Getting the office setup has proved to be a bit more difficult than we’d originally thought. I desperately need a chair because the one I’m on at the moment is killing my back. It’s a standard folding chair so while I’m not rolling over any puppy’s tails, I’m still having trouble moving around once I pull the chair in (hard to move it on a rug – you know). The scanner has no home, as of yet, and of course with my largest concern during tax season, the printer is out of ink and I need to figure out how to get some toner cartridges before TOMORROW. Staples seems to be packed and I can’t find ANY overnight shipping that will be here by tomorrow morning. I honestly have no idea what I’m going to do.

For next year, however, I do know that I’ll have PLENTY of ink because I’m making it a point to load up on all of the toner cartridges I can find and keeping myself stocked up to void this tragedy from happening again. I’ve found the office supply outfitters which sell everything from toner, ink jet cartridges, printer supplies, fax supply, register ribbon and HP Toner. It’s a pretty valuable source for everything PRINT I’d say.

Now, for my next task – find a filing cabinet so I can get that last box unpacked!

Any webmaster knows the importance of targeting your audience by using creative graphics, easy to navigate code and proper exposure. Those just starting in the field are finding it hard to find the right path to go on. There’s a new place that has a great ebook/template package for beginning web designers who need a simple template solutions. They specialize in Joomla Templates which is probably one of the most solid programs out there for content management.

You may be asking “What is Joomla?”, it’s actually pretty simple:

Joomla! is one of the most powerful Open Source Content Management Systems on the planet. It is used all over the world for everything from simple websites to complex corporate applications. Joomla! is easy to install, simple to manage, and reliable.

With ClubTVK‘s program you get a copy of their e-book in PDF format, it’s 91 pages that give you step-by-step detail on how to create a Joomla template. You also get copies of all of the files in the book, that’s FOUR complete templates for Joomla. They often create new templates to highlight specific techniques, with your membership you get access to all of them plus a walk-through to figure how to impliment them to your site. This book covers some really important but simple ways to create your template without having any prior knowledge of Joomla. It truly is a Beginners Guide!

Some of the templates supplied are fairly simple looking but knowing the back end of Joomla, the way I do, I know that a lot goes into coding them properly. You need to format EVERYTHING in order to get it to do what you want it to do and I think this eBook would be of great value to anyone interested in using the script.

Installing Joomla is a lot easier than one would think. 100% of web hosts using Fantastico have Joomla listed in their auto-installers. All you have to do is type in the user name and password you’d like to use in your Joomla Administration Panel and then go from there.

During the dot-com boom I wanted to invest in Google. I was too young at the time, and no one would believe me when I told them that they had one of the greatest potentials out there. I’ve been looking into investing now, but I didn’t know where I could turn to, until I found Global Futures Exchange & Trading Co., Inc. They have a wide selection of tools to get you up and running in the investment field. For as little as $250 I got the scoop on the hottest companies, the companies that are going under, and those that have just started up. If you have any questions then email GlobalFutures@GlobalFutures.com.

“There is risk of loss trading Futures, options and forex.”

Baby and I are really bad with money. I know how hard it is for me to save up money for the casino, but my boyfriend is much worse. He has so many personal loans from when he was a teenager that his credit is really shot. He even went to one of those debt consolidation places, but they told him that he wasn’t that bad, but for 22 it is pretty bad. I guess it could be much worse though, he could have had a secured loan and have the threat of losing his car. I guess once we afford that house I was talking about yesterday, maybe we’d need a secured loan for all the things we want, you know if we don’t hit it big in Atlantic City or even the lotto!

Throughout 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.

The 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I’ve been a member of the “Paid to Blog” community for quite some time now. I know that PPP is the larger of the companies right now but I think I’ve been through them all. The cool thing, that I found out today, is there’s a site called Geeky Speaky where they talk about ALL of the paid blogging companies. They share tips, ideas and even strategies for EACH paid-to-blog website. They have areas on their message boards for each company and help you in all aspects of paid blogging. There are sections setup for all of the companies out there; PayPerPost, Blogitive, Blogsvertise, PayU2Blog, Sponsored Reviews and many more. I think it’s a site that’s worthy of being checked out.

A lot of people argue that paid blogging is killing the whole point of having a blog but consumers have been reviewing products for years, what’s wrong with getting paid for your reviews? It doesn’t hurt anyone and while some users kiss ass for products that they would never actually use. I can tell you that if I came across one that sucked, I’d blog about it. Having a site like Geeky Speaky around is an excellent resource for your paid blogging venture. You should seriously check them out.

For the first time, in many…many years, I’m going to have a LAWN for the Spring and Summer months. I’ve always kind of wanted to give Bella some grass to play on and I’m finally able to do it. The problem is, I’m going to be standing on just a green lawn with no real decoration. I could always throw up some kind of a flag to add to the decor, every other house in the neighborhood seems to have one. The big thing that I’ve always wanted to have is a bird bath. I know it sounds kind of cheesy but I’m easily amused by anything that’s not only cute but critter friendly (well…WANTED critters, down here are a lot of skunks). Another thing that I want to load up on is planters, there are some pretty nice ones out there and there’s a lot of yard to cover in flowers and what not. I can’t wait for spring.

Growing up, I wasn’t really into the typical board games that most kids enjoyed. I never really played Chutes & Ladders, Candy Land, Memory and other games like that. I always found myself to be drawn to games where you have to think a little. I was taught how to play Chess, Checkers and of course Backgammon.

I haven’t really played Backgammon in quite some time. So while doing some surfing around the ‘net I was surprised when I came across a website for Online Backgammon. This site is using a rather original approach to promote their game software. Most places will just throw a banner ad up and leave it at that. they’ve gone as far as creating a Backgammon Master named Jean Claude, an animated tiger.

Jean Claude, the animated tiger, is part of a 5 part animated series “Life According to Jean Claude”. In this series he’ll teach you how to succeed in everything from playing backgammon to chopping onions. He teaches you how to fulfill your dreams and make important life choices. When I first read this I kind of thought this was a hoax but after watching the clip, I have to say that he’s a really amusing guy. I think I’ll wind up tunning in for the rest of the series.

If you’re at all interested in seeing what I’m talking about, head here and view the clip for yourself. If you’re at all interested in learning how to play backgammon there’s a 3-in-1 free software located on backgammonmasters.com as well.