day 33- flossin with the swine

mmm pork sung. ever had it? love this stuff. when i go get some dim sum from dim sum go go down in china town, it is always there on the side. i pretty much eat it all up before the waiter brings the real meal.

granted if you are a bit timid around pork that has been cooked like 18 times and when dry kind of looks like meat cotton candy, then you might want to abstain, but for my money (which of course is not a lot) i will totally go for this stuff.

spend a buck49 at your asian grocer. mix it up with a bit of spicy sesame oil and you have a tasty snack or a nice condiment to your home steamed dumplings. i have also thought about using it as a pork chewing gum. if you put a lot in your mouth. you can chew it for hours.

there is nothing like a meat product that last forever out of the fridge after its been opened.

nothin'

we used the bamboo steamer i picked up last week in nc and made some tasty dumpling treats. of course we bought frozen and cooked it up, but it was damn good. if you and yours don't do the dim sum then i recomend it. it can be a very cheap meal., and with these hard times ahead we need some cheap meals i think. with the cost of oil rising, and the cost of food going up we are need of some cheap eats that won't make us feel like we are eating ramen noodles all the time.

can you believe the price of corn a year ago was over 100% less than it is today? corn is up to 7.50 a bushel. that means 56 lbs of corn used to cost about 3 or so bucks. (makes us wonder why we are all not growing corn in our back yards. three rows for a crop people)

consumer prices were up .4percent in may. that's a lot, but it you take out the cost of food and gas then its only a .1 percent increase.

this was written like it was positive news...

when you head to the electronics store to buy a tv, it will cost the same, but if you need to get to work and stay all nutritioned up then its going to cost you more. that's not good. not good at all. glad my tomatoes are coming in. i think i am going to need them.

still, up there in the news is the price of gas. it's going to be a big story for a long time, but how are they going to keep it fresh... keep it new?

well i read one story that does the job. i personally they should have saved it till later on in the year. when they are all tapped out.

apparently along with the economy going down, nevada's whoring industry is suffering. they are experiencing declines as much as 25percent. truckers make up a good chunk of the rural whorin and the rising cost of diesel is of course going to make truckers work harder for their money.

they are going to have to put in extra hours to make the same cash, but with this harder work it means that a stop over in nevada for a little t and a is harder to balance in the budget. not only do they lose "time money" with the stop over, they are going to have to of course shell out that hard earned cash for their "settin' the quilt to quiver" time.

don't worry, the brothels are taking action. to bring john back into the the bosom of the ladies of the night they are offering incentives. gas cards for those trips to the special rooms that cost 300 bucks an up and of course a 25 dollar discount on those 200 bucks for 45 minutes. now only 175!

their prices are insane! (insert crazy eddie here)

as a child of the 80's i pretty much learned all i need to know about the world's oldest profession from from hbo. movies like cannonball run and porky's pretty much tell a kid what is goin' on.

from what i learned on hbo, it seemed like the story was missing something. they are offering gas prizes and cash discounts, but i thought that the real "deal" was the "two for one". didn't see any of that listed.

anyway, i'm not judging. people can do what they want to do, and nevada is usually the place to do it.

just bit of advice to those truckers out there.

keep your money in your pockets. times will get better, and please keep at least one hand on the wheel. your up high. we can't see a thing.

wrapping up
547.70 at the start
a buck49 spent
the kitty stands at a dirty tree cent.

maximum spending tomorrow

a buck97

i can spend that much tomorrow

you can't stop me.

day 32- starting my post vacation, holiday short week off right.

in the absence of a decent breakfast of a couple of big cups of coffee, i'll take a nutrament shake. tomorrow is going to be one of those days. it will be the first day back to work from vacation and i know its going to be a pain in my ass. a buck75 for breakfast ain't so bad, and these babies are basically a little meal in liquid form. i'll pick up some coffee when i get to work. i have a coupon for something free from that place.

the lady has boot camp tomorrow so she is getting up at 5 am.

i am doing the same. goin' in a bit early.

it seems the company/job i hate has taken it upon themselves to a bit of management rearrangement while i was gone. i have seen it done before and while it is not the worst thing in the world, there is always some back work to be done to make things go... go at all. this time i know at least i will not feel penalized for going on vacation. no one will be there to give me any flack.

ever have that happen to you?

you work all year and decide to take a week off. before you go you set it up, so "everything will be o.k". the day you get back, you are all refreshed and ready to work another long haul till the next vacation. for some reason there is this air of dissatisfaction towards you. people grumble about what happened while you were gone like it was your fault. so you end up right where you started from before you left.

stress level is back on high and hating your job is in the forefront of your mind.

is this just me? granted i sometime liken the maturity level of my peers to junior high schoolers; it might just be all they are capable of. i hope some of you out there have the same problems when you get back from the vacay. on my part, it's not to be mean, i just don't want to be the only one.

this year i took out some insurance on the vacation blues. i get friday off (it's july 4th after all) and then i work one week and i head out on vacation again. sure i will need to suck it up a bit for the rest of the year, but with any luck that might not be too long.

don't worry. they already know.

if your out there and reading, keep the above in mind. vacation is supposed to be your unwind time. don't make it hard when the vacationer comes back. it makes the vacation worthless. a distant memory without any shine. i have lost my vacation buzz in as little as one hour before.

that sucks.

tomorrow is going to be a decent day. i look forward to how decent it is going to be.

it's good to be back in the city. aside from the j train shuttle bus issues coming back from jfk it felt really good to be back. i love this city, it's vibrance and passion. we even have waterfalls on the rivers now. thanks nyc. thanks for always making yourself better.

the best part of coming back was seeing the lady. we got to spend a lazy afternoon at the penthouse and while we missed seeing the hold steady, i wouldn't have changed it for the world. i even got treated to my favorite kind of light show. 3 hours of thunderstorms rolling in one after the other. we just hung out watching lightning...

listening to thunder.


wrapping up
549.45 at the start
a buck75 spent
the kitty stands at 18cent

maximum spending tomorrow

a buck82

i can spend that tomorrow

you can't stop me

ps. just a heads up... you can now use www.buck64aday.com to get to the stories. spread the word. 333 days left to go.

it's just going to get better.

day 31- when its hot, hit kids with water balloons.

so my vacation in nc is just about over, and its hot. really hot. i have had a relaxing week down here with the family.

did not do much, which i think was great for me. no stress and no work can really energize a person.

i do wish i went jogging more, but it was just too damn hot.

all week.

here i am- new running shoes, wide open spaces to run on and when i get out there, it's 95 degrees and breathing the air feels like drinking under water. i know smoking has done nothing to help my lung capacity, but with such intense heat and humidity i was not able to really give it the strong try.

i still have tomorrow though. in nyc. when i get back.

last nights trip to greensboro was a lot of fun. it really is great to get back there and hang out with old friends and just shoot the shit for a day. we had much to catch up on and though i wish we would keep in better touch, it really does seem like i never left. the only thing that seems to really change is greensboro. it really is a better town than the one i left. the downtown is totally revitalized. compared to six years ago it is incredible.

to see people crowded in the streets downtown at 2am is quite a sight. if you live in greensboro you should count yourself lucky. the city has finally taken an interest in itself and it's peoples.

i could see myself living there now.

this is something i never would have said when i left. for my friends, whom are married and starting families, there really is no better place to start it all off, but for me its back to the big city. new york calls me back and so does (especially) seeing my lady. we don't normally spend this much time apart. it feels strange. i can't say i like it.

i really should be getting back to hanging out with my family for the evening so i'll finish this up.

today's purchase- water bombs for the kids. at a buck51 it was steal on a hot day. i got to fill them up with michael and i tried to show him how to tie them. basically he filled, i tied. when we had filled enough i started throwing them at him. the dog got all fired up with the fun and michael was pretty hard to hit. then again i was not aiming for his head. that just would have caused a lot of problems.

it's always fun till someone gets hurt.

he still has lots more waterbombs to go. i am sure he and his sister will have some fun with them this summer.

wrapping up

550.96 at the start

a buck51 spent

the kitty stands at 29cent

maximum spending tomorrow

a buck93

i can spend that much tomorrow

you can't stop me.

day 30- poolside snacks. kids sized.

i took my nephew to the pool today as it was not the 99 degrees that they forecasted. the old parkwood pool in durham is a whole lot smaller than i remember. i think the last time i was swimming there it was 1988 or something.

i thought it was bigger. i know i am bigger, but this place is just tiny. still michael was able to swim around and found some friends to play with. i think he even found himself a girlfriend at the pool.

while i was reading and baking in the hot, hot north carolina sun i could over hear this little girl asking him to be friends with her and if he wanted to go to her birthday party.

"its on july 4th, and it's a double 7 and 8 party since i did not have a seven party", she said.

he pretty much ignored her.

well not really, but he did not pay as much attention as she was looking for.

as we were leaving she ran up to him to give him a hug. her side was awkward and michael's.. well i would liken it to brushing off an overbearing aunt. yet, he did it very politely.

on the way home i asked him his girlfriend's name.

"i don't know," he says sippin' on his diet coke. "i don't have a girlfriend. i bet you have a girlfirend."

"darn right kid." i say.

"i bet you are all kissy-kissy.. big sloppy kisses like flicka gives." (flicka is the dog)

"i give you a few years guy."

"yeah..."he sighs. "whatever."

some things never change. when they do though, watch out.

the price of a soda and a snack at the pool has hardly changed. his teddy grahams and soda was a buck50. i think it would have been a dollar back when i was a kid. that's good for the kids and good for me.

i am keeping my head out of the news and the opinions to myself today. i am headed off to greensboro, nc to hang out with some good friends. i really enjoy going back to greensboro. things change there, but not the relationship i have with my friends. sure we are all older and they are married, we don't see each other that often but it always feels like going home again.

wrapping up

552.46 at the start

abuck50 spent

the kitty stands at 16cent

maximum spending tomorrow

a buck80

i can spend that tomorrow.

you can't stop me.

day 29-it's steamy down here

hmm.. that's a bad picture on the left. when i get back from vacation i will be able to make better pictures i suppose. i hope you can wait till then.

a bamboo steamer is something everyone should have. for some reason i don't, and this one is the perfect size. i picked up this little guy at the salvation army thrift store today. at 2buck42 i was really just able to squeeze by. it's brand new and in its original wrapping. a big plus is that the money goes somewhere other than someones corporate coffers. still the money i spend here today will be used by the salvation army to do their good works. i peeked into the back room when the door was open, and did not see the craps game going on. i always think of that whenever i go to the salvation army.

dice games, frank sinatra and marlon brando. my folks would show us some of the classics when we were kids. that one stuck.

with the economy going a bit sour i would think that a lot of people would be heading to their local thrift/second hand shops. while i don't get much of a chance to do it in nyc, i am always surprised at the stuff you can get at these places.

from cheesy coffee mugs to antique wooden tables, your local thrift place has lots of treasures. my buck64 would totally do well on them.

the lady and i love the dim sum, but i did not have a steamer to cook them up. now we can keep a bunch in the freezer and be able to make quick light meals which will be more appropriate for the hot summer months. doin' dim sum yourself is super cheap. you can by enough for 2 people for about 2 bucks, maybe three. this little guy will totally help boost my bucks in the coming tighter months.

just how tight is it going to get? i really don't know and to tell the truth, i don't think anyone else does either. usually a recession is officially defined after the fact. past recessions usually don't last that long. at least the ones we have seen in the past 2 decades. we bounce back and before long we are back to the good times.

still, its the top of the news.

all the time, and we have a lot of news out there. the family just got direct tv down here in durham and there is so much news to choose from. we as americans are so connected now. tv overload and the internet inundate us with up to the minute reports on the welfare of just about everything, and the news is mostly negative. if it weren't we would not pay attention.

just head on over to yahoo.. look at the first five news stories. probably on either controversial side or just bad news. the other two are little interesting fun bits. stuff that's kooky and fun.

folks, it's an election year and the issues are the economy and oil. that's gonna be what its about. that's what is in the news and that is what we are gonna care about.

oh, and health care. we always care about health care.

today the news was.. oil was up. libya was reducing production and someone from opec said we might see as high as 170bucks or more a barrel later this year. mccain wants to open up off shore exploration to make us more self sufficient.
okay.
great. in 20 years we will really start seeing some changes. someone should have thought of that years ago, but in america we say "not in my back yard." now we have to pay the piper. look at norway. they have been doing this for years. their offshore rigs are modern marvels (no really they were on a tv show called modern marvels.. they must be) and they have not wrecked their environment and those fjords still look as good as ever.

personally i feel that one of the most beautiful things in the world is a wind farm.

those things are free energy once built. free and clean. yet people protest them nonetheless.

for the next year people are going to complain about the economy and for years to come we are going to complain about the cost of energy. that's just the way its going to be. it's our own fault.

until cold fusion arrives. we need to suck it up, and say "yes please in my back yard."

wrapping up.
554.88 at the start
2buck42 spent
the kitty stands at 2cent

maximum spending tomorrow
a buck66

i can spend that much tomorrow

you can't stop me

day 28- the hunt for the laptop that does not exist and fresh chips.

i am a big fan of the corn chip. these guys to the right will help me keep my chips fresh, and from falling all over the floor and shelves when they are haphazardly thrown aside in the mad dash to rush out of the house. of course i will have to remember to put the clip on the bag. this will take discipline. spending the buck64aday and writing everyday is really helping me find it.

at a buck33 it was a bargin, though i will be hating myself as i lug my buck64aday treasures home on sunday. it seems i have once again packed a little to much stuff for this week long trip. i might have to make the rest of the purchases consumables just to save space. this will mean trips to the convenience store and possibly the dreaded fast food value menu. i really am trying to avoid that. i know it will be unavoidable at some point over the next 300 something days, but there is probably a whopper jr. in my future i am sure.

today was "hang out with dad" day. mom and dad just got their check in the mail. they are retired so they each only got 300bucks each. so did they decided to join their son in the buck64aday quest?



of course not.

they were happy to get their check and my father needs a new laptop for his computer repair business so we were off on a father/son tour of electronics in durham. i call this part.

"the hunt for the laptop that does not exist."

after picking up a clearwire modem at southpoint mall (dad's verizon dsl sucks.. it always has) we headed to circuit city to get the laptop. its in the sale flyer.. its great.. its on sale. its only available in the store.

and...

it's not there. never was. apparently there might be one in indiana the rep says. though when he thinks on it for a second he feels that it was never available anywhere. the circuit city is dead quiet at 4pm. the store has feel of a major electronics box store chain that is about to go under.

oh wait.. i think it might be.

me and c.c. have had our issues in the past,but to see them offer a top of the line laptop in their sales circular and it not actually make into the store is crazy, and of course.. no rain checks. remember those? those were good. who does those anymore?

retail electronics sales were up in may, up 7% from last year. people spent 5.4 billion on mostly laptop computers and lcd tv's. that's good for the electronics industry, but i saw a lot of what they were offering back then. i am still lcd tv-less and i am always looking to see if i can get a "good" one at a good deal. i could also use a laptop. i just did not really see anything out there that was truly worth while. the good stuff was still priced the same (a bit high for me) and the "crap" was priced to sell.

it still is.

when i make an electronics purchase i think long term. it's an investment and truth be told, for 600 bucks you can't really get a high quality lcd tv. the laptops, though cheaper, are still not a good replacement. my electronics shopping today showed me that the good stuff was unreachable and the mediocre to crap was right there in the "suck your tax rebate dry" price range.

one thing did puzzle me at circuit city today. they had 5 19inch samsung tv's on display, all slightly different models. for three different prices. all those price were within 50 bucks of each other. wtf? from a distance it looked like they had a huge selection for the tax rebate crowd.

really they were just on repeat. and offering me credit at no interest for 3-18 months.

still with money to burn, america has gone out and basically bought some mediocre free stuff.

when the second half of the year comes around i think i will seriously be in the market for a lcd tv. with all the money spent and the economic forecast quite dim for the second half of the year, electronics retailers are going to have to really bring prices down to get people to buy up their goods.

a little bit of patience on my part is, i think, going to give to me that big tv.

i do hope though for the electronics retailer's sake they do bring back the rain check. i can understand having a "limited supply" for black friday, but this has got to stop. if you want to gain some customer satisfaction and retention then have that item in stock. for the whole week or just order it and honor that price and i think you will see the sales go up. i know, i know.. you can order it on the web, but who wants their tv to be sent by mail.

in the end we came back empty handed except for the clearwire box (which works like a champ yeah for being able to blog without seeing the "internet explorer cannot find the page" message), and this picture that i was able to take at the macy's in southpoint.
while this is totally something i would do... someone else did it for me. its late june in durham, north carolina. the kids, ladies and gentlemen, are out of school.

my father is still on the hunt for his "choice" laptop. his rebate money has gone unspent. i did suggest that he spend the cash.. a hundred bucks a month for the next 6, but i don't think he is biting.

wrapping up
556.21 at the start
a buck33 spent
the kitty stands at 80cent

maximum spending tomorrow
2buck44

i can spend that tomorrow

you can't stop me.

day 27- it's a bone you lucky dog!

a 2 pack of rawhide bones? what kind of purchase is this?

let me tell you about a nice little lady i know named flicka. she's got nice brown hair, big brown eyes and if i have been gone for a long time she pinkas herself with happiness when she sees me.

i am talking about my niece and nephew's dog. she's a beagle mixed with... um.. something else. i see this dog maybe twice a year and she always remembers me, tells me her story and just showers me with her puppy love.

i never really was much of a dog person, but flicka is the one who could change all that.

so the bones are for her. i am a lower east side guy and that's where milk-bones orginally were made. it seemed appropriate. and at a buck59 i can complete my mission for the day, while she gets to eat her bones.

so...

have you gotten your cash from the government yet?

if you have, then have you spent it?

if not, i really think you might want to really think about how you are going too. over half that money has been sent out and here is what we have seen thus far.

spending has increased since last december by .07 percent. and retails sales are up 1 percent. most of this is attributed to our checks that have come in the mail from the government.

is this a good thing?

think about it. if we have money in our pockets, then we will spend it. the "rebate" looks like free money. right?

maybe we should be thinking about it as free money with a patriotic responsibility attached.

it's intention is to stimulate the economy. spending is up.. so far so good right?

not really.

with the price of gas still riding high and everything going up with it of course we are going to be spending more, but our confidence is down. way down. i am only spending a buck64aday and my confidence is way down, and i am worried that by the end of my year long mission my buck64 is just not going to be worth what it was at the start.

if everyone is spending their money as they get it, and the checks run out in july then, where will be then?

putting all this into perspective.. -let's think back to when you were in high school.. your parents are headed out of town and you will be on your own for a week. mom has stocked the fridge and cupboards with everything you will need for a week.

they come back a week from monday. you will be fine.

she also leaves you with 100 bucks cash for emergencies. (sweet!) you know... just in case. you also know that this money is expected to be spent on pizza and whatever.

it's "fun" money. (it is not expected to be there when she gets back)

mom says goodbye to you and your younger brother and the 'rents take off for a week long trip in south america.

as soon as your parent's plane leaves you are on the phone.. ordering pizza, and of course making arrangements for the annual "kegger" you throw on your parents dough. the money is all spent in the first 2 days.

one day before your parents are to get back, you get a phone call from mom.

dad is sick... no, no its nothing to worry about, but he needs to stay at the hospital for another week to "sort himself out"...

"you'll be fine right? still have that money i gave you for the emergencies?"

"yeah of course, don't worry about us. we will be fine. tell dad to get better."

of course that money was all spent. the party cleaned out the food stores and all that's left is the canned goods, 2 loaves of bread and a box of fruit roll-ups.

just one more week to go kid. you're gonna survive. you have enough to keep you going, but that you know what? 70 bucks sure would come in handy now wouldn't it? see where i am going with this?

end of persepective-

consumer confidence is down now, and i am sure it will be even lower in august. (these high prices for oil barrels we see in the news is after all for july and august, not now) we will have no more of our "free" money to spend, and things are going to get rough. i will still have my buck64aday to spend. that's my mission. how much will you have? couldn't you spread out your money a little bit. maybe spend it slowly? might that not be better for the economy?

200 bucks a month for three months, rather than one of those fancy lcd tv's that you really don't need in febuary 2009.

maybe 100 bucks over 6 months.

i am just sayin...

if we spend our money at a slower, steadier rate we might be able to keep the economy at a more even keel. sure it will be slow, but that 1 percent increase in retail sales was higher than expected. it's total recession we are trying to avoid after all.

here we all are, all 132 million of us.. cash in hand and all we want to do is spend, spend, spend (and put maybe 1/3rd into some sort of debt reduction). kids in a candy store and all that candy we are gonna buy is just in the end going to make us rot.

i am no economic expert, but today's idea might have been a good strategy.

well... might have been if this had been the plan from the start. we as the american people could have been a force to be reckoned with. we could have stared down the economy with our collective 264 million eyes and made it work. tightened the belt and made do, but as americans we go our own way, and when things get bad...

i'll still be here. spending a buck64aday.

at least a bunch of you all will still have those fancy tv's.

wrapping up

557.80 at the start

a buck59 spent

the kitty stands at 49cent

maximum spending tomorrow

2buck13

i can spend that tomorrow

you can't stop me

day 26- you light up my life, you keep the bugs away

i arrived in north carolina today, and as i was walking as fast as i could out of the airport i passed the starbuck's. quickly, i checked the price of coffee. is it me or is it getting harder and harder to find "just coffee" on those menus?

found the price, tucked away amongst the mocha whipped iced latte's. the price for a small coffee was with tax..
a buck64.

so okay. i can get a cup of coffee for my buck64 after all. so long as i am in north carolina i can do it. the catch is, for me, i can't get the same deal in the big city of new york.

please don't get the wrong impression of me, i am not really a fan of starbucks. in my opinion they spent the past 15 years basically destroying the neighborhood coffee shop, but if you work in midtown new york city and you want a "coffee shop" cup of coffee, starbucks is all there is.

how many small coffee shops have closed because of this huge corporate entity. how much of the worlds coffee beans have gone to starbucks to be systematically burned and dumped into over sized cups filled with to much cream and names you could not say three times fast if you tried? i really like the small time coffee shop, the ones where you know you can get a good cup of brew and the people are genuinely nice and friendly. i miss their abundance, their roasts. they are though, on their way back. who ever would have thought that the very monster that starbucks created would begin eating itself. now they are actually closing down some stores and they have begun to "get back down to basics" to compete with the growing number of independent coffee shops out there, as well as the fact that every fast food place is now serving "gourmet coffee".

i really need coffee to survive my day. i am an addict, i know and accept it. i just wish that i did not have to go to the starbucks every once in a while to get my fix. i will go to the neighborhood shop if there is one, but when your falling asleep at the wheel at work and you need a pick me up i know they will do the job.

am i being hypocritical? maybe... i just wish there were more smaller shops out there to choose from, but america likes it big and, well... boring. you can get the same cup at 15,000 locations worldwide. (though my recent trip to the bahamas had the ladies working there scratching their heads when i asked about the pike's place coffee. way to go bahamas!)

starbucks, if you want to change.. if you want to "look smaller" than you are then i would suggest you tell your stores to make each store as inconsistent as possible. each one should be different in making it's coffee. give them each few flaws in the brewing and the construction. make some better than others. that will knock you all down a peg or two. a little humility is endearing.

try it, the people might like it.

as i said yesterday, vacation does not stop the buck64aday. the only thing that might is my father not giving me some precious pc time to complete this blog each day i am here on montclair circle.

today's purchase was actually found by my mom. ever the bargain hunter, she found this little tiki torch lamp complete with citronella oil. i cannot take this one home with me as the faa won't allow me to take flammable liquids on board the jet blue, but for a buck91 from the true value hardware store on highway 54 in durham, it will do.

as for it keeping the bugs away.. i am going for a maximum protection of and 8 inch radius around the flame.

still it will look nice while it has oil and i have till saturday night to burn it all up.

wrapping up
559.71 at the start
a buck91 spent

the kitty stands at 44cents

maximum spending tomorrow

2buck8cent

i can spend that much tomorrow

you can't stop me.

day 25-tasty treat from sugar sweet sunshine

the polvo show last night was not what i had expected. usually when i band does a reunion they play all the hits(like when journey gets together).. you know make people happy, and while they did make people happy they played mostly album medleys(unlike journey). it just was not the same. they have been playing around for a month or so and i was hoping for something more. they did, i am sure, do what they thought was best, but if you came to the show and had not heard polvo beforeyou were left confused, and probably abandoned by your date who was there as a long time fan and had a good time.

the ladies did not have the best time, and for so much build up i can understand the disappointment. i did get to see a bunch of people i have not seen in a long time, including my old roommate from greensboro the tedder man. if polvo is coming your way and you are a fan then i say go to it, but leave your other at home. if they are not a fan they just would not understand.

today is preparation day for my trip down south. jen and i went to spitzer's for some brunch. they have some pretty good food and she loves to do the brunch thing. brunch is not really my thing, but i do like to go out and eat some good food, as a plus they have the rogue hot pepper beer. its really good. i like the spicy stuff and a spicy beer with my eggs benedict with pork trotter was damn good. the trotter was decadent, but a little unsettling. there was something about the texture. something about it... i just could not tell at the time.

a quick phone google search and there it was.

we should have realized.

trotter is pigs feet. don't get me wrong i did not hate it, but well... there was just something about the texture and the feel that made me uneasy. i'll go back to spitzer's brunch, but i am leaving the pigs feet to the bar.

time for the purchase... sugar sweet sunshine is on the way home over on rivington and essex. we stopped in there for a cupcake. the lady loves the pumpkin cupcake and they are only a buck50 each. in fact all the cupcakes are.

nyc has been inundated with cupcakes over the past 5 years. they seem to be everywhere you look. its a popular treat as it is portable, but for me i usually need more than one. one is just not enough. 4 is good for me, but a buck64 is not getting me 4.

jen is still a bit unsettled from the trotter tasting.. the cupcake still stands.. alone and uneaten.


time for me to finish up the packing. traveling by plane is a pain these days. no pointy objects, no trusty zippo lighters, and no gels or liquids.

i will leave them all in a pile here at the pitt. pick them up when i get back.

just reminding you.. vacation does not stop the buck64aday.

wrapping up.
561.21 at the start
a buck50 spent
the kitty stands at 71cent

maximum spending tomorrow

2buck35

i can spend that tomorrow in durham, north carolina

you can't stop me.

day 24- Vacation begins... 9 days of no work and all i got was a bottle opener.

so today my vacation begins. actually it started yesterday at 3:45pm. i squeezed out a little early to head down to the midsummer party. they thought i was just trying get out early to get on a plane. i told them i had a cultural event to go to. still there were looks of dissaproval.

still no work for a week is going to make me a very, very happy guy. i would have loved to be able to do something with jen, but my work makes it hard to pick and choose your vacation time.


here is how it works. the vacation schedule for 2008 began filling up during week one of novemeber of 2007. wtf? the rules are only one person can go on vacation per area per week. and you can only take one vacation every 4 months. i got mine in a little late .

(who plans for july and august in november?)
the only summer vacations left were, this week coming up, and the third week of july. somehow i was able to skirt the "4 month rule" and i think some people are pissed that i did. so i come back from vacation, have a four day week (july 4th after all is on a friday) then i work for a week then i go on vacation again. i am going to head down to durham to see the 'rents. i have not been down there in a while and it will be good to hang out with the family for a week.

i should gotten my license before i left.
i am going to have to chauffered everywhere.

i really look forward to getting my license, but apparently i need to get my "permit" first. that will be fun.

no it will not really.

it just does not seem the same if i get my permit and my mom is not there in the passenger side telling me to watch the side of the road. "watch those mailboxes that are coming up on the right".


still i look forward to it. i am going to get me some tan, give jogging a try and see some friends out in greensboro.

today's purchase is a 4 in one bottle opener. the pitt roof deck tends to be the place to hang out in the summer and when people come over they bring their bottles of beer up and then we always have to go downstairs to get the bottle opener. this bottle opener is going to "live" on the deck.

its safety orange plastic casing will be easy to find even in the dark. one of my neighbors tends to be out there at all hours with one or another of his ladies, and i think this will be a big help to him. he does not need to have his "lady of tonight" going downstairs to get a bottle opener, only to bump into his "lady of the day" going to the bathroom.
(i am totally serious. this has happened)
this will save me from having to listen to any more yelling or banging of doors at 5am, and also keep my nicer more elaborately decorated bottle openers from falling prey to the "sorry man it fell off the roof" apologies, which i have heard more than a few times.

at a buck41, i think this will lend me some happiness for the rest of the summer

well we are off to see polvo at the bowery ballroom. they broke up about ten years ago, but got together for the all tomorrows parties festivals this summer. i have high hopes for the show. there should be a bunch of people from greensboro there as well as a crowd of people the median age of 33.

wrapping up.
562.62 at the start
a buck41 spent
the kitty stands at 57cent

maximum spending tomorrow

2buck21

i can spend that tomorrow

you can't stop me.

day 23- never get locked out again.

ever ran out in a rush? ever gotten to work and realized that your keys are on that table by the front door underneath the yesterday's mail?


i suppose if you are an automobile driver this probably does not happen that much, but in nyc it happens all the time. whether we leave our keys in the house or we forget them at work, it seems to happen to people about once a year.


being a locksmith in new york city is a lucrative business. every building without a doorman (or park slope where you may post no bills or menus on doors please) has a locksmith's card tucked into something by the front door. for 50 to 70 bucks they will be happy to let you in.

i have never left my keys at home, but i have left them at work. luckily my neighbor has a set of keys to the pitt penthouse, but she is not home that often when i get back so i am taking out an insurance policy. an insurance policy against having having to take the long trek back up to midtown to grab my keys. they key box has a nice little magnet situation on the back. all i have to do is get someone to let me in my building and i am home free.

i hope i don't forget to put it back when i am done. even the simplest of safeguards can be defeated without some discipline. at a buck39 i think i can find that discipline.






today we went down to the swedish midsummer party down at battery park. we got there a little late and things were in full swing. the maypole was already up and the swedish folk dancers of new york were already dancing around the maypole. my parents used to belong to the same group years ago and it was nice to see a bunch of people from vasa park out there in the city.



the swede's love their midsummer. it's an all night party and all the ladies are dressed in white, crowns of flowers in their hair.

the nyc parks department was even very tolerant of all the public consumption of the suds. i don't think there was a single picnic blanket that did not have a bottle of snapps, wine or beer. the park police were out in force, but really everyone was just having a great time on the river. the sun was setting on new jersey, the weather was beautiful and i think the only faux pas was me dropping a piece of matjes herring on jen's shoe.



to bad this only happens once a year. now i have to wait till next year to do it all again, or maybe head off to sweden to see it all for myself.



wrapping up
562.62 at the start
buck39 spent
the kitty stands at 34cent

maximum spending tomorrow buck98

i can spend that much tomorrow


you can't stop me.

day 22- i thought the highlight of today would be my new phone...

wow! what a day. early this morning i went to get the new sprint phone. the "instinct" is a touch phone, an "ipod killer" or something like that. really, i just like gadgets and when your full 150 bucks come around from sprint you do go out there and try to get the best for your money.

so i get the phone and then i haul the 4 long blocks (those midtown crossing blocks can be a killer) back to work. i can't play with my new toy as i have to pay the rent. i do however get a little time to mess around with it and figure some stuff out.

fast forward to about 3pm. i get a message from the lady saying that i am in the news.

excitement. though i don't know what she means as i cannot get the phone to work yet. i have the internets and i can't get it to go.

finally, i find out that the cbs news channel in charlotte has discovered my blog and not only do they mention it, but they also chat up about the blog during their story on how people are spending their stimulus packages. you can watch the blog scrolling up and down the screen as they talk about my purchases. terrible picture, beer bottles and all.

one of them said "what fun".

really i am having a blast doing this whole thing. it is a mission, but there is no reason why i should not make it a fun mission. i am just happy to be getting the word out. spreading that word of a buck64aday across the whole world.

thanks wbtv. you have made my stat counter go through the roof.

you can check out the video clip here.

its a bit ironic that it got picked up in north carolina, as that is where i am originally from.

they added it to their blog. you can get all you might need from here.

aside from the moments of fame in the early morning hours of charlotte, north carolina i did a little bit of shopping today. spending that buck64 is what its all about right? thank god for the kitty or i would be in big trouble. i have been wanting to find something for the lady for some time. its hard to get something meaningful/useful for your girlfriend for a buck64, but i succeeded.

whenever she takes a shower at my place she is subject to all my "guy" toiletries. she has really nice skin and i thought she might like this loufa scrubber mit. this way she does not have to use my sad white "suds scrubber". at a buck92 its within the budget and it might give her a better shower. our water pressure is pretty terrible and this might just make a shower at the pitt more enjoyable.

don't worry i'll stick to my own scrubber.

i had a good time seeing the word get spread today and i would like to see more of it. please pass me around. its only day 22. we have a long way to go. a long way.

wrapping up

565.93 at the start

a buck92 spent

the kitty stands at 9cents

maximum spending tomorrow

a buck73

i can spend that much tomorrow

you can't stop me.

day 21- altered by pabst only to be made by miller.

ballantine ale. ever had it? very once in a while i get an urge for it. at a buck75 its a winner. 22 ounces of one of the oldest beers in america, and when i say old i mean 1850 old.

the label says "the largest selling beer in america".

sure. maybe in 1942, but when you primarily find it in and around the olde english and the colt 45 section of your bodega's malt liquor selection it kind of means that you are stretching the truth. still i don't mind where i find it, though i wonder how frasier felt about picking up his father (martin crane) a six pack on the way home from work. moving the beast cans aside and knocking down a magnum to grab that last sixer of ballentines from the back of the case. thats not so smooth frasier

it apparently does not taste the way it used to. after 150 years of brewing, owner changes and a purchase by pabst (only to be out sourced to miller) it is apparently not the same. i never got a chance to ask my grandfather if he liked it back when he was younger. i wish i had.

it is kind of a shame how things in america seem to change over time. the budweiser of today is not the same as yesterday. i would like to taste the beer of yesterday. that would be nice. i think it would be a damn fine beer.

so i paired yesterday's purchase and today's purchase into a nice little package. today i drank the ballantines from the glass. it was good and much classier than drinking from a 22 ounce bottle. that would only be classy at a bowling alley or a BYOB party. movies on the roof had not yet started. drinking from a 22 or a 40 on the roof of pitt is all about class.
now that's classy.

i am a bit excited about tomorrow as it is time for the new sprint phone to come out and play with me. i got an email this afternoon inviting me to come purchase it a day early for 129bucks. that's not to shabby and it does give back some points to sprint from me. i am looking forward to my new fancy phone. its no iphone i know, but at least the instinct won't drop calls like its on some crazy cingular network or somehthin.

i am gonna try and see if i can work out a deal with sprint... see if i can get the phone for a buck64. that would be nice. after all i am a seven year customer and i am going to be (hopefully) blogging from it. that must be worth something right? probably not.

wrapping up.

567.68 at the start
a buck75 spent
the kitty stands at 37 cent

maximum spending tomorrow
2buck1cent
i can spend that tomorrow.
you can't stop me.

day 20- i think i bought stolen goods

remember when these things were free? or at least you thought you were getting away with murder as you walked out of the bar with your pint glass?

maybe it was in your pocket. maybe you had your girl put it in her purse. hopefully you emptied it so it did not make her birth control pills run like some wet sweet-tarts. maybe you did not and you had a nice surprise 9 months later.

everyone knows the guy who walks out of the bar and when he reaches the parking lot; he pulls his 3/4 full pint of beer from his pocket and sips on it like a bad ass.

for all your hiding and "living on the edge", you have to remember that these branded beer glasses are given to the bar from the beer distributor. they were free. its the perfect marketing scheme.

while getting blitzed at the bar on carbombs and shots of jager you settle down to a nice pint of beer. said beer comes in a branded glass and when you finish it up the bartender asks you what you might like next. at a loss for words you pull some dough out of your pocket and look at the blurred beer board and then back at the bartender. you hold up your glass and say.

"another one of these!"

sale completed. another keg tapped, a call to the distributor for more and your tender brings you another one of "these"

i do miss my pint glass collection. they were the disposable silica cups of my youth. they would break and without much grumbling.

swept up without a thought.

after all its just sand right?

the best part was that they were free

they still can be you know.

who needs to go on down to the target or wherever to get some new glasses for the house. just make a few trips to the bar, leave your sensibility at the door and after a couple of weeks you got yourself a nice set of glasses. if you try really hard you can get a matched set.

in my mind it would make a fine wedding gift. nothing says love and hope for the future like a purloined set of 8 pint glasses with exciting things written on them like, "miller lite", "guiness", " murphy's irish stout" and "porkslap beer".

have you ever had porkslap? its damn good.

what do you say.. you fall wedding people.. do you want me to buy you something from the registry? or spend weeks collecting pint glasses and then making sure they get home without breaking them. that is almost an art for me.

priceless art it would be.

wrapping up
568.97 at the start
a buck29spent

the kitty stands at48cents

maximum spending tomorrow
2buck12
i can spend that tomorrow
you can't stop me

day 19- running with scissors, no more

i am always in need of scissors, but i only ever seem to have either, a really big pair kitchen shears which are perfect for cutting up those cornish game hens for some good old cast iron skillet cooking, or some really small ones for cutting the schnoz hair. what i really needed was some scissors for trimming up herbs from the garden and these will do just perfectly. they will also be good for getting rid of those pesty suckers from my neatly groomed tomato plants.

they are nice and sharp and even come with a protective cover so when i am "walking" around with them i won't accidentally stab myself or others. at a buck61 they are a good deal. i really intend to utilize my garden this summer to super stretch my food dollars. these scissors will help me out a lot as they won't damage the plants for future production.

a trip to steve's c-town yesterday was a bit disconcerting. food is just getting pricier and pricier. i work around food so i can eat at work, but i do like to cook at home and it seems that getting that food to the house is gonna be a challenge. back when i used to get paid by the hour and things were tight, i would actually think about what "this hour" would get me. it seems i am back to that point.

i did see that a buck64 can actually get me a meal.. sort of. meats and cheeses are pretty much out, but chicken livers are in.

at a buck a pound they are totally within my budget. fry those babies with some onions and served it over some herbed rice would make a fine filling meal. if you are frowning then you must not like chicken livers.. shame on you.

sundays after church when i was a kid we would leave church and on the way home my brother, sister and i would beg out parents to stop at dell's village to get some chicken liver for lunch (us swedes tend to have a pretty broad pallet range). my dad would fry them up and we would devour them. my parents still chuckle at how easy it was to please us sometimes.

still, i feel that i can really make my buck64 work for me at the grocery. with my culinary skills i should be able to make some good food.

i don't want to have to go the "ramen route" to save cash to maintain my lifestyle. i only recently started liking ramen noodles again, the good kind, you know the ones that have hardly any english writing on them.

i would like to keep it that way.

wrapping up

570.58 at the start
a buck61 spent
the kitty stands at 13cents

maximum spending for tomorrow is a buck77
i can spend that tomorrow
you can't stop me.

day 18- don't get burned

the pot holder is possibly on the best inventions ever. here is a small, compact piece of insulated fabric that helps you to pick up hot things from the oven or the stove. there have probably been some sort of pot holders ever since we began cooking on rocks back in the neolithic times. when cloth became available we moved on to using whatever was around.

weaving gave the pot holder a big push as people realized they could make their own pot holders. (remember that weaving set you had as a kid? made a lot of potholders didn't you) these were not just some rag you would grab to keep yourself from getting burned. it was weaved cloth that was to be used only for cooking. now they come in all sorts of varieties. mostly with weird stuff printed on one side, like these hot peppers you see above. i do like the silicone ones cuz they don't have to be dry. i only have a couple pot holders in the house and mostly i use them as trivets. this one will be perfect for pulling the biscuits out of the oven and then holding the cast iron pan while i make the gravy.

next sunday morning is gonna be tasty.

wrapping up.
572.19 at the start
a buck61 spent

the kitty stands at a dime

maximum spending tomorrow
a buck74
i can spend that much tomorrow
you can't stop me

day 17-taking measure

my kitchen on the pitt has never been that organized.

we don't really have anywhere to hang pots and pans, and the storage space is rustic at best. it does not help that there is maybe 6 years of "roomate share" kitchen tools floating around the kitchen. that equals to 10 roomates leaving their kitchen crap.

and me not throwing it out.

in the kitchen, i don't really need much.
the big chef knife is actually the only knife i really need, and the big'un measuring cup will do just fine. for the more nuanced cooking though, i thought it was about time to upgrade myself to some real measuring devices.

you know the kind you don't have to hunt around for in a drawer full of duck sauce, old chopsticks and ancient birthday candles. my kitchen has three drawers. two for pots and pans and one for untensils and whatever other crap anyone (including myself) has decided to throw in there.

we all have a junk drawer. admit it..

you do.

i keep my junk drawer very minimal, but it is still where we keep the utensils. sure they are all in the pre formed utensil shaped holder. the mismatched forks, knives and spoons.. a terrible mix of fancy silver and dollar store crap. somewhere in the middle of that ... i'm sure in between the four wine tools and next to the tiny melon baller(that has never been used) is a "half" tablespoon. i believe all these items are also sitting atop a calculator that doubles as a spanish to english electronic dictionary.

at the core of all this though is that fact that i need some new measuring cups, and some new measuring spoons. the best thing here is that they are combined. i won't have to go chasing around the spoons. after all they are attached to the cups.

its so much easier to just look for one thing in my kitchen.

it would be even easier if i actually went in and cleaned out all the crap.

wrapping up.
574.13 at the start
2buck16 spent

the kitty stands at 7 cents.

maximum spending tomorrow
a buck71
i can spend that much tomorrow.
you can't stop me.

day 16- if there is no soap then you have no clean coffee mugs.

i could have been inventive. i could have bought a beer (i should have for the long ass train ride i had going home), but i needed some dish soap. it seems all the busy running around and all my time wasting trying to find out more info in the sprint "instinct" has let the coffee cups go and go.

but we need soap to do the dishes. i tend to use up the soap with my laundry. i know what you are thinking. who would use dawn or ajax on their clothes?

me.

that's who.

you use less soap, and dish soap is a "super wettener" (is that even a word?) if you want to lift out stains, then use some dish soap.

just don't use to much as it won't rinse out making that happy walk in the summer rain a little sudsy. its economical and it works like a champ. in hindsight my purchase of lemon scented ajax might not have been the best choice as it does leave a slight lemon scent on my clothes, but its slight. a ride on the subway will totally help it fade away.

the mom showed me the dish soap trick for the stains. i just took it a step farther.

with inflation jumping up i need to combine the utility of my purchases. we all do. i can use the dish soap for dishes and laundry. what can can do with a can of beer? in vasa park i would use it for target practise with the bb gun.

here in the city.... well i don't know.

inflation is something we are all going to have to be watching. our dollars are already stretched and with the oil shock we just got we are going to be seeing higher prices later this summer. those high barrel costs were for july, not june. you are seeing the high prices at the grocery store. later this year it could get worse. transportation costs are passed on to the consumer. you show me a company that will eat them and i would probably introduce you to ben and jerry's ice cream. if anyone would do it, they would be the guys.

i think our real problem might be the crazy flooding in the mid-west. they are evacuating cities.

that's where our food comes from.

this might just be one tough winter.

wrapping up.

575.75 at the start

a buck40 spent

the kitty stands at 59cents

maximum spending tomorrow

2 bucks 23

i can spend that tomorrow

you can't stop me.

day 15-for me.. so i don't forget... for you, so's you don't get bored.

so this buck64aday mission can be bit distracting and time consuming. time is money as you know, and well i have little time and only a buck64aday or so to spend.

how do i find time to go out everyday and hunt for the purchase? it is pretty hard actually.

hence the notebook. its small, has 75 3x5" pages, and it only cost a buck40.

front to back its 150 pages. here i will jot down all my thoughts for purchasing and thoughts to bring up for the blog.

i really am trying to be original, and though the dollar store on pitt street calls my name for an easy out, i don't want to cop out.

workin' ten hours a day kind of sucks out the free time. i should be headed over to brooklyn to see the lady, but i don't want her to see me get frustrated at her laptop. i cherish the time i get to spend with her and i don't want the mission to get in the way of that. she has been a big help. really big. i thank her very much.

very much. so i am hammering this out now.

speaking of working ten hours a day and the work. the word is that on the job front in america we are effectively stalled. it seems that when the economy is moving america creates 100,000 jobs a month. we are losing about 50,000 jobs a month. meaning we ain't goin nowheres. with unemployment up that means quitting that job i hate so much will have to wait. the government is talking about doing another stimulus package of 11 billion buckaroos that would extend unemployment benefits. is this a good idea? i am gonna have to some more research.

it kind of seems that all this money going out to the people is going to get us in the end.

only time will tell.. and some more research from me. i could really make a full time job out of all these questions i have. would the government pay me to do a blog and do the research? you know .. ordinary guy asking extraordinary questions and relating them to the america people?

maybe that crazy guy on tv with the government grant book can help me.

or i could just go here. so could you.

i am a particular fan of the five grand to taking acting and singing lessons.

wrapping up

577.07 at the start
a buck40 spent.
the kitty stands at 24cents.

maximum spending tomorrow
a buck88
i can spend that tomorrow
you can't stop me.

a fortnight- no, i don't got the herp.

but, apparently 1/4 of nyc has got it. no really, i swear i don't have the herp, but on the hype of the news story yesterday i decided to pick some carmex up. ignore the price above. i got mines for a buck92, cleaned out my kitty and all. (camera was acting funny so i had to go to google images) i know it won't protect me from the herp, ( only i can do that) but it is a tingly lip balm.

i remember this stuff from college. ginni would swear by it. it seemed to "go away" for a while on the rumors of it being addictive. technically it is not. it is full of counter irritants though and it does dry out your lips. the camphor and the menthol do it... dry out the lips i mean.

the phenol is supposed to kill bacteria.

really this stuff is useless to anyone who wants to use it primarily as a lip balm, but it does produce some tingly lips. everyone likes some tingly lips every once in a while. right?

when i remember back.. people used to dip into each other's carmex like it was candy or snuff. good thing for the phenol or we all would have had each other's cooties to this day.

apparently our lips exfoliate every month, so in fact we don't need lip balm at all. we still use it though. no one wants to have some flaky-peeling lips when you're out and about.

just so your not laughing at us in nyc. remember, the national average for the herp is 19%. the rest of you are just five or so percentage points behind. watch out the herp is forever.

the people in nyc like to do it a little bit bigger.. a little better (or so we think) than the rest of america.
don't believe the hype!
nyc may have given madonna its start, but don't make the herp chic.

the next time your in nyc for a convention, vacation or whatever, remember 25 percent of the people you meet have the herp.
they may not even know.
even if they did.. do you think they would tell you?

be safe, so you don't have to be sorry.

wrapping up.

buck92 spent.
577.04 to go.
the kitty is empty.

maximum spending tomorrow

a buck64

i can spend that tomorrow.

you can't stop me.