Archive for "Toys"
Mid-Kansas MVPA Web Site
Posted on April 10, 2007 by Ching under Family, Flickr, School, Toys, Web.
Sorry I have been out of commission lately. My free time has been spent working on the new MKMVPA club web site. It now looks cleaner and simpler. It is much easier to navigate also. I moved it to WordPress instead of Blogger and the layout is just a standard WordPress template so it is pretty low maintenance. I like the look overall. Brian is not too fond of it because the old web site was his design creation. So naturally he liked the old one better. I liked it as well but I think the members found it to confusing in terms of navigation. The color scheme was a little too dark for my taste also.
Of course, this is the most stressful time of the semester as well. We have several projects due and final exams are just around the corner. Work has been pretty hectic, too. Most days leave me completely exhausted. I’m actually supposed to be working on one of my many class projects right now but I thought I would check in since it has been a while.
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Welcome Crichton, Farewell Sunny
Posted on April 1, 2007 by Ching under Babies, Life, News, Toys.
This is probably our biggest news this week. Brian, who has been wanting a truck for a while, finally got his wish. Here’s how it came about..
When we arrived back from Kansas City.. KC was a lot of fun, by the way. I neglected to write about it because school and work have both been very hectic since our return. We didn’t win any money, but we didn’t spend all the money that we had set aside for the trip either so overall I am satisfied. I won almost all of our money back and then some because we had spent almost $50 in tips to various dealers if added all together. After cashing out on Friday night, I had all but $60 of the $200 we spent in poker entry fees recovered. Then after dinner and watching a bit of TV, Brian decided he wanted to play some more so we went back down to the World Series of Poker Texas Hold’ Em table game (our favorite) and we all of the money we allotted. Overall our gambling loss was minimal. Probably $100 more or less. It would’ve been nice to win one of the poker tournaments we participated in but we weren’t so lucky this time. Most of our expenditures were food related. Each time we had lunch or dinner it cost about $60 so multiply that by five and that was the biggest chunk of our trip expenses. We also found a couple of things at Legends Mall so that added to the spending. But being the pragmatic people that we are, Brian and I didn’t go overboard. We were well within our spending budget. We actually opted to forego the breakfast room service this time because you hardly get any food for $30 and for about the same amount you get all the food you want at the buffet downstairs. In short we were very practical, probably even borderline frugal, but we had truck loads of fun. (more…)
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New Discoveries
Posted on December 25, 2006 by Ching under Family, Reviews, Toys, Web.
In keeping with my promise to share with you all the cool things that I come across, this blog entry is more of a “Did you know?” post. These are the things that I discovered recently:
- Kodak has a camera trade-in program. As digital cameras go, I really don’t like Kodak. I am partial to Canon. Most of my digital cameras have been Canons. I also like Nikon cameras because of their excellent reputation among photographers, professionals and amateurs alike.
However, I have to give some props to Kodak for their innovative new marketing approach. They will take any digital camera and give you a cash rebate toward a new Kodak EasyShare digital camera. I think it is a brilliant idea. So brilliant, in fact, that I almost bought myself a Kodak on the spot.
- Rouxbe rocks. Why? Because it is a cutting edge way to learn the culinary arts. This is one of those ideas that you kind of wish you thought of yourself. I predict that this will be the next big thing. Just as I thought MySpace would be great when I joined about three years ago (I was a Friendster user first) and Flickr would be the most popular photo sharing community when I joined it early 2004. I remember getting a month or so of “pro” membership to Flickr by convincing five other people to register. Fun times. Anyway, I actually didn’t know what direction Flickr would take back in those days because it started out as some sort of game. It just kind of evolved into what the members of the community wanted. So anyway, I think Rouxbe is going to be huge! So join today while they still have some 1900 founding memberships left.
If that’s not enough reason to join, you should join because it is a well-designed, user-friendly web site. I know because my friend Ritchie worked on it. He doesn’t do anything crappy. He only does outstanding work. There you go. Check it out. Then send him a message to tell him how awesome you think the new project is.. He will appreciate the positive feedback.
- Blurb will get you published. Self-published, that is. Personally, I think the Blurb way of publishing is actually better than Lulu. There are pros and cons to both, but as far as designing the book I think the software that you use with Blurb is more user-friendly and versatile. For selling, Lulu is probably better. Anyway, try them both and you decide.
- Almost everything at Zazzle is on sale right now. Personalized postage, shirts, hats, mugs and calendars are on sale for $9.99 plus free shipping. You can’t beat that. I actually ordered some personalized stamps for us to use next Christmas. It’s got our picture on it with the words “Happy Holidays from Brian and Ching” printed underneath. I will post a picture when I receive them so you guys can see. Or you could order some yourself and see first hand.
NOTE TO MOM: I think this would be a great idea for your letter campaign. Put your web site URL and phone number on the picture or something. It will surely catch the eye of anyone who comes in contact with the envelope.
These are all the ideas and discoveries I have for now. Until next time.
P.S. Here are some of the photos that we took on Christmas eve and Christmas day. Enjoy!
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Ching Wants a New Camera
Posted on October 21, 2006 by Ching under Life, Toys, Wishlist.
Besides I still have my two cameras (the Powershot G3 that I paid $700 for back in the day and then Powershot SD10 that cost me $400 six months after I bought the G3) and my handy, dandy camera phone.
The funny thing is, four years ago I probably wouldn’t even flinch at ordering this stupid camera. It was just a matter of a mouse click. It’s amazing how so much more responsible I am now about spending. No more extravagant, frivolous, flamboyant expeditures. Gone are those days. And good riddance! The financial freedom I feel now (of not having credit card bills looming over my head) was totally worth the sacrifice.
As for my birthday… In keeping with our more pragmatic, minimalist new lifestyle, Brian is getting my car windows tinted on Monday. No fancy jewelry, no new camera, no shopping spree. We opted to go the practical route. I am going to get so much more out of tinted windows than I ever would any kind of birthday trinket. Anyway, Bebot deserves it.
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Ah, Freedom
Posted on September 10, 2006 by Ching under Toys.
Brian and I can now play poker in bed thanks to Eli‘s hand-me-down laptop. Hurrah for us! It pays to have geeky, gamer friends. LOL. Just kidding.
Kidding aside, the laptop is more of a desktop replacement (DTR). If you know anything about DTRs, they’re not the most portable of laptops. They are usually packed with goodies, though. The chunky size was a small sacrifice. We didn’t really plan on taking the laptop anywhere. The family room would probably the farthest distance it would go. Anyway, at $500 it was a hell of a deal!
Of course, my cheap Asian side kicked in and I told Brian to negotiate a lower price. “Ask him for the good friend discount,” I said. Brian told me that $500 is the good friend price because Eli paid over $2000 for it new. However, he did throw in a free Litescribe DVD burner which probably would’ve cost us another $200 if we were to buy it separately. Eli is the best! (more…)
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