Black Friday Events….

Since I have a dysfunctional family, I often find myself dreading the upcoming holidays, rather than enjoying them. Sad as this may seem, I am never disappointed when someone flies off the handle (generally my grandma) and the mood for the holidays are sour. Despite all of that, I honestly try and find the joy in the holidays.

For Thanksgiving, my happiness happens to be Black Friday. It never fails, there is always excitement going out at odd hours of the night to buy toys that I would never buy on any other day. This was to be my fifth year in a row going out on the day after Thanksgiving, and each year my planning gets more and more intricate.

It’s amazing how a couple weeks before the big day, online websites will get a hold of Black Friday adds, and post them. This makes planning much easier for hardcore BF shoppers, such as myself. Comparing prices, I can make my battle plan earlier than Thanksgiving, when the adds are featured in the local newspaper.

This year, both Toys’R’us and and Wal-Mart through me through a loop. As Toys’R’us offered a midnight opening and great deals on some toys for Ariana, I figured we would be starting there. My sister and her friend went with me (thank goodness, too, they are a hyper couple), but they weren’t happy to hear that we were going out to stand in line at 9pm for Toys’R’us and that we would not be sleeping.

Convincing me to buy them energy drinks on the way, we were in a line with approximately 20 people in front of us. The rain came and went, but compared to previous years, it wasn’t cold at all (which was probably because we were in line at 9pm, not 2am). We sat, stood, and they giggled about absolutely nothing at all. Oh, how I remember being a teenager. Haha!

Come 10 minutes before opening, the usual “line jumpers” started to crowd around the curb directly across the front doors. Recognizing such a crowd from years passed, I informed the girls what was about to happen. That being, doors open, people rush across the street, and cut in line. It was a classic (but not classy) act, which involved those of us who had been standing in line for hours to become quite upset, and punches would most likely be thrown.

Now Toys’R’us had made a barricade with carts to protect such an act from happening. However, they did not tie said carts together, so people were grabbing them and taking them to their places in line. I was nervous… no I was pissed that these people, showing up 10-20 minutes before the store opened, were going to be getting in before the mile-long (no joke) line that had been waiting for hours.

Buuuut, Toys’R’us threw us another curve ball when about 10 employees came out, and formed a human barricade to keep the line jumpers out. No kidding. Believe it or not, that barricade worked, too! At least no one jumped us or the 20 people in front of us, which was all I cared about, really. We were in and out of that store in 1/2 and hour, which was great, and off to Wal-Mart we went.

I am pretty sure I almost died of shock when we arrived at Wal-Mart, too. My sister said “there’s no line” yet the parking lot was full. I laughed at her, thinking that wasn’t possible. Ohhh, but it was. We cautiously walked up to the door, to find them open, and into the store, which had few people in it.

Panic set it, and I was positive that they must have started sales early, and all the good stuff had to be gone. Most importantly, the Ipod Touch my mom was making me get my brother for Christmas. I sent the girls off with my list as I headed to the electronics. Peeking into their MP3 player case, I saw plenty of the Ipod Touch, and felt I bit of relief.

Keep in mind, it is 1245am, and Wal-Mart wasn’t scheduled to open until 5am. We were all very confused. Reaching the counter, the lady was kind enough to sell me the Ipod at the BF price, before the 5am time. Score! I put that hot item into my jacket, which was then covered with the things the girls brought me.

After we had everything (and more) in our carts, we stood there, staring at each other, and wondered what in the world we were going to do until 5am. We weren’t allowed to buy anything at BF price until then, so we had to wait. And wait, and then wait in the checkout line, and wait some more.

In the time between finding the items we were buying, and actually getting to the register, many things took place. Two different people on two different occasions thought it would be a good idea to take their shopping carts, full of goods, and run through the doors and out of the store. Not smart. Both were caught. All we heard from where we stood were different store alarms going off.  We were also subject to people trying to make their own line, which was not so promptly shut down by some of the store employees.  Nice try, cheaters!!

Here are some pics of the girls sleeping and hanging around (yes, in toddler chairs).  My sisters friend, Kayla, even sang “I’m A Barbie Girl.”At least they were good entertainment for me. 🙂

Oh yes, and how could I forget their infamous sword fight?  It would have been hysterical if I would have caught the part where they almost knocked down half the isle in the midst of said fight, but my timing was off.

After six hours at Wal-Mart, I was done with shopping. Tired and feet hurting like one can’t explain, we went home and crashed!! No Target for me, though I wanted to. And, I missed the sock sale at Fred Meyer! Still a bit irked about that.

All About Electricity and Outages (Part 2)

Disaster always seems to strike at the wrong time.  Or maybe that’s why it is a disaster.  I mean, who wants to really sit in their house, dead of winter, with no electricity and no heat?  I sure don’t.  Neither do the thousands of customers that are affected by a winter storm.
 

This is why PGE works around the clock during a large outage to get power restored as soon as possible!! We have crews out in the field, working 12-14 hour shifts, fixing lines, removing debris, and replacing poles.  Meanwhile,  there are representatives in the call center taking calls around the clock, also working 12 hour shifts.  It doesn’t matter the time of day, or the year for that matter.

All of that being said, here are some helpful hints as the winter season approaches, and the chances of losing your power for hours (or even days) increases:

• Make an outage kit!!  This should include a flashlight with extra batteries, a battery-powered radio (so you can get updates), a battery-powered alarm clock, bottled water, canned food (enough for a few days), manual can opener, blankets, candles, a lighter, and a first-aid kid.
• Make sure you have cash on you!! You never know what the extent of any winter storm will be, and you may not have access to an ATM or bank.
• Stay calm!!
• If there as anyone in the home that needs electricity to live, consider a generator.  Most electric companies don’t put a house on high priority because there is a medical condition.  (This may seem harsh, but in a large outage, there are lines and trees down and safety is #1)
• If you see a line along the road, in the yard, or anywhere else, make sure no one goes near it!! The chances are it isn’t a “live wire” but you should always assume it is.  Power lines are EXTREMELY dangerous!!  Call your electric company to report any lines or poles that are down. 
• Check on neighbors and the elderly to make sure they are handling the outage okay.
• Turn off all your breakers except one that is labeled for the lights.  The last thing you want is a surge in electricity when the power is restored, possibly causing damage to appliances.

You can find these tips and more on the Safety & Outages portion of PGE’s website, or at American Red Cross.

While I sometimes don’t have all the answers, I have many resources to get the answers I need.  With that, I leave you with the open invitation to email me with any questions you have at JAKA(dot)files(at)yahoo(dot)com.  I will be more than happy to answer questions and/or find the answers.

All About Electricity and Savings (Part 1)

As some of you know (and some don’t), I work for the electric company in Portland, Oregon.  While PGE is a great company to work for (most of the time), the winter season is always the hardest.  Between the holidays and the rising costs of electric bills due to heating costs, it can be frustrating for both customers and the representatives answering calls.

Each year, PGE gives all customer services representatives a “refresher” course on “high bill training.”  We go over a TON of material to help us in answering inquiries from customers in regards to higher bills in the winter.  That’s what I will be focusing on in this post.  Tips on things you can do around your home to make sure you are getting the most for your dollar.

On average, a household’s breakdown of their electric bill is: 60% to heating and cooling, 20% to heating water, and 20% for everything else.  This is assuming they live in an all electric home (no gas).  Ultimately, if your bill is $100, $60 of that goes to heating and cooling, $20 to heating water, and $20 to everything else.

So how do I reduce my electric bill?  Well, there are many ways.  You can visit PGE’s website, and we have an Efficiancy section of the website.   Check out this calculator where you can manually figure out what each appliance is costing you per hour, per day, or even per month!  I use this talking to customers ALL THE TIME!

Here are my quick suggestions (which I have learned from PGE’s training):

• Cover your pipes!!  Cover the pipes used for hot water to keep the heat in.  Use covers for the cold pipes to avoid the water freezing.  You can buy pipe covering (like the picture on the right) at your local Lowe’s, Home Depot or other home hardware store in your area.
• Cover your windows with plastic.  Really.  This helps to keep the heat in, and the cold out.
• Shut doors to rooms you aren’t using.  Leaving doors open will cause drafts in your home.
• Let the sun shine!!  If, by a miracle, the sun comes out, open your drapes or blinds!  The sun is a great, free, way to warm up your home.  Plus, you can turn off lights, and save more!  Double whamey. 🙂
• Make sure your water heater is working properly!! The number one reason that people have increased bills in a short period of time is a malfunctioning water heater. 
• Check for leaks.  There are three places the water heater can leak from:
• At the water heater itself.  Check for water surrounding your tank.
• Leaky faucets in the home.  Make sure there is no drippy, leaky faucets.
• Under the house.  While it sounds like no fun to do so, you should check for leaky pipes under your house a couple times of year. 
• Check the temperature of the hot water coming out of the faucet.  You should set your water in the kitchen or bathroom on hot, and fill a glass.  Using a thermometer, check the temperature.  Compare that to the setting on your water heater.  The recommended temperature setting for any water heater is 120 degrees F.
• Flush your water heater at least once a year.  This is something I JUST learned, and was absolutely horrified to learn you are suppose to do this.  For a how-to on this, check Wiki’s step-by-step guide.  Can you believe there is gunk at the bottom of your water heater? EWW!!!
• Heating elements in the water heater don’t last forever.  Wiki’s How To can walk you through how to test to make sure your heating elements are in working order.  The easiest way to tell if one of them is malfunctioning, or needs to be replaced, is if you seem to run out of hot water faster than normal.  Having no hot water could mean both are out.
• Turn off the lights you are not using!
• A full freezer uses less electricity than one that is not.  Since the freezer will have less empty space to freeze and more food to freeze, the temperature will stay at a lower temperature consistently.

Random facts and things you may not know:

• Most appliances that are plugged in use electricity.  Anything with a little light (microwave w/ digital display, phone chargers, alarm clocks, and yes, even the PS2!) drains electricity.  It may be a little bit, but that could add up to dollars a year!!
• You will stay warmer if your house is arranged correctly.  Keep your furniture where you sit and sleep on inside walls.  Outside walls and hallways tend to be drafty.
• If you have baseboard heating, check your thermostats!!  Most of them don’t have an “off” switch, only a “low” setting.  This means your heat can come on, even if you are on “low” if the temperature in your house gets below whatever “low” means.  It is very inefficient.  I have baseboard heating in my house, and the heat gets shut off at the breakers most of the year to avoid unwanted heat. 
• Older style thermostats are extremely inefficient. It may say that you are heating to 65, but the reality is, it could be 60 or 75!  Home Depot has a great device that measures the temperature inside your home, but you can find them just about anywhere starting at $10!

Oh my goodness, I could go on and on with energy savings tips.  I really had to force myself to stop.  Hehe!

While I sometimes don’t have all the answers, I have many resources to get the answers I need. With that, I leave you with the open invitation to email me with any questions you have at JAKA(dot)files(at)yahoo(dot)com. I will be more than happy to answer questions and/or find the answers.