every man should know. They are as follows (full list and article available here) :
1. Patch a radiator hose
2. Protect your computer
3. Rescue a boater who has capsized
4. Frame a wall
5. Retouch digital photos
6. Back up a trailer
7. Build a campfire
8. Fix a dead outlet
9. Navigate with a map and compass
10. Use a torque wrench
11. Sharpen a knife
12. Perform CPR
13. Fillet a fish
14. Maneuver a car out of a skid
15. Get a car unstuck
16. Back up data
17. Paint a room
18. Mix concrete
19. Clean a bolt-action rifle
20. Change oil and filter
21. Hook up an HDTV
22. Bleed brakes
23. Paddle a canoe
24. Fix a bike flat
25. Extend your wireless network
Looking through it I knew a lot of them, but not all. To spare my manliness I won’t specify each one, but I will tell you the following:
- 18 of the 25 I have performed before
- 23 of the 25 I’m pretty sure I know how to do without instruction
- 2 of the 25 I would not know how to do, but being a man would attempt without caution and probably end up either hurting myself or someone, or destroying something.
The article was later updated to describe how to carry out all of the skills listed. Some of their solutions were more quick fixes and low level skill knowledge, which I guess is all that you would need in most situations. I found it very interesting (and I guess was kind of the point of the article) that there are at least 5 items on that list that deal with technology. I guess I never realized all my computer tinkering and tech interest was increasing my manliness. Now if only blogging was on the list.
How many of these skills do you know how to do?
So yea, we’re past months without any post what-so-ever. A lots been going on in my life, and I have been neglectful and not posted any information at all. Let me see if I can recap fairly briefly the goings on.
As I said in my last post, my family and I took an amazing trip down to the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador. It was an awesome time and a once in a lifetime trip. The wildlife and scenery was amazing. Between 5 digital camera, we took over 2500+ pictures, and I have slowly been working on getting them organized, edited and posted online. You can check out our first few days by clicking on the links below.
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| Galapagos - Day 1&2 |
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| Galapagos - Day 3 |
During my trip, Kate moved down to Nashville to start her 2 year Masters program at Vanderbilt. It was an event we had not been looking forward to, but now 2 months after the move, it has worked out alright. We are getting to see each other once ever 2 or 3 weeks and with communication and technology the way it is today, we can talk online and on the phone all day. The drive to Nashville isn’t half bad (only 6 hours) and we’re looking forward to being a mid-way point for future traveling friends who head south for vacations and whatnot.
I also moved to a new residence once I returned from the trip. Now I am renting a large house in suburbia with Matt, Newbs and Nick. So far the setup has worked out really well. We have tons of room, including a backyard and a basement where we have setup some weight lifting equipment and stuck to a weekly workout program. It has been a small challenge to get the 4 of us on a chore schedule to keep this huge place in some sort of order, but I think we everything has been going pretty well so far. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I really wanted to get a dog once I moved to a place with a yard. Well, after a week or so of debating and discussing the idea with Kate and my parents, I have decided to wait yet another year (until the move to TN) and not get a dog quite yet. It was a tough choice, but I think I have plenty of other things to keep me occupied and this way Kate and I will raise the dog together.
Even though the combination of work and life has kept me fairly busy, I still have found plenty of time to keep up my video game recreation. 2 weeks back Halo 3 hit stores, and I have been playing it nearly every night. The game is a ton of fun, and has a lot of different parts to keep you entertained and coming back for more. I also have been playing the sequal to an old classic - Team Fortress 2. This is an online PC game that is only multiplayer, but the balance, variety and presentation is top notch and I find myself constantly debating between starting up a match of Halo 3 or TF2.
Finally, wedding planning has not really been taking up much of my time, but I like to thing with everything that Kate has accomplished, I was very much occupied participating in the “yes dear” aspect of our decision making. I won’t go into great detail, but you can find all our updates and information over at our website that I linked to before. http://www.timandkateanderson.com. Moving forward I’m not sure how I plan on splitting time and content between this site and that. I know I’m going to keep posting my general life updates here, but eventually, once we’re married, we plan on turning T&KA.com over to a combined blog for the two of us. I’ll probably end up moving all my general posts to that site, but still use this site for my personal interests like gaming, technology etc…
That’s all for now. I know I promise this almost every post, but I’m sure I’ll write more frequently than once every two months.
It’s been a pretty busy week for me. Tomorrow I will be flying down to South America with my family for a 10 day vacation\7 day cruise in the Galapagos Islands. We have been very blessed to get to have this opportunity thanks to our very generous Uncle Jim. So I’ve been getting ready for that trip at home and at work, but I’ve also been trying to spend as much time as possible with Kate since she will be moving down to Tennessee on Friday.
Finally, I’ve been working on a new project that I wanted to post before I left for this trip. Kate and I decided to put a website together to post information we have about our wedding and we have the basic site up and running over at www.timandkateanderson.com. Head on over and check it out. You may have noticed a small bump in my site here site (that I still haven’t fully recovered from) in that the sidebar here is a little different than normal. I accidentally used the same SQL database for both sites and thus reset the customization I had here. It’ll be a little while before I put everything back to how it used to be. Please give me any input or thoughts on the new site that you have.
So a while back a group of us went to go see the new Harry Potter movie. I found it enjoyable enough, especially the end fight which was very fulfilling effects wise. Unfortunately, the beginning hour or so of the movie was not a pleasant experience due to one specific event. About 15 minutes into the movie, some girls down in the first row of the theater began texting to their friends. Normally I wouldn’t find this too troublesome, but the combination that they were treating texting like IM, continued this practice for at least 20 minutes, and were doing it in the front row in a perfectly dark theater, it really started to frustrate me. I began debating if I should go talk to the courtesy desk, walk down and confront them, or just yell at them. Eventually I just yelled down “SHUT YOUR PHONE!” which was immediately proceeded by someone higher up in the theater yelling “Yea, shut your f***ing phone!!” (I decided not to curse at them as this was technically a kids movie). The girls quickly and embarrassingly closed their phones which was followed by applause from multiple audience members. I was very satisfied with myself. I’m hoping that texting in theaters doesn’t become more common since most people think when told to silence you cell phones that just means your ring tone, but they fail to realize that having a small bright light in a pitch black theater is just as annoying. Interestingly enough, for this particular movie, after the trailers, the movie started right up with no AMC intro or Cell Phone PSA, which maybe the girls were too stupid to realize that if they’re not told to do so they don’t need to.
On a plus note, I have now become addicted to seeing moives via a DLP projector. We first saw Pirates 3 via DLP, and now HP5. I can really notice a quality difference which adds tremendously to my enjoyment of paying 8 bucks to see a movie in a theater environment.
I have finished the last of the Harry Potter books as of last night. While I find the conclusion satisfying, there are a few things in this book and the series itself, that will prevent me from calling it Great. I won’t go into them in detail now, since there are still a lot of people left who still need to read the 7th book. I will just conclude with a quote from Tycho @ Penny-Arcade which pretty much expresses how I feel and have felt about the Harry Potter series.
I finished the last Harry Potter yesterday, but I couldn’t actually tell you what happened in it. It’s been like that for several books now, starting with The Order of the Phoenix, where I grip the book with hunger and aggression and consume it without ever tasting the meal. I have a sense of being satisfied, but it is murky, and distant, the way an anaconda must feel one week after eating a jaguar. What is most important is that the wait, that long famine, has come to a close.
