Wanted: Reliable, cheap (very cheap) phone cards, please!

I recently found out that I had some problems with my answering service while I was on holiday. Apparently the lines were down over the course of a weekend and I missed a few Temple Treats orders. To make matters worse, I had a lot of trouble returning the messages that I did receive. I had purchased a phone card so that I could return customer calls while I was vacationing – you never truly vacation when you own your own business – but the card I bought sucked! If the customer did not answer my call directly and I was forwarded to their mailbox, I was not able to leave a message! The call simply disconnected. It was crazy! Luckily I have some very loyal customers and they were kind enough to put up with the mess of a phone card.

So now it is time for me to get a new global phone card (holiday or not, I always carry a phone card in case of emergency). I am thinking about Using Pingo. What is really selling me is that Pingo phone cards have a near perfect reorder rate and they are offering four free hours of international calling simply for signing up. They also have a rate watcher service so I don’t have to waste a lot of time searching for the lowest phone card rate. I was so busy before I went on vacation, I didn’t even have time to shop around, I just bought the first one I saw and now I know I was ripped off. Not only could I not leave messages on people’s answering services, there was a bunch of hidden fees. These little surprises made my card time run out before my vacation ended. I was only gone a week. I have been assured that there are absolutely no hidden fees with Pingo. It is a very cheap phone card with no surprises!

Pingo also happens to offer a refer a friend program so after I sign up, I can get $15 for every friend Irefer to Pingo. I will start with my college friends te ones I was visiting on vacation). Once they have signed up for Pingo, they can start calling me!

Training kids is like training puppies, right?

Last night I went to dinner with my mother, little brother, and his friend Danny. My brother and Danny ordered from the kids menu (despite my brother's many protests) and so they had their choice of entree, side, and dessert.

About half way through my brother's pizza (his entree choice) it became very obvious that he was getting full. My mom suggested he stop eating and wait for his dessert to come. The rest of his pizza could be wrapped up for next day's lunch. Not content to leave food on his plate when he had a perfectly good belly to store it in, my brother started picking the toppings off of his pizza. Seeing him reach for a giant slice of pepperoni, I told him not to pick at his pizza because he wouldn't want it for lunch without any toppings on it. Well the little bugger ignored me! Pretending he didn't hear what I was saying, he peeled the pepperoni off the pizza.
"Joe" I said sternly "Put that down."
Again he ignored me and started bringing it to his mouth. This time my mother gave it a go,
"Joe listen to your sister!"
No response. Mad as hell at his impertinence, didn't even think about what I was doing. I simply lifted up my hands and clapped very loudly three times. This is what I do when my Boston terrier puppy, Stella, ignores me in the manner that Joe was at that moment. The funny part is that Joe, my mother, and Danny all reacted in the same manner as Stella would have if she were there. They all dropped what they were holding and sat up straight! How funny; they even folded their hands in their laps.

Luckily for all of us, the waitress came by shortly after that to take our plates away and bring the kids' desserts. Joe's pizza was safely wrapped up so I hope he enjoys his lunch today.

Paid Blogging Made Easier (and Cheaper)

I want everyone to take note of the brand new icon on the sidebar. I am now for hire! Thanks to the folks over at PayPerPost, an advertiser can now click on the “Hire Me” icon, contacting me directly to blog a review about their product, service, or website. And unlike most other blog advertising sites out there, PayPerPost is only taking 10% off the top of my blogs (5% of which goes to PayPal and other transaction fees). Other companies out there mark up price 50 to 100% (poor advertisers!) and then give only a pittance to the person who actually wrote the blogs!

PayPerPosts new Pay Direct system is incredibly user friendly (especially compared to some PPP competitors out there) and offers all of the security and convenience that is offered through their regular PayPerPost program. Bloggers can even pick a minimum fee amount and post it right on their Pay Direct icon. I chose not to do that because my fee is dependant upon what the advertiser would like me to write about. I can always change my mind later, though.

So I want all you advertisers to start clicking on my PayPerPost “Hire Me” button. The sooner, the more often, the better! I have chew toys to pay for (Stella just ruined another one last night).

Facebook, you have forsaken me!

Well my new addiction has bitten me right in the ass. Addictions aren't supposed to do that, are they?

Stupid Facebook! Somehow I am now signed up for a grade 8 reunion. How the heck does something like this happen? I mean, I didn't like half of these people when I was 12, why would I like them now? What I really can't figure out is why I, an intelligent woman, clicked "yes" on the evite. Maybe it was because there was not an "omigod, no, nO, NO!!!" button featuring a cartoon icon of a screaming girl with her hair on fire running around in circles. Somehow the simple decline button that they did have just didn't seem adequate.

I still haven't decided if I plan to skip out or not but since it is not in my nature to ditch the follow through part of a stupid decision, I will probably have squeeze into my one and only pair of Sevens, poke myself in the eye ten times until I manage to get my contacts in, pick out a low cut top that features my boobs instead of my waistline, and top it off with my Gucci sunglasses and Dior watch (both of which I got on AMAZING sales). Hopefully I will look moderately successful and not quite as fat as the girls whom I did not like (but probably pretended to) and that one boyfriend I was lucky enough to have show me by example who NOT to date. A lot of girls don't learn that until much later in life, if ever!

Meade MySky: astromomy class without the cranky instructor

Most of my recent blog entries have been about my Idaho vacation. Yes, I know vacations are meant for exotic places and adventurous activities but I simply wanted to visit my two best college friends graduate from their respective programs. As an added bonus, I avoided hotel stays for the majority of the trip because my good friend Bryan let me stay in his spare room. I met Bryan in an astronomy class. My first day in the class, I arrived a little late. The instructor’s head snapped up from roll call as if an uninvited in-law just entered the room. I knew then that this class was going to give me trouble. I looked around, not for an empty desk but instead for the smartest looking student in the room to sit beside. That smart looking guy was Bryan, my new study partner.

Despite the fact that Bryan did turn out to be super-genius smart and I am not an unintelligent creature, I only got a B in that class. Personally, I blame the teacher (or, y’ know, my tardiness). I think I could have gotten an A, though, if I had had one of these awesome gadgets- a Meade My Sky Personal Video Planetarium.

The Meade MySky is a point and click type guide to the universe. I don’t mean to sound all dramatic, here but the interactive skyscout is touted as being incredibly easy to use. It even has a full-colour LCD screen. According to an advertisement I read, the Meade MySky can help you identify objects in the night sky even better than if you had your own personal astronomer...or...I imagine, better than a crabby astronomy professor who just can’t let go of the fact you had trouble finding a parking spot on the first day of his class!

I think I will get a Meade MySky from OpticsPlanet.com for my nephew for his upcoming birthday. He is 10 years old and I know he would love this cool new gadget, plus I would then be able to re-live my astronomy lessons vicariously through him!

Cat 1, Dog 0. The thwarted invasion of the litter box.

This weekend was not a great one for me. I have not been feeling well, I had to work, and my boyfriend was seriously wearing on my nerves.

After work on Saturday I was trying to take a nap while Stella ran rampant in my condo. I believe she instinctively knew that my defenses were down and she was taking full advantage. She even got brave enough to stick her head through the swinging door of Nellie's enclosed litter box.

Up until Saturday evening, the exact moment when Stella decided to invade Nellie's litter box, Nellie had been impressively (albeit reluctantly) tolerant of this new and clumsy beast. I guess, though, that invading her litter box was Nellie's last straw. Enraged, Nellie flew down from her scratching post and attacked poor little Stella's butt. As fast as Nellie had decended on Stella she was gone, glaring from the darkest recesses of under the sofa. Stella, stunned and confused, with her head still in the litter box let out a painfull yelp and instictively jumped forward. Unfortunately she got stuck half way into the litter box. Realizing that she was not going to get in the box, she then attempted to get out. With her body half in and half out of the litter box she began twisting and turning, dragging the litter box frantically and backwards around the condo. She finally managed to burst free, with litter flying in every direction, from the box!

Stella was covered in cat litter and completely confused. Having no idea where her original source of pain had come from, she bagan barking and growling menacingly at the litter box as if it were a dangerous intruder. Stella is not big on barking and I have only really heard her bark once or twice but she just went on barking at this litter box for until I scooped her up and brought her into the bathroom for a (gasp) dreaded bath!

The poor girl shook and shivered through the entire torture of a very rigorous bath. Cat litter is really impossible to get out of dog toes and claws. I swear I heard the cat laughing.

As of last night, Stella is still glaring suspiciously in the direction of the litter box everytime she passes by it.

DOG TRAINING: DOG TRAINING

DOG TRAINING: DOG TRAINING