Crazy Wonderful Stuff I've Found on the WWW

(Brace Yourself. You're about to have a moment: Close your eyes and hear the trumpets blaring announcing her arrival. The Princess enters. Wild, Uncontrollable APPLAUSE!!) *sigh* Hey, back off! A girl can dream.

I have come across some (in my gracious and quite important opinion) cool/fun/helpful websites out there lately and as my arsenal of resources keeps expanding, I thought I should start sharing. You may already know about some of these, but maybe not. So here they are, in no particular order: (ahem)

Spendji: This is a GREAT resource for completing a project that involves several people. It allows you to create task lists, budgets, etc. and because it’s web-based, everyone involved with the project (as long as they have an email address and internet access) can pow wow together without having to have/purchase special software.

Scrapblog: This is a free service that let’s you capture memories online - and not just scrapbooks, but also holiday cards and such. How COOL is that? For any of you scrappers out there who 1) hate all of the trimmings and other leftover trash you are blessed with when scrapbooking and/or 2) every photo you have in your possession is in electronic format and to print them all out to put in a scrapbook would cost a fortune, this is a perfect alternative. Click here to peruse the site's FAQs. Here's some 411:

- You can either use one of their preset themes (there are a TON to choose from - most are free, but some do charge a small fee), or if those creative juices are pumpin', you can be brave and start completely from scratch (which is completely free).

- It's completely user-friendly, utilizing the 'drag and drop' method for building your pages.

- Share How You Want: People can follow your scrapblogs just like any other blog; Embed it into your own blog; Email a link to people, Have it printed.

- To print it, you submit a printing order to the company. Choose a hard or soft cover keepsake book, postcard, or holiday cards. Voila'! It's shipped where you choose - Definitely check it out!

Food Tidings: This online tool is GREAT for coordinating meal service for someone in need, whether it’s helping out someone who’s sick or has lost a loved one. You are able to organize everything right on this site and, just like Spendji, as long as they have an email address and internet access, everyone involved can access the group’s site. You can create the entire food schedule here. This would definitely come in handy for local assistance and bereavement groups, including churches.

Trip It: Ok, this is one of my faves and it even has an app for the iphone so you can use it anywhere. It's a trip planner - no big deal, right? All of the travel sites have them - Expedia, Cheap Tickets, blah blah blah...BUT, you can only use those if you make your travel plans using THEIR service. This is wayyyy cooler. You can keep all of your trips organized here and can share trips with people you designate. And here's the coolest part - after you make a reservation for something (airfare, car rental, whatever) and you receive the email confirmation from wherever you just made a reservation that shows your itinerary, you forward that itinerary email to plans@tripit.com and it automatically pulls the information from that itinerary and lays it out in their format. So, I just bought plane tickets. I forwarded the email and *poof* there's my flight itinerary. Then, I rented a car. *Poof* Inserted appropriately within the flight itinerary are the details about picking up/dropping off my car. NICE...very handy. Finally, it gives the weather for all of the days of your trip to wherever you're going to be. And you can edit this to coordinate with your trip - taking a road trip that will have you in a different city every day? You can input a different city for each day and it will lay out the weather predictions for those days.

OK Moments: If you aren't from Oklahoma or don't have any interest in Oklahoma, then you can stop reading. If you're still reading, then you should definitely go to this site and sign up for 'Your Daily Insights into the Oklahoma Spirit' - Once you subscribe, you will begin to receive a daily 'OK Moments' email with a link to a little video clip (I really mean little...like, one minute or less) about something neat/cool/interesting about Oklahoma - inventions, people, events...it's cool. The video is different every day. So far, I've learned about the shopping cart and the parking meter being invented in Oklahoma, the USS Oklahoma Battleship, Will Rogers, and on and on. You definitely want to check it out! In fact, TODAY'S clip is about Sam Bradford and Blake Griffin - two very cool, very talented dudes who have made Oklahoma proud. (And the site archives the videos so you can flip through past clips and see what you've missed!)

99 Things on the Internet: Pretty self-explanatory. "Greg Rutter's Definitive List of the 99 Things You Should Have Already Experienced on the Internet Unless You're a Loser or Old or Something" Click on them one by one and see for yourself - some you've seen, possibly some you haven't. Some are fun(ny), some aren't. But these are deemed the 'classic hits of the internet'. Time Magazine even did an article about this list. Don't miss out -

Mozy: This is probably more for you techies out there. This is a secure, online backup storage system for your computer files. You can get 2 gb of storage space for FREE. If that's not enough room, you can get unlimited storage space for $4.95/month. It's completely secure and because it's web-based, you can't lose it if something happens like a fire or something that would normally wipe out your computer AND the back-up stored ever so safely in a file cabinet somewhere in the vicinity.

Ok, that's it for now - Just sharing as it comes to me. Happy surfing!!

Princess R

My Reality TV Hangover...

Oy. I'm hung over. But not just any hung over. REALITY TV hung over. No, I don't have the typical issues associated with the usual hangover but what I DO have is an extreme case of tired, mixed with occasional 'YAHOO!' while pumping my fists in the air and jumping up and down, and once in a while, a total recap in detail of the historical significance of the results shows.

First, Dancing with the Stars. This is the first season I've ever watched this show and I LOVED it. I sit there, swaying majestically to whatever music they are using to perform the 'Haitian Love Conga' or whatever, all the while imagining that it's actually ME being swung around, levitating above the ground with the utmost of grace...heck, just imagining ANYONE being able to pick me up, with or without background music, is a common pasttime...*sigh*

I have specifically been watching because of Shaun Johnson. I think she's adorable. And she continued to be adorable on the show! And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fact that she's a member of the 'Thick and Proud' club - she's adorable, she's sexy, she's comfortable in her own skin, and she's several pounds shy of being anywhere NEAR considered 'petite'...She is the ideal role model for young girls. Why can't teenage girls look up to someone like her? And I also thought it fun to see if I could spot any clues besides my own musings that she and her professional dance partner, Mark, are sweet on each other. Oh, don't worry, I KNOW they are - I was just hoping to catch 'em in the act!

With each week, the world and the media continued to feel more and more certain that Cheryl and Gilles were a SURE THING to win the competition. Even standing there on that finale night, you could see it in Shaun and Mark's face that they were ready to be second place. What was more adorable than anything was seeing their faces when THEY won! They were so taken back - and there I sat on the couch, three little weiners snuggled up around me and when they announced Shaun and Mark's names, I let out a whoop that I'm sure the neighbors heard, startled the weiners, and Norman even started trying to chew at me, certain I was an intruder who had interrupted their slumber. It was awesome!

That was Tuesday night.

Tuesday night was also the last performance night for American Idol.

Now, if you've been around me even for a minute or two, you are well aware that I do not like Adam. I am intolerant of his high-pitched warbling, and even more put off by the obvious bias displayed by the judges, then the media, then the rest of the world. People think I'm horrible, offensive even, because I don't have Adam's text line number to vote locked in my speed dial. Uh, no. Eww. Is it because he looks like the Tin Man??? Or Edward Scissorhands??? Nope. It's because he warbles..and it hurts my ears...and he's not very smart. He insists on being 'gender neutral'. Really?? Do you think that's necessary when there are photos all over the internet of you making out with men? Do you REALLY think the world NEEDS you to confirm or deny your sexual orientation because it's that big of a mystery? Get over yourself - quit swapping out gender specific terms like he, she, and me for less gender specific ones like it, us, you, we, baby...blah blah blah. I guess I could understand hiding it if it really was that unknown to the world but in order to successfully keep something secret, you should probably make sure all of the photos and youtube videos have been completely removed from the internet. Otherwise, you will be as successful as, say, Kris trying to stay 'relationship neutral' in order to hold on to more female fans while still wearing his shiny wedding band. Hmmm, not a very well-kept secret.

But I digress...

So, just like with Dancing with the Stars, the media and the people went on and on and on about how Adam was a SURE THING...even Simon Cowell verbalized this message and he NEVER does that. And then the finale...let's see now, the ways it could have been the PERFECT finale...

- No horrible duet with Queen Latifah and what's her name.
- Steve Martin's banjo band WITHOUT Megan Joy...(it's the biggest night of the season-couldn't she have had the decency to at least LEARN THE WORDS??)
- Some kind of something for Matt Giraud. (Hello?? People who got booted BEFORE Matt did got to do a duet with a celebrity, but he didn't. What in the world is up with that?)
- Less glorification of Adam Lambert prior to the announcement in a generalized anticipation/assumption that he would be the winner.

What I LOVED were the American Idol Awards. First, I think Norman Gentle is the coolest thing since powdered donuts. He's hysterical and last night proved no different.

And then BIKINI GIRL - LOL! Once again, Kara showed her up which is just perfect. She and her new twins needed to decline the opportunity to sing. Yes Bikini Girl, it WAS as bad as they said it was. Oy.

So, two hours later (that's 120 minutes of all kinds of crazy), they make the less than one minute announcement of the winner. (Note: It's shows like this that remind me why I LOVE my DVR!) KRIS ALLEN!!!!! The world stood staring at their televisions with their tongues hanging out of their mouths while I, once again sitting on the couch with three weiners snuggled around me (do you see a theme here?), nearly came out of my shorts in a dance of jubilee!!! I was so happy. Not just for the obvious reasons, but like with Shaun, Kris always was who he was and was comfortable with that. He never tried to be something else in an attempt to sway America. He just was. And THAT is why America fell in love with him - he didn't need platform boots or metal cage-like angel wings strapped on to feel 100 feet tall~

What a week - and I couldn't be prouder of the winners that came out of this week.

Someone told me that now that these two shows are over I can start watching 'So You Think You Can Dance'. No, not so much - I don't think I have the strength.

Well Done, Chase!

Well, I must once again take time to rave about a good thing done by a ‘Corporate Giant’. Chase Bank/Credit Cards…whatever – For our purposes here today, we’ll just call them ‘Chase’. Now, before I start, let me say I know some of you reading this don’t have a good opinion of Chase – I’ve heard plenty of bad about them, in fact. But in spite of that, I think it’s important, maybe even more important for you skeptics, to see that they did a good thing…So the story begins –

Mark and I have a Sony Rewards credit card. It doesn’t have a huge limit on it, which is fine for us – Mark uses it when he travels, I use it to purchase Mary Kay…things like that. And we are great cardholders – always paying way more than the minimum and always on time. So one night, I sit down to use the card to pay for a Mary Kay order and it got declined. I knew something was up because this card doesn’t get maxed out. We don’t use it like that.

I start looking at my account online and notice that in the ‘Available Balance’ spot, there is $0.00. WHAT??? So I keep digging and finally realize that my payment scheduled for April actually went through early, missing the line by 2 days, and got applied as a second payment in March. SO, April not only showed no payment but also a $39 late fee.

I immediately got on the phone to talk to customer service. I explained the situation to the gentleman who was so fortunate to take my call – You would be so proud of me, I maintained the nicest tone of voice for the duration of the call…sometimes at varying volumes, but always a pleasant tone – But I digress. He told me there was nothing he could do about it. I asked him why since he could plainly see by looking at our account that we were excellent customers. He continued by saying that with ‘the way things are now’ they just can’t refund those fees. ‘They used to do it all the time’ but now they don’t unless they determine that it’s something they can do. I asked what criteria they used to determine they couldn’t do it on my account??? “It wasn’t our error.”

No he din’t. So, with my much louder pleasant tone, I pointed out to him that my husband and I and the millions like us who pay our bills, live within our means, and make the necessary sacrifices to always be responsible for our commitments, WERE NOT the reason the country is in the sad state it’s in, ‘you realize that, right???’ I think the poor guy thought I was about to make him get down on his knees, confess his sins, and walk him down the Romans Road to proclaim his love for Jesus right there in his little customer service cubicle, headphones and all… “Get down on your knees right now. GET DOWN now! Do you love Jesus? DO YOU? CONFESS YOUR SINS, you ungrateful sinner. CONFESS!”

So, showing me the love of Jesus, he offers to let me speak with a Supervisor. I obviously accept. Surprise! Voicemail. Double Surprise!! The dude/dudette didn’t call me back. SO, you’ll never guess what I did next. (yeah, right) I sat my butt down, googled and googled until I located the email address for Mr. Dimond, Chairman and CEO at Chase Bank (and in the process, also found the email address for the CEO of Credit Cards at Chase – heck, why not? Put his address on there too!), and proceeded to share my story with the head of Chase.

Would you believe it? Two days later, the assistant from Mr. Dimond’s office calls me back on my cell phone to discuss. She not only refunded the late fee, she also explained that after another billing cycle, the late payment would cause my interest rate to go up to 29%! I nearly swallowed my tongue. But she put a reminder on her calendar for the week following the run of the next billing cycle to go back and check and if the interest rate had gone up, she will not only take it back down to what we currently have but will also refund any additional interest and fees we paid because of the increase.

Holy Ravioli!!! So, as I’ve said so many times before, I am a huge proponent of complaining to the company because I’m also a huge proponent of complimenting them. I have complained and now I’m complimenting – it’s all in finding the balance in life.

In these extremely hard times we’re in that are only going to get harder before they get…um, softer…it’s important to find some way to keep an eye on the positive, and more importantly, the ability to turn something that wouldn’t normally be positive into a positive…Positive is relative.

Love, Kisses, Hugs, and Misses~
Princess Positivity