I know that I've stood on top of my little current economy pedestal before and preached about the coming "Great Recession", but I was just wondering if the current state of the economy has affected any of your habits.

Thankfully Amanda and I are doing ok, but I have noticed some changes in our behaviors.  Our single largest spending category outside of our mortgage is eating out and we have been doing a pretty good job reducing the amount we spend eating out.  With the work announcement coming soon (hint hint) we should be able to increase our eating in another time or two a week. 

Even eating in is different now.  The prices in the grocery store has turned kind of crazy recently.  It seems like most items are up 20-40% and some things are up 60-100%.  Absolutely nuts, these food increases along are going to eat up the typical American pay raise of 3%.  You figure in increased gas prices, increased inflation across the board, and who know what else and suddenly you have the typical American family making 20% less next year than last year.  That's a serious serious hit to the pocket book.  Take that 20% hit and figure in the mortgage problem and all the foreclosures, possible tax increases, banking dilemmas, and the crappy stock market and we are in for a beating. 

So, what have you changed recently to accommodate all this crap?  I've already mentioned the grocery store prices.  I know that last year if I was going to get cheese I would spend the extra buck or so and get good cheese, but not anymore.  Since I am buying more house branded products I actually went against my opinion of Krogers and started shopping there again.  The other grocery store chain around us got bought out and their house brand is terrible.  Krogers house brand is pretty good quality so if I need a meal or two at a time I'll go there. 

I'm also buying more frozen vegetables instead of fresh, even though vegetables are in season and they *should* be cheaper now.  I can't imagine how expensive vegetables are going to get when we have to get them from South American during the winter.  Can you say $3.50 for a green pepper?

I know that I am driving my car less now.  It seems that Amanda and I have started to become more home-bodies.  We aren't going places that we could possibly spend money as much as we used to.  I'm probably getting 2-3 more days between fill-ups.  One of the nice additions is we have a new mall about 2 miles from our house.  That has reduced the distance to shopping.  The next closest mall was about 8 miles away. 

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Ok, on to other things...

I finally got to play cards.  Thank God!  We had dinner at home and then went to a friends house and played Euchre until late.  I had high hopes after the first game when Amanda and I won 10-1, but we could buy a win after that.  We had a couple rays of hope, but that was it.  We drank some and had some great guacomole that I made.  It was a pretty good evening, even though we lost

Last night we finally got a little bit of rain, which was good since we've been dry the last two weeks or so.  I've been throwing a lot of water at our yard lately and thankfully all the hard work and heavy watering if finally starting to pay off.  Our backyard is not that great yet, but it's 100% better than last year.  I have high hopes that about 40 pounds of grass seed this fall, an aeration, and then a roller over it may be exactly what we need to have a nice yard next year.  The front year looks really nice again.  I think the main problem with the back was just last year being so damn dry. 

I guess that Amanda's family is going to be over today sometime.  I was thinking about making a big breakfast, but with her family here in a couple of hours it probably wouldn't be a smart idea since they want to go out for lunch.

I might make some quick eggs though. 

Ok, I'm off!

Comedian Bernie Mac Dies at 50 - Tributes, Bernie Mac : People.com

Wow, I'm really shocked.  I had no idea he was even sick.  I guess when it's your time it's your time, and no amount of celebrity, fame, or money can stop the reaper.

Today is kind of dragging on and on, and I decided that I needed to take a little retreat from the ho-hum and type a post.  It's not like anything that exciting is going on, but I figure typing up a post might be a good way to eat the last 15-45 minutes of the work day.  Speaking of the work day, I"m probably going to try to duck out of here a few minutes earlier than normal, especially since I've been busting my butt since I've been back from annual training.

I intended to do another post last night after I put up that Paris Hilton thing, but I never got around to it.  Yesterday I watched some more of 'Munich', watched some TV, ate dinner, and watched some more TV.  Yes, it was far from productive but I don't care!  One nice thing was that Amanda and I both took the dog for a walk.  We probably went a mile or a mile and a half and the little doggy did good keeping up.  Towards the end I started to feel bad because his little legs were moving a hundred miles an hour but he seemed to enjoy the whole thing.  He does try to pee on absolutely everything which is funny and annoying at the same time.  Hopefully someday he will give up on marking everything and just walk with us.

Anyone have big plans for the weekend?  Amanda and I both have it off but we don't have any plans.  I really want to drink and play cards.  It has been way too long since I played Euchre, so I want to do that.  I also want to start painting the interior of our house so that we can finally start decorating.  Amanda is pretty hesitant to decorate/paint since we haven't really done it before but I think that we should just say 'What the hell' and jump in and do it.  What is the worse that happens?  We have to repaint a room or something?  I think that since we possibly will paint a room this weekend I might as well touch up some of the drywall before we paint. 

I'm not too worried about painting, I have painted rooms before and it never seemed that bad.  We won't be painting our trim so that is a plus, but that does mean that there is a lot of stuff to prep.  I don't know what the odds are that we end up painting this weekend would be, but I'm definitely keeping it on my list.

Oh yeah, back to the Euchre thing, anyone want to come drink and play cards? 

I'm not sure how many of you have a Myspace/Facebook/etc account, but one thing that I have been impressed with has been the amount of music on Myspace.  It seems to be the largest collection of free music out there.  It's not like the music is CD quality, but if I'm jonesing for a song it works out perfect.  I'm really suprised that every single artist isn't embracing Myspace with all of their music.  It's not like Myspace replaces CDs/MP3's but it does give new artists some much needed exposure. 

Does anyone know of an artist thart 'made it' thanks to their Myspace populartiy? 

Ok, that's about it for now, time for me to get outta here!

I'll post later, but I just want to share this Paris Hilton video...it is her response to being used in the current presidential campaign, and as a political scientist, let me just say that this is genius!

Time to say goodbye to another weekend.  This weekend went by fairly fast since I spent the majority of it at drill, but thankfully that didn't stop us from having a little fun.

Friday night I took a long nap.

Saturday after drill I mowed the yard.  Then we had dinner at Chilis and then we went to the movies.  We say the new Will Ferrell movie 'Stepbrothers'.  It was ok.  It was definitely better than the last dozen or so Will Ferrell movies.  There were a couple funny parts but a lot of the funny parts bombed.  There would be like one or two people laughing but the rest of the theatre just saw there scratching their heads....wondering if it was supposed to be funny.  I think there were more laughs during the previews than during the movie.

Sunday we didn't go out, but we did sit on the porch and enjoy a nice evening while I cooked dinner.  We ate dinner, watched some TV and then went to bed.  Definitely not that exciting but it was extremely enjoyable.

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No big plans for this week.  I might golf Thursday....we'll see what happens between now and then.

I'm hungry right now....I need to start eating breakfast every morning. 

I also need to start bringing my lunch.  Lunch is usually blah no matter what you eat since you are on the time crunch, so I might as well just make something at home and bring it in and save a few bucks.

Speaking of saving a few bucks, have you noticed how dead restaurants have been since the economy went to crap?  It used to be a given that you would wait 15-45 minutes to get a seat at most places on most days....but not anymore.  I can't even recall the last time that we waited to get a seat more than a few minutes.

Ok, time to get back to work.

At work, I work in an upstairs office.  It's one of the better offices in this place.  There is perhaps 8 people that work upstairs.  There is also this kitchen thing upstairs.  There is a coffee maker in this kitchen thingy.  It seems like I am the only one that ever makes coffee in this kitchen, but like magic if I make coffee people drink the coffee. 

If I don't make coffee in this coffee maker, the coffee maker downstairs does not get used any more or any less than when I make it.  That seems confusing as hell, but it's quite strange. 

I'll go in there and clean out the pot, brew 10 cups and then come back about 20 or 30 minutes later and there are a couple of cups out of the pot.  It's quite strange....it's like there are coffee munchkins out there that only drink from this one coffee pot. 

Yesterday me and a DD went for a run.  It was hotter that holy &&^@ outside and it was a  l o n g  3.5 miles.  I wouldn't mind going for a run again tonight but at least it is a little cooler out (only 78).  I really should try get up earlier and run when it's in the 60s. 

Speaking of getting up early, what is with my crappy sleep habits.  Last night I went to be super early and got about 7 1/2 hours of sleep, yet when I woke up I was extremely tired.  I just can't win for anything.  Is it my bed?  Is it Amanda's snoring (hahaha)?  Is it something else in the room.  I am almost tempted to videotape my sleeping to see if there is something bothering/irritating me. 

Amanda is working late tonight.  I need to stop by the grocery store and get something for dinner.  Not sure what I'm going to get but I'm thinking something along the lines of pasta.  Not sure what kind but that is probably what I'll do. 

Nothing else for now, I'm going to head home.

It's towards the end of the work day and I could probably leave now if I wanted to, but I think that I am going to take just a few minutes to do a post before I leave. 

Finally it looks like gas prices have started to fall.  Thank goodness, since it's been nuts.  What is funny is that since the price has been increasing less people have been driving.  I think that in Indiana total miles driven is down like 5 or 6 percent.  That may not seem like much but it adds up to millions of gallons of gas.  It's such a drastic decline in use that many states are starting to worry about how they are going to pay for roads.  You see, a large portion of the cost of gasoline is taxes.  Taxes that go to fix the roads.  It's kind of a like a usage penalty where the more you drive, the more gas you buy, and the more tax that you will ultimately pay. 

In other news I read an article about a porn shop in southern Indiana.  This porn store is being targeted by a Christian organization that despises the thought of pornography.  I'm not advocating porn, but what this group is doing is kind of interesting and a good discussion on the first amendment. 

Basically what the group does is take pictures of the patrons that go into the porn store.  They then post peoples picture online.  They also write the trucking company of any semi-truck driver that enters the store.  It's kind of like paparazzi for the average Joe.  The organization, when they do post peoples picture online usually has some smart-ass comment along with the picture.  The funny thing is that the shop is located outside a town of like 50 people and most of the customers are from out of town since the store is located along the interstate.  The out of towners could probably care less if there picture gets on the Internet. 

The one clear problem that I see is that the county has allowed the anti-porn people to erect (hahahaha) an anti-porn shack on county land.

Oh, here is a link to the newspaper article:  Click Here . 

Ok, that is it for now...I'm going to go home and possibly go for a little run.

I've been home from my annual training for a couple of days now.  It's nice to be home!  Sunday (yesterday) was a nice day.  We watched 'The Dark Knight' at an IMAX theater.  It was awesome except for these two little bastard kids next to Amanda that kept talking.  I ended up speaking loudly "QUIET" when they started talking (ok, maybe I was a little louder than just speaking).  My guess was the the mom and her kid had already seen it before and the other kid was a friend.  The mom could care less since she was pissed about watchign the movie again and she didn't care that her kid was ruining other peoples $12.50 movie.

In the evening I cooked chicken sandwiches. 

I went to bed pretty early though since I was tired and the next day was my first day back at work in two weeks.

Work was work, nothing great there.  Thankfully things weren't too terribly train wrecked with my absence.  Things didn't go perfect but there were some little things, but a week or so and everything should be back in line.

Amanda is watching Big Brother.  I have missed the first two weeks or so.  It seems like I always miss a couple of weeks and it makes it hard to get into the story lines and see who is with who.  So far the people seem ok, but they certainly aren't over flowing with personality. 

Ok, that's it for now.  Big Brother is about over and then we can watch an episode or two of 'House'.

I'm back from my annual training.  Well, technically I came home yesterday and then we had a party.  Anyways, I'm home, Amanda is happy, the yard is mowed, and a buddy is over.  Leaving for food in a minute and then Batman on the Imax!

How many of you write you Xanga posts on a laptop?  If you do, is it always in the same location?  I vary my location quite a bit.  Right now I'm outside on the screened in porch.  I want a cold beer, but I *plan* on running tonight so I don't want a beer yet.  This is probably my second favorite place to write a post....uh oh, I smell a list coming on.

The top seven places that I've wrote a Xanga entry:
7.  On my cell phone (in bed/in the bathroom/in the movies/etc)
6.  On the recliner with a cup of coffee on a weekend morning
5.  On an airplane
4.  In the car going 75 mph
3.  In an Internet cafe in Mexico
2.  On my back porch
1.  On the deck of a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean

Now, to update everyone on the last few days.  Saturday was an ok day, nothing exciting though.  I went to a rehearsal with my sister.  She was in some super-Miss-Teen-USA-in-the-state-of-Indiana or some pageant.  She wanted me to escort her.  I drove downtown for her rehearsal.  The rehearsal was bleh.  Oh, did I mention that pageant moms piss me off.  In the evening my family came up for dinner.  I cooked a pretty big and yummy dinner.  I think that everyone liked it since they freakin' devoured it!

On Sunday I got up and got my dress uniform ready for Katie's pageant.  I drove downtown and escorted her.  She did pretty well in the pageant, she was in the top 15 out of like 81 girls.  This was the first pageant thingy that she has been in since she was a toddler.

After Amanda got off work we went with friends to see a movie.  We saw 'Get Smart' and I was quite impressed.  The movie was funny and didn't really drag so that was a nice change.  After the movie we ate at this new Irish pub that opened up in the new outdoor mall thing by our house. 

Yesterday I worked.  Then came home and played a little Mario Kart on the Wii with Amanda.  Then we ate.  Watched some TV and played some more Mario Kart.  We went to bed fairly early though.

Nothing has really happened exciting today though.  Amanda is taking a nap.  I think that she wanted to go out to eat, but if she keeps sleeping we are going to end up eating something here or some crappy fast food.

In other news Forbes has an article of the best places to raise a family.  Top on the list was our county. Yeah, go Hamilton County!  It's really a no brainer though with the great schools, nice communities, great housing prices, and everything else.  Not to mention that I'm here and I kick major ass!

Next week is my annual training.  I'm not really in the mood to go but it's only two weeks and should be over pretty fast.

That about does it for now.  I'm going to go inside and see if I can wake Amanda up.  If I can't get her up I don't know what I'll do....maybe write another Xanga post