L.E.M.U.R League of Energy Materialization & Unexplained Phenomena Research

Heard of it?

This group has been around Asheville since the mid-90's & claim to use scientific method to investigate ghosts, ghostly activity, & paranormal phenomena.

I first heard of them when the Grove Park Inn started marketing the Pink Lady story. Since then I've seen their various videos. A few years ago they investigated the old WLOS building & claim to have the first video footage of the Brown Mountain lights (my personal favorite weird thing around here besides Tom).

Why post about this "fringe" group? I don't know them, have never attended a meeting, & don't know anybody who has. I'm posting about them because I think it's great that the guy (don't know his name) has managed to make a business of what he loves & has managed to be around since 1995. I know how hard it is to run your own company--the unpaid hours of work, the emotional buy-in, the anxiety when times are looking bad. It takes a lot to get a business going & it takes sheer determination to keep it going. Hats off to the creative mind & audacity of creating a business out of something you love, even if it is a little...different.

Maybe one day Randy will open a mobile Star Trek museum. Then I could travel & he could sit around doing this...


Here are some links relevent to this post:

L.E.M.U.R
Grove Park Inn Pink Lady
WLOS (haunted Battle mansion)
Interesting Entrepreneur Article
Brown Mountain Lights

Triple Coupons at Harris Teeter

WNC Coupon Mom just let us know Harris Teeter is going to triple coupons again. Good for them, really good for us too. It's been less than 8 weeks since last time they tripled coupons.

I have alot of coupons. Let me know what you need & I'll see if I have any for you.

The way it worked last few times:

• tripled coupons up to $1--correction-- .99 (thanks Merle)
  
• no more than 20 triples per purchase
• no more than one transaction per day
• must have a VIC card to participate

I don't know if it is going to work the same way this time--check WNC Coupon Mom, cuz she has the goods on the deals...

Weathering The Caffeine Headache

A few years ago I inadvertently quit caffeine by trying to quit soda. It never occurred to me that my body would miss caffeine. I stopped drinking sodas on a Sunday. Felt fine on Monday. Tuesday evening I went out to Kelsey's (a local restaurant) & ended up leaving early because my head started hurting. By Wednesday I was miserable. I left work early & ended up too sick to make it into the house. Thursday I was convinced I was dying, but the headache started easing up on Thursday afternoon. By Friday I felt fine.

It wasn't until a few days after that someone told me that I had gone through caffeine withdrawals. I decided that I wasn't going to be dependent on caffeine at all. How brave I was! How misguided...

Before two weeks were out I was drinking caffeinated drinks again. Not because I wanted to, because there was nothing else at the restaurant to drink. You see, I can't stand the taste of chlorine, I get seriously nauseated from it. So, (I thought), what's the harm in the occasional glass of tea or diet coke? Before the year was out I was fully addicted again.

I've tried several times since then to go completely off of caffeine but each time the headache gets me. Lately I have come to terms with the idea that there will probably always be some caffeine in my life but I'm trying to at least leave the soft drinks out of the equation. I know they are pretty bad for me but dangit, they taste so good! I am getting my caffeine from green tea at this point, and only 2 cups a day.

So far so good. Wish me luck.

Does Anybody Know Where I Can Find a Steelers Jersey?

Target--nope
Walmart--nope
Hendersonville mall--surprisingly no

Gee, who would have thought that by waiting till the last minute it would end up being hard to get a Steelers jersey?

Duh...

UFO oh...the Latest UFO Sightings

This is the latest UFO sighting making the rounds on the internet. Around the 12 second mark you see an object flying by. Folks are saying that it is the little green men, coming down to witness the inauguration.

Huh? I don't get it. I mean I can understand that it was a big event and all & the thought of a UFO flying around down here is not really that foreign to me (I've been an avid sci-fi reader most of my life), but I just don't think that's what this is--for a variety of reasons.



What do you think?

My First Not-So-Good Restaurant.com Experience

Wow, I actually love eating at the Stir Fry Cafe. I met Tom there around 6pm. Tom put the Restaurant.com certificate face up on the table so they could see it before we ordered. It's just something we do to make sure the restaurant can let us know if it won't be honored.

We were both really hungry & were glad to see that they had a special on sushi on Tuesday nights. We ordered & when it came time to pay the manager came over & told us that since we ordered sushi & it was on special that they couldn't honor the Restaurant.com certificate. Bummer.

Oh well, he was pretty nice about it. I didn't feel like making a fuss since it generally never accomplishes anything constructive anyway, but I did think I should let you all know what happened.

I wish they had handled it differently--maybe told us before we ordered the sushi.

Rock Me Amadeus

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart only lived 35 years but that was long enough to marry his second choice wife & compose Eine Kleine Nactmusik (A Little Night Music), Don Giovanni, & Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute). Was he poisoned by his bitter rival or could it have been rheumatic fever? Nobody knows for sure.

Today's posthumous birthday was brought to you by Tom Hulce...oh also by Falco.

Now doesn't your brain feel a little better? It likes to be used...

Restaurant.com sale extended to today

The deal below is being held over today. Don't know how long though...

Here's a Good Deal for You

Restaurant.com is having a sale this weekend. 70% off of their certificates, which means you can buy a $25 certificate for $3! Or to my way of thinking, $250 worth of food for $30.

Use the coupon code SAVE at checkout.

Today is the last day to get this deal. I've used these certificates before & really love the program. Asheville & Hendersonville are full of great restaurants & I do eat out so this has been a great way to save money. It's a little different than the Dining Dough certificates I bought last week in that you pick your restaurant ahead of time, effectively eliminating a step & also locking in your restaurant at the same time.

Television I Might Actually Watch

I usually don't watch television unless I just happen to have it on when I'm working at my computer. Even then it's most likely to be the news or something along those lines.

Yesterday Merle told me that there was a show called "Gone Country" on a country music channel, correction, the country music channel. She said that it's a bunch of folks put in a house a la' MTV style (can't remember the name of that show either). I have no idea what the plot is, or if there is one at all. It's television, it doesn't have to have a point...

They're going to have a new episode & George Clinton is going to be on it. Yep, the original funky dude himself, holed up with a bunch of other folks who I could care less about. Finally, TV worth watching! I just found out that it comes on at 8pm. Now if I can just figure out which channel CMT is on I'll have it made. Hang on George, I'll be there! Don't call me tonight.

I love that guy.

Manifold Cooking - Recipes to Drive You Wild

Many years ago I spent alot of time on the road. My circle of friends were all mobile warriors as well & together we discovered a book called "Manifold Destiny- The One, The Only, Guide to Cooking on Your Car Engine".

Seriously, it was a cookbook with recipes designed to work with car engines. Mmmmm....nothing like a little high-octane cooking!

So here's a manifold recipe for you:

Pork Tenderloin - Cooking distance: 250 miles
This is a great treat for the end of a long trip. Picture this, you've been on the road for 4 hours & are really getting hungry. Pull over to a picnic table somewhere, take out your thermos of...whatever, pop the hood & enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 large pork tenderloin, butterflied
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup red onion, minced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp crushed red peppers
1 tbsp cooking sherry
Salt & pepper

Blend together all of the ingredients (except the pork) and spread across the inside of the pork tenderloin. Close up the pork, triple-wrap in foil and place on a medium-hot part of the engine. Turn once (125 miles) during cooking.

There's a New Virus in Town

It's a worm called: Downandup, Downadup, Kido!, or Conficker (all the same thing), and it primarily seems to be being delivered via infected USB drives.

It works by tricking you into thinking you are opening up a file from _________ (whatever drive you plug in). When you plug in the USB device an autoplay window pops up, naming the device & the drive letter. You've probably seen it a hundred times.

Directly below it there is a folder that says "Open folder to view files - Published by Microsoft Windows". If you click it you have just installed the virus.

If you look closer you'll see another set of commands under "General options" Those are the real commands. One says "Open folder to view files - using Windows Explorer", the next one says "Speed up my system - using Windows ReadyBoost". Both of these are legitimate.

I hate this stuff. Seriously, it's the worst thing the tech guys out there have to deal with. Supposedly F-Secure has a fix for it but from what I've heard it is iffy at best.

Here's a link to a screenshot of it. Remember, don't click on the top option.

Sorry to geek out. I will return to my normal vapidness with the next post.

Brr, It Was Cold in Hendersonville Last Night

It was 18 degrees in Hendersonville last night.
It was 27 degrees in Washington, DC last night.

Ingle's Triple Coupons

14 bags of groceries.
Total before discount: $164.92
Advantage card discount: $17.92
Coupon totals: $46.80

Amount I paid: $100.20

This week I bought lots of stuff that there were no coupons for, ie., produce, grains, etc.

The store on 25N in Hendersonville near my house was packed & the staff was absolutely haggard.

Time invested to use the coupons: almost 4 hours between weeding out the coupon book for expired coupons, clipping & adding the new ones, & shopping (it takes alot longer to shop using coupons).

I'm not so sure it was worth it but then again I really don't like spending money if I know I can get a discount. Also, I haven't updated my book for a couple of weeks now (since the Harris Teeter triple coupon week).

Who am I kidding? Of course I'll keep using the coupons.

No Surprise Here

You wouldn't believe the parking lot at Ingle's grocery in Hendersonville on 25N today. Between it being a holiday, a snow forecast, & triple coupons, wow!

Be nice to the employees if you go there today--I'll bet they are going to be run ragged.

Sign Of The Times

Hyundai has announced the Hyundai "Assurance" finance program. It says that if you buy or lease any new Hyundai & lose your income within a year of the purchase, you can return it.

Geez, I could have gone all day without that reminder of the state of our economy.

I'll Believe It When I See It

Mom told me to watch the skies for snow tonight & tomorrow. Riiiiight....

Asheville gets some but I seriously can't remember the last good snow here. Hendersonville gets nothing!

It would be really nice to wake up to a white yard.

The Enemy Lovers

Last night I went to a CD Release party at the Grey Eagle in Asheville for a band called The Enemy Lovers. Very nice to see a packed house out on a cold week night for a new band. I watched the crowd (as usual) & eventually found out that there were lots of people from out of town who had driven in & were staying in hotels around the area just to see these guys rock. Also, some record company executives were in the audience as well.

I've known the guys in the band for a while now & find myself torn between hoping they get all the fame & fortune their talent deserves & hoping they never leave the asheville area (for purely selfish reasons). I don't think they'll be around much longer so if you get a chance to see them here locally you probably should.

Here's their website: The Enemy Lovers

What's Up With Epic Theaters? an update

Well, I finally reached the home office for Epic Theaters in Florida & left a voice message to let them know about the domain expiring & the website being down. Looks like the domain has been renewed as of 1-14:

   Domain Name: EPICTHEATERS.COM
Registrar: TLDS, LLC DBA SRSPLUS
Whois Server: whois.srsplus.com
Referral URL: http://www.srsplus.com
Name Server: DNS1.HRNOC.NET
Name Server: DNS2.HRNOC.NET
Status: clientHold
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Updated Date: 14-jan-2009
Creation Date: 08-jan-2004
Expiration Date: 08-jan-2010
>>> Last update of whois database: Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:38:16 EST <<< 
Wonder what that means?  We'll know soon I guess................

So what's up with Epic Theaters?

I wanted some info about Epic in Hendersonville & after trying to get to their website a few times I realized that they had let their domain expire (on January 8th). For those of you wondering, that means their website is down.

Mediacom, being the excellent citizens they are, have snapped it up & are currently getting paid for every click someone makes trying to find the Epic Theaters site.

I tried calling the folks in Florida at the home office to let them know what's going on & that number has been disconnected. Multiple calls to the office in Hendersonville have not been answered at all & the answering machine is not working.

Is there something we should know?

Hendersonville Little Theater

Henderson county is very lucky to have the state-sponsored Flat Rock Playhouse here. The quality of the offerings from that venue can't be debated, although I'm watching to see how it does without Robin at the helm. My fingers are crossed that they won't become so demoralized they fall apart.

We also have the Hendersonville Little Theater. It's been around since 1966 & is currently in the old barn on State Street. I was there last night & it occurs to me that this organization has managed to provide some pretty high quality offerings without the state's dollars. They are gearing up for the '09 season & from what I saw it will be a good one.

Beginning March 6th - 22nd is "The Kitchen Witches", a comedy about two "mature" cooking show hostesses who hate each other (fighting over a man!) but find each other working together on the air.

I love a good comedy. Tickets are $14 for adults. Considering the price of tickets at the local movie house, I think that's a pretty good deal.

Happy Birthday Randy!

Today you are almost middle-aged! Don't worry youngster, 44 has been a great year for me & I'm sure it will be for you too!

Office Depot Deal--it's gone

That was fast!

Great Deal at Office Depot

I've had really great luck with Restaurant.com & the promotion they had going right before Christmas (now expired). I've eaten at 3 restaurants using the coupons, haven't had any problems yet, & spent a fraction of what I would have without the coupons.

Office Depot has clearanced out the "Dining Dough" card--buy $25 worth of food for $5. You can go to the site & check to see if any of the restaurants you eat at are there. If you buy $50 worth of cards Office Depot will ship them to you next day air for free & you end up with $250 worth of food. Dining Dough is owned & operated by Restaurant.com & the participating restaurants are the same.

I saw a couple of pissy reviews about the product & read them to make sure the deal really was as presented. Turns out that the bad reviews were from folks who got a free card (during another Office Depot promotion), & they didn't have very many restaurants in their area. That hasn't been a problem for me at all since Asheville, Arden, & Hendersonville have lots of participating restaurants, but I do recommend that you check out what's available before you buy.

You can go to the website & check by zip code to see if there are any restaurants featured there you would like to eat at.

I thought some of you would be interested in this. Here are the links:

Office Depot

The Dining Dough Gift card is item Item # 300-676795

Here is the direct path to check for participating restaurants by zip code.

The free shipping should be added in automatically by Office Depot. Check it though, just to make sure.

I do enjoy saving money!

Happy Weekend

I had a good, restful weekend. I'm happy to say that I have no real news to report & nothing weighing too heavily on my mind.

I read some, hung out with my folks & Randy, & worked a little too. Last week was really busy for me & I anticipate another action-packed adventure this week as well so keeping it "lite" seemed like the perfect strategy.

Hope yall did the same : )

No More Adam Sandler Movies

I simply don't have the time or the money to waste. I want to like his work but there's nothing there to like.

Happy 74th birthday, Elvis!

Yesterday was Elvis's birthday. He's been gone 32(?) years now I think. Odd to think that I have lived longer than he did. It's also kind of amazing to see the impact he still has on people-especially here in the South.

My family had just arrived at the beach on vacation when we heard the news. My mom was so upset that we turned the car around & went home. I remember that we had tickets to an upcoming show in Asheville, but I can't remember if the Civic Center was open yet or not. I think it was. I had already seen him in Asheville once. My mom still has the Asheville Citizen-Times that was printed the day after his death.

He was called "the King". He got into the White House simply on the strength of his personality & he made my usually staid & quiet family go nuts at his show.

So what was it about Elvis that makes him worthy of the 100's of news articles & many hours of television reports yesterday? I can't figure it out. Why is he so beloved? Why for that matter am I writing about him today? There's something there but I'm not sure what it is.

Oh well, happy birthday Elvis!

Word of the Day

The word of the day is simplify.

I was talking on the phone today with someone who read last night's post & wanted to know why a techy person like me wouldn't buy the gadget I wrote about. Aside from the fact that when (not if) it tore up it would take about 10 functions away till it got fixed or replaced, the fact is I didn't like it because it was just too much. What I mean is I don't like tech that adds complication to my life. I want something that saves me time or $$ or whatever, not something that adds to my already long list of things I have to remember to program or set up.

I know I'm not alone in this. I have customers who tell me that they need someone they can trust who will help them figure out (fill in the blank). Things are complicated, time is precious, & technology has added another layer of complication to our already busy lives.

That's why a watch that does 10 other things holds no interest for me.

Now if I could find a watch that does laundry...

Gadget Alert from CES in Vegas

Tom, Randy & I attended CES a couple of years ago & have been fans ever since then. It was a heady experience getting to watch the very latest stuff get introduced--a real techy geekfest.

I still follow it via the web & have been checking their site alot in the last few days. Today I saw this:



It's a bonified 007-ish watch by LG. It links to high-speed 3G networks and can be used for email and other online activities. It also serves as an MP3 player for digital music. It has a touchscreen, a standard phone keypad, a speaker, a MicroSD memory card slot supporting up to 4 GB cards, and both a WAP browser and a media player on board.

You can send and receive text and multimedia messages. It even has a 2-megapixel camera with video recording, a video player, and an FM radio. Phew.

And it tells the time.

Life imitates sci-fi yet again.

Will I be buying one of these? Heck no. Would you?

New Book

I read alot. I read when I should be sleeping or watching TV or something. (I basically never watch TV).

The book that came in today is called "The Luck Factor: Four Essential Principles" by Dr. Richard Wiseman. Dr. Wiseman is the Psychology chair at the University of Herfordshire in England, & based upon his 2 decades of studies; he has come to the conclusion that lucky people posess four basic psychological traits that the rest of the population don't have.

I'm interested in his book because I have come to the conclusion that I'm the luckiest person I've ever met. As a matter of fact I heard of this book a day after yet another lucky event in my life.

I'll read it to see if I agree, not really for any other reason. I'm no expert on anything & I certainly have never really followed a set of prescribed living tactics put out there by a so-called "expert". That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with those folks, I just have never had the need for their advice. Again, I know I'm lucky.

Mediacom...grr!

Having worked with the public for many years, I try my best to give folks a break when it comes to most customer-related things, but honestly, I can't remember the last time I had a good conversation with Mediacom about anything & we've been their customers since 1998! They are so big that there's not a chance of reaching a person who knows me & our conversation is always reduced down to what they've been trained to say. That it rarely actually helps the situation is a different point altogether.

Today I called to see if they would help us analyze the bill since it seems to have gone up in the last month with no explanation, & they wouldn't even talk with me at all. Seems the FCC has a new regulation & the account holder (Randy) is the only one they'll speak with. When I asked them if they had any record of conversations I've had with them she told me that the only name in their notes they saw was for me.

I offered to give them our account number, our pin number or pretty much anything else they asked for to no avail. They have no way for me to log in to our account online & add an authorized user either.

Oh well, Randy gets to deal with it.

There Really Is A Trick To It

Couponing that is. I used to hear about these folks who would walk out of the store with a cart full of groceries for $10 or some insanely low amount like that & I would think that there was no way they could get anything but Ramen & pinto beans for that. Then my sister in law started getting into the whole coupon thing & I decided to check it out for myself. Yesterday I spent a grand total of $44 dollars & yes, I had about 18 bags of groceries & no, it wasn't crappy food (anybody who knows Randy is aware of what a picky eater he is). I've been "working the food system" for about 12 weeks now, which is the amount of time I was told it would take to build up to this level.

The rest of my shopping for the month should be perishables--milk, bread, produce. I would like to keep bill around $100, which would take about %75 from our usual monthly average. There's something very satisfying about knowing I have saved that kind of money in this economy.

I figure I will spend roughly 8 hours this month "couponing". I don't know about you, but that's alot of time for me to spend on anything that doesn't involve live music. It also takes longer to shop with coupons because like I wrote earlier, there really is a trick to it.

We'll see if I keep it up or wimp out.

Expect multiple posts today as I am basically sititng at my desk all day. One appointment out & that's it so I will probably post when I get bored or need a break from coding.

Bushism's

Mom sent me this from the AC-T yesterday. She told me that there were already some "Obama-isms" being collected too but I haven't seen any yet. At any rate, here are some of them & a link to the real article in case any of you want to check it out.

— "Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning?" — January 2000, during a campaign event in South Carolina.

— "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." — Sept. 17, 2002, in Nashville, Tenn.

— "Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." — Sept. 6, 2004, at a rally in Poplar Bluff, Mo

Here's the link with the rest.

Raw Chocolate & 70's Music

Makes the best breakfast ever! Seriously, I am so mellow now.

Here's what I like, in case anybody is wondering what to get me for my birthday, which is in April, but it's never to soon to start planning.

Somehow the receiver decided that it was a 70's morning & I just didn't feel like arguing. Shoop, shoobee do wah...

On to work shortly then I think I'll go out.

Hello world!

Hello world! is the traditional first program line that many people use when learning a programming language for the first time or can be a "sanity" test to make sure that a program's language compiler is installed & working correctly.

I believe it's been around since the 1970's, introducing people to a new way of thinking, expressing themselves, & the like to something new.

I think it's appropriate that my first post here carries that title.

This blog is being created primarily as a way to prepare for an Internet Marketing/Business Blogging class that will (hopefull) take place in the spring of '09. The only goal I've set for it is to try to post regularly. Let me know if there's a widget or subject you would like to see here. Thanks!