Mishmash Musings

I am scared of flying, but not in the traditional sense. If I know I have an airplane trip coming up, I get extremely anxious whenever I think about it. I mean, my palms start to sweat and I get queasy and everything. But once I actually get on the plane, I seem to be ok. I’m not a white-knuckle passenger, but I can’t truly relax either. In fact, I can never sleep on planes (even though most of my flights are 12+ hours) because I think I might not wake up again. It’s irrational, I know.

Do you have any tips as to how I can view flying in a more logical, detached way? I tried reading up on the physics of flight to see if that would boost my spirits, but it didn’t. There are accidents, after all. And human error. And weather. And any number of other things…

It seems kind of silly to allow myself to think this way, but at least I’m trying to work through it!

As with all other highly competitive industries, the first step in getting ahead as a model is to get noticed by the right people. There are many different ways you can go about marketing yourself, but in this day and age I think it goes without saying that the best approach is to establish an online presence. That’s why you should consider signing up at HotModels.com – The World’s Hottest Online Showcase!

Membership at HotModels.com is absolutely free and comes with numerous benefits that can help launch your career. First of all, you’ll be able to create a professional-looking portfolio complete with up to five photos and a profile containing any personal information that you choose to include. There are also paid memberships available that will allow you to do much more with your online portfolio. This is a great way to keep interested parties up to date on what’s happening with your career and to make sure that all of your contact info stays current so that you can be reached easily when a job or gig comes up.

A second benefit to joining HotModels.com is that doing so allows you to take a more proactive approach to your career. As a member, you can search through other profiles and start networking with models, photographers, agents, casting directors, filmmakers, producers, event managers, and more. The contacts you make are invaluable and could lead to your big break.

A third benefit to signing up at HotModels.com is that you’ll be notified of various competitions and casting calls. Participating in these types of events is another terrific way to make yourself known to the right people, so it’s important to know where and when they’re being held.

If you’re tired of waiting around for the big players in the entertainment industry to come to you, then it’s time to take your career into your own hands. Join HotModels.com today and start making things happen on your own terms!

I actually don’t have a huge project that I need to take care of today, so I’m just going to assign myself to take care of a couple of minor projects that I keep pushing back. First, I want to find an online writing course that I can enroll in after my vacation in March. I’ve pretty much decided to look for a Short Story class because I really want to try my hand at fiction. All I’ve been doing for the last two years is keyword writing and blogging, so the change of pace will be good.

Second, I need to organize my writing files again. I haven’t been doing my accounting [properly] for the last several weeks, so I want to go back and start tracking that a bit better. I also want to identify how much money I’ve been making on each of my three blogs so I can better determine which ones to spend time developing and promoting.

Let’s see if I can get these two things done today!

If you live in the UK, then you’ve probably seen people using a very distinctive-looking credit card with the bottom right-hand corner removed. It’s hard not to notice a card like that, especially when everyone else has the same old boring design.

Anyway, that was a MINT MC2 credit card you saw, and if you’re interested in getting one of your own, the time to apply is right now. That’s because MINT is currently offering a special program whereby you can enjoy 0% interest on balance transfers and purchases until December. We’re talking 10 full months of 0% interest here, which is a deal you’re not likely to find anywhere else!

Another product you might be interested in is the MINT Gift Card. MINT Gift Cards can be purchased in amounts ranging from £10 to £250 and can be used anywhere that Visa Electron is accepted, thereby making the cards a very flexible option for both the giver and the recipient.

Take a look at the mint.co.uk website for more information on all the products and services they offer, as well as to apply for a credit card online or order gift cards.

I just read that the new Nicolas Cage movie Ghost Rider was No.1 at the box office over the weekend, earning an estimated $44 million. Color me surprised. I’ve seen numerous previews and trailers for that film and think that it looks boring and dumb. Then again, it’s a comic book adaptation, and I rarely like those (except for the major ones like Spider-Man and Batman Begins). Despite this initial success, I will NOT waste my time with Ghost Rider. I like Nicolas Cage, but there’s no way I could sit through a movie like that!

As a longtime gambler, I have mixed feelings about the prospect of living in Las Vegas. On the one hand, I would be in heaven with all those casinos to choose from and the 24-hour gaming action that’s available. On the other hand, I’d likely go broke in a matter of months and end up homeless or something!

It’s a mystery to me how people can actually live in Las Vegas and hold onto their money. Perhaps those who actually reside there aren’t gamblers at all. At any rate, I was a bit curious as to what kind of dough it would take to purchase a home in Sin City, so I checked out a site called MillionSaver.com. Of course these are Las Vegas luxury homes we’re talking about, so the price tags were well out of my league. But it was still fun to dream about life in the desert!

If you’re thinking about relocating and are confident that you could handle living in Las Vegas despite all the gambling temptations that would be around you, then go ahead and check out the MillionSaver.com website for yourself. They’ve got tons of listings of Las Vegas properties, including both new construction and resale homes, so you’ll have a large selection to choose from and will have what looks to be a great team of brokers to work with.

As for me, I’ll probably be better off just visiting Vegas every couple years or so!

Whenever I rent a car, I always wrestle with the question of whether or not I should take out additional insurance. You see, my regular car insurance policy is as bare-bones and cheap as they come, so the coverage doesn’t extend to rentals. I know that some credit card companies provide protection if you pay for your rental that way, but I can’t figure out what the fine print says. There are all kinds of if clauses that may or may not apply to my situation, and I have no idea what all the legalese means.

This is a pertinent matter to me right now because I have to rent a car in two weeks in order to drive to St. Louis. The rental company charges an extra $10.50 per day for loss and damage coverage, which will add more than 30% to the total price I have to pay. Is the peace of mind worth it?

According to a Slate article I read, the answer should always be “no”. The author, Tim Harford makes a compelling argument, and I can totally see his point. But will I lean that way when I’m actually standing at the rental counter with pen in hand ready to sign the contract?

We’ll see!

Back when I worked full-time in an office, I was in charge of purchasing supplies so I got to see first-hand how quickly the costs could mount. This was particularly true for items like inkjet cartridges and toner cartridges because we did such a high volume of printing and copying. There was a great deal of pressure on me to reduce spending in this area without affecting the quality or availability of these toner and ink, which meant that a significant amount of my time was dedicated to researching the best deals.

Even though I no longer work for that company, I can’t help but think of the place whenever I see great prices on inkjet and toner cartridges. In fact, today I came across a site called Office Supply Outfitters that specializes in providing inexpensive toner cartridges, inkjet cartridges, and printer supplies, as well as fax and cash register ribbons. Many of the products on the site are of the remanufactured or compatible varieties, which means that they meet or exceed OEM specs for a fraction of the cost. The savings are then passed on to consumers, resulting in the best value around.

Office Supply Outfitters carries products compatible with all major office equipment brands, including HP, Dell, Brother, Canon, Compaq, Epson, Lexmark, Apollo, Okidata, and more, so chances are they have exactly what you need. Visit the site yourself to see how easy it is to locate low-cost replacement supplies for your printers, copiers, fax machines, and cash registers!