Bank Gift Cards - Consumer Reports Tip

The gift that keeps on taking

Some gift cards come with so many fees that you might be better off giving a check. Case in point: The BankFirst iCard Visa Gift Card expired after only 6 months. If you still had money on the card, you'd be charged $25 (twice yearly) even after its expiration. And if you asked for your balance as a check, you'd pay even more fees.

This information is from Consumer Reports

Partnership with United Way

On Saturday, June 21st, several co-workers and myself in partnership with the United Way got together at their location where we put together kits for children and their parents that guide them in their early years and on the importance of reading to them. Included in the kits was information for the parents and 3 books, Clifford's First School Day and 2 others. In 2 hours we put together almost 1000 kits.

Info on the United Way AZ: http://www.vsuw.org/

Info on Target Corporation: http://www.target.com/community

Quick Stain Removers - Consumer Reports Tip

Seeing spots? Don't rely on these.

Ever stained your clothes while you're out an about? Better not reach for these. In our tests of 48 stained swatches, Tide to Go Instant Stain Remover completely removed just 6 of those stains and Janie Dry Stick Spot Cleaner, didn't remove any, even though it claims to leave a "like new appearance."

This information is from Consumer Reports

Pricey Car Batteries - Consumer Reports Tip

Battery buyer beware


At $145, the Exide Orbital ORB78dt-84 should have top-notch under-hood performance, right? Not exactly. Although it did score well in our Ratings, instead, pick the AutoCraft Titanium 34/78-4, and enjoy very good battery life.

This information is from Consumer Reports

Automatic Shower Cleaner - Consumer Reports Tip

It only cleans out your wallet!

Just hang it on the shower head, push a button and it cleans the shower for you, right? Not so fast. Some of our testers said the Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner missed whole areas, left streaks, stickiness and spots on walls and shower doors. After one month, some showers actually looked worse than before! Save the $25 and use elbow grease!


This information is from Consumer Reports

Whitening Toothpaste - Consumer Reports Tip

Are you buying into a little white lie?

Think they can make your teeth sparkle? Don't start smiling yet. None of the 41 "whitening" toothpastes we tested did any better to actually whiten teeth than any other toothpastes. We say don't put the extra money where your mouth is. Try Ultrabrite All In One Advanced Whitening - it was a CR Best Buy that stood out as a stain remover.


This information is from Consumer Reports

Cell Phone Service Ads - Consumer Reports Tip

Wireless plans with strings attached!

Don't be fooled by all those low price cell phone service ads you see on TV. Those "low" prices don't include taxes, surcharges and fees that providers pile on later - which can total up to 30% more than the advertised price. Before you commit to a plan, ask the carrier for a list of ALL charges, even hidden fees.

This information is from Consumer Reports

Bagged Salads - Consumer Reports Tip

Paying more for brown, gooey leaves

It's not your imagination. Bagged salad can get old before its use-by date. We went through major brands, leaf-by-leaf, and found slimy salad and "off" odors - from 1% up to 83% per bag was edible. For fresher, less expensive greens, you may want to forget the bag and toss the salad yourself.



This information is from Consumer Reports

too much stuff...

So I tend to keep too much unnecessary stuff for long periods of time. For example, sometime in 2007 I got a Consumer Reports magazine subscription offer. I would send for my first copy and if I like it I would pay for the year subscription, if I didn't the copy is mine to keep and send cancel on the invoice. I'm sure everyone has gotten this sort of offer in the mail before.

Anyways to the point, the offer came with some neat consumer tips that I kept as they may be useful at some point. So periodically I will just post the free Tips here that way I can toss the physical magazine out.

Children's Museum of Phoenix Opening

Saturday, June 14th was the Opening of the Children's Museum of Phoenix. My employer was opening weekend sponsor so I volunteered to help. From 10:30am - 1:30pm I was supposed to hand out cookies. When I arrived there were too many volunteers already at the cookie station, so instead I partnered with a guy, Jeremy from T2365, to be his handler as he was going to wear the Target Dog costume from 10:30 - 1pm. -side note- the Target Dog's name is Bullseye

After this I had 30 minutes to volunteer so I was sent to one of the trolley stops. At the trolley stops they had at least 2 volunteers together, so they sent both Jeremy and I to take the place of 2 Kohl's volunteers who made a dash to leave as soon as I we got there. In each station they had water and goodies. He left 30 minutes later as he was not able to stay longer and I opted to stay there for the remainder of the time until around 4:30pm, when the event was to end.

At all the stops they had Krispy Kreme donuts except for the one I was sent to since there was a person from a local cafe who had a chocolate fountain with goodies to dip in. She was to be there for the entire time 9am-4:30pm. So she and I are there and I mentioned I was staying there until the event was over. She then called someone from her restaurant, bitched to the person on the other line how hot it was and how not too many people were coming by this particular trolley stop. She then proceeded to pack up her stuff, and left. Oh and she left the linen on the tables dirty with chocolate. I thought it was rude of her to do that. Not because of me staying by myself but because she didn't fulfill the commitment her restaurant made.

So I am there by myself with nothing but water and informational pamphlets to give out. Aaron came by around 3pm to make me company for a little over an hour until the people taking down and packing up the stuff came. Thanks Aaron.

Overall I had a super fun time. Although the museum is not completely finished, it is looking really good.

Art Museum Saturday

This past Saturday I went to the Phoenix Art Museum. Spent almost 4 hours there. I saw almost all the exhibitions that were available. It was the first time I have been there, can't wait to go there again. No photography allowed so no photos, but it was a great experience. A little tiering after walking for close to 4 hours, but it was awesome to see all the different kind of art, from contemporary to European and Asian. If you get the chance you should really go...



... Updated 02/14/2010, added link to Phoenix Art Museum http://www.phxart.org/ 

May's stuff...

So it's been about a month since my last post... Here's some may stuff.

May 3rd - Two parties to attend. Enedina's nephew b-day and Beth B. from work had her grad party at Desert Breeze Park, really nice park in chandler by the way. So I went first to the b-day for a few hours then headed over to the party at the park

May 13th - 3rd annual Brandy Awards at work. Real awards for real accomplishments but with a spoof of the red carpet. This is a collections event so this was my first and last Brandy Award celebration. The Office Dundees came to mind.

May 13th - Let's see... I was first at the store, then moved to guest service, and the past year I was for the in a pilot that mixes guest service and collections. At the end of April I applied for a position in Bankcard and on the 13th I was offered the position. Also on this day it was officially announced I was selected for an all expense paid volunteer trip.

May 14th - Enedina's b-day dinner at El Paso BBQ. It was a great evening.

May 17th - Volunteered to put fliers at Chase Field for MDA. A total of 20,000 fliers were put in the cup holders.

May 24th - Last day in old position, will miss the team, but excited about the new position.

May 30th - Landlord sent an appraiser. I'm guessing she's fixing to sell the house we rent. Lease ends in October, so I'll probably be moving to a new place then.

Town Lake Green-up Clean-up

You may or may not know this, but this week is National Volunteer Week. To kickoff volunteering me and several other people from work teamed up with the Tempe Town Lake Green-Up Clean-up along with other companies to clean a section of the Tempe Town Lake. We were split into several different teams. Some got to paint, sweep, pick up trash, etc. We got to take out weeds and remove any dead plants. We did this for 4 hours from 7am - 11am.

After the clean-up we had a lunch(hot dogs, chips, water, cookies, etc) and a raffle as a thank you for our help. They had a set of tickets for a salsa event that was going on later that day at the lake and a set of tickets for a 4th of July show. They also gave away volunteer shirts, beach balls, and Rockstar Beverage hats. Forgot to ask someone to take a photo of me and our team together.

It was alot of hard work to pull out weeds and dead plants for almost 4 hours, but it was fun and felt good to do something for the community. Good thing it was a bit breezy. Oh and there was a fried frog. Must have died while back in the scorching Arizona heat.

Interested in volunteering? Don't know where to start? Follow this link! :)

Arizona Asian American Festival 2008

Last Saturday I went to the Arizona Asian American Festival. I was there in the afternoon. They had a fashion show of traditional wear of different Asian countries, Japan, India, Philippines, China, etc. There were vendors of food and stuff from their countries. It'd be neat to take a trip to Asia.

Fun in the sun...

Past couple weekends have been sunny, and I've been out volunteering. My face got a bit sunburned.

April 5th I helped at a local school in the setup for their American Cancer Society Relay for Life event for about 5 hours. I helped setting up the trash cans, decorations, arrangements, tables, kids play area, snack area, and white chocolate covered strawberry tray, as well as a gofer to several people.

April 11th I helped the Phoenix Pride with their last minute things for close to 5 hours. I got to distribute many cases sodas to the various vending locations and water to the stages. Then I helped rearrange cases of liquor and beer that had fallen over in the truck they came in. Lastly, I helped with marking, painting and glittering for the Phoenix Pride Float.

April 12th went to the Phoenix Pride Parade. I was super excited when I saw the Phoenix Pride float. After the Parade, went inside the Festival and walked all over the place, to almost every booth and stage.

April 13th I helped the JDRF at the Phoenix Zoo. The Juvenile Diabetic Research Foundation was presenting a research and update meeting to parents. During this time I was assigned 3 kids, Kassie, Cutter, and Cory, that I took all over the Phoenix Zoo. I got a walkie that I used to check in every 30 minutes. It was really fun.

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2010-02-14 Update: Added link to Phoenix Pride http://phoenixpride.org/
2026-08-07 Update: Added links to the videos created for my No Tan Diario Chronicles YouTube channel.