Blog O’ Obscurity

Are you looking for another way to increase traffic to your blog? Or are you just starting out and looking for any way at all? It’s a big internet out there and you don’t want your stuff to be overlooked. There are lots of suggestions on the boards and Buzzfuse is just one of many things to try.

You sign up at their site for free, embed some code in one of your best posts and they’ll help spread the word about it. They do ask that you give them some contacts but when I submitted my post I was able to bypass that part. Remember, however, that it would be beneficial to your blog to do so.

I’m looking forward to the photo option coming online. It’s listed as coming soon right now but when it does happen, you’ll be able to upload pictures to the site to let people view. You can already upload audio.

Give Buzzfuse a try and see what happens to your stats.

Popularity: 2%

For some reason my younger son thinks farts are something to tell everybody about.  Oh, sure he excuses himself (usually) but not with the right embarrassment.  Most often he’s grinning about it.

One typical example:

The Boy: (Farts)
ME: Nice fart (light sarcasm)
The Boy: Thanks! (chipperly) I tuwned away fwom you so that I wouldn’t
fawt at you cuz that would be inappwopwiate.
ME: Thank you.

How am I supposed to teach him that it’s just generally inappropriate to fart when he’s so funny?!

I figure he’s got about 2 more years before this gets really old and I start to ….. I’m not sure what.

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Just yesterday I read an article about a vaccine for cocaine users. Apparently the researcher is in the second to last trial stage before he can present it to the FDA for approval. He hopes that sometime in the years to come he can get together vaccines for meth and even nicotine (he says that’s where the money is).

But, really, if you or your loved one is addicted now this means nothing for you. Five, ten or even fifteen years from now is a lifetime away for someone suffering from addiction. In the here and now addiction means a long recovery process that requires hard work and any support a person can get. The best place to start a recovery program is in the relatively sheltered space of a rehab facility where addiction can hopefully be wrestled to the ground because there is no access to the addictive material.

At Rehab Malibu, the program is focused on helping addicts struggling with alcohol and drugs of all kinds to get back in control of their lives. They use a variety of philosophies to make treatment programs that are more tailored and less cookie cutter for the participants.

If you know someone who is addicted, check out this facility as a possible place to suggest they get help. If you are addicted to drugs or alcohol yourself, find someone who can help you make this decision the right way.

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We just had a big block wall put up in the back yard. In case you aren’t from around here and think such a thing would be ugly and separate you from your neighbors - it is, it does and everyone just loves them here. We used to have a fence - just a run of the mill (more like run down by a mill) wooden fence. It was falling apart and it didn’t go a long way toward selling the house (yes we’re still trying to do that).

So down with the old fence and up with a new one.

Right out my kitchen window.

Big….

Grey…..

Blocky….

It’s UGLY!

I just can’t decide if it’s uglier than what we had before. Something about this doing things to a house not knowing now or ever if it will help it sell leaves me feeling uncertain (could it be the uncertainty of it all?). I still can’t decide if the painted kitchen is really BETTER than before or just different.

Who knew doing home improvements could be so existential (I hope I’m using that correctly)?

Popularity: 2%

Undoubtedly you have heard me talk about what you need to get together in order to file your taxes and for those of you who believe you’ll be getting a refund, I know you have scurried to get things in order. Then again today is the day that those things were all supposed to be mailed by so you may need to wait just a couple more days before you can begin in earnest.

Once you have your W-2s, your 1099s and know how much you contributed to your 401(k) for your Saver’s Tax Credit you can start filling out the forms. Are you going to hop from library to post office and from town to town in search of your 1040? No, because I told you earlier that you want to go online to get those.

What I forgot to tell you about was the handy dandy efile. Sure I get the forms from the IRS web site but in the end I find a program that lets me efile so I can get my refund faster. It’s something I’ve done most of the past 8 years and often the program finds credits I didn’t know existed (like the aforementioned Saver’s Tax credit).

Save yourself some time and money. Skip the search for forms and be brave enough to do this yourself (with the help of a program that asks all the right questions).

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In case you haven’t heard it yet, there’s TONS of buzz about the Fed cutting interest rates again.  It is fully expected that they will but if something weird happens and they don’t, it pretty much spells a drop in the stocks which rallied only yesterday on speculation that the cut would happen.

The question is, are these cuts actually helping the economy or are they just affecting things temporarily and a recession is inevitable?  Unfortunately I think it is the latter but time will tell.  In the mean time, you might look into refinancing your mortgage and benefit from lower interest rates.

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If you find your self in the position of carrying alot of extra weight around and can’t seem to lose it, you may be considering a gastric bypass to help you out. We’ve all heard about those celebrities who’ve had them and seen the dramatic results. We also all know that it is an extremely risky procedure that should only be undergone after serious consideration of all the risks and benefits. The procedure is irreversible.

Also make sure you check out the option of lap-band surgery as a possible substitute. Woodlands lap-band surgery bills itself as being 10x safer than gastric bypass an, because it is done laparoscopically (as the name suggests) it makes sense that it would be. Because it is less invasive, there is less of a chance for infection and other complications.

Please make sure you make yourself FULLY aware of all risks associated with these procedures and carefully weigh the responsibilities that come with the aftermath of any operation.

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For any one out there who is interested, the little girl’s CT came back fine.  Now we don’t have to worry about that anymore (except for when we have to go up in clothing size just so her head will fit through the holes.  Just think, when she’s a teenager she’ll have an excuse to wear off the shoulder clothes (”But Mom, my head won’t fit through the hole unless it’s this big.  Why doesn’t it cover my stomach?  Um, well…).

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One of the scariest parts of having your own business is when you need to ask for a business loan. Where do you go? What will they want to know about you and your business before they give you a loan? If you are rejected by one lender, where do you turn?

America One Unsecured has the answers to all these questions. In their FAQ section, you can find out about some of the pitfalls of applying for business loans before you even start. They tell you when you need a co-signer, what kind of credit you need in order to be approved, under what circumstances less than perfect credit can still let you get approved and much more.

Their application process is quick and easy (just 2 pages of information to fill out) and if you are approved, you can see the loan funded in just a week.

In the end, if they find that they are unable to approve you for a loan, they can refer you to another lender who may be able to do so.

With such an open, non-threatening environment, you can apply for your business loan confidant that America One Uninsured is there to help you achieve your goals without the unnecessary stress so many banks out there will give you.

Good Luck!

Popularity: 2%

I’ve managed to break the drought in Arizona!

This week we are SUPPOSED to be having a block wall put up in the back of the house. We took the old one down over the weekend and yesterday and today it was supposed to be constructed. Instead it rained. The contractor said (understandably) that it’s hard to dig in mud. He said (understandably) it’s hard to pour concrete onto mud. The part I can’t figure out is why the concrete won’t dry while it’s raining (just kidding).

He actually did manage to get the hole dug despite the fact that we got better than an inch of rain. And today they plan on pouring the concrete footings. Those are supposed to dry overnight before the real work on the wall can start and guess what -

There’s supposed to be rain again tomorrow. What was going to be an easy two days will be at least 3 (if it doesn’t rain) maybe 4 (if they don’t have to wait for tomorrow’s rain to dry up) and maybe as much as 5. This all assumes that the rain will eventually stop. The law of averages says it must but Murphy’s Law says just the opposite.

And thus, by trying to get a wall built in two days, I have single handedly guaranteed unstopping rain until the monsoon starts at which point in time there will be no rain at all.

Popularity: 3%