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Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:16:35 -0500

Top Buzz | PF Buzz - Personal Finance Social Bookmarking

Hump Day

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:37:00 -0500

Man, this week is turning out to be a pretty long week. It seems like the days are dragging on and I think I’m at the point where I’m pretty much ready for the fall season, cooler air and some sort of change. I know that’s very cliche, but what can I say.

Some random thoughts:

Presidential election time always brings more FWs than i’m willing to read - I see both sides’ emails all day long. (very few of each side are really true)
Having really true friends is a scarce thing these days. Sure, there’s always the guys you know, but those friends that would give the shirt off their back are rare.
I haven’t gotten to use my boat near as much as I wanted to this year - that sucks!
My grandmother is turning 86 this September, and she can still beat most of her grandchildren in an arm wrestling match.
My brother is about to be back in school, which means he’ll email me more, which is good - easier to keep in contact as he can’t talk on the phone long because of his children.
Speaking of my brother, I really think he has a HUGE future as an author - the stories in his mind are awesome. I hope he goes into some simplified Sci-Fi of what he does now - it would be a huge hit, no doubt.
I beat my dad in darts two times last night.
I gotta get a new helmet - just don’t know which one I want now…

I know - random and you probably don’t care, but that’s what I got at the moment.

Here’s to a great hump day for everyone.

Uncluttering

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:31:07 -0500

One of the biggest upsides, to me, of selling our house and moving is that we are going to HAVE to go through everything at least 2 times while we pack and unpack all our belongings. I like this idea because it allows us to really have a chance to ask ourselves about each item - Do we really need this? When was the last time we used this? Can we make it without?

I think it’s a great way to get rid of stuff we no longer need and all that makes our home cluttered. I know my oldest daughter will try and hoard everything, so we’ll have to sit with her and ask her the questions in order to help her make decisions on what to keep and what not to. I will probably purchase a hope chest for her, so she can keep the memory stuff she wants, but a lot of her stuff is clothes related - stuff she can no longer wear (or stuff given to her that her dad *ahem* won’t allow her to wear - hey! Some of the clothes girls wear now days are a bit “over the top” in my opinion, since I’m the dad, I get that responsibility).

As for the little ones, well we’ll just have to do that ourselves since they are still too young to decide - it’s funny, my middle daughter plays mainly with dolls and clothes (dressup), while my son plays with Tractors and anything else besides toys - that kid will make a play toy out of PVC pipe I’m using for the sprinkler system, or a piece of scrap wood I’ve cut - his imagination is like my brother and mine back in the day - he couldn’t care less about watching TV - he wants to be outside playing… So I don’t think he’ll miss many of the toys we’ll give away - but the middle one, she’s all about her old toys - so i’m sure we’ll have a bit of a battle with her, but hopefully she’ll understand getting rid of the baby stuff and making room for the new stuff she’s bound to get as presents…

It should make for fun times while packing, that’s for sure! But it’ll make it alot easier to fit into another home and keep it from being a disaster area!

UFC 87 - Seek and Destroy

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:50:44 -0500

I was pleased with this past UFC PPV. There were several fights that were actually worth watching; unlike some of the other PPVs lately. I was really impressed with Jon Fitch’s ability to recover - he was rocked multiple times and I honestly thought the fight was going to be over several times during the first round - he did well. Having said all that - he got beat down - did you see the post interview pics? man, that dude took a beating.

GSP was looking great - His stand up is a whole new ball game now - I think the kick to the side of Hughes’ head really gave him some confidence in his ability - I really like watching him fight - he always pushes the pace and in my opinion, is a really classy and stand up guy. Hats off to him.

I’m actually looking forward to what comes from the throw-down challenge that Penn threw out post fight - I think it’d be alot better fight now, and after not being totally behind the judges’ decision the first go round - I would really like to see that fight; and throw in the fact that BJ is actually taking his fights seriously now - I think that would be alot closer than what all of my buddies are saying… would be entertaining to say the least…

In the other fights, I was happy that Kenflo won against Huerta, that was a good fight as well - but the one I’m VERY happy about is Lesnar beating Herring. I cannot STAND Heath Herring and it IRKS me how he puts “Texas” in his name - he’s one of those reasons jokes get started about Texans… UUHHHHGGG!

We had it at our house this time around - and it was alot of fun - glad we ended up getting it.

House Diary (entry #3)

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:39:20 -0500

So here we are at the two week mark in selling the house - to be honest, it isn’t going quite as fast as we thought it would - but I’m hearing that the market is finally slowing - so it is going to be a little slow, but we’re just getting going and looking forward to see what happens.

I’m not in a huge hurry anyway, as I really don’t have any clue as to where I’m going after this one - I can always go buy another house, but I’m not sure what or where that’ll be - there’ll be more on that at a later date (when I figure it out myself).

We are just letting things happen as they will - and figure it’ll work out how God wants it to anyway. I can tell you, it’s hard as crap to convince our small ones to not make messes all the time… hehe

Happy Friday, and be blessed!

A few tips on Smoking Meat

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:54:00 -0500

So this past weekend, we had several family members in for visiting including my wife’s twin sister and my niece and nephew, and my aunt and uncle. My step mother isn’t the best cook (I think she does just fine, but she doesn’t seem to think so) so on Saturday we stepped up to offer our services of smokin’ some ribs and a brisket.

For those that don’t know - it is an art to smoke the perfect meat - there’s alot more that goes into it when compared to just a straight BBQ and grilling meat. I’m not knockin’ BBQ or Grilling, I love to do both, but smoking takes more skill.

Since I’m relatively new (2 or 3 years) to smoking meat, I just wanted to share a few points of interest for the newbie. One of the biggest challenges of smoking meat is knowing the temperature range in which you should smoke - there are thermostats you can purchase that help you find this range, but in my experience, they aren’t always based on the best method, but more on getting the temp to a certain point to make sure the meat gets hot enough to kill off any bacteria - while this is important, it is also not the best way to get your meat that hot right from the start - you gotta remember, you aren’t grilling, and this is a process that takes HOURS, rather than minutes - the whole point of smoking meat is to infuse the flavor and slow cook the meat with non-direct heat.

The method I use is to get my charcoal/wood in and flaming, and try and keep the temperature around 165°F to 175°F. Once there, place the meat on the grills, and let the temp get back to where you want it, in this range. (Whenever you open the grill/smoker to put the meat in, you lose all of your heat). Once that’s done, you want to put in some water soaked wood chips, which help create a flavor smoke for the meat. At this point, I put a lot of wood chips directly on the fire and let the smoking begin - I will carry on with this for about an hour and a half - making sure a steady flow of smoke is all over the meat (quick tip: do not open the grill at this point, you’ll lose all of the smoke buildup you’ve just worked hard to get in there - you want so much smoke you can’t see the meat!)

Once you’ve accomplished that - go ahead and start raising the temp - I like to get mine to about 225 - 240°F for the remainder of the process. I don’t like to stop the smoke, so I will constantly check the smoker and put in more wood chips as needed.

If you happen to start losing temp, don’t be afraid to add more charcoal or wood (whichever you are using - I use charcoal, personally) and allow that to catch so you can better maintain temp - you gotta remember, this process will take 4 to 6 hours - more sometimes - depending on how much meat, the type of meat, and how hot you maintain - so you don’t want to lose all of your fire, at some point you will HAVE to put in more fuel.

About 15 minutes before you are going to pull the meat, you wanna add any sauce you are going to apply to the meat (mainly BBQ sauce on pork ribs at my house) - this will allow the smoke to “harden” the sauce on the meat, allowing it to become some sticky goodness.

When you do finally pull the meat, you wanna let it set for about 15 to 20 minutes before you start carving - this will allow for more of the juice to be reabsorbed as well as some of the heat to leave so it’s not too hot to handle while you carve it.

Then throw down some of whatever sides you like along with the meat, and eat yourself into the stuffed state. I’m telling you, smoked meat will be some of the best “grilling” you’ve ever eaten.

Side Notes:

I use an Oklahoma Joe’s Longhorn smoker - AWESOME grill/smoker! Highly recommended.

Make sure and place a large bowl of water directly above the flame - some people say a bowl of water anywhere, but I’ve found you get a lot more moisture when you infuse the wood smoke with steam from the water - you might have to add more later, but it’s worth it!

OK, more tips in a future post, including meat preparation and types; as well as air flow through your smoker/grill… and a special note about preparing a brisket.

For more before then - check out my buddy’s BBQ Tips!

Layne - my nephew, after a trip to the hospital with a broke...

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:51:00 -0500

Layne - my nephew, after a trip to the hospital with a broke leg. Poor lil guy - but I must say, even with a broke leg, he’s still one of the cutest lil’ guys around!

ikea hacker

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:53:05 -0500

ikea hacker: I LOVE ikea - this site has some pretty good ideas - some of them are a little silly - but there’s some good ideas…

I’m noticing a slight increase in energy as the week gets closer to Friday… anyone know...

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:13:24 -0500

I’m noticing a slight increase in energy as the week gets closer to Friday… anyone know what that’s all about?

I’m thinking this weekend will be pretty cool - got my sis-in-law here with her kiddos, and my aunt and uncle are coming to visit - AND the house is on the market - should make for great times since we are smoking ribs on Saturday - and I bet people will start coming to look at the house - maybe the ribbage will entice them to offer more than the asking price! :)

The throat thing is still going on - not sure what’s causing it, though my wife told me she caught me snoring the crazy throat snore last night - so maybe that’s the cause? Who knows, but i’m sick of the burning feeling. It does seem to be getting a little better now, slowly but surely?

Here’s to having a great Thursday, selling the house, and hopefully finding out some info about some major moves I’ve got going…

House Diary (entry #2)

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:19:14 -0500

Ok, so we’ve finally finished most everything we needed to do on the house, the papers are signed, and we’re just awaiting a buyer. I think the official start is tomorrow or Friday - so we’ll see what happens.

It’s a big relief to actually be able to sit down after work and not worry about working or worrying about something that needs to get done. So now we have the worry of keeping the house clean/clutter free - which is quite the task considering 3 kids, 2 of which are younger than school age…

We’re excited and exhausted - ready for the payoff, that’s for sure - now if only a few other chips will fall in the right place - we’ll be off and running, and i mean running.

Finally - our hay garden - you can also see my photo set on...

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:25:57 -0500

Finally - our hay garden - you can also see my photo set on flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_tipton/sets/72157606388536276/

The REAL Truth about PC vs MAC! via ralree.com

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:47:15 -0500

The REAL Truth about PC vs MAC!

via ralree.com

Every show an infomercial? TiVo, Amazon ink purchase pact

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:47:39 -0500

Every show an infomercial? TiVo, Amazon ink purchase pact: now, this is going to get really weird as far as watching TV goes… wonder how much it will interfere with normal watching?

House Diary (entry #1)

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:45:04 -0500

As we get closer and closer to the actual “putting on the market” day, I have started to realize how much work I’ve actually done on this house. From 2 years ago (and some months) when we first broke ground on this thing - it’s been an amazing ~~experience~~ experiement. I’ve learned so much about how it all goes together and the best way to accomplish alot of things.

Most of all, I’ve had a blast doing it. I’ve complained alot about all the work we’ve had to do - but that will go out the window when I realize the amount of money I’ve saved because of the choices my wife and I have made. I can’t tell you how many late nights we’ve had because of the work we needed to get done, nor can I tell how many conflicts I’ve dealt with because of contractor no shows or ineffeciencies… There’s been alot, and alot of time juggling doing it - but it’s taught me some valuable lessons about management and people. Lessons I’ll take with me from now on.

My family and I have made alot of memories during this whole “building a house” phase and I cherish them all - they’ve brought us closer together and have provided alot of teaching opportunities for us to teach our kids. I always say I am not married to a house, and would sell any one of them to make a profit (and I have, as this is the 5th living space we’re going to be selling in an 8 year marriage). But I will miss this house a little more than the other - mainly because so much of me is in this house - from the blood, sweat and tears we’ve put in it, to the negotiating deals on major costs, to the laughter and fun we’ve had while doing it all… I think about all these things and almost think about not selling it after all - then I get a friggin mortgage bill and forget about all that…

Hehe - anyway, I love the house that Tim & Jess built - but not enough to not get the profit we can make to help set us up for a great retirement and huge opportunities for our children.

This is the first post of a series I will be posting as we go through the housing process.

101 Self Improvement Resources

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:46:25 -0500

101 Self Improvement Resources: (via zenhabits)

Google Docs Templates

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:59:33 -0500

Google Docs Templates: I am a huge fan of Google Docs, and here’s a long list of templates for use with google docs - all free ;P

Photo

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:10:12 -0500

The American Dream

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:39:00 -0500

A buddy I work out with always says something to the effect of “That’s right, I’m just living the dream”… I always laugh because this guy is one of those funny types - always a comedian. Good guy really…

But in all honesty, he’s young. He’s recently married, just put an offer on a house and just rolled up in his wife’s brand new Toyota Urban Highlander for about $30k. Now, I’m not claiming to know how much the kid makes or what his wife makes but in decisions they’ve made over the past 2 months, they are now roughly $250k in debt. And as of late, I would have to agree that they are living the “American Dream”.

My wife and I are fighting tooth and nail to get out of debt completely and not have all the black heavy clouds floating over us every paycheck as we write away all of our hard earned income… It is my dream to be debt free as fast as possible - my uncle always says that you’ll never be rich while paying interest on anything. I couldn’t agree more.

So it seems that the current American dream has turned away from being free and just living carefree, and is now get the biggest, most expensive anything, keep up with the Jones’ and lower your retirement savings contributions to almost nothing so that you can work longer, harder, and have the least amount of enjoyment possible while you claw through the last 30 years of debt you’ve accumulated.

Thanks, but no thanks! I don’t want any part of that dream - I love America and I am very much a patriot, but I can’t see where getting that much into debt is a positive thing. I am living the dream, but I guess not the American version - I’m living the Tipton Dream as it were.

I’m not meaning to dogg my buddy or what they’ve done, it just seems overwhelming that we accept going into $250k worth of debt in less than 2 months as the norm. I know they need a house, and there’s some things that you are just going to have to go into debt over, but it just doesn’t seem right. I am not suggesting that I have all the answers, but I know I want out of debt as fast as possible, and I know that it takes YEARS to get out of debt you got into with a 10 second signature. so as for me and mine, I’m selling my house and I’m not purchasing anything near a new vehicle until I can pay cash for it. That said, I’m blessed to be in a position to make enough money on the sale of my house to get out of debt - and get another house - but the fact is that the American Dream is a dream full of debt and dark clouds looming over those who take the bait.

I don’t know how to fix the problem of that Dream, except to say I’m not dreaming that one - I love my freedom, and that includes freedom from all kinda debt. If you are interested, I have several sites linked on the right that will give more ideas about money and how to manage it - And you might also look at the Dave Ramsey plan. I’m trying to learn how to manage my money, and I’m hoping all of you will too… We are going to have to strong arm this new version of the American Dream …

Be Blessed.

Comments

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:25:25 -0500

so - apparently my comments aren’t working as expected. I’ll see what I can come up with on that and get back to you.

In other news, Big Brother 10 started up last night - I love this show, I actually kinda like it more than Survivor these days - at least they try and throw twists and turns in the game to make it a little more less predictable… and I like how it comes on 3 times a week - it really draws you in and makes it a part of your weekly routine.

Speaking of TV - does anyone have HD programming through DishNetwork? Lately, it’s like half my channels don’t work and end up throwing a “transponder” error… That kinda sucks, if you ask me.

So this weekend we got all the doors painted and all of the trim up and caulked - all that’s left to do is hang the door knobs, and touch up paint the baseboards! WOOOHOOOO! Next on the list is all of the media plates, which honestly shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours this week and then it is on to basically pack up the office and start moving some of the stuff out of the house… Once we get to that point, I’ll turn over the “staging” aspect of the house and move my efforts outside - time to make the outside look as good as the inside… ya know?

Have I mentioned how nice it will be to sell the house and get one already done? The pickin’s are slim though… we’ll see where God takes us.

Here’s to selling, finding, buying, and sleeping - have blessed week!

Solving Firefox flash no sound problem in Ubuntu Hardy!!! « Technozilla

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:56:52 -0500

Solving Firefox flash no sound problem in Ubuntu Hardy!!! « Technozilla