Steven Helmer Publications

I never seem to have enough money when I need it so I've been trying to find ways to earn a little extra (even if it is just a few bucks) in my spare time. This includes taking online surveys.

One site I recently discovered is called Swagbucks. At first, I wasn't sure if I would like it or not, but it turned out to be a pretty nice way to earn a little extra.

When I first visited the site, one of my biggest concerns is it would be one of those sites that makes me sign up for a bunch of deals I would normally not want to sign up for just to earn the money. That, however, turned out not to be the case. It's an option. But, it's not a requirement.

Instead, I found I can earn some decent money just by taking their online surveys. Like most survey companies, you have to qualify for them first in order to earn money. But, I usually can qualify for enough of them to earn $3-$5 worth of "Swagbucks" daily, which I have been cashing in for Amazon and Wal-mart gift card…

I took the family to the Mackenzie Center in Poynette this past weekend and invited my mom to come along with us. She insisted on buying us lunch and, not wanting to spend more money than she could afford, I looked for something reasonably priced and close to where we were.

I had never eaten at the Red Apple Restaurant before and wasn't really sure what to expect from it. However, it looked like a good fit so we wound up going there. As it turns out, it ended up being a great choice.

First of all, I was very impressed with how reasonable the prices were at this restaurant. For example, I ended up ordering a mushroom burger. It came with soup and fries and was just $7.99, which is actually pretty comparable to the average value menu price at our local McDonald's (minus the soup). My wife's liver and onions was just $8.49 including salad and mashed potatoes.

The portion sizes were also surprisingly large. I couldn't even make it halfway through my burger and wound up ta…

Synopsis: Founded by Headmistress Honoria Bulstrode and teacher Miss Chadwick, Meadowbank School has become one of the most prestigious girls' prep schools in England. The school's reputation takes a hit, however, when some of its staff members are murdered and one of the students is apparently kidnapped with the motive possibly being related to valuable jewels that were smuggled out of a Middle Eastern kingdom days before a revolution broke out. At the request of one of the students, Hercule Poirot gets involved with the investigation.


Review:  I started reading this book Sunday morning and, thanks mostly to waiting around at an ice rink for about 90 minutes, I was able to finish it yesterday evening. While the book started out OK and had a halfway decent plot, I honestly didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

My biggest problem with this book is the motive behind at least two of the deaths isn't much of a mystery. Normally, motive is one of the toughest things t…

Synopsis: When Eva Belter, the wife of a tabloid newspaper financier, walks into Perry Mason's office, his secretary, Della Street, has a bad feeling about the woman. However, Mason accepts Eva's retainer and immediately begins to take steps to protect his new client from a scandalous scene that could result in negative publicity both for her and the politician she may have been having an romantic dinner with. When Eva's husband is later found murdered and Eva claims Mason was the man who shot him, he must decide between remaining loyal to his client or save his own skin.


Review: I was in the mood to change things up a little bit when I was at the library a couple days ago and realized I had never attempted to read a Perry Mason book before. So, in addition to another Agatha Christie novel, I ended up checking out this book as well.

At first, I wasn't really sure if it would be a book I would enjoy, mostly because, while I have watched an occasional episode of the TV se…

It would have been my dad's 72nd birthday today so we went to the cemetery to leave flowers at his grave. Since I didn't want this to just be a day of mourning, I took the family to Poynette to once again visit the Mackenzie Center.

It wound up being a fun trip and included us seeing a deer (a wild one, not one they have penned up) wandering near one of the trails and a snake hanging out near one of the museums.

Here are some of the photos I was able to get:

Synopsis:Hercule Poirot receives a surprise phone call from mystery writer Ariadne Oliver inviting him to Nasse House in Devon, the home of wealthy Sir George Stubbs. Officially, Poirot is there to attend a festival and award a prize to whoever solves a pretend murder mystery designed by Ariadne. Secretly, he was invited because his friend feels as though something is amiss and a real murder is being planned. When the 14-year-old village girl picked to play her pretend murder victim is found strangled, her suspicions are confirmed and Poirot must help the police figure out who killed the teenager and whether or not Sir George's much younger wife, Hattie, who disappeared at about the same time the murder was being committed, is also dead.

Review: I wound up reading back-to-back Hercule Poirot novels this week. The first one, Hickory Dickory Dock, was OK but not one of my favorites. This one, however, turned out to be one of those books I simply had a hard time putting down.

I think …