reenie.net

Today was spent updating work email and waiting for the Culligan man. He came, he saw, he crawled under the sink and installed the new filter system.

This is going to be a very short entry. I can't believe that it has been three years since I've touched this thing. I'm almost tempted to start over from scratch. But here it is.

One update for this blog will be my recommendations from Amazon.com. I already have links on my main page, but this is a new feature from Amazon that I am dying to try out. Here is a context link to their Flip Digital Video recorder. I may have to buy one of these things for myself!

Stay tuned!

It's been a busy summer. We've finally cleaned up the house my husband inherited from his mother. It was hard, and we had to process a lot of memories, emotions, and clutter from over 90 years of his mother's life.

We have decided to fix up the old home place and use it as a "town house" for when we are working in Dallas during the week. We live in Denton, TX. The commute to downtown Dallas, where my husband works, is sometimes in excess of 1-1/2 hours EACH WAY! Road construction in Dallas can really tie up the traffic! This little house sits just south of Downtown in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas. It is really close to the proposed Trinity River project. We think the property value will increase, and it will just be an excellent place to recover from the high gasoline prices. It takes almost $40 to fill up the pickup these days! Yikes!

The following link leads you to our BEFORE pictures of the house on Boyd Street. We plan to start the remodeling by October 28, and hopefully the project will be complete by the 2nd week in December. What a great Holiday present!

Stay tuned for more updates.

Okay, these posts have been rather spartan, but I promise to get back in the swing after July 4. So have a great 4th of July, and look for more neat links soon!

Modest Needs is an organization that helps people every day. In small ways, with small change. Your small change makes big change for those you can help.

Modest Needs is a publicly funded grass roots organization that works:

• to help individuals and families who typically do not qualify for charitable assistance with the kinds of unexpected, necessary expenses which, though relatively small, would threaten the financial stability of a person or family living paycheck to paycheck; and



• to encourage all people to do what they can to reach out to others just like them who need a small amount of short-term help.

Officially, Modest Needs (www.modestneeds.org) is structured as a non-profit corporation, Federal Tax ID #47-0863430. As far as the IRS is concerned, Modest Needs is considered a tax-exempt, publicly funded charity. Modest Needs received its 501 (c)(3) (tax-exempt) status from the IRS in June, 2002.

Check out the newsletters--especially the story called, "Two Crumpled Dollars."

Modest Needs, needs you!

I just love the things that Randy Cassingham finds for his THIS IS TRUE newsletter.

Here is just a taste:





Have fun!

Eeek! You might be thinking, what happened to all the postings for March. Er, uhhm...My dog ate them? Nope, no excuse. It's just been a particularly busy month at work, and I haven't had time to think about keeping up with my blog. My bad.

So for this item, I thought that I would post a few of the "shopping" type things that have attracted my attention during the month of March. Here we go with my product list:

EZ Movers. These things saved my life this month. I had to rearrange my entire living room with just the help of one other person. I highly recommend. Also not a bad site to buy carpet cleaning products.

I Sew Plus. A lovely lady named Carol Outain who specializes in easy-to-fit, plus-size garments. She is an excellent seamstress and very affordable!

Optical 4 Less. I could scream! I paid over $161 over and above my vision plan payment for these glasses, and then I found them online for $49 complete! I'm definitely getting a back-up pair of glasses from these guys.

Woda-Glide. Now this is interesting. I was tired of the wheels on my computer chair digging little pits in the carpeting. I bought some of these Woda-glides and replace the chair's wheels. Voila! My chair now glides effortlessly across the carpet! Scroll down to the middle of the page on their site to see the Woda-glides (they look like alien spaceships).

TurboTax. Need I say more? Got my taxes e-filed and got my tax refund check automatically deposited within 10 days!

Random Camera. With time to kill, I sometimes spend time looking at other people's webcams. I especially like the TigerCam on the Discovery Channel.

KKDiscount. This is where I buy cheap (but nice) Roman Shades for my home. I hang them on a cuphook and my window decorating is done! A step above the roll-up bamboo shade...but not too many steps :)

Movie Quotes. A free site with lots of humorous thoughts.

PayPal. Gotta pay for this stuff somehow.

I admit it. I'm chained to the TIVO every Thursday night, watching the replays of my favorite reality show. I'm a big Rupert fan, but I don't know if he's going to make the final four.

Here are some of my favorite Survivor Spoiler and game sites:

http://pub207.ezboard.com/bsurvivorsucks

http://www.survivornews.net/

and the Game

And now, back to your regularly scheduled program...

While we're on the subject of furniture, here is the bed frame that my husband and I recently purchased: www.voico.com.

I think it is wonderful and it is a great base for a platform bed. Here's what the company has to say about it:

"The revolutionary Snap-Lock™ Bed Base System. Designed for quick and easy assembly. The patented Snap-Lock™ is the ultimate bed base system. Superior to bed frames. This bed base system is used in major hotels, assisted and independent living facilities, and homes around the world."

Check it out!

Consider this my personal review for a great new company. WideBodies Furniture of Texas is making things a whole lot easier for a lot of folks. I'm talking about furniture that is suitable for big bodies, tall bodies, young bodies, old bodies, etc. This furniture manufacturer has been in business for over 40 years, providing quality fine furniture for many retail furniture stores in the continental United States. Now they are using their skills to produce a high-quality product that is especially designed and engineered to provide support and comfort for people in an overlooked niche of society.

Maybe you're like me, a "person of size", or perhaps you are over 6'2" with long legs, or maybe you have bad knees and it's difficult to get up and down from a "standard" chair or sofa--if so, WideBodies Furniture is for you! Their sofas, loveseats and chairs are designed from the inside out to be stronger, taller, and long-lasting heirlooms.

Visit the website, check out the special construction details, pick out your fabric (or request a swatch), choose your favorite style, place your order, and within 4-6 weeks you can have a custom chair, sofa, or other furniture delivered and set up in your home for prices starting at $699. And guess what? They will deliver anywhere in the lower 48 United States for only $99. AND for the month of January 2004--delivery is FREE! (check with the owner for more details). I've been to Haverty's, Lazyboy and the other retail stores. I couldn't buy a single sofa or loveseat (suitable for my frame) at one of those stores for less than $1800-2400! And at that price, I could probably count on the sofa wearing out in about 2 years. For less than $2100 (plus any applicable TX sales tax) at WideBodies you can have a full 3-piece suite! (Sofa, Loveseat, Ottoman). Don't be fooled by other companies' claims to provide "king-size" furniture. They are usually talking about massive pieces of furniture that are no better constructed than their regular furniture lines. I've purchased some of this furniture over the years--and you'll find that most companies consider that Users over 300lbs. to be outside of what they consider "normal wear and tear." Why put up with less than you deserve from manufacturers who don't understand who you are???

The best thing about this furniture is that is is not "over-sized" furniture. I measured my old sofa, which only seats 3 "regular size" people, or 2 "plus size" people. My old sofa is actually 6 inches wider. The WideBodies sofa is built with the dimensions of larger people in mind. It was engineered to consider the interior portion of the seating area--and then the outside. Thus, you can seat 3 plus-size, even super-size people very comfortably on one of their 3-seat sofas. I was able to get up and down, in and out without the strain of trying to stand from a "traditional" height sofa. The cushions are firm, X-firm, and XX-firm and are made from Reflex™ foam--which carries its own quality guarantee. The cushions support you fully from your posterior to the back of your knees. The company will also provide custom cushion wedges and armrests to make your satisfaction 100%. Mike explained that the construction of the furniture was SO solid that you could drop it from a second-story height and it would just bounce. Now I didn't ask for that particular demonstration, but I did inspect the interior construction. I will warn you, this furniture is heavier than traditional furniture--because of the additional wood and foundation support. But hey--they are willing to deliver and set it up in my living room, so what the heck!

The available fabrics are luscious, and you can even send in your own customer-owned material (COM) to fabricate your new furniture. Just talk to "Big Mike" for the details. Mike and his Employees are all ready to serve you in a personal way. From my visit, I could tell that this company is about building relationships with its Customers--not just making a quick furniture sale. Mike promises satisfaction. Best of all, every piece of furniture at WideBodies is manufactured in the United States by Mike's Employees--right here in the Great State of Texas!

Visit the website, call Big Mike at (877) 608-WIDE [9433] for information-- or better yet, to schedule your own visit to the factory. WideBodies is located just north of San Antonio, Texas. It's a short, easy drive from the airport to New Braunfels, Texas, where the factory is located. According to Big Mike, this is only the beginning. He has plans to offer patio furniture, dining chairs, and perhaps beds in the future. Please let him know if these items would interest you....get on the order list...I have a feeling that once the word gets out--this is going to be a VERY BUSY factory!

Just tell "Big Mike" that REENIE sent ya!

www.widebodiesfurniture.com

By the way, this is not me :)

I found the following, courtesy of American Digest.

Impossible to find on the web site
On average I've ordered from Amazon once a week for the last four years or so. Not just books, but power tools, toys, kitchen stuff, the whole lot. Given the volume of my orders I think their customer service is super great; it sets the gold standard for other companies. No other merchant online or offline has provided the ease and accuracy of ordering as Amazon does. Still, in my experience there are occasionally glitches that their email-bots can't deal with, usually entailing a minor billing snafu. In these rare cases you need Amazon.com's almost-secret real-person customer service telephone number. You won't find it on their website. I once got it by calling 800 directory assistance. In any case, they make it hard to find because a call costs Amazon more, so you should jot down these numbers for those special moments when only a human will do:

1.800.201.7575 (Toll free, US and Canada)
1.206.346.2992 or 1.206.266.2992 (Outside US and Canada)
1.877.586.3230 (Canada only)

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This is a cute site that allows you to play "paper dolls" with a curvaceous dollie. Give it a try. I wasn't able to copy the picture as they stated in the instructions. Instead, I had to take a screenshot of the finished doll and then save it for myself. Cute idea, though.

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http://www.spookbot.com/green/fatdollie.htm

This is a quick test to determine if your right brain has the capacity to overrule your left brain. It's fun, and an easy way to kill 30 seconds.

http://www.njagyouth.org/colortest.swf

:)

I've been behind in my posts. My mother-in-law has been critically ill. We still don't know after 28 days whether or not she will live. She is a wonderful woman and deserving of much praise and devotion. My only thoughts and prayers now are to save her from the debilitating pain that she is suffering now from day-to-day. Please pray for my family.

Follow-up: Thank you for all your prayers. My mother-in-law, Mattie Louise Rousseau passed away on December 10, 2003. May she rest in peace. She was 89 years old, a good Christian woman, and now God will be blessed with her presence in heaven.

See how much you remember. Are you a child of the 80s? Prove it!

Well, I'm sure it's been done before, but today's link glofifies your mindset. Just review a list of items that classifies you by age, most perfectly. To think that there are some young people out there who have never experienced the world of Sid and Marty Kroff, firsthand. No Puf-n-stuf, no Bug-a-loos, no Lidsville, maybe they've seen Sigmund and the Seamonsters...but that's another era.

Beloit college published it's most recent version of its Mindset List.

It's worth checking out.

This is the first entry for my blog.

But first, a little bit about myself. I am an information designer/technical writer for Southwest Airlines. What exactly does that mean? Well, in short, I create User information for software that is developed in-house. My Customers are the Employees of Southwest Airlines. Although, occasionally I might create something that the public might see.

In my other life, I am a coach, a communicator, a counselor, etc. I have had my own business for many years. I am an internet search guru, a career coach, a certified professional résumé writer, graphics designer, technical writer, and so on.

I have four cats and one husband. I enjoy reading mysteries, romance novels, science fiction, and I am a bonafide Buffy/Angel fan. As the weeks go on, I'll be giving you more information about myself, and sharing useful links.