Yeah. It’s been QUITE a while since I updated this blog.  I’m trying to balance all of the technology I use to stay connected and I think I’m dangerously close to overload.  Here are the different ways to keep up with me:

Facebook

Twitter

Tumblr

LinkedIn

Google+

And those are just the ones that relate to me, specifically.  I’m not including YoureDoingItRight.com or CreativePossibilities.org.  Those are sites I maintain and contribute to from time to time.  So, as you can see, I’m close to having every move of my life documented online.  LOL!  So, now comes the task of deciding how I use each of the networks.  I’ll take a tip from my friend Dustin who uses his Tumblr for fun, interesting items he wants to share with others and he uses his blog for communicating personal information such as trips or other experiences with his family.  So, I’ll have to go that route.

Hopefully, I make a better effort to contribute to this and keep it updated.  Basically, it just needs to be my journal and I need to do more of that.

So, for those of you out there (all 2 of you), I hope to keep this updated on a more frequent basis.

Thanks.

P.S.  My family is going up way too fast.

I know it’s been a while since I posted anything, but I’ve been incredibly busy. May was probably our busiest month in a long time.  Here are a couple of things that have happened since the last time I posted.

• Iliana turned 4
• We went to a couple of different family reunions
• We found out that the upcoming addition to our family is going to be a girl
• We named said addition to our family; Simona Juliette Kennedy
• Amy and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary

That’s just all I could think of off the top of my head.

And in continuing the trend of “things my daughter said,” here’s a gem from earlier today:

During the summer, Wednesdays are swim days.  A friend of ours invites all of the moms and kids over to swim in their pool.  Today would have been the first of the season for Amy and Iliana.  Well, I got a text this morning around 9:30 that said this:

Well, no swimming…stupid rain.  Ili said, ‘maybe jesus didn’t know we were going swimming.’

Almost made me laugh and cry at the same time.

Also, I’ve added a new commenting section since, you know, I get tons of comments .  It’s called Intense Debate that allows you to incorporate a lot of features.  To post a comment, you need to have an OpenID or an Intense Debate ID.  It looks pretty fun.  (I think I just put the nail in the coffin to any commenting on my blog).

Nick showed me a new site called MapMyRun.com that lets you map out your runs, track your training, and other various features. I just got a newsletter from them and the also have MapMyTri.com, which is a lot more suited for me. The great thing about both these sites is that if you are a member of one, you are a member of all, so your training plans are shared between them all. It’s really great! It shows that I ran a total of 70 miles for the month of July. 70 frickin’ miles! Holy crap! Once again great site. So, check them both out. They are both great resources.

Also, here is the run I did on Saturday. Another great little perk from their site:





Thanks to Nick for running with me and keeping me going for those 11 miles!

Well, last night I realized that Amy’s iPod is starting to fritz out. I don’t know if it has anything to do with me dropping it the other day, but that couldn’t have helped. But, I’m thinking, if an iPod can’t recover from a very small fall, then it sucks. Well, I bought the iPod refurbished, so that also might have something to do with it. My problem is that it won’t recharge. Hopefully, it’s just a faulty battery. So, with that in mind, I started searching for iPod repair. I found iFixit, a cool site that shows you how to fix your iPod. They also sell iPod Hard Drives and Batteries, if you need spare parts. So, needless to say, if you are looking to fix your iPod and it’s out of warranty, you might want to check this place out.

Okay, I made a post about how to get a free xbox a while back. Well, I wasn’t sure if this would work but I had heard about some guys getting free Macs from this guy’s site. I was a little skeptical, but thought, “What the heck.” So, I found one of the sites that he recommended, GadgetCity.com.

First thing you have to do is pick what you want as a free gift. I first went for a big flat panel TV, but quickly realized that the number of offers you have to complete vary depending on the cost of the “free” gift. There was no way I was going to be able to do everything for the TV, so I set my sights on the Xbox 360.

Next, you will have to set up your account. I recommend getting a free hotmail or yahoo account because you will get spammed big time.

Now, you start filling out the offers. Be careful and always be mindful of what page you are on. As soon as you submit your account information, a pop-up screen will come up asking you if you want to received a bunch of stuff. Page after page. Just close that pop-up. You know you are on the right page when it says something about completing x number of offers on Page 1. Each page contains a lot of offers. There are 4 pages. You have to complete so many on each page based on the item you chose as your free gift. Go through all of the pages first to see how many you need to complete and what offers are on each page. I only had to complete 4 offers; 1 per page. They are as follows:

Disney Book Club
Nick Jr. Book Club
Gate.com
Easy CGI

The first 2 were really simple. Since I have a 2 year old daughter, I figured, “Hey, I can get some books and some cheap free gifts for her.” I spent about 10 bucks on each of the offers. I could’ve gotten out of that one by only spending about 5 bucks each if I would have returned the trial book out of each pack, but figured it didn’t matter and would just let my daughter have another book. Really easy offers to complete. As soon as I got the books, I canceled my account.

The next 2 were really simple, too. They are both hosting companies. Since I had 2 domain names sitting around doing nothing, I decided to register at each company with one of those domain names. Each plan was $9.95 a month. So, there’s another 20 bucks. These cost me more than I needed to spend in the end because Gadget City says that if have to give each of the offers 45 days to make sure they go from “Pending” status to “Complete.” Well, I could have canceled in the first month, but I let it go 2 months before canceling, costing me another 20 bucks. My advice, if you do this, is to register for the plans, pay the $9.95 and cancel about a week or 2 later. You will still get credit for it even if you have to send the email you received when registering for the hosting plan. Once again, really easy.

Once all of my offers were complete, I had to wait the 45 days and actually had to get a few of them manually credited to my account. All you have to do is call their customer service line and let them know what’s up. They actually have really good customer service. Once all of the statuses were changed to “Complete,” I printed out my certificates and mailed them in. I called a week later to confirm that they received the certificate and they told me my that it takes about 6-8 weeks for the items to ship and that if I didn’t receive my Xbox 360 by the end of July, give them a call. So, I waited.

Fast forward to yesterday. Lazy Saturday afternoon. I decide to go get the mail and I have a letter from NetBlue. They’re the company that owns Gadget City. So I think, “Man, it’d be nice if the sent me money.” I open the envelope and, BAM! I got a check for $400! At the bottom of the check, in the memo section, it said, “Gift Replacement.” Blew my mind. Instead of sending me a Xbox 360, they just sent me they money so that I could buy one myself. It was definitely a God send because I was already thinking about selling my 360 when I got it anyway.

So, that’s how I say I sort of got a free Xbox 360. Granted, nothing is ever free. I spent about $50 or $60 to get a $400 check. I’ll take that any day. If you decide to do this, I recommend that you pick something you want just in case they send you the item. That way, either way it goes, you’re happy. Let me know if you need any tips on how to do this. It was really easy.

Remember back a few posts ago when I said I was working on getting a free Xbox 360? Well, I got something in the mail today. I’ll write more later.

Okay, I recently sold some DVDs on ebay a couple of weeks ago. I sold one, Soldier, to a guy. I have never sold a faulty product, at least not knowingly. The guys sends me a message saying that it was broken and … you know what, here is the conversations:

eckoboii221

The Dvd that I recieved was cracked.Please respond quickly

So I respond quickly,

dustyken1

The item I shipped was in the condition as described. Fault lies with the postal service. I will refund your purchase. Please send the DVD back and I will refund shipping for USPS Media Mail and the full amount you paid for the item (cost and shipping). Let me know if this is unacceptable. Also, just wondering, this item was delivered almost a week ago. Why are you just now contacting me?

I felt like I was being reasonable. I mean, I’m willing to pay for the return shipping and fully refund his money. Evidently he didn’t,

eckoboii221

Well I was out of town and I don’t appreciate it is none of your business why I am just now contacting you. The movie itself still plays but it would be appreciated a partial refund but I will not be returning.

Movie still plays, but is cracked. Odd.

dustyken1

Okay, slow down. I’m not trying to get into your business. It’s a legitimate question. I state in the auction that items must be returned in 7 days. Therefore, if that time is elapsed, I need to know why you couldn’t meet the 7 day return. You have to see it from my side of the situation. You are asking me to send you a refund and I have no way of verifying if the product is actually damaged. I have no problem refunding your money, but it clearly states in my auction that “I aim to please, so if you are not satisfied with the item you receive, send it back for a refund. Item will be refunded as money back. Item leaves my possession in condition that is stated in description. Not responsible for lost mail.” Item left my possession in the condition described. I cannot be at fault for the postal services mistakes. That’s what insurance is for and I offer that on all of my items. Second, I clearly state that the item must be returned for a refund. You wouldn’t go to a store, buy a DVD, get home and play it, realized it is defective (but still plays), and then go back to the store and request a refund without returning the item. No, they would expect you to return the defective item and fully refund your money, which is what I am offering to do. Believe me, I’m not trying to be a jerk. Look at my feedback. I don’t misrepresent the items I sell. You said that the DVD plays and that you would not return it. How can I, in good faith, issue a refund on something I can’t verify as being damaged? Let’s discuss this like rational adults.

Once again, I felt that this was a valid response. Little did I know, I was very much mistaken,

eckoboii221

I understand that and I am not trying to be a jerk either, your correct you are not responsible I will keep the dvd seeing that it does play but I don’t appreciate being sold a broken dvd and then my intelligence insulted by telling me it is the post offices fault.

have a nice day

Well, I wanted to clear the air and reinforce the fact that I did not sell him a broken DVD. A broken DVD won’t play,

dustyken1

There was no insult involved in the statement. If the DVD was broken, it wouldn’t play. I didn’t sell you a broken DVD. I don’t misrepresent my items. Check my feedback. The only way that it could have been broken, in which case it wouldn’t play, would be between when I dropped it off at the post office and when it was delivered to you. I’m sorry that you feel like you were sold faulty merchandise, but, you said yourself, the DVD plays. If it didn’t play, I could completely understand your frustration, but it does play so I don’t understand your argument. Even if it was scratched really bad, I could understand, but the DVD is not affected if it plays. I am not trying to start an argument, I am just trying to understand the problem.

Once again, I felt like it was a rational response. Once again, I was mistaken,

eckoboii221

obviously you are still not understanding, if you look at a dvd the plastic clear part in the center of the dvd was cracked if it is even handled not carefully it could break….now I don’t expect that you have another of the movie to give to me in return for this one and I have no crazy ideas that you would if you did. Obviously this is how you handle selling on ebay so you have no worries about expecting anymore purchases from me.

First time he said anything about a replacement or how the DVD was damaged. Him saying that he wouldn’t purchase from me anymore was a welcomed comment,

dustyken1

I have told you each and every time that we have communicated that I would be more than happy to refund your money. You just have to send me the DVD in return. It clearly states this in my auction description. I have bent over backwards to work with you and all you do is come back with snippy remarks. It’s very simple, if you want the refund, send the DVD back.

As you can tell, this guy is really getting on my last nerve.

eckoboii221

And I have told you over and over again unless you have another soldier to send me I do not expect a refund I will keep the movie! I was simply notifying you of your faulty merchandise. If you hadn’t went ahead and started your little argument you would not have recieved any “snippy” remarks from me, but you didn’t do that now did you? so there will be no refund and no return of the dvd, agreed?

What is his definition of “over and over again?”

dustyken1

The only time you have even hinted at being sent a replacement was in the message before this one. So don’t state that you have “told me over and over.” I have all of the correspondence to prove this. And as far as me starting an argument, that is also false. I am simply a seller trying to understand the problem so that I can do my best to remedy the situation. But, I will agree with your last statement, if there is no return, there can be no refund or replacement issued, per the instructions that I have laid out in my auction description.

Evidently, that response frustrated him,

eckoboii221

The next message that you send me if it has anything more than “that is it. thank you.” or something to that effect I will report you for harassment and also give you negative feedback. I have tried to end this conversation twice now and you seem to keep coming back with “snippy” comments. and you know where you can put your documentation? take a wild guess

I don’t care about the feedback or the harassment report, but this transaction is growing very old, very fast and I am growing tired of debating this moron. But I also wanted to go out with the whole “kill’em with kindness” approach.

dustyken1

Sorry this transaction had to end badly. I hope you have better dealings in the future. Thanks for the purchase.

All that being said, I’ll let you decide who was in the wrong. Did I let pride get in the way or did I handle the situation according the rules specified in the auction? Was he being a jerk or was it a valid argument to request a refund and keep the item? Let me know.

I’m still here, I just have no time to blog. So I will say this, Windows sucks and it makes me mad. Bill Gates, you have entirely too much money when your systems continually crash.

Okay, we’ve all seen the emails or the ads on hundreds of sites trying to give away free stuff for iPods to Xboxes and everything in between. Well, I have it on pretty good authority that this actually works. I was listening to a podcast yesterday of a couple of respectable guys and they were talking about this. One of the guys just got a new, free Apple Powerbook. Well, “free” might not be the best word. More like “extremely reduced price.” Cause, come on, we all know that nothing is free. He plugged a guy’s site that showed him how to do this. So I went to it and everything looks legit. So, I will pass it on to you guys. JoshClark.com. Well, I looked it over and thought, “What the heck. I’ll give it a try.” Well, I picked a site that was recommended and got a little too excited. I decided to go for the Plasma TV. I should have known better than to do that. Long story short, I should have gone through all of the offers first. Well, I’m gonna change mine to the Xbox 360. Lot less stuff you have to do. Evidently, the more expensive the gift, the more offers you have to complete. So, I’ll keep you update on the progress of this.

You gotta check out this post. Very interesting technique. If I was ever a teacher (on a higher level of course), I would incorporate this into my lectures.