Do You Bingo?

When we were staying in Edinburgh, we often used to visit M&S factory outlet and pound plus near Milton street. There was a Bingo bar too and ladies used to puff cigarretts outside it. I had my first introduction to Bingo at that time. One day,out of curiosity, I asked one of the ladies standing outside about the bingo thing. she offered me to show how it works and I went inside.

Later when I got hooked to bingo, I started looking for online options and came across goodbonusguide.com. Its not a bingo site, but a guide that lists various bingo sites. For example the site has compiled a list of Paypal bingo sites. These are that sites which accept payment through paypal. Which is very useful to me as I don't have credit or debit card ( unbelievable but true) and have only paypal for online transactions.

Goodbonusguide.com has some other useful articles. One of them is about no deposit bingo bonus sites. These are the sites which don't require you to pay beforehand for the trial play. The terms and conditions vary for different sites and that's mentioned too.

Be on Guard

Yesterday I went to look into the one and only craft shop in our town. It stocks every imaginable craft item, but prices are steep too. I didn't buy anything from there as I just wanted to take a look at how costly are the things at the shop. I noted prices of some of the items and then compared them to those listed on ebay. There is a huge difference in price when you buy locally and when you buy on ebay( on some items). I have ordered a scrapbooking kit with over 150 items for four pounds. It would have cost me a fortune had I bought it from the shop. But on the other hand, I found a groovy friends make it kit for 3 bucks in one of the charity shops. The same kit is available on ebay for eight pounds! So I am going to buy it from the shop. Its better to compare prices before buying anything.
It is not always that buying things on ebay is cheaper. I have learned from my experience that lack of research can leave you with cheap quality or costly products. Like one time I ordered a grill guard from ebay and when the item reached, I found the item wasn't what was described. I had to open a dispute to get my money back. Then I ordered one from the authentic site which was far better and cheaper too.

Friend in Need

Last month my husband's office colleague met with an accident while riding his motorbike. Fortunately he didn't suffer serious injuries. When we went to see him at the hospital, he asked if we knew of any good law firm who could take motorbike accident claims case. At this point, we just could stop smiling in spite of the grim situation.
Actually, two years back both me and my husband were involved in a motorbike accident. Our bike crashed when we were going on a long drive. It was 14th February, and my husband, being an incurable romantic, suggested that we leave our daughter with friends and go on a long drive. The moment we went off the city route, a car suddenly came out of nowhere,charging right at us. My husband tried to steer from the road, but the car still managed to hit the bumper before vanishing. There were drunken revelers in the car who didn't bother to look if we were injured and needed help.
Later a kind old man in a BMW s aw us and called for help.My husband got a fracture in collar bone and had to be hospitalized for a week.One of our friends suggested this company which coversmotorbike injury claims. The company assured us that we won't be charged any fee if we didn't win the injury claims. But we didn't face that problem, as their put our case so efficiently that not only did we get a replacement for our bike, we got the full claim which was our due.
So now obviously my husband recommended this company to his colleague.

Which Paid to Write /Blog Sites Don't Pay Anymore

When I started searching for online writing opportunities or the sites which pay you to write, I came across a lot of lists which gave a comprehensive review of the sites that provided writing opportunities. That's how I came to know about paid blogging and the sites which pay you to write sponsored post in your blog.I made some nice bucks through sponsored posts and writing online. I even wrote a post Get Paid to Blog: A List of 40 Sites That Pay You for Blogging Then I went into hiatus, and didn't blog for a year or so. When I returned in the internet world, I found that credit crunch had hit the sponsored reviews too. Many sites had become defunct and you got a 404 error when you tried to log into your account. So I decided to write another list. It is called Get Paid to Blog: A List of Defunct Sites.

Seriously THinking of Using Ebay

I have spent many waking hours and hundreds of pounds on buying things on ebay. Some deals were worth the money and some were really duds. But I have now become addicted to ebay. The "watching" column in "my ebay" section is always full to the 200 limit. ( In other words, at any given time I am closely watching the bids on 200 items). Sometimes I bid and when I lose a bid, I don't get upset. I enjoy that I got to save my hard earned money.
Anyways, now I have decided to turn a new leaf. No, I am not deleting my ebay account. Instead I am going to become a seller on ebay. I have a few items which I purchased in India and I think I can definitely make some profit by selling them on ebay. I am waiting for my husband to buy a new camera. We have decided to buy Nikon Coolpix s8000. Its a brand new model and boasts of very impressive features including 14 mega pixels resolution, 10x optical zoom etc.

Stumble Upon is Getting Boring

Since yesterday I have been stumbling sites and I have found nothing that interests me. I noticed that the sites/pages that are turning up are the ones which I had already seen an year ago.Are there new sites or new stuff being published on the net? Or have people stopped using stumble upon after the novelty wore off.

Looking for Craft Themes

I am looking for craft themes for my craft blog. Lat year when I was actively blogging, I had tried many craft themes. I liked them a lot and used to switched from one to other at leisure. But now I want to change my blog to wordpress and it seems that wordpress doesn't have many craft based themes. Can anybody help?

Is This a Joke?

Today I got a mail from google saying that my blog has been identified as a spam blog! Is this a joke? This blog earns me highest adsense from google and I provide links to many of my old posts while applying for a content writing job. I haven't been active on blogger for quite sometime now, but that doesnt make my blog a spam blog. I don't know what gave them such an idea.

For my Brother-in law

I was wandering through the streets of edinburgh last week as I do frequently now a days. Walking is good for me and I enjoy it. Anyways This time I took the route through Haymarket station into Dalry road. Dalry road hosts a number of charity shops and one I particularly like is a mobility shop where I once went to buy mobility wheelchair for my brother-in law.
He was severly injured in a car accident three years back and he is now a quadreplegic. But being totally bed ridden hasn't broken his spirits. He does yoga regularly and roams around in the house in his wheelchair, cracking jokes with the family members.
He is also learning to use internet ( through some encouragement from yours truly), and I found a disability website for him, which gives lots of support and information to people with various disabilities.
The site has also got its own disability forum, where people can discuss their fears, their hopes, the treatment and procedures etc. Overall its a nice and helpful site and my brother-in law seems to have hooked on it.

Beat the Bad Credit

Today I chanced upon an interesting site which is somewhat of an expert in fixing bad credit, and opening a new window of fresh air for you. In this season of bad credits, one tries all solutions till one is forced back to the wall and take extreme steps. This site is there for your credit repair.
There are hundreds, may be thousands of sites claiming to repair bad credit, so what's different about this site?The thing that attracted me towards this site is their credentials. They have got a fully legal license from the state of Texas as well as a Fair Credit Reporting Act Certification from Consumer Data Industry Association. This shows that they are genuine.
The site provides free credit report evaluation and the credit report information is also provided free of cost.All you have to do is fill out a simple online form.
The site is based on the personal experiences of the owner Doug Parker in bad credit settling how to get a "clean" credit report.

Beware, A Bottle of Wine Can Land You in Jail, as it Did to Roxana Saberi

Thirty one years old US journalist and former Miss North Dakota Roxana Saberi has been detained by the Iranian authorities. Her crime: She bought a bottle of wine. She had rang her father on Feb 10 saying that she has been arrested and will be released soon. But her father hasn't heard about her since. Roxana Saberi was living in Iran for the past six years.
She certainly knew how sever are the country and its rules and regulations. She survived in Iran for six years which is no mean feat for a women with Western upbringing. Lets hope that Iranian authorities come clean with the reason why they have arrested Roxana Saberi, and release her soon.
Roxana Saberi has been a very good student through out her academic career. She majored in French and Communication. She did her Master's in Broadcast Journalism from Chicago and then Master's Degree in International Relations from Cambridge University in England.
Roxana Saberi

New Bloggers Should Stick to Google Adsense than Making the Site an Affiliate Farm

Let me tell you a secret about my affiliate marketing campaigns, I haven't made a single penny till date from my affiliate links. I must confess that I haven't done much with the affiliate links except putting the links in the sidebar or writing a post or two about some special affiliate product. My personal experience is that you need to have a niche site and not a blog to make money from affiliate products. May be I am wrong.
I have yet to earn my first $100 from adsense, but I am close to the finishing line, unless google decides to cancel my adsense account on some pretext. My experience says that new bloggers, who don't know the ABCs of affiliate marketing, should concentrate on google adsense ads. If they put too many affiliate links on their blogs, the reader may click those links, but not necessarily buy the product. It means that the click was wasted. If there had been only google adsense ads on that page the performance would be much better. The conclusion: Affiliate links distract the visitors away from the adsense ads.
affiliate marketing

A Surprise for Him this Valentine's Day

I am not as romantic as my husband. Generally the onus of celebrating special days like anniversary, birthdays, Valentine's Day and arranging gifts lie on him. I remember two years back I was struggling alone in a new city with a new job ( Hubby was in UK), he sent me a very pretty 22 carat gold necklace on Valentine's Day. I have always worn it since.
I have been thinking about what to gift him on 14th, and a lot of gift ideas have come to my mind. I have zeroed in on buying him an ipod. He is a real movie and music buff, and like 99.9 percent of the young generation, he also likes to listen to music while traveling to his office and back home.He had his cell for this purpose, but I have hijacked the cell for taking and uploading pictures for my blogs. ( The digital camera is without a data cable for the time being). It was very difficult for him to part with the only means of entertainment he has while traveling, but he did it for me. So I have gone and bought him an ipod. I will put it under his pillow later. I am also secretly knitting an ipod cosy. It will be ready in a by Sunday.
That was about me. Now tell me what you are going to gift him? An aftershave or a pair of sneakers?
Here is my list of cool gifts for men:
1. A baby: Announce that you are pregnant. Note the reaction on his face. If he is thrilled, it shows that he is ready for fatherhood and you two can begin thinking about creating your herd. If he is impassive or worried, tell him it was a joke and the relief he will feel on this disclosure is nothing compared to a thousand bucks tux you get him.
2. Video games: Most men are grown up kids. Make your kid happy by gifting him the latest video games in the market.
3. Plan a holiday: You don't have to worry about calling is office to check if he can take two days off this Valentine's Day. The Saturday gives you perfect opportunity for a romantic getaway. If you haven't had the time to make bookings, no need to worry. Get a room in a local hotel and spend the whole two days in bed with him.
4. Make him a tasty treat: Instead of buying that Valentine's Day cake, make it at home. I know it will be a lot of work and result may not be that gratifying ( you are the best judge of your culinary skills), but simply the effort on your part will make him go over the moon. And as they say, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, so try it out and tell me.

A Struggling Writer? Try Triond

I have been with Triond since September 2007. Triond is a site that pays you to write original articles. They pay according to the number of page views your article gets. The pay is miserably low ( I am talking about my articles, you can earn a lot if you are talented:), but they are very punctual in their payments. Every 15th of the month I get whatever pennies I earned the previous month. You can upload original photos too and you will get paid if somebody do look at those pictures.
I had long forgotten about Triond, didn't even care to check paypal whether they are paying, because I know they are. But I had stopped writing for them. Simply because I thought if I have to write an original article and get pennies for it, then better write it on my blogs so that I get rich, original content here, and eventually a good page rank.
But I was so wrong in not writing on Triond. Today, out of the blue I remembered about Troind, and logged into my account. I checked the money earned. It never crossed four dollars any month for those fourteen articles and photos that I have there. But I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that one of my articles had a total earning of $10.49! It got me thinking. This article is written on an unusual topic, Skeleton Leaves,it has a niche audience, the people interested in crafts. There is very little information on it. That's why those who searched information regarding skeleton leaves, they landed on my article. ( I later used this article for my crafts blog and get a lot of visitors there too).
When I look for writing jobs in different forums or job boards, I feel disappointed and disheartened. The clients are willing to pay $0.5 for a 500 hundred words original article! I can't sell myself so cheap.
If you are going to write and give away 500 words article to get $0.50 ,its better to write on Triond. You will earn money from your articles throughout your life or as long as the site is around.
I am off to write some interesting stuff and getting it published once again at Triond.

More Wordpress Themes Converted into Blogger

I am in a little hurry, I have to rush to drop my daughter to school, so just adding two more templates.
WP-Polaroid Blogger Template: The template has got the classic web 2. This template is a good option for affiliate marketing or advertising. It has Three 125 × 125 ad slots where you can put your ads or affiliate links. You can download the WP- Polaroid blogger template here. But first you will have to register with eblogtemplates (for free) before downloading the template.

Blue Jeans: This one is for those who like to work on dark backgrounds. I myself is not a fan of dark or black templates. They make me feel low and depressed and I have to strain my eyes too. Anyways many people may not think the way I do. So here is a dark background wordpress theme converted into blogger. Blue jeans have been developed by infocreek, which provide very nice and professional templates. Blue jeans is available in two and three columns.You can find the demo Here, and to download this template go to this Page

Why didn't I think of it before!

I was going crazy as my forgetful husband has misplaced the USB cable of our camera. I haven't been able to upload photos since I started blogging again. Its very frustrating when you are not able to include the pics in your posts and you have to wait for ages for them to be delivered. Today, out of the blue I got the idea that I can take snaps from my husband's cell phone! It was such an obvious thing to do, but it never occurred to me before. I have persuaded my husband to let me use his mobile phone till he get a new USB cable. I clicked some pictures from the cell today when I went shopping.

I Have Been Busy With My Dad's Site

I have been busy setting up my dad's site, his blog to be precise. My father is a surgeon by profession. But he is a write r by heart. He has been involved with various social works for thirty years. He is so full of energy and new ideas. He has recently taken to blogging.
The platform is the updated 2.7 wordpress. But dad is encountering an unusual problem. He can't see the publish button in the dashboard. More over there are no image/video icons while writing the post.
Today I spent two hours on gtalk chatting with him. Poor dad, he was so excited about starting his own blog. But this unexpected glitch has slowed down his writing spree. I think the problem is related to multiple users. Lets see how it turns out. Otherwise I will look for alternative like blogger platform for self hosted blog.

Ceiling Fans Galore

One of the ceiling fans in our home has suddenly stopped working. My father- in law is a junior engineer in irrigation department, but his hobby is to mend electrical appliances and equipments. He is always busy repairing one thing or the other. But this time even his genius has failed. The ceiling fan is beyond repair.
Now we have to go to the market and check some fans.
I am not particularly inclined to go out in this cold. But it will be a headache when summers come and we are without fans. So I did a quick search on the net, to select some fans and order online.
I found this site which has some elegant and beautiful fans on display like the hunter fans. The selection is worth a look and the rates are reasonable too.

What's Happened?

I am back. It feels good ( not great). It's been nearly six months since my last post. I didn't have time or access to work on net. Now when I am back with my husband here in UK, I don't feel the urge to write. As if all the thoughts have gone out of my mind. The worst thing is that I am on the net 24/7, still I don't feel like blogging. I was thinking of improving my typing ( write without looking on the keyboard). Even that's not making me log into my blog accounts.
Lets' hope I get my thing back.