Life with the Two Crazy Dogs

I have been doing quite a fair bit of shopping lately.  Before I knew about online coupons, I have been paying the full amount, but since I found out on the subject of  smart bargains coupons I make use of them all the time.  My preference is I rather shop online than going to the stores.   Unless I have to buy clothes especially jeans, pants, or shoes, I will drive to the stores for them.

Some of the online stores I visit frequently is PetCareRx.com for the boys’ supplements and treats.  Pet Care RX coupons saves me the most 50% off my order plus free shipping, too.  All these glucosamine supplements and flea and tick supplies are not cheap.  Even if I place one order of 6 bags of Missing Link for Canine, PetCareRx gives me $5 off and free shipping.  

I have drawn DB into shopping with online coupons, too.  One of his favorite birthday gifts for his mom and sisters are flowers.   I told him since he sends flowers to them so often he should look into Proflowers coupons where he will receive some sort of discounts when he checks out.  The last he sent flowers was for his sister’s birthday.  He received free shipping and the flowers were on a discount package deal. 

In my opinion, it certainly helps if these coupons are out there for consumers to save some money, we need to utilize them.   DB and I I purchase planner refills every year and Franklin Covey coupons has the best bargains.  It saves me $10 from my last order.  

Welcome to the USA, I just love it with all these shopping discounts.

It’s the time of the year again to enroll in our annual benefits.  This year’s medical is the same as last year’s where we can build our own benefits’ plans.  We can build it by choosing a lower or higher co-pay, deductible and how much co-pay and deductible we want to pay for presription drugs.  If DB does not take so many prescription drugs, I would have picked the cheaper one, but, I can’t.  I told him to take a look at his company’s benefits’ package which could be better and cheaper than mine.  One thing about the benefits’ package from my company is the amount an employee pays for his/her benefits is based on his/her salary.  So, if my boss and I build the same plan, hers will be more expensive because her salary is much higher than mine.  Pretty neat.  No complains about that, but it would be better if employees do not have to pay for their medical at all like Microsoft company.  I found out from my friend.  That is one heck of a deal there.  She told me to look for a job there….hahahahaha!!  Not that easy.

I was sorting through our junk in the exercise room for donation and came across our Christmas decorations, lights, wreath and ornaments.  There are some I want to give away but some like the candle holders and the wreath I would like to keep them.  The last bag  looked at was the lights.  How I hate putting the lights up on the tree or even on the outside.  These lights are the old incandescent lights that uses a ton of energy which is so bad for the environment.  They were from DB’s and since we were married, we have not bought any new ones yet. 

Now that the world is into energy saving, I told DB we need to look into LED Christmas lights this year.  These LED Xmas lights use 90% less energy than the old conventional lights.  Moreover, they are safer because they do not feel hot when you touch them and can be used year after year.  I know SD was talking about putting up some lights on the pine tree, I thought it would be a great idea to put up LED Christmas tree lights on that tree.  That tree is on the back yard and it would be a nice change of scenery when the warm white LED Christmas lights are up. For that we need to look for those outdoor LED Christmas lights.  They have a 50,000 hours of bulb life so they should be more energy efficient.

I saw the neighor across us uses LED String lighting on the front of his house.  They actually really cool looking.  They are not totally white, but sort of a yellow-white color.  He has his LED Christmas tree lighting permanently up on his pine tree so when he has those on after Thanksgiving, it will brighten up the street.

Took Ranger in for his annual checkup last week.  Before DB left the house I gave him a list of what to ask the Vet.  Plus, I told him don’t trip when he sees the bill.  It will be expensive because of the bloodwork program we signed him up.

He came home and first off said this boy is in good shape, weight is excellent (thanks to me!!), heart rate is good, and then he told me the bill came to $68.  That was way too cheap.  I looked at the invoice and said the Vet mentioned since Ranger is in such great health, they will do his bloodwork next year.  He got his usual yearly/bi-yearly shots and a ton of praises from the nurses and technicians.  I was really expecting $200+ invoice.  Phew….

So, now we have added another medication for this stinky guy!  You see, this dog is a fart machine.  He has so much gas it’s absolutely unbelievable.  The worse is, them farts stinks to high heaven.  It can chase us out of our own room.  The Vet gave us some medication for it, so far it worked, but not sure how long it will last.  He was not farting when we started the medication, but now it’s been 5 days, it seems to be coming back.  Urghhhh!!!  I’ve nicknamed him Gasser or Stinky.  It doesn’t matter what I call him, he still looks at me with those sad looking eyes and farts at the same time!  Lovely!!!!!

My boss’ boss returned from his summer vacation and where did he take his family to?  Nantucket!!  He booked his vacation through WeNeedaVacation.com.  The Nantucket vacation rentals was a good deal as they got a water front home for a great price for 12 persons.  The family was there for 3 months and he was back and forth at least 4 times.  Speaking of having the money!!  WeNeedaVacation.com also has vacation rentals in Cape Cod, The Islands, and  Florida.  He said his family simply had a wonderful time with beautiful weather and scrumptious seafood.  His children and grandsons are water babies, so needless to say, he was with them on the beach almost every day.  Of course, he also had his opportunity to fish every day, and he and his son in-laws had two open-sea fishing trips.  He is already planning for their next summer vacation which he might look into Martha’s Vineyard or Florida because of the younger kids wanting to visit Disney.  He commended that the homes at WeNeedaVacation.com were just too good.  The homes are clean and are equipped with appliances, linen including internet connection.  I’m sure his younger girl will have a great tale to tell her buddies in school. 

No, it’s not me, obviously.  This little boy is my friend’s son.  His mom bought the Ninja costume for his school costume day which is today. 

What DB and I are doing this evening is hibernate in the executive office.  No giving out candies for these sugar buzzed kids.   We didn’t even buy any candies at all.  There are plenty of other junk food in this household.  It’s gonna be cold and windy tonight, so I’m guessing there are not many kids out knocking on doors.  Anyhoo, Happy Halloween to everyone out there!

I am not a casino goer but do go to casinos when invited by friends.  I have been to quite a few out here and the ones outside of Minnesota in Deadwood, South Dakota.  The thing about going to casinos is you have to endure the smokey environment and if you are a person who dislike cigarette smoke, then it would be extremely annoying.  DB hates it especially the smell of cigarettes and the worse is the stale cigarette smell everywhere in the casinos.

However, there are now online casinos for those who enjoy their gambling from the comfort of their own homes without having to tolerate the noisy and smokey environment.  Top USA Online Casinos is a site for US casino players.  It is a wonderful website to visit for online casinos.  Before you pick your choice of casinos, you can actually click on the Review button to read the reviews of the casinos.  You can read about the overall ratings, for example, the rating of the casino site, the speed, game selections, security, technical support, and many more.  In the casino reviews, you can also look for those online casinos that gives out bonuses and promotion packages.

I have not checked my blog admin panel the entire weekend and saw this incoming link I still have something for you from Trinity.  She is one of the new blog friends I’ve made through the blogsphere.   Thanks, Trinity for helping me out with all the links we need to boost our PRs and Technorati scores. 

This sweet treat was originated from Hootin’ Anni’s and for some unknown reason, I cannot upload the picture.  Hop over to these two ladies’ blog and take a look at the sweet dessert!

I know for sure the finance department in my company uses some sort of project management software.  I talk to a financial analyst once in a while when I walk passed her area and I do notice all this fancy software.  She told me once about some software the department purchase to manage their projects better and the time it saves working on them.  A project management software encompasses several kinds of software.  For example they are quality management, scheduling, communication, cost control, budgeting to list some of them.  

ProActive Software has two project management softwares for businesses: ProWorkflow Management and Prowork Flow Enterprise.   The ProWorkflow management software assist in managing projects online where it would raise workplace efficiency.  It helps with time and task management, timesheets and time tracking, reporting, billing, pricing and project teamwork.  It is easy to implement and use as well.  The Prowork Flow Enterprise purpose is to help bigger companies that require better platforms for further growth in their businesses.   It helps companies to manage their teams and groups, and manage their time management even better. 

Here is the press release for further information:

There is nothing like walking out of a shop, satisfied with your purchase, product in hand knowing that you have a face behind the sale.

The Internet in some ways has taken that assurance away from the customer and with the masses of choice only a mouse click away the thought of purchasing a product or service online can be quite daunting.

However, the software as a service (SaaS) industry in New Zealand is fast moving from futuristic idea to current day reality and companies offering SaaS are looking for ways to maintain the personal service which has been a big part of historical software sales.
ProActive Software has found great and personal service to be a key part in their success on the global stage.

CEO Julian Stone says customers have said they’re surprised to get such personal service when dealing with ProActive.

He says “Don’t make sales, build relationships. This is a necessary part of the SaaS business model. Look after your customers as they are the foundation of the business. It’s important to keep customers happy month after month to retain their business.”

Customers of their core product www.proworkflow.com, have told Stone that their dealings with people at other software companies, often based in the US, have been rude, lacked callbacks, with slow email responses, making many customers wary of using SaaS where they had little ability to have personal contact with their supplier.

However, Stone says when customers come across a company with good service, they tell people.

Stone has attributed ProActive’s excellent response time with sales and support enquiries to their customers satisfaction. When customers build their business on our servers and use our code they must know we will be there if something needs attention.

An average enquiry for ProActive, from point of contact, to response is typically 15-60 minutes, where most of ProActive’s customers had said average response times for other software companies was usually measured in days, not minutes or hours.

“If you want to make a sale, sell a good product. If you want to grow a business, sell good service. We’ve found that most referral sales now come in as a result of ProActive Software’s service,” Stone says.

As Stone says “ProActive have built their SaaS company they have always kept service as a top priority, knowing their focus would continually be tested and be drawn onto product development and administration.

ProActive Software knows it is extremely important to keep the level of service constant and high “Customers don’t care that we have ten times as many customer to look after, they don’t care we are on someone else’s problem, they want the high service level maintained - so as we grow we automate, simplify, and when necessary bring in additional resource a bit before it is really needed. It takes a while to build a reputation of not letting down customers, it does not take anywhere near as long to lose it,” Stone Says

It’s the time of the year again for mid year reviews.  Mine was actually two months late but it was alright.  It gives me more time to think what I want to discuss with my boss.  I told my boss how bored and unchallenged my job is right now.  I was not surprised that she noticed that, too.  I told her my job is getting too mundane and I need a thorough understanding of Affirmative Action.  I even told her I snooped around the EEAC and OFCCP websites to learn more about this complex subject, however, those two websites did not help much, and she agreed they are not helpful.  She then told me that she will register me for an affirmative action training with Berkshire Associates out in Maryland.  Yeeeehahhhh!!!!  That would be so awesome, I get to go out East.  So, I checked out the training schedule which turns out to be a two-day training on Thursday and Friday in January, 2008.  My plans are spend the next day or two touring DC and take the train to NYC and return to Minneapolis on Sunday or Monday! (Take a day of vacation.)  That would be just what I wanted. Did it perk me up?  Hell,  yeah!!

My friend told me when she and her husband decided to start up their restaurant, they were having a tough time getting the funds for their small business.  It is not easy if you do not have sufficient monies to start your dream business.  Some had to borrow the funds from their parents, other family members, or even friends.  To obtain a Business Loan, EZUnsecured.com can help out your funding dilemmas.   They can aid all small businesses to achieve their goal in acquiring unsecured loans, line of credit, and credit cards as well, that do not necessitate any collateral.  Additionally, the application process is fast and easy, and top up with great customer service, your path to a successful venture is underway. 

I saw this article on MSN yesterday which really shocked me when I saw those costumes. 
These costumes are totally making little girls vurnerable to pedophiles lurking out there.   I suppose many mothers are dressing up their girls of 8 and above or younger than 8, and sending them  for contest, modelling and acting.  Dressing them up and loading them with makeup at that age is asking for trouble, in my opinion.  Won’t these girls grow up needing more attention and be more materialistic?

I wonder how much parents will spend on Halloween costumes every year excluding what they need to buy for the kids school clothes.  In the article, it says parents will spend around $2 billion for costumes exceeding the amount in 2003.  I bet you many young girls are looking for the Hannah Montana look for this Halloween. 

I can’t fathom why parents will allow their kids to dress up like those on the article.  They are utterly not suitable for children.  There are too seductive and won’t the kids grow up with this stigma in them that they have to worry about body image, how pretty they look and how might create problems for the parents when they kids are older? 

Well, that’s my thoughts…..

Thanksgiving is only a month away and Christmas is just about 2 months to go.  Calling family and friends during the holiday seasons is a norm.  I, myself place calls to my family members during these times of the year.  I have been using a prepaid phone card to place all my overseas calls and it is the most convenient thing ever invented!  PhoneCardsAvenue.com is a site that offers cheap and affordable phone cards online.  Currently, there is a promotion for its line of phone card programs where if you will receive a 3% cash back for every purchase you make with them.  PhoneCardsAvenue has all the calling and phone cards you need.  You will find the list of countries your callers are from on the front page of their website.  There are even choices for purchasing cards specifically for calling cellular phones.  I will be looking to purchasing one or two cards oon for my calls home.

Both DB and I wanted to go for Van Halen’s concert held on October 25 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.  We saw it advertised back July.  We asked SD and BF, they wanted to go, too.  In the end, we all had to read, hear and watch the reviews on TV, radio and papers.  Per ticket  coz $100+.  Crazy.  It was way too, too spendy for us.  It seems like it was hell of a concert.  Everyone who called in to KQRS station were raving how good it was coming from a group of 50-something souls.  DB was looking forward to it, but we thought we could use that money on something else.

I once wrote about a coworker who had the LAP Band surgery.  Well, of course, after the surgery, she lost about 75 pounds from a 5′1″ frame.  Yes, she is as tall as I am.  She is now a nice 118 pounds great looking lady, however, she still needs to get most of the lose skin off her.  She did a tummy tuck a  year after her LAP Band surgery.  Tummy Tuck UK is a way to remove loose skin.  The procedure is simple.  For a mini tummy tuck, the surgeon will make an incision diagonally the lower abdomen, whereas the full procedure the incision is done across the lower abdomen and an additional one in the region of the belly button.  I have to say my neighbor’s cousin brother had his done and it work so well for him.  He looked so much more leaner and sexier.  Although he had to pay for it without insurance coverage, he had no regrets doing it.  The same with my coworker, she said she enjoys life better after the tummy tuck procedure.  Tummy tuck is not just for females, it is for men, too.