This morning I received the following email – posted as I received it – from my father (remember the was-Republican, ain’t one now guy after 60+ years?). That statement isn’t to get your goat, but to show you that he’s on the mailing list to receive information directly from White House sources – not the rhetoric your “should be, but isn’t news channels” disseminate.

Anyway, as you can tell I’m a bit testy today… However, I urge you to take advantage of this information. We’ve already done our taxes (using TurboTax online which ensured we received all the advantages we could for filing 2009 taxes).

With a husband unemployed since last August 2009, and a family of four (plus two cats) to take care of – well let’s just say if this story sounds familiar to you, then you’ll want to use this tax saving’s tool referenced below: (more…)

Lucky for me Barbara of Goal For The Green emailed me at the perfect time last night. I’d read about “Earth Hour” a few days ago, and then life getting in its usual way, I forgot all about it.

I have to confess, we were four minutes late participating in this global event. Earth Hour was set for 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. I’m not sure if that meant wherever you are in the world or… but that was the time I’d read.

So we hustled around the house turning off lights, computers, and whatever else we had running. We also went in search of flashlights and candles. We found the flashlights (good thing) and a few candles. And… that’s what I spent the remainder of Earth Hour doing… hunting for candles!

Actually, remember Y2K? Well, back then we’d bought a whole box of “emergency candles.” These are long lasting, had to have lighting just in case the doom and gloom predictions came true (which we all know now they did not). But, that didn’t stop us from buying this semi-huge box of candles at the time.

Having just seen the box “recently” (which in my speak could be anywhere from the other day to a year ago), I thought I knew just where they were… I was wrong.

I looked and I looked and I looked. Using a tiny flashlight (it was really dark, even the Las Vegas strip turned off most of their lights), I did, however, discover purses and shoes I’d forgotten I even owned. Blouses for summer that I couldn’t wear but now can (I’ve lost and kept off some weight and am at 118 heading for 112 ideally). I found a ton of cool stuff, including $4 in an old purse.

But, at the end of the hour I still had not found that box of emergency candles. After turning some lights back on, I continued my search to no avail.

They are here, somewhere. And I’m sure I’ll regret not finding them (now) sometime in the (near?) future. But… the hour passed quickly

How did you spend YOUR Earth Hour??

This morning, after reading the news of the day, and of course stumbling several of the news items of import, I also started stumbling (using StumbleUpon of course) one of my favorite categories, Web Design.

Immediately, I came across two that I would like to draw your attention to:

o CSS Basics
o Nice and Free CSS Templates

The first is a lesson-by-lesson, 18 “chapters” leading you by the hand so you can create your own website stylesheet. You can also choose to download all the chapters, or even print them all out (put in a binder, sometimes it’s easier to reference points via print).

The second web site actually gives you 11 pre-made stylesheets. From a single box on a page to a full four-column layout, all your css stylesheet components are right there! Of course this would be the easy route to take, however, I urge you to also visit and study the principles behind doing anything online.

Sure there are WordPress, Blogger, Moveable Type, and other blog frame works from which you can work. There are also numerous html editors one can use to create web sites themselves. I, personally, believe that everyone needs to know the underlying reason and/or methods used that make the magic of a blog or website happen.

Ten years (plus) ago, I knew absolutely nothing about web page creation. In fact, my first “web site” consisted of nothing but banners centered down a page. At the time, I was thrilled to have accomplished even that much. But, as we all should know, that’s just not going to cut it out online. Visitors need a sense of uniformity and the means to navigate a website or blog. Knowing how to do this yourself, independent of the program you use, really understanding the coding involved in linking up, inserting images, creating the framework page, and navigation are but a few of the “I really need to learn this” strategies I would recommend you learn.

Then, you are no longer confined to a web site given to you (or one you pay for or use for free). You have learned a new, and highly valuable skill. In fact, for job seekers or those looking to add to their present skills, learning and implementing coding can be a good job skill enhancement.

Coding by hand is an art. Coding an entire website of say over 100 pages without understanding how it all comes together is insane. After visiting the above, you might also like to check out an article I wrote quite a while back titled, How to Learn HTML Without Even Trying.

Go for it! You can do this – it’s fun and you will never be at the whim and mercy of others. I’ve seen people pay exorbitant prices for web pages (websites) not worth a fraction of what they spent. When you learn a new skill, duh, you grow. Today is your day to do just that

Okay, it’s not as if the internet isn’t flooded with social communities. In fact, they are coming out our ears. I know it, and you know it. Trying to stay in touch with all of them is – well let’s just say it – a nightmare.

That’s why I almost passed on the latest invitation I received, but something caught my eye.

Does the word “money” mean anything to you?

EchoLoops has an interesting premise. The email I received stated the fact that Facebook and their like are making millions, and that means we are the ones making them so popular. EchoLoops, with its growing traffic numbers, is willing to advance your rankings in the search engines (by being a part of the social circle, these things get indexed fairly easily and you can be there, too). They also mention “rebate checks” for shopping, along with combining the power of Facebook, YouTube, games, shopping, etc.

Now, I haven’t a clue where this will go since I do not (unfortunately) possess a crystal ball. I have filled out my profile in much greater detail then several other spots I thought I would haunt. I’m working on the angle that the more you say, the better things go. We shall see. In the meantime…

Signing up is free. And if you’re just a tad tired of any particular circle that’s been running you around in circles, EchoLoops just may be your answer.

Enjoy!