Reason #35: Save $10 at Bottom Dollar

Periodically, our favorite grocery publishes some incredible coupons in our local newspaper, The Reading Eagle.  But seriously, who can spend $35 to save $10?  We're talking Bottom Dollar.  $35 feeds an army for a week.
Coupon-pool! Bring a friend and use the coupon for nearly 30% off your bill. 
Oh, and by the way, Dale owes me $15.50 from the last coupon-pool.

Reason to Carpool #404 - Free Wireless Internet

Most of you are techies and know that many smartphones can be used as wireless hotspots.  Wanna know a secret?  Dale just got a new phone. My new Google Nexus 7 needs Internet during our commute.  Yup, he fell for the "You really should get a smartphone...Do it for your children" pitch, and I get free internet.

No more mornings like this:
Dale: "Did you hear what Congress did yesterday?  How many more laws do we really need? I wonder how many Federal Laws have been repealed...."
Joe: "Can't be many.  We should vote those people out and start eliminating all of the waste in Washington. I wish this Nexus had cell connectivity so we could do something about this right now!"

Now our mornings begin:
Dale: "I'm Dale, and I'm driving"
Joe: (muttering, reading from Google Nexus 7) "I'm really impressed by the effectiveness of Congress.  Did you know that out of the zillions of laws enacted by them, the number of laws repealed is barely in the double digits?"  
Dale: "I know they work really hard.  I didn't realize they get things right so often.  No way could I do that job as well as them. "
Joe: "Don't beat yourself up, Dale.  Remember, some of those guys have entire careers of experience. Not everyone can be a congressman"
Dale: "Yeah.  First you need to be an incumbent.  Get it?"
Joe: "Oh Dale, I don't know how you can be so sharp this early in the morning!"  

I hope Dale has an unlimited plan.  Which gives me an idea...should we ditch the crash cam and run with the Nexus and stream live?

Carpool = Free Internet, Incumbents.

Somebody I used to know.

We bid farewell to John with this video.  Apparently it is a knockoff of the crashcam.

Reason to Carpool #54 - Get there faster

In episode 6 from season 4 of Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004), Larry David scores some Dodgers tickets, but finds that he will be late for the big game since he is stuck in Los Angeles traffic.  Rather than simply complaining, Larry decides to do something about the situation.

He notices the nearly empty HOV lane and darts from the freeway to hire a prostitute named Monena (played by Kym Whitely) to be his passenger. Brilliant! ...and funny.

Get there faster, meet new people.

My Drive to the Credit Union

It's been years since I've intentionally driven to my Credit Union with a deposit in my pocket.  Yeah, some rebate shop or sweepstakes from out of state will eventually send you a check from some place in the heartland.  Today it was a $10 job for some miscalculation from an out of state transaction I made a few months ago.  It's nice to know that folks are honest, as I would not have ever noticed a $10 overcharge on a fairly complex transaction.  (Makes me wonder what they really owe me.)

Today it dawned on me that in order to efficiently make this deposit, I would go to my copier at work, make an image of front and back, and submit that to my financial institution who uses something called CheckMate.  That was at 7AM.  By 4:45 PM, my check had been accepted and was in the process of being cleared.

So the next time you need to make a deposit, just use your cell phone, scanner, or copier, and save yourself the trip!  Your branch might be right in your pocket.

Gone Hollywood! (the shades might give it away)

It was just a matter of time. Yes, now we are practically movie stars. Great stories in today's Reading Eagle!  Sign up for a ride match at PA Commuter Services today!

It really doesn't matter who drives today.  I'm going there anyway.  Stay cool!

What do you take for that condition?

Ha ha ha.  Make fun of the tri-modal guy.  You decide, smarty-pants readers.  I think tri-modal is a positive thing.  Regardless, I'll understand how you came to your decision.

Tri-modal Profile - has three thinking preferences (Analytical, Social and Conceptual). With one Thinking preference in the Left Brain (Analytical) and two from the Right Brain (Social and Conceptual), this profile is able to empathize with other ways of thinking and understand nearly anyone. The profile is animated and lively and probably keeps everyone informed while keeping the peace. 

It's Too Hot NOT to Carpool

If you follow my antics on Facebook, you know the saga of the new white Neon.  If not, understand that I had a bit of a fender-bender in January.  On the highway on a really slippery night, some dude backed into us while we were stopped.  True story...although the cop and the other driver contended that it was impossible.  Whatever.  The repairs are tallying about $150 for me.

Of course last week was just stinking hot, and there'll be more.  So I finally got around to the last fix.  I think all I have to do is join a cut a/c hose, and the new white neon will be chilly all over again.  With $3.87, Dale and I went to my favorite auto store, HomeDepot, and got a PEX nipple and two hose clamps.  Viola!  Load up some R134a, and hissssss,  hissssss.  Bassa!  There's a massive leak in my condenser.  There will be no a/c anytime soon.

Moral of the story?  Dale is driving on hot days, and I'll take the cool ones.  Just one more good reason to jump in the pool.

Big Blog Scare!

Technology - you know, the computer-type stuff - gave me a fairly good scare this morning.  For a moment, I thought I lost all of the data from the crash cam 2.0.  

Whew!  Thank goodness for my Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex portable hard drive.  As you can see, the folks in the back seat are relieved.  Could you imagine life without seeing those smiles?  We may put this one on over the fireplace.  Carpooling Rocks!

Reading Eagle Staffers Liam Migdail-Smithl(left) and Susan L. Angstadt
diggin the view from the back seat while in  Exeter Township

Pulitzer Prize Winning Ride

It will be easy for Dale and Joe to remember yesterday.

• It was the hottest day of the Summer so far 
• Tilapia was priced at less than $2/lb at Bottom Dollar
• We had our first guest
• We had our second guest
• Dale was a "vegetarian" for the fourth consecutive day

Alright, coincidentally it was also the first day of Summer.   But it was hot.  I think the high temperature topped at about 310 Kelvin.  The humidity however felt kind of low, and actually, swampy would have been an exaggeration.  We parked the new white Neon for the second consecutive day.  I think I'll work on the a/c this weekend.

Tilapia fillets had been on sale all week at BD, but who had the time to get that deal.  We finally scored 12 pounds on Thursday.  Fish tacos?  Ceviche? Cat food?  We'll need help with this one.  Somehow we need to include this in the Superfood recipes.

Liam Migdail-Smith met us at this morning at the edge of the pool and dove right in.  He's doing a story or perhaps a series of stories of people who use alternative transportation.  Yes, he uses one of those classic reporter notepads but he's not just some Jimmy Olsen.  This is Pulitzer Prize-winning material, folks.  He's a nice, smart young man and I think if you look at today's paper, you'll see that he performed quite well without a car.  

Its a good thing Dale power-washed the back seat a few weeks ago.  Our ride home was a full house with the addition of Reading Eagle photographer Susan Angstadt.  Susan has a real passion for her profession, and is a really nice lady.  If you see what she did yesterday for the paper, you'll see that she too, had a busy day.  However, I have a feeling she likes cooler weather.  Good thing the Neon was parked!

Vegetarian Dale?  A meat-lover's meat-lover changing sides?  Mood=quiet.  Folks, this is actually some sort of challenge in which he got himself entangled.  I'll say this, his 1,200 calorie vegetarian burrito smelled pretty good but I'll bet he was hungry all day.  He needs some Tilapia encrusted prime rib or a meat parfait.  Mmmmmm.  Bacon mousse on a meat parfait.

We should probably post about the fun we had yesterday, too.  Tomorrow.  It's time to get to work!

We had this conversation

Some people also find the drive to be educational.  Get in the carpool folks.

What if there was no blog? Easing back to the blog.

If there was no blog, there would be four individuals driving to and from work each day, radio blaring, nose being picked, random trips along the way, etc.  You know, it's the American dream and all of that.

So let's take a second to examine what happens in that case.  Drivers, start your gas guzzlers.

Driver #1:  Let's call her Betsy.  2.4 miles one way to work.  Doesn't sound like much, right?  Summers off, even.  Well folks, that trip alone is an astounding 864 miles and at least 30 gallons of gas per year.  ...and yes, summers off.  Yikes!

Driver #2: "Dale".  20.1 miles one way.  9,250 miles per year!  At an estimated 20 mpg, that's about 460 gallons of poison.

Driver #3: "Lohn".  16.5 miles one way.  7,600 miles.  His ride is probably at 32 mpg, call it 240 gallons of Sunoco Racing Fuel per year.

Driver #4: That's me.  Joe.  18.8 miles one way.  I made this journey alone for probably the last 22 years.  8,300 miles/year.  In my luxury econo-box at 36 mpg, that is 230 gallons of evil.

All together, something like 960 gallons of fuel (roughly $3,400 worth).  More than 26,000 miles!  It is also about 870 hours behind the wheel.  Thirty six days on the road.

FOUR people just going to work.

So stay tuned.  We've used about 20 different recipes to get us to task since the beginning of 2012 .  Often two, sometimes three cars deployed.

• Did we ever need four cars?
• When is it possible to get there in one car?
• How much did we save?
• Can you save enough fuel to eat for free?

For answers to these and other pressing questions, subscribe!  The button is over on the right.