Simple Randomness

Remembering a Trip to Orlando

Now that I’m on the topic of vacations, one really cool vacation that I had as a kid was when we went as a family to Orlando.  Naturally, the main attraction that we went to was Disney World (at least, that’s all I remember ).

There’s something about going to a Disney Resort as a kid, it just really seems to stick with you.  Some of the things I remember was getting a crazy hat that looked like a dragon (his name was Figment for those of you that have been there), going through the “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” area, and ditching the light parade to go ride Thunder Mountain over and over and over again.  By the way, that’s the best time to do those rides because everyone else is watching the silly parade!

So if you haven’t been to Orlando, you should go.  Maybe even check out Trusted Tours & Attractions, they can show you all the different things to do in Orlando.  They also have a great newsletter and online travel guides.  I don’t know if they have a Madame Tussauds, but those are pretty cool too if you’ve never been to one!

Anyway, summer is a great time for spending time with family and going on vacations.  Even if you have to keep the distances shorter because of gas prices, there’s nothing like getting out with the family and having a little vacation.

Going on Vacation This Weekend!

Well, thankfully it’s time for another vacation this coming weekend.  Every year my wife’s family goes up to Bear Lake, Utah for a weekend, and it just so happens that this year we’re going over the 4th of July weekend.  I’m hoping that there will be some sweet fireworks over the lake or something like that.

If you’ve never been to Bear Lake it’s pretty cool.  It’s a lake that is part in Utah, part in Idaho.  And the really neat thing about it is the color of blue that it is.  Most lakes in Utah are kind of a dirty green color, but for some reason Bear Lake has a really nice blue color to it, almost like the ocean…but not salty!

This year should be interesting because now we have 2 kids.  It was interesting with 1…I guess we’ll see how it goes!

Helping Mom Bloggers Earn Extra Cash

Ok, let’s be honest: how many of you started your blog to make a little extra money.  I’m sure a lot of you would say yes.  How many of you are mothers that are starting blogging for that exact reason?  Maybe its for a little extra gas money.  Maybe you’re doing it so you can provide better treats for your kid’s soccer team.

Well, there are plenty of programs out there that can help you make a little extra money for whatever your purpose is, whether your a mom, dad (like me), single guy or girl, whatever.  One program you should check out is SocialSpark.

I know I’ve talked a little bit about these guys before, but the basic idea is that you go in there, set up a free account, and then sign up for different opportunities that come up.  One of the nice features of SocialSpark is that you can reserve a slot when an opportunity is already full.  Not all of them come back again, but some do and then you’ll be given the chance to post about it and still get paid.

So if you can’t tell, the key to something like SocialSpark is to make sure that you check it often.  You need to make sure that you are signed up for notifications.  This way you’ll know when one of the slots you signed up for has become available.  Also, make sure to check your email because once the spot becomes open you only have 12 hours to write the post!

To Be Close or Far From Family…

So my wife and I go back and forth on how we feel about this, but lately we’ve really been feeling that we would like to get away from family for awhile.  Family is nice and all, and they make great babysitters, but sometimes the drama is just too much if you know what I mean!

It’s funny because we also switch back and forth between which family we’re the most annoyed with.  So we’re thinking maybe it would just be good to get away completely for a few years or something.  We’ll see what happens.

Anyone else have problems with family?  Really, it’s not like any thing major has happened, but sometimes it really just seems like it would be really good for us to get away and be our own family for awhile.  Of course, then we would probably have to deal with visits…. now I’m wondering which is worse!

Halloween is a Dumb Holiday

Ok ok, I know that its a little early for this, but honestly I think that Halloween is a dumb holiday.  For some reason I was thinking about it today so I thought I’d write about it.

I thought it was kinda cool when I was a kid, but that was just because of all the free candy. That’s it, nothing more.

My real problem with Halloween is this: when did it become a ’sexy’ holiday?  I mean seriously.  I thought it was all about kids dressing up like little ghosts and witches and stuff.  But I think the movie Mean Girls said it best when one of the girls says, “Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.”  Sadly that is what this holiday has become.

For example, there’s this website called Costume Cauldron, and one of their keywords on their home page is ‘Sexy Adults.’  Even they are promoting the new sexy Halloween. Then on the home page some of the costumes that come up are ’sexy vixen pirate wench’ and ’sexy eskimo cutie.’  This is just retarded…

One thing I will say for Halloween though is that if you keep it for the kids, it still is a lot of fun.  Last year we took my son around as a monkey and he was totally cute. Toddler Halloween costumes are really cute, just because they are all about the fun of the holiday, not the bad side of it.

Needless to say, I would be totally happy if they didn’t have this holiday at all.  And sites like Costume Cauldron honestly annoy me.  But in the end, my kid loved it.  So for the time being I will still probably be involved to some degree in Halloween, just for my kids sake.  So I guess in the end there is still a need for these kinds of companies and sites.  But really, can we stop with the ’sexiness’ of Halloween already?

It’s Getting Hot - But I’m Glad It’s Dry!

So I’ve been talking to a lot of different people around the country through my job, and I realize that it seems like different sections of the country are in the middle of some type of heat wave.  And of course everyone in one way or another is probably going to complain about it.  Ok, not everyone, but enough people that I feel comfortable saying everyone .

Here in Utah we have already broken 100 degrees, which I think is pretty hot.  But I’m so glad that it is a so-called ‘dry heat.’  I really don’t handle humidity very well.  I remember a few years ago my wife and I went on a cruise out of Galveston, TX and the humidity there really did not treat me well.  So I’ll take the hot desert over that!

Anyway, there’s my random observation for the day.  How’s the weather where you’re at?

Thoughts on Payday Loans

Overall I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of short term loans and things, but I also have to say that I understand that sometimes things just go wrong and you have to get some cash to tide you over.  I guess to every rule there is always an exception!

These days there are lots of places where you can get payday loans.  In fact, there are even plenty of places where you can get a payday loan online!  So now you can get a loan to tide you over from the convenience of the web, how nice is that?!

So again, I hope you never find yourself if this kind of a situation, but if you do there are plenty of resources to get you by until payday.

Take the Geek Quiz!

A friend of mine sent me a link to this site the other day. I’m a sucker for these little quizzes and really get a kick out of them. This one is the Geek Quiz!

So how much of a geek are you? To be honest, I don’t consider myself to be a ‘geek’. ‘Nerd’, yes. But a geek is something else entirely. The funny thing is that I had my family take this quiz as well and my one brother that I would assume to be the biggest ‘geek’ actually got the highest score, so I guess I was right!

Here’s my score:

58% Geek

Created by OnePlusYou

So how much of a geek are you? Let’s have some fun with this, take the quiz and then post your scores below!

My Thoughts on SocialSpark

So a couple months ago I wrote about a new service that IZEA started for making money from your blog called SocialSpark. I have to first admit that I haven’t used it as much as I would like to, but even so I think that there are a few things that they could be doing better with it.

First of all, it seems like the site always loads really really slowly. Not sure why this is, probably too many scripts (or just my computer lol!), but that would be one thing to change.

Also, it seems like because of their ‘wait for slot’ feature, it is really quite hard to get an opportunity with them. It’s one of those things that I’m not entirely sure how they could do it better, but my thought is that when you reserve a spot they do it on a first come first serve basis. But I also know that some advertisers aren’t going to do more than one run, so you might be waiting for a slot that is never going to come.

Now, there are also a few things that I really like about SocialSpark. I think the idea of making it into a social network as well as a money making site is pretty cool. I still haven’t taken full advantage of this feature, but I really like the idea. Just for fun, here’s my own profile if anyone wants to be ‘friends’!

So I’m thinking that overall SocialSpark is a good idea. Give it a little more time and I think it will become one of the better paying blogging social sites.

My Little Sister Had a Baby!

My only sister, my little sister, just had a baby yesterday!  And for her size he was a big one.  She’s about 5′3″ and the baby weighed just over 8lbs.  So big she had to have a C-section for it.

It’s exciting!  This makes the 3rd baby in our family this year including my own baby boy.  And all have been healthy and are doing well.  It’s just weird to me that my ‘little sister’ is now a mom, but I’m sure I’ll get over it soon enough .

Well, I’m actually off to the hospital to see the little kid for the first time!