Miscellaneous Monday
I didn’t get around to a Friday Randomness, so you get your randomness on Monday instead. Aren’t you lucky?
The picture above is art in Golden Gate Park. They have shut some of the roads off to traffic, which is great but a little disorienting if you used to live there 30+ years ago and think you know where you’re going. When Birchie was here last year, I thought I would drive through the park to pick her up, it’s a beautiful drive that I used to make almost daily on my way to school. Nope. Anyway, when I went to see the Monet exhibit a few weeks ago with my friend Elaine, I enjoyed seeing this dog and bunny duo hanging out in different statues.
This is Ziggy. We were on our walk last weekend, and stopped at the park to use the bathroom and get some water. When Ted turned the faucet on, Ziggy ran over and helped herself. I love seeing a joyous confident friendly dog. I mean, I love all dogs. Neurotic dogs, reactive dogs, all of them. But that is not Ziggy. BTW, her person had water for her, she just wanted THIS water. You do you, Ziggy. She has heterochromatic eyes (one blue, one brown) so we assume she was named for David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust persona.
Speaking of dogs, look at this clearly AI generated image I saw on Facebook. Part of me says it’s ridiculous, and the other part of me wants it.
Speaking of ridiculousness, what say you about this popcorn bucket tie in for the movie, The Odyssey? Why would they pose it this way instead of like the Trojan Horse? (OK, never mind on that one, this is the horse from the poster. Still.) Why would someone want these popcorn buckets to begin with? They always seem so dumb to me, but apparently theaters make bank on them.
Ted and I went to dinner the other evening, and parked in front of this house a block away from the restaurant. I like that they are embracing the overgrown lawn, and have a cute little goat to help them manage it.
Closer to home, we have this yard with not only lawn flamingoes but also a lawn something else. A heron I expect. These are so much more classy than the ones my Grandma had in her yard, but then again, those might have been older than me.
Have you ever seen Moon and Stars watermelon? So called for the large yellow ‘moon’ and the much smaller yellow ‘stars’. My coworker mentioned them one day, and I’ve been keeping my eye out for them. I thought I would see them at a Farmers Market, but here they are at a local grocery store. Our results were not good – I bought one and it was not ripe, and my coworker bought one and it was over-ripe. I don’t think these are issues specific to this variety, we just picked poorly.
Our local Best Buy used to have wisteria growing up this trellis on the wall. I was sad when they removed it a month or so ago, but mostly I’m surprised that this is the current state of things. Why haven’t they removed the rest of the trellis? Why is there a ‘Got Junk’ trunk permanently parked here, not taking the junk? It’s an eyesore for sure.
Before and after of one of our local Little Free Libraries. Looking closely at the picture on the left, you can see that they’ve had to resort to placing the books two deep. I didn’t like that, so I straightened things up and took the extras to another LFL about 1/2 mile away.
Remember how I was bitching about the ending of the A Little Princess films, and how Sara’s father was alive with amnesia rather than dead? Well, first time commenter HKS told me about a British miniseries from 1987 that is far more true to the book. I watched it, and it was very cheesy with the close ups and soap opera type camera work, but I really enjoyed it.
I watched it on Pluto TV, but you can also see it on Amazon (I believe for free) which would probably be much better, because Pluto is horrible. They cut it up very weirdly into perhaps 18 parts, with credits and dumb commercials between each time. Still worth it for me to see a version that was true to the book (except of course it took place over the course of maybe a year, not 6 or more that the book takes, which makes perfect sense when you are working with child actors). I don’t know who you are HKS, but thank you! I wish you had a blog so I could pop by.
I was sitting in our tiny yard reading my book on Saturday when I was distracted by a hummingbird at the feeder. I love seeing them pop by for a snack, and I especially love that the feeder is right outside our kitchen window. It seems like you can’t be in the kitchen for more than a few minutes before you see one. God forbid a second come by, however, because man, they are territorial and will chase each other away.
Look at this puddle of cuddles at the pet rescue the other day! They are so cute. On an unrelated note, I was thankful to Elisabeth’s post the other day about saving money, because she mentioned that Chase Sapphire Preferred currently has a deal where if you get the card and spend $5,000 within the first 90 days, you will get a 100k bonus points, which is the equivalent of $1,000 cash, or which you can use for travel or whatever. I was happy to do that, and the fact that Elisabeth said ‘not an affiliate link’ in her post reminded me that if someone referred me, they could get bonus points too! So I sent Birchie a text and she referred me, and it turned into a win-win. Now I just have to put all of my charges on this card until I hit $5,000.
This is excellent timing, because in the same conversation, Birchie alerted me that the PayPal debit card that I’ve been using to pay for groceries is changing their policy starting August 1st. For the past 15ish months, I’ve been transferring $1,000 into that account every month, and buying all of my groceries with it. They pay 5pts per dollar spent in the category of your choice, up to $1,000 each month. You can transfer the points to your PayPal balance, which you can use to buy things or transfer to an external account, which is what I have been doing. I’ve made about $800 this way over the past year, which I put in my high interest savings vacation fund. Free money! Well, starting August 1st you can no longer transfer the points to your balance, so no more cash. Instead, you can only use them to buy things via PayPal. I gave it a test drive with some points that I currently have, and tried to buy something at Ulta using my PayPal, and was only given the option of using my cash balance, not my points. So unless that changes, this will be the end of me using my PayPal debit card. I’m willing to jump through a few hoops to get points, but if it’s not convenient to spend them, then that’s a no from me.
Speaking of Birchie and her free money hacks, I have opened a few credit cards and checking accounts over the last year or 18 months, and just like in this case, I did it for the bonuses, which have ranged between $250 and $400 each. I currently have my paychecks deposited into 4 accounts, but I’m thinking there is no reason to keep three of them. At first I was keeping them because I have credit cards with those banks, and it was super easy to pay those cards with that money, so why not, but meh, it’s a lot. I don’t mean it’s a hassle, because it’s not, my brain works this way and I like it, but as I’m putting all of this information down on paper for our Trust and so on, I feel like it’s just EXTRA stuff for someone to have to deal with someday. So I’m going to close those extra checking accounts. This hobby has turned out to be great, though, because due to the savings account at one bank, I found out that they still have safety deposit boxes. Most of the banks around here don’t do that anymore, and it was something that I wanted. The same bank gives 3% cash back at grocery stores, which is not as good as 5%, but still better than 1 or 2% I was getting elsewhere. So while I will close that checking account, I will definitely be keeping the credit card and safety deposit box. (Note to self – research whether I need the checking account to have the safety deposit box, because that would be a good reason to keep it.)
Here’s your palate cleanser from money hack talk. My plumeria continues to do really well. I think I’m going to buy it some kind of cover when it goes dormant this winter, so I can (hopefully) keep it alive. The one I brought home from Hawaii a few years ago has sadly left this world. Well, it’s gone to the compost bin, so it’s still in this world and still contributing to the circle of life, so that’s a good thing.
45 Comments
StephLove
Beth is pro-Trojan Horse Popcorn bucket. Her mom thinks it’s “terrible.” I think it’s pretty clever. Now you have some data points.
That is a very cute pile of tabby kittens.
J
Would any of you spend money to purchase said popcorn bucket, and then try to eat the popcorn out of it without spilling? It’s ridiculous! I love horses though, so teen me would have been all over it.
PocoBrat
Is that a horse’s tummy or a horse’s dick? Sooooooorrrrrry! I saw what I saw!
But palate cleansers: Puddle of cuddles! Blooming plumeria! (Also a fan of that oergrown yard and their “goat.”)
J
I know, right? Such an inappropriate placement of the popcorn! Or perhaps, considering how horny the Greek gods are, totally appropriate.
NGS
I sort of want that popcorn bucket. It’s hilarious. The horse is peeing out popcorn! I don’t want to watch the movie, though. I hope this isn’t a resurgence of Greek myth pop culture because zzzzzz. I didn’t get the hype around Circe or that Achilles book, either. Why can’t pop culture mostly be shows about dogs and cats and making things? (I’m not going to get that bucket, but I see the appeal.)
So many kittens! I will take them all. I’m currently in a state about my own kitty and I am redirecting that worry by looking at our Humane Society’s webpage WAY TOO OFTEN.
J
Peeing or ejaculating, I’m not sure. So gross.
I studied Greek myth a bit in grad school, so this is totally my jam. I’m not thrilled by 3 hour movies or big blockbusters though, so not as sure. But I’m pretty sure we’re going to go next weekend.
I hope everything is OK with your sweet kitty!!!
AC
I don’t know whether you caught it or not since I post so often, but our credit card problem is still not totally resolved. We should get a cheque in a few weeks, however, and that will be the end of it.
You would have loved the two border collies at ‘the farm’ on Saturday.
J
Oh, you’re getting a cheque instead of a credit card? MUCH BETTER! Yes, I’ve been behind in blog reading for sure and had missed that tale.
Anvilcloud
Yes. There was more to deal with after that post. I guess I should really do a followup. I do post everyday or almost and I know that some people don’t get to every post, and I certainly understand.
J
I always feel bad when I get behind, but here we are anyway. SIGH.
Anvilcloud
Don’r
Nicole MacPherson
Rob and Jake went to see The Odyssey and they absolutely raved about it. I will probably see it in several years, if I remember. My sons both made wooden moose in shop class in which you put gumballs in their backs, and then by pressing on the tail, the moose “poop” out the gumballs. What could be funnier for 13 year old boys? Absolutely nothing. I am looking at the moose right now! Anyway, that’s kind of what that popcorn horse reminded me of.
Nicole MacPherson
Also! Ziggy is very cute but right there, that is a reason I never use water fountains. I love dogs but I don’t want my mouth anywhere near where a dog’s has been. Same with kids, I remember warning my kids off water fountains after seeing one child at their school deep throat one, and then sneeze.
J
LOL, did you ever watch Parks and Recreation? That’s how everyone in town drinks from a fountain, whole mouth. Hilarious!
J
I love the moose pooping gumballs! When I lived in Alaska, sometimes kids would try to get others to eat moose poop, telling them it was chocolate. So gross.
Margaret
They’ve changed up several areas and routes that I used to take, even confusing Google Maps! That dog is beautiful; like my Mari, it likes cool, running water. OD’s orange cat is named Ziggy–for a city in Senegal where she spent time. (Ziguinchor)
J
I love the name Ziggy for an orange cat! I’ve heard of pets really only liking running water. Perhaps Ziggy has one of those bowls that is like a fountain.
Birchie
I totally want the big dog bed! Doggo and I need an alternative to snuggling in my bed.
Congrats on getting the free money!!! It’s good stuff.
J
I kind of want it and I want it to be super comfy! I’m so glad you told me about the thing with PayPal, I still haven’t seen any sort of announcement, though maybe it ended up in my spam folder…or maybe I deleted it without knowing. A mystery for sure.
Melissa
OK, I’m not sure about the dog drinking out of the water fountain. It’s very cute but seems unhygenic. Do your water fountains have a second bowl for dogs, with either its own tap or it fills by catching the overflow from the top tap? A lot of ours do; you can tip the bowl out and refill it, or just run the second tap and let the dog drink from that stream.
Well done with your plumeria, I can’t believe it started as a bare stick.
J
There are a lot of those fountains with the dog bowl at the bottom around here. My vet told me not to let our dog drink from them, that there was some disease (at the time, this was several years ago clearly since we don’t currently have a dog) going around that could be picked up that way. Best to bring your own bowl. Which the person with this dog had, but the dog didn’t want it. And clearly Ziggy was off leash, which she should not have been. Still, SO CUTE!
DB Stewart
My superpower is choosing a bad watermelon. Sigh.
J
ME TOO!
Suzanne
The horse popcorn bucket is NOT for me. It’s the kind of thing that makes me roll my eyes and think “waste of money.” But… my daughter would LOVE it. She would find it so delightful and charming. (As you might imagine, this leads to some *clashes* in our home.)
PUDDLE OF CUDDLES. I wish there were a spa-style establishment where I could go and sit under a puddle of cuddles for a few hours.
I admire you and Birchie for your card hacking — it sounds so smart and kind of fun. But it stresses me out! I feel like my brain does NOT work that way, and I would screw everything up. But I do read posts like this with a lot of wistfulness. If only I were a slightly different person, I could make it work.
J
I’m with you. Waste of money, landfill, too much plastic, all of those thoughts go through my head. When I was a horse obsessed girl though, I would have wanted it. I doubt my mom would have spent the money though.
Card hacking IS fun for me, but not for my husband and daughter. Imagine if we ALL did it! So much free money! I support you in not doing things that are not fun for you.
Hks
I don’t have a blog, I just like reading other people’s. 🙂
Glad you were able to see the 80s A Little Princess! I watched it so many times as a kid – my mom had taped it off the TV for me. I’m so used to it but you’re right about it being a little cheesy. Still better than the Shirley Temple version and the 90s movie, though, in my opinion.
J
Absolutely! The 90s version is very pretty, and I love Shirley Temple, but this version got to the heart of the book, which is so important I think.
Elisabeth
I’m overwhelmed by card hacking and it is not nearly as easy to do in Canada. There are options, of course, but I’m too lazy/not interested. I’m hoping that when it retires it might be something my husband is keen to do? It seems more his speed than mine.
BUT, I am thrilled that you got such a great points deal and Birchie got a wonderful referral bonus. Win, win.
I have never bought a specialty item at the movies; we rarely go and when we do we almost never buy snacks there (SO EXPENSIVE). But, when we saw Alladin on Broadway my husband bought two incredibly overpriced drinks and they came in specialty cups and we still have those at home!
J
Snacks at the theater are SO expensive. The last time we went, we got 2 snacks and 1 fountain drink, and it was something like $27. RIDICULOUS.
San
I am all about money hacks but I can only do so much – opening more credit cards for points sends Jon into an anxiety spiral, so I have to be careful about that (but things like using the CCs that we have for different purchases with more cashback, the Target Circle rewards, or coupons and such are ALWAYS on my radar).
Love that you have hummingbirds coming by your yard! I love watchign them too… and I have seen two feeding at the same time before, but yeah, usually they take turns.
Your plumeria is so pretty and I am so happy for you that it’s thriving!
J
Opening credit cards for points used to stress me out, I thought it would affect my credit score. And it has, but very little. Honestly, I opened one of the credit cards because I wanted a 2% card with no fees, since I was cancelling one I had with an annual fee. If you ever want to dip your feet in a bit, you could open a checking account and get that bonus – no ding to your credit report. You just have to set a certain amount to be deposited there every payday. I’ve gone through all of the banks that have one that isn’t too complicated, so I think I’m finished with that game.
I’ve seen 2 hummingbirds drinking from our feeder once or twice, and wondered if they were a couple, because usually it gets ugly pretty quickly.
Diane
My daughter got the commemorative bucket when she went to see the movie version of Taylor Swift’s Era’s Tour. I don’t even want to know how much she paid for it….
But also – of all the things in the Odessy, why the horse???? Like what about a boat? I mean I haven’t seen the movie, and maybe they cut all the boats…. but…. but…
Wait… are the dog and bunny human performance artists? aren’t they hot?
J
No, the dog and bunny are bronze statues, so hopefully not hot. (Hopefully because if they are, they are statues and cannot move!) Rabbitwoman and Dogman in the park..you can see more here: https://gillieandmarc.com/blogs/find-our-art/eat-travel-play-care?srsltid=AfmBOoqECBIHkv75nszph_1N77uDSUgmNIdzMxo11MBByJ0Y1WLHiDFQ
The horse is for the Trojan Horse, I think, and is on the poster. But isn’t the Trojan Horse a bigger deal in the Anead, not The Odyssey? I mean, it’s in the Odyssey, but not the point of the book. And it’s clearly not rearing in the story. Maybe I’ll understand more once I’ve seen the film.
Michelle G.
The popcorn bucket horse is SO strange! Honestly, there has been so much hype about the movie, I don’t even want to see it at this point. I think it’s wonderful that you clean up the Little Free Libraries, and even transfer books between them. What a kind thing to do!
J
I like your framing of my LFL involvement as kind. I think Ted thinks I’m anal retentive.
nance
Wow, that plumeria! I am envious.
And all those sweet, cuddly tabbies–I’d hold them constantly if I were working there. For a brief time in my early employment history (paying for college), I worked in the pet department of a large department store. I used to put a hamster or guinea pig in my uniform smock pocket and carry it around with me while on duty. I actually adopted a sick little guinea pig from my job; they didn’t want to risk selling it or get it care. I had him for a long time!
All that money math stressed me out and made me glaze over. I love that some people can juggle accounts and cards like that and get free money, but it’s way beyond me. I need things to be streamlined and simple.
Thank you again for your attention/devotion to Little Frees. They’re such a great resource in a neighbourhood.
J
I cannot tell you how happy I am about the plumeria! I really thought it would just put out a few leaves at first. But wow, she’s thriving!
Oh, I love to think of you carrying around a little pet in your pocket! That makes my heart melt. Thank you for rescuing the Guinea pig. Did you have to take it to the vet, or did it just need some TLC from Nance? Sometimes I will take a kitten around to look at things if I have time. As of Wednesday, the tabbies are still all there, but the orange kitty was adopted! I’ll admit to being a little sad, I loved him. I mean, happy for him! Just sad for me.
nance
I did take him to a vet, who diagnosed him with a liver or kidney disease/infection. He was put on medicine and recovered quickly. His name was Eric–the name that came to me when I looked into his eyes, which is the way I name all my pets. He went on to live a longer, happy life, demanding veg everytime I opened the crisper drawer. He’d whistle and whoop maniacally until I tossed some lettuce or something in his home.
It’s terrific that you socialize the kittens that way. It will help so much when they’re adopted.
J
Yay! I’m glad he got better with care and medication. I remember there was a guinea pig at my montessori school when I was a kid, and I loved it!
Stephany
I truly thought that popcorn bucket was a weird AI image. Like – this is how AI thinks popcorn buckets look like! BUT NO IT IS A REAL THING. I have many questions.
You don’t even know the way my stomach calmed with those two LFL pictures. SO PRETTY AND ORGANIZED! I also hate when LFLs get two deep!
J
LOL, I thought the popcorn bucket was fake too!
I’m glad that my LFL efforts are appreciated around here!
Daria
Hi Julie,
I am finally catching up on your blog. Been MIA but happy to be back.
When I first met Tony, my husband, he lived in Staten Island and I lived in NJ. He owened a giant, movie size popcorn machine. When we moved in together, the machine was given away since I had a condo and not enough space for ALL f our stuff. I think he still remembers that 😉
J
Oh, a popcorn machine! How fun. So easy to get behind in blog reading, I’ve been way behind myself.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
Can you believe I have not yet bought a watermelon at all this year? They are so expensive around here. I love them though.
And your little free library looks great with all its neat rows. I am always amazed how current the titeles are in the US (or at least the ones I get to see online). Ours are often just a dump for old, waterstained and very worn copies.
J
There are definitely LFL around here that are full of junk too. I’m not sure why people do that. Difficult to throw away books I guess…