Money & Finance #59: Credit, Money Management, and Saving

1. I read the credit report article. I found our quite a bit of information. I did not know that their were three reports that they look at. Just recently after looking at a show on TV about credit I am learning more and more of its importance. My goal is to keep a good eye on these issues. I took the exam I made a 90.

2. Spending budget has become a top concern of mine. I have a journal that I keep to help me keep a record on what I am spending. I am even cutting back on eating out as much. Guess what I do not like to cook But It is time to make some changes if I would like to have a little more money in the pocket. Actually I think this is more of a discipline issue.

3. Thanks for this information it has shed more light on the retirement. What retirement has showm me that it is more to it than what I thought. The more information you have the better it is to make a quality decision as to when you really want to do it. What I have noticed with a lot of people. Retirement to them is changing ome job and working for someone else. It seems that the stories I heard throug the years is not what it really is. Work and more work. Just a thought.

Money & Finance #58 Banking, Budgeting and Spending

Online banking is a good idea if you like doing it all of the time. It is good if you want to check on your information after hours. I use a credit union banking and they do have online services. However, I personally like going to the bank and handling my business. The site is secure and they offer a lot of services online. However, I pefer doing it the old fashion way but for emergency purpos banking online is great.

2. Budgeting is a state of mind and discipline. I have begun to start seriously budgeting. I was looking at a show the other night about how to become un-broke. As I looked at it I took a look at where I was and I don't like it. So I made a serious decision to change the way I look at money. Money is a serious matter and I want to be responsible how I handle it. I have started a journal with my spending. This will give me a good idea of how I am spending and where it is going. I am opting to increase my savings and just doing basic finance 101.

3. I read the article and there were a lot of interesting things to take into consideration. With these helpful tools if adds to what I have already considered.
coupons and cheking the prices more closely and jotting things down is the best step in the right direction.

Pot Luck #57: TXT U L8R - Texting

Oh Yea texting. This is sure enough a new generation thing. I have seen this done but I have never done it myself. I have watched the video and I am sure that if I had to do it I could. I have watched my cousins and niece and nephew do it. In fact they were trying to show me how it is done.

I think texting should be done when you are not driving. I think that most of the time peole are doing it just for fun in talking to their friends but It can be helpful in an emergency situation. I am not sure if this is someting I would like to do all of the time.

Potluck #56: To Tweet or Not To Tweet...Twitter

Twitter this social network is alright. I am just now really learning how to blog and now I am about to become a tweeter. I browsed through Twitter and checked out some of their apps and Celebrity Twitter. I would not adopt this for my personal use. I do not want to stalk celebrities. I could see looking at this a whole lot. I do not have anything I want to Twitter about right now, but after taking the time to work with this i probablly could find some use some where. Also, I would not use my real name under no circumstance 2. I did a Twitter search on Golden Retrievers. Not that I like dogs just to see what would I find. I got over thirty blogs from people who love Golden Retrievers.
3. I think I would use it like I do my blog. If I want to communicate with a friend I use the telephone, send an email or write a letter. I don't need this constant bombardment of information, just a little bit not a life time of information.
4. I will establish an account just to see how it really works and if I like it I will continue it.

Pot Luck #55: Getting the Most Out of Facebook

I am a new user of Facebook.I had heard of it but I thought it was another thing like myspace. I signed up for it which waw rather easy. I searched for people I knew and of course I started with my personal family and I found my cousin. Then I played around it with different applications. I even went so far as to invite some people who I talked to about facebbook to become one of my friends. I don't really know if I would continue to use it but it is good to know.

Books, Readers and Beyond#54 Social Networking Through Books

Exercise #1
Yes I have been a member of a book club. For adults it is a good socialnetwork through reading. Finding other people who like to read and share what they have read is good fun. My experience has been an in-person book club and was by a friend who knew a friend . I have never been apart of an online book club.

Exercise #2
NW Branch as begun it's first adult Book Club. The name of our book club is Reader's Perspective View. So far it is going well. We are reading Susanna Garden by McCormick. This book was recommended so after our meeting I will know how the other members felt about the book. I think having a book club in the libary sort of help the patrons to really feel as though they belong to the library. It puts reading books back into a postive perspective. After all Libraries are about books not just the internet(smile). I am interested in geting more interested in using Reading group guide. There are some great pointers I will use for our book club at NW.

Exercise #3
I checked on Good Reads and Shelfari! for my book of choice: One for the money by Janet Evanovich. The ratings were similar on both sites. Good Reads gave One for the moeny a 4.10 avg. rating out of 5. Shelfari! gave it 4 stars out of 5. I wasn't surprised. I read One for the money and I was hooked--

Books, Readers and Beyond:#53 Finding Books Online

Three local book stores that are close to the Northwest Branch
Book Land
7135 Louetta Rd
Stuebner Airline
spring, Texas 77001

Copperfields Book Shop
8228 Louetta Rd.
Spring, Texas 77379

Barnes & Noble
5303 FM 1960 West
Houston, Texas 77069

#2.Search for the book I selected?
The Book I selected was The cat who blew the whistle by Lillian Jackson Braun
Borders price is $7.99 online
The Audio Price is $59.00 with headphones
Compact $34.99
http://www.borders.com/online/store/SearchResults?keyword=cat+who+blew+the+whistle&type=0&simple=1

#3 Download an e-book
The book I downloaded was The client by John Grisham.
My experience with reading books online is not new. I had to do some of them while in college. However, when I downloaded this book I read as much of it I wanted but my preference is holding the book in my hand. It holds my attention better. Now if I wanted it on a PDF then I would down load it to my computer and then I can pick up on it whenever I wanted to. But I really like holding my books it is just apart of me. Everywhere I go I have a book in my hand of some kind. Habits are hard to break.It is good to have different forms but having the plug in my ear all day is not my cup of tea.

Books, Readers and Beyond:#52 What to Read

#1
I went into Novelist Plus and search for the title The Cat who blew the Whistle
by Lillian Jackson Braun.Cozy Mysteries
A cozy mystery has interesting characters, a light-hearted tone,
no graphic violence, and often features an amateur detective and animals.

Then I looked for the read alikes and this is what it gave me.
a.Rita Mae Brown's Mrs. Murphy series and Whisker of Evil,
b.Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon Days,
c.Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity series.
d.M C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth Mysteries
e.Marian Babson's Canapes for the kitties

Next I searched in Fiction L, Booklist: This is what was recommended.
Lydia Adamson cat mysteries
Marian Babson cat mysteries
M.C. Beaton -- esp. the Hamish Macbeth series
Veronica Black -- Sister Joan
Rita Mae Brown -- "Sneaky Pie" mysteries
Carvic and follow ups by Crane -- Miss Seeton mysteries
Jeanne M Dams -- Dorothy Martin
Carole Nelson Douglas

Although some say these are *too* cute Carola Dunn -- Daisy Dalrymple
Dorothy Gilman -- Mrs. Pollifax series
Lee Harris (Syrell Leahy) -- former nun Christine Bennett
Joan Hess -- Claire Malloy and Maggody series
Landrum, Graham -- Garden Club Mystery
Richard and Francis Lockridge -- Mr. & Mrs. North books
These are older, and fall somewhat between Braun and Grafton in tone I'd say Charlotte MacLeod
John Mortimer -- Rumpole books
Sister Carol Anne O'Marie -- Sister Mary Helen
Katherine Hall Page -- Faith Fairchild
Elizabeth Peters -- Amelia Peabody, Vicky Bliss, Jacqueline Kirby, standalones.
The series in particular are heavy on the whimsy factor which is so prevalent in the Cat Who... books Sheila Simonson -- Lark Dodge
Christie, Sayers, Allingham, Tey -- the cozy classics

Then I searched in Library BookLists and Bibliographies. From this book I got the following.
1. Murder on the Lusitania 2. Murder on the Maurentania
3. Murder on the Minnesota 4.Murder on the Caronia
5 Murder on the Marm 6 Murder on the Salsette all by Conrad Allen
Aunt Dimity, an English ghost by Nancy Atherton
Augusta Goodnight, guardian angel by Mignon F. Ballard
Melanie Travis, poodle breeder by Berenson, Laurien
Bernie Rhodenbarr by Lawrence Block
Consulting Fiction L. Booklist and Library Booklist listed diffrent books to read. Although a couple of them matched Novelist. As a Librarian I know that all of my adult patrons do not like the same type of books some are different. So I always ask what they like or what authors they prefer and then I try to match them with some alikes. Of the ones I searched I like Novelist the best.

#2.Find books sutible for a fourth grade girl interested in anamials
I used NovelList for the fourth grade girl and her brother. For the fourth grade girl: Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo and The original adventures of Hank the Cowdog by John R. Erickson. For her 13 year old brother: The night tourist by Katherine Marsh and The afterlife by Gary Soto.

#3 The customer who has read all of Dean Koonts I would look in Novelist and see what they recommend in doing so this is what it said:
Greg Bear,Darwin's Radio and Vitals, Dan Simmons Summer of Night,John Saul,The Manhattan Hunt Club,andCharles Grant The Millennium Quartet,
Then I looked in What I should read next and they recommend books by F. Paul Wilson and Stephen White.
#4.Series the customer has read Alanna: the First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
Series is: Song of the Lioness

1 Alanna: the first Adventure
2 In the Hand of the Goddess
3 Woman Who Rides Like a Man, The
4 Lioness Rampant
This is found in the Mid-Continent Public Library