Easy to understand Car Loans

As I always say when presenting a post on loans. It's essential that you fully research and understand your loan needs before committing to such a thing. If you do this properly then you can use the idea of a loan to your advantage and manage your finances in the correct manor.

One of the major reasons to get a loan is for the purpose of getting a car. Having a car can be very important and you may save some money.

BestLeadingLenders.com could be an important part of your research offering you access to some of the best rates on Car Loans and even finding options for bad credit.

Their simple and easy to understand website gives a wealth of information and advice as well as access to apply for a wide range of loans for people in all situations. They aim to provide you with the best rates and terms for you and pride themselves on good customer service.

It's Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam

Chris Morris is pretty famous in the UK. He is also hated and loved in equal proportions. Some people think he is a maverick, others a think he is a sick individula who should not be allowed on TV.

Anyway here is one of his sketches, not the sickest, but very British in humor and I think Funny. It's from his sketch show, Jam.



Since I have been away from the UK I have not seen too much of this style of comedy so it's important for me to skip over to You Tube every now and then to make sure I get my fix.

Did you find this funny? What do you think of Chris Morris?

Shopping Cart Software

If you are promoting a product on line then it is essential that you have efficient ecommerce software for your website.

I have used some of the free services in the past and although they are OK I believe that if you are running a professional business that it may be worth paying for a highly customizable, advert free chopping cart system.

Ashop Commerce offers one of such solution.

Ashop Commerce say they are: a leading US provider of hosted shopping cart software and they offer a complete solution for merchants to sell on line.

Their website is nicely and professionally laid out with an easy on the eye orange and green color system. Full information is preset with a great FAQ section and detailed imagery explaining their software. And if the site does not answer everything you can contact them personally for human advice. They also provide the option to try out for free for 10 days. This gives you a great way to see if the software is exactly what you are looking for.

I want a whirlpool

One of the houses that I have been staying at here in Vermont has a Whirlpool tub.

You sink down into the thing and start the bubbles. Off you go into another world and the World's problems are lifted from your shoulders. I want one.

She spent a while choosing her bathroom vanities and has come up with a great look. The sink is like nothing I have seen with water coming from the mirror onto a flat ceramic block and running into a moat that runs around the outside. Gladly the toilet is standard!

Going somewhere?

I just realized that I had a flight back to the UK booked during March and I missed it! I would not have gone back but I may have been able to defer it or get a little money back.

I may have to go traveling soon, maybe down to New York or back to the UK for a bit but I am going to make sure I sound a good amount of time searching out the best hotel deals and flights for my needs. Since using the Internet for travel planning I saved a lot of money and managed to plan everything easily in manageable time lines.

Talking sport

One of the greatest things about sports is talking about it. People talk about sport all day long at work, in the bar and even with their partners. I used to discuss soccer all of the time but since I have been out of the UK I have been hearing much more about Hockey, Soccer and Baseball. People like telling me about their picks nfl wise. I don't know what they are talking about but am interested about finding more and possibly joining a fantasy league.

Addictssports.com is a great place for me to learn. They have a huge sports forum and it would be a good place to go talk and play fantasy sports.

Hulk Sequel, The Incredible Hulk

I was surprised to find out that they are making a sequel to Hulk without Eric Bana.

I thought Eric Bana was not the problem with the last Hulk but rather the pace of the story and unbelievable nature of of the bouncy Hulk himself.

As you can see from the trailer below this one actually looks great and it stars the great Edward Norton, looking far more action packed than the first one.


The Incredible Hulk trailer

Apparently this one although extremely different from the Hulk movie will be continuing and exist in the same universe.

I personally am looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Jewelery changes with time too

When I was very young I didn't know much about jewelery. It was the 1980's and people used to like wearing huge earings and gold sovereign necklaces.

Now it's 2008 and strangely some of the fashion has come full circle and big earings are back but since the 80's new lines of fashion have come in and there is a mixed cool elegance about the whole thing. It's not uncommon to see people with a nice gold anklet and a modern nose stud with huge crazy earings.

Personally I like the mix up of styles and enjoy the cross of eras. I think that ever changing style, especially where jewelery is concerned is an important thing.

More Lee Evans

I love Lee Evans. A great British slap humor comedian.



Lee Evans is famed mostly for stand up but here he did a short series in the run up to the Sydney Olympics.

I find him hilarious and sort of like Norman Wisdom. He has also acted in a few Hollywood films such as "There is Something About Mary" and "Mouse Hunt".

Have you ever seen any of his stuff and what did you think of it?

Ensure you are insured

Sadly here in the states it's very hard to get medical treatment without insurance. I am self employed but not a US resident so if I did live here I know that I would need medical insurance.

It is a big deal and needs to be researched in detail. You need to make sure that every emergency is covered and that you can be sure that you are good to go about your daily life.

I know companies offer insurance but sometimes it pays to make sure that you are getting the best deal and you should look around yourself.

Peoples Health Insurance are one of the companies that offer anything from Illinois dental insurance plans to Florida Group Health Insurance and most of your insurance requirements.

They say that:

Peoples Health Insurance, LLC is a licensed insurance agency, not simply a referral service. Our agents are fully trained and certified. They work to ensure your questions regarding the application process, policy benefits, plan pricing, and health provider networks are answered. Our licensed agents can assist you in selecting a quality health plan that is reasonably priced but still offers protection for you and your family.

And offer a very fast and simple "Rate Quote" system to help you find out if they can help.

Their website looks bright and breezy and is very easy to navigate. As said quotes are easy to obtain and lots of information is available with the easy option to speak to them if required.

What's the time?

What's the time?

I don't know because I don't have a watch. It's something everyone should have really as time is seen as a very important thing in this world.

When I came to the states for my trip last summer I accidently left my watch in the boxes I packed up, that now have residence in my mothers house.

So I have been watch-less. It was a nice Seiko watch built for sports. I used to use it for timing my runs and improving my times as well as the normal use, telling the time.

If you are looking for a new watch, which I may well be soon, then BlueDial.com may be a place to. With prices at around half price on many Seiko and other lead brand watches they are a god place to find great prices. Delivery starts from free and they have an awesome range of styles and for both men and women.

It came again

When will it ever end?

All my hopes and dreams have been dashed. I was so confident it was over, but this morning I realized. It is far from over.

It's snowing again. Record breaking in some places, around 7inches. Unbelievable!

Oh well my dreams of Spring are dashed but hey it's not all bad.

I am planning on snowboarding this weekend so hopefully I will have a nice sheet of fresh powder to glide on, or rather fall onto.

Sadly, you can only drive one car at once!

.... so if you want to transport your new car and you also need to get an old car to your home then you may be stuck.

But obviously their are many services to help you with this.

National Auto Shipping is a company that offers such a service They are a reputable auto transport provider and say their goal is to have a happy customer and they offer exceptional customer service and personalized attention.

They can put your vehicle into transport and then your customer service representative will track it and keep you informed during your transport period so you can feel confident that they are supplying efficient transport times, competitive price quotes and friendly service.

Their website is simple and packed with information so you should be able to find out exactly what you need and answer any of your questions.

They have an easy to use quote system and obviously you can speak to a real person if they web site does not answer all of your needs.

A new dawn a new day a New World Tortilla

I talked previously about Penny Cluse in Burlington, Vermont and it made me think of New World Tortilla.

New World Tortilla is a quick and simple Tortilla restaurant that I always have to visit whilst in Burlington.

I always have to get the same things. Vegan Beans and Rice. It comes with a huge portion of rice, black beans, salsa and if you are like me, added cheese.

I am probably leaving on Monday or Tuesday so I have to try and accidently find a way to get another visit to New World before I go.

What's your favorite restaurant?

I would love to open a restaurant

Obviously it's a romantic dream but I would love to own a small restaurant. I would serve stir fry or pizza and easy quick foods. Maybe I would invent some new vegetarian ideas.

The idea of running a reaturant is much easier than the reality but some people are made to do such things, and they do it well. Sadly sometimes finding the startup costs stalls such things.

ARF specializes in business loans for the restaurant business, particularly startups. They say:

"Advance Restaurant Finance (ARF) is a licensed finance lender and limited liability company established in 2001. Currently based out of California, ARF provides short term, working capital for merchants. Financing professionals across the nation with extensive experience in restaurant finance manage ARF. More information about ARF can be found at http://www.advancerestaurantfinance.com/about-us.html

ARF fills the void between traditional bank financing and less attractive avenues of financing, such as taking on partners. This allows ARF the opportunity to give its customers secure lending while still allowing them to retain control of their businesses and goals."

So if you have an idea and believe you have the right experience to make it happen but just need the finance then a restaurant loan might be right for you.

Penny Cluse, Burlington, VT

Every time I visit Vermont I have to try and go to a few different favorite places. One of them is Penny Cluse.

Penny Cluse is a little home style restaurant in the center of Burlington, Vermont. It is the first place that I tried American style biscuits (in England biscuits are what the US calls Cookies), drenched in a white sauce style gravy. Pure fatty yumminess.

Today I ate a lovely meal of Fish Tacos with mango, avocado and black beans, oh and a side of biscuits.

If you ever happen to be swinging by Burlington or even within 100 miles, I recommend Penny Cluse.

Another favorite is New World Tortilla.

Take your own action, self publish!

It is said that everyone has a great story in them. If you have ever sat down to write this story then obviously the next step is getting it published.

As anyone who has tried knows, getting the attention of the publishers is like trying to make a phone call at midnight on new years eve.

If you believe your writings will be successful and the publishers are not responding then why not look to Self Publish your works.

AuthorHouse.com is a leading self-publishing company. You'll be guided by author advocates who are serious about writing and publishing. Their AuthorCentric Self-Publishing Process can help you reach your publishing goals. From discounts on color publishing to marketing, they say they can help you along the way.

My website 'New and Reviewed' finally indexed.

I have an experimental site which aims to use SEO and affiliate marketing ONLY to try and earn a few bucks.

I decided to leave Adsense or similar programs out of it for the minute and see how far I could go just by writing targeted posts.

The site is www.newandreviewed.com and it is in it's infancy but now I have SE ranking I can start to think about it a little more.

So I plan to use Clickbank, Pepperjam and Affiliate Junction to find products and then use Micro Niche Finder (see my post about it here) to find the best words to use for he title and see if this is enough to get regular visits.

I'll keep you updated in the next few weeks.

Watch the game in comfort and style

I grew up very close to a soccer ground. The team was Charlton Athletic and it was set in urban surroundings very close to some high rise apartments.

I remember a friend of mine living in those apartments, high up, and telling me that he overlooked the pitch and could watch the games from his living room. When I finally went up to his apartment I realized that you could barely see the pitch. As much as it was cool it was sort of pointless unlike.... The Ivy League baseball Club.

The Ivy League Baseball club offers the chance for you to rent and host a party on a rooftop overlooking the Chicago Cubs Wrigley field. They say:

"The Ivy League Baseball Club is located at the center of right field, 478 feet from home plate, closer to the action than many of the seats located inside Wrigley Field. This location gives it the best view of any of the Wrigley Field rooftops. "

So it's an exclusive opportunity and may be perfect to host your business parties and impress where it is needed.

The view looks great from the photos on the web site and you can see that the Wrigley Field rooftop is much more comfortable and spacious than those little boxy stadium seats.

A vist to Ben and Jerry's, in brief

As I mentioned, I went to Ben and Jerry's factory in Waterbury, Vermont this morning.

It was fun and we did the tour to see the factory operating and actually churning out the yummy ice cream.

One great thing about Ben and Jerry's, even though they are Unilever owned, is that they have great community values and seem to really care about their environment and using local produce.

The workers almost seemed like they were enjoying themselves and we got to taste and awesome cream and cookies variety.

I have wanted to see the factory for a while now and it's nice to finally tick that off my list.

Abt Electronics

One thing the internet has always been great for is electronics. From the start the best prices have been internet based and this in many cases is still true today.

If buying an iPod MP3 player or an MP3 DVD player then actually seeing it isn't always necessary. Especially if you have been eying it up in the stores but planning on using the web to get the best price.

Abt is an online electronics retailer now operating on the web. They have been in business since 1936 so know their stuff and now they operate a huge online catalog for your browsing.

The website is very simple and mostly blue which is a nice non-offensive color, in my opinion. The power of their site comes with their search which enables you to quickly track down the item you are looking for.

Great quality images, clear pricing and specifications are shown for everything and ordering is a breeze.

Still here.....

It seems like I can never leave Vermont. After supposedly leaving this morning factors have led to us staying even longer.

It's not all bad though as I quite like the laid back Vermont ways and today I went to the Ben and Jerry factory, yum yum.

The weather is looking up and the snow is melting at a fast rate so Spring is still on the way. I have however been told by a few people that Spring does not really happen here and that it just switches into Summer mode on a random morning. I don't think I will be here to see that sadly.

How would you mod a BMW?

One of the people I have staying here with in Vermont owns a car dealership.

Lined up on the pavement right now are lots of shiny cool BMW's. There is an awesome BMW Z3 on show in the showroom right now too.

People love modifying these well crafted German masterpieces and it's probably best for your wallet if you look into buying online.

MyHotBMW.com offers all sorts of parts and mods for your BMW. If you are looking for anything from badges to BMW Grilles then they are sure to offer everything you need at great prices.

How would you modify a BMW?

Proof that Micro Niche Finder works for me

As I have mentioned in a few recent posts. I have been the proud purchaser of a fantastic piece of software called Micro Niche Finder.

Micro Niche Finder allows you to research and get detailed data on niche markets and work out the best keywords and titles for your websites, blogs, posts and can be used in endless ways.

Many articles about how it works can be found but I thought I would actually show some proof and show how it is working for me and how you can try the same for your own projects.

My main website TheRandomForest.com is mainly where I have been using it and I have two recent examples to show you.

In these examples I used Micro Niche Finder to find the best possible post names to attract as much SEO as I could. The numbers are not huge but they have definitely helped me to maximize the exposure for these topics.

Post one:
Lion hugging woman

I had received a video by email about a woman who had cared for an abandoned lion cub. When it got too big, she had handed it to a zoo. When she went back to visit the lion hugged her with what can only be described as love and affection. Amazing!


I used Micro Niche Finder to research as many keywords and combinations as I could to find the highest search verses lowest competition. I managed to find a monthly search of 180 to a competition of 125 other sites with that exact same combination of words.

Now this post is on page number one, fifth entry down in Google for Lion Hugging Woman.


Post Two:
Puff pastry filling recipe

My partner and I had invented a Mexican influenced vegetarian pie filling . I wanted to share this on my site and started using Micro Niche Finder to research a suitable post title.


I started with searches around the terms "pie filling" and "vegetarian pie" and after lots of digging around I found that Puff pastry filling recipe was yielding the best search to competition results. Now although my recipe was not originally meant for puff pastry, there was no reason why it would not work in this manor. I found a 660 per month search count to a 140 site competition. So I rewrote the post slightly to accommodate. I have since tried it with puff pastry and it was great.

Now my post sits at the end of the first page of Google.


My tips for integrating your Micro Niche Finder findings into your Wordpress posts.

I am no expert but I have had success with the following techniques.

• Use the Wordpress All In One SEO plugin, always
• Enter the exact keyword(s) into the All in one SEO settings before publishing your post. The description should be written to entice people in from the search engine and should feature variations on your keywords Use the exact keyword in the keyword field.

• Try to use your keyword a few times in your post, I have read that if you bold it one and italicise it once that that can help

• As always try to get it dugg and stumbled, maybe you could do the same for this post :).

Anyway I hope that helps and if you are interested in taking a further look at Micro Niche Finder and possibly purchasing then take a look here. The creator is extremely helpful if you have any questions.

Leave a comment if you liked this post or need any more info. I would be more than happy to help.

Easy Business Loans

I have been self employed on and off for a while now. The kind of business I own does not tend to have any overheads so I have not been in the need for a loan to kick start anything.

Maybe things will change in the future. My current self employment has me working from home and if I go back to design then work can either be from home or going into an office.

If however home is causing problems with it making life and work mix then I may want to look into becoming a more professional outfit and hiring an office. Then I would need an office phone and probably some marketing to get some more high profiled clients. All of a sudden my "no overhead" business has turned into a typical business. This situation may lead me to needing a Business Loan to get things going in the right direction.

EZUnsecured.com offer loans and credit cards that may suit your business needs. They offer a very easy online application process and can supply your funds in a very fast time. Plus they pride themselves on their excellent customer service. Real people are available to speak to and the website is pretty comprehensive.

Your monologues needed

As you have probably been aware, I have not been around very much in the last few weeks.

I have been, and still am in Vermont, so online time has been limited and I have been working on some other projects.

One of my brand spanking new shiny projects is the majestic and wondrous Condom Monologues.

The Condom Monologues is a censor-free, non-judgmental collective focused on the condom, and the social or personal topics that involve the condom and related issues. Check out the about page here.

We have just opened up the doors for everyone to contribute and help make the site funny, informative and generally worth a read. So we are looking for people to submit their stories or monologues related in any way to Condoms.

Your monologue can be long, short, fast, slow or anyhow you like it and if you don't want your name to be shown then we welcome you to submit under a pseudonym or anonymous.

Just click here to submit your monologue now.

Credit for that one

I have had plenty of dealings with personal credit and it is something that I will deal with for the rest of my life. When managed correctly and effectively and carefully researched it can e a help for many important things in your life. Such as buying a house or moving to a new part of the country to start a new life.

It's important that when researching that you do not just look for the best rates but also for the best terms to suit your future needs. I have known many people who have badly estimated their future and ended up with loan problems.

Probably the best place to research is the Internet and CreditLoan.com is one place where you can find many personal finance articles in their personal finance archives.

They also provide links to apply to many types of personal finance and may be able to offer just what you are looking for.

Can't sleep

So it's 5:49AM. I have not been able to sleep a wink.

I managed to watch the first three episodes of Lost series III on ABC.com and then tried to sleep and have had no results.

At present I feel fine but am a little worried about getting through the day. I have blogging to do and a few other errands and I think Energy Drink may be a good friend of mine.

Sometimes I just have trouble sleeping. I don't really know why, I just get insomnia. Sadly I get too tired to work on my blogs so it's not like I can be very productive.

I am excited about getting through some more Lost soon and I am supposed to be going to a pub quiz tonight.

Spring is very almost, nearly here!

The sun is beating down and purging all the snow back into hiding. Spring is definitely coming. Although it is still bitterly cold, especially at night.

Dreams of lounging on the porch and setting up the teak outdoor furniture for a grand picnic are not too far fetched now. I can't wait to take my laptop oustide and sit under the shade while blogging away.

What are you looking forward to doing this spring?

Spicy foods and the air we breath!

I love Indian food. As do many of my fellow Englishmen. In fact Chicken Tikka Masala is the most eaten food in the UK.

I am sure that Indian restaurants are the biggest purchasers of air purifiers in the world! I can't verify that but I know that a group of old english guys in an Indian restaurant let of a lot of unpleasant gases and the air never smells bad so they must keep it pure somehow!

I would love one at home too, so I don't upset my partner after eating too much spicy food!

Scared of the wine

I love wine, red wine mostly but overall most wines. I know absolutely nothing about it though. It eiter tastes good or bad.

One of the houses that I stay at here in vermont is owned by some wine lovers and they know what they are drinking. I have had some amazing wines from red to white to ice wine in that house.

One meal I had there was the host to a great looking red. The red wine was srved in a beautiful Riedel decanter.

I was poured my first glass and the wine was awesome. When it came to my second glass, people were helping themselves. I couldn't do it! I was so scared of breaking the amazing piec of crafted glass that surrounded the tart treat that I decided not to pour anymore. I can't belive was scared to pour it, I missed out!

Networking!

I remember my first home networking experience.

I lived in a shared house with 3 others. We had a USB modem that was shared. So we would unplug it and pass it around to each other. After a few weeks, enough was enough. I decided to purchase and set up a small network.

So I went down to PC world and purchased a wireless modem and what seemed like a kilometre of CAT5e cable.

I got home and started reading. I was damn confused so went onto the manual side of things and wired the VAT5e cable all around the house using little wire tacks to keep it in place.

I did a damn fine job, but it still took me another two days to get the network working. After that it worked like a dream and I never looked back!

Four..................

I have said this many times but I will say it again. used to work in a golf club but I can't play to save my life.

Even if I turned up on the tee with the best Calloway golf clubs and the most suitable of get up, I would still be hitting balls in all the wrong directions.

That does not mean that I do not enjoy playing. It's a great stress relieving game and enjoyed even more if you stick to players not too far out of your league.

These days if I do play it tends to be nine hole with holes no more than about 150 yards. That way I don't need to walk too far to retrieve my ball, unless I completely mishit.

Not cool, but essential.

Sadly we are living in a world where drug rehab is seen by some as something cool to experience. I am sue that real drug addicts who have benefited greatly from these services would tell you different. Rehab is essential in our modern world and is a very professional and in many cases essential service.

I hope I never have to go through it and I hope that if I ever have kids that I can keep them away from needing such services. But at least people in need know that help is available.

Kentucky Fried Derby

There is nothing better than gathering a bunch of friends round with a ton of food to watch a live sports event or any event for that matter.

Order a pile of pizza or chinese or any of the yummy badness that you fancy. Maybe sit down to watch the Kentucky Derby and be really original and order KFC! Get some
Kentucky Derby Party Invitations made up with silly pictures and gather alarge crowd. Bet your chicken wings against your friends dippers. Cheer on your horse and wait to reap the rewards.

I look pregnant!

The amount of food and lack of exercise that I have been partaking in over the last few weeks have left me feeling like I need to be wearing somematernity clothes.

Maternity clothes may be a little excessive for my situation but I guess very important for someone with a bun in the oven. In the 80's people used to wear clothes that were baggy enough anyway :) however we live in a new stylish world and it is big business. You can get all styles, shapes, sizes and it's actually a pretty cool way to play with some new ideas.

Maybe people will start to wear fake tummy's just so they can get some of the cool clothes available!

Bright light, bright light!

Again this morning, the room I was staying in was plagued with an abundance of light.

I know I shouldn't complain but I think I am starting to become a vampire with all these late nights!

It only has curtains and we forgot to draw them, it could have done with some half pulled roller shades or something.

I like roller shades as they are fun to pull up and down and cheap to replace, as I always break them! I am sure if I spent a little more money on them though that would find some great ones that didn't break and allowed me to play with them all day!

When I needed a mortgage

When I needed a mortgage I needed to search high and low for mortgage lenders that would lend for the property I was buying.

In the long run it paid off. My problem was simple. My property was above a small business and in many of the T&C's they would not lend to properties that were above business. Luckily I managed to get through to a company that was actually run by humans and I explained that there was no chance the property would change into a bad business. It was currently a small office for a building company and too out of the way to become a rowdy high street eatery or a betting shop. They sent someone round, approved my mortgage and I got a great rate.

A crazy new bathroom

Here in Vermont I have been staying in a few houses but my partner's mothers house is going through a little bit of work right now. She is having a new bathroom installed.

Of all the bathroom faucets she could have chosen she has chosen the craziest but coolest one I have ever seen in a house.

There is a big mirror on the wall and a metal tube sticks out of this. The metal tube is actually a tap and it spurts water onto a large, flat, square ceramic plate. Which is the sink! Crazy but amazingly cool.

Little boy giant

I don't know oif you remember but a while back I blogged ab out the Little Girl Giant.

After showing some friends this last night, they went on and found a Little Boy Giant that was showcased in Mexico. His name is Luca.



These large puppets are amazing and although I think the girl is much better they give a great view as to what can be acheived with a little vision.

Maybe they can get them together and find some big adults to complete a family.

Window coverings

When hung over and exhausted, I always try and make sure the curtains or blinds are closed. However window coverings have more of a purpose than saving me from enduring light sensitive head aches!

I really like modern thin wood blinds like these Basswood blinds in the picture. I love the simplistic and cool feel of them. The way the light shines through these blind styles is not as offensive as opening curtains wide open.
Select Blinds offers these blinds and so much more, such as Roman Shades or whatever else you may be looking for.

Happy Easter

Not being very religious and now being an adult, I almost forgot it was Easter.

I used to love Easter as a child, and for one reason only.\

Chocolate!

Every Easter I would get at least 3 large chocolate eggs and it was almost certain 2 of them would be gone by the end of the day.

I always loved Cadbury's button eggs but always wanted more Milkybar white chocolate eggs.

I always wished that I could get a giant Creme Egg but the idea disgusts me now.

What was your favorite?

Buzz for free coupon site

It's always good to get a great deal. Collecting coupons from magazines can be a hassle but just getting them from the internet and completely free, you can't go wrong.

I always search for coupons and codes when buying stuff on the net and especially with things like domain purchases I have saved a lot of money.

BuyWithCoupons.com offers free coupons on a very regullar basis in a very easy simple format.

The squirrels are out

Strangely squirrels have been out all winter up in Montreal but not in full numbers. Now that Spring is rearing it's head they are all waking and gathering in full force.

Today there is a squirrel in the woods behind the house that I am in. It is grabbing huge piles of leaves and I can only assume is building a nest for it's summer family.

I guess this means I will start to see chipmunks, and various other fluffy animals running around freely. I can't wait to attempt to get some of their antics on camera.

Web hosting

This blog is hosted by Google Blogger but this is not an option I ever choose for my new sites. Obviously there is nothing wrong with Blogger but I need freedom to do what I need for my projects.

So looking all around the web is an important thing to finding good quality hosting companies.

Kaushal Sheth has helped with the search and written a nice concise article with some of his best web hosting finds. He explains that his host had a mini meltdown and had no good back up structure and that this is a very important feature for a good hosting company.

I look for a host that enables me to have multiple databases, A large monthly bandwidth, an easy interface to edit settings and allow easy domain transfer. I have had luck with various hosts but still do not think that I have found the perfect one and may be helped by this article. Who have you had luck with?

His blog is based around Wordpress themes but he seems very knowledgeable and has many great articles to help out us bloggers.

Playing with an iPhone, finally

I know I am very far behind but yesterday I finally got to handle an iPhone.

A friend of a friend had one and I asked kindly if I could have a play. It picked up a wireless network and of I went.

At first typing and trying to navigate was a problem but as soon as I managed to figure the enlarging and how to hold my finger it was amazing.

The screen was crisp and it's reaction was lightening fast. I want one!

I can't justify it right now but maybe in a year or so.

I didn't get a chance to play any games either, which is something I really want to do. In fact I wrote my first article on New and Reviewed about getting cheap games for your iPhone and iPod Touch.

Earning and shopping, not normally hand in hand!

It's a big surprise that with so many cash back offers available on the net that more people don't make use of it.

Just think of how much you could potentially earn back by using these services. Maybe enough to treat yourself to something special.

Sunshine Rewards is a website that specializes in a cash back shopping experience for you. The site includes much more such as contests, surveys, and paid offers. Currently they are giving away a diamond pendant in one contest and a Disney cruise in another contest so there definitely are some decent things up for grabs.

They also have an easy to use forum that can be used to connect with other active shoppers and they also offer coupons and free shipping on many of their items.

I am one of the people who has not really made use of cash back shopping but it is something that I should look into, so maybe I will be using Sunshine Rewards very soon.

Your holiday HERO

Organizing a holiday can be hard work. Finding the correct info and getting all your bookings to line up is no fun.

I have organized a few holidays in my time and have had best luck when I have used one service to get everything in order. This used to be more costly but with recent competition sites are offering some outstanding deals.

TravelHERO.com offers such a service. You canfind London discount hotels or hotels in Europe and much more, all in one place.

Their site is quick and friendly to use with good links and deals easily accessible.

Customer service is easily accessible and the site holds plenty of information making it a pleasant visit.

If you’re looking for a service that provides discount hotel reservations as well as helping you reserve a car, check out TravelHERO.com.

Yerba mate, what is it?

After feeling tired last night someone suggested that I have some Yerba Mate tea. Not knowing what it was I decided to try it. It's caffeinated but gave me a very fresh nice lift and helped me stay a little more alert until the early hours of the morning.

Apparently it gives you less of a come down than other energy products.

Yerba Mate is a species of holly from South America and is an ancient energy tea. Full info can be found on Wikipedia.

Stone cold

I love old style log cabins with big stone fireplaces and dramatic ornaments placed all around. The cozy warm feeling of the fire while it's cold outside is great and really gives you a feeling like no other.

On the other hand a cool marble design in a crisp modern house can compliment and give a sense of class and style, like no other.

MarbleUnique.com are a direct importer of marble and natural stone fireplaces, water fountains, columns, and much more.

Their site is nice and easy to use with a comprehensive and impressive online catalog. Some of the figurines and marble fountains are very cool and perfect if you are creating a classic or modern look.

They provide easy options for contact and lots of detailed photos and good information.

Hung over

Two night sin a row, alcohol has been my evening meal. Meeting new people and having fun but taking a toll on my body.

I'm feeling down and ill now and have only just started my work for the day.

I have found a great way to help with a hangover is to have some salt water and a Tylenol or headache pill.

I have also been working more on my new site CondomMonologues.com a little today though. It's coming on pretty well and if you search for condom size chart on Google I am actually ranking on the first page.

Affiliate marketing, how do I use it correctly?

I have been battling with the need to find a balance between providing content for free and where it is ethical to put affiliate marketing.

What is right and what will stop people from becoming turned off by the prospect of being on my sites.

Also what will make people actually want to shop through the affiliates? For Condom Monologues and The Random Forest I am trying to find good quality affiliates that I will actually use for shopping myself.

Do you use affiliates and how best have you had luck?

Best sump pumps

Keeping your property moisture free is one of the most important things you can do. I found out the hard way when I let a leak build up enough to partially collapse my roof!

If your property elevations do not allow for a natural gravity flow from your drainage system, you will probably need to look at sump pumps mechanically remove any water collected.

The B-Dry® System can provide the best sump pumps and much more for you to keep your property free from moisture. They say:

"The B-Dry® System Wet Basement Waterproofing Process has been proven to be so unique and so effective at eliminating wet basement leakage and flooded basement problems that it was awarded a 1986 United States Government Patent!
We will not only waterproof your basement but we also do other work to repair a wet or flooded basement. We will repair the cracks in walls, re-enforce bulged or bowing walls, window well drains and remove a faulty French drain. With the quality of our work and our products you will be well protected from any water leakage."

My last property didn't have a basement as it was on the second floor but next time I am looking to purchase I will make sure that I pay careful attention to that particular area but if you own an old property it can be unavoidable and you will have to deal with it.

Happy 2nd day of spring

Considering yesterday was the 1st day of spring there was an awful lot of snow here.

Today however is a little more spring like. The sun is shining and the snow melting but it is still very very cold.

And the wind is howling, which is probably why it feels so cold.

I have absolutely no idea what Montreal will be like when we get back but hopefully they have seen some change in the season too.

I can't wait to be able to leave the house in a T-shirt and enjoy the sun on my skin.

I wll have to dream for now.

Effectiveness of email marketing

Email marketing is one of them things that is almost essential for most businesses that operate on line. There are many services out there to help you and right now Gold Lasso, a leading email service provider is offering a free email marketing review to all new clients. This review includes a 15 page report valued by them at $2500.

You can read their press release below.

Press Release:

Gold Lasso Launches New Email Marketing Evaluation Service
New Clients to Receive Complete Email Marketing Program Evaluation Valued at $2,500

GAITHERSBURG, MD--(Marketwire - March 18, 2008) - Gold Lasso, Inc. (www.goldlasso.com), a leading provider of on-demand email marketing software and services, announced today that it has launched a new service, where new clients will receive a complete evaluation of their existing email marketing program. The evaluation, valued at $2,500, includes a free 15 page report.


The service is designed for new clients' email marketing program by evaluating the key areas required for successful campaigns. Armed with this information, clients will experience increased results and understand what is needed to build stronger email communications. Gold Lasso is one of the few ESPs to offer an in-depth evaluation service for free.

"We found that a lot of new clients needed expert analysis of their email marketing campaigns to enhance their success rate. By offering this 15 page evaluation, clients will be able to focus on areas that need improvement and be able to maintain their lists, creative and overall campaigns more effectively," says Elie Ashery, President of Gold Lasso.

The Existing Email Program Evaluation will include:

-- Deliverability Analysis to understand what kind of deliverability rates a client is experiencing and how to improve it. This includes Authentication Analysis, Black List Analysis, Reputation Analysis, DNS/IP Analysis, and ISP Complaint Review.

-- Content Review will review the use of templates and coding to ensure that recipients are able to view what is sent, and not trigger spam filters. Rendering Analysis, Template Review, Content Review, Spam Analysis and Mobile Analysis are included in the evaluation.

-- List Management practices determine the success of email marketing efforts and care is needed to ensure it is up to par with industry best practices. The review will include: Compilation Analysis, Opt-In Analysis, Inactivity Review, Segmentation Review, and Personalization Review.

-- Software Integration is essential for maximizing more than basic data such as names and emails. Gold Lasso will help review: Integration Review, CRM Review, Web Analytics Review, SFA Review, and ERP Review.

About Gold Lasso

Gold Lasso, Inc., located in Gaithersburg, MD, is an interactive technology marketing firm that started operations in 2001. The company primarily services the association, publishing, retail, education, finance and hospitality industries. For more information, visit the Gold Lasso Web site at http://www.goldlasso.com or call 301-990-9857.

Why not stop by and see if they are offering an Enterprise Email Marketing plan to help you move your business to the next level.

My brand new website

I have been working on a new web site called New and Reviewed (newandreviewed.com).

I hope to use this site to blog about hot products and niche products and will hopefully rely mainly on search engine traffic.

At present Google isn't indexing it but hopefully their spiders will stop by soon and help me out.

I am aiming to bring descriptions and reviews about these niche and hot topics and then hopefully earn a little money from affiliate sales.

Has anybody else had any luck with such an idea?

Baby clothes funky

Finding the perfect clothes for a baby takes time and consideration. Strangely the baby doesn't care what it wears but there is nothing better than a well dressed baby.

You can get all styles for a baby these days. Also fashion has taken a good turn in the sense that many styles are now unisex. If you need to buy baby clothes for yourself or friends and the sex of the baby is unknown then there are still plenty of funky baby clothing choices.

You can find a great selection of infant baby clothes online at BabyMallOnline.com and they have some great deals. With all styles of clothing and also many accessories including bottles, dummies and toys. Free delivery is given on orders over $100 and they seem to over great customer service.

I like their friendly design and they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. The images and descriptions are all of great quality. If I was looking for funky infant clothes I would definitely check them out.

Skydive from space

I heard about this from a friend a long while ago but have only just gotten around to looking into it. I was amazed!

On August 16, 1960, Joseph Kittinger jumped from the projects Excelsior balloon, doing so from an air-thin height of 102,800 feet (31,334 meters). From that nearly 20 miles altitude, his tumble toward terra firma took some 4 minutes and 36 seconds. Exceeding the speed of sound during the fall, Kittinger used a small stabilizing chute before a larger, main parachute opened in the denser atmosphere. He safely touched down in barren New Mexico desert, 13 minutes 45 seconds after he vaulted into the void.



His jump set records that still stand today, including, the highest parachute jump, the longest freefall, and the fastest speed ever by a human through the atmosphere.

Kittinger's use of the small parachute for stabilization during his record-setting fall. Roger Eugene Andreyev, a Russian, is touted as holding the world's free fall record of 80,325 feet (24,483 meters), made on November 1, 1962.

(text edited from the YouTube page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81gn2oLeC_U)

Have you ever heard of this before?

Can't find a thing in the warehouse?

I have worked in a few companies that have kept a small warehouse. It has always been a very human affair with one or two guys controlling what goes where and dealing with all in and out going deliveries. This is fine and nice and personal but if one personal deals with one thing and either forgets, is ill or just no where to be found it Can cause trouble.

So for a ware house that is any bigger I think some kind of management software is a must. You can find software to suit many needs and situations but Cadre Technologies provides one of the most complete, advanced and comprehensive systems that I have seen.

Cadre Technologies say that this warehouse management system transforms a typical warehouse operation into a totally connected logistics and fulfillment business. Our warehouse management software allows you to take orders over the web, process them in real-time with voice directed operations and automate shipping.

The fact that things are automated and the system basically works itself means that your workers can spend the time doing the human side of the job, talking to customers, organizing the physical items and they can be sure and confident of what they are doing. With integrated supply chain management the whole process can be tracked by anyone with access to the system. Someone being out to lunch or off sick should not cause any major problems and operations should be able to operate much more smoothly.

Their website is very nicely laid out and they proudly display their Microsoft Gold badge at the bottom of the page. Contacting them for any questions and arranging a live demo is very easy so you can work out of this is exactly what your business needs.

Stars are normal too

I came across this video of one of my favorite bands busking in London for charity.



I liked it because it wasn't too flashy and it showed that they were clearly just a bunch of guys with guitars and they were cold and human just like everyone else.

When you meet and chat with so called stars it's always a great feeling that you may have just spoken with the perosn and not the star. Sometimes you go away liking them, sometimes you just don't gel. My own advice is always try and go beyond being star struck and see if you can actually treat them human. I find it's appreciated.

Big events need big attention

A few years back I organized a few small events back in England. The biggest was around 600 people and it was a Drum and Bass night. My friend Bill and I organized them and one thing I learned from it all was how much work is involved. You sleep, eat and.... the event. All day long people are calling you and as we were both working at the time it caused no end of confusion for us both.

I did however really enjoy it at times. The nights were nerve wrecking and overall we lost a lot of money but I learned enough to say that I will probably give it a shot some time in the future or maybe even consider working for an event planner.

Innovative Entertainment are in a completely different league to me and my little events.

They say they are the leading Event Planning and Event Management Company for your Special Event. They offer Corporate Event Planning and Trade Show Promotion, as well as Entertainment Production and Special Event Planning.

With access to an impressive rooster of services and acts for your event they can cater for any size and it looks as if they can prepare any event you dream of.

Just looking on their nicely laid out site you can see that they have provided such stars as Black Eyed Peas, Mariah Carey, Steve Bridges as George Bush and much much more.

They are a San Francisco event planning company but as you read their site they deal with much much more with clients ranging throughout all of North America, Mexico and Europe.

I know if it's your special event then the best thing is to stay out of the organization and let a company such as Innovative Entertainment take care of every single aspect. All you need to do is turn up.

Starting over, lack of exercise.

Sadly since I have been in Vermont for a little while now I have not had any chance to do the regular exercise that I was participating in before I left Montreal.

I am looking forward to going back to the gym but am worried that I will almost be back to starting fresh.

Before I left I managed to get up to 4 miles in around 29 minutes. I think I will have to scrap the 4 miles and do an easy 3 miles on my first day back.

I have no idea how quickly you lose your running stamina and speed but I feel less healthy than when I left. Yesterday was my first day without alcohol and I have been eating ice cream, mmmmmmmm Ben and Jerry's (Vermon't finest!), and drinking Coca Cola and energy drinks.

Sleep pattern has also been destroyed and I need to hammer back down to a better routine.

For now, I'll enjoy the rest of my time in Vermont.

Call home, get 3% back.

Before I realized that you could purchase phone cards online, I remember chatting with my partner from back in England and running out of credit and cards. I would have to get dressed and run down to the store, hoping it was open, then if it was closed I had to run to the 24 hour gas station. After my 2 mile trek I would return home and gleefully dial in the numbers and get back to her.

Then I discovered the joy of buying cards online. It's easy and instant and often the selction is far greater than in your local store.

Phonecards Avenue is a phonecards site that offers a great range at a great price. If you are looking for cheap India Phone Cards, cheap africa phonecards or pretty much anywhere else in the world.

Their website is nicely designed with easy to find cards in a very apealing layout but the greatest thing the offer is reward for customer loyalty. If you buy a card from them you get a 3% rebate. If you are a regular user it will not be long before you have free cards coming your way.

The snow is falling

Just as I get excited about Spring, it's taken away from me in one swoop.

Yesterday we saw a crappy day of rain and dulness and I was feeling like it was autumn. Apparently Montreal is going to have days like that throughout the whole Spring. I guess it's similar to some days of April in the UK.

But today the snow is hammering down, around 2 inches already, I would guess. This snow was predicted for yesterday so it' suprising to see it here today.

Sadly I don't have my snow pants with me, otherwise I would consider going out to build a snowman!

My first oyster

I grew up in England in London. Although not directly next to the coast, one of the things about England is it's tiny size in comparison to many other places, for example the US. In the US you either live by the coast or you don't, if you know what I mean?

So going to the sea and eating fish and chips, laying on the beach in the summer, were not uncommon to me.

My dad was into fishing, being near the coast and also.... seafood. From a young age I remember trying prawns, or shrimps as they are known in the USA. I remember loving prawns and then I progressed to crab sticks, prawnies, cockles, whelks even baby octopus then came the Oyster.

I didn't want to try an oyster but being that they were so popular and the people of Whitstable claiming that theirs where the best in the world, I had to try it.

Looking at the shell with this little lump of slimy stuff made me cautious but I closed my eyes, tipped my head up and shovelled it in. Oops, it stayed in my mouth, I couldn't swallow. So I pushed it out of my mouth and back into the shell. Okay, next try. I added some salt and pepper and got all bad thoughts out of my head. Head back, mouth open, in and.... hooray, down it went.

Oysters are great, they even taste good too! People just need to get the bad ideas out of their head. Like people think all sharks are bad and we are now learning that they are not.

Writing this post makes me want an oyster now, even though it is breakfast time!

Back when I first tried oysters I was unaware of any dangers of eating them. You can get ill from certain bacterias that live on raw seafood, such as Vibrio vulnificus illness. Luckily modern technology has allowed people to develop Post Harvest Processes to reduce the risk of catching bacteria related illnesses from raw seafood.

Gulf Coast oyster processors have developed fantastic new technologies to provide a safer alternative to traditional raw oysters for the at-risk consumer range. These processes still allow the Gulf oysters to be consumed raw but with healthy safety features that reduce Vibrio vulnificus to a non-detectable level.

The post-harvest treatment processes existing on a commercial scale include a mixture of individual quick-freezing (IQF), low heat pasteurization or heat-cool pasteurization (HCP), and high-hydrostatic pressure (HPP) techniques.

Sadly these technologies currently only account for less than 10% of all oyster sales in the United States. An on-going marketing and educational effort aimed at the at-risk consumer is expanding acceptance and making oysters safer for everyone.

free images clipart

As a blogger it is always good to find a place where you can freely get images. Glady Wikimedia Commons is on hand for that.

You can browse their extensive selction of user contributed images and add them to your own projects usually freely without permission.

Obviously each image has it's own license rules but follow them and you will be good.

I am actually thinking about starting to upload some images there myself in the hope that it will help promote some of my projects.

Have you used Wikimedia for anything?

Hip hop artist profiles and news

Whilst having a discussion the other month about what happened to punk and it's anger, intelligence and the thoughts it roused in the youth we came across a thought. Hip hop in many ways is the new punk.

Hip hop is where people express their political views and call upon politicians to think of the youth and the war to end. Hip hop also has it's pop side where money, girls, gangsta and ghetto are big. I'm into thoughtful hip hop but understand that people's taste varies and luckily rap and hip hop covers many bases.

If you are looking for artist profiles and hip hop news then check out RapArtists.com. They are a pretty new site but already have a comprehensive user driven community for all artists, rap and hip hop. The design is slick and easy to navigate allowing you to quickly find news, look at peoples faves and find out some decent bio information for your favorite groups and artists.

The site also features a great forum which enhances the user experience and builds on the great community spirit that this site is developing.

Vermont, and brew pubs / breweries

Last night we went to a vermont brew pub in Waterbury, home of Ben and Jerry's, called The Alchemist. The beer was great and I enjoyed the food too.

One great thing about Vermont is the mini breweries throughout the state. Aparently there are more beweries per capita than any other US State and it fits in well with the impressin I have of Vermont. Vermont seems to have great small business mind about it and people are more liberal than I imagined before I had ever been here.

Here is a list of the Vermont breweries associated with The Vermont Brewers Association:

The Alchemist
Pub & Brewery*

23 South Main Street
Waterbury, VT 05676
Phone: 802-244-4120
www.alchemistbeer.com

American Flatbread
Burlington Hearth/Zero Gravity Brewery*
115 St. Paul St.
Burlington VT05401
Phone:802-861-2999
Fax: 802-861-2556
www.flatbreadhearth.com

The Bobcat Cafe & Brewery*
5 Main Street
Bristol, VT 05443
(802) 453-3311
www.bobcatcafe.com
Email: bobcatcafe@gmavt.net

Harpoon*

336 Ruth Carney Drive
Windsor VT 05089
Phone: 802-674-5491
Fax: 802-674-5560
Email: vtretail@harpoonbrewery.com
www.harpoonbrewery.com

Long Trail Brewing Co.*

Junction of Route 4 & 100A
PO Box 168
Bridgewater Corners VT 05035
Phone: 802-672-5011
Fax: 802-672-5012
www.longtrail.com

Madison Brewing Co.
428 Main Street
Bennington, VT 05201
Phone: 802-442-7397

Magic Hat Brewing Co.*

5 Bartlett Bay Road
South Burlington VT 05403
Phone: 802-658-2739
Fax: 802-658-5788
www.magichat.net

Maple Leaf Malt & Brewing
3 North Main Street
Wilmington, VT 05363
Phone: 802-464-9900

McNeill's Brewery
90 Eliot Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
Phone: 802-254-2553

Norwich Inn/Jasper Murdock Ale House*

325 Main Street
Norwich VT 05055
Phone: 802-649-1143
Fax: 802-649-2909
ww.norwichinn.com

Orlio Organic Beer*
5 Bartlett Bay Road
South Burlington VT 05403
Phone: 802-864-9820
Fax: 802-658-5788
www.orlio.net

Otter Creek Brewing, Inc.*


793 Exchange Street
Middlebury VT 05753
Phone: 802-388-0727
Fax: 802-388-1654
www.ottercreekbrewing.com

Rock Art Brewery*

254 Wilikins Street
Morrisville, VT 05661
Phone: 802-888-9400
Email: rockart@pwshift.com
www.rockartbrewery.com

The Shed Restaurant and Brewery*
1859 Mountain Road
Stowe VT 05672
Phone: 802-253-4364
Fax: 802-253-9694

Stonecutters Brewhouse
(formerly Granite City)
14 N. Main Stret
Barre, VT 05641
Phone: 802-476-6000

Switchback Brewery*
PO Box 4210
Burlington VT05406
Phone: 802-651-4114
Tours on Saturdays at 1:00 pm. Tour size is limited. Call ahead for reservations.

Three Needs*
207 College Street
Burlington VT 05401
Phone: 802-658-0889

Trout River Brewing Company*

PO Box 165, 58 Broad Street/Route 5
Lyndonville, VT 05851
Phone: 802-626-9396
www.troutriverbrewing.com

Vermont Pub & Brewery*

144 College Street
Burlington VT 05401
Phone: 802-865-0500
Fax: 802-658-4112
www.vermontbrewery.com

Playing Fantasy Baseball

I used to think baseball was boring but obviously I did not have a clue what was going on and I was comparing it too much to cricket.

Quite recently I sat down in a bar and my partner explained what she knew about the baseball game that was on the TV. Strangely the whole world of baseball changed in front of my eyes. No longer was it boring or even slightly hard to understand.

We were watching a Yankees, Redsox game so it was a good one to start on.

Now watching baseball is fun but you can always elevate the experience by challenging and engaging yourself in a league of your own. Most of us are not good enough to be professional sports stars or managers, or coaches so playing fantasy baseball is a great, fun, and easier to fit into your lunch break way of playing baseball. Trying to get the right buzz of players, balancing your stats and keeping the virtual bank happy are only some of the hurdles you can face. Playing in a fantasy league brings up all the emotions of watching the real game and involve you on a level where you feel you are sitting with the weight of it all on you. Of course this is all for fun, a fantasy, so it overall makes for a great experience that will have you rejoining at the end of every league.

If you are looking for the ideal way to play a fantasy baseball league then Fantasy Sports Prophet's fantasy baseball software is a definite thing to look into. They provide key tools to help you in your fantasy baseball career and it's all available anywhere, online. The software includes a huge array of features such as

• Web-based – access from anywhere;
• Player rankings based on Predictive Modeling by PhD scientists;
• Most advanced Draft assistance tool - all the data needed to make the right decision about any player;
• Full season roster management including updated mid-season projections via artificial intelligence;
• All stats, injury reports and major updates available from within software;
• And much much more.

Winning a fantasy league could bring you many things such as money and prizes but the biggest payoff is the self satisfaction. Being able to pat yourself on the back and knowing that you played the best game, maybe with a little luck here and there.

If you sign up for Fantasy Sports Prophet's Fantasy Baseball software then readers of my blog have the opportunity to gain $10 off . Just use the promo code BMC200 when making your order.

Delayed...

I was supposed to back to Montreal today but was asked to do someone a favor and help watch their house and feed the crazy dogs.

So no I am going to be here until Sunday.

I am staying in this fantastic house with a great deck overlooking Burlington, Vermont's biggest city, and lake Champlain. There is a pool on the deck but sadly the remaining winter puts that out of use.

There are 3 dogs here. Two poodles and a pitbull. One of the poodles happens to be 16 but still has a good soul and runs around as much as he can. I don't think he realizes that he is old!

I am going to have a fun relaxing few days but sadly I still don't think I will find the time to catch up on my work and really start progressing my projects.

Be seen this summer!

One of the things that I really notice that is different in the UK and USA is security. Although the border in the USA is probably more secure, once you get into the country I am suprised at the lack of security cameras and even the amount of people that check your credit card signature.

Hopefully this will change. It make me feel more comfortable that someone in the gas station checks my signature or that I can be seen on surveillance camera when walking down a dark street. I do not feel like I am being violated. If the police started monitoring me at hoe, maybe I would fee a little different!

It would help with gang crime, muggings and even prevent shop lifting if these cameras and security systems could be fitted appropriately inc certain neighborhoods. People would feel better when they started to see results and I think the investment is well worth it.

There are a few good companies offering comprehensive systems for this and IT Planet are one of them. Businesses can help their own and their neighborhood security by installing their own security camera system. IT Planet offers discount hardware for businesses including bar code label printers, barcode scanners, touchscreens for POS, as well as a large selection of security cameras and systems.

Man, defeats the object, sort of!

A friend emailed me a story that he found on Siasat.com that talks about a guy who released fish into the wild many years ago and then actually caught one of them whilst out fishing.

Here is an excerpt of the article:

Green River, March 17: Some people catch fish and release them. Bill Wengert releases them and then catches them a quarter-century later.

In April 1983, Wengert and other state Game and Fish Department biologists stocked some 12,000 young trout in the Flaming Gorge Reservoir in southwest Wyoming.

Game and Fish spokeswoman Lucy Wold said Wengert was ice fishing recently on the 91-mile (146-kilometer)-long reservoir and caught a 23-inch (58-centimeter) Mackinaw trout, a type of lake trout.

Wengert noticed the trout's right pelvic fin had been clipped, indicating it was a hatchery fish that had been stocked. Examining historical stocking data, Wengert determined the fish was stocked on April 14, 1983.

The article in it's entirety can be read here.

It is an amazing story but it just shows us how fish may be a little like humans and not stray too far from where they grow up!

Do something else in Las Vegas

Most people think of Las Vegas and think of Gambling, however if you have been there then you know that there is far more on offer.

A great activity is Golf. Golf is a great exercise and great sport and relaxation all in one. Walking for a good 18 holes and exercising your upper body whilst chatting and winding down from the hard things in life.

And you can get really competitive if you like!

A wide range of Las Vegas golfing is on offer from the Golf Authority. They have a great web site and the images just make your mouth water. I wanted to be there while I was browsing.

They say that if you are:

"Searching for a great Las Vegas golf vacation package? The featured resorts and golf courses presented on this website represent the top hot spots for the game, at unbeatable prices! We've got great golf deals on courses like TPC Las Vegas, Siena, Angel Park, Revere, Paiute and Tuscany. Now, the same golf resorts and courses designed and played by some of golf's greatest champions are ready for your challenge."

They offer the whole package and everything you need so if you are going to Vegas and looking to play golf then why not check them out.

Is winter leaving us?

The last few days has been warmer and the snow here in Vermont is melting away. It feels like Spring is poking it's head around the corner and creeping back into our lives. Is this really happening?

Well, everyone keeps telling me it's not over and that a storm is coming. Apparently 3 inches will be turning up tomorrow and we could be stuck indoors for most of the day.

I'm not too sad about this, I think I can take a few more storms as long as Spring does come. And then there is Summer, I can't wait!

Yeeee ha

As a young boy everyone played Cowboys and Indians, even back in England the Wild Wild West was a fantasy of many children. Even with the World, Wide, Web then Wild Wild West still lives on.

One of the best part of being a Cowboy was riding horses and bull riding. Live free and do what you want. Eat BBQ every night and roam around the open country.

Strangely some of this dream transcends into adulthood and the idea of living as a cowboy, even if only for a short while is still romantic.

I would love to go and see a rodeo and with the NFR coming up in December it may be something that I could attend. The NFR (National Finals Rodeo) is a yearly Rodeo competition and Cowboy fest in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It's known as the Superbowl of Rodeo and if you are looking National Final Rodeo tickets then it's a good time to get them before they are sold out.

I would love to go and hang out with the real guys and watch them in real action. These guys live and breath Cowboy and even though it isn't a necessary life style for all of them it is their life. You have to respect that and I guess this is what keeps the romantic idea alive.

Maybe I'll see you there, yeeeeee ha.

St Pats, in like a lion out like a lamb!

Yesterday was St Patrick's day. I didn't know what I was going to do but I did know that I wasn't going to be in Montreal, so missed the big parade.

I was in Burlington, USA and although not much happened people were still out drinking.

I started off my day late and ended up in a bar around 2:00. Then I got pretty drunk, ended up eating pizza and was at a friends house for dinner, drunk, at around 8:00. Then I chilled out, watched the end of Across the Universe and became sober. The night ended calmly and at least I did not wake up with a hang over today.

What did you do?

Why do things yourself?

I have just started on my online journey to become a blogger, writer, marketer, graphic designer and much much more on the world wide web. Admittedly I am sitting in a bar in Vermont with a beer right now.... but normally my days are filled with things to do and I always have to set something aside and prioritize.

When things are running smoothly, I will definitely look at outsourcing some of my work and creating a more professional outfit without necessarily expanding my base company.

Outsourcing is a standard and important part of business and in many cases essential for success and keeping the priorities in the main frame.

If you are a business and are involved in the internet in any way, which most businesses are these days them Momentum.com may be of help.

They say that:

Momentum's collaborative IT specialists thrive on your business challenges. We can augment your in-house teams or provide assistance on a per-project basis. We offer tailored Internet outsourcing solutions specific to your budget and requirements, providing a single point of accountability. We align our managed services to your business objectives.
Momentum features a state of the art five million-dollar server hosting facility. We service the US and Canada with best-in-class managed hosting services, including dedicated server hosting and web hosting colocation services.

Their website certainly looks impressive and they provide a huge range of services. You could almost operate like a reseller based on the amount of things that they can provide your business and going by their high quality client list it seems that they are well respected, high quality professionals in their field.

Yellow spotted salamander

Whilst out snowshoeing we came across a very strang site. There was a lizard laying, motionless on the ice.

At first I assumed it was dead but as we got close, it moved slightly but very slowly. I assume it was it's cold bloodiness that caused this.

We didn't know what to do so we looked around and I saw a tree root. My partner picked it up and placed it in the root, it started to move and crawled inside.

We probably saved it's life.



Wondering what it was, I did some research and it seems that it is a yellow spotted salamander. It was about 25cm long and from the little research I did, I think it emerged for mating as it has been warm the last few days. Sadly for the lizard, the snow is still very much there.

Bye bye Varicose

I have heard stories of peoples varicose veins spurting and pouring blood or even spurting blood 5 feet high. Now this probably isn't true but it does give us an insight into the perception and belief of what varicose veins are and are like.

So sadly having varicose veins could cause people to stare and I am sure that in some cases they may have health issues. Surgery or treatment is available to reduce their visibility and may help you to appear more healthy and feel better about yourself.

The Southwest Vein & Laser Institute and Medical Spa, specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of Venous disease. They also offer highly versatile, effective, and comfortable aesthetic treatments and are fully accredited with a state-of-the-art facility. It offers the latest developments in treatment, including endovenous laser therapy (ELT), VNUS closure (RF), TriVex, micro-hook phlebectomy, laser ablation of spider veins, sclerotherapy (visual, trans-illuminated and ultrasound-guided), and Subfacial Endoscopic Perforator Surgery (SEPS) for the legs, arms, hands, face and trunk.

The doctor behind the spa, Dr. Murphy, had suffered from varicose veins himself and is dedicated to giving his treatment knowledge onto his patients and also himself. So if you are looking for laser surgery in Phoenix then why not contact them and see if they can help.

The website is well laid out and friendly, giving concise information and easy contact methods so that you can see if this is the right step for you to treat your veins.