I am now 46 votes away from tying for first place in the BenSpark Refreshing Soda Club contest. Wow…what a little whoring around the interwebs can do, in less than a week! I was WAY behind, but now I am firmly in second place, thanks in big part to Kat….who promoted me on a message board that she posts on regularly.

I’ve also done some shameless begging on a few other boards where I’m a regular, and it warms the cockles of my soda-loving heart how so many have come through for me. I thank each and every one of you who took the time out of your busy day to go and cast a vote for little old me!

And to whoever put me on TotalFark…a HUGE thank you! Shawn told me about this, since I don’t subscribe to TotalFark, I can’t see it. And neither can you, if you didn’t pony up for a subscription. But to whoever posted it there, thanks! It has been helping!

A week ago, I had pretty much given up on this contest. But thanks to some great friends…you know who you are…I now have a fightiing chance here!

Drew is gonna have a TON of hits on his site between now and 8PM Eastern time…many from yours truly, to see how the last minute voting is going. It could go any way at this point…me, Jay, Joana…who knows?

But I will now do some more shameless begging, and ask for your one last vote today…right here. Thanks in advance!

Good luck to all who entered…may the best one win!

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Kat, over at My Single Mom Life, is having a contest over on her blog. She will be giving away two prizes…a book and a DVD. The book is “The Book of Fate” by Brad Meltzer, and the DVD is the 2-disc, fullscreen edition of “Casino Royale”. Hmmm…now which one would I like to win. Not sure about that one yet!

In any case, this coming Saturday morning, Kat’s son, Sebastian, will draw two names. The first person drawn will get to pick which prize they want, and the second person gets the other prize.

If you would like to enter this contest, head on over and read Kat’s contest entry.

Good luck to all who enter!

..is to use Portable Water Filters. We’re lucky to have very good tap water here…it tastes good and there’s nothing harmful in it.

But we have traveled to places where the water tastes lousy, which means…who KNOWS what’s in it? We could just buy bottled water, but that can get expensive.

We’ve all seen those water filter pitchers that you keep at home in the fridge. But these are portalbe, individual sized water bottles that come with a filter. You can carry these with you anywhere…they’re great!

When I was a kid, way back in the Stone Age (1960’s/70’s), I remember going into Mike & Carl’s candy store, at the corner of Nostrand & Foster Avenues in Brooklyn, NY. It was right near our school, St. Jerome’s. My brother and I would go home for lunch every day, and before heading back to school for the afternoon, my mother might give us each a dime to buy some candy.

I don’t think you can buy much of anything with just a dime now. But back in the day, we could get a Hershey bar for a dime. How much are they now…60, 75 cents? Anyway, if you had a dollar back then, you could buy TEN Hershey bars. However, if we wever ever THAT rich, we’d go across the street to Marks’ Toy Corner, and buy a decent toy. You could actually get some cool stuff for a buck back then.

Here’s the interesting factoid: I come from the days when U.S. currency was actually backed by precious metals, which of course were kept at Fort Knox. But now the government prints up so much paper money, that there’s not enough silver and gold to back it up. Therefore, a U.S. dollar is no longer worth what it once was. It’s not that the prices have gone up…it’s more that the value of money has gone down!

But did you know that if you took the same amount of silver that backed up a dollar when I was buying those ten-cent Hershey bars, you could walk into Mike & Carl’s (if it’s even still there) TODAY and buy ten Hershey bars with it? The fact is, these precious metals retain and even increase in value. This is why buying silver and gold bullion can be a great, safe investment.

Time flies when you’re having fun…Mike and I will have been married for seven years this July!

If you’re preparing to embark on married life yourself, or know someone who is, there’s a site that sells the most beautiful gold wedding invitations. These are really pretty…I think my favorite is “I’m marrying my friend.” After all, if the person you’re marrying is NOT your friend, you’re not off to a very good start. And Mike is indeed my bestest friend in the whole wide world, that is, of those who do not have four legs, a tail, and fur!

Hey all…posting a little late in the day here…but don’t forget to visit the very first Postie Carnival! All participants are active members of Pay Per Post, affectionately called “Posties”.

There are lots of cool interesting blogs there, so be sure to go and check it out! Say hello, and discover some new reads!

This has been an UNPAID blurb for the carnival!