AA Blog

Ever since I started playing the piano, I have spent god knows how much money buying sheet music…..but now, I am here to tell you that I will no longer be paying for this!!!!  I have found a place where I can get Free Sheet Music.  Thats right, I said Free Sheet Music.

All I do is look for the music I want and simply download the free sheet music file and thats it.  The best part of this however, is the fact that along with the sheet music, I can download the actual audio file of the same music.  Not only, do I get the sheet music, but also the music file.  So, I can listen to the music as well as follow along by reading it to.

There are so many genres to chose from and so much variety, that any type of music you can think of, you can probably download its sheet music.  No more going to the music store and being forced to talk to some kid and having to explain things he just doesnt understand.

I have bookmarked the site and have (and will) visit it often. As often as I need to get the sheet music that I want. ANd, by the way, the site is updated often so new material is always added!!!

Online shopping is slowly becoming a pain too…..

So I can do a search for something like “strollers” and get back listing after listing of places that sell strollers. BIG DEAL….. I still need to go and click on each of the listings to find out the price and availability.  That was cool like 5 years ago, but I want so much more now….I want a smarter search engine so it can fans items for me that are on sale.  This would save so much time, effort and most importantly MONEY!!!  In addition, I want to be able to perform specific searches for strollers with features I am actively looking for.
What if im looking for lightweight and umbrella strollers, or  Travel System Strollers -  I want to be able to go directly to a page that lists these types of strollers AND itemizes them by their price and sale amount.

Will someone please make a search engine that can do all this….it will make life easier for everyone!!!

Now that we have remodeled some of our rooms, we needed to upgrade the electronics. The first thing was a new TV. I found an online retailer of HDTVs and related products.

They offered a great selection of brand names like Sharp, Samsung, Toshiba, Denon, Marantz, JVC and Hitachi and they are also authorized dealers of these same brands. The products they offer are factory refurbished, factory closeouts and overstocks, end-of-life, open box and lots more. The savings I was able to get was substantial. With the price of electronics going down every year this was definitely the smart move. They are most likely the lowest cost provider of it on the Internet.

And if that wasn’t enough, they run a daily promotion they refer to as “Great Deal of the Day“.  Every day at 7:00 am CST, a new item is put on special for even greater savings.  As a user, you can sign up for this feature and be reminded via email or RSS .

I got a GREAT HDTV for a GREAT PRICE!!!

The other day, I had a client who wanted to add Online Surveys to his website. This had to be quick as he needed this to be up and running that night. After looking for some quick solutions, I came across Easy-poll.com!!!

This had to be the easiest thing I have ever done!!! Once I set up the poll on their site, I simply copied and pasted the code into the html of the page I wanted it to appear on and BAM!!! there it was…really that fast and easy. I was a bit skeptical at first, but the features provided and the ease of use to add a poll to the site was really amazing.

I was able to get this Poll feature up and running within literally a few minutes. All of the components are hosted on easy-poll.com’s website, so I didn’t even need to set up a DB. The poll results were accurate and more importantly the poll was (and still is) stable!!! I had control of everything I wanted the poll to be. Adding online surveys has now become a service that I will offer when developing sites for other clients.

We exercise as a family…me, my wife and kids all go to the same gym and take combat/fighting classes. We have experienced how Close Combat Training is an unbelievable form of exercise for both the body and the mind.

The Truth About Martial Arts is that it is time tested and proven as a self defense technique and keeps you sharp. My kids are enjoying this so much and I have seen a big difference in their attitude and general outlook. They are more attentive and much more self confident.

Check out the video below of Captain Chris’ Close Combat and see what Im talking about!!! Remember, he is a World Leader in Self Defense.

This “family” thing is getting to be a lot of work.  I remember in college, car insurance was the only insurance expense I had.  Then after getting married and buying a house, home insurance was added to the mix.  Now, with kids I just had to go and get life insurance.

I don’t know what other insurance I will need to purchase in the next stage of my life. But I’m sure that somewhere, someone will have it available for me to purchase.  In reality though, these are essential investments that are required in the differing stages of our lives.

Lighting……I never ever realized how much this improves a room!!!

So, after we gout our ceiling fan, we were bitten by the “light bug”.  We are now looking into getting some more light fixtures.  My wife likes the Hinkley light fixtures, but I, being a USC fan and alumni, just had to check out the House of Troy lighting.  But, we finally ended up agreeing on the Quoizel lighting fixtures.

I can’t begin to tell you how much more enjoyable and comfortable it is to sit in a room that is well lit.  It has a calming effect and warmth that makes you want to just sit and relax.  I think because of our new lighting reading has become something we do more of…its got to be the lighting!!!

I think after the den, we will redo the lighting in the kids room and then our kitchen.

With all the foreclosures and credit problems on the forefront of the news nowadays, it would seem that investing in real estate is not the thing to do anymore….I however, strongly disagree.  Actually, I feel this is the BEST time to buy real estate as an investment or home!!

Although the conventional ways for purchasing real estate may be a little too risky at the moment, there are still a number of other ways to make these types of investments.  My cousin, a real estate agent, mentioned to me the other day, that there are a number of foreclosed properties that are available in the souther California are that are actually good bargains.  The only stipulation is that you need to have GREAT credit and/or cash.  So if you are like me and have been saving for ther right time…guess what? this is it!!!

California real estate has, and will always be prime for long term investments (and by long term, I mean at a minimum of 5 years).  If you have long term plans for investing in real estate, this is the best time to buy…Interest rates were cut again today!!! I think those who invest now, will be enjoying the returns on their real estate investments in 5 to 7 years from now.

So I am now trying to learn how to play tennis!!!  I think its a good sport to play now that Im no longer in my 30’s.  I need to still stay active and want to a sport where I can really get in a good workout.  So I have signed up for a couple of tennis lessons.

The first thing I needed to do, was to find a tennis store.  I did, and spent a good 3 hours on Saturday looking for things that I may possibly need to play this sport.  It sure wasnt like what I remembered about tennis equipment from when I was in high school.  Just like everything else nowadays, there are so many different make, manufacturers and specialty items to choose from, that it made my head spin.

A couple of things came to mind while I was shopping…..growing up, K Swiss tennis shoes were the brand that the serious tennis players I knew were into.  So, I tried on a pair and they felt really comfortable.  So comfortable in fact that I bought 2 pairs…one for walking around and the other for playing tennis.  After taking care of the shoes, shorts, shirt and balls, one thing (the most important thing) was left…..the RACKET!!!

I needed to get a racket the would feel comfortable in my hand…as I am new to this sport, I just felt that f the racket felt comfortable, I would be able to practice more, hold the racket the correct way and be able to develop a good swing for the game.  After testing out about 3 or 4 different kinds  I picked up on of the Babolat  Rackets.  WOW!!!! this racket felt amazing in my hand.  I was able to get a great natural and comfortable grip and the racket felt really solid in my palm. It was weird, but it seemed as though this racket required less effort to hold than the others…I know…that sounds weird, but it is true!!!

Now I think I have everything I need, so next week I will post  an update as to how my first lesson went!!!

With the craziness going on in the US economy today, many people are being affected in a very bad way. It seems a day does not pass without the news talking about how the number of “bad credit” consumers is growing at an alarming rate. Yet, people still need to have credit to purchase homes, cars and other things.

A website has finally been published which features credit cards, mortgages, loans, and resources for people with bad credit.  This site has companies that offer,Credit Cards, Home Loans, Auto Loans, Personal Loans and other services like Credit Reports and Credit Repair.