Looking Forward to Thanksgiving

I am so excited about Thanksgiving! For years, my oven has been busted. I've had various "handy" friends replace the thermostat and the selector knob, all to no avail. And after soaking so much useless money into the project, I got kind of tired of the whole thing. Because I'd mostly just make dinner for my mom and myself, it was okay to just do chicken breasts in the toaster oven. However, a couple years of that became extremely tedious, since juggling all the dishes was always quite a feat. I'm proud to say I've been able to make some pretty successful pumpkin pies in that toaster oven, though.

But finally, earlier this year, another friend who's an actual electrician poked his head in my oven and discovered there was a short in the connection wires in the back. He was able to strip them back and reconnect, and I have an oven again! So this Thanksgiving, for the first time in a long time, I'm able to do a nice roast turkey with all the trimmings! I am so jazzed! I've been planning all week, doing a lot of shopping, and planning some more. I can't wait to get cooking! ...And eating!

My Latest Time Waster

Back in 2001, a friend begged me to join him in Ultima Online. I had never even played a single game of the Ultima Series, but I gave the online version a go. Holy cow, did I get addicted to that game! There's just something very cathartic about taking out the day's frustrations on pixelated monsters. So often, I'd join my friend in game and he'd ask what I wanted to do -- often it was magery or animal taming or provocation, but sometimes it was "I wanna kill stuff!" which meant logging on with my warrior and we'd go bash monsters. ...Good times...

The subscription fee was a killer, though, and I gave the game up after about 6 months. That was plenty. Since then, I have played the Ultima games (U7 -- both parts -- is pretty cool). But I've lately found myself wanting to play something new, with a low learning curve (just don't have the patience for mountains of homework to play a game), and stumbled upon RuneScape. Free! Hooray! UO-lite! Hooray! Then, after about a week in the game, I realized: Populated by children! Hoo-- wait. Wow. The kids in this game are intolerable. Greedy, self-centered, rude little brats...with hormones that just won't quit. Surely I'm not the only 20-something on there? Am I...? Or are all the people with brains and self-control off playing WoW?

Regardless of the frustrations, I've been spending far more time in RuneScape than I should. I keep wondering what will drive me away first: the kids, or the lack of activities in the "Free to Play" world...? Time will tell.

Bah! Humbug

This is the second year in a row that I have not played Halloween. I don't have any moral opposition (heh, I originally wrote "obligation"!) to the holiday, it's just no fun anymore. When I was a kid, the whole family would dress up and go trick-or-treating. But when I became a teenager and my dad died, that sucked a lot of the fun out -- we didn't trick-or-treat anymore -- but we still did fun stuff for the kids who would trick-or-treat us. Now, as years have gone by, the trick-or-treaters just seem to be doing it under duress. Gone are the days when you would open the door to a riotous "TRICK OR TREAT!!!!!" Now they just stand there, silent, holding out their bags. The parents have to prod them: "Say trick or treat!" Some manage to mumble it, followed up by another puppeted, mumbled "thank you" and then they stagger down the stairs. And forget trying to help them out:

"Oh! Don't you look cute!"
Blank stare.
"What are you supposed to be?"
Blank stare.
"Um. Well, here you go! Happy Halloween!"
Blank. Stare!

It makes me think these parents should just save their kids the misery and themselves the trouble. Just go to the store, buy a bag of candy, sit your kids in front of the TV and let them eat the candy. Boom. Halloween done.

Hopefully your kids enjoy it more than the ones who live around here....

Where Was I?

Hm, apparently my having the freedom to post however I want means I don't post for over a month. Holy crap, life has been insane. I'm part Irish, and I definitely have the Irish Luck. Those who aren't Irish believe that Irish Luck is good luck. Silly, silly non-Irish people! No! The "Luck of the Irish" comes in all varieties. Sometimes it can be good...other times it's definitely not. Good or bad, it's just a whole mess of "Where did that come from?!?"

So I've been saying that a lot this month.

The Universe has taken great joy in kicking me while I was down. I'm still down. I'm still getting kicked. But I'm blogging anyway. If for nothing else, it gives me an outlet to whine.

That said, the Luck has also dropped a few good things on me. Nothing life-changing, just a couple little things that made me smile. But those are for another post. For now, I just needed to write something to get my feet wet again.

Tra la la.

Welcome Back, EC!

Boy, am I glad I didn't give away all my credits. Certain...events have transpired since I removed my widget a few days ago that now give me the freedom to do more of what I want with my blog. Not a whole lot will change, but I'm glad to have EntreCard back. I found a lot of neat blogs that way.

So we'll just see what happens next. There have been times when I've thought a more appropriate title for this blog should be "How The Heck Do You Work This Thing?" I've never blogged before, and probably haven't been the best blogger out there. ("Probably"? That's an understatement!) But I do aspire to learn and grow and eventually graduate to being a good blogger. I look forward to reading over these early posts and laughing at how ridiculous I sounded!

My Burning Question About Sarah Palin...

Which of the Saturday Night Live chicks will play her? As of a few days ago, producers still had not officially picked their player. I know there's a lot of buzz in the media about what a Tina Fey look-alike Palin is (because she has dark hair and glasses, I guess -- beyond that, I don't really see it). But the problem with this is that Tina Fey is no longer on SNL. Aside from the occasional hosting gig or cameo appearance, they're going to need to appoint one of their regulars: Kristen Wiig, Amy Poehler, or Casey Wilson.

I don't think Poehler has the look or the voice to pull off the impression, but she could surprise us. And though Wiig is incredibly talented (her Suze Orman is spot-on, and I love her in the "Two A-Holes" sketches), she's also incredibly overused. I haven't been impressed with what I've seen of Casey Wilson so far (her Rachael Ray is dreadful; and the only other sketch I can recall her in was the hammy, neverending Quadraplegic Stripper). However, I think Casey might prove to be the best choice for the role.

(Palin and Wilson)

It's quite hard to find videos of Casey online (I was only able to scrounge up this one) but I really think she has the look and the voice to bring Palin to life for our amusement. What do you think?

Sleep Hygiene

I've mentioned in a previous post how I'm a natural "night owl" -- this is partly caused by some pretty frequent insomnia. So I've done a lot of reading about how to reduce insomnia. One of the most popular tips is to practice good sleep hygiene. This means using your bedroom just for sleeping (and, well, you know...) -- no work, no TV. You also need to make sure that your bedroom is tidy, comfortable, and aesthetically pleasing. My bedroom does not meet any of those descriptions! The furniture is mis-matched, inefficient, and not very comfortable.

I've been considering replacing them with new bedroom furniture. I know a lot of people cut costs by buying used furniture in thrift stores, on eBay, or antique auctions, but the recent resurgence of bed bugs should really make you think twice. For me, it's new or nothing!

My first priority is to replace my box-spring bed with a platform. Oh, my aching back would love a platform bed! South Shore Furniture makes some really elegant ones. But I like the platforms that have storage drawers underneath, to help curb clutter. Prepac Furniture makes a lot of those that are very stylish as well. Those links I dropped are to Home and Bedroom, which has some amazing prices for their sets and pieces; they don't just sell beds but also matching headboards, nightstands, dressers and armoires (in addition to lots of other home furnishings). All of which would bring my bedroom's new look together in a really practical but beautiful way.

I'd love my new bedroom to look like this.

I don't have children, but I notice Home and Bedroom also has some really adorable Kids Bedroom Sets, too. Some of the mommy bloggers I network with should definitely check those out.

Let's Hear It For Sugar

I have had a pretty bad day today. It's actually been a pretty sucky year, but I don't blog much about it because it would be really boring and depressing. So instead I mainly just show my "happy side" to my blog. Is this disingenuous? It would probably be considered so. And that bugs me, because part of being a successful blogger is being an honest blogger. People can tell when you're BSing them. Not that I'm lying necessarily, just maybe omitting some of the...darker parts of my life. If only one could do that with life itself! Just erase the not-so-fun parts!

Anyway, I'm not the only one having a bad day, or a bad week. Some of my blog buddies (I swear I'll get my blog roll back up as soon as I've figured out what the heck I'm doing!) are having bad weeks, too. Money, health, marriage.... You name it. I'm really starting to think 2008 is cursed, because I honestly have yet to encounter someone for whom this year has been totally awesome (if you're out there, please share!). I know the foreclosure crisis and gas prices and the economy in general have everybody down, but there's more to it than that. It just seems like there's a dark cloud hanging over everybody. Bizarre things that you'd never expect to happen to certain people...are happening.

That said, I took about 20 minutes tonight to bawl like a baby, while I was making a snack -- cinnamon toast and some of my precious hot cocoa. I know I'm asking for diabetes with a "meal" like that, but, eh. I decided to stop crying so I could eat it, telling myself I could continue again when I'd finished. But now that I've got all the sugar and carbohydrates pumping lots of serotonin through my brain, I don't feel like crying anymore!

Of course, I'm aware that the buzz is only short-term with refined sugars -- I may be in for a crash later -- but for now I'm enjoying it. Hooray for sugar!

(Foot) Balls

I really need to stay on top of the news a little better. I'm a huge Notre Dame Football fan, and I only just now read that they had their season-opening game today. I missed it!

I'm pleased to see that they at least won, 21 to 13, against San Diego State. I'd like to see that trend continue, because last season was an utter nightmare. I hope I'll remember to tune in next week to watch them play against Michigan!

So Long, EC

As much as it pains me, because it's been so very good to me, I think I'm going to have to deactivate my EntreCard membership with this blog...at least for now. There are some out there who I guess would consider the traffic generated to be synthetic, and I suppose they would have a point.

Still, I seemed to get a lot more attention with EntreCard than I think I ever would have gotten without it. It's a shame, because I just crossed over the 1k mark in my popularity ranking: 1152 today. Not bad for just a week in the system.

I'm guessing the most ethical thing to do is cancel my eight queued ads. I hope the credits they spent will be reimbursed....

Now I suppose I will have to figure out ways to lure traffic more organically. Watch this space for more posts about Sarah Palin, Miley Cyrus, and the Jonas Brothers! (God, I hope that's sarcasm...)

I Caved...

...and downloaded Google Chrome. So not worth it. First of all, the initial download itself is just another downloader app, which, by the way, takes forever to fully complete on a pretty decent connection. This bugs me, because I was unable to see exactly how big the actual download would end up being. Also, all the "calling home" freaked out my firewall. Strike one for Chrome.

Once it was finally downloaded and installed, Chrome offered to import my settings from Mozilla. "Oh, cool," I thought. Not cool. The screen hung after appearing to import. I had to kill the task from my Task Manager. Twice. It never did actually import my bookmarks (as one of my commenters has said). Strike two for Chrome.

Finally loading the actual application itself, my firewall complained some more (this is typical for a browser; but there certainly do seem to be a lot of calls out), and I was hit by a lot of sparseness. There are few menu options available to the user. And, honestly, I didn't notice much of a speed increase at all. Strike three, Chrome is out.

Back to my old trusty Firefox, which I can tweak to my heart's content! Perhaps once Chrome leaves Beta stage, I'll give it another whirl. Until then, I'm now convinced that I'm not missing anything.

How Many Girls Will the Internet Kill?

So I just read that Miley Cyrus died in a car accident last night. This is only less than a month after reports of rapper Lil Wayne's daughter also being killed in a wreck. Thing is? Neither is true!

The Wayne rumor was circulated by various gossip sites last month, resulting in a flood of traffic and comments to the rapper's MySpace page. His record label soon debunked the myth. But you have to wonder what sort of trauma such lies could do to an 8-year-old girl.

Miley's rumor, meanwhile, seems a bit less sophisticated, and is nothing more than a little April Fool's-style Digg abuse and Wikipedia vandalism. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to have even made a blip on the radar screens of legitimate news outlets.

But it all leads one to wonder: Who's next?

And it also whips up a little food for thought: With the lines blurring between the professional journalists of legitimate media and the amateur journalists of the blogosphere, how long will we actually be able to count on believing the "news" we read? Have we ever really been able to?

Money = Happiness?

We've all heard that money can't buy happiness -- but researchers have discovered there are certain things money can buy that do lead to happiness: Whatever promotes social interaction -- like a new barbecue grill for a neighborhood cookout, or a vacation with friends or loved ones.

Fond memories are huge joy boosters, because they often only get better over time. Quick -- think about your last pleasure trip. Now think about whatever toy you bought at around the same time. Which thought makes you happier?

I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that taking a break for a little while and charging my "happy sectors" just makes me feel alive again. I'm more vibrant and productive when I return to my "daily grind." So I think it's really great when certain companies reward their employees (and, in some cases, their customers) for excellence/loyalty with "experience rewards" -- like dinners and retreats and vacations -- rather than just "stuff rewards" -- like cash or a new TV. And, really, sometimes you have to almost force a hard worker to take a vacation!

There's a company called Bellwether Rewards that specializes in such "corporate incentive programs" -- though any business could take advantage of this because of the tiered reward levels. A business could gift a few of its top performers with a higher-level 7-day getaway to a Caribbean resort, or spread the appreciation around to even more stars with a little trip to a Canadian retreat or a spa in one of several U.S. destinations. Even the weekend getaways to some great places in Canada, California, and Florida would be a fantastic rejuvenating treat.

Bellwether takes care of all the airfare, accommodations, and ground transportation for the lucky travelers. All the boss has to worry about is promoting the incentives to his/her employees! I know if I ever worked at a place that offered such cool rewards for hard work, I'd really bust my butt to win!

'Cause have I mentioned? I need a vacation!

Come On, Bedtime!

You ever have days when you're just counting down the hours until you can climb into your bed and go to sleep? I'm having a day like that. It's not like it's a particularly bad day, I'm just sooo tired. And I realize that's the least interesting thing a person could say on a blog.

I mean, yeah, I could blog about, oh, I dunno, Sarah Palin. 'Cause, like, nobody's said a peep about her since she was selected as McCain's running mate, right? Or maybe I could blog about the giant, 50' spider that's running rampant through Liverpool, England. (Relax. It's a robot. They've dubbed it "La Princess" and keep calling it "art" which makes it about 1,000 times less cool than just calling it a giant robot spider.) Or I could even blog about Raquel Welch who, either by the miracle of Botox or a deal with the devil, still looks fan-damn-tastic at 68 years old today.

But instead, I'm just gonna slack off and whine about being tired. Much less effort that way.

My Credit Confession

I have a rather controversial confession to make. Ready? I don't have a credit card. I never have. Well, kind of....

My mom has had credit cards (and racked up a lot of pesky debt because of it -- any wonder I'm gun-shy?), and at one time I was the "authorized user" on them. For some internet transactions, this was a necessity. However, I've mostly just gotten by with debit. But then recently I thought maybe I'd try to establish some credit of my own. I didn't want to carry a balance or anything, just create a credit history. So my first step was to look up my credit report. Was I in for a shock! Not only did it list all the cards I had ever been an authorized user for, but I discovered one of those sneaky companies had made me a joint account holder without my permission! I was able to get myself removed from the cards where I was an "authorized user," but that one -- which I always assumed I was just an authorized user for -- remains. No matter how many calls I've made, how much I've protested that they did it without my permission, they refuse to let me out of it. I am not happy about it.

So, even if you're just someone's "authorized user," I strongly suggest you check your own credit report. Make sure there's nothing there that shouldn't be! If I had stayed on top of mine, I might not be in this mess.

That said, I still have an interest in establishing my own credit. But this situation has made me ultra cautious about it.


I was recently made aware of CardHub.com, which is a credit card index site. I've been to sites like this before, but I honestly really like CardHub the best. They help you filter cards based on your credit standing, and then you can filter further by multiple factors, like intro rates, annual fees, etc., all of which are plainly listed with each card. The cards they feature are all pretty well known -- no shady underground companies you've never heard of. But best of all is their education center. I've learned a lot from the few articles I've read (I'll be reading more later). They really take you by the hand to teach you all the ins and outs of how credit cards work and how to be a savvy applicant.

I'd love to find something that I didn't like about my experience at CardHub, just so I could make this a balanced review, but I can't find anything that I feel needs improvement!

Thanks to what I learned at CardHub, I'm definitely going to be paying that little extra to get my actual FICO score, so I know exactly what my credit standing is. That way, I know CH will be able to help me find my perfect card.

Are You a Cereal Junkie?

My grocery shopping trip has me thinking food a lot lately.

I shop at a "membership" type of store -- the prices are usually very good, especially for cereal. There have been times in the past when I've been able to pick up my fave, Post's Cranberry Almond Crunch, for as little as $2 a box. (I probably could have found a better link there if The Empty Bowl hadn't gone offline. Now the cereal enthusiast community is woefully underserved. Hmm...I'm starting to get ideas for my next blog.)

Anyway, maybe I'm just not lucking out to go at the right time...but I tend to think the economy is more to blame for the fact that the price for a little crunchy cranberry bliss now comes at no less than $3.50 a box. And that's for this little, thin, 13 oz. thing! I actually scanned most of the boxes, and couldn't find a single price for less than $3. I know there are some places that do 2/$5 sales sometimes, and I guess I'll have to start getting my cereal that way. But I know my choices will be limited to the store's whims.

I also read a Cranberry Almond Crunch review that suggested WalMart *shudder* might have good prices. I'm certainly willing to descend to that level to get my fix.

Where do you buy cereal? Have the prices gone out of sight?

Back To School Memories

I don't have kids (I'm nearly still just a kid myself), so I can't really relate with a lot of the parents who are going through the back-to-school craziness right now. But it does make me think back to my own childhood days of going back to school. It was always an exciting, and slightly intimidating time: Would I enjoy my new teacher? Would I make any new friends?

One thing I could always look forward to, though, was getting a brand-new binder and folders, and a new backpack. I loved that part. And then, once school had started, we all had to cover our books and could get really creative!

I went to the same elementary school for all six years -- a small, private school -- so most things were pretty routine and predictable. But I went to a public school for the middle grades -- culture shock! And worst of all was that school didn't have lockers! Insanity! We had to guard our belongings with our lives!

I can't count the times I misplaced/lost things during that time. Nothing major ('cause, come on, who brings something important to a school with no lockers?), but it was still annoying. Perhaps if I'd had labels on my stuff, they would have had a better chance of finding their way back to me!

DYMO has a really neat label maker that is quite reasonably priced. I would have had so much fun with this back when I was in school. You can use lots of different types of labels with the same tool: for clothing, or sticking on items; metallic labels, color labels, even magnetic labels! The website has a lot of unique and clever labeling ideas. I have to admit, I'd have fun with those magnetic labels even now. But I'm sure kids would find all the label types endlessly fun and beneficial. I'm just imagining how blinged out my old school book covers could have been with some custom labels!

My Hot Cocoa Weakness

I went grocery shopping today. I have a backup freezer and stock it full, so I don't go grocery shopping all that often. Gas prices and all that.

It was an exhausting day for many reasons. Not feeling great.

Anyway, hot cocoa -- you know, the chocolate powder packets that you add hot water to -- was not on my list. It hasn't been for a while because partially-hydrogenated oils are too far up on the ingredient list. This is a bummer, because I really like hot cocoa and have been pretty miserable without it. I've looked at the "fat free" mix varieties, but while they don't contain any hydrogenated anything, they also contain sucralose, A.K.A. Splenda, which is fake sugar with a building scary reputation. That may be why they now call it "sucralose."

You are perhaps wondering if there are any ingredients I'm not afraid of. Well, of course! The things found in nature!

So instead of packaged cocoa, I've been experimenting with homemade. I tried the real thing, with a saucepan and milk and all that, but it tasted...weird. So instead I tried this recipe for a homemade mix. I had everything but the non-dairy creamer. It tasted closer to what I was used to, but still a bit weird. So I thought, "Okay, I'll get some non-dairy creamer and try again." But you know what non-dairy creamer has in it?

Hmm?

Partially-hydrogenated oils! Nooooooooo!

As I said, I have had a bad day. Then I had a hard shopping trip where the store was either out of what I needed or the prices of what they did have went up -- again. By the time I got to this, I just wanted to sit down in the aisle and cry.

So I wandered back over to the packaged cocoa mixes. And I re-read the ingredients list of my old favorite, Nestle Milk Chocolate. Nope, no change. But Swiss Miss? She's now using fully-hydrogenated oils! Is this ideal? No. But it was close enough and I bought it. I had a mug of it tonight, and it tasted good.

Sometimes you just have to make a compromise. I compromised for cocoa. And I have no regrets.

A Whirlwind of Hosting Options

Don't you hate it when you stumble into a blog that seems to be mid-conversation, and you're left wondering what half the post means? This is why I tend to reiterate a lot of stuff. If anybody is a regular reader, don't worry -- it kinda irks me, too.

So I'm looking into getting a new web host. My current one is kind of a joke, and I want to host my website and my blog, and maybe more blogs, myself. My current host probably couldn't cut it. I remember the last time I went host-hunting; it was kind of a nightmare. I want my new search to be as easy as possible.

I've found another webhosting directory/rating site. WebHostingRating.com ranks hosts based on user reviews. They have an overall best list, and then you can also narrow the best by category, like best budget hosting, best Unix hosting, etc. Both are of interest to me. I was on a Windows server once, where I learned my first real coding language -- ASP -- but I've since gotten really comfortable with PHP and I like playing with .htaccess files, so Unix is my buddy.

It's really handy to compare the results of multiple host rating sites, to see if they have the same opinion about a certain host. But I have to admit I loooove how WebHostingRating gives you so much info about any given host right on their site. You can really compare the nitty gritty features that you may need. I also think they have a great article section. They've got one there about all the wonders of cPanel. I adore cPanel. I don't know if it's just the funky way my current webhost is set up, but ever since they switched away from cP to Plesk, I don't have as much control over the way my server operates. And that is so not cool.

So I think I'm well-armed to find myself a new host! I'm kind of scared -- switching can be kind of tedious and nerve-wracking -- but if I follow the reviews, hopefully I'll find a host who makes switching a breeze.

Will You Go Chrome?

Google recently released the Beta of their own free browser called "Google Chrome" (you can download Chrome here). The experts are saying this will be a huge rival to Mozilla's Firefox.

Back when I was on my old, junky computer, all I could use was Internet Explorer. I hated it, but Firefox just ran too slow. When I got my new computer, one of my first downloads was Firefox. I fell so deeply in love that I never looked back.

You can customize FF with add-ons and richer options. The latest version, 3, is quite fast. And as a web developer, I appreciate the fact that Mozilla is trying to adhere to W3C standards.

On the surface, Chrome seems like a great idea. Google claims that they're revolutionizing the way browsers work, by integrating apps and efficiently threading the processes. But with all of the privacy issues surrounding Google, I'm wondering how much a user's activity might be tracked with Chrome. Because of this, I'm hesitant to try it out. However, if this does take off, I may have no other choice but to at least have it on my system for site testing.

What do you think? Will you be going Chrome? Will it dethrone Firefox?

Fall Fashion

I've mentioned being a "boot girl," and boots usually only come in to fashion in the Fall, which means I love Fall clothes shopping. Because not only do I love boots, but I love the rich colors and textures of the clothes. Oh, yes, light, frilly clothes with strappy sandals have their place, but I just feel...cooler in sleek, dark autumn fashions. And now is a great time to start shopping, because "back-to-school" sales are the first chance you can get in on those looks for a fantastic price.



With the economy the way it is, Discount Clothing is essential. But even at some of the discount chain stores, the prices can be shocking. "You want $30 for this? Really?" At GetHeavenly.com, you really can get Cheap Clothing -- that's also a great quality -- because everything is $17.95 or less! Plus, they're doing a back-to-school sale right now for up to 10% additional savings. And in the continental U.S., all orders over $75 ship free, so that's a saver as well.



Aren't these boots drool-worthy? And only $13.80!

Pff...

I have wasted so much time over the past couple of days learning how to screencast. I originally thought I would create a tutorial for how to tweak a Firefox feature for some of my fellow ChaCha guides. So I downloaded CamStudio (eh) and uTIPu's TipCam (nice, but my computer seems to dislike it a bit) and tested them both out. Then I realized, rather than going through all the trouble of teaching these people how to fish, why not just give them a fish?

So that's what I'll do.

That said, I think my knowledge of screencasting will come in handy down the road.

Vacation Fever

I think I may have done myself a disservice by talking about past vacations, because it gets me thinking about future vacations, and not having taken a vacation this year now I'm all itchy to get outta town.

I've mentioned in previous posts how I'd love to go to Orlando, and how I've always dreamed of going to New York City. There are actually a lot of places I'd love to visit. Do you have a list of places you'd love to go? Mine just seems to get longer and longer! One place I'd never considered was New Jersey, 'cause, you know, you hear stories about New Jersey. Then again, you hear stories about a lot of places -- that doesn't make them true!

Generally, I just never knew of very many New Jersey attractions, until I stumbled onto that site for an amusement park in Wildwood, NJ, called Morey’s Piers, which looks like the perfect place for a family beach vacation.

I live near a historic amusement park, with the wooden coaster and the carnival-type rides. I like that kind of amusement place better than the cookie-cutter franchise places that boast their "tallest, fastest, scariest rides EVAR!" Morey's Piers seems like a wonderful combination of both -- big, fast, thrilling rides as well as tamer, "quaint" rides for chickens like me. But in addition to the rides, they also have waterslides and stuff for beating the heat. And although you need to pay general admission to get into the water-park sections, the other amusement areas are pay-to-ride, so you can still just hang out with your friends or family and enjoy the beach without feeling like you're wasting your admission by not hitting every single ride in a given day.

I spent a huge amount of time browsing the website -- they've got videos of all their rides -- and it's really organized and easy to navigate. I love that. They even have information on nearby accommodations and dining, with price indicators, so you can easily plan and budget your vacation. And with regular weekly specials, it's almost impossible to resist this New Jersey getaway!

Happy Happy, Joy Joy

I'm feeling happy today. Life is still hard -- it's not like I won the lottery and/or every single one of life's problems have magically disappeared -- but there are some things that are just making life...better.

First of all, I got a new pillow. I know this isn't cosmically life-changing, but it's puffy, it's got that "new pillow smell," and I sleep differently with it.

Secondly, EntreCard is being very nice to me. Well, who am I kidding, it's the EntreCard users who are being very nice to me. I only started blogging -- for real -- almost two months ago, and only signed up with EC earlier this week; so I'm still a newbie but I've already learned some stuff and am trying to figure out how to promote some of my faithful clickers. I'm thinking something along the lines of a widget based on the Top Card Droppers RSS feed.

I shall start looking around for that. I really need to investigate RSS better. It always intrigued me, but now at last I can finally see some practical use for it.

Blog Host?

I'm really starting to warm to the idea of hosting my own blog with WordPress. I'm a control freak who likes to tweak things, so that would be right up my alley. The only problem is, my current webhost, as I have mentioned in the past, is kind of flaky and doesn't offer enough monthly bandwidth to support everything -- because, ideally, I'd host the blog (and any future blogs) as well as my website on the same server. I'd obviously have to find a new host.

Argh.

I came across WebHostingGeeks.com, which is a web host directory and rating site. It looks like a great resource for finding good, cheap web hosting. (I like cheap! My wallet does, too!) The editors rate and rank hosts, and then users chime in with their own reviews, so it's very democratic. Best of all, they allow you to refine your searches based on your needs, and the individual hosts' features are plainly laid out to compare. I've already looked at a lot of their tops picks, and they blow my current host out of the water with their features and prices. And although I've been down this road before, I could always stand to learn a thing or two, so I've also been perusing some of their educational articles, like this one.

I wish I'd known about this site a couple of years ago, when I was beating my head against a wall trying to find a host. I ended up with a not-so-great one. Hopefully my next one will be much better, thanks to these Geeks! (Gotta love geeks!)

Salmon Burgers

My family has fallen in love with a recipe we found on the back of a Bumble Bee Pink Salmon packet. I love how they're doing fish, that once you could only buy in a can, in packets now. It does seem to taste better, and in the case of salmon there are fewer/no bones. That said, the cans are cheaper, so the other night I decided to do this with canned red salmon (sockeye, which I've heard is healthier because of less mercury). Other than the pain in the butt of having to pick out the little bones first, the taste was pretty much the same as packets in this recipe. It's very forgiving. I quoted the original recipe below, but you'll notice I noted a lot of my modifications, one of which is that they say this makes two patties, but they're huge; so instead I make four decent-sized patties. They still turned out great!



INGREDIENTS:

Salmon Burgers:

• 1 6-ounce can/packet salmon
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green onion (I used yellow)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped celery (I omitted this)
• 1/2 cup diced bread crumbs (I used fine crumbs)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (I added a little more, otherwise they're a bit too dry)
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind (I didn't have any of this, so I used 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and a few dashes of lemon-herb seasoning)

Dill Sauce:

• 1/4 cup sour cream (I used fat-free yogurt, and added 1 tsp light mayo for extra creaminess)
• 1 cup finely sliced cucumber (I omitted this)
• 1 teaspoon fresh dill (I used dry)
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh mint (I omitted this)
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste (very little is needed)

Finishing Touches:

• Hamburger buns (I used sourdough English muffins)
• Your favorite garnishes (I used fresh spinach leaves and tomato slices)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine salmon, onion, celery (if used), bread crumbs, egg, mustard and lemon rind (or juice and seasoning). Mix well. Form into two-to-four patties. Chill one hour or until ready to cook (I cook mine immediately - they're a snap to put together).
2. In lightly greased skillet, cook burgers over medium-high heat 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until lightly browned.
3. For dill sauce, combine all ingredients; mix well.
4. Serve burgers on buns/English muffins with sauce and garnishes.

YUM!

Road Trips

In one of my other posts, I mentioned road trips. It reminded me of this one we took -- and I can't remember if it was when we went to Tucson, or Los Angeles -- but we had no air conditioning in the car. I think it had broken or something just before the trip. Now, I live in a pretty mild part of the country and don't need a home air conditioner -- I just open a window -- but in the car, I have to have a/c, even just tooling around locally. Summer is the worst, but even in Fall a car can heat up pretty badly.

So that road trip was my first and last time to go without cooling in the car. I'll only go through torture like that once! Now I make sure my car's a/c is always working. The kind of car I have now, unfortunately, has a bit of a reputation for a/c problems, so I've bookmarked DiscountACParts.com which -- hello! -- sells discounted auto ac parts, including air conditioning compressors for all kinds of car makes, including the BMW AC compressor. The parts they sell have full warranties, and they offer free shipping, too. How many times have you found a great deal online and then they get you with shipping!? Not here, at least!

Technorati Update

I was just about to post about how I've officially given up on Technorati because EntreCard is treating me soooo much better. Before I lynched them, I decided to at least do one last check on the issues...and discovered I was pinged today! And I've got an authority of 5! And I've got a fan! And it's not even one of my friends who are doing it out of pity! It's a legitimate fan! (I think we discovered each other via EntreCard -- which does totally rock; more on that in a future post.) Howdy, Zyriana! I swear I'll comment on some of your comments soon!

It's Practically Labor Day...

...Which means the end of summer! Did you take a vacation? I didn't -- too busy! Instead, I reminisced with family about past vacations. One I remember was several years ago, my mom and I took a road trip to the Los Angeles area. We hit Disneyland -- where it was mostly overcast, and so there were virtually no lines for our favorite ride, Splash Mountain. We'd ride it, run back around to the entrance, and ride it again! We must have done this a dozen times in a row!

We also heard about the Queen Mary in Long Beach, and after getting lost several times on the way, finally made it there. Southern California is crazy. We tried asking directions from somebody on the street, but they said, "Sure, for five bucks." WHAAAAT!?
We've gotten lost a lot on road trips (we don't seem to plan very well), but that was the first time we'd ever run into something like that! Still, there were also some very nice people. Every night after our day's activities, we'd stop by a Denny's for some omelettes. After several days of doing that, we got to know the night waitstaff very well. They were so cool.

All in all, it was a fun trip -- no matter what happens, isn't any vacation fun? -- but I think it probably would have been more enjoyable with better planning, deciding and booking in advance the attractions we wanted to visit, by using a something like Trusted Tours & Attractions' online tour guides. Their Los Angeles tours include a lot of stuff that we had never even considered doing.

I'm going to visit them when I plan my next vacation. Not only do they make planning a lot easier, but they offer discounted tickets to sightseeing tours in 23 U.S. cities. Like a Kennedy Space Center discount in Orlando. I'd looooove to go to Orlando! And by saving on tickets and stuff, you can afford to squeeze in more activities.

Trusted Tours & Attractions are also doing this thing right now where you can enter to win a $150 Magellan’s Gift Certificate (for travel gear and stuff!) if you sign up for their newsletter.
Woohoo! I love me some contests!

I'm a Bad Blogger

One of the cardinal rules of blogging (or so I've read) is: Always Respond to Your Visitors' Comments.
And I have so been falling down on this! Eek!

Because I know how important it is. I've commented on other blogs, and I admit I've checked back to see if the blogger responded. My heart does sink a little when I discover they haven't. Hopefully my commenters have better self-esteem than I do. But either way, I need to start giving them some love! They deserve it! 'Cause, really, it must be gosh-darn hard to find something to say in reply to all my drivel. *wink*

WordPress Themes

Heh. In my last post, I was comparing Blogger and WordPress. Okay, one of the things I like about WordPress is the incredibly rich theming. There are tons of great WP themes around, and even a lot of the Blogger themes one might find have actually just been ported from a WP theme!

I've tried to dig into layout code on my own, and have just ended up frustrated. And a Google search for tutorials pretty much turns up nothing. Why doesn't anyone want to share? Apparently because a lot of these folks are getting big bucks for their templates, all because they know the "big secrets." Well, the cat's about to be let out of the bag. Finally someone has opened the door to interested theme-builders with a Theme WordPress tutorial DVD called "How to Theme WordPress: From Blank To Beautiful in 2 Hours." Two hours seems totally doable, and a DVD would allow one to grasp the entire concept without being bogged down in text, like a book might do.



If this DVD makes building a WP theme as easy as they promise, I may not have that much deciding to do after all!

Blogger or WordPress?

I find I'm posing this question to myself on a regular basis. While Blogger (which also includes Blog*Spot) seems easier, easier can also mean "limited." I've always been a "switch to advanced options" kind of chick. It seems like WordPress offers more flexibility (hello, static pages!) -- except in the case of content. I'm not sure if their "no paid posts" rule applies if you use your own domain on WordPress.com (for another $10 a year!), but some of their rules would definitely hinder me. Now, there's always the option of using the software on my own webhost, but that just opens up a whole 'nother can of worms.

So I continue to be conflicted. That said, I intend to experiment with WP a bit, just so I can see what it's all about. Then maybe I'll be more willing to break out the can opener.

YouTube Never Fails...

...to utterly bemuse me. There's this...video...for something called Muchos Fantastic. It's this stereotypical (maybe even slightly racist?) portrayal of a Hispanic guy pimping his "Chopping Network" where he's selling -- get this -- bidets. And then, you find out, portions of his sales...benefit orphans! First thought: W. T. F?



It's like some bizarre SNL sketch from the Dan Akroyd days.

Anyway, I went to the site, and it looks like a real thing. They actually do sell bidets. And they have a page of links to the completely valid humanitarian causes they support with at least 10% of their profits. You know, every business needs a hook -- and I think "Mucho" has actually found a unique one!

Feline Showdown: Battle of the Yuckies

So one of my favorite bloggers posted today about one of her adventures in feline servitude (you don't own cats, they own you). Meanwhile, today, I was having my own adventure with my little darling. Isn't she cute? Yeah, real cute....



So, tell me, what's grosser (if you're squeamish, you may want to skip this):


Shuffling barefoot through your still dark house only to step in cold, wet cat puke -- with hairball!

OR

Finding, on the cat who sleeps on (let me stress on, not in) your bed, tapeworms!

This may be a toss-up. Both are pretty damn nasty.

For what it's worth, mine's the tapeworms. Joy. The rest of the day was spent de-worming and washing blankets. Yaaaay. I almost envy stepping in cat puke. Almost.

Who Knows You Run a Business?

I have several friends who run small businesses, and have done what I can to help them with SEO and marketing, but I can only help so much. I've seen them get so discouraged and frustrated when it comes to marketing themselves, getting into business directories, and being found by clients. I've found a directory at www.salesmedium.com that takes out a lot of guess work in this regard. Not only do they list your business in their directory, but you get industry-targeted advertising, and you're backed up by an actual sales rep who negotiates with users and consumers to drive them to you. The membership plans are really reasonably priced for all the support and promotion you receive. If you run a business, you might want to check it out. After all, what's the point of running a business if nobody knows about you?

Feeling Overwhelmed

I remember -- I know, I start a lot of posts that way -- when the internet was smaller. It was mostly just a bunch of geeks who had actual websites with really busy animated .gifs all over them. Yes, it was crazy, but it was manageable. Now that I've jumped into the blogosphere, I can't help but feel a little dizzy and...overwhelmed. It feels like the entire world is now online. That's a lot of people! And a lot of blogs! And a lot of "noise"! And what am I doing? I'm just adding to the problem!
Maybe I just need to unplug for a little while and go get me some nature.

"Sex and the City" Movie

Have you seen the SatC movie? Pff, who hasn't, right? It stormed the box office this summer (you know, before Batman came along and stomped all over everybody). Like the TV show, the movie started some trends. One was a public yearning to get ahold of the book of poetry Carrie read -- and Big later quoted in emails -- called "Love Letters of Great Men" which was supposed to be a compilation of historical love letters by famous figures like Napoleon and Beethoven. Problem was, the book didn't exist -- until now! Author John Kirkland (whose adventurous lifestyle is pretty darn romantic in itself, making him the perfect figure to create such a book) has compiled a collection of love letters by such greats as Robert Browning, Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Twain, George Bernard Shaw, Jack London and more -- along with biographical information on the romances behind the letters -- and titled it after the book in the movie, "Love Letters of Great Men." You can Purchase on Amazon right now. It can hold you over until the Sex and the City DVD comes out on Sept. 22!

Technorati is Making Me Crazy

I think I got the hang of EntreCard...kind of. I've been clicking around and commenting on various blogs (though I'm having a hard time keeping track of which ones to see if there are any follow-ups), and I've asked to advertise on several blogs (though, again, I have no idea which ones and I've just figured out how to check which ones -- plain as day!). And though my blog is submitted to Technorati, nothing is really happening with it. For days, the support people have been shrugging their shoulders saying there's a "glitch" causing a "delay" in pinging Blogger.com and WordPress.com blogs. Isn't that, like, most blogs? People on the discussion boards over there are piiiiiiissed. And I can't blame them. While my little blog has only been pingless for about a week (which is plenty when you have absolutely zero authority -- *sob*), there are some who are reporting no pings for close to a month. A month! Come on, Technorati, you're about to lose a lot of "authority" -- and fast.

Mmmmassage

I've had back problems for a number of years. It all stemmed from spending a lot of time writing a really intense hand-written letter on a surface that wasn't the right height for my chair. Ever since that night, my upper back has just gotten increasingly worse. The only thing that gives me even the slightest bit of relief is a massage. But since I'm currently boyfriend-less, I've been having to do without. Imagine my delight when I came across this Takemi Jade Vista 5000 Massage Bed.

The description practically makes me weep: It uses a special wavelength of light called "Far Infrared," which allows for deep penetrating therapeutic heat to the muscles; the design of the bed promotes proper vertebrae alignment to help relieve muscle spasm (which is what my doctor says is wrong with my back); and it applies "deep rolling massage" to the upper and lower body. They say that all of this not only helps you feel good, but also promotes circulation and detoxification for overall health. Fine, fine, fine. All I care about is the back soothing! It's got kind of a steep price for home use -- though that website does offer a practically half-off sale price with a coupon code -- but I would definitely go knocking on the door of any chiropractor with one of these bad boys.

Web Games

I'm a part of the original video game generation. Okay, no, actually I'm probably not. Perhaps the kids who grew up in the '70s with PONG are the real original video game generation. I grew up with an old Atari and the then-brand-spankin'-new NES. In any event, I love games. One of the blogs I frequently visit put up this game, and I keep finding myself going back to it. It's incredibly repetitive, but being rather OCD, I love how the little germs shrivel up. Die, you fiends!

Take Another Look at C'elle

Have you guys checked out C'elle yet? The program allows you to easily harvest and cryo-preserve stem cells from menstrual fluid -- which could potentially treat devastating diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, heart disease and stroke in yourself or your genetic relatives. There's even the possibility of using it in anti-aging therapies. There are several links on the site's home page describing all the benefits.

Anyway, I was having a look at the pricing. For new clients, the normal initial processing charge is $699, and then a $99 storage fee per year thereafter. But guess what? Right now they're running a limited time special to get $200 off with coupon code CN200, so your up-front cost is only $499! I admit, I still balked at this but then I did the math. That's only about $40 a month for the first year, and less than $10 a month for the remaining years. Considering a specimen is said to last 15 years, that's not very expensive at all. You can't even get a good life insurance policy for that cheap! And isn't that what this is? A very special form of life insurance, that doesn't just (maybe) benefit your loved ones after your demise, but could actually extend your own or their lives? What is the value of life, after all?

But maybe you can't take advantage of this yourself -- you might be a guy or past menopause -- you can still look out for your loved ones with a gift certificate! Look in to this. And at least consider ordering.

Homemade Tortillas

My homemade flour tortilla experiment, while not a complete failure, was not an absolute success. I followed this recipe but halved the salt and substituted canola oil for the shortening. I've never been big on shortening, especially now that they've discovered how toxic partially-hydrogenated fats are. And I know, the shortening makers are now using fully hydrogenated fats instead, but that still just makes it no better than butter and other saturated fats. So I try to steer towards liquid oils whenever I can. But in this recipe? Way too greasy! Plus, never having made tortillas before (my family is Irish-French and Hungarian -- what do we know from Mexican cooking?), I miscalculated the cooking time and a lot of my tortillas turned out crispy. My only saving grace was that I had no problem rolling them out thin enough. The directed 1/8" is laughable -- you want to practically be able to read through the suckers.

So next time (and there will be a next time, because I always try to fix a recipe before totally giving up on it!), I'll reduce the oil considerably. And I'll do them on medium heat and flip/jerk 'em off the stove just as soon as they start to bubble -- they should still feel a bit "raw." It seems the only way to ensure softness. At least, that's the plan.... We'll see what happens!

My Still Denty Car

I mentioned my car, with the dent. I keep going back to that auto body repair website! I was browsing around some more, and discovered that not only do they have all these stringent standards for the mechanics in their directory, but they also allow customers to review those mechanics. So you don't have to take the website's word for it. And there are a lot of reviews. I honestly don't know of another site to offer this kind of comprehensive information for collision repair specialists. Look out Dent, your number's soon to be up!

Catching Up with Technology: Hulu

As I've said, I was on dial-up for the longest time. It was hell. But now I have DSL, so I can investigate what all the cool kids have been up to! The latest is Hulu.com, which finally, after all my years of whining about its necessity, has stepped up to the plate to offer ad-supported streaming media -- TV shows, movies, etc. My first screening was Groundhog Day. Man, what a great film. Then I found full episodes of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Bliss!

I discovered Jon back in the early '90s, when he was still just doing stand-up, and I was so happy when he got his own (albeit short-lived) talkshow on FOX. Not having cable, I desperately wished he had been Tom Snyder's replacement on CBS's Late Late Show after several successful guest hosting stints, but alas it was not to be. I've ached to enjoy Jon in his recent endevours, and now I finally can! It's amazing. No wonder he -- and The Daily Show -- have taken off. What a talented guy.

After that, I found Joss Whedon's indie web project, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. I can't say I qualify as a true Whedonite, but I recognize the guy's talent. He oozes it. Though the ending was a bit...abrupt...and there were a few sluggish moments, overall I found it remarkably entertaining. Made me see Neil Patrick Harris in a whole different light. And some of those songs do stick with you. Good sign!

And then I watched ALF, a show I used to enjoy as a kid. What was I thinking?

Almost September...

I can't believe it's almost September already. Pretty soon Thanksgiving and Christmas will be upon us before we even know it! That's always such an amazingly crazy, fun, busy time. I always try to get my holiday shopping lists made up well in advance so I'll have plenty of time to plan. Because come Black Friday (that's the day after Thanksgiving, when the holiday shopping season officially begins and all the stores have amazing sales), I want to be armed and ready to do battle!

There's a site that's making my job a lot easier. BlackFridayScans.com will have scans of Black Friday circular ads highlighting all the great deals to be had -- before they show up in your newspaper! They'll have ads for Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us, Sears, Old Navy, Macy's, Kohl's, Ikea, Circuit City, Best Buy, Fry's, Linens-N-Things, Staples, Office Max, Office Depot -- man, the list just goes on and on!

You can take a look at the ads for Thanksgiving from 2006 and 2007, to get an idea. The ones for 2008 are coming soon. The ads are available to download in ZIP and PDF format, so you can just print out whatever ones you want and take it with you on BF (Black Friday)! You can even sign up for email alerts so you know when the 2008 ad for your favorite store is available!

Keep an eye on this one to make your holiday much easier. You want to get your shopping done quick so you'll have more time to spend with your family, because that's what the holiday is all about! So go check this out and start on your lists! If you can afford it, try to put a needy child on your list. And don't forget to get a little something special for yourself, too -- you deserve it!

Cooking Frenzy

I haven't really felt like cooking anything for days -- you know, real cooking. Now, all of a sudden, I'm trying to do chicken and vegetables in rice and chicken fajitas while trying my hand at homemade tortillas at the same time. Meanwhile, I'm also blogging. What is wrong with me that I'm trying to do so much at once!?

How Organized Are You?

I am not organized at all, though I crave organization. Computers have made multi-tasking not only possible but a requirement in these busy times, but computers can also make it really difficult to track information and tasks if you're not organized! And if you collaborate with several people on projects -- be it your family or your colleagues -- tracking things becomes almost impossible!

DeskAway has created a suite of project management tools to help in this problem. One is Personal Reminders. With this, you can send email reminders to yourself and your teammates to stay on time with deadlines. You can personalize when the emails are sent, and they even include links directly to the project at hand.

Second, my favorite, is Project Templates. This allows you to "clone" project aspects to be used in other projects. No more time wasted by telling people over and over how you want your project done! They can just follow the template!

Third, an often underrated but very important feature in any data creation is backup. DeskAway allows full project Export/Backup every day, with lots of info saved.

It all comes together in a really simple, effective application. Best of all, security is a DeskAway priority, so you can sleep at night! The pricing is tiered, so you can find the right package for your needs. You can even try it for free!

Night Owl or Morning Lark?

What are you? Do you bounce out of bed at sunrise, ready to grab the day by the, er, handfuls? Or do you prowl around past midnight and only start to feel human after 10 AM? Or are you one of those lucky people who can thrive on like 4 hours of sleep and are able to be both!?

Me, I've been a night owl practically since birth. School was torture for me. I actually did my 6th grade science fair project on sleep patterns and how to correct them; my mom drove me forever over to the Standford sleep clinic for research and interviews. My project didn't win any ribbons -- nobody "got" it. Top prizes went to the kids with show-and-tell demos. Photos of me looking exhausted didn't cut it.

But lately I'm finding myself forced to be a morning person, up at 7, 8 AM. And sometimes I still don't make it to bed till 2 or 3 in the morning. Holy crap, it's killing me!

Boot Heaven

I don't know about any of you guys, but I'm a bit of a dichotomy. I'm incredibly delicate and girly and nerdy -- but if a house project needs to be done, I can roll up my sleeves and tackle it. I'm especially good at plumbing projects and despite my "ew, ew, ew" tendency, have crawled behind my toilet to fix a pipe. I rock.

Naturally, big jobs require decent foot protection -- sneakers aren't going to cut it if you drop a giant block of wood on your toe. You need work boots, possibly even steel toe boots for maximum protection. And man, am I a boot girl. I always gravitate towards the boots in a shoe store because they look good and, let's face it, they last forever! So it's no surprise that browsing through work boots gives me a thrill as well. I was looking through the WorkBootsUSA.com website, which allowed me to quickly and easily spot a ton of great women's and men's work boots, military boots, and even work shoes and pumps. I was constantly going, "Ooh, look at that one!"

I mean, I could see wearing these babies any day with a pair of jeans.

Awesome site.

A Month In...

Well, I'm now over a month into actual blogging. What a whirlwind. And yet I still don't have my layout/template issues solved. And I've also been doing a lot of (what am I saying? it's mostly) stream-of-consciousness writing, which is kind of embarrassing. Especially when I consider the next step, which I guess is blatant self-promotion. The Technorati and the EntreCard and the various directories all make my head hurt. I'm really hoping it'll be worth it in the end!

Oh, shoot, that reminds me, I need to check in on my pals at AllMediocre!

Logo/Slogan Tees

Have you ever looked into custom t-shirts? I did a few years ago, and came across a number of companies, but I never went with anything because either the quality was really...not great or you had to order like a bazillion shirts at a time. What am I supposed to do with a bazillion t-shirts that say something like "That's What She Said!"?

CustomT-Shirts.com allows you to create custom t-shirts (and sweats, and jackets, and hats, and bags, and undies, and more!) with various printing processes --
digital direct, digital transfer, and flex and flock print. They have lots of selectable designs and a really easy design center, or you can upload your own photo. Plus they don't seem to have a minimum order requirement! But with their back-to-school special right now, with coupon code SCHOOL308, you get 25% off two or more items.

Maybe I'll go ahead and get me a "That's What She Said!" shirt after all.

Blogger Tip of the Day #1

I've labeled this tip "#1" because I get the feeling this type of post may come up a lot. Blogger is...funny. Anyway, after spending many (many, many, many...have I mentioned many?) hours yesterday and today trying to tweak things, I have discovered something.

For all of its wonders, you should definitely not use the Firefox browser when doing an "Edit HTML" on your layout. After Googling quite a number of bX-xxxxxx errors, I came across this post, which indicates Internet Explorer may be your best bet (for now) when playing around with your templates. I switched over to Microsoft's wicked beast and was able to successfully complete a number of edits. Yay!

Other than that, Firefox still rocks.

Do You Know Your IP Address?

This can be a really bewildering question to some people. Your IP address is basically your computer's identity on the internet. It's a number assigned by your ISP.

I'm not a big fan of sites that log and display their visitor's IP addresses to the public. Let's not make a hacker's life easy, folks! And as a private, slightly paranoid person, I'm not crazy about sites/blogs that glean my location from my IP address and log that publicly, either. But behind the scenes, for the webmaster him-/herself, IP addresses and other information can provide great insight into how to serve their visitors better.

IP2Location is a company that offers IP Address Tools for this. They're just simple HTML snippets that you put on your page(s), but they're very powerful. By looking up a visitor's IP address, their tools can reverse translate it to the visitor's country, region/state, and city; their latitude & longitude; their Zip code; time zone; name of their ISP, Net Speed, and domain name. The newest packages (DB15-DB18) now also include the visitors' IDD/area code (U.S. only) and even their local weather station name/code. With this information, you can create a wealth of personalized content to your visitors, like local news feeds, weather forecasts, and much more.

They've got live demos of some of these tools over at their website. Plug an IP address into this one and see what I mean!

Why Does Blogger...

...Rearrange HTML code? I'm trying to get some stuff validated, and it keeps moving my tag attributes around. Really, what is the difference if my code is

<script type="text/javascript" src="blahblahblah"></script>

instead of

<script src="blahblahblah" type="text/javascript"></script>

?

Huh? Why you gotta be all picky, Blogger? I'd prefer to be the anal control freak in this relationship!

My Denty Car

I recently bought a used car for really cheap. It's a pretty nice little car, but the reason it's so cheap is that it's got a huge dent in its front bumper. I have a love/hate relationship with that dent. On one hand, it made my car inexpensive. On the other hand, it's ugly!



I decided to look up an auto body repair place on CollisionRepairExperts.com. It's a directory where you put in your zip code and they present you a list of local repair experts. These experts are members of the FIX AUTO Network, which is comprised of the best collision repairers in the country. They really scrutinize their applicants to find levels of performance that less than 1% of collision repairers can meet. So you know they must be good!

Zzzzzzoning Out

Man, I'm having the worst time concentrating today. I have so much I want to do:

• I've got some ideas for my blog layout
• I'm checking in on some forums
• I'm trying to read and comment on some other blogs
• I'm hungry and need to cook something
  

But I can't focus on anything! I keep buzzing around to different things but never really accomplishing anything. Meanwhile, my tummy keeps saying, "Then go ahead and pay attention to me!"

Have you ever had one of those days?

Get an IT Guy!

I have a friend who's the "IT Guy" for his company. Actually, that was the friend who helped me put my computer together! It's always handy to know an IT Guy. You run into a computer problem, and chances are better than not that your IT Guy friend will be able to help you. You should definitely find yourself one!

The only problem is, they can sometimes talk over your head. Servers and platforms and argh! I've had other friends who've run their own personal webservers, too. It's amazing the power and flexibility they wield, to deploy any software they wish, and also can control the security of their business. I've always been really interested in the ins and outs of servers, and so I've been reading a bit about the IBM AS/400 iSeries on PerfData.com. Performance Data Resources is a reseller of new and used network and server hardware and products, mainly focusing on the AS/400. By doing so, they've really become experts. It's amazing all the products they offer. It's also nice to see that providing excellent customer service is one of their main priorities. After looking in to this, I feel I can better keep up with my IT Guy friend!

My Eyes...Dragonflies

I'm still trying to figure out how I want this darn blog to look. Trust me, I'm no happier with this template than you are!

As I have played with various layouts, I've always wondered why some icons are represented by dragonflies. Eh, companies like to be cutesy, I figured.

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "Dragonflies? What dragonflies?"

I can't believe it's taken me this long to realize that these icons are a screwdriver and wrench -- not dragonflies! Am I the only person to have made this mistake?

Web Hosting

So I think I've mentioned that I've run websites before. I still do run a small site, with the domain and the hosting and the whole shebang. I went for a small upstart host, and haven't been too pleased. So when friends of mine who are interested in starting their own sites ask me who my host is, I kind of cringe. For my own purposes, I can put up with the problems of my host (for now), but I'd never want to steer people to something that's not really reliable. Especially if it's for business purposes.

I just read about Concentric's shared web site hosting. They've got some really competitive plans. The "Business Email" plan is mainly just for -- you guessed it -- email. You can only put up a splash page. But they give you 2 gigs of server space with 100 megs of traffic/bandwidth per month for only $6.95/month paid for 12 months or $7.95 paid month-to-month. If you're paying for email service, you should look into this one. It might be cheaper to host your own mail server!

For an actual website, they've got the "Basic" Plan -- which is far from besic in my book. It offers 10 gigs of disk space and 100 gigs of traffic -- plus add-on programs like WordPress and Wiki, so you could use it for a really rich blog, too -- all for only $9.95/month paid annually or $11.95 paid month-to-month. That's actually what my current host charges, but I don't get anything close to 100 gigs of transfer per month! I'm gonna be looking into this one for myself. I'll probably do some online research first, as should you if you're considering this -- don't take my word for it! -- but I really think it's worth looking into if you want hosting.

FroYo

I'm not "lactose-intolerant," my body is just not a big fan of lactose. So I have to drink fat-free milk and avoid heavy cream and stuff, otherwise my body...complains. So that means ice cream is out. No biggie, because I actually like frozen yogurt. Well, certain kinds, anyway. Dryers doesn't seem to know how to make it without totally offending every part of my mouth. Ben & Jerry? They know froyo. As does Häagen-Dazs. The problem is, their flavors are so limited!

Why this be, guys? Are there that many people out there who hate frozen yogurt?

On the B&J website there are a total of four frozen yogurt flavors: The overhyped Cherry Garcia, Strawberry Banana, Half-Baked, and Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

I literally mourn their discontinuation of Chocolate Heath Bar Crunch. Oh, sure, they still do Vanilla HBC ice cream...but the Vanilla is nowhere near as good as the Chocolate. Plus, it's ice cream, and, well, it ain't worth the pain.

Helicopters

The other night, there was this...noise...outside my house -- like an airplane flying really low overhead. I went out to see what the heck it was, and it was a helicopter. They were indeed flying low, and circling really close to the house, with search lights over the ocean. I assumed it was a rescue chopper, but then after a few minutes they flew off. It was really off-putting, though, as low as they were flying.

Any time a guest on Dave Letterman's show talks about a helicopter, Dave gets all excited about how dangerous they are -- an engine goes out, and that sucker's all of a sudden just a hunk of lead ready to fall out of the sky. There's no coasting to recover from a stall like the buffer of safety you can get in a fixed-wing aricraft. Because of this, helicopters scare me quite a bit.

This website for a helicopter accident attorney outlines a bunch of facts about helicopter safety and crash statistics. It looks like the site not only provides info on helicopter crashes, but also links to local aviation lawyers. Silly me, I never even knew there was a specialty in aviation accident law...but I guess accidents are becoming common enough to create a niche. And judging by the news links on the HelicopterAccidentAttorney.com website, they happen far too often for my comfort. Thank goodness there's a service out there to provide some relief to the victims and/or their families.

Michael Phelps the Golden Boy

I can't resist a landmark, so I tuned in last night to watch Michael Phelps win his 8th Gold Medal in the Beijing Olympics, during the Men's 4x100m Medley Relay. It's really a credit to him and his teammates, since Phelps' success rested on the shoulders of other men in some events. However, Phelps really displayed his prowess in that race, by taking over the lead in his leg, the third of that race. Jason Lezak also did a phenomenal job by holding and building on the U.S.'s lead against tight competition Australia to win the race.

Michael Phelps is now the winningest gold medalist in history -- both in a single Games and in a single career (he's got a total 14 now). It boggles the mind.

Now we all just hold our breaths in hope that steroid tests come back -- and stay -- negative. It's a shame that the awe and wonder of the Olympics have been tainted by doping scandals. I can only hope that the U.S. team, knowing how focused the world would be on them and Michael Phelps, has kept its nose clean.

Politically Correct Stem Cells?

I've always felt really conflicted about the whole stem cell debate. I can see both sides, especially in the case of embryonic stem cells. But there seems to be so much promise in stem cells -- from Parkinson's treatment to one day maybe being able to regenerate so many vital organs. That's why I've always been really hopeful when I've read news about alternative cell harvesting processes.

One I've read about -- and it may sound icky -- is that new research shows that menstrual fluid contains self-renewing stem cells that can be easily collected, processed and cryo-preserved for potential future use.

The first thought is, "Okay, that's awesome for women, but men don't menstruate." (All the men breathe a sigh of relief!) Well, it seems that these stem cells could possibly also be used to benefit genetic family members, including fathers, brothers, and sons. Not to mention mothers, sisters, and daughters who may or may not be post-menopausal.

There's a C'elle Client Testimonial on their website about all the benefits of this. The C'elle service seems to offer a lot. They send you a kit for collecting your, er, specimens (it only requires two). Then you send it back and they cryogenically store it for you. They say that a specimen can stay frozen for up to 15 years without any known deterioration.

Everybody always talks about the future, but we usually act like it's such a long time off: "I'm going to save for my retirement." "I'm going to exercise more." "I'm going to start eating healthier." But when do we get around to actually providing for ourselves? C'elle seems to be offering a way to provide for our future selves, and not just money so we can spend our golden years in Hawaii! But with actual life. I think it's something to at least consider.

Toonz: Metro Station - Shake It

I have a love/hate relationship with the new single from Metro Station, "Shake It."

Love: It reminds me of the bubble gum pop I used to listen to back in the '80s. I love me some '80s music.

Hate: It's created by kids who weren't even really alive in the '80s. Stop making me feel old, you little whippersnappers! Also, the band is made up of Miley Cyrus' brother, and the brother of her Hannah Montana costar. Which makes them seem even more whippersnapperish.

Whatever. I'll try to ignore the "who" and just enjoy the "what" of the song. I'm sure by the end of summer, it'll be long forgotten.

I'm Drowning in Passwords

I was thinking about this just the other day -- how many services I use and thus all the passwords I've generated. With most stuff, you can just request an email and (if you're still using the address you signed up with!) they'll email you your password or a new one.

Easy enough. But what if you lost a system password, like the ones you use for documents or -- gasp -- Windows? Off the top of my head, I don't think I can recall my OS password. There are some possibilities, and if worse came to worst, I know I'd be frantically jabbing in all of them. I shudder to think that the only way to recover would be a reinstall. My files! My settings! Eek!

Passware has software for this - Windows Key. It'll create a "reset password" CD, USB Flash Drive or a floppy disk. If you forget your Windows Password, all you have to do is use it during the boot process, and you can reset your Administrator or other account passwords and Windows security settings. No reinstall necessary! Whew!

Blahlympics

I know there are a large amount of people out there who only consider the Summer Games the "real" Olympics. Some find the Winter Games so boring they wouldn't care if they went away altogether.

Me, I feel the exact opposite.

I'm far more excited by figure skating and skiing than track and field. That said, I still usually watch the Opening/Closing Ceremonies and some of the events during the Summer. This year? Nada. And I'm not sure why. I mean, yeah, I know boycotting is huge this year. And while I'm sure the intent is admirable, I don't have any strong feelings either way in that regard towards the Beijing Games. I was a little put off by the recent reports of all of China's fakery in the Opening Ceremony (and elsewhere, I'm sure), but even that isn't enough to drive me away.

No, it's just a general apathy. A preoccupation with other things that prevents me from even bothering to tune in. And that's quite something for someone without cable -- my other choices are severely limited! I don't know.... I've turned it on a couple of times -- and usually get volleyball -- but just can't engage. Oh well. Perhaps I'll have more zest for Vancouver, 2010.

Ever Been to New York City?

As I've mentioned, I live in a smallish town in the middle of nowhere. However, one of my dreams has always been to visit New York. The problem with this is that I would be terribly out of my element if left to my own devices. The best way to see any new place is if you've got friends or family there, right? But I don't have friends or family in NY.

I may have found a solution. A company called Family in
New York offers personalized tours of tourist attractions in New York City.

The website design has the feel of the hand-built sites I remember seeing back in the '90s, before all this Web 2.0 sterility. And the service seems really cool. They help you pick activities and create a schedule. And they really seem open to accommodating your needs. They pick you up at your hotel and then, whatever you have planned, they take you on 9 hours of New York fun!

Plus, they even offer a service that picks you up from the airport first!

It really is like having Family in New York!

Yay! I'm Mediocre!

In all my time publishing things to the web, I have never been desperate. Until now. There's something about blogging that strikes a certain...neediness in the writer: Please read what I have to say. Please comment. Please link to me. Please love me!

It can be hard to be lovable. You gotta be witty and insightful and educational. By doing so, you may get lucky enough to be on AllTop.com. But most of us have a long way to go before we reach the Top, if ever. The rest of us, we're just Mediocre. And that's where AllMediocre.com comes in.

AllMediocre was created just recently. It started as a joke by a fellow blogger as a response to AllTop. As we all know, the best jokes are rooted in truth, and the idea caught on. Now it's a legitimate list of "The Web’s Best Blogs, You Just Don’t Know It Yet!"

And I was accepted!

I don't even know if I'm living up to that standard yet. But in time I hope to find a bit more of my voice (my blog title gives me a little bit of leeway in that) and be worth reading. I look forward to interacting with my fellow AllMeds. It sure was lonely with just the crickets!

Blog Contests

In my last post, I mentioned...

1. needing to buy a new mouse
2. being broke

...and then I noticed a giveaway on a blog I frequent. The blogger behind WorldOfMom.com is a pretty cool chick anyway, but now she's become even cooler by running contests on her blog. The latest is for a $10 Amazon Giftcard. And I got to thinking, "Amazon sells mice. Mice sell for around $10. I need a mouse. Fate!" So I'm going to enter. But I thought I'd post about it because, well, we could all use a little promotion, and I'm happy to promote anyone who might get me closer to a new mouse!

If you need a mouse, or anything else 10 bucks at Amazon could buy, you should enter too! The contest ends the evening of 8/12.

Cordless Mice

My whole life, I've always taken people's hand-me-down computers. (I think I've mentioned being cheap.... Well, cheapness comes along with being broke!) Anyway, about a year ago, I decided I wanted a new computer, and I wanted to build it myself. Fortunately, I met a person who became a fast friend and helped me with that project. I'm very proud of my system, which I stuck together with my own little hands. My friend insisted at the time, "You must dump your ball-mouse and go wireless." So we got me a Logitech LX-300 keyboard and mouse.

This choice was mostly my friend's. I have a pretty bad history with Logitech, mainly its mice. My first hand-me-down computer came with its original old two-button IBM mouse, and it lasted forever! Then I thought, "Ooh, wheel mice!" and got a cheapie one of those. It lasted a little while and then started acting crazy -- the cursor would go on a self-possessed rampage across my screen. People said, "Get a Logitech, they're good," so I got a Logitech, and it was good. For a bit. Over the course of about 5 years, I'd say I burned through not one, not two, not even three, but four corded ballsy Logitech mice. I thought maybe it was the ball. I think I thought wrong.

The LX-300 is a wireless keyboard/mouse combo. The keyboard took some getting used to. The keys seem to be closer together than some of my previous keyboards, so there were (and, admittedly, still are) a lot of typos. The mouse's usability is fine -- there are lots of programmable options for the wheel button, and it seems to respond well -- but its realiability is questionable. Its first big test was a long RPG. That ate up its batteries like crazy. So I thought I'd just invest in some rechargables and a charger (have yet to get around to doing that -- have I mentioned I'm broke?). But before I could, even with fresh regular batteries my mouse seems to be having sensor problems. As it is lately, I have to have the mouse right in front of its wireless receiver, or its goes all flaky.

I'm thinking of getting a wired optical mouse. Because ballsy mice are annoying. I'm sold on the optical part, but wireless...nah. Perhaps when I do invest in a charger (which will have to be soon, since I fear for the Eneloops I bought for my camera, used up, and are now just sitting there waiting to be charged), I'll try wireless again. Till then, I can't take the heartache every time I turn around and my batteries/mouse start dying or flaking out. The thing that kills me is that I'm still looking at Logitech. I guess I figure, If everybody else has success, why can't I have success too? Corded/optical is my last Logitech mouse experiment. If I still have problems, I guess I'm going to have to find a new brand.

Any suggestions?