Sunday, February 28, 2010

Bananas out the wazoo!

Our step-daughter-in-law's brother got half a pallet of bananas (that's 24 boxes) that were going to be thrown away (the bananas were still green) and he gave her a box of them (she gave us half the box, that's 20 lbs of bananas).
I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with all those bananas, since one gets tired of eating banana bread all the time. So I put 4 peeled bananas in a quart zipper freezer bag, mashed the bananas, zipped it closed, and dated the bag. Did that until I ran out of bananas, and put them all in the freezer. Now, when I want banana bread/cake/muffins/etc, all I have to do is pull a bag of mashed bananas out of the freezer, let them thaw, cut a corner off the bag, and squeeze them into the mixing bowl when they go into the recipe.
That was much easier than mashing the bananas in a bowl and then trying to transfer them to a freezer bag, and the bags take up less room in the freezer than small containers would. And I don't have to wash the bags when I'm done, I can throw them away.
What chaps my hide about these bananas? Whatever store ordered them and the company that shipped them - well, if the store ordered 50 boxes of bananas, they come 48 boxes to a pallet, so the company ships 2 pallets, which is 96 boxes. The store doesn't need 96 boxes, they only need 50, so those other 46 boxes get thrown away (unless there's a truck driver or two or three who are willing to take them). Which is how the step-DIL's brother got the pallet, he split it with another truck driver rather than see them get thrown away (and they both went around finding people who were willing to buy boxes or half-boxes of bananas for less than what they would have paid for them at a store). That part I don't have a problem with, but what if there wasn't anyone who was willing to take them? That's a lot of bananas that would have gone to waste, and that happens with all kinds of other produce. Now why can't those overages be donated to food shelves so that they aren't wasted, and people who can't normally afford to buy fresh fruits and veggies would have an opportunity to get some at no cost? I would think that could also be a tax deduction for the store also, donating to a food shelf.............certainly makes more sense than throwing it away.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Spam phone calls are so much fun!

We got a phone call today, caller was asking for DH by name (first name). I handed the phone to him, and he talked for about 10 seconds and then said "You'll have to talk to my wife, she handles all the money matters in our household." and handed the phone to me. The guy on the phone didn't identify himself, asked me if I was Mrs. DH, and when I said yes, said that DH was due a tax refund of $6,038 and...... That was all the further he got because I told him it was a scam and I hung up on him.
Now, what had given me the idea that it was a scam? Other than the fact that we had already done our taxes for the year and knew we didn't have a refund coming? Well, for one thing, this same voice had called on Tuesday, caller ID had said UNKNOWN NAME/UNKNOWN NUMBER, when he asked for DH, DH wasn't available and I said so, he asked when would be a good time to call back, I said in an hour, and he never called back. Number two, first call today from same voice, was unknown name, but phone number had an area code of 000 (which doesn't exist), when I answered, I could hear lots of people talking in the background but couldn't understand the caller. When I asked who they were calling, they hung up on me. In less than 5 minutes, got another call, which was the one asking for DH and talking about the tax refund (and this time, name and number were blocked). The voice on this second call today was the same as the voice on the call Tuesday.
I really doubt that whoever/whatever will be calling back, since sie is now aware that we are aware sie are a scam and we aren't falling for it. I think the reason sie hung up on me the first time today is because sie forgot to block the number when sie called.
I would say that this is one of those things that falls under "if it sounds too good to be true, it's probably a rip-off." I wonder how long this one has been going around, and how many people have bought into it?

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Friday Kitteh Blogging


Marty likes to sleep on the back of the chair.

FatKat and Marty have learned to share sleeping space (most of the time).

Marty likes a pillow when he sleeps.