I found out last week (after a surprise call from Pia) that Sheryll is in the US. Pia when to visit her in Santa Rosa, CA and they called me. I really wanted to go visit her. It has been 10 years since we’ve seen each other so you can imagine. I would have had to go over the weekend (they leave on the 24th and I have three days of training next week) because all of my vacation time is tied up for the rest of year. I really thought about it and tried to figure it out. I couldn’t figure out a way, though, because I’m super busy the next couple of weeks and plane fare is through the rough and I would need a rental car (Santa Rosa is about 2 hours away from San Francisco) and accommodations, adding even more expense. It’s hard to plan a low-cost trip on such short notice. I want to see her and all, but not to the tune of $1200. Ugh. I wish I would have known sooner so that we could plan ahead.

In talking to Sheryll, however, it sounds like they are already planning a follow up visit. She’s thinking of returning in December (around her birthday) or maybe next summer. I’m thinking that we will just catch them on their next trip. It would be a great excuse to visit San Francisco. It has been a decade since my last visit and Brian has never been there. I actually found this web site called Trusted Tours & Attractions, which has information about various tours, attractions, and activities. I was looking at things to do in San Francisco in particular so that Brian and I could turn the visit into a full-fledged vacation. Actually, while we are at it, we might as well visit Jane and Joy in Los Angeles. Trusted Tours has a things to do in Los Angeles resource also.

By the way, the web site offers tours and information about many other cities not just San Francisco so be sure to sign up for Trusted Travels eNewsletter. You can get tickets for the Metropolitan museum of art in New York for example. That’s another place that I’ve been dying to visit.

Trusted Tours has the best online travel guides so I’m bookmarking it for future reference. It will help me out a lot for future vacation ideas. I’m really looking forward to Sheryll’s follow up visit after Christmas. As soon as she books her flight, I’m going to start putting together a trip itinerary for Brian and I.

Ever since we moved to our new office building, I’ve had to dress up a bit more. This required buying new clothes because all of my old clothes (sizes 2s and 4s) are too small. I’m two to three times the size I was then. It’s depressing, I know.

What’s even more depressing is that we seem to have fallen off the wagon. Brian and I have been so good at staying out of debt the past few years. Lately, we’ve been charging stuff like crazy to the one credit card we have left. Almost everyday an opportunity to charge something to the credit card presents itself.

Since we only have the one credit card, I was thinking of opening up another one. Brian is completely against it. He is totally anti-credit-cards now. However, I found this web site that he might just appreciate. The web site has categorized different credit cards and provides credit card ratings and other information. The web site also has helpful articles about credit management, repairing your credit, credit scores, credit dos and don’ts, etc.

Anyway, it’s really good. I do not recommend getting another credit card without checking this web site first. I’m not likely to talk Brian into letting me get another credit card, but if I do I’m checking this web site for sure! They’ll help you figure out which credit card is the right one for you.

Brian and his coworkers were talking about Life Lock the other day. I guess a quite a few people are on it. He said Daylin, the director of the inside sales department, and her husband are both on it; as well as some people in technical marketing; and some people in accounting. The service is actually taking off. I think their TV commercials have really helped to increase awareness.

Brian asked me if I wanted to get on in. I still can’t bring myself to pay for the service because we can do a lot of this stuff ourselves. I’m thinking about it, though. After all, half a dozen Viega employees can’t be wrong. Right?

Here’s how it works: Life Lock asks the credit bureaus to set free fraud alerts on your behalf. These fraud alerts are renewed every 90 days unless you instruct them otherwise. These steps are actions that individuals can take themselves, but who will remember to reset these fraud alerts every 90 days? That’s one of the benefits of Life Lock. They will keep track of these things for you.

Life Lock also requests that your name be removed from pre-approved credit card and junk mail lists and we keep making the requests as they expire. These pre-approved credit card and junk mail offers are some of the ways that identity thieves steal your personal information. This is another thing that you can do for free, but it’s kind of a hassle so it’s nice to have a third party like Life Lock take care of the details.

Life Lock also orders free credit reports on your behalf from the major credit bureaus, which are sent directly to you. This is done every year. Again, this is something that you can do for yourself unless you’re just too busy. I actually do this for me and Brian already.

Although all of these things can be done for free, the nice thing about Life Lock is their promise to do whatever it takes to rectify the situation in the event of identity theft. If you need lawyers, they’ll provide the best lawyers around. If you need investigators, accountants, case managers, whatever, they’re yours. If you lose money as a result of the theft, we’re going to give it back to you. Life Lock provides this guarantee up to $1,000,000.

Anyway, the service is fantastic and Brian’s coworkers swear by it. We’re not on it yet, but we might just be because it sounds like a really good deal. We will let you guys know what we decide.

Remember my graduation postcards? I got those from VistaPrint. Normally, I use Prints Made Easy but VistaPrint sent me an offer I could not refuse. They sent me an offer for free postcards. All I had to pay was shipping!

My 100 announcement postcards from VistaPrint only cost me $10, compared to the $40 that it costs me to get postcards at Prints Made Easy. Now I use VistaPrint for all my stuff. I was so happy with VistaPrint that I even ordered some magnets to use for recognition in my work group.

I have three large magnets to recognize the CSR with the highest availability, the highest number of calls per day, and the highest number of calls per hour. Then I also got several smaller magnets to recognize CSRs for perfect attendance. Their products are pretty versatile and have several uses. All you need is a little imagination and creativity.

When I came across this Blackhawk Holster, it made me think of dad and his new “home security” system. He bought a Beretta Cx4 Storm Carbine a few weeks ago, but he really wanted a pistol like a 9 mm Beretta. Dad is starting to get into guns and the Carbine is the first in a collection that is sure to grow.

Brian’s dad is actually into guns, too. He is a true gun collector. He owns several, ranging from pistols to basic shotguns to antique rifles. I think he has one of these holsters, actually. Brian said he bought something very similar a couple of years ago. Anyway, the picture made me think of it.