Archive for March, 2008

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Further Your Education

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Everybody knows that getting a degree will help you when it comes time to get a job. The higher the degree, the more you are likely to make. With the advent of the online degree from an accredited university like Columbia Southern University now is a great time to get started. This being the case, what is stopping you from advancing your career by furthering your education?

Maybe you think you don’t need to. With more and more people attending college and getting the degree you don’t have, the job market is becoming more competitive. Even having a Bachelor’s degree doesn’t mean you will stand out from the crown anymore. (Columbia Southern offers Masters and even Doctoral degrees.)

Maybe you think you can’t afford it. Look at what you are making now and find out how much you could be making if you had a higher degree. Multiply the difference by however many years you plan on staying at your job or in your field and that will tell you how much you can’t afford NOT to do it. (And Columbia Southern offers financial aid.)

Maybe you think you haven’t got the time. Remember we’re talking about an online degree. You can attend class in your free time and sacrificing a little free time now will earn you the degree you need to get ahead.

The whole process starts with an attitude that doesn’t say ‘I can’t’ even before you see if you can.

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Technical Difficulty

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

I just found out that it’s impossible to post a comment on this blog right now.  Impossible, that is, unless you are the administrator, which I am.  Therefore, just to keep things fresh until we can get that glitch figured out I am going to start posting comments on my own blog posts.

I will be honest and insightful and will include my usual witty inner monologue gone crazy style to entertain you all until you can once again thrill me with your own remarks.

Thank you for your time and attention,

Management

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Fantasy Baseball

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Being in a fantasy baseball league of any kind requires that you be able to keep on top of baseball current events especially as they relate to the players on your team. Who’s injured and needs to be dumped? Who can you trade to improve your team? Is that player in a short slump or is it time for you to get them off the team? All this and more needs to be addressed if you are hoping to be the winner in your league. Baseball teams have many people who put their minds together to come up with the answers to these questions, but in a fanatasy baseball league you have only yourself to rely on and for most of us that would require too much time.

That’s why so many people use computer programs like the Fantasy Sports Prophet’s Fantasy Baseball software to help them. This particular program uses modeling to produce player rankings, artificial intelligence to help with your season’s roster management and allows you access from anywhere via the web. You can drink a beer at the bar (or sip coffee at Starbucks if you prefer) while tending to your team.

Of course if you’re not interested getting the pool of money that so many leagues offer to the winner, go it alone. If you enjoy the inevitable taunts of the person you let win, pass this by. But if you want the bragging rights and everything that goes with it, consider using this tool. Enter code BMC200 at the checkout for the $10 off special.

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Live Perpetually in Spring

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Sunday was bitterly cold snap after a lovely trend of days of warm.  I actually had to turn the heater back on when it got down to 67 inside.  Thank goodness it’s warming back up.  I got used to not shivering in bed.

Now the trick is to get it to stay this way.  I don’t want to have to deal with any of this 100 degree junk.  I need it to stay just warm enough to keep the heater off and just cool enough to leave the cooler off too.  It’s what I hope for every year and I just know this is the year it’s going to happen.  We will stop and live perpetually in spring.

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Mortgage Matters

Monday, March 17th, 2008

How can you find out what the mortgage rate for your state are?  Where can you find a list of just who it is that lends money nowadays?  Try eHomeMortageges.com.  They offer a comprehensive list of all mortgage brokers in your area and allowed me to get an idea of Arizona mortgage rates.

In the past I’ve had trouble finding out just who I would be dealing with when I got a mortgage and even when I had a name, I often couldn’t get a hold of the person.  At the time I was willing to shop around but had no idea how to do that.  This resource would have been wonderful to have and I’m glad I know about it now that I’m thinking of refinancing.

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Drag Me Into Summer

Monday, March 17th, 2008

Boy what a headache I have.  Spring break is over and I had to start getting up early again today.  I’m completely out of practice and so is everybody else.  Even the little girl who woke up before 5am every day this past week had to be prodded awake.

I think spring break should be put off until April when you’re so desperate for a single day off, a whole week will seem like a month.  As it is, we’ve had at least one day off each month this school year, but when April roles around there will be none at all.  Not even an early out.   22 days of unending waking up early.  Oy veh.

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Interest Rates

Monday, March 17th, 2008

Did you know mortgage rates can vary depending on where you live?  I recently talked to a loan officer about possibly refinancing and she mentioned that I’m in a ‘distressed market’.  I don’t think that will be good when it comes time to look for home mortgage loans around here.

Despite that it seems like Arizona mortgage rates are still in the good range right now and have dropped recently because of the Fed reducing the prime rate. If you refinanced last year to get out of an ARM, you might see if refinancing again would be beneficial now that the rates are lower.

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Goodbye Green Car

Monday, March 17th, 2008

We bade a final farewell to our dear Ford Escort (station wagon) last week.   Believe it or not, some chump actually paid us $50 for the hunk of junk and hauled it away too!  We sure pulled a fast one on him!  Watch me as I giggle behind my hand.

What was that?

My husband tells me he probably back that and then some on the scrap metal which we kindly made more accessible by melting off the rubber parts.

Shoot.  I should have had him scrape the burned rubber remnants off the driveway and haul those away too.

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Camping Holiday Insurance

Monday, March 17th, 2008

Anyone who has been camping on a starry night knows the joy of being in nature overshadows any discomfort of sleeping on the ground. During such an idyllic vacation, people don’t want to worry about what they will do if something goes wrong. They just want to spend quality time with their family and pets.

It isn’t just the most obsessive worriers among us who are concerned with problems on vacation – prudent people are just as likely to consider taking a more conventional vacation just to avoid potential problems.

What if a storm kicks up and your tent is destroyed? What if your camper is “accidentally” hitched to someone else’s truck and hauled away?

That’s where camping insurance comes in. You can buy insurance to cover your tent so this holiday doesn’t have to end or to cover your larger camping equipment (like your trailer tent) so this holiday isn’t your last.

A vacation is supposed to be a time to relax and camping vacations are perfect for that as long as you don’t allow the worries of everyday life to constantly invade your mind. With camping insurance, you can avoid this pitfall and return home unlike all the other people you see coming back from a holiday – you will actually be rested.

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My Secret Revealed

Monday, March 17th, 2008

I have a guilty pleasure to admit to. I read books written for teenagers. I feel so much more free now that I’ve admitted it. It’s been like a dirty, immature secret.

I just finished the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants trilogy plus one (what’s the word a 4 book series?) and I am still seething about Kostos. I know he and Lena weren’t together anymore but he was always so sensible. He should have known he was never going to find happiness with someone else’s ‘traveling pants’.

But now I’ve finished all four and I don’t know what to do with myself. With the cost of books, I refuse to try a new author without an excellent recommendation. And even though I was desperate enough to do it for the fourth book of this series, don’t expect me to EVER go back into the Knowasis (aka teen study room) at the library.

Ah, sweet angst ridden life….

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Every kind of baby crib

Sunday, March 16th, 2008

We’ve had a few kids now make their way through a crib, so I know how to spot good baby cribs when I see them. The key that I’ve found is to get a good solid crib with your first baby that can be converted and used in many different ways.

Make sure that the base of the crib can be raised and lowered. You don’t want to have to reach so far down when the baby is little, and you don’t want your baby to crawl out of the crib once they get into that climbing phase. If it can be converted into a toddler bed or a day bed, then even better.

Oh, and congratulations on the new baby.

Posted in Shopping, Web | Comments Off

Sketch-a-clock

Sunday, March 16th, 2008

Now this is what technology is really for.

The programming is probably relatively simple, and the mechanical aspects look pretty straight forward. However, the inspiration to think up and design this clock is the really impressive part.

It’s impractical, slow, and retro. Just the way I like it.

Posted in Randomness, Technology | Comments Off

Those self assessment tests at work

Saturday, March 15th, 2008

Over the years I have participated in many different assessment tests that the HR departments of the many companies that I’ve worked for have given to the employees. The self assessment tests have always been the best because it allows for so much input from the actual employee. This web-based 360 Feedback Software gives HR managers the most options in how to test and evaluate employees efficiently.

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The Candle Story

Saturday, March 15th, 2008

I’ve been meaning to write this story down for awhile now. So here it goes.

A few years ago, I drove over to my friend Matt’s house. We were planning on working on a website together. However, on the way over a lightning storm knocked out the power at Matt’s house. When I arrived, I found the lights out and candles in every room. Matt told me that we could still work on his laptop, so we got to work.

A short time later I felt nature call. I took one of the candles from Matt’s room and made my way to the bathroom. I set the candle on the edge of the sink beside me and sat down on the toilet. In the middle of my time on the porcelain throne I thought that I saw something run across the floor, along the base of the bathtub, and behind me under the toilet. Now, it could have just been a flicker of the candle that tricked my eyes, but it could also have been a good-sized cockroach.

Well, better safe than sorry, I picked up the candle from the sink and leaned forward to look underneath me. I wasn’t really paying much attention to the candle, so as I leaned further and further forward, the liquid wax poured out of the candle and landed right between my feet. In my underwear.

Damn.

I thought to myself, “First things first, let’s finish up the business at hand.” So I finished what I had come in their for, flushed, washed my hands, and then stood in the bathroom pondering what to do.

Option 1: Pull up my underwear and ignore the problem.

Option 2: Try to scrape out most of the wax and hope for the best.

Option 3: Put my tightey whiteys in my pocket and go commando for the rest of the evening.

My main concern with the first option was the possibility of the wax bonding with my hair and causing pain when my underwear was next removed. I feared that the second option would lead to the same painful result. So I opted for option number three.

I left the bathroom with a smirk on my face and found Matt talking with his sister and her boyfriend. I was slightly embarrassed but also anxious to tell my amusing story to my friends.

“I’ve got a really funny story to tell you guys.”

It was at that moment that I realized that I had forgotten a very important step in the bathroom process. I quickly turned around and zipped up my zipper. I turned back around and said, “The story just a got a lot funnier.”

I began recounting the events of the past few minutes and watched as my friends slowly realized that, 1: I had no underwear on, and 2: I had been standing in front of them with my zipper down, and nothing separating them from my nether regions. Their faces were a mixture of growing laughter and horror.

Posted in Randomness | 1 Comment »

Great luxury watch deals

Saturday, March 15th, 2008

They say that clothes make the man. However, a good watch is an absolute requirement for any sharp dressed man. The best watches make a statement and keep you on time.

Even if you’re going to spend a great deal of money on a fine watch, even a Patek annual calendar, you can still get a good deal by looking into preowned, discontinued, or sale watches online.

Posted in Shopping, Web | Comments Off

Better Luck Next Time

Saturday, March 15th, 2008

Well the offer came in last week, but it was too low for us to accept.

Better luck next time for us I guess. Things in this market have been really har, a lot harder than we really expected when we started. However, things could always get worse. (Don’t bother asking how. That’s almost a dare for someone to show you.)

We have had a lot of showings recently, and the spring is typically a good time for selling a house, so we are still optimistic about our odds in this market.

Everyone else out there trying to sell a house, we feel your pain.

Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off

Yoga for Beginners

Friday, March 14th, 2008

I’ve been doing yoga at home for several months now but I definitely still consider myself a beginner. I just decided to try it out and picked up a yoga DVD at Target one day to give it a go. I’ve become more flexible but it took quite some time before I could make it through the entire workout because some of the poses were so challenging for me. I’m not talking about standing on my head, either. I’m talking about how Proud Warrior is hard to hold for as long as the DVD instructor wanted me to. Last time I did the workout I had to stop when I felt something in my knee move in a new and disturbing way.

Recently I received a new DVD to try out called “Yoga: Gentle Practice”. It is also for beginners but this time I actually feel like it is my level. In addition to not having any self congratulatory ads at the beginning (that took ages to get past every time I used it), the menu is complete and concise. Before when I started the workout, it would take me to another menu where I could choose to listen to the instructor talk about feeling centered for five minutes. She’d already done this during the intro

Then we would start the 16 minute workout (the only one on the entire DVD on a beginner level) and I would have to constantly glance up to see what she was doing. On my new yoga DVD the shortest workout is 33 minutes and there are 5 others to choose from with different lengths and different difficulties but all still beginner stuff. I don’t have to crane my neck to see what’s going on on the screen because Zyrka Landwijt (the instructor) says clearly what I should be doing.

With the old DVD, it was suggested we repeat movements but given no time to do so. With my new DVD, the instructor leads us through a few repetitions. I feel more thoughouly stretched out by the time I’m done with the workout and get that sense of rejeuvination you sometimes hear about yoga giving you.

I’m actually a little sad I didn’t know before this that my DVD was so useless. I just thought that was the way it always was. And I feel as though I can get more into the process when the voice of my instructor sounds like it still has some strength in it.

Posted in Health | Comments Off

Can You Denounce But Not Reject?

Friday, March 14th, 2008

Like I said, I read too much news.  But how else would I be able to bring this post to you.

Remmeber a couple months ago,  Farrakhan said something that people didn’t like and there was a todo about how Obama denounced what was said but did not reject it?

Well this time it seems Obama’s pastor said something people don’t like (7 years ago and it was pretty awful in my opinion). But Obama has learned from previous complaints and if people need him to BOTH denounce and reject, he will.

Quoting from the CNN article: “I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country…. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Reverend Wright that are at issue.”

Let there be no misunderstanding this time.

Posted in Politics | Comments Off

Oyster Bake

Friday, March 14th, 2008

Yes, oysters are slimy.

Yes, oysters are weird.

Yes, oysters taste good.

I had my first oysters when I visited San Diego with my family when I was a kid. I was braver about food back then. Or maybe being away from home made me braver because it was on that same trip that I tried my first artichoke. Or did I do it on a dare? I can’t quite remember. But I was surprised by how good they tasted.

Gulf oysters are one of the kinds you are likely to run into if you choose to try this yumminess. I myself prefer them cooked but they can be safely consumed raw by healthy people. I say healthy because there is a risk of getting a specific bacteria that can cause problems for some with health problems like diabetes or compromised immune systems. Luckily, when the oysters are fully cooked, every one can partake.

If you really like your oysters raw but are in the at-risk group, take heart. There are new post-harvest processes that make the oysters safe to eat, though they can be hard to come by. According to the BeOysterAware.com site, less than 10% of oyster sales in the US are made up of mollusks that have been treated to make them safe.

All this talk of oysters makes me want some and I have NO IDEA where to get some around here…shoot.

And by the way, I was kidding about them being slimy and weird. (But just so we’re clear, I was serious about the yummy part.)

Posted in Food | 1 Comment »

Guess How Many Fingers I’m Holding Up

Friday, March 14th, 2008

I spend too much time reading news.  I just need to let it go, but I seem to be addicted.  And then I find my blood starts to boil because I read the same story in more than one place, but the details are different.

Just yesterday, I read about how Southwest Airlines is grounding 44 of their planes.  I mean, 42.  I mean 38.

I don’t know what the real number is and, honestly, it doesn’t actually matter but I feel like something as simple as this should be easy to get right.  The company does put out press releases for this sort of thing, don’t they?  So all that would be needed would be to read the thing, right?  Maybe not even read the whole thing – just scan for a number.

Why put in the number at all if you don’t know for sure what it is?  Why not do one of those ‘more than’ things like “More than 25 planes have been grounded.”  It helps give it a serious tone which seems to be what they were going for.

I was just whining to my mom today that news articles don’t contain enough details for me to form a knowledgeable opinion about most of the things they like to write about.  Despite that, I’ll take no details over incorrect or made up ones any day of the week.

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