Life Insurance

Most people do not carry enough life insurance. For some people, it's because they don't want to think about death. However, it's my opinion that a majority of people just can't afford to pay for life insurance. It is worth getting a term life insurance quote though. Maybe you can afford a couple dollars each month so that your family can be cared for after you are gone. Yes, it's a scary thing to think about but it's even scarier to think about your family living on the streets because they couldn't afford the rent or mortgage payment.

Website of the Week: CD Japan

I can't believe I've completely forgotten to update the website of the week for the past two weeks! Well, here is this week's website. CD Japan is where I buy all my imported Japanese music. Every time you make a purchase, you gain points to use toward your next purchase. 100 points = 100 yen. They have great prices and shipping is really fast. There are times that I can get a CD from Japan faster than a piece of mail from the continental United States! Definitely a great resource for any fan of Japanese music.

Game review: Go-Go Gourmet

Go-Go Gourmet is a restaurant-themed time management game. Well, it's sort of restaurant-themed anyway. You play Ginger, a woman trying to obtain master chef status so she can take over her grandfather's restaurant. Unlike normal restaurant-themed time management games, you don't deal with the customers at all. The only "interaction" you have with them is their face appears on their order slip. You start out with a small repertoire of dishes. In order to make the dish, you must find the necessary ingredients in the kitchen and prepare them in proper order. As you get farther in the game, you learn how to make more dishes and the kitchen fills up with various ingredients and cooking utensils.

Basically, this game is mixing a hidden object game with a time management game. You have to kick out the orders quickly and you have to search for the ingredients, which aren't always in the same spot they were before. I really enjoyed playing the game. Even when things started to get crazy, it was still really fun. The only down part of the game is that some of the meat ingredients look alike. It's a little difficult to tell the ground beef from the sausage. Other than that, it's a very fun game.

Making your own business cards

I decided to try to make some business cards for The Geek Within. My first problem was logo design. I don't really have one for the site. Luckily, LogoYes made it really easy for me to make a logo and stick it on some business cards. I started by going through their logo designs. There was a ton of them but they were divided by type. I, personally, picked a "Flair" logo. From there, you can pick the type of industry you are in. (I picked Arts & Entertainment.) I scrolled through the various logo designs and found a dragon design that I really liked. After adding some text, you have the option to change the size and colors of both the logo and the text. Then...well, that's it! You order your cards right from there. Quick and easy.

By the way, here is the design I chose: logoyes.gif

Pretty cool, huh? I can't wait to order some!

Get clean!

Since it has fallen off of my front page and tonight is the final episode of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, I just wanted to write a little reminder that, if you know someone addicted to drugs/alcohol, try to talk to them about drug rehabs. No, I don't think it will work if the user doesn't want to quit but it's a good idea to bring up the subject and let them know that you will support them through their detox. After all, support from family and friends is one of the best ways to help a recovering addict.

Lunar Eclipse

There was a lunar eclipse last night. The next one won't occur until 2010, which sounds like it's really far away but that's only two years from now. (Actually, the eclipse is supposed to take place in December so it's closer to three years.) My husband and I took our daughter outside a couple of times so she could see it. Despite the crappy weather that the Philadelphia area has had for the past couple of weeks, the clouds parted and it was miraculously clear during the eclipse. While we didn't stay to watch the entire event, we did see the beginning and full eclipse. It was definitely something interesting to watch.

Game review: The Nightshift Code

My daughter really enjoys playing hidden object games with me. So I loaded up The Nightshift Code for us to try out. Of course, I always start off by telling her that the game may be too difficult for her and to let me know if it is. For the most part, Nightshift is a typical hidden object game. However, in the higher levels, the game tries to up the difficulty level by giving you a list of objects that can be found in multiple rooms. You have to click between different locations just to finish one list. The problem there is that the list doesn't tell you which room it goes to. So you end up spending a lot of time looking for objects that may not be in the room you are in! I didn't find it particularly difficult but it was very annoying.

I did enjoy some of the mini-games. One, for example, had a puzzle where an object would represent a word in a sentence. The game gives you multiple sentences and you have to figure out which object goes with each word. It was slightly difficult but just enough to make it fun instead of aggravating. I wish that there were more of these types of puzzle games available.

Music review: Hyde - unexpected (English version)

hyde.jpgArtist: Hyde Album: roentgen.ENGLISH Release date: 10/14/04 Video link: via YouTube (this is not the original version of the song, this is a remixed version that was re-relased as the B-side of the Season's Call single)

Lyrics: Unexpected Promises woven

Unexpected Through space and time the path unwinds Leading me straight to you Unexpected Reaching across a moonlit square We found each other's hands Unexpected Under the blessing of the stars The life poured into us To meet is so unexpected About the song: The original version of Unexpected is so laid-back that unless you are trying to fall asleep, it is very difficult to listen to. However the remixed version is very good. Despite the difficulty of understanding Hyde's English, the fullness of the instruments pushes the song from a mellow, laid-back tune to a decent rock ballad. The only real downfall of either version is the approximately two minutes of the song spent singing "Unexpected, promises woven." Since that compromises about half of the entire song, it makes it difficult to not push the fast forward or next song button on your player.