Archive for January, 2008

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Luggage Look Alikes

Friday, January 25th, 2008

Have you ever gotten off a flight dog tired, just wanting to grab your luggage and get to wherever the nearest bed is?  You want to hurry up and leave but it turns out all the bags on the conveyor belt look exactly alike – black.  What you need to do is plan ahead and get some luggage that looks different from every single other bag in the world – in other words get some luggage that isn’t black.

It’s not like you need to color coordinate with your bags, you just need to be able to find it.  Get something that will stand out!  It doesn’t matter if it’s puke green or teal as long as you can find it. Fortunately, these particular colors aren’t really available and  most of the non-black bags are actually very attractive.  Take the travelpro bags for example – there’s red, there’s blue, there’s grey with a racing stripe (maybe the stripe will make it get to the belt faster).  There are tons of other colors and there is NO NEED to have you luggage blend in with everyone else’s who rode on your plane. Go out and replace your luggage now before you find yourself caught in this mess.

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Fr Becker

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

For those of you who went to Brophy or are familiar with the Brophy community, I just found out through the Brophy newsletter that Fr Becker passed away on Saturday.

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DWI attorneys

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008

Many states are cracking down hard on offenders of the DWI laws. Here in Arizona there has been an especially hard crackdown on those who drive drunk.

dwi fort worth

For those in the Fort Worth area of Texas that get caught, you better make sure that you have a good fort worth dwi lawyer. There are serious consequences to driving while intoxicated, but the state of Texas must prove that you were actually intoxicated. They have pages and pages of articles about dwi in Texas. They’ve defended thousands of people with a great success rate. One of the most sobering portions of their site is the list of consequences for those that are convicted in Texas of dwi. It’s a whole lot more expensive than calling a cab at three in the morning.

If you’re looking for a dwi attorney fort worth, then check out this site. They also defend clients from a wide range of charges in the central Texas area.

And if you drink, call a cab.

Posted in Business, Web | 4 Comments »

Camping

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008

Last weekend my son and I spent the night camping. It wasn’t intense in the woods camping, but it was about 35 degrees in the dead of night. We camped at a club park that’s owned by the local water company in the center of town. I’d never even realized that there was a park in that neighborhood. It doesn’t sit next to any main roads, so you can’t drive by it.

Anyway, we took a short hike around the grounds, roasted some marshmallows and slept in a tent, a good first camping trip.

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What Time Is It?

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008

I’ve been without a decent time piece for awhile. Oh sure, there are those who would never wear a watch. I, on the other hand, love them. My last one was received as a gift, which I accidentally broke after a couple years. To my credit, I then refused to buy another until the first was fixed (note my modesty:)). Unfortunately it was stolen before I could do that.

I guess I should look on the bright side – now I can go shopping for a new watch, but I want one that will last a while. I’m tired of replacing them each time the battery dies because the new battery costs more than the watch did. Ulysse Nardin watches are my idea of a dream watch. They are so good that you can actually get a ‘pre-owned’ watch and it’ll still serve you for years to come.

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Come On, Tax Forms!

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008

I’m driving myself mad.  I’ve gone through the third draft of my taxes because I’m so excited about getting them done! Each time a new tax form comes in the mail, I redo the numbers getting rid of some approximations and putting in the real amounts.  It always works out better after I do this because I always overestimate my approximations.  I end up happy but perpetually wanting that last form to come in so  I can actually file the darn thing and be done with it.

By the way, now that it’s the modern internet age and you can’t get real forms anywhere, remember that irs.gov is the place to go to get all those forms you didn’t even know you needed.  Like when you got to line 21 on Schedule A and found out you need Form 2106 to report unreimbursed employee expenses.

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Have Any Funny T-Shirts?

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008

Have you ever had someone walk up to you and ask you to stand still while they read your shirt? That’s when you know you need funny t-shirts that are more succinct. Another tip: don’t get a shirt with something that starts on the front and finishes on the back if you are going to wear a coat or a backpack. It’ll just cause you problems when strangers start walking up and ask you to take something off so they can read your back.

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Star Trek XI teaser

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008

It doesn’t look like they’ve got any actual footage in the can yet, but the first trailer to the upcoming J.J. Abrams relaunch of the Star Trek franchise has hit the web. It may be gone soon, but here it is for now.

Marvel at welders… welding. Thrill at the fade ins and fade outs.

Seriously though. I really hope this is good. I’m definitely seeing it if for no other reason than to see Simon Pegg play Scotty.

Posted in Geekery, Movies | 1 Comment »

Chrysler accessories

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008

The new Chrysler 300 is one slick looking automobile. It’s got the stretched out look of a sports car combined with the class and stature of a luxury model. If you’re looking to add some extra features inside or outside of your 300, look for some Chrysler 300 accessories where the wood dash experts specialize in accessories for a sweet ride.

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Cloverfield buzz

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008

After finally getting in with the rest of the crowd and getting hooked on “Lost”, I am waiting not very patiently for my chance to go see “Cloverfield”. Parts of what I’ve seen make me really excited and parts not so much.

Giant monster movie that’s better than “Godzilla” starring Ferris Bueller is a plus (not that that’s hard to do), but shaky Blair Witch-ish cinematography is a downside.

Hopefully, the talented Abrams can entertain me for an evening in the theater right before his fourth season of Gilligan and the rest lost at sea.

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Clever girl

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008

First of all: yes, that’s a vague reference to the scene in “Jurassic Park” right before the big game hunter gets eaten by the raptors. Second, this is a post about clever dogs, not clever dinosaurs.

There are no shortage of cool dog tricks out there in the world. Dogs have been taught to sit up, beg, roll over, shake, and even sing. But to find out if your dog is really smart or just imitating what it sees around him, you’ll need to get a Pooch IQ Kit for your dog.

The dog we had when I was a kid was definitely not a canine genius, but check out this pooch with an aversion to stinky shoes.

Posted in Home, Obscurity, Randomness, Web | Comments Off

A Good But Frightening Read

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008

If you really want to read a scary book, read ‘The Coming Plague’ by Laurie Garrett.  It has very descriptive passages about the ebola virus and talks about diseases that you’ve never really heard of.  For example, ever heard of Lassa?  Or how about the Bolivian Hemorrhagic fever?  Pretty much anything with ‘hemorrhagic’ in it’s name is disgusting.    There’s a chapter that looks at the Hanta virus for those of you in Arizona.  Or Legionnaires’ disease for you readers out east.

Fascinating is a good way to describe this book.  I gave it to my mom to read when I was done with it but she didn’t like it.  I can’t understand why.  When you are done with this book, you will be a germaphobe who never wants to travel anywhere and feel desperate to find your own little cocoon to live in.  After a while, you’ll come out of it so don’t be too put off by that.

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Get Some Address Labels

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008

Some may think it’s lazy, but I would say it saves me a hassle when I use labels instead of writing out my return address. I mean, I already abbreviate my first name and as silly as it sounds, Piccadilly is not that easy to spell. I love it when they come for free in the mail (ok, I’m really supposed to make a contribution to whatever organization sent them) but there never seem to be enough of them.

Growing up my parents had lick and stick address labels but now you get to peel and stick them making them a million times better. No more gross after taste. On top of that, the variety is huge. You can get some that look formal, some that look funny and some that are just for Christmas cards with little effort, time and money on your part.

Maybe your address labels will inspire you to start a correspondence with someone just so you can send out some of your labels. Later you say, “Did you notice my address label?” and they say, “Why, yes. Quite striking indeed!”

Posted in Money | 1 Comment »

Super Bowl Crazy

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008

The Super Bowl is just around the corner so now’s the time to decide who you’re going to root for.  Will it be the Packers or will it be … um…  I’ve forgotten – exactly who is it that the Packers will be beating this year?

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Ad Opportunity for Your Blog

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008

I have been trying for a while to get things going with the click ads on my blog but I just have not managed to get the right mix. Some add links in my posts that I find annoying, distracting and just plain unlikeable. Others have nothing to do with my post (even though they are supposed to) and still others do not have anything to do with the post that is up currently, but with some other post instead. Most of the time things look right and by and large they do a good job matching, but I am here often enough that I notice when they do not.

Lately, I have been trying to expand my ability to make a little cash so I am looking into something called eClickZ. They have an affiliate program that lets you do the off to the side ads that go along with your topic but they have more than just that. They also let you do a search box on your page and you get paid for letting them put ads on the search results page. Having this extra option means I have one more option in what can be a very difficult quest to find profit in those ads.

And when (or if) you are interested in analyzing how well these tools are working for you on your web site, they offer an easy to use report. If this sounds interesting to you and your ready to try something new with your blog and maybe make some extra money at the same time, click here for more information and signup form for eClickZ Affiliate Program.

For those of you who are more technically minded than I am, I should tell you that they also have something called an XML search feed available that you can embed.

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Fed Rate Cut

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008

OH – MY – GOSH!  I was SHOCKED when I heard about the fed’s move to reduce the prime rate by 3/4 of a point.  For a group that has moved in small increments in the past, this is a HUGE jump.

In one place I read this was the biggest adjustment of the rate in 12 years and in another, I heard it was the biggest in 24 years.  Either way, it’s been a long time since they’ve done this kind of thing.

Also, they did it during an emergency session so market’s haven’t had much time to react.  AND there have been reports that another cut on top of this one will be made at the next regularly scheduled session in about a week.  Some suspect that the next cut will be as big or bigger than this one.  If that happens, I’ll be even more shocked than I am now.  I think having such a huge drop in the rate may be a bad thing, though I’m not educated in anyway on that.  It just feels like a bad idea (and as I’m sure we all know, the market is in tune with MY feelings).

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Addiction Recovery

Monday, January 21st, 2008

One of the most serious and insidious diseases that people face today is not one that they have faced in the past. It is not infectious, but it has spread around the world. Today’s plague is addiction.

With modern society so intensely focused on so much of life’s minuscule and often unimportant points, many people become addicted to the things that drag them away from the stress, anxiety, and monotony that fills the main parts of their lives. These addictions are often difficult to recognize and may be successfully hidden away, even from someone’s closest friends and family. It is often only when someone hits rock bottom that something is done to try and treat the illness that has brought the person to the lowest point in their lives, whether that be drug treatment or whatever addiction has saddled the individual.

There are many places that now offer the drug rehabilitation and treatment that are needed to cure the addict. However, one source of drug rehab has caught my on the net. The Chapman House offers many of the treatments that are needed by people addicted to the excesses of modern life. They offer services such as 12-step programs and detox regimens to start people back on the road to recovery and a healthy future.

Interventions can be an important first step on the road to recovery. This very first step is usually initiated by the family and friends of an addict as a way to show their friend how his addiction has affected everyone around him. Thankfully, many people are convinced by these powerful and up-front confrontations to get the treatment that they need. Unfortunately, many others are not convinced that anything is wrong and will continue to slide down their own slope of self-destruction until they finally hit that rock bottom.

One of the most interesting and useful parts of the website for this treatment facility is the set of test questions that people can use to get an idea of how serious their problem is. These tests will never of course take the place of trained professionals and medical personnel in the diagnosis and treatment of addiction, but they can be a very useful tool for someone who suspects that they have a problem but are not sure that they are ready to seek treatment. These tests can be the eye-opener that they need to start the treatment and healing process.

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Windy in Havasu

Monday, January 21st, 2008

I’ve always heard that the ‘Windy City’ was Chicago. The quirk of geography that set that city on the edge of Lake Michigan allows the winds to fly through the avenues and skyscrapers of the second city.

I’ve only ever stopped briefly in O’Hare, but I would imagine that it’s a lot like Lake Havasu City. This thriving metropolis situated in the tri-state region of Arizona, California, and Nevada is growing along the banks of Lake Havasu, a man-made lake and recreation area on the Colorado River.

I’m not sure exactly what quirk of geography allows the winds to hurtle through this Arizona hamlet, but man, do they blow.

Guess I’ll just have to get used to them.

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Online Money Saver

Saturday, January 19th, 2008

I get almost all my news online.  The benefit of that is that I don’t have to spend money on a real newspaper.  The downside is that I don’t get all those coupons that come in the newspaper either.  Those things can be very valuable sometimes.  Fortunately, coupons have also entered the digital age and I can access them online.  Webbyplanet.com is one of the places you can find coupons though these aren’t for your foodstuffs like the ones in the paper usually are.  This place has marketing partnerships with a bunch of companies that already have good prices and then gives you an additional discount.  You use the discount code that you get from the website to make your purchase (usually online but sometimes in-store) or you click the link to the partners website and the discount is already applied.  This is a quick, easy way to find what you’re looking for at a lower cost without spending the money on gas to find out what the deals are at all the stores.

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Reindeer Games

Saturday, January 19th, 2008

My son thinks more highly of my abilities that I do.  He saw that show, “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” and just because I could sing along in spots, he thinks I should go on the show.  Little does he know that anytime I don’t know the words to a song, I just make them up.  For example, did you know that it’s “Caribbean Queen” and not “Caribou Queen”?  I just found out last year.  I assumed it was a protest song about reindeer.  Go figure.

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