I Took this Picture Yesterday

You just can't even imagine how beautiful it looks here. The leaves are colors I only saw in pictures. Yesterday we were driving down the street and I saw these bright red leaves on this white building and it looked like something you might see in an art gallery.

I always keep my camera on hand so I told my special guy to stop there on the way back so I could get a few pictures. I think this one came out especially nice with the blue sky and green grass.

Where did the week go? I can't believe it is Friday!

My legal work has been slow. It always is in the month of October. People who filed extensions for their tax returns in March/April are now getting it done this month. That is why I picked October to go to Greece.

And this is the 2nd year that it didn't happen. Which is okay by me because only 50% of me is disappointed that I didn't go. The other 50% is grateful that I didn't go because I want to learn some Greek language before going.

My friend, Momo, from Casablanca Morocco, told me that knowing the language of a country is more valuable than having a pursue full of money. He knows 5 languages fluently.

The weather is in the 50's here and cloudy. We are suppose to get rain tonight and then the weather will get a bit cooler. I love it!

Ciao

Farmer's Market Done for This Year

The small farmers market that is one block from my house closes for the fall/winter months. I went today and there was only one vendor. She said that they were taking it day by day (seeing how the weather is) to determine how much longer they will be setting up shop this year.

I will miss them. It's not easy finding organic produce and vegetables here. You can find them... but you really have to hunt for them. Whole Foods, which I love, is a 2 1/2 hour drive from here. We like to go there when we have other places to go in the area which will be soon as I am going to have to have my 30,000 maintenance done on my car.

And the closest Volkswagen dealership is about 2 1/2 hours away. Since my car is leased I need to have the maintenance done by a dealership. Speaking of cars....

What's up with Volkswagen's? They make me think of the BMW's with the electrical problems. My car is a 2007 Jetta and there is a light that came on that says I have a light burned out. I checked and there are no lights burnt out, so what's with that light on the dashboard?

This is the 3rd Volkswagen that I have owned and it will be my last. I am seriously thinking of getting a Toyota Camry. I have owned 2 Toyota's in my life and they just don't die and are virtually maintenance free. The first one I had for like 10 years and sold it. The second one I had for 13 years and it had 164,000 miles on it when I sold it for $600.

Ciao

I'm Done with Ebay

Like Wow has eBay changed over the years. I was one of the first group of people who did eBay in the beginning and it wasn't as easy as it is now, however, you did make money. Ebay started in September 1995.

In the beginning all of your ads were written in html code and if you didn't know how to write the code you could purchase various programs that would assist you with the conversion of the code. Now, you can just type your ad in and it will translate it to the html code or you can write the code in. I think that there are too many people on eBay now.

Now you pay eBay fees to list your items and eBay fees when you sell your items and their are restrictions on how much you can charge to ship an item. No wonder their revenue was approximately $8.4 billion last year.

I did some research on the internet and found that a lot of people are saying that in order to make it worth your while on eBay you have to be selling one niche item and that if you are selling random stuff your chances of making it worth your while or pretty much non-existent.

I know someone, in California, who claims to make a very good living selling reburbished cell phones. He has been doing it for years and is a power seller which means he gets lots of eBay perks that the average Joe, like me, doesn't get.

So how does one get rid of everything that you don't want or need? Well, you can give it to a charity. I do this several times a year.

I think that my friend, Judy in Texas, has the right idea. She started a Garage Sale Business. She has a home with a big yard to do it in. People give her their stuff and she sells it at her Garage Sales and keeps a commission. She has recently told me that business is great.

I would have a Garage Sale every weekend if I had the right place to do it. I live "in town" and don't have anyplace to do it now. So today I am boxing up everything that is on the floor in my office, labeling the boxes "Shit to Sell" and putting them up in the attic.

My next plan is to try my hand at the Garage Sale business next year when I move. Hopefully then it will be worth my while to do.

Bottom line... eBay is not worth my time ;-)

Ciao

Winterizing Windows

This is my first time winterizing windows and I hope it will be my last. What a chore! You definitely don't do this kind of stuff in the south or the west coast.

This is only done to older homes. You wouldn't do it in the south because it doesn't get cold enough and you wouldn't do it on the west coast because it doesn't get cold enough and all of the homes are new. If someone purchases a home that is 50+ years old, in California, there is a 95% chance it will be torn down and rebuilt.

Here in Pennsylvania it's rare to find a newly built home. It's common to find homes 100 and even 200 years old. The home I am currently renting was built in the 1920's. So it is almost 90 years old. I don't think that they knew about insulating homes in the 1920's so most of them don't have any insulation. Like the one I am currently renting.

I am learning a ton about homes here in Pennsylvania and I am glad that I chose to rent for a year before purchasing. When next spring comes and I am ready to purchase I will know exactly what to look for.

The picture is exactly what my windows look like. You put a strip of this double sided tape along the top, side, middle and bottom of the window. Then you take this clear plastic and place it over the windows and press down on the double sided tape. Then you take the blow dryer and go over the plastic so that it shrinks tightly on the window. It was an extra chore for us because we had to remove the crap that the old tenants had put on the window. Which included some of this double sided tape, a caulking type of junk and some foam shit. My fingers are tried from picking and pealing and I even used a scraper at some point.

I now know that if I purchase an older home I am going to have to factor in the cost of new windows. The newer windows have a double pane so you don't have to worry about this plastic stuff.

Well, I can't type any more today.... as I mentioned my fingers are tried from picking and peeling.

Ciao

It's Snowing!

It's October 15th, 2009, and it is snowing!!!! Everyone here in PA has been telling me, "Just wait till November, that's when the weather changes". And what they meant was that the beautiful fall cool weather in the 50's and 60 degrees would go away.

Well, it seems like the weather has changed suddenly. However, I hear that after next week Tuesday, the weather will go back to the normal sweater weather.

Meanwhile, only 1/3 of our windows are "winterized". We were planning on getting it all done by November, when the weather changed. Tomorrow we will try to work on more of the windows. The weather report says it will snow all day tomorrow and we could get an inch.

Today was my first day of driving in the snow. Which I am not completely sure was the best of ideas as I really wanted to see the snow and everything around me.

It also was my first day about learning how to dress for the cold... by layering. The great thing is that now I get to wear the beautiful coat, jacket and sweater that I purchased on my visit to Iceland.

If you are in need of coats, jackets and/or sweaters, Iceland is the place to go shopping. There were hundreds of beautiful clothing to pick from. And just so you know... it's only a 6 hour air flight from JFK airport in New York.

It's currently 36 degrees and going as low as 32 degrees tonight. It is currently 87 degrees in Woodland Hills and going down to 61 degrees. Even though it is cold... I am still glad I am here.

Ciao

Hickory Run State Park in PA

If you love nature and hiking, then Pennsylvania is your kind of place. There are so many beautiful state parks to go hiking and explore.

Sunday we went to Hickory Run State Park hiking. There are many trails with lots of beautiful water falls. The picture is of the Boulder Field, which is a 16-acre, 12-foot-deep phenomenon created during the last ice age. It is truly an amazing thing to see. You can walk across the rocks, which I didn't want to do because most of the rocks I put my foot on moved. Just the thought of walking across those rocks safely made my stress level begin to rise. So I decided not to. In stead I just took the picture!

The leaves are a changing here and it is soooo beautiful. There is about a 6 week window in the fall wherein you can see the beautiful colored landscape. Click here to see a video I made of the changing leaves.

Ciao

Bike Riding

One of my favorite things to do is ride my bike.

When I was 14 years old I was given a purple bike. Every day after school I would jump on my bike and take off down the street. We lived in a neighborhood that had large streets and not much traffic. I could ride really fast and feel the wind going through my hair as I maneuvered my way through the neighborhood.

Bike riding in Los Angeles never felt like it did when I was 14 years old. I couldn't ride my bike anywhere other than the beach. Keep in mind, your chances of getting hit by a car just crossing the street are great in Los Angeles, never mind being on a bike.

There's an 8 foot bike path that runs along the Pacific Ocean from Malibu, through Santa Monica, Venice to Marina del Rey. This 8 foot bike path is divided in half. One half is for people going in one direction and the other half is for people going in the opposite direction. It is clearly written with words and pictures that the bike path is for people on bikes or skakes. Not people walking and not people with baby strollers. It's beautiful to ride along the oceans. In facts it is so beautiful that millions of people want to be there so riding your bike on the bike path, along the ocean, can be extrememly stressful. After all, you don't want to run anyone over. So you never get any kind of speed and you will never feel the wind blowing through your hair.

Saturday I took my bike out and rode down the street to the Susquehanna River and along it past the corn fields. I got great speed and could definitely feel the wind in my hair and I thought to myself, "OMG this is exactly what it felt like to ride my bike when I was 14 years old." A great experience which I plan to do more of.

The picture is of my Hello Kitty bike that I spent one year covering with swarovski crystals.

Ciao