Justa wondering what happened Frank!

I'm asking this of one person from the Cicero Ny area. You almost got us. Fortunately I took your advice and did some research. Your company itself doesn't show any problems with the B.B.B. but the owner of your company sure does doesn't he. I believe we'll just leave our deal right where it is now. Thanks for any time you spent with us. Good luck. One more thing Frank. My lack of knowledge on what our property in question was worth was just that ''Lack of knowledge" nothing more, nothing less. Your failure to take the time and truly qualify us was at best neglect on your part. You could have saved us both a lot of time had you just said a couple of things to us while Cindy and I were in your office. Just some advice for you when you have other couples in your office. You should tell them:

1. As far as service after the sale folks. Well we don't have any. In fact in 2006 there were no less than 11 complaints to the Attorney General of the state of New York. Who by the way his first name was Elliot.(Hmmmmm) Our competitor up the street has their own service department with guaranteed service for a year after the sale. We here can't touch that Mark.In fact we don't have a service dept. We use subcontractors for most of our work.And Another thing Mark Check out the fact that the Better Business Bureau has had no complaints in the last year against our competitor . You won't even find our company listed. (Hmmmm again)

2. I won't return your phone calls in a timely manner! In fact the girl we have that deals with the financing won't call you back at all. I'm really busy. Rather than take the time to call you right back. I'm going to have you chase me. It's fun watching you chase your tail.

3. Yes our homes look nice. But our competitors in all honesty with everything being considered have nicer homes than us.They will sit down with you and explain in detail what the deals stages mean. They are not to busy to treat each and every one of their customers with a respect for their time and understanding the need for the customer to feel comfortable with the deal. They unlike us Mark will not rush into the sale without fully understanding the customers needs.In fact Mark their homes up there are locked so as to respect that future owner of the home being shown. Unlike ours where we just let you come and go in the homes not giving two hoots about any questions you'll have or what you may or may not do when your in the home alone.

4. Mark the issues above are important enough. But the one overriding issue I have to share with you is. That I don't have the balls to call you back and say "You know what, I can't dispute a damn thing that is written her Mark, Not one DAMN, thing" Oh and one final thing Mark. I sure hope I don't have to face you in public somewhere some time. You are one mean bastard aren't you? I'm Justa saying, Mark!

Now that I've gotten the private business out of the way. We're in the process of trying to buy a New Double wide and put it on land we've found near our house. We should find out later today if the Financing went through. We are looking at 2+ acres not far from the park we live in now. The number were looking at would be within our "not house poor numbers". I'll let you know later if we got it. If not we trudge on here in the park we live in. Doesn't hurt to dream does it? We've only got a little under 5 years left on the house so we would just bite the bullet and keep it. Oh ,just as an aside. The new company which we like and are now dealing with is G & I homes. Stay tuned for more information as it comes my way. I'm justa saying!

Not Justa nother recession discussion!

I don't know about you guys but I'm tired of all the negative talk in politics. I thought I would look at some things about recessions and how if you manage your finances you can actually get some pretty good deals. First of all. If you lose your job or get your legs cut out from under you like Magna did recently here in Syracuse, Ny. It's going to be tough no matter how frugal you are. A sudden job lose is a terrible thing. But from my perspective and Jackofall58's perspective getting your wages cut ain't no picnic either. I'll let Jackofall58 speak for his self.

43 Things Tags: Dining out,Dumocrats,God,saving money,wasting money,whinning

I went from taking home $977.00 per week after taxes to taking home $400.00 per week on Workman's compensation. Anyway you cut it that's a lot of money.That's $577.00 per week or $30,004 per year. That my friends is a lot of moola! Do you realize what we could have done with that kind of money. That being said. I'm glad it happened. Sure I'll walk with a limp the rest of my life. So what,so did Festus in Gunsmoke. This has given me the opportunity to have countless hours with my wife. We truly are each others best friends. Sorry Shawn and Pat. My wife is my best friend. So see Shawn I have more than one friend. The picture on the right here is Shawn (in the middle) and his wife (Pat) on the left. The Gentleman on Shawn's right is Momma's first husband Walt. Your not going to meet a nicer guy than Walt. We get along very well. I have know Shawn & Pat since way back in the Horse & Buggy days. Shawn & Pat are the ones I refer to as "The Mayor & his Wife" in earlier post.

How do you save money in Recessionary times? Well Cindy and I have done a few things.

• We now buy all of our gas at Bj's at $3.21 a gal right now. this is abut $0.14 a gal below the average station in our area. Bj's is right in the area that we drive in during the week so it's not out of our way.

• We do 99.9% of our grocery shopping at Save A Lot in Fulton, Ny. We've cut our grocery bill by at least 40%. Even with the rise in grocery prices the difference between shopping here or Wegman's is stark. Shopping at Bj's doesn't really work for us because we're only shopping for two.

• We've cut way back on eating out. We don't deprive ourselves, we still go out to either breakfast on Saturday or a dinner or lunch during the week. It is either one or the other now. Where before it used to be both Breakfast and lunch and a dinner or two tossed in when ever we were to lazy or tired to go home and make it.

• We could cut back our T.V. and Cable package. We consider these necessities. I'm sure other people don't but come on we have to have some vices. Neither Momma or I smoke or drink. I have been trying to talk Cindy in to dumping our Home phone service this would save us about $40.00 a month. It's not as if we don't already have phones. Our Verizon cell phone service is very good and cost us right around $100.00 for the month. (Getting Momma to carry the phone everywhere is like getting a Liberal letting us dig for gas in Alaska.) It ain't happening!

I'm sure others have ideas how to save let us know what you do to make or save money. Maybe it would be something we could all do. I'm justa saying!

Justa selling my other blog!

That's right I have sold the Justakrusen.wordpress.blog to Momma.Actually I tricked her into posting on it a couple times, now I think I've convinced her to post on it again. I was talking to Cindy on the way into work (hers, not mine) yesterday. I just suggested that she ought to take over writing for the blog and make it "hers". She didn't kick me out of the car, and she didn't say no. So I think I have a sale. The only thing it is going to cost her,Well this is the kicker that might squash the deal is,she has to admit to knowing me in public from time to time. This has been something she has been loath to do in the past. So we shall see.

All that being said I was talking to our son Jeff yesterday morning also. And I got some great news. I got his permission to put his and Amanda's picture up here on the site I figured I would use this one first as this will be what he will be doing most of his married life.(Begging Momma to let him do something, or begging for forgiveness, or some such thing. Now he will deny this behavior will ever be displayed in his house hold. Maybe he hasn't had to do it yet. But in time after years of marriage. You will Jeff have assumed this position if not physically then for sure metaphorically if nothing else.:) Just for example look at the look on his face on their wedding night while they were dancing! It's as if to say. You expect me to follow what rule? The smile on Amanda's face tells us that "yes Jeff I do" Just look at that fire in her eyes. Ya gotta love it. Now showing these particular pictures at this time and in this place might get me in trouble. But I can't help it. The middle letter S in my name stands for Sneaky. I am a sneaky fellow aren't I Jeff? No you have gotten me in the past with some of your jokes, particularly you and your mother with some gift giving shenanigans. I didn't get made at the time I just told myself that I would get even. :) I might not be even yet but it is getting closer. Now really I hope you don't mind that these are the pictures I used. I just wanted to have some fun with these. I'll close the post with a really good one and than a link to a picture of me so you will feel better about the use of these pictures.

See, this is a better picture isn't it? and in closing I'll link to a photo of me that I'm sure you'll enjoy because it doesn't exactly show me in a good light, check it out right here .I almost forgot. For a really neat Aprils Fools day trick check out Gary Conn's really funny trick. Fortunately he didn't get me. He almost did though, it's pretty funny. Be sure to read the comments to see my comment to him,Check it out over at his site garryconn.com As always, I'm justa saying!

43 Things Tags: April fools day,family,family pictures,having fun,seizing the day.

I'm justa nother April fool!

I typed up the article that I had intended to post on this post today. I use Windows Live Writer as my tool of choice to Write the post for both this site and the Justakrusen.wordpress.com site. Well I had the post all written, pressed the send button and voila. It brought me to the post I had done. It was on the wrong blog.

I had forgotten to reset the button that would put it on the Blogspot blog after Momma had posted on the Wordpress blog. Did I confuse you? Sorry. The bottom line is... Check out our other site over on Wordpress. Both Momma and I have posted an article for today. I could have changed it but decided to leave it that way and link to them from this site. So if you've got time click on over there and check out Momma and Mine's post for the day. And hey! Happy April Fools day! I'm justa saying!

43 Things Tags: April Fools day,Being aware of surroundings,Whinning

Justa meeting of the minds

I've finally gotten permission from the Lime Green Drama Queen's father to put a picture of my number one guest poster. It's because I just hadn't had a chance to ask him. So in talking to dad he also felt the World could handle the excitement. So here we are in all our Glory having a meeting of the minds.(Is that a scary thought or what?) Whenever Courtney is over to the house we have some very interesting discussions. So I just thought it would be neat to have Court Court (as she likes to call herself) have an outlet for some of her thoughts. For those of you that haven't had a chance to read the Queens thoughts right here is the very first independent works of Ms.Lime herself. It's a good read check it out.

Today is the day for my 3rd attempt at taking my Physical Capacity test. Wish me well. The insurance company is not to excited that it has taken this long to get the test done. If you've been following along you know the story if not check it out right here real quick. The is just a small portion of my last year plus saga of my Workman's Compensation journey. That's right it's been a journey. I can almost feel the Red Sea parting. Hopefully the path to the end of the journey will reveal it self.

Speaking of Revealing myself. No Jackofall58 not like that!! It is time to reveal a little something about myself that I have been remiss about bringing up. Time and space won't allow me to go into a whole lot of detail. I just thought that by bringing it out into the open it would allow us to at least start the conversation. Drum roll.... I am Bi! There I've said it. I feel much better now. It is finally out in the open... Oops I left out a word. It does change the meaning of my revelation some. I am Bi-Polar. Whew! Sorry about that. I hope that adds some clarification. I had a pretty severe attack about 5 years ago and was diagnosed then. I denied it to myself then. However 5 years later here I am into the second month or so of a Manic episode. Hang on folks, it could last another 3 or 4 months if it runs like the last one did.

In the interest of time and space I'm going to link you over to Tom Stine's site again. He has started the discussion based on a comment I left on one of his earlier post. Join in on the conversation there or post a comment here if you wish. Heck do both. Really engage! It is said that 1 in 70 of us are blessed with this disorder.So if you don't have the disorder you may have a family member that does or know someone who does.

I say blessed because if you can get it under control you can be pretty darn productive during the Manic stages. I have to get ready for my Capacity test. (Morning chores to do) Please check in by way of comment if you feel so moved. Or if you want to subscribe to Justakrusen via email updates you can do so on the top right of this site. I'm justa saying! Norm and Sandy, this will teach you. Maybe next time you see us pulling in the driveway you'll hide in the bedroom and tell Jake to tell us that your not home. :)

43 Things Tags: Bi-Polar disorder,Drama Queen,family pictures,lurking

I am justa tired puppy this morning!

Hello Anna, I hear You are a professional lurker. A little birdie that my wife knows told me while I was waiting in the parking lot at work to take her to lunch. I'm glad you enjoy this thing they call "a blog" feel free to comment at some point. If not I hope you continue to enjoy reading it. Momma and I went out to our Saturday breakfast again yesterday. The Mayor, minus his wife came with us.

The Restaurant of choice was the new place Lou Lou's. Right off the bat you know your in trouble right? It was weird. We got there at 08:45 am and we were the only ones in the place. When we sat down it was freezing in the place. Apparently the outside door had stuck open so the Mayor and I went to investigate. We determined we had to take the arm off that holds the door open as it was broken. Now here it gets a little dicey. The Mayor is accusing me of taking a supervisory role in the project. He claims that I stood there and watched him do the work. He forgot that I had taken the first bolt out by hand as it was loose enough to do.

Well we made the necessary repairs to the door then came back in to the Restaurant and our food was quick to arrive. The meals were all good and the portions we're adequate. The Cost for 3 breakfasts worked out to $24.00 plus a $4.00 tip. Lou Lou's has become a, been there done that kind of place if you know what I mean. The service was fair we had to wait for refills on the coffee some. It's the price more than anything that chases me away. Again, fuel prices drive up the cost of food.  

I want to make a quick apology to Mr. Google in an earlier post or two I was accusing him of all kinds of skullduggery. It appears that the fault lies with little ole me. I had some how hit the do not allow link on my security settings on the Firefox browser. Thus blocking out Google and blogger from me accessing them. I just change the Cookie setting to allow and we are good to go again. I just thought it necessary to apologize. Now hard feeling I hope Mr. Google.

In  closing Us three Musketeers went out to Hanibal, Ny to check out the 10 acre piece of land that we've been looking into. Cindy and I have determined that the extra 20 mile round trip to J-O-B and back to Hanibal would be to much. We have located a few locations and I'll get back to them later as it narrows down to what we're going to do. This is why I'm tired though. We put about 130 miles on the car today running around. I'm not used to all that driving now that I'm a home body. I'm justa saying!

43 Things Tags: Dining out,Driving,friends,Having fun,seizing the day

The Lime Green Drama Queen is alive and Well! Or Justa check this out.

Justakrusenville has once again been invaded by a foreign entity! That's right a female preteen has invaded the house. No Other than The lime Green Drama Queen. Aka,Courtney has taken time from her busy social schedule to visit again. It had even gotten so bad that I called her dad and asked him if she was mad at me? You never know. Can you believe that some people actually get mad at me? :)  Well Miss Courtney has done another great guest post. If I'm not careful pretty soon I'll be the one guest posting!

If your a Preteen girl, or I suppose a preteen boy too.(Some inside info guys)wants some information about that special time in a young girls life check out Courtney's post on the Justakrusen.wordpress.com site. She is old beyond her years. Now Pete if you should happen to read this, don't take any offense(because none is meant) Courtney has, like my daughter and many kids before her have done, "Grown up in spite of her parenting" Miracles do happen. My Daughter Adrianne has grown up to be a beautiful, seemingly intelligent young woman. She is an RN at a hospital in Rochester, Ny. And believe me her parenting was definitely lacking,both from my side and her Mothers. I can talk about My first wife Dianne here. I mean what is she going to do? Divorce me again!

Speaking of saving money! Momma and I with the expert assistance of The Lime Green Drama Queen went shopping for Groceries at Save A Lot in Fulton last night. (And people say I don't know how to have a good time) In the interest of space and because Momma ordered me to, I'm not going to list each item from now on. Unless there is a public out cry of course. I am going to instead just give the total Items (25) and the total spent $33.30. That brings our total grocery expenditures for the week up to $36.30 . Not bad at all since we were spending $80.00 a week remember.

On the buying gas front I was over near Cicero Ny the other day and needed gas. The Stations over there were having a little mini gas war and the price for Regular Unleaded was $3.26.9 a gal. I was really low and would have liked to make it 9 miles over to Bj's on my way home. But I was chicken! Bawk, Bawk, Bawk! So I got it at a Hess gas station and headed home. I couldn't leave well enough alone. I had to drive by the Bj's to check out the price. Yep! $3.21.9 per gallon. Yes it would have only saved me $0.70 per gal but do you realize that multiplied by 52 weeks in a year, times 20 more years,which is my life expectancy,  that would equal a savings in that period of time of $23.64 (if I did my math right) Heck, that would be almost a weeks worth of groceries! I'm justa saying!

43 Things Tags: Drama Queen,Saving money on gas,Groceries,Having fun,Saving money.

We're justa paying thru the nose, aren't we?

Another picture byDiane&Craig

 

I know everyone is aware of the gas prices. It'd be hard not to be wouldn't it? Today  I thought I'd bring to your attention the price of Diesel fuel. In the Syracuse, Ny area it's running anywhere from $4.19 up to $4.31 a gallon. As many of you know I had my own Tractor Trailer for 10 years. If I still had it, I would have had to park the truck(and ultimately) lose it. The Owner Operator is a dying breed. The little guy with 1 to 5 or even 10 trucks in his fleet,Just can't compete with the big 10,000 truck fleets like Swift and J.B. Hunt.

While the little guy has to go the Trucks stop and pay full price for the fuel, The big fleets buy in bulk at a very large discounts. The Trucks I drove for Swift when I was there had a fuel tank on each side of the truck. Each tank would hold 150 gallons of fuel. Do the math 300 gals X $4.19 =$1,257 dollars to fill up the truck from empty. I would average usually 2500 miles in a week. My truck would get 6 miles to the gallon. That would be about 416 gallons. So stay with me here just for a minute. There is a point to this. 416 gals X $4.19 = $1,749 would be the amount I would spend on fuel for the week. Every week the little guy is spending that, and believe me the fuel surcharges when they can even get them aren't covering the fuel expenses. Let alone allowing the driver to set aside money for other expenses related to the truck. FORGET taking a paycheck home.

Well Justa, what does that have to do with me. Well over 90% of the freight in the country is  being carried by a truck at one time or another in it's journey to the stores. As many of you have felt at the cash register, food has gone up 35%, gas has gone up the same. In fact even going out to eat has gotten more expensive. Every one is passing down the cost of the increased fuel expenditures  to you and me the consumers.

We need to seek out alternative fuels. We can send a group of Men and Women into space. Your telling me we don't have the technology to burn a more fuel efficient,cleaner fuel. Or do we? Check this out I talked to an older Gentleman in the Jacuzzi at Golds gym the other day and he claims to be getting 55 mpg. The thing he was telling me about putting on his car was $500.00 for the parts and $100.00 to get someone to put it in that knew what they were doing. As I've looked around the Internet some you can get this for less than that. I want to pull the trigger to try it. I'm just not so sure yet. What do you guys think? Could this be possible? I'm justa asking!

In a closing note. If you believe in the power of prayer like I do! Please join me in praying for this lady she has breast cancer and is expected to die. She is fighting it and needs all the prayers she can get.Check out my account at 43 things also. It's under Justakrusen. I wonder where I came up with that name? :)

43 Things Tags: Breast Cancer,Price of Diesel,Prayer,Check out 43 things.

I'm Justa amazed!

According to my Bravenet hit counter(Bottom right of page). There were 38 total hits on this blog yesterday. Wowza! That is the most ever in one day. I'm amazed that 38 people would hit on here. How did I get the amazing growth in one day? It's rather simple. Not easy mind you,just simple! What I did was, go to sites that I enjoy that are popular on the Internet and left a comment. I didn't do this just to raise up my hit count on this site, although it became a pretty good by product.

I went on sites like Josh Spauldings site on how to be an ethical Internet Marketing Guru. In my opinion he is one of the least intrusive of the "make money with your blog" niches out there. That's why I'm subscribed to his email subscription service. Every day in my email is his newest post. I don't want to miss any thing from him, so this is for sure an email that I open. I don't know why Josh's link goes to the page it does. However, I've check the ones below and they are live links.

Another one I'm subscribed to is Caroline Middlebrooks site. Although I don't agree with "everything" she does. She has risen quite fast in the same genre. I think her post today tells how she made $2,000 since Sept,2007. Not to shabby huh. Lol. You might be saying ok Mark, that's two sites about making money you greedy so and so. I go to these to learn how to build up traffic and to in the Long run make money yes. That being said I am truly not motivated by Money. Never have been, Never will be. But we do have to make a living don't we? So if I can unobtrusively make money on what I have found I love to do. Heck, I think that would mean that maybe I'm growing up! Oh no! "Momma, I thinks me be growing up!"

Just to prove to you that I'm not a money grubbing Internet Marketing wanna be, Tom Stine's site is one of my favorites. Click on over there,you'll find that he is far from all about making money. Check out his comments on his post. I think they're were about 14 the last I checked. The Mark that commented on his post was me, myself and I. It was quite a conversation that the 3 of us had don't you think? Tom and Evan are a couple of very intelligent individuals and I had to dig deep into my feeble brain,to keep up with them. :)

I have a few more that I go on and comment on. The Internet is a mosh posh of all kinds of interest as I'm sure most of you have found out. I'll show you one more site that I go on almost every day. I don't comment every day on it. But when you click on Craing & Diane's site you get a special treat in pictures taken by Diane on their travels. If you were even thinking way back in the recesses of your mind (Don't hurt yourself Jackofall58) about going on the road trucking (with or without Momma) this is the site to follow. They tell you exactly what it is like every day.

There are many more sites I go on every day. I'll share some of them with you as we take this journey in Blogsville together. Thanks again each and everyone of you for clicking that button and joining me here. Again I'm going to point out for those of you that don't want to miss a day in the life and times of Justakrusen. Just sign up on the top right hand side of this page and each post I update will automatically come into your email box each and every day. Isn't that a scary thought? I'm justa saying

Here's just an example of one of the Pictures that Diane took in this trip to Canada. Go to their website to see a whole bunch more.

43 Things Tags: family,friends,having fun,interesting web sites.

Not Justa nother Bagel shop

If you'll allow me just one more joke from my friends at Arca Max. It is topical right now with the politics in the country the way it is. I believe, in my mind anyway, that it is a joke about Democrats:

Not the brightest bulbs in the lamp
..They told me to meet them at the corner of "WALK" and "ONE WAY."
..at the bottom of the application where it says "sign here", they put "Sagittarius."
..They asked for a price check at the Dollar Store.
..They studied for a blood test.
..They thought they needed a token to get on "Soul Train."
..They sold the car for gas money!
..when they missed the 44 bus, they took the 22 bus twice instead.
..when they went to the airport and saw a sign that said "Airport Left," they turned around and went home.
..when they heard that 90% of all crimes occur around the home, they moved.
..They think Taco Bell is the Mexican phone company.
..if they spoke her mind, they'd be speechless.
..They thought that they could not use their AM radio in the evening.
..They had a shirt that said "TGIF," which they thought stood for: This Goes In Front.

This is a picture of the front counter at Bagelious in Bayberry Plaza in Liverpool, Ny.Here is Rich's website. It is well worth visiting. If you ever stop in you'll see why it's so popular. Heck he even has a map on his web page and driving directions on how to get there.

Did anybody see the reports that February sales of home had picked up 2.9%. If your a buyer between now and about August would be the time to buy. Actually you have to follow the interest rates very carefully to see where bottom is going to be. Once it hits bottom then starts to creep back up would be the time to buy.

 

2% milk 1gal	$2.55
canned cat food $0.23 a can (3cans)	$0.69
2 items
taxable items (2)	$0.06
Total	$3.30

43 Things Tags: groceries,bagels

This was our grocery bill for Tues March 25th 2008. I went to Aldi's this week just to see what it was like and I was in the neighborhood anyway. No we're not eating cat food. This is all we needed staple wise until we need to go Saturday. If you remember this trip to Save A Lot last week enabled us to add to our food inventory on some items. Saturday will again be our big purchase day, but we shouldn't go much over last weeks total of $38.82. If any of you  would like to sign up to have any of my new post emailed to you automatically . Just leave your email address in the top right of this page where it says "your email here". I'm justa saying!

43 Things Tags: Dining out,Dumocrats,family,friends,groceries,having fun,interesting web sites.

All this and Heaven too! Justa think about it!

43 Things Tags: God,gas,saving money

Diane has done it again.look at this picture!

Not only do I marvel at the beauty of a picture like this,but I wonder how ANYBODY could go through life looking at scenes like this and not believe in a higher power. It boggles the mind.

I know I've mentioned this before,and I get to mention it again here. If anyone out there can observe the "sale day" of the gas stations near them and le us know I'll share them on this blog. Over time will try to set up a  link on the sidebar that would take us all to the locations with just a click of a mouse.That way unless they change the days. We would all know what day to buy gas where.

I have started to connect up with some interesting and successful bloggers. It's pretty exciting to know that "this really does work". That,anybody can do this. It's not easy by any means. If you stick to it and go by trial and error you will succeed. The Probloggers that I have interacted with have been more than friendly and willing to help. You have to approach them with respect that they deserve. After all a lot of them have been working really hard for years. Although Darren has the name Problogger sewn up, It is the attitude and willingness to help others that in my opinion makes someone a "Problogger". One such person that I have come across and corresponded with by way of comment has been Josh Spaulding. He is more than willing to share what he knows. Just read his post and find out.

Justa side note I was out running around today and noticed that gas prices are all about $.05 a gal one way or another from $3.35. I don't think we'll see much of a movement one way or another until Thursday. That seems to be when The Byrne Dairy stations have their sale day.Time to boogie. Thanks for your support.

43 Things Tags: God,Gas,Saving money

Justakrusen Headquarters

 

I'm going to start using my own pictures where ever possible.Or I'll continue to use some of Diane's over at Heads Carolina/Tails California as she has given me permission to use them on my blogs. Thanks again Diane. This picture you see here is one Momma took of the office. This is my little corner of the world.It's not always this neat. Cindy caught it at a good time.

As I mentioned in a recent post. Mr. Google was extremely upset with me for something I said or did. I don't really know what it was and I can only guess. So my two guesses are. 1.) I used a picture off of Google Images.(Which I will never ever ever ever again do under penalty of death) or I dared confront Mr. William O'rielly on My blog and or in an Email. This here is the post I did. I don't know if it annoyed Billy and he waa'ed waa'ed to Google. Or if Google just didn't like me using his picture and the few others I've been using lately. I'm going to choose the first choice. Why do you ask? Well I would like to think that Mr. O'rielly read my email and talked to someone, who talked to someone, who knew someone,who than disabled my blog, making it almost impossible to access my blogger account. This is much more fun to contemplate than the alternative, which is Google didn't like me using the pictures and spanked my hand for 5 days. Which choice would you choose? Exactly! Hi, Mr O. I so wanted to make the Pinhead section on his Fox Tv show. After all I haven't had my 15 minutes of fame yet.

Now back to the picture of the office. Does this look like the office of an Internet Mogul or what? :)Hey, I'm having fun. That's all that count's right? I'm going to close this by Justa saying, that everything that is happening with this blog as it refers to the increased readership is because of you folks. I'm grateful for that. I know quite a few of you have stopped back in from time to time as your life schedule would allow and I appreciate it. This was my first blog and it's going to be hard to let go. But let go I must. In coming weeks I'm going to be ramping up my efforts to continue to put worth while content on justakrusen.wordpress.com and I'm going to attempt to continue to shape and build on justakrusen.com I hope it's not to confusing. Thanks again for sticking with me. Stop on over to the wordpress blog and leave a comment if you like. I'm justa saying!

43 Things Tags: Bill O'rielly,Family pictures,havingfun

Justa saving that grocery money!

2% milk 1/2 gal	$1.78
Ultra fabric Softner 32oz	$1.99
Tortita nacho chips 16oz	$0.99
Grissom Wheat bread 1lb	$1.19
Birdeye Pepper Stir Fry 16oz	$1.79
Honey Puff Ceral 18oz	$1.89
Save a lot brand Chicken Noodle soup 18.6 oz	$1.49
Chunk Beef soup 18.8oz $1.49 each (2)	$2.98
Diced Tomato's Garlic seasoned 14.5 oz $0.49 ea(3)	$1.47
Chili with beans Save a lot brand 15 oz	$0.79
Chili with out beans Save A lot brand 15 oz	$0.99
Bones Chicken Breast 21/2 lbs $2.34per lb	$5.86
Fresh packaged Ground beef 2.25 lbs purchased
after 8:00pm additional $2.00 off	$2.48
14 disposable ladies razors	$0.99
Cat food 5.5 oz special blend turkey can (3)$0.25	$0.75
Kidney beans canned 15oz $.044ea(3)	$1.32
Gala apples in a bag 3lb	$1.99
Banana's $0.44 a lb 1.88lbs	$0.83
3 bags lettuce 1lb each $0.89	$2.67
2 bags Sugar free candy $.0.99 per	$1.98
2 bags Peanut butter cups candy $0.99 per	$1.98
32 Items
Total	$38.20
Plus 8% tax on $7.69 value	$0.62
Total bill	$38.82

This was our grocery bill for Friday night March 21 2008 We actually got some food for us this time. No we're not starving the pets.:) We had plenty of food left for them. The cat food should just make it to Tuesday's trip to the store. Hey look we didn't give any money to Wally World this week. We were able to do all our shopping at Save A Lot. Heck Momma and I even went over to Dunkin Donut's in Fulton for coffee. Are we justa splurging or what. We went to our traditional (every Saturday) breakfast again yesterday. This week the Mayor and his wife(Shawn & Pat) were our victims. They had to sit there and listen to "the world according to Mark". Could you imagine having to sit somewhere with me for an hour or so at a table with no way to escape? :) Hey that will teach you Mr Mayor. You need to get more than one friend.

43 Things Tags: dining out,friends,groceries,havingfun

Justa working together

Image courtesy google images

I've been working out this post for a long time in my mind. Here goes I hope I don't blow it. For those of you that have been reading this blog from the beginning and probably a lot of you that have joined in somewhere else along the line know, I've been harping on commenting. I've tried to use humor, cajoling and just about everything else I could to get people to comment. The Number one commenter up to date has been my brother in Law. Who shall rename nameless until I get his permission to use his name here. He has had many of funny, interesting, thought provoking and down right entertaining comments. I don't believe he will win any spelling bee's but... If I didn't have spell check I would read like Rain Man on Steroids. There's been one of my Sister in Law's that has attempted to engage in a few written battles with me. The problem is that from time to time she comes to the battle "unarmed" if you know what I mean?:)

Momma has snuck in from time to time with a guest post or a what she thinks is a "secret" code name that nobody will know. But we all do, don't we? Lady in Red 1953. I wish I could put thoughts down on paper half as good as Cindy. Heck I'd have a couple of books written by now.:) Momma has assured me that she will guest post from time to time and hopefully pretty soon so that I can rest my weary bones. Plus it would be a treat for all of us, as she is very good at getting right to the heart of the matter.(Insert hugs and kisses here).

You know what? As I think of it here are some guest post from momma here and here so wouldn't it be nice to see momma jump in from time to time. And another guest poster has been The Lime Green Drama Queen that was a lot of fun doing wasn't it Ms.Queen. She too has promised a Solo guest post coming up.

What I'm getting at and maybe some of you see it coming is that EVERYONE has something to contribute. Maybe an Idea for a place to shop will come to you, or you know what the sale day is of a gas station near you is, or just maybe you,like a lot of people would like to get on here and Justa rail on me for a postion I've taken or something I have done that bugs you. It doesn't matter. Engage in a conversation and maybe as times get tougher ahead we can all help each other get through it. Maybe we can lift a hand up, instead of a hand out! Or another thing if anyone would like to guest post drop me an email at Mkrusen@twcny.rr.com and we'll see about making that happen. I know a lot of you have a life time of experience that you could share. Heck some of you are teachers, Policemen, Social Workers, Nurses,Social Workers, and some  Clean houses for a living, work in factories, hook up our T.V.(Whoray!) can you see? We can all contribute. Let's climb out of those comfort zones and engage. There is no time like the present. So in closing I just want to leave you with this site until next time. Wouldn't it be neat to be part of a community of 40,000 readers like they have over there? I'm justa saying!

43 Things Tags: commenting on current affairs,Different jobs,Streching the possiblities.

justa messing with my head

it appears my friends at Google are having some fun with me. I'm not able to access my Justakrusen.blogspot.com website in the traditional ways that I was able to in the past. I may have worn out my welcome with them. I'm checking some things out and I will get back to you. If I have not been able to post on here for even a day. It will mean I have to move on to my other two blogs. I would regret leaving the blogger platform as I have been getting better at it lately. But all good things must come to an end.So don't forget to write down the addresses and I will continue from them. The one is Justakrusen.wordpress.com and the Paid hosting one that I've just started and will attempt to get up to speed quicker is the Justakrusen.com. I haven't enabled comments on this one yet, but I'm working on it and hope to have it up in the near future. Thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed the ride. I'm justa saying  

Justa hanging it all out for all to see! Hmmm.Don't let your mind wander to much!!

Smuckers Fudge topping	$1.49
Milk 2% 1/2 gal	$1.78
Lemons $0.59 each (2)	$1.18
Toilet Paper (Package of 4) Really thin paper	$0.99
Cat food soft $0.25 each (4)	$1.00
Bagel (Plain) Theodore's brand (6 in pkg)	$1.39
Ice Cream Vanilla (low fat) 1/2 gal	$1.99
100% vegetable Juice( 64oz's)	$1.99
12 items total	$11.81
Tax 8.00%	$00.16
Total Grocery bill for Wed's March 19th 2008	$11.97

Save A Lot Food Prices: As of March 19th 2008.This is going to be a super long post today. Lot's of info you might want to book mark it and come back to it later.

Now looking at this list of stuff ,your probably saying "Man Mark you and Cindy sure are eating high on the hog":) Heck it even looks like the cat is eating better than us. This is something we are working on balancing. We have been cleaning out our freezer and cupboard of stuff that has been in there a while,and just buying the stuff like milk, breads, toilet paper, and juices. Oh yeah we even tossed in some ice cream and a topping. Rather than run down the inventory we hope to mix in some fresh food purchases every other meal or so by planning a menu ahead for three days at a time between trips to the store and using what we have on hand. Stay tuned we'll try to journal it here.

I've, for some reason decided to post our grocery purchases for the bi weekly grocery trip. Every time we go to the Grocery store I'll post it either on this site or the other one over at the Wordpress site. (See blogroll on right sidebar). Cindy and I used to spend $80.00 per week for groceries and then another $300.00 some months for eating out. We're working on cutting back on eating out!

Now as we head down this journey to frugality(some people may call it being cheap) I'll try to map out what Cindy and I have done to either save money, or make some should that ever happen.(Beyond our daily job's).So far I've made $0.18 outside my regular job since I've been out of work. Since we started this a couple of weeks ago we have been able to give to the Church 10% of our take home pay,and give to ourselves (save) 10%. In the first pay period with our new spending mind set. We either gave to the church or saved $210.00. Not bad for a start. Some unexpected bills have come up that we haven't had time to save for in the budget. Money will be tight until our next paydays in 6 days. We should be able to just squeak by.

"Well Mark" you say. I'm not going to drive all the way up to Fulton to shop at Save A lot. Or "we do all our shopping at Wegmans", or P&C or any other one will do. Don't get me wrong. Save A Lot doesn't have everything your going to want to or need to buy. But they do have a lot of it. For some stuff Momma and I go to Walmart, or Price shopper(Because of the Advantage fuel card).I'm going to address a couple of your concerns here. First,"it will cost too much to drive to Fulton".

When we get ready to go to the store if we need gas I go on to this site and see what the price of gas is in the area I'm going to go in to shop that day, now if I need gas and the least expensive gas for the day is in the area We are going to, I'll buy it.Now as to the store we go to. Be it Save A lot or Price Chopper or Walmart. Now for us that New Walmart going up in Fulton was one of the best things in the world for us frugal (cheap) wanna be's.All 3 of those stores are within about a 3 mile radius of each other. I know, I know "I ain't shopping at Walmart" they buy everything from China. I used to have that attitude to, until I just decided that when in Rome do as the Romans do.It's a world economy. To compete we have to be lean and mean and productive. Then and only then will we compete on a World wide basis. Granted we lead in some areas, but in others we trail way behind the rest of the World.

Let's just say you live in Liverpool or the Bayberry area. Let's also say "My tank is almost mty I want to fuel at the absolute cheapest place I can fuel at. Ok here is what it's going to cost you to do that. $190.41. Am I the king of frugal or what? No I just showed you what it would cost you to drive to:

Sunny's Corner Store

8311 Spring Ridge Texas Line Rd

Keithville Ga Phone # if you should wish to call and check 318-424-7753

It's only 1421 miles away and will only take you aprox 22 hrs to get there if you can average 65 mph and not sleep on the way down. This assumes you get at least 25 mpg with your car and that you only paid $3.35 per gal average for your fuel all the way down. Yesterday,it was the cheapest place in America to buy gas.

Now I'm going to close this post early today because I hear a lot of slamming doors outside my office here. It's either people leaving to drive down to Keithville for that cheap gas. Or maybe its the men in the white coats. Yeah, that's it. It's probably those guys again. Hope to see ya tomorrow we'll continue this discussion and hopefully put a cap on the gas buying secrets in the Greater Syracuse area. I'm justa saying! Update: I went ahead and posted more information on a local bent to the gas prices on my post over at Justakrusen.wordpress.com check it out if you have time. I think you'll find it interesting. Also look at the high price on the Syracuse Gas price link in the sidebar on the right. How would you like to be that guys customer?

43 Things Tags: Saving more spending less,Gas prices

Im Justa NY Yankee fan. Always have been, always will be!

Picture courtesy of Google images 

43 Things Tags: Ny Yankees,Having fun

I've always been a fan of the New York Yankees. As far back as I can remember,(which on some days is only about 5 mins) I would be following the Yankees on my little transistor radio. It fit in the palm of my hand. I'd lay out in the yard and set it down on the grass next to me. I'd here of Mickey and Roger and Tony Kubek,then up through the years to Yogi and Whitey,then to Mel,then in slipped Mickey Rivers,then Thurman,Derek, Arod,and on and on and on. The names aren't in order, the list isn't complete. It doesn't really matter. When you were in the dugout you were a Yankee. "Once a Yankee always a Yankee" I was there when they lost a lot. And I've been there when they've  won a lot. The feeling of triumph is better than defeat for sure. But win or lose. I'll always be "Justa another Yankee fan".

We've come a long way from those days of scratchy, hissing coverage, barely being able to make out the announcers voices. Hanging on every pitch, exalting in the wins and saying "wait till tomorrow" with the losses. Today we have 24/7 Coverage. Why heck we even get to delve in to they're personal lives. We spend hundreds of dollars on hats, bats, gloves,balls,with names on them like Jeter, Arod,Jorge,Joba...If your so inclined you can watch every single game either on cable or subscribe to the feed through Major league baseball to never miss a game no matter what city it's in. Games sometimes go into the 3 hrs plus range.Who's got 3 hrs to sit in front of a boob tube and watch baseball. Now a days no one does. But oh man it sure feels good when you do every so often get to get a few innings in doesn't it?  I can't help it I'm Justa Yankee fan!

What got me thinking about the Yankees again, besides it being Spring training was this article here. All teams do this. But there is just something about it being the NY Yankees! The history,pressure and rewards for being a Yankee and even a Yankee fan are alive and well. Every  since that first team stepped onto that grassy field years ago the team was destined to shine,and be special. Love em or hate em they are "The New York Yankees" I'm justa saying!

I'm justa having a dilemma here

Photo courtesy of Google Images

43 Things Tags: Bill O'rielly,Having fun

If you read yesterday's post. You did read yesterday's post? You didn't! Go ahead we'll wait... Ok now, welcome back.As I was saying in the post towards the end I mentioned an issue I had with Mr. O'rielly. I hope you read it,I won't repeat it here. I, like any red blooded American male would do when outraged, fired off an email to Bill at Fox News .com. I sent it once then realized I had made a mistake on it, so I sent another one. Well on the 2nd one I believe I forgot to put my full name on it. It appears that to be awarded the "Pinhead of the day" award you have to have your full name and City. Phew, all that to get to the dilemma.My dilemma is this, Should I try to send it a third time with all the correct information or should I just let it ride? Please let me know via of a comment as I won't sleep until this decision is made.:)

Come on now don't leave me hanging! What should I do? Our new Governor is a pretty smart man. He threw his trash out before the Garbage man came.(Bill,I am not calling you a garbage man.) He sounds like the real deal. Let's give him a chance and see what he can do. After all if anyone can motivate our legislature to pass a budget on time, for the first time in,well, forever... Today's post is going to be short. Is that cheers I hear in the background? I've been burning both ends of the candle, and it's time to recharge. Thanks again for stopping by. Oh, I almost forgot. I added a link on the other interesting read section on the side bar on Gas prices. A lot of information there,go check it out. I'm Justa saying...

Not justa nother rant!

Hmmmm. I have a relative named Tom. I wonder if this is his station.I mean after all I am suing him for pain and suffering on another issue. Maybe this is his way to raise funds should he lose that case.

I'm going to talk a little bit about gas prices again today if you don't mind. (I know I told you there would be a McDonald's Franchise discussion here today.) But I got to thinking about it and I figured that anyone reading this blog probably isn't coming here to learn about how to buy a franchise. I know I don't have $250,000 just laying around. I mean really do you think I work at Magna or something? That's what it would cost me and you too, for a down payment on a Ronald McDonald restaurant. So let's move back over to something we do all spend money on, Gas.

I'm talking about the kind you put in your car. Not the kind left behind after a big St. Patties day party.Some of you know that I have a "do not forward" policy on emails I get those that tell me to "forward this to just 10 of your friends." That being said I'm sure many of you have been getting an email about how to save money pumping your gas in the morning, Fumes build up in the tanks at the gas stations as the air out side gets warmer. In other words you won't be getting all the gas that the meters are displaying. A lot of you got the email that I forwarded to you and it has the whole story on that. It's well worth the read. If your saying "What?" I didn't get no email! Then you need to send me your email. I'll forward it over to you. It's well worth reading, it will save you some money and open your eyes.

Now where did I put my Bear Stearns stock portfolio? Phew... I didn't have any. Good thing I got lucky on that one. I don't feel so lucky though, gas prices have gone up 35% and food prices are well on the way. (Who did you think was going to pay those higher Diesel prices?)The trucking companies have to pass the cost on. Hang on folks, it's going to get even tighter. It's belt tightening time for all of us. I think I have 1 hole left in mine I can tighten. After that I'll have to get the hole bunch out and make a couple more holes. Hey Tom can you lower the price of regular gas down to maybe a hand instead of the whole arm?

I mean really Tom, I've already given my leg, my first born lives 2hrs away in Rochester. Ok, Ok, I'll drop the lawsuit. Just give me back my low gas prices please. I'm going to close with a little story. My wife and I were watching Bill O'rielly on the Fox channel last night. Most of the time I agree with Bill on most of the issue's but last night I had to take issue with something his show does that bugs the heck out of me. Have you ever noticed how when they are trying to get an interview from someone, and the person they're trying to interview is all but running away? It eventually comes back to Bill on the set with this look of utter disdain. As if to say "how dare them to not talk to my producers". Well William, if the proverbial shoe was on the other foot, would you stand there with a smile,and a "yeah sure I'll be glad to talk to you"or, would you do like any reasonable person trying to get from point A to B continue to walk and try to ignore the microphone stuck half way up your nostril. I'm justa saying!

43 Things Tags: Another rant,gas prices

Justa Slow reader.

Am I the slowest reader you have every met in your life or what? If you look down the right sidebar down towards the bottom you'll see my "list" of books I'm reading. I've been reading this book for months now. I can rip through a good book in a couple of days at the most. I'm most of the way into it and it's a darn good read but I can't for the life of me set aside even a couple of minutes a day to finish it. I'll let you know when I do. Hopefully we're not talking years here:). It's amazing how life grabs you by the Curly Cues and doesn't let go isn't it.That being said, I'd rather be busy than dead. You know what I mean?

If you get a chance check out these neat sideshow's that Anuj brought my attention to here  they are more than worth the trip over there. He's put a lot of work into them. He's given permission to imbed them on the Blog so I'm going to try to do that soon.

Another site that will get you thinking, I hope, is Tom Stine's site. Tom is building quite a community over there. I'm signed up. Come on over and enjoy other people's journey's that we call life. A couple of the people are talking about Foster care. This is something Cindy and I are thinking of doing. I know it would be a rewarding experience,and we feel we could help some children in need at a critical time in their lives. Stay tuned. We Just have so much going on in our lives right now what with the potential move and all.

I am so glad my name is not Elliot right now.Momma is still seeing Red every time his name is brought up.I still try to tell her that "it takes two to tango" but.... Speaking of news. On the home front Magna continues to make the news. Did you see in the business section of the Post Standard? They appear to be optimistic but at the same time it sounds like they need to drum up some business from overseas to ward off any more layoffs. What do you think?

In closing this morning I'm working on that post for the McDonald's franchising that I started last week. I hope to have that done tomorrow. I'm justa saying!

43 Things Tags: books,family,intresting web sites

Justa picture this!

Photo courtesy of Ronray at flcker.com

Just look at that sun shining off the water. and the ripple of the waves and the sand. I don't really see anything else to point out do you? Nothing really jumps off the page. I'll have to study the picture more to see if I can extract more from it.:) Ok maybe there is a little of something else to look at. Yeah there it is. Is that an Island way out in the distance. I'm kind of tired this morning as I do this post. I had a battle of wits with an Atheist yesterday. Unfortunately, he came unarmed. I would link to his site, but I don't even want him to get 1 hit from this site. I was signed up to his feed because he had some good content. However the way he handled the discussion has convinced me to cancel that.

Cindy saw this picture and wanted to know why I needed to put it on here. I asked her what she had against sunsets and rippling water? I also told her I liked the way the wet sand showed a reflection of the water. I enjoy the beauty of nature. Excusssssse me. Ok maybe I'm missing something. Cindy is pretty upset. There must be something I'm missing in the picture. Could someone please point out to me what I'm missing? Jackofall58 your usually quite observant,please bail me out and tell me what I'm missing.

That ladyinRed gal is going to chew me a new, you know what? I'm still trying to make heads or tails of her math on the Wordpress.blog. Speaking of pictures. If you would like to see a picture of Momma that is quite a bit different than the last one I posted. you can go to this page click here and see a picture of a proud Momma on her son's wedding day. I cropped this Photo. Those of you that know Cindy might recognize this one better than the first one I put up.

For you ladies that are now so up set with me.I'll show you a true picture of me that Momma took when we were out on a walk. We'll see if you'll understand a little bit more about me after seeing it. According to Momma it's one of her most favorite pictures of me that she ever took. Here it is those of you who really know me, is this a really good picture of me or what? I'm justa asking?

43 Things Tags: family pictures,spoofing

Justa Retirement story.

I think he's counting the number of friends he has now. I know I'm not exactly on the leading edge of this story, but it's the tail end I'm really thinking about.

Courtesy of Moolanomy.com

He has some major decisions

to make now doesn't he? I don't think Elliot has to worry about money right now. He has to make sure his supply of Soap on a rope is full, if you know what I mean? As that great Philosopher Earl Pitts says "Wake up America". I don't know where you are in life right now. But the time to think about retirement is yesterday!! (That was a wake up call to myself) I'm 54 going on 70. (Not really except for my leg I'm feeling pretty good) I don't have a little nest egg waiting for me or even building up as we speak.

Be patient I'll get to the point here I hope. I was talking to my Mortgage lady Tracy check out her website here the other day. It appears that because of my current state of affairs.My leg situation.That I am Persona Non Grata as it relates to the meager contribution I make to the family financial coffers. In English, It don't count. That's right, the whopping $400.00 per week that Workmen's comp pay's me to hurry up and wait, Will not for all intents and purposes count a whole lot in the final determination of our ability and willingness to pay our Mortgage.

That being said. $400.00 is not chump change (after all it keeps me supplied in bon bon's and tissue when I sit around watching soaps). Because the powers that be, the Grand Marshals of finance, in other words the Banks, can't use my income as a guide for ability to pay because there is no guarantee of that said income. Whew!! Now back to Elliot, A week ago he had a reasonable "guarantee" of a check every so often from us fine folks in Ny.That "guarantee" is now gone. Don't cry to much for him, I believe he'll scrape buy.(Money wise anyway)

So in a very around about way. What I'm saying is as some of you already know and many are finding out. DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED. Because we never know what is going to happen do we? Save when times are good, so that when things come crashing down around you your prepared. Wow, look at the stat counter in the upper right. Some one from Bulgaria happened across the blog. Welcome.Thanks for stopping by. I justa put the new stat counter in yesterday. The other stat counter is still on the bottom right. It's pretty neat to see the number's rise. Thanks to everyone for stopping by and reading. I'm Justa saying!

43 Things Tags: Elliot Spitzer,Money,planning ahead

Justa one reason I'm glad I'm off the road.

Photo courtesy of Diane over at Heads Carolina/Tails California.

This is one of many reasons I'm glad I'm off the road.(See picture) The main and most compelling reason is because Cindy couldn't come with me for various reasons over the years. She had to be home for Jeff & Adrianne(when she visited) while they were going thru the school years. When It became a possibility that she could go after the kids grew up,she didn't want to because of career situations. I really can't blame her. Let's see go live in a little box traveling down the road hurrying to the next appointment so you could hurry up and wait. So that while you were waiting you could go inside and use a usually dirty bathroom,if they had one at all. Or could it be the same truck stop food in anywhere U.S.A.

Or maybe was it because her husband said "Sorry dear no time to stop for a shower today". I think once we were out I had to say that two days in a row. Try that out for size. I have no Idea how Daniel Boone and Davey Crockett did it back in the day. Did they have time to dip into the river or was there one more bear to hunt before their bath. It's kind of bad when you have to decide between a Shower or a meal or a nap. Hmmm. A nap usually won for me. (Just open the window up,and grab another bag of chips.) I could go on, I don't want to beat up the career I had for 28 years. There were good times too. I think, well maybe, but, yeah I remember one, no wait, it was... oh never mind.

I 'm envious of Craig & Diane's chance to take the journey they are on together. It's much more fun as a couple then it is a Single. Especially if the whole time you are out there all you can think about is getting home. All that being said to get an excellent take on being on the road and with the insertion of some awesome pictures. Go to their website by clicking on the link by the picture. Oh yea another thing, there were some fun times out there. The interaction with drivers that became friends, the awesome views, the spine tingling downslopes on some cowpath they called road, just the pure pleasure of operating a 70 ft long vehicle weighing 80,000 lbs safely with no accidents for 25+ years. Many more that I might be able to extract from the cave of my brain. I'll let stories trickle out over time. Stay tuned. I'm Justa saying! To leave a comment click just to the right of the time stamp ie, 0 comments.

43 Things Tags: Truckdriving,Great carreer?,seeing the country

Justa Perfect day!

“If There Were NO Limitations or Consequences, what would your perfect average day look like?” by Frank Kern

Where Would You Live? What Would You Do? Who Would You Know? What Time Would You Wake Up? What Would The First Thing You Say Be? What Would You Have For Breakfast? Who Would You Eat With? What Would Your Friends Be Like? What Would You Be Thinking About? What Would Your Business Be? What Would You Do at Work? What Are Your Clients Like? What Is Your Personal Relationships Like? What Fun Stuff Do You Do?

I'm going to link to the page this article is on a little further down in this post. First though, lets ponder these questions. What if we could have a life with the answer's that we put in? We'll skip around, If you didn't have to go to work. What would you do? I'm there now, and I'll tell you it's not easy to answer. As my leg has gotten better and I'm more mobile my freedom of getting out and about has increased, but now what?

What time would you Wake up? Just think of this. If the Alarm clock wasn't controlling what time you got up... For me it doesn't control what time I get up. It control's Momma's life though. She sets it to go off so she can sit up, reach across and reset if for the "extra" 15 minutes and flop back down again. I've never understood this. Can someone explain it to me? Why not just get up and "Seize the Day"? If I'm lucky enough to sleep until the alarm goes off. (Usually I wake up well before) I get up and get moving. Granted I'm groggy for a few minutes until my body figures out that yes my Brain is engaged lets move it. This puts me into my "Job" mode. Everything I do is to make Momma's job easier to get ready for work. I feed the Pets, make the coffee, If it snowed I'll go out and clean the stairs and sidewalk to the car, clear the car of snow and warm it up. I need to point out here. When Cindy wakes up her whole thing is, along with her own requirements for getting ready for work, making me a lunch even though I'm home and could do so myself. Am I spoiled or what? "Damn Mark," you say. "You sure are a windy fellow!"

I know I'm sorry. last question, I promise. What would your business be? I think I've found it. I want to do some writing like this on line. Will I ever make money with it? maybe. Do I like it? Most definitely. I like engaging in conversation with people. I like to learn what others do to save money, make money, spend money,also saving time, saving energy,heck yea even saving the planet. I mean we have to live on it you know. You've all surely heard the saying "get in on the ground floor" well folks today it's the ground floor. We're on it, go out and live. I'm justa saying! Oops, I said I'd link to the site here it is. Thanks for reading.

43 Things Tags: seize the day,family,having fun

Not justa nother bagel shop

I stopped at Bagelicious  at Bayberry Plaza in Liverpool, Ny yesterday. I was a good boy I only bought a coffee. I hadn't been in to Bagelicious in a long time. After I got my coffee, Rich the owner and I got to talking ,and he told me that he had sold the place back in October of last year. (I hadn't known that, I guess it was a while since I had been there.)He said he was holding the note for the guy trying to buy it from him. The guy ran it into the ground and had Rich not jumped back in around December, there would have been nothing to rescue. This is a shame. Rich had built up one heck of a business and was the place to come to. Him and his wife Peg and various other family members made you feel like family when you came in. Heck, I was in the hospital for Colon surgery a few years back and Rich & Peg sent flowers up to my room. When Cindy had surgery, they sent her a plant. Let's see Bruegers Bagels or Star bucks do that.

I remember  going in on a Saturday or a Sunday after Church, getting a Cheese and Broccoli Omelette and Italian toast. He cooks all the meals in frying pans on 2 burner units. Cindy loves his pancakes. His bagels are the softest bagels I think I ever had. He has a good variety of cream cheese flavors. He has soups, sandwiches, and all sorts of neat items .

If you are having company over, or a gathering of people at a function, you can give him a call. He will make up a fresh bagel platter for a reasonable price. If it is in the morning, the bagels are still warm when you get to your destination.

Rich is one of the most down to earth, friendliest people we know. He is a people person, he will remember your name. He runs a professional business, a family environment and always makes you feel special. If you're out for a ride on a Saturday or Sunday and find yourself in Bayberry give yourself a treat and stop in. Tell Rich that Mark & Cindy sent ya. He might just charge you an extra $0.25. :)

Some very interesting and informative blogs

Picture courtesy of Google images.

Below are some of the most interesting and or informative blogs and information sources I have come across in my meanderings through the Internet. I've tried to put them in categories and some kind of useful order. If you can think of any others please let us know in an email at Mkrusen@twcny.rr.com or by way of a comment at the end of a post you may be reading. This week I'll be adding Personal Finance. These blogs are a wealth of information and I hope you enjoy the information as much as I have.

Personal Finance and

being Frugal:

1. GetRichslowly
2. Fivecentnickel
3. Thesimpledollar
4. Mytwodollars
5. Dollarstretcher
6. Bloggingawaydebt
7. Mightybargainhunter

I took My 6th favorite sister in Law Melanie to task yesterday in the post. She wrote back to me in another email , To read the information she sent me, go back up and click on The title for this post. It will take you to the website. Very interesting, as much as I dislike doing this I might have to admit that I may have over simplified my position and that Melanie may be right also. I should have written this in red, right Melanie? That being said, we still can't begrudge a business making money. The free market system is what feeds our economy.

43 Things Tags: having fun,saving money,wasting money

Justa giving credit, where credit is due!

photo courtesy of google images. I (me) am the one on the left.

I'd like to thank my 8th favorite sister in law.No maybe it's 7th favorite.(I mean really what would the other 7 think if I didn't pick them my favorite) In other words, they are all my favorite even Melanie. That out of the way. I want to thank Melanie for giving me the idea for my post today. She had an idea via of email for lowering our gas prices at the pump. I'm not going to print it,it's to long to post and I'll paraphrase it by basically just saying, that she(and others, want us to boycott Exxon/Mobil).I will post my response to it:

Melanie, I usually don't forward,forwarded mail. You've got me thinking on this one. I'm not saying I'm going to send it. But I'm contemplating it. It has potential to upset Exxon/Mobil very much.That being said. It isn't going to lower the prices for the oil though. You see Mrs. G. As I was trying to explain to you at our breakfast... The supplier of the oil (NOT US) can set what ever price they(Iran, Irag, Saudi Arabia, etc) want to for their oil. How is that you ask??? (I heard you ask, really I did) Supply and Demand. In other words they have the supply. The rest of us.United States, Russia, China, India, etc, etc, etc.have the demand.I know your favorite thing to do is to blame George Bush.(Poor George). George or President Bush if you prefer. Doesn't even buy his own gas. We, You and I, buy his gas for him. That is one of the perks of the job. Amongst many. That being said, and in the interest of brevity. To make a long story short.In other words. The oil barons of the World(not Georgieee) remember the suppliers now, can charge what they want for (THEIR) oil. Because we(everyone) need it.What's next Melanie. A forwarded letter to boycott Burger King, because they dared raise the price of a cheeseburger????? Where ever would Daniel go to redeem her "Burger King" gift certificate. I'm justa saying! Don't get mad Melanie. Get even, it's much more fun. If you would like to continue this discussion. You know where we live. Stop by, Your sister and I would love the company. Dinner's on us. (Tongue firmly implanted in cheek)

XOXO your 8th favorite brother in law

Mark

Thank you Melanie for the material for my post today. You keep providing me material, I may move you up to 6th. I would like to thank The Lime Green Drama Queen for commenting on a post the other day.

This all being said and more important for me and I also I think for you. Would be to click over to the wordpress.com Justakrusen and read my most favorite wife's(so far anyway) post. I love her and I don't deserve her. (Thanks again Walt) You can click over there by clicking on the other Justakrusen websites on the right side of this post. Thanks everyone.

43 Things Tags: High gas prices,driving,family,havingfun,saving money

Justa bookmark

  I bet I have at least 150 book marked sites. How many do you have? It seems that every time I go online and come across a Website or Blog I find something in it I liked and have to save it. I guess this isn't so bad,as it's not stacking up beside my recliner like magazines would be if I had subscriptions to them. It is cluttering up my mind though. I click on "Bookmark this page" and poof something else saved that I probably won't ever go back to. This is why that sometime in this coming week I'm going to start going through my bookmarks and start cleaning them out. I'll let you know later how I'm doing. I've already started getting my sidebar links organized into groups. I'm working in the background and when I'm ready to Publish them in an organized manner I'll bring attention to that in an up coming post. Let me know if there is a subject that you would like indexed. Some of the links that I am either working on or intend to work on are. Personal Finance (I have 10 of the best ones  I've found on the web so far),Sports,Local Syracuse Info,News(local and National links), Weather(local  and National),some of our favorite Restaurants and things like that.If you have something you have found that might benefit the rest of us, just let us know in the comments or Email me at Mkrusen@twcny.rr.com.   

On May 17, 2008 is the "Race for Cure" at the New York State Fairgrounds.Cindy works with someone that is facing this battle and goes out for Surgery on March 12th. Everyone in Cindy's work area are wearing the pink ribbons. So on Tues (and I believe this works) put a thought out into the universe for one of Cindy's co-workers  and her family.Not a lot of humor in today's post. Cancer's not a laughing manner and some days you Just have to step aside (scandalous) and take a ride on the serious side. I'm Justa saying!