Sam's Club

Have you ever taken the time out of your busy day to have lunch or dinner at your local
Sam's Club? Yes, I know that they are known for their bulk item pricing for small businesses and folks who like the idea of warehouse shopping, but did you also know that sometimes their samples are truly worthwhile. This weekend, November 21st to the 23rd, you can stop by at your local Sam's Club and attend "The Holiday Taste of Sam's Club" event.

I don't think you'll be disappointed. I certainly wasn't. I stop by Sam's Club several times a week before I head out to do field research and sample whatever the food or drink item of the day happens to be. It more than pays for the $35 Basic Business Membership Fee each year, because between their free samples and the super low prices for a Kosher hot dog combo with drink (about $1.61) or their pizza combos(about $2.70), I'm generally full enough to have the next meal four to six hours later.

The Holiday Taste of Sam's Club Event, you will need to show a Sam's Club Card to get in, but don't fret, if you don't have a Sam's Club Card, when you get to the entrance, just tell whoever is at the entrance, that you are going over to the Membership Counter to ask about joining. The person at the entrance will let you in and where you go to from entrance to the Membership Counter is your business. You won't need to show a Sam's Club Card unless you are buying merchandise. You won't need a Sam's Club Card, if you are at their Food Station buying a hot dog or pizza combo though.

The food that was available to sample were in many ways liken to a mini-meal of sorts. Designed around the whole festive holiday theme with some of the trimmings, such as Filet Mignon wrapped in Bacon, Scallops wrapped in Bacon, Pork Lions wrapped in Bacon, Crab Cakes, Sliced Turkey, Mashed Potatoes with Giblet Gravy, Spicy Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dressing, Meatballs with Pasta Sauce, Lobster Noodles with Mariana Sauce, Cordon Bleu Chicken, Vegetable Quiches, Roast Lamb with Asparagus. An array of cookies, cobblers, eclairs, pies, nuts and one sole liquid to quench your thirst, Egg Nog. I must confess, I was quite full after it all, but I also was quite thirsty after sampling so many delightfully rich morsels.

The only thing I would have wished for more of and that is something to wet the palate between each sampling. That way, you are better able to taste the essence of each sample individually. It seems when you try something that excites your taste buds and go immediately to the next sample without having swallowed all of your previous sample, with no water to intervene, you don't quite fully taste the distinctness of the next sample.  So, my recommendations to Sam's Club, for their next "Holiday Taste of Sam's Club" event, would be to put water dispensers between every two or three sample booths, so that the patrons would be able to wash down, what they just sampled.  If, your patrons can actually taste what their sampling, their is a better chance, they might even purchase what they are sampling, unless of course, they are there just for the samples or to blog about the samples later.

Overall, there were so much food and desserts to choose from and so many booths scattered within the frozen food section, that my longest wait to sample an item was less than 45 seconds.

The event was so well attended that even though I was Number 8 or 9 in some mini-meal lines waiting, more than 6 of the booths had two people serving, so the average wait time was still under a minute.  Once again, the only thing that I would have like to have seen more of, is something to quench all those samples down with.  The Egg Nog samples were midway between everything and it was scarcely a swallow.  I notice a fair number of more experienced "Tasters," with their 32 ounce Sam's Club fountain drinks that they purchased in advance of straying off to begin sampling.  Heck, that made me even thirstier, so I purchased a diet lemonade on my way out.  What a fine meal and one more day to go!

Is Mcdonald's Wi-fi Really Free?

I'm going sailing tomorrow and between Miami and Melbourne where I chose go sailing, I passed no less than 36 McDonald's
Restaurants. Some of them displayed signs stating "Free Wi-fi with any purchase," but most of the McDonald's Restaurants displayed just the yellow and black, "police tape-like" banners that said, "wi-fi." So, I got the urge to see what the Free Wi-fi was all about and stopped at all the McDonald's along the way.

My first McDonald's stop was in Miami and even though they had a sign stating "Free Wi-fi with any purchase," they had wi-fi, but it wasn't free. It wasn't free, because they had no "Complimentary Internet Access Coupons." It seems that they had run out and hadn't ordered any replacement wi-fi coupons.  No problem, because there were so many more McDonald's along the way.  I traveled for another 8 miles and stopped at the next McDonald's and they too had wi-fi, but no wi-fi coupons.  No problem once again.  I'll try the next McDonald's on my travels North.

On my third stop at McDonald's, I was told that they no longer order the wi-fi coupons and that I would have use a credit card instead to get on the Internet.  Well, that defeats the whole purpose of free and they even had the "Free Wi-fi with any purchase" sign outside too!  Feeling somewhat betrayed, I reluctantly stopped at the fourth McDonald's and even though they didn't have the "Free Wi-fi with any purchase" sign posted any where, they had the "Complimentary Internet Access" coupons.  I ordered a large iced Hazelnut coffee for $1.99 and they gave me a free wi-fi coupon.  I felt for a moment that all the stops that I had made earlier had been vindicated.

I slipped out the door with my wi-fi coupon and continued North to the next McDonald's along my route and behold, they had no free wi-fi coupons.  Something about they ordered some, but they hadn't come in yet.  So, off to the next McDonald's and yes, another free wi-fi coupon with a purchase of two side salads for a buck each.  Things were looking up and I sat down to finish the side salads, looking at the late Paul Neuman's face on the packages of salad dressings.

Ten hours later, I arrived in Melbourne prepared to go sailing tomorrow and from the 36 McDonald's I visited along the way, I manage to get 12 Complimentary Internet Access coupons, and yes, I purchased something for each coupon.  I didn't always purchase food though, but I did purchase more than 7 McDonald's gift cards and put the minimum of $5.00 on each one to use at a later date for food or Internet access, instead of my credit card.

Here's is what I have come to understand about McDonald's Free Wi-fi, based on the 36 McDonald's Restaurants that I stopped at.  Of the 36 stops at McDonald's, more than 8 times, the cashier didn't have a clue what I was talking about, when I asked, "Do you have any wi-fi coupons?"  The answer was often, "No, we don't have any coupons."  So, I would repeat the question, "Do you have any wi-fi coupons?"  Emphasizing the word "wi-fi" in the hopes of discerning between any of type of coupon that McDonald's may have that I'm not aware of.  Most of the cashier's wouldn't even go and ask their shift leader or manager, but simply reply, "No, we don't have any coupons."  It was like, it was a bit shameful for them to admit, that maybe didn't understand the question, or simply didn't know what wi-fi was.  I don't know, but I didn't press the issue, because I could see that some of the cashier's were clearly upset at my persistence with the question, so I left it alone and left the store.

No less than 4 of the McDonald's that I stopped at, the cashier told me that I would have to use my credit card to use their Internet, even though they had a sign posted on their window for anyone passing by, "Free Wi-fi with any purchase."  I always ask about the Free Wi-fi before I make a purchase, for fear of feeling slighted.  Well, I had heard that I could purchase this Free Wi-fi, with my credit card, so I launch the browser on my Netbook (an Acer Aspire One) and got my Google home page.  It wasn't until I tried to go to another web page, that the McDonald's home screen presented itself.

Once on McDonald's home screen, up at the top is the "Connection Options."  Clicking on the "Connection Options," takes you to another McDonald's page with several payment options:

"Credit Card, Coupon, Employees, etc.."  If, you're fortunate enough to have a "Complimentary Internet Access" coupon, click on "Coupon."  The "Coupon" option works for McDonald's Gift Card's also.  To see exactly what it would cost to actually purchase wi-fi, I clicked on the "Credit Card" option and it took me to another McDonald's page that asked me for my credit card number, first and last name, e-mail address and billing information.  Oh yes, it also had the price at $2.99 for two hours of Internet access.  I pressed the submit button and it charged my credit card, $3.14.  You have to give the government their tax too!

Once connected, the wi-fi is 802.11g (54.0 Mbps) and the connection is excellent throughout the interior of the building.  I didn't test the wi-fi signal outside of McDonald's, although maybe I should have, for those who like the comfort of their vehicles while surfing the Net.  I was quite pleased with the signal and speed and the best part, there were no disconnects, unlike some fast food places that offer free wi-fi.  I spent the two hours doing what most surfers do and that is read the newspapers online and jump from one hyperlink to the next until the McDonald's curtain came down on me.  It seems when you're two hours is up, there is no warning or little box anywhere that tells you how much time you have used.  So, as a tip to those considering using McDonald's Free wi-fi, when you log on, write down the time you logged on and keep a tab of that somewhere where you can peak at it, or set your cell phone alarm to give yourself time to save anything you may be working on or close any programs that you may have open, because when your two hours is up, yep this red, McDonald's home screen pops down like a curtain and hides the web page you're on.  Even though getting a Free Wi-fi coupon from McDonald's may be hit or miss, when you finally do get one, it says on the coupon that the coupon is good for one connection of up to one hour.  The reality is, yep, the coupon is only good for one connection, but it will give you exactly two hours of Internet use.  You don't have to be in a hurry to use them either.  I generally use the really free wi-fi places like the library and use McDonald's wi-fi when I'm traveling or when I need to work really late at night.  Yes, some of the McDonald's have 24-hour lobbies and 24-hour drive-ins.   The "Complimentary Internet Access coupons are generally valid until February or March of 2009.  Until next time, happy surfing.

 

Work At Home

 

Work at home has to be one of the biggest wishes for more than a few of us. In fact, I'd go so far as to say, that if given a choice with no loss of income and total absence of stress, most of us, if not all of us, would chose to work from home. That's taken in consideration of course, that we like our home, because for some of us, we may dread our home and that could be the reason that we love to spend so much time away at work. Personally for me, I love my home and I love that my home gives me the choices that it does. If, I want to change my scenery, I just crank up and go. If, it is seafood for dinner, I populate my scenery with water views, be them lakes, rivers or oceans. If, I'm grilling chicken or other meats, I surround myself with country or forestry scenes. I don't know and maybe it's my imagination, but I think that it aids in digestion if you take in all the ambience while sitting down to a blessed meal. If, you take the time to prepare and cook the meal, you might as well enjoy the enviroment where the food items originated or nearly as proximate where the food items may have come from. That's the joy in working at home and earning from home.

The Plan with any "work at home" or "earn at home" opportunity should be to find a program or service that is credible, duplicateable and offers some reliable income that is predictably based on your performance. Afterall, a "work at home"
or "earn at home" opportunity should provide a realistic and legitimate product or service that people are lusting for and is not currently being totally-supplied in the current market conditions or a product or service that is unavailable in the curent market environment. What product or service could that possibly be? Heck, if I knew that, I would be selling that product or service. So, if you have a "work at home" or a "earn at home" opportunity that you are curently making money with and it is legitimate, duplicateable and something the public is lusting for, I'd sure love to hear about it. In the meanwhile, I'm going to continue working at home and taking my meals with nature, because in these times, 10 miles per gallon is pretty good for a house!

Acer Aspire One

 

The Acer Aspire One is a netbook computer that will get the job done for most of us who need to carry an Internet-capable device around, but dread those tiny keyboards found on most smartphones, pdas and pocket computers. I appologize in advance for my long absence. I had a hiccup in the course of trying to live a century or more. I wanted to see what it was like to live on five dollars per week. It is doable, but you have to set a budget for yourself and really stick to it or you'll find that five dollars is gone in a single purchase.

In my absence from this blog, I found that you can live on five dollars a week and that you become quite creative in the things that you eat and the activities that you engage in. For me, it was all about trying to stay connected to the online world while at the same time, trying to stay clean, warm, engaged with the offline world and keep up with the latest promotions (those that didn't require spending any money).

I managed to trade, barter and liquidate some things that were just collecting dust and purchased a new Acer Aspire One netbook. It's called a Netbook because it weighs about 2 1/2 pounds and you can do pretty much anything a regular laptop does with the exception of maybe hardcore gaming. It has an excellent screen resolution that measures just under 9-inches, a Windows XP Home Edition operating system and a keyboard that takes about a half hour or so, to get use to, at least for me. It comes with McCaffe Antivirus and firewall as a trial, but when the antivirus and firewall trial ran out, I installed Grisoft's AVG 8.0 and ZoneLab's ZoneAlarm, both were the free editions, of course!

The Acer Aspire One has onboard memory of 512 mb and mine came with 1 GB of RAM with a maximum of RAM of 1.5 and the wonderfully quick and efficient, Intel Atom 1.6 GHz ultramobile processor. Overall, the Acer Aspire One is a diamond in the rough. You can take it anywhere, but you just have to remind yourself sometimes that you have it with you, because it is so light. I pack mines in a pink, gaming bag that is just a bit larger than the Acer's 9-inch screen, with plenty of room in the bag, for the usb mouse, 4 GB flash drives and power cord and adapter. I have to admit that the 120 GB SATA hard drive is more than enough storage space for my needs, but the Acer Aspire One comes with 3-usbs and one of the usb ports you can use for storage expansion, that is, increase your storage capacity even more.

It has a microphone port, a headphone port, a Kensington lock port, a RJ-45 port to connect an ethernet plug, an external monitor plug and a multi-memory card reader. There is even a webcam that does a pretty decent job in low light conditions and a microphone for live chats, etc.. The wireless card sniffs out a connection with no problems, but once connected, I do notice an occassional disconnect or rather, a "dialogue bubble" appearing, telling me that I am now connected. While this doesn't bother me 90% of the time, I wonder if there is an update for this? I haven't come across any updates on Acer's website or the wireless card provider's site, Broadcom. If, there would be one thing that I wished for the Acer Aspire One Netbook, it would be to have the option to order the 6-cell lithium-polymer battery option. Inherently, lithium polymer batteries are considerably more expensive than lithium-ion batteries and would add substantially to the $327 price that I purchased the Acer Aspire One Netbook for at Best Buy, but heh, I'm not always plugged in, so I need the extra run time. I currently get about 1 hour and 30 minutes out of the Aspire One when lisening to music, using wi-fi and writing in Microsoft Office 2007. All rather power hungry applications, from what I've been told. I wouldn't hesistate for one minute to purchase another of these netbooks from Acer, because they are just that much fun and practical to work on and with. At the very least, they are quite a conversation piece, because everwhere I go, 4 out of 10 times when I'm working on it, someone will come up and ask, where they can purchase one, hmmm, now that's a thought, maybe I should become a reseller or affiliate for Acer, huh? Until next time, don't spend too much.

The ACR Card & The Bureau Of Immigration Manila

At some point for more than a few visitors to the Philippines, there comes a time when you have to make a decision of whether to leave the Philippines and return to wherever home is in order to add to your budget or to stay and if, you decide to stay, then you are going to have to visit your local branch of The Bureau of Immigration for the Philippines. If, you are South of Manila, down in the Visayans, their branch office in Mandaue City can assist you, in the Cebu City area, just before you cross the bridge to Mactan Island, where the airport is located.

However, if you are in Manila, you can just go by The Bureau of Immigration in the beautiful area of Intramuros, that's Spanish by the way, for "within the walls." There in Intramuros, you can see the old Manila and it's lovely architecture and Spanish influence. Definitely worth a visit and make a day of it, with its many spacious parks in the vicinity. Plenty of shade trees and don't forget to bring your lunch or snack and just in case you forget, there are many canteens (eateries) adjourning the many parks where you can get a three course meal for about P80 (< $2).

The ACR Card is the Alien Certificate of Registration Card that the Philippines Government implemented to help with registrations of persons inside its borders and to aid in combating questionable identification cards. The ACR Card has a microchip embedded in it and it's about the size and the thickness of a credit card. Note the card examples above, compliments of the Bureau of Immigration, located in the Intramuros area of Manila.

The ACR Card is great for Temporary visitors who are coming for pleasure or business if, you are coming to the Philippines for reasons associated with your health, all the better, especially if your stay in the Philippines is going to be for more than six months. It's also a good option, if your are going to be a temporary student, because along with your Student ID card, it proves that your residency conforms to Philippines Law. The ACR Card at the time of this posting is about P2200 ($50) for issuance and renewals. The ACR Cards are generally valid for one year. Native born Philippines citizens who may have taken citizenship in other countries, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, etc, are also encouraged to apply for the ACR Card. To apply for the ACR Card, check with your local or branch office of the Bureau of Immigration, or visit their website: immigration.gov.ph.

A Guesthouse Near The Airport

Backtracking a bit, I forgot to mention the lovely guesthouse that I stayed at after my arrival on Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong. I was fortunate to have an earlier enough arrival into Manila, to still enjoy some of the day. I stayed at a very convenient hostel owned by a really friendly couple called Islas 8817 Guesthouse in Paranaque City, which is one of the closest cities near both the International and Domestic Airports.

If you take a jeepney from either airports the ride to the guesthouse is
about P7 and by a shared taxi going down Sucat Road, you're looking at about P32 and by taxi from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the ride is about P85. Don't take the fixed-rate taxis at the arrival area outside, rather go to the departure area where the taxis are dropping off passengers and catch a taxi going down Sucat Road, otherwise the fixed-rate taxis will charge you about P285-P330 to take you to the guesthouse.

The Islas 8817 Guesthouse is located at 8817 San Juan Street in the San Antonio Valley 2 Subdivision, which is right off Sucat Road, just past the second McDonald's after the SM Mall/Sucat about 6 miles (9.6km) from the International Airport. Once there you'll be met by the owners who will make your stay so enjoyable and comfortable that you may not want to leave straightaway. There is basically one large air-conditioned room with an upstairs that has a room with twin beds for about $11 or P484 a night and on the first level of the large room are 16 single beds that are of mixed use, that is male and female in the same room with no partitions, but hey, for $7 or P308 a night, it's no problem for most lodgers, because you will meet folks from everywhere and that's a big plus in it self.

You'll be provided with linen, a place to store your luggage, a kitchen to share with other guest and a area if you wish to BBQ. The one thing I would suggest for those of you who may be new to living on the cheap, is to bring or purchase a pair of rubber flip flops for the shared bathroom and shower and you'll be fine I'm sure with the accommodations. The wifi is fast and reliable. The location is 1500 feet (500 meters) from "mom and pop" eateries serving Adobo chicken, noodle dishes and various native dishes, you know the many pots on the table that you just point at the lid and the vendor will open the lid and let you peek in to see what the dish is, and then you can decide if it looks tasty enough to order. Also, there are several stores, a fruit and vegetable vendor and a few fast food restaurants all within a 15 minute walking distance. One of my favorite layovers when I fly in and out of Manila and I'm sure one that you will want to check out too! You can book accomodations direct or through hostels.com (Exchange rate based on P44 to $1).

From your very first breath at birth, until the very last breath in passing, you will lose your way more than a few times in life. It is a fact of life, just as breathing is a necessary ingredient for life. When I lost my way, I adopted the philosophies of the East to help me find my way. All things East, had become my map for life, and my purpose for living. So, it's by no means a surprise that I found myself in the Philippines once again.

The Philippines is where I first fell in love and remained in love with throughout my life. The love I have for the Philippines is not defined by a single person or a single moment, but a multitude of things that I am unable to express in one sitting or perhaps a lifetime. In fact, my love for the Philippines and its people is expressionless. There are no words to describe my feelings toward the Philippines or for it. It is a place that one has to experience first-hand to know the meaning of the emotive feelings one acquires while there and when they leave, the longing for it.

The Reason We Get Up In The Morning

"Money is a constant companion only when you have it, and once it's gone, you're an orphan amongst friends."

Curthom

Low Tide, High Aspirations

"Traveling the path of least resistance while experiencing the ambience of the journey, hoping that the final destination is many quarter century's away." (quote from Curthom)


I traveled here and there and some how, once again found myself in East Asia, seeking or perhaps having found one the least expensive places to rest and relax. It had been a rather slow year so far and I just needed a rest from all of the drama going on in the States.

I stopped in Hong Kong, but the cost of living per day for a non-resident,
(aka, a foreigner) was rather prohibitive, more than $100 a day and that
didn't correspond with the budget I had in mind. I was thinking something more or less around $15 a day or about $80 a week. So, my
instincts took me to the Philippines, where I had lived off and on, over the past few decades off very little indeed.

I landed in Manila after catching a flight on Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong. You got to love those One World Alliance Partners. You build up a lot of American Airline AAdvantage miles over the months, using a Citibank Frequent Flyer Credit Card paying for this bill and that bill, and before you know it, you've got enough miles to go someplace. Well, that someplace for me was Mactan Island, off the coast of Cebu Island, just across the Cebu Strait. What a beautiful place Mactan Island, like most of the Philippines, it's hard to decide exactly where to settle, because there are so many gorgeous places to pause, stay or settle.

On Mactan Island, you have the luxurious Shangri-La, The Cebu Hilton Resort & Spa and The Plantation Bay, with rates very well North of $75 a night and all these hotels serve a market for those who can afford them, but I'm not there yet and if, I was there, that is could afford such places, I really like interacting with the locals of the places I pause, stay or settle, so I chose something akin to what you see in the picture above. Something simple, something elegant in that it coexists with nature without taking too much from nature-that is, it has a rather small "carbon footprint," like my wallet.

The picture was taken from the rear of a popular eatery on Mactan Island and while I didn't physically stay at the dwelling in the picture above, called a "nipa hut," I have stayed in a nipa hut and it was all that I needed for as long as I needed. I'd like to have something like this when I'm back in the States, but our local Zoning Departments always has something to say about that, huh?

Living Life On The Cheap

One of life's great challenges today, is how to get by on whatever you have, but what if, you have very little or absolutely nothing at all? Could you still get by? I see the homeless everywhere I travel in the United States and through out the places I frequent abroad, and for the life of me, I wonder to the point of staring, making assumptions of how they get on from one day to the next.

I wonder, what are they doing to make ends meet? Many of these questions of course go unanswered, because for me and many others, we tend to have a busy life, so don't have a lot of time to just stand around and become casual observers?

Of course, you don't want to observe too casually too often, these days, less someone think that you're a stalker or something. You never know what someone is thinking, unless of course they're blogging or something like that, I guess. Looking back in hindsight, you know what? Really now, very few people in America have actually nothing. They may think they have nothing, but compare what they have and/or perceive they don't have, to other countries, we actually have a grand life here in the U.S.A..

Shucks, we have so many opportunities here in American that we overdose on it! We overdose to the point, that we become numb to the opportunities. We go about our days, weeks, months and years too busy to be bothered to even think much about the opportunities American affords us. I know because I back in America and I'm sitting here listening to Classical Music that I barely recognize, and the volume is just loud enough to break my chain of thought. The laptop is a corporate lease return, meaning I got it for a third of the price of a new one and could've even gotten nearly free, if I had taken the time to participate in some market surveys and join some trial programs. The wi-fi is free, yeah really free, because I was going to purchase something to sip on, and well, there was the coffee shop that just happened to have free wi-fi. I don't really drink coffee, but the coffee is cheaper than the fountain drink, so we order coffee and live with the small coffee cup that is made of the same styrofoam as the fountain drink cups. Plus, the fountain drink dispenser is located in an area that promotes as many refills as you like. Oh, did I mention that there are plenty of electrical outlets. Surge protectors are optional and free with a rebate from time-to-time from who?