R.I.P. Sentra

Some of you may remember our old non-air conditioned Nissan Sentra, which Christina used to drive from Colorado to California in 100 degree weather to get to college (and important events like Rodney and Stacy's wedding).

Once we got married and bought the air-conditioned Corolla, the Sentra became my commute vehicle.

Then, just last year, after we bought the minivan, we pawned off the old Sentra on our good friend Andy who lives down the street and attends the same church as us.

Well, I'm sorry to report that the old Sentra may have at last met its demise. But it was in dramatic fashion, at the hands of a drunk driver. Thankfully, no one was hurt. This trusty old vehicle may have even saved someone's life by stopping a dangerous drunk driver in her tracks.

Read all about it and see photos at the Home-schooled Nerd.

$25 Sign-Up Bonus at Prosper.com

Perhaps the 5% return you're making in your high-yield savings account (See "Is Your Bank Robbing You?") is a wee bit too conservative for your taste. You'd prefer to try something a bit more aggressive for a chance at higher returns.

But let's say you don't want to tie your money up in a good long-term investment like a 401K or Roth IRA, since you might be working with a shorter time horizon before you need the money for something like a new car or a downpayment on a house.

You could lock your money up in CDs. Or you could throw it into the stock market and hope for the best. There are, of course, many, many options.

One option you might want to consider is Prosper.com. Here you can lend your money in $50 increments to borrowers for potential annual returns of anywhere from 8% to 12% to 15% to 18% -- you get to pick. Of course, there is some risk that the borrower won't pay you back. But if that happens, rest assured that Prosper at least will send a collection agency after them.

Christina and I have made quite a few loans on Prosper and so far have been very pleased with the way the web site works. Since the loans are 3 years in length, we won't know for some time what our final return will be, but we have a pretty good sense that we'll be doing much better than 5%.

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, now might be a good time to check it out. Prosper is currently offering a $25 sign-up bonus for first-time lenders who register and fund a loan within 90 days.

The minimum bid to fund a loan is $50, so this could be an easy 50% return on that money plus whatever you make off the loan. (If you'd like us to get credit for referring you, please use the links in this post or the right sidebar when you sign up.)

Nighty-Night

Hide & Seek

Can you do this?

Christianaudio.com: Free Audiobook of the Month

Did you know that Christianaudio.com offers a free MP3 audiobook download each month? Here's the relevant info for this month's deal:

Free Audiobook of the Month - Best of Jonathan Edwards Sermons The Jonathan Edwards trilogy includes three of the most important sermons ever preached on American soil. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is maybe the most important and well-known sermon of his, but also included is A Divine and Supernatural Light describing and illuminating what Edwards describes as a supernatural light imparted by God. His farewell sermon was given in June of 1750 and is a commendation to those who are in the Lord's service, a plea to maintain unity, avoid dissension and false doctrine, and a call to devote themselves to prayer.

Use coupon code: JUN2007 to redeem the download format of this audiobook for free during the month of June.

Subscribe to Our Blog

You can now subscribe to receive our new blog posts by e-mail using this link or the form we've added on the right side of our blog.

Alternatively, if you already receive too much clutter in your inbox and can't bear the thought of adding even more to it, you should definitely try using a feed reader like Google Reader or Bloglines. Ever since Rodney taught me how to use one of these, I've found them extremely helpful in keeping up on the newly published content from the blogs and web sites I try to follow.

Now you all will have no excuse to miss future baby announcements, when and if they might occur.

What's in your wallet?

Several months ago, I explored high-interest savings accounts in a post titled, Is your bank robbing you?"

Perhaps today's post could be alternatively titled, "Is your credit card company robbing you?" As we all know, many credit card companies charge exorbitant interest rates. But if you don't carry a balance from month-to-month, those interest rates won't hurt you.

Credit card companies also charge merchants fees every time you use your credit card to buy something. The credit card company, therefore, has a financial interest in getting you to use their card instead of the one offered by their competitor.

Rather than thinking in terms of what we must pay to have a certain credit card, we should be thinking in terms of what the credit card will pay us to use it. Many credit cards offer cash-back, airlines miles, or other rewards just for using that credit card to make your purchases. Therefore, if you're not getting one of these benefits when you use your credit card, you are probably getting robbed.

There are many other options available too. Excellent resources for comparing available credit card are available at CreditCards.com and Nerd Wallet.

NOTE: If you already have a credit card that is not giving you cash-back or rewards, you may be able to call the 1-800 customer service number and simply have the card switched over to one that does give cash-back or other rewards.

Revised 11/30/14

Congrats Rock & Michelle!

The following article was published in today's Capitol Morning Report:

CAPITOL COUPLE
By Rock Zierman. Contact: rock@cipa.org

The Capitol Park was the setting for the wedding Sunday of Rock Zierman, Director of Public Affairs for the California Independent Petroleum Association, to Michelle Carey, Legislative Aide to Assemblyman Chuck DeVore.

The couple became engaged last October in a plot Rock hatched with the assistance of Dennis Mangers, President of the California Cable & Telecommunications Association and Shpritz Anthony, Director of Operations of the Sacramento Theater Company (STC).

Mangers and Anthony helped Rock secure the use of the Main Stage at the H Street Theatre Project, home of the Wells Fargo Pavilion. On October 29, the couple walked into the theater lobby and sat down, waiting for the doors to open for the play "To Kill a Mockingbird." An "usher" walked up and informed them that the house was now open for seating (she was actually a STC staff member in on the plot). Since they were the first to walk in, Michelle didn't think it was odd that they were the only ones in the house. The couple sat down then Rock excused himself under the pretext of having to use the restroom. What Michelle didn't know was that their theater tickets were fakes and theater doors had been closed to everybody else.

A few minutes after Rock left their seats, the house lights faded out and Michelle was suddenly in a dark theater by herself. The stage lights came up slightly and a stage hand walked out and took the sheet off the mysterious object at the center of the stage revealing what was underneath: Rock's piano. Rock then walked on stage with his buddy, Matt Tennis of the Associated Builders and Contractors who was carrying a guitar. It was only then that Michelle figured out this was not your regular production.

Matt and Rock launched into "Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts, one of Michelle's favorite songs. At the end of it, Rock descended the stage stairs, got on one knee, and proposed to his now tearful future bride. Michelle turned around to see family sitting in the back row of the theater, who broke into applause.

The theatrics didn't stop there. Sunday at the wedding reception after the couple's first dance, Rock found himself surrounded by his sisters and cousins stammering towards him like the zombies in Michael Jackson's music video for his song "Thriller." The opening chords to the song started playing through the loud speakers and Rock and his zombie ensemble turned towards the guests and did a step-by-step rendition of the music video. While the Zierman side of the audience fully expected such a production, the Carey side was quite surprised. For more information, visit the couple's webpage at http://www.rockandmichelle.com/.

***

Addendum: We asked Zierman where he and Carey were going for the honeymoon. Here's his reply -- We're going to New Orleans in three weeks (Michelle is a fabulous cook, but has never been there...and I'm a fabulous eater!) then we're going to Cabo San Lucas after session ends.

The Missing Movie

One of our favorite family traditions is known as "pizza/movie" night. On Friday nights we typically grab some pizza from Little Caesars or Papa John's, then scarf it down while we watch a DVD on the couch.

Although we usually rent our movies from Blockbuster (using vouchers from Coke rewards or Discover), recently we've been able to request quite a few good DVDs and videos from the impressive selection available through the Sacramento Public Library.

Last night, however, we picked a DVD right off our bookshelf: The Fellowship of the Ring. This just happens to be the movie we saw on the night I proposed to Christina over five years ago.

While I'm not nearly as big of a Tolkien fan as my sister, I do enjoy the Lord of the Rings movies. But it dawned on me when I was watching the movie last night, that something isn't quite right. As great as these movies are, there really ought to be an equally well-made movie for the prequel, which happens to be the best Tolkien book of them all -- The Hobbit.

Turns out I'm not the first person to have this thought. There's a whole web site out there dedicated to this worthy cause.

New Giveaway: Designer Couch

Here's a once-in-a-lifetime offer! Our beloved couch, custom designed by my sister Charity and lovingly crafted by both my older sisters and my dear friend, Colette, ("crafted" meaning that an old couch was re-covered and beautified with some new cushions) is available to the first taker, absolutely free of charge. This aged artifact features not only seating convenience, but also a hidden queen-sized sleeper!



Disclaimer: Material is coming loose around the arms and will need some talent with a needle and thread or staple gun to restore it to its regular appearance.

Better act fast. This offer is not going to last long. Be the first to leave a comment and this couch is yours. (Delivery not included.)

New Giveaway: Japanese Movie Tickets

I have two tickets to see "Japanese Movies at the Crest Theatre" this Saturday, May 19, at 3:30 PM. The featured film is Sansho the Bailiff. We've never seen the movie, so we can't vouch for it.

The tickets (valued at $10/each) are free to the first person to leave a comment claiming them. (Sorry, but you'll have to arrange your own babysitting!)