A Family Man

Deadly highway pileup leaves 10 dead, 75 injured

2012-01-30T08:43:00.000-08:00

Authorities in Florida were trying to determine Monday what caused a fatal pileup on Interstate 75 south of gainesville where a long line of cars and trucks collided one after another on a dark highway so shrouded in haze and smoke that drivers were blinded.

At least 10 were killed in the early Sunday pileup and another 18 were hospitalized.

All lanes of I-75 reopened late Sunday, then closed some lanes Monday due to poor visibility caused by fog and smoke. Steven R. Camps and some friends were driving home hours before dawn Sunday when they were suddenly drawn into the massive wreck.

"You could hear cars hitting each other. People were crying. People were screaming. It was crazy," the Gainesville man said hours later. "If I could give you an idea of what it looked like, I would say it looked like the end of the world."

The interstate had been closed for a time before the accidents because of a mixture of fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire that may have been intentionally set. The decision to reopen it early Sunday will certainly be a focus of investigators, as will the question of how the fire may have started.

The pileups happened around 3:45 a.m. Sunday on both sides of I-75. When rescuers first arrived, they could only listen for screams and moans because the poor visibility made it difficult to find victims in wreckage that was strewn for nearly a mile.

At least a dozen cars and six tractor-trailers were involved, and some burst into flames.

Hours later, twisted, burned-out vehicles were scattered across the pavement, with smoke still rising from the wreckage. Cars appeared to have smashed into the big rigs and, in one case, a motor home. Some cars were crushed beneath the heavier trucks.

Reporters who were allowed to view the site saw bodies still inside a burned-out Grand Prix. One tractor-trailer was burned down to its skeleton, charred pages of books and magazines in its cargo area. And the tires of every vehicle had burned away, leaving only steel belts.

Before Camps hit the fog bank, a friend who was driving ahead of him in a separate vehicle called to warn of the road conditions. The friend said he had just seen an accident and urged Camps to be careful as he approached the Paynes Prairie area, just south of Gainesville.

A short time later, Camps said, traffic stopped along the northbound lanes.

"You couldn't see anything. People were pulling off the road," he said.

Camps said he began talking about the road conditions to a man in the car stopped next to him when another vehicle hit that man's car.

The man's vehicle was crushed under a semi-truck stopped in front of them. Camps said his car was hit twice, but he and another friend were able to jump out. They took cover in the grass on the shoulder of the road.

All around them, cars and trucks were on fire, and they could hear explosions as the vehicles burned.

"It was happening on both sides of the road, so there was nowhere to go. It blew my mind," he said, explaining that the scene "looked like someone was picking up cars and throwing them."

Authorities had not released the names of victims Sunday evening, but said one passenger car had four fatalities. A "tour bus-like" vehicle also was involved in the pileup, police said.

All six lanes of the interstate were closed most of Sunday as investigators surveyed the site and firefighters put out the last of the flames. Some traffic was being diverted onto U.S. 301 and State Road 27, Lt. Patrick Riordan, a Florida Highway Patrol spokesman, said. The northbound lanes were reopened at about 5:30 p.m.

At some point before the pileup, police briefly closed the highway because of fog and smoke. The road was reopened when visibility improved, police said. Riordan said he was not sure how much time passed between the reopening of the highway and the first crash. On Monday, FHP released an accident report showing there was three-way crash at 11:55 p.m. Saturday, involving a tractor-trailer and two SUVs. One person was seriously injured in the crash. Trooper M.J. Todd noted in his report that "there was heavy smoke in the area, causing low visibility." The highway was closed to traffic a short time later. A spokeswoman for the Florida Forest Service, Ludie Bond, said the fire began Saturday, and investigators were trying to determine whether the blaze had been intentionally set. She said there were no controlled burns in the area and no lightning.

Bond also said the fire had burned 62 acres and was contained but still burning Sunday. A similar fire nearby has been burning since mid-November because the dried vegetation is so thick and deep. No homes are threatened.

Thoughts on ecommerce

2012-01-29T18:43:00.000-08:00

Without a doubt, more and more people are spending more and more money online every year. That's the very reason why a lot of people also want to start their own small business at home. It may sound easy but the truth is a successful online store uses some form of custom ecommerce solutions, software that's essential to run their business. Such advanced solutions are used in order to display products, sell their service, advertise goods, reach prospective clients, and handle customers and orders, to make a boom and to succeed! Really, there's so much to be done and there's so many options that seems promising.

If you're planning to start an online business venture, how can you know which one will work for you? The first step of course is looking for a trusted, top ecommerce company that can become your partner in building not just your website but your business. They are experts in the field, providing you with tools and strategies like website optimization, traffic, increase revenue, customer care, and so forth to get you going. If you want to take your business to great leap forward, ecommerce can be your partner in success. I've got several friends who are into online business; I would like to know how such solutions works and given them benefit.

Disneyland and friends

2012-01-16T10:00:00.000-08:00

Today I'm excited to go to work and find out if my request for paid time off (PTO) on the weekend of February 18, 2012. I wanted to take that weekend off to take the family to Beverly Hills and Disneyland since my son will have 4 days off that weekend. We went to Disneyland last year but it was only for one day but we still had lots of fun and now we want to return. I can remember when we first arrived there and made our way to the park entrance, we immediately saw mickey mouse and my wife said "let's go get some picture taken with mickey mouse and the kids" I was reluctant and told my wife that we can do it later. Big mistake. We were only able to find mickey mouse one more time but took forever to get pictures taken with mickey mouse and it was hot, very hot. All in all, we had a very fun time and my kids loved the different rides. Here's some picture of me and the family at our day in Disneyland. Hope you like them.

Discount prescription from walgreens

2012-01-14T13:01:00.001-08:00

This post brought to you by Walgreens. All opinions are 100% mine.

The majority of consumers these days would love to take advantage of the savings from all kinds of products they’re consuming everyday. Some may even use coupons in every purchase they make just to be able to save some extra bucks. Well, in the name of savings I’m surely all for it. My wife shops for better deals most all of the time and when it comes to prescription purchases she’ll usually go to the pharmacies that can give her big discounts. She said that she wants to become a member of Walgreens Prescription Savings Club take advantage of the lower prices on over 8,000 brand-name and generic medications. It only cost $10 dollars for an annual membership and that includes your whole family, including your pet. I’m sure many Walgreens customers have been inconvenienced by the recent unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a new contract between Walgreens and Express Script. Negotiations fell thru and now Walgreens is no longer a part of Express Scripts. Now people will need to travel much further to look for a different pharmacy to get their prescriptions filled and that’s a big hassle. I can feel for these people because for the longest time I was buying my prescriptions at a local big store pharmacy which is right don’t the street from my house but ever since I changed my health insurance, I must now travel much further away from my home to get my medications and it’s really a hassle so I know what these people must be going thru right now.

Walgreens has been nice enough to lessen the burden this has placed on many families including those serving in the military. Some of the Express Script’s clients are Tricare which are the health and prescription drug program for the military. In order to prevent America’s military from being caught in the middle of this mess, Walgreens offered Express script an iron clad guarantee that Walgreens prices would match or beat the average cost per adjusted prescription of all other pharmacies in the Tricare network. Express script rejected all offers and refuses to negotiate a separate contract for the benefit of Tricare program and its beneficiaries. If you would like to know more just drop on over to Walgreens on Twitter or if your favorite social website is Facebook, drop on by to Walgreens on Facebook. Both way, you can save big and score with Walgreens every time. My wife likes their photo department because they are always so friendly and professional and she always finds a great deal in the photo department.

Raising little boy and girl requires patience

2012-01-12T21:30:00.000-08:00

Raising 2 kids has certainly been quite a task. As my son gets older he's learning a lot of things and one of those is having an attitude problem. And my daughter who is only 2 yrs old is in her terrible two's seems to be fussy a lot and want's things her way all the time. It's a constant battle every day between the two kids. My daughter get's so tired but it just makes her more fussy and the only thing that can help the situation is if we are at a store or some place and we put her in the car when we leave and drive home, she will fall asleep and that's a good thing for my daughter. Otherwise, she just won't sleep. My son just went back to school after a long winter vacation and he's so used to staying up so late at night playing Super Mario Bros. But then when morning comes early and he needs to wake up he's all sleepy still and gives us an attitude problem. Another thing I have problems with is feeding my son. He likes many sweet meals like some oatmeal, sweet barbeque pork, cinnamon french toast sticks and pancakes in the morning. It's so hard to cook meals that he actually likes. My daughter on the other hand is the kind of kid that will eat just about anything. It's hard raising children these days but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love my children.

Tickets

2012-01-09T15:39:00.000-08:00

Ticketamerica.com has all of you're basketball NBA ticketing needs for teams like the indiana pacers and the milwaukee bucks as well as the atlanta hawks games, maps and seating charts.

Broken Leg

2012-01-08T21:02:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the post from Al Mills

Ever since I broke my leg I’ve been spending a lot of time at home trying to recuperate. I’m more or less bedridden and it’s been tough since I’m such an active person but I can tell you guys what’s helping me get through it all: QVC! I got a satellite system from http://www.direc4u.com/nv/l/las-vegas/>last month and thank goodness for that, because it’s really helped me get by these last few months stuck at home. I have developed quite an affinity for the Home Shopping Network as well but QVC is really where I spend a lot of my time. I don’t order too terribly much which is good since it could be expensive but I have gotten a couple of things like some jewelry and a dog carrier for Lola. I don’t know what I would have done these last few weeks without the TV and ever since the accident, I’m not sure I’m going to get back up on a mountain bike again anyway, so I guess we’ll see if this continues!

Family fun at plaza bonita

2012-01-07T21:03:00.000-08:00

Today I got a day off from work and I wanted to take full advantage of my free time but I also had a doctor appointment so after picking up my son from school, I went to my doctors appointment then I took the wife and kids to plaza bonita because I wanted the kids to have some fun in the playground area. They got a lot of exercise running around with the other kids chasing them. After that, we went to JC penny and got the kids some new outfits and my son seen this Super Mario Bros pajama set and it was on clearance sale and my son loves to play the game Super Mario Bros so I bought that for him and my wife bought our daughter a princess outfit so that when we go to Disneyland, she will wear it. After this, we went to this area where the kids can ride around in a circle on these electronic animals. My son has been scared to ride these in the past but this time, we weren't going to let him get away. I took some video of the kids and my wife and my son finally isn't afraid anymore. He got off saying to me he liked the ride. I think my son just found a new ride besides the train. My daughter on the other hand won't get off the ride. She was screaming when we pulled her off. Crying, crying, crying. Silly girl. These rides cost money baby.

First time home buyer?

2012-01-07T16:32:00.000-08:00

My wife and I are so tempted to buy a home. Unfortunately, after we weighed our situation, we realized it’s not our time for home investment yet. We have to save some more money for down-payments; we are talking thousands of dollars here. I’m sure if we have two incomes coming-in to our household, we definitely don’t have to worry about future home mortgages and stuff like that. Even though our credit score are better now than ever before and we qualifies for the home buying requirements, we still have to wait until my wife works.

Until then, we just have to sacrifice and stay where we’re at right now. My co-worker just bought a home and he suggested me to seek help from a professional realtor who can work with us. He said that they were given the best rates that fit their budget. He submitted their application form and a few days later he received a phone call to let him know that he got approved. Lucky him!

Insanely cheap deals on name brand merchandise

2012-01-06T22:32:00.000-08:00

The other day my wife and I went to our tax preparer to have our taxes prepared. When we found out that we will be getting a good refund this year, I told my wife that I will get her what she really has been longing to have and that's none other than a DSLR camera, so, she and I started looking at different websites to compare prices. After looking at some prices, I told her she needs to shop around more to get a better deal. I told her I would help her look around and see if I could find a better deal. I haven't been able to find a better deal yet but I did find this really great website called nomorerack.com where I found outrageously insane deals on brand name electronics, brand name clothing, jewelry and a whole lot more. I found this site to be so much better than those other sites where you have to bid to get the item you want.

I'm still learning about it and I'm hoping I can find the brand name DSLR camera that my wife was looking for. Some of the prices on name brand electronics are almost too good to be true but I've heard nothing but good words about this website and another great thing is the shipping fee's are only $2.00 on all orders. I've never heard that from any other site. Some of products I've seen on their website like the apple iPad and the sony bravia TV really caught my attention because of the insane savings like 95% and I've been wanting these two items for awhile now so I was blown away by the amount of money saved. For instance the apple iPad which retails for about $540.00 sold for $43.20. WOW! I've decided that I'm going to register at nomorerack and try to score on some really great deals.

After registering on the website I found it really easy to navigate the website and search for some products I want to order. The shipping information's and deals updates were very clear and understandable. This definitely gave me the reason to shop through this website.

Family fun at Sea World

2011-12-26T11:25:00.001-08:00

I took the kids and wife to sea world the other day and we all had a great time. We took them to the snow and my son was enjoying himself immensely and my daughter started to get into the snow for the first time. We only have till the end of the month and our membership pass will expire so I want to take the family several more times. I could see my son was excited as we drove to sea world because he was talking so much about shamu and all the rides like the "Elmo's flying fish ride" and "Abby's tea cup ride". My son wanted me to take him to climb the "net climb" over at the "Bay of play" for the kids. Not only did father and son climb the nets once but we did it three times. I was beat after the third time. The kids like to play a game were as there's these plastic ducks swimming in a pool and they must pick one to win a prize. They both won rubber ducky's. We took a ride on the sky ride and got a bird's eye view of san Diego. All in all, we had a great day and look forward to one more day of fun at sea world before the year. I hope you like the video of the sky ride.

Fresh orders for lumpia

2011-12-14T09:32:00.001-08:00

I went to work the other day and some of my co-workers were wondering why I was at work so early. I told them that I needed to drop off some cooked Filipino lumpia to my sisters work nearby and since my work was right down the street, I told my wife to just drop me off and I'll go to work early. My wife and I made 100 lumpia for the gardener of our apartment complex and we had some leftover so we gave them out to friends and family. Several of my co-workers were asking if we could make them lumpia and another one of our friends wanted 100 so now we have orders for 200 lumpia by Friday. Looks like we'll be bust thursday

Online shopping during the holidays

2011-12-14T08:53:00.000-08:00

I bet most people are doing their shopping for there are so many great deals available out there now that the holidays is just around the corner. For those who want to avoid the holiday rush and have a hassle free shopping, you might consider purchasing over the internet. The advantages of it are so many. Customers can save a lot of time, can visit several online shops at once, and have the option to browse for a large range of products. Not to mention, there's what we call couponing. It's really a great way to save our penny; it worked many times for me. At BestOnlineCoupons.com, you'll have the access to some of the best bargains from different brands and products. They've got Best Buy Coupons, Amazon coupons, apple store, dickies and Disney coupon codes, you'll surely find one for you and your family. In case you want to shop online, check out for the Shipping Deadlines for Christmas 2011 chart guide because it's also available at the website. In this way, you can make sure the item arrives on time for the holidays. It can be frustrating when you are already expecting and 100 % sure that you will get that something in-store and find out the item is gone or sold out. I think online shopping would be great because it’s hassle free.

Smartphones buddies

2011-12-13T17:00:00.001-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sprint. All opinions are 100% mine.

Almost all of the co-workers I know of owns smartphones. Some of them have Android™ powered EVO 4G devices and they were telling me it’s a reliable phone. I was curious about the phone and I look it up online, I found out that this kind of phone is what I want. I like the features and the looks. I also like the fact that Sprint is offering free activation and free shipping. I have to ask my wife if I can get this phone since it’s a limited time offer only. I hope my wife will quickly say “yes” so I can still avail the special offer. I read the reviews of this device and they were saying that the camera is really nice and clear, looks like a little computer and most of the users agreed that this kind of phone is fantastic. Sounds really convincing to me and I hope I can convince my wife too. I bet she will like it because she loves shopping for any great deals. Who wouldn’t love to shop for amazing deals anyway? We’re loyal to our cell phone provider but this time I have to break that record because I want to try the Sprint and see how they works for me.

Fresh fried filipino lumpia

2011-12-12T09:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my wife and I had to make 100 lumpia for one of our friends who takes care of our lawn in our apartment complex. Filipino lumpia is a mix of ground pork, ground beef, chopped jicama, chopped garlic, chopped onion, chopped carrots, 1-2 eggs and salt and pepper to taste all combined and rolled in a fresh lumpia wrapper and sealed with egg white, then fried in oil. I hadn't made in it in about a year. The last time my wife and I did this we ended up making 300 fried lumpia. It's a big job. Our friend had a party up in temecula so he requested us to make them and he paid us some money to make them. My wife posted a picture of them on Facebook and before you know it, her friends were all commenting how yummy they looked. She even had one friend drive all the way from her house in San Diego just to get some from us because she was craving for lumpia. My sister commented so today I will cook some more and bring them to her. My wife's friend wanted us to make her 100 lumpia also for this Saturday so looks like I'll be busy.

Latest find

2011-12-10T19:55:00.000-08:00

The nice thing with working online is that I'm exposed and updated to a range of different topics and the latest news out there. I'm grateful because everyday I get to learn new things through the pages I visit, articles I read, and people I meet. For instance, whenever I feel like reading something scientific, I will just visit SciTechDaily because it is a website that tackles everything about science and technology news, gadgets and innovation. Right now, I am checking this particular news about Greenland's accelerated ice lost, resulting to extra sea level rise. I wonder if it has a connection to the colder weather we're experiencing right now? Well it pays to have a brain exercise once in a while and a good way to do it is through reading. Good thing there are web pages that serves like a virtual magazine where we can find good articles and other interesting stuff. Aside to the news they provide, they also offer discount coupons like Expedia coupons and Travelocity coupons. It's for those planning their vacation and getaway; there are great deals available for your next trip. Anyway, might as well keep this link saved in my favorites. It can be helpful not just for me but for the kids as well, at school or science projects perhaps.

Shopping for PJ's

2011-12-10T18:45:00.000-08:00

My wife bought a few pairs of boys pajamas & sleepwear the other day. When I saw my son wearing his almost outgrown pajamas I felt bad. I asked my wife if she can go shopping for sleepwear for our children, which she did. My wife loves shopping; I don’t find it so hard to ask her to go shopping because that’s her weaknesses. My wife takes care of our budget, so she knows when to stop shopping. The photo above is my son and he is wearing one of the pajamas that my wife bought a few days ago. It’s printed with penguins and my son loves it.

My wife has a favorite clothing store and that’s where she buys our clothes. This store sells all kinds of stuff, from newborn’s clothing, toys and accessories to adult’s clothes and even home decors they have too. I’m so glad that my wife found this store because everything she goes shopping for clothes, she was able to save a lot of money. I bet this store has pajamas similar to the Tea collection pajamas. I like Tea collections pajamas because they’re 100% cotton and it’s got extra-long top that covers my son’s belly when sleeping at night. You know how kids are when they sleep. Its freezing but they don’t care if their tummies are showing and cold.

Public transportation

2011-12-09T11:50:00.000-08:00

Living in California without a car is like ordering a carls jr six dollar burger without a large coke to wash it all down. The two go hand in hand. Same thing if you live in California, you got to own a car otherwise you'll be stuck using public transportation like me. You can't live in California without a car. Thankfully I own a minivan Toyota sienna, it's just that it's in the body shop right now being fixed. I had to walk my son to school today praying this will be the last day I have to walk and sure enough, when I was riding the bus this morning, the body shop called me to say the van will be ready after 3pm today. It's been in the shop since this Monday and so we've pretty much been either stuck at home or using public transportation. My wife and I can't wait to get our car back. We depend on it so much. Now I know what those people who use public transportation have to go thru everyday just to get around town. It's so hard. I can remember when I was working in pacific beach for a small shop, I had to rely on public transportation every day. I hated it. Today I will get our car and things will be back to normal.

Phone Orders

2011-12-08T21:06:00.000-08:00

Guest post by Gerard Mcdaniel

Phone orders are such a huge part of my business but to be honest with you, I hate being on the phone. I can’t stand having to talk to telemarketers or even my own vendors and I have a hard time dealing with clients that way and would much prefer online. But since so many of my clients are elderly they prefer to call in and speak to a real person so I do what I can to make sure that will happen when they call me. I got business voip service to make the connection better and I even had someone come out and reconfigure the answering service to make sure everything was taken care of on that end. I’ve been trying to push online purchases hard but until that day comes I guess I just need to suck it up and get better about talking on the phone, particularly when just about every phone call makes me money! Who would have thought that would be the case in this day and age?

Something needed for my wife's job

2011-12-08T01:01:00.001-08:00

This post brought to you by Norton Small Business by Symantec. All opinions are 100% mine.

My wife is a stay-at-home working mom. She considered her online job as her business for the past several years already. She had her fair share of ups and downs too. There are times when she wanted to stop and just quite, but all the efforts are worth it especially when people appreciates what she does. Though not all depends on hard-work alone, she needs tools to help her succeed. Speaking of, one of the secrets of a successful online career is having a good anti virus software set-up in our computers. We don't settle for less. Norton Small Business by Symantec is one good way to monitor, clean up, support, and protect your business against all the potential dangers very much common in the internet. We don't fear being attacked by spammers, identity thief, scams, worm, rootkit and so forth as long as our anti virus is updated and performs well. You can have the same reliable helper as well. If you like, you can get get 30% off Norton Small Business Products now and have your business running smoothly. It has different features depending on your needs. For instance, if you're just into browsing and checking emails, you can go for the one that scans information’s received. If you're into games and download, there are added features too that makes your internet experience fun and safe. Just hop by their site to know more about their service and products, especially now that they have the newest version of anti virus software. I must go for the Norton 360 all-in-one protection next time as I renew my subscription to Norton. I really appreciate if you can share some inputs about your experience in shopping for anti virus at Norton.

Daddy’s girl

2011-12-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

I love my children so much. My wife tells me that my daughter is such a daddy’s girl person. According to my wife, she’d be looking for me a lot when I’m at work and when she’s disciplined, she’ll utter daddy until she falls asleep. Even though I get annoyed with my daughter especially when she does things that she’s not supposed to, I still love her so much. Whenever we get the chance to bond, she’s like super glue, she won’t let me go. I had to bribe her just to calm her down and so she won’t follow me. The photo above, we were in the Mexican restaurant at the time for lunch and she was just all over me. She keeps kissing me. She’s a sweet little girl. My son is kind of like momma's boy. We have one of each.

Lets talk about advertising agency

2011-12-03T16:41:00.000-08:00

Starting your own business requires specific skills and knowledge on how to market the products. It’s very important to know what kinds of Advertising Agency you are getting into that will help you achieve your success in the business industry. There are a lot of competitors out there and if you don’t work with the right advertising agency you will more likely not succeed. I know some friends who own some local business and they told me it’s tough sometimes. They constantly were working on advertisement. Some of them use the THAT advertising agency because accordingly, THAT provides the best quality service.

They have the highest skills when it comes to the leading advertising agency. They treated their clients with dignity and their first interest is to make their clients happy and satisfied with their service. They are also proficient in the business marketing field. If I am to start my own business, I will have to use THAT service because it’s proven that they can make an individual succeed with their business. My friends have used their service and their happy, I’m sure they can make me happy too. I started affiliate marketing a few months ago but I failed because I find it so difficult to understand the many aspect of the advertisement. I quit! I know I shouldn’t give up, but I guess I am impatient and wanted a good result in a very short period of time. Learning takes time and I have to posses the waiting attitude to succeed.

Adirondack chairs, picnic tables and park benches

2011-11-30T14:26:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most people have heard of Adirondack chairs which is also called the "Muskoka chair" but if there's anyone out there who doesn't know what I"m talking about, these are one of the most famous pieces of outdoor furniture that one could own and some describe it as one of the most comfortable pieces of outdoor furniture in the world. I grew up in massachusetts with my 5 step brothers and we owned one of these famous chairs along with a picnic table. These chairs are very popular in rural and country areas of the world. They are usually designed for lounging around on the patio area next to the pool or for lazy summer nights drinking a cold glass of tea. I'm sure most people have gone to the local city park for a barbecue not noticing that the Picnic Tables they were using to have their barbecue were also made from the same company that makes Adirondack chairs.

These chairs are comfortable because the are designed with a wide armrest, a slightly slanted back, and a seat which allows the person total comfort. These chairs are very comfortable for relaxing while reading a book, or taking a short nap. The most famous color that I have seen is the popular redwood color. It's made from redwood because it last a long time, resistant to rotting and gives you many years of trouble-free service. Some of the Park Benches in our park and the playground equipment is made from the famous company that makes adirondack chairs because they last a long time. If you want to buy a quality piece of outdoor furniture, make sure you buy this kind of furniture.

He loves his bus

2011-11-29T16:02:00.000-08:00

My son will never sleep without his bus with him. Whenever we tuck him in to his bed, he’d make sure that the bus is there otherwise he’ll be looking for it and won’t sleep until it’s found. For some reason my wife ruined his old bus and he kept on complaining about it, so, I decided to give him a brand new one. I checked online to see if I can get it and unfortunately there weren’t for sale. We actually got that bus from the tradeshow for free a few years ago. I went to the website and emailed to the admin. I asked them if they still have the bus and fortunately they responded my email. I was told it’s not for sale but they can give it to my son for free including the bus piggy bank. I was so happy and I didn’t tell my son about it until it arrived. It was precious and priceless to see him smile upon seeing his brand-new bus.

Waiting for her eye exam

2011-11-29T12:00:00.001-08:00

This post brought to you by Zenni Optical. All opinions are 100% mine.

My wife and I both wear prescription eyeglasses. We go to our ophthalmologist every year for eyeglasses upgrade. One thing that my wife can’t leave the house without with is her eyeglasses. She pretty much wears eyeglasses every hour of the day. In my case, I only wear eyeglasses when needed. Before my wife have her medical insurance, she used to order her prescription eyeglasses at the Zenni Optical store. They have the stylish but cheap eyeglasses than any other optical store in the market these days. Their products are directly ordered thought the manufacturer and that’s one of the major reasons why they’re so economical than any other optical store. My wife told me that she will have to have an alternate eyewear product this time. She will order contact lenses to her Ophthalmologist and order a prescription eyeglass at Zenni Optical store. Zenni Optical store helped us a lot because we don’t have to spend a lot of money just to be able to have my wife’s prescription eyeglasses. The money that my wife saved from the Zenni store, she used for her shopping’s spree and for my children’s school supplies. My wife said that she will order this kind of frame (photo below) as soon as she gets her eye exam done.

@ The fair

2011-11-26T15:05:00.000-08:00

I took my family to the big fair here in San Diego 6 months ago and they all loved it. My children loved the rides and my wife loved the different kinds of foods from the many pop up displays and pop up booths inside the fair. There were all kinds of hotdogs and steak all over the place. I told my wife that we will have to go back there next year. We wandered inside the fair for 8 long hours and it was already late at night when we got home. The last place we went into at the time was the trade show pop up displays from all kinds of products.

It was too bad that we weren’t able to see all the displays because they were already closing when we got inside. We didn’t know that the fair had that kind of show where we can get and take advantage of the free samples. My wife loves that kind of pop up trade show displays because she can take home all kinds of nick-knacks with her. She likes collecting little items and sends them to her parents in the Philippines. We got tote bags, ball pens, key chains and etc… It was fun!

Black Friday Violence reported in walmart

2011-11-26T13:02:00.000-08:00

I was reading the headline news the other day and was disgusted with an article I read about Black Friday being marred by pepper spraying customers, smash and grab looters and bloody scenes in the shopping aisles. A woman pepper sprayed a crowd of shoppers to gain an edge as employees were opening a crate of xbox 360's. In another instance, a group of shoppers were walking to their car to put their packages away when a man walked up demanding they give up their packages. The robber had a gun. When the group didn't give in, the robber shot one person, critically injuring him. He was transported to a local hospital in critical but stable condition. These people have become like animals. The woman who used pepper spray on the crowd fled the scene but later went to a local police station and turned herself in. My son needed a new pair of shoes the other day and I told my wife that if we go by Walmart and I even see a hint of long lines and crowded parking lots, were driving right by. I want nothing to do with this madness. It's just gotten insane and is no longer safe. Several co-workers I spoke to the other day agreed with me. These people should know better and already have enough stuff but they want more. For what? Just to save a couple hundred dollars on an xbox console? Will that make you happy? Until a next year and then you'll want something better. It's all vanity I tell you.

The team that does the cleaning

2011-11-25T16:52:00.000-08:00

I'm talking about The Steam Team, a full-service Cleaning and Restoration Company based in Texas. For many years, they've been providing homeowners and businesses the services they need related to cleaning and restoration. One of which is fine rug cleaning austin We all know keeping our rugs clean and removing stains from them can be tough. Some tricks are needed and only experts can perform such a delicate job. Especially those oriental or hand-made rugs, they need extra care so as to keep its quality and beauty. After all, those kinds of rugs are not just home decors but investment as well. The value of those rugs increases over time so it pays to keep them clean and properly cared. And that's what TST does. With the use of their tools and technology, your ever precious oriental rugs are cleaned gently and safely. Good thing there are companies like them who offers such kind of help. Cleaning is no easy job, especially if you have kids around.

By the way, aside from rug cleaning, they also have other services like leather cleaning, pet odor treatments, marble polishing, smoke and fire restoration, and so forth. Just visit them online if you need some serious cleaning done. For further details about their service, visit here http://www.thesteamteam.com/austin-restoration-services/smoke-fire.shtml

I'm not a comedian but I love comedy

2011-11-25T00:00:00.001-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of American Family Insurance. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love stand up comedians because they make me laugh despite of the unpleasant days I may have. I have a favorite comedy show and I always watched it over and over again. I never get tired of watching it and I still laughed at it, just like the first time I seen the show. My wife gets annoyed at me sometimes though. Most of the comedian’s jokes were parental guidance and I never watch it around my children because it’s unhealthy. I always wonder if comedians can come up with a wholesome comedy, so my children, wife and I can watch together. I was surfing online for a stand up comedians, and I came across with Bill Bellamy. He was hosting the American Family Insurance's Stand Up For Family Comedy and he is a funny guy. His jokes were entertaining and are perfect for families of all ages. This is exactly what I’m looking for. I can now laugh-out-loud with my families watching this guy. I can relate to his jokes about “Respect”. I remember when I was a little boy, whenever I want something and my parents disagrees with me, I can’t even express how I feel. He’s right about “no thought’s when we’re little…” because as soon as our parents give us a mean look, our thoughts perished. LOL! Just for your information, this video is brought to us by AmFam. I will give them 2 thumbs up for doing such a great job and for coming up with such a wonderful family entertainment.

Day of fun at SeaWorld & Chuck E. Cheeses

2011-11-24T12:05:00.000-08:00

I've been promising my wife and kids for over a month and a half that I would take them to Sea World and Chuck E. Cheeses on my day off but I've been putting in so much overtime that I've neglected to hold my promise to my family. Well, today I decided not to work overtime on my day off and spend some quality time with my family. I took them to Sea World And my son got to play with the snow in the snow world at Sea World. My son Ethan had a lot of fun and he started to complain about his hands being cold. My daughter Briannah on the other hand was reluctant to walk onto the snow but with a little help from daddy, She was able to explore but only for a little while. My son was making snow balls and snow castle. We went to the Sea lion show, the pets rule show with it's many dogs and kitty cats, and last the Shamu show. We ended the night by visiting our friend because she called to invite us over for dinner. It was perfect timing because we were so hungry. One night down, one more to go.

Double the Fun with LG DoublePlay phone

2011-11-23T19:00:00.001-08:00

This post brought to you by LG DoublePlay™. All opinions are 100% mine.

Cellular phones have become a necessity than a-wants these days. Majority of people from all walks of life, whether young or old, mostly, they have cell phones. Some people, they may even own several of it. Before, it serves only for sending text messages and receiving calls. But because of the latest innovation and creativity, it opened a whole new exciting world to explore. Mobile internet is so popular these days, for it allows users to do anything and everything, whenever and wherever they maybe, they can access on the internet with no problem at all. As we observe, many people spend much of their time using cell phones doing texting, playing games, browsing the internet, staying connected with their social networking life, sharing photos, watching videos, download songs, and etc. because these things are just a click away. How much time do you personally spend doing that stuff? If you'll find out about the newest LG DoublePlay™ phone, you'd probably double the time and double the fun. This latest phone from LG has two touch screen and slide-out qwerty keyboard. Because of this, the small/second screen will serve entirely for mobile internet, games and applications without interrupting your conversation with friends and family through texting. I think this is the coolest gadget from LG phone. It's like hitting two birds in one phone! I bet many would be interested with this new phone. OK! here's the catch, you can only avail this at T-Mobile store. Would you be interested too? Share your input friends by leaving your comment below my post.

All about medical scrubs

2011-11-23T18:18:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered where to buy uniforms for the nurses, doctors, dentists, or medical uniforms in general? Actually, you can get it from a lot of stores but not quite as good as what you'll get from Blue Sky Scrubs. You can check them out here at http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/ and browse from their widest selection of nursing uniforms, scrubs suits, lab coats, scrub hats, accessories, and so much more. Scrubs have really come a long way. If we look back then, nurse’s uniforms were more of like a dress or all-in-white shirts to pants kind of uniforms.

Maybe it's not that comfortable to wear especially during rush hours and when attending emergency situations. Then here comes scrubs, it's simpler and stains wouldn’t be that visible as to the white uniforms. It looks like a regular shirt and pants, perfect for looking neat and simple. But it need not be boring though. That's what Blue Sky scrubs come into the picture. They have fashionable and quality scrubs. All made from the finest fabrics, they have the most slimming design, superior fit, and available in different colors and patterns. If I was a nurse, I would definitely want to look good and get comfortable with what I wear. So, comfort would be my major concern. By the way, nursing uniform represents one of the world's most noble jobs.

Shopping is my wife’s weakness

2011-11-23T17:53:00.000-08:00

Boy, am I glad that my wife is driving now. I go crazy when my wife asks me to take her to shopping because I know it takes forever for her to get done shopping. Usually, I’ll wait in the van with my children while she’s inside the store. She can’t seem to make up on her mind what and which clothes she’ll purchase. I patiently wait for her until she’s done because I will never win when I start argues with her about her shopping thing. Now that she can drive, she can go shopping alone without us bothering her.

I gave her money for shopping a few days ago and she bought some winter outfit for all of us. However, she bought a lot of kids outerwear clothing such as; winter hat, scarf, zip-front and hooded jackets, hooded vest and as well as boots. According to her, it was on sale. For the clothes that she purchased, it was indeed an excellent deal. That’s what I love about my wife, she is a wise buyer. She makes sure that she will save a lot of money from her purchased. She also uses some coupons and I don’t know where and how she got it from, but whatever it is, she’s smart.

Branson Missouri, thinking of going there someday

2011-11-23T14:00:00.001-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Hiltons of Branson. All opinions are 100% mine.

Having a wide circle of friends in different States gave me the opportunity to go and visit them whenever I wish to, provided time and resources would be available. I would love to go and visit my friends someday! I had been thinking about where to spend and enjoy our summer vacation next year. One of my lists is the Branson, Missouri. I actually have a friend who lives in that area; I have good impressions about the place. It is home to some of the world's most famous tourist destinations. It would be so fun being able to visit the Titanic Museum, Hollywood Wax Museum, and of course the Silver Dollar City. It has an 1880's theme where travelers can experience diverse restaurants, annual festivals, live entertainment shows and so much more! A good way to explore the place to the fullest would be choosing a nice accommodation. Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing Hotel comes to mind. Situated in the heart of the historic downtown and just across Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel, could be the perfect setting for a dream getaway. It has spacious, beautifully furnished rooms, indoor pools, fitness centers, internet access, and pets are allowed as well. Sounds good for a trip next year! The Silver City package might be the one for it includes 2 adult and 2 children treat, just the way I like it. Of course, we won’t miss to dine at their fancy restaurant, the level 2 steakhouse that offers the special thanksgiving brunch dish and “Turkey To Go”. Can’t wait to try it!

If you want to check the place, virtually, I would recommend you to hop on their website and see more of what they have to offer.

Taking time to bond with my kids

2011-11-18T22:44:00.000-08:00

I've been so busy lately working a lot of overtime at my work, this is the first week I've had 2 days off for about a month in a half now. I kinda feel bad because I haven't been able to take the kids any where for awhile but I'm going to make it up next week and take them to chucky cheeses pizza parlor so they can play some games and have some good old fashioned kids fun. I also want to take the kids to sea world so they can play in the snow because our year membership pass will expire in december so I want to go there a couple more times. I'm not sure what amusement park we will get tickets to next year but most likely it will be sea world. The kids always have fun at sea world.

Deserving eyes

2011-11-18T22:07:00.000-08:00

Lets face it, we all need to pamper ourselves once in awhile and we all deserve the best without having to bend over backwards to get it. Like a good pair of fashionable eye glasses. Whether it's sun glasses or prescription eye wear, it's a necessity of life and we all want to look good in our new eye wear but at what cost? Burning a hole in your wallet? No thanks. I'm on a budget. As a person who's been thru a pair too many of prescription eye glasses, I can tell you I got tired of blowing large amounts of money every year on my eye glasses. Hey, my eye's aren't getting any better and the cost of prescription glasses aren't getting any cheaper so I had to do something about it and find a place where I could buy some quality but cheap eyeglasses for less than what I've been spending for the past 10 or so years. I used to dread going to the optometrist every year for an eye exam because I knew the doctor was going to tell me I needed a stronger prescription but when someone told about this manufacturer called zenni optical, I checked them out and couldn't believe the selection of fashionable eye wear at a cost that won't break my wallet. I got a restriction on my drivers license that says I need to wear them and all the more because I have a commercial drivers license so I always need to have my eye glasses with me. Even my wife gets her prescription eye glasses from zenni because they are quality made without the ridiculous cost. And in this tight economy, everyone could use a break from high prices. Thanks zenni!

My wife’s niece

2011-11-18T21:00:00.001-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Puppies vs. Babies for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

My sister-in-law is married for almost 10 years when she had her first child. She and her husband had been trying to get pregnant by taking all kinds of prenatal vitamins but to avail until it came unexpectedly. She bore a baby girl who is now 4 years old. When she was born, she look an old little baby because of her wrinkly skin (photo above) but now she looks great and active. By the way, there’s a Puppies vs. Babies online contest right now where I have to choose and vote which is cuter between babies and puppies. Well, if I have to base the vote using my wife’s niece baby picture, I would probably choose the puppies as cuter. No offense to my sister-in-law and to my wife though, but if I were to look at my sister’s dog corona over the newborn’s picture of my sister-in-law’s daughter, no doubt the dog is cuter. My sister’s dog’s is smoother and cuddly. Ok! So much for that, I don’t want my wife’s family to get mad at me because I pick the dog over the baby. LOL! If you want to join and vote for the Puppies vs. Babies online contest, I recommend you to do it today because the voting game will end pretty soon. Vote before November 23^rd. I wonder who’s going to take home the prize $5,000? I am actually interested to know your thoughts and votes, feel free to leave your comment below and I can't wait to hear it from YOU.

Mellow Yellow Monday #147

2011-11-14T22:12:00.000-08:00

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The hotel we stayed-in for our 3 days vacation

This was the hotel we stayed-in during out short vacation in Los Angeles a couple of months ago. We rarely accommodated a fancy hotel but this time we did since we only stayed there for a night and two days we made sure it’s worth it. We wandered around Hollywood blvd (walk of fame) and we also went to the Disneyland. We might stay there again in the future if my wife agrees.

Family insurance coverage

2011-11-12T19:32:00.000-08:00

Well, it's already november and soon I"ll be getting a new health insurance packet from my employer veolia transportation. Every year around december the window of opportunity opens up for employees of my company if they want to change insurance plans to a different company or continue with the same insurance company. Last year I decided to change my health insurance provider so I could have family insurance coverage for my whole family. In the past I could only afford health insurance for myself because of the high cost of a specific plan I enrolled in but I dumped them last year for another health insurance provider. I'm paying lower cost and now my whole family is covered. It feels great to be able to provide my family with this valuable benefit.

My wife's aunt had her husband pass away a few years ago and she was recommending that I look into purchasing some whole term life insurance to protect my family as well should I pass away since I'm the oldest of my family. I got some mail 2 months ago from one of the credit card companies I have a credit card with and they gave me some pretty cheap life insurance quotes

I could afford on a monthly basis. So I ended up enrolling in one plan but after looking at the fine details, I determined it was not the best for my situation so I cancelled that plan. I learned it was not really life insurance but accidental insurance and didn't fit my situation. Now I've been checking online for some life insurance quotes from several companies but havn't quite decided which way to go yet. I'll be making a decision soon though so my family will be protected in the event something happens to me.

Free link exchange

2011-11-11T16:27:00.000-08:00

I wanted to start a home business so I could earn some extra income like my wife does with her blogging. I hate any type of home business where you have to do some door to door selling or make phone calls to get customers to buy your products. That's why I tried out affiliate marketing. It was convenient and I could work at my own pace, be my own boss and I don't need to have a lot of money to start my business. I was given my own free website and the only thing I would have to do is market my website so I could gain website traffic to my site. I was hoping that by using my home based affiliate marketing website, I could also use my bogs to gain traffic to my home based website.

This was all new to me so I ended up getting training in affiliate marketing. based on the training I received from affiliate marketing, I was taught the importance of building links and how this can help to build page rank and help people to find your website. When I first started blogging, my blogs had high page rank but eventually I lost all my page rank. So my wife told me I should start visiting other blogs to get free link exchange. By doing this, my blogs will get found in the search engines and I can increase my page rank which will allow me to gain advertisers opportunity's. Since doing this, It has helped my blogs to have a consistent permanent source of income to help me make ends meet. I haven't looked back since and I don't regret the tips I recieved.

Spending quality time with my family

2011-11-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my day off, my family and I went to the Chula Vista Nature Center to see what animals they are preserving. I had been working overtime lately and I owe my family some quality time with me, so I thought of taking them to this place. My wife hasn’t seen this place yet since she came here in America and she wants to go there. This place is actually nearby our home and we never go there but those places that were actually far from us like Zoo and Wild Animal Park, SeaWorld, Legoland and Disneyland we’ve gone there already. There weren’t so much to see at the Nature Center but it was still fun for my kids.

Dare Devil

2011-10-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

Contribution by Prince Raymond

I was once told by an old man in my neighborhood that time flies and if you’re not careful life will pass you by. Throughout my life I tried to constantly remind myself of what the old man said and I tried to live by those words. Most of my youth was spent living life to the fullest and I feel like even now in my early forties that I have lived a complete life already. I never turned down a chance to take a risk, like going skydiving or riding a really scary ride at the amusement park nobody wanted to go on. Basically, the old mans words drove me to do some fairly crazy things but I have never looked back on anything I’ve ever done and regretted it. As I get older I realize more and more that the old man was right and that life can and will pass you by in the blink of an eye. The older you get the faster life goes and if you don’t live it to the fullest it truly will pass you by. I was recently telling my wife this story of what the old man had said to me and she totally agreed. While we were talking about all the good decisions we’ve made throughout our lives she mentioned http://www.CableTelevision.com/ and I was extremely happy she did. Now, I just have to make sure we get our tickets for the next iron man competition.

Hook, Line & Sinker?

2011-10-06T15:01:00.001-07:00

This post brought to you by Straight Talk. All opinions are 100% mine.

Not many of us phone users are aware of the hidden charges from our phone bills. If not the bills, we might have issues some about the network. Especially when it comes to traveling from one state to another, there are phone service that we wont be able to use them when we go to a certain area because there are no available network in that site. It’s very unfortunate because we are paying for something that is very limited, or perhaps you are charged for the roaming fees or something like that and it gets frustrating. But with Straight Talk service we can choice a plan that fits our needs and it’s Hook, line and sinker kind of thing. We just have to buy the phone that we like and have it activated and let them know what kind of plan you want. They have the $30 monthly and you can get 1000 minutes, 1000 text with 30 MB web data and there’s no contract involved. If you want to stop using their service you won’t be charge for it. They have Android on Straight Talk, so, if you already own Smart Phones you won’t have problem using Straight Talk service. Call a friend now and tell them the good news about Straight Talk phone service today.

I thought of staying home today

2011-09-27T16:22:00.001-07:00

I really don’t feel like going to work today. After me, wife and kids went to the Pharmacy and to the fresh food store to get some ready-made food, I felt like staying home. I almost grabbed my phone to call my work and let them know that I won’t be able to go to work, but my instinct was telling me to get up and get ready. Technically, I can’t be missing work even for a day because it will really hurt us. We need some money right now and I will regret it if I stayed home knowing that we won’t have complete paycheck. Well, I can use a day PTO (pay time off) to cover up for the missing day but that’s not good either. I got to go and just not work too hard so I don’t tire out easily. I apologize for I haven’t got the chance to update my blog as often as my wife wants to. I get caught up with my laziness lately. Thanks for visiting my blog!

Find deals at dealfun

2011-09-23T08:52:00.000-07:00

As we know, more and more people now-a-days start to shop online hoping to get better deals. One good way to have huge savings is through an auction websites such as dealfun.com. With them, you can find all types of products from iPads, iPhone, laptops, electronics, LED TV's, clothing, jewelries, watches, and so forth. For beginners though, you might find the whole bidding process kind of hard and just a waste of time and money. But when you have strategies and know how to play, winning is indeed possible. For shoppers who don’t win bids though, they can still use their credits or bid packs to purchase the item they want in discounted price. Wouldn't it be great to have a new laptop, phone, or camera at a very low price? Pretty cool isn't it? If you're game for great deals, do give them a visit.

I really want to experience how it’s like to win in an auction site. I bet it's exciting and so much fun! But I got to learn more about it first to be a big winner and bring home the bacon. Might as well ask someone I know who happens to find great deals and cool items just by bidding.

Bus & trolley ride

2011-09-10T22:01:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TracFone for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Sometimes when I’m off work I take my family to a bus and trolley ride. We go downtown and wander around SeaportVillage. My children love it because they can see many things instead of watching TV and playing with their toys. They get bored easily when they’re cooped up inside the house. On our way to the trolley station, I over heard some people next to us talking about TracFone service, I haven’t heard about it but I kind of like have an idea what it was. I thought they were talking about phone service and I was right. One of the persons was holding some kind of a flyer about TracFone and she was showing it to her friend. She said that she loves phone and she bought it pretty cheap and it has So many features in it, she’s enjoying and exploring it.

She was saying that one of the Real TracFone customers convinced her to switch her phone service into TracFone when she heard about affordability, reliability and the clear connection. She also said that she can choose her monthly plan between 200 minutes for less than $30 or the 50 minutes for less than $10. According to her that TracFone accepts brand names phone like Motorola, Kyocera, LG, Nokia, Samsung and etc. Well, looks like they had great conversation with her friend and I was paying attention to them because I was interested with TracFone.

Renting apartments in calgary alberta

2011-09-09T14:22:00.000-07:00

We've been living in our current apartment for almost 6 years now and we want to move out but we're not sure where we want to move to. Our apartment manager came by this morning knocking on our door but we missed him. Eventually, he came around again and this time we were awake to answer the door. He wanted to talk to us about giving us the chance to rent a better apartment. We told him we wanted get out of this apartment but we were looking for some nicer apartments that we can afford, something like these calgary apartments which are very affordable and offer some of the most fully furnished and beautiful apartments available anywhere.

It's too bad we couldn't move to calgary, alberta. I've researched this place and it is a lovely place to live. Calgary is a popular destination owing to it's business and industrial propects, which it provides. In the recent years, calgary has also been known as one of the top most recreational spots. Calgary provides either short term or long term accommodations, so it would be a great place to rent a fully furnished apartment. I think the best thing about renting calgary apartments is that most of these are high class and fully furnished and are situated in the prime part of downtown area. One of the major advantages to rent calgary apartments is that each apartment comes well decorated to meet your personal tastes and preferences. The town-home styled accommodations and condos are perfectly furnished with amenities like heated flooring, fitness facilities, and tennis courts. My wife and I love to play tennis and this would be a great place for us to live and get some much needed exercise.

Massive power outage hits san diego

2011-09-09T13:12:00.001-07:00

As most San Diegans were stuck in massive traffic congestion yesterday, my wife, kids and I were lucky enough to make it home just after the big power failure happened to start. We hit some traffic congestion but we also took a lot of side streets to avoid the traffic. I took the kids and wife to the south bay YMCA so they can get out of the heat and go swimming in the pool. It's a good thing that the "Y" had a closing time of 4:00pm because if it had been later, I'm sure we would have got stuck in major traffic. We didn't even know it was a power failure until we got close to imperial beach and that's when I tuned into AM 600 on the radio and found out that there was power failure from orange county all the way to Arizona to Baja California. We woke up last night late to find out that power had been restored. I filled up the pool when I got home to let the kids play in the pool to keep cool. Here's a picture of the wife playing with the kids in the pool.

Day of fun at sea world

2011-08-31T19:36:00.000-07:00

The other day I had the day off so after picking up my son from school, I took the family to sea world. We hadn't been here in a while so it was fitting that we visit at this time. I needed to get the kids out of the house anyways and they had a great time. My wife and I love to visit turtle reef because it has so colorful tropical fishes and the aquarium is so full of life. I took this picture with my cell phone camera. I just love the yellow fish. At the time of this picture taking, there was a school of yellow fish swimming back and forth and it was so beautiful. What do you think?

Anything that will help me save money, I’m all for it!

2011-08-30T07:01:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Straight Talk. All opinions are 100% mine.

With this kind of economy, and only one person working in our household, I will do everything to save money. My wife has an online part time job and it helps us in some ways but the fact that everything we need for our daily lives and consumption is getting more expensive, there’s no reason for us to not accept anything that will help us save money. My wife said that our phone contract is ending pretty soon and she wants me to search for a phone service that will not cost us much like what we have been paying for our phone bill lately. We not only complain about our sky rocketing phone bill but the poor connection is also giving us headaches. I hate it when I’m in the middle of talking on the phone and all of a sudden I get this dropped call. It really sucks! Since mom does the budget in our household and mom knows best (she said we need to look for another phone service) I will call a friend at work and ask them if they can help me to find the best deal for a cell-phone plan.

I’ve seen a cell phone commercial about Straight Talk and they were saying that they have everything you need in a phone service for less. What caught my attention was the $45 unlimited monthly plan. My wife and I usually use the web browser on our phone and since Straight Talk is offering unlimited web for no cost, thumbs up for that! Calls, Text and picture messaging are included in the unlimited offer too. Another thing also is the international calling that they’re offering at low rates, well that will work for my wife for she calls her family in the Philippines all the time. My wife’s phone is a Droid and it’s giving us hard time already. I buy another phone and still Straight Talk accepts it. I will inquire more about their service and feature.

Our contract is ending

2011-08-21T07:01:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TracFone. All opinions are 100% mine.

I was talking to my wife this morning about our phone bill; we wanted to get it down a little bit more so we can use the money to pay our bills. She told me to just want for a few more months because our contract ends and she said that we won’t be upgrading our phone from our phone provider. Instead, we will consider subscribing TracFone because they are a lot cheaper compared to how much we’re paying to cell phone bill right now. And besides, we can choose any phone we would like to have. I think my wife wants to have iPhone if not blackberry or smartphone, whichever, I don’t really care as long as it will help us save some money and the phone is reliable I with her. I’ve seen the one of the real TracFone customers’ testimony on YouTube ads and they made me so curious about the service. That’s why I told my wife about it and she also watched the real TracFone customers , she is convinced that we need to try it. The phone/plan has so many features and my wife said that she likes the international calling benefits. If we want more minutes, we don’t have to drive and get cards for we can get it online. It’s just a click away.

One more thing, with TracFone, I can actually get 1 year service plan with double minutes for the life of my TracFone for only $119. Cool right? You and I can freely choose any of the service plans, for instance, if I want to pay $30 for 200 minutes or 50 minutes for as low as $9.99 I can do it with no problem at all. Basically, it’s for our convenience.

Books inspire me…

2011-08-19T21:13:00.001-07:00

Posted by Arden Wallace

Something that I appreciate more than most people is a good book. I feel like a good book inspires you to be a better person, and to experience life more. Usually when I’m done reading a book, I sit down and reflect on what it is that I think that book wanted me to learn. My most recent book that I read was actually Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling novel: “Eat, Pray, Love.” I will tell you that I didn’t even have to get to the last page to know that I wanted to go on the exact same trip that Elizabeth went on, and I wanted to go soon. I just got out of a very serious relationship, and had some major soul-searching to do. I got my passport, went online to check out security systems at hTTP://WWW.SecurityChoice.Com, took my dog to doggie day care, and hit the road for 6 months. Anyone that has the means to do so should take the trip. Although mine was shortened, it was a revealing trip of a lifetime.

Filipino afritada recipe

2011-08-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

This morning my wife took our son to school and while she was away, I was trying to figure out what we could have for lunch. When it comes to preparing meals for the family to eat, it's always seems to major dilemma for our family. Either my wife will cook or I will. Chicken has been on the menu for the last few days and I was getting tired of the same old baked chicken, fried chicken thing so I poured myself a cup of coffee and searched the cabinets for something to make. I found a packet of panama afritada mix. I decided to make this for lunch. I called my wife and asked her to pick up a couple of potatoes, a red and green pepper on the way home. Well, everything went well and here's the finished product. It tasted very good and I'll bring this to work for my dinner since I work the evening shift. You can buy the afritada mix at seafood city. It's easy to make and tasty with white rice. Just follow the directions on the back for a delicious meal the whole family will enjoy.

School while working

2011-08-14T02:01:00.001-07:00

This post brought to you by Martinsburg Institute. All opinions are 100% mine.

I know some friends and friend’s family who are in the military profession and some of them are actually going to school online while they were doing their service locally or internationally. My wife’s brother-in-law is actually a soldier in the Philippines and he goes to school once in awhile to enhance his skills and knowledge to a certain field/subject. And as far as I know, one of the reasons why he is doing it is to be able to qualify for higher ranks. I guess that’s how it works in the Philippines.

I used to be a navy and served a few years overseas before I met my wife and I’ve seen some of my co-workers were enrolled at the Martinsburg Institute to obtain certificate and attain more skills about the particular program that they were interested with. If I didn’t quit my military profession at that time, I would probably take either information technology or medical administration course. Well, I can still do that even though I’m not in the Military anymore. I will have to do more inquiry at the Martinsburg Institute and see what they can offer me. I love working in the computer and I want to learn more about technology as well.

Home made pandesal

2011-08-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

Today I wanted to make fresh hot pandesal for the family. Pandesal or The Bread of salt (which is also the title of a popular short story written by NVM Gonzales) is probably the most popular bread in the Philippines. This bread is the favorite "agahan" (breakfast food) of most pinoys (slang for Filipino) and can be eaten plain or with "palaman" (filling). In the Philippines, all bake shops and bakeries sell Pandesal. Sometimes, this is sold in rolling stores (usually a honking bicycle with a big box on the back). When purchasing from a neighborhood bakery, be sure to be there before 8 am because the supply runs out after that time. We usually have a favorite place we go to in national city to buy fresh Pandesal but my wife found a good recipe for fresh Pandesal online so we tried it and the kids just loved it. We also gave some to our neighbor. It's taste the best right out of the oven. It was great and we'll eat it for breakfast tomorrow. If you want to make it, here is the recipe. Hope you like it.

2 cups bread flour

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

5 tbsp butter, melted

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 cup fresh milk, warm

1 pouch rapid rise yeast

1 tsp salt

1 cup bread crumbs

1 raw egg

1 tbsp cooking oil

1. Combine the yeast, sugar, and warm milk and stir until the yeast and sugar are fully disolved
2. In the mixing bowl, combine the dry ingrdients starting with the flour then the sugar, salt, and baking powder . Mix well by stirring
3. Add the egg, butter, cooking oil, and yeast-sugar-milk mixture in the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients then mix again until a dough is formed. Use your clean hands to effectively mix the ingredients.
4. In a flat surface, knead the dough until the texture becomes fine.
5. Mold the dough until shape becomes round then put back in the mixing bowl. Cover the mixing bowl with damp cloth and let the dough rise for at least 1 hour
6. Put the dough back to the flat surface and divide into 4 equal parts using a dough slicer
7. Roll each part until it forms a cylindrical shape
8. Slice the cylindrical dough diagonally (These slices will be the individual pieces of the pandesal)
9. Roll the sliced dough over the breadcrumbs and place in a baking tray with wax paper (makes sure to provide gaps between doughs as this will rise later on)
10. Leave the sliced dough with breadcrumbs in the tray for another 10 to 15 minutes to rise
11. Pre heat the oven at 375 degrees fahrenheit for 10 minutes
12. Put the tray with dough in the oven and bake for 15 minutes
13. Turn off the oven and remove the freshly baked pandesal.
14. Serve hot. Share and enjoy!

Recent images of the week

2011-08-06T22:01:00.000-07:00

This is the terrifying moment when a cloud threatened to developed into a frightening full blown tornado over a row of homes. A brave and defiant photographer named Pat Kavanagh took this shot of an explosive black storm from the roof of his house in Taber, Canada last month. Expecting the sunny weather to take a turn for the worse he watched intently as the billows started spinning into a furious funnel. This pic was created by stitching together multiple photographs in a vertical panorama.

Kids run into the mud pit during the annual mud day in Westland, Mich, tuesday july 12, 2011

R & R for my family

2011-08-04T17:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we spent the whole day doing advertisers campaigns and my wife and I needed to rest our brain so this morning we went out in service to share the good news about gods kingdom and after that, we came home and ate some Chinese food, then took the kids to the beach for 4 hours and relaxed our minds. We both really needed it and it felt good to get out of the house. My kids were antsy yesterday as well because they had been cooped up in the house all day. After my kids were done in the beach, they played in the park next to the beach in imperial beach. I took some video of my kids playing. Even kids need some rest and relaxation outside. It was worth it and now I'm ready to get back to work.

Prepaid cell phones plans with character

2011-08-03T14:01:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Net10 for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Cell phone contracts can be easily overlooked when shopping for the newest cell phone service deals. Contracts normally run for two years however, there are some companies that offer one year contracts. These cost are in place to protect investments made by the wireless company to make it possible to offer you the newest cell phone for free when you signed up through them. However, some people do not like to be tied down to a contract for several years because of the cost involved. I personally have some friends who have gone with a prepaid plan who enjoy the freedom similar to these real NET10 customer. I can understand why they went to a prepaid plan like this. First of all, the Net10 unlimited nationwide coverage plan with unlimited talk, text, for $50 dollars a month is an exceptional deal for those wanting to save money on their cell phone bill. The plan has no contract, no surprise bills and no credit check. Great for those businesses trying to save money or those who are on a budget. With brand name phones like Motorola, Kyocera, Samsung, and LG, with most phones having the essential features like cameras, qwerty keyboard, video recorder and web access, touch screen phone and more, it's easy to see the Light on this budget busting prepaid plan. Easy plus minute plans start out at $15 for 200 minutes, With pay-as -you-go plans, your minutes carry over with active service not like contract plans were you lose unused minutes and airtime can be purchased online, over the phone or at a nearby store.

Joe Rodeo luxury watches

2011-08-03T10:51:00.000-07:00

As most of us know, watches are a symbolic representation of an individuals social status and personality. Everyone want's to feel special and be the limelight in a crowd of people. Have you ever heard of that old saying, You are what you eat? Well, the same thing can be said about what you wear. Luxury watches for example are common among most famous people like musicians, recording artist, producers, actors and actresses and promoters, but mostly hip hop rap stars. If money is not a problem, then there are many kinds of luxury watches available to those who have the money. When I hear the word "Luxury watches" the first name that comes across my mind would be Rolex. But I'm not not a musician or producer or rap star so money doesn't come easy for me and likewise, I'm not familiar with names like "Joe Rodeo, Super Techno, JoJino, just to name a few.

These watches are the epitome of luxury watches and can cost thousands of dollars. Choosing a luxury watch is not something that should be done on impulse, rather, one should take the time to consider what kind of watch best fits them and what brand. Taking the time to choose will give you the best and highest quality watch for your money. IF I was to search for a luxury watch, I could not spot a real versus a replica watch so I would seek a professional jewelry person. To me, a luxury watch is more than a timepiece. It is a piece of craftsmanship and art that should last a very long time. It is a piece of history and beauty and can say a lot about your personality and your outlook.

Put the wet stuff on the hot stuff!

2011-08-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

Legoland has a show called "fun time" with a bunch of volunteer fire people. They perform various kinds of comedy acts with a stationary fire truck along with the usual fire equipment a fire man uses like a ladder, fire hose, buckets, mops, etc. They even have a dog that is part of the act. The dog is appropriately named "stationary" because the dog never moves. It's made from thousands of Lego blocks. If you decide to take the kids to Legoland, this is one show I really recommend you take the kids to see. One word of caution: If your sitting in the first five rows of seats, be prepared to get wet. I shot some video with my phone camera and in part of the video, you can see my hands interfere with the video because of an unexpected burst of water shooting from the fire hose towards me. Lots of fun for the whole family. I highly encourage you to see this show as there's lots of laughs.

Women's express jeans: Born to rock the sidewalk

2011-08-02T07:02:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Express for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Let's face it, women more than ever like to go shopping, especially nowadays when the choices are wide, dozens of fashion designs, styles and labels fashion cloths to choose from at very competitive prices. Even my wife can't pass up the opportunity when we go to our favorite department store to look around for the latest fashion trends in women's jeans. Every woman want's to have the latest look and wear fashionable attire. I don't know but it seems to me that there's always been some kind of competition going on to have the hottest fashion jeans. Jeans are a quintessential American staple that has grown to be worn by every sector of society. No longer are jeans simply blue and stiff, though that old classic still remains. Some hits for the spring and summer include jeans dusted with glitter, ripped jeans and denim shorts. Then again along comes Express jeans to offer the latest in denim jeans like popular jean leggings, flare jeans which was a popular hit when I was a teenager and still are but now I'm into the straight cut. Then there's the Wide leg jeans which were popular back in the nineties. The boot cut jeans are nice which can be appropriate wear for work, another woman's favorite. Express jeans has the denim essentials you need and now for a limited time enter the Express giveaway for a chance to win one of 50 pairs of free jeans. Visit the website and share in the comments section about which are your favorite jeans and why.

Keeping your blogs updated equals page rank

2011-08-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

Lately, my wife and I have been wondering why my blogs have been getting more advertisers opportunities. I told my wife that maybe the reason why is because I've been working hard to keep my blogs updated every 2-3 days. She said that that very well could be the reason and stressed the importance of me keeping up the good work. So far it's been working out well. More advertisers opportunities equals more income so I can't stress the importance of keeping your blogs up to date and keep the content relevant to the theme of your blog as much as possible. This morning I was so shocked to hear from my wife that my blogs page rank has increased and nearly all my wife's blogs have page rank. For those who don't understand about page rank, here's a little page rank 101: Page rank is a method innovated by Google to determine the relevance of a website. It's value is from 0-10. The higher the PR of a website, the more traffic and higher positions the website gets in the search engines. Google crawls the website that much times faster if the PR is higher. It is an indication of how important Google thinks your website is to the world. It is very easy to measure page rank of your website, or others by installing Google Toolbar. There are many websites which shows you your sites PR rank. PR is one of the factors Google determines for it's Search Engine Ranking Positions. (SERP'S) It can be improved by back-linking your website to different website's, directories, etc. The higher the website's and directories PR that much better for your website. PR of the website also depends upon it's domain age. It takes at least three months to change the page rank of a website. There are many ways to improve your page rank. You have to get as many links from higher Page Rank websites, directories, blogs, forums, Social Networking sites, etc. The links you will be getting should be Dofollow links. I hope this can help people understand all about Page Rank.

Dump you cell phone contract and save money

2011-07-31T07:01:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Straight Talk for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I'm so fed up with our current cell phone provider. We just got our cell phone bill for July and as usual, there were hidden charges that we couldn't explain. I hate this cell phone service because we can never tell what our phone bill will be as it's changing all the time. This company is ripping us off with these hidden charges and outrageous fees. We're living paycheck to paycheck and we need to save money. I told my wife I'm going to dump our cell phone provider this year because I'm tired of all these hidden fee's. They got us right were they want us, hook, line and sinker. We went to Walmart the other day and my wife said we should sign up for this new cell phone plan called straight talk. She says it has everything you need. I asked her what she meant by that. She said there's no surprise bills, no credit checks and most importantly, no contracts so we're not committed for 2 years. She said there's this "All you need plan" which gives you 1000 minutes talk, 1000 texts, and 30 Mb of web usage. The other plan which includes unlimited calls, text, picture messaging and web all for $45 dollars a month. This plan beats our current provider and cuts our bill in half so we can save money. We pay over $1000.00 a year. I like this plan. I told her we should do this because we can use the money we save to pay other bills. She said she will call a friend of hers and tell her friend about this cool program. What's not to like about this? And with great connectivity, reception and nationwide coverage, we won't experience dropped calls like we do all the time with our current cell phone provider. They have major brands of phones like Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, LG, and Kyocera so it's a win win deal all around. You can't go wrong.

Another trip to legoland

2011-07-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

The other day we went back to legoland for a second time to take advantage of the 2 day pass we paid for. We visited the rest of the rides that we hadn't been on the first time we went. Although this time I didn't get wet with the kids. It was really all about the kids having fun. They wanted to visit mini town again so they can play in the playhouse and slides and they took many train rides on the train. We wanted to save money on food so this time I cooked Cantonese fried rice and brought it with us. Food can be so expensive at legoland.

Tired of a monthly cell phone bill?

2011-07-23T07:01:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TracFone for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Cell phones have become so convenient and portable that cell phone mobile service is used by just about everyone everyday. We can literally stay in touch 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Unfortunately, if you have a 1 or 2 year contract plan like me and millions of other people, you know the hassle and commitment required with most wireless providers can prove to be daunting. If your tired of paying hidden fees and charges like me every month then there is an alternative and better idea. My contract will end soon and I gave my wife the decision to decide what we will do for our next cell phone and she said that we should invest in one of those Tracfones. She watched reviews of real TracFone customers explaining the benefits of these phones with no hidden charges, activation fees or credit checks and none of those crazy early termination fees that those other carriers are getting if you cancel with them. It's just a simple phone plan with simple needs. After listening to some of these real TracFone customers real experiences while traveling across the country and specifically between mountainous areas, to be able to hear them say that they still had a signal whereas other friends of theres who were using contract phones lost their signal was very reassuring. I know that if I'm traveling with my wife and kids, the last thing I want to have happen to us is to lose my cell phone signal. Having great nationwide coverage and the ability to call international to our family in the Philippines is another bonus I like. It would feel great to know how much I will pay for my phone service without worrying about hidden fees every month. And I like the choice of features and brands I can choose from like Motorola, Samsung, Nokia, LG and more. I think my wife will make the switch to the Tracfone so we can save money.

Blogger finds fake apple store in china

2011-07-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

An American blogger who stumbled upon a near flawless fake Apple Store in China has become an Internet sensation after her post went viral and triggered a feisty debate about piracy in the world's second largest economy. The 27-year-old, who goes by the name "BirdAbroad", said her story about the fake store in the southwestern city of Kunming had attracted nearly 1 million hits over the past three days after it caught the imagination of the world's media. A search on Google showed nearly 1,000 media outlets picked up the story and pictures of the fake store, with the topic one of the most talked-about subjects on Twitter and Chinese Internet sites. "I originally put the post up not because it was news that Western brands get ripped off in China, but because these Apple stores had taken the fakery up a serious notch to the point where it's practically a work of art in itself," the blogger, who works for an international health organization, told Reuters in an email. She wrote in the post that she found the store while strolling down a street with her husband a few blocks from their apartment. Complete with the white Apple logo, wooden tables and cheery staff who appeared to genuinely believe they worked for the iPhone maker, the store looks every bit like Apple Stores found all over the world. But Apple has no stores in Kunming and only 13 authorized resellers in the city. "I did actually email the blog post to Steve Jobs when I first put it up, purely for fun. Sufficed to say, he has not responded," said the blogger, who declined to be named.

NOT JUST IN CHINA...

After the stir provoked by her first blog, titled "Are you listening, Steve Jobs", the woman invited readers to send their photographs of fake Apple stores worldwide -- and has received responses from place including Costa Rica, Caracas and Vietnam. "You just made me realize, I, too, have been in a fake Apple Store without knowing it! While I was living in Bogotá, Colombia last year I found an Apple Store in the middle of a very trendy area of the city,," wrote a reader named Laura. "I swear to you it looked like any store I've been to in the States. But nowhere does it show on the Apple website that there is a store in Colombia, nor did I find any authorized resellers there. This is too funny!!!!" The blog also has a picture of a fake Apple store in Hanoi. Apple, which was slow to establish its brand in China, has just four retail outlets in Beijing and Shanghai, and plans two more this year. But the immense popularity of its iPads, iPhones and MacBook computers has spurred a bumper crop of resellers with dubious credentials. The blogger has been flooded with interview requests from journalists and hundreds of others keen to repost her article and pictures.

"Some Chinese people have written to me very upset that so much abuse of intellectual property right (IPR) happens in China, others have written to me saying that they believe IPR is basically irrelevant here -- and a small group have even said that Apple deserves to get ripped off because their products are too expensive and they're made in China anyway!" The latter view was echoed in some of the reaction from Chinese micro bloggers such as "Will loves Mickey", who wrote: "U.S. imperialism is so rampant that we help you to sell your product but you get angry." Amid all the buzz, some readers have advised the blogger to call it quits on her day job." You can quit your day job now that your going viral. Stock up on coffee, get an agent, then hang on for dear life. Beware of paparazzi."

Day of fun at legoland

2011-07-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

My wife, kids and I went to legoland the other day and boy did we have fun! There are so many things to do at the park that we just didn't have enough time to see everything. We bought a day pass but we took advantage of the special were we can return a second time within 9 days of the first visit for free. Hopefully we will be able to visit the rides and attractions that we couldn't see the first time we visited the park. My kids especially enjoyed the water park. They were all giggles when it came time to play in the water. Here you will see my kids having so much fun! They want to go again soon. Hope you like the pics.

Florida beach hyundai dealer

2011-07-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

As a automobile mechanic for 25 years, I have watched and seen many import car companies improve the performance and reliability of the cars they build. One of those import brands that have I have seen make drastic improvements not only to the performance and reliability but also to their look is the Hyundai motor company. Car's by the Korean automaker have become synonymous with cheap reliable and quality built cars. Hyundai cars have become a popular brand all over for its hot wheel creations like the Hyundai Sonata and the Elantra. I recently got a chance to see a 2011 hyundai genesis at my sons school but I'm hearing that the new model 2012 hyundai genesis is already on dealer lots all over the united states from the west coast all the way to florida like this local west palm beach Florida Hyundai or this palm beach Hyundai dealer. I can't believe how far Hyundai has come in making one of the hottest selling cars in america.

I have a friend that owns a Hyundai Tucson and I heard it is one of the most fuel efficient and safest to drive vehicles on the road. I think it received a car and driver award recently but I'm not sure of the year. Another of my friends at our congregation owns an Elantra and they just love it. The hyundai genesis has been much improved for 2012 and word is it will continue to give engineers and product planners at Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz fits thanks to the sedans upgraded V-6 engine, revised suspension tuning, and a new eight-speed autoomatic transmission, not to mention the 429 horsepower R-Spec model. Remember if you don't see anything you like, the palm beach dealer in coconut creek has a great selection of pre-owned and used cars to choose from so let their friendly and knowledgeable staff get you into the car of your dreams today

British teenager bikes on water for good cause

2011-07-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

Have you heard the lastest news to hit the web about a british teenager who bikes on water for charity to help flood victims in Londons lake district by riding his bike on a lake 75 feet deep? Matt Whitehurst, 16, insists the pictures are real but he has said he will not disclose how he mangaed to pull off the trick with his bicycle perched atop the waters of England's Lake Buttermere. He pulled off the trick to raise awareness for an upcoming cycling event that will raise money to build bridges destroyed in the 2009 flooding. The 16 year old was quoted as saying " I can't and won't say how I did it, but plenty of people saw me and they"ll confirm it wasn't a camera trick" I'm sure there was some kind of platform propping the 16 year old up on his bike.

Legoland water park

2011-07-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

The entrance to Legoland

Cargo Ace

Water slide

I will be having a procedure to remove a piece of metal from my left eye lid next Thursday and after that I will need to rest for 2 weeks so I was hoping we could take the kids to Legoland Before I have my procedure because I won't be of much help after my procedure. The doctor said I will experience a black eye for a few days. My wife, kids and me have never been top Legoland before and we want to give our kids something fun to do. My kids really enjoy playing in the water at home especially my son Ethan. I reviewed their website and seen so many different kinds of rides and things for the kids to do. I'm hoping we can spend a full day there so the kids will enjoy themselves. I'm also hoping it will be warm so the kids will enjoy the water. Here are some pictures I took from the website. Looks like it will be a lot of fun for the kids!

Quality eyeglasses at your door for about $20

2011-07-13T02:01:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Zenni Optical for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you wear eye glasses like me and have to get a new prescription every year or so, you probably dread that time when you get that notice in the mail saying your due for your yearly eye exam. When I get that notice in the mail, there's only one other thing on my mind and that's " Wondering how much money I'm going to need to spend this year on prescription eye glasses" I'm sure for most of us, it's hard to swallow the fact that as we get older, our need for a higher prescription eye glasses becomes more necessary " and I'm no different. But me and my wife put a stop to paying excessively high prices for glasses when we found out about Zenni Optical. They are an online eye glass website that sell's stylish eye wear for less. My wife recently ordered a new set of prescription eye glasses this year and her total bill came to just under $19.00 dollars delivered to our mailbox. Her last visit to the optometrist recommended she get a new pair with a higher prescription lens. Even though we both have health insurance, we're tired of paying too much for prescription eye wear so we shop at zenni optical for all our eye glass needs. We used to pay hundreds of dollars for eye glasses but not anymore. By the way, talking about paying too much for eye glasses, you need to read this article from Time magazine mentioning Zenni Optical and the crazy price that one time editor paid for eye glasses. You'll be astounded!

San Diego county fair

2011-07-11T10:42:00.001-07:00

San Diego County Fair

Truck ride, son's favorite

Boat ride with all smiles

Mom and kids on the tea cup ride

A few weeks ago I took the kids and wife to the San Diego county fair. This is another place that I've never been to in the 25 or so years that I have lived in San Diego. We heard a lot about this fair that happens ever year and we wanted to see what it was all about. We had friends who went there and said they had a lot of fun. There are many exibits to see as well as rides for the kids and adults and lots of food. I mean every where you look there's a food stand. There's even an area that displays live farm animals for the kids like cows, horses, pigs, chickens, turkeys, sheep and lambs. I think we went to the fair strictly for the kids so they could have some fun and see all the things that the fair has to offer. They had a great time as well as mommy and daddy. Here's the photos to prove it.

Fun at disneyland

2011-07-09T19:32:00.001-07:00

My kids, wife and me just returned from 2 days at Los Angeles. We spent one day at hollywood checking out the famous tourist sights and the next day we while heading home, we stopped at Disneyland. If you have ever been to Hollywood, you know there's many things to see and do at this famous tourist destination. While visiting Los Angeles, we stayed at a fancy hotel. We stayed at the crown plaza hotel. It was a pretty fancy hotel but the location of the hotel in relation to hollywood was an inconvenience. The last time we stayed in Hollywood, we were only a few minutes from most tourist spots. This time we planned our hotel location pretty poorly but that's ok. It was right next to LAX airport. The following day we headed home and stopped at Disneyland for the day. We stayed there until the fireworks started at 9:30. My kids,wife, and I had a great time at Disneyland. I was a little disappointed that they didn't have any water games for the kids since the heat was in the 90's that day. It was very humid and hot. We found a little water fall which poured into a small water pond next to one of the rides and we had the kids lean over the rocks to play in the water to get some heat relief. Other than that, we had to wet a towel with cold water to keep the kids cool. Oh yeah, we bought a spray bottle with a fan on it to also keep us cool. All in all, we enjoyed our little travel to Los Angeles.

Parents choice infant formula savings sweepstakes

2011-07-09T19:01:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PBM Products for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

There's no doubt that we all want the best nutrition for our newborn baby that money can buy. When I mean nutrition I'm talking about baby formula. All though it's natural for a parent to think that if they spend more for baby formula they will be getting a better made or better quality product for their baby, but that is not always true and you could actually be throwing your money away. Ideally, an infant's best source of nutrition is breast milk. There is no nutritional supplement or formula that matches the benefits of breast milk, at least for the first few months. However, infant formula does act as an effective nutritional source in cases where breast milk is not an option. It meets the minimum nutritional requirements of the federal food, drug and cosmetics act (the infant formula act) and FDA regulations. It provides infants with the vitamins, iron and other nutrients they need for healthy growth and development. When my wife had our first child, we fed our baby similac but he didn't like that and made his stomach upset. We started buying the parents choice formula and that formula worked out very well. We were concerned about the nutritional value of a lower cost formula but found out that Parent's Choice meets all the minimum nutritional requirements in accordance with the Infant Formula Act enforced by the FDA. It thus meets the highest standards of safety and quality established for commercial infant formulas. Parents choice has been providing quality formula for families for the last 13 years and now they want to help out even more by offering the Parent’s Choice Infant Formula Savings Sweepstakes The sweepstakes in partnership with PBM products, LLC, a perrigo company wants to offer one lucky winner with a $10,000 college scholarship in the form of a college savings 529 program. There will be one lucky winner so see the sweepstakes program for more details.

I hate bad service at fast food restaurants

2011-07-08T22:29:00.000-07:00

What I mean by this is that my wife was having a craving for some Mc Donalds french fries so along the way home, I stopped into a Mc Donalds restaurant tonight to get a quick order of fries. After getting back on the road, my wife was eating the fries and I asked her if she could hand me some napkins from the bag but when she reached in to give me some, there was none to be found. I cried out " GEEZ" ! I paid $ 3.00 dollars and don't even get napkins? I hate that. Who doesn't need a napkin in the car once in a while? Well, I did. So we're on our way home and I have a craving for onion rings so I want to stop and get some onion rings at carls jr, so pull in and order some onion rings, pull up to the window and pay, and as I'm pulling out I said to my wife, "hey, it doesn't feel like there's many onion rings in this bag"I had eaten 3 already and my wife ate 2. She says, honie, there's one more onion ring left. I said, WHAT? You mean I just paid $3.29 for 6 onion rings? That's crazy! I hate it! I guess we really got ripped off for our money tonight. I told my that from now on, I'll be checking my orders for accuracy more often after tonight's ordeal. I mean I paid $3 dollars at walmart and got more for my money than I did tonight. Of course I'm not expecting a full bag of onion rings but geez! At least give me something worth my money.

Business with my brother

2011-06-19T21:03:00.001-07:00

Contribution by Stevie Kirby

My brother and I recently decided to go into business together as a real estate agent team. If you knew us well you’d say we were crazy, mostly because we’re so different and often butt heads, but I think it’s actually going to work out really well. He’s more of a people person and will be better at sales while I’m definitely more organized and numbers minded. I’ll take care of everything from checking over the books to buying www.domainnames.com for our website and even getting all the contracts together for our clients. Basically, I’ll be bad cop and he’ll be good! I don’t really mind the distribution of labor, though, mostly because with his selling skills I think we’ll make more money than either of us did on our own before. Real estate is a tough industry, especially right now, so both of us can use all the help we can get. My mom is really excited we’re getting a family team together and I know I can’t wait to spend more quality time with my big broth

Stem cell preservation

2011-06-04T18:01:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of CryoCell International for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Did you know that cord blood banking is one of the most amazing gifts you can give to your new born baby when she or he is born. You have just one opportunity to do this in life and with many new advances in medicine made each day, it is definitely worth the price to pay if you can afford to preserve your babies umbilical cord blood. The umbilical cord, commonly called the birth cord provides oxygen nutrient rich blood to the fetus from the placenta. The blood in the umbilical cord is rich in stem cells. The importance of stem cells is that it regenerates the white blood cells. This blood is useful for curing several diseases. Hence, several surveys have shown that preserving this blood can be utilized at a later date and on a larger scale. Cryo-Cell has been helping families since 1992 to preserve umbilical cord blood for future use and to prevent diseases. When my wife gave birth to our 2 children, she really didn't get a lot of time to exercise because I was working full time. One way that Cryo-Cell is helping, is by offering mom's an award winning baby jogger city mini stroller. Mother's can now enjoy the fresh outdoors by using the stroller to get the exercise they need. Mom's can enroll today in Cryo-Cells signature U-Cord service and receive a free baby jogger city mini stroller. It's a win win situation no matter how you look at it.

Daughter on the guitar

2011-06-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

We went to seafood city the other day to buy some groceries, meat for adobo and afritada and some vegetables. We ushually go to the new seafood city location on orange avenue in chula vista because they have a jollibee and chowking restaurant we can visit if we get hungry. Who can resist the temptation of ordering some beef noodle soup or jollibee chicken or how about some old fashioned palabok noodles. Almost evertime we go there we have to order some food. My wife seen this novalty guitar at seafood city that she had to buy for my daughter. My daughter loved it.

Play time for Briannah

2011-05-24T16:43:00.000-07:00

My wife and I went to JC Penny the other day to do some shopping and while there, we took our daughter briannah to the play area where the kids can ride on different kinds of rides. My daughter loved the rides and when it came time to leave to go pick up our son, she didn't want to leave. She started crying and we had to pick her up and hold her because she wasn't leaving quietly. I'm sorry baby but daddy and mommy has to take you home so we can go pick up your brother from school. There will be other times that we can take you on the rides, just not now. It's hard to be a parent these days.

Hyundai dealer in florida

2011-05-21T18:30:00.000-07:00

I just can't get over how far Hyundai has come over the years to become one of the hottest selling cars in America. I just seen the 2011 Hyundai Genesis and I have to say I am in aww over the look and design of this car. This car ranks right up top with those other luxury cars but at a cost that's considerably lower. Hyundai has joined the luxury car fray in a big way by introducing a car with both luxury and performance and amenities you would only find in top of the line autos such as Mercedes and BMW. The Hyundai automaker continues to challenge other foreign car manufacturers to out do them in sales, customer satisfaction, and safety ratings.

The styling of the 2011 Hyundai genesis sedan remains a collection of gentle curves conservatively proportioned. Dimensionally, the genesis sedan is similar to midsize luxury sedans such as the Mercedes Benz E-Class and Lexus GS. Strategically, as some Hyundai ads dare confided, to do to Lexus what Lexus once did to Mercedes. If your looking for original hyundai genesis parts you should look for an authorized premier Hyundai genesis dealer for original parts to keep your Hyundai running the way it's supposed to run. Sure, you could buy parts for your Hyundai that are cheaper, but cheaper is not always better. The same rings true about accessories for your genesis. You should stick with original h yundai genesis accessories because they were built specifically for a Hyundai.

Fixed wife's Acer laptop

2011-05-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

BEFORE

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AFTER

I saved $150 from this laptop. I was going to take it to the computer shop a few months ago and have it fix, but I keep on putting it on hold because of our tight budget. And besides it wasn’t that so important to have it fix because I bought a new Sony Vaio laptop recently for replacement to my wife’s broken laptop. I thought maybe I can fix it myself. I searched online about the problem and I found a helpful link. I opened up the laptop and found a power cable for the charger that is not working. The cable is not allowing the power to charge the battery. I re-soldered the wires to the power cable to charge the battery and it worked. I put the laptop back together and I got it working once again. I’m so happy and so as my wife. Now, we have 2 working laptops and 2 working desktop. Cool!

Elaborately Broken Pacing and Harven Birdman: Attorney at Law

2011-04-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

The article written by Karl Morgan

Being a comedy writer means that I'm always looking around for inspiration. Most of the time, I find that my own life is strange enough to inspire some comedy writing, but sometimes I have to take things to a new extreme. Sometimes, I need to shock my brain into thinking in different ways. Sometimes, I need to watch a cartoon like Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law.

Harvey Birdman is, for lack of a better word, absolutely crazy. I've never watched a show that even approaches its narrative speed. Episodes can span several minutes or several decades, and characters can change their appearance, demeanor, and backstory on a dime. The jump-cuts are loud and exciting, the music is deliberately cheesy, and the dialogue is deliberately rushed and stilted. I mean, it's like they've set out to create the worst cartoon of all time, but they've done it on purpose. The effect is truly hilarious.

If you have a Satellite TV subscription from www.TVbyDirect.com, just flip onto Adult Swim and check it out on Saturday. You won't know what you're watching, and you won't be able to keep up with the show until you're used to it. Really, though, that's the point. You have to surrender yourself to it and let the absurdity wash over you.

Kids and the stomach flu

2011-04-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

My poor kids have been sick with a stomach flu they somehow acquired. My son Ethan missed the last 3 days of school because he was throwing up and had diarrhea. I was surprised that while watching channel 8 news yesterday, the news anchor had a short bit about what was going around in our city. They said that doctors in the south bay area where seeing kids with this type of sickness. Just after our son started getting better, our daughter got the virus. It was surprising because my kids never get sick at the same time but they did. One week later and they still have this sickness. The doctor at the hospital told us there's no medicine they can take to make them better. Just drink plenty of fluids so that's what we're doing now. Doctor said to give them Gatorade or pedialite. Well, that's all for now. Hoopefully they will be better before the new week starts.

Affordable online business marketing

2011-04-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

Whether you have a store front business or an online business, an effective Online Marketing campaign can broaden your customer base dramatically. Online marketing is critical if you want to be successful at your business. I recently started online business to supplement my full time income and learned that it can become overwhelming trying to start a business on your own without any marketing support. The world wide web has over 1 billion users and an estimated 10 million online at any given time. You can reach these prospective customers but only if your website is properly marketed with the right ads. Discountclick Online Marketing offers affordable services and features geared towards the small to medium sized websites. With the ad server solution, you can target millions of customers based on dates, group of dates, domain, browser, range of day, time of day and more. Rotate and deliver thousands of ads to your site. Track text link advertisements and referrals.

Your Online Marketing should also include a good affordable search engine optimization services. Seo involves improving the visibility of your website or webpage in search engines via the natural or un-paid search results. One way to improve your visibility is to get back links from other websites. Discountclick will analyze your website, that of your competitors and build a strategy that will produce proven affordable effective results. All you need to do is sign up and let them help you increase your customer database.

Bible talk

2011-04-08T00:03:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I have to do a talk at our kingdom hall but I'm nervous because it will be my first time to do this kind of talk. It's only about 4 minutes but I have a little audience of about 15-20 people who will be watching and listening to me and I will have one of the elders who will be grading me on how well I develop my theme. Before, I would just read a portion of the bible and I had to read it in a certain amount of time and I would be counseled on my strengths but this kind of talk is different. I'm hoping I will do ok and people will like my talk. Say a prayer for me

Make money blogging online

2011-03-25T07:01:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Ashworth College for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Imagine your at home relaxing on the coach and playing on your laptop and you just wrote an article about the days events and posted it online for the world to see. And then lets say 10 minutes later you check your email and you get an email saying you've just been paid $15.00 dollars for posting your article online. Would you no doubt think it's worth it? Of course you would! Where else can you find a part time job at home, kicking back and relaxing on your coach with your laptop in hand while your watching TV at the same time? That's what blogging has been for me. Earning an extra income has given me the ability to reduce my hours at work and spend more time at home with my wife and kids. It has offered me the ability to go places and see things I otherwise could not see because of my limited income. It has also allowed me to have things I would normally not be able to have. And of course it has allowed me to grow closer to my family. If I would have known that Ashworth College offered a course in blogging when I first started, I'm sure I would have signed up for it and been able to learn to blog more professionally so that I could earn this income in a shorter period of time. I also wouldn't be asking all my blogger friends so many questions because I would already know the answers. Who knows, maybe I could quit my full time job and taken a blogging job at home to make the same income as I make at my full time job. I'll never stop blogging as long as there is a need for bloggers.

Kids having fun at sea world

2011-03-24T12:07:00.000-07:00

The other day I took the family to sea world again because wee have season tickets and my children had a great time. Here is a picture of them posing with none other than Elmo and Zoe from sesame street. They really enjoy going on the different rides at sea world. Now when we are at home my son keeps saying he loves shamu and he misses him. Hehehehe. Kids are so funny. I told him we'll go back to sea world some day when daddy is not busy on his day off. My daughter just wants to walk every where and never gets tired. If we try to pick her up, she will just cry.

Benefits of having an extended auto warranty protection plan

2011-03-24T12:00:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of AutoAssure for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you ever heard of AutoAssure and how it may help you from incurring unexpected repair bills? Maybe you know about Auto Coverage As Seen On TV. Believe me, If you've purchased a used vehicle these days, it is wise and to your advantage to also purchase an extended warranty protection plan if not from the dealer you purchase it thru, then from an independent nationwide company that provides vehicle service contracts. You just don't know what your getting these days and it's not wise to gamble with a big investment like this. Especially if it's one of those newer vehicles with many computer electronics in it because you can never tell when electronics will decide to go on the blink for no reason at all. I purchased a used 2007 toyota sienna van last year but the manufacturers warranty expired and my wife and I were scared not to have some kind of protection so we purchased a Customized Vehicle Protection Plans from the place where we bought our van. My wife and I are so grateful for doing this because the last time we took our van in for service, the motor had some problems that needed to be fixed. One problem was a bearing that was making noise on the front right wheel and a noisy idler bearing which were both covered with our customized vehicle protection plan. The repairs took several days and we couldn't afford to be without our van because I needed it to go to work but having the customized protection plan covered a rental car and we didn't have any out of pocket expenses which was great. I'm very satisfied with the level of protection I have and the peace of mind that comes with it. I encourage my readers to check out the benefits and sign up to receive a autoassure quote. It only takes a few minutes.

We live in a tsunami zone

2011-03-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

The tsunami that happened in japan made me think about where we live and this picture of the sign that I took which is posted 1 block from where we live here in imperial beach. I pray for our sake that we don't have an earthquake and a tsunami because I'm sure if we did, me and my family would be in grave danger. It's really sad to see the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami in japan. You gotta feel for these people. And then to see the country fighting for their lives to contain the incident at the fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The anxiety over japans food and water supplies has multiplied following recent warnings about radiation leaking from japan's tsunami-damaged nuclear power plant into Tokyo's tap water at levels unsafe for babies over the long term. The country of japan really needs the worlds help because this country can't do it all themselves.

Play time for briannah

2011-03-16T15:31:00.000-07:00

My wife and I and our daughter took a ride to westfield shopping center on "H" street in chula vista today so my wife could get her free gift from victorias secret and she wanted to start buying some body lotions for when she goes to the Philippines sometime next year. After we did that, we took our daughter over to the childrens play area so my daughter could sit on the different rides and have some fun being a little girl. She just loved this play area and when it was time to go, she cried so hard. She really doesn't want to go but we have to go pick up our son at school. We practically had to peel her off the rides. Sorry little girl but we have no choice. My daughter had fun for the time that we were there.

Creative play for our family

2011-03-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

I was having lunch at my work when I saw the commercial of the wikki stix great crafts ideas for kids. I thought it was cool and fun crafts. I’m sure my children would love to have this kind of stuff. My son loves creative play and the fact that this stuff is a clean and mess free, I’m sure my wife would love it because she doesn’t have to worry about cleaning for it’s a mess free art. I found their website and it’s Wikkistix.com and they have versatile stuff that’s not only for preschooler but also for the kids who are in middle school. I think this is an excellent and fun toy for my kids and for our family activity.

Mellow Yellow Monday #112

2011-03-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

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Hi everyone! Happy MYM to all. Here’s my entry for this week’s Mellow Yellow Monday, a Yellow fish. Aren’t this fish gorgeous? The bright color is so amazing. My wife took this photo a few months ago when we went to the Zoo with our children. The bottom photo has a reflection of my son’s face. He was looking at the fish when my wife took a snapshot of it. I hope you all have a great day and thanks for visiting my blog.

Trying to convince her

2011-03-12T20:17:00.000-08:00

My wife hated tap water for drinking. She’s telling me that the tap water here in our place tastes rusty, I don’t get it. I don’t understand why she’s saying that it taste like rust when she never taste rust literally. I tried to convince her that we need to stop buying bottled water so we can save some money but she refuses to do so. I don’t mind at all drinking tap water. As a matter of fact, I drink tap water when I’m at work. I wonder if I purchase tap water filter at Puriteam and install it to our faucet, will my wife drink the water from it or not. I really don’t know. I don’t want to waste my money from buying either of the following; countertop water filter, house water filter, drinking water filter or tap water filter and later I find out that my wife preferred to drink bottled water still.

PDF File Converter

2011-03-07T23:23:00.000-08:00

Many of us computer geeks out there are familiar with and regularly read PDF files on a daily basis. I for one, read them just about every day at my work. I read repair manuals every day and these manuals have been converted to PDF files on the computer so they are easy to read. PDF in short stands for portable document format. PDF files are one of the best ways to view and share documents and they are widely used in a variety of fields these days. Using PDF files makes our lives simpler however, have you ever experienced that failed to edit or quote the contents of PDF documents? I have and it's very annoying and not any fun but what it's trying to tell you is that you cannot edit or change a PDF file using the reader program. Most common reader programs do not allow for direct editing and there are other restrictions on copying and printing. There have been many a time when we wanted to convert a pdf to doc file but were inconvenienced because didn't have the right program.

There have been few instances where I needed to convert a pdf to htm l file but didn't know how or didn't have the program. So, to make our lives easier, Someone came out with a neat little program called Total PDF Converter which will convert all your PDF files to HTML, DOC, (WORD) , Text, Excel, PostScript, CSV or Image files. Using Total PDF Converter is the smart choice because it's fast, easy-to-handle, accurate, doesn't require Adobe Acrobat, supports many target formats and has a batch option (can convert hundreds of PDF files as well as single files) Other unique features of this software are the ability to save Adobe files as images (in JPEG format) and position several of them on one screen. Total PDF Converter can convert multi-page PDF files to HTML and place each page in a separate HTML file.

My new Sony Vaio laptop

2011-03-07T10:47:00.000-08:00

Recently, my acer laptop broke because of the charging plug on the back of the laptop. It broke off on the board and it really caused so problems for me because we only have 1 other computer in the house which is a desktop. I had to buy another computer with our tax refund and although Acer brand computers are not bad, I did not want another one so I bought a Sony Vaio instead and now I'm using it to update all my blogs. Eventually I'll have to get the Acer fixed and I'll give it to my son to use but this Sony is pretty nice. Here is the specifications on this laptop: Sony VAIO Laptop / Intel® Core™ i3 Processor / 15.5" Display / 4GB Memory / 320GB Hard Drive , 6-cell lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, power cord, Software: Sony Creativity Suite; VAIO Media Gallery and more. Product Features: Intel® Core™ i3-370M processor Features a 3MB L3 cache and 2.4GHz processor speed. Intel® Core™ i3 processor Features smart 4-way processing performance for HD quality computing. Intel® HD graphics provide extra graphics power for your laptop when you need it. 4GB DDR3 memory For multitasking power, expandable to 8GB. Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support, Records up to 8.5GB of data or 4 hours of video using compatible DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media; also supports DVD-RAM. 15.5" LED-backlit widescreen display With 1366 x 768 resolution showcases movies, games and other images. Intel® Wireless Display, Wirelessly transmits streamed or downloaded movies, TV shows, music, photos and more from your laptop, network or the Internet to your TV (NETGEAR Push2TV adapter required, not included). 320GB Serial ATA hard drive (5400 rpm) For fast read/write times. Intel® HD graphics, For lush images and vivid detail. HDMI output for flexible connectivity options. Dedicated control buttons, Include VAIO, ASSIST, Web and wireless on/off for convenient use. Built-in MOTION EYE webcam with microphone and face-tracking technology. Makes it easy to video chat with and send video mail to family and friends. Select media card slots, Include 1 Memory Stick PRO/Memory Stick PRO Duo with MagicGate functionality and 1 Secure Digital for storing additional information. 3 high-speed USB 2.0 ports For fast digital video, audio and data transfer. One eSATA/USB combo port. Built-in Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6200 wireless LAN (802.11a/b/g/n) Connect to the Internet on the go. Embedded 4G WiMAX mobile broadband technology. Gives you an ultrafast mobile Internet connection. (Wireless service contract required; sold separately. Check with carrier for coverage area and availability in your area.) Built-in 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T Fast Ethernet LAN With RJ-45 connector for quick and easy wired Web connection. Weighs 5.9 lbs. and measures just 1.2" thin, For easy portability. 10-key numeric pad for easy numeral entry. Long battery life. Of up to 3 hours and 30 minutes to give you more time away from an outlet.

Day at sea world

2011-03-01T21:43:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to take the kids and wife to sea world for a day of fun and relaxation. We just purchased the day tickets and chose the option to come back for a full year. It was well worth the money because my kids had so much fun. More so than they did at the San Diego Zoo. We have year passes to the zoo but they will expire soon and we wont renew them this year. My kids got to meet Elmo and Zowie from sesame street. I took them on some of the fun rides but my wife only went on one ride. There was this other ride where you sit in kinda like a tea cup with an umbrella hanging over it but my wife didn't want to ride this one. I took my son and daughter and my daughter was jumping out of her seat so I had to grab her and hold on to her. All in all, we had a really great time at sea world. I told my kids we could come back the next day but later on I realized we had too many things to do the next day so I had to take back what I said. There's so much to see and do at sea world. The "Shamu" show, The "Pets Rule" show and many other attractions await you. Here you can see my kids posing for the camera with Elmo and Zowi. So cute huh...

California dream vacation

2011-02-22T17:07:00.000-08:00

My wife and the kids just got back from a week vacation in San Francisco and Los Angeles. We had a lot of fun driving up north. We took the 101 freeway all the way up to San Francisco passing thru many cities along the way including Santa Cruz. The houses up north are so beautiful and worth every penny. My wife and I have been dreaming of owning our own home but we don't have any knowledge about real estate or buying a home. Even if we did know something about real estate, finding the best value for your money is difficult. There are many newspapers with listings of real estate but that can be time consuming reading thru each and every one and it's alot of effort. You really need to know your stuff when and read between the lines and identify which listings are not worth your attention.

For those of you who don't know, Santa Cruz is located is located on Monterrey bay and it is a prime location for a vacation. There are many things to do in Santa Cruz but as we were passing by, we had to stop and check out some of the homes for sale. We didn't find anything in our price range but we got some prospects that we will keep in mind. We'll talk to some professional real estate agency We had to stop and check out the biggest marine aquarium in California on monterey bay. We really enjoyed all the sights and scenic views of northern California. It's the best place to live.

Laptop connected to our new tv

2011-02-22T16:19:00.000-08:00

Today I had the day off and so I got the chance to do something I've been wanting to do for a long time. Since we had our new tv for just about 3 weeks now, I've been wanting to be able to hook up my new laptop to our new tv and be able to lounge on the couch while doing my blogs. Today I got that chance and I got to say, it feels pretty cool to be able to just sit back on the couch and use your computer on a big 50" screen like I've been wanting to for a long time. I got this idea from my sister one day while I was over her house with my wife and kids. We played her Wii gaming console and it was cool. Ever since then, I've been wanting to duplicate what my sister did. The next thing I want to do is buy a home theater system to make our movie experience at home more complete with surround sound for that lifelike experience.

Investigate and do a little research first

2011-02-15T22:37:00.000-08:00

Looking for an apartment that is for rent is an exhausting and time consuming event especially if you moved to a big city and don't know your way around. There are a lot of things to consider when looking for an apartment and if you don't get it right the first time and you sign the contract, you might have some regrets in the future. For instance (I will pick a state randomly), if you want to move in New Jersey and you have decided to just rent an apartment instead of buying a house, and you happened to have a friend who lives there, you might want to ask for some referrals. If you don’t know anyone in New Jersey, you might want to check Apartment for Rent in New Jersey online. Read some reviews and testimonials from other clients who have stayed in a certain apartment that you have planned on moving-in because that will really help you. In our case, my wife and I had hard time finding the right apartment but we sought help from our friends and it didn’t take long for us to get the apartment that we longed to have. We’ve been in our apartment for years now and it looks like we will stay here until our kids grow up. My wife and I are considering purchasing our dream home but we have to work hard for it.

L.a. escapades

2011-02-13T10:24:00.000-08:00

We just came back from a one week vacation to Los Angeles and San Francisco and we had a great time. We stayed at the days inn Hollywood hotel on Hollywood blvd for one night. The hotel fare was reasonable and clean. Once we arrived and checked in, we wanted to go see the Hollywood sign. It's a nice view of the sign and some parts of the city. The weather was beautiful and warm. There were other tourists at the famous sign when we arrived so we took advantage of that moment to have them take a picture of the family and me. This picture was with my wife and kids. We hated the traffic on the way up to Los Angeles but there's many things to see and do while in Los Angeles. I'll have more updates as the week progresses so I don't run out of things to say.