Month: January 2008

me

I am SO getting this.

A Confession: I was raised in a home where we drove old clunker cars. Used from the “git-go”. I’ve never owned a brand-new-just-drove-it-off-the-lot vehicle in my entire 38 years of life. And I’ve always said it didn’t matter and that I wouldn’t want to waste the money you lose from driving it off the lot. (merely a justification to make myself feel better) I really, really want the new Chrysler 2008 Town and Country Limited Edition in Black. Like, seriously.

It has some of the coolest features. Stow and go seating, swivel buckets in the back (hearkening back to the days of the conversion van, eh?)…I can just see my kids in the back now:

It also has remote start, heated first and second row seats (sorry child in the back, you’re out of luck!), luxury leather seats (as opposed to just plain old leather), a rear back up camera (hello!?), and Siruis satellite system. Of course, I don’t really need all of those things, but heck, that’s what makes it so special.

Watch for me one day soon…’cause I am sooo getting this:

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techy/internet, works for me wed

wfmw – thou shalt love thy commenters

Do you blog on the Blogger platform? Did you know that your commenters don’t get “credit” from Technorati or any of the other major ranking sites because Blogger has a “do not follow” policy they build right into their templates? What that basically means is that your commenters don’t get credit for linking their name to your blog. For shame!

There is a movement going on in the blogging community you may not be aware of. It’s called the “U comment, I Follow”. Randa Clay sums it up best:

Almost all blog platforms by default are set up so that a “dead end” piece of code is inserted wherever there is a link in a comment, so that search engines will not “count” the link as they are crawling the internet. This was originally designed to help stop comment spam, but it doesn’t work. What it does is remove some of the incentive for your readers contribute to your site by commenting on your posts.

What can you do about it? Turn off “nofollow”. Show your commenters that you appreciate them. Spread the link love.

Randa also has a variety of buttons you can save and use on your site to show you are comment friendly. In addition, I’ve found a website that explains in very SIMPLE and concrete terms how to remove the “no follow” from your blog template. I was able to do it with no problems whatsoever. One very important side note – BACK UP YOUR BLOG TEMPLATE before doing anything. That way, if for some crazy reason, it goes wonky, you still have your original code saved on your computer.

And feel free to leave a comment, ’cause you’ll definitely get credit for it with me! Be sure to head on over and see Shannon @ Rocks in My Dryer for more Works for Me Wednesday tips!

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me

Am I weird or what?

I was tagged for this meme by Emily @ The Sassy Lime and although I’ve done it before, I have many bizarre and totally weird quirks that I have yet to share with you. So, in the interest of keeping it real and having integrity, I now present you with 7 totally weird and random facts about myself:

1. I shave my toes. ‘Cause they’re hairy.

2. Sometimes, when no one is looking and I need a chocolate fix, I squirt a big old bunch of Hershey’s chocolate syrup right into my mouth. ‘Cause I like to.

3. I wear socks to bed year round. ‘Cause my feet get cold.

4. I smell everything before I eat it. ‘Cause if it stinks, I don’t want it in my mouth.

5. I wear p*nty liners every day, not just at that time. ‘Cause I have to…or every time I laugh, I’d pee my pants. And I really, really like to laugh.

6. I like to squeeze my husband’s blackheads. I have no explanation for this and I’m horrified that I just admitted that to the entire blog-reading world.

7. I had three sets of eyeteeth when I was a kid. Does that help you forget #6?

Okay, it’s your turn.

The Rules –

  • Link to the person who tagged you and leave a comment on their blog so that their readers can visit yours.
  • Post the rules on your blog.
  • Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
  • Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, linking to their blogs.
  • Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Of course, anyone who reads my blog KNOWS I never follow the rules, so consider yourself tagged if you read this. And I expect you to play nicely and put your URL in the comments so I can read yours. By the way, did you know that if you comment on my blog that it will help your Technorati score? I’ll tell you how tomorrow!

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business

Profits are Better Than Wages

In addition to homeschooling two of our three kids, part of what I do in our business is educate people on the economy and money. I am by no means an expert, but over the last couple of years, I have learned a thing or two. One of the most interesting things I have studied is the concept of capitalism.

Capitalism is one thing colleges don’t teach young people about. What is the first thing that parents and even teachers tell you regarding college? “Study hard, get your degree so you can get a good ____” Job. Right. A good job. That’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one, right there. Before you think I’m against going to college, let me assure you that is not the case. College teaches kids how to see something through to the end, but it doesn’t necessarily teach them skills they will need to succeed in life.

Case in point: in 1900, only 5-10% of people actually worked for someone else, the other 90-95% were business owners or worked for themselves. Today, we find the opposite. So we only have 5-10% of people working for themselves? Everyone else works for someone else? That’s right. And let me explain why I think that’s not necessarily a good thing. Capitalism wasn’t designed for employees – it was designed for the business owner.

There are only two ways to make money in capitalism:

  1. Wages — hourly, salary, or commission.
    • This is how 95% of the population gets paid.
    • Your worth is determined by your employer.

    or…

  2. Profits — Revenue – Expenses = Profits. There are only two ways to get profits up:
    • Increase the money coming in or
    • Decrease expenses.

So if I go to work for someone else, I get stuck being an expense for them. What is one of the things employers have to do to turn a profit? Keep expenses down, right? So if the cost of electricity goes up (or fuel), where is the employer going to be looking to cut expenses? They can’t control the cost of electricity or fuel, but they can control how much they pay me and how often I get to work.

So think about which side you are on. How much control do you really have? How much control would you like to have?

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Uncategorized

Told you I was geographically challenged.

I once memorized all the countries and continents when I was in Mr. Holcomb’s 7th grade geography class. I drew and color-coded a map of the world for my final project in his class, in which I made a “A”. So at one time, I knew something about geography.

But times change and apparently so do countries. I love the internet, though. It allows me to realize just how much I need to brush up on my geography before I start trying to teach it to my kids, but it does it with really awesomely cool games like this.

It took me 3 tries just to make it to the second round and when I finally made it to the 3rd, I scored a paltry 61,860. How did you do? Leave it in the comments.

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me

Maybe I’ll get to take a bath while I’m there…

My master bathtub is cuh-racked and I haven’t been able to use it for about 8 months now. I’ve been schlepping my things back and forth betwixt my bath and the guest bath for so long I finally just started putting them in my travel bag. Yes, I’ve been living out of a travel bag for about 6 months now. We can’t fix it — it will have to be replaced, so says my brother. I have options, of course. I could always bathe in one of these:
But I’m not nearly as small as those gals. Nor as cute. We have found out that a new tub (it’s a garden tub) will run us around $800 and that’s just not anywhere in the budget right now…you see, we’re in a lean season in our lives and budget $800 for something as silly as a bathtub when we have another perfectly good shower we can use? Nah. Of course, if I had my druthers (that’s Southern speak for “choice”) I would have a tub like this:
Since that’s just not going to happen anytime this month, we’re off to the big city to stay in a nice room and meet with some nice folks and have good conversation…all so I can have a much-anticipated bath. Okay, okay, it’s a business trip — but that’s okay – I like business trips. They make me feel like a grown-up, a refreshing change after spending most of my days at home with the kids. And we’re staying at one of my favorite hotels (the kind that has a concierge, valet parking, and a fancy dining room), and I get to sleep in a king size bed with no little feet doing karate chops to my neck in the middle of the night. So it’s all good. Doesn’t it just look romantic?
And maybe, just maybe…I’ll get to take a bath while I’m there…

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