Everyone needs a Hobby

~ K ~ 1 Comment

This evening I’m watching the Thomas Crown Affair starting Pierce Bronson and Rene Russo.  It’s the new one…made in 1999.  One of the main character states “Everyone needs a hobby.”

James Bond had a hobby!  https://youtu.be/yw3X-lzwmOM

And yes, even I have a hobby: a worthless advice blog.

Sure, sometimes I forget about my hobby and my worthless advice blog gets neglected.  I don’t write and that is just plain silly of me because in the end, who suffers the most?  You do.  You do, my poor readers. I neglect you and that’s a terrible mistake.  Why should I deprive you of my advice?  Do my stories not enlighten you? Do they not impart you with my vast knowledge and wise experiences?

Every once in a while, Cyndi (my imaginary stalker) has to remind me that life isn’t all about rainbow and unicorns. Sometimes it is about doing something more important, sometimes it involves putting down Mr. Whiskers and writing for the readers of my blog.  For you my dear readers, I’ll put down Mr. Whiskers this evening and write a blog entry.  Because, hey, you deserve it.

What is your hobby?  A hobby should be something that engages your mind, it helps your soul, and it will lead to positive health benefits.  (Of course if making meth in your garage is your hobby, it probably won’t lead to positive health benefits but it will engage your mind….chemistry is hard stuff).

Hobbies are an escape from your everyday that allows you to decompress.  You are able to relax and think something other than the burdens of being an adult.

Hobbies are also something you don’t mind wasting time on. You can spend hours doing your hobby and it won’t matter because you enjoy it.  It brings you joy.

However, a hobby should be positive for you and for those around you. Smoking cigerettes around a daycare center isn’t a good hobby.  Watching an excessive amount of TV is a bad hobby also.  Instead you should be reading my blog.  Clearly, my blog is an excellent hobbit.

What is your favorite hobby (besides reading my blog)?

Back on Anderson Island

~ K ~ Leave a comment

This week on Anderson Island, the lake isn’t frozen over. Our cold spell is over and we are back into the low 40’s.  My brother and I are here only for a little while to clean up the lake house. We are going to return to the mainland with my parents’ Airstream Bambi 19 Flying Cloud model trailer to post up for sale.

We just have to figure out how to hook it up to my Dad’s truck. I’ve towed a trailer before and my brother is a truck driver, so between the two of us, we should be able to do it.

If you or someone you know is looking for a beautiful trailer, send me an email!  I’ll be posting more photos later.

Sorry if I offend You!

~ K ~ 6 Comments

It has been brought to my attention that my blog of worthless advice may have offended some of you.  Now, with my blog having a readership of two readers, it is hard to know where to take this blog.  There is a lot of pressure to keep the blog interesting for my two readers. 

Growing your blog readership isn’t easy for a blog that has the words “worthless advice” in the title. I think I’ve narrowed my target audience to a fairly small niche: people who like worthless advice.  Is there a huge market out there for worthless advice? Well, obliviously not since I have only two readers.

My advice isn’t good. I get a lot of my blog ideas from movies I watch, the news I read, and articles I discover online.  I usually try to build upon those ideas into a nice blog post about worthless advice.  Take for example, my yard sales tips post.  It’s a very well written piece that clearly shows worthless advice for your next yard sale. Terribly worthless advice that no one should take. But I do hope that you find it humorous because it is so worthless.

So, my dear readers, I’m sorry if I offended you with my worthless advice.  I’ll try to make it up to sometime soon.  You can help me by suggesting some blog post ideas below in my comment section. Thanks for reading!

I may have to give up the News, Facebook, and all incoming messages of Doom and Gloom.

~ K ~ 6 Comments

I enjoy comedy shows and how they point out the craziness of today’s current events.  I enjoy reading Facebook posts of my friends as well.   However, I have noticed a trend of people giving up Facebook.  I can understand that.  I may have to give up on Facebook, the news, and my favorite comedy shows.  Perhaps, I will think of only rainbows and unicorns.  Keep myself upbeat.  You know what I’m talking about, right?

The news channels are telling me what is going on out there in the world.  Facebook is full of ranting and raving, hurt feelings, and cat videos.  And folks, it’s not pretty watching and reading all of that.
I should just relax with my family and not watch the news. Sit back and appreciate what I have. It’s a good plan isn’t it?

I’ll even stick to my plan of not talking about my family in my blog posts.  However, I’ll keep you informed of how my cat Mr. Whiskers is doing and how Cyndi (my imaginary stalker) is staying in the stalking business.  Maybe I’ll slip in a good story of how much I appreciate my two blog readers, my wife, and my kids.

I will continue to offer worthless advice. With the name of my blog containing “worthless advice”, it is hopefully oblivious to my two readers that this blog is meant to be funny. I know I fail at being funny, but I try.

Leave your comments below…give me some feedback on what I should be writing about.  It will only take a minute.

When I’m Feeling Depressed…I think to myself “Things could be worse…”

~ K ~ 2 Comments

I’m usually a pretty upbeat and positive person. Sure, some people might say I’m a sarcastic type of person who lives in the realm of reality but I am, for the most part, a positive upbeat person.


I don’t like to hear about negative news. I hate sob stories. However, I love a good train wreck story once in a while. I just can’t help it. Most train wreck stories involve people that bring it on themselves. Maybe they know better, maybe they don’t.  But in the end, I get to hear a good story and feel better about myself.

So your project is to submit your train wreck story in the comments below.  Heck, if you like, email me your story directly. I don’t mind.

Have a great weekend!

The Cold Freeze is Over! (And I’m not talking about my blogging vacation either!)

~ K ~ 1 Comment

For the past couple of weeks here in the Seattle area, we have enjoyed a nice frosty cold spell.  It was so cold, we had numerous days of the temperature dropping in the 20’s (F) and even into the teens.  That is pretty unusual for us.  It cause my little fish pond to freeze over. Don’t worry; the goldfish are still going strong under the ice.

It also cause Lake Josephine on Anderson Island to mostly completely freeze over.  The other sister lake, Lake Florence, also was frozen over from this recent cold spell.  Again, pretty amazing stuff for our mild martime Puget Sound climate area.

We broke up some of the ice by the dock.
Winter is coming….
Bella on the ice!

Now, when I took these photos, the ice was 2-4 inches thick and clear.  That will support my dog’s weight of 37 lbs with no problem.  It could support me…but why take that chance? My son and I happily stayed on the float section of our dock.  I didn’t want to fall through the ice, die, and leave you (my dear blog readers) sad and depressed, right? In this case, instead of my usual “Safety 3rd” motto, I bumped it up to #1. Heck, safety is no accident.

(Here is a link to some ice information.  It isn’t for Washington State. Click HERE to Ice Safety information).

My dog Bella enjoyed the ice and chasing the ball for hours.  My son flew one of our Phantom 3 drones over the frozen Lake Josephine as well, hopefully we will have some drone video to post in the next week or so. 

Now, the weather has warmed up into the 40’s (F) and the ice is disappearing.  Until next year….I bid you a fond farewell my frozen lake friends….

Thanks for reading, please comment below on my amazing blog post about ice safety in Washington State, Anderson Island, or just how darn funny and good looking I am.

Welcome Back….

~ K ~ 6 Comments

OK…I’ve been off the radar and blog posting for a while.  I got busy, then lazy, and then I lost the spirit to write.  However, I’m getting back into the Blog Posting Game!! Yeah, let’s start posting again.  Chat about worthless advice and everything else that crosses my mind.  You can give me suggestions (blogging ideas) in the comment section below!

Latest Developments:

My Dad passed away at the end of October.  I’m in the middle of helping my Mom sell off stuff that she won’t use and our family (my siblings) won’t use.  This includes a 2008 Smart Car with less that 5000 miles on it, a 2010 Airstream Bambi Flying Cloud 19 trailer (in awesome shape), and an electric boat (about 19 feet long, currently on Anderson Island, WA).  We also are selling my Dad’s old Hasselblad camera equipment.  That prompted me to sell my old Hasselblad camera equipment as well.  Slowly, my son and I are posting items for sale on eBay and Craig’s List.

That’s it for now.  Again, thanks for reading!

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I can’t sell my kids but….Oh, more stuff for sale! Make an Offer!

~ K ~ 3 Comments

My daughter and I have been cleaning up the house.  We attempted to disrupt the mess in the guest bedroom/dog’s room.  We sold an old desk my cousin had given me for $25.  So we thought, “Heck, let’s post other things on Offer Up! and Craig’s List”.

Let’s sell some of our treasures!

How about an old school desk?

image1

http://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/fuo/5714930780.html

How about something cool for the dorm room?  Man cave? Garage?  Check out my old Traffic Lights and Crosswalk Lights!

http://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/fuo/5714918666.html8666.html

We may have been a little too excited and priced the items too high.  So we are will to take offers.  I know someone will score!

Oh, it’s Yard Sale Season? The Best 7 Worthless Advice Tips to make it a HUGE success!

~ K ~ 3 Comments

It’s summer here and that means there are a fair amount of yard sales in my local community.  It’s like a gold rush of junk and the everyone wants to sell their treasures!  I enjoy a good garage sale like the next guy (if that guy happens to be a hoarder).  You can find some good tools, cheap books, dangerous toys, out of style clothes, and dead Nana’s ashes.

Perhaps you want to sell your Treasures?   Follow my Tips for Huge Garage Sales!

  1. Get Rid of Your Spouse and Children – You don’t want your sentimental, sappy husband or your whining kids mucking up the sales process with their cries of “But that was my favorite bike” or “I still need that hammer to fix the gate” or “I need that heart medication to survive.”
  2. Sell High Quality Items –  Sure, that is pretty easy right?  You know what sells?  Your neighbor’s stuff.  Like their brand new lawn furniture or their ECHO weed wacker.  Or that bratty kid’s bike down the street.  Just slip them into our inventory, price them dirt cheap (like your wife’s perfume), and watch the money roll in.
  3. Advertise Your Yard Sale –  Make sure to make a big sign and hot glue it to the neighbor’s car down on the corner.  Hey, if he is stupid enough to park image2his car on the public street, then it can become a good spot for a nice sign to direct traffic to your awesome garage sale.
  4. Put on Some Music – Have your nephew and his gangsta rap music group have a concert outside.  Nothing like a bunch of swear words to get those Buyers itching to buy!
  5. Selling on a Hot Day?  Some would suggest selling lemonade…I would add Vodka and get the sales party started.  Everyone knows that liquor helps to loosen up those tight purse strings.  And what could go wrong with vodka infused lemonade at 9:32 am?
  6. Need something for the Husbands to do?  Husbands get bored at garage sales.  To combat this, start a craps game in the backyard.  Everyone loves craps!  Remember the longer they are playing, the longer their wives are at the garage sale buying your stuff!
  7. All Sales Final – Don’t forget to remind your customers that all sales are final.  They are stuck with your treasures now!

After those final customers sober up, you can get rid of the reminder items on Craig’s List for FREE!

Do you have some awesome tips or a story to share?  Leave them in the comments below!

 

 

 

 

Meet my friend Craig’s List

~ K ~ 5 Comments

Since it is summer time, we have a few chores around my house that we need to finish up.  One is clearing out the “treasures” (worthless crap) we have accumulated over the years but have no good use for anymore.  Granted, at one time I thought I did need a huge pink “Hello Kitty” desk for my office to be a successful blogger, but now I know I don’t (mainly because I’m not a successful blogger).  Besides, my imaginary stalker Cyndi said she would gladly take it off my hands anytime I needed her to.

Unlike my worthless advice I offer to you my dear readers, some of these items are good, usable items.  And you know I really hate making the trip to the local garbage dump when I know a lot of my treasures could have a second life with someone else.  That’s when I turn to my friend Craig’s List.

Sure, some people are scared of Craig’s List (because who isn’t scared of meeting a stranger in a back alley for new flat screen TV?) but when you want to avoid making a trip to the garbage dump, Craig’s List can be your best friend.  Now that I don’t have a truck, it is hard for me to take large items to the garbage dump, donation center, or the recycling center.  Instead of me asking my friend to borrow his truck, I throw everything up on Craig’s List for free.

Today, I got rid of some really cool solar water heater panels.  They aren’t as bad as having a broken down wash machine in your front hard, but solar panels were nice but a wind storm had knocked them over and the glass was destroyed.  I had a few problems setting up the solar water heater system last year, then replacing the glass seemed expensive (4 ft x 8 ft sheets), and they didn’t fit into my “White Trash Theme” I have going on in the backyard, so I decided to get rid of them.  Now, I’m sure I could have sold them on Craig’s List but sometimes that is more of a hassle that the money I’d make out of the project.

This morning I posted the ad and within 30 minutes, two guys came and picked them up. As a bonus, they also picked up all my other free junk out in the driveway.  It was awesome.  I just saved myself about $50 in dump fees and a trip to the Bow Lake Transfer Station.

If you are worried about people coming to your house, you can also put your treasures on the corner of your neighborhood with a “free” sign on it.  I have a neighbor who is gone 11 months of the year so we usually put all the items in front of his house.  Plus, I have an awesome view of watching people gathering up my “treasures”.

That’s your worthless advice tip of the day!  Keep on getting rid of those treasures!