More Signs

Time for an encore to my wildly popular You Need a Sign? post, which has been viewed a record setting 36 views so far.

This sign is in the parking lot down the street from my house. That's one way to get rid of unruly children. Wonder if Child Protective Services is the unnamed sponsor of this sign?

So long, rug rats! Unwanted and unsponsored.

Or you could do this. Leave your ordinary children here, pick up bedazzled children an hour later.

My kind of people. Craft projects.

There's really no limit to what business owners will do with children running amock. I snapped this pic at the place where I get my hair cut. It's not in the nicest part of town.

Making a list of places to leave my kid when I've had enough.

It took several of my facebook friends a few hours and a few brain cells to figure out what this sign was supposed to say before the clever vandals took a YMCA spin on it.

Roy Rogers sells more than just Trigger burgers.

My husband and I really did need a sign this time. We came home from work to find this friendly love letter from the Water & Sewer department hanging on our doorknob.

Ten days to water our lawn, run the dishwasher, do laundry, and wash our cars.

Seen any silly or ridiculous signs in your travels lately? Have you ever gotten a utility hang tag on your front door?

The Internet is Full of Weirdos

The internet is full of weirdos. Tell you something you don't already know, right?

Check out this weirdo from the local freecycle email list. Wants baby furniture for Halloween decorations. For really disturbing Halloween decorations. Sure hope I don't go trick-or-treating in their neighborhood.

What kind of Halloween decoration are they planning?
And to have started planning this disturbing scene in February? Ewww.

Then there are the weirdos who get paid by other weirdos to follow you around the internet. I received this email after visiting a baking supply website, but not purchasing. I know, this was probably a robot following me around the internet, but still. It's just creepy to get an email with a picture of the item you were looking at, didn't purchase, and didn't even put in your online shopping cart.

You're welcome for stopping by.
Hope you enjoyed my visit.
I didn't even notice you there, creepy internet robot.

Tell me your creepy internet weirdo stories. Mine aren't all that good.

You Need a Sign?

Signs are everywhere. Imagine if we did everything signs told us to to do. "Try our new bacon double cheeseburger today!" Yum. There are lots of funny signs out there.

I had my annual mammogram last week. This sign was in the room where I got changed into the gown.

Believe me, you'd know if I wasn't.

I volunteered a local race on Sunday. This sign was in the women's restroom.

Is this really necessary? Ewww.

Then there's this sign on one of my local cycling routes. If not for the sign, I'd do a lot of cycling in the river.

Thanks for the warning.

I snapped this pic at a local place that sells topsoil, sand, pebbles, gravel, and rocks. (We were shopping for rocks for a landscaping project.)

Don't disturb the security guard. So if you're robbing us, please be quiet about it.

What seemingly unnecessary or ridiculous signs have you seen recently? Surely you have some good stories to share.

Frozen Heart Race Recap

**9 March 2015, edited to add:**  Oops, thought I already published this. That explains why no one has viewed it. :-)

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My main contribution to last year's Frozen Heart 50K came from my kitchen. Well, and on the interwebs, designing and buying custom CBRC Frozen Heart M&Ms. Thank you, Amazon local deals. I also spent about two hours at the mid-way aid station, giving high-fives and food to the runners, and eating aid station food. Sharing is caring, right?

Delicious fresh or frozen, With or without a frozen heart.

I had to order a 2 lb bag to get custom M&Ms, so was under the mistaken impression I'd freeze the rest of the M&Ms to bake cookies for the February 2015 Frozen Heart race. Yeah, right. Those M&Ms were gone by April.

Didn't last long in my freezer.

This year, I decided to run the race. I'm not real into trail racing, as I prefer to run / walk / hike trails (less prone to tripping over tree roots that way), but my trail running friends assured me trail racing isn't really racing. So I signed up for one loop of the Frozen Heart 50K, and was ready to do 10.5 miles of trails on race day.

I merrily did the 10.5 mile course a week before race day. The ground was frozen solid with just a few icy patches. Frozen = no mud. Pretty good trail conditions.

Then this happened.

Crappy picture of lots of snow.

What to do, what to do? I knew I'd be near the back of the race pack, so the 8"-10" of snow would be nicely tamped down into a single track trail by the time I came through, but where's the fun in that? I decided to bring my snowshoes on race morning for a little something different, and recruited two random, but enthusiastic, strangers from the race's Facebook page to join me. I was pleasantly surprised to see a friend in the parking lot with borrowed snowshoes, so had company for the whole loop.

10.5 miles on showshoes? Sure. No problem.

10.5 miles in snowshoes was ambitious. I think the farthest I'd previously snowshoed was about 4 miles. The much anticipated tamped down single track trail wasn't all that tamped down due to powdery snow, and proved to be a bit narrow for snowshoes. As my legs got tired, I found myself kicking the insides of my ankles when I tried to go faster. Still great fun, though, and I'd do it again, given the opportunity. When I saw two of my friends walking about three miles from the end, I took off the 'shoes and had a nice snowy stroll to the finish with them. 

Bottom of my snow-caked showshoe at the mid-course aid station.
We were full of zest and zeal at that point, and posed for photo in some sort of lunge / squat / dip pose.

Same as last year, the aid stations at Frozen Heart were well stocked. Baked goods, candy, hot soup, hot and cold drinks, you name it... The race director and volunteer bakers and soup chefs outdid themselves. As expected, the volunteers were also wonderfully enthusiastic, especially given the frigid temperatures, even chillier when standing still. This year's race premium was an insulated travel mug, I'd take a picture, but then you'd see the water spots because I lazily put it in the dishwasher instead of hand washing it, Overall, Frozen Heart was a good experience. I definitely recommend this race if you're in the mood for a well supported winter trail run. 

Get Rich Quick

I've already told you how to get rich selling your crap. (BTW, I made $14 last weekend.) You also know how to get free stuff from referral links, after signing up for a bunch of random shopping sites using my referral links. Now I'm going to let you in on a few other secrets for acquiring copious amounts of money.

Blogging. I added ads to my blog about two weeks ago, have published four posts since then, and have made $2.18. I'm rolling in money!

This is me.
Not really. Photobucket credit.

Unfortunately, I won't get paid until my earnings reach $10, so blogging isn't really all that lucrative yet. Not that I expect it to ever be lucrative. I'd need, oh, maybe some consistency? Frequent posts and a theme or something?

Mystery shopping. I recently became a mystery shopper. I've had some interesting assignments, but most of the mystery shops offered around here are fast food. I get paid to eat McDonald's and Five Guys. It's almost lucrative enough to pay for the gastric bypass surgery I'll need soon. I'm on the waiting list to be a mystery shopper for movie theaters. Hopefully I'll get paid to eat movie theater popcorn and Raisinets.

So stealth.

Shopkick. This one is actually pretty good. You earn gift cards to do slightly more than nothing. Download the app to your phone, then earn "kicks" for walking into certain stores on certain days, and extra kicks for scanning products with your phone. I've been cashing in kicks for Lowe's and Target gift cards. Ridiculously easy if you don't mind draining your phone battery while you shop.

I'm basically unemployed. What are your favorite ways to get a little cash with littler effort?

Lucky Charms

Remember those little rabbit foot keychains that were so popular in the 80's? They were dyed (I almost typed died, gross) different colors, and people kept them in their pockets to stroke for good luck? When I was about 10 yrs old, I saved up my allowance money to buy one. Yuck. I carried around a rabbit foot. I hope it was fake. I hope my parents had the good sense to steer me towards a fake one at the stuffmart.

Photo Credit to Dead Mammal Fan

I guess people who play BINGO believe in lucky charms, because while out for a walk yesterday, I saw a few gems outside our local BINGO parlor.

A toddler sized Ugg boot and a dead bird.

I'm sad for the toddler walking around with only one Ugg.  

Rigor mortis had set in. According to my toddler, "birdie sleeping."

Since these were outside the BINGO parlor, it made me wonder about BINGO players' superstitions. Maybe they dab their BINGO daubers on their lucky charms outside during smoke breaks. Or maybe dead birds just aren't allowed inside. Let's hope.

I don't have any lucky charms, but I do have one superstition. I won't wear a race shirt until after I've finished the race, regardless of when I received it. I think it's bad luck to wear race shirts during the race. 

How about you? Any lucky charms? Superstitions?

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em

You know those annoying people who repeatedly send and post referral links to shopping websites? I'm tired of receiving them. But if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. So here's my list of referral links, condensed into one post, with the option to stop reading now.

Twice.com. This was the first online consignment store I used. (eBay and CFS sites don't count.) I started using it about a year and a half ago to get rid of professional work clothes. I found that I wasn't wearing my suits and dresses all that often while taking care of a baby, and traded them in for muumuus and yoga pants. High-end, designer brand muumuus and yoga pants, that is. No Mossimo clothes on Twice.

Sign up for Twice. Help me get credit for more muumuus.

Thred.up.com. I started using this site about a year ago on a friend's recommendation. Their payout isn't as good as twice.com, but they do accept more brands. They also buy and sell children's clothing. I don't know how their payout is for those, or what the quality of them is like. 90% of LEG's clothes are hand-me-downs, so I keep handing them down to other people or donating them. I have been happy with what I've purchased from thredup for myself.

Use my referral link for Thredup to buy toddler clothes, then tell me how the quality is. I'd like to use you for a recommendation and referral points.

Fabletics.com. Now that I've been unemployed for 26 months, I'm finally out of the muumuu and yoga pants phase. Workout clothes are where it's at. Get dressed in the morning, go the gym or for a run, and stay in your moisture wicking, comfortable workout clothes all day. With fabletics, you enter your style preferences and sizes, then they select a variety of outfits for you each month. You choose your outfit, or customize based on what you prefer, they send it. All brand new clothes, no pre-sweated-in workout gear. I'm ridiculously picky about certain aspects of workout clothes, and have been happy with my two outfits from fabletics. Both pairs of tights are thick, with a wide waistband that sits flat, gusseted crotch, and flat-lock seams. Puffer vest isn't overly puffy. The long sleeved shirt doesn't have tight cuffs or a thick seam at the wrist.  I returned one shirt, because it just wasn't my style once I tried it on (scoop neck was too deep), and the return process was easy.

Brand new workout clothes from Fabletics. And a credit for me.

Zulily. Zulily sells all kinds of brand new stuff, at good prices. I rarely buy anything from Zulily any longer, but here's a referral link anyway. Just because they have one. I usually wait for my neighbor to buy something, then jump on her free shipping deal and ask her to place an order within 24 hours for me. I use her for free shipping, she uses me for credit card reward points. It's a symbiotic relationship.

Sign up for Zulily. Get good deals on brand new stuff.

Just wait. Soon I'll start inviting you to a plethora of direct sales parties. But they'll be "book parties" or "online parties." I won't even have invite you to my house. I won't clean my house for you (not that I do much of that anyway), and I won't prepare food for you. I'll just use your purchases to get credit towards free product for myself. And I'll never invite you to do anything but attend my direct sales parties. No coffee dates, no group runs, no trips to the park, no dinner parties. Just direct sales parties.

Now go sign up for something so I can get free stuff. Please and thank you.