Car Talk 5/31

Miss MoneyPenny has been hot under the collar because she was not looking forward to wasting her precious time down at the dealership waiting room.  I was recently notified that there were two recalls for my 2003 Honda CR-V and only the dealer could take care of it, no charge to me.  When I made the appointment I was told it would be four hours!!  Miss MoneyPenny hates to wait.

When I pulled into the service bay this morning I was pleased to see that they were ready for me.  The service manager went over what was going to be done to my car and told me there would be no charge.  I piped up with how about a complimentary oil change for my time and smiled.  He said that would be great - how about we wash your car and give you a free coffee drink of your choice while you wait, also?  I told him that would not be a problem and smiled.

As I was sitting in the waiting room drinking my free mocha and using their WIFI, I thought about how I was going to have my regular mechanic do an oil change, new belts and hoses, and change out the coolant and filters.  I usually budget around $600 for this.  And it is a pain to be without your car for the day, so I asked how much the dealer would charge.  He gave me a $350 ball park.  I said do it and throw in a new battery, while you are at it.  The grand total including the battery was $451.79 with tax.  I asked for the senior discount (10%) and got it.

Now this does not mean that I'm gonna break up with my local mechanic.  No way!!  This was just a one day stand.  Everybody enjoys a little strange now and then, don't you agree?  And it only took two hours.  Smile.

QFC Grocery Basket 5/30

Hopefully you are not a slob like Miss MoneyPenny and are able to keep on top of your household while holding down a job.  I had no idea that things had gotten so out of hand!!  Every day I try to tackle a project and today it was my bed.  I have an eyelet bedskirt and shams on my bed with a quilt and I can't remember the last time I flipped my mattress to get that bedskirt out, and yes, I will be going to the chiropractor after that.  I feel absolutely lucky that I didn't break out a window with that big old wobbly queen sized mattress, but I eventually got it flipped and back in place with a clean bedskirt.

I've also organized my refrigerator and taken inventory, but I didn't go so crazy as to actually clean it yet.  That will be a big project involving vacuuming the coils which can really be dangerous.  One time the vacuum cleaner actually sucked up one of my long pony tails while I had my head down trying to see what I was doing with the attachment.  I really hate the smell of burning hair!! but thank God I have long arms and was able to reach up and turn that beast off.  Close call, there.

Anyway, QFC has a decent ad this week so let's go shopping.

Franz Bread - $2.50/ea
Best Foods Mayonnaise - $2.99/30oz ($1 coupon RP/5/20)
Heinz Ketchup - $1.99/32-40oz
QFC Cottage Cheese & Sour Cream - $1.25/16oz
Tillamook Cheese - $4.99/32oz
New York Steak (boneless) - $6.99/lb
Fresh Wild Caught True Cod - $4.99/lb
Asparagus - $2.49/lb
Driscoll's Blueberries - $3.88/18oz
New Crop Red Cherries - $4.88/lb
Romaine or Leaf Lettuces - $1.25/ea
Personal Watermelon - $3/ea
Tuscan Cantaloupe - $3/ea

Cruise Fund Update:

Old Balance = $731.78

                     +       1.00 (Senior discount at The Rose)

                     +     50.00 (Books sold at William James Bookseller)

New Balance = $782.78

Book Shelf 5/28

One of the biggest enjoyments of Miss MoneyPenny's life has been reading, and now that I'm retired I plan to do a lot more of it - along with catching as many matinees at The Rose as possible.  Actually, this weekend we saw The Exotic Marigold Hotel and it was everything I hoped it would be.  Go see it, if you get the chance. 

Anyway, I wanted to make sure that you know about the world's best book on gardening.  The title is Green Thoughts: a Writer in the Garden by Eleanor Perenyi and it is a jewel.  I came across it back in the 80's when it was still in hardcover.  I was charmed by the author's picture on the back.  She was sitting out in her garden in a lawn chair and looked to be holding a martini and a cigarette.  I knew I had to read what she had to say and I've been hers ever since.

Mrs. Perenyi, who died in 2009 at the age of 91, was married to an Hungarian count if you can believe that.  I'm not real sure of the details, but she lived in a castle over there and they were run out by World War II and all of it's goings on.  It was at the castle, as a young bride, that she developed a love of gardening, particularly organic gardening.  After that, they lived in New York with a home in Connecticut, where she eventually moved and took up gardening full time.

Green Thoughts is in essay form so it is perfect for beside the bed for night time reading.  I've been trying to remember how I ended up with my paperback copy and I believe that Miss Know-It-All found it for me.  For sure, she was somehow involved, but we both love that picture of her, which shows that she is our kind of woman.  And that lady has opinions!!  This is kind of like Elizabeth Zimmerman, but instead of knitting, we are talking gardening here.  Here is a sample that I lifted from her obit in The New York Times:

“It hasn’t escaped me that mine is the only WASP garden in town to contain dahlias, and not the discreet little singles either,” Mrs. Perenyi wrote. “Some are as blowsy as half-dressed Renoir girls and they do shoot up to prodigious heights. But to me they are sumptuous, not vulgar, and I love their colors, their willingness to bloom until the frost kills them and, yes, their assertiveness.”

It was in reading her essay on dahlias that I realized that I had done something wrong when I planted mine in the veggie garden and they had yet to show their little faces.  I got on the phone and called the dahlia expert, my sister, and she agreed with Mrs. Perenyi (I just can't call her "Eleanor") and I think that I am back in business.

So if you are a gardener and a reader, you are in luck as this book is still in print.  I've learned a lot from this lady who writes so beautifully.  Her feisty attitudes and opinions are just icing on the cake.  I know that her picture is a little blurry, but you get the idea.

Life in the Not so Fast Lane

It is day three of Miss MoneyPenny's retirement from the rat race and there is still a part of me that thinks that I better get with it because I have to go to work on Tuesday.  This is going to be an adjustment, albeit a pleasant one, but change is change.

I was talking with my friend Miss MaggieMay today, who also just retired, and we decided that we have to have a daily project other than laundry, cooking, etc. or we would just wallow around on the couch watching reruns of NCIS in our jammies.  Today the main projects were recycling and getting the guy from Seattle's car washed and vacuumed.  We also got the tomatoes planted.

We had to go to Home Depot for plants for the deck pots because I missed the sale at QFC and I couldn't find what I needed locally, which is a shame.  I thought that QFC put their geraniums on sale way too early for this area and they showed it.  Can you say "Frost Bite?"  Anyway, I'm happy with the quality and price of the plants from Home Depot and I will put pictures up when the pots are planted.  Right now, they are getting used to living in my climate, crowded up next to the house, with each other for company.

I took a couple snaps of my garden because I think that it is so pretty and has been such a labor of love.  This is the first year that my "Cherokee Chief" dogwood has really bloomed.  I moved him three times before he was finally happy.  Look fast at the poppy because as soon as it even looks like it is going to rain, it gives up, but I just love the whore house red color.  We planted the tomatoes in the flower beds this year, right up against the house, which has the hot southerly exposure.  I'm thinking that this might finally be my year for tomatoes.  And Don Juan, the rose, is starting to bloom and smell.  Ignore the rust spots.  I do.

Cruise Fund Update:

                Old Balance = $701.23

                Ebates Check  +    30.55

                New Balance = $731.78

QFC Grocery Basket 5/24

It's official!!  Miss MoneyPenny is retired from the 8 to 5 grind!!  I finally did it and now I'm running around in circles.  Normally I would get a load of laundry started tonight because the weekend has always been choreographed so that I could get everything done and have a little fun and rest too. Guess what?  I'm not doing laundry until I run out of clean underwear.  How's that for rebellion?

Anyway, enough of all this juvenile behavior.  We have to go shopping for groceries and these are the items that I'm looking at this week from QFC:

Silk Almond Milk - $2.99/64oz
Best Foods Mayonnaise - $2.99/30oz ($1 coupon RP/5/20)
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce - $1 ($1 coupon off 4 S/5/20)
Nancy's Yogurt - $2/32oz
USDA Choice Boneless Ribeye Steak - $5.99/lb
Driscoll's Organic Strawberries - $3.99/lb
Green Beans - $1.99/lb
New Crop California Red Cherries - $4/99/lb

The mayonnaise with the coupon is a good stock up deal at $1.99, so I'm gonna stock up.  Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce is what I use for the famous pulled pork sandwiches on the 4th, so will buy four and pay 75 cents each.  I know the cherries aren't cheap, but I love 'em.  I'm buying a pound and I'm not sharing and doesn't a steak sound good for a Memorial Day cookout?  I generally cook enough to have leftover steak to put on top of a salad the next day.

Before I forget, I purchased a 35 pound bag of Kirkland brand premium dog food at Costco the other day.  I usually pay $29.99 for a 15 pound bag of premium dog food locally and at PetSmart.  The Kirkland brand that I bought is salmon and sweet potato, plus it is grain free.  It was priced at $33.55.  This seems like a screaming deal to me, but the jury is still out because the dogs have only been eating it for six days.  So far nobody is throwing up or itching and they like it.  I'll give it a couple of weeks before I relax and give it the MoneyPenny Seal of Approval.  I'll let you know.

Health Counts Gift Cards

Miss MoneyPenny would be remiss if she didn't mention the Health Counts Wellness Program.  I'm not a big fan of health insurance companies, but as far as they go, the Regence Uniform Medical Plan ain't too bad.  I've discovered over the years that keeping a file with my medical bills and insurance forms works best for me.  Once a month I sit down and dig through it, matching everybody up, then paying out.  If you look at all these papers carefully, you sometimes can find mistakes and save yourself some money.

Anyway, about this program.  The deal is once a year, you log onto their website and fill out your annual health assessment.  This takes about 20 minutes and you need to know your weight, blood pressure, drinking and smoking habits, etc.  When you are done, they have a few suggestions like lose weight, quit drinking, exercise more, eat better - you get the drill.  Then they send you an email that gets lost in the junk, so be on the lookout.  This email is where you choose where your $30 gift card is coming from.  I always choose Macy's and it comes in about a week.  Slick.

Tomorrow is my last day of employment.  Yippee skippee!!  I made it!!  Anyway, I will be COBRAing Regence for 18 months until I'm 65 and then using them for my supplemental through the state after that.  This is not going to be cheap, but I've budgeted for it and think it will work.  I'll keep you posted on how all this works in my new life of retirement which I'm sure I'm just gonna hate.

Big Fat Check 5/15/12

Miss MoneyPenny got her Big Fat Check.  Did you?  I was bragging to my sister SmartyPants about my Ebates check for $30.55 when she said hers was for $80 something!!  That girl sure knows how to shop and get the deal.

Today is the last day of the 13% Ebate for a surprisingly good amount of stores.  I took advantage of two of them and one has already posted into my Ebates account.  I'll probably have to claim the other, but no problem.  We are talking free money here.  If you are a savvy online shopper, this is the way to go.  And if you score free shipping and no tax, you've hit the mother lode.

Below, I've posted the dates that you should expect to get your check.  You have to have at least $5.01 in your account to receive a check.  If not, it gets rolled over to the next quarter.
  

Purchases Posted Between	Big Fat Check Sent
Jan 1-Mar 31	May 15
Apr 1-June 30	Aug 15
July 1-Sept 30	Nov 15
Oct 1-Dec 31	Feb 15