What Simply Works!

We finally bought a new vacuum cleaner.  Yep, it is a Dyson! Wee!!!  My carpet cleaning hours are now significantly lower because of a better, more powerful tool.  Goodbye to our good old Philips vacuum.  We’ve seen better days.

With the coming holiday season, many shops are gearing up to entice early shoppers by offering discounts and free items for purchase promotion. Nikonhunting.com, a company that specializes in hunting gears has launched a free Free ATB Pro Gear campaign. They are offering $25 or $50 gift cards for binoculars purchased from now until December 31, 2008.

Aside from binoculars, they also sell outdoor and casual garments and high performance gear. All these are great gift ideas for family members and friends who are serious hunters. The bonus gift cards can very well be used to purchase additional hunting accessories. That’s a steal, isn’t it? Check out the website and happy shopping!

I am pleasantly surprised to see that this blog now has 8 feed subscribers! This ‘working’ blog will soon reach its 6th month and even though its PR was downgraded to ‘2’, the pa1d opportunities are still coming.

Who knows until when I will have this Google PR ranking and how long my dear readers will be patient with my writing (hee hee), but seriously, I’m thankful to you because advertisers like blogs with consistent traffic and feed subscribers. So once more, big thanks to you!

I first wore corrective eyeglasses when I was in high school. I remember how much I hated wearing them because the spectacles made me too self-conscious and look too old for my age. My folks encouraged me by saying that kids who wear eyeglasses look ‘scholarly’. Of course, being young and gullible, I wore them, and I wore them proud.

Those days, the frames are cheap because they are made of plastic. Nowadays, there are far better frames, made of lighter materials available. Although a bit more on the expensive side, I like titanium the best. It doesn’t leave marks even if you wear your eyeglasses the whole day. The frame doesn’t tarnish with sweat and moist.

Zennioptical.com has an online gallery of frames, some even ranging from $8. Kids who are advised to wear corrective eyeglasses don’t need expensive frames though. They tend to be less careful and vulnerable to accidents due to rough play. With that, Zenni’s cheap offerings would greatly benefit the parents in search of cheap but quality eyeglasses.

How I wish this store existed eons of years ago. With their choices of simple to fancy frames, I should not have gone through that awkward stage of wearing heavy and uncomfortable eyeglasses.

We moved our first batch of belongings to the new rented property this morning.  So far, we’re not feeling any tension yet during the move.  I hope everything goes smoothly especially tomorrow, when the movers arrive to bring over bulk of our appliances and furniture.

I’m having problems settling the cleaners.  I only have one contact so far and each time they promise to call back, they won’t.  I guess that says so much about their customer service.  More updates on the move in the coming posts.  For now, it’s pa1d blogging break for me. Ha!

I was just talking to the husband the other day, about how some of our friends are not exactly looking forward to the coming holidays. Our friends, in fact they are two couples, have been trying to get pregnant for over a year with no luck.

What is the relation between the holidays and pregnancy, you might ask? Well, it is during this season when families get together and usually, topics about who has yet to get married or have kids come about. Unfortunately, well meaning family members can get pretty ‘insensitive’ when they bring up those subjects.

Especially so if the couple (if they’ve been trying for a baby for a long time), has subjected themselves to various tests (e.g. progesterone tests, sperm count) and has failed in their work-up attempts. That can aggravate the pain and frustration of being put in the ‘spotlight’.

That’s why our holiday wishes for them are, (1) that they survive their reunion parties unscathed, (2) eventually get over the (fertility) humps (3) and bear as many children as they want!

Our friends came over to our apartment today at lunch. During the course of our conversation, the topic shifted from food to health and age. We are nearing the mid-30’s mark and we agreed that we can feel the ‘punch’ of being old. And by old we mean not being that physically fit as we used to five years ago.

So many thoughts were running through my mind that time. Soon enough, we will be talking about bio-identical hormones or consulting hormone doctors. It is scary, to say the least. I’ve heard my mother complain about hot flashes, fatigue and weight gain.  Who wants to go through all that?

These days, many physicians offer bioidentical hormone therapy that is supposed to help deal with hormonal imbalance, menopause or andropause (male menopause). This hormone therapy replaces the critical hormones that we lose as we age. Aside from this, they also offer tips for overall wellness and proper nutrition.

It is interesting to read about articles related to this. And I know someday I will devote time to know more about hormone therapy. But for now, I will enjoy my life to the fullest and think about hormone checks when the time comes.

My cousin living in Maryland was so happy to learn about my sister’s business trip to New York that he readily promised to drive to the city just to meet with her. He also said that if both their schedules permit it, he will bring her around the city central. It is my sister’s first time to see the Big Apple and for sure she was excited. My cousin tipped that there are charter bus nyc available. He thought that my sister was traveling in a group and a big tour bus might be useful for them to see more highlights of New York City.

On hindsight, some people prefer going on bus tours while others prefer to rent a car. For me and my husband, whenever we plan for trips abroad, we assess if it’s safer and more practical to tour the spots by renting a car or joining tour groups. In places like San Francisco or Los Angeles, it is more practical to take a tour bus because driving will definitely be a challenge. For a Europe trip on the other hand, it is nicer to rent a car and have the freedom to see more places at one’s own pace.

In the end, my sister wasn’t able to tour as much as she wanted because of her hectic schedule when she was in the U.S. She was glad to have met my cousin though albeit briefly over dinner.

With my Photoshop order still on ‘Waiting for Payment’ status on its 4th day, I phoned the customer service around 930am and spoke to a guy named Sam.  He said that he needs to verify with the Accounts department if they received my payment and that he’ll give me a call back.

An hour later, I decided to ring him again and after four tries, I still got an automated message.  Even the status of the online support on their website shows OFFLINE when it’s still business hours!  I knew that something wasn’t right.  I thought that Sam is avoiding my call and placed the support status on my account as OFFLINE so that I won’t be able to reach him.  Tsk tsk!

Huh, good thing I’m a girl scout.  I called the husband at work, requested for him to call the company’s number and check whether he’ll get the answering machine.  I told him I was already panicking about my payment and how I wished I could get it back.

After about 15 minutes, the husband called.  He said he was ABLE to speak with somebody there, advised him that there was something wrong with the online transaction that our bank didn’t push the money to their account.  Halleluiah!  You see?  That man was indeed avoiding my call!?!?

Anyway, I’m thankful that my money is still intact and as the husband said, I should get the software straight from the store even if I have to fork about a bit more.  Btw, the online company is Tech4U.com.au.  You’ve been warned!

Australia is facing a huge unemployment crisis, which is feared to get worse next year. If big companies such as Optus (a telecommunications company) announced that they will let go of over a hundred employees, what will happen to small businesses like commercial collection agencies? Can the government provide a fallback for these people?

The public is clamoring for government assistance and an assurance that with the unemployment trend, Australian jobs will not go to overseas workers. And that’s another problem going against their favor.

We have received confirmation yesterday that our rental application has been approved. The planned move is next week and there are so many little details that need to be ironed out. Despite that, we’re happy that we finally got a major task done and that is securing a new place for us.

We felt a bit nervous after we received the custom congratulatory message from our new agent. We have lived in a unit (condo type) for seven years and we are keeping an open mind about the responsibilities that go with living in a house. The effort to maintain it, responsibility in clearing the grass (thankfully, grass clippers don’t look complicated as industrial clamps) and even throwing out the trash. Overall, we are excited and we look forward to new adventures.

As soon as I learned that I was pregnant, I spent a good deal of time reading about many topics that are pregnancy-related. It is just nice that these days, the Internet has become one of the best sources of information, of course with care on which website to trust. My favorite websites are what I call “mommy-sites” that are very helpful for would-be moms.

Aside from the articles, product reviews, nursery must-haves, most of these websites provide an avenue for fellow moms-to-be to virtually meet. Usually, there are forums for sharing experiences, giving advice and at times even photo-sharing. In most cases, certain issues (mostly emotional) that pregnant women or new moms go through are addressed after reading through similar cases in the forum.

Most mommy-sites offer free registration and provide freebies to eligible members. Some hold pregnancy or baby contests to keep the enthusiasm of the moms. Also, the information these websites provide cover not only the pregnancy stage but up to teenage years. Now, that’s just like have a user manual for rearing children. Ha!

I have kept active memberships in two of the most popular parenting websites. Their periodic newsletters are very useful now that I’m raising an unpredictable yet lovable toddler.

When I first heard about energy deregulation, I didn’t know what it means and how it will impact us as consumers. Then I learned that deregulation addresses the issue of monopoly when it comes to providing services. This means that consumers are empowered to choose the company and specific services they need and want.

For example, Cirro Energy is just one of the many electricity providers in Texas. They provide cheap and reliable electricity for residential areas. There is also an energy alternative that is environment-friendly because its pollution free and it’s called Green Mountain Energy. However, there is a premium in switching to this service. Gexa Energy, on the other hand, is one of the most competitive electric companies in the same state. They compete very well with Cirro Energy and Green Mountain Energy.

It is surprising to know why there are so many electric companies in one state alone. I wondered what makes one different from the other. Well, the way they ‘package’ their services are different. One company offers low rates but with usage limits (or quota). Another provider charges more at certain times of the day. That’s why it is very important to study the services through Texas Electric Rate before signing up or switching to another company.

The customer service representative from the software company emailed me back regarding my payment inquiry for my Photoshop order. The email says that bank to bank payments require clearing for three days and that I should check on the order status by Oct 23. Whew! That’s a relief to know. That only means I will receive my package next week! A few days short of my expected delivery date but that’s okay. At least I can relax now knowing that my online purchase is going smoothly so far.

I’m planning to sign-up for my fourth domain. It will not be used for pa1d blogging but for photography. I currently have a photo gallery with Smugmug and a photo blog but I would like them to be used for my personal photos, such as those of my family and friends. With that I’m thinking of getting a different web host so that I won’t be solely dependent on my current host. Not that I’m unhappy with them or that their inefficient. It’s just that I would also like to try another company.

It’s so nice that I can check on reviews about web hosting rating on the Internet. I can choose upfront from their list of Top 10 Best Web Hosting Providers. If I want to go to specifics, I can also check for the best blog hosting or best budget hosting provider. But I’m leaning towards a host that has Cpanel installed. It is still is the most user-friendly control panel on earth! That means I have Bluehost or Hostmonster in my shortlist.

Thanks to the guys behind webhostingrating.com. They are doing a great job providing bloggers like me with very useful web hosting information. Go on, check out their site.

I was monitoring my online order for my Photoshop software yesterday and was surprised that the payment status remained “Waiting for payment”. I made a bank to bank transfer because that’s the fastest way and that paying via credit card or paypal will entail additional costs. I felt nervous a bit and left a quick note on their contact page to inquire about this. I hope everything goes smoothly. I will check with them again midday today.

Three of my high school friends in the US managed to find each other through a social networking site. They have met a couple of times already and they’re so glad to have connected again. Nowadays, there are many ways to keep in touch with family and friends. Aside from the Internet, there are other means to check for contact details like phone numbers and that is through nationwide phone lookup.

To date, I have over 6,000 Entrecard points and I don’t know what to do with all of it! He he. Two of my blogger friends launched blog contests and used their EC points as prizes. Now I’m thinking of a contest myself. Acck! It’s so hard to be creative in this area! Ideas are welcome! Thank you.

What better way to increase one’s vocabulary than by using a vocabulary software from vocaboly.com. From an extensive database of words and definitions, there are also tests and games that make learning words fun. The website offers a free trial download where you can access all of the software’s functions. It is interesting to note that this program has been awarded by the Shareware Industry Awards for Best Educational software. If my daughter shows interest in learning bigger words someday, I’ll definitely consider this educational program or games for her.

Guess what?  I finally dropped my order of a real-deal Photoshop software last night!  Woot!  I had second thoughts at first because it is my first time to purchase software online but I did quick checks about the company on the net and customer feedbacks are favorable.  I hope to receive the box later this week!  I can’t wait!