I normally fly American (DFW is my home airport) but recently flew Delta and boarding was crazy. It seemed like at least 50% of the plane had some sort of special status which allowed them to board before us peons who board in the back-to-front boarding portion. It wouldn’t be bad if all of those people were in a…

I actually kinda like talking to these guys for a few seconds. Mostly they lead with some version of the question “How much do you pay for television service?”. When I tell them that I don’t (I stream everything I watch and use Bing rewards points for Hulu subscription) they get this puzzled look on their face like…

I grew up in a religious family in a protestant (mainline Presbyterian church). We went to Sunday school and church every Sunday. My parents were involved in mid-week Bible study and some fellowship groups. My sister and I were involved in youth group. And, overall, it was awesome. I didn’t have a lot of extended…

I’ve had two cats now who have had to take regular meds. Never figured out a way to get them to do it willingly. I think the problem is they have smaller mouths and actually chew food rather than just inhaling and swallowing like many dogs.

Becareful equating store brands with cheap and not up to the national brands. During the Great Blue Bell Famine of summer 2015, consensus was that Costco’s homemade vanilla was as good as Blue Bell’s and Kroger’s Private Selection in the black container was almost as good as the Blue Bell flavors we were craving. Both…

For streaming television, it’s possible to get the base level of Hulu for free from Bing Rewards. It takes a few minutes every day to do enough searches to max out the points (clicking on the pictures on the home page counts as a search!) but by doing so, it’s relatively easy to get enough points each month to cover a…

I recently switched to Republic Wireless. $20/month for 1GB data, unlimited talk and text. Since I don’t use a lot of data, it’s worked out really well for me. Only downside for me is they don’t (yet) support iPhones so I’m having to learn to use an Android device.

Yep. The key to actually enjoying working out is finding something you enjoy doing. I greatly dislike coreographed exercise classes. So step aerobics and zumba are very much not for me. I tolerate it for a 15 minute abs class once a week because I like the instructor and she doesn’t mind if I go at my own pace…

For many years I’ve been getting up at 5am, getting to work by 6am, leaving by 4pm (woo-hoo! 9/80 schedule) and then going to the gym. Gets me to work before almost everyone else so I get a good parking spots and have quiet time to start the day. I’m a morning person so I’m at work when I do my best thinking. By the…

When I volunteered with youth at my church we did an epic White Elephant party. It was huge. Kids we hadn’t seen since the last party showed up. The house where we traditional held it had a kinda small living room, so everyone ended up on top of each other and that was all part of the fun. And with the exception of…

I don’t have kids and I’ve got a boatload of Lego Technic parts to go with my Lego Mindstorm set. Theoretically I have it because I coach an FLL (FIRST Lego League) team which uses the Mindstorm system. Mostly, I build robots to chase my cats around the house.

I don’t have kids and I’ve got a boatload of Lego Technic parts to go with my Lego Mindstorm set. Theoretically I…

And some people just don’t like wine.

Some of us aerospace engineers like to mix it up sometimes and wear polos with our khakis.

Use packing cubes? Stuff sacks? Ziploc bags? Seems like there are a lot of good ways to get around needing multiple compartments.

You can also use regular hand weight/dumbells. Just grip them by the head instead of the center/handle. For smaller weights, you can hold the weight vertically by the head (similar to what you would do with a goblet squat). For larger weights, you can hold the weight vertically with one hand on each side. Obviously…

Question - How is your credit score affected if you have no debt? No car loans, no student loans, mortgage paid off, pay credit cards in full each month. That’s the position I’m in (woo-hoo!) and have been for a few years. And I’ve wondered if that will negatively affected my score. At this point, I don’t have need to…

This is the main reason why I like the local college radio station. It has a much wider playlist. Although the DJs can be horrible, especially at the start of each semester (they use the radio station mostly like a lab, so some students are DJs for credit). Most of the time they get better. But not always.

We use tires for all sorts of things in my boot camp class at the gym. We have a couple of different sizes (from “standard car” to “aircraft landing gear...which would be the local equivalent to a giant truck/tractor tire) to accomodate different activities and skill levels. We flip them, use them for step-ups and box…

Why is frugality not driving five miles out of your way to save on groceries? If you have the time, the savings is greater than the cost of gas and you don’t hate doing it, how is that not being frugal? I have six grocery stores and a warehouse club within three miles of my house. Only one of those has a bulk section…

Oh how I dread the days the instructor of my abs class brings out the sliders. And, judging by the groans of my classmates, I’m not the only one. They’re awesome for giving you a great workout...a great, intense, difficult workout. Conversely, they’re welcome in my boot camp class because that means we’re doing…