Simple Randomness

Good Advice for Debt

Debt is a big cause of our problems these days.  Whether it’s personal debt or national debt, we’re all being crushed by it.  I don’t know much about what I personally can do about national debt, but I do know that each of us can do better with our own personal debt.  And who knows, maybe that alone will make changes in a lot of other places.

How many of you need debt advice?  I think we all do from time to time.  Good thing that there are sites out there that can offer good advice on things like budgeting, getting a Debt Consolidation Loan, and other topics related to debt and getting out of it.

In fact, if you are in need of this kind of advice, check out InspectorGeneral.org.  You can call them and get some help getting out of whatever debt you’re in.  Sometimes debt is more than one individual person can handle, and so getting help and advice from somewhere else is definitely recommended.

They also offer some really good advice right there on the website!  So really, if you need some help getting out of debt, get in touch with InspectorGeneral.org.  We all need to do a much better job handling our debt.

Heading Out of Town for the Weekend!

I haven’t been out of town in a long long time, so I’m actually excited to get out…even though we’re just going to Idaho.

You see, growing up most of my relatives lived in Idaho and I never really enjoyed going up there to visit.  For that very reason my mom always called us ‘antisocial’ when it game to family gatherings.  And in a way I guess we were!

But at this point it’s sounding great, just for the fact that it’s out of town!  The last time I went out of town was to Vegas, but that was sometime last year.  And honestly, I’m not a big fan of Vegas.  It’s ok and all, but I don’t gamble and all that so it’s kind of a pointless destination for me.

Anyway, I’m leaving to go out of town.  I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

I’m Sore Today…But it Feels Good!

I mentioned yesterday that I’m glad to be going back to the gym. Well, one of the hard parts of going back to the gym after not going for awhile is you tend to get really sore the next day!

For example, yesterday I did some hang clean and presses and my shoulders are very very sore today. But you know what they say about working out, no pain no gain. This kind of pain is good. Now of course bad pain doesn’t mean not gain…that means you might have injured something. So don’t take that quote too literally…

Last week I had a similar experience after doing squats. I was sorta gimpy for about 2-3 days. Gotta love it!

All I can say is that if you aren’t going to the gym because you’re afraid of the soreness, get rid of that excuse! The more you work out the less sore you tend to get because you get used to it. So get out there and get some exercise! Make sure to pick up some muscle building supplements to help you in your goals while you’re at it!

What Room Would I Makeover First?

Renuzit® has introduced a new home air freshener called TriScents™, and I must say that they look to be pretty cool! TriScents™ is an electric oil air freshener. I’ve used oil based air fresheners in the past and I must say that they work really really well.

So here’s the deal: TriScents™ is running a contest where you could win a $20,000 home makeover. So what room would I makeover first if I was to win this contest? Well, its a toss-up between our living room and office. I know that my wife would go for the living room, but I would probably go for the office. I’ve had this image in my head of what a great office would look like and that’s the one that would easily excite me the most. To find out more about this contest you can check out the official rules.

If you want to try the new TriScents™ air fresheners you can get a free coupon by going to TriScents.com. This way you can try the product out and not have to pay full price for it. While you’re on the website, you can also enter to win the home makeover contest. Just make sure that when you enter the contest that you try to be as convincing as you can so you can win!

These are Huge Fans!

I’m mainly blogging about this because I think it’s cool:

Granted, I don’t own a business that has a warehouse or anything like that, but I did work for a guy once that did and his warehouse would get really really hot in the summer. He didn’t have any Ceiling Fans in the warehouse, but he should have used BigAssFans. These things are huge! Their idea is that they move a lot of air without having to do it at high speeds. And they have a really cool donkey on their site. Really unique business name, and a pretty cool product (get the pun…I know, pretty lame but I couldn’t resist!)

An Education Program That Makes a lot of Sense!

One problem that I’ve had with the current higher education system is that it doesn’t offer a lot of (if any) real world experience while you’re going through getting an ‘education.’ I always had this thought of some kid going through college working at some fast food joint, but then when he gets out of college he has no real work experience to draw on when applying for jobs. Not a good picture!

Well I just recently heard about a much better idea - co-op education! The idea is that you work for a couple of months in a company related to what you’re studying, then you go back to school for 3 months and so forth. So you learn the stuff in school, then go apply it in the real world immediately. This is great!

Right now number one ranked university with co-op programs is Kettering University. They offer a lot of programs such as engineering co-op programs for students studying industrial engineering, and many other programs as well. In fact, US News and World Report has ranked Kettering University as “the #1 University in the nation for Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering” in its annual “America’s Best Colleges Guide for 2008″. This is definitely worth checking out if you’re thinking of going back to school or have kids getting ready for college.

Lame Oyster Joke

Ok, here’s a really really really lame oyster joke. I think that it fits with the Random theme of this blog, so here goes:

What did the girl oyster say to the boy oyster?

“You never open up to me.”

Can you say “Lame?” LOL, it seems like the kind of joke that you would see on a Laffy Taffy or something like that.

But speaking of oysters, I’ve never really eaten them but I understand that you have to be very careful when eating raw or undercooked oysters. If you like oysters or have considered eating Gulf oysters, you should check out BeOysterAware.com to find out more about the potential risks and things to be aware of before eating oysters.

And you know what? They also have some oyster recipes that look to be pretty good. So check it out!

Crazy Things in Vegas?

I know when most people talk about crazy things to do in Las Vegas they talk about the whole “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” type stuff. Well, I’m honestly not that kind of guy and so when I talk about crazy things in Vegas, some of you might think its a little boring.

So when I think back to the crazy things I’ve done in Vegas, I think mainly of the Stratosphere. That thing is NUTS! Sure, I’m all about going to amusement parks and what not, but on the top of a space needle? At this point the only one that I’ve been on was the Big Shot. It’s insane how high you are when you’re at the top of this thing.

Now they have this new ride called Insanity, and that’s exactly what it is. If you haven’t heard about this thing, basically its like one of those carnival swing rides that goes in circles, only you’re hanging out into empty space off the edge of the Stratosphere! Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be doing that one…

If you need some great family vacation ideas (like an Alcatraz tour), check out Trusted Tours & Attractions. You can even sign up for the Trusted Travels eNewsletter and enter to win an IPOD Nano! Offer ends Monday, March 31st, 2008. Put this at the end of the post.

Simple Monetization of a Blog

If you haven’t noticed, the last couple of days I’ve been including a few sponsored posts. Hopefully you don’t find these annoying, and my intent is to still make them as entertaining and random as I can. But let’s face it, we all want to be able to monetize our blogs right? Well, one really easy way to do that is to sign up for paid posting programs like payperpost.

If any of you aren’t familiar with the idea behind paid posting, basically you sign up for their marketplace and each day you can go in and see what opportunities are available for you to write about. They tell you what you need to do and how much you’ll be paid. And as long as you meet the requirements, you’ll get paid for it. It’s a pretty simple way to monetize a blog.

My goal for this with SimpleRandomness is to use the paid postings to help fund other projects that I have going. Or hey, do a post or 3 and it could help pay for a date with my wife! That is, as soon as she is over her gallbladder surgery and RSV season is over so we feel comfortable leaving the newborn with a babysitter.

So if you have a blog and need to monetize it a little bit, consider giving payperpost a try!

Las Vegas Golfing

I admit, I’m a fan of golfing. I also admit that I don’t do it very often which honestly is sad because I really do enjoy playing golf. I also don’t mind going to Las Vegas every now and then. Granted, I don’t gamble but sometimes it’s nice to go get some sun when you’re sick of winter (like I have been this year).

Here’s a really cool site that I came across for those of you that like golfing and Las Vegas: Las Vegas discount golf. One of the nice things about Las Vegas is you can usually get pretty good deals on things, and this site will help you get some great Vegas discounts for golf! This site is great for getting some good discount packages so you can enjoy the heat of Las Vegas. These are some really nice courses, so check it out!