Posted By shadowkin on February 18, 2009

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To give a bit of history behind this post…

New Years 2006 I decided to try the South Beach diet. I filled my house with beans, veggies, tomato sauce/pasta, and ricotta cheese.  I did fairly well for the first week and a half - at that point, I went out to dinner with friends, and promptly crashed on the diet.

While the initial stages of the diet were too restrictive for my tastes, the information I gained from going through the books provided valuable insight into my own eating patterns - I was previously eating too much processed stuff.

(Read on…)

Category: Get Fit | No Comments »
Tags: diets, food and drink

Posted By shadowkin on February 16, 2009

During periods of economic contraction and recession, businesses seek out way to cut costs to offset the decrease in revenue. One of the ways that they do so is by decreasing their labor expenses. In laymen’s terms, this means layoffs and department restructuring.

If you are recently unemployed due to a layoff, this article will provide you with a guide on the next steps to take to assess your financial situation.

If you are still employed, but believe that you may be laid off soon, hopefully this article will provide you with a guide on what the “next steps” may look like so you can plan accordingly.

(Read on…)

Category: Earn/Save | No Comments »
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Posted By shadowkin on February 11, 2009

For today’s Wednesday Weigh-In, I wanted to give an update on my health and fitness goal.

To date, I haven’t gone to the gym :(  I know, that’s bad.  On a positive note, I have been focusing more on household chores and staying active that way. 

Food-wise, I eat little to no “processed food”.  Breakfast and dinner are made from scratch. Lunch is where the processed stuff comes in - a sandwich made lean smoked turkey or chicken slices from the deli, whole grain bread, low-fat cheese, and light mayonnaise.  For snacks, I have low-fat yogurt, a pudding cup, or string cheese while at work, and steamed veggies when I’m at home.

According to the Daily Plate, I seem to eat a lot of protein, but my food choices are low in fat and cholesterol.  I also am staying within the 1500-1700 calorie range.  At this point, I really don’t feel like I’m dieting, but instead being more aware of what I eat and making healthier choices.

My own results

In order for my weekly weight tracking to be semi-accurate, I’ve set the condition under which I’ll get on the scale: Wednesday morning, post-bathroom and pre-shower.

• 12/31: 178 lbs
• 01/07: 176.8 lbs
• 01/14: 174.6 lbs
• 01/21: 172.7 lbs
• 01/28:  174.3 lbs
• 02/4:  172.3 lbs
• 2/11: 172.5 lbs

Category: Get Fit | No Comments »
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Posted By shadowkin on February 10, 2009

First off,  get  your mind out of the gutter :p

When I visited my folks in Milwaukee this past January, my mother gave me a pair of Roomba Discovery units that she acquired a year or so before.  Both machines were having issues, and she was giving them to me to keep and fix or to toss.

I took them home, set up the charging station, and set up the first unit to charge. The power light on the Roomba blinked red.  From what I could tell, the unit should’ve been charged in 3 hours.   Two days later, the power light was still flashing red.

I looked online at a couple of different forums and decided that the battery must have gone bad. So, I went on e-bay and found replacement batteries for both Roomba’s (in case that was the problem with the other one as well). 

I placed the fresh, new batteries into the units - they did their little “happy tune” and started cleaning.  Within 10 minutes, each of them did the sad “Power Empty” tune and died.   When I tried to recharge them, neither one could hold a charge.

At this point, I cursed to myself - did I just blow $80 on batteries for machines that just fried them? I continued to look for more information online, this time focusing on why the power light was constantly flashing red. I stumbled upon the answer on another blog- it seemed that either the charging base or the charging components on the Roomba’s was fried. I could either buy a new charging base or I could purchase a charger specifically for the batteries (which would require me to remove them in order to recharge them).  I decided not to take any changes and to purchase the battery charger. Another $20 spent.

I got the charger in the mail on Friday and proceeded to charge the 4 batteries (2 that were with the hand-me-down units, and the 2 I got in the mail the week prior).  The light on the charging station blinked constantly when I tried charging the old batteries, which meant they were no good. I did not have any issues charging the new batteries.

The Roomba’s now work perfectly. Diagnosis: Not only were the old batteries bad, but something messed with the units’ ability to take a charge.

 

Final verdict: Do I like the Roomba?

Being the owner of 4 cats, as well as a prolific cook, I find having Roomba’s to be rather useful in helping to keep some semblance of cleanliness throughout the house. With how much the kitties shed, we needed to vacuum the house almost every day. However, that a 15-30 minute period where we could be using on more fun stuff. Instead, I turn on the Roombas and let them wander around the living room to pick up the cat hair, and then let them roam the kitchen to sweep away the stray crumbs.  I need to clean out the dust bins everyday because - well… look at the picture. That’s how much stuff this thing picks up around my house on a daily basis. It’s gross.

Category: Spend | No Comments »
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