Jude’s Eclectic Resources

It may be time for a new computer this one has been acting up like crazy. I’m thinking about getting a laptop, I am so far behind the times. I really have to laugh at myself because I have mentioned before that I am not very technical. I can’t even work a cell phone, yeah I know, pitiful right? That’s the first thing children learn about anymore.

I have heard lately about a lot of people submitting their websites and blogs for reconsideration and have actually gotten their page ranks back and I think that is great. I am not planning on asking for reconsideration because as sad as I was when they took my rank away I would have no respect for myself if I told Google I thought I had done something wrong.

I don’t hate Google, but I do think that they have a few conflicts of interest and need to sort those out. I still use some of their tools as I mentioned before because I like them. I have been using Yahoo search more, but can’t say I like it as much as G. I know there are others such as Ask, but I’m getting too lazy in my old age to bother and even though I like change, sometimes it isn’t always for the best.

I dropped over at tech crunch and read a post that had been done about bloggers that contract through ppp losing their rank. I thought it was very sad that people can laugh at someone else’s misfortune when they are doing the same thing, but on a larger scale. I really don’t think it was just paid bloggers that got hit, but it seems to make a lot of people happy to see it that way.

Are you a stay at home mom or someone that likes to get free samples and try different products and print out money saving coupons? Then you might be interested in Startsampling.com I just signed up there and it was an easy process this is a legitimate online survey/sampling company. If your like me you’ll have fun sampling different products that are delivered straight to your door and there’s nothing to be afraid of if you participate.

This site is free to join and they don’t give your information to telemarketers, your information is strictly private and they don’t try and make you buy anything. Besides getting samples and print out coupons you can also accumulate points to redeem for gifts. When you first sign up according to your answers you will be shown the products that they think will suit you best, try and answer yes to as many as possible so you can get the most points and products.

You can’t make any money on this site, but it’s fun to try samples that you might not otherwise try and it doesn’t take that much time and like I said you can use your points to get some nice gifts and save money with coupons. Products you can sample range from beauty products, music CDs, household items, pet supplies and personal hygiene items.

You don’t have to pay shipping fees or ever send anything back and all they ask you to do is fill out a short survey and give your opinion of the products and that only takes about 10 minutes of your time for the fun of trying free samples and some of the samples are the full size.

The gifts you can win range from gift cards and household items plus other stuff. Just thought I would mention this place if you like to get free samples in the mail. You can get FTM’s= frequent tryer miles for the prizes it’s fun with different contests and things to participate in.

Ok since it’s Friday I’m sure everyone has some great things planned for their time off and lots more shopping to get done so I’ll wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Wow, as I said a while back this year is simply blowing past. I actually know people that have all their Christmas shopping done and their house decorated for our next wonderful holiday. I simply procrastinate too much. I guess I work better under pressure and will start next week. I simply hate the idea of dragging out all those decorations so maybe I will just keep it simple since it’s only Bill, myself and our 2 lovable mutts. It will also be a lot less to put away after the New Year.

We all know the true meaning of Christmas and we give credit to the 3 wise men for our gift giving during this time of year. It has now become so commercialized that people go into debt to buy those presents that are so expected now a days. It would be better if we could simply give of ourself and time and especially to those that are less fortunate. For some reason we think we have to buy something for everyone and get so depressed when we can’t afford all those expensive things.

Giving gifts during Christmas started in the early 19th century when the celebration of Christmas was restored after a period when the Protestants in England banned Christmas celebrations. In 1820 to 1840 when Christmas celebrations regained popularity, stores started to advertise special Christmas shopping promotions. At the same time, newspapers also created advertising sections solely for holiday shopping advertisements. These special advertising sections had prominent displays of Santa Claus.

In 1841 when a store in Philadelphia had a life-size model of Santa Claus, hundreds of children turned up to get a look at Santa Claus, which had become a new and popular element of revitalized Christmas celebrations. The interest in seeing Santa Claus provided a marketing idea to retailers that they could attract children and parents to stores through offers to have a look at a ‘real’ or ‘live’ Santa Claus.

Because of that marketing strategy to attract children during Christmas, the focus was therefore to give Christmas presents to children. Today, gift-giving is still focused on children, but adults are by no means left out. I had a friend that was of a particular faith that did not believe in lying to her children and believed that if we were kind loving and giving all year round there would be less violence and hate in the world and I tend to agree with her.

Like I said Christmas is a tradition that we celebrate once a year and because of the high expectations that have developed over the years we have gotten away from what the spirit of Christmas is really all about. If we could learn to be more giving and caring through out the year then coping better during this holiday season wouldn’t be so hard on so many and maybe there would also be less crime. It would be so nice just to get back to the simple basics.

When I was young we were lucky to get a bag of oranges and maybe one toy, boy how things do change. I know we want to give our children things that we didn’t have, but sometimes I think we put too much emphasis on material things and how do you teach a child appreciation when they think Santa Claus will bring them everything they want. My son never appreciated the fact that I worked hard to support the 3 of us and had to make sure he always had some kind of special Christmas, Santa always got the credit.

I keep meaning to order business cards so I can pass them out to friends and acquaintances and since the Google bust I need all the traffic I can get. Of course I should work on better content for all my sites and I plan on doing just that. I know I will never be a top blogger, A-list, but so what?

Well, I love finding free opportunities to fit my needs and Ooprint.com has a promotion going on for 100 FREE business cards and all you do is pay shipping. You can choose from many different styles and create your blog card or business cards printed and shipped within 24 hours and they only take about a week to receive by snail mail.

If you have been meaning to get some business cards printed up, but put it off then now is a great chance to try out this service. They save your work after you design your card and you can always change whatever you didn’t like if you choose to get more. The normal cost is 19.99 for 100, but if you have a business and need cards the more you order the less they cost.

Sorry for not posting much this past week, but I’m sure everyone was busy with their families anyhow. It seems when the holidays roll around we prioritize and put our families first or at least we should. I love blogging and feel guilty sometimes when I skip a few days, but tomorrow starts my normal days again.

Just think we still have Christmas and New Years to celebrate and get through then life will settle down for everyone again. I have already started a few resolutions for next year or at least my list not the actual things I hope to accomplish. I didn’t make a list last year so I really don’t have anything to look back at to see if I accomplished anything.

This next year I think I will do a lot of things differently and have started a few new projects. It always helps to have our specific goals in mind and work toward things we want to change. I usually have a plan, but I procrastinated this past year and let things slide, 08 will see a changed woman. I have always disliked uneven years. My mind seems dulled tonight so I think it’s time for bed. Goodnight!

AAMCO has a sweepstakes going where you can win a 4 day trip to Hollywood and spend the day with the stuntman of “Live Free Die Hard” the Bruce Willis action film. I alway wanted to visit Hollywood, but never got the chance when I lived in Nevada and California, but I entered this because I thought it would be cool to take Bill there because he gets such a kick out of stunts and so do I.

I was even able to print out a few money saving coupons and I opted in to receive even more because I never know when something might come up with the jeep or Pontiac and I’m all about saving money when I can and coupons are the economical way to go for everyone and especially from a chain that I trust.

Over the years I have had a lot of work done on various vehicles and invariable I used AAMCO for the most part because I trusted their work and knew they wouldn’t just rip me off the way some places do just because I’m a woman.

You know those places especially the ones where you go in for that very low cost oil change and they come out and tell you all the things wrong with your car and that you have to have them fixed. I always simply tell them I’ll deal with it later and to please just do the oil change now.

Nope I don’t trust that chain at all especially since I fell for it a long time ago when I was young and didn’t realize how crooked some places actually are. I found out later that I didn’t need most of what they had done so I’m more cautious now.

At any rate I would love to visit Hollywood with Bill so I hope they chose us. It’s very simple to sign up, you can do it online and get coupons or at any AAMCO.