Archive for the ‘Sponsors’ Category

Sleepy and way behind!

Thursday, April 5th, 2007

I’m feeling pretty unproductive today but that’s my own fault entirely. When I woke up this afternoon, all I really wanted to do is go back to bed. So…I did. I know there was a lot of work to get done but I put it on hold for the sake of catching up on much needed rest. That didn’t work out as planned though. I woke up around 6PM, starving – so I wound up having Baby bring me to the store to pick something up. Then I called home and let Dad know that I was going to be coming up on Saturday and leaving on Monday afternoon. He seemed OK with it but I’m almost positive that it’s a front.

Money is still coming in good, so I’m not too concerned about being able to handle things while I’m down here. I’ll be taking quite a few trips to Staples until the office is taken care of. I also know I’ll be doing quite a bit of shopping on BestBuy.com because I’d like to do a bit of updating as far as electronics go in the bedroom. Baby and I are interested in a larger TV as well as a Wii because he’s really interested in getting one.

I need furniture though, I was going to go through the company his mom works with. I’m sure she could get us some kind of an employee discount but I also know that the business has things on back-order from six months ago because they can’t afford to pay the vendors. Yea, her boss knows nothing about running a business. So the other alternatives would probably be either Overstock.com for the big things and maybe either Kmart or Target for everything else. I’m sure I’ll be able to find something, somewhere. As usual I’ll be using my trusty coupon site to be looking for the absolute best deals I can find.

I guess I should get my butt in gear and finish up some work, that’s the only way I’m going to be able to afford everything I need.

Shopping and Packing and Nerves…oh my!

Thursday, April 5th, 2007

We left here around 5:30 to head down to Georgetown and visit the oh-so-wonderful DMV. It actually went pretty quick, I think we were only there for about 20 minutes or so. That’s probably the shortest possible wait FOR a DMV. Every time I’ve gone to one in New York it’s taken at least 2 hours before you could even get to a teller, let alone leave.

After the trip we wound up at Wal-Mart getting some much-needed shopping done. I picked up some sandals because I’m getting sick of emptying sand out of my shoes when I go to the beach at night. I also loaded up on some more space bags. I should hopefully be set to go when I get up to New York as far as packing is concerned. Once I have my desktop I’m going to have to wipe out my hard drive on the laptop. I don’t really like the idea of having to do it but after a year of usage, plus almost killing it with disk-space usage before I got the external hard drive, there’s really no choice in the matter. I know for sure that I’m going to have to back up all of my fonts before I even consider wiping it out, thanks to font websites I’ve built up a database of over 3,000 fonts to keep my Photoshop looking spiffy. It would seriously suck to lose them all in the transfer.

Besides backing up fonts, I know that all programs (with no backup) and client files have to be moved to the external as well. A BIG move is Thunderbird because I honestly can’t afford to lose all my email. I’ve been working way too hard over the last few months in order to lose them. I just hope everything goes as planned.

I’m a tad-bit concerned about the reinstall though. The desktop was purchased without an operating system and since I paid for Windows with my laptop, I used the serial number from the laptop. Based on how I know Microsoft operates, I’m sure the serial number is now in their database as ‘used’ and I’ll have to make a phone call just to get it unlocked. I did pay for Windows either way, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. It’s not like I’m handing the disk out to friends, you know?

Bella is currently digging into my leg for attention so I guess I better take care of that before I get back to work. I’m about 4 hours behind at the moment and need to make that up before I go to sleep. I’m really getting sick of running on 4 hours of sleep (at most) these days. I wish I could just crash for 8 hours like normal people and enjoy the time in my dream world. Maybe after things settle down once I get the rest of my things down here, I’ll be able to relax a little bit more.

Something to look forward to…right?

Exposure

Wednesday, April 4th, 2007

PPPThroughout High School I was lucky enough to have a very musical group of friends. I went to a lot of local concerts, most of which were located at the “Rock Lobster”. Plenty of bands throwing around t-shirts, CD’s, DVD’s, buttons, bumper stickers, and everything else they could possibly put their name on for exposure. They all wanted to be discovered but only a few have really gotten anywhere. A dear friend of mine is currently touring the US with his band, it’s safe to say that out of everyone I saw at the Rock Lobster, they’re the only ones who actually got anywhere. Little did everyone else know, it’s pretty easy for them to be found. I came across a link today that was pretty interesting: Musicians Wanted at Music.com – Get Discovered.

Music.comThe best way to go to main-stream is really to start small and get yourself a following and then progress with time. The problem is, that following is mainly local crowds, you really do need a form of ‘wider exposure’. I think that the internet has played a huge role in a lot of bands making it big. If it weren’t for sites like Myspace Music, and even Music.com, no one would get to be introduced to excellent music, world wide. I think that it’s a great idea to get yourself plugged onto sites with high exposure, it can only help you out in the long run. It doesn’t matter what kind of exposure you’re getting – good or bad – it’s still going to be worth it in the end, as long as you take the steps needed to get your name out there.

Sponsored

Too much TV…

Wednesday, April 4th, 2007

So as you know I’m kind of a big fan of shows like Dr. 90210 and other plastic surgery based shows. It has nothing to do with the end effect, really…I just kind of like to see how far people will go just because they have enough money to fix something they’re to lazy to do on their own.

I’m watching a show right now where a woman with the absolute oddest nose I’ve ever seen is about go under the knife to get her long awaited rhinoplasty in Washington DC. The bump on her nose looks kind of like a traffic cone is sticking out of her face. She’s been teased about it since she was 9 years old and once she started working, she realized that her nose was getting in the way of her dreams. She strives to be a physical therapist but she feels as though she won’t be taken seriously because her nose ends “two feet away from her face” (in her words, not mine). For many years her mother thought that it would go away over time and considered it to be a “typical Jewish nose”, until she hit 13 years old it wasn’t really a problem. For the past 5 years she’s done everything she could to try and hide the bump. Long bangs, hats, etc. Nothing ever worked so now she’s going under the knife and finally doing something about it.

In situations like these, I can understand why she’s doing it. The issues I have with plastic surgery are things like “Lunch-time Lypo” where you can just get a few pockets of fat removed without being knocked out. They numb the area with a ‘local’ and then go from there. Why can’t they just do some sit-ups on their lunch breaks? What happened to people WORKING towards what they deserve instead of just throwing the gold card around on useless life-threatening surgeries.

I don’t like the idea of implants because, and plenty of women can vouch for this, there’s no reason to be so top heavy when all it brings is back problems. I’m only a large C/Small D and my back is extremely messed up because of the weight in my chest. Yea, my being a large girl to begin with plays a roll but it’s my shoulders that hurt more than my lower back. It’s the weight on the TOP causing that issue. There are girls who weigh 110lbs with DD implants who look absolutely ridiculous but men will continue to drool over them. I don’t know how confident one can be when they’re hunched over because their body can’t take the weight of something they chose to have implanted in there.

Bottom line, I guess I only agree with the surgery if there’s absolutely NO other alternative. For example; Say someone who weighs about 500lbs gets Gastric Bypass surgery. Since the weight has been on your body for so long, the skin is naturally stretched. The weight dropping off so quickly really gives you no time for the skin to reform itself. Because of this your body is covered in excess skin that can not be toned. In situations like these, getting the surgery to remove the skin seems completely natural. If, while you’re under the knife, you choose to have your nose chizled out and an implant or two thrown into yourself – then obviously that’s just a waste. Why re-stretch the skin that you just went in to get rid of — you know?

Your service sucks!

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007

Baby and I decided to go to dinner last night. I was in the mood to go to Applebee’s because of my addiction to their Three Cheese Chicken Penne, he’s also a sucker for their Buffalo Wings but he had another place in mind. The service there isn’t that great either.

He’s been pretty stressed out with things going on around the house, work and just other factors of life, in general. So to keep him happy we went to Ruby Tuesday. He was in the mood for their Colossal Cheeseburger and I guess putting that much food in your stomach is an instant stress reliever because you’re too busy being full to really think about what’s going on.

Normally when we go to Ruby’s we wind up with the WORST waitress in the world, the same goes for Applebee’s but since we like the food we don’t really care too much about it – we just wind up not tipping her the typical 15%. Knowing that there’s no real ‘skill’ to being the perfect server you’d think that it would be easier to get the hang of your job. You have to be polite, no matter who you’re dealing with, you need to balance a tray, make sure that everyone is taken care of and not leave the restaurant for 20 minutes to have a smoke break when someone asks for the check.

Knowing that there’s a clown college, you have to wonder if there’s a course out there to help you become a better server. Little did I know that there actually IS something to help. There’s a waiter training DVD, I know — I was shocked myself! Now that I’ve FOUND this DVD I want to send an email to every manager of every eatery around the world.

You spend your time with John, the bad server and Jane, the perfect server. It teaches servers about body language, table side manors, alcohol service, food safety and even accidents. They’re taught out to handle situations with poise and class, no matter how bad the situation. Once the student has finished the course they are issued a certificate showing they completed the course. This program isn’t meant to replace current training programs. It’s meant to help the service staff to be the best they can possibly be.

I know that about 80% of the service staff out there are young adults looking to get into show business, or kids looking for extra money. I don’t know one person that would consider being a service staff member for the rest of their life. This DVD doesn’t base anything on age or gender. It doesn’t matter how old or young you are, it doesn’t matter where you work or even the ‘quality’ of the place you work at…it’s just meant to make you the best you can possibly be at your job.

After going through the site I found a few other DVD’s that are pretty interesting. There’s one called Rules of the Road DVD: Complete Interactive Driver’s Ed Program. It provides a clear illustration of the principles and concepts most important for any student. It’s loaded with interactive features and it’s hosted by teens so that the new driving students have someone to relate to. It’s about 105 minutes long and in both English and Spanish. It’s a critically acclaimed, award winning program with interactive quizzes, multi-angle 3D explanations, Road Sign Tests, 7 interactive lessons and even basic maintenance instructions – not a bad thing for upcoming drivers to check out.

Vat19

Get the help you need…

Monday, April 2nd, 2007

No matter who you are, where you live or how much money you have there’s always going to be someone with a drug problem. It can be prescription, illegal or any mix of the two that will consume your life to the point of it being unmanageable. You will take no responsibility for any of your actions, have frequent mood swings, and preform illegal acts just so you can get your fix. People die everyday because of their drug addictions. It’s easy to say that they were beyond help but 60% of the time, that’s not the case.

There are people out there who will help you with your drug addiction, many people don’t even realize that this help is free to anyone who needs it. You can either waste all of your money on an addiction that will eventually kill you or you can do something about it with no money at all that will help you put your life back on track. One place that I would highly recommend to help you is 1800nodrugs.com. They are a non-profit organization that takes phone calls (toll free) from people seeking drug rehab. They believe the best prevention and catalyst to recover from addiction is education. They understand addiction and can help you get the tools and information you need to help you or loved ones recover from addiction.

Addiction to drugs or alcohol can be a life consuming cycle into despair and death. Recovery from addiction is a difficult process that often forces the addict to confront their demons, self-identify destructive behavior, and a relearning of healthy behavior that will enable them to live life addiction free.

Lucky Streak

Monday, April 2nd, 2007

I don’t know how I’ve managed to do it, or even why I’m deserving of it but – I’ve had the absolute BEST lucky streak in the world for the past few days. It’s a lot of little things here and there, and then a HUGE thing that has me jumping for joy.

Baby and I are going really well with no fights, my father has completely been able to handle the news of my moving here permanently, I’m going up on Saturday to get the rest of my things. Clients are coming in REALLY strongly right now and I’ve got a huge lump of money coming towards me over the course of the next few months based on repeat clients a lone but this has nothing to do with the BIG NEWS…no no no.

I’ve landed a client that in my business world is considered a “high roller”. The account will total approximately $30,000 over the course of the next six months and I can honestly say I’m close to peeing in my pants because of all of the excitement. This is just one client, I know there are people out there who make far more than that for a year of work but I’m doing it in less than six months with ONE person working PART TIME. If I can keep pulling in clients like this I can go out and get a gorgeous exotic cars for sale and be flashy about it. I wouldn’t do that though, contrary to popular belief I try to draw the least amount of attention to myself as possible. This doesn’t mean I would turn down a Bentley Continental GTC. God that’s a gorgeous car.

In any event, time to get back to work. I’m sure I’ll blog again…it’s a gorgeous day outside and there are lots of dumb people around to entertain me…and then you when I post again…heh

Consolidation

Sunday, April 1st, 2007

How many of you can say that you’re in debt up to your eye balls? Maybe you’re in school based on a student loan, maybe you’ve maxed out your credit cards because of either unimportant spending sprees or having to dip into emergency funds. It may seem like the end of the world but trust me, there’s hope.

If you’re looking to get help for your secured and/or unsecured debt, you should seriously consider checking out debthelp.com. This site specializes in helping you with all of your debt consolidation needs. Their staff of financial experts, innovative technology and collection of helpful articles assist you in finding your debt solutions. They provide simple and secure quotes for nearly a dozen different debt products. They help their customers to rid themselves of debt quickly and easily. If you’re looking for consolidation loans, credit counseling or even to eliminate your debt quickly, debthelp.com has the right solution for you.

While surfing around this site you’ll find debt help, loan information, tax information, student loan information, bankruptcy, credit and even just a help center for you to figure out what everything means. Don’t let your debt consume you to the point of depression. Some have even taken their debts as far as suicide because of how badly it can destroy your life. Do something about it and log on to debthelp.com now and start living life the way you’re supposed to.

Remodeling

Sunday, April 1st, 2007

As you can tell, I was finally able to get my template up and running thanks to some quick downtime with a client. I finished up the content pages and all of the tag stuff that I intended to use so things should be good now, let me know if an error pops up for you anywhere, I may have overlooked a few.

I was thinking of redoing the bathroom. I mean it’s all fine right now but there’s some small foundation issues that seem to be messing up the floor. It’s pealing in a few places so I think later on down the road I’ll have to look into getting some new tile for the floor. I really wanted to do something in either ceramic or glass tile because you can find some really cool colors and textures to keep your toes entertained. I can’t go too ‘over the top’ because it’s the typical second bathroom, the one that every guest in the house uses. The master bathroom is HUGE, big soaker tub, seperate shower, double sinks – I LOVE IT. I’m itching to soak in the tub too, it’s sad heh. It would look even better with marble tiles on the floor though, it’d give it a major beauty-boost.

While on my quest to price some materials, I came across DiscountFlooring.com. It’s a pretty good resource for flooring, they even have a mascot named Jim marketing them. I find I’m more drawn to mascots than standard company logo’s. I know that it takes a long time to work on logos but designing a mascot makes it seem like you’re putting a lot more work into taking a business venture and personalizing it. The site’s pretty easy to read, so it’s not hard to find what you’re looking for. I really love coming across the more ‘idiot proof’ kind of websites. There are so many people with computers who don’t understand what they’re doing, it makes it a lot easier (from a webmasters standpoint) to bring in more clients. Appealing colors, interesting images and then a solid content base always makes for a good business site.

Busy….busy.

Sunday, April 1st, 2007

I’m not sure how I managed to do it but every single bid I’ve put in on GAF has been chosen. There’s someone up there (points) that is looking out for me. I want to believe it’s Joe but I’m sure it could be my grandmother as well. Over the course of the last 5 days I’ve managed to make about $1300.00 which I can honestly say is the best feeling in the world. I know for sure that if I keep this up I’ll not only have more than enough money for Atlantic City but enough to buy a new bed and even a dresser for when I get all of my things down here.

I have a lot of things to pack when I go up to NY this weekend. There’s 22-years worth of memories and items that need to be sorted through, thrown out and packed up. It’s going to be rather difficult considering I only have about 2 days (tops) in order to do it. Once I get back here there’s a pile of work to go through, plus a crap load of boxes to sort through. I think the only thing I won’t be doing over the course of the next couple weeks is going out and looking for a Naples cosmetic surgeon. Not that I couldn’t use it, face is drooping a bit but hopefully this diet is going to clear that problem up for me.

Yes, I’m on a diet. I know you hear fat girls say it all the time but I really have no choice in the matter. My clothes bother me, I could probably pack better if they weren’t so bulky. My back is out of whack, my ankles and knees are weak from supporting the weight all of my life and just recently I’ve developed a problem with my hip. I could easily go to a doctor and request to be fixed but all he would tell me is lose some weight and things will be easier on me. So instead of spending money to hear a doctor turn me down, I’m taking matters into my own hands and fixing things. I’m doing OK now but once everything settles down I’ll be going on Michael Thurmond’s – Six Week Body. I’ve been looking into this program for over a year and I’m finally getting the courage to go ahead and start it. It was a very difficult year for me, losing Joe and what not, so I think it’s time to live a little instead of playing it as safe as I’ve been based on comfort levels. I have an excellent form of support with my boyfriend, he’s going to do it with me.

We’ve been taking longer walks on the beach, longer walks with Bella at night, eating better, not loading up on pure junk food and just taking it easy for the most part. There’s a lot more that we could be doing but time constraints are limiting us at the moment. When our financial life slows down a bit, we’ll be able to go full force into something. Every little bit counts though…right?

I know there should be a new template here but unfortunately I wasn’t able to finish editing it. I hope to have it up later after I’ve gotten some work done.

Miami = FUN?

Saturday, March 31st, 2007

Baby and I have a lot of plans to take many trips over the course of our life together. It’s easy for us to decide on places we want to go because we share a lot of the same interests. The one thing I’m unsure of, however, is if I could ever get him to go to a Miami art museum with me, maybe we can meet George Lindemann he’s on the Board of Trustee’s there, ya know.

I spent a lot of time watching CSI: Miami, this is probably because I’m a junky for all-things crime shows. The reason I like CSI: Miami so much is because of the scenery, mainly. CSI: NY is nothing I haven’t seen before, hell – that’s what Law & Order is for. The original CSI is based in Vegas and all that does for me is give me an urge to gamble when I really shouldn’t. So, I’ll take the one that has the prettiest sites, the sexiest people and of course Spanish cuisine (sucker for it, stomach doesn’t always agree).

On tonight’s episode something was going on in a museum and it made me wonder what it would be like to just hang out in another Art Museum for the day. The only way for me to do it in NY was to travel quite a while in order to even get to it. I’m unsure as to where one is located in Delmarva (something local residents will have to help me with. So I continue to strive on going to a place where the weather is absolutely gorgeous (almost year round) and the ability to look at fine art, eat amazing food and still be able to enjoy the beaches and work on my very important tan. I think it’s time to go wake him up and drop this bomb on him…heh.

Quit Crying…Stop Buying!

Friday, March 30th, 2007

Since I’m going away in a few weeks I know for sure that I’m going to have to make sure to have my credit card on me. The room, as of right now, is being held WITH my card and there’s hardly enough money in the account to cover anything. That’ll change over the course of the next few weeks though, considering all the work I’ve been doing lately. It’s my goal to hit like $1,000-$1,200, sofar I’m about $350 towards it (in two days) so I guess I can handle making the rest in the next 40 days…right?

I think, at this point, everyone depends heavily on their bank accounts considering there’s no real need to carry cash anymore. Sure, a quick stop in the store is easy to cover with cash but if the cash is stolen, there’s no getting it back. It’s easier to have a debit card because your bank will honor what was withdrawn and you haven’t lost any money…just your sense of security.

I don’t like credit cards, I don’t really like the idea of the whole “buy now, pay later” stuff. My “credit card” is my Debit Mastercard. I only spend what I can afford. Anyone who’d ask me about it would most likely get the same answer. I don’t believe in Debt, I don’t feel sorry for those IN debt. “Quit crying, stop buying” is all I really have to say to that one.

Moving from Memories

Friday, March 30th, 2007

PPPPPP Have you ever hung out around the house with your buddies and wound up getting into a random home game packages that allowed any given game of cards? I can remember spending quite some time in my friends dining room in high school. We would pull out the snacks, cards and poker chips and start playing Texas Hold’em and standard 3 Card Poker. Two were always into Blackjack but unfortunately I wasn’t a huge fan of it.

Moving ahead a few years, your friends have long since moved on with their own lives. You no longer have any idea on what’s going on with them because, while the memory is still there, you no longer speak to each other. It was always comforting to know that Wednesday was “Our Night”. Even if we weren’t playing poker we weren’t far from having fun. There were always other card games, board games and stupid games that we made up that made no sense at all. Everyone remembers playing Quarters, we put a different twist on it for the “least amount of damage”. This was important though, one was a guitar player who needed his hands…the other a football star that did enough damage in practice. We never drank, we never ‘smoked up’, we prided ourselves on this. The guitar player is traveling the US, the football star is playing at Notre Dam and you’re three states away with no connection to your past other than the memories that randomly haunt you enough to put you into a random funk because you spend too much time thinking about it.

You’re never going to be playing Texas Hold’em with these people again. You’re never going to watch from the sidelines while they go nuts during Blackjack. The memories will always be there but you know that since things will never be the same, the best thing to do will be to move on with your life and close the chapter. No more games, no more new memories to be made. Just closing the book and working on a new one.

Baby’s Going Bald!

Friday, March 30th, 2007

I know it doesn’t like it very much but lately I’ve been picking on Baby about his receeding hair-line. I know it’s not the nicest thing in the world to do but he’s only 22 so seeing it is just amusing. Knowing that the men in his family have the same problem (only obviously in advanced stages because they’re older). I’ve recommended that he eventually look into hair restoration. Jeffrey Epstein a hair restoration surgeon that I’ve recommended to him specifically. He doesn’t appreciate it but when your forhead is gradually getting larger, you have to at least admit to it. His excuse is shaving his head, sure – can’t admit your going bald so just shave your head instead – denail is a river in Egypt baby. I know it’s a temp fix, but he knows I don’t like him with a shaved head. So I may have to take control of his buzzer before his hair grows in…heh.

Paid to Blog?

Friday, March 30th, 2007

There are quite a few programs out there where you’re paid to write on your blogs. The problem with quite a few of the sites out there, you don’t get what you’re promised. I consider myself lucky to have found payperpost.com because you’re given everything you’re promised.

PPP is very easy to use. You log-in, pick an opportunity, post a blog entry and 30 days later you’re paid for it (if you meet all of the requirements of course). I’ve been a member since September and I’ve made a few hundred dollars from them, I also have a few hundred pending to be transferred to me. It really helps out for extra cash. PPP contributed to my new desktop and if I stick with it the way I have, I’ll have more than enough money to enroll in Penn Foster so I can work on my Associates Degree, that runs about $875 a semester and I’m confident that PayPerPost is going to help me reach that goal faster than I thought I could.

Some tell me that if I have a job I shouldn’t bother with paid posting on blogs. What they don’t understand is a freelance designer may get lucky here and there with design jobs but the money isn’t constant, this is why you bounce from client to client and then hope to get all of your bills in order based on that. While I do not consider PPP to be a part-time job, it’s very nice to have that extra $100-$150 a month coming in to help you out.

I’ve used my earnings from PPP for bills, a computer, I’ll be using it for school…it’s safe to say that I’ve happily found a company that’s working out very well. I have no doubt in my mind that PPP will be around for quite a long time. The top earner right now is in the $9,000 range…just for blogging, it’s insane! I’d love to be able to say I’ve earned that much from posting, hopefully I can stick with it and actually make it that far. I’m confident that PPP will certainly help me reach that long-term blogging goal.

Printer Problems

Friday, March 30th, 2007

Come May, Baby and I are taking a trip to Atlantic City with his mom (K). We’re going to meet up with her sister (D) and whomever else happens to be going down with D. Knowing that I had unused points on my Total Rewards card, I surfed Harrah’s and found out that I have a FREE two-night stay at the Harrah’s Hotel. This is the same hotel I won the $6,500 at the last time I was in Atlantic City (the one and ONLY time thus far). I have to say that I’m a huge fan of the place so of course I jumped on the idea of being able to go there. So when the dates were set I grabbed my laptop, headed online and booked the room for Baby and I.

After going through everything my confirmation was complete and I was asked to print my reservation. A big red light put my printing to a halt. There was absolutely no ink left in the printer. We went through all the trouble of networking the printer so I could print my reservation and there was absolutely no ink in the machine. After heading to the store to pick some up I happily printed my reservation. Now the problem is making sure I have more than enough money in the account to enjoy my two night, three day stay in Atlantic City.

:: gets back to work ::