Christmas 2011 – Birth of a New Tradition

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods – merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year can be different. This year, Americans can give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is [...]

Throwback Pop Pricing at Les Schwab Tires

I *never* thought I’d see a 75 cent can of Diet Coke in a vending machine again, and yet there is was – plain as day – as I rounded the corner in the Les Schwab Tire Center store on 122nd Avenue in NE Portland last month. I was so tickled at the time that [...]

I’m looking for a good business opportunity

I must be crazy. I have a full time job that I like and 2 small kids, yet I have this intense desire to go into business for myself. I just turned 44 last month; is this some sort of mid-life crisis? If so, maybe I’m better off buying a sports car! I’m looking for [...]

Offsite data backup service for only $10 a month – gotta like it!

I must say I am particularly happy about this new data backup service I came across for the home or small business user. It’s a remote data backup service that is both easy and cost-effective. It is simply the best method of backing up your data for several significant reasons: it is inexpensive, convenient, secure, [...]

Didn’t think I’d se this again – gas under $3 in Portland

11/05/08: Update! Less than a month later: ————————————————   Original Post: Here’s a screencap of a posting on the Portland, OR GasBuddy website. And in L.O. no less. Been up there a while, so I presume it’s legit… If you want to find and track gas prices in the area, go to www.portlandgasprices.com. They have sites [...]

Wind power as an off-grid option

Looking at wind power as an option when we get around to building that new home we keep talking about…. Well, if we ever get around to it I’m ready to go! I have found out all it takes is: lots of money!! The thing is that even at starting costs approaching $10,000 and more [...]

The Internet’s Best Financial Calculators

It’s true! I have been using these calculatorsat Dinkytown.net (for free mind you) for at least 3 years now, and I have to say they are the best I’ve found out there. They keep updating the content to reflect changing tax laws, and it seems like new and better features are added on a regular [...]

Portland area real estate – not as bad as Vegas!

Or Sacramento for that matter. And on the other side of the coin is…Yakima! What I’m trying to say is that, based on the latest real estate numbers from Realtor.org, the winners for price appreciation in the last quarter reported are: Yakima, WA @ 8.9% Binghamton, NY @ 8.7% Amarillo, TX @ 7.2% And the losers [...]

Orange car

Just went over 750,000 points on the Portland Gasbuddy website. woot!