In One Era And Out The Other

Game Of The Week Coupon Code; January 23 to January 29

2012-01-23T09:23:00.001-05:00

BigFish Games "Catch Of The Week" game for this week, January 23 to January 29 is "Fear For Sale: Mystery of McInroy Manor" available for only $2.99.

This is a full version full screen hidden object game with description below:

Fear For Sale: Mystery of McInroy Manor - Emma Roberts has been tasked with writing a story about an old haunted manor for Fear for Sale Magazine. The estate has been locked up for years, but a sizable donation from Emma’s editor has opened up the home for exploration. Unravel the tale of the demise of the McInroy family, and set their souls free in Fear for Sale – Mystery of McInroy Manor, a dark and mysterious Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game.

To get this game for $2.99, CLICK HERE and use coupon code CATCH299

Remember, the promotion for this game is only for 1 week. If you have stumbled onto this page and this week's game has expired, there is always a new game available every week. You can go to my "Catch of the Week" promo page at http://play-free.org/promo.html and see the latest full version game download available for only $2.99.

Somebody That I Used to Know - Walk off the Earth (Gotye - Cover)

2012-01-07T10:08:00.001-05:00

Abby Miller and Taylor Klein perform "I Won't Let Go"

2012-01-03T13:45:00.000-05:00

7 Year Old Zoe Plays "Sweet Child Of Mine"

2011-10-10T17:04:00.001-04:00

Delete cookies / cache in Internet Explorer 8

2011-08-22T16:37:00.005-04:00

It used to be in the good old days (before Internet Explorer 8), to delete my cookies and temporary files, I would right click on my email icon in the start menu and choose "internet properties". In the general tab and I could delete my temp files, cookies, saved passwords and browsing history with one click. Well I can still do it this way, but in Internet Explorer 8, this does not delete your web "cache".

Your web cache is another set of temporary files that helps regularly visited web pages load faster. However, it also will store files to web pages that you may never visit again. The cache folder can contain images, shockwave files, flash banners and other files that can be large and eventually take up needed space if not deleted.

I stumbled on to this when I noticed a few things odd on my computer. I sometimes work on websites and it is handy to right click on a web page and choose "view source" to see the html code. All of a sudden one day, this would no longer work. Then when I would defragment, I would look at the files that were being moved, and some were shockwave and flash files that I knew I had not recently added. Some files had Google in the file name- so I knew it was advertising of some sort. And having deleted my cookies and temporary files in the way I always did in the past, these files should be gone. Also, the last time Norton's did a full system scan, it took like 3 hours and I had 1.5 million files scanned, no malware or viruses, but 63 tracking cookies that were deleted. Norton's spent a lot of that time on the "web cache" area, so a light went on in my head. (on a sidenote: I also noticed that when Norton's did an idle (full system) scan, it would never make it all the way through).

I did a Google search on "how to delete web cache" and found the answer. Here is how to do it in Internet Explorer 8:

1. From the Safety menu in the upper right, click Delete Browsing History.
2. Deselect Preserve Favorites website data, and select Temporary Internet files, Cookies, and History.
3. Click Delete.

At first, I was a bit concerned as this took over 5 hours, but it finally did clear and I was good to go. This must have been all the "cached" files since I upgraded to IE8. This did the trick, and I am surprised that there is not more information on the subject. I m not a brainiac, but I am not completely stupid on the computer either. I just want to pass on this information so that it may help people that were in the same boat that I was in. I would recommend to delete your "web cache" at least every month. Yes you will have to re-login to your Facebook, Twitter and other login pages, but trust me, my computer runs like new again...

NOTE: I ran a Norton's full system scan again today (after 2 days surfing) and there were 871,000 files scanned. So deleting the web cache dropped around 700,000 files! This scan took about 30 minutes.

Don Ross - Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)

2011-08-07T06:12:00.002-04:00

Don Ross does an amzing acoustic solo guitar version of Crazy done originally by Gnarls Barkley

And just so you can enjoy the original again:

Cuisinart Denies Lifetime Warranty Claim On Teflon Non-Stick Pans

2011-07-23T04:27:00.011-04:00

I bought a set of Cuisinart teflon non-stick pans due to the fact that there was supposed to be a lifetime warranty on the cookware. Well when the teflon coating started peeling, I contacted customer service 1-800-726-0190 and was assured that if I sent them back they would warranty the pans. I stressed that they were several years old and the girl said that was ok. I spent $30 to FedEx the pans (sent back all pans in the set) and was also required to enclose a check for $10 to cover return shipping.

After about a month, I had not heard anything, so I called and Cuisinart had no record of receiving our pans, even though on the FedEx website it said "signed by Eechebarria". I related the FedEx confirmation and they said to give it another week to update my file. I called back in a week and the girl said that they received the pans and that there was a note in the file saying "customer abuse". I asked what that meant and she said she didn't know. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was referred to "Daniel". Daniel said that he would look into it and it was up to "corporate" and he had no input in whether the pans would be under warranty or not. He said he would call me back within 24 hours.

Daniel did not call back in 24 hours, so in 48 hours I called Cuisinart back and asked for him. He still said that it was up to corporate - I said that was not good enough; I have $40 more dollars invested in the pans. I told him that I have never seen any teflon coated pan that did not eventually have some peeling and wearing off of the teflon and a "lifetime warranty" should be honored. I also asked for a supervisor higher up.

A day later I got a call from "Dena". Dena (clanging pans sound as she was looking at the pans "right now") said the the customer abuse was using too high of heat which caused the teflon to fail - she also said that it was evident that metal utensils were used. Neither of which are true, the pans were just old and wearing out, but we bought them initially because of the lifetime warranty. Dena obviously had her mind made up already and she stated that if they just replaced pans for everybody, that they would go broke replacing pans with peeling teflon and they were NOT going to warranty my pans.

Due to my constant whining, she did agree to ship back the pans (received but damaged with dings on the edges from apparent mishandling in the warehouse), refund my $30 shipping and the $10 check (have not received yet). My response was since she was going to ship my pans back at a cost of $20 (probably their cost to ship) and write a check for $40, wouldn't it be wiser to invest that $60 and send us a new set of pans that have a (Cuisinart cost) of $60. She said "Look, we generally don't refund the original shipping, so NO". I also told Dena that I would post a positive blog post review as well as a negative blog post review on my experience with Cuisinart pans whichever was needed. She said that was my right. So here I am with the negative - I will never buy Cuisinart again and their warranty is not worth the paper it is printed on.

On a sidenote, I DO realize that all teflon pans eventually peel, but to be accused of abusing my Cuisinart pans just to get out of a warranty claim put a bad taste in my mouth (pardon the pun). Why would I invest $40 in sending back the pans back to Cuisinart, when I could add $20, go to WalMart and get another crappy set and avoid the hassle? It is also my opinion that a "lifetime warranty" is a lifetime warranty - if the warranty doesn't cover the peeling teflon on the Cuisinart pan, what does it cover? What else goes wrong with a teflon coated pan? And CBSTL wrote an Amazon review that states that "Cuisinart advertises the cookware set as being able to use metal utensils". You can read his Amazon review HERE.

I doubt if many consumers took Cuisinart to task as far as I did, and it is my opinion that with the time and money they spent dealing with me, it would have taken less than 5 minutes to make me a happy customer, but I guess those days are gone. So I do not recommend buying Cuisinart pans, and I won't be buying ANY Cuisinart products any time soon.

ATTENTION CUISINART: I am still a red-blooded American consumer and I do not consider this matter resolved. Send me a nice set of non-stick cookware and I would consider removing this post (and my negative Amazon.com reviews.) The longer you wait, the more Google is my friend...

Maddi Jane - Rolling in the Deep (Adele)

2011-06-25T12:49:00.001-04:00

Here is 11 year old Maddi Jane covering Adele's Rolling in the deep

Punctuation Police - Apostrophe Division

2011-05-19T02:48:00.006-04:00

I have made it my duty throughout the years to help society in my own little way. When I go into a retail establishment that has a sign that that has a blatant misuse of an apostrophe, I feel the need to point it out to the proprietor the mistake. After all, there are easy cut and dry rules when to use an apostrophe; either a contraction or to show possession. I am surprised at (even when approached friendly and discreetly) how many people are actually offended and get defensive.

My goal here would be to help the business display a more professional front - similar to obvious spelling errors, the apostrophe is an important part on how I view a business as a whole. I would think that my help would be appreciated as I can clear up a confusing gray area in their lives. I do my best not to belittle the sign maker, but to try to educate them in a professional manner. From that day forward, they would not have to waste time trying to decide when to use an apostrophe or not. Does it show possession or is it a contraction? I had to study in the 4th grade, and missed many an episode of Brady Bunch and Partridge Family because my father felt I did not have a good enough grasp on the English language (and times tables, but that is a different story).

A good example is I went into a north side hot dog establishment (to remain nameless) and they have two signs with the "Special's". I casually pointed it out to the waitress (I had been there many times and she knows me well by now) that the apostrophe was not needed, that Specials was just a plural. She just said "It doesn't matter". Well to my little anal world, and I suppose to a bigger group of intelligent yet not outspoken patrons, it IS important. I use this misuse of an apostrophe in my overall judgement of a business. If this simple error can slip by the owner / manager, what other type of small mishaps are being overlooked? Could I be in danger? Did they pay their insurance? My head is filled with hundreds of dreadful scenarios.

Another great example is a north side Toyota dealer (again to be unnamed) ran a large newspaper ad several years ago that had in big bold print "Tercel's, Corolla's and Camry's" with special prices. My first step here was to call the newspaper's (note the apostrophe in newspaper's) advertising department. I finally connected with a younger gentleman that for one insisted that they print the ad exactly as sent by the business, with no proofreading or editing, or even an obligation to contact the business when errors are found. I can live with that, but when I quizzed him further on how that policy reflects on the newspaper's reputation, he defended the apostrophes' placement. So I asked him if there was an ad about dogs and cats, would it be dog's and cat's? He (seriously) replied it would depend on the breed. I asked if he was making more than $8 an hour and if he was, the newspaper was getting ripped off. I also asked him what he was so busy doing in the 4th grade?

Well, I could not let sleeping dogs and cats lie, so I called the Toyota dealer. I finally got the advertising executive on the line. When I pointed out that Tercels, Corollas and Camrys did not need apostrophes, and that he actually paid for 3 typeset places he didn't need, he too got defensive. Mind you, I am doing this as a courtesy from one professional to another, trying to boost the reputation of the Toyota dealer and keep them from being the laughing stock of the car dealer world. His response was "Who cares? It is only punctuation". My reply was "How about I come down there and write you a check for a new Camry for $22.79599? After all it is only punctuation." He hung up on me. But will I ever buy a Toyota from that dealer? No. Have they ever ran that ad again? No.

Another attempt at me trying to fix the World as when Parade magazine ran an ad for a collectible plate. On the plate in big print was "McDonald's", which is fine, but they also had "Hamburger's" right below it. You can imagine how hard it was to contact someone from Corporate McDonald's that actually had anything to do with that plate. After several transfers and about an hour on the phone, I finally talked to a nice lady that said she would look into it. She took my name and address and sent me coupons for 2 free cheeseburgers.

Now I don't claim to be a brainiac, and I am sure that even this article is full of grammatical errors. But I am open for criticism and welcome the opportunity to broaden my horizons by being educated by my fellow man who can point out my pitfalls in a professional manner. I don't try as hard to cure the apostrophe problem, and I threw away my Punctuation Police" business cards, but Holy Cow people....

Why Bigfoot Does Not Exist

2011-03-31T17:05:00.007-04:00

I will offer a common sense approach to explain why Bigfoot does not exist. The first assumption I am forced to make when weighing the existence of Bigfoot (or Yeti), is that he must be really stupid. Even the cavemen had fire, so if bigfoot was as smart as a Neanderthal, he would have fire too. And since he is living in the Pacific Northwest, it gets really REALLY cold, so not having fire would prove him completely stupid. And if he did have fire, Bigfoot would be spotted from the air as every Bigfoot family would have a campfire every night. Stupidity argument #2 would be that even the lowest of intelligent humanoids enjoy the value of clothing. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that if you are freezing, to cover up - especially your feet. Yet all supposed sightings of Bigfoot are of naked Bigfeet.

Ok, so we have established that Bigfoot is stupid. That being said, we can assume that he would make mistakes, and stumble into campsites by accident. He would also probably hang out on the side of the highway inspecting roadkill and occasionally become roadkill himself. With no intelligence, there is no way that Bigfoot could be so remote to retain a clandestine existence.

Also a low intelligent being would not bury (or burn) dead bodies. So therefore, if there was a viable breeding population, a dead Bigfoot body would eventually be found. You cannot use the excuse that animals would scatter the remains, because I assume the leading cause of death would be freezing to death (see paragraph 1). So a frozen body would be covered with snow and at some point would be discovered. I mean, we found that little missing link guy and he had been around intact for thousands of years.

The only concession I will make is that he could be an alien and not spend much time on the surface at all. After all, the theory is that aliens manipulated our DNA to create Homo-Sapiens, well Bigfeet could be the rebellious hippie alien proto-types that just come the surface to land in the middle of nowhere to grunt.

A Website Compliments Any Business Venture

2011-03-29T10:10:00.005-04:00

It used to be a few years ago, that the cost of hosing a website put it out of the reach of the average person. The only people that could afford a website, were people that were already successful in their business. Also the difficulty in designing a web page made it frustrating for the beginner. Well times have really changed in the 8 years I have been in the free website business.

You can now purchase a domain name and web hosting at Go-Daddy for under $60 for the entire year! So now people like you and me can get their website going at the launch of a business venture to enhance the probability of success. My sister, for example recently became a Zija distributor (health, diet and fitness supplements), and within a day or two of her launching her business, she can have a professional website up and running that can be viewed from anywhere in the planet 24 hours a day!

There are no other forms of advertising that are as versatile and far reaching as a website for less than $60! Most web hosts are now also catering to beginners and have web page designing programs that are easy to use and turn out professional looking web pages. So no more paying a web designer $2000, and a web host another $1000. There really is no longer an excuse, check out Go-Daddy now!

Domain Names And Web Hosting

2011-03-29T07:47:00.010-04:00

We get emails from a lot of people that are contemplating building or hosting their own website and are confused about web hosting and domain names. I will try to help clear up that confusion in this article.

When you purchase a domain name, you are securing just the name used to point to your website; there are no additional features. A domain name from Go-Daddy is around $8.95 a year (depending if you want .com, .org, .net or many of the other new extensions) and usually can be used with both free and paid hosting. Domain nameservers are used to "point" your domain name to your hosting account. Nameservers are found within your domain name administration account DNS settings, and normally if you purchase your domain name and web hosting at the same place, (Go-Daddy for example) you do not have to make any changes to your nameservers. Your domain name will automatically point to your hosted website. You only need to change your nameservers in your domain name account if your actual hosting account is with a different company, such as a free web hosting account. The new nameservers will be provided by your web host. Changes may take around 24 hours to take affect.

Free web hosting is generally supported by a banner ad or text link somewhere on your website pages. If you choose not to purchase a domain name, you are provided with a free sub-domain name. It will usually be like something.something.com and is considered a 2nd level domain name. Sub-domains are not favored as highly by search engines and you have no control over the name if the free web hosting company goes out of business. You also cannot move your sub-domain to a different web host. Paid web hosting will remove ads and links, increase your bandwidth and web traffic limits and usually entitles you to a variety of other features.

Paid web hosting may be bought in 3 month increments or by the year - the more you buy at a time the more you save. You can view recommended hosting plans HERE. Often people use domain names and professional (paid) hosting together, and this is where it gets confusing. They are two separate services that compliment each other, but don't necessarily need each other to work. Renewing your hosting does not renew a domain name and vice versa. The two don't always expire at the same time either. It is important to note the expiry date for both of these features to make sure they are renewed on time. Forgetting to renew a domain name can result in losing that domain name forever. Make sure to pay attention to your email reminders, such as, domain expiry notifications.

I hope these helps clear things up for everyone. Happy site building!

Tom Jones and Muammar Gaddifi

2011-03-12T10:32:00.006-05:00

Is it just me, or does Muammar Gadaffi look like Tom Jones on a bender?

You Should Feel A Lot Safer Now

2011-03-10T17:51:00.017-05:00

I was surfing the internet looking for my dirt cheap internet deals when I stumbled across something I find a bit disturbing. It is a knife disguised as a pen. It is technically described as "Survival Defensive Tactical Hidden Knife Ball Pen" and is available for $4.00. The link for this item is http://www.dealextreme.com/p/survival-defensive-tactical-hidden-knife-ball-pen-56695, or if you don't like the serrated edge, you can get a plain edge for $6.40 HERE, but I would hope the items would be taken down and no longer be available for sale. If the links no longer work, I have done my job.

Don't get me wrong, I am not against knives, guns or weapons of any type when used in a responsible manner, but a knife is a knife is a knife. There is no need to disguise it as something else, especially a common ball point pen. In today's era of fear of air travel and invasive searches, why do we need to add items that are just going to make the system even worse. I am sure it is not made in the USA, so maybe that is the plan?

I had planned a longer post on how I reported this knife to Homeland Security, but their emails have a tagline that say disclosing their content is strictly prohibited. So if you want to report the knife yourself, you can go to http://www.tsa.gov/contact/index.shtm and choose "Security Issues".

NOTE: I find it kind of ironic that my Google ads are now going to display ads for knives...

Jim Mohr - Original Song - Young Girl (Do What You Wanna Do)

2011-02-19T15:02:00.003-05:00

It only took some 49 odd years to post a video of an original song.

Is Beezid Or Skoreit a Scam?

2011-02-15T06:51:00.013-05:00

When I first heard of Beezid, and people buying items like big screen tv's for pennies on the dollar, I thought "this has got to be a scam". But let me me be the first to say that there ARE actually people buying brand new quality merchandise for up to 99% off. But before you run off and think you hit the mother lode, let me explain to you how it works.

First of all, unlike Ebay, it costs money to place a bid. So when you first enroll, there is usually an incentive to give you 10 free bids (I used the word ENTER). When an item goes up for bid, the auction will last for a set amount of time and it starts at 1 penny. Theoretically, if you were the only bidder at 1 penny, you would win the item. Each new bid increases the bid cost of the item by 1 cent, so you cannot just bid $80 for an item that might retail at $100. You have to wait until the auction is near the end and watch as the bids go up penny by penny and bid when you think the item has reached it's top price.

It's not as easy as it sounds. There are hundreds of other people that would love that same item at 99% off retail, although it may say that a Kindle 3G+WiFi sold in a prior auction for $11.97, there is no guarantee that the next auction will be anywhere near that price. So it is a gamble to use your bids, $11.97 would be a great price for that item, but then again $12.97 would be too. That is 100 penny bids later, so your 10 free bids could be swallowed up and the price just keeps going up. Or you could wait it out, then miss the auction end completely if the item sells at a lower price.

So when I first created my account, I thought I had an advantage, since I have been doing Ebay for years and I am good with numbers. I am also a salesman myself from wayback and can recognize trends and develop strategies. So the first thing I did was just observe without bidding or even intending to bid. I watched many hours different auctions to see how they panned out. The biggest thing I realized is that you need bids, lots of bids. And you can buy bid packs in groups of 30, 50, 100, 200, 350 and 500. The retail price of a 30 bid pack is $27 which works out to 90 cents a bid. A 500 back of bids retails for $300 which works out to 60 cents a bid. But you can also bid on bid packs, but with your free bids at the beginning, you can only bid on "cherry packs" which are usually a smaller amount of bids.

So you can see where this gets interesting and how the website (and vendors) make their money. You could buy a 50 bid back for $40, then use those bids to bid on a larger bid pack of 100, 500 or even 1000 bids. If you got the new bid packs at a huge discount, you could theoretically lower your cost per bid to a really low level. But if you fail to win the new bid pack auction, you have just wasted some or all of your bids.

So let's just say you used your 50 purchased bids ($40) to bid on an item. Like any auction, it is exciting and hard to be patient. You have to remember that you only have 50 bids and an auction only moves up 1 penny at a time. So an item that sells for $188 at a Beezid auction like a front load washer and dryer that I saw actually had a total of 18,800 bids. And (again theoretically) if each bid cost 60 cents, that would be $11,280. Now with the bidding on bid packs and promos and discounts, the average bid price is considerably less and is broken down in the results of all auctions on Beezid. So if you won that item, you scored big. But if you didn't, and used most or all of your 50 bids, you are just out the money.

What throws a wrench in the gears for people like me is Beezid has what is called "autobeezid". You can set a dollar amount price range that you think an item will sell for, and set how many bids you want to invest and Beezid will automatically place the bids for you to be the highest bidder in that price range. But guess wrong, and it is a quick way to burn up a bunch of bids. And to make matters worse, if 2 or more people use autobeezid in an overlapping price range, every body's bids will be for the most part wasted and the auction price will quickly be driven up until every one's autobeezid bids are gone.

Let me also say that there are also bid pack auctions that are free to bid on. So you can bid on a 50 bid pack and not use any of your bids. If you win, then you buy the bids at a discount. If you lose, you are not out anything. These auctions go a bit higher but are the way to go if you are wanting to start out and not pay retail (your 10 free bids are not going to cut it). They also have "Early Bird Auctions" that if you win, you get all your bids back. Which generally makes the auction go a bit higher, because if you have a lot of bids invested, you are committed, along with everyone else.

So I will end with saying that (at least) Beezid is a very well designed and laid out website that has a great idea. The excitement and interaction is great entertainment and if you are patient and dedicated, you can pick up brand new items at a deep discount. It just may not be as deep of a discount as what it looks like. After you blast a couple hundred dollars on bids, spend hours learning and watching and then pay the $188 delivery charge on the frontload washer and dryer, you may or may not come out ahead. Beezid (and other like sites) and their vendors are making money - good money.

Beezid is NOT an auction site that vendors just dump discontinued, scratch and dent or junk just to get rid of it. But don't think you can walk away with an LG 46 inch flatscreen for $8.50 with little or no effort. So the good news is, auction websites like this are here to stay and are the trendsetters for retail sales. An appliance store does not have to pay the overhead of running a 50,000 square foot retail warehouse. The bad news is, as more and more people join Beezid and participate, it will become harder and more expensive for people like me to keep up. I will probably just go to Best Buy.

UPDATE: While doing research for this post, I stumbled across a Beezid phenomenon that needs mentioning. It seems that Beezid has been accused of unethical and possibly illegal bid counting. The problem appears at the very end of an auction and you get the "Going" sign that the auction is getting ready to end, several people click the bid button at the same time. As a bidder, when you click the bid button, you are legally only authorizing Beezid to count your bid at the exact dollar amount shown as you click. So if 8 people click the bid button within a millisecond, the auction does not jump up 8 cents, only the first person to get in at the next penny level will be the highest. However, according to the accusers, the other 7 are still charged with the bid. This is hard to verify in the frenzy and excitement of the auction, but I have personally been relieved of 2 bids near the very end of an auction and never saw my user name as top bidder.

In the short term this update may seem like a whiny rant, but if you add up all the auctions, this amounts to a buttload of money that is virtually unaccountable at our expense. Beezid blames the snafu on the bidding algorithm and the speed of individual internet browsers.

Earth's Magnetism And Your Soul Mate

2010-12-23T09:08:00.006-05:00

Over the years I have developed a controversial theory concerning "Lay Lines". These are the lines of Earth's magnetism that encircle the globe. You may have heard of the lay lines when watching documentaries on Stonehenge, or why certain Aztec structures are built where they are. This theory is controversial because there are flaws and exceptions that I haven't worked out yet.

My theory is that when you are born, you "imprint" on the magnetism at the exact spot where you are. You also develop a useful tolerance for the magnetism in your area. This will give you a sense of peace when you are "home". You may have noticed this while on vacation, and you have a feeling when you get back near your home, there is a certain relaxing calmness that you just can't put your finger on. I have experienced this personally while residing in Dallas, Texas for several years. Although I had carved out a niche for myself and was doing very well, there was always an uneasy feeling that I was not "home". I ended up moving back to Indiana and right now live about 5 miles from the exact spot I was born. There is a weight gone that I just cannot explain. (I also have been married to my wife for almost twenty years, and she was born less than 5 miles away)

The reason for this effect on people (in my opinion) is nature's (or God's) way of keeping you rooted to your clan or family unit. It is safer if everyone stays put and not go traveling off willy-nilly to far off lands. This effect will also influence you to mate and breed within your specific area, keeping you from wandering off being promiscuous. This will also explain and verify a soul mate. One can subconsciously recognize the acquired magnetism of another person. It can explain why you feel comfortable with someone, or dislike someone for no apparent reason.

This theory may also have far-reaching effects that may explain a few medical maladies. In my opinion, some psychoses may just be the result of internal magnetism gone awry. That is why treating a a person with drugs may not do any good other than quash the neurosis chemically. A strong reaction to the magnetism effect may be the simple reason why people are afraid to leave their house.

I also believe (no, I know) that our ancestors were more in touch with this theory than we can ever imagine. If we could tap the energy that our ancestors may have used to build the pyramids, or how Edward Leedskalnin built the Coral Castle, it would be the answer to our dependence on fossil fuels.

Yes I know that there are people that are happily living thousands of miles from their birthplace, but some people are less affected by the magnetism effect. Or maybe they were not born near enough to a lay line to affect them. And external stimuli today have a more devastating effect on my theory. Perhaps all the cell towers and the man-made electromagnetism screws up the whole system.

also visit my "heavy thoughts" page

More On Little Blue Round Company Logos

2010-12-16T13:41:00.006-05:00

After yesterday's post on little round blue company logos, I was buried in emails wondering how I left out the two biggest blue logos. So I have added them and a couple more that have the round blue idea, but vary a bit. All logos are the property of the companies they represent.

1. How could I have forgotten the Company Logo for Volkswagen?

2. The Company Logo for Dell Computer.

3. The company Logo for Intel. Not exactly round but a top contender.

4. And If I was going to include Intel, we are kind of round with the Company Logo of DirecTV.

5. New to the list (below) is the logo for NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Asministration. (seen below)

6. Updated 3-16-11 - the company logo for Coloplast (below) - Coloplast develops products and services that make life easier for people with very personal and private medical conditions. Very similar to the AT&T #2 logo.

Keep the emails coming; send your round blue company logos to mohrmultimedia (at) fastmail.fm

Little Round Company Logos

2010-12-15T14:54:00.009-05:00

I have come to the realization that I am in the wrong business. It seems I should be creating company logos. All you need is a circle (preferably blue), slightly change somebody else's logo and charge $50,000. The following logos are major companies, some of which you may recognize. I tried to organize them in a type of evolutionary order so you can see the similarities. All logos are the properties of the companies they represent.

Company Logo from Bell Telephone in 1969. Bell became AT&T.
Company Logo from SalonCentric. Distributes beauty products.
Company Logo from Circa. A joint project between The University of Dundee & The University of St Andrews involving dementia.
Company Logo from Centennial Wireless. Recently bought out by AT&T.
Company Logo from the Lutheran Health Network. Located In Allen County, Indiana.
Company Logo from Google Earth.
Company Logo from Allen County Public Library, Allen County Indiana.
Company Logo from ATMC.net. An internet / telephone / television - Shallotte, NC.
Company Logo from Globe Telecom. See information below on #35.
Company Logo from CSIRO; Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization.
Company Logo from IDC; The premier global market intelligence firm.
Company Logo from Konica Minolta. Makers of cameras and global imaging products.
Company Logo from AT&T (old).
Comapny Logo from AT&T (new and improved).
Company Logo from United Way.
Company Logo from Allstate Insurance.
Company Logo from China Mobile Limited.
Company Logo from Lake City Bank, Allen County, Indiana.
Company Logo from Motorola.
Company Logo from Wordpress.
Company Logo from Westinghouse.
Company Logo from General Electric.
Company Logo from OnStar.
Company Logo from Hewlett Packard.
Company Logo from besthandyman.com.au. (update: looks like they changed their logo to a house with a hammer; see below #36).
Company Logo from Symantec Corporation. Norton's Anti-virus and security software.
Logo for Team Deutschland - German Soccer team.
Company Logo from LexisNexis. Academic and library solutions, leading provider of information and business solutions to professionals in a variety of industries.
Company Logo from Pepsi (new).
Company Logo from Pepsi (old).
Oh My, Even Obama's Logo designer is on the bandwagon! (2008 Presidential Campaign).
Company Logo from Apple Corporation. An interesting variation on the blue circle!

Honorable mention goes to:

#33. Logo For Drupal - open source web building applications. (A pionty blue circle!)
#34. Company Logo for Clear.com - Super fast take-it-with-you internet
#35. The new Company Logo for Globe Telecom.
#36. The new Company Logo for besthandyman.com.au.

While researching this, I found a website that explains the blue connection: http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/Blog/whats-in-a-blue-logo

you may send crappy little round company logos to mohrmultimedia (at) fastmail.fm

7 Year Old Rhema Marvanne Sings National Anthem

2010-12-14T08:28:00.003-05:00

It looks like I may have more time to post goodies on my blog here. Check out Rhema Marvanne singing the National Anthem.

Miranda Lambert - The House That Built Me

2010-05-25T17:10:00.002-04:00

Greyson Michael Chance performs "Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga at Edmond's Sixth Grade Festival in Oklahoma

2010-05-14T19:13:00.003-04:00

Free Website Building (and why people give up)

2010-03-22T18:06:00.014-04:00

A guest post by Doyle Dawkins from http://buildfree.org.
From my years of promoting free website hosting, I have formulated a depressing statistic. Nearly 9 out of 10 people that build a free website, give up with their first attempt. I am not talking about Facebook, Myspace, Twitter or any other social network, but a "real" website. One that you have to come up with the complete content and layout like the free hosts Webstarts or Wix.com. The reasons for this abandonment vary considerably, but I can make the following assumptions. The first being the plain fact that it is "free". When someone just gives you something, there really is no value. You do not give it the respect (and effort) you would have, had you paid for it with your own hard-earned money.

Let me first explain how a website can really be "free". Web hosting companies can give away free websites because they are gambling that at some point you may upgrade your free website to a paid website. You may want to do this for 2 reasons. The first is to get a "real" top-level domain name (instead of a free sub-domain) with more web space (file size) and bandwidth (visitor traffic). The 2nd reason to upgrade would be to remove any advertising put on your free website by the web hosting provider.

So that being said, I would like to establish that there is actually a great "value" to your free website, though you may not initially realize the benefits. The more visitors your free website has, the more revenue you create both directly and indirectly for the free web hosting provider. Directly by your visitors clicking on advertising on your free website's pages. And indirectly, by someone visiting your free website, and deciding they would like a free website of their own and click the (free hosting provider's) link to start building a free website - viral marketing! So I hope I have proved that there is "value" to a free website, there is just not initially to the end user (you). The true value to you comes later; with the free education you have received learning the web builder interface, dealing with affiliates, finding web page add-ons, cool javascript effects etc.

Another reason people abandon their first free website after they sign up, is the difficulty figuring out the web building interface, and frustration by the lack of tech support. I will agree that unavailable tech support is a big downside of free web hosting, but with the millions of free websites on the internet, there is no way free web hosting companies could offer one-on-one tech as most free website customers are total beginners. The biggest hint I would have here, is to just not give up completely on your first attempt at building a free website if you hit a brick wall. Even though you may have failed at a certain free web host, that does not mean you will fail at another. If you gave it your best college try, believe me, you will have learned something that will come in handy at another free web host.

Each free webhosting provider has a different interface that you will use use to build your free website. Some are easier than others - some may require you to know a bit of HTML code, while others will have a drop-and-drag method. Still others may have a "web wizard" or WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) website builder. So since there are so many free web hosts out there, just choose another location and give it another shot.

Another reason people fail at building a free website is the reason they are building a free website in the first place. Some think they can build a quick website, fill it full of affiliate banners and money-making links, and they will be the next internet millionaire. A website (yes, even a free one) needs to have some viable content on it's pages. Your website needs to contribute to the internet by offering some interesting content, even if it is only interesting to a certain few that share your interests. I always recommend building your first free website about something you are passionate about. It is best to start with a content website instead of jumping right in and selling stuff on an e-commerce business website. It could be your favorite hobby or whatever you are best at, whatever it may be. It could be about fishing, billiards, car repair or cooking - you get the idea. Just think of your first free website as a learning experience, regardless of your ultimate goals.

And now to the biggest reason why people give up on their first free website - TIME. You may think you can build a free website today and tomorrow hundreds of people will automatically find it and visit. Well it doesn't work that way for the mere fact there are millions of free websites out there competing for a top spot on a search engine. Google does it's best to "crawl" all the new websites and pages created every day, but just for the reason of sheer numbers, it may take weeks or even months to get listed. And with no listing, that means no visitors. An no visitors means no reward for your hard work - being financial rewards or just some positive feedback.

So Doyle's helpful hint for this dilemma is BE PATIENT. Use this time to create another free website. Use the skills you have learned by prior free website building to improve the overall professional look and feel of your website. By having a "family" of free websites that link to each other, you may increase the popularity of all your sites (as seen by search engines), as well as speed up the time it takes listed on Google, Yahoo, MSN etc. Once again if you fail or are frustrated by the new free web host or have trouble with their web page building interface, move on to another! There is a list of over 100 free web hosting providers HERE.

My overall summary on this matter is to be persistent and stay focused on your ultimate goal. Free website building is a learning experience. It is a valuable tool to have in your internet arsenal. The great thing is you never know exactly where your journey may lead, but all knowledge is useful and the feeling you get for creating a content filled informative free website is an unmeasureable fulfilling accomplishment. The ultimate reward for your work is if and when you decide you need to create a top-level "real" website, you don't have to pay the geeky friend of your neighbor's aunt to do it for you. You will already have the skills needed - all obtained from what was given away as a free website!

On a sidenote, if you know for sure absolutely positively that building and having a website is in your future, get your own "real" domain name and paid hosting as soon as possible. The traffic and Google listing you build up from a sub-domain (the free domain name on your free site) cannot be transferred to your "real" site. Google is going to hit on your domain name to create it's listing. Search for a domain name below.

Thanks for the opportunity to rant... Doyle Dawkins

How To Make A Ring From A Silver Coin

2010-03-06T15:47:00.021-05:00

Here is a step by step tutorial on how to make a ring out of a silver coin. In this lesson, I am using a Kennedy Half Dollar, but a silver quarter works just as well. In the United States, the U.S. Mint stopped making silver coins in 1965, so the coin must be 1964 or older. Generally, for a larger men's ring you would want to use a silver half dollar. And for a smaller women's ring, you can use a silver quarter. According to Coinflation.com, the meltdown value of a 1964 silver half dollar is $6.28 as of March 5, 2010.

There is no perfect way to make a ring out of a silver coin, so practice will improve your skills, and if you don't have all the best tools, just use what you have. I was taught by my friend Dave Reader, who said he learned in prison using a tablespoon and the cement floor. But to make things a bit easier, you will need a few common household tools.

The most important tool is a small hammer, like a tack hammer or a baby hammer from a cheap tool kit. You want to use a light weight hammer so that you do not distort or warp the silver coin by striking it too hard.

Step 1 is to hold the silver coin on edge between your finger and thumb on a very hard surface like a benchtop vise, or yes you can still use the cement floor.

Take your tack hammer and lightly tap on the top edge of the silver coin as you are rolling the coin. You actually want to hit the top center of the coin, for example if where the bottom edge of the coin is touching the vise is 6 o'clock, you want to strike the coin at 12 o'clock. You want to tap lightly as not to warp the coin. It seems like you could get the job done quicker if you hit it harder, but the silver coin will start folding in half. Keep tapping and rolling the coin and the edge will start to roll over.

The above photo is after about 2 hours of rolling and tapping.

The above photo is after about 3 1/2 hours. I am making this ring for someone who wants a big ring, so I am nearly done with the hammering. If I was doing a men's pinkie ring, I would probably need to hammer for another hour.

When you are happy with the width and (approximate) size of your silver ring, clamp it a vice as shown above preferably using a soft metal or wood to clamp it into so that you do not smash the ring. The aluminum angle I am using is from an old screen door I found in the trash.

Drill a small hole in the center of the coin. Be careful not to let the drill bit slip and damage the inner ring of the silver coin. Part of the beauty of using a silver half dollar or a silver quarter is that you can still read the writing on the coin where the edge has rolled over.

You only need to drill a hole big enough to fit a rat tail file in the hole. Silver is pretty soft, so resist the temptation to enlarge the hole with the drill bit. Use the rat tail file to carefully file your way towards the edges of the silver coin.

Keep filing in all directions until you are about 1/8 to 1/16 of an inch from the edge.

You could probably file a bit closer than the above photo, but as you can see, the writing on the edge could be easily damaged.

Now you switch over to sandpaper to smooth out the inside. I like to use emery cloth, but using 80 grit sandpaper, then 120 grit would do the same thing.

Another trick I use is to wrap your emery cloth around a drill bit and use it for a dremel tool. Be sure to wrap your sandpaper around the bit in the direction the bit is spinning. Take your time and even out the inside lip to be about 1/16 all the way around. Then switch to a 240 grit sandpaper to smooth the inside. Be careful not to damage the writing inside the coin.

To start on the outside, depending on how deep your hammer blows are, start with about 120 grit sandpaper or emery cloth. If you have some deeper gouges, you may need to use an 80 grit paper to start. Work your way to up to a 180 or 240 grit until the outside is smooth, but not necessarily shiny. You can also lightly smooth over the outside edges a bit if they seem excessively sharp.

Now you are ready to start the final finish. I use a fingernail emery board or emery block. I like the 4 step system. Use the roughest surface first and graduate to the smoothest surface. Take your time with these steps and buff out all the scratches from the prior step before moving on.

Above is the final product. Total time about 6 hours. Polish with some automotive chrome polish and you are done. If the silver coin ring seems to have sharp edges, do not worry. In a short time, just by wearing the ring, all the edges will smooth out and it will wear comfortably.

Happy Birthday Arika!

Is Toyota Being Railroaded?

2010-02-19T16:25:00.005-05:00

It may just be coincidence, but the same year the US government bails out US automakers General Motors and Chrysler, Toyota is under the magnifying glass. With recall after recall in the news, Toyota's reputation went from excellent to poor in a matter of weeks.

The financial incentives given to General Motors and Chrysler had little impact on the overall big picture with the US economy, so maybe leveling the playing field may became an option. It just seems that the Toyota recalls were overly publicized and timed so that the ills of Toyota remained in the mind of consumers for weeks.

Since the US government is in the car business, I detect a conspiracy to legitimize the automaker bailout and create artificial fiscal results...

Ron Mohr Article in Feb 2010 Issue Of Bowler's Journal

2010-02-14T13:44:00.012-05:00

Ron Mohr, PBA Senior Tour 2009 Player of the year, has a great article on page 14 of the February 2010 issue of Bowler's Journal magazine. It is great to have Ron in the news, and let's all think spring and look forward to the opening tournament of 2010 PBA Senior tour. The first stop is the PBA Senior Dayton Classic, and runs from Saturday, April 17, 2010 to Tuesday, April 20, 2010 in Dayton, Ohio. (click on article to see larger print)

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to post the Jim Mohr bowling update for February 14, 2010. I received hundreds of emails reminding me to post.. Well we were on the same pair as usual, 23 and 24. And as usual, the right lane hooks way less than the right. The 1st game actually seemed ok, but midway 2nd game and 3rd game, I was lost. You will see game 3, I actuall shot 127! That is the worst I have shot in over 30 years. At that point, I was happy that Ron Mohr had the article in the Bowler's Journal, so I wouldn't have to post my scores. However, after I made the adjustment and calmed down, I did ok - total for 9 game block was 1767 for an average of 196.3. I can't complain about 196 average aver shooting a 127. I think next week, we are going ot ask for a different pair..

Wind Waker Acoustic Multi-Track

2010-01-05T19:44:00.002-05:00

Jessica Andrews - Unbreakable Heart

2010-01-02T07:52:00.003-05:00

Jessica Andrews sings Unbreakable Heart

Christmas Traffic Slump

2009-12-30T07:25:00.006-05:00

You may wonder why webmasters are grumpy around Christmas. With all the traveling and get-togethers, people just don't get on the internet and surf like they regularly do. This phenomenon is not related to just Christmas, but the other major holidays put a big dent in website traffic.

Here is one of my websites, http://buildfree.org/, and as you can see traffic to that site from the 22nd to the 26th suffered greatly. And since statistically visitors are money, revenue is nearly cut in half for a short period. (December 30th count was at 7:30 in the morning).

Multiply that times about 10 (my good revenue generating websites), and you can see why I am glad when Christmas is over. The only ray of hope is, I always hope there were a few extra computers under the Christmas tree, and by the traffic count on the 28th and 29th, that may be true.

Small Random Game Widget Finished

2009-12-28T12:53:00.007-05:00

I have been working on a smaller version of my free "Random Game Widget". It is now available to put on a website or blog by copying and pasting a short snippet of script. The random game widget displays a different game with a refresh of the browser or page load. To capture the free game widget for your website or blog, just click the "get widget" tab at the bottom of the respective widget or go HERE for the small version, or HERE for the large version. As of today, both random game widgets contain over 450 games and more games are added regularly.

Random Game Smallgreat free widgetsWidgetboxMore info

Remember you can always use the larger random game widget too!

Random Gamegreat free widgetsWidgetbox

I will also build you a custom combination of multiple widgets for free. For example, if you want a series of 3 widgets stacked on top of each other, or 3 by 3, or 5x5, you get the idea. Just email me at websitegames@fastmail.fm.

Blogs Directory

Hip Hop Violin - Paul Dateh and inka one

2009-12-17T18:02:00.001-05:00

Why use a free Email provider?

2009-12-16T17:55:00.003-05:00

Well you would think that after 20 years if internet, someone could do something about spam. I don't care how good your spam filter, there are still a few spam emails in my several email inboxes. Sometimes there are even more, like yesterday, I had 35 different emails from the same POS.

I have 20 websites and I use about 15 different email addresses to speed up the contact process. If I get a message to a certain email, I know which website they are referring to. I used to get emails that said "I would like to advertise on your website, or I would like to exchange links with your website. I would spend an extra day pinning down the site they were referring to.

So using a free email provider is a necessity. It is also handy every now and then to just dump an email address when it starts to receive mega spam. Another good use for a free email is to just to use it as a disposable email to sign up for free websites and free offers (notorious spammers)so your "real" email doesn't get buried in spam.

Get your own free email address HERE

Weather Monitor Widget

2009-12-10T19:00:00.007-05:00

Read more about this widget free at HERE

value="location_id=gn:3128760&location_name=Barcelona&time_format=12&unit_system=us&background=#FFFFFF&copyright_bar=false"
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style="width:500px;height:400px;display: block;text-indent: -50000px;font-size: 0px;background:#DDF url(http://yowindow.com/img/logo.png) no-repeat scroll 50% 50%;"
>Weather Widget

YoWindow.com
Forecast by yr.no

Gullible Warming (revisited)

2009-12-05T12:43:00.004-05:00

Ok, so I don't get it right every time, but my post from January 18, 2009 was pretty accurate. Now it seems the truth on global warming is coming out that the statistics were skewed to appear worse than they are. You can read my original post HERE.

4 hands and 1 guitar

2009-12-02T17:52:00.001-05:00

Funny T-Shirt Day - Soak It In Cider

2009-11-27T18:30:00.004-05:00

I have a goal for the "Soak It In Cider" funny t-shirt of the day. I would like to see it worn by a 24 year old guy that is 6' 1" and 145 pounds. He should need a shower, have a 2 day beard and a drinking problem. He should be wearing the t-shirt as he comes out of the trailer only to be arrested on the show "Cops".

What would help, would it being about 95 degrees, early evening with a fat neighbor lady in a moo-moo coming out of here trailer just to shake her fist and put in her two cents.

The "Soak It In Cider" Tee is a heather gray wife-beater tank top that would be a great trailer-trash gift as it only costs $9.89 cents. SPECS: "heavyweight pre-shrunk cotton tank for men has matching jersey-knit trim on neck and arm-holes and a double-needle stitched bottom hem. Keep cool in the summer or at the gym (or an episode of COPS) with this 100% cotton shirt with a fabric weight of 6.1 oz.

The Soak It In Cider t-shirt is available at Doublex.SpreadShirt.com

Bluffton Man Wins 2 Million Dollars With Scratch Off Lottery Ticket

2009-11-25T18:04:00.007-05:00

Let me start out that I hope that there is a higher power guiding people to make the choices they do. And also may I say that my opinion will probably not be too popular on this matter. It is just I have a few observations that may even be based on the jealousy I have for this man's good fortune.

Mick Brickley of Bluffton Indiana buys a $30 scratch-off lottery ticket and wins 2 million dollars. On the surface we can say this is a great thing, but the article at Wane.com goes on to state that Mick has been laid off from his job since June of this year. So here is where I start to examine the big picture more closely. For one, I wonder what business a laid off guy has buying a $30 scratch-off ticket. I can only assume that Mick has a family that may have benefited from the $30, as money is probably tight. The second problem I have with this scenario, is I can also assume that Mick is receiving unemployment compensation. This money is intended to keep one and one's family fed and housed. By me contributing to the fund, indirectly I helped pay for Mick's ticket. Strangely enough, this purchase burdens me with a bit of guilt because of the despair I have observing the decline of the economy and (ironically enough) increased unemployment.

Going one step further, my financial contribution to Mick's ticket should give me legal rights to a portion of Mick's winnings, albeit it would only amount to probably 12 cents. Or better yet, Mick should return any unemployment payments he received and have it redistributed to those who REALLY need it. So who is to blame for this? Is it my fault for looking beyond the obvious just for a gratuitous blog post? Is it the Lottery's fault for victimizing the despondent by selling ridiculously high priced scratch-offs? Is it Mick's fault for spending money that could have been put to better use on a lottery ticket?

Health Care Reform Means Health Care Rationing..

2009-11-20T18:22:00.004-05:00

I didn't think we would see it this soon, but the news over the last couple weeks seems to be the first steps towards the slippery slope of health care rationing. First was the news from the "U.S. Preventive Services Task Force" claiming women under 50 don't need mammograms. The news on the radio said the new guidelines were "doctor recommended", but according to Wate.com, "They did not have anybody on their panel who were experts in the diagnosis or treatment of breast cancer. They did not ask for any public input and their literature search was not subject to peer review."

Then a few days later, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommend women in the United States should start cervical cancer screening at age 21 and most do not need an annual Pap smear. They also say women younger than 30 should undergo cervical cancer screening once every two years instead of an annual exam. And those age 30 and older can be screened once every three years.

It is my opinion, but most doctors are "for profit", and testing is one of the easiest money-making opportunities. So I don't see these recommendations actually endorsed by practicing doctors. Plus identifying and preventing full-blown cancer should be paramount in any medical game plan. Saving money now only pushes the expense onto a future administration. (a great political ploy) So in my cynical view, I think this is related to the proposed "health care reform bill", and what are today recommendations, tomorrow will be the law. By getting new recommended guidelines on the table before the health care reform bill passes, makes further changes more acceptable to the population.

So in the coming weeks, I see new recommendations for rectal screening and prostate exams. So instead of grabbing our ankles, we should stock up on turmeric and start grabbing our ankles. (kudos to you if that sentence makes sense to you.)

Funny T-Shirt Day - Shiite Happens

2009-11-19T05:41:00.005-05:00

The "Shiite Happens" a great tongue-in cheek take on the "shit happens" t-shirt that was so popular in the 80's. You could show your friends that you are brazen yet sensitive to the Muslim cause. The hottest thing on the liberated streets of Baghdad. The Shite Happens tee will at least be a conversation starter at the dinner table.

Form-fitting Unisex Eco-Heather Crew Shirt, 38% cotton (6.25% organic cotton), 50% polyester (6.25% recycled poly), 12% rayon, Brand: Alternative Apparel As a unisex shirt, it is recommended that men order a size up for a more roomy fit and women order a size down if looking for a tighter fit.

You can get your Shiite Happens T-Shirt at www.doublex.spreadshirt.com. You can also open your own T-shirt store for free and design your own shirts HERE.

Another Rant On Going Green..

2009-11-16T05:52:00.003-05:00

More cities are encouraging and even mandating that residents who don't compost at home take time to divide their food and yard waste from other trash so it can be recycled elsewhere. San Francisco is implementing a new rule requiring that its citizens separate their household waste items into green "composting" carts or potentially face fines.

It might just be opinion, but I think the landfills NEED some organic materials in the pile. That way the brew can start cooking to create the heat to allow the rest of the inorganic materials to decompose quicker. For example, if you just have a stack of newspapers (in the landfill) the size of a house and don't add any goodies like grass clippings, egg shells, meat scraps and the like, and you dig it up in a thousand years, it will still be a stack of news papers the size of a house. So in the long run, we come out even. And a lot of businesses and factories fuel their plants with the methane created by the mixture.

Also, they want us to separate all our household waste down to it's lowest common denominator, they should lead by example. If it is true we could compost all our household waste right at home and not end up with just a big heap of garbage in the yard, then why don't they just do it on a bigger scale. We should be the largest producers of black dirt on the planet. And if they can't separate it themselves, I have a great solution for that too. You can read more about my idea HERE.

Several years ago, I thought I would go green and build one of those grass clipping yard / kitchen waste composters. I used the pallet method and ended up with 2 compartments 4 feet by 4 feet. The theory is, put your grass clippings and waste in one compartment, and every week or so transfer the mess into the other compartment. At the end of the year, all I had was a stinky mess of grass clipping slime. I even broke down and bough some of those granules (expensive) that are supposed to make grass clippings break down faster. Even next spring it was not good for anything, so I threw the mess in the trash. So much for that. I have a smallish lawn, so I am skeptical on the whole yard waste composting campaign.

I am somewhat green though these days. I use the "Jerry Baker Lawn Tonic" twice a year. It helps the grass clippings break down quicker when you mulch (among other things). I will not try to compost my own grass clippings even if someone gave me one of those funny looking composting balls that you fill with clippings and roll around the yard to stir it. I hope I see someone in my neighborhood with a composting ball rolling around their yard, so I can go down there and laugh my butt off.

The Face On Mars..

2009-11-14T06:56:00.009-05:00

This controversy has been going on for many years, but I am sure this post will set the record straight once and for all. There are several reasons why we want to believe there is a face on Mars. Outer space is vast, and the immensity of it all can make us feel very small, a mere pinhead in the totality of it all. We want to feel important. We want to feel like a part of the universe, and seeing a face on Mars would give us a connection that would make us feel like an important part of the grand scheme of things. It is human nature to express dominance over it's surroundings, and a face on Mars would be like "Yeah, we conquered mars". Albeit, it was a millenia ago and we don't have the technology now, we see a human face, so it had to be us.

Well I hate to bust the space bubble, but it boils down to imprinting. All animals (including humans) come out of the womb and as soon as they are able, the "imprint" on on their mother's face. When mom is not available, they imprint on the first face they see. It is instinct to look for 2 eyes, a nose and mouth on an oval shaped blob. They may not have the best of vision, but that face is ingrained into their brain. This is what they will look for when they are hungry, scared, cold or lonely. Animals never really grow out of this deeply seeded instinct, although it is not needed as much as we grow older.

An example of this in my life, is we have a faux sponge painted wall in the bathroom of our house. I can guarantee that the paint was applied in random motion with varying amounts of paint and pressure. Yet. when I look at the wall, I can see areas that resemble human faces or bodies better than I could draw if I sat down with paper and pencil. Some are very small and only require a few paint dabs for my brain to decipher them as relevant. A brain will fill in the blanks to satisfy it's need to make sense out of apparently random facts and figures.

Now I am not discounting the whole alien theory, or the theory that there have been several technological superior civilizations that have lived and died right here on Earth, I am just saying not to bank on the face on Mars to be the evidence...

So You Are Ready For A Diet...

2009-11-10T17:09:00.006-05:00

The hardest thing in changing your eating habits (I don't call it a "diet") is getting started. It may seem like "what's the use?, this is going to take forever". And in reality, it will. If you are obese, then you probably do have bad eating habits (excluding medical conditions), and a complete lifestyle change is needed. I am no doctor, but I have lost 20 lbs in the last 5 weeks just by using the following tricks. I will admit, I do not exercise much, so there is really no excuse if you have been considering shedding a few pounds.

1. When sitting down for a meal, immediately take half of it off your plate and put it in a storage container. Put it in the refrigerator.

2. Eat more salad, but cut back on the dressing. You do not have to get "fat free" dressing (yuck), but dilute it heavily with apple cider vinegar (organic if you so choose). Store-bought dressings are too thick anyway. To keep yourself from burning out on lettuce salad, try different types of greens like a Bok Choy Salad or fresh spinach.

3. Substitute low-fat cottage cheese for sour cream. Especially great on Mexican dishes.

4. Have rice instead of mashed potatoes. Make it with chicken broth to enhance the flavor.

5. Have fresh fruit handy. We all love bananas, apples and oranges, but sometimes it is just easier to grab the potato chip bag while watching tv. A better snack would be a low-fat yogurt on top of apple and orange slices covered with a sprinkling of Grape Nuts cereal. Also prunes, (yes, prunes) Sometimes a change in diet can lead to constipation, eat 5 prunes every day, preferably in the evening.

6. Take a multi-vitamin every day. That way if you decide to skip a meal (nudge, nudge) once in a while, you will still get the nutrients you need.

7. Drink more water. Soda and beer are a waste as a food product. At least switch to a light beer or diet soda, and no more than 1 a day, sorry.

8. Have something around the house you can just "pig out" on. There is nothing more depressing than having 7 good days on a diet, then backsliding on something you know you shouldn't have eaten. It can derail your whole outlook when you see yourself as a failure. I like to use unbuttered (lightly salted) popcorn. It keeps well and if you HAVE to have that full feeling once in a while, popcorn can fill the void. Slow cooked rice is good too, it is filling! Also great is some lean protein like pinto beans and great northern beans. Randall makes a variety of beans in a jar that are ready to eat and are completely fat free. The great northern has a "cooked all day" taste, but my favorite is the jar of pinto beans. Mildly spicy and extremely filling, and also fat free. Canned cooked black beans are great. When I need something to pig out on, beans are what I choose as not to ruin my diet

9. Don't be afraid to throw (old) food out. Just because there are leftovers, doesn't mean you need to eat them. I know we did good in step 1, but in a smaller household, sometimes leftovers need to be pitched. Coming from a poorer large family, this is one of my hardest things to do.

10. Weigh yourself EVERY MORNING at the same time and track your weight loss results on paper or on the computer. Having a visual record makes it more of an event instead of just a thought. It is also important to see your results in the long term. You may lose 5 pounds, then be STUCK there for 2-3 days. At the time, this is discouraging, but seeing the overall picture with a gradual decline will make those days easier.

Now I have posted this for me as well as for you. I have a responsibility to lead by example and keep on track.

*With any change of diet, you may want to visit your doctor to make sure you are otherwise healthy.

The Obesity Epidemic

2009-11-08T13:43:00.005-05:00

Everyone is looking for someone or something to blame for the obesity crisis. According to the CDC website, "In 2008, only one state (Colorado) had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Thirty-two states had a prevalence equal to or greater than 25%; six of these states (Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia ) had a prevalence of obesity equal to or greater than 30%". That does not even count those that are just "overweight".

Personally I blame it on fast food restaurants like Burger King, McDonald's, etc. It is way too convenient to just stop and get burgers and fries on the way home than to cook a decent meal. And with the politically correct world we live in, we have to cater to the kids' likings. McDonald's and Burger King is great because EVERYBODY likes it. You don't have to argue with the kid to eat his broccoli.

But a Whopper has 670 calories, with 39 grams of fat. 11 grams of that is saturated fat. A medium Burger King French fries has 360 calories with 20 grams of fat. 4.5 grams of that is saturated fat. Add a medium chocolate shake and you get 690 more calories with 20 more grams of saturated fat. 12 grams of that is saturated fat. Total that up and you get 1720 calories and 79 grams of fat. There is no excuse to serve a meal like that. Based on a 2000 calorie diet, you are done eating for the day.

To burn those calories walking, the rule of thumb is 100 calories per mile for a 180 pound person. So you would have to walk a little over 17 miles that day. This works out great if you live 8 1/2 miles from a Burger King...

So it is how it is. You cannot have a government mandate forcing Burger King or McDonald's to serve healthy food because it would taste like crap and this is a free country. So the only thing we can do is educate your kids to make healthy choices as they grow older. And get them involved in a physical activity like Extreme Trampoline!

Mom Made Beany Weenies For Thanksgiving...

2009-11-07T15:50:00.005-05:00

With all the Thanksgiving hype on the internet, I thought I would share this experience that happened to me many years ago. I was about 13 and it was a day or two before the annual family Thanksgiving dinner. It was one of those years when it seemed like everyone was going to be in town. My mom was pretty much on her own cooking and it was starting to look like 20 or more family members were going to be there.

I know mom was making her plans on what she need to get at the store, when all at once the phone started to ring. Now I will be the first to say that our extended family did not get along all the best. (I didn't know it at the time, but my parents were contemplating divorce). One side of the family said "I don't know if I am going to be there if so-and-so is going to be there. And the other side called too and said the same thing, putting my mom in the middle. She did not uninvite anybody and she just told everyone to show up if they wanted to, and if they did not make it, it was their loss.

Thanksgiving morning came, and I went into the kitchen to see if there was any early Thanksgiving goodies I could snack on, but the kitchen was virtually empty. I asked my mom if everything was ok, and she said she had it under control and for me to go out and play. I figured she decided to have it catered, or maybe everyone else was bringing a dish. Well teenage hunger kicked in and guests started to arrive. but no one was carrying anything. I went back in the house, and my mom had a great big serving bowl in the middle of the table full of beany weenies! There must have been 20 cans of pork and beans and 2 packages of chopped up hot dogs. Other than paper plates, plasticware and some potato chips, that was it.

At first I thought my mom had lost it, but stepping back and seeing the big picture my mom was my hero. I was so proud of her for making a statement. She was able to spend time with the family members that WANTED to be there instead of cooking and cleaning. I didn't miss the turkey that year at all...

You can read a bit more about my mom at http://jimmohr.blogspot.com/2009/05/best-chicken-and-noodles-ever.html.

Having A Savings Account..

2009-11-06T11:26:00.005-05:00

Right now is a terrible time for living off your interest money earned from a savings account. But there are many elderly (and not so elderly) doing that right now. When interest rates were around 6% on a CD (certificate of deposit), a person with a life savings of $200,000 could expect to receive $12,000 a year, or $1000 a month. (taxable income) After the catastrophe of the recession (or whatever it was), interest rates on CD's are around 2%. So the same amount of money would earn only $4,000 a year, or $333 a month. This amounts to a 66% pay cut.

This fact is not talked about in the media today. There are millions of people living off of way less money than they were used to. These people do not have a "category" easily tracked by graphs and statistics. They are lost as a casualty of today's events. This also hurts the Federal Government considerably. Interest income is taxable. So the IRS is getting 66% less money from taxable income. In many cases, it amounts to even more than that because the loss of income for the recipient. This may push them into a lower tax bracket and they will pay even less tax.

That being said, saving in a bank account is a good habit long lost. Today's economy thrives (or at least used to) on credit purchases. I remember when I was little and got paid $5 to cut the grass, my dad would make me walk up to the bank and deposit half in my savings in a savings account. He would inspect the bankbook when I got home. At the end of the year, he would sit down with me and show me the benefits of interest earned. $100 became $110, add a little more and $150 becomes $170. That is great incentive for a 10 year old.

When I was a bit older, he also explained the shortcomings of negative interest. Negative interest is the interest YOU pay out on credit cards and loans. A 17% interest credit card is like a savings account in reverse. Not only are you NOT earning money with your money, you are losing money at a ridiculous rate just for the convenience of being able to make payments. Paying 17% and not earning 3% adds up to 20% more money that you should have. I know that is a crude example, but you get my point.

I do not object to a credit card purchase as long as you pay off the entire balance every month! As a matter of fact you can actually make a little money by doing just that. As long as you pay off the entire balance at the end of the month, you have kept that money in your account until they actually cash the check.

My dad's theory was simple; if you cannot afford to pay cash for something, you cannot afford it. Period. He did not object to buying on credit, but it was a good check and balance of where you stood. By following this advice, I developed a habit that carries on 40 years later - put a little money in the bank whenever you can. And leave it alone!

Maybe it is because kids today can't fathom the mathematics, but I don't think we need to discourage young people from saving...

Save Money On Gas..

2009-11-05T08:55:00.007-05:00

My blog post for today quotes an article straight from MSN's website in the Lifestyle section. It gives us "10 ways to save money on gasoline". You can read the full article HERE. Let's just say I am a bit skeptical, but I just love these type of gas mileage savings articles full of helpful hints. The author has good intentions, but let's break it down into real numbers.

#1. New air filter can save you 10%
#2. Front end alignment can save 10%
#3. Tune up can save 4%
#4. Proper tire inflation can save 2.8%
#5. Proper gas cap can save .5% (1 cent per gallon @ $2 a gallon)
#6. Slowing down can save 7%
#7. Driving Smoothly can save 33% (66 cents per gallon @ $2 a gallon)
#8. Laying off the brakes can save 35%
#9. Carrying less weight can save 1-2% (let's just say 1%)
#10. Don't idle can save 1 cent per gallon for every 3 minutes - I idle maybe 6 minutes a day for a 2 cent or 1% savings by turning off engine.

So if I add up all my savings, I can expect to increase my gas mileage by 104.3%. It looks like I will have to stop every few miles to drain some gas out of my tank.

If you believe all this, maybe you can tell me where the Missing Dollar went.

Casa Salad Recipe

2009-11-04T09:32:00.009-05:00

There is a great restaurant chain here in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area called Casa D'Angelo. The Casa Restaurant Group currently has 5 restaurants in the Fort Wayne chain; Casa D'Angelo, Casa Mare, Casa Grille (2) and Casa! Ristorante. They all proudly serve their famous Casaburo Salad (Insalata). You can actually buy their salad dressing Here, but the "Casa Salad" recipe remains a closely guarded secret.

There are many websites that offer a recipe that is close to the Casa Salad recipe, but I think the Casa Salad recipe found here is close to the mouthwatering original. This will serve 2-4 people, depending on your appetite. You will need the following ingredients:

Approximately 1/2 a head of fresh Iceberg lettuce
Appromixately 1 average size head of fresh Romaine lettuce
1 bunch of green onions
1/2 green (bell) pepper - 1/2 red (sweet) pepper
Approximately 20 or so black (ripe) olives
1 large clove garlic
Anchovy paste (please don't omit, you can't taste it, but you need it)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Approximately 1/8 cup bacon bits
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch
Approximately 1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
Approximately 1 cup of large garlic / onion croutons
(optional) organic apple cider vinegar

Clean and chop the lettuce into large salad (serving) bowl.
Clean and chop green onions into the bowl.
Drain and Chop black (ripe) olives into the bowl.
Chop the peppers coarsely and add to the bowl.
Mix olive oil, sugar, corn starch and red wine vinegar in mixing cup to start making the dressing. (optionally, I like to add a teaspoon of organic apple cider vinegar)
Stir in approximately 1/2 teaspoon of the Anchovy paste into the dressing. My anchovy paste came in a squeeze tube, so I add about 1 inch squeeze.
Chop the garlic clove finely, and add to the dressing.
Stir the salad dressing mixture briskly and dump over the salad mixture.
Stir the salad mixture to evenly coat the salad with the dressing.
Dump in the bacon bits and grated Romano cheese and stir the entire mixture again.
Dump in the croutons and stir well one last time.

For best results, let the Casa Salad mixture set in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for around 1 hour. This will allow the croutons and peppers to soften a bit and the dressing will permeate the salad as it wilts down a bit. When you take it out, you can add ground black pepper and salt to taste. Leftovers will last for a day or two in a covered bowl in the refrigerator.

Of course, my Casa Salad recipe can be adjusted to taste and your feedback is always welcome!

Jim Mohr Update 10-31-09

2009-10-31T09:33:00.008-04:00

I know that my thousands of visitors have been wondering what I have been up to in the last week. Well, you may think I have been slacking, but there are a lot of things going on in webmaster world.

The first thing I have accomplished is, as of today, I have lost 18 pounds. I started a diet September 1, 2009. There were not really any health problems that sparked me to get with it other than my knee, which has been diagnosed as a "bone bruise". Maybe the weight loss will take a bit of stress off the knee. I started out at a portly 226.2, and just cutting out a few things like the Chinese Buffet and Pizza, in 2 months the weight has been slowly coming off. I am shooting for around 195, or at least less than 200 pounds.

Ok, enough with the fat stuff and on to webmaster land. The most fun thing of all I have been working on is opening an online T-shirt store at Spreadsirt.com. It is a free T-shirt designing website that lets anyone open an online apparel store. They have a set price for their merchandise, and you add a couple dollars markup profit that you get to keep. They do all the printing and shipping. I don't know if it will pan out to make any money, but I have always been a bit off-center, and this is a great way to display some of my half witted sarcastic humor. You can see my (caution; rated PG) online T-shirt store at http://doublex.spreadshirt.com/.

I was also offered a flat-fee referral bounty for sending people that want to build a free website to WebStarts.com. I cannot disclose the exact amount, but they used to pay just if someone upgraded from a free website to a paid site. The deal was I had to promote them a bit heavier from my website http://buildfree.org/, which is right now #5 in a Google search for "build a free website". All I can say is that after moving them up the referral list, it looks like it will pan out to be about $1000 a month! That will come in handy since Microsoft fired all it's referral affiliates in July of 2009. (that was like a $1500 a month pay cut!)

I have also updated the "Random Game Widget" to include over 400 games! Just when I had my system smoothed out BigFishGames, removed around 100 games from their online game library. I had to go through and remove the games manually from the script. Here it is again below;

I can track the traffic to the Random Game Widget, but it doesn't seem to have made a big difference in revenue. Sometimes that is how it is for webmaster ideas, you may spend a hundred hours doing something that seems brilliant. Then you may or may not see results. What I need is 100's of people to put the widget on their websites and blogs and it can hopefully pyramid into the positive. I built a page promoting the Random Game Widget HERE.

On the lighter side, I am updating the Ipod (and Dell Mp3 player) to include a few new songs. I like to burn a CD with my newest songs, then upload them to the computer again so I don't have to deal with monthly fees and licensing. I went through tat and all I have to say is Yahoo sucks!

Thanks to my brother Jerry, I have quite an eclectic music library and I added the following songs:

"Hey There Delilah", and "1, 2, 3, 4" from the "Big Bad World" CD (Plain White T's)
"(Stuck In) Indianapolis" from the "24 Hours A Day" CD (The Bottle Rockets) also worth noting on this CD is "When I Was Dumb", but I already had it.
"Pretty (Ugly Before)" from the "Basement On The Hill" CD (Elliot Smith)
"Lookin' For A Job" from the "The Devil You Know" CD (Todd Snider)
"Around The Bend" from the "Fruit" CD (The Asteroids Galaxy Tour)
"Losin' You" from the "Honey From The Tombs" CD (Amy Millan)
"Too Much Love" from the "Best Of Bread" CD (Bread)
"1959" and "I Wish I Could Have Been There" from the "Anthology" CD (John Anderson"
"Nine Million Bicycles" from the "Piece By Piece" CD (Katie Melua)
"Virginia, No One Can Warn You" from the "Bramble Rose" CD (Tift Merritt)
"I'm Just A Girl" and "Don't Speak" from the "The Singles 1992-2003" (No Doubt)
"Keep Your Hands To Yourself" and "Battleship Chains" from the "Georgia Satellites" CD (Georgia Satellites)

Some of these I had before with my Yahoo Music Subscription (did mention they suck?), but all of a sudden I couldn't log in, and the worthless tech support couldn't help. In 30 days all the the songs' licensing ran out and all the songs on my mp3 player quit playing.

Let's just say now "If you can stream it, you can record it"

Optical Illusion Photographs

2009-10-27T11:13:00.000-04:00

Here are a few of my favorite optical illusion photos.

Chinese Fortune Cookie Fortune

2009-10-23T12:55:00.001-04:00

We had Chinese takeout today and my wife's fortune cookie fortune read as follows:Am I missing something?

Extreme Trampoline Skills

2009-10-14T18:16:00.001-04:00

Extreme trampoline skills

Loituma - Ievan Polkka

2009-10-07T18:48:00.000-04:00

Ron Mohr Named 2009 PBA Senior Tour Player of the Year.

2009-10-06T18:19:00.000-04:00

It is finally official. Ron Mohr has been named the 2009 PBA Senior Tour Player of the Year! The announcement has been a long time coming, with everyone speculating that Ron Mohr would come out on top, but now it is in the books.

An article newly posted on PBA.com, features Ron and other award recipients. You can read it in it's entirety HERE.

----------------- taken from PBA.com ---------------------
Ron Mohr, a 53-year old second year Senior Tour member, won the PBA Jackson, Michigan Senior Open and PBA Dayton, Ohio Senior Open, kicking off the 2009 season with his first two titles in back-to-back weeks. Ron won his third title in the Senior Dick Weber Open in Lansing, Michigan, where he defeated four-time defending Senior Player of the Year Tom Baker, 232-175, in the title match.

In 12 Senior Tour events, Mohr cashed in all 12, advanced to match play 11 times and he had five top five finishes. Ron was runner-up in the 2009 Senior Tour earnings race to Wayne Webb by only $250 with his $41,600 total, and he led the full-time touring seniors in average at 223.14.

“I don’t know if it’s a surprise to get the news, but it’s still a shock,” Mohr said. “You hope things will turn out this way, but you never know. After my first year, I realized I could be competitive, but it’s a major step to win a title and then to win more than once is surreal. To go on to win Player of the Year is beyond anything a guy living in Alaska could ever imagine.

“I think it would be easy to accept this, say it has been a great year, and move on,” he added. “But I’m looking for ways to get better. Tom Baker won this honor four years in a row. I’m going to try to get better if I have any hope of doing something like that. And with Walter Ray (Williams Jr.) coming out on the Senior Tour in 2010, even for a few events, we’ll all have our work cut out for us next year.”
------------------ end PBA.com excerpt --------------------

So congratulations to Ron Mohr, and as I told him, it was a well deserved culmination of a year of hard work. Very competitive bowling, rigorous travel and being away from Linda for long stretches has finally paid off with a dream come true.

The Second Wave Of The Repression..

2009-10-04T07:21:00.000-04:00

Yes I am coining a new term here; repression. We have no idea if we are going through (or went through) a recession or a depression, hence the term. It also fits because until we actually get a straight story from someone we can trust, we are holding back, afraid to let loose of our pocketbook filled with investment funds dying to get back into the market.

However that has really nothing to do with what I want to rant about today. I am concerned with the "second wave". The US was based on production jobs. We were the country of manual labor with a workforce that got things done. Then came Nafta, Safta and Afta all is said and done, we are in a heap of trouble.

What scares me is the unemployment figures. The statistics can be skewed to appear as we are coming out of our repression. There are still a buttload of people filing for unemployment every month, just a few less than last month? Is that a good sign? I have no idea, but I have noticed and experienced a trend in the workplace that is alarming.

The system used to be, in any career that involved long term manual labor, as you got older and got more years in at a job, you graduated to a job that was less labor intensive. You had gained the knowledge that made you the "teacher". You made sure things were done correctly, helped out with the hard labor when needed, but generally you ran the equipment, drove the truck or ran the forklift. You WERE the training program for the new hires, the young kids that could break their back earning their way to top of the hill.

With the latest breakdown of this system, layoffs cut deep into the workforce. For factories to stay open, or for municipalities to stay solvent, they had to cut deep into the employee pool. People with up to 10 - 15 years seniority were given notice, leaving a lot of old folk to carry the load. This has a 2 part repercussion that will lead to the second wave. Part 1 is that these old folk like me are pushing 50 and are having to do the work a 20 year old could be doing. I am not saying it cannot be done, but the employee roster is now cut in half, so there is a lot of slack that needs to be picked up. And with 10 or so years to go to make it to retirement, this causes a problem for the employer as well as the employee. The second wave begins with much of the remaining work force off work due to job injury making insurance costs higher and an even smaller work force.

This is not my biggest concern though. The second wave will also be the end of the workplace as we know it. Established in the 1930's in factories right here in the USA, the teacher / student relationship is dying. There was no better instructor on the floor than someone who has been doing the job, and doing it well. This was the best thing that ever happened for an employer. Most supervisors and department heads cannot do the job as well as a seasoned employee ,and to have the best teacher available, free of charge, is what kept the train on the tracks.

Except now there are no students. The tradition that my grandfather learned at the gas company, and the tradition that my dad learned at International Harvester, is dying with me. There is no one to pass on our knowledge to. This is the end result of the second wave...

Honor Thy Father....

2009-10-03T09:43:00.000-04:00

The Law Gone Awry - Ephedrine as an illegal drug*

2009-10-02T17:42:00.000-04:00

I just saw a news story about an elderly woman who was arrested in Indianapolis for buying too much cold medicine containing the ingredient ephedrine. She bought Mucinex-D when she and her husband came down with a cold. Then 3-4 days later, she bought a cold relief medicine for her daughter that did not live at home. She was then arrested a day or so later. The prosecutor said that "ignorance of the law is no excuse". Who would have thought that just buying 2 boxes of cold related pills would get you arrested in Indiana.

I understand that ephedrine is an ingredient in the illegal drug "meth" (Methamphetamine), and there have been some overdoses by football players taking too much on a sweltering hot day, but the law seems to have gone a bit overboard with it's no tolerance on ephedrine. The Chinese have been using ephedrine for 3000 years for respiratory relief for such ailments as asthma. As a matter of fact, here is a short history lesson of ephedrine taken from nodak.edu.

About 3,000 B.C. ephedrine was first used medicinally by the Chinese for respiratory relief through Ephedra (Reodica, 2005).
About 80 A.D. a Greek physician first documented the use of Ephedra (Reodica, 2005)
1887 Ephedrine was isolated for the first time from Ma-Huang (Reodica, 2005)
1930's Ephedrine's medicinal effects were discovered by Western Medicine (Reodica, 2005).
1954 Ephedrine was first available as an oral therapy for asthma (Bernardi, 2004).
1990's Ephedrine is promoted as weight loss supplement in Ma-Huang (Reodica, 2005).
Mid-1990's FDA debates on the safety of ephedrine in herbal supplements and as a drug available OTC (Evidence of Safety and Effectiveness of Ephedra, 2003).
1994 Sales of Ephedrine now have to be recorded and kept for four years in regards to drug trafficking (Bernardi, 2004).
1999 FDA published a notice under the Controlled Substances Act proposing that ephedrine be classified as a Schedule IV compound according to its CNS effects, its dependence and abuse potential, and its therapeutic usefulness (Bernardi, 2004).
2001 National Football League bans Ephedra use after a number of deaths of young adults as a result of ephedrine-containing products (Reodica, 2005).
2002 Canadian government issues a warning against the use of Ephedra (Dangerous diet supplement still available, 2002).
2004 Dietary supplements containing Ephedra banned because of health concerns and adverse side effects (Ephedra Ban, 2004).

I suffer from a mild form of asthma and have been taking ephedrine pills for 20 years as a remedy for an asthma attack. It works much longer than primatene mist, and costs (or at least used to) way less. It is easier to carry, and is not subject to temperature extremes. Dosage of ephedrine pills can be adjusted by symptoms dictated.

My point is that people just need to use their common sense. But in the era of Obama bailout, I guess we can not be trusted to look out for ourselves. If 2 boxes of cold pills in one week is illegal, how much meth could a druggy make in one week with 2 boxes? And if we have to send the cops to the elderly lady's house, is it mandatory we arrest her "because of the law"? Can't we just make a note of it? Wait, let's stake out grandma's house and have a big sting operation!

My second point is according from the CDC, over 440,000 deaths a year are directly attributed to tobacco. But I could go and buy 10 cartons of Marlboro if I wanted.
Crap, if that's not enough, according to drugwarfacts.org, each year, use of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs accounts for an estimated 7,600 deaths and 76,000 hospitalizations in the United States." (NSAIDs include aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen.) But I can go buy a case of aspirin.

I am glad I have the US government looking out for me. That lady could be my neighbor...

*disclaimer - not responsible for some dumb@$$ overdosing on ephedrine because of this blog.

Easy Bok Choy Salad Recipe

2009-09-27T08:15:00.000-04:00

There are many variations of Bok Choy salad, but if you are tired of regular lettuce salad, you have to try this. My Bok Choy salad recipe has a sweet and sour flavor which gives it a sort of Oriental kick. Bok Choy has a unique flavor that is a cross between cabbage and celery. This recipe is easy and quick to make. You will need the following ingredients:

1 bunch / head of Bok Choy
1 cup coarsley chopped celery
1 bunch green onions with tops
1 small bag slivered almonds (usually found in "baking" section)
1 Ramen Noodle package (without flavor packet)
1 package Chow Mein noodles (optional)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup soy sauce (lite soy is ok)
1/8 cup (or so) sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (very important ingredient)

Chop off the bottom 2 inches (or so) of your Bok Choy and discard the bottom. Make sure to separate and thoroughly clean, rinse and pat dry the Bok Choy. Coarsely chop the Bok Choy into a BIG bowl or tupperware container. You want the pieces to be fairly large bite-size chunks as they will wilt a bit with the dressing.

Throw in your cup of chopped celery. Clean and chop the green onions with the tops and throw them into the mixture. Add the small bag of slivered almonds and crunch up the Ramen Noodles and throw them in. DO NOT add the flavor packet from the Ramen Noodle, save it and have some broth later. You may also substitute Chow Mein Noodles instead of Ramen Noodles, and I suppose you would add about 3/4 of a cup. I actually prefer to not add the Chow Mein noodles while preparing the salad, rather sprinkle some on the top while serving. (They tend to get a bit soggy after a couple days in the mix) That is it for the dry ingredients. Give the whole salad mixture a toss.

Put your 1/8 cup of sugar in a small bowl and add your 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1/4 cup soy sauce and the 1/4 cup red wine vinegar. There are 2 schools of thought here whether to heat the dressing mixture or not. I put it in the microwave for 1 minute and then stir it vigorously. Immediately pour it over the Bok Choy Salad mixture. Toss the salad again to make sure all the ingredients are coated with the dressing.

For best results, cover and refridgerate for about an hour. You can taste it immediately, but if you wait a bit, the noodles will soften up as they absorb some of the dressing. Make sure to stir it before serving each time. It will last for 3-4 days in the fridge or 5-6 if you are a die-hard Bok Choy Salad lover like I am.

This Bok Choy Salad makes a great side dish for left over Chinese food, or just take a little to work in a small tupperware bowl as a side dish. I am sure once you try it you will be addicted!

Depending on the size of your Bok Choy from the store, the amount of the other ingredients may need to be adjusted to suit your taste. Some people even add other ingredients like sea salt, pepper, use apple cider vinegar instead of red wine vinegar or sesame seeds.

A Day In My Life..

2009-09-22T19:03:00.000-04:00

You would think that a webmaster guru would just be sitting at home behind the computer at home sipping coffee. But the unfortunately, the affiliate earnings are too volatile of a basket to put all my eggs in. Plus, I have been at the highway department for over 20 years - so it is a bit hard to just quit, no matter how much I enjoy coffee.

So here is a day in my life at the highway department. Our job today is to install 2 catch basins (storm drains), crossover pipe and overflow pipe. The crew consists of me operating the Case backhoe, a "bottom man", 2 truck drivers, and a supervisor.

Well the day started out just great. Someone parked a truck really close to the trailer I need to hook into, so I had to back into the hitch at a pretty good angle. But since the Highway department is so short-handed due to layoffs, I tried to hook to the trailer without a spotter. I rammed the pintle right into the trailer plug, breaking it into a bunch of little pieces. Above you can see the mechanic fixing the plug while we load the supply trailer.

We put all the pipes and inlets on our implement trailer and chain everything down. Loading is done with a Bobcat with fork attachment.

I fill the "Jetter" trailer (plug fixed) with water. Water is need for the saw used in a later step. More pipe is also loaded on the ladder rack. You will also notice a trash pump in the back of the truck, and the side boxes and bed is loaded with everything we may need as the jobsite is 25 miles from the highway garage.

This may not look like much, but this is the whole reason we are here. There a lot of gravel roads in our county, and it has been county practice to turn these gravel roads into "chip and seal" roads. This is just an applied tar and stone application to relieve the residents of the dusting problem gravel roads can create. This procedure involves widening the road, which in turn means moving the ditches. Moving the ditches requires relocating the storm drains. The above photo is a storm drain that is too close to the edge of the road. Upon further inspection, the metal pipe going across the road is rusted out, so it also needs to be replaced.

Here is the drain on the other side of the road. It is not really evident in the photo, but there is a 3-4 foot drop-off right at the edge of the road - unsafe not only as our proposed chip and seal road, but even just how it is.

All set, let's tear it up! Case backhoe with extend-a-boom digs through the dirt and gravel with ease.

With the laser set up for depth measurements, a truck driver gets out to check readings and keep me going in the right direction and at the right depth.

Well we made it across, and in this photo you can see the clay tile on the far end that is a farm tile that drained into the old inlet and will need to be hooked back up into our structure.

The storm water will actually run from the far end to the near end in this photo, and the driver locates the outlet tile and readies it for plumbing into the structure that will be on this end.

The other truck driver is full of spoil, so he dumps his load where we need it to fill in the 3-4 foot drop-off, and he is sent for a load of gravel to fill in the trench.

This is how the holes are cut in the inlet structures. We are lucky to have a chain saw that is outfitted with a diamond blade. Water is fed through a garden hose to the saw that lubricates the blade. When all things are working well, the saw cuts through concrete and rebar. The cost of one of the saws, to the best of my recollection, is around $1600, with a chain costing $600. Not cheap, but it beats the hell out of a dry blade saw. The worker cutting the hole is actually the "bottom man", but he is the best at cutting the holes. So now we know what he was doing when the truck driver was in the hole.

The first structure is set in place and the pipes and tiles are fitted into the holes. When all pipes are installed, they are mortared in place. You will notice we are using dual wall plastic pipe. As long as you have enough coverage of gravel, the advantage is it will never rust out.

Surprise, we found another "side" tile and had to "Y" it into the the other inlet pipe. Gravel is placed over the larger pipe to stabilize everything, and we are ready for mortar. We hand mix it in a wheel barrow and wheel it over to the work site.

Above the 12" plastic pipe, we are installing a 15" metal "overflow" pipe. You may have noticed that the outlet pipe was only a 6" clay tile. This small of a tile can only drain so much water, so the overflow pipe is like an insurance policy. If the drains are full and cannot accept any more water, the overflow pipe will allow the water to run out over the surface and not wash out the road.

Oh yea, I forgot to say I had to hook a chain to it and find a way around all the equipment and bring the pipe to the trench.

The supervisor gave the upper trench a few final readings to make sure the water will run in the intended direction and also to make sure the road surface will cover the metal pipe by about a foot of gravel.

Time's up. Cover the pipe with stone to get the road open and pull the road closed signs. We can't work overtime because the county is broke. (actually we completed this in around 9 hours including loading and drive time with no lunch) A little touchup and landscaping tomorrow and we can move on to the next project.

Update: 9-23-09 (next day)

It rained pretty hard overnight, so it was a little difficult lanscaping mud. When we are done with all out drainage projects, another crew will run a tractor with a fine grading landscaping attachment. The whole road will be hydroseeded and the road conversion process will be completed. Our county converts around 8 miles of gravel road to chip and seal a year. Depending on the difficulty of all the things that need to be done, 1 mile of road takes around 3- 4 weeks. There may be 3 different road conversions going on at the same time, in different stages of completion.

Digging Deeper Into Bowling..

2009-09-19T10:52:00.000-04:00

I mentioned before that I had met Gianmarc Manzione, The Bowling News Manager at BOWL.com. Well Gianmarc has started a new blog that goes more in depth in bowling topics than the space on Bowl.com will allow. His new blog is called the "Kegler Chronicle", and you can visit it HERE. Gianmarc's post for September 18, 2009, is a great article / interview with Dale Traber. Dale is a top contender on the PBA Senior tour and has an accomplished record on the regular PBA Tour. A little known fact about Dale, is that he bowled his brother Dave on TV for a National PBA title in 1994. You can watch the match below.

So go visit Gianmarc's blog and see some entertaining facts and tidbits about the bowling industry from around the world. Even if you have been following my blog about the PBA Senior Tour, there is much to learn about the fantastic accomplishments of these bowlers and their history.

Ron Mohr Gets Feature Article On Bowl.com Website!

2009-09-17T20:06:00.000-04:00

My new friend Gianmarc Manzione from Bowl.com has penned a splendid article featuring Ron Mohr. I knew it was going to be great from the title; "2009, The Year Of Ron Mohr". There are even a few things in the article I didn't know about Ron. You can read the full article HERE.

I just want to thank Gianmarc for giving Ron the recognition he deserves, and giving the PBA Senior Tour attention and pointing out the kids don't have the only exciting game..

Raymond Crowe - Shadow Puppets To "What A Wonderful World"

2009-09-09T19:36:00.001-04:00

Raymond Crowe - Shadow Puppets To "What A Wonderful World"

Getting free samples and free stuff on the internet..

2009-08-30T17:19:00.000-04:00

Yes you can get totally free samples on the internet, but you have to be ready for a couple things. The first is, the email you use to register for the free stuff will probably get spammed, so I recommend getting a free disposable email like Yahoo or Hotmail. You usually have to confirm your email with the free stuff site so you have to use a REAL email. The next thing is, they may send you promotional mailings to your house long after you receive your free sample. But I have a trick for readily identifying junk mail, use a fake name. As a matter of fact, the stupider the name the better. For example, I signed up for a free sample of D-Max energy supplement and used the name Ima Phatass.

It came even hand addressed with a sticker on the envelope promoting weight loss. I laughed so hard at this one that I used the same pseudonym to see if Body-For-Life would send me an entry form for their weight loss challenge. Sure enough, they did. I was really tempted to follow through and enter the contest with some fake pictures that were obvious photo-shopped before and after photos, but I chickened out. It was funny just thinking about it though.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to post the link where you can get free sample stuff on the internet: http://forums.slickdeals.net/forumdisplay.php?sduid=0&f=4

The 18 Digit Calculator Widget..

2009-08-21T00:34:00.000-04:00

You may remember from prior posts that I have been working with widgetbox.com. Widgetbox.com is website where you can go and make widgets, easily distributable add-ons or do-dads for people to put on their website or blog for free. A widget will have a short, easy to copy bit java-script that people can install in seconds with little effort.

There are several different reasons to offer free widgets to your visitors. People love FREE stuff, so having a sought after widget is like having a popular I-Phone app. Visitors will seek out your website or blog to get the widget, so you get traffic that way. You also can use the widget to get traffic from the widget itself once it is installed on the end users site. So it is a fun form of viral marketing.

I have been offering my own type of free widgets from my sites for a couple of years, but the only way (I know of) to protect the code within the widget is to use I-frames. A frame is like a portion of a web page within another web page. And you want to protect the content of the original script so the end user does not modify it and take away the benefits you have worked so dearly for. So I could offer a short bit of I-frame code to distribute a game box or something, and when a visitor clicked a game to play, it would lead to one of my websites.

Unfortunately, some social networking sites like myspace and others prohibit the use of frames. I would guess it is due to the fact that after I have a ton of people install the I-frame code, I could change the content of the page that is being "framed" to whatever I wanted, so there is no way to monitor the content or protect unsuspecting users from unscrupulous widgets.

The advantage of using widgetbox.com is they can turn an I-frame into java script in minutes. And java script is ok to use on almost all websites and blogs. Once you have an account at widgetbox.com, you can start developing widgets for free right away. However, like all good start-ups, the perfect world was only free for a while. Yes, you can still create free widgets, but they display a short ad on your widget as it is displayed. It eventually disappears or you can "x" out of the ad, but nonetheless it is annoying.

Which led me to the problem with my 18 digit calculator widget. When I first started working on the calculator widget, I could tell by the traffic reports from widgetbox.com that the calculator had the potential to be a popular widget. But the forced ad resulted in a real big problem. Even when there was no ad being displayed, there was a small clickable "ad" icon in the top left of the widget. In most cases this would not be a problem, but on the calculator, it ended up right over where the first digit would be on the display. This made the calculator virtually unusable.

Without completely refiguring the entire layout and starting over, there was really only one alternative; going pro. I am all about FREE, and have based my entire website modeling on FREE, but widgetbox.com will remove all ads and give some other benefits for $30 a year. So I am giving it a shot. And below is the free (and ad-free) 18 digit calculator widget that you can embed on your site or blog. And if you like it, maybe you could shoot me a Paypal dollar or two to doyledawkins@yahoo.com. We will try to keep it ad-free forever.

calculatorgreat free widgetsWidgetbox

2009 PBA Senior Tour News Widget

2009-08-16T13:46:00.000-04:00

Random Game Widget

2009-08-13T05:24:00.000-04:00

I have been working on a random game script that people can put on their websites and blogs to display hundreds of different games. A new game icon appears every time the browser is refreshed. I ran into a few snags, one being, getting the script to open in a new window when the game is clicked on, but I think I have found the right script. It works out nice because I can add more games as they become available without the end users having to change the code.

I have also been working with Widgetbox to turn it into a easy to distribute game widget. Widgetbox has started displaying a short advertisement on their widgets, and they want $30 a year to remove the ads. So here is a beta version of the random game widget. It is available for free if you want to use it.

Craigslist Email Scammer

2009-08-08T19:20:00.000-04:00

I was selling something on Craigslist and I got an email asking if my item was still available. Like a dork, I answered back that it was and got this email back:

---- begin email ------

Reply to: mailto:sale-xxxxx-1312070878@craigslist.org>
From: kelcibbs05@gmail.com> To: xxxxxxxxx@hotmail.com>
> Hello,
> Thanks for the prompt response ,I really appreciate it.yes i want to
> buy it and i assume its in good conditions as you stated ,I would
> have loved to come check it but my son will going for a Kidney
> transplant in the next few days so I wouldn't be able to come see it .
> I intend paying you with certified check which i will include the
> freight and handling fee with it and I'll be sending a mover to come
> pick it up. so you don't have any further problem ,all you have to do
> deduct your funds and send the freight and handling fee to the
> shipping vendor i already set up coming for the pick up.I would need
> your Name, physical address and telephone to send the check. Thanks for
> your anticipated understanding>
> Regards> > --

> Is this item still avaialable????>
> Regards
> 206-339-6681

------ end email ------

Well I did some research since the area code is from Seattle. Well it seems this guy Kelvin Cibbs goes by several different names with the same story. So I figured I would play with him a bit by replying with this:

----------- reply ------

Hi, that would be great except I will be out of the country until Labor Day. I am leaving Monday to go to South Africa to collect my late uncle's 9.6 million dollar inheritance. It seems there are no other living relatives and luckily they found my email address. I cannot give you my home address because I had to sell my house to get the $18,000 fee to release the money.

It will take me until Labor Day because after I collect my 9.6 million from Barrister Williams, I will be traveling to England as I have won the UK lottery for $400,000.00. It has been a great month, isn't the internet great? And I was told when I got my computer for my retirement gift that the internet was full of scammers, won't my friends be surprised?

I have just verified my personal information in an email from Citi-Bank so you have nothing to worry about me cashing your certified check. Maybe you could make the check out for extra money, so I could send you the extra cash for your son's kidney transplant. I like helping people, as I have donated to the tsunami relief fund 4 times from this email.

Well I better go, I need to check my Ebay account as someone in Nigeria wants to give me $5600 for my 1972 Schwinn Stingray!

Rufus

------------------------------------------------------

U.S. Military Spending Pie Chart...

2009-08-07T19:27:00.000-04:00

Simon's Cat 'Fly Guy'

2009-08-01T06:14:00.000-04:00

Awsome Guitar..

2009-07-30T20:11:00.000-04:00

My Favorite Albums Ever..

2009-07-24T18:52:00.000-04:00

I always wanted to be a music critic or reviewer. I had a knack of picking out artists and songs that were destined to make history. However putting together a great album is a lost art. Nowadays people don't think in terms of "albums". They are able to go to Itunes or Rhapsody and just download a single song. The bad thing is, they don't even have to listen to it in real time, they can download it at megabit speed.

In my day (old fart) we had to listen to the whole cassette or 8 track tape to get to the song(s) we liked. It was a blessing in disguise as we would grow fond of songs that may have never gotten airplay. So then when we were burnt out on the "hit", we still had the rest of the album to enjoy.

Anyway, I have put together my favorite albums of all time, in no particular order:

NRBQ - Grooves in Orbit
Aerosmith - Rocks
McCartney - McCartney
The Jayhawks - Rainy Day Music
Ian Dury - New Boots and Panties!!
Tom Petty - The Last DJ
Nanci Griffith - Little Love Affairs
Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
Eric Clapton - Slowhand
Supertramp - Crime of the Century
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Neil Young - Comes a Time
Bread - Guitar Man
Slobberbone - Everything You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today
Natalie Merchant - Tigerlily
Nicolette Larson - Say When (she passed away and I don't think this made it to CD)
Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Iris Dement - My Life & Infamous Angel
Steve Earle - I Feel Alright
Robert Earl Keen - Picnic
Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side: The Best of Lou Reed
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
Bob Seger - Night Moves
John Mellencamp - John Cougar
Timbuk 3 - Greetings from Timbuk 3
Styx - The Grand Illusion
Foreigner - Foreigner

Joe And Sara Update.

2009-07-23T04:43:00.000-04:00

Well Joe and Sara have been sitting together on their speakers for 2 weeks now. They are now getting down to business and are hard at work trying to make some money on the internet. Since Sara's arrival we have made the following progress.

We have been implementing the Webstarts.com affiliate program. They offer free hosting and when someone upgrades to a paid plan, referrer gets either $12.50 or $25 depending which plan they choose. We have made $125 so far in July. Check out Webstarts HERE.
Just launched (joined July 23, 2009) is the Spruz.com affiliate program. In the beta stages right now, they have just started offering a 10 cent referral for "giving away" each free website. A bit low but Jay has assured me they are working on ways to increase revenue. Spruz.com is a great place and they have been on board with us in 1 way or another for about 3 years. Check out Spruz HERE.
We found a new attempt at monetizing a website at Scratchback.com. It is a unique widget that offers a website's visitors a way to support a site they like through donations and they also get a link to their site (or blog) right on the widget. I figured I would give it a shot - you can see an example of one below (or at http://websitefreebies.net/coolfreeaddons8.html.
We also found a cool site to make banners, headers, etc at http://mybannermaker.com/. A handy tool and fun to play with.
We are also looking into https://www.projectwonderful.com/ both as an advertiser and publisher.

So yes, we are still geeking - Me, Joe and Sara.

Governor Of Poker

2009-07-19T15:30:00.000-04:00

I haven't been posting much because, like a good geek, I have been playing games on the computer. Actually one game; Governer Of Poker. I truly suck at card games, but I have a fascination for Texas Hold 'em. I like to watch the high rollers on TV win and lose a million dollars. Maybe it is due to the fact, a lot of the skill is in how good you can lie (bluff).

Well I am too cheap (and way too chicken) to really gamble, or for that matter, play against real opponents. So I found a place I can learn to play Texas Hold 'em poker playing against animated cartoon players. I can choos the difficulty from easy to expert and it costs nothing to play. It is "Governer of Poker". I have put it on one of my websites HERE.

It took me about 2 weeks of playing off and on but I have finally made it to the end of the free version. I made enough (play) money to buy all the properties in San Saba, Texas. I then played a one-on-one game and won a horse so I could leave town and play Texas Hold 'em in the other 13 Texas cities. That is where the free version ends, I guess I have to buy the full version...

Because by The Beatles

2009-07-15T19:46:00.001-04:00

Beatles - Because

Dante Bucci - Fanfare

2009-07-09T18:14:00.000-04:00

This is a solo acoustic version of "Fanfare" performed on the PANArt Hang. D minor penta on his lap, F major on his right.

The Connection Between Banned Playground Equipment and the Obama Bailout Program

2009-07-08T18:31:00.000-04:00

When I was a kid, there was nothing funnier than finding a stupid kid to sit across from me on the teeter-totter, teasing him for a few minutes with some professional style teetering, then bailing off so the kid on the other end would slam to the ground and smack his naive tailbone into the ground sitting on the 2x12 treated board. Or how about the 30 foot high swingsets that were so cool that you could swing so high that you would get slack in the chain as you snapped back towards the ground? The chains weren't covered with that sissy plastic chain coating, it was REAL metal links spaced just right so some unsuspecting long-haired girl could get her hair caught. And there weren't those diaper shaped seats either, we had (evidently) the rest of the 2x12 board from the teeter-totter to sit on. Of course there was hard black asphalt under everything in case you slipped off the swing. I am not saying this part was cool, but without fail, every year some dumbass kid would fall off the swing and we would all gather 'round while the ambulance carted little Timmy away. Whatever happened to little Timmy?

We also had the monster metal slide from hell. Probably 20 feet tall, and on a hot day, the tin at the top would heat up to a thigh-blistering (what seemed like) 250 degrees. When you would try to slide down with shorts on, your thighs would stick and make that "skreet, skreet" noise until blistering skin provided the needed lubricant to make it to the bottom.

Also gone is the tetherball, that could strategically be used to bonk an unsuspecting opponent in the head with the ball. Not to mention the times when you went to fist the ball and you missed and hit the rope and wrapped the ball around your arm giving you a mega snake bite! The other formerly popular playground piece of equipment is the merry-go-round. It is where we learned dizzy can be fun, and even more fun when it is someone else trying to jump off or on at full speed.

What I am getting at, is all these things are gone from the playground because some uber-protective parents (probably Timmy's) complained. So now schools, parks and day care centers have removed any piece of equipment that is potentially harmful. They find it their duty to protect us from anything that may cause us to learn a life lesson. We have come to expect authority figures to pad our world so we are not hurt physically, mentally and now... financially.

Hence my connection to the Obama bailout plan, it all started with Timmy....

I Don't Feel (Very) Guilty...

2009-07-07T04:15:00.000-04:00

6 years ago I fell prey to some very persuasive advertising that said I needed a brand new flashy pickup truck. There were pictures of it glistening in the sun flying through the Baja desert. At times it was bouncing over hills, leaving the ground flying in the air 3-4 feet. The truck was easily maneuvering through mud holes and deep snow and never got dirty! Needless to say, it had to have been a multi-million dollar ad campaign. And like any red-blooded, redneck pro-union consumer, I bit. I needed that truck... bad!

Now, 6 years later I see this commercial on Comedy Central during a Cheeto-filled afternoon of standup comedian marathon

Now I feel guilty for using a Zip-Lock bag, let alone driving my 10 mile a gallon (American Made)4 wheel drive. Is it my fault that I was watching TV 6 years ago and did my part to boost the economy and buy what was being put out there for consumers? I just don't think it is fair to pull on the heartstrings of TODAY'S consumers with solicitations like the above video. I am just one guy, working 40 hours a week, living in the midwest, staying out of trouble taxpayer.

I don't feel so bad though, there is another side to the polar bear story HERE so I will add "newly educated" to the string of adjectives in the above paragraph. And I will probably wait another day or so to check my tire pressure...

Shopping Cart GPS..

2009-07-05T16:17:00.001-04:00

I was shopping at our local Meijer grocery store when this idea hit me. Why don't we have a little touch screen on our shopping carts that tells us where stuff is? I have been shopping at this same store for 10 years and I can still never find what I need. For example, we have taken a liking to Asian Sensations frozen egg rolls. I bought them a few times and now all of a sudden they are gone. I asked the frozen produce guy, and he went in "the back" for 5 minutes, then came out and we walked around the store for 10 more minutes because it turns out there are frozen egg rolls in 4 different places. He came to the brilliant deduction that they must no longer "carry them".

We could avoid this whole thing by having a product locater on our cart. Just enter "frozen foods", "egg rolls", Asian Sensations and boom, the screen will tell you exactly the aisle and location. We could take this a step further and you could "log in" to your shopping account and the cart would know what you usually buy (guy thing?) and remind you of your important items. It could also point out sales on similar items. Even one step further, have a GPS locater on the cart and it (the cart) could locate desired items for you! Wow, we could even have a UPC code scanner on the cart so we could have a running total or even check out right there in the cart!

Ok, I can wake up now because retail stores thrive on "impulse" buying. I go there just to get bananas and walk out with $50 worth of crap. Meijer even intentionally moves their produce around every couple weeks so I can't even find the damn bananas. So now I have to walk past the strawberries, ooooh and then the shortcakes, and then I need the red gooey liquid to pour over the strawberries, oh wait, the whip cream. What did I come here for?

Pop-ups on TV..

2009-07-04T17:44:00.000-04:00

It was just a matter of time, but it is really starting to burn me up. On such television channels as TNT, The Discovery Channel or The History Channel, they have started using, for lack of a better term; pop-ups. It started out with just a small translucent logo on the bottom right of the screen, but it has evolved into a full blown animated 1/3 screen advertisement promoting an upcoming show or series. I find it so distracting and annoying that I will purposely not watch the show they are so hard trying to promote, but a lot of good that does. Below is a mild example. (watch it towards the end).

I don't see where this can go since they already run about 13 minutes of commercials on every 30 minute segment. I assume they will get bigger, more colorful and more animated. I realize the pressure is on to squeeze out every available dollar in today's economy, but they are fooling no one except the commercial skipper on the TIVO.

Ok I feel better now... NOT

Joe Has Chosen Sara!

2009-07-02T18:10:00.000-04:00

It was a difficult choice, but Joe has chosen Sara to be his speaker-sitting companion. Sara has joined him and they seem to be hitting it off just fine. Since July 1st is the first day of the new quarter, they have their work cut out for them helping me earn tons of internet money. I hope they drum up some business, because Microsoft has dropped their referral affiliate program and no longer are going to be an income stream... ouch!

Sara was referred to us by Breanna (left) and Kaitlyn (right). Joe says thanks to them, and he promises to always have a speaker for Sara to sit on.

Sara Paid A Visit To Jade...

2009-06-29T19:09:00.001-04:00

Sara was not at all happy with Jade's threatening photos, and went to confront Jade at her work. Jade, as you can see in the first photo, is saying "OK girl, it is on!"

Before Sara could even get a word out, Jade slapped her!

Sara, not one to take any crap, slapped Jade back.

Seeing an opportunity, Sara gives Jade a high kick to the face, a move she learned in cheerleading!

Jade falls to the ground, and Sara gives Jade the sleeper choke hold. Sara lets go, thinking the young brat has learned her lesson.... however..

Jade gets up and gives Sara an Army boot kick to the chin!

And Sara is out for the count!

When Sara regained consciousness, both girls realized how childish it is to fight, and like all good girl fights, they are best of friends... for now...

What will Joe think when he hears of this?

WARNING: there is a more complete and extremely violent version of these events. Contains graphic photos of the cat fight between Jade and Sara. CLICK HERE

Joe's Final Girlfriend Submission...

2009-06-27T17:20:00.000-04:00

We have received the final submission from which Joe will choose his speaker-sitting companion. Her name is Nolee and she is even wearing camouflage for her photo.

Her submission contained the following text: "She is a My Scene doll who is a rival of the Bratz dolls. She is Asian-American. She is a Gemini. She is the best friend to ask for advice, believes in good luck and karma... which are very good traits for a mascot's girlfriend. Nolee has a very sporty look that we think Joe will like. She has the "bad girl" look, but not the attitude that Bratz dolls are known for. ha!"

Thank you to everyone for their input. Joe is flattered with the amount of emails and photos he has received. He has promised to make his choice before the 4th of July.

Joe Gets Photos Of Jade.

2009-06-24T18:05:00.001-04:00

We have finally received the long awaited photos of "Jade". Jade is the Asian Bratz submission for Joe to consider for his speaker-sitting partner. Jade was referred to us by "Totally Tattoo'd Mother" (and daughter) who wrote about Jade on her blog. Jade has a very outgoing personality and submitted several interesting photos!

Here's Jade

Jade is kind of hot for Joe.

Jade is practicing sitting on a speaker..

She is holding her first internet dollar!

Jade also wanted to pass on the message that ~~she will cut Joe if he doesn't pick her~~ she is very skilled in combat if that kind of thing is required.

So Joe has a lot to think about and we hope he makes his choice next week so he can spend the 4th of July with his new best friend...

Joe's Girlfriend Submissions...

2009-06-23T18:48:00.000-04:00

Well the emails have been flooding in and Joe has been busy looking at the applicants. As you can see, Joe is already smitten with "Sara". But I warned him to not be too hasty and to consider all the prospective speaker mates before he makes his choice. Sara was born in Longview Texas and relocated to Indiana in 2005 to pursue her career in veterinary medicine. She works at a clinic in Woodburn Indiana so she is not far from Joe and would not have to quit her day job. She saw Joe on the local TV news and submitted her picture.

Also submitted was "Snow White". She said she wants to continue to use her screen name until she gets to know Joe a little better.

Joe is also having second thoughts about discounting the Bratz companion submission. We have found out she is of Asian descent, and Joe having spent time in Vietnam, has agreed to keep an open mind. We hope for a photo tomorrow.

You may vote by commenting, but Joe has the final choice. Submissions are still beng accepted at freegamesite@gmail.com.

Joe's Girlfriend update...

2009-06-22T18:43:00.000-04:00

We have had overwhelming respose to the request for a girlfriend for Joe. He has decided to start working out. We are working on photos of the early submissions. I guess with today's economy, there are more Barbies that are willing to relocate. We had one reader that offered a Bratz doll partner for Joe. We had a long talk and since Joe is lifetime military, the defiant persona of a Bratz doll would not fit in with the sitting around on a speaker lifestyle Joe leads.

Joe Needs A girlfriend...

2009-06-20T14:35:00.000-04:00

You may remember my webmaster mascot, Joe. Well Joe has been my trusty companion sitting atop my computer speaker assisting me in my website woes for about 3 years. I think it is about time Joe gets a companion. So I am soliciting my thousands of visitors for a donation. Joe would prefer a Barbie type partner to keep him company during the long nights of web page updates.

So if you have a Joe-size, preferably single (no Kens please) Barbie, Joe would promise to honor and protect her as she sat on her right speaker throne. Email me at freegamesite@gmail.com and I will tell you where to send her. You and your submitted Barbie will be given credit on this blog and Joe will be forever grateful. In case of multiple submissions, please send us a photo and Joe will choose his speaker mate.

North Korean Children Playing The Kayagum

2009-06-17T19:26:00.000-04:00

5 Monkeys Experiment

2009-06-13T06:17:00.000-04:00

Internet Explorer 8 Compatibility Issues With Websites Built With FrontPage

2009-06-10T19:43:00.004-04:00

Microsoft has finally made Internet Explorer 8 as an automatic update. I am always thrilled with progress but I have a beef with Microsoft. I have several websites that do not view properly with IE8. The page looks distorted and the cells are longer (taller) and I can not shrink them in the normal way with Microsoft FrontPage.

I did some research and the answers I get are the problem is in the code and not in the browser. Well Microsoft should know that people that use FrontPage don't know enough about altering the HTML to correct the viewing problem. What pisses me off is is that Microsoft created Internet Explorer 8 and FrontPage - You would think they would allow web pages created with software WE BOUGHT FROM THEM to display properly in their new freaking browser.

I did find a workaround that is a snippet of code that fools IE8 into viewing the page as IE7. Blogger will not allow me to post this snippet, so you can copy and paste it from HERE.

Put it in your HTML code in the head section either right before or right after the the title. It seemed to allow pages to view normally. I did have a problem with http://websitefreebies.net/ where I placed the snippet after a style script in the head section. I moved the snippet up to right after the title and it seems to view properly. I have had reports of this not working at all for some webmasters, but experiment where you put it in the head section and it may save you some grief.

If that does not work, also you can try to remove any code above the {HTML} code in your text editor like {!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd} or similar text.

This is a headache we do not need and I hope Microsoft deals with this issue

Mary Poppins Remix

2009-06-08T20:32:00.000-04:00

Pachelbel Rant

2009-06-03T18:50:00.000-04:00

I Am Now On Twitter....

2009-06-02T04:46:00.000-04:00

See a silly quip or 2 on my twitter page. http://twitter.com/buildfree .

Naturally 7

2009-05-27T19:46:00.000-04:00

The Best Chicken And Noodles Ever...

2009-05-25T13:48:00.000-04:00

I will start out by first apologizing to my mother, God rest her soul. My mother and I had a great relationship, and I inherited her sarcastic sense of humor that has helped through a many of dreary days as well as got me in deep trouble. She raised and fed 8 kids as a stay-at-home mom on a strict budget that at times involved some questionable strategies like the soybean meatloaf era.

I can remember my mom cooking supper as we were leaving for school in the morning. She would have the huge cast iron pan frying hamburgers at 7 AM while she was seeing us off to the bus. When we would come home from school, the burgers would still be in the pan on the stove cold with nice layer of white burger fat securing them to the pan. All we would have to do was fire up the stove long enough to melt the grease and we were in burger business. Amazingly enough, we very rarely ever got sick, and to this day I can eat leftovers that are beyond most normal people with no ill effect. (I still think mom invented the macaroni and chee-a pet from things we found in the fridge weeks later).

This method of cooking evolved when the microwave was invented. Now instead of leaving the cooked food in the pan, she would make us all a "plate". Customized with our own known liked foods and covered with a sheet of clear plastic in our "spot" on the kitchen table. At that time we were mostly busy teens with different schedules, we could just pop our plate in the microwave when we got home. The microwave, of course, was as big as a console television.

What I am leading to, is even with good and loving intentions, mom got set in her ways as she knew what was good for us despite our negative feedback. Case and point was the Crockpot. When the Crockpot came out, it was the answer to her prayers. Just pile in a bunch of stuff in it in the morning and set it and forget it. In some cases the results came out edible, but for the most part the end product was a gray mass of unidentifiable goo. She would do this with pot roast and the worst offender; chicken and noodles. My mom's method of making chicken and noodles was to throw the whole chicken, some noodles and water in the crockpot all at the same time. Set the heat to low and let it simmer (decompose) for 6 or so hours. She would then give it a stir and spoon out the bones and large debris that she could get to. Yes, it was technically chicken and noodles, but that is where the similarity ended. To this day we do not use a crockpot and I still get an uncontrollable gag reflex if I find any small bones or debris in my food.

So zoom forward 15 years and I am married and hungry. My wife Sue said she was going to make chicken and noodles. The look on my face must have looked the poster child for post traumatic stress syndrome and I had to relate to my wife the story above. Sue had to explain to me there was a proper way to prepare chicken and noodles that was guaranteed to erase years of despising one of the best dishes on the planet. I was skeptical and insisted on watching (or helping) the "real" preparation method. Here is my wife Sue's recipe as I recall it from my grandest culinary dreams:

Find a chicken - as far as I know she is not picky whether it is a fryer, roaster or whatever name they can give to a chicken. A fresh one is better and it doesn't have to be a huge one. Wash it very well to remove any feathers or packing debris.
Remove the crap they put inside the chicken and I hope she throws the guts away - and I really don't want to hear your comments - if you like chicken guts, that is your problem.
Put chicken in large 5 quart sauce pan. Throw in one whole onion with the skin on, several stalks of celery with leaves and a carrot. Add enough water to cover the chicken completely and add 1-2 tablespoons of salt depending on your taste.
Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and cover with the lid cocked just a bit to let some of the steam escape. Simmer for around 4 hours.
THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART: Tun off the heat and let it sit for a half hour to cool. This is where the broth really takes on the "Famous Subee's" chicken flavor.
THIS IS THE 2ND MOST IMPORTANT PART: Remove the entire contents from the broth and set the chicken on a large platter. Dispose of the celery, carrot and onion.
THIS IS THE 3RD MOST IMPORTANT PART: Strain the broth with a screen ladle to remove all stray debris and that sneaky small bone that I will undoubtedly get on my plate.
Bring the broth back to a boil and throw in your noodles, the amount of noodles you will use will depend on how big your chicken was, and how soupy or thick you want your final product. (I prefer soupy)
While the noodles are cooking, separate the chicken meat from the carcass. Do this very carefully as to not add any bones or debris back into the broth! Add all of the dark meat back into the broth and only some of the white meat. (save the rest of the white meat for chicken salad or something) Even if you are really not big on dark meat, as I am not, this is still the desired thing to do, as the flavor is mostly in the dark meat.
Throw the chicken meat back in the broth / noodles and simmer uncovered until the noodles are done.
Check your salt and pepper to taste.

Scoop this over some mashed potatoes in a big bowl and it is heaven! Yes, this recipe may be common knowledge to most cooks, but it was a learning experience for me. It is now one of the greatest dish my wife makes. We are still working on the pot roast thing...

Ron Mohr Slideshow

2009-05-22T19:11:00.000-04:00

The Ross Sisters - Solid Potato Salad

2009-05-20T19:47:00.000-04:00

This freaks me out. You have to watch the whole thing...

Cool Sites For Online Web-Based Photo Editing..

2009-05-18T18:32:00.056-04:00

I always like to play around editing photos. I even like it more when it is free. The following sites are my favorite online (web-based) photo editing programs.

(Updated January 9, 2012)

Online Photo Editing Websites

http://www.webinpaint.com/ - Remove unwanted portions of a photo - for example; an electrical wire (or ex-spouse..)

http://www.befunky.com/create/#/home - Here you can edit your photo, add photo effects, add artsy effects, add graphics and shapes, add text and speech bubbles and add frames and borders. When saving, you can reduce file size of finished photo.

http://pixlr.com/ - Here you have the choice between a standard photo editor and a vintage effects program.

http://www.splashup.com/ - Full featured online photo editor.

http://www.xat.com/web_gear/slide_show.php - Not really a photo editor, but you can make an excellent slideshow of your photos.

http://editor.pho.to/ - Photo correction, crop, resize, apply artistic effects, add text, watermark or my favorite; the caricature effect. It says "register free", but you can edit online without registering. NOTE: notice the "Pho.to services" top bar - the tabs have more fun editing effects!

http://webresizer.com/resizer/ - Fast photo file resizer. Make your photos ready for emailing and putting on web pages. Also add borders or crop.

http://www.blibs.com/editor/ - Amazing photo editor with dozens of effects, tools and adjustments.

http://www.sumopaint.com - Click on "Open Sumo Paint" button to launch the online version of Sumo Paint.

http://pixer.us/ - Excellent easy to use interface with quick loading editing. Check out the "Special FX".

http://www.picture2life.com/ - Make collages, animations, edit and share your photos.

http://fotoflexer.com/start.php - Looks like any old photo editor at first, but use the tabs across the top to effect, decorate, animate, beautify, distort and more!

http://www.picnik.com/ - Web 2.0 photo editing fun!

http://pixenate.com/ - Similar to other editors, but worth a look.

http://aviary.com/tools/phoenix - I just found this September 16, 2009. Looks Great!

https://www.photoshop.com/ - Photoshop has a free online editing suite.

http://tools.dynamicdrive.com/imageoptimizer/ - Online Image Optimizer for GIF, JPG, and PNG images. Reduces file size for quicker page load.

http://www.drpic.com/ - Excellent online photo editor to crop, rotate, resize, add text and simple effects.

http://www.freeonlinephotoeditor.com/ - Resize, sharpen or rotate your photo. Several filters and effects are also available.

http://www.phixr.com/photo/userindex - Great online photo editor with some unique attributes. I like the head-in-a-hole, round corners and instant photo effect.

http://www.free-site.org/photo - Somewhat steep learning curve but worth taking the time to play around with it!

http://www.myimager.com/ - I use this site to specifically reduce the file size of my GIF images. Do this by choosing "optimize" and reduce the number of colors in the image. Sometimes you can save up to 90% file size with no visual difference!

http://www.321webmaster.com/optijpg.php - Reducing and optimizing your .jpg images speeds page load time. Enter URL of existing image and click "reduce your image".

Fun with photos - these sites are not actually online photo editing sites, but you can create cool stuff with your images.

http://pikipimp.com/ - My favorite fun online site to add stuff to your photos - play around with the "elements" section of this program and you will be entertained for hours.

http://www.pizap.com/ - A free online photo editor featuring fun free photo effects, photo stickers and one click effects for your digital photos.

http://bighugelabs.com/ - They live up to their name - a library of around 40 cool things you can do with a photo. I like the badgemaker.

http://www.faceinhole.com/us/ - Upload a picture of a face and put it a bunch of different scenes. Pretty cool as you can edit the hue, saturation to match. Hint: click the categories above the photos to get more choices from that genre.

http://www.writeonit.org/ - Here you can easily create your photomontage, free cards, magazine cover and face in the hole effects.

http://funphotobox.com/ - Pay attention to the top toolbar here to make face effects, photo effects, animations, cards and tools.

http://www.magmypic.com/ - Make a fake magazine cover with your images.

http://www.photo505.com/ - Photo505 enable you to select from numerous digital photo effects to add into picture for fun. Their digital photo effects is almost updated daily so be sure to check them out.

http://www.dumpr.net/ - 21 cool things you can do with your photos. I like the LOMO effect, puts a glare / sheen on your image.

http://www.photovisi.com/ - Photovisi lets you create collage style wallpapers using your own photos. There are many templates to choose from and very easy to use.

http://wigflip.com/ - Several different free cool things you can make. Not all allow you to upload photos, but go anyway, you won't be sorry.

http://lunapic.com/ - Over 100 different cool photo effects.

http://repperpatterns.com/tool/ - Upload a photo then drag the box around to create cool patterns. These can be used for your desktop backgrounds or web page backgrounds. You are using the free online version of software that is for sale - the image you save is a low quality image, but still good for web page (and desktop) backgrounds.

http://www.photofunia.com/ - Uses facial recognition software to place a face from your uploaded photo onto some interesting objects.

http://picfont.com/ - Easily add text to your photos.

http://instyle.com - Seems kind of girly at first, but you can really come up with some interesting photos with this "makeover" program.

http://www.chami.com/html-kit/services/imge/ - Kind of stupid, but with the right photo, you may be able to come up with something interesting.

http://tools.dynamicdrive.com/imageoptimizer/index.php - Optimize your photos for use in email and webpages. Shrinks the file size so the photo will load quicker. If you don't know what I am talking about, you probably don't need it.

http://www.morphthing.com/ - Combine two or more celebrity faces to come up with the ultimate celebrity.

http://www.polaroin.com/ - Turn any photo into an old school (style) polaroid.

http://www.werofl.com/ - Create a rippling water effect on your photos.

http://www.familylobby.com/fun-photo-creator.asp - Easy to use - ad a few trinkets to your photo to liven it up. Exports finished photo as flash.

http://www.effmypic.com/ - Upload your photo and place it in different scenes. Some are pretty cool.

http://www.freeflashtoys.com/ - Some of the flash toys here involve doing things with your photos, so I thought I would include this link.

http://imagechef.com - A boatload of frames and cool effects for you to insert your photo into. Best waste of time ever.

http://www.needlepaint.com/ - Convert your image to a needlepoint pattern. They will even send you the thread and pattern (not free). You can save your converted photo for free - right-click on the image and choose "save picture as".

http://patternsforyou.com/en/pattern_maker.html - Similar to above, but convert your image to a cross-stitch pattern and download the pattern for free.

Free Downloads of Useful Photo Editing Software

Umark lite - add watermarks to your photos or images to prevent people from using them without your consent. Also used to advertise your site.

PhoXo - Use the effect tools to get creative and insert shadow text, speech bubbles, fade effects, gradients, image frames, clipart objects and more.

Riot - A free download I thought I would include. A great tool for bloggers that compresses photos so they will have a smaller file size and load faster.

IrfanView - Ask anyone who knows photo editing and they will know about IrfanView. Be sure to download the plug-ins.

Gadwin PrintScreen - Not for photo editing exactly, but the darn best free screen capture program out there.

BorderMaker - BorderMaker enables you to add borders, text overlays, and watermarks to your images.

Poladroid - A free downloadable program to make polaroid-like photos.

report unlisted image editing programs and bad links to: freegamesite(at)gmail.com

Creep

2009-05-12T19:54:00.001-04:00

The War Is On...

2009-05-05T19:42:00.001-04:00

Ok, here is an ant update. The good news is we are really only seeing an occasional indoor ant visiting the ant bait hotel in the bathroom. There seemed to be 3 waves so far. There would be none, then 20 - 30 ants, then none, then several and now none (almost) again for the last couple days. I think I have identified them as "pavement ants", or "littlus basturdus" for you entomologists.

But while mowing the yard, I saw these at the end of the driveway about 20 feet from the house at the end of the driveway. I guess I should have shot a photo while they were still alive, but I panicked and went and got the bug spray and killed them with Ted Bundy frenzy. There were like 10 times as many as seen in the photo.

Step 1: Broadcast spread Spectracide over the entire lawn. Kills on contact... YEAH!

Step 2 and 3: Spray the Bayer advanced liquid and create a 1 - 2 foot perimeter all the way around the home. Use the Amdro ant block (bait) in the shrub beds and around any visible ant mounds.

And just for a backup plan, Roach Ridd, which is boric acid and is deadly to ants. This is unproven, because I had this last fall and all I had was white powder coated ants in the driveway (but at least not in the house). And Diazinon which I already had too. I am not even sure you can still buy it still. Turf Ranger granules which also last year just seemed to be an expensive ant food.

And of course... more ant bait hotels!

It's getting expensive, but I am sure there will be an Obama ant war bailout.

The Jerry Baker Lawn Tonic..

2009-05-02T16:26:00.000-04:00

About twice a year I spray our lawn with a lawn tonic that was originated by Jerry Baker. It is a combination of liquid ingredients that accomplishes several great things for your yard. I am often asked for the recipe so I thought I would post it an everyone could have a beautiful lawn.

The ingredients are generally found at the local dollar store:

One bottle of liquid dishwashing liquid (not anti-bacterial)

One can of beer

One can of regular cola (not diet)

1 cup of household ammonia

1 bottle of antiseptic mouthwash like Listerene (or store brand)

10 or so drops of hot sauce like Tobasco

Mix the ingredients in a bucket and apply to your lawn in some type of hose-end sprayer. The above amount should cover around 5000 square feet. Hose end sprayers vary, so you may have to move fairly quickly as not to run out.

Here is my understanding as to what these ingredients do:

The dishwashing liquid breaks up the oily film on the surface of your lawn's soil. This allows water to reach the deeper grass roots for a healthier lawn. It will also allow the other things you do (like fertilize) to go deeper in the soil. Dishwashing soap is also distasteful to insects and critters.

The yeast in the beer feeds on the sugar in the soda and helps to break down thatch.

The ammonia is liquid nitrogen for a greening boost. (but don't overdo it)

The mouthwash helps fight lawn diseases.

The hot sauce is an insect and critter repellent.

I apply in the spring and fall and have had great results. The following picture is of our lawn.

Separate Ways

2009-04-29T05:33:00.000-04:00

This video was featured on Yahoo.com's front page April 18, 2009. It has received over 600,000 views on the Yahoo site. Featuring 9 yr old Vocalist Vincent Fondale, 11 yr old Alex Raz on lead guitar, 9 yr old Joey Sampson on drums, 12 yr old Alexis Shook on bass, and 13 yr old Anthony Fondale on keyboards. The band is from Cleveland Ohio, for more info go to www.vincentfondale.com or www.myspace.com/alexraz. Now they just need someone to run the mixing board...