Chandler's Restaurant

Since someone very close to me works at Yankee Candle itself I thought we should check out their flagship restaurant on site which is Chandlers Tavern. I had ate their previously but literally not for over a decade so I wanted to reserve judgment and base my opinion on only the quality of this decades visit.

It started off nice since we reserved a reservation ahead of time so we’d be able to get right to our table after our shopping trip coinciding with their candle sale. Sorry to say that it was only nice during the walk to our table…..our waitress was beyond rude. To put it into frame, I was about 1 more comment from “MARY” (AND YES THAT IS HER REAL NAME, WELL AT LEAST WHAT IS ON HER NAME TAG.) away from taking our dinner to go and apologizing to my fiancé’s parents, aunt, and nana for even taking them to somewhere with so little class. Chandlers has a reputation for having an expensive menu but quality food.

The service staff seem to be hit or miss because I’ve heard both horror stories along with rave reviews. Unfortunately I can’t say the latter. Since we wanted to take her family out to a nice dinner on us to thank them for all of their support over the past year while we were struggling financially we were prepared to spend a lot more then usual. I went to a website that offers discounts if you plan on spending a certain amount at some of the higher class places in the area, I’m not 100 % positive but I believe it was $100 gift certificate for $50.

It makes sure to say in bold letters that you need to let you server know when you sit down that you will be using this offer. I barley got the words out of my mouth and didn’t even take it out of my pocket before I saw the most rude, scornful, and downright angry expression on her face. To make it even more embarrassing she loudly asked if there were any other of these gimmick online discounts that I would be using? Well, she got her intended response….ALL 5 TABLES WITHOUT EARSHOT TURNED TO LOOK AT THE POOR PEOPLE USING A GIFT CERTIFICATE. I couldn’t believe it.

The below average service continued to decline to the level of unacceptable as the meal went on as the aforementioned MARY continued with her attitude, rude tone, unpleasant demeanor. After I placed my order my aunt couldn’t finish chewing the bite of bread she had taken quickly enough and the waitress angrily mumbled, well I’ll just come back when your ready, and stormed off again. When she returned she said, “so, are you ready to order now?” and not in a cheerful, smiling, pleasant, “I am spending $100 on a dinner and expecting a $30+ tip tone either”

After our meal when her grandmother said she was going to take her leftovers wrapped up to go but decided not to since the waitress had her hands full, until one more rude remark, and FINALLY EVEN NANA couldn’t take it anymore. The 86 year old, incredibly polite, quiet, kind, and intelligent women whom I have never even heard raise her voice spoke up just enough to let Mary know that she would have to make one more agonizing trip back to our table to wrap up her food, AND NANA EVEN APOLOGIZED FOR ASKING!

All in all it was a terribly average meal, with an extremely slim menu to choose from(probably about 15 different items) , the WORST SERVICE I HAVE EVER HAD AT ANY FOOD ESTABLISHMENT IN MY ENTIRE SHORT 28 YEAR LIFE, pricey to the point if not for the gift certificate and employee discount I would have laughed, felt a pain in my stomach, then in my wallet, and excused our dinner party on our way out the door to maybe the GO-TEN Japanese Steak House down 116 about 4 miles.

　

It’s a shame that a company with such an incredible story that clearly cares about its reputation within the community( they sponsor many local events, give generously when asked etc) can turn a blind eye to such poor behavior by staff. Chandlers will NEVER get my business, or anyone else that I can talk out of it for that matter until they hire some hardworking, honest, genuine employees….I’m sorry, I don’t appreciate feeling looked down upon or unworthy while I’m trying to enjoy a nice night out….AND PAYING A RIDICULOUS SUM FOR IT!

"TED" -Starring Mark Wahlberg and a magical talking, toking, joking, stroking, teddy bear....

You know when you catch the preview of a new movie coming out and it looks hilarious? The kind of movie that catches your attention by showing you ALL of the funny scenes in the preview and when you sit down to watch the actual movie you realize that you've already done as much laughing as your going to do....Unfortunately, that description fits this movie to the letter. 

Disappointing to say the least, and def not Marky Mark's best work. On a scale of 1-10 i'd have to rate this movie a 3 and that's probably being generous. 

Here's how it breaks down....the typical unpopular child with parents to match buy kid a stuffed teddy bear for Christmas  Kid is happy to FINALLY have a "friend" who doesn't know what a dork he is and can't "unfriend" him on facebook, block his "tweets", ignore his phone calls and texts etc. He wishes that the bear could be his real friend forever and when he wakes up sure enough the bear is a real walking, talking, hugging teddy bear. 

Although the bear becomes famous for a few short lived days/weeks/months he keeps his word and stays true to his "Thunder Buddy" for life. The problem occurs once the kid becomes a 35 year old man, in a serious long term relationship. Faced with the possibility of losing the love of his life he makes the decision to separate from his buddy in the name of LOVE. The real question is....did he make the right decision???

IE Tab/Internet Explorer Tab Chrome Extension Review

I've been using the IE tab extension for sites that are only formatted to be compatible with IE/FireFox and this particular one is to display web pages within chrome. I don't come across very many sites that have pages where it's necessary but it's good to know that I have the possibility there if I need it and don't need to go searching around while I'm in the middle of something just to read this 1 page or whatever. The only places it's been used by myself is on those consumer opinion surveys. No problems with the actual survey sites themselves but some of their customers business site uses a questionnaire that is not compatible with the chrome browser.

IE Tab has a few options that I think are important to the success of an extension such as this one that has been "A top 10 extension since 2009" which is stated under IT TAB if you look in your settings->tools->extensions->.

• Auto URL's-automatically uses your IE Tab which is obviously important so your not having to click on the little icon every time the sites you want to use for commonly are used.
• Auto URL Exceptions-These takes precedence over the Auto URL. Even if you have the same site matching on both lists, anything that is an exception will not trigger the IE Tab
• Your able to choose which IE to use but by default it will emulates whatever IE exists on your computer.

General options for how to open pop ups, do you want a search box and lastly do you want link enhancement are also available if you choose to opt in.

Overall I think the extension works great for what it's used for. It's been around long enough that it's dependable and trustworthy, you don't have to worry about hundreds of bugs and reporting a bunch of problems etc etc. 

The one thing that I have a problem with is the link enhancement. Personally, I had no idea what it was to begin with and it stayed checked for months that way. There is one of those little question mark circles above it where you can click and your brought to a page that explains everything. 

Click Here for LINK ENHANCEMENT page that explains EVERYTHING

Basically, link enhancement is where affiliate ad code is added to any link that does not have it already. By doing this the creators are part of a larger group of people who share in revenue profits for any items purchased. It's done blindly so it's not your information at risk that bothers me particularly. I understand that ppl need money to work, especially on projects that are free(free as far as money however, obviously there are other gains by the creation of a great product).  Name recognition, added value to future products etc. Also, it's not as though a person is able to write the code and then just be done with it because of the constant evolution of browsers and technology they are constantly developing updates and tweaking things which take time and as they always say..."time is money". 


I don't think this developer was doing anything malicious and in the explanation page it actually says that it's a common practice but maybe that's what bothers me the most...if it's a common practice and the majority are doing it then how is it I'm just hearing about it now for the first time. So, I have been working my butt off trying to make sure I write quality and helpful posts and if I don't take the time to put an affiliate link from google, amazon, or wherever else BANG now anyone who happens to click on my post and ends up seeing something they like either in an ad or even something I talk about someone else is actually getting paid...and I'm not seeing even a penny of it? 


Just doesn't make sense to me. I do want to say that I never would have been able to really get into this right now if not for the fact that IE Tab options give a link where that full page is dedicated to an explanation that is both very clear and thorough. Again, all in all, no I don't think its a huge deal but I'm just the kind of person who was brought up to be honest, sometimes maybe even a little to honest to a fault but there are always grey areas.


I'd really love to hear what you guys think about all of this? Did you know this was happening and I was just in the dark or is this something that is just recently coming to light? Feel free to leave comments, they are always appreciated and responded to!

Google Trusted Site

Link to apply to become a trusted store
Google Trusted Stores Customer Support Link
Google Support.com merchant eligibility requirements link


The GOOGLE TRUSTED STORE BADGE SHOULD BE LOOKED AT AS ONE OF THOSE AWARDS YOU SEE WHEN YOU WALK IN YOUR LOCAL BANK. It's the type of thing that should just give customers that little bit of added comfort when dealing with strangers. It's stressful to deal with people that we don't know. It's common. It's stressful to part with your hard earned money. It's common. Now put those 2 together and guess what? I'm not a professional psychologist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, and I bet, it's STRESSFUL....sites doing the right things in the first place, will have no problem getting their badge without stressing it. (come on, now that's funny right there!)


My overall synopsis of what stores need to be able to show they do on a high percentage of orders:

1. Ship items ordered within the time-frame specified and agreed to at time order was placed.
2. Low average time for products to ship
3. Customer problems resolved quickly and without additional escalation 
4. Low number of customers needing assistance in the first place

From what I can see, becoming a "trusted store" isn't anything that is complicated, extremely difficult, unfair at all with the application process. I do think that using broad teams such as "high percentage" instead of using a steadfast 90% cut-off has it's positives and negatives regardless. I'll explain.


Small business and new businesses who are already at a disadvantage in the marketplace can be punished unfairly using either of these examples in certain situations. Store A, who is new, started off today with 100% customer satisfaction in every category, but only has 2 sales. A new customer makes a purchase but is unhappy with the color he wanted being sold out but picked another and ordered anyways. When it arrived he didn't like the other color at all so he called store A to complain and ask for the return policy information because he wants store to send the original color he wanted. After the obvious apology and explanation the customer is still unsatisfied and decides he is going to file a complaint with google even though this seller has done NOTHING wrong. The seller has also offered a full refund upon receipt of the product but customer refuses.  Customer leaves negative comments, falsely claiming that wrong product was sent to him, leaves 0 for scores and now refuses contact. Store A now has a total of 3 sales completed and a satisfaction rate of 67%....Certainly not a score I would find acceptable to be eligible for the Trusted Seller Program under current guidelines. Store A loses the Trusted Seller tag and status and must remove his badge from his website. 

Now, when a seller is looking for products and sees Store A and Store X have them both for the same price but Store X has 100% satisfaction and is a "trusted seller". It's a no brainer, why would I buy from Store A? 

All in all, in a matter of days, 1 sale, 1 customer, 0 mistakes=the loss of his hard earned status as a trusted seller and the loss of future sales which is unable to be quantified exactly but it's an obvious next step and a probable outcome.


Using the other type of requirement actually has the same outcome here since store A obviously isn't near the 90% threshold. Store A would have to earn himself another 7 customers that have 100% satisfaction and be willing to report that to google before he will be able to attain that 90% minimum. 


If we go back to the stated requirements google has chosen to use as of today, I believe another 2 positive 100% satisfactory sales would earn him back his badge if I was being objective. The thing is that the wording is making the minimum requirement subjective, and that's going to cause problems. It could cause A LOT of problems down the line if the mighty arbitrator of the Badge isn't very very careful about who's in and who's out. It shouldn't be a popularity contest, should have nothing to do with your previous relationship or lack there of, with google, it's partners or affiliates. 


It's bad enough we basically have pay to play going on in everything from sports leagues, law firms, medical clinics, and even court rooms, let's get it right from the start on this one and be as transparent and open as possible with the customers AND the merchants, we are in invested in making this system work effectively and efficiently. Let's make it happen.

Safe House Movie Review

On the front cover of the DVD for Safe House it says "An adrenaline rush from start to finish" -Greg Katzman, UGO.com.....That may be the understatement of the decade. Aside from the opening scene that has young CIA agent, Matt Weston(Ryan Reynolds)  eating a parting lunch with his beautiful girlfriend which will unfortunately be the last happy moment they share together...and the last time that Matt Weston could be called anything but a Veteran CIA operative.


The movie looked like something that i'd def be interested in based on the story-line along with leading actor Denzel Washington playing a once again incredibly complex character and NAILS IT. I really think this is one of his best jobs. It's just amazing how Washington adapts from Drug Kingpin, CIA Rogue Operative, Bodyguard, Corrupt Police Officer, EX Soldier and more while seamlessly changing demeanor's as though a normal man would switch jackets.


Safe House has instantly moved into one of my All-Time movie favorites Top 10 list, possibly even Top 5. I'm going to have to sit down and see if I dare shift anything out of my top shelf. Suspenseful, gripping, fast moving, unpredictable, heart stopping are words i'd say fit perfectly. For now i'm going to say it will most likely be somewhere around 8 or 9 for me but I reserve judgement until it settles in.


Joshua's 10 star movie grading gives Safe House a more then solid 8.5


Enjoy.

G+ME Webpage

G+ME Webpage Link


Wow. That about describes it right there. This is the first extension that I have looked over reviews in the chrome web store for and have not found 1 negative. Obviously I didn't look at all 31,942 comments or whatever but I read 15-20 all randomly picked, tried skipping a few pages even, STILL JUST GOOD. Weird. Then the bad came. Not the creator's fault necessarily because google's updates cause codes to be broken and therefor extensions not to work. 


The Review Grade 89/100(originally)
93/100(after upgrade if I can really get these changes up and working it sounds incredible)
RIGHT NOW: 1/100(I STILL REMEMBER THE GOOD OL DAYS)


The caveat. The single vexing, frustrating, annoying problem and I don't even know if it's a working extension as of this moment. It has compatibility issues with other extensions so depending on your settings, extensions, etc there are different ways to try and get things working. I'm still in the process of getting up and running again but once the car is out of the garage, it's like coasting down the California highway in your brand new white Cadillac  with that baseball glove color interior, loving life.

PageRank Status Extension for Google Chrome

Really great extension. Everything is pretty straightforward and easy to use and the best part...it runs flawlessly with the exception of a few sites alexa hasn't included.

PageRank Status Chrome Web Store Link

Very simple and self explanatory. Click on the little extension icon which looks like a bar from a bar graph and you get a drop down of the site your visiting in regards to their Google page-rank, Alexa page-rank and Geo-Location(which includes IP address, country and city if available). That is all on the top half. Below, you can choose from options of site information from varying sites and services such as Google Trends, Bing Indexed Pages, Google +1's etc. Incredibly interesting regardless of whether you actually need the information but for those who own sites and depend on traffic, keywords, placement and such should add this ASAP and make your life A HELL OF A LOT EASIER. At least in the part where you now can save yourself the time of going to each of the sites individually.

Survey Spot.com+ Survey Head.com Review

This shit is REALLY REALLY starting to get on my nerves. No, that's not true. It's already on my nerves and it's "starting" to get to the i'm going to waste 20 minutes out of my life emailing "customer service" and explaining exactly how unjust, unethical, wrong, and just plain fucking irritating what they are doing is knowing damn well whomever happens to open it will either A. spit out his subway grinder laughing by the end of the first paragraph and call in a few buddies to check this one out or B. Will end up deleted and no one will have so much as an afterthought as to who "employee" 375b294a  is, thinks, wants, QUITS!


How ironic that I actually just now had another survey from an entirely different company, about different things, paying different amounts, etc just did the EXACT same thing to me. Well, CONGRATS WWW.SURVEYHEAD.COM YOU SUCCESSFULLY MADE IT INTO THE REALM OF THE CUSTOMER REVIEW WORLD. HOPEFULLY YOU ADHERE TO THE EDICT OF ANY PUBLICITY IS GOOD PUBLICITY. I will say this caveat though in Survey Head's defense: As far as I can recall it has not been a constant, reoccurring, ALMOST DAILY problem like in the case of Survey Spot.


I bet your just dying to find out what my issue is. No it's not the fact that i'm getting paid .50 cents to answer a survey that is "estimated" to be about 20 minutes(yeah, that's $1.50 per hour. I'm NOT EXAGGERATING) Im not even complaining(at least not right now) about how wrong it is to agree to answer that 20 minute survey for .50 and in reality spend 35-40 minutes answering honestly and thoughtfully like I was asked to do. I'm mad because after spending that 35 minutes that was supposed to be 20 not only do they have a automated prompt pop up that alerts you that you will not be collecting your funds but it states a list of 4 reasons which "MAY" have contributed to this decision.


1. Inattentive behavior such as speeding through a survey.
2. Your IP address is showing as a different country then you currently listed in your profile.
3. Someone in your household has already taken this survey.
4. I'm not positive.


Survey Spot.com Support Center Link
Survey Head.com About us Main Page Link

Ok, so now your telling me, AFTER I spend an exorbitant amount of time helping YOU make a better product that your customers like and therefor BUY, THEN you tell me that you DECIDED ACTUALLY, NOPE, NOT GOING TO PAY YOU, BUT THANKS FOR YOUR TIME AND INFORMATION, WE'LL BE USING THAT TO GET YOU TO BUY FROM US AND OUR PARTNERS IN THE FUTURE. GOODBYE.


ASSHOLES.

Yankee Candle Good Air Odor Eliminating Trial Size Candles

If you want bang for your buck(literally in this case, sorry I had to throw that in) these little "trial size" candles are AMAZING!  They burn for hours evenly, only cost .99 cents and are "fresh" scented, called JUST PLAIN CLEAN. I purchased an entire BOX of 18 of these bad boys and let me tell you, i'm going to be making sure I get more before these are gone!




One big plus for me is even though they are just the "plain" scent they still smell great. They actually HAVE A SMELL, unlike many of those imitation ones that try and get away with just giving u some wax candle and calling it "fresh" and its like it's not even there. Love the light blue color which is a nice little bonus too. Anything that comes in something near "Carolina Blue" must be pretty darn good right?

Klout Perks Red Bulletin Magazine(from RED BULL) REVIEW

Klout Red Bulletin Perk Link


Let me tell you, this one REALLY surprised me. I'm a huge fan of reading. I read things like ESPN The Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Maxim, etc from cover to cover and that's just my bathroom material. I probably spend anywhere from 2 or 3 hours all the way up to sometimes upwards of 6-7 reading various espn articles and the various off-shoots like ESPN-Outside The Lines, 60 Minutes, and other news outlets. Anyways, my point being that I don't appreciate 147 pages of fluff. It's a great eye catcher when the scantily clad beautiful women is modeling a watch or something but it won't be my focus for very long....at least not anymore at the ripe old age of 28. I had pegged this magazine as something the would last about as long as it takes me to walk to my front door from my mailbox, and let me tell you, i'm like a short, white, unassuming, quieter version of that Jamaican Runner, that Bolt guy that keeps losing lately, in the 75 feet from mailbox to door.

Free Red Bull "RED BULLETIN" magazine Iphone app link


Ok, now to be totally honest, (which unfortunately for some, I always am) I wouldn't go out and purchase a subscription to the magazine....but that's not exactly the kiss of death in my book either.  I originally HATED ESPN "The Magazine". I got one issue to read on the plane ride thinking it'd last at least half the flight from MA to FL(2.5 hours). It never even made it on the plane with me. If I hadn't already pissed off my father to the point I kept him in front of me at all times and did my best to stay in view of camera's and security then I would have walked my angry little self all the way back to the little magazine kiosk to get my money back!


The Red Bulletin is def something interesting to flip through and if you've got the chance to get the subscription as a perk from klout or wherever else that its available free, GO FOR IT. If your really into the action sports, the types of stuff you'd see at the X-Games, i'd even spend a few bucks to buy it. Overall, it's a great first edition, great start in the publishing industry and shows off some of the amazing talent they have signed at RED BULL and also the quality competitors they have competing at RED BULL events. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK GUYS!

The Blind Side Movie Review

I was impressed with the overall story-line of the movie and since it's based on the real life events of Michael Oher I was really hoping that they stayed as true to reality as possible. I didn't need some over the top wrinkle to add some "flash" because that takes away from credibility. The writers made it through. Well, actually they didn't. They made it about 80% of the way through the movie before they scraped together this unrealistic scene.


After growing frustrated with the NCAA's questions about his recruitment Michael stormed out of the office meeting, confronted his "new mom" and somewhat (pardon the pun) blindsided her with the question of "why did you do it", "was it for me or was it for you all along" thing and walked off. Later that night somehow he ends up back on the "other" side of town where he grew up and when faced with the difficult decision of waiting for his mom alone outside or entering the drug den (good vs evil) he makes the one bad choice of his life and it turns into a mix of a Snoop Dogg video, a clip of Scarface and backyard brawls 2. I won't spoil the rest. My point is it transitioned awkwardly to where they needed but they could have done a much better job without losing the sincerity of the entire movie.





All in all I really enjoyed the movie though. It conveys a great message of perseverance and hard work can make anything happen. Obviously this unbelievable story is something that's a 1 in a million type of thing but hey better then 1 in a trillion right?


I'm going to rank it a 7/10 on my just created tonight grading scale which will be patented shortly(so don't get any ideas Siskal and Ebert! what the heck is a scale that only goes up to 4? There is a HUGE difference between a 3 and a 4 i'd think, ya gotta get some more stars guys)

Causes.com Website Review

Causes.com main page link

My first thought when I stumbled across a “friends”(I use that term lightly since the inception of Facebook after seeing ppl with friends hitting 6-7 digits.) CAUSES PAGE was a mix of amazement and skepticism. After digging a little deeper through the about page, how it works, and seemingly endless possibilities and uses I'm left with the same thoughts.

I find that fact incredibly sad. What an amazingly great, wonderful, creative idea. Sometimes I really just sit back in amazement at the sheer numbers of talented, ambitious, hard-working.....and the list of superlatives goes on and on and on to describe the ppl out there.

Now, how pitiful is it, that as quickly as my mind goes from there to worrying just how many evil ppl across the world are exploiting something so great, and turning into some shady story of loss all the while hiding a shameless grin behind a computer screen. Sitting in a posh hotel with friends, “creating” page after page, cause after cause, banking on the kindness of strangers. Just waiting for someone like myself who tries to find non-profits, charities, or a need that isn't publicized nationally, something that really means or says something to me at that moment.

As quickly as I make the decision to give the little that I'm able, they bang out 4 more “stories” each and before my money is even in their pocket, a few other good Samaritans hop online and so it continues....and endless loop of caring, research, giving, research, caring, research, just hoping that you made the right decision this time, that your part, went and actually did some bit of good to put a smile on someone's face, somewhere out there.....this time.

Now, Speaking about CAUSES.COM SPECIFICALLY; regardless of the possible dishonest, greedy, scumbaggish, loser, good-for-nothing assholes that can turn anything that involves money into something evil, CAUSES.COM has both great intentions and a great set-up which has been integrated with facebook to allow for “spreading the word” along with “liking” quickly and easily....if that's where you want to do your “spreading of the word”

It's my understanding that users are able to set up “causes” as anything from a well known charity to gather money and make a donation in honor of a loved one, local business in need, struggling, etc or even a friend or neighbor that has fallen on hard times. A broad spectrum of possibilities exist which is part of what really makes this such a great tool with seemingly endless possibilities and uses many different ppl, types of businesses, charities, non-profits, and organizations. 

If you just take the time to browse through one of the hundreds and thousands of categories you will see just how creative and unique users have become. The best part though, at least for me, is reading the stories and touching summaries some have written as to why giving to this particular organization is meaningful or important to them personally. Whether it's in honor of a loved one who fought through and overcame cancer, spreading the word about helping get funding for Alzheimer's research, continuing development of knowledge in regards to aids or supporting organizations helping our veterans reintegrate into society, find gainful employment, or even something as simple as getting housing located close enough to the soldiers home that they can get the care they need.

These are sometimes things that are forgotten because we just figure it's OBVIOUSLY TAKEN CARE OF, I MEAN, HOW COULD YOU LEAVE THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE COMING BACK FROM SOMETIMES YEARS LIVING IN A WAR ZONE TO FIGURE ALL THIS OUT FOR THEMSELVES?? Well, guess what? It's not taken care of. There are services that help, but there isn't someone waiting at the airport with a list of all the services they will need and new cell phone with minutes and a taxi driver ready to start getting them situated. I know it may seem like I'm making light of it but this is just one example of thousands of charities out there that need funding, need volunteers, etc from everyone.

Obviously I got a little off topic of the website review at the end here but it's a message that is very important to me personally and it's something I think everyone, that means whether your rich and don't have a care in the world or getting assistance like food and housing from the state, needs to really think about every once in a while. Just because you don't have the extra income to give away $500 to buy some stupid brick at your sons school doesn't mean you can't do something meaningful in your own way. Pick one morning every month or every other month and spend a few hours helping give out food or collect food for your local shelter or food pantry. Take your kids with you if they are old enough, that's the kind of values and traits that can be instilled in your kids for the rest of their lives.

 Just imagine how it would feel 20 years from now when you read in the paper about a local school doing a food drive for the church and see your son is running it with your grand kids. It didn't cost you a penny but you probably helped 15-20 families that didn't know where they were going to be eating or if they were going to be eating when they woke up. Now that's something to smile about.

Spread the word, it's worth it.

Toys for Tots.....Western Massachusetts Location

Franklin County Toys For Tots Drop Off Location Website

Marine Toys for Tots Main Website

It's important to remember around the holidays, while we are picking out presents for our family, planning what to bring for the big dinner, making plans with relatives that live out of state that there are a lot of people out there that can't even get together with loved ones. 




No pile of cards to open from aunts, uncles, cousins and more stuffed with $20, $50, and $100's. No waking up to the living room so full of presents they have to open them from 6am to 1pm and take a break to try out the new 4 wheeler. Maybe just happy with finding the cookies and milk gone filled with the thought that Santa must've loved them because they got a jacket finally so they can play outside during recess. 




We all are finding ourselves in a tough spot sometimes but sometimes we should just sit and reflect on just how lucky we are; whether it's parents, siblings, grandparents or kids, spending holidays with family is the most important thing and there is ALWAYS someone out there suffering much more then we are....at least more then anyone who has access to a computer and internet so they can read this....

just my thinking at least....

Klout Perk- Chloe and Isabel 35% off Jewelry

My Klout earned me 35% reward from Chloe and Isabel. 

Claim reward here: 

Click link to claim my reward yourself! 35% off if your interested

Pretty good idea and the perk gives a nice percent off depending on your Klout Score but it's just really tough times right now in today's economy to be charging that kind of money except for really special occasions. Usually those special occasions require a certain style though and this type of stuff doesn't match up for me. 

I don't think it's anything bad by any means and it seems like the quality is there as well which is extremely important when your going to start trying to gain recognition in an industry like jewelry. Especially if your going to ask for a higher end clientele shopper and want then to consider you comparable to others in the same price range.

 Let me know what you guys think, definitely shoot me a comment if you end up making the purchase and let me know what you like or don't like. 

Ladder 49- Movie Review

Ladder 49 is a movie starring John Travolta as the chief of his station and the mentor of a young firemen while he moves up the ladder. Sorry, that one was just a little too easy to pass up.  I really enjoyed the movie overall, great story, perfect actors chosen to fill the roles, and they did a great job giving a realistic look at some of the things firefighters face on the job and how it can be a strain even at home.


 It's def filled with some intense moments that end in the typical fashion unfortunately. The negative for me was just some of  the predictability, it's still a shock but there are a few main scenes that you just know something is happening soon. 


I'm not going to give away the ending except to say that I think that's the one area they could have been a little more in-depth and really explored the dynamics of what being in this "brotherhood" of firemen, especially ones in the same fire house really means.

KLOUT PERKS BULLSHIT LETTER TO KLOUT GOD

KLOUT - Go red for women American Heart Association Perk

HEY KLOUT: CAN YOU PLEASE EITHER TAKE THE PERKS SERIOUSLY OR JUST FIGURE SOMETHING ELSE TO DO AS A WAY TO REWARD PPL BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY YOUR NOT PUTTING MUCH EFFORT INTO IT ANYMORE....SEVERAL PERKS OR SO CALLED PERKS ARE IN MULTIPLE CATEGORIES TO MAKE IT SEEM LIKE THERE ARE MORE THEN THERE REALLY ARE. 

SEVERAL ARE CLOSED BUT THEY GET LEFT UP TO MAKE IT SEEM LIKE THERE ARE MORE. WHEN THEY GET FULL....TAKE THEM DOWN THEN. WHAT IS THE POINT IN HAVING US CLICK ON THE LINK ONLY TO BE TOLD, OOPS HAHA, YOUR TOO LATE. OH WELL. THEN WHY OFFER IT TO ME??? 

ONLY OFFER A NUMBER THAT CAN BE CLAIMED FOR X AMOUNT OF DAYS OR SOMETHING THEN....THE COMPANIES SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE, THAT'S COMPLETE SHIT. TRY LISTENING TO US EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE AND NOT JUST GOING WHERE THE MONEY IS. I KNOW MONEY TALKS BUT SO DO WE, AND IT'S NOT POSITIVE ANYMORE WHEN IT'S ABOUT KLOUT, AT LEAST WITH ME ITS NOT!!!

The key to all your dreams....if your dreaming about bullshit.

Abbey's Blog Link-Click to check out the "Key to all your dreams"

When I first saw the email I was pretty skeptic about even opening it, it was after all in my bulk and spam folders(which I was only even checking because I skim through before deleting them just to make sure I didn't accidently missing a customer's order somehow and the email ended up in the wrong place). I ended up deciding nope, gonna just leave it alone, just like the first 1429 that I have gotten previously, don't want to break the streak now do ya? Come on, i'm getting closer and closer to Cal Ripken's games played consecutively streak by the day and this is obviously harder when you really think about it. Without setting a filter to have them sent directly to the trash, banished from possible eyesight forever, I must avoid them purely by skill, skipping even the most difficult and skillful bullshit that avoids the automatic detection and ends up in my inbox. I bet you didn't know this one fact about me....I hold a black belt in bullshit, bullshit detection, and even feigning that I believe bullshit when really i'm already counterattacking with an even more complicated bullshit attack of words.

Anyways, back to this specific bullshit. IN CASE YOU WERE UNAWARE, IT'S REALLY, SERIOUSLY, GUARANTEED, 100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEED......ABSOLUTE STRAIGHT FROM A LAWYERS FILTHY MOUTH, PURE, UNADULTERATED, BULLSHIT. The only "dreams" this "money-making kit" would be the "key" to are if you were a kid and you dreamed of growing up to be a squeegee man, living under a bridge, no tent, no cardboard, wearing a plastic suit made of taped up grocery store shopping bags, looking like a god damn astronaut from hell, hoping to get enough laughs and pity that at the end of your "shift" you got enough money for dope that you can forget what bullshit that money kit you bought was.

Ok, back to this dream life I could have had if only I purchased that damn kit. The first hint that ding ding ding, it's BULLSHIT!!! is the part where you enter your email address and zip code and you find out if your "eligible" Right, so they actually expect me to believe that there's some guy in Denver Colorado begging, pleading, just trying to get his dreamless hands on this "KIT" and he's got out his $39.95/$19.99 or whatever price Mr. Madoff decided this new scheme works best with, and your denying his this privilege??? Weird. Just so so so weird. NOPE. JUST PLAIN OL BULLSHIT. I sat for 15 minutes entering random different zip codes, different counties, states, time zones, area codes. Guess what? DING DING DING!!!! ALL WINNERS!!!!! YAYYYYYY. EVERYONE IS "ELIGIBLE" to bend over, take a firm grip of those ankles, and enjoy! 

For those of you who don't enjoy the Quality Time with your ankles, think of it this way. You only got the 2 1/2 incher.....Bernie gave the last round of suckers about the whole yard stick. That's right! 36 inches of pure, titanium....and he sure as fuck didn't lube it up cause even his own family got what i'd call "The Full Monty"

Ok, Reason #2 how when you have a black belt you can spot Bernie's long lost bastard child's scheme...that awsome truly amazing, 110% believable, countdown clock gives you 5 minutes to make your purchase or OH NO, they are going to have to offer it to someone else, and they are ONLY allowing so many ppl this INCREDIBLE, UNBELIEVABLE, AMAZING, DREAM MAKING OPPORTUNITY. 

Phew. Thank God I made it in time! Can you just imagine how i'd feel if I had missed out on this? The 1 chance to make all of my dreams a reality, the big one, and I got so excited I had to pee, then I took so long my computer logged me off and it got me so flustered worrying about coming back too late I couldn't remember my own password. You know the rest. I really blew it this time. THESE NICE BUSINESS PPL MADE THE OFFER OF A LIFETIME, THEY WERE SO CARING, HONEST AND GIVING THAT THEY EVEN ONLY WANTED HALF OF THE GENEROUS ASKING PRICE OF $40, AND TO TOP IT OFF, THEY EVEN GUARANTEE THAT IT'S GOING TO WORK FOR ME AS LONG AS I PUT THE WORK IN. 

I've got good news for you, and then a little bad news. The good news is that in reality, for the first time in your life, your penis was thinking instead of your brain, and you made the smarter choice. That bathroom break pulled your head out of your ass, and you thought it was in the clouds. Your "dream" was about as dumb as those Islamic terrorists thinking it's cool to blow themselves up because right after they going to be chillen with like 4927 virgins, be able to take that stupid turban off in the summer and relax with a cold beer.

The last reason I can tell you it's bullshit....I read it.

Brandyourself.com Website Review

Brandyourself.com Blog Article Link- New Features

Brandyourself named New York's Top Emerging Business + $200K is awarded article link 

Brandyourself.com Sign Up Page Link - FREE ACCOUNTS

Brandyourself.com is one of those sites that you stumble upon accidentally one day and a few hours later your thinking to yourself, jeez this is awsome, how come I have never heard of it before??? The concept is simple, almost everyone has someone out there in the world with the same name, link all of your profiles together so your able to create your own strong identity. Whether your a college graduate looking at prospective job opportunities or a small business owner looking to broaden his reach, it's extremely important and valuable to not only know what information is out there attached to your name but also separate yourself from others and put your best work forward.

The basic package with limited functionality is free and useful. I've already seen results on the links I submitted within the first few weeks and they state it usually takes anywhere from 2-6 weeks which is reasonable. I suggest everyone really should go out there and check it out, at the very least see what type of stuff is out there, why not? IT'S FREE! 

The only thing that disappointed me was the basic only allows you to submit 3 links along with your "profile" from brandyourself and that just really isn't even close to what someone with a business would need. It's almost a tease since it doesn't even cover just linking my main social networks with 3. It's unlimited submissions when you upgrade to the premium package which I think is great but the prices are a little bit high in my opinion. I realize it's a business and a business needs to make money to survive and continue to grow and improve but someone in my position just doesn't have the extra funds to put towards something like this as useful as I really think it is. 

Well, take my word for it, or don't, it's not like i'm going to get fired, remember, this is MY blog, and since I'm paying myself with Twix bars and those tasty "Cow Tails" candy I def can't get demoted, so have it ladies and gentlemen, it's a 3 thumbs up!

Mindfield Online Internet Panels

Want to know one of my pet peeves? Not sure why I even ask that because regardless of your answer if your reading this your going to know....well, I suppose if you really don't want to then you can close the page now though and save yourself. It's taking the time to start to answer one of those "paid internet surveys" and then after you spend a few minutes "qualifying" your told, "I'm sorry, we've already filled the field that your quota fits into today, thank you, hope to see you again soon." 

Link to Mindfield Online Contact Page

You know what goes beyond being a pet peeve? An online company taking up 15-20 minutes of my time which I spend answering questions about products I use, why I like them, which I don't like etc etc and then letting me know that they have my quota filled but they thank me for my time. WHAT? You asked the fucking qualifying questions nearly 20 minutes ago and they took me about 90 seconds to answer! Remember? I do! They asked my age, race, sex....why the hell didn't you stop me from answering questions then? No, instead you let me answer 95% of the damn survey that was supposed to pay $3 and take 25 minutes so now I get paid NOTHING AND SPENT 20 MINUTES TO GET THAT FUCKING NOTHING. 


I usually don't write a review until I have spent a reasonable amount of time using a product, service or site because I want to be fair and objective and for this reason i'm not going to say anything else negative about Mindfield Panels because it hasn't been very long yet. But, THIS IS THE 2ND GOD DAMN TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED OUT OF THE LAST 3 SURVEYS I HAVE TRIED TO ANSWER. THAT IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE AND ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT. It's bad enough that these survey companies pay like crap and still ppl like myself sit here and spend the time blindly trying to answer honestly under the guise we are helping shape the companies that we buy from, but now your going to actually rip us off for those measly few bucks we get for the hours we put in?


It comes out to less then $2 an hour usually. LITERALLY. AND I'M NOT EXAGGERATING. COME ON GUYS, STEP UP.

Extension "Layouts for Google Plus"

Great idea and def a needed option but since the google update it's useless and if its not going to be monitored and adjusted to maintain functionality throughout google's updates there is no point in adding it in the first place. Not worth the time or trouble for now, but check back at a later date and maybe there will be some changes.

Link to Website