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I have finally declared myself a revolutionary after witnessing the Eco Experience at the State Fair yesterday.  It was a different experience.  It has strengthen the environmentalist in me after it was awaken by my sister-Rorie‘s post entitled Environmentalist Forever!  The Eco Experience was definitely a one place to stop and learn more about adapting a “greener” lifestyle.  There are exhibits of lush rain gardens, a cutting-edge eco home, and displays on renewable energy, organic products and services.

Being a revolutionary, I commit myself to use a “green” bag (non-plastic and non-paper bags) when I go to stores.  Bringing my own bag helps me avoid bringing garbage in my home in the form of plastic or paper.  This way, I won’t be concern on how and where to dispose them.  Although, I must admit I still have those plastic bags but I am reusing them as garbage liners and such.

There are more ways to help our environment.  You can find more at www.reduce.org and be a revolutionary yourself.  This is just my first step and will continue to live a “greener” lifestyle.  Reduce.org… if not you, then who?

It has been a month since the hurricane season has started. Tropical storms had paid their visits and they bring along with them water damage. Broken pipelines or a leaking faucet contributes to this problem that doesn’t even wait for seasons but can happen anytime. When this happens, we are exposing ourselves and our loved ones to illnesses with the growth of molds which may not be visible in the naked eye.

In cases like this, it is best to rely on water extraction and drying professionals for water restoration. There are experienced professionals backed up with the knowledge of dealing with this issues supported by their fleet of specialty vacuums, dehumidifiers, air movers and scrubber and moving trucks. With Water Restoration 911, you can depend on quick action with their 24/7 Emergency service. They have both local and national teams who have dealt with jobs ranging from carpet drying to disaster recovery.

So the next time you get water damage, in need of water restoration, faced with wet basement or water in basement, basement leak or a broken pipe, carpet drying and needs fire water removal, you know who to call to anytime of the day. And they will can be on the scene in about 30 minutes in most areas within the US.

Knowing that we have some people to rely on if we are faced with this problem, we can definitely live a carefree life, don’t you think?

After a long day of plugins search, email and instant message exchange with Plugin Authors and Theme Developers, I have finally resolved the issue.  The case regarding instant replies is now closed.  Little did I know that the Instant Reply feature is already built in to InfoCreek themes.  They may have mentioned it in the ReadMe.txt but I didn’t bother reading it.

I finally had my eureka moment when I decided to deactivate the AJAX plugins that I have downloaded.  Then I tried to submit a comment and voila!!! My comment was published instantly.

If your blogs doesn’t have this Instant Reply feature (I’m addressing this to wordpress users), I’m recommending you to download and install either of the plugins below:

• AJAX Comment Posting by Regua
• AJAX Comments by Mike Smullin

So, there shouldn’t be any more concerns regarding replies and comments.  If there’s anything else that you noticed, do let me know, will ya?

NEW!!! I have also added another feature in my blog – the Member’s section.  Those who are registered members of my blog (not just the subscribed ones) will have their own Profile that shows their website, biographical info (if you filled it up), a list of their comments and your Uploaded Photo.  This way, I can help promote your site to the other readers of my blog while keeping track of the comments that you have posted.   For those who have not registered yet, it is never to late to jump in and be included in the directory.  All you have to do is to click REGISTER at the Meta Widget located at the right side.  Fill in the information needed and when you’re done, you will be able to see your Profile at the Member’s Directory page.

Enjoy browsing through my blog and keep coming back!

As you may have noticed and read in my previous post, I have updated my blog and switched to a new theme.  Unfortunately, along with this transition, my AJAX Comments plugin doesn’t seem to work.  This plugin posts comments quickly or instantly without leaving or refreshing the page.  It used  to work with my previous themes but on themes from Infocreek, it doesn’t seem to work.

Unlike before, you will not instantly see the comment or reply that you have made on my post.   Don’t be alarmed.  It is already a known glitch.  You will need to refresh your browser to be able to see your posted comment.  I am currently looking for ways to remedy it.  Currently, I am looking for a similar plugin that will work with this theme.  And I have also contacted the developers of the current theme that I’m using.  So, please bear with me.

I have been making updates on my blog.  Not only have I created new posts but I have also switched to a new theme.  The new look is for the sake of novelty.  I just thought that regular visitors of my site might want to view different colors for a change.  This Notepad theme is designed by professionals from Infocreek which provides web development service and accepts customize web designs.

Aside from the new theme, I have also added a new plugin to my website.  Subscribe2 provides a comprehensive subscription management and email notification system for WordPress blogs that sends email notifications to a list of subscribers when a new content is published to the blog.  E-mail notifications will be sent per-post basis or periodically in a Digest email.

Those who have already subscribed to my blog…

Those who have not subscribed and wish to be updated and be informed if there’s a new post made in my blog, you have two ways to do it.

• You can Register by clicking it at the Meta Widget.
• You can simply type your email address at the Subscribe to my Blog section.

With this new update, you don’t have to come to my site every day to check if a new post has been made.  I will send you an email as soon as a new post has been published.   This way, you won’t miss a thing.

I have also enabled the Avatar option so that User photos may be displayed within a post or a comment to help identify the author.  If you are a REGISTERED USER on my blog, you will have the option to upload your image on your profile section.  This photo will be scaled to fit the dimensions for the Profile page and a thumbnail automatically generated for comments.

I got a message from Travis today saying that he already bought tickets for the Minnesota State Fair this Saturday.  Of course I was ecstatic since this is going to be my first state fair ever!  I have always heard a lot of interesting stories about it… from performing arts, to popular concerts, adventure rides and out of this world foods, this is an occasion that brings everything and everyone together.

Minnesota State Fair is considered as the largest state fair of the nation in terms of average daily attendance though the Texas State Fair runs twice as long and has the largest annual attendance.  The Minnesota State Fair is held in the Fairgrounds located in Falcon Heights, MN which is adjacent to the capital city of St. Paul.  This even is known as “The Great Minnesota Get-Together”.  Many people from different regions come together to take part in the different activities.  Some participate in exhibits and showing off  their livestock, talents and skills.  There are also activities that gets you involved in arts and cooking.  But it is the food (usually on a stick) that draws the crowd above anything else.

Read the rest of this entry »

Last year was my first Thanksgiving.  Travis and I spent it watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and we also prepared a small dinner for just the two of us.  It was memorable.  It will be one of those occasions that I will look forward to every year.  And of course, the day after Thanksgiving is something that I look forward to as well.  The only thing is that, Travis doesn’t want to be  one of those people falling in line early in the morning just to get the good deals on Black Friday.  So, I missed it.  I wasn’t able to shop on the day that prices are outrageously dropped.

Today, while spending time online, I decided to browse around and see if there’s a way that I can shop with good deals on Black Friday without the hassle of being in the line the night before and without the crowd.  I came across www.blackfriday.biz and found out that this site can definitely help me in planning to shop on Black Friday. The website already shows the different deals for Black Friday from popular stores as early as now.  I continued browsing through it pages and find Old Navy Specials, Best Buy Deals, and Macy’s Ads to name a few.  DVDs will be on sale for as low as $2.99.  It is a good site to check on those Christmas wishlist.  Magellan Navigatoin Unit, gadgets for Travis, branded clothes for my family and toys for my nieces and nephews are there on the list.  It just makes shopping easier and planning it as early as now by clicking on item to put on my list will definitely save me time.

Things just got better coz www.blackfriday.biz will show us which items we can buy online on Thanksgiving Day.  I’m sure Travis will approve of this.  This will definitely save us the time and effort not to mention avoiding the crowd while still getting huge discounts on various products.  Can’t beat that!

Travis and I spent last weekend in Fergus Falls.  It is our way to get out of the busy life of the metro area.  It has also been awhile since we last visited Grandpa and Grandma in the farm.  And both of us missed Grandma’s cooking. We expected to see more family last weekend.  And sure enough, Travis’ uncles and their families were there.  They are even new faces as some of them brought friends along to camp.  We did not put up our tent and decided to sleep in the camper.  We went tubing since the weather was just perfect for it and of course, we went fishing.

Instead of keeping our catch and cooking it, Travis and I decided to simply catch and release.  Fishing has become popular and it lead to the problem of having too many people and too few fish.  In some places, catch and release fishing has been implemented.  So why catch and release?  Catch and release offers a way of prolonging the fishing trip after you have reached the reasonable or legal catch limit.  So it helps you make the most out of your trip.  Secondly, several studies show that as anglers get expertise on a particular fishery or fishing method, they develop and interest in “limiting their kill instead of killing their limit”.   Read the rest of this entry »

A beautiful house, a good job and a nice car are just few of my dreams even when I was a kid.  I’m working on getting a good job.  A beautiful house may not come too soon but a nice car is not far from my reach.

Here in the US, owning a car is a necessity, it’s no luxury.  You don’t have to be rich or have a good credit to be able to own a car.  Auto Loans are the path that will lead to your destination of driving your own car.  These loans come to you as a help when you are in need of extra money to buy the  car that you need.  Bad Credit Auto Loans will provide assistance even to those who do not have a not-so-good credit.  And the good thing is that, if you get auto loans online, you can get it easily in just minutes.

Gone were the times when you have to just dream and wonder when you can get your own car.  The time has changed and regardless of your credit history, you can get your dream car whenever you are ready to drive  it.  That new car you have been yearning for could be yours sooner than you think, even if your credit is bad!

If there’s one reason why I would like to go back and visit The Netherlands soon, it’s gonna be their delicious street food.  Unlike the Philippines, Dutch Street Foods do not consist of bizarre and exotic  dish but  consists of the usual fries topped with special sauces and a variety of their deep fried goodness.  Don’t get me wrong, I do love our street foods and I have my usual cravings for it too.  But today, I just happen to crave for my favorite food from the Netherlands- Patat Oorlog.

The best Patat Oorlog that I have  ever tasted was from Febo.  It is a fast-food place where you can order in the counter fries with your choice of sauce or some other products in their menu.  The other products can be bought from the vending machine inside the place for those people who are always on the go.  Patat Oorlog is simply fries seasoned with salt and their special seasoning ( I still have to find out!) topped with Frite Sauce (mayonaisse) and Sate Sauce (peanut butter sauce).  I always like mine with chopped onions on top of it.  Mmmm… just the thought of it makes my mouth water.

Some people find Fries and Mayo strange.  I’m sure many will find this fries combination stranger.  But once you get to try it, you will love it!  I will have to make my own version here at home until I can go back to the Netherlands once again.