Many people are looking for the secret to losing weight. There's so much money spent on pills, formulas, fancy exercise equipment, etc. But here's the way you can lose weight and get in better shape. Best of all, you don't have to buy anything special. Are you ready? Here it is.

If you find yourself in a crunch and it's still a while until payday, one possible solution for you is a Fast Payday Loan. You can get the money you need in a pinch that will help you through a tough spot. You apply online, provide proof of steady income, and you've got the money you need quicker than a personal loan.

The cold water came back on in the tub. Hot dog! Now I can take a shower before I pick up Kathy from work.
Like I said I'll have to be more careful about that in the future. Actually, it needs to be less cold out there, but I have no control over that.

Every now and then I get an itch to play some video games. After getting burned on some games I went and got when they debuted (Enter The Matrix, I'm looking at you) or without reading the Game Reviews that are out there, I like to do my homework before I spend any money on any games that catch my attention. That's why I like to read Action Game Reviews or any other games that look interesting to me to determine if they're worth buying, renting or just forget about it. Sadly, first person shooters make me nauseous and give me a powerful headache so I like to find out if a game is done in that style as well. Pity, Fallout 3 looks really good.

The cold water froze up in the bathroom last night. I thought with all the work we did in getting the pipes insulated that it wouldn't happen again. And it didn't happen since we did it. But I guess I got too cocky. Next time the temperatures dip down I'll have to make sure to keep the water dripping to keep it from freezing. The water to the sink and toiled thawed, leaving the cold water to the tub. The temperatures are supposed to be normal today, so hopefully that'll thaw today.

So you've got your own idea for a website. You've even found a host for it. It looks like everything is in place. There's just one more thing that needs to be done: how are you going to build your website? I mean, you surf online, but you don't know that much about the technical aspects of building a website. And you could hire others to build it for you, but that's going to cost money, and what if you have an idea or want to change something? Not to mention the potential communication problems that could crop up. That's why it's a good idea to use this Membership Website Software that can have you creating your own website without the costs and the lines of communication to set up. And it can be as easy as working on a Microsoft Word document.

We went out today on our semi-monthly shopping for supplies. First I stopped at AAA to renew my membership. Between that and having a cell phone, it comes in handy if I run into car trouble. Just have one number to call, don't have to find a phone and yellow pages to find a tow. The membership's worth it for that alone. Then we went to lunch at Fionn MacCool's, a pub in Fishers where we got fish and chips. I used the certificate I got at restaurant.com to save some money. Then we went to Great Clips where we used 2 coupons I got in Sunday's paper to get our haircuts. Kathy treated herself to a shampoo as well. Then we went to GameStop next door where their sign said they had Wiis in stock. They did, but we didn't have money to buy one, so we just browsed. Then we did the first part of our shopping at Wal-Mart. We also got some extras, such as my mom's birthday gift, a new shower head for our shower, a Joker figure from the DC Infinite Heroes line, and some pajamas that fit me. Kathy found a sweatshirt that fit her, it says "feisty" and has a black and white cat from the Warner Brothers cartoons. I'm not sure which, but I think it's the one Pepe LePew chases all the time. With that and the groceries we picked up, we went over the food budget. Fortunately, there wasn't much else to buy at Meijer and the coupons helped. Some money I put aside for bills coming up in the last half of February can be taken care of with the next check, and was used to make up the overage. At least we were able to put some money in the savings that wasn't touched.
Kathy was craving a Beef and Cheddar from Arby's, and I used a buy one/get one free coupon to get 2 little thickburgers from Hardee's. They're hardly little, just little compared to their Thickburger line of hamburgers. The link goes to a coupon good until March 11th, so if you're near a Hardee's, try it out. It was less than $3 with tax. The Arby's receipt has a toll free number to call to complete a survey and get a code for a free beef and cheddar that I'll call later for next time.
And what do you know, not only did I win the eBay auctions for the DC Infinite Heroes figures of Power Girl, Star Sapphire and Batwoman, but I was actually the only bidder, winning them for $5.99 each. The stores sell them for around $7. And the auctioner isn't charging a fortune for shipping like some eBay'ers, so I'm ending up paying just a little more to get the figures I want, and they're going to be delivered to my door. How cool is that?
And I finally heard back from BuySoundtrax about my order, they say they've got more Buck Rogers CDs in today and he'll get my order right out. Again, we'll see.

This is one of those movies I classify as "of all the movies I've seen this year, this is one of them". Anne Hathaway plays Kym (didn't catch the spelling until it was thrown during the end credits) who is released from rehab for a weekend for her sister's wedding. Either the filmmakers decided they didn't have much material, or wanted to make it more realistic by including all the details in their full detail. Either way, it's a slow, boring affair. If you've been involved in a wedding, you've been through all the drama before. This time, it involves a family that doesn't want to deal with the problems that have occured in the past, preferring to "forget and move on", ending up having it come back and bite them in the rear. This family has more issues than Life magazine. And I think Patton Oswalt is right: this film would've been better if Jason Statham was in, injecting his patented mayhem into the proceedings. There aren't that many showings of the film in my area, in this instance it's for a reason. If you come across it flipping through the channels, give it a try and see what you think. If you wanna bail, don't blame your short attention span or anything having to do with you.

The Cult of Snuggie is growing. Join us--I mean, join them. Haven't got one yet. Economic downturn and 4 million have been sold already. Another concern is that there'd be a delay in getting it, because I've only ordered a couple of things from TV and it seems they've taken longer to get than promised, and I never got the Debbie Meyer Green Bags. Had to buy them from Walgreen's. I guess for now we'll wear our robes backwards.

If you're thinking of starting your own blog or website, or thinking of changing where you hang your internet hat, why not check out the different webhosting options that are available to you? It seems like customers are more devoted to businesses than vice versa so why not see if someone else can offer you a better deal?
And Web Hosting Geeks can help you with more than a list of different webhosting options that are out there, they also have a helpful webhosting blog where you can read articles such as what makes a good domain name and other tips and tricks that can help both the newbie and the old hand. So if you want a better website, see what all they have to offer you.

Here's what I got in this week's comics shipment:
Back Issue #32
Amazing Spider-Man #583 Obama variant cover 2nd printing
Captain America #46
Final Crisis #7
Journey TP vol. 2
Marvels Eye Of The Camera #3
Previews and Marvel Previews for February 2009
Stand Captain Trips #5
I started going through the new Previews, and there's a couple of new Marvel series starting that look interesting to me, but with prices on some comics going up to $3.99, and given my backlog of comics, I might start waiting for the trade on some books. My comic provider Discount Comic Book Service usually offers a special discount on first issues of new series. I might use that to try it out and wait for the book if I like it.
And don't forget there's 3 more days and 3 more chances to win a trip to San Diego. Winning a contest is my only chance to get to go, and chances are it is for you as well.

Still haven't gotten my order from the soundtrack people. Sent an e-mail asking for an update. Will let you know more.
One book that made Bully's top 50 list, a Star Wars tribute book called "Harvest Is When I Need You The Most" was ordered by me less than a week and a half ago, and I got it today. It's small for $7, but the cover that looks like it has a picture embedded scrapbook-style really is. At least I got it sooner.
And I've got a bid in on my holy trinity of action figures I'm looking for on eBay. I found a seller that wasn't charging a fortune for the figures or the shipping. Actually offers a deal on combined shipping. I bid an amount that was the most to cover looking for them and saving on aggravation, and not an amount I'll feel bad I was outbid on if that happens, and wouldn't mind paying if I don't get all 3. If I'm outbid on Power Girl, though, it may be a whole different story. There's 1 day 8 hours to go, so any action will likely happen towards the end of the auction.
Hopefully I'll be able to get out tonight and catch a showing of Rachel Getting Married. I hope to see the last show at a nearby theatre tonight. And maybe I can start catching these other movies I've been wanting to see, as well as catching up on my Netflix and my reading.
From our "Oh No! Not Again!" department: parts of Kentucky and Arkansas look like they'll be without power until mid-February. But good news: Mark Gibson is reporting that Arlene Franks is getting better! Yay!
And here's a quiz you should enjoy doing: name the original 7 members of the Justice League in 4 minutes. I got all but one. I won't tell you who, but it isn't the one you'd think.

It's cool to be able to use custom embroidery for all the different products they offer at threadsmith.com. It's giving me ideas to create a logo for this blog so that I can offer shirts embroidered with it. What's cool about Threadsmith is that they offer so much assistance with getting your logo on their products that I could go over there and just about create a logo from scratch. They have no minimum orders or set up fees. And they offer discounts starting at 5 items ordered. This would be great for someone who is more entrepreneural in spirit to offer their own line of clothing instead of letting those cafe guys press you into taking a bigger piece of the action. You can design and create your own product and save money getting it ready and sell it for more profit.

I've mentioned here in the past about specials that restaurant.com has offered on their gift certificates. The Consumerist has an article about someone finding a $14.95 monthly charge on their card after buying some certificates. A couple of caveats: The Consumerist says not to confuse restaurant.com with restaurants.com (plural), the latter having nothing to do with this. Second, I myself have bought certificates from restaurant.com in the past and have seen no such unauthorized charges on my card. A quick double check verifies that. I suspect the alert was someone who clicked on a special offer and ended up with the charge. Some websites when you make a purchase have a "special offer" that when you read the fine print signs you up for a monthly service that isn't worth it, even to save some money. So make sure before you make a purchase online. And if you use a credit card, chargeback is your friend.

Another casualty of the economic crisis and Diamond Comics Distributors raising their limits has been announced. Rich Veitch says until things get settled, the Brat Pack deluxe hardover is delayed. He's got the charges for the paperback edition covered, so that's still coming out. This isn't taking a hit money-wise or losing your home or power, but this is still sad. At least it's not solicited and the price increasing from $34.95 to $100, like Top Cow did with the Midnight Nation hardcover.

With the rise of the internet there have been many different dating sites that have been started online. So many that it seems that there's a dating site for whatever interest you have, and may have thought you were the only one who lived in your area. But some believe that it's one thing to introduce two people with a common interest via the computer, it's another to have that personal touch where people actually meet and interact before you proceed, not being hindered by a lack of location. There are many locations for Great Expectations Kansas City, including St.Louis, Richmond, Houston, Charlotte, and many others that allow for more meetings before any connections are made. Great Expectations has been in business over 30 years offering more than a matchup service, allowing people to mingle and make up their own minds about whom they'll date.

Have you ever spaced out on the spelling of a word so bad you had to look it up, even though you've spelled it right so many times before? That's what I had to do with "Wednesday" just now.
Well, we finally drew the short straw weather wise: we got a lot of snow. I got Kathy to work this morning, but it was slow going, going around 25-30 mph to get there and back. At least we got plenty of supplies her, with plenty to read and watch. If you have some books you want to give somebody, send them to Mark. Even though he's already got some, he could use some more, especially with the troubles with reporting his blood pressure. Getting that straightened out could raise his blood pressure. Good luck buddy!

For many businesses that rely on sales, the big thing for them is leads. You can talk about salesmanship and you can talk about the skills of the sales person until the cows come home, but what it comes down to is having good leads. You can't make any sales unless you have someone who wants to buy what you're selling. I can't think of any way someone will do well in sales if that part of the equation is missing.
That's why it's good to have a group like F9 Group, Inc. on your side to help you with your sales leads. What they do is with their new technology called ICBM (Instant Call Back Manager) they can help improve your sales with their help. With every lead you provide them, they can verify that lead by calling them, pre-qualify them for whatever product you are offering, and transferring them to your sales agent. This way you can get the leads before other businesses and make the sale. And if you don't have a lead vendor, they can help you get the leads you want. So they can provide a crucial element to your sales, eliminating a lot of the frustration of chasing leads.

Mark Evanier has a nice write up about the late Bill Hicks. He also relays the legend of his unseen last appearance on David Letterman, and links to this article about it. And Mark points out that not only is Hicks' mom going to be on Letterman this Friday night, they'll show the previously-unseen last routine he did. I've got the TiVo set up.
And while we're on the subject of the vicissitudes of show business, Paul Harris has an article about Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall. They finally got on the Ed Sullivan Show and their act had their biggest audience ever. So why haven't you heard of them? Read it and find out.

If you're like me, one of the things you like to do online is play games. And it's even better when they're free. But a lot of times those free online games aren't worth the time you spend on them, or they don't have enough games to justify you spending any time on their site. But there's a site called PlayItOnTheWeb.com where there's all sorts of games you can play online for free. You can play kitten cannon, or you can play arcade classics such as Frogger, or sim strategy games like McDonald's Franchise. Whatever type of game you like to play, you're sure to find it here.