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It's pretty funny how this stuff comes around. I mentioned earlier about Casinos and then realized that back in September I had written about a site catering to the Mac crowd. It's not specifically just for Mac users but does lean more toward them. The site is Mac Poker Online. Since I visited the site last fall there have been a couple of updates and there seem to be a bunch of new links. That's pretty cool.

Pacific Poker still looks pretty cool to me although I was reading a bit about Fulltilt Poker, which seems pretty neat as well. Fulltilt Poker offers a bunch of the standard games such as Texas Hold'em, Hi/Lo, Omaha, Seven Card Stud and Razz. There are tournaments to join as well as private games if you are an affiliate or VIP.

Several of the casinos linked to from Mac Poker Online offer Online Casino Bonuses for signing up and most of them allow you to check it out without making any kind of upfront payment.

As I mentioned last September, if you are checking out a site linked to from Mac Poker Online make sure that they welcome U.S. players as quite a few of the online casinos don't allow you to play if you are in the United States.

Except for when I went to Las Vegas and got thrown out of Caesar's Palace about 23 years ago for being underage (and you really can't count that) the only time I have been in a casino is when we visited Nassau back in February. We had a blast. The wife even won a bit of money. I think we probably broke even between our two trips there. No doubt I will go back at some point but it's just a matter of taking enough money that I'm willing to lose because really, unless you are a professional gambler you aren't going to win much unless you are just really lucky. Game rules generally favor the house and not the player.

What got me to thinking about casinos was that I visited one online (didn't play) and was checking it out to see if it looked like fun. How big a difference is there really between an online casino and a "live" one. My personal opinion is that I would much rather go in person and play, even if I were just playing the slot machines. That's all I did in the Bahamas but I really enjoyed it.

I suppose there is something to be had out of the online ones though. The daughter of a former employee actually makes a living out of gaming online at a couple of casinos believe it or not. She also used to work for me back in the nineties and she's making enough to feed herself and her some. That's something I suppose.

I guess when I think about Casinos I get James Bond, fine looking women, sipping whiskey and tailored suits in my head. I guess I could always don a tux before sitting down at my PC but somehow it just doesn't fit :)

Literally.

Party Casino claims to be the worlds largest online casino and most likely they are. I don't know how they measure size on the Internet though. Number of visitors? Web pages? Anyway, they do seem to have a pretty large selection of online games and are regulated by the government of Gibraltar as well as their gaming commission so everything should be on the up and up. They are also listed on the London Stock Exchange, so this is a company that's not just up there to rip you off and close the site. Party Casino plans to be online for the long haul so if you want to play, head on over and check it out for yourself.

I posted a little bit earlier about Northern Gas and some of the nice ways that they make installation easier of boilers and central heating systems. Central heating installation can be a pain if you don't use the right company. Northern Gas makes it easier and also tried to deliver great service with lower prices than any other central heating company around. They also offer other services and products such as boiler service as well. If you purchase your system through Northern Gas you get a free five year warranty that that will give you great peace of mind along with the low price.

Gas Central heating has several benefits, one of which is that it's one of the cleanest fossil fuels around. When you combine that with something like a gas boiler you are increasing your yearly savings exponentially.

Northern Gas has a couple of different financing options for your new system, such as Pay nothing for a year as well as interest free central heating.

They are also giving away free portable CO sensors for use in your home or as you travel. CO poisoning is on the increase and Northern Gas wants to make sure you are prepared.

 

I like natural gas for cooking and heating. It's cleaner and less expensive and just seems to work better than electricity. Of course I am a bit biased as I have been cooking with gas at work for the last 21 years and that like has spread to my home. Gas stovetops and burners cook more evenly and are easier to control. Central heating is also important in that I prefer the reliability of my gas furnace.

Northern Gas Heating is on a mission. The mission is to bring to the consumers better service and prices than any other central heating company on the market. They offer a free five year warranty on central heating systems as well as Combi boilers for hot water and they have equipment to fit every budget. As a matter of fact they are the only company in the UK to offer the free five year warranty.

One look around their web site supplied me with quite a bit of information. Northern Gas and Heating has a five step installation plan which is extremely simple and effective.

The first step is to figure out exactly what it is that you need through a comprehensive survey. They match a system to the way you live and then set up an installation date that's going to be most convenient to you.

Secondly they set up a completion date target so that you know how long they will be in your home. Particularly with older homes, some refurbishment may be necessary and take a bit of time.

They make sure and give you the name of the engineer that will be working in your home and can even set up a password for your peach of mind.

The fourth part of the installation is easy. They want to make sure you are happy with the installation and will call you when it's complete to verify that you are pleased with the work and make sure there are no problems.

After that the warranty snaps into place and gives you a bit of piece of mind knowing that if anything goes wrong they will deal with it quickly and professionally at no cost. Even if you didn't buy your central heating system or hot water boiler from Northern Gas they offer boiler servicing at a decent rate.

Right now Northern Gas is having a sales on top of their already affordable prices on central heating systems, so go check it out.

Just stopped by Casino Launch Pad for the second or third time to check it out before I wrote this review. It's funny how these things work. I seem to get certain types of sites to review and they come in waves.

Anyway Casino Launchpad has listings for online casinos, casino reviews and information, tips on the games as well as the different gaming sites and a glossary of casino terms. It's pretty important to know what you are doing before you go gambling, even if it is in a virtual world. The casino may be virtual but my money isn't. You don't always have to use real money though. Most of the casinos let you gamble with play money so that you can try out the games before you use your real money. It's a great way to learn more about the games as well as how to play them.

The best part about online gambling is the fact that you don't have to organize time off work, babysitters, flights and hotels to do it. Who wants to fly to the Bahamas to gamble anyway when you can go to an online casino from the comfort of your own home? :) I know my time in Nassau in February will be spent sightseeing and swimming. Sure, we may stop in briefly at one of the casinos just to say I have been there, but that's about it.

Most of the Casinos offer secure options to play, using SSL and client downloads so that any information, including your gaming moves, is sent securely.

The games guide over at Casino Launchpad is pretty nice. They take six games, Blackjack, Roulette, Slot Machines (sort of a game), Video Poker, Craps and Baccarat, and break them down into easy to understand terms. They give you an overview of the game itself, the rules of play and how to win at the game. Some sites don't explain this stuff to you, they just expect you to figure it out on your own.

As I mentioned about, Casino Launchpad is also an online casinos guide. They have reviews for a few casinos up right now, and I assume that more are forthcoming. They tell you if you get a deposit bonus, the different types of banking options that are available, whether there is a client software download or not and also give a rating from 1-10 for each online casino.

Each casino is given a general review and then specifics on what and how many games they carry are provided. Banking options are explained for each, reports on whether support is provided, which is important because, let's face it nobody wants to see a software glitch where their money is concerned and having available online support is important.

I like their section of tips as well. There is some interesting stuff. I have never played roulette and was completely unaware that there is a difference between European and American roulette. Apparently it is much harder to win American roulette because their is an additional '00' on the wheel which almost doubles the house edge as compared to European. I guess you really do learn something new every day.

I was talking to one of the waitresses at work early this afternoon about Casinos. She enjoys going to the Mississippi Gulf Coast one a year to gamble and just basically have a good time. I mentioned that I am going to Nassau next month and she just about had a fit. I guess gambling is legal in the Bahamas and there are plenty of casinos there. I'm sure that we will stop in at least for a brief time just to check it out but if I were going to gamble regularly, which I don't, it would most likely be in an online casino.

The biggest thing about online gambling is that with so many sites, some don't let Americans gamble and others you just aren't sure if they are legit or if you are going to lose whatever money you deposit into their account. Pro360.com has been doing online casino reviews since 1997 and they take most of the guess work out of it. With reviews on most of the major casinos and gaming houses online you can find out where the best online poker sites are, where to play backgammon, craps or just about any other online gambling game that can be found on the Internet.

I like the fact that they list the casinos with ratings for both worldwide and U.S. approved casinos. They are ranked from best to worst and are listed by the ratings which users have voted so that you know which places are actually being used and liked by other players online.

Amy Broghamer is a Remax Preferred Cincinnati realtor who not only is extremely knowledgeable in her area of expertise but also just plainly loves her job and wants to do the best job she can selling your house or helping to locate one for prospective home buyers. As a Certified Residential Specialist she can help to get the best bang for your buck. This review is sponsored by Amy Broghamer.

In addition to listing homes Amy likes to work with folks that are relocating to the area as well as first time home buyers. From my own personal experience purchasing a home for the first time is a pretty scary proposition. There is a ton of information that you have to learn quickly and in order to be successful in your search you need to have an agent that knows what they are doing and is willing to be on call to answer your questions.

At Amy's web site you can check out listings in the Cincinnati area and get property information as well as take virtual tours that give a great deal of information about each property that is listed there and lets you see exactly what they property looks like. In addition to the Cincinnati homes listings on the site there is also a wealth of information and resources. A list of helpful links is available to such sites as the power company, sex offender registry (I used one of these lists prior to purchasing the house I am in now) as well as local weather and home inspectors is available.

There is also a Cincinnati Real Estate blog on the site as well where Amy shares information on the state of Cincinnati real estate as well as helpful articles such as what Certified Residential Specialists are and how they can make your home selling/purchasing a much better experience. Amy also has a dedicated team of associates listed on her web site that help smooth out that experience as well. If you are looking to buy or sell a home in the Cincinnati area go check out the site.

SourceTix.com is an online ticket purchasing web site with an extremely large inventory of concert, sports and theater tickets. This post is sponsored by SourceTix.Com

With SourceTix.Com you can find event tickets for just about anything that you would like to see anywhere in the country. Right now some of the popular events that are going on include Hannah Montana, Van Halen and just about anything to do with football. Get Hannah Montana tickets without having to write a bogus essay! I priced tickets for the Hannah Montana show over at SourceTix a couple of months ago since I wrote a review on the site earlier this summer knowing that my ten year old would love to go see her, but there is unfortunately no way I could have gotten off of work to take her to the show. Tickets were available and at a pretty decent price as well and they still are for several different cities.

In addition to being able to order event tickets online you can also reach them via telephone at 866-631-8992 to place an order over the phone or for any questions pertaining to purchasing tickets through them. You can also email them for support as well, just visit the site and scroll to the bottom of the page for the email address. Right now just for the New Year you can also get 5% off your order by using the promotional code BR08 so if you purchase tickets through them don't forget to enter it during checkout.

A couple of my blogs are located on different web hosts than the rest of my sites. I was so angry earlier this summer when I was having so many problems here that I didn't want to open a new web site at the same location, so I went looking for a new web hosting choice. I talked to several other people about why they choose to use their web hosts and I also looked through several different services such as Web Hosting Choice. For more information on Web Hosting Choice go check it out at http://www.webhostingchoice.com

Right from the front page at Web Hosting Choice you can do a search based on monthly cost, setup fees, amount of disk space and bandwidth. They also have recommended hosts along with links and what is available, links to reseller web hosting, a full directory with information on the different plans that are available as well as other information.

It's a pretty new site but growing quickly and as long as people keep sending in feedback for the different hosts it will grow that much better and faster.

Each web host allows for user ratings so that you can look with confidence at what people are using for their sites and what type of rating that they give their own host. That was important to me when I was searching simple because I wanted to make sure that people were happy with their web host prior to moving a couple of my domains. It just doesn't make sense to blindly sign up for a web host without at least doing some of the homework ahead of time.

I have been posting quite a bit about southern regions today so this review sponsored by the 2008 Miami International Boat Show Hotels fits in to the theme quite nicely. The boat show is taking place February 14th through the 18th, the same weekend that I am going to be in the Bahamas actually.

I always enjoy going to boat and car shows although it's been a while since I have been to one. Normally if I go it's to the one at the World Congress Center in Atlanta. What better place to go to a boat show though, than the Miami Beach Convention Center, particularly at a time of year when it's cold everywhere else in the U.S. There is all kind of stuff to do besides looking at boats, even though that is why I would attend a show like that. They have plenty of gear as well as seminar, parties in the evening, rides and all kinds of stuff for the kids as well, not to mention that it's in Miami.

The Miami International Boat Show Hotels web site has listings of hotels in the South Beach and downtown Miami area, with pricing, links for reservations and all kinds of pertinent information. Not only that but they also have links on the site for area transportation, local marinas, tours and shopping as well.

You can find a map of Miami and highlights of the Boat Show as well as the show hours so that you can plan your day around it, particularly if you are traveling from out of state. You can find great packages for travel to the Miami area through the site and find reviews of the services and area hotels. If you plan on going to the boat show, go check it out.

I was flipping through channels earlier, which is something I rarely do (I don't watch much TV), when I came across Congo. Congo was a decent book and a pretty good movie. While the location is obviously several thousands of miles away, it was actually filmed in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is one of the most beautiful places on earth and very peaceful as well. Costa Rica sits in Central America with the Pacific on one side and the Caribbean Sea on the other. It is also the first country in the world to constitutionally abolish it's army.

When he discovered Costa Rica in 1502, Christopher Columbus called Costa Rica the 'Rich Coast', which is where the name of the country is obviously derived. Costa Rica has an abundance of tropical rainforests along with the plants and animals that go along with it. Truly a wondrous place.

Costa Rica has a lot to offer, whether you are just vacationing or looking to move there and who better to deal with when investing in real estate in Costa Rica than someone who is familiar with the territory and the people in that area.

Coldwell Banker Peninsula Trading Company in the southern Nicoya Peninsula is just the company that you want to deal with if you are interested in investing in Costa Rica, retirement, or just a vacation home. Right on their web site they have a large gallery of images from the area to peruse as well as listings for homes along with descriptions and prices.

It's easy to contact them as well. Located in Playa Tambor their phone and fax numbers are listed on the web site. They also have useful links if you are planning travel to Costa Rica. There are plenty of things you need to know when traveling internationally and doing your homework ahead of time is a must. Go check out your partner in paradise for more information!

I was asked to check out a UK car insurance comparison site for a review this week, so basically that's what this is. GoCompare.com offers their car insurance comparison service completely free but then again so do a couple of the insurance sites that you can buy direct from, such as Geico, to name one. In addition to just being able to see the price their are other things to look at at the same time. There are other quotes you can also get, such as motorbike insurance, home insurance and breakdown cover as well.

That's not enough to get me to change though, so why would I want to look at GoCompare to  compare car insurance? I figured I would check them out and see what they had to offer. To start with I went ahead and went through the process to get a quote.

It's a four step process. Make sure to leave a valid email address when you sign up for a quote as that is how they save the quotes for you.

It's a pretty quick and painless process and returned quotes from about 17 different companies, some of them were pretty reasonable. It's not always about the price though. Different companies offer difference benefits that may come in handy such as a courtesy car while your's is in the shop or discounts if you've had no claims (my current insurance provider gives me this type of discount). GoCompare compares insurance products based on the other things that you require as well as the price.

The prices that they do quote you are the same as if you went through the insurer themselves, so you don't have to worry about getting ripped by a 3rd party website. GoCompare uses a five-star rating system so that you know how closely each product meets your requirements and takes a bit of the mystery out of insurance comparisons.

The site itself is nice and clean and easy to navigate, with helpful tooltips on terms that you may need help with while getting car insurance quotes. It is attractive without being overly flashy and there aren't a bunch of ads to take your attention off of  what you went there for in the first place.

One of the things I enjoy doing every year is to attend the Renaissance Festival. It's pretty cool to just wander around and check out the folks dressed up from the period as well as other periods of history. It's never really exact because in addition to the dress of medieval England you will also find a ton of folks dressed as pirates and Vikings as well.

Have you ever wondered where the heck they get their clothes? Some of the people that attend actually make them and some of them pick the stuff up at the ren fest as well. There are some stores such as the Renaissance Store that sell them year round as well. The thing is there are quite a few people that are into the SCA as well as LARPs (live action role playing games) all year round. I even enjoy that kind of stuff but just don't have the time. Nothing beats running around as a Viking with a big heavy sword trying to kill people...er...acting like I'm trying to kill people :)

The Renaissance Store also has other cool stuff including fantasy figurines for role playing games, miniatures, letter openers and plenty of fairies and gargoyles as well.

The holidays are my favorite time of the year for me and Halloween is the kick-off for me to the whole season which is why when I was contacted to do a paid review for Christmas Express I thought it was a great idea. I will be taking down the Halloween decorations later this week and pretty soon I have to start going through all of the Christmas Decorations, seeing what works and what doesn't and replace the things that are broken now. Last year I really didn't decorate as much as normal for either holiday but I am certainly planning on it in 2007.

Christmas Express has been around for about 17 years and has locations in the United States as well as in the U.K. They claim to have the largest selection of holiday merchandise available anywhere and so far judging from what I have seen on the web site they are most definitely telling the truth on that one. They have had their web page online for a couple of years now and have leveraged the large customer base and 17 years of experience to get that large selection. In other words, they are a company that's going to stick around for awhile and not disappear on December 24th.

The wife would say that I go way overboard with Christmas decorations, but heck it only comes once a year and I usually have everything down by May at the latest.

Over all the site is very easy to navigate with clear categories and links to their products such as Christmas lights and Christmas ornaments as well as other types of Christmas decorations.  They carry all of the newer LED lights that use less electricity and seem to burn much brighter and clearer. The few LEDs that I have are among my favorite ones to hang and I am most likely going to replace the old stuff this year if I have the money.

I also want to get a couple of these outdoor snowmen as well. They have them priced at less than $25 and that's great. I could probably get carried away and spend a couple of thousand dollars here but I have to be careful with that and just get the things that are really important. I am planning on getting the family some really nice gifts this year and I don't want to cut into my budget buying decorations.

Christmas Express offers free shipping on all their orders over $75, which is a nice bonus. They also generally ship the same day unless you have a huge order or are getting very large props. Just order before 3pm Eastern Time and they will most likely have it out that day. They also have a pretty liberal return policy in their online store. If you don't like what you have bought just return it within 15 days for your money back. There are of course some restrictions and you need to head on over to the web site to check those out.

One thing I HAVE to get this year are some new Christmas Ornaments. Well over 80% of the ones we have are old and broken and we have been using the same ones for 20 years now. Some of them are keepsakes and we will always use those but there are others that we really need to go ahead and replace as soon as possible. Christmas Express is certainly easier than having to deal with the local department store and cheaper as well, so I will most likely be ordering from them this year.

It looks like I'm not the only one talking about Google in the last day or so. That's all I've seen on most of the forums I frequent and on quite a few blogs as well. Matthew over at Blog about Your Blog has a post up about the latest round of Google updates and apparently they weren't kind, at least on that site.

If you haven't been to BAYB yet, it's a pretty good resource on blogging, traffic tips and you can even win great prizes over there. Right now they are hosting a contest sponsored by Blog About Your Blog and Bidvertiser. There are a couple of ways to win the contest, but you need to head on over and subscribe to the RSS feed as well as leave a comment on that letting them know that you have entered. You can also enter the contest by blogging about them as well. That will actually get you two entries into the contest. First place pays out $200, so it's definitely not small cheese.

I've blogged about BAYB before and it's a pretty good resource for beginning as well as experienced bloggers to find pretty useful links.

I don't think I have linked to Everyday Randomness in quite a while, but it's one of the sites that I try to get over to every once in awhile because Jenn always has something intelligent to say and a bit of intelligence is something I don't have enough of around here. If you haven't checked the site out lately get your rear end over there but open it up in a new window 'cause otherwise it would mean you leaving here and we don't want that, no do we?

One of the most striking things when you first get there is the banner on top of the page. That's one nice banner. Chicks on motorcycles, and doing various other stuff. I need me a banner like that, minus the chicks of course, but then the banner wouldn't be as cool I guess. You know what I mean.

Right off the bat she had my vote (as if that's important) because she's a southern girl. Jenn is from South Carolina, rides motorcycles and fixes computers. If I weren't married already I would be headed to South Carolina right now, all except for the part that she's married too but I never let small details like that stop me anyway.

Jenn posts about some topics that are near and dear to my heart over at Everyday Randomness, including Motorcycles and Making money online. I don't have a bike right now since I totaled my last one a few years back but will eventually break down and get a new one. Of course the wife set a requirement for me in that I get more life insurance before I start riding again . I grew up with bikes and really miss being able to ride. The sense of freedom is matched by nothing else and being stuck in something with doors and windows just plain sucks.

Jenn has been writing online for quite a while now and Everyday Randomness has been online for almost a year now, so if you want to go check out a good mix of eclectic topics including motorcycles, site reviews and stuff about her family go check out her site if you get the chance.

I am a gadget geek. I think that is one of those things that just comes from being a guy. As a gadget geek I see GPS as a wonderful invention. It's one of those things that just truly fascinates me which is why when I was looking over GPS Insight vehicle tracking system I was really excited about it. It's not just a geek thing either anymore. GPS has been used for years by major companies to track deliveries and work schedules and over the last few years it has gotten cheaper to use so that companies with smaller fleets can use it as well.

GPS Insight makes a hardware/software product which and is a technical leader in the field of GPS tracking. They are mostly focused on companies that deal with trucking, Construction, long haul, roofing, HVAC, delivery vehicles, you name it and they can get it working for you.

The hardware plus right into the diagnostic port of the vehicle and makes it easy to track speed, fuel consumption, odometer readings and engine diagnostics with two minute updates and some pretty high end map options. Their standard product includes 90 days history as well as vehicle assistance through GE.

One of the nice things about GPS insight that I found while looking through the website is that if you need support there is a GPS Insight support wiki for customers that can be looked through before having to call their toll-free support number which operates 24 hours a day 365 days a year. If you are calling between midnight and 6 AM they transfer you to an off-site technician for all support questions. That's a pretty big deal considering that the support most companies offer is barely minimal and you might as well not even bother to call them.

As a business manager I like the idea of having GPS tracking installed because overall it costs less than $2/day, and the money you will save could be tremendous. For instance, one of the companies I deal with on a daily basis makes food and equipment deliveries. One of the guys that makes my regular weekly delivery really humps it. He is in and out in no time and always arrives at least two hours earlier than the other guy. What's the other guy doing? If he is fooling around and making all kinds of two hour lunch breaks the company shouldn't be required to pay him for those stops and with tracking it makes it possible to only pay him for time actually spent doing his job.

The GPS Insight software/hardware combination offers some of the following tracking benefits:

    * Speeding
    * Engine Diagnostic Fault codes/alerts
    * Begin/End of day report (compare to payroll)
    * Off-Hours Reports/Alerts
    * Landmark Reports (by landmark or by vehicle)
    * Detailed and Summary activity reports
    * Miles Per Gallon / Fuel Consumption report
    * Stop reports with configurable idle stop times
    * Idle time report using engine diagnostic data
    * Service log with scheduled service alerts
    * Accurate odometer, speed, diagnostic fault codes, emissions
    * compliance, and fuel usage/MPG from the engine's computer
    * Scheduled email reports/graphs, and automated alerts

Here is a map of a live demo from the website...

Any company that operates a fleet of vehicles should find most of these extremely necessary in order to maximize profits and accountability within the company. GPS Insight can also enhance the service with customizations particular for each organization such as cell phone integration and mapping which can send a text message so that you can check your vehicles location, send and receive SMS messages to single drivers or groups of drivers based on location or schedule, report on replies, and view the locations of vehicles on your cell phone with high quality maps such as what 'Jack Bauer' on '24' used. The technology that you see on TV isn't just make-believe, it's here and it's being used every day to great advantage over competitors that don't use it.

If you are interested in contacting GPS Insight they have offices in Scottsdale, AZ, Los Angeles, and Chicago and the phone numbers are listed on the contact page at their website.

There is also a pretty nice GPS blog with very interesting maps, screenshots and several different articles about GPS in general as well as GPS Insight as a company in particular if you want more information.

Direct Line Cruises is an online all-in-one agency to book discount cruises around the world. They deal with all of the major players in the cruise industry including Royal Caribbean, NCL, Carnival and Norwegian Cruise line. There are some pretty nice deals to be found over at Direct Line Cruises and I like the fact that with all of the major lines being offered in one place it makes it easier to compare prices and amenities as well as whatever current deals they have going on.

There is also current cruise line news, articles and reviews as well, which come in handy. There's no better way to find out about any kind of vacation destination than to hear from someone who has been there and this goes for cruises as well.

Direct Line Cruises also offers free travel insurance with every sale as well as cruise cancellation protection. One of the bad things about most cruise lines is that when you book a cruise there is no cancellation. If you are sick or miss the boat for instance, you are pretty much out the money, no questions asked. This gives you some measure of protection should something arise or you get sick and cannot go.

Just glancing through to see what's available, they are showing a four night Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Fascination leaving from Miami on June 2nd 2008 with a suite for $789. That's a pretty good deal. The interior rooms run about $400 less and that is great. It's a great way to see the Caribbean as well as Mexico and is a romantic way to spend a few days.

Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. Of course I enjoy Christmas and all the rest of them but normally I have to work and in the case of Christmas I will end up working somewhere around 20 hours this year and that sort of takes the joy to the world stuff right out of me. Luckily Halloween isn't really even considered a holiday by my company so I get to enjoy it with my kids most years. As a matter of fact I just finished my three manager's schedules through the end of January and somehow I have ended up with the day off. Wonder how that happened :)

As a guy one of the things that I really like about Halloween are some of the Naughty Halloween Costumes that I get to see. When I was younger I enjoyed working the graveyard shift because that's when all of the parties were taking place, particularly when Halloween fell on the weekend. You get to see all kinds of Sexy Halloween Costumes on the night shift.

Hey, a little eye-candy can be a very nice thing. Up until this past year I was running one of our restaurants in Carrollton. It happens to be the closest one to the State University of West Georgia and Halloween was always a 'treat'. The last Halloween I worked in that store was in 2006 and I ended up having to come in a bit early on November 1st, around 5 AM if I remember correctly.

A bunch of the students had still been out partying all night, and where else do you go at 5 AM to get something to eat after a party in Georgia? My place of course. It was a sight to behold with all of the Adult Sexy Halloween Costumes running around in the restaurant. My cooks could barely get anything done.

Needless to say, I don't get to too many Halloween parties anymore, or at least the ones I do get to attend are full of 4-10 year olds running around playing pin the tail on the donkey and bobbing for apples and such, and although it's not quite the same I do enjoy it.

I have toyed with the idea of finding a new host off and on for quite some time now. The problem is that I don't know if the slowness of my site is because of my blog setup or my host. Since the site has been here for quite some time now it has collected quite a bit of junk and baggage that might be slowing it down. I have installed a clean installation of my blog software on the server and will slowly migrate things over to it to see if that takes care of it.

I have looked at several different web hosts, one of which is Host Arcadia. Of course one of the things that attracted me to them right off the bat is that they are in Atlanta, so I would be supporting a business local to me should I choose to go with them.

Host Arcadia has several different hosting packages:

Starter Plan $3/Month - includes 500 MB Hosting Space, 15GB monthly bandwidth

Reseller Plan $6/Month - Includes 1GB Space, 30GB monthly bandwidth

Business Plan $18/Month - includes 4GB space and 120 GB monthly bandwidth.

I am currently paying $26.95 a month for the equivalent of their reseller plan. That's a big difference. Not only that but once I hit 30 GB of bandwidth they shut my site down unless I pay $10 for 10 more GB. This has happened to me the last two months including this month.

I am seriously considering signing up with them at least to try them out. I have five blogs up currently so it wouldn't be a huge issue to move one over there just to check out their level of service and see if I like it. Not only that but they also have a pretty good affiliate program that pays you 10% for each sale that is delivered.