I am always amazed and pleased at just how powerful word-of-mouth referrals are. I mean, my whole business is built on it. I can't imagine a more effective sales pitch than the one that comes from someone you trust ( Read more... )

..and Daisy is SO stressed. I'm sure nobody cares about this, but it's so interesting to see the effect of separating the girls. Daisy's running everywhere and sniffing; our walk today was good but very subdued. She came back from the walk, had a little water and is now sulking in her blue chair. Usually the two of them play for a good half-hour ( Read more... )

And by "savings account" I mean the bucket o' change in the back of my pickup. Pumped the contents through a coin-sorting machine today and got $110 out of it. Aah, another week of groceries, gas, etc ( Read more... )

I say this because I know I've done this in the past, and wish to make amends: know-it-alls are annoying.

My latest run-in was this morning, with a fellow mountain biker who shall remain nameless. I'll call him B. So B. recently purchased a very nice new bike. Now, I like bragging about my bikes as much as the next guy, but B. goes a step further. ( Read more... )

Okay, so my very old cat Grendel died in December. He was 17 or so, had a great run, and finally passed quietly in the back yard. I buried him in his favorite sun spot. The day I buried him, the dogs (Mina and Daisy) took an interest in the freshly tilled soil and decided to unearth him. I reburied him, and covered the spot with a layer of old ( Read more... )

So there's a new My Big Fat Greek Restaurant Express -- walk-up version of MBFGR -- down at Mill & Baseline. Patrick and I went there for lunch yesterday. At the bottom of the "specialty pitas" menu there's the Leonidas: a foot-long hot dog wrapped in gyro meat and stuffed into a pita. It sounded fabulous.

So apparently someone submitted my name, city and email address to a website that matches you to life insurance quotes. I've been hammered all morning with phone calls from guys wanting to fill me in on their fantastic life insurance policies. For the love of God! An interesting and diabolical new form of passive-aggressive harassment ( Read more... )

( So current events in my life have prompted me to look at my house with fresh eyes. Mostly what I see is a thousand little unfinished projects. I wonder how it got this way? )

Induction cooktops are awesome until their space-age componentry decides to explode. Like, literally. I had some motherboard inside my cooktop go BANG! and throw a bunch of smoke a few weeks ago. Called the repair company and they sent a new part out. So yesterday the repair guy plugs in the new board, opens up the circuit again and tries to test ( Read more... )

( I'm deciding whether I actually feel my age or not. )