Water Cooler Talk

Halloween is just around the corner and my daughter is sooo excited! It is one of her favorite holidays and she talks about it year round. She starts planning what she will wear 6 months out. She loves dressing up and of course loves all the candy. This year she is in preschool and will be able to wear her costume to her school party. Last year we went to Disneyland twice and we are about to go again. She is very into Disney right now and this year she wants to be Snow White. My little blond haired, blue eyed daughter wants to be Snow White. It’s very cute! So, Needless to say I have been shopping around on the web trying to find Halloween Costume Stores that have children’s Snow White costumes. A lot of the sites that had costumes didn’t have a good selection or even have Snow White. I found a great site that has what seems like hundreds of Disney Costumes for adults and children.  Not only were there Disney costumes but there were thousands of other costumes to choose from. I was so excited! The site is very easy to navigate around and they have great pictures of all the cotumes. I am so impressed I am going to tell all the moms at the preschool about this site.

Last week I bought an Apple- iPod nano 8GB  MP3 player in black.  Since I opened up the box I can’t stop playing with it.  It is so small that it makes it perfect for my needs.  I find graphical interface to be quite user-friendly. The battery lifespan seems to be really great on this iPod. I got more than seven hours of use before I had to charge it again.  I have never had an MP3 player so I purchased this one.  Now I fully understand the hype around these devices.  I found that Apple’s iTunes stores was really straightforward Before this week I never purchased any music over the Internet and now I am getting addicted to this craze.  I have now purchased two movies over the Internet and at least 50 songs.  I hate to see what my Visa bill will be like at the end of the month but this is fun.  I can’t wait till the next time we go on vacation in so I can bring it with us. I am sure my family will enjoy it more than I do now.  What a neat gadget.

I found a really interesting company on the internet while looking for jobs. I had never heard of such a service as interim recruitment. The company is called Interim Partners. Basically what they do is find you a short term management, CEO or FD position for companies undergoing change. It is really interesting because I have never thought of anything like that. One of my husband’s bosses died suddenly a few years back and he told me they hired someone on the short term to fill the position. I didn’t realize that it was a specialized service. I thought they would’ve hired someone off the street. I think this is a fantastic industry for the companies who need this type of service and for the person who is looking for a career that is always changing. It is a great way for one to gain a lot of experience and knowledge in different fields. There is probably a lot of travel involved as well and that in itself would be a great experience. Interim Partners pay a lot of attention to detail when it comes to matching the right person up with the right company. They write out specific plans and do face to face interviews with their clients to make sure everyone gets what they need.

This is Dell’s first debut in an all-in-one computer.  Dell XPS One with blue ray drive is comparable to the apples I-Mac all in one but it is a higher quality computer then apples because it comes with a built-in blue ray drive .  The Dell XPS One comes with a 20 inch screen that offers a really good quality and color and picture.  But one thing that Dell did with their all in one is they built the TV tuner right into it.  Most other all-in-one computers have a separate device and it can become quite an expensive option.  But with the Dell XPS One it is a standard option.  It also comes with a built-in web cam.  The built-in web cam is not the best we have seen in an all-in-one computer but is still a fairly good camera. Dell XPS One comes with two speakers one on the right and left side. The sound quality is good but could be better.  The XPS One comes standard with a wireless keyboard which has a built in touch screen and a separate wireless mouse that makes it quite convenient for using it as a media center.  All the standard ports are located on the back of this computer including the TV tuner and removable hard drive which I think is pretty unique for an all-in-one.  Dell has came out with a lot of neat features that makes this all in one really easy to use.  It has a motion sensor so as you swipe your hand across the front of it comes on with an indication to let you know if there is a DVD and also the volume control buttons in basic operation light up.  Dell has a go dark button that allows you to turn off the monitor and keep your movie music or anything else playing in the background.  After looking over several people’s lab results of overall performance this machine is not the most stable machine out there and for your money worth you can a get lot better of a machine.  I found it on the Internet for $2100.  And I only give this machine as 7.3 out of 10 on overall performance.  I would recommend other all-in-one machines before I would recommend this.  Dell has some more work on their hands if they really want to be competitive in the all-in-one market.

I found a really great site that helps to narrow down the best credit card for you. At Cardhub.com they have a side bar that allows you to pick all the different things that you look for in a credit card. It was super fast and easy. I had a card picked in less than five minutes! These days, when it comes to Credit Cards, it’s hard to know what company to go with and maybe even what incentive program to choose. This site makes it very easy to do that. I do have to say it could be overwhelming with all the choices they give you. One thing I really like is that under each picture of the credit card there is a “more details” line. When you click on it up pops a screen with all the info about the card like apr rates, cash advance rates, penalties and more! I found this site to be very helpful.

Syntax is one of the smaller panel TV manufacturers out there. But they are a company that has been around for some time. You can usually find this manufacture on Amazon and lower end electronic stores. The Syntax Olevia 252T FHD is one of the cheaper 50 inch TVs out on the market.  The overall look is a little cheesy for my taste and looks pretty standard. Syntax Olevia 252T FHD is a 50 inch 1080 p LCD display.  It comes with a standard two HDMI and one computer monitor input.  It also has two component inputs on the side of the TV.  When you go into the menu system on this TV it is a pretty funky design and is hard to operate around it.  The overall lab results were a little disappointing even for a budget TV in this price range.  The colors were not the greatest and there was spotting issues in the dark spots of the picture.  You can find it on the Internet for as cheap as $1400 to $2500.  I can only rate this TV as 6.5 out of 10 on overall performance.  I think for the price of this TV you keep get a lot better quality in a different product.  I will not call it a horrible TV but it’s definitely not one of the better ones in its category.

If you are in the market for a new car and need a loan I found a great site that offers that service and more. Bestleadinglenders.com offers Car Loans, payday loans, student loans, debt consolidation, personal loans and credit cards. Best Leading Lenders is recognized as one of the nation’s leading online providers of loan services specializing in sub-prime financing also referred to as Bad Credit Loans. These are for the folks who have had some problems in the past with their credit. These loans are available for home, personal or auto.  They certainly make it fast and simple and there are no application fees. They will give you a FREE no-hassle approval right online. If you need a loan or know someone who does I would check out Bestleadinglenders.com!

David Spade is a father! Playboy playmate Jillian Grace gave birth to a baby girl on August 26th in Missouri.  Spade’s publicist said he plans to visit his daughter on his first break from filming the CBS sitcom Rules of Engagement. THe funny thing about this story is Howard Stern and his crew predicted this would happen. According to my husband, who is a BIG Stern fan, Grace went on the Stern Show to see if she had what it took to be a Playboy Playmate. Stern and the crew warned her that she would be approached by Polly Shore and David Spade once she became a playmate. Well we know she certainly was more than “approached” by David Spade!!

Lilly Allen and Elton John got into a verbal cat fight at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in London on Tuesday night, The Times of London reported. Allen, 23, was drinking champagne and slurring her words alongside John onstage. John, 63, snapped at her saying “What, you are going to have another drink?” ”Fu** off Elton, I’m 40 years younger than you, I have my whole life ahead of me,” Allen said back in front of an audience that included Elle MacPherson, Gordon Ramsay and Thandie Newton. “I could still snort you under the table,” John said back. Allen’s said back, “F*** off. I don’t know what you are talking about.”