It’s My Imagination

What’s Your Style?

April 30, 2008 on 6:00 pm | In My Imagination | 2 Comments

Yesterday, I knew I had to go to the dealership to drop my car of for some routine maintenance, so I thought I should put on some of my better clothes for the outing. I’m usually just in my jeans are denim capris now that I don’t work outside the home any longer, but I wanted to look a bit nicer.

So, I stood in my closet yesterday morning looking through all the clothes that I used to wear to work. I worked in an elementary school and so I dressed comfortably, but at the same time always wanted to look like I was dressed for work, not the playground. I decided to go with a pair of Dockers and a short sleeved linen blouse. It felt a bit strange to no longer be in denim, but I also felt that I was dressed appropriately. I put on my new backless canvas sneakers and headed out the door.

The funny thing about yesterday was that all day, I felt like I was Meg Ryan in  Sleepless in Seattle, just the way I was dressed in Dockers and canvas sneakers. It was the strangest feeling, but at least I associated my outfit with Meg Ryan, someone who has been known to set trends both in fashion and hairstyle. I do have a decent imagination!

With my imagination and the way I was dressed, maybe I should create my own T.V. commercial and enter the Dockers contest. I think it could be a lot of fun and my daughter and I get a kick out of making videos, so we could do it together.

What about you? Why not create your own commercial and enter the contest?

Tags: Dockers Contest, fashion trend

New Camera

April 30, 2008 on 3:38 pm | In Some of This Some of That | 2 Comments

I got a new HP digital camera for Christmas that I was really enjoying.  Unfortunately, 2 months after receiving it, a small plastic lever that holds the batteries and memory card in place snapped off.  My husband had not purchased an extended warranty, but because it was so new, we took it back to Best Buy anyway.

Best Buy was very nice about it and wound up sending the camera for repair back to HP.  That was about 6 weeks ago.  I finally remembered to call them today and discovered that the camera was apparently not repairable, so they are giving me a brand new camera!  I just have to take back all the accessories that came with it and the box it came in.  I guess it’s a good thing that I always keep boxes.

Now, I just have to find time, hopefully tomorrow, to drive out to Best Buy and get my new camera.  I’m glad I’ll have it in time for my nieces nursing graduation next week. 

Tags: digital camera

What’s Your Rank?

April 30, 2008 on 1:25 pm | In Blogging | 2 Comments

It’s happening again, everybody is full of anticipation. Everyone wants to know if their blogs will be affected and will it be positive? Or, will their blog get spanked. Of course, if those blog owners are like me, it can’t get any lower, after all, it’s a big fat zero now, so, until they start passing out negative numbers, zero is as low as it can go.

What am I talking about? If you haven’t guessed it by now, you must be really new to blogging and haven’t experienced the Google spank before. That’s correct, Google can reach out and spank down your sites page rank when ever it so chooses, without providing any justification whatsoever. In fact, the last time Google did a smack down, bloggers of all types spent weeks, if not months, trying to figure out what they had done wrong. Some even went so far as to beg and plead with Google to rethink their slapping policy and begged for the page rank to be reinstated. Some blogs had page rank reinstated after their pleas were heard, others were basically ignored by the Google masters.

I chose to move on with my blogging life and let the big G do as it pleased. I neither begged nor pleaded and didn’t change my blogging ways. I continued with my goals of increasing my readership and writing quality content. If “G” doesn’t like what I do, so be it, it’s a big internet world out there.

In the mean time, Izea, a company that works FOR bloggers, not against them, worked diligently on created Real Rank, a new blog ranking system for any and all who choose to participate. One of the biggest difference’s between Izea’s Real Rank and Google’s page rank is that Real Rank ranks blogs ONLY against other blogs, not against every other website. Really, do I need to be told that this little old blog of mine is not anywhere close to being as poplular as say, Amazon.com? I don’t think so. I do like to know however, I compare to other blogs, that’s what is important to me.

As Izea say, “blog ranking system that uses real data to calculate which blogs are getting the most traffic and have the most influence on the web. IZEARanks ranks the top blogs in the blogosphere via actual site statistics, not an extrapolation of estimates”.

So, if you prefer to know how your blog is ranked in comparison with other blogs using real traffic data and no some complicated algorithm that Google itself can’t explain, click to get your own Izea Ranks and get in the game!

Tags: Izea Ranks, Real Rank

Wordless Wednesday

April 30, 2008 on 1:00 pm | In Some of This Some of That | 2 Comments

Sorry this isn’t wordless, but this is how I’ve felt the last two days. Yesterday I was just out of sorts, nothing seemed to go smoothly. Today, I set off to make things better.

I wound up taking my brand new serger machine back to the store and they couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t perform so they’re sending it in for servicing. It could be 4-6 weeks.

On another repair note, my brand new camera that I received as a Christmas gift went in for repair in March. I finally called on it today (it was supposed to take 2 weeks, it’s bee 6) and they said, “oh! we’re giving you a brand new camera, just come in and get it”. Okay, great, but why couldn’t they tell me that weeks ago?!

Tags: Wordless Wednesday

Do Not Call Registry

April 29, 2008 on 2:26 pm | In Some of This Some of That | No Comments

A couple of years ago, while we were still living in Illinois, I registered our home phone and home business phone line with the Do Not Call Registry. I was amazed out how much it cut down on the number of sales calls. I can’t say it eliminated them completely, but it certainly took care of probably 90% of those pesky callers.

Since moving to Texas, we no longer use a land line at home or have a home office line. Every call we now make is on a cell phone. I have to say, it’s even more important to register cell phones with the “National No Call Registry” since those pesky calls can eat up your minute allowance. The one big loophole is that if you do any type of business with a company, they can call you, even if your number is registered.

Since calling the dealer last week to schedule my car’s appointment, I have received a few phone calls from them. I don’t mind, they are legitimate, but since they aren’t in my cell phone’s call list, my caller i.d. doesn’t tell me who they are. I’ve also received calls from our bank that, when the phone is ringing, I hesitate to answer because I don’t know who the caller is. In this case, if you’re really unsure about who is calling, or are uncomfortable answering an unknown number, try Reverse Cell Phone Lookup which can provide further assistance.

Whatever you do, just make sure to register all of your telephone numbers with the Do Not Call Registry, it’s free!

Tags: Do Not Call Registry, Reverse Cell Phone Lookup

Further Annoyance

April 29, 2008 on 1:47 pm | In Family | No Comments

Several weeks ago, I had asked my husband to call the dealer to set everything up for taking the car in for maintenance.  I didn’t.  In the mean time, he did let me know that he didn’t feel that I was doing my share around the house.  Mind you, I clean, do laundry, make beds, laundry, and perform all home maintenance that I am capable of, including lawn service.  But, to appease him, I made the appointment with the dealer myself and took the car in myself.

The only reason I prefer my husband to do it is that I never feel that I am dealt with honestly, because I am female.  He doesn’t understand this.

I just got a call from the dealer giving me status, no, they’re not finished, and no, they didn’t find anything wrong with the tire that is losing air and that I’m having to pump up about every 2 weeks.  But, they do see that the tires are wearing unevenly (could it be because one of them is losing air?) and recommended a tire rotation and alignment.   So, after he informed me of the cost, I approved the work but asked them to check the tire again because there certainly is something wrong and he agreed.

I then called my husband to update him and he immediately made me feel that I’d done the wrong thing by approving the work.  Why the hell didn’t he just do it himself if he thinks I can’t make a decision like this?  I informed him immediately that I’d all ready given my approval to the dealer and was not changing the order.

Sorry for ranting, but if you think you can do a better job than me, than just do it, like I asked you to do in the first place!

Tags: marriage

Celebrating One Year

April 29, 2008 on 11:47 am | In Some of This Some of That | No Comments

I can’t believe it, it’s been a year since we relocated from our home in Illinois to our new home in Texas. While there have been days that I thought would never end, the last year seems to have flown by in a hurry. I hate to admit it, but I still have boxes in our garage that haven’t even been opened! The main reason is that I don’t know where to put the stuff. I need to buy cabinets and storage units, but it’s hard to spend the money when there are so many other things this house needs, like exterior painting!

One of the first things I did do though when we moved in was to have our computer network set up. The house was all ready wired for a FIOS wireless networking service which was great. It’s made using my laptop a real pleasure.

Not too long after that, I started my first blog. With my sister’s help I found the right host and was on my way. Since then I’ve been learning a lot about domains, web hosts, bandwidth and servers like Top Corporation ServerPronto which offer inexpensive dedicated servers.

Anyway, I’m beginning to feel more settled in and a little bit more at home. I did call my husband today and asked him to please install a keyless entry at the garage door this weekend. I didn’t like the feeling of not being able to get into my own house!

Tags: Top Corporation ServerPronto

What a Morning!

April 29, 2008 on 11:35 am | In My Imagination | No Comments

I began this morning by realizing that I’d left my purse (with wallet inside) in our van, under the seat, where I’d placed it during my daughter’s softball game last night.  This wouldn’t been a problem in and of itself except the fact that my husband drives the van to work and so, the van was gone, along with my purse.

Normally, I wouldn’t necessarily need my purse, I usually drive my daughter to school, but it’s only across the road, not a big chance of me being pulled over and needing to show my drivers license.  Today however, I had to drive the car to the dealership where I had an appointment for some routine maintenance and some recall work.  I needed my drivers license because I was going to receive a loaner car and I needed my i.d.

My other problem was that the car needed gas and I had no credit cards, atm card or cash because my wallet was in my purse.  Thankfully, I do keep a couple of credit cards at home that I don’t use, so I grabbed one of those and headed to the gas station.  I got to the station only to find lines of cars and several pumps not working.  I’m still not sure what was going on, but I waited my turn and finally got my fill up.

I then headed to the car dealer.  It was a bit farther away than I thought, so I was a little late.  I couldn’t get over how busy they were at 9 in the morning.  It made me a bit nervous to have so much hustle and bustle going on around me.  We bought our car through a broker in Illinois and picked it up at a dealer.  I had not seen that kind of busy activity other than at a mall, in a very long time.  Anyway, I did get the car checked in and picked up a loaner car.  It’s a bit odd driving it, mainly because ours is a 6 speed and the loaner is an automatic.  Of course, the buttons are in different places to so it took some adjusting, but I made it home, eventually.

I finally pulled into the driveway only to realize I had no garage door opener.  You see, the opener is actually programmed into our car’s computer, no actual opener is in our car, so it didn’t occur to me until I got home and couldn’t get in.  I also don’t carry a house key, so I couldn’t get in.  I finally had to drive to my husband’s office, for the second time this morning, to get the opener out of the van.  Too bad I hadn’t thought of it the first time around!

So, I’m home now, waiting for the call from the dealer that my car is ready.  Wonder if I’ll forget anything this time?!

Tags: organization

Dog Capture

April 29, 2008 on 6:58 am | In Dog Sense | 2 Comments

I’m feeling better once again about our dog, she is after all, really quite cute and difficult to stay mad at. I have decided that I need to be prepared though for days like yesterday when she decides to put on her bad dog act and run off.

The odd thing yesterday was that no matter what I tried to entice her with, funny sticks, tennis balls, hugs and kisses, she just wouldn’t come. I finally walked home, leaving her in the neighbor’s yard to get better, tastier enticements.

After getting home, I stuck a piece of bacon in my jacket pocket and grabbed her leash. I headed back to the neighbors and found Plinko eating something fuzzy from between a couple of bushes. I was just sticking my hand in my pocket to get the bacon when the dog turned to look at me. She saw the leash and got all excited, I guess she thought we were going for a walk. She came right over to me, let me hook the leash onto her collar and we headed home, bacon still in my pocket!

I’m thinking that from now on I need to wear BDU Pants or something similar. You know the ones, they have all those extra pockets. I could keep dog treats and a spare leash on me at all times. It would cut down on the amount of time it takes me to recapture my dog!

Thankfully, Plinko doesn’t do this on a regular basis. It sure is annoying though when she does.

Tags: BDU Pants

Bad Dog

April 28, 2008 on 9:52 am | In Dog Sense | 2 Comments

I am posting this picture to remind myself that this dog is cute, smart and normally well behaved. Notice, I said “normally”.

Today she decided to be bad. I had a DHL guy at the front door and I was signing for the package. The dog decided to take off between our legs and run, straight out the front to the street. She then turned and ran into our neighbors back yard. This is probably the only good decision she made during this escapade as I closed the gate behind her so she couldn’t get back out to the street.

After about 30 minutes of trying to get her to come to me, I went home and got her leash. As soon as she saw the leash, she came right to me. I guess she thought we were going for a walk. Ummm, NO! I did walk her back home and told her what a bad dog she was. She has been laying behind me ever since giving me the “I’m a good girl” look. I’m not falling for it.

Tags: puggle puppy