Cabgirl in Napa!

I'm still trying to figure this thing out on TypePad. I think all the privacy settings have gone away or it may be too much work.... Grrrr.... I'll be on Vox until it ends... so go back for now! LOL!

Teeth Whitening

Since I'm going to San Diego soon, I looked at Groupon's website and saw teeth whitening for $185! Total score after looking at the Yelp reviews. Usually I wouldn't but I just inquired it to my DDS and she wanted to charge me $500. I haven't bleached my teeth since I got my braces off and it's time for a re-bleach!

Check it out. Only 2 hours left on this deal!

Christmas for my kitties

So since I am buying and selling (still) on Amazon, I winded up selling my CatGenie for $225.00... which includes like $400 of stuff I've bought - including a $100 cartridge resetter. Shipping it is going to be a bitch, but whatevs, it's better than me throwing it away and getting nothing out of it. I went to a store down the street and got more boxes. Since I'm going to San Diego/Mexico, I bought them a new hi-tech kitty box:

I got this one in black:

I think it has some kind of sensor or something. 7 minutes after the cat pees/poos, it shifts left and right and the clump goes into a drawer. Yeah, it was hella expensive, but like I said, I winded up selling my old litter box, so I wasn't totally screwed.

Here's a vid:

Litter Robot

I think the cat peeing problem is basically the CatGenie itself and their love of the clumping kitty litter. I've been using a regular cat box for a few weeks now. It still sucks, but *shrugs*. They are brilliant little kitties and I should not force them to use that thing.

Anyway - off to see Up In The Air (George Clooney) and eat at an Indian buffet. Yuuuuuuuuuuum!!!! :)

Poo

I put my kitties on CL and now someone wants them. :((

I am terribly sad.

Digital Cleaning

For someone who's digital (previous and present businesses/freelancing with records), I wanted to share with you my review on my server. This is the first server I've ever owned - which I got last May for my birthday. If you have a lot of crap - photos, paperwork, music, etc, etc - then this is the server for you.

Hp server ex485

It is compatible with BOTH Mac and PC. I do have to admit that I was skeptical at first. If you own a Mac, then this would would be your "Time Machine". Also, this would be your backup for your PC. Not only do you get these features, but this would also store your music, photos, etc. all in one place. I can go on and all about it. But I finally found out out how to do get remotely controlled.

You can't log in - but my address is: http://102s1st.hphomeserver.com/

I finally got it enabled last week. I figured this would be useful because I'm such a gypsy - plus you don't want your employers to see what's on your work PC. So guess what I found out just recently? I found out that I could log in REMOTELY ANYWHERE and upload my pix to My Flickr, Picasa, etc as well as viewing my pictures. Yes, I realized it's not as fast as if I'm doing it from home, but STILL... how cool is that???

If I want to get a file, I have to download it to whichever computer I'm at, which kinda blows, but still - it's better than nothing! Also, I can listen to all my music on my server (like Pandora, but why if you have Pandora and/or iPod?).

On top of that, you can backup your files on Amazon S3 service - which I pay around $8/month. It's kinda like putting all your files on a ftp (it's the backup on top of the backup). It's pretty fucking easy to do all of this stuff using HP's software.

For my filing system, I use Neat Receipts:

Neat receipts

I scan all my 911 documents here. I press this button that says "PDF" and it asks me where to save and then I scan (to my server). I just did the business card thing (it's OK since I don't use BC really) and I haven't really done the receipts, however, I will have to with the business I am doing soon. FYI - it does color too. So I'll do postcards and greeting cards too w/o the guilt.

Anyway, the reason why I asked you guys how you file and stuff, was just to see what you guys did... digital or not??

Unfortunately, since I am "updated" with this stuff, I am sorting out the pictures from my 3 old computers. OMG... it sucks. I winded up finding an old 120gb (yeah - hahaha) and now I am sorting out my pix from my iMac. The iLife Photo system was HORRIBLE and I will be using Adobe Bridge to tag and sort... eventually. This will take FOREVER.

Just recently, my server wasn't working and I was not too happy. It turned out that all I had to do was "refresh" my internet connection and router and I was all set. I winded up spending 2 days with HP Tech Support. Ugh. So that's why I worked all weekend. To make up for lost time.

Even though I'm angry at the HP tech guy for advising me to do that from the get-go, I realized that I must have an external hard drive for those important documents and photos and put them in a safe place. I'm really trying to be clutter free. Even though it takes some time to scan - it's faster than a flatbed scanner and I'll put all my mailings/paperwork in a file for me to do a monthly insert...

Just an FYI.

It's highly recommended by me. And btw - if you have multiple ppl in your household, you can get multiple users and PW set up so they can log in online too!

**** FOUR STARS!

Questions for you

I'm doing some major overhaul in my condo.

Questions to ask...

1) What do you do with important paperwork? Do you have a filing cabinet? How do you organize contracts, leases, toy manuals, etc.??

2) How about business cards?

3) Postcards and holiday cards?

My uncle gave me this small postcard filled with on Hue, Vietnam. They're not the greatest quality (it's Vietnam ya know!). What do I do with these? It's a gift... and more than likely, I prolly won't go to Hue for a long ass time.

4) Stuffed animals that P has given me over the years (yes, pigs and bunnies). They are sentimental to me.. well some of them.

5) How do you back up your computer stuff? Do you have a server or plenty of external HDDs? USB or Firewire? Have they ever failed? Do you have a an HDD to stash away in a safe?

I contacted a real estate agent to sell my place today, just to see what I could get. Everything for me is so unforeseeable. I definitely do think Napa is going to happen and I need to be closer to work even though it's seasonal. I also hate paying property taxes. I want to go back to living in a hassle free apartment. It will suck as my place has all the latest and greatest, but sheesh - sometimes a girl has to do what she has to do... esp if it means saving at LEAST $1300/month. I guess it will all come down to the price, what P wants to do (help buy a different home for us with any equity I have in this place) or perhaps just wait to see how work goes for me to see if it will be a fad or a continued success. *sigh*

How did I get to be such a packrat? My ADD is so bad... 3 vehicles, 4 computers, etc, etc. GADS!

After I am 100% sure I have everything off of the iMac - that will be the next thing to go. I might as well get rid of all this stuff as Christmas is coming up. Oh top of that, I want to organize ALL my computer files... that will take a miracle.

I'll let you guys know what I have for sell. You guys can have first dibs if you're interested in my crap.

Oh - does anyone need any cables such as USB/Firewire/Audio/Video/USB hubs/Tradeshow swag? Let me know and I'll ship them to you. You can just pay for shipping. I have BOXES and BOXES of them. I also have graphic design books that I have to sort through. They might be a version or 2 old, but it's better than nothing!

ok, i'm broke

i totally forgot to mention that i signed up for some "student" card and there is no approval what-so-ever! Yeah i'm sheisty! It's $20/yr to join. Not like anyone needs it (really) but what i'm getting:

10% off my recurring bill on TMobile - which is $100+.month (saves me $120 year). That at least pays for itself.

Other things I find useful:

- 15% Amtrak - you know how I like to travel and I'll get it any way I can!

- 10% American Airlines (meh)

- Prepaid AMC tix starting at $6.50 each. Which saves $5 per ticket. A bigger discount than Costco.

- Lenovo PCs and lappy discounts. They are bigger savings than online discounts.Trust me, I looked.

The rest are dot com savings, but why save 10% at Target when you have to pay for tax and shipping when you can shop on amazon w/o tax? Catch me? So if anyone wants an invite, let me know. It'a soooooooooo well worth it if u have a T-Mo account... seriously. I have 3 lines with them... sooooo well worth it!!!!

A Change of Scenery

I'm trying out another blog - a different one that gives you ample of hallways to get to your other social medias. Vox has always had these pros and cons.... i.e. having the same 5 readers that I have. I'm going to play with it for a bit and when I return, I'll let you know if I'm ditching this blog or not.

Thanks guys!

i think my announcement went well! glad that everyone is telling me it will work out. :)

xoxo

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And I think I feel good about my purchase. Lengthy and so exciting - but I'm so ready to pimp this thing out!