Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Sometimes It's Good to Fool Ourselves...

Don't let them tell you that the $3000 vacuum cleaner will get your house cleaner. I own one of those--although I paid $1200 20+ years ago--and I just realized today that it's my $20 Eureka Boss that gets my house cleaner. No kidding!

I have to first give credit to my DustBuster that originally led me to this epiphany. I bought the rechargeable DustBuster just for traditional reason--quick clean-ups--but it came with a floor attachment and next thing I knew, I was whizzing around every other day vacuuming the floors for 10 minutes (that's how long the battery charge lasted). The battery eventually gave out and I replaced it once, but when it ran out again, I realized it was not very cost-effective to keep replacing the battery for $30, but I just loved my handy little floor buster!

While shopping at KMart I came across this Eureka corded handheld/floor vac and at first I balked at the idea of the cord hindering my "zipping around" the house. Anyone who knows me, however, would understand that the $22 price tag was the deal maker. That and a 10 foot extension cord that hubby already had. [Helpful hint: Because the filter looks very questionable, I covered it with a piece of cotton cloth fastened with a rubberband. The vac's suction is still strong enough and this way you get double filtering. Works fine! Next I'm going to try using a coffee filter.][Update: I got ambitious and cut up my Kirby micro-filter bags and made disposable filters that cover the cheapy filter with a rubberband...works great!!]

For a lazy housekeeper like me, a $20 vac DOES get the house cleaner than a $3000 one that just sits in the hallway closet. The key is ease of use=more frequent use! Just the thought of dragging out the heavy vacuum cleaner is such a turn-off, while the skinny cheerful yellow model stands almost invitingly in a corner.

If I've learned anything over the years, it's the fact that I have to constantly fool myself into doing anything I don't like to do and a vacuum cleaner that looks like a toy really helps.

Another trick is the old "I'll just clean the kitchen jalousies and that's IT." (Kitchen jalousies=one window). As I said, I hate hate hate cleaning, but something in me is perverted in that once I start cleaning something (which might be once in several months), I have a hard time stopping even though I tell myself "Ok, you did the kitchen, that's enough." Myself says, "Well look, I just washed the rag and it could still wipe a couple more jalousies..." So myself gets fooled into doing the whole house.

Lest you think I must have a clean house this way, think again. I may be fooled, but it'll take another six months or even a year to fool me again. I'm not THAT stupid. *LOL*

I try to do the same with exercising. "Okay, just move around for 5 minutes" will usually result in a 15-20 minute activity....but again, unfortunately, doesn't happen as often as recommended. We bought a Wii Fit and that lasted about a month. Now when I do get on the Wii, it says something sarcastic like "Oh! You haven't been here for 37 days!" or something to that effect.

Give me a break!! I have more important things to do, like sit at the computer all day checking my email, reading celebrity gossip, blogging, reading movie spoilers, putting my cut-out face in different hairdos, googling stuff, and oh yeh, working in between all that. Which reminds me, I have assignments due and sewing for the Koloa Plantation Days fair next week! Now how will I fool myself into getting all that done?

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Nothing to fear but Fear itself...

If you don't already know this, I'm telling you now: Everything changes. I didn't understand this til I was in my 30's and I'm still learning even now. I noticed lately, for instance, that I feel saddest or hopelessest (just made up that word) in the morning when I wake up. Strange, but after I've done my washing up, much of my dreariness seems to have gone down the drain. Interesting!

The world is going through a massive shift this year and we don't know how long this uncertainty will last or what the outcome will be. Hopefully something good will come from this huge malfunction resulting from greed and immorality. A return to basics, I suppose? Hard lessons on what's truly important in life? How to do manual labor? Renewed interest in canned Spam and sardines? I don't know.

I watched "Law and Order" the other night and since they like to advertise "ripped from the headlines", I'm assuming people are flocking to street fights in New York City. Can "Thunderdome" be far off?

Cheer up! Is it another internet myth or is it true that the happiest people live in Nigeria? That's what I read several years ago, and that was BEFORE the Nigerians scammed everyone with those "please help me claim my money" emails. *LOL* Maybe that's why they're so happy, they had that up their sleeves?

More likely, however, it just shows that the simplest life can be just as happy or happier than one full of unnecessary expensive crap. The Brahmin on the East Coast may look down on us simple people, but having less to keep track of or worry about is IMHO bliss. Imagine how some people worry if their new BMW will get dinged or if someone will have a nicer suit or handbag. I don't know about you, but I breathe a lot easier after the first ding. I've been breathing easy for ten years now.

I heard on "The View" that some ladies judge others by their handbag. Holy crap! I honestly had no clue...imagine being naive at 55! I laughed out loud at how pathetic that was. Why on earth would I care what some dumb purse-obsessed lady thought of me??? I mean obviously the values of that kind of person is seriously skewed and frankly I'd PREFER not to be admired by that kind of misguided fool. Oh.. I think her name is Elisabeth Hasselbeck. *LOOOOOOL*

What is my point? My point is that we often THINK we need something--be it a certain guy or girl, or a certain Jimmy Choo shoe--but really, we don't. All we need is a mind that can easily wrap around any situation.

And therefore, we have nothing to fear but fear itself...or even, we should desire not to desire.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Friends Are At Your Fingertips

I started talking to people from all over the world almost 13 years ago when I discovered the internet. It was like a dream come true for me: I found my niche in life. Chatting on the internet was the perfect medium for me because I'm not the greatest speaker. I never realized it until then that my fingers could actually talk better than my mouth could. That discovery coupled with my inherent curiosity about people of different cultures turned me into a monster Chataholic.

Those chataholic days are long gone, however. My Pakistani friend, Dilshad, was right. At the height of my chat addiction, I couldn't imagine not being able to chat, but he said "This is just a phase for you." I doubted him because he was "only" in his twenties and I was sure I was twenty years WISER than he. Turns out he was right because I rarely chat anymore. It was wonderful while it lasted and I met dozens of interesting people from all around the world. I even met many in person and guess what: not one weirdo! It certainly changed my attitude and made me less egocentric and less fearful. Despite differences in cultures, people are basically the same around the world.

It cannot be said enough that the internet has revolutionized the world and will hopefully continue to change people for the good and bring cultures together. That may be wishful thinking, but I can hope. Imagine if I weren't the only person to venture into a chatroom and befriend people from Sweden, India, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, Holland, etc. etc. I liked to imagine that I was an ambassador from Hawaii, promoting better understanding and friendship.

Much has been said to discourage people from meeting others online, but in my experience there have been far more good stories than bad. As long as you are cautious and don't divulge too much information, talking to others online can be enriching. In my opinion, the people who think the internet is not the place to connect with others have very little experience doing so. After all, you can go out of your house and meet people IN PERSON who have hidden agendas, too. Just read your newspaper and you'll see what's happened to someone who encountered a bad person in their own neighborhood. You may very possibly be safer staying home and talking to people online! *LOL*

I still communicate with many of the people I've met online and they remain "friends at my fingetips"!

Thanks for reading!
Aunty Kalina

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Valuable and Timely Advice

If I were you--assuming you're younger than 40--and if I had any extra cash (aye, there's the rub), I'd open an investment account ASAP and start investing in either individual stocks and/or mutual funds. There is no better time than now, especially if you're in your 20's.

The advice I give to all young people is SAVE NOW, NOW!!! I mean NOW!!! Even if it's "only" $50 a month..or whatever you can afford to save! Forget about waiting til later because you'll have to save even MORE later due to compounding interest, inflation, whatever. I'm no expert, but all I do know is, I started saving from the time I started working parttime in high school. My husband and I started investing when we were in our 20's with the help of a "financial advisor" from what is now Ameriprise (I'll be happy to refer anyone!). We knew nothing and still know very little about the stock market or mutual funds, but yet today we are "comfortable" despite never having high paying jobs.

Now that the stock market is in the dumps, we lost almost half of the value of our investments and yes, it's scary, but I haven't taken out a single dollar because I'm confident it will eventually be worth it to wait. This is why, for the new investors, it's such a great opportunity. You get to buy in at super low prices.

I recommend talking to an advisor (ours doesn't charge anything as he gets paid by Ameriprise) or you could even open and manage your own online account. For individual stock advice, Jim Jubak at MSN.com is pretty good. I wish I had listened to him when he advised switching to cash last year!!

If you do plan to invest, do so gradually, do not plunk a chunk in the market all at once tomorrow. As all advisors recommend, invest a little every month to take advantage of "dollar cost averaging."

Once again... do not wait. You'll thank me later, believe me! (By the way, I get nothing for linking to Jim Jubak.)

Sunday, January 18, 2009

What am I doing here?

Welcome to my first post! I don't know what to expect from this posting, but I'm just following a dream. I live a very contented life and often feel that I'm not contributing enough. Being myself, I'm not one to go out and help people build houses or clean beaches, so I wondered what I could do to help others. I've been online for over 12 years and have made many friends online as well as offline and one thing I've been told by many people is that I'm a good listener and am able to make others feel better when they tell me their problems.

I have no professional qualifications for being a listener/advisor and I don't make any claims to that effect. I just have my life experiences that have taught me, the personality that I was born with (developed over 55 years), and best of all, I'm not your mother. *LOL* I'm your Aunty!

My blog posts will hopefully help you to look at life in new ways. Feel free to leave comments to let me know your concerns or questions!