Archives for 2007

Slush, Margeritas and the Ocean – a salty bunch

March 3, 2007 by Tricia

I should have looked at this weeks Photo Hunter theme earlier. The theme this week is Salty and I’m having trouble figuring out what I could post for it.

We just had a snow and ice storm so I suppose that I could take a photo of the slushy streets as I’m sure the melting snow contains some salt. Yes, when we have ice storms I think they still use some salt in the mix when the city clears the streets.

My brother came to Toronto from Vancouver with his wife. He’s here for a business conference, but his wife just tagged along so that she could shop and visit with us, my sister and one of my other brothers.

Chris and I will be getting together with them this afternoon. I’m not sure what we’ll be doing – perhaps some shopping, maybe just walking around downtown and seeing some of the sights. Either way I plan on bringing my camera along. Perhaps I’ll find some interesting things to take pictures of. Toronto is an interesting city … and now that I know that next weeks Photo Hunter theme is architecture I know which Toronto building I’d love to get a shot of. You’ll love it!

Later this evening we’re going to meet up with my sister and my other brother and perhaps some of my nephews and nieces for dinner in a downtown restaurant. Maybe I’ll order a margarita and take a photo of it’s “Salty” rim? That would work!

I’ve been feeling so rotten lately that I haven’t been out much. It will be nice to get out and visit with my relatives as well as just be out of this house. Of course I think I’m going to be out for 10+ hours, so I hope I’m up for it. It’ll be a drag if I’m feeling horrible by the time our dinner out rolls around.

I’ll leave you with this photo that my friend Jordan sent me. It is Salty since it’s a photo of the ocean:

Have a great weekend!

Snow,Ice and no Internet – Oh No!

March 2, 2007 by Tricia

We had a huge snow storm yesterday!

It was so bad that it knocked out my internet AND cable connections at about 5:30 pm yesterday afternoon. Thunder, snow and Ice … that’s what yesterday was all about!

We had well over a foot of snow and got some freezing rain too.

I actually wrote the bulk of this post yesterday in notepad while I was waiting for the internet and cable to come back on. This is what I was thinking about:

I should go out and shovel. I really should. The only problem is that I’m feeling just terrible and I’ve got yet another fever. I’m afraid that if I bundle up to go outside and start pushing the snow around I’ll feel even worse.

You’d think that maybe, just this one time our neighbors would have at least shoveled the snow from the sidewalk in front of our house? Chris does most of the snow shoveling for our house. I used to do my fair share but when I’m sick I just can’t.

When Chris gets out and shovels he always does our two elderly neighbors sidewalks and the walkway leading up to the front of their house. He also often does the sidewalk in front of the house that is attached to our own. That means he shovels from the corner and the fronts walks and sidewalks of four or five houses! He does this almost every time he shovels.

I looked outside and two of the neighbors have shoveled but they didn’t do our sidewalk or my stalker elderly neighbor Sofie’s sidewalk.

Darn … I think I just talked myself into shoveling. I can’t leave it that way. I guess I’ll go bundle up and see how far I get. I am most definitely not shoveling for the neighbors who already did some of their own shoveling … the ones that we often shovel for normally.

So yes, I did end up going out to shovel. Darn neighbors! Five years of helping people out and when I can’t get out to do it because I’m sick and my husbands at work they don’t bother. I’m tired of being nice and getting walked on. No more!

Our internet and cable returned about four hours after it had gone out. What a frustrating day it was.

Save money when you purchase ink and printer supplies at 123inkjets.com

March 1, 2007 by Tricia

I’d love to take a poll to see just how many of my readers have digital cameras, laser or inkjet printers, or even photo printers and scanners. My guess is that at least 85% of my readers have a printer and possibly a digital camera, and that a good number of you might also have a scanner and a photo printer.

Why do I think that most of you have digital cameras and printers? Well, because I’ve visited your sites and read your comments. Many of you are web designers, photographers, graphic artists, web developers or have small to medium sized businesses.

I have all of the items I listed above with the exception of a photo printer. That’s next on my list. You see I do a lot of graphics, and as you know I have been developing my photography skills. I occasionally print out my photographs or graphic work. I frame them and give them as gifts. I’ve also been considering starting a small business where I would sell some of my photographs and art work online.

Considering that I like to print out my work I need to be sure that I have ink for my inkjet printer and both regular and photo quality paper on hand at all times.

I hate going to computer, department stores, or even office supply stores to buy my ink and photo paper. I always feel that the prices are much too high. You know, when I purchased my last printer (this is my third!) I purposely bought it with the price of ink in mind. The one I bought has separate color cartridges so that If I run out of yellow or magenta for example I only have to purchase the color that I’m low on, and not a whole set of colors. I thought that this might reduce the overall cost of printer ink, and while it has I still find it very expensive if I purchase it through a retail store.

So that’s why I’m starting to take a look at the fantastic prices over at 123Inkjets.com. They carry a large variety of brand name premium laser and inkjet cartridges as well as all of the other types of printer supplies that I need.

Just looking through the site for the type of Cannon Inkjet printer cartridges that I need for my printer I have discovered that I can purchase the cartridges that I need for 75% less than what I’ve been paying in the retail stores. I’m amazed!

Remember I gave an example of running out of yellow ink? Well if I had to purchase that in a retails store I’d pay anywhere from $13 to $19, but at 123inkjets.com that same cartridge is only $3.75! It’s even cheaper if I purchase three or more as I’d get them for $2.75 each.

Now I’m all excited! Yes, printer ink is exciting when you can save 75% off the retail price. It is!

I went on to look at their stalk of printer paper and discovered that I can get 20 sheets of photo paper for as little as $3.95 to $11.80 depending on exactly which type I’d want to purchase. I like to have a variety of photo paper – matte, glossy, and in different sizes which is why I gave a range in price. I can tell you that if I were to purchase the types of photo paper that I’m interested in at a retail store that I’d be paying approximately $20 or more for 20 sheets.

You know, I don’t think I’m ever going to purchase my Inkjet printer cartridges or photo paper in a retail store again. The prices at 123inkjets.com are amazing!

123inkjets.com offers free shipping on sales of $55 or more throughout the continental US. With those prices why not buy everything that you’d need at once and get free shipping too? I know I would.

So what are you waiting for? I know that the majority of you have an inkjet or laser printer in your home. Go take a look at 123injets.com and see for yourself how much money you can save if you make your purchases with them.

Finding my writing focus

March 1, 2007 by Tricia

I’ve spent a few of the last posts discussing my husband and I’s various blogs. I’m going to be re-designing a few of their themes and re-organizing all of the sites topics/categories and sidebars in order to make them much more user friendly.

Now I’m trying to decide what to do with this blog.

In the past this site has been a general catch all. If I decide to write about a television show that I just watched I write about it here. If Chris and I are busy working on home renovations I write about it here. I think that’s confused the focus of this site.

I mean I could write about DIY, home renovation and home decor on my gardening blog, or simply create a new blog altogether to talk about those topics. I do talk about them often enough on this site and my gardening site that I could justify creating a new blog just for those topics.

Also, now that I have my celebrity blog I think I could get away with writing about television show episodes or documentaries that have caught my attention on that site rather than on this one.

My other two blogs, the newest of all are web design and internet technology related. Posts about cool internet related stuff will probably get posted over there more often now. Although if I find something really cool that I think you guys will like I’ll be sure to let you know about it here too. Or at least point you over to The Web Files for a read.

If I take away the Home renovation, decor, gardening, technology and entertainment related posts from this blog what does that leave? Self, health, lifestyle, home life, relationship, shopping and general stuff. I believe that for the most part those are the kinds of things I talk about most often on this blog anyway.

Does that sound like a plan? Would you still keep coming back to read this blog and perhaps visit my our other sites more often to read some of the topics that I’ve diverted to the newer blogs on their own sites?

I’d really like your input before I start making major changes to this blog or any of the others that I write on. I don’t want to lose readers. I want you to continue to return and hopefully build a larger readership as a result of each of my blogs being more focused.

Feedback please?

Worldwide Hostel listings at Hostelbookers.com – the cheaper way to travel

March 1, 2007 by Tricia

Last summer we had a border staying in our home. She was from Korea. Last July she had the opportunity to take a four day bus trip/tour of New York City so she decided to go on the trip. As it turned out she didn’t end up taking the trip through the school but went on her own – causing us much worry when she didn’t come home until two days after we’d expected her to return as some of you might recall.

It turns out that she stayed in at least two New York Hostels while she was in New York City. I’m not sure if she booked her stay in the hostels on her own or if one of the friends that she met in New York did it for her but either way, she stayed in hostels because it was a much less expensive way to stay in the city and to be able to afford to see many of the places in New York that interested her.

Just now I was visiting hostelbookers.com and if I had another border, or if I’d known about this site last summer I would most definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to travel to New York or any other city and save money while vacationing.

Hostelbookers.com is an online hostel booking service. Their rates are the cheapest online.

You know what I like about hostelbookers.com? You can search the site in a number of ways. For example, suppose you are planning a trip to New York and you wanted to see if there are any Hostels in the area that you think you’ll do the majority of your site seeing in. Just use their interactive Google map to search for hostels in the area that you are interested in. Click on the numbered hostels in the area that you’d like to stay in and you can find out how they’ve been rated by others who’ve stayed there in the past.

After you’ve used the interactive map, or rather than using the interactive map, you can simply click on the city that you’d like to travel to and get a list of all the hostels in that city. When you view the listed of Hostels you’ll be able to see the price for a shared or private room, and the rating that other site members have given the Hostel.

To get more information about a particular hostel simply click it’s name in the listing and you’ll be taken to a new page that has detailed information about the hostel. You’ll find information such as whether there’s a curfew, 24 hour reception, hot showers, if you’ll be able to access the internet, whether there’s air conditioning plus many more pieces of interesting information such as common tourist attractions that are nearby. You’ll also be able to view photos of the rooms. I was pleasantly surprised to see that many of the rooms look quite a bit like pleasant bed and breakfast style rooms.

You can check prices and availability from the hostels information page, and then you can go on to book your room if you decide that your interested in staying in that hostel.

You don’t have to register or log in to Hostelbookers.com to view the vast amount of information on the site. I also like the fact that they come right out and say that there are no hidden charges or booking fees. The price that you see when you are checking prices and availability is the price that you’ll be charged.

After seeing how nice many of the rooms are, and how cheap they are too, I think I’d consider staying in a Hostel the next time I visit New York city. Especially if I ended up saving enough money that I could see two Broadway shows instead of just one. Sure, why not.

If you use Hostelbookers.com or if you’ve stayed in any of the Hostels that they have listed don’t forget to go back and rate the hostel. The more ratings they have from past hostel guests the better.

Slush, Margeritas and the Ocean – a salty bunch

Snow,Ice and no Internet – Oh No!

Save money when you purchase ink and printer supplies at 123inkjets.com

Finding my writing focus

Worldwide Hostel listings at Hostelbookers.com – the cheaper way to travel

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