Reviews and More

I like to think that I’m in a pretty good financial position, comparatively speaking. I don’t have any debts (except for my homes) and I strictly adhere to the rule of having at least six months’ salary saved up in case of emergencies.

But one financial area that I’m completely lacking in is investments. I don’t have any kind of portfolio to speak of, which bothers me because I know that I can be earning more than the 5.02% return that I currently get on my money.

I’d heard a lot about forex (foreign exchange) trading as a potential way to earn money, so I wanted to do more research on the subject. I went to the website of a company called Global Futures to have a look around. Global Futures offers investors an easy way to get into forex and futures trading online. I really like the fact that I can open an account for as little as $250, as this is quite low compared to what similar brokerage firms want and is an amount that I’d be comfortable starting out with. By opening an account, I’d also have access to customer support every step of the way. That’s definitely something I need since I don’t know my way around forex or futures at all.

Anyway, I need to get on the ball and start investing sometime soon. Forex might just be the perfect vehicle for me, but I’m going to keep reading and researching to find out everything I can about the subject before investing!

*There is risk of loss trading Futures, options and forex.

This time of year always puts me in the mood to watch The Sound of Music, which is one of my favorite movies of all time. I know a lot of people can’t stand musicals (particularly this one), so I don’t mind if you skip this review altogether. I figured that since I recently indulged in watching a few of my favorite scenes, I might as well do a quick write-up here.

The Sound of Music stars Julie Andrews as Maria, a young nun who really doesn’t fit in at the abbey (apparently because she sings and is happy most of the time). The Mother Superior notices this and tells Maria that she needs to think about her future. So Maria takes time off to become a governess for the Von Trapp family.

Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) is a strict disciplinarian who has ruled over his seven children with military exactitude ever since his wife died. He uses a whistle to summon them (there’s a designated signal for each child) and requires them to stand at attention while he’s in the room.

Maria is shocked at what she sees, believing instead that children should be allowed to explore, play, and have fun. When she takes over as governess, that’s what she tries to help the von Trapp children do. She teaches them to sing, makes play clothes for them, and shows genuine interest in them. In other words, she just shows them the love and attention they’ve been craving.

At first Captain Von Trapp doesn’t agree with Maria’s approach. But this is a family movie, so of course he eventually comes around and softens up. And of course there’s a romantic angle that brings Maria and the Captain together.

The songs from this movie are well known: Edelweiss, Sixteen Going on Seventeen, My Favorite Things, Do Re Mi, and of course The Sound of Music are just a few of the numbers performed in the film.

My Reaction: Despite its nearly three-hour running time, I think The Sound of Music is a great family movie. It’s wonderful to see how Maria relates to the children and slowly wins over their trust — not by patronizing them or giving in to their every whim, but by being herself and letting them come around on their own. Plus, I thought the love story was exceptionally well done. The characters got a chance to get to know each other before falling in love and that made the situation feel a lot more believable.

Yes, the story was absolutely predictable and perhaps a bit syrupy, but that didn’t bother me in the least. I give The Sound of Music 8.0 stars and recommend that you watch this on Family Movie Night!

I’ve only been to Hawaii once in my life: it was for my wedding six years ago. My husband and I really wanted to have our wedding (and honeymoon) in an exotic location, so Hawaii seemed like a natural choice. We invited our immediate family members and were able to enjoy 10 days in paradise.

We loved every minute that we spent in Hawaii, and have been dying to go back there ever since. We take two vacations every year, and I’m sure we’ll be able to work Hawaii into our schedule sometime in the near future. We used to enjoy traveling to international destinations, but tighter passport restrictions and visa requirements make trying to get into other countries a big hassle. Hawaii just looks even more attractive in light of all that. Plus, I previously posted that there’s a Hawaiian travel agency that promotes environmentally friendly tours, and that’s something I really believe in as well.

Anyway, I have found quite a few Hawaii vacation packages that are within our price range. I’ve saved my searches and will share the results with my husband to see what he has to say about them. I believe his next vacation is in September or October, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed here!

I’m a couple days late posting this week’s 24 recap. Sorry about that, but I’ve been busier this last week than I have since taking a full load of college classes while working full-time way back when. At any rate, here’s what happened on 6×16, which aired April 2.

White House Bunker: God, I cannot for the life of me get into what’s going on with Wayne Palmer and President Daniels. Does there have to be a presidential power struggle every season? Didn’t David have to face his Cabinet for the same damn thing? Who. Cares. Bottom line: after this ep, Palmer is still in power and he orders the very same nuclear strike that Daniels wanted. Oh, and he needs adrenaline shots just to be able to sit up in his chair.

CTU: Doyle and Nadia work together to fix up Milo’s computer. Apparently, he was responsible for a leak that allowed the terrorists to take control of Nadia’s workstation. Milo might have been fired or something, but Doyle believes they have a better chance of stopping Fayed if Milo sticks around. So he edits the log and makes it look like nothing is amiss.

Jack/Gredenko: There wasn’t much of Jack and Gredenko until the last 10 or 15 minutes of the episode. Jack gets Gredenko the immunity deal that he wants, so he agrees to meet with Fayed as planned. A CTU agent gives him a wire transmitter (um, yeah, they just stuff it in his jacket pocket. Way to be discreet.) and injects a tracking device into his arm.

Gredenko goes to meet Fayed while Jack and his team set up one of their world-famous perimeters. Can you see where this is going? Uh huh. They lose Gredenko in a matter of minutes. Then they Milo and Chloe realize that Gredenko isn’t moving, so they direct Jack to his location. When Jack gets into the room, there’s nothing there. Except Gredenko’s arm, with the tracking device still intact. (How many lost limbs does that make on 24?)

Gredenko leads Fayed into a bar where he suddenly hands him over to the bar patrons, telling them that this is the terrorist on the news. The drunks start kicking the crap out of Fayed while Gredenko escapes. Jack comes in and takes Fayed into custody, but Gredenko is long gone. Of course, the small matter of his gaping wound and arterial bleeding come into play, so he collapses on the beach a bit later.

My Reaction: I never realized how important the supporting characters were to a show like 24. I guess it took a nearly Jack-free episode to make me wake up to the fact that all of these characters — except for a choice few — suck. Wayne Palmer is not presidential material. Period. Milo and Nadi are no replacement for Tony and Michelle. Doyle is no Curtis. Bill (whom I usually like) has done nothing all season except field phone calls. Hell, I’m even starting to miss Kim a little bit. At least it was fun to laugh at her stupidity. Now the episodes are just boring, and are getting to be a big waste of time.