Christmas is almost here

No I'm not excited for Christmas at all. I just get tired of having all of the holiday stuff crammed down my throat for almost 2 months. I don't have any children and I don't live near my family so I'm not into the holiday at all. By this time next week, it will all be over.

Maybe I'll be more into the spirit next year.

I haven't been keeping up with football

I don't know what's wrong with me this season. I really haven't been watching football and I haven't been interested in it either. I am watching the last few minutes of 3 games right now. One game went off, the network switched to another game and the 3rd game is in overtime. Next the Steelers play in about 10 minutes.

I guess I'm getting into it now!

Traveling over Christmas

I really wanted to go out of town during the Christmas holiday. But that may not be possible now. I looked into how much money I have in my checking account and I don't have enough money. Instead of that I'll spend some time with my family in New Jersey.

Most of my family lives in the South Jersey area and there's a ton of stuff to do. We can go to Atlantic City to gamble. Plus there's a bunch of new shops down there that we can check out. When I told my mom that I was coming down, she started making plans for a my time down there. She wants to go to Wildwood as well since it's so close. New Jersey is pretty small so the beach is only a 2 hours drive from her house.

It's already time to make summer plans especially since we're planning on going to the beach. if you try to make your reservations after February everything will already be completely booked. So we're already looking at our Jersey Shore beach vacation for this coming summer. We're looking at both hotels and motels but we're not sure where we want to stay yet. Since we're booking early we have our choice of prime locations.

I want to visit the pier for the rides, food and the water park. But mostly for the food. If we get our season pass between now and January 9th, we'll save over 40% off of the regular price. The cool thing is that we can use the pass when we want to, then give it to family members so they can enjoy the shore too.

It's never to early to plan a great vacation.

New season follow-up

I wrote a post about this yesterday but I saw something new today. I don't understand how they decide what day to show a new program on. There's a new show coming on Tuesday but it starts at the same time as a very established and well liked show. The new show doesn't have a chance. Which will suck if it's good.

I know which show I'll be watching, and it won't be the new one.

Do you have a bike?

Not a regular 10-speed bike but a motorcycle. My very first boyfriend had 2 bikes. He had a small bike and a larger much more powerful bike. I have to admit that the big bike really scared me.

For his birthday one year I got him all kinds of stuff for his bike. I went somewhere that sold everything from harley davidson parts to actual bikes. It was awesome to see all of that stuff. I ended up buying him a new helmet which he loved.

Sometimes I miss dating him. He's the only person I ever trusted enough to get on a bike with.

There is nothing good on tv

Ugh I can't wait until January. The new television season starts then. There are some new shows coming on as well as the new season of several of my old favorites. Right now I really hate what's on. Everything is a rerun or worse.

I just have to wait a few more weeks and things will be looking up.

Deer season starts tomorrow

In Pittsburgh deer hunting is really big. I mean real big. I know several people from my last job that go deer hunting. They put on their camo clothes and go live in the woods for days at a time trying to get a deer. Yeah I said days. I couldn't believe it when they first started describing it. I didn't know it was that serious.

So what do you get the deer hunter in your life for Christmas? How about a Nikon BDC Slam Hunter's Package? The package includes:

-ProStaff 3-9x40 Riflescope with BDC Reticle
-ProStaff Laser Rangefinder
-Silent Technology Rangefinder Case
-Mastering a Long-range shot with BDC DVD
-$50 NikonProGear Gift Card

and it's over $140 off buying the items separately. If that's not in your plans, they have other great Nikon products that you can get. If the person in your life is a serious as the people here in Pittsburgh are, they will absolutely love this gift.

Blog stalkers

What's with people man? They are some seriously disturbed people out there. They have nothing better to do than follow people around on their blog and harrass them. It's not happening to me but it's happening to several people that I know.

And then people wonder why all of the good bloggers stop blogging.

I wonder what my inspection holds

I have to take my car in to be inspected soon. The inspection is already almost a month overdue and I can't push it back any longer. I'm almost afraid of what they're going to tell me that I need. I'm taking the car to a large auto parts place. That way no matter what I need, they should have it in stock. Even if it's yamaha motorcycle parts, headlights or brakes. I think I need front brakes on my car and I know that's going to set me back a pretty penny.

That's why I always shop at super centers. One stop shopping works for me.

It's already Thanksgiving

Can you believe it? It's only 2 days away. I don't have any plans. I don't have any more vacation days left so I can't go home and I don't have anything else to do. I probably won't go out so I have to make sure I have enough food in the house.

This will be one boring holiday for me.

I'm thinking of travelling for a football game

It's crazy that I waited until the middle of winter to decide that I want to visit other places. My team doesn't play some of the teams that I want to see but it doesn't make me want to visit any less.

I have several places that I want to see. San Diego, maybe Dallas and Denver. It's crazy to think about going to Denver in the middle of the winter. Besides checking out some of the great Denver Restaurants that are out there, I can check out their multiple sports teams. They have all 4 major sports even though this is the baseball off-season. I could kill two birds with one stone and check out both a football and basketball game.

That's a major factor in whatever city I choose to live in. Denver is also one of the most health conscious cities in the country. Their citizens are known for both their inner and outer beauty. And the best part is that they have a bunch of fashion houses and boutiques to shop to enhance that beauty. That is so up my alley.

I guess I need to start planning.

I need to do some blog maintenance

Not just on this blog but on all of my blogs. There are widgets and ads that I have up that are non-performing. I didn't want my sidebars to be bare but it's really ridiculous to have them there. There are also some posts that I need to clean up. Take some links out, add pictures, reduce the size of pictures and stuff like that.

It shouldn't take me too long to do. My blog is not in that bad of shape.

I haven't been writing lately

I haven't written at all lately. I was supposed to do NaNoWriMo but then I got a two big assignments from school which kept pushing my plans back. Now I have a very large paper due in 2 weeks. I decided not to do the writing plan this year.

I haven't written my short story either. I plan on starting it again within the next couple of weeks. I have a few ideas but I need to put them on paper. Hopefully soon I will start writing again.

My back is killing me

I have bad posture so my back is always hurting me. I try to stretch it out while I'm at work but that only provides temporary relief. One of my friends suggested that I check out allegromedical.com. She said that I could find a wedge pillow that would support my back for a really good price. They sell all kinds of things there too. Things like outdoor gear, maternity and/or baby stuff and that's in addition to their regular health care products.

I'm glad she recommended the site. I need to check it out and see what I can find. Especially since they're offering discounts or specials to anyone who signs up for their ecatalog. I am so there.

I still need to read for school

I have a book that I was supposed to start last week. I haven't even begun to read that book. This weekend I have to read 10 chapters instead of 5. It's not a problem as long as it's a good book. If it's boring I'll have a hard time getting through it.

Just another reason for me to stop procrastinating.

Looking ahead to a graduate degree

I haven't even finished my undergraduate degree and I'm seriously considering a graduate degree now. I work in accounting but we work very closely with our legal department. That was what I originally wanted to major in when I first started school. My manager and several people in the legal department have urged me to look into this path.

I need a break though so I've been considering a non-traditional path for my graduate studies. I'm looking at university online like Capella. They offer 109 graduate degrees including business and public safety. I could easily use either degree for our legal and/or trust department.

I never thought I would be this happy to stay in school.

This (blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com

I have to find a new job

And soon. We have 3 teams in my department. I'm being cross-trained on all 3 teams which isn't so bad. However, they've decided to not give me anything to do from my own team and to focus on the one team that I dislike working on the most.

It's not even the work that I don't like, it's the people that I work with. They really talk down to people and try to make you feel stupid. I just hope they don't talk to me like that because with my attitude it won't be pretty.

I knew I should have applied for that other accounting position. I hope something opens up in another area soon.

It's already time to think about Black Friday sales

It's 60 degrees in Pittsburgh today. That's really warm for this time of year. It's hard to believe that it's already November when it's this warm. I could understand it more if I lived in California or Florida but it's very unusual for Pittsburgh. I have to put the weather out of my mind and start thinking about those cyber monday discounts. Cyber Monday starts the unofficial Christmas shopping season. You can find all of the Black Friday sales in advance and get even better discounts by going online.

I have already signed up for an email alert to find out when new deals are posted. I'm especially looking for Babies R Us. One of my coworkers is having her baby 2 weeks before Christmas. She also has a 17 year old son so I know she needs a lot of stuff. I already have a idea of what to get her. I want to get her some stuff for the next size up as she already has a bunch of 0-3 month clothes.

That's only one person. I also have to shop for my Mom, my brother and a few other relatives. I need all of the sales and discounts I can get.

Somebody tried to steal my mail

I was ticked too. I got a package and when the mail lady rang the bell I had just gotten out of the shower so I buzzed downstairs and asked her to leave it on the table and I would pick it up. I got dressed and went downstairs and I saw somebody with the box in his hands. Once he saw me, he put it down and backed away from the table. He then gave me some lame line about bringing it to me. Only problem is that he doesn't know me. I could tell he was lying by his body movement.

There wasn't even anything important in the box but it was the principle of the thing. I plan on calling the management company tomorrow and letting them know. I know other neighbors have had their mail stolen off of the table.

The nerve of some people.

Living in an apartment can be scary

I'm not ready to buy a house yet so I live in a apartment. For me apartment living is just so much easier. I really don't want to be bothered with all of the maintenance and sprucing up of a property that I would have to do with a home of my own. I may eventually buy a condo or a town home where I pay a maintenance fee but a traditional home is so not for me.

There are other considerations to owning a home as well. Besides maintenance you have to worry about whether your home is fireproof or not. Not having your home fireproofed can be a disaster. It's not just enough to have fire extinguishers and smoke detectors even though they are both important.

So why is it scary living in a apartment? Because you don't always know whether or not the builder has used fireproofing products when they constructed the building. Using the correct types of products can limit the amount of damage that may occur during a fire. Because let's face it, you can control what you do. But your neighbors are a whole different ball of wax.

One of my neighbors likes to walk down the hallway smoking cigarettes. One of my greatest fears is that an ember for the cigarette falls on the floor and starts a fire. Or even worse, that she drops it on the floor and it sparks. Either way, I hope she's careful with her cigarettes and I hope our building is properly constructed.

That's truly one of the downsides for me.

I am so tired

I didn't get too much sleep last night. I slept from 12-1am then from 3-6am. That's only 4 hours which is not nearly enough. I don't know why I'm not sleeping but I have to figure something out. I can't keep going on this little amount of sleep. I know I have some sleeping pills which I may take. Hopefully they will regulate my sleeping cycle.

Today is going to suck though. I'm already tired and it's not even 9am.

Crazy spam comments

I usually don't get a lot of comments on my blogs. I think most of the people that read my blogs are lurkers like I am. I don't have a problem with people not leaving comments at all either. But I hate when I see a comment and you can tell it's just to get a link-back.

Some of the comments are straight spam. They mis-spell, leave 500 links in one post or just say great info with a link. Others look like regular comments but when you read them in their entirety or visit the site in their link, you realize it's just spam.

Sorry spammers, I'm just not that desperate for comments that I'm going to let anything and everything get through.

What's your favorite piece of jewelry

I don't have a favorite piece right now. I do have some earrings that I really love. They're plain diamond stud earrings. I also love my tennis bracelets, they're both 1 carat. One is a XO design and the other is a "S" design.

I bought the XO designed bracelet myself. The other was a gift for my birthday. I wonder if they went to holsted jewelry to get that bracelet. It definitely has the "Wow" factor going for it. It's sparkly with crystal clear diamonds. I absolutely love it and wear it pretty often. I should go look to see if I can find any deals on matching pieces for it.

Considering I don't foresee me getting any rings as jewelry, I may need to buy one for myself. I surely don't mind that. At least I'll get exactly what I want.

Can you write a novel in 30 days?

NanoWriMo (sp?) is coming up in November. I really want to participate but I'm not sure how much I would get done. I don't work on 1 story at a time either. I write for whichever story I have the ideas for. Since I currently have 3 story ideas, how would I narrow down which one to write for?

I still have almost 3 weeks before it starts. Who knows, I may change my mind and participate.

I'll get a beach body eventually

I can't wait to move to Florida. The only thing I'm worried about is that fact that I'm not in shape. I know it's shallow but I'm looking into the lap band central florida area. I've thought about lapband but I haven't made up my mind. I plan on being extremely busy my first 6 months so I'm looking for a work around.

I'll come up with something. I always do.

Why exactly I need furniture

I had planned on leaving Pittsburgh back in 2005. I knew I wanted to finish school but I thought I would have been done by 2007. When I bought the furniture that I currently have, I got what I considered to be "temporary" furniture. Temporary because I only thought I needed it for 4 years max. It was cheap, both in quality and in price. It's served it's purpose and now it's time to get rid of it. However, I won't buy new furniture as long as I'm here.

Besides, June will be here before I know it.

I'm going to need all new furniture

I'm not moving until next year but I'm already counting down. I'm graduating school in April and by the end of June I plan on being gone. I'll be celebrating the 4th of July in my new city, whichever one that may be. As of right now it's either Orlando or Jacksonville. But something strong is pulling me towards Miami.

I am not taking any of my furniture when I leave. I plan on going through and purging everything starting a month before I leave. Basically whatever doesn't fit in my car doesn't go at this point. I only care about clothes, shoes, important papers and of course my laptop. Everything is getting trashed.

I knew that when I bought that furniture though. I purchased it with the intent on only having it 5 years. I had just forgotten how expensive furniture is though. I've been looking at everything from couches and love seats to quality kitchen sinks and refrigerators. I know that some places don't provide a frig so I'm looking at everything now. I'm already comparing prices so I know what to budget for. I also need to know when something is a good deal and is something I should jump on.

I'm really getting excited for my move. I really can't wait.

Short story update

I haven't written in a long time because of school and just life in general. Next month is the writing challenge where you write a novel in 30 days. The bad thing for me is that it's supposed to be all one story. I tend to focus on one story but if I get a good idea for another story that I'm writing, I'll interupt and write for that one.

I guess this challenge will make me stick to a schedule. I just hope there's nothing pressing due for school next month.

30 days before I have to get my car repaired

I'm not looking forward to this at all. As usual I've waited until the last minute and now it's something that has to be done. I hate paying for car repairs but I have to. I'll call around and look for a good auto body shop to take care of my car. I already see that I can get a online estimate. I'm sure that number will be off the charts. If they take appointments over the internet, all the better.

I want this process to be as painless as possible.

I really don't care about the playoffs

I love baseball. I really do. But I'm just not excited about the playoffs that start today. Maybe it's because I'm at work and I'll miss the game between the Phillies and the Brewers. Of course I'm rooting for the Phils.

I don't really care about the rest of the games though. I'm sure that will all change within the next couple of days.

Looking for the best deal on car repairs

And yes I know the cheapest deal isn't always the best deal to take. I want to make sure a shop has a reputation for doing quality work before I let them work on my car. I don't have damages from a accident, so I don't need collision repair downey done. But I do need a paint job. Someone keyed my car like crazy and now I need the whole thing repainted. Which stinks because the total cost is coming out of my pocket.

Argh, sometimes I wonder if it's worth it to have a car.

I hate tv show marathons

This weekend there is a marathon on tv. It's a show that I don't particularly like so I'm not happy when it's on all day. Now if it was Law & Order or SVU I would really be happy. But not with the show that's on.

It's a little after midnight so it's over thank goodness.

Sometimes I wish I went to school online

I really don't like living where I am right now. I only have 6 months left of school but then I have to stay 2 additional months to save money. If I went to school online and got a degree online I could have moved last year. I considered a place like Capella and I don't know why I didn't just go with it. They offer over 100 majors for undergraduates and graduate programs. As well as 15 certificate programs. And I could have switched majors and studied business instead of keeping my current major just to get done.

The best part for me would be that I could live wherever I wanted to since I would be going to school online. Most jobs also offer tuition reimbursement for online schools, I know my current company offers it. It would have been a win-win situation.

If only I could go back in time.

“This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com.”

I hope there are so games on this weekend

There haven't really been any good baseball games on for the past few weeks. There have only been a few games on but not the really good teams. Because of all of the hurricanes most of the games have been rained out and rescheduled. Of course the new games don't come on tv.

Just one good game would make me happy.

Working hard or hardly working

It's Friday which means most people in the office are already in weekend mode. If you don't get your work done by noon, it probably won't get done today. Then on Monday, everyone will work like crazy to catch up.

I have a standing meeting at 10AM, but that's all that I have planned for today.

Are you looking for a good lawyer?

There are some really good lawyers out there but you would never know it from all of the jokes that you hear. They always make it seem like lawyers are greedy and vicious. Except when they themselves need a lawyer, then they're the greatest thing since sliced bread. If you go with Austin Personal Injury Lawyers like O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath in Austin TX, you can best believe that you're getting the best of the best.

They specialize in everything from Business Litigation to Business Litigation and everything in-between like Train, Bus, Plane & Cruise Ship Accidents. Let's hope we don't need the last one. I would hate to be on a cruise and be in a accident. It's good to know that there is someone out there on my side in case it happens though.

Where are the baseball games?

There are no baseball games on tv today. There are several pennant races still going on and a couple of division races to boot. I'm really surprised that no games are on. I'm kinda upset too because I've been looking forward to seeing a good game for almost a week now. There never seem to be any on.

At least the playoffs are starting soon. Then I know I'll see a ton of games.

I really wish ILasik was around years ago

I really do want Lasik eye surgery. I've wanted it for quite some time. I have looked for LASIK information in the past but I'm extremely afraid of the procedure. I know it's quick and virtually painless. In fact, most surgery's take less than 20 seconds per eye. The laser does all of the work really quickly. That doesn't take away the fact that I'm extremely uneasy with the prospect of having it done.

Now the U.S. military and NASA are using a new procedure to help their employees and recruits. ILasik, which is nothing more than a fancy name for new Lasik technology, uses two lasers instead of one. The first laser cuts the corneal flap while the second laser does the actual correction. Out of 100 military personnel who had the procedure done, over 95% have better than 20/20 vision. And 100% of naval aviators said they would recommend the surgery.

Why do I wish it were around years ago? Because I thought of joining the military myself. Back then, LASIK technology was as advanced as it is now. If you had corrected vision, there were certain jobs that you couldn't do. Of course the job that I really wanted was one of them. So I decided against joining. Had ILasik been available then, I would have had perfect vision and been able to pursue my dream.

I'm still nervous about getting it done. But next year I'm going to start saving up for it. I'm getting tired of contact lenses and glasses.

What a horrible game

I was watching the Steelers vs the Eagles and it seemed like everything kept going wrong. First of all, the Steelers couldn't get anything started. Mainly because Ben got sacked about 641 times during the game. Ok ok it was only 8 but still, you get the picture. I think his shoulder is probably hurting more than the team wants to admit.

I was so disappointed watching the game. I don't get crazy about a loss but when the team looks that bad, it's hard to look towards next week.

Join a forum and drive traffic to your blog

What does joining a forum have to do with driving traffic? Well, you can put the name of your blog in your signature on the forum. Every time you post a message, people will see your blog's name. Curiosity will get them to click over and check your blog out. Bam instant traffic! Head on over and check them out if you would like to Post without Joining. It's the easiest thing you can do. Not having to join means no sign-ups and no spam.

Now get on over there and post and watch your traffic spike.

This blog is officially crazy

I just wrote up a post about missing a game. When I went to spell check it, I got an error message. It eventually let me save it but when I went to publish it, the entire post was gone. I always have trouble with this blog. I don't know if it's a template glitch or what but I'm tired of it.

You don't buy collectible coins from the bank

One of my coworkers is extremely annoying. He's a Mr. Know-it-all. Then when you prove him wrong, he just says something like "well I could be wrong but..." I hate when he starts talking.

Today he was talking about buy collectible coins from the bank. At least 3 of us immediately corrected him to say that you don't buy new dollar coins at the bank. 1 person goes to a coin dealer. I look on the CSN shopping channel. You can find a wide variety of coins at huge discounts over a dealer. Besides that, I can watch them on tv or go to their website to check out the products before hand. If I don't like a product, I can always send it back. You sure can't do that with a dealer.

Maybe now that he's been proven wrong, he'll be quiet. Somehow I doubt it though.

The buses are not striking

At least not yet they aren't. But the way people are in panic mode, you would think that they were going on strike tomorrow. I think some people are gonna lose their minds over this potential strike.

As for me, I just think the union is playing hardball. Who knows really? I just wish they would come to an agreement and shut up already.

Good games never come on tv

Last night the Cubs and Brewers were on. I don't like either team. On FSN the Pirates were playing the Dodgers. Ditto to the last game. Then there were a bunch of good games like the Rays vs the Red Sox and the Mets vs the Nationals. I would have loved to have seen either of those games.

Sometimes I wonder how they determine the schedule cause they sure have been putting on some sucky games lately.

Changing phone services

I use a regular phone company for my small business. My bill is over $30 per month with no additional features. That doesn't sound like a bad price but when you consider that I don't have any extras, it's extremely high. I'm thinking of switching to VoIP phone systems for the benefits and features that they offer.

They offer plug and play phones anywhere you get broadband. I can also reroute my extension and voicemail. I would have total control over my phone and features which is really important when you own your own business. Anyone who saves me money but doesn't cut features works for me.

What channel is this?!?!

The cable company changed the line-up recently. They took off some of the channels that I really like to watch and put them on the higher tier digital package. Of course that means more money to get that package. Now we have a few channels that show mostly infomercials all day. Great snatch the good channels and give us junk.

This blog is officially crazy

I just wrote up a post about missing a game. When I went to spell check it, I got an error message. It eventually let me save it but when I went to publish it, the entire post was gone. I always have trouble with this blog. I don't know if it's a template glitch or what but I'm tired of it.

I missed the game

I can't believe this. They haven't shown a Yankees game on tv in almost 3 weeks. The last one they were supposed to show was rained out. A game is on right now and I slept through it. Yeah the Yanks are winning, which is usually what happens when I miss a game.

Who cares about these teams?

Yeah I know I'm biased because I'm a Yankees fan. I also like the Phillies. So who's on tv today? The Cubs and Brewers. I hate the Brewers and I'm ambivalent towards the Cubs. It's a nice story that they're doing well but I don't really care.

I never thought I would rather see a Rays vs Red Sox game.

I could go to a baseball game

This is the last week of baseball at home here in Pittsburgh. The rest of the games are on the road. I can go to premiumseatsusa.com to get good seats. Everything from Pirates to Miami Heat tickets are available. They make sure you get the best seats available to sporting events, concerts and Vegas shows. Now you know that's right up my alley since I love Vegas.

Instead of worrying about the Pirates, I should try to get tickets to Yankees Stadium for their last home stand before the stadium closes for good. Hmmm, now that's a good idea now that I think about it.

I'm glad my cable is back on

My cable has been off for two days. It finally came back on last night. I thought I would go crazy without it. I don't think there was anything really good on tv but it drove me crazy that I couldn't watch it.

I hope that doesn't happen again.

What costume are you gonna wear for Halloween?

It's hard to believe that it's already time to dress up for Halloween. I haven't dressed up the past couple of years but I think I'm going to dress up this year. I haven't exactly figured out what I want to dress as yet though. I've been looking at different Costumes but I'm still not sure yet. I'm looking towards Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Wonder Woman is really my first choice, but I'm not in shape to put on that costume. I'm not even gonna go outside and embarrass myself like that. I could be a nurse since a lot of people love that outfit.

What are you wearing this year?

I wish we could do this season over

All of my baseball teams are sucking this year. At least the Phillies are still in the playoff race. I wish they definitely had a spot though so they could rest some of the starters. The Yankees super stink this year. They are getting some individual accolades but they won't make the playoffs. Not unless they win every game and all of the competitors lose every game. Well all know that's not likely.

I guess I have to go with the losers mantra of "There's always next year".

I'm not the only one that gets lost

My coworker was supposed to go to her son's football game this past weekend. She made it at half-time because she got lost on her way there. If she had a live GPS Tracking device, she would have been there before the start of the game. The device is live so she could have had her son carry it and then just follow the signal to the game.

I bet she's thinking of getting one before the next home game.

Everything is cancelled

Hurricane Ike is creating havoc everywhere. 6 baseball games were postponed or cancelled. Most were re-scheduled for Saturday as double-headers. They also cancelled a bunch of college football games.

I'm really surprised at how strong the winds and rain from this storm are. It's "only" a category 2 storm right now but it's going to get much worse.

I hope everybody stays safe!

Please don't let me get sick

I woke up this morning very stuffy and congested. It's been cool here and I've had my windows open. It's actually been quite chilly in my apartment in fact. Now I think I'm paying for it. I know it's nothing serious like Acute Sinusitis but you can never be too careful. Last year I thought I had a bad cold and I found out later that I had walking pneumonia. Not fun!

The worse part of being sick is that the doctors prescribe all of these different medications for each symptom. Most of them use epocrates.com to see what medicine cures what ailment. I also want them to make sure that the drugs they prescribe won't interact with each other. No nasty side effects for me thank you very much.

I know that doctors aren't perfect and they sometimes need help too. And I'm not so impatient that I can't wait a minute or two while they look something up. I want them to get it right the first time.

Now to find some tea or something until my appointment this afternoon.

This announcement was paid for by Epocrates.

I'm not really into sports this year

I don't know why. I love baseball and football but I haven't really watched either one lately. I guess maybe it's because they Yankees aren't doing well and the Phillies are still fighting to get into the playoffs. I also don't get to worked up over pre-season football.

This week there's a Sunday night game. Maybe I'll get hyped up watching that. I sure hope so. I feel like a have a huge sports hangover!

Winning a trip is right up my alley

I love to travel but it gets very expensive. So when I saw this opportunity I was super excited. I always enter to win trips whenever I see them. Alas it's for Canadian residents only. So if you live in Canada enter to Win a trip to Atlanta Georgia. You also need 500 Coke coins to enter. It's to celebrate John Pemberton who is the inventor of Coca Cola. Can you believe he created Coke way back in 1886?

I have pretty good luck entering to win trips. I've won 2 even though I had to give 1 up because of school. I would definitely enter this contest if I was eligible. I never thought I'd be jealous that I didn't live in Canada before!

I should have gotten water for the reunion

Can you believe that no-one thought to buy bottles of water? I thought of it but I didn't drive so I was at the mercy of someone elses car. We did have some soda but it wasn't enough. We ran out of that really quickly.

I know the next time to just say I'm bringing cases of water and/or soda.

It's almost time for the reunion

The family reunion is this Saturday and I still have no idea what I'm taking. Everyone is supposed to bring a side dish that will feed at least 25 people. There's estimated to be over 200 people in attendance. I'm leaving Pittsburgh on Friday and flying to New Jersey so I won't be taking anything with me. That means I'll have to cook once I get there.

Maybe I'll run to the store and grab a few cases of water. Cooking is so not my thing.

Are you looking for a better weight loss program?

I've written a lot about weight loss because I'm really trying to lose a few pounds. Ok well more than a few, more like 25 or 30 - maybe more. I've gained a lot of weight and I'm trying to get it off. I don't like the way it feels but more importantly I don't like the way it looks. It looks gross to me. I said to a coworker last week that I was fat which she disagrees with. I may not be fat but I am overweight by my standards.

So what could possibly be a better weight loss program? I'm talking even better than Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers both? It's a new so-called idiot proof diet by the fat loss guru. They have a guaranteed fat burning diet generator with a ultimate diet handbook. Follow the diet and use the book and the weight should melt off. Now that's good news to me.

I really want to lose this weight and fast. I'm getting older which makes it harder to lose weight but there are other reasons besides vanity. There are so many illnesses associated with being overweight. Everything from diabetes to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. You can also combat adrenal fatigue and hormonal changes.

Did you know that everyone uses the meat and veggie diet to lose weight but it's actually good for diabetes? You cut out the starches and eat more protein and lots of veggies. It stabilizes your blood sugar which means less insulin dependence. You won't have those nasty shots anymore. You also don't have to worry about your blood sugar "dropping" and crashing. Which leads to running and eating or grabbing candy and all of that other jazz.

Lose that weight now. You will not only look better, but you will feel better too. And you can improve your health. A total win win situation.

Work stinks today

I never have fun at work anymore. Everyone is so stressed out. We've recently implemented this new way to get the work done but it's not working. It's created a bottleneck and the work sits for days at a time.

Now everyone has people breathing down their necks to get everything done and it stinks! This is a toxic environment and I'm glad that I can leave in a month.

There's a new e-diet program for women

I really need to lose weight. I've been working on it for the past few months and I have lost a few pounds. Now there's a new e-diet program for woman where I can Get A BalanceD Diet Now! That's exactly what I need. Women have totally different dietary needs than men. We gain and lose weight in a different manner and at different rates.

From custom meal plans, to online motivational tools, goal tracking and fitness logs, there's something for everyone. With Diet Center franchises all over the country, there's bound to be one nearby.

Let's all get healthy!

This is post 501

Whoop! Usually you make a big deal with your milestone post ie. #500. But I didn't realize I had made that many posts until just now when I looked at my blogger dashboard. This blog has come a long way. I hope to clean it up a bit and make it spiffier in the coming months.

Here's to making it to 1000 posts!

It's inspection time

I can't believe I've already had my car for one year. Well 10 months to be exact. It's already time to have it inspected. I don't need to have auto body repair work done this time. The dents and scratches in the car will just have to stay there until I'm done with school.

Now if the car starts to rust where the scratches are, then I'll run out and have my auto fixed. But until then, the car is staying as-is.

I would forget my head if it wasn't attached

I forgot everything today. I didn't bring my lunch or more milk for my cereal. Luckily I had a lunch here so I won't have to buy anything from outside. I forgot my class and my books so I have to go home before I go to school.

Today is not shaping up to be a good day.

People are already buying Christmas stuff?

I was talking to a coworker last week and she was complaining because Halloween stuff is already in the stores. I thought that was crazy until I heard that some stores already have their Christmas stuff coming in. I knew it would come in early but I figured it would be at the end of September, not in August.

I don't worry about what I'm going to buy people for Christmas. I just wait until places like blackfridayscans.com put up the sales flyers for Black Friday sales. Then I decide what to get people depending upon what's on sale. I don't play full price for anything if I don't have to and that includes Christmas presents.

That doesn't mean that I'm a cheap skate or that I buy people crappy gifts either. I get most of my family pretty nice gifts actually. I just don't pay a lot for them. There's a art and a science to getting deals and I'm all over it. I guess when you don't have a lot of money to spend you learn how to look for the best deals.

The site www.blackfridayscans.com puts the sales flyers up before they hit the newspapers. So you can see what's on sale and make a action plan as to what to get and from where. If you don't want to constantly check the site, you can sign up for their email alerts and they will let you know when the deals have been posted. That's a cool feature because who really has time to keep looking to see if things have been posted or not? I know I sure don't.

I know I'm not looking forward to buying presents this year. All of my cousins have grown up and I can't get away with kiddie toys and baby dolls anymore. But you can best believe I won't pay through the nose for the presents I do get.

Crappy day

Today (yesterday actually) was pretty crappy! I didn't do anything special except go to the grocery store at midnight! Who really goes to the store that late? I was on my way home but I decided to stop at the store first. I grabbed my groceries and came home.

That's about it. Hopefully this weekend will be better.

Who have you found on Facebook?

You do know what Facebook is right? It's the hipper cooler new social networking site. It first swept through college campuses as the college student alternative to MySpace. Then it branched it caught on with everyone like wildfire.

Browsing today I found the profile of actor Amos Tamam. Here's his bio:
Overview
Date of Birth:
6 September 1977, Tel Aviv, Israel more
Filmography


Actor:

1. "Srugim" (2008) TV series .... Amir
2. Giborim Ktanim (2006) .... Police Officer
... aka Little Heroes (USA)
3. Shalosh Ima'ot (2006)
... aka Three Mothers (International: English title)
4. "Shir Shelanu, Ha-" (2004) TV series .... Yariv Arad (unknown episodes, 2004-2005)
... aka Our Song (International: English title)

Man if I were an actress or even in show biz, I would definitely be one his contacts. Hey it's not what you know, but who ya know.

The family reunion is soon

People are losing their minds. Nobody has a car and everybody needs a ride. Of course they all waited until the last minute to say that they didn't have a ride. One cousin in particular is expecting my uncle to rent a van to transport her family. She's not planning on taking any money out of her pocket. She's the ultimate in selfish.

I was going to fly but now I'm not sure. We may need my car since no one else has one.

Having fun on vacation

Yeah it's almost over but I did have fun. I went away for a few days just to relax. I went where there were a lot of single people and boy did I feel like I was in the Ultimate Flirting Championship or something. It was so much fun though.

Guys were complimenting me on my hair like I had gotten a Extreme Style by VO5 done before I left. I really just went and got a haircut. Nothing more or nothing less. I didn't even have my super sexy Victory Hair going on or anything. I took jeans and sneakers because I wasn't planning on meeting anyone but I was wrong.

Click on the widget and play the game and see if the lines work for you. They do work! Usually because they're so corny that it makes you smile and talk to the person. If I never hear "What's your sign?" or any of those other lines, that would be fine with me.

Vacation is almost over

Bummer! Just when I started to really get into the groove, it's almost over. I hate only having 2 weeks vacation. You have to take 1 week and then I break up the second week into days. It really stinks though because if you take 2 days off for a long weekend trip, you use up those days quickly.

I hope my next job offers more vacation days.

Protect yourself from carpal tunnel syndrome

I work in accounting now which isn't as bad as my last company. I did data entry at that job. It was easy work but it was boring. It was the same repetitive motion day in and day out. There is a certain way to hold your wrists so that you don't risk the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome. Most people don't do it however because it's not a natural motion to hold your hands like that. I did find a way to get carpal tunnel relief though. It's called the smart glove.

The smart glove is awesome because it makes everything you do natural. You don't have any unnatural motions or cumbersome products. In my previous job it would have helped tremendously. Now I can use when I do my blogging. Blogging can be hard work. It all depends on how many times per day your update and how many blogs you have. You could conceivably write and publish 3 or more posts per day. Some days I publish 6 posts in 1 day. That's a lot of writing.

Did I mention that I still write. Yeah I'm still writing my short stories. I don't put them on paper as much as I used to but I'm still writing. When I lost everything on my computer I got discouraged and stopped writing for a while. I recently started writing again so now I use a computer for work, blogging and my short stories.

I had better use something to protect my wrists and stave off carpal tunnel. I need to write to make a living.

I hate huge pictures

Sometimes I put pictures in my posts. I don't do it often because I don't always like the way they look. Most of the time they're way too big and they look ugly on your blog. Usually I'll just leave them for a while and then I'll delete them at a later date.

I hate those monstrosities on my pages.

Flying will be so uncomfortable

I'm a little overweight and this weight is so hard to get off. I've been watching what I eat and exercising like crazy. I think we all know that the weight doesn't come off as fast as it goes on. I've considered weight loss surgery if this weight doesn't come off soon. Those airline seats are made for a smaller size so I know I'll be squeezed in.

Not good.

Drive or fly?

I don't know how I'm getting to my family reunion. John and I was supposed to go together but he's not going. I can't drive that far by myself without missing most of the picnic. I'm not a good long distance driver so I would take a really long time. I could fly but then I won't have a car once I get there. The bus is out of the question because that ride is way too long.

I guess I have a few days to decide.

I sure hope we have shrimp kabobs

Our family reunion is the weekend of Labor Day. The family has been having fund-raisers all year in order to be able to pay for it. All we have to do is bring side dishes. All of the main courses will be provided. Two of my uncles will be running the grills with all types of hot dogs, burgers, ribs and of course chicken. I'll probably have ribs first because we all know they're the first thing to go.

I hope we have shrimp kabobs too. My uncle makes a mean kabob even though he doesn't put everything I like on it. He cooks like he's in one of those Cook off's he's always entering. Like the great American seafood cook off. I'm not a big seafood eater but I will eat shrimp.

I don't think he's even won although he's always excited to enter. He loves sharing recipes with people that they would have never thought of. I can't wait to get there to see what he comes up with.

Oh the kabob recipe. It's just shrimp, sausage, onions, peppers and tomatoes on a skewer. Really plain but it's the spices that he uses. I know he marinades the meat in alcohol and then uses seafood spices. I'm just not sure exactly which spices he uses.

I can't wait to get there and eat now.

There is no good music on the radio

I don't like most of the music on the radio now. I do have a few exceptions but for the most part I'm bored with music. Everyone and everything sounds the same. There's no originality. When you do hear something halfway original - it's the dumbest song ever!

I'll be glad when someone finally breaks out.

Have you uploaded videos on Viddiction.com?

I had never even heard of viddiction until recently. I'm really excited about using the site though. It's a video upload site but better than the one you're thinking of. I went to the site and there were a ton of videos to watch. I never upload videos myself, I just watch what other people put up. Anyway the first video that caught my attention was the "fake lottery ticket". I didn't want to watch it because I thought it was mean. I'm a gambler and a lottery ticket buyer so this kind of joke would easily fool me. I eventually watched the video and it was funny.

The reason I say it's better than that other site is because of the incentives that they offer you. The best incentive is cash for videos that you upload. You upload your video and then get people to watch it. That's it. The more people that visit your video and rate it, the more points you earn. The person at the end of the month with the most points wins. Anywhere from $50-$500 per month. The best part about it is that you can upload as many videos as you want. And you can win multiple times. Imagine winning every month with different videos.

Go to the site and watch all the great videos. Then upload your own video and win cash!

Looking for work

John is looking for a new job. He's not trying to leave his full-time job, he's just looking for something part-time. Maybe 3 or 4 days per week. I don't know if now is the best time to be looking for work but I'm glad he's not out in this tight job market looking for a regular job.

I hope he finds something soon.

Doctor on the run

John had surgery today. His eyes keeps swelling up and he didn't know why. They told him it was because excess oil was on his eye causing a sty. No matter what he did, the sty just wouldn't go away. They decided that they would cut it out today.

The doctor was all over seeing patients. He probably had to use his medical reference software by Epocrates Inc to check his patients drug coverage. He could use the software on his PDA or Smartphone to check other things like drug dosing or side effects. Of course the doctor could also access the information from his desktop computer.

John is now in pain from the surgery. I hope the doctor used that software to find him a good pain reliever.

This announcement was paid for by Epocrates.

I'm starting to write again

I've started my short stories again. Luckily for me I write a lot of stuff down. Quite a few of the ideas that I had for my short stories are written in a tablet that I still have. While I won't be able to re-write what I had written exactly, I'll be able to get a good amount re-written.

That's good enough for now.

Vacationing in the UK

Most people don't think of going to the UK on holiday. For something different you can use Isle of Wight Holidays and visit the Isle of Wight. How many of your friends would be able to say that they've been there? There's nothing wrong with the normal London vacation. But going somewhere off of the beaten path is usually a great idea. You meet people you wouldn't have ordinarily met and you get to see a totally different way of life.

Another great motivator is that the place won't be over-run with tourists and you'll get a authentic experience. That's one of the best parts about travel, you get to see something that you usually don't see. Check out the site and get ready to pack your bags.

I didn't leave work early the other day

I thought I could leave work early one day this week. But I had my days mixed up. I get to leave early tomorrow. We have summer hours where we get to leave 1 hr early every other week. It's not much but I sure appreciate it. I have to stop by the store and buy a few things and I'll do that tomorrow.

I'm glad this week is almost over.

Can you give The Look?

You do know what "the look" is right? The expression refers to the look you give someone when you're flirting with them. You know what I mean...you tilt your head to the side and give the person you're interested in a sideways glance. It doesn't hurt to give them that shy almost bashful smile. Guys eat that up because they love shy women. They don't want you to be insecure or without confidence. But they don't want pushy women either. So you show them that soft, vunerable, "can you help me?" side.

The Extreme Style by VO5 is sponsoring the Ultimate Flirting Championship. If you think you have killer flirting skills, click on the widget below and enter yourself in the contest. You can even take a copy of my widget to put on your blog, my space page or wherever your friends visit. That way you can get your friends to enter without having them visit my blog. Hey I would love the visit but if it's better for you to have them go to your site, knock yourself out.

Why not invite your friends to a Ultimate Flirting Championship pose-off. You can all enter and see who has the best pose. Show off your best Victory Hair between your friends. Then you can see who has bragging rights and who really knows how to give "The Look".

I get to leave early today

I'm not even questioning it. I really don't care what the reason is. I just know that my manager told us that we get an hour to use one day this week. They don't want everyone to try and take Friday off so they've encouraged us to use another day. I picked today. Woohoo.

I need to get a good night's sleep

I haven't had a good night's sleep in over a week. I definitely need a new bed. My bed that I have now is over 6 years old. It wasn't a good mattress set in the first place but it was cheap. Now I'm looking for a good bed instead of trying to get something cheap. I've seen the new Takemi Jade Vista 5000 Massage Bed and it looks cool. It has a built in mp3 player so I can listen to music while I'm trying to relax and go to sleep.

One of the things I found out about the bed is that it can reach the major organs and deep muscle tissue more effectively (LightSpeed) and safer than any other form of heat and light. This amazing light absorption level provides detoxification, moxibustion, and soothing relief all over the body from ailments. That in itself sounds heavenly.

If you need a good night's sleep (and who doesn't?!?!) you should really look into this bed.

Sending my clothes to the dry cleaners

I hate paying for dry cleaning. Most of my clothes don't need to be dry cleaned. I try to stick to cotton and cotton blend clothes that can be put in a washing machine. I also tend to stay away from linen and silk because they're so high maintenance.

I have this shirt that's red and white. There is no way I'm going to be able to wash that shirt even by itself and not have it run. I'll have to send that to the cleaners. I wish I had gotten the shirt in red with white trim.

Read about future stem cell research therapy

This is an adult subject matter for mature readers.

There is a future in therapy. Stem cell research therapy to be exact. It comes from testing the cells from menstrual blood. Take a look at the link at the bottom to read more about this topic. Or check out the following press release which will tell you all about the procedure and why it works.

Taking Control: Future Therapies for a Host of Serious Diseases May Be Found in Women's Menstrual Blood

July 07, 2008: 01:28 PM EST


OLDSMAR, Fla., July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With today’s hectic lifestyle, where most women are juggling careers, family, relationships, and a host of activities, the idea of possibly facing a serious illness in the future is not something that readily comes to mind -- especially when a woman is in the prime of her life. But what most women don’t know, is that the key to treating a number of possibly life-threatening diseases that she, a parent, a sibling or even her children may face in later years, such as osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, may be found within her own body -- in vital stem cells, which can now be harvested from her own menstrual blood.

Now, thanks to the revolutionary research and technology of C’elle, a service dedicated to providing women with a safe and easy method of collecting and preserving stem cells found in her menstrual fluid each month, even the busiest woman can take control of her future, right in the privacy of her own home. With C’elle’s non-invasive collection process, menstrual cells are processed and cryo-preserved (stored at a very low temperature) for potential cellular therapies that may be used in the future. These self-renewing cells one day may even be used for sports medicine or cosmeceutical treatments, such as anti-aging therapies.

"C’elle enables and empowers a woman to take control of her future health, and possibly of those genetically closest to her, in a fast, painless and stress free way," said Michelle Kay, Marketing and Sales Manager for C’elle. "We live in exciting times, as science and technology are discovering how extremely valuable menstrual blood stem cells really are, and the enormous treatment potential they represent for future therapies. C’elle’s ongoing research is supporting these promising findings."

For more information about C’elle, please call 1-877-892-3553 or visit www.celle.com.
Celle Client Testimonial

My short story

There is no progress. Actually it's going backwards. My computer crashed and I lost everything on my hard drive. I never backed up my files to my zip drive so I lost it all. I know I should have done a backup because that's the smart thing but it never crossed my mind to.

Now I have to start all over. I don't even know where to begin.

Buying glasses on the cheap

I need new glasses. I don't like spending a lot of money for them though. It doesn't matter to me whose name appears on my glasses, I'm not a name snob. Good thing I found zennioptical.com which sells glasses from only $8.00 per pair for prescription glasses. That's a steal! Since they sell all of their frames directly to the public, there is no middleman to profit. That means the savings get passed straight to the customer. Cool with me.

For $8.00 do I want to stop at one pair or do I want color coordinating glasses for every day? Decisions decisions.

Have a safe holiday

It's the 4th of July!!!!!!!! Enjoy spending time with your family and your bbq. Have a safe fun holiday. That means no drinking and driving people. Get a designated driver to take you where you need to go or take a cab! No being cheap with this one. I want to see you back here on July 5th!

Camo pants are everywhere

Everywhere I look all I see is camouflage pants. I've seen capris, jeans, and even skirts and hats. If I wanted tactical pants I would probably buy them from the police store. They look more authentic for one thing. They also fit me better. I'm not that tall but I have long legs so I need a longer length pant.

Most of the people wearing these pants are only into a fad. It's not like they ever served in the military or joined a police force or anything. Sometimes it looks really silly because they overdo it. I do love when the athletes wear them though. Actually I love anything the athletes wear.

I'm not getting Yankees tickets

The Yankees are coming next Thursday to play that make-up game. There were tickets available but not anymore. I went on the Pirates website today and the game is completely sold out. There aren't even any standing room only seats. Oh well, at least I got to see one of their games. I'm pretty happy about that.

Opening your own business

Lot's of people aspire to opening their own business. One of the ways to insure your success is to do something that you love as well as something that you're good at. If you like to do hair there is a great place for you. You can go to a cosmetology school like Regency beauty. They will train you as well as help place you doing hair for runway shows, on cruise ships and at top salons around the country.

A hair salon would be fairly easy to open too. You can start somewhere small like your home or rent a small space. With the great training that you'll receive from Regency, your only problem will be how many clients you could handle in one day.

The Yankees are coming back

The game last week was rained out so they'll be back in Pittsburgh on July 10th for 1 make-up game. I'll probably go to the game by myself. None of my friends like the Yankees or they're crying broke. I don't get to their games often enough so I'm not going to miss the opportunity if I can help it.

I'll have to watch baseball on tv

I can already tell that this whole summer will be pretty laid back. I probably won't go anywhere special at all. Gas prices suck and they're forcing lots of people to cancel their plans. Since I won't be able to travel to all of the games that I want to see, I'll probably watch them on tv.

That's one of the only reasons that I keep my cable is so I can watch baseball. I sure can't afford to go see too many games. It's way to expensive.

Searching for insurance

No not for me, for one of my family members. She lost her job and her benefits to go along with it. I don't think she much cares about the job, but the loss of benes is a killer. She needs health insurance if nothing else. She's not old enough for Medicare or the prescription drug coverage (Part D I think). She has anxiet disorder so she needs to find something quick. She's looking into several companies including United American Insurance Company among others. She wants something affordable but she also wants a company that she can rely on.

I'll be helping her this weekend look through brochures. We'll also call for quotes on Monday. That way we get to test out their customer service too. See I've got my thinking cap on.

Why family reunions are boring

I just talked about my family reunion being boring. One of my cousins who is going messaged me wanting to know why I thought it would be boring. First it's usually all of my older relatives and a bunch of kids under 5. The grandparents bring the kids while the parents hang out and do other stuff.

None of my family that's in my age range usually show up. So I just sit there bored out of my mind. If some of my other cousins tell me they're coming, then I'll go. Otherwise I'm not going either.

My cousin is looking for a car

My cousin is coming from North Carolina for the family reunion that I was just talking about in my previous post. He wants to go find used cars Wilmington, NC to drive to New Jersey. The majority of our family lives in NJ. My cousin and his family lives in North Carolina. My aunt and uncle who invited us live in Florida. Basically everyone else lives in NJ within a 15 mile radius.

I know why my cousin wants a car. He wants to buy something that will impress everyone. He's always been ultra competitive with everyone else and has to show us up. I just got my car so I'm not even in competition with him. I know he'll find something nice though, he has pretty good taste. I don't want to drive his car though but I will make him take me for a ride.

Family reunion's are so boring

My uncle has invited me to another family reunion. I usually find some way to get out of going to them. It's going to be mostly his side of the family with a few of my family members there. That's if they decide to go that is. They usually don't go either.

The only people that are guaranteed to show up are the ones that plan on mooching for food.

Another form of relaxation

I could go in the bathroom and take a nice hot bath. That will relax me and possibly make me fall asleep. I wish I had one of those walkin tubs that was longer and deeper than my tub. I just have a regular ordinary tub. I mean it works and that's all that should count right? A walkin tub would be so cool right now. They're so much rounder than what I have.

But a deep tub that provides a nice stimulating back rub would be great right now. I'm sure that I would fall asleep in the tub. I do have a back pillow and a good book to read.

Playing these stupid online games

I've gotten hooked on online games again. It happens every time one of my classes ends. I start playing the games to relax my mind and I get hooked. I don't even know the name of the game. It's a word puzzle where you put together as many words as you can in a short amount of time.

It's so much fun but I'm spending way too much time playing it.

Managing web projects with CollabTrak

Are you a web designer? Do you have clients that send you emails with project notes or attachments? Then you should Click Here to Visit CollabTRAK.com and sign up today. CollabTrak is a free online project tracker that allows for collaborations with free online chats, file management and the ability to send emails from CollabTrak.

SSL security is included and Paypal is set up in the system so your clients can pay you for your work. This is a great service for web designers. If you've been thinking about starting your own web design firm, check them out.

I guess I'll keep my books

My books this semester weren't all that expensive. I paid less than $45 for 1 text and 3 novels. The school doesn't buy books back in the summer in the middle of the semester. You have to wait until the end of summer to sell them for fall. Of course, they're not using those books in the fall so I'm stuck with them.

Maybe I'll read the one book that I never did read.

Precious metal investments

Gold and silver are great hedges against inflation. While inflation is increasing at an alarming rate and everything from gas to food prices are soaring, so is the value of silver and other metals. The demand for silver is higher than annual production and has been since 1990. Above ground stockpiles are being depleted and are reaching zero. That means it's a great time to buy and hold. Once silver becomes scarce, the price will go through the roof. Guess who will benefit? The people that are holding it as investments of course.

You can buy or sell silver through Monex Deposit Company. They will even hold the silver for you in ingot or coin form.

Today is the day

The day I'm done with school that is. I can't wait. I'm not exactly happy about taking exams but anything to be done with this class. It's so much work that I've been going crazy. Some of my class-mates have 2 or more classes but most of them don't work either.

The best part is that my grade should be no lower than a B and I'm cool with that.

Another quiz

We have another quiz today. I did read the book that the quiz is based on but I did not write my essay questions out in advance. Once she gives us the question to answer, I'll have to make up the answer on the fly. I wanted to be able to give a few examples from the book so I'll skim through it before I get to class.

Doing my health related research

Before I get anything done I'm going to do my due diligence as far as research. There are tons of lap band physicians out there but some of them are much more experienced than other doctors. For some procedures you don't mind a young doctor. With something as detailed as lap band, I want someone old with a lot of experience. I don't want to be the first patient. I want the doctor to have done this on plenty of other people.

I always check up on my doctors before I use them. I can't just use any doctor.

Is the day over yet?

I am so tired right now. I feel like I'm about to fall asleep here at my desk. I've had caffeine and I've walked around outside trying to get fresh air. Nothing is working. I need to wake up because I have to be at school at 6pm and I have a test. No missing today's class for me.

I hate days like this.

Splurging on me

Sometimes you just want to splurge on something for yourself. Something nice that you wouldn't ordinarily consider. Like a nice iwc watch or even a great pair of earrings. I like the watch but I'm not a watch person. I generally use my cell phone to tell the time. I don't know why. I guess it's because I would rather buy great jewelry instead.

As far as jewelry goes, I'm really a traditional kind of girl. It's usually diamond studs for me. But browsing around this website I see all kinds awesome earrings. They're really out of my price range or a range that would make me feel comfortable. But that's why they call it a splurge. It's something that you wouldn't ordinarily buy but you saw it and it was fabulous!

I've decided that I would rather splurge once in a blue moon on a great piece of jewelry than buy inferior jewelry more often. For instance, I saw this great 18k gold bangle bracelet that I really like. I won't even look at 14k jewelry anymore. I like the richness and beauty of 18kt. My last pair of diamond studs are 18kt even though they're small (1/4 carat). I would really like to amp those up to 1/2 - 1 carat. But as they saw, all good things to those that wait.

I think everybody should splurge on themselves once in a while.

Blogger enhancements

So I've been reading about the great new things you can do with blogger. Unfortunately, I haven't seen them yet. I guess you should be able to publish posts in the future like you do with Wordpress. That's great, except I don't see that option on my dashboard. I really get tired of all of the hype when I can't find the results!

I'm still in the class

I couldn't get out of my history class. It's just so much work that it's unbelievable. When I tell everyone about it, they think I'm exaggerating. Then I show them the class syllabus and they see what I mean. I decided that I would rather just get the history requirement out of the way. There is a class that I would rather take but it's not offered in the fall. I don't want to take the chance that it's not offered in the spring either.

Hopefully these next 6 weeks will go by quickly.

Get help with submitting paid articles

Do you write paid content? Are you looking for a source to pay you for what you write? If so I have a site for you to check out. The site is looking for people who want to Get Paid For Writing. Some of the things they go over is keyword submission and what type of content to write. Of course everything you submit must be original and written in English.

Check the site out and you could get paid to submit articles.

Random work vent

I don't really like my new job that much. They don't really give you proper training then they just throw you to the wolves to get stuff done. 2 weeks ago my work leader pulled me and another girl into the office to ask us if we wanted to work on this special project. That's in addition to doing our regular work. We both said yes because it will be something different and keep us busy.

Hopefully they'll give us better training for this.

My weight loss measures need tweaking

After I finish school next year I'm moving to Florida so I need to get this show on the road as far as loosing weight goes. I want to be "beach-ready" when I get there. I don't expect to be model thin but I do want a good bit of weight to come off. I may consider weight loss tampa since it's not as harsh of a procedure compared to regular tummy-tucks and liposuction.

I need this ball rolling and this fat rolling off!

Summer classes suck!

My new class sucks! I mean it really sucks. It's really bad. I have to wait until tomorrow to see if I can drop it and pick up something else. If not, then I have to take 2 classes in the fall and 2 in the spring. This class is a lot of work, which is not a problem. But it's boring as all get back. It's a history class and not one that I'm even remotely interested in.

Hopefully I can get out of it. If not, I guess I'll just have to suck it up and take it.

Everything is going up

I can't believe the price of everything is increasing! That includes food, utilities and personal items. It's all being blamed on the price of crude oil. The stock market is teeter-tottering along trying to hold on for the ride. People don't feel like they have money to spend, so stores have lower sales than expected and the stock price tanks. Lather, rinse and repeat.

The economy is not looking good right now. It's times like these when it pays to make sure your portfolio is diversified. Buying gold coins would be an excellent way to round out your asset portfolio. Coins are portable so you can handle them yourself. Or you can have a a company like Monex hold the coins for you. Gold recently went over $1000 an ounce. What if you had bought ingots or gold bars and had them in storage. Now imagine that you had bought them regularly. Just imagine how much they would be worth right now.

It pays to diversify and times like this make you glad you did.

The writers strike really messed up tv

Television sucks ever since the writers came back. Almost every show was on hiatus because they didn't have any writers. Now they've come back but some of the shows are still in repeats. Other shows are showing new episodes but they just plain stink!

I'll be glad when the summer action shows start up. Especially Burn Notice, I love that show.

Phone musings

I get a lot of phone calls at home. Most of them are sales calls which I hate. I realize that people have jobs to do but I dislike being contacted by strangers. I added my name to the National No Call Registry years ago. I know it expires every few years so it's time for me to call and update my information.

I very seldom use my landline though. I mostly use if for computing purposes. I use my cell phone for everyday usage. I found that the Reverse Cell Phone Lookup service is very useful for me. Someone must have just got rid of their cellphone because as soon as I got the number, I got her calls all of the time. I want to make sure some of those calls aren't mine though. So I look up the number just to make sure.

You never know who's calling, and I want to make sure I'm not missing anything important.

No more jokes

I'm still posting on this blog. My plan is to develop specific features for each blog. I've taken the jokes off of this blog and I'm putting them on my other blog. I need something to take it's place but I haven't decided what yet. I'll mull it over and update this post within the next 2 weeks or so.

Finding readers

One of the trickiest things in blogging is finding readers. Before you worry about anything else, you have to figure out how to get readers to your blog. If you join a site like Blogger Search, you connect with other bloggers who you can convert into readers. You can also find advertisers if that's something you're interested in.

Join the site and find some new readers today.

Learning new things at work

I still haven't learned the new work that I'm supposed to. They did give me one of the harder accounts today but I expect that the person that submitted it is going to come back and say that they submitted the wrong form. If I don't need what they requested, that makes it an easier account.

I'm kinda hoping that it's an error.

I don't have anything to do

I'm sitting here at work bored - again! I don't have anything to do right now. I have a few odds and ends that I can work on but nothing to keep me busy. If I went through and did everything I could possibly do, I'd be done in less than an hour. We won't have any more work come in until at least noon. Hopefully then I'll get swamped.

I would much rather be extremely busy rather really slow.

Social networking for UFO aficionados

Surfing the net, you can find people that are interested in pretty much anything. Math, science, video games...you name it, there's a group interested in it. If you're looking for a new network about paranormal sightings, you should really check out this site.

There's more than X-File conspiracy theorists here. There are people that make their living studying paranormal activities. You can meet new people while sharing your love of all things supernatural. Check it out and see for yourself. The worse thing that can happen is you make some new friends and find out that UFO's really exist. Or do they? Cue Twilight Zone music while you click on the link.

Buying video games

I can't believe John is saving money to buy video games. He's really serious about it too. He put himself on a strict budget so he can get his games. That means no eating out and no junk food for 2-3 weeks.

I wonder if he will really do it.

Need readers?

Who doesn't? Everybody needs readers. It's good to have people validate what you've written. They leave comments and write emails asking questions. It's always a good feeling to know that people are reading your stuff and interacting with you.

I found a new site where I can meet new people. We can chat, look at each others pictures, and join groups. You too can join any number of community sites. If meeting new people is not your thing, just think of the readers you can gain.

No more jokes

Not on this blog anyway. My jokes will be on my other blog from now on. I'm trying to drive more traffic for that blog and my jokes are my version of a meme. I don't do the regular meme's that everyone else does, I've made my own. They will only be on 2 days instead of everyday.

1 is my jokes and the other is my Friday five. I hope you enjoy the new features on my blog and I hope you keep reading this blog.

Renting a car on vacation

John and I are planning a short vacation for this summer. Since my car is running horribly, we're planning on renting a car. We haven't decided exactly where we're going but it's nice to know that if we wanted to we could rent a car in israel. That goes for any other city or country that Avis services.

It's really easy to use their system to rent a car over the internet. That way we can get the best rate while using a reputable company. Travelling overseas can be stressful enough, anything to lessen that stress is a plus in my book. We're travelling over the summer holiday seasons so we're going to try to get a promotional rate to keep our costs down.

We don't know exactly where we're going right now. I guess we need to get ourselves in gear and start planning.

I need some time off

I have so much to do in the next few weeks. I have to register for the fall and for another summer class. The class I originally had is closed due to lack of enrollment. There is only one other class that I even remotely want to take. I just hope it's still open. Summer classes stink!

I'll be shopping this weekend

Check out that chair. It looks so comfy. It would be perfect for John's living room. We need to go out and furnish his whole apartment. I can't believe he gave away all of his furniture when he moved out of his last apartment so he needs everything. I saw some great office furniture that would fit perfectly with his apartment's theme. His colors seem to be black and cream with a little bit of burgundy thrown in.

I guess we'll be spending all day Saturday surfing the net to get the best deal.

I need new headphones

The other day I said that I borrowed my boyfriends headphones to listen to at work. I gave his back when I brought mine in. I need new ones though. The ones I have go in your ear and they're killing me. I'm not used to wearing them. It might be because they're cheap (.99 special at WalMart), I'm not sure. I also need new headphones for my IPOD. I have one of the old shuffles and the headphones are frayed right at the point where they connect into the device.

I still hear fine out of them but I don't want to put them in one day and they short out. I would go crazy on the ride home with no music.

There is nothing on tv today

Maybe because it's Sunday, but there is nothing at all on tv. We've been watching reruns of Cops all day. It's funny watching some of the things that people get arrested for. On one of the shows that I watched today, one of the suspects had one of those Blackhawk holsters on his hip. When the police asked where the gun was, he tried to act dumb. Until the cops came back and showed him where he had dumped it. It turns out that he had a rap sheet and wasn't allowed to have a gun. Needless to say, he went to jail.

At least baseball season is starting so there will be games on soon.

I borrowed my boyfriends headphones

I had better not forget to take these things with me at the end of the day. He uses the headphones to play his PSP game. Sometimes he uses it for the other game. I think it's a Nintendo DS. Anyway that keeps the sound from annoying other people (namely me).

He just moved into a new apartment and it's mostly older people in that building. He will play his games late into the night so he doesn't want to disturb them. Can you imagine waking up at 10pm and hearing "blip blip blip bloop"?!?! I told him to send me a text message so I don't leave the headphones at work.

I'll have to remember to slip mine into my bag tonight.

What do you mean I have to write a paper to graduate?

I knew you had to write a paper in order to get your Master's Degree but this is for a bachelor's. Since I'm going to school under my old program, I don't have to take a lot of the requirements that new students have to meet. For instance, I don't need a research practicum class which is a big deal in my major. My advisor and the department chair have decided that once I meet all of my requirements, they want me to write a paper in order for my graduation application to be approved.

I guess it's a good thing that I don't have to take some of those classes. But writing a paper is a nightmare for me. I can blog all day long, but writing a school paper is another matter. One of my classmates recommended a site where I can get help with my paper. They have sample research papers, term papers and book reports. It's not even about copying a paper, it's just to show you what other students have written to give you ideas with your paper. The site even discourages you copying a paper.

I can go to this site, sign up and look around to get ideas for my paper. They even make it easy to cancel the service once I'm done with school. Since I still need 4 classes and can only take 1 at a time, I have a while to use the service. If you're still in school or going back to school, sign up and get help with your papers. With over 100,000 papers on every topic, you're sure to find what you need.

I feel bad for my old coworker

We work for the same company but he works in my old department. He had a ton of work to do since they're short-staffed. I did mention that my old department isn't replacing me yet right? No, well they're not. They're going to try to hold out until August or September.

Not only does he have a lot to do, but one project that he's working on is starting today. He had the work but he couldn't do anything with it. Now he's swamped. Maybe I'll send him a email to cheer him up.

I wonder if my insurance covers weight loss

I know my insurance does cover weight loss if it's medically necessary. But what if it's just cosmetic? I'm overweight but I'm not obese. I don't know if surgery would be something for me to consider or not. If my insurance covers it, I would be more likely to get it done. Especially since lap-band surgery is adjustable and reversible. Somewhere that puts my comfort first is the kind of place for me.

Jokes

I will resume with the joke of the week shortly. I don't know if it will be this week or next week but I will try to incorporate it back into my blog. I've been extremely busy with my new job and I haven't had as much free time as I'm used to. Hopefully within the next week or so I will be back on the ball.

This market is driving me crazy

It's really hard to invest right now. You don't know whether stocks are going up or down. While that's usually the case, the swings are much larger now. With investment money now may be a good time to look into rare gold coins for your portfolio.

Gold is at an all-time high. There was an article in our local paper where people are getting over $1k per ounce of gold. People are taking in every scrap of gold that they have to get money and they're walking out of the stores with big checks. Gold and silver have always been hedges against inflation but now may be a better time than ever to invest. Monaco Rare Coin will help you invest in scarce coins. While a company like Monex could have you invest in bullion, coins or ingots.

I just wish I had invested in gold a few years ago. I would be sitting pretty right about now.

This was the most boring weekend

I didn't do anything this past weekend. All I did was sit in the house. On Saturday I did a little shopping. John had a interview Saturday morning and started his new job on Sunday so there was nothing planned. We did go out and buy food for work but that's about it. I think our next few months will be pretty laid back and boring.

Shopping for new furniture

John is moving into a new apartment soon. When he moved in with his ex-girlfriend he gave up all of his furniture. Now he's moving on Monday and he needs furniture. He needs everything from bedroom furniture to living room furniture. He also needs a new computer desk and chair. We were looking for beds and we found this website OvernightMattress.com/Real-Reviews while we were comparing costs.

We found out that we can buy a foam memory mattress online 2-3 times less than buying it in the store. This manufacturer just started selling their mattresses direct with free overnight shipping. We're really looking at this company so we can save money. Buying enough furniture to furnish a whole apartment is pretty expensive. And we really can't afford that right now.

I'm super busy lately

I've been going crazy lately. My job has me training multiple people which is not usually that bad. Except I still have to get my regular work done so I'm not getting everything done. By the time I go home, I'm just tired.

Then John and I have been going to Ohio a lot lately. Mostly just to have something to do. It's less than an hour away depending on where you go. Steubenville is about 45 minutes and Cleveland is about 2 1/2 hours away. I don't think I'll be doing any more travelling anytime soon though. I have to put out a ton of money for my car.

Happy Leap Year!

I don't update this blog like I should but I just had to write something today. Today is February 29th. Something that only happens once every 4 years. It's so odd to hear that people are born on this day, but you know it happens. The rapper Ja-Rule is celebrating his birthday today. My bosses son is also celebrating his birthday.

I hope everybody enjoys this special day!

Adding more widgets

I don't want my blogs to be over-widgetized. I have at least 4 on every blog. But at what point does it become too many? I want them all to be relevant and things that people would consider clicking on. I have some widgets that get no action that I'm thinking of taking down but otherwise I like all of my widgets.

What about you? Do you like having multiple widgets on your blog?

Cutting back on junk food

I really need to cut back. I usually try to watch my portion sizes. If I eat chips or candy, I try to stay within 1 portion. Today I ate 2 servings of chips and 2 servings of candy. That doesn't include the peppermint candies that I ate. The worse part is that I don't feel bad (sick) after eating all of that.

I'll pay for it later though. No wonder I'm having trouble getting the rest of this weight off.

These short weeks really get to you

I do love having a 3 day weekend because of holidays. Then we only work 4 days for the work week. So why does it seem like those 4 days drag like crazy? I was so tired yesterday that I was in bed and asleep in less than 15 minutes. I'm pretty ok today. The day seems to be going fast too.

I just hope the rest of the week goes fast.

Looking for furniture?

The holiday weekend is always a good time to go furniture shopping. Almost every major furniture store has sales on everything from a sofa and loveseat to living room furniture and more. I saw a leather sectional couch on the site for $2500. That's about the same price as you would find in the store. Plus they have sales on the furniture making it an even better bargain.

If you're moving to a new home, you need everything from a kitchen set to a bed and everything in between. You can search online and find everything that you could possibly want or need. And you can do it from the comfort of your own home. You can't get more convenient than that.