Alice Pretchet » Alice Pretchet

Bargains on Christmas Clearance

Alice Pretchet — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 06:48:23 +0000

This morning I realized that we had no breakfast meats in the house and decided to take a quick trip to the grocery store. When I pulled my cart around the corner I came across an assortment of carts and boxes filled with clearance items leftover from Christmas. They had candies and toys for up to 80% off the original prices. I scored on some Hershey’s kisses and Reese’s peanut butter cups. They are normally almost $4 a bag and I bought 4 bags for $1 each. It was not something I really needed, but the bargain price was too good to pass up.

Farewell 2011, and Welcome 2012

Alice Pretchet — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 16:40:27 +0000

The past year has been full of tragedies, dramas, comedies and some good things, too. I can’t help but wonder what will 2012 hold for us that will top all the newsworthy moments of 2011? I hope the events are good, with peace, prosperity and good health bestowed on my family and friends.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and All That

Alice Pretchet — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 11:36:08 +0000

Politically correct or not, I still wish people Merry Christmas. I also wish people who do not celebrate Christmas (like I do) to have happy holidays. There are several different holidays being celebrated this time of year, so I hope that whatever you celebrate that it is a joyous occasion.

Winter Vacation

Alice Pretchet — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:29:04 +0000

Today is the first day of winter break for all the schoolchildren here. They get two and a half weeks off from school and do not have to report back until January 4. That is a very long time to be out of school.

I don’t remember ever having longer than a week off for Christmas, If I had kids with that much time off I would plan a nice long vacation out of town. That is long enough to go someplace warm for several days and then also head north and spend Christmas with the family in Maryland and Virginia without having to dash back home so the kids don’t miss any school. When I was a kid we did go to Florida for Disneyworld and visiting grandparents, but it was always a very long drive home, straight through for 20 hours on a Sunday, so we could be home in time for school again on a Monday.

Learning About Portugal

Alice Pretchet — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:21:37 +0000

A friend of mine is married to a man who was born and raised in Portugal. He came to the U.S. to attend college, got an engineering degree and was hired by an American company to work on aeronautics. He must be very good at what he does. When the company offered him a promotion, they paid for his family to move, paid for their lodging while they looked for a house and paid the down payment required for his new mortgage. I was very impressed.

At Christmas, his family in Portugal sends boxes and boxes of gifts for him and his family. Their special gifts include foods, like Portuguese sausage and special candies that you cannot buy here in the States.

I am going to be learning a lot more about Portugal as our friendship grows. It sounds like a lovely country with great people and a moderate climate. So, maybe a trip to Portugal is in my future?

Chasing Motorcycles

Alice Pretchet — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:57:56 +0000

My female Jack Russell Terrier has decided that motorcycles are evil and must be chased.Thankfully, she never leaves the house without be leashed, so she cannot really chase them.But she will run hard to the end of the leash, barking madly, then running in a large arc back and forth across the yard until the motorcycle has topped the hill and is out of sight.

I have no idea why she suddenly hates motorcycles. I also wonder why all of a sudden we seem to have a lot of motorcycles driving past my house on the weekends. It is not a good combination.

Crock Pot Recipes

Alice Pretchet — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:50:48 +0000

Somehow I came across a Facebook group for people who use crockpots. I thought that was interesting, that so many people use crockpots and that they are such a subculture of the cooking world that they felt they needed a Facebook page to enhance their activtities.

So, I liked their page and checked out some of the recipes that were linked to the Facebook page. I even tried two of them – and they turned out great! But I have to admit that I am not a crockpot fanatic. It is just one more tool in my kitchen that is at my disposal for when I want to fix something that cooks slowly and makes the whole house smell wonderful when I walk in the door, tired and hungry.

Free Blogs

Alice Pretchet — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 21:48:08 +0000

Several years ago when Google introduced their free blogs, I had no idea what they were about or why anyone would want one. I had to be prompted by peers to even look at my first blog. Then I decided to try it and created one for myself. I had hoped that my family would embrace blogs as a way to stay in touch with each other, but they all resisted. Its no fun writing a blog if no one ever comes along to read what you are doing. Thank goodness the blog was free so I didn’t waste any money on something that just ended up being ignored.

Private Messages

Alice Pretchet — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:43:04 +0000

Does anyone remember the evolution of private messages? When computers first came out, the internet was not something intended for home and personal use. It was for businesses. When we started bringing computers home and using them to communicate with friends and family, the demand for private messages began. I remember when Yahoo introduced their “Yahoo Instant Messenger” as part of their platform. I used it extensively during competitive gaming and forums. I liked the way you could get a response to your question quickly, plus you could find out quickly if someone was even online at the time or not. Come to think of it, I still use the Facebook private messaging system for the same thing.

Keyboards

Alice Pretchet — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 21:34:56 +0000

All these years of computing and I never really gave much thought to keyboards. I would just buy a computer and use whatever keyboard came with it. Most of the keyboards were laid out and intended to mimic a standard typewriter, with an added section on the right for a number pad laid out like a 10-key calculator. Then they added a row of function keys, cursor arrows, and now we have all kinds of shortcut buttons for muting sound, going to email and accessing the internet. It is amazing what options are right at our fingertips in today’s digital world.