Web Hosting....Maybe Soon!

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

Often I think that I need to move from blogger and have my site hosted. I do love blogger but when I look at opportunities on the web, web hosting would open that up for me. It is something I have been debating for the past year. It is still under review. It is something I know I will eventually get around to doing. There are so many hosting sites that you really do need to do the homework to figure it all out. I know I will need to do mine. With the help of web hosting rating you can compare and study the different hositng sites out there. This site is great because it allows you to do an easy comparison of sites all in one place. Prices are there as well as the features that each offers.

Another great feature of the site is that it is an independent site providing the rating for the top 10 hosting companies on the web. There are even customer reviews from real people telling what they like about each service. Even what they dislike about the service. They look at standings in customer service, technical support and reliability, just to name a few. It will make the decision about what hosting company to use much easier. You do not have to search the web for each company and do your own comparison.

If just doing a comparison of different companies is not enough and you really need more indepth information, there are articles and tutorials to help with your basic understanding of the whole "hosting" concept. This is where I am in my decision. I need to read all about it and see exactly how it all works. Check out this article section for a wealth of information. I really liked this post on tips for choosing a domain name. I have already looked and some versions of "hodgepodger" are already taken. Just a few months ago they were still open so some others have beat me to the punch. Maybe if I had seen these comparisons sooner I might have been able to finalize my decision to host or not to host.

So, if you are thinking about web hosting, check out this site first. It will clear the web hosting fog and make things crystal clear! Web Hosting Rating has been around since 2002 providing this service to the web.

Dinner is Served!

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

Now this is an interesting piece of news. I saw where rat meat is now in serious demand in some Asian places like Vietman and Thailand. They have always been eating rats there but now due to inflation, the demand is increasing and the price is going higher for it. Here is a short clip from the article:

The price of rat meat has quadrupled in Cambodia this year as inflation has put other meat beyond the reach of poor people, officials said on Wednesday.

With consumer price inflation at 37 percent according to the latest central bank estimate, demand has pushed a kilogram of rat meat up to around 5,000 riel (69 pence) from 1,200 riel last year.

Spicy field rat dishes with garlic thrown in have become particularly popular at a time when beef costs 20,000 riel a kg.

Full story. I do not think I could eat a rat or a mouse. It is because when I was in elementary, middle and high school, I had these animals as pets. My mother was a teacher and had hampsters and mice in her classroom as pets. During the summer all these animals came home and we kept them as pets. We had gerbils and ginny pigs also. Small rodents as food? I could never eat them. They are pets to me. Sacred. Pets....not to be eaten. If I were in a desperate, survival situation, it might be a different story. But trust me. It would be the ultimate, very last resort.

Streaming

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

My toe hurts. Why?
Sleep. I need more but can't sleep. Why can't I just go to bed. That seems so hard now.
My toe hurts. Like someone is sticking a pin in the skin next to my big toe. Left foot.
Why am I hungry and thinking of food at 1:29 AM?
Look. Here is a big bowl of butter beans and smoked turkey wings at 1:29 AM.
It is hot and that fan is not doing anything.
Butterflies.
My lower back just cracked. That has been doing that recently. I wonder why.
Do I now need to go to the bathroom. That necessary evil. Gets old quick.
Yawn.
Harry Chrishna...Harry Chrishna.
The dog looks so cute.
Fold up like a bat and sleep.

5 Comes Early

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

Five comes early.
Five comes early when you can't sleep.
Why? Just anxious about the day or stressed about bills to pay.
Sleep is always just out of reach, sitting over there having a cup of tea.
It looks at me from time to time, looking at it's watch......waiting for five.
Five comes early.

Five comes early when it is three and sleep finally decides to get into bed with you.
Tea? It has had enough tea. It wants to sleep.
Sleep. Sleep. Sleep.
It wants to sleep and sleep past five.
Five comes early when you go to sleep at three.
Sleep fights at five. Why?
Because.
Five comes early.

Five comes early as you roll out of bed wondering if you ever really slept.
Dreamless, haunted and lifeless, the day begins.
Sleep taunts you all throughout the day.
It snubs it's nose at five. It wants to stay and stay it does. All day.
Five comes.
Five comes early.

Five.
Comes.
Early.

Christmas IS Coming!

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

I have been in several stores recently and since July I have seen Halloween decorations out. In August the Christmas ornaments and decorations have been out. I think that in recent years it has become common place for Halloween and Christmas "retail thoughts" to be placed in the forefront of our minds as early as July. Seems a bit early, but that is the way of our retail economy these days. For me the shopping season really does not begin until the day after Thanksgiving....Black Friday. In past years I have been that shopper who arrived at the mall at 4:00 AM with my lawn chair and thermos of coffee. That was great fun! Last Thanksgiving, I was in the great throng of people at one of my local outlet malls that opened at midnight, Thanskgiving night. It was me and about 3,000 other people standing in line at the Coach store for an hour in line, just to get at those sales. That was great fun too.

It has not always been great fun shopping in the rush and crowds on Black Friday. I do recall a few years when I was not into shopping at all. What will black friday 2008 be for me? I plan to be out there this year with lawn chair and coffee! If you are not into all that shopping frenzy, there is now a way to avoid all the hassle and shop from home with just a click of your mouse. You will still be able to get the deals without going to the malls. How? IBlackFriday. They actually have the ads and deals from the retail stores posted on line before anyone else, so you get the benefit of the special deals, just like everyone else. They even have exclusive online coupons that will allow for bigger savings via ecouponcodes.com.

I am a big fan of Costco. They are just one of the many merchants with a listing of all the specials that will be available on Black Friday 2008. Just look at the specials coming up for this year. Be sure to check out the coupon tab as well. There are special percentage off coupons that will make your dollar stretch just a little furthur this year. Yeah! I am getting ready. I might just do some online shopping myself this year. I could do both. If my online savings will be greater that stalking out stores in the mall, I know what I will have to do. Christmas IS coming! So get ready....pack that lawn chair and thermos of coffee in the car. 5 AM on Black Friday is just around the corner. If your alarm does not go off...you have not missed out. Just log on and shop till you drop on IBlackFriday. There are great deals to be had there as well.

Disclosure

Close to Home

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

I was listening to the news tonight and I heard some alarming news about a business about 5 minutes away from me, right near our local mall. There is a woman, from Romania or Bulgaria or Hungary or some place near those countries who has had a business as a fortune teller about 5 minutes away near our local mall. Apparently 2 males went into her business about 8:30 Saturday night demanding money. The woman resisted and was shot in the face. No word on if she lived or died. The 2 men got away.

Now, I do not know this woman personally. I just know of her. I used to work at the mall back in 1994-1996 and that was when I became aware of who she was. I worked in the fragrance and cosmetic section and she was always in there shopping and RETURNING many things she bought. She was scary and looked like a gypsy...dark clothes, accent and very mysterious. When ever she came to my counter, I helped her but I was always wigged out by her. I think she knew it because she always gave me very strange looks. By strange looks I mean STRANGE!!!

She would complete her shopping and leave by the mall entrance. When she got about 2 stores away she would stop in her tracks, turn around and look at me. It was weird because I may have been with another customer, cleaning, whatever...I would just have the urge to look up and out into the mall and she would be there, standing, looking straight at me. FREAKY! Since that time I have seen her on and off in the malls or the grocery store or the outlet stores. I would go the other way. She still freaked me out after all this time.

I just saw her twice this week. I saw her in the grocery store on Monday night and on Wednesday I saw her shopping in the outlet store standing within 2 feet of me. Now I hear this tonight and it is alarming. I hope she will be alright. Given my interaction with her in the past during returns when I was working in the mall in the 1990's, I can see her resisting. These days with kids, it is not the best option. They have no regard for life. I live in the suburbs and where her business and home was is also in the suburbs in a nice area. The mall is in a nice area also, so this is crime that is too close to home.

The problem is that people from the poorest parts of town have discovered this area of the suburbs. They have discovered the mall that for the most part was tucked away, safe in the suburbs. Some of them have actually moved here due to the addition of free housing now allowed in some apartment complexes. Crime is creeping into my neck of the woods.

Coffee Wars Continue

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

Well, there seems to be no end to the coffee wars here at work. What is the thing to do so that you do not have to make another pot of coffee for our office....leave 2 cups. Never take the last 2 cups. We all have to have travel mugs so that the carpet does not get messed up. So leaving 2 cups will fill one travel mug. This morning I made 2 pots. Someone had left the last 2 cups and I took in when I came in, so that was the first pot.

The big boss filled his mug and just left the pot. I guess we little minions can't tell him to make a pot. I made another. And can we say how disgusting it is to hear someone slurping coffee???? Who drinks like that? Only one person in this office and today I could take it no more. I told her to stop slurping her coffee. She then asked me if I had a problem with her. I told her no. I had no problem with her. I told her I had a problem with her etiquette. She just looked at me. She slurped on. The war continues.

Trunk Secrets

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

My car trunk has had a secret for the past year and a half. It has been the home of my wine and other spirits. When my father died, I felt reluctant to pour all my wine, vodka and Canadian club down the drain because I had no where to put it when I moved in with my mother. She does not drink and does not allow any alcohol in her home. My father was a alcoholic who never took a drink as long as I can remember. He stopped drinking before I was born.

Where and what could I do with it? It was all packed up in boxes and I simply left those boxes in my trunk for the past year and a half. I wondered if the bottle would survive the extremes in cold and heat of the seasons. Well, I just moved into my own place again and out came the bottles. Celebration! They all seem intact. I have not tried any wine to see if the taste was still good. I am just glad that the trunk has given up it's secrets.

I was always fearful of being stopped for some reason and the trunk was inspected. What would be the outcome? Would those bottles be counted as open containers because they were bottles in varying degrees of fullness?

I am just glad it is over! I am free to have a glass of wine again. The trunk has finally given up it's secrets!

Financial Pickles

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

Many, many years ago when I was very young and in my first year of college, I got my very first checking account and a cedit card. In my family money matters were always a secret. Why? I could never understand. We were the average middle class family who lived in the suburbs. So, I do not to this day understand why my mother acted like we were people with so much money that it was a secret and we could not talk about it. If I tried to bring things up about money and finances, I was told that it was none of my business. You can imagine what I learned about money and how to manage it....Absolutely NOTHING from my parents. So starting out I had lots of problems, floundering and trying to figure it all out. Balancing a checkbook and having enough money to pay the credit card was some mystical mystery that I could never figure out. It was very frustrating.

I remember that first year, when there was no more money in my account and things were bouncing, I went to my father for Credit card debt help and figuring out how to really balance my checkbook. I was never sure what was in the account. He finally sat down with me and showed me how to balance it. Once. Soon after that I forgot to write 2 checks down, they bounced and I was in the same mess again. I got behind in those card payments and at a very young age my credit was not so good. I eventually got things in line. I did a hand written budget and wrote down every penny that I spent.

This of course was way before Al Gore discovered the internet so there was no on line help like that at bills.com. I looked over the site and it is the place to start if you are overwhelmed by your current or even past financial pickle. It will not get any better unless you do something about it. The bills will not go away! There you can explore your options, establish and plan and then begin to pay your creditors. The site is even a wealth of information as they have information on mortgages, insurance, credit and loans.

They can even help you decide the best option for repaying your debt. Whether it be credit couseling, debt consolidation or a settlement, bills.com can help you get out the mess you are in. They can help. Check out the testimonials. It is a site designed for us...to help us learn about finances and making them better. So check out the site. It will be to your betterment. Financial stress is the worst stress to have. Do something to get rid of it. Bills.com wil help you get rid of your financial pickle.

Disclosure

Something Really Scary

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

"I Robot" is not just a movie anymore. Scientists have developed a robot that has feelings. Does this not scare anyone else out there? This new robot can feel happy or sad based on our reaction to it. In addition, it has a heart that can beat and it can breathe also. Scary...really. He looks like a small child in this picture, all wrapped around this handler.

Coffee Wars

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

For the past week the coffee wars have raged in the office. It is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. It all began about a week and a half ago when someone in the front office drank the last of the coffee in the pot and did not make a new pot. The time was about 9am so coffee drinking was in full force by all. The women in the admin office went to the break room and saw that and it was on. Next thing I see is them walking around the office with the empty coffee pot acusing everyone, one by one of drinking the last cup and not making a new pot. The cultprit was found out and since that day, if the coffee gets low, most people go around telling everyone that there is enough for about 1 more cup before a new pot will need to be made.

Well, then the entire process of how you make you cup of coffee has become part of the war. Who is it that carelessly leaves sugar all over the silver tray for others to clean up? Noone confesses to this so people now watch every one when they leave the coffee area and women swarm in to see if there is sugar on the tray....if so that person is called out. Then, who is it that leaves the coffee dingleberries in the sugar.....not rinsing the spoon before putting it in the sugar causing drops of coffee to harden into hard, tan balls in the sugar? Who is not rinsing the spoon? Who is not turning the spoon over so that coffee or water does not pool in the middle of the spoon? Water will cause clear coffee dignleberries in the sugar. It is just plain ridiculous.

Three hours of each morning is spent calling out in the halls, or from office to office on the status of coffee levels in the pot, who was the last in, who just got a cup, who rinsed the community stirring spoon, who did not, who let the coffee dingleberries in the sugar this morning and then the clear ones? Will it never end?

You would think we had no work to do. We are all consumed with the status of coffee. My god! What is this world coming to?

40-itis Eyes

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

When I reached my early 40's things began to happen physically. Suddenly. I noticed all sorts of changes, especially with my eyes. My eye doctor called it 40-itis. He said that when everyone hits their 40's, 40-itis takes over and it had taken over my eyes. Suddenly for the very first time I needed glasses. That was 8 years ago when I got my first pair. Every two years since I have gotten a new pair. The prescription has not changed much but the styles sure have. It has been about 3 years since I got a new pair and it is time for a new pair as well as an exam.

My job has changed and so has the health coverage as it relates to eye wear. Now I need to find some nice, but affordable eyewear. Where do you turn for glasses? Well there are lots of places to investigate and I found that Zenni Optical was a good place to start to look for new eyeglasses. I wear bifocals, no line and they took awhile to get used to in the beginning. After checking out the site, I was impressed with what was there. The prices are economical with some glasses starting out at a cost of $8.00. Who can beat that? There is a great selection of frames to choose from. So many it will take a while to look at them all.

There is a health care crisis going on now and with so many people not having access to various kinds of care that they need, Zenni Optical is one place that can help. The "underinsured", the elderly and just anyone on a budget would benefit from checking out the prices. After looking thru the styles I found these that I like very much and they are only $29.95.

You have many other options as well like prescription or not, tinted, progressive, bifocals and more. The prices are economical because there is not a middle man. The company works directly with the manufacturers to offer their own brand of glasses. Offering quality products at great prices is what Zenni is all about. They were even recommended by The Clark Howard Show, so be sure to check that out as well. So, if 40-itish is upon you and you are in need of fashionable but affordable eye wear, check out Zenni Optical. They may have some options for you.

Disclosure

Bernie Mack Dies at 50

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.



What a shocker. I just cannot believe that Bernie Mack is gone. I have watched his show and just loved it. It will be a sad day in the comedy world for a long time. Bernie Mack was the man! He was one of the original Kings of Comedy. After reading many articles on line, I saw where he had sarcoidosis. This is an inflammation disease that can pop up anywhere in the body. My mother has it. She has had it for a while now. She had had flare ups in her throat and face. He face got lumpy with little cysts bursting through the skin and her throat was so swollen that she thought she had bad tonsils. She is okay for now. She was very scared today when she she saw he had what she has.

Bernie...you will be missed by he world. My condolences to your family.

Man Beheads Passenger on Bus

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

This was a terrible and most odd story. What is the world coming to?

Terrified passengers on a Greyhound Canada bus travelling on the
Trans-Canada Highway stood by helpless Thursday as a man repeatedly stabbed and then beheaded a young fellow passenger.The attack shocked the other 35
passengers on board, some of which were children, including one just six years
old, as it appeared to spring from nowhere.

The man responsible appeared normal
and had been sharing a cup of tea at a stop prior to going into a stabbing
frenzy. He had boarded the bus about an hour before the attack.The youth
attacked, who appeared to witnesses to be about 19, was sleeping at the time. It
is not known if the two knew each other, but first indications are that it was a
random attack.The Greyhound bus was driving west of Portage la Prairie, in
Manitoba on Wednesday night when the attack occurred.'There was a bloodcurdling
scream. I was just reading my book, and all of a sudden, I heard it,' Garnet
Caton, who was sitting in front of the two men, told Canadian TV network, CBC.
'It was like something between a dog howling and a baby crying, I guess you
could say,' Caton said. 'I don't think it will leave me for a while.'

The bus jerked to a halt when the stabbing commenced. Passengers then fled the bus before returning to block the exit of the attacker. A truck driver stopped and
lent assistance.Caton, the bus driver, and the trucker re-boarded the bus to
check on the victim."When we came back on the bus, it was visible at the end of
the bus he was cutting the guy's head off and pretty much gutting him up," Caton
told CBC.The attacker ran at them, Caton said, and they ran out of the bus,
holding the door shut as he tried to slash at the trio.When the attacker tried
to drive the bus away, the driver disabled the vehicle, he said."While we were
watching the door, he calmly walks up to the front with the head in his hand and
the knife and just calmly stares at us and drops the head right in front of us,"
said Caton.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police crisis teams, including negotiators,
negotiated with the suspect, believed to be a 40-year-old man, for several hours
while he was on the bus. Around 1:30am he attempted to jump from a bus window
and was subdued and arrested, the RCMP said.The man is now in the custody of the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Manitoba, an RCNP spokesman said. The spokesman
said he had yet to be charged.The bus was travelling from Edmonton, Alberta, to
Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was about 45 minutes from its destination when the
attack occurred, Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh in Dallas, Texas
said.Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said that like most
Canadians, he was horrified to hear witness accounts of the homicide."The
horrific nature of it is probably one of a kind in Canadian history," he told
reporters late Thursday morning in Levis, Que.Greyhound Canada is the largest
provider of intercity bus transportation in Canada, serving nearly 700
communities and facilitating 1,000 daily departures across the country.