What A Slacker!

Hello Kitty

Add comment May 31st, 2008

Fellow cat lover over at Pantherkut.com has loads of interesting stuff on his site. The information ranges from house cat tips to big cat classifications. If it is about felines PanthurKut will eventually hit upon it.

But I have to admit that my guilty please over at PanthurKut is the fat cats section. One of the kitties over there looks a lot like my big fat boy (who I call moose all the time because he is so big). Mind you my cat is not near that big but if he keeps eating like he does he will get to be that big. Maybe I will print out the picture and hang it over his food bowl for a while.

Sweetest Contest This Summer is at Cold Stone

Add comment May 31st, 2008

Cold Stone Creamery is holding a delicious contest. Before I get into how cool and wonderful this is let me tell you it is for young adults 13 to 19 (which sucks for me because I would have so been there). Okay, so now you know and if you are between those ages you can do this.

All you have to do is go a Cold Stone Creamery and create your best combination of ingredients. Once you have the ultimate yummy combo name it and head to the internet. Yep take your ice cream to the masses.

Sign up for the Awesome Cold Stone Contest online. Here’s where the fun part comes in get all your friends, both from the real world and the internet, to head to Cold Stone and taste your creation. Once they have given you two thumbs up have them vote online for you and your yummy ice cream concoction. In a competition kind of like those I have seen on the food network your entry will be judged first by the masses then if it passes the public opinion then you get to face the judges at Cold Stone.

I have not even mentioned that you are competing for over $30,000 in prizes! The iMix America contest has already started so get out there and create the ultimate ice cream mashup and get to promoting yourself online you only have until June 5th! Oh, and good luck.

Comcast Cable Sucks Here’s Why - Part 4: The Costs

1 comment May 31st, 2008

Comcast has a load of problems (crappy DVR, crappy channels and crappy customer service), but the worst thing about them is their price. And it keeps going up. I wish there was a little more competition in this industry to keep the prices down.

What really gets me hot under the collar is that the prices keep going up and they never offer current customers any kind of break. Just today I saw a commercial for the internet and phone service together for $49-something. I pay almost that now for my Comcast cable plus another $5 for the dang modem. So I guess I should be given the phone for free huh? Also cable modems only cost about $100 bucks so why do I have to keep renting it? Haven’t I already paid for it like three times by now? Yet when I called and asked if I could buy it they would charge me the price of a new one!

Don’t even get me started on the cost of the DVR. Just suffice it to say a TIVO with lifetime service would ultimately be cheaper and work better.

The value of the services they offer comes nowhere near what they charge us. And come next year when everyone is forced into digital more people will be faced with the problems of dealing with cable. (Wonder who had their hands in getting the government to force digital on everyone? I’ll give you one guess.)

Urban Cowboys Unite

Add comment May 31st, 2008

I was just watching Adam & Steve and they go two stepping. What ever happened to the art of country dancing? A few years ago it was all the rage. I guess it still is to some degree but just not in my area.

One of the staples of these urban cowboys is the western fashion. That’s where Cavender’s comes in handy. Whether you are deep in the heart of Texas or sitting in the middle of NYC they have the western gear for you. Go check out their handmade cowboy boots or cool novelty cowboy hats then get your butt into a club and do some stepping.

Comcast Cable Sucks Here’s Why - Part 3: The Corporate Offices

Add comment May 31st, 2008

A little while ago I wrote about how awful Comcast is and that the DVR service sucks. Well, my little post got the attention of someone at Comcast and they emailed me asking for my account info so they could look into the matter. So I went ahead and sent them my name and phone number half expecting nothing more than a return email.

At this point I don’t even know if I ever got a reply back from that email, but I did get a phone call from someone at the corporate offices (I don’t know who as I could not quite make out the name. The number was 717-771-2600.). The message immediately after that one on my machine was another one from someone else at the Comcast corporate offices named Laura her number was 717-771-2660. So I called the first mystery person back. No person on the other end only a voicemail box. I left a message. Repeated the same procedure with Laura. Same results.

Someone, I believe Laura, did attempt to call me back, but since I work so far away I am not home during their office hours which seem to be 8 to 4. I leave the house before then and don’t get home until 7 or 8 at night so how on earth am I supposed to speak with these people. I left them another message.

About a day later a get a letter from Laura saying she has tried contacting me and if they don’t hear from me they will consider the matter closed. So I call and leave her yet another message this time I leave my cell phone number to call me during the day even though I cannot really answer it while I am at work as I am supposed to be working you know. She did call. I was on our business phone with a client and could not pick up my cell phone.

Three weeks, or is it four, later and I still have not spoken to an actual human being at the corporate offices. Perhaps the day I was off for my medical tests at the hospital I should have taken the time to call them, but I was a little preoccupied at the time. Why can’t they be available to their customers during hours convenient to the people paying their bills? Hey, they contacted me first.

My conclusion is that Comcast’s corporate offices services are just as bad as their DVR service and perhaps just as over paid.

Taking Care of Grave Matters

Add comment May 30th, 2008

Gravesite Masters knows how to handle grief in fact they can even handle it for you. Whether you simply can’t bear to go back after burying a loved one or you live to far away to get back to the grave as often as you want they take care of it for you. Gravesite Masters offers up products and services you won’t readily find just anywhere. Best part is most of their services are nationwide.

Their services range from flower arrangements, both artificial and fresh cut, to flower planting and expand to headstone cleaning and monument repair. But they don’t stop there. They also have wreaths, vases, plant holders, and flag holders. Some of these cemetery products I thought were only available from the cemetery itself. Nice to know they are readily available. Oh, and the Gravesite Master wreaths are suitable for the grave or the home. They really are lovely.

Gravesite Masters also offers sympathy gifts like throws and framed prints with inspirational quotes. But what strikes me as truly amazing is the graveside service. They can deliver your flowers directly to the grave. Any grave, anywhere. That is just fantastic. While services like the flower delivery are nationwide other services are more specialized, like monument repair, and therefore can only be done in specific locations.

Gravesite Masters is one of the most unique online shops on the net. And it is filling the needs many others simply ignore.

Steampunk Art Tunnels Into New York

Add comment May 30th, 2008

The Telectroscope is an art project on a transatlantic scale. This huge interactive piece will be up in New York and London now through June 15th. Shame that it will only be available for such a short time, something this amazing should be in place all year long.

The artist’s site tells us that “more than a century after it was begun, the tunnel has finally been completed. An extraordinary optical device called a Telectroscope has been installed at both ends which miraculously allows people to see right through the Earth from London to New York and vice versa.”

For more information check out artist Paul St. George’s Telectroscope website.

Funny Man Harvey Korman Has Passed Away

Add comment May 29th, 2008

One of the funniest men alive has died today; he was 81. He had complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm four months ago.

I remember him best from the Carol Burnett show and from there Mama’s Family. He and Tim Conway were a hoot. I loved them. But he had done so much more than just that show. So many funny films. I know I will be spending the weekend honoring his memory by watch such great films like these:

Blazing Saddles
History of the World Part I
Dracula: Dead and Loving It
The Pink Panther films

If only I could dig up a copy of the Star Wars Holiday Special to watch him as the many silly characters he plays in the Lucas’ TV blunder. (Although having seen this as a child when it first aired I rather liked it.)

Mr. Korman will be missed.

Stimulate Your Debt

2 comments May 29th, 2008

In this time when the economy is in need of stimulus checks to give it a shot in the arm we are all feeling the crunch. Many of us have been using credit cards to buy our gas and food just to stay a live. If you are like me your tax rebate and stimulus checks are going toward paying off some of that debt.

It is pretty bad when Americans need to go into to debt just to keep working. I am in that boat at the moment and not knowing where that next tank of gas is coming from so I can continue to work is scary. My debt keeps piling up as does many American’s, but don’t worry there are solutions out there and ways to get yourself out from under that pile of debt.

Check out ACA’s website they have a free ebook to help you learn more about what you can do relieve your consumer debt problems. Get yourself stimulated to get out of debt today.

OMG They Should Be Called PainPerPost

Add comment May 29th, 2008

PayPerPost is a really good way to make a few extra bucks each day writing sponsored posts, but sometimes they can be a BIG pain in the butt. I recently wrote a really great post about something I feel passionately about and just because I link my post to the companies and products involved in the legal case PPP decided it was a sponsored post. Well guess what? It was not!

The post entitled The Litter Box Wars: LitterMaid vs SmartScoop is completely my content and not sponsored (although I would have liked a 500 word article to have been sponsored it was not). I completely adhered to their rules that “each PayPerPost post must be immediately preceded and immediately followed by at least one non-sponsored, original content post”. (Duh, did that!) Yet they won’t pay me for the sponsored post I did for them.

Maybe they need to take another look at the post. Or maybe we bloggers aren’t allowed to have an actual opinion unless they are dictating it to us? This lawsuit is against a company that I admire and I feel strongly about. So strong in fact, that I took it upon myself to utilize SocialSpark.com to help get the word out via a BlogUBack Spark on the site. Now I am left wondering if they will pull my blog Spark from that site? Are we not allowed to get people to help us fight the fight through their system? We’ll have to wait and see.

Oh and for the record this post was not endorsed by PPP in any way shape or form (just in case they try to pull this same crap on me for my next “job” with them.

The Litter Box Wars: Littermaid vs SmartScoop

Add comment May 28th, 2008

Littermaid vs SmartScoop - it is the self-scooping litter box wars I’m talking about not a review of the expensive cat boxes. (But if you want my opinion the SmartScoop wins the review hands down so lets hope they win the legal battle too.)

For a quick run down OurPets, a company that makes great pet products introduced a self-scooping litter box, the SmartScoop last year and the makers of the Littermaid box, Salton, Inc. felt the need to squash any competition before word got out that they don’t really care about pets they just want your money over and over again.

OurPet’s was founded in 1995 by Dr. Steve Tsengas with the goal of promoting pet health, well-being and owner & pet interaction. [taken from OurPets.com]

While Salton, Inc. and its subsidiaries are leading marketers and distributors of a broad range of branded small household appliances. Salton markets and distributes small kitchen and home appliances, pet and pest products, and personal care products. [take from Salton’s website]

Which of these companies do you think has your cat’s best interests in mind and which one do you think is only out to make a quick buck? If the company’s mission statements alone don’t convince you maybe you need to take a look at the products themselves.

The SmartScoop as a large litter area it is two inches longer than the Littermaid’s usable area, which is rather important if you have a huge cat like mine. The SmartScoop is also a little higher, which can reduce the litter scattering from your cat’s digging.

The SmartScoop has a much less expensive waste bag to replace over the Littermaids plastic containers. Which raises the whole environmental issue. SmartScoops bags are biodegradable Littermaids are not (nor are they recyclable, but who would want to clean them out to recycle them any way?).

The most noticeable differences lie in the motor and the fact that it is outside of the box and removable on the SmartScoop not on the Littermaid. Which one do you think is easier to clean? I’ll tell you from experience, the SmartScoop! Since the motor is removable it is also replaceable too. That’s right if the motor goes bad you can replace just that part not the entire box.

OurPets stands behind their products, does Salton? I don’t think so. A friend of mine had gone through 2 Littermaid boxes in two years yet she could not get them repaired or replaced through the company. She finally gave up on self-scooping boxes as her experience with the Littermaid has soured her to any automatic box even one of superior quality like the SmartScoop.

This brings me to the costs. These boxes are not cheap, especially when you have to replace the entire box a $200 a pop. The SmartScoop retails for around $150 and the replacement costs are much less than that. Supplies for the SmartScoop are much more cost effective too.

As you can see the SmartScoop wins that battle but can it win the war? Maybe with our help the little guy can come out on top. Spread the word, let your congressman know how you feel about the waste of money and resources this type of litigation can be, above all else express your opinion to Salton and ask them why they are so afraid of a little market place competition. If they are as good as they think they are they should welcome some competition.

Besides I thought a person or company could improve on a current invention or patent and then claim the patent on the new and improved item (at least that’s what the infomercials tell me). So how can they really claim an infringement unless the product is exactly the same? Personally, I think they are over reacting and should go sell George Foreman Grills and forget the lawsuit, which will cost them more then if they simply welcomed the competition. Perhaps someone in their corporate offices did not do the math right or maybe they can simply throw away 1.5 million in the hopes of saving a half million dollars from a little healthy competition. Heck, if they have that much money why not throw some my way? Or better yet replace my friend’s boxes!

Boris says: What’s All The Fuss Over A Place to Poop any way?

Big Fat Stupid Heads

Add comment May 28th, 2008

I have been informed that my sponsored post will not be paid because the yutzes over at PPP think my little tirade about big corporations like those behind the Littermaid litter box trying to kill the little guy like the fine folks over at OurPet’s is a sponsored post.

I link to both parties so which one is doing the sponsoring? I have no affiliate links in the post so how am I being paid? Perhaps they need to open their eyes and look at the links in a post before saying that you don’t get paid for your hard work today because we see links in your posts. Did you read the post? Did you follow the links? I doubt it or you would have realized it is what it is, a valid original content, non-sponsored post. This little police action of theirs has actually tick me off.

If I had been sponsored I would have said “oh well they caught me” and just remove the unpaid post from my blog but this is war now. So now I stick this rant about them in between my sponsored post with them and my non-sponsored post that they cannot see is not a paid post.

I Want It Wednesday: Cool Police Shorts

Add comment May 28th, 2008

I thought Dickies had cool shorts, but compared to the 511 Tactical Shorts I am not so sure any more. These puppies are pretty sweet. They are stylish, built to last, and designed to carry bulky stuff. (You know, like your PDA, cell phone, iPod, etc. Gotta love those pockets.) Besides that you get to look like a cop instead of UPS man. Which is better? I’ll let you decide on your own as for me I like the stuff at LA Police Gear’s website just as good if not better.