Little Black Guidebook

This week has been the first really nice weather since last summer. Temps as high as 70 have me finishing up my Spring Cleaning by sprucing up our Outdoor Spaces.

Exterior spaces Spring Cleaning List via Simply Stated:

1. Sweep and wash porches and patios.
2. Replace mats at doorways as necessary.
3. Sweep cobwebs out of corners of exterior walls, garage, and porches.
4. Clean outdoor furniture and prepare for summer use.
5. Clear branches, sticks, and leaves that may have fallen into the yard during the winter months. Trim plants and trees as needed.
6. Bring garden hoses out of winter storage. Check exterior water faucets. If you have a mechanical water system, test the system and inspect for problems.
7. Inspect liquids and powders used for bug and weed maintenance and make sure none of the containers are leaking or past their expiration dates. Dispose of expired materials according to your local, county, and state laws.

Bonus Overachiever Tasks:

1. Make a garden plan
2. Clean the grill for the 1st BBQ of the summer
3. Clean the gutters
4. Donate leaves to friends compost pile

via: John in LA

Oahu, a tropical wonder of beach and sand, mountains and jungles, but it can also be the land of uber-big tacky hotels and tons of tourists.

Hubby will be there for four days of Army training with just a few hours here and there to do more than stare out the window at the rainforest.  Given more time, I’d go with him and do things again like sea kayak or scuba dive. Oahu is everything you’d want a tropical paradise to be, with enough to see and do here to keep you busy for a lifetime (duh people live here for just that reason), but between cosmopolitan Honolulu anad the mountain ranges of Ko’olau there is still an incredible diversity of things to do, even with just a short amount of time.

Here is the little list that I made for him to take with (after jealously whining about the injustice of being left behind).

Stroll through the Botanical Gardens

The 1st time we went to oahu we went to the Foster Botanical Garden, but it was fall time. Now it is Spring and Hawaii’s amazing collection of sweet-smelling flowers and treeswill be in full bloom. Its right downtown and only takes an hour or two to go through.

Bishop Museum

This museum took me all day and for most people it will take at least half a day, especially if you have kids, but you can time it to go just in time for one of their one hour topic specific tours and be in and out in just over an hour. Even if you do not have kids, this is a must-see on your vacation. Originally founded by Princess Bernice Pauahi, it contains a great collection of Hawaiian and Pacific artifacts and a huge science adventure center where they actually make lava as one of the displays.

Nu-uanu Pali Lookout

Honolulu traffic is hell, it once took me 2 hrs to go 3 miles. So why not go a little out of the way on your commute (yes rental car is pretty unavoidable for business trips as the bus system is so slow). Take about a half hour drive from Waikiki to the Nu`uanu Pali Lookout which has a great view of the windward side of Oahu and Kaneohe Bay.

Hawaii’s Royal Palace

Take a unique tour of the only royal palace in the United States. Built in 1882 for King Kalakaua, Iolani Palace takes only about an hour to see and is just a short walk from the State Capitol in downtown Honolulu. http://www.iolanipalace.org/

Pearl Harbor
He went to Pearl Harbor on a family vacation with his parents once, but with military I.D. its super easy to see the U.S.S. Missouri simply by driving yourself and not waiting for the shuttle bus. Both the beginning and end of World War II are memorialized forever at Pearl Harbor today in the form of the U.S.S. Arizona and the U.S.S Missouri. To save time you can drive to the Missouri yourself with military I.D. and see the U.S.S. Bowfin real quick. Tickets to the Arizona are timed so if you only have an hour or so to stop by you’ll have to get there early or skip it.

Historic Mission Houses
The Mission Houses were the original headquarters of the Sandwich Islands Mission, a group of New England Christian missionaries who arrived in Hawaii in 1820. It takes less than two hours to quickly peruse all three buildings. http://www.missionhouses.org/

Hike Diamond Head
Located on the southeast coast of Oahu, not far from Waikiki, Diamond Head is one of the world’s best-known volcanic craters. The view from the 760-ft. summit is well worth the climb. The steep trail to the top is mostly paved and includes two sets of stairs. One is 99 steps, the other 76 steps. They lead to a 225-foot tunnel (bring a flashlight) and end with a spectacular view of the island’s west side. This is also an excellent spot for whale watching during the winter months. While the park service suggests you allow 1.5-to-2 hours for a leisurely hike; the hike itself, round trip, takes less than 30 minutes for an in-shape Army guy.

via John Lawton

Wet drizzly weekends are perfect for Spring Cleaning. But we were out of town, so I’ll be cleaning the garage during the evenings this week. Here’s the plan.

• Tidy the tools. Its Spring Cleaning not organizing time so we’ll just corral them up again and not whip out the pegboards quite yet.
• Wipe down the shelving. Our metal shelving was easy to assemble, and able to withstand heat and humidity better than wood, all it takes is a quick wipe down.
• Put loose items in clear plastic storage boxes. Cardboard boxes, no matter how strong, bend and dent with frequent use and eventually succumb to dampness. You also can’t see what is in them so they really add nothing to organization. I have a bunch of clear plastic boxes left over after emptying them of extra craft supplies so these babies are going to the garage.
• Get the bikes down. We hang items like our bikes, cords, and hoses. Seasonal changes rotate what gets hung up.
• Sweep the floor. Gravel, melted snow dirt and other dirt really piles up all winter.
• Have the boiler serviced.
• Re-asses gardening supplies. If we didn’t use it last year, why? This is the best time to get rid of it, because everyone else is buying what they need.
• Go through the camping equipment. (Keep, toss, donate, repair)
• Car falls under “garage” right? Time for a car wash now that the snow is melted. Maybe an oil change too for summer weight oil. You know, while we’re thinking about it.

Home office = messiest room in the house. Its the room that if company is coming I just shut the door and hope they don’t get nosey. You can’t get things off the bookshelves without tripping over mountains of Army stuff or paper.

But decluttering this room involves negotiations of personal space (its really his room/stuff). Ultimately there are certain things like “Army junk” papers and gear, that regardless of whether they’re needed just have to be kept and they have to be kept in our house. As a reservist he doesn’t have an office to do his Army job at so it all comes home with him. Read this four post series from UnClutterer to follow the same process as we did to get  rid of the paper. It has a nice list of which papers must be kept and how often and how best to keep the papers for before shredding them.

So I changed what I could by simply removing every last lick of non-Man stuff, other than our wifi enabled printer and some office supplies and said, ok, the rest of the room is yours to use how you want and called it good.

Sounds easy, but in the process I had to deal with an addiction. We’re addicted to paper. We moved in after his Grandmother who kept every canceled check she had ever written. We have all the tools to go digital (scanner, harddrive, filing system), but we just haven’t taken the time. So I had to remove and process a mountain of paper and then shred it.

Once all of  ”our” stuff was out of the room I gave him some rubber-maid bins to keep stuff corraled and then Spring Cleaned.

Overachievers Home office Spring Cleaning List via Simply Stated:

1. Move furniture, vacuum or sweep where furniture had been placed, and vacuum the underside of large furniture items.
2. Clear off desk and clean desk top with appropriate cleaner. Pull items out of drawers and off shelves, wipe down the drawers/shelves, and replace organization units if worn.
3. Wipe down telephone.

Something funny has been happening in my house recently – I think we’re giving up television.

I say I “think” because it hasn’t been a conscious decision, but instead a combination of little changes. Our coax splitter broke and we had the choice of internet or cable. Internet won hands down. Also hubby is studying for a major 8 hour exam and I am prepping for my end of year piano recital so I am spending 2 hrs a night glued to the piano while he is in his office with the books instead of both of us being glued to the boob tube.

We still watch shows on Netflix and Hulu, but when you have 3 shows expiring on Hulu in one day you ask yourself whether following that many shows is really necessary. A few have dropped out of rotation entirely and we’re left with just those that we really enjoy. And I’m surprised to say, I don’t either of us  misses it. Even after the big recital and exam, now that the weather is getting better I see our free time being spent running around outside instead of adding back more t.v. time.

With the broken cable splitter we are left with over the air digital channels, and now its been so long since we used the cable that neither of us can find the cable remote now. We have the tv remote which controls the DVD player and volume and we have the PS3 remote which controls Netflix and Hulu. Its been over a month and we haven’t torn off the sofa cushions in desperation yet.

I went to the cable company to give up TV entirely in favor of streaming Hulu and Netflix through our PS3, but it actually costs more to have just internet than a “package,” go figure. I didn’t spend the $5 to replace the lost remote though because TV, pah, who needs it?

Have you given up on tv, or just on cable?

via: From Me to You

Go to the blog linked above and I dare you to not want to hop on a plane to London. Some proper British tea would be fab this morning.

Its been a long time since my last iPhone Travel apps post. We did eventually get a iPod Touch and have been loving some apps. Now that the new iPhone OS 4.0 comes with multi-tasking I may be taking the full-time plunge and getting an iPhone this summer. Here’s what I’ll look forward to having with me once I have 3G goodness instead of straight-up WIFI. What are your favorites?

Apps that lighten my load:

USB Drive = Dropbox (Free)
I have lost more USB drives while traveling than I care to count. Now I use Dropbox instead. 2GB of free space available on the iPhone, on the web and synched between all my computers…perfect.

Camera =
I think photo editing on your iPhone is a stupid idea, way too time consuming to do that on a small phone, I’m spoiled by my home setup. But photo taking? Absolutely necessary and occasionally you can leave the camera at home if you have some good apps. I’m told ProCamera ($2.99) or Camera Genius ($1.99), both are improvements over the iPhone native camera, although I haven’t tried them myself yet.

Presenter Remote = Remote (Free)
Forget buying/bringing a presenter remote, just install this app.

Wireless Mouse = Air Mouse Pro Wireless Mouse ($1.99)
Cheaper than any mini-mouse and more functional too. I rarely want a mouse with my Macbook, but when I do this replicates the functionality of a wireless mouse and lightens my load.

E-Reader = Amazon Kindle (Free)
Amazon’s Kindle is a staple of the First Class section, but I don’t have the budget to keep up with the First Class flier gadget whims. While they are still amazing devices I knew that once Amazon released their free Kindle for iPhone app I knew I would never drop $250 on Kindle. Some people swear by the Kindle’s digital paper readability and would never read an entire book on a tiny iPhone screen, but it lightens my load and works for me. I’m more of a paper kind of girl anyway. Of course, there are other apps to ditch paper with. Any classical novel with an expired copyright can probably found with the Stanza app and its access to Project Gutenberg, tons of classic novels are free.

Apps that make trips smoother:

TripIt (Free)
Does one thing and does it well it takes all of your confirmation codes automatically puts it into an itinerary complete with additional hotel information and links that you can share with others. Even Tim Ferriss loves it.

Flighttrack Pro ($9.99)
I wouldn’t pay for an app unless it was awesome and this one is. For the frequent traveler needing it once pays for it. It does what it says and is the best flight tracking app out there with push alerts, real-time flight itinerary updates, automatic synching, and maps that work offline. Flight cancelled? It even helps you find alternate flights. Integrated with TripIt too.

Around Me (Free)
Allows you to quickly find out information about your surroundings. Doesn’t replace a guidebook, but helps.

Apps that solve problems of traveling:

Mint (Free) and Paypal (Free)
Maybe I’m the only one who has missed a bill payment while traveling internationally, but if not Mint.com and Paypal.com apps will save your bacon.

Shape Travelista
Travel is hard on the gym plan. “Don’t let a business trip derail your workout ever again.” Workout app designed with the traveler in mind.

Location specific apps

Well there are tons, and this list can’t go on forever. Point being, apps make travel awesome. In no way can they replace a good guidebook (even though Rick Steve’s guides have apps now) or should absorb you into not paying attention to the world around you. Take off the head phones and wander a bit.

March was the single most expensive month of my life, but that’s ok and here’s why. We weren’t planning on purchasing a car, a piano or a PlayStation this month, but we were planning on purchasing them and we had saved for them by putting money aside to pay cash.  We saved and then watched for the right deal.

Car: The 2010 Subaru Forester we bought was used. Rather than buying new we purchased a 3 month old vehicle for $7k less and we still have 33 months of warranty left. The owner drove it up to Alaska and then decided he wanted a big truck. His poor planning is our gain.

Piano: I have been taking lessons again for 4 months by driving to the University and borrowing one of their pianos, but now I have my own. Estate sale sold me a Grandma’s barely used piano which was worth $4,500 for $1,500 after a little negotiation. I had my piano tuner’s jaw on the floor when I told him what I paid.

So despite the fact that I spent more money this month than I did when I got married I would consider it a success. Planned spending after saving is ok. The main spending I wanted to control was the frivolous and discretionary spending.

Here’s how we did on the frivolous and discretionary fronts:

Food/dining = $1,155 went to $630.83 for a savings of $524.00 a month. Wow that category was out of control.

Entertainment = $225 went to $128.97 for a savings of $96.03.

I think we’ll try again to work on those two categories and start making transfers into our goal savings account for our next trip. Its looking pretty empty at the moment and its good to have a goal to save for.

I like that quote a lot. “The best things in life aren’t things.”  Today is a day of rest from spring cleaning, but I won’t soon forget how much maintenance and time things consume just by existing.

Spring Europe Trip: Packing List

I’m not going anywhere this spring (sob), but if I were I could totally go two weeks with just these items: Dress, skirt, dress shirt, long sleeve shirt, short sleeve shirt, cardigan, trench coat, guidebook size purse (with all important cross-body strap and closed top), pants (that go with both button down shirt and more casual shirts and is sink washable), and two pairs of shoes (both flat, comfy for walking and which can dress up skirts and pants). It all sort of goes together and can be mixed and matched (long sleeve t-shirt under dress, button down with pants or skirt, t-shirts with skirt or pants, etc.) for a wide variety of occasions and most of it is sink friendly.

Contrast this with: Confessions of an Overpacker

“I realized why I overdo it. I stared at my closet, overflowing with jeans and cardigans. That’s what I miss when I’m away: choice. Call it superficial, but having more than one or two t-shirts reminds me of home. I make a lot of sacrifices to live abroad. When the homesickness sets in, I can find some solace in my suitcase.”

“When your baggage is your home, sometimes it’s nice to have a two-story suitcase.”

I relate, but I can’t do that. It stresses me out lugging so much around. I would rather give myself a budget to buy it there if I need it than to lug it around for sure, but we’re all different.