Karen’s Opinion

I have been blogging for many years and some of those years were on free blogging sites. I loved changing the colors of my blog and fine tuning it to suit my tastes. I met many bloggers in those early days and many are still my friends to this day. Once I decided to become a serious blogger, meaning I started to post my opinions in addition to playing with memes, it was time to get my own domain and find good website hosting.

Thankfully, I had wonderful blogging friends who guided me to inexpensive web hosting sites and helped me figure out how to buy a domain name. I was in the dark and needed so much prodding. I am so glad that my friends didn’t give up on me. I think it made them feel good to help a lowly blogger like me. LOL

As the years passed, I found out what the difference was between a mediocre host and a good host. I had a less than mediocre host. I was getting tired of outages and weird messages when visitors came to my blog. I worked hard to get visitors and it frustrated me to think they were unable to read my posts. It was time to get quality web hosting. I hated to bug my blogging friends and was glad to know about Web Hosting Rating’s website.

I knew that my blogging buddies would help me but I was enjoying my new found freedom and decided to utilize the Web Hosting Rating website and let their expertise guide me. They have unbiased reviews of web hosting providers. I laughed when I saw my previous web hosting site listed as cheap. Cheap was a good word for them. I look for the words reliable when choosing a web host provider. I also read the reviews from actual users and see what they have to say about a hosting company’s technical support service. Let me tell you, technical support means the world to a blogger like me.

Whether you are a beginning blogger and need help choosing a free host so you can get your feet wet, or an ecommerce site that needs extra bandwidth, visitor trackers, and your own I.P. address, Web Hosting Rating has the information you need.

Woo hoo! It is Friday! Time for my favorite meme. Four Foods on Friday If you would like to participate, click on the little picture and you will be taken to Val’s blog.

1. What’s your favorite flavor of Italian Ice?
I don’t think I have ever had Italian Ice. What makes it different from a snow cone?

2. Watermelon. So you prefer seeded or seedless? I love a deep red, juicy slice of seedless watermelon.

3. Ice cream. Do you prefer soft serve or hard?
I love Blizzards made with soft ice cream but they hurt my stomach. I take a chance and have one now and then. My favorite ice cream is chocolate mint chip or black cherry hard ice cream.

4. Ice pops. What kind is your favorite?
Are ice pops the one inch by six or eight inch tubes that you squeeze to get the frozen pop up to the top? If so, my fav is cherry.

I love using Twitter! By following my favorite retail store @kmartdealsnnews, I discovered that Kmart is, once again, having bluelight specials. Do you remember those? I can remember rushing to whatever aisle that pretty bluelight was on and checking out the bargains. Talk about getting my heart racing! I think it was better than a game of racquetball! I would hear, “Attention Kmart Shoppers!” and off I would run. It was always a surprise when a store worker would light up a mobile police light and offer a discount in a specific department of the store.

Sometimes I would find great bargains on end of season merchandise like swim wear and beach towels. Other times, I would find a special markdown on back to school supplies. Kmart offers such a large array of merchandise. From patio furniture, to grills, to jewelry, I always find what I need at Kmart. The bluelight specials make shopping fun and a good way to save money. I am so glad the Kmart Bluelight Specials are back if only for a short time. Our town is fortunate that Kmart has stayed loyal to us during these tough economic times. Founded in 1962, Kmart operates over a thousand stores across 49 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

It is the month of August, a resort town sits next to the shores of
a lake. It is raining, and the little town looks totally deserted. It is
tough times, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.
Suddenly, a rich tourist comes to town.
He enters the only hotel, lays a 100 dollar bill on the reception
counter, and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one.
The hotel proprietor takes the 100 dollar bill and runs to pay his
debt to the butcher.
The Butcher takes the 100 dollar bill, and runs to pay his debt to
the pig raiser.
The pig raiser takes the 100 dollar bill, and runs to pay his debt
to the supplier of his feed and fuel.
The supplier of feed and fuel takes the 100 dollar bill and runs
to pay his debt to the town’s prostitute that in these hard times, gave her
“services” on credit.
The hooker runs to the hotel, and pays off her debt with the 100
dollar bill to the hotel proprietor to pay for the rooms that she rented
when she brought her clients there.
The hotel proprietor then lays the 100 dollar bill back on the
counter so that the rich tourist will not suspect anything.
At that moment, the rich tourist comes down after inspecting the
rooms, and takes his 100 dollar bill, after saying that he did not like any
of the rooms, and leaves town.
No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now without
debt, and looks to the future with a lot of optimism .
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the United States
Government is doing business today.

It has been a long time since my children were babies but when they were, they were on baby formula. I wanted the best formula to help my babies get the vitamins they needed to start their healthy lives. I had no idea of the regulations that pertained to baby formula. I now know that all infant formula sold in the U.S. must meet the same basic nutrient requirements specified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. I wish I had known it was possible to save money by buying GENERIC baby formula and still have the best formula for my babies!

At the Parent’s Choice website, there is a handy baby formula savings calculator that makes it easy to compare prices of formula. It upsets me to think of the money I could have saved when I used the calculator and found that the generic brand was more than half the cost of the brand I purchased.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking name brand is the best when it comes to baby formula. Parent’s Choice is an unbiased advocate that is keen on helping parents during these stressful economic times.

The Parent’s Choice website is full of helpful checklists with insights on things like what to carry in your diaper bag and even safety measures to make your home safe for your baby.

Everyone likes free samples don’t they? Parent’s Choice has free samples of their formula! Check out Parent’s Choice!