That’s My Story

I am all about saving money and getting a good deal. So when TLC promoted a new show called “Extreme Extreme Couponing” I decided to watch.
But I am not sure I am extreme enough to roll with those ladies.
In the previews you see women buying hundreds of dollars of groceries for less than $10.
So I tuned in to learn their secrets, which include 7-mile walks, Dumpster diving and stockpiling circulars.
These women are good. one episode a woman’s pain reliever coupon added to the store discount came to -$.51, which she used to purchase meat. Another saw a more than $1,000 bill end up around $6. It’s very impressive.
The issue is these women spend hours upon hours couponing and getting ready to go to the store. One was retired and others were home-makers. For those of us that have to put eight hours in a day, which I know is a lot of us, finding the time to devote hours to diving through Dumpsters and asking others for circulars may be difficult.
Another reason these women save big is they buy a lot of one item. They have impressive stockpiles of non-perishable items. I am not sure the Forry residence has room for me to keep 100 boxes of pasta, 60 jars of sauce and a closet full of soda.
While I may not be able to go extreme there are some valuable planning in their ventures. Saving several coupons and waiting for items to go on sale could save a few bucks, as long as the coupons do not expire before hand. Being more organized and looking at prices at different store can also help save a few bucks.
Since I do not have the time to track down circulars I am have signed up for several sites that send coupons in an attempt save a few bucks.
But I am not sure I will ever be extreme. But if anyone knows good coupon websites please let me know.

I cannot be getting old.
But lately there have been signs that maybe I am not as young as I once was.
The other day I was driving in my car, letting my radio scan through the stations. Then I hear Steve Perry belting Don’t Stop Believin.’
The radio volume went up and an off-tune rendition of the song filled the Neon.
I was feeling pretty good about myself - hearing Steve Perry before work has to be a good sign.
Then I looked at the radio station. Why is Journey on 3WS, the oldies station? In my mind oldies are the songs my parents listen to – not the 80s music that I love.
This isn’t the first time this has happened. Lately I have been listening to oldies station a lot as they have been playing Michael Jackson, Tiffany and Phil Collins.
Am I really that old that my favorite music is now considered old?
But I see more and more that I do things that resemble someone a bit older than I.
I have made comments about the kid driving a vehicle looking about 12 and large groups of kids just seem to annoy me.
The icing on the cake was last week when I received an invitation to my 10th year class reunion. Yes for some that isn’t that long but it is a milestone I just hadn’t thought about. That may be in part that my stellar class could not get their act together for a fifth year reunion.
But maybe the biggest clue that I am not as young as I once was is when I order a drink the waitress doesn’t give it a second thought - she walks away without asking for ID.
Yep I am getting old.

Super Bowl commercials are often as popular as the game itself.
So I decided to rank my top 10 commercials from this year’s game.
10 - The monkey CareerBuilder ad. These ads featuring corporate monkeys have always made me laugh. Now I know that monkeys really cannot park cars. That guy needs a new job.

9 - The Bud Light dog sitting ad. I thought this ad where a house-sitter had a big party with perfectly trained dogs serving his guests quite funny. It was cute, but while others had this ad at the top of their lists I think it is top 10, not top 5.

8 - Everyone wants someone to have their back. In the Bridgestone Beaver commercial that beaver remembered that the driver was able to stop for him. So when the bridge was about to break the beaver paid it forward by having a tree fall right in front of the driver. That is one awesome beaver.

7 - It is no secret that I am not a Danica Patrick fan. So typically I try to block out the Go Daddy commercials. But when they introduced funny-woman Joan Rivers as the newest Go Daddy girl I had to laugh. I am a huge fan of anyone who can make fun of themselves.

6 - “Dear Kim, your rack is unreal.” What else would you expect a young man to say when he speaks from his heart. In this ad for teleflora.com Faith Hill tells the young man to say what’s in his heart after he asks for advice. When a mortified Hill asks the young man if he really sent that he simply replied “my heart told me to.”

5 - Doritos often produces classic commercials. When a house-sitter forgets to feed the fish and water a friend’s plant he simply crushed some Doritos and put them in the water and pot. And more came back to life than just the plant and goldfish.

4 - Who hasn’t participating in a group singing of Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.” When a rough man walked into a wild west bar he was ready to kill for a Budweiser. But a late delivery gets the man his drink and he leads the entire saloon in song.

3 - It is no surprise that men and women think differently. The Pepsi first date thoughts ad showed how women think about the future of a first date and men, well, think about one thing. That is until they are distracted by a second thing to think about.

2 - The E-trade baby debuted during a Super Bowl commercial break and has not disappointed since. Watching the baby be fitted for a suit, then talk about how he was losing his tailor was priceless. I almost died when he put his hand on the tailor’s mouth, asking him not to say a word.

1 - This ad wins because it probably made most people lose their appetite. Near the beginning of the broadcast a co-worker gets uncomfortably close to another guy asking him if he was going to finish his Doritos. When the man said they were already gone in a move no one expected the coworker said “you left the best part.” Then in a stomach turning moment the coworker grabs the man’s hand and sucks the Doritos dust from his finger. Later when another man wiped his hands on his pants the co-worker grabbed his pants and sniffs them. It made “mmm Cheese,” really gross.

There were many other commercials that were pretty funny I am just happy the Steelers sad performance was interrupted by some funny television spots.

With this headline you may have thought I was going to write about the Pittsburgh Steelers. But I am leaving football behind until after the big game.
So Spike TV is unveiling a new reality show dubbed as a cross between Operation Repo and Cash Cab. The show will follow a repo company around while they tow away people’s wheels. But wait. If the delinquent car owner can answer three of five questions they can keep their car free and clear.
So basically in the middle of anger and denial a game show host will pop out and ask the upset car owner “How many ounces are in a cup?”
Either the person will say “eight” or punch the guy out (assuming they are smart enough to know the answer). Either way the entire thing is stupid.
It just is unsettling to me that you will take, hypothetically someone who has run into financial difficulty in a rough economy, repo their car and they dangle it in front of their face and America.
It was not surprise to me that this show was produced by the same people that brought us the gem “Jersey Shore.”
Let’s hope this show has a limited run time before it is taken off the air.

Italians barely had enough patience to deal with me butchering names of pastries I was attempting to order. So I am not sure what makes MTV executives think that they will be accepting of the “Jersey Shore” bunch.
One of my co-workers broke the news to me that the cast would be heading the land of my ancestors to film a season of the show. Really?
My first question is where are they going to send them. In theory, since none of them speak Italian or appear to have the brain capacity to learn, they would have to send them to a city that is Americanized. From what my sister, who lived there for a semester, tells me is Rome is a pretty Americanized area. So maybe they can party with the pope.
Yes tourists can get by in most areas, but it isn’t easy. There are British menus that are numbered for ordering in restaurants and language choices at the train stations. But based on the ignorance of Italian culture the cast already displays I am not sure if they will make it.
I have to admit that I watched one episode and decided the show was trash. The majority of my “Shore” exposure  now comes from “The Soup” and another co-worker who loves the show. To demonstrate how this show is ruining Italian-American culture I had to explain to my co-worker that a “guido” is actually a slang term for lower-class or working-class Italian Americans. Apparently the show teaches future generations that a “guido” is some sort of muscle-head tanned idiot you pick up at the beach.
Please MTV reconsider. Don’t let them make a mockery of Americans in another country. It is bad enough you guys put them on TV and let them do it here.

… Playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? …
The memorable Jim Mora quote was referring to a question whether the 4 and 6 Colts could make the playoffs in 2001.
Hopefully he won’t mind if I borrow the quote.
I enjoy football and look forward to watching close games played by competitive teams. The AFC delivers the NFC – not so much. The divisional match-ups left me thinking “you kidding me.”
I would have bet money that the match-up between the No. 1 seeded Atlanta Falcons and the Green Bay Packers would have been an intense, close game. My math skills are not the best# – but 48 to 21 is not a close game.
Aaron Rogers, who fantasy football quarterback had only five incomplete passes. Matt Ryan, who was close to perfect the entire season threw two interceptions, one that returned for a touchdown. It looked like a strong team was manhandling a less experienced team. Similar to when the Steelers played the Bengals this season.
The Falcons became the second bird to fall last weekend.
My hopes were not as high for the Bears/Seahawks game since I concluded that the Seattle upset of New Orleans was a product of the Madden Curse. But again these are supposed to be the best teams in their division. But Hassleback made a late comeback scoring 21 points to bring the score to 35 to 24.
In my opinion playoff games should keep you on the edge of your seat even if your team is at home playing Madden.
While the Jets/New England game was one-sided for a bit, it was a close game with high intensity and some questionable celebration.
I don’t have the answer and I am not sure if I support re-seeding. But please NFC teams try bringing your A-game to the table.

Well it looks like the Madden curse has struck again.
Drew Brees will be the first quarterback to lose to a less than .500 team in the playoffs.
It looked as if this year the curse was broken. Yes Brees lost a few key players throughout the season but they looked solid going into the playoffs on a wildcard bid.
Once it was announced that the Saints would face the Seahawks it sounded like the Saints could be marching toward a second Super Bowl run.
But someone must have given the trumpet to the Seahawks.
The team most said didn’t even deserve a chance at the playoffs were marching up and down the field. While the game was close the Seahawks looked like a playoff team, not a team with a losing record.
Drew may have breezed through the season without injury, but to lose is such a historic way a bum knee may have been a better way to go down.
But at least Peyton Manning will have someone to play Madden with Feb. 6.
And, on a personal note, I hope Tom Brady, Mark Sanchez and Joe Flacco join them.

Check out http://onourtown.com/michelleganassi/2010/09/09/will-the-curse-continue/ for my original Madden curse blog.

For years I have counted down the end of year with Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. But I think it is time for Clark to hand over the reins.
In 2004 Clark suffered a stroke. He took a year off from his gig then returned in 2005 and now co-hosts with the over-exposed Ryan Seacrest. (Apparently Seacrest wasn’t getting enough exposure from his Idol gig, E! job and radio show.)
I am not trying to be disrespectful but watching Clark on the show is painful. You can barely understand what he is saying. It is a shame that such a figure in television and radio now sits at a table and says a few words here and there.
Clark had a wonderful run, but maybe it is time for him to step back. You can still call it Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and maybe have him in studio as a producer they cut away to once and a while. But it is time for him to give up being on camera.
Also, on the program they had that trashy singer who thinks it is cool to have a $ in her name. They should also have a rule that performers must wear pants. Not sure where she forgot hers but it is New Year’s Eve in New York, it is cold. Pants are important.
(I welcome any comments, suggestions and criticism at michelleg@dailyamerican.com)

When it comes to games of chance I am never lucky. I could sit at a dinner and everyone around me will win a prize. I am typically a number short of Bingo and a symbol off winning the big bucks on a lottery ticket.
Despite my unlucky streaks I decided to attempt to win a turkey at the Berlin Fire Department’s turkey raffle instead of saving the stress and humiliation by just buying a turkey.
So I found a seat and found four tips the for the first turkey. I thought 28 would be lucky since I was in station 628 could be lucky. Nope.
Each time they spun the wheel I got several tickets. And every time I lost. It almost became a joke as I really needed a bird. I toyed with the idea of walking out and going to a store to buy the turkey. But I could not accept defeat. I kept playing, and losing.
Then, as the number of prizes entered single digits, the daughter of one of the firemen came over with a beautiful frozen turkey and said “here you can have this.”
What a showing of the Thanksgiving spirit. She saw my frustration and wanted to help out.
At least that is what I thought until she said.
“We won two turkeys and my mom said bring home anything but a turkey.”
Really.
You see they bought a chance for every turkey given away. Just one chance to play the game and they won two turkeys. And they didn’t even need one.
I saw the firefighter when I was leaving and I checked to make sure it was OK for me to take the turkey home.
When he left the house he said his wife gave a stern warning — no turkey.
“It is better you take it home then for me to get shot when I walk in the door.”
So I guess I am lucky that his wife threatened him before he left the house.
At least my family will appreciate my efforts when they are eating my delicious bird Thanksgiving day. Well certain members of my family at least.
My sister is anti-turkey. I have to make a ham for her to avoid the “I hate turkey whines.” It is the only way I truly win.

I am not a Scrooge. I love shopping for Christmas gifts and baking cookies.
But there are a few things about holidays that do not fill me with comfort and joy.
The Pennsylvania lottery has been playing the same commercial since I was in middle school. I could recite the entire annoying take on the 12 Days of Christmas. I know production costs are high but please hearing this at least once a day is driving me nuts.
But the worst by far are the classic Christmas clips that are played on a certain unnamed channel before the evening news.
Soon, just as I was getting over my political ad hangover, Hardrock, Coco and Joe - The Three Little Dwarfs, Suzy Snowflake and Frosty will be played every day. Frosty is a little bit bearable.
I understand that these are classics and that there are people who wait all year for the cartoons to be on TV. I am just not one of them.
I have this horrible habit of getting annoying songs stuck in my head. This week, thanks to my wonderful husband, I had “I left a bottle of sparkling apple juice at your house, did you get it,” in my head. This was a clip from a SNL clip about a month ago.
Even writing this I am singing in my head “Ole olady olady I ay - Donner and Blitzen away away - Ole olady olady I oh - I’m Hardrock, I’m Coco, I’m Joe.” The madness will not stop.
Maybe I am just a creature of change but I like a little variety. There is one and only one exception to this rule – the Eat ‘n Park commercial with the Christmas tree that bends down helps the star to the top. That is one of my favorite holiday commercials.
Well now all I can do is wait because despite what I think “Here comes Suzy Snowflake - Dressed in a snow white gown - Tap, tap, tappin’ at your window pane - To tell you she’s in town.”
(I welcome any comments, suggestions and criticism at michelleg@dailyamerican.com)