North Wales Caravan Park

How cool would it be to have a vacation home in North Wales? Gorsehill Caravan Park provides Luxury Caravans at very reasonable prices that can be used to build years of wonderful family memories in one of the most beautiful locations in the world.

As you can see from the picture of the interior of one of the quality built caravans these are very nicely appointed and comfortable homes. Gorsehill works with you to construct a caravan that is suited to you and your needs. They will advise you and work with you until you have the tailor-made home that is perfect for you.

Best of all, the location is fabulous. You can enjoy a ride range of local attractions just steps away from your new vacation home. The bustling and charming Town of Conwy is world renowned for its historical and architectural heritage. It offers contemporary and historic entertainment and points of interest as well as ancient festivals and fairs.

The area also boasts of castles, caverns, museums, mines, marinas, golf and much, much more. It is simply spectacular.

Take a look at their website for a taste of the luxury and charm of this gorgeous area of the world. Give them a call and find out how easily you can have a vacation home there!

Wednesday Hero - Spc. Monica Lin Brown

Spc. Monica Lin Brown
19 years old from Lake Jackson, Texas
4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team

Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown has done something only a very few female soldiers in American history have ever done. She's been awarded the Silver Star.

Brown saved the lives of fellow soldiers after a roadside bomb tore through a convoy of Humvees in the eastern Paktia province of Afghanistan in April 2007. "I did not really think about anything except for getting the guys to a safer location and getting them taken care of and getting them out of there."

"We stopped the convoy. I opened up my door and grabbed my aid bag," Brown said.

She started running toward the burning vehicle as insurgents opened fire. All five wounded soldiers had scrambled out.

"I assessed the patients to see how bad they were. We tried to move them to a safer location because we were still receiving incoming fire," Brown said. "So we dragged them for 100 or 200 meters, got them away from the Humvee a little bit," she said. "I was in a kind of a robot-mode, did not think about much but getting the guys taken care of."

For Brown, who knew all five wounded soldiers, it became a race to get them all to a safer location. Eventually, they moved the wounded some 500 yards away and treated them on site before putting them on a helicopter for evacuation.

"I did not really have time to be scared," Brown said. "Running back to the vehicle, I was nervous (since) I did not know how badly the guys were injured. That was scary."

The military said Brown's "bravery, unselfish actions and medical aid rendered under fire saved the lives of her comrades and represents the finest traditions of heroism in combat."

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

eConnek Online

eConnek is a new business venture that specializes in providing low priced alternatives to popular OEM electrical connectors. The business is dedicated to catering to all connector needs by offering an easy to use 24 hour secure e-commerce website for order placement and an on-site inventory for quick delivery.

If you take a look at the website you can learn Explore website all about their company and how they can help you build your company. They provide products that include metal circular connectors as well as push-pull and plastic pin connectors. eConneck makes is easy to get the replacement parts you need. They have replacement parts of LEMO and odu connector brand parts.

The site is very user friendly. Its laid out in such an organized way that it is easy to navigate and useful for even people like me. You can use their search function to easily and quickly find whatever part you are looking for.

Shopping online is safe and easy on the site. Whole transaction process is made in a secure environment, which will guarantee safety for customers. Customers who create user accounts will be able to store account information such as billing or shipping address so that they will not need to reenter this information again and again. In your account information you will also be able to find order histories and even shipment tracking information. When it comes to shipping, all of the orders are usually processed and shipped within 48 hours thus ensuring timely delivery. Fast delivery has been proven as one of the most important factors when it comes to buying products online, so it is great news that eConnek put emphasis on quick shipping. eConnek.com accepts online orders 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Try eConnek for all your OEM compatible and push pull electrical connectors needs and at the same time take advantage of their low prices and save big.

Pictures of Koblenz Germany

I've posted about my son's wedding in Germany here and here. We have talked about going back in the summer (when its not so COLD!) and seeing more of the places we didn't get a chance to see while we were there in December.

One of the places I told my son I would like to see is Koblenz. He sent me some photos of when he was there last year before he was deployed.

Photos are a poor substitute, but its better than nothing.

Here are just a few of the 77 pictures he sent! lol

click to enlarge

Home Furniture at Great Prices!

I am a funiture-aholic. I know I am. I'm always looking at furniture. I love to go into furniture stores. Its very strange because I don't have much of a flare for decorating. My mother is an absolute artist when it comes to decorating. She's the type of person that can make something beautiful out of nothing. She can pull together a few things she has here and there and make something gorgeous out of it. Kind of like looking in her refrigerator to see what she has and cooking up a five course meal out of nothing. That gene passed over me.

Still, I like to look and make sad attempts to make my home cozy and fashionable. Ha!

Right now I'm looking at living room furniture and bedroom furniture. My bedroom is a sad sight and I need to spruce it up a little bit. Therefore, I was looking around the web again and came across a great website that is all about furniture. Its called Furniture from Home.

They have some really beautiful king sleigh beds and storage bed at great prices. In addition to the beautiful furniture, they offer articles on the care of your furniture and finding the right furniture to fit your life style as well as your living space.

If don't have to worry about the process of buying furniture online either. They'll walk you through the process so that its as simple as can be for you.

I Feng-Shui'd My Bedroom

I decided to feng-shui my bedroom. It’s been arranged the same way since I moved into this house and I thought a little change would be nice.So I shoved the bed over to the corner. This isn’t as simple as it sounds.

That involved moving carpets around that were under the bed - that took some serious muscle. Moving the bed, moving the other pieces of furniture, etc.

The first night the room was feng-shui’d I fell out of the bed. I then fell out of the bed when I got up the next morning.

The second night I fell out of the bed and fell out of the bed when I got up the next morning.

The third night I moved everything back the way it was before. My Beloved Curmudgeon insisted on it.

Here’s my question. Why - WHY - would my body still be subconsciously oriented with the room rather than the bed?

I mean, I remember getting up and rolling out of bed and plopping on the floor. In my subconscious I thought the bed was the way it was before. So when I hopped out of the bed I was oriented in such a way that I fell out.

What’s with that?

Top Rap Artists

There's an exciting new website that is all about top rap artists. You can find out just about anything you want to know about your favorite hip hop artist, from his or her biography to his latest releases to his top sellers. They also have photo galleries of each artist they have in their database. In addition, you can talk with people with a common interest in rap music on the Rap Artists Forum. If you are into Rap then you will definitely want to check out Rap Artists. Registration is free so there is no reason not to take advantage of what they have to offer!

World War I Site Discovered

Beneath the northern French town of Arras is a labyrinth of tunnels and caves that were used to help the allies defeat the Germans in The Great War. Those elaborate subterranean passageways hide an army of 25,000 British Soldiers right beneath the unsuspecting German army. From their hiding place beneath the front lines of that long ago war, the British were able to launch battles and raids from deep within the enemy territory.

In the years after the war these caves and tunnels were forgotten and built over. They have recently been rediscovered and escalated giving us an unequaled look into the world of the early 20th century warfare.

Next to a suburban supermarket, beneath a former camp site, the public can take a glass elevator from the 21st century straight down to the world of Tommy Atkins and bully beef.

Clever lighting and sound effects have created a mesmerising insight into life on the Western Front.

Accompanied by a bilingual expert and an excellent audioguide, parties of 20 are able to weave their way through an authentic slice of the Great War.

At the time, the Great War was considered the War to End All Wars. Of course, now we know that it was the war that began a series of wars in the 20th century. They didn't know that then. It is only in retrospect that we are able to see how one lead to the other. Its only in retrospect that we are able to learn the hard lesson that history taught us from that war. One of those lessons being that not ending the war by defeating the enemy only left us to have to fight the same enemy another day. It seems apparent to me that every war of the 20th century was a result of a lack of a proper ending to that war, including the Vietnamese and Korean wars. Yet, that war was quickly overshadowed by the second World War and many of the lessons learn were lost under the much larger and deadlier World War II.

The Great War was the first modern war in which it was learned that frontal assaults were nothing less than suicidal.

The generals had learned a few lessons from the 1916 Battle of the Somme. Chief among them was the fact that frontal assaults on well-defended enemy trenches and artillery were mass suicide.

As the Western Front stalemate continued from the North Sea to the Swiss border, the French hatched a grand plan to win the war in 48 hours. They would smash through the German lines along the River Aisne in the spring of 1917.

The British would play their part with a colossal pre-emptive strike around Arras 50 miles to the north. A dazzling plan then took shape.

For almost a century, the ingenuity of the Battle of Arras has remained lost to our collective memories.

Today, Arras is an unremarkable town an hour's drive south of Calais. Most British tourists whizz past it on the autoroute as they drive to Paris and beyond. But if they look out of the window, they will glimpse some clues to the carnage in these parts.

Beautifully tended Commonwealth War Graves are dotted on either side. Soaring to the east is the stirring Canadian memorial to the 11,000 men who died in the heroic capture of Vimy Ridge. It is often said that Canada came of age as a nation that day.

Arras was a forlorn and battered frontier town. In 1914, it had been captured by the Germans, recaptured by the French and then put under British control to allow the French to concentrate elsewhere. In 1916, it was a shell of a place.

Civilians had been evacuated and British occupied the ruins while the Germans, who held the higher ground, sat to the East lobbing shells into the town.

It was just another stalemate situation on the Western Front. But, unseen by the Germans, something extraordinary was going on under the ground.

The plan to utilize the tunnels, sewers, cellars and caves created during the time of the Romans occupation was nothing short of ingenious. New Zealand Tunnelers were brought in to connect the caves, cellars and sewers with tunnels. In the end, it housed 25,000 allied troops. Five Hundred New Zealanders got the job done in record time. The entire plan was executed in complete secrecy.

Can you imagine the logistics of getting 25,000 soldiers down into those caves through a bakery? They managed to do it undetected. And there they waited until the appointed date to strict the Germans, Easter Sunday, 5.30am on April 9, 1917. They took the Germans completely by surprise.

The German guns, already hammered by their British counterparts, had little time to readjust their sights and bring fire down on an enemy which was suddenly a mile closer than anyone had expected.

There was heavy fighting, of course. Thousands of brave men, like Harry Holland, did not survive the day, but the losses were nothing like the Somme.

Germans surrendered bootless and still in night clothes. Up in the northern sector, around Vimy Ridge, the Canadians faced much stiffer opposition but they, too, had been helped by their own intricate tunnel arrangements leading up to the German lines.

Day One of the Battle of Arras was, without doubt, a great success. Within a couple of days, the Allies had advanced eight miles. By the woeful standards of that war, it was like capturing a continent.

The war went on, but the Battle of Arras was a grand success in the context of the times. As the war and time went on, the tunnels were closed down, Arras was rebuilt and people forgot that day of bravery, sacrifice and grander. Some Frenchmen remembered the caves and used them again for shelter just a few short years later during the long hard days of World War II. Then, they were forgotten. In 1990, Alain Jacques began to investigate what had happened in that area during the Great War. He became curious when he couldn't find an answer as to why there were English words written on pillars and walls in that area. There was no written record of what had happened there. Studying the archives, he began to understand why places in that area were named names like 'Wellington'. That led to beginning of the excavations.

He had discovered the Blenheim quarry. Over the subsequent years, he would find much more. In 1994, a gas pipe repair led him to Thompson's Cave. Gradually, he worked out where the soldiers had emerged to meet the enemy.

His problem was that post-war Arras had simply expanded over the entire network and out into what had once been No Man's Land.

Much of the network has collapsed, much else is extremely unsafe and French laws meant that there could be no question of opening any museum underneath private homes.

Along with Arras's director of tourism, Jean-Marie Prestaux, Alain worked out that just one quarry - Wellington - had the potential for safe public access because it lay under a council-owned campsite.

Now, 18 years after Alain's first discovery, a £3 million visitor centre and a lift have been constructed. The Carriere Wellington, underground home of the Suffolk Regiment 91 years back, is, finally, open to the world.

"Everyone knows the Somme and Verdun," says Jean-Marie as he shows me round his beloved project.

"Now people from all over the world will learn of Arras. Even most French people know nothing of all this."

When I finally resurface, blinking and speechless, into the daylight, I ask Alain to show me where the inhabitants of Wellington would have emerged on that freezing dawn in 1917.

He takes me down several suburban streets, until we reach a crossroads on the Rue St Quentin.

"Here," he says, "this is where they came out to fight the enemy."

The scene could hardly be more poignant. Full of fun and laughter, it is a children's playground. Wherever he may be, I am sure poor Harry Holland would approve.

I hope to visit there and tour those tunnels the next time I'm in Europe.

source

I Love Candles!

Nothing warms up a space in your house or office like a candle. I especially like scented candles, although I know some people prefer them unscented. Still, the scented ones send such a delicate fragrance that along with the soft glow of the candle can actually be very soothing.

Joyous Candles is well named in that it offers a huge variety of candles that would suit every mood and every taste. For instance, I love the Esque Candles. They are very elegant and offer a nice soft glow while they are burning. Aren't they lovely? I think they add a lot to the relaxed feeling of a room. Check out Joyous Candles, they have a lot to offer at a very reasonable price!

Official Extended Promotional Trailer - Lost Season 4

I am addicted to Lost. Season 4 started on January 31st so I should have posted this promotional trailer a little earlier. I recently found a site called Lostology that has a ton of information about Lost and, just so you're warned, some spoilers.

My head is still spinning over this weeks episode. I've heard a lot of people suggesting that the Oceanic Six obviously now includes Baby Aaron. I'm having a hard time with that, but if Aaron isn't the 6th survivor that who is? So far we know for certain that the Oceanic Six include Hurley, Kate, Jack, Sayid and Sun. We've seen Ben in the flash forwards, but he wouldn't be included as one of the survivors. We have no idea if Desmond makes it back. We know that Baby Aaron is back. The problem I'm having with that is that Aaron was not technically a passenger on the flight. I suppose the story line could be that he was born on the island and for whatever reason Claire didn't make it. Didn't Jack say there were eight survivors but two of those didn't make it? Or is part of the lie they are telling that Aaron is Kate's child?

And another thing .... where are the other survivors and why would Hurley, Kate, Jack, Sayid and Sun agree to lie about them surviving. Are they back on the island or did something happen to them all? Why is Sayid working for Ben? Was there only room to get those few out before something stopped the rest from getting out? Why would they not send help back.

I believe they are back on the island which is why Hurley and Jack are so adamant that they have to go back. Obviously, Charlie appeared to Hurley and told him that 'they' needed him.

So many mysteries. Sometimes I think I'd be better to just wait till the season is over and watch the DVDs all at once. This wait between weeks can be excruciating!

Colocation Services in Utah

You're probably wondering what Colocation Services are! That is a location that houses many servers. Most of the ISPs we use house many servers in order to house many websites and blogs. Since the site houses many servers they are able to offer their services much cheaper. Since that is all they do, they offer more variety of service. Its much more dependable than trying to set up your own server.

I have been reading about Fibernet, which is a Colocation service in Utah. I had not ever thought of it, but there is an advantage to using a Utah Colocation. Interestingly, the fact that there are few weather events in Utah leads to a more stable service. I had not ever thought of the fact that weather and geography would negatively effect ISP services, but it makes sense now that I think of it.

In addition to a prime location, Fibernet offers the full range of services to ensure that you have high quality, effective colocation services. If you are looking for a new internet server you will want to check out Fibernet. They will undoubtedly have a plan that will meet your needs.

Military Defense Under Barack Obama (video)

And people say that Barack Obama is never specific about what his plans are should he be elected President of the United States ::shudder::. He explains exactly what his plans are for our military defense systems in under one minute. He's pretty specific and concise here.

Car Lease Analysis

When I was an executive and ran a business, I had an automobile allowance as part of my compensation package. I also had a travel allowance. I leased an automobile of my choice and received a monthly payment from my company that covered the cost of my car. I admit it was a nice perk and I miss it. Since I left that position I'm having to pay for my own car, but I suppose that beside the point.

As much as I liked that perk, the truth is I got the car I wanted and let the company pay for it. I am a very honest person and never took advantage of the perks I got as an executive, but we are all human and when we are making purchases for ourselves it is easy to justify a lot of things. That is why I think it is prudent, from a business standpoint, to have that sort of transaction take place with more oversight than I and many other executives have.

The question then is who has the expertise and/or the time to oversee such minute details of a business. It was my job as the executive to run the business. I had a board of directors, but they had their own businesses and lives and certainly didn't want to be involved in the day to day running of the business. After all, that's what I was there for. So how is a company to safeguard against taking advantage of these sorts of benefits?

An obvious answer is to get completely unbiased input on the decisions made of this sort. ShrewdLease.com is a website that provides just this service. Using the lease calculator on the website helps the user determine favorable rates and is not biased toward any particular vehicle manufacturer. It also does not favor any particular bank or lending institution. This is a great tool for making an informed, unbiased decision in any Car Lease Analysis.

There are many parts to consider in a leasing agreement, such as the interest rate being charged, the dealer’s profit, the amount of down payment and mileage restrictions. Put all of these together and come up with a lease factor instead of focusing on just the monthly payment amount. This site guides you through the analysis step by step and will almost certainly save anyone money on their next lease if used before committing to the dealer’s first offer and terms.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The Storms in Atlanta

I've lived most of my life in Atlanta. I've been in tornadoes before and there have certainly been tornado warnings and watches yearly as long as I can remember. I've never known one to hit downtown Atlanta. It all happened so quickly. There were there and then they were gone. The Atlanta Journal Constitution has a lot of pictures of the destruction in the downtown area.

I just keep wondering why President Bush made this happen here!! Why didn't he save us and how did he make the tornadoes rip through the CNN Center and the World Congress Center?

My Hot BMW

It is really great that you can buy BMW Parts online. I've had European made cars and know how difficult and expensive it is to get parts for them. My Hot BMW fixes that problem as well as your BMW! Cool.

They have been in this business for over 20 years and their mission is “to bring you the best quality products at great prices." My Hot BMW is basically a one stop shop for anything you need for your BMW. Its extremely convenient and easy to use their website. Go on over there and check it out. You will probably find exactly what you are looking for!

Celtic Women: Mo Ghile Mear

Its St. Patrick's Day weekend so it seems appropriate to play some Celtic music. This video is of the simply awesome Celtic Women. Does it get any better than this? If you don't hear your Irish ancestors in this music than you are just not listening.

This is the Celtic Woman singing A New Journey Live at Slane Castle, Ireland 2006. The singers are: Hayley Westenra, Chloë Agnew, Órla Fallon, Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, Lisa Kelly, Mairead Nesbitt

Erin Go Braugh!!!

Help For People With Bad Credit

If you have bad credit or less-than-perfect credit there is help for you. BadCreditOffers.com is a resource for people with bad credit. They can even help get credit cards for bad credit. They keep track of resources and keep their website updated with the latest market resources for people with bad credit.

If you are looking for auto loans, credit cards or home loans, you can find the latest high-profile companies that will work with you to help you make your purchase regardless of your credit ratings. You can compare the bad credit offerings to find the ones that best meet your needs. They are conveniently in one place which makes it much easier to compare the offers.

BadCreditOffers.com also provides you with information and resources to help you begin to rebuild your credit history and financial future.

Everything You Need to Know About the First Three Seasons of Lost in 8 Minutes and 15 Seconds

I know the fourth season of Lost is already well on its way. I've been faithfully watching and as always its full of suspense and twists and turns. Its so frustrating. Just when you think you have it all figured out there is another twist.

Today I found this video which gives you a complete summery on everything you need to know about the first three seasons. Just in case you need to get caught up. Cool.

Okay, it looks pretty silly when its condensed like this. But it DOES make sense when you are watching the show!

Carbon Neutral Search Engine

There's a new Plug-in for Firefox 2.0+ and Internet Explorer 7.0+ that facilitates a Carbon Neutral Search. This new service just launched in October 2007 and is geared towards reducing the carbon impact that is generated through online search queries.

The creators of this program have calculated the emissions produced by each search query, taking into account a wide array of variables including the country from which the query originates. Carbon Neutral Search utilizes the services of Climate Care, a leading offsetting organization in the United Kingdom, to offset the emissions of internet search queries.

The whole point of this new search engine technology is to highlight the need to reduce our carbon footprint on earth's natural resources. While they understand that internet searches are a small part of any one person's carbon footprint, they also understand that when those searches are multiplied by internet users globally the impact on earth becomes significant.

This is something that is simple and free that you can do to help. Check out their website for more information.

Trixie of Deadwood

I really miss Deadwood. It was one of the best shows on television. I have no idea why such good shows are created only to be taken off after a couple of seasons while the silliest shows on TV seem to stay on for. ev. er. Oh well. I guess people like the simpler shows.

One of the best characters was Trixie. She was played by Paula Malcomson. She was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on November 30, 1999. She seems older than that to me for some reason.

I don't want what I can't have.
Trixie

Cool New MySpace Service

If you are into MySpace (and most people are!) there's a really cool new service you can use to personalize your MySpace page. Peerspin is a great free service that makes it very simple to spice up your MySpace with gadgets and themes.

They have over fifty applications and games ready to be put on your page. They also have over fifty home page themes. You can use Peerspin applications to replace the video ads on your home page. You can build a music playlist. The playlist is as easy as clicking an 'add' button when you visit other people's profiles.

Among other things you can send glitter text and create custom cards to send to your friends without having to do a lot of cutting and pasting. You can use the same program to customize your messages in email or comments.

There are so many really awesome applications that you need to go over to their website and check it out for yourself. Fix up your MySpace page like no one else. Find out how at Peerspin!

John McCain Does Barbra Streisand

Hey - at least we know we aren't electing an 'Entertainer and Chief'!

"I've been in politics for over 20 years. And for over 20 years, I've had Barbra Streisand trying to do my job; so I decided to try my hand at HER job."

You have to love a man who can laugh at himself. I don't think anyone will be paying to see John McCain singing any time soon, anymore than anyone will be wanting to hear any more of BaBa Streisand's political views. Hopefully he'll quit singing and she'll quit pontificating on issues she is ill-informed about. BTW, I've heard that Streisand demands to have rose petals in her toilet bowl. Its hard to take someone seriously who requires 'her people' to keep fresh rose petals in her toilet bowl.

Slinglings Baby Slings

Slinglings has the cutest baby slings!! Slinglings is a Seattle home-based business that specializes in baby slings and carriers.

They offer a large variety of fabrics so you can pick something that is right for you. Aside from the stylish fabrics, these baby slings are padded for comfort and are easy to slip on and off. You don't have to worry about Velcro, ties or buckles. You can even get a matching one for dolls. If you have a little one, he or she can carry her doll around while mommy carries the baby.

I really wish they had these when my babies were little!

Parenting Job Description!

PARENT

POSITION: Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop

JOB DESCRIPTION:

Long term, team players needed, for challenging Permanent work in an often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities! Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

EXPECTATIONS/RESPONSIBILITIES:

The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets, stuck zippers, And third grade math. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT; PROMOTION:

None. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:

None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis..

WAGES AND COMPENSATION:

Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS:

While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love, and free hugs and kisses for life if you play your cards right..

Forward this on to all the PARENTS you know, in appreciation for everything they do on a daily basis, letting them know t hey are appreciated for the fabulous job they do ... o r forward with love to anyone thinking of applying for the job.

** AND A FOOTNOTE?

THERE IS NO RETIREMENT -- EVER!!! **

If you are fortunate enough you will become grandparents

There Are Uses for Dogs in the House

Dogs serve many purposes. They protect us, love us unconditionally and do stupid things that make us laugh.

They have a lot of faults. They stink things up, rub up against the wall and leave marks that have to be scrubbed off, drool on the carpet, nudge the back of the newspaper when you are trying to read it and much, much more.

Tonight I found another good reason to put up with all the aggravation they cause though.

If you drop a raw egg on the floor and have to go across the kitchen to get some paper towels, wet them and come back to clean it up. By the time you get back to the refrigerator to clean up the egg, the dogs have already cleaned it up for you. Shell and all.

They'll stand there licking their lips with innocent looks on their faces and believe they have tricked you into believing they didn't lick up the egg. You will semi-scold them but secretly be happy they licked it all up.

They do have their uses.

A Better Way to Find a Date

I know a lot of people who are turning to the internet to find companionships and dates. I think more and more people are doing that because of the difficulty in finding the 'right' person while working and/or going to school full time. There are a lot of dating sites out there, so how do you know which is the best for you?

Primedatingsites.com is a great site for sorting out where to go on the internet to find the right guy (or girl) for you. It is a singles dating site that reviews other dating sites on the web. That way you just have to go to one place to get a good idea of what the other sites have to offer you. They have reviews of sites like eHarmony, Perfect Match and Chemistry.com

If you are looking for a prime date, you might want to start at Primedatingsites.com.

A Marine and His Iraqi Dog

Major Brian Dennis was serving in Iraq when a local dog took up with him. The dog's ears had been cut off when it was a pup so Major Dennis named him Nub. Nub came around for months and obviously liked hanging out with the Marines. One day Major Dennis found a deep puncture wound on Nub. It had been inflicted on Nub with a screwdriver. Dennis and the other Marines nursed Nub back to health. No wonder Nubs loves his Marines and was willing to do whatever he had to do to find them when their unit was relocated .....

Major Brian Dennis, while serving in Iraq, found a dog who had his ears cut off as a pup and named the little guy nubs.

Over a period of months, the animal came around, befriending Dennis and his fellow Marines. During one visit, Dennis found Nubs with a deep puncture wound on his left side. He later learned the injury was inflicted by a screwdriver. He helped nurse the dog back to health.

The time came, however, for Dennis' unit to relocate 70 miles from Nubs' home fort. Keeping nubs was against the rules so he had to leave the dog behind. As always, Nubs sprinted alongside the Hummers as they pulled away for what Dennis assumed was the last time he would see the dog.

Two days later, Nubs wandered inexplicably in below-freezing conditions into Dennis' new camp, shocking the Marine unit. "I won't even address the gauntlet he had to run of dog packs, wolves, and God knows what else to get here," Dennis wrote. "When he arrived he looked like he'd just been through a war zone."

Nubs' miraculous journey forced the Marine's hand, and Dennis and his fellow Marines unanimously decided to keep the animal, building a doghouse at the camp. When two military police officers told Dennis the dog could not stay at the camp, he decided the only way to properly keep the animal was to get it to the United States.

After raising money and setting up a home with a friend back in the states, Nubs will arrive in the US this weekend.

Read the rest of the story here.

BUPA Health Portal and Product Site

Blogging is great in so many ways, but it hasn't done my figure a bit of good. I'm sitting too much so I'm having to take control of the situation and set aside time every day to work out so that I can stay in shape. I'm also studying up on health related issues at the BUPA website.

I like the BUPA site because it has a wealth of information about health related issues. There are literally hundreds of articles covering every imaginable illness or health issue that you might be interested in learning more about.

They also offer a wide range of health care products that can be bought on line. They offer every thing from vitamins to Blood Pressure Monitors to TENS Machines and every thing in between. I'm interested in their exercise aids, such as exercise balls and exercise mats.

Children See, Children Do

This powerful and thought provoking video was produced by an Australian children’s rights organization to bring attention to the role modeling adults provide for children. It really does make you stop and think about your behavior. Its certainly something to think about.

Worrying About Identity Theft

There's been a lot of talk lately about identity theft. Sometimes I worry that I take my security about that too much for granted. I have never had a problem with it personally, so I don't think about it unless something is brought to my attention.

Recently, we have been getting bills for someone who doesn't live here. There are enough of them that I finally understood that someone was using our address to get credit cards and then spending to the limits on the cards. I sat down one afternoon and called all of the companies involved to let them know that they were being scammed and this person didn't live here. The bills stopped for a while. What has been interesting to me is now I'm getting credit offers in the same name as that person. In other words, the computers are spitting out credit offers for this person that had reneged on the bills she had run up a couple of years ago.

That whole situation got me to thinking about how easy someone can use someone else's name, address and identifying information to get credit. It would be a real problem if this person had actually used more than just our address. I went looking on the internet for information about identity theft and found some really good and informative articles at CreditLoan.

CreditLoan has a ton of information on a wide variety of financial issues. They cover issues on getting credit, fixing bad credit, mortgages, debt consolidation, bankruptcy, personal loans and much more.

I found their information on mortgages informative. I like to keep up with whether or not its a good time to refinance my mortgage, whether or not the costs of refinancing are worth the lower interest rate and the like.

That is only one small part of the information that is available at the website. They have articles, information and resources about Bankruptcy, bad credit loans, auto loans, debt consolidation and just about every other type loan you can think of.

CreditLoan offers information on loan calculations and how to get a free credit report.

Its always good to stay informed and this website certainly helps you find the resources you need to stay informed regarding your finances.

A Certain Level of Insanitiy Can be a Good Thing

20 Ways to Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.

3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, ask If They Want Fries with that.

4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label it 'In'.

5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write ' For Smuggling Diamonds'.

7. Finish All Your sentences with 'In Accordance With The Prophecy'.

8. Don't use any punctuation.

9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

10. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.

11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is 'To Go'

12. Sing Along At The Opera.

13. Go To A Poetry Recital. And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme?

14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area and Play tropical Sounds All Day.

15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In the Mood.

16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.

17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream 'I Won! I Won!'

18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling 'Run For Your Lives! They're Loose!'

19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, 'Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.'

20. And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity ... pass this along ...

Ever Wonder What the Big Blogs Make Blogging?

BusinessWeek exposes some of the blogging success stories out there. It is proof positive that our mutual obsession with blogging can actually turn into decent income if we are so inclined.

Eric Nakagawa, a software developer in Hawaii, posted a single photo of a fat, smiling cat he found on the Internet, with the caption, "I can has cheezburger?" in January, 2007, at a Web site he created. It was supposed to be a joke. Soon after he posted a few more images in the same vein: cute cats with funny captions written in a silly, invented hybrid of Internet shorthand and baby-talk. Then he turned the site into a blog, so that visitors could comment on the postings. What happened after that would have been hard for anyone to predict.

"We just thought, O.K., they're funny,"Nakagawa says. "Suddenly we started getting hits. I was like, where are these coming from?"

I had no idea that blog just started in January! Their hits doubled each month and at this point is getting 500,000 hits per day! Those hits translate into income, if from nothing else than the ads on the site.

Like pretty much the rest of us, the 'big money blogs' started their blogs as a hobby and saw them grow into big income. BusinessWeek refers to them as accidental entrepreneurs. Here are some examples of what the 'big money blogs' are making ...

BoingBoing is the big boy of blogs (no surprise there), with 22 million page views from 2.6 million unique visitors PER DAY! (I have a way to go to reach those numbers! LOL) Income is estimated at over $1 million per year.

I Can Has Cheezburger? (mentioned above) averages $5,600 in monthly income.

ShoeMoney can buy a lot of shoes with the money he's making on his blog. Actually, ShoeMoney is the brainchild of Jeremy Schoemaker and brings in 20,000 unique visitors per day translating into a $12,000 per month income. Schoemaker has other internet businesses such as auctionads. He says he works online about 30 minutes a day. I want me one of those checks he's holding up!!

Overheard in New York has 6 million page views per month and an estimated $8,100 monthly revenue.

Kottke.org limits ads on his site intentionally preferring to focus on good service to a smaller group of readers. He earns $5,300 per month with one ad on his site.

TalkingPointsMemo gets $45,000 per month.

Perez Hilton gets $110,000 per month.

Gothamist generates about 7 million page views per month with an income of between $50,000 and $60,000 per month.

TechCrunch earns $200,000 per month.

Go Fug Yourself was a site started by two friends for the sole purpose of mocking celebrity fashion. They are now mocking the celebs full time with $6,420 in monthly income.

Mashable has 4 million page views per month and generates $116,000 per month.

Problogger doesn't disclose details of his income, but claims over 6 figures per year. So we know its over $100,000 per year. I'm betting that's an extremely low estimate.

Michelle Malkin and Hot Air has over 220,000 hits per day. She claims her blog and vblog (Hot Air) operate at a slight loss due to the necessity for high end servers to handle traffic surges. She says her income is primarily through her print media articles. Hmmm ...... Okay. Although, I admit I've only recently been seeing more ads on her blog.

Well, if that doesn't give you some encouragement to keep doing what your doing, I don't know what will. I do believe that the main factor in having a successful blog (however you define success) is that you enjoy it and you write about what you are interested in and know.

Happy blogging!

Joan Van Ark’s HOLY COW Plastic Surgery

Joan Van Ark of Knots Landing fame has made a mess of trying to look 20 when she is, in fact, 64 years old. This is proof positive that any benefits from cosmetic surgery can be taken too far. Aside from the fact she looks like a skeleton, she also looks like a cadaver. Her painted on eyebrows, too heavy eye make-up and caked-on make-up is off-set by a complete lack of lipstick. Did they bring her to this event straight from the morgue?

Hey, none of us LIKE getting older, but we do. Having some wrinkles and sagging can't look any worse than THIS!

Elvis Quote