My blog has been up since March, and Google has refused to index it. I don’t know why. Peopel have mentioned that my site might be ’sandboxed’ for 6 months, but it has been seven months. I believe there may be something in the theme that it doesn’t like. So I am going to try a different theme, and see if it will index my site.
I have figured out why the credit card/debit card readers at Home Depot (HD) are awkward, and why I have hit cancel accidentally a few times. With most similar card readers, after you sign your name, or enter your pin number, you hit the ‘accept’ button in the upper right corner. On the Home Depot readers, you have to hit the button in the upper left corner. This is not user friendly as you sign your name from left to right, it makes more sense to have the button on the right, instead of having to go back over to the left and hit the button.
But the card readers at BJ’s Wholesale (BJ) gas pumps really suck! The programming is horrible. I can’t count how many times I have had problems with these things. Often after running my card it will say something like please wait, then I will have to wait a minute or more. Then it will tell me to scan my card again. I will get my card out again, and re-scan it, only to have the machine tell me transaction cancelled. Then I will have to wait 30 seconds or a minute for the machine to reset for me to start the whole thing over again. ALL THIS while there are lines at the gas pump! Then another problem is that often when I run my credit card through, it will ask me if I want a receipt. I press the NO button, but it just seems to wait as if I didn’t press anything. I will press again, but still nothing. Eventually the machine will go on, but after pumping gas, it will ask me again if I want a receipt. The readers at BJ’s gas pumps are the worst I think I have ever encountered!!!
Saddened by pictures, and what I read about the stranded pets due to hurricane Katrina, I donated $50 to the Humane Society. I considered buying one of the collars that say Be Kind for $3. They are similar to the Lance Armstrong “LiveStrong” bracelets. But it is a not a regular collar, and I don’t see my dog wear two collars. Of course the donation is tax deductable, so I printed out the reciept. I just couldn’t imagine leaving my dog in a situation like that. I would probably be one of the people refusing to leave without my dog.
The previous high for my 401k was in November of 2000 at $208,854.96. Then the market started tanking. It eventually hit a low of $97,805.39. That was a huge drop. Part of that was my fault as my 401k was not as diversified as it should have been. It is more divdersified now. I dumped my company’s stock and I think that has helped. Of course it was partly my company’s stock that took my 401k that high. But now after 5 years, my 401k has reached $209,831.72. Hopefully it will keep going. It kind of sucks that 5 years have gone by with me continually adding money, and I am only now reaching where I had been.
401k:
| Name | Value |
| INVESCO 500 INDEX TRUST | $50,448.85 |
| DREYFUS MID CAP INDEX | $51,677.83 |
| ROYCE LOW PRICED STOCK | $53,523.52 |
| AIM INTERNATIONAL GROWTH | $54,181.52 |
| Total | $209,831.72 |
I had two free trades this month that would expire on the 8th or thr 9th, so I decided to use them. Looking through the stocks I own, almost half of the them are in the red. I like Dick’s and Red Robin, and both of them are down, so I thought it was a good time to buy a little more or each.