05.09.08

asheville weather this week

Posted in weather at 7:08 am by admin

The weather in Asheville NC has been beautiful this past week. However, it did rain a bit last night. The ground was wet this morning. I haven’t needed a sweater or a jacket to wear while I walk my granddaughter to the school bus stop. The temperature is not too hot in the evenings either. I’ve been keeping my windows open and my fans going to save on electricity. The house gets real hot inside even when the temperatures outside are mild. Its suppose to rain some tomorrow and Sunday. I sure hope not. Tomorrow Forest Lake is having their annual neighborhood yard sale. Many people living in Asheville look forward to this event for all the deals they can pick up.

05.06.08

Obama won

Posted in events at 9:54 pm by admin

Barack Obama won the NC primaries today over Hillary Clinton. The polls ended at 7:30pm tonight. NC has a large African American population. Indiana will be close but the results are not in yet. Hillary Clinton is expected to take Indiana though. Will see real soon. These last two votes will decide who will be the candidate for the Democratic party. the poor economy is the biggest factor in this election and might be the factor that will put a Democrat in the Presidency this next term.

Book Review of Unredeemed Captive

Posted in books at 9:41 pm by admin

I had to read this book for a Native American History class I took at UNCA here in Asheville NC this past semester so I thought I’d share some of my essays with my readers.

The Unredeemed Captive by John Demos was about Eunice Williams’ captivity and the ordeal her family went through to try and get her to return home. Eunice was captured together with her family and over 100 other town residents in the Deerfield raid of 1704. Demos accurately described the Deerfield raid, the captives’ trek to Canada and some individual’s captivity experience. He gave reasons for the raid and why it was successful. In addition, he described the Kahnawake Indian village where Eunice lived, their society, customs and so forth. Since very little is known about Eunice, Demos attempted to describe how he thought her life would have been like by relating life in the Kahnawake village. To read more, see Book Review

05.05.08

Saving money eating out

Posted in food, saving money at 12:15 pm by admin

My parents are the world’s best on frugal living. Both of them grew up in the Depression and lived through the rationing of WWII. Anyway, when we go out to eat, my parents split a meal. At that, its still often too much for them both to eat. They always order water which at most restaurants is free. I’ve never been to a restaurant where I had to pay for water. They rarely order a mixed drink or a glass of wine. If they do, its a very special occasion. They will always ask what the specials are before ordering. They never order appetizers. However, they will ask for bread and ask if it comes with the meal. If it doesn’t, then we don’t have bread. They never order dessert. My parents will stop at the grocery store on the way home  to get a half gallon of ice cream if they dont have anything at home for dessert. My dad does the math in giving a tip. He never leaves more or less than 15 percent for the tip. When we were growing up, we very rarely went out to eat. When we did go out, none of us kids ever dared to order anything very expensive unless Mom said we could order anything we wanted. However, we always kept it down just cause we were trained that way. We never ate at fast food. I was envious of my friends who ate regularly at KFC and Mcdonalds. Today, when I go out to eat, I use the same tactics my parents do. However, I do go to fast food occasionally and order the dollar menu or use a coupon.

05.04.08

Saving money tips week 2

Posted in saving money at 12:53 pm by admin

If you are like most people who need more money to buy gas to get to work without getting a second job, this just might help. Write down everything you spend in a day include that cup of coffee or capucino, the candy bar from the vending machine or the can of soda or bottled water. Every penny counts cause it all adds up over time. Look over the list and see where you can start cutting. Bottled water or soda costs over a dollar each. If you buy 3 cans a day it adds up to 3 dollars or more. multiply that by 5 work days. You save $15.00. Multiply that by 4.3 (weeks in a month). You save $64.50. Over a course of a year, you save $774.00. Naturally if you buy more than 3 bottles a day or buy more often than 5 days you can save a lot more. The average cost of coffee is 1.60 a cup. If you buy 1 cup a day for 5 days, you spend about $8.00. In a month, you can save $34.40. Over a year this is $412.00. The average candy bar is .75 cents to a $1.00. If you bought 1 a day for a week and stop buying it you save $5.00. Over a month you save $25.00. Anyway, you see where I am going with this. This doesn’t mean you have to give up something to drink. Buy a cheap thermos. One that is made of plastic not glass. The glass ones break. Make your coffee at home and take it to work. Or, make kool-aid and put it in a thermos. Or, take a glass or a cup to work and fill it with water from the water fountain or cooler which is usually free. if you have to have a soda, buy a 12 pack on sale. sometimes you can catch them on sale at the grocery store for less than $5.00. you wont save as much as if you would if you gave sodas up all together but you will save. Invest in a small cooler and take your soda to work. Hide the soda from your kids. Same with the candy bars. Instead of bottled water, use tap water. If you don’t like the taste of your tap water, invest in a good water filter for the tap. Over time, you will save money. the upside of cutting down or even cutting out your soda is you not only save money, you also save calories. Get this. A pound of fat is equal to 3000 calories. A can of soda is at least 150 calories. If you drink 3 cans a day, its equals 450 calories. so, if you substitute water for those cans of soda, over the course of 10 days you can lose over a pound, that is if you don’t replace those soda calories with something else.

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