Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!!

I hope everyone made it safely through the series of snowstorms that seem to have affected most of the central and eastern United States. I know it was especially bad in the northeast, since Mom was supposed to return from Philadelphia and her flight was canceled a couple of times. She finely arrived yesterday.

We watched the news to see the all those poor folks shoveling their walks, only to get a fresh layer the next night. I felt for the people who would no sooner finish shoveling and the snowplow would come by and cover the sidewalk yet again. 

I’ve had my share of shoveling snow, both as a kid growing up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and again while stationed in Minot, North Dakota. So I know the frustration of clearing the sidewalk only to have it covered again by the plows or new snow. 

Unlike most of my family I don’t have to put up with that anymore. I’m in Sumter, South Carolina and we normally get snow about once every three years or so. However, due to Global Warming we had snow two years in a row. Wait!! That’s the opposite of Global Warming isn’t it. Anyway, I don’t even own a snow shovel. When it snows here we only get an inch or two and it generally melts the same day or at the next day, at the latest.

When it snows here it’s a lot different than in places like Philly and New York.  Southerners have no idea how to handle snow and they tend to go into panic mode. Earlier this year the weather people said we might get some snow one night and, without a flake falling, twenty schools announced they would be closed the following day. Well, it didn’t snow.

We got our share of the latest storm on Friday, the 12th of February. When the first flakes started falling almost the entire population of Sumter headed to Walmart to stock up in case we were snowed in for a week. I was working my second job at Sears. When I arrived, a group of employees were standing at the door. They told me they were waiting for a call from the district manager telling them to close the store and go home. The snow hadn’t even started to stick yet. Later the manager came around and started telling people, who lived more than five miles away, to go home. He asked me how far I lived and I told him not to worry about me because I’m a Yankee and snow doesn’t scare me. Thirty minutes later they closed the mall and the store (2 hours early) and I headed home. By the next morning we had a grand total of three inches of snow and nothing was moving.

I was supposed to take my truck in for new tires but they called and rescheduled me for another day. I couldn’t get my hair cut until later that afternoon because Cost Cutters opened late. They didn’t even deliver the mail that day.

Every time it snows or threatens to snow down here I laugh at the antics that take place. I’m sure Walmart and other grocers love it. They get to sell all the stuff they hadn’t been able to get rid of for the last couple of months. The state saves money because they shut down all the schools and state government buildings. The kids get a day off from school and everyone gets a day off work.

This time there was snow on the ground for about three days, but I didn’t see anyone shoveling snow at all. The sidewalks and streets were clear by about noon time on Saturday and people went about their business knowing that the pantry was full.

If you get tired of the snow just move south. You’ll be able to relax nd enjoy the weather and have the opportunity for a good laugh every two or three years, when it does snow.

Getting an Income Tax Refund? Pay Yourself First!

Well, my income taxes are done for another year. I finished it all last night, filed electronically using TaxCut and every penny is spent. As usual I was disappointed with the amount of return considering I pay taxes from two jobs and a military pension. I can’t seem to catch a break.

Something is better than nothing and at least I feel like I’m getting a little gift around this time each year. Fortunately we will be able to take care of a couple of things that we have been putting off for awhile. If you are like me, the economy has taken a bite out of your resources. Pay cuts and lack of cost of living raises have hit hard. The price of everything we need continues to go up and services become more expensive with less and less benefit.  Maybe I’ll look for a third job so I can go out to eat once in awhile or go to a movie.

I’m sure you are in the same boat and I feel for you. However, if you do manage to get a small (or large) refund, make sure you take care of your needs before your wants. One thing you NEED to do is start preparing for continued economic struggles. So part paying yourself a little each week in the form of savings and then take care of the necessities.

Once you have all that taken care of go to the links on the right of this post and check out some of my shopping sites. There are all kinds of electronics, furniture, carpets, health items and others that you may find useful.  If you don’t see what you want immediately, use the Google search bar at the top right of the page to look for other sources.

OK!! Since I have some time before the refund is in the bank, I’m going to start organizing my folders and files for next years income taxes. Good luck with your taxes this year, for most of us there aren’t many changes. I checked the top ten software products including Turbo Tax, H&R Block, TaxSlayer and narrowed it down to TaxCut just like last year. It was based on ease of use, information provided, import of last years information and of course price. There the research is done for you. Good Luck!!

I’m back!! Did you miss me?

It’s been a couple of weeks since I posted something new and I apologize to my fans (both of you). I’ve had a lot on my mind lately and kind of let things get away.

Tomorrow, Niki’s (my daughter-in-law) parents are coming over for a BBQ, if it doesn’t rain. Well actually, they are coming rain or not and somehow we are going to feed them. Now you might be asking why I would be concerned about Niki’s parents coming and really I’m not. To me as long as you have food, drink and music you are always ready for company. However, my wife has to have everything just so and guess who gets the brunt of all that planning. That’s right, me. So everything is ready now or at least until the next thing she thinks of.

Then my mommy is coming, as I told you before. That’s only two weeks away (August 14). Again, my wife has a million things for ME to do before she gets here. It’s the same stuff we do anyway like cleaning and keeping the yard up, except now we will do it a lot more often until my Mom gets here. My sister, Jean and brother-in-law, Paul are bringing her down, along with two of my nieces, Brooke and Ashley. Jean and Paul will stay until Monday and the girls will be here for two weeks and then Jean and Paul will pick them up on their way to their real vacation. I guess staying with me is not considered a vacation. Mom as you know will stay indefinitely.

Then there’s my hip replacement surgery. It’s scheduled for the 19th of August at Tuomey hospital in Sumter. The hip it getting real bad and some days I can hardly walk without leaning on stuff. The later in the day it gets, the worse the pain gets. I’ve tried pain medication, steroid shots and therapy and nothing helps. I didn’t want to just jump into surgery so I actually saw three different specialists. They all said the same thing, surgery.  I’ll be in the hospital for two or three days and back to work in about three weeks, albeit on limited duty. I won’t be able to skip rope or chase girls for about three months. Most people say I’ll be glad I had it done.

So, again I apologize for not providing the entertainment you are used to and I’ll try to do better. However, if I slip up please forgive me at least until after the surgery. After that I’ll have no excuses.