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- Uncategorized (29)
- July 15, 2008: Gillette Face and Body Wash Samples
- July 3, 2008: Free Cookbook
- June 30, 2008: Free Anti-Smoking Poster
- June 22, 2008: Set limits on your kids Computer Time
- June 21, 2008: Great New Video
- June 17, 2008: Know Your Own Reasons for Quitting
- June 9, 2008: Free On-The-Go Drink Samples
- May 27, 2008: Emergen-C Free Samples
- May 24, 2008: Free Learn German CD Set
- May 23, 2008: The Fremont troll
My Favorites
I Love Coffee
May 14, 2008 by abby.
It gets me started, it keeps me going… without it I’m not fit to live with. Seriously: just ask my kids. I like it strong and fresh: coffee over an hour or so old tastes like badger piss and weak coffee just gives me a headache. When I make it at home I use a ‘French Press’ and make it strong enough to fuel a race car ~ my best friend calls it ‘Turkish Mud’ and adds sugar and milk - she totally ruins it. My hubby won’t drink it either - he still gets his morning fuel from the old auto-drip I got for free a few years ago.
Anyway - whenever I see a free coffee sample offer I jump on it right away. Today, when I got home there was a sample on the table that I ordered last month from Seattle’s Best:
If you get the freebie newsletter, you may remember it from an issue early in April. I just checked, and the sample offer is still good if you’re interested, and there’s three varieties to pick from ~ just follow the link above.
I ordered the “Henry’s Blend” and it came in a 1.75oz foil vacuum pack… should be enough for about six or eight cups. It came with a $1 coupon good towards a 12oz bag, I’ll try it tomorrow (I don’t drink coffee after lunch time, I love coffee, but I need my beauty sleep too) and if it’s good I’ll probably use the coupon.
Okay - time to start dinner, ‘bye!
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Been busy…. but that’s no excuse.
May 14, 2008 by abby.
I see that i’ve not taken the time to write a post since February… disgraceful. And a bit embarrassing as well.
Used to be that I could log on from work and ‘look busy’ while posting, or surfing around looking for something to add to the newsletter, or something to post here (like the video below). But lately there’s just not been enough slack time for that.
Plus, last month I got fed up with the newsletter manager that I was using and decided to get some software that would do the job without charging me an arm and a leg. Finally found a good one, but it took a few false starts and created a lot of confusion and annoyance while I tried different things, ran tests and got everything set up & running. Really had me pulling my hair out for a while.
Most people were pretty good about it - but some got a bit cranky when I messed up and the software tried to send them a few dozen (or a few hundred) copies of the test email… can’t blame them - my email address was on the list too and it was like something from a bad SciFi Channel movie.
Anyway - got that problem solved and went on to the next… My partner got some software that will make a more ‘modern’ Bargain Center that uses datafeeds from merchants to automatically build a searchable online shopping outlet. He convinced me that I should be the one who got it all running and fill it with products. (like I did so well with the last bit of software I wrestled with 
Actually, that hasn’t been so bad to learn - I do learn, a bit slowly at times, but I usually get it eventually…. I’ve got it looking OK, and the entire inventory from about fifty or so good online stores uploaded for searching.
Eventually, that will be replacing the “old-style” bargain center that we put together about four years ago.
Okay - I’d better get back to work… got some reports to read and an intern to annoy before I can go to lunch . . . I love my job 
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Video: “Achieving your childhood dreams”
February 28, 2008 by abby.
Randy Pausch is dying of pancreatic cancer. On September 18, 2007, he made a “Last Lecture” to his students. It’s called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”.
Even if you don’t think you have 70+ minutes to watch this right now… but watch a few minutes and see… If you’re like me, you’ll be hooked.
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The next five-ten years in Dubai, UAE.
February 21, 2008 by abby.
Just in case you didn’t know what your some of fuel dollars were buying.
Source: Dubai Architecture and dubai.isnuts.googlepages.com
( Right-click > view Image to see the pictures full size.)
Dubai in 1990, prior to the craziness
The same street in 2003…
….And Last year
The madness. Dubai is said to currently have 15-25% of all the world’s cranes
The Dubai Waterfront. When completed it will become the largest waterfront development in the world.
All of this was built in the last 5 years, including that island that looks like a palm tree.
The Palm Islands in Dubai. New Dutch dredging technology was
used to create these massive man made islands.
They are the largest artificial islands in the world
and can be seen from space. Three of
these Palms will be made with the last one being the
largest of them all.
Upon completion, the resort will have 2,000 villas, 40 luxury hotels,
shopping centers, movie theaters, and many other
facilities. It is expected to support a population
of approximately 500,000 people. It is
advertised as being visible from the moon.
The World Islands. 300 artificially created islands in
the shape of the world. Each island will have
an estimated cost of $25-30 million.
The Burj al-Arab hotel in Dubai. The worlds tallest hotel.
Considered the only ‘7 star’ hotel and the most
luxurious hotel in the world. It stands on an
artificial island in the sea.
Hydropolis, the world’s first underwater hotel. Entirely built
in Germany and then assembled in Dubai, it is
scheduled to be completed by 2009 after many delays.
The Burj Dubai. Construction began in 2005 and is expected to be
complete by 2008. At an estimated height of
over 800 meters, it will easily be world’s tallest
building when finished. It will be almost 40%
taller than the the current tallest building, the
Taipei 101.
This is what downtown Dubai will look like around
2008-2009. More than 140 stories of the Burj Dubai
have already been completed. It is already the
worlds tallest man made structure and it is still
not scheduled to be completed for at least another
year.
The Al Burj. This will be the centerpiece of the Dubai Waterfront. Once completed it will take over the title of the tallest structure in the world from the Burj Dubai.
Recently it was announced that the final height of this tower will be 1200 meters. That would make it more than 30% taller than the Burj Dubai and three times as tall as the Empire State Building.
The Burj al Alam, or The World Tower. Upon completion it will rank as the world’s highest hotel. It is expected to be finished by 2009. At 480 meters it will only be 28 meters shorter than the Taipei 101.
The Trump International Hotel & Tower, which will be the centerpiece of one of the palm islands, The Palm Jumeirah.
Dubailand. Currently, the largest amusement park collection in the world is Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, which is also the largest single-site employer in the United states with 58,000 employees. Dubailand will be twice the size.
Dubailand will be built on 3 billion square feet (107 miles^2) at an estimated $20 billion price tag. The site will include a purported 45 mega projects and 200 hundred other smaller projects.
Dubai Sports City. A huge collection of sports arenas located in Dubailand.
Currently, the Walt Disney World Resort is the #1 tourist destination in the world. Once fully completed, Dubailand will easily take over that title since it is expected to attract 200,000 visitors daily.
The Dubai Marina is an entirely man made development that will contain over 200 highrise buildings when finished. It will be home to some of the tallest residential structures in the world. The completed first phase of the project is shown. Most of the other high rise buildings will be finished by 2009-2010.
The Dubai Mall will be the largest shopping mall in the world with over 9 million square feet of shopping and around 1000 stores. It will be completed in 2008.
Ski Dubai, which is already open, is the largest indoor skiing facility in the world. This is a rendered image of another future indoor skiing facility that is being planned.
Some of the tallest buildings in the world, such as Ocean Heights and The Princess Tower, which will be the largest residential building in the world at over a 100 stories, will line the Dubai Marina.
The UAE Spaceport would be the first spaceport in the world if construction ever gets under way….
Other interesting stuff…
The Dubai Metro system, once completed, will become the largest fully automated rail system in the world.
The Dubai World Central International Airport will become the largest airport in size when it is completed. It will also eventually become the busiest airport in the world, based on passenger volume.
There are more construction workers in Dubai than there are actual citizens.
Source: Dubai Architecture
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What’s New This Week
February 9, 2008 by abby.
…well the weather has been miserable this week, so bad that the schools were closed a couple times and even some of the roads to the west were closed just out of town.
So there was plenty of time to work on the website - specifically the Bargain Center part - we’ve joined up with three good online stores this week…
First one I want to share with you is Baghaus ~ a store with a really nice selection of “Designer Inspired & Celebrity Style” handbags — I can’t say how many they have to pick from - hundreds, at least - but what I was surprised about, and why I wanted to get hooked up with them, was their prices! I’ve seen the same (or at least, very very close) bags in the stores here locally - and I’ll tell ya, the prices at Baghaus are MUCH better.
Then there is a store called Pans.com - with over a thousand kitchen & cookware items to choose from. It took a few days, but with the help of my partner Tim (from BLT-Web.com (blatant plug)) we got six new pages added to the Bargain Center, with all their products in self-updating ‘dynamic’ content… makes it easier to find what you’re looking for and the pages get updated automatically. Check them out - Bakeware, Cookware Pieces, Cookware Sets, Kitchen Essentials, Small Kitchen Appliances and Specialty Cookware
…last, but not least, we’ve finally hooked up with a store that I’ve shopped at twice in the past year or so - Emitations Jewelry - they’ve got a really nice selection of “Celebrity Inspired” women’s jewelry, but without the Beverly Hills price. You can order a free catalog at this link - Emitations Catalog (it comes with a free ring sizer too) and see what all they have to offer.
We also got the new Custom Flash Games early this week, have you seen them? Playing is free, fun, and easy. Get your free account & check out one or both cool interactive games ~ a free lottery-style game called MoneyWheel… or try your luck at BANKO, a game like Bingo, but with a fun twist… instantly win sweepstakes, gift cards, cash, and maybe even a huge jackpot!
That’s all for major changes to the site this week, except that all the weather-induced extra time also gave me the opportunity to check a lot of the links in the Freebies section and remove about 60 or so that have gone bad… but there are still over 1900 freebies listed, so there’s still plenty of goodies out there!
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