Jeremy Herndon

I’ve loved downhill skiing ever since my very first experience on the bunny slope over thirty years ago. Over the many years since I have had several wonderful skiing holidays, and some not so wonderful.

One of my most memorable holdiays was when I signed up for a long weekend ski trip with a singles ski club to charter a bus to go to SugarBush in New England. I can’t even remember now if it was in Vermont or New Hampsire! I just remember it was a terribly long bus ride with a rowdy crowd of folks. We had rented out several condo townhouses. Shortly before we arrived we stopped at a small grocery store and were advised to buy “supplies.” No one knew exactly what that meant so although I stocked up on a lot of food items to get me by for the duration of the trip, most of the folks just bought beer and cigarettes. When we arrived at the condos, many of the people then realized that there was no grocery store or convenience store nearby and they were out of luck on getting much food!

Well, I shared much of what I had bought, and in return the group paid for a lot of my meals at the ski lodge (something I wasn’t exactly planning on eating, but oh well!)

Lesson learned? Make sure you really know where your food supplies are going to be coming from so you don’t get caught without anything to eat!

I’ve been considering looking into one of those payday loans so that I can buy my wife a very pretty diamond necklace and earring set that she’s been mooning over from the local jewelry store.  I hate to borrow any money for anything, in this tight economy, but she has made a lot of sacrifices for me over the past few years, and I’d like to surprise her with something special for Valentine’s Day.  It was on a Valentine’s Day that I proposed to her!

I have to admit that one of the reasons that these kinds of loans are tempting is that so many of them don’t require any credit check.  Recently I heard that having too many credit checks on your record can actually hurt your credit rating!  I had just got a copy of my credit report and saw that all of my creditors ran a fresh inquiry on my credit last month, and I found that disconcerting.  And a lot of employers are doing credit checks now too!  I don’t know how or why it is any employer’s business what my credit rating is!  So if I can get a loan without any credit check, I think that might be a good idea.

For several years now Dean has been talking about how much he’d love to move to Philadelphia.  He had a college professor who was from Philadelphia and the professor kept talking about how the people there were so nice.  He kept saying that it really and truly earned its nickname of the “City of brotherly love.”  Since that time Dean has been looking for a job that would allow him to live in Philadelphia.  Since he is still young and single it really would not be difficult for him to move there if he got the chance.

I’ve suggested that while he is looking for a job there that he should also be taking a look at the options in Philadelphia apartments.  Knowing how much it will cost to live there should have an impact on what kind of job he should be looking for, in terms of wages.  And since this would be Dean’s first experience living away from his parent’s home, I’ve advised him to plan on a lot of things that he probably never even thought of before, in terms of living expenses.  He needs to find out if the rent includes the utilites, if it includes admission to any gyms or pools, what the neighborhood is like, how close it is to public transportation and grocery stores, and health care.  All of these things are important to consider when looking for a place to live.

 My wife asked me yesterday what I’d like to do if we could get a loan to do anything we wanted to do.  I gave her a funny look and told her that the only loan we could get right now would be one of those emergency loans that we see advertised on television that I’d really like to stay away from!  She sighed and said, no I’m talking about what would you want to buy if we had the money to use for fun!   She said the sky’s the limit!

After the first blush of buying a new John Deere tractor and a new Corvette, and a new wide screen television, I think that I’d like to build a custom made full sized storybook style castle.  Of course it would have to have modern amenities and be energy efficient, but I’d love to have a full moat and drawbridge, turrets, courtyards, and great halls for entertaining and dancing.  

Of course the castle would have the most modern professional commercial kitchen, with propane range tops.  I’d love to have windmills nearby to generate power!  It would be decorated with gold leaf thrones and lush purple velvet. Only the finest tapestries and carpets.  Inside the castle would also be an atrium with a wonderful spa pool to relax in.

Of course no castle would be complete without stables and fine horses and coaches.

Then I’d like to host Medieval Renaissance Fairs there every year.  I’d love to see some jousting tournaments in my very own courtyard!  And we could make some money by renting out the halls for weddings, parties and events.  Maybe even turn it into a Bed and Breakfast!  What a hoot that would be!

Cici has been talking about her sister that went to a sono bello center last week to see about having some liposuction done. She has been trying to diet and exercise her way back into her “pre-baby” figure for several years now and has gotten quite discouraged. A good friend of hers recommended liposuction. I hope it helps her to feel better about herself and that it goes smoothly.