Check out Cousin JennyR's blog for a chance to win some cash! Her birthday is coming and one way of celebrating it with her fellow bloggers is to give-away some cash. Well, since we can't go and party with her, joining in this contest is one way of saying: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEN!...... so you can't loose:)

There are three chances of winning and who knows it could be you!

1 winner for $15 Lucky Guess! {starts today ends May 4th}
1 winner for $15 Lucky Blogger! {starts today ends May 31st}
1 winner for $20 Lucky Commentator! {starts May 1 ends May 31}

Trying to guess or judge the outcomes of NFL games is not an easy task. Some games become more obvious as the season progresses, but many games can go either way, at least at first sight. So, it is a good idea to have the backing of a knowledgeable team of experts that use a developed formula as well as insider knowledge to gain the advantage in handicapping. You can also have the fun of getting some free nfl picks at the same time as regular play.

Another favorite photo of mine taken on the weekend. But don't get deceived by the look of this, lol...it is actually quite chilling that day. The day was nice, (so you would thought) but it was a little windy. Still, you can never tell by my look, can you?...hubby took this one using my cell phone after we had a coffee at the mall. We were strolling this park enjoying our so-called spring weather:)

Now that I have started my new business, and know that it will involve my family, who currently don't have vehicles, and so will be needing transport at odd times of day whenever they finish the tasks, then I was thinking that free Verizon cell phone deals might be available to suit my needs, as I might well go for a family plan from them or another carrier. I found that I am able to make a fair comparison of all the main cellphone carriers by going to bestincellphones.com which is a site allowing such comparisons, not only of the plans, but of the phones that are offered as plan incentives, such as the free Samsung Phone from Sprint. Here is a tip - if you do not yet know your specific plan needs, consider purchasing the phone outright, and not connected with a plan, in order to first get to know what your calling habits and minutes of use will be, then you can later be in an excellent position to get a good deal on a plan. If you have had a cellphone previously, and your personal circumstances remain the same, then you are in great position to compare plan deals that have free or discounted phones offered as part of a package. Avoid going over your plan minutes at all costs! These minutes can add up to a fortune in wasted money. Finally, check out the Samsung Instinct, coming soon. A good alternative to the Apple iPhone.

One of my co-blogger, Emz, had pointed out that this blog needs updating. And yes, I couldn't agree more! My header is still in a winter mode, lol...well, here's my excuse: again, I just don't have the time yet but I have that in mind, hehehe...lame excuse? well, that's one of the good ones I have, well, actually just the only one I have. I hope I can update this soon, it's getting a little boring now, besides, it has been spring since last month! lol...

Personal loans are a useful thing to be able to obtain as long as used wisely. For instance, if we have a sudden emergency need for car repairs in order to continue to get to work, then that would be reasonable. Problems might arise, however, if you have made some bad judgments or errors in banking in the past, and have ended up with bad or slow credit. In that situation, it might be advisable to give financial priority to getting your credit back into good shape, and this can be done by careful use of Personal Loans for Bad Credit - the key being, of course, to make sure you look after the repayments properly, and this in turn will assist you in getting your credit rating back into good standing.

....from High Blood Pressure???-- now I am not sure if this will make sense, but I have read somewhere that it will actually help you lower your blood pressure if you TALK LESS! and not just about 'hot button' issues like work or money. It turns out, talking about anything raises blood pressure. By contrast, sitting quietly can lower it by 50%, why? because it can be frustrating to get other people to understand you! hehehehe...now does that make sense?

I have experienced the frustration of finding a phone number written on a scrap of paper, but no name to go with it. So, instead of wondering, these days, I just use Reverse Phone Lookups to find out who the number belongs to.
Another great product is the National No Call Registry which removes your number from the telemarketers database list.

Chesapeake Bay gift baskets are a great idea, as they contain things that are a good variety, and so likely to be things that are not on a normal shopping list. All the items are nicely packed in a gift basket and can be tailored to the occasion, whether it be Mothers Day, or a birthday, or another way to select the basket is by content type, such as chocolate, fruit, coffee and tea, etc. Great for corporate gifts too.

It is hard to imagine that there is actually a website that is dedicated to the subject of a child's potty training, but it is so. Pottytrainingbasics.com pose the question "is potty training in 3 days possible?" and once you go to the website all will be explained, as there are methods that are able to speed up the potty training of infants. Actually, I remember those years ago when my young guy, Arvin, was not yet potty trained, and after he was trained, it was surprising how easy my life became, as well as having the savings on diapers etc. Then of course there is the lack of stuff to carry - right now, if you have an untrained child, you might be a beast of burden with all the items needed to deal with changes and emergencies. Once trained, you just have the emergency stuff to keep on hand, such as spare clothing in a bag in the car trunk. Just in case. Handy to have too, if your child is a mud fanatic, like my guy was, and actually, even at the age of 13, still is.

Whether you are looking for a retirement location that is maybe out of state, or local to your current locality, then it is good to shop around and compare what is available in the area you select to live. When I speak to older people, it is interesting how their view of life is totally different than my own, but they often say that they used to have the same concerns that I do now, but certain things become less important. One of the main things in life is the social aspect, and so when contemplating a retirement setting, you might want to consider a community that specializes in retirees. Gilbertguide fortunately have a directory that has continued care retirement communities listings that span the country, so you will likely find a location to suit your needs. The directory gives good information to allow comparisons, not just of the cost per month, but also of the facilities offered, and the type of care facility as well.

My Hubby is always saying that he should have planned his retirement a bit better. He actually had it planned a bit better than it turned out, but we have had to do a lot of unexpected spending in getting my family over here from the Philippines. Ok for them, expensive for us, of course. San Diego residents have a better chance of getting things properly set up than we did, as there is a San Diego estate plan lawyer who can advise and assist, as well as having great knowledge of the tax consequences and legalities of the various options. Well worth looking into if you live in San Diego or a surrounding area, as the savings you make by involving an expert can be larger than you imagine possible. Legal maneuvering around taxes is a big issue, after all, you have worked hard and deserve your money, especially if your income in retirement is fixed, or non-indexed, so it is crazy to give it to the government.

San Diego has a nightlife scene that has never been hotter. The climate of course allows for year around activity, with clubs right across all areas of the city. So, it is good to find a directory that will help you make choices for your evening out, so that you can locate bars and entertainment in San Diego for whatever type of entertainment or budget suits you.
High end bars and restaurants are a favorite haunt of the 'rich and famous', so this directory allows you to make a choice, and of course a backup choice, for if those you are with prefer another venue. Or, for a really fast-paced night out, how about using the directory to locate some places within easy distance of each other, and plan to take a trip around several different places, although I personally have found that I generally get comfortable in one of the places early on, and never have to go hopping from one location to the next.

San Diego has a great nightlife venue called the Stingaree, which is a name that came from a district in the city at the turn of the century. Stingaree San Diego has three levels, including a rooftop bar, so you can imagine that it is is a more trendy place than most clubs. So, might be time to hire the Hummer Limo if you don't happen to own one, and get into a night out that has style.
Actually, the district where it is located was actually the former red light district, but it has grown up now, like many parts of older cities, and whatever decay was present has developed into renaissance of both the bricks-and-mortar, as well as the social activities and attitudes. The rooftop bar in particular is a cool place to be, as they have fire pits up on the roof, and the atmosphere is second to none, especially for a romantic date, but also for just plain feeling great and being with great people.

Gold is a great investment right now due to the housing market situation, and I have just a little sneaking suspicion that the prices of jewelry have become better for investment, as to me, the gold value seems to be representing a higher percentage of the overall cost than was the case a while ago. I have several gold bracelets, and gold necklaces, so next I think I will get a gold anklet . And I can work on getting it as a gift, as my hubby just bought me a small item for my birthday the other day, and promised 'something better later on'.

Those of you who are familiar with basic computing will be familiar also with batch files, the file type that turns your one piece of work into multiples. This allows a sequence of program activities in the order set by the user, and can save time and money by initiating various programs, for instance. Take Command and CascadePoint are two programs from JPSoft that make the best of the batch file capability, easing workloads and speeding up your processes by eliminating much of the manual system of commands.

I get driven nuts by my Hubby always talking about the budget as if it is a living beast. Any changes done on a certain date will make a ripple effect occur that changes all subsequent figures. Organizations need not have the same problems, and especially as the number of transactions in a successful business is normally higher. They use budgeting software to have an up to date viewpoint of the current financial status, saving them from problems, as well as allowing the last cent to be dealt with in an efficient manner, maximizing profits by controlling excesses.

On average, the quality of consumer products has not only gotten better in the last few years, but they are also generally a lower cost as well. So, some time ago, I was overconfident and purchased some cheap faucets, and they have driven me crazy ever since. I know now that I should have stayed with a good brand name such as Kohler faucets and then I wouldn't be dealing with leaks. Like my Hubby says, the faucet has a water reservoir and pumping facility on the other end of the pipe! So, it has to be mechanically sound in its engineering. We live and learn.

Laboratory services are a worldwide need these days, as the capabilities of science advances, and drug development advances to match, a good clinical laboratory service becomes essential. Whether it is preclinical or clinical biological samples, or the discovering of biochemical markers, here is a service that is almost worldwide. And added to this, they also have a great approach to discovering biochemical markers to assist in drug development.

All my friends seem to be impressed that I am now hanging out with stars like Gary V.! It really was a great evening out, and of course as the Filipino population in Nova Scotia is not that high, it opened up the opportunity for him to perform a more intimate show. So, actually a whole segment of the audience was able to get closer than would be normal. But, for me, all that matters is that I was so lucky!

Networking and gathering internet friends has expanded into a new type of lifestyle in the last few years. The world now has a human society that is connected, where lots of friends can be miles away, or even tens of thousands of miles away, and in which it is a possibility that we have no real need for local friends, although maybe it is a good idea to have one or two at least, in my own opinion. Leading the up-and-coming social networking sites is the one where you can listen to the latest mp3 files, chat with friends, upload photos etc., and this is at 3gb.biz where you can get things really going, whether with old friends or new friends. Well worth checking out, actually I first visited the site about a week ago, and even in that short time it has grown. There seems to be quite a few people who are very active there, and it seems also, and I could be wrong here, but there seems to be a whole load of bloggers there, so if I am correct, the users are likely interesting in nature, and open to communicating well even with newbies like myself. Looks like a real winner of a site to me.

Had a blast last night! I am so happy I was part of the first ever Pinoy artist to come to Halifax. This is Gary Valenciano's 25th year in the business and he celebrated it touring the world. Promoting his latest album, Rebirth. It was an honour to be part of it. I never thought I would see him here, he is one of the Best Male Pop artists from the Philippines. And watching him so close from the stage was just so perfect! His sons, Paolo and Gabriel were there too, including his wife, Angeli. I took a load of photos and videos and here's some of the photos:)

My dad's first birthday here in Canada. He's 65 today and I am hoping he is still good for a few more years so I can take him and mom around to see more of Canada. Hoping we can travel a little bit this summer.Couldn't make it today for his birthday because I'll be working tonight. I should be there this weekend though. I still have to buy him a little present. Anyways, lil sis cooked up something for him and invited some friends. So that's kinda made his day, I guess, it's different in the PI where it's merrier as the whole street of neighbours will come and celebrate with you..

Golfers are a breed unto themselves. My boss just loves his golf, and has all kinds of golf stuff in his office, I suspect most of it he has received as gifts. Now, I just know that he will be interested to hear about a vacation destination that is centered around golf! Branson resorts and town facilities are for the most part golfer oriented and Thousand Hills Golf Resort is the Branson, MO, area leader in a resort vacation, whether it be in a condo, or a cabin.

IWC is the company that gained fame for making pilots watches, and they have progressed to maintain the same accurate timekeeping, together with quality of presentation that equals or exceeds that of the best. Some of the models even have titanium cases - this is the material that the Blackbird stealth spy plane is made from. An IWC watch continues to be an excellent investment, and at the higher end, some even have ceramic cases for light weight and durability that is so high that they are virtually unscratchable.

Buy.com is a great name for a website that has stuff for sale! I have just been looking at their laptop computers and they certainly have a good selection of many brands, including some real top-line products. The website even includes featured technical reviews of various laptop computers. Laptops are well worth considering not only if you are mobile in any way, but also if you prefer to move around within your own house while using your computer.

Another beautiful weekend we had. This was taken near our place here. Such a beautiful day to walk around. I am beginning to noticed a bunch of people walking around these days....

Labels: weekend rambling, weekend snapshot

Always nice to get out of the house once a week to go to the mall and shop around. Lots of good sales now in stores for winter clothes, especially jackets, they have to make room for spring items. This is the best time to shop for winter clothings. I just bought a jacket worth $250 now marked as $35! who can beat that! Now that sis is here, I have someone to shop around with. Always nice to get her opinion, she have better judgment than I do:)

Doctorates just became easier to achieve, as there is now a service to assist you with your dissertation writing.
A substantial portion of your total mark will be dependent upon your dissertation, maybe as much as 25% of your total required, so it is a good idea to be sure of getting high marks for your Dissertation Abstract, and thus allow yourself more room for error in other areas. So, using a provider of dissertation writing makes real sense.
Yourdissertation.com offers free unlimited amendments, as well as a free plagiarism report, and many more free features that are listed at the website. One great part of the service offered is that the whole process can be dealt with online. After filling in the online order form, you can add any additional instructions if needed, and then you will receive regular progress reports from your assigned writer. Once complete, the dissertation is downloaded in .doc format. The whole idea is to make life easier for you while fulfilling the need you have to buy essays for an A+ result. It is worth remembering that the marks that you achieve might also be a resume benefit later on, as a good mark that places you above others might be the extra item that tips the scales in your favor.

I made sure that lil sis birthday is one memorable one. Her birthday was last month, so this is kinda old, just didn't have the chance to post this. It was her first one here in Canada. I prepared some foods and bought her an ice cream cake. We celebrated it with the whole family and later on, her friends came over. Of course, they had fun too. Had drinks until late at night. Most of her new-found friends are also new here, so they have so much in common. I am hoping that whatever she wished for when she blew her candles, will come true.

Information Technology, or IT, has come a long way in the last few years. One of the main criteria for IT specialists is the updating of knowledge that has to occur on a constant basis. Most large companies have the resources to allow or support this as an ongoing methodology. The situation for medium and small businesses is not so easy, as there is generally a budgetary limit to the effectiveness of any ongoing training investments.
IT Outsourcing is the answer to overcome the limitations of budgets when updating IT skills.
Icorps.com have offices in both Boston, and New York, and can free up your businesses resources by handling the IT side of things, including networking, as well as application development and more. By keeping up to date in IT advances by using IT consulting, your business resources are freed up overall to allow focus on more productive campaigns and marketing advancements. Boston IT Outsourcing with icorps.com makes good sound business sense. Icorps.com have business partnerships with such companies as Microsoft, Apple, Blackberry, as well as the more network biased companies such as Cisco, Netgear, and Sonicwall and are accepting clients from across the whole USA. You can request a quote right there online at the website, where the online form allows you to be specific about the expertise that you are interested in.

I just got back from my dental appointment this morning. I needed a filling done on my bottom tooth. I thought I was doing really good with maintaining my teeth, but apparently I miss it. I just hate going to the dentist aside from the cleaning twice a year. I love the after-cleaning feeling. It does feels fresh and clean.

One of the things I haven't notice before though was the billing. We do have insurance here to cover all of the medical expenses including dental. All I do is sign the paper and off I go. My bill today with just surface restoration was a whopping $174 !!! what the heck? I wasn't even there for 30 minutes! I don't know how people can afford going to the dentist without insurance.

We have all heard of credit reports, and probably experienced a check on our credit when we are at a car dealers showroom, and have to wait to see if we qualify to get that all-important credit score that will allow us to make the purchase.
Our credit score is an important factor in our lives, as it controls our options and freedom to move ahead with our plans and goals in life. For instance, we might have an old car that needs a lot of repairs, and there reaches the point where the repairs are worth more than the car. So, rather than take out a loan for the repairs, we are often better to just use the loan to buy a newer car, and this can also save us storing up trouble for the future.
There are now ways to get a report on your credit score online. This saves a whole load of hassle on the phone, wading through endless waiting times, and being told how important your call is, and please keep on holding. Or, even, remember the old days of regular mail, where you send stuff off, and then it gets lost in the system and you wait forever, yet never get a reply until you finally phone, and they might say 'Oh, yes, I have found it here, I will send it off right away'.
So, the online way is the best way to go to get your credit report. At creditnexus.com they have a whole load of information that includes the laws that protect you, the consumer, as well as your rights, and information on identity theft, and some really good useful information.
At thecreditreportcenter.com they say that there are 2000 cases of identity theft in the US per day. Imagine that. The aggravation that is caused is miserable, and far more than if you lose your wallet and get you credit cards stolen, as with identity theft they keep on doing it, over and over, by creating new accounts in your name, accounts that you cannot stop, because you do not know that they exist.

What a great time of year this is. Not too hot, but the ground is drying out from where the frost comes out of it, and I can get stuff done outside. Even my Hubby is getting stuff done, which makes a change from his usual TV watching activities. We just got a 'new to us' little car, a 2002 Hyundai, so he has been working on it to get it up to standard so that he can relax for a while. He even polished the headlight lenses to get rid of discoloration!

Your business has an image that is generally developed by the impression people, including your clients, have of it. So, it is critical to have a good looking office, as well as it being efficient, and often the two things go together. When choosing your office furniture, give it some serious thinking, as it can be inappropriate to have furniture and equipment that is not in keeping with the nature of the business. For instance, have you ever seen plastic garden chairs in a lawyers office? Probably not, because it would tend to give the incorrect impression of the success rate of that business. At Office Furniture Concepts, they have a good selection of items, and you can even work out your future floor plan from a link to an online space planner on the website.

If you are in the situation where you are involved in occasional teaching or information services, it might be an idea to check out how you can provide up to date laptops for use in the group or class, or maybe you might prefer a projector to display your Powerpoint presentations to a group. The answer is to check out projector or laptop rental at iccrents.com where they have good nationwide coverage coupled with a good selection of equipment that includes Apple laptops, and even a display kiosk for such locations as trade shows.

It's definitely feels like Spring this weekend! Just love the warmth of the sun under my skin. No clouds in sight. We did some cleaning up outside. Washed up the cars and put up the laundry to dry outside. It was like +10 deg Celsius today....nice, very nice.

I took some photos of these crocuses before they disappear comes much warmer weather. They are coming up like crazy now and some of my tulips are up now too. Can't wait to really enjoy the colours of flowers again.

We all struggle with our finances from time to time, and maybe might have had issues in managing our finances in the past, so it is good that we can get assistance that is constructive in helping the uphill struggle out of debt, or at least out far enough to get to a point where the debt load is more livable. 3debtconsolidation.com are an agency specializing in the debt counseling that can ultimately set you up with a debt consolidation situation in which you can be more secure financially.
If your current debt is unsecured, then it will generally have a higher rate of interest than secured debt does, and the problem with this situation is that the extra interest causes you to fall further behind each month, as you try to allocate the finances. Because of the type of debt, and also the places where the debt is owed, the interest charges each month are highly likely to be suppressing any plan to climb out of debt, however well-meaning it may be. The real answer is a properly thought out and managed consolidation plan that will provide consistent debt reduction each month, and will have an end goal that is achievable. This is why it is a really good idea to get counseling. You will no doubt be told that it will not be easy, and part of the reason for this is that if your debt load is currently high, it got there by spending money that was not yet earned, and so your personal budget to date has been living on borrowed time, as well as borrowed money
Some years ago, my Hubby John checked all his bills and payments, and discovered that out of the payments he was making each month for the various institutions he owed money to, he was actually paying about $400 in interest charges alone each month, so he was suddenly aware what the problem was, and was able to put into place a debt consolidation plan to collect all the current debts, pay them off, leaving him with one amount owed that was held by a lender with lower interest rates, and this in turn put his total interest payable per month down to around $200. This in turn gave him two opportunities - a further $100 available to pay down the capital, and a reduction in outgoings per month of a further $100, bringing his budget into a range where his income amount was sufficient to sustain things for him. It is well worth a visit to 3debtconsolidation.com because they have information there that can help just by having that knowledge.

I like birthdays at the swimming pool. You don't have to prepare anything. Just order pizza to be there in time. That's what most people with kids do nowadays, especially if the date occurs in the winter time. It would be a mess if you will invite a bunch of kids to your house. They would wanna go outside, you have to put their winter coats and will come back inside with slashy boots. The swimming trick is good because parents will just drop off their kids there and will pick them up 2 hours later. They will swim for an hour, lifeguards are there to watch too, so no problem if you're alone with the kids. Then they have a lounge you can use to put up tables for them to have pizza and cake....

Today is April fool's day and I always participate. Even telling people that someone is looking for them. That's exactly what I did at work today and it worked! I always remember my grandmother on April 1st. She was the one who opened up this to me. She always played. It's even better, she said, if you play it early morning, when no one suspects. I would go to our next door's neighbor to find out that no one wants something from me there, then I would realized that my lola was playing April fool's on me....what I like about this day? it's not just fun to fool someone, it's also allowed:)