Go Daddy Deal

I bought the domain name thehotdogtruck.com from GoDaddy. They're the domain name registrar with the racy Super Bowl Ads. I hear their ad for this Sunday's game has already been censored due to a reference to a "beaver." Apparently a juxtiposition of this

With this


gets the NFL in a tizzy. Go Daddy will have babes in their Superbowl Commercial, but no beavers.

Anyway, I bought a few domain names tonight. Usually it's $9.95 a year to register a domain name with GoDaddy. If you use this special coupon code cjcdeal12 you can get three bucks off each domain name.

DON'T FORGET

If you are buying a domain name from GoDaddy, use THIS COUPON CODE: cjcdeal12 when you are checking out and SAVE THREE BUCKS.

NEW LOCATION

A month and a half of phone calls and searching has FINALLY yielded me a NEW LOCATION!!!! I am finalizing the details this Friday, February 1 and I will post the address and particulars then. The new spot is not too far from my old spot and I am delighted to be there!

Now I will go out and purchase a new hot dog truck or trailer-this is the fun part! Whatever I acquire, it will be a lot nicer than the junky old hot dog truck I have been operating for the past three years. Whether I get a trailer or a truck, I will be able to take it to events on weeknights and weekends; the hotdogman will be truly mobile!

I plan on opening Monday, March 3, weather permitting.

Stay tuned.......

Web Hosting Choices

A friend of mine wants me to put a website together for his Restaurant Management Recruiting business. I am more than happy to help him out as he's the president of HDTOAS (Hot Dog Truck Operator's Assistance Society). He wants some specific features, like a forum as he wants his potential customers to tell their tales of experiences with various restaurant chains etc.

What works for me and the Hot Dog Truck might not work for him. I have a Little League site that has other needs and is hosted in a different spot. Each website owner has many choices to make with where to register a domain, where to host, bandwidth needs and so on. A site called web hosting choice is a great resource. They list virtually every option available to the would be website owner so he can make a decision based on his own needs. They compare domain name registrars, web hosting companies and they even tip you off to web hosting scams.

I told my friend to do some searching around on web hosting choice to get a feel for what he wants to spend and what features he wants. Once he's got it narrowed down to a few companies, I'll help him make the final choices.

I'll certainly recommend he DOESN'T REGISTER HIS DOMAIN NAME WITH NETWORK SOLUTIONS. They are stealing domains from people! Don't register a name with Network Solutions!

Still More Inspiration

We went to a place called Cohunu Koala Park on our trip to Australia. It's a place that takes sick and injured koala bears and nurses them back to health. There are also kangaroos that are tame and will literally eat out of your hands. It was a cool way to see some interesting animals up close.

One of the big attractions is you can actually hold a koala bear in your arms! They are such gentle creatures, it was an honor to be able to actually hold one. While the lady wasn't looking, I slipped my Red Sox cap on the little fellow and snapped a picture. The koala lady got a bit miffed, but she was good natured about it.

Anyhoo, I went to big HUGE Labs and made a poster of the photo (that's Mrs. Hotdogman and one of the kids with the koala):

Park West at Sea

I have written about Park West Gallery before. I have purchased art from them at local auctions and on cruise ships. They have the largest collection of art for sale in the world.

The cruise ship auctions are a lot of fun. There's free Champagne and they always give away free prints to the more "colorful" bidders. I once bid a piece of art up to 2 million dollars (at the urging of the auctioneer-he wanted to draw a crowd) and was given a free print for being a good sport.

On our honeymoon we bought some beach themed prints by Lucelle Raad. They go well with our casual look in the living room.

Every month Park West Gallery features an artist. This month it's Arkady Ostritski, a Russian born artist who emigrated to Israel when the walls came down. He paints street scenes and is partial to France. One of his paintings is pictured below.

You can find his work for sale at Park West Gallery or on a cruise ship near you!

More Inspiration

I have been having a ball with the motivational posters over at big HUGE Labs. You can make your own poster there with your own photos. It's loads of fun.

I took a picture of me swimming with a giant sting ray off Rottnest Island in Western Australia and made it into a poster. There were a bunch of these rays around our boat and I swam with them for about an hour. I did NOT swim over them or touch them in any way. They were really cool! Here's the poster:

Getting on Track in 2008

2008 looks to be a good year for the hotdogman. Even though there was some upheaval with the Hot Dog Truck, it will probably work out for the best. As I said in my previous post, a new truck is in the works. I won't have to get a loan to buy it either!

2008 is the year of paying down debt and paying with cash. No more secured loans for me! Even though they're helpful in some cases, I'm paying cash.

We're also going to get rid of our credit cards this year. We'll keep one, for renting cars and buying plane tickets. When we compare credit cards in 2008, we'll be deciding which ones to shred!

2008 looks to be a tough year financially for the US economy, we're not going to let it get us down. After all, people still gotta eat!

New Hot Dog Truck

I have spent the last week or so looking around for a new Hot Dog Truck. I have a location, but I won't announce it just yet-not until I "seal the deal." Once that's done, I'll be getting a NEW HOT DOG TRUCK to better serve the hot dog loving populace. Then I'll get permits and before you know it, I'll be open again!

I even plan to take it on the road to fairs, soccer tournaments etc-details to follow.

Stay tuned...

Military Uniforms

When people think of an online store for military uniforms, they may have visions of the old style military surplus stores that seemed to be in many communities. That's not the case anymore. You don't need to buy surplus military uniforms, you can buy new stuff online.

Lots of cops and military personnel buy additional clothes to wear in the field, over and above the uniforms they're issued. Due to the nature of their work, their clothing has to be able to stand up to rigorous use and lots of wear-it's got to be quality stuff.

You don't need to be in the military to buy military uniforms either. If you like the look of camouflage or if you want the heavy duty functionality built into the clothing, you too can buy military uniforms for your personal use. I like the heavy duty tactical pants myself-lotsa pockets and they last forever-I own two pair.

Check out some military uniforms for yourself.

Chili Dogs

My chili dogs are famous around these parts. People come up to me on the street and tell me they LOVE my chili dogs. One day I sold 5 pounds of chili (that's a LOT) before 11AM! The record for eating chili dogs in one sitting is 7. The guy was a skinny dude-130 pounds tops and he WOOFED them down.

In honor of the great chili dog, I made this motivational poster over at big HUGE Labs.



Go there and make your own!

Blog Your Blessing Sunday XLIII

The Bible is, like the rest of the world we live in, full of beauty and inspiration. It is also full of vengeance and wrath. Take care in the way you may live your life, lest this fate await you.

Ezekiel 7: 7-9

Doom has come upon you—you who dwell in the land. The time has come, the day is near; there is panic, not joy, upon the mountains. I am about to pour out my wrath on you and spend my anger against you; I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. I will not look on you with pity or spare you; I will repay you in accordance with your conduct and the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that it is I the LORD who strikes the blow.

In the days before EBAY

In my youth, the drive in movie theatres typically hosted giant flea markets on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. I guess it was a way for the theater operators to increase revenue. These film shorts were common viewing before the movie got started. I guess this is what people did with their old junk before eBay came around! Note the announcer's statement about "anyone with a garage or closet full of goodies can be a weekend money maker."

The more things change, the more they stay the same!

Oh Deer

As I write this, there are two deer in my backyard. We have a lot of deer in my area and they're more and more visible as more property gets developed. Our "yard" is an acre of woods, so when the dog's not out, we often see deer. Before we got the dog, they'd come right up to the patio. As soon as they hear the back door open, they'll scoot because the dog will charge up the hill and scare them away.

Even though I can look out my window most days and see a deer or two, I still like to check out the Live Deer Cam online. I can look at deer roaming around a hunting preserve in Webb County, TX. The Live Deer Cam even lets me move the camera so I can check out different camera angles to better view the deer.

It's pretty cool. Check out the Live Deer Cam for yourself and see.

How to Start a Hot Dog Business

People are always asking me, "hey Hotdogman, where can I get more information on how to start a hot dog business?" I tell them to go read my story So you wanna be a Hot Dog Man?. That can get folks pointed in the right direction. Lots of people are looking for "nuts and bolts" type of info though.

Here's an ebook I found helpful when I was starting out. I still refer to it now and again (I've read it cover to cover TWICE in the past two weeks). It's worth spending the thirty bucks before you go too deep into the process. It's a bit over the top for running a simple hot dog truck, but there's no BS, unlike some of the other "Start a Hot Dog Business" ebooks out there. Lots of information, business plans, forms, accounting tips and more. Definitely worth the dough!

Click Here to check this ebook out.

Howard Miller Clocks

When I am at my parent's home, I never need to look at my watch. They have multiple clocks in every room. There are mantel clocks, a grandfather clock, wall clocks, cuckoo clocks, atomic clocks and even a nautical clock (it rings a certain number of bells for whatever watch it is aboard ship). It's quite a cacophony every hour with all of them going off!

My mom's pride and joy is her Howard Miller grandfather clock (a facsimile is pictured on the left). If she hadn't made such a big deal about it when she got it, I'd have no way of knowing the brand name. It's a cool clock. Not quite as "old English Castle looking" as your average grandfather clock either.

Someday, I'd like to have a clock like this in my home. With a three year old running around, it isn't practical (or safe-for the clock) at this time. I'd be afraid she'd try to climb it or bang on it with one of her toys. After the recent haircut episode, we worry about leaving her out of eyesight with anything, let alone a $2,500 clock! Perhaps when she's a bit older and we're not so afraid of her "impulses," we'll put a clock like this in our home. I could possibly inherit my mom's Howard Miller grandfather clock someday too.

She likes all the clocks at grammy and grampy's house, but grammy makes sure everything is out of reach or blocked off when she's visiting. Grammy's no fool and she doesn't have the kid around 24-7 like we do, so her Howard Miller grandfather clock is safe. It might even be the baby's someday.

The 15 Minute Dating Blog

I recently wrote a post about online dating and it caught Cindy's eye as she stopped by the Hot Dog Truck for a look see. She runs the 15 Minute Dating Blog, which features "True Dating Horror Stories and Tips from Real People."

This is a funny site. Some of the stories are bittersweet and some are borderline disturbing, but most of them are damned funny!

I get a vicarious thrill/sense of overwhelming relief when I read and hear about the trials and travails of dating. Thank God I don't have to go through that!

Office Deals

Our house is chock full of office products. My wife works in an office and whenever she goes to the office supply store, she "grabs a few things for the house." I can't begin to tell you how many pads of paper, notebooks, three ring binders, file folders and other assorted office products we have lying around the house. Just wait until I try to find a pen though!

We don't need all these office products in our house. We are not an office. That's not to say we don't need things from office supply stores; we do. I just don't want to set the world record for our collection of file folders! Things I buy at the various office supply stores out there include blank cd/dvds, printer ink, printer paper, maybe even a computer.

Now when I need something, I'm checking OfficeDeals.Info BEFORE I buy. They're the website with coupons for all the major online office supply stores. Whether I want some blank discs from Staples or a new computer from Dell, I know OfficeDeals.Info will save me some money on my order with their extensive inventory of online coupons for just about every office product under the sun.

Just don't expect me to buy any file folders.

Reality Check for Bloggers

I was looking at the Pro Blogger site the other day. It's one of these "blogging guru" sites where a guy named Darren Rowse, who has been blogging for quite a while and earns a nice living from it, shares his wisdom and gives advice about making money with blogs. He wrote an article that all bloggers with a thought of getting rich with a blog should read. It's called A Reality Check about Blogging for Money.

As for me, I started my blog as a lark and stumbled on a ton of “make money blogging” sites. Most of them are the same recycled junk that puts unrealistic expectations into the heads of blogging newbies. I wanted to make some extra money though, so I persevered.

The best bit of advice (spouted by numerous “pro bloggers”) was “create good content.” It’s the old “if you build it they will come” theory. Steve Pavlina wrote a great article on How to Build a High Traffic Website (or Blog) that I constantly refer to for "inspiration."

Another thing I learned along the way is just “building it” isn’t enough. You need eyeballs-lots of them- and you need to convert the eyeballs to regular readers. I did all the SEO stuff I could figure out and I’ve managed to make anywhere from $750-$1000 per month for the past 6 months or so.

I am not getting rich, but I paid for my kid’s braces, some daycare expenses, a bunch of domain names, an attorney’s bill, some Christmas presents and a new memory card for my computer. And I still have money rolling in every month. This site is paying for a trip to Las Vegas in April!

It sure beats having a part time job and it’s a lot of fun.

Would I like to make $250,000 a year blogging? HELL YES, sign me up. Maybe someday I will. In the meantime, I’ll continue having some fun and having a chunk of extra cash around every month. If you want to make money blogging, remember one thing: it IS WORK-nothing comes easy, but it can be done!

Fast Business Cash

As a small businessman, I ALWAYS need cash. Whether it's for a new piece of equipment, supplies, advertising or just a "cushion," sometimes cash flow isn't there and it needs a boost. Getting Fast Business Cash isn't always easy. There are a lot of options-like equipment leasing-but if cash is what I need, it can be challenging.

There's a new way to get Fast Business Cash that is growing in popularity. It's based on credit card receipts. Basically, you borrow money and the lender gets paid by deducting a portion of the debt directly from your daily credit card processing receipts. It's all done electronically, so there's no bill payment notices or any late fees to worry about.

Merit Capital Advance offers this type of Fast Business Cash loan. They can usually have cash in your hands in 24-48 hours.

You've got to love this: you borrow money based on money you'll be paid by customers who are borrowing money to pay for your goods or services. What a Country!

Screen Cleaner

You know how you get dust and dirt on your flat computer screen or laptop screen? I have been searching for ways to get it off safely and easily. I have used eyeglass cleaning pads , paper towels, even "special" computer screen cleaning wipes.

I am always on the hunt for something better, so I did some searching today and found a number of screen cleaners. You can find a good one HERE.

Prime Dating Sites

As a happily married hotdogman, I don't need an internet dating service. I didn't when I met my wife: we met in a BAR! She was a bartender, I was a single dad. She rubbed my shoulders one night at the bar and the rest is history.

We know a lot of single people-some who never married and some who have been divorced. They're all "lookin' for love" in some shape or form and we often here their dating horror stories. Usually after a night of listening to tales of woe, we feel so lucky to have each other that a certain level of passion ensues.

That's why I like to go out with our single friends!

I feel bad sometimes, it must suck to be alone. It can be hard to meet singles of quality, especially since most of us get pickier as we get older. I had one gal tell me a few weeks ago that she wants a "nice man" to date. That's pretty broad. She'd need to be more specific if she created an online dating profile.

I should tell our single friends about Prime Dating Sites. That's a website that reviews internet dating service websites so folks who are looking for love can figure out which site meets their dating goals. Yahoo Personals may work for one person who wants to choose from a large pool of potential dates while Match.com may be better for the person looking for a more serious relationship and those looking for a "fling" might be better off with Friend Finder.

I suppose it's worth the time to compare internet dating services BEFORE filling out a bunch of different profiles, I'm just glad I don't have to do it!

Weekly Update

This week's update is more of the same. Nothing CONCRETE to report yet. I will say that I have a couple of locations for the Hot Dog Truck in the works. I am also seriously considering another "storefront" location. I am at the point where I need to pull the trigger on something.

I will say this: If I get a new location for the Hot Dog Truck, I will be acquiring a NEW Hot Dog Truck and will be offering my services for events, private parties and the like.

As always, I will keep my hot dog loving fans informed, so STAY TUNED......

Medical Insurance

As a small businessman, one thing that is always at the back of my mind is medical insurance. It can be very expensive for an individual or a small business person. Usually the smaller the group, the higher the insurance rate. I am lucky my wife works for a big company and our family medical insurance is pretty reasonable.

Getting a free medical insurance quote is an important first step when starting a business venture because it is an important (and usually large) part of your fixed cost analysis. BUPA International is a company that can give you coverage for you and your family OR your business. Aside from information about their medical insurance products, they have a pretty extensive library of information about medical conditions.

BUPA is a global insurer and they provide coverage for people living and traveling abroad. Getting hospitalized in a foreign country would be scary enough. Not having insurance could make it a real nightmare! That's why they offer Expat Health Insurance in their portfolio.

No matter what kind of medical insurance you need, it pays to get all the facts about your different coverage options. Shop around and know your options. Your family's health is too important.

Humor Blogs

In my continuing evaluation of sidebar widgets, I took a look at Humor Blogs today. It's a referral type widget that puts "funny" blog links into a little box in the sidebar. If you scroll down and see the widget, click on one or two of the sites for a widget.

Even though the widget is only sending 3 visitors a month on average, I'm going to stick with it. I've only had it for three months and I am convinced that if I am funnier in the coming months, the numbers will go up!

Disposable Wedding Camera

We were looking at lots of old photos and videos of the family during the Christmas season and we came across a box of wedding pictures we had our guests take with disposable wedding cameras we provided for them. These are the best pictures! The candid, relaxed moments (many of them quite funny) are much more enjoyable than the formal wedding photos. I hadn't even looked at them for 10 years! Needless to say, our guests haven't seen them at all.

It's too bad, because folks would get a real kick out of a lot of these pictures. Part of the fun of providing disposable wedding cameras is sharing the pictures with the crazy guests who took them. Unfortunately for us, our pictures were snapped before the advent of the digital camera, so putting them in an online album to share would be a real pain.

Now, disposable wedding cameras have gone hi-tech. ITheeSnap.com will take your disposable wedding cameras and upload all the photos to a secure "web album" that you can share with all your friends. They'll also send you prints and a photo DVD. It's a really neat and hassle free idea for a service that I wish WE had back when we got married.

Hot Dog Stand Gag

I used to love "Candid Camera" when I was a kid. Now, with the online video explosion, there are many videos to view of people getting tricked. I love watching them. Here's a funny "Candid Camera" type bit involving a hot dog stand.

Free Credit Card Machine

When people drive up to the Hot Dog Truck and ask if I take credit cards, my answer is usually "what, are you @#$%ing kidding me?!?" As I look to the future with either an expanded mobile business or a fixed location hot dog stand, I'll probably need to be able to accept credit cards.

I worked in that industry for a couple of months when I was between jobs 8 or 9 years ago. The company I worked for did the processing but they also made a killing on the credit card machine for the merchant. It was expensive to do business with the company I worked for because the financed cost of the credit card machine ate up profits.

Now Total Merchant Services will give you a FREE credit card machine just for using them for processing. They have the industry standard Hypercom T4100 retail credit card machine and the best wireless Nurit 8000 credit card machine.

Both units are top of the line and would run $600-$1000 or more if you had to buy them new. Free sounds a whole lot better than that to me. Total Merchant Services believes that they can gain more long term customers for their processing services by offering value up front. Sounds like a good plan. In the coming months, I'll be looking at credit card machines and I'll be giving them a call.

The Kid takes a crack at a Comic Strip

My daughter was looking at the silliness over at a new site I'm fiddling with called All Around. I've been goofing around with a comic strip generator over at Witty Comics and she wanted to give it a whirl. Here's what she came up with. Click the comic to enlarge.



The animation is pretty pedestrian but it's a real easy site to use. That's probably why I like it.

Here's a recent All Around Strip:

Let's Go Surfin' Now

Believe it or not, this is the time of year when you need to start planning summer camps for your kids. Summer vacation plans need to be sorted out months in advance. Travel and vacation arrangements need to be made, work schedules adjusted, decisions about summer sports need to be made and summer camps need to be reserved. If you wait until spring, all the good summer camps will be filled up and your kids will be doomed to hanging around with too much time on their hands.
Summer camps keep kids out of trouble, offer tremendous enrichment potential, help them make new friends, keep them active athletically and give them a chance to see new places and try new things. My kids LOVE going to summer camp, whether it's an overnight camp or a day camp. In the past, my kids have gone to sailing camp, boy and girl scout camp, soccer camp, baseball camp, basketball camp and my son has even gone to marine biology camp on a marine research vessel.

My oldest is pretty much done with summer camps. She's not too interested in teen camp, she wants to work to save for a trip to England and a new laptop. The others all want to go to camp.

I found a really cool summer camp called Surf Camp. They offer over night summer camps for kids, teens, even adults. They also have "family adventure camps" so the whole gang can go surfing. Their big draw is they teach kids how to surf within the context of summer camp. They've been in all sorts of media from National Geographic Magazine to the Wheel of Fortune! As you'd probably guess, they get would be surfers from all over the world. Surf camp runs programs in North Carolina, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Costa Rica,even Australia.

I don't know if my kids want to go to Surf camp, but the Caribbean Family package sounds like fun. If your kid is interested, you better get going on reservations because they're first come, first served and the spots fill up quick. Happy camp hunting!

Blog Your Blessing Sunday XLII

Conference Championship Sunday is today! This is usually the best weekend of football all year. The Patriots look to go 18-0 and roll on to their 4th Superbowl in 7 years. These are the best of times for Boston sports fans and the Patriots have been a big part of it. We are truly blessed!

Psalm 45:4
In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds.

Cher in Vegas, Baby!

I have been going to Las Vegas at least once a year since 1986-sometimes two or three times. My dad, brother and I do a "boys weekend" every year and every once in a while I'd go out there for business or with the wife.

I'll be going out to Vegas a lot more with the wife because her parents moved there last year. I AM PUMPED FOR THAT!!!!

I went to Vegas with my wife and another couple a few years ago and we had a blast. I took her to all the roller coasters in town (she's a roller coaster nut-I hate them) and got her on the coasters while I played blackjack. It was a fun afternoon for both of us and I managed to win enough to pay for all the rides. We also took a helicopter to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and went rafting on the Colorado River. We capped the weekend off with the Gladys Night and the Pips show. It was a fantastic trip.

I always like seeing a show when I go to Vegas. I've seen Penn and Teller, Zigfried and Roy, Tom Jones and more name comedians than I could list here. My father in law, who is a big music fan, told me on the phone last night that Cher is replacing Celine Dion at Ceasar's Palace next spring. This may sound a bit corny coming from an avid Led Zeppelin fan, BUT I LOVE CHER! I grew up watching the Sonny and Cher show on TV and I always had a crush on Cher. As I got older, it seemed like she got hotter; she's the original Super Cougar! Needless to say, I was excited at the prospect of seeing Cher at Ceasar's Palace.

Sonny and Cher made a couple of my favorite songs of all time. I just LOVE "And the Beat Goes On." There's something about the bass riff that just gets me and I love when "drums keep pounding rythm to the brain." Check out an OLD video of it here (note the bad lip syncing).



"I Got You Babe" is a CLASSIC pop love song and I was privileged to see the following episode of David Letterman back in 1987 when it aired live. Sonny and Cher were reunited on the Letterman Show 22 years after the song was a hit (and a good 12 years after their divorce). This is a great bit of TV.



We are looking into going out to Vegas this summer. My wife went with the kids last summer to visit and they all went to see Cirque de Soleil. My father in law is going to be looking intoCher Tickets at Caesars Palace for when we visit. It'll most likely be just the two of us as my wife HATES Cher. That's fine with me, she can go ride the roller coasters while we're at the show.

Weekly Update

I have been goofing on my quest for a new location on my new comic strip site, All Around. Finding a new location is serious business though. I don't want to be too far from where I was, lest I lose all my old customers. At the same time, I don't want to put myself in a bad situation. I have one or two solid spots, but they might not work for me.

I'm also continuing the quest for an indoor location.

Whatever I end up doing, I want it to be the right spot for me. I have even considered having several different locations. I'd be in one spot one day each week and another on another day and so on. That way I can spread the hot dog gospel across a broader geography!

Stay tuned....

Sell Your House

Real Estate is all over the news lately. Unfortunately it's mostly bad news. In the early 2000's real estate was HOT. Property values were escalating at a breakneck pace and new homes were being sold as fast as they could be built. Mortgage money was fast and easy-I used to joke that all you needed was a job and a pulse and you could qualify for a mortgage. Many people bought homes for the first time and probably borrowed more money than they could afford.

Now, as the popular lingo goes, the real estate "bubble" has burst. Homes have generally gone down in value and many new homeowners owe more money on their homes than they are worth. Couple that fact with many adjustable rate mortgages going up in their interest rates and you have a lot of people looking to sell property.

Houses don't sell in three hours like they did a few years ago. High priced homes are languishing on the market for months and lower priced homes are listing for less than what they were purchased for. It's a real nightmare for folks looking to sell property.

WeBuyHouses.com offers an alternative to people who need to sell their house. They'll come in and buy your house for cash. If you're having trouble making the mortgage and you need to get out of your home, they can be true saviors. In some instances selling property to them actually works out better since you don't pay any brokerage commissions. Time is money too and selling quick rather than waiting around for a buyer in a slow market can have its advantages.

Any way you slice it, it's always good to have options and knowing there is a company like WeBuyHouses.com out there can ease the minds of many a worried seller.

ALL AROUND-New Site!

I had so much fun fiddling with the comic strip generator at Witty Comics, I decided to start a new site called ALL AROUND to put them on. Check it out!

All Around #2

Here is the second installment of the ridiculously funny new comic, ALL AROUND. This strip will chronicle the insanity that grips fans of the Hot Dog Truck and how they cope with their addiction to the best hot dogs anywhere!

Loyal followers of the site may "get" some of the jokes while other jokes may only be funny to patrons of the Hot Dog Truck. I will publish these comics on a semi-regular basis as inspiration strikes me.

Enjoy.



Click image to enlarge.

DROdio Real Estate

I began my life in the greater Washington D.C. area. I was born in Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland and I lived in Arlington, Virginia until I was two.

I had a sales territory down that way in the late 1990's and I got to travel down there a bit. I liked it. I saw quite a bit of Virginia and it's a beautiful state. The people are super nice and the pace is a little slower down there too.

The wife and I have talked about heading South once the kids get out of high school and Virginia is certainly on our list. Every once in a while we look at real estate in other parts of the country and we recently found out DROdio lists Virginia Real Estate.

DROdio Real Estate has a unique approach to selling real estate. They actually want buyers and sellers to have as much information about the process as they can. They don't restrict access to the MLS listings like many other brokers and they have developed and adapted technology to make the purchase process as easy and informative as possible. Heck, they'll even give out property addresses so you can check out a house yourself. They believe if they give you the information you want and actually let you make some of your own decisions, you'll come see them when you're ready to buy.

That wasn't my experience in dealing with brokers when I was in the mortgage business. Brokers usually want to steer clients to specific homes and they want to have their fingers in every piece of the purchase process. The folks at DROdio Real Estate believe their approach is a better way of doing business and they're willing to put a lot of tools in the hands of potential buyers for free. They may not get every buyer who takes advantage of their free services, but they apparently get enough to be very successful.

My sales approach has always been to provide the customer with as much information as possible and give them great service. I found that if I did that, I didn't have to sell them, I simply had to let them buy from me. The people at DROdio Real Estate have a similar philosophy.

Remember, when you're looking for a home, DROdio lists Virginia Real Estate.

The Perfect Stumble Upon Page

We've all been there. Clicking on the "Stumble!" button in the wee hours, hoping and praying we'll be informed and/or entertained. Some call it addictive, some call it obsessive-my wife calls it "f___ing ridiculous. Whatever you call it, it IS fun and you probably won't stop!

For those of you "Stumbling" endlessly, you can stop stumbling now. The Perfect Stumble Upon Page has been created!

More Comical Comics

I found another comic generator site called, appropriately, Comic Strip Generator.



I will be having a hell of a time on THIS SITE!

Slik tripods

My wife got a digital camera for Christmas. I also have a digital camera. When we look at a slide show of our pictures, you can tell who took the picture by who is NOT in the picture. We seem to have very few pictures with both of us in them.

Both our cameras have a timing feature which allows us to hit the button and rush into the picture, but we never use it. We need one of those slik tripods to hold the camera steady. I used to have a slik tripod, but the ex-wife stole it when we split up-out of spite. She NEVER uses the damn thing, but do you think she'd give it back?

Slik tripods are very light weight, lighter than a "soccer" chair. In fact it would fit in the same bag as the "soccer" chair, so it's not like it would be a clumsy thing to tote around. Maybe I'll get a slik tripod for Father's Day.

HINT HINT!!

Yet another update

The cafe is now officially NOT an option. The Hot Dog Truck will continue to be a Hot Dog Truck for the coming season.

I spent the day calling on potential locations and have several options. I just hope I can stay nearby to my old location.

Once it stops snowing, I'll be back!

Je Parle Francais

The title of this post means "I speak French." I do. I took French from the fourth grade through my senior year of high school. I was basically bilingual in French until I was out of college. I remember when we travelled to France with my family when I was 16, I did all the talking.

I can still carry on a VERY BASIC conversation in French, but I don't get the opportunity to. Even when I speak French when we're in Montreal, people usually answer me in English.

If I ever go back to France to visit, I'd want to brush up on my French. There's a website called eLanguage School.net that will teach me French for FREE! I have to put up with a few advertisements, but the content is really good. I can review common phrases, learn proper pronunciation, review proper grammar and even do practice dialogues.

It's a great way to brush up on my French. I may just re-learn it for kicks.

All Around # 1

I found a fun comic strip generator at Witty Comics today. There are a bunch of sites that allow you to create a comic strip, this is the first one I tried. I'd been thinking about making a regular comic strip for the Hot Dog Truck for a while now and this is my first attempt. You probably need to click on the comic to read it!

Counting Their Blessings

Have you ever had a "close call?" I once almost fell off of Mount Washington. I was hiking in Tuckerman's Ravine and I jumped from one rock to another over a thirty foot drop. When I landed, I lost my footing and would have fallen had my cousin not grabbed my arm at the last minute. Had he been a second late, I'd have either hurt myself very bad or been killed in a serious fall. I surely counted my blessings that day. Whenever I'm having a rough day, I think of that incident and suddenly it doesn't seem so bad anymore!

The people in this video should count their blessings too. This is a collection of some serious "close calls" caught on video that I found on YouTube. Enjoy, and count your blessings!

Valentine Poetry Contest

Valentine's Day is coming up. The "holiday" infuriates me somewhat. It was concocted by Madison Avenue to sell greeting cards, chocolate and diamonds and the ladies bought the concept hook, line and sinker. That means us guys need to go out and get a little something for the ladies lest we not get a little something in return.

Valentine's Day is a big day for diamonds. I know three couples that were engaged to be married on Valentine's Day. AW Diamonds is going to try to make that diamond purchase a little less painful on the wallet this year. They're a company that sells loose diamonds and they have been doing it for three generations. If you know a good jewelry maker, buying loose diamonds can save you a few bucks.

They also might be able to hook you up with a FREE heart diamond in their Valentine's Day Poetry Competition. The two most important rules are the poem entered must contain the words "heart diamond" or heart diamonds" and the poem must be about love. If you are one of the contest winners, you win a heart diamond from their collection of loose diamonds which you could give to that special someone.

So get those creative juices flowing and enter the contest!

New Location Update

The update is....there is no update.

I have been checking out a bunch of spots, but nothing has solidified. The cafe option looks to be on the back burner for the time being. If anyone knows someone in the Metrowest area that would be host to the hot dog truck, please let me know! I'll be getting a new truck when I wrap up a location, the old hot dog truck is destined for retirement. If you want to buy it, make an offer!

Once I get a new truck, I'll be doing some events and I'll be "for hire" on selected weekends.

Stay tuned......

Cheaper Car Insurance

I have always said car insurance is a losing bet. Basically, you are betting you will get into an accident by paying your monthly premium; the insurer is betting you won't. The consumer can't win. If you cash in your "bet," that means you've wrecked your car. If you don't, the insurance company has your money!

I know that's an oversimplification, but buying car insurance has always been an escalating expense for the consumer. Until now. Recent research shows car insurance premiums actually dropped last year in the UK. Increased competition in the industry, largely from online car insurance providers has driven the cost to the consumer down.

It's the classic internet model. A business like the insurance industry primarily deals in information and money. Both things are easily dealt with online which reduces or eliminates the need for excess infrastructure. The money saved by the car insurance company is then passed on to the consumer in the form of reduced prices. Sprinkle in a bunch of competition and you have declining prices.

Finally, a car insurance bet the consumer wins!

Starting out with a Blog

I was visiting some of the blogs I look at regularly the other day and clicked on over to Munny4Hunny. I like following Jay's progress because he started his blog around the same time I started the Hot Dog Truck blog. His site is about making extra dough through free blogs. He's made a decent chunk of change in a year and he knows a heck of a lot more about "internet stuff" than I do. That's why I visit now and again, for an education!

Anyways, he's got a good article on Getting Started with a Blog that would be of interest to new bloggers. I wish I had a simple article like this when I was getting started. Many sites written by the blogging "gurus" can be on the pretentious side. Jay's style is straightforward and down to earth. A must read for the newbie blogger!

Your Own Personal Mechanic

If you own a car, you've seen your Check Engine Light come on. This is always very unsettling because you need to take the car to the shop just to figure out what is wrong. Even if you get the relieved feeling when you find out that the Check Engine Light came on for no apparent reason, you've still wasted your time and money.

Because cars have on board computers that diagnose every little thing with engine performance, it is much more difficult for the average "tinkerer" to figure out what the heck is wrong. Now there's a tool you can use called the Personal Mechanic that can help you with your car's on board computer. You simply plug the USB device into your car's OBDII port (usually right under the steering wheel) and it will read the engine error codes and store them. Take it out and plug it into your PC and you can decypher the codes by going to the Personal Mechanic website.

What a neat idea! Car repair for computer geeks! I simply have to get one of these. Now I can go to the mechanic and tell them what's wrong with my car. I can also avoid the mechanic altogether if my Check Engine Light went on for a silly reason (like the gas cap being loose).

Funny pics

Who needs humans?

Now THAT'S Marketing!


Soon to be posted on my fridge.



Was this in the user's manual?

Boy do I need one of these!


JUST RUN


Thanks for alerting me!

Perfect Patriots

Readers of the Hot Dog Truck site KNOW I am a huge Red Sox fan. It shouldn't surprise anyone that I am also a New England Patriots fan. I just haven't written about them much on this site-I don't want to rub it in! This team is certainly the best team in New England Patriots history, if not in the history of the NFL! If they win the Superbowl this year, They WILL be considered the best NFL team EVER!

I know a bit about New England Patriots history. I was a season ticket holder from 1986-1992, known by some in these parts as "the dark years." The team was AWFUL. Actually, with only a few exceptions, they were pretty much a joke of an NFL team for most of their existence. They never sold out, so you couldn't watch home games on TV (the NFL blacks out games in the local market if the stadium doesn't sell out). The stadium was disgusting too-I've been in better HIGH SCHOOL STADIUMS. If you had season tickets, you couldn't GIVE them away. If you wanted to go to a game, it was a VERY EASY TICKET.

New England Patriots history all changed when Robert Kraft bought the team. James Orthwein had owned the team prior to Kraft-he brought in Bill Parcells which gave the franchise instant credibility. The year Parcells came to town was the last year season tickets didn't have a huge waiting list. When Kraft bought the team he paid around 180 million bucks and everyone thought he was nuts. (the New England Patriots are now worth over $1 BILLION) Kraft, who is a local businessman and life long season ticket holder, said he wanted to do three things: "bring stability to the franchise, build a new stadium, and bring a championship to the fans of New England." MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, Bob! He will be forever loved by the fans of New England because he did exactly what he said he was going to do. If only the politicians in this country could take a lesson from Mr. Kraft!

Now, after years of suffering as the NFL's worst joke, the New England Patriots franchise has a chance to make history. I have watched every game and I have never seen a team with an offense like this. It's almost boring, you just know Tom Brady can lead the team to the end zone at will whether they're up by 30 points or down by 10. I almost feel sorry for my kids, they think the New England Patriots have always been this good. I made them watch the Miami game with me and I kept telling them "the Dolphins are what the New England Patriots used to be!"

With a somewhat improbable showdown with the San Diego Chargers coming up this weekend, I am merely waiting for the coronation on Superbowl Sunday. The New England Patriots will play either the Green Bay Packers or the New York Giants in the Superbowl and they will beat either team handily. I'd personally like to see the Packers because I like Brett Favre and I'd like to see the New England Patriots avenge their loss to them in Superbowl XXXI.

GO PATRIOTS!!

Blog Catalog

The continuing sidebar widget clean-up has me looking at Blog Catalog.

Blog Catalog is a lot like MyBlogLog and Bumpzee in that it is a social networking site where people can browse profiles and see what a blog is all about before they click through. You can message other bloggers, start communities, add friends and "neighborhoods" or just browse around for someone or something that interests you.

They bill themselves as "the premiere social blog directory on the internet." I'd be inclined to agree. Aside from search engines, Blog Catalog is the single largest sender of traffic to the Hot Dog Truck! With 100 visitors per month, they blow the other social networking sites away! Blog Catalog visitors tend to hang around for 3-4 minutes and read 2-3 pages per visit.

This is a quality site that sends quality traffic, you bet it's STAYING!

My 15 Minutes of Fame

It was Andy Warhol who said "everyone will be famous for 15 minutes." Since he said that, the expression "fifteen minutes of fame" has become part of our popular culture. This is especially true in the internet age where anyone can upload video to the web for all to see. Some of the funniest stuff online is "produced" by ordinary folks. The concept was started with the show "America's Funniest Home Videos" back in the 1980's and has mushroomed into an entire industry. The difference now is videos that are good will grow virally through the internet and could be viewed by millions.

YawpBox is the latest website that seeks to expand people's 15 minutes of fame. Just like other video sites, you can upload your video for viewing. The catch with YawpBox is they actually produce their own TV show, filmed before a live studio audience (a la "America's Funniest Home Videos") where they broadcast the best videos uploaded to the site. They even give people "homework" where they ask folks to create video on a certain topic. A recent challenge asked viewers to "Do The Most Extreme Thing & You Can Get On TV!" There are some very silly videos in this category.

Just like "America's Funniest Home Videos" or "Candid Camera," YawpBox hopes to exploit the entertainment value of regular folks doing bizarre stuff. I'd much rather watch a show that features regular folks goofing around than some pre-packaged sitcom. I almost always get a laugh out of this type of content.

My own personal 15 minutes of fame came in the winter of 2006. The Hot Dog Truck got vandalized. Apparently my truck was one of 20-25 businesses, homes and vehicles hit in a late night spree. I received a call from the Southborough police on a Saturday alerting me to the vandalism; at the time I didn't know about the spree. I was quite surprised when a news truck pulled up during lunch the following Monday! Talk about a slow news day. While it was upsetting to be vandalized, the incident's exposure on the news led to a jump in business. People flocked to the Hot Dog Truck to wish me well and tell me they saw me on TV!

You can view the news clip HERE.

That clip will never make it to YawpBox as I don't own the rights. But I may be making videos of the Hot Dog Truck in the future to post online. I have always been a bit of a ham and what better forum for a would-be comedian than YawpBox TV?

Blog Your Blessings Sunday XLI

Now that the Christmas season is officially over, I can turn back to whatever interests and inspires me for these weekly posts. The excesses of the Christmas season provide for reflection. After all the presents have been put away, I wonder what will last. Simple thanks for what is important is all we'll ultimately need.

Psalm 37:25-27

I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.

They are always generous and lend freely;
their children will be blessed.

Turn from evil and do good;
then you will dwell in the land forever.

Beautiful Bikinis for Beach Beauties

Even with a foot of snow on the ground, my thoughts are with summertime and the beach. Guys have it pretty easy when it comes to swimwear; any old bathing suit will do (except maybe "grape smugglers"). Women have it tougher. They (feel the) need to be up on the latest fashions and they tend to be more insecure about how their bodies look in their bathing suits. So they need to find a fashionable bathing suit that shows off their body in the best possible light.

It's not too soon to be thinking about bathing suits either. Summer isn't THAT far away and lots of folks (myself included) will be off to sunny climates for a winter vacation. Keys Swimwear can get you ladies suited up in high style for a winter break or for summer beach days. They are having a swimwear sale now and offer free shipping on orders over $150.00!

They have HUNDREDS, if not THOUSANDS of the hottest Brazilian Bikinis for sale so you ladies can look luscious on the beach. I'm not too sure how good their prices are (I haven't even bought a bathing suit for myself since I was in my 20's), but they seem reasonable to me. Since I am such a cheap bastard, that means their prices must be good!

So before you head out on vacation or the summer winds start blowing, check out all the Becca Swimwear for sale and order it up online.

Bumpzee

In the continuing quest to clean up the sidebars, I take a look at Bumpzee.

Bumpzee is kind of like MyBlogLog or Blog Catalog only it's more focussed on the community. When you join Bumpzee, you can join or start your own community. The idea is that bloggers with similar interests can get together and create dialogs and "Bump" the best posts (move them up the list of posts in the community) so they're seen.

I manage the "Day in the Life Community" on Bumpzee which is a group of blogs "with a humorous, edgy, provocative, unique and interesting outlook on life." There are currently 135 blogs in the community. It's a great way to get introduced to other sites.

As far as traffic goes, I get 10-15 visitors a month on average from Bumpzee. I joined when it was still relatively new (it's about a year old) and I'm committed to the concept and, in turn, the widget.

Bumpzee stays.

MyBlogLog

MyBlogLog is very familiar to many bloggers out there. I see their widgets everywhere I surf. For the longest time, I couldn't even sign up for MyBlogLog. I finally figured out I was already signed up for it through my YaHoo! account.

MyBlogLog will stay for its ubiquity in the blogosphere, not for its performance. I get only 1-3 visitors per month from MyBlogLog. Not a lot, but it is so popular I'm willing to stick with it and see if more come to visit.

Ezine Articles

Another widget I have that I plan to keep is my Ezine Articles widget. Ezine Articles is a site where you can publish an article about something you (hopefully) know a lot about. The site gets lots of visitors looking for "expert" information.

All you do is write your article, post it and wait for approval. Once approved, your article (and a link to your site) is published. Ezine Articles sends me 9-10 visitors a month. The best thing about it is those visitors read 3 additional pages and tend to hang around for 5 minutes or so on the site. Not only do I get traffic, I get people to READ my stuff beyond what they came looking for.

Ezine Articles' widget stays!

Thailand Connector

Time to start planning another trip "Down Under" to see the wife's family. A trip to Australia takes a lot of planning. We won't go for less than three weeks, so we need to coordinate school, work, sports and coaching AND travel schedules. It can be a lot of work going on such a trip!

The last time we went to Australia we stopped for 4 days in Singapore. We loved it so much, we vowed to see more of Asia the next time we traveled to that part of the world. I've been looking at connecting flights to Thailand for our next voyage. Bangkok is supposed to be an amazing city. It is the third most popular tourist destination in the world! There is abundant nightlife, shopping and dining (I'll bet the Thai food is very good). There are also numerous palaces and temples to visit. I'd love to visit the ancient Buddhist Temples of Wat Arun and Wat Suthat.

The beaches in Thailand are some of the finest in the world. The 52-island Marine National Park in Thailand features white sand beaches, rain forests, waterfalls and fantastic diving. It is a country we'd love to see and the prices are very affordable-a week in Thailand would be LESS than a week in Disneyworld! I've heard the people are very nice too.

Of course the main focus of the trip would be Australia, but we'd love to get out and stretch our legs in Thailand for a week or so along the way, so I'll continue to monitor the prices on flights to Thailand while we plan!

Phabulous Phunny Photos

I can't Sotp lauging at this one!


More Squirrels prefer Budweiser to Old Style


Talk about a bad parking spot!


I MUST get this sign for the Hot Dog Truck!


This kid sure has guts.


Dyslexic road sign

PR Buzz

Part of starting a new business, whether it's a Hot Dog truck or an internet start-up is letting the world know you are open and ready for business. Many businesses send out a press release via newswire or via their own web distribution channels. Some businesses will use a press release distribution service.

There are a couple of reasons to use a press release distribution service. First and foremost, the new business may not have the manpower to do an effective job-they have a business to run. Second, and more importantly, companies that are in the business of press release distribution KNOW THEIR BUSINESS. They have developed a system to make sure a press release is distributed to media where it will be seen and read in an efficient way.

PRBuzz is a press release distribution company that has their business nailed down to a science. They'll make sure your press release gets maximum exposure on the internet so it will be picked up by numerous media outlets. They even have a guarantee for their press release distribution service, so you can be assured you'll get the exposure you're looking for. Their pricing is very reasonable for what they do as well. Check them out at PRBuzz.com

Technorati

In my continuing quest to evaluate which widgets to delete from my site, I turn my attention to Technorati.

If you don't know what Technorati is, you've probably been living under a rock for quite some time. This site tracks links to your site and has search functionality.

According to them:

"Currently tracking 112.8 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media.

Technorati is the recognized authority on what's happening on the World Live Web, right now. The Live Web is the dynamic and always-updating portion of the Web. We search, surface, and organize blogs and the other forms of independent, user-generated content (photos, videos, voting, etc.) increasingly referred to as 'citizen media.'"

OK, so they track me, and everyone else. Aside from the ego boost I may get when I view my blog's "authority," what do they do for me? 10-12 visitors a day, that's what! Despite many internet 2.0 geeks trashing Technorati, I'll keep them!

I WILL be getting rid of the "What's my Blog Worth?" Technorati widget. I just think it's getting a tad egotistical to display it!

Online Loans Portal

I am convinced Americans are obsessed with debt. Our own government spends almost $1.5 BILLION more than it has every day! The national debt is somewhere around $9,203,778,253,800 or $30,270 for every man, woman and child in the US. It's no wonder many people are knee deep in debt, our own government legitimizes it!

The simple fact is nobody can continue to live in a constant state of debilitating debt forever. The walls WILL come tumbling down eventually. The reality is that our economy is structured around debt. Whether it's a mortgage, car loan, personal loan or credit cards, Americans use credit daily.

Online Loans have proliferated this century. The smart thing for any conscientious consumer to do is to find a way to get their debts under control so they can be eliminated. Why pay 18% interest on a credit card-that money is better off in your pocket.

Finding ways to manage debt can be tricky. Sometimes a debt consolidation loan is the best way to go. Lowering monthly payments allows you to pay your debts down faster and keep more cash for yourself every month.

Online Loans is a site billed as a "loan and finance portal." They provide good information on the pluses and minuses of different kinds of financing and strategies for lowering and eliminating debt. There are also comparisons between lenders to help consumers choose the best financing and/or debt consolidation options available to them. They also explain some of the inner workings of lenders and credit card issuers so consumers can have a better understanding of what is going on with the financing products they may choose. Finally, there are numerous articles that give strategies for reducing and eliminating debt.

Once you have a clear idea of your objectives, you can move on to selecting an appropriate financing product for your needs.

Until people learn to manage debt wisely, or eliminate it all together, our entire economic society will constantly be living on the edge. People who send their money to finance companies instead of investing in their future will not be able to save for retirement. This will leave a large segment of the population either indigent or reliant on government supplements (and who is to say the government will be solvent in the future).

So make the commitment to yourself and to your family to get your debts under control this year. Start living within your means and stop using debt as a vicious circle of dependence. Go to Online Loans and learn about your options, THEN TAKE ACTION!

Linkworth

I am on a quest to clean up the widgets in my sidebar.

Today I'm looking at Linkworth.

Linkworth is an advertising affiliate deal that claims I can sell ads on my blog with "little or no effort" and make some extra money. I registered with them, wrote an introductory post and displayed their widget prominently in the left sidebar for months. I checked in fairly regularly and stuck with it.

The result? NOTHING. NADA. Not one click in or out.

Bye bye Linkworth!

Fancy Dress Costumes

Well now that Christmas is over, it's time to start thinking about HALLOWEEN!! Forget Valentine's Day and Easter; next to Christmas, Halloween is the most fun "holiday."

Remember last year when you had a lame, home made costume-maybe a tin foil martian cap or something equally stupid. Wouldn't it be nice to have a really cool costume this year?
What about a fancy dress Darth Vader costume? Or a storm trooper? How cool would that be? There are TONS of Star Wars costumes at Jokers' Masquerade. I'm not talking cheapo costumes here, I'm talking about Star Wars fancy dress costumes for adults. No kid stuff here. They have lots of costumes to choose from,
in fact, they have over 10,000 costumes IN STOCK! And they're having a HUGE JANUARY SALE.

Of course they have all the other characters from Star Wars in their Star Wars costume collection from Anakin Skywalker to Yoda and everything in between. They also have other stuff like a Barney and Betty Rubble "couples costume" and your old stand by's like the devil or Frankenstein. You can also get a Santa Suit (marked down) for next Christmas.

Maybe you should take some of your Christmas money and grab a bargain while the prices are low, then you'd be prepared for next Halloween to go to that fancy dress costume party in style.

BlogRush

Continuing with my sidebar evaluation/widget clean-up, I turn my attention to BlogRush. For those who don't know, BlogRush was a heavily hyped widget that came out a few months ago which promised to dramatically increase traffic to blogs who had the widget installed.

There was an increase, but it was not dramatic. Unlike Criteo, which does essentially the same thing, BlogRush made a HUGE SPLASH on the scene and touted a lot of outrageous promises about "a flood of targeted readers" to blogs world wide. At 1-3 visitors a month, I'd call it more of a trickle!

While that may not seem like much, I'm sticking with BlogRush for the time being. I just wish they wouldn't promise something they can't possibly deliver.

No More Dating for Me

I am a happily married hotdogman. My wife and I met the old fashioned way: IN A BAR! We have single friends who are out there looking for that special someone. They ask us to introduce them to someone, but we try to shy away from that sort of thing-it can only lead to trouble!

I'd rather send them to the internet to browse the many Dating Sites that have cropped up over the years. But how does one know which one to use? There are so many Dating Sites out there it can be hard to choose.

Now 5StarDating has made it a bit easier for those lovelorn surfers out there. They list and rate tons of dating sites so you can figure out which one might yield the best crop of date prospects for your particular situation. Whether you are looking for adult dating sites for that torrid hook-up or Christian dating sites for a more wholesome introduction, 5StarDating can point you in the right direction so your internet introductions can have the highest possible success rate.

They can also dish out the advice on what to do once you actually get a date by educating you about good (and bad) dating habits.

So if you're looking for love in all the wrong places, maybe you should try internet dating for a change. If you do, make sure you check out 5StarDating so you know which Dating Sites are worth your time and energy.

I'm just glad I went to that bar many years ago!

More Fabulous Funny Fotos

So who took the picture? Some rebel I'd guess.


Connecticut has a sense of humor.


Aint it the truth.


Meeeoooww.


The birthplace of "New Math."


Your crackerjack investigative news team at work!


I think I'll post this sign on the Little League fields this spring.

No Christmas Payback

Christmas season is over and most folks are simply counting the days until they stop writing "2007" on their checks. The post holiday sales are winding down, decorations are coming down and there is no more Christmas music EVERYWHERE you go.

Now it's time to pay. People will be getting their statements for their credit cards in a week or two and ALL those shopping season charges will come home to roost. That's when the post holiday blues set in.

This season I was virtually done with my Christmas shopping BEFORE Thanksgiving. I did a good chunk of my shopping online and I used my PayPal DEBIT account. When I did venture out to an actual store, I used CASH. NO CREDIT CARDS. It was a very unstressful and enjoyable Christmas for us this year and it will be even better when we aren't out shopping for personal loans in February to pay off our credit cards!

Bidvertiser

In my quest to clean up the sidebars, I turned my attention to Bidvertiser yesterday. For those who don't know, Bidvertiser is a pay per click advertising program similar to Google Adsense. I have Adsense on the site and it performs quite well-$100 to $200 per month in revenue.

Bidvertiser is another story. Their ads are what I'd call "hokey." Lots of "get rich quick" programs, free ringtone ads and other such nonsense. Not a lot of value to the reader. I have had Bidvertiser ads on the site for over 9 months-TOTAL REVENUE= $3.10. Not a lot of value to me.

$3.10 over 9 months is a little bit more than 34 cents per month. No value there. The ads display intermittently and they don't earn their keep. The referral widget has generated 4 clicks in 9 months and NO referrals.

Bye bye Bidvertiser. Google earns, you don't.

Sleep Like an Angel

I really like to sleep. I don't get the opportunity to sleep as late as I want often-maybe 4 times a year-but when I do I sleep until noon. A comfy bed is important for a good sleep. My bed is comfy, but I have wanted a Tempurpedic mattress for a long time.

A Tempurpedic mattress is quite possibly the most comfortable thing I have ever slept on. I slept on one twice, at a rental we had once. It was like heaven. Best sleep I ever had.

I had been wanting to try one since I first tried one out about 12 years ago. The mall store, Brookstone, carries them and I remember laying down on one in the store for like twenty minutes. The sales people were a little agitated, but I managed to have quite a nap! The reason I have yet to purchase one is the price. You'll spend over FIVE GRAND on a Tempurpedic mattress in a traditional furniture store. That's a lot of hot dogs!

Now I may actually be able to drop the dime on a Tempurpedic mattress. Angel Beds has the same NASA foam technology in their mattresses as a Tempurpedic mattress for less than half the price of a Tempurpedic mattress. They're a solid company too. They are one of the top 500 internet retailers several years running and an Inc. 500 company too. They'll even arrange to have your bed set up for you!

Everyone knows I HATE shopping. Buying online has become almost a religious experience for me. Now that I know I can get a Tempurpedic mattress online, I may be doing a LOT MORE SLEEPING!

Criteo

I am starting to clean up the old side bar a bit to remove some of the "clutter." Part of that process is evaluating which widget works (say THAT ten times fast) best for me. For a widget to "work," it needs to provide either me or my reader with some value.

Value for me would mean the widget either sends me traffic or makes me money. Value for the reader means they get further information or entertainment from the widget.

I already removed the Blog Explosion Widgets from my sidebars, because they suck.

Today I am going to talk about my CRITEO AUTOROLL WIDGET which is half way down the page in the left sidebar. The header of the widget says "Random Blogosphere"-I edited it from the default header. It displays other people's blogs who have the widget installed according to a set of criteria I entered in their registration. My site is displayed on other sites as well. This one stays. I get 2-4 visitors a day from this widget. It doesn't seem like much, but it does add up! They are also developing a tag cloud that will enable bloggers to earn money based on click throughs. I'm not sure how it's going to work as they have not launched it in English yet.

I'm a bit sentimental about this widget too. It was one of the very first I installed on my site and I've made a couple of blog buddies that I found through this widget initially.

LA DUI

Get a load of these guys. They ARE Kestenbaum, Eisner & Gorin, LLP, the Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney | California Felony Misdemeanor DUI Specialists. They're former LA County prosecutors who know how to get you out of a jam.

When you need a defense attorney, it's always best to go with former prosecutors (or active legislators who sit on judicial committees) because they know the Clerks and the Judges. They can get your case on the docket with the right judge and they know how to work the system-because they were part of it.

Now I'm not one to tangle with the law OR drinking and driving, but if I were, I'd call the Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney | California Felony Misdemeanor DUI Specialists to get out of a jam.

Waiting....

Waiting sucks. I'll be waiting all week about where I'll be in the spring as decisions won't be made until Friday (or later) by "the powers that be." This puts me in limbo. There is a chance I could start up again in February, depending on how things go. I could also be holding out until March-again depending on how things go.

Not knowing is killer. This is the first winter in two years I haven't opened the Hot Dog Truck and I just don't know what to do with myself. I WANT TO GET BACK OUT THERE!!!!

Stay tuned....

Medicare Advantage

1.45% of EVERY DOLLAR YOU EARN goes to Medicare. On top of that, every employer must match that amount. Self employed folks like me pay the entire amount. That means almost three cents for EVERY DOLLAR EARNED in this country goes to Medicare. BILLIONS are paid into the system every year. THAT'S a lot of hot dogs!

Conceptually, Medicare is a good thing. It insures an aging population against health care costs at a stage of life when most folks need more medical care. My parents have Medicare cards; they feel entitled to the benefits after years of hard work. They're fit and healthy and want to stay that way. They can see the medicare advantage.

My 94 year old grandmother has one too and didn't use it until recently. She doesn't trust Doctors you see. Until her stroke in late 2006, she hadn't set foot in a Doctor's office since 1948 when my aunt (her youngest) was born. That's almost 60 years without any real medical care! She was very healthy until her stroke and has had a near total recovery. Needless to say, she sees a Doctor (and a Physical Therapist) on a regular basis now and really needs the medicare advantage this program provides.

I just wonder if Medicare will survive. Some project the program will run out of money by 2018 since there will be more people drawing benefits than paying into the pool. That would not be good. I have to believe a large part of the shortfall is because of the inefficiencies of THE GOVERNMENT in administering the program. Would you BUY health insurance from the government if you had a choice? I know I wouldn't!

Unfortunately, Medicare is the only game in town for many senior citizens. We need to make sure the medicare advantage is there for us and our kids.

Home Haircut Kid

THANKS DAD!

We visited my folks the other day. All day my father was telling our three year old she needed to "get a haircut and get the hair out of her eyes." Today, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

She was making snowflakes with her "kid scissors" when the wife and I stepped into the kitchen for a chat. The kid was quietly playing in the family room and after about five minutes she ran up to us excitedly and shouted "MOMMY! DADDY! LOOK!"

There was a big pile of hair on the floor near the discarded scissors and she had quite obviously chopped her bangs plus quite a bit off the sides. She gave herself a pretty ugly mullet.

It took all we had not to unload on her, but she didn't do too bad of a job! So much for growing her hair out though.

We won't be playing with scissors for a while. When she asks to play with scissors in the future, we'll be saying "No." When she questions why, we'll say "Ask Grampy!"

;oP

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER "TOUCH UP"