Our way of life is being taken away by crooks in office

Its amazing just how shallow our margin of safety is in this world. Everything we know and trust can disappear in seconds. For example we depend upon our jobs to buy all of the things we need; our food, our transportation, our homes, our clothes and comforts. It can all be gone in a heartbeat. It sometimes doesn’t seem fair, but we Americans have been pretty lucky. The things we have taken for granted all of our lives are only things to be dreamed of in some of the other parts of the world. We have always thought that we here in America are special or smarter because we have more. The truth of the matter is, our country hasn’t been settled nearly as long and the ravages of the human race hasn’t had time to take as much of a toll on our resources. We are using them up at an alarming rate and it will catch up with us, but maybe not. It seems that our crooked lawmakers are going to do us in first.

Hopefully someday we will get rid of the political crooks and ambulance chasing lawyers that drive up the price of everything, and take advantage of we the working people. Hopefully someday we can get our country back to normal. It’s doubtful, but I can at least hope.  I can’t understand how anyone can put a price on their honesty, to the point that they are willing to annihilate their own country and countrymen in return for material things that will be gone in a few years anyway. If caught they will be despised by generations to come, even their own families. Hey crooked politicians, is getting rich really worth selling out your country? Life is short, but disgrace lasts forever.

Stock trading online can help you make your retirement money grow

Our economy is moving along slowly. It still moves, but it moves at a slower pace than before. It gets harder and harder for most of us to stretch our money far enough. Interest rates are down, and for those who have money saved, its hardly worth anything to keep it in the bank. A much wiser choice is online trading.

Investing your money wisely can still give you good returns, but you need to find a reputable  online broker so you can do your trading safely and well. Let me recommend Firstrade. They offer stock trading online, along with 25 years of experience to back it up. There is only a $6.95 commission rate per trade and you will get a 3 second trade execution guarantee.

Firstrade has a set of powerful tools to make your online trading easier and more profitable, and they offer international accessibility and no hidden fees. Make your money grow so you will have a better retirement someday. Check out Firstrade online and see what they can do for you!

A place that can handle all of your home cleaning needs

My wife and I have been discussing that its time to clean our carpets. We have the choice of trying to do it ourselves, or calling in professionals. After researching it on the internet we discovered that we can get natural carpet cleaner Austin from The Steam Team of Texas. They have the expertise and equipment to get our carpet looking new again.

Getting the job done right, and safely, is important. The Steam Team of Texas offers  safe carpet cleaning Austin so you know the job is done in the safest manner possible. They also offer carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, leather cleaning, dust free hardwood floor refinishing, air duct and oriental rug cleaning, even pet odor treatments, smoke and fire restoration, and construction services. Their services don't stop there, they offer much more.

If you are looking for  rug cleaning service Austin, or any of the other services listed above, I suggest that you check out their website. Get the job done right, the first time. The Steam Team of Texas puts primary importance in customer satisfaction, and will do whatever it takes to make sure you are pleased. Check them out!

The ghosts of Christmas past

Some of my fondest memories of Christmas are from my childhood. We were like most kids; we looked forward to the holiday season with so much anticipation that we could hardly wait for the big day to come. The excitement would build and build as packages were added around our tree. When the treasured moment arrived, we would literally rip the paper from our packages to see what was inside.

THE TREE

The tree, yes the tree. It was always a cedar that we cut on our own property and we would look over many before deciding on that ‘just right’ tree. We didn’t have much to do with so we used the same lights and ornaments every year. Even the icicles were carefully removed from the tree after Christmas was over and used again the following year. They got pretty wrinkled and broken, but to us our tree was always beautiful. One memory I have that is not so good; one day we went to cut our tree. I was small and more in the way than anything. While I was watching someone, I forget who, chop down the tree, the hatchet blade came flying off and barely missed my head. I have lost my head over many things in my life, but that time it was nearly literal.

THE BICYCLE!

I got my first bicycle for Christmas when I was only 7. It was a huge 26 inch bike and I was small for my age. I couldn’t reach the pedals when they were all the way down, so I would push down on one pedal as far as I could, then hook my toes around the one coming up and pull. Of course the centrifugal motion kept them turning as long as I pushed hard. I had a lot of crashes until I learned to ride, and it was a long way to the ground for a small boy on a bike that big. I would go around and around in small circles in the yard, and then run to the house and boast about how many I made before I crashed and burned. I kept that old bike during all of my childhood. It was the only one I ever owned, except for a couple of junker’s that I used for parts or just for coasting off hills. I took that big old bike and added another set of forks to the front to make a chopper. I added a huge high ‘sissy bar’ and a red, white, and blue banana seat. I took colored tape and went around the frame, put on some ram horn handlebars. I added a headlight and taillight, and I had the coolest bike in the country. As far as I know it was the only one fixed up that way. Everyone else had the small 20 inch bikes. I rode my chopper a couple of miles to my sisters grocery store and I remember that when I got going too fast, the long front end would start vibrating like crazy.

MEMORIES

Christmas was exciting in many ways to us. Not only for the gifts, but for the parties at school, and at church. The Christmas plays we would either watch or participate in. The camaraderie with people that we might not even be friends with for the rest of the year. I remember a party at church when I was 15 or 16. Santa Claus came walking into the church house doing the “ho ho ho” thing, and one of the other boys who was my age said. “Hey, that’s Dad”. He sounded almost disappointed, even though we had long known that Santa wasn’t real.

I recall getting gifts that made my heart sing with excitement, and I remember years when we didn’t have enough, and all I would get was clothes for school. Even that was exciting, because they still had to be unwrapped. A wrapped gift could contain anything so we approached all with the same zeal.

I recall being very small and buying my father a small gift, then getting confused about what I had gotten for him. I was arguing with my sister about it, and forgot Dad was listening, and said loudly, “MOM, I DID TOO GET DAD A PAIR OF GLOVES DIDN’T I! Of course Dad heard me and the surprise was ruined, except that I had actually bought him a pair of socks and forgotten it.

I recall some special people who always took the time and money to make sure that we had gifts for Christmas. Our next door neighbors and one of their daughters who lived in New York made memories for us that I will never forget. I was an avid reader and the old lady next door bought me many books over the years. I still have those books and will cherish them forever. The lady in New York always sent us some really neat gifts that were both entertaining, and chosen to make us use our minds as well.

I recall one year when Christmas was approaching. I was about 17 and had a job earning a few dollars. Mom got concerned about me not buying gifts for Christmas and informed me that I was selfish. All the while I was secretly busy building her and Dad a magazine rack in shop class. She was surprised, and seemed happy with it when I proudly presented it on Christmas morning. I felt rightfully absolved from the guilt of being selfish.

I recall celebrating Christmas with many people who are no longer with us, including one of the boys from church that I mentioned above. He was killed in a wreck a few years ago. My father is no longer here, but his gifts to us will never be forgotten. The material gifts he gave us are mostly gone now, but the gift of his life and cheerful, giving personality will live on. Others we cared about are gone, but still here in our hearts. We don’t know when Christ’s birthday really was, but we know what he did for us. A lot of our Christmas practices actually come from old pagan practices, and I hope God will forgive us for that. I can’t help loving this holiday.

I am now building new memories with my wife, and hopefully we will have a family of our own soon to share them with, and create more. I try mightily to celebrate this special day for the right reasons, love, giving, caring, togetherness, and beauty. I love the lights, the decorated trees and homes. I love the brightly wrapped gifts and ribbons. I love the holiday cheer, but most of all I love my family and the memories, the ghosts of Christmas past. 

We just finished opening our gifts

What a great Christmas Eve my wife and I have had! We opened our gifts a couple of hours ago, and we both got exactly what we wanted. I love sharing Christmas with my wife. It is our second time to be together on the special day. Last year I tried to buy her gifts without consulting her and she ended up with a lot of things she really didn’t want or need. This year I asked her what she wanted and shopped accordingly. Then I surprised her with a few gifts that she had mentioned at another time. She also consulted me before buying for me this year and I got everything I wanted and needed. I was surprised at the gifts she chose that I didn’t tell her about; they were great choices. I thank God for my wife and for another year to celebrate with her.

Tomorrow we probably won’t celebrate Christmas very much. Our family celebration will be Sunday. I hope all of you enjoy your family time together and have a very Merry Christmas!

I’m dreaming of a White Christmas

We have a chance for a white Christmas! According to the forecast, there is a chance of freezing rain, sleet, and snow tonight and tomorrow, with a slight chance of snow on Christmas day! I kind of dread the cold weather that comes with it, and I don’t want the roads to be slick for our Christmas travel, but a white Christmas would be kind of nice.

I went to town today, under the guise of depositing my paycheck, and bought my wife more gifts. She is very curious now and has been shaking them. Of course I can’t tell what they are here because she might read it. Heheheee Hopefully she will like what I got  her. She was standing behind me while I wrote this, hoping for a clue. I am much to smart for that of course!

In case I don’t get time to post before Christmas, may all of you have a safe, happy holiday, and may all of your good dreams comes true. Don’t forget what the day is really in celebration of.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!

Get your wedding documented by the very best in the business!

It is your big day, your wedding is near, and of course you want everything to go well. You want the best of everything, and you want to keep the memories of this priceless day forever.  You want the best  Maryland Wedding Photographer  you can get. I can help you out on that. You need  Roman Grinev Photography. They are head and shoulders above the rest.

When it comes to  Maryland Wedding Photographers , not all are created equal. Roman Grinev Photography has been voted as the "best of wedding photographers by a famous magazine. They have also been given the 2010 Bride's Choice Award by Wedding Wire. They have been given top reviews by customers and magazines alike.

Don't take the risk of having an unqualified photographer to record the most memorable day of your life. You only get one chance so get the most reputable Maryland Wedding Photography available, with more than 12 years of professional experience. Their goal is to record your wedding unobtrusively and artfully. You can take your choice of which photographer to use, after reviewing the portfolios. Check out Roman Grinev Photography today, and then relax, knowing that soon you will have priceless memories, that will last forever!

What Christmas is all about

People have many ideas about Christmas. Of course we all know that it is supposed to be a celebration of Jesus birth, but is that all? Where did the tree, ornaments, and bright lights come from? Although we take them for granted now, they aren’t mentioned in the Bible.

Believe it or not, it is thought that Christmas trees originated in Germany in the 1600’s. If trees were hard to come by they sometimes built pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles. Later the German settlers in Pennsylvania put up Christmas trees. The first one on record was in the 1830’s.

Even in much of the 19th century, Americans did not put up or even accept Christmas trees as part of the holiday. In fact when one was erected in front of a church in 1851 the locals were shocked and outraged at the “pagan” aspect and asked the good reverend to remove it immediately.

In spite of all that, Christmas trees started catching on, and by the early 20th century they were fairly common, and Americans were decorating them with handmade ornaments. The German-Americans used mostly fruit, nuts, and cookies on their trees; then came colored popcorn. When electricity became common, Christmas lights came into vogue, and remain so to this day.

The Practice of Giving Gifts

We all know the story of the 3 wise men, and how they came to Jesus, supposedly lying in a manger. They gave him gifts and then departed. What most people don’t know is that the three wise men were probably not holy men, as we like to celebrate them as being. They were obviously astrologers; they followed a star. Astrology or the use of any form of divining is highly frowned upon in the Bible. If you read the Bible carefully you will notice that after leaving Jesus, the wise men went to visit King Herod. Shortly thereafter King Herod decreed that all male children of 2 years old or less must die. Hmmmm I wonder where he got the information about a baby that might threaten his kingliness? Probably from the three not so wise men. Also when you read carefully you will see that Jesus was not a newborn baby when the wise men visited, and his family were living in a house at the time instead of a stable. Thus the reason that King Herod decided to kill young boys up to 2 years old instead of newborns only. It seems that the more we research our practices at Christmas, the more we see that the majority of it is simply made up, and often comes from old pagan practices instead of from the Bible. Here is another one for you to consider. Our practice of giving gifts; where did it come from? Oh I know, the wise men gave gifts to the baby Jesus. Notice that they didn’t give gifts to anyone else, nor did the others exchange gifts. In our modern Christmas, Jesus is the only one that does NOT receive any gifts. Incidentally it was the practice in Biblical times for visitors to bring gifts for any notable person.

I love Christmas. I can’t help it. I love the bright lights, the decorated trees, the gift giving, the coming together of families and friends. What I don’t love is where some of the practices come from, and how we have commercialized a day that is supposed to be special from a religious standpoint. To me Christmas is not really the birthday of Jesus, because we don’t know his birthday. I do however, accept the holiday as a celebration of his birth, but I also enjoy the feelings of love and closeness I share with my family.  May your holiday be joyful. Merry Christmas!

Sometimes a good pre-owned car is the best way to go

If you are looking for used cars in Tampa and can't figure out where to go for the best deal, I have the answer for you. "Oh wait", you say; "I have no credit". Not to worry. At Park Auto Mall there is 100% credit approval. Want to know how long it takes to be approved? Grab onto something because you are not going to believe this. It takes 30 seconds!

Don't worry about not having a big enough selection of used cars and trucks to choose from; Park Auto Mall has the biggest selection of pre-owned vehicles in Pinella County! You can shop until you drop, and leave with the car of your dreams.

So now your next question will probably be, "but do they service what they sell"? The answer is a resounding "yes". They offer several services to keep your purchase in good operating condition.  You can get an extended warranty with your vehicle, or you can take advantage of the service advantage plan, or the service coupons they offer.

If you are looking for a car, truck, or SUV near Tampa, Florida, check out Park Auto Mall. They have just what you are looking for, at a price you can afford! While you are on their site take a look at their video blog and learn more.

Hard work doesn’t always produce

Work has been very discouraging lately. It seems that the harder we try, the more things go wrong. Finally yesterday we got a new big saw blade that cuts fast, and things started picking up. Today we were having a productive day, and then 30 minutes before quitting time we broke a small piece of metal on the machinery. We stayed late and repaired it. Luckily it wasn’t anything major, and it only lost us 30 minutes of work time. Christmas is nearly here and since most of the guys get paid according to how much we accomplish, we have been trying hard to make some extra money so they can give a better Christmas to their families. Hopefully things will go better for the rest of this week. One thing I am happy about is that we are supposed to get off work for a couple of extra days at Christmas! I can’t wait. I am burned out and worn out. I need a break!

Need to repair your credit? Read this!

In the past it was much easier to safeguard our credit than it is now. Jobs were plentiful, and all we had to do was work, collect our pay, make our purchases with some common sense, and live the American dream. Now things are different. We have all heard stories of how so many people are now losing their homes because they have lost their job due to our slow economy. It's not fair but it is happening anyway. Most of these unfortunate people are honest and fully intend to pay their bills, but they just don't have a way to do it. It's a heartbreaker, and the final outcome is that in addition to losing their home, they also lose their good credit standing. Now they have little chance to live normally, so what can they do to better their situation?

They need some credit repair  to get them back in the mainstream of life, as it is nearly impossible to live a productive life without good credit. It sounds simple enough, but of course not all credit repair services are equal, so how do you know which is best?

I am happy to tell you that there is a website called Consumer Credit Repair Counseling that will provide you with top notch service, and has experience dating all the way back to 1991. The Better Business Bureau gives them an excellent rating, along with great reviews. In the last year alone CCRC has gotten rid of more than 1 million negative credit report items. They can do it for you also. If you need to repair your credit, you simply can't do better than CCRC. Check them out!

Working outside in the cold sucks

Its cold! Old man winter has finally reared his ugly head. We are using a lot of fuel to heat our home, but hopefully it will warm up some in a couple of days. Some of my work is outside and this cold weather makes it miserable and difficult. Today it seemed that we worked too hard, but got little accomplished. Tonight and tomorrow’s temperatures are supposed to be similar to today so I guess I have another slow aggravating day to look forward too.

On the good side, our boss mentioned today that he may give us a couple of extra days off for Christmas, and perhaps a couple more for New Years. I am hoping for that. I am suffering from burn out at work. I need to get away for awhile!

Save big on health supplies

Medical care is so expensive! My wife and I try to take care of our own health problems, as much as is safely possible. We have a machine to check our blood pressure, and we try to self diagnose and treat our minor illnesses. My mother is diabetic and has a glucose meter for checking her glucose level. It seems that a lot of us need the technical tools at home to guard our health.

It is important to take care of ourselves, and sometimes investing a few dollars in something, such as an  pulse oximeter will give us the means to avoid expensive doctor visits.

So where is a good place to get medical equipment and supplies? I recommend that you check out the link above and visit Concord Health Supply. Their prices are the lowest around, and you will get free UPS ground shipping on all orders. You can chat with a live representative to figure out what is right for you. Take a look and get ready to save some money.

Our Christmas shopping is finished!

My wife and I have spent the day doing our Christmas shopping. We shopped til we dropped! That is more than just an expression; we were literally ready to drop when we got done.

Although there were a lot of shoppers in the stores, it seemed to me that there were a lot less than last year. The sluggish economy is showing, even at Christmas. I feel sorry for the people who don’t have enough extra money to buy a gift for their loved ones, but next year it may be our turn. I hope not. It is a scary time for us all.

My wife likes to shop, like most women do, but she would much rather go to thrift stores than to shop for new products. She is hooked on it, and even today she used some of her Christmas shopping money to go to a thrift store. She did get some good buys on clothes.

We had a good time and got back home safe and sound. Then it took us a long time to get our gifts wrapped, but now they are under the tree, the lights are on, and we are relaxing and watching a movie we bought today. Hope your day was as good!

I need to get my own domain for my blogs

I sometimes have trouble figuring out where to host my web site. I have several blogs and I would like to have a domain of my own to boost my page rank. I want to have the best service, at the lowest price. Of course we all want that, no matter what kind of service we are looking for. We don't want much, we want it all.

It is common knowledge that having a private domain is great for our page rank. That means that finding the right website hosting service is a must. There are so many to choose from, but inexpensive is a must for me. I use my blogs to supplement my income so I certainly don't want to spend my profits on website hosting. On the other hand, I do want the most I can get for my money. As the old saying goes, "we have to spend money to make money".

Blogging is not only a way to supplement my income, its also a way to express myself. As I mentioned once before, I have always wanted to be a writer. I could just never figure out what kind of book I wished to write. The idea of writing so many words about just one subject appalled me. I enjoy much more writing short articles about things that interest, amuse, or irritate me.

Giving travel certificates to your customers will boost sales for your business

There is a car lot not far from here that has a special deal for customers; buy a car and get a cruise. It is that simple. What a wonderful way to attract customers. Nearly everyone has a vacation from work, but some people cannot afford to buy a new car and take a vacation in the same year. I am sure that the free cruise deal brings a lot of customers. We all love to travel, and we love to travel free even more.

It is always important for businesses to use incentives, such as travel certificates to bring in new customers, and to keep existing customers coming back. In today's slow economy it might make the difference in a company's success. There are many travel certificates to choose from, such as hotel stays, roundtrip airfare, theme parks, cruises, even exotic resorts. They cost much less than you would expect to pay.

If you are ready to bring in some extra business and increase your company's revenues; I suggest that you check out Odenza. They have knowledgeable representatives that will take care of your travel certificate needs.  Just one phone call is all you need to be on your way to more sales, and happier customers!

A gold exploration mining company that works for us all

Probably the most trusted commodity we have in our world is gold. It is the basis for our money, it is used to make jewelry, and it is used for other things such as electronics. We take gold for granted, but have you ever wondered where it comes from?

Edgewater Exploration Ltd. is a Canadian based gold exploration mining company that operates Lundin Mining, and Red Back Mining in West Africa, Ghana. After mining the gold, it then goes through various distributors. This gold eventually is used for some of the purposes named above. You will probably own some of it someday.

Incidentally Ghana is second in gold production in Africa, with a 2009 total of 2,900,000 ounces. That is 181,250 pounds of gold! There is a lot more gold where that came from.

If you are interested in learning more about the mining or distribution process of gold, I suggest that you check out the web site link. It is a very interesting process.

A great place to shop for baby clothes, and more!

My wife and I want to have a baby soon and we have been wondering where is the best place to find baby clothes? I think I have found the answer online. There is a website called teacollection.com that has baby clothes at up to 30% off regular price. They have modern clothes for both boys and girls and free shipping for orders over $150.00. To make it simple and easy, all other orders are $8 shipping.

If you are looking for both comfort and fashion for your kids, like we are, I suggest that you give teacollection.com a try. They have more to choose from than just baby clothes. You will also find clothes for women, and they are an excellent place to shop for your Christmas gifts also. There are some items on sale right now, and if you hurry you can receive your order in time for the holidays. Go to their site and check them out right now!

Something good is going to happen to you, or not

I get sick of the so called televangelists that beg for money from the poor masses, and then fly home to their mansions in their private jets. They have mislead millions of people into believing that the only way to heaven, is to buy it from them through donations.  I think that surely these jerks must not even believe in God, or they wouldn’t have the nerve to act so irresponsibly. I remember when I was a kid how Oral Roberts and his son would sing “Something good is going to happen to you”. Of course the gist of the song was that something good would only happen to you if you sent money to them. The song was the theme song that they played every week while the audience was being begged and threatened for money. Since those days most of those televangelists have gotten in trouble with the law, for things ranging from dealing with prostitutes, to embezzling money. I personally had a relative (by marriage) that took money from local churches to finance his “missionary” work to remote places such as Belgium, and England. The poor uneducated people this guy was ripping off never even stopped to consider that there is no need for missionaries in those countries. They were civilized long before this country was. What it amounted too was an all expense paid 8 year vacation for a worthless jerk that isn’t worth the air he breathes. This same guy was accused of molesting his own kids, both the son and daughter. The last I heard of him he was still pastor of a church and still living off church money.

My readers, let me tell you that serving God is great. Helping the poor and hungry is great. Just be sure that you do the helping yourself. Don’t let some rip off artist convince you that they have a direct pipeline to God, and that you should use them for a middle man to reach God. It is not necessary. Trust me on this, YOU can talk to God just fine without their help. On the other hand, if you want to contact Satan you might use the so called preachers and televangelists, because their ways are much more like Satan than God.

Peace, tranquility, and golf; Along with all the comforts of home

I am already sick of cold weather, and of work. Nothing has been going right lately. How I would love to take a trip to a warm climate and take some time to relax and have some fun. I checked out some resorts in Myrtle Beach online and found exactly what I need to cheer me up.

My wife and I would love to stay in a nice Myrtle Beach hotel  that will cater to our every need. We want to be very near the beach, and I would like to play a few rounds of golf; in between naps in the sunshine of course. We want to be near some good shopping and entertainments, and of course we want a hotel that will treat us like family, with all the amenities and hospitality to make our vacation a memorable experience.

We found a website at http://avistaresort.com that meets all of our expectations, and more. We will have access to both indoor and outdoor pools, a lazy river, hot tubs, restaurants, shopping, as well as some of the best golf courses in the world. This resort is just two blocks from Main Street, so we will be near the center of activity when we decide to leave the tranquility of our peaceful condo. I think that it is time for me to talk to my boss and tell him I want some time off. Good times, here we come!

The most perfect gift would have to be chocolate

This year has gone by so fast! It is hard to believe that its nearly Christmas again already. This will be the second year that I get to spend the holidays with my wonderful wife. She is from the Philippines and is still learning our culture here. I am still trying to decide what to get her this year. Of course there is one gift that is always perfect. Nothing says "I love you" like  chocolate. Chocolate is probably the perfect gift and is my favorite because;

1: Everyone loves chocolate
2: It is affordable
3: If you play your cards right they will usually share with you

It doesn't get much better than that and as you can see I have a somewhat secret motive in giving chocolate as a gift. Its really a win win situation for me. Hopefully my wife won't read this article and get wise to my tricks. If she does I may just have to change my tactics and give her some other yummy treat for awhile.

Thanksgiving is more than tradition

Sometimes we fail to remember what Thanksgiving is really all about. Of course we all know that it was started by our pilgrims giving thanks for the blessings they had received, but often we forget that we have even more to be thankful for than they did. Our lives are much easier than life has ever been for any of the generations past. We have become spoiled, and many of us even seem almost bitter about our lives. Why? We seem to have everything but happiness. Maybe we should occupy more of our time helping others who are not so fortunate, and sharing in their not so perfect lives. Thanksgiving is not only tradition, it is the one day per year that we observe, for traditional purposes, family purposes, or just to get a free meal cooked by someone else.

My wife and I spent our holiday with our family, and enjoyed it very much. Our family is still complete, except for my father who passed on back in 1999. I always think of him, I miss him so much. It is amazing to see how much everyone in our family has aged and changed. We had a great day, but one of our friends who was supposed to celebrate with us, had a heart attack just a couple of days before. He is only 32. Hopefully he will be ok soon, and that will be one more reason to give thanks for next year, when we once again take a few hours out of a year of complaining, to celebrate our good luck to be born in this great country of ours, and for all the blessings God gives us.

Quality management software is the edge your business needs

If you own a company you already know that keeping up with the quality of your product is of vital importance. Luckily in this modern computer age of ours, computer software can take much of the work out of it, and do a more accurate job than you can do manually. Let me tell you about a quality management software that will enable you to keep up with quality control and quality assurance. This software will help you to improve efficiency, and boost your profits by allowing you to keep up with every aspect of your business.

Periodic testing and reporting at different stages of production will give you all the information you need to see which areas are efficient or otherwise. You can use the information to fine tune your business until production runs like a finely oiled machine. In our slow economy it can mean the difference between a business being profitable, or bust. Check out this software, and you will see what I mean.

Cheap insurance in Pennsylvania is available to all

I remember a time when the law said that we didn't have to have car insurance. Those days are long gone. Now it is mandatory that every car that is on our roads is insured. I am lucky in one way, I am over 50 and that saves me a bundle on insurance. There is another way to save also. If you are looking for cheap insurance in Pennsylvania, look no further. Now it is possible to get online quotes from many major companies, so you can compare prices and services. I just got done getting my quote from AARP and found out that in addition to the already low prices, I also get a 15% discount for being over 50 years old.

Guess what; I don't live in Pennsylvania, but I can still use cheap-autoinsurance.com to find the best deals. I am excited about this, because every dollar saved is a dollar that I can put to better use. I look at it this way. I can spend an enormous sum for my auto insurance, or I can spend a small amount. Either way I am conforming to the law that says I have to keep my car insured. Would I rather just give away the huge sum or would I rather spend the small amount and use what is left for something new for our house, maybe a vacation, or just save it for our kids college fund? This is not rocket science; of course I will take the cheap insurance. Otherwise it would be like flushing money down the drain. It is always important to save all the money we can, but in today's economy it is vital to make our money last. I suggest that you make the same wise decision I did and take a look at cheap-autoinsurance.com. It is quick and easy, and can save you a bundle, just like it did me!

When is someone going to find a way to save our planet and resources?

It worries me a lot sometimes to think about how fast we are messing up this earth we live on, and using up its resources. I know, I know, its old hat and has been discussed over and over. Its to no avail because none of us are willing to give up our high standard of living, just so our children and grandchildren can also have decent lives with enough to eat, and fuel to burn for heat and transportation.

When did people become so selfish and self centered? Have we always been that way or have we been brainwashed and desensitized by what we see on tv, and in real life? Are we really willing to use up everything this earth has to offer in just a few short years, and to heck with all the humans who live after us? Evidently the answer to that question is a resounding "yes"! I am as guilty as the rest. I care deeply, but I can't seem to find any answers. I have to drive my car to get to work, to pay my bills, to buy food, to have the creature comforts I and my wife crave. I keep waiting for someone else to invent something that will change the world. A way to fuel our car and heat our home, that will not destroy the American dream for those to come. I keep waiting and waiting. I wish someone would act. Good gosh, I just realized something! Maybe everyone else is waiting on ME to act!

Gold is always a great investment

If you were trying to think of something desirable that will never lose its value, what would be the first thing to pop into your head? Gold of course. Gold is what the treasury of our country bases the value of our money upon. So to follow up on that thought, what would be the safest thing that you can invest in?  Gold bullion is the natural selection. When you  buy bullion you know that your investment is safe. Gold is consistently valuable in any country in the world.

Now that you know what to invest your money in safely the next question is, where is the best place to  buy gold bullion?  I have provided some links that will take you to a site that has all the information you need to make your investment a profitable one. They will even provide you with a free gold guide that will give you loads of info, such as, which gold coins are most valuable.

There is a lot of reading on the website. You can click on the "Gold in the News" links and read articles, and predictions for gold values in the future. For example, did you know that some investors are actually placing physical gold in IRA accounts? It's true, because once again, gold is what our country's wealth is based on. No matter what happens, gold retains value always.

The band Toto was super talented

I recently recorded a concert by “Toto” on our DVR and have been watching parts of it over and over. Wow what a band they were! I knew they had talent but I didn’t realize that they were the superb musicians and vocalists that they are. They all have beautiful high pitched voices that ring as clear as a bell, with seemingly perfect pitch. I especially like to hear the lead singer Bobby Kimball sing. To just look at the man you wouldn’t suspect that he could even sing in the shower, but sing he certainly can. His voice is the best in the band, but like I said they are all very talented. I am a musician so true talent impresses me a lot. I know firsthand the hard work that goes into making a band sound good. I play bass guitar but when I saw Toto’s bassist, I have to confess that I was somewhat jealous. The man can PLAY! The lead guitarist is in my opinion one of the best in the world. Together the band is unstoppable, except for one thing. They are now disbanded. It seems that one of the original players died from some disease and it took the heart out of the others. After more than 30 years of beautiful music, Toto is no more. But their music lives on, and will for many years. You go guys!

North Vancouver real estate, find the home of your dreams!

If you are looking into buying a new home it is of course one of the most important decisions of your life. You want your new real estate to be in a desirable, friendly neighborhood that has style and convenience, but also ideally it will have a picturesque setting. My recommendation is that you check out North Vancouver real estate. Why? Because there you will find condominiums with all of the above features, plus easy to get to shopping, restaurants, and services; a lot of which are family owned businesses that have been around for many years.  Everything you need to make your life more comfortable and fill your needs is there. You will find some very lovely scenery, such as mountain skylines and perfectly landscaped grounds.  I suggest that you check out North Vancouver real estate before you buy elsewhere. There you will find more than just a new condominium, you will find a home.

The very best in Vancouver Hotels

My wife and I love to travel, and we have learned that is is important to stay at a hotel where we are comfortable. We want to recommend a hotel in Yaletown. When it comes to Vancouver Hotels, not all are equal. Our favorite is the OPUS! It has 96 luxury guestrooms with spa bathrooms, and five different decor schemes done in vibrant colors for you to choose from. Book online and you will get a best rate guarantee, in room Wi-Fi, unlimited local calling, and your choice of valet parking or reimbursement for round trip fare to and from YVR Airport. That is the best deal I know of for such a nice hotel in a desirable location. From the OPUS you are near to Stanley Park, beaches, and also the Alaska cruise ship terminal. Did I mention that OPUS is also home to the One Hundred Days Restaurant, and has been voted as one of the worlds top 500 hotels? Yes, you can now have your cake and eat it too!

Online gaming can be addictive

My wife is addicted to online games, and she is not the only one. Many people now spend many hours each week playing computer games, both online and off. I have to admit that they can be a lot of fun, and I too have spent many hours on our extra computer helping my wife  win her online games.

Gaming is like everything else; if we are not careful we can easily spend more than necessary to have fun. I have found a website that will save us all a lot of money on our future gaming needs. There are hundreds of games available for downloading, and also many online games to play. There are games for kids and adults, and all are at the cheapest price you are likely to find anywhere.

There is a free game available for download every day, and many others with prices so low, you will want to try them all! The games are available for both Mac and Pc so there is no need for you to be bored this winter. Click on one of the links above and go check out the website, join up, and get ready to have the time of your life!

Senility can be fun, but I can’t remember why

Getting older is really not so bad. Senility has its advantages; I never have to watch a re-run on tv, and I get to meet new people every day: some of them claim to be family members. I still get amazed every time I turn on the television at the new color picture we have now. The new Andy Griffith shows look so nice on it.

My job is new to me every day but I never worry about not doing it right. Every day when I come home from work my wife meets me at the door and I say “hello, can you tell me where Jim lives”? She usually just plays along and tells me to come in and she will look for him. Yes, senility can be great!

Inventory management software will boost the efficiency of your business

Come on people, it is the computer age! You no longer have to do your business inventory manually. Now there is software for your computer that will take care of all that for you. Think of the time and man hours you will save by letting your computer do the work. It will boost your efficiency and accuracy, and won't use up unnecessary employee time doing it.  I suggest that you take a look at SIMMS Inventory Management Software first, simply because it is the best, and because it will give you a quick return on your investment. It has a short implementation cycle, it customizes very simply and easily, and it uses the very latest database technology. It works so well because it was designed by business owners to fill their own needs, as well as yours. There are several programming teams working in two countries to keep everything up to date and meet demands, so you can buy your new software knowing that it will never be behind the times. If you have a business you need to make it as efficient as possible. One of the best ways to do that is with SIMMS Inventory Management Software. Check it out!

Finally, an effective sleep apnea treatment

There are many sleep disorders, but sleep apnea is one of the most common. My mother suffers from it. Sleeping well is certainly one of the most important criteria for continued good health. I have been wanting to find a good sleep apnea treatment for my mother so she can get the good quality sleep she needs to keep her health as long as possible.

Luckily there is just such a treatment. Back in 1989 a doctor fell asleep at the wheel and had a major car accident. He lived, but had sleep apnea thereafter. Desperate to get his sleep back to normal, he started experimenting with a mouthpiece to solve his problem. Over time he came up with a comfortable and effective mouthpiece design that has changed the life of thousands of people. It works by positioning the lower jaw forward, and keeping the tongue from falling into the throat during sleep. It works simply, and well. I am eager to get one for my mother, and hopefully then she will get the good rest she needs for good health and happiness.

Vancouver attractions can make a great vacation

My wife and I love to travel. She is from the Philippines, and I of course, am from here in America. Neither of us have traveled enough, but we hope to have more time and money soon to pursue our dream. We want to travel this country, and other countries as well, and hit some of the top tourist attractions. We are interested to experience some of the Vancouver attractions, such as the Capilano Suspension Bridge and the Canadian Rockies.

After doing some research online we found the Capilano Group of Companies that will provide us with all of the help and expertise we need to make our vacation a success. Their portfolio includes retail gift shops, and beverage and food facilities in BC and Alberta, as well as two accommodation properties in the Canadian Rockies. Soon there will be a new property on Mackenzie Beach in Tofino, B.C.

We are already planning our next getaway, and we can barely contain our excitement! Such beautiful country to see, and so much to do. It is the stuff that dreams are made from!

Peace and contentment, life is good!

What beautiful fall weather we are having! The temperature is perfect, the sky is clear, I am in love, and today I don’t have to work. All is well! My wife and I cooked outside today. We built a fire from oak wood and cooked some burgers and some salmon over the open fire. We had some steamed veggies, mushrooms and gravy, corn, and potatoes. It was a feast fit for a king and we enjoyed it a lot. We now have our water storage tanks installed and full of water so now we have plenty of water. If you haven’t already guessed, we live in the country. Not just in the country but way back in the country, in the mountains. We both love it here; its our little private paradise. The peace, the tall trees, the lovely sky and nature all around us gives us both great joy in our life. We both wish for all of you that you also find the peace and joy that we have.

A snoring mouthpiece will help you to sleep better

According to my wife, I often snore. I have noticed a loss of energy, as well as fatigue and muscle aches. I think it is because I don't rest well enough. Sleeping well is one of the most important things for our continued good health and I need to fix my problem so I can get the rest I need to have a good quality of life. I am not alone in this as sleep disorders are very common.

There is now help for this problem. A man that was diagnosed with sleep apnea following a serious car accident has designed a snoring mouthpiece that works wonders in reducing snoring, as well as standing up well to teeth grinding. This invention comes from much experimentation and research, but now it is known to have helped many thousands of patients to rest better. This leads to increased energy, reduced appetite, lower blood pressure, improved memory, and many more health benefits. It is well worth your time to check it out!

Photo restoration can make your memories as good as new

We all have old photos that are priceless to us. Unfortunately sometimes our precious memories on paper do not make it through the years intact. My family has some old pictures that we cherish, but some are in pretty bad shape. We have tried photo restoration on a few of them, and it worked great! Now it is possible to actually paint in missing elements and make the photo as good as new again. There are many services available, such as printing pictures in poster size, or printing on canvas, producing point of purchase displays banners with images of the customers, etc. The one that fascinates me most is crystal imaging. Lasers are used to make 3-D images in crystal, from a photo, sculpture, or any other object. This is all available to everyone from a local company called Monart. Their slogan is "We Keep Memories Alive". Give them a try and let them freshen up your memories!

We like playing sports more than watching them on tv

I was talking to my wife last week about getting a GPS so that when we take a trip we will have a much easier time finding our way. Sometime in the next few months we have to travel to a nearby city to finish some paperwork on my wife's visa. I would like to have the GPS by then so we don’t get lost and miss the interview appointment. Don't tell my wife but actually I think it would be a lot of fun to play with. Its hard to go wrong buying something that is both fun and useful.

Its football season and all of my buddies are excited and watching the games loyally. Our college team got beat last Saturday, but that didn't dampen the spirits of my friends. Strangely enough, I am not a football fan, and neither is my wife. We are more into sports that we can play ourselves, such as volleyball or badminton. We also love archery. These activities are something that we can share together, instead of being couch potatoes and merely watching others participate in sports.

No matter what kind of sports you are interested in, there is a new web site that can fix you up with just about anything you need to enjoy them. Global Sports Store has thousands of items pertaining to everything from boating or fishing, to cycling, golf, exercise and fitness, paintball, skateboarding, on and on. You can spend hours on this site and still not see it all. It is a good idea to start doing your holiday shopping early, or to set yourself up in a hobby that you enjoy.  Get away from the boob tube for awhile and have some physical fun. Check out their site!

Blogging is my answer to becoming a writer

I have always had secret notions to someday become a writer. The problem was, I never knew exactly what I wanted to write about. I thought about trying to write some full length books, but I just never could find the patience or time, or a subject that I knew enough about. I even thought about trying to write some short children’s books, but I really wasn't interested in going to all the trouble of trying to get my books published. It just didn't seem worth it, plus I thought that I might not be a good enough writer to be noticed. So what was the solution? I had a lot of words to say, but really no way to say them so all the people of the world could read, if they chose.

Blogging was the answer to my problem. Here I get to write about any and everything that pops into my head. I get to state my opinion, complain about things that bother me, and even write poetry or songs for my wife. I don't get rich doing it, but I do get satisfaction. That is all I ever really wanted as a writer, or even in life. I know that my grammar is not always correct and sometimes I mis-spell a word. That is ok because I know that people can still get the meaning of what I write. What is important is that we get our message across to others. Both written and spoken words are intended for only that. Having good grammar is nice, but as long as my readers understand what I mean, my work is successful.

I will never be a Stephen King, or a Louis L'Amour, but on the other hand, I am not caught in the trap of having to write to please anyone. Neither am I stuck writing westerns or horror stories. I can write, or try to write that kind of stories on my blog if I choose, but I can also just tell you, my readers, what I did today. I can tell you of my love for my wife. I can talk about how we watered our garden or went to visit a cave or amusement park. Some of my articles you will find boring. So do I, but they chronicle a short space of my life. Hopefully you will also find some of my words interesting, entertaining, maybe even helpful to you in your travel through life. If so, then I am successful and I thank you for taking the time to come here to visit me.

Pretty Little Liars, a suspensful, teenage drama

Pretty Little Liars is a TV show about four teenage girls who are reunited three years after their best friend Alison goes missing. This show is one of my favorites because it's all about drama, lies and secrets. I love to watch Pretty Little Liars on satellite tv. Pretty Little Liars take place in a small town, suburbia area and introduces Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna. This clique has one thing in common which is their queen b, Alison. Alison better known as Ali is manipulative and always gets what she wants. Spencer is a preppy, overachiever who has no trouble standing up for herself. Aria is troubled and tries to cope with the drama between her parents. Emily is an athlete who struggles to find her identity and Hanna has recently shed a few pounds and eager to take over Allison's place as the most popular girl in the school. This TV shows is full of secrets and lies. Although Alison disappeared three years ago, she brings more drama into the girls' lives. Pretty Little Liars will keep you on the edge of your seat while trying to figure out what will happen next!

Start your funeral planning now and make it easier on your loved ones later

One of my friends lost his mother this week and when they went to the funeral home to make arrangements everything bad that could happen, did happen. I felt so sorry for my friend. I won't go into detail on his dilemma but it made me realize how important it is to get things done right so the bereaved family doesn't have more than the loss of their loved one to deal with. Good planning to take care of your future funeral home needs, is wise because you can set up a prepayment plan. They are available from 1 to 15 years, with annual or semi annual payments.

There are several options to consider in planning the final arrangements for someone. We can go for a standard burial or cremation. With standard burial we have many things to decide; such as open or closed casket funeral, how much to spend on a casket, whether to use a vault or not, and many more things. Some cemeteries require vaults and some do no, but a good funeral director can help you with every detail of your funeral planning. If we choose cremation we have to choose whether or not to have a funeral and a viewing before the cremation. Rental caskets are available for these purposes.

There is a not a lot of difference in price between cremation and burial, if you have a viewing and funeral with both. Cremation without a funeral or viewing can be much cheaper. Price is often the main deciding factor in which choice people make. Without a prepayment plan, cremation may be the only affordable option for some. Funerals can be quite expensive, so careful planning ahead of time is of great importance. Burial or cremation, its your choice. I originally chose to be cremated, but my wife doesn't want me to. We have only been married for a few years but I know that she is the love of my life. For that reason I agree with her on being buried instead of cremated, and I want us to someday lie side by side, just as we walk through life together. We can be together for all eternity.

Las Vegas trip prep

When it comes to getting ready to leave on any trip I like to make sure that all my things are in order and I have everythign that I can plan out planned. My wife's even worse at doing that because she'll go as far to make checklists for what we're going to do and set aside certain amounts of money for certain things.

Now doing stuff like that is actually pretty smart but not everyone will go to that trouble even though they probably should. We were getting ready for an upcoming Vegas trip next week and planning out our budget and what not when I decided to go to one of the Miracle Ear locations near us. I had been meaning to go to one for a while now and had been putting off doing it. My wife pointed out that I'd probably have more fun on our trip if I could hear better and she was right.

So I finally went to Miracle Ear and got the hearing aids I had been wanting for a while. I was glad that I decided to do that and I think my wife was grateful too. I think our trip to Vegas is goign to be even better this year.

Google has done it again

Lo and behold, the Google demons have hit my blog once again. My page rank went from 4 down to NA over night. NA is exactly the equivalent of nothing so I have a 0 page rank now. They also got my wife and sister in law the same day. I have no idea why but I really wish people would stop giving so much credence to Google’s shenanigans. I have exactly the same blog now that I had when it had a higher page rank. Just because Google decides to cut my rank doesn’t mean that my blog is worthless.

Google has the power to hurt us only because we let them. People, stop putting so much stock in their page rank ratings. Why you ask? I will tell you why. I went to a blog a few days ago that my wife tells me has a consistent rank of 4, and it never falls, even when Google gets the rest of us. I was curious to see how the guy manages to keep his high rank so I took a look. Guess what I found; I found a blog that is written in English that is so bad that the sentences often do not even make sense. Basically its a worthless blog because the articles are worded more like a spam email than an informative article.After trying mightily, and reading it over and over, I still could not understand what the guy was talking about. So how does the page rank stay at a consistent 4? I have no idea. My blog is well written and the spelling is usually good; sometimes I even write something useful, but that counts for nothing. Google, for all I care you can pucker your sweet lil lips and kiss me right where the sun doesn’t shine!

The latest in web hosting news, and reviews

It is important to keep up with what is hot and what is not on the web. That is why I suggest you  catch up on web hosting news by checking out  a site called Web Hosting Fan. They make it easy to get the necessary knowledge of the latest trends and industry news. You can even read reviews of the top web hosting providers. That will make it a lot easier for you to choose the best one for your needs. Information is the most vital part of being a success, in whatever endeavor we attempt.

Web Hosting Fan makes it easy for you to understand the best techniques of search engine optimization. You will read discussions of things such as keyword optimization and backlinking. Good SEO is of vital importance to get your site noticed more often.

Find out which CMS is the best and most popular and powerful, and find out how to put that, and all of the other information available, to good use to benefit your site. In my opinion Web Hosting Fan is probably the one stop site for you to learn enough to make your website smoke.

Web Hosting Fan is also looking for bloggers. If you would be interested in guest blogging for them just click the link and go register your blog. It really is a neat helpful site and I suggest that you do yourself, and your web site a favor and take a look!

Improve your site traffic with Vancouver Web Design

When someone is using their computer to surf the web, they usually don't spend a lot of time on any particular web site. The reason is that there are just so many possibilities to look at, so if the web site doesn't catch their attention within a few seconds, the surfer will be off and gone to the next site. That is why web design is so important. It is vital that the site’s design gets their message across loud and clear, and in a very short time.

This can be done by delivering key messages in a short, logical, and simple structure. Another key element is having strong imagery, and text that is worded so that it catches your eye. For example, suppose that you are standing in a gravel covered parking lot. You look down for a gravel to pick up and throw. What makes you decide which gravel to choose? Something captures your attention and makes you notice the chosen one more. It works the same with a web site; you have to be noticed to be chosen.

The truth is that there is nearly an infinite amount of information on the internet. It grows every minute of every day. People are used to getting what they want quickly and efficiently. Our patience seems to get less and less as time passes. We want what we want, when we want it. Having the proper navigation and architecture on your site will mean the difference to having a lot of traffic, or a little. If you choose to have a lot of traffic, as I am sure you will, you need Vancouver Web Design. They are experts at providing all of the services I mentioned above. Set your sites high and check them out!

Are we on the only inhabited planet?

Ever wonder if we live on the only inhabited planet in space? I have wondered about it many times, but I don’t think I will ever know for sure. Of course it seems presumptuous to assume that out of the trillions of rocks floating around in space, we have the only one containing life.

I take the religious viewpoint that God created all life on this earth, but as far as I know the bible doesn’t say that we are the only ones. For this reason I personally don’t believe that it goes against religious teachings to admit that there may be other “earths” out there somewhere. God created us with free will so we can make our own decisions. Following that course of thought it is only common sense to say that God didn’t permit himself to know our outcome. If he had he would have saved himself a lot of trouble by not creating us in the first place.

So it appears that we were possibly an experiment that God did to see how beings with the will to think and decide would live their lives. I know from reading the bible that God was disappointed with us and was going to eradicate us from the earth at one time. Are there other experiments on other planets? It seems reasonable to think it may be so. I wonder if they are succeeding any better than this one????

Understanding Multiple Sclerosis better

One of the most debilitating diseases that we have to fear is multiple sclerosis. So what exactly is MS? It is a disease in which the insulation around the nerves is attacked and is gradually lost. This insulation is called myelin and when it is lost the nerves short out just like electrical wiring without insulation. This of course causes the signals sent to the nerves by the brain to get confused, lost, or misdirected. MS symptoms are many, including difficulty making certain movements, fatigue, depression, visual dysfunction, pain, tremor, even bowel and urinary dysfunction, plus many more. It really is a terrible disease and one that needs a lot of understanding.

It is not known for certain what causes MS but it is considered to be an autoimmune disease. That means that a person's immune system, which is normally responsible for killing unwelcome viruses and bacteria in our bodies, attacks normal body tissue instead. A lot of things have influence over our immune system, such as stress or foreign substances. MS may be sometimes genetically caused, and having family members with the disease does increase the possibility of a person getting MS, but many people have the disease while none of their family is affected.

While it is wise to eat and live healthy, there is no evidence showing that an MS diet is beneficial to helping the disease. The diets are not harmful but can be an added useless expense; However eating wisely is only common sense because a body with good nutrition is naturally stronger and better suited to fighting MS. If you would like to know more about multiple sclerosis, the symptoms, news, and questions and answers, just click on one of the links above. It will take you to a site dedicated to helping people understand all about multiple sclerosis.

Good inventory software is a must in today’s business world

I remember a job I had once long ago, when computers were first starting to make an impact in the small business world. Part of my job was keeping track of our inventory, and before we got our first computer it was a nightmare. I had to physically count everything and compare the numbers with the previous months written inventory. It was difficult to say the least.
When we finally got our first computer things were different. The computer kept track of what we bought, and used from the inventory. It was much easier than before, but the inventory software in that long ago day and time was pretty primitive compared to today’s software.
Now there is SIMMS Inventory Management Software, and it is light years ahead of what we used so long ago. SIMMS has so many advantages such as the latest database technology, simple customization, and latest .net technology. It is much more efficient, faster, and user friendly. It has become a market leader because it is constantly updated and improved. There are programmers working 16 hours per day to make sure that SIMMS Inventory Management Software adjusts and grows according to the customers needs.
Good news, now there is flexible financing so everyone can easily have access to the finest inventory software in the world. You will quickly see a high return on your investment through business efficiency and increased revenue. You owe it to yourself and your business to give SIMMS Inventory Management Software a try.

We got some new turbo cookers!

What a great weekend it has been! I didn't have to work Saturday after all and my wife and I went to visit my mother and sister. We took some take out Chinese food and we just sat and talked a lot. Then we took some pictures and went to visit my father’s grave. We have a small family cemetery on my sisters farm. The weather is superb and today we mowed our lawn and sat outside in the yard swing for awhile. We got some new cookware given to us as a gift yesterday, a couple of turbo cookers, and this morning we tried them out. Wow, they cook pretty well. We cooked some chicken wings in the bottom and some veggies in the top section of the cooker. Since we got 2 of the cookers we cooked more veggies in the second and had a feast. It was a good healthy meal with practically no fat. We added some spices and seasonings but very little oil. I think the healthy meal is what gave us the energy to mow the lawn later lol.

Some really nice items for gifts or for your own home

It doesn't seem possible that  Christmas is just around the corner. It seems that it was here only a short time ago. It is time to start considering what gifts we will buy for our family and friends. I don’t want to put it off until the last minute this year. Something that is nearly always safe to buy for someone else is a nice cutting board, or spice rack etc. I found a site on the net called JK Adams that has some very nice items that would serve wonderfully for gifts or for your own personal use. These items are high end quality products that any home would be proud to own.

There are cutting boards and then there are JK Adams cutting boards. Put 60 years of wood manufacturing experience to work for you when you purchase a new cutting board. They know the proper woods and techniques to make the board hard enough to last, but soft enough to keep your knife blades sharp. Many styles and sizes are available, and you will find woods such as cherry and maple, and even my favorite wood; black walnut.

Another very useful item is a spice rack. Once again there is none like a JK Adams spice rack. What a spice rack will do is to clean up your cabinets and organize your spices so you can easily find the one you need to make that perfect dish. No more digging frantically through your cabinets at the last minute, hoping you have the necessary spice. You don't want just any old spice rack, you want one that will accent the decor of your kitchen, and hold all of your spices easily. You will find that and more at JK Adams.

Check out the JK Adams website. They have much to offer. In addition to spice racks and cutting boards, you will find knife storage, some really nice furniture, pot racks, bread planks, cheese trays, and a lot more. It all comes with a 110% low price guarantee and a 30 day no hassle return policy. The customer service is top notch, and there is a toll free number for your ordering convenience. Go take a look and buy your gifts early. You will want to buy something for yourself too!

Too much or not enough

Finally we are getting some much needed rain. Not a lot yet, but it is welcome nonetheless. Sometimes the weather can get pretty weird and it makes me wonder how much the pollution that we put out affects the regulation of our weather. Maybe we are reaping what we have sowed in the past. Last winter we got so much rain and snow that we were worried about mud slides. The ground was saturated until it was nearly soupy.

If you took the moisture we have received in the last year and averaged it out, I think it would be enough to keep the ground well watered for the whole year. Unfortunately the rain all fell in a short time, and when it stopped, it really stopped. This has been the hottest, driest, and most humid summer I can remember. The heat was terrible, but now it is cool and fall is near. I am ready! I was completely sick of being hot and miserable. Hopefully the rain will keep coming for awhile. Then I will probably be complaining about too much lol.

Good search engine optimization will put your site in the limelight

Have you ever noticed that when you do a search on the internet, your browser usually brings up more results than you could possibly look at? Sometimes the number of results are in the millions. Have you ever looked at all of the many results? Of course not, and neither has anyone else. Most of those results are just wasted space because nobody ever goes to the sites they represent. In fact most people don't look past the top 10 and very rarely do they look at more than 30 results, or past the 3rd page when they do a search. There is really very little need for the other billions of sites to even be online. They are the victims of bad search engine optimization, and for some it is unfortunate because they probably have some really useful products or information that few people will ever see. It is like the old adage, "Don't hide your light under a bushel, let it shine for all to see".

If you have a website of your own how can you hone your site to make sure that the search engines will put it at or near the top of the results list? One important factor is keyword strategy. You want to have keywords that are often searched for and have good conversion rates. Another very important factor is to have quality content on your site. All of the top search engines put a lot of emphasis on that, and of course it only makes common sense. There are already too many junk sites out there taking up space and using up your time. Imagine how impossible the net would be to navigate if every website attempt was treated equally.  Actually there is a lot to know about good search engine optimization, and few of us have the time or knowledge to do it well. It is best to hire a reputable professional to get your site noticed.

When you are planning your site remember that you want to stand out from the crowd. That means  good content, good keywords, being an authority on whatever space you are in, and having great search engine optimization. It all works together and when done properly, your site will get a lot of traffic. The sites that you see pop up first when you search did not get there by accident. It was planned well, and more than likely done by a professional.

Live life for the moments that take your breath away

Remember when you seen your baby child for the first time? Remember when you first saw the Grand Canyon in all its grandeur? Remember when you met your mate and knew that it was right? How about when you first tasted ice cream? These are all moments that take our breath away, and yes, that is the meaning of life. All the rest is just filler; something to pass the time. If it wasn't for the moments that take our breath away, life would be just a monodrone of boredom. I have no idea if monodrone is really a word, or what it means, but it seems to fit. It is sort of a literary moment that took my breath away.

There is a song about the moments that take our breath away, and there is another song about a man that got bad news in his early 40's. He found out that he was going to die. He decided to live the rest of his life like every day was his life. He went sky diving, Rocky Mountain climbing. He went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu. He loved deeper, well you know the rest. He told his friend that he hoped someday he also would get the chance to live like he was dying.

After a life of being too cautious, and pretty much staying on the porch, I found out that sometimes we have to let ourselves go; reach out for what we want and love. I did that, with many qualms and fears. Now I am married to the most wonderful young lady that I have ever known. She is from another country and it took so much to get her here with me, work, money, worry, but it was worth it and I feel blessed to have her as my wife. My advise to you, my readers, is this; don't let life pass you by. There is more to life than your career. There is more to life than the old routine you go through each day, each week, each month...... Branch out. Live your life. I don't mean that you have to do stupid things that risk’s your life, you don’t have to be famous, rich, or noticed by others every day; but do make time for yourself and your dreams. Have some fun so that someday you won't have regrets of a wasted life. My wish for you is that you too will someday get to live like you are dying. Love and peace to you!

Don’t let your skin betray your age

Aging is an unfortunate fact of life. It is ironic that as we grow older, we learn more about life, and how to apply it and enjoy it more. At the same time we gradually lose the physical ability to enjoy life as much. Our bodies age inside and out. I have often said that it would be great if we could live life backwards so we could start off with a mind full of wisdom, gradually become more healthy and younger; finally curl up into a fetal position and go to sleep.

As we age our skin ages also. Fortunately, thanks to science and research we can drastically slow that process. It is important to use the right skin care products to keep our skin healthy and young looking. Once upon a time age spots were a fact of life, but no more. Check out Murad.com  and take a look at all the fine skin care products they have. They have products to protect your skin from summer or age damage, acne products, moisturizers, supplements, eye care products, toners, hybrids, cleansers, and if you are not sure what you need, you can chat live with a representative to find out what is best for you.

Murad is the leader in skincare science. Don't let age, sun, wind, and skin problems make your face look like a roadmap of worry. Live life, age gracefully, and well. Let Murad take care of your skin while you do!

We want to put a Rain Chain in our garden

In my opinion one of the most relaxing sounds in the world is the sound of falling water. My wife and I are in the process of doing some renovations around our home. We want to build a new porch and deck soon. We have already made a lot of flower beds and gardens. Now we think it would be nice to have a rain chain somewhere near our porch so we can hear and see the water falling.

We found some rain chains on the internet at a site called RainChainLink.com that has the most beautiful selection of garden rain chains we have ever seen, and they come with free shipping and  low price protection. There are rain chains made from copper, iron, and aluminum. There are rain barrels and accessories, and waterflow controllers, everything we need to have the sight and sound of falling water in our garden.

Fall is coming and we will have to hurry to get everything done this year. Just in case we run out of time, I will bookmark the RainChainLink.com website so we can easily find them next spring. Hmmm or maybe I can shop early and buy a Christmas present for my wife.

Why do we classify people in different social categories?

It is interesting how we conduct ourselves differently in different social situations. When we are with people we trust or feel equal too, we are confident and sometimes even cocky. When we are with people that we feel inferior too we may be shy and quiet. When we are with people we feel superior too, for whatever reason, we may actually act superior, perhaps by ignoring them or putting down their ideas. What makes us feel like we are more or less, depending on who we are with?

Most of us hide those feelings of inferiority or superiority well but some do not. It always irritates me to be with someone who treats me like a good friend and an equal if we are alone, but treats me as an inferior if there is someone else present that they feel is higher on the social totem pole. We here in the south call that being two faced. It is a condition that affects a lot of people.

Really, are any of us superior or inferior to other people? From my experience we are all superior in some ways and inferior in others. We have our strengths and our faults. Even the dumbest among us can still teach us something and even the smartest can be wrong. I wish that we could just accept everyone as a unique person and combine all of our talents for the good of everyone. So much of our energy and creativeness is wasted on trying to impress, or afraid of being ridiculed. Maybe we all just need to grow up and realize that we are only one of more than 6 billion people on this earth. It is doubtful that we are either better or worse than the majority.

Now you can rip DVD’s and do video converting easily on your computer

How many times have you watched a DVD that belongs to someone else and wished that you had a copy? Or perhaps you have a DVD that you would like to share copies with your friends. It can be a very involved process unless you have the right DVD ripper software. I want to recommend a super software program that will take care of your needs. It is called ImToo DVD Ripper and it will rip DVD to High Definition video at a rate that is now 5 times faster than before. It gives you the capability to do video editing such as clip, merge, split, and crop. You can also add subtitles and soundtracks, special effects etc.

If you have Mac instead of windows, fear not. There is also a DVD Ripper Mac available and it too will do everything you need to make high quality videos. Both the Mac and Windows versions are compatible with popular devices such as iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, PSP, Xbox, Zune, and more. The software is available in Standard, Platinum, and Ultimate versions. You can choose the one that best fits your needs. All of them will give you a lot of control so you can make your video's unique.

Would you like to have some software for your Mac that will convert video's to different formats? Check out Video Converter for Mac. It gives you the capability to convert high definition videos to formats such as AVI, MPEG, WMV, MP4, and many more. It will also work with popular devices such as iPod, Google phones, and Apple TV.  Not only will this software convert, it will also crop, clip, split, and merge, plus it lets you add watermarks, soundtracks, and effects. Check out ImToo software and get ready to make some personalized video's!

HP has great warranty service. I am very impressed!

I am impressed with a company and I want to tell you about it. No this is not an advertisement. This is my opinion, given freely, because of good service I have received.

A few days ago our laptop, which we purchased last winter, stopped charging. It is an HP and after discovering that there was no quick fix I called their service center. The technician walked me through dismantling and testing the laptop and finally came to the same conclusion that I had. The charger or the charger plug was bad. They agreed to send me a new one free of charge.

I was glad to get the laptop repaired at no cost, but I thought it would be down for several weeks until they finally got around to sending me the charger. I was wrong! I got an email from them the very next day saying that the charger had been shipped overnight express delivery. Wow! That means we should get it today and I only called them the day before yesterday, late afternoon. They actually paid the extra shipping so our laptop would be up and running again soon. The charger hasn't come yet but we are waiting and expecting it to be here any minute. Thank you Hewlett Packard for a job well done, I am very impressed with your good service!

Cheap auto insurance in NJ

I am sure that you all know how important it is to make every dollar count. Our economy is slow and money just doesn't go as far. Saving money is important in every facet of our lives. The more we save on products and services that we buy, the more we have left for those extra things, such as vacations etc. A lot of people have lost their jobs in the past months. A lot more people have been forced to take lower paying jobs and are having a hard time making ends meet. The price of everything seems to have gone up drastically. We need to find ways to stretch our money to match our bills, and maybe even have the vacation money left over that I mentioned earlier.

One of the biggest expenditures we have is car insurance. If we could only find it cheaper it would help our financial situation a lot. Well you are in luck. Now it is possible to get cheap auto insurance in NJ, and other states as well. In New Jersey the price of car insurance has actually been lowered in the year 2010. Hopefully the trend will continue and carry on to other states as well. 

The best place I have found to get car insurance quotes is Cheap-AutoInsurance.com. They use advanced technology to let insurance companies compete for your business. That results in some great deals for you! It is easy to get your quotes. Just go to the Cheap-AutoInsurance.com website and use the "Get Free Quotes Here" form. Just enter your zipcode and click the button. On the next screen you will see a list of leading low cost insurance providers in your state. Choose the ones you want and fill out the quote forms, then all you have left to do is wait to see how much money you can save.

Just a few minutes spent getting some quotes can save you a bundle, and of course the quotes are free. Don't keep sending extra dollars to your present insurance company. Check out the link above and you will see how simple and fast you can save yourself some money. I did!

Build up your mailing list and make your business boom

Do you know how many citizens we have here in the United States? I just looked it up and we have a little over 300 million. Keep that in mind and I will tell you why later.

Ok now let me give you a scenario, who knows it might really describe you.
You have a business involving direct mail or telemarketing and you need to build your mailing list. You can get names here and there, but I'm talking about a serious marketing list! You are not messing around, you want your business to boom. So where can you get access to enough names to make your venture smoke?

I have the answer for you. The List Company can provide you with consumer mailing lists from their extensive database that contains more than 14 million US businesses and, get ready for this, 300 million US consumers! That means that you would have access to practically every person in our great nation. Now that is what I call  a mailing list! In case that doesn't impress you let me tell you that our government, Fortune 500, and many others use The List Company for their marketing data. When it comes to list brokers, they are head and shoulders above the rest.

If you are serious about finding new customers for your business, you won't do any better than The List Company. Go check them out!

How deep can fatigue go?

They say that beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes all the way to the bone. Well, let me tell you, fatigue goes all the way to the bone too. I am exhausted. We have worked six days per week for too long, and to make it even worse my alarm goes off at 2:30am. I start work at 4:00. We are supposed to get this Saturday off and I may just spend the whole weekend in the bed sleeping.

I would like to take my wife for a drive and if we feel up to it we may go visit a nearby dam. She is from another country and has never seen what holds our lake water in check. Hopefully we can go out to eat somewhere too. Well I have so many plans, maybe I won’t get to stay in bed all weekend after all lol.

Some new planters will make our property stand out

My wife loves gardening and together we have built many flower beds, as well as a vegetable garden. Now we want to decorate our property even more by getting some nice planters. We want to have some blooms and small shrubs near our entry door and walkway.

Another thing we have been thinking of is that winter is coming so outdoor gardening will soon be over. We want a nice indoor planter so we can enjoy our plants all winter. We thought it would be nice to grow some herbs also so we always have them fresh for cooking.

We searched on the internet for the best place to buy decorative planters and we found eplanters.com. Wow, what a huge selection of very stylish and beautiful planters they have! Every size, material, style, and finish that we can think of is available and there is free shipping on most of them. There is even low cost protection so we know we got the very best deal. There are some planters that are exclusive to eplanters and we like that because it means that we can have something that is high style, but different from the norm.

Eplanters has information packed product pages so we can probably find and order exactly what we want without help, but if we do need help they also have an expert customer service department to assist us. We like it because the planters are guaranteed, and if we don't like what we buy they have a 30 day return policy. I am sure we won’t need that but it is nice to have the assurance. I think this winter our house will be bright with fresh herbs and flowers. It will make the months we spend indoors a lot more bearable.

A bone barometer rarely fails in weather predictions

I am curious about something. As we age we seem to develop a built in weather forecaster in our bones. I can personally vouch for this phenomenon. Right before a rain or change in the weather my lower back, and other parts as well, start aching. The severity of the pain depends upon the severity of the weather. Sometimes I feel like I have been beaten and have bruising, and even fever in my joints. I can’t figure out how the weather can affect my insides. Consider this; When rain is in the forecast the air gets heavier and more humid. I understand that, but how can it affect my bones and muscles? They are buried under my skin and flesh, which are already moist, so the humidity shouldn’t have any affect. I can’t believe that the air is heavy enough to put sufficient pressure to cause pain on a body that has always worked hard for its bread and butter. I could understand if the weather affected my skin, but penetrating to my very bones is impossible to believe, except that I have the proof in the pain I feel.

Another curiosity that I have noticed is that wild animals know when the weather is going to get bad. Right before a winter storm you will see scores of animals out trying to find food to tide them over. They too seem to have built in barometers. I wonder if their bones ache before a storm too………..

The best coffee and the best food is at Vancouver Cafe

When I get out of bed the first thing I think of is a piping hot cup of coffee. When I think of coffee, I think of Vancouver Cafe, because they serve only Arabica coffees, all from climates around the world that are best suited for coffee growing. The coffee is carefully roasted in small batches to achieve superior taste.

Vancouver Cafe provides more than just the world's best coffee; Visit them for breakfast and you will feast on croissants, muffins, fresh fruits, and breakfast sandwiches. Their aim is to provide a wholesome healthy breakfast to start your day off right.

Are you free for lunch? Lets go to Vancouver Cafe again and try out some salads, pasta, wraps, and Italian panini. We will have some organic fruit juice with that, or how about another cup of the fine European coffee?

Lets get some of our friends together and go to Vancouver Cafe this evening. We will sample some hors d'oeuvres and canapes. I personally want some of the veal parmesan meatballs and mini marinated chicken skewers. There are so many exciting foods to try. If we prefer to have our gathering at home, we can get a delivery order and even plate service if we choose.

Vancouver Cafe, the best  food, the best coffee, the best atmosphere. Hope to see you there soon!

Its time to listen to the song of the sea

One of the most beautiful places in this world of ours would have to be Myrtle Beach. There you will find tempting beaches, lovely romantic sunsets, and memories waiting to be made. There is only one more thing you need to have the perfect vacation. You need a hotel or resort that will pamper you and serve your every need. There is just such a place, read on!

Towers at Myrtle Beach is in the northern Grand Strand area and there you will find such amenities as tastefully and artfully designed accommodations, views that will put you at peace and give you memories to last forever, and most of all you will find fun and  relaxation to give you a break from everyday life. There is much to do, shopping, fine dining, golf, swimming, sunbathing, and unequaled Southern hospitality to make sure your stay is enjoyable.

You will be surprised and delighted to find out just how affordable your visit to Towers at Myrtle Beach can be. You will find 1-, 2-, and 3 bedroom condo's, and each has a private balcony. It is like an oasis from the troubles and worries of life.  Check out www.towersatnorthmyrtlebeach.com and get ready to listen to the song of the sea, and have the time of your life!

New washing machine and dryer on the way!

We finally ordered our new washer and dryer! Finally we will be able to do our laundry here at home. The reason we haven’t done it before is because we have little water here. We live in the mountains, and although we have a deep well, it doesn’t produce enough for our needs. Now we have a small water tank to haul water, and we have bought a new large tank for storage. The idea is to use the small tank to haul water to fill the big one. We will put in a separate pump system for the storage tank. When its all finished we will have the stored water and also our well. In the meantime until we get the big tank installed, we will use the small tank to put extra water into our well when we do laundry. I know it sounds inconvenient, but to us it seems great. We usually drive to town on Friday afternoon, after I have worked all day, and all week, to do our laundry. It gets old! At least now we can do our laundry at our convenience. When everything is done we will probably have to haul a load of water 2 to 4 times per month. That is unhandy also, but once again we can do it at our convenience. We can make more than one load in a day if necessary. The stored water in the tank will probably last for a month even if we don’t refill it.

Why didn’t I spend a few dollars on a good tarp to save myself a lot of money?

I have a bass boat sitting in my back yard. Several years ago it was a good boat but I left it uncovered for too many years and now it is ruined. I gave a lot of money for that boat, but now I have to replace the decks, carpet, all the seats, and probably do a lot of work on the motor before it will again be lake worthy. I have berated myself for not buying a good tarp to cover it. It would have only cost a few dollars and it would have saved a lot.

A friend of mine told me last week that it seems that I always have something expensive sitting my yard spoiling because I don't keep it covered. He recently bought a motorcycle from me that I had left uncovered for too long. I sold it to him for a fraction of the amount that I had invested in it. He had to do a lot of work on the bike before it would run. Once again if I had just spent the few dollars for a blue tarp to cover it, I could have saved thousands.

Guess what; now we have an ATV sitting outside. It needs to be covered badly. The fuel tank and fenders are already oxidizing and its aging rapidly. Here we go again. What I need to do is purchase a good quality canvas tarp so our ATV won't be the next weather related fatality in our yard. I had better do that right now or I will forget lol.