Saving log - $4
Spending log - .65$ milk + 5.45 curry lunch

My busy season's winding down a bit. My boss is going to take me out to lunch Thursday, which was very appreciated - I'm at my last $60 from the previous paycheck.

Last night I started to move my small, monthly recurring charges (ISP, newspaper, Netflix - about $70) from my credit card to my debit card. Last night I moved my ISP bill. My goal is to just have the trainer on my credit card so I can better keep my deadbeat credit card status. 12% of 0$ is 0.

I also think that I need to have better control of those little charges. Its so easy to keep those little things "out of sight-out of mind" on the credit card where they somehow breed and turn into things that you'll want, can't always justify, and get pissy at someone if they suggest you get rid of them.

If the charges are on the debit card, which I watch like a hawk, then I really think about them each month.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $20 (DH and I's breakfast @ Denny's) + $5.50 produce

From Friday - So I chatted with DJ friend, who is the king of getting electronics and deals for the radio station, that I'm going to be looking for another 512M memory. He told me that he upgraded last week and was left, somehow, with a 512M memory chip. We have the same Dell laptop. He doesn't understand how he was left with the extra chip; he didn't know what to do with it, he wrote it off to karma. I'll bring it in, he said.

I'm not going as far as "the secret" (blegh!), but one of the best frugal tips I know of is let other people know what you are looking for. You just never know.

About that 365 photo challenge. I can't say that I'll have the discipline to submit a photo every day, but carrying the little digital camera around and learning what it can do, well some shots appear. Today at Denny's on the Saturday before Easter...came a bunny and a chick.

I asked the parents for permission at the end of their meal (and boy did I feel weird about it), but I plan to take these photos off after a few days. You just can't be too careful.

Saving log - $1
Spending log - $.65 milk + $7 for 2 juices + $10 lunch + $3 apples + $5.45 camera case + $10 pizza dinner

After the .65 day, I was nibbled by mice. Another department has an intern, and since I interact and have lots of info, I met with him. Instead of coffee, I bought juices. So young....

I picked up a small camera case on sale from Fred Meyer. Its padded, the camera fits in it, it looks different when pawing through the purse. All that and for $4.99 closeout.

To answer a comment - Just like the song Kodachrome, "I got a Nikon camera" Nikon Coolpix 4600 from Overstock dot com. As threatened, I took it out and tried out some of the settings.

Hammering Man was getting a bicep transplant at noon today.

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $.65 milk + $6 lunch (for 2 days)

After paying the chiropractor for two months of treatment that insurance didn't cover, my paycheck is a tight until the end of next week. Am going to try and not spend and get money until the very end of this week, so its the footlong sub, cut in four pieces for a couple of days.

Made reverse change in the tip box today. Swapped out the couple of 5s that I had in my wallet for the boodle of 1s in the tip box. Then with the pile of 1s, I swapped the several dollars worth of change for several dollars. I do this because the inside of the tip box is really small - about 3 inches square. Dollar bills fit in nicely, while lots and lots of pennies don't.

One of the bills had the Where's George? stamp on it, so for laughs I re-registered it and found that the bill was stamped in Dallas.

One of my coworkers in our department is leaving after 7 years. He's trained a number of people to do his job; he has a hellish commute; his new university job sounds interesting and has a number of perks. No screams and no sighs, in other words. I'm happy for him, sad to see him go, but the world will not end.

For Tuesday, 4/3/2007
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $.65 milk +$5.45 lunch

For Monday, 4/2/2007
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $10 lunch + $8 map of Paris + $16 dinner

Went out last night - me, DH, lawyer friend, lawyer friend's partner for all you can eat Korean barbeque with the grill at the center of the table and the ring of 11 small dishes around it, 3 of them kimchees. It was meat, meat, meat, wrapped by lettuce.

Lawyer friend feels like he has a big target on his back at work. I'm going to miss him if he goes.

It capped a heavy eating and drinking weekend - wine on Friday, beer on Saturday, and beer on Monday. Yeah, its not that much, but when you rarely drink it feels like a lot.

Picked up my own map of Paris from Metzgers Maps at the Pike Market. I'd use DH's but I'd like my own. It feels a little like the spending has already begun.

Working through more of the problems with the logging songs and mixes for DJ friend. Now I have to convert decimal time (3008.987 seconds) into time time (50 min : 8 sec) and get it into Access correctly. I'm learning a lot!

Saving log - $44 (from tip box into savings) + $10 rebate check + 15$ rebate check
Spending log - $5.50 lunch

Ah, free coffee. I could get used to this.

Getting a lot done at work and now I'm relaxing a bit. Had gym today, get measured Thursday. T-bill matures on Thursday too. Waiting for the next paycheck on Friday.

Waiting for DJ friend to give me some files so we can finish up with the logging.

Even found a dime in the parking lot. Steady as she goes, really.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $.65 milk

Writing this entry reminded me of Spy Magazine. Ah, I miss that rag sometimes.

Well this weekend wasn't as restful as usual - to help DJ friend, I worked with Excel and Access all weekend, developing a way to take DJ playlists and convert them into a log. I work with Excel and Access all week, so when this weekend was more of the same, well blegh.

The log is what is holding up the start of the radio station. To stay legitimate, DJ friend gives 25% of his profits or his costs to an entity that will pay BMI, ASCAP, etc royalties if some one plays a song in one of their mixes. We have to give that entity a log of what has been played and how many people listened so they can look it over and pay who they have to pay to.

I did it ... its kludgy, not quite push button, but straightforward enough. It does what it has to do. There are a couple of other logs that other programs generate, so my work isn't quite done.

I also helped DJ friend with a couple of forceful letters so that he can get timed mixes from the DJs. Some DJs have radio shows of their own, know exactly what the score is, and have given DJ friend what he needs. The others ... well, if they want to be professional, they've got to understand what it means.

As a little barter for my weekend, DJ friend bought me dim sum lunch and gave me a prepaid coffee punch card. So a couple of weeks of free coffee.

Anywhoooo. When I wasn't in Access this weekend, I made a lot of stuffed cabbage, which we will be noshing on all this week.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $0

No spend day. I ate the other half of my sub sandwich while I listened to the 403B talk from the Merrill Lynch broker. It turned out that this was a check-in meeting, not too horrible or drastic. Trying to calm the troops from the sell-off from a couple of weeks ago. But there were some highlights:

1. There was more than 5M in total in our office's 403B retirement accounts, so now we will have A-shares, instead of R-shares. A-shares, we are told, have slightly lower fees - about .25% to .50%.

To an data geek like me, that's good news. Of course I will verify. My lawyer friend joked that I was sweating the small stuff. Au contraire, I said, I'm sweating the big stuff disguised as small stuff. Fees look small when you see them on the page, but when applied secretly on your account, they loom large. Worse, its not like there's going to be a line on our quarterly statement that says: Fees!

2. Someone asked about the socially responsible fund - who picks it and what criteria do you use? I'm not saying I told you so .... I'll just link to it instead. Tee hee.

3. I asked this one: because stocks are so volatile, when is the best time to rebalance? Now or wait a bit when things settle down?

The broker hemmed and hawed a bit. Now if you want to buy stuff cheap and you think this is just a burp (his opinion), or a little bit later if you are nervous. Luckily for me, everything went down in about the same measure, so eh...

Saving log - 2$ tip box
Spending log - $1 coffee (didn't have the nofat or the lowfat milk, so I didn't buy milk) + $6 lunch

Now that life is quiet at work, it means that its quiet in the refrigerators, so I went back to my get a foot long, cut in quarters, nosh for couple of days trick. Planning ahead here - Thursday we have a lunch-time meeting discussing our 403B. I'm not sure whether this is a couple of times a year update thing or something more serious, but now I can have something to eat while I listen.

Dropped an 18 lb bar on my foot in gym. Ow! My trainer got a promotion, which means that her price is going up a bit, and apparently I'm a good enough customer so that I get a grandfathered in price break. Yay boo! She is worth it and she shouldn't but herself up for sale. But it does mean that I'm going to fool around with my numbers or get a training buddy to make 12 sessions last 2 months.

Right now rent has gone up slightly, so will the credit card, and now this. Time to squeeze a bit more out of the routine on all fronts. At least the HT flyer has some good deals on groceries.

The Ha Ha in the title comes from the preliminary results from Seattle mail-in vote on viaduct or tunnel. I voted for neither; it turns out that a majority of Seattleites did the same. Traffic sucks, but the voters here have been so disrespected by the governor, the mayor, and the powers that be on all fronts for years that two no-s was really the only way to go. Bwwwaphlt!

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.62 coffee, milk + $15 lunch

Just a lot of Robert Altman-esque Short Cuts today.

Succumbed to the lure of chirashi today. I got a new sushi chef, who gave me a slightly smaller plate but wasn't stingy with the fish. I'll have to remember that my usual sushi chef works on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

Found out that the first person I met at work had died. A remembrance of his is tomorrow. He was the computer/network guy who showed up to fix your computer when it was ailing. He retired five years ago, but its still a bit of a shock.

Gave my assistant a little hug as she was leaving on her last day. She told me that she had done more varied stuff in 5 months here than she did in 7 years at workplace unnamed.

The 2007 Poetry on the Bus competition is up and running. I'm a bit lukewarm on the theme - but I have my idea and my twist. All I need is a bit of incubation on a couple of words (you only have 50) and I'll send my shot off. We find out on June 1 - perfect, I'll be in Paris not fretting about it - but by then I'll sure be able to use the $125.

Speaking of the bus, I relearned the pole slide today. It's where you use your angular momentum to slide into a window seat, usually stealing it from someone who hasn't discovered the trick.

DH discovered old stewing hens at .99/ each at the HT. Coq au vin tomorrow!

Wednesday, March 7
Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $1.67 coffee, milk + $7 lunch

Thursday, March 8
Saving log - $4 tip box + $16.00 T-bill interest + $40 DRP + $35 another DRP
Spending log - $1.67 coffee, milk + $16 lunch

Right now I have about 41 million dollars of electronic data to book. Don't get too excited - most of it is going to other places. It was easy for my boss to triage my time and get me out of several commitments to other people in other departments. It feels different than last year - calmer - because with time I know I can get everything done and the 41 million is a great reason to leave me to do my task. I just have to remember I will always have something like this this time of year.

We also have issues with daylight saving. This brands me as an old fart, but I remember when you got the word in the paper when and which way you changed the clock, you changed the clock by hand and you went on with your life. The Windoz-ation of everything hasn't made anything better... but it has given you a great three week excuse for being late.

Tomorrow is my assistant's last day, so today I took her out to lunch. Lunch was curry, and for dinner DH made ... curry.

Lost another 1/2 pound, 1/2 inch of my hips, and 1% of body fat.

Found out what that extra $2000 in one of my retirement accounts was. Our match money gets deposited in it once per year on March 1.

Saving log - $5 tip box + $16.06 T-bill interest + $75 from checking to saving
Spending log - $1.50 coffee + $13 lunch + $40 ATM

Noticed that the matching piece of my 403B jumped up by about $2000. I'll have to ask around to find out what's going on. Rumors seem to be better than HR right now. A mysterious email appeared that there will be upcoming changes in the 403B and to find out about them on March 15.

Scanned through the transactions on one of my DRPs. The transfer agent changed in August. Before August, all the transactions were as neat as a pin - credited on the 1st or 2nd of the month, except on December, when it was credited on December 15th - afterwards its the 5th, 6th, 8th. And they take the money out promptly on the 26th. Ten days of float, in other words.

Saving log - $9 tip box
Spending log - $1.37 coffee + $5 lunch

Pleasantly surprised at work - I walked in expecting piles and I saw only a little one. There were a couple of shockers on the work email - people leaving. Its February and it seems like all of the energy of fall disappears into a morass of depression in late winter. But our department is humming along. The temp staff that we hired to process the paper is mostly gone and its quiet again. I still have plenty to do and I'm now a week behind!

My trainer is going back home for a few days so the schedule is a little different this week. I worked out today and will tomorrow, which picked up my energy level a lot. Wore the medium gym shirt I was given when I joined the fitness challenge - it fit great. One year ago I still would have been an XL. I got weighed again today, and lost .8 of a pound over the past three days.

Again, not much on the financial front. I expect to finish the month (payday is Wednesday) with about $60. Bought another $100 I-bond at the end of this month; put another $50 in a Drp; all I expect to do this week (actually any Thursday) is watch my current T-bill rollover. Its amazing what you can save when you are in no condition to spend.

Today
Savings log - $4
Spending log - $2 coffee, milk + $8 lunch + $8 takeout

Noticed that the rhododendron next to the front door is in bloom. It blooms in pink every year in February because its sheltered and its next to two dryer vents. Didn't cost me a thing - what a priceless pleasure and far prettier than a groundhog. The flower buds did get nipped from last month's freeze though. I'm thinking about getting some pea seeds and plant them this weekend. The rule out in Seattle is to plant peas on President's Day.

Left my bus pass on the living room end table and it went downhill in the morning. I did manage to get what I most wanted to get done this week. I got hit up for some flowers to a co worker at work, so I scooped up $5 in change from my tip box and sent it off.

Last Sunday I filled up my MP3 player, so I've been listening to what I have and have been pruning it. Listened to about 3.5 Gs of tunes and I have 12G more to go. I know how my DJ friend feels!

Got the post-chocolate hangover? You know, where you are bouncing off the wall from the chocolate with the knowledge that the acne will come in a couple of days?

Feb 13, Tuesday
Saving log - $9 tip box ($4 mine + $5 for the MP3 case I sold to DJ friend)
Spending log - 1.50$ coffee + 5$ lunch

After a great day of work yesterday, I got pounded today. Everybody was needy and calling. Sigh. It was nice to get the $5!

Opened up the bi-monthly electric bill and got a brutal surprise - $184! We had the same usage patterns as last year. Somehow every year its never a pleasant surprise.

I also paid into a Drp this month and a wrote a check to finish off paying the credit card completely. I plan on putting another $300 into ING this month.

Feb 14, Wednesday
Saving log - $1.50 tip box
Spending log - $1.50 coffee + 15$ lunch + 2.00$ snack + $17.30 CDs

Sigh. I got $40 last night and I spent it all by tonight. Last Sunday afternoon, the new CD store wasn't really open but the door was - the owner was talking to a friend - so DH and I walked through. We couldn't buy anything but the owner let me lay-away what I liked, to pay when he officially opened. I found 2 CDs from my young-college-hood. Tonight he was open for real and I bought them for real. It dates me, buying CDs in a brick and mortar store. Even the owner was my age, with a touch of gray. In a few years buying a CD will be like buying a buggy whip. He also had vinyl. Got to tell DJ friend about it.

DH and I both enjoyed the chocolates. Again, Valentine's Day is like most other holidays - it arrives at the back end of my paycheck, when you get paid on the 15th and last day of the month. So far, only Labor Day is the only exception.

Saving log - $.50
Spending log - $2 coffee, milk + $7 sundries

My assistant took me out to a Thai lunch today, and I went to the chiropractor. Gave DJ friend one of my carrying cases for my MP3 player (he's giving the same type of MP3 player to his wife) and he offered me $5 for it. Nice. When he pays, I'll put it in tip box.

Slight frugal tip: a big cell phone case often works to house an MP3 player.

Several items that we were looking for in the last two months finally came, so work came in a little torrent. I was productive and the day went by fast.

Wrote the check to MIL for the plane ticket for Paris. (1007$) For large purchases like this I under withdraw from my savings in a round number ($1000) just to keep things tight.

Feb 6, Tuesday
Saving log - 0$
Spending log - $2 coffee, milk + 9$ lunch

Not much money movement yesterday, but a little gym movement. Lost 2.5 pounds, so I'm now at 188. Got chided a little for not drinking enough water, but the trainer and I had a number of good moments yesterday too. I could do situps to my toes on a padded incline set at the steepest incline. I even managed to do 3 sets of 10 situps (30 situps), which is very exciting. The best part was glancing over and seeing a relatively buff guy set the incline down a little to do his situps. The trainer nudged me... didja notice? Hah!

Feb 7, Wednesday
Saving log - 0$
Spending log - $2 coffee, milk

Several of our temporary staff are leaving at the end of this week, so we took them all out for a lunch on the department's dime, making it very nearly a no spend day. Got a little old fart jolt when the lunch conversation turned to Iowa, and I jokingly mentioned that The Music Man was set in Iowa. Blank stares all around. Man do we have trouble...

Thoughts while I was walking home... You stereotypically can be mean and cheap or kind and generous. I think I'll mix and match and try to be cheap and kind. After all there are a couple of people at work who really are mean and generous. Ick.

Saving log - $3
Spending log - $1.40 coffee + $7 lunch

Had a nightmare that I remembered last night - I dreamed my purse got stolen, along with all my financial data. Time to put a password on my PDA. It's just so weird - usually I sleep like a rock.

Meeting meeting today, and then I gave a talk to the customer service staff on one of the "hats" that I wear on my job. It went okay, but time flew by without me getting much done.

In addition to the two meeting, I had a chiro adjustment. Chiropractor asked me if I was getting better from my cold ... I didn't know he knew I was sick for the day. I suspect that the trainer told him - I'm sure he doesn't know I blog. It gave me a little start - imagining I'm the subject of gossip. (Chiropractor is 1/2 block away from work, gym is 1/2 block away in the other direction. I have no excuse to miss appointments.) The insurance has kicked back in for the year, so now it is just the $20 copay.

About the only thing financial I've done is move more money from ING into T-bills. Right now I have about 10K in T-bills, and will stop when I get 16K in. The interest rate is slightly better, and I plan to use what I have in ING for the Paris trip. It sets a limit on what I can spend.

Friday, Feb 2
Saving log - $8 tip box ($3 to replace what I took out, $5 extra)
Spending log - $2 coffee, milk + $6 lunch

Saturday, Feb 3
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $10 breakfast + $33 groceries

Friday I went to work. It was a trial for the first hour and I thought I would only stay 1/2 a day, but I got a second wind and left only 1/2 hour early. That 1/2 hour made all the difference - I managed to leave work while it was still light. The walk from 8th Ave NW was still dark blue dark, but it is early February.

Took a nap when I got home, then checked to see whether I filed the taxes correctly and when the refund would come (Feb 13, it turns out). Finally, I managed to get 10 minutes of calisthentics in before I went to sleep for real.

Saturday was the usual - breakfast at Denny's and a little grocery shopping for the super bowl get-together hosted by friends in Duvall. The friends are kind of drinkers, kind of not. I wasn't planning on drinking much tomorrow. At the HT Oaktree - whose parking lot today was as busy as I had ever seen it when it was Larry's - I picked up bottles of Mexican-made soda. Interesting flavors like tamarind, mango, guava along with orange and lemon, and at .65/apiece, I figure it will be a trip in a bottle. I bought and cooked our week's meal - beef stew and barley salad. I just didn't want to cook during the week.

Saving log - 0$
Spending log - 0$ (no spend day!)

Had a no spend day, aka the workplace semi-annual retreat. The retreat was pretty much the typical HR mumbo-jumbo, where you promise vague and meaningless things for now and promise to do better next year, but at least we got a free breakfast and lunch out of it.

Unfortunately, I got quite a bit more out of it than that... The rooms were cold and what with collecting everybody together all at once, it was a mixing bowl of germs and I know I caught something. It happened very quickly - one minute I was fine, the next .... tired, stuffy, and achy.

That's what you get when the staff retreat happens in the middle of winter and not in April or July, our traditional time.

Now to call gym and work.

Saving log - 4$ tip box (starting anew!)
Spending log - 2$ coffee, milk + 13$ lunch chirashi

I must have semi-overdid it in the gym "classes" this week, everything's stiff - legs, stomach, arms right at the side of my armpit. Didn't even think I had muscles there. But my upper arms don't jiggle. Managed to drink water and eat salad for dinner, but I got caught with an afternoon cookie. The cookie was worth it.

Needed the relatively expensive chirashi (strewn sushi). Its brain food and I needed my brains today. I managed to finish the first draft of a very complicated company match calculation (company shall remain nameless, but not link-less, I'll be mean that way). Sometimes doing these things is like having a proctologist do a root canal - not only are are you screwed in an unexpected way, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

But I'm happy that its done, and now I can concentrate on catching up.

Like Ima Saver, I'm finding that my big check is taking soooooo long to get posted. A piece of it was supposed to post on Friday and it still hasn't. What gives? I mean its a big check, but cripes its coming from another bank, and not a tiny one at that! I found a partial explanation on the bankrate.com site.

Got the TIAA-CREF 1099 form that had all zeroes on it. I moved the 403B money into an IRA so it was sheltered on both sides. Cost more to mail it than I'll be using it.

Savings log (wednesday) - 3$ tip box
Spending log (wednesday) - 2$ coffee, milk + 0$ lunch HAH

Deelish. The four of us (3 backed out) got talked to by two reps. And we each filled out a little sheet. It was all very low-key. Next, should I choose to, comes a 45 meeting with a rep. I don't know - I really like the do-it-yourself portfolio creation and the tweeking. I asked that they contact me via email, it'll be a bit less annoying that way.

And they were true to their word; they talked, they answered questions, then they left and sat at the bar to get a feel for what we were ordering, they paid, and they were gone. O'Asian dim sum was fantastic, albeit a bit pricey (heh heh, leave it to a couple of my friends to maximize that!)

Now to the backees. 2 were kicking themselves today, and I'm guessing that the third will be also...his thought was that since he got the word that his position will be outsourced, his job was in a delicate position. Well duh. And when do you most need the free lunch? NOW.

Savings log - $2
Spending log - $2 coffee, milk + $11 lunch (w/ a sushi roll)

This and that today...

Got paid, and we got our raise. I had upped my 403B percent to 13%, which cancelled out the raise. It's how I wanted to play it - if I'm living well within my old paycheck, I might just as well siphon off the excess dollars, having them work for me now by keeping my taxes down next year and later by pumping up my retirement.

Got to the actual plastic bottom of my inbox. The bottom is black smoke, btw.

Talked to DJ coworker. His Internet radio station is coming along - the start date got pushed back to March 1, rather than January 1. He wanted a lot more content to keeping from repeating himself. But things are coming along - he's having me test the broadcasting by giving me a windows media link to play in the background. I also loaned him my recording MP3 player to him to record one of our temp staff who is itching to break into voice-over work. She has a fantastic voice: rich, warm and familiar. You listen and you think, "where have I heard her before?" He recorded the promos and the bumps for the station on MP3s, which he'll then edit out the background noises and cut her sentences into pieces. Weird how much you can do with a toy that has the right sort of extras. We are both still amazed at how well that sucker works.

Its not the stuff, or getting the stuff at the best prices, its knowing what you can do with the stuff you have.

Its amazing that most of my co workers have secret creative lives - artists, musicians, DJs, writers, actors. The woman who wanted the voiceover work sings jazz and has a couple of self produced CDs. Another does painting & mixed media with a couple of gallery shows. Some of his paintings are hanging on the walls in the data entry room. Another acts. Several are DJs (my co worker is furthest along), another sketches and does some fashion design, a couple of dancers, a couple of jewelry designers. I "merely" write.

Free lunch is going to occur on Wednesday - all systems go.

Saving log - $3
Spending log - $3.50 breakfast + 5$ lunch

Well, it was a winter horror show disguised as wonderland. We got about 3 inches, which wasn't bad, except for that we are on a ridge (no matter which way you go, its down an icy hill), and Seattle drivers can barely drive in rain, not to mention ice. !!! It was beautiful, though, quiet and everything covered in white.

The office opened 3.5 hr late. Luckily DH could drive me to work, and MILs old car actually lived in Bozeman, MT before we got it. Its tires were thick with a nice heavy tread and well balanced. Drive it cautiously and you could get anywhere.

Actually got to work about an 1.5 hrs before the office officially opened, so I just played hooky at a coffee shop and served myself some relatively frugal treats - spare time, coffee, pizza bagel, and the newspaper. I wish I could start every day as nicely. The day was great, as it always is when not everyone comes in. These days, there are a couple of people that I don't want to hear from at work.

Gym class again. Lost a pound, so I'm at 190 - close to getting back to where I was right before Thanksgiving. Exciting! But because of the ice, I just wanted to get home, so I took my old bus - no long mile walk from 8th Ave NW. It turns out that the trainer and her fiance are starting some money moves on their own. That's great - I can share some info and it makes the conversation less about me, me, me...

I monitor my money and accounts online, which is problematic when the hard drive got upgrade. Tonight was the night I got my financial accounts in order. Yet another 1099 came in - my tax folder is filling up slowly but surely.

Saving log - 0$
Spending log - 2$ coffee, milk + 6$ lunch

Lawyer friend and the "kitchen cabinet"* are in for the free lunch, but not at the tentative time next Friday, so its time to reschedule with the Ameriprise rep.

Kitchen cabinet = lawyer friend, lawyer friend's partner, screenwriter friend, finnish friend. (and whoever tags along)

On the other hand, we have a fairly good idea that we want to hit a very swanky dim sum spot. We'll see how the financial planner/rep deals with chicken feet and the dim sum cart with the squeaky wheel. If we must, we can each always come up with the fake name (too late for me, they have my business card)... but we should probably use the fake names during the lunch.

Tee hee, this is going to be wacky.

Today at work I smelled a powdery, lime smell. Its coming from grout - a workman is fixing the water leaks on our ceiling that came from the storms in November and December.

Savings log - $8 tip box
Spending log - 2$ coffee, milk (ate the 1/2 sub from Tuesday)

Got an interesting voicemail today. I put my business card in an Ameriprise drawing for a free lunch. I won.

Hard to know whether its a win or not. I'm to pick 15 of my closest friends (aka like The Player), any lunch spot, and the time. We order, an Ameriprise rep gives a 3-5 minute spiel about financial planning, we dig in, and the person disappears after paying the bill.

I don't know how much of a hard sell they're going for, or what the free lunch binds you to...but I'm willing to try it and blog back what I find. I have a cast iron stomach. I've asked DH and DJ friend already...we're got three. I suspect I can get lawyer friend and the kitchen cabinet on this and provide some real entertainment.

I have won a couple of times with my business card - mostly coffees and a lunch. Since I rarely use my business card for actual business purposes, I deposit them in drawings. Its like the lottery, except the scratch cards are paid for by the company.

Wow. A no spend day for once.

Breakfast - Boss bought me a coffee and picked my brain about the possible reorganization of our department. Didn't go for the milk after that.

Lunch - potluck to celebrate new years. Everyone seemed to have similar resolutions - there were a lot of great salads. I brought my "scottish tabouli", and chopped a lot of fresh parsley. There was an angel (no, demon... no, angel) who brought addictive sweet and sour meatballs.

Another new tax form came. And another 10 minutes of calistenics at night.

Savings log - $4 tip box
Spending log - 2$ coffee, milk + 6$ lunch* + 7$ groceries for potluck dish

*Lunch was a vegetarian foot long, I cut it into quarters and will eat 2 quarters today, 2 quarters tomorrow.

My assistant has a job interview tomorrow. I wish her luck. I'll be sad that she's going, happy for her, and pleased if she gets something permanent. It's interesting - I was once a temp long ago, and thought that my boss would be upset. (the control freaks were) Sitting on the other side, we all know that a temp job is just that - temporary. People move on and well they should.

In the gym today, I saw a *lot* of new people. It was hard to find space on the machines. Some looked lost, some looked confused with their spreadsheets, some looked a bit arrogant, some grunted loudly when they did their exercises . I guess I'm jaded. I give them all about 3 weeks, and joked with my trainer about it.

My trainer was very excited about my resolutions...and informed me that if I kept up with the 10 minutes/night goal (3), it was 60 minutes/week which would be equivalent to goal (1). And since I already have the yoga mat, its free - as cheap as it can be. Last night I did do my 10 minute calisthenics - 20 each of stomach crunches, leg lifts, scissors, cobras, swimmers, a plank. (I'll see if YouTube has some video.) 10 minutes is just fun enough.

Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $1.50 coffee (didn't drink my milk yesterday) + 7$ lunch

Walked to my bus stop on a near solid surface of black ice. Thanks, Yaktrax. You still have to be cautious, but those rubber springy things really work! Crossed my usual black ice intersection with a lot more confidence.

Succumbed to the holidays: I gained 1.5 pounds for Christmas. I can lie to myself and I can lie to the trainer, but it appears that my body has the last laugh during the holidays. At least I enjoyed that little bit of chocolate.

Still was a crazy work day today but the work piles are backing down, so I'm catching up. The highlight of weirdness came this afternoon when one of our campaign managers told us that one of his companies had a penny drive.

Fine, we said.
Oh no, you don't understand, he said. You will be processing 5000$ ... in pennies!

They were rolled (pwhew, I guess) and were put in boxes and boxes, filling a dolly cart to a height of about two feet. About a third came in cardboard boxes the size and heaviness of a large brick - 25$. The other two thirds were loose rolls thrown in boxes, and even a large money bag. Yikes! I never thought I would see a half a million pennies in one place. Actually, the claimed count was 5003$, so 500,300 pennies. Maybe.

The campaign manager managed to get them all in his car trunk, but he could have sworn that his front wheels never touched the pavement.

The COO came down to our safe just to see what a half a million pennies looked like. The manager who brought it asked how we were going to process a half a million pennies and I joked that we were going to dump them in a pile and roll around naked in them. And why bother with the safe, anyway? If the pennies disappeared, all we would have to do is check the hospitals for thieves with hernias.

Seriously, if it wasn't for the massive amount of energy it would take, since it takes 1.4 cents worth of metal to make a penny, the scientist in me would have much preferred to extract the $7000 worth of zinc and copper from the $5000 pennies.

Sigh. Fun's fun. I'm sure that the bank that we normally use would basically wipe their collective eyes from laughing, then charge twenty percent for the privilege. Its either a run to a friendly credit union and a coin counter, or to the nearest US Treasury office, where they would weigh them. Hard to imagine a coin counter that would handle a half a million pennies.

N.B. we didn't get those pennies out of the safe and in the bank until June of 2007. You want a penny drive? Write us a check!