AntSaint

Language of the Perpetual Poor

This is a tough one. I've never been of the belief that money is evil. Or that it's good. To me, money is a tool. Assigning value to it is like making moral judgments on a hammer — it's just a tool. It is only what you do with that tool, that may deserve or merit a value judgment. But many don't see it that way (Eugene's full of folks who don't see it that way), and I found myself nodding a great deal while reading this post:

Link: Language of the Perpetual Poor | Frugal Dad.

"Do you know someone who is “perpetual poor?” You know the type - constantly complaining, poor-mouthing, griping about the price of everything and jealous of everything others have. I think we all know at least one or two of those types. I’ve had the displeasure of knowing many, and over time I have heard my share of sob stories related to their personal finances. I recognize that some people are generally down on their luck, or going through a rough patch. Maybe they have faced a debilitating illness, or a job layoff, or some other tragic event that has derailed them from leading successful, productive lives. Those are not the people I am referring to when I attach the label 'perpetual poor.'”

The Most Annoying Google AdSense Unit

Also interesting is how the "most annoying AdSense unit" performs, however. Obviously, Antsaint doesn't have much advertising on it, and Ride Three doesn't either. For now I like it that way, but it's good to see studies like this to help find and maintain that balance between ad money and reader happiness:

Link: The Most Annoying Google AdSense Unit Is: The Large Rectangle.

"About 6 weeks ago, I polled our readers on which Google AdSense unit they found to be the most annoying. The results are in and the winner of the most annoying AdSense unit is the large rectangle unit."

Kill A Watt gauges available at Eugene library

Jodie and I try to be pretty conscientious of our power usage. We subscribe 100% to Greenpower program from our local utility, EWEB, for example, powering our house with wind and solar. We're good about unplugging or power-stripping "energy vampires" to cut down on wasted power, and therefore wasted money. And now, if we want to see if there are other areas where we need to trim power consumption, we can check out a watt gauge from the library:

Link: Kill A Watt gauges available at Eugene library: The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore..

"A device that measures the amount of electricity used by computers, flat-screen televisions, lamps, recharging iPods and other electronic devices in homes and businesses is available for checkout at the Eugene Public Library"

Want to order tea? J-Tea's Josh Chamberlain is in Taiwan

Got a note from Eugene's Josh Chamberlain of J-Tea, over on 2778 Friendly Street. He's currently in Taiwan:

"It is spring harvest time, so that means I am in Taiwan. If you want to follow along as I trek through the mountains you can check my blog. The address is http://j-tea.blogspot.com/ and I will be making updates as I can. If you have any special requests, you can pass those along to me via email and I willdo my best to find what you are after."

Once he's back I think we're going to have to head to J-Tea and check out the new arrivals.