BLIND AS A BAT

A follow up to my last post..............

Without contacts or glasses I am blind! I love contacts, but it is nice to get home at night and take them out....thus my need for glasses. Years ago there was a 2/$99 sale @ EyeMasters and my sister and I both got 1 pair (they let you use 2 Rx's).

Anyway, I decided it was probably about time to get some new glasses with my upgraded prescription, so at my yearly eye appt, I asked my Dr. for an Rx for glasses (their's are pretty pricey and I don't need anything real fancy to just wear around the house at night).

Well, once again a found of couple of places that had a special for 2 pairs/$99. This time I decided I would get 2 pair for myself. If I am going out of town and I am packing late at night, I am usually wearing my glasses, but want to take them with me and hope that I remember to pack them. I have also left them at my parents house a time or two. Therefore, if I have two pair I have one for my house and can leave one in my "travel bag."

The first place I stopped was the place referred to in my previous post. Not only was the girl an idiot, but she was not very helpful. Long story short. I know my Rx is bad and my lenses will be thick, but I don't really care and I have always just gotten the standard plastic lenses that are the least expensive. She didn't think that with my Rx plastic lenses would work and that I needed to upgrade. Anyway, the 2 pair of glasses in their cheapest frames (even with the 35% off) were going to cost me around $350. Ummmmm....I don't think so.

My next stop was EyeMasters were I learned it had not just been 2-3 years like I thought, but I was last in there in 2003! The salesgirl was wonderful! The 2/$99 sale included any frames that were $69.99 or less or you could just pay the $10-$20 dollars more or whatever the difference was in the cost of the frames. I looked around and found a while and found a couple frames that I thought worked, but then I didn't have Debra with me this time to give me her opinion. My saleslady came over to see how I was doing and helped me pick some good ones out and vetoed a couple. A couple of options she had picked out came of the "DESIGNER FRAMES CLEANANCE RACK - 2/$57". What a bargain! After she hunted down some other options that were overflow for that rack....we came up with 2 winners. A Steve Madden plastic frame and a Tommy Hilfiger wire frame. With the standard plastic frames I was getting 2 pair of designer frames & lenses for $57. Because I had planned on at least $100, I decided to upgrade lenses (and my Rx had gotten quite a bit stronger in 6 years), but I still got out the door with 2 pair of glasses (with the thin lenses) for $115....not bad, I say!

**Disclaimer: If you ask anyone that knows me well, they will tell you that I can't tell a short story. I guess I always want to make sure that I am not leaving out any important details?? For this I apologize, but understand that it probably won't ever change.

I AM NO MATHMETICIAN, BUT I AM A THINKER...

I published a post a while back that was similar, but another experience today makes be feel strongly that anyone applying for any retail job should have to pass a math test.

I was just at a optical shop looking to order some new glasses. The sales girl (very young) mentioned that because of my insurance I would get 35% off. She grabbed her calculator and told me that the lenses that are regularly $169 would be $59.15 with the 35% off. I might not have been able to do that calculation in my head in 30 seconds, but right off I knew that $59.15 was more that 1/2 of $169. I tried to explain to her that didn't seem right. I watched her plug some numbers back into the calculator...169*.35= $59.15. I then began to explain to her that her calculations were giving me 65% off. She looked really confused and wasn't getting it. She motioned for a co-worker to come over and I explained to him the question and he tells her that the $59.15 is the amount to be discounted, making the price $109.85....quite a bit more than the $60. To that she says, in a very blondish, ditzy tone... "Oh. I have been doing that wrong for a long time. You shouldn't have said anything." Even more crazy than that was when the co-worker just casually says, "oh, a simple mistake," and walks away.

***Are you kidding me***

Well, forgive me for being an honest person or people would continue to get a killer deal on glasses.

No wonder the economy is failing. It has nothing to do with the price of oil, or a stagnant housing market, but all of the business failures that are causing job losses, etc. should be blamed on employees that can't do simple math....EVEN WHEN USING A CALCULATOR. I would hate to know if this girl was giving people a 90% discount on a 10% off sale.

The problem with calulators is that they work really great if you know what and how to plug in your equation.

TODAY I LOST A GOOD FRIEND

A very good friend of mine died today. There was hardly a day that the two of us did not spend time together. This great friend loved me for who I was not for what I look like.....even if I was having a bad hair day. (Actually, on those bad hair days, I think he was partly to blame.

Okay.....so it was just my hair dryer, but still. This thing was a goer!

I could be wrong, but i think I purchased him (yes, it's a "him." ) just after my mission which was.....well, let's just say, OVER 10 years ago. One reason that I bought this particular hair dryer was a fancy little sensor that you could turn on or off (and it was RED). If you slid the lever down exposing the sensor the dryer would only work if your hand was over it......thus allowing one to dry a small section of hair, set down the dryer on the counter and it would stop without turning it on and off, then when you got the next piece of hair ready and picked it back up and your hand was covering the sensor it would start again.

I didn't always use the sensor and there were several day where I didn't notice that I have moved the switch and my hair dryer would just quit. I kept thinking.....this is it.....I have had this hair dryer forever. It was bound to happen. Then I would notice it was just the switch.

Well, it died for real this morning. Luckily I had a back up. I have a bag full of everything I need to get ready (with the exception of my make-up, because that can get old) that I use when I go out of town. That way I don't ever have to wait until my hair is done, etc. to finish packing my bathroom bag and worry about forgetting something that could be very important in my "getting ready" process.

I will be off this weekend to shop for a replacement.

**Does a posting about a dead hair dryer give you a even a tiny glimpse of how incredibly exciting my life really is? (sarcasm intended, in case you didn't catch that).

PULLING A "KIRSTIE ALLEY"

Okay, so for anyone who cares or has been watching (Debra)...For two Saturdays I was out of town and did not weigh myself, hence....no posting of gains or losses. Then this past Saturday, I came out exactly the same as I was 3 weeks earlier. I suppose this isn't bad, but it isn't good either considering I am on a quest to shed some pounds.
So this last weekend I was reading a PEOPLE magazine that had an article in it about Kirstie Alley*. The article talked about how much weight she has lost as the spokeswoman for Jenny Craig, but that now she has gained it all back plus some and she is determined to lose it all again.
I often feel like this is what I do.....I do really good on eating well and exercising and get rid of some of my weight, only to slack off a bit and and gain it all back and some.
After reading this article AND seeing some of the pictures of me from our recent family vacation (where I look like a potential candidate for The Biggest Loser) I really NEED to stick to it this time. So once again....I am re-dedicating myself to this goal.
*No disrespect to Kirstie Alley was meant by this post. (It could have been Oprah, or any of the millions of people who struggle with this). She just happened to be the topic of the article I read. In fact, she is part of my motivation. If that lady can gain 85 lbs. and then take it off, why can't I lose 1/2 that amount. Also...how horrible would it be to have your weight loss challenges documented & advertised nationwide (including pictures)!

HOME ON THE RANGE

I spent last week in Island Park/Yellowstone with the WHOLE family. It isn't very often that we are ALL together. There are 15 of us and my dad rented a 15 passenger van so that once we all arrived there we could all travel around together.

My sister Laura and her family (The Albrechts) flew in from Oklahoma on Saturday. Debra and I met them and my parents at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple to attend the Open House.

Then Sunday morning my parents and the Abrechts picked me up in the "poligy-van" and we stopped at temple square where we wandered around and toured the Conference Center including the gardens on the roof. Although I have been to the Conference Center many times, I didn't know there was so many neat things there that I had not seen before.

My favorites were The Book of Mormon picture room that houses the original paintings by Arnold Friberg that are in the paper version of The Book of Mormon and the HUGE picture of Joseph interpreting the dream of the Butler & the Baker that was once owned by Napoleon Bonaparte.

From there we headed North to Idaho Falls where we had dinner at Angela's (The Maddocks) house and then continued onto our final destination.

We rented a cabin out on Bill's Island in Island Park. We especially enjoyed the hot tub & the fire pit.

Here are some of the highlights.....

The Wildlife

Old Faithful & All the Hot Pots

Rafting Down "Big Springs"

The Cutest Kids in the World

And last, but certainly not least.........Mom was happy because she got her FAMILY PICTURE!