Friday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.25 coffee + $1.50 coffee + $15 lunch + $55 dinner for two

Saturday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $20 2 bottles wine + $5 lamp

Again, the Greenwood Art Walk. I didn't go through the whole thing because, well... let me tell you below.

I saw a lot of wonderful photographs and caught up with a couple of the same artists as last year. I would have loved to buy a couple of things, so I thought I'd do the frugal thing instead and take a few myself of the day.

Who wouldn't love a bucket of marbles? Plunge your hand in -- they are amazingly cold.


The lamp store always amazed me. Every other store, the wares are laid out along walls, or they come up through the floor. Here, you are encouraged to look up at the constellation of lamps, your nose brushing against price tags. It makes the ceiling seem bright and ciliated.


Some urban edginess between the Greenwood Library (left) and a brick apartment building (right).


I thought that the pug pulling against his leash was pining for his master. Nope. His leash was just an inch short for he really wanted. See that little bit of orange kibble to the left of his paw? "Sometimes he loves me for me," his owner (dark orange and black fleece) said. "Sometimes."


Here's the reason I cut my Art Walk short. I took a break and walked into an estate sale a block from the Art Walk, chatted with the cashier, turned to the left and saw this gorgeous brass lamp. I must have been in a lamp mood from the lamp store. Here's an action shot in my living room (apologies for the mess).

What a deal - $5!

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $3.60 coffee, doughnut + $6 garage sale + $14 brunch + $15 grocery

Well, we had it all weather-wise at the Greenwood Garage Sale. No takers on my invite from this blog, however in the spirit of karmic whatever my housemate from my grad school days walked by, training for the Susan G Komen walk. Hadn't seen her in 15 years! We caught up a bit, at least as much as one could in 5 minutes.

Apologies if I missed you if you showed late. I came about 15 minutes early, then waited the academic wait of about 10 minutes after 9 ... but deals await and there is no rest for the wicked!

Across the street from the pick up point, they were setting up for my first stop of the day.


A little flea market/plant sale/bake sale in the lower parking lot of the Phinney Neighborhood Center.


We had snow, we had rain, we had cold. Mad props to any life form having sex outside in this weather. Not even drunk University of Alaska college students would think of it!


Since hunting for cheap deals in bad weather seemed so very Scottish, the bagpiper at the church rummage sale at 70th and Greenwood fit right in. Slim pickings at the rummage sale.


For 6$ I bought: 1 small hammered metal dish, 1 bundt pan, 1 scent diffuser, 1 barbeque fork with a thermometer attached for DH, 1 deck of "Wall Street's Most Wanted" playing cards (Broken Arrow, I'm thinking of you here). DH wanted to try bundt pan meatloaf, I don't bake, hence no bundt pan until now. I bought some aromatherapy scents in Paris. At the time, I thought, "why buy the scent diffuser and waste the space in my luggage when I can get one in Seattle?" I priced simple ones in the $15-$20 range. This one's battery powered with a little pump. $2.

Not bad for a couple hours work. I met one of my coworkers shopping. We both agreed that we were hard core, but it was too cold to keep at for more than a couple of hours.

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.19 coffee + $13 lunch

Just a little reminder that the Greenwood Garage Sale is this Saturday, April 19.

http://baselle.savingadvice.com/2008/04/05/join-me-the-green...

If you wish to join me at 9 am, but are a little shy, let me know by email at


That way I know about how many maps to snag. I'll be at the meeting site, rain or shine (remember the prices go down when it rains!)

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $13 brunch + $4 coffee, water, apple

Well, I was curious, so I checked it out. Yes, I can walk from 4th and Pike back to my house in Greenwood. Talk about an extreme commute. Whew!

It was such a nice day. Too nice actually for this project - it hit the upper 70s, so walking got quite warm. The best walking weather for me is low 50s. Then you get just warm enough to be pleasant, and you want to keep moving to keep warm.

Anyway, if you are familiar with Seattle, its long and lean and if you are going north you have to pick your bridge. For this experiment I went direct - walking along Aurora Ave, picking the Aurora bridge. It took a soulless hour twenty minutes to go from downtown to Fremont; then I rested a bit, got myself a water and an apple in Fremont; then another rest at the Phinney Neighborhood Center; then home. Including the breaks, it took 3 hrs and 5 minutes.

Next time, I've got to think about hitting the Fremont bridge. Crossing that one on foot is far less scary for someone with a fear of falling.

I'm proud of myself. In a true emergency, even something like a repeat of WTO, getting home in 3 hrs by my own steam has got to be better than waiting 3 hrs for a bus.

10 blocks from home, I photographed a joke at the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Company.

Thrifty Ray brought up a good point about a month ago that we haven’t had any face to face events amongst the bloggers and readers on Saving Advice. I’d like to rectify that by inviting anyone who is reading this blog, especially in the Seattle area, to join me at the Greenwood Garage Sale on Saturday, April 19th.

For more information about this little soiree:
http://www.phinneycenter.org/events/garagesale.shtml

Usually over 100 families participate. In addition to the yard sales, the Phinney Neighborhood Association holds a flea market, the Greenwood Fire Dept holds a tour of their digs, and a number of kid entrepreneurs sell cookies and lemonade. It’s a 30 block square area so there will be some walking, but the #5 bus runs every 20-30 minutes.

We’ll meet at 9 am on the 19th at the little park by the Phinney Neighborhood Association on 67th and Phinney Avenue, North Seattle. The meeting site looks like this:

which is right next to the Phinney Neighborhood Association:

And coffee's 30 ft away. How's that for convenience!


I will provide paper maps of the event.

Wear comfortable shoes, bring along a bag, a bit of money if you are in a shopping mood, and/or a digital camera. Since this is a frugal event, bring a lunch if you like. There are a couple of grocery stores in the neighborhood.

If you are interested in joining me, please reply in the comments. Hope to put some faces to usernames!

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $4 coffee, bagel, apple + $8 CD + $20 sushi lunch

I walked a huge amount today, and began to jog. I'm a terrible jogger, but dammit, since I bought warm running tights I'm going to see if I challenge myself a bit more. As if walking from 92nd to 35th and back ain't enough.

I did manage to jog about 5 blocks. I'm no runner, have no bounce in my shins, and got winded quick, but I'll see if next week I can do 10 blocks.

The worst part though was midway, because I landed in Fremont, where I bought and ate my apple, but then I flipped through the used CD store, walked through the Fremont Sunday market, found the Theo chocolate store (and they give tours of the factory, FYI). I managed to sniff and enjoy the store & amazingly, didn't sample any. However, tired and hungry, I succumbed to conveyor belt sushi, picking and enjoying the most expensive plates. Luckily the most expensive plates were $4 apiece.

It did mean that I felt that I had to walk back. And now I've go to think about my endpoint at the end of my walks - I don't want to turn them into rewards where I spend a lot of money.

Checked my bank account online. Tomorrow is the last day of the month when we get paid, but the next paycheck was there already. Nice. I was expecting that the net $ of my check would drop due to the increased 403B withholding ... A pleasant surprise that I miscalculated - March 31 should be the last paycheck of 1st quarter 2008.

Laugh all you want, gaming's probably recession proof.


And spring has sprung in the Fred Meyer parking lot...

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $3.29 bagel, coffee + $9 groceries, coffee, biscotti

In case I hadn't mentioned it, I made my monthly tip box deposit on Friday. I'm about 3 months away from depositing $2K from the tip box at work, but it has taken a couple of years. Speed isn't the point with the tip box - more like mindfulness with saving. For me saving seems to work best if I'm just involved enough to do it nearly daily, but not so involved that I get bummed because it happens so slowly.

My gym trainer told me on Thursday that the gym will be replacing all the cardio equipment Sunday afternoon, so I decided to do a mega-walk today instead of going through the hassle of bussing, finding a cardio machine that isn't being moved, and bussing back. This walk was truly mega - over 4 miles, through parts of Fremont that I hadn't seen up close.

No pictures, unfortunately, but on 44th and Fremont a TV repair store lost its lease. At least 30 analog TVs, all free, were lined up on the street. One even looked like the one that we replaced this Christmas. There were even a couple of early 90s analog projection systems out there. Once upon a time they were all wanted, craved even. Not today.

Got a couple of good grocery deals across the street from the free TVs - .99 romaine, .87/lb broccoli, mixed hot peppers for $1.50/lb. Made two meatloaves studded with corn, peppers, onions, sun dried tomatoes - got the idea from a cafe in Tucson that did the same thing and called it the Gila Monster.

Took a look at the flyer on this house:



I admit, it is not the best picture of the place, but I was shocked at the price -
$499,950. Here's why...

Classic rule of thumb #1: Mortgages should be in the range of 2 - 2.5X yearly income with a 20% down payment. Even with a 100K down payment, leaving 400K to mortgage, would you know of anyone who has 100K in a savings account and a salary of 150K who would want this place? Especially since even a decent lick of paint on the fence would cost about 50$...putting you at exactly 500K.

Okay, okay, you say...the flyer said that it would be a decent rental property. 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, on a very busy arterial. It leads me to --

Classic rule of thumb #2: Price shouldn't exceed 100x the monthly rent. To make money on this property if you paid 500K, it would mean you would have to charge 5K/month to break even. You could rent out all the bedrooms each for $1.67K/month. Know of three people stable enough, dumb enough, and willing enough to each rent a room for 1.67K/month?

I'll be the first to admit that I've taken a none-too-flattering picture and know nothing about the inside of the place. Any bets that the inside would be the Taj Mahal? But applying some misty dusty rules nothing pencils in.

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spendng log - $1.19 coffee + $8 lunch

Nothing financial happened. The only thing interesting during the whole day happened in the morning when I walked through the Greenwood park gates for the bus and saw a raccoon ambling by in the road, unconcerned.

It wasn't a monstrously big one, but grown enough - more like an old teenager, young adult one. But raccoons out in daylight brazen like that meant it could be rabid. I stood still and waited for it to pass by then hop into a culvert on that corner.

Reminded me of other raccoon stories. The family of raccoons we apparently fed by setting a garbage bag outside (this before recycling when the Seattle garbagemen would actually trot into your yard and pick up your trash); the three foot high raccoon picking through the dumpster behind Dick's Drive In on 45th...

And the oldest story of all, when the other three foot high raccoon was trapped in dad's concrete silo, snacking on silage (cow kimchi - chopped, fermented corn stalks, tassels, and leaves). And raccoons are belligerent drunks, too. Whatever you do, don't shoot at a raccoon inside a concrete silo and MISS. Then you have to duck back out and wait for the bullet to stop ricocheting.

(perhaps an entry would be helpful)

Missed the caucus this weekend - we just didn't get out and about from Saturday breakfast, coffee, paper. And our caucus was 50 blocks away. Yeah, I know, excuses excuses. So much for being a decent citizen. I much prefer primaries vs caucuses and totally wish they were open (you didn't have to declare a party before voting). 20 years ago, Washington state voting took on a fun dimension - sometimes you sacrificed your vote by voting for the other party's nutball.

Mid afternoon, we hit Trader Joes' picking up a month's worth of .99 clif bars, two bags of salad, two pounds of pasta, which .79/lb.

I walked about 1.75 miles along Greenwood Ave and back, on errands and small purchases. Dropped off a CD at the library, did a little window shopping (debating about whether to get that Hillary Clinton nutcracker for my sister), bought a 1 lb of fun pasta and while there got advice on how to use some very concentrated and salty sheep cheese (lasts forever - grate some into warm pasta, put into sauce, use it along with yogurt to bake in filo dough), bought a book on the history of Greenwood (love the pics), chocolates for Valentine's, and bubble bath for me.

Sunday was a gym day and another walk day - and I bought some walnuts (for beet walnut salad and waldorf salad), grapes (still terrible price at $2.50/lb, but better than I've seen anywhere else, blue cheese, and rye bread.

Even those the prices are terrible compared to my price book, I've got to lighten up a bit and not worry so much about spending a little. I have about $150 from this paycheck and I get paid this Friday.

Saturday
Spending log - $13 brunch and coffee + $46 Trader Joe's + $7 pasta + $19.95 book + $33 chocolates + $4.50 bubble bath (2 bottles)

Sunday
Spending log - $1 apple + $1.55 decaf coffee + $16 groceries.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $1.19 coffee + $10 lunch

The most interesting part of the day was the trip home. First off, I left at 5:30 and was excited to see that the sky was merely deep blue and not pitch black.

Second off, on my walk home from the bus I suddenly hit a black patch - half of the block on Greenwood Ave between 85th and 87th was out of power. I asked at the coffee shop next door - the first business brightly lit - what had happened. The owner told me that their power went out at 3pm and that's all she knew.

Next, I hit the Safeway with an eye to getting a little ham to have as a nosh. It was in the process of being renovated. They should have just closed it for a day or two and got everything sorted out. Instead, no meat, nothing hot and ready to go, and nothing remotely in the places I remember. I just took a quick walk around, didn't find what I wanted and didn't look for something to buy.

Since its Super Bowl Sunday tomorrow, and we are hosting, nope, I won't make it to the gym that day. Instead, I walked down Greenwood Ave today for 25 blocks, then walked back up.

I passed the Oroweat Bakery Outlet. Open. I have been curious for sometime what's in it, who comes, what's available, and most importantly - how much?

Bread, of course, on the right as you walk in...but also Entenmann's pastries and donuts on the left. Also other items like soups, some canned goods, crackers. Not too excited about that today but its something to keep in mind for future use. Anything with a lot of sugar in it appears at least $1 more. Fresher items on that side, explained the cashier.

Picked up a bag of dinner rolls for $1.19, and 6 pack plastic sleeve of Thomas "everything" bagels for $1.25. (Now I can have Zen bagels whenever I'd like - everything with nothing). Each of those items were almost $1.50 off the regular sale price at the grocery. Stuck them in the freezer when I got back.

At the checkout, I had a nice chat with the cashier - Saturday's really the only time I could get there, but it didn't stop me from accepting a punch card. Ten purchases of at least $2 a pop entitles me to a freebie.

Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $1.19 coffee + $5.45 lunch

For anyone who has winter on their mind, good or bad. Seattle became a winter wonderland overnight. These pictures were taken at sunrise at, oh, about 7:45 am.

The pocket park, facing west


The turned around view, facing east. 89th Street lay before you.


This was the most peaceful part of the day. After that, it went downhill rapidly.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.36 coffee & bagel, $60 clothes

Didn't feel like working out at the gym. It was a nice day so instead I did a little shopping - bought several more long sleeved solid colored tops that I use year round - and did the mega 50 block walk.

I did a little detour. DH sometimes cuts down streets I never travel along, let alone walk down. On the corner of one street he drove, we saw an asian temple, so during my walk I walked past it.


I've lived in Greenwood for 8 years. Darned if the neighborhood still surprises me. This is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery founded in 1973. Its stupa (the white shape) is on the right, with prayer wheels circling it.


The red sign in the left corner invited you to walk around the stupa clockwise, turning each prayer wheel clockwise as you do so. Didn't have to ask me twice. It was very relaxing to hear the wheels turning as I walked. And I forgot to get ATM money afterward.

N.B.:According to Images of America: Seattle's Greenwood-Phinney Neighborhood, this is Sakya Monastery, the only Tibetan Buddhist monastery outside of Tibet. The head lama is 3rd in rank below the Dali Lama.

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.19 coffee + $13 lunch

I woke up at 7:45 am for an 8:10 am bus. It went downhill from there. I got in and was bombarded by needy co workers, my temp guy looking for projects, and strange snafus. I solved them, but it wasn't until mid morning when I could work on what I needed to work on ... for me.

Then came lunch. My first choice had a line out the door - no good - so I went to my hideout - nearby. Got in at 12:30, and while it wasn't nearly as busy I mentally went over my schedule today. Wasn't I supposed to have a meeting at 1? I got served at 12:45, huffed it down, caught a bus and got back at 1:10 pm, heart racing thinking "I'm late!".

Meeting was at 1:30. Whew, wasn't late after all.

My boss and I waited for the elevator to make the 1:30 pm meeting when we heard voices in the shaft. Elevator was stuck on a floor - we got a co worker to call facilities and rescue the voice, making us both late ... by 10 minutes.

The day took its own today.

Yesterday I made an appointment with the financial planner for Monday. I was satisfied that he wasn't going to use me as a boat payment, and the last thing he said to me was that I should sleep on any advice and not be to rash.

Finally, the CD shop near my house put up a sign that he was going out of business. I passed by a couple of times since then, bummed and little bit embarrassed. The owner was a friend and, well, what is the etiquette here? Go in like nothing happened and pick over the stock? Walk by and leave it alone?

I went in tonight, gave my condolences, and found a couple of CDs. Turns out that he's moving a lot of stock this week. I laughed and said that the persian carpet sellers in Pioneer Square had the right idea. Keep advertising a going-out-of-business sale, lay low for a couple of weeks, then start back up again. Another customer told him exactly the same thing.

...my debit card that is. I went back to the WaMu connected the debit eating card ATM to get some dollars and rescue my card. The teller was sympathetic - matter of fact he said my card was one of twenty!

Behind and between the tellers lay a 4 column 5 row grid of debit cards in various colors on a counter. The teller plucked mine out 3rd or 4th from the grid, gave me the card and gave me the money.

I told the tellers that it looked like the card could have been fished out of the slot given enough time and effort, so I jammed it in further, thinking that at least no one else could use it.

The tellers laughed - it didn't really work. The WaMu closed at 6 pm yesterday, and I was there at 6:30 pm. I'm certain that there were not 19 people jamming cards into the ATM before I came.

I've come to the conclusion that we all must be financial sheep when you think about it. When I put the card into the ATM last night, it felt funny...the ATM usually grabs the card and pulls it in. No grabbing last night. So what did I and 19 other people do? Yep, force it in! Common sense be dammed; I guess we all need the "out of order" sign. No wonder why skimmers work - if we need money and an ATM is available, we get into a zone and stick our card into it, no matter how "off" it appears.

Still, I'm relieved. Live to get money next week.

Saving log - $5
Spending log - $1.19 coffee + $5 lunch

Grrrr. My WaMu ATM closest to my house ate my debit card. For awhile it looked just close enough in the slot so that I thought I could fish it out. I tried a pencil, my keys, my PDA stylus, other plastic cards (carefully) and combinations of each. Nothing.

So I did what I thought was a radical step - I jammed it in further. I figured that:

I didn't want anyone else to be able to somehow dig out my card and use it.

I wanted to break it so that other people literally couldn't use the machine.

That the broken machine would generate enough complaints so somebody would come down and at least put an "out of order" sign.

My plan is to go down tomorrow morning and either get cash, or better, cash and my rescued card. I figure that I'll have to get a new one. Grrr!

Well its the winter mix, aka french toast weather! DH and I called it that when we lived in North Carolina, because as soon as the weather reports turned faux apocalyptic (1 day of bad weather), every grocery store sold out of milk, eggs, and bread - like everyone gets a one day hankering for french toast.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $13 chirashi lunch

Saturday was high holy day for the shopping of grocery staples. 49 cent cans of chicken stock, 48 cent canned tomatoes, $1.98/lb butter, $.99/lb frozen peas and frozen green beans, 69 cent cans tuna, 33 cent/lb pasta. If DH had been around, I could have given him a little teaching moment about steel cut oats at .79/lb. All because of Thanksgiving at the end of the month. None of these prices were fantastically rock bottom low, but compared to what they were like a month or two, well, you curse the fact that the dip is not as low as you'd like, or you stock up, figuring that inflation will make things even worse in a few weeks. Now if only the produce would even approach a good value. Nothing much for under a $1/lb except for unbagged carrots, yellow onions, and bananas.

I sent off the email to the trustee administrator for grandmas account. Got word from sister that the trustees really want to close this out by the end of the year. Sister also told me how much we've inherited - it was large enough that she quieted down a bit. She told me that it wasn't about the money - I'm thinking that by her actions that it actually kinda was.

There is a tiny pocket park run by the City of Seattle right in back of our little duplex. The Japanese maple at its focal point starts to put on its show right about now.


Sitting on the bench at the foot of the tree is also another sign of the season...

And no, I never did learn how to identify mushrooms - I love mushrooms, and if I learned to identify them, I'd be tempted to try them. There are old mushroom hunters and there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old bold mushroom hunters.

Yesterday, on our way to the grocery shop, we drove past glorious autumn trees around Green Lake. Its very rare to see great fall color in Seattle - it mustn't rain if you want the trees to develop brilliant color.

Later, I walked around Green Lake with a camera in hand. Admission was free - it only cost me a few calories.

Cascade in gold.


The bluer water part of Green Lake. Many other places near the shore had algal mats, which aren't photogenic.


On the trail, colors turning. Green Lake is considered "Seattle's backyard". I overheard plenty of gossip, and if it wasn't in Russian, I might have had chance in understanding it.


Even the wildlife got into the gossip act. What were the ducks and turtles talking about anyway?


This tree's fully turned.


Just to let you know you are firmly in Seattle.

The Denny's that we ate at for the last year or so for a late Saturday breakfast is no more. That leaves us again with a quandary - where to go for a Saturday breakfast?

You see, on Saturday Seattle has far fewer breakfast spots than breakfast lovers - everywhere there is a line, places are packed. Its an annoying mystery - come on, we all can afford breakfasts - that flares up as a crisis. When the big windstorm hit on December and many folks living in hotels or in cold houses, one could literally drive all around Seattle to look for a place to eat that wasn't going to be an hour wait.

My thought is that most Seattle-ites grab a coffee and danish somewhere during the weekday, which means very few weekday full breakfasts which means that few breakfast spots are profitable during the week. Apparently we have the amount of breakfast sites that we deserve.

We went to the Library Cafe this morning. Nice enough and we got right in.

The Bridge Motel, a 12-room motel that I pass by on the bus nearly every day, is now defunct. Artists took it over Saturday night for one night. Next week it gets torn down for something else. Its a small shame - it was at its best a cheap salesman stop right at the Aurora Bridge (hence the name) - but we need our semi-seedy places. What and where would writers write about otherwise? Besides, without care even the most upscale places turn seedy.

At the front - in color


Enter Other Side - and we did


The art crowd


The front office


Room of salt with "buried treasure" - greeting cards and found paper objects


Spiral of found, crushed cans (makes a fascinating background on the laptop)


A Twilight Zone, 2001-esque moment in the window of one of the rooms.


Entertainment was free ... well, I spent 3$ on a plastic glass of red wine. Actually, I spent only $2.99 - I found a penny on the stairs. I saw a ton of pennies on the roof when I stuck my head out of an upper window. Didn't try for those.

I bought a batch of things from this thrift store in early August when I heard that they were closing. I never went back but not because I didn't want to. I just knew that if I went back it would touch off a lot of spending triggers - cheap stuff that I would sort of use, stuff that I would "rescue". Time to let go. And I did.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $11 Denny's + $40 groceries + $26 CDs (1 a 2 record set)

The probable pentultimate gasp of paperwork for the 74 acres (second property minus farmette and 7 acres) came today in the mail, along with a few useful letters. It came from sister's lawyer.

In front of a notary, I'm to sign the Construction and Tenants affidavit and the Warranty Deed. Apparently the Transfer Return form is just for my files - sister, since she's readily available, is to sign that one. I get to call the lawyer and confirm.

And then sister and I each pay off the property taxes for 2007, now that dad's estate is no more (out of probate). I'll check with sister to see if we can use the joint checking account to pay it off. After all, its what I envisioned this joint account would be for.

According to the DNR letter, when this batch of paperwork is done, the Wisconsin DNR will get the clear title and cut us a check.

A couple of photos for today. This afternoon, it appears that fall has come a little early to Seattle. We got a spot of rain...


And another fall sign, lots of birds congregating on a wire. I felt a tad like Tippi Hedron as I snapped it. 'IMDB' Tippi Hedron for you young whippersnappers.

Saving log - $5
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $4.50 curry

Found an interesting tool.

http://walkscore.com/

It assesses the walkability of any address in the United States, giving you a score between 0 to 100. My home address got a 75, my work address got a 91, sister's address was a 62, the farmette got a 0. Check it out - we are still trying to figure out how you get a 100.

I managed to use my cloth bag at the grocery store today. The grocery store was nice about using my bag, and I'm happy that Clif bars are back at .99 apiece.

Paid the sewer, water, garbage bill - $123/ month. I remember when it was in the $80 range 3 years ago.

Only three people were kicking around the department today - it made for quiet times, good times to put in a couple of phone calls.

Call 1: into the Wisconsin Bank that sister and I have a joint account with. I want to be able to electronically transfer dollars from my bank to this account. I figure that mail is slow, and control freak that I am, I want to see both ends of the transaction. I've set up my WA account for bill pay to this bank. We'll see which is easier - pushing money out of my WA account to this WI account, or vice versa.

Call 2: Arranging the pick up of the canning jars. I will be driving (gasp, driving!) Thursday morning. Haven't heard word as to how the berries are doing. A quick look at some of the brambles in our neighborhood tells me it will be another week or two.

Something you don't see every day. The HT Oaktree market near our house is having a grand opening (wha? we've been shopping there off and on for 6 months).

Dragon curled up in back of the martial artists...


And the teacher busting his moves.


Inside, the best price on Rainier cherries this year at $1.99/lb, peaches and nectarines at $.79/lb. DH and I also picked up 2 more cloth shopping bags with HT on them - they were giving those away if you bought more than $5.

We still haven't gotten in the habit of bringing our own bags to the grocery store. Sigh. One of the times that I collect plastic bags is that I often stop and do a bit of grocery shopping during my nightly walk from the bus. Maybe, just maybe, the HT cloth bag is small enough so that I can put one in my purse.

Namely, the Greenwood Seafair parade tonight. Seafair is a two week celebration culminating with hydroplane races. All over Seattle, neighborhoods hold parades and events.

The bead guy, selling a little bit of Mardi Gras in July.


The theme of the parade was the Greening of Greenwood. One truck took it to a funny turn.


Cheerleaders...


Drill Teams...


Bands...


Careful listening to the bands provides for its own entertainment. Five years ago, one of the school bands played School's Out for Summer. No one, though, dressed like Alice Cooper, but you still had to give them props. Nothing so entertaining tonight, but fun nonetheless.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $25 thrift store + $1.64 bagel (got a free coffee from a punch card)

Now for my next daredevil trick...

I have sad news. My closest, therefore favorite, thrift store is leaving my neighborhood in 2-3 months. No more walking past there every day, sometimes going in sometimes not.

I got my Paris dress there, and as I have lost weight and inches I've gone there to pick up smaller sized jeans, sweaters, tops, tank tops. It was there that I discovered that I was a medium in certain things, and that I'm now a sure-fire size 14.

But that's not the daredevil thing. You see now that everything's 30-70% off, I picked up a purse, a pair of jeans, several sleeveless tops for the summer, and ...

A swimsuit.

Yes, I bought a swimsuit at a thrift store. Sounds icky, n'est ce pas, but I checked the crotch and bra cups carefully. No trace; everything looked pristine, even cleaner than it would be if it was a new suit that everyone tried on. I tried it on. It fit perfectly and it was even flattering. $3.

That's a penny embedded in the black top. I walk in that crosswalk every day and pass it by. Sigh. Its dead, Jim. Let it go!

Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $10 lunch and groceries

Deposited my tip box money today. It was a little lighter this month - $40. I found .58 cents in the oddest place today, at work, right where we touch our security cards to get into work. The coins were just sprayed out in the hallway. I mean we are a non-profit, but cripes that's weird.