Author Archive

You’re kidding me … right?

Friday, April 27th, 2007

So the ‘massive storm’ was nothing more than a dud. I really hope something hits around here soon or I’m going to go back up to New York where everything seems to be. I just saw something on the news a little while ago about the Long Island Expressway getting bombarded, that’s the kind of weather I love.

It’s mainly been raining on and off here, so a few sounds of thunder got me excited, that left as quickly as it came though. The lady next door, however, has no driveway. There’s no real drainage systems around here and her driveway kind of has a dip at the end of it that holds water in excess, she had to walk through a massive puddle (that started from the middle of the street and ended half way up her driveway) in order for her to get to her car. I swear I’m going to write a letter to the land owner to find out just where his $400,000 a year income (per community, he owns like 5) is being used because this is beyond absurd.

So instead of being outside today, I’m inside with the TV on in the background. Oprah pisses me off so I’m not even going to bother watching her. Judge Judy isn’t on yet, and I LOATH Dr. Phil so I’m not even gonna go there. Time to surf through channels to put something decent on in the background. Oprah’s doing some eligible bachelors thing on her show today, there’s like 60 guys or something on stage at the moment, none of which look even remotely appealing…go figure. Since when is her lesbian lover her new co-host?

She’s pregnant!

Friday, April 27th, 2007

PPP I was told yesterday that an old friend of mine is 3 months pregnant. While I wish her all the luck in the world I know that it’s going to be difficult for her. Her husband isn’t exactly the best provider in the world but I assume that baby clothing and diapers will be added to his to-do list without any real complaints. I just hope that he’s able to give her and her child the life that they deserve. She didn’t have such a great upbringing, her father was a real annoyance in her life, hopefully her baby gets a better deal.

So I decided to email her and ask her how she was doing, how she’s feeling about everything, and we got into a conversation about baby showers, baby supplies, baby clothing and a lot more. I pointed her to BabyCZ. It’s not a run-of-the-mill baby clothing store, the clothes that are sold here are hand-picked by people who know about baby fashion. You’re not going to find the same lack of quality clothing here that you would at Wal-mart. BabyCZ has cashmere and luxury baby clothing, even gifts for young ones. IE: No thin tee’s with Elmo plastered on it.

This site isn’t just for baby clothing though, you can also find outfits for adults. A lot of kids like to wear their mothers clothing, and I know a few mothers who look at baby clothing and think “If only they made this in my size!”, welp – they do. BabyCZ has a section for adults that match the same prints as their children. Mother and Daughter can match no matter where they are. There’s also a mens section so fathers and sons can match as well. It’s a pretty interesting site, especially for similar clothing in Christmas Cards! My cousins in NJ always send out a family photo for Christmas and they’re always wearing the same clothing. I always thought it was a cute idea, maybe it’s something you can do with your little ones for the holidays, or just year-round in general.

Pampering

Friday, April 27th, 2007

My toes have finally dried so I just sealed them with a top-coat to help keep them from chipping too quickly. Later on I’m going to blow my hair out so I can see exactly how my hair turned out. I dyed it last week but I haven’t done anything but keep it in a pony tail, as long as the gray is gone – it really didn’t matter too much to me. It’s air drying at the moment to cut down on my time in the bathroom. There aren’t any windows in there so having the hair-dryer running can get really hot, even with the overhead exhaust on. It’ll be worth it in the end…I hope :heh:

Baby and I haven’t really done anything, together, in a little while. We’ve gone out and walked on the beach and all but it’s been a while since we’ve had a date night since we’re so eager to save our money up for the casino. With a few extra payments coming in for both of us, we’ve decided that tonight we’re going to go out for dinner and then tomorrow morning, around 5AM or so, we’re going to head to the beach. The storm will be moved over to the Atlantic Ocean by then and I’m sure there’s going to be a high surf advisory sometime in the near future because of it. Beach Erosion, as bad as it may sound, if you’re standing there watching the waves crash in – it’s both chaotic and relaxing. It’s hard to describe, but it’s a peaceful experience all the same.

The sky is turning black and the rumble of thunder over-head is telling me that I’ll have two scared dogs at my feet within the next few minutes. I’m going to unplug my laptop and probably disable the internet because I really need to get my ass in gear with that template for Ranee. I threw some things together last night, I just need to finalize the top 3 and send them off to her. I use less battery when my network is disabled so I think that’s the route I’m going to take.

Ut…big boom – time to go.

World Travel: Bulgaria

Friday, April 27th, 2007

Anyone will tell you that the real money lays in investments and real estate. Investing in property is probably one of the most financially sound things to do, if you can afford it. A sound investment is Overseas Property. While there is still a mound of debt troubling the world, there are some people still making quite a bit of money, enough to travel the world if they really wanted to, especially with credit card reward miles. When traveling, it’s always a good idea to look at some of the possible investment properties out there as well. Maybe you’d come across a house that’s absolutely beautiful, and up for grabs. Having a vacation home is great, but owning it for local renters or even listing it on hotel websites for Bed and Breakfast type rooms is great as well. One hot-spot at the moment is in Bulgarian Property.

Bulgaria Those in the investment field will consider Bulgaria to be untapped potential in regards to properties. Bulgaria is a country of variety, both graphically and culturally. The country has only received widespread recognition within the last couple of years, many locations in Bulgaria have yet to be discovered by international tourism. Tourists find Bulgaria beautiful based on their beaches along the Black sea, hundreds of thousands of people head here yearly for fun in the sun, in a beautiful environment. One place I looked into the most had to be Golden Sands, a resort on the Black Sea (show in the image to the left).

If you’re looking into investing in something that will give you not only a great turn around, but beautiful scenery…Bulgaria is the place to go.

Ranks Dropping

Friday, April 27th, 2007

I’m not sure what I’m doing differently but my ranks on Alexa and Technorati seem to be dropping quite a bit. About a month ago I was in the 3 million range on Alexa, now I’m in the 200,000 range. I was up in the 300,000 range on Technorati and now I’m down under 70k. I doubt it has to do with my posting more, I’m sure it’s based on the fact that hits seem to steadily be on the rise. I should probably comment back more on sites than I do. I do return the comment when I get the chance, I’m just going to keep on top of it more from now on.

Thanks for doing whatever you are if you’ve had any help in my ranks dropping, now if only Google would update their damn page ranks (they’re about 3 months overdue) I know my site will be in the PR6 or maybe even PR7 range on the next update…can’t wait for that, I can do higher paying posts – heh.

Mother’s Day – Fast Approaching

Friday, April 27th, 2007

FlowerBloom - Flower I spent many years of my life without a mother figure, I didn’t feel that sense of ‘female authority’ until Alicia and I spent more time together than we did with our own families. While I haven’t spoken to her in quite some time, I do consider her mother to be a mother-figure to me. I also consider Baby’s mom one as well, she’s probably one of the sweetest women I’ve ever known. Since mother’s day is coming up, I figured I’d do something special. I’ve considered the plethora of ideas and the one that sticks out quite a bit is a product named FullBloomTea.

FullBloomTea is a very unique kind of tea. Not only is it visually appealing, they taste great too. A quick description of how it works, and how it tastes:

When steeped in water that has been boiled, our tea blooms twist, turn, move and appear to bloom right before your eyes into amazing floral bouquets. Not only are these teas beautiful, but they also contain the finest rare Silver Needle White Tea leaves rich in antioxidants and are infused with beautiful dehydrated flowers such as Jasmine, Globe Amaranth and Marigold just to name a few which give additional flavors and health benefits to our teas. Mild in flavor, our tea blooms can be re-steeped up to 3 times each. And once you are done steeping and drinking, why not put the used bloom in a clear glass or vase with clean water to enjoy the beauty as a centerpiece or on your nightstand for an extra day or two.

FlowerBloom - Pod FullBloomTea.com is featured on 6 popular tea-based blogs it was also featured on Great Day San Antonio Health Bites (TV). Their most popular blooms are: Let Love Bloom, Happiness Bloom, Teapot Bloom, Star Bloom. If you look at some of the images behind it, they literally just come in small little packages that pop when they hit the water, that’s pretty darn nifty if you ask me. There are quite a few tea’s to choose from, they don’t just have blooms – they do have your standard tea leaves as well. There are quite a few gift packages available as well, starting at just $29. I guess I’m going to have to get two, won’t I?

Slow start

Friday, April 27th, 2007

I didn’t wake up until after 12pm, but considering I got a decent amount of sleep I guess that doesn’t matter too much. I’ve been productive in my three hours though. I took a nice long shower, updated my toe nails because it’s been about two weeks and for some god-forsaken reason, when one nail chips they all follow. I think it’s because I’ve been wearing sandals so often so maybe the air is getting to them, I don’t know – I’m trying to find any excuse for why it’s happening but whatever.

I haven’t started any work yet, I know (SLACKER!) but I’ll get to it soon. I have some email to go through before I can open up Photoshop anyway. I’m going to have to reinstall Windows over the course of the next couple of days. I’ve been trying to avoid it but I can’t open a program without something stalling so I think it’s about time. I’m in the process of transferring everything over to my external hard drive so I can easily shift things around after the reinstall. The big issue is the fact that according to “My Computer”, I only have 15GB of disk-space left. I had Baby look at it and it makes no sense to him either consider the folders that normally contain the larger files are only really using about 20gb of space. There’s a 70gb hard drive in here (the 10gb is the backup/windows drive) so I hope I’ll be able to figure things out.

I’m still working on getting my graphics card, this is why you’ve seen so many paid posts out of me for the last couple of days. The card I want is about $120 and I really have no choice in the matter as far as performance goes. In the future I’m going to have a dual monitor setup so I’ll need something that can handle that. The mother board only handles PCI-Express so that’s another factor. In the end, however, I’m getting a 512 card and if I had over $1500 I’d shoot for the one gig card. There’s no real point in that though, for $1500 I can get myself an iMac and then use that for all of my heavier graphics needs.

In any event, back to work I go.

Payday Loans

Friday, April 27th, 2007

There are a plethora of options to keep yourself on top of your bills. Unfortunately, a lot of employers are now only handing out paychecks twice a month (I guess it cuts down on paperwork). The problem with this is a lot of bills are due at separate times during the month, because of this – there is a rise in bankruptcy based on a rise in things piling up. There are options though, payday loans being one of them.

A payday loan is a short term financial device intended to help people cover their bills or unexpected expenses during a temporary loss of income or a time of financial duress. Payday loans are secured against a future source of income such as a paycheck or government stipend that are deposited directly into your account within 24 hours of a completed application.

In order to become qualified for a payday loan you need to meet a small list of requirements. You obviously need a job or regular source of income which must total at least $1,000 a month. If you have an active checking or savings account and are at least 18 years old, you’re eligible for a payday loan.

The approval process is anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Funds are transferred directly to your bank account overnight, so you’ll need direct deposit enabled for your bank account. There’s no need for a credit check because payday loans are secured against your paycheck. So whatever your financial situation is, as long as you’re making a minimum of $1,000 a month – you’ll be approved. There’s no application fee and it’s safe to apply for one online, especially through sites like powerpaydayloan.com.

If you’re having financial troubles because of an unexpected occurrence, you should try for one today.

Caught up with me.

Friday, April 27th, 2007

It’s a little after 4AM and I’m officially pooped for the night. I had a fairly productive day though.

I’ve done about 16 posts, 8 of which were paid. I’ve completed two clients bringing in about $250 for me. I’m working on a template for Ranee, and a surprise template for a friend that I’ll have to put on hold for a couple of days. I’m also working on a new project with Baby to keep track of things while we start on our new path.

It’s foggy outside, it’s been kind of ‘blah’ all day so I’ve been fairly uninterested in everything. Right now baby is looking down a list of over 100 Atkins recipes. He damn near skipped down the hall when he found out that he could have hot wings. He also seemed surprised that he could have fried foods on the diet as well. It’s just one possibility for us. I know someone who just lost like 60lbs on Weight Watchers so I’m also looking into that as well. My grandmother has been doing it for years so I know that she’d probably fax me over the information I need as far as that strange POINTS thing works out.

There’s just a lot of things to look into. I did a check tonight and I lost six pounds just walking the 2-4 miles a night that we’ve been doing, and that’s only for about a week now so maybe that’ll be the key thing for me. The boardwalk is nice and all but I know that you can do a lot more when you’re on the sand, you work out your legs better there than you do on a solid surface, it certainly helps.

In any event, I’m beat…I’m going to wrap up for the night and then get myself to bed.

Makeup Tips

Friday, April 27th, 2007

With vanity steadily rising over the last 200 years, women are doing everything they can to make themselves look…well…like someone else. This has nothing to do with cosmetic surgery, it just has to do with cosmetics in general. Women are wearing foundations/concealers to hide their imperfections and create a blank canvas to work on. They’re using blush, bronzer’s, lipsticks and eye makeup to bring their ‘natural’ features out.

MakeupTip.com has several tips for making your eye makeup look better. The tips include methods to achieve the sophisticated look, elegant and dramatic eyes, natural-looking eyeliner, brighter and wider eyes, as well as well-defined and well-groomed brows.

The site also houses information on how to master the basics of perfect skin with secrets to a natural/flawless look. They also teach you how to hide imperfections and give you an all-day flawless finish. They teach you how to create a natural and rosy radiance on your cheeks and even how to shape your lips, creating the perfect pout that’s smooth, soft and supple.

I’d say this site is a valuable resource for every aspect of your makeup needs.

Miles

Friday, April 27th, 2007

Baby and I are doing fairly well on our diet. We’re doing 4 miles, on average, every night. When we can’t get to the beach to walk the boardwalk we just take Bella on very long walks around the complex. I’ve noticed my pants getting larger and I seem to have a lot more energy, I hope this actually does some good.

My sleep schedule has changed to the point of being obnoxious. I’m up all night long and sleeping for most of the morning. I hate doing that because I feel so unproductive but I’m bringing in some good money these days so I guess that counts for something – right?

I need to go back to bidding on some projects, head on over to Jenny’s new site, she changes domains so frequently it’s hard to keep up with her sometimes…heh.

World Travel: Amsterdam

Thursday, April 26th, 2007

Recently an old friend of mine moved to Amsterdam. I’m not sure he moved there for the…kosher…purposes but I do know he loves the environment (when he’s not stoned at least). So it got me to thinking about the places around the world that I’d like to visit and oddly enough, after doing some research through easytobook.com, I learned quite a bit about Amsterdam that I didn’t know before.

I was already aware of the red light district, but show absolutely no interest in it…even though it seems to be one of their key attractions for coming there. I also knew of the Anne Frank house but there’s an erie feeling in my stomach when I think about going through it. What I wasn’t aware of, and was basically ignorant for it, was all of the museums. By my count there are EIGHT of them for you to visit during your stay. There are also quite a few theaters as well.

I’ve also priced a few things in relation to a stay there. A four night stay will only run me about $1,000. Of course this is just for the hotel stay, there really wasn’t much listed about air-fare, I guess that can be factored in later though. It may actually be a prominent possibility for a future trip, who knows.

The nice thing about easytobook.com is they also show you the pricing in two other countries, Barcelona and Rome. In the future they’ll offer prices for hotels in London and Prague, not just Amsterdam Hotels. It may be worth keeping it bookmarked for future reference.

Configured

Thursday, April 26th, 2007

It took me a little longer than anticipated but I was finally able to get all of the category templates to work properly on both the index and numbered category templates. A big thank you to the members on the WordPress Support forums for their help in pointing me in the right direction. I couldn’t find the proper plugins anywhere, I’m happy I asked. Usually I like to do things myself without asking for help, I tend to pick up on things quickly so I figured I’d be able to handle it. Since that obviously wasn’t the case I took a different route and I’m glad I did. That rare rewarding feeling showed up, all so I could post – go figure.

Anyway, after a quick dinner I got some more work done. I’m taking a quick break now before I get back to it (hence the Category pages being setup. I just have a lot more template files to update for the May theme than originally planned. I think I’m going to wind up working on that a lot harder this weekend than I’d originally thought…heh.

Streaming Video Made Easy!

Thursday, April 26th, 2007

It’s always interesting coming across new products. While I admit to not being an avid online video watcher, I do pay close attention to the ones that I do. I came across a FREE program today that you can save any video to your computer, phone or media devices. You can watch video’s on demand from around the globe while surfing the web. You can browser over 4 million videos from thousands of categories. You can watch these video’s while you surf the web with the “Float” option. They offer the latest in news, business, sports, weather and more. It is a streaming video player called LePlayer. It’s the most comprehensive video search tool out there, and it’s 100% FREE.

System requirements include:

Microsoft 98, ME, 2000, XP or NT 4.0
A 300MHz or higher processor.
128MB Ram
1024×768 resolutions
TCP/IP network connection

Based on my website stats, I know that 90% of my visitors have the minimum requirements for this program. I can find out what browser you’re on, what screen resolution you have, plus your version of windows and network connection. Based on these alone, you can download this program. It’s completely free and really makes your video surfing much easier. For those who are really into internet clips, this is almost definitely the script for you.

Updating

Thursday, April 26th, 2007

Things may look a little strange for a while, I’m creating individual template pages for my categories. I’ve already got two done, I figured it’s only fair to remove the PPP links from entries that aren’t related to PPP. Hopefully I can find a hack that won’t display them on the main page, but I guess that doesn’t matter much by the time I’ve completed everything.

I’ll have an actual life update soon, I know I’ve been sponsored-posting all day long today. It’ll pay off in the end, I know for sure.

Lowest Unique Bid…WINS??

Thursday, April 26th, 2007

PPPI love coming across new sites that offer awesome products at great prices. The coolest new bookmark of mine is bid4prizes. It’s what you’d consider to be a typical BID site but the cool thing is that the LOWEST UNIQUE bidder actually wins the auction. So say you see a product that you probably wouldn’t spend more than $5 on. If you bid for like $4.37, you’d most likely WIN the bid…nifty eh?

Right now they’ve got a Scion, Plasma TV, Apple iPhone and other products listed. You text in your bid, choose the lowest unique price you can think of and for literally pennies you can bring home a new car. I don’t care who you are, your personal preference, or what kind of money you have. If you can get a ScionXB for 87cents, you’d take it. I know for sure that I would.

I just sent in my bid for the Apple iPhone, I’ve been interested in it for a while but wasn’t willing to spend like $600 on it, maybe I’ll win ::hopes::

Head on over to bid4prizes, trust me – it’s worth it.

Bid4Prizes