Mishmash Musings

If you’ve got your own websites, then you’ve probably noticed that there’s a Google PR update in progress. These updates can take a couple weeks to complete, and in the meantime a site’s PR can fluctuate drastically.

I’m not expecting much movement on this site because I haven’t been able to promote it as much as I’d like to. So far it’s showing a preliminary PR of 1, which of course is much better than the big, fat goose egg I had before. Let’s just hope it stays this way (or even goes up!) once the dust settles.

My stepfather grew up in Kentucky and has been a fan of horse racing his whole life. When I was a kid, he used to take me to a couple of local tracks where he would proceed to show me how to evaluate horses, jockeys, and track conditions in order to have the best chance at picking the winners. Although I didn’t get into the whole sport as much as my stepfather did, I still like to indulge in horse race betting every once in a while.

I don’t have much time to go to the track these days, but I can still place bets online through websites like xpressbet.com. That’s because horse racing wasn’t included in the recent anti-gambling legislation passed in the U.S., which means this form of online gambling is one of the very few that is still legal.

The thoroughbred horse racing season will begin very soon, so I should go get signed up at xpressbet.com right now. Then I’ll be ready to wager on the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Sunshine Millions, and all the other big races that are coming up!

I just read an article that says Nielsen is now tracking TV show ratings based on the DVR Playback factor. That is to say, they’re now trying to incorporate viewers who record shows on DVR and watch them at a different time into the overall ratings for the shows.

For example, the latest episode of House drew 19 million viewers, but that number increases by 2.7 million when DVR playbacks are taken into account.

I think this is a step in the right direction because obviously DVRs are here to stay and a lot of people take advantage of being able to record and watch whenever they have time. I just have to wonder how accurate the numbers are, though. Then again, they’re probably no more or less accurate than the original Nielsen ratings…!

I’m currently looking for a good savings account. I just closed my Washington Mutual account because it was only earning a bit over 1 percent, so it wasn’t worth keeping. I’ve been letting most of my money sit in my PayPal account where it’s earning 5.04 percent through the Money Market Fund, but since fund isn’t FDIC insured, I should probably move at least some of my money to a safer haven.

If any of you know of a high-yield savings account that I can open online without having to actually appear at a branch, please let me know about it!

If you work in a sales position, then chances are at least part of your compensation comes in the form of commissions from the deals that you close. As such, it would be in your best interest to deal with only qualified sales leads instead of wasting your time talking to prospects who aren’t really interested in your products or services.

That sounds good, but where are you supposed to get these sales leads? From marketing firms like Martin Worldwide that specialize in identifying and collecting this kind of information for sales professionals. Having access to a steady flow of leads can really do wonders for your sales volume, so this is something you should definitely check out if you want to stay ahead of the competition.

File this one in the “how ironic” category. It seems that Marilee Jones, the Dean of Admissions at MIT for the last 28 years, faked the credentials that helped her get the post. According to the AP article I read, Jones initially lied about her educational background on her resumé, and then continued the fraud in subsequent years by claiming to have earned three more degrees.

No wonder she often told students that having fun and taking time to “daydream” was just as important as building a long list of achievements that would help them get into college. Apparently, she knew exactly how to play that angle herself!

Of course, Jones was also very good at her job, so perhaps having a college degree isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Shouldn’t ability count even more?

I went in for another orthodontist appointment yesterday. I got new wires put in, so my teeth really hurt right now. My ortho seemed pleased with the progress I’m making and said I’m right on schedule as far as where my teeth should be at this point in the treatment. I can’t believe I’ve only had my braces on for four months… it feels like it’s been forever and I’m definitely ready for them to come off now. Too bad I still have over a year left!

In the past few years, Costa Rica has emerged as one of the hottest vacation destinations around. Several of my friends have spent time in that country, and all have raved about the beautiful surroundings they found themselves in.

I really want to visit Costa Rica some day because it sounds like the kind of place my husband and I could completely enjoy. We prefer active vacations, so we’d probably want to go bungee jumping, play some golf, rent motorcycles, go scuba diving, learn to surf, rent jet skis, and a whole lot more. In fact, we’d probably be better off staying at a Costa Rica all inclusive resort so we wouldn’t have to pay for everything separately.

This is certainly something I’ll have to look into for one of our upcoming vacations!

Have you heard that Stephen Hawking (yeah, the astrophysicist) will be taking a ride aboard a refitted jet on a so-called zero-gravity flight today? I just read this an article over on Yahoo that talks about Hawking’s plans. He’ll take off from the Kennedy Space Center and will experience weightlessness for approximately 25 seconds. If all goes well and he wants to do it again, the pilot and on-board staff will be more than happy to comply. If he wants to stop, they’ll head right back to the space center.

Sounds cool; I hope the AP does a follow-up article after the flight is done!

Yesterday was my first day back at my old company. I’m just in a consulting role now, so the job isn’t too bad. But the company still suffers from the same problems and I ran into quite a few frustrations already — all bureaucratic b.s. that hopefully can be eliminated sometime soon.

Although I was dead tired when I got back home, it was nice to get dressed in business attire, put makeup on, and talk to people my own age about non-parenting issues for a change! I’m anxious to see how this whole thing turns out….

I need to start building up an investment portfolio in order to save for my retirement. I have been talking about this for a long time now, but, being the procrastinator that I am, I still haven’t taken any action yet.

One of the things I’m really interested in investing in is silver. I’ve heard that precious metals like gold, silver, and platinum retain their value quite well over time, thereby making them a relatively safe investment. I’d choose silver over the other two metals because it’s more affordable, so I’d be able to get started for a reasonable amount of money.

I need to get a move on these investments soon! I hope to have some extra money at the end of the summer (once I pay off a couple of big bills), so maybe I’ll be able to buy some silver then.

For most of the year, I’ve been setting aside Tuesday each week as a day for taking care of various projects that I couldn’t get to any other day. Well, now that I’m going to be working outside my home again (even if it is on a limited basis), I don’t think I’ll be able to do my Tuesday projects anymore. I couldn’t get to it this week and I know I won’t be able to do anything extra on the next two Tuesdays either. I’ll have to figure something else out now or I’ll never get any of my big projects done. Sigh.