Category Archives: Cool Products & Services

A Christmas Collection

I have enjoyed Star Trek since I started watching re-runs of the original series when I was in elementary school in the early 1970s.  So when my mother-in-law saw the original U.S.S. Enterprise Hallmark ornament orbiting a tree in a hair salon in 1991, about after a year after my wife and I were married, she started scanning; but that ornament was already sold out everywhere.  I still do not have it–and at a current asking price of approximately $200 online, I’m OK with that.  (Fan does not have to equal fanatic.)

Docked for the holidays.

 

But my M.I.L. immediately realized she had stumbled upon a potential annual present for my November birthday and Christmas, starting in 1992.  Over the past 25 years, she has beamed quite a few ornaments my way, including ships, characters, and scenes, drawn from the original series (TOS), Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, and 3 groups of movies…all of the possible corners of the franchise.

Now, while my wife is not so fond of my Star Trek collection, I managed to establish a Prime Directive:  Ban my ornaments and risk The Wrath of Your Mother.  (Cue Mrs. DKB:  “Maaaaaaaaahhhhm!”)  Then we entered a final frontier a few years ago when my M.I.L. gave me a silver tree which has become a galaxy completely separate from our actual Christmas tree–which seems appropriate, as the Star Trek collection is really

Resistance is…well, you know.

just a fun complement to the spiritual and family focus that has always been the true center of the holiday in our house.

After 25 years, the collection is here to stay.  I enjoy it.  The kids enjoy it.  And my wife even surprised me this year by setting up the silver tree and deploying the ornaments while I was out of town picking up our oldest daughter from college.

Merry Christmas.  Happy New Year.  And Live Long and Prosper.

 

To boldly go

Note:  I did not receive any compensation or consideration related to any part of this post.  In fact, the idea that the people at Hallmark or Paramount have ever heard of DKB is not…..logical.

 

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December 28, 2017 · 10:58 am

A DKB Guest Post: Teaching Teens About Managing Money

I recently had the opportunity to write a guest post about a program that helps fills the need to address personal finance literacy with teens in schools.

Hope you’ll take a minute to stop by:  http://www.musingsfromme.com/teaching-teens-personal-finance-attention-must-paid-hr-block/#sthash.nrD4ztSw.dpbs

Thanks.

 

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Filed under Blogging, Cool Products & Services, Education, Money, School

Our #JerseyLove Weekend

Our family recently accompanied my wife on a trip to New Jersey.  We stayed at Caesars in Atlantic City for 3 days as part of the #JerseyLove Social Moms for Social Good event.  The weekend was intended to highlight both sides of the Jersey shore’s recovery from Hurricane Sandy last November:  the work that has been completed and the ongoing work that still needs to be finished.

The Shore is Open for Business

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The boy, sizing up a SurfSkimmer before heading over to the beach to try it out in the water.

We spent Friday afternoon at Belmar, which appeared to be as family-friendly as any beach town I have ever seen.  The boardwalk was destroyed by the hurricane in November, but a brand new replacement has been completed.  At a restaurant/bar called D’Jais, the leaders of the #JerseyLove event presented Mayor Matt Doherty with a check for $5000 from the #JerseyLove participants and D6 Sports to help Belmar citizens who are still displaced because of hurricane damage.  D6 also provided adults with surf lessons and allowed children, including our 10 year old son, to try out a fun, new beach product they are introducing this summer–the SurfSkimmer.

What Happens In Atlantic City…..

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Hail, Caesar. (Hit me!)

The Name is Better.  Dad Knows Better.  I waited until our last night in town to try my luck in the casino.  When the kids went to sleep, I took a nap; then I got up around midnight to head downstairs to find a blackjack table.  Almost 4 hours of up and down rush as my stacks of chips grew and shrank put the icing on the weekend cake.  In the end, the $100 I was willing (though not exactly planning) to lose was safe and sound back in my pocket when I headed upstairs to call it a night–or, more precisely, to call it an early morning–along with a penny or two of the casino’s money.

Work Left To Be Done

The region is more than ready for families on vacation this summer.  But that’s not to say everything is back to normal.  While visiting the Absecon Lighthouse, we met a lady who shared that she is still not able to return to her home because of storm damage.  Hurricane Sandy dominated the news for a few days last fall; but for many people whose homes and businesses were flooded, it is still not time to move on to the next story.  Hopefully the return of tourism to the Jersey shore will help.

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Belmar’s new boardwalk, ready for summer

Additional details about the Jersey Love weekend are available online at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/6/prweb10822760.htm

Disclosure:  Caesars Entertainment hosted the official social media participants, including Mrs. DadKnowsBetter, better known as MusingsFromMe, and families, including our accommodations.  Families were invited to the sponsored ‘beach party’ lunch at D’Jais in Belmar, NJ.

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Filed under Cool Products & Services, Living Well, Places to Go, Uncategorized, Vacation & Travel