Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $5.50 lunch

Did actually make it to the all staff meeting this morning. It happens once per month - last month I blew it off to deposit a chunk of inheritance. Lunch was the 403B meeting, and yes, the board of our non-profit dropped the retirement slightly and increased the match slightly to compensate. Its a strategy to insure that more employees put more into the 403B. It will happen starting in January 2008. And it is a trend because the board will be looking at it every year and assessing whether to keep shifting the ratio of match to retirement money. I guess I should yawn about it, because at 15%, it would have to be the 8% match 1% retirement ratio before I'm affected.

A couple of co workers got a bit bent out of shape though, the ones that are going from paycheck to paycheck but putting in 6%. I feel for them, but sometimes fiscal surprises come from the most innocent of places. And I'm thinking, wow, I didn't hit me that my workplace currently pays everyone working there more than a year 6% in a retirement fund. Many, many places they pay nothing - its all you.

Got a phone call from my sister at the bank. She's setting up our joint account, so we can both deposit money in. The banker asked me for a couple of pieces of sensitive information, then told me, "since you don't have a driver's license..."

Me: "What? I have a driver's license. I just don't drive. I have a chauffeur."

Anyway, the banker's setting things up and we should be good to go on a joint account for the farmette.

My good phone call was clearing up a late fee charge on my credit card. I paid on 5/18, 6/20, and 7/19. How do you get a late fee from that? The only hitch was trying to get out of voice jail and into an operator. I tried a couple of times, then I hit on reporting Fraud choice. Heck, said late fee charge looks like fraud. The customer rep was nice about the whole thing and told me that I should see the fix tomorrow.

I'll look tomorrow.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $7 lunch

The only financial bit happened at the end of the day today. Tomorrow we learn a little bit more about some changes with our 403B plan but the "shot across the bow" occurred in an Excel spreadsheet email.

N.B.: 403B plans are the non-profit version of 401K plans.

First, the good news. Everybody at work has put enough money combined in the 403B so that the fee structure has changed. No mutual fund choice has a higher fee than 1.3%, many are under 1%. Although compared to Vanguard at .18%, they have a way to go.

Second, the its-a-wash-news, perhaps leading to something unhappy. Right now the workplace matches 403B contributions 50 cents on the dollar up to 6%. So if you put up 6%, workplace matches 3%. Soon our workplace is going to again match .50:$1, but it will be up to 8%. So if you put up 8%, workplace matches 4%. Great, right?

Not so fast. We also have a retirement account, which I am still a bit hazy about even after 7 years. I know its where the match dollars are put in and this is the account that's vested after 6 years. It turns out that the workplace puts in 6% into everyone's retirement account. So if you're smart, workplace will put the full 9% (6% their retirement, 3% your match).

Well, due to the new 4% match, the straight retirement gift is going to drop to 5%. In other words, its a wash for someone like me...I still get the full 9% but it will now be comprised of 5% their retirement, 4% your match.

In a sense, its to subtly force you to put more in your 403B. Like the Red Queen, running faster to stay in the same place.

Saving log - $0 tip box (but with a twist)
Spending log - $3.28 coffee, bagel

Found this article about the proliferation of tip jars in the Christian Science Monitor

Saving log - $7
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $10 lunch

Heard a funny, semi-financial story at lunch today. An acquaintance (just met her, not a friend yet) told us her boss was so, ahem bossy, that she took her laptop on her honeymoon to read emails. Actually, she only could plan to take her laptop to read emails; her admin got a call from said boss that she accidentally left her laptop at the security line at the airport. The boss said, its an HP, security knows about it, please have them ship it to me at the hotel room. Fine, the admin thought, and did what was asked.

The next day the admin got a call. The boss again, a bit chastened. Got the HP just fine, but it turns out that she remembered that her laptop was really a Dell.

Wow, I thought. This is a genius way to get an upgrade. Pick a laptop you like, leave your own crappy laptop in the security line, and just arrange for the TSA to make the delivery.

So later on at lunch it turns out that the acquaintance is sitting through interviews. The admin is leaving.

I leaned in and said in a low voice...
You can tell us. Is she keeping the HP or the Dell?

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $4.34 girly supplies + $15 lunch

Two coworkers going away parties - one a lunch, one an afternoon cake and ice cream party. I claimed that I couldn't have too much cake and ice cream because the trainer could smell it on my breath.

On the more interesting front, sister and I will be deeded the house, barn, sheds and 7 acres Saturday June 30. Sister thinks that half and half on the joint account is a fantastic idea. She's into thinking about the upgrades - solar panels and electrical, which is okay, but I'm more interested in covering the taxes, better security and insurance. Cover the bases and ease into ownership, nothing too crazy. My fear is that while sister is there weekends and dad's friends keep an eye...its just not enough. We improve the electrical, which means copper, great, but copper prices are now high; copper turns into a "magnet" (hah couldn't resist) for thieves. If you put good stuff in, you now have to live there. Its not like they will give you a break and try to rob you during daylight.

The Wisconsin DNR (Department of Natural Resources) is already doing stuff. (Of course its now their property!) Sister asked and they've told her, which she's getting a big kick out of. They've sprayed the old fields with roundup last week, and are re-seeding with prairie grass and flowers, will cut 2-3 times a year, and burn the fields once every 3-5 years, to simulate wildfires. They're going to assess how they will restore the wetlands this fall. They seem to be very communicative and open - a very welcome development.

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.

From Friday
Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $15 lunch + $40 DRP

Saturday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $11 breakfast (all meals include tip, FYI) + $44 groceries + $1.85 iced coffee

Friday, not much big happened, so its cleanup of a couple of things. I seem to have lost 3 lbs, so I'm at 184, and now I seem to be back at pre-Paris shape. I'm on a little roll, so I'm aiming to be in the 170s by mid-July.

DJ friend is now in New York, so its time to develop a tight working relationship with my other employee, getting her started on a couple of important projects.

Got a chiropractic adjustment. So much for the "neck adjustment of death." I feel like a daredevil.

Saturday, DH and I checked out a new-to-us large chain Chinese grocery. So far, the best prices of produce. I'm happiest when the produce prices are under $1/lb. I eat more in season that way. Found a splurge - $5 screw container of tea-flavored pumpkin seeds. (Gotta be careful not to eat them all at once!)

I've made it another goal to use fewer plastic grocery bags. It's not a crime to get them - I reuse the bags as wastebasket liners - but the grocery baggers seem to put five items per bag, leaving you to carry 8-10 bags. When you walk out of the store, with your 4-5 bag handles on each wrist, you look like a dog walker of plastic bags. Then when you get home you have to bag up a zillion bags. Its all just so wasteful. Anyway, I've put a collection of 3 cloth totebags in the car on the passenger side floor. If we bring them, we'll use them and if I see them when I get out of the car, it reminds me to grab at least one. The final step is to get the baggers to fill them.

Made it to the Greenwood Car Show in our neighborhood. Nicely restored cars and admirers for 20 blocks, but I was tired and looked at just the ones along my two blocks, then got an iced coffee and people watched for a half an hour.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.25 coffee + 20$ lunch

I was sort of a bad girl today, along with all the other bad girls today. Our workplace has an all-staff meeting once a month. I planned to miss and I slept in a bit. Evil, no? There was only one piece of info at the meeting that I wanted to know, and I found it out after the meeting. (if you got an evaluation rating of 3 or greater, 4.5% raise). Whenever I do miss those all-staffs, I claim that I'm doing everyone a favor - the room limit is only for 120 people, yet if we have everyone in, its 140. Missing the all-staff makes the room safer.

But I didn't sleep in too much. The large inheritance check from last weekend had been kicking around the house for a few days and it really should be put to work. My plan was to deposit it while the all-staff was happening. And the larger the check, the longer it takes...you have to say no many more times.

One of the local banks has an ad in the window for their CD rates visible from the bus. 5.6% for 11 months. Best rate I've seen for a brick and mortar bank in Seattle. So I stood at the door at 8:59am, and I must have looked prosperous, because the manager came and unlocked the door, and we began.

It turned out that 5.6% CD was the rate if you had a number of accounts with them and you banked with them before, but I did manage to get 5.4% out of them, splitting my check into a 40K CD and the 26K and change in a high interest checking, which I wanted in case sister was interested in the joint account. The manager was friendly, and had a good poker face when I told him about the inheritance and presented the check. I also got a tote bag and a water bottle.

The manager did a soft pull of my credit rating. 808. A little bit of gossip - I told him that I looked for this bank in bankrate.com. He told me that they used to advertise there (they have online banking), but they got too much "east coast" money. So Tony Soprano banks here, I joked. He laughed, but it turns out that the real issue that it would come in easily and electronically due to the high interest rate, and it would flow out just as easily if someone else gave them a better rate. So they just advertise in the window for local money.

All in all, it took about 40 minutes of signing and printing out materials. Pretty easy, and they were very friendly. I wonder if after I left and turned the corner that the manager whooped for joy. The romantic in me likes to think so.

N.B.: tote bag is in the car. Sturdy, well made, good green color, its turning into the grocery produce shopping bag.

Saving log - $1
Spending log - $1.25 coffee + $7 lunch

A mostly workplace entry.

Got a note from the payroll person that there was a possibility that I was underpaid in the retro pay. I emailed back that what I got was a bit higher but pretty close to what I thought I was getting. Turns out she got over excited.

And I still get asked whether I use my science degree. Of course I do - I make predictions and then I test them. I'm sometimes right, even.

I missed my chiropractor appointment - the night before, I read an article on MSNBC about neck adjustments and freaked. Took me a couple of days to reconcile the article with my experience. Used my science degree for that one, too.

Every quarter we can adjust our 403B withholdings. What with the promotion and a new upward salary adjustment I shot the moon and went for 15%.

And right now I know of two other co workers who are leaving, 1 a surprise, 1 not. Lawyer friend is back east with his dad.

The Internet radio station is up and running!

Saving log - $5 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $15 lunch

Had to do work that required a lot of thought, so I had the expensive raw fish chirashi lunch today.

We switched to electronic payroll, so no more flapping paycheck stubs, but it was different to get the settings to log in, set up the account, set up a password. But it was worth it in the end, because I could see 9 months worth of paystubs, my 2006 W2, and a couple of paycheck calculators.

The pay raise was a bit higher, and the current paycheck with that little bit of retroactive pay slightly higher than I predicted.

Made a new category called Paris and put the photo entries in it, so the trip and pics are just a click away.

Wednesday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $7 lunch

Thursday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $5 lunch

In Paris, DH was quite taken by the number of 2-seat Smart cars on the streets. Today, I saw something one better - a Sparrow in the street.


Its a one-seater; one bag of kitty litter would have to drive itself home.


And another shot of the stickers - an electric car. The caption underneath the Sparrow says, "Ruler of the City Streets".


Tomorrow I see what my new paycheck will look like. I've learned not to form an expectation, otherwise I'll be disappointed.

Saving - $5 tip box
Spending log - $0

Actually, I spent $5 on myself by putting it in the tip box, hah hah. Today, the department treated our newest member to a lunch, so lunch was covered. I was going to go and get my typical coffee and milk, but I thought about it and decided to go with workplace coffee with creamer with my breakfast bar. Not the healthiest and tastiest, but its time to take advantage and convert a low spend day into a no spend day.

DJ friend is so, so, so close. The logging works properly, but every so often the sound card gets wonky when you try and control it remotely. In other words, try not to control it at work.

Got a letter from Vanguard. I have enough money in it and took the all electronic route so I'm not going to be charged fees. Yippee!

Sister and her partner sent me the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year in Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver. 15 pages in and I'm already engrossed.

My poem did not make it onto the Seattle buses this year. Ah well.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.44 coffee, breakfast + $5 curry lunch

I usually bring (5) .99 clif bars on Monday for breakfasts throughout the week. Today I forgot, so I bought one where I buy my coffee. $1.69! That'll be incentive to remember to put my week's worth of bars in my purse.

Sister called at work. The state of Wisconsin signed off on buying our 73 acres on the second property, so things are moving along. Makes sense, it is now close to the end of the fiscal year (June 30), and the beginning of the next fiscal year. It turns out that I'll be getting slightly more money than sister because sister already got some of the proceeds from the house, etc. The gang apparently has a little betting pool to predict how much the executors and the lawyer will take in fees. Hah hah.

Paypal mailed me the code to unlock my account, so yay, my account is now unlocked and I can put money back into it. Its paying 5.04%.

I signed the letter describing my promotion, so soon I will have something to slip into Paypal.

Saving log - $1
Spending log - $1.59 coffee + $8 lunch

The evaluation went well enough, but a few of my mistakes were brought up. Nothing that wasn't corrected easily and on time, but its a wake up call to not be a martyr and do everything myself and answer every question put to me. I can be responsive, meticulous, and do a lot of work - but pick any two, not all three.

Time to strategize how I shoo the horseflies away in other words. Be responsive by telling the asker who really should answer their question, and give much more work to my employees. But the meticulousness has to stay with me!

Saving log - $6
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $8 lunch

Thought I would take a break from the Paris pics to list what is currently going on:

Taking over all of the little functions as a supervisor - time cards, approving time off, reporting who is out, sitting in on the evaluations, planning to move some of my duties onto them. Tomorrow the plan is to determine whether my two staffers are interested in 1-on-1 meetings or not.

I found, to my surprise and delight, that the promotion came with a 5% pay raise, its retroactive from the paycheck before the trip, and is separate from a raise coming from a decent evaluation. And I get evaluated tomorrow.

My lower back locked up, so the chiropractor claimed, and I gained approximately .4 lbs during Paris. Or maybe not. I told the trainer that I didn't do any of the upper body drills in Paris. She didn't seem all that upset; she was positively chipper as she put me through an exercise routine that made me regret not doing the drills.

Ate the cheese I brought back (thank you customs dog for giving me a break), and brought chocolates to work. Found out that it only took 1 week for the postcards to travel from Paris. I sent three postcards back with no writing, just a Jackson Pollock induced spray of coffee cup rings. Lawyer friend is still talking about his. Hey, anything you write from Paris on a postcard is going to be banal...why not say everything by saying nothing?

Something odd happened to my PayPal account - I saw two mysterious transactions. I emailed PayPal, they refunded the money and locked up my account. I figured that now's the time to change all my financial passwords.

Saving log - $3
Spending log - $1.85 coffee, milk + $8.84 lunch

At work I got everything done that I had to - the evaluation, a couple of meetings, my timecard for the rest of the month. A couple of hornets' nests even settled down. Introduced DJ friend who was looking for a healthy, cheap snack to the $1.24 wonders of salmon omusubi (salmon in a rice ball wrapped in a nori sheet).

Sister called. Estate insurance will cover some of the water damage from the burst pipes last winter and torn up milk house.

Thank you all who voted for my How Tos!

I'll outta here and will be away between May 17-31 to Paris, France. I probably will not be blogging, but you never know - if there is an Internet cafe I might shoot off a note or two. I promise to post pics after!

Saving log - $6
Spending log - $1.85 coffee, milk + $4.50 curry

Lots of little financial errands in preparation for the trip:
Deposited what was in my tip box - $30
Paid my credit card - $500
Scheduled a transfer from ING to checking so I can use my debit card - $2000
(this is just in case money on top of the euros I got a couple of weeks ago; I think I'd cry if I spent it all)
Withdrew airport in case money from my ATM - $100.

I was so relaxed today, and I was so relaxed yesterday. A fair amount of the fun of this vacation is just knowing that no matter what, Wednesday is my last day for two weeks. I have been taking on some of the more horrid communications and projects, knowing by setting them in motion, well I'm going to be gone, ha ha...

Its like kicking a hornet's nest and having a place to run to. And yes, that's mean, letting everyone else at work take care of the implications. But since many people had done that to me, well I feel no twinge of guilt. I feel evil, yes, just not guilty.

I have also been on a tear, doing some documentation that I had promised on my evaluation to do last year. This year's evaluation is due before I leave, and well, I'm finishing the documentation that I promised to do last year before I write up my evaluation.

And I'm flipping through it. Very complex and detailed. I wish it was as fun to write and to read as the grocery produce articles were. Thank you Jeffrey - I learned a lot of How tos!

The image today was, as usual, from several days ago. My favorite building downtown is flight of whimsy, built from money Seattle got during the Klondike Gold Rush...

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.85 milk, coffee + $7 lunch

Today most our department was getting CPR training, so it was my boss and I. We both thought - great, it will be nice and quiet and we can both get a lot done.

Boy, were we wrong.

Not only was it a steady stream of minor things, its the time of year when the sales staff was asking, "is all the money booked? Did we miss something?" A whole day of freakouts.

Apparently I did miss something, though. This is the part of the year that is trying to my freaky, perfectionist, control freak soul. Yes, I cannot be perfect and I can't control and organize everything. Stuff is going to happen and I will just have to remember that every year I will find out in a new and strange way some new and strange mistake.

Gym was gain a couple of pounds, lose the same couple of pounds. I've still only lost 20-25 lbs during this whole deal. Losing a half of an inch here and there, so I will have to settle for other milestones. If I'm doing something with the machines, its in the 30-40 lb range for the arms, 60-80, even 100 lbs for the legs. The other trainers gave my trainer a good report on me - I'm now a regular. The weather's been nice so I've been consistently walking from 15 Ave NW, instead of 8th Ave NW.

The image today is a couple of weeks old, with the first attempt at the museum setting. (no flash). Seems to work for aquariums, too. This was at the HT Oaktree. If you ever need live shrimp, that's where you go.

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $.65 milk + 15$ lunch + $6.15 girly supplies

The coin rescue is going well; I found 3 dimes on the street this evening, one after the other. Just a little FYI - my best hunting grounds are on the curb, or on the sidewalks close to the curb. Pedestrians must put their hands in their pockets as they wait for the light, take them out again. Traffic noise must mask the change hitting the sidewalk, or the pedestrian hears it but thinks, "Forget it - I've got to cross the street." Sometimes to harvest change you have to have a willingness to get run over.

I have some luck on the bus right near the door for the same reason, but its usually pennies, rarely anything larger.

Finishing up projects right and left at work, and now when I say that I think I can get this done in a week, everyone does the math and says, "hah! You'll be in Paris then." Found me out.

Asked the post office to hold the mail. So darn nice that I can request it online.

The fact that the stock market has been up nearly 4 weeks in a row is just freakish to me. Entertaining, because I've bought quite a bit when it was a lot flatter and a lot cheaper. Its doubly entertaining when a number of people are trying to get back into it because it is so high. G*d, people are such financial lemmings! Buy high and sell low, rinse and repeat - there's the way to go broke.

I'd try to get out of the stock market right now, but only about 1/2 of my shares I've held for over a year, so if sold would be considered long term capital gains and taxed less. (I bought seriously on the dips in July and August.)

Got word that the TD Ameritrade account I still have will have its account number changed, so its assured that I will be locked out of it, have to call and sound like a goob.

Next week the trainer comes back and we'll see how I did. My legs are stiff from yesterday and now I only have myself to blame.

Two images, one iconic. In case you forgot where I'm blogging from.


The second one was taken when the bus was zooming on 15th Ave NW. Its blurry and makes me jangly, but I like it.

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $.65 milk + $5 magazine + $7 lunch

I've been thinking a bit about supervising DJ friend a bit. Four years ago, I helped to hire him as a temp staffer. When he became a permanent staffer, I had been in that same job several years before so I mentored him a bit. I switched departments. When the opening came up in my new department to work with me that was a step up, I encouraged him to apply and really pushed for him. And in the past two years he's really proven himself.

So while it will be a bit weird, maybe not so bad. Its not like we were at the same level and I moved along over him. I've always been more senior, and have behaved a bit like his supervisor already.

I've already started with giving my two staff members several of the continuous projects that bedeveiled me. Might just as well make my mark early!

The image today is what I wish today was like. It was off and on raining, and this one is sunny...

Saving log - $0
Spending log - .65$ milk + $5.25 lunch

This morning I was called into my boss's office and was offered the promotion. On May 16th I will be packing for Paris but I will be the official boss of DJ friend (boy that'll be weird) and another co-worker.

The job grade is one step higher than the one I have, so I'm guessing it will be a $2000/yr pay raise. That and an expected 4% raise at the beginning of the next fiscal year (July) means I have a fighting chance of paying off the Paris trip within the year. I'm not sure if the job grade pay raise and the cola are additive or not.

Tried out some more settings on the camera. I figured out that it takes black & white, vivid color, cyan, and sepia. Since the MayDay rally caused a stack-up of buses, that's what I used.

If you are interested, the internet radio station I've been doing some work for is nearly ready. This weekend and next week DJ friend is testing the server and is broadcasting a bit. If you're interested, follow the link under Sites I Enjoy, wait after the little flash thingee, hit the button Tune In, and hit Server 1.

Right now its working for most sound programs - Real Audio, iTunes, QuickTime, WinAmp...everything except Windows Media.

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - .65 milk + $15 lunch

Did the chirashi lunch today because I needed brain food for the afternoon. This afternoon I interviewed for my promotion. It went okay, considering I was the only contender. I fretted, though, about what I said or didn't say. As I was fretting, a co worker said to me, "remember what your competition said!"

Still, it will be a battle not to think about it this 3-day weekend. I have Monday off for my birthday and plan to do a couple of trip related errands.

The picture today - we get all types of morning bus commuters in Seattle.

Yesterday, April 25, 2007
Saving log - $1.35 tip box
Spending log - $.65 milk + $8 lunch at the food court

April 26, 2007
Saving log - $2.35 tip box
Spending log - $.65 milk + 7$ curry lunch + 12$ grocery run

Yesterday I had lunch with lawyer friend. He made the "affirmation statement" but he is not long for the job; he's talking that anything would be better. It will surprise me if he is still here after I get back from Paris. I told him that I want to avoid looking like a tourist; he mentioned that they don't wear fleece.

I'll remember that. Or I might go the Ugly Betty route.

Today more fun happened. First off, it was Take Your Child To Work day. Several of us from different departments met with the kid crew this year. We all introduced ourselves.

The first question: What are your job titles?
We went around...
Second question: Why are your titles so long?
We laughed, out of the mouths of babes. We honestly said that if a workplace can't give us money, they give us a fancy title instead. Why not tell them the truth, they're ten or so.

Did two bank moves. I called and got the note put in my account so I don't look like an identity thief having a good time in gay Paree, and I moved the first $1500 out of savings to the checking account for the Paris trip. I had two things in mind for that:
1.) Get a quick supply of euros.
2.) Time how many days it took the transaction to occur, to plan ahead so if I have move it from Paris, I know how long it takes. 3 days.

And finally, I did something at the gym that I have been fantasizing about from the beginning. Today, there was a fairly buff guy...

Ha, ha, not that

There was a fairly buff guy struggling with a flared leg lift, which strengthens the side of the leg. He was working with his trainer, who set his weights and watched his form. They left to do something else. I came in to do the VERY SAME EXERCISE and had to INCREASE the weight. Wow.

It was from 5 lbs to 10 lbs, but still a victory.

Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $.65 milk + $6.45 lunch (today and tomorrow) + $.75 peppermint tea

Had to admit defeat this pay period - I moved $100 from the brick and mortar savings account back to checking. I'll try to tighten things up, then move the leftover money back.

Bought the footlong sandwich which I will eat tomorrow. The resume and cover letter that I needed to submit to apply for the promotion I finished up this morning, with a chiropractor break in the middle.

I'm getting more and more excited about my trip. Anticipation, just like anything else, has to be timed just right. You want to be at the peak of anticipation just before you go, not a few weeks before. Right now its remembering to hold the mail, call the bank so they won't hold my money, call the executors, donate my newspaper subscription, get some euros so I won't have to find spare coins at Charles De Gaulle airport. There is a Travelex in Seattle for that. The rates are $5.95 flat or 1%, which ever is greater. So $600 is the break point.

The image is from last Friday night while I was waiting for the bus. Not quite Paris, but Paris in spirit.

Saving log - $4
Spending log - .65$ milk + 6.75$ lunch

I had a craving for the deluxe pho, and I haven't posted an image for awhile. Its hard to find a more frugal pleasure than the deluxe pho. And of course, any larger, and you could take a bath in it.


The SD card finally came from Overstock.com. Time to email a thank you that I got it.

Our department is reorganizing and the job that I now have will be classified one job grade level up and will expand to become supervisory. I still have to apply for it, but the competition will be inside our department, and its all the duties that I have right now, which no one else wants to do . I just have to jump through the hoops and be mellow about it.

Saving log - $6 tip box
Spending log - .65$ milk + $20 chiropractor copay + $4 for 2 2-liter sodas (going away party) + $5 lunch

Cheap curry lunch with lawyer friend. His boss is trying to get him to write an "affirmation statement". Yikes. He enjoyed my story about the WiDNR's land survey (the 1-2 ft shift by the fence). An definining ingredient in an adverse taking, he informed me, is hostility. The parties involved have to be hostile, which we weren't. The situation is different, but its really a battle between the WiDNR and the corporate farm.

Had a little cake party for the leaving co worker. He was telling us that now his dog would only ride in a car if said dog was liquored up first - bloody mary's are his favorite, and after awhile in the car everyone can smell liquored dog breath. Hope you aren't stopped by the cops, I said. Yeah, like the cop's going to believe its the dog...

Thursday, April 12
Saving log - $3 tip box + $35 to DRP + $40 to another DRP (I know it'll go through on the next paycheck) + $15.22 from T-bills
Spending log - .65$ milk + $30.15$ sundries and a twenty dollar bill

Friday, April 13
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - .65$ milk + 15$ lunch

Can I vent? I process pledges, write and mail reports that tell other entities who much money they'll be getting from us. I got a snarky comment over email from the VP of one of the other entities out in Boise, Idaho (not my office) ... Why is it taking so long, couldn't it be done faster?

This is a $500,000 report. Elephant clip next to it the largest one they make and is put in for scale.

Get a grip, lady.

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $.65 milk + 7$ lunch

DJ friend's memory failed. It was funny really - the memory threw a driver into an infinite loop. So it was shut down, pop out the memory, put my old memory back in and everything's fine.

Work was just tiring today. Everyone seemed to want something now. Maybe it will be better tomorrow.

This afternoon was a beautiful day, so for lunch I bought at Uwajimaya and ate at the most beautiful, frugal place I know - Waterfall Park, Pioneer Square, birthplace of UPS. Free, baby.

Saving - $1 tip box
Spending - $.65 milk + $7 lunch

Well, you've heard over and over (and over) about my tip box at work. And once upon a time Jeffrey encouraged us to show off our tip jars.

Well, today's photo is a snap of my infamous tip box nestled in its native environment - one of my desk drawers (yeah, like I'm going to tell you which one ) by the business cards, the tea, and the emergen-C packets. It even comes with its little tiki cover.



So far, I've moved over $1400 through my little box from the wallet to the savings account. Don't be fooled - its a powerhouse!