Put it in a Box

The first time I confronted the very idea of Shipping Containers was when I went to Bermuda and the taxi driver was telling me about how everything has to be shipped to the island in containers, therefore all supplies had to be ordered in advance and scheduled for shipping to maximize the efficiency of the cost and logistics involved in container shipping.

I had never thought of that, but of course it makes perfect sense. Such a different way of life for us spoiled Americans who can just run out to the mall or pick up the phone and have anything we want within minutes, hours, or at the most, a day of our first desire.

Once my curiosity was raised, I learned quite a bit about shipping containers and I’ve noticed them in my other travels when I’m in a port city. There are several different types, included refrigerated, insulated, open tops, and more. And then there are specialty containers, like the ones made specially for use in the Antarctic where the University of Wales is building an observatory. These specially insulated containers were custom made in Australia and then it still took over two months to get them delivered to the Antarctic site. Interesting project!

Criminal Minds Fan

Found a cool website today for fans of the TV series called, “Criminal Minds.” Well, it’s actually a blog - so that’s even better: Criminal Minds Fanatic.

I really like this show for the insights on criminal psychology and the way a team of experts from diverse backgrounds can come together and find a way to work as a team under tremendous pressure to solve the crimes.

The show is a little gory and gruesome, but if you can get past that it is a great psychological thriller reduced down to an hour show. Take out all the time for commercials and I think you have about 44 minutes of actual show.

The fan site has a lot of behind the scenes info and communicates fairly regularly with the actors, writers and production staff.

Camping or Not?

We’ve been making an annual camping trip to Jackson Hole every since my junior year of college. We always go over Labor Day Weekend and we rent the same cabin and hire the same fishing guide every year.

But some of the guys are saying that they can’t get there this year. The price of gas, the mortgage crisis, the plant closings - all the bad economy things that have been going on these past 5-6 months are catching us all short on money.

I know I’ve had to cut back on spending and try to find ways to make my money go farther. I’ve never been a big fan of coupons, but now if I can save a decent amount of money it’s really worth it to look for coupons and deals on the things you plan to buy and save the money with very little effort. Got a honey-do list? Check for deals at Home Depot before tackling those jobs around the house. Saving money takes a little of the sting out of spending your premium weekend days on chores.

One of the best coupon websites is always putting deals on their page for the top stores. I just saved some cool cash on a pair of Nike’s from Footlocker. I wanted to get some new cargo pants and shorts for the camping trip and found some good deals at L L Bean.

The very best store with online catalog shopping for camping, hunting and fishing gear had some great deals at Cabelas. I was just about to get some new fishing gear when my buddy Jasper called to say he wasn’t going to make it. Now Jasper I can understand - he’s going back to school to finish up some classes and actually graduate this year. So you KNOW his budget is tight plus he goes back to class next week, so Labor Day doesn’t even work into a good schedule for him to take the days off. But the rest of the guys had better not let me down. This is a tradition - it must be honored!

New CD

My family has a long tradition of being musicians and I have a deep appreciation for music. Everyone in my family has, at the very least, a piano in the house. With my uncles and cousins bringing their musical instruments, we could have a full fledged orchestra.

I still love to listen to piano instrumentals and am a Jim Brickman fan. I like Yanni, too, but a lot of his music is over produced and too complicated. I recently discovered another pianist that I like, David Lanz. I bought a two CD set from Amazon, The Ultimate David Lanz Narada Collection, that just came and I’ve been listening to it. There are only two songs on it that I skip over - the rest is really good and easy on the ears.

Oh Say Can You See?

Last time I needed contact lenses I went to the optometrist that has a little office next to Sam’s Club and got an exam for $70 and hand carried the contacts prescription to the Optical department at Sam’s. That was the first rude surprise. They don’t stock the lenses and would have to order them for me. It took about a week to get in and then I had to drive down to the Sam’s Club for a second trip to pick them up.

So I used them up and went down to Sam’s Club to get a refill on the contacts, figuring it would take another week to order the refill and I could deal with that. But no. Come to find out the prescription for contact lenses only last for 6 months and my prescription had expired. so now I need another exam for $70 before I can order the lenses and then I wait a week for them to come in and then I make another trip. You know what? There’s got to be a better way.

So I went online and checked around for contact lenses and I most definitely found a better way. I can get the prescription for my contacts from any optometrist here, and then order my acuvue oasys contacts online. These are the lenses that don’t let your eyes get dry, even when you work outside or on the computer for long stretches. Not only do they have the acuvue’s in stock, but they ship them right away and they are delivered right to my front door. And here’s the kicker. They are cheaper than buying them here and they get here faster - overnight if I needed them!