Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Mystery Shopping Scam Alert!

Watch out! I just found out about this scam taking place that uses the name of American Consumer Opinion. ACP is a site I have recommended previously for making money taking paid surveys. Here is the quote from their website:

“WARNING!Mystery Shopper Scam

A fraudulent Canadian company is using the American Consumer Opinion® name to mail counterfeit checks for thousands of dollars, instructing you to deposit the check and then wire part of the money back to them. The company falsely claims the money you wire will go towards your training to become a mystery shopper. This is a criminal and illegal scam. Do not attempt to cash or deposit the check. Do not wire any money to anyone. Membership in American Consumer Opinion® is always free. ”

Always remember, you never have to pay for legitimate money making opps and never, ever get involved with anything that involves wiring money or cashing checks for them! Those are scams every single time!

For more about scams and surveys see my other posts:

Be safe! If you have any doubts at all follow the safety first guidelines:

  • You can check registration data here such as name, address and phone number. http://www.whois.net/
  • Updated link to The BBBOnLine "Check out a Business or Charity
  • Google the site name or registered domain owner and check out the buzz!
  • Leave a post about the site you are curious about and I will do all the work for you! Chances are I already have checked it out.


Thanks for reading, and happy trails!

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Monday, July 28, 2008

Make Money Blogging – PepperjamNetwork

PJN July Promo

Hurry while offer lasts! During the month of July PepperjamNetwork will pay publishers a $10 sign-up bonus! You must click through the special “$10 bonus” link.

PepperjamNetwork is a new affiliate marketing network that promises to breach the communication gap between affiliates and merchants through the Pepperjam Chat. Pepperjam Chat allows affiliates and merchants to be in touch in real time. PJN also addresses the lack of transparency found in other programs.

PJN is not just online marketing; it is an affiliate program management tool. The site includes reports and a resource center that are very supportive. At the resource center you will find help in the form of links where affiliates can make additional money and educational sources. Their goal for the resource center is to make every associate a ‘Super Affiliate’ and help you make tons of money! Cool, I’ll take that!

They value the blogging community and reciprocate with great incentives. Just take a look at this offer closely, yes you sign up and get $10, but not only does PJN get exposure I get $7 for you signing up! They are helping me make more money by giving you a great incentive to sign-up through my link. Awesome!

I personally like the fact that I can pick the programs I want to participate in and their interest in transparency. There are some great merchants on PJN (exclusive merchants!) and a great many of them.

I have just started out and will be posting later on about how it works for me. If I make any money, you will be the first to know!!

Don’t forget! You will only receive the $10 if you sign up through the “$10 Bonus” link. Unfortunately, when I signed up I messed that up somehow, and will not be receiving my $10. Don’t let the same thing happen to you!

Happy Blogging!

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PJN July Promo

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Make Money Blogging - Shopping Ads

ShoppingAds allows you to make money by displaying related merchant ads on your blog. The publisher (blogger) may choose what type of ads to display by the use of keywords. The ads are live and you may customize them to fit the style of your blog. There is also an affiliate program. The money is made by CPC (cost per click) or CPA (cost per acquisition). Joining is free and there is no future costs associated with the program.

Take note you start of as a ‘Standard Publisher’ and then depending on your blog traffic you may reach ‘Premium Publisher’ status. It does not take long and this blog qualified, so don’t let that stop you from joining. The difference between the two is that as a ‘Premium Publisher’ you may earn money both from CPC and CPA where as a ‘Standard Publisher’ you may only earn from CPA.

I joined as an alternative to Google Ads which I do not like so much. ShoppingAds has top merchants and it is easier to pick what type of ads to run. If you decide to join, please!! Use my link from the sidebar so I can get the referral commission of 5%. Just click on the ShoppingAds banner on the part that says “Ads by ShoppingAds” and that will direct you to their site. Thanks!!

Happy Trails!

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Saturday, July 19, 2008

Emma the Puppy Update

Emma is so cute and so big! On her second visit to the vet 2 weeks ago she was up to 29lbs, from 19lbs when we got her. Emma is by no means overweight, just a big puppy. I am sure she has put on a few pounds since then. We can tell how big she is getting by her height. When she first got here she couldn’t see over the coffee tables and her head was about the same height as the seat cushion on the couch. Emma now towers over both!

The puppy pads never worked out for us. The vet was right, it’s all about schedule. Keeping a strict schedule of feeding, walks and exercise did work. We have adjusted the schedule now that she knows to go outside. Meaning, we don’t have to take her out as often. I can say she is potty trained for sure!

On this last visit to the vet we found out we were bathing her too often. Emma was getting a weekly bath. The vet said this is not necessary and is actually bad for them. He said by giving the puppy baths so often the skin glands get overworked and they only have so much to give, I guess it is like moisturizer. So, if you bathe the puppy too much you will basically wear out these glands and set your puppy up for a life of skin problems. Wow! I had no idea. The vet said no more than four baths a year, which is about every three months. He also said that bathing too often actually makes the doggy smell worse. Therefore meaning, Emma gets no more baths till the fall. I did buy some puppy wipes that are used between baths that are working out rather well.

My biggest worry of less baths was, and then what do we do for flea and tick prevention? My vet recommended Frontline. Which I know works because I use it on my cat, but I didn’t know that it was enough alone. It is. Of course I did not buy it from him, though I think my vet is great I know certain things you just don’t get from the vet. Went online and bought the Frontline for a lot less. See the links to my affiliate 1-800-Petmeds.

Please don’t forget to check out my Favorite Causes on the left hand navigation bar for free ways to donate to animal shelters and a link for pet adoption. You can save a life today!

Thanks for reading!

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Thursday, July 17, 2008

Glitter Graphics and Comments at Flexy8.com

Butterflies, Butterflies Comments, Butterflies Graphics - Flexy8.com
http://www.flexy8.com/categories/assortedcomments/butterflies/?page=1

Is that not a beautiful image? I came across this site that has all sorts of glittery, pretty graphics and comments. They can be used on blogs or Myspace, Facebook, LiveJournal, etc.

Many more glittery graphics and comments at:
http://www.flexy8.com/

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W32/Sdbot.worm!ftp

I thought this picture tells it all! Been hijacked by a worm! The image is from a game called “Worms: A Space Oddity” by Team17 Software for Nintendo Wii. It is a very appropriate image for my current problem.

I have been trying to get rid of a worm on my laptop for days! I do not understand why my virus program can not get rid of it. The best I was able to do was delete it. It just came back a few hours later. I have done a Google search and I just don’t get it! If anyone out there in the blogosphere is reading this and has some tips, info, anything about the W32/Sdbot.worm!ftp, please HELP ME!

What is it anyway? I just don’t get it. I know it slows down my computer. McAfee says it’s low risk and must be removed using ‘Engine/Dats’. Well what the heck is that? I have tried everything it just keeps coming back!!!

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Monday, July 14, 2008

The Buzz about Renuzit TriScents!

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I was chosen to participate in the Renuzit TriScents Campaign! Received my free sample a couple of weeks ago and have been trying it out ever since. I have to say it really does work like they say, even better. We have a cat, a dog and smoker. Have it working overtime you might say!

Renuzit TriScents is a scented oil with three different fragrances that change every 45mins or so. The change in fragrance makes it so you do not get used to the scent. Know how you can’t smell your own perfume after a while? I have two or three different perfumes that I use interchangeably so that I will not end up pouring half a bottle on myself because I can’t smell it! Renuzit TriScents work in the same manner. The aromas are very pleasant and have three adjustable fragrance levels. I placed mine in the dining room which is between the kitchen and living room. The location is great because it actually spreads to all three rooms. My favorite fragrance is the middle one, After the Rain. My collection is the Morning Meadow collection, it includes the before mentioned fragrance, Waterfall Mist and Pure Breeze. Each fragrance has a light that is activated when that particular scent is in use. I love sitting in the living room and experiencing the change of fragrances.

The campaign is “Transform Your Home in 1-2-3” featuring Tanya Memme from A&Es “Sell This House”. Basically it is about look, smell and feel. Step 1 is color, add a little paint to your walls; step 2 is scent, featuring Renuzit TriScents; and step 3 is textures, pillows, window treatments, etc.

For more details and a money saving coupon visit the Renuzit TriScents site by clicking: Renuzit TriScents

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Saturday, July 12, 2008

Your Carbon Footprint at Brighter Planet.com

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This blog helped offset 350lbs. of carbon dioxide! WAHB has been given a certificate and the status of “A Blog that helps Fight Climate Change”! Awesome!

Sign up here:
Brighter
Planet Inc.


The average carbon footprint for a US resident is 22.64 short tons per capita in 2008.

A ton of CO2 is emitted when you drive 1,350 miles in a SUV and when you travel 2000 miles in an airplane.

How big is a ton of CO2? click here.

A carbon footprint is:

“A carbon footprint is an estimated total amount of greenhouse gases produced by a person’s daily activities, such as driving and heating a home, plus shared services (e.g., street lights).
It is expressed in Carbon Dioxide-equivalent units (CO2e), because there is more than one type of greenhouse gas and each greenhouse gas has a different climate impact relative to carbon dioxide.” From: brighterplanet.com

You can make a difference by using the Brighter Planet website. There you may choose to use the products that help offset your carbon footprint or purchase offsets directly. Brighter Planet keeps track for you. For example, if you sign up for the credit card offered by their partner, Bank of America, and choose paperless billing everytime you use the card you are offsetting your carbon footprint. Also, the points earned from your purchases are “invested on your behalf to help build renewable energy products”. It’s like a “green” credit card!

“Brighter Planet is dedicated to helping you take charge in the fight against global warming and build a clean-energy future. With a majority of Americans wanting to do something for the environment, our products are an effective way for individuals and businesses to reduce their impact on the climate.” From: brighterplanet.com

Your carbon footprint as well as some tips are available at the site. Just answer some questions about how you live and it is e-mailed to you. Create a free account to keep track of your offsets. For example once your account is created you can add to your profile whether you use CFLs (Compact fluorescent light bulbs) and whatch your footprint get smaller! Or you can add efforts you are willing to make like adding CFLs to your home and track your progress. You will find all this in the “My conservation efforts, achievements and regimens” once you are signed into your account.

My profile at Brighterplanet.com
Want to learn more? Click here.
Want to Sign up?Brighter Planet Inc.

One such called ‘efforts” is removing oneself from mailing lists therefore stopping junk mail and saving trees. Green or not I thought this was great I receive so much junk mail! I actually write back and tell them to quit sending me this junk I am never going to buy the product quit killing trees! They never listen.

So here’s the list for anyone to enjoy:

DMA (Direct Marketing Association) – a little time consuming, you must click on each catalog to opt out.
Fedeeral Trade Commission do not call list ends telemarketing calls.
DMA Choice - Getting off some e-mail commercial lists
Catalog Choice – also have to decline on by one each catalog.
GreenDimes will pay you $1 to stop receiving junk mail!
OptOutPrescreen.com - official Consumer Credit Reporting Industry to opt-out of credit and insurance offers. Finally. no more Geico junk mail!

Junk Mail Tips:

Eco-Cycle
Obviously.com - Stop junk mail, e-mail and phone calls
Native Forest Network

I signed up for all of them.

Happy ‘Green’ trails to you!

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Been Mystery Shopping…

I haven’t been around the blogosphere for I was mystery shopping for a couple of days plus a few other things I’ll tell you about later.

Mystery shopping has not been so profitable lately due to the high prices. However, this round of shops in my area was worth it. They had been e-mailing me about them forever! It is surprising how many companies e-mail me about the same shops over and over. They seem to have trouble filling them. Since you can only due a particular shop every so many days, sometimes once a year or in the case of the shops I did once every 180 days, I can’t always do them.

I love this round of shops! Can not give much details because of the confidentiality thing, but I can say I can make a quick $100 in a day. Because of the gas prices a lot of MS providers are letting the shoppers do more than the usual shops per day. They are also being a lot more flexible with due dates allowing the shopper to schedule shopping with any trips to the area already required. I had to re-schedule one shop because I just couldn’t make it on time and it was no problem. That is why it actually took me two days.

Another reason that had kept me away from these shops was the reports you must submit afterwards. When I did the first round back in October most of the questions had to be answered in essay form with some requiring 500 words or more! It was just crazy! For $15 it was just not worth it! They have since streamlined the report with only four essay type questions with a minimum of 200 words! Much better! There is no scanning of paperwork required, so I can get them done much quicker. The MS provider I am speaking of is Service Excellence Group.

Note, that despite the fact that they are the same shops just different locations, they don’t like repeated answers. After doing six of these shops, with basically the same scenarios it is not that easy not to repeat yourself! They’re editing practice is not that clear to me yet. I have not been able to score higher than 9 out of 10 in their rating system, I asked them for a copy of their revised report in order to improve my future contributions, but have not heard from them. It makes me wonder because I try real hard to follow all the grammatical and sentence structure rules along with providing a detailed account, etc., and it never seems to be good enough.

Other complications I have had during the past few days include a virus on my laptop! That I can’t seem to get rid off! Also, over 200 e-mails have accumulated in my in-box that I have been trying to go through! A lot are surveys and MS providers asking for help with shops. Since this high gas prices thing I believe these e-mails have at least doubled.

Happy trails to you!

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Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Make Money Using LinkShare

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I found this affiliate network which I really like, LinkShare. Joining LinkShare is absolutely free. As many real money making ops you are required to give them your SS# for tax reasons. LinkShare is truly different to other networks. Up to this time I have joined a few affiliate networks that I am not very satisfied with. What I do not like about them is that it is not easy, if at all possible, to pick your advertisers. I need the affiliate revenue to keep the blog going, but I would really like to decide the content of the ads for the sake of my readers and my reputation.

With LinkShare it is so easy to choose which advertisers you want to sign up with! LinkShare is partners with major, reputable brands with many to select from (Macy’s, AT&T, Office Depot, Orbitz, Chase, Wal Mart and hundreds more). Log in and go to your publisher dashboard, which by the way has fantastic features, click on the ‘Programs’ tab to see which brands are running campaigns, selection can be made by category, new advertisers, or premium advertisers. On the far right for each brand is located an ‘Apply’ button, which if clicked on will open up a new page where terms & conditions must be accepted. If and when they approve you, yes they get to choose too, they will appear in ‘My Advertiser’ tab under approved. Wait for an e-mail or check back often, some are approved almost immediately. After approval into a campaign, go to the ‘Links’ tab where you will find a great variety of links and banners to place in your blog. That easy!

How is the pay? Not sure yet since I have not generated any income thus far, just signed up last night. Advertisers pay a commission on sales made through your link or what they call “qualifying action you generate for them”. Exactly how much you are asking yourself? The percentages and offer types vary therefore it is hard to say exactly. I will update once I have generated some income on there.

I mentioned the dashboard before as being fantastic, it truly is the best I have seen anywhere so far! It is so easy to navigate and has so many useful resources I just can’t post about it all; my posts are long enough as it is! I can’t help but highlight a few features, though. Apart from that already mentioned above there is also a ‘Reports” tab where you can find detailed information on how the ads are performing and transactions completed. There are so many reports that can be run! Some are pretty advanced; it will take me a while to figure them all out. Not to mention I need some activity before anything will show up! So help me out! Sign up with my affiliate link!

Happy Trails!


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Saturday, July 5, 2008

Keeping the Kids Busy During the Summer


Summer is in full swing. The economy is hell; gas prices are sky rocketing, food packages are getting smaller and we have to find money out of a budget that is stretched to the limit for summer fun with the kids. What to do?

What I have done is programmed a lot of free, or almost free, activities through out the summer for us to participate in. Every community has things to do that are free or very close to it. Wherever you live, grab the local paper see what is happening in your neighborhood. Remember, a lot of these free or reduced rates are on special days so make sure to check for days and times, then schedule accordingly.

Local Public Library - Public Libraries have summer reading programs for the entire family. We joined with some of the other neighborhood girls, and I mean all of us, me too! I joined the adult program; there is a group for grades 1-6 and the little ones for K. They have weekly fun activities for the kids and they are rewarded with prizes every week for a book read. Of course the best reward is when they go back to school and they haven’t lost any skills but gained more reading experience. This is our second year of the summer reading program; she is going into the third grade. Our little one is a great reader and was levels ahead of everyone during the entire second grade. I know this is thanks to her reading during the summer.

Movies - Local movie theaters offer movie clubs during the summer with very low admission prices or free. It is a good way to encourage the reading club with another club that is all fun. Try AMC Theaters Summer Movie Club there is a search box to locate the nearest theater in your area. AMC offers $1 movies for adult and child and a $3 Kids Pack which includes popcorn, soda and fruit snack.

Museums – Check out your local museums they usually have reduced rates for residents and some may have summer activities for the little ones. You can also take a small day trip to a not so local museum. Enlightening and fun for everyone, this is another of my favorite things to do.

Arts and Crafts - We have a ton of arts and crafts that have been gifted to us during the year which are using up valuable space. Summer is a great time to get them done! One a week, which I usually save for a rainy day, keeps us entertained and cuts down on clutter! If you do not have an accumulated supply of arts & crafts do a Google search for free summertime arts & crafts there is a bunch of cool stuff floating around the internet.

Planetarium – This is another of our favorites. The nearby community college has a planetarium with summer programs on Saturday’s. It is only $2, fun and highly educational. Never know you might just have a future rocket scientist on your hands just have to introduce them to the topic!

Zoos & other – If you are lucky to have a zoo in your area this is another great activity that the kids love and is good for an all day activity. We are not so lucky. But, we are fortunate to live in an area with extensive mountains and lakes. This provides the opportunity of nature hikes and a day at the lake. Let’s not forget fishing either! Great bonding time with dad and all you need is a couple of hours and a small body of water.

Find Local Activities Effortlessly - Click here to search for planetariums in your area. It is really easy to add aquariums, amusement parks, beaches, corn mazes or anything else that interest you to the map. Once the map loads just go to the drop down menu “add interests to your map” on the top left and click on your interests. They will be added to your map. Presto! You have a map with everything you want on it! Additional information and driving directions for each place can also be found easily. Just rollover the icon of the particular interest and click on more details, a new page opens up. Pretty awesome I thought!

Happy summer!

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New List for Entrecard Users

Blog–O–Ninja has put out a New Entrecard Bookmark and Dropping List that proves to be very helpful for Entrecard users. He guarantees 300 actual links on there and that it will be updated regularly. Easy downloading steps are included in the post. If you want to add your site you can leave your link on his comments section. You can also find out about other lists and tips for Wordpress blogs on Blog-O-Ninja.

While I can not personally do 300 drops a day, I take too long looking around each site I drop on. Also, I have found many sites that I generally visit on Entrecard that are very informative and fun to read which I would not want to stop visiting. But, all this said, it would be nice to get new sites to check out on a regular basis and he has made it really easy. So, yes I will give it a try. Though, I can not in good conscience promise visiting all 300 sites daily.

Thanks Blog-O-Ninja!

Related Posts:

Entrecard Buzz

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Thursday, July 3, 2008

Making Money with SocialSpark!
















This is a real money making opportunity. All you need is a blog and a grip on the English language. Yes you can write and get paid for doing so! SocialSpark is up and running!

SocialSpark is a place to find paid writing/video opportunities, market your blog, and make some friends. SocialSpark helps to provides buzz for the advertiser and the blogger alike. It is a social network, but it is not just about making friends. SocialSpark is bringing bloggers and advertisers together. It is free to join and you never have to pay anything to upgrade or any other type of sneaky gimmick. There are no gimmicks here. Straight up, join, get your blog approved and start making money. It only took Customer Love 24hrs to approve my blog.

SocialSpark requires 100% disclosure or you will not be paid. You will disclose that it is a paid advertisement and you may choose which opps to sign up for. There is no tricking your readers and you can choose which opps are a better fit to your blog. Yes, I am getting paid for this post, but no there is no conflict of interest here. I would have recommended it anyway. I am making money on SocialSpark. It works!

SocialSpark code of ethics keeps the system honest. The 100% Audit-able- In-Post Disclosure requirement lets everyone know; yes it is a paid review. There is 100% transparency; this means that everyone will be able to see each other, so you can not hide who you are working with. Therefore the transactions taking place in the marketplace are open and honest. SocialSpark requires 100% real opinions. SocialSpark does not want the blogger making up stories or be dishonest in any way. If you don’t own the product, don’t have a good opinion about it, or can’t be truthful there are many more opps to choose from, pass on it. SocialSpark wants your post to be search engine friendly, 100% search engine friendliness is also part of the code of ethics and required in every post. This means that the sponsored links automatically carries the “no-follow” attribute.

SocialSpark is a great way to make money from your blog and you don’t have to compromise your values or your readers in the process. Go ahead! Sign up and start making money.

Happy Trails!

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Be a Part of Ending Famine around the Globe! For Free!



FreeRice.com is a website dedicated to ending hunger around the world and at the same time improving your vocabulary skills! The money raised by the site is donated to the UN World Food Program.

It is absolutely free for you to donate. You donate by playing a vocabulary game. So easy! Well not the game, the donating part. A word is shown with four multiple choice options for you to pick out the correct answer. For each correct answer 20 grains of rice are donated. The accumulated plates of rice donated are shown to the right of the game screen. You can also view your vocabulary level as you play along. There are 60 levels! Click here to play.

How do they pay for it if you are not actually donating any money? There are sponsor banners at the bottom of the screen that do actual money giving. The sponsors make the payments directly to the UN World Food Program. Click here for the FAQ page of FreeRice.com.

More information about FreeRice can be found through the UN World Food Programme website directly. You may also choose to buy rice directly. For a mere $16.00 WFP can purchase a 25kilo sack of rice. Donate now!

Other ways to help end world hunger:



Poverty.com is where busy people can educate themselves about world hunger and poverty. On the opening page you will see the hunger deaths this hour, along with pictures and names. Really brings it home, makes it real and hard to ignore. Don't forget to print out a simple letter to be mailed to the president supporting 0.7% in international aid. Such a small amount can make a great difference in ending world hunger.


One Campaign, together as one to end hunger and extreme poverty. Please sign the petition to the G8 to keep its promises and support the end of world poverty and hunger.

“We call upon you to build on recent success in fighting extreme poverty by delivering your commitments on healthcare, agriculture and education and by helping citizens in developing countries in their efforts to improve governance and fight corruption.” (One Campaign Petition)

The Hunger Site

The Hunger Site provides staple food to the needy through their partners Mercy Corps and America’s Second Harvest. For every click 100% of the sponsors advertising fees go to feed the hungry in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and North America.

Sign-up for e-mail reminders and they will send you two free “peace” bracelets and two extra cups of food will be donated.

Just a few minutes of our time, a few clicks can make an enormous difference to those in need, and it doesn’t cost a dime. Please check out my one-click donate links on the left hand navigation bar. There is also a one-click donate food and care for animals.

Happy trails to you!

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Tuesday, July 1, 2008

New Service provider!

Finally! I gave in to the monopoly in my town and went with the only available DSL provider, Embarq. I had been putting it off for a couple of years now, but I just couldn’t take slow dial-up anymore. What was worse was that my previous dial-up provider’s required downloads and what not froze up my computer constantly! I hated them :-( If you want to know it was Earthlink. So glad that is over! And by the way, that accelerator they add to dial-up was useless, at least in my case. As was the e-mail, nothing but spam.
I had some problems switching over, and it was time consuming! I tried doing everything online, but had to give in to that too and call to set up my new service because I just couldn’t get the final page to load. I am stubborn though, kept trying for three days!
Lost a post in the process, and haven’t been able to dedicate much time to WAHB, but I am back! I did have some time to do some research and I have a few interesting ideas for the next post. I will see tomorrow what I will go with.
It’s good to be a part of the 21st century along with everyone else, at last!

Happy Trails!

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