Our Ceramics Tell Our Stories

Crafts & Hobbies #63: Digital Scrapbooking

1) I watched the video on Scrapblog and was successful in using the program on my first try. My postcard on My Favorite Pets includes my own dog Holley (a lab/chow mix) with my brother's two bichons; my two grand-dogs (Ginger and Clover, both chihuahua mixes), and my cat Tiger (Siamese/ shorthair mix). {Only my cat signed a photo release, so the rest of the animals are pictured from the back.}

2) I do a lot of genealogy research, and have made many physical scrapbooks from the pictures. I think that doing a scrapbook digitally might be an inexpensive and easy way to share these pictures with the wider family. I will enjoy learning more about this.

I was NOT successful in posting my scrapbook page to this blog as a picture. Not sure why, as I did not get any error messages. I WAS successful in adding it to my Facebook photos.

3) Here is my post from Scrapblog as a link.

Crafts & Hobbies #61: Craftspiration!

I enjoyed browsing through the craft sites, looking at pictures and instruction lists and videos. I have to say, though, that I am not a very crafty person and I was not inspired to go off and make something. The best I can say is that I was "almost" inspired to go off and buy something. I loved some of the earrings on Etsy. This pair was shown at madebysam's shop. The only thing that stopped me was a current aversion to extra "stuff", and our recent IHCPLNextGen posts on recession money management.



I was surprised to find a pleasant diversion down memory lane on the Craftszine site. When my son was a preschooler, he and I used to make our own play dough that looked just like what was shown here. The only downside was that it was very oily, so you had to be careful where you laid it or you would end up with unwanted greasy spots. We actually resurrected this technique later in junior high school, as the play dough was a perfect medium for making a model "ant" for an assigment.


http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/06/_making_playdough_is_almost.html



I don't think I could learn a craft from just a video, especially one with no sound. I tried watching someone crochet a ball on Craftzine, to see how the crocheted eyeballs were made, but I would not have a clue how to do it.

You can see what I mean by watching this segment at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YM3rBmtJi0&feature=player_embedded

One thing that I did learn from browsing these posts was the many creative ways used to instruct people how to do things, from lists, to series of pictures, to simple videos. I think HCPL could make use of some of these techniques to teach people how to place holds, search databases, etc.

Maybe we could have a contest using a Flickr site (pictures, sheesh!) where customers could load pictures of themselves in our library, or enjoying one of our books outside the library, or showing a project they accomplished using a DIY book or a cookbook or a craft book from the library.

#60: Recession Busters

1. Watch one of Clara’s videos or search online for one recession recipe and post the recipe or video onto your blog.

My Mom was a child of the Great Depression and never outgrew her love for "spaghetti" made with boiled macaroni shells with a sauce of canned tomatoes. She was also big on onion sandwiches. I had to laugh when I saw some of the "recession" recipes listed on the websites noted. Take the "Chilaquiles al Guajillo." Supposedly it is a recession buster because the chilaquiles (a kind of Mexican chile pepper) cost only $1.79 a serving. However, reading the recipe, you find that you also need tomatoes, cilantro, eggs, chicken broth, tortilla chips, Mexican crema, garlic, red onions, and sugar. Doesn't sound like a time or money-saver to me.

I wasn't very impress with the $5.00 martinis or the $49.01 per person "stimulus package dining offers" either. Where do these restaurants get their customers if they think this is a bargain?

2. Share a few recession busters that you have heard or seen about in the media over the last few weeks, either on the local or national level.

The Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts, housed in the building that was once the old Cypress Creek Library, offers free admission at all times. The exhibits are always high quality, and anyone who visited the dark and dingy old library will be impressed by the transformation of the space.

Watch this video clip to learn about the free boat trips at the Port of Houston. You might see someone you recognize. http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/video?id=6449537

I went on the Port of Houston trip with the Academy of Lifelong Learning based at the North Harris campus of Lonestar College. You join ALL for a $20 annual fee, and then get to take free classes and trips throughout the year. http://www.lonestar.edu/all-nharris.htm

Some "senior" discounts are known only by word-of-mouth. For example, at McDonald's you can ask for the "sausage biscuit and hash brown special" with a "senior" coffee, and pay less than $1.50 for breakfast.

I watched a great show about places to visit locally for a stay-at-home vacation, and I was excited until I realized I was watching WGN out of Chicago, one of my favorite stations.

Reviving the habit of getting together with friends to play cards or board games is a great way to save and a wonderful social outlet, especially if everyone brings a "recession" dish to share. Do they still sell wine in big cardboard boxes?

Take a look back at my post of 9/6/08 on the book "The Happy Minimalist." It lists many good reasons for saving money and "going green" by using your public library.

3.List any tips you may have recently discovered or have been using for some time regarding saving money during difficult economic times.

Carry a little packet of tea bags into your purse or wallet, and ask for a cup of hot water at a restaurant.

Marry someone -- male or female -- who can change the oil in your vehicle, do minor plumbing and electrical repairs, etc., or learn to do them yourself.

Do comparison shopping on the Internet.

With friends, do a "progressive dinner": wine at one home; dinner at a restaurant with salads for everyone and a couple of shared entrees; dessert at a third home.

#59: Money & Finance:Credit, Money Management, and Saving

1. Credit

I read the article on how credit scores work, and watched some of the videos. One surprising thing for me was the recommendation that you don't cancel old accounts. I have been angry at one of my cards for their greedy policies, and wanted to write to close it. I have had it a very long time, though, so I guess I will just cut up my card and let the account sit there and age. I took the Credit Quiz and missed one question, related to this issue of cancelling old accounts.

I recently was alerted by Kelsey-Seybold clinics that an employee laptop had been stolen, and that my personal information could have been compromised. I was advised to place a fraud alert with one of the credit monitoring services, so I filed with Experian by phone. It was a very easy process, and the alert was also passed on to the two other main credit bureaus. The alert will be kept in place for 90 days from the day I filed it.

When Experian notified me by mail that they had placed the alert, they recommended that I check my full credit report, which I just did online. That also was an easy process, and I got my report instantly online for free. There were no surprises or obvious errors in the report.

Since I had never seen my credit score, I did decide to purchase it for $5.95. While my score was good ("Prime Plus"), it was not as high as I thought it would be since I have had many accounts over the years and always paid promptly. The reasons for the lower score are kind of bizarre in my opinion. For one, I seem to be penalized because the report "does not show any recently opened credit accounts." My score is also lowered because my report "does not show any real estate loans, such as a mortgage..." It seems weird that having faithfully paid off a long-term mortgage doesn't count for anything in this wonderful world of credit!!


2. Money Management

I use Microsoft Money to manage my finances. I enter what I have spent, and categorize each expenditure, and a "budget" of sorts is prepared to let me know where my money goes. It is helpful to know what my monthly expenses are, but I don't obsess about staying within prescribed limits. Many people resist working with budgets because they see them as "rules" rather than as useful mental "guidelines."

Microsoft Money also has modules for handling credit cards, tracking investments, and planning for future purchases. If you wish, it can translate your data into charts and graphs that give an alternative way to view your finances.

3. Savings and Retirement

The Harris County retirement package is certainly one of the excellent fringe benefits of working for the library system. It is one of the reasons often cited in job interviews about why people want to work for Harris County.

I had opened an online account with TCDRS in the past, as I am tantalizingly close to making use of it for retirement. The numbers are looking good -- too good to retire!!

I have been to the retirement seminar to get information for planning, so I knew quite a bit about TCDRS, but looking at the site was a good review. Most helpful is the page of forms, such as estimates of benefits, change of address, beneficiary designations, etc.

#58 Money & Finance:Banking, Budgeting, Spending

1) Banking

My bank does offer online banking for free. I have used it to go in and look at my balance, and to see if a particular check or deposit has cleared, and that has been very handy. However, I have been reluctant to go purely "paperless." I like having that paper statement in hand when balancing my account or entering data in my Microsoft Money program.

I have not used the service to pay a bill, although I do have many bills set up (with the utility companies, phone company, etc.) to make automatic deductions from my back account. That is even easier, as you don't have to enter amounts each time. I also have many automatic deposits made (like my paycheck). I have never had a problem with these kind of deductions or deposits.

I know the bank is very interested in protecting the security of my account. It is critical to their business. If I follow common-sense practices for protecting my login information and passwords, I should continue to have no problems.

I appreciate the possibility of being able to get e-mail alerts for deposits or for unusual activity. This gives added peace of mind, and would help detect any situation before it gets out of hand.

2) Budgeting

Of the free budgeting tools discussed, www.mint.com looks most intriguing. I signed up for a free account, but was a little disappointed. It was very quick to set up an account, but when I tried to enter data for six of my accounts, only two of them made connections. The checking account popped up right away, as did one credit card account. However, others had messages like "Legalese has changed on your account" or "Unable to connect, try later."

I currently use Microsoft Money for managing my accounts, and was tempted by the automatic transaction entry and categorization of Mint. It could potentially be a big time-saver, as I now spend multiple hours per month on updating. The time-saving feature may eventually be true, but up-front, Mint is still a lot of work. All of your accounts already have to have online logins established, and the categorization involves a lot of tweaking. I think Mint might be useful for my son, who does not have the patience to do the data entry for a program like Microsoft Money.

My biggest concern is a security issue. While it would be convenient to be able to access my data over the Internet in one place, I am still uncomfortable that it could be too accessible to hackers. After creating my account and trying it out, I deleted it. What it it did inspire me to do is to explore the newer editions of Microsoft Money, to see if easier data capture is possible with that program.

I definitely would never use a site like rippleplay.com. The latest "news" update on the front page was from July 2007!

3) Spending

I read the article on cutting spending, but I have already incorporated most of these suggestions in my lifestyle. One that is on my "to do" list is to investigate bundling our telephone with our cable/internet package. A great savings for us came with the discovery of Skype. Using this service, my husband can talk overseas with his relatives for free. Best of all, they can add web cams to the process, and even see each other! The quality of the transmission is pretty amazing, and it's hard to believe that their words and images are crossing thousands of miles.

Another suggestion for saving at holiday time is to share your family news through a blog, rather than buying, printing, stamping, mailing holiday newsletters. We created an online journal in December of 2008 in the midst of the financial crisis, so that we could share pictures and thoughts and ideas with our friends and family in a cost-effective way. What could be better than FREE! Take a look at http://agafiteijournal.blogspot.com/

For fun, I took the quiz to see if I have a spending problem. I was surprised that I got only 85 out of 100, until I reviewed the ones I missed:
*** I learned that Treasury bonds have higher interest rates than CDs, which is good to know as they are also safe investments.
*** On the question, "What happens when you get a raise?", my response "I don't notice" was considered not correct. I guess most people must get bigger raises than library employees do.
*** On the question, "Which investment portfolio is likely to earn the best return over 10 years?", the answer considered correct was one that include 85% stocks. This must show the age of this quiz. Stocks have certainly been in the tank in the current economy, and I doubt that this is really the right answer now.

My biggest advantage in saving money is that I HATE SHOPPING.

Potluck #57: Texting

Cell phones have been shrinking in size over time, but I guess there is a practical limit to that unless an alternative to texting by keypad is developed.

Have you ever sent a text message?

I avoided owning a cell phone because I did not want to be "trackable" by anyone, at any time, at any place. But during Hurricane Ike, my husband's cell phone became invaluable. I learned to text, as for weeks it was often the only way to communicate with family, friends, and co-workers. It wasn't pretty to watch, as I learned everything the hard way (no YouTube available at the time!). I kept grabbing people and asking questions like "How do I type a number? Get a capital? Correct [MANY] mistakes?" I am a little better now, but still not very fast.
Now, I find it is often the only good way to get my son's attention. E-mail is too "old-fashioned" for him. He seems to think that if he can't get it in seconds over his phone, it is not worth reading. I still don't have my own cell phone, but I am precariously leaning in that direction.

I appreciated learning about the http://www.txt2day.com/ website that I can use to send text messages from my computer. I used to be able to do this through the website of my son's cell phone provider, but they removed this service a while ago. I tested http://www.txt2day.com/ just now, and got a reply back within a minute.

Do you use text lingo? Did Lingo 2 Word help?

Text lingo is about the same as the shorthand that developed earlier for Instant Messaging. Recently I enjoyed reading the book "TTYL" by Lauren Myracle that chronicles, in IM format, the day-to-day experiences of three girlfriends as they begin tenth grade. The Lingo2Word site would have helped me decipher many of the phrases like OMG, WTF, TTFN that I found in that book.

I enjoyed playing the 60-Second Challenge in Lingo2Word to see if I could translate five text messages in less than a minute. The most I ever got was 2 out of 5. I learned a lot by playing, though! The challenge also includes some "real language" shorthand (TGIF) and some of the "pre-text" computer shorthand (GIGO). Those I knew! The Lingo2Word site could come in handy in the future. I think it would be especially helpful for anyone who texts with young people. Kind of a "teenspeak" translator.

Finally, what are your thoughts on the texting and driving after reading the New York Times article?

Listen to yo' mama: Don't even THINK about texting and driving! Talking on the cell phone is almost as bad, but at least your eyes can be on the road, even if your brain is not fully engaged.