Happy Birthday to Breanna!

She's 6 going on 10. Here she is having lunch with her friends!

Infectious laughter

Come On Time Warner, you can do better!

Verizon is offering this:












I get this already (Sweet huh?)




Problem is that I'm paying $30 more a month! Come on TW, give me some real speed at competitive prices.

Disk space is cheap...

I'm having some trouble with my washing machine. However, I can't find the users guide. I went to the Amana website only to be told that I should "click on customer service, then manuals" to find my model. There is no "option" called Manuals. So I emailed them this:

Your site says I can get a new manual by clicking on Customer Service then manuals. That option is not available. I have a LW6501W2 machine, please send the PDF.

They respond with this:

Dear Valued Customer:

Thank you for visiting the Amana website, we appreciate hearing from you.

Your email is extremely important to us and we sincerely apologize for any delays in responding to your email. We are working diligently to respond over the telephone and through email to all of our customers.

We truly regret to inform you that at this time, product manuals are not available via the website. In reviewing your product literature request, it was determined that we no longer have a copy of the Use and Care Guide for washer model LW6501W2. As a result, we are unable to provide you with the product literature that you are requesting.

We apologize for any inconvenience this concern may have caused you.

Thank you for contacting Amana. You are a valued customer and we appreciate your loyalty to our brand. We invite you to contact Amana again either by calling (800) 843-0304 between 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST weekdays or by emailing whenever the need arises. When calling please press the available option or stay on the line to reach a representative.
Sincerely,

Tami S.
Amana Customer Loyalty Team
Amana Customer eXperience Center
http://www.Amana.com



People - Disk space is cheap. keep the 700K PDF for every model ever.... argghhh. Other websites turn up empty also.

More Energy Saving Ideas

Since apparently, I'm developing a small following regarding energy prices and solar power, I thought I'd share an email I got from this guy. Hope he didn't mind since I didn't ask for permission!

For the record, I'd like to point out that he doesn't have kids yet! :-)

---

I have a few additional near-zero-cost pointers that might be worth considering in your quest! Most of them are common sense, and of course, some of these only apply to geeks

• Set your computers to fall asleep after 30 minutes or an hour. Utilize the Wake-On-LAN feature if you need to access your computer while it is in sleep mode. Also, Vista wakes from sleep mode much faster than previous versions of Windows, so this isn’t as annoying as it used to be.
• Outsource your server hosting. Servers produce enormous amounts of heat and guzzle electricity. Our electricity bill dropped $20-30/month after doing this.
• Raise your thermostat to 75 degrees or higher. Each degree can help reduce the amount of time your heat pump is running.
• Close or seal off A/C vents and keep the doors closed in rooms that you aren’t using. There is no need to heat/cool a room that is never used. Just remember to open the vent when you have guests!
• Make sure your A/C return vent filter is cleaned or replaced monthly. This improves the efficiency of your A/C Fan Unit and improves the air quality in your house.
• Close your blinds for windows that receive lots of sunlight, this reduces the greenhouse effect in your house and improves your home’s security while you are away.
• Get in the habit of flipping the switch every time you leave a room. It doesn’t take long before it becomes second nature.

I love Magic.. and this is awesome.

The quest has begun.

I've been told that before I could consider Solar Power I need to get my Electrical consumption under control. First, the Energy Star website tells me that only 2% of the country uses more power than I do. Not good.

Then I was told that I should address all issues with my consumption by dealing with the issues in this order.

Lighting: Make sure you are using the most efficient lighting you can. That most often means compact fluorescent. I was told to replace the old incandescent lights without waiting for them to burn out because I could still realize a significant savings. I've replaced about 15 so far. Cost: ~$75 I'm ready for LEDs! Check out this bulb. The description says:

"Now you can leave lights on without guilt by replacing an ordinary bulb with the 120V 36 LED Light Bulb, a low-energy bulb that provides the lighting equivalent of a 15 watt incandescent bulb, while using only 1.3 watts. Since it can be run 12 hours a day for a year at a cost of about 80 cents, this LED bulb should last about 10 years, significantly longer than ordinary light bulbs."

Address the appliances: With large appliances like washers, dryers, refrigerators, water heaters. I've cleaned them all up, made sure no dust, lint etc was left anywhere so that I could ensure effecient operation. Terri tells me that the Washer and Dryer are working much better. I'm glad to hear it since I swallowed a fair amount of lint and dust! Cost: Nothing

By the way, when it comes time to buy that new appliance, spending 100 extra dollars to get the energy efficient one will save you far more over the lifetime of the product. At least that's what they tell me.

Address the Insulation and weather sealing: I need to check to see if my home is sealed. Are the windows caulked? Not good enough. In order to determine what kind of work I need, I've been recommended an "energy audit". Since apparently many utilities offer this for free , we'll be calling Pee Dee Electric tomorrow.

Heating system: : I've replaced my thermostats with programmable ones that allow me to more accurately control the house's ambiant temperature based on a time schedule. For instance, today, my downstair's heat pump ran 13 hours and 9 minutes. I'm not able to compare that to ANYTHING (unless someone else wants to share). Cost: $170

Swimming Pool Pump: I've been running my pump 24 hours a day during the summer. I've been reading that depending the size of the pool, swimmer load, efficiency of the pump, etc the answer may vary. However, as a rule of thumb, however, a properly sized pool pump should probably run 8 to 10 hours a day in the summer, and 4 to 6 hours a day in the winter to provide adequate turnover. Cost :$80

I'm on the path to the electrical war. I'll keep you informed

My little tea party hostess

I actually received an invitation to a tea party one night after Breanna went to bed. I found it on my computer chair in my office. Here's the result. She made me wear a tie to a criss-cross style tea party. Go figure. She'll probably get married (30 years from now!) on Saturday at 6pm. you know... formal wedding and all

Don't blame me but let the jokes begin....

It is not my fault..... However, according to the Detroit Press, I alone can control gas prices...

Solar: Two net metering sites in SC.

There's a chance we'll have net metering in SC before long. Read what the Public Service Commission said this week. If you want that in

One in Mountain Rest and One in Fort Mill (No link known)

MoreSun Custom Woodworking is sponsoring a Solar Tour in the Upstate in November... I'm looking for some passengers. I'll be there!

For more on Netmetering, go here.

credit cards? do I want one?

I don't own a personal credit card. I'm scared of them. I'm not sure I'm disciplined enough to pay them off every month and therein lies the problem. I read posts like this and wonder if I need that protection. I want to make good financial decisions but admittedly struggled with this one for quite some time. Anyone got any feedback?

When I read this guy and this guy they tell me NO CREDIT CARDS... arrgghhh.. decisions decisions...

Happily Married? not? Check this out.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
You do not want to miss this opportunity to strengthen your marriage. We're expecting all types to show up.
if you're happily married and want to take your relationship to the next level, this is for you.

If you're newly married and want to learn the ropes, then this is for you.

If you're marriage is on the ropes and you're willing to give it one last shot, then this is for you.

Registration is not available online just YET.... check back soon.

Contact the church office today for more information. 843-669-1802.

dean

Dennis Swanberg coming to Florence

You don't want to miss this guy... He's funny, he's real, and most of all Calvary Baptist Church has made this event Free! This Wednesday at 7pm. Be there for a hilarious night.

For some audio and video clips, visit his website.

I had the pleasure of meeting him when he performed at the ACS National Convention a few years ago. Just as funny off the stage as on!

a first for me.

Not cool....Hot!

I know there are places hotter than this but I wanted to complain a minute... It's HOT.

I love programmers with a great sense of humor

I created a feedburner account Friday. I loved this screen that popped up after the signup was complete. Good idea! Don't be so "formal" all the time.

Just thought I'd share.

ACS Member statuses

As many of you reading this know, I am on staff at ACS Technologies. I'm also very active in my church. One thing that ACS does well is allows flexibility in how you set up your data. Too much sometimes... Regardless, I am trying to help move my church forward in closing some cracks. To do that, we need clean, updated data. So far, the staff has allowed me to remove most every custom and user defined field that ACS uses. We have kept a couple. So.... I'm not ready to work on the Member Status field.

I'm thinking I should eliminate the Inactive Member since you can mark a member inactive. Their status is still Member, their activity level shows they are inactive.

Also, I think I could eliminate "Former Member, Deceased". I can use the "Deceased" status and if they had a joined date, we know they were a member. Technically, they're still a member of the church... or are they?

Is there really a reason to have any status that says "with Contributions". A search could confirm any member or prospect that has given to the church.

etc... etc...

I guess I see the list as
Member, Deceased, Transferred, Prospect.

It seems simple to me. Am I missing something?