Rotato, best kitchen gadget ever?

Nick and I were making Apple Cranberry bread last night and I was again allowed to use one of the best kitchen gadgets I have had the pleasure to use.  The Rotato :)  It makes very quick work of pealing, and the side effect of having "apple strings" is not to be dismissed.  A very health snack that Nick will run around eating!  Happy snacking :)

Why companies announce layoff early

I enjoyed this summary of the reasons that companies announce layoff early.  The first is my particular favorite, in order to reduce severance costs, as people bail early.

Great Depression 2

I believe this is what the occupy wall street protests are about.  If you click on the link there are number of other charts that illustrate different perspectives on this.  I think we are headed for a very large correction again.  Why the current crop of plutocracy can't see this and work to prevent it, implies they are expecting to profit from it; Or in denial.

What if time was money?

Interesting post over at My Money Blog about a movie that is coming out apparently about a society where aging has been overcome, but after 25 your productivity becomes the determining factor for your length of life (or something like that).  Johnathan then makes a good point about how much that coffee is costing you in real terms.  I hadn't heard of the movie (don't watch much advertising...), but I might have to check it out.

Chimney Sweep

Well it has been two years (didn't burn as much the first year) since we built the house, so it is time to have the chimney cleaned and looked at.  Fireside recommended Smart Sweep as a good guy to call.  Jim Smart came out to the house at 11am (on time), was great with Nick, explaining things to him (and me) and very clean.  He explained that it was something I could do in the future with an investment in a few tools.

I can recommend Jim highly enough, he was professional and friendly.  The fireplace looks great, and we are excited to try it out (once it cools back down).

Total cost was just under $250, so I think I might invest in the tools and give it a go once in awhile.  But when I need a professional, I won't hesitate to call Jim.

MNPR Yeah

Received our MN Property Tax rebate.  $940 on a tax bill of just under $5000.  That is pretty nice, does that mean that we didn't make a lot of money for the tax that we pay on our house (I think so...).

Anyways it is very nice, too bad they did away with it in the new state budget (I think I heard that).

Extended Auto Warranty rebate

We purchased a new mini-van in the beginning of August, and traded my 2005 TDI Golf in.  I had purchased an extended warranty on it when I bought it that was good for 10 years or 100,000 miles.  The car had just over 80,000 miles when I traded it in.

The dealer told me I could get a rebate for the unused portion of the extended warranty, and I just received a check yesterday for $341.  :)  During the course of owning the car I had to replaced the transmission at a cost of ~5000.  I paid 1800 for the extended warranty, so I am pretty happy with the value I have gotten out of it.

We did not get an extended warranty for the mini-van, which I hope we don't live to regret.  It was the end of the day when we went in to purchase the van, and the extended warranty that was offered, was pretty bad compared to what I had gotten on the golf.  We financed at 0%, so I would be loath to purchase one now after the fact.

We will see how well it holds up, the good news is that any service will probably be more reasonable than service on the golf was.